#would be committed with them? Idk but its fun to think about!

[aerticent]

I have once again written a ridiculously long post, this time about an au I have in which religion is extremely present in Norta and how it effects Cal and Maven, two princes raised on the idea that by being Calore's they are inherently closest to the Gods. I'm worried I sound particularly crazy in this one lol. I just think Maven and Cal would go through opposite arcs with a religion in mind. Cal realizes how insane his views were. How it's insane to justify feeling inherently superior and in turn justifying horrific crimes and oppression of people with a religion. Maven would instead slowly give into the religion. He slowly commits more and more heinous crimes and he justifies it all with his religion. Maven feels as if he's ascending into Godhood and it drives him mad, Cal realizes that's where he was headed and rejects it. Cal feels intense shame leaving his brother to suffer in it, but he feels unable, partially due to their circumstances as they are in a war against one another, to dissuade Maven from his delusions of Godhood. Not only that, but he feels that by "pulling" (for a lack of better words) Maven out of his delusions he will only hurt him as his crimes, no matter the reason they were committed, can and will lead to his death. He might as well die feeling fulfilled in his own way then feeling abandoned and rejected once again.

[mishapen-dear]

I read that same fic earlier and I just straight up muted the person so their works don't show up for me anymore lmao

there was also another one like that posted yesterday because the person was mad at something qBad did a couple of days ago while not at all in his right mind and amnesiac, it was odd (not shitting on the person just confused and slightly concerned)

yeah there’s. a lot of misconceptions around qbad rn lmao. It’s one of the reasons Im so obnoxious about him, tbh, so that it’s not JUST the negativity that gets spread. He’s a really good target for the hate rn, because he has a smaller fanbase and his pvp playstyle + lore lead him to all that antagonizing during purgatory, and that gets vented out into fics.

It’s genuinely really interesting, the dichotomy that seems to exist between tumblr and twitter regarding him. Ive heard nothing but slander about bbh from twitter (again, he is not faking his illness, that is a lie), but he’s got a solid enough foothold on tumblr that ive seen more hate towards the fans that the cc, here. which makes sense, given how we take over the tag almost ever day when he logs on. genuine o7 to people who find that obnoxious but thats one of the reasons i overtag so much, for blocking purposes.

anyway i think all the bbh mischaracterization means that we just need to write about him more >:D please this is a call for more bbh centric fics from people who do not hate him/know a little bit about his lore. blease he’s such a fun pov to write i promise

[ironunderstands]

These Aventurine, Topaz and Jade comparisons are getting out of hand…

As much as I adore both of them, I think it’s very disingenuous to compare Aventurine and Topaz’s lore and be like “but they are the same!!!! If people like Aventurine and dislike Topaz that’s just misogyny!!! and like… no?

Topaz’s whole thing is that she doesn’t know the extent of the IPC’s evil, and believes that what she’s doing is genuinely the right thing to do. Even if she never had a choice in joining the IPC, she (incorrectly) believes what they did to her and her planet is justified, logical and moral, and for those reasons she stands with them. Part of this is likely IPC brainwashing, as she was probably very young when she became an indentured servant to them, and someone living on a planet on the brink of destruction would likely view anyone who stepped up to save them as heroes (imo the IPC likely waited for the point of no return to establish contact so her people had no other choice to except).

However Topaz got best end of the proverbial stick, her planet and its people were deemed useful by the IPC, and didn’t fight back, even if in the end they were still exploited.

Unfortunately, we have seen through Boothill, Belabog and Aventurine what happens when that isn’t the case.

Boothill’s planet got bombed and people genocided because they had a resource useful to the IPC, but were unwilling to cooperate with them or hand over their home, so the IPC decided to eradicate them.

Belabog had a debt owed to the IPC that was ridiculously high and very unfair to expect them to pay back, and had Topaz not convinced the higher ups to give them some time (which she got demoted for), the IPC would have taken Belabog by force

That leaves us with Aventurine, whose story is in no way on the same level of bad as Topaz’s. Unlike her, he has witnessed and experienced firsthand the truly awful shit the IPC can do.

They took custody of Sigonia and promised to offer the Avgin aid in their fight against the Katacans, at the very least protect them from harm. (Sidenote, since the IPC held control over Sigonia, they should have stopped the fighting in the first place). However, they simply stood by and did nothing, resulting in the deaths of around 6,000 Avgin, with around 3,000 went missing (or injured, I don’t remember, either way it’s bad).

But wait! It gets worse! Aventurine when he was still known as Kakavasha referred to the IPC as “the men in black/the men in black suits”, and his first master says he bought Aventurine from “the men in black/the men in black suits”, likely mocking the way he referred to them. Therefore THE IPC TOOK PART AND LIKELY EVEN CREATED A FUCKING SLAVE TRADE IN SIGONIA

Look being made into an indentured servant isn’t fun, but idk personally I’d take that any day of the week OVER BEING ENSLAVED

That’s not even to mention how horrible of a reputation Sigonian’s have in the galaxy, one likely spread by/resulting from the IPC themselves, as at least on Aventurines planet they do not have the mobility to make a name for themselves. (Honestly it’s a mini theory of mine that Aventurines scam is what partly contributed to this reputation, and his status as a slave is something the IPC conveniently left out in their broadcast about it-)

But, you might be saying, didn’t Aventurine have a choice to join the masked fools and leave the IPC, isn’t he free now? And to that I say, it’s complicated.

Considering the amount of suicidal shit Aventurine has done while being part of the IPC, he clearly hasn’t been having a fun time as a member of one, so why does he stick around, especially with the Fools invite? Even if he was a slave, does that absolve him of the crimes he’s committing now? What could justify his actions?

Revenge, plan and simple.

This is going to delve into some spoiler territory for the end of the Penacony 2.2 quest, something which I didn’t feel like mentioning earlier because I’m sorry but everyone and their mother already knows Boothill’s lore. Now, let’s get into it.

Aventurine accepts Jades offer to join the IPC, and when he becomes a Stoneheart, the first thing he asks about is the fate of the Avgin, to which he then learns that besides him, they are all dead. You see, from birth Kakavasha was pushed onto a pedestal as the savior of the Avgin, but now that there are no more Avgin to save, his primary motivator in becoming a Stoneheart (beyond not being enslaved anymore) is gone.

So what does he do now?

Simple, try to kill the motherfuckers behind it.

That’s why he takes on such risky gambles still, and why he wagers and wants Diamond to promote him to rank p46. The higher Aventurine gets the closer he gets to his goal of taking down the IPC for good.

Which is why his meeting with Boothill is so meaningful. I think Boothill is going to “kidnap” him and together they are gonna take down the wicked bitch that is Oswaldo Schneider for his literal crimes against humanity.

Mark my words, an IPC downfall is going to happen, and I think Topaz, Aventurine, Boothill and Ratio are going to be at the forefront of it.

However, Topaz and Ratio (and by extension the rest of the galaxy) have to learn/realize the true horrors of the IPC (although I can sense Ratio doesn’t really like them, and he’s learned a lot from Aventurine, I doubt he knows the full extent of the situation or is in any way happy about it). Therefore? Topaz mental breakdown arc? Ratio lore? PLEASE??!? The IP3 compliment one another so well and god I can’t wait for that to come to fruition.

I really want to see a Topaz and Ratio centered story leading up to an IPC smackdown, and I think we are gonna learn a lot more about how shitty they are in the later half of 2.2 and in 2.3 when the interlude and Jades release arrive.

As for the aforementioned Jade, she’s gonna need a Aventurine squared amount of trauma or reasoning behind her actions to seem in any way sympathetic, because right now she just seems like an evil bitch (in a semi good way, I will always respect the commitment to the bit) who loves her job and would make Machiavelli weep over how hard her ends are trying to justify her means.

[sorcerersseestars]

LIMERENCE (part I)

Gojo Satoru x gn!reader

"I can't stop loving you, no matter how hard I try."

summary: Your long-time friend stirs feelings inside you that you never realized existed. Of course they bubble up in your chest while he’s in the midst of ignoring you and discovering his own possible romance. Your mutual friend thinks she has it all figured out—or does she?

pairing: gojo satoru x gn! reader

fandom: jujutsu kaisen

genre: hanahaki sickness au, angst, hurt/comfort

warnings: mentions of feeling sick, being stonewalled kinda, usage of the word (Y/N) bc Gojo is too fed up for nicknames (in reality idk what else to use 😶), Gojo being an ass (common theme in my fics oops)

word count: 3.6k

a/n: This is the first part to my hanahaki au! I’ve had this in my drafts for the longest time, but never committed to writing it all out until now. This first bit is kinda slow and maybe confusing BUT hopefully I’ll be able to clear it up next chapter. Not proof read very thoroughly; will probably regret later 🫥

part ii

“DON’T YOU THINK you could be a bit nicer to me?” You try, clasping your hands together as you look up at him with an odd smile—a cross between apologetic and playful. You’re joking, or at least half joking. It’s too difficult to be serious with Gojo; his habit of masking emotion with jest must be rubbing off on you.

Only one corner of his mouth raises. “Good one, (Y/N)-chan. As if I didn’t use to pay your bills.”

He doesn’t look at you when he speaks, and he walks away from you without a single glance. You frown and lightly jog a few steps to catch up to him.

“Ah, and I’m forever thankful for that!” You say, cringing at how overly peppy your tone is. “But that’s not exactly what I meant.”

“Hmm,” Is all he says. His hands are in his pockets, but he doesn’t carry himself with as much ease as usual—his posture is closed off, angular and tense.

“What I meant was–” You prompt your own answer, as he doesn’t make any move to. “We haven’t seen each other in a while. I know you’ve been really busy lately, so I don’t blame you, but I think we should go out and do something. Could help relieve some work stress too, don’t you think so?”

“Maybe,” He says, the word short yet effective in its delivery. The word was sharp in his mouth, clear annoyance shaping his tongue enough for the word to have a bite to it.

You wince. He never used to be like this. Gojo has been in a state of perpetual mirth—and one could argue levity—for the entirety of your friendship, never taking anything seriously and always looking for opportunities to poke fun at you to half-jokingly glorify himself. His expression has always been infectiously positive—never molded into anything hard or serious.

But, lately, everything you thought you knew about Gojo Satoru has faded away into your memories. He never seeks out your presence anymore, which is polar opposite from your high school days, when he would follow you around and pester you until you’d hang out with him. You actually used to get annoyed at this behavior, but you’re sorely missing it now.

You feel like you know nothing about him these days, only hearing tidbits here and there from your mutual friend Shoko. It stings to know that he obviously talks to her, and quite often at that, seeing she always has new details to spill every other day.

It doesn’t make sense to you: him and Shoko were never particularly close, definitely not nearly as close as you and Gojo were. In fact, she thought of him as particularly annoying in high school, and often swore to you that she would cut all contact with him once they graduated.

Back then, you had rolled your eyes at her antics, never believing that anybody could cut Gojo out of their life, seeing as he simply wouldn’t let them. But how else could you describe what he seems to be doing to you?

You bite your lip nervously. “Satoru? Is there something wrong?”

“Not particularly,” He says with a forced smile that’s screaming for you to shut up. You pretend like it’s not the most disingenuous smile you’ve ever seen smeared on his face.

“Are you sure?” You probe. “I mean…what’s been going on with you these days? We haven’t seen each other in forever, and you don’t seem yourself.”

“Are you sure?”

His lips are quirked up, as they perpetually are, but it’s different this time. It’s mocking. A mocking smirk that’s telling you to face reality. Do you really know him anymore?

You pause in your steps, studying his expression. You can’t see his eyes, but you wish you could. He’s hard to read with that blindfold concealing those powerful eyes of his, but it never used to be a problem. It hurts that you’re now struggling to gauge him when your emotions used to feel like one.

Evidently, you can’t answer his question. Not that he seems to care.

“I’ve really got to get going. Students to teach, curses to kill, all that,” He announces, tone low and apathetic. Bored. “See ya.”

Your breath flutters in your throat as you try to bid him goodbye. You choke on your words and only end up tentatively raising a hand. Before you can wave, his form disappears. A gust of wind greets you in lieu of a proper goodbye.

You stay where you are for a few shocked moments, not even registering the hot tears that leak from the eyes he avoided.

You wander aimlessly around campus for a while, the whole interaction replaying in your head several times over. His “Are you sure?” needles its way into your brain even when you push it away, the words hitting where it hurts every time.

Your feet find themselves taking you to an empty break room – ah, this is the one that has your favorite flavor of tea. You turn the kettle on, then eagerly dig through the tea stash. You file through the individual packets quickly and thoroughly, but to no avail. It’s gone.

With a sigh, you grab a random tea bag and throw it into your mug. Frustrated, you roughly begin pouring the now-boiled water into the mug, but it doesn’t seem that was a good idea. Your hand slips for just a split second, but a sizable splash of boiling water still manages to singe your non-dominant hand. A stream of expletives leaves your mouth, and you instantly cradle your hand to your heart.

More tears appear. At least you have an excuse this time—it fucking hurts.

You trudge to the clinic, feeling quite silly, but also seeking some much-needed relief. And you’re not exactly imagining painkillers or an ice pack—no, there’s something else. Someone else.

You hesitantly knock on the door. You feel stupid, but you really have to see her.

You crack a smile at the creak of the door. Your friend and co-worker Shoko strides out with an air of confidence you wish you held.

“What happened?” She asks calmly, eyes lazily taking in your form.

“Spilled some water from the kettle,” You say lamely. “It hurts.”

That doesn’t really constitute a visit to one of the only reverse-cursed technique users in the school, and you know it. So does she.

“Mmhm,” She raises her eyebrows. “Well, come on in.”

You shuffle in a little sheepishly, not able to meet Shoko’s eyes. Now that you’re here, you start to feel unsure about your own motive—do you really want to discuss this? Won’t it just be embarrassing more than anything else?

You stall a little in your steps as the negative thoughts invade your head. You’re startled to attention by a poke to your side—when you look up, Shoko’s playful smirk fills your vision.

“Come on over to the sink and we’ll put that under some cool running water,” She says, gesturing to your reddened arm.

You cock your head, looking between her and the sink skeptically, “No ice?”

She shakes her head, sticking her tongue out at you a bit, “Nope! Running water for burns.”

You hold up your hands in defeat, smiling, “Whatever Doctor Shoko says.”

“And I do,” She says cheekily. “So get under that water!”

“Aye-aye,” You say with a salute.

She groans, “Ugh. You guys are so annoyingly similar. Hang on a sec, I gotta grab something.”

She turns away before she can see the way your expression drops. The smile is stolen from your face, leaving behind saddened eyes and a slight frown. There’s only one possible person she could be talking about.

You sigh and turn on the faucet—your disheartened sigh morphs into one of great relief as the cold water soothes your burn.

“That better?” Shoko asks upon her return.

You nod, a small smile coming back, “Yeah, thanks Shoko.”

“Is there something else wrong?” She asks, then shakes her head. “No, scratch that. What’s actually wrong?”

You take a deep breath. How are you going to broach this subject? You wait several moments, pondering your exact next words.

“Do you think Gojo is okay?” You finally ask your long-time friend, words coming out almost cautiously.

She eyes you funnily, “Why are you asking me? As if he doesn’t chase you around the school to blab on about himself.”

You smile, but it’s tainted by bitterness.

“Shoko…Gojo hasn’t talked to me for two months,” You admit quietly. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

She stops.

“What?”

You hate hearing the confusion in her voice. You hate the pity that soon fills her eyes.

“He seriously hasn’t,” You affirm, sighing. “I don’t know what I did, or if I did anything, or…or what. I just, I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Have you tried talking to him about it?”

You sigh. “Of course I have, but he didn’t seem to take my concerns seriously. Or consider them at all. It just seemed like he wanted me to shut up and leave him alone.”

Shoko looks at you curiously, lips quirking as if she has something to say, but no words come out. Is she holding something back?

You take a deep breath, willing the horrible emotion that squeezes your throat away. You look out the window to distract yourself, watching the branches of a sakura sapling swaying in the wind. It looks alone and lost, battered by the relentless wind.

“What’s he been like recently with you?” You finally ask, your gaze still on the tree.

“Normal,” Shoko says. “Annoying as ever. Noisy as ever.”

A cluster of pink petals is ripped from a branch, swirling hopelessly to the ground. When they settle on the ground, you look back to your friend.

“He’s really the same?” You ask weakly.

“Unfortunately,” She says wryly. “Besides, why do you care? We’ve both been trying to get him off our backs since waaay long ago. Sounds like a blessing in disguise.”

“Ah, that’s true,” You admit with a weak chuckle, trying to ignore the way your heart throbs painfully. “But he’s also our friend.”

“Since when? More like a thorn in my side. Maybe he finally got the message,” Shoko smirks. “You should give me instructions for that. I’d have a lot better quality of life, you know.”

You know she’s just joking around with you, but she’s truly just rubbing salt in your wound. Not very ethical for a doctor, even if unintentional.

“Yeah,” You laugh, but it’s an empty sound. “Well, I guess I’ll get going then. Hopefully your next patient gives you an easier time.”

Shoko jokes, “Yeah, this has been my toughest job all week. You fiend.”

Your head is filled with so many questions, all of them growing louder as you walk away from your friend. Your friend who you thought would sympathize with you, but only ended up making you feel worse in the end is acting suspicious. It’s not like you’ve ever wanted to actually cut ties with Gojo, even when he used to pull pranks on you in high school. You craved for a strong friendship with him throughout all his shenanigans.

Why is Shoko acting like you hate Gojo, and what isn’t she telling you?

Before you reach the door, you decide you need to know. You stop abruptly in your tracks.

“Ieiri, you’re not telling me something,” You say softly, not looking back. “Why?”

Shoko sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, “You don’t miss anything, do you?”

You say nothing. The door in front of you is tempting—it’s your way out of knowing the truth. Do you really want to know?

You wait tensely for a few seconds, the silence causing nerves to bubble up in your stomach. But when Shoko begins to speak, they go don’t go away.

“He hasn’t really been acting strange around me, but he’s constantly on his phone. Like always. Whenever he comes to chat, he immediately tunes me out and starts texting or loudly takes a call,” She snorts, huffing out an exasperated sigh. “I thought he was just bored and trying to make me feel disrespected as a sort of cruel joke, but I think it’s something else. I think…I think Gojo is interested in someone.”

Your head whips around, disbelief clear in your features. Interested in someone?

“Maybe that’s why he’s been acting weird. I always thought he was crazy for you, so it didn’t cross my mind until now.”

“Crazy for me?” You immediately echo back, voice hollow and confused.

Shoko shakes her head at you, “C’mon, you can’t be that oblivious. He always followed you around like a lost puppy in high school. He never said anything to me about it, but I really thought he would confess any day for years.”

“He did that to everyone…” You shake your head. “You say yourself he bugged you so much.”

She rolls her eyes. “Trust me, it was different.”

Your heart pounds in your chest. Your vision becomes foggy at the edges, reality fizzling out.

“Why didn’t you want to tell me?” You ask. “It’s not like that matters.”

You try to appear uncaring, yet it was a fight to get those words out.

“You’re a sensitive person. ‘Didn’t know how you’d react since Gojo always seemed to chase after your attention, exclusively. But it’s not like it was the other way around—should have known it wasn’t a big deal. It’s not. Guess he’s just growing up.”

“Yeah,” You agree faintly, voice devoid of emotion. Reality is slipping through your numb fingers, the information turning your world into a nightmare. You should have opened the door and ran when you had the chance.

“It’s not,” You say with a saccharine smile, one so sickly sweet that Shoko gets chills. That’s not your usual smile—not one that Shoko has ever seen you wear. “Of course it’s not.”

When you turn on your heel and rush out of her infirmary, Shoko reaches out a hand and her lips part to call after you. It’s uncharacteristic for her—the cold doctor is rarely sentimental or emotionally affected, but she saw something ghastly in that smile of yours.

The slam of the door answers her call. The truth, now imparted, comes to bite her in the ass.

It’s been a few days. You’ve been moping around the school, around your students—trying to cope with the information that you don’t even know is true. You see him across campus sometimes; he’s so easily spotted with his translucent hair and tall frame. Every time, he’s facing away from you, and your eyes fall on the back of his head. Your chest always tightens and you end up turning away, too.

You have ignored the feelings stirring in your chest, not willing to admit something that clearly isn’t reciprocated. It has been working, you suppose, since you haven’t cracked under the mental weight of possibly being in lo—

No, you can’t even think that.

Everything has been as okay as it can. It’s not until you attempt to visit Shoko again to try sort out your feelings, however, that things take a turn for the worse.

Your hand is raised as you prepare to knock on the infirmary door, but you hesitate once you hear muffled voices.

“I don’t know…I didn’t expect it at all.”

That’s Gojo’s voice. That low but self-assured tone is undeniably his.

“Expect what?” Shoko asks, sounding bored.

His reply is so soft that it passes by as just a hiss of air, so quiet that you physically startle at Shoko’s loud reaction.

“No! What? I can’t believe that!” She shouts, laughter quickly following her exclamation.

You shouldn’t be listening—you hadn’t planned to eavesdrop on your two best friends, but for some reason your ear seeks out the wall, as if magnetized.

The next three words uttered still your heart.

“Utahime kissed me,” Gojo admits quietly.

You feel like you can’t breathe. Utahime, who has always despised Gojo even beyond Shoko’s extent. Utahime, who once cried into your chest after Gojo was harsh with her at an exchange event. Utahime, who always persisted that you and Gojo were into each other during high school.

Shoko’s unbelieving chuckle cuts through your thoughts.

Shoko laughs, “Oh, yeah, okay, as if I’d ever believe that.”

There’s silence. Your heart drops at the lack of response—no teasing refute, no playful faux playboy attitude.

Shoko absorbs his unusual silence, finally interpreting his words for what they are.

She gasps loudly, spluttering, “Oh my God, you’re being serious. What?! There’s no way…”

Gojo’s voice is even and deep. “I didn’t lie. She just did it out of nowhere. I didn’t even know how to react, to be honest.”

“So you just stood there?” Shoko snorts, trying to keep up her usual sarcastic persona. “God, you’re insufferable all the way around.”

“I kissed her back,” He breathes out, voice almost weak.

Another long moment of silence ensues. You hold your breath, terrified that your panicked pants will alert them of your presence.

Shoko recovers quickly this time.

“Still insufferable,” She sighs, and you can imagine her shaking her head. “So what now? You like her or something? This is so random.”

“I…I don’t know,” He admits quietly. “I never thought she’d do that, it took me by surprise. I…I think I liked it?”

Your heart shatters. You clutch a hand to your mouth, gagging yourself, forcing back the pained gasp that’s threatening to leave your lips.

“Oh, is that so?” Shoko says drily, but the usual edge to her voice is absent. You can only imagine her expression: contorted with pity and pain, desperately trying to maintain her poker face.

“Yeah,” Gojo reaffirms. “It was nice.”

There’s silence for a few seconds as Shoko takes it all in. Then, “Is she who you’ve always been calling and texting when I’m talking to you? You’re an ass for that, by the way.”

Gojo exhales out a sardonic sniff, “You’re spot on.”

Why are you still listening? You should leave. You shouldn’t be hearing this. Pain blooms in your chest, as if thorns became lodged between your ribs.

“What about (Y/N)?”

You freeze, eyes bulging out of your head.

Gojo sighs, sounding annoyed, “What do you mean?”

“I’m not dumb, Satoru. There was something going on during high school and frankly in the past few years as well. Are you going to deny it?”

He scoffs, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Shoko. It was never like that.”

You feel like you’re going to be sick. You shouldn’t—there’s no possible way you’re actually in love with Gojo Satoru, is there?

Fuck. The thought you’ve been trying to avoid all this time has finally firmly inserted itself into your head.

You take off swiftly and immediately, and your footfalls are as light as you can possibly manage. If either of them knew you were here, you wouldn’t be able to handle the shame.

Gojo and Shoko are none the wiser to the immoral action that took place just beyond the door—so when Shoko is ready to clock out and opens the door, the presence of a school ID on the ground is nearly missed. She feels something strange crunch underneath her foot and steps away and glances at the foreign object.

You left in such a hurry that your ID flopped out of your pocket. It lays on the ground, your smiling face staring up at Shoko, who looks on in horror. She immediately knows that you heard everything. She quickly steps back onto your ID, concealing your identity with her foot.

With all the sight of his six eyes, Gojo somehow completely missed Shoko’s strategic maneuvers to erase traces of your presence. He whistles nonchalantly, not having a care in the world, apparently.

In contrast, Shoko’s mind is racing. Her eyes roam around the courtyard, searching for your form. She feels rooted to the spot—will she reveal you if she steps away? She almost forgets that she’s not alone.

“You looking for someone?” Gojo asks.

Shoko stiffens, but forces herself to relax and appear nonchalant. “Ah, I was just wondering if…if (Y/N) would still be around.”

Gojo frowns. “Hm. Not sure. Don’t they usually go home right after they get off?”

“Lately, they’ve been staying back to do paperwork,” She sighs. “Masamichi has really giving them too many missions…How come you don’t know that?”

“Haven’t had the chance to catch up, I guess,” Gojo says evasively, then quickly changes the subject. “Besides, aren’t you the same way? You coming or not? I’ve got better things to do.”

He waves his cell phone around playfully, a smirk widening across his features.

Shoko rolls her eyes, “Go ahead. I’m just going to wait here a bit and see if I can text them and get them over here.”

She hesitates for a second before adding, “Actually, why don’t you wait a sec? We haven’t all seen each other in a bit.”

Gojo immediately stiffens. He scratches the back of his head and says, “Ah, I’m actually sort of on a time crunch. Maybe next time.”

What a lie. Shoko thinks, eyes narrowing subconsciously. What is he up to?

As he trails off into the distance, the gears in Shoko’s head continue to turn. He always, always teleports home after work finishes. So why is he slowly walking around campus, head turning this way and that way as if searching?

And you! Why were you there? Why were you so affected? What is going on in your head—or rather, your heart?

Something strange is going on with her two friends and Shoko is determined to find out what.

PART II

credit 🩷:

@kiyaedits - baby pink dividers, @sweetxmelody - cherry blossom divider

*note: taglist open!! comment to be tagged in part 2 :)

[moonrisecoeur]

compliance (how to brainwash your boyfriend) — leon kennedy

author’s note: this was written with re4r!leon in mind bc that’s my boyfriend! angel said so!! i have… so many hypno ideas, some considerably more palatable and some that are Much Worse, so pls let me know if you want more! also this is based off of an audio i listened to once by everdistant-utopia on reddit! the headset concept is kind of (extremely) goofy but i was into it idk. again, i'm aware that mind control isn't real and this is a silly ass concept. i had fun doing it anyway. no leons were hurt in the making of this fic. sorry for not posting it sooner even tho it was done i was extremely embarrassed lol. pls ignore any typos. love you!! thank u!!

wc: 5k

content: sub!leon x fem!reader, afab reader, oral reader receiving, orgasm control, mention of feet for like two seconds

warning: this is dark content. please do not read if the following topics are sensitive to you: noncon, hypnosis, mind control. i dont endorse or encourage this type of behavior irl, its just a fantasy!

—

as you walk down the street, you walk by a flier that’s sitting on the sidewalk. you don’t stop to read it, but one word caught your eye. mind control. it was probably something stupid, something completely made up by some lunatic who thinks mind control is real. mind control is maybe, technically real, in the ‘just relax and close your eyes, breathe deeply and let yourself be at peace’ kind of way. definitely not the ‘put on this headset and let me rewire your brain to make you my pet’ kind of way.

but… would it really hurt to look at the flier? you turn around to see it’s still there, and, against all your better judgment, you decide to walk up to it and pick it up.

it’s dirty, wet because of the rain from last night. even still, you can read the description of the advertised product clearly, along with some more info like a website and contact info for the designers. you take a brief moment to wonder who in the hell comes up with that stuff.

introducing you to the ultra brainwasher headset 3000! perfect for all of your mind control needs! simply place the device over the subjected head and choose what you’d like to do with them. need an obedient housewife? in search of a new pet? want them to be madly in love and obsessed with you? all of that and more is possible with the ultra brainwasher headset 3000! visit our website and order the headset today!

you blink. this is insane. who would do this? who would make this? why would anyone want to make someone do any of this against their will? you feel sick to your stomach as you crumple up the flier and toss it in the nearest trash can.

because that’s… that’s not consensual. that’s wrong in every possible way. unless they gave consent to be, what, turned into an ‘obedient housewife’? that’s really what it said? there’s just no way that’s right. how is that legal to sell? what even was that flier doing?

this feels like the kind of thing that would be sold on the black market, not openly advertised to people on the street. what if some lunatic saw it and just started brainwashing people? no one could stop them, it’s not exactly a crime in and of itself, and any crimes committed would be a little difficult to report if the ‘subject’ was too mindless to notice or to say anything.

whatever. you threw the flier away, you did your job as a good samaritan by tossing it so someone much much worse than you wouldn’t get a chance to look at it, and thus, you can forget all about the headset. pretend you never saw the flier or knew it existed and carry on with your life.

except, you can’t really. it permeates your thoughts, seeps inside of your subconscious until you begin to hypothesize that the headset wasn’t the real hypnosis, it was seeing that flier. you know you must be delusional. it’s not real, you’re not really mind controlled from just reading the flier, but… would it really hurt it buy it? you had the money for it and it’s not too expensive at all.

you hate yourself for it but you look on the website, just as hypnotic as the flier was, and you see multiple variations of the headset. some more suited towards different outcomes for ‘subjects’ and some just different stylistically.

you find the one you were looking at earlier. the ultra brainwasher 3000. it’s a stupid name, you’re aware. it just doesn’t really matter because who’s gonna know that you own this? you’ll keep it, maybe try it out on yourself to see what it’s like. you won’t do anything crazy, maybe like, hypnotize yourself to not be able to sit down until all your household chores are done, just for the day. the ultra brainwasher 3000 claims to have this functionality, and you’re… more or less, curious.

you order it and spend two weeks in absolute hell, making sure your boyfriend is never home alone when the package could arrive. you’re not worried he’d open it and see the device. he doesn’t look through your stuff, but the packing sticker ‘brainmelting industrial company’ would…. catch his eye for sure. try explaining that to your boyfriend, especially because even if you’re a good liar, you’re not to leon.

but, you get it, and it’s perfect because leon isn’t home right now, and you get to play with your new toy for a little bit. the box is smaller than you expected, only including the headset, a charging cord, and a set of instructions.

as you’re reading, the thought only just now hits you. it’s surprising that it’s taken you this long to have this idea, given how it would be someone else’s first instinct.

“should i…” you murmur to yourself, looking around nervously to see if anyone is in earshot, “… should i use this on leon..?”

i don’t know, should you use a mind control headset on your poor boyfriend that was just sent on a mission to save the fucking president’s daughter? maybe not.

you don’t know how it took you this long to come up with the concept. i mean, the flier did mention making someone your obedient housewife, but… they never said that someone had to be a girl…

it’s gross or actually more disgusting, honestly, how excited you get at the prospect of doing this to leon, but you decide that yeah, fuck it, you might as well brainwash your boyfriend. truthfully, what are the consequences? besides… ruining your relationship, betraying his trust, destroying him as a person… eh, it’s only temporary, right? there’s ways to make it only temporary.. and there’s no way he’d remember..

you fiddle with it, curious of all the different things you could do to him. the headset didn’t have presets, you could make up literally anything you wanted him to believe. you could make him the obedient housewife, but you could also make him a servant, maybe even dress him up all pretty as a maid. you could make sure of his loyalty and commitment, make him be so in love with you that even the thought of being with another woman makes him physically ill.

he gets home later that night, worn down and tired and exhausted in every possible way. and you know you’re going to have to put on your best acting skills. you’re not sure if you’re ready to do this, but you’re gonna have to be, so you press a sweet kiss to his lips, one he lingers on for just a moment too long. his lips chase after yours as his eyes open back up slowly, looking at you through his pretty lashes, an eyebrow raised, “what?”

you can’t help but adore him, his bluntness and gruff attitude, yet how soft he touches your waist as he pulls you closer. leon is nothing if not gentle and sweet, and you love that about him, “nothing, i just… i just wanted to look at you,” you say, and it reminds you just how easy leon is. just a couple of words and his eyes get a little glassy, his heart leaping out of his chest just a bit.

it sometimes helps that your boyfriend has been through every form of hell since that day in raccoon city, so sometimes just sweet words and little gestures get a bigger reaction than you’d expect. he’s traumatized and broken down, so the love you give him matters so much more.

in short, he’s easy. he gives in quickly and doesn’t like to fight, not with you. gives you everything you want, doesn’t protest, doesn’t ask for much besides your attention and love.

“you always stare at me,” he says awkwardly. god he’s so not charming that it makes him effortlessly likable.

that’s what’s so sucky about the idea of hypnosis. do you lose the person he used to be? sure, a mindless househusband would be great, helplessly obedient and passive and hardworking, but does this override his actual personality? that’s a bit too scary.

you make an effort to soak in these parts of his personality, enjoying every inch of his pretty little mind. you decide that no matter what you do to him, you can’t ruin him completely. you’d miss his heart, rough and guarded but nonetheless yours.

“i wanna try something,” you murmur to him, your heart pounding a little more than it should, “do you trust me?”

“of course i do,” he says. your heart almost aches, he trusts you so implicitly.

“close your eyes,” you say, and he complies easily.

you step away to grab the headset, and he’s so sweet and good that he doesn’t even peek. you take a deep breath, and commit to it.

you place it on his head, and he grumbles, but doesn’t object. poor thing. doesn’t even realize what’s happening to him.

—

the setting on the headset that you chose wasn’t anything flashy but it was labeled ‘semi-permanent’ and it stated that the subject would not remember anything from the moment of hypnosis to the moment they wake up next. so, all and all, even if you felt horrible, the damage wouldn’t be permanent, and leon wouldn’t even remember what happened.

truthfully, it felt like nothing could go wrong. it wouldn’t alter him too much, just… make him helplessly obedient for a couple hours. you could turn up the intensity if you wanted to, if it wasn’t quite enough to satisfy your curiosity.

you decide that it’s now or never, especially since being lost in your head while your boyfriend is cluelessly wearing what looks like a vr headset is kind of… odd.

you start the application, waiting for it to begin on his end.

“what are you up to?” he asks innocently, probably still not seeing anything while it loads. the question sounds like an accusation, but it’s really not. leon genuinely just wants to know what’s going on. it’s hard not to, but you don’t answer.

you notice the exact moment that it starts because grunts out of nowhere and his whole body tenses, and he clutches onto the fabric of the couch cushions, using that sense as a way to ground himself during an overload of audio and visual stimulation.

you reach to grab his hand, and his grasps yours tightly, desperately, as if physically pleading with you to make it stop.

you whisper to him, “shhh, nice and easy,” you’re not even sure if he can hear you, but you still feel the need to speak. you’re not sure if it’s your voice or your touch but he relaxes just slightly, his breath raggedy and tense. he’s trying like hell to keep himself together, but it’s so overwhelming that it’s hard for him to think, “hey… it’s okay. you’re okay, just… let it happen.”

a pathetic little whimper escapes his throat as his body goes slack, jaw hanging open and arms hanging limply by his sides, “wha… why?” his voice sounds small, weak, and if you weren’t so cruel, you’d immediately take it all back and apologize and just face the consequences.

but you’re too far deep to back out now, even if leon’s pitiful demeanor is almost swaying you to stop, you know you can’t. not now.

“i… i thought you…” he whines, body tensing and spasming as he tries to put some form of coherent thought together, “wha… why..?” he whimpers again, pathetically broken down in just a matter of minutes.

you sit there with him, holding his hand, waiting for the process to be done, and once it is, you take the headset off.

he seems agitated, but doesn’t seem to know what at. his muscles are tense, but he doesn’t make any sudden movements.

“hey,” you mutter gently, and he almost flinches at the sound, looking at you with those wide deer eyes again, scared. you reach out to touch his face, fingers caressing his cheek.

the cogs in his brain turn as he processes what’s happening, and the agitation seems to evaporate and become replaced by a sense of calm and relaxation. he looks into your eyes, and it seems like he’s deciding something.

“leon?”

“yes? how… can i serve you?” he asks, jaw dropping at his own words. he’s so stunned at what he’s saying and how he’s acting yet he can’t help it.

“…address me as… ma’am,” you say, and he shivers, eyes closing tensely as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on, “and go get me something. how about… a cup of coffee? yeah, let’s start there.”

it makes sense that he’s fading in and out, the programming would probably need more time to settle in before it was done and his personality obviously wouldn’t just disappear, but it was still a little bit heartbreaking to watch him fight the voice in his head that is desperate to obey you.

as he disappears into the kitchen, you sit where he was sitting on the couch to take a moment to think it all over.

leon has never been the most… dominant man. he has his moments of aggression and tension that turn into a roughness that his soul seems to often carry, but it’s never controlling. he’s not demanding, he asks nothing of you besides gracing him with your presence.

but due to his past, submission also doesn’t come easy to him. he likes to think he would lean more sub, just because he’s so malleable to your will, so easy to convince. anything you want is yours, and if you want his dignity laid out in the palm of your hand, then it’s yours to keep for eternity. he just struggles to fully give up control, especially since you know he’s not really had much of that in his life.

you kept his personality intact for the most part, but… he just seems so different. he responds pretty much the same, talks the same, acts the same. something just doesn’t seem right.

“here’s the coffee you asked for,” he mutters when he returns, his voice gruff but soft at the same time. he’s… definitely conflicted. the implanted urge to obey you mindlessly and the natural urge to protect his self-respect are fighting in his head. you watch curiously to see which will win.

leon has been through hell, and you can always see it when you look into his eyes. he’s been controlled by the government, a puppet on their strings, since he survived that night in raccoon city. he must be used to a lack of control in his life. but now he’s your puppet, and you have no interest in using him as a killing machine. you have… different plans for him.

“thanks,” you whisper, and he nods, quiet but obedient. just how you wanted him. he stands there beside you, not really knowing what to do with himself as you take a sip, “rub my feet now.”

“..what?”

“you heard me,” you say. and he did.

something in his stomach sinks at the command, a feeling of urgency to do as you say fills his entire being, but it just feels so wrong to him. you’re never this brazen, this demanding.

“come on, leon,” you say, almost condescendingly, pointing to the floor right in front of the couch, “on… your… knees.”

he breathes shakily, but kneels down in front of you, avoiding eye contact as he gives you your damn foot massage. there’s turmoil in his head, easily seen by that deer-like look in his eyes as he stares wide-eyed at the ground. despite his roughness, he’s always had these soft, fragile eyes, reminding you of who he really is. it would be truly heartbreaking to watch him go through this if it also wasn’t incredibly attractive to put him on his knees and order him around.

leon has always been relatively compliant, but now it’s on a whole other level. anything you ask for, despite some inner conflict, he’ll do. you wonder just how far you could push him, but… you don’t decide to test that just yet.

for a few minutes, or however long it takes for you to finish your coffee, you sit there with him. his touch is good but not very skilled. he gets the tension and soreness out though, and you’re sure you could train that into him over time.

“take off your shirt,” you say, and his throws off his t-shirt easily. it lands in the corner unimportantly, and your smirk radiates confidence and something else much more sinister, “stand up, bend over in front of me.”

he closes his eyes tightly, clearly fighting that inner battle but the part of him desperate to get away and to not obey you is losing. he slowly rises to his feet and does as you ask. he places his hands on the coffee table, legs spread slightly like he already knows what’s about to happen. funny, because he doesn’t seem to know much of anything right now.

you stand up, hands touching all over him but particularly grasping at his ass, pulling down his sweatpants and boxers and enjoying the way his muscles flex, tightening and hardening when you grab him, “you never let me spank you,” you muse, almost annoyed, “i get it. you get nervous with power play and letting me dom you or whatever, but i always wanted to hit it just once. just to satisfy the curiosity of what it would be like.”

your hand pulls back and slams against his butt with a loud smacking noise. he gasps, breathing out shakily after the hit, “i… i’m sorry, ma’am.”

“but now that we’re here… and i’ve already got a taste, i don’t think i ever want to stop. so, from now on, no more of that. if i want to slap your ass, i’m going to,” you murmur, “and you will not try to stop me or convince me not to.”

“i.. i…” he whimpers, and for a second you pause, nervously that the real leon, somehow deep down, heard that, “… yes, ma’am.”

“good,” you mutter, slapping it again, feeling the hit in your hand as you pull away, and if you can feel it so clearly then you’re sure he can, “now, be polite and say ‘thank you’. thank me for teaching you how to correctly behave.”

“tha… thank you, ma’am,” he whispers, eyes shutting slowly as his deep inner need to resist is weakening.

“i own you now,” you groan, grasping at his hips posessively, mouth pressing open kisses to his bare shoulder, “no, i… have always owned you. owned your body, you just didn’t realize it.”

he nods, incredibly turned on. his body aches to be claimed, to be made yours.

sure, leon has always been yours, but his body has been purely his. he’s… cautious with it. he’s been more or less just too busy for romantic partners, but somehow you snuck your way into his life and he happily lets you stay. he just… is slowly learning to trust you with himself.

he can do easy, comfortable, casual sex. what he can’t do is hand himself over to you like this, helplessly obedient, submissive in every possible way. as much as leon doesn’t have the energy to fight, tired and worn down, fighting is all he know.

your nails drag against the skin of his torso and back, leaving pretty red lines wherever they go, “no more fighting. no more stressing about it. all you have to do is be mine, unequivocally.”

“i… i am..” he mumbles, and you tilt your head, eyeing him curiously. he notices, shying away, “i… i am yours. unequivocally. you can… you can have me.”

manhandling has always been a little difficult, considering leon is all muscle and he’s a sturdy guy, but you spin him at the hips to face you, and he’s effortlessly moved, “can i… have your body just as much as i have your heart?”

“yes, i… yes, ma’am, it’s yours. do whatever you want with it, ma’am,” he says, a slight daze in his eyes, clearly he’s not all the way there. he's trying. he’s still so soft, so tender and malleable, so leon.

you lean in to press a kiss to his lips, and he melts into your touch, hands grasping him roughly, in a way that might hurt anyone else, but leon is strong. sure, your touch is bruising him, but… he doesn’t have enough

of his mind left to be bothered.

lips trail down his neck and shoulder, but move back up to his ear, sucking on his skin in a vampiric manner. you whisper to him, “you’re gonna only focus on my pleasure.”

“i… i am? i… i am…” he stutters, god it’s so damn cute.

“of course you are. you’d rather eat me out than have an orgasm yourself, wouldn’t you? if i was a crueler person, i would find a way to mind control your orgasms away completely. that way you could… focus on my pleasure, but i’m not that mean.”

he shudders, your lips pressing to the sensitive spot underneath his ear, teeth dragging down his skin, teasing him, taunting him.

“you wanna eat now?” you ask, lips pressed to his collarbone now, and he moans out an affirmative. you suck a hickey against the skin right atop of the bone, admiring the redness, the way you get to watch it turn a disgusting shade of purple. one that should make you nervous to have done to him, only turns you on.

instead of ordering him into his knees this time, you just push him, easily putting his head between your legs. his hands come up to hold your thighs, steadying himself as you half-stand half-sit on the counter. he pulls your pants down enough , but can’t even be bothered to take off your panties, just pushing them to the side.

“can.. i, ma’am?”

you chuckle, not really expecting him to be so polite, “go for it, sweet thing.”

he leans in, pressing a teasing kiss to your clit, just once, before his tongue meets your folds and he licks and sucks like tomorrow won’t come but he’ll make sure you will. he groans into your pussy like he’s the one being pleasured, and that honestly seems like a fair comparison. sure, he was physically pleasing you, but even just the act of giving oral is making his head spin with a satisfaction he has never felt before. he could get high off of this.

leon has always been good at giving head. much better than just good. he’s incredible. it’s the one thing where he can fully just zone out. if you’re too lost in your own pleasure, then you can’t focus on him and how he’s feeling, and there’s something oddly safe about the feeling of being, for all intents and purposes, alone with his thoughts. eating your pussy just comes so natural that it’s second nature.

but now? he can’t get lost in his thoughts if he doesn’t have any. doesn’t mean he’s enjoying it any less. he’s enjoying anything you ask him to do. you could tell him to go fold your laundry and then clean your bathroom and do your dishes and he’s do everything diligently and he’d be satisfied the whole time. god, maybe you do really want a househusband. besides, leon could use the emotional break from his job. he’s content enough serving you.

he makes you cum sooner than you expected, but it’s literally just because he’s that good with his tongue, and when he moved one his hands from your thigh to press two fingers into your cunt, fingering you in thick circular motions as he sucked on your clit, you were gone.

he continues, wet fingers gushing in a fast rhythm as you orgasm, grinding against his mouth, using him completely for your own pleasure. it was always a secret fantasy of his, and now it’s reality, even if his mind isn’t all the way there and the only thoughts running through his head are is she pleased with me? did i do a good job? do i deserve her praise? i should do better next time. i should serve her better. i only want to serve her.

and now that he’s completely helpless, servitude being the only concept he can comprehend, and you come down from a high so intense it took you a second to remember that leon was waiting patiently for your next command, next order.

“put… put me on the couch…” you gasp out in heavy breaths.

he’s strong, and he helps to guide you to the couch, body still part paralyzed from such an intense pleasure. you lay there, still breathing a little heavy.

“go get dressed and cleaned up…” you mutter to him, “and then come back out here and cuddle up next to me.”

he does as you ask, finding his clothes and getting dressed again, and then when he approaches the couch again, you reach out your arms for him. the smile he gives you is almost too real. too… really leon. you still feel that twinge of nervousness in your gut, but then he lays against you, head tucked into the crook of your neck, and you know he doesn’t know. for all that he’s good at, leon’s not a great actor.

you reach your hand up to run your fingers through his hair repeatedly, soft and soothing motions to lull him into a state of compliance.

“you’re mine,” you whisper, hoping he’ll confirm it back.

of course he does, softly, no longer feeling conflicted, “yours, ma’am.”

“you’ll be obedient and submissive from now on,” your voice is soft but carries a dominance he doesn’t quite think he could ever escape nor would he ever want to.

“i’ll be.. obedient and submissive.”

“you’ll only focus on my pleasure,” you say, knowing he’ll repeat it back obediently just like the ones previous, but you feel his rock hard cock against your leg and as much as you want to shove his cock inside of you in an instant, you can’t help but want to control him like that. keep his orgasms just out of reach until he goes mad from the teasing and edging you plan to do to him. keep him nice and horny and desperate, just how you like him. if he wasn’t submissive enough for you before, he is now.

“only yours, only ever yours, please…” his voice is soft and meek and god if you wanted to you could find a mind control that was permanent and just… leave him like this forever. let him take care of your home and future kids and do your household chores and tasks. keep him completely obedient, god it would be…

“you can’t resist,” you whisper, leaning into his hair,

resting your head against his in a soft intimate moment, “i can’t resist, ma’am.”

you nod gently, and after a moment, you sigh, running your fingers through his hair, “i’m.. i love you, leon. sorry about all of this..”

“… why are you apologizing, ma’am?” he asks, tilting his head slightly even in your grasp to show confusion. he really is just like a little puppy sometimes.

“you know.. about the mind control.”

he shrugs, the most unbothered happy smile on his face, “oh, that’s.. that’s okay, i’m fine with it. i.. already belonged to you.”

“but that was in a more… romantic way. an ‘i belong with you’ kind of way. not the kind i did to you,” you say, just a tinge of guilt holding you back, but you push it aside, “it’s nothing, don’t worry about it. i just.. just know i love you. even when i’m ordering you around.”

“i’ll remember that, ma’am,” he smiles up at you just a little softer, just a little more like his true self, just a little more leon. that heavy feeling of guilt in your gut will never quite go away, will it?

you fall asleep on the couch together, knowing or maybe just hoping you’ll wake up to leon not remembering anything. hopefully he doesn’t piece together that he has no memory of you giving him that hickey and those bruises on his hips were definitely not his job's doing.

—

you wake up to a fond smell of breakfast and a bright morning, sitting up off the couch as you look at your phone. leon’s not laying there next to you, which is odd but not completely uncommon. sometimes he goes out in the morning to work out or disappears in the middle of the night when he’s needed somewhere, but most of the time, and today included, he’s just in the kitchen.

you find him there, standing in front of the coffee pot, and you walk up to him to wrap your arms around his midsection, softly burying your face into his back to shyly hide from his gaze.

“awh, morning lovebug,” his sweet raspy morning voice says to you, a hand on your arms, holding you tight so there’s not even a chance you could let go, “missed ya yesterday. did you sleep alright?”

“...mhm,” you hum, pressing a sweet kiss to his shoulder blade.

it’s a sweet moment, full of love and warmth and tenderness and you could have almost forgotten what you did to leon last night had the smell of coffee not been hanging in the air. but hey, at least he doesn’t remember what really happened, though he’s kind of confused just how he forgot how he got all of these bruises and scratches.

[communistkenobi]

I’m listening to the podcast Game Studies Study Buddies review the book Engineering Play by Mizuko Ito. They’re discussing the theory of fun that gets argued for in this book, specifically in the context of children’s “edutainment” games that are/were common in North American primary schools (idk if they’re still popular, but I played a lot of them when I was kid) - that saying “I’m having fun” for children in this environment is a non-confrontational way of disagreeing with authority, that “having fun” is a good rationale for not listening to adults, not putting away the toys or getting off the computer or etc. Children grab onto the fact that playing these “edutainment” games and other “fun” activities they’re forced to do in school is premised on the idea that children learn better (and can be fooled into learning) when they’re “having fun.” This is despite the fact that the definition of “having fun” is often very different for adults in positions of authority than it is for children, but it is a shared language children can use to articulate their resistance to authority in these educational settings in a way that is not immediately read as hostile/anti-social (or at least, less so than outright saying “I don’t want to do what you’re telling me to do”).

And the hosts connect this to the concept of ‘escapist media’ - they call it “the rhetoric of non-obligation,” this idea that you can engage with a piece of art and intentionally not think about its political or social content as a way of “having fun,” that “having fun” is necessarily divorced from any critical evaluation of art, and that this rationale of having fun is sufficient to explain this mode of engagement. But when placed in the context of adults describing their relationship to mass produced art, it’s no longer a child bucking against authority, but rather a person resisting some larger critical discussion they perceive as authoritarian or otherwise intruding on their “fun” by being critical - in essence, viewing critical evaluation of a piece of art as a de facto argument to stop having fun, that the only reason to do this critical evaluation would be for the purposes of telling other people to stop having fun.

Obviously I don’t think everyone using the term ‘escapist media’ are like, automatically and universally behaving like children or anything, it is a widely popular term whose casual usage doesn’t mean you’re committing to that form of argument. But I do very frequently see people use their enjoyment of ‘escapist media’ as a way of like, articulating their desire not to confront critical readings of whatever they like, always placing “critical thinking” (a very loaded term) as this necessarily miserable, upsetting, unfun activity that can only ever intrude on an emotional state of “having fun.” And this includes a lot of discussions online about the benefits of “critically engaging” with media, that while it may not be fun it’s still necessary because it makes you more a moral/smart/sophisticated/etc person. and I think that is a very miserable way of approaching critical engagement

[quodekash]

FUUUUUUUUUUUCKing hell theyre gonna kiss today????

hes so grumpy already I love this so much

the silent conversations chain and toey are having with their eyes oml I cant

pls this is so funny

theyre both deeply in love with someone else so it's jsut so unnatural to them

BUT ALSO id like to mention that the first thing chain did when he had to pretend to be hitting on toey was put his arm around his shoulders and rest his hand there. which is what he's literally ALWAYS doing with pun, no matter when it is, he's always standing next to pun with his hand resting on one of his shoulders

its like he associates his time with pun as being in a romantic relationship 👀

THESE FUCKIN BASTARDS 😭

JUST KISS IM BEGGING YOU

theyre lost in their own little world 🥺

kiIIIIIS

this is too funny, the cuts from "chain. chain what happened next." to ✨soulful dramatic guitar music✨

im sad they didnt actually kiss but also im not surprised

LOOK AT THEM, DUDE

THEYRE SO NATURAL WITH EACH OTHER

I FUCKIN LOVE FRIENDS TO LOVERS SO SO MUCH

half convinced theyre already dating, they just cant be bothered saying anything so theyre waiting for others to ask them about it

PUN IS SO CUTE DUDE I ADORE HIM HES FUCKING ADORABLE

I LOVE THEM SO FUCKING MUCH THEYRE SOIMPORTANT TO ME

if I ever have a romantic partner, this is what I want

I cant explain it, I just wanna run up to them with pure joy and excitement, and for them to hold me back by just pushing against my skull

it just seems perfect, idk why

GB4JHERGB

THE FRIENDSHIP OF ALL TIME

genuinely think I might be more invested in their friendship than all the romantic relationships in this show

im fucking CRYING

my king matt, this was so unnecessary and I love everything about it

why does it suit him so well tho

they should kiss again I think

I feel everything about this image on a spiritual level

THIS ENTIRE AMUSEMENT PARK SEQUENCE BRINGS ME SO MUCH JOY AND DOPAMINE IM IN LOVE WITH THSI EPUSODE

NEW COMFORT EPISODE UNLOCKED

look its really funny but I do feel bad cos this day is not even a little bit fun for him

like q is having a complete shit time

poor chain doesn't love amusement parks but he has to go on the rides with toey to keep up the facade cos toey loves these rides 😭

and its even worse realising Q also seems to love amusement parks, so he would be having a fucking amazing time if he could just go on all the rides next to Q cos they both love it so much 😭😭

fuckin FINALLY

LMAO WHAT

THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY I JUST SCREECHED WITH LAUGHTER SO LOUD AND ITS MIDNIGHT

THE PURE COMICAL SHOCK AS HE REALISDE WHAT HE SAID, THE EXCITEMENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE AS THEYR EALISE WHAT HE SAID

I mean to be fair it was REALLY obvious

im surprised no one noticed earlier but also its a bl so im not at all surprised to find out theyre all fuckin dumbasses

SERIOUSLY THO TANFANG IS WHAT I WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP HOLY SHIT

a lot of the time watching bls ill be like "I want that" but its usually as a joke

but THIS?? the fucking adhd bastard (me) who just wants to be near their partner and compliment and always stimming and just having a swell fucking time while the other one loves them but is mildly tired but also in adoration? FUCKIN GIMME

also how the fuck has Q not realised, theyre all so fucking obvious

also also I cant explain it it just feels deeply as though pun and chain are for real dating they just havent told anyone yet

ill make a post about it all at some point maybe (I definitely wont)

PHYSICAL TOUCH IS HIS LOVE LANGUAGE 😭😭😭

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH HE DOESNT HAVE TO HOLD HIM SECRETLY ANYMORE THEY CAN JUST WALK HAND IN ARM NATURALLY NOW

hear me out tho, this gets even funnier if he's actually already in a committed relationship that no one knows about yet

I dont think it's secret dating, it's just 'not super obvious dating to try and see JUST how oblivious all our friends are. its been three years at this point and still no one's said anything. we're starting to lose all hope.'

I love tan so much, the little wave

what the FUCK

what the FUCK FUCK???

THE SOUNDWIN LINE????

HERE IT IS ITS FUCKIN COMIN GUYS

HE SAID IT

HE FUCKIN SAID IT

[insert that gif of the crowd of people in the bar going insane]

holy fucking shit dude holy fucking shit

my legs are literally shaking idk if I can do this

FUCK TO THE YES, FUCKING EXPLICIT ASK FOR CONSENT HOLY FUCKING SHIT

WHAT THE FUCK

AND THE FUCKING SONG IN THE BACKGROUND !!!!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT DUDE

im gonna be here all day

I dont even need to watch the rest of the episode now

I can just go to bed if I want and watch the rest later or smth

dude I cant wait for q to realise that toey is milk frappe guy

HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT JUST PROCESSED IN MY MIND THAT THEY KISSED

WHAT THE FUCK

omg making out in a haunted house, what a dream

the workers watching on the security cameras probably had a blast that day

how funny would it be if there'd been a scare actor in the shadows in that room with them and they'd been about to scare them but they were too shocked with that tender kiss to remember they have a job

he needs to lie on his bed and just stare at his roof and think about that for a while

tbh same

look at him 🥺 he's so lost in that memory

thEY FUCKIN MADE OUT HOLY FUCK

welp on that note I think im done for now

I might finish the ep with my silly thoughts+screenshots later but for now tis the time for sleep

[gigidragonbbxxx]

lil twist on the "movie star role"/"memoir method" for visualizing a dream life - another suggested method for the manifesting hotties

spoiler: this may help you figure out what techniques are right for you!

disclaimer: remember that these methods and techniques are just tools to get your mind saturated with thinking in your favor, stay grounded in the basics of the law and have fun with the varied tools!

I love the "movie star role" method. For those who don't know, it's a lil visualization technique where manifesting baddies act as if they're preparing to play the role of X. So if you want to be your SP's girlfriend, they "prep" for the role by living in the end state of already being SP's girlfriend. This includes embodying the attitude, saying affirmations like "I love being in a committed relationship" or "SP changed soooo much to gain my trust. We're so happy now!". Some baddies take a step further and apply it to their self-concept (this is genius btw) and begin saying affirmations like "I'm so beautiful and unforgettable, it is really not that surprising he came back begging for me. Giving him a chance was only fair with how much he groveled!"

Now, enter the "memoir method". This is usually a scripting technique but give Gigi a sec to explain! There are many variations of this method but it's essentially writing the reality you want to happen and putting the date in the future aka the deadline you wanna experience this by. Most encourage baddies to write in the past tense like "I'm so grateful I received enough money to cover my vacation, my bonuses keep increasing."

Now enter Gigi's lil twist on these methods - COMBINE THEM INTO WHAT I LIKE TO CALL:

The Interview Method

Imagine being interviewed by other loass baddies asking you "How did you achieve this?"

Visualize your dream self, the ultimate version of you that would warrant this type of attention and the answers that version of you would give.

Imagine an older Beyonce giving the "tell all" interview of a lifetime - THAT LEVEL OF HYPE.

Gigi's example:

I know I look glamorous and ageless. My skin is smooth and clear, my hair is long, inky black, blown out and curled. My body looks like an advertisement for hourglasses. The dress I'm wearing is flattering, accentuating my curves. I'm as sexy as I am elegant. The interviewer looks on with eagerness, practically spilling over with admiration.

"The Law of Assumption girlies wanna know Gigi, how the hell did you get results like this? Hollywood actresses would get insecure being in the same room as you! What are your methods? What's your daily routine?"

Now this is where the spoiler comes in! WHAT COMES TO MIND IMMEDIATELY? WHAT METHODS WOULD YOUR DREAM SELF LIKE?

bc guess what reader? all the answers are within you. your job is to let them out. coax them out with these exercises. feel empowered.

if your first reaction is: Idk Gigi. I don't know what methods work for me.

My answer to that is: then this technique is not for you. This method favors the baddies who are more familiar with the different modalities of manifesting. I encourage you to go and explore different things. Try them out. See which ones you like and then circle back to this and think about which ones resonated with you.

I encourage you to write it out. Script it as you visualize.

My own experience:

From this method I learned that my subconscious viewed my dream self as someone who was very disciplined and consistent. So I started to include these in my daily affirmations (I am disciplined, etc.). I realized that my dream self would let this quality seep into every facet of her life. I'm big into makeup and skincare so I thought, my dream self would probably affirm out loud or in her mind as she looked in the mirror and did her routine.

then the lil interviewer popped up in my head: "What happens on the days you don't feel well enough to do your routine?"

My mind (thinking in its favor) immediately went: that's rare that I don't have the discipline to stick to my routine so if I'm sick or in an emergency, I would just do a basic routine and play an affirmation tape.

I came to the conclusion that Dream Self would

be reliable

come across as intelligent - immediately

pride herself on good self-care

have a healthy relationship with SP

have friends who knew the law and would be encouraging

be calm and have a calm energy bc she knows everything is in her favor

be seen as a caring, beautiful, deep soul with much to give

never be taken for granted

always be spoiled by life - wealthy in finance and health

I also reversed this method: what would my Dream Self NOT do?

Dream Self wouldn't

talk badly about herself

put others down

get bothered by the 3D

surround herself with people who have limiting thoughts

be lazy

think that the worst would happen to her

This is the type of inner convo I want more loass baddies to have with themselves because it's important to be clear WITHIN yourself what you WANT.

and remember to have fun. Include questions about the silliest things like your favorite lipstick or fav playlist or opinions about dumb tv shows. One of my favorite visualizations is me telling the interviewer that I watched all of Sex and the City and that I vowed to never be a Carrie LOL.

okay, happy manifesting loass baddies!!

xx, gigi

[uhohwhathaveidone]

Are your requests still open? I’d love a part two to Marriage if you’d be open to it. I think an inverse where Ominis is the one jealous would be interesting especially given he’s much more willing to share his emotions with reader compared to them.

This got so out of hand I'm so sorry-

Marry Me (O.G)

I got stuck listening to Eric Cartman sing Poker Face because it was already playing, and I just committed to it. It's been over two hours. He's holding me hostage, send help, please. Anyway, accidently went heaving on the angst as I was baking this, but it got very fluffy when it came out of the oven, so I think that makes up for it. I hope you enjoy, because idk how I got to 4k words with this, I blacked out.

pt1, Marriage?

    You walked down the hall with Ominis as you trailed behind Sebastian, who was rambling on about how he needed a better dueling partner, shaking your head each time he asked you if you were “sure” you didn’t want to duel him. Sebastian continued talking to himself as you leaned over to Ominis, whispering in his ear. “If we left, do you think he’d notice?” Ominis shook his head, a smile gracing his lips as he grabbed your hand and led you down a different hall. “He’ll realize eventually, but by then we should be far enough away to be free.” You laughed as you continued to walk, still holding Ominis’ hand.

      You played with your mother’s ring; its silver band cold on your skin as you moved it around. Ominis usually held the hand with the ring on it since you had lost it a few weeks prior, but you were on his other side at that moment, so he grabbed the hand closest to him. You continued to walk down the hall in a comfortable silence, the warm feeling in your chest felt homely now. You smiled to yourself, glad that you were able to become close with Ominis, you even felt ready to marry him, sort of. There was still a dull throb in your chest every now and then, telling you that you were only this close now because you had to, and that your mother had asked you to be nicer to Ominis.

       Some nights, you find yourself staring up at the dark ceiling, thoughts of doubt and feelings of sadness filling your whole being. You often wondered if Ominis was going through those feelings as well, though he never showed them. Ominis was always up front on his thoughts and feelings, but would he lie to you to not hurt your feelings? Your thoughts began to run as you walked, biting the inside of your cheek. Ominis broke the silence soon after, speaking in a nonchalant manner. “My father sent a letter earlier today.” You broke from your thoughts, turning your head slightly as you hummed in response. “Really? What did he say?” Ominis hung his head as he walked, brows furrowed. “He asked for progress on our relationship. He says we’re close to the age for a wedding.” You stopped walking, frowning as you looked at Ominis. “A progress report? Has he been keeping an eye on us?” You asked, letting go of Ominis’ hand as you crossed your arms. Ominis turned, missing the feeling of your hand in his, but nodded.

      “He sends frequent letters asking about it, to keep track I suppose.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. Your eyes widened, the idea that you were practically being watched even in Hogwarts stung you. You were unable to speak, your thoughts running once again as you began to think about what Ominis might have told him over the years, face turning red. “Y/n? It’s just him checking in, nothing to worry about, I assure you.” Ominis said, walking towards you. You shook your head, taking a step back. “How much have you told him?” You asked, your heart beginning to beat faster in your chest. Ominis shrugged, “He always asks for details, so I give him them, it’s nothing to worry about, honest.” Your gaze narrowed as you looked down at your feet. His father was a harsh man, and you remembered the stories he would tell at the dinner table during parties; how they would torture muggles for fun. You shuddered, wondering how he felt when he read how you treated Ominis when you first started Hogwarts.

      “I haven’t even told my father anything, and you’re sending detailed reports to yours?” You said, anger replacing the confusion that had a grasp on your chest. You watched as Ominis hung his head, nodding slightly. You sighed as took a few breaths, collecting your thoughts. “So that means, that he now knows that we’ve kissed, and how I basically bullied you for years?” You asked, trying to keep your voice calm. Ominis nodded again, head still low. “Do you know what this means? What if he read your earlier notes and did something?” Ominis raised his head, confused. “What are you implying?” “I’m implying that he could have retaliated when he read that we weren’t getting along!” You began to shout, your thoughts running faster than you could have kept up. You felt a squeeze in your chest, tears threatening to fall as you stared at Ominis, who stood there, unmoving. “Your mother?”

      You breathed heavily, glaring at Ominis. “They said she died suddenly, and I left it at that. But now? I don’t think so.” Ominis glared at you, not believing what he was hearing. “You think he did something?” You sighed as you nodded, feeling the tears begin to fall from your eyes. “I think we need some time apart; I need to breathe.” You said, turning away from Ominis. “You can tell your father that too. In fact, tell him I refuse.” You sighed, hearing Ominis as he scoffed. “Refuse? Do you really think you can get out of this?” You began to walk away, shouting over your shoulder, “You didn’t want this either, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.” You turned down another hall, feeling your hands shake as you tried to keep your composure. You passed by Sebastian, who had realized that the two of you were no longer with him, as he tried to talk to you. “Not now, Sebastian. Another time, perhaps.” Sebastian watched you in confusion as you kept walking towards the common room, desperate to reach your bed.

      For the next few days, you avoided Ominis and kept to yourself, spending most of your free time trying to figure out what to do next. Ominis had tried to speak with you; offer you an explanation, but you refused, instead busying yourself with something each time he tried to speak. It felt as if you were back to square one, settling for your bed as you thought about the past few years. You didn’t fully believe that his father was responsible, but you knew how Mr. Gaunt was and how he treated people he thought were below him. You sighed as you stared at the ceiling, not hearing the door open. “Hey, Y/n. You have a letter.” Imelda walked in; a familiar owl rested on her arm as she handed you the envelope. You eyed it suspiciously, unsure if it was best to open it. “Are you sure it’s for me? That’s not my owl,” You asked, standing up from your bed as you walked over. “It has your name on it. Though, I’m not sure why you’d be receiving an owl from the Gaunts.” Your eyes widened as you looked at the owl, its dark feathers ruffled as it shifted on Imelda’s arm. “Thank you, Imelda. I suppose I should take the owl from you as well.” Imelda nodded, watching as the owl flew off her arm and landed on the post of your bed, clicking its beak. Imelda walked out, leaving you to open a small pouch and give the treat to the owl, sitting on your bed as you sighed.

      You opened the letter, the elegant handwriting covered the page, one that was no doubt sent by Mrs. Gaunt. You tensed up, reading through the letter as Mrs. Gaunt wrote her apologies. “I never properly spoke with you after your mother’s death, and for that, I apologize. I know you may have your doubts, but I assure you, no matter how harsh my husband is, he would never point his wand at your family, you have my word.” You furrowed your brows as you read; it was unlike Mrs. Gaunt to be so up-front, let alone send you a letter. You continued to read. “I know how hard it was to accept the fact that you had to marry someone you didn’t know. I apologize for that as well, ten years old is too young to arrange such a thing. But I know how you feel, as I was in your place as well. I’ve read the letters my son has sent back, and I applaud your persistence in the past, as I would have done the same. However, even as you acted out, Ominis continued to try and befriend you. When he wrote back to us saying how you had helped him from causing an explosion in class, I felt happy, something I hadn’t expected.” You sighed, glancing over to the owl, you stared at you with round, amber eyes. You turned back to the letter. “It is evident that Ominis cares for you, and even now, as he writes to us about the rift that has sprung between the two of you, he still cares. I’m writing to you, not as his mother, but as someone you can count on. Ominis loves you. And I know that, deep down, you must care for him in the same way. I only hope I can shed some light on the problem at hand, I would love to have you in our family. You have your mother’s spirit, and I’m sure you will see just how much Ominis cares.” You set the letter down, your mind wandering as you went over her words. Of course, you cared for Ominis, but you were unsure if the care was real or superficial. You thought Ominis felt the same, even after he had expressed how glad he was that you two had become close; you felt like it was all a ploy. You groaned as you lay on your back, shutting your eyes tightly as you began to go through the events that led you to that moment.

      You had sent the owl back later that night, sighing as you continued to lay in bed. You needed to figure out your own feelings before you began to try and figure out Ominis’, but you had found yourself at a wall. While you felt protective and jealous, whenever you saw someone flirting with Ominis, you couldn’t bring yourself to say that it was out of love. Did you even know what that was? You had been told that you would grow to love your husband-to-be, but no one had ever specified exactly what that would feel like, leaving you to figure it out for yourself. You didn’t know who to ask either, nor did you think you could bring yourself to ask someone that question either. You groaned as you slammed a fist down onto your covers, glaring into the stone above you.

      A knock sounded at the door, causing you to turn your head. Imelda came in and placed her bag by her bed, her gaze softening as she saw you on your bed, where she had left you earlier. She slowly made her way over and moved your legs, taking a seat. “I take it that the letter wasn’t good?” She asked, looking down at her hands. You groaned once again, unable to form any words. The letter lay beside you, and Imelda looked at you curiously as she reached for the parchment, silently asking if she could have a look. You didn’t stop her, opting to close your eyes instead. Imelda stayed quiet as she read, taking a few moments to gather her thoughts as she pulled her legs up onto your bed, crossing them as she tapped your foot. “Do you want to talk about it?” You sighed, trying to gather your thoughts. Imelda wasn’t normally this docile, and you thought about asking her about the whole situation while you had someone willing to listen. You sat up, crossing your legs as well as you bit your lip.

      “I’m having a hard time figuring things out, if that makes sense.” You started, watching Imelda as she nodded softly, motioning for you to continue. You explained to her about your feelings, about how you didn’t understand what they were and how you didn’t know what you were supposed to be feeling. Imelda listened to you, waiting for you to finish before talking herself. “You’re close with him, that part is clear. I can’t tell you what you should be feeling, because not everyone feels the same things, but it seems like you do care.” You furrowed your brows, looking down at your bed. Imelda continued. “Jealousy like that isn’t something you can really fake just because you must. I was there, when you stood behind that girl as she flirted with Ominis. That was real, that much I can tell you.” She pushed your shoulder lightly, smiling. “Besides, you looked like you wanted to hex her. No one just wants to hex someone over a guy.” You smiled lightly, nodding. “I wanted to turn her into a chicken and let her loose in the wild.” Imelda chuckled as she shook her head. “See? You felt something about that. That was real. Who’s to say you don’t actually love the guy? It’s clear he loves you. He might be blind, but the rest of us aren’t!” You laughed with her, feeling the dark pain in your chest slowly lift.

      “But how do I fix it? I already accused his father, you read the letter.” Imelda nodded, shrugging. “You could try to talk to him, thought, I’m not sure how you’d start that off.” You sighed, flopping to your side as you rolled in your bed, burying your head into the sheets. “How about you ask him out, like a date?” You raised your head sharply, frowning at her. “A date? After all this?” She shrugged, “It’s the best I can come up with. Maybe just ask him to go with you to The Three Broomsticks? Try to talk to him?” You bit the inside of your cheek, deep in thought. “Wouldn’t that be weird? I haven’t spoken to him for three days, and you want me to ask him out?” Imelda scoffed, patting you on your head. “You’d be surprised. I’m sure Sebastian is filling his mind with ideas to fix this as well. Just try, please? I don’t need to wake up in the morning and see you staring at the ceiling again, I thought you were dead this morning.” You laughed as you shook your head. “Sorry about that, couldn’t sleep much.” Imelda shook her head as she got off your bed. “If you don’t ask him to Hogsmeade tomorrow, I’ll have to make you.”

      The next day, you walked over to Sebastian, who smirked at you. You narrowed your eyes, watching as Sebastian pretended to be busy. “What are you hiding, Sallow?” Sebastian scoffed as he held up a book, opened yet upside down. “Just a bit of light reading on this fine Saturday, and yourself?” You crossed your arms as you raised an eyebrow. “The book is upside down.” His eyes widened as he looked at the page, noticing the words were, in fact, upside down. You sat across from him, glaring. Sebastian avoided your gaze, biting the inside of his cheek. “Out with it, you’re bad at keeping secrets.” He sighed, pouting as he brought his gaze to meet yours. “I may have talked to Ominis.” “As you always do.” “Let me talk! You’re always interrupting me.” You sighed as you motioned for him to continue. “I might have told him to go fetch a few things for you. Small things, of course, because relationships always need small gifts to fix things.” You raised a brow, a small smirk playing at the corner of your mouth. “Really?” Sebastian nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “You like each other! And you were doing so well! Surely Imelda talked with you?” “So, you two were in on it.” “Well, it wasn’t planned, if that’s what you’re implying. We just had similar goals.” You scoffed. “Look, Ominis is torn about this. He didn’t think that you would be upset about the whole thing! I admit, it’s definitely an invasion of privacy, but you know how his family is!” You nodded, mentioning the letter you received. “She sent you a letter? She never does that!” You shrugged, resting your cheek on your hand. “Look, just, try and listen to him, yeah? He cares, you care, I want to be the best man, we all want something!” You chuckled. The sound of footsteps sounded behind you, and you turned to see Ominis as he stood behind you, a small bag in his hand.

      “Y/n, may I have a word?” Ominis asked, and you sighed as you stood up, sending a glare at Sebastian as he sent you a thumbs up. You left the common room and walked down the halls, just like you did when the whole ordeal started. “Ominis.” You started, glancing over at him as you walked. He shook his head, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you; it was not my intention. It didn’t come to mind how you would feel if I told you about the letters.” You sighed as you nodded, watching your feet as you walked. “I apologize as well for how I acted; it was uncalled for.” Ominis nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. “You acted like a spoiled princess, just like you did when we first met.” You scoffed, crossing your arms. “A spoiled princess? Really?” Ominis chuckled, “I like that about you, though. You know what you deserve, even if you don’t know it at the time.” He paused as he turned to you, handing you the small bag. “You deserved to know about the letters, and I know that you wanted a reason for your mother’s death, and I don’t blame you for thinking that my father had something to do with it. I thought the same, at first.” You took the bag from his hand slowly, the warm feeling of his hand against your own sending your heart into a stir. “It was still wrong of me, I shouldn’t have thought that way.” Ominis shrugged, “What’s done is done, but I do hope you can still forgive me, or at least accept my offerings.” You smiled as you looked in the bag.

      Inside was a collection of treats that you adored, along with a new scarf made of some of the softest cotton you had ever felt. You reached in and found a small box, opening it and finding a silver necklace inside, a light emerald jewel hung from it. You gasped as you examined it, looking up at Ominis. “Ominis, you didn’t need to do all of this. I don’t deserve these gifts after I started this.” Ominis shook his head, reaching his hands out as he felt for yours, grabbing the necklace. “There you go again, thinking you don’t deserve something. Turn around.” You sighed as you turned, watching his hand appear in front of you as he placed the necklace around your neck, its cold metal a stark contrast to how warm you felt at that moment. He clasped the necklace and sighed, resting his forehead onto your shoulder. “This was a big ordeal, but I’m glad we could talk it out, I missed having you at my side.” You chuckled as you shook your head. “It was three days.” “Too long, if you ask me.” You sighed as you turned to Ominis, placing a small kiss on his cheek. “Let's go on a date, you and me.” Ominis, whose cheeks had turned red from the sudden kiss, only turned redder, if that was possible. “A date?” You nodded, grabbing his hand as you walked down the hall to Hogsmeade. “Yes, we haven’t had an actual date yet. So, let’s have one.” Ominis nodded as he followed you, a smile growing on his lips.

      You smiled to Sirona as you walked in, taking a seat in the corner of the tavern. She walked over, smiling at the two of you. “Need anything at the moment you two?” She asked, and you nodded. “Maybe two butterbeers would be fine, right Ominis?” You looked over to the boy who nodded, waving to Sirona. She smiled as she nodded, leaving for a few moments before returning with two mugs. “On the house today, just for you.” She winked at you, causing your face to heat up slightly, realizing that she knew what was going on. The two of you chatted for what felt like hours, Sirona coming up every now and then to check up on you, even offering some treats, which you gladly accepted. You watched as Ominis kept a smile throughout the date, the small tint of pink never leaving his cheeks.

      Ominis listened to your voice; how he missed hearing you talk. He missed your laugh as well and couldn’t help himself from joining you as you giggled over something he said. He felt nervous, though, as he continued to think about you and how much he missed your presence, even after three days. His pocket felt heavy as he listened to you talk, feeling like he was falling even more in love with you as the seconds ticked away. His thoughts were broken, however, when a new voice joined yours.

      “Hello there, y/n! Fancy seeing you here!” The voice said. Ominis recognized the voice; frowning as Amit stood before you. You smiled as you greeted him. “Hello there, Amit! It’s nice to see you.” “Likewise. It’s been a while since we last talked, I thought you had disappeared.” You chuckled, shaking your head. “I’m always around, you know that.” Ominis felt the frown grow on his lips as he listened to the two of you talk, noticing the flirty tone Amit was using. You hadn’t seemed to notice, however, as you continued to make small talk with the Ravenclaw. “If you’d allow me, why don’t I buy you a drink?” Your eyes widened as you stuttered, unsure what to do. Ominis quickly answered for you, however, his voice dark as he spoke. “Actually, she’s with me tonight. Like always.” You hid a smile as you watched Ominis glare in Amit’s direction, seemingly seething at Amit, who widened his eyes and took a step back. “Of course, I apologize, have a nice night!” With that, you watched, amused, as Amit awkwardly walked off.

      You smiled at Ominis, letting out a chuckle. “So, this is what it feels like, watching someone get jealous.” Ominis scoffed as he shook his head, “At least I didn’t hex him like you wanted to.” “How did you know I wanted to?” “A gut feeling.” You laughed, watching Ominis’ face soften as he fumbled with his hands. You bit the inside of your cheek, watching Ominis as he looked down at his hands. “What’s on your mind, my dear Ominis?” You asked, watching his cheeks turn red as you spoke. Ominis shook his head as he continued to play with his hands under the table. You scoffed as you shook your head. “Something is, or else you wouldn’t be acting that way.” “I want to marry you.”

      Your eyes widened when Ominis spoke, your heart seemingly skipping beats as you processed what he said. “Marry me? But we already are supposed-“ “I want to actually marry you. Not because it was already arranged, but because I want to.” Your breath got caught in your chest, the heat in your cheeks only growing hotter the more he spoke. “Maybe I wanted to marry you when we first met, because you didn’t care that I was blind and still wanted me to shake your hand. Maybe it was when you described the world around us for me, or when we found your mother’s ring, and you let me place it on your finger. Perhaps it was when I broke your trust, and you hid from me for those three days. I missed you during those days, you weren’t describing things to me, and I felt like I couldn’t see.” He took a breath, pulling his hands up from under the table, a box identical to the one that held the necklace laid in his hands. You sat there, unmoving, as you felt the world come to a stop. “I want to properly propose, and the wedding to be real, if you’d let me.” He opened the box and showed you a ring identical to the necklace, a silver band adorned with small, pale emeralds, the silver band extending around to hold the jewels decorating each side. It shined in the soft light of the tavern, and you felt your heart almost stop beating.

      “You actually want to marry me? Like, you want to?” You whispered, unable to believe what you were witnessing. Ominis smiled as he nodded. “I love you, obviously, and I want to marry you. You have my love and my heart, you always have, and I want you to keep them.” You felt your cheeks become wet, noticing that you had started to cry. Was the feeling that held your heart love, the same love that others felt when they were with someone special? You reached you hand out and grazed it against his, whispering seemingly to yourself. “I do love you, clear as day.” Ominis smiled, taking your hand as he placed the ring on your finger, placing a kiss to your hand.

      Sirona watched the two of you as she smiled, noting the events to relay to Sebastian later, who practically danced when she told him about it. “I’m going to be the best man, just you wait. I knew my plan would work!” Sirona shook her head as she smiled, enjoying the events she had been allowed to witness.

[pansy-picnics]

Sorry but your recent artwork has me thinking about parent Varigo and I have to dump my thoughts somewhere. I feel like, if they actually had a kid it would be really emotional for them but in different ways. Varian finds out he’s pregnant and is a little scared at first, but he actually adjusts to the idea pretty fast and is excited about it, because he’s in a good place now and has a good support system. He doesn’t have to worry about his family judging him, he knows they’ll still see him for who he is. Hugo on the other hand is terrified. But not because he doesn’t wanna be a dad, he’s pretty excited about that, he’s just really scared that Varian is going to get sick from the pregnancy, or that the whole experience is gonna be too much for him. He feels like this is just another thing he’s “putting Varian through” because he’s still not quite over the guilt of his betrayal years ago, and now it’s coming back to haunt him. They work it out of course and Hugo realizes that it’s gonna be okay and that he also can depend on Varian’s family for support because they’re his family too. Now I’m emotional. Anyway I love your art <3

AUGHHHH YEAH YEAH THIS IS SO REAL!!!!! i love plots like that fr, their characters are so fun to explore😭😭😭 Honestly? i think in the right circumstances hugo could be a deadbeat dad. like he could just straight up leave bc he’s paranoid varian or the kid would get hurt or he’d put them in danger or something. he’s the kind of guy who’s always Running! like i could think of scenarios where he’d run away on their wedding day too. those are both horrible extremes SORRY FOR THE ANGST I JUST THINK IT’S NEAT.

i think hugo’s always WANTED a family but its something she’s always viewed as unachievable, mostly bc of the shitty living situation hes been in for most of his life. she could barely survive on her own and she’d never want to drag someone else into that yk? and she’s still scared of that commitment even after she moves into the castle, bc what if she DID have a kid and then something happened and she couldn’t take care of them anymore, or she ends up on the streets again….and what if she just ends up abandoning them? what if she’s no better than the parents she never even knew? it’s like, obviously she wouldn’t do any of those things or be in those situations but she has….a Lot of anxiety around it for sure. but i also think that she tries to adopt literally every orphan she and varian see. she LOVES kids as much as she pretends she doesn’t and its very obvious….she just hasn’t really had the privilege to be able to think about it until now.

varian…i think he goes either way, he doesn’t really plan to have kids but he’ll kinda learn to adjust to whatever, he’s also just a very family oriented guy so he’s definitely not opposed to that kind of role. in my head they usually adopt bc i think varian like, Hates anything related to the human body at all so even disregarding the gender dysphoria pregnancy is SO gross to him. idk why i just think he’s silly like that. hell make bombs and poisonous chemicals but he remembers people have organs and he wants to throw up. i’m not opposed to the idea of them having biological kids at all though…especially considering all the art i’ve already drawn for it’s us against the world LOL. personally i think even if he weren’t opposed to the idea he’d be miserable the entire time, and not even like in a serious way necessarily he’s just REALLY mad that he can’t work in the lab anymore. he’s pissed about EVERYTHING, actually. he’s bored and he’s tired and he can’t work and he feels like shit and he doesn’t really have any other hobbies either. his whole life and routine has been completely fucked over for nine months and SURE he loves the kid and he’s excited but like why does it need to be in there that long. why can’t it just come from the stork or something. 🙄/j

i think he might pick a few fights with hugo bc of it, just because he’s so overwhelmed and emotional and doesn’t know how to handle it, but hugo’s really understanding; also they’ll honestly take any kind of treatment from him because they’re like, “Yeah i probably deserved that”. which varian does NOT like btw and always gets on his ass later to stick up for himself more while also in tears apologizing for yelling at him

idk i just think them as parents would be Sooo silly. neither of them have any clue what they’re doing. dude if those two had a baby? Dude can you imagine? varian’s sooo fucking sheltered i think he’s only interacted with like, 2 babies in his entire life. quirin stays with them for tje first few weeks bc varian literally just has NO clue what he’s doing and is crying to him all the time. and hugo like, has an idea of what to do but he’s also SUPER paranoid. they’re both just staring at the kid while they sleep not so much out of adoration but because they’re just terrified they’ll stop breathing at any moment. you cant convince me that either of them know how to change a diaper. They’re gonna bring out like full lab gear. like the gag where the dads will pull out full hazmat suits for the diaper change. That’s them idc

ruddiger is also SO protective of their kids from the moment they’re born, like he jumps up into the crib and snuggles up with them and they always IMMEDIATELY stop crying. olivia is the opposite. she’s kinda like a toddler who just got a new sibling she didn’t want. shes pissed that she isn’t getting hugo’s full attention and keeps being a brat about it. hugo’s just trying to calm down his baby and olivias glaring at him while she’s about to push a glass off the table

yeah idk i. have a lot of thoughts abt them too they’re so beloved to me

[melrosing]

I just find so much of the whole Lyanna Rhaegar thing so interesting. And its something I've explored more in my fanfics (that I've not really posted). But it's really weird to me that so many people's take away was that they were starcrossed lovers when... Rhaegar was like 23 (idk, an adult), married with a kid and Lyanna was a 15 yo. regardless of many factors, Rhaegar was still in the wrong in kidnapping her (no matter how willing of a victim she was). I totally buy that they thought their love story was that of starcrossed lovers.

also I love Ned having a complicated relationship with Brandon. I'm a sucker for Ned/Cat, and it's always strange to think that had things gone right she would've married Brandon. Like, it must be weird to look at the family you love and know you wouldn't have any of it if your brother (and to some extent sister) hadn't died.

Anyways, love the ending of season 1! I've found the whole thing super fun!

Yeah, I talked a bit about how I see Rhaegar and Lyanna here - like I'm sure they felt like star-crossed lovers, and GRRM the Shakespeare fanatic has certainly incorporated a handful of Romeo & Juliet tropes into their story. But they're also a lot more complicated than that. I can't disregard Lyanna's age, I can't disregard Rhaegar's obsession with prophecy and how that may have played a part in his pursuit of Lyanna (and his pursuit of a child from her body), and I can't disregard how he treats Elia and their children.

And people do minimise the affront to Elia which is really irritating to me, like as you can see per my sparknotes thing I don't believe that Elia ever came to love Rhaegar - I think at best she may have thought in the early days she was lucky to have such a worthy match, but that there's otherwise no suggestion they were close or even had any especial rapport. So, fine - it was a political match and not a love match - so if either of them privately committed adultery, that would be one thing.

But humiliating Elia in front of virtually all of Westeros by making a show of disregarding her, when she is either pregnant with his child or has just given birth to his child... and then later leaving her and their two young children in the charge of a teenager and a pyromaniac??? like sorry no i'm just not having it babes. it's not on

And yeah I definitely like the idea of Brandon and Ned having a kind of spiky relationship! I think Ned loved his brother but I can imagine there were things he disliked about him. And that Brandon could be quite callous towards Ned, treating him a bit like a doormat, condescending to him etc, and not even realising he's doing it because Ned's feelings hardly register with him.

It would kind of make Ned's close friendship with Robert more interesting, because I think Brandon was probably a lot like Robert - but here's a version of his brother who has time for him and jokes with him and confides in him etc etc. So it was easier to look past Robert's foibles and failings.

But then obviously Ned would feel a lot of guilt for having resented his brother once Brandon is gone (and Brandon dies proving how much he truly values his family), and for having inherited everything he was meant to have. It makes me think again of Jon as like a twisted outlet of penance for Ned. like he would always have cared for and protected Jon for Lyanna, yet part of him thinks he deserves Catelyn's resentment and the judgement of society that comes with Jon, but for own private guilt.

anyway thanks so much for reading they're really fun to write! working on plotting out the next bunch tonight....

[corruptionasart]

I followed for video game corruptions. Don't think I've seen much of those of late.

damn sorry i'll make sure you get a refund

Anyway i'm also gonna go ahead and lump this in here since it's related:

So I'll forgive people for either coming in late to the party or just not paying attention to how this blog has changed over the years but I've spoken several times in the past about how rom corruption over time has become really boring to me. That's why over the past few years I've posted less and less of it.

Back when I started doing this stuff and really committed to it back in like 2016-2018 it was great, I started this blog as an excuse to do more of it, playing retro games and breaking them was, and honestly still is a lot of fun. Unfortunately I made the mistake of running a queue which meant I needed things to fill that queue which meant I was essentially turning art into content, and over time that took its toll and I burnt out hard on it. There was a point where basically all my free time was spent on some aspect of running this blog, whether it was playing the games or going through recordings to make gifs or tagging posts etc.

Over the past couple weeks actually I've been going through all my old ShareX screenshot folders (btw i wholeheartedly endorse sharex it rules and i donate to its patreon) I've been collecting all the screenshots I've made of rom corruptions (somehow I hadn't done this before) and what I've noticed is exactly what I noticed all those years ago, it's kinda all the same.

You might disagree with that but again I've been seeing this stuff for like 8 years now and there's only so many times I feel like I could post something like that before it gets stale, the same goes with the gifs and videos. Again, I do enjoy making that stuff but I just feel like I personally feel like I need to make a change.

I'll get into the AI part of what I said this morning in a following post but I should be a bit more clear that the collage stuff I've been doing and anything else that I plan to do in the future isn't meant to be entirely about showcasing ai art or glorifying it, it's just another piece of the puzzle. I mostly made the post about ai stuff mostly because I wanted to see what the reaction would be in this community to that specifically. I wasn't expecting the "anything that isn't rom corruption is off-topic and shouldn't be posted on this blog" contingent. I may very well make another blog just about the ai stuff because I think there are things I could talk about with it with regard to pushing against the tide of garbage and making something new with it, idk yet.

THe last thing I want to say regarding rom corruptions specifically, though, is that it's interesting to me that despite the fact that I've posted the link to the corruption wiki multiple times now and people clearly do have an interest in this stuff that hardly anybody is out there posting this stuff either here or anywhere else online (at least outside of the Vinesauce community, which I feel goes for a very different vibe in what they do.)

The tools are out there, they haven't really changed all that much for years apart from being supported for more modern systems, and yet nobody's posting anything.

Maybe I should make another proper tutorial on my whole process, try to push harder to get people to make stuff.

Sorry if this response is kind of incoherent, I've been called away a lot in making this, I'll try to make the next few posts shorter

[callmearcturus]

you talked about who you would cast to direct a hypothetical ktowl series, but who would you cast? :3

hell's fucking bells what a question

since KTOWL lives in my head also as a novel that i might write someday (idk if its worth it tbh, original work just doesn't seem to bring in anything so it's hard to commit to the work needed for it all)

This is probably recency bias but for Dave/Ezra I know immediately, I would love Xelia Mendes-Jones if they were willing. They're a lil taller than I imagined for Dave/Ezra, but I adore their eyes and their voice.

I think for Kanaya/Vaer'Dia, I would love to put Indira Varma in cool alien prosthetics and makeup. I've loved her for SO LONG and her voice is pitch perfect.

Rose/Leah ("Sophia") is so hard, I want someone I know who can be a heartless ice queen but also mired in self-delusion and also an alcoholic, I think Alicia Vikander could do it. She's too old but this is dream casting, let's just say age doesn't matter okay.

in the reverse, for Jane/Cassandra "Cash" Doe, I would want an older Stephanie Hsu because I feel like the dry cold humor she has is a very good fit

Roxy is difficult bc in the spinoff she's being really reimagined into a character named Naota. I would like Rina Sawayama bc she was incredible in John Wick Chapter 4.

okay you might be wonder "who the fuck could play Abraxas" and literally the only fucking person I can think of who has the raw fucking charisma necessary, who I can imagine as consummate actor neon-infused omniglot lunatic Jake/Sasha Lambros is Sacha Dhawan. Like HONESTLY if you can imagine anyone else with the right build and the gravity well of charisma, I would LOVE to know.

there are two people I cannot fucking place for the life of me, and it's Karkat/Zhro and Dirk/Pirah.

Karkat/Zhro is so fucking hard because I need someone who you could put a bunch of fun alien prosthetics on, who is fucking built like they got cantalopes for biceps, but have an indefatigable kindness in them. I have gone through so many mental options and come up fucking dry.

for Dirk/Pirah, it's the physicality. I can fudge imperfect faces and voices, but the way he moves is 90% of the character. I need someone built like a rapier who moves like a murderous gymnast. And I just don't fucking KNOW.

anyway this took literally hours, anon, hope you're happy lmao.

[crushedsweets]

ANSWERING ASKS PT 4?

ok this is like 30+ asks LOL its mostly stuff about me/my art with a little crp sprinkled in im sorry... ill make a post thats actually answering the crp asks with real answers that arent "ILL DO IT EVENTUALLY I SWEAR" lololol

YOURE BOTH SO SWEET i havent been this passionate about smth in so long so hopefully im here for a while... thank u guys for indulging me. it makes me happy to post LOL

with love pls dont call me that buuuut. ninakate. ticciwork. ninatoby. ticcijack. ninajack. notice how its all in the same group...

hiii i dont plan to anytime soon! IF I WERE TO, cody and rouge are probably 'next in line' to being put in my AU, but i have no plans to actually commit to that

omg ok its funny cuz rn i HAVE ONE but its just me in it cuz im too lazy to organize all the bots and verification and whatnot. im also nervous about making a server cuz of some online occurrences that happened after u sent this HAHA so i'm kinda putting it off... but i reblogged tombs server and im sometimes active in there if u wanna join that one!

ffrhrughagahhhh

no ur right theyre such a power couple. i know we joke about toby being useless bf and clocky being badass gf but they're both really cool together.

I FORGOT I MADE THE TWILIGHT COMMENT LMFAAAOOOOOO I NEED i need. i need toby to find a random twilight shirt at a thrift and snag it for kate.

ME TOOOO its so delightful. i have so much fun playing with them like barbies.. making them kiss n whatever. LMFAOOOO so silly but yk

JEFF STANS ARE SO FUNNYYYYYYYYY i like you guys. laughing jack stans scare me but thats cuz that damn clown scares me... nothing that yall have done. youre just braver than me. LOL

i will not do this...

no literally its really bad. i hold horrible grudges BAHAHA but im working on it. im getting over my purple beef

omg. i listened to it and that was really cool. i like that thank u sm for sharing

IDK WHAT POST UR REFERING TO BUT YOURE RIGHT. LMAOOOOO

IM SORRYYYY im so sorry. i feel like this fandom is so small and most of the fans dont really ship in general so it suuuucks shipping here.. but i love them..

oh my god i need to i keep forgetting. the nina art i jus tposted of her holding th eknife was kinda.. kinda referencing her behaviors..

i do too!!! ive been neglecting them so bad im so sorry..

like the IEPFB tea party scene

I NEVER DID IT ANON IM SO SORRY IM GOING TO HELL

is this a song

i have not! i havent read alot of stories actually... i kinda like doing my own thing with them HAHA

omfg i had a clocknina drawing but i ended up privating but i think i should unprivate it...

ok actually im sorry i just am bad at requests omfg LMFAOO IM SORRY im so focused on nina ... forgive me...

THANK YOUUUU youre very sweet i appreciate you!!! <3

YEAH he's...one of the more tragic people. 100%. all loss

WHAT IS LIUJONJACK LOL WHOS JON??? ALSO LIUOTPS IS FUNNY

wdym ? !

LMFAOOOOO HEY ITS NOT A BAD COMBO THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING A NINAKATE SHIPPER........

THANK YOU CUPCAKE i really like nina.. or my version i gues si dunno.. i like everyone else's nina too. i like this nina we got going on together

ok i keep grouping these together but also making them seperate im so bad at organizing these asks but HAHA I LOVE THEM TOO i swear ill try to get some ticciwork stuff out soon!!! my spring semester is almost over so hopefullyyy..

this is how you know i suck ass cuz this was christmas time and im replying NOW. im so sorry. i initially planned to draw them hanging around a tree but i didnt get around to it then got embarassed and never replied.... but i agree it would have been cute. ha di notfailed. LOL

[captain-mj]

I want this to be Price&Graves, idk how but yeah. What if Graves didn't want to betray the 141 but Shepherd was holding something over his head. Like what if Graves had a daughter and Shepherd was holding her as leverage. You don't gotta write the kid, I know you ain't interested in that, im far more interested in how you'd write the 141 finding it out from Graves and maybe possibly how they'd want to help when they learn (specifically Price)

I decided to do this for one reason and one reason only which you will find out at the end.

Graves survived.

Barely.

But he survived. And now he was tied up in front of the majority of the 141, in almost a mockery of what they had one previously to Valeria. The only real difference being that he kneeled in front of them.

Those had been fun times.

There was a click of a gun, pressed right at his left temple. Internally, he hummed to himself, though he didn't make a noise out loud. He didn't want to agitate them.

Price sat in front of him. "You betrayed us."

''I had no choice." Graves responded. "Absolutely none."

"And why is that?" Price used his boot to force Graves to look up.

"He had her." Graves saw Price's expression flicker. He had no clue what it meant, but it was there. "I call her Dumpling. She's only 2... He told me he'd kill her if I didn't do what he said..."

Price didn't soften, but Gaz did. "Dumpling?"

"I have a photo in my wallet."

Price looked at him for a moment before glancing at Soap, the one not holding the gun. "Grab it."

Soap rifled through his pockets and eventually did find the wallet. He flipped it open.

Graves knew the photo well.

Price took it and looked at the three people in the photo. Graves, a beautiful blond woman, and the small child she held. It must be recent as the child looked... approximately what he assumed a two year old to be. She was reaching for the dog in Graves's arms. The two adults in the picture were so close to each other.

Price swallowed down his feelings over that. The two men had slept together a few days before the betrayal, so seeing that he was married, or at least in a committed enough of a relationship to have a daughter, threw him for a loop.

He could add cheater to the list of his crimes.

"I see."

"She's my whole world. I couldn't let her die. You have to understand."

"You killed so many people."

"I know. I was told my orders."

"Shepherd called you a dog with a bone." Price leaned down. "That all you are? A fucking dog? You could've thought for yourself."

"He had her. He threatened her. I was scared of what he would do to her." Graves sounded so genuine, it was hard to not believe him.

Price stood up. He motioned to one of the soldiers. "Keep an eye on him."

Alejandro looked angry but slightly more understanding than he had been before. "Think he's telling the truth? Cute little kid."

Rodolfo did not seem as easily convinced, but he wasn't arguing. His jaw was clenched hard.

Ghost glared. "Soap. You're the one that got shot. What do you think?"

"It's his daughter. Might not like kids, but I can get that."

Gaz nodded. "Don't like him, but its his kid... I can't... imagine having something like that hanging over me."

Price noticed Ghost and Rodolfo exchanging glances, both clearly judging all of them. They stood down though and that's all he could ask for.

"Alright. Colonel. If you're willing to work with us again, I say we rescue his daughter and put all of this behind us."

Price ended up sitting with Graves that night. He didn't want to make someone from his team lose sleep over watching him. They would take over in the morning and he'd get some sleep.

Graves just... sat there. His face had tear tracks down the soot on his face. After a while, Price got something to clean his face. There was some burns on his shoulders and along his throat. Luckily nothing on his face so he didn't have to worry about any infections.

"Where did you get the cut on your face?"

"Cartel. Fighting against them after being paid. Slipped up. They slashed me and told me to go back to my leader and never return."

"Looks recent."

"It was. They didn't know I was the leader." He grinned a little. "Let me go because I look younger I guess."

"How... old are you?" Price sat with him, getting more comfortable. He left Graves on his knees though.

"35."

"Huh... Makes me feel better about sleeping with you."

"Worried you were robbing the cradle huh?" Graves did the half smile and Price noticed now that it was because it tugged the least at the wound across his cheek.

"A little. Good to know you're only two years younger." Price hummed. "Comfy?"

"Oh, I haven't felt me feet for hours. I'm pretty sure this is a stress position, ya know."

Price shook his head. "Maybe you deserve it."

"Yeah. Probably do." Graves hung his head, though it was clearly to get more comfortable, not out of shame.

Price ended up cutting him free. He didn't know why. It didn't like it was from empathy.

Graves's wrists were torn. The fresh burns had been rubbed against until they were bloody. Price cleaned those too.

"We're going to help you. We're going to get her back for you."

-two weeks later-

They received a call from Shepherd. Even through the phone, Price could feel the evil, the distain, rolling off of him.

"Hello."

"So I heard the Commander survived." Fuck. Must be a leak.

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Tell him he tells you one goddamn word and I'm sending him the bitch's ears still bleeding."

Price froze, not expecting such out right hostility. Yes, Shepherd was evil, but cutting off a child's ear to prove a point... Jesus.

"This is cruel. Even for you."

There was a moment of silence before laughter. Almost hysterical. "You think this is cruel? After everything you've done?"

Price growled. "I did what I've done for the safety of all, not to start a war. And I've never held something like this over someone's head." He couldn't believe this.

Yes. Price had done cruel things. But to hang someone's child? Their daughter?? over their head? That was nothing like what he had done. He couldn't believe the hurt he had conflicted was being compared to wanting to harm an innocent child. A toddler.

Shepherd hung up but Price told Graves the threat. He thought for just a moment, from how pale Graves went, that he'd faint. Luckily, he did not. He just nodded solemnly.

"I'll tell you everything as long as you promise we can move fast."

-two more weeks-

They had done it. They were in the safehouse where Shepherd was keeping Graves's daughter.

In that time, Price would admit that the man had wriggled back into his good side. Along with most people's. It made sense. A man doesn't become Commander for no reason. He had charm. Charisma.

But that was not important. What was important was that they had not found Dumpling. He had wanted to ask for her real name, but honestly just hadn't gotten to it. No one else had seemed curious enough to ask.

Price searched every room, but he found no sign of a child. There was a child's bedroom but no sign of her. Or anyone really, besides the two dead hostiles that had been guarding it.

They all started to search and eventually, Alejandro let one of them people 'detaining' (it was babysitting, the man mostly read horror novels and watched football until they asked him questions) bring him along.

"Why?" Soap asked, genuinely curious.

"Sometimes kids tuck themselves into weird places. Thinking as her dad, he might be able to find her."

"You know a lot about kids?"

"I know almost nothing, but I'm pretty sure this is how they work."

Graves arrived after about thirty minutes, Price had been keeping him close by for... reasons. Totally not to admire him while pretending to interrogate him.

Price knew he shouldn't. Graves was married. With a kid. he still did it.

Graves didn't immediately go searching, which caused some alarms. Ghost already tightening his grip on his gun. Then, Graves whistled.

And there was Dumpling.

The DOG from the photo.

She yipped and spun in little circles despite having a clear and pronounced limp.

Graves scooped her up and started... fussing over her. It would've been endearing if Price wasn't so fucking mad that Dumpling was a FUCKING DOG.

"What the fuck." Ghost said, staring at the tiny squirming ball of fur.

"Dumpling!" Graves said happily, grinning from ear to ear. Maybe it was endearing even though he was mad. He touched her hurt leg. "Looks like the bastard may have dragged her around. Don't know why, she's a good dog."

"She's a dog."

"Yeah? I showed you guys a photo, how did none of you know she was a dog?"

"The child in the photos??" Alejandro spoke up.

"Is my niece and she's clearly 8 years old in those photos??" Graves frowned at them.

They all exchanged glances and Soap was the first to admit it. "Yeah I have no clue what children are supposed to look like."

"John. Seriously." Graves looked at Price.

"So that woman in the photos is...." Price completely ignored the kid thing. He had thought she looked a bit big for two, but maybe she was just in a higher percentile. How was he supposed to know?

"My sister. I'm gay. You all know I'm gay right??"

"I assumed you were bitchless honestly." Gaz quipped.

Graves stared directly into his eyes for a few minutes. Dumpling seemed to finally relax in his arms. "I fucked Price two days before betraying you guys." He turned around and left.

Everyone, very slowly, looked at Price.

"I also don't know what children look like."

More importantly, Graves was single. And came with a cute dog.

[spacemonkeysalsa]

Any opinion on a character that focuses too much on approval/disapproval, I tend to dismiss. You know, unless it leads them to conclusions that I think are right for other reasons that they just didn't explore. Or, I would feel that way if I'd seen that, but I haven't.

If you're whole theory of the character is based off the approval system and doesn't take their actual story into account, you tend to be wrong.

Partly, this is because it's tricky to confidently know why a character reacts the way they do, though that's a fun exercise on its own. Every once in a while I'll read an explanation that completely nails it, but for every one fandom theory written by someone who actually sounds like they get the characters, I read about twenty from people who sound like they are maybe 12 hours into the game, or even familiar with the characters purely from marketing material they saw on Facebook.

Like, I do think speculating about certain moments of approval/disapproval is fun, and also, totally inevitable, but I only consider it on a case by case basis and not when it's extrapolated into something immutable.

IE - I think it's interesting that when you find Halsin in the bear cage you can throw rocks at him with the Goblin children and a) no one disapproves of this, including our animal lovers and our Halsin saviours and b) Astarion approves.

A bad example of analysing this would be "well b) Astarion is just evil and I guess a) the other characters think the bear is in jail for good reason" or more likely "idk a) it's not that deep unless its Astarion then its b) definitive proof he's irredeemable"

So,

a) I think they each have their own individual reasons for tolerating it, and its first important to note that at this point, none of them know the consequences of you doing this, because if they did, you'd see some disapproval for sure: Shadowheart appreciates subterfuge and commitment to it, so even though she doesn't like to see animals get hurt, she doesn't react and also has a high tolerance for situations in which a group mentality forces you to do something cruel. She has to. Karlach wants to give you the benefit of the doubt, so she probably tells herself that it was just a mistake. If you'd known what would happen, you never would have done it, maybe you thought a little extra pain and rage would motivate the bear, she knows something about that.

Wyll I legitimately think that when surrounded by Goblins, Wyll's ability to power through unpleasant situations and his rage goes way way up, and empathy consequently goes way down. He only ever gets nasty when it has to do with them. He's too focused on his enemies to consider much else.

Gale may love animals, canonically, but like I remember one time I was talking with someone who told this story about having to shoot a feral dog on his property when it went after his chickens, and this guy was clearly traumatised that he had to do this, but our clueless acquaintance just dismissively said "well you did what you had to" and proceeded to kind of invalidate the conflicted feelings our buddy was having about it. Gale is somehow both of them. I don't think he'd throw the rocks, unless forced. I think he'd be upset at having to hurt an animal under any circumstances. But I don't think he'd feel much if someone else did it. Bears are capable predators, bears can handle a few rocks.

Lae'zel doesn't disapprove because violence, pain, cruelty on its face aren't offensive to her, and she doesn't have a particular love for animals. Alternatively, I also think it makes sense she doesn't approve either because although she does approve of some acts of cruelty, I think she prefers when there's a discernible purpose to it, or something impressive about it. and

b) Astarion approves because he begins the game in the paradigm that acts of cruelty are how you gain and demonstrate power, and that being kind gets you punished. You can either prove him right or prove him wrong through your choices in the game, but I don't think it's an accident that these moments become less and less frequently as you progress the story, regardless of the path you choose. You can challenge Astarion, and even shift that paradigm for him. Takes time though, and at least when you first meet him, he's very comfortable with you being a bastard because it affirms that paradigm and the dynamic that he's used to. It's notable then, that on the flip side, he's vocally uncomfortable with you being kind, but his approval still steadily climbs if you keep him in your party and don't treat him poorly, even if you are kind to everyone you can possibly be kind to, and you always have him with you, his approval still climbs at a regular rate. Basically, I think its reductive to say that he's just entertained by violence and cruelty. Like, yeah, one point awarded for noticing that about him---he absolutely is evil aligned, gold star. Why's that? Why does he approve of cruelty? And what does it say that as he finally spends the first weeks of his life able to make his own choices, he seems less and less inclined to approve of the cruel acts that you commit? There's loads of these moments in act one, less in act two, and in act three you have to go hunting for them and mainly find them in big story events that you will only find when you are RPing evil.

I think it supports the theory that he's got a kind of mechanically enabled redemption arc, but it doesn't prove it. The game is meant to embody 15K different realities and AUs, they had to make it so that the character would have different version of themselves for you to interact with, depending on your choices.

And I guess that makes the emphasis on NPC choices that much more interesting to me. Removed from Cazador, Astarion's arc naturally bends away from cruelty, unless you act as his new master which you are totally permitted to do.