#universalize art which can never be universalized

[sukunahs]

sweet tooth | ryomen sukuna

episode 2: under your spell

pairing: ryomen sukuna x fem!reader (university au)

summary: sukuna has a notorious reputation on campus of being terrifying, but it's hard to be too scared of the guy when he shows up to your family’s failing bakery every day to buy strawberry shortbread.

when your life feels like its falling apart you discover just how sweet he can be.

word count: 6.7k

content: 18+ mdni, eventual smut, university au, FLUFF, angst, humor, slow burn, idiots in love, miscommunication, parental illness/death, grief, money issues, stress and overwork, introverted reader, both sukuna and reader are so confused

a/n: when I think about sukuna in this fic I always imagine this art of him its just so good omg

series masterlist | ao3 | previous chapter (ch1) | next chapter (ch3) (coming soon)

Not a single word had entered Sukuna’s head since he’d sat down for his morning lecture. His head resting on his arms as he stared down at the professor, pretending to listen to the man drone on about some equation, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. 

All he could think of was you. How cute you’d looked when you’d smiled up at him, how lovely the sound of your voice was, how amusingly skittish you’d been around him when he’d first made an appearance at your bakery. 

And most of all, how gentle your touch had been as you’d dabbed blood off his face. 

The entire interaction was playing over and over again in his head, and he couldn’t understand just what was wrong with him. 

He wasn’t the sort of guy who thought about girls like this. He’d never had a girlfriend, had never been interested before. Sure, he’d had a lot of sex, but there was never any attachment involved, it just wasn’t something he’d ever wanted. 

And yet here you were, nestling yourself into his mind like some sort of pretty parasite. 

It had been nice to officially meet you. He’d become accustomed to admiring you from afar, hearing your father’s stories and noticing you across campus. But never trying to approach you because a. He was technically a stranger to you, and b. Why should he care about the daughter of one of his dad’s friends anyway? 

It would’ve been weird if he ever tried talking to you before yesterday. In his mind you’d been this fictional character - someone that he heard about but never actually crossed paths with. But now that entire view had been shaken, and the strangest part was that he was insanely grateful that was the case. 

Because he’d had a weirdly good time with you yesterday and for some reason he wanted more. Which was not his usual experience with women. 

It was a little pathetic how regularly he’d been checking his phone throughout the lecture. He’d gotten you to exchange contact details with him before dropping you home yesterday and had been praying you’d shoot him a text. He’d brought up your number a few times already this morning, composing a text and then deleting it. 

You’d agreed to meet him at the bakery later anyway, he didn’t want to come across as too needy - that wasn’t the type of person he was. Besides, from the way your father talked about you he was pretty sure that you had a phenomenally low social battery and he didn’t want to put you off. 

Not that he could understand for a second why he was even worried about that. What did it matter if you liked him or not? There was no shortage of girls throwing themselves at him everyday, and you were nothing like the vapid women that he’d usually go for when he wanted to have sex. But perhaps that was just it - you were something different to usual, and different was interesting. 

He practically jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated, almost dropping it under the desk as he fumbled the object in his hand, ecstatic at the idea that you’d decided to text him. Unfortunately it was just Satoru dropping a message into their groupchat, which was decidedly much less interesting. 

[blue-eyed freak]: meeting on the roof at lunch? 

Sukuna rolled his eyes and dropped his phone back onto the desk. Someone else could give that idiot his answer - they always met on the roof for lunch, he hardly needed to ask everyday, you’d think he was dropped on his head as a baby or something. 

He wasn’t going to be fooled by the next few vibrations of his phone, knowing that it was probably just Suguru or Choso replying in the chat, and he certainly didn’t care about that. He was far too preoccupied wondering what you were doing right now. 

You’d said that you had morning lectures, for all he knew you could be just a few rooms over - wasn’t that an enticing thought? 

There was a part of him that wondered if he’d be able to engineer a way to bump into you after his class was over, but he decided that would be far too pathetic. It was already lame how much he was thinking about you, he’d have officially lost his mind if he started switching his habits for you one day after your first meeting. 

It didn't matter, he’d get to see you later anyway. 

By the time lunch rolled around he was all but ready to skip his afternoon classes and head over to the bakery early. But he wasn’t exactly sure when your lectures finished, and he didn’t want to show up early only to find your father or aunt attending the counter instead of you. That would suck. 

So that left him making his way up to the roof to hang out with his friends for a bit before his afternoon lectures. It had been their dedicated meeting spot for three years now, ever since they’d first forged this friendship back when they’d all joined the basketball team in first year. The roof was technically off-limits, which meant that they were generally the only people up here, making it the perfect place for them to smoke on campus grounds. 

Usually their lunches were relatively peaceful, the five of them talking about stupid shit like which girls they’d hooked up with lately, which game they were going to play together later when hanging out on discord, whether they could eat one-hundred salmon nigiri in an hour - whatever came to mind. 

But today, for some reason, he emerged through the fire escape to a full blown argument between Satoru and Suguru. Choso was standing between them trying to mediate, while Toji stared at them from his seat on the wall, observing nonchalantly. Tending to fall on Toji’s side of the scale when it came to nonchalance, Sukuna didn’t bother trying to intervene, taking a seat next to the raven-haired man and lighting up a cigarette. 

“What’s their deal?” He asked. 

Toji shrugged. “They’re having a domestic.” 

Satoru had completely lost his composure, waving his hands around as he spoke, while Suguru seemed to be batting back any of his retorts with ease and grace. From what he could discern from the insults being hurled back and forth, the root of this argument was something to do with a girl that they’d both slept with and had now descended into the two of them airing complaints about how much the other sucked as a housemate. 

He wasn’t really sure why they were so bothered about sharing the same girl - it wasn’t like this would be the first time, and they spent so much time joined at the hip that they might as well just date each other. But it didn’t really seem like they were ready to confront that yet, so instead they had to make their issues everyone else’s problem. 

“Come on.” Choso reasoned. “We have a game tomorrow. Can’t you guys just kiss and make-up?” 

“Fuck you!” Satoru called out. 

Choso’s statement was clearly not the most appropriate wording for the situation, unsurprising considering that Choso was far from the most socially adept member of their group. That award no doubt went to Suguru, whose skills were in full action as he effectively made out Satoru to be the villain in their little argument, even though Sukuna doubted that was actually the case.

Satoru was an annoyance, but he definitely wasn’t a bad guy. 

Deciding that he didn’t want to get burnt further, Choso let out a sigh and left them to it, leaning against the chain link fence just down from where Sukuna and Toji were sitting. 

“Cigarette, Cho?” Sukuna asked, holding one out to him which he took gratefully. 

“What happened to your face?” Choso asked, gesturing to the purpling bruise on Sukuna’s cheek. He’d almost forgotten it was there, the events of last night seeming somewhat distant. 

“Got in a fight.” 

“With who?” Toji asked. His tone was a little offended, as if he was sad he’d been left out. 

“Just some drunk guys, no big deal.” 

Before any more questions could be asked on the matter, a fresh round of insults came flying loudly from the lovers spat happening mere feet away. 

“Can you guys try talking to them?” Choso asked after taking a long drag of his cigarette, evidently exasperated by the situation. Toji and Sukuna glanced at each other before both offering a noncommittal shrug. Choso glared at them. 

“Look, they’ll go home later and play some stupid video game while smoking weed and they’ll have forgotten all about this by the morning.” Toji reasoned. He had a point, whenever the two fools had argued before it was never particularly long-lived. 

Sukuna had already lost interest, drowning out the conversations around him as he stared down at the campus. Most of the time he wasn’t interested in what was going on in the space below, and wasn't really interested today. Or at least, not until his eyes moved across to the windows of the building opposite him and he saw you. 

There was no mistaking that it was you, with your cute little outfit and pretty smile. Although, he had to admit that he wasn’t pleased that the smile was currently being directed at someone else. 

You were standing by the window, engaged in what looked like a lively conversation with a tall blonde man. You were giggling and he was smiling at you fondly, and Sukuna found that he didn’t like the odd feeling that settled in his chest at the sight. 

His mind strayed to the night before, considering the feeling of your smaller hands pressing against his damaged cheek. 

Your hands against his skin had felt nice. 

“Oh, it's Nanami!” Satoru was standing beside him now, Suguru standing across on the other side of the roof, the argument clearly on a temporary pause while Suguru took a smoke break. Satoru had followed Sukuna’s gaze over to the other building, watching the interaction go down. 

Nanami. Sukuna should’ve recognised him - he’d been Satoru’s roommate in their first year of university so he’d seen the blonde around fairly often. But the two of them had never grown particularly close, Nanami had only really developed a friendship with Satoru and Suguru - he was far too serious a person to fit in with their whole group. 

But his serious nature clearly wasn’t stopping you from thinking he was hilarious, with the way you seemed to be giggling right now. Sukuna was confident that he could make you laugh harder than Nanami could, he wasn’t sure that man even knew what a real joke was. You were probably just being polite - he hoped. 

“We should invite Nanami up here at some point.” Suguru called from across the roof, a shit-eating grin on his face. “He’d tell you how unreasonable you're being.”  

Impressively Satoru didn’t rise to the bait. 

“He’s too cool for us now. Too busy with his little army of nerds like her.” Satoru shot back.

Sukuna glared at Satoru for that comment, but said nothing. It wasn’t like he was going to stand up for someone he hardly knew - if he came out with the words: ‘I think she’s endearing’ he would no doubt become the laughing stock of their group chat for the foreseeable future. 

Hell, even he was embarrassed that his brain would come up with that.

Maybe if he got to know you a little better he’d tell Satoru to lay off on saying stuff like that, but right now it just wasn’t worth the battle. Or the humiliation. 

Besides, he didn’t really want to put you on the radar of any of his friends anyway. Toji and Satoru were notorious for trying to seduce any girl that was available to them, especially if someone else in the group had expressed an interest. He really didn’t want to catch either of them trying to entice you into their bed. 

Not that you seemed the kind of girl who would be interested anyway. 

“Do you think she’s his girlfriend?” Satoru asked as he watched for a bit longer. “I mean she is cute, he was always into the preppy types.” 

Sukuna sure hoped not. Based on his recent conversations with your dad he was pretty sure that you weren’t seeing anyone - in fact, your father had basically called you a shut-in, claiming that over the last year or so you’d become basically allergic to socialising, choosing to spend most of your time alone. 

But he supposed you might just be in the talking phases with Nanami, not quite dating yet but on the way towards it. Perhaps that’s why you were so reluctant to let him buy you a cake - because you were already halfway taken and wanted to let him down easy. 

It wasn’t like he could complain. He’d only just officially met you, he was just testing the waters - he had no right to you as things currently stood, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted something like that. Although, the way his heart was pounding at the thought of you right now, he really wasn’t sure. 

What was wrong with him? He needed to get a grip. 

“Who cares?” He mumbled to Satoru as he turned his gaze away from you, pretending to be far more interested in his lighter which he was flicking dexterously between his fingers. 

“What’re we playing later?” Toji asked, not at all interested in conversation about Nanami. Toji hadn’t gotten along with the blonde at all, constantly referring to him as ‘the wet blanket’ back in their first year of university, claiming that he sucked the fun out of everything. 

Sukuna wouldn’t particularly disagree. He and Toji did always tend to be birds of a feather when it came to opinions. 

“I wanna play Peak.” Satoru answered quickly. That sounded good to Sukuna, he liked that silly little climbing game, especially when he could let his friends fall to their deaths. Not that he was sure he’d be able to play tonight anyway. 

“That’s only four players.” Choso argued.

“That’s not a problem right now. I don’t want him to play.” Satoru said childishly, jabbing a finger in Suguru’s general direction. Suguru seemed unbothered, scrolling through instagram reels as he took a long drag from his cigarette. 

“Don’t be childish.” Choso scolded. “We could play Rematch instead? That way we can all play.” 

Satoru looked almost offended at the suggestion, clearly trying to seek out any opportunity to exclude Suguru. But none of them were stupid, by the time they hopped on discord together later, the two fools would’ve no doubt forgotten they’d even had an argument.

“I won’t be on until later in the evening, so you guys can play Peak without me.” Sukuna said, putting out his cigarette against the wall. 

“Got a date?” Toji asked. 

“Something like that.” He mumbled, not keen to divulge any details about you or the fact that this date was far sweeter than anything that his buddies would generally expect from him. 

“So, I guess the time that you’ll be able to come online will be dependent on how long it takes you to get her out of your bed?” Toji snickered, wise to Sukuna’s usual ways of pulling a girl - doing the bare minimum of buying her a drink at the bar, bringing her home for a quick fuck, and then kicking her out as soon as he’d had enough without even an exchanged phone number. 

That definitely wasn’t his plan for this evening. It was never going to be his plan for you. 

Besides, he severely doubted that you were the type of girl who’d ever be willing to do such a thing. Your dad had said you’d had a boyfriend briefly in your first year, but there was a part of Sukuna that figured you were probably still a virgin. You came across about as innocent as a person could be. 

“Sure.” Sukuna waved him off. Toji didn’t need to know anything. 

—

It was just starting to get dark by the time Sukuna showed up at the bakery, with closing time approaching rapidly. 

But that was just what he wanted - he figured that the cafe would be completely dead at this time like it was yesterday, and that meant that he could have you all to himself. He’d get to have a normal conversation with you, one where you weren’t scared out of your mind thanks to him or some creepy salarymen in an alley. 

As he peered through the glass door he saw you standing behind the counter, leaning forward over the surface as your eyes skimmed a book that you seemed thoroughly engrossed in. You looked cute, your face twisted into a deep look of concentration as you scribbled something down in a notebook. 

For someone like Sukuna, the idea of studying while at work was completely unheard of. He barely studied with all the free time that he had now, only ever really making trips to the library when he had coursework to submit. When it came to exams he’d generally review his lecture notes the night before and hope it was enough. 

Generally it was. 

It was cute the way that you practically jumped out of your skin as he pushed through the door, the bell alerting you to his presence. You’d clearly been so taken with whatever you were reading that you’d completely stopped paying attention to your surroundings. 

Not the best idea considering yesterday’s debacle, but he wasn’t about to scold you for it.

“Evening, angel.” He said with amusement at the sight of your startled expression, which quickly shifted to frustration at the realisation that he was taking joy in your fear. 

“Do you always have to be so scary?” You huffed, snapping your book closed. 

He chuckled. “All I did was open the door, maybe you need to be less skittish.” 

You said nothing to that, silence settling awkwardly over the cafe. He got the sense that you weren’t particularly sure how to act with him yet, clearly suspicious of his intentions even if he had come to your rescue yesterday.

Luckily he wasn’t so easily deterred.

“What do you want to eat?” He asked, and you balked at him. 

“Huh? I’m the one who works here?” You looked visibly confused, it should really be you asking him that question. 

He rolled his eyes. “I said yesterday that I’d buy you a cake, so pick one.” 

“I can literally have these for free in like twenty minutes when we close?”

“Are you always this difficult?” Sukuna asked, feeling a little exasperated. He was foolish to assume that your quiet, social-avoidant nature would make things easy. “I’m just trying to do something nice.” 

That seemed to work, because your whole face went red. It was adorable. 

“Fine…” Your eyes scanned the cabinet for a moment before pointing to a slice of Hokkaido cheesecake. Sukuna noted that you’d opted to choose the cheapest option, but he said nothing - perhaps that just happened to be your favourite. 

“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He rummaged in his hoodie for his wallet before placing some yen down on the counter. “I’ll have the strawberry shortcake.” 

“Is that all you eat?” You asked, as you busied yourself plating up the two items. 

“It's objectively the best choice.” 

You handed him his plate before placing your own down on the counter, mumbling a gentle thank you to him as you stared down at the cheesecake, clearly planning on staying at the counter to eat it rather than sitting with him. 

He certainly wasn’t about to let that happen. 

“Gonna leave me all alone over there?” Sukuna asked, injecting a bit of hurt into his tone because you seemed like the kind of person who would easily fold if you felt guilty. 

“I’m still working, you know?” 

Sukuna made a show of looking around the empty cafe, highlighting the fact that there were currently no customers and it was highly unlikely that any more were about to show up between now and closing time.

“Looks like it's just me, angel. I’m sure you can run back to the counter if anyone comes in.” He could see the conflict on your face, it was becoming evident to him that you were a stickler for rules, the kind of girl who was always doing what she was told. His complete opposite, he supposed. 

With a heavy sigh you gave in to him, following him over to the table by the window and taking a seat across from him, eyes focussed on your cheesecake as you picked at it with your fork, clearly a little nervous to look up at him. 

“Are you doing okay, after yesterday?” He asked, referring to the situation in the alleyway. If he was a woman that moment probably would’ve injected him with fear for months afterwards - at the very least his trust in men would be shattered. 

“All okay. Honestly I’ve got way too much going on right now to really dwell on it.” You said with a nervous laugh.

He wondered if you had too much going on to dwell on him like he’d thought about you that morning. He didn’t like the idea that he hadn’t even crossed your mind since last night - that you’d completely forgotten his existence until he walked through the door just minutes ago. 

“Yeah?” He asked, inviting you to continue. 

“Yeah. Between working here and trying to keep up with all my uni work, I just feel like I’m spread thin.” You said with a sigh, taking a small forkful of cake, still not really looking at him which was annoying because he wanted you to give him your full attention like you were doing for Nanami earlier. 

“Mmmm, I assumed that from the reading while on the job.” He said with a wave of his hand, gesturing towards the closed book left on the counter. “What are you reading anyway?” 

“House of Leaves. To be honest it isn’t really my thing, I’m just reading it because I have to write a paper on it for class.”

“That’s the one with the weird formatting, right? The horror book?” You looked up at him with surprise, which made him feel very smug. It was clear that you didn’t expect him to be all that well read, he’d noticed you staring at him strangely when he’d pulled out a book yesterday. 

It was funny that you’d assume that considering that he was actually an avid reader, and had been ever since he was a kid. He’d consumed basically every well-known fantasy and sci-fi out there throughout his teenage years, although lately his genre of interest tended to be horror.

“Yeah. It's interesting - pretty terrifying actually. Feels like something that could maybe be real? As if you’re the new Navidson and you’re discovering his account of all the weird things that happened to him.” 

“Navidson?” 

“The main character.” 

He liked that you were holding his gaze now, he got the sense that you were emboldened when talking about things that you were interested in. Your eyes were sparkling a little as you discussed the book, clearly happy to be able to talk about it with someone that would listen. 

“I saw someone on reddit say they started hallucinating after reading it.” He said, grinning as your expression filled with alarm, clearly not familiar with that particular post.

“What!? Things are hard enough as it is, if the size of my house starts changing and I start hallucinating doorways it might all be over for me. All for a uni assignment too…” You said, the exasperated lilt to your voice making him chuckle. 

God you were cute. 

“People are dramatic. That guy was probably just schizophrenic.” He said, brushing it aside in an attempt to put your mind at ease. “But the book sounds pretty cool, maybe I should give it a read.” 

“You’re reading The Ship of Theseus, right?” You asked, and he decided that he very much liked how much interest you were showing in him now that he’d steered the conversations to books. “How are you finding it?”

“It’s pretty good. I like the mystery aspect of it, although it’s hard to keep track of all the potential authors they refer to throughout the book.” 

“Hmm, I ended up writing a list of them all to make sure I could follow.” You said thoughtfully. “But I think it's a fair complaint.”

“You wrote a list? How diligent.” 

You blushed a little at his compliment, staring down at your cake once more, prodding at it with your fork. 

“I was writing a paper on it, to be fair - it’s not like I just do that for fun.” You defended yourself, sounding thoroughly unconvincing. 

It was amusing to watch you try to lie, because your dad had spent months outlining to Sukuna just how much of a nerd you really were. He’d never framed it in a derogatory way like how Satoru had said it earlier, but he’d certainly said it. 

“It's fine if you do it for fun.” He said with a chuckle. “I’m not gonna think you’re lame.” 

On the contrary, he found it strangely endearing. 

You watched him cautiously as he took a bite of his strawberry shortcake, chewing on your lower lip as you seemed to carefully consider something. 

“I find that hard to believe.” You said finally, unwilling to make eye-contact. 

“How so?” 

“Well, I guess your reputation doesn’t support that.” You said honestly, scooping up another piece of cake and stuffing it into your mouth so that you didn’t have to speak any longer. 

So you had asked someone about him. Wasn’t that interesting.

He probably should’ve been more concerned that you’d essentially just called him a bad person, but he was far too busy feeling smug about the fact that you’d clearly been thinking about him. 

“What’s my reputation, angel?” He asked as he leant forward, elbows planted on the table as he fixed you with a smug grin. 

You shrank back a little in your chair and that was of great entertainment to him. You were bold enough to slap a man in an alleyway, but nervous in the face of having an awkward conversation. Wasn’t that cute?

 “Nanami said that you and your basketball buddies only care about partying, getting high and having one night stands with girls. He said that none of you were the kind of people that I should be associating myself with if I know what’s good for me.” 

Ah Nanami. He would say something like that.

“He also said that you and Toji are the absolute worst and that if I gave you the time of day you’d just end up sleeping with me and then pretending that I didn’t exist.” You continued. 

Sukuna supposed that wasn’t an unfair assessment, he’d done plenty of that over the last few years. But he wasn’t going to do that to you, breaking down the barriers of someone so sweet and innocent would be an insane amount of effort for a one night stand, especially when he had so many women lining up to fuck him anyway. 

No, he was here because something about you made him feel weird, and it was a weird feeling that he liked. Nanami could go fuck himself. 

At least Nanami’s warning confirmed to Sukuna that you weren’t dating the blonde. Although it did suggest that Nanami might be interested in you and didn’t want someone else to get in the way - least of all someone like him. 

“And do you believe him?” Sukuna asked, figuring he’d at least get a temperature check on your reaction before he made any effort to defend himself. 

“Honestly, I don’t know.” You confessed, playing with the hem of your sweater as you looked up at him shyly. “I don’t think he’d lie to me, but nothing that you’ve done really supports his words. I mean, you come here and have small talk with an old man, you saved me from those creeps with no strings attached. So I guess I’m confused.” 

That was fair enough, he was confused too. 

He’d started coming to the bakery originally because his father had made him. Sukuna’s family lived in Kyoto now, making the move away from Tokyo a few years back. So when Sukuna made the decision to attend university here his dad had implored him to come to this bakery, saying that he’d be doing Wasuke’s old friend a favor. 

Generally Sukuna had no interest in listening to his dad’s orders, but he loved eating sweet things, so it wasn’t like coming here was ever really a chore. Besides, your dad was always so nice to him that Sukuna found himself enjoying the conversations, enjoying hearing his stories about you. 

He wasn’t sure why, but he always felt like a different person when he was here. A little less rough around the edges, less of an act to uphold with others. It was something of a sanctuary to him, a place where he’d leave his tough exterior at the door. 

But those lines were a little confused when it came to you. It was a big part of why he’d never approached you on campus in the past. You had all the softness of this place, but he wasn’t soft when he was out there. That just wasn’t who he was. 

And yet, the way that he’d spent all morning yearning for you to text him said different. 

He was really confused. Maybe he just needed to get laid - have sex with some faceless girl to stop him daydreaming about what it might be like to tenderly run his fingers over your skin. He wasn’t the type of guy who thought about stuff like that. 

That didn’t stop him from instinctively moving to defend himself to you though, not wanting you to think badly of him for whatever reason. Even though he usually couldn’t care less what anyone thought of him. 

“We party a lot, and we get high, and yeah I guess I’ve had a lot of one night stands, but that’s not what I’m trying to get from you.” He said. “Trust me, I’m only trying to pull girls at parties, I’m not about to try and use you for that when I come to this bakery constantly, how stupid do you think I am?” 

“Oh.” There was relief in your tone, but a little frown on your face, as if you were almost disappointed that he didn’t want to have a one night stand with you, which was crazy because you clearly weren’t that type of girl. Weird. 

“I get it if you don’t want to hang out with me around campus, I know that you’ve got this smart girl reputation and you don’t want me to drag you down-”

“I don’t care about that!” You said quickly, cutting him off as you peered up at him. 

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less about your reputation. You’ve been nice to me…” You were practically tomato red now, and he felt his heart racing. Not a feeling that he was particularly accustomed to and he wasn’t sure that he liked it. 

“Nanami is really overprotective of me.” You continued. “We’ve known each other since we were little so he’s always looking out for me but sometimes it gets a little overbearing.”

Sukuna let out a soft chuckle. “To be fair, Nanami isn’t my biggest fan for good reason. Back when he and Satoru lived together in first year we used to be over there all the time. We partied constantly, l mean, even during exam season we’d be getting drunk and being loud in the common room until 3am. It's no wonder he hates us.”

“I’d hate you for that.” You commented, and he shot you a smirk. 

“Good thing we met under different conditions then, huh?”

“Indeed.” 

The two of you fell into silence for a few moments and Sukuna found himself observing you. You’d finished the cake now, pushing about the crumbs on the plate. You weren’t much of a conversation starter, that was clearly something he needed to take charge of. But that didn’t particularly bother him. 

He needed to engineer some way to get to know you better, to spend a bit more time with you. The thought felt a little pathetic to him, because why did he even care so much? But you came across as such a mystery to him, your reserved nature leaving him wanting more, the tidbits of conversation that you were giving him not enough to sate him. 

Right now your walls were very much still up - not surprising considering your conversation with Nanami, but he desperately wanted to lower them. 

He wanted to know you better, wanted to have access to the person that your dad so affectionately talked about. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t enamoured by the many nice stories he’d heard about you. He wanted to experience them first hand. 

“Have you ever done the life-cycles of languages elective class?” Sukuna asked finally, and the way that your eyes lit up made it clear that he’d got you hook, line, and sinker. 

“Yeah, I did that one last year, it was so good.” 

“Mmmm, I’m really struggling with it.” He said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. He wasn’t struggling with it, he was plenty intelligent but you didn’t need to know that right now. Not if it meant you’d offer to help him. 

You frowned. He really liked the way you scrunched up your brow when you did so, it was adorable. “Why are you even taking that course? That’s from the linguistics programme, I thought you did engineering?” 

“It's my extra, you know how they always encourage you to take something outside of your subject programme for enrichment? That was my choice.” You looked rather taken aback by that, but you quickly shook it off. 

“Huh…” 

“Anyway, I could really use some help with it if you’ve got some time?” 

Was he a manipulative person? Possibly. Did he really care right now? No. Not if it meant that the two of you could sit huddled together in the library or even better, at the desk in his room, while you talked him through the evolution of language. 

Once again he found himself wondering why the thought of that made him so giddy, but he hadn’t gotten this far in life by dwelling on his emotions and he wasn’t about to start now. He did what he wanted, and what he wanted right now was to spend more time with you. 

“I’m pretty busy.” You said hesitantly. “I guess I could help you out at lunch tomorrow though? I could meet you in the humanities library?” 

Sukuna grinned. “Sounds good to me. As long as we’re done by 2pm it's fine - I’ve gotta get ready for my game. Maybe I could help you out with whatever you picked for your elective?” That was probably a fair trade, maybe you’d picked something more science-y for your enrichment course. 

“Oh! Do you know anything about Russian Folklore?” 

Perhaps not. 

“No…I’ll guess I’ll have to find another way to pay you back.” He promised in a low tone, a soft blush spreading across your cheeks at the implication. Maybe you really were upset that he wasn’t inviting you for a one night stand. 

“Sweetheart, are you-” your dad called out as he entered through the door at the back of the shop, eyebrows lifting in surprise at the sight of you sitting at the table with Sukuna, a deep blush still visible on your face. “Oh! Sorry, I’m interrupting!” He said, quickly turning to head back up the stairs and leave you in peace. 

You were on your feet in seconds, the chair screeching as you stood up. “N-no, dad it's fine, we were just talking!” You explained quickly. “Everything okay?” 

Sukuna was concerned about your dad. He’d been coming here regularly for three years now, and in that time the man had changed drastically. He must’ve lost 20kg in the last six months, and it wasn’t like he’d been all that big to begin with. Lately he couldn’t even stand up without leaning on something with support. 

Besides, when Sukuna had asked in the past why you didn’t work here, your father had been adamant that he didn’t want you working at the bakery while you were in university. Yet here you were - juggling both responsibilities. 

There was no doubt in Sukuna’s mind that there was something gravely wrong with the old man. Even conversation seemed taxing for him now, and the anxious way that you addressed him did nothing to ease Sukuna’s soul. 

But it wasn’t his business to ask. If you or your dad wanted to talk about it with him you could, but he wasn’t going to ask. 

“All good. You two look like you’re getting along well.” Your dad said as he leant his weight against the counter, a glint of mischief in his eyes. 

“Dad!” Now your face was even redder. 

“What? It’s true!” 

You rolled your eyes in exasperation as you moved behind the counter and started to clean up. Neither of you had really kept track of time while you were talking, and the clock now showed that it was just beyond closing time. 

“Don’t bother with that, sweetie. I’ll sort it out later.” Your dad said softly as he watched you hurry around. “Your aunt has some leftover casserole you can take home with you if you want? It's in some tupperware in the fridge upstairs.” 

“Oh, thanks!” You said, heading towards the door at the back before pausing and glancing at Sukuna, clearly unsure if he was planning on leaving before you’d be back down, wondering if you needed to say your goodbyes before you disappeared off upstairs. 

“I’ll wait for you.” He said. “Don’t want you walking to the station alone after what happened yesterday.” You shot him a grateful smile which had his stomach flipping, before you jogged up the stairs. 

“What happened yesterday?” Your dad asked, face filled with concern. 

You didn’t tell him? It wasn’t exactly something insignificant - you’d been in real danger. A little strange that you’d keep it to yourself. 

“Some drunk guys were harassing her. I scared them off though.” Sukuna said, providing the abridged version of events, not wanting to go into too much detail if it wasn’t something that you wanted shared. Maybe you were embarrassed, or perhaps you just didn’t want your father worrying about you when he was in such a fragile state. 

Your dad shook his head with frustration. “This area is really going downhill lately, I’m glad that you were there for her. It's good to know that you’re keeping an eye on her.” 

Sukuna smirked. “It's my pleasure.” 

“It made me happy to see the two of you talking - I’ve been worried about her lately, it seems like she’s making her best attempt at becoming a hermit.” Your dad said with a tired sigh. But his eyes were kind, filled with love and care for his daughter. 

Sukuna couldn’t fathom having a father like that. 

Sure Wasuke loved him, but he was also a total hardass while Sukuna was growing up - his care was definitely not unconditional, and Sukuna did everything he could to push the boundaries. 

You, on the other hand, seemed to have unconditional love but still acted like a goody two-shoes all the time. Interesting - you’d really think it should be the other way around. 

“I’ll try not to let her become a hermit. She’s endearing, you know?” 

Your father was positively beaming at that statement. “You know, I wouldn’t mind you being my son-in-law one day.” He said with a chuckle. Sukuna rolled his eyes dramatically but returned his smile. 

“We’ll see about that.” 

a/n: making the dad in this one SO nice to make up for to distant lands lol

thank you for reading! hope you enjoyed this chapter - reblogs and comments are appreciated, let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! <3

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© sukunahs

[blueiscoool]

3,400-Year-Old Grasshopper Artifact That May Have Been Stolen From King Tut’s Tomb Sells at Auction

While the artifact’s provenance is unclear, many experts think the archaeologist Howard Carter took the item for himself after excavating the pharaoh’s tomb in 1922.

After weeks of heated debate over its controversial provenance, an artifact that may have been taken illegally from the tomb of Egypt’s King Tutankhamun sold for roughly $450,000 at auction in London.

The Guennol Grasshopper, carved from ivory and wood and measuring just 3.5 inches long, was fashioned and painted an estimated 3,400 years ago, around the time of Tutankhamun’s reign.

“Its black and blue inlaid eyes lend it lifelikeness while its checkerboard-patterned upper wings pivot outward to reveal a small interior cavity presumably used to store kohl or perfume, both essential accoutrements in New Kingdom elite life,” according to a statement from Apollo Art Auctions, which handled the sale.

However, some experts think that the archaeologist Howard Carter, who found the pharaoh’s tomb in 1922, stole the artifact after making his discovery. Since the auction was announced, the item’s provenance has generated buzz among historians.

The records suggest that Maurice Nahman, an Egyptian art dealer, purchased the grasshopper from Carter. Nahman then sold the artifact to Joseph Brummer, a New York art dealer, in 1936. According to Brummer’s inventory card, now archived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the object was “supposed to come from the tomb of King Tutank-Hamen.”

In 1948, the grasshopper was purchased by Alastair Bradley Martin, heir to a Pittsburgh steel fortune, for nearly $10,000 (more than $100,000 today). Artifacts in Martin’s collection were called “Guennol” items, as “gwennol” is Welsh for “martin,” the bird, reports Apollo magazine, which has no ties to the auction house. In 2007, the Merrin Gallery acquired the artifact. At some point after that, the heirs of Sheikh Saud al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, bought the grasshopper for $1.2 million.

While in Martin’s collections, the grasshopper went on view at the Brooklyn Museum for various periods between 1948 and 2002, and it was displayed at the Met in 1969.

Meanwhile, rumors of Carter’s thefts began to swirl. After his death in 1939, artifacts linked to Tutankhamun were found among the archaeologist’s belongings. In recent years, unpublished letters and discoveries of lost treasures have provided more evidence for the looting.

In a statement to Apollo magazine, the auction house claims that the connection to Tutankhamun’s tomb “is a recent scholarly hypothesis and not an established fact,” adding: “There is no excavation photograph of this item in the tomb, [and] Carter never listed it in the inventory.”

Christian Loeben, an Egyptologist at the Museum August Kestner in Germany, tells the New York Times’ Alex Marshall he is “quite convinced” the grasshopper came from Tutankhamun’s tomb. Its style is from “exactly the period” of the pharaoh’s reign, and its well-kept condition suggests that it was safely stored in a sealed chamber, he says, adding that the vessel should be returned to Egypt.

But on July 27, the auction went ahead as planned.

“In line with U.K. law, any restitution claim would require proof of illicit origin, illegal export and timely action, none of which have been presented during its 80+ years of public history,” Apollo Art Auctions tells Artnet’s Jo Lawson-Tancred in an emailed statement. “We chose to offer the piece for sale because of its historical and cultural importance. It deserves to be appreciated, and we hope it will enter a public collection where it can be responsibly cared for and accessible to all.”

Erin Thompson, a scholar of art crimes at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, says the auction house’s smaller size is noteworthy. Larger auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s “wouldn’t touch an antiquity connected so closely to a known pilferer,” she tells the Times.

By Christian Thorsberg.

[syhli]

In which you notice your university’s it-boy has something darker brewing beneath his cheerful personality. | werewolf!caleb x art student!reader. college au. CW: brief depictions of gore. 1,024 words.

Caleb Xia was fucking annoying.

Not for any personal reasons—you’ve never interacted with him. You’ve never had a solid conversation with him, and you know for a fact that having a class with him was impossible considering your different areas of study. Why would an art student have any reason to talk to a guy knee-deep in engineering? There’s no common ground.

But seeing his face plastered on half of the student organization advertisements had become grating. Perhaps the personal gripe stemmed from his involvement with Delta Chi Ro. It was the campus’ biggest fraternity, and the most crowded table during Rush Week—which nearly made you late for your next class in between a thirty-minute schedule gap.

Ridiculous.

Caleb Xia was fucking annoying.

Until you’ve found him with blood and bits of flesh over his mouth. Strangely sharp claws from his large hands have ripped into the body of a Delta member, the fresh corpse frozen with an expression of shock. He’s been ripped in half unceremoniously. The scene is brutal, merciless; a vision of nothing but revolting hunger.

At least now, college was finally interesting.

You’re not looking away—and Caleb seems to be in his own state of shock knowing that. Violet eyes briefly glow, meeting your serene, observant gaze.

You clear your throat, breaking the silence first, “I’m not helping you clean this up.”

He scoffs, standing up and wiping his hands on his jeans. Horrible idea, you think to yourself, especially if he was going to find a way to cover this up. Despite the mangled parts, you’re able to make out the poor victim as a freshman. Probably a new recruit of Delta Chi.

Yikes.

“You’ve dug yourself a hole here, y’know,” you shrug. “A lot of base ground you have to cover, or whatever they call it.”

Finally, he speaks up, pensive: “Why aren’t you scared? Why aren’t you running away?”

“I think it’s better that I’m not. Don’t you think?”

You keep your hands in the front pocket of your hoodie, shivering as a light breeze comes through. It’s fifty degrees tonight, and it’s supposed to get colder. Damn the winter, really. But Caleb’s not at all disturbed by it. Your eyes narrow in observation, already dismissing the traits that have been circling around to figure out… what this is.

What he is. (Vampire is out of the question.)

You don’t outwardly celebrate too early the glee of knowing his deep dark secret. Someone as perfect as him always has shit going on. Everyone does, regardless of how big they can become. No one’s invincible; an argument you made in a theology class once, that even higher powers have their weakness.

“You don’t have to help me clean this up.” Caleb says, staring at his red-stained palms. He grimaces at the blood beginning to dry, sticking to the lower half of his face. He groans, evidently frustrated because it’s his mess.

But he couldn’t help himself. Not with a full moon nearby and he would lose all control then. He can’t afford that.

You whistle lightly, holding out your hand to observe your cuticles and nail beds. You lightly tap your foot against the grass, “There’s a couple ways to get yourself out of this.”

The one good thing about this campus’ dorms specifically was the apartment-style architecture. Meaning more privacy in ways that the common dorm interiors didn’t offer. At the very least, of course, you were still living with others despite having your own personal bedroom. It almost feels comically aligned, however, knowing that during this moment of crisis, neither of your roommates were home for the night.

You brought Caleb into your place for the sake of maintaining a low profile surrounding his… predicament. Out of the niceties of your heart, you didn’t hesitate to remind him that going home to a frat-infested dorm would do more damage than good.

Yet, you expressed concerns over the blood staining your bathroom, and in turn, he promised to get you the proper cleaning supplies if nothing washed away.

Here he was now, standing in the middle of your room, stripping down his crimson-stained clothes. Thankfully, they were simple pieces having no importance.

“Keep—your boxers on!” You quickly shout, shooting out your arm just as he pulls down his jeans, “I don’t need to see your dick.”

“It’d be rude of me to show it,” Caleb sighs, exasperated. “Unsolicited, and whatnot.”

He doesn’t pay attention much to the lighthearted atmosphere you’re trying to create. Maybe it’s the post-murder clarity. He killed a freshman: somebody who he was meant to mentor, somebody who looked up to him. You see it now, the sincerity in his eyes—the part of him that had the good heart and all that other bullshit.

You suddenly find yourself asking, “What does it feel like?”

With gloved hands, you take his clothes and stuff it into a garbage bag. There’s a lot packed into the question alone, that you feel doesn’t need to be spoken. But maybe it’s still too open-ended. What does fresh human meat taste like after you ripped someone apart? What does it feel like seeing the light go out in their eyes when you kill them?

Why’d it take your own question to realize just how absurd this really is?

Caleb sits on your lavender rug, the material both silky and plush. He perches his knees up, resting his forearms on them as he looks at the ground. For the first time tonight, you feel a pang of sympathy stir in your chest.

You set down the plastic bag, mirroring his position as you sit across from him on the rug.

“I meant,” you begin to clarify, clearing your throat. “Does it feel like you’re in control, when you do it? Do you… have any sort of consciousness, like—right now? Or is it, something else?”

“No. I’m… not in control.” He answers, his gaze flickering up towards you, “But… I can still… feel. Feel ‘it.’ Like I’m seeing what I’m doing, but I can’t stop it.”

“...I don’t understand what that means.”

“Me neither.”

Touche.

FROM THE VAULT OF SYHLI © 2025. REPOSTS, TRANSLATIONS, FEEDING TO A/I IS PROHIBITED.

[cadavwhorsz]

okay so I saw someone else do this and I wanted to throw my fuck ass opinions out there but here are my hcs for what piercings I think RE characters would get

JILL — easily, she'd have a tongue piercing. for exactly the reasons you'd think. in my mind she is a massive stone top lesbian so a tongue piercing is just a no brainer for her. I'd think she'd keep it from ages 19—23, then resident evil shenanigans happen and her piercing gets taken out, and I don't think she'd be bothered to put it back in during death island. although 47 year old stone top futch lesbian Jill Valentine with her tongue piercing back in and maybe a nose stud just feels right in my soul.

CLAIRE — nose stud, double helix piercings on one ear, I feel like she'd love a conch piercing but got too scared to actually get it. I could also see her getting a medusa or monroe lip piercing? similar to Jill, I think her peak ages of getting and keeping her piercings would be ages 18—26, but she does strike me as the person to have diyed her first piercing during a social studies class when she was like 14. just got bored and took a safety pin through her nostril. skipped school with a friend, bought a stud at the mall meant for ears, came home to her parents furious that she "did that to her beautiful face". cue doors slamming, screaming, and eventually making up with them but agreeing to no more piercings until she was 18. (it didn't last)(she got her helix pierced at 16)(didn't wear her hair up for a month)

ADA — Lobes. That's it. In her line of work she can't risk having anything coming out during a mission. But I like to think she tells people she's got piercings just to mess with them. Like she'll tell them she has a tongue piercing and when they get into it, she just laughs like "lmao bitch you thought". love her for that tho. but I do think she would have at least contemplated getting a navel piercing cus she thinks other women look hot as fuck with them (she's not wrong)(she's a little gay).

REBECCA — SEPTUM! There is no universe in which I don't think Rebecca is a non binary starbucks employee who got caught up in government work, that pixie cut does NOT LIE. she would use she/they/he/xer pronouns, have their septum pierced, double brow piercings, cheek piercings, and maybe a smiley for a period of time. but alas... this is resident evil :( but I do think she would've had a labret at some point before having to take it out for her job.

ASHLEY — oh this girl is scemo in my heart and soul I can just feel it with her so hard!!! she's ambitious with her piercing wants, but her fear of needles is low-key against her with this one chief. this girl would want every square inch of her ears pierced, she wants lobes, helix, industrials, orbitals, a conch piercing, a tragus piercing- but really she's only got her lobes pierced, and two helix's on one ear. she found out she doesn't have the ear for industrial piercings and rightfully crashed out (I'm projecting). she also wants pretty much her entire face pierced but can never work herself up for it, I love her sm <3

CHRIS — this man strikes me as a RAGING homosexual, like you cannot tell me this man does not host on his off days/vacations. he's got an army of bears, twinks, otters and dads ready to go to WAR on his behalf I just KNOW IT. that said: this man has nipple piercings absolutely. and that's it. nothing else. no lobes, no lip piercings, just straight into getting his nipples done. did it hurt? he couldn't tell you. he passed out. you could probably talk him into getting his foreskin pierced, but still, his pain tolerance is dog shit.

LEON — hot take but I don't think he'd get any piercings. I know! I know! we've all seen the art of Leon with snake bites, I know! but younger Leon's sense of self was wayyy too fragile like he was the pretty boy in his police training academy right through to his adulthood, if he even got his lobes pierced I swear to you he would have been actually hate crimed for being gay- (disaster bisexual but still). but yeah, he's definitely thought about getting snake bites before, and I could see him getting a vertical labret during a dip in activity (if ever that would happen) during infinite darkness just to satisfy his curiosity... he ended up taking it out after he tried to pick up a woman and she looked at his piercing funny :(

ALBERT — hear me out...... just..just head me out on this one...........I won't explain this... but.......sp...split tongue........ split tongue wesker.... no I will not elaborate, I just feel like it would fit. I feel it in my gut. there's really not much else I feel like I can say? he seems like a very practically minded character, so I can't see him even wanting to get his lobes pierced because they "serve no functional purpose". a split tongue is a major body mod yes, but it's also subtle and can go largely unnoticed in a professional setting.

LUIS — tongue piercing. whore. no explanation. (whore is affectionate btw).

[starryxcore]

just rewatched kpop demon hunters for the second time so im going to list which song would be each of the sevens favorite. and by the seven i mean all the heroes of olympus

starting off with perseus some will say this is mischarecterization but he would be a SUCKER for sodapop. like lets be so srs ur telling me the cis(?) white boy WOULDN'T listen to the most generic whitest kpop song ever. bro wld probably do that shoulder move every single hour of the day. he would also try to hit mystery's high note in the shower and fail

annabeth chase. hmmmm i feel like she would listwn to how its done while working on her architecture shit. i js feel like that song is js rlly motivational and productive and she would just vibe while making blueprints or whatever ESP DURING THAT LAST PART with the layered 'im gonna show you' + rumis high note like she would just ASCEND and become like superhuman

YES piper mclean would listen to golden 24/7. YES she would cry every single time. its just some specific lines that hit her really hard like 'i lived two lives' because up until she became a demigod, she was berated and bullied for being cherokee and her dad never really taught her anything besides taking her to oklahoma to hear grandpa toms stories. then for the first few books she has to juggle both her cherokee side and her new demigod side which she is just torn between but finally her arc is finished when she realizes that both of her identites can coexist and that she can use both of them to her advantage. also YES she would relate to mira on an exponential level

leo would SO love free. bro is the most hopelessly romantic hoe in the UNIVERSE u think he wouldnt daydream abt jason while listening to this song well think again. i mean the song is literally about taking down your walls for someone close to you in order to to feel free AND THATS LITERALLY EXACTLY WHAT LEO NEEDS and im way too passionate about this oh my god

jason would absolutely love your idol simply because of my headcanon that hes a gay that doesnt know hes gay. bro saw jinu pulling that IM THE ONLY ONE WHO'LL LOVE UR SINNSSS pose and INSTANTLY started drooling. like to others he would say that he loves the vocals but you just KNOW hes watching that mv on repeat. bro isnt wven listening to the song anymore hes just staring at these beautiful boys like his soul is the FIRST ONE THAT'S getting taken dawg 😭 i swear the saja boys r all js eye candy and jinu's the only one with depth

hazel would resonate with what it sounds like so perfectly. she would be screaming the lyrics at the top of her lungs every single time like YES!! cuz like she really did break into a million pieces and she can't go back 😔💔 and lowkey that whole verse just summarizes her entire blackout + jewel curse situation

yes yes frank is in love with takedown i feel like you all dont understand the massive bitch persona that he's is constantly suppressing LIKE yes he's a genuine sweetheart but did we read the same frank povs every time leo was in his vicinity he was just like. who is this fugly bitch. im gonna fucking murder him. if he even breathes near hazel im throwing him into the ocean. he would probably daydream of beating up leo while listening to this song and thats the only thing keeping him from actually doing it. yes he kins regina george yes he kins jade west yes he kins bucky from zombies yes hes trying so very hard to hide his bitch side but is not afraid to unleash it if someone pisses him off

OK NOW NICO ever since the new casting ive had a headcanon that nico is VERY into performative arts and he would just adore what it sounds like because that shit is a lyrical masterpiece. he would pretend to not like the movie because its not his style but little do they know hes on his 52nd rewatch and he makes his own choreo and dances to what it sounds like secretly in his cabin

will is also a whore for the saja boys so yes he is in love with jinu your idol idrk how to elaborate on this like he probably cried for day when jinu died and like was like in denial abt it and probably was jealous of rumi and probably thought he could fix him and like. yeah

reyna would also love free like lets bfr. evb probably thought her fav song would be like takedown or how its done because those are rlly badass songs and yk reynas a fucking badass but ppl forget shes ALSO a hopeless romantic and once she finds out its leos favorite song too they start fangirling over jumi/rujinu whatever its called and they also probably cried when jinu died bc no more rujinu :( but its ok because they got free

ok i hope these r accurate enough for u guys i might make a part 2 w side characters if i feel like it

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would happen if Misa in Death Note woke up in Bella Swan's body? I'm assuming she gets eaten but you never know...

You know, that's an interesting question.

Is Edward Misa's Type

You know, I don't know.

On the one hand, he's extremely beautiful, even for a vampire he's noted as particularly good looking. He also had the period where he ate rapists and murderers, Misa would be all down for that much the way she greatly admired Light for his murders due to her getting canonically stalked and nearly murdered as well as watching her parent's killer go free after the burglary gone wrong.

However... Edward regrets that period in his life and gave up on it. More, even when he did it, it was to assuage his thirst in a way he thought he could live with, it wasn't solely to get rid of rapists and murderers. There was an act of personal pleasure involved (something Edward realized himself and in time couldn't stomach anymore).

I'm not so sure Misa would be into that.

Further, while he's beautiful, he suffers from vampire-face, and while Bella's a freak who enjoys marble men most of us find it terrifying looking and wrong.

Edward is hot, but from a woman who we know has dealt with sexual assault/stalking I think that unease would set off her alarm bells in a way Light, who at the time Misa meets him is kind of sexless acting/clearly couldn't want to fuck her less, doesn't.

And, for all Light and Edward have similar personalities, or more similar personality features... they also don't. Light isn't a sensitive soul, at all. He doesn't dabble in the arts, period, he has no appreciation for poetics, and he's incredibly goal oriented and driven. Light has no time nor interest in writing you sonatas or pretending he gives a flying fuck about you (unless it further serves his goals).

Edward, on the other hand, is all about feelings, passion, showing his passion, the arts, grand poetic speeches--

Yes, people aren't always attracted to the exact same type of person, but I just feel in my heart that Edward would bore and annoy Misa.

For all Light was also young when he and Misa met, he had only just entered university and I believe was 18, maybe 19, Edawrd is... seventeen forever. Light's 17 was still very very 17, it was diffferent, and he'd also stopped doing things like thinking high school was his personal ennui and no one has ever been as bored and miserable as him by the time Misa met him.

Misa didn't get to see that Light.

Edward, on the other hand, is right in the middle of that phase.

And if Misa wanted the type of guy who would wax poetry about how amazing she is... she and Light never would have lasted as long as they did.

But on the other other hand, Edward is rich, mysterious, good looking, 'dark' by being a vampire, but also trying to live the best life he can, and has this beautiful put together happy family where Misa has been an orphan since she was a child, appeared to live a very isolated life before she happened upon Light (it's telling how close she and Rem are and how we never, ever, see her with friends throughout the series).

So... I really don't know.

But it also depends on the Misa. If Misa's met Light, then Edward is less than dogfood.

But that didn't answer your question at all. This has been a ramble for my own benefit.

Misa Wakes Up in Bella's Body

I think Misa would take it in stride, as she does many things throughout the series. Misa takes Rem's appearance and the explanation of what happened with her stalker with ease. She also is very unflappable when she meets Light for the first time and realizes that Kira is this young man who is not at all what she expected, and that L is apparently far more dangerous than she thought.

Then of course she loses her memories, regains them and immediately sets the Higuchi plan in motion, then is told she has to lose them again which she does, and then lives with so much amnesia her daily life is very very confusing.

And she gets through all of this shit without being in any way emotional about it.

So, Misa wakes up in a strange body that definitely isn't her, Tuesday.

I imagine she calmly tries to figure out who she is, where 'Misa' is if she's anywhere, and then tries to figure out what to do.

So... if this is Bella in the beginning of the book, either she doesn't go to Forks at all because she wants to stay where she is/genuinely doesn't remember promising to go to wherever... Forks is.

In which case, Misa lives.

Or, she's already in Forks, but I imagine she stays home from school a few days to try to figure out what's happened using ze internetz. With that, she finds out that Misa Amane doesn't exist, or at least doesn't have any internet publicity whatsoever despite being an up and coming pop singer. And also, she's in some girl named Bella Swan in America??? and hooooo boy, everyone speaks only English.

It's unclear how good Misa's English is. We see Light remark upon his own abilities, but Misa we see even less/it's unclear if she speaks much or any English at all. We do see her going through mafia member names, so she's clearly able to read the letters and remember them well enough to write them down herself/relay them to Light, as well as pronounce them properly, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's conversationally speaking with natives who don't know her own language.

In which case...

...

I was about to say Misa makes it, and she would, if that was it.

In a combination of Norwegian and Paranoid Bella, being in a foreign country/dimension where she doesn't trust cops at all and doesn't trust running to anyone, Misa fakes it til she makes it and pretends to be so into this weird vampire weirdo WHO SHE WILL KILL AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY.

"Wow, Edward, Misa totally understands every word you say, totally, that five minute long rant you went on there about heroin--Misa understood every word and every word was amazing".

However, the problem is Misa's gothic lolita fashion sense and love of dramatic makeup.

See, you know what Misa's not doing?

Misa's not dressing in ratty jeans, khaki skirts, wearing 0 makeup whatsoever, and doing nothing with her hair on that first day of school in her new body.

Misa has a style, she loves that style, and she doesn't care that Bella's father (who is so sweet, such a sweet guy) looks at her like he's had a heart attack.

Misa is going to show these American hicks what real fashion is.

It's time for the black frilly skirts, thick eyeliner and masqara, dark red lipstick, crucifix earrings, frilly button up blouses, giant ribbons around her waist, several inch high black combat boots, and more.

You know what isn't Edward's type?

Sorry Misa, if she had a few more days to realize she was in terrible danger, just a few more days, she could have made it.

Misa's done in for her clothes.

[shannonsketches]

YEE I think about it too!

My understanding of it (based on Toriyamaverse lore) is that it’s an initial scan for latent power levels — Saiyans know their power is expected to expand, but due to the requirement being ‘pushed to the brink of death’, I think it’s very rare that Saiyans survive to see that kind of surge in their power, so it’s not a normal expectation to grow dramatically. This seems especially true for Saiyans who start out at lower levels, and are expected to die sooner as a result.

It’s probably expected that higher ranking Saiyans are more likely to survive near-death experiences, but even then, to come across an enemy that would allow a high-ranking Saiyan to live if they have the opportunity to destroy that threat is totally unheard of prior to Goku — to the point that Vegeta holds onto the insult of being spared in battle (by a lower ranking Saiyan, no less) for, what, thirteen years?

And Saiyans — the sect that won the civil war at least — are not typically strategically minded. It’s a rare Saiyan warrior (Bardock, the Vegetas, Paragus) who think ahead and all around them — most of even the elites are very reactive and in-the-moment (as we see Nappa behave, and he’s a very high ranking warrior), which makes them incredibly dangerous in battle, but lacking in the art of War (which is part of what set King V apart as a leader, iirc? That might not be Toriyamaverse lore though, since we have Saiyan scientists and machinists and things established now too).

So most of them — if lower ranking warriors are even aware of their ability, or if it’s a secret the higher ranks safeguard for political reasons (since only Vegeta and Freeza seemed to be aware of this Saiyan feature, which could be taken to imply a few interesting things if you wanted it to) — probably aren’t thinking about it as something they can exploit (and again, most of them probably assume they will die if the damage is that bad, anyway).

Part of Vegeta’s shock of fighting Goku was also that Goku (and the other Earthlings) could mask his ki and surge his power at will with techniques like the kaioken, which is unheard of — not just in Saiyan culture, but throughout the Freeza Force! The reliability of scouters depends on a being having to physically transform before they could access that latent power, but between the turtle school, Kami and Popo, Korin, and North Kai — the Z Fighters were studying diving techniques previously unavailable to mortal beings.

Adding Senzu beans to that mix gives Goku — as a low ranking Saiyan — an insane cocktail of advantages that normal Saiyans would never dream about, much less actually have. I’m getting off topic, but my point is — if that was something all Saiyans knew about (which it might not have been!), between dissection in their own ranks and being generally feared and disliked by other races throughout the universe, recovering from a near-death experience was most likely not a situation they could rely on enough to exploit that ability for themselves the way Goku and Vegeta have the safety to do.

👆 This part!!

Vegeta’s got a great monologue during the TOP arc in the manga basically explaining that he’s never had any teachers or mentors and his training growing up was literal, actual war.

When he does get actual training with actual mentorship, he not only regularly closes any gap between himself and Goku in a matter of weeks, but also learns techniques Goku has been unable to learn, and picks up a technique that took Goku half a year to learn within a few hours of dedicated focus. When a character is impressed with his general acuity and dismisses (with good intention) his success as inborn talent, the one mentoring him refers to him as a prodigy born of hard work. That is important!! I have a separate essay about it I need to post someday but anyway—

Vegeta, for all of his power and status, has absolutely not had the resources Goku and the others had. I have another ramble somewhere about how Vegeta is only rewarded by the narrative once he steps out of his isolation and starts accepting help, because Toriyama’s stories in DB are never about “look at how big and strong this guy is isn’t he cool.” It’s why I say Goku’s actual superpower is the power of friendship (positive) 🙌

[byrdstrolls]

every so often someone is like george lucas made star wars great by copying the heros journey, no, george lucas made star wars great by copying dune

[remcadll]

Gen obsessed with how.. *dead* your Jason's color pallete is. Like, that's corpse pale right there. Not a spec of blood left flowing in there (also father Todd's skin being full of color in comparison is a nice touch)

THANK YOU I love making him look a bit ghoulish. Guy who's not supposed to be alive but yes he is. no he isn't <3

[bunnieswithknives]

Spent the last billion hours inventing fictional foods and brands for my OCs to enjoy

[lorebird]

In which Ford struggles so badly to relate to other people that he wonders if he’s really human at all. The more isolated he becomes, the harder it is to reconcile with his own humanity.

[kaontic]

🎶 IIIIII learned quickly~

That perseverance stood between a “cat” and its new best friend—me! 🎶

[clumsypuppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[mugwot]

i can do what i want and i want a joyous davepeta pfp happy pride and dont forget to leave the cookies out for your local queers and faggots

a transparent version to put your own flags in, go crazy go stupid, please dont erase my name

[dye-it-rouge-et-noir]

Chaos Theory - The Butterfly Effect

[ID in alt text]

[asgardian--angels]

things I wish I could relive for the first time again:

that magical window where you finish a new piece of media, having watched/read it all by yourself with no fandom contact whatsoever, and you are just so happy about it, and full of interesting theories and takeaways, and just in love with it as a gorgeous piece of art.

because I swear to god as soon as you join the fandom for anything, you're bombarded with how you're supposed to view characters and their arcs, how you're supposed to morally and ethically judge the plot and the ways it apparently failed to present the right message, and if you don't you'll either be shunned for not sharing the popular headcanons or you'll be harassed for not criticizing the source material enough.

like how is it that the fans of a piece of media are also the ones being the most negative about it? If I like a show or a movie or a book, well, I liked it. That's kind of the point. I'm actually not here to tear it apart and talk about how it didn't live up to standards other people had! I enjoyed it for what it was, and forcing myself to find negative things to say about it doesn't actually bring me more enjoyment of it or reap any benefit to me. Fandom's a double-edged sword; you want to join a community to share your love for a piece of art, and the price you pay for a modicum of joy is a mountain of negativity. that's one main reason that I never engage with fandom until I'm completely done with a show, because if I was plugged into all of that commentary and discourse during the process, I'd be completely colored by how I'm expected to interpret everything this piece of art is presenting to me without being able to even form my own opinions.