Kugisaki Nobara.⠀⠀웃⠀⠀a Glimpse Into Her Instagram.

♡'d. 웃 feat. ieiri shōko!

午後2時,  平成30年8月17日,  tōkyō jujutsu tech. 

the smell of antiseptic is what greets her as heels turn to walk her down the halls of the infirmary wing of tōkyō jujutsu tech while well on her way to ieiri-san. in dainty hands is a hall pass clutched, as well as a hand written note, given to her by gojō-sensei.

she's been down these halls more times than her pride allows her to admit, muscle memory leading her swiftly. in no time, nobara is poking her head inside one of many rooms: one of which ieiri-san just happened to be working in diligently,  sat hunched over a work desk, reading something rather intently. 

intuition and the material reality of being part of jujutsu society  —  i mean really being part of it!  — tells her that the older sorcerer is reading a death report.

perhaps one of many that she's shuffled viewing throughout the day. it comes with the job, of course, and nobara particularly feels no way. well, that was a half a lie. she had cared once, about death reports, when itadori was killed on their retrival mission to the eishu detention center in west tōkyō.

she'd been put out of commission early in during and cursed her own shortsightedness in not being properly prepared, concerned more about sightseeing and stuffing her face with new foods rather than making sure that she was properly equipped to fight against the thrall of curses tōkyō threw  — and would continue to throw  —  in her path. 

what is she, being tested yet again?  just who knew, really?  she passed the initial that reaffirmed her place among her peers as a student and that was all that mattered in the end. she passed the one that marked her crazy enough to fit snugly in this shadow society with flying colors. 

a few dyed strands of ginger are tucked behind an ear as she hands over the note. her individualized assignment this day had been fairly simple, to him at least: she was to sit in,  listen to ieiri-san explain the theoretical framework of using reverse cursed technique, watch her demonstrate such, and jot down notes. truly, though, this was easier said than done:

reversed curse technique is extremely complex and even healing  — something ieiri-san was one of few people known to be adept at — was a concept it'd take years to learn. nobara supposes that that's why her sensei has her trying to get a hang of it now while she was still a second-year, blooming still with so much promise.

still though, nobara finds a chair in the nearest corner of the room, plops down in it to sling her bookbag off her back, rummage around for a sparkly blue gel pen and a notebook, and she flips it open to find a page to prepare to write on. should be easy enough, right? hah, fat chance of that!

either way, she's attentive as she can be while eyes track ieiri-san's rise from her desk, to her shuffle over to pulling open a drawer full of manilla folders and neatly tucking the latest report into that folder, to her eventual walk over to the table she'd prepared for nobara's professed lesson: pulling the drawsheet back to reveal the immobile cursed corpse underneath.

gross ... technically speaking: it was distinct from the cutesy creature type of cursed corpses nobara knew principal yaga to fashion. this was more human-like in appearance, probably meant specifically crafted to invoke anatomic familiarity. deliberate lacerations were made on its body: deep gashes in its arms, legs, and hands meant to simulate grievous injuries but they pale in comparison to the reality of a sorcerer doomed to a curse. there's usually not much to recover and an intact body is a blessing.

@kusattainu⠀웃⠀plotted starter!

when she was sent over the school uniform she'd be wearing as a student at tokyo prefectural,⠀cementing that she'd be leaving the lush green for miles that'd a younger her had grown so sick of seeing⠀(⠀she deserved to see more than the same village faces,⠀their condescending ways a thorn in her side⠀),⠀her grandmother allowed her to go shopping in shinjuku as a dual treat and apology.⠀wary of the upper echelons,⠀the big dogs in jujutsu society,⠀she'd initially hidden the letter of recommendation from nobara:⠀under the impression that what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her⠀(⠀hoping that one day she would come to understand why the village functioned the way it did,⠀why the villagers were the way they were,⠀how tradition kept them on the fringes,⠀yes,⠀but ultimately safe⠀)⠀and she hoped and prayed to any ancestor that'd hear her out that this was the best course of action to take to protect her granddaughter.

[⠀...⠀]

but nobara was too much like her obasan, ⠀too headstrong and not easily swayed by the opinions of others,⠀nor petty tricks, ⠀a near perfect reflection.⠀a reminder of how her elder acted in her bygone youth.⠀in brash teenaged excitement does she done one of many carbon copies of her official school uniform,⠀double-checking herself and how she looks in the mirror,⠀a hand's nimble fingers carding through recently dyed tresses.⠀gloss-slicked lips upturn into a triumphant smile as once brown eyes⠀(⠀man,⠀these contacts sure stung while being put in!⠀)⠀twinkle with the promise of keeping their shine:⠀no matter the glitz and glamour of the city proper.⠀ nobara wouldn't be so easily sucked into assimilation,⠀not like how so many who moved away did⠀—⠀her sights were set more internally,⠀her mind's eye always more so focused on the appearance and being of self,⠀overall.

the tohoku shinkansen makes quick work of bridging the distance between nobara and her destination:⠀mylord,⠀a shopping mall in shinjuku with a knack for attracting young shoppers much like herself.⠀the ride is relaxing enough to where she's soon lulled to near-sleep by the steady rock of it,⠀exacerbated by the early 2000s' j-pop playing through her headphones.⠀soon enough,⠀this would be her life⠀—⠀living it up,⠀sticking it to city curses⠀(⠀'⠀they can't be so tough,⠀'⠀she surmises⠀),⠀showing the higher-ups not to underestimate the likes of countryside sorcerers⠀—⠀and oh,⠀what a life it'll be!

to say that kugisaki nobara was excited for this new development in her life,⠀wherein independence would be wholly in her grasp after being watered so delicately by her grandmother:⠀her roots⠀(⠀her potential as a jujutsushi carefully cultivated into what it was⠀)⠀finally growing after a period of stagnation,⠀brought forth by the somewhat unfavorable⠀(⠀until she got sick of village life⠀)⠀conditions she found herself in,⠀was an understatement.⠀finally,⠀she was allowed to blossom on her own terms and she wanted to keep it that way.

it happens in a blur:⠀her unboarding,⠀briskly leaving the train station with the trusty help of her dated smartphone's GPS⠀(⠀really,⠀she couldn't wait to invest in a new one, this one's camera quality sucks!⠀), staring a bit doe-eyed and marveling a bit at her sight of the city's ward, people bustling around her, before moving on to the mall:⠀she wasn't in tohoku anymore.⠀soon enough,⠀shopping bags weigh a bit heavily on her arms⠀(⠀where was a boyfriend when you needed one???⠀)⠀and what's in them is any other teenaged girl's correct guess.

she doesn't feel like the odd one out here.

it was deliberate,⠀her choosing to stick out like a sore thumb.⠀when she dyed her hair,⠀the villagers,⠀who long held her grandmother in high regard,⠀stared at nobara like she sort of grew an extra head or two.⠀trading her lush natural brown hue for a seemingly eccentric shade of ginger:⠀the outgoingly spirited young girl,⠀with the ancestrally wise obasan,⠀seemed astute in the choice that conformity in regards to long-held village customs and ways of living was something she'd hold an aversion to.⠀always.

perhaps,⠀this was her rebelling and lashing out against the bulldozing of saori's home years prior after she'd left,⠀having been ostracized and run out by their stupid views on outsiders.⠀nobara had been devastated and enraged by this,⠀but she was a growing and in-training jujutsushi:⠀she'd have to settle for pouting,⠀angrily scribbling in her diary,⠀and keeping her emotions on a regulated leash⠀—⠀lest cursed spirits would fester near.

she was never the odd one out.

just set apart,⠀consecrated by her bloodline's inheritance of their technique,⠀by her status as a jujutsushi.⠀to non-jujutsushi others she was the outlier,⠀but who gave a damn about what they thought?⠀she wears her pride in her heritage,⠀in what's been passed down,⠀overtly.⠀it's an integral part of her:⠀makes up a big chunk of who she is.⠀it helps that her new school uniform grounds her in a way that exacerbates that pride.⠀it's a good fit on her and it isn't gaudy.

any other,⠀regular-degular non-jujutsushi human looking at her would assume she attends a private school⠀(⠀they aren't wrong in a sense⠀).⠀to them,⠀city folk:⠀she'd perhaps just be another country girl who got fed up of seeing rolling plains of green,⠀the lack of opulence to be seen there instead of here,⠀a budding assimilationist who'd readily toss herself to the wind because she'd become enamored with skyscrapers and convenience of walkability.

they had her pegged wrong.⠀

to the trained eye,⠀to another jujutsushi,⠀it'd be wholly evident that she's wearing a personally custom-made uniform because she'd be soon to be set to attend only one-of-two jujutsu educational institutions as a student.⠀she's all smiles as she walks into the nearest konbini,⠀shopping majorly over,⠀it was time to stock up on her personal stash of snacks before sightseeing and eventually heading back home to tohoku.⠀tokyo would see her again,⠀soon enough.⠀it's with a pep in her step that she flounces up to the cash register,⠀yen in hand,⠀dumping her allotted treats and flashing a friendly smile at the person working the register today.⠀

a keen eye catch their name-tag and gaze soon zooms in on their face.⠀she was much like her obasan,⠀too much,⠀one would argue:⠀astute to a trained degree.⠀

jujutsushi knew their own.⠀she looks around,⠀they're the only two in the konbini.⠀good,⠀she feels less scandalized when she takes back her bagged goods from them,⠀leaning in she asks:⠀“⠀ne,⠀suiren!⠀you wouldn't happen to be a fellow jujutsushi,⠀would you?⠀”⠀

HI GUYS! seeing as how i've been gone awhile, muse is back for nobara, and to officially celebrate me being off my long ass hiatus: i'm tossing out a new starter call, that all said, feel free to like this for a starter varying in length and arc! this is capped at 7. multis, feel free to specify muses, tysm!

#𝖶𝖠𝖱𝖠𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖸𝖮 is a highly selective, private, mutuals-only, & headcanon + lore-heavy rendition of 𝗞𝗨𝗚𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗞𝗜 𝗡𝗢𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗔 from akutami gege's 呪術廻戦. est. sept 2023 & delicately crafted by 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗛 ( she / they, black + sāmoan ).

𝗘𝗫𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛: @nvictive, @ak4rin, & @phonokinetix!

𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗦: 30⠀웃⠀𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗨𝗘: 5.⠀웃⠀𝗜𝗡𝗕𝗢𝗫: 0.

prompts.⠀웃⠀promo.⠀웃⠀thread tracker.⠀웃⠀lore sideblog.

Shoe department in a Tokyo department store, 1999.

platonic sentences.

a small collection of platonic sentences used in casual interactions between friends, or those who need a moment of platonic sweetness. some are goofy, some are serious, some are just sweet and domestic.

“ you’ve got something there… let me remove it for you! ”

“ lean on me if you’re tired, i’ll keep an eye on the movie… ”

“ you look really good today! ”

“ your hair is really soft, what kind of braid did you want again? ”

“ i love this. just you, me, an ungodly amount of blankets and netflix. ”

“ if you want it i’ll get it for you, don’t worry! ”

“ you really make my days, you know that? ”

“ nothing makes me happier than being here with you ”

“ hey hey hey, if you wanna share fries you could ask first! ”

“ okay, i’ll give you half of my burger for half of your sundae, okay? ”

“ uh huh? you’re gonna take me? you and what wrestling army? ”

“ oh ? really ? me ? weak ? have you Seen my muscles ? ”

“ can you stroke my back for a moment? i just want some cuddles. ”

“ i just really want a hug today. ”

“ you look like you could use a hug today ”

“ that outfit looks really good on you, by the way ”

“ okay but, taste this, i made this but i can’t tell if it’s tasty — ”

“ come here — let’s sort this out ”

“ if i squish your cheeks together you look like a pufferfish ”

“ oh my god, your hand is MASSIVE compared to mine ”

“ are you serious? is your hand this tiny? let me compare to mine — ”

“ yes please, keep stroking my hair. i need that today. ”

“ you. me. junk food. today was crap and i need Us time. ”

“ is that the perfume i recommended to you? it smells really good on you!”

“ you’re hogging the blankets, stop it! ”

“ if i just flop over on your lap, will you let me sleep in peace? ”

“ scoot — over — i need to lie down ”

“ give me your feet and i’ll rub them ”

“ hey now, it’s okay? i’m here for you ”

“ we make a good team though, don’t we? ”

“ hey ( name ) wanna catch a movie later today? ”

“ here you go, your favorite snack — picked up a few on my way over ”

“ well d u h, of course i know your favorite snack. friends do this stuff. ”

“ oh, so you really think i don’t know you? mhm? test me! ”

“ you think you know me? really? okay, what’s my favorite … ( thing )? ”

“ i can’t believe my clothes look better on you. that should be illegal. ”

“ well if this meme isn’t us then i don’t know — ” sends meme.

“ your shoulders are really tense, can you try to sit still? ”

“ i’ll buy you dinner if you rub my back right now ”

kugisaki nobara

wara ningyō are a popular kind of katashiro made of straw [ ... ] wara ningyō are used extensively as wards against evil. they are combined with something from the recipient of the curse, such as a piece of hair. this transforms the doll into a substitute for the intended target. long nails are pushed through the wara ningyō, harming the subject as well as the doll.

#waraningyo is an independent, privately selective, mutuals only, headcanon and lore-heavy rendition of kugisaki nobara from akutami gege's 呪術廻戦. delicately crafted by meenah and re-est. dec 2023.