#But instead chooses to try and help him and make him less of a target for men like him

[kakusu-shipping]

for the problematic trope: teacher/student Or stalker/obsession?

Oh man I love both of those. Uhm. I'll do Teacher/Student because I think I have more to work for it. Maybe.

Ships that fit said trope

Rei/Hayashida from March Comes in Like a Lion are always the first to come to mind and I am the only one on this boat

All Might/Deku from My Hero Academia are the bog standard of this trope I think

But I actually prefer All Might/Bakugo, it's about the caring for the Teacher

Poly Izuku/Bakugo/All Might is very good chefs kiss

Same shit but evil AFO/Tomura

Nageki/Shuu from Hatoful Boyfriend has become recent brainworms thanks to a certain HB poster on my dash

Does Ash/Kukui count? He was a teacher in the SuMo anime so. I'm gonna count it.

General Opinion

I never got why this is considered problematic? I mean all my examples are so kinda Minor/Adult which stands on it's own but why would a grown person dating their teacher who's also a grown person be considered problematic?

I also have like. Way less ships than I thought that fit the dynamic. I guess I don't consume as much media with Teacher characters as I thought I did. Gimmie recs please.

Any ships that aren’t canon it But I’d read w/ the trope

I don't have any ships I'd like to see in the trope but I have characters I'd love to see in it if I had another half to them, this is mostly just characters who I think should have students they're shippably close too.

Nezu My Hero Academia

Winston Overwatch

Doomfist Overwatch

Cyrus Pokemon

Cheren Pokemon (BW2 specifically)

Sheldon Splatoon

Woodman Hilda

Shirokuma Danganronpa

Monokuma Danganronpa

[lani-heart]

|| series masterlist || next // previously

parings -> ( eventually ) enhypen x reader genre -> soulmate au, fantasy au, angst warnings -> angst, rejection word count -> 2.1k

abstract -> my soul was always yours... im sorry it took this long

flashback – heeseung’s perspective

“But I don’t want to go,” I told my sister. She sighed and continued to fix my hair for this stupid day. “Come on, maybe you’ll find friends,” she said with a grin and I scoffed. “This is different from you, you actually found friends” I whined and I knew she was already worried but I dreaded having to go to a new school. 

“Heeseung, be brave for me okay?” she said and I rolled my eyes but agreed. I held her hand tightly as I saw the school in front of us. 

Belift Boarding School for Young Witches. 

“You’ll pick me up, right?” I asked and she smiled. “I’ll be right here to hear how your day went little brother,” she said as I waved her goodbye. I hated the thought of starting a new school. 

Only for the kids to treat me like an idiot, a monster, anything but human. I wanted to find Jungwon and Sunoo… but I didn’t know if they were incarnated again. Or the other boys… maybe even Sooha. Anyone to make me feel less alone. 

This is a stupid school, filled with idiots!

The orphanage just had to make me go here. It's dumb. Filled with kids who don’t even know simple magic, what is this school?! Then again… noona would just say it's because I have my memories of past lives that I know about my abilities. 

“Hey! That’s mine!” I heard and I noticed the mean kids didn’t target me… maybe cause I was placed as a top student when the school tested me. No one wants to bully a kid who knows more magic than them… maybe it's better I went to an all-witches school this time around.

I wouldn’t have vampires or werewolves messing with me. 

The group of boys threw her books out of the window and I scoffed. “Oops! Sorry y/n!” they said and laughed but she didn’t cry nor yell at them to stop. Instead, she looked angry. 

I was going to help her but… I laughed. 

It seemed that they all now looked at me confused. “What are you laughing at!?” they yelled and I couldn’t stop. “Maybe… look in a mirror!” I said, trying to stop. She must've done a basic spell to do that… she gave them weirdly colored hair. One had a giraffe pattern, the other a zebra, and their leader a cow. 

It looked funny on them. They all looked at each other and argued. They didn’t even notice the girl scoff and walk towards me. 

“You could’ve let them figure it out,” she said and I chuckled. “Sorry to take away your surprise, but want help finding your books?” I asked and she smiled. “Please?” she asked and I swear I fell in love at the very moment. Her smile and shining eyes…

“I’m y/n by the way… what’s your name?”

Twas the night before the masquerade. 

“I wrote her the best card!” Sunoo praised as he tied his bow tie. “In your dreams! She’s gonna choose me to be her date!” Jake said and I laughed. “How bad was your writing on that card?” I said and everyone laughed. “Hey! That doesn’t matter!” he said and I chuckled.

“Heeseung-hyung… do you know who she chose?” Jungwon asked and I smiled. “Who knows?” I said and they groaned. I left first wandering outside… 

Why was I nervous? 

If I was being honest with myself I didn’t let myself read her mind. A part of me begged for her to choose me… despite how selfish I've been. 

In my confession, I asked her to meet me in the back of the school at the flower field. Each minute went by that I wanted to turn back… I know that she was sure her card was from Sunoo. So why was I still–

“Heeseung?” I heard and I felt like I was alive again. The feeling like throwing up, the anxiety, the cold sweat… I turned to see her in a beautiful dress, dolled up and everything. 

“You’re the one who sent this?” she asked, confused and I gave her a nervous smile. 

“Will you let me explain everything?”

y/n’s perspective

I sat down wanting to at least hear him out. I guess I did choose one of my soulmates… just not the one who–

“I never wanted to reject you,” he said… Did I mishear him? “When I saw you again I… felt alive, like there's a heartbeat in my chest. You make me just as nervous though…” he said and I was confused. 

This wasn’t the Heeseung I knew– 

“I’m not… you met Heeseung. The vampire, the one who in his past life was devoted to a princess… but a long time ago you met Evan” he said and I felt my eyes widen. 

Evan?

“Pathetic right? I gave you my English name and lied to you saying I was a foreigner when we were kids… I just didn’t want you to know about me. Jake told me you met my sister… I was a witch who attended Belift Boarding School for young witches” he said… Evan.

The boy who always met up with me after classes… the boy who helped me prank the other kids in my class. 

“I don’t understand," I said, confused…

“I think I’ve loved you since I first saw you, y/n” 

When we first met I felt drawn to love at first sight.  I loved you then and I love you now, I’ll always be there to lift you up even if you don't want me there. I want to be the only one to cherish and love you. To die and live for you and only you. So I can only dream you would do that for me. 

“Then why? You were one the meanest! You rejected me first! You’re a liar… you… why?” I yelled until I realized I was getting emotional.

“Don’t cry… not when you have six other soulmates–” “Answer me” I said and he smiled a soft smile. 

A smile that… I've only seen once… when he comforted me after what happened with Jake. 

“Jake, Jay, and Sunghoon were in love with Sooha… they don’t know this but you do. If you have more than one soulmate and you try to–" "To bond with a few of them then the bond eventually dies' ' I finished for him and he gave me a sad smile. 

“I knew Jungwon would want to be with you even without the bond and so would Niki and Sunoo. I wasn’t sure though… but here you are” he said and I scoffed. 

“You shouldn’t make decisions for other people,” I said and he gave me a sad smile. “I know… but when it affects your magic I was willing to break you apart from them when not all of them were going to accept you easily,” he said and I sighed. 

It's why I couldn’t defend myself against Jake… also why my magic has been faltering recently. 

When a witch's soulmate bond is rejected… and fighting for the bond drains your magic. You can fix either by rejecting your mates back… or having them accept you. It's also why Wonyoung broke my bond temporarily… so my magic can temporarily regenerate. 

“You turned into a vampire?” I asked and he chuckled. “Not willingly… but I can live with it. My sister recommended that I go to Decelis. So im learning to come to terms with it” he said and I nodded. 

“You really do look pretty… you would have to be the prettiest person in the school” he said as he lifted his hand up to tuck my hair away. 

“Prettier than Sooha?” I asked and he chuckled. “Believe it or not, I've never loved Sooha. She was more like a sister to me… my own sister took care of me in this life. While I took care of Sooha in another… So I didn’t reject you to have Sooha… I would have to be a fool” he said and I was shocked. 

“Go to your party… you worked hard for it. They’re all waiting–" "But I chose your message, "I said, cutting him off. 

“Oh? I guess you did… It would be a bad example if the president of the student council of Bright Sun didn’t follow her own rules” he said and I chuckled. 

“Shall we?”

We arrived now with our masks on and I took everything in. 

I soon heard him chuckle beside me… “They’re all jealous and annoyed,” he said and I sighed. “They must be confused about who I chose?” I asked and he nodded. 

“They’d never guess me,” he said and I nodded… I looked at him, he was happy. He had a grin on his face… not so serious like other times. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, will you give me at least one dance?” he asked and I smiled and took his hand. 

I enjoyed my time with him… this was the Evan I knew. My best friend from elementary school graduated and I never heard of it again. 

“I wish you would let me choose my own path, you know,” I said as we swayed to the music. He smiled… “I know better than anyone… what rejecting mates does to a witch. You were fighting for the bond… and it was eating your magic” he said and he wasn’t wrong. I jeopardized myself… but they didn’t know that. 

“How do you know about that?” I asked and he sighed. “Let's just say my sister… she experienced it,” he said and I felt my eyes widen. 

“Don’t worry… she’s fine. Can I ask–” “We will be announcing our king and queen!” I heard Wonyoung’s voice. “Now we have included this year to not just include witches or any magic users only. So please be open-minded to one another and let us accept other species into our traditions” she said and I smiled. 

It was controversial but it was all fun and to be enjoyed. 

“Our king… is K from Riverfield!” she announced and I was shocked. K? I soon saw him join the stage… “And our queen… Sooha from Declis” she announced. What? Not everything was wrong– 

“EJ and Wonyoung are doing me a favor… Sunghoon can put aside his ego for this one time” Heeseung said. The King was voted most times for Sunghoon and the Queen was Wonyoung… So what was going on?

I looked back at them getting their crowns and smiling at each other… “They’ve accepted one another,”  said and he nodded. 

“K finally has some sense… and Sooha is finally thinking clearly,” he said and I chuckled. “Thank you… even though you tampered with my event” I said and he laughed. 

“I’m sorry, I'll make it up to you,” he said and I smirked. “Oh? Then I know how you can '' I said and he looked at me shocked. “We’re soulmates right, Evan?” I asked and he laughed.

“Yes, we’re soulmates y/n. I’m sorry for everything… but I'm willing to do anything for you. I promise my little witch” he said and I smiled. 

“y/n!!” I heard and I saw Sunoo and Jungwon. “You bastard! What'd you do to our soulmate!” Sunoo yelled and I laughed. 

“I chose his message… sorry boys,” I said and they pouted. 

“Yeah, so I won fair and square,” he said and Jungwon scoffed. “So did Sunghoon yet he’s drawing a punch right now,” he said and I laughed. 

“I owe him a dance,” I said and I was suddenly pulled back with the hands on my hips. 

“Sorry, but you’re mine tonight. I won you with my message… and I want to make up for all the time I’ve lost” he said and I nodded.

“Comfort Sunghoon please?” I asked the two boys and they nodded. 

“I’m guessing you guys are all made up?” I asked and he nodded. 

“Everything is right again… especially my soul that is bound to you” 

taglist -> @sunus-sun @loumin908 @on-1ce @shinkenprincess-oh @b-a-nshee-blog @bnnyniky @sakuxxi @chiiiiiiiiis @cncreams @pre1ttyies @justanunstablefrog @graythecoffeebean @starzniiky @singlepringle4you @chirokookie @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @imtoanonymousforyou @lovgfrd @ilovecheese09 @sousydive @pink-but-rosie @kyleebob @jihyosgf @in-somnias-world @jilxxasu @bee-the-loser @mitchikeli @cyberpunksunwoo @lhspeachie @loafsunshinesworld @vixensss @zhenya109 @luumiinaa @rosas-in-the-garden @b3tt7boop @moony-mari @vixialuvs @ilovecheese09 @capri-cuntz @emma2black @skzhoes @emma2black

please don't be a silent reader !! reblog, comment, and like <3

[dekusleftsock]

I JUST HAD THIS REALIZATION IN THE SHOWER WHY HAVE I NEVER. THOUGHT ABOUT KATSUKI LIKE THIS.

So this is going to kind of go into Izuku’s bullying from Katsuki but it’s mainly if not entirely about why Katsuki has always stood out as a person, regardless of quirk or even leadership.

What got me thinking about this was actually those “American meets K-Drama bullies” on tiktok, which I often feel has a hint of xenophobia, but I digress.

One of the main points as to WHY the American in those examples would “win” is because of the cultural differences between fighting back vs shutting up and taking the beating. The main reason most Americans believed they would win is because culturally, a K drama bully would never think that their victim would retaliate, much less try to beat their ass in the first place.

Japan and China have similar cultural standards, especially to bullying (which is why bullying is so so bad statistically in Japan, with a whopping 57% bullying rate), and this “sit down and take the beating” cultural standard often permits bullies to continue to retaliate within the school. (Fun fact I was actually researching divorce in Japan for this due to some misinformation I’d read a while ago, but apparently Japan doesn’t have joint custody?? Like period?? It comes from the idea that a family is a set unit, and that were a parent to want to leave that unit, they are fundamentally no longer apart of it. No marriage, no custody, no child. You simply don’t see your kid very often, or ever. Sometimes this is even a decision on the father’s part, thinking that it’s “too painful to see the child after separation”, and that parents don’t see the benefit in children having both parties in their lives)

So, thinking of this in mind, I first went to why Izuku wouldn’t necessarily speak out or try to fight back. He wants to, he definitely almost does, but ends up standing silently shaking instead. Yes, fighting back may feel good, but even to people who would sympathize with said struggles may still blame the victim in this situation for “causing trouble”, it’s why Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship is even more interesting; it’s not just Izuku gaining confidence as he goes into high school, but that after he was given a space TO fight back (the first hero training), he actually started his arc on “defying society” and “not pushing things under the rug”. Tearing that rug to shreds doesn’t just mean looking out for those who haven’t been looked for, but also for destroying the standards that fighting back is a fault of yourself.

Tbh we also have this in the west as well, even those Americans who like to make those TikTok’s shaming people in countries they have no contextual idea to understand, much less solve. Because it’s not that fighting back itself would be hard, but that the social backlash would cause you to be even more of a target. It’s a lose-lose situation, so yes, a student will choose the wisdom of their parents and their elders that tells them to pretend it isn’t there.

But, besides that, in America (and I honestly wouldn’t doubt that this is in Europe too) the subtlety of that shame IS STILL THERE. I can even account for this in my middle school, for lightly pushing my bullies who ganged up on me, I was the one blamed and threatened punishment. The idea of a fight at all in high school would cause immediate suspension on both parties records, regardless of why or who started it. My brother in middle school was expelled for threatening kids who were both physically and vocally harassing him, and instead of any sort of help from the school, they REFUSED footage that might have defended him and my brother was then ostracized by my neighborhood/school district and thought to be some kid about to shoot up a school, he wasn’t.

Violence isn’t always the answer, obviously, but this is mainly to point out the hypocrisy of putting the west on this pedestal for fighting injustice.

I wanted to put this in somewhere but didn’t know where so it’s going here, but I find this take even funnier given the fact that North America has a 1% higher bullying rate than Asia which is so fucking funny and ironic

BUT BACK TO THE MAIN POINT ON KATSUKI, IM GETTING THERE I PROMISE���🙏

I think there’s this perception online of Katsuki that he is considered so unbelievably cool and normal given the context of his middle and elementary school, but putting it into perspective? Fighting your bullies, especially ones a year older than you, is REALLY WEIRD. Like, he’s an odd ball. It actually makes so much more sense as to why Izuku admires Katsuki in the first place. Katsuki has NEVER simply sat down and took the beating IN HIS LIFE.

And when you really think about it? All of that direct language, how rude he talks in Japanese (as in what pronouns he even uses for people, to the point that even the “softer” or “more intimate” pronouns he uses are… also kind of rude), and yk, suddenly, it’s almost like all the people at the beginning of their first year making fun of him… makes sense. And not just in a “lets humble this guy” way, they have no reasons to think of him in any kind of way really, they’re simply reacting to Katsuki and his odd way of speech and forwardness. He IS weird here, not just an asshole.

But EVEN GIVEN the fact that people know and think Katsuki is weird, he still strides along anyway. In fact, the only person who has ever gotten under his skin has been Izuku, who never even implied that he thought any malice of him in the first place.

Even now Katsuki continues to be himself to such a visceral, outward degree. I saw this post recently that was saying Izuku was actually quite mature for his age, but I’d argue that it’s less maturity, and more that he has just abided by a certain cultural standard of being thankful for the opportunities he’s been given.

It’s almost like Horikoshi has used Katsuki as this… idk, societal commentary? He certainly stays a societal commentary here in the west and our standards, often portraying more nuanced ideas of forgiveness and change and humility, but it’s different now that I think about it.

Katsuki isn’t just a character made to be rude for the sake of being funny, he’s an honest to god, walking, talking, culmination of what Japanese culture stands to change. It’s why Katsuki keeping his “hardened” traits is so so SO important. And it’s even more interesting given that he’s popular, he’s powerful, and he’s still bold while he does so.

Katsuki didn’t try to be popular, he just happened to do so. Explaining why he’s so bizarrely different from everyone else suddenly makes everything about his character make sense to me. Like, ofc Izuku would admire him to an almost worshipping degree, ofc he would stay in his life regardless of his flaws, Katsuki is himself in the most unapologetic way possible and THATS what’s truly admirable about him. His quirk, his determination, they’re both beautiful, but he’s the hero in his life because heroes inherently juxtapose the society around them. And that is exactly what Katsuki is.

And Katsuki, for all his flaws, never changed himself for society. He was always, long before he went to UA, before he even had his quirk, before he’d probably even met Izuku—been a hero.

[alevens]

hey so the order in which the strawhats disappeared was really fucked up right???

i mean, Kizaru was already targeting Zoro because he was more hurt than the rest, so they were already escaping from a fucking admiral and his men, and then Kuma was in front of them, the real Kuma appears out of nowhere, the moment we see him we forget momentarily about Kizaru- because there's this moment between Zoro and Kuma where they talk about what happened in Thriller Bark,

"Roronoa... so you were alive",

"all thanks to you benevolence"

and the next thing we know, is that Zoro's fucking gone

so onto what i wanted to yap about, the order in which they disappear:

everyone was worried about the current situation, but the top priority while they were escaping was Zoro- Zoro, who couldn't move- Zoro, who Kizaru wanted dead first- Zoro, who wanted to be left behind so the rest could escape, Zoro, who knows what the warlord in front of him is capable of-

Zoro, the first ever member of the crew.

everyone see this and it's worse than actually witnessing his death, because he's just gone and they have no idea where he is. and no matter how much they want to do something, Luffy orders them to keep running, that they will find a way to rescue Zoro once they're all safe,

but Kuma's too fast and he's right next to Usopp, Sanji and Brook, he tries to buy some time for Sanji and Usopp,

but it's in vain

and then Brook's next, he's the second one to get taken away, the last member to have joined them

(and not only the fact that he's their newest member, but the fact that it's made a point he's been trying his hardest to fit in and be helpful I'm SICK)

Sanji could have been next, but in trying to protect Usopp what he ends up accomplishing is that their sniper gets taken away next, the fact that Usopp's third makes me go absolutely batshit crazy with the way they frame it too

he's so so scared, how could he not be?? and it's not the same fear he usually feels while on their adventure, it's pure desperation- there's no one to help him and he can't fight- he can't get away and-

and then he's gone

Sanji instead of running, he charges, angry at Kuma and at himself (oh the way he was gripping his hair because he couldn't do anything to save Zoro and Brook) at this point it's obvious what the outcome will be, that's why Luffy specifically yells at him to run

but he doesn't, and then he's gone too.

(Usopp being third is fucked up mostly because Sanji's the fourth one, and they make it a point to show him trying to rescue Usopp. a less powerful member dissapears right in front of one of the most powerful of them, and then Sanji, who can hold his ground as much as Zoro and Luffy can, disappears)

in the blink of an eye, half of Luffy's crew isn't there

Luffy's full on crying at this point, everything's happening too fast, and why is Kuma even doing this in the first place? he has to do something before they take the rest of his crew- because he made it obvious that this isn't something the world government ordered him to do, so they're facing two enemies at once, a warlord and an admiral,

Luffy goes gear two, and when Kuma sees this, he goes to where Franky and Nami are- Luffy tries to strike an attack (and the fact that this could be where he sends him away but chooses not to Oh my fucking god) but Kuma easily stops him, and right there he touches Franky (he's the fifth one and it's too crazy just how he goes group for group, not only the order in which they disappear one by one) with Luffy right there, he's right there watching directly when it happens.

and then there's Nami. with them i think it the contrary of what happened with Usopp and Sanji, here, Nami's the one left alone, they take Franky first, who had tried to defend them both

oh this goddamn scene I SWEAR- it's incredibly painful to watch, at this point there are only four strawhats still standing, but there's no hope left, they can only keep trying but it's obvious that they're just acting on instinct, that's why Nami asks for help, because she knows there's nothing else to do- she tries to reach out for Luffy, her captain, the way Luffy had been so close to both Franky and Nami when Kuma touched them? horribly well done

Luffy's literally begging that Kuma leaves them alone but then he goes to where Chopper is, and Chopper- ughhhhh, the fact he used a form he couldn't even control just to try to save his friends, THE FACT that Kuma touches him when he's like that- the doctor of the strawhats, he's seventh one to disappear, and he couldn't even process it, Chopper didn't even know most of his crew was gone (if he hadn't been transformed, i'm sure he would have reached out too, just like Nami and Robin)

the last one is Robin, Robin being the last one killed me, the "demon child" that had found her places in the world, who wants to live, live with her crew, the ones that showed her she's worth fighting the entire world for- she calls for Luffy, and then- (Luffy running and shouting at Robin to get away, he's not fast enough and when he reaches Kuma he's already touched Robin FUCK-)

then Luffy's the only one there, Luffy being the last one is cruel having him watch his entire crew vanish in front of him was torture, and we're just left with him and his pain, Luffy has cried before, but not like this, not as he beats himself up for not being able to save his friends.

and it ends with this:

[wolfofcelestia]

My strategy for beating Open Orbit 38

From a Zayne main's perspective

🟢🟢🟢🟡

@zaynes-left-chesticle asked for my strat so I'm putting it in its own post in hopes that it will help others stuck on this stage too

1. Setup

First and foremost, I have to say that I fight every battle on an emulator (MuMu) and with a gamepad because it feels a lot more natural to me to game with an actual controller

The repeated taps to attack also just cramp up my thumb, so I map the attack button to repeated clicks. So all I need to do to attack is hold the button down

As for the regular charged attack that procs when you hold the attack button down, I did map it to a different button on the gamepad, but I've found it less effective than the repeated attacks, so I never use it

2. Companions, Cards, and Cores

❄️ Companions

Ok this is where I start being a simp

Because instead of being smart and going with Xavier, I decided to brute force my way through it with the husband because I just felt more comfortable with him

I tried all three outfits with both Zayne and Xavier, and also all weapons on MC, but what ended up working was MC on guns and, of course, the king, Dawnbreaker

But just looking at these cards, I should have had an easier time with Xavier since I was able to boost the protofield buffs higher than my Zayne team. Xavier's team even had a solar pair. Meanwhile, I was rocking that 3* level 30 card with Zayne LMAO

In all honestly, Xavier will probably be the better choice for most people. But if you're stuck in the Zayne swamp like I am, bring out Dawnbreaker and go slaughter your enemies (more on that below)

❄️ Cards

Okay let's start with the elephant in the room: The 3* level 30 card lol

I do have other, stronger green cards than that one, but I really only threw that card in because it was a solar card, which meant that I could satisfy the protofield requirement by having a third green card while also opening up a lunar slot for a stronger stat stick (the red Cozy Afternoon card)

Another important factor in choosing cards is their talents. Despite me only hitting the minimum protofield colours, having cards with attack talents is important if you're underlevelled like I am

5/6 cards in my Zayne team are attack-centric, while Sweet Conspiracy is an HP card

You can check what a card's talent is by clicking the (!) button

I did try with another green card in my team, Dawn's Shadows (lvl 40). But that is a DEF card, so replacing it with an off-coloured ATK card, Cozy Afternoon (lvl 60) helped more than the protofield boost. It being at a higher level helped too

Some cards also have Advanced skills, so you could watch out for those too

❄️ Cores

I've severely neglected my core hunts so I don't have a lot to choose from or exp to level them with, but I recommend equipping any you have with a focus on Attack and Attack Bonus

Even if you don't have cores with an attack boost, equipping anything that will boost your damage is useful

You're mainly fighting against the timer here, so you need as much offensive power as you can get

Here are the ones I had equipped:

3. Strategy

Alright, so now that you your setup and team, let's talk about the strategy

The most important thing is to wipe out the frenzy wanderer ON SIGHT

Nothing else matters, so as soon as that thing pops up, hunt that fucker down

When the fight begins, your partner will target the wanderer on the left first. I decided to target it as well just to make it die faster, but soon, the frenzy wanderer will come in, so don't waste any of your skills on the regular wanderers

The things you are fighting against are the shitty aiming system and the frenzy timer (that starts before you can even target it), so if your aim decides to hit the wanderer on the other side of the field instead of the frenzy wanderer right in front of you, my suggestion is to just restart the fight unless you know you can kill it before the energy dissipates

There are three frenzy wanderers that show up shortly after the regular ones do, so save skills and unload on them. Focus your camera on them, and ideally back them into a corner so that it's the only enemy on your screen. Get right up in their faces so that your aim stays on it and your partner is more likely to target it as well

I was able to gather the frenzy energy from the first two, but when I beat the stage, I'm pretty sure I wasn't able to finish off the third. The first two are definitely the easiest so if you can manage those two, I think you'll be okay

Just be sure that your aim is on the frenzy wanderer because the resonance skill tends to want to aim at the wanderer with the protocore shields

When you've killed the frenzy wanderer and collected its energy, just go with the regular fighting strat:

Save your diamond skills for breaking through the protocore shields, then unleash everything you have when it's weakened

I tend to use the partner support skill (the one that fills his profile pic with yellow) as soon as it's available since it charges up fast enough, but I make sure that skill and every other skill I have (support, ardent oath if it's close to filling, and MC's active skill) is available before I break through the shields

❄️❄️❄️

I think that's everything I have to say about this stage. If you have any questions or want more clarification on anything, feel free to ask

Hope you manage through the awful, awful aiming system here!

[ninadove]

i can’t pick a snippet but whatever meta you want from sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall! and good morning, nina! 💗🦚

Good morning Noctie! 🌅

Yes, let’s talk about the sword-fighting fic while I procrastinate writing another fight scene.

Ask game here!

One thing about me is that I absolutely love short stories with a twist ending. Give me a reveal in the last few lines that reframes the entire work in a brand new light, and I will be giggling and kicking my feet uncontrollably.

Sometimes It’s Worth It All is my attempt at recreating this kind of narrative. And, of course, the twist comes from Felix.

By the time he enters the fray, Kagami is exhausted from twenty-four hours of fighting for her life… But also from months of watching her world crumble around her following her mother’s murder. She’s accepted that she spent her entire life tangled in an elaborate web of lies, and that she alone can see through the deception.

But… That’s not entirely true, is it. Like many abuse survivors, even as the fog progressively lifts from her eyes, she’s still held back by a few persistent convictions:

Before he even gets a chance to speak, Felix is introduced as a monster, and well. It doesn’t help that he’s been sent to kill her, does it. Yet, as soon as he opens his mouth, he warns her against her own prejudice:

In canon, too, Felix is constantly navigating others’ perception of him and proving them wrong. He’s a Sentibeing lost in a world that wants him dead, but also just a regular child; he has a PhD in identity theft; he’s a manipulative little bitch, but is constantly searching for the truth; he masqueraded as a hero, only to become one on his own terms.

But in the context of this fic — Kagami hasn’t seen season 5! She doesn’t know the themes! And so, her natural instinct is to believe he is trying to tear her newfound rebellious spirit to the ground before ultimately getting rid of her, 1984 style:

If Felix was genuinely trying to torture her, it would be easy for him to land a blow on an already exhausted target, to accompany his little rant with actual physical pain. Instead, he is careful to stay out of range of her blade, but never strikes back (Get it? Strikeback?), except to disarm her when she pierces through his fan.

What he’s actually doing here is trying to uncover who she is as a person, and pushing back against the wonky convictions she still has left.

Which of course culminates with the realisation that she is, in fact, just like him, and the decision to commit treason for her:

Because of course he would. As much as I leaned into Felix’s moral ambiguity earlier in the fic, this is the only option that makes sense for his character: he’s willing to put everything and everyone at risk to rescue his kind.

The broken fan is, of course, an allusion to Pretension, and how easily Felix rearranged his entire moral compass to stand by her side. In every universe, Kagami is his priority: he’s always going to choose her, whether it means abandoning the fight of his life or starting what is absolutely going to turn into a civil war.

Kagami has never been shown mercy in her life before, much less this level of insane devotion. From the moment he chooses to spare her, her worldview shifts entirely, and this is of course most visible in the way she refers to him: abandoning his title to call him by his name, and even catching a hint of Argos magenta in his eyes.

They see each other now. Everything is going to be OK.

[kisuminight]

So let's get into the knock-on effects of the Staged Finale and how it is effecting other things on the server (mainly the Egg, since that is the closest thing to a main antagonist this story has). Previously, I mentioned that the Red Banquet doesn't happen until 6mo post-Staged Finale. This is very different from canon, where it happened a little less than 3mo out (it was early April, I think?).

Part of this is because the Egg is trying to be more subtle. Part of this is because manpower issues.

To start off with that second bit--c!Sam has not yet managed to completely tank his relationship! I mean, it's getting there. c!Ponk is not thrilled with Sam's general conspiracy-nonsense about what's going on with c!Dream, and he's super not thrilled about how invested Sam is into figuring out why Dream had him build the prision. ...But, even though the key card prank does happen, it just leads to a very large argument that starts the downward spiral of the relationship instead of a maiming. Ponk is not missing his arm, and he is dissatisfied with Sam but they're still trying, so he does not fall in with the Egg yet.

The other issue is c!Punz. Now, Punz did publicly join the Eggpire pre-Staged Finale with the "official" reason that he wanted to see some chaos. Mostly, this was a bid to get access to the new government and keep an eye on it. As a Blade, he is immune to the effects of the Egg. And in this AU, he and Dream have the experiments ongoing now, instead of Punz getting stuck waiting for the prison escape. So while he does still check up on them and make the appearance of involvement (so no one questions what he's really doing with his time), Punz is outside the main Eggpire group and not really trying to get deeper.

The Egg wants him deeper, though! Outside of Skeppy, who the Egg already has, Punz is the most active Blade on the server. He seems to be somewhat estranged from his Driver, but that just means that c!Purpled won't have Punz to help him stop the Egg. Moreover, because of the chain Resonance, if the Egg can corrupt Purpled, it can get both Dream and Punz.

Puffy still left the Eggpire, so that means that the current Eggpire group is c!Bad, c!Skeppy, and c!Ant. Three people are not enough to pick a fight with most of the server, especially when one of them is c!Techno and his Resonance with an Aegis. Also the actual Aegis, c!Philza.

So the Egg contains it's growth, slows it down. It still has the Eggpire reach out to c!Quackity, but the reason it backs off when c!Karl intervenes is more to do with the lingering feel of DreamXD around him. The Egg does not need to repeat the mistakes of the Entity by picking a fight with gods too early. For now, it chooses to stay away from Kinoko.

c!Hannah, however, is vulnerable. She's not particularly close to anyone, and her roses leave her with a weakness to the bloodvines. Hannah becomes the fourth member, and the Egg uses her penchant to give roses to other server members as a method of corruption. The roses are dipped in spores from the Egg so that it spread to unexpected places when the time is right for it to grow.

The attempts to trap Sam never happened, and the Eggpire is much less under the focus of the server because of it. Puffy's Pro-Omlette faction takes much longer to gain ground, especially since the Egg is actively avoiding the notice of Techno.

Ranboo is still a target. The Egg has noticed that sometimes Dream is in Resonance with Ranboo instead. Unfortunately for the Eggpire, this is the mistake that makes the Syndicate get curious. Techno makes his visit to the Egg around 5mo after Staged Finale.

The Egg tries to get Purpled through the contract in Puffy's life. However, just because Purpled heard the job offered and accepted it doesn't mean he's willing to stick around. The experiments are finally done, so Punz has more time to be involved, even if the Egg hasn't managed to corrupt him through Purpled yet. There's no way around it now. The Red Banquet is getting scheduled.

The Egg is very firm with both Bad and Skeppy. Normally it doesn't try to actively interfere, but it does not let the confrontation continue once it starts. It forces a blackout on them both instead. When they wake up, neither can remember why they first started arguing.

The Red Banquet invitees are Niki, Foolish, Sam, Puffy, Eret, George, Sapnap, Ponk, Ranboo, and Purpled. Purpled rejects it, saying that that type of party "isn't his scene" (he's already been blackmailed by Quackity into doing an attack).

Bad wins a few moments of sanity from the Egg changes his mind about having Sapnap come, and sends Punz to hand-deliver the rejection notice. The Egg does not want Punz there because it doesn't know how Punz will react when it comes to a fight. It wants all the Blades on its side.

The Pro-Omlette faction still plan the safeguard for if the Banquet is a trap. Sam tries to dissuade Ponk from going. Unfortunately, Ponk and Sam's relationship has gotten rocky enough that Ponk rejects Sam's warning and they have another argument. Ponk leaves in a huff.

The rest of the Red Banquet goes mostly canon, with some flipped roles. Ranboo does not go to the banquet as himself, but EW!Ranboo watches from out of sight. Ponk is the spy, having succumbed to the Egg after that latest argument with Sam. Quackity shows up with Techno and Purpled, the tables are turned, and Purpled chases the Eggpire into the tunnels.

Skeppy's abilities as very powerful, but he is an air Blade. Facing an earth Blade. And also they're underground.

Unfortunately, Hannah is very good with traps. Purpled is killed as part of the chase, losing his first canon life. The chain Resonance dissolves, and Punz and Dream both revert to core crystals. Punz reverts right in front of Sapnap, because he'd offered to spend the day with him while George went to the Banquet. Dream reverts in a secret base, known only to himself, Punz, and EW!Ranboo.

EW!Ranboo sees the notification of Purpled and Punz's deaths (Dream is still muted), and leaves to go retrieve Dream's core crystal.

Pro-Omlette discuss what to do with the Egg, and end up causing a mini-crisis when the figure out that, in this AU, Pandora's Vault was built for the purpose of containing the Egg and rehabilitating it's cult, even though Pandora's Vault's construction started months before the Eggpire was even a thing.

Quackity suggests maybe asking Punz (who worked with Dream the most before Staged Finale) if he knew anything. Techno mentions that it won't do any good to ask Punz, and reads the message <Punz faded away> aloud. Punz was a Blade, and he just died, so now he's not going to remember anything.

More conspiracies about what the heck was up with Dream and Techno leaves. Quackity decides that Purpled didn't do a good enough job of assisting, and detonates the TNT in the UFO.

Purpled is having the worst day. His friend Ponk betrayed everyone by siding with the Egg. He died. He died and now Punz is dead, Punz who has raised him for forever. Purpled doesn't even know where he was to search for his core crystal. And then, after he respawns in the UFO, the TNT detonates and it burns down around him. That one doesn't count as a canon death, but it does kick Purpled all the way back to world spawn.

Techno comes back home to find Dream's core crystal sitting on his dining room table. There is a note underneath it that reads ":)"

[nitunio]

i keep thinking about idolish7 AUs!!!

What if Tsumugi chose three idols out of the initial seven? there's individual strengths to all, but there isn't much room for seven now is there?

EXTREMELY LONG POST ABOUT IDOLISH3 UNDER THE CUT (cw: source-typical drama and violence)

Sougo, Riku (center) and Yamato are chosen to be the IDOLiSH★TRiO

-- Mitsuki stops pursuing an idol career for a prolonged period of time, Iori is there to support him while calculating which strategies can be made to make his brother more appealing.

-- Tamaki doesn't bother with rejection, instead trying for other agencies. might do tiktok/musically to reach out to his sister

-- Nagi is upset, but is keen on staying at TakanashiPro - he's their new PR manager (and of course song provider)

i3 doesn't fumble concerts and gets to debut with an already released song (yeah trigger's songwriter steals "let's summer" in this au too)

i3 and trigger still hang out together, although its more awkward -- ryuu, sougo and yamato go drinking while riku is at tenn and gaku's (the only responsible sober adult) mercy. tenn is persistent on riku quitting.

re:vale is re:vale but momo's singing issue doesn't get resolved (yamato sincerely doesn't want to help re:vale. and so far hasn't really emotionally opened up about his feelings since all he does is drinks to blackout and neither him nor sougo remember what he was talking about. he's just an idol out of spite without anything attached)

-- somewhere at this point tamaki finds his sister and starts trailing her to see that tenn knows about her too much

momo and yuki mutually agree that they cannot continue -- banri reappears and agrees to OkazakiPro's contract, the new old re:vale is back (probably renamed too?). the zero arena opening concert gets framed as momoyuki re:vale's farewell to each other (they don't push back on ZERO's threats either, the whole thing's theme is "reminiscence" and "letting go" hence Re:vale singing Dis one and Dis banding (i'm so sorry for this pun. or should i say Dis p-), and letting new idols build on what momoyuki and ZERO made)

-- that being said yuki and banri coming back is framed as "the phoenix rising" and they probably have a song about that too.

Momo still gets spots in dramas and ads though less frequently. He prefers spending time networking and not thinking about singing. He meets Ryou at one of the events and the two share the sorrows (Momo has a tiny bit of bitterness about the Re:vale situation but their agreement to disband was mutual, his time was up, and he still loved Yuki. He confided in Ryou for the lack of a better listener and Ryou went with that bitterness and cranked it up to a 100)

-- riku actually gets better since he's always attended to by sougo and he is having fun with his time as an idol. his relationship with tenn also starts getting better, the two hang out frequently (and heavily disguised).

-- sougo and yamato have tension between each other because they keep trying to open up each other to make the group dynamics lighter but none are willing to share their emotions

Ryou tells Momo about his plan to form ZOOL. the members are -- Minami, Haruka, Touma and Mitsuki (Iori shoehorns himself in as Mitsuki's "personal manager", offers Ryou PR assistance to which he refuses and bans Iori from entering TsukumoPro)

-- momo gets more and more fueled by hate since ryou just doesn't stop generously salting his wounds while simultaneously comforting him

-- at some point here gaku confesses to tsumugi and she rejects. gaku turns his platonic love towards teammates and never pursues tsumugi again.

-- also at one of the hang outs TRG/i3 had gaku + sougo + yuki had a talk about making music and felt inspired. the motivation was to "have a great collab some time later"

ZOOL doesn't choose a target for elimination yet, Momo half-heartedly suggests Re:vale, Minami agrees, Mitsuki goes for i3 and Touma just shrugs and repeats Mitsuki, while Haruka alone vouches against TRIGGER

Mitsuki discovers his powers as MC and uses them to disrupt TRIGGER, Re:vale and i3 shows, instead turning attention to ZOOL and himself, sometimes barely dropping hints at all the dirt Ryou could dig up on idols. he is beloved on the internet as the rebel who's not afraid to talk despite how harmless he looks

- mitsuki has a falling off with his brother since iori is alarmed by the sudden personality change and keeps telling him about long-term consequences of so much negativity, while mitsuki doesn't understand why his brother just won't support him after going so long about helping him. mitsuki shares an apartment with touma. iori still attends ZOOL concerts, wishing to talk to his brother again.

-- nagi deals with bad press and all the stuff that happens to undermine i3

-- haruka teams up with tamaki to "free" aya from kujo. tamaki has a good following on tiktok/musically from his dance videos.

-- banri and yuki get married

---- ryou keeps getting momo new gigs to distract him from re:vale bc most idols are busy dealing with the allegations.

------ there's "unrequited love" thing going on between ryou (ready to ""love"" momo and idolize him) and momo (who is not interested in anyone after a heartbreak)

ZOOL distract TRIGGER, Haruka gets Tamaki backstage after B/W and he singles out / corners (while Haruka stands on lookout) Tenn who says he can't help them with anything. His smug aura gets on Tamaki's nerves and he tackles him to the ground and punches his face -> both escape the scene immediately, Tenn is put in ER, Ryou erases all the traces of ZOOL involvement in the incident, framing it as Gaku going out of control on Tenn.

Aya gets to the ER and gets spotted by media. Fans are raving about Tenn's "sister", some speculate that she looks exactly like Tamaki. Tamaki starts planning his recording to drag Kujo down.

Kujo "saves" Tenn from YaotomePro, forcing TRIGGER to disband. Tenn refuses plastic surgery to "repair the damages" and starts performing solo as the new ZERO (the costume is covering his unhealed injuries while he performs).

Tamaki gets invited to Kujo's residence and they negotiate to keep Kujo's name clean. Aya now lives with Tamaki.

Ryuu and Gaku get fired as punishment (and to save yaopro from getting bad press because oh! mitsuki is already covering the latest news about gaku not being a "cold handsome man" and ryuu being a violence enabler). They move in together and try asking for help.

-- unfortunately tenn is always forced to testify against TRG, as per kujo's order.

-- riku refuses to help TRG bc he believes what tenn says, yamato offers ryuu contacts to try for drama gigs and comforts him. sougo chooses to stay with riku since the latter has been having constant attacks after hearing the news.

Momo prepares to attack new old Re:vale by coming to the public with the "real reason he didn't want to work with Yuki anymore". Ryou writes a whole speech and "stage directions" for the sentimental video that spotlights "how much of a jerk Yuki really is".

i shall not continue. i wanted to write about

[disinfernus]

Teamwork Makes the Interrogation Work

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Edge of Wormwoods PARTIES: Dis and Zofia SUMMARY: What happens when a lampade and a vampire go after the same target? They work together to get answers and rid the world of one less hunter. WARNINGS: Mental manipulation occurs as well as some stabbing.

This one seemed promising, but Dīs grew weary. The year was almost over and they hadn’t gotten much closer to figuring out what happened to their aos sí, a frustrating reality. But they were keen to keep up with this one, at least — maybe make it one last good interrogation before the new year. Or maybe they’d get something good.

They remained largely undetected, keen on keeping themselves out of view until the very last moment — until she showed up. Where had she come from? Had she been tailing this man the whole time? Wherever she came from, she seemed to have the upper hand, so much so that the nymph couldn’t help but to break from their safety blanket and make themself known.

“Wait–” they commanded, pleading, as they became visible once more, glamour taking over instead of their usual immense self. “I need him alive.” Please. Their tone indicated more, but they didn’t exactly have ‘converse about your family drama’ on their agenda for that night.

Several faces had leered down at her in the four months she’d been hidden away. This one certainly hadn’t been the worst offender. Not that that mattered. Being the least worst of her captors didn’t earn the hunter any leniency. 

Zofia had been stalking him from a distance through town for what felt like hours. And then he’d made the foolish decision to venture a little ways out of town, toward the woods. She prowled, just far enough away to evade his notice. He might have been able to sense the presence of the undead, but in a town full of them pinning down her location would be like finding a needle in a haystack. She stopped, and watched, and waited- ignoring the fact that every fiber of her being screamed at her to lunge and end it quickly. But she’d only killed the first one quickly so she could escape. The rest? She’d allow herself to enjoy the rest. The moment of silence stretched out into the dark night like a silvery thread.

And then, the thread snapped. 

Lunging into action, Zofia threw herself at the young hunter like a caged beast set free. The two went tumbling across the ground before she threw all her weight on top of him, pinning them down. “Gotcha,” She purred, sounding all too pleased with herself. Reaching into their pocket, she fished out a stake first, clicking her tongue. “You won’t be needing this, kochanie.” She threw it far out of his reach before pulling out a blade and resting it against the pretty vein in his neck that fluttered as his heartbeat rose in panic. 

Wait-

The vampire’s eyes darted up and her gaze locked on a stranger. Her lip curled up in a snarl, trying to assess whether or not this was going to become a more complicated fight than she’d anticipated. “You had better give me good reason to keep him breathing, and quickly.” 

With the knife already kissing the man's neck, their chances of getting what they came for dwindled rapidly. They didn't know her, they'd never seen her before, so what was the perfect combination of words to get her to stand down? Or the perfect combination to ruin it all by spreading his blood across the ground.

Dīs supposed that honesty was the best policy, at least in this instance. They could keep details close to their chest, but maybe a tale of woe and loss was enough to sway her mind otherwise. Their golden eyes showed vividly in the dark, their travel from knife to her face evident. Yes they were scared that this could be it. Who knew when they'd get another whiff of retribution? 

The lampade held up both hands, choosing to remain at their spot instead of encroaching further. “He knows someone who was involved in my.. family's death. I need answers.” They nodded to the hunter. “You can kill him after, I don't care.”

Desperate hands scratched and closed at the arm she had pressed into them, holding them in place. It was tiresome. 

They said not to kill them yet. They hadn’t said not to hurt them. 

An agonized yowl echoed out as Zofia drove her blade into the hunters hand, being careful to avoid touching their blood. Then she noticed the eyes. 

She wasn’t sure what they were, exactly. Only that they were likely fae, given the fact that they smelled sweet as honey. Zofia would have contemplated trying to get a taste if she’d been in any other situation. But the fact that they weren’t human meant they likely weren’t looking to give her friend a helping hand. 

Studying the stranger with glowing eyes, she threw more of her weight into keeping the hunter pinned down. “They take from everyone.” Her voice was dull despite the rage that lit her eyes. “Get your answers. I’ll see to it he gives them.” Zofia twisted the blade further into the back of the hunter's hand, a grim sort of satisfaction curling up in the chest at the cries. 

A grimace found their face at the piercing wail that escaped once the knife plunged into tender flesh. The hand was already sensitive enough when cut by accident, they couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be stabbed through the palm. But they could sort of feel it in the hunter’s yell — was he too loud? Would someone hear? Perhaps, but Dīs could disappear in a snap if their gaze failed them. It hasn’t yet, but they didn’t know what kind of crowd this ruckus would draw.

They take from everyone. 

This was not the time to ask her of her own history, but they’d be lying if they said they weren’t at least a little curious. There wasn’t much there in her expression, but the way her eyes seemed to blaze with that statement, perhaps even experience, told them that maybe she wanted to make them feel what she did. She had revenge in her sights; they could respect that. But they didn’t have a lot of time to waste, though, judging by the quickness in the way she stabbed him.

Dīs’ attention faltered from the viscous woman to the man pinned beneath her, writhing and in pain thanks to the piece of metal between his metacarpals. They tilted their head just slightly, just enough so that their eye lines would match up despite his prone position on the ground. He was scared, but he still looked angry, like the wrong move could be the end for either one of them. They didn’t intend on dying that night, so they needed to make sure to keep their questions short and to the point. That should be easy. They had a name — they just needed the location.

“Your cousin. Michel — where is he? His home is empty but I know you know where he is.”

Zofia didn’t particularly care what the stranger thought of her methods of keeping the hunter incapacitated. So long as they were on the same side. Red eyes flickered up to strange glowing ones as she waited for him to begin his interrogation.

The man beneath her writhed and wriggled, looking for freedom if he could just get himself free. But the vampire kept him down to the best of her ability. “Why the fuck would I tell you wear he is?” The hunter spat, his gaze flickering to the stranger keeping watch from a distance, and the vampire who loomed over him. “I’m not telling you anything, jackass.” 

Zofia clucked her tongue, shaking her head in mock disappointment. “Wrong answer, kochanie.” She pulled the knife from the back of the man’s  hand and repeated the process on his other one. She could feel the burn as some of his blood splashed against her hand. She twisted the knife, and ignored the pain. Glancing over her shoulder, she jerked her chin to beckon the stranger closer. “Come, come. I won’t bite you right now, I’m a bit preoccupied. It would be better if you asked your questions up close, to see if he’s lying. No?”

That was an expected reaction. An annoying one, and a complete waste of time as they all tended to give up in the end anyway — but it was expected all the same. What they didn’t expect, but probably should have, were the red eyes. Vampire. They would have guessed ‘mare’ had it not been for the preternatural display of strength. Of course she had to be a vampire. Dīs felt a weight in their stomach, like a brick falling to the sea floor; their last meeting with one ended poorly and with two new scars for their neck.

She hit him again, this time on the other hand, repeating the process and eliciting another pained cry. They would have gone slow with it, quiet, as if they weren’t even there, but she had the reigns. She was the one in charge. They just hoped the curious kept to themselves that night.

That was when she beckoned Dīs closer. A horrible idea, in their opinion, but did they have any other option? She could get tired of their hesitation and end it all then and there; she seemed the type to not waste any time. The lampade clenched their jaw. They would have to be ready if she turned on them, once she was done with the prey. If she turned on them, but her comment about not biting them right now didn’t exactly give them a lot of confidence that she wouldn’t. 

Suddenly feeling like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place, they obliged and drew nearer to the vampire and wriggling man. Stubbornness could be a hard nut to crack, but they were keen to get an answer one way or another. The lampade stood beside them now and dropped slowly to one knee with their eyes fixed on the man’s twisted expression. Pain was a useful tool, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Dīs had a pleasure in messing with the mind. Humans, and many creatures, had an innate fear of the dark — of the unknown within. Paired with their ability to almost melt the reasoning and reality in their brains, even for only a few moments, was paramount to the lampade’s success. They supposed a knife just wasn’t going to cut it this time.

“Look at me,” the nymph commanded, and when he didn’t and still refused, a darkened hand jumped up to grab the sides of his face and forced his attention on them. “I said look at me,” the yellow glow in their eyes grew with intensity, overtaking the entirety of their sclera, and the shadows of their face changed and writhed, like paint bleeding in from the edge of damp paper. “Where is he?” The hunter’s eyes were now fixed on the endless light that radiated from Dīs’ skull. Michel had been gone for some time now; the driveway was empty, but his neighbors say he didn’t move. So where was he?

They seemed hesitant. 

It shouldn’t have surprised Zofia, especially since she’d launched herself at the hunter like she’d never get the chance again. She rolled her eyes, jerking her chin again. “You have my word. You’re not on my agenda tonight. I might not look like it, but I can show restraint.”

As her new partner in crime approached, she removed the blade from the man’s other hand, and brought it back to rest on the column of his throat. If he got any clever ideas, it would just end that much quicker for him. She assumed that whatever magical madness the fae had at their disposal, they’d be far more useful at getting answers from a stubborn ass hunter. Hunters were likely accustomed to pain. They could suffer their way through a few encounters with a blade.

She was concerned for a moment that her mind was beginning to play tricks on her again when a shadowy hand shot out and grabbed hold of the man’s face. Whatever kind of fae this was, she was fairly certain she hadn’t encountered them before. She could see the glow of their eyes reflected on the hunter’s horrified face, and decided it would be for the best that she averted her gaze for the time being. 

“I don’t know!” The hunter yelped, their eyes darting about on the strangers changing features. “I-I-I saw him the other day! The other day at the Three Daggers! I did, I swear- The Three Daggers- it’s a bar! It’s a bar in Gatlin Fields! Said he was busy working over-” His eyes widened, realizing he was saying too much. 

Zofia frowned. “Keep singing, skowronek. It will be better for you if you do.”

You have my word. 

On what, exactly? On not being on her agenda? On not biting them right then? Or was it her word in general? Their body buzzed with the thought of the number of possibilities. Dīs hummed, as if contemplating her motion for belief. “Alright,” they agreed with a small nod, conceding to her persuasive words. “I have your word.” They fought back the smile that threatened to break through their placid expression, instead focusing that energy on the human.

That giddy feeling continued as the hunter finally spilled forth the start of the truth they so desperately were looking for. Every lead led to the possibility of finding peace. The Three Daggers — they knew of the place, but they would be stupid to step through that threshold. That was a hunter bar, a death sentence. Despite the feeling of mental capacity melting, Dīs held on to the man’s mind, grateful for the vampire’s goad and threat for more violence.

Unfortunately for them, maybe not so much for her, their hold was, perhaps, a little too strong. Or maybe they’d had him in their sights too long. Whatever the case, incoherency filled the young hunter’s head, enabling a string of babbling and wide eyes filled with fear and emptiness. He started to thrash against the vampire, ignoring the pain in his hands; too busy with the paranoia and madness that took over.

“Damn it,” the lampade growled in frustration but stood back, being sure to keep their distance so the human could be dealt with by the one holding the knife. They’d done enough already. The madness itself might not last, but at that moment, it didn’t matter. They wasted the opportunity. “Kill him, then.. This,” they gestured to his state, “won’t last forever but he’s useless now.” The Three Daggers was going to have to be enough.

Zofia hadn’t really thought about the words leaving her mouth and who she was saying them to. After all, in that moment they were on the same side. They had both lost to the hands of men like the one beneath her blade. But when she heard them echoed back to her, she realized she may have made a mistake. She swore under her breath, and shrugged. No helping the matter now. She’d deal with whatever the consequences were later. 

Then, something changed. She wasn’t sure what had happened, exactly. Whatever the slayer saw on the stranger’s face, it seemed to be too much for his mind to handle. Zofia had gone from having him relatively well pinned down, to struggling to keep the raving lunatic from hitting her as he thrashed about. She hissed as his bloody palm smacked into her arm, her skin burning at the contact. 

“So much for a slow death.” Zofia grumbled, moving the blade down to the man’s chest before pressing it down into his heart. “For the other’s you’ve undoubtedly done the same to.” She muttered into the madman’s ear as he gasped at the sudden shock, clarity filling his eyes for one final moment. It wouldn’t be long now. She pulled her blade free, and stood up, watching him as the madness faded as the slayer slowly slipped away. 

“Did you at least get some information to help you?” The vampire asked, not sure if she should look up at the stranger. Given the fate of the slayer, it might not be the best idea. She kept her gaze down, eyes locked on the evidence that she was one step closer to being safe again.

Slips ups were easy; they wouldn’t hold that against her. But they would have to think about what she might be able to help them with. She did help with the hunter, a happy accident unplanned by either party, but still somewhat lucrative in the end. The favor wouldn’t be terrible, not when she was willing to hear them out and wait. Just like they’d asked. They’d make sure to thank her in some way.

Dīs watched the blade go in, the sudden impact of pain and dread of death when the blade pierced flesh, meat and bone to reach the heart was striking in comparison to the madness that had just previously taken over. They saw the clarity, yes, and wondered what it was he could be thinking. Did he know he had lost all sense of mental stability? Was he still present but unable to stop it? Or had he been truly gone until his life was snuffed out? Ignorance or immobility? 

The glow from their eyes eased up and the shadows on their face slithered back to where they came from. Pupils found their way back to the forefront and two irises reformed, containing the glinting gold within those shapes. They sighed, frustrated but at least they had something. 

“I should.. apologize for that.” They rested their hands on their hips. “I didn’t expect him to break that quickly.” An exhale escaped them. “Somewhat. At least I know he is still in town. That gives me hope I will find him.” Dīs looked over the blood that coated the knife and the man that now laid dead. “Are you satisfied?”

She could see the glow recede in her periphery. She assumed whatever magic the fae had been wielding, it had been reversed. And she had to assume that a creature that she now owed gods only knew what to wouldn’t be so quick to see her meet a similar fate to the now motionless slayer. 

She looked up at them, curious. They looked normal enough now. It was always the unassuming looking ones, wasn’t it…

“No need.” She said, trying to rub the hunter's blood from where it burned her arm. She hissed in pain at the contact. She’d need to clean that off sooner rather than later. “I’m not. He was not the strongest of his little coterie.” Zofia wiped the knife on the dead slayer’s jacket before stowing the blade away in her pocket once again. 

Satisfied. She let out a puff of air that might have been considered a laugh if she could bring her face to form a smile. “He went quicker than I would have liked.” She shrugged. “But I’m better now that one more is gone.” Zofia frowned. “I am sorry for what his friend took from you. I know that pain.”

They noted her discomfort towards the blood on her arm, the way she buffed it away and how her skin burned from the contact. They’ll have to remember that for a rainy day. Their eyes narrowed just slightly when they recalled the handkerchief they kept in their coat. It was stained with their own blood, but maybe it would be of use to her. 

“Do you need something for that?” It was the least they could do, and if not, it was no bother to them. At least the kindness was offered.

“How many more of them are there left?” The passing thought of perhaps there could be another connection lingered a little too long; did they really want to get involved? This one already led them to the notorious hunter bar in town, how much further did it go? Her return of kindness softened the hard expression on Dīs’ face. They nodded. “... I appreciate that.. I just wish I knew why. What was their purpose for—”

The lampade stopped themself. Now was not the time. “Your help was very much appreciated,” they might not have been able to do it without her, truthfully, but they wouldn’t admit that out loud. “I bid you good luck with the others,” they nodded towards the dead. A thought crossed over them suddenly. “What is your name? If we were to cross paths again, I’d like to know what to call you..”

It was highly likely that they would, either for the human hunt or the promise itself.

“To wash it off.” She said honestly. “It will be fine. It won’t take very long to heal.”  Zofia could deal with the sting. It didn’t hurt that bad now that she’d gotten the majority off. 

She shrugged at the question. “I’d tell you if I could trust I knew the answer for certain.” She couldn’t be sure that her mind hadn’t conjured up new faces in addition to the ones from her past. “One main one. A few lackeys. They won’t look for you- as long as you don’t have any ties to my dear friend here.” She nodded to the body. 

“They prefer my kind.” They preferred her clan. Her kin. They likely wouldn’t think twice about some random fae, and would let another hunter deal with it. “Hunters in general, or this one?” Zofia asked, her lip curling in distaste. “This one wanted me. And what’s left of my family, if anyone remains.” She explained. “On the whole…”

The vampire sighed, considering the answer. What was the purpose? “To protect their kind from the other, I suppose.” It was the only explanation she could think of that made any sense. Otherwise it was just all for the sake of the hunt. 

“Nie ma za co.” She shook her head. “And it isn’t yours to keep. But you can call me Zofia. What can I call you?”

“Alright, fair enough,” they returned with concession, though they were thankful their impromptu interrogation was coming to a close. They wanted to go home and to think about how they could get to Michel. They didn’t exactly know many who would be willing to go into the Three Daggers, at least, none that wouldn’t ping at least one hunter’s attention. No, this needed some thought.

“I’m not too worried about myself..” They should be. It was foolish not to, but they thought back to Inge. This was a dangerous place to live; their heart ached for the life they used to have, one filled with silence and darkness. The surface was too bright and full of danger. There wasn’t enough death, either, despite the walking corpses that surrounded them, that called them friends. “No, no, I had meant.. It’s nothing. Perhaps for another time. I hope there are still some of your clan left.” That was the truth. They knew what it was like to be the last one. At least, presumably.

“As we’re doing. It seems pointless.” Dīs couldn’t help the smile at her assumption. “Don’t worry, I won’t take it. It is beautiful, though. Dīs, I own the Elysium in Worm’s row — if you care to stop by.”

What must it be like, she wondered, to not have to worry about herself. To not have to look over her shoulder, constantly anticipating to look back and see someone poised to strike with a stake behind her. She envied the fae stranger in that regard. 

A bitter laugh escaped the vampire's lips and hung in the night air. “I hope that you’re right.” Zofia sighed. “I hope that you are.” But she doubted she’d ever see any of them again. She was quite certain they’d all returned to ash at that point. 

“That’s very kind of you.” She nodded in gratitude for the compliment. “I haven’t used it in so very long. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dīs.” Zofia hummed in contemplation. “I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure. I’ll have to stop by.” 

Her gaze caught on the still hunter on the ground. “I don’t suppose the fae have any interesting ways of disposing of things like these?”

There was no real hope that anyone would be still left alive, but Zofia’s clan at least had the better chance. If any of theirs survived, that would be a miracle. They didn’t have much hope for them.

“Well, it suits you. It should stay around for a little while,” they suggested, slightly playfully now that the high energy of the interrogation died down. Though, they were still out in the open, despite the cover of night. The loitering couldn’t continue.

“The pleasure’s mine, despite,” Dīs looked to the same body she regarded and questioned. “Not myself, no. But I know of a few who will have use for it. I’ll take it.” It was unfortunate they couldn’t make other things turn to shadow, inanimate objects or even people, but to bathe it in so much darkness prying eyes would have a hard time making out was the next best thing.

With the body now in their possession (it would be so much easier if they were thirteen feet tall), they gave Zofia a parting bow of their head. “Until next time,” they expressed, meaning it, and knowing that they will indeed see each other again. Either in casual conversation or to cash in on that promise.

“I think it means wisdom,” she said softly. The danger had passed, her focus drifting with it. She wondered how long it would be before her mind began playing tricks on her again. Zofia shook her head. “Not entirely sure it fits.” Three hundred years and she still wasn’t certain if she could be considered wise. 

She wondered just who this person knew that would have use for a dead hunter. It was probably best if she didn’t question it. Asking more questions would most likely ask for more trouble, and she had more than her fair share of trouble. “Then he’s all yours.” Zofia sighed looking down at the body. “Tak długo, suko.” She spat at the dead hunter. 

She watched as they nodded their head in acknowledgement, and she tipped hers in return, the bloodstained vampire dipping into a slight curtsy. “Until then, Dīs.” She turned and disappeared back into the night. Until then. 

[giggly-argent]

(Valentine's Day)- Operation Amity

This was a long overdue gift for a friend on dA!

Both Noel and Aries were sent out on an open ended mission, where they (begrudgingly) get a chance to learn more about each other~

"At 8 o’clock tonight, make your way to Lazuli Park. Locate the man wearing white by the lake."

Noel’s gaze shifted to his phone, then back up to the man by the lake… Then back to his phone again. This continued for a few more cycles until he finally accepted the truth: his mysterious target was, in fact, his annoying rival Aries.

The taller man hadn’t noticed Noel behind him yet. He was perched on a large blanket under a tree, watching the moonlight dance along the ripples of Lake Lazuli. The vexed glare burning into his skull didn’t register; instead, the sound of leaves crunching behind him grabbed his attention.

“Huh? What are you doing here?” Aries tilted his head, watching as Noel trudged up to the lake’s edge, staring at his phone once more for good measure.

“...Your captain-” The smaller male said with audible ire before clearing his throat, evening his tone. “Ugh. Captain Rubeda sent me here.”

“You too, huh?” Aries let out a weak laugh to distract from his faint grimace. He had also received instructions, though his were just to wait by the lake for a “familiar informant”. “Zidenna’s little pranks must be rubbing off on that man.”

“Yeah.” Noel huffed, finally stuffing his phone back into his pocket. There was an awkward silence between the two, which felt more suffocating to Aries. As soon as Noel turned to leave, the other man spoke up.

“W-Wait! It wouldn’t hurt you to stick around a little longer, would it? I mean, it’d be a waste of time if you came aaall the way out here just to go right back home-”

Aries wanted to say more, but Noel’s scowl silenced him. Even if he was powerless and on the smaller side, the brat could be quite scary in certain conditions. Surprisingly, the student rolled his eyes and plopped down on the other side of the blanket, kicking off another round of silence. Aries just couldn’t help how anxious the quiet air made him.

“You didn’t dress up much.”

“It was supposed to be a mission, not a date.”

After another quick exchange, it was back to tense nothingness. So far, the two were getting along as well as they usually do. Aries gave up on conversing, choosing to retwist a small braid in his hair. That kept his focus for a few seconds until he briefly noticed a set of purple eyes stealing glances at him.

“Is there something on me?” Noel twitches and straightens his back, surprised that the other man noticed his staring so fast.

“Uhhh…Your clothes. They’re strange.” Noel’s mouth moved faster than his brain, but he clocked the flash of quiet anger in his coworker’s eyes even faster. The two had been less than friendly to each other over the years, but this was the first time Aries seemed genuinely off-put by Noel’s words.

“Wait wait, not like BAD strange, but uhh…” He stammers out in a higher pitch, his eyes wide. He twirled his hands around in the air as if he were trying to use his nonexistent magic to conjure up the right words. “... I’ve seen that style before somewhere, I just can’t really remember..?”

As quick as it came, the hint of irritation washed away from Aries, and the slight tense smile is back on his face. He was wearing an outfit separate from regular Asterian fashion: a white, almost toga-styled dress cloaked his torso, with wispy strips of the fabric attached to his golden bracelets that almost resembled wings when he raised his arms. Various jewels, gold and silver in color, decorated both his dress and his hair, and the jewelry he wore appeared to be more intricate than usual. It was clear that he expected to do some seducing during this “mission” that his captain assigned to him.

“Ahh, you had me worried there,” With a weary laugh, Aries wraps an arm around Noel in a reassuring half hug. Remarkably, Noel leaned into it, more relieved that he’d fixed his mess that quickly. As always though, luck never stayed on his side for too long.

“Shitshitshit-” Noel’s brain went on red alert, and it wasn’t just from being hugged by the pretty boy. As Aries moved to let him go, his hand brushed by Noel’s sleeved arm, feeling something hard and metallic along the way. If Aries didn’t freeze up, Noel never would’ve worried about it. Right as the younger angel went to ask, Noel jumped to his feet and straightened his jacket.

“Well this was fun, but I really gotta g-”

“Hold on~!” Aries made a quick grab at the smaller male, tugging him into his lap by the edge of his jacket. He seemed to be right back in his usual teasing mood. If only the night had stayed awkward and tense...

“HEY! What the fu-aahehehe?! Ah, n-NOHOHO!!” Noel tried to yell, but all that came out was a choked yelp accompanied by startled giggles. In proper Aries fashion, the taller male’s hands wormed under Noel’s jacket and shirt, grazing his nails over his bare stomach with featherlight touches.

“Soooo~ What was that thing, hm?” The teasy bastard whispered right into Noel’s slowly reddening ear. The student wished he could punch the smug smirk right off of Aries’s face, but that would most likely earn him an even harsher tickling. That, and he didn’t have the best coordination at the moment. He tried to wiggle his way off of the other man’s lap, but Aries smoothly roped him back in before continuing his gentle attack.

“Come on, Noey! I’m curious~” Aries had a good opportunity to go for another feel of the object himself, but it felt much better to tickle a confession out of the boy himself.

“Fffuahahah-! Fuck offahahaha!!!” He sputtered out, slightly arching his back as the wiggling fingers changed direction, now curling over his sides. Aries clicked his tongue, digging in a bit deeper to draw more swearing and squeals from his rival. He clawed up and down the flustered student’s soft sides, only stopping when he needed to pull him back into his lap. The little breaks only lasted a fraction of a second- Noel was rather easy to wrangle to him.

“Hmm… If you tell me, I’ll let you in on a secret of my own!” The pretty boy hummed, giving a charming smile despite Noel being turned away from him.

“I-aHAHAHA-! I alrehehehady know ehenough about you!!” Noel gasps out, a bit of sass mixed with his tone. It was true- Aries was a very public figure, and a quick search could bring up a sizable amount of info on him. Despite that, the taller male was persistent. He gave Noel’s sides a brief tase- earning his loudest yelp yet- before spidering over them again.

“That’s what you think…” he let out a playfully dark chuckle as his fingers worked their magic. Noel was a total mess in his lap. His back was pressed against Aries’s chest, and his head tossed back in full, helpless laughter while his legs weakly kicked out in front of him. Even his shoving couldn’t dislodge Aries’s hands from his sides. If he tried any harder, he was sure the man would weave a spell to keep him still anyway.

“OKAY OKAYHEHEHEHEE! I’ll t-tell yohohou!!” He cried out through his breathy giggles, shaking his head in surrender. On cue, the angel stopped tickling him, but his hands stayed holding the boy by his hips in case he didn’t hold up his end of the deal. Noel slumped back against Aries, reaching up to cover his blushing face while he caught his breath. Admittedly it felt quite nice resting in the man’s lap like this. If only the threat of more tickles wasn’t looming over him. He closed his eyes, trying to put together the most believable lie of his life.

“...It’s an inhibitor bracelet.” Noel mumbles, wringing at his sleeve cuff almost hard enough to tear it. “I never got to train my magic, so my powers are kinda weak n’ out of control. The inhibitor keeps me from, like… Accidentally zapping myself, or something worse.” His words flowed out naturally as if he’d witnessed these supposed power failures firsthand.

“I’ve always slacked on my training, but once I pull it together I won’t have to wear this thing anymore!”

It contained enough fragments of the truth to remain somewhat believable, but Noel was still nervous. Aries was the best interrogator in the kingdom, and he’d even heard hushed rumors that the man had a rare, formidable spell to force the truth out of more resilient targets. His own heartbeat drowned out the sound of the lake’s breeze, and he waited with bated breath for Aries to say anything.

“Mmhm…Okay!” Aries nodded, holding back a giggle when he felt Noel let out a huge sigh of relief. He knew a good chunk of it was bullshit, but he didn’t want to press the boy any further. He smiled warmly, letting go of Noel’s hips and patting his head before moving him off of his lap. The angel then stood up and stretched, yawning quietly.

“Well, that’s pretty boring~” He chuckles before abruptly turning to walk off. Noel blinked in dazed confusion, watching his rival’s robe flow in the breeze before his flustered brain clicked back on.

“GET BACK HERE!” the demon sprang to his feet, snatching up one of Aries’ braids to keep him still.

“Wah! What the hell?!” The tender-headed angel whined, wincing as he looked back at Noel with a pout.

“Your turn, dummy!” Noel barked, glaring up at him. “What’s your secret?” Noel truthfully couldn’t care less about the secret, but he couldn’t let Aries get away with tickling him like that without getting something from it. He let go of the taller man’s hair, watching as Aries crossed his arms.

“Oh, right…” he mumbled, his golden eyes gazing up to the stars, almost counting on them to write an answer out for him. After a bit of space searching, he looked back down at Noel with a bright grin.

“My secret… Is that I think you’re sorta cute!”

Aries laughed sweetly at Noel’s rosy face before strolling off again. Instead of grabbing him again, Noel followed closely behind, his familiar glare boring into the back of his rival’s head.

“Nah, try again.” Noel huffed, now more persistent than ever.

“Well that’s not fair~ Your secret was boring, so I made sure mine was too!” Aries spoke with a childish tone, going from a leisurely stroll to a brisk walk, then a light jog as the angry little menace chased him all the way back to the castle.

In the end, Captain Rubeda’s ‘Operation Amity” was a total failure, only giving the two more reasons to be suspicious of each other. Aries still had so many more questions about the inhibitor, and Noel… Well, Aries didn’t really find him cute, did he..?

[pikipekarmy]

How To Succeed At Raiding When You're Low-Level And Have No Dudes Of Note

ha ha haaa i wrote this up like last week and little did I know it would become a historic oddity before it's even published! I decided to make it a two-parter and then the news about remote raids getting less accessible broke literally as I was completing the activity for the second bit! So anyway enjoy this as a historical document of a brief shining moment from March of 2023.

So U Want Whatever Legendary Is Currently In Five Skull Raids, But You Have Only Shitmons And Don't Know How To Improve? Here Are Five Easy Steps, Already Now Deprecated, And We'll Just Have To See How It Shakes Out For The Future:

Step one: live somewhere that has an active Discord

Step one-A: that Discord has A Guy on it, who has the Campfire app and likes to coordinate things

Step one-B: wait for him to announce the raid route. Spin a gym the day before so you have a free raid pass in your inventory.

Step two: go to the street where several of the gyms are. Don’t spin your target gym’s pokestop yet. Wait for the time he says. Then go into the lobby, in-person, using the raid pass you collected yesterday. 

Step two-B: Study the raid counters suggested. Naturally you have none of them. Choose your biggest piloswine as usual, and the singular avalugg you’ve managed to evolve. Fill out the other four raid party slots with your favorite guys regardless of type since you don’t understand that shit anyway. Include your buddy, for the heart you’ll get even though she’s worthless for this.

Step two-A: Wait for like six Lvl 45+ players to hop in remotely with huge stacked raiding lineups. 

Step three: mash the button a lot and watch all your guys faint. Get kicked out. Rejoin with whatever random shit the app auto-suggests, which is universally terrible. 

Step three-A: Watch the six high-level players win the raid anyway. Wow one of them remoted in from thousands of km away!

(I took that screenshot entirely accidentally because my screen was wet because it was snowing on me and it's very hard to control a touchscreen that's wet, I promise I was helping. Actually you can see that I just pressed the "Avalanche" button down there, and that "super effective!" is my attack landing, thank you very much. I'm sure the like 2 points of damage my tiny guy did was very useful.)

Step three-B, optional: sometimes you get an achievement anyway. Once I was the last one to hit so I got Final Blow credit. This was amazing and also entirely unwarranted. I also once got a Style Maven credit which is hilarious since I’ve outfitted my dude in the only shapeless sweater I could find in the inventory.

Step four: Now try like hell to catch the raid boss trophy. (A genuine tip: At the beginning, use a nanab berry on every throw, to hold the fucking thing still so you actually hit it. Do your absolute best to curveball it if you can: raid boss guys have a HUGE target area so this is easier than normal. When you only have five or six balls left, start putting a razz berry or golden razz on every throw instead.) (Caveat: I succeed about mmm *half* of the time with this, so it’s not foolproof.)

Optional, step five: NOW spin the gym’s pokestop and collect your daily raid pass for *today*. Then run like hell down the street to the next gym on the itinerary, and get there (hopefully) just as your raid coordinator guy is opening the lobby to the remote raiding party.  Now repeat steps one through four. 

You can go on but you have to pay for passes after the second one, which may be worth it to you but I was doing this in the winter so by then I was usually frozen anyway and wanted to go back to where I’d left my partner in a bar near the first gym, to go get some beer. 

stay tuned for part two, on remote raiding, which is possibly now just a historic document of times past, we'll see when they announce the final updates about that!

[sapphichymns]

Children of Earth (and Miracle Day from the look of it just based on the first episode) has a problem with the scale. It shouldn't be worldwide. It should've been UK based only.

I mean, the show itself makes it UK only by the kids only speaking English and pointing to London (LOL) but then it makes some of the smaller inconsistencies bigger. Torchwood somehow not keeping records about the first communication (Jack not remembering is just postponing the mystery), UNIT not really doing anything to solve this when it's an international issue or how China and the US just accept the UK is going to handle this? Somehow? When it involves their countries too?*

It doesn't help with the emotional weight of how children are the targets.

Kids don't really have any agency in this story. Not even of them expressing how they feel used by the 456. They're just a MacGuffin. A worldwide MacGuffin. It would be fine if it was just locally so there could be a bit on more focus in Jacks relationship with his daughter and grandson so there's a nice punch to the gut in the sacrifice.

Clem is... I don't know, but trying to replace the kids? I feel bad for him but at the same time, his mental health issues are written in such a way that makes it quite uncomfortable.

*The 456 could've easily rotate through all the countries to get their drugs instead of jumping right into all of them. Making incremental could help. They just choose the UK at random to be the ambassador of Earth. Not perfect but a bit less silly than what we got.

[guilty-pleasures-and-dead-doves]

[Free Wolf, She-Wolf] Chapter 10

Chapters post

Chapter 9: Step into my parlour...

[Chapter 10] Spellbound

The Emperor had warned the boy; his girls stole away the breath Bison had barely recovered.

The sight of Texas and Sora in matching, tight, backless, shoulderless, mid-thigh, plunging-neckline dresses destroyed what little sense Bison might have maintained against the surprise and absurdity of the situation. Texas wore red, and Sora her usual black. Even if Bison had seen Sora’s Siracusan dress, this one would still have blown him away.

With Texas opening the door for her, Sora entered the room while giving Bison her best audience-dazzling smile, framing her face with her waving hands. “Hi, Bison!”

As much as her high-heels allowed her, she bounced and skipped as she moved to the side of the Emperor’s chair. She knew such a gait defeated the purpose of the heels, but she had more faith in her stage performance skills than her non-existent seduction experience.

The wide-eyed, open-mouthed look of awe he gave her gratified her like it never had coming from her fans. She’d never purposefully tried to elicit that specific reaction from people, and she felt differently about it coming from the young man she’d chosen to marry. For the first time in her life, she relished the power of having a man utterly spellbound.

But the night’s performance didn’t belong to her alone, so she looked back to Texas; as much to redirect Bison’s attention as to indulge herself in looking at her girlfriend.

At the same moment, Texas’s eyes shifted from Bison to her, as the lupo closed the door behind her. The soft look and smile she gave Sora fell away as she turned her attention back to Bison.

Texas stalked her way over to Sora’s side, using the high-heels to accentuate the lines and movements of her legs. Her face remained completely neutral, but eyes intensely focused on their target.

Sora cheerfully turned back to Bison, expecting to see him appreciate the sight as much as her. She was as surprised to see terror written all over him as Texas was not surprised.

Texas had even less experience with seduction than Sora. She’d metaphorically buried her sexuality even before she’d semi-literally buried her family. The only promises of the body she’d ever used to bend the will of others were the promises of physical violence.

Intellectually, Texas knew intimidating Bison worked against her goals, but she honestly had no idea how to provoke any other reaction.

At least, not without looking like a total fool and fraud. She’d seriously considered mimicking Sora’s behavior, but the thought made her die inside. If she had to choose between badly pretending to be something she wasn’t or being open about her unsavory nature, she’d rather be honest.

Sora linked arms with her and turned to smile at Bison, but she leaned into the lupo and whispered, “Texas, smile!”

Well, if Sora insisted it would help… Texas tried channeling her earlier enthusiasm into her face, and pulled the corners of her mouth farther apart, exposing some of her teeth.

If anything, that seemed to alarm Bison more.

Sora whispered again, “Not like Lappland!”

The look of shocked disgust on Texas’ face provoked the Emperor into another laughing fit. He made no effort to contain it, and as he hoped, his merriment brought a blush to Texas’ face to make her seem more human.

“Boss!” she protested. Her mortification brought a perverse sense of nostalgia for the days when her mother still lived; days when she still wore dresses instead of suits.

The Emperor unrepentantly mocked her. “I figured you want to eat him, Texas, but try not to let the boy think you mean it literally.”

Sora giggled nervously, wanting to defuse the situation but lost as to how.

But as the Emperor expected, Texas’ show of vulnerability managed to break the spell on Bison, and rouse the young man’s inner White Knight.

“Emperor, sir!” Bison snarled, rising to his feet. “This is much too far for a joke!”

The Emperor tilted his head back and idly scratched his throat. “I told you: I ain’t jokin’. Girls, why don’t you take a seat?”

The only other seats in the room were on Bison’s couch. Sora wearing a practiced smile and Texas keeping any further expression off her face, they split up and walked around the coffee table.

“Wait, what’re you— Miss Sora, Texas, what—”

Each of them took one of Bison’s reluctant but unresisting hands in their own, and sat down, gently pulling him back onto the couch with them and between them. He fell down and fell silent.

The softness and warmth of their hands and bare arms, the heat of their thighs permeating through his jeans, the scent of their bodies filling his world… Bison once again lost his ability to reason.

The proximity did not leave the girls unaffected, either. The Emperor watched as Texas and Sora became fully aware of Bison’s post-exertion scent; the boy’s sweat had dried but left its musk behind.

Texas was familiar with the fear-stink of mafia soldiers before and after mortal battles. Sora had endured the body odor of many unhygienic fans in meet-and-greets. It was a new experience to find a man's stench so agreeable.

Their fingers ever-so-slightly played with hands and digits already larger than their own, which did not help Bison’s state of mind.

When Bison finally remembered he had eyes but decided that the safest place to look was straight ahead, the Emperor deigned to continue.

“Consider yerself the luckiest man in the world. These fine young ladies are offerin’ you a two-for-one package deal. You could have a lovely flower on each arm, with no two-timing or jealousy or in-fightin’.”

He gestured to Texas. “With Texas, you get the experience of being loved by a warrior-woman who could and would break any other man in half with her bare hands. She’s willin’ to give up her transporter career to become a full-time, stay-at-home wife. She’s ready to have children immediately, the more the merrier, and you’ll never have to hire a bodyguard to look out for them.”

He gestured to Sora. “With Sora, you can enjoy the thrill of livin’ the dream that none of her screamin’ fans could ever hope to achieve. The starlet wanted by the tens of thousands chose you to be her Number One VIP Fan.”

The beast-lord held flippers to either side, ‘palm up’. “And on top of that, you’ll be the first and only man they’ve ever been with, or ever will be with.”

The Emperor leaned into one arm-chest, propping up his head with one flipper while sweeping the other across the three of them on the couch. “So, what do you think?”

Bison said nothing. He dared to look first at Sora, then at Texas, carefully trying to keep his gaze above their chins, helped by the fact that they were meeting his eyes.

He looked back to the Emperor and croaked, “You’re not joking, are you?”

Sora giggled nervously again, as a crease appeared between Texas’ eyebrows, and the Emperor sighed with exaggerated drama.

The Emperor said, “I can see that you need a little more persuadin’ of our sincerity,” and he hopped down from his chair. “Which means that this is where I take my leave.”

“Wait,” Bison said, with rising panic. “Where are you going?”

“Anywhere but here,” the beast-lord said, waddling out of Bison’s line of sight and towards the door through which Bison had entered the room.

Bison made to rise, but Texas and Sora put their hands on his shoulders.

The Emperor parted with the words, “Remember, girls: No Regrets.”

Then he shut the door behind him.

====

Chapter 11: Wanton, wanted, wanting, waiting

[anothersylvia]

What happens at the Derby ...

Hey been gone for a bit hope you enjoy this piece I was playing around with in my head. Involves the reader in a sticky situation with Jack during the Derby /album release weekend. 

disclaimers : nsfw/smut 

“Girl did you hear a word I just said” Your friend called at you as you stared  blankly at your screen trying to process some unsettling information about your upcoming weekend in Kentucky with your new flame Jack Harlow. Your relationship was fairly new , it wasn’t even a full blown relationship just yet , just you and jack in the process of getting to know each other and falling more and more for what you each had to offer each other. This weekend was the weekend of the Kentucky derby and Jack’s release party for his new album and he obviously wanted you by his side but the newly shared information you just consumed ruined your expectations of a flawless and magical weekend by Jack’s side. 

He was going to be shooting a music video for a track off his album,  not just  any track but the track that featured the rapper Drake ... this particular clash of events wouldn’t be such a bad thing for you if it wasn’t for the fact that you had a brief history with Drake that Jack wasn’t aware of. It wasn’t anything serious but in the time you were growing closer to Jack you weren’t quite sure how to ever bring it up to him but now that you’d likely be in spaces with both of them present there was no escaping this. 

“Bitch” Your friend grew frustrated with your on going silence. She was helping you pack and choose outfits. 

“So .... Jack is filming a music video with Drake this weekend” You finally spoke 

“Shit” Your friend’s panic matched yours 

“yeah shit , I know !!” You tossed your phone onto the bed. 

“I mean you did know this was an eventuality though , I thought you already told Jack about this ?” 

“When was I supposed to be like yeah and by the way I had a thing with Drake that one time “ 

“Look You and Drake weren’t even that serious , it’s not like Jack thinks you didn’t have a life before him” Your friend reasoned 

“True but like if he brings me around Drake and he ends up telling Jack before I do I’m gonna seem shady and I really like him, he’s going to think I target famous men for clout , I’m meeting his family and things are really going smooth for us right now “  

“If you cared about clout then you’d be doing the most to let everybody know how close you are to locking Jack down and you’d be spilling the tea about what you had with the Certified Lover Boy man “ 

“I’m really not trying to laugh right now “ You let out a dry chuckle 

You certainly weren’t going to let Jack down and not join him in Kentucky , you’d just have to big girl this one out and see what would happen. You had no animosity towards Drake but the thought of seeing him again did make your stomach turn a bit. 

Coming into contact with Jack was truly special. You had spent the night in his new home he bought out in Kentucky , he drove you around that night taking you to spots that were special to him and you celebrated the album release at midnight in the presence of his close friends , it was like for a moment you forgot about the awkward situation that was awaiting you once you’d attend the derby. A VIP lounge area was set up where Jack’s family , his friends and yourself enjoyed drinks and observed the days events out on the field. 

“You okay boo ?” Jack noticed your uneasiness , seeing your energy didn’t match the previous day and you were keeping to yourself instead of interacting with people. 

“Jack there’s something I want to clear up with you?” 

“Now?” Jack’s face grew concerned when he observed your tone was serious 

Just as you were about to respond Drake and his entourage entered the room , making their presence felt.

“Look I promise we will talk about this as soon as things get less crazy around here okay” Jack kissed your cheek before turning to acknowledge Drake and his people. Some bro hugs , laughs and handshakes were exchanged and camera men made their way in , you just knew you didn’t have a chance and slipped out of the room before you’d be force to face Drake. As concerned as Jack was a lot of what was taking place required his participation and attention but he eventually got a window in which to call and find out where you went. You asked him to meet you in one of the stand alone luxury restrooms when you heard how concerned and low key upset he was at your sudden disappearance. 

“You wanna tell me what’s going on Y/n” Jack Locked the door behind him. “The whole point of you being here was to have you experience this weekend with me , You could have said no if you didn’t want to it’s not like you’re my girlfriend , I can take the truth” 

“That’s not it Jack “ 

“Then what is it ?” 

“I’ve just been really nervous on how to let you know about my past with Aubrey and I didn’t want to take away anything from such an important and special weekend for you ” 

Silence fell upon the room making you regret even saying anything in the first place. 

“Aubrey as in Drake ? You were his girl ?” 

“We messed around for a bit but it didn’t last too long nor did it end with any bad blood , we just understood that it wasn’t going anywhere , I wasn’t planning on disclosing this cause I had no way of knowing how serious we were getting and got scared about how it would make you feel. But we’re here now and I’d be a fraud if I hung around the both of you without you at least knowing” 

“Y/n what makes you think I wouldn’t take this information well .. We’re all adults and this doesn’t change how I feel about you ” Jack’s expression and tone softened. 

“That’s just the thing Jack I don’t know exactly what it is you feel and if it’s strong enough for you to look past something like this, we’ve been having a great time but it’s like there’s certain conversations we’re avoiding “

“Conversations like what ?” Jack closed the space that separated you towering right over you with his chest touching yours. Your resolve was coming undone as you tried to get past how handsome he was looking in his suit and how strong the cologne he had on was. The back of Jack’s index and middle finger softly caressed your cheek as you looked up at him. This moment was forcing you to come to terms with just how deeply you were falling for Jack , it overwhelmed you , You almost felt suffocated by the storm of emotions. 

“Jack I’m sorry but I can’t stay “ headed for the door handle Jack blocked your movement by locking his hand over yours on the handle. You turned around to protest his actions but found yourself with his lips pressed on yours as he kissed you passionately. You melted into the kiss almost instantly relishing in the feeling of your back being pressed flat against the door with his broad body not giving you the space to move. Jack’s intensity grew as his one larger hand moved to firmly lock your arms above your head and his other hand gripped you right between your legs summoning you to gasp against his lips. 

“You want me to tell you how I feel or show you “ Jack’s low and raspy voice clashed with the moans his fingers were pulling from you. His fingers felt so  good in you so much so that that it eclipsed the growing ache of having your arms pinned up against the door. Your tight dress was riding up bunching at the waist exposing your under garments as Jack’s fingers mercilessly made their way in and out of you with the best precision. The air conditioning of the restroom allowed for a cool breeze to hit you further intensifying the immense pleasure you were feeling. You were panting against Jack’s soft lips unable to answer his question. Jack responded to this by tightening his grip on your locked hands causing you pain. 

“Show me Jack” the words spilled out in a breathy low tone that was laced with desperation and lust. Jack’s next move was to free his grip on your arms and free you from your lace underwear. He went a savage route and tore them apart instead of pulling them down your legs. Once your torn underwear was abandoned on the tiled floor Jack peeled back his suit jack while keeping lustful eyes on you , enjoying the sight of your lips that lost bright cherry red color your lipstick gave them due to the intense making out . You were heavy lidded with the straps of your dress hanging off your shoulders and your breasts on the verge of spilling out from your strapless bra. A smirk teased Jack’s lips just thinking of just how much more damage he was about to do to your appearance. He had to make sure it was clear to you that you were his once you two leave this restroom. He had to make sure Your thoughts would be him alone when  he introduced you to Drake as his girl. Your focus fell upon the girth of the bulge in Jack’s pants that he was now working to free. The show was cut short by Jack spinning your body back to facing the door. You arched your back in anticipation of his next move and had your world rocked by his size sliding up your wet folds and making an entry. From there was nothing but you your breasts knocking the wood of the door with every thrust as Jack gripped your hair pounding you senseless. Jack’s other hand kept a firm grip on your waist to keep you steady but he enjoyed watching your legs shake trying to keep steady , he also enjoyed having you moan uncontrollably knowing whoever passed by or attempted to knock would hear you. Jack’s taller build used his grip on your hair to arch your neck in an angle that would grant him  access to your lips so your moans could be muffled against his mouth and with that Jack proceeded to lead you to the mirror of the restroom by your hair so you could exchange eye contact as he finished off the complete slaughter that was being done to your pussy with his cock. Spreading your legs and repositioning himself Jack affectionately kissed your bare shoulder almost as a way to compensate for what was to come. Your moans bounced off the walls clashing with Jack’s grunts and the violent smacking of his hips into your ass cheeks with every thrust.  Every time you avoided eye contact in the mirror or closed your eyes Jack brought your focus back to him with a slap to your ass. Your mascara began to run down further undoing the evidence of a once made up and put together face. Jack could tell by the way your legs were giving in that you’d soon reach your climax , to make the moment more favorable for you he repositioned you onto the tap island top and re-entered you from that position wrapping your now frail legs around his waist and kissing your neck. The big finish came with one of the freakiest lustful moans Jack had ever heard from you prompting a release of his own. You panted against each other’s mouths in silence in the moments that followed what was one of the best moments You and Jack had ever shared both sexually and just in the entirety of your relationship. Still seated on the cold island top Jack helped wiping your thighs clean before helping you back on your feet and adjusting your dress back to it’s decent positioning on your body. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at how smug Jack looked as he fixed his suit back onto his body and adjusted the cuff links and watch on his wrist. And just as Jack intended your mind was so far gone from the Drake dilemma that lead you here in the first place. You had completely forgotten about him

 After you both felt confident that your appearances were back to looking put together and decent Jack made it a statement to make it back to everyone with your hand in his. 

“Yo Jack we were getting worried here , the races happened , you lost your bets bro “ Druski  brought everyone’s attention to you including Drake. You remained in a conversation with Druski as Jack joined Drake by the huge glass framing that allowed for a view of the racing tracks. The two men stood beside each other with eyes forward on the view. 

“I see you know y/n” Drake remarked 

“More like she’s my girl “ 

“Word?” Aubrey turned to look at jack who now had his eyes on you. Smiling as he took in the sight of you across the room , so sexy in your dress freshly dicked down with a walk to confirm it. 

“Word” Jack confirmed. 

[peejsocks]

Some fluff with bam, ryan, and dico

a/n: these are kind of all over the place thoughts. thank you for requesting, i love these losers

disclaimers/tags: nothing much. female reader.

some fluffy hcs with the cky boys

DICO:

sometimes it's like he does not have a girlfriend, just another best friend

in front of the guys, you are just as much if not more of a target and the butt of jokes

you gotta have some patience with this one sometimes

hyperactive child energy

you take it all very well, however, staring fondly whenever he tries to annoy you

really it's easy bc he's such a tremendous sweetheart

his imaginitive mind and tendency to turn everything into a convoluted narrative is endearing to you, feeding into his ideas

so of course once he's got you, he's never letting you go

actually it's hard to get him away from you

clingy bf for sure

away from his friends, he likes holding hands and hugs from behind

his favorite thing to do is cover your face with kisses whenever you're busy or just distracted

heavy sleeper, will also sleep anywhere, so you have to be the opposite, constantly guarding him to avoid the boys playing mean pranks on your unconscious bf

likes to sit next to you whenever you have something to do and watch in silence

will not let you do anything dangerous

“i said no, that's final. we can try and do it some other, less fatal way”

truly and extremely loyal

also honest, sometimes at his own expense

he's just scared you'll think he's lying and get mad

oh yeah will go out of his way to not make you mad (most of the time you wouldn't have been anyway but he likes to thoroughly explain things to you)

'my girl is mad at me i hope i die'

whenever you are mad or upset, he's terrified of not knowing how to help, so he'll try anything

from getting you whatever you ask for to disappearing for 72 hours if he thinks you're sick of him

(he asks the other guys to check in on you and to make sure you are not in fact sick of him)

a bit jealous, but honestly nothing that present

if anything, you get jealous more often than he does bc he is oblivious to girls flirting with him so he doesn't reject them

“dico! hello! that girl was hitting on you so hard, why didn't you say anything?” “oh. she was?”

he becomes more observant of it and if a girl asks if he could buy her a drink, he'll say “sorry, I have a beautiful girlfriend” and point to you

he simply makes you happy, without any drama or complications, what can you say

RYAN:

oh ryan is the total opposite

around the crew, you are nothing short of royalty, his princess, untouchable

if anybody dares to fuck with you, ryan has a list of the world's worst most disgusting pranks to pull on the poor victim

you try and tell him you do have a sense of humour, so it's not necessary, but it is nice to know you don't have to be on edge bc you have a personal body guard

'hates everyone but you' vibes when you're on the vlb set

alone, it's a different story

absolutely the guy to throw his dirty socks on your face to smell it and rub whatever dirt he can find on your body

loves to scare you, hiding behind doors and inside closets and everything

he claims you're as jumpy as a black cat on a friday the 13th

(the thought upsets you enough that you end up adopting a rescue black cat together)

everytime he gets you, though, he immediately apologizes and hugs you (still cackling)

you forgive him, obviously

you're not one to volunteer for a stunt, but if you do decide to help, ryan is very supportive and proud

'that's my girl'

not big on cuddles or pda, just the particular brand of 'she's mine, hands off'

if you choose an empty seat instead of his lap, he will embarrass you in front of everyone and say “why are you sitting over there? c'mon” while patting his leg

his hands will fall off if they are not around your waist

dude loves to smell you, his nose is always on the crook of your neck

not possessive jealous, but petty jealous

meaning any small interaction with a guy he considers 'threatening' (but would never admit to it) can lead to a pouting ryan giving you the silent treatment

“i just don't know why you would let him finish before listening to me” “because it's polite, ryan” “what, and you can't be a little rude every now and then for your boyfriend?”

always ends the night with an 'i love you', even if you had a fight or if he's away and has to say it through the phone

he says it a lot, actually

when you asked if he didn't think that saying it too much could make it lose its meaning, his reply was simply “i don't know, i just love you and when i feel it i say it”

when you do fight, it's bad. he yells and is stubborn, putting his foot down about whatever the motive of the fighting is. you usually need to spend some days apart

when tempers are cooler, he'll call and ask to talk, saying he's ready to listen. and he does.

never forgets to call to say goodnight

breakfast in bed type of boyfriend

BAM:

kind of a balance between ryan and dico

loves cuddles, but still not big on pda

he's ironically shy, that's all

there would definitely be a lot of pranking and fucking with you and probably play fighting

but he knows exactly what your boundaries are and respects them, making sure the other guys do too when they want to mess with you

“alright, guys, she doesn't like that” and pulling them away to get to you

he's enthusiastically supportive of any physical stunts you want to do, def a little concerned but usually a big smile shows up on his face when you suggest something

“yeah? fuck yeah i'll help you”

will laugh if you end up on your ass, running to your side and crouching to help you sit up

one hand on your back, catching a smile on your face, he looks up into the camera “she's good, she's badass”

again, bam is not huge on pda, but he might give you a little peck or a kiss on the cheek after helping you stand up

alone, however, total different guy

in the shower together, lifting up your shirt, if he sees a bruise he'll kiss it and turn the hot water on, gently pushing you under it

letting the water cascade down, soaping and scrubbing (with your products you left at his house of course) your back, arms, shoulders

closing your eyes and just enjoying his touch

if he's feeling a little romantic, he might give you a massage after showering, you laying topless and belly down on his bed. he's not exceptional at it but it's the thought that counts

bam doesn't fall often, but when he does, he falls hard

like, no one else in the world could replace you. not dramatic or exaggerated, he simply knows what he feels for you

that certainty is so natural sometimes he forgets to tell you or remind you of how much he loves you

which leads to lots of big declarations after a fight or something

very, very jealous. possessive jealous. not mean, just constant.

if he's talking to someone else and you're by his side, he will play with your hair, probably twisting it in his hand

or just massaging the back of your neck but always touching you

does not like it when other people make you laugh

even if it's his own friends

the boy likes to be the apple of your eye. it's simple, if he only has eyes for you why would you give anyone else any attention?

lazy sundays cuddling on the couch watching tv

being obssessed with his cats, which are all entirely too spoiled by you in an attempt to steal bam's spot as their favorite

(it doesn't work and he rubs it in your face all the time)

likes to be little spoon and get back scratches

obviously loves to lay down on your lap and have his head massaged, but sometimes he'll just turn in your lap and look up at you while you're blabbering about something

and he'll plant soft kisses on your wrists or reach up to caress your face

“you're not listening, are you?” “nope”

he's very rowdy in public, so you end up sharing a lot of quiet moments when it's just the two of you

mumbled 'i love you's and compliments, equally shy 'thank you's when you call him pretty

[comicaurora]

Hey Red red Red red Red red Red I love this page? I love it so much? There is something deeply and primally cathartic about it, and like I think the extent to which it makes specifically my brain go brr is purely personal, but I thought I might attempt to pick your brain about the building blocks that went into This Page Specifically, especially considering the rest of the arc leading up to it. So um, just realized it might be a tad spoiler-y but I still gotta ask: What was the journey from 'I need to introduce Dainix and his powerset' to 'Learning very literalized soulfire self-soothing strategies and the importance of actually processing emotions instead of bottling them as a temporarily useful force to be used responsibly'?

Dainix's powerset has always been heavily emotion-based, but there were versions of this intro where the reveal was much more casual and less fraught - versions where this whole meeting happened deep in the Rauan desert immediately after Dainix's first transformation, or where Kendal figured out Dainix's secret and gently encouraged him, or where the threat was something completely different from Tynan. But once I pulled together the bones of the arc and decided I was introducing Dainix as a gladiator, I knew exactly what I had to do with him. Or, more accurately, to him.

Dainix is a calm and gentle person with a pragmatic and realistic outlook on things, and for the first 95% of his life this was effortless for him to maintain. The worldview he shares with Kendal about emotions being harnessed rather than resisted is the worldview he had cultivated his whole life.

Dainix likes being this person. He is very good at being this person. He has significant trouble staying this person, however, when put in a terrible situation that constantly exerts pressure on him that drives him to continuous emotional extremes - which I think is a fairly common experience. People are never at 100% when they're stressed or hurt or in crisis. He can still redirect his emotions to "helpful" directions, but not efficiently. There are too many people who don't deserve to be hurt, and "giving that force a direction" becomes easier said than done when trapped in a target-rich environment. Guards, other gladiators, Kendal - none of them can be the direction that Dainix points his emotional force.

But even in his intro, we can see his control isn't perfect. Nobody's is, after all.

Carefully focusing his emotions is the ideal Dainix strives for, and it is a useful skill and a healthier outlook than "bottle those up ASAP," but he's been essentially trapped in a pressure cooker for half a year. When he's finally forced into a direct internal conflict - made to choose between two bad options that will both absolutely make him distressed beyond reason - it pushes him just over the boiling point.

"Emotional temperature" is an analogy I find very helpful. I am, by my nature, extremely prone to anger and frustration, which is an absolute bitch, because if you get angry enough, everything just makes you more angry. De-escalating situations becomes an essential skill under these circumstances, because if you let yourself get carried away and exacerbate whatever's frustrating you, the temperature of the situation overall rises, and everyone involved gets more upset and harder to deal with. There's essentially an internal boiling point at which point everything breaks down - when you can no longer maintain enough internal control to communicate clearly with the people in the situation with you. I've seen many a blow-up fight where both participants seemed to be in agreement, just poorly communicating, but were so bad at emotional regulation that they caught a whiff of hostility and let it fire them up all the way past boiling. (love ya, tumblr)

But, of course, these regulatory methods I'm so proud of are only as effective as the situation overall. I can vent steam and cool down as much as I want trying to get a situation back to manageable hostility levels, but if something outside of my control is heating up the situation - like an overall stressful situation, or someone purposefully being an asshole - I can never get things down below a certain temperature. Even if the dial's set all the way down to "low", a fire under a pot will continually heat it up. These are situations that I know will eventually drive me up past boiling, at which point I will become terrible to be around and make the situation exponentially worse, or at least make myself miserable.

But of course, no matter how good or how justified it feels, that initial kick of no-holds-barred rage really only makes you good at lashing out in every direction and makes you completely incapable of slowing down and cooling off on your own. The fusion reaction has become self-sustaining and will only stop when you burn out and run out of fuel, or when the byproducts of the reaction change the internal chemistry at play. A nuclear meltdown produces radioactive slag, and an emotional meltdown produces guilt. Build up enough of it and eventually the inferno stops exploding outward and just starts melting a hole through the floor.

And all the while, you're indulging this rage, fueled both by the potentially justified external cause and by the parts of yourself you're burning up to keep it going, because once the fire starts dying down, you're left feeling utterly hollow, surrounded by things you've destroyed and people you've hurt. All of this can, of course, be used to fuel the fire all over again rather than confronting the consequences and trying to repair damage done.

But this is not Dainix's fault. The damage he's willingly done under these circumstances is his responsibility, but it is not Dainix's fault that he has been trapped in a terrible soul-crushing environment and pushed to the very limits of his emotional and mental stability. It is not his fault that this made him angry. It would be frankly ridiculous if it didn't. Anger exists for a reason - it's the mind whispering "we don't deserve this." It reacts to pain because it is protective. Acting on that anger is where things get dicey, but the anger itself is more like a very protective, very bitey animal. It doesn't like when you're hurt. It wants to rip and tear and destroy the thing hurting you. You get to decide how much you wanna indulge that impulse, but it is an impulse born of the quintessentially human instinct of self-preservation and the positive awareness of one's own human dignity and worth and how it deserves to be respected.

Pushing back on the emotion denies its legitimacy. In my experience, nothing is more dangerous to your emotional well-being than being convinced that your self-preservation instincts are Inconvenient or Shameful. Anger is a very important tool. Like fire, it can't just be flung around willy-nilly without very bad side effects, but we'd all be much worse off without the stuff. This process can be painful and draining and turn you into someone you dislike, but only if you think of the anger as an enemy separate from yourself - something to fight or surrender to, rather than your own self-preservation instinct pushing you in directions you aren't used to pursuing. Dainix is just in the unfortunate position that his inner fire is literal, and if he doesn't figure out some emotional regulation and accept that these flames of anger are a fundamental part of who he is just as much as the rest of his much less inconvenient emotions, he might actually explode.

Emotional pressure release valves and situational de-escalation are all well and good and they serve their purpose, but sometimes you are in a bad situation that needs to be burned down, and sometimes you just need to gather up everything you're feeling and scream. Even if it singes a few people in the process.

So basically in order for Dainix's arc to work I had to break him first. sorry dude, I'll make it up to you