#2x08 into the deep

[dinneratgrannys]

#wholesome

#ouatedit #rumbelleedit #bellefrenchedit #rumplestiltskinedit #once upon a time #ouat #rumbelle #belle french #mr gold #rumplestiltskin #s2 #2x08 into the deep #dynamic: rumbelle #event: rewatch 22

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Season 2 Rewatch Drabbles--2x8 Into the Deep

Summary:  A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my rewatch of season 2 of Once Upon a Time as an attempt to finally jump start the muse again.  There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a  “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season.   Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an emphasis on the very beginnings of Captain Swan’s epic love story, as soon as a certain dashing pirate makes his appearance.  

Word Count: 466

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (17.5) (18) (19) (20) (21-22) (22)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ten hours are up," the giant said, stooping down to unshackle Hook.  "You're free to go."

Hook jumped to his feet and then he reached for the sword.

The giant took a quick step back, eyeing the weapon with caution.  "Woah!" He said, "I let you live."

Hook nodded. "At her bequest, aye?"

"Yeah," the giant said slowly, still eyeing the sword cautiously. 

“Fear not,” Hook said, “as you’ve kept your word, this is not meant for you.  Others may not be as fortunate.”

The anger he’d been stoking for the better part of the day flared to a white hot heat.  Anger was a damn sight easier to deal with than the emotion that lay just beneath the surface.

Betrayal.

He’d trusted her, believed her, thought they were united in a common purpose.  Truth be told, there had been a connection with Swan, one that went beyond the fact their interests aligned.  He’d felt a spark of something undefined and as yet undefinable, but it was as real and as significant as this godforsaken beanstalk she’d chained him to.

They’d spent hours together searching for the compass, and with each moment his hope had grown, hope that maybe there could be another path out there beyond what he’d always imagined awaited him.

To be sure, nothing had changed with regard to his quest.  He would kill the Crocodile, avenge his Milah.  Nothing could dissuade him from what had been his purpose, his reason for living for the better part of two centuries, but for the first time on this beanstalk working beside Swan he’d begun to think about what came after.

After…perhaps there was a life for him, perhaps even happiness.

That hope had crumbled the moment she snapped the shackle to his wrist.

It was a stark reminder yet again that no one could be trusted, that the only one he could truly swear allegiance to was himself, no matter how much he might wish the opposite to be true.

And so, he’d spent the next ten hours meticulously rebuilding the fortress around his heart, fortifying it brick by brick until it was well nigh impenetrable.  

Look out for yourself and you’ll never get hurt.

Stepping around the giant, Hook scaled the ledge and began the painstaking process of climbing down the beanstalk.  The rain pelted him as he climbed, making the trek infinitely slower and more dangerous than the ascent.

Finally, finally he reached the bottom, jumping the last ten feet and preparing to set out after Swan and take back what was his.

“My dear captain,” he heard from behind him, “it seems you’ve been on quite an adventure.  The compass please.”

He closed his eyes, his stomach dropping.  Cora.

It looked like his terrible day was about to get even worse.

                                                                                  NEXT CHAPTER -->

#once upon a time #once upon a time drabbles #rewatch drabbles #2x08 Into the Deep #killian jones #my fanfiction

[imminent-danger-came]

I was rewatching s2 last night, and ohhh man mk looks over mei so much it's not even funny. times mei has been ignored:

maybe you need to really listen! (during the blindfold ep)

mk just? grabs stuff she's using out of her hands all the time? (video game ep)

maybe you shouldn't skip the tutorials? (video game ep again)

the way he addresses her in dumpling destruction and then immediately pushes her aside for tang

i honestly remember it lowkey kinda bothering me on first watch but now it's REALLY egregious on rewatch. are you scared? I'm so scared. do you WANT to end up like shadowpeach MK

2x03 is so rude because the whole fucking episode they're like "MK you don't listen" and it's so true. He doesn't. Pigsy literally points it out again at the end of 4x14 with the whole sun screen bit:

Pigsy: "Tch, don't bother, I've been telling him that for years but he LITERALLY never listens." Sun Wukong: "Yep! That's how we role."

-

THEY'RE SO FUCKING RUDE. "That's how we role." We. We????? Wukong and MK???? Like WHATEVER. FINE. (("I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no. Wukong doesn't listen to ANYONE! He just does whatever he wants" Like shut up. Shut up!))

MK gets so stuck in his own head ("You're all stuck up in your own head! None of this is your fault!" +1 to the MK ignoring Mei counter from 4x08) and I think that really contributes to his s2 scramble to get more powerful.

LIKE:

MK: "Stop? Now? Never! I just have to try harder. It's just like the Monkey King said! *laughs manically* I just need to get stronger!"

(2x06 Game On)

VS

MK: "Why didn't he just stop, right here? He was already so much stronger than anyone ever needed to be!" Macaque: "Wukong didn't think so, he always felt he had to be stronger—more immortal."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

(Bonus thing between eps 2x03 and 2x06, look at 0:42 in this video for MK hearing Mei but not listening to her. Because of course that's what he would do. *head in my hands .png*)

The terrible s2 choices both Wukong and MK make in relation to their friends is just absolutely delicious after 4x11. Like, OH. This has been a lifelong pattern of Wukong's—paranoia is one of his fatal flaws (paired with his terrible communication and self-sacrificial nature), and while he had the power to stop LBD before he still feel's the need to go after the Samadhi Fire to stop her now, and to protect MK.

Hold on look at this parallel that I don't know what to do with:

MK: "Ugh, I can't do it!"

Mei: "It's alright MK—you did it before, you'll do it again!" Sandy: "Yeah! Maybe it's like Monkey King said: the power will come when you need it most!"

(3x04 The Winning Side)

-

MK: "What! But you said the Samadhi fire was the only thing that could stop her!" Sun Wukong: "I KNOW WHAT I SAID! But I've beaten her before I'll- I'll do it again! Mei was right—I need to stop dragging you into my fights, all of you."

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

Wukong and MK's reach for power inspires a lot of fear in me! It does! Because, well, MK's current reach for power is going to lead him to his Monkey Form, and uh:

Like I'm scared. I'm scared!

"All doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart!" ; "This is Azure's utopia, and this barren wasteland is the price he paid to build it." ; "I'd do anything for my friends! But at the cost of the world?" "I'm sorry pal, ain't NOTHIN' worth that price!"

#I've said it once and I'll say it again: 2x06 is one of the MOST retroactively mean episodes #Game motif. The callback that 4x10 does. Whatever the fuck is going on with the MK and SWK parallels in that ep #I hate lmk's exchange theme I hate it. Like FUCK #Anyways #asks #wlw-wukong #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk MK #lmk SWK #lmk Sun Wukong #lmk analysis #lmk theme: exchange #fuckasdfoqweg #Sandy saying ''Helping my friends is more important than anything in the world!'' in 2x08 vs #''I get it! I'd do anything to help my friends! But at the cost of the world?'' in 4x13 is SICK. SICK IT'S SICK #Sometimes it's like. Hmmm. ''If you aren't doing everything in your power to help your friends you are nothing!'' #''I'd watch my sword shatter 1000 times so long as I used it to protect the ones I care about'' #I'm telling you Mei would choose MK over the world. I'M TELLING YOU #MK'S ALREADY CHOSEN MEI OVER THE WORLD (thank you 3x10) AND PIGSY/TANG/SANDY OVER THE WORLD (4x02) #MK really went: ''Oh releasing this curse could end the world? Well I'll risk it for my friends!'' and I went ''ohhhh nooooooooo'' #WE ARE IN SOME DEEP SHIT IN S5 #And Wukong? Lol of course he's choosing the people he cares about over the world. No surprise there. #He's like ''yeah I'll go fight the jade emperor to finally be strong enough''. If eamk theory proves true he like #Chose MK over the world initially #And he was totalllyyy willing to sacrifice LBD's child host to protect his friends (MK)/the world #I'm. AUGHGHG. #''It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero!'' OKAY BUT MEI WOULD YOU DO THAT SO EASILY IF IT WERE MK #ME THINKS NO #ME THINKS YOU WOULD NOT

[lingeringscars]

Nats story is very linked to travis, and no matter what she is always going to have love for him. That love is mixed with grief and need, though, and they're never going to have a healthy relationship. They feel like they owe a debt to each other because of everything that they have been through with each other, and the sacrifices that have been made in the name of their love (namely, javi). They understand each other, and nat does feel connected to him in a way that she doesn't the rest of the team. She sees through some of that fragile, toxic exterior to the guy that is trying to be something he isn't. And she really, really loves the guy he is, but she can understand letting rage eat you inside. She can understand lashing out. She can understand feeling emotions so large that you feel like exploding. And she knows what it's like to feel like you don't belong and aren't wanted in your family and how you carry that even when you don't want to. She saw travis climb up the tree for his dad, and she knew this was someone that she would understand, and maybe more importantly and definitely scarier, someone who would also understand her.

#this actually had originated as me being like i don't think i can just Remove that because esp s1 how linked he is #and how...the events of 2x08 happened because travis loves her and was reacting to that #but that doesn't mean I'm locked into them as a romantic ship either #there's just always gonna be deep love there #but instead i apparently had feelings #muse: nat scatorccio #meta: nat scatorccio #dyn: nat x travis

[gleesongtournament]

Glee Song Tournament Round 2

#glee #glee song tournament #glee polls #mercedes jones #santana lopez #sancedes #finn hudson #song: river deep mountain high #song: just the way you are (s2) #season 2 #2x04 #episode: duets #episode: furt #2x08 #round 2 #amber riley #naya rivera #cory monteith #nayamber

[misty-feathers]

i love you ds9 murder mystery with flashbacks and learning about the backstory of some mcs

showstopping amazing incredible truly

#misty watches ds9 #this is about 2x08 btw #ds9 #star trek #misty.txt #deep space nine #media that has well mixed plot and character development my beloved

[raayllum]

ALRIGHT, time to talk about the poster in lovely HD.

First things first, I want to talk about these two ladies (?). The upper one closer to the moon looks more like an elf, and is gazing down at the second, closer woman. I've seen people speculate Ziard due to the hair, but none of this usual clothing appendages are there, so I lean towards a new character, and possibly being the human Aaravos had a special connection to. We see what looks like the arches of the Moon Nexus framed behind them, which was the case both when Rayla went through the portal in TTM and when Lujanne used historia viventum to show Callum the way things looked before. Souls of hate and love, maybe?

We see other Moon symbols throughout the posture sure as archangel lunarises, which seek out Moon magic (1x01) and can be used in illusion spells (2x03, 3x09). We also see the enchanted lotuses from 3x03, though for what purpose is unclear (more on that later).

Moving down, we have a fully celestial, quite happy Aaravos. He's in full flourish and clearly using Moon magic for someone, as begetting the moon behind him, though whether he's constructing lotuses or channeling energy into his Key (perhaps making it able to sense Moon magic) is unknown. While the lotuses in 3x03 were occasionally different colours, the deep purple here makes me think of dark magic. If he is channeling his cube, perhaps he's taking moon energy from the lotuses (or moths) surrounding him to put inside.

I don't think I need to scream much further than I already have about the Moon rune glowing on his Key and having it displayed with his usual star symbol (rune cube foreshadowing symbolism my beloved). This bodes well for theories in which 1) Callum goes too far and does something knowingly risky to free the Moon fam for Rayla's sake or 2) does something risky to help Aaravos to protect Rayla's life, each subsequently to being possessed and/or playing into Aaravos' hands. Thank you goodnight.

Then we have the book, which is deeply fascinating. It seems like a very Moon book, the fragments framing it similar to the ones we see on the lotuses and possibly evoking one of the archangel lunaris' flying around. It wouldn't surprise me if the book contains a variant of Deep moon magic of some kind, whatever that would look like. The crescent curved moon is also similar to the symbol we see on Aaravos' poem page for the Midnight Star in show (2x08). I do wonder why each side of the book looks so different though, with no actual visible moon in sight besides the tiny gemstones and the crescent moon, the other side being entirely dark (which, to be fair, is pretty moon-y).

We also sort of but don't quite see Aaravos' famous chest piece, though it is a-glowing. Whether it glowed all the time pre-Fall we just don't know, as the only time we've seen it glow/be filled in is 2x09 when he's channeling magic through Viren, but who knows. It does mean that the cube is even older than his banishment and that if it does hold his chest piece, it was placed after (if it's tangible at all, which has always been one of the biggest questions).

This is perhaps the weirdest thing that I am the most interested in, as alongside his crown and bangles, this is the biggest design difference between Aaravos in-show and out. In show, both in his mirror and even 'pre-Fall' (aka the timeline for the 1x01 shot is probably a lie anyway), Aaravos' hip thingy is a lot more simplistic.

However, Aaravos does have all his flowery (and I mean that literally, it looks like petals) adornment in his concept art.

The fact they have a lotus flower flair to them always felt interesting but ultimately like a coincidence, but perhaps not. Either way as pictured below, it seems like he's either constructing or dismantling the lotuses, which is Eyes Emoji either way.

The most... surely metaphorical / abstract portion of the poster, though, is I'd imagine the very bottom. I hesitate to read into things too literally (one of the S5 posters had Finnegrin's ship being blasted with lightning and Domina watching the waves, and while she featured in the season and played a role in Finnegrin's aims, the scene itself as portrayed did not come fully to fruition) so I'm gonna go with a more symbolic read, just as as disclaimer.

Lastly we have these two figures. I'm assuming the one in white is an elf and betting on young Aaravos or Leola, though it could be someone else connected to the Moon arcanum (the elven daughter who vouched for exiling rather than eliminating humanity?). The red and black shadow figure feels far more sinister (blood and stardust, anyone) but if you lighten the shadows, you get something even more... interesting, shall we say.

Rather than standing up straight, this figure almost seems to swoop down with a draconic like claw and a face that reminds me the most of Sir Sparklepuff's features, honestly, perhaps boasting a similar kind of blood (Viren's) and star (Aaravos) and dark magic (the staff?). It is also clearly moving toward the more humanoid figure on the bottom right, which gives a "corruption is reaching / coming for / offering things to you" sort of vibe.

#tdp meta #tdp #the dragon prince #tdp spoilers #s6 spoilers #promo art #official art #tdp aaravos #aaravos #s6 speculation #s6 #arc 2 #predictions #analysis series #analysis

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Syd + Carmy- Labels

This is an interesting introduction. In 1x07 review, Tina introduces Sydney to Louie as "Jeff's friend." Why not? "Say hello to Sydney." I think it's because later on in the episode when Sydney leaves Carmy, we see why he's so anxious and sad over losing her in 1x07 and 1x08. The friend label season 1 establishes there's already a bond growing between Syd and Carmy, and the group sees this bond.

I find it interesting in the friends-to-lovers trope, especially with co-workers, there's always a witness or witnesses to the relationship, defining the growing fondness of the couple before the two can define their own relationship. The whole label thing reminds me of 2x08 Bolengese, Throughout the episode Carmy is trying to define his relationship with Claire with the pressure test coming from Syd, she is, after all, the first to address the label Carmy has for Claire.

But deep down, Carmy can't label what Claire means to him because he's trying to figure out his feelings for Syd. 2x08 gives us clues into this love growing between Syd and Carmy. They don't have a label but the actions speak louder than words. There are a couple of moments with Syd and Carmy finishing each other's sentences (once in front of Tina). You get Syd initiating the "I'm sorry" love language, you get Syd addressing Claire being in between Syd and Carmy's relationship restaurant.

You also get Syd in between Carmy and Claire's love scene. Carmy and Syd have yet to define their relationship because it's more than a friendship. We're already in the slow burn. friends to lovers story which started at the beginning and Now as the season progresses Carmy and Sydney have to address their own relationship with romantic undertones in the writing.

Essentially I say all this to say that- Syd and Carmy being endgame is not fan service, it's been established since the beginning. Syd haters need to stop she's not just a co-worker or the same kind of friend because we would have heard "This is my friend." "You're my best friend" in 2x09 omelette. We're watching a friend-to-lovers story unfold right before our eyes.

#carmen berzatto #sydney adamu #the bear #the bear fx #carmy x sydney #chefs kiss #sydcarmy #sydney x carmy #carmy berzatto #the bear spoilers #tina is amazing #thoughtful chaos posts

[crownspeaksblog]

How the hell does ofmd manage to give me everything i love about tv shows, in one show?!!

It's funny, silly, stupid but somehow at the same time it's serious, deep and well thought out!

Characters change and develop in prominent ways, characters have arcs, what they go through affects them, things aren't stagnant. (1x01 stede is a coward who's trying to hide from the English, 2x08 stede throws himself over 2 soldiers, he's brave despite the fact he's out numbered. 1x04 ed wants to quit piracy but doesn't know how, 2x08 ed quits piracy a second time with stede even when the first time doesn't work out)

It's a beautiful romance, a queer romance between two people who have insane chemistry, a love story that has ups and downs, but in the end they're right there for eachother because what they have is True Love!

The show is shot so beautifully, it doesn't look boring, so many shows I've watched (although entertaining) are shot in the most boring/basic ways possible, ofmd has so many gorgeous still shots, a couple of fun one shots! (The bar fight one shot in 2x07 deserves more attention! Mer!stede and ed looking at eachother while floating in the water is genuinely one of the most beautiful shots I've ever seen!)

The outfits characters wear changes with their arcs and it makes sense story wise and the outfits are just so fun looking, it's interesting and different and so, so not basic. (Stede going from aristocratic silly little outfits to pirate shirts with deep neck openings and leather pants!! Hot! Also can't wait to see eds s3 outfit.)

The song choice is fun, the lyrics, beautifully add another layer to the story (I'm still not over the "I've loved him since he was born" lyric!)

The women in this show, although few and not main characters, they're interesting, different and not basic "normal" women, so many shows and movies I've watched, the men get to be weird, kooky and interesting while the women are just painfully normal, but in ofmd, the few women we got are either insane, wild, weird, violent or just not fucking "normal"! (the most "normal" woman we have is probably mary who was gonna stab her husband with a skewer through the earhole!! Also the addition of archie, former snake cult member is just amazing!)

The action we get every once in a while is just so fun! I love a fight scene and for the most part, they look good, it looks well done (again the bar fight and ed killing motherfuckers left, right and center in 2x08 is just so goddamn fun to watch!)

I know so many other shows have most of these things, but the fact ofmd has all of these things, that i just fucking love in one show is amazing, it's appreciated and on top of all of this, the show just makes me happy whether I'm watching it or watching people's reactions to it or even just thinking about it! I love this show even with the criticisms i might have, i love it!

#just had to talk about what i love about this show maybe I'm forgetting some but I'm pretty sure I'm not #but like seriously how many shows actually have all of these things?! #alot of shows have most of these things except for the female characters being wild/not normal and the queer love story aspect. #recently i watched nope and a thought i had was why is the kooky crazy character thats gonna die to get the perfect show is never played #by a woman. why is the calm collected cowboy who saves the day is never played by a woman?!! why is it that most times men play them?!!! #anyways i love ofmd. it's unique and just so fucking fun! #ofmd #ofmd s2 #our flag means death #ofmd spoilers #blackbonnet #tv shows #👑

[ladyluscinia]

I think they were so worried about not getting a season 3 they ruined both the viewers expecting one and the viewers who would've liked it to end there. they've created an easily destroyable status quo because of course something needs to happen to get everyone back together for season 3. so it's not even a happy ending; it's so fragile, it's designed to fall apart the second that anyone learns that the show is back on. i get not wanting to bank on having a third season and wrapping it up but like. Galavant did that and did it better. WITH THE HEROES RETIRING AND THE TWO MINUTE MARRIAGE CEREMONY TO BOOT. But it gave an outline of where the plot might go from there and how the adventure will continue if it gets to. And it never got to, and season 2's ending is good because it's not /fragile/--it's not a cliffhanger, but you get the idea that they could keep going from there still. whereas this one didn't want to be a cliffhanger so much that they created the most breakable new status quo in history and if there is a season 3 it'll immediately be undone and I'll probably still watch it but like I'll /know/, y'know? They could fix everything in the first episode of season 3 and I'd still have to know that at one point, this was considered an acceptable outcome.

The thing that is driving me absolutely insane is they DID NOT HAVE TO DO THIS!

There's so many people looking at it like "well it's a shame that 2x08 clearly had to cram several episodes into one for budget reasons and it made the development weaker but that's the situation MAX put them in" and I cannot emphasize enough how much that is not true.

MAX did not break it to them after episodes 2x01 - 2x07 were written and half filmed that they would have to wrap up the whole plot in 30 minutes. Like absolute worst case scenario they had 10 eps mostly written and budget came back 20% over and they had to reduce to 8 total. More likely they knew they were getting 8 from the start.

It is absolutely nobody's fuck up except David Jenkins and his writers' room if they were unrealistic about what character beats were needed and would fit in the timeframe to reach a satisfying wrap up.

Worries about no S3 were on the table the moment it took until JUNE to get confirmation of S2. This wasn't sprung on them. If they wanted their story to have a "just in case" happy ending and then a "fully realized arc" happy ending, they should have fucking acted like it???

I was shocked when the first three episodes that dropped were so hardcore on destroying Edward's relationships and laying bare exactly how deep his issues went. It only made sense to me if they were going all in on getting a S3 and prepared to spend all of S2 focused on the implications of all that, and then the not-even two week in-universe timeline of the season reinforced my understanding that was happening.

"Shame we don't have time for our main couple to even start addressing their relationship or having moments of self-realization and sharing their issues," says guy who decided to make the first half of S2 about adding more problems on top of well established ones from S1 and the second half of S2 about throwing in a second breakup cycle instead of dealing with the fallout from the first.

Want Edward to end on a beat of feeling part of the found family? Well maybe adding a timeskip after 2x05 and then a crew chat in 2x06 where you make it clear he did an apology tour offscreen could help, but you also could have just not focused hard on him poisoning his relationship with every single one of them in the first place???

There's multiple different ways you can do Act 2 of a three act structure, and they did not have to choose one that ends on another dark cliffhanger beat or right at the open ended turning point toward growth? Like they didn't even do the one they picked in a way they could fit in their season. I feel like by the end of a struggles Act 2 both your protagonists need to have self-realized their issues and maybe had one conversation about it? Edward still wasn't talking about his guilt, and Stede wasn't talking about anything.

They aren't even at the turning point of growth and out of the backsliding / lessons learned era yet, that's why potential S3 will start on another backslide when status quo breaks and Stede starts "that's nice, dear"-ing Edward during the day and slipping out at night to vicariously listen to pirate stories or whatever (and they frame it like he's cheating).

We have two out of three seasons in a show that might only get two, and I feel like the characters have barely moved from their starting position.

Like idk maybe they are really good at coming up with character flaws - ex: Stede is repressed and bottles up his traumas until he mentally checks out / runs away - and just drawing blanks on how to believably "fix" them, but just going "well what if we just used this flaw to throw another miscommunication roadblock in their relationship?" is not getting them where they want to be.

The season was fundamentally designed against their stated goal and did not make what seem to be necessary writing concessions to the reduced screentime if they wanted their finale to land as an even plausibly happy ending. It's hollow.

And possibly not even salvageable in S3 since they aren't demonstrating the skills to salvage it.

#our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd 2x08 #david jenkins #ask #ladyluscinia #ofmd meta #ofmd critical

[damn-stark]

Chapter 17 Kill of the night

Chapter 17 of Sugar

A/N- ITS TIMEEEE!!!

Warning- Swearing, ANGST, light fluff, violence, blood, spoilers, SLOW BURN, long chapter.

Pairing- Choso x fem!reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader

Takes place during- 2x08, 2x09, and the beginning of 2x10

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“What do you think of Satoru Gojo?”

You move your chess piece first and then look at the camera to answer honestly. “Well, he’s my older brother and my clan leader. And he’s a good brother because he didn’t cut me off my inheritance.” You grin brightly and shift in your seat to face the camera better. “And I think he’s great with my daughter. He’s a good uncle. And…” you sigh softly. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren't for him.”

You nod with content but then realize. “Wait,” you interject with a slight panic. “Is he going to see this?” You stand up to get closer to the camera, but the camera person gets startled and steps back nonetheless.

“Because if he is then he’s annoying,” you try to backtrack what you just spilled so he doesn’t get all smug about it. “And,” you add. “He's not as funny as he thinks he is.” You hum and shoot the camera a tightlipped smile.

“What else?” The camera person asks.

You slowly knit your eyebrows in confusion and probe. “What do you mean, what else?”

You stuff your hands in your oversized blazer coat pockets and continue. “That’s what I think…unless you want this to become some kind of video diary.” You laugh softly. “But I’m afraid that’d boost his already high ego, so that’s all I'm saying.”

“Do you think he’s strong?”

You scoff. “Obviously,” you sass as if that wasn’t already an obvious fact everyone knew. “He’s the strongest.”

——

“You’re late,” Satoru complains.

You finally pull your eyes away from the man with the two buns and see the attention of the two curses span over to you.

“About time,” a gravelly voice that belongs to Volcano Head interjects with a menacing smile. You ignore him though and drift your gaze back to your brother to offer him an unapologetic smile.

“Sorry I was dealing with stuff,” you announce nonchalantly and slowly make your way towards the two curses and the man who looks like he doesn’t want to be here whatsoever; he looks like he got dragged along by his friends there.

“You’re always giving me crap about being late,” Satoru argues back with a bit of spite.

You stop a few feet away from the opposing side and find yourself looking back at that cute man from before. And much to your surprise he actually meets your gaze, and the moment he does he slowly straightens out his shoulders and raises his chest as he draws in a deep breath. And it's now as you’re taking a deeper look that you realize that his eyes are that perfect shade of brown. Not too dark and not too light, they’re that rich color like when the sun hits them, only the sun isn’t shining inside. It’s like he’s carrying the sun in his eyes.

It’s a silly observation perhaps, but that color is one you can easily find in a sea of dullness and blandness, it’s your favorite color after all.

“Hello?” Your brother snaps your attention back to him. “I said 8:40.”

You put your hand on your hip and counter Satoru. “You’re always late! Not just occasionally, always! Like this morning, ‘Oh let’s go eat breakfast for your birthday at 9.’.” You mock him and roll your head to the side as you grow annoyed all over again by this morning's predicament. “You got there at 11! Eleven! Two hours later!”

You both know full well what's lying in front of you, you know they’re a threat and want something, but you’re practically teasing them, acting like this is above you as you try to gather intel on what's around you.

“Yeah,” Satoru breathes out and nods slowly. “Well I’m your older brother and your clan leader, so I get an excuse.”

You glare at him and step forward. “So what?” You sass him. “I have daughters, I was dealing with my daughters, that’s an excuse, not whatever bs you just muttered.”

Satoru tilts his head and presses on that with slight concern. “Oh? Is everything okay?”

You sigh and nod. “It’s Nanako and Mimiko, they're fine. They’re just testing this rebel phase.”

Satoru scoffs in amusement. “Well, perhaps they get that from you, you ran away with—”

“Hey!” Volcano Head cuts in loudly. “I’ve had enough. Are you two going to continue yapping or face what’s in front of you? Because we can find some entertainment if you don’t care about us.” He chuckles and looks up.

You follow his line of gaze and take note of how many people are looking down at the scene, you see some of them point at you as they begin to recognize you, but rather than seeming star-struck, they seem confused and afraid. And you can’t blame them, for some people, there’s only three of you down here and some kind of barrier keeping them in, while others see the two curses and their terrifying complexion whilst knowing that something isn’t right.

Nevertheless, you look back at your brother, and even if you can’t see his eyes through his mask, you both share a taunting laugh over Volcano head’s comment. And that only works to piss him off.

“Well,” you rebuttal and point at him. “You guys called us over here, so the question is what do you want?”

Suddenly as if to answer your question branches cover the ceiling gap overhead to block an exit strategy that neither of you were going to take.

“You don’t need to do this,” Satoru says after a sigh. “We won’t run. I mean if we ran, you guys would kill every human here, right?”

Rather than answering, the curses and the guy stay quiet, making you share a confused look with Satoru considering this is why you’re down here in the first place, for them! And now they’re quiet.

“If you ran, huh?” Volcano Head speaks again, which is a real pity because you want to hear what the guy's voice sounds like.

Just out of curiosity.

“…the correct answer is…the correct answer is…” Volcano Head trails off and raises the wooden cane he was carrying to burn it to ash just as the gates over the tracks open and spill humans inside, causing your vision on the targets and your brother to obscure.

“Whether you run or not,” Volcano head finally finishes.

You stay where you are and ignore the chaos beginning to ensue around you as the people begin to get annoying and start to get in the way and continue to make commotion.

“Y/N!” Some civilian shouts before they throw themselves on you. “What’s going on?!”

They look at you as some savior, as a comfort in this chaos, but you can’t give them that with two special-grade curses and an unknown curse-user beginning their move against your brother and you. Thus, you rip their arm off your shoulder without looking at them and gently push them aside.

“Stick to the sides or get up, or you’ll die,” you say bluntly and meet Volcano Head’s threatening gaze as he glances at you and then back at your brother before he basks his hands with cursed energy.

You don’t bat an eye and watch him as begins to charge towards your brother whilst also lighting people in the way on fire. The white and tall curse follows after him, leaving you and the guy to face each other a lot closer.

“Blood Manipulation,” you hear the guy say in a deep and husky voice as he crouches down and crosses his arm over his chest. “Slicing Exorcism.”

A blood manipulation technique? So is he a Kamo? Only the Kamo clan inherits that technique. Unless this is some different variation of it?

But now that you’re looking at him closer he can pass as a Kamo. One you haven’t heard about or met before though.

Regardless, you know some weaknesses of a blood manipulator thanks to your family. Which is why, just as blood spills out from the mark across his nose and forms a red blood orb, you lift your chin and watch as one blood orb shoots out towards you in the shape of a sharp line, while the other shoots towards your brother. You proceed to wait for it to get close to you, and just before it can hit you, you hastily maneuver through the crowd and stand on a different side.

“Smart,” you throw at him and catch him by surprise.

The guy shifts around and takes a moment before he finds you hiding behind people. “I could say the same for you,” he snaps back.

You smile faintly, place your hand on your hip, and tilt your head slightly as your curiosity gets the best of you. “I haven’t heard about you in any of the reports, who are you?”

The guy puts his hands together and counters nonchalantly. “No one you need to know.”

“Aw shucks,” you quickly quip with a feigned smile. “You’re breakin’ my heart, honey,” you lull out, making his dark eyebrows furrow and the corner of his lips twitch. He then proceeds to mumble something and another blood orb appears.

Once again you wait and just before it can hit you, you move out of the way. This time though you use the air to boost you up so you can sit on top of the gates and look down at the guy. Plus from higher ground you can see Volcano Head and the other curse try to amplify their domain and neutralize your brother's technique. However, of course, it doesn’t work, and Satoru zips up with ease, causing both curses to crash with each other and send out a wave of dust and dirt that you manipulate to swerve past you.

“I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours,” you direct at the guy, making him twist around on his feet to find you sitting ever so calmly on the gate above the tracks.

“Leave him alone,” Satoru cuts in, and when you look over at where his voice comes from you see him landing on one of the gates further down the line. “You’re annoying.”

You pout and roll your eyes away, noticing the guy narrow his eyes on your brother as if he were annoyed by what Satoru just told you.

“Makes sense,” Satoru addresses your rivals. “I suppose you would think of that after allying with curse users.”

You swing your leg over the other and rest your hands on the gate so you can sit back while you wait for a response.

However, instead of hearing something come out of their mouths, Volcano Head suddenly rams his hand through a random man’s chest. And normally you don’t care whether non-sorcerers live or die, but today it bothers you that they’re killing them because you don’t know what they’re after exactly. It’s getting on your nerves.

“I thought I told you not to run. Can you not understand unless I do this?” Volcano Head retorts and then burns the body to ash.

“Man,” Satoru mutters with a smirk playing on his face. “Honestly, I’m shocked.”

“What?” Volcano Head asks with a menacing grin that lets you see his black teeth. “Making excuses?”

“Not at all, baldy” your brother counters as he reaches for his blindfold to pull it off and show off how scary his eyes get when he’s pissed off. “I’m saying I’m shocked that you ever thought you could beat me if this is all you got.”

You begin to smirk and lean forward.

“Hey there, Weed.” Satoru points at the tall white curse. “This is the third time we’ve met, right?” He asks rhetorically. “And you still underestimate the hell out of me. I’ll kill you first.”

“Do that,” Volcano Head interjects and looks over at you. “And I’ll kill your sister in front of you.”

You scoff only because you're being dragged into this for no reason. This is the first time you’ve ever met them!

“I’d like to see you try,” Satoru says without sounding affected by the sudden threat to your life. “Anyway, come on,” he taunts the white curse before he hops down on the tracks to be at their level. “Bring it. What’s your problem? You’re the ones who said not to run, right?” He mutters and walks over to stand in between them.

And the moment he stops walking, Volcano Head and the white curse throw their fists at Satoru. However, just before they can hit his barrier, Satoru captures Volcano Head’s wrist and flips him over his back with one strong yank.

The white curse thought it was going to hit your brother, but it manages to swing its leg over Volcano Head’s face instead. And rather than letting Volcano Head’s wrist go, your brother straddles his arm.

Albeit, you don’t get to see the outcome because, from the corner of your eye, you see a blood-made arrow shooting toward you. You only barely miss it by jumping down to the tracks.

Even then, the arrow follows you and swings at your side, but before it can hit you, you manage to gather water from the sweat rolling off the people standing around, and the water specks in the air, and use that as a shield. And just as you predicted the blood arrow flops to the ground and pools around your feet.

“You know,” you jab at the stranger coming to view as people begin to clear a path towards him to try and avoid him. “I was not going to bother fighting you, but,” you scoff softly. “If you want to play. I’ll play along. Just a warning,” you say in a sweet and threatening voice as you slide a foot back. “I like to play a little rough.”

The guy glares at you and puts his hands together again. “Well then,” he utters in a low voice that suddenly sends chills down your spine. “I won’t hold back. For your sake, I hope you can keep up.”

You smirk and to avoid wasting too much energy you reach for your pocket to pull out a blade from the worm hidden in your pocket. This makes the guy blink with surprise, and you smirk before you begin to stride over to him.

“It’s okay,” you interject teasingly. “Don’t worry, you won’t hurt me.”

The guy huffs and rather than shooting another arrow at you, he pulls his hands away and fists one hand to grow two claws out from in between his knuckles before he also begins to stride over to you.

When you meet halfway you both swing at each other, but you end up clashing your blade against his blood claws.

“Do you always talk this much?” He sneers.

You avert your gaze and shake your head. “Only to the people I like.” You glance back at him to flash him a smile, and the gesture ends up making him falter for a second because he glances at your smile and swallows thickly.

You take advantage of this moment and fist your other hand to quickly use your air technique to punch his throat and knock all the air out of him before you make him fly back. Before he can hit the floor though, you travel your cursed energy down through the dirt and rip off a piece of the wall to hurl at him and throw him across the platform so he can land at the other train tracks where your brother went while you were dealing with this guy.

When you jump onto the platform and run over to the other side you’re impressed by the fact that the guy was quick to recover and was faster to attack your brother.

Albeit your brother obviously blocks his blood attack, and the following one made by Volcano head. However, the hit Volcano Head made was powerful because it makes the lights flicker off.

“Are you sure about this?” Your brother asks through the darkness.

The hue from the Curse’s cursed energy they use to try and attack your brother brightens up the tunnel, letting you see them, but not the guy you were previously fighting.

“The more you try to neutralize my technique with your domain amplification,” your brother explains. “The stronger I have to maintain my technique. I don’t think this asparagus has the energy left to withstand that, do you?”

Volcano Head begins to get pushed back by your brother's utter strength before he turns to begin shoving the white curse back. Not with hands, he doesn't even strain himself whatsoever, he just uses his technique to begin squishing the white curse against the wall so hard it begins to bleed out.

Yeah you know he's strong, you know what he can do, but it never fails to amaze you. You have to admire it for a second and let the awe pass before you try to go in search of the guy to at least knock him out and have him stop being in the way.

However, before you can walk off, Volcano Head suddenly zooms to you and plants his palm on your torso. “Satoru Gojo! Look over here!” He yells

Before you can blink or breathe, fire engulfs you from your torso up. The bright flames blind your vision and don’t let you catch a glimpse of Satoru’s finishing act.

Yet the flames are not painful, they don’t burn your skin or turn you or your belongings to ash. You’ve worked hard to make your fighting attire resistant to some degrees of fire, and your technique protects you from burning to a certain point, so the flames unraveling over your flesh are like kitten licks.

Volcano Head is so focused on his dying friend though, that he doesn’t see you putting your blade away to manipulate his own flames and have them crawl over your body and gather in your palms.

“Was that light show supposed to impress me?” You break your silence sassily.

Volcano Head straightens out and just as he turns his head to face you, Satoru exorcizes the white curse with a bright explosion of his technique that returns the pitch darkness for a second before all the lights finally flicker back on.

“How?” Volcano Head gasps as he sees you’re unscathed.

Your eyebrows knit together and you hum in confusion. “Hm? You mean you didn’t know?” You inquire. “You invited me here, aren't you supposed to know?” You tilt your head and look at him with a fake pitiful look.

“Next?” Satoru seethes as he looks back with a menacing glare.

“Tell me,” you taunt and hold Volcano Head’s gaze. “Should I let my brother handle you, or should you and I give it a shot? I like to play with fire too. Albeit,” you mutter and grab his wrist. “You’re not my type, so it won’t be much fun.”

Volcano Head’s eyes narrow and he begins to scowl so hard that steam begins to come out of his volcano head.

“LIAR!” He bellows and actually gets you confused for a moment.

“Huh?”

Volcano Head then proceeds to grow another fire orb on his palm, making you smirk and begin to consume those flames as you still hold his cold wrist.

“What,” he sneers and looks down at your hand and catches your flesh and veins glow as the fire he summons seeps into you. “What are you doing?!”

You narrow your gaze and he adds more fuel to his fire, but you keep stealing his flames. And this time the flames begin to wrap around your arm, making Volcano Head look at you with bewilderment.

“Impossible,” he mumbles.

You glare at him and snicker. “Oh, honey, you have no idea.” You begin to grow a fire orb on your other palm using his own flames and yours. You also mix in the air around you and the fire grows more wild.

Volcano Head tries to pull back, but fire begins to spill out of your fingertips and burns his flesh, leaving marks before smoke rises as his blood and his flesh begins to boil and melt, letting out his horrendous stench.

Albeit that doesn't stop Volcano Head from continuing to try and outmatch you, something you can’t allow to happen. So, you clench your jaw and flick your hand off his wrist to blast the fire orb out through his stomach.

And since he can control fire like you he’s more resistant to your technique and ends up flying back as your fire grows wild and untamed and blasts him back, missing all the non-sorcerers in the way by mere inches. But when Volcano Head catches his footing he manages to dig his heels in the ground and slides back. Yet you're not done, your fire suddenly roars out before it explodes and creates a gap through Volcano Head’s chest.

“Underestimate me again,” you sneer and storm over to him whilst you make both of your arms glow as the flames lick your flesh underneath your skin. “Please.”

Rather than standing his ground, Volcano Head runs away, hiding between the crowd and throwing random civilians at Satoru and you as he runs past to jump back on the platform.

“Handle the other one,” Satoru tells you as you both stalk after Volcano Head like a ravenous wolf pack hunting their prey—“I’ll handle this jackass,” he finishes in a threatening voice he only uses when he’s really pissed off.

“Understood,” you agree without protest because the truth is you do want to face the mystery man. You were promised a fight after all weren't you?

Which is why you jump back on the platform and maneuver through the crowd to try and find that mystery guy.

Volcano Head hurls people at you thinking they’d be an inconvenience, but you just swerve them and continue to stalk through the bodies with the fire racing through your veins dying out. He then shouts, but you don’t hear what he says because someone grabs your arm, causing you to look over with disgust and shock.

“What’s going on?” The non-sorcerers voice quivers.

You glance at their hand and grab their wrist as if it was toxic and drop their arm to back up. “Just…” you struggle to keep up appearances. “Hide.”

The non-sorcerer nods rapidly and stumbles back to try and shift around. However, before they can move away, you see a blood arrow shoot out of its head, causing you to snap your head to the side.

Alas, the edge of the blood arrow still skids inches away from the corner of your eye, cutting the side of your head like a sharp blade would. Yet you don’t let it affect you, it stings, but it doesn’t hurt terribly. You feel blood trickling out of your wound and his blood mixing with yours, but the wound itself doesn’t feel too deep. Now you know that he isn’t far away from you though, and thanks to the clear path left by the people he killed to reach you, you know exactly where he is.

Not only that but thankfully, the people around you try to avoid Satoru and you, so they leave more of an open field, but not a clear one. Albeit you don’t want a clear path, nor do you take it, you continue to hide between the bodies still polluting the platform to try and get to the mystery guy.

“An eight-car train is pulling in,” the announcements overhead startle you and make you freeze where you are. “Please wait behind the yellow line.”

Your eyes widen with disbelief and confusion, and you quickly search for your brother through the crowd. Luckily he’s as tall as an overgrown beanstock, so you find his unique blue eyes amongst the crowd.

“Satoru,” you mouth and hear the train sound its horn in the distance before you hear its screeching tires against the metal tracks.

Your brother points his eyes across from him, so you follow his line of gaze and catch the guy's buns sticking out between the bodies of people. Which means your brother wants you to keep going to him.

Perhaps somewhere less crowded though, right?

You look back at Satoru and see exactly that; he points his eyes up, telling you speechlessly that he wants you to move your fight away from this floor. Or as far as you can without hitting the veil.

Albeit just as you take one step towards the mystery guy you hear the train screech to a halt so you stop again and slowly peer back. And of course, what you see isn’t surprising considering what’s currently unfolding.

Happy fucking birthday to you! Of course, there’s curses overfilling the train.

Some of the non-sorcerers don’t realize what’s waiting for them though, not until it’s too late and the door opens and spills out all the horrifying curses like something out of a nightmare.

Like something out of your nightmare more like, you swear you’ve had nightmares like these when you were younger.

“Shit, shit,” your panicked gasps mix with the yelling and storming of the curses as they run out and chase after people. You proceed to pick up your pace and push people aside to reach this fucking guy. And luckily, thanks to everyone running away you come face to face again.

“I was promised a fight, yeah?” You raise your voice to be heard over the commotion. “So why don't we give each other another shot?” You taunt him because in order for you to give him all you got he needs to be more threatening. He looks intimidating, and his cursed technique and his fighting so far are impressive, but he can’t be above a first-grade sorcerer.

You can’t waste your precious energy on him, no matter how hard he fights, who knows what you might need it for after all. Because something tells you this is going to be a long night, so again happy fucking birthday!

“I thought you wouldn't care,” the guy rebuttals.

Your lips tug to a smirk and you manage to mess around with him. “So you’ve been thinking about me?” You touch your chest and bat your lashes. “I’m glad.” You actually smile.

The guy swallows thickly, and you see his chest rise once again.

Nevertheless, before you can walk to each other, people run past you, and your attention gets stolen by the branch ceiling from before, breaking and dropping a dozen more people on the platform.

And you usually have no remorse for non-sorcerers, but right now you feel a flicker of pity. Yet you can’t say you think too much about it because you quickly look back at the mystery guy and see him trying to make another attack. So just as he’s about to throw his blood out to cut through people and to try to hit Satoru and you, you quickly summon air to your palm and throw your arm out to lash the air at him.

Your technique slices his side as if cut by sharp razor blades and interrupts his actions before he can execute it, making him scowl and dart his gaze around the platform for the cause until he finds you.

You don’t shy away, nor do you try to hide right away, you shoot him a smirk before you lean over on one leg and then spin around to strut over to the stairs, hoping he’s tempted and pissed off enough to go after you.

You don’t look back to check though, not until you reach the stairs. And just as you hoped, you see him take the bait and follow after you. So, you flash him a flirty smile before you pick up your pace to reach the top of the stairs first and then run and hide in the shadows to make him come find you.

At first, you thought he wouldn’t follow and try to find you when he saw the platform empty, but you soon hear the heels of his boots hitting the ground.

That’s all you have, the sound of his footsteps. It’s not enough to catch him off guard, so you push yourself out to creep towards the sound of his footsteps. When you spot a glimpse of him your lips tug to a smirk, and you slow down to follow at his side without him noticing.

And rather than giving yourself away at that moment, you first interject quietly so it seems like you’re far away, but loud enough so he can hear. “You know I can tell that you’re a new guy with this…insidious group, so I’ll give you an offer.” You smack your lips and stop as he stops to try and locate you by your voice alone.

“I help people,” you continue with sincerity. “People like you. I have a community for sorcerers, I can help you. It’s not too late.”

The guy's eyebrows furrow deeper and you see his nose scrunch while his eyes falter in their search for you to glance at his hands as if debating.

That’s what you want, debate. Think deeply about it. Consider it.

Nevertheless, you know better, the guy quickly snaps his eyes up and turns his head in your direction. You quickly hide behind a screen advertisement and flow your cursed energy to the ground to shake the ground on the guy's other side.

“I can feel the ground tremble beneath my feet,” he says in that nonchalant voice. “It’s a matter of time.”

You smile as you manage to trick him, and when you peek out you see his back to you so you rip off a piece of the ground and hurl it at him.

However, he’s more prepared this time, his reflexes are fast and he quickly manages to throw his arm up to shield himself, managing to break the piece of dirt and cement with just the raw strength of his blood-covered arm. Which is super fascinating. It’s impressive.

“Answer me this,” he breaks his silence and slowly stretches his arms out to meet his palms together. “Where is Yuji Itadori? I will not rest until I kill him.”

So he’s after Itadori too, huh?

You might just have to kill him or immobilize him. At least until you find Yuji Itadori.

“Well then I hope you have high stamina,” you retort and begin to slowly stalk forward as he keeps his back facing you. “You’ll have to be waiting for a lifetime before I give that away.”

The guy huffs before suddenly his blood that you don’t even see slices through the space ahead of him, causing the ceiling to crumble, the wall to break, and the ground to crack and fill with debris. When he sees that you aren’t hiding ahead of him he slowly shifts on his feet, so you quickly charge at him. And just as he turns his head to look at you, you reach him and jump up on his shoulders.

And just before he can reach back, you swing around his shoulders to face him.

“Gotcha,” you whisper and secure your legs around his neck before you begin to elbow his head with hard thrusts.

“Tsk,” the guy groans and then slaps his hands on your waist and embeds his fingers so hard on your flesh that you know it’ll bruise.

You ignore the stinging though and keep slamming your elbows on his head hoping this will paralyze him.

However, you quickly find out that your hope is pointless, he's resilient, and he begins to stumble forward until he reaches a wall and slams you against it, making you falter and groan in pain.

The guy then backpedals and tries to repeat his actions, but you grab the buns on his head and yank his head to the side so hard his buns come undone and his brown hair cascades down to his shoulders, making you falter and blink repeatedly whilst you feel something hot beginning to brew in the pit of your stomach.

“I thought we said to give each other all we got,” he says through gritted teeth. “Do it or kill you.”

You hum softly, and can’t help but offer him a cocky smile before you slap your hands on the sides of his head and summon fire to your palms, causing the flesh and veins protected under your skin to glow. You then start to burn him with fire, making him seeth, and slither one hand to your throat before he slams you against the ground so hard that the air in your lungs is knocked out, making it hard to catch your breath and to react any other way.

Not only that but your back is throbbing now, it hurts like a fucking bitch, it feels like he broke the damn thing and not in a good way. That or you’re getting too old for all this shit.

Nevertheless, when you have some sense in your body, you scratch your nails across his face so hard it cuts his flesh and makes his grip on your throat falter, letting you pull your leg back to kick him back.

The guy doesn’t end up far, but he’s far enough that you can flip around and finally gasp for air.

Was it enough though? No, because he quickly strides over and grabs you by your ankles, and drags you back. And that action, that simple action, slams you with panic as an old fear rams through and triggers what you had suppressed a long time ago.

“No, no,” you mumble between pants as a memory from 12 years ago flashes in your head about that non-sorcerer that tried to gut you like a fish, and have you turn to curse.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” you sneer, but not at the guy really, you’re more talking to the man who only lives in your memories and nightmares now.

Regardless, footsteps approach you so you flip around rapidly and imbue your flesh with flames whilst you also wrap your arm with the air in the room. As the guy gets close you throw him a powerful right hook over his jaw so powerful that he goes flying back, and crashes against the wall so hard that his body creates a crater behind him.

You don’t think it’ll keep him down. It hurt him, but it didn’t kill him. Yet you’re still a bit frazzled so you push yourself to your knees and grab your chest as you take deep breaths for a moment.

Deep breath. Deep breath. You’re not there. It happened 12 years ago. He’s dead and can’t hurt you anymore. He’s dead, breathe. Breathe.

You swallow thickly and force yourself to get over it to get up and keep going as if nothing. And the moment you find the guy, you see him pushing himself off the wall with a dislocated jaw, blood running out of the corner of his mouth and his nose, while strands of his hair stick to his skin glistening with sweat. And you try not to, but your heart skips a beat.

“I’ve got to admit,” you interject and slowly lick your lips. “It’s been a while since someone’s kept me on my toes.” You scoff softly.

The guy holds your gaze and rolls his jaw back to place in such a cool way that you nervously swallow back.

“I’m impressed,” the guy says in a less threatening and nonchalant voice. He actually sounds sincere, so you take it to heart even as you break into a stride towards him.

The guy doesn’t falter and heads to you too. When you get close enough you throw the first punch, but he blocks you with his forearm and immediately rebuttals with his own swing.

Albeit you mirror his previous action and block him with your arm. And so you don’t lose traction you swing again, but he manages to block you again.

That should make you change your next move, but you keep it the same and he doesn’t change either so it ends up being a small cycle; you swing and he blocks, and then he swings and you block, almost as if you’re coordinated with each other. It’s not until you swing for his face that you trick him and swing your other fist to punch him in the gut.

The guy groans and stumbles back, so you go over to actually swing at his face, but he catches your fist with his hand and swiftly pulls you to him before he twists you around and wraps his arm around your throat, making you reach over to grab his arm as he squeezes his grip.

And in reality, the entire action sequence should bother you, but again you feel a warmth in your stomach while your heart skips a beat again.

“I have to say,” you mutter with a soft laugh. “You’ve got my heart skipping a beat.”

You feel the guy's chest rise as he draws in a deep breath after your comment. You feel his breath unfurl over the tip of your ear as he exhales, you feel his warmth as you grab onto his toned forearm, and barely manage to feel the rapid thumps of his heart beneath his chest as he presses you against him. He parts his lips, but he doesn’t say anything, you just hear his lips smack.

Now you should get out of his grip, it would be easy to do so, but you feel a bit mischievous so you take the long way out and first roll your head back to meet his gaze with a soft smirk.

The guy doesn’t falter and holds your gaze as you stand closer than ever before. He doesn’t attempt to move either, you look into each other's eyes and for some reason, just for a moment, it feels as if you finally found something you didn’t know you lost. You feel that satisfaction that you get after finding what was lost. It’s odd, but good at the same time.

What might he be thinking you wonder now too as your own mind runs with weird feelings. He’s not moving and he’s holding your gaze, so maybe you should move first. After all, you don’t have all day, you need to go back to Satoru, and then get out of these veils to check what’s going on before going to find Itadori.

Thus you ball your hand to a fist and slowly raise it to catch him off guard. However, you quickly freeze as you see the guy's eyes widen, and notice that his nonchalance turns to shock. He proceeds to gasp before he slowly slips his arm off your neck, letting you take advantage of this opportunity and slam your fist against his face.

The guy flies back with the power of your swing, but he quickly finds his footing and slides back on his feet.

Now you expect him to react and counter, but he just looks at you with his eyes widened and his lips slightly parted in shock, as if he just saw something unbelievable.

“Honey,” you say in a silky voice that makes him blink and causes his eyes to slowly soften which makes that sun in his eyes brighten. And it all only confuses you more, but you don’t question it, you continue. “I didn’t even hit you that hard.”

The guy's usually clenched fists fall, and his tense shoulders ease.

“Okay,” you whisper. “Uh, well, I’ll say this, no hard feelings for what’s about to happen. I need to go back to my brother and I have shit to do, so,” you sigh and rub your aching throat, whilst you fist your other hand and summon air to gather under your fist. “If you change your mind about my offer, call me or text me.”

You nod and see the guy part his lips but nothing comes out again, so you throw your fist out to blast the air at him.

The moment he gets smacked by the blast of air he knocks out before he slams against a wall.

Now you can finally leave.

Yet before that, you pull out a contact card from the worm hidden in your pocket and walk over to the unconscious guy to tuck it into his pants pocket. “Maybe we’ll see each other again,” you murmur to him as you study his pale and calm-looking face. “I—”

You cut yourself off as you’re suddenly hit with a realization about who he might be…a Cursed Womb—no the only Cursed Womb currently living, Satoru says Itadori killed the other two, so is this Choso? Or one of the other two after him, 2 or 3? You didn’t catch the other cursed wombs' names so you can’t name them, you’re sorry for that. You only know the first one, Choso. So is this him?

If it is, he turned out to be…a very beautiful man; very muscular, with nice hair, and pretty eyes. Still, albeit, you can’t say it would change anything as long as he keeps wanting to kill Yuji Itadori. So you'll leave him be and hope he changes his mind soon or else you’ll have to kill him.

As for now though, back to Satoru.

The station hasn’t exploded so he hasn’t needed to go to extreme measures. You can't hear any loud commotion either no matter how close you get…which is actually concerning, it’s a bit too quiet for your liking.

But maybe it's quiet because he’s handled the situation? He said he almost killed Volcano Head before so it shouldn’t have been so hard. Patch face was there though, he’s tougher.

But Satoru probably has it under control. Hopefully. You don’t want to deal with that thing, he sounds creepy and annoying…

Alas, when you slowly start climbing down the stairs you begin to see people not moving from where they stand. You can hear chatter from a voice that sounds oddly familiar but it’s not Satoru’s.

When you get further down you notice that people are in fact frozen with their eyes mindlessly looking at the ceiling, and drool trickling down their chins.

There’s many reasons why this could be happening, but there’s only one actual hard possibility, and that is that this happened because of Satoru’s domain. The curses are all gone too, so it was probably because of his domain.

Oh, well.

You climb down to the last couple flight of stairs and search for any sign of your brother. And luckily you catch a glimpse of him right away, along with…

No…

It can’t be…He’s dead. You heard Satoru impale that knife through his chest. You heard him take his last breath. This can’t be him….

But your eyes nor your mind can deceive you from recognizing that dark, long, and soft hair you’d brush and run your fingers through. And Satori inherited that same beautiful hair, you can’t ever forget that. And that Gojogesa? He’d wear that almost every day to pass as a Buddhist. You’d recognize that gold-colored kasaya garment anywhere. You still have that stupid thing, you cling onto it like a security blanket when you miss him or when you feel lonely.

But it’s that voice. This person talking is not Suguru Geto. It can’t be Suguru Geto. It can’t be your husband and the father of your daughters. You’ve grieved him for the past year, you stopped crying for him every night only a couple of weeks back. And even though it’s hard to admit… you’ve moved on because you had to. Sure sometimes—a lot of the times you reminisce about your past with him, but he was in your life for 12 years. 12 years! How can you not?

It’s why you know something is wrong now as you hear him speak, and especially as you see your brother trapped by some flesh-made restraints in front of him. Because after all, no matter what, they loved each other. Do you think they’d hurt each other? Yes, but only for a good reason. So this?

What reason is this? Suguru wanted to rid the world of non-sorcerers. Okkotsu is with Miguel in Africa, and there’s nothing here he’d want, not even Sukuna. So having Satoru restrained and on his knees is for what exactly?

Plus…Suguru would’ve come back home. If not for you, for Satori and the twins, right? If not for you, for them, right?

Oh god….

Your head hurts, and your heart aches all over again. This can’t be him….no, no, no, no!

It’s getting hard to breathe again…you can’t breathe.

You grab onto your chest and take deep breaths. You continue to look at…Suguru, or whoever this is you see, but it makes breathing harder, so you take a moment and find yourself looking at your brother.

Satoru quickly finds your eyes past the crowd of limp corpses, whilst Suguru yaps away with Patchface standing next to him, and Satoru very lightly shakes his head with a hardened and serious look in his bright blue eyes.

There’s only one thing he can mean by that, but how can you leave him like that? Him! He’s strong, the strongest there is so to succumb to whatever has him restrained must be tough, so he needs you. He needs you and you need him. Now more than ever because you feel that fear you’d feel when you were little, it’s back again as you see the man standing before him, that man who looks like Suguru Geto but doesn’t talk just as softly as he did.

You need your brother, so you ignore him as he shakes his head again, and quietly climb down the stairs. When your feet hit the floor you don’t hesitate to push past the limp bodies in the way. Yet when you get past them and stand behind Suguru, you freeze slightly and begin to feel relief beside your disbelief. You feel joy slowly start creeping in.

Your heart and your mind flash warnings to not let yourself feel any kind of warm feelings, but you can’t help it. You love him.

“Suguru?” You whisper softly.

Patch face peers back first, and the man before you straightens up and hesitates a little before he slowly turns and faces you with a wide, close-mouthed smile that makes his eyes tiny. A smile that he’d never give you in a moment like this, not after being apart for so long.

“My love,” he greets sweetly, and that’s when that blinding bliss you were just feeling comes crumbling down because he’s never called you that. Never in your 11 years of dating did he ever call you that. Not even after you got married, or after you had Satori.

So who is this man disguising himself as Suguru Geto?

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A/N- Kenjaku really thought he’d fool the Gojo’s.

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154

#fanfiction #damn-stark #chapter 17 #sugar #jjk #jjk fanfiction #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen fanfiction #jujutsu kaisen fanfic #choso fanfiction #choso #choso kamo #choso x fem!reader #choso kamo x fem!reader #choso x reader #choso x you #choso x y/n #jogo jjk #gojo satoru #kenjaku jumpscare #mahito #choso kamo x reader #choso kamo x you #choso kamo x y/n #geto suguru fanfiction #geto suguru #slowburn #choso x gojo!reader #choso kamo x gojo!reader #Satoru Gojo x platonic!reader

[dinneratgrannys]

ONCE UPON A TIME 2.08, Into the Deep

#ouatedit #regalbelieveredit #henrymillsedit #reginamillsedit #once upon a time #ouat #regal believer #henry mills #regina mills #s2 #2x08 into the deep #dynamic: regal believer #event: rewatch 22 #i've always loved lana's delivery of this line #these two have plagued her for her entire life but in this moment she knows it's the only thing that can comfort henry #i'm emotional

[heddagab]

ONCE UPON A TIME Regina makes a sleeping curse in 2x08 "Into The Deep"

He’ll be…asleep. And in there, he won’t die. Gold’s explaining everything to him right now.

#ouatedit #once upon a time #regina mills #reginamillsedit #regal believer #regalbelieveredit #rbs2 #ouat 2x08 #ouatall2 #tvedit #myedit #Look at her she's so happy when she's doing magic 🥺 Let her be!

[carlos-in-glasses]

2023 Writing Round Up

Thank you for the tag @heartstringsduet @reasonandfaithinharmony @jesuisici33 @chicgeekgirl89 @thisbuildinghasfeelings @theghostofashton @orchidscript @welcometololaland @ladytessa74 @strandnreyes @reyesstrand @alrightbuckaroo

Rules: Share what you wrote this year! It can be works you posted to Ao3, Wattpad, Tumblr, or anywhere else! You can share everything you wrote or just the ones you're most excited about.

15 fics this year! I have loved writing and sharing every one of them. Thank you to everyone who has read or will at some point. Work is a lot busier these days, so I don’t anticipate writing the same volume in 2024…but we shall see! I just want whatever I share to be good quality, and it’s my New Year’s resolution to keep improving. I love Tarlos. I love writing Tarlos fic. I love this fandom.

January

The Ruins of Wonderland – a reimagining of TK and Carlos getting back together after their breakup. I posted this on New Year’s Day, resolving to start 2023 off on the right fanfic foot.

Chasers – A coda for 3x13. TK talks to Cooper about his past, while Carlos goes for a swim and thinks about his own. When Carlos gets home, he and TK have an important chat. The rection to this fic spurred me on to continue writing in the flashback/vignette/timeline format.

February

Man to Man – A coda for 2x11 and 2x12, which also looks at Carlos coming out to his parents and where he is now with it all.

March

Afterglow of a Supernova – When fiancés TK and Carlos help Carlos’ high school crush and his wife during a call, they end up having a dinner with them that leads to jealousy in an unexpected way. The feedback I’ve had on this fic sent me to the moon on rainbows.

April

The Heart Behind the Shield – My first chaptered fic! I'd been wanting to write a 2x08 coda, but it was 4x04 that made it possible. This combines events from both episodes where there’s duality, and was an absolute blast to write and post.

The Light of Our Life – Listen, I wrote this during an extended lunch break and posted it the same day. For somehow it’s my fifth most kudos’d fic of the year…Thank you!!! We were all deep in our Lou II feelings at this time. Never forget.

Fire Island – TK and Carlos travel to Fire Island, where an older gay couple talks to them about their experience of the AIDS crisis in 1980s New York. This fic by far had the most emotional impact on me while writing it, and based on feedback it seems to be the same for readers(?) People have shared personal stories and memories with me since I posted this, and I just want to say I’m truly grateful for the response, given I wrote it in January but didn’t feel brave enough to post it for a few months.

May

With Infinity Folded Into It – Written for the @tarlosweeklyprompts Countdown to the Wedding event (prompt was: Love). After TK proposes, Carlos remembers the first time they said “I love you.” It’s fluff, it’s smut, it’s kinda angsty because Carlos is trying to bake and baking is stressful.

The Center of the Maze – Another written for Tarlos Weekly Prompts Countdown to the Wedding. (Prompt: "I Never Thought I Would Get This Day".) I thought this was going to be a 2k one-shot; it turned into 20k split into 4 chapters… Seven times they thought they would never get married, and one time when they actually did. I was super inspired and happy with the writing in this one.

June into July

When Soulmates Swim – The closest I’ll ever come to writing a sports AU (….or is it?👀…) Sparks and splashes fly when TK and Carlos each take up swimming while they recover from workplace injuries. I really pushed myself with smut and humour in this fic and the feedback I’ve had has been incredible. One of the most enjoyable writing experiences I’ve ever had, this fic holds a special place in heart.

Release The Hand to Relax the Animal – TK and Carlos explore the world of tantric massage in their own way. Written because Rafael Silva has madly attractive hands, and @heartstringsduet and I thought we should celebrate. You can read Michelle’s hands fic, Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life, Too, here. It is BEAUTIFUL.

(Nothing in August)

September

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines – A 3x08 coda, which also gets into TK and Carlos’ childhood memories of 9/11, and the way that event went on to impact their lives (to the point where it set them on the path to meeting each other). It recieved the most amazing comments, with people sharing their memories of 9/11, so like Fire Island this fic feels deeper to me in a social way.

October

Suddenly in the Silence – I’d ‘joked’ about the show giving us Ghost Gabriel in season 5, but a conversation with thisbuildinghasfeelings led me to explore that concept myself. In this fic, it’s up to the reader to decide whether they think the spirit of Gabriel is around, which made writing it challenging but a lot of fun. It’s so interesting to see what side people fall on!

November

Where All This Love Comes From – This is my Tarlos novel at ~90k words, due to finish posting in February. I began writing it in March, when a hefty amount of plot relied on Gabriel being alive after season 4. Substantial rewrites happened after May, which was pretty gutting at the time, but ultimately I think this has ended up being the best thing I’ve written so far in my life.

December

There is a smutty one-shot coming with a scream very soon…And I hope you like it!

I'm not sure who has already done this - tagging with no pressure if you want to share/haven't already - and open tag!

@cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @goodways @lemonlyman-dotcom @paperstorm @wandering-night19 @heartstringsduet @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @rmd-writes @rosedavid @chaotictarlos @lightningboltreader @taralaurel @three-drink-amy @redshirt2 @noxsoulmate @sanjuwrites @bonheur-cafe @liminalmemories21

❤️🩷🧡💛❤️🩷🧡💛

#writing round up #cig tagged #cig fic #my fic #tarlos fic #tarlos fanfic

[astro-in-prog]

Some Polin musings

I don't think people understand how truly excited I am for Penelope to drop her facade - because let's be honest here, squeaky-high-pitched-and-constantly-nervous-around-Colin isn't PENELOPE. It's so clear in Nic's acting too the way her voice and demeanour change in scenes with Colin.

The scene about LW and Gen made it extremely obvious that Pen is way more mature than we have seen so far. We get little glimpses of that around Eloise too when they are having deeper conversations.

Pen has what I think can be described as a crush on Colin and maybe a little bit more. I don't think it's love just yet for her either. As much as I love to joke about Colin being oblivious to his own feelings he is definitely not in love with Pen yet - although there is a deep sense of caring and understanding between them.

I think in Colin's head too Penelope is just the girl he grew up with. The outfits she's been put in (I cannot with the bows and sequins) haven't helped with challenging the perspective either. (But we somehow still got 'heart eyes and took my breath away' Colin.. Luke is going to be the death of me)

The biggest thing that the last scene from 2x08 will do is CHANGE the way Pen interacts with Colin. (I stand by my theory that she will give him a cold shoulder in a 'there needs to be distance between us' way and not in a 'how dare you not return my feelings' way.. she will be ticked off which she has every right to be but I don't see Pen ever hurting Colin's feelings or being rude)

This dynamic change reminds me so much of when someone you have a crush on says something that changes the way you look at them, it feels like you have been hit with a bucket of cold water and the feelings almost go away (ALMOST).

I can't wait to see Penelope be herself completely in her interactions with Colin without worrying about what he's thinking of her or just being hyperaware of all her words.

The closest we came to this was of course the purpose scene. It was one of the highlights of s2 for me because Colin is totally enraptured by what Penelope is saying (don't get me started on the blatant staring and heart eyes). Pen is being her unfiltered self and its amazing😭🤌🏼 Their chemistry is off the charts with just LOOKS?!

I just really hope we get both flirty banter (lots of innuendos, smirks and gossiping please!) AND deep conversations (about Colin's purpose and writing and Pen's reasons for wanting to get married and starting LW) between them because that's honestly the best part about the friends-to-lovers trope - actually getting to see their friendship evolve into love!

#polin #polin bridgerton #bridgerton s3 #bridgerton #colin x penelope #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington

[rebornrosess]

going to be terrifyingly sincere about greg for a moment here sorry but the dynamics between greg, logan & ewan are so fascinating to me and even if they can’t explicitly explore it anymore due to obvious reasons, this one short sequence from the funeral is soo catered to me specifically. even in death, logan overshadows ewan in greg’s eyes. and yet greg didn’t need to tell ewan that he gave a good speech. he could’ve given him the cold shoulder after he cost him his deal with roman. but he doesn’t. and either greg is in too deep that he doesn’t realize what ewan said about logan closing men’s hearts and feeding the dark, hard, mean, hard-relenting flame in them (that melts their wax wings in the end) was most likely pointedly directed at him (thus proving his point)—or maybe greg did a little bit. he still goes to mencken at the wake but he still tells his grandpa he did a good job. it was a good hard take that he gave.

i think of this a lot but something that truly sets him apart from everyone else is that HE’S at the intersection of the brothers’ decade old feud over family, betrayal, ambition, integrity, and greed—central themes of the show but also, crucially, to his arc over the last few seasons. he has that dual connection to the past that the others don’t. a past that has stayed nebulous for so long until ewan’s eulogy. in previous seasons, we’ve gotten some really interesting scenes with him in which ewan sees the danger of power and ambition for greg because he’s seen it in logan, but it would have been so interesting to explore it more between greg and logan too (like in 2x08 when greg tells logan ewan is cutting him out of the will. i like you greg). i do think that ewan’s point about logan and masculinity and meagerness in his eulogy is particularly relevant though. maybe ewan was saying “men” in the way old history books use “man” as the default, but the performance of masculinity at ATN is one best embodied by tom, which trickles down to greg, but is evidently shown in roman too. and he fed a certain kind of meagerness in men. perhaps he had to. because he had a meagerness about him. (and maybe i do about me too. i don’t know. i try. i try.) i selfishly wish greg and logan could have had more than just one scene together this season (even though logan attempting to emasculate greg by pointing out his lack of a traditionally masculine father figure as a final interaction is very funny). i don’t think my threshold for second-hand embarrassment could have survived an on-camera take of greg trying to explain the whole rummaging situation from ep.1 to logan but logan being oddly chill about it is. interesting???????? what greg wants, greg must have.

but before s4 at least, logan’s awareness of greg’s connection to ewan, his estranged brother, has informed their interactions and it’s always fascinated me because logan doesn’t quite treat greg like his own kid but he’s still a kid that he’s trying to win over by being “uncle fun” rather than “grandpa grumps.” logan last saw his mother at age 4 and greg has been on his own for some time now too. marianne made her first appearance since the PILOT in the before last episode of the fourth season. i’ve found his interactions with ewan reaaally interesting because the brothers didn’t come from wealth and, when compared to the siblings, greg didn’t either. the hirsch’s financial situation is never fully delved into but i’ve always found it a bit peculiar given greg’s inheritance is like. 250 mil he’s sleeping in a youth hostel and a chapel in s1 and tells his mom while on his flip phone that shiv took his last $20. at the beginning of s3 he’s helping his mom get a new credit card because she maxed out the last one. i feel like ewan did the celebrity parents thing where they don’t spoil their kids so they learn real world skills or something, which iirc is something logan regrets not doing. yet ewan also seems to regret his use of his wealth, which he voices in his eulogy when he states maybe he has a meagerness about himself too, but he tries, and is disappointed in men who do not try harder (and the camera pans to the siblings. ouch.) i sometimes wonder if ewan hadn’t withheld his wealth, would his daughter and grandson have become so desperate that they turned to his brother? or would they have turned out like the siblings too if they had enjoyed wealth since birth? are the throes of capitalism inevitable? marianne is the sibs’ first cousin but they never really acknowledge that. if anyone has thoughts on her absence and/or exclusion from the family tree, i’d love to hear them.

anyways. i could 100% be overanalyzing this but i do love how much information succession packs into each of their shots. greg will forever be seeking approval from both sides of a broken brotherhood and will never receive it from either. you beautiful ichabod crane fuck you. what greg wants, greg must have. i don’t want to see you hurt. one big happy family. “greg?” he’s an addendum of miscellaneous matters in pencil with a question mark.

#is this anything #i finally finished this draft that has been sitting in my drafts for weeks #sorry for being sincere about greg but it will happen again #i can make him interesting #he's a mishapen egg. not a full roy but not spared from fate either #greg hirsch #succession #media analysis #maya.txt