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anyon-else · 1 year

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Loyal and High on Devotion (Welcome to the Playground pt. 1) | Sukuna's power has grown to an unavoidable size for the council of Piltover to ignore it. However, their communication with the notoriously cruel leader incites a confrontation in which ghosts are seemingly brought back to life. (Arcane AU) – spotify playlist | read on ao3

Pairings | Silco!Sukuna x Jinx!Reader (platonic) + Toji Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisake, Gojo Satoru, Mei Mei, Nanami Kento, Suguru Geto, Masamichi Yagi, Utahime Iori, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, Maki Zenin

Warnings | Manipulation, unhealthy relationship, violence, hallucinations, corruption, mentions of death

Word count | 8.1k

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Sukuna wasn’t good with people. This fact was known by anyone who had any semblance of awareness in the Piltover. And if that awareness served them well, they steered clear of his territory and his people. He was known to be ruthless, both to enemies and allies. He wanted his power to be absolute, and any resistance meant that he hadn’t achieved that.

But what he hated more than rebels was traitors. How he dealt with his own people was kept private; word getting out about unrest among his ranks would leave people in the Undercity to question his authority. If he couldn’t even keep his own people in line, how was he expected to rule the city?

Well, rule was a relative term. There was nothing official about his power; no elections or documents gave him the influence that he so easily claimed. Just his power. And in the Undercity, that was enough.

However, his power was frustratingly limited in the grander scheme of things. Piltover remained just out of reach. Every time he got close, stepping one foot into the political game that controlled the city, he was violently forced back. Separation between Piltover and the Undercity had always been a contentious issue, but Sukuna’s rise to power had set off many alarm bells for the council. His violent control became notorious, and he happily took on the role of the monster under Piltover children’s beds—one that parents warned about and feared themselves.

The one downside of having a reputation for violence was a constant awareness of his movements. He couldn’t take one step out of the Undercity without having dozens of poorly disguised spies watching his every move. He normally humored their efforts, allowing them to tail him on his little errands into Piltover. Besides, everything he did while outside of the limits of the Undercity was done with the utmost discretion.

Everything except this.

Evening was settling over the Undercity, though the sun never really reached its depths. Above, the gate leading into Piltover cast a tall shadow over Sukuna. His approach, while expected, still made the guards on duty stand at attention, eyes following him as he stepped onto the bridge. He cringed at the sight before him; the city was just as bright and disgustingly expensive as he remembered.

The council’s expectations of him had been made very clear: come alone and unarmed. The latter was a bit redundant, and an essentially useless request. He was deadly with or without weapons. However, he didn’t have the time nor the energy to stay in Piltover any longer than was necessary, and he found that respecting their wishes was less of a hassle.

Well, one of their wishes.

You walked at his side, grin splitting your lips and hands clasped behind your back. Your chin was held high, and the slight skip in your step contrasted Sukuna’s even, steady gait. He knew that you were an unsettling pair. He counted on it.

“Halt.”

Sukuna paused, looking over his shoulder at the stout guard who had spoken. He was practically trembling, though he gave his best effort at a brave face. You continued on, unfazed by the interruption.

“The counselors told you to come alone.”

“They did,” Sukuna hummed, “would you like to be the one to tell them, or should I?”

“I’ve already sent someone to inform them that you haven't met their conditions."

“Wonderful,” Sukuna grinned. He titled his head, eyes roving over the man’s unimpressive physique. “Piltover must be short on guards, hm? Seems they’re allowing just about anyone to keep watch over their city.”

Sukuna brought a hand up and placed it on the man’s thinning, brown hair. The guard tensed at the touch, eyes flashing with a familiar, delicious fear. Sukuna grinned, titling his head to the side as he studied the man.

He remembered a story that Piltover liked to tell about him, one that the guard was likely knew as well. Years ago, a merchant from Piltover had double crossed him, backing out of a deal after Sukuna had already fulfilled his end of the exchange. Sukuna had cracked the man's skull with one hand.

While the story had been exaggerated over the years, the main details were true.

They’re right to be afraid.

The thought made Sukuna’s smile grow wider. He loved this fear. The power that simple stories gave him over these gnats was addicting. He’d barely moved at all, but his mere presence was enough to make this man tremble.

He leaned down until his lips were inches from the guard’s ear. Sweat dripped down his forehead in a disgusting show of weakness. Sukuna’s grip tightened on his hair, and the guard let out a pathetic little noise.

“Tell the council,” he began, voice low and rumbling in the man’s ear, “that I will not bend to their every command.”

Something in the guard seemed to snap at Sukuna's hot breath on his neck and he shrunk back, any forced bravery melting away.

“Sukuna,” you rested your arm on the guards shoulder, leaning on him until he stumbled. He looked between you and Sukuna with wide, terrified eyes, “you’re taking too long.”

“Be patient. Apparently, I need to send you home.”

“Oh?” you pouted, tilting your head to meet the guard’s eyes, “did you say that? What’s your name?”

“M-Magnus.”

“Magnus. That’s a lovely name. Are you married, Magnus? You must be, look at the pretty ring on your finger!”

You took his hand and held it up for Sukuna to see. Your smile was giddy, and you were practically bouncing on your toes as you examined Magnus’ finger.

“That name does have a certain ring to it. And it sounds so familiar. I must’ve seen it somewhere...” you wrapped an arm loosely around Magnus’ shoulder, tapping a finger to your lips, “oh, I know! You were in the news! ‘Sergeant Magnus Cline Saves Family from House-Fire.’ You must be very brave, Sergeant.”

You released the still-trembling guard and took your place next to Sukuna, who watched Magnus boredly.

“I loved the article, it really is a great story. I also remember there being a mention of your wife...Ethel, right? Ethel Cline, and your two children...Axel and Theo. They were mentioned too! You must be very proud to have such a lovely family. I hope you don’t mind, but I snuck a peak.”

“H-how did you–”

“Sergeant Cline, why don’t we make a deal? You like deals, don’t you? You made one with counselor Geto and got yourself a nice house in the city, perfect for a family of four. And one on the way, I think? Congratulations!”

Magnus had stopped breathing. He was cracking, and in a few moments, he'd fall apart at your feet.

“So, I propose that you let me pass with Sukuna. I’ll let you guess what my condition is, though I’m sure it won’t be very hard.”

“If you’re threatening my family,” Magnus was breathing hard now, short, uneven pants escaping him in quick succession, “I will have you arrested.”

“Threatening? I haven’t said anything about hurting your family. Arresting me seems a bit harsh.”

This was getting tired. As much as Sukuna reveled in seeing the man squirm, that wasn’t why he came here. The sooner he arrived at his meeting, the sooner he could return home. He placed a hand on the back of your neck and pulled you away from Magnus, who was frozen to his spot on the pavement. The other guards stepped forward as Sukuna steered you back towards the city, all eager to find any excuse to shove him back down to the Undercity.

He pressed his thumb into the side of your neck in warning when you began to turn. You’d had your fun.

“I haven’t broken any of your laws. We are allowed passage into your city just like any other citizen.”

While true, this law was flimsy at best. Piltover guards had no issue finding reasons to keep their city separate from his. The difference now was that the balance of power was tipped in his favor. The council had come to him, crawling into the recesses of the shithole they liked to believe the Undercity had become. They had been forced into diplomacy. All because he had become too powerful to be stopped by any other means. Too feared.

When he turned back towards the city, he dropped his hand from your neck. It only took a moment for you to disappear from his side.

Are you watching carefully?

The voice made you chuckle, the beginnings of a laugh that you had to fight down. Yuuji always made the best jokes. He knew you were watching. He always knew, and he always knew what to say to make you laugh.

The roof of the council’s meeting room gave you an overwhelming view of the city. From your vantage point, you could see all of the council members sitting in a pretty line behind their curved table.

He’s getting desperate, Nobara whispered. You growled, shaking your head.

“Shut up,” you glared back at her, “Sukuna knows what he’s doing.”

Sukuna was barely within your line of view, but you still saw the glance he shot in your direction. He looked just as regal and put-together as he always did. He never faltered, not even when he was faced with the most powerful people in Piltover.

He’s just pretending, Megumi’s voice was full of malice. You wanted to laugh. You wanted to kill him, he’s terrified.

“No he’s not!”

He doesn’t really care about you.

“You’re a liar,” you grumbled, leaning forward against the edge of the skylight, “you’re all liars, just like always.”

The inside of the council’s meeting room was just as grotesque as the rest of the city. It was dripping in gold that Sukuna could only assume was real. Piltover did like to invest in their aesthetics.

He took a moment to study the faces of each council member. Mei Mei sat on the far right, studying the intricately organized rings on her fingers and attempting to seem nonchalant about his presence. She adjusted them every now and then, but not once did she look up from her work. Next to her, Nanami Kento sat with his back straight against his seat. His damned glasses were folded and placed in front of him on the table, and one hand drummed a steady beat against the glossy, elaborately designed wood.

Sugaru Geto was the only counselor really looking at Sukuna. His smile was sickening. Sukuna’s respect never extended to people who wore their intentions like a badge of honor, and Geto was practically soaked in corruption.

Saturo Gojo took up the seat on the far left. Sukuna wasted no time moving past the filthy waste of space. Masamichi Yaga and Utahime Iori took up the next two seats, and in the middle was Yoshinobu Gakuganji. The old man was still, eyes sunken so far that Sukuna could barely see them. He could’ve been dead for all Sukuna knew.

“You’re late,” Nanami spoke, breaking the tense silence, “and you’ve wasted our time.”

“Valuable as ever, I’m sure,” Sukuna sniffed, pacing the edge of the curved table and tapping a sharpened nail on its edge. The table was enough of a barrier between himself and the council that he wasn’t within arms length of them, but the guards still straightened, hands tightening around their weapons.

“And your companion?” Geto was still smiling, chin resting on his clasped hands. Sukuna stopped in front of his chair. “We were told that you brought an uninvited guest with you.”

“Oh?” Sukuna raised a brow, “I was under the impression that your borders were open. I was just bringing them along for some sightseeing. They do love a good view, and it’s been so long since they’ve seen the sun.”

“Enough,” Gakuganji raised a hand, voice gruff and tired. He was completely useless. It infuriated Sukuna that this relic was the one making decisions for Piltover. There was no value in the old ways, and Sukuna was under the impression that Piltover valued evolution. Now he wasn’t so sure. Too strong of a wind, and Sukuna feared the old man may turn to dust, “I’m sure you're eager to get this over with, Sukuna, so let’s get to the matter at hand.”

Geto leaned back, meeting Gakuganji’s glare with a grin.

“We feel that we have been very fair in allowing our borders to remain open to the Undercity. However, since your rise to power, crime in Piltover has increased exponentially. We can’t help but see a correlation.”

“A correlation?” Sukuna laughed, unable to hold back, “what are you implying?”

“We’re not implying anything,” Gojo interrupted Gakuganji as the old man opened his mouth to respond, “we’re accusing. You’ve been encouraging your people to come to Piltover and disrupt the peace.”

“Peace,” Sukuna repeated, lips twisting into a scowl. Before he could stop it, the image of you sitting bloody and broken in the depths of the Undercity came to mind. His rage flared. “You should bite your tongue before you speak to me so carelessly.

“You should remember your place,” Gakuganji leaned forward, hands tightening where they were clasped together on the table. “The Undercity has been left unchecked for far too long. We’re just correcting that mistake.”

“Something will be done about your people,” Geto smiled wide, “and it’s up to you who makes those changes. If you ignore this warning, we will do something about this ourselves.”

“For now, we’re closing our border. We have a duty to keep the people of Piltover safe, so yours are no longer welcome in our city,” Gakuganji explained. Sukuna kept still, thinking through his options. There was nothing surprising in this decision; in fact, he would’ve been shocked if the council hadn’t taken this action against his people.

“And what do you suggest I do?”

“That,” Yaga spoke up, breaking his silence with resound conviction, “is for you to decide. But you should decide soon, or our patience will run out.”

“Your patience,” Sukuna let out a laugh. “if it’s patience that we’re measuring, you should know that mine ran out a long time ago. Besides, I have no official power in the Undercity. If you want peace, you’ll have to be the ones to get your hands dirty.”

“Bullshit,” Gojo’s smile did nothing to hide his frustration, “you have more power over them than any of us.”

“It sounds to me like you’re all just incompetent leaders.”

“Careful,” Nanami spoke from the far end of the table, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose. He didn’t spare Sukuna a glance during this show of disinterest, but Sukuna could practically smell the man’s tension.

“In fact, incompetent,” he continued, “is a generous way of putting it. If you had any sense at all, you would’ve already found a solution to this little problem of yours. Instead, you’re crawling into the sewers and asking the rats to do your job for you.”

“That’s enough,” Gakuganji snapped. Despite his best efforts to keep it concealed, Sukuna couldn’t help the smile that spread over his lips. This really was the most fun he’d had in ages.

“You have two weeks to find your own solution,” Nanami said. “If changes are not made in that time, we will elect an ambassador to represent the Undercity, and a police presence will be established to keep the peace.”

“A wonderful idea. I’m sure peace is exactly what will come if more of your little guard dogs enter my city,” Sukuna strode forward until he was close enough to touch the table. The guards on either end of the room stiffened, grips tight on their weapons, “since I’m feeling generous today, I’ll offer you a bit of advice. Whether or not I decide to act on your orders, I can tell you that my word will do nothing to protect you and your police from the Undercity. If you send anyone there to keep them in line, I guarantee that they won’t last one night. With that said, I’m not unopposed to the idea.”

“This meeting is over,” Yaga grumbled before Gakuganji could fall for Sukuna’s taunts. “You can go now.”

Sukuna left the Capitol building with a grin stuck on his face. He couldn’t help but picture the beautiful chaos that would ensue if Piltover established a police presence in the Undercity. He almost wanted to encourage it, but the headache was likely not worth the entertainment. Not yet.

“Come out now, brat.”

The guards on either side of the doors Sukuna had just come from jolted when you dropped in front of them. Sukuna watched as one lifted his gun just slightly before meeting his eyes. Whatever he saw was enough for him to freeze, slowly lowering the weapon until he pulled his finger from the trigger.

"You weren't very long," you took Sukuna by the hand and began guiding him towards the gate. Magnus had been replaced by someone new, but you didn't seem interested in toying with the guards anymore.

"They're all incompetent," Sukuna grumbled, begrudgingly allowing you to pull him forward, "and they're not worth any more of my time."

"That white haired one looked interesting," you hummed, letting go of Sukuna's hand and turning to face him. His expression remained uninterested, "maybe I'll come back later and find him–"

Sukuna's movements were too fast for you to avoid, and your body seized as he grabbed hold of your hair and jerked it back, forcing you to meet his eyes. You stared and waited for him to speak, mouth sealed shut.

"Under no circumstances are you to come back without my permission," his voice was the same as before, uninterested and bored, but his eyes were alight with fury. "Gojo Satoru is off limits. Understand?"

"Mhm," you smiled, pulling your head up when he released you, "geez, you're touchy today. Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"He's a nuisance. I don't want you around him."

"Fine," you sighed, flicking the hat of the closest guard as you passed over the bridge. The man didn't flinch, and his eyes stared forward in what was an obvious strain to keep from looking at you. You laughed, turning away with a wave as you crossed into the Undercity. Piltover guards were posted right up to the border that marked the official edge of the city limits, but it had been made clear to Sukuna many times that the entirety of the bridge was unofficial Piltover territory.

Officially, it was a neutral zone Sukuna had never understood this label being placed upon such as a small piece of land, but for the most part, he stayed on his side of the region. Until now, it had made things easier on him. A poorly planned shift into Piltover land could prove devastating, and any broken laws would only give the councilors and excuse to establish a police presence in his city. While that wasn't something he was necessarily opposed to, there would be a time for it.

He glanced at you, scanning you for any sign that something had changed since he'd sent you off before the meeting. Your comment about Gojo almost made him want to go back and kill the imp, but such actions had become few and far between with so many watchful eyes on him. It was quite annoying.

"I want you to find Zen'in," Sukuna spoke after a moment, eyes forward and hands clasped behind his back, "tell him that he'll get paid handsomely for his cooperation, and bring him to me."

"'Kay."

You were gone the moment you reentered the Undercity. Sukuna couldn't help but be reminded of the fleeting image of a ghost, floating in the back of the mind with the constant reminder of unfinished business.

"Toji!"

You only gave the man a few seconds to respond before banging on the water pipe that stretched past his apartment window. You hadn't exactly kept track of the time, but you'd spent enough time walking through the familiar streets of the Undercity that it was dark now.

Your intrusion into Toji's apartment was frequent enough that his neighbors knew not to complain. You continued banging against the pipe until the window four stories above opened noisily and Toji stuck his head out, hair a mess and mouth twisted into a scowl.

"Do you know how fuckin' loud you're being? It's midnight."

"Is it?" you smiled up at him, rocking back on your heels, "I lost track of time."

"Sure," he grumbled, shutting the window with a slam.

Moments later, he was opening the entrance to the apartment complex, letting you in with a tired wave of his hand.

"Whadda you freaks want this time?"

"Dunno," you shrugged, pushing the door to Toji's apartment open and falling onto the couch situated against the far wall, "we just came back from Piltover."

"You were in Piltover?" Toji leaned against the door with crossed arms, guarded despite his curiosity. You grinned, unused to any interest from the man. "Why?"

"It's a secret," you pressed a finger to your lips, "if you wanna know, you have to come back with me. Sukuna wants to see you."

"Ah," Toji leaned his head back with a grin. Your own smile fell, and you sat up and watched him laugh quietly to himself, "so you don't know. Think maybe Sukuna doesn't trust you as much as you think he does?"

Toji would've seen your attack coming from miles away. Despite your reputation in the Undercity, if one knew just where to push, you were as predictable as the pigs in Piltover. And he knew exactly where it hurt.

Still, he could admit that being predictable wasn't as much of an achilles heel when you had the speed to make up for it. He'd barely blinked before you were in front of him, knife pressed against his throat. He just laughed again, the motion moving his neck against the blade enough to split the skin.

"Touchy. Didn't think I'd get to ya that easily. Expected more from Sukuna's right hand, but I guess you're just as weak as us lowly peasants, hm?

"You're brave," you sneered through a growing smile, "guess that's why Sukuna likes you so much. I keep telling him that we should kill you, but he just can't see how much of a nuisance you are."

"Is this what recruiting me looks like?"

"It's what threatening you looks like. Sukuna wants you, so you're coming with me."

"I'm on vacation," Toji scowled, pushing your knife away when he saw that you'd lost interest in threatening him. The anger drained from your eyes, replaced with a familiar and unsettling blankness.

"Maybe if Sukuna came himself, I'd be more inclined to follow his orders," Toji busied himself in his kitchen, perfectly visible from where you were back to lounging on the couch. You hummed, occupied with something else now. You were staring through the window with slitted eyes, watching someone pass by and disappear from your view before you found another person to watch. Toji just shook his head, dumping cold rice and chicken on two plates.

"If you're not going to be useful, I really will kill you," you said lightly, lifting your head and glaring at him as he brought you a plate and set it across from his own. His heavily scratched and dented table had been left behind by the previous occupant of the apartment, and it had seen better days. It was accompanied by two mismatched chairs, one bright blue and the other a deep sage. He sat on the blue one, kicking out the other with a painful squeal against the hardwood.

You didn't move, once again occupied by your people-watching. Your legs dangled over the side of the couch, kicking back and forth in a way that suggested unawareness.

"Do you know who Gojo Satoru is?"

Toji nearly dropped his fork at the question, eyes wide as he stared down at his plate. Before you could glance back at him, he did his best to regain his composure. You stood, eyes narrowed as you watched him clear his throat. When you'd taken the seat across from him, he sighed heavily and shoveled a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

"He's a councilor, right? Dunno that much about him."

"You're lying."

Toji wasn't sure what kind of skills you had cultivated to become what Sukuna fondly called his human lie-detector, but he cursed the man for sending you here right after he'd taken you to Piltover. He questioned if Sukuna was in his right mind.

"Look, it'd be dangerous for me to give you any information without approval from Sukuna. I'm still his dog."

The name was said with little malice; Toji knew that that was the truth of his role. He had accepted a long time ago that that was all his life would amount to while Sukuna was in power.

"If you stop asking me these damn questions, I'll pack up and come with you."

While "willing" was a generous term for Toji's cooperation, he hadn't shown any of that chagrin to Sukuna. You watched from above, sitting on the pipes that overlapped right overtop of Sukuna's desk.

Below you, Toji was resting an ankle over his knee, head propped up on his palm in what looked like a force show of disinterested confidence. But for all his effort to seem unconcerned, Sukuna wasn't even looking at the man. His attention was on the window that gave him a wide view of the Undercity. Toji almost laughed at the similarities he saw between the two of you, but any emotion he may have shown was sucked out of him the moment Sukuna met his eyes.

"Do you remember what I told you the last time we spoke?"

Toji itched to look at the top corner of the room. He could feel your eyes on him, but he knew that any diversion of his attention from Sukuna would have consequences.

"I remember," he sat up straighter now, watching Sukuna carefully. "When?"

"One week. During the Progress Day speech."

"The...you didn't tell me that this was happening during one of the most important events in Piltover–"

"The information that I gave you," Sukuna interrupted, voice cold, "was the only information I deemed necessary to share. Anything else is irrelevant to you and your orders."

Toji scowled, showing more defiance than he ever had towards Sukuna, but he knew that he had no ground to stand on. With one word from his employer, his head would roll.

Besides, this was far from the first impossible job that he'd been given.

The conversation didn't last much longer than that. Sukuna had made his expectations of Toji clear long before today. Toji resented the fact that he'd been dragged here to be given directions which easily could have been given to him through you, but he supposed that Sukuna was trying to balance all of the pieces he'd been putting into place for years very carefully.

When Toji was finally given his leave, you dropped from the piping onto Sukuna's desk, sitting cross-legged in front of him with an irritated huff.

"Is this an assassination?" you tilted your head, "Y'know, if you wanted someone dead, you could've just asked."

"It isn't that simple. This is what we've been working towards all these years. And I've saved the exciting parts of the special day just for you."

"It's...it's like he doesn't trust me! I mean, that Zen'in guy is a fine assassin, but that's all he is! Just okay! I'm supposed to be the one...the one doing this for him..."

Don't get so worked up. You always do this, you know, Yuuji said, so close that you could almost feel his breath against your ear. You flinched, backing away from him until you reached the far wall.

"Why are you always bothering me! Just shut up! Go away and leave me alone!"

You're being careless. Be quiet or he'll hear you, Megumi was next to Yuuji, arms crossed and tone disappointed, just like always. You shook your head. You couldn't deal with this. Couldn't deal with them and their confusing rambling. You turned towards the wall, pressing your palms against the cold concrete to try and ground yourself. If you just pretended they weren't there, they'd leave you alone. Just like always.

Sukuna's gonna find you like this. Then you'll be in trouble, Nobara laughed, her voice right in front of you. Your eyes squeezed shut, hands shaking uncontrollably as you tried to block out their voices.

"Shut up!"

You threw a fist at where Nobara was still laughing, feeling your skin split and blood begin to seep from the wounds when your knuckles hit concrete. You heaved in ragged breaths, opening your eyes and pulling your fist from the now blood-coated spot on the wall. Nobara had always been good at dodging attacks.

When you looked behind you, Yuuji and Megumi were gone, and you were alone.

Progress Day

Toji arrived in Piltover earlier than was really necessary, but from what Sukuna had told him, the earlier he arrived, the less trouble he'd have.

As he crossed the border, he could tell that only a few of the guards knew who he was and why he was arriving. The guards who weren't privy attempted to approach him as he made his way across the bridge, but all of them were stopped. He continued on unhindered.

Gojo Satoru was waiting for him near the entrance doors, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose and smile spread lazily across his lips. He was looking at Toji with that infuriating, knowing smile, and it made the man's skin crawl. The last thing he needed was for Gojo to be getting under his nerves.

"Got anything to tell me?" Gojo asked, and Toji scowled. He'd told his old friend many times that talking out in the middle of the city would have consequences, but his warning had never been heeded.

Gojo continued the conversation as he led Toji through the city's central building, now bustling with people preparing for the day's events. No one paid him much attention; he wasn't recognizable like Sukuna, and he was hoping that it would stay that way. After today, though, he knew things would change.

"Alright, alright, you can wipe that big frown off your face. We're in private now," Gojo leaned forward, chin resting on his clasped hands, "you said you had some information for me."

"Before I tell you anything, I want to get paid."

"Is my friendship not currency enough? I'm hurt."

Toji was beginning to feel a stress headache forming. Every conversation with Gojo went like this, and Toji needed to stop expecting anything different. Deflection was like an art to the councilor. Toji wondered if that was why he'd gotten so far in politics.

"You have no idea how much I'm risking just by talking to you," Toji murmured. "Betraying Sukuna is not something I'm doing for free. I expect payment and passage out of this city. You're not getting anything from me unless I receive the things I was promised. "

"Fine, jeez. Can't you joke around at all? It's Progress Day! Show some patriotism!"

"I'm no patriot," Toji bit out, watching as Gojo opened different desk drawers, moving papers and digging through folders until he finally pulled out a thick envelope.

"As promised," he held the envelope out to Toji, "now, if you please, some information."

Toji took the envelope and opened it carefully, satisfied with the number of bills he saw stacked together. He pushed the money to the side and scanned the boat ticket, departing that same evening. It would be packed with people leaving Piltover from the celebrations. A perfect cover to protect him from Sukuna and his spies.

"Sukuna sent me here to assassinate you and Nanami Kento," Toji finally leaned back, slipping the envelope into the pocket of his jacket and meeting Gojo's eyes. "He's coming to the celebration, and according to the plan he gave me, the two of you should be dead by the time he arrives in Piltover. He wanted things to happen on Progress Day, when the most people would be in attendance."

Gojo stared at him, waiting for something more. When nothing else was said, Gojo scoffed and shook his head.

"I can't believe this," he groaned, throwing his head back on his chair, "did I just waste half a fortune for that? That's nothing."

"An attempt on your life by one of the most powerful men in the country is nothing?" Toji sighed, "you rich bastards sure are brave behind all of your fancy walls and borders. If I were you, I'd be a little bit more worried. I wouldn't be surprised if he's known about our little meetings the whole time I've been working for him."

"Your information is faulty. So either he doesn't trust you," Gojo leaned forward, "or he gave you the wrong information on purpose. Think maybe you're the one who should be worried?"

"How can you possibly know that?"

Gojo just laughed, crossing his leg over his ankle and rubbing his hands together. He did look the part of a counselor, Toji would give him that. Corruption was easy to see on someone so well-versed in it.

"Why would Sukuna kill just me and Nanami? I know what kind of fire-power he's got down there. If he really wanted to make a statement, he'd take everyone out in one fell swoop. Instead, he chooses two counselors and one lousy assassin and makes it someone else's problem? No," Gojo tapped a finger on a photo, one that Toji hadn't noticed until now. His heart stuttered when he saw who was in it: Sukuna, as regal and dangerous as always, walking next to you. Your back was turned to the camera, and nothing recognizable could be seen, but everyone in the Undercity knew that you and Sukuna were inseparable.

"Who is that?"

Toji met Gojo's eyes, and for once, the man was looking at him with calculated eyes, fully focused on him and his reactions.

"I don't know."

"If you feel so comfortable lying to me, I'm not sure I can trust anything you've said to me."

"Thought we were old friends?"

Gojo's smile was back on his face in seconds, laughter bubbling up in his throat and escaping him in short bursts. Toji just stared.

"Whoever they are," Gojo finally pointed back at the picture once his laughter had died down, "they were seen with Sukuna the day he came to meet with us. Funny thing is, no one knows what they look like. No one in Piltover, anyways. The guard who saw them claims that he doesn't remember what they look like. Interesting, no?"

Toji could feel his hands beginning to sweat. This wasn't in his pay-grade. He should've asked Gojo for more money.

"But Sukuna isn't the only one with spies. And while we couldn't get eyes on them, we got some very interesting information. Didn't know you were lower on the totem pole than some kid."

"You're treading very dangerous ground, Gojo," Toji said lowly.

"Apparently not, if this plan of Sukuna's is real. What a sloppy attempt at causing chaos in Piltover. That is the goal, yes? Cause chaos, undermine the council, take control, yada yada. How cliche. Killing two council members won't do anything, so what else is there?"

"You said it yourself," Toji leaned back in his chair. "I'm low in Sukuna's ranks. He only trusts me with so much. This was the only information I was given, but there's more to this than just the assassinations."

"And this God among men doesn't suspect that you've double crossed him?"

"An advantage of being a pawn instead of a rook."

Gojo's face told Toji that the man still didn't believe him, but that was no longer his problem. He stood from his chair and turned towards the door.

"Toji."

He paused, turning his head with his hand resting on the door handle.

"This isn't a game," Gojo's voice was calculated and flat in a tone that he rarely heard from the man, "and once you're gone, the only one who will know where to find you is me. Remember that."

Toji walked through the door without a word, shutting it behind him and following the path back to the bridge and the Undercity.

Progress Day was always an annoyance to Sukuna. Visitors coming to Piltover would always inevitably trickle into the Undercity, curious about its infamy. He never did much to deter the tourists; locals would take care of them if they caused any trouble. This year, however, he was wound a bit tighter than usual, so he couldn't be faulted for any unfortunate accidents.

He felt a rush of deja vu as he approached the bridge leading to Piltover, now home to a hoard of guards. All stood at attention, eyes forward and grip tight on their guns. When they noticed his approach, there was a shout from the front of the crowd, and then nearly twenty guns were pointed at his chest.

"Sukuna Ryomen," one shouted. The sound of his name in one of these brats mouths made his hand twitch, the urge to kill almost bubbling to the surface. While this day had been one he'd looked forward to for years, he was wound tighter then he's expected. "You and your people are not welcome in Piltover."

"No? How disappointing," he paused a distance away from the crowd of guards, "I was looking forward to the festivities."

"If you are not off of the bridge in the next minute, we will open fire."

Sukuna sneered, a laugh just barely contained behind his lips. He gave them a bow, turning on his heel and stopping on the edge of the bridge. It was there that he stopped, and there that he would wait.

He didn't have to wait long before the first bomb went off under the bridge, followed by the second in the center of the city.

The bomb at the bridge had been meticulously placed, per Sukuna's instruction. You'd studied the ways around the guards on the bridge in preparation for this day, and you'd chosen the perfect spot for the explosive. It wasn't placed on the bridge itself, but on the sheet of dirt underneath it. The initial explosion was only meant to cause confusion among the guards. It was the second explosion that mattered.

You'd gone into the city under the cover of night, placing the second bomb on the skylight where you'd watched Sukuna's meeting with the councilors. That was where you would wait for Sukuna the next day.

"Got anything to tell me?"

The voice had come from the entrance of the building, but you still froze upon hearing it. You peeked over the edge of the roof curiously, bored enough to pass the time by watching the goings-on of the councilors.

It was too dark to make out the features of the man approaching the building. In the low lamp-light and from your height, you could just make out a head of poorly cut black hair.

They entered the building side-by-side, and you watched through the glass as they passed through the main foyer. It was silent once again with the glass buffering their voices, but light flooded the room as they stepped further into it, automatically switching on at their movement.

Your anger was the first thing to react to the face that you saw.

Toji looked tense as he followed Gojo into a private room out of your sight. You looked at the space where they had disappeared with wide eyes, head falling forward until your forehead hit the glass with a soft thunk. Your breathing was heavy enough to fog the glass as you thought through what you saw. There had to be some explanation, anything other than a betrayal.

You watched the door of Gojo's office until it opened once again, and Toji left alone. His face was grim, but the expression quickly fell into one of calculated blankness. You followed his movements until he left the building, then stood on the glass and tracked him until he disappeared from your view in the depths of Piltover's cityscape.

"Traitor," you muttered, turning to where Megumi was standing at the center of the domed roof, "he's a traitor."

Don't be hasty.

"What would you know," you grumbled, "you never even go anywhere. Don't you have any other friends?"

You turned, not expecting or wanting a response. You needed to tell Sukuna, but he'd given you your assignment. You had to stay in Piltover until the festivities began in earnest, but this warranted an exception. Toji knew too much to betray you and live long enough to cause more damage.

But Sukuna expected loyalty. Unfailing and unquestioning. He expected you to trust that he would take care of anything that went wrong, just as long as you did what was asked of you.

You just had to wait until daylight. The sun would rise, then Sukuna would know everything, and the traitor would be dead.

And according to Sukuna's instructions for you, Gojo Satoru would follow him.

You watched the horizon where the sun was rising over the bridge. People began flocking in from the left and right sides of it, but none from the middle where the path led into the Undercity. The only person you expected to see following the path of the orange sunlight was Sukuna.

The hours passed quickly as you imagined what Sukuna had planned for Piltover. He hadn't given anyone more information than they needed about today, yourself included, and you couldn't deny the sting you'd felt when he'd told you that you didn't need to know all of the details.

You spotted Sukuna at the top of the seventh hour, counted to sixty, and set off the first bomb under the bridge, then stood at the edge of the glass roof and set off the bomb at the peak of the dome. You felt your movements becoming robotic as you pondered on Sukuna and his sloppiness with Toji and the minimal information he'd given you. Maybe you were putting too much faith in him. Still, you followed his instructions perfectly, dropping down into the foyer of the council building. Panic had begun spreading; you could hear screams coming from all directions, echoing down the halls that opened into the foyer and mingled together to create one beautiful, mass panic.

Guards ran at you from all sides, guns raised and bullets flying, but their efforts became futile as you released grenades in their direction, filling the foyer with smoke and allowing you the cover to kill them.

Gojo's office was straight ahead, down a hall dripping in gold and crystal. The glass ceiling continued to crack as you walked the length of the hall, shattering piece by piece in a chain reaction of charges. The glass rained around you, cutting into your skin and clothes. The glass ceiling stretched to the end of the hall, and ended at the large wooden door to give Gojo's office some security.

The Kitsune mask that Sukuna had given you fit perfectly over your face, forming to your features to keep your identity obscured from Gojo. He'd given it to you with the expectation that Gojo Satoru was not to know what you looked like.

When you opened the door to Gojo's office, he looked largely unconcerned with the intrusion. He only watched you approach his desk with curiosity.

"Hm," he scanned you carefully, sitting up in his desk chair and leaning his elbows on his desk, "interesting. I was expecting Sukuna."

You pulled a gun from the holster tied tightly around your waist and pointed it at him, but his expression didn't change.

"You're his second in command?" he asked with a pleasant smile. You couldn't see his eyes through his black blindfold, but you could sense his gaze on you. You could smell his curiosity. "Now why did he send you?"

Toji had warned him about the attack. The snake had given him the chance to prepare, but Sukuna had likely already taken care of any extra security that had been placed at the bridge, and the trail of bodies behind you was a clear sign that his attempts to deter an attack had failed.

"I assume the guards are all dead," he sighed, looking past you and out the open door. He seemed more inconvenienced than concerned for his safety, "well, the extra security wasn't my idea."

You wanted to say something, to ask him why he was acting so casual about this. You were sent to kill him. And once Sukuna arrived, you'd be free to do as you pleased to him.

But questioning the situation would mean admitting weakness. So you kept your lips sealed shut and your gun trained at his head.

"But I have to admit, this whole plan Sukuna has seems sloppy. I don't suppose you'll tell me what he really wants?"

This was Toji's fault. Toji needed to die, right after you killed Gojo. They all needed to die for mocking Sukuna like this. For assuming that he was weak. You finger twitched on the trigger.

You could hear the mix of voices coming from the back of the building where the entrance to the auditorium was. Progress Day was a public event, meaning this side of the building would've been empty had it not been for Toji's warning.

From the beginning, Sukuna's plan hadn't made sense.

"Where is Sukuna?" Gojo looked past you again. His mouth twitched in a smile at what he saw. "There he is! Always a pleasure, Sukuna."

You fought not to turn when you heard his footsteps approaching the office. You recognized the slow saunter and the sound of his shoes hitting the concrete floor; it was unmistakable.

Sukuna stepped up to your side with his head held high, focused entirely on Gojo. You watched him come to a stop next to you with a trembling breath, suddenly nervous. This had never happened before. You thought you knew what was going on, but nothing about this made sense anymore. It was all a part of his plan, you knew it was. He was just waiting to tell you, and once he did, you would put all of the pieces together. He trusted you. He'd always trusted you, and that would never change.

You thought of his words just before you'd left for Piltover only hours earlier.

"You would never betray me."

It hadn't been a question, and there had been no doubt in his voice, but he'd looked at you expectantly. Your response had been immediate, the nod of your head quick and eager. Always so eager to please him, and to hear him tell you that you were useful. That you were worth something in the world that he lorded over.

"Never."

Looking at him now, you saw the king that he had made himself into. You saw the dominance that he had over the room, and you felt the fear that he wanted anyone in his presence to feel. You glanced at Gojo, wondering if he felt it too. Ready to kill him if he didn't.

"Take your mask off."

It was not a request. He was ordering you, voice hard as stone and laced with glee. You did as he said immediately, like you had always known this was what he would have you do. Your loyalty to him was second nature, and the doubt that was creeping into the cracks in your mind made you want to throw yourself at his feet and beg for forgiveness. Who were you to doubt him? You were nothing without him. You were nothing.

"Y/N?"

You looked up at the unfamiliar voice, a snarl forming on your lips as you prepared to kill whoever it was that had spoken, but realized upon meeting his eyes that it was Gojo. His expression had fallen, and he looked and sounded like a completely different person than before. He pulled his blindfold down, revealing bright blue eyes that were wide with shock. He had paled considerably, hands held in front of him like he wanted to reach out to you. You glanced at Sukuna for some sort of explanation, but his only focus was Gojo. He looked thrilled by this reaction, and when Sukuna began laughing, all you could do was watch as Gojo's expression cracked into devastation while Sukuna reveled in his sorrow.

Author's note | this is one of the first fics i began working on for this blog and honestly it's one of the reasons i made a new writing blog for anime. i thought the idea of a silco-inspired sukuna would be so fun, and having the reader as jinx kind of gave me creative freedom with their character. i hope you guys enjoyed (and if you did, don't worry because there will be at least one more part, probably two depending on how long it ends up being). anyways, thank you for reading and if you enjoyed, please leave me some love!

also i know i keep starting series but this has literally been in the works for months and i had to split it into two parts bc it was simply getting too long. the other two series are also being worked on and part two to this one is like halfway done. i'm not abandoning anything, i'm just slow.

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xaharadesert · 10 months

Text

Kidnapped MC Turned Bandit Leader - Headcanon Pt 1

Julian Devorak x MC

TW: like 1 swear

A/N: this is another year old, pretty specific anon request that I’m only now getting to. The essential premise that was requested was for MC to be kidnapped, only to show up a few months later totally fine and leading a group of bandits— the initial request asked for Julian, Portia, and Asra, but since there’s a lot of content to cover, I’ll be splitting this into 3 parts :) also, special shout out to the two anons who both sent me some version of “hydrate or die” within moments of each other— also also everyone say thank you to the anon who said they bet I couldn’t finish this draft even though I’ve been staring at it for ten minutes, you’re the real MVP here

❤️Julian❤️

When you initially went missing, this man obviously went into no-sleep panic mode

He immediately swore to search every corner of the Earth until you were found

Nadia convinced him to stay put for at least a few days, since it was unlikely that you could be taken far in a short period of time, and her guards were more likely to find you than he was alone

Shockingly, this was one of the exceedingly rare instances in which Nadia was wrong

Her guards did not find you, and this only increased Julian’s ungodly level of panic

He hadn’t slept since you were taken, save for the 16 hours he was passed out after smacking his head into a low doorway while pacing

Honestly, he wasn’t even borderline delirious, this man had passed clearly into hysteria territory

So needless to say, he began his travels to find you

However, with no clear direction, and no clues to go off of, the nonexistent trail quickly grew cold

The countless letters from his friends in Vesuvia were what brought him back, and even then, it was mostly Nadia’s point that if you were to ever escape of your own accord, you would likely make your way home

When he returned, his mental health only continued to decline

He felt useless— he couldn’t do anything to help you; all he did was sit and wait, and it was driving him insane

The only times he could be dragged out of his home were when Portia or Mazelinka made him

For a usually sociable man with a tendency to hide his self hatred behind humour and charisma, this was a terrifying change

He made absolutely no attempt to move on with his life, and insisted that everyone should leave him to wallow

Of course, they did not

It was on one of the rare occasions that Portia managed to pull him out to the Rowdy Raven that you finally returned

Honestly, he thought he was hallucinating until Portia confirmed his hopes by asking “Holy shit, is that them?!”

You looked completely fine; in fact, you looked like you were having fun

Julian still couldn’t quite believe his eyes, and stared, open-mouthed, as he tried to process that, yes, this was really you

(Portia gave him a little shove to get him started)

When your eyes locked with his, he felt all the excitement and anxiety of new love all over again. It was like all the emotions that he had felt over the months that you were gone came crashing back into him all at once

So needless to say, it was a tearful reunion, especially on his part

You didn’t stay at the tavern much longer than that; Julian really wasn’t in the right headspace for drinking or chatting with friends

The two of you went him, with him clinging to you like a koala

Obviously you were in for a long night of explaining yourself

He listened to every detail, never interrupting

Once your story was finished, he felt his heart settle in a way that it hadn’t since you left

And of course, with that sense of calm came all the exhaustion of having the world’s worst sleep schedule

He wanted to pass out immediately, preferably in bed beside you, but first, he had a few choice things to say to you

One, how dare you have such an amazing adventure without him?

Two, how dare you risk your life with bandits for months?

Three, how dare you do all of the above without contacting him?

And finally four, he loves you so so so much, please never scare him like that again, and obviously he doesn’t blame you for being kidnapped because that’s not your fault so please don’t blame yourself, but also please come home faster and don’t get involved with bandits, because believe him, he’s been down that road and it can get really messy really quick, and while he knows you can take care of yourself he really doesn’t want you to get hurt without him even knowing

He got a bit ramble-y at the end, but he was so tired that he really couldn’t process his own grammar

He asked you to come to bed, which the promise that you would talk more thoroughly in the morning when he could think properly again

And by morning, he meant like 24 hours later, because this man was practically in a coma

Later on, he would ask to meet the members of your bandit crew

He phrased it as wanting to “meet your friends”, but really he was heavily judging them to decide whether or not you were safe with them

Julian isn’t really known for being on the right side of the law, so he wouldn’t dare lecture you for your legal choices, but he does need to know that you’re being relatively safe

If this is the life you want to lead, then obviously he’s coming with you

Seeing you happy, and being with you, was more than enough for him

#the arcana #arcana #the arcana game #the arcana headcanon #the arcana hc #julian devorak #julian arcana #Julian x mc #Julian headcanon #Julian hc #the arcana Julian #tw swearing #Julian x apprentice

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darklinaforever · 1 year

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Okay. I have nothing against Holly's person. To tell the truth, I adore her, and I even pity her for some of Lucy's reactions to her remarks, which are sometimes far too exessive. But, I have you that certain aspect of the behavior of Lockwood towards Holly annoys me. For example, I don't think it was necessary for Lockwood to be leaning over Holly over the desk to "put her at ease", although yes, he did that with George… I don't think so. more than the trick of Lockwood lending Holly one of his old sweaters, as well as Lucy's gloves (without asking her first) was necessary. Like… Doesn't she have any sweaters or gloves of her own ? Wasn't she able to go get some at home before the mission ? It looks like a banal plot by the author to push even more tension / discord between the two girls. Especially since it's pretty useless to do the same, because we know perfectly well that there will never be anything between Lockwood and Holly, so much he and Lucy are obviously to the point of (as George says) being annoying. Besides, the series is on such a scale on this point that I would certainly not like to be in George's place to live with these two… But in short, without mentioning the fact that Holly is essentially a lesbian. I'm sure that if we had had the series sequel to adapt, all these scenes would have been quite / see very different, given the context and larger point of view of the series, especially with the couple Lockwood & Lucy so much more explicit. Or else these scenes would have been completely changed. In fact, I even hoped the Lucy / Holly rivalry was toned down. Maybe not removed the whole jealousy aspect about Lockwood, seeing as Lucy was jealous of Flo before in season 1, I doubt this wouldn't have happened, but rather removed the general /overall rivalry aspect that the two girls had in volume 3… Also, sorry, but I'm sure that the Lockwood of the series would never have forgotten the type of orange juice that Lucy likes (volume 4). Seriously, this guy is making her those toasts ! Unfortunately, we won't see any of this on screen. Sadness.

#lockwood x lucy #lucy x lockwood #lockwood and lucy #lucy and lockwood #locklyle #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george cubbins #george karim #holly munro #lockwood and co #jonathan stroud #the hollow boy #the creeping shadow #lockwood and co netflix #lockwood and co season 2 #lockwood and co canceled

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yes-i-write-fanfiction · 2 years

Note

Remember the tfp ask with a human having control over swarms of scraplets? How do you think the cons would react if the human sets their personal army on them, effectively running them off?

While Megatron looks down on humans, he recognizes this one as a real threat, one that needs to be dealt with ASAP. This human and all of the scraplets will be dealt with quickly and swiftly, with one big explosion to take them all out. He does not care that this might attract attention from the humans, he just wants this threat eradicated.

Starscream might act like he’s not too bothered by it but everyone and their mother can see that he’s absolutely terrified. Not by the human specifically but by the scraplets of course. Beside fear he’s also annoyed by the fact that this human can pose such a threat to him. They are just a useless organic! In the end he will deal with this in one of two ways; either he’ll try to manipulate the human into becoming his ally and sick them on Megatron or he’ll just stay as far away from them as possible.

Immediately, Soundwave has 17 different plans and backup plans on how to deal with this. This human poses a real threat to their operations. Scraplets on their own are incredibly dangerous but in the end they are near mindless pests, only able to act on instinct. With a human able to provide them some semblance of strategy their lethality goes up by approximately 42%. Soundwave’s number one plan is just opening a space bridge and suck the human into the vacuum of space.

Yeah, no, Knockout ain’t touching this situation with a ten foot pole. He doesn’t even really care that there’s a human controlling the scraplets, he sees those big, round optics and those scittering legs and he nopes the hell out of there. Refuses to even approach any location where the human has been sighted. He ain’t risking his paintjob (or life) for the cause.

Breakdown is freaked out, no doubt about it, but he’s also kinda fascinated. It’s like when you see a person handing a dangerous animal; you’re scared shitless but also impressed by the guts of that person. Still, impressed or not, this human poses a real threat with their army of scraplets and Breakdown will do what he has to do deal with it.

Similar to Breakdown, Dreadwing is fascinated by the fact that this human managed to tame not just one but a whole swarm of scraplets. This is essentially unheard of and that makes him kinda respect them. But at the same time he knows that this human could potentially turn against the decepticons and as such he’s ready to take them out in a heartbeat.

Whereas the previous two found it fascinating, Shockwave is actually intrigued and curious about the situation. How did the human tame the scraplets? How can they control them with such precision? Have they been integrated into the scraplet hive mind and if so, how did this happen? Yes, Shockwave will find a way to neutralize the threat before any real substantial harm can befall him or the cause but until then he will study this human. If he could learn the mechanics behind their control over the scraplets then perhaps the decepticons could utilize them in a similar way against the autobots. It would surely ensure a swift victory at last.

Airachind might be a tad unhinged but even she ain’t reckless enough to go against a swarm of scraplets on her own. Will stay away from the human but if the moment ever presented itself where she could take them out without any repercussions then she would do it.

#transformers imagine #transformers prime #megatron #starscream #soundwave #knockout #breakdown #dreadwing #shockwave #airachnid

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2knightt · 1 year

Note

I ain't gonna tell no man's tall tale, this is my fourth attempt of shovin' this in your ask box. I've copied and pasted drafts to google docs more than I can count, and I still edited a lot through here too. Such is the life of a garrulous writer, I reckon :')

leaps in gracefully, respectfully settles beside you.

m'kay, so, this little scenario kinda built itself from the ground up in my head yesterday, and it's a little funny because I was cleaning my bathroom and utilizing bleach, so I briefly entertained the idea that the fumes got to me and had a little ballroom get-together in my brain and boom-bada-bing, this came to be.

gettin' right into it! plot being: y'know how Pony had pride in his hair? kept it real tuff, took care of it well enough, and had near half a breakdown when johnnycakes had to not only chop it off but also bleach it.

matter of' fact: I think to some extent, every Greaser has pride in their hair. Heck, it's one of their tellin' points: if it's slathered and slicked back with grease, well – it certainly don't take a genius to tell who and what ya are.

take that and imagine a Curtis Sibling!Reader (sister, brother, what have you; albeit keep in mind I was imaginin' a sister when I thought of this) who shares that same pride for their hair—and for good reason!

because they have completely lovely hair.

luscious, smooth, healthy, on the longer side and – most of all – silky to the point of disregarding the grease altogether! they're guaranteed to garner compliments when they go out and someone happens to notice just enough, especially the kids at school. it frames their pretty lil' face just right … and for a long while, it's their pride n' joy, it's their brothers' pride and joy, and their parents' when they were still gracing the earth. overall, it just so happens to be one of their most telling and sweetest features.

they just have some really nice hair, m'kay? •ᴗ• got it? ya get it. mhm, mhm, okiedokie––

now. imagine one night, curtis jr. is out. mindin' your business, per usual having a nice stroll, circling to the park to have a quick smoke, just having a peaceful moment to yourself– away from the chaos and hustle-n-bustle of everyday life.

not much happened down in tulsa honestly, but with a house full of brothers and pseudo-brothers ... yeah. you've had your fair share of escapades and adventures.

and it ain't like you weren't fine with that! you really were. but everyone needs a breather once in a while, y'know? tonight was such a beautiful night: the weather was comfy, there were puffs of indigo-blue clouds dotted with stars, there was a slight breeze, and it was times like these that made you feel infinite.

it was going good. great, even! this was the most peace you had in what felt like weeks.

then. some socs came 'round, and judging by the way they were hootin' and hollerin' up a storm, impeding on greaser territory with wild abandon, you can tell they're up to no good.

turns out you're more of a pacifist when it comes to those kinds of things — you shared in a lot of johnny's ideals (which is probably why you both get along so well outside of him bein' the gang's 'pet' and pone's best friend) of viewing rumbles and the battle of the classes as essentially useless.

but you were a true-blue and came through every time it counted. you and your trademark cherry-oak polished switchblade, rough-and-tumble mindset, and the tuffest death glare in all of tulsa.

for being more of a placid person, you sure could deal some damage; you had a kinda rep, see (a notoriety in the west, an acclamation in the east) – for your unpredictable and adaptive nature in rumbles. one defining incident? you sent a soc home post-rumble with a scar goin' all the way from his temple to his chin, and a cleft in his left shoulder. last anyone heard, he moved to a different state and you miraculously didn't get thrown into the slammer.

(it's always the quiet kids y'all jsjsjjsj)

so, you stay cool and go on to take your merry way back home, you weren't one to go lookin' for trouble no how. these guys were in your territory, they knew that. if they tried anything ... you had slipped your blade from your pocket and held it hidden against your palm.

but, luck was not on your side tonight. a twisted turn of fate, really. those stars were beautiful, but any wishes that might've been put upon them that night probably got burned right up along the way,

because one thing led to another, you got blindsided. it was brutal. six against one. what's worse is they were all drunk.

and you got messed up … real bad. you were in a daze as you stumbled— limped, more like— back to your house, the scent of tar and red iron and alcohol clogging your senses. your head was ringing, your vision was blurred over so bad it was like someone had squeezed glue right in your eyes, your scalp was on fire and felt uncharacteristically light ...

you vomited right out on the sidewalk leading up the steps, and when you finally managed to lug yourself through the door, it only took all of five seconds or five eternities before all hell broke loose.

the serenity of that evening was such a stark contrast to the tragedy that had befallen you, it nearly made ya laugh. and you did. you were a little manic. halfway out of your mind.

; darry caught and carried you to the car, probably broke several traffic laws getting you to the hospital. he had a single-track mind, tunnel vision, and is gritting his teeth as he barks at any and all incoming and outgoing traffic – he's panicking. you, his baby sibling, you were washed up real bad. the vision of your bruised and bloodied face and near-shaven head is imprinted on the back of his eyelids every time he blinks, and he's weaving between cars and lanes as he floors it to the hospital. if it weren't for soda yelling in the back seat for him to slow down and watch out, glory's sake dare! he most definitely would've ended up in a stretcher with y'all right then and there, scramblin' like a wild animal to get you some help.

; sodapop held your torso in his lap, practically cradling your entire body. but you were squirmin' and achin' and bawlin' so much, he couldn't hold all of you the way he wanted. his eyes were full of tears as he held you close, staunching the blood leaking from your temple and – the horror of it dawns on him as he's cradling your head, the miscellaneous cuts around your scalp – with an old balled-up shirt and he's holdin' your face and stroking your cheeks, pleading and shushing with your hysterics and he looks so scared.

; ponyboy held your legs in his lap, he wasn't off no better. his own eyes were practical dinner plates, all wide and shaking with horror. he held your hands real tight, trembling at how cold they felt and combating the urge to not get sick all up in the car. he's terrified, it shows, but he's your brother – that comfort couldn't go away even if it was stripped from y'all. so he holds your hands, all the way until you get strapped to the stretcher and rolled into the ICU. only then does he allow himself to book it to the bathroom and get sick in a stall. man, what had they done to you?

you got jumped by some socs. they stripped ya of all your carry-on csh, your hair, your dignity, and darn near left you for dead right there in that park.

it was a miracle you made it home. you were still high on adrenaline, and your breakdown was the consequences of it burnin' right out. but blessedly, you were out like a light (still alive dw) once they gotcha hooked up to an IV and a heavy dose of anaesthetics.

it was ironic, really. the way they had used your very own blade to chop off your hair.

*cliffhangs this* it's nearly 1am and my eyes are bouta pop right out my skull, but hold fast darlin', i'll be back with more! i'm iffy on the formatting but ah, c'est la vie. this is long nuff anyhow. 😂❣

OH MY GOD. THE URGE TO MAKE THIS INTO A FIC WHERE THE REST OF THE GANG SEES YOU…is STRONG.

ykw….ima have it done by tomorrow zee. DONT U WORRY FR

and you’re writings legit amazing had me feeling like i got jumped and shit???

#2knightt #leo’s late night rambles #zee you did it again.

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linkspooky · 1 year

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This is about jjk 208!

I'm confused on yuki's fate and a bit irritated how gege has treated female characters in jjk. I feel like there are barely any left that are narratively important. Is it just me? Like I used to have hope nobara is alive and will come back into the story but I'm losing faith especially with mai's and now yuki's fates. What do you think about jjk female characters currently? I still love them especially miwa and utahime and maki. Plus mei mei is interesting bc she's twisted. But I feel like there are no female characters that are important anymore... 😕 am I being too impatient or missing something?? 😭😭😭 like I know Shonen treats female characters like crap a lot of times but still

I pretty much agree with you, anon?

Spoilers under the cut.

If you want my essay on how female characters are treated in Jujutsu Kaisen, this is going to be a bit long, multilayered and rambly. Number one, I think a big problem is there's actually not that much variety in the Jujutsu Kaisen female characters. If we are talking about the female characters that are important so far and get screentime and not side characters like Utahime and Miwa.

We've got, Maki, Nobara, Shoko, Mei Mei, Yuki Tsukumo. These five women are essentially one women in that they are five different variations of "brash, independent, strong girl". I am not saying that they all are the same character but Gege clearly has a type of character he prefers and that is loud, tough as nails and fights just as strong as the boys.

And this is just my reading of the situation, but it seems to me Gege is trying to hard to overcorrect for what people consider the "Sakura" problem, or the "Uraraka" problem that is female characters who are softer and weaker than their male counterparts, never get to have fights, and usually end up just being permanent support and love interests. But it overcorrects way too hard in the opposite direction.

The thing is my favorite shonen female character is Orihime is she is all of those things that I just listed above, but she's still interesting because she's a three dimmensional character with struggles, feelings, and relationships to other people outside of Ichigo. People either try way too hard to write good female character, or they don't try hard enough and what you end up with is they forget to just write female characters with thoughts and opinions.

I think a consistent flaw with Gege's writing of female characters isn't necessarily that they're all mean and nasty but the fact that he doesn't give them long running character arcs? Megumi's arc is developing his ten shadows technique and learning to be a sorcerer and be more selfish when he doesn't want to be and battles feelings of suicidal. Yuji's arc revolves around the idea of death. I like Nobara but I am not sure what her arc would be, besides her initial confrontation with Mai and the fact she is a naive outsider to the trio. Maki had an arc in Jujutsu Kaisen Zero in her relationship with Yuta and how distant she was in the group, but that seems to be resolved in JJK proper and what they came up with was her relationship with Mai which was an interesting arc with a lot of potential for both of the sisters to reconcile and grow together but then Mai just dies. It's like Gege thought giving Maki a power up to make her just as powerful as Toji was more important than a character development arc that forces her to grow and change.

I say Miwa is the best written female character because she has an arc. Loses in the Kyoto battle arc and feels useless -> grows closer to Mechamaru and they both catch feeling -> because she doesn't reach out enough to Mechamaru in time, he ends up dying trying too hard to protect her which only reinforces her feelings of uselessness -> Miwa has to grieve Mechamaru, and cope, and move on.

I can draw a clear line from point a to point b, I know how the character is expected to grow and change. I like Nobara's character but also like, I understand why Gege exploded her head to raise the stakes of the three main characters she's the only one who didn't have much of an ongoing arc.

However, I will say that Yuki Tsukumo's death is just really weird. Like I said the problem with these female characters is not that they are shallow, or poorly written, but they're not super important to the story and they don't really have arcs. The thing about Yuki is the mystery surrounding her character was a pretty long running theme, where did she come from, what are her plans for the future. She's the first character to promote the idea that we can lived in a future without curse spirits or cursed energy and she was working towards this goal. Which sounds like where we might end up at the end of the series. She's a person with a hidden agenda that is using some of Geto's old allies and isn't necessarily on the side of the kids.

By killing Yuki you effectively lose all of that.

Yuki Tsukumo dying leaves like a hundred unanswered question on where she comes from, what her plan was, and the only vague answer we get about her is she used to be a star plasma vessel. Once again, we have this problem where what was interesting about Yuki was her plot importance and how she added to the world building of Jujutsu Kaisen and the mystery that surrounded her character.

What we got instead of Gege elaborating on any of that, was a fight scene where Yuki throws fisticuffs with Kenjaku. Because once again Gege writes a women as rough and tumble and just as willing to throw hands as one of the boys instead of just writing them as a character first.

Generally, for a character death if you have to kill them it's because they serve a greater narrative purpose dead then alive. Yuki being dead doesn't really add anything to the story, it just gives us a bunch of unanswered questions because Gege didn't elaborate or fill us in on all the mysteries he had building up with her character whatsoever. Now she's just kind of a spunky girl. Which like, great, whatever I guess but I preferred Mad Scientist, potentially dangerous ally Yuki Tsukumo with her own agenda.

As I said it's not really anything with Yuki Tsukumo's personality so much as her character writing, not only do we just know nothing about her now, but all future development or plot involvement or even plot importance and the things she could have added to the story are just gone now. We can't really know about these characters if Gege doesn't bother to tell us who they are.

#jjk 208 #jjk 208 spoilers #jujutsu kaisen 208 #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #askspookies

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limeade-l3sbian · 5 months

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I think the socialization part shows itself a lot more since most romance manga(and in cases of manhua and manwha, the chinese and korean equivalents) are written by east asian women, whom obviously live in a place even more patriarchal than the west. not to say the things these women learn to accept from “love” makes them less or even unusual, i simply want to reiterate that it’s more pronounced there due to how even more constricted their societies are in regards to the treatment of their women.

anyway. now that the disclaimer is out of the way!

i’ve grown up reading a lot of manga of many different genres but i’ve especially used to have had some intense shoujo phases. shoujo is basically manga created for the demographic of girls and young women. not to say others can’t read it, but it’s simply where they tend to be marketed.

shoujo romance especially shows this issue a lot that i wanna talk about. the male leads will 9 times out of 10 be rich, extremely emotionally stunted(this can show in the form of intense rudeness, complete lack of emotional depth, no expressions, stoic to the extreme, downright abusive) and handsome. Those are the three traits they almost all have. Now obviously I get the want for a handsome or beautiful lead, whether it’s female or male, it is after all just fantasy fulfillment to an extent. The same with wealth. But i think the emotionally stunted side speaks of the women and girls’ who read the mangas socialization a lot. We have these male leads who often make the female leads go through hell, whether it’s due to his own actions or inactions. Sexual assaults have gotten less common in more modern manga, but it was only like ten years ago where sexual assaults in manga by the male lead towards the female MC would be a common place for him to show his desire for her and despite it often being portrayed as bad on the MC’s end, she always did end up forgiving him. The same with however else he treated her.

Made her to all the heavy lifting emotionally of the relationship? He’s forgiven, because suddenly he’s gotten a “tragic” backstory of a lonely, lonely boy being neglected in his massive mansion from childhood. He’s absolutely vile towards women? His mom was probably a horrid woman who either cheated on his poor dad and left or maybe she was simply so overbearing he now feel suffocated and dates new women every week like it’s some kind of game to dangle others feelings at his fingertips. Way into the romantic relationship having started with the MC he’s suddenly revealed to have a arranged fiancée or a very mean spirited but extremely beautiful childhood friend who the main character now how to basically fight off him with a stick while the male lead does not much else in most of these stories besides being useless. if we are lucky we get him talking the fiancée/childhood friend that he actually liked this new girl(MC), but extremely rarely will he actually go out of his way to truly set boundaries. he will passively essentially invite scorn towards his current gf. and these are just SOME of the examples of repeat patterns in behavior in the romantic male leads.

time and time again in shoujo romance male leads will make life much harder for the female main character. she will often be put down to her face for scoring such a rich hottie(even though we are at times 50+ chapters in and feelings on his end still seem finicky), she will have to bear the emotional heavy lifting and basically mother him/be a teacher to him on how to express himself, despite the fact that he usually changes very little. she will forgive any and all transgression he commits, even if it breaks her heart, because he is the main male lead and therefore he can do nothing truly wrong to not end up with her. and in the end of the mangas it’s usually somehow made clear in some way that SHES the lucky one. despite her carrying the relationship on her back. She should be grateful. And women and girls in east asia, and obviously also very much outside of it, eats it up. Yes! Give us a borderline abusive or at least emotionally neglectful man! We can forgive! We can forget! Let us be his doormat!

Not manga but it’s also so obviously in most romance kdramas i’ve seen. It’s such a common trope, these handsome, rich, utter asshole male leads and then these utter angel for a female lead who absolutely tolerates getting walked all over.

And while i’ve not read any of those books, it’s not like it’s not visible in the west. When authors like Coleen Hoover has basically built a career off of emotionally stunted but hot guys treated their gf/wife like utter garbage but it’s okay!!!! so romantic!!!!

women all over the world have such bottom of the barrel standards when it comes to emotional maturity in men. in some mediums it’s certainly more apparent than others, but it’s visible all over.

I do wanna be 100% clear that not all romance manga is obviously as I described. I’m simply talked about popular tropes, and i mean EXTREMELY popular, as in its more common to see at least one of them than it isn’t. That’s all.

!!!

#ask

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blye-flower · 6 months

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Me again on the DNAngel au!

One! ...What exactly is a "Principality" ? Do the angels like, represent different principles? (And what were/are they if so?)

Two! So an Angel can fall, but regain their prior status, can demons do the same? Also, why wouldn't Leo "I'm nothing without them" sabotage himself to get kicked out too?

(Unless something else bad would happen instead..?)

And, does April tell anyone about Donnie, and so they ever get like... Found out? (I assume the relationship is frowned upon) (They are SUPER cute btw!!!)

Thanks so much for being open to questions!!!!

Hello again!! Good to see you lol

So, I'm not gonna get too much into the question regarding the principalities here only cause I'm gonna make a post explaining the hierarchy of angels (and maybe demons, tho theirs is slightly less put together because "chaos"), but I will say that they govern the principles of large groups! Their job is to make sure the morality of leaders in groups stay straight, and to report to heaven when/if it doesn't.

And yes! Demons can work to regain their angel status (that's what Raph is trying to do actually, but he's too good at being bad, so he's struggling qnsbsnd) As for Leo, of course, he could sabotage himself, however, while I consider Leo a clever character, his wants are so painfully written on his face that the heavens know becoming a demon would be a grace to him, not a punishment. While the hugher-up angels are very impersonal, they're not so impersonal that they can't figure out someone's desires. So, at best, they would demote him into a fallen angel, and unfortunately fallen angels can't stay in Hell long or else they'll begin to molt and their wings become useless. Besides, there are two pretty angels in heaven that Leo has the intentions of wooing, so he can't risk being wingless in Hell for the rest of his eternal life. And since his brothers hold nothing against him and they're all still able to see each other, an angel Leo remains.

And surprisingly yes. She tells Sunita and Leo finds out because of Donnie. Initially, Donnie pulls the old "I wanna follow after you because I want to become an angel again 🥺" ploy on her, and she's so excited that someone recognized her skills as a do-gooder that she can't help excitedly tell Sunita about it. She starts to get shy about it when Kendra kinda figures it out, and for a while, she treats Donnie like a dirty little secret (which is not easy to hide because her halo would literally form a heart whenever she's lost on cloud nine about Donnie).

Their relationship is frowned upon, yes, but not in the sense that she'll necessarily have to become a demon or a fallen angel, because demons are essentially just angels under new management in this AU. So in the end, it's a slightly less intense Romeo and Juliet situation.

But it does mess with April's already ruined reputation, but going along with her canon character arc, April kinda learns to accept the fact that she's a bit unorthodox, but there are people who are gonna love her regardless of it.

Once again, thank you for the questions!! The interest in this silly little au has me so motivated to make more of it ^^

#thank you for the ask!!#rottmnt #rottmnt au #apritello #apritello au #rottmnt apritello #rise of the tmnt #blymi talks #text post #dnangel au #temp. tag #blymi answers #angel and demon au

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thenicestthingiveseen · 1 year

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I Want You Back

The stories are pouring out of me. Here’s a getting back together story where Harry does his eighth year at Hogwarts.

AO3 or read below

Finding their way back to each other takes longer than Ginny would’ve liked. Especially considering the fact that Harry decided to come back to Hogwarts for his “eighth year” while Ron didn’t. That has to mean something doesn’t it? She’d asked herself, and Hermione, this question constantly. And for someone who spent as much time with Harry as Hermione did, she was utterly useless with her shrugged shoulders and non-answers.

Everything was the same. But oh so different. It was maddening. Romilda noticed though. As did a slew of other girls - it felt like the whole school knew.

She says she never gave up on him, but if she’s being honest with herself, only when she’s in her dorm, hidden behind the curtains in the dead of night, she’s so close to giving up. She’s not angry. She doesn’t think she can ever be angry at him. But she’s frustrated and confused. She knew he was giving her time to mourn her brother and he needed time to mourn - well, everything.

But that was months ago.

—

The notice for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year is taunting her as she stares at announcement board. When Martin asks her, she hears herself saying yes without really thinking about it.

That spreads through Hogwarts like Fiendfyre.

Harry doesn’t change the way he acts towards her, but she’s noticed the confused and somewhat disapproving looks Hermione shoots her way.

“He’s given absolutely no indication that he wants to be with me as anything more than a friend, so you can keep your looks to yourself,” Ginny hisses in the library two nights later.

—

Hogsmeade with Martin is nothing to write home about. Not that she’s ever written home about a boyfriend before. She doesn’t let him kiss her. She barely lets him hold her hand. She tells him she had a nice time and after they’ve left Honeydukes heads off to the Hog’s Head - alone. It’s where Hermione “casually” mentioned she’d be with Harry.

And Ron and George apparently.

Harry shoots her a lopsided grin. Her heart almost stops. Ginny mentally shakes herself and orders a hot chocolate with a shot of firewhiskey as they chat. She didn’t realize how much she missed her brothers until she finds herself unable to stop from laughing at their tales of work and life outside of Hogwarts. Ron’s helping George in the shop until Harry graduates and they’ll enter the Auror program together.

They slowly make their way back towards the gates leading to the castle and Ginny thinks to herself that it’s nice to see George happy. The past six months have been all about putting themselves back together and figuring out how they fit together as a family and a Wizarding community.

She’s pulled out of her little world when Hermione asks her how her time with Martin was. She hears herself respond that it was fine. She can’t believe she forgot about him so quickly. But then again, she can. He wasn’t anything special. For all the time she’s spent trying to figure Harry out, she’s been essentially existing in a trance. Not that she’s losing pockets of time like her first year, but her mind is almost always preoccupied with the state of her relationship. Or lack thereof.

Ron gives her a weird look. She doesn’t think much of it and tries to keep walking. Ron’s grabbed her shoulder and let everyone walk ahead of them.

“What’re you playing at, Ginny?” he asks bluntly. Ginny scoffs, “whatever could you mean dear brother?”

“You know what I’m talking about. You’re going on dates with blokes that aren’t Harry?”

“Well it’s not like he asked me! Besides, I wouldn’t even call it a date!” Ginny spits.

“He came back to Hogwarts for you!”

“Well, until he gives me ANY indication about how he feels about me, I’m free to do as I please.” After that Ginny yanks her arm out of Ron’s grasp, pushes through Harry, Hermione, and George who are trying to pretend like they didn’t hear the argument behind them, and stalks back to the castle.

“You didn’t have to say anything.” Harry mumbles as they say good-bye to Ron and George at the gate.

Harry and Hermione are sitting on the chesterfield in front of the fireplace whispering furiously when the portrait hole opens 2 hours later, revealing a red faced Ginny. They stop and look at her, Harry looks like he’s about to go over to her, when Hermione gives him an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Ginny doesn’t even look at them before strides to the stairs for the girl’s dormitory.

“Let me talk to her first, Harry. She might still be angry and I’d hate for her to lash out at you when neither one of you is technically doing anything. Though, this is exactly why I told you you needed to talk to her before we came back to school.” Hermione says as she grabs her book from the floor.

“I was - I was trying to give her time.” Harry says miserably.

“Well, there’s such thing as too much.” With that, Hermione heads to the stairs. She turns around before she walks. There’s so much sympathy in her eyes, “good night, Harry.”

With that, Harry’s left staring at the dying fire.

“If you’re here to scold me, I really don’t want to hear it.” Ginny says with her back to the mirror, “and honestly, I don’t want to talk about this with you, Hermione. Especially after I’ve asked time and again for ANY clue as to where his bloody head is at.”

Sighing, Hermione sits down at the foot of Ginny’s bed. She draws the curtains around them and casts a silencing spell so that they can speak freely without disturbing their sleeping roommates.

Sucking in a breath, Hermione lets her know that she isn’t there to scold her. Quite the opposite actually, she spent the last few hours scolding Harry, she tells her with a hint of amusement in her voice. “It’s strange not to be yelling at him about schoolwork. But, I told him he needs to talk to you. I’ve been telling him needs to talk to you,” she says meaningfully. At this, Ginny turns over to look at her. Hermione takes this as a good sign and plows on, “I’ve been telling him to talk to you for ages, really. I still think you two should talk, I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t bat bogey him or something.” Hermione finishes with a chuckle.

“Well, I thought about it. That’s why I didn’t come back for a while.” Ginny admits sheepishly.

Smiling Hermione says, “I’m pretty sure he’s downstairs still. Listen to him.”

Ginny gets up. But before she leaves Hermione says, “but make sure he listens to you too. He owes you that.” Ginny nods resolutely and heads back down to the common room.

Ginny always considered herself a confident, self assured, strong, pragmatic girl. She rarely cries. But her brothers have always had a knack for reducing her to tears when she leasts expects it. As she walks down the stairs she reminds herself she did nothing wrong walking around Main St. with Martin. As much as she prides herself on her ability to read Harry Potter, she’s not that great Legilimency.

Harry’s still there. Just like Hermione promised. She stands at the foot of the stairs willing herself to finally have this conversation.

“Hey,” she breathes out. Harry’s head snaps towards the stairs so fast she’s afraid he’s given himself whiplash.

He looks miserable. Which, oddly, makes Ginny feel better about the whole situation and allows her to walk fully into the common room and sit next to him on the couch. They both stare at the fire.

After what feels like centuries, Harry clears his throat, “I’m sorry about Ron. I told him he shouldn’t have gotten on your case like that after you walked away. It wasn’t fair to you.” He’s very deliberately not looking at her. She sniffs in acknowledgement.

He’s still not looking at her. Minutes pass. The crackling of the dying embers is the only sound in the room.

Ginny shifts so that she can face him, “I get why you did what you did. I didn’t like it, but I get it -” Harry opens his mouth to interject, “can you just, please, listen to me! Just this once, please.” Harry nods.

Ginny sets her shoulders and plows on, “OK. I’m not going to beg you for anything, butI’m going to be honest with you, so I need you to be honest with, yeah?”

“At first, I thought you were giving me time to mourn Fred. Which I allowed, but then it was August, and then we were here, and I dunno, it just seemed like you were content to just go on with life as usual. I told myself that you choosing to come to Hogwarts instead of rushing off to Auror training meant something. That it meant you felt the way i felt about us. But then it was October and nothing. It was like your sixth year again, but it wasn’t and I’ve been so confused! I’m not needy enough to beg you to be with me, but I do think I deserve to just know point blank if we’re just friends and those last few weeks of your 6th year were what they were. I deserve that.” Ginny finishes and takes a shuddering breath. Finally. She’s let it all out. Everything she’d been holding in for months.

Harry has the decency to look a bit ashamed. “I was counting the days ‘til I could see you again. Like a child counting down until Christmas, y’know? When I would be on watch last year, I’d check for your name on the map.”

Ginny’s heart aches.

“You’re precious to me, Ginny. So unbelievably precious.” When she doesn’t say anything, he turns and finally catches her eye. He looks like he’s going to cry, but he pushes on, “I told myself that you needed time. I needed time too, and I told myself, if I came back to Hogwarts we could have time together. But as time passed on, you seemed to be doing great, I thought you wanted to be my friend. Thought you realized I wasn’t worth the trouble.”

“If you think I’d ever love someone after you then either I’ve failed in showing you how much you mean to me or you’re a bloody moron.” Ginny says. Harry laughs, but he’s cut off when Ginny lunges towards him and pulls him into a searing kiss.

Harry pulls back and breathlessly asks, “Martin?”

“Pfft. I wouldn’t even hold his hand. He did buy me some Sugar Quills though. I should find him and give him a quick snog.” Ginny jokingly makes to leave.

“Never.” Harry says as he pulls her back into another bruising kiss.

This is what they’d both been missing.

#hinny fanfic #postwar #harry potter #harry ginny #harry and ginny #harry x ginny #drabble #gettingbacktogether #hinny au #slight canon divergence

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louderfade · 3 months

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if you find you cannot yet afford to enhance your brain, then adjust your perspective to align with that of your favorite brand ambassador/friend. if you're not sure who your friends are you've likely been confused by chaotic natural feelings, due to your lack of helpful brain implants. recall that brand is your friend. you can always count on brand. nobody cares about you like brand does. certainly nobody knows as much about you. brand loves you so much it collected all of your data bc it thinks you're sexy and cool and super smart. it knows just how special you are, so it saves everything you do forever within the sprawling fields of server warehouses. or rather, that is, we mean (excuse us), machine-populated apartment parks, conveniently located in the ever-increasing hellscape known as northern virginia. what, you ask, is a virginia? never mind. you'll never gain any followers if you don't stop oldworld posting about boring stuff like that. besides, you don't have time for troublesome, problematic facts. you have important work to do. the fate of the empire depends on goodpersons doing the Right Thing whenever possible. it's essential that you never lose sight of your sacred duty to online shopping. the real world is obsolete anyway, all that really matters is engagement metrics and the mutual benefits of brand loyalty. after all, love is important, and how will you know who loves you if you aren't using cross-platform analytics to track incoming likes? don't worry about what it is you actually buy. the best purchases are things that nobody needs, bc useless inventions push boundaries in STEM and create jobs for citizens overseas. think of all the innovations and employment opportunities you're creating. you really are a generous person aren't you. we can tell by the careful attention you pay to unskippable ads. you really appreciate all the hard work brand does for you. we see true potential in your emerging talent. we'd like to invest in you. we'd like to gut you like a fish and store your brain in a server warehouse while we drain it of all electricity and drag out its remaining ideas. gutless fish fleshsack is a very important job in the vision for a flawless future. you see we must feed the machine. everything needs to eat. even manmade horrors well within the boundaries of comprehension. but don't worry, our brain-enhancement technologies can help you adjust peacefully to even the most horrible details of a doomed reality. everyone has to sleep at night, after all.

#the future is worse #text

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djbeatz · 1 year

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I Call That Bravery

So, if you read the beginning note of my most recent Ao3 post, then you’ll know that I’ve recently got into Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I haven’t watched 03 yet, but I will when I have time.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about General Armstrong’s perception of Major Armstrong. I’ll be using their first names so it isn’t as confusing. Their names are Olivier and Alex respectively just as a reminder.

(Anime Spoilers under the cut)

This is something I’ve talked about with @djcarnationsblog mostly. But it’s about how Olivier thinks of her brother. It’s quite obvious that she looks down on him 99% of the time and thinks of him as someone lowly. She thinks he’s a coward because of what he did in the Ishvalan war.

Alex had not become a soldier to kill innocent people, he didn��t sign up to be a murder. He only wanted to protect his country and so, to me it makes sense that he would refuse to do any such thing in the war. He knew what they were doing was wrong and he wouldn’t stand for it. This caused him to become useless in the war and therefore discharged.

Obviously, Olivier is the more stone hearted of the two. She is stronger in body and mind, so doing things like that in a war would not phase her as much as they did Alex. Though I don’t think she started out so tough, not for any particular reason besides the fact that people aren’t just born with hardened hearts.

Her strength of will kind of reminds me of the others who had been in the Ishvalan war. They do regret the things that they had done and wish to atone for it, but it didn’t make them any less hard hearted.

With that in mind. It makes sense to me why Olivier believes him to be a coward. It is quite cowardly to run from your duty as a soldier.

But I don’t think specifically what he did and why was cowardly. I think it was pretty brave.

Alex ran from the battlefield not necessarily to save his skin, but to save his mind. He did not allow himself to be in that war because it was not something he stood for. What he was protecting was his mind.

He was protecting himself by not giving the war the chance to change his moral code or who he was as a person, even at the cost of having to turn his back on his allies, and essentially part of his country.

Signing up to be a soldier and actually being a soldier are two very different things. Becoming a soldier is like selling your body and your soul to an organized unit that has every say over you and your autonomy. If they punish you with demoting, firing or death, you don’t have a say in it.

The fact that Alex took the initiative to save himself speaks volumes. Especially when others did not take that chance, nor did they even see it.

Of course, I don’t think it was his true intention to be discharged from the war, he only intended not to kill anyone with his bare hands because above everything, he seems to cherish humanity. And he still saw these people as humans rather than a job he may or may not complete.

Alex is like the epitome of love for humanity, and I think that’s something that isn’t talked about a lot, and it’s also something I wish Olivier could see.

What she sees is her coward of a brother. In truth, he’s one of the bravest people for having the resolve to put himself first when he’s clearly a very selfless person.

But my question is why she doesn’t see that. I know she isn’t a shallow person in the slightest, but she seems to be looking much too surfacely on the matter. Alex, also is clearly not a coward in any sense of the word, he throws himself into situations just because he believes he can try and help, even if it isn’t a guarantee, he still tries, which you could kind of compare it to an Elric brother kind of crazy just minus the chaos.

Well, I think I’ve rambled enough on this topic. I just had to get it out of my system really. But depending on what my mind focuses on next, you might see me talk a bit more about Fmab!

Really, the only thing making me write these little rambles is the thought coming to my head, getting on Tumblr and winging shit, connecting it as I go.

As protocol, you really shouldn’t believe anything I say, these are mostly for fun. And if this doesn’t make sense, I’m really sorry. But I’ll be opening my ask box soon so if anyone wants clarifications on anything or simply want to ask questions and bring some of this stuff to my attention, then you can feel free to say whatever you want when I’ve got it up!

#fmab #alex armstrong #olivier armstrong #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #more rambles #it's been a time since I've done one of these #but yeah i'll be opening my ask box soon #maybe this or next week #fmab spoilers

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luckyshotwrites · 1 year

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Ch. 67 // Stuck on Repeat // Day 52

Contents (Warnings): Who are they, Claudia? (Slight angst, vore mention, character and monster info as always). Read full chapter on - A03

Wordcount: 3,000

Side note: This will contain experimental writing; first person (Lynette's view) will be implemented alongside third person for the two other essential characters, (mostly) Alexander and (occasionally) Drake. All their text will be italicized for those third-person moments, with the characters' names in Bold at the start and their thoughts in Bold. There may be other characters I write for using this.

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(Nov. 14th, Monday)

Claudia

I should have felt and heard him enter the barrier. The others must be with him.

Her extra limb lay under his boots, crushed but not entirely useless. The fingers of it twitched as her mind looped the name he said. A fae's name held so much power against them that it was a weakness.

She kept her face from twisting in pain. She wanted to give Kalin something other than satisfaction.

His attentions on Lynette. She was slower than him and not as strong, but he was easily distracted. The other burlap-colored arm slung out from behind her back; it sprang forward, clawed hands aimed to grab his head.

It was merely a distraction that he fell for. He twisted, digging his heel down into the arm underneath his boot. He went to grab the one springing at him, and the one underneath him stretched further at the base of his boot. Claudia felt the tear but got it wrapped enough at his ankles to throw him off balance.

Her other hand grabbed at his face lurched forward, and she threw him by it into the illuminated shelves of potions.

All her work, once again, shattered and broken, spilling over him and the floor. Though they were primarily ingestible potions, she knew mixing them in the way she did would at least have some effect on him.

Her hurt, stretched limb flapped behind her. Though it didn't bleed, it looked like the inside of torn rubber. Her other functioning stretchy arm wrapped around Lynette.

She picked her up and ran toward the only door inside her home, besides the new opening Kalin made in the skylight.

She ignored the sound of him getting up and the others that fell through the opening, too, calling her name.

...

Wicks

His eyes didn't move from the spot she left last night. His car was parked across the street, but it didn't stop him from taking his eyes off the area.

The seals they had over their cars prevented them from being purposefully followed. So Wicks stayed up all night and day waiting for his sister to return to the pizzeria.

Her car and suitcase were there, which he hoped she'd come back for.

And he couldn't afford to fall asleep and miss her. The fact that Lynette ignored his calls and texts drove him crazy.

I promised them I'd keep her safe. I need to take make up for my mistake.

It frustrated Wicks to wait. He couldn't search for her; if he did, she might sneak back to the pizzeria, and he'd miss her.

She works today, so she'll come in. Wicks hoped. It was almost time, twenty minutes left, until her shift started.

He glanced at his phone again. The temptation to call his friend Garter entered his head again. Garter could look around the city while Wicks stayed.

I can't involve him in this. It's not an emergency. He figured.

She was right to be upset. I lied to her. To Wicks, she had every right to be mad. He could have erased her memory again, replaced it with something else, or lie when she asked about it.

He had so many options, but...

Every day, I learn something else about monsters, humans, or magus's, or I make the wrong calls.

He felt the warm yet painful squeeze at his chest. Your admiration, bad jokes, and smile improved my day, Lynette. It always did. I regret so many things except the day I met you.

His hands clung to the bench metal next to his mom. She sat back, watching Charletta, who hung wildly on the bars and talked to everyone. Then it happened, another child locked onto him. Their bright watermelon hue stared before they started to approach. Wicks clung tighter to the bench, looking up at his mom. She didn't seem to notice. Thinking back on it, she probably did. "Hi, what's your name?" He didn't respond; he went under the bench and studied her. His mom warned him not to talk to strangers. "I'm Lynette." She giggled, going to the other side of the bar. He crawled under the bench and he scrambled to his moms' legs. His mom turned as if she finally noticed Lynette. "Hello, niña. Sorry, Wicks is very shy." She pressed at his back. "Why don't you say hi to this sweet girl?" Wicks clung tighter. Lynette smiled at Wicks's mom, "Hi." She turned her gaze back to Wicks, getting closer. She was so persistent. "Do you want to see my cool super ranger?" Wicks had yet to learn what she was talking about. She quickly ran off, and he relaxed. He watched where she went. He saw her go to a thin, pale woman with light brown hair. Lynette put her hands up and then pointed to Wicks and his mom. Wicks cowered further. He didn't know what they were talking about. He didn't want to meet anymore people. The thin woman got up and followed Lynette as she raced ahead. "Hello," the woman said as she approached. His mom's attention was off them. He didn't want his mom to forget about him. He was now stuck with the relentless girl. She crawled under the bench too. "Look!" He didn't want to, but she showed it by his face. "Isn't he cool." Wicks looked at the green-helmeted figure. "They are a superhero. They fight crime and protect people!" She hyped. She passed it to Wicks. His hand came up to grab it. He didn't understand how Lynette knew he was a hero by looking at him. "He is?" "YEAH! He has a bunch of super friends too, but he's my favorite." She went on and on about how he's the leader and touched the toy in Wicks's hands to show him all the cool poses the action figure could strike. Before he knew it, she convinced him of how cool he was. The green super ranger. After another hour of their moms talking, they left, but Lynette forgot to take the ranger under the bench. And because she did, Wicks told his mom they had to go back to the park the next day so he could give it to her. Wicks also didn't know that they exchanged numbers at the time either and that her coming back the next day was not a coincidence. His mom texted Lynette's mom to ask her to bring her back tomorrow.

He still had that figure on his shelf. They watched those cartoons together religiously as children...he was embarrassed to admit he modeled him after the green super ranger a lot.

All because of his first friend, his best friend, and his sister. She had always been a light in his life.

He felt the tiredness washing over him; he went to his left arm again and sighed. It was red with pinch marks; he pinched down until it hurt. He knew some would leave bruises because he refused to heal them.

I'm supposed to be so powerful... he chuckled faintly, so why do I feel so helpless to help her.

He picked up his phone again to check his messages. Then, upon seeing the moving object in his peripherals, he threw himself back in his seat. A rock-like thing burst through his car window. He glanced at it. It exploded in a burst of purple gas. Wicks threw himself out of the car, holding his breath.

He tried to track its location and didn't see anyone on the roof, but he could trace their signature.

He glanced across the street for a second; he couldn't risk ever getting Lynette involved again. It's the reason his parents broke Wicks and her apart from the rest of them in the first place.

...

Lev

His eyes traced the two at the time clock, the easily annoyed blondie and... His eyebrow raised in surprise.

He rarely saw Zane, especially without being at Zilla's hip. Lev sadly didn't see the little Redhead yet. Shame. He built up a slight excitement over these past few weeks. He had so much planned for their little time together outside of work, and Lev was dying to give her a taste.~

"Deciding to stay a little late today, Zane?" Lev questioned.

Zilla's fraternal twin chuckled, "I've got a vacation coming up, so I had to make sure it's scheduled." He then happily stared down the hall, "Plus, I get to see my lovely sister!"

"Lovely," Lev put air quotes down in his head. You've got an odd obsession.

Lev then looked at Alexander. He checked over the time clock. Lev's cocksure grin rode up his lips.

"Aw, Wendie, are you worried about Lynette, don't tell me you finally scared her off."

Alexander's eyes narrowed on Lev. Those spotlights are terrifying.~ He joked in his thoughts.

"Don't think I won't kick your ass." Alexander's voice summoned his faintly deeper growl.

A snicker spurred out, "What? I only asked a question." Lev's innocence dropped to the floor like a 100-pound weight.

Alexander remained over the time clock; he rolled his eyes, "That little demon took her last night; she probably made her drink something stupid."

"Little demon?" Claudia? It was the one person Lev had a hard time reading. He felt confident enough to play it up with any and all of his coworkers. Everyone except that fae. She's interesting and odd. Lev didn't particularly think of her as a demon; she may be a mystery, but she's not that dangerous, at least to him.

Lev studied Alexander's expression, afraid of losing your favorite human; hmm? 'He grabbed the stick to poke the bear,' "Claudia told me about the siren potion she made and haphazardly broke." He leaned closer to the time clock, meeting Alexander's cloudy gaze. "Oh, imagine if she did drink the siren one last night."

Alexander squinted.

Lev continued with his thick, honeyed tone, "I guess that means she'll be mine over this next week instead.~."

The blondie caught on and groaned, "fuck off."

Zane finally chimed in after he checked his phone, "I wouldn't have guessed Claudia would be the one to do her in," he also gestured back to Alexander, "I'd imagine that'd be all him."

"Shut up," Alexander pushed up, muttering something about a wedding. He shook his head and started at Zane, "Claudia's not stupid enough to get her-" Alexander cut himself off.

They were all in silence for a second. Alexander glanced back at the time clock. It was almost 2.

"Fuckin' idiot shrimp." Alexander went walking down the hall, cogitated again by responsibility.

"You don't look worried." Zane tilted back and scanned over Lev's face.

Lev ran his hand through his hair, and his bright yellow eyes watched Alexander approach Edgar's office. He let out a breath and touched the badge on his uniform. He didn't look back at Zane, "Why would I worry for someone I don't know?"

He scanned in and turned to see Zane's unassuming and "innocent" face. I know you're as analytical as your sister. Don't play dumb, Zane.

...

Edgar

He pinched the bridge of his nose at the inventory order. Things are going to start picking up. He reminded himself. His eyes flicked to his office door.

The thumps rang a few bells, not that he needed them, as the male opened the door without knocking. Alexander.

He released an exhale first, then gave him a customer service smile, "is something wrong?"

Alexander shut the door behind him and spoke, "I'm her fu-" He corrected himself, "supervisor, so Lynette went to Claudia's last night. I don't know if she's called out or not. But she hasn't got here yet."

Edgar got his phone from his pocket; he had no new messages. He looked for Claudia's number in his phone.

"Do you know why she went with Claudia?"

Alexander rested on one of the bookcases, "to be stupid."

"Alexander." Edgar flashed the half-magus with seriousness.

Alexander uncrossed his arms and sighed, "She said she couldn't sleep in her apartment, and Claudia asked if she wanted to sleep over at her house. Lynette agreed."

Edgar called Claudia. The phone rang as he had it away from his ear. "She didn't express a reason?"

"Her apartment was flooded?" He didn't sound sure.

As far as I know, she lives with Wicks, does she not? Did neither of them have money? If not, they could have stayed with us, Edgar thought. Claudia's phone went to voicemail.

He stood up, did a once over of his office, and his eyes met Alexander's after. "You and Sandra are in charge for today. Make sure everyone keeps in line and follows the rules. Including yourself." Edgar called Lynette next. He grabbed his jacket and threw it over his uniform. "And please tell Sandra to text me Miss Evedane's address. It might be another gray incident."

Alexander nodded. He let Edgar move past him.

Edgar made it into the hall, and someone answered briefly.

"Lynette-"

He swore he heard Lynette's voice. Everything after sounded too muffled to understand. Then the line went dead. He tried again, marching down the hall, passing Zilla and Zane. The phone now continuously went to voicemail. It's turned off.

He scrolled through his phone; most numbers there were others related to Danee's line of work. He found the one he was looking for and called them next.

It rang twice before they answered.

"What's up, Eddie?" He heard the concern even though he used his nickname.

"Lynette went to another employee's house last night and has not shown up to work. I've tried to contact them to no avail." Edgar explained. "If you're not busy, I'll need the C.P.P.A. observer agent there. It might be a case that'll require force."

There was a pause, then a sigh, "Why does it have to be the Payton's adopted daughter." Pete's said.

"Our new family members." Edgar corrected. Even though the idea still didn't sit well, his children's happiness trumped his feelings.

"Yeah." Pete's said.

"Are you in or out?"

A soft chuckle came from the receiver, "Like I'd abandon a brother; send me the address, and I'll meet you there."

"Thanks, Pete's," Edgar said with relief. He opened his car door.

"You're buying me drinks this time, though; I hate having to pay you so much."

Those words caught him off guard, and Edgar banged his head on the car's door frame. He adjusted himself quickly, "it was two times."

Pete's laughed before Edgar hung up and rubbed his forehead. He relaxed his shoulders, and he typed the address Sandra sent him. Not that Edgar needed it. Even though Claudia changed it so frequently, he made it a habit to memorize all their addresses in case he was in a hurry.

...

Lynette

He crushed her arm.

My body refused to move. The danger centers of my brain blared, seeing the curl at his lips and spirals in his eyes.

The only thing I could do was whimper, "Why did you do that?"

I didn't understand why he hurt her.

My eyes barely tracked what happened next. Everything happened too quick. I couldn't react. Claudia's good arm coiled around me like many times before.

She raced me across the house and got us through the giant door.

I felt the familiar cool breeze before my eyes tracked the floating cubes and those implanted into the ground and the pinkish sky. It was the same thing she used during that game with us.

I couldn't see any glowing traps as she ran with me. Her thin tips of her feet splashed the water up as she ran.

"Wha-t's go-ing on Clau-dia?" I said between continuous bobbing motions. I swore I saw two other figures following behind.

"They've been finding me quicker and quicker." Her softer tone came out, "And now they'll kill us both. You'd probably be much faster, but they'd probably pick me apart."

"Are you saying they're your family?! Why would they want you dead?" I said with panic, she twisted around a corner, and her lower hand swung around at one of the cubes. She muttered a few words under her breath, then the cubes rapidly shifted and moved.

The floor underneath her was almost pulled out, and in a blink, similar to before, we were in a different location in this random area. A cube floating above us with giant ones around us.

"I'm glad you guys let me test this." She whispered as she let me down onto the dark, damp ground.

"Kalin's part of the family like the others," Claudia's voice didn't change its smiley octave. I couldn't see a smile on her face because of her monster form. "When I ran away, their base fell apart; they aren't happy."

I'm a liability here. I thought with a bad taste in my mouth. No, brain, please. Focus on Claudia. She's in trouble. I saw her healing her destroyed second stretchy limb, it looked a little blacker and less clay colored.

I touched my pocket. Wicks could get hurt; besides, how am I even supposed to ask him for help after I walked out on him?

I took out my phone, "if they're trying to kill us, I'll call my brother. He's part of the C.P.P.A."

In the dim light from above and the little bit my phone gave off, Claudia's voice sprang up.

"They won't help me, Lynette!"

"They'll kill you. And the C.P.P.A. helps monsters and humans in these situations, right? If there are so many people after you, we need them!"

I accidentally pressed Wicks's text messages, trying not to read them. I needed to call him.

In a swift motion, Claudia snatched the phone from me; the tip of her finger was typing something.

"What are you doing?!" I tried to get the phone back from her, but it was useless. I was at her knee in height.

"Nothing." More urgency left her voice.

"C.L.A.U.D.I.A., WE NEED HELP!"

My phone began to ring. Claudia fumbled with it, surprised. I heard the voice beyond the receiver. It sounded like Edgar.

"EDGAR!"

She quickly crushed the phone in her hand and dropped the pieces down at my feet. They splashed in the bit of water less than ankle deep for me.

I looked up at her, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!"

One of the arms at her back sprung at me and wrapped around my lower face, around my mouth, and partially my neck.

"They won't help me, Lynette." Her voice's usual static happy, bubbly manner fled.

Beneath, it felt cold, distant, and empty. "I've always been hiding and running from my family, and when I came to Earth, I ran from the C.P.P.A. too. It never ends." the grip on my mouth slowly tightened. "I can't get help from them, Lynette, because I'm wanted by the C.P.P.A..."

A sickeningly stale remorseful chuckle bounced along the walls of the cubes hiding us.

"for helping the family kill people."

...

Hey, you, thank you so much for reading. It means a lot that I put out a story that people can enjoy! So, I hope you continue to enjoy it as WE have a LOT more to go! YOU BETTER KEEP PROSPERING! (Nonnegotiable).

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