Tenebriism - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

@tenebriism // kris & ralsei!

it wasn't as hard to tell as you'd think. ━━ spend long enough around anybody, and you pick up cues, you know? learn them, learn through them, little notes like text between lines on a page, already annotated, the hardest part was always just the handwriting. a cipher. he loved ciphers ; ralsei had spent swathes of their life in a library of a meaningless kingdom that no longer existed ( subjects which were memory he had, but could not recall, shadows dancing in the candlelight and in corners of visions ), if any at all could know what to look for, it'd be him! how silly to think they could truly, truly hide it so easily. ━ maybe from susie, but not from him.

of course, in response to the concept of distance ( as though allergic ), he takes a step forwards, towards them. nails clack on the flooring, hands clasped to their chest as brows knit together, blue-red-black eyes studying Kris as though trying to find weaknesses in the sickness through the body itself, as though it was the betrayer ( for it was ), as though he held that kind of power ( at least, for any longer than a few hours... )

" No, I really don't think that'd be a good idea-! " there's timidness in his posture, in his voice, but his integrity is greater. ━ or perhaps just his stubbornness. " I mean, I don't think you could get me sick anyway! You don't have to worry about that, but maybe I can help, if you'll let me? I know my magic doesn't follow you into the light-world, but that still so looks uncomfortable- even painful! so i'd- I'd very much still like to try━! "

( swallow your pride like swallowing your fear, like the part of you that knows. ) " ... Please, Kris...? "

@tenebriism // starter call!

so much had changed in so little time. a legacy coming to life after ages of stagnation, bubbling in the dusty dark of a void unused and brought back to vibrancy, and with it came the stress and strain of change too quick to slow; but this, the rules card supposed, was simply the way of the Lightners.

he, the opposition to chaos. ironic, perhaps, for the nature of his ward; but he was not chaos in the way distilled that Rouxls was opposition of, and in this, neither were the Lightners. ━ for as rapid, as chaotic as the adjustments had been, as straining of the recent times, they were not of the same chaos, merely change. Life rearing its head and reorganizing, a deck shuffled, but not destroyed; he still amongst its cards, even as the cards places found themselves in a different home than the cold comfort of closet and abandoned class. Perhaps it was what led Rouxls to be so laissez-faire about his opposition to them, perhaps he was merely a coward, merely unwilling to change the rules, perhaps he knew better. ━ he did, at his heart. it was useless fighting change. it would always come. it would always win. so much less pain, to understand, and to let it pass.

but as Kris did the same by him, steady sound of armored footfalls through dark stone of the Prince's kingdom, Rouxls took to action instead. Boot heels scuff behind, hurried, to catch Kris; you could hear the sound of metal buttons clinking as he did. ( how hastily did this child move, or was it he, so unattentive-?! )

" Ah━ Younge armiger, i-if I could thieve a moment of thy time- or, better yet, accompany thineself briefly in conversation, I wouldst be much obliged-! I had a query for thee- "

🔥 // Throwing this back at you, for Akechi's opinion of Yusuke. :) Or even, Ralsei's opinion of Kris!

send me a 🔥 and i'll tell you one thing my muse finds attractive about yours // always accepting!

" Oh! " ━ the brief flicker of being caught off guard, charitable; good natured, as though it was an unexpected but not disliked surprise. spinning the wheel in a teenage game & watching the tinted bottle land on you, abruptly asking just how well they could do; trivia, kissing, something else; always something else; it didn't matter. ( it masks a brief, insufferable bolt of panic that glimmers like lightning from his heart down to his stomach. it's just a game, but still, a tv-ready feeling takes over, the polish of someone who must live off of how well they can dance around the unexpected, and dance well. )

" You're asking me? Well, I'm sure there'd be plenty of girls quite interested in Yusuke-san's features, but alright! hmm... " a laugh, shifting into pondering, think on it, act as though you haven't thought about it before, an invasive thought curled around the brainstem far more descriptive than what is being asked. run the list in your mind again, ignore the fact you have a list at all, again, again. check the time. 30 seconds is appropriate. get it right. get it right.

" Ah, his eyes perhaps? he's very attentive to other people in his own way, which as a detective, I have to appreciate! " ━ as a detective, of course, only that. nothing more. nothing further. something shivers inside him and keels over in the cold apathy to his inner self as a trained dog jumps through hoops. poodle; greyhound; akita. ( 'his hands,' offers a different, quiet part of him that could never be shared, never be heard. 'dexterity along the length of fingers, brutality along the backs of knuckles : the way he uses both to make something beautiful.' )

♡ // for Yusuke and Akechi~ c;

Send me a ♡ plus a ship and I'll tell you... // always accepting!

WHO ASKED WHO OUT FIRST? ━ Honestly? it depends! Akechi is very much someone to take initiative and roles of leadership in many areas, personal included, but he's also EXTREMELY adverse to Fully allowing himself to break the distance he always puts between himself and others & as a result allow them to Know him beneath the masks he wears and the way he Wishes to be presented and the way he Is in a very genuine, raw sense. he is raw meat when you remove the skin and as much as it's honest, it's also sometimes ugly, sometimes it's volatile. he doesn't want to tie himself to someone who becomes an obligation he must mask himself to rather than an individual he's forged a connection with and can drop that false disposition, even slightly, with. He doesn't expect to be able to fully, and frankly I don't know if that's more Yusuke or Akechi restraining himself, but even slightly is something unparalleled to him. Akechi has more than enough nerve and articulation but it depends on how Yusuke responds for him to use any of it and lower himself from the distance he tries to keep to meet him on truly equal footing.

it'd also take Akechi coming to terms of an admission of his sexuality and therefore offering a direct 'crack' in his facade that, while maybe not major to others as individuals who are meant to be considered his friends ( and most of them probably Also queer, even if canon doesn't Say as much ) and the fact sexualities can change and often do over time, IS major to Akechi who often labels himself ━ knowingly incorrect ━ as straight to appear what is Expected of him in every avenue. 'appealing' isn't the right word, too sickly sweet of a term for this, but it's the closest I can think of when Akechi's domain is dominated by namely older individuals and a social norm based in homophobia where you are simply expected to be straight and if you are not it is expected to be secret, you as a person and you on the screen as two different people who should never clash and hell breaks loose when someone finds something they shouldn't and it does.

even in instances of this world where this Isn't true and Japan is much more accepting or where homophobia is just simply ignored, Akechi will always feel as though he must be either private ( always fun, always coy, always 'can you figure me out?' more than an actual right to his own secrets, always like a game he's playing with the audience that isn't one at all ) or performative, and the concept of directly admitting the contrary to someone, even unspoken, is difficult and daunting for him. Akechi wants to appear the 'nicest' option to those in his field and his fans, but part of this is also the fear of information being used against him. the question is ━ do i trust Yusuke enough to keep my secrets even when i want this? i may love him, but is it worth breaking the act for? breaking character? how much does this person mean to me, and is it enough? love and trust are two separate ideas, levels, 'love' being a foreign concept to him, and he must ask if they are cause enough to risk his person for. if he decides that 'yes, it's enough', then the decision, the asking is a quiet one, but one that cannot be stopped. Akechi has always been a stubborn, dedicated person when he sets his mind to something he so deeply believes as truth. Yusuke, on the other-hand, i think could be much more direct about it! after THREE PARAGRAPHS of me writing about how fucking complicated it'd be for Akechi where a solid 99% of it is ENTIRELY internal and HALF subconscious!!!!! Yusuke feels to me as a very withdrawn quiet character in a way, shy, which would probably make it harder but he feels as though he could ask much faster than Akechi could. Akechi takes months upon months of small moments reaffirming trust and reinstating a belief that Yusuke is worth this trust where he whittles down the distance despite how uncomfortable it makes him, and while I don't know what Yusuke could take, Yusuke always struck me as a honest, if romantic person. he doesn't need less, but I think he might trust Akechi more. the thought more approachable; he does, of course, perhaps have less to lose WHO WENT IN FOR THE FIRST KISS? ━ AKECHI. honestly it's extremely likely and i wouldn't be shocked at all if THIS was how Akechi wound up 'confessing' or 'asking Yusuke out'. Akechi is a very thoughtful, complicated individual but he's also very impulsive at times and while he has SO much strategy in Everything he does, he flips between intense self━restraint and intense, overwhelming, impulsiveness and sometimes, a lot of the time honestly especially where the metaverse is involved ( and Yusuke as a result since! well! he's part of the fucken phantom thieves! ) that side of him wins. in particular, I like to think it happened somewhere secluded at perhaps a holiday party when one of them stepped away, potentially Akechi, and the other found them, or late in the evening after a long night of spending time together; perhaps initially with the entire group before everyone went home and it was left as just the two of them, going home, the subway station almost ghost-like with them as the only people left there at such an hour, and either of how those quiet moments can invoke such a sense of disregard to caution when there is nothing left but conversation and opportunity, waiting to be taken to see what happens. AAAND that's as far as I can go without Tunglr LITERALLY refusing to post the damn thing so WOE google doc in the source it is

// dyn. tag dump! @tenebriism // @gldhte // @theyrots // @cardedsoul

━ ♔ Every version of me dead and buried in the yard outside / We'd sit back and watch the world go by ━ SANS/O’DELLE: theyrots

━ ♔ Just believe me when I say / I mean no harm; open arms; I will keep you safe until you / Pass me the knife ━ AKECHI/YUSUKE: tenebriism

━ ♔ Silver; crystal; carousel your effervescent touch / But everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink love ━ BILLY/STU: cardedsoul

━ ♔ After the foxes have known our taste; After the raven has had his say; I'd be home with you / I'd be home with you ━ LINK/GAIA: gldhte

Akechi barely glances over from the papers held deftly between his fingers, bound into a simple booklet by only a few stray staples, when he addresses so carelessly and is addressed in turn. It's an easy belief to buy into that he'd not been paying attention at all; the casual, almost modeled ease on his face and his sharp eyes squarely upon the text before him; but the truth lies in the swift glimpses of a red-toned gaze cast towards motion so rarely here and there between his case-work's reading that, fleeting and subtle, tell the truth of it, watching from his peripherals.

He gives a soft & sweet, acknowledging hum from the chair he's sat in, one leg carefully crossed over the other as his jacket hangs draped across its back, and does not look as he is spoken to nearly as though the words that dropped from him in the small room came, somehow, from someone else or simply did not come at all — the smell of his artistic materials, oils and glosses and fresh paints still waiting to be blended into their own pigments again, all scent the room and denote themselves to his latest endeavours, and in that, an indicator perhaps...

"Don't get too ahead of yourself now," Goro's tone is light and airy; not necessarily jovial in nature, but nonetheless lighthearted "You simply don't often go through the trouble of putting your utensils away. I thought it good to praise you for it, with how much easier I'd imagine it to make finding them."

And not to stain paint on every last part of yourself and your clothing, of course...

His eyes flick up, sweetly, over to the blue-haired painter to his flank; all but smiling honeyed and lulling his head in query. "Unless you'd prefer I not? I'd hate to make you uncomfortable, Yusuke-san, if that's the case..!"

A gentle air of taunt, perhaps, in the almost professionalism of his tone and in it, so hard to discern. No, a game to him. Intrigue to the way the other answers. Testing waters, the poke and prod, the eggshells swept away for a more paned glass approach.

"Good boy" // Akechi to Yusuke! >>>:)

Self Explanatory - [ ACCEPTING ] ;;

Silence. More silence. Even more silence. Forgive him, he's turning the words over in his head like some strange little Rubix Cube, before halting the rotation entirely. " Am I to receive pets for my apparently approved actions? I had not thought you were watching me with such intensity. " It delights him all the same.

@tenebriism // sophie & howl!

her nature, to care, to wait, had lived in her long before she stepped foot into this castle. But it was the stubborn, sincere will that guides her now, true-minded, developed like a skill. darning needle, embroidery thread in so unreasonable fabric, task turned over again and again until she knows the motions even when she doesn't : the roots of them, the little sparkling parts that really matter : which is to say — she'd know this bit by heart now.

at least, some broad and smooth part of her heart, now. written on it in shining ink. she's sure of it. she'd be proud to say how she wasn't gifted it, like her sisters had been in all the other ways she still underestimates and underwhelms herself over, but instead to say it was practiced, and learned, and sincere beyond sincere in those interwoven laces. What it takes to progress, what it takes to experience

She couldn't say she'd find herself caring about such things as beauty as she once had, no, not in a long time now. Unlike...

" Are you really still on about that? " the chime, not unkind but rather a sort of flat-footed tone she takes when she's unbothered or perhaps only feigning it to tease him, hails from close to his bedside, as she reaches up, up to some bottles hiding in the back of a shelf almost covered in his knickknacks and all those shining things; careful despite, the way she is undeterred even as her back protests, eyes glancing down to him only briefly ( a moments study, but she hears more in his voice alone. ) and her fingers find the neck of a vial as she speaks, " You know, I still think black is a nice look for you. Being blonde isn't as nice as you'd think it is! Though, if it's different with magic than naturally, I'm afraid... "

she sees the tremor in his throat, the hard rattle of his body tensing, the tendons of the neck & the shiver of his shoulders & his sharp breath pushed out, that moment just before his coughing fit, and she's down from her stool in one step backwards unto solid ground between the clutter and the plates resting 'pon the hardwood with nowhere else to put them, tea resting on his end-table — she's got a hand on him then, first pulling at his shoulder to shift him unto his flank, then sliding down, gingerly, to the side of his neck. her fingers covered by wefts of dark hair, rubbing soft soothing circles into the tender skin, gracing the nape of his neck...

she can't help but note the ash that sputters from him, tangled in saliva or out on the air in thin wisps, and something in her churns, nervous... a budding worry, to see an omen but not it's cause. no, no, not yet... but, the ash she'd seen, the marketplace... Come on Sophie, focus now, gentle...

" Shh... Easy, Howl... you know that's not true... " her answer is ever so softer than the one prior, aged fingertips still messaging as she speaks, his soft hair resting over her knuckles as she does. in her other hand, the vial, which she examines carefully... she could never truly hope to know everything in this place, what it did and could do, much less what was in it, but she'd gotten better of feeling out which to be which after the bath incident; something in the consistency, in the shimmer, in the swirl, in the hold of it... her attention never strays from him for long, even if all she has to spare is her voice, as croaking as she knows it to be now. ( she's half-certain Howl loves the sound of a voice, even if he doesn't answer to it. the noise of people's speaking. she doesn't find her own all that pleasant, but a distraction might be kind to him, now... )

" If I had it my way, I'd already have gotten Markl to try his hand at making something to at least soothe your chest! surely I doubt he'd be able to make that cough any worse. or, better yet, find something myself, but... " 'But I don't want to be apart from you. I don't want you to feel as alone as oftentimes, I think you do. I know it to be fleeting, even if you should know I'll come back. The worry, there. I don't want you to convince yourself that you are being proven right...'

— ... all she gives a vague little shrug, and her hand slides from the back & side of his neck to closer toward his shoulder, perhaps a means of holding him in place, as she sets the vial down, and one-handedly works at a gnarled bundle of old herbs ( ginger, mint, chamomile... ), plucking and pinching off the stubborn leaves and long-dried flowers in a hope, quietly, that they might help if she found the just right way to use them. More familiar than the vials and elixirs and concoctions surrounding her at every side... ( She's grateful they're not rotted, by how long they must have been here for... ) —— " Ah, well, maybe later. Can you be good and tell me what's wrong, then...? I hear the cough, but what about a fever? " she briefly considers the idea that she doesn't actually know if wizards can get fevers, at least as intensely as the unmagical, but she chooses to ignore such thoughts as she raises a hand and touches it to his forehead, seeking, attentive...

surely, were there any other injuries, she would find them... ( so rarely does the fire that cause such smog leave only it's ash as a keepsake to the injured... )

❛ it's an ambush, i'm sure of it. ❜ // ( Fantasy Starters ) from... Cyno to Chongyun, maybe?

just that single word has chongyun reaching for his claymore. he's long since learned to trust cyno's instincts on these matters, what with the general being more militarily focused. chongyun rarely has to fight anyone outside of bandits and the abyss order, though either possibility is still very likely.

"i'll follow your lead," chongyun says quietly, glancing downward toward their vision. the cryo can only do so much to protect against an ambush, it's real use would be more advantageous in the actual fight. but still, chongyun wants to be ready, and not be struck down before either of them are ready.

"just say the word go," chongyun continues. "i'll protect your back." not that cyno needs that, really. he's more than capable of handling himself in a fight. chongyun still feels protective though, not wanting any harm to come to cyno in the first place.

" i think perhaps we've gotten off on the wrong foot here . " // ( Stanley Parable Starters ) from Kazuha to Kami, maybe?

kaminari doesn't know kazuha well. he SHOULD, and he still feels as though kaedahara should be furious with him. it's not his place to tell kazuha what his own emotions should be, but kami can take what is said at face value.

"perhaps we did," he says in his usual clipped tone. he tries to pretend he's disinterested in this conversation, looking at anything other than kazuha. really, it's his own insecurities speaking. he's not used to being confronted so directly by one of the people he'd wronged.

"may i help you with something?" kami asks, finally turning toward kaedahara, looking at his nose, rather than making eye contact. "what exactly are you hoping to accomplish here?" at this point, any answer will be leagues better than the mind tricks he's playing on himself. kaminari is tired of guessing people's intentions, and kazuha is someone he's still... well... scared of.

" ... would you like to try some? It is a special tea I brew when peaceful sleep eludes me. " Kazuha gestures towards the fresh, steaming brew with a gentle smile. " Most may find it a touch too bitter, but the flavor, I find, helps draw forth the benefits even more. " // to Kami!

Kami still isn't sure why Kaedahara is being nice to him. He's not sure why he feels so suspicious, either. It's not like the wanderer to lift a finger against others, Kaminari knows that much.

The offer of tea is too tempting to pass up though. He sniffs the air, leaning forward just a touch to get a better glimpse of the liquid that smells so good, in spite of all his misgivings.

"You do know I don't need to sleep, right?" It's all Kami really has to offer for now. "But yes, I would like some." He stops there, trying to figure out where their bond is actually going. This could very well be a spark of friendship, even if Kami is still partially cautious around Kaedahara. Maybe a little less.

"...thank you. For the tea." Maybe also thanks for Kazuha actually showing him kindness in a world that still despises him. No smile is offered, no softer expression. Kami is still very guarded, but he can accept this much. That, and it's not like he never sleeps at all. Sometimes, he does indulge in the occasional nap.