#now. idk how the plot would change exactly yet

[tempestmothstorm]

ok ok so I was just going to draw long haired Sayori but then I came up with a bunch of elementaryish aged designs and now I came up with a bunch of headcanons and more sketches so woohoo lots or text under cut open for more headcanons (also idk why tumblr made the image change quality that is not the same colour or quality I had it in)

Yknow for some reason I just can’t imagine Natsuki being like a happy kid in the past like at all. I think it’s like a “kid who obviously has a bad home life and acts out because of it but nobody’s gonna to actually try to do anything about it so they just put her in detention” kinda vibe. I don’t think anyone outright hates her since she probably would have brought it up in base game/side stories, but she isn’t exactly a beloved member of the school either

In the side stories she talks about being very different in the past and specifically going through a really edgy ‘I hate everyone phase’ in middle school. This isn’t a middle school headcanon but I feel like her being kinda bitter before the total edgy phase makes sense.

I think in contrast to her having a super defined sense of self present day, Natsuki here was a lot more identityless and unsure about what she wants. She gets really into cutesy stuff in the future but here she leans a lot more into the angry side of her because she doesn’t really understand a lot of what she’s feeling. It’s why I didn’t really give her a unique hairstyle, if she had something she’d actually like I don’t think she would have changed it to the pigtails

Also her clothes are kinda bad and has a hole in her sleeve since she doesn’t really get a lot of clothes due to obligatory ~home life angst~ but this post isn’t about that so

She gets into manga pretty early but just kinda enjoys it casually on a surface level thing. She drops it for a bit before picking it back up, and suddenly understanding what plot and themes are lead to her going insane about it until present day.

She’s into skating because I said so

It also makes a great explanation for why she gets a broken arm and why she always has a bunch of bandaids :))))))))

Ok I might also just like giving character designs bandaids

Tbh I forgot if they said Natsuki’s friends met in middle school or not but I think it still applies since they probably knew her through every cringe phase she had (including the fanfics). But either way they were probably one of the few people to actually give Natsuki a chance which is part of why she puts up with their bullying so much. Throughout every phase she might have had they made fun of her every step of the way, to the point she’s just kinda used to it now. Doesn’t help that she thinks her old self was cringe, so by present day she just assumes she deserves whatever bullying she gets from them. Girl needs to have compassion for her past self. And present self tbh

While Natsuki was cringe in the ‘I hate everything’ way, Yuri was cringe in the ‘I am a massive nerd for cringe pieces of media and am going to make everyone aware of that fact’. At least that’s how they see themselves now

She’s a lot more open to talking about her interests. She can and will yap to random people with little to no prompting because she hasn’t really learned yet that people would be put off by it

She’s not overly social but more willing to chat with others with a polite and friendly attitude. She hasn’t been hurt yet so she is filled with joy and whimsy and is overall more cheerful compared to present day

She has her hair like that so I could give the vibe of ‘cheerfully annoying and/or adorable☝️🤓’ nerd archetype instead of ‘would rather become a speck of dust than talk to a person’ nerd archetype. Her hair is generally more dishevelled to show she’s more naive and less elitist I guess. She also isn’t as good at taking care of her hair yet so it looks kinda bad in a charming way(her school would not agree)

Her bangs being up with the headband shows her being more open and willing to be vulnerable to others in a way that’s lost in present day, where her long bangs hide a lot of her face in that one sprite. Her forehead is a metaphor 😭

I don’t really have parent headcanons but the cardigan is from her mom. I just think it’s cute

Random headcanons idrk where else to put but since that one act 2 sprite just borrows the teeth from Natsuki I like to think her teeth is also weirdly sharp it just doesn’t stick out as much. People think her teeth are creepy though so she tries not to smile with her teeth. She doesn’t care to smile like that anyways since she doesn’t really know how to in pictures (me projecting) and her natural smiles are a lot more subtle/don’t show teeth so it’s all fine.

Stating the obvious here but she was totally outcasted by like most of her school. Most people thought she was weird and her enthusiasm off-putting so they’d try avoiding her. She doesn’t really know why they think she’s off-putting though, people just start avoiding her for no reason. A few would go out of their way to bully her too, which ont added fuel to the iscolation fire, which ended up give her massive vulnerability and self esteem issues. Shocker ik. It takes a while to fully break her down from here to her high school self but it does mess her up a lot even then. At this specific point in time though she stills has her innocence so dw it’s fineeeeeee

Her anxiety issues are also there but she still has enough of a positive attitude to go ‘hey this sucks but maybe this time talking about my interests will work and they’ll actually like me!’ even if it didn’t work the last time. She doesn’t really know how else to talk to people so she keeps trying the same thing hoping maybe this time it’ll work out.

Uh.

things get worse. you probably know that

Sayori still the sillyyyyy

But tbh she probably changes the least compared to present day. I mean she gets more mature and less starry eyed but her mask is basically the same as her kid self. I don’t have as much to say on that specifically cause compared to the rest she doesn’t change that much

Yeah Understanding said she used to have long hair but cut it since she couldn’t really take care of it. I feel like even before the depression got worse she sucked at taking care of it because she has the self proclaimed attention span of a donut. Her hair is really scruffy and if you tried to comb it would probably hurt a lot. So she doesn’t ever

Her and mc are still the the goofy-goober and straight man dynamic they have in base game. Sayori drags mc into some shenanigans and mc tries to help her get out of trouble. He also has less of an ‘I don’t want to be seen with this cringe’ attitude he has a bit of in the base game since he isn’t as concerned with reputation because he’s like 7, so he’s more open with being directly nice to her. He acts a lot more genuinely with their friendship overall compared present day where he finds it a lot harder to earnestly share his appreciation of Sayori as a cool sigma male

A lot of their banter is light hearted, but Sayori doesn’t start interpreting his teasing for actual criticism of her character until a little later into their relationship. His jokes probably hurt more in hindsight when they do end up drifting apart because his lighthearted jokes stated feeling more real.

It’s sorta implied in side stories that there was a point where everyone found out about her depression and was worried constantly about her. It probably was from an old friend group considering nobody else seems to know about it, but I feel like mc drifted apart before that considering he doesn’t know. I think they became friends again by sides stories, but considering he doesn’t act like he’s as concerned for her well-being as he is by the end of act one, he probably wasn’t there when everyone else found out and therefore doesn’t know about the depression here either. Idk though side stories have different continuity apparently so who knows maybe that never happened or maybe he’s just stupid

Yeah of course she still has depression here. It probably got worse over time though since I feel like her constant silly oblivious persona would have came from somewhere. She is naturally pretty upbeat, it’s just that she had to lie more over time in order to keep that idea going. Now she feels like that old her is basically dead, with her just masquerading as someone who isn’t there anymore.

She’s like the only one here who has a positive opinion of her past self, to the point where she actively wants to go back and be that person. In a way she still is that little kid, but at the same time things can never go back to how they were. Uh yeah but she still hates herself so I guess no one gets to reap the rewards of caring for their past self.

She also trips constantly. I don’t think it’s that surprising

Since Monika has the least specific info on her past I got to be a bit silly about it and make up as much as I wanted.

She is like completely different from her present self. Similar to Natsuki she’s also sorta identityless but in a weird quiet gifted kid sorta way instead of an angry lost child sorta way.

She’s pretty quiet and doesn’t talk much. With a pretty expressionless face and more deadpan voice she kinda gives creepy horror movie child vibes but the type of child that appears before the horror actually starts (which is to say not actually scary but just kinda weird) (I just realized a lot of this is just me projecting what I was like as a kid but with less prep energy)

Yeah she’s extroverted but at this point she doesn’t really seek out people until she starts actively trying to boost her image

She doesn’t really have many hobbies outside of being a teacher pet and if it weren’t for her stellar grades she totally would of been bullied, but she’s nice enough to help people study so she’s safe

She isn’t really the most popular in school until high school. She does start out as the token prodigy gifted kid so everyone expected her to excel in everything so on a whim she’s like ‘ok guess I’m doing everything now’ and it’s totally not going to alter the course of her life forever

She likes the validation and wants to live up to the expectations so she starts leaning super hard into the perfect image. She gradually starts joining clubs, getting cool achievements, studying for those straight A+ grades, talking to people and networking, and overall changing her image from quiet kid to strong confidence friendly student who’s going to go far. Awesome

She kinda had to train herself to not be weird creepy child and would practice smiling, facial expressions, being more sociable, talking less deadpan, etc. She has a lot of “fake it till you make it” vibes in the side stories to the point I don’t think she even realizes she’s doing it. I imagine her going from weird little kid to most popular high schooler around was like wearing the mask until it became the real thing.

Tbh this whole design started because I really like the headcanon design of her bangs covering her eyes. And then I gave her a stripped shirt because it felt generic but also not boring but it ended up making her look like one of the seven human souls lol

Honestly if I could describe her vibe here in one sentence it would be utdr protagonist but like in prep school

ok that’s it idrk how to end this but thanks for watching hit the like and subscribe and

[yuridovewing]

the more i think about and read avos the more set i am on making the yuriverse equivalent be all about rogues and how the clans treat them. i want this to be a story about how much the clans have to answer for all of the outsiders theyve hurt since tpb, and how despite firestar’s efforts in connecting with bloodclan and whatnot, that’s all been forgotten already and h

[icallhimjoey]

Define Close

♥ ♥  Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: What good are flatmates even, if they don't comfort you when you need it most? Or when you need it a normal amount? Or, you know, when you don't really need it, but just really want it?

CW / disclaimer: rpf, fem!reader, afab!reader, hurt/comfort i guess? idk we're sad a lot and joe cheers us up a lot, mentions of reader having hair long enough to be played with

Author’s note: last one! i hope this non-plot fic was all right! it doesnt feel like it fully counted as a five-part story just because it doesn't feel like anything really happened besides... you know, a lot of hugging. anyways. enjoy!

Wordcount: 3.9K

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

When Joe woke up the next morning, all promises he made to himself the night before had vanished. Like promises people made late at night in bed were wont to do.

I’ll start on Monday.

I’ll wake up early, do it in the morning.

Thing’s will be different when the sun rises.

They never were.

He didn’t know why he thought it would be different this time. Sure, he still thought it wasn’t exactly normal to wake up with his flatmate’s face pressed into his chest, but why would he risk doing anything that was going to change that?

You kept his bed warm. Satisfied his tactile nature. Filled something hollow within him which he didn’t realise was empty before. And in moments like these, he could tell it was spilling over. Making mess inside his chest.

Joe wanted to know why it never felt invasive.

He tried to think back how he got here.

Where it all began.

How it had evolved.

And why it never felt weird. Why you never needed to talk about any of it, words completely unnecessary. Why the only two words ever spoken about it, your wild and insane “Thank you.” felt like the most disgusting overkill of verbal communication Joe had ever experienced.

The two of you were just bad with words, he decided.

Joe felt how you stretched a leg, one that was still stuck between two of his, and carefully held you a little tighter until he felt you fully relax again.

Good.

You weren’t allowed to wake up yet.

Morning sun softly lit Joe’s room through the cracks in his curtains and, Joe knew it was a Sunday, but it also felt like a Sunday.

Nothing planned for the day. Hours of nothing that stretched out before him, time he got to fill with whatever felt right in the moment.

And right now, delaying waking up felt right.

He could pretend to ignore all the things that stirred inside. The questions. The uncertainties.

He could pretend to ignore the bodily reactions you were responsible for. He had done so for ages. Had gotten real good at pretending.

But he wondered if you knew.

If you felt the same stirring he felt.

If you could see it.

If you also sometimes blew off your friends, just to hang out at home. If you also wished the friends you had over would just fucking leave already when you’d feel drowsy after a big meal. If you also sometimes had a hard time falling back asleep after waking up at random hours, just because you had to deal with a lot of disappointment at being alone.

He shouldn’t ask for more.

He was getting plenty.

Right here. Right now.

Joe pulled a blanket of appreciation all the way over himself, and he felt full. Logically understood he wouldn’t have it forever, so he best really focus on the right here and the right now, and push any other thoughts aside.

He tried to focus on every part of your body that touched parts of his body until he located your heartbeat, and then focussed on that until he fell asleep again.

When he woke up about 45 minutes later, it was to your fingers lightly stroking his face that slowly tickled him awake.

You trailed a finger tip down his nose and when you pulled away, Joe tipped his head back a little, chasing your touch. It drew your eye to a little red patch underneath his chin.

“You’ve got a…” you started, voice barely there, throat full of sleep still. Joe felt how you scratched at his skin a little, and stuck his chin out more to help give you a better look.

“Does this hurt?” you asked all innocently before pressing a sharp nail into the soft flesh just past his jawline.

“Ow,” Joe cried, flinching away into his pillow more, immediately far more awake than he wanted to be. “Jesus Christ, good morning, what the...” Joe huffed a laugh, and you hid your face into his armpit to hide your own smile.

Just for a second.

When you moved your head back onto his chest, Joe rubbed at where you poked him.

“You’ve got an ingrown hair,” you used a finger to move his aside and pulled the skin taught for a better look. Joe’s hand moved to hold you by the wrist, making sure he could pull you away the second you’d try some of that bullshit again.

But instead, you took hold of his chin and moved his head to the side, inspecting the whole area closely.

Your intense attention made Joe grow shy, and you saw how a blush crept up his neck from up close. He tried to brave through, tried his best to not tuck his chin in and trap your fingers there.

But then you did it for him, moved his face by the chin and let your eyes trail up his jaw, over his sideburns and up into his hair.

Joe felt a little timid, not sure if he was mentally even fully awake yet, face heating up under your soft gaze.

He realised you’d never done this before. Usually, when you’d wake up next to each other, you’d blink your bleary eyes, have a look around his bedroom and get up and out. Leave his room without another word shared. Leave him alone, all by himself. This was the first time you’d stayed in his bed a little longer. Lazed around and woke up slow.

It was nice.

Your chin pressed into his chest felt nice.

The weight of your thigh that rested over his hip felt nice.

All this innocent soft attention in your shared warmth felt nice.

“Hmm, you’re so warm,” Joe whispered, because you were, and it felt nice.

It was all so nice.

Your eyes roaming his features was maybe a bit much, seeing as you were quite literally able to count his pores, you were so close.

But it was still nice.

You’d created this bubble of blissful contentment together and Joe let himself drown into the right here and right now of it all.

Joe loved it in the bubble.

Would trap you in this bubble with him forever, if he could.

But his cheeks were blushing so hard, and he stared up at the ceiling in hopes of making it stop. In your next move, you let go of his chin and raised a hand up to his hair where three fingers disappeared into his hairline for a second.

Just for a literal second, though.

“You need to wash your hair.” you said dryly and moved to sit up.

Joe groaned a little.

You’d popped the bubble.

Just like that.

It was like reality got shoved right into his face as you sat up and he almost went and pulled right back in. Right back into his chest, into that bubble, where everything sparkled, and tingled, and went fuzzy around the edges.

But alas. You were already gone.

When you later met in your living area, everything was sort of back to normal. All casual. Like you hadn’t just spent another night wrapped up in bed together, parts of bodies close to other parts of bodies that they had no right being so close to.

You were flatmates, for fuck’s sake.

And sure, you were a different kind of flatmate to each other than your average run-of-the-mill flatmate. But still, how were you only just flatmates to each other still?

No lingering awkwardness.

Never an embarrassing moment.

Just a, “We’re out of dishwasher tablets,” as you grabbed the last one and showed him the empty cardboard box.

Followed by a, “Do you want some coffee?” and a neutral face thrown his way.

Like you were talking to your mum.

“Yea,” Joe answered, and tried showing as much indifference as he could in return. “Coffee sounds lovely.”

And that was that. Once again. Just flatmates.

Joe pretended all was fine. Pretended it was fine how you never talked about any of it.

He didn’t really have the right to complain, he thought. Because he still got to reach hands across and squeeze your arm in thanks when you passed him a drink, and you weren’t weirded out by that.

He still got to sometimes come home and see your charming little pouty face and know he’d get to hug you all night long, and you didn’t deny him the snuggles.

And still, if it got really bad, you’d cry and he’d find you and comfort you until you stopped crying, and then he’d make a stupid joke and you’d laugh and, are you fucking joking, he’d be left on cloud nine for a days.

To be able to get you from tears into giggles with just a couple of wrapping arms, and stroking hands, and silly comments?

Did you even know what that did to him?

Joe thought he’d gotten a weird sort of sixth sense for it now. He could snuff out your mood just from the sounds of how you’d walk in after work. Knew exactly what the evening was going to look like from the way that you were breathing. Could sniff it out like a bloodhound, he was that tuned in.

Unhealthy?

Maybe.

But he loved it too much to really do anything about it.

Even when you started pulling away a little again, like you’d done before. Would walk in sort of happy and pleased and would just make yourself a large salad for dinner before you’d go for a quick drink with friends.

It sent him down that same fucking spiral.

Why was he upset his flatmate was no longer upset so often?

How in the world was he even going to begin to unpack that?

Joe didn’t want to admit to anything, because you didn’t talk about anything, but it affected him plenty. He still got to squeeze your shoulder, and poke you in the side, and sometimes massage a socked foot when you did end up on the sofa together, but... fuck it. Joe wanted your body pressed all up against his, every night, and if he had it his way, not just on the sofa but then also in his bed right after.

He let it build.

He let it build up far too high until, one strange afternoon, it all tumbled down.

He’d been moping around since earlier that morning. Had to get some work done but just grew more and more annoyed and he didn’t really know how to articulate what it was. Was it you? Or was it him? Or was it something else entirely, and was this just easier to be upset with because it was on his mind so often?

He kind of didn’t even want to figure it out.

Just wanted to be annoyed.

And then you’d walked in, and he could hear. He frowned and listened and... yep. That sounded just about right.

Joe was stood in the kitchen when you stepped into the room and for a moment, you just looked at each other.

You expected things to go how they usually went when you walked in the way you’d just done.

If Joe was in, he’d find you and hold your face to make you look at how he empathetically mimicked your pout and knitted eyebrows before he hugged you tight and whispered all sorts of things about pizza toppings into your ear.

If Joe was in, he never even needed to take a proper look at you to know you’d needed tending to. Which is what he’d then always do.

He’d find you, and tend to you until you no longer needed tending to, and yet, now...

Now, he wasn’t really doing anything.

And you never talked.

But, then... now what?

Joe just looked at you, leant into his shoulders as his hands rested on the black shiny countertop of the island and seemed irritated.

Kind of angry.

This was new.

Different.

Needed different approach.

So...

“You all right?”

For a moment you thought that maybe Joe was mad with you, with the way his face read thunder as he took a moment to answer that question. Maybe you shouldn’t have asked.

But then he sighed, and his expression softened slightly before he shrugged and answered, “Define all right.”

“Cool, me neither. Come sit.”

For a split second, Joe thought, no. Let’s keep distance and talk for a change.

But before he even knew it, his legs were carrying him over to the sofa where you waited for him to sit down first, which he then simply just did.

Joe let himself fall back into the sofa and kept his arms slightly open, knowing you were likely going to drop down right next to him.

But you didn’t want to just let Joe hug you, this time.

Joe looked like he needed to be hugged himself just as much.

Maybe even more than you, you thought.

So instead, you climbed onto the sofa feet first, sat down next to him but faced into him, and draped both arms around his neck, pushing your cheek against his in a tight hug. Your knees dug into the back of the sofa a little uncomfortably, and it was like Joe could tell, because he shimmied a little until you both sighed and sagged into each other.

You felt Joe hug you back, arms around your waist and flat palms spread around your sides. It almost felt like his arms looped around you twice as he pulled you tightly into him.

It was wild how Joe could feel his bad mood drain from his body, and he wondered if this was how you always felt. If Joe’s embraces did the same to you.

You sat like that for a while, sometimes unsticking cheek from cheek to find a better bit of skin to press your face into.

You sat like that until Joe felt his annoyance make way for something else to shine through.

This would usually be the moment he’d make a joke. A little comment that would make you laugh, even if you didn’t want to and tried to hide it, but Joe could always feel how the muscles in your stomach tensed in his small moment of victory.

Not this time.

And it was silly, because you were waiting for it too.

For Joe to make light of something heavy. Because he was so good at making light of all things heavy.

But nothing really came.

You felt how Joe moved his face down and found the crook of your neck to bury his nose into. Maybe he was actually crying. You weren’t sure. But just in case, you used soothing fingers to swipe across his shoulders, across where they could reach, and you felt Joe’d head grow heavier as he relaxed more.

“Better?” you asked softly, and Joe just hummed in confirmation.

Something euphoric bubbled up inside you.

Success.

Then Joe moved his head up and you thought it was maybe to press it against the side of yours once again, but instead he got it right in front of yours and let your foreheads touch. Let your noses bump.

You weren’t sure what happened between the surge of elation and your noses touching, but suddenly, you kind of felt like crying again. Felt the dark mood you’d been in when you walked in a little earlier return.

But it didn’t feel like this moment was really about you, for once.

So you just... stayed there. Stayed put. Kept your eyes closed, and let your noses touch, and hoped that whatever you were doing was at least making Joe feel better.

“Is this helping?” you whispered, and Joe felt it against his mouth.

In turn, he sighed, and you felt that against yours before he answered, “Yea.”

His arms squeezed tighter and you tried thinking of a time where you’d been closer than this. If this counted as the closest you’d ever been.

And then you felt his nose run up along the side of yours before moving down the other side of it and, probably. This was probably the closest you’d ever been.

“Yea,” he said again, and then followed it up with, “You’re not going anywhere.”

The slightly higher pitch of his voice made Joe sound like he was crying. You checked, kind of had to check, and moved back slightly to have a look.

But he wasn’t crying. Seemed wildly wrecked in a different way. One slightly foreign to you. It made you furrow your brow in confusion, because, what did he mean, ‘you’re not going anywhere’?

You weren’t going anywhere.

You never did.

You shared a flat together and you were always there.

Joe saw how you tried to make sense of his words in real time, up close, and it made sense to him that you didn’t immediately get it. You never used actual words together. Of course this was going to take you a second. He understood. But still. It was fucking annoying that you didn’t.

Joe had to look away for a second, to stare at the wall on the other side of the room as he leant back into the sofa more, arms sliding down your back as he did.

With his head tilted back onto the backrest, he carefully started, “You know…” and then took another moment to think. Because, what did you know?

You waited, mostly because you were unsure of what else to do.

You and Joe didn’t talk. Didn’t ask questions. Just... you just were. Were how you were.

So you waited, and saw Joe’s eyes wander down to the collar of your top where he took one of the unbuttoned buttons in between his fingers to play with.

“I don’t think I can… I might not have the strength,”

Never talking also meant you’d not practiced listening. And Joe made listening difficult, because as he fidgeted with your collar, you couldn’t help your eyes from drifting to a bicep. You concluded his top was too tight around the arms, and let your eyes linger there, because it looked nice.

A flex of the muscle brought you back to him.

For a small moment, you made eye-contact and you realised you were too close.

“When are you going to… when will you see it?” Joe pressed, ducking his head to force eye-contact as you tried moving back a little. His voice remained soft, words almost cautious as they found your ears.

You didn’t really have a response.

“I’m not…” you began, thinking you’d find out what exactly you weren’t along the way, but you faltered.

You had no idea what you weren’t. Had no idea what to say.

“I’m not…” you tried again.

Still didn’t get any further. Not good with words, you thought to yourself. Why was Joe making you talk?

You never talked.

But Joe waited, just like you’d waited for him before. Gave you time to find the right way to articulate whatever was going on inside your mind.

And he shouldn’t have.

You suddenly inhaled sharply and created more distance between the two of you as you said, “I’m not really hungry.”

“I–... what?”

You got up from the sofa.

“If you want a pizza, you’re going to have to eat the whole thing yourself I’m afraid. I think we’ve got some– yea, there’s at least two in the freezer still,”

“But–...”

You were already on your way to show him.

“Tandoori chicken and, um, one with mushrooms, I think, I got them last week, unless you’ve already had them, they should be in there...”

Joe couldn’t fucking believe it.

You were... you were being awkward.

Being all weird.

Had he made things awkward and weird? By talking?

Surely, that couldn’t be the case.

He watched you nervously fight with a freezer drawer that didn’t seem to want to budge for a second, until it did, and you yanked it all the way out. Made it clatter against the tiles.

Oh, it was absolutely the case.

“Fuck– sorry,” you near-violently shoved it back into its slot, and the sound of plastic sliding across ice made his skin crawl.

“Hey,” Joe was already up on his feet.

“Yea, see? Chicken and garlic mushroom, you can have–”

“Hey, hey, stop.” Joe rounded the island, got you by the arms and turned you away from the freezer.

“If you want–”

“I said, stop.”

You then did stop. Let Joe close the freezer door as you closed your eyes and exhaled through flared nostrils.

Joe studied your face, confused and worried by what the fuck had just happened. How you’d gone from lovingly embracing each other on the sofa until you’d both left each other’s shapes across your fronts like you were memory foam, to suddenly this weird, embarrassing, panicky state in the kitchen.

Words.

“It’s okay if you don’t–” Joe started, wanting to tell you it was fine if you didn’t want to talk, but this time you cut him off. Said, “Joe, please,” in a wobbly voice, because you did want what Joe meant earlier. You did see it. Did want that.

But you were flatmates.

Joe moved his hands and cupped your face.

It made you open your eyes and you immediately wished you hadn’t.

His eyes were so fucking expressive, they kind of bore all.

It was weird to want to look away just as much as you wanted to keep this connection with him, and you moved your hands to hold onto his wrists so that, even if you did end up looking away, he at least wouldn’t let go of you.

You watched his eyes flick between yours before they flicked down at your mouth.

It made you do the same, and, shit.

No.

You were flatmates.

But then Joe leant a little closer, and you didn’t move away. Did the opposite in fact.

Joe let your foreheads touch once more, and allowed the two of you to be close again.

You were the worst at talking.

Never talked.

But, fuck, you were so good at being close.

Joe knew that he was going to have to let everything else do the talking. Like it had always done, up until now. He just... he needed to articulate a little clearer, that was all.

You lifted your chin slightly, just enough to nuzzle. To press your nose against his and for a brief moment, you moved like you were kissing, but your lips didn’t touch.

“Joe,” you breathed, sounding unsure, and Joe stilled for a second. “We’re flatmates.”

And God, if that same exact thought hadn’t kept him from ever moving past where you were right this second.

“Yea,” he agreed in a whisper.

You were flatmates.

But then you let a hand move up to his neck, and Joe copied the move. Got you by the base of the skull and tested to see if he could guide you to tip your head the way he wanted it to tip.

You easily let him.

Lips brushed. Only briefly. No one flinched or moved back, and Joe hovered right in front until he felt your fingers pull him closer.

“But we’re close.”

the end

---

The Taglisted

@ali-in-w0nderland, @alwayslindie, @babybluebex, @bylermaxmayfield, @capricornrisingsstuff, @chaoticgood-munson, @choke-me-eddie, @demonsanddemogorgons, @did-it-work, @dirtyeddietini, @djoseph-quinn, @dolcevit4, @eddies-puppet, @emma77645, @emotionaldreamer, @everythinghasafacee, @figmentofquinn, @ghost-proofbaby, @ghostinthebackofyourhead, @hanahkatexo, @harringtonfan4, @hazelenys, @jewellethief, @joesquinns, @keikoraven, @kennedy-brooke, @lovelyblueness, @manda-panda-monium, @mandyjo8719, @mexicanfolklore, @miserybeans, @munson-mjstan, @nadixq, @nglharry, @notverywise, @pepperstories, @phyllosilicate-s, @royale1803, @sherrylyn628, @sidthedollface2, @songforeddiemunson, @sweetberry47, @take-everything-you-can, @thebellenouvelle, @tlclick73, @werepartnersnow, @winterwakesthewolf, @witchwolflea, @yelyahcardella, @yunirgo

taglist currently full, sorry

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

The Anomaly || JJK

Chapter 5: It's Like That

summary : In which you're isekai'd from your (own) parallel Jujutsu Kaisen universe to the canon universe.

wordcount : 2.8k

Pairing: Jujutsu Kaisen X Reader, eventually Character x Reader (idk who yet tho)

Masterlist | Next

The mission you guys were called for was in fact, not top secret. That mission was about a week ago now. Your current mission? Also not top secret. 

In fact, the four of you have just wrapped it up. It was in the city, and now, you're all left with what to do for the rest of the day. 

" I think I'll go see a movie. "

Yuuji shares, scrolling through his phone to see the many titles which are currently playing. 

" What about you, Kugisaki? "

" It's still early. I think I'll go see a movie. "

" What about you, Y/N? "

Over the past week, you found yourself growing closer with Megumi. It was quite silly. The Megumi of your universe didn't exactly get along with you all that well. Your Yuuji could stuck to him like glue, but your Megumi and you could not sit in the same room for longer than an hour before the two of you start bickering. (Yes, it went down between the two of you that often.) On the rare days, the two of you would get into a physical fight.

That usually ended with you annoying him to no end, considering your fighting style revolves around other people their movements. It would eventually also escalate with him using his Ten Shadows technique on you (yes, you manage to piss him off that bad, that often.) Which in turn, would send you running. Usually to Sukuna. Not necessarily because he could beat the Ten Shadow technique, but simply because no one but you ever dared to bother Sukuna. It was a simple, unspoken rule. One Gojo loved to disrespect often. 

" Ah, I think I'll join Nobara. "

He nods while you grin, linking arms with Nobara who mirrors your expression. 

" Alright. I'm heading home. "

Moments later, Megumi is on his way home. 

" I'm going to the movies, what about you guys? "

Yuuji asks, waving his phone as you and Nobara are stood on the staircase leading towards the metro station. You let go of her, in turn of facing him. 

" What are you watching? "

" Human earthworm 4." 

He looks so proud as he says that. 

" Who even watches that?! I haven't even seen 1,2 or 3." 

" I think you'd be fine jumping in in 4-" 

Yuuji begins, explaining the plot to her. You cringe. It's not your type of film. 

" -So the theme is actually love! " 

Yuuji exclaims, all excited. You blink.

Ew, worm man. 

" I don't want to see some wormo man. Regardless of the theme. "

" It's human earthworm though. "

" I'm not going. "

" Awe, Y/N, what about you? "

" Uhm, no thanks. That movie franchise is... Not my thing. "

" We're gonna go shopping. Wanna join? "

" I just said I'm going to the movies! "

" Okay, see you later then. "

" Later Yuuji, have fun! "

The two of you walk along for a moment, agreeing about how stupid the whole concept of human earthworm is, when-

" Excuse me, do you know Itadori Yuuji? "

-

Moments later you, Nobara, and a girl whose name is Yuko, find yourselves at a simple cafe, as she explains the situation to you. 

" This is me at our middle school graduation ceremony. "

She hands her phone to Nobara, and you peek over her shoulder. Woah, now that's a glow up. 

" Woah, wait, that was only six months ago! What happened to you? "

" You did have quite the glow up. You're gorgeous!"

" Ah, thank you. I did grow 15 centimeters. And with moving to Tokyo and the stress of changing environments... "

" Woah... You're a real Sato Kuruko. "

" That's Itadori. -"

She's showing the two of you a different picture now. You recognize Yuuji in a different school uniform, only noticing now that he's really growing better into his features.

You hadn't gone to the same middle school as Yuuji in your own universe, instead, you were home schooled with the other kids of your clan. It's where you and Noritoshi learned to get along so well. He was a bastard child, yet next in line as the chief because of his technique. You're rejected because of your technique. 

" On graduation day, I worked up the courage to ask him for a picture. I actually wanted to get his number too, but it was already decided that I would be moving to Tokyo. " 

She continues to explain, her eyes downcast, a little sad about the memory.

" So when I saw Itadori earlier- I thought maybe with how I look now, I might.... "

You and Nobara catch on, giving each other incredulous looks. 

" Wait, Yuko, you mean-"

You begin, looking at her like some sort of silly cartoon, Nobara finishing your sentence for you. 

" - it's like that? "

Yuko replies with the same energy.

" Yes, it's like that. "

Barely a moment later, Nobara is calling someone. Ijichi, who was on his way to drop off Megumi. It doesn't take any effort for the driver to turn around. You doubt Megumi is aware of it.

" Someone who knows Itadori well is on his way here now. Let's hear what he has to say. "

" Uhm, if either of you are also interested in Itadori... "

Yuko starts, though Nobara's deadpan expression pulls a giggle from you. 

" No. "

Her eyes look dead serious as she says so. 

" Even if hell and earth were to dance the lambada, not happening. "

You snort at her words. 

" Yeah, you don't need to worry. I'm not interested either. " 

You smile reassuringly at Yuko. A few moments later, Megumi has arrived at your table, looking agitated. You smile at him. 

" All right, what's the big deal? "

" Hey Megumi, does Itadori have a girlfriend? " 

Nobara doesn't waste time today. She's getting straight into business. 

He raises a brow at her. 

" Hue? "

" This is Ozawa Yuko. She's actually something, something and something like... "

Her explanation is shady, both her and your expression serious. 

He breaks out a sweat, understanding the situation. 

" So it's like that? "

Both you and Nobara nod, sweating the seriousness of the situation as well. 

" Yes, it's like that. "

He ends up sitting down beside you. (Figure out the seating plan yourself, I'm not gonna make it complicated.) With a black coffee. 

You will never understand his preferred taste. 

" I doubt it. He didn't seem particularly upset about moving to Tokyo all of a sudden. And he's got one of those posters hanging up in his room. Anyone with a girlfriend wouldn't put up something like that, right? She wouldn't like that. "

Meanwhile, Nobara seems to be more concerned about his choice of drink. 

" Are you the type who drinks coffee black around girls to show off? Please stop. "

You blink as well, suddenly curious. Was he? 

He's annoyed by her words. 

" Don't forget, you're the one who called me. And I always drink it black. " 

Yuko finally speaks up now, an adorable blush on her face. 

" Um, by the way, do you happen to know what his type is? "

" A tall girl with a big ass. "

Both Megumi and Nobara turn to blink at you. You blink back at them. 

" What? I grew up around him and his- around him. " 

You blush in embarrassment, realizing you could be wrong. There's been enough proof of differences between your universe and this one after all. 

" Well, you're correct either way. He mentioned something about liking tall girls. "

Yuko, Nobara and you seem to communicate telepathically, like some kind of electric signal spreads between the three of you. You clink your glasses together, and Nobara slams her phone on the table. 

" You've got a shot! I'm gonna summon Itadori! You're okay with that right, Yuko?! "

She nods. 

" Yes! "

The messages between them are silly, and fast. And now, all that's left to do is wait. 

Not that you have to wait long. Soon enough Yuuji joins the scene, a paper bag of stuff in his hands. 

" Oh!, Fushiguro's here too? " 

Both you and Nobara blink. That was fast. 

Suddenly, you hurriedly glance at Nobara. She hadn't told him why he needed to come. Hadn't told him about Yuko. There was no way he could recognize her when she changed so much- Nobara seems to realize too, sweating the situation, holding out her hand to quickly introduce the two of them to one another. 

" Itadori! This girl is-"

" Oh!, it's Ozawa. How did you end up here? "

All three of you are impressed. Holding up imaginary 10s for his recognizing skill. 

Yuko and Yuuji end up spending the rest of the afternoon together, with Megumi, Nobara and you tagging along behind them. Megumi even felt soft enough to hold Yuuji's stuff for him. 

" Was that really okay, they could've at least exchanged numbers. "

Megumi points out, as Yuko leaves by train later that afternoon. You agree. Kind of. They had seemed to hit it off after all. 

" She exchanged hers with me, so it'll be fine. More important, Fushiguro, Y/N, I've finally recognized my own feelings. "

Both of you give her a curious glance. 

" Hue? "

Was she about to admit to having feelings for him? You shouldn't be surprised. The two got along really well, after all-

" The idea of Itadori getting a girlfriend before I get a boyfriend really pisses me off. "

Maybe not. You grin at her words, an imaginary embarrassed sweat drop running down your brow. 

Of course she'd say something like that. That sounds more like her. 

Megumi doesn't seem surprised. 

" Is that so? "

" Sorry for the wait! " 

Yuuji jumps back in between you and Nobara. 

" Walk behind me. "

You blink at Nobara's words. 

" Huh, what's this? What're you talking about? "

Yuuji seems confused. A feeling you relate to. Megumi doesn't seem to care. 

" Here. "

He's handing Yuuji back his bag of stuff. 

" Here, while you're at it. "

" Huh? What's this? "

" Wouldn't you feel bad for making a lady carry them? "

She's handing him her own bags now. 

" Sure. "

Yuuji doesn't seem to mind. 

" Want me to carry your stuff too, Y/N? " 

You smile at him, shaking your head. You're only holding one plastic bag loosely between your fingers, the bag full of snacks. 

" Oh, shoot! The movie's about to start, let's go! " 

Yuuji's jogging before any of you actually can check the time. 

" Hey! Wait up! Don't take my stuff with you! There's no way I'm watching some wormo man! "

Yuuji ignores her words, turning to Megumi. 

" Fushiguro, Y/N, wanna grab some popcorn? Fushiguro, you like caramel flavoured right? " 

" Don't just assume we're all going to watch wormo man. "

" I told you all, it's human earthworm. 4! "

-

You regret watching human earthworm 4.

There had been a little too many horror like sound effects and jumps in it, and now you didn't feel like sleeping. Your fear of horror films was a bit childish, but it rarely bothered you. 

And so you find yourself leaving your dorm. You want to make dumplings. But you don't have all the ingredients, so you need to go to a 24h convenient store. 

" What're you doing? " 

Your skin shivers before you jump, turning around to face the intruder who's sneaked up on you. 

" What the- Don't sneak up on me like that! "

Megumi blinks plainly at you. 

" Where are you going at this hour? "

" 24h convenient store. I can't- I'm gonna make dumplings. "

" Why? Do you really need to at this hour? Don't we have some in the freezer from the last package Yuuji got? "

" Yeah, but I want to make them fresh. "

Megumi blinks at you again, before sighing. 

" Okay, well, give me a second to change. I'm coming with you. "

You hadn't even realized that he was in his pijamas. You're in your pijamas too, an oversized sweater and a comfortable pair of leggings. You don't feel bothered enough to change though. 

A few moments later, he returns. 

" Okay, let's go. "

Thankfully, the walk towards the convenience store is short. Only 10 minutes. The silence between the two of you is comfortable, as you walk side by side down the stairs of Jujutsu Tech. 

You eye the forest surrounding the school grounds warily, like something might jump out to attack you any second. Like you don't have powers that literally render every living creature. Megumi glances down at you, realization finally making it's way into his brain. 

" Are you afraid of the dark? "

The wrong realization. But don't worry, he'll get there. 

You blink. 

" Oh, uhm, err- something like that. "

He's admittedly puzzled. So you weren't afraid of the dark. Maybe you've had a bad dream? He doesn't decide to push it. Instead, he softly takes your hand, holding it in his own, distracting you from your fears. 

You glance at him, a blush on your face. You smile gratefully at him, squeezing his hand as your peaceful silence returns. 

It doesn't take you long to get the remaining ingredients, and soon enough, the two of you are back at the dorms, now stood in the kitchen. 

" Thanks. You didn't need to come with me you know? " 

You smile at him as you unpack the bag. He blushes, looking away. 

" I wasn't going to let you go alone at this hour. "

He mumbles it, but it's just loud enough for you to hear. 

He eyes you preparing, before moving to stand at your side, nudging you away. 

" I'll cut up the vegetables. "

" Ah, thank you. "

There's a certain peace that resides between the two of you as you work in the kitchen together. It was nice, getting to know him this way. Your Megumi and you would've been bickering already. 

Once you've set the dough, you help in cutting up the remaining ingredients. Noticing he's deciding on the amount of ginger to cut up, you smile at him. 

" You can add extra if you'd like. "

He raises a brow at you. 

" You like extra ginger? "

" Not necessarily, but you do, right? "

He blinks, his eyes open in amazement. How did you know that? 

" Does your universe's Megumi like extra ginger too? "

You shrug. 

" Not sure. We don't actually get along that well in my universe.- I noticed you ordered that chicken dish that's ginger based, and how you were measuring just now. I just put one and one together and guessed. "

The quick smile you send leaves him blushing once more. He smiles at you. He hadn't realized you were so perceptive. 

His eyes return to his chopping work. 

" Tsumiki used to make dumplings with me when we were younger. "

You smile as he softens around you, before your features sharpen. 

" Oh, right, I completely forgot about it, but I wondered if I could visit Tsumiki sometime? I healed her in my universe, you see. "

Megumi's eyes widen, the grip on the knife he's holding loosening. Were you that powerful? You mentioned being able to use reverse cursed energy, but were you really able to apply that to illness as well? 

" I- you healed her? With your reverse cursed technique? Why? I thought we didn't get along in your universe? "

You nod. 

" That's true. Our relationship in my universe is hard to explain. I wouldn't borrow the you from my universe my charger, but if he'd need a kidney I'd offer it. We originally did get along. Until something silly happened. Gojo introduced us at a young age. "

Megumi's eyes remain wide. In all honesty, he was mostly still surprised that you might be able to heal her. He also didn't exactly understand how your universe's version of himself didn't like him. You were amazing. And if he were to be selfish, he wished you'd stay. 

" Hey, you guys are still up- what are you making? "

Both of you turn to see Yuuji standing in the kitchen's entryway, holding an empty bowl he must be returning. The moment is gone, the conversation something you'll return to later. 

" Yeah, we're making dumplings, wanna join? "

The Anomaly Taglist:

@luxylucylou @kalulakunundrum @strxbxrrylover @aethersslave @jenniferrvsesi

[utilitycaster]

Your last answered ask gave me so many Thoughts.

I haven't watched C3 for a while now, just been following the recaps, because quite honestly I couldn't force myself to sit through the episodes anymore. It got SO BORING. The outside circumstances may have changed, but in essence it feels like they're at the exact same point as they were 50 episodes ago:

"Do we let the gods the gods die or not?"

No one has an answer yet, and it just feels like I'm watching 9 people twiddle their thumbs going "Idk, do you? No, do you? No you pick first, I'm indifferent." over and over and over again.

The party banter is fun I guess, but I can't get myself to care about the overarching plot anymore. At least not until a decision is made. And this is not on Ludinus! He's such an interesting villain! But I will say, if it weren't for plot armor, he would have (and should have) succeeded ages ago. His opposition is not exactly a unified front.

So I agree on most of this. I am still watching, because, as some other people have put it, it's an interesting group of people doing the most uninteresting things/episodes are frequently fun on an individual level while failing to contribute to a strong overarching story, eg, the Arch Heart scene would have been great had it come 30-40 episodes prior, which I get violates causality re: Downfall but that kind of brings me back to the point I just made in the previous ask. I think the idea of everything coming together across multiple campaigns to a culmination is very cool. I think that having different DMs play in the world and contribute to your story as it is playing out is also very cool. However, given that the former idea is very much one of convergence - everything coming together across 10 years of streaming and more of home games - and the latter is very much a diverging one - you're trying to hit a target by fanning out. And this is actual play, too, so it's a moving target too.

The one thing I disagree with is about Ludinus, because the thing is, at this point, the opposition is pretty unified. It's really like. If Bells Hells doesn't see the plan from the Accord through, at that point it's like well, they're the main characters of the story because they happen to be the characters who the cast picked (given very little direction) to be their PCs in this story, but probably Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein and the various mercenary group NPCs and the Air Ashari etc etc should handle this and this group of terminally indecisive people should just sit it out, regardless of how invested and close to the issue they might be. Again: pick a direction - any direction - and stick to it. It's a story. Magic isn't real and isn't actually going to break, and real people aren't going to die, but a lot of real people are going to stop watching (or watch and be like yeah this was the weakest campaign and it's not close.)

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

It seems that Vhagar is the only living, breathing creature that still cares about Aemond. His sister is apathetic at the prospect of his death, his mother sold him and his brother to Rhae Rhae knowing that it's was death sentence, he probably will never interact with Daeron, and I'm pretty sure that Alys will work against him. As far as I'm concerned, he should just take the granny and give her the best time of her life, inflict as much damage to the blacks as possible and then die, but not before forcing the morally grey™ Rogue prince to do the same.

And it's crazy, but they managed to get me, once a staunch Alicent supporter, to scroll through anti Alicent Hightower tag and just agree with almost everything. Her character assassination was appalling, not only the book Alicent would never, but ep 1-8 Alicent would never. I wish I could erase this horrendous season from my memory. Idk if you've read what Hess said, but according to her, Alicent in the scene at Dragonstone with Rhaenyra realised that she never really sacrificed anything and that's why she agrees to sacrifice her son(s) for "peace". Also, she claims that the writers' intention was to make the audience believe how everything is finally going to be alright because these two women are friends and will work it though, but then *gasp* we see Aegon leaving in the cart and we realize that the war is still going to happen because Rhaenyra will think that Alicent deceived her!!. She must be proud of herself. I can't believe how vile and deranged these writers and showrunners sound (and maybe even are).

Hello!

I lost count how many times I read these words (or even wrote them myself) in the span of the last week but this show is an absolute mess. And it's not just about the stupidest bias, the quality of the script or the lack of subtlety with which the writers are shoving their views on the characters' relationships down our throats. It's also the fact that every person involved in the creative process has theit own view on what's going on - and sometimes these views are diametrically opposed. Take Olivia saying that in her mind Alicent wanted to spit in Rhaenyra's face when she asked her to give Aegon up but mentioning she doesn't know how the material was edited yet - and the writers going all "Oh, she is liberated now! She is atoning for her sins!" (which sins exactly, by the way?). In what world is this situation okay? The actors are barely hiding their dissatisfaction about the plot - and the writers just keep doing their thing which is talking absolute nonsense. Stellar project, well done, HBO.

I am still in the "don't hate the characters, hate the writers" mindset (and have no plans to change it) - but did the writers do Alicent dirty. They dehumanized Aemond the most - but Alicent drew maximum humiliation card. Self flagellation in front of the woman who is an active threat to her children's (and to her own life)? Selling said children (at least her sons) to said woman? Amazing character development.

And as for Aemond, I have the feeling that Vhagar will be his only friend and ally as well (unless the writers turn their own story on its head and have Alys fall head over hills in love with him or something like that). At least, hopefully, he will have nothing to do with Helaena's death (I am pretty sure they will make it the fault of someone from TG - B&C wasn't made into a joke for nothing after all).

This show has become so draining recently, istg.

[dynamic-k]

I don't actually know why I'm doing this, but oh well.

This is for Super Sticks. I love your fan fiction by the way, ITS AWESOME!!! :D

This idea kind of came to me in the middle of the night, and I'm not sure why but like:

Vic is an alchemy genius right? And he made something that could help with Hazard's gene problem thingy.

Agent Smith had a leg problem. Despite not having powers, he had proven himself to be an invaluable stick in his time at rocket.

I was thinking, it would be really interesting to see the mercenaries (although not really in super sticks) together. Like, how would they interact with each other? How would they function as a team?

I'm getting off topic xd

Ballista is currently a hero, so it would make sense for the team to be on the hero side, right? I think Primal and Hazard could do it, but Agent can't, due to his left leg being uhh... yeah.

I know it said in Arc 2, that Agent would still have a bad leg: 'Agent being a total badass even with one bad leg', but what if Vic made something to help Agent??? Maybe with Blue as well, if it was another potion...

Having the team helping with hero-ing might help Chosen, Dark, and Second, with all the new villains and such.

idk. i kind of made like an entire au of super sticks, where one small positive thing lead to a whole villain arc XD. The stuff above is just something that happened to pop up in my brain when i was supposed to do homework-

Yeah, I'm just going to stop now.

-R

[*muffled happy crying into pillow noises*]

AHHWBQJAHKRQAV THANK YOU!!

Vic is indeed an alchemy genius, and he did make immunity supplements. Hazard's usage of his powers always hurt him because his S.P.I. (self-power-immunity) cells were mutated and didn't work properly, so the S.P.I supplements that Vic designed for Hazard were to replace the failing cells. Multiple supplements will have to be taken to keep up the stockpile of good cells.

I have been meaning to include some mercenaries' bonding moments somewhere in Arc Two, or perhaps as a Bonus Feature! I just... Haven't yet figured out where in the timeline I want stuff to be placed yet-

It's so cool you've come up with your own little spinoff AU! I am very intrigued, hehehe

:D Agent is a hero at heart, bad leg neverminded. And I do have a very specific badass Agent scene broiling around in my brain since before Arc One was even completed- XD

In all technicality, Agent's leg is full healed... Except uhh

See, there's nerve damage. Agent's leg was rotated around completely backward and while the emergency surgery corrected it quickly afterward, there's a lasting numbness and mild pain flareups to be suffered from there on out. It may eventually go away after several years, but for now, it stays.

Plot wise, I never planned for Vic to miraculously come up with some solution or fix-it for Agent's leg, even though he is very smart in problem curing areas and alchemy. (This may change, I dunno. My brain is a little bouncy on unfirmed ideas-)

Vic straight-up invented those supplements, came up with a whole serum that mimicked those cell properties, to stand in as a viable substitute. And it took him a very long time to perfect it. It would probably take an equally long time, or even longer, if Vic were to attempt making something for Agent. And uhhh, he can't exactly experiment hands-on in the comfy confines of his current jail cell, can he-

Ballista and Hazard have already canonically been doing hero work in Arc Two's time, and our three Ladybug hollowheads are aware of it, though they haven't yet met Hazard in person. Agent reopened the Rocket Hero program that Vic had abandoned in Arc One, so yeah.

Primal will eventually hop onto the program, I'll say that much, but for nowwww.... The situation is complicated. And I have some plans to help complete her redemption arc. Arc One left things a little ambiguous and incomplete on purpose, hehe

"idk. i kind of made like an entire au of super sticks, where one small positive thing lead to a whole villain arc XD." Color me intrigued! :D I love spinoff AUs~

No wait- Don't stop- I was enjoying the ramble- /silly

[gureshinlover]

Ok Saeran AE good ending dump, here are some random thoughts

The president plot was ended really underwhelmingly, but I'm glad that although Saeran chose to forgive him, the writers are aware this isn't something anyone can do and let saeyoung continue hating him. Honestly, forgiving or not forgiving him aside, I just didn't like the way they made the president go 'ah.. you're right maybe I am a lonely bad guy' LIKE NO WAY THAT ASSHOLE CARES ABOUT THAT, I couldn't take any dialogues seriously

First of all. Why the fuck is jumin han a politician all of a sudden 😭 And like, forget being a politician, he is a candidate for presidency??????? Am I reading it right?? How exactly..???

Anyway I FORGOT ABOUT YOOSUNG AT PATISSIER AWWWW It's so nice to see him find himself even if this is saeran's route! You're doing so good love <3 I was gonna say it doesn't make sense that they made him chase his patissier dream when in his own route he thinks about why he wants to become a vet and decides to go that way, but I realized, since another story is 2 years before the casual one I guess he felt more free about leaving his medical studies 😭 he was able to change his path more easily because he just started school, and also he doesn't have a lover like mc in korea unlike his route so that might also affect his choices. But I think he's happy in either ending so I'm glad <33

They did well with Yoosung but. why didn't Jaehee get the same treatment. I don't get it. They were clever enough to remember other characters' goals and worries and made them happy in this AE, except for Jaehee. I wish they made her leave her position too, since Jumin Han is now involved with politics it could be the perfect excuse for Jaehee to stop being his assistant. I'm guessing that this is also because AS is 2 years earlier, which means Jaehee hasn't suffered in her job enough to leave yet, and she probably doesn't have the money to open a coffee shop anyway (she isn't even into coffee professionally yet although she said she was interested a bit) But idk I wish they left us a clue that Jaehee will also get to find her happiness in the future 😭😭

Another thing I'm confused about is that where the hell does saeran get money from 😭😭 how are we 'lovey dovey at some place romantic'😭 Saeyoung probably has more than enough money so he might have forced Saeran to have it all lol that's the only explanation I can think of. In the alternate ending Saeran has a greenhouse (considering that he said himself to be careful of people raising herbs in the wild I find this funny but well ofc it's the dream job for saeran) but I'm not sure what we're supposed to be doing in this ending lol

Like, apparently we're hippies now?? Feel love and peace~~

Saeran AE has its problems, but I still love it anyway and I'm not sure how they would be able to make a good ending differently, so I'll just take the good stuff and leave out the bad writing lol I remember going crazy about new illusts in 2020,,, can't believe it's been 3 years already. Happy new years btw I guess? 🌱 Idk how to end this post

[mad-c1oud]

probably a dumb question, but I'm working on a charlie and etoiles fic and i was wondering if i could get some advice on writing them? (or just writing in general)

the current plot of the fic is essentially that etoiles was a tiny (abt 7 centimeters) person but used technology to make himself human sized, until the tech fails and he shrinks again, while charlie is also tiny and he finds and helps etoiles. it has a modern world/political backdrop in a world where tinies and humans live together

repeat after me: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DUMB QUESTION!!!!!!

ALSO AHHHH THE SILLIES!!!! So glad to see someone else writing :333

I’m gonna try to give some advice but take everything I say with a grain of salt. I’m just a lil dude with no formal training or “practice”. Idk how I do what I do tbh

All advice under the cut so I don’t take up anyones dashboards!!

For characters, esp mcyt, I’ve found that comilation vids on YouTube are a really great resource!! Heres one I like for Étoiles: X

There’s also this amazing masterpost from echotunes with tons of mcyters AND the eggs: materpost here

Don’t always trust my depiction of characters since I myself am not immune to the oocification of them at times. Plus, my guys get shaped by the narratives I’ve forced them into for several chapters so they are not exactly like their cc or q counterparts. But the beauty of fanfiction is that I can play dolls however I please!

One thing I didn’t do in the beginning that I try to watch now is vocabulary for certain characters. For Étoiles, English is his second or even third language. There are certain words native English speakers use that he probably wouldn’t, same for phrases or sentence structure. Earlier, I wrote him a little too… neat and clean with his words. Even his internal monologue was off bc of that. Here’s an example I remember from fingers-

Og: “Please, treat yourself with the same kindness that you afford others.”

Edited: “Please, treat yourself with the same kindness you give others.”

Even now that sounds stilted, I would probably change it to: “Slime, give yourself some… understanding. Be nice to you just like you are nice to everyone else.”

He wouldn’t casually use the word “afford” like I might, and his English might be a little more jilted or awkward. Though don’t always make that assumption- Étoiles is fluent, just consider how learning a new language affects how you use it compared to a native speaker. I still slip up and definitely say things he wouldn’t but I’m learning as I go too!

I wish I had better resources for Charlie but I’ve been watching him for so long now that his character is easier for me, thought I’m not perfect.

When writing starcicle- the biggest thing to note this that they both love their bits. Someone said they get into a recursive feedback loop until one of them dies or logs off and it’s true. They goof off and Charlie flirts with Étoiles, which is sometimes reciprocated jokingly. I wish I had a video of all their interactions, they’re just so good. But yeah they feed off each others silly while having genuinely nice moments like when Étoiles complimented Charlie’s ability to make people smile and the election dinner. I use their separate personalities and the few interactions they’ve had to build on and expand their relationship in fanfics. Kind of like an informed understanding??? Idk it’s fanfiction. You can write them however you please tbh. I wanted my progression in immi to seem a little more natural but it’s still not exactly them and that’s okay! I’m just here to have fun and so should you!!

As for writing in general- dig through related tags on tumblr!! There are some great resources on tumblr and buried in peoples blogs. Look to see if people are tagging posts for personal sorting and then stalk their blog to see what else they find useful haha. I do it all the time… I wish I had a masterpost for this but sadly not yet. I’m trying to build my own tag for references but it’s slow going. Just yesterday I saw a great text ref for writing fight scenes on tiktok so you’ll keep finding new resources all the time. Start your own collection of posts and resources since there is no gigantic one available.

I will say a few things: outlines, no matter how do you them, are great. Jumping off of that- when creating a world like you are, write down all your rules and world building first so as you write, you can reference it and make sure you are staying within the guidelines of the world you created. I do this for hybrids like Charlie so I don’t say one thing and change it a few chapters later.

-Never fully delete anything you write unless it’s minor edits. Remove it from the doc sure, but save it somewhere else. You never know where it might work better.

-Read. Read others work, read books, read articles, read anything creative. I think the only way I can write the way I do is bc I’ve spent the last 10 or so years obsessively reading lmao. I was not a good writing when I tried back in 2011, and I’m still learning now, but just reading so much other material really helped I think. Don’t stay in your own bubble.

-Write for yourself first. You can write to share with others but always write for you too. It’s easy to get caught up in needing “approval” or validation, I do too, but love what you make as well.

-read your work aloud to yourself. This is great for proofreading and also awkward sentence structure/placement.

-when you want something to happen, don’t just flippantly make it happen. That’s how you get ooc moments and actions. Want something to happen and then look at your characters, understand where they need to be in order for that thing to occur. Not just in a physical sense but also a character sense. You can bypass this by letting the audience know if there’s an established dynamic already so you don’t have to build one, but you still need text to support and uplift it.

I have a lot of thoughts and ideas on writing but also I’m not always right. Like I said, look at other creative work, look at other resources. Practice!!! I’m practicing too still

Sorry if this was too brief or too long haha, I wanted to answer the ask properly but nit be too long winded.

Good luck on the fic!!!!! Cant wait to read if you decide to post it, but also take your time. Don’t rush

Cheers!!

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. friday we FINALLY kicked off ds9 season 4 with "way of the warrior" pts i & ii and oh my godddd:

firstly, i miss sisko''s hair. the beard looks GREAT it's a HUGE improvement but i miss his hair!! i also kinda miss kira's really butch cut. jadzia's hair is still touch and go...important ds9 topics

drilling changeling combat with odo is SO fun. but like also, such a dramatic turn from like, s1, when he pretends to be objects and doesn't want anyone to remember he can do this, because he wants to be able to spy on them. it's fun and funny etc but i could also write an essay about it. he's allowing his body, once a subject of scientific study that traumatized him, to be used again by his allies as a…if not subject of study again, exactly, a teaching tool. he's teaching them how to find and contain and maybe even hurt his people but at the same time HE IS USING HIMSELF TO DO IT he is ALSO TEACHING THEM HOW TO HURT HIM. yes, they're comically bad at it NOW, but they're just getting started, and it also illustrates how horrifically underprepared they are for his people to come and fuck with them at any time. i can't keep thinking about odo i'm going to make myself insane

spn has traumatized me bc i was half convinced yates was a changeling for most of this episode, since she was in and out so often. but he just gets to have a girlfriend!!! i think it's kind of a shame he never seemed to get any romantic chemistry with the rest of the cast…picard and janeway and kirk all get love interest from the main cast…but i still love watching him flirt and make eyes at this lady

THOLIAN MENTION!!!! my beloveds…someday i wanna see what they look like

julian and obrien doing…whatever it was with the peas. they scripted shot and greenlit this. he is suffering so bad without his wife

I KNEW THEY WOULD START JUST FUCKING CUTTING EACH OTHER EVENTUALLY. right across the palm, too. like speaking of being traumatiozed by spn. jesus.

what in the sweet lesbian fuck was going on with dax and kira in the holosuite…kira basically said no matyter how sexy this is it isn't any good if it isn't real and dax DIDN'T immediately fuck her? star trek's cowardice when it comes to gay people ESPECIALLY dax she's literally kissed women off screen. come on

ODO DRINKING HIMSELF!!! HELLO?

garak getting racially profiled and jumped in his little shop :(

and then we get to WORF……………tbh i was so worried about him changing the atmosphere and i really liked how the atmosphere was already. but the s4 atmosphere is already different in a great way. it was a serious episode w a serious plot yet i was giggling nonstop. and klingon stuff is SO dry on tng and so lively on ds9. idk why i was worried. i am very sad they prince zuko'd him again though

also, the wof/obrien tng reunion…….besties :')

ALSO lol when he ordered prune juice and quark laughed at him and worf gave him the look. this is the most i have liked quark in like an entire season i'm so afraid something bad will happen and ruin it

the dax/worf comes on a little strong ESPECIALLY when i am still sooo :( over no riker e worf e deanna content but they ARE fun to watch. dax seems like a natural choice too since curzon was buddies with so many klingons, i just wish she was SLIGHTLY less forward...this is his first episode...give it time to breathe. maybe odo/kira and bashir/garak has just got me stuck on slow burns for ds9

i do like worf's position here too…he's always stuck in the middle of klingon and starfleet bullshit. it sucks that he got racially profiled YET AGAIN but at least sisko was like "and you absolutely do NOT have to do this" instead of putting on the pressure like picard talking to a bajoran. also, him starting a bar fight on purpose was great

worf and odo conversation………..theyre gonna be so grumpy w each other and i cannot wait

i missed gowran. his eyes are so huge. i didn't always really care when he showed up in tng but somehow he and his enormous eyes have become really special to me. same genre of character as dukat i think

at first i thought sisko was dadding worf a little and maybe he was a TINY bit but i also think it's nice that he's just seeing himself in worf and trying to help him out. i liked all of their conversations a lot because sometimes people are weird about worf being klingon and sisko was actually totally normal and respectful about it. he would never be like worf kill yourself. never.

sisko was SO good in this ep i love when he bends the rules also. getting measured for a new suit and letting garak overhear shit on purpose is very clever but at the same time he's not even trying to be subtle. he knows the right thing to do isn't always following the rule book and he's not even pretending he can do both. unlike PICARD. i think he went bald to flex on picard actually like he does do it better love and light to sir patrick stewart

bashir advising his little guys in the infirmary…please he's so in charge. i also loved him and odo very earnestly wishing each other safety int eh upcoming attack. THEY'RE FRIENDS!!!!!

dukat and sisko were gay this whole episode. i think very seriously there should be a sisko/dukat movement just like there's a bashir/garak movement. i didn't think much of dukat first but i like him more every time i see him. he's just really funny and also gay

quark and garak talking about the cloying qualities of humanity over root beer ??? that was also gay. again, quark in this episode…a breath of fresh air. for once he's just being the fun kind of horrible. also when he wanted to defend his bar and rom stole his weapon lol "i will kill him" "with what?" i love odo sm

i love that kira pointed out the irony of her saving and GETTING STABBED for the cardassian government. times have CHANGED WORF LOOKS GREAT IN RED! he's not head of security anymore but i like that he gets a thinker's job…"worf is a big ugly dumb brute" jokes were OLD AND TIRED on tng!!!

anyway, s4 seems amazing so far. it's almost everything i already liked about ds9 but much more serious and funny at the same time. i will miss the post-war atmosphere since we're not mid-war again but i am really excited to see where it goes

TONIGHT: voy's "non sequitur" and "twisted."

[koreanbibliophilegirl]

LILLY THE ALEX RIDER DSMP AU. IT'S OVERTAKEN MY BRAIN. THE NEW SERIES. TALK TO ME PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PL

Oh hi Bean!!! :D

LOL I have not watched s3 yet but I saw you brainrotting, I'm assuming it was great!👍

Okay okay okay so!!! Brief recap bc I need to refresh my memory:

Tommy as Alex, Techno as Yassen, Uhhhhh Phil as John and Kristin as Ian I think???

Dream as "a younger, greener Blunt" to quote myself, uhhh I think Mrs. Jones was Puffy?????

Jack Niki Sapnap Eret as K-Unit/K-Squad! Code names Thunder, Arson, Animal Abuse, and Tax Fraud!!!😃 (I believe Tommy was Drug Abuse lol)

Quackity as Ash, Hannah and Punz as [Point Blanc] with Purpled & Enderboo as two of the clones, Ranboo Aimsey and Eryn as the [PB] kids, with Ranboo(in the role of Kyra) later transferring to Tommy and Tubbo's school. Kyranboo pog!

Tubbo was Tom!! As he should be!!!

Uhhh okay I think that's about as far as we got???

AR!Wilbur was Jack(the Starbright variety not the Manifold variety) but I think we might want to change that particular bit...😅 I suggest Charlie or Schlatt!! If it's Schlatt then Tubbo could also be Tommy's pseudo-brother?? Yknow since Schlatt is usually Tubbo's dad in these things. Charlie would be funnier though, considering Ash and Jack canonically went on a few dates in AR.

"Oh yeah Quackity from Las Nevadas, we f*cked a few times!" "Charlie-" "He made real nice noises when-" "CHARLIE STOP-"

Awesamdad would be nice too, but I think Sam was Smithers??? Or maybe it was Foolish, idk.

Uuuuhhhh Point Blanc!! Still needs a name!!! It's just Hannah and Punz (+Purpled) so... uh.

....Academy Bedwars????

idk what to call them OTL, I'm saving Skephalo/Eggpire for Scorpia, I can't call PB the Eggpire...

Uuuuhhhh anyway!! Bedrock Bros bc we love Bedrock Bros in this house!!! Phil got discovered/fought his prodigy/got betrayed a little later than John did in AR canon, so Techno met baby Tommy a few times. Tommy's blue sweater coming from Techno was what we agreed on I think!

Anyway even though Techno felt betrayed by Phil being a spy, I think his feelings are a little different than Yassen. With Yassen it was pretty complicated, with him already being committed to Scorpia/the morally grey(like, really really dark grey) side, still being grateful to John for saving his life, etc. Meanwhile Techno would betray the Eggpire for one corn chip- if said corn chip was Phil. He was just angry Phil never told him.

"You're a spy????" "Techno I can explain-*" "AND YOU WEREN'T GONNA TAKE ME WITH YOU???!?!!! I thought we were a team, smh! S M f*cking H!!!"

(*: he cannot)

Anyway after Phil "dies"(I don't think he's actually dead, I feel like a major deviation from AR canon is bound to happen sometime and I think Phil returning would be an important plot point), Techno just. Stays with the Eggpire. He doesn't know how to contact MI6 anyway, and he doesn't really see the point when Phil isn't gonna be there. Also, staying with the Eggpire means he can keep an eye out for Phil's remaining family, so that's what he does till one day he sees Tommy(Techno had been keeping track of him so he knows what Tommy looks like, but the kid looks exactly like Phil anyway) in a... rich kid boarding school?? And he's going by Tommy Outit(/ref)??? Bruh???

Tommy, of course does NOT recognize Techno and he's like Why is that guy looking at me like he recognizes me. Meanwhile Techno is bluescreening bc Hey. Hey Kristin? Why is your son doing spy work? Kristin???

...

Okay Imma pass the baton onto you now, feel free to add on lol.

-Lilly xx

[hircines-hunter]

for the fanfic ask games, F, G, H, I, and M!!

Thank you Bishop!!! Had to think a lot!

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

There’s a part in Roar of a Wolfborn. Btwn Vilkas and Sifkni, when she’s starting to remember how bad everything actually was. Idk. I think him being snappy is exactly what she needed at that time. And here

“Are you okay?”

Sifkni jumped. She turned and looked at Vilkas.

“What in Oblivion is wrong with you?” He clicked his tongue.

Sifkni stared at him. What was wrong with her? She couldn’t stop the stream of tears. She knelt on the ground, holding her knees. “I can’t remember everything, but I’ve been having snippets of it come back to me.” She heaved. “I don’t know what to do, Vilkas. I don’t want to….” She shook her head. “I do want to remember. I don’t want to cry. I don’t want to be upset. I don’t want it to hurt.”

Vilkas ran a hand through his head. He sighed loudly. He was annoyed. “Then, don’t be upset. And stop crying. You’re a grown woman, aren’t you? Make your own decisions. They’re dead! They’re not coming back. They can’t hurt you anymore.” He clicked his tongue. His breath ran ragged. “Divines, Sifkni! They can’t hurt you and yet, you’re continuing to let them.”

Sifkni looked at him. She wiped her face. His outburst shocked her. She simply stared at him.

“Look! I know it’s not easy. Divines! But, whatever happened is done. You can’t change that.” He groaned and pulled at his hair. “You can change how you respond to it now. Do you even want to heal?!” 

She nodded.

Vilkas held his hand out. He helped her up. “Stop letting them hurt you. They’re gone.” The words echoed between them. He’s said these words before. To himself?

Sifkni sniffed. She said one word to Vilkas. “Necromancers?”

Vilkas nodded and looked away.

“Farkas doesn’t remember…?”

Vilkas shook his head. “Thank the Divines.”

“You do.”

Vilkas looked at her. There was a glint of moisture in his eyes. He nodded. Sifkni wrapped her arms around Vilkas and sobbed. Vilkas reluctantly put an arm around her. He gave her a simple pat on the shoulder. “It takes time. And effort.” He cursed. “You need to let go.” She nodded in his chest. “Of me, too. Please.”

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order ?

It depends on the flow! Some chapters come easier. I also have a bunch of future stuff finished (meeting Paarthurnax. Meeting the Glenmoril witches + Kodlak’s death.) I have to write the rest of those chapters.

But at the beginning a lot of the chapters were start to finish. But lately I’ve been writing in pieces. Sometimes I start at the end and work backwards. Like I have the ending to blackreach. I have to go back and write the college and Septimus and the Dwemer ruin. Lol not looking forward to that.

H: How would you describe your style?

🥔 it’s a style. I don’t know. 🤷

I like to use a lot of short and quick sentences.

One line and one word paragraphs. Especially during werewolf mode.

I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

I do wish I read more lol. But, I read whatever. And I try to read friend stuff a lot. But nothing makes me feel guilty about it. As for writing…. Nah. I mean I could put werewolves here, but damn I don’t feel guilty about that.

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

👀👀 I am currently plotting a sequel/mini series to roar of a wolfborn. It’s gonna have werewolves and Hircine and hunting grounds and did I mention werewolves!?????!!!! So if you like werewolves or Sifkni??!! I’d keep an eye out for that!

I’ll just edit this in

Oh man I have another back burner idea! I have a Dragonborn that joins Harkons side. I want to write that out one day

[nikethestatue]

I’m seeing everyone talk about plot holes and inconsistencies in HOFAS. I read the book very quickly in another language and so I don’t really remember these. What are some plot holes in HOFAS?

One thing that’s been bugging me is, probably the only hole I caught, is the concept of limbs growing back for the Vanir, but this doesn’t happen in TOG or ACOTAR. Now that we know the Fae of Midgard are exactly the Fae of ACOTAR, and the Shifters are exactly the Fae of TOG, and it doesn’t seem like any type of evolution has occurred to change the Midgard Fae at all, im confused how regeneration is a thing. I suppose it’s never directly been mentioned in TOG. But Lucien is missing an eye. That faerie in book 1 ACOTAR had his wings ripped out by Amarantha and died from it. We know angels can regrow theirs. I know Cassian and Azriel have their wings shredded and healed at different points, but to me that seemed more like skin regrowing after being damaged rather than whole limbs regrowing. Idk, these things dont bug me severely but it is noticeable…

Just off he top of my head:

Amren who arrived during the time of the asteri/daglan can offer almost no info on them

She was in Prison during Fionn's/Theia's time, but regardless, she supposedly was there in the beginning and she can't provide any insight to anyone

Bryce arrives and conveniently, they just KNOW that she is gonna go exactly where the slithering beasts are...right

When someone drops from the sky or whatever and tells you that your whole world might be re-invaded and you have a history with these immensely powerful creatures who want to come back to your planet, asking 'may i look into your head' is just fucking dumb. It doesn't make you the King of Consent. It makes you the Lord of Dumbness. Why even have this daemati power if you never use it, even to save your people and your world potentially, because you are so...honourable? Come on. That's just ridiculously stupid. And oh-so convenient.

15 thousand years is a long time, but the amount of history that the Fae lose in that time is kind of dramatic. They conveniently remember nothing about their beginnings or anything that's connected to their past. But it doesnt make sense that they would forget because they live thousands of years. That time span could be only 4-6 generations. So their 15k is equivalent to our 200 years. We DEFINITELY know what happened 200 years ago. Like between Rhys and his dad alone, it's 1,500 life span. If grandpa High Lord lives for 2K years before, and another great-grandpa for another 2-3K years, we are REAL close to 15K. But no one remembers shit.

They dont even remember who built Velaris.

So for 15K years, NO ONE, not one person bothered to go on a walkabout in Hewn City, to check out all these walls with all these stories on them. It took Bryce to drop in and just miraculously look at a wall and see the entire history of prythian just like that.

Apparently, Azriel forgot how to winnow. So they needed some very elaborate way of crossing some river. Because he couldnt just transport them across it...

According to SJM 15,000 years is close enough to have an unbelievable resemblance between Ruhn and Rhys so much so that they look like twins, all because they shared some ancient ancestor. But apparently it's far enough for Rhys to know nothing about this ancestor, even though he is her direct descendant.

You have Rhys, whose blood is 'programmed' into the Prison and its wards, you have AMren who spent TWO THOUSAND years in Prison, you have Lanthys, a death god who heard the Harp and its note singing, you have the Bone Carver who imprisoned himself willingly in Prison--and yet NOT ONE OF THEM sensed the presence of an Asteri sleeping in a glass coffin beneath their feet.

Yet Super Bryce found the sleeping Asteri in 2 days. And managed to kill her too.

I can go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Prythians look like backward dopes and maybe they are, but I don't think they are supposed to be? Like the MOST POWERFUL HIGH LORD IN HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was taken by some girl in pink sneakers. Not to mention her stealing Azriel's prized unique dagger just like that.

[haleigh-sloth]

373 Leaks React:

I really am just...conflicted on the mutant plot. It's a mess honestly, I really don't have much to say beyond that. Maybe I'll think of more later but for now, idk I can't.

Fuck Mic btw. You'd rather kill the last remnants of your friend than face the possibility that your friend---who btw you've accepted as dead already---may not be exactly how you remember them after so much brainwashing? Jesus dude.

Spinner--he actually hurt me this chapter; feeling so low for so long, riding the high of not feeling low, and then come crashing down and feeling even lower. I'm rooting for his survival now more than ever. He deserves to not feel this way at the end. This chapter made me feel less "tragedy death flag-y" about him. But I cannot look past the red flags either. Because it's not like this chapter erased the red flags I've been yelling about for months either. They're still there, and if anything they were brought to the forefront. So I'll be on my toes.

Kurogiri!!!! <3 Finally, FINALLY--I've been waiting so long for him to come into the plot again. Not just for his sake but for Aizawa's. To start the real change/turning point of his own arc and get him ready for the end game also. God I can't believe we're finally here. Or at least, the beginnings of it.

I wasn't sure how it would go, but I was assuming the Kurogiri part of ShiraGiri would be the first we saw and would aid the villains in some way via scrambling the battlefields (getting AFO to Tomura, Touya to Endeavor, Kurogiri to Tomura and AFO). So I'm glad it was seemingly him that surfaced.

Wondering if Kurogiri is gonna be used as basically bringing back a dead person. He kinda already is, but with Shirakumo's features shining through I'm really kinda wondering wtf is going on with that and what it's leading up to. Besides him reconciling/working together with Aizawa later at some point, I'm not sure where the identity crisis for him is gonna fall.

The hand--been saying it for a while now. Hand = bad. Still is the case. Hand has not undergone development to have a change in meaning--yet. (In other words, Tomura has not undergone the development needed to view that hand differently). The recording with AFO's and Tomura's voices broke, so what served in its place was a tool AFO used to make sure Tomura never got a hold of his grief and emotions growing up, leaving him unstable in every way possible. It's still extremely negative in meaning. It's still representative of everything the keeps Tomura prisoner currently. So holding onto it and using it to further your motives doesn't exactly come off as a shining light of hope for the villains. Yes, the villains will get a kickstart ahead in this battle (I'm assuming), but what I'm stuck on is the way it happened. The hand got to Kurogiri first. The hand is bad. Villains getting upper hand, or maybe not even upper hand but whatever SHIFT is about to happen with the villains is not going to help them (in the way that they need).

Spinner using normal memories with Shigaraki that like..normal friends have with each other is a good step though. It means he's veering away from the idolizing of Shigaraki he was so pinned on this whole time, and starting to remember him as more of a normal friend rather than a leader who reins supreme above Spinner in every way. A guy he has to follow in order to be somebody. All this "for Shigaraki's sake" talk has been working against him extremely hard. Stop idolizing. Stop worshipping. Especially a guy whose misery has consumed him to the point of almost disappearing completely. Sure be friends with him but stop placing the end all be all on him when he's about to not be at all because he hates himself and his life.

Unfortunately, despite these positive, normal friend-moment memories appearing in his mind, Spinner's actions continue to not exactly be in Shigaraki's favor. Unknowingly, his actions still work against Shigaraki receiving any help he actually needs. Symbolically more than anything. That damn hand.

Spinner wanting to save Shigaraki and the others! Great! But what does "reaching" and "saving" to him mean? Because it matters. So far, reaching Shigaraki has meant holding on tight to a hand that triggers his trauma and anger and brings it bubbling to the surface, and also aids in keeping his entire existence both mentally, emotionally, and physically under AFO's direct control. So far it means helping AFO, even if it's just because that points in the same direction as helping Tomura. But does it? This is what I mean. Does he want to save his friends' lives from the heroes? I totally understand that. They've experienced a lot of loss, I can see Spinner wanting to prevent that again. They've 0 reason to actually trust any heroes at this point. But saving the League from the heroes means they're just gonna end up back in the palm of AFO's hand. It's not like they have anywhere to go, or like they'd want to all run away. They would have if that's what they wanted. And it also means the only option is to go back to how they were, which was completely miserable in every way possible, and one of them straight up suicidal. And tbh it's not even really possible, because AFO isn't gonna let go of Shigaraki. Saving Shigaraki from being possessed isn't exactly what I see at the forefront of Spinner's mind either. Not that he'd know how to, not that he could. But this is what I mean by wanting his idea of saving. We know that according to the manga, saving starts with the heart. Is that Spin's plan? Looking at Toga and Touya and Shigaraki as they are now, I'm not sure he even could if he tried. He doesn't know what they've got going on.

Back to the hand: I got off track but I want to bring it back to the hand. So far, "helping" or "reaching" has meant placing a lot of value on that hand. If Spinner had looked at the hand and realized the damage it was associated with and left the hand behind, I'd say hey that's progress. But, as expected, he held onto the hand and placed importance on it. Not good. And---in a very unexpected turn of events--he used that hand to wake up Kurogiri. No, not expected at all lol. But still not exactly good symbolism. Because that hand hasn't changed meaning at all throughout the story. So why should this moment suddenly associate it with something positive? It's still representative of all the pain AFO has inflicted on Tomura. That hasn't changed. So now I'll lie in wait for it to blow up in Tomura's face...again. Because---prediction here--but AFO is absolutely going to come face to face with Tomura. Whether it be by Kurogiri's warp, or just him managing to get there, idk. But he will. And it won't be good.

Kurogiri/Shirakumo: I think by now it's clear that we're supposed to wonder who will dominate in the end. My guess is that rather than one taking over completely--the traits of Shirakumo will shine through in Kurogiri, and they'll basically integrate. That's what I suspect the end game for Kurogiri to be. But if it's gonna pick one identity to dominate, my money would be on Shirakumo. Because Aizawa. But again, ShiraGiri and Aizawa can still reconcile. ShiraGiri can still decide that AFO is the true enemy and that if there is a hero who wants to save Tomura, it's worth putting their trust in them. If Aizawa trusts Midoriya's decision (which somehow, I think we'll get to the point where he does), then I think ShiraGiri will trust Aizawa.

Prediction kinda: Kurogiri is still a product of AFO. So part of me wonders if he'll be inclined to support AFO still, under the idea that he's also supporting Tomura. And then Shirakumo's soul/heart/whatever starts having more influence and THAT is what makes Kurogiri go "Oh hold up this is bad". It'd be interesting for the "hero" part of Kurogiri to be the part that makes him want to: 1. Oppose his villain boss/creator, and 2. Save his villain friend. Idk, we shall see.

I really just need the manga to stick to the relationship-focused parts of the story. That's where its strengths are. As soon as we got back to the Kurogiri conflict, things picked up speed and became so much more interesting. Part of this is because of how hard Hori flops on social commentary, or delivering on it rather--but also his strength in that area just isn't there. Stick to your characters.

Overall--from what I can tell, the chapter is great. Lots to think on.

[cathey-winchester-666]

I READ CHAPTER 23 OF LFLS BY @eternalglitch (again) AND MY BRAIN IS GOING A MILLION MILES AN HOUR AND I HAVE A THEORY THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYONE ELSE POST ABOUT YET AND IDK WHY PEOPLE AREN'T TALKING ABOUT IT.

FIRST OF ALL, THE ANGST IS BEAUTIFUL ANOTHER PAINFULLY CRAFTED MASTERPIECE I LOVE IT SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR SHARING WITH THE CLASS WE ALL LOVE (and loathe a little, but we’re kinda also to blame for indulging in the pain lmao) YOUR WORK.

I just want you to know it’s got my brain worms tossing and turning in their little graves. I am seriously considering properly analysing your fic (threat).

Now on to the theory (below the cut to avoid spoilers) :)

WHAT THE HELL ARE THE NOTIFICATIONS THAT DONNIE KEEPS GETTING????

Well, here’s my theory: Muninn and Huginn (I refuse to believe he’s dead)….

Just think about it for a second. With the whole scuffle that was going down, Muninn had time to escape, or at least find a place to hide and carry Huginn off with him to (or drag or whatever).

There’s no way that Muninn would return to Draxum after the betrayal and the showing of Draxum’s true colours and all that juicy angsty stuff. And the pair have also canonically not had a previous master (at least none that they’ve stuck with for a substantial length of time) that they would go to in a crisis. And he wouldn’t return to the Gargoyle Sanctum thingamabob we saw them come from in the series. So that leaves only one conclusion: Muninn is somewhere out there fending for himself and a very injured Huginn.

My theory is that Donnie’s little notifications are of Muninn resurfacing for supplies - we’ve seen how often the boys have to change bandages for wounds in LFLS, so the logical implementations are that he has to buy a fair amount of bandages for his buddy. Whilst he would have to buy bandages for Huginn, there’s also the additional requirement of food - it doesn’t matter how small they are, the little guys still have to eat - and Muninn is only small and canonically not very strong, which means he can’t carry heavy loads of shopping. Also, without the income (if he even got any) from Draxum and/or the ability to rely on the yokai for a constant supply of food, much like a dog it’s owner (not derogatory, that’s just how they’re represented in the series) that means Muninn had to risk leaving Huginn often to steal food and supplies. Seventeen times in a week may seem a bit excessive, but when you’re building an infirmary from scratch and consider how tiny Muninn’s little arms are, it really isn’t that crazy.

NOW, ON TO WHY DONNIE HASNT SAID/DONE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS YET

This bit’s a little bit flimsy and I’m not too sure how to answer it, but I’m doing my best to fill the 7ft plot-holes in my theory. I believe it is due to a possible combination of three things: (1) He’s worried about how injured his family is and he doesn’t think they can handle another fight; (2) He’s not sure how Leo will react to seeing the Gargoyle pair again (this is the big one); (3) Donnie may not completely trust them yet (HEAR ME OUT!!) and he hasn’t turned off the notifications bc he feels guilty for not doing anything, but he still wants to know that they’re there and alive (also, if Draxum suddenly appears, Don will know about it).

(I also have a theory that Don is going to try and save them himself, but that's a very shaky one because of the trauma of Leo going alone and what that all entailed that glitch has been exploring throughout the fic. He probs has several trackers planted on the whole family by now. I’d honestly be more surprised if he didn’t.)

But I digress. On to theory one: The family is 100% injured and not at all ready for a fight. April is out of commission, Raph's hands are fried (but I feel that he would insist on joining a fight anyway), and we all not Leo's kinda down in the dumps. Plus, everyone is emotionally and mentally destroyed. They are not up for any kind of fight. And Donnie doesn't exactly strike me as the kind of person who intentionally puts his family in more danger than is necessary, especially in this current situation.

Number two: He's not sure how Leo will react to seeing the sidekicks present for the worst trauma he's ever (and hopefully will ever) experience in his lifetime. The pair were there during just about everything that happened to him - including the Battle Nexus, when Draxum wasn't present - and Leo would undoubtedly have made strong links in his mind between the gargoyles and the trauma he experienced. One can pretty confidently assume that having the pair around whilst he is trying to recover and whilst the fear of Draxum's return is still very heavy in the air, is going to cause problems for both Leo and the rest of the family, even if they know that the gargoyles willingly chose to help at the risk of their own lives. And if a dumdum such as myself can make those links, then there's no way that Donnie hasn't made them as well. For the sake of his family (especially Leo), Donnie is choosing to do nothing for the ex-henchgoyles. BUT, with each passing day and as more of the notifications continue, Donnie's guilt may start to eat him up inside and he's likely to just react without thinking (he's very emotionally tense and high-strung, so he's not thinking like his usual, logical self) and try to rescue them. I could go so much further into depth about the repercussions of what the gargoyles being in the lair might do to the fam, especially Leo, but I'm trying to keep this relatively short, lemme know if you wanna know more and I'll theory dump on you :)

Third and final: Donnie doesn't completely trust them. Let's be honest, Donnie's never really struck me as the overly trusting type and this whole situation would have only amplified it and made his trust issues a thousand times worse. This one is probably my flimsiest reasoning and it likely just added on to the others.

Either way, whether I'm right or not, I know glitch won't leave us hanging with that forever. They're a good writer and they don't seem to me to be the kind of author that leaves loose ends just hanging around. Cliffhangers, absolutely without a doubt they leave us hanging off of. But not loose ends (especially with how hard they were hinting at the notifications during the last chapter, it MUST be something important and I am absolutely BURSTING to find out what it is :)

(I'm looking back over and you can tell which one my favourite theory is LOL)

[tmmyhug]

bestie (nicest way possible) as someone who was new to the fandom last September I wouldn’t recommend making a sideblog and like talking about comics/batfam/etc if you haven’t read the comics? people get really touchy about that, because fanfic interpretation tend to be really far from how characters are in canon (and character relationships get butchered and softened and straight up invented for plot, which once again, creative liberty + that can be fun but often tends to be incredibly ooc & excludes women (cass, helena, steph, etc) or poc (duke (though his case is different considering when he was introduced), cass, damian���s poc but isn’t really ignored) in favor of white boys (jason especially, who shows up far later than said women & isn’t really close to the fam yet fandom tends to give him their relationships with the family) so like...you’ll probably be mostly wrong and people are rather unforgiving about that because they’re tired of people that haven’t read comics talking about the characters (incorrectly) while refusing to interact w/ source material, and it’s a huge problem & very prevalent so I can’t really blame them? idk I just don’t think it’s a good idea unless you want to reblog just art and stuff, which is fine! but like...everything's really confusing w/out proper research if you want to get into the fandom (everything post-reboot/post-2011 is largely ignored unless said otherwise because the reboot was so awful), so i just want to point that out! but I don’t want to be mean, just some advice :) (if you ever change your mind about comics, just give the say so! we’re (and i) am very glad to help you out with what to read and in what order, and take it from someone who was in your position six months ago, they are truly really fun!) /gen /nm

not to worry my friend this sounds pretty much exactly like the dsmp experience where new people never properly interacted with the canon content and the fanon got more and more bastardized over time as a result and everyone got touchy abt it. including me . you could say im familiar . im just on the other side now (oblivious newbie) which should be interesting. i have no intention of treading on anyone’s toes or making assumptions or even talking abt the characters with any sort of authority. if i do make a sideblog it’ll be just to reblog art n stuff.

plus i am ah. very aware that the fanon im consuming is an extremely warped perspective of the actual comics. and with how many different “canons” there are i’m sure it’s a mess. at least in dsmp we could always point back to just the og streams. here i’m gathering there’s 174958637 comics + 284871 writers + movies + live action AND animated tv shows + multiple video games and they ALL have intersecting characters and possible canons it’s giving me a headache just thinking abt it dear lord

so yeah. i’m perfectly happy sequestering myself in an oblivious fanon corner and not claiming to know anything. normally for a new fandom i would seek out the full source material and examine it thoroughly but theres just. too much. and i also just don’t enjoy reading comics. at least not the superhero ones. (i think the art doesn’t appeal to me? and something about the combination of written word and still visual art like. rankles at my sense of pacing and story <- just guessing though) i did watch the under the red hood movie tjough and it was cool so i may do more of those!

i’m glad you said you like talking abt this cause i just wrote you a whole essay lol. if i may ask do you know of any good fanon/fanfic content i could check out that stays mostly true to the comics canon? i’m curious ! but regardless thank you for the very nice message and warning it’s appreciated mwah