#it begged to exist anyway and thus it will.

[abri-chan]

Not having read the manga I thought Rukia's rescue arc took place somewhere in the middle of Bleach as a series, and not at the very beginning, with it being in the middle making it make sense for a more romantic reading of IchiRuki. Now you can read it as romantic regardless, it's up to the reader. Or you can see it as Ichigo being the older brother to two younger sisters and the oldest kid of a single parent household, where older kids (especially if girls) act as a surrogate second parent, taking on the vacant slot left by the other parent (his mom in this case, not surprisingly he looks so much like her)--as usual, in families a role that exists and is left empty must be filled, even if you need to bring in outsiders for that purpose.

On to the main point, it is so funny to me but also such an accurate portrayal of peak teenage behavior, that this group of kids did sneak into the Soul Society (yeah dude, let's do it! we will save our friend. we will bring her back. no one messes with our circle. we'll definitely come back in one piece, trust me!) to save their friend of... at most six months or a semester of school as Shunsui points out and learns from Chad approaching him.

And Shunsui, being the perspective of an adult who has formed frontal lobes (which he actively tries to destroy with alcohol) and can see in retrospective how teens are and how he was as a teen, realizing that "Oh god! you are dumb. (you are dumb because) You are kids. I cannot kill you!'

Only a teen would pull off a wild stunt like that, because adults either care less about their friends or get too caught up in overanalyzing the situation (Ukitake as Rukia's captain), afraid to be involved (Shunsui because while he didn't like the execution, he doesn't want to do unnecessary work and make things worse, less if he uses his connections or cards right for any little thing that happens in the world there will be nothing left to use when things come down to his niece Nanao), or fearing the loss of social status and family shame (Byakuya as Rukia's brother).

#anime manga rambles #bleach #renji should have helped #but to his credit he did admit it that he knew rukia was out of his league and the easy way was too pretend she never existed and #thus not think that they could never be together #he came to his senses and begged ichigo to save her and then fought byakuya and still went to the execution even if he already lost to bkuy #it's not clear if renji would have eventually not kept himself from saving rukia and ichigo just accelerated an event about to happen #there's also pride and respect in that Renji may have felt he was dishonoring Rukia's choice to die by throwing a tantrum that she should.. #continue on living at her execution like who is he to decide for rukia (in his head) #he cared abt protecting the image of rukia more so than protecting rukia bc he was too weak to protect rukia & that's all he was strong... #enough to do #he grew complacent in his choice that it took an outsider to shake him up that #there's no dignity in a dead loved one and you should strive to keep them alive #anyway i wrote an essay on renji in the tags

[dear-eli]

I guess it's a good thing that you're still ghosting me. And an even better thing that I haven't yet bothered trying to work up the nerve to ask to see you in person. Because as much as I miss just being your friend, just spending time casually with you and enjoying your sense of humor and our inside jokes and movie quotes... I know exactly what would happen if I saw you in person.

I would collapse. Maybe just internally, but the floodgates that I've been keeping firmly sealed for months here with the dam of my denial, pretending they don't exist, would break open and I would just start sobbing. And you would reflexively offer me a hug, whether you actually had an ounce of affection left for me or not, just because you're a soft, caring bastard on the inside and can't stand to see people hurting (no matter how much you try and hide that side of you under your prickly 'sarcastic asshole' exterior). And the moment you had me in your arms, the moment my cheek hit your chest, the moment my heart went home, I would never want to let you go. And it would break my heart all over again in that moment, the anguish of knowing that that moment was fragile and temporary, so so temporary, never meant to last, never meant to be true, but if I close my eyes I could pretend, just for a second, just before you'd pull away and my heart would shatter all over again.

The other reason it's inadvisable for us to meet again in person is because I know myself, and I know us. Our spark may have been forcibly smothered, consciously or unconsciously, but it never truly died. If there was even the faintest hint of the same physical chemistry that we used to have - which I have no reason to believe there wouldn't be - I know myself well enough to know that you wouldn't even have to ask. The moment I had any indication of desire and consent from you, I would do anything you wanted. You could snap your fingers and I'd fall to my knees right there in a parking lot, in front of god and everyone, and suck your cock just the way I used to. I never could resist you, even when I wanted to, even when I tried setting boundaries with myself in hopes of a more reciprocal sexual relationship. It never mattered. I would have done anything to please you, even if it meant I never felt pleasure again. And god help me, I still would. I wish I could hate you for that. I resent you for it, for my inability to tell you no, to resist the call of your body. I resent the knowledge that even now, after you spent years systematically breaking me emotionally and then shoved a dagger through my heart and had the audacity to blame me for putting it there, even now knowing you chose her over me and always fucking would, I still can't break your hold over me. I still don't want anyone but you. I'd still do anything for you, anything you wanted, just for a split second's taste of your love and affection. I hate it, I hate myself, and I hate you.

I hate you for never formally releasing me from my collar, too; maybe that's why I subconsciously feel like I still belong to you. But it's been far too long, and I don't know how to bring it up now. Because it didn't matter to you like it mattered to me. It mattered so little to you that you forgot you'd even done it, less than a year in. You probably just assumed that part of our bond was implicitly broken when you ended our romantic relationship. But it wasn't. At least not to me. And now I still don't know how to bring it up without sounding like a fucking pathetic overly-attached needy leech, looking for any excuse to worm back into your life even if just to beg for my subconscious freedom. I know you hate me. I don't know why or what I did to make you turn so cold to me, but then I never do. Somehow this always happens with anyone I let myself love and somehow I never see it coming. I never know how but it's always my fault.

#denial #anger #bargaining #depression #still not to acceptance yet #still not ready to move on. #i wish it didn't matter so much to me #this post got carried away from me; the original point was the sex thing #but i think I've said that bit before anyway #then i thought about my collar - ans how uncollaring me would be the perfect excuse to beg for a meeting in person #and then i realized it didn't matter to you at all or you would have asked for it back the day we broke up. #i realized how long ago you'd forgotten it even existed #and thus how little that dynamic meant to you #and now i don't even want to ask because you'll either think im stupid and making a big deal out of nothing #or worse you'll just ignore me. just continue ghosting me like you have been for the last month

[critterbitter]

re: your thoughts on legendaries (which is very cool and based) what’s your take on the differences between legends:arceus giratina and platinum giratina, especially since you defined them as hating the world? specifically the bit where giratina (at least seemingly) actively defended the world from cyrus trying to destroy it, after trying to do the same thing with volo’s help centuries prior?

Weird ghost worm upon yee (AND MORE ART BELOW CUT!)

Anyways, here’s my mad ramblings about Giratina and Arceus’s backstory.

Tldr: Giratina’s a conglomerate of angry souls scorned by Arceus.

(Here’s the playlist. It’s all about worms.)

How it Started.

The original one has chosen favorites over the passage of time. Heroes, legends, protagonists…

Arceus intervenes for those it loves, and the consequences of a god touching the mortal world is devastating in its entirety. One act of divine intervention causes entire civilizations to collapse. One whispered suggestion drives an entire legacy insane.

So Arceus, paralyzed by its love for the mortal world, acts very little, learning from its mistakes. Apathy soaks through every motion. And thus is the way of the world.

But people love the Originator. Religions are born from Arceus’s rare deeds, and generation on generation taught its benevolence. Imagine spending your entire life chasing after that golden light. Imagine knowing its real and there, and it loves you.

Imagine begging it for help, and seeing it turn away when you need it most.

I think those people would feel very abandoned indeed, if they spent their lives worshipping, and receiving no response at all.

Giratina is born from the abandoned, the lost, and the angry. They’re a hundred thousand souls who’s adoration turned to spite. They’re an entity who demands for Arceus to look at them, so they can finally rest.

Arcues can not look at them in full, because if it does Giratina will fade.

(Scio, beloved. For I can not let you go.)

So the Original One banishes the Unwanted Beast into the distortion world, and Giratina seethes, and starves, and screams.

(Here are two truths about the Beast Between Dimensions—

1. Some part of them still loves Arceus. Arceus is their anchor, after all— the sole reason why they exist, why they are. But Arceus can not love it back in a way that matters, and that hurts.

2. Giratina is made of a thousand voices. Some of these voices remember that there’s a world above. They miss it.)

Why Giratina attacked Hisui in PLA:

PLA Giratina’s not a new god, but they’re very, very bitter and barely coherent on a good day. Volo serves as a conduct to help unite the broiling mass of ghosts against Arceus, and thus Giratina’s hatred overcomes any flickering affections they have for the land.

It doesn’t help that Arceus intervened for Hisui, sending Akari to directly stop Volo from summoning Giratina.

(As for Volo, well.

Imagine being a child who was thrown into the future due to Palkia and Dialga’s fits, who learned his people (his world) no longer exist beyond a shadow in the history books and a single, bitter lore keeper.

Volo doesn’t remember his original culture beyond vague imprints and singing praises to Sinnoh, but he knew he was loved, and he knew his family is dust four hundred years in the past. There’s a special sort of rage in him that echoes Giratinas.)

(Why did you abandon my people, Arceus? What kind of god are you, to leave those who love you so callously behind?)

(Maybe some part of Giratina recognizes Volo, beyond a feeling of kinship.

Maybe some part of Giratina grieves because it recognized the child Volo was.)

When Volo gets his pound of flesh, (when he realizes Arceus is not beholden to him, that the inherent alien morality Arceus holds is not a personal slight), Giratina will finally rest.

Anyways what I’m trying to say is: Arceus is never a person, but a nebulous embodiment of the connection shared between pokemon and humans. It tries to experience what it’s supposed to embody, but millennia of watching people be and cease has given it choice paralysis, apathy, and a hoarding issue. If something lasts forever next to it? Good.

Giratina was once a person. (Correction, a LOT of persons.) They don’t think very linearly either, but they have context on mortal matters and are thus the more benevolent and malicious of the two. One day, time will smooth them into something like Arceus. We can only hope the two keep each other in check.

THE DIFFERENCE OF LEGENDS ARCEUS GIRATINA VS PLATINUM PEARL GIRATINA

If the ancient version of giratina is an angry conglomerate of ghosts scorned by Arceus, the modern iteration of Giratina’s a creature that’s more settled in its skin and more assured in its duties. Giratina still has beef with Arceus, but they unionized into one being who’s love of the mortal world has triumphed over its ancestral grudge. One might even postulate they have shifted their anchor from Sinnoh the god, to Sinnoh the place.

((We call this character developement. Good for you, weird ghost worm!))

(((FULL DISCLOSURE, VOLO BEING FROM THE PAST IS INSPIRED FROM FOXFALL. You know. The fic that got me into this fandom. Please give it some love.)))

#critterbitter screams into the void #pokemon #ask #mailbox #Giratina and arceus #man #might be subject to change but mmm #thinking about how pokemon canonically has ghost moshpit pokemon #looking at spiritomb #and pallosand #ghost pokemon are weird #oops! would you look at that! #chandelure and giratina as foils (they both have anchors who willingly and unwillingly abandon them) #giratina #arceus #pla lore #pla #art #sketchbook #myart #not submas related (but still worth the brainrot) #volo mention #pokemon art #giratina redesign #legendary pokemon

[velvetti]

You are my liberty

T/W: Imply human trafficking, alcohol abuse, mlm relationship, no direct mention of consent, minors/fem aligned DNI, angst/comfort + smut.

To him, you were a fever dream, a beautiful white rose blooming under the moonlight in a garden of wilting wild flowers, a cold gust of wind in the middle of a hot summer night. You make him wonder if you ever existed at all, or if it's just another hallucination he had during his dark times, when he was struggling to live day by day.

The memories of your first encounter had long engraved itself into his soul. It was a snowy day, right in the middle of September just a few decades ago when he was a child. Forced to watch as the pedestrians walk by him, ignore him, trample him while he slowly dies from hunger and cold inside a dark alleyway, he calls that moment one of the luckiest in his miserable life.

Because, it's when you laid your eyes on him for the first time. He wished he could've travelled back in time and embraced you right then and there instead of halting for a moment like an idiot, but he couldn't blame his past self, you are the most beautiful person he has ever witnessed. Can you blame him for smiling stupidly like a puppy when you offered him a loaf of bread?

He really did love you at first sight, if not love, then what could explain his emotions whenever he talks to you?

His dreams were brutally cut off by the sound of his glass of whisky falling from his work desk. This was the third time that he fell asleep while doing paperwork, by the emperor's words, "A commander shall not halt the empire's progress with his personal troubles", thus, here he is, forced to finish his paperwork while being depressed.

He struggles with paperwork every single day after your disappearance, saying that he was worried was an understatement, the world didn't even have colours when you left. He refused to even go into any taverns during his day off as a commander, just because whenever he looked at the wall, he might be greeted with a missing poster with your face on it, smiling as beautifully as he first remembered you.

He wouldn't call you his soulmate, soulmates can live a life without each other, while without you, he just wants to drown himself in liquor so he could continue seeing you in his dreams. He needed you to live, not just exist.

It didn't take him that long to find a lead about you, after all, everything can be purchased by money. Just a few hundred gold coins and he had already managed to find out where you are. To his surprise, you were kidnapped and are going to be auctioned off soon.

So, he simply killed off the owner of the auction house and stole you before anyone else could even think of getting their pesky hands on your body :)

The bastard had the audacity to lock you in a cage, you even felt skinnier than the last time he hugged you! He should've made the death slower, but he was too excited to see you again. He quickly wrapped his cape around your body and hugged you tightly, at least you're back in his arms again.

;

Fearing that you'll find a way to leave him again, he has decided, why not make you his little husband? It's too cruel to lock you up physically and he doesn't want you to be depressed, you won't be able to get away when you're legally bound to him anyways.

So, without much of a thought, he literally begged you to marry him, hugging your waist while whining to your already flustered self, it took him days if not weeks just to convince you, but in the end, he managed and almost pinned you down and did you right then and there. But he held back, he wanted to wait for you guys' honeymoon, for you to have a proper wedding instead of acting by his own desires, he might've been a cruel person but he's not an asshole.

;

How many times was this already?

Counting just today, a total of three times. He had made love with you three times in a single day during your 2 weeks long honeymoon, and this is just the first day.

The first time was quite- no, very long. At first, he was very gentle, he didn't tore off your white suit the moment you both got on the bed, instead he went slow and made sure to prepare you thoroughly. He promptly fucked you in a mating press position right after you have adjusted though, only slowing down slightly when you sobbed and digged your nails into his back, he kept having that annoying sly smirk on his face, proud to be the one taking your first time and making it worthwhile. The total amount of rounds you've both gone in one night? 15 times, with breaks in-between, of course.

The second time, it was a little more tame compared to the first time. Well, if you count fucking in a garden, anything close to being tame. He bent you over the bench and rearranged your insides right then and there. Your body was still sore from yesterday, so he tried going gentle this time, but he had to grip onto your hips for dear life to refrain from losing his mind. You managed to keep your sounds fairly quiet, so no unfortunate servants passing by would have to hear the embarrassing sounds coming out of your mouth.

The third time, he held the grudges from the second time and let all of them out on you after dinner. You were forced to wear a pair of laced underwear, the provocative kind that shouldn't be seen by any children whatsoever. Your wrists tied together by his tie while he makes out with you and fucks you at the same time. The marks before haven't even completely disappeared from your body, yet they've been replaced with a new one, littered from your inner thighs to your neck.

All of that horny stuff aside, you had to give your little husband a kiss on the forehead after all the rounds you both have gone through. He fell asleep almost immediately afterwards, hugging your waist and resting his head on your chest, without any sort of defence whatsoever. Letting out a sigh, at this point, you don't know if your husband is secretly a golden retriever in disguise or not.

A/N: The end was a bit rushed, if you couldn't tell. The golden retriever thingy is a reference to one of my work that's still a work-in-progress. Thanks for reading, I hope you like this post :b

#idk what tags to add #orginal post #bottom male reader #male reader #vel fic #original character #marriage #historical #original character x reader #nfst #oc x male reader #male reader smut #x male reader #male reader insert

[sorin-sunchild]

I just want to say I don't like that some people are making posts about tumblrs recent transphobic fuck up saying that it's a trans girl/trans femme only issue and that only other trans girls care about what happened.

First) Some people haven't seen what happened. If they're not following or browsing trans tags, don't look at trending tags and have noone around them reblogging it then they won't see it.

Getting mad at people for not all being aware and thus assuming you're alone and not cared about by most people except those in your group is a dangerous mindset. It's not only isolating for you and unfair to others, but it's exactly the kind of mindset that makes you vulnerable to thinking things like "cis people/trans people of X identity don't care about me, it must be because they're all transmisogynistic and thus I should hate them too!" which is untrue and again, not good for your own mental wellness as well as the community as a whole.

Let's keep it trending so more people might see and reblog and talk about it! If you want people to know, don't let yourself be silenced!

Second) Some might not feel like they 'should' have an opinion because they're not trans femme and don't want to be accused of speaking over anyone. The fact we're often told as such doesn't help the paranoia and feeling like we have no rights to post about it then.

Posts encouraging other trans and nonbinary as well as cis people to stand up without accusing them of not caring or being bad people if they don't/haven't already will open up the conversation to all people. You're not obliged to do this of course and I'm not saying 'beg' for support (you wouldn't need to anyway) I'm just saying that this could solve the problem a little.

Third) The community most effected by an issue is always going to be the loudest about it. I promise you, theoretical trans girl/woman/femme reading this, that people other than trans femme people DO care and ARE mad and DO support you and all like you. You deserve to live in the way which makes you happy and is true to yourself. You are worthy of respect and support.

Trans existence isn't 'NSFW'. No, not even if someone is fully clothed and wearing mild vanilla gear which could be or definitely is kink gear.

Anyway this isn't just a trans femme issue, it's a trans community issue, it's a basic rights issue, it's everyone's issue.

#trans #trans* #transgender #transfem #say no to transphobia #say no to transmisogyny #trans rights are human rights #let trans girls exist #trans unity #nonbinary #trans community #fuck transphobes

[poisonousroxstar]

Imagine:

Yandere Malenia

Plot Summery: general yandere headcanons for Malenia, The Blade of Miquella, the Severed.

This Contains: Yandere themes. Unhealthy mindsets. Unhealthy relationships. Dependency.

Note(s): Sorry for the absence again! Here's something I whopped up. I'm gonna try and do requests now! Hope you like this! I'm gonna try and make shorter headcanons now, at least for the self-indulgent ones. Anyway, blabbering, bye!

Malenia is a devoted, worshipper, and obedient yandere. She dedicates her entire being to her darling, her whole existence. She is your weapon, she is your tool -- control her as you please, for who is she to go against your wants?

This mindset carries over on both spectrums. Whether she loves you platonically or romantically, Malenia will always see herself as her darling's blade. She lives to serve you and you alone.

Due to this, there will always be an imbalance in your relationship. Despite being an empyrean, a child of Queen Marika herself, and a warrior who has never known defeat, Malenia treats you like a higher being. She worships the ground you walk on and will protect you with her life.

You've helped her in so many ways, perhaps in ways you've unaware of. Whenever the scarlet rot became too much for her, with it nagging and eating away at her flesh, begging her to bloom the Scarlet Aeonia, she thought of you and how much you needed her. And that gave her the strength to resist the call of rot.

When Malenia leaves to challenge Radahn, she holds you in her thoughts and prayers. She mustn't perish, for you need her and she needs you. Thus when the battle reaches its pique, neither side showing victory, she abandons Miquella's golden needle; abandons her pride as a warrior, and allows the scarlet flower to bloom once more.

If anything were to happen to you, she wouldn't know what to do. You mean the world to her, she can't exist without you. She will protect you and do anything to save you, even if that means betraying her own allies, even her brother. But if you were to be slain or worse, truly die, well...

Perhaps her purpose is no longer needed. She swore to follow you until the very end. A blade has no reason to exist without its master, after all.

#x reader #x s/o #x y/n #imagines #gender neutral reader #gender neutral s/o #gender neutral y/n #gn y/n #gn reader #gn s/o #elden ring #elden ring malenia #elden ring x reader #elden ring x s/o #elden ring x y/n #malenia the severed #malenia blade of miquella #malenia x reader #malenia x y/n #malenia x s/o #yandere headcanons #yandere female #yandere x reader #yandere x y/n #yandere x s/o

[front-facing-pokemon]

Yes, Honedge!

Something i'd like to point out about its face:

It doesn't have a goofy face, the holes in the scabbard just make it look that way. In reality, it just has a single eye.

With that in mind, could you please do a version without the scabbard?

iiii figured this was common knowledge enough to not warrant an additional form, but alright:

some of the guard disappeared but it's okay. i never even saw that part of the scabbard as a face—the blue eye is very obviously an eye. i don't know if anyone actually thought that was its face. however, i do find it interesting that even after removing the scabbard textures, it still has textures for that "face" remaining:

which implies it's a face more than anything i've seen of the matter before this point

anyway there's so many asks in the box right now so let's just go through all of them:

in order from oldest to newest, here we go:

this is true. most of the models are shiny, unless they have a "colladamax" variant

ahh it's fine. i considered it might have been a request but i also doubted it considering pangoro was literally next so i assumed you were just excited. me complaining about requests was unrelated—another ask i got around the same time

well then maybe it's not a bad thing. you certainly phrased it like one, it seems, but that might just be unfortunate connotations with the way you said it? glad we could clear up the confusion i guess

we do need more snakes, but i also like the bipedal pokémon, as a furry. back when everyone was begging sprigatito not to stand up, i saw through their thinly-veiled furry hate and was begging sprigatito to go against the grain and stand up anyway. and then they did and now meowscarada is one of my favorite pokémon. get fucked, normies (i am sorry for saying this)

↑ i didn't know this until i looked it up! this is interesting. stuff like the male version learning misty terrain but the female version learning more type coverage. this is very strange but i like it. only girls can use magical leaf and charge beam sorry boys

thank you! i can explain it. it is because pokémon are getting very close and staring at you as for the inspiration for this blog, it was mostly snivy. i remember one day thinking that snivy's big nose would make it look very silly from the front, and being like "damn. someone should compile a list of what every pokémon looks like from the front. damn. that would make a good tumblr blog bc some of those would be really funny. damn. i should do that" and then i did. but that was back in 2020—pretty soon after i ended up starting college which didn't allot me a lot of time for updating this blog, and although i kept swearing i'd go back, somewhat soon after that i went through a breakup and just wanted to take a while for myself. a bit after that, tumblr user sewatari reblogged one of the posts on this blog again (the weedle post, i believe?) and singlehandedly revived this blog by reminding me that they still cared about it. and that's fucking awesome?? tbh?? so thank them for this blog's continued existence. if you scroll waaaayyyy back far enough in the archive, you'll probably see that miniature saga. the images back from the first gen and onwards were a little bit icky as i got grips on how to actually go about this blog and manipulate the models in the right way to get them to work, which is why i can never really recommend folks scroll all the way back in the blog, but it's a look back into my own personal history, i suppose

apologies for breaking the magic, although i don't think anyone keeps up with the "i am a pokémon taking real live pictures of other pokémon with the camera right in their face" lore because no one pays attention to the backgrounds of the images (which used to change much more than they do now, but that's just because no one ever noticed or pointed them out. the background is not the focus of the image—it's the pokémon itself; thus, why look at the background? staging the pokémon in a setting used to be important to me, but now i don't worry about it and cycle between the same few backgrounds) or the asks, really. it's the commentary in the tags everyone comes here for, of course

she's a fully-grown woman with a house

then you'll love the top of this post

they probably wouldn't think it looks like anything because they aren't familiar with what honedge looks like so they would just picture nothing in their head. or they would just make up what they Think honedge might look like based on its name, or something, and then imagine that front-facing

i don't know which one of these is the real one. but we have some discrepancy here. also apparently this is a wider-spread belief than i thought

OKAY. i think that's all of them. if you read all the way here to the end, that's. powerful. for those of you who stuck around this long, i'm live right now with a test stream having some breakfast and playing pokémon. come join in, if you're bored this morning!

edit: it's over but i'll probably do it again some time, more likely at a more reasonable hour next time. considering the idea of doing a fully voiced pmd series—perhaps that'll be the next stream. or i'll leave another test one for it. who knows!

#not pkmn #nose ratings #extremely long post under the cut #i missed a few days of these so you're getting them ALL at once #the test stream probably won't be anything interesting btw. so you're not missing out if you don't show up #probably. who knows what i'll do. maybe i'll queue up the next set of pokémon live on camera. or maybe i'll fail at some tera raids #or maybe i'll find a random full-odds shiny in sv. or i'll go shiny hunting or something. y'never know!! #also fun fact apparently if you edit a tumblr post with a readmore‚ it moves the readmore down every time you edit it #why? no idea

[reitheist]

I think it would be the biggest plotwist if: matakara ended up with mahoro at the end. Matakara didn't forgive Arajin senya and ichiya were a couple but they had a disagreement and broke up.

i think i'd handle matakara x mahoro if it were written right and mahoro was given a more active role in the story than she currently has. so far, her goals have completely centered the men in her life. if she's actually going to get with matakara, i want her to develop some drive outside her brother, arajin, or matakara y'know. my fear is that if they get together it'd flatten her and matakara's arcs completely.

matakara amicably deciding to part ways with arajin would be an interesting and fairly apt conclusion to the themes and issues presented in the show thus far. it'd be a bit of a bummer, but if they played it right it could be pretty sweet. personally, i'd like to see a full reconciliation with them deciding to be friends again as equals, but we'll see.

i think senya and ichiya are about as explicitly 'exes' as they can be without the show outright showing them making out when they were humans lmao (if they were confirmed to be together i'd die on the spot but I'm jaded enough to know it's not gonna happen).

i'd be able appreciate matakara and ara deciding to go different ways, but i neeeeeeeed these two to make up in some fashion by the end. ep 9 has opened my third eye to all the senichi possibilities. i neeeeed the breakup drama and i need them fighting about the past and i need senya begging ichiya to talk to him and i need ichiya forgiving senya for whatever the fuck he did and I need them to awkwardly reconnect and i need them to smash their faces together like barbie dolls.

truly criminal they don't have any fanfic on ao3 yet 😔 i've never even finished a fic before but i'm tempted to write one just so the tag exists.

anyway, thanks for the ask <3

#bucchigiri?! #bucchigiri meta #ask #mahoro jin #matakara asamine #ichiya #senya #senichi #idk if thats been agreed upon as the name but i like it so #if anyone sends me their ideas about senichi i will kiss you straight on the mouth #pls im dying from lack of content here

[thecontumacious]

hi!! hello!! how are you? i hope you're having an amazing day/night :D i just saw that you're taking requests again so i have an idea that has been rotting my brain and because i really like your writing (you have me giggling and kicking my feet but i never said this) i thought it would be a good idea to ask you about it !!

anyways- my request is luxiem finding their s/o (who's usually on the quiet or less energetic side) dancing their heart out in the kitchen at like 3AM :'))

feel free to skip this request if you want to!!

The World All to Yourselves

a/n: I'M BACKKKK and it's summer holidays so i'll be going a bit crazy with reqs >w< god this character text limit thing is such a pain in the ass my hand is all cramped up from having to constantly reformat this TT

DISCLAIMER: concerning what had recently happened with vox and his community, i want to remind you again that this fic, existing fics and future fics are purely fiction and should not be seen as something to be projected irl. it's merely to entertain and also considered fanart. remember, this applies to not only vox. this applies to ALL of nijisanji and considerably, all other fandoms.

your boyfriend was on a business trip to meet up with the rest of the luxiem members for an off collab. and as much as he pleaded that you tag along, you heavy heartedly refused his offer with your work piling up on your shoulders like a mountain. it would take a week, he said, but it felt super long to you both.

you can see why he begged you to come with him. but well, duty calls and you can't exactly have everything you want in life. he would replace missing time with frequent calls when he's not streaming, video calling when possible with the rest of the members.

pain was visible in his eyes as he could only see you through a phone or laptop screen, so you always tell him that it won't be long that you'll reunite again. you keep reassuring him too that he'll have a lot of fun with the other members.

everything finally comes to an end and today is the day your v-tuber boyfriend will arrive home. unfortunately though, the flight he had to catch was scheduled for midnight and out of concern, he specifically asked you not to pick him up for safety reasons.

thus here you were, swirling your drink of choice in your hand as you looked out the kitchen window. the stars above twinkle every now and then as they watched you wait with anticipation for your beloved to come home.

you sigh, putting the glass aside before grabbing your phone. the house is too quiet, definitely because your boyfriend was not present. so, what do you do while waiting?

you open your music app.

Vox Akuma 👹🌹

fun as the off collab was with his beloved co workers, the strain on his shoulders heavily needed attention and tbh, so did his entire being after going so long without your sweet kisses and tight hugs

he really was going to bound you arms and legs next time this happens

an entire week without your adorable self under him

bah, not good :<

so he rushed his way home, thankfully earlier than he anticipated

knowing you, you were probably still awake so he snickered upon coming up with the idea of surprising you

he quietly shoves the key in and pushes the door open, pulling his suitcase with as little sound as possible

vox mostly expected you to be busy clunking around the apartment in your pajamas, watching a movie or a youtube video

not you shaking your ass to 'hope in the dark'

energetically rapping his part nonetheless

vox smirks, realizing he'd just discover the very rare moments of you like this

he knows you don't hide yourself from him, but seeing you truly be yourself with no one around?

it felt like falling in love with you all over again 

the cheeky demon lets go of his luggage near the door and makes himself comfortable by leaning in the kitchen doorway, just enough that you won't notice him immediately

arms crossed and a soft smile plastered on his handsome face, all the while you're still jamming through luca's verse

"throughout the night party time~!" you melodize, spinning around 360.

vox struggles to hold back his erupting laughter as you bop your head wildly to the drop, your feet stomping in sync with the beats

another idea lights up in the demon's head and he tiptoes his way over to you, just in time to get to his part of the song

"hey lady, how do you feel?" he sings

you turn around with a yelp, eyes wide and your heart on the floor

vox smirks, but he doesn't stop. "you can be anyone you want."

he pulls you by the waist until you're up against him. "don't be afraid and live your life."

his hands make it to your face and brings you until you're within a one inch proximity with him. "the world is full of hope."

blood raises to your cheeks and you suddenly don't remember what lyrics are next. but did it really matter at this point?

"hm? not gonna continue singing, love?" he smirks, leaning in so your nose brushes up against his. "you had so much fun."

"h-how long have you been watching, huh??" you hiss, pouting as you looked away. but vox is quick to pull your gaze back onto him by using his fingers

"just enough to see you have all the world to yourself, darling," he sighs, leaning pass your face and into the crook of your neck. "you looked absolutely gorgeous by the way. a shame i don't get to see it often."

you curl your lip, face still bright red from the embarrassment. but all you could do was wrap your arms around vox

"welcome home, love," you whisper, resting your head on his shoulder as you tug onto his coat. "was the trip alright?"

"and you're gonna ignore my words, sweet thing?" vox pulls away and for a moment, you feel weak in the knees with the gaze that rained down upon you

then you feel him push you back until you hit the kitchen counters, his hand snug on the tabletop with you where he exactly wanted you to be

pinned against him, flushed and completely helpless

"v-vox..."

"hm? what is it, my love?" his finger goes to your temple and he gently slides it down your face

"ar-aren't you tired from the jetlag?" you whisper, his face inching closer again within seconds. "co-come on... let's get you to bed."

his hand drops and grabs something behind you, then realizing that he had taken your phone. he scrolled through it, making you raise your eyebrows

before you could ask, 'fly me to the moon' starts playing and somehow, this makes you much redder than when he pinned you against the counter

vox grins cheekily, grabbing you by the waist and pulling you both to the center of the kitchen

"let's dance a bit, darling. i've missed you," he breathes against your ear

you sigh and just follow along, admittedly wanting the exact same from how touch deprived you were this past week

vox grabs your hand and has the other placed on his shoulder before he starts swaying to the music

it was no surprise he knew some moves, being at least 400 years old

nothing else made a sound, nothing but the music and occasional creaking of the floorboards. the world seemed so quiet. like... it belonged to only you and vox.

you sink into his hold more, a smile creeping onto your face

you were at home in this crazy world, in the arms of your demon lover

"i love you," you mumble

you feel the rumble of his chuckle then slowly pulling away, grabbing your face into his hands ever so gently

he leans in for that long awaited kiss, passionate and lingering. "i love you too, darling."

other boys utc!

Mysta Rias 🦊🔶

mysta's body felt like it could collapse at any given moment, his nose stuffing up and the wind hitting his body a little too briskly tonight

"goddammit why do i always gotta be sick after these things??" he hisses to himself, stumbling down the hallway and half assed-ly shoving the key into the apartment

sure, he might feel like shit rn and the jetlag was too much for him to handle, but he's reminded of you once the smell of your apartment reached his nostrils

the tension built on his back dissolves almost immediately and mysta is quick to fantasize about cuddling you until morning

or forever maybe

he's about to call out to you, announcing his arrival when he hears your voice booming throughout the apartment, singing lyrics all too familiar to him

"don't hide what you wanna do, come on dadadadibadoo~" you muse. "get all things i want, i wanna do, wanna do, wanna do!"

mysta lets out a quiet snort, utterly shocked but also very humored by this new side of yours

compared to mysta, he was definitely the chaotic one in the relationship. he'd randomly sing lyrics out loud while you just laughed at his silliness

safe to say it's his turn now

maybe he should arrive unannounced more often...

mysta tiptoes to the source of your voice, the kitchen he thought

when he peeps through the doorway, you are indeed singing 'hope in the dark' like you had no cares for the world, all the while using a wooden spoon as your makeshift microphone

a wide, cheshire cat like grin reaches mysta's face and he can't hold back his laughter

it's only because you're not facing him that you hadn't stopped

"you don't have to say anything, because i can feel your all," you sing again, spinning around

the scene becomes too much for the detective can handle and his hand slips into his pocket, pulling out his phone before discreetly recording you

"throughout the night party time!"

mysta's eyes start to water, both out of amusement and the fact you looked so adorable at this very moment

there's only so much of you mysta gets to actually see on a day to day basis. and he understood that!

call him greedy or selfish though, because this is the side mysta would love to see a lot more

dancing like no one was watching (excluding him ofc) and singing one of your favorite songs, admittedly the one that prompted you to have fun and for once be careless of what the world tells you

at least, that's what 'hope in the dark' had personally taught mysta

unfortunately something pokes inside his nose, nudging his nerves and provoking the desperate need to sneeze

"holy fuck not now--" he hisses, but before he can attempt to hold it back, said sneeze comes and evidently ruins everything. "aChOO!"

you shriek, pointing your absolutely dangerous wooden spoon at the stranger who just sneezed behind you. "mysta??"

"aCHOO!" he wheezes, his nose stuffing up again. "ah dammit"

"could you have at least knocked, you ass? i could've beat you to a pulp with this spoon," you quickly reach over for a tissue, handing it over to your sick boyfriend

mysta giggles sheepishly, graciously taking it and blowing into it to hopefully clear up his sinus infection. "scary, babe."

"terrifying, if anything," you grin. you are about to pull him in for a tight hug when you noticed his phone, turned on and... on the camera recording?

your eyes widen with panic. "MYSTA WERE YOU--"

immediately realizing what you were fretting over, mysta laughs and pulls his phone away from you, raising it up high above so you wouldn't reach it

"ah, ah, ah, nope," he grins, you pouting as he was incredibly tall. "this is for me."

"MYSTA FUCKING RIAS DELETE THAT!!" you flail your arms while jumping, attempting to reach the damned device but to no avail.

you huff, crossing your arms. "fine. don't expect me to take care of that cold."

at that, mysta pauses.

you smirk, "well?"

"awee come on... just this one, please?" now he's the one curling his lip, pleading. you roll your eyes. he sighs, "okay, okay. just do this one thing with me okay?"

you raise your eyebrows as you watch him pocket his phone, walking pass you to reach for your phone on the countertop. he scrolls through your playlist and plays a song familiar to both you and him

"G4L?"

"come on, let me dance with you this once. you dancing around made me wanna do the same," mysta smiles, his empty hand beckoning you to come closer

unlike before there's a soft glimmer in his eye, so you sigh, taking his hand

once the beat got even more erratic, mysta starts bouncing on his feet, bopping his head while his shoulders shook in sync with the music

mysta was many things, being a dancer was not one of them unfortunately

but... somehow, as his terrible movements continued, your grin widened and you had the urge to move with him

you can't lie. mysta's taste in music was fantastic.

after a while, you finally decide to lose yourself in the music, shaking your hips and head to the beat

"yeah!" mysta smiles, taking your hands so you moved together this time. "you're doing good, y/n!"

"can't say the same about you, mysta!"

despite the jab, he laughs wholeheartedly and does not proceed to stop

it felt like a small party between you two, the stars above watching you begin to sweat from the rapid movements. you and him mouth the lyrics too, making it all the more entertaining

when the chorus finally came around, you and mysta completely lose it and danced to your heart's content

you could tell he was genuinely having a good time, his face glowing brightly

and to mysta, he's never felt more at home at this very moment.

he knew that you were the one as you let all inhibitions and insecurities go, showing but your raw and beautiful self

he held your hand and pulled you in, placing a chaste kiss on your lips.

you giggle, pushing him off, "you're sick mysta! don't spread your germs on me!"

"oh shit right," he laughed, sniffling. but all that is forgotten as you and him danced some more that night

that video in his phone staying there for who knows how long :)

Luca Kaneshiro 🦮🔆

when i say he ran, he fucking bolted to your apartment bcs out of all the luxiem members, he's definitely the clingiest

it should be no surprise that he's super excited to see you again (especially after you insisted to him many times that he should save the private jets back home in fear that he'll get too exhausted)

but it was late where you were, thus why luca had decided not to call you upon stepping off the kaneshiro's private jet

he could just imagine you snuggled up with augustus asleep, waiting for him to come home

he might not look like it, but even luca kaneshiro's social battery can start to dwindle a bit

a night in with you in his arms, watching some movies (or his vods) or play some games felt like it could beat anything else

"ahhh thank god i'm finally home," he grins, his hand reaching the knob to the already unlocked door

but luca pauses.

"gonna start the game of love, i wanna shake your body and soul~"

luca turns to his watch: 2:57 AM

"jesus, what are they doing still awake? singing this loud too?" he chuckles to himself, choosing to open the door anyway

he steps inside, you still singing your heart out to 'hope in the dark' in the kitchen

with your back turned towards him, of course you don't immediately notice luca watching you wiggle your butt to his group's song

he crosses his arms, a huge grin on his face

proud almost?

how could he not be? look at you xixixi

"どうしようもなくキミの傍にいたい" you tune out again

luca then quickly steps forward, wrapping his arms around your waist while continuing to sing, especially since it was part of his song

"lonely lady shall we dance? i wanna make your heart smile," he sang along, spinning you around. "throughout the night party time!"

when luca starts dancing to the song, you can't help but be more amused than surprised by his arrival, covering your mouth as he continues to move while still holding you

"come on, hon, dance with me!" luca requests, swinging your hands around in an attempt to have you move too. shy and still quite startled by him coming in, you dance along minimally

"don't be shy, babe. you were dancing a lot more before i came in," he teases, evidently making you limit your movements even more

"sh-shut up, luca! you weren't supposed to see that," you mumble, pouting as you stopped dancing completely

luca sighs, grabbing your hands so that you fall onto his chest. "you were really cute though... i just wanted to have fun with you."

your face wasn't looking at him, but with his tone and his words alone, you knew that he was genuinely a bit disappointed

your heart ached to be honest, but you were also incredibly shy on dancing anymore since he caught you

his hands then make it to your hair, stroking it down all the while his other held onto your waist tightly. it was as though like you'd just slip away

it might've felt like that this entire week to him

ahhh poor baby

in an attempt to comfort his deflated heart, you lean back and press a kiss to his jaw, smiling, "welcome home, luca. i missed you."

you feel him chuckle, his hold onto you tighter. "i missed you more."

your fingers make it to his blonde locks and it was your turn to be combing through them. "i could feel it even from thousands of miles away, love. but i'm glad you're here with me now."

"me too."

luca pulls away from you, his hands now meeting your cheeks. you felt ever so safe in them, even more so that he's been gone this entire week. you melt into his touch.

"man, you look too cute like this," he muses, his lip curling as you laughed. "i knew i should've just packed you in my suitcase."

"maybe you should've, luca."

"i'll hold onto that promise, y/n!"

you giggle away, but then it dies down upon seeing luca intensely gazing at you. you tilt your head, worried, "luca?"

"i know you're shy about this but you know... " he trails off, looking away. "c-can i dance with you? j-just this once, i promise! i won't force you to do it again!"

this man had just traveled half the world for work and the moment he comes back, he doesn't immediately rest. all he wanted at the end of the day was to share a somewhat solitary moment with you, dancing to music you and him favored

were you really going to refuse him?

nope. not when luca is the one asking.

you sigh, wrapping your arms around his neck. "alright, fine..."

and just like that, the familiar light returns to luca's lavender eyes. he's quick to grab your phone again and begins to explore through your playlist, probably looking for a song to dance to

"oh, it just had to be this song, huh luca?" you pout, your heart wrenching at the nostalgic feeling of the chosen song

"i thought 'hope in the dark' was too energetic. sooo i chose something slower! you and i love this song anyway," luca smiles, putting down the device as he pulled you tight against him once more

"i can't argue with you," you smile, starting to sway to the slow music. upon seeing you move under your own initiative, luca grins. happiness overflows from within his heart.

"i never knew you were the someone waiting for me," you softly tune, looking into luca's eyes. "cause we were just kids when we fell in love."

"not knowing what it was," luca continues, following you. "i will not give you up this time."

never. i never will. luca thought to himself.

"luca, why are you crying, baby?"

he blinks and you're right. warm tears fall from his eyes but the smile on his face never leaves.

"you're perfect for me is all. and i'll never ever leave your side, y/n," he rests his forehead onto yours. and what does he see? his future, his love, his world, his everything. all in his arms.

you may be shy, a bit timid and sometimes can't keep up with his wilder nature. but you're strong yet so comforting. the home he had been looking for.

luca leans down to kiss you, all his overflowing happiness sealed in the loving gesture. "i love you, y/n. so, so much."

tears start to prick your own eyes as you smile, "i love you too, luca. so, so much."

Ike Eveland 🖋💙

ike eveland wanted nothing more than to just collapse, preferably in your arms at this very moment

the offcollab was fantastic of course! but there's only so much ike can take so once everything had finally wrapped up, he was ready to hibernate

it didn't help that the airport was so quiet and the sky outside was dark

literally the perfect setting to fall asleep in

he honestly wished you'd come to pick him up, but it was the dead of night (almost morning even). there was no way he was gonna make you get out of bed just to get him

so with what energy he has left from the day, he hails a cab back home

even the sight of the building was enough to motivate him to at least change into pajamas later

ike finally reaches the door to your apartment, turning on the knob and pulling his suitcase in.

usually you'd be near the door to wait for him. but it's because of your absence that it makes ike long for you even more

he kicks off his shoes and is on his way to the bedroom to find you when he hears the familiar tunes to his song

and most importantly, you rapping to his part

"are you gonna go? canvas is still blank. but do it right you're gonna gain or pain. ideal and ambition, white darkness, hope in the dark~"

a chuckle stumbles out of ike's mouth and his once droopy eyes shot open for this moment. he tiptoes around and finds out you're in the kitchen

not only were you rapping, but your legs brought you all over the inches of the kitchen floor, happily dancing to 'hope in the dark' without much thought if you looked terrible

ike leans onto the doorway, crossed his arms as he watched you quietly

"wanna have a chance you will see what i mean, stay real, dance in the dark. make it a showtime it gives you luck. spend your life don't believe the hype!"

and ike doesn't even attempt to stop you

the exhaustion weighing on his back suddenly lifts off and he knows it's because of you

you and your little energetic movements at 3 am, you :<

there's a certain beauty unfolding before him. it didn't matter at all that you were in your old shirt, hair messy and your movements were not world class.

but the way you brought yourself made you look so much more attractive, like you were somehow enchanting him like the first time you met him

ike eveland at this very moment had never felt so happy and admittedly, proud that you agreed to be his. you, this beautiful being that had descended on to the earth just for him.

it's only when the song finishes that ike finally makes his presence known by clapping his hands gently

you shriek, backing onto the kitchen countertops

ike chuckles, "you sure had fun there, sweetheart."

blood rushes to your cheeks and you feel like jumping off a building right now

"we-welcome back, ike!" you smile sheepishly, bringing your hands together to hide the fact you were shaking out of embarrassment. "how was the trip home?"

"it was alright," he steps forward with the most innocent beam on his face. but don't be fooled. he does not have the purest of intentions now that he's caught you.

"i-ike, don't," you warn him, backing away even more

"don't what?"

"wh-whatever you're going to do!"

"i'm not doing anything!" ike laughs, raising his hands up. "you're being paranoid."

"not when my safety is on the line!" you pout. "now stay back until you can prove you're innocent!"

"sweetheart, i don't know what you're talking about. i am innocent. also, i just came home. all i want to do is just get some rest with you," now he's the one pouting

with that in mind, you groan, crossing your arms. you hesitate, but you open your arms anyway for ike. "alright, fine. come here."

he lets out a giggle as he wrapped himself in your hold, nuzzling into your neck like a bear cub finding refuge in its mother's fur

"thanks, sweetie," he mumbles. "i missed you."

"me too, ike."

...

"can i ask you a favor? just one, y/n."

your heart drops. but you breathe out, "what?"

"dance with me?"

you knew this day would come with this man

ike snickers, "i guess you were right in being paranoid."

"you're lucky i love you, you know?"

the man lets out another amused laugh, reaching for your phone. his finger swipes along your many selections of music, a mixture between yours and his favorite songs

then he settles on one

"awe man, this song? really ike?" you frown, ike placing the device back down

"i've always wanted to ballroom dance to this you know," ike admits, taking one of your hands in his and the other on his shoulder as per how ballroom dancing should be. then he looks you in the eye, joking but somewhat serious, "at our wedding, perhaps?"

"ike!" your cheeks return to being red once again.

"i don't hear any objections," ike ignores you, all the while grinning and pulling you towards the center of the kitchen. "come, älskling."

he's leading you, circling at the appropriate times and helping you step along. you might've stepped on his feet a few times, but honestly, the fact that you were trying for him made ike forget the pain

"ah, sorry!"

"it's alright, y/n."

as you struggle to keep up with ike, all he sees is your focused expression. adorable and absolutely too much for him to handle. he could imagine it, you know?

you and him dancing to the same ghibli song, but with time, he believed you'd be able to get the steps. yours and his hair grey, skin wrinkling with the years, but the same smiles and song.

"ike?"

"hm?" he turns to you.

"you were spacing out."

"oh," ike chuckles, squeezing your hand. "i'm fine. just having the time of my life."

Shu Yamino 🔮✨

(let's pretend that shu made it to their offcollab this time okay ;-;)

there really was nothing like the feeling of finally meeting up with your long distance friends/co workers.

and nothing like the feeling of not being able to interact with you in person for seven days straight.

shu doesn't seem like it, but he's clingy at heart and every time he has to end a video call with you, his finger finds it incredibly hard to actually press the end button

there were enough nights where you two would fall asleep in a video call together and have your phones dead by the morning (an inconvenience for you tbh since you had places to go to)

the other luxiem boys absolutely notice him getting distracted by the smallest of notifications popping up from his phone, ones that weren't even from you

so the moment everyone decided to wrap things up, shu is first to finish packing his things and bidding farewell

back to you

tired as he was the entire trip home, there was not a time he stopped thinking about you

were you asleep? watching a movie? playing on your phone? did you eat enough today? had enough water?

"i'm going crazy because of them," he mumbles to himself, a dazed grin decorating his face as he watched the sky through the airplane window

then, shu is finally in front of the door. luggage in hand and his heart open

he shoves the key in and turns the knob, letting himself in along with his suitcase in tow

"cutie? you awake?" shu calls out, softly at first afraid that you might actually be asleep. but when he expected to hear a 'welcome home, shu' or nothingness because you were asleep, his ears instead catch wind of... you singing to his part in 'hope in the dark'

"you don't have to say anything, because i can feel your all~" you melodize, and even from the sound of your voice, he could tell you were smiling. "throughout the night party time!"

then the sound of feet stomping on the floor in beat with 'hope in the dark'

you were many things

but shu never figured you were this silly

and to be doing this in the literal dead of night just-

the sorcerer lets out a snort, deciding to tiptoe to wherever you were. he needed to see this before he was never given this opportunity ever again

and indeed there you were, stomping your feet according to the song all the while sliding around and your head shaking at the right tempo

also was that a whisk you were using as your microphone...?

"HOPE IN THE DARK~~~"

his heart felt like it was going to burst at any point and time just seeing you so adorable, shaking your head around like it was nobody's business

but most importantly, he was incredibly happy that you could spare yourself some time to simply have fun like this

shu is very well aware himself that time keeps running in this world. the universe won't ever stop for you. but with this in mind, it's very easy to forget to make time for yourself in this crazy place

make time to just forget about things for a bit, forget that your flaws and worries exist

so to see you, one of the most important (if not the most important) person in his life do this...

sigh, he has never felt more glad

and tbh?

he wanted to join in on the fun

shu knocks on the doorway and you immediately freeze up, turning around slowly with a pale face like you'd just hear a ghost creeping up on you

your lover merely chuckles at you, "sorry, is this where the party is supposed to be?"

"sh-shu h-hi!" you look at your whisk and immediately put it behind your back, a very embarrassed smile and cheeks extremely flushed. "welcome back, babe!"

"hi to you too, cutie," shu comes in the kitchen and opens his arms to you. "where's my welcome home kisses and hugs?"

"al-alright you big baby."

you know he's just teasing you, especially with that stupid whisk you just picked up :/ damn sorcerer just wanted to see you put it away awkwardly

so you place it on the countertop behind you and collapse into him, though a bit tense from the fact he literally caught you dancing in a frenzy like that...

"relax, baby."

ah he noticed

you giggle nervously in response, "i-i'm fine..."

shu pulls away slightly so he can properly see you. he sends you a knowing smile, "you're so cute, baby. there's no need to be shy. you seemed to have so much fun too."

he then cups your cheeks, your lips curling up from the mild pressure

"it made me fall in love with you again."

"i--" you look away, escaping his immediate gaze. "you're so cheesy, shu..."

"you like it though," shu tilts his head so that you're forced to look him in his purple eyes again. "oh hey! i have an idea."

he lets go of you and he pauses the music playing from your phone, changing it entirely it seems. his eyes hover over the list of songs and his eyes brighten at the sight of the one he found interesting

"oohh! salamander!!" you smile

"see? i knew you'd like the sound of it," shu chuckles, putting your phone down by the counter again before grabbing your hands and bouncing slightly on his heels. "come on! we haven't listened to this song in a while!"

"shu..."

but before you can protest anymore, shu sends you a quick wink and starts singing along to the energetic song. he absolutely does not forget to shimmy his way through too, making you laugh

this might've been because shu's natural charm or the fact that he's a sorcerer capable of doing otherworldly things, but you follow along

even mouthing the lyrics with him and matching his steps, your heart and laughter forgetting the tensity of your embarrassment from before

in shu's eyes, he's more than glad he got to see you again and this is the first thing he does upon stepping into the apartment

you and him together forgetting about the world. nothing but yourselves, the laughter and the present sleepy hours of the day.

once the song ends, you're out of breath from the dancing and somehow, this makes you look so much more beautiful, especially with the after effect of such euphoric moments

before shu could even realize it, he's pulling you by the wrist and placing his lips on yours, pushed by the moment

ah it's been so long... he thought, detaching from you for just a moment. shu laughs when your face is once again red.

"sorry, you just... looked so pretty. and i missed you so much."

I WILL SAY THIS AGAIN:

DISCLAIMER: concerning what had recently happened with vox and his community, i want to remind you again that this fic, existing fics and future fics are purely fiction and should not be seen as something to be projected irl. it's merely to entertain and also considered fanart. remember, this applies to not only vox. this applies to ALL of nijisanji and considerably, all other fandoms.

Masterlist!

#nijisanji en #nijisanjien #luxiem #luxiem x reader #vox akuma #mysta rias #luca kaneshiro #ike eveland #shu yamino #vox akuma x reader #mysta rias x reader #luca kaneshiro x reader #ike eveland x reader #shu yamino x reader #akurylic #mysart #drawluca #ikenography #yaminoart #author chan’s delivery service ?

[weasleywinchester]

Any Way You Want It

Marc Spector x Female Reader x Steven Grant

Are we surprised that I'm enamored with Moon Night? No, no we are not. I binged the whole thing and love it (well, final episode is Wednesday). I thank my friend from college for introducing me to Oscar Isaac eons ago, because the man is so damn talented. Anyways, I'm in a "power girl" (I myself don't know how to seduce anyone nor how to be a dom... thus the quotes) mood, so let's dom our little Egypt nerd, shall we? warnings: Smut, a little plot to set the scene

Summary: You’ve been dating Marc for awhile, and everything has been great, especially the sex. But every once in a while you want to try something new.

*Reader doesn't know Steven exists. Also goes without saying, no Layla exists. Just something that popped in my head and needed out. Plus everyone else is writing for these two and it seemed like fun 😈

*italicized dialogue is for whom ever is not in control of the body*

“Are you really complaining about fucking Marc Spector?” Cali asks, giving you a look of bewilderment.

“Not complaining, just… I want to make him a mumbling mess for once.” You grumble into your coffee. He does it all the time to you, not that you don't absolutely beg for it... just want to see if you could make him fall apart too.

“I suppose that’s fair, so why haven’t you expressed this to him?” She eyes you. You’re not one to keep your opinion to yourself, at least not around the people you actually care about.

“Lately when we’re alone, he sweeps me into bed before I can say anything.”

“Sounds like you have a lot of self control there.” She laughs, holding the door to your office open.

“Self control doesn’t exist in his presence.” You grin.

______

“Hey handsome I’m-” You barely have time to lock the door before his arms are wrapped around you and his lips pressed into your shoulder.

“Marc.” You say, although it came out more like a moan.

“Ya baby.” He smiles into your neck, his hands unbuttoning the front of your blouse, hungry for the feel of you skin.

“Marc, wait.” You put your hands on top of his, and he stills.

“Told you she’s keen to talk about somethin’.” Steven pipes up from his place on the mirror.

You move Marc's hands to your hips and spin to face him. He looks a little annoyed but when his eyes move back to your face the little mischievous glint is back.

“I was thinking…”

Love when she does that.

“Maybe we could try going a bit slower?” your words tumble out of your mouth. It’s not that you think he would be mad, he’s just been so stressed lately that you figured the sex helped him relax.

“Only way it would be better is if she was in control.” Steven swallows hard, shifting around Marc's head. If he had the body he would have submitted to your request like a blob of jell-o in your hand.

“Marc?” You ask, hands fiddling with the zipper of his jacket.

“Slower?” He repeats. You nod, eyes searching his face for any indication of what he’s feeling.

“Have I not been-”

“NO! No… just thought we could switch it up every once in a while.” You start to fidget. His gaze always makes you melt but this is different. “Just think about it, for next time?” You take him by the chin, placing his mouth on yours.

“Anything for you baby.” He promises, pressing you into the door as his need to have you rapidly grows.

_______

“Have you never taken it slow with anyone?” Steven scoffs from the mirror.

“I…” Marc wracks his brain for any evidence but comes up with nothing. “So I like it hot and dirty, she doesn’t seem to mind when she’s begging for more.” He glares at Steven who’s shaking his head. Marc pours himself a large drink and drops into one of the tiny dining room chairs.

“Maybe she wants to see if she can do that to you” Steven shoots back. “See you begging her for more, or usin’ you to get herself off.” His mind begins to wander.

Marc looks over at the poor chump, his eyes have glassed over with whatever he’s picturing you doing. Marc looks back at his drink, frowning when Steven lets out a satisfied hum.

“Tell me.” Marc whispers.

“Hmm?” Steven snaps out of the day dream.

“Tell me… tell me what you’re imagining. Please.”

“Well, I'd let her take control. Directing the whole bloody thing; all brilliant and sexy... Probably strip me naked, push me down into the couch…No! Wouldn’t make it that far; you two never make it two steps into the flat before tearin’ each other's clothes off, doubt this'd be any different. You know that weird little chair next to the door? With all the books? Ya she’d slap me into that chair, climb into my lap… grind that perfect-”

“Watch your mouth.” Marc warns, his jaw clenching so hard he could makes diamonds.

“You asked mate.” Steven gives him a pointed look before continuing. “ She’d straddle me, tits bouncin in my face, telling me when and where to touch her. Probably lose control as she hits her high, my name falling from her perfect lips.” 

Steven’s eyes glass over again, a stupid grin appearing. Marc rolls his eyes as he gets up and washes out his glass. Maybe Steven’s right, maybe time to see what you have in store for him.

_______

“Why are you nervous?” Steven demands.

“I am not nervous.”

“You’re trembling like, well, like me!” He waves his hands in frustration.

“What if I can’t let the control go?” He whispers. He can barely handle giving Steven control of the body. Not that he didn’t trust you, he just like… well, being in charge. “What was that?” Marc turns to Steven in the mirror.

“Give me the body?” He mumbles a little louder. “Just a suggestion.” He raises his hands in surrender at Marc’s glare.

Marc turns over the idea, he doesn’t want Steven to take his place… but poor guy really hasn’t had much any action. The sound of your keys juggling in the door makes both of them jump.

“Hi love.” You smile.

“Hi gorgeous.” He smiles, pushing himself off the wall and giving you a kiss.

“Not jumping on me today?” You giggle as you push past him to set the groceries down.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday.” He tells you, handing you items from one of the bags so you can put them in their place.

“And?”

“Maybe we could go a little further?” 

You pause, turning around to give him a questioning look.

“Further how?” You whisper. Your heart’s picking up speed and you feel a dull ache between your thighs. The little cocky grin has appeared as he slowly stalks toward you.

“You take the lead.”  He leans back against the counter, arms gently pulling you toward him. “You take full control of me.” The tip of his nose gently bumps against yours. “And I’ll surrender myself to you.” He whispers.

“Are you sure?” You breath out, chest slowly heaving in anticipation.

“Told you that’s what she wanted.” Stephen smirks from the mirror.

“I only have one request, beautiful.” His hands trace your jaw, eyes trying to focus on yours. “Call me by my middle name when we take it slow?”  You frown, but nod nonetheless.

“Steven. With a V.” He grins.

“Does that mean what I think it does?!”

“Deal.” You grab a handful of his shirt and smash his mouth to yours.

“Hope you’re ready.” Marc smirks as he hands Steven the body.

The sudden feeling of your tongue playing with his is overwhelming as he takes control. His mouth slides against yours, hand sprawled flat over your back.

“Steven.” You moan against his lips. A growl from deep in his chest vibrates the air around you and you grin wickedly. “Undress.” You demand. 

It takes a moment for the dizziness to go away, unsure if it was your kiss or being handed the body. When your words register he aggressively nods and quickly starts peeling his clothes off. You slowly peel yours off, watching in awe as Marc’s body is revealed to you. Doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it, it’s a feast for all the senses.

Once his limbs stop flailing about, his eyes stay glued to your face, hands down by his sides. You step towards him slowly, unclasping your bra just as slow; letting each strap fall until you stand chest to chest with him. You look up through your lashes at him, smiling at the sheer amount of concentration in his face.

“Promise to be a good boy?” You whisper.

He eagerly shakes his head, stopping when you put one finger under his chin and the other hand lets your bra fall to the floor. 

“Kiss me.” You command. Steven brings his hands to cup your face as he gently places his mouth on yours. His movements are slow, thoughtful even; you can feel his fingers prickle against your neck, eager to explore, to please. You claw at his back, eager to trace every contour of his muscles. You open your mouth to him, his tongue sweeping into yours; you grab him roughly by the hips, pressing him into you. He yelps in surprise and you break away startled by the sound he’s never made before.

“Sorry love.” he whispers, his voice trembling in the slightest.

“‘S alright.” You grin, bring your hand to his half hard cock. His eyes flutter closed as you gently pump him. “That feel good Steven?” You giggle at his smile, planting kisses everywhere your lips can reach.

“So good.” He moans, opening his eyes just enough to move your hair away from the one little spot on your neck that he’s seen Marc suck a millions times. He plants a gentle kiss, and then lightly scrapes his teeth along it, eliciting that perfect sound.

“Sit.” You whisper before you lose yourself in his touch. He opens his eyes, blinking a few times to make sure he’s not dreaming. He looks over his shoulder to see that stupid plastic chair and backs toward it. His knees hit the edge and he quickly sits, his eyes staying trained on yours. 

“Any requests?” You ask, stepping in between his spread legs. Steven’s eyes go as wide as saucers but Marc chuckles as the question that he normally asks you.

“Better tell her to ride you like the little cock slut she is.” Marc pokes.

“She’s not a cock slut.” Steven whispers back.

“Hmm?” You cock an eyebrow, missing what he said. You almost feel like you’re digging too far into the power trip, but Marc’s gone way further, so you don’t feel too bad about the hint of terror in his eyes.

“Any way you want it, love.” He says it loud enough for you to hear.

You move one leg over his thigh, as your hands move down his arms until his hands rest in yours. You place one on your hip, and the other between your own thighs.

Steven swallows hard, his eyes glued to where his hand cups your mound so perfectly. You gently push his index to slide into you, making his eyes roll back into his head.

“Make me cum.” You whisper into the shell of his ear, trying to keep your voice steady even though you’re ready to fall apart for him.

His eyes flutter open at the command, taking in the site of your tits right in his face. He begins to move his fingers, slow and methodical. He’s seen Marc be rough, pulling orgasm after orgasm from you like tissues from a box; but he could never do that to you. He wants to make you shake with anticipation, to make you cum so hard you see stars.

He tests a few patterns around your clit, trying to figure out which one will give you what you want.

“Just like that Steven.” You moan into his curls, pushing his face further into your chest. He continues the pattern, slow and steady, as his mouth sucks in one of your nipples. He gives the other equal attention as he repositions his hand so his thumb can still play with your clit and two of his fingers can slide into you. 

“Almost.” You whine, pulling his mouth off you and swallowing his face with yours. Your hips rock into his hand, keeping it pinned between his thigh and your dripping cunt. He speed up his movements and you clench around his fingers, mouth opening to let out the most beautiful sound Steven has ever heard.

It’s like an inferno ripping through your whole body; your legs have gone numb but your hips are still rutting against his hand to get every last drop of your orgasm.

You finally still and catch your breath; eyes fluttering open to see his are still firmly shut. He’s noticed you’ve stopped everything, and he wills himself to start playing with you again. You look down to see his cock angry and leaking for being ignored; but it’s as if he doesn’t mind, all he wants is to pleasure you.

“Steve… Steven.”

“Ya.” he looks up at you, lids half closed. 

“Line yourself up.” You catch his chin as his head threatens to dip down to look. You moved your leg so that you’re completely straddling him now.

“Protection?” He whispers, as he notches himself at your entrance. He could easily slip into you; you’re drenched and ready; he did that, not Marc. He, Steven Grant, made the most beautiful woman cum with his fingers.

You reach for your bag, dumping everything out onto the half wall behind him, plucking out the shiny foil pack on top. You take a step back, both of you glancing to see you’ve already dripped all over him. You open the packet, putting it in one hand, while the other hand spreads your cum over his cock. His head falls back, hands gripping the chair so hard his knuckles are white, a small fuck spilling from his mouth as you slide the condom on.

“Ste-” 

His head immediately pops up, hand going straight to his cock. You mumble a good boy in his ear and slide down onto him. You both curl inward at the new sensation, your grip so perfect on him that his hands fly to your hips, ready to hold on for dear life.

You roll your hips, slowly at first; you’re not sure if it’s the way you're standing or the way he’s matching your pace but everything feels so good. His hands hungrily roam your body, kneading all the places you hold a little bit extra; he enjoys the way you jiggle and bounce in his lap, no sight more perfect than you.

“Darling.” 

“Me too.”

Steven’s fingers dig into your hips, slamming you harder into him until you’re at the brink of orgasm. Everything goes white hot, you can feel his name leave your mouth but all you can hear is a sharp ringing as your cunt pulses hard around him.

Hearing you scream his name will be ingrained in his mind forever. He managed to open his eyes to see you fall apart, your eyes screwed shut as you smother him with those beautiful tits. He’s trying not to bruise your hips as he holds on, but he refuses to cum until you say he can.

“Baby, baby look at me.” You croak, ears still not properly working. “Need you-”

He lets go before you can finish your sentence. A deep moan erupts from his mouth, his hips bucking up into you.

“Perfect.” You whisper, gently running your hands along the back of his head. One of his arms wraps around your waist, the other still guiding you to slide along his aching cock. His forehead rests right at the center of your chest, hot breath fanning your skin as he comes down from his high.

After a few moments, you tilt his chin up, his mouth breaking into the cutest lopsided grin. You huff, smiling as you gently press your lips to his.

“Thank you.” You tell him.

“For what?” His brows knit together; you did all the work, he just held on for the ride.

“For indulging me.” You kiss him on the cheek and wrap your arms around his neck.

He looks over to the mirror to see Marc sitting on the kitchen table.

“Fine,” He sighs. “You were right. Guess I can let you bang my girlfriend every once in a while if it makes her smile like this.”

Steven smiles even bigger, wrapping his arms around you a little tighter.

#moon knight #moon knight x reader #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #moon knight smut #marvel smut #oscar issac #steve with a v #Steve grant x female reader #marc spector x female reader #moon knight x female reader #Steve grant x plus size reader #Marc Spector x plus size reader #plus size reader #curvy reader

[fyreflys]

My Everlark playlist, a full list and analysis (that no one asked for but I’m going to offer anyways). All songs linked in their title!

1) Swan Upon Leda (Hozier)

“One more sweet boy butchered by men”

“The gateway to the world / Was still outside the reach of him / Would never belong to angels / Had never belonged to men”

This song is on this playlist for a whole host of reasons, and I could write an entire paper analyzing its application to the THG & the reason for why I chose it as the title of my everlark fic, but I’ll try to keep this short & succinct

The Capitol controls Panem through fear, and they do this by “sacrificing” children in the name of a “game”. In this song, Hozier makes it clear that creation of life, and thus life itself, is not something man can control. That’s a major point in Katniss’s fight against the capitol- is to remove its tyranny and use of children as a tool to instill fear.

2) Eat Your Young (Hozier)

“Skinnin’ the children for a war drum / Put in front of the table, sellin’ bombs and guns / It’s quicker and easier to eat your young”

This song exhibits the greed of the Capital, and more particularly Snow, and the use of children’s lives as a way to control people.

Also- the imagery that Hozier creates reminds me that a lot of the people fighting in the Revolution are also children - Peeta and Katniss and Gale and Prim are children, fighting in a war for freedom.

3) My Lagan Love (Hozier’s Cover)

“She has my heart in thrall / Nor life I owe, or liberty / For love is lord of all”

Can we all just agree that Irish songs are great? This just sounds majestic and pretty and exactly like something I’d imagine Katniss would sing as a lullaby

4) In a Week (Hozier, ft Karen Cowley)

“We lay here for years or for hours / Your hand in my hand / So still and discreet / So long, we’d become the flowers”

This song is about two lovers dying and their bodies decaying side by side, for them to exist in both life and death together. Idk about you, but Everlark has the kind of love where they would both die if one of them died, and this song feels even more fitting if you consider how many times both of them were willing to die for the other.

5) Where’s My Love (SYML)

Rather than explain this one, I will simply direct you to this AMAZING fan edit

6) favorite crime (Olivia Rodrigo)

Yet another instance where I will redirect you to a fan edit

7) It All Comes Down To This (Aquilo)

“Let you play with my heart like it's nothing but water / Falling down down, down down”

I would say this reminds me of Peeta falling for Katniss, but in fact it reminds me of the way Katniss falls so fast for Peeta, without even realizing that it’s happening. Everything feels so sudden and serious and grave, like everything comes down to just the two of them.

8) I Found (Amber Run)

“Oh, and I found love where it wasn’t supposed to be, oh / right in front of me”

The Hunger Games are, arguably, a odd place to find love. And yet that’s where Katniss finds it, right in front of her.

The other lyrics are just, spot on, with how they bounce off of each other as they try to navigate the life they live

9) Overcome (Skott)

“I'm trying to make sense of it all / Trying to understand”

“Fading stars echo / Reminding us they know / We've come too far to let go / Don't let go”

This song makes me think of post mockingjay, or even during mockingjay, as they fight to overcome everything they’ve done and seen. They are just trying to live and overcome all their grief and trauma and move on and heal.

10) Body (SYML)

“I fought the world for your hand / Give my new body a chance / It’s all I have”

After the hijacking, Peeta is stuck in a body and mind that no longer feels like his own. And at first, Katniss cannot see him, she thinks he’s gone. This is him trying to make it back to her, begging her to let him come back.

11) village song (Paris Paloma)

“And the blackberry juice drips like blood on the leaves / And the blood on the fox drips like dew from its teeth”

This song is eerie in a way that makes me think of Katniss. I don’t know how to describe it, but the image that this song paints, or rather makes me feel, makes me think of Katniss. Of maybe a life she would have lived in a different time.

12) Funeral (Phoebe Bridgers)

“I’m singin’ at a funeral tomorrow / For a kid a year older than me”

While this song has several mentions of modern-day stuff, I can’t help but be struck with this line. We know Katniss sings, and I can’t help but imagine this is a scenario she’s fallen into; singing at funerals for district 12’s fallen tributes. And all the heaviness that comes with that.

13) Sparks (Coldplay)

“My heart is yours / It’s you that I hold on to”

Peeta definitely knows Katniss is his everything, and Katniss might be in denial, but Peeta is also (a big part of) her everything.

14) Silhouette (Aquilo)

“Devil’s on your shoulder / Strangers in your head / As if you don’t remember / As if you can’t forget”

“‘Cause these city walls never knew / That we’d make it this far / We’ve become echos / But echos are fadin’ away”

“So let’s dance like two shadows / Burning out the glory days”

This song, I imagine, is them growing old. Perhaps Peeta has a bad hijack episode for the first time in a long time. And they sway together in the living room with brittle bones and grey hair, just silhouettes of something that once was. He is momentarily a stranger, Katniss is forgotten, but their love still remains. They are echos of Panem’s freedom, that are slowly fading away.

15) Time Comes in Roses (Bess Atwell)

“I’m scared of sleeping, and I don’t know why / how it dances you into a lonely night”

“And I’ve been slower than I thought / At getting my life off the rocks ”

After the war, Katniss falls into a depression. She feels like time is zipping by, and yet there’s nothing she can do, and the world is too much and too heavy and too hard to handle with all that she’s lost. This is the in between, the between Prim’s death, and between Peeta returning home.

17) The Archer (Adam Melchor)

“This is how you turned me / To the archer from the arch / This is where you turned me / To the the marksman from the marked”

“But how they all just circle back / And meet me at the start / And how they hit me hard enough / To question who you are”

While this song has imagery and metaphors that align more with Katniss, I actually think the meaning of the song resonates more with Peeta’s story. When Peeta gets hijacked, all his memories are turned against Katniss. Suddenly Katniss is the villain of his story. And this is how things got twisted, and how he wrestles with his new reality and tries to make things make more sense. And he needs time.

18) Evergreen (Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners)

“Locked in a stalemate / With a man who bars no holds”

This song doesn’t have many lyrics, but what it does have gives me an image of Katniss, trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her situation.

19) If the World Falls to Pieces (Young Summer)

“Oh, at least we can say we tried / Never gave up / Didn’t go down without a fight”

In an alternate set of events, where the rebellion doesn’t win. And Katniss and Peeta have to reconcile with themselves.

20) You Could Start a Cult (Niall Horan)

“Anywhere you go, I’ll be / You are so much more than beautiful to me”

“Swear you, you could start a war or two / Kingdoms fighting over you / To wake up at your side is all I wanna do”

If Katniss or Peeta started a cult, the other would most definitely be in the cult and no one can convince me otherwise. These two tried to die for each other. Multiple times.

Also, can I just say that I LOVE this song, SO much. If this isn’t the most poetic love piece I don’t know what is.

21) Nobody (Bess Atwell)

“If I don’t believe in us / Nobody is meant for me”

Katniss doesn’t realize it, but when Peeta comes back hijacked and doesn’t see her as her anymore, suddenly it’s like her life is over. She’s kind of like “well fuck, I guess I’ll be alone huh”

22) Human (Aquilo)

“But these things they’ll all get better / And even if it’s tough”

“Feet on ground, you’ll come round / And be human again”

This is everlark healing, together. They are just human. And they have to remind each other of that fact.

23) Science (Niall Horan)

“So, when you feel there’s nothin’ left / Oh, there’s still a heart beatin’ in your chest”

If I could send a message to these two battered and bruised fictional characters, it would be this one. That in the end, they will be okay.

24) I Could Fight On a Wall (Aquilo)

“And I could fight in a war / It’s not something I would choose / But it’s something I could do for you”

These two would do anything for each other. Like fight in a war. Which they do.

25) I Wish I Was The Moon (Ewan J Phillips)

“Oh I wish I was the moon / So that I might be with you”

I’m pretty sure this song is actually about a break up and wishing to see that person one more time, but I feel like this might be fitting for everlark as well. They are the “star crossed lovers”, and as much as we may resent the title and all it stands for, it’s true. When they are apart, like when Peeta is stuck in the capitol and Katniss is in 13, I’d imagine they did wish to be the moon.

26) Hurts Like Hell (Fleurie)

“I loved, and I loved, and I lost you / And it hurts like hell”

Grief is hard. After Prim’s death (and really like, everyone else), Katniss takes it hard. Understandably. She fought so hard for her sister, volunteered in her place, fought hard to make a world where her sister wouldn’t have to ever face the possibility of stepping into an arena. And she still lost her, so quickly. And yeah, that does hurt like hell.

27) You Say (Lauren Daigle)

“When I don’t belong, oh you say I am yours”

Something Katniss struggles with is knowing her self worth. And I like to imagine, after Mockingjay, Peeta helps with that. And she helps him.

But ALSO - this song reminds me of post-hijacked Peeta, when he’s dropped into the capital with Katniss, fighting to come back to her. And the scene in the subway/sewer, where he’s convinced he’s nothing (“I’m a mutt”) and she tells him no, she needs him. (“Stay with me”)

28) Once in a Dream (In the City)

“Once in a dream I thought I could be anyone I wanted”

“Once in a dream I thought I could keep you safe forever”

This song makes me think of the lost innocence of young girl, who’s father died in the mines, who was forced to take care of her family, who nearly starved to death, who was sent into an arena expected to fight and kill and die for entertainment as a political pawn, who’s home was turned to rubble, and who had to fight to stop more than one dictator. This song makes me think of the lost innocence of a young boy who’s mother beat him, who fell in love with a little girl who barely noticed he existed, who was sent into an arena expected to fight and kill and die for entertainment as a political pawn, who’s home was turned to rubble, who was brainwashed into thinking he was someone he wasn’t, and who had to fight to stop more than one dictator.

29) Sparrow for a Heart (Abigail Lapell)

“When I was young, I had a sparrow for a heart / And a redwing’s eyes”

“When I am old, would you carry my bones / To the blood-red sea”

A sparrow and a mocking bird are by no means the same thing, but this song reminds me of the pin, and the spirit. And the courage and bravery and fear that Katniss had. And the pain.

- - - - - - - - - - - Soundtrack Songs - - - - - - - - - -

Most of these I don’t have to explain. Because. They are the songs for the movies themselves. But I still have a notes for a few. :)

30) Tomorrow Will Be Kinder (The Secret Sisters)

“Sorrow weighs my shoulders down / And trouble haunts my mind / But I know the present will not last / And tomorrow will be kinder”

This song pulls me out of depression. & I wish it could be played for both of them. To help them both know, that better days are ahead of them.

31) Safe & Sound (Taylor Swift)

“Just close your eyes / The sun is going down / You’ll be alright / No one can hurt you now”

32) Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Lorde)

“Of freedom and of pleasure / Nothing ever lasts forever”

33) Yellow Flicker Beat (Lorde)

“This is the start of how it ends / They used to shout my name, now they whisper it”

34) Ladder Song (Lorde)

“You’re not alone in anything / You’re not unique in dying”

35) District 12 Ruins (James Newton Howard)

This plays at such a pivotal and gut wrenching moment. As Katniss returns to a completely devastated 12. Everything she knows turned to rubble.

36) They’re Back (James Newton Howard)

37) The Hanging Tree (Jennifer Lawrence)

“Where I told you to run, so we’d both be free”

38) Your Favorite Color is Green (James Newton Howard)

39) Primrose (James Newton Howard)

I hear this song & I can vividly see the scene of them sitting in the doorway in 12 watching as it rains outside. I can see her walking down the hallway, candle in hand, curling into bed with him. I can hear the “You love me, real or not real” and the “Real”. And it makes me cry.

40) There Are Worse Games to Play / Deep In the Meadow (James Newton Howard & Jennifer Lawrence)

“Lay down your head / And close your eyes / And when they open / The sun will rise”

The last scene, where Katniss comforts Rye, and Peeta and Willow are playing in the background - FUCK it gets me. And so does the meadow song.

#everlark #the hunger games #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #catching fire #mocking jay #post mockingjay #music #playlist #analysis #song

[dogboyjackkennedy]

okay screw it, i'm doing it anyway

so, my friends, get ready for my AU Version of Blackjack. or, as he is also known:

The Physical Manifestation of The Tragedy of The Kennedy Siblings.

so, to give you an idea of how that ended up being one of his titles, let me go step-by-step with this:

when Jack first died, Blackjack first formed as a skin and bones, pale purple dog. he looked small too, like he was also not a full grown dog, either. yet another odd thing about him: his eyes were entirely white, and he had similar white tear tracks falling down his face. he looked...uncanny, to say the least.

he hung around Fredbear's for a little bit and ran into Dee. upon learning about what had happened to her, he grew angry. really angry. sure, Jack had checked the camera footage before he died and saw Henry leading her to the back, and thus had a clue of what happened...but now he knew for sure. and not only that, he knows details of what that SADISTIC FUCK did to his dear sister.

and he was pissed.

as more and more murders piled up over the years, Blackjack started turning a deeper and deeper purple, to the point he appeared to be a shadowy black color. it was almost like he was a Sponge of Suffering for Freddy's. his body was almost fog-like in the way it worked and appeared, wisps of his fur coming off of his body like smoke. his eyes glowed, and his tears actually felt wet. however, those that touched them discovered that the tears were scalding hot, as though they were heated by hellfire itself. every bark the dog released sounded angry, threatening, even if he was clearly happy or calm.

customers began to view Blackjack as Death Itself, coming to guide the souls of the missing children to the afterlife. oh, how Blackjack wishes that were his purpose.

(no, that job has been delegated to someone else)

it is after Peter dies that something...changes.

Peter, as he died, saw a shadowy dog run up to the Saferoom door after Henry closed it. the dog clawed on the door, snarling and growling at the man behind it. he sounded enraged, like he was cursing Henry out for his crimes, for even daring to hurt Peter or those children. Peter believed that this dog would guide him to the afterlife. he believed it to be Sparky.

(years later, as he recounts the story to Jack as a Phone Guy, he doesn't understand why Jack has an unnerved look on his face as he mentions the dog. the dog didn't seem bad; it actually seemed to want to help. so why does he act like the dog being there was a bad thing?)

Peter's death changed Blackjack. his every breath came out as a growl, he'd watch Henry from a distance, glaring at him and growling at him if he ever got to close. his words were garbled, and very few could understand the words with perfect clarity. but...something else happened, something that disturbed customers even more. the dog would howl, and a sound that many could only describe as "screams of the damned" would accompany it. however, some could pick out three distinct "voices" from the screaming.

a young girl, screaming bloody murder as she begged for two men, her brothers, most likely. a man, groaning in pain along with the sound of metal scraping on tile. the sound that rose above the other two, however, was the sound of another young man screaming in agony quite suddenly, only for it to be cut off as the other two rang out like an echo.

Henry just politely ignored Blackjack's existence. he wouldn't mess with Blackjack if Blackjack didn't mess with him.

after all, why would he bother with the spirit of a dog?

and then 1983 happened. he had simply stayed after hours to clean up after...well, simply put, some kids decided to shove a young boy in Fredbear's mouth.

he remembered hearing the sound of angry snarling behind him. he whipped around, only to find it standing behind him. Blackjack was growling and snarling at him, looking about ready to pounce and tear him to shreds where he stands. the dog howls, and suddenly Henry learns what everyone meant by "screams of the damned."

he hears them clearly. he recognizes at least two of the voices: a girl he murdered and a man whose death he was responsible for. the third...the third he didn't recognize, but was one he had a hunch about, given the context of the other two.

it was the voice of a man he left to die.

(he remembers. he remembers looking that man in the eyes as his life was slipping away from him. he remembers how that man looked up at him, and with all of the voice the man had left, he wheezed out "h..elp...m..e....." Henry remembers laughing in the man's face as he left him to die.)

(Henry remembers returning to that accursed suit and finding it blood-soaked....but scarily empty. because it shouldn't be empty, it's literally impossible for it to be. he was the only one who knew about...him. so how...?)

it hits Henry, the voices he's hearing.

Dee. Peter. Jack.

The Kennedy Siblings.

Henry doesn't get much time to process what that all must mean. he steps back from the clearly aggressive dog. turns out that small movement was a mistake.

Blackjack lunges at him, barking wildly and snarling. Henry braces himself; he'd not sure what a ghost dog would be capable of doing to a person.

he feels pain as the dog sinks its teeth into his skin, and he feels himself...sink? what-?

he finds himself in a place he could only describe as...The Void. he finds the dog standing in front of him, still snarling and growling at him. but...then something unexpected happened.

Blackjack spoke. and Henry knew exactly who this was.

he doesn't know why Jack's soul took the form of a dog. it's something he's never really seen before. with the exception of Dee (she'd take the form of either the puppet she was trapped in, or a regular human-shaped ghost). but....an animal? he'd never seen that before.

regardless, Blackjack practically cusses him out, angry about what Henry had done. to his sister, to his brother, to him. Henry left him to die. he framed him for his sister's murder. he killed everyone he loved.

but he wasn't going to kill him, not yet, anyway. death was too good for him, in Blackjack's eyes.

he left him to rot, believing that, eventually, enough time in The Void would cause Henry to die. because maybe he would still age. maybe he would start to waste away. something.

...safe to say, he was wrong.

it somehow made him stronger.

anyway, there's the timeline 'til about...maybe around DSAF 1? i dunno.

but yeah! Blackjack basically absorbs the Suffering Vibes™ at Freddy's locations and it ended up fueling him and his rage. he got fueled more by Dee and Peter's deaths, hence him being the embodiment/physical manifestation of The Tragedy of the Kennedy Siblings.

also, i did a Minor rewrite of how Blackjack works. i somewhat based him off of how i write Cassidy in the Fnaf Canon: Angry, Vengeful Older Sibling Who Lost Their Loved Ones AND Their Life To The Same Man, Who Lashes Out In Anger At What Happened, And Ends Up Making Bad Decisions In Order To Get Vengeance For Their Murder.

i mean. Jack was a young adult who had his younger sister get murdered by a man who (potentially at this point) was his boss, got framed for her murder, and then was left to die by that same boss. like...realistically speaking, while Blackjack might act all mysterious and wise (and to a certain extent he is), he's really just the soul or a scared, angry, and vengeful young man whose life was ruined for effectively no real reason. so i wanted that to come across more.

#dsaf #dsaf blackjack #dsaf henry #< because he's also mentioned a lot #i have. Many Thoughts on Blackjack in this au/my headcanons #i listened to Saint Bernard. and i had thoughts #not au related #< kinda

[missingmywing]

Minato did not sign up for theatre shenanigans, what a shame Ryoji is dragging him into it anyway, and he's having fun with it anyway.

Day 5: Royalty/Vampire (Ao3 Link)

Ryoji and Minato are roped into trying out for the drama club’s winter play, in part because of their chemistry, in part because the drama club is short on people for background subplots. So Minato is pushed into the role of beleaguered princess, while Ryoji is the vampire infatuated with her. Minato is long-suffering and Ryoji is having the time of his life.

This chapter gave me so much trouble, you have no idea.

Also fun fact, a lot of inspiration for this chapter came from my friend convincing me to start playing the dating sim JACKJEANNE. It’s a really good game, and the vibes are immaculate.

Song I was listening to (from the first play in the game): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB6KTTTZeSo

I also watched some Vanitas no Carte amvs so uhhhhh there's a bit of those vibes in a couple of parts.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

By December Minato had resigned himself to the fact that his third year was going to be comprised entirely of being dragged into various antics against his will.

While he’d been vaguely aware that the drama club existed he’d never expected their paths to cross in any meaningful way. He had no interest in acting. He definitely wasn’t volunteering to be in a play. He wasn’t interested.

As with most other things this year, he was recruited despite his own opinion on the matter. The club members were two people short of major characters because… something to do with how the characters were portrayed meant the remaining club members couldn’t or didn’t want to do it.

He wasn’t exactly sure of the reason because he’d been tuning out the club president’s begging of his help because he was not interested.

Naturally Ryoji was, and Minato found himself dragged to a rehearsal for the winter play after school to try out for a part he didn’t even particularly want. Ryoji was very lucky that Minato liked him so much.

And of course he was going to be put in a dress again if they liked him.

Minato sighed and read over the script. There was a general overview of the plot of the play - a samurai bumbling his way through a western style kingdom dispelling spirits and killing monsters to rescue the emperor’s kidnapped daughter in order to prove his worth and marry her - and Minato was supposed to be trying out for a princess supposedly suffering from a ghost haunting.

The twist was that the “ghost” was actually a cursed vampire in love with her and drinking her blood at night, thus leading to her waning health. It was a subplot that took up an entire third of the play and ended with the vampire breaking his curse out of love for the princess (and purifying royal blood apparently) and marrying her.

He supposed it fit the fairy tale feel of the play, but the whole premise was just ridiculous.

Ryoji was grinning in pure delight as he read through the script, though, so Minato pushed his exasperation to the side and read through his own audition parts. It was… about what he’d expected of it, really. Cliche and cheesy, the princess was demure and distant and quiet and generally as skeptical of the main character’s skill as everyone else in the play.

And then her interactions with the vampire were…

Alright he hadn’t been warned that they were secret lovers, that changed the whole arc’s plot.

“Seriously?” he asked Ryoji, waving the script in his direction. “Did you know about this?”

Ryoji beamed at him. “Why do you think I agreed to try out?”

“Because you’re a being of chaos who lives to torment me?”

“See, keep up those dramatics and you’ll do just fine!”

Ugh.

That said, he wasn’t enough of an asshole anymore to blow it off and not put in any effort so he memorized the lines. One of the senior members of the club was acting as a stand-in for the hero for their first meeting and he nodded encouragingly as Minato stepped onto the mock-stage in their chosen classroom. A couple of the other club members were around - acting as judges most likely - but any other club members or auditioners had been kept out.

He almost wished Ryoji - or Aigis, who had apparently also gotten roped into helping with this arc - were here so he wouldn’t feel as ridiculous as he did. He’d spent plenty of time learning to function socially last year so he was charming and courageous enough to at least pass this off as a non-issue but it was still… not his idea of fun.

The club members seemed to heavily disagree and were very impressed by his performance.

And thus he successfully auditioned for the play and got the part. Apparently so did both Ryoji and Aigis which meant he wouldn’t be getting any peace until the performance was complete.

“How does this keep happening to me?” he wondered aloud with a sigh as he sat on the couch in the dorms, Mitsuru, Yukari, and Shinji around.

Yukari sent him a dry look. “You keep letting Ryoji do what he wants.”

There was that. “It’s usually not worth the effort of fighting it.”

“There’s your problem,” Shinji snorted.

Mitsuru’s expression was amused as she flipped a page from her stack. “It’s not such a bad thing, is it? It gives you a broader range of experience.”

“I know,” he murmured, skimming the script. “And that’s his point - living to to fullest and experiencing as much as we can while we have time to do so. That doesn’t make me any more excited to be dragged into this.”

Pain flickered across her and Yukari’s faces as Shinji grimaced and Koromaru let out a soft whine and padded over to hop onto the couch and lean against him. He patted the dog and shrugged at the others. It was what it was, even if they didn’t like the reminder.

He looked up as the door swung open to admit Ryoji and Aigis with Junpei and Chidori trailing after them and let out a heavy sigh as he saw both Ryoji and Aigis holding their scripts. Ryoji’s grin upon catching sight of Minato was meant that he was about to be dragged into practicing.

They at least took mercy on him and pulled him up to his and Ryoji’s room so he wouldn’t be subject to SEES’ constant attention as well. Which was… something, he guessed.

“The princess, the vampire, and the hunter,” Ryoji mused as Minato flopped back onto the bed, leaning against the dresser. “Somehow this feels almost nostalgic.”

“Please don’t start fighting for real in the middle of the play,” Minato muttered. “The last thing we need is for you two to destroy the stage.”

“Of course not; it is merely a play after all.” Aigis tilted her head as she read through her script, a hand on her chin. “And the fight scenes seem relatively short as well.”

“We’ll also be using prop weapons, no guns or two meter swords.” Ryoji added with a laugh.

“No real guns,” Minato amended pointedly. “They have models that Aigis will be using to try to shoot you.”

“I won’t miss,” she vowed gravely.

Ryoji leaned away with a joking wince. “I mean, you could miss a little.”

“Pretty sure she’s supposed to hit you at the end of the arc, and that’s when the princess intervenes and asks the hero to help her convince everyone that the vampire isn’t horrible.”

“Somehow you were both the princess and the hero.”

“Pretty sure I was just the princess, and I only had to win the hunter over given we all agreed not to tell SEES while they were still coming to terms with everything else at Yakushima.”

“I do not believe I was too difficult to win over,” Aigis murmured, almost to herself.

“Only because you didn’t want to risk hurting Minato,” Ryoji pointed out with a small smile. “It took you a while to warm up to me, even with Minato’s word. You really didn’t trust me.”

“You were a Shadow, after all. An enemy, even former, is not so easily trusted.”

True, she’d been wary for a while. But she’d put her faith in Minato - something he still didn’t fully understand - and come around to viewing Thanatos as an ally in keeping Minato and the world safe, and Ryoji as a friend.

She wouldn’t have pled with them both so earnestly to survive if she hadn’t.

Ryoji shrugged it off. “Well you did come around, and we can use the experience to help us with the play!”

“So who’s subbing in for the hero and king in my introduction scene?” Minato deadpanned as he waved the script at them. “I’d rather not mime at empty air.”

“Aigis would probably be a better hero, and I can play the king. We might have a problem when all five characters are in the same scene, though…"

“That will not be until the end of the arc. We can deal with that problem when we get to it, yes?”

“True enough! So the scene starts…”

~ ᙙᙖ ~

The rehearsals weren’t bad - were actually pretty fun, once he got used to it. They were exhausting, but at least he had a relatively small part overall and the lines were easy enough to memorize. Aigis and the guy playing the hero were easy to bounce off of too, which was nice.

Ryoji and Aigis also worked well together - though the level of intensity between the two of them was… good for the play, but it just made him pinch his brow in exasperation. At least they seemed to be having fun with it.

He was not looking forward to his first scene with Ryoji.

They hadn’t even begun practicing for it yet, but he could already feel the mortification anytime he skimmed through the script. They were already probably the worst-kept open secret in the school by this point and showcasing their relationship on stage in front of anyone who came to the play was not something he’d ever intended. The plausible deniability of it was dwindling by the month…

Not that it would really matter, in the grand scheme of things, but rumors were annoying enough without actively fueling them.

The things he did for his boyfriend…

“So,” Ryoji said cheerfully a couple of weeks later, dropping back onto the bed with a small bounce and a grin, “we’ll be having our first scene together soon, so we should practice.”

Minato sighed, dropping his bag heavily on the desk as he slumped against it. “Really…?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun!”

If it hadn’t been in front of dozens of people, maybe.

Minato sent him a dubious look and flipped the script open to the scene. “The hero stumbles across the princess and vampire having a ‘tender moment’, thus realizing that they are secretly involved. They have a conversation in which the princess asks the vampire to ‘whisk her away’ and he promises to do so soon, which leads to the final scene where he tries to kidnap her, fights the hunter nearly to the death, and then the princess intervenes and asks them to leave him alone.” The look Minato sent Ryoji made him snicker. “And we have to do this in front of dozens of people.”

“So what?”

“You know what,” Minato muttered with another sigh. “Life was easier when I didn’t care about anything. Now people annoy me.”

Ryoji’s expression softened. He pushed himself up off the bed and walked over to lean against Minato and slip his arms around him, pressing his cheek to Minato’s hair. “Are you that worried about it?”

Well, no. It was exasperating and he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be put on stage in front of so many people, and the ribbing and increased whispered rumors would be irritating, but it was the inconvenience rather than anything serious that bothered him.

“It’s fine,” he said, nudging Ryoji back. “I’ll tune it out.”

A soft hum was his response and Ryoji pressed their foreheads together. “I’ll be here,” he promised.

He knew. Ryoji always was. Always had been - no matter what Minato needed, Death, Thanatos, and Ryoji had always been there.

Rather than responding Minato reached up to rest a hand on Ryoji’s shoulder and closed his eyes with a soft murmur of, “Ever at my side - but how far are we to go? If we are to stay here we are surely to be torn apart. But if we are to leave we shall be ever hunted by those who wish for my return. Is there no true freedom to be found?”

A squeeze of his waist was his response as Ryoji continued the script. “We shall go as far as necessary to be together. To the very ends of the earth if we must. I will stay by your side and protect you no matter the challenges - if I must fight off mercenaries, armies, or the world itself I will hold and cherish you forevermore.”

“Pretty words do not a promise make, my beloved.”

“You think my words empty?”

Minato opened his eyes and pulled back to glare at him. “I think your life and strength more limited than you may believe,” he retorted. “Would you leave me alone in your battles against the world? Abandoned with naught but ash and stakes to hold? You may fight mercenaries and armies and the world itself, but can you swear you would triumph?”

Ryoji hesitated, casting his eyes down. “I would fight to the last.”

“The last is no good if you do not return to me. I do not want you to die for me, I wish for you to live with me.”

He caught Minato’s hand and brought it up to his lips - which wasn’t in the script but it was a very Ryoji thing to do - and sighed. “Right though you may be, it brings me naught but pain to be parted thus from you. Hiding in the shadows, sneaking through your window, stealing you away for but a few moments in the silence of night… ‘tis an agony we must bear. My unbeating heart has been yours since first we met and yet I cannot even give it to you properly.”

“And mine yours. Would that I could be spirited away from this pain without dooming us both.”

“I will find a way - this I swear to you!” Minato’s breath hitched in surprise as Ryoji suddenly pulled him close and ducked down to press his lips against his throat.

He was supposed to have a line here but his mind had blanked out at the unexpected motion and all he could say was, “If you do that on stage we’re going to get kicked off.”

Ryoji paused and pulled back, blinking at him. “Is that too much? I thought it symbolic, given he’s supposed to be a vampire.”

“It’s still a school play, you can’t start being too scandalous on stage.”

“Is that scandalous…?”

“Most people consider it to be, yes,” Minato deadpanned. “That’s too intimate unless it’s dramatized right.”

“I could bite you instead.”

“If you bite me on-stage I’m kicking you off myself.”

Ryoji laughed and bumped their foreheads together. “Alright, alright, I’ll tone it down. For the sake of our director if nothing else.”

“We’ll find out how they want us to perform it later this week either way, but given how they have us doing the rest of the play I doubt they want it to have a too serious a tone…” The drama club leaned hard into the “drama” part of their name so they were more likely to want a loud, melodramatic rendition of the scene than a quiet intimate one.

Which was easier for Ryoji than Minato, whose attitude on melodrama was to avoid it as much as possible.

“True enough. So we have to the end of the week to memorize that part of the script!”

Which meant practice. For both them and Aigis, who showed up at the end of the scene to accuse the vampire of trying to attack the princess and instigating a fight scene. The hero was supposed to be on a balcony above them ruminating on his own journey and accidentally eavesdropping on them, but he fortunately didn’t have any lines until after the hunter and vampire began their fight so the three of them could practice alone.

Minato was very relieved that they didn’t have to involve the rest of SEES in their practice sessions.

The rehearsals continued relatively smoothly - though not without their own stumbles or minor disasters of forgotten lines or arguments about characterization or the occasional near fistfight between the director and one actor or another - and Minato watched the final dates creep ever closer with trepidation.

The role came easily enough by now, and he, Ryoji, and Aigis had settled into their characters and the relationship between them well enough that scenes between the three of them rarely had to be reworked or altered, but…

Well, the other actors weren’t quite so easy for he and Aigis to work with. Aigis in particular made others stumble after one of her line deliveries was a bit more monotone or disjointed than they expected. The director liked it because he said it made the hunter feel cooler and more mysterious, but it tripped everyone else up a lot at first. They adjusted, slowly, and Aigis adjusted to meet them, but it was a learning curve for everyone.

And he and Ryoji kept getting a lot of raised eyebrows, rolled eyes, and ribbing after their “private scenes” where the princess and the vampire were sneaking aside for a quick conversation here and there.

And then there were the costumes.

Once they reached the point where the performance was close enough to begin rehearsing in costume, suddenly Minato was being shoved back into a dress - a big, heavy dress - twice a week on the stage in the auditorium. He at least wasn’t the only one - the king’s robes were just as heavy and ridiculous - but he was envious of Aigis and Ryoji’s minimal layers.

Granted they still had to mock-fight in theirs while he mostly stood around so maybe they weren’t really any less hot than him in the end.

Ultimately the couple of months leading up to the final performances went fairly smoothly aside from the usual mishaps. He only tripped on the dress and nearly face-planted once - and Ryoji and Aigis were both suddenly there to catch him causing raised eyebrows from the rest of the group - only a couple of prop swords were broken, Aigis only knocked Ryoji off the stage twice, the hero somehow manage to fall off the balcony once a week but was never injured, the king kept finding increasingly ridiculous ways to throw himself onto his throne with shock and despair when the princess and vampire revealed their relationship and overall Minato found himself having quite a bit of fun despite his disquiet.

Ryoji did jokingly offer to bite him for real in the reveal scene the first time they rehearsed it and Minato was not at all joking when he threatened to throw him off the stage if he did. Aigis volunteered to help.

Ryoji didn’t bite him.

The rest of SEES were vocal about their excitement to see the play - well, Shinji didn’t care and Ken was trying to play it off as usual, but the rest of them kept bringing it up - and Minato generally ignored them. He had no doubt they’d be there for the first performance, but he’d deal with that when they got there. Until then he wasn’t thinking about it.

(Wasn’t thinking about how much they would recognize in what Minato, Ryoji, and Aigis were putting into their characters.)

Several of his Social Links had also declared that they would be showing up to watch the play and Minato just groaned and told them that they really didn’t have to Not that they listened, but he tried.

But no matter his wishes the days still crept past and suddenly it was the week of the performance.

It was… stressful. Last minute panic and nerves and stage fright all around, forgotten lines and prop mishaps, costume adjustments, line adjustments, and endless arguments as tensions ran high as the first performance loomed. Minato, Ryoji, and Aigis seemed to be the only ones unaffected by the tension - though their previous experience with Nyx at the top of Tartarus likely had something to do with that.

It was hard to be frightened by anything after that.

And so the day of the first performance arrived, they ran through the play in one final rehearsal in the morning, and then it was creeping into evening and the auditorium opened for people to begin filing in. The rest of the crew kept running around and glancing out of the gaps between the curtains and generally making themselves more anxious while Minato leaned against the wall doing the assigned reading for history and refusing to acknowledge the crowd outside. If he pretended it wasn’t there he wouldn’t have to think about SEES undoubtedly in whatever ridiculous seats Mitsuru had reserved for them and wouldn’t have to overthink their potential reactions to the events of the play.

“Ready?” Ryoji asked directly in his ear, and he reflexively elbowed him in the stomach.

The boy doubled over wheezing while Minato sent him an unimpressed look. “Why did you decide to do that?”

“Just getting into character!”

Right.

“You'll have plenty of time to skulk menacingly and grab me from behind in your introduction scene,” he said blandly, returning to his book. “I'll try not to elbow you this time.”

“I would appreciate that…”

“Please do not injure our vampire half an hour before the curtains rising!” The director called as he hurried past.

Minato rolled his eyes. “It’ll take more than an elbow to injure him, he’ll be fine.”

Ryoji pouted at him as he plastered himself to Minato’s back, dropping his chin on his shoulder and wrapping his arms around his waist. “I’m hurt - I thought you were supposed to be on my side!”

“The princess might be but we’re not on stage yet.”

“No, but we will be soon,” Aigis said as she joined them, adjusting the model gun on her waist. “It is strange to require a physical gun, even if it is merely for show. I never required an evoker.”

Minato hummed, hand drifting to his own empty waist where his costume did not have any weapons. Seeing the other cast with their weapons made him miss his own, but his role didn’t have one. “You get used to it.”

She frowned but before she could speak the director called everyone’s attention for one last pep talk - mixed with some overview warnings about common mistakes - and then directed everyone to their starting positions to be ready for the curtain to rise.

Their arc was the second in the play after the opening and travel by the hero to the lands to the west, so they had a while to hang back and watch from backstage. They could see bits of the crowd from where they were, and against his will Minato found a tension settling in his chest. This was nothing even remotely as difficult or dangerous as even a standard Tartarus run, but it was also wildly out of his comfort zone and area of expertise.

Ryoji and Aigis, naturally, were immune to such mundane human concepts such as stage fright. Minato was too to a degree but still.

Why had he let Ryoji talk him into this?

He watched the opening act and mentally traced through the story in his head to make mental note of his cues.

The story began in Japan - or a variant of it - in feudal times. The hero was a wandering samurai without any particular accolades to his name who nonetheless fell in love with the one of the emperor’s daughters and courted her in secret while they tried to find a way for him to win the emperor’s favor. The story took a sudden twist when she was whisked away from the palace by a sorcerer from the west, and the samurai was the first to volunteer to hunt her down and return her safely home. In return, he would be promised her hand. The emperor agreed, and away the samurai went after bartering the journey from a trading ship.

The first arc took place partially on the ship and partially in the port city, where the sailors and merchants were plagued by sirens luring their men to their deaths. In order to get information about the sorcerer, the hero agreed to help the city get rid of the sirens.

There were a series of mishaps and failed attempts and one near-fatal scrape from the hero of trying to get maidens in the town to outsing them, attempts to harpoon them, and an attempt to bargain with them before the hero remembered the kami-blessed flute he’d inherited from his grandmother from her time as a shrine maiden for the goddess of music. His grandmother had told him that there wasn’t a more beautiful sound in all the world, and so he took the next ship out and began playing the flute as soon as the sirens began singing.

(The boy playing the hero had spent many afternoons frantically begging the band to teach him how to play a traditional wooden flute in order to make this scene work, and Minato had been impressed by his dedication. The band had too, apparently, and at least one argument had broken out between them and the drama club president over trying to recruit him.)

It enchanted the sirens so much that they stopped singing entirely, and in the silence he demanded that they leave and never attack humans again. They agreed on one condition - that he taught them to play the flute. He agreed in turn, and the bargain was struck. He taught them to play and told them how to make the instruments and in return they left the city.

The hero returned to the city triumphant and was told of the sorcerer’s cursed kingdom to the far north. The fastest way to get there was to head east towards the forested kingdoms, where they could offer more direct transportation there. The hero thanked them and moved on, which was the cue for the intermission before the second arc and Minato took a breath as the curtains fell closed to the audience applause.

The crew quickly scattered across the stage to change the props while the boy playing the hero collapsed into a chair and accepted a bottle of water from the director.

“So far so good, just keep it up,” the director encouraged them. “It’s gone smoothly so far, now we just have to hope that no one falls off of any balconies or breaks any swords.” He sent a pointed look at both the hero and Aigis - the two most common offenders. “If we can get through the fight scenes between those two without anything breaking we should be in the clear in terms of props. For lines, remember to enunciate and project. Mics can only do so much with the way they’re balanced.” That got looks sent at both Minato and the emperor’s daughter, because neither of them were good at loud and they both got monologues thanks to the roles they played in the story.

Monologues and a scene where they were begging for their lovers’ lives to be spared, which meant they had to make it sound heartfelt and they’d both been told multiple times to be louder and more passionate. They’d mostly gotten it - thanks to practicing together a few times and in Minato’s case one uncomfortable practice session between he, Ryoji, and Aigis that had sent all three of them into unpleasant memories of Yakushima - but it wasn’t something that came naturally to either of them.

Minato was going to have to lean on those memories of that uncomfortable and upsetting confrontation in the Dark Hour of Yakushima’s beach, wasn’t he? Granted Aigis and Ryoji probably would be too…

He let out a sigh and shifted to brush his arm against Ryoji’s at the director turned his attention to directing the prop team. Ryoji slipped their hands together and squeezed it reassuringly.

“It’ll be fun,” he murmured.

Minato snorted. “Fun isn’t quite the word I’d use. Especially the final fight scene.”

“Just project!”

The look Minato sent him was withering. “I’m going to be projecting Yakushima.”

Ryoji winced at the reminder while Aigis sighed softly. “As much as it pains me, that was also the event I was thinking of.”

“Well, yeah. It’s…” Ryoji trailed off, expression going distant as his mouth twisted down. “Yeah. It’s similar. We knew that.”

Minato squeezed his hand one more time before pulling away. “We did. It’ll be fine. Come on, we have positions to take up.”

“You have a position to take up,” Aigis corrected. “I do not come on until two scenes from now, and Ryoji has three.”

Minato waved them away and walked over to lean against the throne next to the king.

“Do not break that,” he warned, casting a quick glance towards the director. “Our dear director would have a fit.”

“I’m aware.” Minato pulled away from the throne and clasped his hands in front of him, channeling as much of Fuuka’s shy demeanor as he could. “Ugh. I never want to wear one of these again.”

“It looks good on you!”

“So I’ve been told. That doesn’t make it any more comfortable.” His voice dropped to a mutter. “Why are there so many layers?”

The king snickered. “Welcome to theater. If it’s any consolation I’m also dying, and so are our emperor and sorcerer.”

“At least it’s not just me.” And at least he didn’t have to fight in it. The sorcerer did, and she’d been miserable in all the costumed rehearsals.

“Alright, everyone in position - intermission is over in one minute!”

Minato took one final deep breath and tried to relax as he curled his shoulders inward and ducked his head. The princess was supposed to look timid and sickly in her first appearance - most of her appearances, really - so he had to at least try to match the body language.

The curtains rose and he was nearly blinded by the spotlights - closing his eyes and ducking his head while he waited for them to adjust. The crowd was nearly blocked out by it.

A minor relief.

The narrator began outlining the overview of the arc as the hero came on stage and bowed before the king to make his plea for transportation to the north.

The king stroked at his false beard - hopefully didn’t misjudge and yank it off like he had once or twice in rehearsal - and considered the hero. “The north you say? Why, that is quite the long and dangerous journey. I do have a carriage that can traverse the paths, aye, but you will have to prove yourself worth it. Tell me: what have you to bargain with?”

The hero straightened and raised his chin. “I have my sword, my pride, and a variety of skills felling beast and spirit alike. If there’s aught causing trouble in your kingdom or castle I can remove it.”

“Oho? Spirits you say? Why in that case I have just the task for you, swordsman. My daughter here is plagued by an evil spirit,” he gestured to the side and Minato dipped into a silent curtsy - he spent the first half of the arc with almost no lines to push the princess’ characterization before the sudden flip of realization in the second half - as the king continued, “-and we cannot discover what it is no matter what priests or exorcists we bring in. Perhaps you will have better luck with your experience of many travels.”

The hero bowed with a hand on his sword, and Minato made the mistake of glancing past him and catching sight of SEES sitting in the reserved seating. Of course they were. “I will do all in my power to banish this spirit and bring your daughter peace from this curse. Do you have an infirmary I may first visit? I would like to speak with them of the symptoms this spirit is causing.” He was glad he didn’t have any lines to remember in this scene.

“Why naturally! In fact, I will bring the infirmary to you! Guard, bring the matron would you? I would like to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible!”

Minato began zoning out and watched from the corner of his eye as the guard bowed and walked off stage - hitting a quick high five with his girlfriend where she was preparing the props for the second half of the arc - and mock bowing to the matron who rolled her eyes at him as she stepped up to the edge of the curtain. They waited for the filler conversation between the king and hero to reach its cue and then returned to the stage.

He was almost a prop himself for most of this part - the king and matron had a conversation with the hero about the princess’ symptoms of weakness, pale skin, exhaustion, and all the other usual effects of blood loss. The hero would ask about the living situation in the castle, the religious practices, the diet, and a variety of other questions that were ultimately meaningless other than a hint here and there.

(The princess apparently wasn’t fond of the heavily spiced food of the south - garlic and thyme in particular was offensive to her palate apparently - and silver jewelry made her skin itch. Minato thought including those in this conversation was a bit too on the nose but it didn’t really matter.)

His gaze drifted across the crowd, curiously scanning for familiar faces.

SEES was SEES naturally, although why Mitsuru’s father was here was a question he was not going to ask. The man had been more hands-on with the school since Thanatos killed Ikutsuki, but the drama clubs’ play? Really? Whatever, he didn’t care.

Most of the student council were also here, as were half the kendo team, and all of his Social Links who were - or had been, in Keisuke’s case - students. Thankfully the only non-student Social Links here were the Kitamuras, who Minato had invited himself because this seemed like the type of thing they’d like. A part of him wished that Akinari, Bebe, and Mamoru were still around because Akinari and Bebe would have loved this, and Mamoru probably would have had fun ribbing him about it.

At least he could still send Bebe and Mamoru letters telling them about it, but it still sent a pang through him to know that he couldn’t do the same to Akinari. The boy’s mother was here though - he caught sight of her smiling at an aisle seat. Minato talked to her occasionally still, often on that same park bench, and he’d invited her here hoping she’d enjoy it. Nothing could replace or bring back Akinari, but sometimes doing things that you knew they’d loved could make you feel closer to them. She’d liked the idea, and he just hoped she’d like the play.

Minato was drawn from his musings by the king leaping to his feet - he somehow managed to make the action more dramatic each time he did it, they all swore by it - and shouting that they would get to the bottom of this no matter what and save his daughter.

Cue scene change, where the hero, guard, and matron began inspecting the castle for any signs of spirits and putting up “wards” against them. Minato was only in half the scene before he got to step off stage while they finished the “inspection”, jumped to the next morning, and Aigis made her introduction calling them idiots and claiming it to be a vampire - which they didn’t take seriously at first. So she declared that she would prove it and set a trap for the vampire that he would fall into that night.

The lights went out and Minato had to dart across the stage - without tripping over the dress again - to lie on the fake bed while Aigis and the hero “hid” around the corner. The lights came back on with a blue tinge, and Minato could hear Ryoji sneak through the fake window and creep towards the bed.

(He’d never gotten a satisfactory answer to why the princess didn’t warn the vampire of the trap other than a shrug and “plot”, and he’d long stopped thinking about it.)

Just as he reached the bed the hunter and hero leapt out and attacked him, driving him back, and he recoiled from the hunter’s silver dagger with a loud cry before fleeing. The hunter declared it proof enough, and this time the hero and king agreed.

Minato finally had his first lines - the princess protesting when the king and hunter suggest more secure quarters for her such as the high tower or the rooms near the dungeons. They begin weakly enough - complaints about the loss of comfort of her quarters, of the chill of underground or drafts of the tower, of the seclusion from the rest of the castle and dangers therein - and culminate in Minato’s first discomfort of the play.

He had to turn from the king and address the crowd directly, beseeching them as the princess was beseeching her father, and it was more nerve-wracking than anything else had been because there had never been a crowd in the rehearsals.

His gaze flicked frantically across them for something to latch on to to anchor him and found himself accidentally locking eyes with Mitsuru. Which was unfortunate given the lines and context could send a message he really didn’t want to send, but it was too late now.

“Am I to be a prisoner in my own home?!” The princess demanded to nothing. “Locked away at your whim because of the actions of a creature I have no control over? Am I to pay for the sins of others simply for existing in a way that they covet?” He really wished it hadn’t been Mitsuru because he saw her slight wince and felt a twinge of guilt. He’d apologize and clarify later.

The king quickly jumped in to pacify the princess and the hero offered an alternative solution of more traps and protective wards around the princess’ room to prevent the vampire entry. The hunter was clearly and vocally displeased with the whole affair, but the princess wouldn’t budge and thus neither would the king. Thus, the princess stayed and the hero and hunter laid traps to protect her.

And Minato’s scenes as a prop disappeared as he took an active role in the plot. Not too much - the main speaking characters of this arc were the hero, king, matron, and guard - but enough that he didn’t have time to zone out anymore as he had to keep track of lines and cues.

The smaller conversational scenes passed in a blur of information exchange and gossip about rumors and the woes of a king protecting both his kingdom and his daughter, until suddenly the lights were dimming and turning blue and it was time for the scene he’d been both anticipating and dreading. They’d practiced this scene so many times that he didn’t even have to think to recall the lines, but the very large audience watching was an uncomfortable awareness in the back of his mind as he leaned out around the corner of a prop wall and glanced back and forth across the stage before stepping out.

The princess snuck out of the castle to meet with the vampire, careful not to be seen, while the vampire snuck out of the shadows to surprise her. Given it was the revelation to the audience that she and the vampire were lovers rather than enemies it was supposed to put them on-edge and surprise them.

The problem was that Ryoji also liked to try and surprise Minato which put him on-edge.

So he was fully expecting the boy to try to sneak up on him for real - only to realize with amusement that while Minato might not see him the audience could, and their reactions of sitting up and leaning forward gave away where he’d be. So when Ryoji grabbed him from behind his startled reaction was fake and he didn’t punch him in the face like he nearly had several times in rehearsals.

The princess pulled away and whipped around with a gasp as the vampire laughed in her ear, smacking his arm lightly and scolding, “Stop startling me like that!”

“But you make it so easy,” he teased back, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “And your reactions are so sweet!”

She huffed at him, catching his hand in hers. “You may find them less sweet as time passes if you do not desist.”

Another laugh and he suddenly pulled her close, making her gasp as he dipped her back. “Nonsense, for you are the sweetest of ambrosia and naught could change that my dearest lily.”

“You may come to regret those words in time,” she retorted, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. “If I am a sweet lily then you are a rose of the sharpest thorns - but though thorns can be cut away lilies can be no less poisonous.”

“What sweet, gentle poison it shall be that takes me then.”

This would normally be the point where Minato would shove him off and accuse him of being too cheesy but he didn’t get a say in that here. So instead he just sighed in quiet exasperation and continued the script. “I would rather you remain at my side than flee my presence so readily, my love.” He was never going to live this down. Never. “Already, others seek to tear you from my side.”

The vampire’s face twisted into something pained and he lifted the princess back to her feet and pulled her close. “They merely care for you. They see the toll I take from you-”

“-Of my own free will-”

“-and wish to spare you further pain. I can hardly fault them for that. They wish to protect you.”

“Their protection is merely a cage - a manner in which to bind me down and control my life! I do this of my own decision, to spare you the hurt of a far greater curse, and with full awareness of the consequences.”

“That does not negate the hurt it inflicts upon you.”

“A temporary hurt,” she retorted. “Once the curse is lifted you’ll no longer need rely on me and I will return to my former self.”

He sighed, leaning down to press his head to hers. “The temporary nature of it does not negate the hurt. Would that I could avoid it altogether…”

Ah, there it was. That flicker of a distant look in blue eyes, Ryoji’s own memories of Death’s toll on Minato surfacing.

He reached up to cup his face and murmured, “‘Tis my own burden to take on, regardless of toll.” Ryoji’s eyes softened and he tilted his face into the touch. It warmed him for a moment, then Minato pulled himself back to the role, the princess’ wishes. “Would that we could away from this place, live free of burden and expectation and endless oversight. You and I, and the freedom to break the curse and live without risk of separation.”

“I could steal you away in an instant, yet we both know that would only compound the problem,” the vampire said with a sigh. “They would hunt to the ends of the earth to find you, as they should.”

“So sweet your words, yet it is your thorns I covet. I’m no fragile flower to wilt upon being plucked, despite your words. I wish to stay with you and no curse shall dissuade me. If it dissuades you, then we are merely to lift it and I offer my royal blood to purify the corruption.” She leaned close to the vampire, pulling him down. “Remain at my side, free of the taint you abhor so, with my lifeblood your sustenance so long as we both live.”

The vampire shuddered, tightening his grip on her. “You offer much - promises so tempting I fear I may not the strength to resist.”

“Then don’t.”

“Perhaps I won’t…”

His head dipped down beneath Minato’s chin, and Minato tilted his head back to give the illusion of the bite - if Ryoji bit him for real then they were going to have a talk - as Ryoji skimmed his lips down and pressed them to Minato’s pulse.

They were never going to live this down.

Fortunately that was the cue for Aigis the enter the scene as the hunter leapt on stage accusingly and the hero scambled down from the balcony. It was the first of the two fight scenes between the hunter and the vampire while the hero hurried to assist the collapsed princess. The princess swore him to silence of what he’d seen, while the hunter and vampire had a sword fight on the opposite side of the stage.

Minato wasn’t sure how much of their past experience Aigis and Ryoji were pulling into the fight scene but… given his own approach to the play he doubted it was any small amount. So long as they didn’t go overboard it would be fine.

The fight ended with the vampire retreating and a transition to the throne room, where the king was in hysterics about the vampire nearly “kidnapping” the princess, the matron was fussing over her, the guard was pacing and ranting about needing to up the guard rotations, and the hunter was attempting to force them all to be quiet and listen. The hero and princess stood in silence and watched the hysteria - something Minato was relieved about because there was no way he would have been able to remember his lines with everyone shouting over each other like that.

He mostly tuned out the scene until the end, where he had his next lines once again protesting being locked away. This time the princess was overruled, so away she went to the final part of the arc where the vampire broke in to break her out.

There were a couple of scenes in between of the hunter talking with the king determined to catch the vampire and the hero monologing wondering what he should do about the situation - whether he could interfere and help the princess and vampire as a parallel to himself and his own love, even though his own chances of gaining transport to the sorcerer depending upon his defeat of the vampire, what was the right thing to do - and Minato appreciated the break because the last part was going to be the most difficult.

Ugh, projecting.

But the scene arrived regardless, and Minato returned to the dark stage to the room set. The lights came on, and it was time for the princess’ monologue of being trapped in a cage and how she wished to be swept away to freedom - just in time for the vampire to break through the door in order to do exactly that.

Minato had to focus on not tripping, Ryoji’s hand tight in his, as he was pulled up and down the set stairs with the spotlight on them. Realistically, he understood why they had the pointless run around the levels of the set to build tension and portray time passing before going to the opposite side of the stage for the final confrontation in the throne room set.

Practically he really wished they could just run directly across the stage rather than dealing with the stupid stairs.

But he didn’t trip and they made it to the other side of the stage only for the hunter to leap out and confront them, accusing the vampire of stealing away the princess for his wicked ends. It drew the other characters to the throne room as well, each (aside from the hero) with their own accusation for the vampire. The princess tried to protest, but none of them listened and the vampire pushed her back behind him as the hunter attacked him.

Which gave Minato a distinct sense of deja vu, as it had every other time they’d practiced this scene before.

It was different, everything about it was different, and being in their ridiculous costumes should have broken any similarity apart, but…

His words being completely ignored, the flash of white and gold and red of Aigis attacking the black and blue of Ryoji, her dark, narrow glare as he leapt back and his cloak flared out behind him, the flash of her hand sending a bullet flying and Ryoji doubling over and curling inward in pain -

It was as much Minato as it was the princess that lunged forward and leapt between them with outstretched arms and a cry of “Stop!” because memories overlapped reality and they’d been here before-

Aigis stopped short with widened eyes, prop sword resting almost against his chest just as her fingers had over a year before, Ryoji crouched behind him. And it was different - wood rather than sand beneath their feet, a silent audience rather than crashing waves to their left, bright yellow spotlights shining down rather than a green-tinged moon, and it was Ryoji crouching down behind him with a prop sword rather than Thanatos looming over him with a real one but even still- even still-

Minato’s heart pounded in his ears as he told her to listen to him and Ryoji reached out towards him in concern and Aigis wavered a step back with confusion and pain in her expression-

It was an act, they all knew that and were cognizant of that but the unpleasant memories it brought forth were all too real.

The hero stepping in to stop the hunter and explain to the characters in the scene - and the audience a bit - about the situation that had led to this and why the vampire didn’t wish to harm the princess was what broke the immersion of it for them and Minato sank into a kneel beside Ryoji. Originally the script had had the princess standing silently, but Minato had gone through the scene once and come up with a justification for her kneeling beside the vampire as though examining his injury because no matter how many times they did this scene Minato’s knees became no less weak and shaky and he’d rather sit down to regain his composure for a minute after it while the hero’s part of the scene played out.

Ryoji sent him a wan smile as Minato touched his shoulder, hand reaching up to touch his, and Minato would have been worried about them breaking character if the rest of the cast hadn’t told them before that their reactions were perfect for the scene.

(SEES knew them well enough to ask questions though, he already knew it, and he supposed a year and a half was enough time to have passed to finally come clean about what exactly had happened at Yakushima.)

So the hero took main stage for a decent time while everyone else stood in shock before the king collapsed - somehow more dramatically each time, Minato really was somewhat impressed - back onto his throne with a wail that his gentle, beautiful daughter had been hiding such a terrible secret from him.

The princess finally stood once more and declared that she would not stand idly by while a curse took someone who didn’t deserve it, especially when that person was someone she’d come to love so dearly.

(Another difference that still echoed with him - his flat, unmoving declaration to Ryoji in December that they would fight Nyx and he would pull Ryoji from her himself because he refused to do anything less.)

Her words moved the other characters so much that offered to help break the curse rather than attacking the vampire - even the hunter reluctantly helped with her own experience with curses - and there was a short time skip to the king declaring that the princess and the newly-cured former vampire were to be married. The hero was invited but politely declined with the explanation that his own love needed rescuing from the evil sorcerer.

He was ushered away with the utmost speed with the promise that if he rescued his love before they wedding then they both were invited, and given transportation.

Minato was just glad to finally be done and gratefully collapsed onto a bench next to Ryoji and accepted a water bottle.

“Nice job, that was as excellent a scene as usual!”

Minato waved half-heartedly. “Now only two more times through the rest of the weekend and then I can let it go forever.” At least SEES wouldn’t be there for those. Minato yawned, leaning against Ryoji for a quick nap through the final arc of the hero infiltrating the sorcerer’s kingdom, winning the help of several of his unhappy minions, and sneaking his way past the many guards and to the final confrontation to rescue the emperor’s daughter.

It was mostly miscellaneous tasks to earn the help of people in the kingdom, broken up by the occasional dramatic fight, so Minato wasn’t too bothered about missing it. It was standard fairy tale stuff anyway.

The hero finally defeated the evil sorcerer and saved his love to return home and receive the emperor’s approval and permission to marry his daughter. The lights faded out as they shared a kiss, and the audience exploded into applause.

They had one last appearance for the curtain call to bow to the audience, and then Minato was finally free to change out of his costume and back into his regular clothes with great relief. Why were costume dresses so hot?

Granted it was very, very cold outside and the sweat froze to his skin and made him shudder uncomfortably as soon as he stepped out of the building. Ryoji plastered himself to his side in an offer of warmth but that didn’t really help when Ryoji naturally ran cold. Aigis was equally unhelpful, being made of metal. At least he wasn’t hot anymore, he supposed… he’d spent most of his life chilled thanks to Death, so at least he was used to it.

SEES was waiting for them in the courtyard and greeted them excitedly, declaring that they were going out to eat as celebration for the successful play. Junpei slung his arms over Minato and Ryoji’s shoulders cheerfully, teasing them as much as praising them, while Yukari had nothing but praise. Chidori and Ken were talking about the themes of the play while Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Shinji were giving them surveying looks that meant they would absolutely be asking questions once they got back to the dorms. Koromaru was darting circles around them excitedly, clearly having enjoyed the show as well (though how they’d gotten him in was another question Minato wasn’t going to ask. He’d snuck him into the movie theater after all).

It warmed him more than anything else could have, even as he rolled his eyes at Junpei’s teasing.

He never would have volunteered for himself, but… he’d had fun with it despite everything. Which was and always would be Ryoji’s point, he knew. Making memories and having experiences, good and bad, because the end was always closer than one thought and every moment was one that counted.

So as SEES pulled them toward the train and Ryoji’s hand intertwined with his and Aigis brushed against his shoulder Minato didn’t regret anything.

~ ᙙᙖ ~

So this was a lot of fun to write. Plays are fun to script out, even if I had to cut out a lot of the details for times sake. Minato having fun despite himself, and despite the bad memories it brought up. More details about what went down at Yakushima! I’ll probably come back to this and write out the actual event eventually, but until then here’s the gist. It was… a time. But everything turned out for the best in the end, so there’s that.

Bebe and Akinari would have loved this, and I stand by that. If I’d had more time I would have written out a conversation with Akinari’s mom at the end too, but I’ll come back at a later date for clean-up and expansion (like I did for Velveteen Shadows) once I have time.

Guess who ran out of time and pre-written chapters because final projects caught up with me? So tomorrow’s chapter will either be shorter or late, but it will be done and it’ll be a bit of a time skip into Shadow Ops era and exploring how the Persona thing works between them now after spending so long with their souls merged, even if Ryoji is an individual person now.

The final day will be a separate thing, because you can’t give me an afterlife prompt for these two and expect me not to take it. Despite these fluff chapters I��m still an angst writer first and I like writing stuff for my version of The Seal (as long-time readers or anyone familiar with the Velveteen Shadows prompt series knows) so that’s going to be fun too. It just. might be a few days late. because Masters degrees and final presentations.

#ryominaweek2023 #ryomina #persona 3 #ryoji mochizuki #minato arisato #makoto yuki #plays are fun to write #i wish i'd had more time to write it out entirely #i had a whole plot but classwork caught up to me #eventually i'll write out all of the yakushima confrontation #but until then take this #i really do love the relationship between these two and aigis and want to write more of it #this challenge is focused on them though so she'll be a lot more in the extra chapters (when I eventually have time to write them)

[bracketsoffear]

Columbo (Columbo) "A shrewd but inelegant blue-collar homicide detective whose trademarks include his shambling manner, rumpled beige raincoat, cigar and off-putting, relentless investigative approach. Columbo was the master of perp sweating. Though he generally settles on his horse from the outset, he never lets on, instead worming his way into their confidence via fawning adulation, begging their assistance as he "solves" the case. Usually he forces them to weave a huge web of lies until he can finally pull the thread — justified because he's always right. Without letting on that he suspects the perp, he'd have long, seemingly innocuous conversations with the murderer who would get more and more frustrated as they tried to get this annoying man to go away, and thus already be off-balance when the topic turned to holes in their cover-up. Columbo's favorite move was seeming to leave once the suspect thought they'd thrown him off the scent, then turning around and adding "Just one more thing," knocking them on their heels. He's overly nice to people in a bloodhound sort of way; he convinces people that he's just a country bumpkin more interested in whatever 'hat' the villain wears than solving the crime, only to reveal in the end a cold detachment and clinical mind that the bumpkin persona allowed free rein. He plays with the feelings of the criminals, making them like him (more often than not) or at least pity him and drop their guard, or he pushes them subtly and continuously to the point where they break. He attributes his success to merely working harder, thinking longer, and looking closer than anyone else would. However, Columbo has solved every case put before him onscreen (he sometimes claims that he only solves about a third total, but this could well be part of the humility act) and hasn't gotten his man only once — in which case the perp was dying anyway. In true classic mystery fashion, each episode wraps up with the Lieutenant confronting his prey with his train of deduction, culminating in the vital clue; the perp may not confess, but they know, and the viewer knows, they have been beaten. He also possesses an encyclopedic knowledge on some subjects, which he usually hides, and has explained to colleagues that his wife believes there is "something wrong" with him."

Jadis (Kill Six Billion Demons) "Jadis was born into a family of philosopher royalty who saw the Shape of the Universe as an experiment to study and dissect; they wasted ten generations in their efforts to witness the Shape (something that boiled a goddess’ eyes to see) and obtain all the secrets of Creation, a task she was prophecised to complete. She successfully saw the Shape, but it proved to be a thing beyond mortal ken and Jadis was shattered in both mind and body. She now exists inside a block of glass, a decaying, unmoving corpse, whispering prophecies with her perfect, terrible knowledge and worshipped by a cult devoted to recording and intepreting her whispers (and occasionally mis-interpreting them) while keeping their God-Queen alive. Book 5 demonstrates that, like the author has said, “Jadis knows the most, in fact. Of anyone. Ever”…and it has utterly destroyed her. Her perfect knowledge left her a deeply jaded, nihilistic woman who feels her actions, choices, and even her own identity (and everyone else's) are rendered completely moot when compared to the full shape of the universe. As someone who is ignorant of nothing, Jadis' limits are absolute and she is incapable of anything she hasn't already predicted will happen. She can't choose to do anything, because her decisions and their outcomes are already known to her. The alt text and some of her lines in her section of Breaker of Infinites discuss how if you can see everything, anything in it just becomes meaningless, unidentifiable noise in the infinite detail of it all: “When you see everything, there’s only one color left.” Jadis straight-up tells Allison that she, Jadis, does not exist in any meaningful sense because she can't tell where the lines between the Shape of the Universe and even her own mind are anymore. Consequently, Jadis tries to convince Allison to stop her mission to stop the destruction of the multiverse because she’s convinced that fighting is futile and meaningless in the end, so she should surrender instead of choosing more suffering. She takes Allison to see the machine that showed her the Shape, tells her the exact time from then she will die, comments on a personal detail of Allison’s past, and says what she’s doing before she does it (to make it creepier, her predictions were in the alt text several pages before). She then shows Allison the Shape and gives her a breaking speech to try and convince her to give up, and eventually talks Allison into accepting futility for months before she gets her shit together. Allison eventually realizes that Jadis is unable to change or recover from the traumas of her past because she no longer has a past - her perfect knowledge of everything that ever is, was, and will be means that she is constantly, continually reliving the complete and total despair that hit her when she saw the Shape and realized the futility of everything, and will do so for as long as she exists. Jadis wanted to know, believing that she could use her wisdom for the greater good, but the horrible knowledge she gained by seeing literally everything ever destroyed her so completely that she cannot comprehend being a person or making choices anymore--she has thus trapped herself in nihilistic certainty that she knows what’s going to happen and therefore nothing matters, and she wants to impress that mindset onto the only person she can even share her omniscience with anymore."

#eye poll #the magnus archives #the eye #poll #columbo #kill six billion demons

[doppelneer]

A Wee Bit of Catching Up With This Mess

Soooo originally this was going to be a big post on my main tumblr blog @abyssforphantoms , but I got thinking about it and it just made more sense to make this on it's own blog and repost it over there if I feel like it... instead of spamming my main with this au stuff.

Anyway, Welcome to the mess that is my brain and They Came From The Deep Au. I will not be going too deep into the story in this post, but will do a short summary and explain my prosses behind my decent into madness with the various stuff I have accumulated for it over the year.

Summary:

After the final quest the Abyss Crew was fine. Cannoneer was back, safe with the rest of the crew, and they have gotten what they wanted when they went down to those accursed depths (even though they almost didn't make it back if it weren't for the skykid). So everything should be fine, back to status quo... right?

Well it was for a bit.

Then strange stuff started happening.

Supplies keep disappearing and shifting around the reef. The members of the crew feel like they are being watched from a distance, and the sea almost seems more restless. Every one has a sense of unease...

None more so then Cannoneer,

because of the weird dreams they keep having, and now the crew is saying they did things they didn't do. It was like they were at two places at once.

Then they saw it-them from a distance... they looked almost exactly them! but something was off...

Now it's up to Cannoneer to figure out what is going on, what does this doppelganger (a.k.a Doppelneer or Cannondoppel) want and convince the crew this isn't another one of their "embellished stories".

Meanwhile other things deep down start to stir... and they aren't going to be as "friendly".

And yes Doppelneer will be a big part of this post

Warning: the images below may have some BODY HORROR.

Veiwer Discretion is Advised.

Around August 2022??? - the sticky note

The thing I drew that started it all

Thr original idea for it was just what if cackling cannoneer but dark creature

I forgot that it existed until...

October 2022 - "A Familiar Face That Is or Isn't You"

I found the sticky note again and wanted to explore the design further in a one off piece (and then it wasn't, lmao)

I also got into exploring doppelgangers as an idea which lead to me having the questions

"If someone from the Abyss Crew had a doppelganger who would have the most interesting reaction?" (You can guess who I picked lol)

"What if the doppelganger wasn't nessasarly evil but thought they were the person and the person they are a doppelganger of was a doppelganger that took over their life, thus kinda wanting to sabotage the person's life a little?"

I drew this piece in my sketchbook but then colored digitally

Originally posted to my deviantart 26 October 2022

Finished Art

Drawing Process / Alternative Versions

November 2022 - Old Reference Sheet for Cannondoppel

Very outdated and crusty

I will post the updated ref in another post

DON'T USE THIS ONE I BEG OF U!!!!

December 2022 - "Breath in Deep Water"

Digital painting

Just a story idea

Waking up one day being able to breathe water must be jarring ngl

First appearance of the phantom eyes

Posted 1 January 2023 on my deviantart

January - Inspirational Glitch happened in Sky

Didn't really do to much with the Au for a bit, nor does this really have to deal with the au

But this happened to me one day and thought it was neat yet felt like walking into a sky creepy pasta.

It's the red green visual glitch and the spirit staring glitch with Cannoneer happening at the same time

March - Some Old Doodles

"There is always a bigger fish. "

More experimenting with the story in my mind

May - "Reflections"

"Just a reflection in the void"

Changed some details with Doppelneer, mainly hair and sometimes they have a tail

Reversed

July - artfight cameo

just a small appearance

Nothing too much too note

And that is it for now will return soon with more stuff soon

#sky children of the light #sky cotl #season of abyss #cackling cannoneer #sky cotl au #they came from the deep au #doppelganger #doppelganger au #doppelneer #cannondoppel #sky cotl fanart #horror maybe #there is more yet to come #but this took me way too long to post so give me some time #sorry tgc my brain is a sea monster and it stole the entirety of the abyss crew for an au #you will not be getting them back anytime soon #totally didn't make this blog to free up space in my brain

[audarcy]

useless semantics hour: dimensions, defined scientifically, are measures of space, as you're familiar with. length, width, height.

the world we know and comprehend is three-dimensional, 3D space. it's difficult to image something having more than three spatial dimensions, right? like, where would a fourth one go?

imagine a two-dimensional being existing in 2D space on a piece of paper. imagine you, a three-dimensional being, passed your hand straight through that paper. how would the 2D being comprehend that? they'd see your hand moving and morphing as a cross section. it would start with four islands suddenly popping into existence one by one as your fingers entered the plane, they growing until they all converge into one shape that contorts and morphs through your hand, thumb, and then wrist. it would be completely baffling. then imagine how much chaos you could cause by waving your hand around freely. your hand and its machinations would make no sense to a 2d being because you're only seeing a cross-section of it at a time. it would be so mind-bogglingly complex that it would defy reason. three-dimensional beings like us just wouldnt make sense to that world. and to us, the entire 2D world just exists as a small piece of ours, something we exist Beyond, can step away from.

science fiction and horror writers place us in the position of that 2D being witnessing the hand. imagine if something could do that to our 3D space. what if our world is just one plane of a large one that we can't comprehend? what if some form of higher-dimensional life passed through? it would be amorphous, shifting, incomprehensible. this is where a lot of cosmic horror ideas come from!

but here's where this becomes semantic. because heres what i assume happened: when early sci fi described a "creature from the 24th dimension" or whatever, what it meant was "something that exists in a more spatially dense/complex state." something that recontextualizes our world as just a small part of an exponentially more complex universe. however, this is really fucking complicated to explain and understand, so when someone who isn't aware of this theory hears "[thing] from [the nth dimension]," they interpret it as "[alien] from [place]." Thus, the word "dimension" got recontextualized in pop science fiction as "an alternate universe that pumps out particularly weird aliens," which was eventually watered down to basically just a synonym for alternate universe. anyway, this is why pop scifi often drives me insane with its word choices and why im begging you all to start just using "alternate universe" when you say "alternate dimension."

#i like soft sci fi even im not a soft sci fi hater i promise. but this is a pet peeve of mine. #emmaposting