#(and theres also grey who is the only human amongst them)

[starlitfunkster]

Friday Night in Hell AU BUT only the FNF Lullaby Mod Characters

Sorry to the Hypno, Alexis, and Hell Bell cast fans.. because I forgot about them! I don't really think Hypno would fit? And honestly, Beelze and HELL BELL would not really change in the mod? ..Alexis wouldn't change either. And I would have no idea what to do with Dawn! (Made ironic now that Part 2 was made. Go check that out btw!)

Uh.. *ahem* I did everyone else though. And also Wally. Don't look at me, I think Wally would make for a sad fnf song.

~Lost Silver - Shade (It's a boy named Ethan, who apparently was killed near Mt. Silver. It does not appear under normal circumstances, only appearing to those of pure heart. Apparently its appearance can either pacify or terrify, depending on who it shows itself too. If proven worthy, it will give you a Cyndaquil, Pikachu, or on very rare occasions, a Celebi. If you are not... well hope you survive if you are not worthy!)

~Blake - Yuki-Onna (Male) (Compared to Mount Red, this boy has a lower kill count. He's a lot less mangled too, being one of his victims. He hides his missing jaw with a medical mask, and bandaged up his chest area where his heart was taken out of him. He will try to protect Mount Red's victims with his Typhlosion, but they usually end up dead before they can escape. All except for Gray, that is.)

~Mount Red - Yuki-Onna (Male) (He was killed by an ex-lover on Mt. Silver. Said lover would take his own life following the killing. If you see Red in a hanbok, hiding his face with his fan, then it's already too late. Male victim's often lose their jaws, whilst female victim's have their hearts torn out.. then later eaten by Red. Killing is hard work when you are a malevolent spirit!)

~Blue Tears - Onryo (He killed himself following his murder on his ex-lover. Now he causes disasters nearby Mt. Silver to prevent people from losing their lives. Most misunderstood him, deeming him a malicious spirit, but in truth he has saved lives in doing this. It's probably cause he's aware of why people are trying to go to Mt. Silver, they want to battle his ex!)

~Silver - Specter (He guards the Ruins of Alph, the location of which Ethan hides within. He will kill those who are not pure of heart by transforming into a Feraligatr! Oh wait, no it's an illusion. The victims usually die by his hands to prevent them from potentially getting (or harming) Celebi.)

~S!3v3n - Wraith (The younger brother of Mike that took his own life after feeling immense guilt over his actions. He tends to avoid Mike whenever possible, as his spirit was fused with Miki's as a last resort from Missing No. He looks more human than Charizard though.. and victims who do not heed Gray's warnings tend to end up as charred corpses.)

~Mike - Revenant (The older brother of Steven that was murdered, and is now seeking revenge. In the sense that his hair turned into wires that can extend to strangle his victims. Some of these victims were just onlookers caught in the middle. And Gray almost became a victim before Red intervened!)

~Glitchy Red - Living Glitch (The guy who isn't a spirit, but lives with Gray because he got his ass haunted. Don't annoy him, and he won't kill you. He has to tolerate so many spirits daily, so it's best not to make that looming anger worse. He also can go into his game and back out whenever he pleases.)

~Wally - Wandering Spirit (A young boy who died due to over-exerting himself during training. Should you seek him out, you must first go through Gardevoir. Even when her trainer was long dead, she still protects his spirit. Often times, he isn't 'home', but if your lucky he'll challenge you to a friendly battle. No consequences for losing, just the sting of defeat. Some hold back on Wally, but others don't. Hackers tend to glitch out of existence if they try to challenge Wally. No one knows why though.)

~Gray - Human (The poor sucker that's haunted to heck and back. Red has to protect him from death from time to time, much to his chagrin. He's constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Worse yet is most of the stress comes from Shinto! (not that she's doing anything bad tho-))

~Shinto - Unknown (A poorly made hypno that seems to love Gray in a friendly way. Even if Gray is like.. scared of her. She can turn into a human! Which confuses the heck out of Gray and Red of all people.)

[oh-sweet-mama]

Lonely (VII)

T.W Angst, swearing

3rd person

Sirius watched as Remus gently lead her to the shrieking shack. Remus' condition still remains unannounced to her.

The climb up the steps into the main part of the shack seemed endless in the sense of following a trios fates. James nodded to Sirius allowing room for the three.

Y/n sat on the small mattress near the window. She gazed out on to the field.

"Never knew this was here." She murmured.

"S'posed to be like that." Remus murmured back. Taking a seat next to her.

Taking her hands into his much larger ones, he held onto her, hoping it would be enough to keep her close.

"Y/n."

Y/n tore her gaze away from the window and onto his green eyes that leant towards blue.

"Y/n, I have to tell you something- well a few things, but I we'll start with the most forth coming topic," Remus looked down into his lap, then to Sirius as a source of comfort. Sirius recognizing what Remus was about to say, he took the steps to his other side and placed his hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "As you understand, hopefully of the struggle of telling close loved ones about, erm- sensitive topics, I hope that you will give me room to tell you that, I do also- have Lycanthropy."

Remus felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. Though the feeling of Sirius' comforting hold on his shoulder, he realized that Y/n had never let go of his hand. Instead she gave a gentle squeeze.

"I understand the struggle, to well, to be honest."  Y/n said. Remus looked up at her, y/c/e's, that were filled with sincerity. "Theres a lot more from where my story resides, but that will be for another night."

"Another night?" Remus asked.

"Can let you go now, can't go back to those woods, thought I was going to die last year. Got the scars to prove it."

"Well, we have about 2 and a half hours before the moon reaches it's peek." Sirius told us.

"Y/n, please, I can explain why, me- Sirius- please let me explain." Remus practically begged.

"I- Remus, I trust you, but I need a practical reason, as to why one would cheat." Y/n said, in a smooth tone.

Remus shot up, dragging Sirius, "I'll be right back ok, I need to talk to Sirius." Going to the next room over, the walls were immensely thin, in some places you could see, Y/n still sitting on the bed.

"Sirius, please please please tell her." Remus hugged Sirius, silent sobs wracked his body, "please, I- I can't be without her or you."

Sirius pondered for a moment. He never meant to intentionally hurt anyone. He didn't mean for it to be cheating either. How was he supposed to tell her?

How was he supposed to tell her that he has had a crush on Remus since he first met him, then once Remus had started dating her, first it was the pain of rejection, though he hadn't been rejected. But the pain of not knowing who he was in love with.

"All right, Rem, I'll tell her, ok? How am I supposed to though? I was sleeping with the love of her life, and it was cheating."

"I know pads but please, please try." Remus sobbed into Sirius' chest.

"Come, now Remus, we don't have much time left." Remus pulled himself from the floor, leaning on Sirius. His legs like jello, the pain of his bones starting to move around under his skin. "I've got you Rem."

As they pulled around the corner, Y/n seemed to have vanished. Her spot was vacant, worry riddled both of the boys, fearing the worst, that she decided none of the reasons was valid enough. When suddenly a sharp bark snapped them out of their thoughts.

Sirius stumbled back, grabbed the collar of Remus' sweater, yanking his back, by the throat.

The large wolf cocked it's head, it's large fluffy tail, swishing excitedly behind its.

"Sirius, let me go." Remus tried to get Sirius' death grip off of his sweater collar.

"No! how'd a wolf get into here? James! JaMeS!" Sirius continued to grip onto Remus in fear. Remus, tore his sweater off of his body, leaving his white button up under shirt. "RemUS! No!"

Remus slowly crawled towards the wolf, "Sirius, look at her eyes."

Sirius paused, looking into the wolves eyes, noticing the human definition of them, they large y/c/e's that were so contrasting, amongst the stark brown and grey of the wolves face. "Y/n?"

Again a sharp bark, and a kiss on Remus' face.

"what are you? Not a lycanthrope?" She slowly approached Sirius, her head hung low. "Got somethin' to tell you princess."

Sirius pet her on the top of her head, smoothing the fluff between her ears. A thud of her wolf-ish bum hitting the creaky floor boards, and her head resting on Sirius' chest.

"there's only one reason, I was sleeping with Remus, and when I'm telling you I'm not lying to you, I hope that you'd believe me," a soft wine came from her, "I love you, I love Remus, I can't be with out the either of you."

Warm tears ran down Sirius' face hitting the top of her head and ears, causing small wet spots. Y/n looked up, and licked Sirius' tears away. Remus came and sat on the opposite side of Y/n, and leaned down, kissing the spot between Y/n's eyes, then doing the same on Sirius' forehead.

"I love both of you Y/n, I hope you can do the same to us." Remus murmured to Y/n.

She suddenly sat up, leaving a sloppy kiss on both of their faces, before dashing out. Remus pulled Sirius' head into his chest, letting the man cry it out.

A thumping of steps, the click of nails against the wooden floor.

"5 minutes until full moon!" James told the two men on the floor. "Ah Twigs! you're a lot cuter than you told me."

James leaned down patting the wolf on the head.

"Twigs?" Remus asked, still holding Sirius.

"Yea, kinda' like me, Prongs, and Padfoot, apparently, when she first shifted, she ate a bunch of twigs, then puked them up." James laughed at the end part, and elicited a playful whine from Twigs.

Remus started to feel the effects of the full moon, his bones started to break and move. Leaning back against the wall, he lightly griped Sirius' forearm. "Sirius, time for Pads, don't wanna hurt you."

Sirius moved back, and allowed his Animagus from to be present. A dark black dog sitting now in Sirius' place. However Twigs still towered above Padfoot, by three or four inches.

Twigs ambled over to Remus carefully, her tail starting to come between her legs, ears up right and pointed forward. She was empathetic towards, the boy who was experiencing his monthly ailment, that caused heart wrenching pain to those who had to watch.

Trying to prove what comfort she could, to the love of her life was already starting to face the excruciating symptoms.

Remus felt as his bones began to move, and break, some moving so extensively, that his skin had to stretch thin. Pained screams filled the small area of the shrieking shack. Remus tore his shirt off, the first time in two years, that Y/n or Twigs had seen him shirtless.

Yet Sirius, had the ever flowing luxury of Remus's trust. Y/n wanted to love on Remus, show him how much she truly loved him. Yet a few flicks of Sirius' wand and he had Remus around. his. Fucking. finger.

An incontrollable snarl, emitted from Twigs' chest. Her lips and facial muscles curling up above her teeth, and ears pinned back against her head. A couple of blinks cleared Y/n's clouded head, a yawn, displaying a release of stress. Then promptly walking out of the room to sit in the next room over.

The Full moons light peeked through the window, then the light hit Twigs' eyes, causing a deep, emotion fill howl, and both rooms to still.

Remus sensed the pain in the Howl she let out in the next room over, he knew she maintained her Human conscious, she must have realized something.

Feeling the final effects of the transformation, Remus, prayed for this to be over soon.

Sirius watched on as his lover, cried out in pain, his legs, fingers, and arms elongating, changing Remus into Moony.

Then Moony sat up howling up at the ceiling, and walked over, nuzzling Padfoot, and looking up to the now taller, Prongs, soon joined, by a small palmed sized, Wormtail, but still missing Twigs.

Where is Twigs?

[bluezeri]

Dare I ask... may I hear about some of your OC's?

ALRIGHT LISTEN U ASKED U CANT STOP ME NOW

ANYWAY ok there Nuzeri (Consular) and i originally headcanoned(? is that the right word??) him to be sweet and caring and amazing, which he is, its just that now he’d probably help you commit arson. no one really knows that ofc, except Senya who jokingly brought it up at some point and he showed up 3 days later at her quarters ready to go burn some shit. Senya is now slightly scared of him :) ALSO i might have mentioned it earlier but him and one other person (ill get into it later) are a species i made myself!!! (humans are boring) im v v proud of it despite it probably making things harder for everyone else ill probably get into it in another post bc its a lot and its mostly just a mess of hcs with my friend occasionally suggesting things. p lightsided overall. i think hes only made like 3 darksided choices.

S/O: Arcann

Tagaani!! my inquisitor and brother to Nuzeri. hes the other person thats the species i made. hes honestly p sweet even if he looks kinda scary. hes the more silent, observant type of person, always looking for weaknesses to use to his advantage. fun fact!! hes trans!! i needed someone to project onto so :// tagaani is kinda a grey area. more lightsided decisions than dark but its honestly not that many more so

S/O: twilek/togruta trooper whose name i cant remember

these two are both stuck on a planet (zeri on balmorra and taani on hoth) bc i used stealth too much and now theyre severely under leveled so ive kinda been neglected them :((

mm gonna put the commanders under the cut and more later when i have more hcs 

so ik its probably not a good idea or logical or how anything works at all but i dont really care so!! four commanders!! god im a disaster

Shirei Jorgan is the daughter of aric jorgan and another oc (his name is tanjii ill talk about him later). Tanjii rescued her from some small place in Mirial that was being attacked by the imps. there was a lot of explosions and Loud Noises™ and children do not generally have access to soundproof headgear so shes completely deaf! she has implants for her hearing. so for what happened to tanjii and jorgan, after shjirei eventually got into havoc, she eventually made third in command. dont have the details fully planned out yet but basically a mission went to shit and jorgan got a permanent injury that got him a transfer to a less,, active part of the military (he forces hi way back into havoc when shirei gets popsicled so its cool). tanjii just straight up went missing (captured) and now shirei is commander of havoc :’) shes a light sided trooper, even if it may not seem like it at times. shes trying her best

S/O: lana Beniko and azeme

Azeme is a jedi knight. she’s actually the least developed character bc i haven’t played her that much as i find playing jedi/sith characters wack (lightsabers in partciular) but!! shes basically the mom friend. and the only sane person amongst the commanders. usually acts as the public figure, giving speeches n stuff. light sided baby!

S/O: shirei and lana

Ne’ety (i finally remembered his name!!) is commonly reffered to (by me) as Chaos Jedi™. theres a lot of character development in there bc hes a v easily frustrated boi. rlly doesnt vibe w the jedi code. theres a reason hes the chaos jedi. anyway about two years after arcann attacked the core worlds he went no❤️ and fucked off to god knows where until oh shit is that knight attacking civilians?? and saved koth and crew from senya. tora decided his nasty, probably radiation soaked clothes were cool and decided to annoy koth until he allowed ne’tey to become part of the crew. hes equally annoying about senya joining the team as koth is, mostly bc senya stabbed him. multiple times. this does not help later on asylum when arcann stabs him. aaand later when vaylin attacks oddessan,,, she stabs him. hes basically the tirall family shish kebab at this point. poor him. anyway even tho he angy he lightsided bb

Sidenote added by Lana Beniko: Theron, I know its funny, but stop letting Ne’tey pilot the walkers. He’s dangerous enough as it is. 

S/O: Koth vortena

Ah yes. Kahsii. literally the only imperial there. besides lana ofc but thats not the point. hes not even a real imperial this double agent dumbass anyway this man is one (1) whole disaster. him and theron are disasters together its fine. He’s definitely the lesser known commander. and he prefers it that way. better for spy shit. goes on the more covert ops for the alliance. he also hasnt slept in 14 years. ALRIGHT BACKSTORY TIME so he grew up in the ascendancy ofc so theres that but his parents are like super important people. kahsii has seen their faces probably like a total of 3 times. anyway so some scandal thing??? happened?? with his parent so the empire started distrusting his parents and they were like ok but what if,, we give u,, one of the best agents ever and the empire was like what and that how kahsii was born and trained from way too young to be one of the best operatives in imperial intelligence. spoiler: the training was not kid friendly :) fun. also hes,, mostly lightsided?? he mainly makes ds choices for the sake of the mission so :// fun fact hes like. 16 when the revan shit happens. :’} everyone finds out at some point and kinda has a mental breakdown bc what the fuck. who let this child in here. what the fuck

ur probably wondering hey blue why are all ur characters lightsided?? well i tried being mean once,, and i cried. so.

ANYWAY LIKE I SAID ILL BE BACK AT SOME POINT TO CONTINUE THIS BUT FOR NOW IM DONE RAMBLING OK BYE

[mousehole5000]

tgcf lb the fourth chapter 23 - 33

“hmmm looks like theres people in the fertilizer. i shan’t say a word” ok king of minding your business i guess

oh looks like it has a long tongue. oh i dont care for that at all

The build of their bodies were similar, and atop their shoulders, all of them carried cudgels that were densely covered in sharp wolf teeth. It created an illusion that a pack of wolves had transformed into people. attack of the furries? okay.

It was easy to comprehend after thinking about it. This person had been buried in the desert sand for fifty to sixty years. The flesh of his body had long been transformed into nutrients for those Kindred Moon Herbs. He had been entirely consumed until the only thing remaining was a mere skeleton. when this book isnt being very funny its being very grim!!! yikes!! also this was an episode of hannibal 

Ke Mo definitely had never heard someone ask to go first in this place. His eyes widened and looked like bells as he asked in astonishment, “You want to go first? For what reason??” Xie Lian naturally couldn’t reply and say it was because he wasn’t scared. Thus, he chose an answer that conformed with the norms of society. “General, these are merely innocent merchants just passing through. They even have a child amongst them.” - love watching the immortals trying to act like humans. would have been funny if xie lian had just hit em with “well i cant die so its chill”

That young man had crossed his arms. With an indifferent gaze, he thoughtfully sized up the deep Sinners’ Pit.　　 A bad premonition sprung up unbidden in Xie Lian’s heart. “San Lang?”　　 When he heard Xie Lian call him, San Lang turned his head. He smiled faintly and said, “Everything’s fine.” - edgy bastard lets go

What Ke Mo had been cursing was, “It’s this slut again!” - me when a corpse gets up and knocks all my soldiers into the sinner’s pit what a relatable reaction

oh now im switching translations here we go

does hua cheng just straight up transform in the darkness? edgy bastard. also  hualian having their little discussion while ke mo keeps trying to attack im still amused by these kinds of shenanigans

banyue guoshi ma’am your backstory.... rough. im on your side im sure you had your reasons

why do the soldiers keep her up near the top of the pit of death if she keeps getting up and knocking them all in? am i missing something? or are they just that dumb/dead fjdf;adjsf

fu yao: y’all alive? lmk. if not ill guess ill go back to the the merchants who totally promised to stay put in the circle. in case its not clear i do not care what happens to said merchants.

hua xie... of course thats the fucking name he picked. also looks like that wasnt so much a parallel being drawn between xie lian and the general as it was the same exact line

fasdlkfjsldfdsf god xie lian really has a hard time. you help some orphans, you try to keep people from dying, you try to save an orphan and you trip and get trampled but you cant die so you wake up in a river full of corpses and just float away. actually tbh i really appreciate him as an immortal character this is the shit i like to see. love xie lian ready to defend himself from the slander of being completely flattened. he was only mostly flattened

cunty vibes so strong all the wildlife in a 10 foot radius just chuck up the deuces and split

ITS RAINING SCORPION SNAKES. THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO PUSH A REVEAL. love that the umbrella is just always on hand

okay i guess fucking. everyone is here now why not. we’re all in a hole covered in scorpions and everyone knows each other but not everyone is admitting it but we know. we know. still not 100% sure what is going wrt pei su/pei ming/general pei/pei junior im a bit confused idk

okay i cant explain it but im attached to him now.

i like banyue. i feel like theres going to be a few background female characters i really like but im not so sure theyll get a lot of development. wind master come back you and your lady friend i would like to know more of you. anyway fuck this pei guy(s?). also they just put banyue in a jar? fair enough

is xie lian another mc who cant cook? so much so that everyone who knows him just leaves if he offers? love that for him

okay we’ve got ONE identity admitted. i liked how casual it was. i wonder if hc was waiting for this bc yeah he was not subtle i feel like he definitely wanted xie lian to know. if he didnt then bruh. get lessons in how to act human please

screaming. no words. cant wait to meet him. and hua cheng please keep up the good work. i love that now we’re just. sitting. chatting. chilling. okay.

yeah it makes sense that hes an immortal i think you would have to take this attitude after 800 years

this authors note about not writing ugly characters.... fjkdalfdjfa obviously i dont think holding beauty as such high standard is good it warps our views and values etc etc but also i would expect nothing less from a story like this. yes we know everyone is going to be beautiful theyre immortal and beautiful and young forever

lmao at exile being a temporary banishment for crimes.... yeah that sounds about right tbh. rich elite fuckers

oh good we haven’t forgotten about human face disease boy. im wondering when we’re going to find out how important he will be bc he clearly matters otherwise he’d have been resolved already also yeah how tf does he have that disease that sure sounds like an issue

i dont like him. pei ming i also wish you to die of syphilis. also of fucking COURSE xie lian’s cultivation method doesnt let him read dirty books

im just saving this because its funny

okay lang qianqiu i see you falling asleep at the meeting. i like you already but you are not above suspicion. actually you know what i suspect you already. crown prince of the kingdom that conquered xianle? idk if youre good or bad but you know something i learned this lesson from beloved morally grey huaisang

okay last comment for this post. mxtx’s little authors note about everyone being straight except for hualian but you can make up headcanons as long as you dont split hualian up fjdlfakdj. i just find it silly to write a story thats so clearly for an audience that understands shipping and ships often and say not to split a specific couple up but i mean to be fair i kind of get it that sentiment as an author and not wanting people to do certain things with your work, although again i think its silly

i guess the point of this note is just to be clear that no one else is going to get together so no one argues about it and i dont actually know much about how this was published but it seems like it was serialized so i can see why that would be an issue. personally i dont really care for knowing stuff like that ahead of time but i know a lot of people do and it seems to be thing in other cnovels ive seen to know whos going to get together as far as major characters are concerned i guess thats part of the draw and i guess i kind of get it

not sure how much other romance will be in this but also i think its kind of ridiculous to be like “these are the only two gay characters” in a cast that just keeps growing but whatever shes really leaving that work up to the readers to make it happen which they’ll do anyways so whatever. also there had to be at least one of the 33 officials who fought hua cheng who thought he was hot. theres no way that didnt happen

[mysticmysterywrites-blog]

Prompt #6

Hey, so this prompt ended up being over 2000 words. I'm telling you now, you absolutely do not have to match it. Like, you can choose to. This is something you can choose to do! But I'm not going to force you to, because I'm 9/10 not gonna match this fuckers length again for a good long time.

Anyway!

I'm kinda hoping for a male character as a reply? The character I'm writing is like, 100% homo of the sexual, and he absolutely fuck with your character a few times while they're traveling. That said, if you really want to play a female character, I'm not that hard to convince (being the massive fucking gay that I am). But also, might end up needing to wipe the romantic aspect from it!

At least w/ Kimon, anyway. His brothers fair game to all genders.

Real fast. Kimon and Thales are human twins, the first being a bard and the second a wizard. They have darker skin, with red-brown hair and brown eyes. Kimon keeps his styled a bit shorter, and sticks to wearing lots of blacks and greys like the emo fucker he is. Probably best known for playing fantasy My Chemical Romance in the middle of the night. Thales keeps his hair down to about his chest, and dresses up in robes and a barrage of colors and patterns thats insulting to anyone actually trying. He's actually p happy, as a person. And you know, the necromancer.

When he's 5 he trips and cuts his leg on the pointed ocean stones, the sea salt slipping into the wound with each lap of the water

He cries and cries and cries, letting the tears replace the ocean mist on his face. His mother eventually notices his screams and comes rushing over to check on him, but his brother watches the way the blood falls from his wound, eyes wide in facination, hand gripping his in an attempt to comfort him.

The memory is eventually forgotten with time, but the fascination is not, and the two of them take very different paths in life.

~~

He starts learning the piano when he's 7, takes fascination in the way that it sounds and feels. Every touch of a new key is a new feeling of wonder and excitement, Eventually, he takes excitement in the way that the lights around him glitter and dance, turning to the tune of the piano. He gets caught like that, playing to lights that shouldn't be there.

His mother is hesitant, of course. Bards are well known for their love of travel, for never standing in one place. Their father was like that. Always wanting to travel and move, always wanting to explore the world. It got him killed, and screwed her leg up, and she didn't want that for her baby boys. She wanted them to live a comfortable, cushiony life. Something boring. Something safe.

However, eventually she relents. He's not a particularly happy child (and hell, even as an adult is admittedly not the tellitubbies sun.) But playing against the piano always made him smile, and she loves when he smiles.

Over the years, He learns to master the piano, and then the violin, then the flute, then the guatar, and even the harp. Always falls back to the piano, but finds just as much enjoyment in every other instrument he learns. Violin offers him the most mobility, however, and mobility eventually offers him places amongst parties of adventurers or caravans.

His brother studies book after text next to him, humming along to the songs he plays time and time again, and eventually is rewarded a stave for his troubles.

~

They leave home when they're 16.

It's a hard choice to make. Admittedly, they have a rather comfortable life. Their mother has money and resources. Earned her place amongst nobility, rather then born. She knows who to talk to, and how to talk to them, and as a result they all live comfortable lives.

But he wants to travel, and his brother is running out of books to study from. He craves knowledge, craves digging deeper into magic he shouldn't have access to. He doesn't understand it, at the time. He, personally, just wants to tell stories. Learn other people stories. Wants to learn stories that have been passed down time and time again, and pass them onto other people.

But his brother wants knowledge, the kind hidden behind lock and key deep in temples and forgotten cities.

And forgotten cities have some pretty damn kick-ass stories to tell.

~~

When they're younger, there's this tiefling girl that comes to their house a lot.

Her names Laelia, and she has this absolutely gorgeous purple skin, and big horns that crook and curve down, following the curve of her back and curl of her black hair. Her eyes are a bright green color, and fingers and teeth are sharp and shinning. She scares his brother, at first. But, Their mother welcomes her with open arms, speaks curses of the girl's parents and their dismissal. Sometimes, she stays for months on end before her parents remember she exists, come and claim her once again.

But she always end up back at their house, and their mother teaches her how to stalk around in the shadows, how to take full advantage of the smallest blade. Her sons might have been magic users, but the girl becomes her daughter, and she gladly passes on her techniques to her as she would a child of her own blood.

She travels with them for a while. She grows close to dying three times, then meets a small group

Her last words to him weren't a goodbye. She didn't believe in goodbyes, whatever that meant. She believed that the word was "Kimon, watch out for your brother," she'd tell him, placing her hands on his shoulder and glancing over at him, "he's getting into some things that are far outside his payroll, if you get what I'm throwing down."

He raised an eyebrow, and at the time he didn't understand. She could see that, he thinks. So, she just sighs and mutters.

"Its- nevermind. Just focus on keeping yourself safe, babe," and then she'd smack him on the back of the head, and turn to walk away. ~~

They find the first book in a temple hidden away, seemingly lost to time itself. Its made of stone and gold, the shine of the metal seeming to dance through the cracks of the stone. Light struggles to make its way inside, and Thales lights their path with a small flame, just in front of the two of them.

Theres a skeleton in the middle of the floor, a body as forgotten as the temple, and stains that even sink into the cracks of the floor. They ignore it, and go about shuffling through the books and notes the deceased wizard had left behind.

Thales thumbs through it with fascination glinting in his eyes and mouth opening and shutting about every now and again. "It's powerful stuff," he mutters, mostly to himself, "I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it."

They spend over a month there, as his brother copies spell after spell down. He doesn't mind, because he's spent three months in towns writing down stories and local fables. But it still worries him, the way his fingers linger over the necromancy books for so long.

~~

There's this girl they meet.

She's beautiful. Hair large, curly. Pure white against a nice tan. She dresses in pinks and whites, carries around a hammer larger then she is. Her skin is callous around her fingers, eyes are brighter then ocean water, and she has a laugh he thinks he could play a song to.

Kimon likes her well enough. Thales falls for her immediately.

The sound of her spine snapping is somehow both memorizing, and sickening.

~~

His cat brings him a little dead bird one day. It's feathers are pulled out and it's guts are destroyed, and the little bastard looks so pleased with himself over it. He grumbles and goes to clean it up, but his brother snatches up the job before he has the chance. Whatever. He's always been a fucking weirdo.

He doesn't think much of it. Wizards were just kind of like that. Maybe he needed the bones, or the feathers. Maybe it was some rare kinda bird, or maybe he just liked the look of the thing. He wasn't one to judge, he supposed.

He comes back three days later, holds up the bird, fluttering and chirping and as happy as could be.

"Kimon," he tells him, hope barely stinging through his voice, "I think I could bring her back."

~~

His brother leaves in the middle of the night, one night, and he doesn't bother coming back. Doesn't leave a note, doesn't say goodbye. He just fuckin' leaves, like the goddamn jackass he is. His anger is replaced by worry only when, two years later, he hears stories of a necromancer causing trouble on a snowy mountain.

~~

There's a few times where he's wrong

There's a few times where he joins a party chasing after a necromancer, only for them to stumble across a cult, or some other dumbass wizard in over their head on the concept of their own power. He doesn't feel bad, helping to bring their end. He doesn't have a connection to them, doesn't feel the pain they do. But it's disappointing everytime. He wants to find his brother, wants to know hes okay.

But he almost always ends up jumping from the party, after they're done.

He meets up with Laelia's party again, travel with them to some sea side town he knows he's been to but doesn't remember the name of. He doesn't tell them about his brother, knows the looks Laelia gives him when he asks are knowing and worried.

They stop at a little in, one thats run down and near abandoned, but has maybe some of the best fries he's tastes in years. He preforms for them to snag them a free room, and thats where he meets them.

They're different. He doesn't know why, but they feel different. He lingers around for a bit, listens to the way they speak and the tales they spin. It might be eaves dropping, to a small degree, but he finds himself so inticed by their words that he doesn't care.

He only approaches them after they tell the tale of a necromancer they've taken down, and how they plan to hunt down another one sometime soon. "I hear you're going after a necromancer," the words feel foreign, sour on his tongue, despite the fact that he's said them time and time over, "Up north, right? How much are you paying?"

And then he separates from Laelia's party once more, to fall in line with them.

~~

He sleeps with them about three times, overall

The first time was excusable. They were both drunk, and he was admittedly touch starved. Every moment their hand lingered against his arm, it shot a feeling of euphoria up into his side, made him see lights he didn't know existed. He tried to play his instrument that night, but the cords were sloppy, and tune was off, and all he succeeded in doing was making them laugh. And hell, their laughter was gorgeous. Waking up the next day curled into their side hadn't been surprised, but he found he couldn't care as much as he should have with a hang over.

The second time wasn't as easily excusable, so much as it was stupidity. Theres this dance they go to, you see. Need to get all dressed up for it, know how to slow dance and eat finger foods and shit. They need to get in and steal a book from the man running the party, something of an easy task. They're talking in private, somewhere quiet, more like arguing, when the doors open. He thinks too fast, doesn't think through his plan. All he knows is that they have papers, books that they shouldn't, and that could be anyone. He slams his lips down onto theirs, lets them linger as the intruders startle, then pass. Flustered, but not knowing any better as to what they've obtained. And they don't bother separating, at least for the night. They're both touch starved, both angry.

The third time? There was no excuse. Nothing he could blame it on. They'd been sitting out by the camp fire, as he plucked gently at the strings of his instrument and played a quiet tune. It was just the two of them, party members be damned. It was cold. They were both tired, both hungry. They'd move closer together, quietly- gratefully- taking in the warmth of the other body heat. He'd bitch at them for ruining the tune of the song he was playing, and they'd laugh at him for it. He'd place his head on their shoulder, place his violin down. Move closer. Kiss them.

They end up in his tent, and he ends up with cricks all up his back, and half a regret from the night earlier.

~~

He tells himself not to get too attached to them. They're a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less.

But Dammit.

He likes them

~~

Theres tubes, filled with green liquid he can't really see through fully, but can see enough through to make out the form of a person.

The basement becomes colder, especially as he hears familiar humming deeper in it.

~~

He would have slept with them more, is the thing.

But despite being a bard, he can't seduce to save his fucking life, and they always shuffle away when he gets close. So he doesn't, and they move on with their lives.

~~

There's this little cabin tucked away in the mountains that they stumble across. While it appears abandoned at first, it's worn and well loved on the interior, Ash and dust having collected, just as much as footsteps and food have. There's evidence of someone living there, but not evidence of there currently being someone THERE.

They find a door under a rug, and that's where they hit gold.

~~

They travel together for at least a year.

They have a tendency to get, well. Sidetracked, is the thing. A small quest here leads to a bigger quest there, and suddenly something that should have only taken three months at most is taking a year to get done. Its an easy pattern to fall into. They're the first person he's felt compelled to stay around in a while, and he doesn't mind getting dragged off to do the next big thing.

Still. He worries what will happen, in the end.

~~

He makes a choice he decides not to regret.

He changes his target.

He's always been good at adding buffs. He plays on the defensive, prefers not to get hit. But it's hard. It's hard to concentrate on protecting both teams. He doesn't want his brother dead, and his brother doesn't want to die, which makes him terrifying. Thales always had a good grasp on magic, and watching him use it against them turns his heart cold.

He could tell that his brother, at least, was picking up on something being off, the way he noticeably double takes at him. His mask covers only the base of his face, but his hat covers the rest of it. But he knows his play style is unique, knows his brother has watched him cast spells with his magic almost his entire life. He notices, about half way through, how Thales backs off. Opens his mouth to say something. Gets himself knocked out as a result of it.

The shriek of the violin stops the battle in it's tracks, and he's turning his heel as his brother falls to the ground. Passed out, he tells himself. He's hurt and bloody and tired, but his brother is only passed out. He looks over the eyes of the person he's been traveling with for over a year now, the person that sweeps his feet out from under him and plays with his heart.

He's not sure if what he feels is love, or lust, but it doesn't change the fact that he's pointing a knife at them.

"Let me make this very clear," he raises the bow of his violin up, something he liked to think was a little more threatening due to the curve of the end being sharpened, due to them having watched him fight time and time again, "If you touch him, any farther, I- I will kill you. Even you can't be /that/ fuckin stupid. Step OFF."

[dalishious]

@briannamorley Well I wasn’t going to respond to all your replies, but then I figured hell, if you felt the need to go through all my anti Celene shit to leave messages saying you disagreed, you must really value my opinion of your opinion, so who would I be not to?

briannamorley replied to your post “What ending should I take in WEWH? Last time I played I hadn't read...”

Love the page; disagree about Celine and Briala's relationship being toxic--save for her killing Bria's parents. I personally always reconcile them even if you weigh her over Gaspard, she's the lesser of two evils. Gaspard would do way more killing then a 1k elves plus, as far as the abuse we don't know the extent all Bria says is on days she was cruel, she imagined them being amongst the Dalish with Celine having to serve her.

So like... if having her parents murdered doesn’t cross a line for you into toxic territory, what does, then?

And re: “We don’t know the extent” of Celene’s treatment of Briala...

The black curls lightened to grey with the pre-dawn light, then slid to the light brown of cinnamon as the sun brought colour to the room. Dirt-brown, Celene had called it, when Briala had waited upon her as a girl. Horse-dung brown, an ugly shadow of Celene’s spun-gold locks. -pg 27

Briala, a WOC, grew up serving Celene, a white woman, comparing her hair to horse-dung. And had to just grin and bare it because that was her job, and her mother instructed her to be Celene’s friend.

“Maker, I envy you sometimes.” She knew immediately that she had said something wrong. She felt Briala stiffen, though her arms didn’t move, and Briala’s voice was light as she said, “The empress of Orlais envies an elven handmaid?” “You know what I mean, Bria.” Still holding her, Celene patted Briala’s back. “You could leave here, become someone else.” “As long as that someone is an elf,” Briala said with a dimpled smile, but Celene knew she was still hurt. “Yes, I know. But I... I was born to sit on that throne. I can’t do anything else. Since my parents and Lady Mantillon...” She trailed off. This time, Briala pulled away. “You would make a wonderful scholar,” she said as she stood and pulled her robe on, “at least until Emperor Gaspard made a decision you found objectionable. Then, I believe trouble would ensue.” She smiled over her shoulder. “You are probably right, my love.” Celene rose as well and pulled her own robe on, as if nothing were wrong. “And... I will consider Remache.” Briala nodded and slipped her mask into place, then left through the passage behind the mirror, and Celene sighed and fetched her little magical pot. She would be making her own tea this morning, it seemed. -pg 59

Celene hurts Briala, and her thought is how she’ll have to make her own tea.

Briala sat. “...The elves in Halamshiral are angry. Lord Mainserai killed a tradesman without justification, and the elves are calling for mien’harel.” At Celene’s silence, Briala added, “It is an elven word. When the humans go too far, the elves remind them that even a short blade must be respected. They—” “They will rebel,” Celene said, the words cutting through the chilly autumn air. “Against me. Now.” “It is not rebellion, Your Majesty.” Briala bowed her head and took a shaky breath, clutching at the griffon-head arm of her chair. This was exactly what she had feared. “The elves of Halamshiral have never seen you. Their grievance is with neither you nor Orlais. They only wish justice for a man of your empire who died without cause.” “What they wish is irrelevant.” Celene turned and stalked away from the window. “I am already fighting a war on two fronts. I cannot be seen to fight a war on three.” “Then don’t.” Briala rose, putting herself in Celene’s path. “Give them justice.” “A lord for the death of an elf? I... damn this thing.” With a quick jerk, Celene tore the mask from her face. Her face was flushed beneath, her eyes red from another night of little sleep. “Shall I declare the elves equal citizens before the Maker and the throne as well, while I’m at it?” “Why not?” Briala took her own mask off, stealing a quick moment to steady herself. “Unless you don’t believe that, and I’m just a jumped-up kitchen slut you haven’t tired of yet.” Celene turned away, tossing her mask onto an overstuffed couch and stalking to the great amber wall. “You know I cannot do that, Bria. I might as well engrave Gaspard’s initials on the throne.” Against the wall of gold and red, Briala’s empress and lover looked pale and wan. Celene had always seen sleep as an enemy, or at most a necessary evil, from what Briala could tell, and since the events in Kirkwall the stress of rising tensions had her awake before dawn almost every morning. If it were early enough, Briala could sometimes coax her into lovemaking, and the warm and drowsy bliss afterward would let Celene steal a few more hours of rest. Lately, even that had not been enough. Briala sighed. “I do know.” Instead of going to Celene, she went to the small table where Celene’s teapot sat, forever just shy of boiling. She poured Celene a cup of tea, brought it over, and gently touched Celene’s shoulder. It was not quite an apology. -pg 62

Briala fears having to ask Celene to enact justice. Celene says what the elves want is of no care to her. She then mocks the idea of elven freedoms. And “It was not quite an apology” my ass - Briala has nothing to apologize for.

What had happened at Halamshiral was a still-painful ache, but the elves had rebelled. Celene had done what she had to do. Had Briala been there, she might have been able to turn Celene to a different course, but Briala herself was the one who had left. It was not Celene’s fault that she had been manoeuvred into doing what she had done, any more than it was Briala’s fault for leaving Celene without the guidance she had wanted. -pg 167

Celene even has Briala convinced that she’s to blame for Halamshiral, because she wasn’t there to tell Celene otherwise. If one person in a relationship relies solely on another to guide their morals, yes, I would indeed call that toxic.

But anyway, these are just a few samples of Celene’s dismissive behaviour towards Briala. She only does the bare minimum to keep Briala at her side; she does not truly care about the elves.

briannamorley replied to your post “What ending should I take in WEWH? Last time I played I hadn't read...”

Also Bria has accepted that neither the city or Dalish elves see her as part of them; letting her rule with him as her mask--much like forcing them to work together--while interesting in theory, wouldn't last I don't think anyway. Ppl would get suspicious; Gaspard is a military strategist not an adept ruler

Briala goes from this:

Briala could not afford to spare tears for inevitable deaths. In that respect, she supposed that she was more like the nobles she served than the elves in the marketplace. The thought sometimes sickened her, but again, not as much as the thought of deaths she could have prevented. -pg 61

to this:

She had been in Celene’s court for too long. Too many years being called “rabbit,” too many years ducking her head and working from the shadows. Too many years of being proud of who she was, a feeling she could cling to like a floating log in a rushing river. It had kept her head above water, but it had never let her steer her own course. She would fight for her people, because nobody else would, and Fen’Harel take whoever got in her way. -pg 144

Briala’s whole character arc is about discovering who she is as her own person, and reconnecting with her people. Unless “has” was a typo for “had.”

Also, why is it unrealistic for Dalish and city elves to work together? Dalish elves go to the city, and city elves go to the Dalish all the time. In some cases you have clans that have very strong relationships with nearby alienages, such as Clan Boranehn and the Edgehall alienage in Knight Errant, for example.

briannamorley replied to your post “grandenchanterfiona: I don’t hate Celene because she’s a woman. I...”

Disagree not about the genocide or lying to Bria but everything else

...K?

briannamorley replied to your post “grandenchanterfiona: That’s it. Until proven otherwise the Masked...”

Nope to each their own though

...K?

briannamorley replied to your post “grandenchanterfiona: Celene is a straight guy’s idea of a lesbian....”

Stop... I can see if you were equating this to RR Martin but really???

Yes really lol

briannamorley replied to your post “I just read The Masked Empire and even though I knew how bad Celene...”

Theres disliking something and then there's bashing it to the point it becomes infuriating

Sorry guess we never received the guidelines one has to follow in terms of disliking something. Tell me, does it include going through a blog’s tags and leaving reply after reply that says basically the same thing?

briannamorley replied to your post “mllemaenad: jocelyntorrent: mllemaenad: … Okay, I don’t get it. ...”

Disagree but crazy tired so to each their own

Good thing you left another just plain ‘disagree,’ otherwise I might have gotten confused.

briannamorley replied to your post “So this by no means excuses Celene's actions whatsoever, but I noticed...”

Love orlais but again, to each their own

Cool cool I hate Orlais but to each their own. Perhaps I should find some random Orlais fan and spam their email notifications with replies saying as such, to make sure they know!

briannamorley replied to your post “lmao no, about 300 elves were brutally slaughtered, sweet summer...”

More than 300 but it does border on bashing

WTF does this one even mean?

briannamorley replied to your post “grandenchanterfiona: Celene has absolute power; she does not have a...”

If so say that from jump don't go on and on going from legitimate gripe to bashing... like damn I like both of y'alls pages but FUCK me this is exhausting

Then why are you reading through all this? And seriously, what is with this “bashing?” Is there some kind of internet slang I’m unfamiliar with? Because if you just mean bashing as in criticism that hell fucking yes I am critical of Celene. She has a lot of reasons for me to be.

briannamorley replied to your post “Remember that time when Michel de Chevin partook in the Academie des...”

Sigh... y es it was an oversight by them that shouldn't have happened but goddamn

“But goddamn...” what? Why is there a but? Why is there a but goddamn? Just... why, period?

Anyway, TL;DR:

[lucysmuse]

november 8, 2019

ive been home all week boarded up with bronchitis. needless to say its resulted in one big fat greek meltdown full of theatrics so many tears and a lot of despair about what im doing with my life. i think i might end it after all this, im not sure. decisions are hard to make what can i say.

im an art major and i have a huge issue with motivation, deadlines, a lack of guidance, and im an art major. what the fuhk am i even doing. 

i havent made a single piece of art in weeks. its like when i was starting lithium. im terrified.

also forgot about eating today, unless a handful of peanut m&ms counts. ive been eating so awful lately; id feel bad for whoever would have to clean my body if i hung myself haha the hell that would put them through to deal with it 

i finally got back to watching better call saul, caught up to where i left off, and continued on to what is now the latter half of season 2. i plan to finish and then jump right into the start of breaking bad again. i miss my old favorite show. 

i wish i had friends who really cared about cinematography and aesthetics because i have been wanting to just drivel on about how breaking bad and its spinoffs are the perfect ode to modern americana; the sheer amount of domestic, tame, almost siesta-hazy shots of just. life in desert america. fuels me with the want to draw so many cowboys in opulent garb in various states of undress (hubba hubba). now that i got that straight white woman out of my system, Anyways. 

my favorite part about the shows arent just that theyre interesting or edgy on the inside drama on the oustide, or the insane amount of ingenuity the show writers have (half the $hit they think up im astounded by and the other half my jaw is just on the floor start to finish), the long shots are what really gets me. theyre pausing, like taking a breath amongst all of the high wire, almost bleak scenes and plot regarding crime and how morally grey we all as people are. i also appreciate the humanity of each character -- theres some good parts in all, and bad parts in all that get more than a few lines. and even then -- hey, look at ernesto -- there is nuance. the show is so empty of fake characters. not a single one of them couldnt exist in real life for any reason. never do i question whether one character would or would not do something, because even if i were to have doubts gilligan & co back it up with so much context and reason that everything checks out before its even done. 

better call saul centers on one of my favorite characters from the original series and gives him a backstory. his character is absolute tacky insanity and you want to know during the entirety of the original series what could possibly go on after walt leaves that office. and better call saul not only does that but drags you along for a much more adrenaline filled explanation than you could have possibly asked for. 

but the still shots. god i love the still shots. like come on the theme to better call saul alone, with the overexposed fried images of oldsmobiles and phone books with gaudy ads and a statue of liberty inflatable. that alone is enough to wrap southwest americana of the past couple decades up in a tightly knotted bow. but then they go on, and let the freak flag fly in just about every episodes script. like come on they even bring up hummels. the scene they led into by wheeling the camera in on the seniors’ jello cart, thats genius. and complete with a tacky law ad at the bottom of the cup. the show from start to finish bleeds tack. and i love it. over the last couple months maybe a year or so i had kinda lost my grip on the cowboy blood i have, by which i mean this: if i were to be alive during the quote unquote wild west times i wouldve zipped out to the country to make a living on a ranch where id soon find a husband to spend my life with, there would be no discussion. to be out isolated with all that desert and not a single person to call you faggot or tranny or d*ke but yourself. thats the only thing i could possibly ask for. i could be me, and my husband would lovingly sew my nipples back on after i go insane and cut my tits off one night instead of bringing the horses in. a chestplate of scar tissue is miles more appealing than an a cup if you ask me. to go back to what i was saying, the cowboy blood in me is simply that--blood that fizzles and swims through my body and heats up at the idea of being in the desert and being myself, calling myself the man that i am with a man who loves me. (and some cool boots too)

i dont know what this post was. its not coherent, i forget to follow through on a thought a few times throughout, and i still dont know what i want to do with my life. what i do know is that before writing this i was debating slitting my wrists and now those thoughts have settled. i also have french homework to finish and a little over a season left of better call saul on netflix so i think with that i bid this post a passive adieu. think of the next entry as picking up where i left off.

song: me & the boys (& a bottle) by tokyo lucky hole

[100wordanime]

This is a collaboration between Karandi and Irina. If you are just catching up the previous posts are:

Round 1 Part A

Round 1 Part B

Be sure to check out Irina’s blog tomorrow for Round 2 Part B. Or, you know, just check out some of her great posts in general.

Irina: We said goodbye to some truly lovely characters in round 1. It speaks to the quality of the story that both of us found it so painful to cut anyone out. It’s very tough to argue your case when you truly love the other character as well but we did what we had to. This said, we had a clear winner in round 1 as 3 of Karandi’s characters advance to the second stage but Matoba is a strong contender! He may save me yet!

I’m not sure who will make it out of round 2 but there’s a chance neither of *us* will survive it. After ripping Natsume away from all his peers and actual friends in round one, the cruel hand of fate (a random number generator) now demands that we further shatter the boy’s social circle and support structure by pitting all the closest and most important people in his life against each other.

Matoba

Hinoe

Touko

Natori

The mysterious and slightly ominous Matoba will take on our last Yokai and one of Natsume’s strongest allies: Hinoe, while the closest thing he’s even had to a family will be torn apart as Touko and Natori face off. I’m not going to lie, this is going to be way harder on me than it is one any of you…

Matoba vs Hinoe

For this match Karandi will be arguing for Matoba and Irina has taken on Hinoe.

Karandi:  For all that Matoba has had a significant influence on Natsume and the plot of Natsume Yuujinchou, he’s all up appeared in 6, maybe 7 episodes. However, that just speaks of how notable his presence is. Amongst a pastel sea of sweet and misunderstood characters, Matoba represents something quite a bit darker and his fixation on power and later on Natsume always adds a bit of a thrill of danger to an otherwise placid story.

In fact, Matoba didn’t appear in the show until season 3, though the idea of exorcists and those that were not even as nice as Natori (who was definitely already a fairly grey character) had already been clearly established. And Matoba did not disappoint. Generally clad in black and with his eye covered, Matoba looks every bit the part of someone with shady intentions. His callous disregard for his servants (human and yokai alike) has been demonstrated several times, as has his overall ambition and desire to become more powerful.

While his view can be understood, the exorcists are serving a fairly important role in keeping dangerous yokai sealed, there’s always a sense of malice about him and a question about what he is truly seeking in the long term. The way he looks at Natsume and desires Natsume joining his family certainly has some darker undertones.

One thing that has become certain for me is that when Matoba makes an appearance, I’m going to love the episode. And it is going to get dark. Whether it is because Natsume is going to find himself captured and confined once again needing to escape or because there are going to be more yokai deaths, these episodes stand out from the others and yet perfectly compliment the darker themes that are constructed throughout the series. Over and over again, Matoba has proven himself a force to be reckoned with and as his views directly contradict Natsume’s views about yokai, the two are going to clash again and again. The episode where Natsume grudgingly helped Matoba was really interesting as it didn’t paint Matoba in a favourable light, but Natsume started moving toward understanding him a little bit more.

As much as I love Hinoe, and argued for her case in round one, I would strongly suggest that Natsume needs Matoba’s character and this is one character where despite limited screen time, he has made his presence felt and it sends tangible ripples through the entire rest of the series.

Irina: Hinoe is not a mere character, not a simple emissary representing the Yokai in this grand competition, more than any other person in the series, Hinoe is the living embodiment of the thread of faith that binds Natsume’s legacy to the turmoil he yet faces. As Karandi deftly pointed out in round 1 “Hinoe also forges a direct connection back to Reiko”, and this may prove much more important than we have been led to believe.

Reiko’s shadow looms large over Natsume, it always has. She is the only one he can truly relate to even though he has never met her and in a very real sense, the one responsible for everything in Natsume’s life, both good and bad. Unraveling the riddle of Reiko’s life will be primordial to Natsume’s continued growth and evolution. Without gaining a better understanding of what came before, he will be stuck repeating old mistakes or ultimately throwing away what makes him unique. The ominous repeated fact that Reiko died young and *alone* may also prove to be an omen that Natsume cannot afford to ignore.

The only person that is still in a position to offer any real insight on Reiko’s life and the lessons she had learned, is Hinoe. Without her, Natsume is set adrift.

Moreover, you cannot simply disregard the fact that she is a Yokai. I don’t want to sound specieist or anything, but how exactly can we think of Natsume’s Book of Friends and not have a single “friend” to speak of. The Yokai, their presence, influence, simple existence, are the singular most formative and important element of Natsume’s entire experience. They are a completely inextricable part of his world. Of course, Hinoe is hardly the only Yokai but she is one of the closest and kindest.

Because of her unusual willingness to interact with humans, Hinoe has managed to have one of the greatest impacts of Natsume that any of her kind (save Nyanko) have had. She has been a reliable big sister, a gentle guide and a comforting helper whenever Natsume has needed one. There is absolutely no one else that can bring these elements to Natsume’s life and without her, the Yokai side of the story becomes dreadfully unbalanced.

Yes Matoba’s influence is a catalyst and an important narrative element, but it is useless without the counterbalance of kind hearted Yokai to pull Natsume’s loyalties their way, and Hinoe is chief among them.

Karandi: Okay, if we’re arguing their knowledge of past events, Matoba and his clan have certainly indicated they have had past links with Reiko and have already done quite a bit of digging into Natsume’s past – a plot thread I definitely want to see developed. However, the point is well made that Hinoe has been one of Natsume’s strong links to the past and to the yokai from the beginning.

Irina: I’m sure that sneaky Matoba clan knows a whole lot more than they let on but are they willing to share? What good is that knowledge if it remains locked away?

Karandi: I don’t know. I like them both. They are both needed.

Honestly, I’d cast my vote for Matoba for the simple reason that he does bring those darker elements to the forefront of the show and I just truly love his episodes.  Irina?

Irina: Yeah it’s Matoba. Let’s face it I always knew it was going to be Matoba but you have to admit, Hinoe put up a good fight!

Take Our Poll

Are you ready for round 2 of the fiercest battle ever fought? Who will win in this contest to become the greatest supporting cast member of Natsume Yuujinchou? This is a collaboration between Karandi and Irina. If you are just catching up the previous posts are: