#{ i know i normally not very active here when it comes to ic but i'm usually here just watching / reading post

[nkn0va]

THE LAST MINUTE RUSHED AS HELL CHRISTMAS EVENT

I'm writing this shit on Christmas Eve night, speedrun mode activate

Thanks to everyone who submitted and supported this rushed thing here. Hopefully next year if we last that long I'll be able to give you all something better. And hopefully none of this comes off as too half-baked.

Fun fact: Blazblue was not a two way, not a three way, but a FOUR WAY TIE, EVERYONE WANTED A DIFFERENT CHARCTER

To settle this dispute, I did it in the only appropriate way I knew how:

We will be revealing the winners for each fandom as voted for by the submissions and the prompts that have been chosen as we go along here.

Without further ado, enjoy the first ever seasonal event on the NKN0va blog. Hope you all have a jolly Christmas day.

(Spoilers mentioned for Persona 5 Tactica in that section, proceed with caution)

Helltaker: Judgment's S/O getting her to ice skate with them on Christmas

-You bring this idea up to Judgment on Christmas Day after breakfast, much to the fallen angel's confusion.

-She has heard of skating before, and knew that there was a kind of skating specifically for doing it on ice, but that sounded extremely dumb and quite dangerous, especially to regular ol' fragile mortals like yourself.

-It takes a while, but she eventually gives in, she doesn't have the heart to shut you down entirely. Of course it's under the guise of protecting you and making sure you don't get hurt.

-It's best that you don't go to a public skating rink with her lest you get unwelcome stares from everyone and scare the children, so you manage to find a frozen lake somewhere with ice thick enough. Despite being alone, Judgment is still very much tense.

-Judgment for her part when she does get on the ice falls over a few times. Balance isn't her thing, but she does get it eventually, watching anxiously as she keeps an eye on you as you start getting on the ice.

-If you cannot skate she'll have a few words for you, but since you're already here you might as well do it together. She'll put your arm around you shoulders as she tries to keep you both upright until she is certain you can go on your own. Depending on your own balance this will have varying results.

-Consider her pleasantly surprised if you know how to skate without falling over, she thought you'd be struggling a lot more. Expect her to make some kind of competition out of the ordeal and taking it way too seriously. By the end you're aching all over and she has to carry you home. 10/10 would do again.

~~~

Under Night In Birth: Surprising Wagner with a Christmas Gift

(Thank you Vivian for breaking the tie this was way easier than if I got the alternative on a coin flip and had to do the other option instead)

-Wagner is no stranger to gifts. Especially super extravagant ones around the holidays thanks to her family background. This put you in quite the conundrum.

-As long as you've known the Crimson Knight, she's always been very hard to please. That fact that you're a normal person with a normal income also does not help matters. Trying to go extravagant enough to impress her would only break your bank in the process so you had to had to get more creative.

-You'd have to appeal more to her sentiment, and eventually an idea came. The only thing you knew of that appealed to her sentimentally enough was, well, you.

-Your gift searching soon turned into a craft session, taking photos from your phone of you two, printing them out, and putting them in a memories book of sorts and decorating it to what you felt was her liking.

-When the big moment came and it was finally in Wagner's hands, she sits there holding it like she doesn't know what the hell it is. It's only when it's opened that it clicks.

-She'll smirk and call it quaint in a half condescending, half endearing way. Some people might be offended by it, but you know better. This is her way of hiding her true emotions. Deep down this will be treasured for the rest of her life, anyone that dares touch it other than you will be turned to roast beef.

~~~

Persona 5: Erina ending up under the mistletoe with her S/O

(AU where Erina doesn't disappear after the events of the story)

-It had been quite a while since any holiday was able to be celebrated, thanks to Marie. There was a special feeling about Christmas this year around, being able to finally celebrate it peacefully.

-Erina for one seemed to be the most excited. Due to her...origins she'd never celebrated it properly before, and was learning the ins and outs of the festivities and traditions for the first time, her eyes lighting up at every new thing she saw.

-The two of you were walking around the town plaza taking in all the sights, watching as the citizens put up decorations. Out of nowhere, right in front of a bakery in the plaza, she stopped you and pointed up towards a strange looking plant hung on up one of the support pillars.

-While you were already dating Erina, it hasn't been all that long into the relationship, thus you were still taking to intimacy. With a slight bit of nervousness, you filled her in on what this mistletoe thing was.

-Erina takes in what you say with a thoughtful look. Then, as straightforward as ever, pulls you by your collar and gives you a longer than normal peck on the lips, pulling away with a slight redness on her face but a satisfied smile. She mentions how this might end up becoming a favorite holiday tradition of hers before dragging you through the city once more as if nothing happened.

-In all fairness, you probably should've seen that one coming.

~~~

AND TO BREAK THE STAGGERING (but probably not unexpected in retrospect) FOUR WAY TIE, THE WHEEL HAS DECIDED ON...

I see the audience has a particular type...

Blazblue: Nine's Christmas Day Celebration with S/O (post Dark War)

-While Nine is typically a very busy woman, she is extremely family oriented above all else. She will take holiday time off, regardless of what anyone says. Not like they can stop her anyway.

-Definitely the type to go all out to spoil the people important to her. Over the top decorations, forcing the weather control system to make a light but not overbearing snowfall, and as many presents as she can humanly think of.

-This is probably the happiest you've ever seen her. With all the tragedy in her and everyone else's lives over the past decade there's so rarely been a time to truly let her guard down and celebrate a holiday like a normal, happy, healthy person.

-She wants to do every traditional (and perhaps cliche) tradition she can think of. Between having largely no parents growing up and spending most of her life during war time she's never had the chance to do any of it. Decorating a tree, giving out deliberately wrapped presents to you and everyone else important to her, going out to see the magical and technological lights hung up around Ishana, having a fireplace lit up and watching old movies.

-This is her way of healing from the long lasting trauma inflicted on her by circumstances outside her control. If the holiday season is about the people important to you, then she wants to take that time to cherish those people while she still has the chance, even if she can have a hard time expressing that.

-Also you're probably gonna have to stop her from bullying Terumi even now. If left to her own devices she is dressing him up in the most stupid holiday themed shit imaginable for her own amusement. I'm talking reindeer antler headbands and a Rudolph nose.

[orphilos]

I won't be online much here this month. read tag for more info.

[tiredofthehumanlife]

Draco malfoy headcannons

flavor: fluffy and smutish but they're separated so you won't get jump scared

Also I'm returning to my roots with this stinky mf okay I have writers block

Sfw

Liked you in the hallway crush type of way yk like when there’s that one person in the halls that you're like “god damn, anyways where’s my next class”

Never even tried to speak to you was just like ” I'll gaze from afar”

The only problem is that he has major resting bitch face so you were sat there racking your brain over what you could’ve possibly done to this random daddy’s money kid (like this isn't set in a private school but LOOK OVER THERE)

Confessed by just standing in front of you and 👁👁 before handing you an outdated birthday card with a 100 dollar bill inside with a note inside that was basically just him like “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLE-“

You did give him a shot and he did actually speak words to you

bitchest bitch ever yall bicker (lovingly of course) 24/7

“did you for real just copy off of me?” “Okay well at least I don’t have daddy issues” “You cannot be talking and you know it”

He gives stick bug vibes yk

does not comprehend normal human life you could be complaining about doing laundry and he is like “Just have one of the elves do it?” and you are like “😶right so-“

just assume you have the answer to everything bc like you’re his partner? tf?

“how far away is Saturn in kilometers?” “They don't measure distance with kilometers, Draco, you dumbass. It’s called lightyears.” ‘right so in lightyears then?” “How tf am I supposed to know?”

he’ll hear a crash and look to you like you know what’s going on and you’ll turn his head back

I'm not one to assume someone’s sexuality but it's very much bisexual for the both of you (he likes guys and you know it)

a hot guy will pass and you both turn to each other like {insert Bratz meme here}

has created mustard gas on accident

laughs at his own jokes unironically (he is the only one laughing)

will try to be relatable and it's just like “yk that moment when your Prada shoes get gourmet chocolate on them”

makes up new names for your stuffed animals bc he thinks all the ones you picked were “lame”

his beauty sleep comes above everything else

Once Theo woke him up (there was a fire they had to evacuate) and the next night you found him hovering a pillow over Theo’s face you tackled him to the ground

Only knows how to play dominoes no card games or anything only dominoes

Bought you guys matching sleep masks

And embroidered PJs

And bunny slippers

PDA hater

He’ll sit next to you at max when you're around lots of people when you're just around his friends he's down with hugs and hand-holding holding maybe a cheek kiss but that's it

Alone is a different story he's attached to you he's actively trying to crawl under your skin as we speak

Terrified of bugs he's standing on a chair and screaming the second he sees one

Pays you in kisses when you take the bug outside (after you wash your hands)

Prefers baths over showers

Hates dogs and growls at them more than they growl at him

Only likes cats in theory bc they leave hair on his clothes

He's a reptile man

has owned a bearded dragon and will own more

Cold mf you wanna look me in the eye and tell me he has good circulation

Presses his cold ass feet against you while you're on the brink of sleep so confused when you swing your hand back to smack him

“I'm just cuddling you?”

“Cuddle somebody else fucking ice cube bitch ass”

Every single night

He sleeps on his back with his hands on his stomach like he's going to get lowered into his casket it's embarrassing

Thinks he knows how to shake ass and then when he tries (and fails) he considers never speaking to anyone ever again

Has gotten flirted with while he was with you and he just stared at them blankly bc he couldn't tell if it was happening

And then he left the room entirely

Walks in on people butt ass naked bc he has not learned how to knock (only child syndrome)

Stares a lot

He has nothing better to do so he’ll just come join you in your dorm and 👁hi👁

You've learned to block him out so he’ll scare the shit out of you

Sure he doesn't know how to flirt but he has money so he makes up for it

If you look at anything longer than three seconds he's following behind you with his card and the other twelve bags you have

This does have you ending up with things you didn't want so your friends love your random gifts

One of them will walk into potions with a luxury purse and one of the other kids will be like “tf Did you get that?” and your friends are like “🫵” And you're like “I didn't want it” So some of the student body does hate your guts just a little

favorite food is plain white rice

Thinks that acrylic nails go under the skin yk like in those videos with the fake hands pushing the nails up the finger yeah he thinks that actually happens to people

Jaw on the floor when you explain to him that's not what happens

Nsfw kinda

Down to three-way and will NOT let you forget

“I met this cute girl at the-” “I'm down. 😐”

“Oh did you see Harry this morning he was-” “Do you think he'd hook up with us?😐” “Babe. We've talked about this” “just once please”

Has asked you to peg him

unless you have a dick then he's asking for one of those two-way things (you're on my blog you know what I'm talking about dude)

Sub SUCK MY DICK DUDE HES A SUB SHUT UP

Actively begging sobbing on his knees “Please baby Please being so good please”

Would be a swinger and he'd have a pineapple on his front porch

Sorry

Has dabbled in the lockerrooms

Will ask you if the boys can watch him hit and you said only if they see him at his lowest begging and pleading for you he is silent as of now (give him two weeks)

Type of bitch to be covered in hickeys and when someone is like “What happened? To your neck?” and he's like “Literally what are you talking about?” will gaslight them into thinking there's nothing on his neck

Prefers cuddling naked but hates not immediately being in the bath after sex so he has to battle himself in his head

Can't dirty talk he's like “You look so nice when you're not in clothes? Do you like my wee wee?” and you're sitting there “bitch your what?”

Have resulted in him not being allowed to talk

Quickies number one hater

Needs his time to get into pussybitchboy mode

Okay bye

[kriscommitscrimes]

IN-DEPTH CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF KRIS(MAS) DREEMURR

Hello! I've wanted to make this post for a WHILE now, since Kris is my favourite character ever, and I LOVE analyzing characters!!

Anyway before I start just remember that people consume media differently, and this is just what I've personally picked up on. You may interpret certain points I make differently to me, and that's ok! I'm just sharing MY analysis of Kris, at the end of the day, they're a character who has never spoken any dialogue that's visible to us, so their intentions behind certain things could be interpreted differently depending on who's consuming the media.

Kris will be EXCLUSIVELY referred to by they/them (they/them/themself specifically) pronouns throughout this post. If you refer to them as anything other than they/them while interacting with this post I'm gonna block you on the spot sorry.

ANALYSIS BELOW THE CUT BECAUSE IT'S LONG!!! TW there's probably some swearing I can't remember

By the way, I'm not including any screenshots because I. forgot to take them last time I played through Deltarune, but the next time that I do, I'm going to make like a revamped version of this post with screenshots. Sorry about that!!

Kris is their own, separate character from the player. This is a no-brainer if you've actually played through Deltarune and paid the slightest bit of attention to it. Kris is their own, separate character with a VERY distinct, interesting personality, who had a life before the events of Deltarune, and even still has control over some things that they say and do while in our control.

Kris isn't actually a quiet person. Kris, in reality, is an overdramatic, sassy, talkative person who often draws attention to themself by scaring people (especially Noelle), and causing scenes. They CONSTANTLY play mean spirited pranks on Noelle or pressure her into things (I'm NOT talking about Snowgrave, I'll get to thar later), like shaking the ferris wheel carriage despite Noelle being scared of heights, and telling her that ICE-E is real and eats kids. They still do this during the events for Deltarune, like if you go against Noelle's wishes and pet the cheese, Kris strokes it like a cat, and if you give Noelle a healing item called a Choco Diamond, she says something along the lines of 'Umm, it's ok, Kris, I'll share', and both of them get healed. We don't choose for Kris to force Noelle to share, that's a decision they make. As for drawing attention to themself, the first thing that comes to mind is they falling to the ground and sulking when they're too short and weak to play Queen's arcade machine, or them barking at Noelle when she offers them a dog treat. They're loud and impulsive, shown when they eat the pie at the end of chapter one, repeatedly kicking the robot in the basement when nothing happens originally before the Sneo fight, eating all of the chocolate Undyne gives them to give to Alphys if you interact with the box, and screaming that they're normal if you call Toriel after watching her conversation with Alphys at the start of chapter two. Speaking of which...

Kris seems to have identity issues. This is one of the things here that everyone in the fandom is kind of already aware of, but this is a full character analysis, so it's still important to mention. Kris is the only human in Hometown, but desperately wants to be perceived as normal. They scream it at Toriel like I mentioned earlier, they wore a headband with red horns on it when they were little to look more like a boss monster, and they seem actively disgusting or even frightened by other humans. They also seem to be living in their brother's shadow a bit, which may be why they like drawing attention to themself. Everything I've said about their personality seems to be a little on the negative side so far, but everyone in Hometown knows their name, and seems to quite like them, so why is this? Well...

Kris is charming, well-spoken, and funny. They're a prankster known for pulling mean-spirited pranks on people, but even still characters like Noelle look back at those things fondly, and everyone in Hometown seems to like spending time with Kris. Kris' flirting abilities are pretty obvious, and are used to win over loads of Darkners, not to mention their ability to formulate a compelling speech on the spot, as shown during the first Queen battle when toasting to her. They easily win people over, especially if they like a person, I mean, they became best friends with their former bully in a DAY! A DAY!!! People seem to find them just genuinely fun to hang around, probably due to them just being a funny, charming, somewhat balls of the walls kinda person.

Kris is NOT evil or malicious. This is one of the most important points I've wanted to make on this post. I've seen the theory that Kris is evil because they don't actively do anything to prevent Snowgrave from happening tossed around and I'm here to say that that is actually fucking stupid sorry. Normally I HATE being mean about people's theories because, like I said, everyone consumes media differently, but that one is just genuinely terrible. I'd say it's WAY more likely that as Noelle gets strong, out control over Kris becomes stronger. Normally, when we choose an option to make Kris say or do something, they ELABORATE on that, which is confirmed by how characters interact with them. We just can't see them speaking to give the illusion that they're a blank slate, under our full control. But, during Snowgrave, they just say EXACTLY what you tell them to say. If you tell them to say 'We're something else', they just say 'We're something else'. If you tell them to say 'Proceed', they just say 'Proceed'. Sure, you could put this towards them not caring, but after Berdly is frozen and you reunite with Ralsei and Susie, both of them say that Kris looks HURT. And later on, they REFUSE to go and see Noelle in her room. The refuse to THINK about it. They're not happy with what happened. They didn't want to go around freezing people. But the one thing that Really stood out to me, was during the Snowgrave Spamton Neo fight. Near the end, you have the option to call Ralsei and Susie for help, which prompts the flavour text; 'Kris called for Susie and Ralsei... But nobody came'. After that, you have to call Noelle for help to finish the battle, which prompts the dialogue; 'You called for Noelle'. Spamton states that Kris could barely whisper her name. They're trying to stop you from calling for her. Those aren't their words. I think that kind of confirms that they didn't want Snowgrave to happen. Kris is just a funny teenager with identity issues, they're not evil. Sorry evil Kris fans.

Kris probably isn't the Roaring Knight. They're A knight, but not THE knight. So far, they don't REALLY have any motivation for opening the first two fountains that I'm aware of, and I doubt they knew they could open a fountain until Queen's speech at the end of Chapter 2. At the end of Chapter 2, however, they do seem to have a motivation to open a fountain. They (presumably) slash Toriel's tyres to stop her from leaving the house to go and get flour. They want her to see the Dark World. And if you choose the option to talk to Undyne about the Dark World, Kris explains it to her in FULL DETAIL, but she brushes it off as a joke. Toriel finding her tyres slashed leads her to call the guards, and Kris leaves the door of the house wide open. They want Undyne to see the Dark World, I don't know WHY, but they do for some reason. But I REALLY doubt they're the Roaring Knight, they just don't have the motivation, and if it is them, it would be really weird for Toby to reveal that so early. I really doubt that kid wants to bring on the end of the world.

That's all I have for now!! Expect a more fleshed out version of this next time I play Deltarune with screenshots and such, though I may wait until chapter 3 and 4 come out! Thanks for reading!

[hetalia-club]

I said before that America is like a looney tunes character but I also believe Russia operates in the same way. That their strength is just so next level that it's cartoonish, they can't kill each other so they just violently maim each other in the most elaborate ways.

To me I can't picture cold war fights between the two of them any other way. Picture these for me...

1.Russia waiting around the corner with a big mallet ready to knock an unsuspecting America unconscious as he chases after him.

2. America putting a sign on a building that says 'free vodka inside'. To which Russia zooms in quickly but when he does the sign falls away to read 'radiation factory do not enter!'

3. America and Russia getting into a fight and it's just one of those big dust clouds with stars and wacky sound effects coming out.

4. Them arguing and doing the back and forth where America says "Capitalism is better!" and Russia says "Communism is better!" Until America says "Communism! is better" and then Russia replies with "No Capitalism is better! and if I'm ever not a Capitalist let me be struck dead!" And then he's struck by lightning.

5. Russia sending America a plane ticket in the mail that says "Ticket to Capitalist beach paradise. + All you can eat disgusting delicious American foods" America quickly packs a bag and gets changed into sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt and hops onto a plane but it just goes to Siberia where America quickly jumps out and says something like "relaxation here I am!" he feels a tap on his shoulder and it's a polar bear and he just gets mauled.

6. Them playing hot potato with active dynamite. America getting Russia to keep it by saying something like "No no comrade! It's a gift! I bought it for you." And Russia's like "Awe thanks! why is it ticking?" And America's like "Gee I don't know pal, gotta run!" and zooms away right before it explodes leaving a very annoyed looking Russia covered in soot with his hair blown back.

7. Russia shoving America into a freezer and setting it to "artic" and ripping of the handle. America falls out a few hours later as a giant ice cube.

8. Russia punching America in the back of the head at a meeting and America turns around all surprised and Russia says "Gee pal I'm real sorry, shouldn't have hit you when your back was turned that was un- sportsman like of me." And stands America up dusting him off. America is like. "No worries buddy you only did this." And punches him in the face. Then he goes "Now if you would have done this..." And punches him in the gut. "Or this" And upper cuts him. "We would have had a serious issue...and I would of had to do something like this..." And America takes out a big mallet and hits Russia with it sending him through the celling. When Russia comes down he's like "Gee I'm sure glad I didn't do that then!"

So like major cartoonish and crazy things happen around them and at their will but everyone else is just normal. Only Russia and America can break the laws of physics for their bit.

[carionto]

Nothing is safe from becoming "exciting"

I've read a bunch of HASO stuff and often when I'm writing something I know I'm drawing from a ton of somewheres, to the point where I can't pinpoint anything, it's all a big mush that my brain then spits out here. This one, however, I know was inspired by jpitha's writings, specifically the bit about Gene's High G Gym (I think that's the mostly correct name anyway). Shamelessly shilling their work cuz it's great, go read it!

______________________________

Humanity has begun expanding their hold over their native system. Like an insect hive, ships ferry just about everything to and from Earth, building stations both in planetary orbits and around the Sun. Nearly all experimental of some kind - a lot of ideas they couldn't try built up over the thousand years they were isolated.

They do also have countless small space worthy vehicles, nearly all with varying superficial designs and patterns, but also quite a few rather different underlying mechanical principles.

Soon we noticed a lot of activity throughout the entire system not affiliated with any organization or group. Just... individuals and small family units doing their own thing. We quickly gave up trying to categorize such behavior. When we asked, they said:

"Anyone with a license to pilot their craft can go pretty much wherever that isn't restricted. For some places and activities they do need to get a permission first though."

Worryingly lax on account that many of the larger "civilian" craft are still powered by their "Mini-Suns" as they call them.

One particular individual craft got our attention. It created a spike of thermal activity in one region of their Oort Cloud, so one of us went to ask this Human. Abigail was her name:

"Yo space dudes and dudettes, what's up?" Our translators were still incorporating the various Human linguistic peculiarities, but their liaisons are very helpful. We inquired as to what she was doing here so far out.

"Oh you are gonna love it!" another phrase we are learning to be wary of. "Victor, that's this bad boy right here," she affectionately slaps the armrest of her, now that we are closer, disturbingly modified vessel. Is that a second engine cluster bolted on the back? And a... weird exposed device with a large neon label - Space BBQ. We instinctively fear her and her next words. "He and I are making a race track with these here ice cubes. I got this idea when I was a kid, and it is going to be. So. Awesome!"

All of the red flags triggered. Then, Abigail demonstrates by shooting a harpoon claw... thing... at a nearby object the size of a few skyscrapers and begins pulling it towards a cluster of other planetesimals. Normally, these kind of clouds have stabilized over billions of years and each object is thousands and millions of kilometers from one another.

There were dozens stacked so close to each other that you could barely fit an escape pod between in some places. One in particular was surrounded by a small cloud of its own.

"Ooh, that one right there." She enthusiastically pointed out its somewhat flattened ovoid shape. "Doesn't it just scream to you that it wants to be the ultimate doughnut? Hector thinks so, he's my cat by the way - Say hi Hector! [hiss] (Fine, be that way, ya bum) Love that bastard. Anyway, just gotta finish blasting a hole big enough and it'll be the perfect finish line."

Not wanting to hurt our sanity further, we decided to leave her be, but not before she proudly exclaimed over all open channels:

"Remember to tell your folks if they ever wanna race to come here to Abby's Action Asteroids [quick whisper] (trademark pending)! Soon it'll have laser obstacles!"

[aseaofbutterflies]

!! Follow up post to this post !!

So I'm now fully caught up (i think) to ch50! A lot to take in so bear with me here but here are my thoughts:

(Please ignore any spelling/grammar I'll fix it later)

The Rakuzaichi Arc:

Probably one of the best arcs I've read in a while! Opens up the world of Kagurabachi really well and introduces to lot of different dynamics within Japan. I find it interesting that sorcerers are allowed to be out and about in public and it's just kind of normal ? Also that fact that everyone just turns a blind eye to the auction..... Also the Kamunabi's decision to buy the Shinuchi... doesn't sit right with me.

Hakuri

Oh boy oh boy was I excited when Hakuri was introduced. Yes ive seen the numerous yaoi kagurabachi posts....

Hakuri what a sad little guy.. love sad little guys <3 But his insane evolvement in this arc i thoroughly enjoyed!! I think his sorcery is very cool and his version of the storehouse is so interesting. It seemed like an open space as opposed to his father's structure storehouse.

Hakuris storehouse it seems was built out a subconscious need to protect himself from his brother's abuse. The things Soya used to abuse him 'dissappears' when in fact Hakuri subconsciously transports them so they cant be used. Its awful and horrific and yet such an interesting way to show subspaces can manifest. His other power Isou has the potential to be very powerful and deadly. Through guidance he learns to control his spirit energy which has been active for most of his life again subconsciously. What if things had been different?

I think Hakuri ultimately is a sad character, the Sazanami clan aren't a loving family. They just raise and manipulate the next generations in order to keep the auction (and in tune the family) alive and afloat. The Sazanami clan rely on unwavering loyalty to the cause, which of course Hakuri doesn't agree with. His experience of sibling abuse and his conversations with the Ice Girl opens his eyes to dark reality of his family. Once Hakuri realises that its hard to turn a blind eye.

At somepoint everyone needs to experience a homoerotic relationship with their friend and boy oh boy....

His relationship with Chihiro is interesting... it seems he admires him as a samurai. Chihiro took interest because he was a Sazanami. I think they are also both each other's first friend around their own age. I think Chihiro and Hakuri have similar goals which is why they work well together. There is something i think drawing them together but I dont know what... Im excited to see how their friendship progresses!! Also what do you mean Hakuri smells of Chihiro????? It is because he's registered???

The Kamunabi and The Hishaku

Finally got introduced to the Hishaku and Yura the leader. They killed Kunishige so that Yura could own the Shinuchui.... WHY !!! Obviously this is BAD BAD BAD. Very cool villian design though!

Again I DONT TRUST THE KAMUNABI!!! How the hell are you going to look in the eyes the son of a legendary sword maker and tell him that YOURE ENTITLED TO HIS SWORDS!!!! THE SWORDS BELONG TO CHIHIRO TO THE ROKUHIRAS!!! Also, some members had no idea Chihiro exists ??? Hmm, someone definitely leaked the Rokuhiras location to the Hishaku.... but who...

What happened that made some of Kamunabi hate Kunishige ??? Where has this entitlement come from??? WHY DO THEY HAVE THE SWORDBEARERS ??? I dont for a second believe they truly care about protecting them.... they want the swords therefore they need the owners... then they can transfer ownership. Again, like in my last post I said they reminded me of the Jujutsu Kaisen higher ups.... fishy fishy fishy.

[watcheraurora]

Hi!!! I keep re reading your pics of the superhero au and I wanted to know more stuff if your okay with it. Could we get more about Joel's powers? It seems he was pretty strong back in his hay day, but what was he capable of that made them force him into retirement so early?

Of course I'm okay with it! I'm happy to talk more about it! :-D

For anyone who sees this and is unfamiliar, V's referencing my "Even Ice Walls Fall Down" fic! (And subsequent one-shots filling out the universe a little)

So, Joel/Lore!

He is one of the strongest superpowered people to have ever popped up in the city. Tango/Deepfrost is, like, literally an extremely close second (if not tied, but since their powers are so different, the ranking is subjective).

Joel has three powers, which is part of what makes him so powerful. 1) He can fly (Superman style) 2) He can shoot lightning from his hands 3) He's invulnerable to, like, almost everything

Joel's invulnerability comes with the side effects of insanely high stamina and strength, considering he can't injure himself by overdoing it

He manifested when he was 19 and as of the time of the main AU, he's 31, so he's had his powers for... 12 years (did I math that right? i think so. it's late) and in that time, the only time he feels pain is when Jimmy's super strength overpowers his invulnerability's limit. It does have a limit. All of their powers have limits (except maybe Grian's... but Grian is a god pretending to be a mortal, not an actual superpowered human so he doesn't count). Because, yeah, Jimmy really is that strong

Now, because Joel manifested his powers at 19, he couldn't get hurt while he was a reckless 20-something. So he was extra reckless, especially when it came to being Lore. The division as we know it in the AU was nowhere near as structured as it is by the time Jimmy gets there, and no one was really regulating the superheroes. There weren't many of them, and they had no handler or supervisor or person trying to make sure they all behave

And Joel's invulnerability made him... destructive. Not always through his own actions

Because, see, when Joel was first starting out, Doc was still in the city. He had not yet left and taken over a country and established a Perimeter around it. And Doc had a lot of beef with Joel. Partially because Joel was an arrogant early-20's idiot (affectionate) and Doc wanted to knock him down a couple pegs (and Joel definitely egged him on and mocked with little singsong "You can't get me!" type childish taunts)

Doc also really wanted to see what the limit of Joel's invulnerability was, and so he kept making bigger and stronger inventions to try and even just barely break Joel's skin. And those bigger, stronger inventions were starting to do a lot of structural damage to the city. Because Doc was throwing absolutely massive weapons at Joel and Joel's lightning isn't exactly safe for normal people to be around either. He can control the voltage of his bolts and the more frustrated he gets, the stronger his lightning becomes as a defense mechanism. Which was very dangerous.

And let me be clear on something: Joel did not want to retire from being a superhero active in the field. He loved it. He loved the praise and the fans and the validation and the pride of a job well done

But Lizzie was going to run for mayor and they were married at that point and the constant destruction of Lore and Doc's fights were going to be hard on her campaign (because who wants a mayor whose husband keeps damaging her city? etc.)

For clarification here: people knew Lore and Lizzie were married or at least romantically involved in some way (because there were many pictures snapped of Joel dipping Lizzie for a kiss after particularly brutal fights), but didn't know at that time that Lore's real name was Joel.

So anyway, since Lizzie wanted to run for mayor and Joel's superheroing was going to jeopardize her campaign, he hung up his cape (figuratively? IDK. Maybe his super suit had a cape. Haven't thought about it). Because he loves his wife more than he loves being Lore.

I wouldn't necessarily say he was "forced" into retirement. He didn't want to retire, but he also knew it was the best course of action for the city's safety. To trust the city and its citizens to the other heroes who didn't destroy as much

And Joel is, at the moment, the only hero in the division with a public civilian identity. I think when Lizzie was campaigning for mayor and he retired from hero life, that was when he revealed to the city that his name is Joel.

After Lizzie won the mayor election, Joel settled into his position at the head of the superhero division and shaped it into how we see it today in the main timeline of the AU. He became the heroes' handler/supervisor, he trains new heroes when their powers are similar enough (he did not train Deepfrost, though. He was 20 when Tango manifested and they didn't get along terribly well. Their personalities were both strong and clashed). He handles logistics and dispatch. He's got other people helping him, but he's at the top. He wasn't the only one who made the decision to have heroes register their secret identities with the division, but he and Lizzie were the ones to approve it

Joel was 24 and barely into his role as the head of the superhero division (he was not in the field for very long) when Tango left/was kicked out of the division - and the two had a rather violent final encounter at the division building. The reason Tango even held his own as long as he did against Joel's invulnerability during their altercation is the fact that Tango is a genius, a gifted strategist, really nimble, fast, very tricky, very slippery (as Jimmy/Sheriff would attest in a heartbeat), and quick on the draw with his powers. Tango's darkness actually trumps the light given off by Joel's lightning (meaning even if Joel shot a bolt of lightning through Tango's cloud of darkness, he wouldn't be able to see anything), and that definitely saved him from getting fried hard to shoot what you can't see and Tango can control how the darkness moves

So yeah! TL;DR, Joel's powers and his mutual hatred with Doc probably could have destroyed the whole city and he decided it was best for him to stay out of the field after Lizzie wanted to run for mayor

Somewhere between when Tango left the division and the beginning of "Even Ice Walls Fall Down," Joel mellowed out somewhat - and matured a lot. That said, if Deepfrost ever went back to the division, Joel and him would still probably throw hands on sight

[forgottenluck]

Headed Towards 2024!

2023 in Retrospect

2023 has been.....a year. There were a lot of changes for me this year, and though not a lot with Koun changed, a lot happened irl. I didn't talk about a lot of it, though I did mention a few things here and there when I had enough energy to be online.

It's been....hectic.

A lot of life changes have happened; Being kicked out of our apartment due to a shitty landlord, my mother having a bunch of medical changes...then moving into a nursing home, Me finally being out on my own and no longer tied down by her.....I've gotten a promotion at work, finally able to make a difference there enough for even my DM to notice me.

Things are still rocky. I'm still finding my footing, working to figure out ways to boost my income since i no longer have to be wary of that. It's a lot. A lot to take in, a lot to adjust too.

Those who helped me keep going

I know that I was absent quite a bit...more so than I normally am on here. But there's been a few people who have really helped me keep going, helped me to want to be on here, helped me when things were dark. People who have stuck with me despite me vanishing from time to time because my energy to write comes and goes as my ADHD hits me with new hyperfocuses. Below are the people who have continued to check up on me, offer support when I needed it, and all around been very active with me OOC and IC.

@bishonenprince - You are seriously a light that I'm not sure I would be the same without. I know we just met this year, but I already consider you one of my closest friends on tumblr. You've managed to stick with me, despite me going dark a few times, been understanding to it. Our muses have such an interesting dynamic, and I can't wait to see how it grows. They'll likely still have their fights, still have bumps....that's just who they are. But Sora can't shake Koun, just like it'll be massively difficult for you to shake me.

@ofstarsandskies - Kika you lovable dork, You've been there in the background, liking posts, and we've spoken OOC quite often. I absolutely love how you and your muses are so supportive, and it means an absolute bunch to me that you've stuck around despite Koun being an absolute dick at times. I absolutely look forward to the new year, and possibly a new Koun for the brothers to interact with. He's softening...definitely.

@pastelfates - Verius my love, you've stuck with me for so long now, I don't exactly know what to do without you. This year was hard on me, and some of the things you did to help me, and cheer me up mean the world to me. I can't explain how much these things helped me, boosted my mood when I was in really dark places. I know you probably thought they were very little things....but to me, they meant the world. Eventually I'll figure out a way to repay you for all you've done for me....eventually.

@morifactory - In the same vein as Verius, Lena you've really been there in the background, silently supporting me. Earlier this year was...hectic. In all the wrong ways, and I'm glad that we've managed to go past it. I do plan on attempting to rp with more of your characters, (you just have so many I don't know where to start aaaaaaaaaAAAAA) but I look forward to this new year with you, and know that if you ever need anything, you can always count on me.

@loversquiver - Yukari my dear, though you aren't on tumblr much anymore, we definitely continue stuff OOC on discord. You're constantly checking in on me, making sure I'm okay. This means so much to me, and I really can't wait to see what the new year brings for these two dorks!

@taleswritten - Jay, I know we don't write nearly as much, but what we do, I absolutely love. I love that we communicate OOC, and you haven't been run off by my open-ness. This coming year I am gonna try to reach out to people more, you included, but I loved meeting you this year.

The people above are those who have stood out to me, made continous efforts, or have been with me for a long time. They mean a lot to me, and I can't wait to continue our stories together.

New friends that I've made just this year and can't wait to make more memories together!: @sootbled/@sootborn, @ama-tcra-su, @bonescribes, @thalassancharm, @talesofourworlds, @hxroic-wxlls

Good friends that I love to see on my dash! We might not have interacted much this year but hopefully next year! @juwul, @alm1ghtysea, @serenitasmusas, @miraiconnection, @ad-simul

If you're not on the list above, please don't fret. I likely just missed you! I do interact with a decent amount of people, and if we haven't interacted in a while, then it's likely i missed you. I appreciate every single one of my followers, and those who interact with me!

Moving into 2024

My plans for this next year....are a lot. For this blog, for tumblr in general, for my life.

This blog won't change much. I do want to reach out to more people, write more in general. I enjoy writing, I do! I just have to take breaks every few months to recharge so that I don't completely get burnt out on it. Koun is my second longest character to stay with me (the first is Erika for those of you who remember the cute little cupcake.). I do want to write more in general. Interact with more people, Help Koun grow more.

For tumblr in general, I do plan on reopening a multimuse sideblog. Well...a few, tbh. One of them is still in the works, but @zcrosht is almost fully functional. I need to get a few more icons made, and some graphics done (if anyone's willing to help me out on graphics that'd be lovely.) and the Rules/bios up, but It's ready to rp with! It'll be my first time rping Canon characters, so it'll be interesting.

For my life goals....I want to get a bit more financially stable. I'm going from only spending 250 a month on rent to 450-500, and despite the promotion it's still a bit difficult. I'll need to figure out how to boost that up without finding a new job (because I like my job now and I need to get supervisor experience so when I do go into a new job i can go in as a supervisor to get more money than grunt work.). It's going to be a learning curve....but I think I can handle it. I've made it this far.....I can keep going. I also plan on changing my diet and working to get a bit fitter.....I'm too close to 200lbs and I don't like it. (I look tiny though I do not know where all this weight is how the hell does this work--). I also need to go to the doctor for some health related issues that I need to get addressed. (mainly sleep and possibly ADHD meds....who knows.)

In general....I'm the happiest I've been in years. I'm the calmest I've been in years. The changes that happened in 2023...I think were for the better. Once I get all the kinks figured out.....I'll be good. It's a new chapter, and i think....I think it's a good one.

[innytoes]

Chaotic Prompts II: Electric Boogaloo

It fucken wimdy

What do you mean, the raccoon stole the ring you planned to propose with?

I am straight up not having a good time right now

Come here you little gremlin

I am being so normal about this

Should I even ask or should I just assume the answer to your current predicament is 'I'm stupid'?

Excuse me, I'm not done saying hi to your dog yet

When I said 'be gay do crime' I did not mean this

Stop flirting with yourself in the mirror

It's a trash can, not a trash can't

Okay but serious question: What's your favourite dinosaur?

Get down from there

Oh, you're being gay. Good job, carry on

My tummy hurts but I'm being so brave about it

Yeet!

I got you Oreos as a peace offering

I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now

I am a pretty, pretty princess, thank you for noticing

Oh no you activated their Mom Friend Mode

So basically your roommate is a cat?

Okay so I can explain

Why is your arm stuck in the vending machine?

Let's go, lesbians!

I can't believe our first date ended up in the emergency room

Hi Hungry, I'm dad

You bought him a cake that said 'nice ass, bro'

How am I supposed to Kiss Kiss, Fall In Love in these conditions?

You know, because of colour theory

If I were an alien I'd abduct you first

You could if you weren't a fucking coward

No thoughts, head empty

Please don't ever refer to yourself as that again

I feel like you're not taking this powerpoint presentation about why you should date me very seriously.

I'm just a silly little guy

The last thing you ate is what we have to name him... um, okay maybe not that.

I am a grown-ass adult and if I want to spend my hard-earned money on this I will!

Weird flex but okay

Fire solves all problems

What would your rather find living in your attic? 1000 roaches or one person?

I'm too pretty to be dealing with this

The house is burning, and you can save the cake, or me, what do you choose? / That's not fair, the cake doesn't have legs.

Have you no shame?

You are the yee to my haw

In my defence the five year old started it

So hear me out... we kidnap him...

I'm sorry I can't keep making out if your cat keeps staring at us like that

Kissing the homies goodnight

I'd beat up Satan for you

Eff this, I should be at the club

Eff this, I should be at Build-a-Bear

How are you going to gaslight gatekeep girlboss your way out of this?

You may not believe in mothman, but mothman believes in you

I am so totally chill right now

At the next inconvenience I will start biting people

They smell like sparkles and sunshine and I want to kiss their stupid face so bad

I'm sorry you broke your arm how?

We take stuffed animals very seriously in this house

Yeah that sounds like a you problem

Do you need a hug? You just seem very upset over the shape of these potatoes

Mistakes were made

I'm not like other girls. I'm worse.

They cut your grilled cheese into triangles, that means they're in love with you, bro

Is this a mid-life crisis because if it is I'm a bit worried about your lifespan.

Just because you can buy a box of five hundred tiny plastic meerkats does not mean you should.

Aww, it's baby's first war crime.

I don't think pancakes are going to fix this. I think I need ice cream too.

(For more chaotic prompts, part one is here.)

[eusuntgratie]

Hello, I came across the 'fighting in Ice Hockey' Wikipedia page and was very intrigued! Now several youtube compilations (Best nhl fights, then funny moments, then best goals etc) and several Hockey AUs for pairing I'm already a fan of later, I'm ready to continue my hockey journey (descent?) - do you have any blogs you can recommend? Also do you have a place to start re teams and or like essential viewing or reading? Normally I can just watch a show or read a book, but this feels a bit different and I don't know where to start 😅

Also I see the is quite a bit of RPF on Ao3- totally chill with that good writing is good writing after all, but is there any like background on why certain pairings are popular?

oh goodness, hi! and welcome to the madness that is hockey fandom/hockey rpf! i'm probably/definitely not the best person to answer this as i'm pretty new to hockey fandom and only closely follow three teams, but i'll do my best <3

okay *most* hockey blogs are focused on one or a couple of teams. so it's a little tricky to point you in a direction if you aren't already attached to anyone. you can find a lot of good hockey primers on tumblr if you search for a team or a ship + primer.

if you have a local or localish team, maybe start there? descend into tumblr tag hell. many of us start out going oh haha i'm just going to read fic, and maybe reblog some gifs, and then end up attached to teams that are far away and spend obscene money to see those teams when they travel close to us. (my favorite team is in a different conference, so they only come to my city once a year).

there are definitely teams that have more fandom activity and those that have less. all based on the narratives, baby. my local team isn't very fandom active on here, so while i generally root for them and follow them and go to games, i'm not fandom feral about them.

MY team is the pittsburgh penguins. i do not, nor have i ever, lived in pittsburgh. but the pens have the longest serving trio in professional sports, and i am completely and utterly in love with them (but not as in love with them as they are with each other). our captain, sidney crosby (fat of ass and genuinely one of the best hockey players EVER) and his two alternate captains, evgeni (geno) malkin and kris letang, are all obsessed with each other. sidgeno is definitely one of the most popular pairings in hockey rpf. i read and write a lot of them. you can browse #fave 8771 and #sidgeno on my blog to get a glimpse of why.

(note that hockey ship names are unpredictable. sometimes numbers mushed together, sometimes names mushed together, sometimes something else, sometimes there's not really a ship name).

some other big ships are travis konecny/nolan patrick of the philadelphia flyers (love these two... they don't play together anymore... theres a lot of backstory there. theres lots in #tknp on my page), auston matthews/mitch marner of the toronto maple leafs (not my jam i'm no help), alexander ovechkin/nicklas backstrom from the capitals, leon draisaitl/matthew tkachuk (more of an enemies to lovers type scenario), and jamie drysdale/trevor zegras of the anaheim ducks. these ships are popular bc they are insane about each other in some way. oof there's so many more though? these are all popular on ao3 so there's lots of fic out there; perhaps a good starting place.

let me know what you're looking for and i'm happy to point you in a direction! a team, a ship dynamic, a type of 'character' you like, a type of fic you like; we got it all. tell me what you're into and i can spin you around and give you a gentle shove towards some unhinged gifs, a lovely fic, or a nice fancam :)

dying to know which pairings you're already into and why 👀 that might also be a good starting place. (you're welcome to dm me if you'd rather do that)

hockey friends PLEASE feel free to chime in!

[scarletlizzard]

British is bad, but if you’re having to ask how pathetic you look, then the answer is always more than you know. Like I said, delicious.

God, don’t even mention B*ris when we’re speaking; I don’t want his name in the same vicinity as the image of you on your knees, ugh. Drive fast, but no drinking and driving, that’s bottom bitch energy, pirate.

I’m somewhat awestruck by your accuracy in the ice cream ranking, even more so that you had BOTH of my top two in contention. Why those two, out of curiosity?!

In response to the other anons:

Little bow🎀, I am ever so impressed with the concept of you getting three hat pictures in as many days, but I have yet to see the third materialise. Having said that, I was oblivious to the second until I saw your ask, so I will thank and praise you profusely, as it was…unsurprisingly…delicious. If I see the third, I may even offer up a ‘good girl’.

As for you, dear 🎵, ignore the toy and give me all of the ideas you want, I’ll see what might come to fruition. Though a bruised knee picture would imply that I have the patience to keep her in that position for long enough without using her in every way possible for myself. In terms of activities, I’m a relatively simple creature. Lots of reading, cycling, yoga, travel and (very recently) surfing. I play the piano, love a good crossword and am afraid that I even knit on occasion, so may well be approaching retirement faster than first anticipated. What about yourself, other than watching a needy girl’s thighs squeeze together in humiliation?

-🫖

Here we go again with that word!! 😳

That made me laugh, I'm so sorry I brought him up! Also, just go back for a second.. you're picturing me on my knees or? OH MY! But like I said, I don't approve either. No drinking and driving here or near me, please.

Well, like I said, mint chocolate chip just seems... British? And then pistachio just seemed to fit you the most out of the other flavors! I told you I was good at this 😊 Maybe my other rankings weren't so wrong after all...

To interrupt 🎀 : The third pic is not from me! She asked another person for one. (You found the picture utterly delicious..? 😳👀)

To interrupt 🎵 : So we are just going to ignore me here or what?? This is MY blog. Thank you very much! No ideas shall be passing!

(I'm totally normal about you talking about using me, I'm totally fine right now.)

Hey, you didn't tell me some of those things! Surfing?? Piano?? Warn a girl first!

Anyways, come surf here! The waves are absolutely terrible, but we pretend we can anyways. We mostly skim board! Play piano for me when? 😊

Not the retirement home, grandma!

[once-upon-a-pirate-ship]

How Restlessly the Stars Do Gleam: Chapter 9: Fire, Ice

Story summary: After the Evil Queen kidnaps and curses her family and destroys her kingdom, Princess Emma is on the run. She boards a merchant vessel with her godmother Red, and they intend to travel to Arendelle to seek magical assistance. But when Emma discovers the dark truths aboard Captain Silver's ship, she must put a stop to his cruelty and rescue the Jones brothers from their enslavement. Emma has to find her own allies and face her fears in order to save her parents, her brother Leo, and her kingdom.

I posted chapter 9 last week, but I'm only getting to the Tumblr post now. Let's just say that chapter 10 is coming very, very soon.

Read it on AO3 from the beginning here.

Find Chapter 9 below the cut or on AO3.

Although Emma had grown used to startling awake, it never got easier.

Her pounding heart stunned her, brought her head to spin around until she found her godmother lying nearby, sleep still in her eyes as if she’d only woken, in time with Emma’s movements. 

Emma scanned their camp, counting their numbers. She tensed when she came up short, Will and Mulan nowhere to be seen. She made to rise, an order on her lips. 

“They left about an hour ago to head back to Robin’s camp, about the time I passed the watch onto Liam,” Red explained. “We need a cart to transport Kristoff.”

“Oh,” Emma said, forcing her hand out of its clenched fist. “Right, of course.”

Red’s gaze was steady, knowing, even though the dark circles weighed them down. “You could sleep more,” she offered. 

“No,” Emma replied, pushing herself onto her feet. “No, I need to do something.” Urgency shook her limbs, demanded movement, progress, anything but sitting in the open where she was vulnerable to attack.

“You don’t,” Red smiled. 

Emma glanced from one end of the clearing to the other once more, finding Liam perched on a log, his gaze working methodically over their surroundings. His eyes were much more alert, his posture much less slumped than when she’d seen him last; at least someone was getting rest.

The sun beat down on her skin. Without the cover of darkness, they were exposed. Her panic bubbled, threatened to choke her—they were down two of their people. Separated. Weakened. 

“What if Regina’s tracking them?” Emma asked abruptly, her eyes landing on the sisters who had settled around Kristoff. Anna slept against his side, and Elsa rested against a tree opposite them, an unofficial second guard.

“She’s not,” Red replied.

Emma’s skeptical eyes shot back to her godmother. “How do you know that?”

“Because they would’ve attacked already.”

Emma sighed, forcing herself to breathe, counting as her lungs expanded. She pushed the air out even slower. But her skin still buzzed with nervous energy, her feet still rocked, still begged for her to run. 

“You’re right,” she said, impressed when her voice sounded normal. “I’m gonna get more water. You sleep.” She didn’t wait for a reply.

She knew it was a pathetic excuse, especially since she’d left her canteen by her bedroll, but she’d realized that too late, her eyes already on the stream. Emma leaned against a rock instead, watching the water flow in its predictable way, making its predictable sounds. 

It was only a matter of time before Red figured out that she was avoiding her. But there were conversations that would happen once they finally had time to talk, and Emma really didn’t want to have them. 

And that was only a tiny piece of why her brain was on fire, only a fraction of the reasons why her heart never really stopped racing in her chest. Every minute she stood still brought her one step closer to total collapse, every second she wasn’t actively getting closer to saving someone—anyone—made her skin tighten, made her lips press so tightly she was certain to shatter them, and nothing was ever enough to stop it.

She was never enough.

Emma shook her head, turning away from the water to find Elsa standing off to the side, her hand against a tree as she debated whether or not to continue. When their eyes met, she seemed to make up her mind.

Elsa sat, folding her legs beneath her body and folding her hands neatly in her lap. It was a posture more suited to a royal picnic, but old habits died hard. It was a concept Emma was entirely too familiar with. 

“I wanted to thank you for saving us last night,” she said. 

“You already did,” Emma replied, returning her eyes to the stream. 

“Barely,” Elsa huffed, but she refrained from attempting it again, instead pausing thoughtfully. “You seem…troubled.” 

Emma’s eyes flicked back to her, but it seemed that Elsa had already found something interesting to watch in the water. “I always am, these days.” It was quite the understatement, but no one could fault her for it.

“I couldn’t help but notice that,” she hesitated, “that it hurt you last night, watching me with Anna.”

Guilt towered above her, toppled over, buried her in its rubble. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Elsa said quickly, shaking her head. “No, that’s not what I meant. I only meant that I understand. You miss your brother. I’m sorry you can’t be with him now.”

Emma tried to swallow her guilt, her pain; she was certain it left cuts in her throat. “Were you…ever separated? From Anna?”

Elsa frowned sharply for a moment, but it softened. “Not in the same way,” she said. “I hurt her with my magic when we were little. It was an accident, but I had to stay away from her. For years. I had to keep a door between us, just to keep her safe, even when she was begging for me to let her in.” 

Emma couldn’t imagine that, having to hide away. Leo had knocked on her chamber door on many cold nights, asking for her company. Living in a huge castle was lonely; she’d always let him in. They talked for hours by the roaring fireplace until he’d fallen asleep, practically drooling on his own arm. Year after year, she’d waited to feel annoyed with him, waited for the natural desire to push him away, but it had never come. He was her best friend. 

“How did you do it?”

“I’m not sure,” Elsa said. “I hated every moment of it, but I truly believed it was for the best. I know it’s not the same, that you can’t even comfort yourself with the sound of his voice. I’m sorry.”

Emma nodded, reaching a hand up to brush away a tear. “My parents would tell me to have hope that I’ll find him soon.”

“Hope is a powerful thing.”

“I’m afraid that I’ve forgotten how,” Emma admitted. 

“Now I may be wrong,” Elsa said, a half-smile teasing her lips, “but that may be the sleep deprivation talking.”

Emma chuckled, “You’re probably not wrong.”

“But I meant it when I said that I’d help, Emma. And I don’t just mean on the battlefield. I’m sure that if you’d been able to come to Arendelle this summer on an official visit, we would have become great friends. The circumstances may be different, but I think we’ll find the outcome is much the same.” Elsa paused, meeting Emma’s gaze. “What I’m saying is that you can always reach out to me if you need help. Even if it’s just to talk.”

“Thank you,” Emma said, grasping for something more. Friendship had been far too scarce in the last months, and she’d been craving it far more that she’d ever admit. 

“Unless, of course, you’d rather talk to a certain gentleman,” Elsa added quickly, her eyebrows raised suggestively. “That would be understandable.” 

Emma felt her cheeks heat. “What?” 

“Liam’s brother? The one who can’t keep his eyes—”

She couldn’t let her finish. “There’s nothing between us.”

Elsa’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Elsa pursed her lips, glancing away from her new friend. She didn’t seem all that convinced, but that was probably because Emma wasn’t that convincing. She just didn’t have the energy to sell it.

“Well, I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“I’m not offended,” Emma said, a bit too quickly. “Why would I be?”

Elsa stared at her for a long moment. “Okay,” she drawled. “Well, if you ever decide you’d like to talk about that, we certainly can.”

Emma opened her mouth to reply, only to shut it a second later. To contradict her would be no more than a lie, and she wasn’t willing to lie like that to a friend, no matter how new the relationship was. 

She looked down, her eyes finding the pebbles at the edge of the stream, the ones that barely touched the water. “Thanks,” she muttered.

“Anytime,” she said. “I should get back to Anna, she’ll be up any minute,” she added, needlessly brushing off her lap before moving to stand. 

Emma remained, letting her mind stray as she watched the water once more. It was more calming than it had been, and she was determined to return to camp only when she was certain she wouldn’t need to turn right back around. 

— —

The sun was just beginning to tuck itself behind the trees when Kristoff woke. 

His grogginess vanished when Anna pulled him into her embrace, fresh tears on her cheeks as she held tightly to him. He allowed himself a moment to revel in her before his tired eyes took in the group that surrounded them.

Robin, Liam, and Red sat not too far off, a polite distance to give some privacy for the reunion. Killian was fixed on watch, though he allowed himself to meet the man’s gaze and exchange a nod in greeting.  

Emma stood farthest from the group, opposite Killian with her hand on the hilt of her sword. Her fingers were beginning to stiffen from gripping it so rigidly for so many hours, but it seemed to be the only remedy for her racing heartbeat. 

Anna was quick to introduce them all, not neglecting to include the two who were absent, and Kristoff nodded to each of them in silent thanks. He didn’t seem all that surprised to find that another princess had been the cause of their rescue. 

“And Emma and Liam saved Elsa from the Black Knights—they took down five, all on their own!” 

“Actually, lass,” Liam interrupted, “I managed one, barely, while Emma took care of the other four.” 

Elsa was stunned by this revelation, looking at Emma for confirmation, but the woman in question glanced away. 

“I was the distraction,” Emma said, “I took out one before they even saw me, and I used my knives for the next. You could have taken more, if the situation had called for it,” she told him. 

“I’m not so sure,” he replied. “Perhaps I should ask Killian to give me some lessons,” he added, grinning playfully at his brother.

Killian glared at him, but it had no bite. “As if I possessed the patience to train you.”

“Mulan would be happy to help,” Robin supplied. “You can ask her when she returns.”

Worried eyes fell to the treeline. The longer they were gone, the more restless everyone became, but hours most certainly remained before Will and Mulan would reappear. Patience was required, and no one bristled at the thought of it more than Emma did.

Anna and Elsa had propped Kristoff up at his request, and he watched the group with observant eyes while the sisters continued to fuss over him. 

“I’m fine, truly,” he said, his hand catching Anna’s before it could smooth the fabric of his bandage. She practically sagged from the weight of all she felt, all that had happened, and when he squeezed her hand, tears threatened to fall anew. 

“Sorry, sorry,” she muttered hastily. “It’s just been a long few days, and I was so scared you were dead, and that Elsa was dead, and—”

“It’s alright, Anna,” Kristoff said fondly, putting an end to her seemingly infinite rambling. “Elsa and I are both fine now. Perhaps you should rest.” 

Anna opened her mouth to protest, but one raised eyebrow from Kristoff and she practically melted. She glanced at her sister who rose, leaving them under the pretense of wishing to speak with Red. Anna’s gaze followed after her for a moment, but her attention returned to her betrothed, and he encouraged her to rest her head in his lap and sleep.

Emma looked away from the scene, her eyes jumping to Killian instinctively, and though their gazes locked for a moment, neither could hold it for very long. There was too much hesitation, too much fear, too much that separated them. 

“Captain,” a quiet voice said in greeting, and Emma turned to find Liam beside her. In her distraction, she’d failed to notice his approach. The fact only solidified that she was doing the right thing.

“I don’t see a ship, do you?” she asked dryly.

“Yet you remain my captain,” he replied. “I am a sailor, first and foremost. Allow me this small privilege for a while longer.” 

She pursed her lips, but it was a reasonable request. “Fine.” She glanced at him, finding his eyes fixed firmly on his brother. “Did you wish to speak about something?” she asked. Although she didn’t mind his company, she sensed he hadn’t come just to debate the use of her title.

“Ah,” he sounded, clearing his throat. “Yes. When we went in search of Queen Elsa—”

“If you intend to thank me again—”

“Fear not,” he interrupted, a chuckle on his lips, “I’ve learned it’s a fruitless endeavor. No, this matter pertains to my brother.” 

“Your brother?”

Liam’s lips quirked. “Yes, goes by ‘Killian,’ usually has a sword in hand, I was certain you’d be introduced…”

Emma couldn’t find it in her to laugh. “What about him?” she asked stiffly. 

Liam frowned, though Emma had averted her gaze in time to miss it. “Forgive me, Captain, I know it’s not my place—”

“Then please, do not speak further,” she nearly begged. 

He sighed deeply. “Emma,” he droned, fond exasperation woven into his voice. It seemed that frustrating him was all it took to get him to use her name. She might’ve teased him about it—had the whole thing not troubled her so much. 

She pressed her lips into a harsh line. “Liam, I know you mean well, but please. Just don’t.” Her voice broke on the last syllable, and he was not insensitive to her plea. 

“Very well,” he allowed. “Then perhaps you should try to get some rest before your shift tonight. We’ll be leaving early, I’d imagine.”

— —

When Will and Mulan returned with the cart, everything had happened quickly. Bedrolls were stowed away, Kristoff was settled comfortably beside a still-exhausted Anna, and they were off, heading back towards Robin’s camp of Merry Men before the sun had barely begun to peek above the horizon. 

Emma’s heart had thudded unevenly watching Killian rise from his spot, the circles under his eyes much too dark for her liking. She’d been unable to keep herself from analyzing his every move while she’d stood watch; he’d hardly slept, tossing and turning, startling awake or lying too still to be sleeping, and she’d hated every second of it.

Never once had his eyes sought hers in the darkness. And every day that passed seemed to pull him further away.

Yet he followed so closely as they marched back through the forest. 

Emma tried not to notice him as they trekked, tried to prevent her instinctual awareness of him from distracting her, but he hadn’t fallen to the back of the group while she walked with Elsa.

She couldn’t bring herself to peek at him over her shoulder, but the occasional half-turn of her head allowed her to see that he was watching, listening. 

It made no sense to her. 

Because he’d held himself back, sat rigidly away from her without any sign of moving closer for days. 

She wanted him to be more than just an observer. She wanted his thoughts, his opinions, she wanted to hear his laughter and see his smile, but he said nothing, reacted so little to anything. 

And she had no idea if this was progress, a step towards something more, and hoping for that would drain the last of her energy when nothing came of it. 

So she tried to pretend like he wasn’t just an arm’s length away, tried to keep her attention on her new friend. Even though every step she took seemed echoed by one of his, every move she made cast a second shadow. 

“Elsa,” she said abruptly, “would you mind telling me more about your magic?” Her question soothed two conflicting pieces of her mind; it served as a welcome distraction while also allowing her to continue strategizing for what was to come.

“I was born with it,” Elsa told her, “though I did not learn to embrace it until after my powers were exposed and I almost got my sister killed.” 

Emma remembered the story well—or rather, the several versions of the events that made their way into the castle. She’d never discovered which of the tales held the most truth, though she had her suspicions. 

“What happened?” she asked, though part of her wished she’d held her tongue.

But Elsa was not offended. “I spent so long hiding from everyone, thinking that magic needed to be controlled, concealed. And then, at my coronation, I accidentally iced half the ballroom. Everyone was terrified of me—everyone except for Anna. She was confused, concerned, but she did not see me as the monster they thought I was. The monster I thought I was. It turned out that love was the key all along. Trying to hide my powers from the world and from myself led to nothing but chaos and solitude. I had to accept my magic as a part of me, and trust that those I love could do the same.”

“And now you can control your magic?”

Elsa smiled, as if she had a secret or an inside joke. “‘Control’ isn’t quite the word,” she replied. “It’s more like…collaboration.”

Emma considered that for a moment, though she had nothing to compare it to—no magic to speak of. Perhaps it was like fencing, the way the blade becomes an extension of oneself. “Would you mind…?” 

“A demonstration?” Elsa guessed. “Not at all.” She lifted a hand, drawing both of their gazes to her open palm. 

With a small wave of her fingers, white light sparked, but it was ice that appeared there, a flurry of snow flakes that danced into spires, coming to form a single, large snowflake that hovered over her hand. It disappeared when Elsa closed her palm, but Emma’s awe did not vanish, nor did the hum she tasted in the air. 

“That’s incredible,” she murmured, meeting Elsa’s gaze.

Soft pink touched her pale features. “You should see my ice palace,” she joked. 

— —

It wasn’t exactly like coming home, but it was as close as she’d come in a while. Mildly familiar faces greeted them in the dying light, offering water and food, leading Anna and Kristoff to the most qualified healer in their camp, and they all dispersed. 

Tink’s color had improved significantly, as had her spirits, and she fell into her typical banter with Will and easy conversation with Red. 

It should have been a joyous occasion, a victory in its own right. They’d left camp with the intention of finding a guide towards Elsa, but they’d returned with her instead. So why did Emma feel the sorrow burrow deeper into her chest?

She placed herself farther from the fire than she had before; the burn in her heart had returned, and the idea of going nearer to the flames repulsed her. 

She’d won a battle, maybe two. She’d found and gained a valuable ally. And yet she sat by herself and set her jaw so she wouldn’t weep. 

Every success had become hollow, because she was no closer to saving Leo. The stars had the audacity to gleam above her while she mourned the loss of her own constellation; the predictable lights that were supposed to surround her—guide her—were nowhere in sight, not even tucked beneath the horizon, and even though she knew it wasn’t her fault, it still felt like it was. 

An eerie cold had settled within her chest now, and it was as if her hopelessness had manifested in shards of ice so unlike the beauty of Elsa’s magic, so opposite that wonder and love that flowed within every meticulously crafted fractal. 

“You will find him, Emma,” a voice assured her, so calm, so certain. 

She looked up to find Elsa joining her on her secluded log. “It just feels like it gets less likely every day,” Emma replied, running a hand over the top of her hair and down her ponytail. 

She froze, her fingertips still caught in the ends. Leo had teased her, had told her she was so obvious when she was thinking or worrying about something because of that exact movement. 

Emma dropped her hand into her lap, clasping it tightly with the other. 

There wasn’t much Elsa could say to ease Emma’s pain, so instead she sat silently beside her, offering support the only way she knew how—by simply being there. 

And while her sorrow did not lessen, the ache it gave her did, as if the tide had been high but the cycle had no choice to continue. 

— —

It wasn’t unusual. Emma tried to tell herself that they were just talking, and it wasn’t anything special. But she hadn’t spoken to him alone in what felt like days, and she couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed like that because of a conversation with her. 

It couldn’t have been jealousy. She was certain of that, despite the bitter taste that rose on her tongue, despite the feeling of her stomach twisting itself into knots, despite the firm press of her lips that she had to work to keep from frowning—it wasn’t jealousy. It wasn’t. 

Emma stood, leaving Elsa and Anna who chatted beside her. Although her eyes were tempted towards the other side of the fire, she kept herself from glancing over her shoulder to find Killian and Tink still thoroughly engrossed in their discussion.

She wasn’t jealous, and she certainly wasn’t moping. 

She told herself it was just that she couldn’t stand another moment with all of that chatter and the songs they sang while they prepared dinner, all of that, well, merriment that surrounded her. It was too much. 

Jealousy was the least of her problems. Because her brother was still lost, and they still had to face the scores of Black Knights that kept her from her father, and she had no idea where her mother was, but she couldn’t even say what she so desperately wanted to or even talk to him anymore without being reminded of what could never be. 

She stopped when she reached the stream, her eyes following the gentle flow that glowed amber in the light of the setting sun. Perhaps she’d grown too comfortable on their ship, and she sought the water as if it held some solace. Or perhaps she was simply limited in her options of temporary escape. 

With no pretense of a canteen, she did not kneel at the edge, nor did she look behind her when she heard the rustle of leaves, the crunch of the forest floor.

He hardly ever spoke to her, yet he protected her as if he were her personal knight, or a palace guard assigned to keep a close eye. He’d abandoned his lively conversation when she’d stormed away from the camp, but he wouldn’t come closer or engage with her unless an enemy appeared. 

Her heart blazed in her chest, raw and terribly wounded, and she couldn’t tell if his presence caused the pain or if it was because for just a second, she could’ve sworn she’d heard Leo calling for her. 

She’d never told anyone and she never would, but sometimes his voice echoed in her mind for just a moment. It was the guilt, the fear, the ache imprinted on her soul from his absence. It would pass; it always did. 

And when she felt her heart shudder in relief, her frustration and anger returned, leaving her to glare at the ground. All of the heaviness had built inside her, buckled, shattered. And what remained was a petulant, childish irritation. 

She toed a rock, kicking it into the stream. The water rippled, rolling away from the point of impact before the tiny waves dissipated, returning to their steady flow as if nothing had ever disturbed it. 

Emma promised herself that she would go back once the sun was beneath the horizon and the stars shone above her, gleaming, blinking in time with her restless heart. And even if Killian would remain fifty feet away the entire time, she wouldn’t turn to look at him. 

Her focus on the water wavered when she heard movement, but there were no accompanying cries or frantic footsteps of a princess in distress. Whoever lurked on the other side of the brush was in no danger, and that alone made them a threat to her. 

It had grown too dark to peek through any leaves, now that the moon was only a sliver overhead, but there was a large enough silhouette that she had a target, and she held her breath, listening to them inch closer. 

And then she leapt over the stream, racing forward until she collided with the figure, both of them falling to the ground. 

[weregreatatcrime]

I'm sick and rereading Two Halves and I know I leave a lot (A LOT) of stuff in the end notes but there's actually lots of stuff I still never mention or talk about so here's a long sick (no longer at 4am) ramble about things I didn't get the chance to talk about but wanted to (in somewhat of an order reminded by rereading) or at least just some lines I particularly enjoyed

On to Chapter 4

"Feelings, plans, goals, even injuries are just tools to manipulate for your own benefit. Karai is not afraid to use her own pain as a tool." This is part of the chapter summary, not in the actual fic, but I still love it for how great it points out how little Karai cares about herself beyond basic survival

Karai didn't PLAN on coming across the turtles today so she was all for 4v1ing them until they provided prime manipulation fodder

It's funny to me that Leo understands Karai's loyalty to Shredder despite his crappy morals more than Raph, who is THE most loyal to the family. Then again Raph puts his family on a different level than anyone else too

I think this is where I made Raph’s favorite word "bastard" without meaning to hsvdhwgf

Karai was intentionally letting them see clues about her injury, but Mikey was the one who noticed first, yes to that one reviewer, as he is the most empathetic of the lot. He also made Several leaps in logic to get to the Shredder hurting her, but he hit the nail on the head. In all honesty even if she HAD been hiding it, it's possible Mikey might've sussed her out anyways

Karai is so twitchy (stabby) being the center of attention like this and Leo notices so makes everyone back off hfsvhfhe

I literally spent paragraphs in fic with Donnie and Mikey talking about the extent of her injury, I REALLY don't need to ramble about it here too, but lord am I tempted. I'm a huge medical and anatomy nerd if my constant First Aid rants in he end notes hasn't clued yall in yet lol

Karai acknowledged Leo saying nobody would do this to someone they cared about. She does in fact agree, because the only person she cares about here is Miwa. But she doesn't honestly believe that's normal (and tbh, it's not, their connection makes her kind of utterly obsessed) so she doesn't wanna talk about what humans consider caring about each other

The running joke of Donnie giving Karai ice packs, whether he knows it's her or not

The small funny of them all looking away when she pulls her suit off the shoulder, because Splinter raised some fucking gentlemen, even if he never expected his boys to ever actually meet girls before.

Karai’s angry rant was triggered by being called Miwa, but was shut down when she almost said something about her cover. She came reeeeal close to saying some shit that could've gotten her killed for revealing

"All it would take was one soft gooey lie and he would lead the worst of enemies right into his home." <- shout out to Canon where he did just that lol

Karai stocked the place with a lot of basic supplies, including real food (or at least, frozen and non-perishables) but Stockman doesn't know or care to know how to cook so. Lots of it ended up either going to waste or Karai ate it. Stockman watched her eat bags of frozen solid food and nearly vomited, especially when she ate raw chicken that was still frozen in the package. It's crunchy!

Karai sad she didn't keep the chemical ice pack because she could've eaten it later

A LOT of Karai’s thoughts actually revolve around food, tbh. She survived a long time on the knifes edge of starvation. She is Always thinking of food

Stockman, while scared of Karai, isn't afraid of her *presence* so he lost all formality with her after he saw her chewing on a broken phone casing like it was a chocolate bar. He's pretty irreverent with her, unless she's actively intimidating, in which case he obligingly shows that yes, he's still very very scared of you Karai, don't worry!

This is peak changeling behavior. She has accidentally gotten him into using changeling behavioral tactics. Holy fuck

I totally just "Yes, and" my whole way through Stockman’s tech and I'm glad it apparently sold well

Stockman trying very hard not to scream when Karai keeps literally mauling herself in front of him. He did not sign up for this. What the fuck

Karai actually DID make a major miscalculation here. She's never been injured for very long. If she was in changeling form, her changeling trainers had someone magically skilled on staff to heal her. If she was in human form, she had the best doctors (and again, healers, to subtly boost her healing to get her back in shape so she didn't go mad from being stuck in one form) She was NOT prepared for the magical ramifications of shapeshifting with a decent injury

Unstated but I think the way she triggers her transformed is she reaches out towards Miwa and it feels like wrapping herself in a "hug"

Karai considers any cost to herself worth it to get Miwa back. Don't worry, that'll get fixed eventually (mostly)

I love making a running gag of Karai fucking with Leo's vision, even if it's on accident. This time was very on purpose lol

I winced writing Raph hitting her. Not because her shoulder or because she slammed into a wall, but because he kicked her in the chest, and chest armor or no, tit hits are awful. Splinter has not had reason to teach them that that's a "dirty move" on women, yet

Raph: *feeling guilty for hurting her injuries worse*

Karai: don't fucking look at me like I'm WEAK

(At least one or two of her soldiers were DEFINITELY killed for "letting her" be so injured, to Karai’s complete annoyance)

Changeling Karai is a lot more "respectful soldier" than Canon Karai, which does please Shredder greatly. She thinks this is normal. Honey...

Shredder used to be very obsessed with making sure Karai didn't "ruin" her mother's beauty with scars, so any wounds she got, were very carefully tended to to minimize scarring or pain. This is definitely weird creepy projecting he did thinking of her more as an extension of Tang Shen than actual concern. Now he's just too bonkers to care

I found a typo hdvdjwgfje something autocorrected "contrite expression" to "contrite excision" and I'm mad about it shfvshdg

The people around her serving as caretakers are very aware that Shredder isn't doing a good job at being a father, whop. But they're too scared of Karai and her twitchy (stabby) ways to try and fill any of that gap

[deathly-toxins]

The orders were simple: watch over her, and do not let her escape.

⋆┈┈｡ﾟ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ﾟ｡┈┈⋆

'I have to go away for a few days. While I have others in charge of daily activities, I have a special job for you my precious Gyutaro. I need you to watch over a very special flower I have kept hidden from that man.'

A distant yet friendly smirk would appear for only a moment before disappearing behind the swift cracking of a golden fan opening before the face of the demon who had saved Gyutaro and Ume all those years ago.. oh.. he could still very well remember that night. Clear as crystalline ice on the first day of winter.. snatching her up after an entertaining game of tag. The Flower Pillar was someone, no something they immediately desired to have and hold as their own secret treasure... one so beautiful to possess the name of 'Celestial Maiden' had to be protected and saved from the horrors of the world beyond these walls.

'She is a Hashira who's been here for a number of months now, but still hasn't quite seen the light of Paradise I so wish her to. And the followers adore her.. almost as much as they adore me. That kind of power needs to have eyes on it...' 'Her name is Kanae... Oh! You don't have to worry about her being a former Hashira though!~ She's unarmed, I've put everything from her previous life away so she shouldn't be able to harm you or your sister. Although I don't need you to do anything complicated while I'm gone, just make sure she doesn't try anything to corrupt my teachings to others or escape. If she tries anything try not to hurt her and tell me about it when I come back, sound good?'

He would say all of this while jokingly waving his hand as if all of this was no big deal or going behind that man's back wouldn't likely have consequences if she was discovered...

⋆┈┈｡ﾟ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ﾟ｡┈┈⋆

This flower he spoke of was not confined to any one room, in fact she was free to roam and interact as she pleased. However, in light of the circumstances, she had been instructed to wait and meet her 'new friend' before beginning her day in the Paradise Faith... so, in private quarters she waited. Glancing about the room to occupy herself until the woman could sense an unfamiliar yet all too recognizable aura approaching her...

Once they were fully in the room, Kanae glanced up to meet the gaze of the being who her blonde captor described as their 'pride and joy.' Despite her circumstances being bleak at best, Kanae still greeted whoever awaited her with a kind and polite smile on her face.. even knowing this would be a demon, it wouldn't have stopped her from greeting him with kindness.

"Hello there. I take it you are the one who will be watching over me while they're away?"

There was always a caveat to living in the temple, or at least finding refuge within it when both him and his sister needed a good break from the hustle and bustle of the city life. And it was that they at least had to do 'something' around the place. Most of that 'something' was usually put upon his shoulders, after all.. his sister was the 'Princess' of the Upper Moons.

He didn't mind, though. Gyutaro liked being busy. He liked having something to do. But he wasn't expecting to have to essentially 'babysit' a Hashira, of all things. Normally, he would have killed such a human, devoured them and be done with it.

But he was not about to go against the orders of someone who was both higher rank than him.. and also essentially his fatherly figure. Dōma did save both him and Ume that day, and brought them into life as demons. So he wasn't about to gripe and groan about watching after a Hashira that's been 'de-clawed' so to say.

He figured he might as well also kill two birds with one stone in this first meeting, getting food for the so called 'flower' and bringing it to the private chambers Dōma had set up for them. Though he took his usual appearance, the grey skin, the haggled and disproportionate body, he at least wore a dark grey haori on his top instead of going around without.

It was another caveat to being at the temple.

Upon entering, he was expecting the usual. A grimace, a comment about his appearance, a groan or an insult flung at him about how he was a foul, disgusting demon.. So on so forth.

But instead, he received a surprisingly, and shockingly kind greeting. Yellow eyes etched with the marks of 'Upper Six' squinted hesitantly at the Hashira as he approached, setting down the meal onto the stand near where she sat. He didn't bother to look inside of the box the meal was presented in. Didn't care, human food was disgusting to him.

"Uh.. yeah. You're gonna be under my watch till Dōma comes back." He almost muttered his usual 'Oto-san' but knew to ensure only both Dōma or Daki heard him utter those words.

"He didn't exactly tell me 'what' to do with you, just to.. keep an eye on you. So, no funny business, got that, Hashira?" His eyes never once were off the woman. He couldn't hurt her, but if she tried to run, he could probably pin her down and drag her back into this room if so.

That smile was a touch unnerving though, why would someone in her position be.. smiling? He expected a Hashira to be cursing, spewing nonsense about 'justice' or threatening to behead him.

But not this girl.

Weird.

[t0jisd0ll]

Project Z - chapter III

genre: horror, dystopia (viewer discretion advised)

Kenji Watanabe did not know what he was doing with his life. At the ripe age of seventeen, most people would have figured this out, but here he was, sitting aimlessly on a worn-down couch, trying to think about life.

He was awoken from his thoughtless trance by the sound of his phone ringing. He never bothered to change the ringtone, so it remained the default, blaring noise.

"Kenji, my man! Are you up to come down to the Chrysler? Tina has been nagging about how she wants to scale the building or something like that for about a week now. I gave in, but I'm in short supply of emotional support. Please come, bro, I'm begging-"

"Oi, quit yapping, mate; I'll be there," replied Kenji (albeit while yawning) to Matteo, his best friend for about eleven years.

"Come on, man, don't tell me you just woke up," groaned Matteo from the other side of the call.

"Gimme a few; just tell me when to come," Kenji answered, already feeling like returning to his dreamless sleep.

"Around three sounds good, I guess. I and the others already had lunch, and Alia called Myke, so get yourself here quick; you got that soldier?" Matteo questioned him playfully.

"Yessir, I'll be there!" replied Kenji, finally starting to feel a tad bit awake. "Now put down the phone, you little- " The long beep signifying that the call had been cut was heard. Kenji chuckled to himself and slowly sat up. He probably had to brush his teeth.

After about what felt like an hour or so, Kenji exited what seemed to be a dilapidated apartment, perfectly finished off with beige paint slowly peeling off the building, revealing a few cracks in the outer wall.

The walk to the nearest metro wasn't that far, plus Kenji enjoyed walking. In an era where everyone travelled along in their hoverbikes and cars, walking seemed refreshing. Just going at your own pace, not feeling rushed, and always feeling peaceful because of the surrounding nature Not that there was much left of it anyway.

After reaching the Grand Central Terminal, Kenji hopped on one of the trains that were heading towards the Chrysler Building. The trains now seemed to be much different than those before. They were known as hover trains, which travelled many metres higher than normal hover vehicles. The undersides of the trains were made of some sort of sturdy glass, so you could see the city below. These sights were usually pleasant, especially when combined with the rise or setting of the sun.

Due to the train's speed, Kenji reached the station near Chrysler in one minute flat, and he proceeded to walk towards the tall structure. Upon nearing the main gate, he saw his friends waiting for him.

"Kenji, we told you to come at three, dumbass." Alia scowled, while Tina, who was next to her, also frowned. Kenji apologised profusely, explaining that he had lost track of time while admiring the view from the hover train (which wasn't true). Alia rolled her eyes and said they would forgive him this time, but he owed them all ice cream for making them wait. They laughed and walked towards the entrance of the Chrysler building, excited for their adventure. Kenji couldn't help but glance back at the hover train station, already eager to ride it again and take in the breathtaking views.

While they all caught up for a bit, Mykel and Matteo entered the scene holding some bagels and other small snacks. "I bought some in case we get hungry; there aren't many shops here and very little activity to add to it." He said this while stuffing a bagel in his mouth.

"First of all, ew. Second of all, for all that talk about scaling this dump, how are we even going to get in?" Alia asked, glancing towards Tina.

"Honestly, I didn't think that through," Tina replied, as the five silently gazed at the seven-foot-tall barbed wire fence surrounding the humongous building.

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