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#i like writing simp being in despair anyways
italoniponic · 2 years
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Just the Two of Salmon(us) | Sebek Zigvolt
Synopsis: You invite Sebek for a small lunch date on the weekend over this restaurant that you came to know that serves the best salmon of the region. And, with Sebek being Sebek, hilarity obviously ensues.
Sebek Zigvolt x gender neutral reader / small scenario / fluff, hc/canon lore and silly crack / reader has the most difficult love rivals / 1090 words / use of “you” pronouns
Notes: I dedicate this for all Sebek stans and simps, inspired by @estcaligo ’s awesome art about the biggest rival against sebyuu: salmon! this man is a clown m-maybe i love him??? idk It’s a bit shorter than my usual scenarios but considering that it’s a simple idea and I was writing more for fun, I couldn’t extend much. I could. Believe me. You maybe had read my latest Sebek scenario, it was loooong. But I have other fics and things I need to write before my guilt hunt me down~ hope this is good enough for at least make someone smile a bit <3
Just the Two of Salmon(us)
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You didn’t know how to react to that scene. While you were still on your first plate, Sebek was finishing cleaning the fifth grilled salmon dish he had ordered. You glanced at the restaurant owner who stared back at you, the two of you connecting your souls in only two thoughts:
“How could Sebek eat so much and would he have enough money to pay?”
Not that you were ignorant about this fact when you invited your boyfriend to lunch on the weekend. You just assumed that he wouldn’t ask for five plates at once. But, then again, you should have seen that coming. 
All you wanted was to spend time with Sebek and rescue him from whatever meal Lilia would be making — or trying to make — at that moment in Diasomnia.
Sebek has never been more grateful. Of all humans, you were the most formidable for being able to help him in these moments of despair. When all seemed lost, you would emerge in your mortal littleness to reach out to him. 
The only guilt Sebek felt was that he needed to leave Malleus in Lilia’s culinary inept hands — but even if it  would cost him to say it out loud, he trusted Silver to take care of everything. 
Anyway, Sebek’s mind was quickly distracted when he saw the large sign of the seafood restaurant you were taking him to. That fisherman’s restaurant had the best fish in the area, among other sea species. You chose the place precisely because you heard so many good things about their salmon.
Sebek felt a little embarrassed at first when you commented that you realized how obsessed he was with salmon — your words, precisely. 
It was indeed an interesting discovery.
While you were waiting for your requests, Sebek talked about how the fishing culture in the Valley of Thorns wasn’t as strong as the human's but fishes could constitute some parts of the fae cuisine, especially in surviving training.
As a complete territory, the extension of the Fairy Briar Valley was isolated by the sea, and the Flower faes’s region had more freshwater lakes and rivers with small fish.
However, Sebek’s grandfather sometimes personally went fishing for salmon in the sea and would bring it when he returned from these kinds of occasional trips.
Old Baul Zigvolt used to only bring salmon for his daughter, in a way to get a little closer to her — though he was still stubborn about not approving of her marrying a human. But when little Sebek was delighted to taste a grilled salmon dish made from the fish caught by his grandfather, he started doing it for the bright smile his grandson would give him.
Since then, both Baul and Sebek’s older siblings started taking him to salmon fishing. On the occasions when the grandfather couldn’t go, Osiris and Serket went to explore the shores of the sea and some nearby rivers with their little brother. 
So much so that salmon carpaccio became his favorite food.
“It reminds me of home,” was Sebek’s usual comment on the subject.
These words were finished by a big smile, whose white teeth shone like lightning in the dark night. It was the same smile Sebek had on his face as he wiped his lips with the napkin. More than satisfied, he was completely, genuinely happy.
You put your fork aside for a moment, sighing but smiling too. He was so adorable. 
“Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have any crumbs on my face?,” Sebek asked, passing the napkin in his mouth once again.
“No. It’s just... I'm glad to see you seem to be having fun.”
“And how could I not? Salmon is such a wonderful fish and the chef here is to be congratulated. The cooking point, the seasoning, the preparation, the presentation... I would not be ashamed to invite the Young Master to come and feast on such good food. And that’s a lot considering they’re humans and the Young Master is used to the finest cuisine in the royal palace. However! These salmon are tender, practically melt in the mouth. My taste buds feel blessed!”
“I’m happy to hear that, really,” you laughed. “Is it okay if we go now? We still have a few more things to do.”
Sebek nodded and you called the waiter to ask for the bill. To your surprise — and all the employees’ too — your boyfriend had enough money to cover his share.
But Sebek still went on to talk about how nutritious salmon was, the quality of the fish was second to none and that next time they should invite Malleus to lunch there.
“But then it wouldn’t be a date,” you tried to argue. “Like... you know, a date between the two of us.”
“I understand. But after you have revealed to me this restaurant that serves the best salmon on the island, it is my duty to ensure that the Young Master is also graced with this knowledge and... w-why are you looking at me like this now?”
You stared deadpan at Sebek. 
“Can I ask you a question and you will answer it sincerely?”
The half-fae didn’t understand at first, however, given your gaze, he agreed in the same way.
“Imagine a hypothetical scenario: near a strong river stream, someone is burning salmon on the grill while me and Malleus are drowning in the river. Who will you save first?,” you launched the challenge.
“Well, of course I save…”
Sebek stopped in mid-sentence. He held his chin for a moment, thinking about the possibilities and scenarios. As the minutes ticked by, Sebek grew increasingly desperate in his internal questioning, reassessing priorities and urgencies. His expression went into such agony that your brief impatience turned to pity.
And pity, inevitably, turned out to be amusement. You laughed softly and touched Sebek’s shoulder affectionately to relieve his stress — you could see the storm that was his thoughts.
“Nevermind. Part of me knows it would be even harder if I included your mom and Lilia in the middle of it,” you said, taking his hand and continuing on the walk back to school.
“I'm sorry I failed your test, dear. I must get stronger to make better decisions in less time!,” Sebek proclaimed, determination in his eyes.
You smiled, always charmed by his inexhaustible energy. One thing quite clear was that Sebek had only three things he valued more than anything in life: you, Malleus, and salmon.
You just gave up asking in what order.
Special notes: Sebek's heart is big enough to squish the three of them inside, that's my theory.
Edit 05/11/2024: Sebek's granpa name is officialized in canon as Baul/Baur Zigvolt. And I corrected some mispelling errors such as "Do you have crumbs in my face?" 💀 I'M SO SORRY
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morroodle · 1 year
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After a whopping 10 years, I have returned to the Ninjago fandom and finally got my hands on Morro's season and I'm kinda flabbergasted by the fact this series has an active fandom, or even a fandom in the first place. I'm also overwhelmed by feeling, feelings, so many feels, I'm gonna be spamming my friend with Ninjago lore and they're just gonna be like "you...you're simping for Legos??? I CAN'T HELP IT, even a decade hasn't made me forget that I wanted to watch this season but couldn't and then I just quit. But 🥺it's cool to see people actually in this fandom for so long like the heck, I thought y'all would've gotten tired by now but great news for those late to the party like me. Anyways, *grabs your shoulders and stares intensely* OP do you know how haunted I am by this ghost binch, the way he slowly dissolved into the water with that look on his face, he died THREE TIMES in this show wtf. Some say the world will end in fire, others say in ice, but since he had to perish twice, water did it's job just fine :( also day of the departed, watching that next so I can be plagued by "Morro gets saved AUs" HE SHOULDVE GOTTEN A FREAKIN HUGGG MANNNN 😭 Sensei Wu was literally WALKING over his dang corpse in the Cave of Despair, the Ninja's being brought to die there like some messed up family mausoleum for all of Wu's students. The fact nobody buried him in peace, his body got melted by lava again :( crying, sobbing, wailing, listening to my Morro playlist so I can recall the initial fanfic lines I got but then forgot soon after because I was crying too hard to write them down.
Welcome to the cult
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imaginewereinlove · 2 years
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Hello? Hello? Danganronpa self shipper? Please share the F/Os and S/Is I crave this content bestie
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Okay, so you asked this like, weeks ago (I’m sorry) but I am now officially not too stressed to enjoy anything other than Pokémon Legends: Arceus. I also had to write this in two sittings. So let’s go :3
My S/I is literally just me plopped in there. A tiny trans-guy being neurodivergent and trying his best. Like, I sometimes play with more backstory of me finally being able to study abroad in Japan and visiting Hopes Peak (except I’ve graduated now without ever studying abroad, thanks COVID :,3) and y’know, shit hits the fan. after those Sneaksy Twins™ start putting plans into action that involve one of them “disappearing” Mr. Jin Kirigiri was like “shit, need to find another one to fill in the gap so that we can have adequate pairs of Make Babies just in case everyone else dies. YOU. ASSIGNED FEMALE AT BIRTH.” :/ Which leads to survival, which leads to Future Foundation being like “hey can you babysit these guys on an island for us real quick” which justifies in my head my participation in the first two games. It also forces me to think dialogue in Japanese, which I desperately need to practice. But that’s all very messy and I generally don’t think about it too hard. That is for “canon” timeline anyway.
I do prefer non-despair AUs though, and also the “before everything went wrong” part of the anime. My idea there is that (by means I haven’t bothered to figure out) a woefully unqualified me is able to sneak into class 77 after stealing a Main Course uniform. Any time someone asks about my ultimate talent the answer changes which eventually leads to “haha, guess and I’ll tell you if you’re right ;)” My S/I does not have an ultimate talent, which does lead to angst. Yes, you already know where this is going, but let’s start with THH.
Oh, just so that I don’t have to name quite so many, I adore almost all of the characters platonically. There are, of course exceptions, but I think only Junko and Hiyoko, do I really dislike.
So in Trigger Happy Havoc, the only character I really ever desired romantically/intimately was Leon Kuwata. Much to my chagrin, he is a fuckboy. That’s okay though, it started out as a “hey if we’re all going to die, why not a little hedonism? I don’t wanna die a virgin, you game?” Alas ._. Anyway, we’re more fuck-buddies than anything, or we were because now I’m in a more committed relationship :3
Let’s hop over to V3 for juuust a sec before I absolutely gush on my SDR2 babes. ^^
So, either kinning Shuichi led to f/o-ing him, or f/o-ing him led to kinning. One or the other. My best friend kins Kaede, so go figure. Either way, I love him ^^ That said, I’m also a simp for Kaede, she’s such a good girl. I like to think of the three of us in a polycule.
I also love love love Kiibo so much!!! He’s such a good boy and he’s trying his best! I like to think of us becoming closer in my Japanese daydreams because I rely on him to translate some of my more complicated thoughts (trials) when I don’t have the vocabulary to communicate them in Japanese.
Okay! Now for SDR2! I could honestly make a separate post just for them. I’ll put the meta in this post and make a separate post for my canon ^^
Alrighty, so I think that my first boyo was Kazuichi Souda, Mr. shark teeth himself. It was real quick, I don’t remember exactly when, but I do remember commenting to my friends that I wanted to kiss him on the mouth pretty early on though. It became a running joke ^^ Pretty simple though, I thought he was attractive and had almost exactly the same personality type as Leo Valdez a la Percy Jackson, who I also had a huge crush on back in the day.
Next, chronologically and in terms of how complicated the route to understanding the feelings, is Fingers-In-His-Ass himself, Nagito Komaeda. So in the beginning I thought he was a pretty decent guy, but 1. I’d been on the internet long enough, and 2. My friend who had played the DR games before had a <_< attitude about him, so I knew something would happen. After the first trial, my pre-played friend was like “yeah, never really liked him. I thought he was pretty annoying” and my friend who was playing for the first time with me was like “lmao wtf” and despite everything, I couldn’t find it in me to hate him. I was kinda confused about it, but hating him didn’t feel right, despite the awful things he did. It wasn’t until I was contemplating after waking up at 3am or something, that I realized I couldn’t hate him because he was just like me. When my depression gets real bad, my self loathing monologue is his self deprecating monologue almost verbatim. From there, I was more inclined to sympathize with him and try to defend him. There… there was a little bit of an “I can fix him” thing going on, I’ll be real. But he doesn’t need to be “fixed” if it’s a non-despair AU and everything is fine anyway!
And finally, the MOST CONVOLUTED WAY TO CATCH FEELINGS EVER. Ft. Teruteru Hanamura :3
So, a little about me: I just graduated college with a bachelors degree in Japanese language. The school I went to required a senior thesis to graduate, for a Japanese degree that meant writing a 25 page paper about something related to Japan/Japanese language/culture. My topic of choice was the localization of Japanese video games for US audiences.
Actually, the whole reason I stumbled upon this topic was with the help of Teruteru and Miss Lotta Hart, from the Ace Attorney series. I wondered why in these two games (that I played in English) both had a character that spoke with a US southern accent, when the original games were written in Japanese. Obviously this had been a choice during localization, but why? How did they talk in the Japanese versions, and what’s the connection between their characters?
Well, for Lotta, she speaks with and Osaka dialect and portrays a character trope for loud, direct, and headstrong characters. Osaka characters are a character trope, pretty cut and dry. Teruteru doesn’t really fit into that, and only speaks with an accent near the end, so what does that mean?
I ended up writing a 7 page section titled “The Fascinating Case of Teruteru Hanamura”. I studied his dialect usage during the trial—it is not the same as Lotta’s dialect—I studied the way that he talks before he slips into that dialect, compared the stereotypes associated with the dialect that he uses and a US southern accent, and finally did an analysis of his character, why and how he masked where he was from, and why localization did a good job of conveying that character arc. Yeah, I did a lot of researching and thinking and writing about Teruteru.
And thesis? It’s stressful. I had a good many breakdowns over the course of the semester, but the only way to make myself less stressed was to do it. The trouble is, I have a really hard time organizing my thoughts on paper, but I can speak them really well. So in true self-shipper form, I found myself talking out my thoughts and planning my writing with fictional characters. And who’s the fictional character who was always on my mind? Teruteru. I ended up talking to him a lot, I got stressed a lot.
And ya know what? I think he’s exactly the f/o I needed to support me at that time. When I get super stressed, I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to go somewhere on campus to get food where people can see me falling apart. But it was a lot harder to skip meals when he was right there to bug me about it. “Honey, when did you eat last?” “Nah nah nah nah, I don’t think so. C’mon sugar, let’s go find something for you to eat.” “I’ll come with you, it won’t be so scary.” <3 <3 <3!!!!!!
So eventually my interest in him could not be considered solely academic any longer ^^;;;
So yeah, Souda-Pop, Teru Chan, and Nagito are my main polycule. I adore them. But this post is a novel as it is, so I’ll make a post just for them to continue gushing ^^
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frogtanii · 3 years
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sakusa was never one to get attached.
being cold and collected was kind of his brand and he stuck to it — not necessarily by choice but too many had taken advantage of his trust and love that he’d become guarded, allowing only the truest of friends to get close.
kiyoomi was once content with his life — hanging out with a handful of people, going home to film before knocking out on the couch with a glass of wine and a true crime documentary (he’s always in awe at how messy the murderers would be; he’d be much better).
that was until he met her.
meiko waltzed into sakusa’s life with her long dark hair and pretty smile, snatching his breath right from his lungs. he didn’t consider himself easily smitten but there was something about her that just broke down all of his walls in an instant.
she was kind, funny, charismatic, and super smart — his dream girl. or at least he thought she was.
it was in those late nights that she would get angry, volatile, and defensive, always picking a fight over nothing. gone was the woman who helped him pick out his suits for his videos and teased him for his choice in movies. gone was the woman who complimented the color of his eyes and called him beautiful.
in her place was a gremlin — a jealous animal who came home in the wee hours of the morning and when inquired about her whereabouts, would throw fits, breaking plates and hearts, throwing them against the wall to watch them shatter into a million pieces.
she would smell of vodka and someone else’s cologne as she berated him for being too overbearing, too clingy, too in love.
after these episodes, sakusa would retreat into himself, avoiding his friends at the house, barely uploading videos and going to sleep as soon as he possibly could.
it didn’t help that every time he went downstairs to grab a drink or a snack, there meiko would be, laughing it up with one of the other housemates (not atsumu though, never atsumu) as though she didn’t care about how she’d broken kiyoomi only hours earlier.
meiko tended to let sakusa stew in his own despair and self loathing for a few days before coming to him and “apologizing” for what she had done. she always insisted that she didn’t mean it and it would never happen again and every time without fail, kiyoomi would forgive her.
he knew it was eating him up inside, ruining his mental health and well-being but meiko was a drug — good for a moment but ultimately set out to ruin your life.
it only got worse when you moved in.
iwaizumi had expressed the need for a new member of the house and meiko offered up her childhood friend that had a budding youtube channel. the company vetted you out and ultimately agreed on allowing you in, you moving into the house within the week.
sakusa had always been bad at first impressions (and usually he didn’t care) but you were a potential escape — someone who didn’t know the drama of the house and could be an unbiased friend that he could come to when the meiko cycle began again.
unfortunately, that was unable to happen. the minute you moved in, meiko sunk her claws into all the boys, poisoning your kind visage with lies and rumors. most believed her and began to steer away from you, the ones closest to meiko choosing to treat you with extra venom.
sakusa never understood what meiko’s problem was with you but he was too beat down, too tired to question her words.
the only one who never gave in was atsumu, completely ignoring the witch and choosing to get to know you himself. sakusa would hide his tall body behind corners to observe the way you interacted with him and he was surprised— you were nothing like meiko said you were and yet he still couldn’t bring himself to pull away from her hold.
why couldn’t he be stronger? why couldn’t he be more like atsumu? sakusa never believed himself to be a follower but at this point he’d lost all semblance of himself. the strong, unbothered presence that used to intimidate with just a stare was now a timid man, hunched over to avoid anything that would set his beloved off.
but now, now he had a chance. a chance to break free from meiko’s clutch and become himself again. sakusa missed who he once was and he was determined to get him back.
no matter the consequences.
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℗ poker face
too attached
series masterlist
(●’◡’●)ノ
an - L O R E && some of sakusa & meiko’s history!! i love omi v v much so it makes me sad to write him basically emotionally castrated by meiko but it had to be done LMAO alsooo for the pic of u “cooking” or whatever — the race is ambiguous‼️ i have to put this disclaimer in literally every smau i write or someone will get pissed but i cannot find a race-neutral pic all the time which blows, i (as a black person lol) would know but just bear w me ok??? suspend disbelief pls lol don’t come for me ANYWAYS i would love feedback muah <3
taglist - if your name is in bold, i cannot tag you
@boosyboo9206 • @geektastic84 • @elianetsantana • @trashy-simp • @infinitebells • @6mattsun9 • @suhkusa • @sazunari • @kotarosbabygirl • @fucktheworlddude • @insomniacwreck • @calumsfringe • @saltylettuce • @chai-blu • @al3x1ss • @hawksyoongi • @syndellwins • @jooleuuh • @amberalisa • @kissungjae • @liberhoe • @tetsurocore • @animeoverdosee • @duhsies • @saikishairclip • @afire24 • @premiyagi • @kit-kat428 • @doctorspencereid • @daphnxy • @kyomihann • @maer-333 • @sinoflust19 • @peteunderoos • @peachiikichu • @iidanotlida • @yongboxerrr • @kac-chowsballs • @tanakaslastbraincell • @memorableminds • @ris-illustration • @starry-magicshop • @sugavwara • @smuttyanimeslut • @kiwibirbs-library • @haijkk • @airybnb • @babierin • @iwaisa • @decaffinatedtealover • @notameera • @kawaii-angelanne • @rintarovibes • @urlocalsimp
the rest of the tags will be in the replies!!
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thera-daydreams · 3 years
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PLUS ONE
》 A TRESE TWOSHOT 《
[Maliksi x Reader]
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📝 Summary: In which your beloved best friend snatches you from your apartment at dawn asking you to be his plus one for his cousin's wedding. Unbeknownst to the clueless you, everything is just going according to Maliksi's ultimate masterplan. With the help of friends and family, the Prince of the Tikbalang finally gets the girl he's been longing for. And oh, Señor Armanaz gets his dream daughter-in-law and the promise of grandchildren within the year.
📌 Warning: May contain some slight NSFW for spicy suggestiveness and cussing. No smut or anything super SPG—this girl can't write that for her life—but just be prepared. It's Maliksi we're talking about. We've got friends-to-lovers, obliviousness, pining, fluff, and a tikbalang simp. Figure it out. 😃
(word count: 7,454) ♥︎ Part Two: ?
》 AUTHOR'S NOTE 《
Not an Inday spinoff, but a lengthy oneshot in celebration of this blog getting 90 followers. Just ten more to 100, yay! Thank you so much for the love and support, everyone. I also promised that I'll be making this brainrot that @binibiningbabaylan and I have fangirled over a few days ago (find the original post here) when I finished the latest chapter of Inday. Here it is! 🥰
Before I forget, I was also inspired by the cute fic made by @crispybasil titled "Sunshowers" and the "Trese Boys As Things My Guy Friends Do" made by the amazing @smolla-than-a-bug (I bow down to your wonderful works in the Trese fandom). I definitely see Maliksi to be the type to go on spontaneous roadtrips and be the boyfriend to drive you around eveeeerywhere (while also driving you crazy). 🚘
There are also some songs mentioned throughout this work. You should probably listen to them while reading for the full experience. Ending was somewhat rushed but eh, I'm too exhausted and I've rewritten it too many times. Also, if someone makes some actual tikbalang smut, tag me please. Anyways, enjoy! 💕
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The way it all started was hilarious. Absolutely fucking hilarious. It happened like a blur. Literally. One second, you were snoozing in your bed. The next? You had a seatbelt on in the shotgun seat of a sophisticated-looking car. Your brain didn't even get to process it yet.
"... So let me get this straight," you grumbled, still half-asleep from your sleep marathon. You just finished a hugely successful project at work yesterday, got promoted, and wanted to make up for the restless nights you spent overtime in the office. Of course you were irritated from being disturbed. You were on vacation leave for two entire weeks, originally planning to go into temporary isolation by deactivating your social media accounts and reserving a beach cabana for yourself in Batangas.
Well, turns out, you weren't going to Batangas anytime soon. All because your unreasonably spontaneous bestfriend of ten hectic years stole you from your apartment at 2AM. Was this considered kidnapping? Was this him just being more in touch with his tikbalang side, taking unsuspecting women in their sleep and leading them to their inevitable death? (He was going over the speed limit, so it was a valid thought.) Will wearing your shirt inside-out save you today? Lord, masyado ka pang pagod para mag-isip ngayon.
"Go on."
"You abducted picked me up in the middle of the night because you want me to be your plus one at your cousin's wedding in Tagaytay?"
"Yup. And technically, the venue is right on the outskirts of Cavite going to Tagaytay," he corrected you as a matter-of-factly.
"Same thing, whatever," you huffed tiredly. "Your cousin's wedding is at 6AM today. In a few hours. In four hours."
"Uh-huh."
You groaned exasperatedly, "Mal naman, eh! You didn't even let me bring anything. Could've at least given me a heads-up a few hours ago. I'm practically emptyhanded right now save for my phone! Sinungaling ka, you said this was just a normal midnight drive—not a freaking wedding!"
The Prinsipe ng Mga Tikbalang, son of the Great Stallion, heir to the Armanaz herd, and the Top Drag Racer of C-5 Expressway—if that was even one of his Game of Thrones-like titles—grinned as he continued driving beside you. He let you continue ranting in the passenger seat while he mulled over his ultimate masterplan that would change his entire life later on. He was a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, so all this wasn't his thing. But for you? He'll make plans, alright.
"Wala man lang akong dinalang masusuot o kahit konting makeup para maging presentable sa harapan ng buong pamilya mo," you exclaimed, in absolute despair. "Do you know how out of my league you are? Your rich-ass family might judge me—hell, your dad might see me as a hampaslupa if I show up there in my pambahay and tsinelas!"
"Psh, I'm not out of your league," Maliksi waved it off, smoothly turning a corner. "And calm down. We've known each other for a decade! My dad practically loves you as his own daughter. Heck, the entire family knows you and keeps telling me they want you adopted in already. Lolo Andres and Lola Perlita said they'd have the paperwork settled. You just need to sign them."
It would be even better (and easier) if you married into the family. To him, specifically (as if he'd let anyone else have you). God, he was already being so obvious in his advances, but you were just so damn oblivious whenever it came to romance. None of this needed to happen if you just got it through your thick skull that he was madly in love with you.
"That's not the point, idiot!" you slumped back into your seat, hopeless. "Do you think the bride and the groom will get offended? Shit, baka masumpaan ako kung magagalit sila, Mal. Mukha akong patay galing sa South Cemetery."
The long-haired tikbalang rolled his eyes, "Huwag kang mag-alala. Nothing's going to go wrong. Chill ka lang diyan. I've got everything under control, babe."
Babe. Yes, he even called you babe but you thought it was him being a himbo and a massive flirt. Now, it was his common term of endearment for you, but you still assumed it was him just being irksome to you and that you couldn't stop the man from saying it anymore. Thus, you let it be (the most obvious hint of his attraction to you, bestie).
"... Ugh, why didn't you ask Hannah or Amie to go with you?"
He just smiled knowingly, shrugging and making up an excuse, "Nagmamadali ako, eh. Hannah and Amie are also coming, but they already have the other tikbalang as dates."
"'Luh, ako pala ang backup choice mo?"
"Heh. Whatever you want to think."
Little did you know that you were always his first choice. Always. Even when he pursued Alexandra Trese many years ago, trying to convince himself you were just his best friend, it was always you. How did he come to that realization? Well, an international band he was a fan of released a song a couple years ago and he heard it being played in a club in BGC. The song title?
It Was Always You by Maroon 5.
Needless to say, after hearing the song and being unable to get it—get you—out of his mind at night, he stopped courting Alexandra. Unfortunately for him, that time, you'd started dating other men. Therefore, he was left on the sidelines... until your latest and most painful breakup, at least. That was five years ago. You still hadn't dated anyone since then, kind of traumatized from getting into another failed relationship like that.
In the present day, as if the fates were playing on you two, one of your favorite artists played on the radio. A very ironic song given the situation you two were in.
Best Friend by Rex Orange County.
Maliksi knew it was a favorite of yours. He knew it by the way your eyes lit up like a star brightening the twinkling night sky. Like the sun first rising in the morning at Apolaki's command. Like the moon extending its gentle rays from the magic of Mayari herself. If there was anything he wanted to ask of the old gods, it was you—everything else be damned.
"I wanna be the one that makes your day, the one you think about as you lie awake," you half-sang and half-screamed happily, somewhat out-of-tune. "I can't wait to be your number oooooone! I'll be your biggest fan and you'll be mine—"
Maliksi glanced at you, not minding that his eardrums were probably getting microscopic ruptures from your aggressive singing. As much as he wanted to stare at you all day, he had to keep his eyes on the road. But the lyrics you were singing were wrong; the Prince of the Tikbalang was already yours from day one.
"Babe, McDo drive-through tayo for breakfast. Let me make it up to you. Gusto mo ng caramel sundae for your promotion gift? Sige. Ako bahala. Chicken nuggets din? Mabubusog ka ba niyan? I don't think they serve those this early..."
》》》
"Sandali lang!" you shouted out from inside an empty room. You'd just arrived at the venue—the Alta Veranda de Tibig in Silang, Cavite (practically the gateway to Tagaytay)—an hour or so ago. The hired makeup artist just left so that you could privately change into the outfit that had been bought specifically for you. Curse Mal and his ability to buy anything (perhaps anyone) he wanted. "Bwiset, Mal, you didn't tell me we'd be part of the damn entourage. We have to be walking the aisle in thirty minutes, simbako! You just love rushing me, don't you!?"
If only you were the one walking down the aisle today towards him.
When you exited the room, Maliksi couldn't help but let his jaw drop as he skimmed your figure, clad in the luxurious, silky satin blush midi dress he bought in one of those fancy stores in Makati yesterday. He imagined that it would look great on you, but now, seeing it on you in person... you looked divine (and frankly, he wanted to see it off your body to see what was underneath—but don't get too ahead of yourself, Mal). It was a whole 'nother level from his imagination. The deep cowl neckline and thin spaghetti straps showed your lovely collarbones... as well as a peek of your cleavage. His favorite and the best part of it all? It was backless, allowing him to gaze at the tempting curve of your spine.
He hadn't realized he had grown silent until you smiled and closed his mouth, tapping his chin.
"Lalangawin ang bibig mo, Mal," you laughed softly. Never had you seen him so speechless. You then flicked your hair back, ridiculously posing for him like you were on the cover of Vogue magazine (haba ng hair mo, gurl!). "Do I look that good? Char lang."
"... You look absolutely ravishing—I mean, uh, stunning. Hot. Yeah." That was all he could say. He mentally punched himself for not showering you with more suave compliments.
Still, your face brightened up, not knowing that the man in front of you just fell for you a thousand times harder, "Wow! Really? Damn. Ang galing talaga ng MUA na kinuha mo, ginawa akong artista. Give me their contact number later! May work event pa naman ako in two months. I'm shocked, it's like they made me rise from the dead! Even my eyebags are gone, Mal! How'd they do that?" Heck yeah, your confidence was boosted. He offered his arm to you like a gentleman, making you half-heartedly roll your eyes (you took it anyway). From holding it alone, you could tell that your best friend was a sinewy man (well, you knew that already after seeing his tikbalang form before—the little shit didn't even wear a loincloth like all his clanmates; your poor eyes were eternally scarred).
You looked him up and down. You wouldn't lie—Maliksi is and always has been an attractive man. Now? With his hair in a ponytail (pun not intended), definitely one of the hunkiest men you've ever known. "You're not looking too bad yourself, horsey."
"Ako pa!" He puffed his chest out in pride. You chuckled at his reaction.
"By the way, how do you even know my dress size and my shoe size?"
"Babe, I've known you too long. You know almost everything about me, I know everything about you."
You snorted at his confident tone, "'Di nga? You don't know every single thing about me, Mal. Assuming ka masyado."
"Alam ko nga anong cup size mo. Wala lang 'yang shoe and dress size."
You slapped his shoulder, cheeks quickly flushing red, "Huy, umayos ka! Walang hiyang tikbalang na 'to." With this guy as your best friend? You heard dirty jokes at least once a day. "Don't be inappropriate here!"
"What? It's only fair I know!" He looked down on you suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. "You already know I always go commando, so of course I know that your bra is a size—"
"Shhh! Baka marinig ka, 'nyeta."
"So? Let them hear. My best friend has a nice set of melons!" he shouted. You were grateful there was no one around. Hopefully.
"Oh my God..."
Your best friend chortled at how flustered you'd become. He led you to where some of his family was waiting, with a couple of his relatives already greeting you. You instantly and quite easily mingled with them, your worries of them not accepting you far from even true (they all knew how much their prince loved the innocent you).
"Kayo na talaga, pare?" one of his older tikbalang clanmates asked while you went away to be fawned over by his aunts.
Maliksi chuckled, crossing his arms as he watched you from afar, "Heh. Hindi pa."
Another one of his clanmates—a younger one—laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "Talaga? That's cap, bro. You two are like a married couple already and you guys still aren't a thing?"
"Ilang taon na ba kayong magkakaibigan?" the older one asked him.
"Almost ten years," Maliksi responded, a smile unconsciously pulling his lips up as he remembered your moments together. He watched you converse with his female relatives (who adored you the moment Maliksi brought you to a family event many moons ago).
The two tikbalang snickered as they saw the look on the Great Stallion's heir.
"You're down bad," the younger one said, snapping a photo of his lovestruck kuya. "You've got it so bad for her, dudeparechong!"
"Balak mong ligawan anytime soon?" the older tikbalang inquired.
"Heh. Balak ko na ngang pakasalan. Kung pwede, ngayon."
They looked at Maliksi as if he was crazy. He was very much serious, though, even if there was a huge, lopsided smile on his face. The Prince of the Tikbalang raised a brow at them.
"What? Don't give me that look. Our ten years of being best friends is practically the courting and the dating stage already."
"Eh... you're right. Don't waste anymore time. Go and marry her today, dude. Suporta kami sa'yo, basta groomsmen kami sa kasal niyo, ha!"
"Ge. Without question."
Meanwhile, on your end with the ladies of the family, they started pestering you on your love life (like all typical Filipino aunties). Chismis everywhere.
"O, iha, single ka pa ba?"
"Kailan ka magpapakasal? Malapit ka nang pumasok sa thirties mo."
"Do you want kids? How many?"
"Are you and Maliksi a couple? You look good together! Kayo na, 'di ba?"
"Will you be getting married next? Are you engaged? When's the wedding? Invite niyo kami!"
Before you could get overwhelmed by their questions, Maliksi swept you off your feet to lead you to the entourage that was lining up outside the chapel area. Again, it happened like a blur. He laughed at the partially nauseated look on your face.
"You okay there?" he asked, grinning.
"Your family thinks we're together," you muttered quietly, not meeting his eyes. You weren't sure why you felt... tingly about their statements.
He tilted his head at you curiously, gently setting you down on your feet and helping you stand.
"Do you hate the idea?" It hurt him to ask you the question, but he wanted your thoughts on it. Perhaps doing this was a bad idea. Maliksi was competitive in many things, including wanting you to be his, but if you were so opposed to it, he would never force you into something you didn't want. He let go of your hand; you didn't even notice he'd been holding it until he let go. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
Your wide-eyed gaze snapped back to look up at him, "No! No, it's not that! And... it's not bad." Your hand felt strangely empty now that his was gone. Biting your lip, you disclosed, "You're not making me uncomfortable, Mal. Don't ever think that."
With that, you shyly interlocked your arm with his, tearing your eyes from his to mask the growing warmth you felt spreading in your veins. You two didn't say anything else when the ushers let you walk down the beautiful, petal-covered aisle together.
The man beside you was starstruck. Hopeful. Maybe both of you did have a chance. Maybe somewhere in the depths of your soul, his feelings for you were being reciprocated. For the rest of the sacred ceremony in the gorgeous main pavilion, both of you relished in short, comfortable, and low conversations. He even cracked jokes every once in a while—really funny ones that made it challenging for you to you stifle your laughter.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride."
Maliksi fervently prayed to Bathala that he'd experience the same opportunity he was seeing with you someday. One day.
Even while the sun was brightly out, the sky began showering down light rain onto the land. You were in awe as you looked out the window.
"Hala, totoo nga pala! Tignan mo!" you laughed, tugging Maliksi's suit sleeve, pointing at the window.
"Na ano?" he curiously inquired, not understanding what you were referring to.
"Na kapag may tikbalang na kinakasal, umuulan habang may araw pa," you replied, eyes filled with childlike mirth and wonder. A rainbow had even begun to form by the clouds. "Look, it's magical! Ang ganda pala ng view dito kasama ang old Spanish architecture. Timeless na timeless. It's so pretty, 'no? Picture tayo 'maya, Mal."
Unlike you, it wasn't the sky outside that the prince was looking at. Amidst the loud cheers for the newlywed couple and the bubbles the guests were blowing, his vision could only focus on how magnificent you looked while being amazed. You were his best view. (Ed from 90-Day Fiancé, kabahan ka na, may katapat ka sa pickup line mo.)
》》》
"Smile for the picture!"
You giggled as Maliksi was dragged into a photo-op with the bridesmaids and the important older wedding sponsors a few feet away (funnily, he looked a little constipated around them). All of a sudden, when he was heading back to your direction, you were roughly pushed into the said man's arms. When you turned around, there was nothing (except maybe a gust of wind that came out of nowhere).
"Ooh, gotcha. Careful," the tikbalang steadied you, strong hands holding your biceps. "Natapilok ka?"
"... Huh, hindi naman," you wondered suspiciously, looking around. "I think someone pushed me? Parang tinulak ako... but wala namang tao."
"Weird. Maybe it was just the wind."
It actually was. Really. Maliksi knew for a fact that it was those two taong hangin who were spying on you from the corner, trying to pair you up. He gave them a thumbs-up while your back was turned in the opposite direction. Hannah and Amie returned the thumbs-up before vanishing. Suddenly, the two wedding photographers had moved on from the bridesmaids and were right beside you.
"What a lovely couple you two are!" she praised. Before you could correct her, she held up the black contraption she held towards you two. "Pose for the camera, lovelies!"
And so you did, the photographer guiding you two on what to do. Maliksi wrapped his arm around your waist and you leaned on his side, looking sidewards to the camera with one leg cocked in front of the other. Her assistant, who was holding a polaroid camera, printed out two photos for you.
"Thank you," you told him, taking the photos from his hands then flicking them rapidly to make the images develop. You and Mal were about to walk to the reception area when the photographer stopped you, handing the male beside you a business card.
"If you two need a photographer or a videographer for your wedding, call me," she signaled to both of you before running to another guest, bringing her assistant with her.
You gawked, "Mal, did you just hear what she said?"
"Loud and clear." A grin was on his face. He seemed very pleased at what he heard.
"... How can she even tell if someone is married or not?"
Maliksi's free hand took your left hand, tapping the ring finger, "Nothing here."
"Ooooooh. I get it now." Your brows creased. "Huh. This is like the fifth time today the people here have mistaken us for a couple."
Maliksi shrugged, teasing you, "Who knows? Baka may potential tayo, babe."
Before you could ask him what he meant, he was hurriedly towing you to the reception venue. While he was doing that, you stared at the now-developed polaroid photos you were holding. Huh. Maybe you two did look like a couple.
"Come on, they're serving some snacks at the welcome reception area. Peach pie and mango float-flavored. Paborito mo, babe."
》》》
The rest of the night went by without a hitch. You were actually enjoying the event—the host was great, the food was great, the music was great. Everything was great... that was, until the games.
"Alright! Now that the bride's garter has been removed, let's have the bouquet and garter toss... starting with the females!" the host announced. "Dear bride, please stay here in front. And all single ladies—and by single I mean ready to mingle and are not married—please rise and stand here on the dance floor. Let's play matchmaker tonight, everyone!"
"Uy, single ladies daw," Maliksi nudged your side. "Sign mo na 'yan." You snorted like a pig.
"Nope, ayokong madamay sa bouquet toss," you whisper-yelled at your best friend. "Do you know how embarrassing that is?! Besides, they won't notice if I don't join! Special tactic ko 'yan sa weddings: pretending I'm not single. Katabi naman kita."
More women came to the front, making you feel assured that you didn't need to participate. The host was about to say something, when the bride interrupted to whisper something into his ear.
"Hala, halaaa! Sabi ko all single ladies, pero may isang single lady na nagtatago pa!" he announced, making you freeze. Please don't let it be you. "What's her name, beloved bride?"
"Y/N L/N." You nearly spat out your champagne. You? Did they just call out your name? How did they know?
"Oh fuck," you cursed quietly.
"'Di ka makakatakas dito, babe," Maliksi jabbed, making you stand up. "Tinatawag ka na."
"Baka may ibang Y/N L/N dito," you resisted, attempting to sit back down. "I can't do this, Mal."
"'Sus, ikaw pa. And it's just a symbolic ceremony!" he encouraged, as if he didn't have any underlying intentions. "I doubt the bouquet will go to you anyway."
Sheesh, what a big fat liar you are, tikbalang prince.
You expressed your dissatisfaction with the situation, "Bwiset, fine. I'll just... dodge it. Or evade it. God, I swear..." You calmed down, confident. "I'm not going to worry. I've never caught the bouquet at my own friends' weddings anyway."
When you were at the dance floor, Maliksi snickered, seeing the bride—his cousin—wink at him. After all, he had thoroughly bribed her earlier.
《《《
"It's about time you settled down with someone, Mal," the bride commented while he slipped her the newest Hermés designer bag filled with a bunch of jewelry (plus some bills) two hours ago, right before the reception began and while you were in the restroom freshening up. "Hehehe, this is why you're my favorite cousin."
"Do we have a deal?"
"Of course. I'll make sure she participates. I'll also try to throw it in her direction."
"Good. Thanks."
"You better invite me to your beach wedding. I can tell how much you love her."
"Not a problem. I'll even make you a sponsor."
The bride stared at her bouquet, already practicing how she was going to throw it, "Tito's going to thank me so much for ensuring that he's going to get grandkids soon, hihi."
》》》
Back to the present, on the other end of the room, Maliksi saw a familiar duo give him a sign that they were ready. Bingo. Time to execute the most important part of his plan.
《《《
"I don't care how you do it," he told the two wind elementals after he bribed the bride. "I've already instructed the bride on what she should do, pero siguraduhin niyo lang talagang lumipad sa kanya ang bouquet."
"Mmhmm," Amie flipped her hair, a hand on her cocked hip. "And what do we get in return, oh great Señorito Armanaz?"
"Sagot ko bar-hopping niyo for one month."
The two girls pretended to think about it, making Maliksi roll his eyes. He had to pull out the big guns, huh?
"Fine. Magbibigay ako ng cash deposit plus pwede niyong gamitin ang black card ko for a one-week shopping spree in Ortigas." There. Bullseye. That's what they liked.
"Deal!" they exclaimed excitedly.
Hannah let a cool gust of wind enter one of the nearby windows, testing out how they're going to do this. "Ano pa bang pinaplano mo for Y/N mamaya?"
Maliksi hummed, "Basta."
》》》
You tried your best to hide within the densest part of the group of women. The bride seemed to have her eyes on you, weirdly enough, and she looked almost feral wanting to throw her flowers into someone's face.
That someone being you. Most likely.
"Target locked on," you saw her mouth move. She positioned herself like she was about to throw a football at someone (ahem, you). Holy shit, was she talking to you? Miss ma'am, it was a bouquet toss not a bouquet throw. The bride seemed to notice this, and once more regained her elegant composure.
"3, 2, 1," the host counted down. "Go!"
Surprisingly, the bouquet flew very high into the air (it was a wonder it didn't get tangled in the ceiling decor), but quite a distance away from you. You grinned, knowing it was too far to even touch you. Squeezing through the crowd of women eagerly awaiting the bouquet, you went to return to your assigned table.
Ah, what a wonderful evening.
Sike!
Something painfully landed right into your face, leaves and flowers getting into your hair and mouth.
... Wait, leaves and flowers?
Before you could comprehend it, the bouquet dropped right into your arms. What kind of ungodly, inhuman force allowed this to even happen?
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our lucky girl for the night!" Everyone clapped, with some—those guests you knew—even cheering your name unbelievably loud. The host approached you, a glint in his eye which you couldn't understand. "Miss Y/N, kindly sit here while we await the lucky guy who catches the garter from the groom."
What just happened?
"All single gentlemen, please proceed to the dance floor. Remember, the man who gets the garter gets to slip it onto the lucky lady's leg later!"
Oh, God. You pinched the bridge of your nose. What you'd give to be back at home or to be in that resort in Batangas you'd planned on going to for a solo vacation.
"To make this even more exciting," the host stated, handing you a black blindfold. "Our lucky lady has to keep her eyes closed until her lucky man for the night captures the bride's garter! When the music plays, only then can she uncover her eyes."
See? Humiliating, just as you expected. Still, you wrapped the blindfold around your head (albeit hesitantly). You attempted to guess who it might be, thinking of all the tikbalang friends Maliksi had introduced to you back then whenever he invited you to his clan reunions.
"Groom, are you ready?" the host asked, microphone loud and clear.
"Ready na ready!"
"Single gentlemen, are you ready?!"
"Ready na ready! Awoo, awoo!" they loudly chorused, exactly mimicking Spartans about to engage in battle. You sweatdropped in the seat you were in. This was actually kind of scary. Maybe you felt a bit objectified.
"3, 2, 1, go!"
There was a brief moment of silence, which made you concerned. Ba't ang tahimik? Then, everyone erupted into roars and bravoes much louder than when you caught the bouquet—perhaps even louder by tenfold. What the heck was happening?!
The music played. Very raunchy, spicy, babymaking music. You expected it to be the typical Careless Whisper by George Michael or Pony by Ginuwine (corny songs which you could probably laugh at, at least), but no. Nuh-uh, this was probably worse. The DJ must be pretty young, the song of their choosing being a slowed, bass-boosted, sexier remix of Earned It by the Weeknd.
Ano 'to, bold? Fifty Shades of Grey? The hell was this?
Alright. This was embarrassing. Thank the heavens there were no children at this party. From the music alone and its implications, this was strictly for adults.
You removed your blindfold (that was okay now, right?) as the guests whistled playfully. You peeked one eye open reluctantly, then inwardly groaned. Oh, no. You should've expected it to be him of all people from how loud the reactions were. And all those yells from the crowd were from his family.
Son of a—
"Well, this has proven to be a very interesting arrangement!" the host proclaimed. "Our lucky man for tonight is none other than our great clan leader's heir, Maliksi Armanaz! Congratulations, sir! You get to slip the lacey little garter on Miss Y/N!"
The said very smug tikbalang stood a few feet away from the chair you were sitting on, smirking at you. His hair was no longer in that mesmerizing ponytail—instead, he'd tied it into a more sinfully attractive man-bun, loose strands framing his face and accentuating that sharp, angled jaw of his (say yes and thank you to Manny Jacinto's jawline, besties).
"Let's cheer him on in his new mission, everybody!" the host pushed. Was this that glint in his eye earlier? And was that a one thousand peso bill sticking out of his pocket?
The groomsmen, Mal's cousins and uncles whom you've met before, hollered words of encouragement to the tall man (who was, oddly enough, not one bit fazed). In fact, Maliksi seemed like he was famished as he stared you down.
You swallowed, feeling like you were going to get eaten (heh, say that again). Maliksi had shrugged off his dark suit blazer to the beat of the song (holy fuck, he also unclasped the suspenders attached to his pants right before your eyes—asdfghjkl). Were you prepared for this? No. Will you ever be prepared? No!
"Mr. Armanaz, before you begin," the host interrupted. "We have an additional challenge for you in this mission. Kaya mo ba? It was a request of the newlywed couple."
"What is it?"
"Use your teeth!" the bride and the groom cheerfully shouted, clapping with the other guests. Whatdidtheysaaaaay???
The cocky bastard didn't even hesitate, his smirk at you growing wider; those pearly whites of his on full display. Was it just you or were his canines a little sharper than usual?
"Anything for the newlyweds. Challenge accepted," he dashingly replied, winking at you. You sputtered indignantly. Pisteng yawa. Putangina. Putek. Pakshet. You swore you thought of every swear word in the book at that moment. What did that YouTube parody song about Filipino mythological creatures say again? About the tikbalang? Ah, yes. Half-macho dancer and half-stallion. Maybe the joke was true, especially when you saw what Maliksi did next.
He bit the shred of lace, loosening his necktie (bestie, you good there?), unbuttoning some top buttons, and rolling up the sleeves of his collared white undershirt up to his elbows (consequently showing off his toned, veiny forearms—those lucky bridesmaids behind him nearly fainted). Honestly, you felt like you were about to lose your mind from embarrassment. With how tantalizing your guy best friend was being? Let our response be: San Pedro, kunin mo na ako. Was he doing all this to tease you? To rile you up?
Because damn it all, it was working. In your ten years of knowing Maliksi Armanaz, withstanding all his daily dirty jokes and flirtatious attempts, never had you seen him like this. So... wolfish. Ravenous. Like he was a man that hadn't been fed in years.
He stalked closer towards you, falling to his knees in front of your legs. Your gown had a long slit that extended up to an inch or two below where your left leg began—your best friend was eyeing his target already, knowing where to place the garter. Normally, you would never even wear something as revealing as this gown. It just wasn't your type, but Maliksi was the one who bought this for you for this specific occasion, so you had no choice. It was this or your pantulog he stole you in just hours ago. At first, you were confident in the gown. Now? You felt too... naked.
Somehow, in the heat of it all, you'd muted out the noise of the venue. Maliksi teasingly lifted your foot up, fingertips slyly grazing the thin shoe straps around your left foot—his calculated touch leaving fire in its trail. Once the garter had been successfuly inserted past your high-heeled stilettos, the man kneeling in front of you kept his hands to himself. Despite the fact that now there was absolutely zero skin-to-skin contact between you and this man, your body felt hotter than it ever was before as he expertly slid the lacy bit of cloth up your ankle at an agonizingly slow pace.
Maliksi's warm eyes had turned dark, his pupils blown, a tinge of red in them—of his true beast—while he maintained striking eye contact with you, pulling the garter up your calf with his teeth. Smoothly tugging... tugging... tugging. Tangina, it was like he was undressing you with his eyes alone; like he was telepathically telling you to keep your eyes open.
To keep your eyes on him, where he was knelt inbetween your legs, his hands intentionally locked on his back. Did you ever imagine this? Him between your legs? Maybe. Once or twice. But you never thought about it seriously; Maliksi dated girls left and right in the past.
His lips... his lips were so close... so close to your leg that you could feel the heat of his breath along with the lace. Were you about to die? Perhaps you already did. Maybe you were in heaven. Up... up... up... snap!
Suddenly, he stopped, grinning up at you mischievously and letting the elastic bounce back to the skin of your left knee.
"I'm not going any further, don't worry, babe," he whispered, noting that your eyes had become misty and glazed over. Internally, he grew worried. "That's enough." Did he think it was from discomfort? From you being uncomfortable? Bitch, no. It was the exact opposite. You had never been this turned on in your entire life.
You felt like your soul had left your body at that moment. Did you just have a heart attack? Was your blood pressure okay? Before you or Maliksi could stand, however, someone bellowed from the wedding sponsor tables.
"Higher! That's an order!"
Fucking hell, it was Maliksi's father who shouted. He wasn't in the huge tikbalang form you'd normally meet him in, but he was still very intimidating in his humanoid form, commanding attention and subservience wherever he went. You could tell where Maliksi got it from.
Instantly, the other guests—already half-drunk and wanting the spirit of partying to continue on—joined in.
"Higher! Higher!"
The host cheered, "You heard Señor Armanaz! Higher!"
Maliksi gave you a questioning look. Even if it was his father who spoke up, he still wouldn't do anything you didn't want. Well, you two made it this far; there was no point in getting embarrassed now. You bit the inside of your cheek, nodding. You probably couldn't erase the redness on your skin with how much you'd blushed from this night. It was as if the heat was tattooed onto your skin.
"Go on, Mal," you whispered to him, bending your torso down closer to his face, eyes half-lidded from want. "Finish what you started, babe."
With those sultry bedroom eyes he'd never once seen you show him before—plus you turning the tables with that familiar term of endearment, how could he refuse? Like a switch had been flipped inside him, he immediately complied, taking the frilly scrap of stretchy lace between his teeth once more, moving it further up to your thighs until where your high slit ended—centimeters below the warming juncture between your legs.
Your legs felt wobbly... boneless, as you stood up from the chair, the fabric of your gown cascading over where the lace sat securely on your upper left thigh. The party was still going strong even after you two finished the garter wearing tradition.
"'Atta boy! That's my son!" Señor Armanaz blazoned, standing up and raising his glass for a toast. "Cheers to the newlywed couple! May they last forever!"
You guys weren't the newlyweds, but it did sure feel like it. If the clan leader was hyped up, everyone was hyped up. Heck, the groom and the bride didn't mind one bit what had just transpired on their dance floor. In all the chaos, Maliksi took you out of the reception area and somewhere quieter. More private.
You would need to have a serious, urgent talk with your boy best friend.
》》》
You two silently sat on a stone bench in a gazebo somewhere in the reserved venue for the wedding, trying to cool down and get yourselves back together (at this point, you needed ice from that steamy, half-scandalous event you just went through). Here, there was no one else except for the chirping of crickets, the lush trees surrounding the area, and the golden fairy lights strewn all over the roof. Awkwardness was something you'd expected after what just happened, but somehow, you still felt comfort in this man's presence. For the past thirty minutes, both of you just stayed still, lost in your thoughts and reflecting.
"Mal?" you finally spoke up.
"... Hmm?"
"Ano tayo?"
"Whatever you want us to be."
Your fingers instinctively reached out for his, just like they always did when you were anxious. Sensing this, he grasped your hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Soothingly. He massaged the skin of your fingers, distracting you from your nervousness. It seemed like both nothing and everything changed between both of you. The gesture was the same, but so different at the same time.
"Mahal mo ako." It was not a question. It was a statement. A truth—one that you'd been too blind to see before. One that you only discovered while you stared into each other's eyes in that party not as best friends. You realized with a jolt in your heart what he really felt for you, and now, what you really felt for him. In those thirty minutes of silence, you knew. You just knew.
"Yes. I do."
"... Just as a best friend?" you probed.
"..."
Finally, you gazed into his eyes, previously so dark and full of hunger. Now? Just reluctant. Vulnerable. Open. Unsure of what to do next.
Seems like you had to be the one to take initiative tonight. Taking out your phone, you opened your music app and pressed play on a certain song. Ikaw at Ako by Johnoy Danao. You removed your heels (which were starting to blister your ankles and toes), then pulled him up to stand.
"Dance with me," you murmured, grabbing his arms to wrap them around your waist. He was stiff. Tense. What was he to do when the woman he's been pining after for so long let him hold her? All his gallantry and ability to romance disappeared out the window the moment you let him touch you so intimately.
You two weren't even waltzing. Just swaying. Slowly, you leaned your head on his broad chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart.
"... I love you," Maliksi admitted in the middle of it all, feeling like he was dreaming. Your head on his chest kept him grounded to reality, however. "More than anything in the universe. I fell for you ever since you patched me up when you were nineteen and I was a reckless drag racer who didn't have a purpose in life. 'Nung dinala mo ako pabalik sa Armanaz Tower on the verge of death. Simula noon, ikaw lang."
"I realized that," you smiled, reminiscing the old memory. You were just a broke college student that time, coming back to your dorm from making your group thesis at a classmate's house. Imagine your panic when you found a half-man, half-horse bleeding out by some bushes on the way home at night. Despite your fear and your little money (only enough to feed you for the week), you went out of your way to buy a first-aid kit at the nearest 7/11. It was scary, but you managed to mend the creature's wounds by the side of the road. When he was finally able to speak, turning fully human (which you admit, freaked you out initially), you arduously carried him back to his address—to his father and his clan, even if you had classes the very next morning. Because of your heroic deed of saving their precious heir, the tikbalang clan had become indebted to you: a teenage girl on the verge of a mental academic breakdown, just making her way through the cruel adult world. How old of a memory that was, you thought, yet you still recalled it in perfect detail. "Just a while ago."
"Ah." He swayed you gently.
"Lahat ng ito, plano mo?"
"... Yes," Maliksi fessed up. "Except for this part where we're here dancing in this belvedere. Wala sa plano ko. Gusto ko sanang magconfess doon sa may fountain para sweet, pero..."
You lifted your head off his chest, smiling at him with one brow raised, "You know, between both of us, you're supposed to be the spontaneous one. Planning isn't usually your thing."
"I know. It's a failure, huh?" Maliksi sighed.
"Nah." You shook your head, then suddenly locked lips with him. It was so fast and surprising he didn't even get the chance to return your first kiss. For once, you caught him off guard. You pecked him on the lips again. "It's not a failure."
"Wha—"
"I'm sorry for making you wait, Maliksi. Ten years. We're twenty-nine now, and only tonight do I realize how blind I've been. We've been going around in circles, wasting so much time. Ayoko nang mag-aksaya ng oras," you whispered guiltily against his lips. How could you have been so blind? Andaming nasayang na taon. Making up your mind, you told him, "Yes. Sige, I accept. I'll be your plus one."
The tikbalang was flustered and baffled from the kiss, as well as your revelation, "... But, you already are?"
"No, silly. I meant that I'll be your plus one for life. For as long as you'll have me," you laughed, now processing that you were currently dancing barefoot with your boy best friend and had just kissed him in a wedding you didn't even plan on going to. The universe had a mysterious way of doing things. "Guess I'm the spontaneous one now, huh?"
Maliksi was tongue-tied. "Seryoso ka ba? Is... Is this a marriage proposal?"
"Whatever you want it to be," you echoed his words back to him. "Best friend, plus one, girlfriend, wife—mmpf!"
He kissed you so hard your lips bruised. After an impromptu makeout session which was definitely more in character for Maliksi, you both pulled away, panting heavily in search for air, still desperate for passion. He cupped your cheeks, giving you a sweet, featherlight Eskimo kiss.
"You're missing one more title."
"Hm? What do you mean, Mal?"
"Love of my life." He kissed you again, this time lifting you off your feet and spinning you around (his sneaky right hand was resting on your bum, too, giving it a tight squeeze). You know in the Princess Diaries where the main character's foot just... pops whenever the prince charming kissed her? Yeah, that happened to you on that humid summer night. This was right. You two were meant to be together. Everything was falling into place.
The bungalow you reserved for your Batangas vacation leave ended up being the site of your very eventful honeymoon with the Prince of the Tikbalang (with his libido, it wasn't that difficult to continue where you'd left off in the garter toss; that scrap of lace came off your leg the same way it went on). Actually, nauna pa ang honeymoon sa actual wedding (it was definitely spontaneous). Right after your confession in that alcove, you two went to Maliksi's father to ask for his blessing (which he gladly gave, cackling and saying that it took you long enough) before you guys went driving off to Batangas that night. You and Mal indeed had lots and lots of fun in that resort (I'll let you imagine the rest). More beautiful memories were made from that point on—this time, not just as best friends.
All that and your small, intimate wedding occurred in early April. Just when you thought that it'd be impossible to fulfill Maliksi's life goal of having a baby within the year (nine months of pregnancy meant that the earliest you'd give birth would be January next year), the impossible happened.
Exactly thirty-two weeks later, on New Year's Eve, the Armanaz herd welcomed one prince and two new princesses into the world. Triplets who were instantly adored by everyone in the clan.
Señor Armanaz had never been happier, and so were you and your husband. Your best friend. The love of your life. Your forever plus one.
Maybe being spontaneous wasn't so bad after all.
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Taglist: @belladaises @binibiningbabaylan @4kodzuk3n @sparklingmallow @severuslovebot @holyshxtangel @marinac15 @space-flamingo @pippethealien @kashasenpai @disappointmentpastry @hornehlittleweeblet2 @seijohoe @monimiin @ibelievein2dmensupremacy @tinybonksharkcop @methehipster @banisuoh @genshin-idiot @lemonnie-kimmie
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dangan-castle · 3 years
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Nagito with an SHSL Voice actor s/o
So I’ve been replaying a couple of visual novels lately and I’ve was having a lot of fun when trying to voice act the characters, so because of this and my Nagito simp brain, this idea just randomly popped in my head
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- As always, Nagito is amazed by your talent
- Its amazing how you can imitate and make up so many different kinds of voices
- He also to watch you when you imitate other people
- “Hey Hey S/O! Can you imitate Ibuki?” “[insert ibuki voice] Yep Yep! S/o sure can! Good Nom Nom Nomming everyone! Oh wait its the afternoon? Well that doesn’t mean today isn’t going to be absolutely swell!” (Idk how to write ibuki alsjshshsuw-)
- “Hey Akane, why so blue?” “Eh, Coach Nekomaru is sick I’m just not feelin’ like doing much right now.” “Oh. [insert nidai voice] WELL I BELIEVE THAT EVEN WITHOUT MY HELP, YOU CAN STILL TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE THE BEST OF THE BEST!!! I KNOW I’LL FEEL BETTER SOON SO YOU SHOULD PROVE YOURSELF TO ME THAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT WHILE I RECOVER!!!” “Yeah! You’re right! I’m gonna prove em’ that I can beat em’ this time, no matter what!!”
- He likes it when you entertain and motivate people with your talent
- On the weekends, Nagito likes to read books or visual novels and hear you imitate the characters that are talking
- A way to comfort Nagito is to give him compliments in his voice as if he’s complimenting himself
- When Nagito has his self-loathing times you just go to him and say in his voice: “Well actually, I’m not trash. Despite my title not being the most interesting-sounding I actually have just as much potential as the other ultimates, in fact, my luck is so unpredictable and interesting it practically deserves to be called ‘ultimate luck’! And its true that I may be a bit much but all I really want for the ultimates is for them to try their best and defeat the darkest of despair! I see myself as this absolute burden that can only give away his life for the sake of hope, but I know that my own passion and determination is so bright that even I can break through this habit and pursue hope with the rest of my friends!” (Sorry this is pretty long lol)
- He probably cried a bit when you do that, he really didn’t deserve your time but he can’t help but happily tear up a bit
- He’s not a huge fan of loud voices but when your voice gets loud he’s just amazed at how much passion and effort you put in to make your voice as accurate as possible
- When you do a quiet or cutesy voice he just thinks you’re flat out adorable
- He reminds you to drink water all the time so you won’t hurt your throat
- He gives you a little clap of amusement when you make a little speech in front of your friends in an exaggerated voice
- He thinks your jokes are adorable and funny when you add a weird voice when telling them
- He always tries to find your voice when he watches or plays something that he knows you’re in, and usually succeeds
- Overall he thinks you’re cute, funny and entertaining when you express yourself through your talent and finds your talent absolutely amazing :)
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And yet another self indulgent Nagito x Reader post was made by Mod Maki. Anyway I hope you like it lol.
- Mod Maki
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monoxiid · 3 years
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I also want to say I really love your writing! 💗💗
it makes me really happy that you like my writing, thank you very much for the compliment! love with professionalism ♡
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⋮☰ ┋ 𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 : dating hdcs ⌕
⋮☰ ┋ 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 : Itoshi Sae (blue lock) ⌕
⋮☰ ┋ 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐒: a bit of angst, mainly fluff ⌕
⋮☰ ┋ 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄̀𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄: how would itoshi sae act in a relationship with you? ⌕
⋮☰ ┋ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: mistakes, as always, gn reader ⌕
⋮☰ ┋ 𝐇𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐎: not me realizing that I deleted your request with my clumsy fingers <3 ⌕
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⠀‘ ℐ𝓉ℴ𝓈𝒽𝒾 𝒮𝒶ℯ ’ :
┃𝒩ℴ𝓉 having a good esteem for romantic feelings himself, which could only slow him down in his impetus as an accomplished future footballer, you must have really caught his eye. and even then, even though Sae assumes he maybe has feelings toward you, he would have tried to ignore them, in vain
( and because u r bby. look, they're bby, aren't they, sae? ^^ 🔪)
┃𝒪𝒷𝓋𝒾ℴ𝓊𝓈𝓁𝓎, proud as he is, he won't take a step without being sure that you love him too. if you're confident enough to declare yourself to him, he will tease you until death follows. however, if you are shy, he will quickly come to understand that you love him, because he is very good at reading people, sometimes to his utter despair. one thing to remember, in both cases, you will get teased. and Sae won't be the type to be shy if you flirt back <3
❝ you like me and i do. what about dating? ❞
┃ℋℯ probably doesn't take the initiative to be affectionate with you and will make you feel a bit touch starved, but if you mention it ... *insert surprised pikachu face*. and a second later he will be clingy. if you get shy because of it he'll wear that smug smile like nothing happened and that everything was fine.
❝ wasn't that what you wanted? ❞ :P
┃𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 care if you ever mentioned wanting to meet his brother.
❝ Why do you want to see him anyway? Is it important? ❞
as if it wasn't a member of his family he was talking about. he'd be a little jealous, tho- why would you want to meet Rin if you had him, anyway?
┃Rich emo boi™
ℋℯ may seem indifferent to everything, Sae is more than aware of his surroundings, even more when it comes to you. he sees the looks you throw in this plushies shop, your distraught look when you see all these shiny and pure jewels. and tomorrow you will have them in a box, called by your boyfriend "stuff he saw on the way". 🤡
Oh and, no refusals accepted. you take this.
┃ℛℯℊ𝒶𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ the PDA, he has a reputation to uphold and he doesn't want your privacy to be screwed up. he knows how toxic fans can be. you go out as little as possible and discreetly hold hands, but nothing more. dates consist mainly of him hanging out at your place or vice versa.
┃ℐ𝓉 's funny how in private Sae gets a lot less serious. totally the type to criticize movies, go through your stuff for a distraction, to snuggle up against your neck or your chest, chatting incomprehensible bullshit because fatigue consumes him.
┃👏let👏you👏borrow👏his👏sweaters👏
it makes him dizzy to see you relaxing in his own piece of clothing, too big for you, telling him you like it because it smells like him. the scent of perfumes that weren't bought just for their price, neglecting the smell itself ( it surely doesn't have to cost a little tho)
┃𝒫𝒶𝒿𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓈 party? pajama parties.
Sae is ✨ totally✨ the type to come to your house at catastrophic hours because he was 'in the mood' or something. you will let him in because he would be fucking ready to break your door 🤠
┃𝒯ℴ𝓍𝒾𝒸 trait: he knows the code of your phone and sometimes has no notion of private space, looking at it as if it were his own. you will ask him why he was slightly pouting and he will answer :
❝ Why don't ask to that Dazai instead? Considering what's in your gallery, you seem to like him quite a bit! ❞
┃Follow This Advice Absolutely: bother him about his jealousy towards fictional characters for whom you are a simp.
(sorry for the reminder that must hurt)
┃ℐ𝓃 order to compensate for this trait, he will not hide anything from you and if he has the motivation, will answer all your questions without thinking about it. but if you ask him too much, he will be suspicious.
❝ Are you doubting me or something? ❞
┃ℋℯ doesn't care if you play football or not. as long as you cheer him up, that's all he needs to win his games and be proud of him, because he knows you will jump in his arms reminding him of this wonderful action he did.
┃ℬ𝓊𝓉 of course, while you are in (insert your country of origin), you are in a long-distance relationship. it won't be a problem, he will call you, inquiring about the time difference between your position and his, being careful to give you your precious sleep, in Face Time, of course, because he wants to see you. but don't count on him to play this ridiculous game of 'who hang up the phone?', he will do for for you.
┃𝒮𝒶ℯ is a bit of an intrusive, shit eater, a spendthrift when it comes to you and even clueless when it comes to how to behave gently, but you can see he's a lot better than what you thought, and will always pay attention to you, even if it means to question himself. he always thought love was tiresome and now he was just tired of waiting to see you again.
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haztory · 3 years
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𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬
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--nanami kento x gn!reader; hurt, comfort, minor character death, established relationship, death from a disease
--summary: Death is part of the process, Nanami Kento learns early on. He's no stranger to it nor the quiet that follows it. But when it plagues you like this, he finds himself at a loss.
a/n: I don’t know where this came from. it just happened. have I mentioned I'm a huge nanami simp as well? something about capable men just gets to me hehe. anyways, enjoy!
i listened to ‘clouds’ by luke faulkner while writing this
(w.c. 2302)
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Death is part of the process, Nanami Kento learns early on.
It’s not one he has to particularly enjoy, but it would be advantageous in the resting of his conscious to make peace with it. Rather than let death ruin the few hours of sleep he can manage a night, it’s significantly easier to never let it weigh too heavily on his mind, never let its stay linger for more than necessary in the space of his thoughts. His occupation demands a certain air of nonchalance from him, requires the detached, almost stoic acknowledgment of the situation. Eventually, familiarity will settle in the depth of his recollection and death becomes something one needn’t blink twice towards. 
It’s not an aspect of the job he likes, per se, but it’s significantly better than the alternative. This seemingly apathetic conception of human life is unfortunately an evil requirement. Instead of festering over the lives he didn’t save, he can focus on the ones he has yet to protect. His slate may be tainted with copious amounts of red— inky, dark, bleeding red; the kind that looks black as it accumulates— but in true Kento fashion, he’ll wipe it clean. Gently, with a clean rag and with slow, circular motions, he’ll wash away the evidence of his failures with as much respect as he can, regardless of how exhausted he may be and how much easier it would be to just run his body, suit, and knife through the stream of water.
The victims may no longer be of this earth, but their last physical embodiment lay wickedly upon his person, his weapon, and his soul. Where he couldn’t save them, the least he can do is lay their last parts to rest with as much kindness as one can muster: with a slow wipe and a silent prayer. 
Death is part of the process, but, if one allows it, it can also be the fuel towards excellence. A drive that settles in after the brief misfortune, kickstarting the desire for improvement; A need to do and be better. To work harder and save more people. But that’s all it must be. No residual guilt, no lasting regret, only fuel. That’s what Nanami Kento learns early on.
What he learns rather recently, though, is that death is much different when it’s inevitable. 
When there is no amount of slashing, no amount of fighting, no amount of improved skills that can prevent it. Even worse, when you know it’s coming and preparation can do very little in settling the grief. 
Death is part of the process, but how can one rationalize it when it doesn’t come from the immediate life or death situation he so often faces? When it doesn’t come from the hands of maniacal cursed spirits or the wickedness of greedy men, but instead, from the unforgiving nature of nature itself? How does one reconcile the inevitability of death when it happens to someone so young?
Cancer. 
She was only eleven.
Death is part of the process, Kento used to think, but as he stands amongst the sea of black on this fitting day of grey, he can’t help but notice how incredibly unfair this all is. Her mother stands a few feet away, silent as they scatter her ashes by the river she used to play in as a child. She stands flanked on either side by loved ones, and yet, the abysmal look on her face betrays any ideal that she may be comforted by the closeness of others; Hardly even cognizant of the fact that they’re there. He’s seen that look before, once on himself.  
It’s the face of vicissitude, the kind that casts someone past the rocks of sadness and out onto the sea of loneliness and despair. A place that no one can follow.
Spouses are called some variation of widow, children are called orphans. What does one call a parent who’s lost their child? No doubt the lack of a label only helps to contribute to the loneliness of it all. Suspended in pain without even the decency of a customary societal title attached to one’s name. Left with nothing but the echoing emptiness of a broken heart.
Grief personified. A hollow shell of a being. Just another person who lost someone they loved. Nothing more, nothing less.
Kento is used to death, but this? This has heartache weighing heavier on his shoulders than he’s used to, forcing his impeccably straight posture forward with a sag of tragedy. The silence of the fellow attendees forces him to maintain some morsel of composure, in fear of disturbing the serene devastation of it all that’s composed so fragilely. So delicate that even a sigh will break the glass of still anguish. As her ashes are scattered to the river and the priest begins the common prayer, the image of her weak smile in her last moments plays vividly behind Kento’s tinted glasses. He can hardly swallow the lump that tightens his throat.
He can hardly imagine how her mother feels. Can hardly imagine how you feel. She was your niece after all.
His eyes trail towards your figure. Standing to the right of your sister, dressed in the customary black, and hand held tightly in hers in solidarity of the magnitude of the loss. Kento didn’t mind standing towards the back, away from the bubble of intimacy that surrounded the two of you. It would’ve felt like an invasion of the sanctity of family to stand anywhere near. A foreigner, he’s always attributed himself to be whenever accompanied with your family— not out of their refusal to accommodate him, but rather his own voluntary maintenance of separation from their sphere of loving connection that was more or less absent from his own life— and any meager effort to share sentiments of sorrow would feel, more or less, inauthentic. At least at this moment.
So he waits, towards the back of the gathering. A far enough distance to ascertain his separation from the immediate family, but close enough to where, should you require him at any point, you need only turn around to seek him out. And he will come to you, as fast as his legs may go, regardless of the people that may be in the way. For his hand has been twitching this entire time with the need to physically comfort you and his eyes continuously dart back to your figure in watchful consideration.
The priest ends his prayer and the last of the ashes are sent off and silence once more encompasses the gathering. The aching kind, the one that wants to be disturbed so badly, but remains untouchable. The kind of agonizing mute that has surrounded his life since you received the fateful phone call a few days before.
Kento is no stranger to quiet. It’s his preferred method of life, not the kind of person to find delight in unnecessary, boastful noise, nor the kind to entertain it often. But this is the kind of quiet he finds greats distaste in. Especially since it’s deprived him of his favorite kind of din— yours.
The life that is so intricately intertwined with yours has held virtually no recognizable clamor in four days. No low chatter from the television, no raucous laughter induced from one of your social media apps, no prolonged discussion of each other’s days or interesting points of conversation. Only silence has filled every gap and crevice as you two packed bags and made arrangements to head to your hometown in preparation for the funeral. Lamenting silence filled the space as you sat side by side on the train towards your destination. Mournful silence encompassing the home of your sister upon your mutual entry into the area. Silence so thick yet so delicate, so long and so void that any attempt to dismantle it feels boilingly uncomfortable.
He doesn’t like the wall it has unintentionally placed between you two, wanting nothing more than to tear it down with his bare hands and have you back within the safety of his arms. But he knows better. 
Death is part of the process, and he must let grief run its course. He’ll just remain in the shadows as a beam of support, intent to provide the space and time you need, but always keeping a trained eye on you.
That’s what love is, he supposes. It’s an odd thing to think, especially as solemness surrounds him as it does now. The drag of sadness competing with the surge of love that overwhelms his veins. It’s burning, and intense, and while his is mostly in consideration of you (as most things in his life nowadays are), it’s peculiarly indicative of the moment. Poetic, almost. 
Bleeding affection borders this ceremony of gathered friends and family in a proper send-off, love encapsulated in the silent tears trailing down faces and memorialized in the air of stagnance. Pouring in every direction as they all gaze sadly at the traveling ashes of the young girl down the steady waters of the river.
It’s grief, yes, but also love, for what is grief but love with nowhere to go?
The ride home is like all the other days, incredibly hushed. Inaudible. He can barely hear your breaths. He wonders, and not for the first time, if when he dies, this is how you will grieve. In this tragic quiet, moving with such stillness that was he not watching, he wouldn’t know you moved at all. A vacant soul wandering just to survive. Jujutsu sorcerers unfairly make their peace with dying early on in their tenure, and maybe he’s committed you to a life of tragedy by involving himself so intimately with you. 
When he dies, and he will— this life that he has chosen spares him no luxuries, not even false beliefs— he will condemn you to a brutal reality that he could have spared you from were he not so selfish. He hates seeing you like this. Hates it with every fiber of his being.
Death is a part of the process. He understands that. He just wishes it wasn’t so collateral. A prolonged state of your affliction that resulted from his hand would surely be a more painful fate than any gruesome death.
Your parent’s home is warm, in sharp contrast to the events of the day. And while they stayed with your sister, Kento insisted you return to your place of stay to wash and change if only to give you a moment alone; So he can check on you in the sanctity of privacy, grant you a brief respite from the unrelenting tide of sorrow, cherish you in these sparing instances that he can never take for granted. 
You bathe alone, he gives you that. He makes tea the way your mother taught him how, even though you quite like the way he makes it and has it set on the table upon your return. Dressed in comfier attire and seated blankly at the table, he settles in beside you. His shoulder touching yours hoping to convey in this minute action that he’s here. 
He doesn’t need the words to say it. Just his presence. 
His hand too, as you settle your own silently in the space of his large one, gripping tightly onto the rough skin. He rubs his thumb along the back of your hand, bringing it to his lips as he placed two long kisses on its surface. You’ve made eye contact all day but this is the first time you’ve really looked at each other. 
Where he can see the pain swimming in the pools of your irises behind the film of unshed tears and you can see the unrestrained sympathy and worry in his. 
“She was eleven,” you whisper, unable to speak any louder.
He doesn’t say anything. There’s not much he can say, only press his lips harder to the back of your hand.
It’s the only moment you’ve had alone together since arriving, and while he was so desperate before to hear something, anything come from your mouth, he finds that the inactivity the fills space once more is rather appropriate. One that he doesn’t want to disturb. Not when there isn’t anything he can say that can heal this wound, nothing he can do except love and care for you when you’re too weak to do it yourself. 
He places a hand behind your head, tilting you forward as he places his lips upon your forehead and smoothing the stray hairs that have displaced themselves from your formal hairdo. Fingers travel down the back of your neck and rub gentle circles on your shoulder, healing any aches with his touch. 
“Drink,” he murmurs against your temple, and you do. A sign of progress that he relishes in. He’s more than eager to see the slow trek back to a state of normalcy, but he knows it’ll be different from here on out. There’s a hole in your heart and it will take a while to heal. 
But he’ll be there. For as long as he can, whenever he can. Because that’s what love is.
Death is part of the process, but he finds it’s infinitely more manageable with you. He knows you feel the same way when at the end of the day as you lay side by side in the guest room of your parents’ home, you take comfort in the safety of his arms and finally, fill the air with something other than the prolonged silence and let him comfort you. 
Death is part of the process, and he knows the inevitability of his own part in it. But in this moment with you, he’ll let himself indulge selfishly in your noise. It’s his favorite sound, after all. 
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end notes: come shoot me a message! i love hearing from yall. 
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forbidding-souda · 4 years
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Can you write V2 boys meeting their soulmates?? :)
SDR2 boys meeting their soulmates
Mod Ouma here! Just wanted to say I wanted to make this into a kind of AU. I decided to use The Red String of Fate AU. A quick explanation of The Red String of Fate is that you are born with a red string tied around your pinky finger, the other side of that string is your soulmate who you’re destined to meet someday. Anyways, enjoy the story!
-Mod Ouma
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Hi it’s me mod souda I’m writing the Teruteru and the Nidai one since mod ouma struggled writing them B^) bet I got ya’ll chef and coach simps on lock you know me
-Mod Souda
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Imposter:
You sigh as you stared at that red string wrapped around your finger.
Year after year, you waited to see who the person was on the other side of that string, for a while, you just thought you didn’t even have one.
Until one day…
You arrived at Hope’s Peak Academy.
The string was loose, indicating that your soulmate was near.
You followed the string, tugging on it, until you bumped into someone.
“I’m sorry, I…”
You saw the string was connected to him…
“You’re my…” He nodded his head and smiled. 
“I’m your soulmate.” 
Tears started to well up in your eyes as you got up to hug him.
Today was finally the day you met your soulmate.
The whole day, you talked with each other, learning each other's interests and hobbies.
Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu:
You wondered if tugging at the red string will somehow annoy your soulmate to come over and tell you to stop just because of it.
So you did.
You tugged at it everyday, basically almost non-stop.
You thought it was quite hilarious though.
Every now and then you felt the other side tug roughly.
When you arrived at Hope’s Peak Academy, you saw that your string was loose.
You tugged and tugged and saw someone looking at you, confused.
He clicks his tongue.
“So you’re the one whos been tugging on this damn string?”
You nodded your head. “And? It worked on finding you though!”
He blushed a little before slowly reaching out to you.
“What? You don’t wanna hug your damn soulmate?”
You laughed and hugged him.
Gundham Tanaka:
You never really bothered with the red string around your finger.
You didn’t tug at or do anything, you just let it sit there.
When you felt the string tug though, that’s when you started communicating with each other.
Your soulmate and you used morse code to talk to each other.
You found out his name when you guys first talked. 
It was different and the way he ‘talked’ was weird, using weird metaphors and words you really didn’t understand.
One day, you were at a pet shop, hoping to look for a new pet.
Then you heard a boisterous laugh echo through the store.
“You mortal! I am Gundham Tanaka!”
That’s all you needed to hear when you ran up to him.
At first he was confused, then he realized the string connected you to him.
He was nervous to hug you back but he did anyway.
“Nice to meet my mortal soulmate!”
Hajime Hinata:
When you first tugged on that red string, you were surprised to see some kind of response.
It was just a simple tug back, but that single tug confirmed that there is someone on the other side.
It seemed he was busy a lot though, he didn’t tug back on some days when you did.
Then he just didn’t at all.
Of course, you were worried, so you searched up morse code and tried communicating with him.
When he didn’t respond, you got sad. Wondering what happened to him.
You woke up and you tugged one last time, just in case, hoping for some kind of response.
You did, no response.
But later in the day, you felt the other side tug. 
You were on the sidewalk, waiting to cross the road. 
He tugged again but this time more strong, that’s when you saw the light turn on to cross the road. 
You followed the string to find the boy in front of you, smiling.
“Good afternoon, soulmate.” 
You smiled at him.
“Good afternoon.”
He hesitated before grabbing your hand and wrapping his hands around it.
Kazuichi Souda:
You were surprised when you first felt the string tug.
It kept going for the next few days, it was kind of annoying but cute at the same time.
Obviously, they wanted some attention.
When you were driving home, somehow, something got into your tire, causing it to lose air.
You drove to the nearest car shop, letting the people take your car to fix the tire.
That’s when you felt the string trying to pull you and you let it.
It was pulling you towards the garage and you stared at the doorknob until you felt the string tug again.
When you opened the door, you felt a warm body envelop yours.
They smelled like sweat and oil, so you pushed away to see a boy with pink hair and a beanie, holding up his pinky finger.
He had sparkles in his eyes. “You’re so attractive!”
You looked at the boy. “Same to you.” 
He put his hand on his heart.
“Nice to meet you, name’s Kazuichi Souda!” 
You responded with a hug and you also said your name.
Nagito Komaeda:
For as long as you had that stupid red string on your pinky, you never felt a tug or had a tug back.
They never responded to your tugs and at times you would get angry or sad.
All that hope of having a soulmate seemed to shatter.
Although, it seemed your soulmate finally had the confidence to tug back, it was a small, little tug, but a tug is a tug to you.
You had free time, so you decided to follow that string.
You drove and drove till you arrived at some school.
It seemed to be the end of the day since people were coming out. 
You gathered the extra string that was piling up and you followed into the school and found yourself standing in front of a classroom door, which the string was connecting to.
You breathe out and open the door, the people looking at you in confusion.
You held up your hand. “My soulmate is somewhere in here, I know they are.”
Then you saw a boy with white hair standing up, holding his hand up too.
You smirked as you walked towards him.
“Y’know, I almost lost hope when you didn’t respond to my tugs.” He put his head down.
“Ah! I didn’t mean for you to feel despair! I just wouldn’t think you would want to meet someone as pathetic as me…”
You put your arms around his neck and hug him.
“Never, what’s your name soulmate?”
“Nagito Komaeda.” You held on tighter and said your name.
“It’s nice to finally meet my soulmate…”
Teruteru Hanamura
The string around your finger moved way more often than you thought it would.
It just became something you had to get used to.
You were raised to think of the string properly. Not mess with it, as it’s considered being bad. Even pulling on it is the sign of a rebel. Leave it be, the adults say. 
They made it seem like if you were too annoying, it would scare your soulmate away for sure.
You lie awake at night thinking about this as your string wiggles from underneath the blanket.
The days passed, and the thread seemed to get a little loser, but they did not appear. 
In the firsts days of April you explored the city that surrounded Hope’s Peak Academy. You don’t know if it is your anticipation - the string was getting noticeably loser - or the fact that the rhythmic sways of the object in question became slight pulls.
It catches your attention. A soft oh escapes your lips, and you stop in your tracks. Something in you knew this was the moment. The quickening of your heart, the way the world around you seemed to melt away. You don’t even have to turn around to know you would see a destined figure.
“Oh, sugar,” his voice rang out to you, “it looks like our strings are attached, it’s so sensual.”
The first thought that pops into your head is how soft his eyes are.
Nekomaru Nidai
Tiny vibrations wiggle against your finger, coming as a small ticklish feeling. 
How long will it be until you can finally see the person?
You’re rather impatient. It’s your downfall.
So you play with it on your freetime. Wrapping it around your finger like a phone cord when you’re bored.
It hardly ever moves beyond the small jolts. 
But you notice how the string doesn’t seem to be so inflexible the closer the start of school gets.
Hope’s Peak Academy is scary, of course, but it’s also in the city you grew up in. Is your soulmate not native to here? You wonder what city he’s from. Or town. What if he’s from a small town?
They seek out people from all over Japan. So your soulmate could be anyone.
If it is anyone who goes to your school.
You think about this while you walk through the halls, your heart beat faster than your footsteps while you watch the string start to droop.
They are here! Oh, just right around the corner.
Your feet carry you faster than you can even process.
A sharp left, and then- “It’s you!” You call out.
His broad back is turned to you. But when he turns around, his tough composure drops immediately as he lets out a laugh.
“I can’t believe you’re here! This is extraordinary!” He booms, putting his hand on your head and ruffling your hair.
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Note
Hi!!! I wanted to get your opinion and thoughts about what exactly goes through your mind when writing a Nagito fic. I see many people just portray him as a 'uwu hope boi' so I just wanted to your opinion about writing him, or just him in general. Thank you
Mod Mikan: Hello nonnie! So, I don’t know if this was towards a specific mod, but I assume you’ll take any mod so here’s Mod Mikan’s personal thoughts about him. I’d like to say that I figured out his character pretty well, but then again, Nagito can be interpreted in many ways, so don’t take my word for it when I say I believe I’m an expert 
So, even though I’m a hardcore Nagito simp, I don’t neglect that, like everyone else, he has his flaws too. While Nagito is usually polite, quiet, and collected, he can be mean when he wants to. But he’s not mean just for no reason. I picked out that he’s only mean when 
a) Someone is talentless 
b) He doesn’t mean it 
or 
c) Someone was/is a shit person towards him
Post-dead room Nagito is a popular example and one of the rare times Nagito is an utter dick. Cause, let’s be real, Nagito is a really nice guy most of the time. He comes off as crazy and creepy during his FTD episodes (yes, his ‘hope rants’ are legit his dementia complying to his coping mechanism, which is hope), but he has the best intentions at heart. When I first came across ‘post-dead room Nagito’ I thought he just finally snapped from how badly he was treated by the others. I was a huge simp, so I was rooting for him, cause he was giving the Ultimates what they deserved. But when it was revealed that Nagito figured out they were remnants of Despair, that’s when everything clicked. I also like to believe that Nagito’s actions also stemmed from him just flat out losing it. Mixed with his mental illnesses, his life trauma, the intense atmosphere from the killing game, and holding valuable information that no one else knew (or would even believe him on), it’s pretty understandable he’d go crazy. I’m not defending him, cause what he did was still wrong, but I’m saying his actions had reasons and the best intentions for ‘world hope’
Nagito is also bluntly honest. But an honest person isn’t exactly ‘nice’ all the time. He will say what is on his mind and not dance around the truth. Some of it may be caused from his dementia, some of it is just him being a honest person in general. I don’t remember exactly what he said but in the game, he insulted Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi on accident. He later realized that Fuyuhiko was offended by his words and he apologized. But he didn’t know Kazuichi was offended by his words, so he didn’t apologize to him. But Nagito will unintentionally be mean. I feel like if he had an SO, that would be someone he deeply cares about and would apologize because he hates seeing his love hurting because of him. Even if he doesn’t understand what he said, he’ll still say sorry because he truly does care and means well at the end
I won’t get into Nagito being mean to talentless people since I already did a whole post about it. Tumblr is being funky for me, so I can’t exactly link it, but I’m pretty sure it’s not that far of a scroll down if you wanna see it. If you can’t find it, ask me for the link and I’ll do my best to try to link it ;). But anyways, long story short: I personally believe Nagito can have a normal relationship with either a talentless or ultimate person, but time is key. Even though he can be an asshole towards the talentless, I think some of it is just his self hatred being projected onto someone else that’s ‘his equal’
When I say Nagito is an honest person (Even his VA admits he’d be an honest person), I’m not denying that he doesn’t lie. He lied many times in the game. But he never does it for his own benefit. It’s even stated in his wiki page that he will never lie for himself, rather for the ‘greater good’. His plans are never for himself and even though he can be extreme at times, it will never be for him. He’s always thinking about others and--yes, he will do things his own way and make things go the way he wants to--but at the end, it’s all for someone he cares about, never for himself
In the famous episode in the anime where he plans to bomb the school so his classmates can get out of taking their finals, did everyone forget that his first plan was just to talk to Chisa and ask her to move the test? She said she couldn’t cause the media was coming already. Guess what? Bombing the school was never his original plan. While I can think of many....many other ways to post-pone the test, Nagito is crazy. But he has a good heart
As someone that has mental illnesses herself, especially something that’s a close related disease with FTD (I have OCD, which is pretty similar in comparison) I cannot stress just how much a mental illness can take over someone’s thought process. I did a whole FTD analyze during my own time, but I’m not sure if I ever posted it on this blog. If you wanna hear my thoughts, just ask me for the link and I’ll send it to ya, along with the Nagito X Talentless!SO post ;). But again, I’m not using his FTD as a ‘get outta jail free card’, but it does ‘aid’ in his obscure way of thinking. I personally don’t mind when people portray him as a cinnamon roll, cause I kinda do, but then again, not in the traditional sense 
As in, he’s not an ‘uwu precious cinnamon roll that did no wrong’ rather he’s a ‘hey, this guy had the best intentions in his heart, but his actions went down a wrong path’. Honestly, he needs a good therapy session, a self-help book, and a SO who is patient and understanding of him :)
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I personally believe he’d be the best boyfriend. Yes, he has his flaws like everyone else, but key word: Everyone else. He’s not perfect, but I honestly view him as someone that would give a relationship with someone he truly loves his all and best. It’s canon he will push people he cares about away because his luck can hurt them, but in a romantic AU where he IS in a relationship, he would try so hard, it would be cute. He wouldn’t think he’d the best at comforting people, or showing his love, but honey--he is! He’s constantly praising the ultimates and expresses his love is--*coughs* extreme ways--but overtime, if his SO teaches him to tone it down, his actions and words will be enough reassurance for his SO 
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Work out
So I’ve been writing on a longer story on AO3 and this is a chapter out of it. It kinda stands on its own so I decided to post it here as a oneshot. If you like it, please check out my story :))
Basically reader is simping all over Erwin while watching him work out.
Once in a while even the Soldiers of the Survey Corps had a day off and today it was yours. Normally everyone tends to visit their family, but there was no-one left in your family, so you decided to stay at the castle and enjoy the day by reviving your old interests, like drawing. You used to draw a lot in your home village, but since you joined the Corps you didn’t have much time to do it. So today was the chance.
Gathering your old sketchbook with a pencil, you settled on the window sill. It was a nice view from your bedroom window.
You could see directly on the training grounds and right behind it was the entrance to the forest next to the castle. It was still very early in the morning on a grey day. The sun hasn’t rose completely yet and most people were still asleep. It looked like it was about to rain, but it didn’t just yet. A light fog settled upon the ground. A perfect day to snuggle yourself in a blanket, sketch, and let your thoughts go blank for a while.
You decided to draw the forest in your sight and started to outline the first trees, when someone entered the training grounds. By the hight and broadness of the figure, you could make out that it was a man, but he was wearing the green cloak of the Corps with the hood on his head, that you couldn’t make out who it was. You decided to ignore him, but then he turned around and you recognizes by the blond hair with blue eyes that it was Erwin.
He started to take the cloak of and underneath he was wearing some sportswear that you had never seen on him before. It was a simple Pullover with a pair of comfortable pants, but they suited him so well, that your breath caught in your throat. You have never seen him wear anything else than his usual uniform and somehow you always thought that they were the only clothing he possessed.
Erwin started to warm himself up and suddenly the sketchbook was completely forgotten. So much too reviving your old interest. Seems like the only thing reviving right now was your libido, because he started doing pushups. The fabric of his pullover clung delicately to his body and you could see every movement and stretch from his muscles through it.
You felt your chest flushing as he got back on his feet and you saw drops of sweat running down his face. The pencil in your hand found its way to your mouth as you tried to contain yourself. Next thing on his work out plan seemed to be sit ups. He laid himself on the ground, his feet pointing towards your window, and he started pulling his upper body upwards. Everytime he was up you could see the concentration in his beautiful features.
Suddenly his gaze flickered upwards and your eyes met for a second. A gasp escaped you as your tried to look busy with your sketch, pretending to not even notice him. Could he see you through the window?
It was definitely possible, but it must have been at least a little bit blurry. Maybe he has noticed you but there was a slight chance that he didn’t see you starring. Carefully you turned your head towards his direction again, pretending to get a better look at the forest you were drawing.
He continued with his work out, but a slight smirk appeared on his previously serious face. Damn it, he saw you starring. You cursed yourself. You could have at least tried to be a little less obvious. But here you were, almost drooling all over your paper while watching him work out.
Next he got up again and let his gaze flicker upon you once again, as if to check if you were still watching. Then he slowly took off his pullover and let it fall to the ground in an almost teasing manner, making your jaw drop completely. You tried to gather yourself concentrating on your paper again, but then he started stretching his upper body and arms. It was impossible to not follow his smooth motions with your eyes. He was build like a god. Broad shoulders, muscular arms, and this chest. Oh god, the thought of burying your face in his chest, with his strong arms wrapped around you, made all of your blood stream to your face.
Every now and then he looked up to your window, but you were prepared now and always ready to pretend to be drawing. At some point you started to wonder if he was trying to put on some kind of show for you. His workout manner changed slightly after he had seen you for the first time, and it was way to cold to be training shirtless. He probably noticed how flushed you were and saw this as some kind of joke. You couldn’t think of some other explanation for his behavior.
Maybe he tried to seduce you. The thought made you laugh bitterly. As if someone with his appearance and his position would be interested in a mere cadet.
Not that you didn’t like yourself. No, you did know your worth. It was just that you couldn’t imagine Erwin being interested in someone like you. But you were happy that you were at least able to maintain a friendship with him.
The lastest thoughts of yours clouded your mood and watching him tease you made you feel a little hurt. You gathered your stuff and left the window sill and the rare view behind.
Maybe, if you would give it your best and work hard on yourself you would be able to get his attention.
No that sounded stupid. You should do it for yourself in the first place. But winning him over would be a nice side effect.
+++++++++++++++++BONUS+++++++++++++++++
In the evening Erwin and Levi walked down the corridor, discussing the newest expedition plans, when a certain someone crossed their path.
„Good evening, (Y/N)“ Erwin said and stopped walking, he hadn’t seen her since morning.
„How was your day off?“ A little smile tugged his lips. He wasn’t sure how the rest of her day went, but he remembered quiet well how her day had started.
„It was okay, a little boring to be honest.“ She simply said, shrugging her shoulders.
„Really?“ Erwins eyebrows raised in surprise. „Because I saw you this morning through your window, when I was doing my workout and you seemed quiet busy.“ He smirked slightly, when he remembered her flushed face and her gaze glued to his body.
„Really? I haven’t noticed you“ she said her face not even twitching in the slightest. Could it be? Did she really not see him? He asked himself. But he was so sure she did.
„You know“ She started „When I draw I tend to lose myself in my own world. Maybe thats why I didn’t notice.“
The despair was probably written all over Erwins face, because Levi hit him lightly on the shoulder and started laughing.
„Were you hoping that (Y/N) was watching you?“ Levi said, obviously making a joke, without even knowing the truth within his words.
„No of course not.“ But the blush on Erwins cheeks betrayed him. „Anyways“ he started „Enjoy your evening (Y/N). Tomorrow will be a hard day with the expedition ahead.“
„I will“ She smiled an innocent little smile „Thank you, Commander.“ Somehow she emphasized the word ‚Commander‘ that even more blood rushed to Erwins head.
„Captain“ she nodded her head towards Levi and left the two of them.
„You really DID think that she was watching you, huh?“ Levi laughed when (Y/N) was far enough to not hear him anymore.
„Ah Shut up, Levi“ Erwin huffed and turned to leave.
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the-peak-of-despair · 4 years
Text
Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu x a reader scared of spiders
I NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL REQUEST!
anon asked: Could I get Fuyuhiko with a female reader who’s terrified of spiders, and someone pranks her by putting one on her shoulder? 
I’ve loved Fuyuhiko since the first SECOND I saw him in Goodbye Despair, I had a blast writing this -Mod Akane, also the SHSL Fuyuhiko Simp
You walked into the homeroom class silently, giving the other early students a wave as you took your seat. Generally, you were one of the first people who arrived in class, usually with Fuyuhiko and Peko, your close friends, coming in right behind you. You sat next to Fuyuhiko and Peko sat behind him, and the three of you wound up talking until your wacky teacher started the days probably criminally insane activities.  
Fuyuhiko sat with his feet up on his desk and his hands behind his head as always, and when he turned his head and caught you staring, both your faces grew bright red as you snapped your head around to Peko, looking away from him. 
“So, Peko! How’s your day?” You ask, diverting your own attention. Okay, so you hadn’t necessarily told anyone you liked Fuyuhiko yet, but if anyone with half a brain cell spent more than 5 minutes around you, they could generally guess. 
She gives you a look. If anyone knew you liked Fuyuhiko, it was her. “Fine. And you?”
“W-Well, I kinda had a heart attack this morning.. I was getting dressed and saw a spider in my room.” You nervously laugh. You look towards the door and watch as more of your classmates filter into the room.
“Ah, you’re afraid of spiders, yes?” Peko raises a brow as you nod.
“Y-Yeah.. They just creep me out..” You sigh, rubbing your arm. 
“Where’s that teacher, anyway?” Fuyuhiko adds. “She’s usually here by now.” 
“She is most likely late again.” Sonia adds from the front of the classroom. 
“Jeez, that’s our luck… Why’d she round us all up if she’s always late herself?” Fuyuhiko complains. You shrug as you turn to him. 
“Wasn’t it something about making memories?” You suggest.
“I- Well yeah, I know that.” Fuyuhiko sighs as you grin. He facepalms at your joking stupidity.
The class turned and began to talk amongst their own groups. With any luck, they’d spend this whole period with the teacher being chronically late. It’s not long before there's at least a minimum amount of screaming coming from the other side of the room. 
“What’re they yelling about..? You question as you turn towards them. 
“Probably something dumb. Who cares.” Fuyuhiko shrugs, rolling his eyes. You all continue with casual conversation, your back towards the entire classroom as you talk. Though, every couple seconds you saw Peko narrowing her eyes at something behind you. You kept turning around, but you didn’t see anyone there.  At some point you’re pretty sure you saw Fuyuhiko glare at someone. What the fuck is happening. 
You feel someone touch your shoulder, and you turn around to see Kazuichi snickering.
“You need something, Kazuichi?” You ask.
“Th-There’s-” He starts laughing. “Th-There’s a sp-spider on your shoulder!” 
You freeze. “There’s a w-what?” Fuyuhiko and Peko both stand up, clearly about to cause Souda’s funeral. You lived a good life, buddy. Say goodbye to Miss Sonia. 
“A sp-spider!” He continues giggling.
“G-Get it off! N-Now! Please!” You start shaking, now freaking out. You did not fuck with one thing: spiders. 
“It’s- It’s just-” He literally can’t breathe. 
“Kazuichi.” Souda yelps in fear when Peko talks. “Get it off her.” “Y-Yes!” He yelps, scooping the spider off your shoulder and throwing it across the room, landing in Nagito’s hair.
“Oh, come on, that’s my luck…” He sighs. 
“Apologize to Y/N.” Peko states, one hand reached back on her sword. 
“I-I-” He starts stuttering in legitimate fear.
“Hey, the fuck’s wrong with you?” Fuyuhiko shouts. You already started crying cause of the spider, even though it was gone. The shouting didn’t really help much. 
“I-I just wanted to play a harmless prank!” Kazuichi yipes, waving his hands and backing away. 
“Harmless my ass, fucking apologize to her!”  Fuyuhiko balls his fists. 
“I-I’m sorry, Miss (Y/N)!!” Kazuichi apologizes as he turns to you, in all of your crying glory.
“I-It’s-” You sob. “It’s fine, Kazuichi. E-Excuse me.” You push out of your chair and walk out of the classroom, where it feels like the entire room was staring at you as you shut the door behind you, before you hear Fuyuhiko and Peko yelling at Kazuichi, and seemingly a few others. 
You sink to the floor in the empty hallway. You were fine, you just had a.. Small freak out because of that. You just needed a minute to breathe. That’s what you told yourself as you wiped your tears away. It felt like Kazuichi was just trying to embarrass you. 
You hear the door close again and feel a presence sink down next to you. You pick up your head and turn it to see Fuyuhiko, looking at you with concern. “You alright, Y/N?”
You nod quietly. “I-I just need a minute to calm down, that’s all.” 
You feel Fuyuhiko put his hand on your chin and tilt your head up towards him, until he lets go to wipe away one of your tears. “You sure?”
You laugh weakly. “This is so out of character for you.”
“H-Hey!” He blushes and looks away, completely letting you go. “I-I’m trying to help you here, damnit.”  
You grin at him. “Hey, I didn’t say I-I minded..” Being in his presence felt a lot safer. Warmer, maybe. Just comforting. 
He turns back around and looks at you, taking in your appearance for a second. Smiling through any tears that are left “I just-” He sighs, frustrated that he can’t get these words out easily. “You need to know I care about you.” 
You nod, muttering ‘i know.’ You set your head on his shoulder and he tenses up for a second. When he finally relaxes, you sigh.
“You gave him a black eye, didn’t you.?” 
“..Maybe.”
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lovenona · 3 years
Note
LONG ask ahead, sorry T^T
*arrives in a hurry after 2-3 days* *slow, appreciative clap at the ted talk* sweetie, have you got any idea how much i adore hearing you ramble about the creation process??? seeing the whole love and dedication you hold for the odyssey makes my day! (and nooo, i'm totally not reading it again bc i want to have all of it in mind for tomorrow and bc it inspires me to no end hahaha what do you mean :) )
here comes yet another question: what kind of powers do you possess to write so beautifully. your writing literally punches me in the gut every single time, even the simplest of things!! it's hauntingly beautiful and i'm living for it!
(and another one) how did you find out how the odyssey was going to end?
also, it's rambling time because i've been thinking. (i do that sometimes.) each chapter title is a reference to a greek myth, and, in particular, odysseus' myth (no clue if i've written his name right, i've always knew him as "ulysse" in my mother tongue ^^;). and so my brain went: oooh nice, greek lore ^^ and then: yo wait. hold up. which brings me here: analysing the chapter titles. (bear with me please, and feel free to ignore my enthusiastic rambling/correct me if i'm wrong which i probs will)
so first, we have the prelude. david and calypso. while i'm sure david has his importance it's almost 1 am as i'm typing this so i'm going to focus on calypso. poor nymph is stuck in an island because of the will of gods for a reason i've forgotten. but here's the catch: while she cannot leave, others can come to her (good ol' odysseus for instance) until they leave her all alone again. and the cycle unfolds again and again. which brings us to a nice parallel with reader's situation at the beginnig. she, after all, is stuck on an island with no way out but stories. comes the dilf supreme toji aka an odysseus of sorts, until he leaves her. so she's alone again. calypso there illustrates a passive state of sorts. she cannot leave, or so she thinks: while she wants to, we don't see her try per se until sukuna comes in.
ah yes. sukuna’s arrival. chapter title: neptune’s hands. Neptune, god of the seas, all powerful, also known as Poseidon absolutely terrifying if provoked — which is something Odysseus did! well, man is smart enough not to do it to his face. but he did stab a cyclope, which happened to be neptune’s son. son who swore to a haughty Odysseus that he’d pay for it. in consequence: instead of going back to Ithaca without that much of trouble, Neptune goes: nope mate, and promptly sabotage his return (with a storm who leads his ship astray if my memory is correct). Neptune serves as a catalyst in here, to properly start the action. and it so happens to be sukuna’s role! he is, as well, the one who starts reader’s journey — well, odyssey in this case ;) — by making her this offer. plus, if we consider reader as being calypso, a nymph, and sukuna as being Neptune, a god, it shows their difference in power. sukuna is a fearsome curse, captain whose name is enough to strike fear in the cruellest pirate, who can and will kill reader should he get bored of her. reader is but a printer’s apprentice, so weak compared to him it hurts.
ah, yes. the narcissus pool aka siren gojo, aka me simping so hard for this man I might squirt with the mere mention of him. yes, siren gojo is that powerful, feel free to lure me in with them baby blues sweetie *blows him a kiss* hem. anyway. long story short, an oracle said: if narcissus sees his reflection, he’ll die. people prevent him from seeing himself. ofc man is so handsome it hurts and has women and men alike running after him, including a nymph named echo. he rejects her. hera is somehow involved in the mess and makes it so that he stumbles upon a river and sees himself. entranced by his beauty, he desperately tries to reach himself and stays near the river until he dies. this one is a bit trickier (especially considering I’m writing this as I go with no coherent preparation whatsoever but damn if I’m not having fun). but. *proceeds to read it again* *sighs in ‘why the hell ain’t siren!gojo real pls sir take me’* anyway. it’s never mentioned in narcissus’ myth, but I’m pretty sure he was tempted to look at himself. at least once, considering he could wonder why on earth all those people kept falling for his looks. (or he could be pretty dumb. let’s say he isn’t) so he’s tempted by his own reflection. just like reader’s tempted to follow segsy siren gojo. he doesn’t up until hera is involved and ends up seeing his reflection. he falls. not literally, but in love — with his own self. here it’s different (and the reason why i’m strugglingTM to gather coherent thoughts). gojo is the very embodiment of this temptation — so he acts as narcissus’ reflection here. he’s the one seducing reader, the one luring her until she falls in the waters, just like narcissus did. she didn’t die though, unlike him. (thank you sukuna. I guess. yes I would’ve given my life for gojo to consume me in both ways and??) now, this is very simp-tainted (sorry bout that ^^;) and the thing I’ve noticed is this: narcissus isn’t a character in the og odyssey. could it be bc to my absolute despair, gojo’s not as much of an important character as sukuna and toji? only you know!
(the hades, psyche analysis comes in tomorrow *looks @ time* *sees it's 1 AM* well, later on! have a lovely night/day!)
- the LRE (who's very happy tumblr allowed her to do paragraph breaks/to have a pirate history book recommandation! thanks about that one btw, it'll come in handy for a ff of mine (yeah it involves pirate gojo))
wait this is so precious n thoughtful oh my gosh 😭 thoughts n vibes under the cut :’) 
first of all THANK U!!!??? ur making me blush out here omg my hEART 😭 
as for ur first question, ur SO SWEET n IM LOSING IT bye i genuinely don’t know i just scream and throw a bunch of commas and metaphors everywhere and somehow things happen 💀 i read a lot (english major vibes) and it’s very helpful because i tend to imitate writers/phrases/books that inspire me while i'm figuring out how i want to write !! 
secondly: how did i figure out the ending of the odyssey??
answer: i think i just stumbled across this one 😭 i was brainstorming w my bestie (@/suedebunn) n she originally suggested a different version of the ending that i was like “oh wait” and then i played with it for awhile until i arrived at the version i have now ! i want to tell u more about how i arrived from point A to point B and what the process was but i will withhold because i am not giving anything away >:)
onto ur TITLE ANALYSIS!! this is SPECTACULAR! ur pretty much on the nose for all of them god damn i don’t have much to add :’) i’ll give u some of my takes tho!!
david and calypso – ur absolutely on the nose for the calypso aspect; david’s just a passing nod to the pirates of the caribbean portrayal of davy jones and the doomed relationship between him and calypso (mirroring the doomed relationship between toji and reader since he leaves them) 
neptune’s hands – yes! yeah! sexy! pirate sukuna is being compared to a sea god!! also a minor teaser but sukuna’s hands are important symbolically ;-) 
narcissus pool – ur brain is so big here god damn 🤲 narcissus is more of a loose reference to the idea of pride/ temptation and also hollowness/mirages (the emptiness of a reflection versus the tangibility of the real thing) so it’s not immediately a reference to the odyssey itself or even the myth (i'm taking creative liberties bye homer) but probably the best entity to use when describing gojo – the dichotomy between pride/emptiness is a lot more apparent in part 5 
gosh thank u sm for this!! excited to see what u have next!!!!!!
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pan-inc · 4 years
Text
SDR2 Boys +Chiaki Figuring Out Their S/O Is FtM
  Blank (Aka Mod Rantaro) was working on part SDR2 and DRV3 of the boys when they have a crush on you, but she dislocated her wrist part way of writing them and insisted she finish them herself, so I decided to do some work and write this with some ideas from Blank since I’m not too good at making ideas ;;
  I don’t think I was too specific on whether or not they’re FtM or MtF, so go ahead and change the pronouns if you need!
  (I myself am not transgender and don’t know anyone who is, so I’m very sorry if I get some incorrect information on you guys)   Non-Despair AU
  Y/N- Your Name   D/N- Dead Name
-Mod Chihiro
Spoilers under the cut
  (Warning, there is a tiny bit of dead naming in this but not in a ‘them trying to be transphobic or rude’  way, just them not knowing your actual name yet.)
Hajime Hinata
  Not even gonna hide it, I headcannon Hajime as FtM as well, so let’s just go with he hasn’t told you about how he’s trans either.
  “YOU’RE TRANS?! WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME BEFORE WE EVEN STARTED DATING D/N?!”
  Him calling you by your now dead name made you flinch slightly, “I-Im sorry! I knew that you would be grossed out and stuff, so I-”
  “Grossed out? Why the hell would I be grossed out by you being trans?”
  “Y-You just got mad... Mad at me? And... A-And......” You are very confused, his mood switch from yelling to being concerned was a bit too much to deal with over the heart-pounding anxiety of coming out to him.
  Your anxiety dies down a little and confusion rises through the roof once Hajime hugs you as tightly as he can, “I wasn’t mad at you being who you really are, I was just... A little upset that you didn’t trust me with this information earlier in our relationship, but I guess I have no room to talk.”
  You hug him back while not processing the last part of his explanation, snuggling your face into his neck instead. “I also have something to tell you.” “Hm?”
  “I’m also trans,,,,”
  So after you two coming out to each other he takes a little bit to get used to your new name, and he promises to himself that he’ll buy you literally anything you need from The Store™ to feel comfortable once he gets a hang of your name.
  If you feel ~dysphoria~ before then, he will not hesitate to let you borrow some of his baggier clothes and possibly even a binder if your body hates you enough.
Nagito Komeada
  You wanted to talk to him about your transition, but he just started rambling on and on about hope. You were getting a little upset (so was Hajime, but a lot more than just a little upset.) but your anxiety about him not accepting you forced you to stay quiet and just let him ramble.
  “God Nagito, if you’re not going to shut up for me at least do it to hear what D/N has to say.” Hajime snaps, shutting up Nagito.
  “Y/N...” You whisper softly in an attempt to correct Hajime, but he doesn’t hear.
  “Okay, what do you need D/N?” He seems slightly upset that Hajime interrupted his preaching, but lightened up when he started talking to you.
  “Please call me Y/N!” You accidentally shout, quickly covering your mouth, “Sorry for yelling...”
  Hajime, despite not knowing how to spell without help, clicked it in his brain what you were trying to say to Nagito, so he quickly excused himself and walks away.
  “I’m sorry Y/N, what do you need?”
  “I, uhm... You’re bisexual right? So, that means my transition won’t be too hard on you right?”
  Nagito tilts his head to the side, but then quickly picks you up and hugs you.
  “My wonderful Y/N is so amazing, don’t be filled with so much despair just because you want to come out to me!”
  Honestly, what else would you expect. He’s insanely supportive of your transition and thinks of you as an even more special hope that he isn’t deserving of. 
  You might have to reassure him a bit more than you usually did, but it’s 100% worth it in the end.
  Will totally lend you his jacket.
Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu
  To be honest, you came out to Peko before getting anywhere close to coming out to Fuyuhiko. You knew he loved you with all of his heart, but you were worried about if that would change if you transitioned.
  Peko was really supportive, but she had let it slip a few times to Fuyuhiko.
  Thank God Peko is smart enough to make a smooth recovery to make sure Fuyuhiko doesn’t find out before you’re comfortable with him knowing.
  After a bit of encouraging and planning from Peko, you finally decided it was time to come out to him.
  You walk up to Fuyuhiko, who was talking to Peko, and pull on his suit sleeve as gently as you could while still gaining his attention. “Huh? Yeah D/N?” “Can we talk about something?” You respond, trying to not sound too serious to try to not scare him.
  Fuyuhiko looks at Peko, back at you, then back to Peko, as if asking for permission to leave the conversation.
  “Go ahead Young Master. Our conversation can wait.” She smiles and walks away, leaving you panicking to yourself and a confused Fuyuhiko.
  “U-Uhm... Does the Kuzuryu Clan support same sex relationships?”
  “Huh? The hell? Why do you want to know that?”
  “Because I am now the second leader of the Kuzuryu Clan, Y-Y/N! A-And now your.... Your b-boyfriend?”
  “Well fuck, they better support gays and transgenders or they’re getting kicked out and fucking murdered.”
  Peko smiles in strong Ally.
Kazuichi Soda
  Big think.
  Was he into guys? Before he got to know you, a gal (Sos if you aren’t), better he was enamored by Sonia, also a gal.
  From what you know, he’s never liked any guys, so what if he wasn’t okay with dating you when you transitioned?
  (Spoiler for later in this scenario, he’s bi-curious uvu)
  You decided to come out to him using your knowledge that he taught you about making electronic stuff.
  It was hard to hide that you were making something from him. but with a quick “I’m making a gift for you, you’re going to be so proud of me!” He (reluctantly) leaves you be to create whatever your creating.
  After a long bit of working, you had finally finished.
  Two little doll-like items (Kinda like Mini Maru) that looked like Kazuichi and the real you. The Mini Y/N was holding a trans flag and Mini Kazu had a blank flag that can be changed at a later time, and the two Minis had their arms intertwined.
  “Kazu~! Look look, I’m done with my project!”
  He turns and looks at your invention. “Oh, what is this D/N? Is that me? Who’s that?”
  “It’s me and you of course!”
  After a bit of his confusion, he understands and supports you greatly. Like a simp 
Gundham Tanaka
  After thinking about the pros and cons of every possible way to come out to  G U N D H A M  T A N A K A , you just decided to come out to him in a more straight-forward way after brainstorming with Sonia.
  You run up behind the slightly embarrassed G U N D H A M  T A N A K A who was being complimented by Sonia and jump onto him, almost making him fall over onto poor Sonia. After giving her the signal she excuses herself and makes her escape.
  After getting off G U N D H A M  T A N A K A ‘s back and calming him down from his extremely blushy state, you start panicking over what to do again.
  ‘What if he doesn’t like me because I’m a guy? What if he’s transphobic? Love isn’t the purpose of life, but he’s been such a huge part of me that I don’t even know how I’d be if he was gone. You’d be so lost without him-’
  “Fallen Angel, are you alright? My skin didn’t poison you, did it?” He asks, obvious concern in his voice.
  “Oh, no, it’s not that.” You take a deep breath, look up at him, and push your anxiety as far down as it can go.
  “I-I don’t want to be your Queen a-anymore!”
  “You... Don’t want to be my Queen?” There was a lot of pain in his voice and you realize what you said.
  “T-That’s not what I meant! I want to be your Queen of the Underworld and Overworld, b-but I would...” You take a deep breath, “I would rather be your K-King!”
  He pulls you into his arms and hugs you as tightly as he can, burying his face into your neck.
  You hug him back, “Also, please call me Y/N.”
  “Anything for my King. I will tell my Devas of this news so they do not make you uncomfortable.”
  Sonia is very happy about the energy she has created in the studio today.
Nekomaru Nedai
  I’m not very good at writing for Nekomaru so I’m gonna have to skip the coming out part, I’m very sorry if you wanted to read you coming out to him TvT
  But anyways~
  He isn’t the brightest light bulb, so he does his research.
  If you wear chest binders he’ll panic quite a bit but after asking you and gaining more knowledge, he goes less hard on you when it comes to exercising.
  Your binder is giving you troubles? Fucking take a break, take it off, B R E A T H E.
  Oh, you want muscles to look more ‘manly’ like him? First, he will let you know that you don’t have to look ‘manly’ to be who you are. If you still insist then he will help with your want.
Teruteru Hanamura
  Before you officially got together he would flirt with practically everyone no matter their gender, so you were pretty confident about him not leaving you because he’s ‘NoT gAy’.   So uh
  I’m horrible at writing him
  So just know he’s supportive and doesn’t really mind that you transition.
Chiaki Nanami
  “Hey Chiaki? Can I talk to you about something?” You walk into her room with your beautiful flag in your arms.
  “Yes D/N?” Chiaki hums, not looking away from the screen of whatever she was playing.
  You drape your flag over your arms and then wrap them around Chiaki’s neck in an attempt to hug her from behind, “Please call me Y/N.”
  She looks over at the flag and after a bit of the wheels in her brain turning, it clicks in her brain what you mean. “Okay. Is there anything else you need, Y/N?” You smile at your names coming from her and sit next to her properly and nuzzle into her hair while using your flag as a blanket, “Just your support.”
  She smiles softly, “You already have that bunny, you should know that already. Also, tell me if my nicknames make you feel uncomfortable.”
  Very supportive, will get into the head of anyone who says anything mean to you about you being transgender.
  But besides that she doesn’t really make a big deal of you being trans. A gud gorl.
Ultimate Imposter
  He’s someone who can and will be the impostor of anyone no matter their gender (’Cuz that’s his whole ultimate) So he absolutely wouldn’t judge you for changing genders, right?
  So I’ve rewritten this like 4 times, even with the help of Mod Rantaro, and neither of us know his personality very well so sorry about this.
  Either way, he’d be very supportive and buy you everything you need to feel comfortable in your body.
Izuru Kamakura
  Hm.
  Oh, you’re trans?
  Oh cool.
  So who are we giving despair to today?
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repo-net · 4 years
Text
I really enjoyed writing yesterday's Nagisa mini talk, so I thought I'd do another one of these while I'm still in the mood.
Today's Nagisa topic of the day: His relationship and underlying care for the other kids
One of the things that I think commonly describes Nagisa by the general fanbase is him being a "bad person whos done awful things but has an inside guilt and regret of those things"
While I definitely understand that point of view and think it's valid, let me make the case that he's more of a "good person who's done bad things who has really deep guilt about all his wrongdoings"
Why do I think Nagisa's a good person? Simple, really. His deep care for the other Warriors of Hope and the amount of stuff he's done for them, and the things he hasn't done but they're things he's more than willing to do.
This is a topic I wish got talked about more, since Nagisa has really interesting relationships with the UDG cast, in particular the other Warriors of Hope, and of course Komaru & Toko. But we'll ignore the despair girls duo for now, I'll get to that in maybe another time.
On the surface to his allies, Nagisa's cold, blunt, and a smartass who's way too serious about everything, and one that doesn't care about the others but rather only for Monaca.
Inside his heart however, he's probably the most caring out of all the Warriors of Hope despite his cold exterior.
Out of all of the Warriors, he was the one most fixated on their goal: creating a safe place for kids. He wasn't a big fan of the killing adults thing, and the only reason he wouldn't try to stop it is because it's Monaca's game. I already explained how much Monaca meant to him in the last post and why he didn't have the willpower in him to defy Monaca. I won't really be talking about her this time around, but her and Nagisa's relationship and dynamic is extremely tragic and well-written, and I'm probably going to make a post about that soon too.
Now, enough filler. Let's talk about all the things Nagisa has done for all the Warriors of Hope, atleast in what UDG and the art books with his relationship charts have provided us with.
Let's start with Masaru. Masaru and Nagisa are complete polar opposites in terms of personality, but it's honestly impressive how many similarities the two actually have. Wanting to be a leader, a huge desire to protect the kids, and being a simp for Monaca. Well, I'm sure they're both over that now since the events of UDG, but they were both most definitely what the definition of a simp is, atleast.
Masaru and Nagisa really don't get along all that well. Masaru's red fire and Nagisa's blue water are complete 180s on each other, but as much as they seem to not get along, Nagisa is the one that has shown care and genuine worry for Masaru.
During Masaru's "funeral" in Chapter 2, Nagisa was the only one who refused to believe he was dead, because the report he received was that we went missing, not dead. The other Warriors were so wrapped around the idea that Masaru was dead, (due to Monaca's convincing of the idea) but not Nagisa. He, who was probably the one that argued with Masaru the most. He, who seemed to hate his guts on the surface. He was the one who wanted to look for Masaru.
Even after all his talk of annoying him with being their leader and a hero, he still wanted to look for him because he was still their friend and ally, no matter how many times they argued. Now those are the qualities of what you want out of your team's leader.
Of course, his effort was all in vain because Monaca talked him down, by convincing the other Warriors of Hope that he was acting like an adult, effectively turning them against him and making him retract any idea he had of searching for him. Poor boy.
Moving on to the next Warrior, let's go with Jataro. Jataro always hated himself, and that's what he always wanted the others to feel about him too. Hatred, disgust, malice, and just plain disliking of his whole existence, because that's how Jataro handles with his trauma.
Honestly? Quick praise to Jataro for being the only Warrior of Hope of using his trauma as a way of pleasure rather than getting hurt by it. And also fuck Jataro's mom, all my homies hate Jataro's mom. What the hell did she say to him that made him develop such a weird complex at such a young age? Good lord...
Anyways, back on topic. Jataro wanted all of the Warriors of Hope to hate him. The girls most definitely did, they're open about it. Masaru probably just dismisses his existence as a whole and couldn't care less.
There's an oddball out though, and it's Nagisa. Nagisa was, despite him definitely showing some annoyance with Jataro at times, he really was the only one who truly cared for Jataro and the only one who acknowledges his existence on a more positive note than the others.
As much as Jataro wants the others to hate him, Nagisa is mature and smart enough to understand that this is not an okay mentality to have, and discourages it. He's a change from the other Warriors of Hope (Monaca and Kotoko, especially) who bully him and just make the problem worse. Nagisa even told Jataro in one of the art books, I quote, "Shouldn't you only fight in the demon hunting game and not with yourself?". This was genuine advice and proof that Nagisa cares about Jataro.
Also, can we talk about this picture?
Tumblr media
If you hadn't noticed by now, Jataro's clinging on to Nagisa's arm. I don't know what that really means, but at the very least we can get that Nagisa is seen as a comforting figure by Jataro.
not my cup of tea personally but no wonder why this is nagisa's most popular ship
Anyways, this post is getting way too lengthy already. I still have to talk about Kotoko and Monaca, which I think I'll do tomorrow, so look out for that. The Kotoko-Monaca-Nagisa trio is one of my favorite trio groups in the entire series, only getting beat by probably Makoto-Kyoko-Byakuya and maybe, just maybe Nagito-Hajime-Chiaki. But the trio of kids is definitely up there with them.
Anyways, let me know what you guys thought of this post, I had a lot of fun writing about it and I will definitely have even more fun tomorrow when I get to Nagisa's relationship with Kotoko and Monaca.
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auredosa · 4 years
Text
Simping for Cyrus Drake and Why I Write: A Nice Saturday Morning Statement
Good morning! Here's a sappy, sentimental, but ultimately important explanation of why I write the things I do for this fandom. Read this when you're feeling blue.
I think one of the best things about the W101 fandom, especially the writing portion, is that there are so many pieces exploring how Cyrus deals with his brother's and Sylvia's deaths. We take time to think about how he feels, how this stubborn, grumpy old man might be hurting on the inside, and we all give him as much emotional investment as the next person.
He's just a character, an NPC in a kids' MMO game that was probably never meant to be taken so seriously. And yet, we do it anyway. We give him an ending of tragedy or hope, seeing who he might become and what he might do, and I think that, in and of itself, wonderfuly shows how compassionate the people who make and take those works are. We're not content to see him be forgotten as another character with canon-typical trauma. We're not content to watch him rot away in or out of universe. We want to see his story continue, and so, we write it ourselves.
And it makes me wonder, what if we could treat people in real life like that, too? What if what we write about this game inspires people to take that hope we imbue into our characters and send it to those who need it most in our universe, our Spiral? Behind each of those stories was an author who had the spirit to pull a man out of his despair. I wonder if that person would be willing to do the same off the page.
When I first got back into writing fan fiction, I had to ask myself, why? Why are you putting so much time into writing about a game from your childhood instead of being more productive? Writing about characters from W101 isn't going to do anything but give you nostalgia, so why?
Well, I came to this conclusion. Yes, I do it for the nostalgia. But only in part. I don’t like to stay in the past for the sake of escapism and nostalgia. That’s just not who I am. I always want to move forward, but that’s not easy when I don’t know where I want to go or what I want to do with myself. Sometimes, I, too, get caught up by my past, and fall stagnant, and can’t get up.
And in that grief, in that moment of “I am hurting,” I begin to write. I write about how a grumpy Chiquita-Banana looking wizard might have dealt with this. I write about the people who might help him, or the lack of people who don’t. And while I love writing the bad endings, I love even more writing the better ones. They’re not perfect, but there’s hope in them, because in writing, we give characters birthed in our image and likeness the strength to change their world for the better, and through writing, we find ourselves the strength to change our world for the better.
In fiction writing, we empower our characters, and through writing, we empower ourselves. That, I have decided, is why I write, and will be why I write long after my interest in this fandom is gone. 
Don’t stop here guys, keep pushing, and take what you have learned here . . . spread good and mercy throughout the Spiral . . . 
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