#implied towards the end

[nightmare-foundation]

Thinking abt Michael when he was a kid vs how he is now, and what has (or hasn't) changed since then tbh

Like. I imagine Michael has always been pretty gangly and tall as hell. Its the Marfans, yknow? But as a teenager, he had just a bit more muscle. He was never muscular—he's just not built like that—but he HAS always been deceptively strong. Like, STUPID strong. Even after healing from the scooping (because, let's be real, he's not unscathed), he's pretty scary thanks to the combination of his height and strength. Dude came out of puberty 6 foot freaking 6.

Something that, surprisingly, hasn't changed a ton is his attitude. He was definitely way more energetic and meaner as a teenager prior to the Bite, and afterwards he closed off massively. But he's always been pretty grumpy and sarcastic with a dry and pretty morbid sense of humor (which very much got worse after some of the more traumatizing events in his life). And especially after the Bite, he was very snippy and extremely closed off, pushing everyone away (with the exception of one Sammy Emily- but he didn't stay for long, once his mother came to get him).

These days, Michael is... a bit calmer, even if he's still grumpy. He definitely still struggles with his anger—anger management never worked out—but he's less likely to physically lash out unless you give him a real good reason to. He's still a huge loner, but its moreso out of an actual liking to stay alone than self punishment. He's kinda just known as the weird guy on the block, and then the grumpy old man that the kids love visiting on Halloween (Michael goes all out, its his favorite holiday), and when he moves back to Hurricane, he's that Afton guy whose dad was probably a serial killer and accidentally killed his little brother. And then he's also Mr. Afton (eugh, he hates that), the grumpy old guy who runs the nearby Freddy's and has a shady background and is also probably some kind of cryptid (some people swear they saw him die when they were a kid, like full on rotting corpse die, and then get back up. No one believes it, obviously, but Michael jokes about it).

Michael, as a kid, definitely didn't have as many scars as he does now. He had a few from rough housing, or from little accidents when he was really small, but nothing big.

That is, until William had the genius idea to use a springlock suit to scare Michael as a punishment for talking back too many times, confident the springlocks wouldn't actually go off. Unfortunately, Michael barely survived it, and the springlock suits were officially retired afterwards. (He freaks the fuck out on night 4 in Sister Location because of this. He never wanted to be in a springlock suit again, let alone in the very suit that nearly killed him. He let's himself have a panic attack when he gets home)

After he heals from the scooping and Ennard wearing him like a meatsuit, he has even more scars. Tears in his skin from the wires, the massive gouge that runs from his throat to his lower stomach, and scars on the sides of his face from when Ennard ripped itself out of him and tore his jaw open.

A combination of these events left Michael disabled (as you might imagine). He typically requires a crutch to get around, and on bad (or busy) days, he'll use a wheelchair. Plus he has body and leg braces. He also deals with POTS and pretty frequent dislocations. Essentially, he's kind of falling apart. He does pretty regular physical therapy to keep himself from getting worse.

One perk of the scooping is that he's chock fucking full of Remnant. It helped heal him (accelerated his natural healing abilities, plus did its own healing), so these days he's much faster at recovering and healing, and it... slowed down his aging. By FFPS, he appears like he's in his late 30s, early 40s, even though he's actually in his mid to late 50s. He just claims its good genes. Michael is a little annoyed his dad was kind of right about Remnant, even if it didn't like, give him immortality or anything, just slowed down his aging.

Something that hasn't changed at all is that Michael wants kids. Ever since he was a teenager, he really wanted his own. Unfortunately, a combination of factors lead to him never having his own. Despite that, he adores kids, and he's fantastic with them. (In a perfect world, he would adopt Vanessa and Gregory, and be with Sammy, who also has Cassie.)

A big thing that's changed is how much Michael cares about resembling his father. For a long time, he hated that he looked identical to his father, and shared quite a few of the same mannerisms. But after 30 years, Michael... really struggles to care. He's long since accepted who he looks like. He knows he's nothing like William in the ways that actually matter. (At least, during and prior to FFPS. Afterwards... its complicated.)

Just. Shakes Michael. He's so interesting

[chiarrara]

One of the most important things to practice in analyzing or even appreciating media is placing that media in the appropriate historical context.

For example, it is incredibly short-sighted to criticize Revolutionary Girl Utena for being formulaic and reusing animation sequences based on preferences and standards from the 2020s, but it's also incredibly short-sighted to only rebut that the repetitiveness is thematic when it was animated in 1997 and directed by a guy who worked on Sailor Moon.

[2-faded-memory-2]

i may be 3 days into my pathologic run but by god i can still draw fanart

[dreamingofthewild]

I feel like people often misunderstand why Gale chooses to stay behind after you side with the goblins. And to an extent, why he also stands by a romanced character in their evil ending.

Gale choosing to stay doesn’t imply that he is easily corruptible, secretly evil, or weak-willed. Given the limited time he has to find a secluded spot to avoid collateral damage from the orb when ceremorphosis hits, he doesn't really have much of a choice but to think about survival.

Gale has been living with a death sentence due to the orb, one he has been trying to mitigate, so he has had a long time to think about his mortality and he doesn't want to die—especially not while he still hasn't been forgiven by Mystra. His decision to stay with the party, even under morally dubious circumstances, underscores his pragmatic approach to survival rather than an inherent inclination towards evil.

Gale is undeniably drawn to powerful individuals. However, beneath this attraction lies his tendency to see the good in people and rationalise things.

Gale’s capacity for love is profound and intense. His love isn't just affection; it's worship. His romantic devotion is incredibly passionate yet self-destructive. It places Gale in a position where he might find himself in an unequal power dynamic again without him realising it.

His tendency for romantic idealism can prevent him from recognizing toxic patterns. Ultimately, Gale’s decision to stay with such powerful and potentially evil figures is not about compromising his morals but rather about being blinded by love, not wanting to give it up easily and a deep understanding of the complexities of human nature.

In the events of the game he still doesn't fully recognise that his relationship with Mystra is problematic. It stands that he might not realise that he is getting himself into a relationship with another unequal power dynamic.

It might also be that he doesn't want to abandon his loved one, just like Mystra abandoned him. This doesn’t mean that he is going to compromise his own morals, however. He chooses to support and stand by the person he loves, as long as they stand by him. He will challenge them, but he will act with the empathy and consideration that Mystra never afforded him. Once again, his own experience and desire for agency are most likely guiding his choices.

His devotion and hope are beautiful yet tragic, making him a deeply romantic character prone to repeating past mistakes in his quest for love and acceptance.

He does have a darker side which is attracted to knowledge and power. But it's easy to forgot that his intentions are never immoral or malicious.

When it comes to love, knowledge, and power, Gale has a significant blind spot (moral blindness maybe?). Ultimately, he just wants to love, live, and be accepted for who he is, rather than what he can do for others. His desire for happiness and to see his loved ones happy often drives his decisions. As well as a confidence in his own abilities and ability to handle situations.

So, yes, Gale might stay with his romanced partner even in an evil ending. But this doesn't mean he is evil himself. It simply reflects his humanity and the depths of his devotion. Strong emotional bonds can lead someone to remain involved with a deeply flawed and morally ambiguous partner.

It will be a toxic romance, but Gale's willingness to stay with a morally ambiguous love interest reflects not in his morality but in his approach to love. If he'd had a normal relationship and didn't have the orb then his reactions might have been different.

[cent-scratchnsniff]

just shy

[faithfulpuppy]

Look I know I'm a sucker for a happy ending, more so than most people. But the amount of angst between Wuxian and Wangji at the end of the show honestly feels forced to me. Like oh it's a drama we can't just have a happy ending they have to suffer just a little more! Which just... after their attached at the hip behaviour and the look Wangji gives Wuxian over Yuan in the forest... doesn't make sense to me.

[designernishiki]

it’s kinda funny to me how that dumb scene in kiwami 1 of majima getting shot and left for dead in the harbor was basically just added as a half-assed way to explain majima not being around for a bit of the plot, but they accidentally(?) just made it seem like start of a chain reaction where majima ended up feeling slighted and heartbroken after being abandoned like that and then lashed out about it via smashing a big truck into the building kiryu was in. and yeah that isn’t inherently a romantic thing as-is but then they go and add the part where majima grabs a hostess and performatively hits on her as in-kiryu’s-face as possible, she says she’s already in love with someone, and majima lets her go immediately, no questions asked, making a big fucking point of it just to say see THAT kiryu? I appreciate when people are HONEST about their FEELINGS. people who won’t just BACKSTAB someone who CARES about them to save themselves. is that so crazy kiryu?? huh??? anyway make it up to me get down here and fight me right fucking now

[cucosbiggestfan]

gave up on goretober but heres all the artness of the days before (under this cut since theres gore (obv))

blehhjhrhhreh

[cienie-isengardu]

Tomas & Liu Kang

I’m trying to put things into right perspective about Smoke, Liu Kang’s approach to Tomas and how pushed into background he was during story mode so bear with me while I’m connecting dots.

Also, to be clear, I’m not here to morally judge the characters, just to talk about the dissonance between Smoke vs Liu Kang intro dialogues and the story mode.

For one, the pre-fight dialogues imply that Tomas lost his family due to Liu Kang (Keeper of Time)’s choice: 

Smoke: "Did you intend for me to be orphaned?" Liu Kang: "Some threads must be cut to weave time’s fabric." 

and

Smoke: "I'm not sure I can forgive you." Liu Kang: "Being Keeper of Time meant making many hard choices."

When Tomas was orphaned, Kuai Liang & Bi-Han’s father adopted him and made one of Lin Kuei. If the accusation is true, then we can assume Liu Kang wanted Tomas to join Lin Kuei, as he did in the past timeline(s). So, in theory, Smoke for whatever reason was important enough for the Keeper of Time to get involved and steer events to get the wanted result. 

Which raises a question, why did Liu Kang not bother to recruit Tomas into Lin Kuei the same way he recruited Kung Lao, Raiden, Johnny Cage or Kenshi, by like, actually talking to him and taking for training? Or even why not just ask the befriended Grandmaster to take the boy (and Tomas' family) under his wings, which I think the man would do without further question.

Instead, Smoke was orphaned, taken in by Lin Kuei, adopted as son of Grandmaster and trained in magic to equalize his chances in the fight (in contrast, Bi-Han’s ice powers seems to be a natural part of him, related to specific bloodline).

Now, if Tomas was so important, if not in the greater scheme of things, then just for Liu Kang (and Kuai Liang), isn’t it weird, he is so sidelined and omitted by Fire Lord in the story mode?

Again, not judging characters, solely pointing out this choice of storyline, as this is especially visible during collecting the champions for the tournament arc.

In Chapter One, when the test was over and Liu Kang came to Kung Lao and Raiden to explain things, he specifically called only Bi-Han (the current Grandmaster) and Kuai Liang (Bi-Han’s blood-brother)

while Tomas was totally omitted and stayed behind with the rest unnamed Lin Kuei warriors.

Which, visually speaking, is weird, as just before that scene we could see Smoke walking alongside his adoptive brothers (with Bi-Han leading the group, Tomas and Kuai Liang walking a bit behind their leader, but before the unnamed warriors);

In the next chapter, again, only Bi-Han and Kuai Liang assisted Fire Lord in his quest to recruit Johnny Cage and Kenshi. Again, both Lin Kuei were addressed by their birth names, instead of codenames

while there is no information why Tomas was left behind. He likely was entrusted with escorting Kung Lao and Raiden to Shaolin Monks, yet the lack of proper mention emphasizes the pushing into the background.

We didn't learn officially Smoke's status as adopted brother of Kuai Liang and Bi-Han until Sub-Zero's chapter (#8). Unless I miss something, the first person on screen to actually address Smoke by his birth name was surprisingly Bi-Han.

Which makes even weirder the lack of including of Tomas from Liu Kang, as the Fire Lord and Smoke stayed allies through the story mode and intro dialogues (with some resentment on Tomas' side for death of his family) while the relationship between Bi-Han and Tomas was much more complicated to begin with.

We could make an argument that Liu Kang didn't want to antagonize Bi-Han by including adopted Tomas too much, however:

A) Bi-Han has never denied Tomas right to consider himself one of Grandmaster's sons - seen especially in Sub-Zero's speech pattern, as Sub-Zero always says just "Father", the same as Tomas and Kuai Liang, never putting emphasis on "my" as a reminder Smoke is adopted. The real conflict is not about whether Tomas is his and Kuai Liang's brother or not, but about him being a true Lin Kuei. What is also worth to keep in mind, any tension between brothers happened only in privacy (here and during the mission), never around Liu Kang.

(A similar thing can be noticed in intro dialogues. In Smoke vs Sub-Zero, Bi-Han specifically says "Because your blood is not Lin Kuei" however in Liu Kang vs Sub-Zero, when Fire Lord claims brothers (plural version!) miss him, Bi-Han doesn't correct his opponent about Tomas not being one. He instead says "Then they shouldn't have disobeyed my commands.")

B) Liu Kang did not show Bi-Han any special respect, especially not the kind of respect and friendship offered to Sindel and her husband, Jerrod. And yes, Fire Lord mentioned Bi-Han before Kuai Liang, and addressed him during the meeting before the mission (while the Sub-Zero's younger brothers - subordinates - stood together in silence)

but that basically it? Bi-Han didn't seem to be favored in any special way, I don't think he even was addressed as Grandmaster by Fire Lord at any moment in story mode.

Which is why I personally don't see why Liu Kang would omit Tomas solely to not hurt Bi-Han's ego or to not antagonize the man further - especially since Bi-Han himself didn't push the matter in any specific - openly - way nor didn't deny Tomas the right to consider himself one of Grandmaster's sons in the first place.

Frankly, as we don't see how Lin Kuei were informed about the upcoming meeting, we should ask, did Liu Kang call Bi-Han and specifically Smoke and Scorpion for the mission, or was that choice made solely by Sub-Zero? Because Lin Kuei for sure must have much more experienced warriors that Tomas (and Kuai Liang for that matter) but also sending on dangerous mission the Grandmaster AND the second* in line of succession seems impractical from the perspective of clan' inner safety.

*second and third, if Tomas was allowed at all to be the heir. Considering how neither Smoke nor Scorpion even for a moment considered that option and how Sektor & Cyrax would choose Bi-Han's corruption of the clan before accepting Kuai Liang as a new leader, the inner clan politics may not be so simple.

During the Lin Kuei mission (Sub-Zero's Band of Brothers Chapter) and during Bi-Han's betrayal (Scorpion's Civil War Chapter), the three brothers didn't address each other by codenames and as much as the situation allowed, freely interacted with each other.

However once Bi-Han is removed from the story mode, Smoke is even more pushed into the background. When asked, he will answer and make some (one?) observation however he barely interacted with other characters, mainly sticking to his brother. The most important exception is the scene when the heroes were wondering what to do after the big revelation and Tomas on his own talked about Lin Kuei and Bi-Han.

The story mode at that time was focused on other characters (like Mileena & Shang Tsung) so understandably, Lin Kuei brothers were put aside however even then Scorpion played a vital part, as it was Kuai Liang making the plan of attack, when Liu Kang wasn't around, while Tomas for most part was just there.

Again, no moral judging of characters just a mere observation how Tomas interacted the most freely with his brothers while was omitted by Liu Kang - and like, never(?) addressed by him in story mode, either by name or codename, even if the intro dialogues strongly imply Liu Kang was the one pushing Tomas into Lin Kuei in the first place.

Which makes an interesting contrast to Bi-Han & Smoke’s relationship but also shows how without intro dialogues, the relationship between Tomas and Liu Kang seems… non existing? I mean, even at the end of story mode, Liu Kang mentions Bi-Han

and his brother Kuai Liang building a new clan,

yet there is literally no mention of Tomas and his participation in the creation of Shirai Ryu and training its members (something confirmed in Scorpion and Smoke's endings).

Which only add to the weird feeling of alienating Tomas in story mode, not by Bi-Han but Liu Kang of all possible people?

[cosmicaces]

After their heart-to-heart, Rody patches up the hole in Izuku's overalls.

i did write that missing scene! based on this post i made

[guiltycorp]

Replayed Undertale and had a thought, perhaps the human-monster conflict was exacerbated by monsters underestimating their own magic and hurting humans by accident? I'm sure fandom discussed this before sometime, and I know everyone talks about Frisk's self-defense and whether their decision to fight would be morally wrong, but like yeah, a lot of the non-boss monsters talk as if they never meant to harm the human at all. Even among boss-level monsters, let's say Papyrus... An early spike in difficulty in neutral/pacifist routes, super easy to die to, and yet the way he acts in No Mercy route leads me to think he wasn't fighting with the intent to kill at all. In fact aside from Undyne, Sans in No Mercy and Asgore, nobody is that serious about killing the protagonist. Plenty of other enemies claim that they plan to do that but then are easily distracted or swayed, acting like it was never that serious.. ...And yet the game clearly assumes that you'd die at least a couple of times. Of course, the human is also a child so we can assume it's much easier to hurt them than an adult, but I'm just saying, I could easily imagine monsters unintentionally hurting humans before the war and playing it down due to their whimsical and light-hearted nature, provoking even more anger... That could be an interesting layer to the story where we only see the situation from the monsters' perspective. Obviously most likely the game is just Not That Serious about these things in general, it's all pretty much silly fun, but idk yeah!

[xxlady-lunaxx]

what if, after the war, nezuko struggled to eat? it was hard to let herself be drawn into the temptation of hunger, because she’d spent years not eating at all, and she’d grown to resist hunger. so it felt wrong to eat, even now when she knew she wasn’t in the risk of attacking anyone.

kinda going hand in hand with this

[ilistentogirlinred]

this is an honest question do you think any of the big bsd ships have a chance at being like 100% explicitly canon? like victuuri canon not riza hawkeye and mustang canon.

by the big bsd ships i mean like soukoku and shin soukoku and ranpoe and fyolai

[rykno-j]

Phonecall (j/jk)

Summary: Like the title suggests, G/ojo makes a call for help. From who? N/anami. OR G/ojo calling N/anami to bring shit over for his cold

Ship: n/anag/o? it's up to interpretation

Notes: Tried to write a snz > plot fic for once. N/anami calls G/ojo "G/ojo-s/an" in the anime/manga so I'll probably retain that. I'm kinda proud of this one, ahh- (like the angst parts only) Oh right there's some angsty parts but it's pretty mild.. I think.. like there's more fluffy & snz parts..

Actually wrote this whole thing in 1 sitting. Imagine that.

2.7k words.

-----------------

"..Hh-hH'!! hAH'ZZDcHh!! hA'DzcHH!!"

Fuck. Those were the roughest he's had for today.

Gojo stares burry at his ceiling. The fan in the middle has 3 blades. If Gojo didn't know better, he'd say there were 5 instead.

His head hurt, everything hurt. He was sure he was sweating, but everything felt so cold.

..Must be a side effect from the fever, then.

Gojo sighed. It's been awhile since.. since-

"..hiH'tcHH!! haH'zZdchH!!"

-Since he had fallen sick. The last time.. the last time he had fallen sick..

It was only bearable because someone had been there.

Of course.

Gojo turns over to his table, the action taking up most of his energy. With what little he had left, Gojo reaches clumsily for his phone. It almost slips out of his trembling fingers as he flips it open.

The brightness from the screen stung his eyes, causing him to turn to the side to muffle a fit of photic sneezes into the back of his palm.

At least.. at least those didn't ruin this throat as much as-

"..heH'EshH'iww!! ..snff-!"

-As those did.

All the sweating he was doing now was probably due to his fever breaking, but Gojo wasn't so sure.

His brain loved to overheat, and while he would gladly heal any damage done to it with his reversed cursed technique, he was pretty sure this damned cold did not count as an injury.

How unfortunate.

He ate the last of his fever medicine 5 hours ago.

How unfortunate.

Although he was never one to back down from a challenge, even Gojo knew he would never make it further than the front door, if he could even manage to stumble out of his room.

"..hih'tchh!! hAH'DzcHh!! ..hH'!! ..haah.. ..snff-!! hh.."

Great. It's stuck. His body must straight up hate him.

In all honesty, Gojo figures that he deserves it. Who was it again? That said his body would give in if he didn't get enough sleep?

Right.. it was Nanami..

Nanami..

Nanamin!

Squinting at his phone screen, Gojo selects the 'contacts' option on his phone. He slowly scrolls down to the 'N' section, eyes gazing over a few painful contact names that he had yet to delete.

Even after all this time, he still couldn't just let go.

His finger hovers over the call button of Nanami's contact. Would he pick up? It's his off day after all. He knows how much Nanami treasures those.

Small breathers from the hectic world of Jujutsu. In fact, 'hectic' was putting it lightly.

Well, it's not like he was ringing Nanami up for anything stupid, like he normally does. Though, with that being said, this would count as something utterly stupid.

Nevermind that.

-----

Stepping out of the bakery, Nanami feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Stopping in his tracks, he pulls it out, scowling at the name that appeared.

What did that annoyance (affectionate) want this time?

He lets a few more rings pass before picking it up, expecting to hear Gojo's obnoxious voice seep through the phone, no doubt to ask him out on another infuriating shopping trip.

Instead, he was met with silence.

Sensing that something was wrong, Nanami made his way to a more secluded area. Was there trouble?

"Gojo-san? Are you there?"

Nanami listens to the other side of the line carefully. But all he hears is soft, even breathing.

"..Gojo-san."

The breathing slowly turns into the sound of ruffling cloth, before a small string of inaudible mumbles could be heard.

"Nanamiin..?"

Nanami felt a pulse in his head. Seriously. Did he just wake up or something?

"..You called me?"

"I did..? Oh.. right I.. I dihH-..G'xxt!! ..did, didn't I? ..ahh, wait.. let me remembHh'!! ..h'NgxXt!! hh-G'nt!! ..aggnh, Nanamin I'm s' srry, haah-"

Instead of replying, Nanami's eyebrows furrowed. That voice was definitely Gojo's, but just what was he blabbing on about?

And those sudden, breathy sounds, punctuated by.. a weird, heavy noise. What were those?

"Are you okay?"

"Mm, no. Not really. Actually.. Nanaminn, can you come over?"

"No."

"..P-G'nXt!! ..Please?"

"I'm not falling for your tricks again."

"N-No tricks.. Nanamiin, pleease.."

Nanami sighs, wondering why he even decided to go back as a teacher in the first place. Why didn't he just delete Gojo's contact all those years ago?

"Fine."

"Yaay, Nanamin!!"

Nanami sighs again (he does this a lot when he's dealing with Gojo), finger reaching over to end the call when-

"Naanaminn, can you also bring some fever medicine overr? I.. ran out."

Fever medicine?

He opens his mouth to ask about that, but was only met with the monotonous beep of an ended line.

-----

The phone slips out of his fingers, dropping onto the floor with a thud that thankfully sounded like the item didn't crack into pieces.

All he had to do now was wait.. huh.

Gojo felt his eyelids slide shut. He tried to force them open to no avail. Seriously.. when was the last time he felt this bad?

..It was probably way back then, when he had gotten stabbed through his neck down to his knees, left bleeding out on the ground.

His eyes slowly slid shut, plunging him into darkness.

Darkness..

...

..Satoru-

..Satoru-!

Gojo suddenly jolts awake, the sudden movement sending him curled into himself with a fit of coughing, the scene that woke him up from his nightmare still dancing behind his eyelids.

..10 years.. or was it 11? 12? How long has it been since that day? How long has it been since he was last shook awake from a similar nightmare, tears streaming down his eyes, unstoppable?

Seriously.. this fever might just prove to be more of a nuisance than he originally gave credit to.

Lost in his thoughts, Gojo barely managed to register the sound of his front door opening. Even in his tired state, his body unconsciously prepared to fight, a thin layer of Infinity forming around himself.

"Gojo-san?"

With a weary smile, Gojo dropped his defenses. He recognised that voice anywhere.

"You left your front door unlocked." Nanami sounded pissed off. No matter, the most important part was that he came. He came..

"Ahh.. did I?"

"I'm serious. What if someone had broken in?"

Gojo felt himself relax as the shadow of Nanami's form stretched pass his doorway. "Nobody would do such a thing.. I'm sure. To non.. s-sorcerers, I'm a nobody. And n-nobody else knows I live hhH'!! ..here. Except you."

"That's not an excuse."

"Lighten upp, Nanamiin, I'm fiiine. Anywayy, I'm so glad you camee- I was convinced you would've ignored me for goood."

"..."

Based on the scene in front of his eyes, Nanami could easily conclude that Gojo was, indeed, not fine. Not in the slightest.

But even he knew it was futile to argue with the other, even in the.. state he was currently in.

"..Hh-G'nX'cthh!! ..hiH'gnXshh'!!"

"Bless you." Nanami sighed. So those sounds over the phone were sneezes, then.

Gojo removed the fingers pinching his nose, waving them dismissively.

"I'm fhH'!! ..fine, don't worhH'!! ..worr'hH-!! ..hiH'gx-ShHe'w!!"

Nanami found himself wincing at the effort it seemed to take Gojo to keep those quiet.

Seriously, of all the people he knew, including those he used to know, Gojo was never one to stifle.. unlike-

"Na-na-min! Did you bring what I asked for?"

"..Mm. Fever medicine, right?"

"Ahh- thank youu!! How much do I owe y-you?"

"Consider this a gift."

"How kind!"

Nanami stares, unbelieving, frozen by the doorway. Despite his distance away from the bed, he could clearly see how badly Gojo was faring. The disheveled hair, reddish hue surrounding his cheeks and nose, the fact he was lying down instead of bouncing around the room.

Why? Why was he always trying so hard to seem fine? Even after all this time, why?

Finally making his way inside, Nanami drops the plastic bag into Gojo's open palm.

"..Oh..You bought the solid kind."

"Huh?"

Gojo slowly removes the box, shaking it in the air. "..Solid.. pills."

"Yes." Was the fever messing with Gojo's brain? What was he asking?

Nanami watches as a pout forms on the other's face. It would have been quite comical, if not given the current circumstances.

"Nanamiin, I can't swallow pills that are this big, remember? Liquid.. do you have liquid ones?"

Ah.. right. Nanami remembers having this conversation with someone before, about how Gojo couldn't take solid medicine to save his life. He remembers the conversation, from ages ago. The conversation with.. with-

"I'll get water for you." Nanami turns to leave, shaking the image of that Someone out of his mind.

"Ah- Nanamin! Wait!"

Nanami found himself freezing at the sudden desperation in Gojo's voice. The tone of a scared child. When was the last time he heard that sound come from the other..?

"What is it?" His own tone softened, a subconscious reaction.

"..Don't go, please."

Once again, Nanami finds himself speechless. A few seconds pass, before Gojo cleared his throat, eyes looking everywhere except where the other was standing. Embarrassment?

"..Sorry.. I- that- that came out by itself, haha-"

Nanami sighs. Through all the years they had known each other, Gojo had always been an easy read due to his expressiveness. Although.. there were some people could read him better than others.

Nanami was one of these people. Possibly one of the few that were left, at that. It was to be expected, especially since the two of them were all each other had years ago.

Turning back to face the bed, Nanami shrugs off his coat, gently pressing it into the mattress next to Gojo's head.

"Mm.?" Gojo looked up at him, confused.

"..Look after this for me, I'll be right back."

"Ah, of course."

Turning to leave the room once again, Nanami was met with no sounds of displeasure this time.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Gojo's fingers wrap tightly around his coat, watched as Gojo brought the article into his chest, face buried into its collar.

Nanami felt his eyes soften at the sight. Even after all these years, Gojo never really grew up.

He was still the senior that greeted Nanami with that stupid smile on the first day of school, the friend who had comforted him when he was crying his eyes out, the friend who needed the comfort when it was his turn to cry his eyes out, and now the colleague who loved his students more than words could describe.

All of that put into the shivering body on the lonely bed.

"..heh'shHEiw!! hiH'gSsH'iww!! hH'!! ..snff- hH'dZzchH!!"

The corridor was quiet, Nanami could hear every little sound coming from the bedroom. Gojo must've thought he was in the kitchen by now, judging by how he was no longer stifling.

..How considerate.

"hiH'dzZch'iww!! ..H'tchh! aH'ngsHE'iw!!"

Nanami decides that he would grab a box of tissues from the living room. He doubts that Gojo even had any in his room.

Honestly.. his level of self care was off the charts at times. There was only so much his technique could heal. Cuts, bruises, fractures. Not colds, not fevers, not broken hearts.

That's what Nanami was there for.

It was decided then. He would stay over until Gojo was back on his feet. Nodding to himself, Nanami reaches for a cup, filling it with water.

He should probably leave for a grocery run after Gojo goes to sleep. He wonders if the other had even eaten a bite after this had started.

Probably not.

"..h'gShHE'iww!! hAH'dZzcHH!! snff- g'tchh! 'tchh! 'zztch! h'gtch!!"

As Nanami approached the room, the fits of sneezes progressively got clearer and clearer. The last couple sounded itchy, he noted.

Like Gojo's photic fits.

He remembers the first time he witnessed one, remembers the tears that gathered at the edge of Gojo's eyes under the sun.

He remembers that period of time years ago where Gojo would always misplace his sunglasses.

Before that, it never used to be a problem, since a Someone would always be there to make sure he didn't lose them, to make sure they were always covering his sensitive eyes.

After that Someone was erased from their lives, Nanami took over. He was the one that gave Gojo the idea of wearing a blindfold instead.

..Perhaps 'erased' was a little too strong of an expression. 'Slipped' would have been a better word.

He slipped from both their lives, both of them did.

"Gojo-san.?"

Nanami peeks into the room, the sight in front of him tugging at his heart.

Gojo had curled even his legs up to his chest, the long coat tangled between his limbs. There was a small, damp patch on the collar of the clothing right below where Gojo's nose was.

Nanami found himself not caring too much about that fact. He was just glad. Glad that he was able to provide the other with some comfort.

People often forgot that Gojo was human too. Despite how he was extremely immature and smiling all the time, Nanami didn't know of another who went through as much pain as he did.

Sometimes, it was almost like Gojo himself too, forgot that he had limits.

"Ahh- Nanamin.. welcome back!"

You don't have to force yourself to sound so cheery all the time.

"I'm sorry I made such a fuss just now, you did nothing wrong."

You don't have to apologise for anything.

"I owe you one."

No. Nanami presses the cup gently to Gojo's lips. You don't owe me anything. It was my pleasure.

When Gojo struggled to get the pills down, Nanami stayed by his side, rubbing comforting circles into his back.

He didn't know what else to do, what else to say.

Nanami stares into Gojo's dull blue eyes, the colour muted due to his fever. He remembers the last time Gojo's eyes wore a similar shade. He remembers not knowing what to do then as well, except to stay by Gojo's side.

"I'm really glad you came, Nanamin."

Maybe this was all Gojo needed after all, someone to support him. Maybe this was enough.

"Thank youu-"

Nanami hummed in reply, setting the cup down as Gojo dissolved into another small coughing fit.

"You're welcome."

"Juice would have been better t-thouhH'!! ..hih'G'Nxt!! 'NgxXt!! ..snff-"

Instead of biting back with a quick "the only thing you have in your kitchen is coffee and sugar cubes", Nanami pulled a tissue out of the box, pressing it to Gojo's nose softly.

"N-anamin?! I.. I can..hH'!! ..do that myself-"

"I'll let go if you promise to stop stifling."

"Hah? What do you mhH'!! hIH'KsShh'iw!! ..snff- heH'DzZtchH!! ..fuck. I'm so sorry-"

Nanami gently wiped the edge of Gojo's nose before pulling the tissue away, replacing it with a fresh one.

"W-Wait.. NahH'!! ..Nanamin-! Be carfhH-!"

Turning as far away from Nanami as he could in their current position, Gojo clasps a shaky hand over the one on his nose, his breath hitching desperately.

"..N'GsHH'iww!! hIH'tCHH-w!! hH'!! ..haaH.. nngh-..heK'sHh!! t'chh!! dzZtchH!!"

Pulling away once more, Nanami pulled a few more tissues from the box, this time handing them straight to Gojo.

"..Always thinking ahead, hm? How'd you know to get these from outside?"

"Your sneezes always get rather messy." Nanami wants to say, but he remains silent.

"..I'm sorry you had to see that, anyway."

"Don't worry about it."

"Mmh.. I'm a little tired."

"You should get some rest then."

"Yeah.. join me?"

Not expecting that response, Nanami stares blankly at Gojo for several seconds, before his eyes travel down to his wrists, where Gojo had already latched his fingers around.

Not like he had the option to deny the request..

..That's not it, Nanami thinks as he shifts to lift the covers. Even if he had the option to say No, he still would have picked Yes.

Finally setting down next to the other, Gojo shifts his grip from Nanami's wrists to around his waist, pressing his damp nose into the crook of Nanami's neck, lips on his collarbone.

"Na-na-min."

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For coming, and for staying."

"..."

"Will you still be here when I wake up?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"..Promise?"

"Yes."

The grocery shopping could wait.

--end--

----------------

finishing notes: idk if the whole "gojo used to be with geto, and he still misses him" implication spoiled the nanago vibe of this fic

if it did, ahjhaesd IM SO SORRY

but i really, really REALLY, couldn't stop thinking about gojo and nanami using each other to heal from whatever tragedy befell upon them in the hidden inventory/premature death arc, and how they healed each other until eventually getting together.

that's all i have for now, thanks for reading!

Now I get to back to my week of examinations! Totally didn't spend hours writing this instead of studying for Economics! <3 <3

--5 days to Shibuya--

[fluffypotatey]

(I’m. It 0 hope anon but I kinda see it)

Like shadowpeach have this, tragedy vibe, maybe it’s bcs how they ended up the first time, but they could end up separated again for the greater good or something

I’m pretty sure s6 is the season where they talk or confess something, their relationship is gonna progress for sure

they do!!!! and i think it's just because their relationship in lmk is the aftermath of their tragedy. but now they are still in proximity with each other. it invites the question:

what would you do if your tragic end was given a 2nd chance at growth beyond it?

what would you do if the universe tried to snatch it away again?

[krys-in-the-playhouse]

There are times that I wanna make timelines for my OCs and while it is doable for most of them, I remember how big Miri's is in Obsidian and my hand stays