#they don’t mean any harm by it but i definitely believe they are a big reason why sora becomes a stepford smiler | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

spacelazarwolf · 6 months

Note

Hey there! I’ve really appreciated your posts and perspective over this past month, I’m having a hard time (as so many Jews are) and your voice helps.

I’m hoping you can help me with reliable resources. A friend of mine condemned the Hamas attacks etc (as they should, to my relief) but is under the impression that Israeli govt is doing genocide to the Palestinians. I’ve no idea how to approach that to verify (or not), I don’t even know where to start looking. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you.

thanks! this is a really tough question, but i'm going to do my best to break it down. also if anyone's thinking of clowning on this post without reading it, inb4 "omg ur denying genocide!!!!!!" bc this post is literally outlining, in detail, all the ways the israeli government is, by definition, committing genocide.

this is really long, just a heads up.

a big frustration i have with a lot of progressive or leftist spaces is the tendency to throw around words like genocide without being able to define the term or properly apply it to the situation in question. this isn't just a semantics issue. if all you're doing is repeating the buzzwords you've heard on social media, your "activism" is going to be less than useless. it is crucial that if you are going to talk about the current genocide in gaza, you must be able to define exactly what a genocide is and how it applies to what's happening in gaza.

i'm paraphrasing from this article by the united nations. the word "genocide" was coined in 1944 by raphael lemkin in his book "axis rule in occupied europe." it was developed partly in response to the shoah, but also to previous instances of what we would now define as genocide. it was recognized as a crime under international law in 1946, and codified as an independent crime in the 1948 convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide.

the definition of genocide

(from article II of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide):

in the present convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

a. killing members of the group; b. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e. forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

the 10 stages of genocide

a model created by gregory stanton, the founding president of genocide watch

classification - people are divided into "them and us"

symbolization - when combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups.

discrimination - law or cultural power excludes groups from full civil rights: segregation or apartheid laws, denial of voting rights.

dehumanization - one group denies the humanity of the other group. memmbers of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects, or diseases.

organization - genocide is always organized... special army units or militias are often trained and armed...

polarization - extremists drive the groups apart... leaders are arrested and murdered... laws erode fundamental civil rights and liberties.

preparation - mass killing is planned. victims are identified and sepaarated because of their ethnic or religious identity.

persecution - expropriation, forced displacement, ghettos.

extermination - it is 'extermination' to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human.

denial - the perpatrators... deny that they committed any crimes.

application to the crisis in gaza

to start with the first definition from the united nations:

a. killing members of the group - YES

the death toll in gaza has risen above 8,000 according to the associated press. as far as i know, as of writing this post, there has been no ceasefire so the death toll will continue to rise.

b. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group - YES

over 20,000 people in gaza have been injured, and gazans - particularly children - suffer incredibly high rates of ptsd.

c. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part - YES

the israeli blockade of gaza has had devastating consequences for gazans. they are running out of food, water, fuel, and medicine, and this is costing additional lives.

d. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group - unclear but leaning toward YES

whether or not it is the explicit goal, the current bombardment of gaza has put the lives of 50,000+ pregnant women in gaza at risk, along with their babies. babies who need incubators are also in danger as generators begin to run out of fuel.

e. forcibly transferring children of the group to another group - as far as i am aware, NO

according to the us embassy in israel, the palestinian authority ministry of social development is the only authorized entity regarding adoption of palestinian children. this doesn't mean it isn't happening, it just means i was not able to find any credible sources.

the 10 stages of genocide

classification - YES there is a long history in israel of othering palestinians, both socially/culturally and legally. former israeli minister of interior and minister of justice ayelet shaked shared a racist quote from netanyahu's former chief of staff explicitly framing palestinians as "the enemy."

symbolization - not yet there are no overt symbols palestinians, even within israel, are required to wear to outwardly identify themselves, but there are identifying features on their ids. in fact, the opposite has been happening, with far right members of the israeli government attempting to pass legislation making it illegal to publicly display palestinian flags.

discrimination - YES there is, again, a long history of discrimination against palestinians within and by the state of israel. it is difficult for palestinians from the west bank or gaza to gain status in israel, israeli work permits are used as a form of control, and often forcibly separate palestinian families.

dehumanization - YES former israeli deputy minister of defense eli ben dahan said of palestinians, "to me they are like animals, they aren't human."

organization - YES israel is currently carrying out an organized and brutal attack on gaza.

polarization - YES from extremist groups like hamas, to the corruption in the likud party in israel, there are very clear signs of extreme polarization. israel's siege against gaza has caused polarization across the entire globe.

preparation - YES gazans in particular are unable to leave gaza without a permit, and now with the blockade from both israel and egypt they are essentially trapped.

persecution - YES gaza in particular could absolutely be likened to a ghetto. as stated above, (in "usual" circumstances) they are unable to leave without a permit, and since hamas took control it is nearly impossible to get an israeli work permit.

extermination - GETTING THERE if the siege continues and gazans are unable to get out of gaza, there will be catastrophic casualties.

denial - YES i often hear that "israel has a right to defend itself" but i cannot possibly find a way to frame the current siege as "self defense."

so in conclusion, israel is - by multiple definitions - committing genocide against gazans. and it's very important to be able to identify specifics, especially if you are planning on having discussions about it. and i've said it in the past, but if you are not directly affected by what's happening - palestinians in particular, but israeli citizens and jews and muslims in the diaspora are also getting hit hard - it is IMPERATIVE that you are able to talk about this with a level head. escalating tensions and pushing away potential allies is only going to make things worse. find common ground, form connections, and then have a productive discussion.

#ask avishai #i/p

2K notes · View notes

suugarbabe · 3 months

Text

[Chapter 10]

Word count: ~3.5k

Warnings: panic attack, flashbacks, anxiety, torture, mentions of blood, mentions of violence

Turning around you did your best to avoid the big brown eyes that were following you around the bar at the club. You settled your elbows down on the bar top with a huff, Blaise giving you a puppy dog frown. His eyes reminded you of old brick libraries and vintage books, which was fitting since he was definitely reading you like one at the moment. You stood once more, trying to keep yourself busy and distracted with stocking tasks before the club officially opened for the night. It was your first day back at work since the incident and admittedly you were a little nervous. It wasn’t that you thought Damiano or any of his minions could get you while at the club, you fully understood that the name of the club itself worked as a protection charm against anyone who seeked harm against the family and as all of them had put it over the last several weeks, you were family.

You set the bottle in your hands down harshly, the class clinking on the bartop causing Blaise to jolt out of his trance. “Okay, B, out with it,” you plastered on your own annoyed grimace as he leaned back in his chair. “Dunno what y’mean, luv,” he took the cigarette from behind his ear, using the tip of his wand to light it before taking a deep inhale. Turning his head he blew the smoke away from you both before meeting your eyes once more, a saccharine smile on his face. You rolled your eyes, “I’m serious, B. I can’t take you looking at me like that all bloody night, w’drive me insane.” His smile dropped instantly, shoulders slumping slightly, “M’just worried bout ya Birdie.”

Groaning you leaned your elbows on the bar, “What is there to worry about? This is the second safest place for me to be besides the manor.” Blaise took another long drag, smoke billowing from his mouth as he responded, “Physical safety is not the only thing to worry about, sweetheart. What you went through could break even the strongest of witches, and I know how bloody strong you are.” You walked round the bar, pulling out the seat next to him, “I really appreciate your concern, B, but I promise, I’m fine.” He gave you a look that told you he definitely did not believe you, but he wasn’t going to argue with you. Instead, he stubbed the butt of his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him, standing up and smoothing out his blazer.

“Think you’ll be able to manage the bar by yourself tonight?” You looked at him quizzically, “Is Enzo not working tonight? Was kind of hoping he’d be here. I miss bantering with him on bar nights.” Blaise gave a shake of his head, “On business tonight, the lot of them.” You raised an eyebrow in question and Blaise let out an annoyed huff, “I know you know who I mean, but just to be clear I do mean Enzo, Theo and Mattheo.” You nodded your head in thanks with a cheeky smile. You grabbed one of the rags from behind the bar, giving the top a final cleaning before the club was set to open, “Draco left in charge then?”

“Yes, I am. So that means no mucking about,” Draco was strolling up behind Blaise, giving you a playful glare with his words. You rolled your eyes, “And what if I do? Think we all know who’d win in a duel between you and I, Malfoy.” You gave your eyebrows a teasing wiggle. “I’d tell Mattheo, let him deal with you, obviously you listen to him,” there was a double meaning in his words by the smirk adorning his face. Blaise came to your rescue though, “So you’d be a rat, then?” Draco scoffed, “I’m not a rat, Zabini.” Your mouth upturned into a devilish smirk, “Ferrets are part of the rat family, aren't they?” Draco glowered at you, “Fuck you, Birdie. That was like twelve years ago!” You shrugged your shoulders, shouting back at him as he walked towards the office, “People don’t forget!”

Blaise helped you with the final bits of set up for the bar, taking on the responsibilities Enzo usually did, grabbing the kegs and setting them up, testing the taps, flipping down the rest of the chairs, etc. He reminded you again that he was there if you needed to talk about anything and you assured him that you’d be just fine, but appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Patrons started to file in per usual. A few of your regulars came up to the bar first, letting you know how much they missed you. You did as Mattheo had instructed and told them you had ‘been on vacation’ and ‘yes you had such a great time’ and ‘yes the south of France is so lovely’.

Surprisingly you were managing the bar alone pretty well. You weren’t sure if the regulars just missed you, or if you were just really getting into the work today as a means of a distraction. You may not have been completely honest with Blaise earlier. Yes, you were fine, relatively, but thoughts still creeped into your mind, still tried to sneak into your memory. Ever since Theo got hurt, you were pretty good at pushing all the bad aside. His getting injured really put into perspective how needed you were, how important you were to the family. Draco is a good healer, Narcissa taught him well. He was able to heal all of your wounds with minimal to no scarring, except for the one.

Your fingers traced the slightly raised skin just below your hip, your brain going back to what Draco had whispered to Mattheo after assessing the damage done to you when you were captured. “There’s no healing I can do to take that away from her”. You wished you could erase it, just obliviate it all without risk of losing everything. But you knew it wasn’t possible, you knew you had to be strong, had to push through it. And you were doing so, quite successfully if anyone had thought to ask you. You weren’t sure if the others would be proud or scared of how easily you could keep yourself distracted by mindless tasks and work behind the bar. Hell, you were even doing bar service, bringing drinks and bottles to different tables. If the boys could see you now.

The night was essentially moving flawlessly. The closer you got to closing, the more excited you got to tell Mattheo how well you did your first night back. You knew he was worried, they all were, but you were doing just fine. And that’s what you kept telling yourself. That you were just fine. That everything was going to be fine. And then you started to hear it. At first it was just like everything else in the background, something that was sort of going in one ear and out the other. But the rhythm caught your attention. The more you recognized it the more you felt your chest start to tighten. Each time you breathed out it seemed like you were getting less in with your next breath, like a python was wrapped around your chest and squeezing you.

Your skin felt like it was on fire, sweat beading along your neck and down your back. Your peripheral started to become blurry. Each flash of light from the stages had glimpses of Pansy dancing in front of you at the club in London. Your heart rate seemed like it was increasing quickly, each pump and rhythm like it was trying to beat right through your ribcage. You did your best to smile through it, to ignore every raging signal your body was giving you to walk away, find someplace quiet to calm down, to force yourself to forget. You were almost to the table anyway, one of the club’s most expensive bottles in your hand when the lights began flashing on the stage again, and then they flashed red.

Everything was moving so slowly but so quickly at the same time. You didn’t even notice the bottle slip from your grip until you heard the glass shatter on the ground. Mindless babbles and apologies were all fell from your mouth as you bent down to start picking up the pieces, not even realizing you were kneeling in the shards. You nearly jumped out of your skin when a pair of hands enveloped your shoulders. “Shh, luv, s’just me. It’s Blaise, c’mon. Come with me.” His hands gently but quickly lifted you under your arms, leading you towards the back hall and into the office. He led you to one of the bigger chairs, leaning down in front of you.

Your eyes darted around the room, internally knowing there was no real danger around you but not being able to slow your mind down enough to actually convince it that you were safe. Blaise locked his hands on either side of your face, forcing your eyes to meet his, “Birdie, look at me, luv, eyes on me. I’m gonna place my hand on your chest okay?” You nodded, eyes never leaving his. Blaise took one of your hands, placing it on his own chest in a similar manner. Blaise took a deep breath, a massive opposition to your short and shallow ones. “Just like me, Birdie, you can do it.” He took another long breath. You could feel the movement of his chest. The slow rise and fall, the fullness when he took a breath that fully filled his lungs and the small concave when he let it all the way out.

In a short while your breathing started to mimic Blaise’s. “I’m so sorry, B, I just…I don’t know what happened.” He shook his head, “Sweetheart, no. No, no, no, no, s’not your fault. Talk to me, tell me what happened. What’s going on in that brain of yours, hmm?” You let out a shaky breath, looking down at your hands. Blaise ducked down, forcing your eyes to meet his. A small frown formed on your lips, pulling at his heartstrings. “Once you get it out it’ll hold less power over you.” Your eyes shot to the ceiling, teeth gnawing on your bottom lip. You let out another shaky breath before trying your best to explain the knots in your brain.

“I r-really thought it’d be fine. I just, when that song came on it was like…it was like I was there all over again. Flashbacks blurring my vision until I couldn’t focus and then I couldn’t breathe and I dropped the bottle and…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, B, I’m-”

Blaise immediately pulled you into a hug, you reciprocating and holding on to him tightly, not able to control the tears that started to fall. “Shh. It’s okay, Birdie. It’s okay. They’re gonna find him. You’re safe now. He can’t sneak in here or the manor and that’s the only two places you’re gonna be until he’s dead.” He held you until you calmed again, asking if you wanted to go home, promising he could find someone else to finish your shift.

You shook your head, telling him you wanted needed to finish it. If anything for your own pride. Blaise used his wand to clean the shards from your knees, you brain having blocked out the wound until it started to be worked on. With a simple wave of his wand the glass and wounds were gone, as was the physical pain. Afterwards, he went back to his booth, striking the song from all playlists and casting a spell to ban it from the establishment.

After the shift Blaise apparated with you back to the manor. You had assured him you were fine by then but he insisted you go together, even waiting at the bar while you finished cleaning the glasses. In the foyer, Blaise checked on you one last time. “I’m fine, B. Really. Thank you for…everything. Do you think we could, ya know, not tell Teo about it?” Blaise looked at you with a sorry excuse for a smile. You rolled your eyes, knowing exactly what that meant.

“Birdie. My office. Now.” Mattheo’s voice seemed to reverberate off the marble floors. You glared at Blaise as you turned towards Mattheo. Not satisfied with your pace Mattheo’s voice boomed again, “Faster.” You moved quicker, Mattheo grabbing hold of your wrist and all but dragging you into his office until your arse hit the edge of his desk. As soon as the door to his office closed he turned to you. Walking up both hands cupped your face, brows furrowing, “I knew it was too soon.”

You shook your head, “No, no it wasn’t it was just-just an accident. I’ll be fine for another shift. I promise. Please don’t take it away from me, Matty. I need the distraction.” Mattheo frowned, thumb rubbing gently over the apple of your cheek, “You’re so strong, Princess. But don’t push yourself too far. It’s okay if you’re not like the rest of us. It’s okay that you still…feel things sometimes.” Using your fingertips you swiped the tears brimming your waterline. “M’fine. Really, Teo. But it’s sweet of you to check on me.”

Mattheo leaned in closer, his lips catching yours in a gentle kiss. His lips seemed to convey what he lacked in words, how much he truly loved and cared for you, how much he wanted to protect you. As he pulled away his thumb traced your bottom lip, pulling it down and watching it fall back into place. He placed his hands on either side of your face once more, “I have something to tell you, Princess, but…you’ve got to promise me you’ll stay calm.” You looked into his eyes, the usual onyx color lightened to a deep brown displaying how worried he was to tell you what was on his mind.

You grasped both of his wrists, thumb rubbing the inside at his pulse point. “You can tell me anything, Teo. You know that. Staying calm, I’ll do my best, but I’m not sure what you’d have to tell me that I would freak out about. Not unless you have Damiano locked under the house or something.” You punctuated the end of your statement with a half hearted laugh but the look on Mattheo’s face had it quickly dying on your lips. You felt your face drop, not even attempting to hide the reaction from him as you started speaking quickly, “Matty is he here? Is he here in the manor right now? I need to see him. Let me see him Teo, is he with Enzo? He’ll kill him, you promised not to kill him until I got to see him! Bring me down there, wherever he is, bring me down there right. Now!”

Mattheo grasped each arm tightly, gritting his teeth, “Birdie, you need to calm down. I won’t take you until you’re calm.” Your gaze never left his as you did your best to steady your breathing. Once Mattheo deemed it even and steady he slid his hands down your arms until his fingers locked with yours. “Enzo is with him now with strict instructions not to kill and Theo is there to make sure Enz doesn’t get carried away.” You nodded, assuring Mattheo you were calm and you were ready. In a whirl he apparated the two of you to a space you had never seen before.

You were still at the manor. You’d lived there long enough you could sense when you’d left the grounds and when you hadn’t. The room you were taken to was large, like a hidden room at the end of an underground tunnel or something. The room was made of brick, of which looked centuries old. There were dark colored stains that painted many parts of the room; walls, floors and ceiling. Each wall had a series of different chains and cuffs attached to them, what appeared like rust on nearly all of them.

To the average person it would all seem alarming, but you knew this is probably where Enzo did his best work. Your assumption is proved correct by the scene in the center of the room. Enzo essentially stopped whatever pain he was inflicting at the sound of your arrival, turning to the two of you and seemingly having a silent argument with Mattheo. His movement allowed you to get a full view of the center of the room. In a strong metal chair that was bolted to the ground sat Damiano, or at least you knew that’s who it was.

His face was nearly unrecognizable, one eye swollen shut and black. There were too many nicks and cuts on his face to count, each either red or bleeding. You assumed the shirt he arrived in was originally white but the top half was all scarlet. His ankles were chained to the chair, each wrist chained to the floor. There was little slack, but enough that the chains rattled when his head finally lifted and his good eye locked with yours. You walked closer to him, until you stood right in front of him. Before you even realized what was happening you reared your fist back before launching it forward, the crack of his already broken nose breaking more like music to your ears.

Before you could do it again a pair of arms were wrapped around you, pulling you back a few feet before setting you down. Setting you down was a mistake. In a flash your wand was in your hand, the word leaving your mouth with zero remorse, “Crucio.” Damiano’s head reared back, mouth agape as a blood curdling screech left his throat. The veins in his neck looked like they were near bursting, his arms contorting and straining against the chains on the floor. You broke the spell, the red light disappearing back into the tip of your wand.

Damiano lifted his head once more, making eye contact with you as he spoke, blood falling from lips with each word, “I’ve been wondering when you’d show up, Sunshine.” He licked his lips, the mix of saliva and blood shining against the muscle, “Glad to see our little rendezvous didn’t diminish that fire inside yo-”

“Sectumsempra,” through gritted teeth you landed another spell, lashes and cuts scattering his body. With another flick of your wrist the majority of the cuts were healed. Damiano gasped for breath, the three family members standing behind you all wore matching confused expressions before they heard you speak the curse again, blood flowing heavily from Damiano’s body before you healed the majority of them once more. Theo leaned closer to the two boys next to him, “What is she doing, why is she healing him after inflicting wounds.” Mattheo shook his head, but Enzo knew the answer. “She’s prolonging the torture.”

It was Enzo who eventually pulled you back, handing you over to Theo who held a hand to the back of your neck as you watched Enzo and Mattheo. You watched them continue Damiano’s torture. Watched him continue to bleed. Watched his body slump lower with each spell, each punch. Watched his head roll and muscles twitch and strain as he was hit with the cruciatus curse again, and again. When it seemed like he was finally spent you knew there was only one thing left to do.

“You started something you couldn’t finish, but now it’s finally over. I hope you enjoyed tonight, Damiano. Because it’s going to be your last. You watched as Mattheo took a few steps back, raising his wand and pointing it straight towards Damiano’s chest. Walking up you wrapped your hand around Mattheo’s forearm. His head turned, locking eyes with you, eyebrows raising. The look in your eyes seemed to convey everything you needed, Mattheo nodding. He lowered his wand, stepping back.

In his place is where you stood, hand now gripping your wand tighter than you ever had before. Raising your arm you position mirrored Mattheo’s earlier one, though for everyone in the room the view seemed to hold more intensity. Damiano’s head lulled, seemingly not having the ability to hold it up any longer. The hand that didn’t hold your wand lifted two fingers into the air, Damiano’s head mirroring the action, his swollen and bloodied face now facing yours. You took a deep breath, relishing in the moment you had waited for for the last year, the moment you had dreamt about, had yearned for whenever thinking about your past and what you endured. You spoke steady, and slowly. The calmness in your tone eliciting a chill up even Enzo’s spine.

“Avada Kedavra.”

200 notes · View notes

f10werfae · 1 year

Text

Eyes Wide Open

pairing: Ari Levinson x Reader / Ex!Chris x Reader

Summary: After Chris cheated on Y/n, she falls into the arms of the local grumpy beefy mechanic, her new man Ari Levinson (Part 2 to blinded by lust)

Requests are open💌/likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated♥️

Chris Masterlist, Full Masterlist, Taglist form

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

It’d been 4 months since Y/n had seen Chris, having asked her friends to collect her things from his house, he was already out of sight out of mind. In fact sweet sweet Y/n had caught the eyes of another man, the town’s leading mechanic, Ari Levinson.

It was not known around the town what happened to Chris and Y/n, but they all definitely knew it was over when they saw Y/n spending all of her free time with her grump of a boyfriend, who only seemed to show any grain of happiness around her. She had him wrapped round her pretty finger.

“Sugar how are ya so perfect?” Ari said looking at his girl who was sitting on a hood of a car he was fixing, his harms on either side caging her in. His eyes trained on her reddish lips as she wiped the sweat and grease off his forehead. “Hmm I dunno, why are you so goddamn handsome?”

Thankfully with her left leg now fully recovered Y/n was able to go any and everywhere with Ari. You best believe before that he carried her everywhere, needing his little support bunny with him. “Why ain’t you sharing bun? C’mon and give me a taste”

Dressed in a white tank top and work trousers, the bigger beefier man opened his mouth, watching as Y/n shyly took her lollipop out of her mouth and put it in his. When Y/n first told Ari why she was single in the first place, that man saw red and not the pretty kind. How could someone absolutely break his woman? She was so delicate and fragile at the time that it broke his heart too.

“Does it taste good?” Y/n asked, her eyes twinkling at the strong sunlight from the open top roof, not complaining when she saw how her boyfriend was now getting a very luscious tan. “Yeah baby, tastes like you” He winked bending back down with his wrench to continue what he was doing.

“Excuse me, any service here?” A strong Bostonian voice said, one that Y/n could remember for the rest of her life. Not for the good reasons either “fuck I missed this” “Your pussy feels so good” Things she heard him say to another woman

“What’s up pal?” Ari said not even looking at who it was and wiping his hand onto his cargo trousers, his eyes sharpening when he finally realised who he was talking to. Chris stood there all smug, the breakup didn’t break his heart but it definitely broke his character. Around town everyone knew that he now tended to carry an attitude with him, feeling full of himself once he realised he was being shipped back off to Hollywood anyway.

“what do you want?” Ari spat out more harshly, Chris lifted up his hands in defeat,

“Jus wanted to speak to Y/n here, one last offer baby”

“What do you need with My woman” Ari said standing in front of Chris’ view of Y/n, who was still sitting on the hood of the car shocked to the roots.

“I’m off to film another series, and i’ll be gone this time, for a year or two. N’ I just need to know if this is us over, for real? If not I have an extra ticket here waiting for you, I can supply you with everything you want, unlike some people-“

“What’s that supposed to fucking mean big shot, just because-“ Ari lunged forward, only for a pair of arms to wrap around his chest to pull him back into her body.

“It’s over Chris, you can shove that ticket up your ass and leave, make sure you don’t accidentally give it to some other girl on the way out though” Y/n said passive aggressively, looking the other man up and down, a sense of disgust taking over her.

“Whatever you were an easy fuck to keep around for a while anyway, goodluck with that one Levinson, she wouldn’t even wanna settle down with me and we were together for ages. She doesn’t know what a man needs and wants in life, who knows maybe she can’t even have child-“

And that was it, Ari had lunged successfully this time, throwing one hell of a punch onto Chris’ face knocking him down onto the ground instantly. “You don’t talk about my woman, or any woman like that. Didn’t ya mother teach you any respect? Guess not. Now fuck off to wherever the fuck you’re going to”

Ari said turning around and heading back over to Y/n who was just staring at Chris who had now walked out of the mechanic shop, holding his hand to his definitely broken nose.

“You okay sugar? When you said he was a dick I didn’t realise how much a one”

“Are you okay? Your heart is pounding Ari, calm down you know i’m only yours, I’m not going anywhere. His words mean nothing”

“I know that sweet pea, but Jesus when he started talking about you like that I near killed him” Ari breathed out leaning his head onto her shoulder, her fingers running through the back of his hair to calm him down. His lips pressing multiple small kisses to her neck, causing her to laugh out of tickles,

“Ari stop it you big bear, you’re gonna make my stomach hurt”

“hmm n’ we can’t have that can we?”

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

2 Years since Chris had set foot back in town, and don’t get me wrong he was as successful as ever, but that didn’t change people’s opinions of him already. Walking into the local park to walk Dodger, Chris swears he near chokes on his coffee when he sees Y/n.

Not alone.

He’s surprised to see her with Ari’s arm around her waist, with him whispering into her ear, making her giggle and place a kiss onto his lips. A baby sitting against her hip, a baby boy, he thought wrong about her settling down.

Ari’s hand slips down to support Y/n’s clearly enlarged stomach, before bending down to kiss his son’s head, when his eyes suddenly meet Chris’. Both men nodded at each other without another word, Chris went on with his walk with a pang in his heart.

He was the one that wanted all that with Y/n and now she was the one that had it, and he still had no one. Heading back to the coffee shop, his friend Luke behind the counter looks at him confused, “Dude what the hell happened, you was in here ten minutes ago”

“I-I saw Y/n”

“Glowin ain’t she? Archie is the absolute cutest lil thing, did ya see she’s pregnant again? Swear Ari always says he can’t keep his hands off his wife-“

“Wife? They got married? When?” Chris asked furrowing his brows

“Man it was like a year and a half ago? Tell ya what match made in heaven-“ Before he could even finish his words Chris stormed out of the coffee shop,

“Dude you know he’s still into Y/n” Another worker said handing Luke dried glasses,

“I know but he fucked up, doesn’t mean I can’t talk about how happy I am for her” Luke said watching his friend storm down the street, back to his lonely home where no one was longer waiting for him.

———

Taglist Tags (Form is up there^^): @ilovereadingfanfics @patzammit @pandaxnienke @stormcloudss @vrittivsanghavi @dumb-fawkin-bitch @chrisevansdaughter @marvelgurl @cevansgurl @evanstanwhore @mirikusashes @taramaria @fdl305 @mysticfalls01 @hallecarey1 @misshale21 @mischiefsemimanaged @thereisa8ella @uwiuwi @bval-1 @diyabhanushali1 @angelmather1 @lastwandastan @ravenhood2792 @feltonswifesworld87 @bluebellsn @mdpplgtz03 @alexxavicry @alina02 @bookfrog242 @roofwitty779 @aerangi @s-void @oliviah-25 @nikkitc0703 @meetmeatyourworst @girl-of-multi-fandoms @imboredat2am @mansaaay @adoreyouusugar @annajustwrites @emvebee @ilovetaquitosmmmm @caps-shield1918 @xoxokiaraaxoxo @royalwriteroftheuniverse @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @chrisevansangel @tinyelfperson @madebylilly @bxdbxtxh15 @tojisbabymomma @itsaylayay1213 @kimhtoo17 @mrspeacem1nusone @hatsparkle @wintasssoldier

#romance #chris evans x reader #chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans #chris evans one shot

777 notes · View notes

dipperdesperado · 9 months

Text

Radicalism 100: Get Started from 0 or, How the Hell Do I Get into Organizing as a Newbie?

I spend a lot of time talking about social change stuff. I feel like a lot of it might not be accessible unless you’re already one who sees yourself as a changemaker. Let’s change that. Let’s talk about how to prefigure the world you want to see, even if you don’t have any experience.

Before I do that though, I want to do some quick framing. I am coming from the place of someone who has some relatively specific foundational values that I prioritize and act from. I believe in horizontalism, mutual aid, solidarity, autonomy, joy, love, and transformative justice. I don’t brandish human nature as a weapon against better futures. If you have a view of people and or society that is purely of negation, then we probably won’t see eye-to-eye. If you think that domination and bootlicking is also necessary, then we definitely won’t see eye-to-eye. Hopefully, you’re curious or open to working towards egalitarian goals through egalitarian means. If you are, this might be useful to you.

How Social Change Happens

There is a lot of talk about social change and a lot of different opinions on how that change occurs. A useful framework to work from is one that imma remix from Joanna Macy.

Harm Reduction and Stalling → This is where giving, charity, and advocacy work live. Think of the survival programs that the Black Panthers did. These are good things, and they provide immediate benefits to folks. However, it’s not radical, as far as the meaning of the word goes. So, it’s great (and necessary!) to organize a mutual aid group that does food distro. What that doesn’t do is address why your group has to do that in the first place. This is something that ideally allows you to survive as you prepare to make bigger changes.

Systems change and Social Revolution → This is where the good shit happens. It is understanding the terrain you fight upon, what you’re fighting against, and finding the weak points to create and widen spaces of autonomy and liberation. This is where we decide how we act within the systems, how we change those systems through collective action, and how we build counter-systems to delegitimize the oppressive ones.

Rebuilding Mental Models → To create a new world, we have to become different people. I don’t mean that in an inactive way—through the practice of harm reduction and fighting the system, we realize our own power and become more capable of creating the world that we want. As we reconnect with reality, and illegitimate the current hegemony, we become more able to see the path ahead. The great and terrible thing is that we have to walk that path.

These are the three buckets that encompass our work ahead. Maybe a better way to think of them would not be as distinct buckets, but as spaces or zones of activity with permeable edges, where specific actions are occupying multiple buckets at a time, and where we travel from zone to zone, bringing information from previous legs of the journey. Stated differently, doing harm reduction might lead you to changing your mental models which might lead you to working towards systems change which might change your mental models which might improve your harm reduction efforts and so on and so on.

With that (admittedly open-ended) theory of change established, let’s get into some practical things you can do to get started. Again, this is built for if you’re not sure of where to begin. This will, hopefully, allow you to get started from 0 (which in my mind is you saying something to the effect of “damn, I know the world is cooked. What the hell do I do?”). Maybe you’ve heard people answer that inquiry with “Organize!”, which isn’t very useful. So let’s talk about that: how to start organizing and be successful when you don’t have the background or confidence yet.

Step 0: Read!

I am a big proponent of praxis (practice informed by theory) over theory or practice alone. Just reading doesn’t change the world, and just doing stuff may lead to some happy accidents. If you have to pick one, do stuff, I guess? But, we don’t have to do that. We can read, do stuff, review the successes and failures, and repeat. In order to not trap you in one mode or another, I’ve recommended a couple of things that should give you a good foundation for more readings and more actions.

Why We Should Democratize Everything

Radical Municipalism | The Anarchist Library

Modules - Economics for Emancipation (economics4emancipation.net)

Once you read these, you’ll be able to know that the world can look different than it does right now, and that there are tangible things that you can do to make that happen.

Step 1: Figure out Your Interest(s)

The next move is to understand what you’re interested in. It can be easy to feel like you have to participate in a certain kind of fight… but the reality is that if you pick an area that you already have an affinity for, you’ll be able to engage with it more sustainably. And hopefully, if you get some wins, you’ll be able to engage and support other important sites of struggle. For me, broadly speaking, my goal is to create solarpunk autonomous zones IRL, in the heart of the empire (the so-called United States). For my interests, the main areas of affinity + need within the solarpunk umbrella are:

Building Intentional Communities (like communes and ecovillages and shit)

Radical Urbanism (Tactical Urbanist projects, Tenants organizing, occupations)

Creative Care and Joy (Mutual aid, herbalism, medicine, etc)

Community Resiliency Training (CERT, Self-defense, Wildtending, Urban Foraging)

If that seems broad, blame it on the ADHD. I put time into each of these areas to try and build towards my solarpunk goals at the local level. You don’t have to be as eclectic as I am, but think about the things that get you excited, and go after those things.

Step 2: Get a Lay of the Land (find folks and people who are doing the cool stuff)

Once you’ve searched your soul and excavated some insight, you can begin your fun. Try and find people in your area who are into the stuff you’re into. If you like the idea of mutual aid, find a local food not bombs chapter (and encourage them to work towards system change!). If you like environmental stuff, look for groups that you feel like embodying the values you're developing. Some good ways to do this are:

Finding social medias. I like to find the most popular version for the thing I’m trying to do and excavate other groups from that. For example, I do some organizing work with an Indigenous education group here, and since it’s a tight-knit organizing community, I can use their IG to find other orgs. This also works well for in-person stuff.

Pull up to events. Try to show up to marches, protests (if you’re ready), and popular education events and look for folks representing the ideas you’re interested in. Folks tend to have flags, pins, and outfits at those sorts of things that let you know where they stand. I’d specifically look for Libertarian Socialist groups, Anarchist groups, and communalist groups. I’d also look into solidarity networks.

Step 3: Start working with folks!

Once you find some folks, start working with them if you like the vibe! You’d be surprised at how much you can learn. I moved about a year ago, and I learned so much by diving into the organizing community. Imma be moving again, and now I can carry those learnings forward into my new communities. Ideally, you’re getting involved in actions, doing study groups, and growing your confidence.

Step 4: Do an analysis of your place!

As you get more comfortable and you start to understand where you’re at, you can start working more intentionally toward system change. This is something that folks don’t do nearly enough, but if you can pull it off well, it’ll be well worth the time. The goal is to understand the challenges and opportunities present in your place. This is very much a whole area to explore, but you can start by looking into Asset-based community development and Community-based participatory research to create a guide of sorts for your community to follow. This is an area that I’m currently working on, and it helps contextualize your actions.

Step 5: Dive deep!

At this point, you might be ready for bigger actions or more capacity building. You might even be ready to steward a campaign. Just know, this is work that doesn’t really have an end; we can always strive for more. If you take nothing else away, know these two things:

Everyone has the capability to steward in a new future.

Surround yourself with genuine community to keep you going.

If you can approach this work with confidence and community, you’ll be able to weather any storm.

195 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 3 months

Note

i am very curious about your thoughts on various utena/atla character parallels… every once in a while i see you offhandedly compare like.. korrasami and utenanthy and i’m like HOLD ON this is so true! if you have any further ideas about that i would LOVE to hear them. i honestly don’t know how big the audience is for rgu/atla analysis but i am definitely part of that audience. 😭

yesss i can't believe you're literally the first person to ask me this lately i've been making rgu references on like, every single post i'm shameless!!!!! over the summer i even wrote (like 95% of) an essay comparing sokka and nanami (tldr; they are meat) and i have yet to revisit it (bc i'm scared tbh) but i will post is eventually that is a PROMISE (for an audience of 5 people). also before we go any further my utena blog is @saionjeans and we have fun there. also, i have some utena/atla crossover art here and here, so check that out if you haven't already. the rest of this post will be scattered thoughts because my nanami-sokka essay will be doing a lot of the in-depth analytical work and i don't need to rehash that all now. but also, because i have never not once in my life heard of brevity, i did write a bunch of mini essays anyway, because of course i did.

korrasami and utenanthy: love and abuse

i compared utenanthy to korrasami a couple times, most notably in this post where i talk about how meaningful their relationship is despite being (arguably) underdeveloped, and then in the tags i still have to acknowledge that utena and anthy nonetheless did it better 17 years prior. but i do think that there is so much to be said for utena-korra and anthy-asami as two young women who are both set up to be "special" but in a way that denies and restricts them from their own humanity, cloistering them away from the outside world and making them more vulnerable to abuse. i talked pretty recently about how asami's abuse is really shrugged under the carpet in a way that pisses me off if i think about it for too long. rgu does such an incredible job of gradually exposing that abuse and its effects on society, not as a deviation from the norm (of the nuclear family, of the romance, of the school, etc.) but in fact a common symptom of it. lok does not critique the nuclear family in any meaningful way despite setting up so many different areas through which such a critique could be facilitated (made worse by the fact that atla sets such a fantastic precedent). but anyway, enough about lok (and how she disappoints me).

2. miki & kozue and katara & sokka: siblings and memory

in my sokka-nanami essay i talk about how various characters can be read to embody various analogues, but how my focus in that essay is primarily to draw a parallel between sokka and nanami by using the framework for gender/patriarchal logic rgu establishes. however, i also talk about how azula can be read as a nanami (or even an anthy) figure, as well as how katara and sokka can be read as miki and kozue (katara = miki and sokka = kozue, obviously) (and note that kozue and nanami are significant foils/mirrors too). i mean, they even have a similar light blue (to signify naïveté, innocence, childlike wonder) versus dark blue (to signify cynicism, jadedness, resigned subsumption into harmful norms) color scheme going on. the Special sibling and the afterthought. (although before going forward i do want to be clear that i am in no way alluding to any incestuous undertones wrt katara and sokka, and i would even argue that the allusions to incestuous desire between miki and kozue are more complex and nuanced than simply reducing it to mere perversion. but that's beyond the scope of this ask lol)

i know that some people might bristle at my comparing katara to miki (baby misogynist, little freak) but miki really exemplifies the trope of the "sunlit garden" in the same way that katara exemplifies that trope in atla. miki isn't the narrator of course (akio is), but the central motif of desire staked to an illusory formative memory since lost that defines a character's motivations and self-becoming is first properly introduced (not including the utena meeting dios intro) and defined through his obsession. in the same way, we are introduced to the world of atla through katara's formative memories, her desire that motivates her self-becoming also being an illusory formative memory, as well as a tale she longs to replicate ("the four nations living together in harmony"). katara, like miki, is defined by her naïveté and childlike innocence, her somewhat reductive desire to be noble and heroic, and her need to flatten everything into a clear-cut narrative wherein she is always its heroine. like miki, she resents her sibling for being transformed into a more cynical version of themselves in accordance with society's pressures (in kozue's case, it's the inescapability of patriarchy, whereas in sokka's case, it's... a lot of things), and longs for a time when they were "truly happy" and playing together (playing piano, playing in the snow, you get it).

both kozue and sokka heavily subscribe to patriarchal logic and comport and reduce themselves in accordance with the dictums of a world they consider truly inescapable. kozue seeks power within her limited frame, whereas sokka only seeks power insofar as it allows him to assume his very narrow role of protector, but they both assume those limitations to be ontological and fixed in a way that does not allow them to see past it. however, the lack of empathy both miki and katara refuse to attempt in understanding their worldviews, in no way making an effort to broach that misunderstanding instead of simply letting the chasm between them fester, nonetheless implicates them equally. after all, they too both adhere to their own limited worldviews, only in their worldviews they are fundamentally special and thus beyond reproach. sokka and kozue are both integral aspects of katara and miki's sunlit gardens, and their idealized return to a picturesque nostalgia involves a transformation (or regression) of sokka and kozue into their more innocent former selves. and sokka and kozue are in turn obsessed with katara and miki, the central figure around which their identity and actions revolve.

through this framework, aang thus becomes katara's anthy (aangthy, hehe), as the embodiment of katara's hopeful/nostalgic ideal of heroism, companionship, and the idealized promise of a distant irretrievable past. like anthy with kozue, aang "replaces" katara's longing for the softer, more innocent version of her brother with aang's friendship. like miki with anthy, katara possesses romantic feelings for aang despite his functioning as a replacement for sokka before he became a shell of his former self (or kozue before she became... sexually active). this is because katara, like miki, idealizes the patriarchal narratives that dictate that all significant relationships be either romantic or familial (or both). she wholeheartedly subscribes to this notion, hence why she attempts to subsume everyone who can meaningfully fit into her narrative framework as either a lover (aang, haru, jet, zuko for all of 2 seconds) or a pseudo family member (aunt wu, hama, pakku, toph, etc etc.), replicating those dynamics as many times as she needs to to make them fit within her two dimensional tapestry. and crucially, coming face to face with yon rha subverts that, because she recognizes the messy humanity spilling forth from the neat boxes she puts people in, and must thus contend with her own role in her narrative. of course miki, being a side character and not the narrator, certainly not the hero, does not get this luxury. and he must find a way to grow up anyway.

3. akio and ozai: patriarchy

there's something truly incredible about how both akio and ozai manage to inflict psychological harm upon every single character in their respective shows, even if they never interact with those characters directly. their reach is vast and spindly; it cannot be overestimated. and yet, ozai has only reigned for about six years. akio is only acting chairman of ohtori academy. they are not patriarchy itself, but merely its signifier. and obviously their modes of embodying patriarchy differ in many respects: a school is not a nation (despite the similarities), and a father is not a brother (despite akio being father-like). ozai is defeated by by being stripped of his technology of violence, whereas akio is not "defeated" in a literal sense (although i suppose anthy driving a car through his ghost and exploding him into a cloud of roses does make quite the statement), anthy merely leaves. and yet, in both instances, they are both forced to succumb to their own limited ideology regarding what constitutes power. if ozai lacks firepower, he lacks control over his subjects and the right to sovereignty. if akio's control is challenged, if people realize that they can just leave, that the ends of his world are entirely arbitrary, he no longer has the power to abuse and exploit and use others for his own ends.

the metonymic signification of patriarchy figured through both ozai and akio in dual ways further emphasizes their respective roles. ozai is both king and father, akio is both (acting) chairman and (acting) father. patriarchy dictates every aspect of [a patriarchal] society: from interpersonal dynamics to the nuclear family to the school to the state to the world. what makes both akio and ozai so brilliant in this regard is the fact that their influence is reflected in all these facets. ozai abuses every member of his family individually; controls them as a system; inflicts his (family's) propaganda onto the fn education system, rewriting history with (almost) no one to disprove him; inflicts his imperialist agenda both within the fire nation (ruining local economies through industrialization, forcing citizens to conform to restrictive roles, inflicting violence through occupation) and beyond it; he refers to the world as "my world," as if he is its creator, its owner, or its god. and in many ways, he is. akio similarly abuses everyone interpersonally (most notably anthy, touga, and utena); subsumes utena into his nuclear family system so that she cannot leave; uses the academy as a site of control in which adolescents are forced to comply with socially codified norms and thus made more vulnerable to the influence of adult authority figures (especially those who emphasize their individuality or inherent specialness when compared with the rest of the student body); operates ohtori as a sort of nation wherein patriotism is reified through the use of uniforms, affiliations, sociopolitical hierarchies, and an acting government (the student council); and defines himself as the creator/owner/god of his world. to be end of the world. to embody not an apocalypse, but a cage.

ozai and akio both fashion themselves the entire world, but it also makes them more vulnerable to resistance, to any mode of critique that points out the obvious: no, you're just one person, and the logic you use to dominate others is deeply, noticeably flawed. it's a logic that they exploit but that in turns exploits them, as they have so deeply internalized it that they can no longer immunize themselves against any kind of resistance. ozai claims that there is no room for an air nomad in his world, which is why aang defeating ozai through the pacifist values of his people and not through his greater power (which would nonetheless be subscribing to ozai's logic, and thus letting him win ideologically if not physically) is so crucial in shattering ozai's paradigm. just as utena, as someone who refuses to conform to the strict, arbitrary, and violently enforced norms of patriarchy, can so thoroughly disrupt akio's control by resisting him. just as anthy can by leaving. akio remains in his cozy little coffin, exerting meaningless control to uphold the hollow puppet of his ego.

people sometimes joke about how long it takes for zuko to recognize that the burning off of half his face was "cruel" and "wrong," but it's not that zuko didn't find it painful, it's not that zuko didn't fear his father, it's not that zuko idolized his father beyond reproach. he questioned his cruelty, in fact he did so constantly. he simply saw no other way to live. he had no conception of a world beyond ozai's defined limits, had no choice but to believe ozai's dogma and loathe himself for not sufficiently adhering to it. similarly, people often ask "if anthy could leave all along, then why didn't she?" because she, too, was trapped in a coffin of her own self-loathing. to leave an abuser is not as simple as simply stepping beyond the threshold and never looking back. first, you must locate the threshold. then, you must find the courage to look beyond it. i briefly touched on azula being an anthy figure before. well, i think that she is. just because she has yet to see beyond the threshold does not mean she does not find her limits. and yes, its not triumphant, and yes, her facade that masks her pain and fear is shattered, but ultimately, that breakdown is a good thing for her. because that's her first step to freedom.

4. the sunlit garden as mythmaking events

i talk previously in this post about the motif of "the sunlit garden" in rgu vs what i like to call "a mythmaking event" in atla, and i do want to elaborate on that slightly. i provided a link to a post on my utena blog going into what the sunlit garden "is" for each principal character, and atla has a similar mode of communicating these nostalgic desires and idealizations that motivate self-becoming, largely through flashbacks. for aang, it is quite obvious, as his memories of a before and after are (temporally, although not psychologically) fragmented by an entire century. that disconnect severs the two versions of himself quite neatly. those memories with gyatso and the other air nomads (as well as with child bumi, and with the mysterious kuzon) are his idealized past, his "sunlit garden," whereas the storm is his mythmaking event, the point in his life where his choices collide with his telos. there is no going back.

katara and sokka have a similar sunlit garden, their snowball fight being the last truly happy memory they have before the black snow falls and their childhood innocence is severed from them forever. kya's sacrifice and murder is katara's mythmaking event as she then chooses to assume the mantle of her mother who took her place, decides to become the greatest waterbender possible to compensate for surviving the genocide, and chooses to be a hero so that the collective memory and sacrifices of her people will not be in vain. like utena, she witnesses pain and suffering at a very young aged and is moved to become a hero so as to mitigate that suffering, even if her own formative tragedy can never be rectified. also like utena, she idealizes a seemingly utopian past wherein violence was more covert and thus presented itself as more ideal (the time of princes vs the time of harmony). her naïveté and persistent idealism are both her downfall and her greatest virtue. she refuses to accept the true state of the world to the point of blindness, but it is also that refusal to accept it that allows her to force the world into a kinder shape.

as for sokka, his mother's death was also a formative trauma, but his true mythmaking event is when hakoda leaves for war with all the other men of his tribe. hakoda tells him that "being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and right now, that's here, protecting your sister." it's not a rose crest ring, but it may as well be. from that moment onward, sokka officially comports his identity into being his sister's protector, which is how he thus defines his manhood. and of course, being his sister's protector means being a martyr, because the precedent for "protecting katara" that has already been established is, well, dying for her. like aang being the avatar and the last airbender and katara being the last southern waterbender, sokka is thus defined by his necessity (ie, usefulness to others) as well as his isolation – not only the "last warrior/man" of the swt, but also via his own process of depersonalization and self-dehumanization as he attempts to fully embody his role as an eventual martyr.

zuko's mythmaking event is, of course, branded onto his face. in fact, zuko essentially assumes both katara and sokka's mythmaking events by first being irrevocably altered by his mother's sacrifice, and then being all the more transformed by his father's decree as he attempts to dictate what kind of man zuko needs to be. his "sunlit garden" is also shown to us in flashes: memories of a (literal!) sunlit garden, of turtleducks, of his mother's gentle guidance, of happier times on ember island, on his father's hand resting on his shoulder with pride instead of malice. it is unclear just how truthful these nostalgic memories are. obviously, his family was never actually happy. ozai had always been exerting control over them, even if his violence was once more obscured. we never see azula's sunlit garden, for instance (although i'd argue that she and zuko possess the same mythmaking events), and i cannot help but wonder whether it's because, like touga, she never actually had one.

finally, some honorable mentions must go to the following: toph, whose sunlit garden is also her mythmaking event, as she learns from badgermoles how to hone her gift and reject the rigid societal impositions that seek to limit, repress, and control her. hama, who never attempts to return to her sunlit garden in the swt with kanna, despite her freedom as established in her mythmaking event of teaching herself to bloodbend; she knows that she is irrevocably altered, and thus she can never go home again. appa, whose sunlit garden, of playing with the other bison at the southern air temple, occurs in conjunction with his mythmaking event of meeting aang and becoming the avatar's animal companion.

all of these events are depicted through flashbacks wherein the consecutive shots between flashback and present day mirror the character who is having the memory in the past and present, overlaying their younger face onto their current face with identical framing. i'm too lazy to compile a bunch of screenshots here, and i couldn't find the post i'd seen previously that had done so, but if you're as familiar with atla as i am, then you already know exactly what i'm talking about. this device is so effective particularly because it exercises restraint. every flashback in atla is crucial because it signifies either a sunlit garden or a mythmaking event that motivates the character its focalizing in the present day. atla is economical with its flashbacks, but not withholding. like with rgu, flashbacks in atla are used with a specificity of purpose, and illustrate their points in clear, precise ways. just because atla is not as overtly metatextual with its central themes of narrativization, nostalgia, idealization, bias, and storytelling, does not mean it is not present, and in fact, overt. ranging from katara's role as narrator to the fire nation propaganda aang attempts to correct in school, the use of memory and illusion is crucial in illustrating how atla functions as a narrative about heroism, legacy, and challenging dominant myths through preserving cultural memory under an imperialist regime.

5. final thoughts

obviously, i could go on forever. there is simply no limit to my ability to unpack and dissect these two shows (hence, my sideblogs dedicated to doing so). i haven't even talked about zuko as an analogue to saionji with regard to their latent homosexuality, misogyny, violence, and struggle to conform to a patriarchal ideal. and i barely touch on katara as an analogue to utena with regard to their naïveté, heroism, myopia, persistence, and somewhat misguided desire for justice (through her terms specifically), although like kozue and nanami as mirrors wrt sokka, her traits that i describe when comparing her to miki also map onto utena in many ways – except of course, utena, unlike miki, is also the "hero," and thus has the same destabilizing revelation regarding the banality of evil that katara undergoes in "the southern raiders." moreover, i only discuss one central motif in utena, because i think the sunlit garden is the trope that maps best onto the thematic work atla is doing, but i'm sure that there are many more frameworks i could compare. and yet, i only have so much time, and only so much space in which to ramble. so hopefully, for now, this suffices. however, if there any specific areas in which you would like me to elaborate, you know that i shall always be happy to do so.

39 notes · View notes

verytallfox · 8 months

Text

Okay, first ever Tumblr post! Not sure if anyone will see this, but this is about the podcast The Sounds of Nightmares, set in the world of Little Nightmares. Specifically I’m looking at Chapter 3.

BIG SHIT

So to those of you who’ve listened or heard what happens, holy fuck right?! There’s some pretty big revelations (stuff theorized for a while certainly but never outright confirmed) in the episode. For one, it knocks the whole “it’s just a dream world” thing out of the park. Noone physically vanished from her world for a moment. I am certain that the Ferryman’s riddle is responsible for that.

Otto’s disgraced mentor published a paper in which he posited the existence of other worlds and other centers of reality. This professor suggests that their own world might be “secondary” in the cosmic hierarchy of existence. This is outright transdimensional or multiverse shit right here and I love it so much! It makes sense to me in that these children who are so alien to this world would end up there, though I also believe that there were regular people there too (and kids), at least formerly.

SMALL SHIT

Additionally, this is one of the first times we’ve heard the monsters of this other place speak, or at the very least coherently. Not just the Ferryman, who is called the Candleman predominantly, but also the shopping mall.

The shopping mall is the third location that we know if that’s suggested to be alive. The Maw is only indicated through reading Word of God stuff from Tarsier and the imagery that it must “feed” or must not perish. With the Signal Tower or Transmission or Flesh Walls or Black Tower, what have you, we see this evidence explicitly.

Back to the abandoned shopping mall, which is what they’ve named it on the wikia for Little Nightmares! It’s not clear if it feeds on anything at all or how. I will also say that I’m a sucker for a tragic beastie, which is the vibes that I’m getting from this being. However, I don’t think it would be good for Noone to have stayed there with it, even if it always treated her well.

The shopping mall appears to be suffering from serious mental health issues and is horribly lonely. It is desperate to have someone else stay with it, and also appears to be aware of the common fate that befalls children outside its walls.

So you know what, I’m gonna choose to believe that while it’s certainly dangerous the mall doesn’t mean children harm. It’s both incredibly lonely and entirely powerless to stop anyone who’d willingly stay with it (or be forced to stay) from being taken.

I’ve wondered if anyone else was somewhat hoping for least one friendly giant to appear in the Nowhere. Alas, this “friendly” giant is miserable, a little unstable, and totally powerless to save the company it desperately craves.

It actually reminds me of Six being trapped and warped within the Tower. There seemed to be no real benefit to that place in keeping her there other than maybe controlling Mono more easily. Maybe the Tower wanted her to stay too. Who knows!

The last thing I wanna cover is (drumroll) THE FERRYMAN! God I love this character. What’s so interesting to me about him is that he doesn’t appear to be running on a single base desire like most of the other adults. That suggests to me that he may never have been human in the first place and that he’s also directly working for the otherworldly entities of the Nowhere.

He’s definitely trying to draw Noone further in and I believe the riddle he told her is part of a ritual or incantation to lure her further in. Either she will continue out of curiosity, a desire to get better (not realizing it’s a trap), or if she resists she won’t a choice once it’s fully taken hold in her. The route I think this is going is that Noone will be pulled over physically for longer and longer, with the world becoming more and more clear, until she can no longer return. Her home reality may now be but a dream that she’s no longer on the same wavelength of to be able to return to.

Anyway, that was a lot of writing lol! Props to anyone who makes it to the end. Please feel to share your own ideas in here and thanks for listening!

#little nightmares #the ferryman little nightmares #the sounds of nightmares #little nightmares 2

78 notes · View notes

natsarrownecklacx · 1 year

Text

Dead Of Night

Dark!Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Summary- The multiverse is a place filled with countless realities, stories, heartbreaks and possibilities. Despite this, Wanda would stop at nothing to have you. (Just a lil thought I had.)

Word Count- 750.

Warnings- Just a lil dark Wanda.

Series Masterlist

ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ

Infinite multiverses means infinite amounts of possibilities. That’s what you tell yourself whenever you feel upset because you don’t have your favorite person beside you. Infinite multiverses means infinite possibilities. Meaning that in one of them, maybe even two or three, you are with the person you love. The person you would give anything to hold. To feel hold you.

It means that, somewhere out there, she’s real. Not just a character in a movie or a tv show or a comic. She’s a real live person. Someone you can talk to, someone who you can touch, who can touch you. Someone you can love wholeheartedly, without any barriers.

You’d told yourself that very line over and over for years. Somewhere out there, you're together. You go to sleep at night together. You wake up and go about your days together. You’ve told yourself it, you’ve lived it, for so long that you truly believe it.

There’s some things you didn’t consider when thinking over how the multiverse works. Like how it would mean chaos if they ever crossed over or how scary it would be if you one day woke up in another universe.

One thing you definitely didn’t consider is that, in one of them, the many other universes out there, Wanda had loved and lost you. Just as she had vision and her boys in your universe's movies. She had lost you. Both of you we’re together, as happy as can be. Wanda was happy. She was in love. Irrevocably so. But then she lost you. And things went dark. Wanda went dark.

She couldn’t handle living without you. Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. The only thing she could think to fix it, was you. She needed you. More than she needed the air in her lungs or the blood in her veins. It was a deep, profound need that consumed her whole. It drove her to damn near insanity.

She’d done things, hurt people, in ways she swore long ago she never would. But she had to, right? To get to you she had to. And that meant it was all okay. It would all be worth it once she got to hold you again.

You were asleep when she’d arrived. Through your window in the middle of the night. In the back of her mind she registered how creepy that was. Coming in through your window while you slept, like some kind of deranged killer. She didn’t care. She couldn’t bring herself to. Not when you were right there. After so long you were right there, right in front of her. Everything she’d done before that moment, all the pain and death she’d caused, they didn’t matter. She has you now.

She used her magic to change her clothes into comfier ones, then slipped into the bed beside you. She could take you away where no one could find you tomorrow. Right now she just needed you close. To hold you. To touch you and let it sink in that you're real. She did it. She found you.

She didn’t bother locking the door to your room. If there were other people in the house and they tried to get in the way, she’d just kill them. Without a thought. Without even taking her eyes away from you.

Wanda growled at the thought. Low and quiet. Then shove her face into your neck. No one would be taking you from her. She’d never allow that to happen again. She’d been too soft before. Too easy going with you. Allowing you to go on missions and put yourself in harm's way. All because you wanted to. Because your big heart needed to help people. She used to love that about you, still does. Now though, she also fears it. That’s what took you away from her last time. That can’t happen again. She wouldn’t survive it.

Wanda tightens her hold on you at the memory. You. Dead on the floor. Eyes void of their usual brightness. Lugs deprived of air. Heart unmoving in your chest.

Wanda felt something break in her that day. Something snapped. As though when the light in your eyes went out, it took a piece of her soul with it. All that was left in its place was a hole. One she filled with darkness. All in her effort to get you back.

“Mine.” She whispers into the crook of your neck, placing a soft kiss there.

“Mine to hold. Mine to love. Mine to protect.” She whispers the words so softly. As though she’s trying to persuade your heart to trust her.

In reality, you don’t have a choice. Your hers now. You belong to her. Whether you like it or not.

Her green eyes shift, a dark red tainting them. Her hold on you tightens to a borderline painful level that has you squirming in your sleep. “Mine, Dekta. You hear that? All mine. No one, not even you, could take that from me.”

The multiverse has infinite possibilities. You knew that. You just never thought that, in all those possibilities, the scarlet witch would come for you.

ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ <3 ᗢ

Part Two

A/n- I’ve never written for dark Wanda before so I wanted to try this out :) Also I kinda wanna turn this into a series but I dunno.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x you #dark wanda x reader #dark wanda maximoff #dark Wanda Maximoff x reader

383 notes · View notes

soullessjack · 5 months

Text

so one of my other problems with babyjack is that the fandom just seems to have this sort of collective cognitive dissonance about it, in almost any context or discussion. like this post as probably my only standing example (bc it’s the only one to have gotten traction), there are all these tags about how babyjack leads to bad dean criticism, or how it’s nice in aus but they want canon complex jack, and like I’m not entirely disagreeing with that, but it is so fucking frustrating that people are still ignoring the actual problem with it and either only focusing on the most surface level issues that personally affect them or their corner of the fandom, or making up some point of acceptability for it that frankly isn’t theirs to make.

it’s the autistic experience of our struggles never being seen or cared about until they become other people’s inconveniences, and our voices being used to say something else entirely. when the main takeaway of that post is how the fandom’s treatment of jack being in a way he’s explicitly shown to hate being treated directly mirrors autistic people’s struggle for autonomy in the real world, I really do not need you to make it about how it makes your golden website boy dean look like a big meanie pants, okay? that’s definitely a part of it, but it’s not at all what we are talking about, and it 100% should not be the only reason you care.

and especially when the other takeaway is how this is just a smaller scale issue that comes from autistic infantilization, the absolute last take I want to hear is that you find that infantilization acceptable as long it’s an AU or something else separated from canon. believe me, I’m beyond glad more people actually prefer canon complex jack—like, I don’t think you guys understand that that is legitimately a rarity to find here— but the thing about babyjack is that the concept itself is inherently ableist, and directly relies on his complexities (and the representation he means for us) being removed and erased so that he can even exist in the context of those AU’s. It feels very… ‘have your cake and eat it too’ to me.

I’m trying not to sound angry or accusatory, but I am also tired of having to force civility on a problem that’s pretty much just an open secret thar everyone collectively ignores and beats bushes around solely because they prioritize #domesticdestiel over all. I mean, do you guys even hear yourselves sometimes? Like half of it just boils down to “Autistic infantilization is always bad, except for this one context where it makes my ship look domestic and redeems my blorbo,” and it’s getting really fucking annoying to have to constantly explain something that is not only painfully easy to understand, but is understood and actively ignored, and still play nice so that somebody out there might listen.

So many people will say they like canon Jack and want more of him from the fandom, and I more than agree, but motherfucker you have a blog! You have the tools! Be the change you want to see! He doesn’t have to be your fav or your blog thesis blorbo, but if you want it, you are literally fully equipped to make it! Write some meta, draw some fanart, whatever. Better yet, you could even stop engaging with and perpetuating content that actively pushes down on what you want and, I must reiterate, is actively harmful and ableist. If you want domestic silliness go right ahead, but you don’t need to resort to ableism to do it.

I don’t think I’m asking too much or asking rudely, and frankly I don’t even think I owe niceties to anyone when it’s a problem that has been openly ignored for 6 years and holds plenty of bearing in the real world concerning my identity and community and shit we face constantly. Outside of our screens, we are constantly fighting for autonomy and recognition and representation, and even to be seen as people. Online spaces, especially fandom spaces, are a huge source of escapism and support that we wouldn’t get otherwise. So for the love of god, please stop bringing that fight here.

35 notes · View notes

meliorao · 2 years

Text

Your relationship with Ralph

Summary: Some headcanons about you and Ralph as a couple

Pairing: Ralph x gendernatural!Reader

Warnings: Fluff, slight hints to smut, some swearing here and there, just me being in love with Ralph<3 Minors go away! Don’t read any of my works if you’re not 18+, please!

Words: 884

A/N: So after my last fic I knew I needed something sweet and lighthearted for this post to break it up a little! As I wanna work on improving in all sorts of genres I am trying to write as much as I can with as much variation as I can! I thought this was a fun silly thing to do so I definitely wanna do more for multiple of Joseph’s characters! I hope you like it!

———————————————————————

How you met

• Here we goooo

• Poor sweet Ralph

• So you met him at one of the many big parties him and his sister attend on a regular basis

• You just stumbled across him on accident really

• He sat on a chair with a big champagne glass in his hand, slowly drinking as he looked rather uncomfortable out on the crowd

• You could see that he wasn’t having much fun as he was staring at his sister dancing with a man on the dance floor

• So naturally you decide to approach the guy

• When he looks up at you I swear he was going feral at someone even looking his way with a smile-

• Like imagine his big goofy smile as he sees you sitting down next to him

• Definitely spills some champagne on his suit as he is trying to greet you

• You chuckle at him which makes him embarrassed but to his surprise you’re not leaving?

• You pick up a conversation with him and to your surprise it doesn’t take him long to losen up

• That’s when he start the babble

• Will give you compliments (on accident and not so much on accident) between about every two sentences

• Gosh you’ll just find him adorable from the moment you met him.

• Bim badaboom you’re the person he loves the most in the whole wide world

• Talking about love at first sight

Your relationship

• It didn’t take long for you to become a couple

• Not that you had anything against that

• You two were absolutely completely and utterly in love with each other

• Soo we all know that Ralphie is a sub right?

• We can all agree on that?

• But I don’t think he is into that kinky sort of sub spectrum

• I genuinely believe that he just want someone to love him

• To make sure he knows how loved he is

• Basically what I am trying to Say is that he will be all for affection in any shape or form

• He would love to give you compliments about everything

• Absolutely everything about you

• “Sweetheart your outfit is just marvellous today!”

• “Have you been told how adorable your nose is?”

• And he would absolutely die for compliments and affection from you as well

• But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be embarrassed about it and get all blushy

• Like imagine if his partner is more of a PDA person too!?

• I mean he would be snorting in giggles from you giving him a kiss on the cheek in front of his sister!?

• Let alone if you said or did something even in a slight direction to sex or whatnot.

•nTo be honest it didn’t even need to be that, could be something rather innocent

• Like for instance when you, Victoria and Ralph was in the dining room one evening, eating Supper together

• Your family was away and the actual thought of you thinking you would be alone in your home? Absolutely not.

• Ralph practically forced you into his house despite you begging that you would be okay

• So Victoria was practically spitting out words every minute on how amazing her day was

• As Victoria was fully occupied with herself you reached under the table to rather innocently just rub Ralphs leg

• Just a slight touch

• Innocent enough right?

• Wrong.

• Ralph flew ten feet up in the air so hard that he hit his leg on the table

• God you had to baby him after too

• Cooing and hushing him as he was on the verge of tears

• You would have to kiss his forehead as you stroke your hand over his harmed area to calm him down

• Probably blow on it too

• Like the true baby boy he is

• Victoria would probably just roll her eyes at you two

• She was so used to Ralph being absolutely smitten by you so it wasn’t even weird

•nAlso random thought but he would 100% give you gifts and do special occasions for everything

• I mean everything

• “What do you mean today isn’t a special day? We have officially been a couple for seven months, two weeks and 3 days, isn’t that worth the biggest celebration!?”

• PUPPY EYES!?

• However if you so wish, sex is coming one day right?

• Remember how I said he was a sub?

• Yeah you’re definitely the one that has to take the first step

• Like yes after you’ve kissed him he will shower you in cute kisses

• And after you’ve actually had sex he will probably suggest it at times if he is horny

• But that’s only after you’ve done it

• He wouldn’t suggest anything first himself

• However when you started to get more touchy

• He would probably be nervous as hell

• Not that he wouldn’t trust you

• Because he fucking do alright

• But he was worried as he wasn’t as experienced like you

• But you would make sure he knew how amazing he was to you from day one

• Man I love Ralph

• If you’re with Ralph just know you’re in for a treat

• He is perfect.

#joseph quinn smut #fanfic #imagines #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #ralph timewasters #ralph x reader

457 notes · View notes

wendytestabrat · 4 months

Text

why kyle is a textbook covert narcissist (FROM THE VAULT [2021])

I’ve explained this before, I think Kyle is a textbook covert narcissist and this episode and this scene right here pretty much gives it away. I love how Kyle’s definition of doing the “right” thing means getting everyone to like them again. But this is how Kyle has always been, he never actually does anything good that’s nice and helpful to anyone he just wants to make people THINK he’s a good person doing the right thing. He gets a kick out of being a martyr and shit bc it feeds his ego and it’s more of a status symbol for him to do the right thing. Bc when a genuinely nice person wants to do a nice thing and help someone they just do it and they don’t need to brag about how amazing and altruistic they are for it DHSJJSJSKS. But Kyle isn’t like that, he clearly cares too much about what everyone thinks which is why he was sooooo fucking upset when people were blaming him too for the period joke, and a big reason why Kyle likes to shit on Cartman but he makes sure to shit on Cartman IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE, it to make himself look like the better person in comparison. So that’s why all Kyle cared about in this episode was trying to get everyone to like him again and get on people’s good side. If Kyle was a genuinely good person who cares and does the “right” thing he wouldn’t have been all pissy and yelling at Stan & Cartman throughout this entire episode to get his way, that’s not what a good person does RJDJJSSJ. I just really want to bring awareness to this bc I think covert narcissism is such a huge issue that pisses me off and it really flies under the radar, and Kyle is the perfect example of a bunch of people like that we see in our lives. There are soooo many manipulative ass people who trick us into thinking they’re good people who wanna do the right thing but they’re really not and then they just hurt and betray us, and I guess that’s part of the reason why I rant about Kyle sm and it makes me sooo mad when people defend him and say he’s a good person when he’s not dhsjsjs. All of these SJWs and snowflakes on the internet getting everything cancelled and complaining on social media are total covert narcissists with the same kind of mentality where they think they’re just innocent victims trying to do what’s right for the world but they’re really just shitty assholes who are causing more harm than good. This kind of behavior is NOT okay. It’s NEVER okay to spew more hate into the world under any circumstance. That shit don’t fly with me! And we need to watch out for these kinds of people bc they can end up hurting us and tricking us even more than what we typically think a narcissist or sociopath to be. Watch out for people who play the victim card, who are a constant stream of negativity, talk shit behind your back, get literally jealous of anyone, and they say shit that doesn’t match their actions to make you think they’re an angel but they’re really just a sad loser. Believe me there are A LOT of Kyles out there.

#south park #kyman #KYMANRANTGARBAGE

22 notes · View notes

ugh-yoongi · 11 months

Text

hello, friends 🫶🏻

just a psa/personal rant?? not really a rant but

i wanted to talk about a few things, and i think the cleanest and easiest segue is to say: i have left all of my writing networks. it is 100% nothing personal to any of them, i have enjoyed each and every one, but there are a few reasons why.

one, i am not active in any of the discord servers, so there was ✨anxiety✨ about not contributing and feeling obligated.

two (and this is the segue part): obviously these networks have a big reach, and i am feeling more and more anxious about exposing my work to the masses.

it’s a double-edged sword, because i write what i want and what makes me happy, but there is always a part of me that wants feedback and wants other people to see and enjoy it. but it has been tense here lately and the “please do not perceive me” feelings are REAL.

there is just… no nuance anymore. me posting “i don’t think it was a good decision for jungkook to go to qatar” turned into a bunch of anons calling me islamophobic and a bunch of other stuff. me saying it was a bad look for jimin to feature on a song by a r*pist turned into “you can’t have an opinion because you’re a rap line stan.”

i’m most certainly not perfect. i try to do the right thing. but tumblr has turned into a place where you will get bullied off the site if someone does not like you personally and decides you’re the internet’s villain of the day. you are put into situations you cannot win. if you defend yourself, you’re making excuses. if you don’t, you’re guilty and all those things people accused you of being are true.

it is literally this tweet:

this is not a fandom known for being welcoming of discourse, but we have to be able to give others grace. there has to be nuance. like, we are literally stanning bts, who have done and said and written problematic things. we should not excuse intentionally harmful behavior, but we need to be able to have conversations and believe, to a certain extent, that not everyone behaves in malicious ways.

we all fuck up and will continue to do so. i hope your mistakes are handled with grace and you are given the benefit of the doubt, and i hope you extend that grace when others inevitably make mistakes as well.

i am not involved in drama here. i am 31 years old and too old and tired. i just want to write and cry over seokjin and shitpost with my friends.

i’m sure this has all been said before, but: i was offline at the time everything went down with m (shout-out the fucking car accident i got in on my way to pick up my friends from the airport, why did this seemingly happen to everyone??) but they are someone i have interacted with both here and offline, and how all of that played out was fucked up, to say the least. others have explained it far more eloquently than me, but it bears repeating.

so while i love writing and i love sharing my work, there is a part of me that’s anxious every time i post. including this. i will continue to do so and hope that this site becomes warmer and more welcoming, because i see a lot of posts lamenting writers leaving or deactivating, and i just think: “well, yeah.”

enough has been said about interaction and the like/reblog ratio, which is definitely a huge part. it can be demoralizing to spend so much time and effort writing a fic that gets little interaction. but the environment is a big part, too, and i’m hopeful that can change.

(but also—protect your peace, whatever that means for you. unfollow that person. block that tag. you don’t have to engage with everything, especially if it raises your blood pressure. one of the few good things about the internet is that you’re largely able to curate your experience. don’t feel guilty about taking advantage of that.)

i will finish this by saying: i am always open to having conversations so long as they’re in good faith. it is not anyone’s place to police my behavior, but if i ever do or say something that is not cool, you are more than welcome to address it with me. i encourage you to do so. as flor once said: comfort can’t help me grow up.

love u all. pls be nice to one another. 🖤

#filed under: personal ramblings

65 notes · View notes

m1ckeyb3rry · 4 months

Text

Pomegranate Ink: XX

Series Synopsis: Unable to heal but willing to fight, with a fiancé in Kyoto and a last name that looms over everything you do, you accept an offer to study at Tokyo Jujutsu Tech. What you did not know was that your salvation and your ruination alike would soon join you at the school, neatly wrapped in the form of a boy followed by death.

Chapter Synopsis: You go on a mission for Gojo.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Yuta Okkotsu × Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.9k

Content Warnings: angst, misogyny, naoya zenin, forbidden relationships, canon-typical violence, character death, original characters included

A/N: there’s been too much gojo in pomegranate ink recently but the next few chapters after this one should be the exchange event which means minimal gojo !!

Although you were technically his coworker and equal now, the admiration you held for Kento Nanami had never quite faded. He had even given you his recommendation, so he obviously did not feel like there was a massive gap in your statuses — or, indeed, any gap at all — but that did not change the fact that when you joined Gojo in his office and saw that Nanami was standing there, you immediately straightened your back.

“Nanami, sir, I didn’t realize you’d be here!” you said before turning to Gojo. “And what was that crazy ominous text about, huh?”

“I’m the teacher here, so why am I the one you disrespect so much?” Gojo muttered. You gave him a look, because if you had to list all of the reasons why Gojo didn’t deserve any respect, then you’d be talking for a very long time.

“It’s good to see you again, Y/N. I hope you’ve been doing well,” Nanami said, as polite as ever despite the typical squabble between you and Gojo. “I expect I’m here for much the same reason as you. Although, I’m not quite sure how keen I am on Gojo asking a child to do his dirty work.”

“She’s a Grade 1 sorcerer, the same as you, and you’re the one who recommended her, so why would I treat her as any lesser?” Gojo said. Nanami gave you a sympathetic frown.

“I recommended her because she deserves to be paid more. That’s not a reason for her to be getting jerked around by you and your inane demands,” he said. “She’s still only a second year, so please remember that the next time you ask her about something so serious.”

“What’s going on?” you said. “It’s alright, Nanami, sir. I mean, whatever Gojo’s about to say is definitely going to be something stupid, but I don’t mind helping him out. He’s done so much for me that it’s only fair.”

“Still, you should try to stay out of harm’s way as best as you can,” Nanami said.

“I can use my Reverse Cursed Technique now, so there’s definitely no issue,” you said. “Anyways, Gojo, get on with it. I’ll show you the meme Yuta made for me earlier if you’re quick enough.”

“He’s onto making memes now?” Gojo said in surprise. “That’s big news.”

“I think Toge got him into it,” you said. Gojo thought about this before nodding. It made sense; Toge had been a master with photoshop since birth or something, probably, and he was Yuta’s best friend. It stood to reason that his habits would eventually rub off.

“You’ll definitely have to show me later. I asked you to come here for a reason, though, so we should go over that first. Do you remember what I was telling you earlier, about that special grade curse that performed a Domain Expansion in front of Yuji and I?” he said.

“Yes. It was definitely a worrying thing, especially because Domain Expansions necessitate such a high level of skill. Even sorcerers that can perform them are so rare, which makes it a big problem that there are curses which now can,” you said.

“Exactly. There was recently an incident at a nearby high school that I believe those curses might be involved in, so I’m sending Yuji and Nanami to investigate. I’d go myself, but I have to go on a trip, so I can’t,” Gojo said.

“I don’t recall agreeing to do this,” Nanami interjected. Gojo ignored him; of course, Nanami definitely would go. Even though he was a rule-follower, he didn’t have a great love for the higher ups, and despite his comically constant irritation with Gojo, he also had a lot of faith in the man, which meant he’d begrudgingly oblige his requests, no matter what.

“Why’s that involve me?” you said.

“Originally, I thought about having you take the mission instead of Nanami, since you were a Grade 1 sorcerer who already knew about Yuji’s existence, which would mean one less person would have to find out, but I realized that there was a flaw in that plan: because you’re still a student, the higher ups would definitely be suspicious about that kind of assignment. Even a tiny bit of added scrutiny would be enough for them to pick up on Yuji, and I don’t need to explain to you why that would be disastrous,” he said.

“That’s why you went with Nanami,” you realized. “They don’t really care about him and what he does. Uh, no offense, sir, it’s just that you give off such a stiff vibe that they think you’re firmly on their side, so you’re totally above suspicion when compared to me and Gojo.”

“I understand,” he said. It was something about Nanami which you appreciated, the fact that he didn’t really get upset very easily. He was a relaxed man who was very unflappable, at least as long as Gojo was uninvolved.

“He’s also trustworthy enough to not reveal any details of the mission,” Gojo added. “These are all compliments, Nanami, so you should accept them!”

“Get to the point,” Nanami said. “I see what you want from me, but if you can’t send her on that mission, then why have you called her?”

“Y/N, while Nanami and Yuji are busy investigating that scene, I want you on a different case. You see, a few days ago, a restaurant randomly burst into flames. Although that could be a coincidence, something tells me that there’s more to it. It might even be that same curse from earlier. I want you to see if there’s some kind of greater plot going on here that the curses are working together to achieve, or if it’s just a coincidence that this kind of thing has been happening on such a mass scale recently,” he said.

“Very few things are coincidences,” you said. “Although I do think this one might be. I suppose there is a chance it’s not, though, so sure. I can do that.”

“Hold on a second. You said that that curse could perform a Domain Expansion. What if it pulls that out? Does she have any counter to that?” Nanami said. “If she doesn’t, then it’s totally irresponsible of you to send her. Even more irresponsible than I ever thought you’d be.”

“Um,” Gojo said. “Y/N? Do you have a counter for that?”

“Wow, Gojo,” you said. “I can’t believe you didn’t think of that. Thank you for the concern, Nanami, sir, but as the case may be, I actually do have something I can use if things come to it, so I’ll be alright.”

“If you say so,” Nanami said.

“I knew you’d have a way around it! Or else I wouldn’t have asked you to take the mission in the first place!” Gojo said.

“Oh yeah? What’s my counter, then, huh?” you said. Gojo was oddly quiet for a second.

“I don’t know?” he said finally, voice quiet like a mouse’s instead of boisterous as usual. “I just had faith that you’d figure something or another out. You’re a talented sorcerer, so I had no doubts you’d be alright. Besides, like you said, sorcerers with Domain Expansions are a rarity, so it’s not like I could just find and send someone who can use it to investigate. Even if I could, I wouldn’t trust anyone else the way I trust you, and anyways combat should be your last resort. Avoid it if possible.”

It was very difficult to be angry at Gojo. He looked like a sad, wet cat that had just been sprayed and scolded, pouting slightly, his shoulders slumped. You clicked your tongue before leaning over and hugging him tightly.

“I was only joking. I know you wouldn’t put me in harm’s way if you could help it. I’m a Grade 1 sorcerer now; how could I claim that title if just a Domain Expansion was enough to take me out? You were right to ask me. I’ll take care of things, don’t you worry, and I’ll be back in time to take part in the exchange event, too,” you said.

“For the record, I wasn’t joking,” Nanami said. “But there’s no point in further argument. You’re right about one thing, Gojo, and that’s that there aren’t that many sorcerers around that we can trust. Like it or not, we’ll have to make use of Y/N’s talents.”

“I wouldn’t have asked her if it wasn’t like that,” Gojo said. “That’s the world we’ve been given, though, so we’ll make the best of it. Y/N, I’ll take you out for dinner and shopping once you’re back as a thank you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you said. “But you know I’d never say no to such an offer! You better have that credit card at the ready. I’m taking you up on it for sure.”

“Good,” Gojo said. “I expected no less.”

You were wearing a pair of sunglasses Gojo had lent you as you walked down the street, attempting to look as inconspicuous as possible. You didn’t want to be at all recognizable — not by the curses, who would probably not remember your face even if they saw it, but by anyone related to jujutsu society who might be out and about. If one of your cousins or someone like that saw you, then you’d be in a world of trouble. After all, they’d definitely ask you why you weren’t at the school, and what would you even say to that? You couldn’t exactly tell them that you were on a secret mission for Gojo, so it would be an awkward conversation overall. You had faith in your disguise, though, so there was definitely no issue —

“Hey, Y/N! I wasn’t expecting to see you out here!” a friendly voice said.

You whipped around, trying to discern who it was that had recognized you. The typical culprits were absent — any of your classmates, the third years, your family members, or any of the higher ups. Finally, your eyes lit upon him, beaming and obviously about to say something again, just as loudly as he had the first time.

“Shut up,” you hissed, wrapping your arm around his neck to yank his head down and slapping your hand over his mouth. “I’m supposed to be in disguise right now.”

“Really?” Takuma Ino said, voice muffled by your palm. “You look exactly the same but with sunglasses, though. As far as disguises go, I don’t think it’s that effective.”

“What are you doing here, anyways?” you said, deciding you’d have to reevaluate your disguise at a later moment. Pushing your sunglasses up to rest on the crown of your head, you let go of Ino, who rubbed the back of his neck and readjusted his shirt collar.

“I was planning on going to see a movie at the theater a few blocks down! Do you want to come?” he said. You thought about it for a second. It would be fun, after all — Ino was the kind of person that you couldn’t help liking. He had this unfailing optimism about him that made him a great mission partner, and he also was one of those people that had a moral code they actually followed. Overall, you were definitely really fond of Ino, but you knew you couldn’t take the time off even if you wanted to. Gojo was counting on you.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could. I’m actually busy right now, though,” you said. Ino shrugged.

“No worries,” he said. “I’ll see you around, then! Let’s try to go on a mission together at some point. It’s way better doing stuff with you than it is with most of the other Grade 1 sorcerers. Last time I went, they had me go with Naoya Zenin.”

You winced at the mention of the name alone. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was fine, I guess. He’s just kind of—” Ino leaned in to whisper in your ear “—a douchebag.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” you said with a snort. “Luckily, I haven’t seen him since he was suspended after that mission where he supervised me. Douchebag is the best way to describe him, so don’t think I’ll tell on you for thinking like that.”

“Thanks,” Ino said, clearly relieved. “Anyways, I should go! The movie’s starting soon, and I like watching all the trailers that come before it, so I can’t be late. See you around, Y/N!”

“See you,” you said, waving as he turned the corner. It was a little disappointing. The downside of being a Grade 1 sorcerer: you had even less time to just enjoy your time as a student. Instead of getting to train with your friends and watch movies, you were completing a dangerous mission, with unregistered special grade curses as your opponents. While Ino watched his movie and your classmates prepared with one another for the exchange event, you were conducting a potentially fatal investigation.

At least you got paid way more than the rest of them — bar Yuta, of course, who was rolling in the cash of his special-grade salary. But he was also an entire continent away, so you didn’t envy him too much.

The restaurant that Gojo was talking about was closed off with construction barriers and yellow tape. Fiddling with the pouch of needles you carried with you at all times, you stepped over the tape and around the barriers, closing your eyes and sharpening your cursed signature detection.

The incident had happened a few days ago, so they were incredibly faint, but the residuals were definitely there. Gojo had been right in sending you; the whispering remnants of cursed energy would’ve escaped almost anyone else’s notice. It was only because of your advanced signature perception that you had caught them, and even then, you would’ve missed them if you weren’t looking for them in the first place.

“One — two — three — four,” you counted, crouching before the only seat that wasn’t scorched. For some reason, this residual felt familiar to you, though you couldn’t quite place where you remembered it from. That only made you feel more uneasy; was it a curse you had faced before? Or was it a possibility that someone you knew was working as a curse user alongside the special grade curses?

It couldn’t be anyone too familiar, though. You would’ve known who they were for sure if you had met them more than a few times. Whoever’s residual this was, they were a person you had only encountered once or twice. That didn’t narrow it down any, of course, and indeed it made it more difficult for you to pin down who it could’ve belonged to. How were you supposed to recognize someone you barely knew?

Pulling out your phone, you typed out your findings in a new note. Four residuals at restaurant. Three belonging to curses. One belonging to a curse user. Curse user’s residual is familiar but unidentifiable.

You’d email the entire attachment to Gojo once you were finished with the mission so that he had a frame of reference and some background for when you gave him the official report in person. This way, you’d also be sure to not forget anything, since you were writing it all down as you discovered it.

Leaving the strongest source of the residuals behind, you went over to one of the charred pieces of wood that must’ve once been a chair. When you poked it with your finger, it crumbled away into ash. Your lips tugged downwards into a frown, and you knelt, squinting at it. This was the important part; curses could appear anywhere, but whether they were involved in the disaster was what you were supposed to be investigating.

All residuals told a story. What did these ones have to say? What had happened at this restaurant? Was it something mundane, or was something more sinister at work?

A man set ablaze by something cursed. Flames bursting up at random. People burning. Fire licking throughout the restaurant, stopping at the feet of the three curses and their benefactor and then suddenly extinguishing. The foursome leaving the restaurant with nary their clothes singed.

Gojo was right: it had not been a coincidence. This restaurant had burnt on purpose by what you could only assume was the curse he had met earlier, the fiery one with the head like a volcano. Furthermore, you could sense no other residuals besides the ones left by the group, which meant that the curse had done it for no reason other than because it could.

Naturally, there was no sense in trying to assign meaning to the actions of curses. They were who they were; it was in the character of a curse to destroy, so there wasn’t any morality to it. They weren’t evil out of conscious choice — that was what was intrinsic for them, so that was how they acted. Still, this felt unnecessarily cruel, a display of senseless violence just for violence’s sake.

Fire seems to have been set with malicious intent. No evidence of a struggle. No evidence of a need for self-defense. No evidence of outside intervention via sorcery.

Leaving the restaurant behind, you leaned against the wall, trying to figure out what you should do next. Any residuals that the curses might’ve left as they made their escape would be washed away by now, simply due to the massive traffic in the area, so you couldn’t track them that way. But what other clues did you have about their hiding spots? How else could you observe them? Your findings weren’t anything special, especially without much to substantiate them. They could be put down to the typical behavior of curses, even though you had this sense that something else was at play.

“Honestly,” you said, puffing out your cheeks and letting your sunglasses fall back on the bridge of your nose. “This blows. What am I supposed to do now?”

“You know,” a wheezy voice said from beside you, “I never thought someone as mortal as you would dare stick their nose where it doesn’t belong, but I guess humans really are stupid."

It was like that snake curse of Elakshi’s all over again. You hadn’t even noticed the curse approaching, but here it was, in this deserted alleyway with you, right next to you. It was a grotesque mixture of person and horror, too close to humanity to be dismissed in turn, too close to monstrosity to be given any real sympathy.

As Itadori and Gojo had said, his head resembled a volcano, with one single, huge eye glaring out in front of him. His back was hunched, like he was an elderly man, and he wore a yellow-spotted cape draped over his shoulders. He mirrored your position, making no move to attack you, obviously delighting in the fact that you recognized him.

“You’re the curse that Gojo fought,” you said. The curse spat, his saliva splattering against the concrete and melting it, steam arising from the spots where it had dropped.

“Satoru Gojo,” he snapped. “Yeah, I fought that weakling.”

“Didn’t he beat you? You shouldn’t call him weak. If anyone’s weak, it’s you,” you criticized. This was, in hindsight, not the smartest thing you could’ve done, but you found it a little humorous that this curse really believed Gojo was the weak one between them two.

“What?” the curse said, flames bursting from the openings which must’ve functioned as his ears. You winced, taking a step back from the massive heat suddenly emanating from him. “You think I’m weak? You are nothing compared to Satoru Gojo and I. You could never defeat me, and yet you dare call me weak?”

“How did you know I’d be here?” you said, deciding to get to the point before he began to attack. “You must’ve, or else you wouldn’t have come. I know your hideout isn’t nearby, because I would’ve sensed it, which means that, for some reason, you believed that a sorcerer would come to the scene of your crime. Why? What tipped you off?”

The curse ignored you. “If you think I’m so weak, then fight me yourself! Come on, girl, why don’t you?”

“I’m not in the mood,” you said, eyeing him warily, taking another step back. Gojo had recommended you avoid combat, and you were inclined to agree with him. This did not seem like an ideal matchup for you; this curse, whoever he was, seemed to be the type that was focused on brute strength and sheer power. Furthermore, there was no way you could take him by surprise, and even if you got lucky and managed to land a hit or two, there wasn’t a guarantee that they’d be immediately fatal.

Your best bet would be to escape now, before he could attack you. But where would you go? The alleyway opened up into bustling streets on either side, which meant that you’d be putting civilians at risk if you fled and the curse decided to chase you. The question of where he had come from also remained. Did he have backup? Even now, were there more curses on their way to attack you? Or were the majority of their forces located in that high school where Itadori and Nanami were operating?

“That high school,” you continued in a forced show of bravado. “You’re involved in that, aren’t you? You and the other unregistered special grades. Have you all formed some kind of group?”

“Why should I answer your questions?” the curse shouted, the top of his head emitting wisps of smoke, threatening at an eruption. “You’re a human, so I owe you nothing! I know you’re running because you have no hope of fighting me, but don’t think I’ll let that happen. I’ll kill you before you can take another step!”

“Who are you?” you pressed, ignoring his threats. “Curse, tell me your name. If it makes you feel better, mine is Y/N L/N.”

The curse froze in his tracks, fire abruptly cooling, the air almost chilly in the absence of his furnace-like heat. Then, to your surprise, he took a step backwards, though he still trembled with rage, his single eye narrowed at you. There was a war in that iris, like he could not come to terms with what he had to do.

“Y/N…L/N?” he repeated. You hadn’t been expecting that kind of reaction, but you definitely weren’t complaining.

“Yes,” you said. “And you are? Who do you work for? I know you’re operating alongside at least one curse user. Who are they? I know I recognize their residuals, but I can’t place where from. Who is it? Tell me, now, before I — I call Gojo!”

“Satoru Gojo is abroad,” the curse said. “So don’t think that that kind of threat will work on me. But if you really are Y/N L/N…I’ve heard about you, in fact.”

“From who?” you said, still trying to figure out how he knew Gojo wasn’t in the country. “Who told you about me? Why does it matter who I am? Didn’t you just want to kill me?”

It wasn’t like you wanted him to kill you, but the total flip in his attitude alongside the reluctance with which it had occurred made you mistrustful. Was this a way for him to catch you off guard? If that was the case, then it wasn’t working. You still didn’t believe in him one bit, and you also couldn’t figure out what kind of angle he was playing it. It was totally unbelievable for him to have heard of you — unless he somehow knew about that.

“I’ve been told that you cannot die if we want Sukuna on our side,” the curse said, though his hands twitched, like he wanted to reach out and burn you with them regardless. “If we want him to fight with us, then we cannot kill you.”

“So that’s your goal,” you said. “Or at least one of them: you want to reawaken Sukuna fully. I guess that that’s not too much of a surprise, though I don’t understand what my involvement in the scenario is.”

The curse’s lip curled in disgust. “I don’t, either. You’re just a bag of bones, held together with a minuscule amount of cursed energy. What vested interest does someone like Sukuna have in a weakling like you? Why does it matter that you live? I’d ignore the warning, but last time I did…well. We can’t risk it. Not yet, anyways. Get out of my sight, irritating pest, before I change my mind and decide that killing you and shutting your insufferable mouth is worth risking Sukuna’s aid in our plan!”

“That’s fine by me,” you said. “I’ve found out more than enough. I hope to never see you again, Mount Fuji!”

“Mount Fuji?” the curse screeched after you. You could see the air shimmering around him, a warning of an imminent explosion as you sprinted away. “Be grateful you escaped this time! It won’t be the case if we ever meet again, Y/N L/N!”

With trembling fingers, you finished typing your report on the bus, glancing out the window periodically in case the curse had decided to chase you all of this way. Once it had been formatted and updated with all of your findings, you downloaded it as a PDF and emailed it to Gojo. This was a weight off your shoulders; at least now, even if that curse did come for you, you had managed to get the information to Gojo.

It had been more productive of a mission than you had originally anticipated. Although some of your conclusions were little more than conjecture, only guesses based on offhand comments made by the curse and the more circumstantial evidence, you felt confident about most of it being correct — and you told Gojo as much when you met him next.

“You really think there’s someone leaking our information?” Gojo said. You sighed, swirling a spoonful of sugar into the tea Gojo had offered you. Nanami and Itadori had just returned from their mission, and you were sure that whatever they had discovered would reflect what you had.

“The curse knew that I’d be there, which I suppose you could put down to a lucky guess, but he also knew that you were abroad. There’s no way he could’ve just happened upon such a random explanation; the most likely solution is that someone’s giving them our information. It would also account for why those residuals felt so familiar,” you said.

“Someone in jujutsu society, who you’ve only met once or twice, is working with the curses,” Gojo said, massaging his temples.

“I’d like to say it’s Naoya,” you offered. “Mostly because I hate him and believe that most of the world’s problems can be put upon him. But, unfortunately, I’d have recognized his signature, and anyways he wouldn’t benefit from jujutsu society collapsing, so we can rule him out.”

“I wouldn’t have really suspected him in the first place,” Gojo said. “If I had to guess, it’s someone associated with one of the schools.”

“Another student?” you said. Gojo nodded.

“Or a faculty member, possibly. I doubt that they would be the curse user whose residuals you recognized, but I do think that that’s where that group is getting their information from. I’ll ask Utahime to look into it — I’ve known her since I was young, so I can be reasonably assured that she’s not the one who’s leaking our secrets,” he said.

“Then whose residuals could they be?” you said. Gojo shook his head.

“I don’t know. I hope that, by catching the spy, we can figure that part out,” he said.

“There’s another thing I don’t understand. If the curses are working together to resurrect Sukuna, then why would a sorcerer be working with them? What use would any of the students have with a world where Sukuna reigns once more?” you said.

“Use your imagination, Y/N,” Gojo said. “Think about it. There’s a lot of reasons that people would want to ally themselves with the curses, especially because of how powerful they are. Even if they don’t agree with the final outcome, they might be trying to use the curses’ powers to their own ends.”

“Do they really think that they can deal with curses like that and win?” you said derisively. “It never ends well when sorcerers get involved with curses, especially inexperienced sorcerers, which is what they would be if they’re a student.”

“If they’re inexperienced, then they wouldn’t have the foresight to realize that. Or maybe there’s something they want badly enough that they’ll take the risk,” Gojo said. “There’s a lot of reasons. I can’t be certain, but anyways, I think it’s the most likely explanation. Like I said, we’ll have Utahime help us. She may not excel in strength, but she’s always been the observant type. If anyone can get to the root of things, it’s her.”

“That’s good,” you said. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s not much more we can do. It’s just all so much, and so sudden, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Gojo said. “Thank you for going on that mission. You definitely managed to make the most of it. I’m just glad that you escaped the curse without having to fight. I don’t know how that kind of a confrontation would’ve gone.”

“Probably not well,” you admitted. “He’s not the kind of opponent I’m best suited to face off against.”

“How’d you manage it? You were obviously around him long enough that you could have an entire conversation with him, so how were you able to escape fighting? He was so ill-tempered when we met,” Gojo said.

“Maybe that’s just your personality,” you suggested weakly. You had avoided including that particular detail in your report, mostly because you were still struggling to come to terms with it and what it meant.

“Do you really think so? If that’s the case, then he definitely would’ve fought you, because according to your report, you were just as annoying as I would’ve been in the same situation,” he said.

“No,” you said. “That’s not why. It’s because of Sukuna.”

“Sukuna?” Gojo repeated incredulously. “How’d he end up there?”

“He wasn’t there. Not physically, at least. It’s the same thing from when I went to help Megumi, when Sukuna refused to genuinely, properly fight me. For some reason, my death is something that he wants to avoid, to the point that even that curse believed that killing me would automatically disqualify Sukuna from their list of allies,” you said, and you were surprised to feel your throat swelling, choking with inexplicable tears. “I don’t understand it, Gojo. What does he want from me?”

You buried your face in your hands. You knew it was a little ungrateful — after all, you had the King of Curses supposedly watching over you, his name alone ensuring you did not die, but why did it not feel like a blessing? Why was there no benevolence to it? Why did it frighten you so much?

Sukuna did not care about you. He wasn’t protecting you, necessarily. He was just keeping you around for some greater purpose, one that only he could fathom. That was what you feared. What would Sukuna’s whims cost you? What was it that he was saving you for? What would he do to you once you had fulfilled his wish? Because you knew he hated you. He hated your ancestor, and therefore he hated you, and although there was something blocking him from it, he certainly wished for your death. So what was it that he could possibly want from you above all else? What could he possibly want so much that he would even delay the death he so longed to see for it?

Gojo’s hand was soft atop your head. He did not pat you, nor did he stroke your hair. He just let his hand rest there — it was as much comfort as he knew how to give, after all. This was Gojo at his core: a man who did not really understand how to love someone else. Maybe another person might’ve resented him for it, but it only made you feel fiercely more for him, made you wish you could go back in time to when he had been a child and tell him that one day, he would meet you, someone who’d always love him, no matter what, and that he only had to hold on until such a day could come.

“He wants something only you can give,” Gojo said. “I don’t know what that could be. Sukuna’s never been the kind of person that can be easily understood. It doesn’t make sense to me, either, but that’s how it is.”

“I don’t know, either,” you said. Gojo ruffled your hair before retracting his hand.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to know immediately. But think about it, alright?” he said. “And in the meantime, you might as well enjoy the benefits a little. You can’t escape it, so take advantage of the fact that he’s decided, for some reason or another, that you are important to his plans!”

“Yes,” you said. “You’re right. There’s always a bright side, isn’t there?”

“There you go. Cheer up! Let’s move on to more fun topics. The exchange event is in a couple of days. Aren’t you excited to see everyone again?” Gojo said.

“Not when one of them might be a traitor,” you confessed. Gojo shook his head.

“Don’t think like that. Certainly, you shouldn’t trust anyone with your deepest secrets — except for Yuta — but they are all your friends. You can still be happy to see them. Let Utahime and I deal with the problem of the traitor; you just enjoy yourself at the event, alright?” he said.

“Alright,” you agreed. “And although I agree that he’s definitely not the traitor, why is only Yuta deemed so trustworthy? Why didn’t you include Maki or Tullia on the list?”

“He’s in Africa, so it wouldn’t make any sense for him to be the spy,” Gojo said. “He’d be an awful source of information, since he pretty much…has none at the moment. We have to suspect basically everyone else, even though you’re right in thinking that it’s unlikely for either of those two to be spies.”

“I see,” you said. “I guess there’s nothing to be done about it now, is there? This is what it’ll be like until we can catch the spy.”

“I’m afraid it is,” Gojo said sympathetically. “Hey. Wanna go get ice cream with me?”

“You just got back from your trip, didn’t you? I don’t want to make you go out if you’re tired,” you said. Gojo had insisted on meeting with you the instant he had returned from the airport, and though he had done an admirable job at hiding it, you knew he was still exhausted. Still, he shook his head.

“Nah, I was going to go either way. It’ll just make me less lonely if you come along, too,” he said, standing up and pulling you to your feet. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

You laughed softly. “You know, Gojo, sometimes I think you’re not that bad.”

“Hey, thanks! Anyways, I’m thinking of trying a new flavor, but I’m not sure if I’ll like it. Do you promise to finish it for me if I don’t?” he said.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever. You have to pay for it, though,” you said.

“Pinky swear?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

#yuuta x reader #yuuta x y/n #yuuta x you #reader insert #canon au #pomegranate ink #m1ckeyb3rry writes

20 notes · View notes