#post-life in snippets

[shortnotsweet]

In a Week by Hozier ft. Karen Cowley

“The raven is death, obviously. When I die, I want a good tombstone—something right spooky. LT’s got something against the underground, though you’d think that would be just his kind of place. That’s alright. He needs to, he can cremate me. It’s not exactly Catholic, and Mam would turn in her grave, but God is a unicorn and no one is pure anymore, so. What’s all that got to do with me?”

Johnny “Soap” McTavish has a journal. Had. It is his no longer.

Simon “Ghost” Riley had dreams—awful ones, the kind that sank claws into his lungs, dragged him into sleep, and then sent him careening out of it. He still has dreams, but they’re different, now. Better. Johnny’s pages have folded themselves under his eyes and gotten into his head, brighter and more infectious than anything else has ever been. It’s more than the past, that rotting carcass behind him, and more than now. Now is nothing. Now is ash. It’s like, it’s like—blinding, is what it is. He’s a blind man.

It is biblical now. Ghost has read it backward and forward and sideways and inside out. When he runs out of things to read, he reads them again, and when that is not enough, he reads between the lines.

#ghostsoap #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #soap x ghost #ghoap #call of duty #cod mw3 #my art #ghost is obsessed with soaps journal bc it breaks his heart at first like really tears it apart but soon focuses on what soap has written #about him. words of admiration and envy and love and fondness. real fondness. jokes made for him thoughts about him musings etc. #and johnnys snippets about his family and how he wants to settle down eventually #then all simon can think about is what life they could’ve lived together after the ‘war’ #nevermind that there will always be war be death be blood and love is there and it matters but it changes nothing #for simon there will always be johnny #who even knows if thats what soap wanted if he loved him back if ghost even remembers him as he was instead of what he wishes he could have #become to ghost if things had gone as they should. who knows. the dead dont sing dont speak. all thats left is what they wrote #the cigarettes refer to soaps smoking habit and how ghost disapproves like a nagging wife. the ash smudges and burns in the paper allude to #ghost deciding to have soap cremated as a spouse decides post mortem due to his own aversion to being underground bc he doesn’t want soap #to be nothing but a decomposing body. he couldn’t bear that. he couldn’t bury him alive or dead so burning it is

[fallstaticexit]

A day in the life of a Guardian - Guardians are the sole protectors of Fae troupes. Guardians often lead several troupes with various offsprings and mates. Today, Aries visits one of their troupes. ✨ Text under the cut

Guardians are the sole protectors of Fae troupes. Guardian often lead several troupes with various offsprings and mates. Today, Aries visits one of their troupes.

Aries sires 6 offsprings: Lynx (Young Adult), Syrus (Adolescent), Kree (Adolescent), Zan (Youngling), Cypress (Youngling) & Iri (Infant).

Aries has two mates; Pine and Olev, who is expecting their 7th.

Guardians sire multiple offsprings to ensure the vitality of their kind. They will engage in an intimate conception ritual with their chosen mate in the Glade, the safehaven for Fae magic.

Guardian choses their mates based on how skilled they are in things like hunting, crafting, song and dance. Once chosen, they are mates for life.

Socializing plays a vital role for young Faeries; hence, a sibling is often born shortly after a Faerie's birth. Being apart of a large troupe is essential for their survival in the mortal realm.

Faeries are known to be peaceful but can be a threat if provoked. Because their young is so vulnerable, Guardians will kill to protect them.

Hunting is a bonding experience for adolescence Faeries. They hunt together, typically lead by an elder until they are skilled enough to hunt alone. They’ll hunt small animals, such as rabbits and birds, and always perform a release ritual to return that animal’s spirit back to nature.

Young adults often remain in their troupe until they are ready to start one of their own. The offsprings of Guardians are the most successful at leading their own troupes.

Fae magic ensures a bountiful harvest wherever they reside. If a troupe abandons their home due to being hunted, nearby crops and gardens often die off from the lack of magic in the soil.

Young Faeries strengthen their magic through play. Unlike Spellcasters, Faeries can begin using magic at birth.

Guardians' mates never harbor animosity towards each other. They all share mutual respect and contribute to the prosperity and joy of the troupe.

That said, having a non Fae lover can be...complicated.

#Fae lore #A day in the life of Aries #If you can imagine why Nora ended things with Aries this post can provide some insight lol #picture this: it’s your first date and your date casually mentions having 20+ plus kids. #oc lore #I plan to do alot more of these little snippets of lore between updates #like filler episodes #sims 4 #sims 4 simblr #sims 4 stories #ts4 simblr #cotf tag #cotf lore series

[desertduality]

He looks for her. He had seen her fall, in that brief moment before the zombie had distracted him. She’d been telling the truth, about that. He follows her over the edge.

He calls for her. It's not over yet. He looks for her. It can't be over yet. He hasn't died.

He can smell the faint scent of ozone and scorched earth as he jumps down into the hole. Is she hiding? Running? It is far too late in the game for that. Pearl knows that. She wouldn’t. But then where was she?

He stands there, sword in hand, calling her name. She doesn’t answer.

The wind picks up, blowing at his cloak and knocking his hood back, revealing grey-streaked hair. His skin prickles, the feeling of eyes on the back of his head, and a quiet voice finds its way into his ears.

“She’s dead, Scar,” Grian tells him, echoey and distorted and everywhere. “You won.”

Oh, he thinks. 

Winning had never really felt like an option, to him. He had made too many enemies and too few friends for it to feel like something within reach. No one had been on his side, and he was still the only one left standing, alone in a trench with a zombie. He kills it on autopilot at the last second, still half waiting for Pearl to pop back out and stab him. 

But she’s dead. He won. 

It’s quiet.

Scar pulls himself up out of the trench, his clothes stained with blood and dirt, and he looks out across the field. All he can hear is the wind. The world is all craters and ghosts and empty bases, eerily still. He stumbles on his first few steps forward, about as injured as it gets. His own base is right there, right to his left, and he spends a few slow seconds staring at the sunflowers, all facing him. The wind blows, and he moves on.

He passes by the empty grave of Lizzie. They like to pretend, sure, but there are never any bodies. People die, and it’s like they were never there at all. Pearl is dead, and there is nothing to bury but his guilt.

The Secret Keeper looks the same as always, untouched and pristine and looming. It’s waiting for him to press the button. He’s succeeded, after all. 

Scar stands there, staring blankly up at the statue, and remembers the days where they would all gather around the button, laughing at their ridiculous tasks. There’s not even an echo of it left. The blood is drying on his hands, and he is cold, and he is still alone. 

“The villain’s not supposed to win,” Scar tells the Secret Keeper, voice hoarse and emotionless. “You got the story wrong.”

The Secret Keeper does not reply. 

Scar presses the button.

#as a writer here is my obligatory SCAR WON snippet ASJDDKSJ #i am so insane i have been losing it all day #what world am i in what time is it #i don't know if this is worth posting on ao3 akjsdjk this might be tumblr exclusive #goodtimeswithscar #my writing #actual post #gtws #secret life smp #secret life #secret life spoilers #traffic spoilers #spoilers

[bts-trans]

230923 RM's Instagram Post

Picture Translation:

2:23 PM Thumbs up Jeiji: Hahaha yes 2:24 PM What's so important about Oppenheimer? All you need is a love like plutonium

Picture Translation:

To live as an artist is to do. You either do or don't do, it can only be one of the two.

That is why the idea of doing something badly doesn't make sense. It would be like saying "I'm not doing a good job of being a monk". You can either be a monk or not be a monk, one of the two.

We tend to think of an artist's artwork as an end result.

An artist's real work is the way they exist in the world.

Picture Translation:

4'49" Pace 29:39 Time 6.01 Kilometers

Trans cr; Aditi, Annie & Eisha @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

#230923 #rm #namjoon #instagram #insta #post #photo #reading with namjoon #little snippets of life #bts #bangtan

[prince-liest]

I wrote 4.2k words so far today! What did I work on?! Let's guess!

a. 666

b. Once Bitten, Back For More

c. A completely unrelated pre-radiostatic-breakup era PWP that I won't be able to post until June because it's for an event week

Hahahaaaa....

#personal #I blame aislin #hazbin hotel #my writing #writing snippets #it'll be posted june 11 #which will be nice actually bc that's the day after I move into my new apartment so I'll be busy with life stuff #but still get to post something before I start residency #anyway I wrote the whole thing in one sitting yayyyy lmao I'll edit it tomorrow

[dollsuguru]

gojo writers i now Formally understand the joy you all feel when writing about him

#truly. satoru always has Endured every single waking moment of his life #having someone recognize that and NOT fault him for it??? it’s not only what he needs but what he DESERVES #i’m just waxing poetic abt everything i admire about satoru like he really is my favorite man ever #he’s so cool to me i just think he’s the best lil guy out there #and i like the idea of his selfishness/selflessness #bc i think it’s a real fine line and idk if i WOULD call him selfless but then honestly sometimes i would absolutely call him that #he’s soooooooo multi faceted and people don’t give satoru the credit he deserves #he has so many amazing attributes i can’t wait to talk abt them in this fic #it’s midnight and once again my talent of willingly posting when dash is dead is a talent and also part of my charm <3 :3 #personal #snippets

[bobamochis]

#a snippet of post-hell sunset finfin turning pink and serenading me #finfin #fin fin #fin fin on teo the magic planet #i know that i can only post tiny shitty videos and they're not very good but i just want to share a fraction of the magic of this you know? #the experience of just sitting here #trying to game the system to get a pink bird #and while it happens he sings to me so joyously #life is good.

[roomwithanopenfire]

Six Sentence Sunday

Happy Sunday Everyone!! Thanks to @monbons for tagging me, so excited for the next chapter of your fic!

I've been having a really good week, I finished up all my finals and all my papers, and I moved all my stuff out of my dorm room—meaning I'm back home now and ready for summer! I have two weeks before my main summer job starts, so that means a lot of time for writing! And I've already gotten a start by having a super productive week writing-wise this week as well (finally got some solid work in on my COBB fic, turns out getting some vampire name inspo from @fiend-for-culture and seeing the first peek of the artwork really brought back all my excitement for this wip!!!)

I'm posting the newest chapter of Proof of Life tomorrow, which is one that I'm super excited to share. Unfortunately, this is the last chapter in my backlog, so I'll have take a small posting break after this, but that just means that if you haven't had a chance to start reading yet, you have time to catch up 🙃

But even more exciting news! I realized that I missed the 2 year anniversary of the first fanfic I wrote for this fandom! After reading all three Carry On books, I absolutely devoured fanfiction for probably around 6 months before ever writing my own. And the only reason I wrote anything was because I had a scene absolutely stuck in my head, and no one else had written it yet. So honor of being a month late to it's birthday, here are 6ish sentences from the first fanfic I wrote: Tense Silence (under the cut because this is already getting long):

“You’re a vampire.” says Simon. His voice came from above me. “You really are.”

I look up to see Simon standing, staring down at me. He has the Sword of Mages in one hand and the silver cross dangling in the other. It is very close to my face. I turn my head away. He moves the cross closer. I close my eyes as I smell the metal hanging merely centimetres away from me. 

“You tried to bite me.” He says. “You really tried to drink my blood.”

As you can see, I started out the fandom almost exactly where I ended up—writing angsty vampire Baz fics. While there's some things that I would do differently now and a few noticeable mistakes (Simon's cross is gold not silver, Past Lily, get it right!), I'm still really proud of this fic. I remember spending weeks working on it and being very nervous to post this 6k fic, so it's definitely kind of crazy to look back it and see how much I've grown as a writer, and how many friends I've made in fandom since then.

Tags & Hellos!

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe @facewithoutheart @run-for-chamo-miles @raenestee @artsyunderstudy

@onepintobean @prettygoododds @noblecorgi @hushed-chorus @angelsfalling16

@thewholelemon @shrekgogurt @brendughh @a-maisie-ng @hertragedyconnoisseur

@beastmonstertitan @valeffelees @horsesarenotdeer @drowninginships @supercutedinosaurs

@fiend-for-culture @rimeswithpurple @cutestkilla @alexalexinii @ileadacharmedlife

@arthurkko @rbkzz

#no snippet from proof of life today :( #but i trust that you all are excited for the chapter anyway #and if you haven't started reading it yet you should!! #it's my favorite thing i've written so far! #six sentence sunday #tense silence #my writing #kind of crazy that about two years ago i had written no fanfiction #and now i have over 150k words posted #snowbaz fanfiction

[ariadne-mouse]

the usual

Shadowgast, Rated G, 573 words, prompt: late night takeout

-

"We should perhaps take a break."

"We are getting somewhere, though." Caleb stood and cracked his back. A topographic map of papers, open books, and component jars was laid out on the floor before them.

"We are," Essek agreed. "But if we keep going, it will be several more hours before we pause a second time, and I may begin chewing on parchment to sustain myself."

As if on cue, Caleb's stomach gave a loud gurgle. He ruefully put his hands on his middle. "Ach, you've woken the beast. Well. I suppose you are right. Do you have food here, or should we go out?"

Essek straightened his robes and neatened his hair with an effortless wave of Prestidigitation. "The night is warm. Let us walk. I know a place." He twisted a ring on his finger and his image shimmered, though to Caleb - who wore a second, matching ring - he still looked like himself.

("You know it is an Empire tradition to marry with an exchange of rings," Caleb had teased him, accepting the plain copper band. Only a Detect Magic would reveal it as enchanted. Essek had looked a little embarrassed, but shrugged it away. "I only wish for you to see me as I am. You don't have to take it." And Caleb, warmed, had put the ring directly on his finger and it had been there ever since.)

Caleb followed Essek through the streets of Nicodranas, which were not vacant even at this late hour, but peaceful and welcoming by the presence of others strolling by to enjoy the balmy air and the stars.

After twenty minutes of walking in companionable silence, they came to a storefront whose cheerful interior made it appear as a lantern in the dark. Steam and smoke fled the chimneys on the roof, and the clank of pots and pans and the murmur of people's voices from within broke the spell of nocturnal calm that wrapped around the rest of the city.

"The usual, please," Essek said to an attendant who opened a side window, releasing a billow of air fragrant with herbs and spices. "And... your special for today."

Twenty minutes more, and they were sat on a wooden bench nearby with cheap clay pots in hand, heavy with broth, vegetables, fresh seafood, and translucent rice noodles.

"Your usual," Caleb teased.

Essek raised his eyebrows and did not reply, as he was busy transferring a cascade of noodles into his mouth with chopsticks. They finally vanished with a less-than-dignified slurp. He patted his mouth with a handkerchief. "You have cilantro in your beard. And a bit of oil."

"Oh. Would you?" Caleb tilted his chin forward. Prestidigitation washed over him a moment later. The tingle of it continued down the back of his neck and to his collarbones. Caleb laughed. "I did not have soup all the way down to there, did I?"

Essek sniffed primly and busied himself with his next bite, humor tugging the corner of his mouth.

When they were done, the clay pots set aside to return to the bin at the back of the restaurant, they simply sat there for a long time, watching the passers-by on the street. The warm air wrapped around them, every so often carrying a hint of the sea. The stars glimmered above.

"This was a good idea," Caleb said, Essek's hand in his. He lifted it to brush his lips against the back of it.

Essek smiled. "I know."

#thanks for the prompt jess! <3 #critical role #tumblr snippets #shadowgast #ariadne writes CR #my personal interpretation is that shadowgast probably wouldn't focus on something like marriage in their actual post-canon life #so it's fun to sort of write around its outline to show that they don't need vows or formality to be as close as they are #(note - this is not commentary on what people should/shouldn't write in fic! i've written them married in other ficlets)

[myymi]

one day i'll have a complete fic for wholesome wednesday again,,,

but today is not that day, so im just going to post a snippet and rb my wholesome fics again lmao

Sonic had gotten fairly good at reading the kit. And right now, he could tell his story had hit a very miserable chapter from the way his tails twirled around one another. 

“What’d up, keed?” Tails squeaked, startled by the hedgehog’s voice. Sonic's brow furrowed as he studied his big, blue eyes. There was something hidden in them. 

“H–Huh?” The kit asked quietly, which the older did not like. Sure, it wasn't unusual for the little guy to be quiet, but it felt different. 

“Something’s on your mind.” Sonic said, curling his fist with the intention to press his knuckles against the fox's head. “You alright, little guy?”

But Tails flinched away before he could make contact, “N–No, nothing.” He shook his head, deciding that his shoes were much more interesting to look at than the hedgehog. “It's okay.”

“Hey,” The teen frowned as he crouched in front of the kit, careful to keep his movements slow. “You don't gotta tell if you don't want to, but don't lie to me.”

“S–Sorry,” Tails apologized quietly, cupping his paws in front of him as he shrunk into himself under the hedgehog’s gaze. 

And that's exactly when Sonic realized the small shaking. 

It wasn't cold out. Even if it was, the fox's fur coat would be more than enough to keep him from shivering. 

Tails was scared. 

#i almost couldn't find a snippet to post ngl #i haven't been able to write much lately #so naturally that means my motivation has skyrocketed #life man 😔 #ill get to write again eventually #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #sth #wholesome sonic and tails wednesday #wip fic #wsatw

[varpusvaras]

Leia had loved sleeping in her parents' room.

It was always like a little adventure, like something they weren't really supposed to be doing. Like a secret of some sorts, even though she was never unwelcome to their room either, not really. Sometimes they wanted privacy, but if she truly needed them, Leia knew she was always welcome.

It had exciting, to crawl under the bigger blankets and put her pillow in between theirs, and listen to them talk to each other in low voices as she drifted off.

In the dark, she could see the soft, golden glow on her Mama's chest. It was never too noticeable during the day, with the sunlight being so much brighter, but in the darkness of the night, Leia could see it.

It had felt almost magical, in a sense. Mama never minded if Leia burrowed herself against her, hands splaying across the glow. Leia knew that it was because Mama had gotten hurt, but it had been a long time ago now, and the glow was a reminder that she was alive, that her Mama was alive and was still the Queen despite it all.

Leia's Buir's back also glowed the same, soft gold in the dark. It started as a line from where his neck and the back of his head met, and travelled down, all the way to the small of his back, like his whole spine was made of the glow.

When Leia had touched it, her fingers landing at his neck, her Buir had flinched away.

She had not understood it back then, not the sudden flashes of fear that had felt almost like her own. She had flinched away herself at them, and had spent the night on her Mama's arms, while Papa had taken Buir into his, and they had spoken in hushed tones even as Leia had finally fallen asleep.

She had asked about it, carefully, the next morning.

"Buir got hurt, once", Mama had explained.

"You got too", Leia had said. "You're not afraid when I touch you where it glows."

Mama had looked almost sad, then.

"It's a different thing", she had said. "It's been a long time for me. I've forgotten most of it, no matter how much it hurt back then. It was an accident, after all. But sometimes-"

She had looked Leia in the eyes then as she spoke.

"-sometimes, when you get hurt when someone else hurts you, it's much more difficult to forget. He's a bit sad for scaring you like that last night, so do talk it out with him today, alright?"

"Of course", Leia had said, and then thought what her Mama had just said some more. "Did someone hurt Buir?"

Mama had been quiet for a moment.

"Yes", she had answered, finally. "Don't worry. He is safe now."

For some reason, for a reason Leia could not explain, she thought that her Mama had sounded afraid.

Leia hadn't wanted to believe that she would ever lie to her, so she had not said anything. She had climbed to her Buir's arms, later that day, and he had not felt afraid or sad anymore, so eventually, Leia had almost forgotten all about it.

But not completely, no, and she remembered it all too clearly now.

"No."

"Leia", Buir gave her a look, even though his voice was still level and calm. "Don't be too harsh on Luke. He needed to do it, in order for him to succeed in reaching him. He couldn't have anything weighing on him at that moment. He needed to do it."

"But I don't!" Leia tried to breathe, to calm herself down. "I don't have to do it! Luke can't ask me to do it!"

"I don't think he is truly asking for you to do it", Buir said. "Most likely he is just asking you to see his point of view."

"I do see his point of view", Leia said. "I also wish that he understands my point of view, and understands that I will never forgive him. He is not my father. You and Papa are, and he hurt you."

"He did", Buir said. "How would you feel like, if I told you that I have forgiven him?"

Leia looked at him. It was maybe unfair, to look into his feelings as well, but she was tired and angry, and she was especially tired of people in her life trying to soften their feelings for her sake.

"You don't mean it." She knew she sounded like she was accusing him. "Not completely."

Buir sighed, then shook his head.

"No", he admitted. "Not completely. But I am still walking, am I not? I am alive and standing on my own feet. Is that not what's truly important?"

Leia thought about it for a long moment, before she could be sure of her answer.

"Yes", she said. He was still there, in front of her, as tall and strong as he had always been for her whole life.

"It's a start, then", Buir said, and smiled at her. "For both of us. The last thing I want is for you to be angry for me, for the rest of your life, when I am happy."

It had been a long time since Leia had let herself be just her parents' child again, instead of a Princess, a Rebel, or a General. But now she hugged her Buir back tightly as he held her, and let herself be free of it all, of everything else than what was most important.

#I had the image of both Breha and Fox having the same glow given from the medical treatment they received #but just on the other sides of their bodies #and how differently they would feel about them #it's been over 20 years for Fox now at the end too #he has so many other important things in his life that he doesn't have the time to be angry anymore #not that he has to forgive Vader for it but he is happy with his life #this also got a lot longer again lmao #sw #tcw #my writing #snippets #post order 66 au #Leia Organa #Breha Organa #Commander Fox #Bail Organa #bail/breha/fox #Star Writing

[marsafter-dark]

More Bloodweave being freaks for each other because these past few weeks have been rough (ft. everyone’s favorite freak, Ascended Astarion 🔞)

#bg3 gale #gale dekarios #bg3 astarion #bloodweave #bg3 #astarion x gale #ascended astarion #my fanfiction #my writing #you thought they were freaks in the last post #but they’ve only gotten worse #and it’s not evident in these snippets but I feel the need to say that I believe in the supremacy of chubby Gale #it will become evident later 😌 #one of these days these will make it to my ao3 #I just have to actually finish them #I think control and power must be so important to ascended astarion #a man whose almost never had control in all his life #the chance to prove to himself that he is more than cazador tried to make him #but he do be playing into that generational trauma tho #it’s okay shhh just read the smut let’s ignore the angst

[zealouswerewolfcollector]

247 words, T

Warnings: Mentions of cannibalism and self-cannibalism

On Ao3

“Here, let me,” Fingon said.

He took the knife from Maedhros’s unsteady left hand and sliced the apple in half. He gave one half to Maedhros and bit into the other one.

“Rescued again,” Maedhros teased. “This time without losing a limb.”

Fingon grimaced and noisily swallowed the apple.

“I have not apologized for it,” he said. “Believe me, if there were any other way—”

“Oh, I know. No great loss. That hand would never be of use again anyway.”

Fingon looked thoughtfully at the apple. “I meant to ask,” he said. “What happened to it? It looked… ravaged.”

“Well, I am sure you noticed there was not much to eat on the mountain,” Maedhros said. “The fingers were weakened and easy to bite off.”

Fingon slowly chewed the apple. “I see,” he said.

Maedhros tilted his head. “You do not look as horrified as I thought you would be. Have you also chanced to consume your own body parts?”

“Not my own.”

“Oh.”

“I suppose we should be grateful for the apple,” Fingon said after a pause. “Even if it is sour.”

“I am," Maedhros said. "My fingers were not as fresh. I would be even more grateful if you brought me another one, seeing that you ate half of mine.”

“Of course.” Fingon rose to his feet. “We cannot have you bite off the fingers of your only remaining hand, can we?”

Maedhros snorted and tossed the last bit of the apple into his mouth.

#silmarillion #fingon #maedhros #silm fic #zwc fic #sorry for another cannibalism snippet #this one is very different in tone though #i come i post a slightly unhinged fic i leave #sorry real life and trsb have consumed me

[plusultraetc]

I love them your honor pt 2

#this screenshot is saved as 'all might life ruiner' on my laptop lmao #i need to stop posting snippets of this fic before i end up posting the entire thing in pieces on tumblr #liza writes #erasermic #yamada hizashi #aizawa shouta #q

[rosaacicularis]

“i kill you, you comfort me. how is that fair for you?” grian’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, distress, a thousand emotions he couldn’t begin to describe.

“you were upset about it,” scar answered, like it was a simple question, like it wasn’t every single thing on grian’s mind.

“i killed you, scar, with my bare hands,” grian pleaded, trying to get scar to realise that he was a monster, with blood under his fingernails, caked into the creases of his knuckles.

“and i’ve already forgiven you,” scar smiled softly, sadly. “and i’ll continue to forgive you for it until you understand that i don’t blame you, that i don’t think it was your fault.”

#here #have this <3 #im clearing out my drafts of all the old snippets i’ve accumulated <3 #scarian #third life #desert duo #trafficshipping #hermitshipping #grian #gtws #snippet #fav posts less than three

[stellamancer]

niku (for the ask game) i wish you’d write a fic where reader is in grad school with gooj……..maybe a lil academic rivals to lovers….

gRAD SCHOOL WITH GOOJ.... and you can't just say MAYBE A LITTLE academic rivals to lovers to me. i cannot have just a little it MUST BE A BUFFET. 

UH ANYWAY. so actually, as someone who only did their undergrad, i had to ask the grad student i do know about the difference. and they actually ended up feeding me ideas. i can't take credit for their brilliance though.

> if theyre academic rivals to lovers then maybe theyre sharing an elective class that has a group project and theyre in diff groups

and also:

> well my apartment building has laundry in it > but imagine reader hauling their laundry to a laundromat n running into gojo > id shit > gojo sees u hauling ur laundry and follows u inside to bug u abt ur group project (separate groups btw) and he just sits there while u shove everything into the machine hoping he doesnt see ur underwear

i think being in separate groups for a group project would be fun. so uh, full disclosure i think i went kind of off the rails and i DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS ANY MORE. but uh. it got terribly self indulgent is and is just short of 5k which is is insane. so uh. yeah hahahaaHAHAHAHA. <- laughing to hide my tears.

anyway, as for my own idea. so uh, please ignore me for laying down some groundwork HAHAHA. so, reader and gojo ended up attending the same university for undergrad. it's a very prestigious school with a famously low acceptance rate (for reference, gojo was recommended for admittance and took the entrance exam for the funsies).

reader, who was used to being the top student, is somewhat surprised that, upon the results of their first major exam being posted, they are not first but SECOND. briefly, and I do mean briefly, they're kind of like ‘well this is a really prestigious school ofc there would be insanely smart people here that could best me’ but then they find out that the person in the top spot is satoru gojo.

and said gojo is known for being a filthy rich, insufferable slacker and because of that reader has no respect for him and gets MAD. especially since they've also heard the rumor that he's attending school for shits and giggles. so they study extra hard to try and knock him from the top spot only to wind up in second place AGAIN and the cycle continues.

gojo, on the other hand, doesn't really notice reader until a little later. he knows their name (he knows everyone's names) and that they're second place but he doesn't really pay them mind until the professor for their class has a ta conduct a free study period because they have a personal emergency to attend to. gojo gets very excited over this because it's finally his time to really shine as the top student in the class. he expects his classmates to flock to him for help with class material, and while a couple students do ask him for help, those who don't form groups of their own gather around reader. it doesn't bother him at first and he attempts to teach the students who have asked him for help but they don't seem to get it. which frustrates him a little. how can they not understand? Eventually some of them thank him for his attempt but go to ask reader and gojo is a little huffy about it. 

actually he's pretty huffy about it. 

after class, he approaches reader who is a bit 😑😑😑 at him because it's gojo, and he. Well. 

“must have been pretty nice having everyone ask for your help,” gojo remarks, derisive. “even though, i’m top of the class.” you scowl, annoyed. “well, maybe more people would have asked you if you were better at explaining things.” a couple of your classmates had mentioned asking gojo first, but couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying. when you asked them to explain, you were able to understand, but only because you could reverse engineer his methods.  gojo shrugs, “not my fault they couldn't understand.” your jaw ticks. what is he on? “they asked you to help them, but you couldn't; of course it's your fault.”  “maybe they should have tried harder!” “maybe you should have tried a different teaching method!” you hiss before stomping off. 

and that's honestly the first time anyone has really argued with gojo in…. Well not a while, but the only one who ever challenges him like that is suguru. and he actually approaches suguru about the whole thing later and suguru basically agrees with what reader was saying which, gojo ultimately concedes to. 

so, he, begrudgingly, takes a different approach when the next class study session happens and is met with better results. gojo tries to gloat about it to reader but all he gets is a flat “good for you” and it upsets him because he worked hard, you know, he adjusted for everyone instead of everyone adjusting to him (like he's used to because he's a spoiled brat) and while it felt super good that so many of his classmates actually understood what he was saying this time he wanted reader to acknowledge him the most. 

again, he whines to suguru, who actually finds this all very funny, and suguru gives him a pat on the back too, but at this point gojo has become determined to have reader approve of him. 

which means gojo goes out of his way to interact with reader more but, is met with annoyance or hostility and normal people would just back off but not gojo. like he'll congratulate reader on their high score on the exam and reader will tell him to shove it and initially it kind of makes him mad (especially since reader is very cordial with literally everyone else) but eventually he starts to find it kind of fun to get a rise out of reader the way he does. (I think initially he thought the class was kind of boring but then he gets to look forward to antagonizing reader wtf is his problem). 

he does not get the approval he wants though, so at some point, he decides to double major— with one of his majors being the same as reader’s. this only bothers them more since now they see him MORE and he seems to handle the double major stuff flawlessly. 

anyway, reader doesn't manage to get better grades than gojo in any class by the end of their undergrad and gojo doesn't get the approval from them he craves. 

(I think there's an incident where one of them is accused by a jealous classmate of some form of academic dishonesty and the other defends them but I haven't decided on who. whoever it is though, probably starts to develop Feelings)

graduation comes and reader thinks that they are finally free of gojo, thinking he will go into the work force so he can ultimately take over the family company, bUT HE DOESN'T HE GOES TO GRAD SCHOOL. and reader is just appalled. like what the actual fuck. and so once again they have classes together but the only upside is that it's less often (since me grad school friend said that classes are more infrequent).

I like the separate group project idea so we are going with that. reader is fine with being a separate group from gojo until he’s all smiley at them and is like ‘looks like we’re competing again and reader is just like ‘fuck my stupid baka life.’

actually I feel like I put too much development thought into undergrad oh well. 

so since there is more free time in grad school so I'm thinking reader gets a job. maybe working as wait staff at a restaurant…. a fancy one. and gojo finds out when he goes there for a gojo family business dinner thing. reader has to keep a straight face and ignore gojo’s smarmy expression and how hot he looks in a suit (the suit is fan service for me).

during part of the dinner gojo excuses himself to go to the bathroom and happens to see reader joking around with a coworker. he's never seen reader with that expression before and gets a little annoyed/jealous (the jealousy is also fan service for me). 

gojo brings up reader's job next time they see each other for class saying he didn't know and reader's just like ‘why would I tell you?’ which makes gojo realize despite being academic rivals for years he doesn't actually know much about them. 

I think at some point they have a convo where reader is just like ‘why are you even going to grad school when you don't need to’ and gojo says that he doesn't have a lot of time left to do what he wants before having to fulfill his duties as the gojo family heir and he's the going to grad school because he wants to (keep seeing reader). reader actually feels bad for him when they realize the magnitude of the expectations placed on him and in this convo he mentions that competing with reader in school has made his college life fun. I think at this point gojo realizes he won't get to really see reader after grad school is over and that makes him sad. 

Mmmm. Maybe. They make a bet at this point gojo bets that if reader's group does better than gojo’s on the project he'll grant them any one desire they want and while reader is like ????? at first he explains that because of who he is he can do anything with his money and/or influence but if his group does better then reader has to do anything he wants and they’re like okay yeah sure whatever rich boy.

so reader does their best to encourage their group mates to well on this group project (which i have decided has a presentation at the end of the semester… it is a nice long semester long project). i’d say most of them at know of reader and gojo’s rivalry (or at least about gojo) and they’re pretty amenable to trying to show him up. 

over the semester stuff happens, you know extra relationship building stuff, with gojo constantly asking about the project. he'll occasionally annoy reader at work (and maybe try to shoo away the coworker he thinks is interested in reader), bug them at the library, drag them to dinner after class and. idk. despite gojo becoming less of a rival and more of an annoyance, reader starts to get endeared to him.

just as finals week, when they have to do their presentation, is approaching, reader is at the library and their laptop just. stops working. and they start to freak out because even though a lot of stuff for the project is saved to a cloud storage, they still have some things saved locally. gojo happens in as they're having a meltdown and calms them down and tries to assess what happened to the laptop. and like. 

you feel like you can't breathe. the realization that you've lost hours upon hours of work weighs down on your chest. can you possibly do it all again with what time you have left before the presentation? 

no. 

it's not a question of whether you can or can't: you have to, if not for you, then everyone else in your group. they're depending on you; you can't let them down.

“hey.”

if you call out for your next couple of shifts and pull a couple all nighters, you might be able to redo everything.

“hey.”

it won't be pleasant, but you have to do what you have to do. you don't want everyone to worry, but you should at least let them know what's going on. the thought of messaging the group chat, though, fills you with dread. 

someone flicks your forehead and you let out small cry. “what the hell!”

gojo looks petulant as ever and you remember you have to deal with him too. could this get any worse? his finger presses against your forehead as he asks, “tell me what happened.”

“i told you. it stopped working.”

“be more specific.” 

you groan, “just…. the screen went black and I pressed the power button but it wouldn't turn back on but it sounds like it's on.” 

gojo hums and leans down over the table, pressing his ear to the laptop. he hums again and nods to himself. “i think I know what's going on.” 

“are you the laptop whisperer or something?” you ask flatly. 

“something like that,” he answers nonchalantly, flipping the lid closed and pulling out his phone. he starts typing on it one handed. “but I think most people call it being computer savvy.”

“are you saying you can fix it?”

he shoots you a cocky grin. “who do you think you're talking to?”

you ignore him. “well?”

he huffs. “i can't believe you're doubting me here.”

“gojo…”

“just trust me, everything will be fine!” he says and starts to pack up your laptop. you protest but he doesn't listen. “but we need to have the operation at my place.” 

you scowl. “gojo, i’m not—”

“you don't have to come if you mind leaving your laptop in my care,” he shoots you a saccharine sweet smile and you scowl in return. he knows that you won't just let him take your laptop with him. crafty bastard. 

“ugh, fine,” you relent. 

gojo snickers in satisfaction and starts to call someone as you gather the rest of your things. from what you can hear, it sounds like he's calling his driver. 

ten minutes later, gojo is ushering into the sleek black car that he gets driven around in. you expect gojo to talk your ear off during the ride to his place, but he's oddly quiet and glued to his phone. you're curious, but you decide it's better to not ask. 

soon enough you're both dropped off at one of the tallest high rise apartments you've seen in your life. gojo casually taps his phone to a panel by the door and walks in with you scampering after.

you want to be surprised when you both ride the elevator to the top floor, but admittedly you're not. of course gojo has a penthouse apartment, why wouldn't he? not only that but it's wildly high tech— you can only imagine how much it must have cost… 

“you hungry?” gojo asks as you both enter his spacious living room area. “i can order something; anything you want— my treat.” 

the offer startles you, but reflexively you shake your head. “no, i’m fine. i—”

“sushi, then,” he decides with a nod. 

“wait, no, i—” you start to protest, but gojo is already fiddling with his phone. “gojo, really, it's fine, i’m not hungry.” 

“oh too late, i already ordered.”

you sigh as he flashes you a conspiratory grin. well, you suppose it wouldn't hurt to have some when it arrives. free dinner, maybe, you guess. “okay so, how do you intend to fix my laptop?” 

gojo tuts at you and wags his finger. “all will be revealed in good time.”

“tell me or i’m leaving,” you hiss, glaring. you don't have the time to humor him if it turns out he's just been fucking around this whole time. 

gojo pouts. “you're no fun.” 

“i can't fuck up this project; not with my group mates depending on me.” 

you don't mention the bet. honestly, at this point you don't care if you lose as long as you can salvage the project enough to make sure your group gets a decent grade. 

he sighs. “I know, I know.” 

“so tell me, what are you going to do.” 

gojo leans against the wall. “just a simple extraction. seems like the motherboard died, but the data on your hard drive should still be intact, so we're just going to extract it.”

“you can do that?”

“wouldn’t suggest it if I couldn't,” he says with a shrug. “just waiting for something i need to do it but it should arrive soon enough.” 

you stare at him, unsure of what to say. it's awfully nice of him to help you. especially when he could have just walked away, left you there with your broken computer and despair, and yet… “thank you gojo, really.”

for once in his life, gojo looks absolutely speechless, widened eyes peering over the top of his sunglasses. you blink. is it just you or do you see the faintest shade of pink dusting over the tips of his ears?

“well, while we wait, why don’t i give you the grand tour?” he asks and his voice is unnaturally loud, moreso than usual. 

“i don’t need a tour.”

“come on,” he insists, moving over toward you and circling around to grab you behind by the shoulders. “it’ll be fun! i never get to show off my place!” 

before you can protest, gojo starts propelling you around his penthouse. his voice is filled with a childlike excitement as he shows you every nook and cranny of the place. it’s sleek, modern, and ridiculously clean, just like how you would expect the home of any rich heir to a corporate conglomerate to look. however, as you move to room to room, you see little peeks of gojo’s personality shining through.

like the display of pictures next to his computer setup (three screens is kind of overkill in your opinion though).

the legitimately impressive sunglasses collection he has in his bedroom (you had always suspected he had something like this). 

the almost terrifying array of candy and sweets he has lining the cabinets of his kitchen. 

while he's rifling through a box of imported american snack cakes to show you, you notice a cup of dry erase markers next to the fridge which has a board affixed to it. the board is devoid of any writing or marks and you can't help but wonder if gojo has ever used it.

he wouldn't mind if you scribbled something on it real quick, would he?

“whatcha doin’?” he asks as you grab a black marker from the cup.

“defacing your personal property.”

“huh?!” he exclaims as you pop off the cap. “hey, wait a sec—”

you do not. before he can try to stop you, you start to doodle a cartoonish rendition of him. large round glasses, a stupid big grin and… well, you try to recreate his hair but it looks more like a soggy sea star with too many arms.

“what the hell is that?” he asks. “is that supposed to be me?”

“obviously.” 

he clicks his tongue. “i'm way more handsome.”

you roll your eyes. “are you?”

gojo hmphs and steps over toward you, grabbing a blue marker from the cup. “of course i am.” 

you roll your eyes as he starts his own drawing next to yours. at first you think he's just going to show you up with a better rendition of himself, but you quickly realize that it's not him he's drawing.

it's you. 

gojo is a much better artist than you are (it probably helps that he's not trying to scribble it really quickly like you are) and his doodle of you looks much better than your drawing of him. 

“so?” he asks when he's done. “what do you think?”

if you're being honest, it's actually really cute. embarrassingly cute. “i… i think you’re just trying to show off.”

“...well, i am quite skilled in more than just academics, you know,” he boasts earning him another eye roll. “it's okay if you don't want to say it looks good, we both know the truth.”

“...shut up.” 

he snickers. “if you're done drawing all over my fridge, then there's one more stop on satoru gojo’s grand house tour!” 

you tilt your head and he motions for you to follow him. he brings you to what you assume must be a big window with the curtain drawn, but with the press of a button the curtains slide back to reveal the balcony. gojo slides the door open and gestures for you to go outside first.

the air outside is a little chilly but it's not too bad. there's some furniture set up for lounging, but otherwise the balcony is rather bare save for…

“it's beautiful…” you murmur as you stare at the view of the tokyo skyline, the lights of the city sparkling brightly against the darkened sky. 

“right?” gojo chuckles and there is something about it that makes you turn back to look at him.

he's staring right at you. 

the soft smile gracing his features makes your mouth feel very, very dry for some reason and despite the fact that you desperately want to look away, you can't bring yourself to. the air between you both is an odd sort of quiet that has you feeling all sorts of nervous and you try to think of something to say to feel that almost awkward void.

luckily for you, the doorbell rings just in time to save you. 

gojo’s head whips around suddenly and you think you see the ghost of a frown before he scampers toward the front door. you trail after, watching as he throws it open to reveal a handsome, but tired looking young man. you recognize him from some of the pictures gojo had by his desk; they must be friends. 

“satoru, isn't there someone who you personally pay to run your errands?” the other guy asks as he enters and you notice he's carrying a bunch of bags. “why ask me?” 

gojo tilts his head innocently. “why not?”

his friend sighs. 

“sooo, did you get it?” gojo asks as his friend hefts the bags onto the counter. 

the other guy looks at gojo like he's an idiot. “of course i did.”

gojo beams widely. “knew i could count on you suguru!”

said suguru rolls his eyes again before turning his attention to you. there's a curious spark in his eyes as he offers you a pleasant smile “i don't believe we’ve met before…”

“i’m gojo’s classmate,” you say before giving him your name. 

“ah yes, satoru speaks of you often,” he remarks. “i'm suguru geto, it's a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“um, same to you, i guess.” you're not quite sure what to do with the information that gojo's been talking about you to other people. you can't imagine he's said anything good.

so after reader and suguru introduce themselves to one another they either have a short convo where suguru roasts gojo (as is his right) or gojo interrupts before he can and they eat the sushi that gojo made suguru pick up (the sushi place is actually a small little shop, not anywhere really fancy, which reader notices immediately— maybe it’s somewhere gojo dragged reader to previously, but he’s a regular so they gave him extras lmao). 

gojo doesn’t actually eat though, because he’s too busy extracting reader’s hard drive from their laptop and when reader mentions he’s not eating, gojo tells reader they can hand feed them. reader refuses. lmaooo. it doesn’t take super long for gojo to complete the surgery and when he’s done he drags reader to his massive computer set up and plugs the hard drive (which has been converted into an external hard drive and it works!! and—

you hold your breath as gojo mouses over to the file folders to open the hard drive. as he does, some measure of relief eases into you as you see the familiar names of your folders and documents. 

but you can't breathe easy just yet. "which one is it?" gojo asks. "this one?" he hovers over a file that has the class name along with the words 'group project.' you nod and he opens it.  ordinarily, you'd be a little defensive about letting gojo see your project, but given the circumstances, you don't think you can afford to be. he scrolls down to the bottom and you can tell that the file isn't exactly up to date. it's missing about a page's worth of information you'd typed up.  but that's probably about fifteen minutes of work at most, much better than what you'd thought you'd lost.  the relief consumes you completely and before you can even really realize what you're doing, you're throwing your arms around gojo's shoulders wrapping him into hug. "oh thank god..." you murmur into the fabric of his shirt.   "...didn't think you thought that highly of me," he murmurs with a chuckle. immediately, you jump back. embarrassed, you clear your throat. "i don't, but you can have a pass this time around." "no, no i think you should keep showering me with praise." you roll your eyes and gojo rises from his chair, stretching. then he turns to you, with a familiar grin that makes your stomach do a flip. you don't think you're going to like what he has to say next. "so, what now?" you blink. oh maybe that wasn't so bad. "your laptop's shot, y'know." right. you grimace. you still have to finish your project. and you need a computer to do that. unfortunately, you don't own a desktop and you don't exactly have the cash to drop on a new laptop. "um, well..." you could use the computers at the school library, but it's way too late to go there now. "if you ask nicely, i'll lend you one of my laptops." "no thanks," you answer automatically. 'one of his laptops?' must be nice being rich. why would he need more than one anyway? "...i can just go to a net cafe." "a net cafe?" gojo exclaims in disbelief. "yeah, they're open all night and if i need to sleep there i can." he grimaces. "no, absolutely not." "it's not your choice," you say flatly. "i mean, wouldn't it be easier... and cheaper to just take one of my laptops?" he's got a point, but. "it's fine, you've helped me enough. i'd feel bad if something happened to one of your laptops." you doubt your luck is that bad. it's not like gojo couldn't replace it in a blink in an eye, but still. "then i can just give it to you, problem solved.' you almost choke. "absolutely not!" 

after some back and forth, gojo (with suguru’s help) convinces reader to not go to the net cafe, but reader refuses to take home one of gojo’s laptops sO THEY END UP sitting at the coffee table in his living room to work on their project. to reader’s surprise, he actually lets them work in peace (instead he annoys suguru). though at some point reader dozes off and when they wake up… they are in gojo’s bed. they freak out but it’s only them in the bed and when they leave the bedroom they find gojo snoring on the couch. Suguru, who also stayed the night, and is awake making coffee tells them that gojo carried to them to the bed and decided to sleep on the couch (suguru also slept on the couch it’s a big couch). he makes some kinda cryptic comment before he leaves and reader is just like ????? but shrugs it off as gojo’s bestie also being a weirdo and they try to thank gojo by making him breakfast but the freak doesn’t actually have anything to make breakfast with it so they just work on their project til he wakes up. 

when he does wake up reader does mention wanting to thank him by making him breakfast and he gets stupid excited and tries to drag reader off to the store to get stuff but reader is in the middle of some project stuff and, without thinking tells him to take an iou. and he gets weirdly serious about it, asking if they’ll really do it later and, reader’s like ‘um yes? why are you getting weird about this?’ and he just gives some non answer and doesn’t say THAT HE WANTS READER TO MAKE HIM BREAKFAST because like atp he is very down bad about reader (he and suguru actually were talking about this when reader was working on the project the night before). 

anyway, project presentation time and reader is a bit nervous and so is the rest of the group, but reader is confident that they will do well. and everyone in the group is like yeah, and then uh, gojo’s group waltzes in, oozing confidence and gojo is fucking dressed to the nines, in a suit and tie and his hair styled and reader’s like ‘fuck he’s hot wait what.’ and he comes over and and in his attempt at a rizzed up moment wishes reader’s group luck. one of the girls in reader’s group makes a super funny comment and reader is like ‘shut up.’

both groups do well and after the presentations are done, gojo drags his group and reader’s group to yakiniku or something that’s on him and everyone goes and. everyone but gojo and reader get drunk and gojo and they talk about the project and they both concede that the other did good and they actually aren’t sure who won. 

turns out they both scored the same lmao. so no one wins. reader takes it as a loss but gojo is pretty pleased and suggests that since it was a tie he’ll do something that reader wants if reader is willing to do something he wants and reader is just like ‘ugh fine whatever.’ so gojo asks what they want first and reader’s just like ‘i don’t really want anything i just wanted to beat you once.’ and gojo’s like ‘oh well… i’ll take an iou on a favor then’ and reader’s like ‘okay fine so what do you want?’

"well," gojo drawls, thoughtfully. "i gave it a lot of thought and at first i was thinking i'd ask for us to call it a truce and just be friends. but that's kinda boring, don't you think?" boring isn't quite how you'd put it.  "so i was thinking that instead, you could go on a date with me instead," he proclaims with a big grin. "that's fair don't you think?"

your eyes nearly pop out of your head. a date? he can't be serious.

"i'd pay for everything still, of course, can't risk the date going badly, you know." you scowl. "are you saying that i'd screw up a date just because i can't afford to go whatever fancy restaurants a rich guy like you is accustomed to?" he shoots you a mischevious grin. "well, no i didn't quite say that... but if you'd like to prove me wrong..." "fine!" you hiss. "i'll show you! it'd be the best date you've ever been on!" his smile eases into something, a little more gentle, a little more fond. "i'd love to see you try." 

(spoiler alert: he didn't want the date to go badly because he wants to actually date you but you'll find that out soon enough lmao).

#cielo tag #ask games #i swear to god tumblr let me post this #nikuniku fic blurbs #uh yeah sorry it took so long #i'm not sure about like portraying grad school life right #or gojo and geto correctly LMAOOOO #i tried.... #OKAy I PUT my usual dividers inbetween the long snippet that tumblr hated me for SO MAYBE IT'LL LET ME POST #grad school gojo au