#fate bender.

sanji … okay. we know. WE KNOW. he wouldn’t care, he loves it. while sanji isn’t doing anything publicly indecent, he will give his romantic partner kisses in public, holding hands, arm around the waist, open and fond gazes, the whole nine yards. and he absolutely melts under the same treatment. besides the more obvious reasons, sanji does desire to be loved openly, for the world to see, for everyone to know he’s with that person and that person with him. if his partner isn’t okay with pda, he’s willing to tone it down, of course. but, he has no issue with it whatsoever and in fact, encourages it.

shoko … it’s not that she has an issue with it, but she’s not one to show any overt displays of affection in public. hand holding, having her hand on her partner’s knee under the table, sitting a little closer than she might next to them— all are quieter displays and not entirely obvious. (she does get possessive at times….. i leave it up to you to unlock that side of her….) her more affectionate displays are reserved for behind closed doors / when alone. she’s a private person and her relationship is something deeply important to her. she doesn’t hide it per se, but she also doesn’t believe it’s entirely anyone’s business.

haru … someplace in between shoko and sanji. he’s very dominant in the sense that he has a hand at the small of his partner’s back, no qualms asking for a kiss before they part ways no matter who may be looking, intense eye contact, that sort of thing. he leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind who he’s in love with.

iselda + shoko ... silence and static over the phone: both of your eyes are closed. you both want to say it but neither of you are speaking. if you listen closely, and focus on their breathing, it’s almost like they’re there with you. when one of you finally breaks the silence with a whisper, they sound so close that your stomach aches.

sanji ... watching somebody brush their teeth: it’s intimacy in unusual places. seeing their bare shoulder as they step out of the shower and ask you to pass them a towel. kissing with morning breath. they see you when you ugly cry, and get cut off in traffic, and take out your anger on a text book. you see them with the flu, talking in their sleep, exhausted from a day of work. you go to buy the groceries together: orange juice, eggs, a loaf of bread. none of it is mundane, not when you’re with them. you buy toothbrushes together in complementary colours and they sit together in your bathroom, perfect beside each other. you catch their eye in the mirror and for the first time, everything feels alright.

iselda ... back between her shoulder blades. she carries a lot of tension there and any touch, especially kisses meant to show affection or alleviate tension makes her sigh and melt.

haru ... fingertip or knuckle kisses, kisses on his hands. he works a lot with his hands, his palms a little rough, but when they're showered with kisses and affection, it really makes him feel loved.

shoko ... stomach kisses. something about it makes her feel warm and fuzzy, her insides all fluttery. maybe because it's a vulnerable spot and she's allowing it.

shoko, robin, haru ... lungs: Breathe in. The ability to breathe is almost completely reflexive, and like most things, it comes to you naturally, with little effort or meaning. Many of the diseases that affect the lungs are hereditary, is there some unknown family trauma there? Something someone wasn’t telling you? If we only inhale, we die. If we only exhale, we die. We need both. You have mastered that tactful dance, at least, until something unexpected comes knocking. Something that steals your breath away, that pries your oh so precious air from your lungs and leaves you cold, winded and alone. A collapsed lung cannot kill you, but it aches more than broken bone, it’s sticky and bloody and cloying. You can recover though. You always have. Breathe out.

iselda ... eyes: You see everything, and understand what must be done in order to forgo suffering, noticing the silence of others and people thought to be insignificant in the grander schemes. Nothing can escape your watchful eye. A powerful thing to be indeed, but omniscient does not mean omnipotent. Cassandra too saw a bloody future that her people refused to acknowledge, saw the red string of fate that tied her painful future with her inevitable death, but lacked the power to stop the burning fires of Troy. You are burdened with a great gift. Do not avert your gaze, do not look back, do not close your eyes. See it all, be the witness. Even if that’s all you can do.

nana ... the unreliable narrator: whether you're intentionally lying, or you genuinely have no idea that what you see isn't the truth, your readers cannot trust you at all - not when it comes to getting the facts, at least. as a narrator and character, you're thoroughly entertaining and complex, and will probably become the source of a few dozen thesis statements in any given semester. trying to pin down what your true motivations are, and sort out what's real and what's not are fool's errands, but that won't stop anyone.

iselda, shoko, seto ... the epistolary narrator: the story is told through your diaries and letters, meaning everything has a deeply emotional and personal bent to it. you're not always the most objective narrator - and why should you be, it's your diary! - but you're usually truthful and always endearing. much of what the reader knows about the others comes from how you write to and about them, lending you a surprising amount of control over the narrative. whether or not you're entirely fair in your depictions depends on your genre... and what mood you're in that day.

shoko ... first time at someone's house and they've gone to fetch something from another room: you're left standing in the middle of the room, too apprehensive to do much else. briefly: the feeling that maybe this person will stay in your life forever, maybe you'll end up closer to them than you have felt with anyone else. less briefly: the intimacy of seeing how someone makes the space the inhabit their own.