#//The whole 'power that can be Awakened in times of duress'

[dutybcrne]

Smth smth, Khaenriahns having similar thing to the Ackermans in AoT

[variousqueerthings]

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part Two of Three

Part 1

Part 3

6. Sexual Awakenings part 1: Love, Obsession, & Size Differences

[Insert that post talking about the creators making sure that Daniel’s antagonists were much bigger than him so that the audience would sympathise, spawning 10000 size kink fics]

I’m sure this won’t awaken anything in Daniel

Corporate wants you to find the difference between these two pictures

The hallmark of feminine fairytales tends to be growing into womanhood, with all those symbolic sexual under/overtones, searching for a prince, encountering monsters (or evil stepmothers), on the surface tending to be quite passive/reactive, but actually being about young girls and women getting out of their environment and choosing to tussle with those deep, dark desires – monsters. They’ve got to function within the limitations of power that they have – escaping an abusive situation through marriage, chasing forbidden desires under the guise of duress, asking questions about sexuality through things like symbolic plucking (flowers) or consumption (fruit) or pricking (needles), etc.

Daniel isn’t striking out to find his fortune or win a girl or a kingdom Like A Man, he’s not a threat to Silver, who – like Jareth in Labyrinth – is in control for almost the whole of the narrative, he’s not actually able to do much more than react until he makes the decision to stop training, and even then he’s immediately ganged up on and assaulted, needing to be saved by Miyagi while he stands and watches, bloodied and bruised. 

Daniel’s journey in the third movie is to be forced into an impossible situation, seduced by Silver, and then prove that whatever violence Silver did to him isn’t enough to destroy him. It is incredibly similar to Sarah’s in Labyrinth, who by the end declares: “you have no power over me,” and that’s her winning moment. Not strength, not wits, not a direct fight, (although Daniel does fight Barnes and gets beat up again – only winning in in the end by taking him by surprise, unlike in TKK1 or TKK2 where you could argue that he proves himself to be a capable physical opponent to Johnny and Chozen), but by declaring that whatever power was held over her is now void.

Daniel’s narrative isn’t satisfying in the same way, because the dynamic of Silver and Daniel only accidentally emulates this - it’s not an intention on the side of the film-makers.

When Miyagi tells Daniel that he has strong roots, when he tells him not to lose to fear and Daniel wins over Barnes (in an almost fairytale-esque set of events), on paper he’s defeated whatever hold Terry Silver has over him. In the film itself though, Daniel never defeats Silver (which will likely be confirmed once he returns in Season Four). Daniel cannot simply say “you have no power over me,” and see Silver shattered into glass shards. 

The film is a contradiction: It wants to be a masculine sports film, but it exists in the same realm as Goblin Kings seducing young girls with the promise of: “Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave.” Unlike Sarah, Daniel doesn’t claim the power that’s been promised to him on his own terms. His subtextually sexual awakening is so corrupted that all he can do is pretend it never happened.

Still, Daniel proves in the film that his strength is not in his fists. It’s in his praying to the bonsai tree that’s healed despite a violent boy brutally tearing it in two.

These looks on Daniel and Silver though?

So why does Silver become obsessed with him? What’s up with all those red outfits (that he doesn’t wear in Cobra Kai)? What does the temptation reveal about Daniel? How does it recontextualise TKK1 and TKK2? Is Daniel bisexual? (yes).

Ah, beach-Daniel, in your red hoodie and your cut-off jorts. Iconic hot-girl summer vibes. 

If you didn’t want me over-analysing this, you shouldn’t have put him in so many red outfits and then have this man leering at him like he wants to eat him alive.

Surface-level it’s not hard to read into a Dude Story: Masculine power fantasies are about strength in a very direct way. Fighting, control, suaveness – and if you’re not the most traditionally masculine of guys, asserting dominance through being a good lover or intelligent or overcoming that unmanliness in some way through beating the bully or convincing the hot girl to go out with you, levelling up in coolness. Being A Man. It’s not too dissimilar from Daniel’s arc in the first movie, if you watch it without taking later events into account, although Daniel is never interested in proving himself as a man, and more in making Miyagi proud. Still, he does win and gain respect, and arguably “get the girl,” although Ali’s interest in him was never dependent on the fight.

7. Sexual Awakenings Part 2: Sexual Assault, Liberation, and Queerness

Feminine power fantasies are often about sex. Metaphorically. More accurately it’s “owning sexuality.” Even more accurately: “Freedom.” They also inhabit a fluid space in which empowerment through monstrous desires and non-consent can happen at the same time. And on top of that, many of these “fantasies” are actually being written by men, so whose fantasy is it really? A lot of them are based in oral traditions so presumably they were originally from the mouths of women, even if modern iterations (starting with Grimm’s collections) are filtered through cis men’s perspectives.

All of that being acknowledged: In Angela Carter’s “The Company Of Wolves,” Red Riding Hood unambiguously sleeps with the wolf. Belle discovers her freedom from expectations and unsuitable suitors (and in some versions, evil stepsisters) by falling in love with a Beast (the original novel was written by a woman, the 18th century Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve). Jareth informs Sarah of his obsessive devotion to her in Labyrinth. To lean into horror for a moment – Buffy is stalked and eventually has relationships with both Angel and Spike, Lucy in Coppola’s Dracula (which I have mixed feelings about) is raped by the werewolf and Mina is stalked by Dracula, The Creature Of The Black Lagoon kidnaps Kay (the lead’s girlfriend) – subverted in both The Shape Of Water in which Eliza forms a consensual relationship with the amphibious sea-god and in the short-lived horror series Swamp Thing, in which the connection is purposefully framed as seductive…

and in The Karate Kid Part Three Daniel LaRusso punches a board until his hands bleed because an attractive, older man tells him to and in this moment he gives in to what he (thinks he) wants.

Not all of those examples are equal. Some are consensual, some are hinted as abusive and/or stalkery, all of them have large age gaps, and a few are outright non-consensual.

But they’re all fantasies.

They’re all power-fantasies.

Except for Daniel, because he’s a man and the idea that being obsessed (lusted) over by an older man who keeps you in his thrall, specifically because you tickle his fancy for whatever reason, because you’re beautiful, breakable, different – could in any way be considered empowering is a difficult concept to wrap your head around. It doesn’t contain that “but I’m a good girl, I’d never go off the path and pluck flowers if a bad wolf told me to, honest,” societal context or the social context of rape culture. It’s closest comparison is closeted (perhaps even unknown until that point) queer identity.

There have recently been some comparisons of Daniel LaRusso to Bruce Bechdel in Funhome (and everyone who says that Ralph Macchio ought to play him in the upcoming movie: you’re right and I’m just not going to enjoy it as much without him). I’ve written a post about Sam being the heir to his legacy and trauma, specifically as a queercoded man. It’s not dissimilar to the plot of Funhome in a lot of ways.

The other interesting source that’s been going around in connection with Daniel is the essay “The Rape of James Bond,” which discusses the use of sexual assault as a plot device for women and not for men: “About one in every 33 men [in the US] is raped. … [your statistically average, real life man] … doesn’t have a horde of enemies explicitly dedicated to destroying him. He doesn’t routinely get abducted, and tied up. Facing a megalomaniac psychopath gloating over causing him pain […] is not the average man’s average day at the office.” That last bit is just a descriptor of Terry Silver, (although I take issue at the blasé use of psychopath).

The two part youtube essay  Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs posits that there is nothing more de-masculinising than the threat of sexual assault and therefore any narrative that features this “rightfully” must mock any man who has been a victim or who fears being a victim of sexual assault. It is feminising. There is nothing more humiliating – and therefore unheroic – than a man dealing with sexual assault.

So what do we feel when we see an attractive young man being put into a vulnerable position by an older man? A trope associated with female characters, a trope that is considered unpalatable for men (see reactions that happened when the hint of sexual assault was introduced in Skyfall).

Was it the fact that he was being threatened, or the fact that James’ next line is: “what makes you think this is my first time?”

Some thoughts added by @mimsyaf​ are around the idea of safety in how a lot of cis women might relate to this narrative through Daniel’s eyes. He’s not a woman, he has – societally – more power than a girl or woman would have, which makes this a different watch to, say, if Danielle were to go through the same narrative. Daniel doesn’t carry that baggage of rape culture, or of the male gaze that you might find in a similar scenario of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Christine in Phantom of the Opera (and once more the age differences between these characters and the men who love/lust over them are substantial), which makes the narrative “safer” to engage with.

I agree with that, although as a transmasc person I also come at it differently. I specifically like to headcanon Daniel as a trans guy and find his fraught interactions with masculinity through his own non-toxic lens relatable, as well as the way other boys and men react to it – also I think Terry Silver is hot. I know there are people who write Terry Silver with female OCs, which is also a form of empowerment.

On the flipside putting Daniel in this space runs a risk of fetishising him as a queer youth who is either Innocent and Pure, or a bisexual stereotype that deserves to be assaulted for not being a real man. After all, Real Straight Men don’t run the risk of sexual assault.

 Alas, the road to empowerment never did run smooth. 

The comparisons between the way Daniel is treated by the text and how female characters are often treated in texts are undoubtedly there. Through Ralph Macchio and TIG’s casting and the direction and acting, but also within the text itself. 

It might not be with the same purpose as Neo’s symbolically trans journey, but it puts the whole narrative that Daniel’s going through from TKK1 under a different light than if there had only been one movie that ended on a triumphant sports win and a girlfriend.

Johnny’s masculinity and the use of tears as liberation, now that’s a whole other analysis….

[vantablade]

【 🌌 MYTHOPOEIA V. 】

TLDR: A lore/world-building headcanon that focuses on the chronology (in this case, Epochs or definitive eras) of the in-universe of Nocturne’s canon. Also has some information, vaguely, regarding the mythology of divinity and important figures.

An era is defined by the most significant factor of its time. While planets and countries may have their own eras, defined by the reigning monarch or a particular age of change, the Bright Star System, as a whole, follows the timeline of Epochs, which denote significance of a grander scale. As of Nocturne’s position in the chronology, we are in the Sixth Epoch, which would be known by her people’s descendants as the Age of Anarchy. In-universe scholars will argue about the true beginning of the Sixth Epoch, as they argued about the Fifth before it, and the Fourth, and so-on; it is the Epoch’s nature to be debated, discussed, analysed and re-interpreted to fit whatever narrative is best to be served. Epochs are not limited by a particular stretch of time—there is no mandatory “limit” of days, months, years or centuries that permit a new Epoch being determined. Rather, it is determined by a time of significant change that alters how the denizens of Bright Star understand or adapt to their environment. For example, while the Genesis Migration was a significant cross-system event, it did not, on its own, cause enough of a cosmic upset to earn an Epoch-level importance to begin an era. Rather, it was but a mere instrument in the grander scheme of the Age of Champions, the Fifth Epoch.

This headcanon exists to give a context towards the chronology and a greater understanding of the world Nocturne is a mere part of. There will be references towards the in-universe mythology and other significant events that took place far beyond our hero’s birth, but there will be no in-depth description of those events, as I want to keep everything that could reveal too much—or is unnecessary in understanding Nocturne—under wraps. However, hopefully there will be enough information to provide a better grounding of the world Nocturne lives in, particularly if you are interested in combining universes or developing deeper threads with her character.

Despite the fact Nocturne exists in the Sixth Epoch, truthfully there are Seven; the first of all Epochs is known by scholars as the “Zero Epoch”, a time before time, a space before space, where the original Primordial first willed itself into existence. Here is where Essences, the foundation of all life, magic and matter in the Essential Universe, first came into being. It would not be until the First Epoch that actual physical space began to take form, as the Ancients—Gods comparable to the Titans of Greco-Roman mythology, who were more a physical embodiment of the things they ruled over and interpreted to be “carriers” of the Primordial’s divine will where it could not directly enact on its wishes—came into being. These Ancients are also comparable to the incomprehensible deities of the Cthulhu mythos, with titanic, unbearable bodies and minds so alien to us that they evade description or empathy. They are more like machinations of cosmic law, unkillable and undestroyable, for on their shoulders rests the entire Universe.

The Second Epoch is when the Divines, Gods who created “bi-essences” that combined the Primordial Essences into Lesser Essences, came into being as “children” of the Ancients that possessed a sentience closer to the realm of comprehension. They are capable of whimsy, of want, of ire and of fondness. Here, they would be most comparable to most pantheons of deities, with inter-relationships both within the circle of the Divines and with their creations, the Kinetics, pseudo-mortals who co-existed with the Divines and were taught their magic in return of being subordinate with them.

The Third Epoch is the first Epoch marked by a war of tremendous proportion, that resulted in the death of Divines and the weakening of magic that is still felt to this day. Here, the Divine Nolu, the God of Secrets and Mystery, prompted the Kinetics into rebelling against their deities by telling them forbidden secrets of mortality, encouraging them to upheave the heavens and take their power by storm rather than tolerating watered down lessons that kept them under their benevolent Gods’ thumbs. Nolu would abandon the Kinetics during this war, leading to slaughter on both sides, only to return at last moment to assure the death of all Divines—aside from themselves. The Third Epoch was solely this war, though the duration of it is unknown, and the true extent of the damage and knowledge of what the pre-Divine War world was like is knowledge lost, perhaps for eternity. All that is known is that likely it was a time of Edenic bliss, where magic flowed like wine and mortals were cared for by Divines. After the trauma of the War, the Fourth Epoch was birthed: the Age of Ruin, the Age of Loss, the Age of Abandonment.

Kinetics, now scorned by the Ancients whose children they had revolted against and punished by the Primordial who hosted them, suffered the punishment of agelessness. They were removed from the life-death cycle that promised reincarnation and forgiveness of the soul, forcing them to live an eternity of repentance and grief as they watched the world they knew rot into a mere husk of its former self. Magic weakened with nobody there to teach them, and without Divines to create Kinetics with such innate skill, they were condemned to physically reproduce until there were only Mortals.

Mortals lacked the intimate tutelage that gave Kinetics their mastery over the Primordial Essences, or the Divine Essences, and so their powers weakened too. Magical knowledge was not lost completely, but it would take lifetimes to achieve a level that most Kinetics had earned in adolescence. Over time, the era of bliss and magic that had once been an undeniable reality would fade to myth across the Cosmos, with the division of the New Way (the belief that all of this was purely mythology) and the Old Way (the belief that all of this was fact) separating mortals across the Universe, severing some from their magical heritage entirely to make way for man-made scientific advancement devoid of spiritual attunement.

The Spider Star System was a System that followed the New Way, forcing the less-magically repressed mortals—known as Undanes—into hiding lest they be rejected or destroyed for their absurdities. This System would also become the grounds for one of the greatest calamities recorded, with the Genesis Collapse marking a potentially unrepairable wound in the very fabric of reality whose effects are still present today, giving way to the Paroxysms that blight the Bright Star System in the Sixth Epoch. The Bright Star System followed the Old Way, however, and magic is still understood and studied with varying levels of skill and mastery across the System. It was the Genesis Migration that introduced the Genesse people, Undane and Mundane alike, to the cohabitation of magic-repressed and magic-expressive people, though not without duress. It was this discovery for the Mundanes that contributed to the genesis of the Ametsuchi, forged out of hardship, exile and sacrifice brought on by a primal rejection of this magical nature.

The Genesis Collapse was the locus of the Fifth Epoch, the Age of Champions, where it became apparent that Divinity could be reached by mortalkind should the Primordial bestow upon them the capability. The nature of Champions is debated among scholars; some argue that Champions, of which there is only one certainty and one other heavily contested, are the Divines reborn, returned from their celestial graves, while others argue that the Champions are entirely new in spirit as it would be disrespectful to the Divines to ignore the devastation they had suffered at the hands of men. Unfortunately, the effects of the loss of Divines is still felt to this day, as the sole Champion of the people, Genevieve (the sacred figure of the Holy Order), is absent. Whether she perished after the Genesis Collapse or otherwise went to another System or was killed by the Goliath in some unseen battle of tremendous proportion, is completely unknown. Mortals can only emulate what they think she would have done, such as the Divine Right of Kings applied to the Boucher imperial line on Neo, or the Holy Order’s fight against Paroxysms.

The Fifth Epoch is potentially the shortest of all Epochs, having spanned only several generations, perhaps not even a millennium.

The Sixth Epoch, then, is the playground for the plot of this blog and its attached extended canon. It is the Age of Anarchy, the Age of Monsters, of all things Eldritch. It is uncertain when the Sixth Epoch came into play, for some argue it was with the formation of Spider’s Eye as it tried to awaken the Spider-God Goliath, the destroyer of Genesis and the foe of the Champion Genevieve, or with their first use of Chaos manipulation and Paroxysm invocation as a weapon in the assassination of the Green-King Eoin of Namana. It is potentially even incited by the Ametsuchi Massacre, which was tied to the actions of Spider’s Eye and the High King Kazumi Ametsuchi, resulting in Chaotic manipulations and mutilations of all remaining Ametsuchi. The onus of the Sixth Epoch may be debated, but the end of the Sixth Epoch is entirely unknown: some fear that it may never end, others fear that it is the end, but hopefuls pray for a better, kinder Seventh Epoch, just on the horizon of what may be the most horrifying Epoch to exist in.

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Part 24 (Acnologia)

What's up with Acnologia?

I have to imagine it's weird to talk about the final villain in terms like this. With Acnologia, we have a more interesting situation as one wouldn't expect him to be the final boss. This series for many was building up Zeref to be the main antagonist. That we got Acnologia at all is a mistake for many. How am I going to handle him? It's important to note that I'm asking how to handle Acnologia. I'm not planning on removing him from the series. For all the issues I have with him, it would be a pain to try and write the series.

It's probably best to start by defending his existence a bit. Up to the Tenrou arc, we had seen the effects of Zeref's mischief, but we hadn't seen Zeref. And even then, it wasn't as if he was supposed to be a mustache-twirling evil villain. After the plan for the R-System fails, Ultear informs us that Zeref has already been alive and needs to be awakened. That term “awakened” makes it seem as though he's either in a Sleeping Beauty type of state or isn't a completely evil figure at the moment.

Of course, when we meet him on Tenrou, he seems like he's not interested in evil. We see him kill animals by accident and he just wants to find Natsu. After being kidnapped, he mentions Acnologia for the first time, lamenting his awakening and the end of an era of peace.

Acnologia and Zeref are never portrayed to be evil partners. Whereas Zeref feels as though he's potentially able to change, Acnologia isn't shown in the same light. We've seen why he does what he does, but it's not like we're meant to think he can or should change. He doesn't see what he's doing as wrong up until the moment he's dying, and barely at that. And while we understand him, I don't think he's mean to be sympathized with.

A few years ago, this kind of idea wouldn't have been well known to the public. But thanks to some comic book movie adaptations, I have a few places to point to. Joker isn't a character we're supposed to necessarily agree with. In his portrayals in the Killing Joke and Joker, we understand how he became who he is. Though it would be foolish to see the actions he takes in either story and believe that he's justified in his actions. At best, they serve as cautionary tales to avoid creating more monsters. At worst, they're freak accidents we can't do a whole lot to stop.

And, of course, Thanos has become a part of our cultural lexicon because of his portrayal in the last two Avengers movies. We learn the reasons for his quest for the Infinity Stones (insert debate about his motivation here) and the motivation behind his philosophy. However, it would be wrong to say that because he went through some tough stuff as a kid much of what he does is justified. That's not just his plans for the universe. This includes his treatment of his children, a fact people are not willing to justify like his plan, and thankfully so.

A big issue one may have is how Zeref would be a better final villain than Acnologia. The theme of the value of life works better with Zeref's goal of ruling all by destroying life than Acnologia's focus on killing dragons and those who get in his way. While I understand that, I think that Acnologia's motive relates to that enough to the goal to be a good final villain. 

Considering what I said about Zeref and Acnologia in terms of sympathy, it's interesting to note that Zeref's means of achieving that goal tend to be more indirect than Acnologia. Zeref's methods involve creating things that will eventually lead to reaching his goal, whether it be items, people, or the Alvarez Empire. Acnologia furthers his goal by actively seeking and destroying the various dragons and people that get into his way and dealing with them himself.

I find it helpful to think of Zeref and Acnologia's relationship as the main villain as similar to Natsu and Lucy's relationship as the main character. I've said a few times that while we see the series through the eyes of Lucy, Natsu is the one who is usually pushing the main plot along between the two of them. While Zeref is absolutely an important antagonistic figure, Acnologia presents a more direct attack on the guild and its members. The Demons and followers of Zeref are problems for the guild, but they're not the Black Wizard himself. Acnologia's influence is his attacks on people, specifically Igneel and members of Fairy Tail.

Now that I've defended his existence, I have some other things to say about him. I don't have much to say about his actions in a post like this. I've talked about much of his past actions already and his present actions don't present too much of an issue for me to discuss. As other posts in this series have shown, I love(?) many of his actions as a villain. I care more about two things for now: motivation and backstory.

By motivation, I don't mean to say too much about why he does what he does. The anime thankfully cleared up that much. He's seen what dragons are capable of and wants to rid the world of their dreadful effects on life. That works and is fine, especially as this pushes him to attack people who are sympathetic to the dragons he wants to kill.

Frankly, the motivation Acnologia has should make sense to the audience. In a normal situation, the issue with a villain's motivations is if the audience can generate a level of empathy without accepting their goals or actions. But to get to the point in the series that we learn why Acnologia does what he does, you have to go through the Grand Magic Games. Suffice it to say, I don't have to worry about that.

What matters to me is how I counter this. I love the guy, but Natsu's defense is weak by itself, especially considering he was part of the fight against the Eclipse dragons. To counter this, it's worth remembering that the First and Third Generation dragon slayers' dragons were willing to give up their lives for both their slayers and the world for the Face incident. The existence of dragon slayers is, in the first place, contingent on dragons who didn't hate humanity enough to leave them defenseless in the face of dragons who wanted them dead. This is important to highlight when it comes up in the final battle.

Finally, I don't want to change too much about Acnologia's backstory. I believe it to be fairly solid as his villain origin. I have to deal with a couple of specific things because of the anime.

Acnologia starts as a doctor in a town that was fairly positive to dragons. At one point, his town is attacked by a dragon they once trusted. This is the moment that creates the monster we know as Acnologia. When I wrote my first set of changes to Acnologia, I figured this would have happened because of the end credits scene in Dragon Cry. I'm fine with how the anime chose this.

However, there's one issue of times lining up. When exactly did Acnologia gain the ability to slay dragons? I want to clarify it a bit in the rewrite. He does receive the powers from the dragon originally named Acnologia before he left to find out about the status of the war. There's a tragic twist I've considered adding involving the dragon only attacking the town because he's under duress, but that's not something I'm sure I'll add.

One final thing I'd like to add. Of the many dragons killed by Acnologia, I'd like to add Belserion to his kill tally. I don't know that Irene needs that extra personal nudge to want Acnologia dead. At the same time, I think it's worth adding that connection to each other. It gives her an extra reason to work with Zeref, apart from a connection to the Mildian Academy.

Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18  | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23

[pauldron-pieces]

Destrier Revel’s Backstory: Burn The Wicked

Fandom: Dungeons And Dragons (5E)

Pairing: N/A, Destrier-Centric

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: This is a hypothetical scenario featuring original characters in a world created by my Dungeon Master. As usual, this is non-canon and I own nothing aside from intellectual properties specifically attached to Destrier Revel. This installment is mechanically unsound in a multitude of ways and ignores certain important lore facets. Trigger warnings are listed inside. Enjoy!

Taglist: @sporadic-fics and @cookiethewriter!

Inspired By: Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST: Awakening and Ivan Torrent: Facing Fears

[Urgals are a monstrous race that seem to be a cross between ogres and orcs.]

[Destrier Revel is a level ten human Conquest paladin with six levels of Phoenix sorcerer, and his appearance can be found here.]

[And lastly, this is how I pictured Aetros Ad Astra.]

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains multiple triggering scenes, including vivid descriptions of gore, extreme duress and character death. Stay safe!]

He entered the temple warily, but not before removing his helmet. Destrier knew better than to assume whatever god this temple represented was dormant, and entering any place of worship with one's head covered was a nearly certain way of getting it separated from your shoulders.

  This ancient stone structure was different from the clapboard Urgal constructs that dotted the hillside beneath it. Clearly, it was a relic of some bygone time or civilization. 

  Knowledge is power, Knight Revel. Seek it out, and we may yet win this war. With his late mentor's words ringing in his ears, Destrier proceeded with caution. 

  Brittle, charred remains crisscrossed the stones beneath his feet, crumbling to dust at his advance. The knight wondered at the thin layer of ashen debris that coated everything despite the lofty height of the temple. The winds that had whipped outside appeared to have gone still.

  Further into the temple, far removed from the weak light that filtered in from the arched doorway, was an altar of some kind. Destrier squinted, trying to decipher the runes on the sides of the obsidian stone table with little success. 

  A soft crackling noise met his ears and for a moment he paid it no mind, too engrossed in the arcane markings. It was almost like a torch or a cooking fire was burning nearby.

  Destrier straightened up abruptly with a loud metallic clank! , certain that he had heard words in that strange sound. 

  He is not one who would normally come to a place like this. The shine of armor does not gleam so in Our temple , the crackling voice mused softly.

  "Where are you?" Destrier queried, turning in place and scanning the room. When he came full circle back to the altar, he was surprised to see a small flame flourishing atop the dark stone. "Show yourself!" He called, more than a bit perturbed. 

  We will not be commanded in Our own temple, foolish one . The voice sounded stronger now, a thick accent lilting through it as well as a touch of amusement. Grovel, and perhaps We will spare you .

  Destrier's grip on his lance tightened momentarily, and then he dropped to a knee. "Forgive my impudence. Had I known this truly was a place of worship, I would not have spoken so rashly." The blond apologized. "May I know the name of the master of this temple?"

  The flames sputtered and hissed, almost indignant in their noise. You may address Us as Garuda . First-Born of the Stars, Everflame, Light in the Darkness, Aetros Aegis, Ad Astra, et cetera, et cetera.  

  "Your titles are many and grand. How is it that I have not encountered any of your followers?" Destrier questioned, legitimately curious. 

  Somehow, he got the sense that the fire was preening. We have slumbered for many years, foolish one. The Urgals at the foot of this mountain have done wonders at keeping the outside world away.

  "I am afraid they have all been slain. My men fell upon them in the dawn."

  Such is your way. But why have you come here? The flame turned sly, what brings a warrior of your caliber to this place? Certainly an ordinary man would be pillaging the encampment .

  "I have been sent out for more than that," Destrier replied. "I search for true victory; the ability to deal a penultimate blow to the enemy. One that they cannot recover from, that we may rout them completely."

  Are you not a paladin? This is all you do . The flame said dismissively.

  " Hear me , Garuda." Destrier implored, raising his head to watch the flames dance and lick over the stone. "The common folk do not ask for war. They do not ask for heightened taxes, food shortages or midnight raids upon their peaceful settlements. All they ask for is safety , and I cannot even give them that much!" Destrier clenched his fist. "Women and children starve to death in the cities that were supposed to be havens. The Urgals have learned over six years that to destroy our trade routes is to slit the throat of the army, and their savagery is not held in check for innocent civilians."

  Knight Revel took a moment to get himself back under control while the fire in front of him flickered thoughtfully. When next he spoke, his voice trembled slightly.

  "I would fight to my last breath for my comrades, for any member of the populace. I serve wholly to uphold the king's ideals. King Jonathan is a man of great wisdom and strength, I gladly serve him." The blond man hesitated, tamping down the memories of his mentor grinning wide in triumph, "I was given this missive because they believed in me."

  You do not seek the power for yourself, then .

  "What good is power, used by one man for one man's benefit?" Destrier asked sharply. He had never been overly invested in advancement for the sake of advancement. Becoming a squire at the tender age of five had seen to that . "My king and my mentor have charged me with this task, and I will see it through in order to extend my king's territories." 

  Interesting. You believe that there is still power out there for you to find? The flames questioned sardonically. 

  "I have no other choice but to believe. Our losses are catastrophic in the face of the numbers of the enemy." He could not bring himself to mention Leofore's name. The shame was still too fresh, not yet blunted by drink or the passage of time. "I have been sent to find the knowledge to turn the tides."

  What faith are you of, paladin?

  "I have no true faith. I am not a follower of the chantry, nor the monastery. My strength comes from my belief in my mentor and, in turn, my king." Destrier answered the question readily, his hand over his heart in the common indicator of sincerity. "I am unbound to any divinity."

  This appeared to please Garuda greatly, satisfaction rolling off the small fire in waves of radiant heat. How very interesting . Faithless paladin, knight of a God king, We will grant you the power to try . Over and over if need be, until your war is won.  

  An enormous, spectral figure wavered into view behind the flame, their whole body somehow twinkling through and through with stars. Horns that curled like a proud ram's graced their head, and in their hands was a flaming weapon. This must be Garuda's true form , Destrier realized belatedly. The being gestured at him, urging him to rise.

  Come, faithless paladin. We shall see whether you are able to be reborn in Our starfire. Take hold of the haft.

  Knight Destrier Revel, loyal bondsman of King Jonathan, acting commander of a battalion he should not be leading, felt fear grip his soul. "What if I am unable? What if it is too much to bear?" He asked tentatively, leaving his lance on the floor when he stood.

  What is the loss of one man to a God king? His own words, turned back upon him mockingly. We will not wait forever. Either take the plunge or let Us return to rest. Garuda extended the hilt of their weapon toward Destrier. 

  Knowledge is power, Knight Revel. Seek it out, and we may yet win this war . Leofore's words echoed in his head over and over, giving him the resolve he needed to steel himself. Destrier swallowed hard. "I must. I have no recourse." He finally whispered. Two hands reached out and took hold of the haft of the amorphous weapon. One moment it was a mighty axe, the next a spear with two separate blades.

  Garuda chuckled, low and dark. Faithless paladin, you were drawn to Our power like a moth to Our flame. You are charged to burn the wicked and rule the ashes, rising again and again at the cost of your body and soul. Will you take Our power?

  " Yes ." Destrier responded fiercely, his brown eyes aglow in the light of Garuda's fiery stars. 

  …

  He awoke on ancient stone steps and for a moment, Destrier simply laid there. Overhead, the stars spun in their nightly dance. 

  His whole body was hot to the point where he was sweating in his armor. When he went to sit up, Destrier found himself unable to support any weight on his hands. He forced himself up with his elbows and levered onto the next step, finally achieving a semi-upright stance. 

  Something was very wrong with his hands. Destrier began the slow, clumsy process of unfastening the buckles on his left gauntlet, using his teeth instead of uncooperative fingers. But when he tried to remove the loosened armor, the pain was so great he nearly vomited. Gritting his teeth, the knight continued wriggling the armor until it finally released his hand.

  Patches of his skin were entirely burned away or grafted to the inside of his gauntlet. His palm was down to raw tissue. Destrier saw bone . Bile surged in his throat again and he choked, clutching his hand close and drawing on the wellspring of healing power that his mentor's training had granted him. 

  Gods, Leofore, what have I done . 

  There on the worn steps with no one but the stars to witness his grief, Destrier wept for the loss of his friend.

  /x\

  His hands healed well, aside from the brand of the flaming haft that stayed squarely in the center of his palms and the inside of his fingers. At least they did not pain him or impede his ability to wield his lance. 

  Burn the wicked, rule the ashes . We will grant you the power to try . 

  The first time he absently lit a small fire with nothing but a snap of his fingers, the knight waved it off as a fluke. Naero took it in stride, just asking Destrier for a light instead of relying on Thranrok or matches.

  Destrier found himself drawn to the battalion campfire at night, losing his train of thought for hours while he stared at the dancing flames or looked upwards through the smoke at the stars. If his compatriots noticed, they did not mention it. They were all still mourning the loss of Leofore; it mattered little where one of them found comfort or respite.

  The knight slowly adjusted his armor to accommodate his strange new talents, star-shaped cutouts finding their way to his gauntlets that he may better utilize his fire in battle.

  The first time Destrier fell in combat, that was a bit of a different story. 

  The Urgals had set upon yet another village, boldly doing it during the sleepy midafternoon. Destrier was sent out with his battalion, Thranrok and Naero alongside him. Gen and Argon had stayed behind this time, believing that their forces wouldn't be needed for this skirmish. The air was thick with the threat of an impending storm, dark clouds gathering in the distance even as the troops moved forward.

  The battle quickly dissolved into anarchy. Destrier was cut off from his men in a suspiciously short period of time, the knight fighting desperately against the hordes of Urgals that descended upon him. There was a strangeness in these creatures, a new frenzy. Something had changed in their ranks.

  The blond man whirled and thrust, his lance piercing the chest of one of the monsters that had been approaching from the flank. However, that left him wide open on the other side.

  An Urgal warhammer caught him in the ribs so hard he was knocked off his feet. Destrier crashed through the side of one of the houses that lined the street, his vision fading to gray momentarily at the impact. He gasped and choked for breath, feeling his shattered ribs grate against one another as he tried to stand. The young man pressed a palm to his side, mending the injury hastily. 

  Stifled sobbing echoed in the space and Destrier turned his head, spotting the form of a woman huddled in the corner of the room with a baby in her arms. A shadow suddenly darkened the hole he had made in the wall and the massive shape of an especially formidable Urgal forced its way through in pursuit of the knight. 

  "Back, beast!" Destrier shouted, slamming his bracers together and then using the haft of his lance to catch the Urgal in the chest, stopping it in its tracks. His gauntlets heated rapidly and the creature shrieked in pain, jerking back with glowing handprints branded onto its leather armor. Destrier snarled, moving forward to press his advantage. He could do this. He could keep them safe-

  The other Urgal's warhammer smashed into the side of his head. Destrier dimly heard a wet snap , and then everything went dark.

  In the breathless silence, a bonfire roared to life.

  Burn the wicked, rule the ashes. We have granted you the power to try. Over and over, over and over. Those who would lay hands on your body will not even be able to touch your shadow. Arise again, and again, and again.

  For Leofore.  

  The paladin reached out to the void of stars and something too immense to name reached back, pouring into him with single-minded intent.

  Destrier's eyes flew open. Stars and galaxies swirled hazily in his vision, the whole world tinged an odd, smokey gray. He knew, with a strangely clinical certainty, that he had been dead seconds before. He growled, sparks issuing from between clenched teeth as he grabbed the ankle of the nearest Urgal. His body was molten, his armor shimmering with the same heat that birthed constellations and warmed the very vacuum of space, but he did not feel it. 

  Destrier all but climbed the Urgal in order to stand again, searing marks into the tough skin as he went. The creature screamed and howled in pain, alerting his companion that the dead paladin appeared to still have some fight left in him. Knight Revel buried his lance in the creature's gut as thanks for being too slow to kill him again.

  The woman in the corner had gone silent. Destrier prayed she was alive, but he could not spare the attention to check. His helmet had given way under the assault, one more thing for him to focus on. Have to lead them away from here.  

  The remaining Urgal retreated through the destroyed wall and the knight followed swiftly, his form wrapped in roaring starfire the second the fresh air from outside the structure reached him. The cosmos burned at the corners of his eyes, stars wheeling just outside his field of vision. 

  Burn the wicked, rule the ashes . Over and over his mind chanted the phrase, over and over until Destrier found himself mouthing it like a mantra. The air around him boiled and sang as though it was a living being and he snapped his fingers, flames smoldering at the hems of Urgal undertunics.

  Destrier was more cautious now, even with this incredible power at his disposal. He wove and ducked around attacks, thrusting his heated lance into chests or stomachs wherever he was able. 

  "This is why you cannot let go of your weapon even for a moment." Leofore admonished as he helped the younger man back up. "One moment is all it takes for the enemy to gain the upper hand, Destrier. Never let your guard down, and do not be so quick to trust!" 

  Destrier nodded, accepting his practice lance back from the older man. "Thank you for your wise counsel as always, Knight-Commander Leofore." Leofore struck without warning, knocking Destrier's legs out from underneath him and toppling the blond once again. 

  The commander threw his head back and laughed, then crouched beside the fledgling knight currently flat on his back in the dust. "Do not even trust me , Knight Revel! It will only leave you with misfortune and more bruises." Leofore grinned.

  Destrier shook his head to dispel the echoes of his mentor's voice, baring his teeth and snarling. True, his helmet had been lost in the fight. But he still had his lance, the fire and his wits. Naero and Thranrok were somewhere out there on the battlefield as well. As long as his surviving companions drew breath, he would continue to fight.

  /x\

  The battle was over. 

  Piles of embers smoldered in the streets, the rainfall coaxing wraiths of smoke to billow skywards through the downpour. 

  Knight-Captain Destrier stood in the middle of the main thoroughfare, steaming shoulders bowed under the weight of some no doubt cosmic burden. Naero rolled his eyes, sauntering up alongside the larger man. 

  He went to place a hand on his shoulder and then paused, feeling the heat that still rolled off his armor in waves. "Revel?" Naero queried slowly.

  "Why do we bother with any of this?" The paladin responded with a question of his own, his words clipped. Naero circled around him to find that his arms were protectively cradling the body of a woman. "I could do nothing ." Destrier continued, voice thick with unshed tears. 

  He raised his eyes to Naero's and the elf was confused by the depth of emotion he saw there. This woman was a stranger, a civilian. Dime a dozen. But the way this buffoon was reacting, it was as if she had been his own mother. 

  A baby's sharp wail of distress interrupted the thoughtful stillness and Destrier flinched, clearly startled. "What?" He muttered in confusion, laying the woman's body on the ground and then clumsily pawing at the ragged shawl wrapped around her.

  Naero saw the child at the same time as Destrier, his ears twitching in annoyance at the impressive racket the tiny creature was making. 

  "It's alive." The knight breathed, sounding shattered by the whole thing. "Gods, it's alive. Naero, it's alive ."

  "Have you never seen a baby before, Revel?" Fick asked dryly. 

  "I couldn't find it, I thought the Urgals had eaten it while I was…" Destrier paused. "Gone," he finished awkwardly. 

  " 'Gone' ? Dare I ask where your flights of fancy took you in the middle of battle?" 

  "I died."

  "Oh, I'm certain of that." Naero huffed. "More likely you've taken more hits to the head than you can recall, you dimwit. Where is that damn helmet you're so proud of?"

  "Broken." Destrier gestured vaguely towards a house that was missing a wall. "I was killed, go see for yourself."

  "' Go see for yourself ', he says. Like I'm a fool to doubt such ludicrous claims." Naero grumbled, begrudgingly picking his way around the piles of ashen corpses. "What absolute hogwash." 

  He fell silent upon actually seeing the inside of the house, his brow furrowed. True to Destrier's word there was his monstrously gaudy helm, caved in on one side and entirely missing the cheek plates. Blood and hair were smeared on the inside of it, as well as bits of what Naero could only assume was human skin. He grimaced, mind racing. Was Destrier telling the truth? Had he really been killed? Gany was leagues away though, how on earth had that buffoon managed to return from the grave without assistance?

  "You listen here, Revel." Naero hissed, stomping back up to the knight and jabbing him in the chest with his index finger. "What are you playing at? What deals have you made, eh?"

  "Just one." Destrier's honesty was, as always, a bit of a shock. "I am to burn the wicked that my king may rule the ashes."

  Fick recoiled slightly. "Damn. It's been a while since I've heard those words." He muttered. He tilted his head back, narrowly studying the armored man who was carefully wrapping the squalling whelp in the remains of his cape. "Should I ask what you're planning on doing with that?"

  "Leofore's battalion had several midwives in their ranks. I have adopted the same tactics." Naero did not miss the pained expression that flitted across Destrier's face when he mentioned their deceased friend. "I will take the babe to them and ascertain whether it can be saved."

  "Pretending that you are as hardened as Leofore does you no favors, Revel." Naero said bluntly as his compatriot turned to depart.

  "Neither does feigning indifference to the plight of helpless innocents, Fick."

  Naero watched the other man start his long walk back to their encampment, the elf shaking his head ruefully after several moments. "Seems like this war just got a lot more interesting."

Part Two: For Leofore

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 236: Mr. Stark I Don’t

Previously on BnHA: We kicked off Year Five Of This Bullshit with another Tomura flashback! Once upon a time there was a boy named Tenko. Little Tenko was very cute and happened to have a real prick of a father who forbid his kids from talking about heroes and punished them severely when they broke that rule. Like, he locked Tenko outside for hours and even fucking hit him when he found out he looked at that picture of Nana. It was super fucked up and very unpleasant to read, and on top of that Horikoshi peppered the entire chapter with hints that the supposedly quirkless Tenko was slowly developing his Decay quirk, so much of the chapter was also spent waiting for that shoe to drop. The chapter ended with a sobbing Tenko hugging his dog Mon-chan (a very good boy) and thinking that he hated everyone, as the scene slowly faded to black. After that we don’t know what happened. Presumably Mon-chan went to live on a farm with lots of other puppies where he could spend the rest of his days in cute doggy bliss. I’m sure Horikoshi will allow me to continue indulging in this theory.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi doesn’t let me indulge in shit! Horikoshi is all “lol bitch you thought!!” Horikoshi shows us the dead dog!! Horikoshi shows us the scared and sobbing child! Horikoshi shows us the sister! Horikoshi shows us the grandma and grandpa and the mom! Meanwhile poor Kotaro is all, “I suddenly wonder where my whole family has gone,” and goes outside and sees All Of That and is horror-struck. Through a series of terrible but also hilarious coincidences he accidentally smacks Tenko with a big stick, and Tenko suddenly realizes he’d like nothing more than to just STRAIGHT UP!! MURDER HIS DAD!! and so he does. And that’s basically it, guys. That’s my summary of the chapter. I would also like to add that for some reason I ended up fucking loving it in the end, though it was a real roller coaster back and forth until those last few pages. So yeah. Might want to steer clear of me, because I’m sure that’s some kind of red flag there. This motherfucking chapter, guys. I don’t even know.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, and added one or two ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

thank you anon but rest assured I’m already filled with a deep and profound dread. so we’re good

oh. heh

well that’s just. okay. sure. so a whole nother chapter of this. okay yeah that’s great

oh sweet jesus mary joseph oh shit oh fuck oh SHIT

THAT’S NOT A FARM!! HORIKOSHI!! WE HAD A DEAL! YOU SET ME UP

holy shit!?!? and this is only the start of the chapter oh god. oh god oh god. MR. STARK I DON’T

no thank you I want to return it. reason: item exactly as described. I don’t know what I was expecting. we knew exactly what was going to happen. but I still -- !!

how is the anime going to show this?? no one even wants to watch the senseless blood and violence for once. does Japan do those warning things where a “the following program includes scenes of graphic violence that may be disturbing to some viewers” screen appears before the thing airs? if not they should probably consider it. maybe change “some” to “all”, because let’s be real

anyway so guys I’m waiting for Horikoshi to email me my free shipping label so I can send this back, but in the meantime let’s continue to read I guess

WOW

THAT’S A DEAD DOG. THAT DOG IS LYING IN PIECES IN A POOL OF HIS OWN BLOOD, HUFFING HIS LAST HUFFS. HORIKOSHI REALLY DREW THAT. THAT IMAGE WAS BURNED INTO TENKO’S MIND FOR THE REST OF HIS EXISTENCE AND NOW I GET TO LIVE WITH IT AS WELL. WELL THAT’S JUST REALLY FUCKING GREAT. YIPPY SKIPPY

OH JOY

HANA GO BACK INSIDE, IF HORIKOSHI GRAPHICALLY DRAWS YOU BEING BLOWN INTO CHUNKS BY THIS FUCKING QUIRK I’M FUCKING DONE AND I QUIT. AND I KIND OF NEED TO CONTINUE UNTIL I AT LEAST LEARN BAKUGOU’S FUCKING HERO NAME, SO I’M COUNTING ON YOU HERE OKAY

by the way, this is weird though. because that didn’t look anything like the prior instances where we’ve seen Tomura use his quirk! there was no crumbling apart, no dust ominously drifting away on the breeze. it was more like poor Mon-chan just kind of fell apart into pieces. is this because the quirk is still developing and not yet at full power? or is this more AFO shenanigans in play. it at least explains why it was plausible for their hands to be intact once everything was said and done though

really I’m just trying to talk myself into believing that this didn’t actually happen and is all some grand fucked up psych out and his family is actually fine. I saw this post going around about Tenko’s mole (you know, the one on his chin) not being present in all the scenes last chapter, and the theory was that the scenes where he doesn’t have the mole were not actually real and were implanted by AFO. I personally think this is a reach, but I’m also prepared to 100% subscribe to this theory if and when anything happens to this precious baby girl when I click to the next page you guys. we shall see

okay so Hana’s apologizing because I guess she’s the one that ratted him out to their dad? girl it’s okay you were under a lot of pressure. it’s not like it’s your fault Kotaro flew off the deep end and started beating your brother

anyways but this is currently the least of your worries though oh god. she hasn’t noticed yet, and Tenko’s sobbing and trying to talk to her but his voice isn’t working??

is that because he’s traumatized, or because this is in fact a fake memory? not being able to warn a beloved person of an imminent danger is basic nightmares 101, I’m just saying. I’m actually a bit more convinced than I was just a minute ago

anyway so now she sees the dead dog, and I have a new least favorite panel in the entire series, great

hello, I hate everything about this. what the actual fuck

now she’s turning to run and I SWEAR TO GOD if Tenko instinctively reaches out to grab her... shit. I fucking...

-- WHAT DID I JUST -- !! !!!

son of a bitch. fuck. I’m literally frozen in place and having trouble willing myself to scroll down to see the rest of this. like, can we seriously just stop here. fuck!!

shit. I need a minute. holy fucking shit. I want an actual apology from Horikoshi, and an explanation for why he thought his readers apparently lacked the imagination to fill in the rest of the blanks themselves. like, I was perfectly fine with all of this just being Very Much Implied, dude. seriously

fuck me. I’m just gonna do it. power through the rest of the chapter and assess the resulting psychological damage once it’s all over and done with. okay deep breath. we’re going in

oh honey. oh baby no. oh my god the “crack crack” sound effects again, and the lines of blood appearing oh god

and of course he didn’t realize what was happening at first, didn’t realize it was him. honey it’s not your fault. but you now officially have Murder Rights to All for One, and if anyone else gets to deal the final blow I will fucking sue

hahaha, fuck

at least he didn’t go into the same level of detail as with the fucking dog. but I’m still calling the police, holy shit

if anything, Tenko’s reaction actually makes this even worse than Mon-chan’s death, though. and you know, also the fact that it was a six-year-old girl. who died terrified and in agony and not knowing why this was happening to her. fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

somewhere Ito Junji is reading this and wishing he’d come up with this shit. Nakayama Masaaki is taking notes. Stephen King is waking up in a cold sweat thinking to himself that for some reason he really wants to start reading shounen manga all of a sudden

sob now everyone is running outside except for his father. of course. saving the best for last. it’s almost as though someone fucking engineered all of this to make it as psychologically damaging to the kid as possible! but who could possibly be twisted enough to do something like that? oh hey there All for One, you sure look happy. why are you smiling so much. what do you mean, it’s a secret. you son of a bitch

hey do you guys want to see the expression of a mother seeing her youngest child screaming and sobbing and covered in blood and surrounded by the bloodied remains of a dead dog and something else that is hopefully unidentifiable because if not holy shit for real? anyways, do you? you don’t? sure you do. Horikoshi thinks you do, so here it is

t-minus five seconds before the level of Horrifying escalates yet again! five... four... three...

oh shit??

did he do that thing again?? disintegrate them without even touching?? or did we just jump-cut to right afterward? because if it’s the latter, you mean to tell me we did that with the mom and grandparents but couldn’t do it with Hana and the dog!? and if it’s the former then that’s really interesting though, because I was under the impression he’d been incapable of that until just a few chapters ago when the grown-up him awakened the ability in the middle of Deika City. maybe it’s something he can only do when under extreme mental duress

oh wait, never mind, I scrolled a bit further down and it seems like his mom is still alive. I guess that was Hana he was reaching out towards there. anyways so here’s his mom’s horrified face again

actually, wait. before we click to the next page, let me go back to the four panels right above these, because this is actually really interesting and deserves more analysis

I really like this actually. Horikoshi acknowledging that even though his mother and grandparents were very kind and loving, they were still complicit in his suffering in a way because they knew what was going on, and they let it happen. this is actually huge, and I’m really grateful to Horikoshi for calling attention to it and pointing out how damaging that was. I’m actually very pleasantly surprised to see it acknowledged

but maybe I shouldn’t be, because this is after all something that’s very important to the story’s themes of heroism. my thoughts immediately ran to Horikoshi’s own favorite hero, Spider-Man, and the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing. if someone needs help, and you’re in a position where you could do something but you choose to not take action, then you do bear some responsibility for what follows. “when you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you”

just, this is a theme that has always resonated with me, and one of the most important themes of hero stories in general. and obviously I’m not saying Tenko’s mom and grandparents are in any way bad people, or that what happened is their fault, because it’s not! but all the same they could have done something and they didn’t, and if you were to ask me what I think is the most essential, defining aspect of what makes someone a hero, I would say it’s that. the difference between stepping in, and not stepping in. if you were to boil it down to one single point, that would be it. a hero is someone who helps

anyway. so I really like that. maybe I won’t send this chapter back after all

OR MAYBE I WILL AND NEVER FUCKING MIND!! I DON’T!! FEEL SO GOOD!! MR. STARK!!

holy shit you guys. I have no words. somewhere the person who wrote Mufasa’s death scene is taking notes. the person who wrote Littlefoot’s mom’s death is shook. the person who wrote Bambi’s mom’s death is rubbing their chin and thinking, “honestly mine is still more traumatizing, but I can still respect that”

meanwhile I, a millennial forged in the ashes of all of those childhood-defining fictional tragedies, am going to just suck it up and move on because fuck. my whole life has been preparing me for this day

oh my fucking god

fuck me why did I laugh. I fucking lost it just now. fucking gallows humor, idk

just. his entire family is being blown to little bits in the backyard, and Kotaro cracks open his fucking door and peers his head out like “hmm I thought I heard something just now. hey, where is everyone. did I miss something.” no you didn’t miss anything Kotaro, go back inside

he looks like a kid who’s not sure if he just heard the ice cream man driving by

sob. “better go investigate”

look what happened while you were taking your fucking nap, Kotaro. JUST LOOK! your son disintegrated your whole entire family and uprooted a fucking tree somehow. jesus christ

you know, the irony is I bet you that despite all of his hang-ups, he’s probably thinking “okay maybe a hero would come in fucking handy right about now”

oh shit

“you think this is a fucking joke?!” Horikoshi screams, shoving this page in my face. “you’re just going to sit there and keep making your cute little remarks?? A FAMILY IS DEAD!!” okay jeez I get it fuck

oh no, oh shit for real though I can’t

he’s so scared and traumatized and now he knows, he knows it was him who did it and he can’t bear it, and even though he hates his dad, he’s still his dad, and he’s terrified and looking for comfort from anyone at this point oh god

and for Kotaro to see his son like this, and the rest of his family dead in such a horrifying way! just!!

and fuck me, because if he reaches out to try and comfort him, if he ends up dying because his better instincts finally take over now of all fucking times; if he tries to help and Tenko knows what’s going to happen when they touch and tries to stop him but can’t...

okay but what

Tenko’s quirk is really behaving strangely though. like this is ridiculous. at this rate he’s gonna take the whole house down with him

also there’s no way all of the neighbors just sat by all la dee da and didn’t go to investigate afterwards. 100% AFO had a hand in all this. shit

now also feels like a good time to point out, before we wrap this all up, that with Kotaro being the only one still alive now, there is no one around to shout “Tenko, no...!” when that hand is reaching out to his forehead. so I’m very curious to see how Horikoshi plays this out, because now more than ever I’m suspecting that the altered memory theory is really true

(ETA: well. shit.)

anyway, so now what looks like a tree pruner is just randomly falling into Kotaro’s hands, for some reason. just like we all expected

of all the ways I imagined this actually playing out, this was not one of them

hmm, interesting

so did he disintegrate the pruner and then get pissed at his dad thinking he was trying to hurt him again? and then instinct just took over? guess we’re about to see

oh SHIT!!!

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

just, imagine like another 7 paragraphs of me just typing out “shit” over and over again. I don’t feel like actually doing it, but that’s basically an accurate summation of my thought process right now

I bet even AFO wasn’t expecting that. I picture him whistling softly from his hiding place nearby, watching all of this go down and making that excited Andy Dwyer face to nobody in particular

holy fucking shit, holy hell

guys I just decided this is actually my favorite villain origin story of all time. just like that. holy shit. this page though

okay you know what, let me just finish this up, and then I’ll try to sort out all of my messed up feelings. one more page to go I think. probably his hair turning white

why didn’t his hair turn white. Horikoshi you’re such a fucking troll

(ETA: or did it start to change though?? it’s really hard to tell with the shading on this page tbh. but it does seem to be lighter than his shirt, and closer to the shade of his pants instead. but I can’t tell if that’s just due to the lighting here or not. anyways.)

anyways, wow. so that’s the end. let me just sit down here for a moment and try to process this

that page, though. that mental break. the idea of him being so overwhelmed by the pain and trauma of what just happened that when his dad shows up and tries (from his perspective) to hurt him again, his mind just goes !! and snaps and goes “you know what, this is better, let’s just reframe all this shit to make it a good thing so that we can cope, because to hell with that. big fat nope to the alternative, right there! yeah no thanks we are not going to do that”

and him realizing that he finally has the power to stand up to his father and stop him from hurting him. and probably a part of him is also irrationally blaming his dad for being the reason this all happened, because it’s much easier to assign blame to something tangible here, rather than it all being a freak tragic accident that no one could have prevented. (or worse, his own fault. which it isn’t, but I’m sure he subconsciously blames himself regardless, so)

and even better if the person to blame is someone you already hated. so yes, that’s much better, let’s just do that

and that whole “somewhere deep in my heart” thing, I don’t buy that for a second to be honest. but I do believe that he believes that. that for his own self-preservation he desperately latched on to this idea and convinced himself that he’d wanted this all along. that it felt good. fine, then, I’ll become a monster to save myself

I keep going back to look at his face, though. and just. holy shit. if you’d told me a week ago or even five minutes ago that Horikoshi would write out the entire thing, all of it, in all of its sickeningly detailed glory, that he would just say “fuck it” and go all out, and that I would go from “take it back” to “okay I’ll allow it” to “you can pry this incredibly fucked up chapter out of my cold dead hands” in the span of three pages, I would have thought you were insane. and yet here we are. and it is insane. and I’m fairly disturbed by my own heel-turn here actually, but I can’t deny it though

just, shit. that was so good. I’m blown away by how good that was. Deku, stop looking at me like that

you know what, you don’t get to judge me, kid, okay. shut up

anyway guys, so that was one hell of a ride. I learned some things about myself, like that I will follow this maniac of a mangaka into much deeper and more fucked up chasms than I ever expected. and Tomura learned some things about himself, and I have a lot of Concerns about those things, but I guess that’ll just have to wait until next week! all the best until then, everyone

[marshmallowprotection]

idk if you actually awnsered something like this before, but,, is becoming a vampire painful? does it hurt? how long does it take, and how does it change the body? i'm sorry if this had already been asked but i'm a huge nerd for lore like that, and i'm very curious to see your interpritation of the whole ordeal.

Kay so, Vampires are my favorite supernatural creatures and I’ve read a million books that have very different interpretations of them. 

There are a lot of darker takes on them and there are some more light-hearted takes. It just depends on the context of the story you want to spin. There are vampires who transform seamlessly and quickly as if by magic, there are those vampires that take days to weeks to fully transform from living to undead, and there are some vampires who are born that way. 

There are folk tales from all over the world and they all manifest in different forms. I could probably talk for a while and a lot about all the different kinds, although, I’m very partial to the Romanian mythos just because their take on a lot of mythical creatures can be pretty wild. But I digress. The method and means of which it occurs vary. 

If I were going to sit down and make a real short-form fanfiction out of the Vampire AU that I’ve been writing about today, it would be a blend of different elements. 

For this, in this AU, we’ll say that the method in which a vampire is created can happen in one of two ways, but we’ll stick with the most common one here: You drink a human nearly dry of blood and inject your venom enough to stimulate the transformation, or you drink a human enough that they’re out of it. Venom is a common thing with most vampires in fiction, so, it’s easy to go with that. It can be intoxicatingly overwhelming for a human victim, it’s pain and euphoria, but mainly there’s a lot of burning pain that can’t seem to stop. 

The transformation does a lot to the human body. Every wound that may have been inflicted on the body right before the transformation will be healed during the time of the transformation. However, as this is happening, the person is in an extreme amount of duress that they cannot do anything about. As their body cycles through life and death, the muscles and bone tighten, a false state of rigor mortis will overtake the body. Depending on how badly the human was injured before they were bitten, the longer it will take for the body to heal and completely transform. 

For some, it takes a few days, for others, a few weeks. When they awaken from the pain and fog that has plagued them, they will find they are thirsty. It’s stronger then the thirst you may feel when you are in the dry heat for too long without a bottle of water. Your throat burns, your mouth aches, and all you can think about is making that. pain. stop. It hurts and it burns. 

The only thing that can fix that is blood. 

They will find that their bodies are far more capable of producing pain and receiving it. I think vampires to be strong with hysterical strength, they can do things humans cannot and their healing factor is so great that they’re constantly healing the damage they inflict if bad enough. 

However, these vampires are also bound by certain laws. They cannot walk on holy ground, meaning they can’t come close to any churches, and religious imagery will ward them away, or burn them. Holy water and crosses are mainly the issues, but not much else. They also cannot venture into the sunlight. It will turn them to ash if they are out in the open for longer then five minutes. They will retain the looks they had when they were alive at the time of their undead transformation. 

I’m also toying with the idea of extra abilities manifesting in vampires, such as special powers that only appear in a handful of people who transform. But that’s not a big deal. 

So, basically, when say, Saeran is transformed, he goes through a painful cycle he goes through all of these horrid feelings only to come out on the other side after all of that pain and burning to feel this thirst he cannot control. Newborn vampires are the strongest creatures. If you can’t get them the blood they need fast enough, it will not end well for humans in the area. 

It’s a long, physically torturing process. But, when faced with the prospects of that or losing the ones you love forever... it’s a hard thought and choice to stomach. I hope this makes sense I kind of got sidetracked and just went a tangent there. 

[wanderingspacedragon]

Rey’s Shadow

Let’s roll out the ol’ crystal ball and see if we can unfog the future for Episode IX.

This time let’s look at what we may expect for Rey and where her arc may go.

Remember this is all speculation and just for fun. If you like speculating and predicting on next Star Wars film, more is below the cut.

Rey has been a bit harder for me to nail down on what might happen for her in the next film, but after some digging and re-reading of some storytelling motifs I think I’ve got a clue on what to expect next.

So a storytelling trope that is very important in Star Wars is Facing and Integrating The Shadow or just the Shadow Archetype. It's the part of the personality that embodies everything a character doesn't like about themselves/fears about themselves. It is the things they, often subconsciously, deny about themselves and project onto others. The more the Shadow has been repressed, the more powerful it becomes. This comes from Carl Jung and his psychological theory, but we are going to use it for its story writing means. Guess who also used these theories? Joseph Campbell.

And George Lucas was heavily inspired by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero Journey. By looking into these we can see the framework of the Star Wars Saga.

Let’s take a look at past Shadow Archetypes in Star Wars. We’ll start with the OT. In this the Shadow has a personification in the form of Darth Vader. He is a powerful force user that, opposite of Luke, is angry, cold, and full of hatred. These are emotions and things that Luke tries to repress in himself because he fears them and can’t accept they are part of himself. In Empire Strikes Back, Luke has a vision in the Dark Side cave on Dagobah that spells this out and also is a bit of warning if he follows through in repressing/killing the Shadow.

The Vision has Luke facing off with Darth Vader and striking him down, only to reveal that under the mask is his own face. In Return of The Jedi, Luke is brought before the Emperor who tries to get  Luke to give into his Shadow Self and act out on those feelings, knowing that if he does kill his own father that he would fall to the Dark Side. It symbolizes that trying to kill your dark side will only make it grow larger and eventually eat you whole.

That is what happened to Anakin. In the PT era Anakin’s Shadow took in form of Darth Maul (Rage, Vengeance, and Wrath), Count Dooku (Arrogance and Self-Superiority), and General Grievous (Power-hungry and willingness to sacrifice one's own ‘humanity’ to gain power). They represented all the parts that Anakin tried to repress in himself. It's what the Jedi Order taught him to do and since these shadows were killed off instead of integrated, a larger Shadow emerged in the form of Darth Vader. What is interesting about the Prequels is the Shadow isn’t just Anakin’s, but the Jedi as a whole. This is the imbalance in the Force. The Jedi’s solution to the Sith and the Dark Side was to destroy it, not realizing that by trying to repress and erase they were just making it stronger. It is by Revenge of The Sith that all of these Shadows have been killed that the new one forms in Anakin as he is pushed to extreme decisions all cause no one wants to address the issues of detachment, obsessive love, anger, arrogance, fear, and the hunger for power. Thus a new monster is born. The Shadow will eat you if you do not accept it and properly manage it.

Now I’m going to spoil a movie here, so fair warning I’m going to talk about the movie The Babadook, a horror movie about a single mother and her child with behavioral issues. It’s more than that, but if you don’t want to be spoiled here’s your chance to skip over this part. I’m going to go over the story and how it all relates to dealing with the Shadow Self.

* * * * *

“There’s just NO WAY your OFF the HOOK

If you’re ALL GROWN UP

When you read this book.

And you snub your nose

With a civilized look…

You’ll appeal EVEN MORE

to the BIG BABADOOK.

And this is what he’ll say…

‘I’ll WAGER with YOU

I’LL MAKE you a BET

ThE MORE you DENY me

The STRONGER I GET.

You’ll then be my PUPPET, my plaything, my PET

I’ll MAKE you DO THINGS

You’ll be SURE to REGRET,”

-Limited Edition Mister Babadook pop-up book

Okay so in the Babadook the whole movie is about how this woman is not dealing with her Shadow Self and how it becomes almost a physical monster that terrorizes her and her son. Her husband was tragically killed in a car accident while driving her to the hospital while she was in labor. She does not celebrate her son’s birthday because it reminds her of her husband’s passing. She’s stuck in a job that she doesn’t want to do (she really wants to be a children’s book writer) and she has not be able to move on relationship wise. Her son and everything in her life has trapped her in this loop of the past in a way. When she reads a book called Mister Babadook, to her son before bed, everything in her life becomes worse and a monster seems to be stalking them. The book is scary and as it says in the book, “If it’s in a word, or it’s in a look. You can’t get rid of the Babadook.”

This book is an invitation and brings in the Babadook first by the paranoia of her son and then the mother starts seeing the Babadook. She keeps trying to repress her Shadow Self, which is the grief of losing her husband, the resentment she feels toward her own child, feeling trapped and angry over how her life is going. She keeps trying to deny and repress these feelings and thus trying to hid and get rid the Babadook. It gets so bad that the Babadook actually possesses her and she almost acts out the scenes in the book and nearly kills her own son. But his love for her is what finally snaps her out of it and she is able to control the Babadook. It’s never gone as the end of the movie shows. It now lives in their basement, but she addresses it and feeds it. And thus she can finally live a bit more peaceful and happier life.

“Whether adult or child, best give me a HOME.

Put the welcome mat out, with a room of my OWN.

And accept that I’m here and from YOU

I have grown

Keep me smaller in size,

I might leave you alone.”

-Limited Edition Mister Babadook pop-up book

* * * * *

You can’t kill the Shadow, but you can control and manage it. That is what integrating the Shadow means. It doesn’t mean giving into your impulses and bad feelings, but acknowledging them so you can control them. The Babadook is seriously a good movie, but it is terrifying. Psychological horror heavily relies on the darkness that resides in ourselves and what we try to deny feeling. These are some of my favorite kind of horror movies because they are the ones that last by lurking in your own psyche. Tragedies and Horror usually has the failing of integrating the Shadow thus the sad/terrifying conclusion. It’s scary even if the monster is defeated because we know that it could come back at any time.

Now to the ST era and what to expect of Rey and dealing with her Shadow. Well what is her shadow? Personified it’s obviously Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren is rage, the feeling of abandonment, self loathing, and feeling like you are the Monster.

These are things Rey fears about herself and has denied herself feeling so far. She was abandoned by her parents, but she lives in denial, hoping they will return for her one day. It’s why she keeps the hairstyle she’s had since she was little, in hopes they would recognize her. Why in The Force Awakens she keeps wanting to go back to Jakku and wait for them. If she was to move on then that would mean she would have to finally accept the truth. That she was sold off and left in indentured servitude to Unkar Plutt.

Now we have seen hints of Rage and maybe even the scary thought of a Monster in her. In The Force Awakens we see this darker side as she fought with Kylo Ren in the snow forest. She got the upper hand and had even knocked him to the ground. While on the ground she approached and seemed ready to strike at him after she already disarmed him, but the earth opened up separating them by a rift.

Wait a minute...this gif is right before the ground breaks apart preventing her from completing that swing.

ooooooohhhhh... *wink wink* Rey’s dark side showing just like Luke’s was.

In The Last Jedi, Rey seeks training from Luke. As she says “Something inside me has always been there...but now it's awake, and I'm afraid. I don't know what it is, or what to do with it, but I need help.” She’s afraid of this power. Why? She also seems to be drawn to the dark side and even spooks Luke because of her power and her willingness to explore the dark side sea cave.

This makes me speculate there is more to Rey’s past and we are going to find it out in Ep IX. And I don’t mean that her parents were anyone we actually know. I think a lot of audience aren’t getting that point. The point is they weren’t special people and they were in fact awful. Sold her off for drinking money and then left...But apparently they are dead in the Jakku desert... Which is strange cause that contradicts the vision Rey had in TFA where we see her as a child screaming  “Come Back!” to a ship that is taking off. How can both be true? Well I don’t think Kylo Ren is lying. The thing about the Shadow is that it tells the protagonist what they deny and don’t WANT to be true, but is the truth nonetheless. Remember Vader telling Luke he was his father. There were several audience members after ESB that thought Vader had to be lying because that seemed too awful for Luke. Same for Rey. It’s the Truth she has to hear but does not want to accept.

But the vision? How can both be true? Well I think we’ll find out that Rey as a child may have accidentally killed her own parents. As she said she’s had this inside her that’s always been there but only recently is now awake. What if it woke up before during a time of duress and in an attempt to bring her parents back, accidentally blowing up their ship as it was leaving.

That would both explain the Vision and what Kylo told her. It would explain why she’s afraid of this power she has and why she’s drawn to the Dark Side. The final truth she has to accept about herself and what she will have to face in the next film. This might be what brings her to that Dark Side’s edge and she’ll have to decide if she gives into it or learns to integrate with with Shadow. And remember the lesson in Star Wars, killing the Shadow only means that it will come back in either yourself or someone in your group. So if Rey actually kills Kylo Ren in Episode 9 then she may fall to the Dark side or cause a greater Shadow to emerge.

But I am 99.9% sure they are not going to have a tragedy or a horror movie for the ending of the freakin’ Skywalker Saga. Heck the fact that Vader dies in ROTJ could be the reason another Shadow emerges for the Sequel Trilogy and the purpose of this trilogy is to finally have a true integration of the the Shadow. There has to be a proper integration that gets expanded for the whole story’s universe. Balancing the Force.

So yeah I could go further into other Archetypes and who they are in the ST which would be fascinating, but this is already very long so with that it will have to be another time.

And remember…

“If it’s in a word, or it’s in a look. You can’t get rid of the Babadook.”

[kudalyn]

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT. Oh poor Atem my heart was already bleeding for the little bugger. I'm an absolute sap for self-doubting, self-bashing Atem for some reason. And THIS IS ME TOTALLY ASKING FOR MORE. How do Yugi and Atem become lovers? I bet Atem does some more self-angst stuff when he wakes up right? And how do they meet Jou and Ryou? What do they do make a living? What's their cover? So can Atem transform into multiple things or just Zorc-esque? Wahhhh so many questions.

Thank you for your patience!! I don’t always have the energy to answer messages right away so sorry this is late >w

A bit more chatlog copypaste and other stuff:

Atem and Yugi’s romance takes some time to fully bloom. They’ve had a mutual attraction for a long time, but many things (atem’s bad self-esteem and yugi’s hesitance) get in the way of it, and the stress of having to be on the lam doesn’t give much room for that to grow

a mutual deep respect and endless loyalty to each other, yes, but romance not so much. Plus Atem learning he’s a walking magic bomb and Yugi having to work double time in keeping the both of them cloaked while Atem’s untrained magical signature is a giant ass beacon of HEY COME GET ME doesn’t help atem’s self-image. 

They end up fleeing the country, moving to a more sparce and less magic-focused country that’s more of a neutral ground than anything, so it’s a bit safer for them to hide out in. They spend a lot of time, some months at least constantly on the move till they find a nondescript town deep in the middle of the neutral country and settle down in an abandoned shack in the surrounding forest. (they clean it up surprisingly well)

atem feels utterly disgraced and distraught that this happened and that yugi's putting himself in danger for him, and many times tries to convince yugi to go back and plead insanity or something. yugi refuses, saying he'll never leave atem alone again when he needs him so badly.

so atem does his best to learn quickly from yugi, but on-the-run teaching isn’t the most thorough way, though Atem does learn best being shown and when under duress/challenge. Its difficult because yugi's not experienced with teaching and atem's magic works differently than his. students usually get teachers that are more experienced with their specific type of magic for ease of teaching.

atem is a fast learner though, and stubborn as fuck, and learns well enough to be able to control his magic enough it's not a danger.  though it has different skills and uses than yugi's does. it gets to the point that it's dangerous for either of them to be seen as they are, and while yugi gets skilled at disguise magic, it's not in atem's skillset and disguising for two is very draining.

So, in a fit of crazyness (as yugi called it) and late night reading, atem gets a brilliant(?) idea. he tells yugi to make him his familiar

familiars are usually made between a non-human magical entity and a humanoid, and demons fall under that non-human entity category

and atem is a demon conduit. he thinks its brilliant! familiar owners can change their familiars form at will, familiars can hide in their owner's shadows, and the owners can forcefully command the familiar in dire situations. if atem ever loses it again (something he’s terrified of doing though while he has had some close calls he hasn’t had any relapses in his training) yugi can just tell him to stop! yugi thinks he's mad - familiar contracts are not only very binding, they've never been recorded happening between two humanoids, let alone a conduit, and demon familiar contracts are tricky and can backfire.

atem insists, he'd never set any contract lines that would hurt yugi, he's loyal as fuck, and he admits that if capable he'd willingly spend the rest of his life serving yugi. not exactly a declaration of love, but yugi understands what more or less what he means

yugi's overwhelmed, tells atem he needs to think on it. atem thinks he's fucked up in more ways than one, and they have a day or two of awkwardness but yugi eventually concedes, saying that while it is very clever, it is also very dangerous. but he wants atem to be safe, and he too wants to spend his life with atem - he just didn't see it ever happening like this. something atem gets depressed over momentarily before yugi snaps him out of it and says he will never regret making his decision to save atem

they make the contract, magical circle and all, and while the magic goes a bit dodgy for a bit, it ends up working out - but with the unrealized side effect of the two of them being able to speak/see each others thoughts via soul link

atem as an awakened demon conduit had always been hyper attuned to human's emotions and feelings, being able to smell and feel them himself, but this was a whole new step. and yugi not being alone in his head was very jarring

it puts a lot of stress on them, along with learning how the contract works - if yugi asks atem to do something, if he doesn't word it carefully it comes out as a command Atem is compelled to do forcefully

like 'atem, shut up' becomes literal even if it was meant jokingly.

he learns to use nicknames more often, but atem does enjoy the nickname yugi gave him as a kid so he doesn't mind, and he knows the command could be useful in a pinch (or bad for him if yugi is in danger and forces atem to leave, but he makes yugi swear he'd never do something like that - atem knows he's probably fibbing but its the best he can do)

another thing is atem learning to live in yugi's shadow if need be, but he hardly uses it, yugi usually transforms atem into a dark dark red cat with some gold stripes, so atem can sit on his shoulder as he goes out and about so yugi only has to disguise himself, and its easier to hide one person in a crowd instead of two

also in times like that the mental link comes in very handy, but it still takes time for them to learn how to block each other off from the others minds for privacy or other stuff. they eventually get comfortable enough being pretty open with their thoughts, but that takes a while.

-----

I’ve thought a bit on it and it’s a bit hard to decide, but I think what’ll happen is that while Anzu will be someone Yugi used to be friends with back at their old village and left behind sadly, Jou and Ryou will be two villagers living in the new town. they end up becoming friends, but friends with ‘not-Yugi’ or the disguise Yugi puts up when he goes to town. They know there’d be less of a chance of them being recognized in a different country, specially just Yugi on his own, but they don’t wanna risk it. 

I think eventually yugi and atem will reveal themselves when jou and ryou prove loyal friends, but it’d be some time before they do that. For the longest time, jou and ryou just think yugi’s this eccentric magic collector who talks far too much to his cat.

Yugi and atem will make some living doing small magic practices, ending up being mostly an apothecary than anything else because it’s simple and unobtrusive and living in the forest gives them lots of supplies. also people in this neutral country trust natural remedies a bit more than straight up magic, though yugi uses it while making any potions or poultices to make them more effective. Atem with his great memory and quick thinking ends up being a walking library, (not literally) devouring any book he comes across and collecting an even larger mental catalog than Yugi does. he swears his reading is just a past-time but yugi knows better. 

they do sometimes like small bounties or clearing out any dangerous magical critters from the surrounding area but they do it quietly and under disguise to keep things safe. 

One of Atem’s new skills turns out to be shape-shifting of some amount (separate from the shape-shifting that comes with his familiar status under Yugi)

Mainly he has to retain some sort of bipedal form, but he can add and retract wings, a tail, horns, scales and claws and other such details. He avoids anything hulking and monstrous like what Zorc forced him into in his awakening, choosing to always keep his human face and general form. His shapeshifting prerequisites are horns, claws, and some form of tail no matter how hard he tries to keep the tail from growing. That’s when his nub tail makes its most usual appearance, the shortest he can get away with (yugi loves it)

He can do some digitgrade-ness, or specific amplification like giant yaoi hand claws and stuff for offence if need be. he can’t like breathe fire or anything easily cause it requires more amplification to his body than he likes (his face/throat/chest) but if need be he’ll use it. The wings he’s never super fond of because he doesnt quite like the feel of multiple limbs he has to keep track of and coordinate, but Yugi convinces him to at least learn how to use them in case they ever need to use them. He’s glad that he can go without them. 

In any of his altered forms his speed and strength is greatly intensified, as are his senses. the more he allows himself to shift away from human the more intense his demonic urges are (aggression, hunger for magical power, general nasty emotions and urges) so he sticks to as human as possible at all times. When he’s loafing around at home with Yugi he’s rarely in any altered form unless he’s feeling in a particularly good mood (self-confident) and he allows himself to be more open. 

Also: Atem has a heck of a time trying to control his vices. His main one is gambling, though he manages to get his minor drinking problem under control with yugi’s help. Gambling is something that he just can’t seem to get rid of, but Yugi helps by setting safer stakes and bets for him to get his high off of, plus Yugi himself enjoys a good game and is a good opponent for Atem always.

So, I think this is the most of what I have so far for this au. I’d love to write it up one day, but it’ll have to wait ;v;

thank u for ur love!! feel free to ask me more stuff if you’re still curious, gives me more excuses to do worldbuilding. o/

[first-interplanar-bank]

Kingdom Hearts III Pt. 1

So, I'm laying in bed trying to sleep. But I guess my brain decided I haven't whined about Kingdom Hearts III to enough people. This is my one and only warning, if you don't want to hear some random loser's thoughts on the game, now is a good time to leave.

Alright, let’s start at the beginning. I would just like to state for the record that my expectations going into this were low.

Opening Cutscene

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this. It’s more or less like every other Kingdom Hearts opening, except with far more Skrillex than I would ever care to have. In any situation. But especially in Kingdom Hearts.

1st World - Olympus

After the opening, you’re sent through the usual yada yada in the land of awakening, or whatever it’s actually called. I can never remember. Anyway, Now we join Sora and the squad right where Dream Drop Distance left us. Kind of a strange place to start, considering it establishes the precedent that this $60 standalone game now needs to recap a whole second game without being too heavy handed about it in order to be well written. But oh no! Sora has lost all his powers in a Nort related incident. Whatever shall he and the squad do? Good thing they saw Herc lose his powers back in Kingdom Hearts II. 

Off we go to Olympus!.... As we’re greeted by a pseudo-title card that says “Kingdom Hearts II.9″. The crew lands on Olympus proper and proceed to get mildly sassed by Hades, as per usual. So we learn that the world is more or less going to follow a plotline similar to the original Hercules Movie plotline, seems like a plan, since they hadn’t done that in the first two games, or the more than a baker’s dozen spinoff-sequels. So we run around Olympus, knowing Hades is up to something, but Sora needs to find Herc to learn the one weird trick that will give him his powers back. We save Thebes, climb Olympus, fight the rock titan, and at the end we find ourselves on top of Olympus! But Hades is already most of the way through his plot to best the Olympians. But if we can beat one titan, why not three more? Ice wind and lava are no match for Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Herc. After beating the titans into next week, Hades wouldn’t stand a chance, so we don't even fight him. He makes a great meta joke about this plot taking 18 years to come to fruition. I laughed, it’s funny. After all this, we learn that Herc got his powers back by following his heart. Cliché, but the series has made us grow to expect that from it. Acceptable.

Now we return to the Gummi ship. Oh, wait, did I mention that Maleficent and Pete also found their way to Olympus in search of a black box? I did not. Well, remember that, it’s going to be important. (it’s really not, I’m being super sarcastic. My medium betrays my intention) On to the next world!

World #2 - Toy Story

Hey look at us! We’re toys!!!! I actually really like the story and the hook that they present us with here; turns out most of the other toys, people, and everything in between have disappeared. Buzz and Woody, along with their pals have been waiting in Andy’s room for Andy to finally return to them. It takes Sora showing up to convince these guys to tag along to try and find out what happened. The adventure takes the toy crew to a nearby toy store, where the heartless follow. This leads to the only obvious conclusion, Mecha Fights! It’s awesome. So after Mecha fighting some heartless and rescuing the more defenseless friends of Woody and Buzz, you see the face of true terror.

That. The most terrifying thing I have ever seen. You defeat the heartless doll, but it will never be defeated in your nightmares. Turns out, Organization XIII is here on some business. Of course. So you go to confront Young Xehanort (AKA Xehanort, Punk Ass Bitch edition) from Dream Drop Distance not knowing what you’re getting into. He does some heart magic to turn Buzz against the rest of us. Also, he knock Sora into a different video game so this can happen. When Sora re-emerges, Buzz is gone, and you gotta rescue him. You succeed, Xehanort claims he hasn’t been thwarted. Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the toys agree that they’re going to go wait things out back in Andy’s room, and never do this again. The End. I really didn’t know what to do with the end bit there. This was one of the worlds I enjoyed more so I didn't have much to say aside from recapping it.

3. Tangled World

(When I was going over all this in my head ,I literally forgot this world for a good five minutes.) Ah, Tangled, a movie that could obviously only be improved by the inclusion of Donald Duck. I jest, but seriously. We arrive in the Kingdom of Corona, where naturally, the dashing rogue, Flynn Rider, is in duress. Heartless made it here before we did. rude. We save Flynn and find our way to Repunzel’s tower. Before Sora and co. arrive, we get to see a loving recreation of Repunzel having Flynn tied to a chair. Though this time Flynn doesn’t just volunteer his services, he signs Sora Donald and Goofy up for the journey. After ironing out the details, the crew leaves the tower and heads toward the kingdom for the festival. We get to see Repunzel discover the world. She’s torn. She’s happy, she’s sad, she’s bewildered, she’s mortified, Goofy is there. Just how I remember it. Somewhere along the road, Sora’s squad gets separated from Repunzel and her bae, Zachary Levi.

While separated, Sora meets Mother Gothel, which as the player we just saw her leave an unscheduled meeting with Organization XIII. Sora can’t tell her where Repunzel is, so she leaves in a huff. Sora squad finally catches up to the lovey-dovey duo as we close in on the kingdom proper. We make it to the kingdom and are greeted by a wonderful... quick-time dancing minigame. We kick that minigames ass and time flashes forward to the night, when the festival is happening! Woohoo, excitement! We proceed to watch a 10-minute clip straight from the movie, except Ron Perlman has been replaced by Marluxia and some heartless. Sora and his gang arrive just in time to see Repunzel being whisked away back to the tower by Mother Gothel. But, it’s too early to save the day and Marluxia pops out and tells Sora to sleep. Sora winks, finger guns, and collapses to the ground like a sack of wet potatoes. Marluxia may have mentioned something about seven new hearts of light first, but whatever, that’s only plot relevant. When Sora stops cat napping, Flynn is ready to save Repunzel! The crew makes it to the tower in time for Flynn Rider to get stabbed and to see the moving scene with him probably dying and Repunzel necromancing him. But lo and behold! This is Kingdom Hearts! When Mother Gothel fell out the tower window, she gets Heartlessed by Marluxia. You kill her a second time. The End, Happily ever after.

Number 4 - Twilight Town

Uh, yeah. Something about Roxas.

 Hayner, Pence, and Olette (I looked it up, you legally have to order their names that way) try to remember something that only vaguely happened to them in another life they don’t remember happening at all. I’m really not sure I remember anything else relevant happening here at all?

That’ll wrap up part 1. I think I’ve gotten enough of this out to finally sleep. Hell, if people enjoy it I may even continue it. It turned into more of a summary than I expected but I think most of my thoughts on the game spring to life in the last two thirds. Anywho. Hope you enjoyed.

[mo-art-please]

Bound by Steel : Chapter 2

Title: Bound by Steel Type: Fanfiction Characters: Vegeta and Bulma Rating: R (violence, language, sex, drugs and alcohol use) Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, I just love to either draw or write about them  Chapter Two Chapter 2

The hot steam enveloped the room as Bulma dumped another bucket of hot water over Princess Chichi and continued to scrub the dirt off the young woman. Bulma had figured out who she was quite quickly after speaking those few words with Prince Vegeta. It made since that she would be the Human Princess since Vegeta had no real use for anyone or anything weaker than even the lowest Oni Demon race and definitely not humans. So, this was it, Vegeta and the Saiyan race were actually doing it; they were fighting back against the most powerful Oni race known to Terra, Icejins. How many times had Vegeta and her had secretly schemed and fantasied about Freeza’s death; the demon who held their freedom and free will in his hands.

“Owe! You’re scrubbing too hard!” the Princess’ voice brought Bulma back from her thoughts. Bulma blinked and smiled politely despite wanting to roll her eyes. She had to remember this girl was not brought up and raised in the midst of war and battle. She had no doubt lived a sheltered life where everything had been handed to her on a silver platter instead of earned through fighting and killing.

“Forgive me your Majesty, sometimes I don’t know my own strength. Are you feeling refreshed?” Bulma pulled out a large fluffy towel and wrapped it around the young woman. She could see why Goku seemed to have an eye for her, the Princess was beautiful in a humanistic way. Goku always had a soft spot for the underdogs, the weak and helpless.

“How do you know who I am?” Chichi asked under wet bangs and looked at Bulma quizzically. Bulma just smiled slightly and tapped her temple with her finger.

“No worries Princess, I’m just good at putting two plus two together. I’m also more informed about the world around me than the Prince would let you believe.” Bulma stood up from the side of the tub and straightened her clothing. “I have brought you a kimono to wear while I repair yours, please make yourself comfortable while you stay here my Lady. My doors and home are opened to you.” Bulma bowed with her words and left the bathroom, leaving the Princess to dress.

Bulma walked down the hallway quietly her body automatically pinpointing Vegeta’s aura and seeking it out. She exited the back of her shrine and entered her cherry blossom garden and traveled down the stone path until she found what she was looking for. There, in front of her, Vegeta was waist deep in one of her Koi pounds scrubbing himself with a washcloth.

“You do realize I have a tub in my house do you not?” Bulma questioned while crossing her arms across her chest. Vegeta’s back tightened but he did not turn around. She had no doubt he knew she had come up behind him but decided he would ignore her. Typical Vegeta, ignore the annoying and it will ‘go away’. It hardly worked but it seemed like he still used that technique.

“I’m not bathing after a human,” Vegeta snorted and Bulma rolled her eyes.

“So you rather bathe in a cold pond? That’s very Princely of you.” Vegeta just shrugged his large scarred shoulders and continued to scrub his chest.

“I hope you aren’t killing my Koi, it takes a long time for them to get that large.”

“I suppose six years.

“That’s not fair, Vegeta, and you know that. I had to leave, Vegeta, I couldn’t do it anymore. The mindless killing…. Men, women, children. Entire towns wiped out just because we were told to? I just couldn’t take it anymore; my conscience couldn’t take it. I was losing myself to the blood lust and then the depression afterwards. You know what it can do to people; it destroys them from the inside out. My Oni blood wasn’t able to keep up. So, I saved up my coin and bought my freedom. I tried to buy yours but you wouldn’t leave…

Vegeta whipped around to look at Bulma standing behind him with a look of hurt and duress across her face. Good, maybe she could feel an ounce of pain that he had to go through. He narrowed his eyes and then threw the cloth he had been using to wash the dirt off him to the side. “What did you want me to do Woman? Huh? Did you want me to leave Nappa, Radditz, and Kakarrot behind as we run off hands free of them? Huh? Did you want me to have that weighing on my conscience as you got to play ‘house’ here with me?”

The look of hurt on Bulma’s face was raw and real. But Vegeta wasn’t done. “And what do you want from me now? Do you want me to feel sorry for you? To pretend what happened didn’t? To forgive you for leaving?”

” Yes! That’s what I want! I want you to stop hating me for something you were just as equal apart of as I was! I offered you freedom too! I saved for both of us!” Bulma threw her hands up over her head and began to pace. “I wrote you, time and time again once I was free, and you never answered a single letter. Even after you left Freeza you never once tried to contact me, to come find me. We planned it, Vegeta, you were suppose to come here when you were released and we were to be family.”

” What about my duties?! Huh?! Was I to forget them? Just drop everything to come here? I’m a Prince, Bulma, I don’t have the luxury to just run off and hide from the world like you! I have obligations to keep. I have honor!” Vegeta raised his voice to a harsh whisper as they argued quietly between each other. It wouldn’t do any good for anyone else to hear them.

” Honor? Honor?! You speak of honor for a Country that sold you into servitude to a monster? You don’t owe them a thing. It’s not honor but Pride that has you dancing to your own peoples’ tune and to a Father that sold his son out to keep his own head.”

“Quiet Woman, you are treading on thin ice here. If I was not put into servitude to the Icejin race, Vegeta-Sai would have been attacked and in their current state we might have been wiped out. The contract with Freeza was to buy time to build our armies and give me inside intelligence of our enemy. So, watch what you say about the Saiyan Empire.”

“Fine, Vegeta, fine. Whatever helps you sleep at night. So while you are playing Prince, Commander of the Saiyan Army, and future King your mate has been living alone, waiting to hear from her husband. Yeah that’s real honor Vegeta… I’m sure any Oni would agree with you on that.” Bulma snidely and sarcastically said in defeat and turned her back to Vegeta wading in the pond.

For so long she had waited for him to come to her. She knew she would never be welcomed in Vegeta-sai. She wasn’t Saiyan and she was a half-breed on top of that but the young Vegeta she knew long ago didn’t care. He had made her his, for now and eternity binding them together in the ways Onis do. Only she could complete his soul, bare his children, and give him true pleasure. But this older Vegeta seemed bound to the destiny to be a King; prideful and cold.

Bulma took a step to leave before she paused. It was a lost cause, he had made his mind and he put his people before her. She would now have to deal with that decision. Obviously, it didn’t bother him as much as it did her. Besides, he had a new flame…. “By the way, congratulations to your engagement. I’m sure her Elite Saiyan blood makes your parents and people proud. From what I hear she’s quite the beauty and strong too. I wonder how long it will take before they realize there will be no heir?”

There was a rush of movement behind her but before she could turn around Vegeta had leaped out of the water and his wet body was pressed firmly against her back. His hands held her arms down and she had to bite her lower lip to keep from yelling out expletives. The heat from his body was immense, she had forgotten how warm he was even when he acted so cold.

“Do you think I care one fucking bit about that woman? It’s my duty, nothing more nothing less.” Vegeta growled deep and low in his throat right by her ear. Bulma’s whole body shivered not only by the contact but from the vibrations of his words. Vegeta’s own body reacted harshly to her presence. He thought he had overcome their bond. He had slept with many women, found some pleasure in their company but nothing like this. Just holding her he could not keep his body from reacting. Even fully clothed he could feel every curve of her body and his body molded and melted into her. He could not contain his excitement and he nestled his hard cock into the soft plush curve of her rear end. It had been a mistake to touch her. He knew it now. It awakened the bond, the need to claim her after so long was almost unbearable. His blood pulsed at a fast rhythm, pounding in his eardrums the demands for sexual gratification, of completion.

“Let go of me before you regret it.” Bulma hissed but instead of sounding angry it came out as a seductive temptation. Vegeta nestled deeper into her, his mouth finding the curve of her neck and hovered there. The urge to bite down and reclaim her was over powering. The need to taste her blood, feel her heart beat, to be a part of her heat pounded loudly in his veins. She was shaking under his grip, her body in tuned with his waiting for that moment where his teeth broke skin and their bond reunited.

Vegeta could not fight it. He never could when it came to Bulma. She was his, always his. His own mind was giving in to the sweet temptation and he placed his hot lips onto her neck. The moan from her lips was like pure ecstasy and he dragged his tongue and teeth across the spot.

“I’m—warn—ing—you,” was all she managed to make out as her hips rocked backwards and stroked along the long hard length of his cock placed right in the crack of her rear.

That was all Vegeta needed. He pushed Bulma hard forward into the brush of a bush to hide them from view and she fell front first onto the ground. She barely had a chance to breathe before he flipped her round to lay on her back and began piling the layers of her kimono up to reach the apex of her thighs.

Bulma didn’t have a chance to say a word or even utter a sound until he rammed himself balls deep into her hot passage. She cried out from the forceful intrusion despite her body always being ready for him but if was muffled by his scorching mouth as it devoured the sound. He thrusted like a man would drink water after walking the desert for weeks and all she could do was cling onto his broad shoulders as he pounded relentlessly bringing them both quickly to a mind-blowing orgasm. Her body shivered in ecstasy around him and his own body shook with the pure unbridled pleasure. ‘This is how it was suppose to feel,’ Vegeta thought as he spilled his boiling seed into her. All those other women, his current fiancé, they felt nothing like this. It was not even a quarter of the pleasure he felt with his mate. He looked down at her finally being able to get some symbolism of control. She was beautiful, her hair had fallen out her bun and sprawled out like a giant blue halo around the most gorgeous face he had ever seen. Her eyes were closed with long black lashes brushing her flushed cheeks. He wanted to see her eyes, wanted her to know it was him, her mate, giving her pleasure. What anger he had, whatever bitterness he held felt like it was miles away now that he had her in his arms again. He would have to make the most of this visit. Bulma could not go back to their old lifestyle. She was too sensitive, too caring to be in a war again. He would take this precious time he had with her and use it until he was exhausted. It was the only way he would be able to leave her. To watch her as he walked out of her life for a second time.

“Bulma…” it was a moan and his hips began rocking into her once more. Her eyes fluttered open and focused on his endlessly deep black eyes. Her mouth parted and he placed his lips over hers to try to keep her from being too loud. He could probably get a couple more orgasms in before the others would notice their disappearance. ***

Bulma cursed at herself the whole time she cooked. Agreeing to make a feast for three hungry Saiyans was one of the worst decisions in her life. She’d be dead from exhaustion before she finished cooking. Or maybe it was exhaustion from her tryst with the Saiyan Prince that made her so tired. After the first flurry of sex he managed to rein himself in and they had long sensual sex for nearly two hours before they heard the others wandering about her home. Which means one thing, they were still bonded. For years, she wondered if maybe her half breeding interfered with their bond but it seemed now that that was not the case. Vegeta’s undying pride and honor did. She should have known, he was always stubborn to a fault but now she knew how much. ‘ Duty she snorted. He believed he was carrying out his duty as a Prince. Bulma suppose she could understand that since it was vengeance, a form of duty, that had her volunteering to join Freeza’s regime many years ago to find the man that murdered her father. And she had, after three years of service, finally did find him and kill him. That’s when she no longer found joy or excitement of mindless killing. Before it was fine, it was practice for the bastard that sunk his blade in her father’s back, but after her revenge she found no joy or amusement of killing for another. She had used Freeza and his army to find that man and once everything was said and done she no longer needed them. Except she had fallen in love with her squad leader and mated with him.

“Are you done yet?” Goku popped his head into the room and his hands quickly found a hot fresh dumpling.

“Get your hands out of there,” Bulma smacked his hand with a wooden spoon, “and yes I’m done. Here,” she handed him plate after plate of food until she could no longer see his face. “Take this out to everyone, I’ll bring the rest.” Bulma sighed as she watched Goku turn and easily walk his way into the dining hall where everyone was sitting crossed legged at the table. Bulma smiled and laid down the last bit of food in front of Vegeta before sitting across from him. She smiled softly to him before bowing to everyone at the table.

“Please, everyone, eat up! I hope you all enjoy”

[ahooge]

Kamen Rider Calliope Myth 1:7

“Odakyuu. I need you to do something for me. I’m gonna ask you to tell me what you know about cyclopses… But I don’t want you to actually tell me everything you know about cyclopses. Do you understand?”

Shoki gave Kaname a disparaging glance before returning his attention to the papers that crowned the pile on the desk before him. “That’s certainly a limiting way to ask for knowledge. What exactly do you want to know about them?”

It was the next day, and Kaname had managed to arrive at the ACRC room even before Shoki. She may or may not still have a class that she was supposed to be currently attending, but saving the campus from a monster-movie reject took priority over any academic-related matters she could think of.

“Like, I dunno, what the deal is with them.”

“What the… deal is?”

“Yeah! Y’know, why they exist. What their strengths and weaknesses are. Best way to kill ‘em. Y’know, the basics.”

Kaname watched Shoki struggle inwardly between ignoring her and focusing on the homework he had in front of him and his deepest natural instincts of curiosity for ancient cultures. She didn’t have a long wait.

“Well, their origins can be drawn from several different sources. Hesiod, Euripides, and Virgil to name a few. However, the most well-known account of these humanoid giants is indisputably from Homer’s Odyssey, in which the titular protagonist Odysseus crosses paths with several cyclopses on his long way back from the Trojan War. There’s plenty of fascinating interactions that take place between the sailors and this race of gargantuan man-eaters, but ultimately the leader of the cyclopses, Polyphemus, has his eye put out by a sharpened stake thrown by Odysseus, and his crew made their escape. Now what’s truly interesting are the other legends that attribute cyclopses as artisans and builders that…”

“I see,” said Kaname, loudly enough to be sure she interrupted Shoki before their opinions further diverged about what was “truly interesting”. “So in the end they basically just… stabbed it in the obvious weak point, huh. Not really sure what else I was expecting.”

“Yes, isn’t myth just fascinating when you assume everything beforehand and refuse elaboration.”

“I got what I needed. Is it really just a sharpened stick, though? Couldn’t that be considered, like… a spear?”

“Sure. People choose to translate the source in different ways. A spear would be an acceptable interpretation in my mind.”

“Good to know. Thanks.” Kaname gave Shoki a genuinely appreciative wave and headed for the door.

“Are you going to confront the monster again?”

Kaname stopped short. “Uhhh… More or less.” She still hadn’t figured out how much Shoki knew, or was supposed to know about the whole Kamen Rider situation. Kaname should probably have been clued into that by now, but it had never really made it into the top three topics of vital conversation between her, Kokonoka and Archimedes in the last couple days. Kaname understood that Arc wanted him to remain in the dark about his own spiritual possession situation, but any further tiptoeing around was more work than Kaname had signed up for.

“So, you saw me yesterday when I was fighting it?”

“I didn’t see the battle, only the results of you losing it. Look, you don’t have to hide anything about that from me; I’ve been privy to information related to the Kamen Rider since Ichiryuu joined the Ancient Cultures Research Club at the beginning of last semester. A lot’s happened since then, but it seems like she values my help. And she is an earnest member of the club as well… So it’s rather a shame to see the state we’re in now.”

Kaname looked around the room. “I mean, it’s not that messy, I’d think with some gasoline and a match or two the junk’ll clear right up…”

“I mean the fact that our club might not be around much longer. Unless you were too busy looking for material for your hilarious jokes, you may have noticed Ichiryuu and I are currently the only two members. There’s pressure from the university to shut down in order to spend the budget elsewhere, as well as us lacking a faculty sponsor.”

“Huh. That does suck.” Kaname wasn’t being sarcastic anymore; she could see how much Shoki and Kokonoka cared about the things they were into, and the ACRC was probably the only place they could get the resources to learn more about them. And, despite it being a bit selfish to say so, the only place where Kaname could get reliable information on how to fight the Ektroma. Shoki had proven himself more helpful than his spectral counterpart, which made Kaname remember to ask something else before she left.

“Hey, not to be too nosy, but it’s hard not to notice your fainting spells. Is that something you’ve gotten checked out?”

It was hard to ignore the pause Shoki took before replying. “Yes, multiple doctors have said that they can’t find any obvious causes, and there’s too many possibilities that are relatively benign to afford doing medical tests ad nauseum. It’s likely some form of narcolepsy brought on by academic stress. To be honest, after working through the initial uncertainty, I don’t mind it that much. It seems while I’m unconscious, my mind is still able to process information in a way that remains with me when I awaken. It’s like I’m being tutored in a way that’s particularly synergistic to my learning styles, and it ends up being a great advantage in some of my classes. I have a theory it stems from some kind of osmosis effect, I’ve been meaning to set up some tests…”

Kaname had heard what she wanted to and let herself tune out. If Shoki had been under considerable duress from Arc’s inhabitation, she had been seriously considering spilling the beans to him. But it seems she wasn’t giving the spirit as much credit as they deserved, so she relinquished the point.

“Alright, cool. I’m out then.”

“You have no idea what I’ve been talking about for the past minute do you.”

“Got that right. But hey, feel free to explain it to me again after I put my life on the line to put down Giant-Eye Magee out there.”

Shoki gave that a small chuckle. “Count on it. Good luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll probably need it.”

–#

Hikaru was even more tired today.

Even though he had been tired enough to fall into a deep slumber yesterday, his memories had become even more muddled. Had he actually slept, or was that in itself a dream? He was at a point where he was so exhausted the boundary between wakefulness and slumber rippled in his brain like late-night static from an old television. His body knew where it needed to go, but he felt thoroughly disconnected from the experience, like he had been shoved into some form-fitting robotic suit, and the only connection he had to the outside world was through lenses fogged up by his own exhaustion.

He knew he had to keep going, though. Just one more test, and one more after that, and after that, and each one brought him closer to the glorious future he dreamed of, but couldn’t quite picture right now. No one understood his needs, and if they couldn’t help him, they shouldn’t stand in his way. The Ektroma made sure of that. It wasn’t always visible, but it was sure to lurk close by, in case something tried to distract him from his task. Irritating people he vaguely recognized, saying they were worried about him, trying to get him to rest. Professors casting suspicious glances his way, muttering about cheating. And some fool who dared lecture him on his methods, calling him a hypocrite, and even trying to defeat the Ektroma that was giving him his power. No more of that. The next time she stood in his way, she would learn her lesson.

And apparently, despite her attendance in other classes, she was an eager student.

Hikaru saw Kaname, arms folded, leaning against her motorcycle, planted squarely in his path.

“Alright Yasuda, for the sake of appearances, I’m gonna tell you one last time; hand over the pen.”

Inside himself, Yasuda felt an urge to oblige her, for some reason. But he just snarled at her. “You know my answer to that.”

Kaname was already working out kinks in her neck. “Yep, well, negotiations finished, can’t say I didn’t try. I figure we should move this along to the part we both know’s coming.”

“Don’t hurt her,” Hikaru wanted to say, still not quite knowing why.

“I’m giving you one more chance,” Hikaru said, “to back off. I told you how you already waste enough space here.”

“Yeah, well, don’t go thinking you’re the first. I’ve developed a thick skin over the years, the better to punch your face with, my dear.”

Hikaru felt himself smirk. “So in the end you are willing to hurt a friend to get what you want.”

“Can’t deny that. But what I want is to get that friend back. From whatever the hell is making him say this crap right now.”

“This IS me,” said someone besides Hikaru. “This are my true feelings and ambitions, laid bare, allowing me to evolve into something greater! I don’t need saving!”

Hikaru inside Hikaru realized what he wanted to say to her.

“You and everyone else can shove off. I don’t need kindness or empathy or any of that shit. I don’t need anyone… to…”

“Help me.” Both Hikarus said together.

Kaname smirked, making a belt appear around her waist. “I hear you, Yasuda. Loud and clear.”

Hikaru watched the belt shimmer with warm light as Kaname retracted part of it, as if unravelling a scroll, and let it slide back into place. The light expanded over Kaname’s entire body, securing her in a suit of black and silver accented with lively lines of violet. Hikaru could see both the courage of a motorcycle stunt driver and the bellicose grace of an Amazonian warrior in the Kamen Rider that stood to face him now. He quickly realized it wasn’t him she was readying herself for, however, as he was pushed aside by the gauntleted hand of the Ektroma. Vengeful or hopeful, he no longer had any control over this situation; the restless, throbbing energy that had driven him over the past few days left his body all at once, dropping him like a pile of wet laundry by the pathway.

Kaname had only a moment of fear when she saw Hikaru fall, but knew it was because the Ektroma was consolidating its power for this fight. It no longer needed him as a puppet. So, in theory, once she sent it packing for good, her friend should be back to his old wimpy self. Her bigger problem was mitigating the effects of Pandora’s Box; she knew she stood a chance against the monocular menace, but at this point the Pandora’s Box effects were so potent it felt like she was fighting while coated in molasses, after having been spun around to make her dizzy.

Her instinct was trying to tell her something, however. If there had been one thing Arc had said that seemed like worthwhile advice, it was that thing about using her instinct. She touched her belt and again and, feeling nothing reaching out to her, tried forcing it to do something useful. A comforting warmth spread over her, reaching her legs just in time to use them, as the Ektroma tried to bisect her with a heavy swipe of its arm. Calliope was starting to move more naturally again; she felt light and springy, able to vacate before the weight of Pandora’s Box could encumber her limbs again. She wasn’t going to stand there and take another pounding from her lumbering foe, and used her newfound speed to start sending punches back.

The Ektroma, its single eyeball swivelling about madly, let out a hiss that sounded like a hive of hornets being sprayed with hot water. “How dare you!” A choked, snarling voice erupted from its gnashing maw; from somewhere deep inside it, she could still recognize Hikaru. “This was my only chance and you’re taking it away! You will never understand, you outsider! You pretender!”

Calliope deflected another blow and followed up with a high kick, causing the Ektroma to end its condemnation in a squeal. “Oh great, it can even talk now. Best addition yet, I’d say.”

“You tricked him with false friendship! He can’t trust anyone aga-ooomph”

Calliope had expertly dodged both its left and right strikes, and ducked under its guard to deliver a devastating straight right to its stupid face. The Ektroma stumbled back and Calliope pressed the advantage, laying in with a tight combo of kicks and punches, trying to stave off its guard.

The monster finally made her back off with a wide sweep of its horn, combined with a burst of noxious energy that caused a heavy ripple in the air of Pandora’s Box. Calliope momentarily felt stuck again, as time was caught in the eternity between two seconds… and then hit the ground just before the Ektroma’s second swing could catch her.

“You’re still scared, girl!” The monster chided her in gurgling glee. “I’m stronger than ever now, and no matter how hard you fight, you’ll meet your death on the end of my horn!” It tried to punctuate its point by punctuating her, moments after she rolled away. “But flee now, and live! Listen to that fear and save yourself!”

“Tough words for a freak who has a magnetic attraction to my fists. Keep this up and I’ll tag in my grandma to finish you off.”

“Even more foolish not to fear,” it growled. Both fighters stood poised, ready to counter but not to attack just yet. The Ektroma’s eyeball swiveled about to stare at something past Calliope’s shoulder, and she immediately got a bad feeling.

Before she could lunge at it, the Ektroma let loose another energy blast, rippling time and space like a stone breaking the surface of a pond. Fast, then slow, go, then stop, Calliope felt like she was caught between two TV channels flipping back and forth madly. She saw the Ektroma rush past her, heading for a student a short ways off that had been caught on the edge of Pandora’s Box.

“Watch, helpless hero, as someone dies just beyond the reach of those prized fists!”

Cold fear rushed up her legs, through her torso, and nearly made it into her brain before a memory rose up to block it. Something about not being chosen by strength, but by her will to act. She wouldn’t be able to reach the monster and the victim in time; but maybe her fists didn’t have to reach them. Maybe something else could. Her stare still fixed on the Ektroma, Calliope reached behind her, finding her grip on a weapon she willed to be there. She pulled it up, the long shaft etched with streams of violet and silver. Its keen point was already aimed straight at her target.

“Oy, you bile-gargling coward!…”

It slowed only for an instant, but that was all she needed. Its massive single eye swivelled towards her, just in time to take in its last view; the tip, and then the following four feet of a spear that had been hurtled with perfect precision. It let out a final, pathetic scream as it fell to the ground, amidst the streams of hissing ooze that poured feely from its gaping socket.

“Keep your eye on that!”

~~ End of Part 7 ~~ To read a preview for Part 8 (Sunday, March 4), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site! http://bloodletterpress.com/kamen-rider-calliope-myth-17

[vellusia-blog]

Vellusia In-Depth

An in-depth look at Vellusia Thorne (because I didn’t want to crash TRP). Scroll to the bottom of this post for my RP Style.

“Rose petals and thyme…mother put them in my pillowcase at night. She said that it would protect me, keep me safe. It hasn’t—what good are a handful of crushed leaves and petals when the nightmares are real? But I do it anyway…I do it always.”             

                                      -Vellusia to the Druidess Fawnwood ((March, 2017))

Physical

Lower Middle-Class Gilnean: Vellusia’s eyes are a vibrant green, her hair afire with strands of auburn and ginger. Her skin is as pale as any child of a storm-wrought landscape, and is likely unable to tan. A spray of freckles cover her face, most densely gathered on the bridge of her nose. She is neither especially tall, nor short, but hers is an athletic build. Nimble and resilient, her physique is almost diametrically healthier than her mind.

Psychology

A Conflicting Nature: Human at her core, Vellusia is eager and excitable, with a spirit full of mischief and a heart that longs for adventure. She can, at times, be witty and sarcastic, and is unwaveringly loyal to her friends. Strong willed to a fault, Vellusia doesn’t suffer bullies quietly, and in an argument, tends to become frustrated and retaliatory.

Completely at odds with her original (human) personality, Vellusia is haunted by her Worgen Affliction, which she views as a curse. Due to complications with her transformations (see History below), Vellusia is horrified of “losing herself” to the animal within. She has no greater fear.

Having survived a difficult youth before the curse, Vellusia subconsciously fragments herself in times of duress—should she panic or suffer physical harm, she tends to accidentally slip into her own mind for protection leaving nothing but the animal within to steer the ship. This defense mechanism has come at a heavy cost: while in this state, Vell is nearly completely unconscious of her actions, and awakens later to discover what she has done.

Knowing that, as a Worgen, she had mauled a friend in the past, there is nothing in the world she fears more than herself—and that fear feeds into itself, perpetuating the cycle. Determined to fight this fate, Vellusia struggles to gain control, acceptance, and balance within herself...and within her wolf.

The Wolf Within: Vellusia (as a neglected child) had always felt a natural resistance to authority, though, if the position of leadership is made through friendship and respect, she will happily follow orders. Conversely, with Worgen blood now pulsing through her veins, she has a very difficult time denying an order made by whoever she perceives as the alpha of a group. She may resist, but eventually succumb to a command she disagrees with. Vellusia resents this aspect of herself, as she prefers to be a free-thinker and struggles with the concept of losing her free will to blind instinct.

Having suffered an exceptionally rocky transition to Worgen, Vellusia tends to trust and relate to humans most. She is unsettled by Worgen, not out of distaste, but out of insecurity. Their wolfen manner of expression reads as a foreign language to Vell--but, unable to deny her instincts entirely, she has begun to feel the “pull of the pack” when around confident Worgen. Still at odds with herself, the power of influence from Worgen to Worgen frightens her, and she attempts to avoid it.

Vellusia has subconsciously begun to see her human and elven companions as “her pack” and when a member is lost, she suffers deeply.

History

Early Life: Vellusia has told more than a few lies about her past. She spins colorful tales of heroism and tragedy, painting her family as brave and celebrated Watchmen, standing vigil at the mighty eastern-wall tower against a forsaken enemy. She has also been known to include stories about her 7 younger brothers--none of whom exist.

Much as she enjoys a good bit of mischief, Vellusia doesn’t lie for her own amusement, but rather, out of shame. The truth, the reality of her life is something she has always attempted to escape. Her pretty, red-haired mother, Amelia, was not a bold guardian, but suffered from extreme mental instability (manic schizophrenia). And her father, Edgar, was no heroic warrior of the wall, but an apathetic drunk.

The Thorne family had watched over the small tower beside the eastern bridge of scenic Gilneas for five generations, but Vellusia would be the small plot’s final inheritor. Her parents, as she knew them, were incapable of acting as true watchmen.

In rare moments of clarity, Amelia would tell Vellusia stories of brighter days before her breakdown and Edgar’s subsequent alcoholism. If there was a cause for Amelia’s madness, it was never spoken of, and Vellusia could not remember a time when her mother was sane. So frequent were her attacks, that Amelia could go from acting as a sweet and doting mother, to gibbering nonsense, to fits of hysteria and accidental self-harm. Her father only seemed to break from his stupors to save Amelia from damaging herself, just to return swiftly to the bottle.

Witnessing these frightening and chaotic swings at a young age were the cause of Vellusia’s subconscious creating safe places within her mind. Even as a child, she’d run off alone to play in the Blackwald, and pretend her life was something greater.

In many ways, Vellusia raised herself, struggling to balance caring for her parents and making the long trek to the Stormglen Village schoolhouse on foot. Her unfailing optimism and enthusiasm carried her through those early years, and though she was poorer than many of the other village children and was occasionally picked on by bullies, she strode forth, chin-high and determined for a better future.

As a young adult out of options for real change, Vellusia saw her broken parents and considered the very real possibility that she would share their fate: Well-intending, but stagnant, drunk and riddled with madness. Horrified by this concept, she ran away into nature, living in the Blackwald for two whole months. At first, she found living in the dark forest freeing, soothing--but survival on her own proved too difficult to last. Foraging and stealing (when she must) to survive, she finally decided her avoidance was futile: She would become just like her parents.

But returning home, Vellusia found her parents dead. Amelia seemed to have ingested paint in the shed, while Edgar had fallen down the narrow tower steps, his favorite tankard still in his hand. Though she mourned her parents, Vellusia saw their deaths as a mercy to their long suffering. On her last night in her small, tower home, she felt the impression that in some way, her parents had released her. Though, she would always carry the shame of their less-than-glorious deaths.

Packing up what little she had, Vellusia resolved to move to Gilneas-city and leave her troubled home-life far behind. Before departing, she found a false panel in her mother’s narrow closet and discovered an altar. The tiny table was topped with carved boxes, candle stumps and wooden sculptures of dancing figures coated in leaves and vines and thorns. Herb leaves and dried flowers littered the surfaces, alongside small jars of salts and liquids. At the forefront was a dark-silver, crudely wrought necklace: a locket with a five-pointed star across its face. Shocked by this discovery, Vellusia took the strange necklace, but allowed her mother’s secrets to rest.

Attack and Evacutation: Vellusia made her way to Gilneas-city and lived in a tiny hostel with four other women in the shoddy end of town for a mere three months before the Worgen curse tore across the land. Hurrying home after a long shift cleaning tables at the nearby tavern, Vellusia was cornered by a savage, red Worgen with bright yellow eyes. She attempted to reason with him, attempted to defend herself with a nearby plank of wood--but nothing would come between the snarling hunter and his prey.

Quick and violent, and completely devoid of human recognition, the Worgen slammed her against the nearest building and sank his teeth into his shoulder. He probably would have ripped her throat out if a passing nobleman hadn’t fired a shot into the beast’s back. The attacking Worgen whined, released Vellusia, and ran off into the bloody night.

The stretch of time that followed Vellusia’s bite was a blur of horror and delirium. Gilneas had fallen, and with it went Vellusia’s entire world. She doesn’t remember how exactly she survived the early days of her curse, or the evacuation of Gilneas, or the “cure” delivered by the Night Elves. Her transformations were never stable, sometimes overcoming her in her sleep, or in times of extreme stress. In addition to becoming a Worgen, she found herself changing into other animals as well: a large cat, a deer. Even when other afflicted Gilneans grew comfortable with their dual-forms, Vellusia remained lost in a disorienting tempest of animal-takeover. 

After fleeing Gilneas, Vellusia befriended a fellow refugee, a Keel-Harbor girl named Collette Worthington. They looked after one another as the pair, and so many others, migrated to Stormwind--but not one day after their arrival, things went terribly wrong. Vellusia, having suffered a post-traumatic nightmare, shifted into her Worgen form and attacked the refugee camp. Awakening in bonds, Vellusia was horrified to hear that she had torn apart three tents before biting Collette’s throat and dragging her down the road. It’d taken four shifted-Worgen to break her from her rampage. The girl, Collette, was lucky to have survived, but she never again spoke to Vellusia--not even to hear her tear-streaked apology.

After that day, Vellusia kept to the shadows, drank more coffee than any human should, and avoided other people as much as possible. Awakening one morning in Elwynn forest beside a hunter’s trap, blood dripping down one shoulder, her long hair severed and laying in ribbons all around her (as she’d apparently torn herself free), she came to the conclusion that if she didn’t find help soon, she would die or worse, kill someone.

It is that realization that drives her to seek the aid of strangers. If the people of Stormwind cannot help her, who can?

Now: Vellusia has begun to make the first real friends she’s had in her life. With their help, she is on a path of recovery. She has, and continues to learn about herself, to grow from each and every experience, and to absorb the wisdom, trust, and acceptance offered to her. With these friendships at the heart of her evolution, Vellusia has already taken ground-breaking strides in the controlling her Worgen form--she refuses to allow herself to harm the people she cares about, and though her troubles are far from over, this has become her strength.

Having recently discovered that her mother had secretly been a harvest-witch before her decline, Vellusia has reclaimed Amelia’s Book of Shadows and seeks to unravel the mysteries within its pages. She hopes that here, she will come to discover the reason for Amelia’s madness, the key to her own shape-shifting complications, and perhaps connect to a magic that runs deeper in her bloodline than she’d ever known.

Vellusia hopes to return the help she’s received from her friends, and someday, to defend Azeroth and make a difference in her world.

((If you’re reading this, you deserve a medal. No, seriously, treat yourself. You’ve earned it!))

((OOC Corner)) My Roleplay Style

Deep RP ...with humor! OOC I’m very easy going and friendly. Though I’m no perfectionist, I prefer immersive RP, and enjoy allowing my character’s interactions with others actively to define how she feels and who she ultimately becomes. My character will remember most interactions, and develop lasting memories and feelings relating to those encounters. I also enjoy “day-to-day” RP as well as “epic” RP.

Although Vellusia has an intense history, she’s also always on the lookout for fun (if the situation allows for it) and hopes to embark on adventures of every kind. She loves a good joke and has been known to contribute some sarcastic and charismatic humor of her own.

OOC is OOC and IC is IC I say this only because I’d like to be super clear that my character is a character, completely independent of my own personality and feelings as a player. If your character throws a drink in Vellusia’s face or embroils themselves in an argument with her, I’m not going to be angry OOC. In fact, as long as everything is logical and true to character, I’ll probably be laughing. If your character flirts with Vellusia, I’m not going to ask you for a phone number. I have my life. Vellusia has hers. That, I believe, is the gist of it. Happy RPing!