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neonscandal · 4 months

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Hi! I have a question, I hope I can explain myself: how would you describe Gojo on a moral level? I see the majority of the fandom (jjk in general, not just the shipping ones) considers him a good person, but I'd argue he's more on the grey side...and not a light grey. See, I can't really wrap my head around the way he blatantly ignores the fact the Suguru was completely fucked up, to the point that in chap 236 he wishes Suguru was with him before fighting Sukuna and imagining him (adult Suguro, the fucked up one) together with the same students he tried to kill in jjk0. How on earth? If I'm not mistaken Gojo never really says "yeah, Suguru was my friend but he used to be completely different, this is not the Suguru I used to be friends with". He never says Suguru was wrong. He just misses him, even though he was surrounded by people who liked him. At least Shoko clearly doesn't feel any affection towards Suguru. And let's not talk about the way he doesn't really seem concerned about the future of his students in chap 236. What do you think? Just to clarify: I do like Gojo. But I don't share the sentiment of the rest of the fandom: he's not a good person. I guess Nanami was right

This is a (somewhat) fair assessment.

Character alignment wise, I think Gojo enters into Jujutsu High as a Chaotic Neutral and transcends into more of a Chaotic Good or maybe Neutral Good? It's hard to say because, if in universe, Gojo is the perceived solution to every problem then why are there still so many problems? Including Geto's 10 year stint running amok?

Morally, Gojo absolutely exists in shades of grey. He uses his power to do the lawful thing but... at the same time, could, on a whim, use his power to do what he or Geto feels to be the right thing. The biggest example being the fact that they were willing to protect Riko Amanai's right to choose whether she wished to merge or not even if the latter would have catastrophic ramifications. Based on the needs of society, Riko needed to merge with Tengen, but Gojo recognized erasure of one girl for the security of others wasn't necessarily right. As an adult, again, he does what needs doing but pushes back on elders that would rather see the likes of Yuta Okkotsu or Yuji Itadori dead.

We have to understand that jujutsu society, with all its rules and hierarchy, isn't a morally upright system to begin with. Gojo, as a Big Three Family heir, is deeply entrenched in that. But he has enough sense to, in his own way, try to correct what he perceives to be travesties.

Suguru Geto is a casualty of this imperfect system and Gojo's initial inability to recognize Geto's struggle was the fatal flaw that put the final nail in his coffin. Discovering the twins was the hand that swung the hammer and he was subsequently radicalized. Gojo wasn't the only person who still kept space for Geto. Nanami and Shoko could also understand that the slaughter of that village was wrong but not find it in their hearts to condemn Geto or hear ill words spoken against him. None of them condemn him because, even if his method was wrong, they understand why he desperately wanted to change the way things are.

Gojo's affection for Geto, in my mind, does not necessarily make him a completely bad person, though. For one, while he doesn't outright condemn what happens in the village, he is clearly dismayed by the murder of Geto's parents. We see that he does in fact understand the wrongness of Geto's transgressions. Bear in mind that, until broken by the system they all served, Geto was a gentle and just person with a noble idea of what was right. So earnestly that Gojo allowed space for Geto to influence his own morality. So this radical change in behavior is a shock to Gojo's system and, even though he was used to deferring to Geto's judgement (like not killing the Time Vessel Association), he very clearly and autonomously recognized Geto's sins. Gojo had an unconditional acceptance or love for Geto which is why, despite everything, he would still find satisfaction in closing the loop, as it were, with Suguru right beside him.

⚠️ Spoiler warning for JJK chapter 236.

The man is dead, what more do you want from him? He knew he was going to die and fought hoping that those who remained could pick up the slack of the weakened opponent. 236 was merely an echo of the same faith he had after he was sealed - that he trusted in the people he left behind. I think Gojo has also come to terms with the fact that all he can do is throw everything he's got at the situation. His failure is unfathomable to most but he's been shown the limits to his power before so perhaps that's why he's overly cavalier. In most situations, he's the first line of defense so if that doesn't cut it... what more can he do?

Bear in mind, what we see of Gojo's afterlife in 236 is more than likely what he hopes for in his heart of hearts. But I'm not really subscribed to the idea that he's Gojover. I could be wrong, especially since Gege Akutami keeps comparing other people to Gojo in his absence to fill in the gaps and explain how they could possibly hope to beat Sukuna. But I think what we saw was an extended version of what Nanami experienced before passing.

You can go left or right - Yuki to Geto about his radical ideals

You can go North to start anew or South to your old self - Mei to Nanami and actualized in his dying moments with an apparition of Haibara

These are choices and the second is as explained to Gojo as if he has the same choice. From his hope that it isn't all in his imagination and the setting therein, it would seem he's leaning toward accepting his fate but I just don't think that's the case. If anything, this prolonged ideation is possible because that brain of his is intact. Gojo even told Toji that he should have cut off his head if he wanted to kill him so, who's to say whether that applies now.

Regarding Nanami being right, I assume you mean the Nanami in chapter 236. In which case:

Hypothesis: The reason we see Gojo surrounded by younger versions of those he lost is because they are attached to the version of himself that died. Gojo will come back as a more enlightened person.

Keep in mind, in a way, Adult Nanami understands Gojo. Every version of Nanami is annoyed by Gojo but there's still a respect that goes both ways, even when their ideals differ. I think Nanami's assessment that "You live for jujutsu. You don't wield it to protect something. You use it solely for the sake of satisfying yourself." is apropos for high school Gojo. But that was before he lost Geto, developed a resolve to take in Megumi and Tsumiki (albeit selfishly), protect Yuta from the elders with his life, and protect Yuji. Empirically, there's a facet of Gojo that uses his power for good and it feels like the versions of Haibara, Nanami, Geto and Yaga that he encounters would be unaware of that. I think that's what makes the fact that Gojo visualizes Adult Geto celebrating him stick out even more. Why the mind games, Gege??

In summation, Gojo continues to exist swathed in shades of grey. He could be better but he could definitely be worse. He is a reflection of a corrupt system that masquerades under the impression of working in service of the greater good but ignores the problematic elements of the likes of Mei Mei, and Naoya Zenin.

#neon asks #anon asks #manga with me #manga with me jjk #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #jjk gojo #anime #manga #jjk meta #character analysis #gojo brainrot #jjk brainrot #gojo character analysis #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

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lightwise · 2 months

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TBB S3 E4 Recap and Reaction

- Poor Crosshair keeps getting stuck on cold planets.

- Batcher banging on the chair ready to get out 🤣🤣

- These shuttles are really interesting to me. It’s rare to see a ship that size that can be piloted by two different people.

- Baby girl, I totally understand your logic in wanting to pull the data logs to see where Tantiss actually is, but given how tactful we know Hemlock has been so far in keeping his location hidden, most likely it wouldn’t pull up anything.

- What a dreary spaceport. Feels very Andor and very like Norwegian Star Wars.

- The level of snark that Omega is giving back to Crosshair is cracking me up. We don’t see her showing this level of talking back or being sarcastic with any of the other Batchers, which proves my theory that Crosshair’s constant level of highly annoyed at everything around him brings out the sarcasm in everyone else he encounters.

- Love that his knowledge as a former imperial is coming to play to help them.

- Also love that Omega was the one to recognize that they need different clothes (and the obvious pan of the camera on the clothes hanging on the line in the first shot of the spaceport to accentuate that fact).

- Quilted clothes in Star Wars is my fave (yes more Andor parallels).

- The uplilt and little scoff that Omega gives and the look she gives Batcher after Crosshair snarls about bringing “the hound” along is PRECIOUS

- Also Cross and Omega cross their arms the same way. Okay okay I’ll never be over their dynamic here.

- Crosshair’s trucker hat/scuba apparatus is hilarious. He doesn’t look too bad though. Surely he’s at least warmer now.

- The credits negotiation omg. I love how Cross is just waiting for this to play out before he makes a move.

- YES omg are my baby girls strategy skills FINALLY coming back into play??

- Oh no no no no no this kid is going to rat them out isn’t he. You guys need to be more mindful of your surroundings!! Ahhh (okay I’m glad this didn’t happen).

- Honestly at this point Crosshair would be me as well. Just lots of very annoyed sighing.

- I love that Crosshair is getting to see all the things about Omega that the other boys know already, but he hasn’t had a chance to witness yet. We know she can wipe the floor with most people on strategy games/gambling.

- Yep nope this captain is not good news. Don’t get distracted by ranting about Imperial bribery, don’t do it, don’t….*sigh* I hate the Empire so much.

- Oh no this is so bad! I swear WHY is every imperial such a slimy self aggrandizing POS.

- Aww Crossy hunched down at almost table level ready to tear the room apart if anyone touches his baby sister. Adorable murder kitten. 😸

- Also Crosshair when all of this is over: where the HELL did you learn to gamble like that!?! Omega: 🤷🏻‍♀️😇😁

- Also also what game are they playing? Those cards are beautiful.

- Oh no they’ve found the shuttle already. Dear god this episode is so stressful!!

- CROSS!DAD IS OFFICIALLY CANON lmao

- Okay I was hoping Omega would let him win bc this isn’t going to go over well

- Whoa I didn’t actually expect him to concede. Maybe he’s not quite as slimy as I thought. Doesn’t matter though, the shuttle will give them away regardless.

- Of course. There it is. Let all the seedy businesses thrive as long as you get your fine out of it. Ugh. This is paralleling a lot of imperial activities in Rebel Rising and the Ahsoka novel as well.

- I also love how Omega uses touch with Crosshair to calm him down and communicate with him.

- Whoa I did not expect Omega to throw the credits and basically give Crosshair the choice of abandoning her or not. Nor for him to actually have to think about it for a moment.

- “My skills are being wasted” the boy does not like feeling helpless. I understand.

- This is going to give Cross some understanding of what Hunter has been going through the last few years. Especially if he ends up losing her.

- “Don’t push it” and the extra head shake after lmao.

- Geez this man is just lining his pockets every which way isn’t he. Despicable.

- “Alright, let’s try things your way” “Finally” I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

- Animal stampede!

- Oh gosh is Cross going to get left behind??

- Aw he finally called her Batcher.

- We are clearly seeing how much Omega has actually been tempered by the rest of the Batchers being around her until now. The unfiltered combined powers of Omega and Crosshair at their most unhinged is maybe more than the galaxy is ready for 🤣🤣

- Also a very Andor reference with the captain being stampeded almost to death and having his gun kicked away from him in the melee

- NO WAY WE FINALLY GET AN IMPERIAL GETTING THEIR DUE BY CREATURE DEATH once again *cough cough* not a kids show

- Awwww Batcher licking Crosshair’s face. He’s so done for.

- They got away. Wow. I actually wasn’t expecting that. And with most of the money too.

- Okay. Smart girl. She did not pick Pabu.

- What an ending. Wow. So. Similar to Mando season 3 (which is also scaring me) — what the heck is the rest of this season going to be about?

- This reunion is everything. 🥹🥹🥹 the hugs. The running. The tears. The worry. The anger. The hesitation. The fear. The literal and metaphorical distance between their ships that someone will have to cross. They better not fast forward a millisecond when the next episode picks up I swear.

#the bad batch #star wars #tbb #tbb season 3 spoilers #tbb season 3 #tbb spoilers #the bad batch season 3 spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #the bad batch season 3

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floareadeaur · 27 days

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My thoughts on chapter 136

As a friend of mine said, I believe that this was a preparatory chapter, which foresees something extremely important.

I really liked it, honestly.

The symbolism of this chapter is great and I could talk a lot about it.

But I think it is extremely important that Sika Madu was able to realize that "those people" who he actually looked at as bugs, have surpassed him.

His arrogance was thus crushed and, I can say, he actually evolved.

Because Sika has this conversation with Shinoa where he asks her why she wants so much power. She replies that for "love", a line that Sika comments on as something related to the selfish nature of humans.

Then she tells him something so right:

•"And you're any different?"

And the truth is, no, Sika is no different from humans. He is as imperfect as they are, and he has loved as authentically as they have.

It all started from Sika's love for his angels, for Mikaela. Including from his frustration of not receiving any attention from his "father" (the other God) and the continuous expectation of being at least sanctioned by that God. So far went his desire to have, in fact, the affection of "his father".

And all of this illustrates so well the humanity of Sika Madu and how all humans are, in fact, a reflection of him.

Basically, they are his children, towards whom he never wanted to assume the role of god, protector or father.

But, I think Sika understood more now and saw that he was wrong in his arrogance, ignoring his own creation.

I felt bad for him though. His scenes really touched me, especially his talk with Yuu.

How Sika asked him to revive Mikaela, when it was actually Yuu, the one he was talking to, that Mikaela, his son he had struggled for eons to bring back.

I believe that this conversation was Sika's greatest display of love for his son and that it was a tender moment.

I am kind of sad that Sika could not find out that Yuu is actually his son, but maybe there will be a way for him to find out in the end?

I do not think Sika is truly gone as a soul.

He disintegrated, being absorbed by Shinoa, but his punishment is to never die, to never forget anything. That is why I believe his soul is still alive somewhere, and at the right time, he will be able to have that conversation with his son, knowing who he is talking to.

I also think that the scene where, on the one hand, Shinoa was absorbing his powers, just so that Sika would not ever hurt anyone with it again (which Sika Madu did a lot of, especially to Shinoa, whose life he ruined from conception ), and on the other, Yuu, his son for whom Sika did everything, receives his father's legacy — both frames unfolding simultaneously, shows precisely the humanity of Sika Madu.

The fact that he has many shades, just like a human being.

On the one hand, Sika destroyed the existence of so many souls and committed terrible atrocities.

On the other hand, he loved sincerely and did so much only for his loved ones.

That is why he too is a gray character with his good and bad sides and I think the author showed that so well.

Basically, OnS really does not have villains, just human characters, whose perspectives are valid in their own way.

I am so excited for the next chapter!

As for the others characters, I think everything unfolded logically and consistently.

The fact that the upcoming attack on Krul by Ferid was stopped for the moment is natural.

Ferid is an extraordinary strategist and he never attacks without reason or at the wrong time.

As seen here, Ferid stopped, listening to the noise caused by Urd's sword. He sensed a strong threat and stopped to calculate what level of power would be required to neutralize such an attack?

Ferid is not necessarily interested in directly attacking Krul now, in scaring her with certain gestures.

He knows she feels him and that she is already freaking out on her own.

At the end of last chapter, Krul does not even recognize Ferid. Why?

Because vampires feel each other, what power they carry. And Ferid was always a miserable bug for Krul's power.

But the twist of the situation is that the one whom she always humiliated, threatened, beat, whom she always looked down on, has a much greater power than hers now.

So big that she wonders if she would have any chance of beating him then.

This little scene perfectly illustrates something important about Ferid's character. His power to transcend the limits of the situations in which he finds himself. His true intelligence and ability to think through the rules of any game.

Truly, this moment shows Ferid's capabilities as a leader, strategist and thinker.

And I think that is something very important within his character, especially because in his past, as a prince in his childhood, Ferid has always been repressed and forced to hide his true abilities, to live as a servant in the shadows of others. I wrote more about it in this analysis about him.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this chapter. Shinya's return, the interaction between him and Kureto. I should do a separate analysis on Yuu and Shinoa as well.

But I end with this here:

And of course, with mentioning again my gratitude to the author for creating this fascinating story!

How much the theme of humanity can be deepened even in this chapter! Certainly more can be discussed.

Any kind feedback is welcome and I wish whoever finds this post a good day!

#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #ons #sote #ferid bathory #urd geales #rigr stafford #sika madu #shinoa hiiragi #yuichiro hyakuya #shinya hiiragi #kureto hiiragi #chapter 136 #owari no seraph chapter 136 #seraph of the end chapter 136

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fallingdown98 · 23 days

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FHJY Called Shot

Mostly making this post so if this is right i can say I called it. Obviously, thanks to the preview we know that the Bad Kids are gonna have to do the "Last Stand" exam. I'm aware that on a meta level, this was always going to happen because of how production works but I think this may also relate to some of the Teachers being in on the conspiracy w/ the RatGrinders + Ankarna. In on the conspiracy in this case, does not necessarily mean bad guy though because I have an inkling based on absolutely nothing that this conflict may involve more than just one conspiring group. Might even be willing to think the teachers may be the ones putting the RG up to the shit theyve been doing. Specifics under the read more because i have a lot of thoughts. Listed in most sus to least sus but worth noting

Porter - First to mention the Last Stand, Warhammer = Akarna’s Scales theory, Rage, his Giant lineage (Through Earth Genasi), Ancestral Paladin relates to prior point, Steering Fig away from Cass, “Barbarian” healed Ragh post prom before he was able to see Kalina (Also, didn’t use Lay on Hands which we now know he would have had access to), Paired with Jace Stardiamond (AKA another sus mf), unsurprised at the carnage on the first day of Freshman year

Jace - Current VP so has power even if he keeps claiming he doesn’t want it, Seen most w/ Porter (See above), Ragh saw him talking to Arianwen (And Kalina) post prom (Aka I think Spy’s tongue curse will lead to this), first to inspect the hellmouth magic FY and recognized both the divine and Nightmare King stuff, Yolanda specifically said she would go to Jace over Grix with the Lucy Info, Speculation: Divine Soul Sorcerer, Of Note: Would have had most contact with FY Villain Penelope Everpetal as she was also a sorc, Also also I DO NOT trust the fact that he put Riz on the faculty we still need to check those school Bylaws

Henry HopClap - Not on OG FY Faculty Roster, Grix’s hard drive, His connection with Ruben, Could have encouraged Gorgug w/ the intention/assumption he’d fail and thus would have to take The Last Stand, Frosty Faire Fest had some clearly evil artificing with the wires thing and would have the most knowledge in this regard

Zara Sool - Also not on OG FY Faculty Roster, Showed up at Mordred during Baron’s Game (I know they said in AP that it was a riff on Horror Movie Monsters but she was still the only one without a direct connection to the Manor), Lover of Celestial (Could be either pro or anti Ankarna), Also seen with Sus Porter, Agreed w/ Porter against Cass

Rogue Teacher - Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one, Maybe the Rogue teacher has put KLCK up to some amount of her plot or assisted in some way leading to Teach finding Student rather than Vice-Versa.

Bobby Dawn - This mf is last just cuz we already know he’s up to some shady shit and I can’t wait for the Bad Kids to murder his pompous ass, Probably the one to expel Kristin which gives him both satisfaction but also leads to Last Stand

TLDR: I think there’s a conspiracy within the Faculty and that it’s possible Porter, Jace, Henry, Zara, and/or the Rogue Teacher are all working together. If they are pressuring the RatGrinders, that would give added motivation to fuck over the Bad Kids for a good grade. Also think something catastrophic will happen at the Last Stand and that it was part of the plan since day 1 (Im aware on a meta scale this may just be me overthinking and we just needed to give a reason to use the cool battleset)

#d20 #fhjy theory #fantasy high #fhjy spoilers #rat grinders #porter cliffbreaker #jace stardiamond #henry hopclap #zara sool #Rogue teacher #bobby dawn #Ankarna

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themainreactor · 2 months

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"I don't think this was the original plan... Oh well."

In which a suicidal boy gets kidnapped by his scary yandere girl stalker. He could care less and doesn't mind dying, however she cares and it confuses her why he doesn't. So she brings him with her into the League of Villains and for once in his life, he can say that he's genuinely felt... At least okay.

"You need help, y'know that right?"

"I know I just... I don't want help."

"How do you expect to get better then?!"

"Well I'm not really excepting to get better, I wasn't even really expecting to live this long."

"Why are you like this?!"

...

Y/N was kind of... Strange to say the least.

Y/N's not even sure why he can't just be normal, he wants to be but he can't help but feel like life would be better without him being there. Even if he doesn't try to gain attention, he still somehow does.

Whether it be bullying at his school, his parents disappointment in him, his friends leaving him because of how much his mental state is hurting them, or even him bothering the police and ambulances.

So he decided after a while to just stop trying to die because it makes it so much worse when he doesn't succeed and everyone gets frustrated. He got better over time... Well at least it took him about three years to convince everyone of that. At least people felt less worried and went back to their normal lives.

Yet he still seems to attract trouble.

So that's why he's not entirely surprised when he wakes up in an abandoned house one evening after his nap with a crazy looking girl kneeling at his feet. The walls were all graffiti'd, there was no furniture and it was already clear that the girl had some sinister intentions.

"You're awake! Hi there cutie!" The girl yells, happily jumping around before kneeling right back in front of him. He's not entirely sure what's going on and what's even worse is that he's pretty sure he recognized her.

"You're... That girl... You killed that boy in my school" He states, only to get a giggle and a nod as if that didn't matter whatsoever. Already that was the worst impression someone can have about another person.

She was probably going to kill him too and honestly he didn't mind, he just had a nap so at least he would die refreshed.

"Yep! That's me! That was my first love but you're my favorite so far!" She yells, gushing before placed her knife right against his neck.

"Y'know... You'd look even cuter with your blood all over you."

He only raised his eyebrow before activating his quirk, causing her to scream and drop her knife.

His quirk was emotion, he could control, level out or amplify an emotion in a person. He amplified fear in her, so that's why she was now shaking on the floor.

But now he actually felt a bit bad for her.

She was a freak, he could understand that much and he didn't blame her. Everyone called him a freak too. Plus, It was flattering since no one had ever been a freak for him, although it was concerning. What was he doing to gain her attention? Did she know where her parents were at?

He struggled with the zip ties that were tying him only to get one to snap and let go of his wrist. He sighs, turning off his quirk and watching as she cried and choked on her own spit. But she seemed more calm even though she was still feeling the lingering fear from before.

"So what do you plan do to me?"

"No! Not anything bad! I just... I wanted some of your blood..."

"Why? Don't you have your own?" Y/N chuckled.

"...Yeah... But I want to be like you! I... I want to become like you because I love you!"

"... You don't even know me-"

"Yes I do though! Your name is Y/N, M/N, L/N! I know that you're really strong and that everyone at your school is scared of you! They think you'll take advantage of them with your quirk but I know you wouldn't do that! I also know that you used to date a girl And she left you for your best friend!"

"... And you know this all... Because?"

"Because I followed you and I like watching you at school and at home! Y'know if you want I can kill the girl and that fake friend of yours! Would you like me to do that?! It doesn't matter anyway!"

He just looks at her again, worried about what she meant. She loved him, so she was going to kill him... That made no damn sense.

"Just like the boy... Y'know we were confused, no one at school thought you'd do something like that. You were always that sweet and happy girl... Why'd you kill him?"

"I hated pretending that I was normal! But that's all anyone saw me for anyway! For example, is my home! Or it used to be my home." She mumbles and Y/N looks around the graffiti'd walls, it looks like it was once a girl's room.

He almost forgot what her house even looked like.

"I... I was born a monster, someone who couldn't live without hurting the people she loved... So... I want to become a really strong girl, someone who can make my own path and become those I love!"

"... That's why you want my blood?"

"Yep! I want your blood! You're so pretty and interesting at the same time! I want to be just like you! I love you!"

"How do you know you love me?"

"I just know I love you! You make my heart beat really fast and I want to kill anyone that hurts you!"

He remembered him and his mother bidding her family goodbye after they moved. He could recall how they came to comfort them even though most people hated them. People blamed them for not raising their daughter right but they probably tried to. He never saw them in a bad light, he always felt like they had tried.

He doesn't say anything as she tried to explain herself more, he just watched her. He knew that in this position she could still try to kill him. Now that he thinks about it though, he didn't really want to live. No one would be worried about him killing himself if someone else killed him.

He didn't have to pretend to want to live anymore... Just like she didn't have to pretend to be normal. So finally he gives in, silently handing her his wrist. She looks at it, confused before a hopeful smile came on her face.

"You... You want me to have your blood?!"

"Instead of stalking me, you should have just asked, you would have gotten it faster."

"... Really?"

"Yep."

The girl just looks at him, she's not sure what to say. With all the people she's killed and loved, never had any of them offered her something like that.

Why was there no hesitation in his voice?

He was definitely extra special, she couldn't possibly kill him now.

"... But why?"

"You'll be doing me a favor... I don't really want to live believe it or not, although I assumed you already knew that."

She did know that he dozed off a lot and that he seemed bored and sad sometimes but she doesn't like how unusually calm he was, it was unnerving how he didn't seem to care about the dire situation he was in. She wanted to kill him and he wasn't even trying to escape her.

So quickly she grabs onto his wrist, using the knife to only make a small cut. She didn't even try to drink the blood or save it, she just wanted to see if he would actually let her or if he'd even care. He didn't flinch and it made it worse so she groaned and started to cut the zip ties off of his other hand and his ankles.

"You good?"

"No... I don't want to kill you anymore."

"Damn, am I that boring?" He playfully asks, hoping to actually get her to reconsider what she said.

"You really want me to kill you?!" She yells

"Yeah, why not? In fact, please do, I wouldn't hold it against you, really." He shrugs before she almost growls at him. She had some canines that were definitely sharp, like a dog or even a vampire.

"No! I... I can fix you."

"... The hell does that mean?" He looks at her, suddenly worried that she was one of those fantasy medieval romance novel girls.

Those types of girls and women scared him because they could care less. If you even remotely resembled their book boyfriends, they would try to marry you.

"Do you know that hero killer Mr. Stainy that was on the news recently?!"

"Um... I don't think that's his name but sure, yeah the hero killer."

"I also want to be just like him! I want to be able to live in a world where I can be free."

"... Hate to break it to you, I don't think you can do that when you're killing people." He chuckled, gaining a cute giggle from the girl.

"I know that, silly! So, that's why, I'm going to join his group."

"His group? What group?"

"The League of Villains."

"... Aren't they their own group?"

"I don't know but I want to be like stainy! But I want to be like you too so why don't you come with me? I know you're bored with your life so help me with mine!" She happily jumps.

"... So... You're not going to kill me?"

"Nope! We should take you back home!"

What? What was wrong with this girl? Was she bipolar or what?

"... Okay... You still want my blood?"

"Yeah!" She smiled.

And with that she grabs his wrist before actually biting it and sucking the blood out of it.

"Ow... Y'know you still have time to kill me, how do you know I won't call the police and tell them that you're here?"

"Because you're too sweet for that!" She replies after letting her mouth pop off of his wrist. She was probably right though, he wasn't going to call anyone on her.

"Now, why don't we get some sugar cookies and you can go home? I know those are your favorite and I'll definitely get you when I find a way to continue my life plan!"

"... Alright..."

"I love you so much!"

Y/N doesn't respond, but he carefully eyes the harsh bite mark that was now on his wrist.

This was probably a bad idea. After all, how was he going to explain this to his mom?

Honestly, he didn't mind.

...

"Are you sure you're okay with being left at home?" His mother asks, placing her luggage in the van as her husband gets the car started.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Was all he said smiling at his mom as she came over to hug him.

"If you start to feel scared or depressed please call me before you do anything."

"Mom, I think I'm fine, it's been like three years since I last tried anything like that."

"I know but still, that shouldn't even be a last resort okay?"

"Alright mom, now stop worrying about me and enjoy your honeymoon!"

The mom gives him a quick hug again before entering the car. The husband just waved at the boy since they still weren't on the best of terms, but it was good enough that they were cordial with one another.

The boy waves the car away as they drive off, and as soon as the car is out of view, he walks right back into the house.

He yawns, happy that he had the house to himself. Until he didn't of course.

"HI!"

"JEEZ! WHAT THE HELL?!" Y/N jumps, dropping the bagel he grabbed from the counter onto the floor before groaning. It was the girl, Himiko Toga. It had been about a month since she had kidnapped him before taking him back home and she literally found every spare minute to invade his privacy when his mom and step dad weren't around.

"... Oh... Hello."

"How are you doing handsome?!" Toga yells, quickly hugging Y/N from behind before jumping onto the counter to sit down in front of him.

"Just fine... How'd you even get in the house?"

"I broke through your window."

"... Did you break the window?"

"No silly, I just popped the screen open and then unlocked the latch before popping the screen closed once I got in!"

Y/N groans a bit, scratching his hair before handing her a new bagel and picking up the one he dropped on the floor. He could just eat it off the floor, it's not like the floor was dirty since he helped his mom clean the entire house yesterday.

Was he still going to eat it? No, he wanted to die but he didn't want to contract a disease while he was at it.

"Guess what!?"

"What?"

"I found someone who'll help me get into the league of villains! You should come with me tonight! Oh! I also drew a picture of you and me!" Toga excitedly yells before jumping off of the countertop and rushing upstairs.

"Um... Alright." Y/N mumbled before yawning and grabbing another bagel to eat. It was only about a few seconds that she came rushing back down with her small but cute cat backpack unfortunately covered in small amounts of someone's blood.

"Here, look!"

Y/N looked at it for two good seconds as he tried to comprehend what the hell he was seeing. As surprisingly good as her drawings were, why did it have to be him like that?

He had to refrain from pushing the sketch book out of his face. First off, what type of memory did this bitch have that she could draw him from scratch. Secondly, this was the most non safe for work thing that he's ever seen, he's not used to this shit because he's only watched porn once and it was by accident.

"It's..." Y/N looked at the giddy girl, mentally applauding her courage in showing him this with a straight face, as if it wasn't basically fan art sex.

"It's nice."

"You really think so?!"

"Yeah."

Toga starts kicking her feet, content that Y/N liked the picture she drew. So she just watched him for most of the day and she doesn't even know why he keeps her around. After all, she could try to kill him when he wasn't looking... Oh wait, he wanted to die.

Toga sighs before looking up at the ceiling in boredom. She was excited to bring Y/N with her to the league but she was a bit worried that they wouldn't take him nor would he technically be a villain anyway. Would he be willing to kill someone if they made him?

"So, before we go to see if you can get into the league, we should go to the store and buy you a really cool villain outfit, something that's cute but also screams badass-"

Y/N chuckled at her as she kept rambling about clothing items. Honestly he didn't care, as long as at some point he died. Maybe that was a bit too far to think but he really was tired, he barely had the energy to get up in the morning and brush his teeth and that was every single morning.

"Alright."

"So what style of clothes do you like?"

"Um... Surprise me, I don't really mind."

"You seem indecisive."

"Well I am."

"About the whole league of villains thing?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you want to be a villain?"

"No... No, not really." He shook his head, being fully serious about it. However it wasn't like he wouldn't try it. I mean, he literally had nothing to lose besides him mom and his life, and his mom was very capable of protecting herself.

"... Well do you want to be with me?!"

"... I mean... No... You're kinda crazy."

Toga just huffed, crossing her hands in front of herself whilst pouting. Y/N walked off into the living room, noting that Toga grabbed a knife and tried to stab his shoulder before he activated his quirk.

Why was she like this? She must have actually been bipolar or something.

"I don't know why you keep wanting to stab me at the most inconvenient times." He mumbled, barely paying attention to her once again distraught figure on the floor before he just sighed and turned off his quirk.

"Hey, you're okay." Was all he said, gently patting her head before looking at the time.

This made him think of why he couldn't have just left his quirk out of a situation like this? He could have died that way, he could have been killed and missed that opportunity because of his reflexes.

Whatever, he'd die eventually.

Toga didn't say anything as she stood up, just slowly hugged Y/N again since she didn't really care about whether or not he used his quirk on her. Y/N hugged her back before letting go just to let her know that he wasn't mad at her. Sure the quirk was annoying but she knew all too well that he was too sweet to truly harm anyone.

"So... Will you come with me tonight?"

"... Sure, why not?"

"Thank you! Thank you so much Y/N-kun! I love you, I love you!"

"... Okay..."

...

"What do you mean I need a body count?" Y/N questioned the supposed villian broker named Giran, grimacing at the man in front of him. There was no way this man was actually going to let him in The League of Villains at all if he hadn't killed people yet?

Sounds biased.

"Well I guess we can forget that for now but have you killed anybody at all? What's your quirk? Abilities? You got any props to show us? Anything at all that could determine that you'll be a good addition to the league?"

He couldn't even answer the question at first, almost all of his attention was being taken by the barbequed man standing on the side. Why did he genuinely seem like he was tweaking out? He was probably not a normal human to begin with, he must have been born into this villain trade. This had to be some bloodline Taugarian stuff.

"After all, I have good business with the league and I wouldn't want to ruin it."

"... Why didn't you tell me? I would have prepared a bit better." He grumbled, glaring at Toga when he turned her direction.

"Well the union already said I was a good pick! Sorry, I didn't think about it even when I said that I'd bring you!"

Y/N just sighed when Toga hugged onto his arm, quietly eyeing the burnt guy that kinda had some sass with his stance. Clearly he was impatient and didn't want to wait for this.

"Well... I haven't actually killed anyone yet, except for my dad. I hit him with a bat when I was younger and he died of blood loss, but I don't think that really counts since it was an accident." He starts, already cringing at how strange his own voice sounded.

This was annoying and embarrassing.

"My quirk is emotion, I can control people's emotions basically... But I don't really have a prop to show-"

"Oh! Me! Me! You can use me! You wanna use me?!" Toga yells really quick, jumping in front of him all excited like.

"The hell?" The burnt guy asks, almost wanting to gag. He didn't really like this crazy lovesick girl and it would be really annoying if he had to be in a villain group with her. He didn't know much about the boy, except that he was most definitely a rookie who probably just wanted attention.

He'd just burn them later if they annoyed him too much.

"Um... How bout no?" Y/N starts, gently grabbing her by the shoulders and moving her to the side of him instead of in front.

"We gotta go soon so when you're done talking with the crazy one and attention hogging dude, can you let me know? I'm already tired of this." The burnt guy scoffs when he gets a finger pointed his way by the guy, so he just decided that he was ready to leave until he was stopped.

He may or may not have had a sudden heart attack by the alleyway door but for some reason he couldn't move and he didn't like it one damn bit.

Why did he suddenly feel like he was absolutely worthless? He felt useless in so many ways and it was one of the most painful things in the world. All his trauma just threw up at him all at once.

"That's rude y'know? You should respect the guy when you're the one taking up his time." Y/N scolded, moving his index finger up in the air which caused the guy to just start crying.

He just cried, it actually made Y/N kind of nervous since it seemed like more than just his quirk. It sounded so broken, he would rather hear someone scream than sob the way this guy was weeping.

"That is so cool Y/N! What emotion are you using now?!" Toga asks.

"Sadness." He replies, his eyes still on the grown man. He only just now noticed that him crying had actually opened up the burn wounds around his mouth and eyes.

"Basically I overwhelm the brain with the chemical that causes a particular emotion before forcing it onto the body." Y/N explains to the guy, turning off his quirk so that the burnt guy can breathe.

"... That's... Scary actually and it's perfect, Even though the union didn't pick you, you'd be a great helper for what the league of villains needs. The dude you just messed is named Dabi, You're in."

"Oh My Gosh Y/N-kun! Do you know what this means?! You and I are going to be hero killers! Just like Mr. Stainy! Oh man! I love you so much!"

"... Cool... Thanks... Hey um, Dabi right? Sorry about that-"

"Shut the hell up." Dabi growls, standing up and holding one of the burn marks closed right under his eye. He didn't even bother wiping the tears away because it wasn't gonna do him any good. He was already embarrassed, and this dumb ass kid scared him.

If he could dominate and control an emotion that quick and that effective with almost no drawback, what the hell would be able to stop him?

"Yeah... I-I kinda deserve that, I'll shut up, that's fair I guess."

...

"Shigaraki! Your league of villains has been the talk of the town this last several days." Giran comments as he opens the door to an abandoned bar. This seemed like a really terribly way to start a conversation if you ask Y/N.

"Word on the street says you're about to start something big-"

"And? Who did you bring?"

Rude. All Giran does about it is chuckle before waving the three of them inside. Toga almost squeals, hugging onto Y/N's arm before letting go and walking in. This was most likely a bad idea.

As soon as Y/N enters he knows this is an annoyingly bad idea. This dude with the hand for a mask was the leader of this whole thing? He looked like a skeleton, when was the last time this man ate?

"So it's really you huh? I've seen you in pictures but i gotta say, you're way grosser in person." Dabi starts, tilting his head to the side.

"Wow it's the weird hand guy! You're friends with my hero stain right? Cool, let us join the league, we wanna be in your group!" Toga yells, blushing as she once again grabs a hold of Y/N's arm

"... Kurogiri, get rid of these three, I can already tell their exactly the kind of trash I hate. A girly brat, some weak mute boy and a guy with no manners." The man named Shigaraki, pointing his finger at them.

"I'm not mute." Y/N chuckles, almost using his quirk on the man just because of his bluntness. It was pissing him off more than he'd like to admit.

"Now, now Tomura Shigaraki, They came all this way. The least we could do is here them out, give them a chance. Besides, this broker is respected in the underworld, they're bound to be valuable assets." The weird purple smoke guy called Kurogiri states.

He kinda reminded Y/N of that fire bartender in the Undertale game.

"Like em or not, you still owe me a finders fee in cash. I suppose I could introduce the three of them before I go." Giran mentioned.

"This one looks like an adorable high school girl right? But she's actually the suspect in a series of deaths where the victims all bled out. So far her name and face have been kept out of the media."

Danm, Y/N almost forgot just how dangerous she was and what she was guilty of.

"Toga, Himiko Toga! Life is too hard and I just want to make it easier to live in this dumb world. I want to be Mr. Stainy! I wanna kill Mr. Stainy! Oh c'mon Mr. Handy man please let me join your league of villains!" She greets herself, letting everyone in the room know just how crazy she was.

"You gotta be kidding me, is she crazy?"

"Well she can hold a conversation, for the most part at least. C'mon, she can be useful."

"Yeah, in fact I was gonna be her next victim before she asked me to come here." Y/N answers, looking at Shigaraki with a very serious expression.

"... What?" Shigiraki looked at the boy and he almost took his hand mask off in surprise. He honestly would have expected that the kid wanted to be here with how calm and blunt he was.

"It's a long story... Well not really but it's not relevant to the topic right now."

"And this guy," Giran adds, pointing his cigarette towards Dabi. " hasn't committed any flashy crimes but he's taken stains ideology to heart."

"I don't like this, is your group really dedicated to the hero killers mission? I can't imagine you are if you're going to let this little psycho join." Dabi grunts when he refers to Toga.

"Grow up, at least she can introduce herself." Y/N grumbles, already realizing that him and this Dabi were probably not gonna get along all that well.

"Yeah, I actually agree with him. She may be a psycho but she can actually talk to people." Shigiraki comments, waving his hand in the general direction of Y/N and Toga. "Don't just stare, what's your name?"

"Right now I'm going by Dabi."

"No I want to know your real name."

"I'll tell you when you need to know it, in any case, my new purpose is to carry out the hero killers will."

"That wasn't what I asked you, patchwork. Jeez why's everyone so hung up over Stain."

"Okay I'm not that smart, " Y/N starts, hoping to understand something about all of this. "but why the hell do we need to carry out the hero killers wish when he's not dead? Isn't he just in prison? We should have our own wish if it's our group right? Not live off the back of someone else's wish, or am I missing something here-"

"Shut up." Shigiraki growls as he stands up.

"It's all I ever hear about, every, damn, day. It's really pissing me off!"

"No, don't do it!" Kurogiri yells.

The hell was he doing?

"WE'LL KEEP THE BOY, THE TWO OF YOU ARE DONE!" Shigaraki yells, throwing his hands in their direction. Dabi does the same in Shigaraki's direction.

Y/N pulls Toga back before she can do anything or get hurt, but not before grabbing her knife to possibly stab the dude's hand. Y/N hasn't killed anyone but that doesn't mean that he doesn't know how to fight.

Before anybody's attacks land anywhere, Y/N watches as purple smoke engulfs their hands before they are placed somewhere else in the room. It was like a portal of sorts.

"Please calm yourself Tomura Shigaraki."

Why does this dude keep stating his first and last name like it was some title?

"If your desire is to be realized then we must increase our numbers,"

Y/N sighs, not paying anymore attention to the conversation before taking out his hand along with the knife. He hands the knife to Toga who felt it was right to suddenly Koala hold his back.

"I'm outta here."

Y/N moves himself out of the way of the pissed off leader of the league of villains. He's not sure how he feels about him, maybe it's not all that bad but he didn't really like how that ended.

"Where are you off too?"

"Shut up."

"I try to make it a point not to complain about my clients but he's too young and far too immature." Giran sighs.

"Really thought he was gonna kill us from a sec!" Toga gushes before jumping off of Y/N's back.

"Yeah, he looks like he needs to be in a psych ward like you Toga." Y/N added on, ignoring the surprisingly weak punch Toga gave to his shoulder.

"That guy makes me want to vomit."

"I've only known you for like thirty minutes and I think I can tell that everything makes you wanna throw up."

"What'd you say?"

"I said-" Y/N starts, ready to repeat himself again.

"Shut up! No one asked you anyway!"

"Okay patchwork."

"What?!"

"I said okay patchwork, I'mma keep calling you that too."

"I hope you drown!"

"I was hoping for that a long time ago dude."

...

"I can't believe we're actually in the league! Oh my gosh this is gonna be so cool! I can't wait! And it'll be even better with you Y/N-kun!" Toga yells, blushing to herself as the both of them sat on top of a building.

"How high do you think I'd have to jump to crack my skull?"

"... What?"

Y/N turns to Toga only to be graced with a small smile concealing her worried expression.

"... Oh sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you."

"No, you didn't scare me... I just... I think it's about two stores high."

That was the first time anyone had answered him a question like that before, and of course it had to be the crazy blood stealing girl.

"Alright."

"..."

"Hey... Y/N-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you call me Himiko?"

"... Why?" Y/N inquired, wondering if he was being caught in some strange trap by her again.

"Well because I love you and it's just that I don't want to see you die yet. I want to be there for you like you were there for me before and I want you to love me too."

"Um... I was never there for you though-"

"Yes you were! You were always there, someone that was always consistently in my life!"

"... Is that because you were stalking me?"

"I wouldn't call it stalking, I'd call it a romantic walk that you didn't know you were doing with me!"

"Oh... Alright." Y/N sighed slightly, letting you ye girl hug him as he looked down at the people below. Everyone was just walking around, trying to get the last of what they needed so that they didn't have to stay out too late.

None of these people would be prepared for something like the league of villains... So why was he partaking in this? He was one of these citizens, one of these people.

"Do you love me Y/N-kun?"

Y/N briefly turned to look at Toga once again, her sick and flustered smile looking right back at him.

"... No... I don't love you Himiko."

Toga nodded her head, accepting the answer for what it was before looking up at the sky. The stars were very pretty when there weren't many lights.

Y/N though for a bit more about this whole thing, not sure why he was agreeing to this. Sure he didn't value his life all that much but he had family, he had people that cared about him, and he had people he cared about.

But there was something about this that made him feel excited and energetic about it all. He can't remember the last time he felt so much thrill being near a person that could kill him.

It was always him that was trying to kill himself, not someone trying to kill him. No one had ever tried to kill him before.

It was exhilarating.

Heck, the guy wasn't even really trying to kill him, he was trying to kill Dabi and Toga and yet he had pulled her out of the way to protect her. It seemed like he'd really enjoy being a villain but at the same time, he could be a pretty good hero.

He must have been a villain or a hero in his past life because even with that sudden stress he felt so calm, like nothing had even occurred and he wasn't bored like he had nothing to do either.

If this villain thing didn't work, he would try to transfer into a hero school like UA or something like that, though that was setting the bar higher, it was something.

He actually didn't feel like killing himself right now.

"Hey.... Himiko?"

She didn't respond and when Y/N looked at her, she was asleep, resting her head against his shoulder.

"I don't love you... But I think I like you, I'd like to be a villain as long as you're there." He mumbled, gently placing his hand on top of her head.

How did he even let an evil and crazy yandere girl swoon him into joining her in a group of other evil people?

He's not sure but at the moment, he doesn't mind. He'll figure out the details later.

Wow, he's actually feeling pretty okay right now.

#character x reader #possible spoilers #character x you #i hope you enjoy #on a whim #oneshot #male #male reader #mha #bnha #bnha x reader #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #mha x reader #toga himiko #himiko toga #the league of villains #toga x reader

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queen-of-elves · 1 year

Text

Under the moon

Steven grant x fem!reader

Soulmate AU

Epilogue

Summary: You always thought you were alone, without a soulmate, but the universe loves surprises.

Word count: almost 3K

Warnings: sweet but very angsty? I tried lol, some swearing etc.

A/N: Y/S - soulmark of your choosing, I didn’t want to choose a soulmark that represents Y/N. :) btw the timeline is way off and apparently I don’t care about it so

P.S.: to this day I am still thinking about Soulmate AU w Bucky Barnes (read it at least 5 years ago) where reader is only soulmate of Winter Soldier, so this is sort of inspired, and for the love of me I can’t find the fanfiction, therefore if someone would be so lovely and let me know if you recognize it from my poor summary.

Since you were born, you were one of the unlucky few, without a soulmate, without your second half. It was not that bad actually, not that bad as everyone tends to imagine. You can’t really miss something you don’t have, what you actually never had, can you?

Where everyone's wrist was decorated by a mark of their soulmate, something that represented them on a personal level, you had a blank space. Where your wrist was meant to be grazed by ink and color, there was absolutely nothing. It never really bothered you, you had your little quiet life and that was enough for you. Living in a world full of superheroes and aliens kinda does that to you.

However, from time to time the realization of your situation overwhelms you, hits you really low, just like now. One of your friends, Marcy, invited you for a celebration party of them finding their soulmate. It happened like in those romantic movies, or that’s what she tells everyone. One look and they knew, didn’t even have to check their soulmarks.

Lucky.

Marcy and Tom were adorable; you couldn’t deny it, all heart-eyes and little kisses. And yes, there was joy in your heart for them but the sting of jealousy every time you saw them was apparent. Heavy on your chest was the sadness you were meant to carry alone for the rest of your life.

The thought of soulmates started to consume your mind more often then you have anticipated after the announcement from Marcy. You expected to think about it from time to time, sure, the whole world was obsessed with them after all, but you? Not so much. However, Marcy constantly posted and talked about her amazing relationship with Tom even though they met just two weeks ago. And it just pissed you off. Never ever have you felt like this, even in middle school where kids happily showed each other their soulmate marks, leaving you feeling bad about the blank skin, or in college when everyone started to meet their soulmates.

This party is going to be a nightmare. Fuck.

***

The party was worse than a nightmare, even though you love Marcy to death, she was insufferable. Clinging to Tom the whole time and everytime the conversation wasn’t about them she would gladly navigate it back. You suppose that’s how everyone with a newly discovered soulmate acts, they are their world afterall.

You have spent the rest of the party hiding away from her, because you could handle talking about soulmates only to some degree, and drinking, happily and heavily drinking! Alcohol often makes you warm and fuzzy so why not now, you had needed that to cheer you up.

And at the end of the long night Marcy couldn’t let you leave, probably after seeing you mix gin and tonic into a big bowl and then putting a colorful straw into it. Sometimes you were not really proud of your drinking habits...

So after everyone left, Marcy told you to go sleep on her couch, draped a blanket over you and put a bucket next to your lying form. It sort of reminded you of one of those sleepovers you used to have when you were both in middle school.

This would have been a magnificent last thought before closing your eyes and going to sleep if it weren’t for the annoying tingling sensation on your skin.

If she has bed bugs on her couch, I will kill her. You thought, opening your eyes and vigorously scratching your arm while you sat up. And when the haze dissolved and you could finally turn your focus on your wrist. You couldn't believe your eyes.

Soulmark, your own soulmark. One second there was nothing and now a crescendant shape was adoring your wrist in a black outline. The waxing crescent staring at you in its hollow beauty, insolent mark of universe on your life.

“No-,” you stared unmovingly down at your arm, whispering softly as if saying it louder would erase it,”-way.” You felt like breaking down, now of all times you have a soulmate? Were they born now? Or did they lose their soulmate and the universe assigned you together? So many questions and even the internet could answer only a few, plus Marcy’s wifi was shit so it took a horrendous amount of time to find anything.

But in the end, even the palpation in your chest had yet to stop and tears kept on running down the slope of your cheeks, when the thought struck you. You had someone you were meant to be with, a SOULMATE.

***

The revelation of having a mark happened a few months ago and nothing has changed since, crescendant moon mark still on and slightly less mocking by now.

You had quite the thought about it and you decided that it was… fine, just fine. People have soulmates, it's a thing, so it's… FINE, right? Yeah, you were kinda panicking about it.

Why now of all the time?

Also was London always so cheerful? The stereotypical image of gloomy streets with a rainy haze contradicting the one you were rushing through. It was late afternoon and the streets were buzzing with people, the veins of the city working steadily, keeping the whole organism alive. Maybe your mood would be better if the weather was gloomy, if people were all irritated and nasty. Then it would make more sense for you to be annoyed with your life.

This one time the universe decided to listen to your wishes, a harass push sent you flying backwards, stumbling into the person standing behind you, both of you tumbling on the dirty pavement of the bus stop. The gravel scraped one of your palms but otherwise your fall was cushioned by the person behind you.

Universe just couldn’t give you a break, it seemed.

“Oh my, you alright? Let me just-,” hand extended to help you up with your tote bag already picked up and dusted off in the other.” help you up. There.” The sting in your palm distracted you from any further examination of the extended arm in front of you. And before you could blink again, you were at your feet with your silly little tote bag bestowed in your hand. Well almost-, your knight in shining armor noticed scraps of gravel entombed in your skin and a tenuous stream of blood trickling down, before he could hand it to you fully. “Oh my, that looks nasty.” If you haven’t realized before, now you have, his voice was the sweetest thing ever, like it was wrapping you in a blanket and shushing you to go back to sleep, that kind of sweet.

God, do I have a concussion? At this idea you jumped away from him, giving him quite the scare.

The realization hits you quite slowly, soulmark, your soulmark was grazing his tanned wrist and intertwined with Y/S. Oh, so there he was, your soulmate.

It took him just a few seconds to come to the same conclusion and now his eyes were bulging out of its sockets, staring bewildered at your mark, while his mark was peeking from under his coat’s sleeve.

This was it, wasn't it? The moment in which you absolutely knew that no matter what happens you can't get on without this feeling. You felt so warm and happy like never before, as if you had seen the sun for the first time. Was it the same for everyone or was it just you? Maybe it was a no-soulmate-before thing and to experience being in the presence of your soulmate was just too much for those like you. Your heart was beating very fast, sprinting miles to nowhere… was it also normal? All of this seemed so unusual. Perhaps you were dying, cardiac arrest is always on the table, isn’t it?

And then he smiled and all of it got more intense, more sunshine in your life, the warmth spreading through you now scorching your insides and you couldn’t get enough of it.

He stood slumped, the coat hanging on him, trying to hide his figure completely to unwanted attention, but still framing him in your adoring gaze as the most handsome man in the whole vast world.

“Please be real.” Whisper left your lips before you could register that your mouth opened. This seemed to brighten his mood even more, your comment not weirding him out at all. As if for him it was an acceptable norm, to doubt the existence of human beings standing in front of him.

************

“I don't understand it. So we got magically assigned together? Aren’t soulmates designed from birth?”

“I am just as stumped as you. Honestly, all of this is a bit bonkers!” He exhaled as if out of absolute relief, contradicting his words.

You and Steven were now sitting on an ugly painted park bench near the bus stop. And while the conversation was not smoothly pacing as you had anticipated and in your nervous state you kept peeling off the chipped green paint from the metal bench, Steven was very polite. He told you his name right after the two of you labeled each other as real people, not just a construct of your lonely minds (and lack of sleep in Steven’s case).

And now that you had time to fully look at him, you deemed your soulmate as the most handsome man in the whole world. Dark unruly hair falling into his eyes seemed too fluffy to your liking, maybe it was the need to touch it that made you lovingly hate it. You really loved to look at him, as if he was a piece of art even though his posture was never changing, clothes hanging on his frame as if trying to hide him and oftentimes it seemed as if his tongue was not adjusted to speak in such a way.

He fits perfectly in your life but in his, in some odd way he seemed to struggle to adjust.

So, from your first interaction with your soulmate you have gathered only a little information, obviously his name, the fact that he works in a gift shop in the National Art Gallery and his undying love for Egyptian mythology. As the conversation moves on you have yet to check off any of the boxes in your red flag list, so far so good then. It also did not end up with just Steven talking about himself, he asked you a ton of questions (he later apologized for it ‘cause he felt like he was simply intruding) which not a lot of guys do, based on your narrow experience with blind dates and stuff like Tinder.

And as time flew by you realized Steven’s lovely brown irises never left you, not even for a split second did his attention shift, as if in his eyes you were the sun. Well he for sure was in yours, warm and light gifting sphere, from now on the center of your universe.

**************

It has been weeks since you have met him and so far everything was going great, more than great, Steven was nothing but sweetheart to you but still there was the milestone of spending a night at one’s place was still yet to be crossed. When this question first came, Steven seemed hesitant at the idea of spending the night at someone else’s place or maybe it was about you. Maybe he was hesitant about you spending the night as his?

You basically mutually decided that this part of dating could wait, there is no race to be won so why to rush it, right? This seemed to soothe the worry rising in both of you. And there were other bridges to be crossed so you both turned your attention to them.

Steven was a sweetheart since the start of you two, could you actually call it dating tho? Neither of you have spoken out about it, setting in the borders of the relationship. Yes, objectively speaking how you spend the time with your soulmate would be sorted into the category of dating but neither of you have called your meetings a date yet. It was nerve wracking, simply dancing around the topic in every conversation, you trying not to make him uncomfortable and Steven in the same position but on the opposite side.

You couldn’t take it anymore and you were done being anxious over something so silly. So you took the first step and texted him.

You thought that the giggling and kicking your legs in the air era was done by the time you turned 20 and apparently it was not. Keeping your excitement over him was too hard for you to contemplate over even attempting at it. Steven just made your heart buzz with a newfound energy.

It was impossible to imagine someone else as your soulmate, it was even more inimaginable to try to picture someone more perfect than the lovely museum gift shopist. ‘Cause Steven’s never ending politeness sometimes caught you off guard, he opened doors for you, bought you flowers and even sweet little pastries from the expensive bakery near his flat. You could not fathom how he could be insecure about himself, every single woman you knew would have died for Steven of their own.

You couldn’t imagine someone more perfect, maybe because Steven was just the definition of perfect.

**********************

You were in ecstasy, you finally sort of convinced Steven to spend the night at your place. Fully innocent idea of movie night with the hope of it turning into a some kind of sleepover. He didn’t seem so eager but movie night sounded too good to his ears for declination. And yes, you two had the deal and all, however it’s been almost three weeks and the impatience in both of you started to rise to the surface.

Everything was ready, finding the movie Steven talked about last week was the only and the biggest obstacle in your journey for a full night with Steven as a company but even that you have successfully conquered.

Nothing could have stopped you now, nothing could have ruined your excellent mood tonight. Well, there was one thing, this feeling that something terrible was on the horizon, a sort of hunch that something was not quite right. You tried to push it deep inside, to not think about it but the feeling persisted. So you kept busy, waiting at first patiently for Steven’s arrival and then very impatiently pacing the floor of your flat, still keeping the appearance of being busy. Checking if you had his favorite tea in the cupboard, enough popcorn or inspecting the cleanliness of the coffee table on which you have placed snacks for you two.

He was late, he always was a bit late, well, he was always late and usually it was not a bit. Waiting sort of became your strong suit after meeting Steven, so you sat down on the sofa checking your phone to see how late he was.

And then you saw it, a bad omen. This had to be a nightmare, was the universe playing a cruel trick on you? Has nothing of it been real? Had you only dreamed of him the whole time?

No, it was real. Your still dirty beige tote bag laying on the kitchen counter strengthened the conviction of your senses that the encounter with your soulmate, and he, himself, were real. However your wrist was now bare, disproving all of it again. You felt nothing though, no pain in your wrist, absolutely nothing that would indicate change.

You were positioned at the start again, fresh clean start insisting that nothing happened, so what if you imagined him and the soulmark the whole time. Nothing changed, you could never feel lost for something you never had, right?But you had him, he was yours and he was real.

Shivering from the sudden drops, cold like ice, rolling down the sides of your neck and staining your sleeping shirt, you realized how this thought process was wrong. All of it was wrong. You felt him, it had to be real, you shouldn’t doubt his existence.

You felt stuck. Skin petrified in the momentum where you could still doubt if the universe was having a laugh over you or if all of this was just a big misunderstanding, somehow.

And only the moon now stands to you as a companion, looking down at you from the dark night sky and casting every surface in gentle glow with the soft light passing through the room, reflecting on every metal.

So under the light of your only faithful companion you weep for your lost love. The universe for sure loved being cruel.

#steven grant x reader #steven grant x you #steven grant fanfiction #moon knight fanfic #mcu #marvel fanfiction #soulmate au #mcu fanfiction #oscar isaac x reader

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p3ta · 7 days

Note

For the ask game - you have anything for Fuuka?

Of course I have some for Fuuka! P3 spoilers ahead.

Send me any character here.

favorite thing about them

Her bad parents.

Hear me out.

Specifically, the way her bad parents are shown to us and how it impacts here.

Fuuka is defined by many events in the story, but one of my favorites comes at the end of the spring semester. On 7/18 where SEES are officially introduced to Ken (beyond Junpei and Yukari talking to him at the shrine), Natsuki runs out as asks Fuuka if she'll stay to study with her.

Natsuki recognizes her situation, but also how this early in the game Fuuka has conveyed to her that the dormitory is her "home" home. It's different from her normal poor conditions, where it's shown Natsuki is running out to buy her more time away from her parents.

There's also another element at play. Due to her ostracization, she might be the person who bonded the quickest with the idea of SEES as not just a job, but a group of friends.

But what makes it is Fuuka's response.

Even though Fuuka vastly prefers the Iwatodai dorm, it doesn't have to be an excuse. She likes being around Natsuki. You don't see a home life used for that kind of character beat often, at least not in such an implicit manner.

It's realistic. A mature, subtle moment of storytelling that I appreciate. There's a lot of Persona characters with parental issues, but Fuuka's are by far the most "show don't tell" of the bunch. You can still derive intent, but it isn't hamfisted.

Fuuka alludes multiple times to her poor home life due to her parents' expectations of her. Persona 3 is a game about dealing with what life throws at you. Despite the fact that Mitsuru could throw her weight around and have the cops or the school or someone intervene for her, they don't. Fuuka takes it on the chin without complaining. She's eager to move into the dorms and be of use, even as Yukari expresses how she shouldn't have to.

I think it's a fascinating microcosm of how the game represents societies and how we – in particular, women – should conduct their lives.

And ultimately, Fuuka is okay. Her hobbies and life revolve in affairs outside of her family's influence. In having common friends she's able to come to peace with how she views herself without compromising her identity.

least favorite thing about them

It's kind of hard to pick. I'll admit, I tend to be a capricious player and insult my team as I play. Fuuka catches the brunt of this but it's in jest. It's hard to think about something I genuinely dislike. Maybe her blushing sprite?

(Side note, this screenshot is from the Let's Play Archive's FES run and this is way too late to be efficiently talking to Fuuka. You've got Mitsuru in two months, hurry up! Jokes aside, not a fan of Dragonatrix's playthrough. If you're going to read one, I recommend My Life is a Goddamn Mess.)

Wait. I do have an answer.

Her FES video. Or the video they first gave her in FES and has been in every subsequent version. What a waste of a characterization moment. It's supposed to be a masturbation joke too, which is weirdly placed. I say "weirdly", but all the girls' tapes are sexualized in some manner or another. I guess what makes it different from maid dress Yukari for me is that hers was around a specific event in-game and Fuuka is concerned with. . . losing weight. For their beach trip. It's not as cohesive? And she's a stick. It hits the right amount of ick for me.

favorite line

Okay, okay, okay. I cannot find a screenshot at hand, but this is a Reload exclusionary experience. When Fuuka levels up, she cuts in like a jump scare. When you get this for Oracle, however, she says something to the gist of:

"I've unlocked a new ability. Um, I don't know what it does. . ."

That's it! That's the game's explanation for an ability that absolutely will get you killed. And you should try and use it like she suggests later. Doing a cursory search you'll find mass gamer hatred for this which, in my book, is practically an endorsement.

brOTP

Fuuka & Junpei!

Look at Junpei go. He's two for two so far. These two are sweet for a number of reasons, but I like that even though earlier in the game Junpei seems exclusively concerned with her looks, her body, and her cuteness, in December they come together as friends while making their decision. I like how Junpei admires her strength and can verbalize aspects of her growth that she can't give words to.

Likewise, Fuuka gives me the impression of not have many male friends. Her bond and solidarity with Yukari and Natsuki appear to paint a portrait of the person whose company she enjoys. Brash, yes, but also distinctly feminine. But her empathy for Junpei and his respect for her as well as her strength gives her a solid bond outside of her comfort zone! I can imagine Junpei pre-P3 never picturing he'd have a female friend and be satisfied with that. Post-P3, I could see the two living out in the countryside as neighbors. I think that'd make them both happy.

OTP

Fuuka/Natsuki.

Natsuki Moriyama my beloved. She's one of my favorite non-party members in the game, which is saying a lot because she doesn't even partake in a Social Link.

I practically consider her half of Fuuka's character. If any human couple in Persona 3 is getting married (or spending the rest of their lives together) it's Natsuki and Fuuka. They'll reconnect. For how much Fuuka likes tech, it wouldn't surprise me if they talk on Skype every day until they're able to reunite.

They're also another excellent theme microcosm; relationships enduring throughout life's circumstances.

nOTP

Fuuka/Mitsuru.

I'm particular with Mitsuru's relationships and I am not a fan of the power dynamic here. I think I've seen them together once, and the more popular nOTP is Fuuka/Shinjiro, but they're fine. The idea of it is literally Big and Small's cooking fiasco. Shinjiro's dead, anyway. Mitsuru (I believe) likes women, and she appreciates people who are useful.

It's like a pushover Andy and Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada. Not for me.

random headcanon

Fuuka would be one of the best adjusted after the game. She's also the third poorest member of SEES.

She was close to P3 Hero, but she has bonds outside of SEES and doesn't want to prolong the fighting. Fuuka, I feel, is eager to return to a normal life because she's acknowledged her own power outside of combat. She doesn't enjoy being support, but she's the only one who can. She's also deeply connected and loving of life and its various forms, like the plants she tends. She'd be wounded and it would define her high school experience, of course. I'm not concerned for her though. Again, she has Natsuki and seems content with the world around her.

As far as the poverty, I like thinking about the dynamic on display between how the richest members of SEES act (Mitsuru and Yukari) interact with who I see as some of the poorer ones (Shinjiro, Junpei, and Fuuka). She makes herself small, she's ever apologetic, and she views her own skills as something belonging to a collective. It adds a nice flair to her character.

unpopular opinion

She's the best navigator but not because Rise or Futaba are annoying. I've seen a lot of ironic and then post-ironic love of Fuuka, but it tends to include bashing the other support characters. This is especially prevalent with people who ship Fuuka/P3 Hero. I've seen the claim that she's the least sexualized? Which is a wild claim for any female character in one of these games, there's a reason the writers have Junpei comment on her in her swimsuit and her FES recording is the way it is. She's simply a different type of appealing than the others.

song i associate with them

That's Fuuka Navigator Track #3 - ペルソナ! Oops, this isn't a character one, it's a literal piece of game music. Since it didn't survive the jump to Reload though I feel like I can put it here.

I played the game in reverse order so this isn't Persona 1 music to me. This is Fuuka's grinding in Tartarus solo jam.

youtube

favorite picture of them

Don't make me pick between sprites! I'll cheat and pick two: her neck out portrait and her silly one.

Fuuka had some of the best portraits ever. A modern style's too polished to do it justice.

Thanks for the ask! I had more to say than I initially thought. Despite Reload's popularity, I'd still consider her underrated.

#asks #fuuka yamagishi #🔫#shiominato #this one only took me twelve days!#ignore the fact the screenshot quality varies heavy i did these in between classes

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myechoecho · 6 months

Text

Moon in the Day, ep 4

This episode was amazing. We got a better idea of their history (and their names, Kim Do Ha and Han Ri Ta.

We went from "no one can kill you but me" to

Initially I thought he didn't think she could do it but no, he genuinely believes that she will and is in fact counting on it.

Do Ha is deeply traumatized by the war and the killing. He has a bad relationship with his adoptive father (understatement). He is in his own personal hell and wants to be released from it.

I do love how he tries to atone to those he's killed and recognizes that even if he asks for forgiveness, it does not mean that he is forgiven. He accepts that.

Ri Ta is interesting in that she does not give an inch when she sees this. Him asking for forgiveness does not change anything or he need to avenge her family. The fact that she demands he live, find meaning in life so that it is more painful for him when she does kill him is just an additional level of fucked up I was not expecting.

I'm also pretty sure that his father is the one chasing them when they die. Maybe his father is the being who is trying to kill them in the present? At the very least whomever that being may be, they are closely tied to the past.

I wonder if the purpose of the car accident was to get Yeong Hwa to remember her previous life. Before she would dream but not remember. Now she remembers the dream and it is very vivid. We also see that Ri Ta was not as unaffected by Do Ha as she seemed, even from the start. Her heart fluttered.

Things look like they will get messier, because Yeong Hwa called him "my lord". In all her previous lives, she has remembered nothing but now she's remembering even if it is a dream. I think she may genuinely be Ri Ta.

For Do Ha, the present is overlapping with the past. This is the first time he's been in a physically body after1500 years, instead of a ghost tied to her. Yeong Hwa looks like Ri Ta and she is saying the same/similar things as before, down to her demanding that he live. "As long as I exist, you will never die" has a different meaning for Do Ha. This is why he's hesitating - he needs to know if she is actually Ri Ta

Despite everything, I think Do Ha would make the same choices if given a chance. He knew the risks keeping his enemy's daughter alive in secret, even if he wanted to die. But she also gave him some peace and happiness in life. Do Ha at this point is just tired and wants release after 1500. Plus he misses Ri Ta.

As for him asking who she is, talking about 1500 years ago I suspect she will chalk it up to the Oxy.

Look as his face in that preview:

The little interaction before is the most playful we've seen Do Ha. Though I'm not sure why Yeong Hwa is so concerned over a book about Sigmund Freud.

#moon in the day #kdrama

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sisterspooky1013 · 1 year

Text

In This Place, at This Time

Rated T | 4447 words | Read it here on AO3

Written for @cecilysass for the @xfilesfanficexchange Baby Agents exchange.

“Oh my god, Dana. You’ve got it bad.”

Scully looks up from her salad and regards her friend with confusion.

“What are you talking about?” she asks, and Ellen shakes her head.

“Mulder this, Mulder that, all with that little smirk. Sounds like someone has a crush on their partner,” Ellen teases.

Scully looks around the crowded restaurant as she feels heat rise to her cheeks. Every table is occupied, but none of them by anyone she recognizes, thankfully. She sets her fork down and levels Ellen with an irritated glare.

“I do not have a crush on Mulder,” she says sternly. “We work together, and work is a big part of my life, so it’s only natural that his name will come up.”

“Okay, okay,” Ellen says, holding up her hands defensively. “I’m just curious, though. Have you been to his apartment?”

“Of course,” Scully answers with a sigh. “And he’s been to mine. What’s your point?”

Ellen shrugs, and Scully has half a mind to tell her that she has no room to talk about persistent smirking.

“Did he invite you over for pizza and beer to ‘review case notes’,” Ellen says, making air quotes with her fingers.

As a matter of fact, Mulder did recently invite her to his apartment to review case notes over pizza and beer. It was fun and productive, and they did just that—reviewed case notes.

“Ellen, will you just stop, please? I will admit that Mulder is an attractive man, but that’s irrelevant. We work together, so there’s simply no possibility for it to be anything more than that. Case closed.”

Her phone rings and she fishes it out of her purse while Ellen continues right on smirking.

“I bet that’s him,” she says in a stage whisper, and Scully rolls her eyes as she brings the phone to her ear.

“Scully,” she answers.

“Hey, Scully, it’s me.”

“Hey, Mulder,” she says, then glances over at Ellen to see her mouthing I knew it!

“Are you free tonight? I found this wild field report about a colony of human-bat hybrids out in Hawaii. I thought we could grab dinner and look it over.”

“Well, nothing stokes my appetite quite like human-bat hybrids. Count me in,” she says, pivoting her body away from Ellen, who is making little kissy faces like a high schooler.

She says goodbye to Mulder, then continues to eat her salad as though Ellen isn’t staring daggers at her.

“I bet he’s great in bed,” Ellen says, and Scully snaps her head up. “The weird ones always are.”

“You’ll have to seduce him and let me know,” Scully retorts, and Ellen shakes her head again.

In the space of time between her lunch with Ellen and her impending dinner with Mulder, she gives a great deal of thought to what Ellen said. She knows that it’s true, in a sense; she does have a bit of a crush on Mulder. She denied it even to herself for a handful of weeks, but pretending that it wasn’t there did not make it go away. After her relationship with Ethan ended and he cited her preoccupation with her partner as a contributing factor, she was forced to tear down the facade and confront her true feelings, at least with herself.

Physically, she is undeniably attracted to him. The few times she’s caught sight of him partially dressed certainly did not serve to diminish that physical attraction. His impish, understated smiles and those Richard Gere-esque hooded eyes have set off a tumble in her belly on more than one occasion. If it were only that, it would likely wear away over time and no longer serve as a distraction, but unfortunately, his intellect is just as attractive to her as his physical form. The way they can slip so easily into repartee, the space he leaves for her in their conversations, and the fact that he never makes her feel small—either physically or mentally—makes her want to talk to him exclusively above anyone else. She feels seen by him in a way she hasn’t experienced before, like she doesn’t need to pretend to be more or less of any part of herself in order to be accepted. After a lifetime of performing a certain type of femininity to fit in with her female friends, and displaying uncharacteristic levels of stoicism and detachment in order to be taken seriously by her male colleagues, she’s always felt a bit like she’s playing a part. But with Mulder, she’s just herself, and he doesn’t appear to prefer her any other way.

She suspects that these feelings are somewhat mutual. While he is exceedingly respectful, she’s caught him giving her the occasional long glance when he didn’t realize she was looking. They’ve engaged in some mildly flirtatious banter that one or the other changed course on before it veered into the inappropriate. She didn’t miss his disappointment when he learned that she had a date, nor his satisfaction when she told him she didn’t plan to see the man again. Had there been iced tea in the bag, who knows what might have happened. But there wasn’t, and that fact encapsulates their relationship in her mind. In another place, at another time, maybe he would have taken her out. Maybe they would have had a fling or dated, or maybe something more substantial. But they are in this place, at this time, and it’s simply not within the realm of possibility.

Rather than feeling like a disappointment or a constant temptation, it feels like something unique and special. Two people who are drawn to one another, but choose to channel their connection into an incredibly profound friendship and partnership. Two people who know that they could easily fall into bed together, but resist temptation in pursuit of something greater than the brief gratification of release. What could possibly be more meaningful than that? What other man would be so willing to set his primal urges aside in exchange for her partnership and the potential of the work they can accomplish together? It’s just another bit of evidence in a long list of ways that his respect for her is above reproach. Neither is willing to jeopardize what they have for sex, or even a potential relationship. It feels almost poetic.

That night, he picks her up and takes her to a place called Jimini’s that she’s never been to before. They order drinks and appetizers, and she rolls her eyes while he explains how a tribe of human-bat hybrids could have hidden from the public on the small island of Maui for so long. He scoffs when she details the genetic impossibility of such a hybrid, and points out that they’d have to be horrifically inbred at this point if they existed at all, which they don’t. He makes her smile, and laugh, and frustrates her in the very best ways. She enjoys herself, and she can tell that he does as well. When he drops her off, there is just a brief glimmer of tension before she unbuckles her seatbelt and exits the car. It’s a glimmer they both look away from, and again she is reminded of this special thing that they share. This unique thing. She feels protective of it, especially in light of what Ellen said.

Days later, she enters the basement copy room to find their machine out of order. Work orders for the basement are never put on the top of the pile, so she heads for the second floor to make her copies, as well as to try and grease the wheels with the facilities department in hopes that they won’t be without their own machine for weeks again.

As she waits for her copies, another woman enters the room and hovers nearby, a hefty stack of papers in her arms. Scully has seen her before, but they’ve never been introduced. She’s short, even compared to Scully, with mousy brown hair that’s pulled back into a low bun. She’s pretty, but in a classic, less obvious way. She looks like she could be the heroine in a Charlotte Bronte novel.

“Sorry, this shouldn’t take too long,” Scully says with an apologetic smile and a significant look towards the woman’s stack of papers.

“Oh, take your time,” the woman says. “I’m not in any rush to get back to my desk.”

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Scully says after a beat. “I’m Dana Scully. I’d shake your hand, but…”

The women both look at the stack and smile.

“I’m Meredith,” the woman offers. “One of the peons of the secretarial pool.”

“Nice to meet you, Meredith.”

Scully turns back to the machine, noting that it has fifteen copies to go. She feels Meredith’s eyes on her and turns to see the woman staring at her intensely.

“Is something wrong?” Scully asks, and Meredith shifts the load in her arms uncomfortably.

“You work with Fox Mulder, right? You’re his partner?” Meredith asks.

“Yes,” Scully says cautiously.

“This really isn’t any of my business,” Meredith begins, giving a quick look around to confirm that they’re alone, “but you might just want to be careful around him.”

Scully’s eyebrows lift, and she finds that she’s concurrently curious and suspicious.

“Why’s that?” she asks.

She expects to hear about Mulder’s “spooky” reputation and the damage it will do to her career to be associated with him. It’s nothing she hasn’t heard before.

“He and I went out a few times a couple years ago,” Meredith says. “I thought he was interested in me as a person, but it turned out he just wanted sex.”

Scully gives the woman a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says. “Mulder and I are partners, nothing more. Thank you for your concern, though.”

She turns away again and collects her copies, then lifts the glass to take the original document.

“First it was his place for pizza and beer, then a nice dinner at Jimini’s. Next thing you know, he’s inviting me over to watch a movie and then telling me that he isn’t looking for anything serious,” Meredith is saying, almost to herself.

That gives Scully pause, and she has an impulse to ask for more information. But this is exactly how rumors enter the mill, and she isn’t interested in being party to that.

“It was nice to meet you, Meredith,” she says, then heads back to the basement.

By the time she reaches the door to his office, she’s talked herself out of reading anything into it. Even if Mulder is doing things with her he might typically do with someone he’s dating, so what? The only thing that matters is that they both understand the nature of their relationship, which is entirely platonic.

“What do you make of this, Scully?” Mulder asks without looking up as she walks through the door. He always knows when it’s her.

She stashes her stack of copies on top of a filing cabinet and walks around his desk to look over his shoulder at the article he’s reading.

Woman With Two Vaginas Delivers Half-Siblings the headline reads.

“There’s a condition called Uterus Didelphys where a woman can have two separate uteri, and it’s also possible for it to exhibit as two vaginal canals. One or the other is uncommon, both even less so. A twin pregnancy would be extremely high risk, but it’s possible it could be carried to term,” she tells him.

“So you’re saying it’s…” he says, swiveling his chair so he’s facing her.

“Not an X-file,” she finishes for him.

“What would I do without you?” he asks with a smile, and she feels that little tumble.

“Probably ask a woman with a rare, but very terrestrial, medical condition a set of extremely invasive questions,” she quips, and Mulder laughs.

“Probably right,” he says, and turns back to his desk.

She feels a warmth in her belly, and knows that Meredith was wrong: she doesn’t need to be careful with Mulder. She’s safer with him than she’s ever been with any man in her life.

When he invites her over to his apartment for dinner a few days later, she doesn’t think anything of it. Pizza, beer, case review. It’s practically becoming tradition at this point. But when he mentions a movie he wants to show her, it does give her the slightest bit of pause. Watching a movie isn’t something they’ve done together yet. But that doesn’t mean that there are nefarious motivations behind the invite, and she’ll be damned if she lets gossip from some random secretary on the second floor sour her friendship with Mulder. She accepts, and intentionally wears something frumpy just to make a point to herself.

Mulder, for his part, answers the door shirtless.

“Hey,” he says brightly, ushering her inside. “I was just about to order dinner. Is Italian okay?”

Pizza is technically Italian, but there’s something less casual about pasta and complex sauces. Italian can be romantic, if you want it to be.

“Sure,” she says, removing her coat and shoes. “Italian sounds fine.”

“You look nice,” he says, giving her a quick once over. His tone is fairly neutral and his expression is observant, not leering.

She feels a flush of some strange combination of embarrassment and pride as she looks down at her raggedy jeans and baggy Georgetown T-shirt.

“Thanks,” she mutters. “Wearing your invisible shirt, I see,” she adds, and her tone comes out just a bit snarky, though that hadn’t been her intention.

Mulder looks down at his bare chest and laughs, then disappears into his bedroom and comes back with a heather gray T-shirt on, much to her relief.

The movie he wanted to show her is a silent film starring Charlie Chaplin about working in a factory, and ultimately tells the story of the ways in which modern-day advancements make our lives more difficult to the same degree that they improve it. Their dinner arrives sometime in the first half of the film, and they eat it hunched over his coffee table. It doesn’t feel romantic at all, and for that, Scully is grateful.

During the second half, Scully shivers, and Mulder wordlessly grabs the blanket draped over the back of the couch and spreads it out across both their laps. He’s a respectable distance away from her, but she can’t help but think back to the boys in high school who used a shared blanket to conceal surreptitious attempts to hold hands, or even cop a feel over her jeans. A little pit begins to form in her chest, and she scoots to the far end of the couch before folding her legs up on the cushion beside her such that he can’t reasonably sit close enough for any shenanigans.

When the movie ends, Mulder clears their plates while she uses his bathroom. As soon as she sits back down on the couch he plops down right next to her, so close that the sides of their thighs brush up against one another. If she had any room to scoot away from him, she would, but the arm of the couch is flush against her other side and she feels somewhat trapped.

He fans out a handful of case files on the coffee table, then turns to look at her.

“Ladies first,” he says playfully. “What looks good?”

She can smell him—his deodorant and aftershave, the beer on his breath. The heat of his body radiates against her side and alarm bells begin to quietly sound off in her head. Be careful.

“This looks promising,” she says without much affect, plucking one of the files off the top of the stack.

“Excellent choice,” he congratulates her. “I’ve been wanting to dig into this one for a while. Are you familiar with the concept of corporeal vaporization?”

Scully chuffs a laugh, but Mulder is quiet. She turns her head to look at him, bringing their noses within inches of one another.

“You’re serious?” she asks, incredulous, and Mulder smiles in that impish way that she finds irresistibly charming. In this circumstance, however, his charm makes the alarm bells grow louder.

“I am,” he says in a tone that reminds her of the day they first met, when she asked him if he’d read her thesis. I did. I liked it.

The butterflies in her belly flutter against the pit in her chest, and the alarm bells jangle in her ears. She runs her tongue across her bottom lip, deciding whether she should make up an excuse to leave.

“Ah, you’ve got a little sauce on your cheek,” he says as he leans in closer and brushes his thumb across the skin at the corner of her mouth. He’s so close, so close, and she just knows he’s going to kiss her.

“Mulder,” she says firmly, leaning away from him and closing her eyes. “Can you please give me some space?”

When she opens them, he’s staring at her with nothing short of abject confusion on his face. He scoots to the middle cushion on the couch, and she feels the tension drain from her body.

“Sorry,” he mumbles as he runs his palms over the tops of his thighs, his eyes averted to the coffee table.

They sit there in palpable awkwardness for what feels like an eternity. She could just leave and let him take her rejection of his advancement as evidence that she isn’t interested in being anything more than friends, but the idea of facing him at work tomorrow without addressing this is unbearable.

“Mulder,” she starts, not looking at him, “I really enjoy working with you, but I’d like for our relationship to remain professional in nature.” She waits for a beat to see if he has anything to offer in response, but he remains quiet. “I’m not passing judgment on how you comport yourself at work, but I am not a person who engages in casual sex, much less with coworkers.”

Again, she pauses so he can respond. Again, she is met with silence. She turns her head just slightly and peeks at him out of the corner of her eye. He’s sitting back against the rear cushion of the couch, his hands still resting on the tops of his thighs. He’s looking at her with a strange expression on his face, one she isn’t familiar with.

“Scully…” he says uncomfortably, scraping his thumbnail across the denim covering his thigh with an audible scritch. “I’m gonna be totally honest with you—I have no idea where this is coming from. Did I do something that made you uncomfortable?”

She looks at him sharply, her initial impression being that he intends to feign ignorance. But he doesn’t appear to be putting on an act—he looks truly bewildered.

“Why did you invite me over tonight, Mulder?” she asks flatly.

“To look over some case notes. Eat dinner. Watch a movie,” he lists off, watching her reaction to determine which of these invitations was the offensive one.

“You said I look nice,” she points out.

“I don’t normally see you dressed this…casually, I guess. I’m sorry if that was an inappropriate thing to say,” he replies, looking mildly horrified.

“What about the blanket?”

“The blanket?”

“You put a blanket on me.”

“It seemed like you were cold.”

“Why were you sitting so close just now? And you were…touching my face,” she says, brushing her finger over the spot beside her mouth where she can still feel the warmth of his thumb. There’s a bit of something there, maybe marinara.

“Scully, did you…did you think I was making a pass at you?” he asks dubiously, like the very idea of it is absurd.

More absurd than the existence of extraterrestrials. More absurd than liver-eating mutants and primitive homosapiens living in the forest outside New Jersey. More absurd than parasitic alien life forms trapped in the Arctic ice is the idea that Fox Mulder would be sexually interested in Dana Scully. She feels her cheeks flame, and she looks away.

“I—” she starts, but finds that her throat is growing tight. Embarrassment is something that she diligently avoids for this precise reason: the way her body responds to it is with the rapid onset of tears. “I may have misread the situation, Mulder. I’m sorry.”

She moves to stand, but he catches her by the wrist. She’s perched on the edge of the couch cushion, tethered to him by one hand, and the vision of his coffee table is blurring behind the pool of tears in her eyes. She can’t see how they can possibly recover from this. How she can.

“I think that came out wrong,” he says gently. “It’s not that I wouldn’t make a pass at you because I’m not attracted to you,” he explains, and she cringes at his attempt to make her feel better. “You’re beautiful, and insanely smart, and funny. But you’re also lightyears out of my league, Scully,” he finishes with an uncomfortable chuckle.

After blinking rapidly to encourage her tears to dissipate, she looks at him and finds only earnestness on his face.

“That’s not true,” she says quietly.

Again, he laughs.

“Uh, yeah, it is,” he says matter-of-factly.

She heaves a sigh, suddenly exhausted by this entire exchange. She loses the will to dance around the subject, and decides to just come out with it.

“I ran into this woman at work. Meredith. She said you two went out a while back,” she divulges, feeling like she’s in high school again.

“A few years ago, yeah,” he confirms, narrowing his eyes skeptically.

“She told me you used her for sex, and essentially warned me about your proclivity towards seducing your coworkers, and….” She drops her head into her free hand, the other still being wrapped up in Mulder’s. “I’m sorry, I have no idea why I gave any credence to it.”

“Ah,” he says knowingly. “I don’t want to come across as overly defensive, but that’s a gross misrepresentation of what happened between me and her.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Mulder. It’s none of my business,” she mumbles.

“I know that I don’t have to, but I don’t like the idea of you thinking that I would do whatever it is that she said I did. She and I did go out a few times shortly after I got out of a relatively serious relationship, and it made me realize that I wasn’t ready to date yet. We started…messing around, if you will, and I felt like I should tell her because I didn’t want to lead her on. She got upset and left, and that’s the last time I ever spoke to her. She practically dives headfirst into a conference room when she sees me coming, so I’ve never had the opportunity to apologize or clear things up.”

“Yes, that’s quite different from the way she tells it,” Scully says, chagrined.

There’s an extended silence, though the weight of it isn’t nearly as heavy anymore.

“Even if I thought I stood a chance with you, I’d never take it,” he says, quite tenderly, and she looks at him then. At those Richard Gere-esque eyes and his softly smiling mouth.

“I feel compelled to correct your assumption that you’d never stand a chance, but I don’t want you to think I’m making a pass at you,” she says, and his soft smile breaks out into a grin.

“I’d hate to have to file an official complaint with H.R.,” he quips, and she cringes again.

“Sorry,” she says, reliving it all over.

“Don’t be,” he tells her. “H.R. and F.B.I. policies aside, I’ve never worked as well with someone as I do with you. The idea of fucking that up is a little terrifying.”

She nods in agreement.

“Let’s not fuck it up, then,” she tells him, and his eyebrows jump up.

“Agent Scully, I didn’t know you knew that word,” he teases, and she rolls her eyes.

“Here’s another word for you, Mulder: bullshit. Which is exactly what this case file is,” she retorts, finally breaking free of his grasp and picking up the corporeal vaporization file they abandoned.

“That’s exactly what that son of a bitch Skinner said,” he shoots back, and her mouth falls open with surprise before she laughs loudly.

“You have a great laugh, Scully,” he says with a smile, then sits forward and collects all but the corporeal vaporization file into a neat stack. “That wasn’t a come-on, by the way.”

“Shut the fuck up, Mulder,” she says, punctuating it with a slap to his arm.

“Watch your goddamn mouth in my apartment, for fuck’s sake.”

They go back and forth like this until they run out of curse words in both the American and British vernacular and Scully again has tears in her eyes, but this time from laughter.

“I better get going,” she says as she wipes the corners of her eyes, her cheeks aching. “It’s a school night.”

He walks her out, leaning against the table with his hands in his pockets as she dons her jacket and shoes. Once she crosses the threshold into his hallway, she turns around to find him standing in the open door.

“Goodnight, Agent Scully,” he says formally, extending his hand.

She looks at his outstretched hand, then at his face, where she sees the corner of his mouth quirk as he attempts to fight off a smile. Stepping past his hand, she slings one arm around his waist and gives him a squeeze.

“Goodnight, Mulder,” she says casually, and he wraps one arm across her shoulders and gives her a squeeze in return.

WShe leaves him there, noting that she does not hear his door close behind her. Not until she’s standing in the elevator does she look up to find him watching her, an affectionate expression on his face. She waves, and he waves back, and then he disappears behind the mirrored metal doors.

It’s a special thing. A unique thing. To feel the way she does when he looks at her like that, but have no intention of doing anything about it. To know that he very likely feels the same way, but would rather never find out if it could work than risk ruining their friendship. In another time and place, maybe they could have gone on a different kind of adventure together. But here and now, she just feels lucky to know him in any capacity.

It’s enough. More than enough.

Tagging @today-in-fic

#the x files #x files fanfic #txf #dana scully #fox mulder #xf fanfic #x files #the x-files #xfiles

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nights-nonsensical-ramblings · 4 days

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okay so I watched the knuckles series (by following the example of the pirates of course ) and I have to say while it was a very enjoyable watch, I have no clue what I watched and I’m mostly confused and have come away feeling mostly neutral. I don’t hate it, but it hasn’t dug its hooks in like other sonic things have for me.

Like some bits I very much enjoyed watching and would happily see again and others I couldn’t stand and dread the idea of watching again.

there were plenty of moments where Knuckles went against what I adore about him, and others that perfectly capture what I adore about him. Boy was so adorable though. Loved lots of the expressions he made.

okay I’m gonna get a bit more specific from here and cuz I got no clue what’s going on with the tagging and it gets long I’ll put it under a cut.

So it’s kinda hard for me to remember what happened, but I will say I love wades mother, she was amazing, loved her and Knuckles’ dynamic and would welcome it if she appeared again. (Also, new headcanon unlocked that knuckles is such a mamas boy he’s a magnet for motherly figures)

I really am not a fan of his sister Wanda tho. The childish sibling banter did entertain me at first (and made me think that knuckles was going to reflect on his relationship with his brothers) but it went on too long and just made Wanda feel like she never matured past being a bratty teenager. (And judging by what I’ve seen I think she’s gonna be on ‘top _ worst sonic characters’ lists for a while)

my opinion on Wade himself hasn’t really changed. I have no strong feelings towards the guy

We didn’t get as much as I wanted, but I loved the Wachowski family stuff. I needed so much more of knuckles being the trouble kid and the family trying to help.

It’s pretty annoying that the start of the show set up Knuckles learning to chill, be a kid on earth and settle in with his new family. Only to drop it basically immediately and the closest thing it has to a resolution is Knuckles finding his jam.

and yeah, I could see plenty of moments where they had the perfect opportunity to explore knuckles on a deeper level but chose not to. But I am glad they at least hinted at it with those expressions I keep raving about

On that. Cuz Pachacamacs appearance was what springboreded what was going on in a different direction. What is going on here? Is this a Knuckles thing? But Wade speaks to him to, but that was under knuckles’ guidance? I think? So can anyone in this world talk to spirits? Can only certain people be spirits? I mean. One Knuckles got over the initial shock he accepted the fact he was talking to a dead tribe member (I’m also sad that nothing was done with the idea that in this universe Knuckles and Pachacamac were alive at the same time) I got so many more questions on how spirits work in here, but I’m just gonna move on. (Although, maybe this sets up knuckles speaking to Tikal 👀. Or maybe his dad or even his mum.)

But considering what Pachacamac’s role is in the games making him so comedicly focused felt weird. Yeah this universe has different events. But still feels weird cuz of how we know Pachacamac.

I don’t even know what to say about the whole fire powers fire demon (who’s heavily implied to be iblis) I need way more time to think what is going on. Like does any of the pre existing lore apply? If so those are some WILD implications. If not, did that mean they just made this guy like iblis cuz it’s a fire creature that fans will recognize??

A minor thing but I can’t hear our house without thinking of the chemist warehouse add. And a few of the other songs are strongly associated with other things and I couldn’t help but think of them when they played. I don’t see this as a good or bad thing. It is just a thing.

hmm. I had more thoughts but after that ghost tangent I can’t really remember them. I guess I’ll have to come back later with another post if I get them back.

So, for now my closing thoughts are: it’s not a terrible show. Lots of writing choices I disagree with, but I don’t nessicaily think they’re bad. And there’s definitely enjoyment to be found (more if you watch it with some friends) but it’s not really to my taste. Especially with how much irs advertise as about knuckles and then not. Some moments made me very happy some made me want to nope out some I don’t even know.

congratulations to Wade fans, I’m gonna find what bits I wanna cherry pick and I’ll be on my merry way.

#knuckles the echidna #knuckles series #knuckles spoilers #knuckles wachowski #knuckles series spoilers #night’s sonic stuff #Night’s analysis

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dailyoyo · 8 days

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GGs ranked by how quickly they would resort to murdering their friends if they were stuck in a timeloop (Real edition)

my sincerest fucking apologies to pseud for what ive done to their blog.

THAT SAID: on account of this being very long and very grim to the point that most of it is too grimdark to even be funny anymore i am putting it under a readmore. This is a half-joke half-serious post about the ggs getting stuck in a time loop and murdering each other so like. you get what you click on.

also these are all specifically based aroudn our interps/jet set radio paradox obviously so bear that in mind lol

RULES TO MINIMIZE VARIABLES: only one of them knows they're in a time loop, each is a separate scenario where the listed character is the one who knows and remembers. they do not know why the loop is happening and they do not know how to stop it. the span of time the loop happens is relatively normal, though dangerous enough events happen (maybe just normal jsr stuff) that people may accidentally die during it depending on the exempt character's actions. everyone who dies during a loop is alive again when the date rolls back over. everything is back to square one. no consequences. 14. Pots pots is a dog, even if a highly intelligent one. assuming he can even grasp the idea of a time loop (unlikely) i believe it is even further unlikely that he would recognize it as a bad thing. very possible he just stays in the time loop contentedly forever 13. Soda it takes like a week (or until the first "someone dies and comes back") for him to even notice he's in a timeloop (general apathy/depression?). but when he does notice he's pretty together about it. obviously he wants out but he's literally got all the time in the world, he doesn't need to do stupid traumatic shit just to see what happens. he's got this.

12. Jazz WHY WOULD MURDER EVEN BE PART OF THIS EQUATION WHAT THE FUCK? shes not gonna kill anybody and would think its super fucked to even raise the idea. how is that supposed to help. That said. she does keep repeatedly explaining she's in a time loop almost every loop and it is getting to the point that she kiiiiinda wants to strangle someone or two as stress relief because by god is she stressed. she Won't, she's got more sense than that, but. But…

11. Boogie i think she never really goes full murdermode or anything and the very idea of that happening would shock and disturb her, but surprisingly early on she gives into the impulse to push one of the other ggs into traffic (it doesn't matter anyway, right?) and watches them get ran over. and she's like O_O oh jesus fuck that was horrible. and she never kills anyone again during the loops but it HAUNTS her and makes her nervous abt the idea that she COULD do it again.

10. Gum she's mostly level headed, i think, so she wouldn't be quick to resort to madness. but give her enough time and she starts feeling desperate and does some scary shit in the hopes that maybe somehow they'll at least remember next time. like more than anything i think it's the isolation of it that gets to her. maybe she doesn't progress to outright intentional murder, maybe she only tries it once or twice to see if it fixes anything (it doesn't). while she doesn't go full-blown axe-crazy she DOES become incredibly dangerous and desperate to just not be the only one who remembers.

9. Garam while his nerves end up aaaabsolutely shot and he loses all his patience to see the same day happening over and over, i think it would honestly take a while for him to become a danger to the ggs. he'd rather take out his stress on Literally Anything Else. that said he'd reach a point where he accidentally kills someone for real (whether a gg or an unrelated party) and it fucks him up reallll bad, but whether it fucks him up in a "fine whatever i can kill people who cares" way or a "I NEED TO BE CAREFUL THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN HOLY FUCK" way depends on the circumstances.

8. Beat honestly? unless something in particular causes him to suspect one of the ggs is responsible for the loop, it takes a while for it to even occur to him that killing his friends is an option. like maybe he might end up killing the GGs' enemies and maybe even rivals, but if you brought up the idea of killing his FRIENDS to him he'd be like "wait huh??? but why even????" that said, though, keep him in there long enough and he might develop a severe god complex and start doing it purely to power trip.

7. Combo putting him in a time loop i think would really be the last straw in his miserable life. maybe he deserves the right to kill someone at this point really. while he focuses intently on trying to find a way to break the loop, as it all begins to grate on him he really just stops giving a shit about much of anything. the murder isn't a constant thing, more like one or two good ol' kill em all style breakdowns, and obviously it only makes him feel sick to his stomach when the date rolls over, but what can he even do about it?

6. Clutch he tries to play it cool at first and not think about it too hard but it isnt long before a sort of prey animal panic is invoked in him and hes like. I gotta get outta here. I gotta get out of here. Oh my god i gotta get the hell out of here. and it doesn't help that hes really not close with these guys yknow. and any concern from the ggs he reacts to with escalating violence until he reaches the point he's killing them multiple times in hopes that gives him a way out. eventually he just gives up

5. Corn at first the thought of killing his friends doesnt even cross his mind but he becomes increasingly desperate to understand what's happening and soon enough it's a last resort. it's all very methodical testing the limits of the loop and himself, not explaining anything to anyone else because they'll forget anyway and becoming increasingly hostile and isolationist. he doesn't want to but He's out of options. He has to FIGURE IT OUT.

4. Roboy what bothers him more than anything else is the feeling of helplessness over the whole thing and even if the others COULD help him he's not going to try to get their help. he kills the other ggs to feel less powerless, like he has any sort of control over the situation, and all it does is make him feel worse and worse and worse. maybe eventually reaches a point where he starts deleting his memories of the resets in the hopes this breaks the vicious feedback loop but all it does is ensure the cycle never ends.

3. Yoyo If you put yoyo in a situation where nothing he does matters and none of his actions have consequences he will do increasingly crazy dumb shit because it's not like it matters anyway. and he will undergo EXTREMELY RAPID psychological decay that DOES end in him killing members of the ggs just to see what effect it has both on the loop and on others' psyches. and he will just assume that the loop is forever and ever with no way to ever break it.

2. Cube cube upon realizing she and she alone is in a timeloop will rapidly come to the conclusion that she is in actual literal hell. everything wrong with her will come to the surface at once. she will suffer a severe psychological break SO fast and the streets will run red. maybe she's enjoying it. maybe she isn't. but she is convinced this HAS to happen. and that she deserves it. 1. Mew As soon as Mew finds out that deaths don't stick she's going to massacre all of the GGs just to see how it feels. just once. to try it. it's fine. it doesn't matter. Where did she get that higurashi cleaver

bonus: with the way i joke about zero beat maybe he doesnt even notice hes in a time loop until After hes maimed someone to death. i dont know man. im lying. who fucking give a shit

#mod noname #do i fucking maintag this.#jet set radio #jet set radio future #Fine. i maintagged it. go to hell @me #blood #horror #ask to tag #i spent an unfortunate amount of time thinking this through despite the fact it was supposed to be a joke post #whys most of my content so evil. whats that about #in my defense one of my friends has a horror project which prominently features a time loop #hence why they're on the mind.#vreepypasta

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naffeclipse · 10 months

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Surprise!!! >:D

I come here fashionably late to deliver the comment I owed with interest and all! And oh boy oh boy, get ready because this one might be the longest one yet! At least that’s what it’s looking like in my notes app at the moment kñjfdhgkj (Me: writes my thought not usually longer than a sentence long because each note has a not huge word limit. Also me: nearly reaches the limit and every sentence is basically a paragraph here fkjdhgkjh)

Anyways! Let’s start! :D

Ohhh man, that poor old man. What a scene to come back to! Considering the hunters seemed to have secured the area for the confrontation I can only imagine what must be going through his mind after his last interaction with them all! Meanwhile Sun and Moon are over here just like. “Great. Someone else that thinks we killed them all. :( ”

But ahhh I just love how it’s a slow scene that builds the tension! Because we know what happened at the end of the last chapter so we experience the restlessness as the clock ticks by. And then, they get free, and things get going.

Oh it was so interesting when they found Vanessa. The fact that she was wearing their jacket! I can’t imagine Glitchtrap would be the one to put it on her after he took the white patched one, so it’s such a sad image thinking about her dragging herself towards the discarded green jacket like it’s the last thing she’ll get to keep of y/n after this D:

Also how they identified her! It makes me wonder how much they can know from a heart. It does get explained later but it immediately got me speculating about different levels of rulebreakers. So I imagine other people who might be considered guilty but not rulebreakers might be those that were in compliance with the harm, or those that were neglectful. It seems to Eclipse both are just as bad as any rulebreaker and deserve the same fate. Thank goodness for their vow!

Also gfkjhgfjh poor Vanessa, fr XD Just got freed from a heart eating demon and she can’t get a full rest before another heart eating demon is roughly shaking her awake. Though gotta give her credit! It’s sad, but also very badass of her that she’s just so done that she won’t show any fear to them. Just that she despises them. Also respect for her for refusing to sell y/n to the new demon. From her perspective she already feels guilty for one demon taking them and she wasn’t gonna make their troubles even worse, even if that might have meant this demon ended her right then. But also I love that that’s what makes them start to reel their anger in a little, because they know that, exactly like her, y/n also thought Eclipse would kill them. They realize all Vanessa sees right now is a demon after its quarry.

And aaaahh, Vanessa noticing the patches! She must have looked at the patch in her own jacket enough times to recognize y/n’s handiwork and all the implications for that. Even so exhausted, she’s very sharp still! But oof the dread in all of them when she admits what happened. Gosh the part where they clutch the hair clip with one blue hand and one red one! Ahhh that had me feeling so many things. It’s a small moment of despair and trying not to grief, snapping themselves to action instead of thinking the worst!

And then they go back to not giving Vanessa a single break sheesh XD Oh man, the dreaded acceptance in her face when they accuse her of not protecting the children. Punching right where it hurts the most. And like, she read the book. She knows what being considered guilty means when encountering a demon that follows the sacred rules. And it’s so sad to think that she might even consider that if they had killed she would have deserved it. Ooough my heart. But then they don’t and she just has to accept that they truly do care about finding y/n, they sound desperate in telling her that the hunter needed her to not give up on them, even if for Vanessa right now giving up might be the only way to find some rest after what she’s been through. And so Vanessa just has to go “this might as well just happen huh”. Not to mention the whiplash fdkjfhdgjkh This demon that just admitted to wanting to kill her suddenly referring to themselves as the cutesy nickname y/n assigned them just like “we’re their sweetie <3” is sure gotta be something from her perspective XD

But at least as they start to calm down and form a sketch of a plan for what to do they do truly start to notice how badly Vanessa had it with how often Glitchtrap used her. Even for someone they deem guilty the act of possession is simply horrific to them. But aaaah I love how they keep reminding themselves that Vanessa is y/n’s friend and they take their hunter as an example. They try to take care of her as they know y/n would aaaaa!

Oh, Vanessa has the scar too! This definitely makes me think Glitchtrap likes to mark what he thinks it’s his. Seems like a signature since it was also done near a finger in Vanessa’s case. At least for his vessels.

And jfkhdkjhg the amused “What do they see in you?” comment XD Boys please. I guess it would be surprising to them because she’s much more snarky and hardened than y/n haha. But glad that as they really start paying attention to her they are reminded that there is more nuance where they only bothered to see black and white. They know the guilt when they sense it, but it might not always be due to evil or negligence. Sometimes it’s powerlessness. They really are learning, and it’s thanks to their time with y/n that they are forced to dig a little deeper into what they already thought they knew. It’s learning they do on their own right now, but yet another proof of how their heart has influenced them greatly! They get to see Vanessa does care! She always did! If not for the vow, they might actually just have killed her and not learned the truth, and also not gotten the information to save the hunter.

But of course, Vanessa is learning a bit herself! I’m sure that the boys willing to be present during an exorcism, knowing how dangerous it can be for them to trust her with it, just to be there for y/n is really something for her to think about. Not then though, she really needed that nap.

(sidenote: “They will get you back, even if they must rip the demonic cryptid out of you themselves” the foreshadowing though! I read the chapter again to write this comment and I was pointing at everything with a gasp once I realized XD)

Oh gosh then we get the possession POV oof! This demon really likes to multitask. Hunting while torturing y/n with the hunters’ deaths! And aahhh what a way to hurt them. Since their mind is basically his to rummage through it wouldn’t surprise if he chose the word “gift” specifically to drive the knife into the wound. Referring to it like the boys did to the cryptid hearts they consumed thanks to y/n. Maybe a way for Glitchtrap to tell them that any gifts will be now for him alone and that they don’t belong to Eclipse anymore.

And oh! Does this mean it was Vanessa who assigned him his name? Oooo that really goes with the parallels of each of the cryptid hunters and their experience with the prolonged stay of a demon near them! Interesting!

Also interesting that Vanessa investigated on her own! FEI really are idiots for having trapped him and not gotten rid of him. Maybe they really thought they got Bonnie and were insisting the deaths were someone else’s fault, or maybe they just wanted to keep him as a way to experiment on what they could force the demons to do. Either way, they really messed up.

And aaah the boys console Vanessa! I think it helps that she let them know that the reason she got into this whole deal was precisely because she was trying to prevent more children’s deaths, even against her employer’s wishes. She did quite the opposite of what they believed at first. Everything in her power to do the right thing. And so they truly have the full picture now. They know why y/n loves Vanessa so much.

But oh, things start to pick up then!

Immediately, the line “your wild hair is untucked” hits so good because it’s a clear reference to how they are missing the pin AAAAA (actually, I love the emphasis you put in the descriptions of their being loose and moving so much. The hair clip logically is such an inconsequential detail in this whole equation, but it means so much actually. It calls attention to the small hope they are clinging to, and also to the wrongness of it all. The very cause that the hunter is missing it in the first place)

Ooooo the “why did you come back”, Glitchtrap knows all of y/n’s insecurities, but also can estimate some of Eclipse’s through their memories. And the worse part is that it works, because even if they don’t show it, it’s a recent still painful moment.

And oh then we get that good juicy demon lore!! I loved reading through all the encounters they’ve had with him through the years! Glitchtrap causes trauma even to other demons kfjdhdkhs And omg the security puppet bit! Ahhhhh!!! That’s seriously one of the moments in the entire fnaf franchise that stayed with me for its impact and I was so excited when I saw you referred to it! If it hasn’t been asked, I’d love to know about how you chose all their true names! Does Glitchtrap have one too? (don’t worry if it has been asked though! I’ll be going through your blog to catch up anyways haha)

And oooh Vanessa coming up with the plan!!! Ruthless but effective. And aaaahh this part gave me so many feelings though! Because this must have meant so much for her! Finally, finally, she gets to save at least one child from Glitchtrap’s claws. After watching every kid die, likely right in front of her, wanting to do everything to save them. She got the chance to save one, and she succeeded. She might feel responsible for all the others, but it was thanks to her this one lived. It would have been so unlikely that Sun or Moon could have snatched the kid without Glitchtrap hurting them or killing them. Just… aaaaah I love that she got this. The relief that it didn’t end the same way as always!

(sidenote: fkdjhgkjgh that’s 2 kids now that will probably be traumatized by y/n’s face without it actually being y/n doing the bad thing oof)

More possession POV! I want to make a note how I love the way you emphasize that it’s him moving y/n’s body. Very much giving the feeling of a puppetmaster! Even if it’s him “wearing” the body I could very clearly imagine his hands physically moving y/n’s head to look back. And oof, the way he was tearing them apart from the inside, making very sure that he would make as much damage as possible if he himself had to die. And once again, y/n would have been willing to sacrifice themselves if it hadn’t been because it would have meant Eclipse’s end also. They better never admit that or they will earn a well deserved shaking by the shoulders, I swear dksgkjñh

Oh, Glitchtrap just really likes to mock wherever he can. The way he mocked the almost kiss, not only angering the boys but worsening y/n’s guilt at not having noticed the demon and Vanessa just out of their reach. Oh and then! Using y/n to try and get Sun and Moon away! It’s terrifying how a demon can have more control over a human body than the human in question.

AND THEN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The double possession! The kiss!! AAAAAA The way they push Glitchtrap out together! How it was inevitable that he would lose that fight because even if their body rejected both, their mind would reject Glitchtrap specifically! The way that he can’t try to tear them apart like he did moments earlier because Sun and Moon are making sure to cut his contact with them! And aaah it’s so intense and sad how the process is so painful that for a moment y/n thinks they really will die. How in their mind they think of Vanessa and the kid being safe as what is important, but then they realize how they would not die without regrets if they did not apologize to them. The fact that Eclipse is the main reason not to give up, when their self-sacrificial nature made y/n so alright with dying if it meant they could take down the monster AAAAAA

And aaaaa the boys instantly let go as soon as Glitchtrap is out. Not a millisecond more than necessary is spent in the hunter’s body to make sure not to hurt them more. And ok, this is just gonna be some ramblings about the battle because gosh I just loved it so much. I love the fact that the boys declared Glitchtrap would never hurt another innocent. Not just children. Ahh I’m so proud of them!

And oof ooooooouch the part where they get their chest ripped open. More parallels! Just like they did to Shoh what came naturally to them, so did they receive what another heart eating demon would do. And aaa Vanessa keeps helping! She’s so prepared!! She knew it took her a moment to find the incantation, so she got the book ready to be easy to find!

Aaaugh our boys received so much damage there, but they kept getting up for their heart aaaaa And oh you could feel the fury when Glitchtrap got so close to the hunter’s heart with his claws. He really went for it thinking he had won and the boys said don’t you dare!

(sidenote: hehe they Eclipsed the sun X3)

And whoooo boy they really did start ripping him apart, piece by piece like promised!

And what a finale to the battle! I love, LOVE, how Glitchtrap’s brought his own undoing upon himself. It was his sick fondness for the plushie that caused so many deaths, (and its image of the golden bunny suit that allowed him access to children) that meant there would be a vessel for him to be trapped in. And also his cruelty for wanting Vanessa to live and suffer through the effects, physical and mental, of the constant possession. Thanks to her being alive, they were able to find him and predict him. And through one of the beings he considered “nothing”, he was erased from existence. I find it interesting that he was willing to let Eclipse walk away after he thought enough damage had been dealt with. Not out of any kindness, I’m sure (probably to make them live with failure like the others) but he seemed to feel some kinship in a twisted way, with how he tried to convince them to also hunt innocent hearts and leave the sacred rules. Meanwhile humans are just toys. Too bad for him a toy is the last thing he was before he was exorcized.

Aaaaa what an amazing battle Naff! Brutal and tense and so so good!

And then the aftermath! The boys tasting their blood to be sure they would be okay! They must have tasted all the pain and fear from the past day. The past hours. And then y/n admitting, now genuinely, how scared they are. Of losing them. And then make not one, but two vows! One to really drive it home how they will not betray their trust again. And aaaaah they finally coming to terms with their love for cryptids! Accepting a part of themselves by accepting them! AAAAAAA

And man, the boys really are amazing. Healing so quickly after such a battle! Once things have calmed down I can definitely see y/n fascinated (and thankful) for this ability to heal so thoroughly after a single meal.

(sidenote: Y/n seriously about to become a mechanic for their boys haha, that knee needs some fixing XD)

(other sidenote: oh they picked the plushie up! Maybe to destroy it? hmmm)

The reunion with Vanessa was so sweet! And it was so funny that Sun was so offended that she didn’t immediately assumed they won XD And aaa she gets a hug! And a good cry too! She really needed that. And oh yeah, she will likely never eat a piece of candy again. Might as well be demonic goo in her eyes.

But ha! The “only you”. Called out! Wheeze!

And oh when y/n is thinking about telling her all they’ve been through my first thought was “Oh Vanessa gets to hear Cryptid Sightings from the start! Lucky her!” XD

And my last thought for this chapter was that if y/n is worried about making a good impression with the demon in laws they really shouldn’t be haha! I’m sure banishing The Enemy they’ve been hunting for millenia will absolutely get them in the good graces of the others effortlessly kfgdjhgj

Oh and! Now that Glitchtrap is gone, while the night terrors won’t disappear, I’m very glad there is some closure for them now. The demon is no longer out there. And when they wake up, they can breathe easy knowing that now, it really is only a nightmare. He has no power anymore.

Okay, for the epilogue!

Yay! Vanessa gets to go to a hospital! Too bad demonic possession is not really in their treatment list dkjhfkjdgh But I’m glad she’s not as bad off as we feared! And oh I’m curious about something she said! Human food tastes like ash to demons, but she said Glitchtrap was obsessed with sugar. Does that mean then that demons can taste things if they are possessing a human? hmmm interesting! (but morbid kjdgh)

(sidenote: “you can’t lingered on what would have happened if you had succumbed to the vampire bite”, well the hunter can’t but WE sure can XP)

Ahhh that’s a long stay at the hospital, but it’s nice how they establish some calm and get to figuring things out. And the fact that Vanessa’s tears are clear when they leave! Finally she is physically free from him!! Aaaaaaa

And it’s so sweet how the boy’s care extends to Vanessa now. How they keep patting her head and there’s a certain camaraderie forming. The way they tried to deal with her nightmares too how they did with y/n! It’s sweet, but a bit sad that they couldn’t help. But Vanessa did say Glitchtrap watched her sleep to make sure she wouldn’t escape. Waking to a demon isn’t what she needed. She needs time. To heal from the freshest wounds at least. Her saying that he’s still here says it all. His effects will always linger and her knowing what happened with Henry… well, it’s no wonder she still fears Eclipse could betray them. Thankfully, they’re all together though. They’ll figure it out.

And aaaaa that final dance was everything! I cackled at the “missing what’s right in front of you” part, because I feel like they were not even including the cryptid part of the equation just the being obvious about their feelings and y/n logic-ing themselves away from noticing fjdhñkjgh

AAAA the getting out of their vessel in front of them though! When before they were so unsure about it! The fact that it’s y/n pulling them out, feeling safe, and wanting to see them! And omg them sharing their name! Something that feels so important to them, because only their loved ones know it, and it feels like they truly are giving them their being. A part of themselves that’s so personal. In a way, they are giving them what is closest to being their heart. What is theirs and only theirs. And the way they yearn for them to repeat it aaaaa! They finally get their heart knowing them as they crave. And there’s so much more for them to get to know too!

AND AAAAA THE KISS!!! Naff you describe kisses so well! So sweet, and intimate, and full of so many emotions, and it’s the hunter’s pov but you can just tell how much it affects the boys too, like it’s something they tried to imagine but didn’t know how much better it would be than that until now. Just the absolute trust in them, and sharing all those feelings and AAAAAAAA-

(sidenote: “They sink into your touch as if you felled them in one swoop” oh this line encapsulates so many thoughts I’ve had about love in general. The one person that could hurt Eclipse the most in the world right now is y/n. But they know they won’t. They know the person they can lower all defenses around and trust with their life is their little hunter, who would access their most vulnerable parts not to hurt but to cherish. To show them kindness and care and so they are happy to give themselves to their heart. To let them know how much they are able to affect them)

And that’s it!

Naff, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for this fic! Filled with wonder and tension and so many cool creatures! The relationships all so easy to get invested in! All the themes about love, and the internal struggles, and growing together, and fighting to right the wrongs that were done towards those you love, and what means to be brave and trying to do the right thing! What an amazing adventure! Not to mention how much I love your writing because honestly, it’s just so good! You know how much I love it hehe <3 This is the first fic I’ve followed from early on all the way to end too! And what a fantastic one at that! Thank you for all the time and care you have put into this story! I cannot wait to read whatever you have planned for the future!

So to end this, once again! Thank you so much for this fic, Naff! You really are amazing! <3

Ah, Chaotik! I have been rereading this over and over the past few days and I love how detailed your thoughts are and I adore how you connect the crumbs I laid out! I'm almost so happy that you enjoyed it! You are amazing. I have enjoyed your every comment/thought and appreciate you so much ♥

To answer one question: Does that mean then that demons can taste things if they are possessing a human? hmmm interesting! (but morbid kjdgh)

Yes! Demons can taste regular food while possessing a human vessel, and some even get crazy about it, like Glitchtrap obsessing over sugar. When not possessing vessels, human food is gross/tasteless to them!

Thank you, Chaotik! I treasure each and every word you leave on my fics! ♥

#rattles you gently #*smooch ya on the head*#chaotikanvas #cryptid sightings spoilers #compliments #moots

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