You see willow, the key word here is “love and respect”

I know it’s been a few weeks but honestly I’ve been thinking of this since that episode dropped

Russel didn’t- 

Okay, no. That was a lie. Russel did care that he couldn’t see colour. It was completely that he wanted to meet his soulmate- though he did! He definitely did. But he knew the world was so full and he couldn’t help it, the world felt empty when it was only in shades of black and white and grey. All of them were named for colours. His parents, his friends, his brother, and he couldn’t see a single one. It saddened him sometimes. He wished he could look at a shirt and know for sure. He wanted to be able to look at the sky and be able to say it was blue and see and know that it was truly blue . Bright and brilliant and maybe even as soft as he imagined it would be.

The Vytal Tournament was fun and their spirits were so high when the team won the first round. It was a clutch and it was exhilarating. There were so many people here, too. Teams of students from other schools. People he’d never met before. Russel was a social butterfly, he couldn’t really deny it. He fluttered from student to student, wishing he could see the colours. See where their name came in. That one was named Mint- did they have pale, green eyes? Their name was Topaz- was their hair more orange or brown? It looked light, more grey than white. Almost silver. She introduced herself as Aurea- which part of her was golden? Her personality, or was that the true colour of her dark eyes, her dark hair? He said his name was Fuscia- was that the dark colour staining his nails as a reflection of his name? Did that mean he’d found his soulmate?

By the time Russel removed himself, put himself in a corner that was more quiet, his mind was swirled with colours he couldn’t even see. There were two new numbers in his scroll. Some part of him had to admit he’d hoped to find his soulmate in the crowd of the fairgrounds. It wasn’t terrible that he didn’t. He was glad to have made not just one, but two friends. But he still found himself staring up at the awning of the building next to him and wondering what that black translated into. He’d bet it was red. If he could, he would ask Cardin. But Cardin didn’t like crowds and he didn’t want his brother to worry. So he sat and he stared.

He had no clue how much time passed before someone else stepped over. Russel didn’t bother to look at them. Some part of him was tired right now. The part that cared about the colours. That was fascinated with the idea of what the world would look like. How bright it would be. And he closed his eyes, sure that looking over would mean nothing but more grey. More black. More white.

“Can I sit here?” The person asked and Russel nodded.

“Sure! The seat’s open.”

“Thank you,” the person said. Their voice was soft and it sounded tired like Russel was. Russel took a breath, because he could feel that feeling itch up his chest. The almost need to be a little more peppy than he felt. To be happy, so that the person around him could be happy too. There were so many people. He didn’t think he had the energy.

It was a hard instinct to fight.

“I’m Russel! He/him.” He said and he put pep in his voice that he knew would convince anyone that wasn’t Cardin, but he kept his eyes on the sky above. His mamma was blue. She’d described it before and he liked the way it sounded. Even without colour, his mamma’s hair looked bright and dark and beautiful. Sometimes he looked at it and wondered how the colour could ever really translate correctly. He wanted to know. Though there was a lot he wanted to know, that was definitely high on the list. The sky. His mamma and papai- Lazuli and Simin- blueandsilver. 

His soulmate was on that list too. There would so many colours. Which one would he embody?

“I’m Neptune. Also he/him,” the other boy, Neptune, said and Russel nodded wordlessly. The chair near him creaked when Neptune sat down. “There’s so many people here, I’m not quite sure how to keep up,” Neptune chuckled. It was nice sound. It made Russel smile.

“There are! It’s nice, though I think even I’m a little people’d-out,” Russel joked. Even a social butterfly had limits, Russel knew. Though he enjoyed the crowd and the noise and the people, there was a point where it became just a little too close to ‘too much’. A little too close to overwhelming. At least Russel felt he knew himself well enough to know where that limit was. It didn’t mean he always listened to it. But at least he knew.

“Oh,” Neptune made a worried noise. “I’m sorry, should I go? I can find another empty spot somewhe-”

“No!” Russel interrupted him, quick to reassure. He sat up so fast his head spun a little bit. Neptune stretched out to steady him. “Thanks,” Russel said. “No, you don’t have to m-” Their eyes met, and Russel stuttered. He lost track of his words as… As something bled into his vision. Eyes, bright and deep like how his papai described the ocean. There was a gasp, but Russel did not know who it came from. Too preoccupied with how full his world suddenly was. Bright and warm and dark and colourful. So fucking colourful. Russel smiled and his cheeks hurt because it was too wide but he couldn’t stop. The hands on his forearms that Neptune used to steady him tightened. For a long moment, Russel ignored them. He looked back up.

The awning was still dark, but it wasn’t grey. He thought it might be red. It looked vibrant, like red. The was more bright, more soft, than he’d imagined. So, so blue. There were more colours- things he had the words for but couldn’t quite connect. That was bright and warm, maybe orange. Leaves were normally green now and there was a tree there- that bowl matched the colour though it was darker. The tables were wooden and brown. A loud swallow brought his attention back and the tight grip filtered in. Was it bad that he hoped it left imprints in his skin? That there would be bruises- pin pricks of what he’d been told would be blue and purple in the flesh that he could now see properly. Tan.

Neptune had backed just the slightest bit away, but Russel could still see his eyes so clearly when he looked. The other boy flinched back further when their eyes met again but Russel couldn’t focus on that. Didn’t have the capacity to care about that at the moment, to reassure and talk. It felt like he’d been mute. They were definitely blue. When compared to the sky, they were a much darker blue, but they were blue. So very blue. If that really was the ocean, Russel thought he wanted to go to one immediately. Or as close to immediately as he could. The double rounds still had to be done. Maybe the singles after that. Until then, this was a good replacement. They were deep and Russel had been in deep water before and it felt like he could drown and be happy. He forced himself to look past them, to see skin just a touch paler than his, to see hair a lighter blue than Neptune’s eyes. There was black in his jacket, but the colour there that made up most of it looked like the awning, just lighter. More vibrant. The lenses of the googles in his hair looked darker, but they looked like the sun. Yellow. His hands reached up- or maybe they were already there- and he gripped Neptune’s arms in return and a laugh bubbled up in his chest till it exited his mouth. Till it filled the air with floating sound. There was so much blue and Russel could remember being a kid and thinking that would be his favourite colour as his papai described it. As he talked about seeing his mamma’s hair for the first time and the way it shone in the sun. How he wished that blue would be his first colour, too. And maybe his laugh turned a little hysterical. Maybe Neptune’s expression turned worried in response.

Russel, somehow, couldn’t find it in himself to care. Even as it occurred to him that he was probably crying. They were tears of joy, anyhow. So who really cared?

Apparently Neptune did. The words didn’t fully reach him. There was too much laughter, he couldn’t control it. But he tried to anyway. Because Neptune sounded concerned. Looked concerned. (That was the colour blue turned when it was tinted by concern- a little wider, a little darker.) Tried to choke it down until it simmered to just giggles, popping out every so often. “I’m sorry,” Russel managed to get out, half gasping for breath between words. Before he went to Beacon, he’d gotten his mamma to help him dye his hair. So that when he met his soulmate- he’d hoped, he wanted colours, he believed but he wasn’t sure it was enough. it was enough and he could barely believe it, could barely contain it- his hair would be more colourful than silver. She described the dyes to him as best she could. Together, they chose green. He wondered how it looked to Neptune.

“Are you okay? Is it too much?” Neptune asked. Sometimes, when people talked about getting their colours, they talked about how overwhelming it could be. When Cardin got his it’d given him a headache. Russel was too happy to be overwhelmed. His chest felt too warm, too big. The world was full. And he was giddy.

“Is my hair green?” Russel asked instead of answering. Neptune blinked at him and Russel repeated himself, a little clearer. There was so much noise in his voice that he couldn’t quite keep down.

“I… guess?” Neptune said. He looked around, found a tree close to where Russel had, and looked back at Russel. He squinted and the blue changed again, shadowed by the way Neptune’s head tilted down slightly. The other boy was taller and Russel hadn’t even noticed. “It’s lighter than the trees, but yeah, I would say that’s green.”

Russel smiled again- smiled more?– and a few more bubbles of giggles escaped. He breathed deep to try and control it. “That’s so cool,” Russel said, because he didn’t really know how else to put to words all the fullness that he was feeling, finally being able to see colour. Finally having one of his greatest wishes– a world that was vibrant, and bright, and full – being able to experience blue first, deep and beautiful– come true. Cardin had always been better with words than he had been, even though he spoke more than Cardin ever did.

“So you’re… okay?” Neptune asked and Russel nodded firmly, once, then twice, and then a third time just for good measure.

“I’m good. I’m really good. Thank you. Thank you so much,” Russel said. It felt like he might be crying again. The giggles bit back, his body released the overflow a different way. “ Thank you, ” Russel said again just to make sure Neptune really got it. The boy looked confused, and Russel didn’t think he did, and the only thing Russel knew to do about that was ramble. So he rambled. “I’ve wanted colours since I found out colours existed- The world’s always been so empty, I’ve been looking and waiting so long for colour. For you. You’re beautiful. You found me. You’ve given me my greatest dream. Thank you. Thank you so much. You gave me colours, thank you. ”

Neptune blinked and blinked and blinked. The grip on his arms softened and then tightened. “You’re… welcome.” His voice sounded breathless. He smiled, small and still a bit confused, but sincere.

“Thank you,” Russel repeated. “Thank you for colour.”

“You’re welcome,” Neptune repeated. “You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome.”

Russel’s cheeks hurt again as he smiled. He didn’t look away from a blue as deep as the ocean for the rest of the day.

He couldn’t.

There was so much colour around him.

His world felt bright. It felt colourful and warm. Neptune let him wear his jacket. He gave him his hoodie in return- it was green, like the grass in the shadows. When he did, Neptune smiled at him and Neptune’s eyes brightened just a bit. Russel held Neptune’s hand and saw the black leather more than he felt it against his skin. He snuggled into the jacket- into warmthandred. His papai always described red as vibrant. If Russel had to describe it, he thinks he’d describe it as warm instead. The jacket’s zipper was hidden, but it was silver. But deep blue was his favourite. He watched as Neptune’s eyes changed in the sun and in the shadow and inside under the artificial lights. How they darkened once the sun went down.

His world felt bright, and vibrant, and it felt full. He was so thankful for Neptune.

Pairing : Gojo x reader

Genre: Heavy angst, Mild Smut.

Warnings : unrequited love, arranged marriage, manipulation, minor character’s death, and more to add. Read with proper discretion < 3

↳ Choices we’re bound to make in life don’t always turn out well, and you would have to learn that the hard way, maybe should you have listened to your sister when she tried to dissuade you from marrying a man that you didn’t know, as charming as he might seem.

|| MASTERLIST||

↳00➞01➞02➞03 ➞ 04 ➞ 05 ➞ to be added.

Author’s note :

Sooooo, yeah. I’ve been rooting for gojo for a while now and this kinda happened. Your feedbacks really help me through the whole process so please feel free to empty your mind, I’m always receptive. Also, big thank you to @tawus who has been adamant on giving the greatest pieces of advice, ily girl <3

Overall thank you for reading, and I hope you’re enjoying reading as much as I’m enjoying writing the story !!

First written in French, translated by the amazing @deadpanap

|| Choices. (Prologue)

genre heavy angst + unrequited love

pairing Gojo Satoru/Reader

↳ Choices we’re bound to make in life don’t always turn out well, and you would have to learn that the hard way, maybe should you have listened to your sister when she tried to dissuade you from marrying a man that you didn’t know, as charming as he might seem.

masterlist⇥part one

“You know damn well that you don’t have to do this, lil’ sis. The trips, running away from missions, all of that, I like it! You should stop listening to each and every word our parents say” says your eldest, leaning by the doorframe of the room that used to be yours for twenty long years.

“Yuki…I’m not worried about you, they’re in danger too. Every person that’s cross with you would know exactly where to hit, I’m sure that just the name alone -Gojo- would be enough to dissuade them. It’s just a wedding, an alliance, also he doesn’t seem all that terrible; we might hit it off.”

With this, you close your luggage. You hadn’t decided to bring much with you: some clothes, photos of your family and some of your friends. You never had any attachment, living your life as though you were its omniscient narrator: so present yet so far away. That was part of the reason why you couldn’t see this marriage as a drama anymore , you didn’t intend to make any emotional investment. You would promise faithfulness, obedience and descendants to your spouse, in exchange he would offer you protection and safety. It was as though life was offering you a chance to live a fairy tale.

However, the choices that we’re led to make in life don’t always turn out well, and you would have to learn that the hard way. Finally, maybe you should have listened to your sister when she tried to dissuade you from marrying a man that you didn’t know, as charming as he might seem. Maybe you shouldn’t have underestimated your marital responsibilities.

Because after all, the most beautiful tales are those with the most tragic endings.

mariechambers:

Pairing:ten x rose, tentoo x rose
Rating: T
Warning:n/a
Summary: “Rose,” he says softly in her ear, “Rose, is that…me behind us?”

Notes:Sorry but this is canon compliant and a little bit angsty so be warned. 

She doesn’t seem all that surprised to see him, which really should have been his first clue that something was amiss. After piloting, impressively he might add, through the void in an effort to get back to her, he figures she should at least have the decency to look a little shocked or stunned. But still, she throws her arms around his neck, sighing, “Doctor,” and truly that is good enough for him.

A little more surprising, but still equally welcome is when she cups his face securely between her hands and plants a kiss on his lips. His eyes close immediately at the touch, overwhelmed to finally have her back. “Oh, Rose,” he whispers, silents tears tracking his face, even as he pushes forward to reclaim her lips for a decidedly less chaste kiss than the one she had initiated.

He can almost taste the confusion and slight concern on her lips, but still she responds equally to his fervor and he sighs into her mouth when she opens it for him. There are not many things that can leave him feeling truly breathless, respiratory bypass and all, but he finds when they break apart after a moment for some much needed air, he is panting.

They are still pressed together, foreheads touching and lips only a scant few inches apart. He keeps his eyes closed, fearing if he opens them now, she will disappear again. Unspoken words left on his tongue.

Her fingers stroke, almost hesitatingly, down his sideburn. “Doctor, what’s wrong?” she asks him quietly. “You’re scaring me.”

Keep reading

yletylyf:

bringbackthebastard:

Bring Back the Bastard Day 18: If You Are Ready…If You Are Prepared…

“Severus,” said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, “you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready…if you are prepared…”

“I am,” said Snape. He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.

“Then good luck,” said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.

Two Hours Late

Severus Snape answers Voldemort’s call at the graveyard, two hours late. How does he manage it, how does he convince the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen?

For@bringbackthebastard

~4.5k words below the cut. Warnings: canon-typical violence and some torture.

Keep reading

But seriously.

Imagine that small, barely-readable moment of disappointment that must’ve passed through Aang and Katara, when they realized that their firstborn child… born from a prodigious air -bending Avatar and the most powerful water-bender to exist in a century… was a non-bender.  

Knowing Katara, she would’ve just breathed deeply and held that child even more tightly and lovingly, accepting the little boy as is.  

But Aang?  

Aang must’ve thought the Spirit World was taunting him. No doubt he would be devastated, thinking that bringing air-benders back into the world would be a lot trickier than he thought.  That guilt he once felt about running away from his people would come crawling back under his skin, all over again.

Katara would comfort Aang, as she always does.

He would be adamant, saying that no, Bumi has to be an air-bender!  He has to be.  He just needs some time!  Aang would double-down.  He would make sure to give Bumi the same air-bending spirituality and influence to hopefully trigger the boy’s air-bending gift.  As soon as Bumi were weaned, Aang would take him to visit all of the Air Temples for weeks at a time, and Katara would oblige, staying behind in Republic City to work diligently on behalf of the Avatar.  

But there’s only so much time that Aang can be away, because Republic City needs him.  So, Aang would build a fifth temple just off the coast of the city: Air Temple Island.  It would be Aang and Katara’s permanent home base, bringing as much influence of air culture as he can… with air bison and air acolytes to give Bumi all of this immersion in his first few years of life.  

Katara doesn’t protest any of these changes, despite not having much say in them; she doesn’t reject all of the young pretty female acolytes suddenly living in their home, spending time with their son, her husband… because Katara knows it’s for the best.  She knows how desperate Aang is to have their son be an air-bender.  She still gets to know Bumi regardless of his lack of bending, still finds herself laughing with him, teaching him things whenever the acolytes can give her some quality time with her son.  In secret, Katara also tries to connect with Bumi with water-bending… wondering if, just maybe… but that, too, becomes a fruitless search.  

But actually, no– she notices how Bumi loves the water anyway.  She notices how he loves going out into the water near the island, his hands paddling the water-bent boogie board she makes for him.  She wonders if it would be a good idea to visit the Southern Water Tribe regularly in the future, to see if Bumi can connect with that part of his identity… or perhaps visit the Fire Nation to immerse the boy with Fire Lord Zuko’s naval ships, to see if he might someday be a naval commander.

She brings this idea up to Aang, hopeful that he would like this idea, too.  Aang smiles, but he lowers his head in the way that looks defeated, beaten.

Katara would comfort Aang, as she always does.

Five years pass, and Bumi has visited the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation multiple times.  He has grown to enjoy the water, despite not being a water bender.  No, he is still not showing any signs of air-bending. Aang is sad, but still tries to connect with this child.  It doesn’t come easily, since he knows nothing else… since he was raised by air-benders, who laughedat the idea of gravity all the time.  

Aang becomes more emotionally removed, feeling like a fraud parent in front of this child, and finds himself telling Katara how she’s always been great with kids, how she practically raised Sokka, another non-bender... hears himself making so many excuses to not be around Bumi. 

Katara would comfort Aang, as she always does.

He spends most of his time alone, meditating, traveling to the Spirit World to find an explanation as to why.  Why would the Spirits give him a non-air-bending child in the midst of an extinct air-nation?  Months pass by, and no answer is found, and despite being among his air-bison and acolyte kin on Air Temple Island, Aang feels so empty.  Hopeless.  Alone.

Aang runs off to find solace in the other air temples and acolytes, focusing his energy on bringing back his culture with his most devoted followers, once again leaving Katara to speak on behalf of her husband whenever Republic City asks about Avatar Aang’s absence.  She says he will return soon.

He doesn’t come back for a year.

His relationship with Bumi would suffer.  His relationship with Katara would strain.  Despite her emotional distance from Aang, and his neglect to their child, Katara remains devoted to the Avatar (and her husband, for better or worse) so she stays on Air Temple Island raising their son until his return.  

It’s not until she writes to him in the temples: Don’t worry, Sweetie, we’ll make an air-bender sooner or later. Just come home, please…  that Aang is finally compelled to return to Air Temple Island to try again for another kid.  He has a good feeling about it, too, considering that this second child would be born and fully-immersed in Air Temple Island.  

Imagine the surprise, then.  How… in spite of all of that air culture… their second child is born to be a water-bender.  

Katara is beside herself with joy, and Aang smiles, seeing this sweet little girl who shares her mother’s eyes… but he cannot hide his disappointment.  Katara sees it, too, and she fights that bitter, stingingfeeling of guilt in her stomach as she gradually builds a connection with her own daughter.  

Aang, you’re a water-bender too, remember? she encourages, and that little fact brings some light in Aang’s disappointed eyes, and he spends time with his daughter, building a connection through his natural water-bending skills.  

But still… that is not enough, and Katara knows. 

She sees it in the way Aang’s eyes aren’t fully present when he plays with his daughter, his son.  As Katara looks at her husband looking at their children playing together, she can tell by his his defeated, weighed-down grin that truly… deep-down…  he wishes they were something else.  

When Aang packs up to travel again to the air temples, Katara doesn’t protest.  When she learns how Aang has been refusing to even mentionBumi or Kya in the other temples, Katara reasons to herself that it must be because of that pain it causes him– that internal shame Aang carries with him as the Last Airbender who cannot bring more of them to the world.  

That’s what Katara keeps telling herself, as she continues to raise Bumi and Kya on the island on her own for almost another year. 

Thankfully, Aang returns to Air Temple Island, refreshed and fully new.  There’s a sense ofhope in the air – now that the Spirits blessed him with a water-bending daughter – that an air-bending child might not be so far away. 

And the third time becomes a charm.  

When Tenzin is born, Katara is indeed happy, joyful… and also relieved, by the look she sees in Aang’s eyes, discovering that this child’s silver eyes match his.  Katara is too preoccupied living this specific kind of joy vicariously through Aang… she forgets to be happy about justhaving this third child. Her child.  

And when Aang refuses to let go of this child… refuses to give up Tenzin for his mother to hold him that day he’s born… Katara doesn’t protest. 

She brushes off her tears as more happy ones than sad ones, because it’s all she can do to live with this man, now.  This man who is also a kid, who is also the Avatar.  Who’s already gotten so accustomed to the world bending to his every want and need, there is now no going back. Katara knows. 

The world is, of course, rejoiced by the first air-bender born in over a century, and no sooner is Tenzin weaned that Aang takes him all over the world.  

Katara remains with the other two children, keeping this emotional hole in the relationship to herself, but downright refusingto give Aang more children, no matter the eagerness he shows about wanting more air-benders. He talks about it publicly, unapologetically… in written and oral documents…. but whenever Aang tries to place a hand on her shoulder, her back… Katara now shrugs it away.  

When Aang asks her if she’s okay, it’s in that concerned, wise voice of a monk who knows all.  As if this were obviously something to do with her, never about him.  

As usual, Katara says she’s fine, but her arms remain folded, her eyes lowered and distant, all but gone.  

He never asks Katara if she still loves him; that would be ridiculous.  That’s all but assumed; she did marry him, didn’t she? And they had three kids together. 

She never asks Aang if he still loves her; that would be ridiculous.  She already knows the answer.  She’s always known.

No Avatar has ever broken their marriage… according to what Katara has read… and through the stories her Gran Gran always told her, she knows that a marriage is a sacredbond, held for better or worse, before the spirits of Tui and La.  Katara looks at her husband, and then their children… still very young, still considered the Avatar’s kin… and she stays.  She chooses to.  

It’s what she tells herself, on particularly rough days– that she had a choice, and that she made it.  

Aang stops trying to touch her, eventually, and when he takes Tenzin on long-term trips to the other air temples, Katara doesn’t protest.  Whenever he returns to the island, of course she’s there to greet his arrival, but they now sleep in separate quarters.   

When people ask Aang about the possibility of more air-benders after Tenzin, he replies that it’s Katara’s health that is now preventing them from trying for more children, and Katara confirms this with a smile… assuring that Tenzin will be kept safe and protected, with constant vigilance wherever he travels, before he one day has air-bender children of his own.  

In public, Katara still smiles.  In writing, Katara still praises the Avatar. 

When Aang asks her to write a letter to Tenzin for his air-bender legacy book, she obliges quietly, too tired to argue anymore. 

In this letter, she explains to Tenzin what got her to fall in love with his wonderful father, and of course shines light on his fun and kid-like way about living, and how she felt lucky enough to stand by and witness his many deeds for the world and the air-nomad culture.  Katara is too enveloped in this internalized, shameful resentment that has sat and grown for the man who has become her husband… she doesn’t realize she has failed to remind Tenzin in this letter that he is also part Water Tribe through his amazing mother… a woman who stood by the Avatar when nobody else would, who was his anchor of hope and strength when he had none… who taught herself water-bending and became her own hero while waiting for one to be realized.   Katara’s tears stain the parchment of this letter, so much so that she doesn’t notice she didn’t even mention Tenzin’s beautiful siblings, Kya and Bumi, who – while they might not be air-benders – would still love him and be there for him throughout his life. 

The photographs of the family are indeed happy, and courteous… rehearsed, and poised… because this, this is the family that must inspirepeople.  

Leave it to Katara – the one who always placed others before herself – to always be thinking about that biggerpicture. 

After all, what kind of message would it bring to the next generation… a world, still vulnerable by the consequences of war… if they saw the Avatar’s family as unhappy?