Like Calling Up Thunder

Wrangling all the characters in my head, trying to bring them to life on page.

[likecallingthunder]

Nightingale/December Song

Pairing: Gojo x f!Reader

Spoilers if you haven't gotten through the Shibuya Incident yet. Synopsis: Your boyfriend lover best friend and fellow Tokyo Jujutsu High teacher Gojo Satoru just activated Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void, saving hundreds of humans, annihilating thousands of curses, and changing the course of your lives forever. A/N: Inspired by Sunset Rubdown's incredible song Nightingale/December Song, I'm tapping into my Gojo obsession. In-universe, all angst. It's just a tiny little scene, should I write more?

You are a vast explosion, and I am the embers.

"Satoru."

He lifted his head at your voice, breathing heavy. His eyes were wide. Gaze searing. Feral. The residual energy of his attack still crackled through the air like lightning, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. The transfigured humans were decimated; the platform left grisly.

You knew it then. Could see it in the nearly imperceptible shake of his hands, both bloodied, one limply holding some cursed spirit's torn body part, the other reaching out towards you. He stepped forward, blinking as if coming out of a daze, dropping the limb to pull you roughly into his chest, forehead falling onto your shoulder. You felt it then, sure as his pounding pulse. The limits of The Honored One could not be contained. Not by his meticulous calculations and planning. Not by your heart.

You thought you had seen it all. Thought you and he could weather anything. Riko's murder. Suguru's defection, his death, his absence that still haunted you all. Colleagues hospitalized. Colleagues buried. The students—children—so easily thrown away by jujutsu families and higher-ups who both coveted and feared their power beyond anything else. 

He turned his head, lips touching your neck for a ghost of a kiss. "You need to go," he murmured into your collar, voice raspy. You didn't want to leave him. Had just obliterated god-knows-how-many curses yourself to make it to this level and witness the unimaginable attack he had just unleashed, one of such staggering magnitude it shouldn't have been possible without mass human casualties. You were partners in the field, in life... even if that part was, well, complicated to say the least. But you didn't argue. And when a seismic boom from one of the floors above rattled the entire terminal, you didn't hesitate. Didn't squeeze him in an embrace or kiss his pretty soft lips or even say goodbye. Without a glance back you turned and ran towards the pandemonium, one thing on your mind: your students.

Satoru didn't need backup. He was The Strongest. Whatever curses remained on this floor, he could handle. 

Had you looked back, you would have seen it. Had you stayed half a minute longer, you would have been able to intercede. Satoru wouldn't have been caught off guard. He wouldn't have mistaken Kenjaku for Suguru. He wouldn't have been trapped in the Prison Realm. 

You wouldn't have had to learn how to navigate a world without Gojo Satoru.

And though your flames are quick and mean, they will not last the year, but expire like a sudden falling star.

Full lyrics Sunset Rubdown, Nightingale/December Song So let me hammer this point home I see us all as lonely fires That have burned alive as long as we remember Well, like all fires and all sunsets We all burn in different ways You are a vast explosion and I am the embers And though your flames are quick and mean They will not last the year But expire like a sudden falling star That only nightingales had seen before Migrating to sudden jungles And in this way you will come find me in December He said he'd like to move to Nashville To master the guitar Where he would live a single day The way I live a single year He covered his body in mud Went hunting for the sun Then went swimming in the lake of holy water Oh, you are too hot for me I am too slow for you You are a vast explosion and I'm the embers You need the one who slowly burns And burns to stay alive and In this way you will come find me in December So let me hammer this point home I see us all as lonely fires That have burned alive as long as we remember But like all sacrificial virgins We all burn in different ways You are a vast explosion and I'm the embers And though your flames are quick and mean They will not last the year But expire like a sudden shooting star That only nightingales had seen before Transforming into bluebirds and In this way you will come find me in December

[likecallingthunder]

How you know you've been spending too much time with fictional men, JJK edition:

I recently took my dog Poppy to the vet. We sign in and sit in the waiting area, or I sit and she's a total wiggle butt, surveying the scene. She's super excited to make new friends.

Poppy quickly chooses to say hi to the dog with the largest, tannest, muscley-est dude at the end of its leash. So of course we start chatting, I obviously have no choice in the matter. Which is fine because he's wearing a tight white tee and perfectly fitted jeans and has this sexy gravelly voice telling me all about his pretty brindle bully mix (wearing a pink harness/leash combo btw). He's being super sweet to my dog as well, and at this point I'm not sure who's enjoying the attention more: Poppy or me. This is obviously a meet-cute in the making.

And then... It's not. Because after a few minutes the guy pays his bill and turns back to us. To get his dog's attention, he says, "OK brat, time to go," in the most endearing way possible. And my brain short circuits. Muscles... bedroom voice... "brat." He uses the nickname several more times between attempts to coax his "brat" out the door. And I can no longer compute the scene in front of me. Because now I'm half convinced Ryomen Sukuna is real and reincarnated in my town. The more sensible part of my anime-addled brain is alternately whispering, "but he doesn't have tattoos or pink hair," and screaming "get his number, dumbass!!" He opens the door and smiles, croons "have a good day." All I can eek out is "yeah, take it easy" while wondering just how inappropriate it is to ask the receptionist for his contact info. Ya know, for a doggy play date.

Cursed energy, indeed 😮‍💨

[likecallingthunder]

This song is hitting me in all the right places right now.

"Waking in the morning to the feeling of her fingers on my skin Wiping out the traces of the people and the places that I've been"

Grace. Understanding. Forgiveness.

And in the context of a story steeped in myths and legends, with seemingly invincible characters who are so broken and flawed in their own ways, I just love how this could translate: "I don't know the answers to the easy way she's opened every door in my mind"

Trust. Patience. Vulnerability.

But it end, doesn't it? It has to end.

"Turning all my world away she smiled upon my soul as I lay dying."

Well, that's a little literal. But this is one of those songs where the scenes, the characters, the emotions... it just all jumps out at me, all at once.

[likecallingthunder]

I just want to squeeze them tight and never let go.

[likecallingthunder]

"I want to remember you..."

"Secret Fires" by The Gun Club from "The Las Vegas Story" (Remastered 2022)

The voice crack at 2:10 😭

[joel]

Pfitsch VI \\ Stefan Pezzei

[eocene]

Rappensee Stars by Michael Breit

[amnhnyc]

"There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.

There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.

Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”

- Theodore Roosevelt 

[likecallingthunder]

Find a path or make one.

Tomannex State Forest. Catskills. New York.

[strandbooks]

Post-it note found in The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez.

I’m visualizing a skinny runaway girl w/ a bag bigger than she is at the bus station.

[urhajos]

Ana Bagayan

[likecallingthunder]

Hey Colorado is it too late to change my mind I’ve done some thinking and I’m trying hard to find The way to come back home — The Flying Burrito Brothers, “Colorado” (Source: www.flickr.com/yobink)

[likecallingthunder]