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minquiec · 3 months

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Why GiftedEyes is kinda special to me

Oh my goddd it's been a while since I yapped 😭 I've just been busy I promise I never stop the yap but this is uhmmm smth new that I haven't really posted about cause I literally came up w it 3-5 weeks ago but it's a oc PLUS canon not oc X canon cause it's a platonic pairing between an oc and.....GOJO SATORU OUT OF ALL PPL but yea enjoy I think

This is but a temporary diversion from jipunk hshahaha cause thinking abt moving on makes me wanna throw up cause I don't like change 😍😍 but I realise it's okay to like multiple things at the same time and it doesn't define me 🤺 so anyways

(I still love all my ocs and characters and ships and what not I never move on I just can't multitask and fixate on two things at once [me trying to self affirm LOL])

So how the fuck did I get here

How did I join the masses and suddenly become a gojo satoru enjoyer? Tbh idrk cause I've been into jjk for a while and it kinda appears in phases where I'd be pretty into it for a week and then ease out and then repeat for the next couple of months but this time round it's especially bad for some reason bc???? Hello??? I suddenly grew heart eyes for gojo satoru?? Scratches head fr but LAWD ITA SO FUN cause fanart wise jjk is a way more popular series than spiderverse and i can literally feel my starving body being replenished

But besides him being obviously a pretty boy I've actually grown to like his character a lot

So you see ☝️🤓 the problem w me is whenever I like a character I always gotta really REALLY like them to the point when I start analysing their personality to see if I actually fr like them and that's how it lasts longer than an average "he fine I want him"

And w gojo I think I realized I rlly like characters who have compassion for other ppl? 😭 but it's gotta have layers idk I have a range of types so maybe I'm just talking bs

Cause it's not rlly obvious w gojo but he's really kind in terms of his compassion for humanity which makes me ssooo 🙂‍↕️☝️😭🙏🙆‍♀️🤺🫶💔💔🧍‍♂️🗣️📈📈🔥🔥‼️🆙🆙 and it shows in the way he treats his students (ignoring the fact bro stepped on peoples faces in shibuya but you sort of get what i mean not really) and in that one line where he said smth like "no one should take the youth away from young people" and im going to leap because of his own youth that was taken from literally his birth cause of his groundbreaking, historic birth with his six eyes AND limitless

So very obviously he didn't have a normal childhood, probably put on a pedestal and worshipped which meant he grew up! Kinda weirdly! And when he met suguru he could probably experience his youth for the first time (geto!! Suguru!!! Was his first and last blue spring!!!! Blue spring is a poetic way of saying youth!!!! I'm gonna LEAP) and that youth was prematurely taken away at FIFTEEN and SSEECONNDD YEAR when riko was killed which could basically be a metaphor of the death of their youth with their morals and principles being thrown into a clothes dryer and tumbled around

And I'm not gonna. Get into how much stsg make me wanna tear my hair out cause tbh I Will Cry cause I've cried atleast 4 times about them before and I'm trying to keep my peace and they actually make me so sad bc the depth of their connection Makes Me Want to dddiiieeeee 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ they're so much more than just ahaha silly ship tgt and it drives me crazy but I'm not gonna get into it bc once again; I'm Gonna Cry

Anyways back to sat or oo gojo, he can do very easily be that cold typical guy that doesn't care but instead he chooses to hold the responsibility of the jujutsu world on his shoulders alone bc unlike the higher ups who are fucking useless!!!! He doesn't want the youth to suffer for the mistakes (they inevitably do anyways though 💔) cause I saw this tweet where he literally, could've solved the whole shibuya incident in a split second if he wanted (hollow purple the whole place and easy as that) but because of the innocent people involved he chose to literally risk vulnerability by over exerting to the max like wtf did you see that he's insane he's crazy he's gojo satoru (which in the end cost him his temporary freedom 💔💔💔 but I digress)

But uhmmm that concludes why I like him so much rn 🙏🙏 I saw this rlly good tweet where it mentions from who I believe is a jjk screen writer?? And mentions that gojos attractiveness stems from his ability to show weakness and that he isn't all invincible in terms of character and im like uuueEEEEEE but I appreciate him a lot

So ofc as any normal person would deal with loving a character, obviously my crazy ass decided "wow!! What a tragic character who's so, so lonely!!! I can't stand this and my heart cries for you so I'm gonna give you a companion because the canonical media treats you too painfully!!!!!"

Like a normal person does

So now we enter mins crazy bitch domain, my mind palace, my noggin if you will and all this takes a sharp detour to Cringeville but when have I ever gaf

A key aspect of Ruri's character is that she revolves around the failure of authorities in her life, starting from young where she is exploited for monetary means because of her jujutsu talent. I kinda made it on purpose that she parallels w satoru in a way where both were deprived of a normal childhood due to their talent? She is then failed again by the higher ups in the incident where she loses an eye due to their mistake and it's important to note that during this time (around ~2006 to ~2007) the star vessel plasma stuff happened and haibara dying due to higher ups so it really just solidifies that theme of children being exploited and burdened for the mistakes cause by the generation before them.

So because of this, there's already a different kind of connection between all of the surviving students of this time (mmm sort of minus suguru cause he went off and uhm,, started his cult and became public enemy #1)

On top of this initial connection of trauma, prior to it ruri and satoru had a more whimsical thing going on where they both have special eyes kind of (hence why I named it GiftedEyes cause they're technically both gifted in their own sense and they got fucked up eyes hahahaha) and during this time period, he's just very cheeky and cocky and she barely tolerates him bc ehhh he's just like that but he's nice in his own fucked up way

For shoko and suguru it's more of a normal friendly close relationship cause ruri's canonically likeable HaHaHa she's just very nice to be around so the 4 are in this close friend group tgt but I won't get tm into their dynamic or whtevr the fuck they have going on

So after the star ves incident and ruri's accident, she disappears for like ATLEAST A DECADE I THINK,,, TO HEAL?? (I'm still working on this but all ik is the higher ups took her away for healing) so none of the three see her again till 2018 (WHAT REALLY FUCKS ME UP IS THAT SHE NEVER GOT TO SEE SUGURU AGAIN,,,,, there's one situation where she actually sort of walks past mimiko and nanako in a public setting and she recognises a bit of his CE [this shit ain't canon, making this up cause it's part of her CT ajjajaj] but she brushes it off)

But anyways the dynamic changed when they meet again as adults in 2018 where instead of barely tolerating his shenanigans, ruri grew to be one of very few people who actually indulge his personality (as masked as it might be bc cmon now) because seeing familiar faces after all they've been through makes her sad 😞😞 it doesn't help she's older AJAJA only by a little but she's biologically inclined (ruri: oct 20 shoko: nov 7 satoru: dec 7 suguru: feb 3)

And while I say indulge, I don't mean she's actively encouraging it LOL she still has that stoic calm personality from adolescence but it's more like she turns the other way whenever he's being goofy (she buys him sweets and souvenirs whenever she comes back from missions)

And its cause like, the idea of someone who's on the top of the chain, the world even, finding comfort in an old friend makes me soooooo sssssssooooooo aAAAUYYEEUUGGHHHHHH it's what he deserves after so long so this is my coping okay and it kills me cause i think he (bear with me here lemme be cringe) would find a lot of comfort in her presence again cause sometimes it's like she's a time capsule from the distant past where he was actually happy and can't help but almost revert to the silly cheeky version 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ he may be suffering from his breakup for the past decade BUT atleast he got his girl SPACEBAR friends to support him (shoko and ruri)

Platonic love also really makes me sob cause like ,,, it's the way you've formed such a connection and affection (non romantically) strung by the mishaps and tragedies you've suffered together,,,ueueue but yea that's it i think i need to honk shoo mimimi they r special to me

#lorerambles

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pumpkinpie59 · 2 years

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requiem and owari kinda suck

it especially does splinter so dirty.

like requiem has this whole deal about “leo don’t lead with your head lead with your heart”

which i hate.

like,, listen. yes your heart, which ig means your love for others? is very important! but without your mind, your heart has no direction

what splinter should’ve said is something like,, use your head, but use it for the good of your team, or something.

also leo said splitting up was a bad idea later in the episode, and splinter told him no,,,, EVEN THO LEO WAS RIGHT??? he was using his head to keep his team safe!! he had the better strategy!

splinter’s plan just got himself killed!!

and his whole talk with leo just bothers me. i don’t like the “oh no you asking to be leader didn’t matter bc you were gonna be leader anyway” thing. like don’t tell him that agdkah.

say something more like,, “you asking showed your humility and eager spirit to lead your brothers.”

and also it implies that splinter put more effort into teaching leo to be a leader than the others.

yes leo is best qualified to be the leader. but everyone has leader qualities, and to ignore those qualities for the other 3 brothers is a bad move. teach them to also know how to lead in case something happened to leo. don’t put leo on such a pedestal. also leo has such an ego, pls don’t encourage it agdkahdk

also i have mixed feelings about karai being sent to the hospital. i like how she goes down in a burning building as an echo to her mother’s death, but karai deserved to join her brothers in defeating shredder.

and leo shouldn’t have been the one giving her mouth to mouth bc of implications

like,,, any of her other brothers or splinter or april would’ve been better bc there’s no implications there. or have shini do it.

and in owari, I HATE IT SM.

splinter’s like,,,,, “so yknow how i’ve been telling you for the whole series, as recently as two episodes ago, that revenge is always a bad idea … yeah ignore that and go avenge me pls”

i just wish instead of splinter telling them to avenge him, shredder went and decided to destroy splinter’s family too, and the turtles defeated him in defense or something. it might’ve made more sense idk.

and the fight scene is cool but i have notes.

i wish april and casey got a few hits before losing the boss fight privileges. they were shoved out before it even started smh.

all the boys got their spotlight which i love but ,,,, WHY WAS DONNIE KICKED OUT FIRST I HATE IT

and it sucks bc he almost got the coolest part of the fight. when he dived at shredder with his naginata and splashed him with retromutagen. it felt so worthless and idk i want more for donnie.

i like leo beheading shredder but i wish the brothers were there to witness it. like it only being leo there feels less like teenage mutant ninja turtles,,, all four brothers ,,,,, and more like the leonardo show. LEO’S MY FAVORITE CHARACTER BUT HES NOT THE ONLY MAIN CHARACTER.

and like okay there are good scenes (like april and casey) but these are my gripes that i’m thinking about rn

#tmnt rant ig #tmnt analysis #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt requiem #tmnt owari #tmnt splinter #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt shredder #tmnt karai #pumpkin stuff

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emmabirb8 · 1 year

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Okaaaaaayyy, so I went ahead and checked out Helluva Boss. Couldn't resist the siren call of Richard Horvitz forever I guess. (I still can't believe they got him for this series - he's a bit of a LEGEND in my book. In fact, I'm kinda baffled by a lot of people they managed to secure for the voice cast, but that's a whole other can of worms, lol.)

It's... not terrible. Not super great, but not terrible. I dig the concept, I think the series as a whole truly shines in its dramatic moments (it handles trauma surprisingly well, which shocked me), and it does succeed at being deep, emotional, and wholesome at times, but... tbh, there's MUCH more to criticize than there is to genuinely enjoy. Like, there're good bits and pieces; the ideas and valuable components are there, it's just that they're not utilized or executed in a satisfying way for the most part. Plus, a large portion of the comedy (esp the crude, sex-based stuff) just makes me roll my eyes and/or cringe so bad. Ugh. Why does "adult animation" always fall into the trap of thinking it needs to check that box?

And just to be clear: I am WELL aware of the controversy surrounding the creator. It's unfortunate that so far, I haven't seen very many people talking about that whole situation bc I personally think it needs to be more widely known, especially among the fanbase. That was mostly the reason I had been trying to avoid the show as much as I could up till now, knowing that I might find things to like about it; I didn't want to inadvertently show support for something that is clearly a product of a toxic and abusive environment if it meant putting the creator on a pedestal and sidelining the victims in any way. Helluva Boss is obviously (just like any other show) the result of a collaborative effort of a whole team of people, and anyone who enjoys the show even a moderate amount should think critically and give recognition to that hardworking team instead of only attributing everything to and directing all the praise at the creator (as some people have a tendency to do).

Anyway, rambling aside, I'm prob gonna reblog a few things here 'n there. I love Richard to death and, like I said, there are a few crumbs that I actually do like. I'm just... also gonna try to be conscientious and critical in my consumption of it too.

Blacklist "helluva boss" if you wanna avoid seeing any posts related to the show. I always tag pretty diligently.

#helluva boss #my posts #pls don't spread hate obviously but pls DO check out the link I dropped up there #like I said it's a situation that needs to be acknowledged

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nagirambles · 2 years

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Hi i saw your post on Nalu HCs and now I’m wondering do you have any HCs on Nalu with Gildarts as a father figure ?( Gildarts seeing how Natsu and Lucy remind him of his and Cornelia love life only their didn’t mess up like he did ) Gildarts giving Natsu love advice while comedy Gildarts kicking Natsu out of Lucy house lol. Gildarts being a father figure to Lucy cause boi does she need it. Just wholesome , comedy and chaotic HCs , it’s a shame theirs not many HCs on them please thank u 🧶

I am suddenly getting so many Gildarts requests aaaaa I love you all, thanks for all this, yeah? I feel loved.

I think Gildarts isn’t shown to approach Lucy as much because she’s already an older teenager at the time they met? Knowing his personality, he’d come off like Macao and Wakaba with their creepy perverted uncle kind of vibe, instead of a dad one. (Yes, I do not like that in canon either. Why are those two creeping on Mirajane... seriously Mashima... I’m glad Mashima didn’t write Gildarts approaching Lucy much, because I have a good feeling he would’ve taken the same direction.)

But anyways! Let’s start with just Lucy. Honestly, I don’t think Gildarts is much of a ‘father figure’, he’s more of the fun uncle to anyone except Natsu, and that’s because they both like destroying things. But I guess the difference is just kinda semantics, so eh. I like to think he’d put a pedestal on Cana by being all babytalk with her to lovingly annoy her though. He won’t do that with anyone else, and that’s a good balance.

Onto Lucy. I think they didn’t have much time or opportunity before this, so the first time he’ll seriously take interest in Lucy as a person would be on Tenrou after the battles before Acnologia, and probably because Lucy was partners with Cana in the S-class test. He would probably find a coincidental opportunity to come in and maybe thank her for being there for Cana, all that. Lucy would probably deny all that, but then the conversation would turn to Cana, and they’d start agreeing and whining about things like ‘hey, wait! Cana made it to the grave! She should have made it S-class! Damn that Grimoire Heart!’ or ‘she is so strong but she won’t believe it! She’s unbelievable!’ all ranting, so Gildarts can learn as much about Cana as he can, and Lucy can keep ranting about why she helped Cana in the first place.

I like to think Lucy would keep an eye on Gildarts were firmly. I think she would be giving him the equivalent of a shovel talk just to warn him that if he ever, ever messes the damn hell up with being a father again, she will Lucy Kick him up the head, crash magic or not. And she will uphold that promise because she cannot hurt him, but she can in fact put nails in his shoes, tabasco in his food, and mayonnaise in his beer. He is mortified enough to willingly get on his knees to apologize to Cana every time he unwillingly or drunkenly messes up henceforth. And then, he will go find Lucy to treat her to something just so both of them can make up, too.

I’d like to think it would be in one of these times where Lucy tells him why she’s so serious about him being a good father for Cana. Maybe they would both be lightly drunk and she would be ranting. Maybe it’s right after she finds out about her father’s death and she really needs a good cry. She would rant to him, openly, and because she hasn’t actually told everyone the full details of her past with her father, Gildarts would be the first to know. (One detail in all of Lucy’s confrontation scenes with her father is that when Lucy goes back to her friends, we always see her reunion with them from Jude’s perspective, without hearing her explanation to Natsu and gang. I like to think she doesn’t overshare then, she just assures them she’s settled it, she’s coming home with them, and she’s fine now. And they accept her wholeheartedly back where she belongs.) So, Gildarts would be the first to actually get a clear look into the depth of how far she’s been hurt, and how tragic her relationship with her father is. Gildarts resolves to never fail Cana the same way, and that’s enough for Lucy to smile.

I personally headcanon Celestial magic and Card magic are similar due to the same semi-divine connotations, so I like to imagine Gildarts being happy to talk with Lucy about Cornelia, and her history with fortunes. Maybe tell her the story of how they met, and why he believes Cornelia named their daughter Cana. And Lucy would return with the story of how her parents met, how her own name came by, and they would both laugh about how arbitrary parents can be with naming their own children. They would probably both talk about Cana in a worrying parental way, because they’re both worried about overdrinking and recklessness and all, but Cana just won’t listen to their critique. They’re like overbearing mothers and Cana hates that there are two of them now.

They would have a teasing relationship, where Lucy would poke fun of him every time for things like "you’re gonna leave without seeing Cana again? Oh, your poooor daughter!” and he would go ‘urk’. Similarly, if Nalu becomes canonical, (or even if it doesn’t and stays semi the whole way, honestly,) he would tease Lucy in the same way he teases Laxus about being kicked out of the guild during Tenrou. She would also go ‘urk’.

I love the idea of Gildarts being the scary dad figure. Lucy wouldn’t ask for him to protect her, she just doesn’t think it necessary-- but somehow, at some point, she gets pinned under the same umbrella as Cana in that ‘you better not mess with her because you will regret it when the strongest mage in the west comes after your head’ category. Lucy and Cana are both annoyed by it because they do not need that dumb thing, it’s scaring away customers, and most of all, I can. protect. MYSELF. (Gildarts whines because he’s not doing it because he thinks they’re weak, he’s doing it as a show of his loooove!) (Both of them make overdramatic reactions of ‘ew no you creepy old man!’ but they’re both grateful)

To be clear, I’m not saying all this in a ‘Cana and Lucy are girlfriends’ way, though you’re free to interpret so. I just think Gildarts would extend some of that love to Lucy simply because his regret for failing Cana can span enough for two dear girls that desperately missed a father’s love in their lives, and he’s more than willing to do for Lucy what Jude couldn’t. Because he knows now that it’s not about blood relations, everyone deserves a father’s love. If Macao and Wakaba could do it, maybe he could, too.

More in relation to Natsu. The teasing would never stop for Natsu. He almost never let Natsu live the old crush with Lisanna down, so clearly, now that things changed, he will turn that right the hell back on. Heck, if Nalu’s the openly official relationship of this continuity then I think Lisanna would join in, because that’s kind of in line with her prior personality as the teasing one. Gildarts would chide Natsu about being always being more obsessed with wanderlust than Lucy. Lucy would insist it’s fine, but Gildarts would not, simply because that is what he did and he regretted the hell out of it. (He’s a dad, but that doesn’t mean his advice needs to be followed.) So he just nags, and Natsu ends up grabbing Lucy along so they can both avoid the damn nagging.

I feel Gildarts would project a little. He doesn’t want Natsu to become someone like him, who was too late for Cornelia and almost too late for Cana. He’ll eventually realize that Natsu won’t grow up like him, and Lucy won’t be the next Cornelia-- and he’ll be content, and he’ll finally be able to truly forgive himself.

Honestly, I feel Gildarts would sympathize with Jude, even though (and most likely because) he was a horrible father. Of course, absent and neglectful are two different things, but he would wonder how similar they are, that they both turned away from what needed their love because they both mourned their wives. He wondered if he could have been like him, if the situations were just a little different. He visits Jude’s grave and wondered, if they met on the road at some point after Jude’s business failed, could they have been unlikely friends?

#it's an ask #fairy tail #it's a headcanon #i'm reaching #fic related rambles #gildarts clive

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uchihashisui-kun · 2 years

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Shisui and Itachi for the character ask game?

I already answered Shisui here, so I'm gonna do only Itachi

Favorite thing about them

I would like to say the fact that he was a pacifist but, huh, he kinda failed there.

To be honest, while I do like him as a character I don't actually have one particular favorite thing about him. I kinda like all parts of him equally.

Least favorite thing about them

How stupid he is for being a so-called genius, and I don't care if he was manipulated by Danzō- if your best friend kills himself after telling you clear as day that Danzō was the one that had attacked him and not to trust him and yet you still listen to Danzō and do absolutely nothing to report him to the Hokage or tell anyone else and instead go along immediately with what he says without questioning him even once, that's on you buddy.

Favorite line

This one

BrOTP

Itachi and Kisame. Also Itachi and Konan.

OTP

ShiIta, KakaIta, ObiIta and NagaIta

NOTP

ItaSaku

Random headcanon

He used to sing lullabies to Sasuke when his brother couldn't sleep, and after joining the Akatsuki he sometimes softly whisper-sings those same lullabies to himself when he can't fall asleep. Kisame definitely knows, but he never says anything.

Unpopular opinion

I love him but he's overrated.

Also he should have remained a purely villain character without the whole self-sacrificing martyr redemption thing.

Also also I don't care about "He did what he did for Sasuke" or other bullshit like that, he still massacred his whole clan and we should hold him accountable for it instead of putting him on a pedestal and consider him a pure innocent UWU saint who did nothing wrong. I've seen way too many people saintify him. Stop it.

Song I associate with them

Walked through Hell by Anson Seabra, Death bed (coffee for your head) by Powfu and beabadoobee and Atlantis by Seafret

Favorite picture of them

Chicken boy

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fallroute · 2 years

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I’ve got an idea for a new muse from watching anime. Like a dumb.

So there’s this one-off character that has no name but her parents died bc of a villain. She almost gets killed herself but is rescued by Saitama. I found myself kinda intrigued on how her life would go after that.

Her name’s Eiko Aragaki, and she’s living with relatives in Z-City. Since being saved by Saitama, Eiko wants to become a hero just like he was. To prevent children from losing their parents, just like herself. She honestly idolizes Saitama, and wouldn’t be disappointed if she ever figured out how he really acts.

Just because he’s someone she admires doesn’t mean she puts him on a pedestal. She’s remarkably down-to-earth for her age, despite her parents’ death, and is a cheerful girl. I put her around 15 when her parents died.

Much like the custom hero from the OPM game, Eiko is inspired to get stronger because Saitama rescued her from certain death while she was grieving over her parents. This does mean that Eiko sometimes showed up on Saitama’s doorstep (after accidentally learning where he lived) to ask him questions on how he got stronger, only to get turned away because of one reason or another.

Eiko ends up defeating a villain herself, mimicking moves she saw on some martial arts videos to a scary degree. Her superpower is Mimicry, which is almost an absolute level despite never using it before, and that villain is the first time she uses it. But Eiko doesn’t become a hero. Instead, she decides to do random vigilante work after her homework’s done.

Unlike most people, Eiko has no natural limiter, but has yet to start growing stronger. This is because of Eiko’s Mimicry, which needs no limits to be useful. If there was a limit, Eiko would never be able to use her power.

#✦;; hibiki rambles on { ooc }#tfw i take a character with like 5 seconds of screentime and decide 'yes this is my character now'

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chronoxtreme · 2 months

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The Cage: Chapter 20 Author's Notes

So you know how last time I said Astarion would really go through it? Lmao

One of the most fascinating parts of Astarion's character is that he has a... shocking lack of empathy sometimes. When I replayed the conversation you get in the Act 3 interlude before reaching the city, I was kinda stunned when Nanne went "You sound like you're jealous of Cazador" and he goes "Oh yes, absolutely! The only problem with what he did was that he did it to me!" Which is like... it would be hilarious if not for the fact that this is what his abuse has taught him. I won't really go into it now, because that'll be for the next chapter, but it was definitely a moment I wanted to capture, and I'm glad I replayed that convo instead of just winging it.

Astarion's nightmare in this chapter is the very first I ever wrote for him. Don't worry, if you're sick of his nightmares, he only gets one more, so you're almost done! But this one I really wanted to emphasize just how wonky dream logic can be. The instant teleportation to places, the weird sensory things you experience, how Nanne in real life wouldn't behave nearly as innocent and childlike as they do here. But this is how Astarion perceives them: as a wholly pure figure that needs to be shielded and protected from monsters. He puts them up on a pedestal.

The feelings are also complicated, because Astarion's role is complicated. He's clearly a victim of Cazador's machinations, but he's also the one who lures these people to their deaths. How do you resolve that cognitive dissonance in your head? The fact that technically, you don't have a choice in killing someone, but you get to pick who gets to live and who gets to die? The fact that you're being used by these people, consumed as an object, but at the same time leading them to be consumed by someone else and ultimately killed? No wonder this man actively avoids any attempt to empathize with anyone. It's easier that way.

Nanne's involvement only makes it worse. They are living proof that people like Sebastian had futures, and Astarion "sold them out" (read: was abused and forced into an insanely difficult position where he is both victim and perpetrator) for breadcrumbs. The fact that he's pressed and coerced into using himself for so little is mind shatteringly awful. His reward for using his body and leading someone to their death is a rat. That's it. That's all. A rat. That's all Nanne's life is worth to people like Cazador. That's all it was worth to him, and realizing just how far he's come horrifies him immensely. Is it another reason why he clings to the ritual as his chance to "make it all go away?" Absolutely.

And then Nanne eats the Astral Tadpole.

So, this was something else I decided on from the beginning. First, because it's a choice that I feel a lot of players make for the gameplay advantages and not for RP, and second because more drama and angst lmao. More seriously speaking, I find becoming half-illithid absolutely fascinating in the context of romancing Astarion and persuading him to remain a spawn because on the surface, it's VERY hypocritical (which is part of the reason why Astarion is so furious about it). No, Astarion, you're not allowed to make a deal with the devil, but I'm allowed to eat this weird worm the Emperor gave me that gives me super powers!

Nanne realizes this, and that's why they're so ashamed. They've done the very thing they don't want Astarion to do, and it wasn't even solely to save him, it was as an emergency stopgap solution to being wounded. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and while we know that eventually the Astral Tadpole will die and Nanne will go back to "normal", they don't. This could be a permanent physical change, but they're so desperate they don't care. That's the main difference between Astarion's mindset when it comes to the ritual and Nanne's mindset eating the tadpole: Astarion is so desperate to be powerful and untouchable that he completely ignores all of the bright neon warning signs telling him that this ritual is bad news. But Nanne is so desperate that they're willing to live with the consequences if it means they get a solution now.

And don't worry, there will be consequences.

However, with that grim note, don't worry - Astarion will not seethe about Nanne's choice for long, and the next chapter has some comedy moments because Astarion's fave sibling (/s) is about to show up.

#astarion #nanne #oc lore #astarion x tav #the cage bg3 fanfic #bg3 tav #nannestarion #the cage authors notes

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chaoticevilspacewitch · 6 months

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More Objectively Correct Shipping Opinions: RWBY+ Edition

Members of Team RWBY plus someone else

Ruby

Nuts & Dolts: honestly, the Ruby ship with the most basis in canon. WhiteRose has had a lot of time to cook and hasn't much, whereas every minute these two share seems like it's loaded with affection. I honestly thought it was just too wholesome to be interesting until I heard Taylor McKnee's confession monologue, and the line "I adore you so" broke me.

(as an aside, Frosen Steel combines many of the strengths of Nuts & Dolts and WhiteRose... although I wish it was called Frosted Cinnamon Rolls instead)

Milk & Cereal: in an AU where Yang isn't part of Ruby's life, Pyrrha could easily fill the roll, *and* be shippable. I did a smut oneshot of it once, but I'd like to explore it more thoroughly.

Fallen Petals: ah, my beloved dark rose! I was skeptical until I read Rise from the Ashes and became a believer in Ruby's power to redeem Cinder with kisses.

Strawberry Shortcake: very similar to Fallen Petals, but with more comedic potential between less murdery Neo and Ruby.

Death's White Rose: this one is entirely @powertaco 's fault. Ruby, Weiss, and a somehow young Maria Calavera. It's grown on me.

Red Fox: my wildcard. I typically am dead set against shipping any of RWBY with men, but I started writing Fox trying to flirt with Ruby as a joke and decided they're kind of adorable together.

Weiss

North Pole/Schneekos: I love Weiss and Pyrrha together. They have a lot in common with being women put on pedestals and always expected to be exceptional... and then there's the height difference thing. They're the backbone of Scattered Petals.

White Chocolate: fashionista rich girls who experimented on a dare and liked it? OR committed lesbian Coco seducing the uptight thinks-she's-straight Weiss? Yessssss.

Black Ice: hear me out here. MILF Salem playing a long, strategic game of seduction with Weiss, offering her power to make the world as she believes it should be, and vengeance against her father, only to actually fall for her? Weiss *knowing* what's happening and thinking she can play Salem, until suddenly it's not playing her anymore? Dirty and delicious!

Hailstorm: I was recently put onto this one by a couple of @powertaco 's fics about them, and I'm kinda taken with the Ruby/Weiss/Nora dynamic. It feels like it works best when one of them is damaged and the other two, in a healthy relationship, adopt them.

Blake

Catmeleon: Obviously. My only gripe with Bumbleby is that Ilia is a total sweetheart, and her "I wish you'd looked at me the way you looked at him" line breaks my heart every time.

Black Velvet: I just think they'd be sweet together, and their different perspectives on life as a faunus would be interesting to see interact.

Yang

Baked Alaska: I started writing this out of spite when @etincelleart was getting harassed for drawing it, and realized that, like many things with Neo, it's a lot of fun. The idea that Yang realized Neo was mute and learned sign language *just* so they could banter during fights is adorable.

Greek Fire: I think this one is a fun one to explore precisely because it takes Yang's usual position as the buff, strong protector and lets her be Pyrrha's little spoon. Great for sports AUs.

#rwby #rwby shipping #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #save rwby #save crwby #greenlight volume 10

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darrowsrising · 3 years

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☕ Ok, here's the tea:

Many characters haunt the plot in Red Rising and while pretty much all of them were given enough individuality post and ante-mortem so that they don't bore the reader, I have the following sentiments towards them:

Eo: Honestly, I don't necessarily like her, but I don't mind her much either. People put her less and less on a pedestal as the story expanded, which I really appreciate, and I think what the Vox and Publius did using her image was enough to wake everyone up from this 'she can do no wrong' daze - she is a human being with flaws and mistakes and things wouldn't be better if she were alive, on the contrary they would be worse way faster.

Julian: hell, am I SICK TO DEATH of this particular death being used at every turn into guilt-tripping Darrow. I know Golds and guilt are a very rare pair and Darrow is the MC, but can we, for once, focus on someone else's guilt, instead of Darrow's? Yes, Julian cried for the fish he caught while fishing, yes, Julian was loving and kind beyond anything, yes, Julian was the ultimate cinnamon roll and deserved better. Yes, he holds great importance and I don't think RR would be as good if it weren't for him and his unfair death. This plot point, however, got a tad overused. So please, be understanding when I say I am tired of it. As a symbol, I understand why Julian as an individual is so important. But as a plot point, its been so overused. It gets really hard to care, to be honest. I get that Cassius is still traumatized, but given that he lets Darrow go on a guilt-trip and says nothing, when he himself can't give two squirts of piss about who he killed in the Passage, kinda kills my sympathy. I am sorry, but no one actually deserved to die in the culling. Julian being a cinnamon roll may intend at making him extra special, just like him being a Bellona made him extra special for House Bellona, but truth is, no one deserved to die like that, regardless of morality status. And I know Julian was paired up on purpose to die, when he would have survived against a fellow midDraft, but my point stands. And I know Darrow lied ro everyone that he killed him on purpose to please Augustus and he made matters worse, but...No one deserved to die. Some Golds did express guilt in direct or indirect ways and I respect and acknowledge that. It's just this...overall feeling that Julian somehow matters more, he's extra special and Darrow should feel extra guilty and make it up to Cassius any way he can, even though it will never be enough, that really kills my sympathy. It's a thing that always made me iffy - as far as the writing goes, I think it was somewhat intentional - Darrow bears a lot of guilt and although Cassius understands things better regarding Julian's death, he just lets Darrow continue with the guilt, but I may have been influenced by some fandom opinions - afterall everyone reacted to the parting scene in MS like it was all okay, but...it just wasn't. Am I nitpicking? Well, Cassius sent that ring back, so I don't really think so.

Trigg: I am actually really blissed put that Dark Age gave Trigg more depth. From Ephraim's eyes, he understandably became saintly, so getting more context, aside from the little bits in MS really made it extra special. It also complicated Eph a lot more - he used zoladone even though he knew fully well what they had Trigg do hooked on it. The fact that he never mentioned it tells a lot, but also tells nothing. It's one of those things that complicated things in a good way, while it needed no actual explanation. Maybe Eph was just needed to take the edge off...until it became a constant, before he even realized it. Maybe Eph was in so much pain after what happened to his crew that he just...he needed numbness that badly. Either way, it was a very interesting addition to Trigg and one I really appreciated - why would he accept such a dangerous mission, did he think it was worth it? I think that yes, it was for him. After all, it was the only path that had him hope after the Gardens on Hyperion.

Ragnar: I really miss him. I think he was pretty much the only one of this bunch that could have had significant positive impact - as he was closer to the center of things, he would have made some better decisions than Sefi. But I also think some mistakes would be unavoidable. Trying not to dwell much on that, though.

I am open to discussion about these characters but...please note that I am not trying to be objective here. I am just...very subjective about them - as characters, as writing tools, as plot points, everything. These are just my personal feelings. I got closure on some, still meh about others. Over all I am pretty happy with them and their impact.

P. S: Just need to get this off my chest:

Julian can afford to cry that fish is getting killed for his meal/entertaintment. It's really interesting to me, because in romanian literature there is a poem called 'The Death of the Deer' by Nicolae Labiș which relives the clawing guilt, pain and sadness he felt as a child when his father killed a deer during the famine. He prayed she wouldn't be harmed, that she would escape, he tried even to help her, but all failed. He mourned her, his heart was broken, but then, as he sat at the fire, the smell and then the taste of meat won him over - he hasn't eaten in so long, his survival instincts kicked in.

Point is - Julian's gentle soul has been allowed to blossom in his family, even with Karnus in the family. If he were a highColor, not Gold, he might have lived a good life. If he were any of the Colors that have known hunger, he couldn't afford to cry for killing fish or hunting deer. But he's caught the worst bargain - privileged enough to be able to grow into a soft soul, but not enough to be able to live with it.

#red rising trilogy #iron gold trilogy #red rising #dark age

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yolkyeomie · 3 years

Text

Humanity of the Inhuman | Kim Sunwoo

summary — legends are meant for the wild fantasies of the dream world, but when one myth suddenly comes true, you find yourself tangled within its webs of reality.

word count — 5.9k words

pairing — sunwoo x female!reader (ft x juyeon)

genre —college au, gumiho au

disclaimer —!! light mentions of death, blood, and injury !! lol happy birthday to my favorite writing muse in the world, sunwoo :)

part I | part II | part III | part IV?

You close the door behind you, a deep sigh falling out your mouth as you try to recount the events from today. Though you didn’t get very much time to yourself before you were rudely interrupted by banging coming from you bathroom door and an irritated voice shouting at you. “Hey! I know you’re here, I heard the door open and close! Are you going to let me out now or what?”

You glanced down the hall that led to the bathroom and saw the yellow paper talisman stuck on the door, completely untouched since you had placed it there to keep the gumiho in one place. “Wow, it actually works.” You mumble to yourself, slowly approaching the door knowing that the boy inside was struggling to escape.

You didn’t know how effective the talisman would be since nine tails were said to be rather powerful beings but it was truly working wonders to keep him in one place. Maybe he wasn’t very strong in reality? “Hey fox boy! I’ve got some questions, if you answer at least one of them I’ll let you out.”

You could hear the boy scoff from the inside, probably in disbelief that he was being held hostage by a human with no power to their name. “Doesn’t that sound fair?” You continued, “your freedom for information that I want, good deal right?”

“I don’t think I’m understanding correctly,” the boy began, slamming his fist against the bathroom door one last time to try and break free. You jumped back on instinct, the gumiho’s strength shaking the door on its hinges. Yet the paper talisman stood strong and refused to budge, making it hard for you to not break a smile a few moments later at the gumiho’s struggle. “What information could you, a human, possibly need from a gumiho, huh? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“I’m curious,” you admit, sitting down in front of the door and watching the boy’s shadow underneath the small gap in the door. “I'm taking mythology as a fun little elective class and we were just beginning to learn the lore behind nine tailed foxes, I just wanna see which type of myths are true and fake.”

“And you had to lock me,” the door handle jiggled for a moment to show the gumiho’s distress, “in your bathroom to do this?”

“You tried to kill me! What else was I supposed to do?” You complained, frustrated with the boy despite not even being face to face with him. “I was lucky enough to have a talisman sitting in my house that my parents had gotten me weeks ago! If I didn’t push you in there and put the talisman on the door, you probably would have eaten my liver or something.”

“I wouldn’t have eaten your liver,” the boy argued, a loud thump hitting the door as he spoke. It didn’t sound like a punch, more like he had put his back on the door and leaned ups against it. “Even if I wanted to, you made the dumb decision of saving me so now I’m in debt to you.”

“What? I’m sorry, can you run that back for a second?” You questioned, scooting up toward the door eagerly at this new piece of information. “What do you mean you're in debt to me?”

“The other day, when you told me you had saved me after I was attacked? You’ve binded me to you for doing me that favor, leaving me in debt to you. I cannot harm you while I’m debt to you unless I repay you for it.”

The silence between the two of you let a cold shiver run down your spine, though you were too busy processing the information he had given you. “It’s kinda like… an honor code but for gumihos. It was put in place by higher spirits in hopes of lessening the attacks caused by us. It never really worked though, no one dares to approach a fox in fear of being eaten.”

“I’m guessing that’s how it was centuries ago or something…,” you snorted, crossing your arms as you reminisced upon you accidentally stumbling across his injured body.

“Because no one tried, the message never got passed down to the next generations,” he explained, “so it’s become a lost piece of our mythos. Honestly I would have liked to keep it that way as well, but here you are bringing this rule back to fruition. Either way, I’m not going to kill you until I repay you, so there’s no need to keep me in here anymore.”

“You promise you’re not going to jump out and eat my liver the moment I open the door?” You questioned him, getting off the ground as you spoke.

The other side of the door was quiet for a moment before the boy finally answered, “you have my word.”

Cautiously, you put one hand on the door handle and took the talisman within the other. With silent prayer to any otherworldly being that might be watching you and the gumiho from above, you snatched the talisman off of the door and braced yourself for the unforgiving claws of the nine tailed fox you had trapped in your bathroom.

Though all you were greeted by was the grateful smile of the boy you had rescued, a hint of mischief sparkling in his ever changing amber eyes before settling to a deep dark brown to blend in with the mortals of your world. “That wasn’t that hard was it? Now if you excuse me—“

Before you even had the chance to retaliate, the boy darted between you and the door like a quick breeze in the air. He was much faster than you had anticipated, though it should have been expected from a creature such as a nine tailed fox. “Wait, where are you going? I had questions to ask!”

The boy stopped in his tracks, struggling to comprehend where the exit to your home was. He may have been in your house, but the most he had seen was your living room and bathroom. He cursed under his breath for finding himself trapped in an unfamiliar surroundings once again. You watched as the gumiho let out a deep sigh of frustration, turning around to face you with an annoyed yet sweet smile on his face. “Of course… the questions. How could I forget! Tell me, what is it that a human wants to know about gumihos?”

You held up the talisman as a warning sign, not knowing if it still had any useful power to it but it was definitely enough to get the nine tailed fox on his best behavior. “First off, who are you? Or more like… what’s your name? And why were you bleeding to death in rain when I found you?”

“Asking for a lot already, aren’t you?” He mumbled, snorting to himself as he threw himself onto your small couch. “My name is Sunwoo and as you know I am a nine tailed fox. As to why I was bleeding in that alleyway… I was attacked, like I told you before.”

“Okay, Sunwoo, I get that you were attacked but why?” You continued to pester, your curiosity of the gumiho’s situation overtaking your thoughts. The more he tried to hide what was going on, the more curious you became. Though you shouldn’t get close thanks to Juyeon, who knew what he’d do to you if you got closer. “A small argument doesn’t just lead into nearly murdering a person! Or well… fox.”

“My apologies…” he trailed off, looking to you for information.

“Y/N,” you answered him, “it’s Y/N.”

“My apologies, Y/N, but that sort of information is classified,” Sunwoo shrugged, flinching slightly as you threatened him with the talisman, “I just don’t think you’d want to involve yourself in gumiho business. It’s not something a human should be sticking their nose into either way.”

You roll your eyes at his excuse, pointing to yourself as you exclaimed, “have you already forgotten? I am your savior and you’re in debt to me! I should at least know why the victim was keeping attacked in the first place don’t you think? Just think of it as… you repaying your debt to me now.”

“That’s not how that works.” The boy explained, slightly cringing at your actions as he watched you place yourself upon a pedestal to ring information out of him. “I’m in debt to you, yeah, but it means I quite literally owe my life to you. You saved my life, now under whatever circumstances that might occur, I will save yours.”

“Tell me why happened, Sunwoo,” you urged, a little more aggressively this time.

“I stole a fox bead from another gumiho.” He admitted, crossing his arms as he leaned back into the couch. You could almost feel Sunwoo’s hair on his skin rise as he recalled the events prior, trying to decide what he wanted to say and what he’d keep from you. “They had found me and attacked in an attempt to get it back and as a result, left me there to die when they thought they had retrieved it. Luckily for me, they took a fake instead.”

“Fox bead?” You questioned, trying to wrack your head around in an attempt to remember if you had heard of such a thing before. Though you’re not sure if your mythology class had gotten far enough into your gumiho lesson to cover it. “What is that, fox beads?”

“It’s a bead for foxes, everyone has one,” Sunwoo teased, though quickly adding the actual explanation before you could threaten him again, “it’s a bead that provides most of the power and future knowledge that a gumiho could ever ask for, making them one of the most popular beings alive. The only way to obtain this amount, though, is by absorbing the energy of a human.”

“By kissing them?” You questioned, and Sunwoo nodded his head in reply. “My god, I can’t believe he was actually right…” you realized, recalling the information that Juyeon had given you. Nine tailed foxes feed off of a human’s existence, but who would have known they gain more power as a result of taking an innocent human’s life.

Instinctively, you cover your mouth as defense against Sunwoo, not completely trusting the gumiho as he laughed at you. “Have you already forgotten, Y/N? You’re my savior, I owe my life to you. I can’t harm you until that debt has been paid off.”

“Why would you steal a fox bead if every gumiho has one? Just go fill up your own bead you… sicko…” you glare, the vivid image of the gumiho in front of you snatching the life out of humans prevalent in your mind.

“I stole it because the gumiho who had this specific one had almost filled it all.” Sunwoo explained, he held his hand out for you to see as a flash of light sparked in his palms, an object beginning to form within his grasp as his eyes turned the same amber yellow as before. You watched as a glowing bead appeared in his hands, the same color as his foxish eyes and making a light jingle sound every time it moved.

“This is…,” you mumbled, mesmerized by such a beautiful crystal being presented to you.

“The fox bead, the nearly completed fox bead.” Sunwoo nodded. “There hasn’t been a fox bead of this variety in many, many millennia. If the gumiho I stole this from gets his hands on this again and gives it the last bit of human energy it needs? All hell will break loose. That’s what I stole it, or was instructed to steal it. A fox bead of this strength cannot be destroyed by just any gumiho, but by a—”

“Shut up for a second,” you interrupted him, putting the talisman down as inching closer to the fox bead. As the object moved around in Sunwoo hands, the jingling continued to get louder and louder in your head. It got to the point where it finally clicked in your head as to why you were drawn to fox bead in the first place. “I’ve heard this before, the ringing… jingling sound it makes.”

“The fox bead?” Sunwoo questioned, his eyes shooting up to yours at an alarming speed. When you nodded your head his amber yellow eyes snapped back to the natural dark browns and the fox bead disappeared from his hands. “What do you mean you heard the fox bead?”

“Before I found you, I heard jingling. Like… bells or wind chimes or something like that. I followed it because I was curious and it led me straight to you.” You explained yourself, recalling the events rather easily. “And it happened again earlier today when I was on the phone with my friend. It led me outside of my room which brought me straight to where you were. I guess what I was hearing all along was the fox bead.”

“Y/N…” he mumbled, struggling to father his thoughts as he spoke. “Y/N, the fox bead doesn’t make any noise. Or at least, humans cannot hear the jingling of a fox bead unless they are the gumiho’s next target. And we already know it couldn’t have been me because I’m in debt to you.”

You thought to yourself for a moment before replying, “are you saying that the gumiho you stole from… he was planning on using my energy to complete his fox bead?”

II.

“Okay, I understand this is a serious situation, but is all of this really necessary?” You turned your wary gaze toward Sunwoo, fidgeting with the sleeves of your jacket as you watched the boy wander not too far behind you.

Despite your cautious tone, the gumiho was a lot more relaxed than you were. Dressed brand new clothes you had bought specifically for him the day before, Sunwoo took in his surroundings with his keen dark eyes in search of the gumiho that was targeting you. “Of course it’s necessary. If I leave you to your own devices, the gumiho targeting you may try to strike and you will be gone before anyone finds out what happened… if they find out what happened that is.”

You shouldn’t be feeling this anxious about everything. After all you are on your turf, the college campus, and you have a mythical nine tailed fox following your move. You're more safe here than you could be anywhere else. Maybe it’s the fact that you can’t believe any of this is actually happening, it feels like you're in some sort of twisted fairytale than reality if you had to be honest.

Seriously, nine tailed foxes? Fox beads? Being the final victim for the beast? None of that is believable if you were simply hearing it but here you are experiencing it all.

“Well, at least don’t stick around so close,” you scold him, shooing him as far away as you could. “What if I come into contact with the nine tailed fox, and he sees you? He thinks you’re dead after all!”

“Actually...” Sunwoo trailed off, trying to word his next sentence as gently as possible. “Not exactly…? I mean… maybe like a day or two ago he would have believed I’m dead but—”

You stop in your tracks immediately, spinning on your heel to face the gumiho with a furious glint in your eyes, “—What do you mean ‘but’, Sunwoo?”

“It doesn’t take long for a gumiho to realize when they have a fox bead that’s not theirs,” he explained leaning up against the wall and fiddling with his hair as he spoke. “It’s an innate ability we all have, the one that the gumiho took was mine and that thing is completely empty. It was enough to give me time to get out of the city but then…”

“I found you and we figured out that the nine tailed fox was coming for me.” You finished off, wanting to curse yourself for ever stopping for the boy in the first place. You almost wish you didn’t get yourself involved with the nine tailed foxes, almost. “What's the point in doing all of this then?”

“It’s so I can find out where exactly the gumiho is hiding and keep him from you,” Sunwoo grinned, “and then stall him just enough so that I take his fox bead and destroy it.”

You stared at him for a few moments more before letting out an intensely deep sigh. For some reason, the plan that Sunwoo had created didn’t seem very fool proof. But what could you do? After all, you were the human and he was the gumiho. He knew a lot more about nine tailed foxes then you could ever imagine. He, unfortunately, held your life in the palm of his hands.

“Well you can’t stay beside me all of time,” you hissed, finally approaching the room that held your mythology class. “I don’t think I really want to explain to my class how I found and saved a nine tailed fox right after we started the course for your mythos.”

“You can let me in, it’s fine!” He grinned, trying to weasel his way past you and into the class before you could catch him. “I want to know what humans learn about gumihos! You know, give them a few pointers and let them know what’s true and what’s not true.”

“Sunwoo, no!” You snapped, your hands wrapping around his shirt collar and pulling him back as hard as you could. He lurched backward and nearly tumbled to the ground, shocked by your sudden burst of strength. “Are you really trying to keep me safe or are you in cahoots with the other nine tailed fox, him?”

The boy frowned at your accusations, forcing himself back into his feet as he opened his mouth, “Y/N—“

“Y/N!” You turned your head with neck breaking speed to see Juyeon approaching you from down the hall, his gleeful and generous smile beaming down on you once he got your attention. In a panic you turned back to Sunwoo, wanting to give your last attempt at shooing him away before realizing he had disappeared within an instant. The last hint of the gumiho’s mere existence was the faint jingle of the fox bead he had stolen echoing in your ears, so at least you knew he was still around.

You spun on your heels to face Juyeon as relaxed as possible, anxiously fumbling with your hands as he stopped in front of you. “You’re rather early aren’t you? Who were you talking to?”

“I was on the phone,” you quickly responded, your mind running miles as you tried your best to give him an excuse, “with Kevin! He was just checking up on me after the whole… spirits in my house fiasco.”

“Oh, I remember you coming to me about that,” he nodded, nervously adjusting the bag slung over his shoulder. “Are you okay actually? You never gave me an update on the sounds you were hearing and it… worried me, I guess.”

You slowly begin to smile at Juyeon’s kindness, jokingly punching him in the shoulder as you said, “aw, how sweet! Checking up on your good ol’ school friend, huh?”

“School friend…,” he trailed off, hesitating for a moment before smiling at you with the tips of his ears burning a slight shade of red. “Of course I’m worried about my school buddy! Mythology isn't fun without you there with me after all.”

You pat his back in reassurance, “don’t worry, everything is fine for the most part. Though…,” you stopped, wondering how you could discreetly mention Sunwoo’s existence and his warning of you being hunted by a nine tailed fox to the boy. Did you need to tell him actually? None of that was actually of Juyeon’s concern. But… he did say he was worried about you.

“If I needed to go somewhere… somewhere away from my home…,” the jingling from the past few days echoed in your ears as you spoke to him. The fox bead, Sunwoo, was nearby again. You should finish this conversation as quickly as you could. “Would you open your dorm to me? Just for like a day or so! I wouldn’t overstay—“

“Of course!” He blurted, his eyes wide with glee but quickly glistening over with embarrassment. Juyeon cleared his throat as he tried to continue the conversation as normal as he possibly could. “I mean— uh— I’d be happy to, don’t worry. I’d have to clean up a lot and move Hyunjae out so he won’t bother you so just… make sure to give me a heads up, okay?”

You blinked once, then twice, then once more just in case you were seeing what you were seeing. After a few moments of awkward silence after the boy’s rambling, you grinned at him. “Why didn't you question me for not asking Kevin first?”

“I…,” Juyeon struggled to reply, his face flushing as he realized what he had done. “You’re my school friend, Y/N! I’m going to help you when I can, of course. What type of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

You couldn’t tell if the awkward silence between the two of you was because of Juyeon’s terrible lie or the fact that both of you were still astonished by what came out of his mouth. Though you didn’t have time to ponder on it any longer when the fox bead jingled in your ears again and the boy finally piped up, “I’m gonna go ahead and head inside now. See you, Y/N, in like… three minutes or something, I don’t know—“

“—I’m gonna make a call back to Kevin first,” you added on, finally gaining control over your body again as you pulled out your phone and gestured to it. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

He nodded a few more times than needed before skipping into the mythology class, not even daring to look back at you as he disappeared within the class. You couldn’t tell whether Juyeon’s genuinely just being his normal kind self to you or if his actions were motivated by something deeper, you honestly didn’t want to find out at the moment. Not when there was a gumiho out for your head at the moment.

“Alright, Sunwoo, you can come out now—“ your breath hitched as you felt a hand tug aggressively at your wrist, practically snatching you away from the doors to your mythology classroom and into a more secluded hallway.

When you looked up Sunwoo loomed over you, his dark eyes turning into its mystic amber yellow and his nails digging into your skin as his grip grew tighter and tighter. “Are you crazy?” He questioned, though the jingle of the fox bead he had stolen nearly drowned out his voice. “Why were you talking to him?”

“Juyeon?” You question, yanking your arm away from him and taking a giant step away from him. “He’s… he’s my friend, why would I not talk to him? I’ve been taking this class with him since the semester started. He’s a good guy, don’t worry about him.”

“He’s not some good guy, Y/N,” Sunwoo warned, holding out his fist for you to see. Curiously you watched as the fox bead began to form in the palm of his hand, gleaming a much brighter light and practically pulsing with the energy of humans trapped within it. For something so morbid, you sure found it beautiful. “Juyeon is a gumiho, why are you trusting him?”

“Huh?” You respond, unsure of whether or not you had actually heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, repeat that one more time for me.”

“Lee Juyeon,” Sunwoo answered, reciting his full name without you even needing to tell him, “is a gumiho, the very gumiho I stole this fox bead from. Juyeon is targeting you.”

III.

“Y/N!” Sunwoo yelled, banging his fist against the bathroom door like he had been doing for the past couple of days. He was in time out for telling such a ridiculous lie and assuming you’d believe him right off of the bat just because he was a mythical creature. “Y/N, why are you being like this? Can you at least talk to me again.”

You didn’t respond as you laid face first on your couch, struggling to block out the gumiho’s voice from your head. Did he really think you’d believe that Juyeon, the boy you’ve known for nearly the entire semester, was a gumiho? Nine tailed foxes may be master manipulators, but there were some lies that were outrageous enough for even the most simpleminded folk to see past.

“Y/N, you can’t keep me in here forever! Juyeon will come after you when least expect it and—“

“Shut up!” You finally snapped, grabbing a hold of one of the cheap decorative pillows laid across your couch and throwing it as hard as you physically could at the bathroom door. Though the pillow only made it halfway across the room before crashing to the ground without a sound, leaving your sigh of frustration to fill the gap left by the silence.

“I just… I don’t understand. You humans make no sense at all! Why is it so hard to accept the fact that Juyeon is a gumiho?” Sunwoo complained, forcing you to get off the couch and march your way toward the bathroom door. “You wanted to figure out why you heard the fox bead make noise and now you have your answer, Juyeon has been targeting you this entire time! Why are you defending him so hard—“

You snatched the talisman off the door and swung the door open with the ferocity of a tiger, taking the nine tailed fox off guard and watching him stare up at you with a wide eyed and frazzled expression. “Maybe I’m defending him so hard because I’ve been him much longer than I’ve known you! Juyeon has been nothing but… but sweet and kind to me all semester, he’s been looking out for me for who knows how long, and you just want me to believe that he’s out to take my life?”

Sunwoo blinked at your words before vigorously nodding his head, “yes, of course!”

An angry growl of frustration escaped your mouth, getting ready to slap the talisman back on the door and lock the nine tailed fox back inside. “Aren’t gumihos literally trickster spirits? I can’t believe I’ve believed everything that’s come out of your mouth so far. Who knows how many times you’ve already lied to me? Next thing I know you’re going to try and eat my livers when I least expect it!”

However the boy was much more sly and quicker than you could have ever been, so he easily slipped out of the way before you could do so, “I thought I already explained I’m not going to kill you? I physically cannot do so. I have an honor code to follow, genius!”

“How do I know that’s not a lie too, hm?” You questioned, crossing your arms like a child as you walked away from him. “You have no proof of this… this nine tailed fox honor code. How should I trust the words that come out your mouth, hm?”

Sunwoo frowned, the corners of his mouth going as low as they possibly could. “Do you like him or something? Suddenly all the trust we’ve built up has crumbled into nothingness, it’s really getting on my nerves.”

“I do not like Juyeon, he’s just a really good friend!” You shouted, retaliating sharply to the nine tailed fox. The boy nodded his head slowly, clearly not believing your words and rolling his eyes not long after. “But the stuff you’re saying? Unbelievable, this entire situation is unbelievable as is!”

“How do I make you believe what I say, without you accusing me of being a ‘master manipulator’?” Sunwoo mocked, though genuinely trying to find a solution to your disagreement. “I could tell you that I can’t lie to save my life, but you’d think that’s me trying to manipulate you or something again. You know, not all gumihos are good at lying! Some of us are—“

“Prove it,” you demanded, gesturing around your living room as you waited for him to respond. “Prove that you’re not going to harm me and prove that Juyeon is actually a nine tailed fox. I need cold hard facts and visual evidence before I can go on and trust you with my life again.”

“Y/N,” Sunwoo whined, trying to get you to let him off the hook just this one time. Yet you shook your head, sat down on the couch, and simply waited for him to somehow prove he wasn’t just being the stereotypical nine tailed fox she had been learning.

“Go on,” you urged him, “I’m waiting.”

The gumiho looked around in a frenzy, unsure of what exactly he could do to win your trust. You sat and watched him struggle, trying to wrack your own brain around why you had trusted Sunwoo so easily. Was it because you found him while he was injured and dying? But you should never trust strangers in the street anyway, whether they were at death’s door or not!

Maybe it was that cursed fox bead, it’s soft ring echoing in your ears and clouding your judgement each time you needed to make a decision. Were you even sure that the fox bead wasn’t actually his? He could have been lying about that whole situation too…

“I got it!” Sunwoo exclaimed, catching you off guard and shaking you from your thoughts. You look up to see the boy holding his hands out in front of him, his eyes beginning to shift into that familiar amber yellow and an object forming in his hands.

“Hey! No gumiho powers can be used!” You yelled, leaping up from your seat to stop him. Though the gumiho only stepped out of the way, raising his hands straight up so that you couldn’t reach him. “How do I know that it doesn’t amplify your ability to manipulate or not?”

“This can’t be done without the power of a gumiho in the first place,” he hissed, lowering his hands once the stolen fox bead finally materialized in his hands. “Do you want me to prove that I can’t harm you or what?”

You hesitate for a moment and a large smile begins to grow across Sunwoo’s face. “Then this is the only way I can prove it to you. I’ve told you once before that the fox bead is used to absorb human energy, so I’m going to use it on you to show that I genuinely cannot hurt you.”

“Use the fox bead on me…?” You repeat, letting his words slowly process before Juyeon’s words begin to blare through your head. “Wait… doesn’t that require like… kissing me? No, absolutely not! What if this is just a plow to kill me or something?”

“Y/N,” Sunwoo held the fox bead in his hands, it’s glow shining through the crevices of his hands as he spoke, “do you trust me?”

“No!” You quickly replied, “no, I do not!”

“Perfect, that’s the whole point of us doing this then!” He grinned, opening his mouth and dropping the fox bead in like a piece of candy. “It’ll be like two seconds, don’t worry! Well, it’ll feel like two seconds depending on whether or not the fox bead actually absorbs your energy...”

“Sunwoo!” You snap, finding yourself trapped behind the couch and the nine tailed fox in front of you. He took two enthusiastic steps forward before you put your hands in front of you, pushing him to arms length as you quickly spilled, “are you sure this is the way we have to do this? Can you figure out any other way?”

“No I can’t,” Sunwoo hissed between clenched teeth, urging you to put your hands down. “Can we please get this over with so that we can move on to other things? This will take like two seconds.”

“Ugh, fine!” You finally comply, tapping your lips and growling out, “let’s just… get this over with, if you end up actually killing me with this I will haunt you in the afterlife!”

The gumiho leaned in close, his hands hovering over your shoulders and his breath fanning across your face while the sparkle of the fox bead glistening in the corner of your eye. It gleamed in between the roof of his mouth and tongue before you no longer could catch sight of its glow, Sunwoo’s lips pressed fully onto yours without warning of his sudden roughness.

You yelp at his actions but it was entirely eaten up by the gumiho pressing his hands into you, engulfing the fleeting moment as quickly as he could. Somehow you found the strength to separate yourself from him, taking a moment to inhale just once and let out a “Sunwoo—“ before the boy dove right back in again.

He moved from your shoulders to cup your face in his hands while his weight pushed the both of you onto the couch below. You were practically drowning in the gumiho’s desires, too engrossed in Sunwoo’s kiss to notice the fox bead rolling out of his mouth into yours. Though the boy pulled back suddenly, breaking kiss and leaving the two of you breathless and in silence. If you didn’t have the willpower to hold yourself back, you probably would have pulled him back in again… how embarrassing.

His amber yellow eyes twinkled for a moment before shifting back into its illusion of a dark brown and he finally spoke to break the stillness of your home, “look to the sky, look to the land, and then look the people,” Sunwoo explained, having deep breaths after each sentence, “then swallow the fox bead.”

You didn’t get a chance to reply before the gumiho kissed you again, filling you up with the same adrenaline from not even a few seconds ago then retaking the fox bead from your mouth. You blinked a few times to bring yourself back to reality, wanting to ground yourself before speaking another word out your mouth, “why?”

“That’s how you defend yourself against a gumiho and destroy the fox bead all together.” Sunwoo responded, rising off of the couch and taking a few steps away from you. “The only reason you didn’t feel your energy being drained was because that wasn’t my fox bead and I am obligated to protect you, not harm you. You just need to know in case Juyeon takes his back and comes for you.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me instead of—,” you cut yourself off, covering your mouth with your hands and hoping desperately that Sunwoo didn’t catch the intense burning of your ears or beating of your heart, “instead of… showing... me...”

Sunwoo grinned, a grin so eerily similar to a real fox that you almost scoffed. “Because you thought I was manipulating you and wanted me to prove my innocence. Oh and don’t worry about me proving Juyeon is a gumiho, I’ve got something planned that will help.”

He stopped talking for a moment, licking his lips as you finally found the strength to sit upright on the couch and turned his piercing dark eyes toward you. “Of all the things, I didn’t expect you to taste like strawberries? How… interesting.”

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shijas · 4 years

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touched-starved megumi slowly being acclimatised to touch really lives rent free in my head.

like, his childhood was pretty all over the place, and he clearly spent middle school getting into fights and straight up brooding, so it’s make sense for touch in megumi’s mind to be associated with strength and violence and pain and vulnerability, the latter two things would especially be hard for megumi to live with i think???? i don’t really know how to explain??? but like we see that uncontrolled vulinerabilty, and leaving yourself vulnerable is like putting yourself on a wanted list for shamans. and so touch, in megumi’s eyes, should only occur with a few specific purposes and those purposes usually weren’t the most pleasant experiences in his mind. i assume people only touched him for: training/sparring, which is literally allocated time when someone can just straight up, inflict harm; someone deciding to fight him out of jealousy or revenge or fear or some sort of negative emotion; and in the worst case scenario people are touching him to heal him because in some capacity he’s weak, he was not strong enough to do whatever he needed to do without injury. i think healing touches, when the touch has to be gentle because fundamentally megumi is already vulunerable and already hurting would sting the most, like emotionally and physically because sometimes touch, even gentle touch, do he hurting tho... (this got long, but for how nobara/yuji break this pattern keep reading!)

and then nobara and yuji arrive and it’s like a hurricane of positive touching. yuji is affectionate!! physical touch is definitely a part of his love languages and so yuji just enjoys giving hugs!! yuji likes high fives!! and fist bumps!! and holding hangs while swinging them in the space between eachother while walking, even though it’s kind of childish. and megumi doesn’t know how to say no to these things, to the boundless enthusiasm that is yuji!! and he also feels a little guilty because he kinda dragged yuji into this world, away from his friends and the familiar comfort/touch he was used too. so megumi doesn’t like, consciously, try to stop any of the touch despite his general aversion. instead he indulges yuji to the best of his ability, because he comes to find that it’s not always bad and he doesn’t really mind; it takes a while to fully like not have a defensive, fight or flight response to the touches and he defo judo flips and sucker punches yuji over and over, because yuji is 1000000% a sneak affection attacker. the closest touch has ever been to ‘nice’ for megumi is probably healing for his stupid amount of serious wounds, and as both an apology and his first steps in reciprocation, megumi applies the gentleness of healing touches he remembers to the injuries he (accidentally??) gives yuji, because all he really about touch that isn’t supposed to hurt is how to rub softly against a spot that will probably bruise, and how to wrap or plaster a cut from a judo flip that led to some scrapes, he’s very good at icing bumps and twists and strains; and so they put themselves back together like that, and yuji keeps up his ‘surprise back hug events’ like they don’t straight up lead to a bruised sternum.

nobara breaks down the ‘touch is violence, touch is pain and pain is bad’-thing even faster than yuji, because she’s lived by her philolosphy as an affectionate puncher, a sweet kicker; she’s defo the type to bite your fingers and pinch your arm, but it’s well and truly out of all the love she cannot contain in her heart (which frustrates her a little bit so she will give you a sharp jab in retribution for feelings). what helps uncross the wires of megumi’s learnt behaviour (or maybe cross them idk) that ‘touch and violence and therefore bad’, is that her teasing and, honestly barely painful, ribbing is always interspersed by the softest of touches that aren’t tinged by the smell of antiseptic, blood or pity. this type of touch gets more frequent the more comfortable they get with eachother (think learning to lean on eachother post yuji death), like nobara will say ‘ew’ while forcing megumi to lay his head in her lap when they’re tryna catch their breath during training, and if his towel is nearby she’ll pat the sweat off his forehead and then complain about said sweat just because she knows he likes listening to her complain about mundane stuff; and she’ll make a million and one spiky sea urchins puns (did you know the japanese word for urchin is uni and linguistically meguni is a hilarious pun that i can see happening in canon) but is the first to rake her fingers through the mess of megumi’s hair, if she noticed he’s tried and hasn’t been taking care of himself. like yeah she throws her pens at him when he tries to help her with their maths homework, but her aim is so scary good it’s funny, and he can always throw them back and she won’t really get any more angry, and so they throw pens at eachother and laugh about it and nobara sketches random patters on to megumi’s skin with the pen she almost used to impale his eye.

anyway the point i’m getting at (probably incomprehensible into this mess of hc and meta) is: yuji and nobara come along, and suddenly, touch isn’t something that burns a little, isn’t something that spooks, isn’t something that requires the tightening of megumi’s jaw and his ribs and his spirit, and of course, sometimes it gets a little overwhelming (WHICH IS OKAY!! TOUCH AS STIMULATION IS OVERHWELMING SOMETIMES AND THATS OKAY AND VALID, EVEN IF YOURE AN AFFECTIONATE OR TOUCHY PERSON!!) and megumi needs to like take a couple of steps back. and they talk about it, because communication is key, and boundaries are healthy things to put in place, and by god the first years will try and build as safe and healthy a relationship between the three of them as they possibly can! and yeah they talk about it, and some days touch is too much for of them and that’s okay, affection, fondness, compassion can be shown in other ways, through other actions and they’ll utilise those a bit more as easily as they utilise touch a bit less, and slowly but surely, megumi becomes a lot less touch-starved and starts to seek it out on his own and initiate it in ways that are comfortable to him, like learning to braid hair so he can play with nobara’s or grabbing yuji’s hand first while their walking or just pressing his thigh into whoever he’s sitting next to in class and that’s fine and that’s good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i’m very much attached to this idea.

bonus gojo (as per usual): when megumi became his ward, for obvious, bitter, reasons he wasn’t really tryna like touch. this kid. riling megumi up was easy enough with just words and i feel like firstly, teasing is a part of gojo’s love language in a mirror of how it’s a part of nobara’s (mmmmmmm gojo and nobara parallels are another brain worm that EATS me) and secondly, gojo goes through his own thing with touch, and like affection. as someone whose essentially raised on an absolutely, ridiculous, pedestal and then successfully surpasses even the heights of that pedestal to basically become a living legend AND the whole physical, literal thing with infinity or limitless (or whatever his cursed technique is i’m sorry i didn’t pay attention to the cursed energy explanation any of the times it came up) ANYWAY, so gojo and megumi probably both touch-starved idiots. but, like gojo does care for megumi, like as his student and as this kid he watched grow up, like ofc he does because he’s not a completely useless person. and so he definitely encourages nobara and yuji’s plan to positively reinforce touch in megumi’s brain and slowly, for fear of being straight up bitten, endeavours to extend the casual affection he easily applies to the other two, to megumi too. idrk the logistics of it, but i think it’d be cute for one day gojo putting his hand out to ruffle megumi’s hair, but like not imposing his hand, like it’s just out and about really, and usually megumi nopes or hisses or whatever other gremlin mood he’s decided to incorporate to the finite number of facial expressions he’s willing to make, but today he’s feeling charitable and lets gojo ruffle his hair, kinda like a cat ya know, like leans into it a bit in a very clear you have permission to pet!!!! and gojo’s just jojo sobbing through his blindfold like “oh my god my son loves me” and megumi is regretting not biting him.

#fushiguro megumi #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #itadori yuji #kugisaki nobara #gojo satoru #HMMMM I DO BE PROJECTING THOOOOOOOOO #JAJSJDJJDJDJDJD #like i do be projecting jsjdjdjdj #but yeah guys clearly i have a lot of feelings about being touchstarved and megumi #i the gang just gets really close and comfy and i also think megumi wouldn’t be a good at touch person #some of us like affection and some of us get overstimulated when people keep touching us and we deserve to be represented #lmaoooo i’m really sticking to my plan to saturate the tag huh #i’ll rb this with actual blog archive tags after #ALSO!! people write more nobara megumi friendship please #like they spent months together as the only first years #they have shared trauma from it all #let them bond #healthy f/m friendships please i’m begging you

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