#it's mostly just poetic emotional writing
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this you knew.
warnings : (workplace) established but private relationship. fluff. that's about it actually.
also, this mostly just weirdly poetic and emotional writing. not a lot of plot or substance. sorry!
a/n: carmen refers to reader as "pico," short for "piccola" (small), and reader refers to carmen as raga, short for "ragazzone," (big boy) sorry if these nicknames are cringe they're cute to me !!!!
Fuck, it was cold.
Why did winter have to stretch out for such an excruciating amount of time? It had been snowing since late November—which, at this rate, might continue until March, give or take.
The holidays had just passed, stores were back open, The Bear was back under maintenance, leisure was nonexistent. There was no need for slush on the sidewalks and frost on your car window. You'd already spent the holidays with your extended family, even after swearing up and down you had no intention on coming home this year. Anything remotely related to that mistake needed to be disposed of.
Tonight was calm. Almost too calm. Richie and Marcus were still laying out the general foundation of the dining hall, and Carmen finally beat his record timing for passing through each station of the kitchen marked by green tape. You were pretty much free to go home. Especially since Sydney was the first to leave and encouraged you to do the same.
But just as you walked out of the empty kitchen space through the back door, something urged you to walk back in.
Just act like you forgot something.
Quickly swinging the door open and turning the corner into Natalie's office, where you knew Carmen would be, you stopped. Just barely near the frame.
Altered by your presence, Carmen snapped out of the trance that was staring at the empty space of the wall in front of him. He spun around in the 5-wheeled chair to face you.
"Raga?" you called out, not wanting to intrude as you stepped into the box of the office. Despite the door being wide open like it always was.
Raga. Sure, he wasn't a huge fan of petnames—but it made him feel like he was yours.
And he was. And you were his. Possibly for months now. And you even started to feel it. The word "boyfriend," though it wasn't used religiously, didn't feel bitter in your mouth. The way your name rolled off of Carmen's tongue was addictive to him. He preferred it over a simple 'she' when he spoke of you. You were chaos, but grace all in one.
You told your closest friends about a week after he spoke the words
"I don't really know what I'm doing, but that's—that's okay. It's more than okay. I want this."
But you hadn't told your family, and not even your true, chosen one. Which was here, in this restaurant, and everyone who played a part in it. But perhaps they already knew. Neither you or Carmen were particularly good at keeping secretes.
Just because your mouth stopped, didn't mean your body language or your face did.
Smiles and glances, whispers in corners of the restaurant incoherent to anyone else, his kisses against your temples that weren't as discreet as he hoped, it made it obvious.
But it felt right. This was okay. More than okay.
"Pico?" he repeated, mirroring that same skeptical voice you used just seconds earlier.
Eyebrows knitted with concern, your teeth gnawing at the inside of your cheek, you stood with your weight on your hip and your arms crossed against your chest. Carmen realized you stood like this all the time. But right now, he almost felt like he was in some kind of trouble; the way you eyed him above his level. Like you'd been looking for him and he failed to come to your assistance.
His urge to cave and melt into you was overwhelming. Big, blue eyes peered up at you as he leaned forward, prepared to listen. You only smiled while shrugging your shoulders and leaning against the doorframe.
"Think everybody went home. I didn't really see y'leave. Just—" you swallowed, "—wondered if you'd left or not."
That seemed to finally be enough to soothe him. You just wanted to know if he was here; if he was okay and ready to go home like he should've been.
"Uh—yeah, yeah, I'm still here."
"Yeah, I see that now."
The room stilled. Silence bounced off the drywall. But it was comfortable. It wasn't forced or unwanted. Just simple. And simplicity was scarce at the moment.
"C'mere," Carmen mumbled as he motioned his hand to signal you to come in, his voice barely audible, "just for a 'sec."
Caving in, his cadence and the look in his eyes being enough to convince you, you stepped in. He blinked slowly so as to not miss a single bit of you. For once, you could appreciate the slow of time in this room.
"I'm feeling really good about this," you smiled down at him, "this whole thing, I mean. Mikey woulda' been so proud 'f you, Carmen."
The lump in his throat was harshly swallowed back down as he nodded his head, not quite smiling, but not frowning either. You knew that face all too well. It was the face of guilt. He always wondered if he'd been doing the right thing. Lately it'd been easier to convince himself that the renovation was right, and that he was completely and fully capable of making these "adult decisions," as you called them.
"Thank you."
It was mostly thanks to you, though.
A delicate hand reached for a curl that fell just past his eyebrow. You wrapped the blonde strands around your finger, glancing from his eyes and back to his hair, just to see if he'd been watching you as closely as you hoped. Almost as if it had been second nature, he tilted his head up for easier access as you pulled away from his hair and reached to cup his clean-shaven cheek.
"I mean it, bear," your thumb gently caressed his skin as you spoke. He looked up at you as if he'd just found God in your eyes.
"I know," he tried to protest, giving you a weak smile and threatening to pull his head away.
But he waited.
There'd never been anyone in the universe, on the planet, in the country, in the culinary industry, in this city, or in this restaurant who saw through you the way Carmen Berzatto did. He'd been your head chef even before what was then, The Beef. You followed him back to his home city even months after the two of you made a pact to quit your last job as his sous, and his as your head chef. There was nothing you wanted more than to see him chase his stardom.
You loved him. This you knew.
"You're better at what you do than you'll ever give yourself credit for."
This he knew. At least now he did.
You took him in again with one look. His little moles here and there, his blue eyes, the rose of his cheeks. And at a moments notice, you leaned down to kiss him like it was the last thing you'd ever do. Carmen rose without even letting your lips separate. His hand planted itself at your waist as the other held the back of your head and gently buried itself into your hair. He tasted like cigarettes and mint with a hint of that bitter and filmy residue left on pill capsules.
He loved you. This you knew.
"Maybe you should give yourself some credit, too."
This you knew.
#carmen berzatto#idk what this is#it's mostly just poetic emotional writing#not a lot of substance#but this is just how I write#jeremy allen white#carmen berzatto x reader#ughhh this kinda love will always be the death of me#carmy berzatto#the bear
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Hmmm something I’ve been mulling over is that possibly people defend AI art for the sake of “people who want to draw but can’t now have an outlet!” because they consider writing to be a lesser form of art.
I can’t draw. I will never be able to draw. The way my mind barely comprehends shape and size and geometry connecting to my limbs, it doesn’t translate. But what does work is the written word. When I couldn’t even draw a stick figure, I would write up a paragraph describing one.
Writing is extraordinary easily, just open any typing tool and go for it. Any idea you have, you can do it. If you have trouble, writing advice is always there just as art advice is. Prompt blogs exist if you’re stuck. And then there could thousands of others on a single prompt post commenting ideas to flesh it out and you can just yoink those. Writing takes practice, just as art does, but it’s considerably easier to start writing than to start drawing. Especially since the thing is, people want to draw super well right away but get discouraged. Writing is a lot less frustrating for beginners, and a lot more fulfilling.
But…a 3 page short story or a 4-stanza poem aren’t as flashy as a giant illustration with a rainbow of colors with their favorite characters or animals or whatever. It’s just “words.” Who cares about that? It’s not as cool or impressive, it takes longer to digest words than to stare at an art piece (I’m not really giving AI art any grand meaning…the deepest they go is shitty political propaganda). And they want to make these giant art pieces with no effort, no work because they can’t or won’t bother to pick up the skills themselves. They want the product with none of the work, and they’ll delude themselves into feeling the same sense of accomplishment when all they did it type in a few keywords and hit a button.
Which goes to show how much they truly disregard literature when they also use AI to generate writing for them. Even typing words is too much, or it’s not cool enough for them to give much of a shit anyways.
#I’m not blameless. I have used AI writing when the AI was free.#mainly to help motivate myself cuz some of it was enjoyable#and once to make a poem for a chapter intro because my rhythm deafness does hinder my poetic ability#but it’s all being paywalls and I don’t care enough when I get prompts from other people for free#and now when I do make poetry (mostly to vent emotions) it just stays with me#I’m going back to bed
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humans are poets as well as warmongers
Humans nowadays are well known far and wide in this galaxy. Mostly because they are some of the most chaotic, Stupid or bold "daredevils" around (think i used that word correctly).
While i do recall my first meeting with the humans very V E R Y badly since i served in the contact wars when the Graktuka a well known theocratic empire and very influential and politically strong contender in the galaxy stumbled across human colonies. They saw this as an hostile action since the planet they were settling were a holy world, That however is a story for another time.
Just know that the Graktuka empire shrunk by a significant margin to the point where they asked for militairy support. The humans had apparently developed a kind of magnetic accelerated firing plattform piercing through multiple layers of hull completely ignoring shields. Given that Graktuka empire relied on shields since most of the galactic arsenal is plasma based but their hull wasn't weak at all. Unconventional weapons had to be used to even dent their armour. Realising that the humans ships were massive but rather primitive and slow a ground based invasion was seen to be the optimal way off going.
If you were there you would know why humanity is as feared as they are. Masters of the what did they call it? Art of war? Yeah something like that. Fields of bombs buried into the ground detonating with a light step. Weapons dedicated to injure soldiers just enough to save them but not kill them in order to make the invader spend more resources on saving said soldier.
Even our bases of operations with shields were not safe, let me tell you if you think regular humans can cause damage to stuff by touching things dont even get near trained saboteurs with your stuff. They break things in a ways that seems like a simple malfunction and will work after a simple repair. When the shield generator first broke down i thought i could fix it in a matter of minutes, I still havent fixed it to this day and i have taken that thing apart thousands of times without finding the fault.
safe to say we lost that war and this is just one one planet. This was the short part. Just be glad that they pack bond with just about anything. Saw a human carry a cleaning unit and named it "Ronald the Roomba" And that is apparently our ships mascot. But this is things we all are aware of. Let me tell you of their poetic side
This is not something most of us see as common knowledge about humans, but their cultural aspect besides war is for a lack of better words beautiful. This thing they call music.
for all their wars they know how brutal they are and write songs about everything they did wrong and how they wished how they could change it. But that is not all, according to human Jakob music portrays emotions and ones feelings in a way that regular communication doesn't and you dont even need to understand the words to understand the emotion said piece is carrying. Which i know to be true, it's almost therapeutic
I think My log of it will be a better way to describe since it is honestly hard to describe [alltough be careful their music is quite loud for most prey species]
Year 4574 human sector 456854 log 1 of service leave. I am currently here on a passion project of mine. While the war has ended 6 years ago off now the tensions do still exist. Me and some comrades in service are taking some time off and going to what humans call a bar and apparently there is a human performing. I have no idea of how this is gonna go. All i know is humans are incredibly chaotic especially when intoxicated. Still i should probably record this for the culture scientists at social scientific hub.
Log 2
*murmur and loud talking in the background at the bar*
"for clarifications sake, my name is Groakslo, i am here with my two comrades Kyukla and Telosa. We are currently at the bar only to see that humans are actively drinking poison, i was quite shocked to hear this and asked if it isn't dangerous and the bartender said and i quote "nah we gucci" note to self find out what gucci is."
Log 3
"the humans were beginning to get rowdy and even slight outbursts of violence did occur but nothing the surprisingly loud bartender couldn't handle by a very concerning threat, followed by him saying that the band is preparing so settle down. Telosa and i looked at each other very confused but still awaited this "band"
Log 4
"the band arrived and started to set up weird things, long instruments with metal strings, of varying thickness, i asked the a human who were close by what they were and he said instruments. I asked what they were used for and he said to play music. I was getting nowhere and decided to see for myself what they were gonna do."
Log 5 (i decided to be quiet for this one)
"welcome folks and aliens of all sorts shapes and kinds! Thank you for coming to this bar for our first debut our name is The Lines In between, and for those who dont know human music, we'll slowly lean you into it with this first on and it is namned Memories beneath the stars" [3 hours of music recorded]
Final log (yes i know i could voice record but i want to write while the memory is fresh i'm bad with words)
I never knew that humans could make such songs. Telosa and Kyukla was particurlarly affected. The song was as the name suggest the memories we made sneaking out to watch the stars as younglings, reminiscing about the times when the stars were the most unknown, adventure filled and beautiful place to be in. But also about the connections they've lost over the years, the good times wiped away like a water slowly polishing a stone into sand. It was odd, beautiful calm, sad all at once.
The voices i heard when i fought humans in war can not even be compared to that of the singer in that band, what is most perplexing is that the once borderline rioting bar was completely quiet when the band was performing, almost as if in a trance completely captured by the singers voice, smooth, rough, raspy but controlled in a way i thought impossible. A song about 4 human minutes somehow managed to capture the full emotional spektrum of not only humans but multiple species in that bar.
Humans truly are an astounding species. Truly a species that are on all of the extremes, stupidity, ingenuity, violence, poetry and many many more. For now i'll sign off and hope you at the social cultural exchange fellas have a field day with the music file attached to this.
Grokslo, highly decorated former geothermical shield generator militairy specialist.
#humans are space oddities#humans are space australians#humans are space fae#humans are space orcs#this is my firsy real post and more to come :)
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Raphael has a very poetic and grandiose way of speaking that is absolutely not the norm for day-to-day life. How do you get in the mindset to come up with his dialogues? They're perfection and I just can't even imagine how long it would take to do one paragraph of the way he talks, but you're writing an entire story with him...
Oh I love this question because I can answer it, lol sadlkjfsda
Okay so, Raphael's character is tough for me.
Normally I do a lot of dialogue research before starting to write a character in fanfiction and original fiction, but Raphael actually gets proportionately very few lines that really show his full emotional range (compared to say, Astarion), and he's got an incredibly specific way of talking that sounds similar to Astarion but at the same time is very different.
They share enough similarities (calling people darling and dear for example) that it's easy to fall into the trap of giving them the same 'voice.'
I find Astarion's voice a lot easier to 'get' and I feel like I can hear him better when I'm writing him. But Raphael I'm taking into emotional spaces we simply never see in the game, and then I have to really guess how he'd sound (like coming up with the idea that the theatricality vanishes when Raphael is genuinely panicking).
I ended up listening to a lot of interviews with Andrew Wincott, the Voice Actor for Raphael who is an incredible actor and extremely articulate. He was very clear in one of his interviews that one of the reasons he was selected to play Raphael was because, in part, he already sounded like him. Obviously there's differences / skill in changing cadence and more, but for the most part, Andrew Wincott uses similar vocabulary and talks in a similar manner to Raphael naturally, so I had an abundance of interviews that I could then listen to in order to get a feel for Raphael's voice. I picked the things that felt more 'Raphael' and added them to my dialogue notes.
I often have to go back and edit Raphael's dialogue. Sometimes it's very simple things, I had him say 'much more' in the chapter I'm editing right now, and I edited it to 'far more' because I think he'd just phrase it like that. Sometimes I expand a sentence into an entire paragraph.
I've also leaned a lot from Korilla's transcripts in the game, which have been super useful. They really cement, more than anything, how much he loves lullabies, nursery rhymes, children's tales and more.
HOW TO DO DIALOGUE RESEARCH:-
If you're new to dialogue research, it mostly involves listening to - and watching a character and then literally taking notes of how they talk. The things you observe are:
The tone of their voice - Fast or slow. Loud or soft. Musical or flat. Theatrical or matter-of-fact. High or low. Questioning or complete statements. Considered or hedging (i.e. very well constructed sentences, or a lot of pauses, ellipses, broken sentences). Rambling or concise.
How often they talk - Some characters actually say a lot with very little. Raphael is actually a lot of observation and facial expressions and eyebrow movements in between his dialogue. Little smirks, hand gestures and more. Do they interrupt or let people finish their sentences? Are they comfortable with silence? I find Raphael oscillates between long theatrical paragraphs, single sentences or words, and then a lot of silence. He's actually not very conversational, in that you can have a conversation with him, but I doubt he'd see the point of two hours of small-talk. (At this point you might be realising that dialogue research is also character research, how a character talks tells you so much about a character.)
The words (and metaphors/subjects) they use - This is a big one and I'm going to break this down a little bit more:
How they pause if they don't know what to say. Is it 'um' 'uh' 'ah' 'hm' 'mm' 'mn' or nothing at all (or something else) because they've mastered self-control over their dialogue? If Raphael says 'ah' he does so on purpose.
Filler words. Things like characters saying 'like' in a sentence. 'He was like, 'I can't believe it'' etc. This is very similar to how they pause, but it's the things people say to get from point A to point B. People who don't do this have often had training or think very hard about what they're going to say before they say it. But people say 'like' or 'and then' or 'well' or 'i realised that' or 'i thought that' etc. to carry them on. Some are more acceptable than others (people do just have realisations for example).
Profanity. How often do they swear, and how intentional is it? Some characters only swear when they get hurt or stub their toe or get angry. Some characters swear all the time for fun. Some characters only use some swear words and not others. Be specific. Be aware that some swear words are cultural! This includes blasphemy. In Faerun they use 'gods' and 'gods damn it' more often than we use 'god' or 'oh my god.'
Vulgarity. This is useful for Raphael (and Astarion) because he's very happy to be vulgar. This is like... how comfortable are they talking about sex, about sexual subjects, being crude, being seductive, flirtatious? And if they use it, do they use vulgarity to shock, seduce, scare, threaten, or for humour?
Salutations and farewells. How do they greet people? Silence? A calm hello? (A lot of greetings are omitted in dialogue but this is still good to know). How do they say hello, goodbye. How does that change between friends and enemies and strangers?
Single word sentences. This might sound weird, but sometimes when a character hears something that shocks them, or needs to acknowledge something, they may say anything from 'huh' to 'yeah' to 'fuck' to 'okay' to 'all right' to 'sure' to 'go on' to 'indeed' to just laughing out loud. The list goes on. Raphael is team 'indeed' lmao.
Sentence structure. Raphael's sentence structure is - when he's most comfortable - gently provoking, teasing, vaguely threatening, and makes liberal use of simile, metaphor, fairy tale, rhyme, sayings, colloquialisms and more. Raphael talks like someone who knows someone could quote him at any moment lmao. But from here, how a character structures their sentences can be helpful to know. Go back to 'the tone of their voice.' Those notes will give you an idea of structure.
Emotionality. How emotional are they? Do they have rage rants? Joyful giggling dialogue? Do they infodump with little emotion? Or with sheer excitement? Does their dialogue feel fake or real? Opaque or transparent? Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves, and others will never be able to say 'I love you' in anything other than actions. Raphael's emotionality in dialogue is more present in his anger and irritation, and also when he feels triumphant and/or turned on.
The symbols, sayings, colloquialisms and metaphors themselves. Not all characters use these. But some people/characters will talk through analogies, colloquialisms. This is actually Raphael's biggest dialogue departure from Astarion, imho, aside from the fact that Astarion is a lot more emotional with his dialogue.
Take into account their culture, ethnicity, conceits, upbringing, education and the people they're close to:
This one is vital. Firstly, some people tend to 'absorb' elements of those around them. A person raised by affluent people will often 'sound affluent' and a person raised in poverty will often have dialogue that reflects this and if they don't there will be reasons for that. It might be a conceit (some people self-teach themselves different accents), it might be education, it might be training, it might be the subculture/s they've entered into, and so on.
~
When doing this research, you'll end up with a kind of master-list of actual words and probably some sentences you've written down, along with a lot of notes. You can also do this for any original characters you're making at all, you're just then making it up based on the character, and this research will also give in many ways the shape of the character.
It's a fun exercise and I highly recommend everyone tries it literally for people who don't exist and also observe your friends and family, and do a dialogue cheat sheet for some of them. It's pretty eye-opening! Even one page will teach you more than nothing at all. You can go deep and write many pages, or you can do what I do and keep it lean at 2 pages. Anyone who struggles with characterisation I suggest at least try this exercise, because anyone can put on a YouTube video and/or streaming service or even a favourite Tiktoker and start doing dialogue research! It's a way of building a character from the top down while also getting information about their foundations.
#asks and answers#pia on dialogue#pia on characterisation#pia on writing#reference#on writing#writing techniques#writing advice#dodgy advice#i might just take the second 'how to' part and make it its own post#but anyway here's how to do it!
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Idk if it was mentioned (I'm still working my way through all the soccer family stuffs) but is Mama Hispanic? Or did she learn Spanish?
Sure it's not that important to some people, but I'm curious to know what you had in mind when writing her, cause I'm obsessed and wanna know all the background info on all your things
First of all, lemme welcome you to this madness hehe ❤️.
And she learned Spanish, thanks to Miguel mostly.
She's this lovely latin-american woman that moved to Nueva York when a kid but didn't grow up with the language. Her parents were too concerned with her learning a new language than anything else that they forgot to keep encouraging the spanish.
It served it's purpose but it was hard for her being one of those kid that was part latino but didn't know any spanish. Bully ensured, but she was feisty. (Resulting in her being in trouble a couple of times because she got fed up with their shit.)
When she meets Miguel, we see her boasting up spanish cause she just reconnected with her mother tongue. (Thanks to her elder aunt Isa), however it was one of those things that come and go if you don't practice them enough.
Miguel had sooo much patience with her once they get married, it was hard and kinda frustrating to make progress only to be regressing with little things. But It was the perfect chance for Miguel to say the filthiest things right into her face and she would just look at him with a loving and curious look, thinking he was being poetic and in love.
But after years, and some extra lessons and a gorgeous half Mexican man as her personal tutor, nothing escapes from her.
Sometimes it gets under Miguel's skin cause she has such a potty mouth when angry. (It arouses and scares him)
The only one in her generation that ran away from home (More like forced to leave) when she was 17, worked her way through college, got a decent looking job until she started to get underpaid and the load work was the same if not worse. She meets Miguel at the age of 21. (He was 25 that time), only to become a mother two years later.
Her family criticized her for getting married so young, but look at her now ~
Happy, a spoiled housewife, a marriage of 13 and a half years and three lovely kids with a beautiful and dreamy husband that would do anything for her.
And her character is born out of the need to see more Latina women in Miguel’s fics :') There was soo little content about it. So I took matters in my own hands. Even though she is mixed, I wanted to make her a relatable character for everyone that has came across this AU. (Be it either family issues, growing up without the mother tongue, finding independence really young, toxic and unhinged family, going to therapy to heal, and other emotional thingies that are often overlooked ~)
So even if you aren't a Latina, you can still feel part of her character ❤️.
Its therapeutic and fun to write her, ☺️.
Hope this offers a little more insight on Mama ❤️
#miguel o'hara#talking with t✨#miguel o'hara x reader#miguel o'hara x you#soccer family ⚽🕷️#atsv miguel#mama o'hara
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can u also give us fic recs? i wanna read your fic but it's long hdhwhsjs
wanna be in the right mindset
so do u have any?
Here are some fics that I really liked because I thought they were interesting. I loved the way the characters are written, most of them are Kai centered, angst (check the tags for any triggers) and short. Also these are some we used as reference for the characterization of the ninja in Eclipse.
(idk how many recs you wanted so I put a lot)
They turn the light on and it's burning up the sky by Sugarglider_s : very short and poetic Kai analisis angst fic. Absolutely love the way it's written and the interpretation of Kai's character.
Hello my old heart by Bemmiecake : this is a long unfinished fic centered around Kai in the timeskip between seasons 3 and 4. I had to add it because it is definitely one of my favourites, this fic has made me emotional multiple times. It's heartbreaking how Kai has to go through his awful coping mechanisms as the Red Shogun and how he ends up finding a sliver of hope in the process. It also features a well built oc!
What gets out comes around by fruitcasket : this one is Cole centric but explores some contradictions of his character mostly with his relationship with Kai, how despite being a kind soul he acts as a bully towards him quite often.
Too familiar by Maplebreeze : Oneshot about Kai realizing him and Lloyd had similar experiences. Basically RG brothers fluff with some hurt.
Alike, alone by fruitcasket : Morro possesses Kai fic but it’s focused on Kai and Morro’s interactions and similarities rather than actions. It does some character analisis and dives into their mentality.
All of the work, none of the money by ADHDplusCartonnmakesCHAOS : Fic about the ninja learning about Kai and Nya’s childhood. There are many fics exploring this theme but this one is my favourite so far, talking about the subtler things like how costly pads are when you're already short on money to eat.
Fight by Maplebreeze : It describes perfectly how Kai would lose himself to violence (as one of his awful coping mechanisms) again and again and again, to distract his heart from all of those close to him he couldn't save (up until Possessed)
Guilt by Cherry_dynamite : On this fic we finally get closure with Lloyd addressing the fact that he did not see Kai's survival guilt back in the slither pit.
Boiling Point by Salty_Pickle_Bones : It is about Kai and the team being wrecked by Nya's death. It shows just how lost Kai has become, how he's going down the alcoholic rabbit hole again.
Off the deep end by Kiss_The_Cook : Set in the first season when Lloyd is a kid living with the ninja. Kai refuses to get close to Lloyd, despite Lloyd admiring him, because he knows he and Lloyd will get attached to each other and Kai thinks it would be very bad for the kid to do so. Brothers fluff (and some angst), I love how Kai’s mentality is portrayed and of course little Lloyd.
Aftermath by Sugarglider_s : Fluff opposite oneshot. Not really related to the rest but I love it and made a comic about it -> link here.
Feel free to recommend any other fic you like. We are especially interested in those that analyze the characterization of the ninja in depth, more specifically any other character besides Kai (pls let us know, especially ones about Jay, we’re struggling with writing him).
Side note: I know there aren’t many Kai and Nya fics so recommend ones focused on them too pls.
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Hey bro I like your writing and I was wondering if you could give us some Mizu x Filipino!Reader hcs🥺👉👈 ̶(̶t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶n̶n̶a̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶)̶
I have to make this poetic I'm so sorry but also making it modern!au and canon setting teehee (ALSO DOUBLE UPDATE?) slight nsfw ig!! mdni.
canon divergent, just think of this is as that scene from Goyo where Remedios and Gregorio Pilar do a wholeass pining scene idk
Absolutely met you at some fancy ass noble party
You're a child of a wealthy Senor who's in great partnership with the Lords from the Commonwealth
Mizu's camping in and disguising herself in the party to find more intel on her next target and then she bumps into you
at first you're like very inquisitive of where she came from (considering that you view her as a man at this point), how she enjoys the party and what not
then you're suddenly like ik what you're doing. you're not from here.
Mizu's thrown off bc haha this is an international gathering of sorts and like ppl here are mostly foreign
you're like well its bc you're so obvious when it comes to occasions like this that I've already spotted you from a while back
and so youre like dancing and all and Mizu has no choice but to extract info from you
she reveals that shes looking for a white man, and that he may have connections here in the ph
and coincidence cuz you, who's also a part of the resistance, have been tracing the weapons provider of the spanish army.
so you guys work together. you give her intel, she helps you hunt down the provider and their little goons
it kind of starts like an enemies to lovers .... kind of a forced situation where Mizu has to deal with the resistance in order to get to what she wants but rlly theres no other way around
falls in love w your love for your country
despite your privileged upbringing, you're deeply interconnected with your roots, and have been fighting for the filipino people
you guys fight over the simplest of things, like how she doesnt wear things right or holds weapons correctly
you definitely bond over weaponry though and its history. the first time you've seen her katana, you were so amazed. in return, you showed her a kampilan—a sword carved and forged by your grandfather. she had so many questions.
yeahh overall i think what pulled you together was your shared anger and desperation for justice. No matter the situation, whether it be a resistance against oppression or looking for the man that caused a hellscape within your life, y'all resonated with the emotions and trauma that came with that.
BEST BELIEVE THE SEX WAS GOOD and rough and yes hbejawhejehe mhm
anys thats all. you're like PARA SA PILIPINAS and shes on her knees.
modern au hehe
met through int sch program. mizu is a transferee from japan who joined their uni's international program and got linked w ur sch
she was in one of ur classes and like yeah, she was nearest to u so she had no choice but to ask u for sch stuff
YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS PRETTY CUTE but like u wanted a good impression so u tried to help her as much as u could
even gave her a tour of the campus
showed her a few iconic eating places that she could go to jic her budget was on a limit or wanted good filo food
you wanted to expose her to the culture as slowly as u could just so that she could adapt and pace herself
definitely stuck by your side since then
you learned that she's going to study here for 3 years before going back to japan for her masters, and you're like wow thats so cool and shes like thanks
definitely a gamer
you guys hang out at one of the comp shops nearby (IF NAGAARAL KAYO SA TAFT .... guys suki ako don HAHAHA)
loves learning abt history, esp filipino craftsmanship
you definitely treat her to various street foods
mizu : what's this
you : we call it kwek kwek, but u can call it neon balls
mizu: neon balls????
showed and taught her how public transpo works once, and she gets a hang of it a week later
knows her way around manila than you do (author is projecting mb)
knows basic filo words when navigating. you teach her the slang.
basically friends to lovers guys omg, ayon sana all eme
you do that lips thing where you point w ur lips and at first, she was so confused (this is during your relationship)
she thought you were asking for a kiss and she kissed u and you were like ?!@!?@??$?
mizu: ha
you: I WAS ASKING FOR THE,ASd MUGWTF
mizu: ahhh my bad haha
walks u to class teehee
hangs around in empty class rooms esp comp labs and you guys watch movies there
momol sa dorm, momol sa clasroom na madilim, momol sa may agno charot
MOMOL = MAKE OUT MAKE OUT LANG
revels in simple pda like linking ur pinkies together, thigh against thigh when seating, and just yk so landi. landi niyo.
you have her id pic on the back of ur id and she yours on her clear phonecase
EWWWW GAY PPL (affectionate)
unintentionally matching
loves gifting u jewelry esp necklaces (likes to see it when u guys are in the bedroom, splayed on your chest and just yk decorating your collarbones so nicely)
holds your hand and helps you cross the street omf
pays for ur commute fee when riding the jeepney
memorizes ur kwek kwek and fishball sauce combination
loves exchanging one shoe w u for funsies
loves taking pics w u w the cats on campus
OVERALL A CUTIE TEEHEE!
A/N: DEDICATED KAY DELULU RECEIVER!! eto para sayo sorry ginutom keta ng sobra huhu @ianiralvs may isa pa kong utang sayo na req mo hihi gagawen ko pa yon to muna HHAHHAHA
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Hey, apologies, I'm sure this has been asked before & I've seen an answer about it, but I'm struggling to find the post! And absolutely no pressure to answer bc I know it's asking a lot. I really enjoy reading poetry and find your poetry so wonderful & moving to read, I really treasure my copy of wonderers & witch talkers. I have no background in literature or humanities and I really enjoy writing poetry but it is Bad Poetry. Is there a way to get better at both reading & writing poetry, please?
thank you so much, that's so flattering! 🥰♥
there's a lot of advice about writing poetry in my tagged/writing:
my process of writing a poem from beginning to end, including editing
how to get over the anxiety of being "bad" at poetry
how to find your poetic voice (via @christee-angel)
writing exercises
on line breaks in free-form poetry
how to get started writing fixed-form poetry
sonnet exercises (at the end of this reading). mostly if you've already written a few sonnets and are interested in the form
how to avoid sounding trite (don't worry about this yet if you've just started writing poetry)
the advice in there about reading poetry is sparser, but a lot of the advice about writing (making sure that things like tone, line breaks, and meter are 'doing' what you want them to do) doubles as advice about reading—in fact, reading poetry is necessary to gain an understanding of what, for example, a line break 'does' to your experience of reading a poem, such that you can manipulate your own line breaks to effect.
more advice on reading poetry:
Paul Fussell's Poetic Meter and Poetic Form is often given as an intro to close reading of poetry. you might start with chapter 6, which engages with both metre and rhyme.
different ethos of reading literature (that aren't close reading) and questions to ask yourself as you read
how to read stress in / perform scansion of metred poetry
I also want to stress that, if you're enjoying what you read, you are not "bad" at reading poetry. reading a poem, having an emotional (or other) response to the import of the words, a pleasurable (or jarring, thought-provoking, interestingly uncomfortable) response to the texture of the language itself—any instance where a poem is 'doing' something for you, where you feel like you're getting something from the poem, or collaborating with the poem to produce an experience you like—these are all 'successful' instances of reading poetry.
additional things to do / pay attention to when reading a poem:
read the poem silently, and then (if you can) aloud. pay attention to how the poem makes you feel, what situation you think it's describing, what ideas you get from it. then listen to the poem as it's read (if there's a reading on youtube or an audiobook version, for example) and compare that to your reading of the poem. how do the different readings suggest different interpretations or emphasis?
on your next reading, pay special attention to the language of the poem and to how the words sound put together as you read aloud. how do they feel in your mouth? what rhymes, repeated sounds (consonance or assonance), rhythms do you notice? at what pace do move across the page, and how does the author of the poem use rhythm, lineation, or spacing across the page to alter that pace? can you liken the rhythm of the poem to a certain pattern of bodily movement? can you 'feel' it? what does the shape of the poem evoke? why do you think the author made the choices they did?
notice the tone of the words chosen. is it matter-of-fact, melodramatic, incisive, flowery, pared-down, effusive?
notice the structure of the poem. is it strictly chronological, does it move back and forth, is it wandering, repetitive, cyclic, does it repeatedly reference ideas or repeat images that have come before? what effect do these things have on your experience of the poem? how would the poem be different with a different tone or structure?
as a writing exercise, try writing the poem with a different tone or structure. what changes? is it more effective, less effective, does it do different things? which version do you prefer?
does the poem remind you of anything you've read before? what ideas in the broader world (social, literary, economic, political) does the poem reference or play with? does your perception of the poem's form (i.e., you probably have different ideas about what a sonnet versus a free-form poem 'means') seem to work with or against the poem's tone and ideas? why do you think the poet chose the form they did? on analysing the choices that a poet made within a fixed form, see Fussell again.
as you notice different aspects of a poem in their plurality, you should be in a better place to manipulate these things in your own writing; this also encourages more multivalent possibilities in how you respond to other people's writing.
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Okay, so I just finished Love for Love's Sake and..... I have so many thoughts. I could wax poetic for hours about how much I loved the show, but right now what I really want to talk about is my theory on the ending and the whole concept of the "game."
Please bare with me as I don't make posts like this (or any at all for that matter) often. Please forgive me if it's incoherent, my thoughts tend to run faster than my fingers can type lol.
Here we go!
First, who is the author sunbae? I think he's the embodiment of death. When Myungha wished on the shooting star for 1. Someone to care for him and love him and 2. To disappear,he was wearing what I'm pretty sure is the same outfit as when we first see him in the bar back in episode 1. This leads me to believe Death heard his wish, so when Myungha decides to end his life and regrets his decision in the last moment, Death decides to give him a chance to change his fate.
So he creates the "game" based on a novel he supposedly wrote. I believe this is a false memory he gives to Myungha so he will willingly play the game and try to change his fate. Which leads me to my second point...
Myungha is the author. The show did a very good job at keeping this subtle at the beginning. We as an audience are led to believe he is simply transported into the videogmae world and is at the mercy of the dating sim, but they show us multiple times that that's not the case.
Once, when Myungha mentions that the missions are written in his handwriting, a second time when we get a flashback of him actually writing these missions in a notebook at the bar, and a final time when we see him pen the shows Ultimate Mission using the Author's Pen, "Please make Cha Yeowoon Happy."
I started to get the idea that Myungha was the author back in the first few episodes when we started to see the side missions. Every mission he got screamed to me "this mission is actually for you, not Yeowoon." What was the first thing he did when he was supposed to get Yeowoon more friends? He befriended Kyunghoon himself. Save 3,000,000 won? For himself. Get Yeowoon followers? Using HIS Instagram. Which leads to point number three....
The game Myungha is sent to is actually a reenactment of his senior year of high school. All the characters he meets are actual people in his earlier life, his grandma, Kyunghoon, Sangwon. But in his original "playthrough" he didn't bother to befriend or interact with them, so they went about their lives unaffected, and he forgot they existed. I say all this with the exception of Cha Yeowoon.
Cha Yeowoon is a mirrored reflection of Myungha created by Death and inserted into the game. Myungha said himself at the beginning that Yeowoon was his favorite character because he reminds him of himself. Later on, we learn that their backgrounds are almost identical too. Yeowoon lost his mother, has an absent runaway father, and was raised by his grandmother. Myungha has a dead father, absent runaway mother, and is being raised by his grandmother. So at the beginning when Death asks Myungha if he will change Yeowoon's fate and rewrite his story, he's really talking about Myungha.
Adding to this, I also noticed something rather spectacular narratively in the second half of the show. The whole show, we watched Myungha try and (mostly) succeed at making Yeowoon happy. But suddenly I realized, as we watched him get happier and happier, Myungha was falling deeper and deeper into a sadness rivaling how we saw Yeowoon in the beginning. We stopped seeing the calculations of Yeowoon's affection level, and instead saw error messages and system malfunctions, representing Myungha's emotional state.
Which begs the ultimate question on everyone's minds to be answered. If the whole point of sending Myungha back to his 19yo self and giving him Yeowoon was to get him to love himself and be happy, why were the system malfunctions so devastatingly awful and cruel? Answer: because Myungha is the author, and he's depressed and self-destructive.
He begins to feel happy with the changes he's made, he sees Yeowoon happier and he feels like he's succeeding, yet the countdown message to his death still appears. It's ominous and impending and a constant reminder that he's failing. So as the author, he tries to revert back to factory settings by getting rid of the major changes to his life, Yeowoon and his grandmother. The two people who love him most, and the two people he thinks he deserves the least.
Sangwon said it the best. Myungha's main issue is that he refuses to receive love, both from others and himself. Which is why he fails the game and dies a second time. He followed the missions for Yeowoon and refused to let them break down his own walls like they were ment to.
But Death does see the change in him through Yeowoon. Being Myungha's mirror, Yeowoon represents the change that was supposed to happen to Myungha. So when Myungha (the him he hates) deletes himself in order to make Yeowoon (the him he loves) happy ("please make Cha Yeowoon happy"), Yeowoon is able to go full-meta, breaking through the game and rewriting the mission to "Please make Tae Myungha happy."
Thus saving Myungha and allowing him a third chance at a happy life, where he receives just as much love as he gives.
Don't ask me about the "he comes back disjointed from Yeowoon's timeline" thing bc I don't understand it narratively but it sure does make for a visually pleasing ending.
#love for love's sake#love supremacy zone#text#text post#long post#kbl#korean bl#tae myung ha#cha yeowoon
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The Old Guard Dæmon AU
Probably done before, but I wanted to write one myself, so I thought I'd make a guide to the Guard and their respective dæmons, to go with the fic I just posted for it.
Andy: Hwehnto (Przewalski's horse)
Yeah, a wolf or some other predator might fit, but let's face it, the supreme horse girl should have a horse for a dæmon. *h₂weh₁n̥to- is Proto-Indo-European for "wind", butchered into a modernly comprehensible Hwehnto/Hwento. He is a very serious and stoic dæmon, much like Andy, but his outbursts of emotion are striking. He is vicious in battle and will not hesitate to attack both human and dæmon, if necessary.
I did also consider a tarpan for Andy, but there is literally one photo in existence of one. I generally assume that actually it would be some European wild horse so old it doesn't exist anymore, and we've lost all modern knowledge of it. So Przewalski's horse will do.
Quynh: Minh Nhat (white-lipped pit viper)
Of course our viper would have a viper! Small, quick and venomous. He doesn't have a name yet because, frankly, I don't speak Vietnamese and I want him to have a cool name like most dæmons have. His name is Minh Nhat, which means "bright sunlight", in contrast with Quynh's name. More outgoing than most dæmons, will talk casually with other humans, and is prone to little acts of thievery (thimbles, small nuts, little trinkets), mostly out of delight with the object than any malice. Very tiny! Likes spending his time tucked up Quynh's sleeve. Will not hesitate to bite a human should the need arise, but tucks himself in Quynh's collar or scarf when in battle.
I was torn between this and a red-headed krait, but ultimately went to an actual viper (well, pit viper, close enough).
Joe: Tayyib (scimitar oryx)
(Oddly difficult to find a photo of one alone, with no radio collar, that hasn't been shot by some bastard trophy hunter).
Tayyib (named that way for obvious reasons and chosen by Joe's mother's dæmon) represents everything poetic and artistic about Joe, and is calm and wise. Dislikes fighting, but will if he must: watch out for those horns! Yes, he is a male dæmon, a rarity, another commonality Joe shares with Nicky. I wonder why? A very good listener who gives good advice.
I don't know why I decided on another ungulate for this hapless team (can they even go anywhere?), but I did. I figured a desert antelope of some kind would be good for Joe, and it was a toss-up between this and an addax. I admit I chose it just for the name.
Nicky: Bonamico (Luzon bleeding-heart dove)
Geographically, it doesn't make sense. Symbolically? I had to. Bonamico is quiet, contemplative and kind, barely speaks except to Nicky, Joe or Tayyib, but is always concerned for those about him. He is far more nervous than Nicky, but stores a lot of knowledge, a trait he does share with Nicky. His favourite place to perch, other than Nicky's shoulder, is between Tayyib's horns (although occasionally he likes to sit on Joe's head). He does the scouting for the group, as the only bird dæmon.
This bird is the entire reason I made this damn AU. It's just too perfect. Look at this Catholic-ass bird!
Booker: Amandine (black rat)
*wheezing* I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm not sorry.
Now, the problem with dæmons is that we have rat symbolism, which is of rats as dirty and sneaky, but we're also modern human beings that know perfectly well rats are cute, intelligent and affectionate creatures that make amazing pets. Amandine herself is mostly just shy and quiet, although she does like it when she gets the chance to roast Booker, but then again, who doesn't? She is their little reconnaissance expert, being sent in to buildings and small places to chew through wires and spy. She, unlike Booker, is always supremely well-groomed.
I did consider a ferret or stoat, something a little more noble, but I personally do love rats so much and so I wanted a positive rat dæmon, for once.
Nile: Dakarai (red wolf)
I wanted to give Nile something supremely American, but she was in the Marines, and soldiers of most kinds tend to have dog dæmons, so no stereotypical birds. But Nile is also smart and quick-thinking, and family-oriented, so the red wolf made sense to me. Dakarai is loyal and far more serious than his human, a bit more cynical. Having been trained in a modern Armed Force, post-Geneva Convention, he's never touched another human being and has exclusively fought other dæmons. He is, of course, a good tracker.
Someone had to have a canine in this group. Might as well be Nile!
Bonus (under the cut for cockroach reasons):
James Copley: Vindemiatrix (common raven)
The Odin symbolism of the knowledge-seeker raven, honestly. She perches in odd places, watches everything, and reports back. She is a secret-keeper and prone to keeping her own counsel, not interacting much with other dæmons. She, like Copley, misses his wife and her Pallas's cat dæmon something fierce.
Stephen Merrick: Unnamed (American cockroach)
Need I say more? He deserves it.
Dr Meta Kozak: Unnamed (hagfish)
A disgusting dæmon for a disgusting woman, who burrows into people's bodies and eats them from the inside out. She carries the horrid thing in a lightweight tank backpack, one of the many modern accomodations for people with water-dwelling dæmons.
Keane: Unnamed (Eastern black rhino)
A beautifully noble dæmon, unfortunately wasted on a bastard.
Lykon: Unnamed (melanistic leopard)
She was graceful, majestic and courteous, and absolutely breathtaking in battle. She would dispense affection to daemon and human alike, much like Lykon himself.
#the old guard#joenicky#andromache the scythian#yusuf al kaysani#nicolo di genova#nile freeman#sebastien le livre#quynh#daemon au#his dark materials#pixie writes#supplemental material
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Chapter 33 Haven’t I given enough?
Chapter 33 of Sugar
A/N- I’m trying to use like 3 chapters of the manga per chapter, but bro these domain expansions make that hard! But moving forward I’ll have a chance to use less manga chapters so we don’t have to move on so fast!
Warning- Swearing, ANGST ;), fluff, violence and blood, SPOILERS!! long chapter!
Pairing- Choso x Gojo!fem-reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader
Episode and or chapters- chapters 226-230 (but only the beginning of 230) of the manga
(Let me know if you want to be tagged)
————
*A COUPLE DAYS AGO*
“Can I say something like, whenever I think about a father I never think about you, but you were kind of like one and a lot better than my actual father?” You say with a teasing smile even if just under the surface emotional tears threaten to burst out. And your emotions are especially more heightened at the moment because you’re dancing a dance that’s supposed to be with your father, but instead, it’s your brother.
“No,” Satoru shoots you down quickly and looks at you with a pointed look. “No sappy shit at all for the rest of the night. Even if I appreciate it,” he finishes with a grin.
“So,” you add with the same teasing grin. “I can’t say that even if I would have loved a sister I’m glad I got stuck with you?”
Satoru shakes his head and counters. “No, but again it’s appreciated.”
You laugh softly and drop your head to smile at the ground before you look back at your brother and catch him looking around the dance floor with wonder for a moment before he looks at you with an all too snarky grin. “Considering how much you could do for this wedding in a couple of days, I wonder now how your other wedding was. Was it over the top?” He dares to ask. “I remember Suguru would spoil you even if he said he shouldn’t.”
You glare at him and then whisper sharply. “I won’t talk about my other wedding to another man with you right now. It’s bad luck.”
Satoru scoffs. “Where did you hear that from?” He asks teasingly.
“I'm just assuming, I mean we would be talking about my previous marriage on my wedding day, that’s gotta be some kind of bad luck,” you mumble, making him laugh.
“Women and their superstition,” he says under his breath, mostly just to taunt you because he knew you heard him.
“This is why you’re single,” you remark.
“No I’m single because death for me could be around the corner, and even if it won’t catch me, it could get them, so I’m sparing someone actually,” he goes on to say without sounding lighthearted at all. He let himself be vulnerable.
“Death is around everyone’s corner, no one is immortal, not even Sukuna,” you tell him softly now that you have the space to have a heart-to-heart. Even if people are watching you two dance, they can’t hear you, and Satori won’t run over and interrupt either of you—“don’t deny yourself of a happiness you deserve just because you think you’re doing something good. You don’t actually know anything.”
Satoru scoffs but he doesn’t counter. He knows you’re right, but he does bring up one argument. “You almost died after Suguru died, why would I want to put someone through that?”
You sigh and avert your gaze to share your answer that you take no time to actually think about. You just know grief and loss well, you’re great friends. “Because as selfish as it sounds, at least you were happy. It’s about the memories you made. Sure after death those memories hurt, but after a while, you can look fondly at them and thank the stars that they were in your life, that you got to share your life with them and live together. After a while you’ll realize that they weren’t meant to be in your life forever, they were a chapter in your life you’ll always cherish.”
Satoru lets out a deep sigh, and you meet his gaze and make him laugh softly—but honestly, it sounds pretty forced.
“How poetic of you,” he whispers.
You smile at him and laugh softly.
“Well,” he says softly. “I'm happy you got to meet someone else that you get to write a chapter with. I hope you can share many chapters with this one. And I’m glad Suguru was such a great part of your story.”
You grin and nod before your lips flicker down to a frown and your eyes dull. “Can I tell you something?” You ask in a very low whisper so none of what you’re saying can be heard.
“Go ahead,” he encourages you.
You sigh and hold his gaze to share a secret. “Sometimes I wish I could go back to when I was a naive teenager who dreamed for most of her day and knew hardly anything about the world. It’s only when I’m really down, but I still sometimes want to go back.”
Satoru swallows thickly and sounds completely genuine. “Sometimes I wish the same,” he admits.
You both share a small smile and you can’t help but lay your head on his shoulder and sigh deeply. You stay quiet for a moment after, but before you can finish your dance you break your silence to say one more thing in private. “I want you to write a new chapter in your story after all this is over, Satoru. Let the kids take over and start something new.”
“After I win,” Satoru says softly and confidently. You don’t look at his face, but you know he’s expressing his ever-so-bright and smug confidence. “I will.”
——
*NOW*
A slash to the jugular also doesn’t mean immediate death. You know that too.
So please don’t let this slash on Satoru’s throat be deadly.
“Gojo!” Yuji yells out mere seconds after you with just as much panic as you currently feel riddling your heart.
“Come on,” you mumble and step closer to the screen in some hopeless delusion that you could be closer to your brother.
Nevertheless, seconds later steam rises off Satoru’s slash as he uses RCT to mend his flesh back together.
“He’s healing himself!” You exclaim because you forgot that it was a possibility in your panicked state.
“But as long as he remains within Sukuna’s domain, the slashes won’t stop coming!” Higuruma reminds everyone and makes your excitement dim.
Which is good, you can’t get overly excited.
“Sukuna’s domain has no enclosed barrier,” Choso interjects. “Shouldn’t it be easy to escape his range?”
You let out a deep breath and glance over at him past your shoulder before you drift your gaze to Hakari responding. “Even if we assume Malevolent Shrine’s effective range encompasses the area of razed Shibuya, with Gojo’s speed, he should be able to break out of it in a flash.”
“No,” you cut in to explain. “His teleportation is just an application of limitless where the space between his location and his destination is compressed.”
“But in this short window immediately after his domain was destroyed, Gojo cannot use his cursed technique,” Kusakabe doesn’t fail to add what you left out.
“Which means…” Miwa trails off to let Kusakabe answer.
“He’s in one hell of a pinch.”
You clasp your hands together and return to your seat in between Choso and Yuji to try and watch how your brother will go on about destroying Sukuna’s domain while the monster keeps hitting him with slashes he can’t deflect, and has to keep using RCT for to heal all those shallow cuts—that surprisingly doesn’t cut any material of his shirt, or his pants.
What kind of material is his clothes made from?
Regardless! In the blink of an eye, Sukuna hops off the roof and tries to swing his fist, but your brother quickly blocks him.
“You’d think I’d let you run?!” Sukuna exclaims, and you start to wonder why your brother isn’t running or actually fully healing any of his cuts.
“What is he doing?” You whisper out loud.
Choso catches your comment and probes while you watch Sukuna and Satoru exchange swings. “What do you mean?”
You sigh and shift your body towards him, but keep your eyes on the screen to not miss a thing. “His cuts are still very shallow, he can use this time that Sukuna isn’t throwing more slashes at him to finish healing. He can multitask. But he isn’t…” you trail off and start to think of an answer.
Is he going to use RCT to heal his cursed technique?
“He’s up to something,” you mumble to your husband and can’t help but let a small smile creep onto your face.
“That shrine,” Yuji interjects while Sukuna and Satoru face each other after a heated exchange. “What would happen if he destroyed it?” He asks.
“Usually, objects materialized within an innate domain don’t hold any special meaning or importance,” Kusakabe explains, proving to be quite a patient teacher. “You can think of them as if they didn’t exist at all.”
“If that shrine is simply a symbol of the domain, so to speak,” Mei-Mei says, “then you would not be able to destroy it and there would be no purpose in doing so.”
“So he can’t do anything?!” Kirara shouts, “isn’t that like, super super bad?!”
You glance at them and see that they’re grabbing their face and looking completely stunned at the screens.
“New Shadow Style,” Satoru announces, “simple domain.”
A bright barrier suddenly grows around your brother and those deep cuts now start to completely disappear.
“Simple domain!” Kusakabe exclaims and Yuji follows by yelling out in surprise too.
“I thought he said he couldn’t do that?!”
You scoff and retort. “Satoru can do anything he puts his mind to, it’s an annoying trait, but it’s true. He probably just can’t teach it because he also tends to get everything right in his first try.”
“Why the hell is someone like that in charge of the first years then?!” Yuji follows by asking and you can’t actually answer that, so you shrug. He doesn’t really seek an answer so he drifts the subject back to the fight. “He used simple domain to counter the sure-hit effect while simultaneously using reverse cursed technique to heal his body. How is he even able to manipulate cursed energy while he’s still using RCT?”
“Even still against a real domain,” Choso comments while he picks your travel cup off the ground and hands it to you as you leave it forgotten on the ground—“the only thing a simple domain will do is buy you some time.”
He could use the falling blossom emotion technique, it would be the perfect time so why isn’t he?
This is all hurting your head, so you take a long sip from the tea and slide your hand on top of Choso’s, feeling him instantly secure your hold in his hand by squeezing it tight. All the while Sukuna breaks into Satoru’s simple domain and starts swinging.
However, he does miss your brother because he reacts fast, but Satoru’s domain fades away by the second until there’s nothing left to protect him, causing the slashes to hit him once again.
“Told you,” Choso follows up on his previous comment.
You swallow thickly and notice your brother doing another Simple Domain, albeit this time he doesn’t use RCT either…
“Why the hell—Gojo stopped using reverse cursed technique to heal himself!” Kusakabe points out loudly in frustration and confusion.
You albeit look at the screen proudly as your theories are starting to become a fact.
“I told you he’s up to something,” you remark to Choso quietly so only he can hear.
“What?” Choso asks.
You meet his gaze and smirk at him. “Watch,” you don’t give out the surprise you assume Satoru wants to give. “I should’ve bet you.”
“I never doubted you.” He deadpans.
You hum and shrug. “I still should’ve. I could’ve won something like a kiss, or a second to gloat.”
The corner of his lips perk up to a smile and he lifts your hands to kiss your knuckles whilst you look back at the screen whilst Ino argues against someone, but you don’t catch who.
“…Like I said, that's under the assumption he’s using cursed energy normally! Right after using domain expansion, he started using RCT at max output, which consumes twice as much cursed energy! And that’s not even taking into account the fact that Sukuna’s still pouring on attacks!”
Is he forgetting that Satoru Gojo is fighting?! He’s not like everyone else.
Nevertheless, as you continue to watch the fight you notice that Satoru’s second simple domain breaks, and more cuts slash his face. It honestly seems like he’s close to reaching his end, but then in the blink of an eye, he zooms to Sukuna and catches him completely off guard when he jumps on him to wrap his body around Sukuna’s.
“Cursed technique reversal,” Satoru announces and proves you right; he leans back and points two fingers at Sukuna.
“Yes,” you mumble happily and suddenly stand up.
“Can he do that?” You hear Okkotsu shout, which is surprising, you’ve never heard him be so emotional. He looks so reserved.
“That’s why he didn’t heal himself,” you point out proudly.
“He was using his RCT to heal his exhausted cursed technique?” Okkotsu asks rhetorically to the group.
“Red,” Satoru mutters and blasts out a bright and powerful technique that sends Sukuna crashing through his shrine, and finally gets him badly wounded.
Will that affect him completely? No, but he’s still wounded.
“Jeez. What a pain in the ass,” Satoru sass’s Sukuna, making you hold your cup against your chest as you smile brightly.
“Using RCT to heal his exhausted cursed technique?” Okkotsu still can’t seem to grasp what just happened.
“Okkotsu!” Kusakabe yells out, but the boy goes on.
“I’d like to say it’s impossible but the fact is Gojo is doing just that! A cursed technique that’s been burnt out by using domain expansion is an entirely different matter than physical damage,” he explains. “Just like when a machine overheats, even if it isn’t broken, you have to let it cool or it won’t work.”
“So what you’re saying is that RCT can repair damage but can’t cool an overheated technique?” Maki asks.
“That’s why I always thought, but it looks like my understanding was incomplete.”
You sigh and sit back down again, but out of the kindness of your heart, you explain why he’s having such a hard time understanding what Satoru just did. “That’s Satoru Gojo for you. Don’t overwork yourself, man, he’s strong, stronger than everyone, what he can do will never compare to what we can do.”
“Yes,” Okkotsu mutters, “I'm understanding that.”
“You can expand your effective range, can’tcha?” You catch Satoru ask Sukuna smugly.
But as if answering, Sukuna does a hand sign and does exactly what your brother just asked, causing your smile to fall.
“Are you crazy…” Kusakabe’s words trail off in your ears as Satoru expanding his own domain expansion and leaving you all in the dark once again catches you by surprise.
“Does he just want the same thing to happen again?!” Ino exclaims.
“He isn’t that naive,” Shoko defends your brother.
“I see,” Mei-Mei muses.
“He switched the internal and external conditions for the barrier,” Higuruma points out, and Hakari adds on to that piece of information.
“Which means this barrier…”
He trails off and Yuji excitedly picks up where he left off. “…can guard itself against attacks from the outside!”
You clench your jaw and lean forward to watch every screen carefully to look for any crack or difference in the barrier since that’s all you can look at as of now.
“Seems a bit unfair that he can just change the conditions of his domain on the fly,” Kusakabe mumbles.
You’re really starting to hate all these domain expansions! They leave you completely in the dark, you can’t see what Satoru is thinking and planning, and what Sukuna might be scheming. You can’t see if Satoru might miss something or if he needs some kind of aid, you have to wait, not long, but at this very moment time isn’t kind, it’s determined to torture you by moving slowly.
But you also know you shouldn’t let yourself feel so tortured, it hasn’t been long at all since the fight started, and there’s hopefully still so much more time to go.
Satoru has gotten wounded but he hasn’t hit the brink with no return. Sukuna hasn’t even tried yet either, which means there’s still a lot more stress to go through, and you can’t let this affect you as much as it is.
“Do you need to step out?” Choso worries over you.
You meet his gaze and shake your head. “No, no. I just need to remind myself that he’ll be okay.”
Choso nods. “He is. He’s done great so far.”
You sigh deeply and let those words repeat in your mind so you can hold onto that hope and not push yourself to a dangerous edge of deep anguish.
“There isn’t just one way out of a domain,” he adds to try and calm your nerves. “Not for strong sorcerers like them.”
You knew that but you still need to hear it from someone else.
“Either of them can break it without meeting a catastrophic end, or your brother can be a smartass and have something up his sleeve…not like he has any.”
You can’t help but snort and crack a smile at his silly comment, making the corner of Choso’s lips tug on a faint smile because of the fact he could make you smile.
“They are taking longer,” you point out and glance back at the screen still displaying the black barrier.
“I don’t think it’ll last much longer,” he says.
You take his hand again and he interlaces his fingers with yours before he tucks them in his sleeve as he hides his hands in his large sleeves, and slouches down to rest his elbows on his legs.
The pictures on the screens are at a standstill for a few more seconds before the barrier explodes, and Satoru finally shows up back to back with Sukuna.
“I should have bet you,” Choso remarks.
You glance at him and smirk before you lean over and press a peck on his cheek. Instead of pushing yourself back to your spot you stay pressed against him and watch the fight continue on screen.
“Take it from the top, eh?” Sukuna brings up something neither of you understand, and then hits Satoru with multiple slashes that harbor so much strength that your brother goes flying back.
Again, you can’t stress yourself over every wound your brother gets, and or every hit he receives, but you really can’t hold back from feeling anything but panic and stress. Just like when you watched Choso fight Kenjaku, only you weren’t expecting his babies then or married to the man.
You can’t even imagine being in your current state and having to watch a similar situation with Choso now. You’d probably die from a lack of air in your lungs, or die from a collapsed lung because of how heavy you feel it. Or your heart would explode. Either or.
“Why?!” Yuji bellows.
“Looks like Sukuna’s also changed the conditions of his domain somehow!” Kusakabe points out.
“Hey,” Kashimo cuts in with blunt honesty. “If he dies I'm going out there next.”
You clench your jaw and snap back. “Shut up.”
“You can’t try and stop me,” he thinks you’re trying to defend him, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth, even if you do consider him a friend.
“No,” you spat. “Stop talking like if this is the end. Satoru has proven he can take what’s thrown at him.”
“Hm, well he’s also gotten pretty close calls, I wouldn’t bet all my money on him, he’s proving to be a losing bet.”
You draw in a deep breath and get ready to argue, but Choso gives your hand a gentle squeeze and leans forward to shake his head.
You take that as a sign to let it go and only listen because your brother is still standing…And Choso is also right, Kashimo is not worth your time.
“I learned this one when I was a kid,” Satoru interjects and omits a technique you’ve used before, and one you wanted him to use; the Falling Blossom Emotion technique—“I haven’t used it much since I mastered my domain, but not bad right?”
You lean forward and manage to catch Kashimo’s gaze like you wanted and shoot him a smug smirk.
“Falling Blossom Emotion!” Kusakabe yells out and slightly startles you.
“What is that?” One of the students asks.
“Dunno.”
“Not sure.”
“No idea.”
“It’s weird how in the know you are Acchan.”
Yes, how does he know a secret art form?
“It’s a secret art of the big three sorcerer families,” Panda explains to the clueless ones before you had a chance to—“an anti-domain technique. Not so secret if you knew about it Kusakabe.”
You hum and continue to explain how it works while you still look at Kusakabe suspiciously. “It’s an application of cursed energy that automatically repels anything you touch. It won’t work against Satoru’s infinite void, but if you’re up against a simple technique like Sukuna’s slashes then it’s pretty damn useful. It saved my life against Kenjaku because it doesn’t tear apart like a simple domain either.”
“But you won’t come out unscathed,” Choso adds. “Remember, you only managed to get spared from getting hurt because Tengen broke Noritoshi—Kenjaku’s domain.”
You sigh and nod. “Right. Still, It’s useful.”
“Exactly,” Shoko agrees from across the room where she can smoke without letting any of the fumes hit you—“it’s enough and Gojo can heal his burnt-out cursed technique with RCT. At the very least he’ll buy enough time to heal.”
Or…not considering he proceeds to open yet another domain expansion.
“Damn,” you groan and feel a grip on your throat tighten.
Plus this time the domain grows a lot larger, as if he’s trying to capture Sukuna's entire domain range within it. But then he switches up his domain and it grows incredibly tiny, consuming all of Sukuna’s domain, and making that weight on your chest only get heavier.
And again you can’t push yourself to a brink, you’ll only freak out and that won’t be good, so instead of waiting again you get up and pass Choso a quick comment, “I'm going to get some air, I’ll be back.”
He stands up immediately, but you grab his bicep and assure him. “I’ll be okay, I just need to calm myself down.”
Choso seems hesitant and like he’ll ignore you and follow you, but he actually listens and lets you go outside by yourself.
And as much as you despise solitude you actually find a moment of peace where you don’t feel like your head will explode.
Maybe it’s the silence or the fact that you’re not overwhelmed with thousands of screens, or surrounded by multiple people. Which, you never mind being around so many people, but today with your stress everything’s a bit overwhelming.
However, when you look out at the city past the balcony, you can’t help but feel a bit…not scared, it’s not fear you feel upon looking at the secluded city, it’s disbelief.
The city used to be filled with people but now it’s all been evacuated due to the fight. It honestly makes it feel like it’s the end of the world. Which is chilling and brings forth a hint of loneliness, but also curiosity.
Is this how your world would be without non-sorcerers?
It’s kind of lovely…
Nevertheless, you turn to face the door and just look up at the white sky and get startled by your phone ringing. When you check who it is your breath hitches when you see Larue’s name on your screen.
“Hello?” You answer nervously as you think the worst. “Larue?”
“She’s fine,” he says right away since he hears the fear in your voice. “They all are.”
You let out a deep breath and now feel a bit puzzled as to why he’s calling. “Are you okay?” You ask. “Did the flight get delayed?”
“No, no, I’m just calling to let you know…” he pauses and exhales deeply before he continues. “I’m returning to Japan with Miguel. And before you ask, Manami, and Toshihisa stayed with Satori, and they will all be protected by the guards.”
You blink repeatedly in disbelief and can’t even answer right away because of how thrown back you are.
“They’ll all be fine, but now you have to fight harder to go back to Satori,” he says nonchalantly.
“You left Satori?” You ask because when you meant that you trusted your family to take care of your daughter you only meant Miguel and Larue, not Manami or Toshihisa.
Sure you know that they’ll probably be safe in Africa nonetheless, but Manami has little patience for kids, and Toshihisa doesn’t feel that much responsibility for taking care of kids, he acts like her brother, and they fight together!
“I know I’m sorry I told you something else, but I knew you’d protest otherwise, and you’d want to keep Satori here,” he explains. “Besides, Miguel wouldn't agree to fight without me. He says it’s better to fight with more friends.”
You rub the bridge of your nose and let out a worried sigh. “Of course, he’d say that,” you finally muster something else. “Just…I wish you would have told me before I sent my daughter away, but,” you groan and clench your fists. “There’s nothing I can do about it now,” you mutter to yourself.
“Why can’t either of you just talk to me?” You ask with annoyance. “First…” you trail off and let out a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, I know this doesn’t work in our favor, but think about this, who better to take care of your daughter in a time like this than family? She’ll be fine.” Larue speaks softly and kindly to try and comfort you. He tends to do that all the time.
“I told you she’d be mad,” you hear Miguel tell Larue. “You should have told her before.”
“Quiet.”
“Well,” you mutter and turn your fist to look at your nails. “It seems we'll fight together now.”
There’s nothing you can do now.
There’s nothing you can do now.
There’s nothing you can do now…
“If!” Miguel cuts in from the other side. “There's a chance Sukuna will be dealt with before it’s our turn to join, so, if we join, you’ll fight with us.”
You let out a deep sigh and nod. “Yes. If. Still…if I’m not there be careful, if I am—”
“We'll fight with all we have like we always have, for Suguru and for our family,” Larue inputs, making you lift your eyes and look at the white sky with a softened look.
“Yes for our family, Suguru, and Nanako, and Mimiko,” you repeat quietly. “They’ll be avenged today.”
“They will,” he says confidently at the same time the door opens behind you; and thinking it’s Choso coming to check on you, you peer back.
However, to your surprise it’s Kirara.
“Larue, I have to go,” you cut off your conversation and look back ahead. “I’ll see you.”
“Be careful, and I’m sorry again.”
Larue hangs up first letting you put your phone away to turn and face Kirara, noticing they have water bottles in their hand.
“Is everything okay? Are you feeling fine?” They immediately worry.
You smile brightly and nod. “I'm fine, I just needed to catch my breath.”
Kirara lets out a relieved breath and grabs at their chest. “Good,” they say breathlessly. “I saw you come outside and I got worried.”
You smile with appreciation and approach them to grab their shoulder and press your reassurances. “I'm fine Kira. There’s still so much that’s going to happen so I thought a break would somewhat calm me down.”
They hum and hand you water. As you take it they grin brightly.
“About what’s going on, I would have come sooner but I wanted to wait to give you some good news,” they add with growing excitement. “Satoru managed to break Sukuna’s shrine, and he wounded him! Which might be nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it’s process, don’t you think?”
Finally, Satoru managed to probably scrape Sukuna, and get rid of that ugly open domain!
“It’s something,” you agree with Kirara. “Thank you for that. I needed to hear it. Now how are you feeling? I need to ask before I don’t have the chance to.”
“Me?” They point at their chest. “Well, to be honest, worried for Kin, you, and the rest of my friends, but mainly Kin. And you. This is much bigger than Egypt or anything we’ve faced, Kin can die…I’m scared he’ll die.”
You sigh and watch the agonizing grief already take root behind their eyes. Nothing has happened to Hakari, but Kirara still fears for the life of the man they love. You can relate to that kind of fear.
“Yeah, I know what you’re feeling. I’ve had the bad luck of living through that fear more than once. I can’t say it’s easy. And it won’t go away until you see them breathing after the fight…and if something does happen…” you start to be honest so they know what they might face. So they can somewhat prepare for that blow to their soul.
“…You will die a little, it’ll be agonizing going on without them, you won’t know how to live, but…it won’t be the end,” you admit softly, seeing their face twist with horror because even if they like to hear you say the truth, hearing this truth is hard.
“You’ll relearn how to live,” you continue. “The color will return to every corner of the world, and your grief will be a scar. You’ll find that time will heal what was broken, and…” you pause and smile softly at them. “Those you least expect will help you realize that it isn’t the end.”
Kirara swallows thickly and looks down with a sad frown, but then they seem to realize who you’re referring to and smile. Yet you don’t see it so you quickly interject. “I’m not trying to be negative, I just…”
“I know,” they cut you off and finally show off that smile to you. “You just want to prepare us. I understand. I admire it.”
You smile softly and continue with the other matter to bring up something more positive. “Kinji is strong, he’s got luck on his side. He’ll be fine.”
They tighten their hold on their water bottle and let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself.”
“I believe in the abilities you and Kinji possess, and your unbreakable spirits,” you add sweetly and cup their shoulder again. “You will preserve. He will too.”
Kirara pats your hand and offers you a soft smile. The door proceeds to open and this time Choso is the one that shows up and calls out your name with panic before he throws out his concerned filled question. “Are you okay?”
You meet his gaze and nod. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed some air.”
Choso still studies you to make sure, making Kirara grab your hand to put it down before they step back and excuse themself. “I’ll get back inside. If you take longer I’ll come back to update you master.”
“Great thanks!” You nod and watch them leave before you put all your attention on Choso. “You know when you fought Kenjaku, when I was watching you on that screen Tengen put up, I could barely breathe. I felt the exact same way I’m feeling now. Only ten times worse. That’s how I knew I loved you, how I knew I couldn’t live on without you being by my side.”
Choso’s face grows a deep red and his hardened expression falls, letting a happy gleam twinkle in his eyes.
“When I was watching you while I waited,” he shares his side of the story now. “I was going crazy. Besides being angry at Kenjaku and wanting to go kill him, seeing you there was driving me crazy.”
You smirk and approach him to close the gap left between you and cup the sides of his neck. “I hate watching this fight. Just like I hated watching you fight,” you say.
Choso grabs your cheeks and nods softly. “I know sweetheart. But hey, I’m with you. I was the one fighting the last time, but I’m here now.”
You let out a shaky breath and nod in comprehension before you slide your arms around his neck and muzzle your face in the crook of his neck to feel comforted by his warmth, and feel secure by his tight embrace before you have to go back and continue watching your brother fight.
“Can I tell you something?” Choso interjects seriously as he rubs your back.
“Hm.”
He sighs deeply and continues without breaking that serious demeanor. “My brother who has a stutter is in prison.”
Oh? Is he using your trick on you?
“It’s just heartbreaking knowing he’ll never finish his sentence,” he finishes and you hear the pride in his voice.
You pull back and see a faint proud smirk on his lips, which only makes what he said that much funnier, and makes your heart skip a beat before it flutters after hearing his pun that he most likely learned just to cheer you up.
And it worked, you smile widely before you drop your head on his shoulder and laugh.
“That’s just so messed up,” you murmur.
“It really is,” he agrees before he grabs your shoulders to step back and face you. When he sees your amused grin he can’t help but smile in awe.
“That one was the quickest one I actually understood. The other ones took longer,” he admits before he brushes his thumb over your lips that are pulled to a smile, and leans in to press a gentle kiss on them. “Do you feel like going back inside now? Or do you still need time?” He then asks.
“If I stay longer I'll be tempted to listen to another joke and just go on and tell you the ones I know, so let’s just go,” you say and take one of his hands to return inside.
Yet before you can walk past that door, you lean over and press a peck on his cheek. “Thank you,” you whisper in his ear. “That really made me feel better.”
Choso smiles bashfully and turns his head at the same time you do, letting your lips meet for a short kiss before you return inside.
——
*A COUPLE MONTHS AGO. EGYPT*
“I wonder what this says.”
Without looking at what the students are referring to, you share the story behind all the hieroglyphics carved on the walls. “To summarize, it's about a man loving his wife so much that he couldn’t fathom going on a second without her after her death, so he killed himself so they could be wrapped away in the same sarcophagus...” you trail off quietly and peer over at the sarcophagus of the man and woman.
How loyal and in love was that man with his wife that he chose death over continuing to live on because she would no longer roam the earth.
How stupid too, but how envious do you feel as well…they never spent a day apart after they married, and they never spent a day apart after death. Their love is endless now that it’s forever marked in this pyramid…
Your love for Suguru will always be marked within Satori, but that isn’t enough.
Are you a terrible person to admit that? To say that a child born out of love isn’t actually enough to commemorate your love for Suguru, because no matter what, he will always be gone now, and every time you look into her eyes you will remember who you couldn’t save.
“You know how to read hieroglyphs, master?!” Kirara snaps you from your stupor.
“No,” you deadpan and twist around to point your flashlight at their face. “I read up on the history of this pyramid after we were told we had to come here.”
Kirara flashes their light on you with their lips formed to an ‘o’ and whispers. “That makes a lot more sense.”
You can’t help but muster a gentle smile before you move down to admire more of the work carved on the walls. “Their children built this after their death,” you muse and hear stone scraping against the ground; and as if a sixth sense you interject right away as you sense trouble. “Put it down Hakari, we’re here on a mission not to be tactless grave robbers.”
“How does she even know?” You hear him whisper as he puts down what he has in his hand.
You smirk and choose to leave the question unanswered for a dramatic flare.
“Besides we have enough to deal with, we don’t want to get cursed now do we?” You tease and spare them both a glance before you walk along the wall to continue admiring the art.
“I’ll welcome whatever cheesy love-crazed curse they cling onto me,” Hakari remarks smugly and cracks his knuckles.
You look down at the worm cursed spirit wrapped around your neck and share a judgy look like if you're your best friend.
“Well,” you scoff and smirk. “We’ll be your smirking revenge then,” you murmur.
Hakari chuckles loudly after you didn’t think he’d catch it, and your cheeks grow slightly hot. But you’re filled with more pride than bashfulness because he laughed at something you said without having to be forced to do it.
He and Kirara usually tend to joke with you and appreciate more of your brash humor than your puns. Nanako and Mimiko have reached that stage in their lives where you aren’t that funny to them. Where they once used to find you hilarious now they can’t stand any of your jokes, it’ll pass, but hearing your students find you funny is…refreshing.
“We should keep going, the sooner we find the curses the sooner we get out…”
“And explore,” Kirara blurts exactly what you were thinking.
“Exactly,” you praise them and look over your shoulder to flash them a grin.
“You know, considering that you and Tsukumo are special grade, I never thought you’d be so laid back,” Kirara says, making Hakari scoff and retort.
“We know Satoru can be lazy when he’s not working, why does this surprise you, Kira?”
“Well Satoru is Satoru, and Tsukumo and our master are different. I just thought they’d be more serious on missions.”
You make no effort to walk out and instead walk over to where the sarcophagus is to admire the details still visible on the stone, whilst Hakari slowly makes his way to the entrance of the next passageway you’ll take.
“It’s because we’re special grade that we’re so laid back in missions,” you share honestly. “We’re risking our lives more than others, especially those who hire us, why can’t we enjoy ourselves while we’re out?”
“Hm…well that sounds smart,” Kirara says.
You turn and face them with a smile, realizing at that moment that Hakari was already out of the room so finally decide to do what you said and walk out, followed by Kirara.
And up until now you never knew how fast of a walker Hakari is when he wants to be because you can barely catch up, you have to basically jog to catch up to him.
“Hey, what’s—”
Kirara cuts themself off when Hakari puts his hand up to shush you both.
“What?” Kirara whispers out.
Hakari looks over his shoulder and you notice the seriousness in his gaze now so you lose all your awe and amusement and fall serious too. After you quickly focus on trying to catch if it’s cursed spirits he caught, you see just that, a terrifying amount of cursed energy up ahead just in the dark room past Hakari.
“I’ll follow your lead, you two,” you remind your students since you brought them along to train. “We could call Yuki and the twins, or plan something ourselves.”
Hakari and Kirara meet each other's gaze and brainstorm in silence for a moment, making you turn your flashlight off and just focus on the cursed energy the curse radiates.
But wait, there’s not one curse there’s multiple…Which shouldn’t be all that surprising, why wouldn’t a pyramid made for passionate lovers be cursed? They probably cursed it themselves without knowing.
And if there's multiple just past the passageway, how many are multiple exactly? And why are they ahead and why weren’t they where you just came from, hm?
“The way we came from must be the way out,” Kirara interjects exactly what was on your mind. “So the curses ahead will probably not be aware of us until they see or hear us, so we could surprise attack and gain the upper hand…”
“…but if we attack, does that mean somehow there’ll be more? We haven’t quote on quote triggered any alarms, they could be unaware and only be active when we trigger their defense system, so what if there’s more hidden in the shadows, and attacking these fuckers only triggers more to come out?”
You sigh and nod softly. “That could happen, and…” you swallow thickly and feel a grip around your heart. “We would expose Yuki and the twins…”
It’s not that you don’t trust Yuki, you trust her more than anything, but this place doesn’t have a fortified foundation anymore and it’s hundreds of feet tall and made of stone. This can all easily crumble down and bury you and everyone else with it. That’s what worries you.
But they are paying you to get rid of the curses that haunt this pyramid, so how can you do this without making a mess?
“Kin…master?” Kirara whispers out for your attention.
“Hm?” You probe and look over. And the moment your eyes land on them you see that two huge beetles have made their way on their arm and shoulder.
“Stand…” you gag at the sight of their creepy legs and bug-like bodies. “Stand still.”
You flick your fingers to flick off the one on their shoulder by manipulating a small whirlwind. Next, you aim your fingers to flick the one off her arm, but it starts to crawl up so your aiming is off and instead of swiping it off swiftly, the beetle bounces up and hits their mouth, causing them to squeal out.
Hakari quickly leans over and puts his hand over their mouth and pushes them against a wall, whilst you freeze and drag your eyes out to the danger, hoping they didn’t hear, but they did; snaps echo in the room and then instead of some kind of messed up figures you see glowing white cloudy eyes all staring at the three of you.
“Shit,” you hiss and slowly lift your hand to prepare to shoot fire.
However, suddenly they all start to sprint towards you, and since you’re in a narrow passageway they can easily overwhelm you. And even if there’s a lack of air and water inside, you still have a lot of stone and sand, so to buy you time, you stomp your foot on the ground and thrust a fist up to lift stone off the floor and make a wall to block them from reaching you so fast.
“We need to find enough empty space to face them, this will buy us time to run before they break out and come and find us. Come on,” you urge them and lead the way back to where you came from, finding yourself back in the tomb room, but since that space isn’t as spacious you plan to move on.
However, just before you can make it out, the people carved on the walls pop out from the walls and grow tall, and have the same cloudy white eyes, followed by rotting appearances that make them look like unwrapped mummies.
One of them catches you off guard and lunges at you, causing you to yelp and stumble back, and bump into the sarcophagus.
This makes the corpses suddenly stop what they’re doing and take a second before they all suddenly screech loudly, making Kirara and you cover your ears.
“What did they do?” Hakari asks with concern.
You don’t try and answer because you don’t know, instead, you push the students behind you and throw your hand out to engulf every single corpse in flames that is born from your cursed technique.
Yet even if your cursed technique exorcizes them all, that doesn’t stop the ground from starting to violently shake, which in turn causes the walls and ceilings to start crumbling and dropping dirt and small rocks.
“It’s coming down,” you murmur in disbelief as you snap your head in the opposite direction because you hear multiple distant footsteps approaching rapidly—“and the others are coming. We have to run and take care of them outside. Go!” You bellow and push them ahead of you first.
Hakari leads the way, and you don’t proceed to run into any obstacles in the way, but that’s because you're running through passages that aren’t marked with stories, or paintings of people. You’re running down an empty hall with a falling ceiling that you barely catch with the help of you manipulating the air within the room to keep the ceiling from collapsing on all of you.
“Go!” You shout sharply so they would understand. “There’s only so much air in this room, and soon there will be nothing. Go! I’ll catch up.”
Kirara shakes their head and they quickly argue back. “No! We can make it out together!”
The other curses are approaching fast, you can hear their footsteps get louder, and this ceiling is only getting heavier to keep up as more stone falls on it.
“If I drop this the entire room falls before either of you can make it out, but I can hold it up and walk out alone. I can’t move air through all your lungs, just mine, you’ll die. Go!”
Kirara steps back and this time Hakari hesitates to listen to you, after all, he hasn’t told you but you have changed his life. He felt believed in because of you, how could he let a mentor like you go?
“Kinji Hakari,” you scold. “I’ll catch up soon and we’ll fight together.”
He draws in a sharp breath and lets his eyes linger on you for a moment.
“Kinji,” you shout.
Said man turns sharply and runs away with Kirara, letting you use more air to hold up the falling stone.
However, you can’t say you won’t welcome death. Because you will.
Oh sweet death, how tempting is your offer because there in your realm is him, Suguru Geto.
He will welcome you with open arms and you can be with each other for the rest of eternity because it’s true, you can’t live on without him by your side.
“I’m sorry,” you mumble to the image of Satori, Nanako, and Mimiko as you get ready to drop the stone weighing you down to also drop it on the curses only feet away now.
However, like shining white lights of hope, Hakari and Kirara return to the hall with their breaths held since all the air in this room is either flowing through you or being used to hold up the stone.
“No, what are you two doing?!” You panic.
And since they can’t answer they simply ignore you, and they work together to use their cursed energy and punch through the floor, making it all suddenly crumble down and pulling you with it.
Since you lose your concentration when you’re falling, the stone you were holding up falls too, but unlike you, it stops when it hits the floor you were on. Some pieces fall with you, but thankfully not enough to crush you.
And thankfully you don’t fall to your deaths, you hit some solid ground not far below the previous floor. Your body does instantly hurt at impact, but you’re all alive. You’re alive, Hakari and Kirara went back for you. They didn’t have to, but they did.
They went back for you…
Why—no, you know why, you’re their mentor, but you didn’t think they cared so much as to risk their lives for you. You wanted to die, but they risked their lives and saved you…
“Master!” You hear Kirara yell before they get on their hands and knees and crawl over to you. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
You drift your eyes over to meet theirs and with lingering disbelief, you nod slowly.
“Why?” You can’t help but ask. “Why did you go back?”
“I know, I know it was stupid,” they defend themselves and Hakari. “But how could we let you take all the risk? You’re our mentor! We care about you! You’re special to us.”
You blink repeatedly and hold back tears even if your throat starts to sting.
“Yeah it’d be pretty stupid to let you die,” Hakari interjects. “Where could we find another mentor like you?”
You sit up and snap your eyes to him and offer him a faint smile.
And for the first time in a while, you feel a bit of your broken heart heal. Whereas before it was like you were left with scabs over your broken heart, now it’s actually mending as you realize that it doesn’t have to be the end.
——
*NOW*
“What’s going on?” You ask the group of attentive sorcerers as you return to your seats.
“Gojo’s nose is bleeding,” Yuji lets you know.
You look at the screen and in fact, do see a dribble of crimson blood running down his nose. Which means he’s probably exhausting his technique and his head.
And Sukuna hasn’t even used any of the ten shadows yet…damn.
“Domain expansion,” Satoru and Sukuna say simultaneously.
“Again,” you mutter.
And just as you came back too!
“They activated it at the same time!” Yuji points out.
“Which means Sukuna can restore his burn-out technique with RCT after all!” Angel interjects, making Kurusu speak after her.
“But has he been able to do that all along, or did he just figure it out?”
“How many times have we said the word cursed technique today?” Yuji muses, making you look over at him and laugh softly.
Yuji catches your reaction and can’t keep down his smile.
“Within the three minutes, it takes for Sukuna to destroy Gojo’s domain from the outside…Gojo needs to damage Sukuna to the point where he can no longer maintain his domain,” Kusakabe mentions really melancholy.
“Let’s not talk as if Gojo’s on the ropes,” Shoko argues. “If Sukuna is drawn into unlimited void for even a few seconds, he’ll be incapacitated.”
Your attention piques and you can’t help but chime in hopefully. “Exactly and if he’s able to destroy Malevolent shrine within three minutes Satoru will win.”
It’s really some high hopes, but you trust Satoru more than anything.
“You really think so?” Yuji asks with doubt laced with fear.
You draw out a deep breath and turn your head to meet his gaze and nod with a confident look to comfort his nerves. “I know it. It may not happen right now, but I know it’s possible. Not only because Satoru is strong, but Sukuna is overconfident. In a situation like this, overconfidence can lead to your demise with a simple mistake you make.”
Yuji’s eyes return to the screen to watch the black barrier floating in the sky. “Hm, I have noticed overconfidence leads to mistakes.”
“Not that it’s bad, it can be a good thing to be overconfident, you just can’t leave out any details, do you get what I’m saying?” You explain yourself and lean towards him. “Like you can’t doubt the weakest player, always think like they have something up their sleeve even if they don’t. Be aware.” You say and then lift your head to speak loud. “That’s why I beat Kusakabe in a card game, he doubted my skills!”
Yuji looks over and Choso’s eyes snap at the man you dragged in the conversation.
“You cheated!” Kusakabe shouts back, making you look at Yuji and shake your head.
“I milked him dry, he's just a sore loser. Get over it man it’s been two months!”
“You’re already rich, why did you need more money?” Kusakabe grumbles.
You shake your head and cross your arms over your chest. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the gloating I got to do afterward. And it’s about winning too.”
“I told you that you shouldn't have played against her,” Hakari interjects with a smirk.
You smirk now too and catch Kusakabe grumbling. This time you can’t counter because the domain breaks and both men are sliding back on their feet when they land. Only one has his face wounded and that’s Sukuna.
Way to go Satoru!
“Again simultaneously!!” Kusakabe shouts.
“Keeping us on the edge of our seats,” Mei-Mei says.
“I mean, this is just…” Choso trails off.
“Any more of these domains and one of them will give out,” you say and drop your hands to lean forward and slouch.
“Satoru needs to—” Choso cuts himself off as those two damn words are announced again.
“Domain expansion!”
You let out a frustrated huff and lean back to grab Choso’s hand since you’ll be left in the dark again.
“Just now!!” Okkotsu exclaims as the domain turns small again.
“Ah,” Higuruma utters.
“What's up?” Hakari questions Okkotsu’s outburst.
“Maybe, just maybe Gojo expanded his domain an instant earlier?” Okkotsu says.
Hopefully. Just hopefully.
You sit up as you can’t handle your nerves and use your other hand to pick up the cup and try to drink your tea. However, you’re too worried so you just put it against your lips and watch, while Choso tightens his hold against yours to provide as much comfort as he can at the moment.
Nevertheless, only a couple of seconds later the domain breaks and your heart sinks a little when you see the Zenin’s pride and joy, Mahoraga looking down at your brother.
“No,” you gasp quietly.
“Cursed technique reversal,” you hear your brother try to counter, but Mahoraga seems to easily deflect that technique and swings down his mighty blade and breaks the ground Satoru jumped away from in time.
“What?!” Satoru exclaims.
“That’s Mahoraga!” Someone exclaims.
“So that’s the crown jewel of the Zen’in clan,” Mei-Mei muses with what you detect is awe.
Awe for a beast that can—
You don’t even want to think about it.
“It’s a shikigami with the ability to adapt to any attack,” Choso says.
“You’re saying it was even able to adapt to unlimited void?!” Yuji blurts his question.
“Of course, it can,” Mei-Mei responds, making you draw in a deep frustrated breath before you clench your jaw and your hands.
“He’ll get rid of it,” Choso tries to assure you. “I’m sure of it.”
You shake your head stiffly and contradict the hope you just shared mere minutes ago. “No, you don’t know that,” you snap back. “You don’t know anything.”
You slip your hand off Choso’s and stand up to continue watching the fight in your fuming irritation.
.
.
.
.
A/N- It feels like these past few weeks have flown by!!
Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154 @heijihattorisgf @elegantweirdorchest @natakina
#fanfiction#damn-stark#sugar#jjk#jjk fanfiction#chapter 33#jujutsu kaisen#jujutsu kaisen fanfiction#choso#choso kamo#choso x fem!reader#choso x reader#choso x you#choso x y/n#choso x female reader#choso kamo x reader#choso x gojo!reader#choso kamo x you#choso kamo x y/n#choso kamo x female reader#gojo satoru#gojo satoru x sister!reader#kirara hoshi#hakari kinji#hajime kashimo#yuji itadori#kusakabe atsuya#larue jjk#miguel jjk#shoko ieiri
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My Hero Academia fic recs
alright, this is the fandom i have the read the most fanfics for (and for which the ships i read for have expanded the most). they are organized by ships and sfw/nsfw. enjoy! and thank you fanfic writers!! (my favorites in purple. and my absolute favorite in pink.)
Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto
sfw
The Color of Love: short 600 middle school AU fic where izuku and shouto do homework together
Keep Me Warm (It's a Cold Night): 1K fic about pro-heroes and husabnds Deku and Shouto cuddling after a long day at work
Morning: 1,100 cute fic where shouto asks izuku a question
Heart on Your Sleeve: 2,200 established relationship emotional hurt/comfort
It's Always Been You: 2.6K fic where izuku is avoiding shouto based on rumors of him having a boyfriend
The Idiot's Guide to Realizing You're in Love (...And Doing Something About It): 4K fic in which shouto realizes his feelings for izuku. background erasermic
Authored by WillWorkForSoba: 4K fic where shouto becomes a fanfic writer to cope with his feelings for izuku. featuring todobaku friendship [related to Smaller_Might Left Kudos on This Work!]
Smaller_Might Left Kudos on This Work!: 6K fic where izuku reads some tododeku fanfic and likes a specific fanfic writer in the process. background kiribaku and momojirou [best to read Authored by WillWorkForSoba first]
A Good Start: 5,500 fluff and angst with happy ending. (shouto doesn't like bakugo in this one.)
Rainbow: almost 7K fic where shouto comes out with the help of kirishima and kaminari's face paint
All According to Keikaku...........: 8,800 fluff and getting together
The Right to Be: 10K fic where enji accepts and advocates for shouto's relationship with izuku (mostly enji-centric)
If I'm Being Honest: 26K fic where shouto is hit by a truth serum and some classmates take him to mcdonald's and figure out his crush on izuku. some background kiribaku
nsfw
That Feel When Your Quirk is Also a Sexy Eldritch Horror You Can Only KINDA Control: almost 3K fic where izuku's blackwhip just has a thing for his boyfriend shouto
Got an Issue? Here's a Tissue: almost 3K fic where shouto has a hard time controlling his quirk because of izuku
But You Went to Fight Off Your Genetics: 3K abo fic where beta izuku needs some emotional support from his boyfriend shouto
Hit Me With Your Sweet Love, Steam Me With a Kiss: 10K quirkless college au with pining shouto and camboy izuku
Ten Years, One Torch: 40K fic where pro hero izuku returns to japan after working in america and realizes he is not over shouto. background class 1a friendships and kiribkau relationship progression
The Roots that Clutch: 296K pro hero slow burn (i'm talking 46 chapters, friends). highly recommend but damn, be ready for some heavy angst.
Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou
sfw
Deserving: almost 3K fic where kiri gets hit with a mind-reading quirk (with some homophobia from mineta)
Authored By: GroundZero420: 3,500 fic where bakugo realizes his feelings for kiri through finding and subsequently writing fanfic [related to WannaRi0t Left Kudos on This Work!]
Not Yet: 4K oblivious bakugo realizing his feelings
WannaRi0t Left Kudos on This Work!: 5,400 fic where kiri reads some kiribaku fanfic and finds a specific fanfic writer he likes [best to read Authored By: GroundZero420 first]
Why Fucking Not?: 6K fic where bakugo has acute amnesia and thinks he and kiri are boyfriends
nsfw
Sweaty Palms and Swollen Knuckles: 3,700 poetic aged-up friends -to-lovers fic
So Spend Some Time With Me (I Really Like Your Company): almost 9K quirkless college au where bakugo and shouto go to hooters and bakugo is interested in a certain hooters waiter (kiri). background tododeku.
More Than I'd Like, More Than You Do: 25K fic where katsuki reunites with kiri after a year and things progress
Look At Me, I Hear You: 59K quirkless au with deaf bakugo and blind kirishima as roommates at a boarding school. the two realize their feelings for each other and learn how to navigate their relationship together. just lovely.
Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto
sfw
Souvenirs: short 500 fic where aged-up katsuki finds souvenirs for his boyfriends after a trip to new york
When You Know You Know: 1,400 of tododeku pillow talk fluff while squished next to katsuki on the bed
Accompanied by City Lights: 1,600 pro-hero established relationship fic where izuku has insomnia and his boyfriends try to get him to stay home and go to bed
This Love is a Sure Thing: 1,600 fic about pro-hero's izuku, shouto, and katsuki date night
To the Feeling: 1,700 fluff where pro-heroes izuku, shouto, and katsuki attend a hero convention disguised
Dinner Plans: 2,200 quirkless college (?) au in which izuku, katsuki, and shouto make some plans together
I'm Home (in Your Arms): 2,600 fic where aged-up katsuki and izuku pick shouto up from the airport. both established relationship and getting together.
Gezellig: 3K domestic fluff where izuku, shouto, and katsuki are pro-heros and dads
Love in Three Parts: 5K fic set during deku's dark hero arc. katsuki and shouto worry about him and everyone pines
The All Might Trivia Contest: 5K fic in which all might leads facilitates a class 1a trivia night. background erasermight and kamishin
I Was Hurting And You Knew (So You Showed Me What To Do): 6K fic where aged-up katsuki and shouto (established relationship) care for a sick izuku
Triptych For the Heart: 11K fic in which shouto is a pro-hero and a little lost, but izuku and katsuki are by his side
Communication Breakdown: almost 16K fic where shouto thinks he has two boyfriends but neither of them know. very funny and cute fic.
Bakugou Katsuki's Guide to Ignoring PTSD: 86K quirkless college au. katsuki has ptsd from a past car crash. he doesn't deal with it well, but his friends (and eventual lovers) help him along the way. great depiction of ptsd. background kamishin and miritami
The Distance of Differences: 86K fic where pro-hero izuku gets amnesia and doesn't remember he has two boyfriends. shouto and katsuki are so patient and caring to him. wonderful read. background erasermight.
nsfw
Small World: short almost 700 abo fic with omega shouto and alpha izuku and katsuki
Trains Run Late: 1,500 quirkless au fic where izuku makes out with a beautiful man (shouto) and his boyfriend (katsuki) at a bar
Without Me?: 1,600 aged-up fic where katsuki helps shouto get with izuku (and also himself in the process)
Mates: 2K aged-up abo fic where katsuki returns from a long shift at work and is greeted by his sleepy husbands (one being pregnant)
You're Okay, Sweet Prince: 3K aged-up fic in which shouto's boyfriends help him cope with his past
Before Dawn (I'm With You): 3K fic where shouto and izuku have food (and more) ready for pro-hero katsuki when he returns home from an overnight shift
Pandora: 3K pro-hero fic where izuku, katsuki, and shouto are trapped in a quirk-deactivating box
Beginning to End: 3,500 pro-hero fic where katsuki and shouto try to make izuku's birthday special
All or Nothing: 4K todobakudeku first time
Fluffle: 5K aged-up fic where shouto gets a fantasy fulfilled by izuku and katsuki
There's a Little Me That Lives in You: really creative 8K soul marks fic in which our boys are oblivious
I'd Love to See Me From Your Point of View: fun/funny 9K body-swapping fic
Touch Me, Touch Me Not, Touch Me: almost 13K fic where izuku, shouto, and katsuki each get hit with different quirks and need to figure out how to undo them
Rock, Paper, Scissors: 20K fic with pro-heros izuku, shouto, and katsuki being messy and drunk, and eventually getting together
When It's Sunrise: 22K pro-hero angst-with-a-happy-ending fic
In Media Res: 74K+ (still ongoing) bakudeku + todo slow burn into todobakudeku endgame. this is honestly my favorite todobakudeku fic, by a long shot. the pacing is superb. the writing and flow are just amazing. and the characters feel so real. i love love love it! (plus it has a companion called Interlude where we see other characters' POV's of main plotlines!)
The Beating of My Glass Heart: 209K angsty soulmate slowburn fic with happy ending. super good, but damn get ready for some angst.
Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku
sfw
(Not-So) Silent Loving: 2,400 cute fic about katsuki mixing up some words
Feels Like Home: 6K fic where class 2a has a party and izuku and katsuki get a little drunk
Sing One We Know: 33K post-war fic where izuku and katsuki navigate life and figure out their feelings for each other
What's Your Type: 20K pro heroes bakugo and deku go on a game show to test their knowledge about each other but miss one question... that leads to something more
Your Hand in Mine (In Every Universe): 56K really cool alternate-timelines-clashing au where we see different katsuki's realize the same thing about izuku
nsfw
Philophobia: 10K fic where izuku, and katsuki, take care of eri and eventually confess some things in the process
Half Drunk, Happy: 13K post-graduation fic where izuku and katsuki hook up and then figure things out
Go Get Your Man, Young Bakugo!: 16K fic where all might misinterprets izuku and katsuki's relationship but the miscommunication leads to something more for them
Bakugou Katsuki/Todoroki Shouto
sfw
Baby Fever: 1.3K established todobaku visit shouto's new nephew in the hospital and seeing shouto hold a baby makes katsuki feel things
Love is an Accident Waiting to Happen: 7K married todobaku + todofam interactions
When We Did Not Know the Answers: 67K shouto-centric slow burn showing shouto's dating experiences while he figures out what he likes
nsfw
Yuck!: 34K abo todobaku with oblivious katsuki and uncommunicative shouto
Triple Dog Dare: 50K post-breakup katsuki finds friendship (and more) with shouto
Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou/Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto
nsfw
Want It All: 29K fic where tododeku and kiribaku figure some things out [related to Ten Years, One Torch]
Amajiki Tamaki/Toogata Mirio
sfw
To Sleep At Your Side (an Act of Trust): 3K tamaki-centric fic about trust and sharing a bed
A Job That No One Wants: 5K fic where mirio is babysitting eri and it's clear his care for her and tamaki come from the same place: love
Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic
nsfw
We Are So (Not) Married: fun 53K fic where present mic and erasherhead figure some things out while under the guise of being married
Kuduo | Second One For All User/Yoichi | First One For All User
nsfw
Iridescent: almost 2K fic of yoichi fluff
Candescent: 1.7K fic where yoichi gives kuduo ofa
Todoroki Touya | Dabi/Takami Keigo | Hawks
nsfw
Primal Factor (Unfinished): 2K unfinished fic (but i think it's fine as a one-shot) that's mainly smut
Incendiate: 8,500 angsty enemies-to-lovers fic
Yakitori: 80K fic with mpreg trans keigo and touya figuring things out
Rhapsody: 188K fic where keigo and touya get hit by a quirk that makes them realize some things (read trigger warnings before reading)
Carrying a Villian's Kid Arc I, Arc II & III: 16- and 25-chapter abo wip with mpreg keigo and touya figuring things out
#mha fic recs#my hero academia#fanfic recs#boku no hero academia#boku no hero academia fic recs#my hero academia fic recs#mha fanfic recs#ao3 fic recs#bnha fic recs#tododeku#todoroki shouto#todoroki shoto#shouto todoroki#shoto todoroki#midoriya izuku#izuku midoriya#kiribaku#kirishima eijirou#kirishima eijiro#kirishima ejirou#eijirou kirishima#ejirou kirishima#eijiro kirishima#bakugo katsuki#katsuki bakugou#abo fic#abo#alpha beta omega
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going off of your recent galatea ask - do you think she’d develop feelings for him again if they were in close proximity for an extended period of time again? idk just a theory :3
oh what a very interesting question! cracking my fingers Ok congress let’s get this discussion started (typical mad ramblings below the cut)
i think my first gut reaction would be yes, but solely because she would want to. when i went through a Very Galatea Moment this winter lol, i typed a beginning to a galatea take two in which they were working on her third album and she was specifically seeking him out as a producer to fall in love with him all over again and use that pain to fuel her. it was all written before sleep in one night so i don’t really know where i wanted to follow that emotional line, but i assume she would have revived her feelings — fully knowing and embracing she was pygmalion — and then maybe the pain of it would have been too masochist, or not enough, not album-of-the-year enough, and it’d feel meaningless. i don’t know!
thinking about it now though, i don’t really enjoy that idea, and i don’t think i would have ever followed it if i had actually decided to write galatea take two. much too straightforward, taking away all the nuance of the characters, all the tragedy that they accidentally fall face first into and realize only too late their mistakes.
this also brings up the question on if she ever actually loved him, the real him, and not the one she made up in her mind. we know that she romanticized him, that she made this grand summer love affair bigger than it was, and that by the end of august, she’s left reeling with the knowledge that she created him. it could make you wonder if it was all fantasy, if she really knew him, if she only loved the idea of him. then, if she was working on her third album with him, there would be nothing to fall back into; it was never there anyway. or, maybe, to the contrary, she’d know him without the theatrics she pushed onto him and fall in love with the real him. in which case it would theoretically be the very first time.
i don’t know if i’m satisfied with that one either. both side of the argument on if she loved him or not have merit (me saying ‘argument’ like it’s not just me and the voices lmao). i don’t think it’s as easy as saying people’s feelings are Fake just because they might have been mostly lived in their own minds. that’s still Something, and if it’s valid or not is up to you and your interpretation. i don’t think i’d ever had gone down the ‘ends up falling for the “real” him’ route either though, just because it’s a little too clean-cut and fairytale ending-y, the antithesis of galatea take one.
in the end, i do believe that she is, to her core, delusional and a dreamer and a romantic, and that she builds things up in her mind and invents meaning where there’s none. so yeah, i think she’d probably have feelings for him again, though it’d have almost nothing to do with him and more to do with her. she can’t help herself; she says she’s not listening to the instinct to romanticize him and wax poetics about his every little looks, but in the end it’s still there. at least until she’s worked on it, she’ll just fall back into her habits. but i think she could do it to and with other people in her life, not just matty.
tldr// yeah probably lol. but every theory is valid and has weight cos this is Galatea and it’s made to be Interpreted
#if u guys have different opinions lmk i’d love to hear them🤗#here she go again…….#galatea take one#ask
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A Faerûnian Masterlist
I write mostly SFW fluff, angst, and adventure fic. Below you'll find plenty of cute moments, witty banters, angsty arguments, action scenes, and the occasional slightly NSFW hint that fades to black.
Contents:
Popular One Shots
Tav/Durge-Specific Fics + Tav/Durge bios
Random Short Fics
Deep Dives in Lore
Ongoing Series (multi-chapter fics)
Click here to read my works on AO3 (where they are also slightly better organized).
Enjoy!
———
Popular One-Shots
The things that have been Doing the Notes the most
Choosing to Live - Gale x You/Reader in which Gale struggles with the complicated emotional fallout of not obeying Mystra's command to self-destruct in Moonrise Towers (AO3 link)
he is enough - Gale x You/Reader but it's poetic thoughts about how Gale doesn't have to earn your love (AO3)
Ascension, Return - Gale x You/Reader where you're witness to Gale's ascension to godhood before he leaves to give the Crown of Karsus to Mystra...and you're a little scared he won't come back. (AO3)
Close - Halsin is playing hide and seek with the tiefling children, and Ardynn gets roped into the game. TLDR: trapped in a closet with Halsin (AO3)
———
Tav/Durge Fics
Fics arranged by Tav or Durge in mostly chronological order (they're better organized on AO3)
Meridan "Dani" Zavrai
A blue Mephistopheles tiefling bard who prefers her fiddle and a few handy spells over combat. Dani was briefly part of a band of bards called the Merry Rovers, led by a human named Brann who she views as essentially her father figure. She loves to talk her way into and out of trouble, making her silver tongue just as much an asset as it is a hindrance, and she finds it hard to resist the allure of a few gold coins in almost any circumstance. She is deeply devoted to her friends, however, and will defend or support them at the drop of a hat. You can rely on her for a good song, an encouraging word, a hearty laugh, and a healthy dose of Vicious Mockery heaped upon your enemies. Dani fell in love with Gale and the two spend most of their time in witty banter.
AO3 Link to all of Dani's fics in one place!
New Friend - 10yo Dani meets a lifelong best friend
Abducted - Dani is abducted by the nautiloid
Settling In - Dani reflects on her companions and her new place among them
Signs Part 1 + Signs Part 2 - Dani teaches the companions a new game (with some light romance angst)
The Art of the Night - Gale invites Dani to spend a perfect evening in Waterdeep and Dani reads poetry from The Art of the Night
(Im)possible Odds - Gale contemplates fulfilling Mystra's command in Act 2
Reunited Part 1 - Finally back in Baldur's Gate, Dani brings her companions to meet her mother
Reunited Part 2 - Several days later, Dani finally finds the Rovers at last
An Argument - Dani and Gale do not see eye to eye about the Crown of Karsus
A Little Boat Voyage - After their argument, Dani agrees to listen to Gale's plan for the crown...begrudgingly...
Siblings -Dani is not pleased at how Rolan is being treated at Sorcerous Sundries (half of this takes place both before "An Argument," and half of it after)
New Normal - Dani thinks back on the last six months after their victory over the Netherbrain
Ardynn Harrow
A half-elf ranger whose mother, a wood elf, abandoned her heritage to marry a human man, raising three children in a small clearing in the woods far from society. Ardynn grew up attuned to nature but with a marksman's talent for hunting. She views the world as an extension of nature's laws, of survival, and of balance, and she views herself as just one tiny part. To her, all life (animals, mortals, and otherwise) has value and should be treated with respect, but she also believes in survival and is a crackshot with a bow after years of hunting to feed her family. Just because you respect something doesn't mean you have to kneel to it and bare your neck, after all. She is unused to being in highly populated society but her desire to help others overcomes her anxiety about large crowds, busy streets, and labyrinthine cities. Ardynn had a crush on Halsin as soon as she met him and to this day is amazed that out of everyone in the camp (or the world), she was the one to catch and keep his attention.
AO3 Link to all of Ardynn's fics in one place!
Starstruck - Ardynn meets a certain very famous Archdruid
Close - Halsin is playing hide and seek with the tiefling children, and Ardynn gets roped into the game
Healing - Several scenes over the course of the game of times that Halsin has healed Ardynn
More That I Want... - Ardynn emerges from the Ketheric-Myrkul fight to find Halsin waiting for her in the throne room
Release - Ardynn struggles to cope with the stress of events in Baldur's Gate, but Halsin has a solution
Drowning - Ardynn faces her worst fear in the underwater prison of the Iron Throne
New Normal - Ardynn has some news to share with Halsin (part of the same post as Dani's, Ardynn's is second)
Freyr
A bloodthirsty human fighter who gets as much pleasure out of cleaving his greatsword through someone's skull as he does supporting his best friends in their endeavors. Freyr is a tall, buff, handsome Dark Urge who thinks with his sword before anything else. He doesn't talk much and is often mistaken for being morbidly stupid thanks to his irrational behavior and terse words, but he knows who to rely on when making difficult decisions and he's a surprisingly adept strategist on the battlefield. He also happens to be Faerûn's biggest hype man, that is, if you're pursuing personal dreams that lead to you having loads of awesome power. Just tell him who to murder on your path to success and you can consider it done. It was love at first sight for Freyr when he met Minthara, and whether he decided to rule the world in Bhaal's name or defeat the Netherbrain instead, he's making it his life's mission to make sure Minthara is there to rule beside him.
AO3 Link to all of Freyr's fics in one place!
Clarity - Freyr seeks Minthara fight in battle, and if he wasn't in love before, he sure is now
Slayer - Freyr tests out a new power
Hope - Freyr likes exactly one NPC in the game and her name is Hope
In Your Name - Freyr and Minthara discuss their future and Minthara gives him a new name
Invi
A high elf storm sorcerer, she is a mystery even to herself. At the start of her story, she knows almost nothing about her past, not even her own name, using the initials she finds carved on a pendant as inspiration for what people should call her. Plagued by dark urges that tempt her to kill and maim others, she has a hard time determining what is the "right" thing to do, resulting in more than a few mistakes with big consequences. She is a quiet, observant woman who frequently seeks others' wisdom on matters, viewing everyone's opinions and suggestions equally, and she has an uncanny knack for scientific study and realistic art that hint at some of the dark past she has yet to remember. She fell easily to Astarion's charms early on, but over time the bond they share deepens into a rich, enduring love as they seek answers for the mysteries in their lives and put an end to the forces that would seek to control them.
AO3 Link to all of Invi's fics in one place!
Awakening - Invi awakens on the ravaged beach and gives herself a new name
Together - Invi reflects on how nice Wyll is (it's a Wyll appreciation post okay)
Devil's Deal - Invi makes a deal with Raphael: one name in exchange for another
———
Posts with short fics for all or most of my Tavs/Durges on this list
Four Shared Baths - Dani, Ardynn, Invi, and Freyr share a bath with their LI...results vary
Songs and Lyrics - A few songs/lyrics that inspired little bit scenes for Ardynn, Dani, and Invi
First Confessions - The first time my Tavs/Durges said "I love you" to their LI
———
Deep Dives
Long posts that sparked my hyperfixation and had me red-string-theory connecting lore dots until I landed on a narrative that made sense in my head
Gale and Mystra (and Mystra, and Mystra...) - Meta post that dives into Forgotten Realms lore to discuss Mystra's multiple lives/deaths, how Gale fits into the timeline, when Mystra visited Gale, etc
Shadow Curse Events series - Meta posts that dive into Ketheric's descent into Sharran zealotry (Part 1), his war against the Harpers and Druids (Part 2), and the first 40 days of the shadow curse (Part 3).
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
———
Ongoing Series
Below are the multi-chapter fics I'm currently working on, along with a short summary.
A Macabre Masquerade
Plot: One year after defeating the Netherbrain and saving the city, Dani and Gale receive a mysterious invitation to a masquerade ball. The invitation specifically invites them to participate as the Heroes of Baldur's Gate. However, when they get there, they soon realize they aren't the only Heroes of Baldur's Gate that got invited.
Characters/Pairings: Yes. All of them. Jk, but the core 8 companion + Tav/Durge romances are featured, also with some companion + companion romances implied or referenced
A/N: This fic brings together multiple Tavs/Durges in one place, including Tavs designed and played by some of my friends, but is written from the perspective of my current favorite Tav, Dani.
AO3 Link
Ch. 1 - An Invitation
Ch. 2 - Getting Ready
Ch. 3 - Donning the Masks
Ch. 4 - The Gang's All Here
Ch. 5 - Mirrors
Ch. 6 - For My Next Trick...
Ch. 7 - A Danse Macabre
#bg3#bg3 fic#bg3 fanfic#bg3 fanfiction#my fic#oc#gale#gale dekarios#astarion#halsin#minthara#bg3 companions#dani#meridan zavrai#ardynn#ardynn harrow#invi#freyr#baldur's gate 3
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Flustered and Shy and Blushing!Simon "Ghost" Riley is great and wonderful but what about Angry and Frustrated and Overwhelmed!Simon "Ghost" Riley when it comes to compliments and showers of affection. Under the cut because it completely got away from me!!
What about Simon who can't fathom or accept that someone would a) love him and b) verbally express that. He can more easily deal with their soft, adoring looks because he's always communicated better with his eyes when they're not hardened and cold in front of the enemy and his own battered mind, but words? What the hell!!!
The mask is the only reason he can accept the loving looks, mind you, because he's hiding so it's easy. If you give him soft eyes and smiles full of adoration when his face is bare he'll get a bit flustered (stoically) but it's something he's sort of prepared himself for kind of because he's got his face bare in front of you and that means he trusts you enough to weather the uncomfortable Positive Emotions that he's not used to.
But words? The mask can help, well, mask his face, but if it's off? If you dare to ambush him with loving, affectionate words he won't be able to compute. Because how dare you wait for him to show his face only to throw these strange lies at him.
It's the truth, you say? Well shit how is he supposed to know that? But mostly, it's because he doesn't know that he can reciprocate these words. He certainly feels that way. And in his mind he could wax poetic about you all damn day because he's accepted his fate of loving you to the best of his ability, but the words just physically cannot come out and it pains him.
Actions often speak louder than words but even Simon knows words are still necessary here and there, still important. Because he feels that way in practice, whenever you show him you love him it's great but when you tell him it's just as affirming if not more because damn it it's important to hear it.
And he hates that the most he can do is glare at you with glassy eyes and squish your face in his giant strong hands like he's got a grudge against you. Because all else he can do is soundlessly flap his mouth like a fish.
And that's not even touching upon the insecurities aspect. What if you find someone who can say the things you deserve to hear in a less degrading tone and also outside the bedroom? Someone who can look you in the eye and speak their love and affection confidently? What if when he gets home from deployment he doesn't find you there because of that reason? Sure, it will be a relief, to know you're okay and safe and away from the stressful lifestyle he lives but. He loves you.
So he takes to writing first. Doesn't show you any of it, usually does it in the time he's supposed to be filling out paperwork or when you're asleep and he's not. It... It feels good. A little cathartic even. Because it shows to him that he can express these very real feelings and he's not that broken. Or maybe he is, but he can still get it out of his system.
And it also helps him become less agitated whenever you shower him with love and compliments he doubts are true (but never doubts you. Or tries not to, because he respects you.) and he can tell it makes you happy because it's progress. You were worried he might be genuinely uncomfortable at first until he'd grumpily shoved his face into your neck to hide his flaming face and you'd realized that he's not angry just... Unable to cope.
So now you're proud of him but not in a condescending fashion or anything and honestly, Simon's a little proud of himself too but he won't ever admit it.
But then the scattered notes of his love for you aren't enough and the frustration creeps back in and makes his eyes sad, which makes you think he needs more and while he's grateful and secretly preening under your affections (which also counts as big progress because he might actually start believing you!), he still can't return them verbally like he wants to.
So he writes down the things he loves about you and eventually it evolves into love letters that lack the apparent frustration and the killer glares of his face whenever he tries to reciprocate.
He realizes he can give those to you and that can be a start because he does want to actually verbalize those three words. But the letter has got to be perfect. And then there's the issue of good timing. And the dilemma of "should I just leave it for them to find when I'm gone next time or do I want to see their reaction?" And of course he wants to see your reaction but can he take it?
So he agonizes for a week over this letter, making sure his handwriting is all pretty and legible and triple checking the simplest words for spelling because fuck knows with his luck he'd misspell 'the' and once it's done and he's not cringing too hard rereading it, he bides his time.
It doesn't go as planned of course. He gets a call the evening he decided to give it to you so now it doesn't feel right. You give him a little smile because you know he'll have to go soon- the kind of smile that reaches your eyes but isn't as bright because of course you're worried, but you don't want your lovely Simon to feel guilty for doing his job that you knew about before deciding to date him.
Maybe you find the note on accident but I really want Simon to go through the wonderful anxiety of watching your face go through a million emotions while reading it in front of him so we'll go with that.
He really didn't want to make it a big thing but he has no other choice and he needs to give it to you before he leaves for his own sake (and safety because it's a miracle he's not distracted by thoughts of you in the field already, knowing he'll have to try and give you the note again would absolutely get him hurt or worse).
You don't make it a big thing and he's so relieved and grateful because he really doesn't have the capacity for that. It's as precious and fluffy (and emotional!) as you imagine and when Simon leaves, he does so with a new lightness in his chest that makes a smile spread behind his mask.
When he gets back after that he finds it's easier still to take your barrage of love and affection (which, mind you, has always been gentle because you never want to overwhelm him too bad) and that night he manages, without realizing at first, to softly say he loves you into your forehead and after that it gets easier but he never quite makes it past softly speaking it when it's dark out or really early sunlight. Always spoken against your skin or lips because that's all he can do for now without exploding from overwhelm. It's a good kind of overwhelm, but overwhelm nonetheless.
#simon ghost riley#simon riley#ghost cod#simon riley x reader#simon ghost x reader#simon riley x you#simon ghost riley x reader#simon ghost riley x you#can also apply to ghost x soap#with more drama and some other differences
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"People have names on pretend birthdays, too."
"You could call yourself Ezra,"
"What's an Ezra?"
"It's a very special name from a very special person. You could have him, if you'd like."
"Can Ezra have the curliest hair?"
"Of course he can."
"... Ezra, with the Curliest Hair."
drawn for day 6 of the @june-doe-event - Swapped roles! I have an actual AU that I've been thinking about for the past week or two, and I'm going to talk about it below.
Ocean - The Most Imaginative Girl in Town. She's doomed from the start. she imagines a better world, a world where she's a leader and everything goes the way she wants it to. But in reality, she "will never leave this town at all," so to speak. During her time in the warehouse, she taps into the side of her in canon that feels distraught and helpless, the part that spirals into the "we're all just starfarts!" rhetoric. Due to her being so religious, she understands that this was the time for her to die, she's just having a REALLY hard time accepting it. She concedes not because she wants to, but because she knows this is her end. Her song is a poppy tune with secretly dismal lyrics about how no matter how hard you try, death is inevitable.
Noel - The Most Ambitious Boy in Town. His ambitions to get to France are very strong in this AU. He works insanely hard to get out of Uranium. He didn't get to have a life where he was himself, poetic and out in the open, and that's his main drive for wanting to go back. I think his song is pretty much the same as in canon.
Mischa - The Most Romantic Boy in Town. Mischa was adopted into a good adoptive family who decided they were going to give this obviously troubled teenager a safe, stable home. They provided him with a trusting, loving space, and his adoptive father taught him how to play the acoustic guitar. Mischa still finds Talia online through youtube and their relationship is the same. Instead of hip hop and rap, he mostly writes love songs and Ukrainian folk music. Instead of two songs, he has one about Talia and his love for her and need to be with her.
John Doe - In this AU, Ricky is a John Doe. The authorities were from out of town and wanted everything to be over with, and didn't understand ASL, so Ricky was left unidentified. His head is an astronaut helmet with cat ears that he made himself (sculpted the ears out of foam and clay and glued them to a normal helmet before painting it purple) Before his song, Ricky usually signs rather than speaks. Penny is the only choir member to understand ASL because it was taught in Elysium, which means that the rest of the choir can't understand Ricky unless she's interpreting. He has no voice and he doesn't know why. Ricky's song is about feeling misunderstood with no way to be understood, because he doesn't know who he is. He can't voice his feelings because he doesn't know them.
Penny - The Nicest Girl in Town. The town perceives her as "easy", easiest to bully, easiest to forget, easiest to ask for the science homework from. They label her as the nice one bc she's gullible enough to fall for it. Swap Penny is a pushover, and her need to be liked is much more prevalent here. She's desperate for positive attention, and her bullies label her the nice one to get away with using her. Her song is more about her life and how there's so much more to her than what the town perceives her as. She still has her dolly in this AU, and gives her to John as a birthday present. She and John actually become good friends throughout the course of the warehouse.
Constance - The Angriest Girl in Town. She was treated the same way she was in canon, but in death she lets loose and reveals her true emotions about everything. She's done with being a doormat. She's dead! Who cares anymore? She's dead and she spent her life catering to Ocean, and she's not going to spend the afterlife the same way. Constance says "fuck it" and lets her real self show, and I love her for that. She gets two songs - one that's really just a big vent session, with a punk rock theme where she gets to just let loose, and Sugar Cloud, where she talks about how life wasn't all terrible. I think she still has her realization in the middle of death that life was worth loving, it just comes along with realizing that life is both the good and the bad, that it's okay and even deserved to be angry.
#please send asks abt this au i love it sm#june doe#june doe event#rtc swap au#rtc#ride the cyclone#john doe ricky#john doe ricky potts#ricky potts#ocean o'connell rosenberg#noel gruber#mischa bachinski#penny lamb#constance blackwood#bird likes to art#spacedolls
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