Ah Yes, Trying A New Way To Render With Skk

Journal Entry_VEGASPETE

“Someday, judgment will come to you,” Pete hisses.

The drag of chains from the movement of his shackled hands clang loudly in the quiet of the room. And he, the devil himself, only smiled sweetly at this. Dark eyes crinkled in delight as his lips stretched into a beautiful smile with white fangs dangerously glinting behind.

“And no hell will ever accept you,” he finishes, venom coating his words as his eyes glare at the other in the dim lights of the room.

To this, the evil incarnate only laughs. Puffs of breath sensually intertwine with his low-timbred voice. A beautiful laugh, really. If only it wasn’t from someone so despicable as Vegas.

He tilts his head and approaches Pete’s kneeling form, hands raised above and feet bound on its spot. Quickly, the hand roughly clutched his jaw and tilted it, gazing up at the delighted expression plastered on Vegas’ face.

He is amused, Pete nervously concluded.

Shifting, he tries to move away. The chains rattling loudly at his subtle movement. But as he tries to withdraw, the grip tightened. The insides of his cheeks pushing to his teeth, premolars painfully touching the fragile buccal. He gulps, breath harshly leaving parted lips. Eyes diverting anywhere but of the figure casting him in its shadows.

He shivers, like prey, and he, the apex predator, pounces.

 Bending down at him with his vice grip, allowing no room for escape, he whispers, “Good.” Vegas’ face draws closer to his, round eyes unable to meet the sharp gaze. The pounding of Pete’s heart is loud in his ears as he forcefully moves away, but the hold, the fucking grip, on him doesn’t allow it.

“Khun Veg—”

“I only want you to accept me.”

Pete sucks a harsh breath. Wide eyes focused onto Vegas while he shivers at the words.

This cannot be real, his mind echoes. But with the half-lidded gaze so focused on him, he felt untethered in his panic. 

Oh my god, this shit cannot be happening.

Wide eyes rove anywhere but Vegas, trying to find a way out of this nightmare. Because if this is reality, Pete believes death to be the better option.

“Don’t worry, Pete.” 

His exhales warm Pete’s jaw as it crept slowly towards his neck. Painful grip, loosening to gently caress his cheek, but despite of its softness, he can feel it dominating his senses. And Pete wills himself to move away.

“I won’t hurt you.”

Still frozen, he can feel his chest rapidly expanding and deflating. His eyes darting from one corner of the room to the other as his mind scream for his mobility.

“Unless, you want me to.”

He moves.

Gosh, I miss Gravity Falls again

*Poses awkwardly* ta daaa

Whipped this up awfully quickly to celebrate the end of Gravity Falls. I should be taking bets for how long it takes Dipper to fiddle with the stone Bill in the woods  and accidentally unleash hell. You can never escape him Dipper YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE

But I’m a huge sucker for forgiveness/redemption, so here’s my spin.

Goodbye Gravity Falls I’ll miss you <3

tomarrymort fic rec list

ive been going nuts on tracking everything so i ended up with this list im pretty sure i missed a lot of fics that should be here aaaaa but i will try to add them up on my links page

Enjoy! (fic authors are in alphabetical order!)

2 / 3

Acnara

A dead man’s tale

It is almost a normal Yule winter night when Harry James Potter, 17 year old wizard and future husband of the Dark Lord of Britain finds a portrait of a dead man in one of Hogwarts dark rooms. 

Opia

Harry Potter is finally 17. Free to leave the Dursleys behind and start a new life as an independent wizard (if staying at Ron´s until he gets that apartment in London can be called independence, anyway), he does what any young man in possession of a good fortune would: he third-wheels and goes to a museum.

It´s not really a bad plan. The Malfoys had announced they had made a big donation to the newly opened “Myths and Prophecies: Lord Voldemort´s secret collection”:

The Boy With The Green Eyes collection. All of it.

Home

“Are you lonely?”

Always the same conversation.

“Maybe. Sometimes.”

“Sometimes I am, too. I think.”

—

Six years after the battle of Hogwarts and the death of the Dark Lord, Harry Potter dreams of a little girl in a forest. Because it was never really over.

And six seconds

The memory had dissolved like grew smoke, carring away Tom Riddle’s dark eyes and the little peak of skin both Dumbledore and Harry had been able to see before the boy had hid his hands behind his back. The unforgiving, black ink had winked at Harry from the inside of Tom´s wrists.

Tom Riddle did have numbers on him.

And they kept filling Harry’s thoughts at the oddest times.

-0-

Or the `everyone has a clock on their skin counting down to the day the will meet their soulmate AU´no one asked for but I wrote anyway

AislingSiobhan

Cardiomyopathy

Voldemort has never lied to him before. Why would he start now? Harry reasoned that if Voldemort wasn’t lying and Voldemort really loved him, then it was ok to love him back… Even if it meant the world had to burn. First they broke the world. Then he broke my heart. 

New Divide

Harry Potter was the Boy-Who-Lived. But by some twist of Fate he was also the reincarnation of Voldemort’s murdered lover. Harry has enjoyed the past few years at Hogwarts, but this one looks set to be even more intriguing. Suddenly smarter than he was before and plagued with memories of his past life as he sleeps, Harry gets set for his school year. But then Voldemort finds out who Harry really is. And every thing changes. 

The Fickle Hand of Fate

Harry Potter died in 1981, but in 1993 Harry finally arrives at Hogwarts. No one seems to know he should be dead, except Dumbledore, who stole someone else’s son to replace the Boy-Who-Didn’t-Live. 

AmyTheAuthor

The Explosion (orphaned fic)

Usually, in other Fics, Harry goes to the past, meets an older or same age Tom in Hogwarts, and is sorted into Slytherin. Harry is usually there to change Tom and Tom is a “teenage Dark Lord.” In THIS Fic, Tom is a bullied 3rd year, believed to be a Mud-blood, and has his first ever crush on Henry Peverell, the 6th year Gryffindor, who is not there to change Tom, but rather…

ansketil, ladyoflilacs

In Somno Veritas

“Are you often in my dreams, Harry? I have not touched your mind since our little encounter at the Department of Mysteries… and yet here you are… saving me in my nightmares.”

An LV/HP alternate universe story set during Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Yew and Holly

Harry brings his lover back to Britain to spend Christmas at the Weasleys. But things never go to plan when your name is Harry Potter – or your lover is Lord Voldemort. Takes place five years after the events of ‘In Somno Veritas.’ LV/HP.

AnOrcaLullaby

Simple Request

A bit of a holiday fic

Sure friends helped each other out when they had problems. Harry just wished Tom’s problems weren’t so damned complicated. Why couldn’t the other get some other poor soul to play the part of his fiancé?

Apuzzlingprince

Pianissimo

“It’s not wise for the living to make contact with the truly lost, Harry.“

Harry makes a terrible mistake while at Kings Cross Station and pays the price.

We’re going to be beautiful, Harry

Every wizard had a soul mark. Some were large, spanning the length of ones body, and some were small enough to fit inside a palm or behind an ear. Of course, by all accounts, Harry Potter was not ‘every wizard’.

Arliene

A Christmas Riddle

Tom Riddle hated Christmas. Travelling to the future would not change that fact. Harry Potter hated Riddle. And mistletoes. Time Travel AU. HP/TR Oneshot.

I Have Seen Your Heart

The arrival of his nemesis is the least of Harry Potter’s problems. Now that the war is over, he finds himself drifting away from all that held him together in the past, trying to find a new purpose in his life. Being framed for murder forces Harry to be on the run and this time the only company he takes with him is Tom Riddle. The young Dark Lord faces a future he did not expect, meets an oddity who killed everything he strived to be. And yet he finds himself obsessed with his murderer, a determined man searching for answers and reaching for the sky once more. Harry Potter’s purpose and Tom Riddle’s destiny, seemingly entwined. They say change is overrated. But choice is everything. 

Chasing The Careless Traveler

Albus Dumbledore was too late. Someone else managed to defeat Gellert, leaving chaos and too many questions behind. Tom Riddle, who recently graduated from Hogwarts, was fully committed to become the greatest Dark Lord of all time, chasing immortality and surpassing Grindelwald’s legacy. It’s too bad that Unspeakable Harry Potter had something to say about that.

asterisms (i love everything tbh)

In Which Tom Riddle Can’t Stop Underestimating House-Elves

“I do find it strange, however,” Riddle says, “that you’re so offended on Hepzibah’s behalf. It’s not every day that you come across a common thief with such lofty morals.”

“I- What?” Harry widens his eyes, making himself look appropriately appalled at the suggestion, “A thief? What do you mean?”

“Do cut the pretense, Harry,” Riddle says, and Harry hates the way he shivers when the other man says his name as his hand curls just a bit lower on his back, just shy of inappropriate. “We both know what you are.”

Or: Harry is a thief with morals and Tom is a terrible person

a boy so pretty (such a pity)

“Riddle,” he greets carefully. His gaze flicks over to the Slytherin table, but none of them are paying any attention. Which is… worrying, actually. He looks back to Riddle, who’s still looming over him. “What can I do for you?”

“Potter,” Riddle says, and he actually sounds… nice. This is growing more suspicious by the second. “May I escort you to class?”

Ron snorts, not even attempting to disguise the sound.

“You’re joking, right?” he asks, leaning forward to glare up at the other boy, “Fuck off, Riddle. Harry doesn’t need an escort from you.”

Harry watches Riddle’s face carefully. His expression sours, but only for a moment before it’s smooth again. He smiles, and if Harry didn’t know better, he might call it charming.

Well. Okay. He really does know better.

But it’s still charming.

Featuring attempted manipulation, Tom Riddle experiencing positive emotions for quite possibly the first time ever, and absolutely no angst whatsoever

Whirpools (WIP, on-hold)

After a mishap in the Department of Mysteries, Harry Potter is thrown back in time to the summer before Tom Riddle’s final year at Hogwarts. While there, he is forced to confront the fact that he knows next to nothing about his nemesis and those who follow him. Unfortunately, as he does his best to learn, he is unable to stay out of Riddle’s sight for long, and he is drawn once more into the conflict between light and dark.

This time, however, the lines are blurred, and nothing is as simple as he’s been led to believe.

moment of impact

“How’d we meet?” he asks. The faint blush that spreads across Harry’s cheeks is rather enchanting and definitely worth the admission of ignorance.

“Well,” Harry pauses, biting his lip again. Tom wishes he would stop. It’s making it hard to concentrate. “It’s a funny story… Actually, sorry, it’s not funny at all. I- Well.”

“Go on.”

“I kind of… hit you with my car?”

“I hit you with my car and was the only one to visit you in the hospital” AU

99 Crickets

Harry reaches out to hesitantly take the box and lifts it so he can see what’s inside. When he does, he sees… crickets?

“What?”

The man smiles, and it looks almost sheepish. Harry has never been more confused in his life, except…

“I know you said you wanted one hundred and this is only fifteen, but I haven’t had much time to look since I arrived yesterday. I’ll get the rest later.”

Oh.

Oh no.

Settle

“We had a deal,” Harry reminds him. He walks forward, away from the doorway. The stone floor is cold against his bare feet. “You broke it because you thought I wouldn’t hold you to it. You don’t get to be mad just because you were wrong.”

Voldemort is caught in a lie, and Harry decides to punish him.

Tomorrow brings them true

The boy from District 1 is staring again.

Dark Lord Coffee

“It’s true, you know,” Luna says airily as she stirs her third spoonful of honey into her tea.

“Sorry.” Harry looks up from the cover of the Quibbler that he’s been eyeing. Surprising absolutely no one, their most recent cover story is about Voldemort’s new business. “What’s true?”

“That Voldemort runs a coffee shop in London,” Luna tells him. She takes a sip of her tea and hums happily at the taste. “I saw him there myself.”

Prompt Fill: in which Voldemort runs his empire from a coffee shop and wizards are generally very ridiculous

(i wanna) cut to the feeling

“You promised you would marry me,” Tom says.

“I—” Harry feels lightheaded. “Tom, we were seven.”

“So you lied?”

“No,” Harry says. Surer, then, “No. I didn’t.”

Harry and Tom are childhood friends. When they were seven, Tom proudly announced that he would marry Harry when they were older.Now, ten years later and in N.E.W.T. year, Tom plans on making that promise a reality.

shiver (where we’ll go and where we’ve been)

“There’s something about you.”

Their hands touch.

“I know what you mean.” A breathless moment. Their fingers fold together. “It’s like I’ve known you forever. Since even before we met.”

“Yes.” The other boy’s hold on him grows tighter. Painful. He doesn’t say anything. “Exactly.”

“Maybe we were made for each other.”

He waits for the other boy to laugh. He doesn’t.

“Maybe we were.”

Maybe he should say something.

Hands up, it’s a hold up

“You know, you’re pretty morally ambiguous for a hero,” Harry says as he watches Tom set one of the would-be robbers on fire. He’d protest or maybe put the fire out himself, but the man was about to stab him, so he thinks he’s got the higher ground here.

Tom takes a step back to observe his handiwork, looking far too smug for Harry’s peace of mind.

“Oddly enough, you’re not the first person to say that to me.”

“Wow. Shocker.”

A superhero au featuring Harry Potter, reluctant super-villain, and Tom Riddle, the city’s favorite hero.

I was talking over dinner over the HP world building / plot, mainly missed opportunities, and I feel like sharing one main point here: the wizards already live in a dystopia.

Wizard dystopia evidence:

Small society with little cultural diversity. There are other cultures referenced but they never play a large role, there’s this sense of Brit wizard exceptionalism that infects not only their relations with muggles but with foreign wizards too. Even when shit gets dire they don’t really call in allies for help or anything.

They have slaves and defend it as something the house elves prefer (+ Hermione is given the villain-with-a-point treatment in her efforts to free them; she is well meaning but her methods are Too Much and she doesn’t really Get It)

Second class citizens (particularly thinking goblins) are looked down upon and there is an extended history of them attempting to rise up and being defeated. This also goes for squibs (well, not the rising up, but).

Widespread racism - towards goblins, werewolves, centaurs, muggles… a lot of this is institutionalized or supported by society at large even if not officially approved of (think goblin statue in MoM lobby, werewolf treatment, the emphasis on being pureblood even in ‘nicer’ families).

Lack of proper education - the ‘best school’ has a lot of unqualified teachers working there but even beyond that there doesn’t appear to be any further education after 17, and especially with regards to the muggle world even so-called enthusiasts like Mr. Weasley and the Muggle Studies teacher don’t seem to know what the hell they’re talking about

Resistance to new ideas - goes hand in hand with some others here, but their world is steeped in tradition at the cost of innovation. They use candles and quills and fear of the Other is a major part of everyone’s life. They are highly selective about who can know about them and limit what change they can make.

Only ONE real source of news. No other newspapers we really hear of besides the universally-derided Quibbler. We also know for a fact the government has their hands firmly in the Daily Prophet.

Corrupt government - shows up strong in later books but is present from the start via the Malfoys clearly buying their way and also through the…

Harsh punishments for lawbreakers - Azkaban is pretty brutal and there is not much evidence of a more minor punishment beyond like… fines. We know from that the government has just skipped trials when it wanted to, and even the trials it gives don’t seem especially fair or thorough

At the very least, this society is highly flawed. And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with this set up. It’s great, even. Except for one detail…

Voldemort represents change. And he is the enemy.

What I mean by this is that he shakes up the status quo. Everyone seems horrified at him killing Muggles because of a combination of patronizing pity (“those poor helpless muggles can’t defend themselves”) and xenophobic fear (“if he reveals us to them we could all die”). There isn’t widespread societal hatred of his message that wizards are superior so much as there is to his methods. Some of which include things like giving power to second-class citizens like werewolves, for example. Sure, our heroes all know that his message is Wrong, not just his methods.

But Harry was abused by muggles and dives right into the escape of the Wizarding world. Hermione longs to be accepted and her hangups tend to get punished by the story (making them character flaws or moments of humor), until there’s even a scene where she fully cuts ties with her roots. Even exceptions to the rule (werewolves are horrible predators, but Lupin is a great guy. Giants are seen as violent beasts and half-giants discriminated against, but Hagrid is a true friend.) seem to only emphasize the rule itself by being the only exception and even having reinforcing events around those 'good’ characters. (Fenrir Grayback revels in being a beast and leads a whole pack of like-minded werewolves, and even Lupin has put people in danger multiple times. The giants sided with Voldemort/beat up Hagrid with even his brother being so dangerous he had to be tied up, and Hagrid himself has an affinity to dangerous creatures that has put being in danger several times.) These aren’t one to one comparisons but overall the impression you get is of exceptions while the norm isn’t really challenged.

And since Voldemort, who breaks the rules of the Wizarding society, is the villain, our heroes become representatives of returning the world to the way it was before he ruined everything. Their grand victory in the end is nothing more than a return to the status quo, at least on a textual level. Maybe Hermione becomes Minister of Magic but as far as I recall we don’t hear about all the house elves being freed or the goblins getting a fair shake.

And since the world is already pretty much a dystopia, albeit one with fun magic flavoring, this victory doesn’t make anyone really better off. If they had defeated Voldemort using Muggle tech or unconventional thinking or something, that would have helped to lead to a story of change. But they instead used old magic, pretty much, and let things go back to the way they used to be. There is no forward progress in the end. No true overhauling of the corrupt system.

A rough-lineart fanart of Aria Roscente from the manhwa “The villainess reverses the hourglass.”

u hurt me too good

I still did everything wrong

Well, Sukuna is the biggest Megumi simp of all

does ryoumen sukuna is simp??? (what got lost in translation in ch.9 and ch.118)

yes, yes he does (but here’s an overanalysis why:)

you see there was a callback to ch.9 in ch.118 that got lost in translation

when i first read the manga in english i missed it, so i thought i’d share just so everyone knows how highkey sukuna’s simping is (this is sukufushi btw)

this is from ch.9:

the context is that megumi is fighting sukuna; nothing too out of place here

but in japanese:

if we only look at what is pronounced what sukuna is saying is “show me (what you’ve got)!! fushiguro megumi!!” (hence the english translation “entertain me”)

normally when shounen manga says “show me (what you’ve got)” it is with the phrase “見せてみろ (misete miro)” , literally meaning “let me see”

but here sukuna replaces “見” with the kanji “魅”: the pronunciation is the same (mi), but whereas “見” means “see” and the phrase “show me (what you’ve got)” is very common, “魅” means to  “bewitch”, “fascinate”, “enchant”, or “charm” (translation taken from wikitionary), and the phrase “魅せてみろ” (“bewitch me”) is virtually never used because why would it ever be used like bro you’re coming on way too strong tone it down a little

anyway so the dude is literally yelling “bewitch me!! fushiguro megumi!!” in megumi’s face (in fact the chinese translation is somewhere along the lines of “make me fall for you!! fushiguro megumi!!” which i think is neat but that’s beside the point)

but because it is pronounced like “let me see”, and “bewitch me” is a very rare phrase (it’s not in the dictionaries i think), megumi interprets it as “show me (what you’ve got)”; he never knows what sukuna really means and honestly someone should write a miscommunication fic about it

but then it gets even better:

this is from ch.118 (so SPOILER ALERT for the shibuya arc):

megumi has summoned his strongest shikigami (it’s basically self-destruct but with a more complicated procedure) and is currently out cold and dying; the only known way to save megumi is to defeat said strongest shikigami, which is precisely what sukuna is doing here

pause, rewind—some background info for this scene: in ch.9 (at the end of megumi’s fight with sukuna, when megumi is desperate) megumi tries to summon his strongest shikigami, i.e. he wants to self-destruct and take sukuna out with him—hence why he says the things about how he never once regretted saving yuuji—but yuuji comes back (and promptly fucking dies) so sukuna never learns in ch.9 that megumi wants to self-destruct to kill him

but here in ch.118, megumi has summoned that strongest shikigami, and sukuna approves of its strength, saying “if it was me from that time, it may have been able to defeat me”—if megumi had summoned the strongest shikigami in ch.9, sukuna might have lost

basically: sukuna is really fucking impressed (cf. ch.9, where he tells megumi to “show me (what you’ve got)!!” or “bewitch me!!”)

you see, in the second-to-last panel with the hands, sukuna says “you showed me the way… fushiguro megumi!” which is not necessarily an inaccurate translation, but the callback gets lost in translation

look at the raw scan:

in the panel with the hands, once again we have the very rare phrase of “魅せて” (“bewitch”) but this time with past/present perfect tense

if we only look at what is pronounced, in ch.9 we have “show me (what you’ve got)!!”—and here in ch.118 we have “you have shown me (what you’ve got)… fushiguro megumi!!”

but looking at the rare phrase with the kanji “bewitch”, in ch.9 we have “bewitch me!! fushiguro megumi!!"—and here in ch.118, sukuna is saying “you have bewitched me… fushiguro megumi!!”, which is strangely maybe romantic?? tbh however you look at sukuna’s dialogue it’s a nice little callback to ch.9

the entire plot with sukuna in shibuya is some really really—and i cannot stress this enough—really fucked-up shit, but at the same time im endlessly entertained by the idea of sukuna being the megumi simp to end all megumi simps so there’s that

fuck art block, seriously.

The Parallel Betrayals of Damen and Erasmus

This short essay explores Erasmus and Damen's parallel paths into slavery.

Initial Attraction

From the start, both Erasmus and Damen are captivated by the physical beauty of their respective betrayers, Kallias and Jokaste. This initial emphasis on appearances sets the stage for their subsequent betrayals, highlighting how they were initially drawn in by their allure, only to be deceived by those they held in high regard.

Sudden Disorientation and Self-Recrimination

Their sudden and unexpected enslavement leaves Erasmus and Damen feeling disoriented. Erasmus turns to Kallias for guidance but quickly recalls Kallias's betrayal, making him feel foolish for wanting to ask Kallias what was happening. Similarly, Damen, usually a clear thinker, struggles to make sense of his bewildering new reality. He, too, blames himself for not seeing the betrayal coming, realizing his own naivety in the process.

Struggle for Understanding and Loss of Identity

Erasmus and Damen both struggle to understand the betrayals, even when presented with evidence. Their initial innocence and naivety make it challenging for them to discern the true intentions of their trusted companions. This struggle not only highlights their vulnerability to deception but also the profound loss of agency and erasure of their former identities accompanying their transition into slavery.

Strong Emotional Responses to Change

Their abrupt changes in surroundings evoke powerful emotional responses, underscoring their powerlessness. Erasmus shakes with fear upon entering an unknown part of the palace, while Damen's struggle intensifies as he realizes his fate.

Profound Emotional Impact

The betrayals suffered at the hands of Kallias and Jokaste deeply affect Erasmus and Damen. Erasmus grapples with a sense of loss at the hands of someone he loved, and Damen is shocked and anguished by Jokaste's betrayal. The distress in their voices only highlight the depth of their connections and the trauma of their betrayals.

Induction into Slavery

The ritualistic aspects of their induction into slavery, such as collars and paint for Damen, and the absence of traditional ceremonies for Erasmus, showcase the drastic shift in their identities and further emphasize their disempowerment.

Protective Facades

Kallias's choice to wear a plain gold pin aligns him with Kastor and hides his true motives to protect Erasmus from Kastor's wrath.

Similarly, Jokaste's response, 'Nothing, but choose between brothers,' downplays the choice between Damen and Kastor. Her cold demeanor shields her true affections and the sacrifice she made by choosing Kastor for Damen's safety.

Longing for Connection

Damen and Erasmus long for understanding and connection from Jokaste and Kallias, but recieve emotional detachment or cruelty due to societal norms and power dynamics. This is because Jokaste and Kallias must maintain the appearance of allegiance to Kastor while secretly working to save Damen and Erasmus' lives, preventing them from openly expressing their true feelings.

Hidden Affection

In moments of vulnerability, Kallias wishes Erasmus could be his first, while Jokaste's letter to Damen hints at lingering feelings and missed opportunities for intimacy. These instances reveal that Kallias and Jokaste concealed their love from Erasmus and Damen, adopting a cold facade to protect them from Kastor's reign of terror. While Erasmus remains unaware throughout the series, Damen later discovers Jokaste's enduring affection, and ultimately lets her go in recognition of her sacrifices to save his life.

In conclusion, the parallel experiences of Erasmus and Damen during their inductions into slavery reveal not only the harrowing challenges they face but also deepen our understanding of Kallias and Jokaste's complex characters and the sacrifices they make to protect their loved ones.