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popculturebuffet · 7 months

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The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Retrospective Chapter 10: The Invader of Fort Duckburg "It'll Be a Dark Day When I Give in To a Mere Superpower"

And we're back. For those of you newer around here a few years ago in the middle of my ducktales fevor, I started a retrospective of one of my favorite comic books of all time: The 12 part epic the Life and Times of Scrooge Mcduck, covering Scrooge's rise from a shoeshine in glasgow barely scraping by to the Richest Duck in the World and what he gained and lost along the way. I had a ton of fun covering this one but sadly.. I eventually gave up. I felt the years had piled up too much and i'd never get back to finishing it.

Enter Kev, who out of nowhere asked if he could comission the final three chapters. I happily agreed as not only can I finally finish one of the biggest works of my reviewing career, but it opens me up to do all the suplimental chapters at some point, paticuarlly "dream of a lifetime".

For now though, we're celebrating President's Day with chapter 10, my faviorite of the series and Don Rosa's too. It's largely for the same reasons: the story is tightly paced, covering only two days compared to most chapters pile of years, funny, furious, and for me at least has more of hortense, who I love dearly and who finds the love she deserves this chapter.. via a lot of shouting of course as is the McDuck/Duck Family way. Unless your these two.

Chapter 10 is the rare chapter that picks up almost exactly where we left off, with a much shorter time skip of a few weeks, skipping our heroes travels from Scotland to the US and focusing on Scrooge and his sisters as they set up his empire , here in Duckburg. What follows is a farce, a romantic comedy, an action set piece, and one of the most badass panels ever put to ink, which for this series is saying a lot.

If you'd like to catch up on the previous 9 chapters, I just complied all of them into one handy dandy post.

So go check that out if you fancy then come back here as we get scrooge vs the United States of America itself.

We open the issue with a quick recap before we pan to our heroes, puttering along their Duckburg. Part of what makes this chapter neat is seeing the town before Scrooge made it into a thriving city: here it's just a few buildings and a small farm.

As scrooge puts it "a town as big as it is wide". Our heroes are riding what could charitably be considered a car, which Scrooge got cheap and didn't read was a piece of scrap as his eyes are entirley shot at this point after the Yukon. I do like that while his eyesight fading is partially herditary, Rosa provides an explination for why it went down hill so fast: 6 years in the yukon with all that snow was hell on them. He leads his sisters up his new property with the help of a local farmer.... then back down his newly aquiried Killmule Hill

I love this gag and I applaud Don Rosa's art here. He makes a mean impact siloutte. I also didn't notice till writing this review but you also see Matilda and Scrooge's hats over the corn. Hortense would join in the gag but she hasn't got a hat bope a dope a dope dope.

The Farmer renames the hill "Killmotor Hill", for the auto age... I love that detail too. Of course it wouldn't of always been killmotor hill. Though whoever was running mules so hard up that hill they were killing them needs a swift kick.

The lady of the farm offers to rent Scrooge a shed, seeing as she owns most of the land around here and reveals herself as Elvira Duck,knee coot, sister of Casey, the man who sold Scrooge the hill in the first place and she soon introduces her family.

Yup this is Donald's family including Grandma McDuck, the character I most regret not making it into ducktales in time. Grandma McDuck is donald's sweet country grandma who reminds me of my own sweet country grandma, who spends her days working hard and yelling at donald's cousin gus to actually do some work for a change. He never does.

Humperdink is Donald's grandpa, passed int he preset, while Daphne and Eider are his aunt and uncle, all grabbed from various barks ephimera or the offical family tree he made. Daphne has golden hair, supernatural luck and the misfortune of having birthed Gladstone, while Eider is naturally Fethry's dad, who Rosa reluctnatly included in some versions of the tree as Fethry wasn't a barks creation. Me.. I don't see any harm in Fethry being included. Barks isn't the be all end all of the universe... he is damn awesome though and I respect that. case in point the names were curbed from various non barks grandma duck stories.

You might notice though I didn't mention Donald's dad. Well he was just running behind and has the calm, measured response to the accident you'd expect from Donald's father.

Yup: this folks.. is how Donald's parents met. And it's one of the best scene's in the series, especially what happens right after.

It's comedy gold, fits him perfectly , and once again seems to be the mcduck way... unless your these two

I mean does it count if it only started with ONE of them shouting? Riddle for the ages.

As for why the Woodchucks are involved they've taken old fort duckburg atop the hill as their headquarters. He shouts get off my land and they do.. but naturally an old man shouting at them isn't enough to convince these children of land ownership so worried he might be a crook, they call for help in the only way the nation knew how at the time

Yes folks there's a reason this was a president's day specail as the phone tag gets so bad THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF gets informed a "scottish billionare has taken over a military installation on the coast", a great gag. Incensed Teddy reactivates the rough riders and prepares to deal with this personally fist to face. h back when presidents could legally punch corrupt billionaires in the face. If only Biden would pass that legislation. or any legislation.

It takes a week for him to get moblized as our heroes have spent it taking the barrels up river, as Scrooge begins his lousy streak of taking advantage of his family. This will only get worse from here and is never as funny as Don Rosa thinks.

Anywho, Scrooge knocks on a homesteader's door but they refuse to answer or be helpful. Turns out it's the beagle boys, lead by the future grandpa beagle. Rosa admits making him the same character makes him 165 by the time of "A Little Something Special" but honestly this universe is JUST weird enough for that to be plausible. Not 2017 DuckTales levels of madness

But still pretty nutty. So as scrooge takes a money bath to Hortense's exasperation some guests arrive at the fort. Who is it?

Yeah the Beagles quickly kidnap hortense, having gone after Scrooge for revenge for putting them in stir back in chapter 2. THey also lock scrooge in one of his own barrels. Beofre he can break it through sheer force of pissed off, a shell breaks it... and the beagles and scrooge both have bigger problems

Scrooge's response is naturally "Get off my lawn you damn united state's navy!" which gets him blasted at. The Beagles are thankfully too busy begging scrooge to give up so they can live, leaving Scrooge to do what he does best: be badass in the most insane way possible

By godfrey I love this stupid gag.

Teddy, being the only entiity nearly as badass as scrooge , responds in kind leading to a clash for the ages

I love every part of this scene from the sheer badassery of scroog'es one liner to that final charge. And of course best of all hortense taking on an ENTIRE CALVARY and WINNING before some traditional duck flirting as is the way.. except maybe also for these two

At any rate the conflict is over: Teddy takes out the trash and one of Scrooge's greatest headaches begins in earnest

WE cut to 6 months later. So I guess it's three days but semantics. Scrooge has built his money bin and plans to fill it and while Matilda is doubtful scrooge is joyful, even giving the Woodchucks a doorknob as their calling in Teddy stopped the beagle boys. As we end the chapter we get the full sight of the greatest structure in all of duckburg and one of the most iconic locations in all of disney.

And thus we end this chapter.. and it's a laugh riot with tons of gorgeously drawn action, well done punchlines and bunches of lore stuffed in. IT's everything great about this series compacted into a tight smaller scale story... granted it's a smaller scale story that involved the entire navy and marines, but for Scrooge that's small.

Character wise since this is only maybe a week after the previous one Scrooge hasn't changed much.. but like last time you can see the cracks in his personality here and there, the darker parts that are about to consume him: He uses his sisters as free labor, yells at just about everyone and his response to every conflict is to shout at it. Granted it usually worked, but i'ts clear the more vicious sides of scrooge that never completely go away are creeping more and more into him and overshadowing the noble man he once was. they haven't completely consumed him yet.. but well that's for next time, sometime this spring or early summer.

Rather than leave on that ominous note i'd like to talk Hortense and Quackmore some more. I love them and while their chemistry's simple, they yell until they bang hard, simple, they are genuinely adorable and it's easy to see where a lot of donald comes from just watching the two: Hortense's obession with dating "a real cowboy" before meeting quackmore and sorta zoning out mid rage both have traces of Donald's own hyperfixations and tendency to leap without thinking. It's nice to sneak those subtle bits in and I applaud rosa for it.

One last thing related to the two: turns out this causeda BIG stir in italy and some other parts of europe. Rosa was suprised as , due to the family tree I mentioned, the names of donald's parents weren't a bit secret. He also took another shot at the duck comics not being big in the us, the usual Don Rosa Yells at Cloud Stuff. Point is he was shocked by it.. but me .. I get it. It's the same thing that happened when Della showed up in Ducktales. Yes a comic had given an explination and her name had been seen, and we'll see her breifly in chapter 11 of this very comic.. but we didn't really KNOW her and most things she's in are either obscure , said comic wasn't reprinted here far as I can tell, or simply a mentoin. We knew OF her bu tdidn't know her as a person.

That was the same with Hortense and Quackmore before this story: We knew of them and despite Rosa keeping it vauge for readers less familliar with the family tree, it's pretty obvious from the moment we see her grown up that Hortense is Donald's mom. Here we get to see her as a young person herself, her eccentrcities, her rage, and who she really is. We also get to see Quackmore who.. okay he's just perpetually pissed off but it's still something. There's a diffrence between a name on some suplimentary material and a character and Don Rosa created a fantastic one in hortense, to the point i'm still disapointed we never met her in the series.

Next Time: The darkest day of Scrooge's life, some attempts to recocnile na old racist story, and the hardest chapter of this comic to read. Thanks for reading.. and welcome back.

#scrooge mcduck #ducktales #don rosa #hortense mcduck #matilda mcduck #teddy roosevelt #presiden'ts day #the beagle boys #quackmore duck #the life and times of scrooge mcduck

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werdlewrites · 9 months

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masterlist - ao3 - kofi - twitter @ djomamma

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summary: “I’ll ask my dad,” she forces out. “Y’know, after the whole skipping school business." He smirked in response, head nodding down the hall in a gesture for us to continue on. “He’s more mad about that? Not the weed?” She shrugs, avoiding his gaze with cheeks puffed out. “Parents, right?” warning: Hopper and Steve being sweeties, cursing, mentions of drugs wc: 2,580

The holidays come and go, and the bottomless pit to rot within Autumn is slowly filled. “To hope,” they said, and he refused to allow her to slip into doubt and darkness. He’s called for time off. Time spent away from countless complaints and paperwork. He had called in the very next morning, handing over all responsibilities to Powell to bask in this new life for just a few more days. On any other day, maybe there would have been some guilt. But he makes promises with the intent of keeping them, no matter the risk involved. Hopper had endured the chaos of Black Friday only as a sheriff, taking calls for assault or stolen goods. The madness of saving money, flipping the switch of humanity, and turning most shoppers into monsters—though Hawkins had been a little different. Such a small and sleepy town became more lively, but rarely did he witness flying fists or true rage to tear people apart. It was a shocking comparison to the bigger cities; even some of the locals took their business elsewhere for more extravagant goods. That Friday, he chose to join the masses with a girl by his side.

“Don’t wander,” he warns with a firm tug of a baseball cap over her brow. “I never lose sight of you, capiche?” The girl holds up a sign for "ok," responding in amusement, “Capiche.” It’s not funny, knowing the threat is still out there. Whether it be her father or the man he works for, he is out on the hunt to get his hands on something once within his reach. Yet still, he smiles back at her, despite the bile brewing as his nerves kick into high gear. They spend hours out there, bumping shoulders with shoppers or staring through glass windows at the many deals waiting for them. She would ogle at the fineries but ultimately move on down the block, simply enjoying the chance to be out and free. Hopper is never far away, walking in her much shorter shadow with eyes cast in every direction, looking for eyes that lingered a little too long or anyone he could recognize. But there’s nothing. Hopper can feel his tension ease just enough to find some joy out beneath the sun, nearly colliding with the girl as she’s paused at another glass pane. Autumn stares in silence at the refurbished furniture, and there’s a visible interest as she leans in closer. “See anything you like?” She jumps back at his words, nearly forgetting he was there. Her response is hesitant, shrugging as she searches for the right words. “I-I like antiques. But who doesn’t?”

She’s about to continue onward, but Hopper is quick, as he’s already at the door, waving her inside. It’s a cruel joke, but she humors him, and they move between the various pieces of furniture. It’s not as busy as most stores, but busy enough for Hopper to cast questioning looks. His attention is locked on the girl as she stands near a cabinet, her fingers moving along the details. The wood is natural, though deep red wine in color. Two doors hide shelving within, and a mirror is featured in a showcase. She does nothing but admire and leave it behind, though Hopper is quick to snatch the tag. “What the hell are you doing?” Her tone is as if he’s offended her—a clear shock in her eyes while he gleams. “You need furniture for your room,” he states rather simply, while the gears seem to stick in her mind and slow function down. “Y-well, yeah, but-” “Keep lookin’ around,” he suggests as he pockets the tag—a sign that the piece is no longer available. "You might find somethin’ you like.”

They spent the weekend heaving and hauling pieces of furniture up into the attic, sweat on their brows and wild laughter as neither of them considered how the pieces would get up there. But they manage, and her room seems almost normal. Almost.

It’s Monday morning now, and Hopper is forced to head back to work while Autumn blends in amongst the students. She’s slow-moving, feeling almost jetlagged from the time spent away from class, and still struggling to work it all back into routine. She manages to drag her feet out into the dewy morning, heavy steps scuffing along the dirt as she moves towards her Jeep. Her guardian isn’t far behind her. He's nearly stumbling out in haste with a paper bag held high in the air. “You forget somethin’?” Realization hits him as he stands in the cold—there's no Steve. No boy is waiting with music playing and a silly grin on his face; she stands alone with her fingers already tucked beneath the door handle. Her other hoists the bag up for his view, stating, “I have my own. That’s yours.” Lunch is the least of his worries, as his fists fall to his hips. “Where the hell is your ride?” With a laugh, the teen shakes her head. “Waiting for me at school. Bye, Hopper.” She doesn’t tell him about the boy's confession of their deal; instead, she makes her own. He provides the space she needs, giving her time to herself as she rides to school but is glued to her side until the bell rings. He worries, and seeing her reassures him. Hopper stands at the final step and watches as she pulls away, the green Jeep slow to vanish from his sight with the lack of brush. A heavy sigh escapes, and he’s prying the fold apart to peer inside. Leftovers from the dinner prior: Beef Stroganoff scooped into Tupperware with snacks to tide him over in the long hours. It’s not what he’s used to. Not having put in a thought to his lunch and winging it when the time came. A child somehow manages to think for him when her only focus should be herself.

At Hawkin’s High, her actions are pushed back to the furthest corner of her mind. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, and even if it were, Steve was too busy occupying her time. There was no room for second-guessing. He’s at her car door within seconds of her arrival, waiting and watching out for the girl with the eyes of a hawk, swooping in the moment he spots her. He’s nothing but sunshine, and it’s hard to deflect the warmth as it sinks in through her skin. “How was your vacation?” They walk side by side, unable to feel the judgment once given, as students have now lost interest. “It was... good, actually.” “Yeah? Next year, let me come over. My dad was a prick the entire time. Almost makes me wish he’d go on another business trip,” he finishes with an awkward laugh, though it’s quick to die and fall flat in his chest as he reconsiders his wording. Kind eyes are now full of dread and regret, seeming ungrateful as his family was complete while hers was torn. “I’m sorry,” the boy suddenly states. His fingers are lightly gripping the sleeve of her sweater to guide her attention back to him—to see his sincerity as he speaks. “I-I didn’t mean-” What comes next isn’t what he expects, cut short in surprise as her lips pull into a smile. “You worry too much.” It’s almost baffling to watch her ease by the school doors, unbothered by his words, while he remains stuck in guilt. The boy has to push his way through the bodies to join her side again, sparing a confused look as he studies her. “Weekend was that good, huh?” She gives a small shrug. “I’ve had worse. Like, a strange man doing a B and E.” Steve scoffs in reply, shaking his head as he mimics her expression. But all seems to fizzle out as she pauses in the hallway, her lack of presence hard to ignore. When Steve looks back, the joy has been stripped from her eyes and replaced with something he can’t quite figure out. Her brows are pulled tight with a stare unwavering from something up ahead. “What? What is-?”

It’s Jonathan Byers. The boy always seemed to have a sleepy look about him, but he seemed more disheveled than the week before. His eyes are sunken; you can tell even from a distance that he’s been awake for too long. The boy seems almost in a daze, moving sluggishly and staring hard at the supplies in his locker as if he were trying to break through a heavy fog. “Must be his first day back. I haven’t seen him since... well, y’know.” Her eyes are lingering, and he can see the obvious interest, though nervous, as her fingers tighten around the strap. “C’mon, Aut,” he encourages with a gentle nudge of his elbow. Unknowing of the guilt she still holds close for letting Will slip from her grasp. “Go catch up.” A look of uncertainty is given, and he can only smile back, a hand now resting on her back for further reassurance. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay? Same table, same time.” He manages to pull a snort from the girl, and now satisfied, he drifts away, vanishing in the crowd. At some point in the exchange, Jonathan finds her among the wild animals. An empty hand raises to give a small wave, almost seeming like a stranger despite all they have gone through. Before the monsters and up to now. It doesn’t give her the confidence she needs, but she pushes forward to meet him at his now-cleared locker. No posters or ugly words scrawled on the surface. Exhausted eyes have lowered by the time she’s within reach, organizing all he needs for the morning in his bag. “Welcome back?” she begins, trying to pull herself out of the treacherous waters of discomfort. There’s a faint hint of a smile—weak—before lips fall to a flat line again. “What joy,” he states in a heavy sigh, flipping the door until it slams shut, his eyes landing back on her. The girl waits a moment, studying him in silence and coming up with a plan of action as he is clearly out of sorts. Will had come home, and the monsters were beaten back into the shadows. She’s certain he would be joyful on some level.

She elects for a distraction—something out of pocket to lure troubled thoughts away. “Steve’s been up my ass since you’ve been gone.” It was only half true. Knowing it had been... far longer than that, by now. He chuckles—it's lazy and halfhearted—and his eyes fall to flip through his notebook. “Y’know what they say. Kill together, stay together.” He’s not meeting her eyes; that alone is enough to set her off course. The tone in his voice only added fuel to the fire. “Yeah, a real bonding moment,” she spits back with a narrow gaze. Without further comment, he moves on, his back now facing the girl. It’s almost gut-wrenching, and she can’t bear this sudden cold shoulder—unable to place where it came from. They fought side-by-side, didn’t they? Negative thoughts are cast out as speedy steps race after him, pushing her way through bodies to walk at his side. “What gives?” He hums in response, confused and still not meeting her eyes. “Wha-?” she tries to repeat, half expecting the boy to put on the brakes for them to talk in private. He keeps moving, and she’s forced to take hold of his arm, forcing him her way. “What’s going on?” A heavy sigh deflates his body, his focus flickering elsewhere until it lands on her. “Nothing,” “‘A’ for effort,” Autumn retorts. “Try again. This time, really give it your all.” With the roll of his eyes, his body falls to lean against the wall at her side. “I don’t want t’be here.” It’s not a satisfying answer. Her neck craned forward in hopes of encouraging more from him, and he caved under her stare. “M’not sleeping. Neither is Will."Hearing his name has alarms sounding off in her mind. Having not seen him or Jonathan since the hospital, she was unable to seek either boy out to check in. “Because of-?” The teen nods at first before continuing. “He’s not sleeping because of what happened. And I’m not sleeping because of him.” There’s a feeling of guilt for asking, causing her stance to relax before it joins him on the wall. “I shouldn’t even be here,” he states in anger, frustration evident on his face as he thinks of his baby brother with one less person to care for him. “I need t’be at home. Mom can only handle so much. I-I just feel helpless here, y’know? He’s struggling, and I have t’do book reports.”

Autumn waits in silence, letting his anger simmer out until it’s only embers in a pile of dust. Dying out, yet ready to spark with light given the chance. “It’s bullshit,” the girl says with a hard sigh. The conversation felt a little too similar to the one she had with Nancy last week. “It is bullshit.” The girl’s head lolls to the side, studying the dark circles under his eyes and the far-off look he held. As if something in the distance held him frozen there. “How is he?” He meets her eyes briefly, his chest filling with a breath to prepare for honesty. “Not good. I-I mean, he has moments where things seem fine. Then, it’s like he’s somewhere else entirely. Like-” “Like he’s back there,” she finishes for him, almost lifting the weight from his chest. “Yeah. Then, the nightmares. But he’s trying.” Autumn lets out a long hum in thought, the idea of a boy still locked in distress, leaving her unsettled. She was squirming in her skin. “I promised him Mud Pie.” Another short chuckle is heard off to her right.

“You left him there.”

The words ring out and rebound off every nerve. She’s rattled and burdened by guilt, despite not knowing if she could have saved him. Maybe Will had come to his senses with time to recover. Now understanding, and the thought of her leaving him behind only brings discomfort. It’s a pain she can’t seem to stomach, so she bites her tongue. “You should come by,” he suggests. “I half expected you t’be camped out in our living room.” Like a deer in the headlights, Autumn is left bewildered and uncertain of what to do—or say, for that matter. “Y-yeah,” she begins with unease. “It’s just... all been so crazy.” A timid smile rises to the surface, and he doesn’t seem to catch on that she’s hiding something. Blame it on the lack of sleep or total ignorance, but he wears a look of true happiness. “I know he misses his favorite storyteller." It’s hard not to be warmed by him or the thought of the younger Byers boy nodding along to his words. “I’ll ask my d-” It’s almost too easy to say. She fell into the routine of asking her dad for permission to leave or simply telling him outright. That routine was stripped away and replaced with unfamiliarity. “I’ll ask my dad,” she forces out. “Y’know, after the whole skipping school business." He smirked in response, head nodding down the hall in a gesture for us to continue on. “He’s more mad about that? Not the weed?” She shrugs, avoiding his gaze with cheeks puffed out. “Parents, right?”

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cornus27florida · 11 months

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Another LambCat reply at the IG! If what I predict gonna be true then I say the following CPC gotta become like this:

9 chapters left to wrap up everything (based on thumbnail of fastpass episodes and image leeks we have possibility: Blaine VS Frederick, and then with Prez; Prez becomes a were-spider, Maria finally forgives Frederick as she sent along the animals ensemble to help him 'running to the opposite direction of everyone, the reveal of the big bad wolf in Gwen's dream and the giant serpent in Frederick's dream, the stolen portrait be shown and thus relates to the third dying wish of Lilyth, continuation of Lilyth's story as her image still blurred although she's smiling + How Gwen wakes up from the slumber spell while Leland approaching)

Those things really hard to wrap up in merely 9 episodes - but I know LambCat could manage, with likely every episode has new OSTs? That's gonna be so amazing

'One Epilogue Episode' likely gotta be the episode 170 - which uploaded after the wrap up of everything till ep 169. There's so many 'loose ends of plot points along the way' outside the Pastel Palace like: What does Nell see in her vision? What Isolde cooks in Plaid Kingdom? Does the unnamed elderly foot guard that wants to opening up the limoncello gotta be important like deus ex machina? How Jack reacts after seeing everything - and will he brings the Omniscient Clam? The future of relationships between Pastel and Plaid kingdom - especially Gwen and Frederick? What happened to the CPC as the entirety, as they're bursting in the Pastel Palace should already shows 'abnormal' they are to melts the iron barred door etc?

OEE could be anything but I feel it's likely gotta be timeskip - for how long? I somehow can't imagine for years (if that's the case we get Gwen and Frederick wedding, but I feel that's too soon and likely happen later as not in OEE) but in shorter time as the following:

Days: that means the wrap-up and cleaning up of Plaid mess -> we have Jack's reaction properly as his bubble burst out horribly with the worst betrayal by Leland

Weeks: the clean up is already done, then season changes to the winter and everything finally 'return to normalcy and peace' -> I imagine this gotta be the perfect opportunity to welcome Frederick (having him had Slumber Party!) properly as the newest member of the CPC, with Gwen likely that gives him the PANDA keychain and everyone at the CPC gets resolutions (like the hopes of curses could be broken, is not always with the 'cure-it-all' of true love's kiss but other things like self-love w/ hint of romance)

Months: the nice timeskip to shows resolution of things being established, relationships - CPC likely get renovated and established properly as proper instituion to helps the cursed people - Plaid Kingdom had rulership changes as the Plaid King got accountable to his crimes (who'll ruling? or if the rulership changes from monarch to anything else? Whatever it be, I just want the Plaid folks espc Plaid Princes to be happy) - Pastel Kingdom accepting the CPC existence properly and make adjustments for them, and already dealing with portaits stuffs espc Lilyth's. This gotta be the most wide but plausible timeskip to not skipping most of details instead going with years timeskip

Little Side Stories: I predict it gotta be like these https://cursed-princess.fandom.com/wiki/Template:EpisodeList:BonusEpisodes

How many is unpredictable, but if could crazily speculates:

A retake of Red Riding Hood, but with Prince Blaine as Red Riding Hood, his mother Queen Isolde as the woodcutter, and Princess Maria as the wolf. -> the resolution of Maria/Blaine relationship, they might not be together but I want both to be happy as Blaine be 'free' and Maria chases her dream

A retake of Jack and the Beanstalk, but with Princess Lorena as Jack, who climbs the huge beanstalk to the place on the clouds where Prince Lance, the giant, resides. -> the resolution of Lorena/Lance relationship, they might not be together but I want both to be happy as Lorena finally leads her kingdom's army and Lance be the leader of Plaid army

A retake of Hansel and Gretel, with Prince Jamie as Hansel, finding a gingerbread house owned by a lonely witch. -> I feel if Jamie meets the witch again, he'll said his thanks to her as Gwen is saved with her info - and he grows closer to Leopold

Prince Frederick dreams about one of his favorite fairytales, about a man stuck in a hole being lifted up by an angel of fortune - but he's the man stuck in a hole, and the angel of fortune is Princess Gwendolyn. Frederick dreams about becoming the hero of the Dogyssey, encountering monsters along the way to reach his angel of fortune.

Frederick is very unique as the character that had two bonus episode with the theme of him as the protagonist of his fave tale and Gwen becomes his angel of the fortune. I predict if we get 'little bonus episode' it's gotta be a retelling of the tiniest prince which shows his journey so he could return to his lover - the rose - the Angel of the Fortune - Gwendolyn

The CPC members that didn't attend Gwendolyn's Dinner Party try to entertain themselves - and Saffron asks the backstory behind Jolie's curse. Jolie's story starts in her homeland, the Lace Kingdom, which was 'saved' by a mysterious dealer... Jolie's curse story is concluded when the mysterious dealer asks for his end of the bargain...

If the Omniscient Clam isn't omnious and won't asks dubious price for being asked, I say it's gotta be deus ex machina that helps the CPC members to breaks their curse. I find it's gotta be interesting little stories as each member has chance to learn more about their curse and how to breaks it. I am stand to belief that every curse could be broken somehow, by learning more about the nature of the curse first - and, the cure isn't always to be "the true love's kiss" but other else...

Curses can be cut short (or lifted or broken) by:

Giving back a stolen item, apologizing, or otherwise setting right the original offense. = meet the curser basically

Completing an Impossible Task.

Dying and coming back, usually as part of finding a loophole in the curse. = only could work if there's time travel element

Passing it on to someone else, like a bad penny.

Killing the curser or otherwise getting them to die. (Not effective in cases of a Dying Curse.)

Beat the Curse Out of Him: A less drastic tactic. Results vary. For a country, putting the rightful king on the throne. (This may or may not fall under the first as well.)

The Power of Love. Sometimes this simply requires actually being loved by someone else, sometimes it requires the person to receive True Love's Kiss to seal the deal. Furthermore, many curses are susceptible to the Power of Love even if it's not supposed to be a condition of the curse

+ act of kindness and love: Elsa's curse is broken by Anna's act of kindness, Kirana from golden snail tale simply by reunion meeting w/ her loved one = not by true love's kiss

#cursed princess club #Predictions #long text sorry

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inkspindle · 13 days

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This post got a lot longer than intended (oops), so feel free to just skim the pretty pictures, or skip to the bits you find most interesting!

I got bored, and wanted to try something out, just to see how it looked. The goal was: Make a visually appealing pixel-object out of very limited colors, which is both clear in visual, and shaded to give a lil depth. While this isn't a tutorial on making old-school pixel art, I'd love to see if this inspires anybody else to give it a try!

Shrunk a public domain photo down for the silhouette of my base here (https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=173260&picture=tree) and just kinda riffed on it. Tried to "capture" the way it looked (to me) as best I could, while staying true to the original photo.

In order to tempt people into scrolling past the read-more, here is the final image I settled on after taking several passes at it. (Be warned, this is a VERY LONG post!)

(And what it looks like at normal size)

Normally, when I do pixel art, I prefer not to do the thing where you shrink a picture down, and make it more pixellated. But... I've realized there's a bunch of different ways to emphasize those same pixels. So I decided to experiment.

First-off, my initial goal: The background would be the lightest color, and I would then use a darkest color and two mid-tone colors to re-create the entire image. I couldn't work with any other shades, as it would help me simplify the shapes I'm looking at a little better. So I started by blocking in the deepest shadows I could find, and then sculpting them into more satisfying shapes.

While it "worked," I didn't like the end-result. It wasn't terrible, it just didn't look the way that I wanted it to.

The next attempt was to make all my existing shadows the darkest color in my palette, then "fill in" between them with a nice mid-tone. Something to soften the shadows up a bit, and make it look a little more cohesive.

This also didn't quite give the effect I wanted. The shadows are a lovely shape, but I probably added too many of them. I wanted the "focus" on the bits of the tree that were fully highlighted, but it still didn't look right.

While it broke my initial "rule," I tried combining the first picture and the last one, to see what a "happy medium" looked like. The end-result... looked almost identical to the photo that I started with. (Colors notwithstanding.) While the visual effect was a bit more pleasing to the eye, that definitely defeated the purpose of the exercise. So...I started over completely.

SKIP DOWN TO THE TL;DR TO AVOID THE VIDEO GAME HISTORY RANT.

(Certain things have been heavily oversimplified, to make for a shorter explanation!)

Fun lil video-game history fact: Early visuals in video games started with "off" and "on." A lot of the modern limited-palette pixel art you see is directly inspired by the fact that the earliest screens we had to work with could only show visuals in binary; Parts of the screen were "on" (the lighter color) or "off" (the darker color) and we hadn't gotten to the point we could display a crisp white or black, yet. This meant that you might have a green background with darker green artwork. Later on, they were able to add a mid-tone shade or two for sake of depth and detail.

After we went through our early MS Paint era of video game visuals (complete with blinding use of primary colors), people stretched what early processors (CPU/video card/RAM/low-res displays) could handle to the limits. That harsh limitation on what an early computer could display without frying itself, and what it could display at all, led to some extremely clever uses of color-choice, dithering, and cross-hatching, to trick the eye into filling in with colors and shapes where early video game artists couldn't add them.

See, when we talk about "8-bit" games, we're talking about (oversimplified, mind you) the amount of colors and pixels a computer is capable of displaying, both overall, and in a given section of the screen at a time. Individual tiles and character-sprites for old games had a set amount of pixels per "square," and within those "squares," you were only allowed to display a certain amount of colors. Each separate "square" then had to be designed individually.

Some while after we figured out how to display more than "off" and "on," we developed computers that could handle showing a lovely range of different colors. But then we had a new issue; Within a single "square" (8x8, 16x16, etc) of the screen, you could have white, black, and up to 1-2 other colors. The computer couldn't handle displaying anything else; No midtone shades inbetween, no nothing.

So early video game artists compensated for this by sticking to that old method of "chunking" out the visuals on the screen into tiles, which matched that resolution. You wouldn't notice that your computer could only show 2 gray tones in the same square, if that square happened to be a stone wall. The square next to it could then be two different shades of green, and it would make a lovely piece of grass, or a tree, with shading even!

There was a period inbetween where we had such limited colors to work with, people had purple trees, orange grass, and red skies. It created a wild visual effect, and had all the right contrast (see artwork term: "Value") to allow the eye to see the detail needed for games in which visuals were really important, like early point-and-click adventures.

Eventually, artists stretched the limits further. While that resolution was slow to evolve, people began to create complex backgrounds with visible perspective, that blurred the lines between each "square" on the screen. If you wanted to create a diagonal edge, or overlap two objects over eachother, you had to use a set of colors that could apply to both objects you wanted to create.

So!!! FOR THOSE WHO SCROLLED DOWN, tl;dr-

I wanted to see if I could re-create this tree with only 3-4 total colors (+background) in a way that an early computer could have rendered on-screen. That means white/black + 2 colors per "square." Since I didn't like how harsh a pure black looked while I worked on it, I skipped using it. We're going to pretend an old computer could handle these specific shades of pink and purple (spoiler; they absolutely could not)...but the visual effect being used is true to the idea.

A first-attempt was made. I allowed myself one extra mid-tone, just for the sake of smoothing things out. I then decided on 8x8 pixel squares. You can visually see where one stops and the next starts. It had a fun visual effect, and it was much closer to what I was originally going for...but the artists that came before me made nuch nicer artwork with much worse tech, and I could do better. So I took a second pass at it.

THIS was much closer to what I'd been going for. While you can still guess where each square begins/ends, all the extra dithering and more organically-shaped lines helps to blur the edges of each square, without straying outside of them.

If you got all the way down here, you're amazing. I hope this entertained somebody, and that others will like the end-result as much as I do. :)

#pixel #pixel art #dot art doodles #Hey Look It’s ART #long post #don't say I didn't warn you #inkspindle

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dragonnwriter · 1 year

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Inviolable Bindings

AemondxAegonxFemOC

All Chapters Here!

This chapter details child death. Please skip to the next chapter if you find this to be a trigger for you! Warning requested by a reader.

I am releasing two shorter chapters this time so people can skip over this one and continue on to the next one.

Chapter 18

Without another word, the two of them quickly scrambled from the bed to dress. Viserra grabbed for the first gown she saw and threw it over her head. Aegon haphazardly dressed as well, hardly making time to button his top.

In those few moments, there had not been any more screaming. Viserra looked out the window to see that it was most likely still the hour of the eel and they could not have slept for longer than an hour or two.

She quickly donned her blades with haste and followed Aegon out of the room. Two of the Kingsguard stood just outside of the doors, turning to stop them both as they tried to exit.

“Your Grace, you must stay here in these rooms while the area is deemed safe.” One of the knights suggested, standing in their way.

“It is Helaena, I heard her screaming, I need to get to her.” Aegon shouted, pushing past the knight.

“Your Grace, I must insist. Ser Arryk has gone to find the source of the screaming, you will be safest here until it has been determined there is no imminent danger.”

Viserra thought she might need to intervene, but watched as Aegon pushed both of the guards aside angrily, “You can follow me then. But I am leaving.”

Without any more delay, they started to make their way to the Queen’s chambers, but both of the guards informed them that Helaena was not there. She had taken the children to see their grandmother for their usual bedtime routine but had not yet returned.

Quickly, they descended out of Maegor’s Holdfast and to the other flight of stairs leading to the Tower of the Hand. Viserra had not ventured into this area yet, staying far from the Hand unless it was unavoidable. She knew the dowager queen’s chambers were located inside as well and worried as Aegon led them both there.

There was plenty of commotion happening ahead of them. As soon as they reached the top of the steps, Aegon ran to his mother’s rooms. Close behind, Viserra and the Kingsguard followed.

He had stopped dead in his tracks once he reached the doors and Ser Arryk was suddenly embracing him, pulling him away from the entrance. As she watched Aegon try and get past Ser Arryk, she realized she could hear crying and sobbing coming from inside the room.

Squeezing in between the door and two other guards, she suddenly saw the scene in front of her. Alicent was holding both Jaehaera and Maelor to her bosom. Both children were crying to their grandmother who was trying desperately to comfort them. Her eyes then looked to Helaena who was hunched over on the floor near the fireplace.

After taking one more glance at Alicent and the children, she made her way towards Helaena. Once she was only a few feet away, she realized the sobbing girl was holding on to a small lifeless body. Without a doubt it must have been Jaehaerys.

“Gods, Helaena. What has happened?” Viserra exclaimed, coming down next to her and reaching out to touch her lightly on the shoulder. Helaena did not respond or pull away from her, in a seemingly unbreakable trance. She noted a large amount of blood all over her arms and a pool of it there on the floor.

Leaning in even closer, Viserra suddenly realized the gruesome sight in front of her. The body of the child in Helaena’s arms had been beheaded. An uninvited wave of nausea rolled through her belly, coming up to sit in her throat. She placed her hand on the ground to stabilize herself, forcing her own body to take a few deep breaths in and out.

Once she felt herself regaining composure, she turned back to the Queen and placed her hands on her in an attempt to comfort. “Helaena,” she breathed, “We will kill whoever did this.” Viserra turned to the doorway to find that there were more guards coming into the room. With the swell of rage suddenly building in her chest, she spoke to them, “Fetch the maester and cloth to wrap the prince. And quickly!”

“He should be here shortly.” One of the guards replied.

Viserra could hear Aegon cursing and the voice of someone else trying to talk sense into him. She attempted to focus her attention on Helaena until the maester had come to assess the scene. There were so many questions that had run through her mind but she knew that it had not been the time to ask them.

The maester had come quickly with cloth in hand but Helaena would not allow him to take Jaehaerys’ body from her arms. Viserra was at a complete loss of how to help in the situation, still kneeling by the Queen and speaking words to try and encourage her to give the boy up.

She found Alicent’s hand on her shoulder, turning to find that she was coming to help as well. She realized that the dowager queen had bruises on her face, her hair tousled, and her dress ripped at the shoulder. They must have all been attacked.

Viserra let Alicent take her place at her daughter’s side and stood to move out of the way. She took a look around the room and realized the whole scene felt like a fever dream. Her eyes landed on the two children, huddled near one of the Kingsguard, both looking frightened to the bone.

Realizing that the children had most likely witnessed the horrific death of their brother, she quickly went to them. Little Maelor had reached to her and she instinctively picked the boy up. Bringing herself down to Jaehaera’s level, the girl immediately leaned into her for comfort.

“I know it does not seem as such, sweet girl, but you are safe now.” Viserra soothed, running her fingers through Jaehaera’s blonde hair and holding her close.

“My brother is dead,” the little voice spoke, her deep purple eyes looking up to meet Viserra’s.

She shushed the young girl and held her close, watching as Aegon completely lost himself to the realization of what had happened. The uneasiness that she had felt throughout the evening had been because of something actually being amiss. Mercenaries in the castle walls, watching and waiting.

There was a familiar sound of feet rushing up the steps before Aemond was suddenly at the chamber doors. He must have ran there, judging by the way he was breathing. His wide eye took in the room before him: angry and hysterical Aegon, his cousin comforting his niece and nephew, and his mother and the maester trying to convince his sister to give them the body of her dead child. Aemond walked to Viserra who stood, leaving Jaehaera clinging to her dress.

“What in the Seven hells has happened?” He breathed in a tone that was questioning yet filled with the underlying heat of rage.

Viserra looked to Helaena who was crying again as the maester wrapped her son in cloth. Alicent had her in her arms, but she was still fighting to cling on to the lifeless body.

“I do not know in its entirety. But your mother and sister were attacked, your nephew murdered.” Viserra whispered to Aemond. “They left with his head.”

He looked to her with a wide eye, almost speechless, “They took his head?!”

“Yes,” she confirmed, watching the rage begin to bubble inside him. Even though he kept it well contained, she could still see it within his body language.

“How did this happen?!” He asked her, his voice hushed yet harsh.

Viserra shook her head, “I do not know. I only came when I heard the screaming.”

Aemond left her there and found his grandfather who was talking to the guards, presumably about finding the whereabouts of the attackers. She looked again to Aegon, who was now sitting with his head in his hands. For a moment, she thought to go to him, but the whimpering at her legs brought her attention back to the children.

The beginnings of the war had started the moment Rhaenyra had heard of her son’s death but it wasn’t until the deed had been returned that the Greens had also felt the reality of it all.

#aemond x aegon ii x oc #aemond smut #aegon x aemond #aegon ii #house targaryen #house of the dragon aemond #house of dragons #helaena targaryen #game of thrones #slow burn #eventual smut #fanfiction #ao3 stuff #aemond targaryen #house of the dragon #aemond x oc

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findroleplay · 1 year

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1x1 Werewolf pack

Splitting up from an excisting abandoned rp,

But with new characters, plots, and making our own world.

Friend's been ghosting me for an entire year, but im not able to completely give up on our 4year long rp with multiple generations

Lyam, grand-nephew of the 5th alpha. But after the man's left the pack to follow his dreams, Lyam's grandmother (sister of the 5th) became the next in line. Lyam's dad became alpha, and now Lyam is taught to become the next. Reaching his 18th birthday, he been told he was the age to legally take over. But then, the grandson of the 5th returned back to the pack. Being the rightful owner of the alpha seat, he became the 7th. Taking away Lyam's chance.

He understood, not like Lyam could resist anyway. He was only the grandson of the 5th sister. They only warmed up the seat in case the 5th or his children ever returned.

Though, after being trained so long, Lyam decided to take his future in his own hands. He decided to leave the pack, carrying the name but starting his new 'sub-pack' in a different country. Lyam will try to claim his own territory, somewhere in the mountains of canada. And tried to find his new beta and pack members. Part of the original pack as they still carry their name, but with their own rules.

But, have werewolves ever been seen in canada?

In this rp, we will be having two pairings,

I will be portraying Lyam, a sweet and responsible gentleman

And the future mate of the beta.

I expect you to portray

The human girl, future mate of Lyam

The male who will become Lyam's best friend and future beta of the pack

Im looking for a new long-term roleplay that lasts as long as we want. Starting for the first plot, and when it reaches its end, we start up the next generation. Building a huge tree of generations with all kinds of different plots, characters, ideas, and romances.

There could be basic plots about new alpha x childhood human girl, or plots where the alpha's mate is part of a bad pack. A plot where the alpha steps down and his sister's mate takes over. A plot where the alpha's mate is the current girlfriend of his best friend who turned out to be the beta. Alpha's future mate who is under control by a bad rival pack. Long lost childhood friends or even where the alpha's boy fixed his future mate with his best friend because he thought they were made for each other.

A lot can happen! The alpha might actually reject his responsibilities, or the pack might get themselves involved with other packs that dont allow them to deal with humans.

We can actually come up with villains, whenever its hunters, the maffia, alpha concurrent, an enemy pack, or the ordinary bully from school.

This will also be highly nsfw at some point! I prefer slowburns as we work our way to that. Though lets keep it 40/60 with nsfw & plot

Who am i looking for?

first thing first, im looking for a friend who likes to roleplay and talk about goofy stuff on an ooc chat. xD

someone who is completely committed to making this rp work. I know people have lives outside of amino, and that's completely fine.

someone who is creative and likes to come up and collect many different ideas and is able to play all kinds of characters.

About me,

Im an experienced roleplayer who had been in the business for 10+ years. I know what i want, and im can be quite picky over roleplay partners. Im an adult, and due to this, i prefer my rp partner to be over 20 as well. Im detailed, prefer long-term roleplays with a slow romance development🥺🥺

Im literate, but that doesn't mean i can't send shorter replies. The lengths of my replies vary due to the situation in the rp, the characters, the settings, my mood, obviously, etc. There can be times i sent a 6-line reply (most then, im in a hurry really or when we're getting stuck and need to skip to the next day to help us out or something)

I've got over 4 years of experience in werewolf roleplay. Loving each and every pup of the 10 generation long roleplay and missing every character that passed away🥺

#roleplay #rp #oc rp #original rp #fandomless rp #werewolf rp

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asachuu · 1 year

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(4/10)

Part 3: Fifteen

Content warning: major Fifteen light novel spoilers.

[List of all parts]

[Part 2]

This may be a far, far shorter section than you would expect from me as we don’t get too much to analyze in Fifteen, compared to Stormbringer later on. I will not be summarizing the entire novel, since I have stated before that I’m going into this assuming my readers have seen both books already. This is merely a summary of the most important things which occurred that I will be referencing/referring to in terms of Rimlaine as a ship itself, and also to bring up details that could have been missed along the way if the reader wasn’t focused on them.

I would also like to add an additional note before I begin— as for Fifteen, I am only talking about the events of the written novel, not the anime adaptation of it. I believe I make this explicitly clear everywhere when I say “novel”, but I’m aware some people still may think of those two as the same or similar to each other and don’t actually distinguish between the two, even when I directly state which piece of media it is. I need for it to be said before going to write about any canonical events, solely to avoid statements such as “I remember watching something else”, “when did that even happen”, etc., considering the anime could practically be interpreted as its own separate story. Additionally, this will also apply here if an anime adaptation for Stormbringer is released, as I can’t say I have any faith in a short, animated version’s ability to not cut out or twist extremely crucial or important details from such a long novel either to save space, budget or provide fanservice, just as it did in S3.

So then, what exactly do we establish in Fifteen?

Part 3.1: the fight and Arthur’s memories

Despite talking about this novel and a major part of Arthur’s character, I will not be going over the entire section where he gets introduced into the BSD universe, nor where he explains his initial recollection of events about the Arahabaki incident. Instead, I will skip right into the fight with Dazai and Chuuya. Why? Because, to put it simply, the former parts have absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. As much as I could talk about them for a rather long time, they provide me with no information I could give out in terms of Arthur’s relation to Paul, which is the sole focus here.

Now, during the fight in the second half of the novel, we get to learn of Arthur’s true identity, as well as his purpose in Japan. His initial mission was to research “Arahabaki” and take it back to his home country alive, however his intent had changed significantly over time. He had no longer planned to take Chuuya, or rather, “Arahabaki” back alive, rather deciding to kill him— as we learn further on, this was not done due to a simple desire for violence, power or anything of this kind. In fact, that would go against his whole character, as it’s not only implied, but also outright stated by him he doesn’t truly want to go along with it and does certainly feel remorse for his actions…so then, what might his reasoning possibly be?

That reasoning was Chuuya’s memories. Eight years ago, when he was sent on this very mission, he wasn’t alone. Here, we learn of another character, one who supposedly accompanied him and worked with him, according to his vague recollections. Arthur had long since forgotten what happened to that person, whether he died or survived the Arahabaki explosion— all he remembered was the two being partners, even “best friends”, as he referred to him. Unsurprisingly, Arthur wished to know what happened to someone so important to him, especially after eight years of having no possibility of finding this out, and due to Chuuya/Arahabaki being present at the time of the two still being together, he believed he could retrieve his lost memories by taking in Chuuya’s ability, though unfortunately, that could only be done if Chuuya was killed. It wasn’t an act of anything other than simply a desperate wish to know what happened to an old friend of his, even if it now went against his actual mission. Despite his amnesia, desires and even his own orders, he still cared about his partner strongly enough to try and go through with his plan. That plan, however, failed.

Just as Arthur thought he succeeded in their altercation, with Chuuya seemingly not being able to fight back any longer after being heavily injured, he was fatally stabbed through by a scythe he used to pin the redhead to the ground. Instead of Chuuya’s ability itself, that was the action which made him remember the true events of his past. In his final moments, he states he was betrayed by his partner at the last minute, who is now revealed to be named Paul Verlaine. According to him, Paul had tried to kill him, and thus it’s implied he had to defend himself. In his recollection of events, he believes to be the one who ended his partner’s life, and while he does not explicitly state this himself, as I assume he wasn’t even able to, he hints at it. This part of Fifteen ends with Arthur passing away, thinking about Paul in his very last thoughts.

Part 3.2: Paul’s appearance

This is a part which many people are not aware of– Paul’s actual appearance in Fifteen after Arthur’s death, which was not even mentioned a single time in Fifteen’s animated rendition. It will most definitely be a very short summary, given it is a rather short part itself, yet it’s quite crucial to my points.

The section revolves around Paul getting into the Port Mafia’s office during nighttime. As he himself claims, it was to retrieve a document of “[his] best friend’s life”. One could even begin to think he did care about Arthur the same way he was clearly cared for by the latter just with that line alone, yet the rest of his dialogue entirely disproves this.

I could certainly point to his proclamation of Arthur’s memory being “interesting” due to him having mistakenly remembered ending Paul’s life, seemingly being amused by it with such wording, but there’s a far more glaring example of this that does not require any amount of analyzing whatsoever. Following this, he then goes on to thank Chuuya for killing his former partner on his behalf before stating he wishes to meet him. Even if one was to reach for rather far-fetched assumptions, there is no grief or regret expressed by him to be found at any point during this specific part, rather the opposite— this was supposedly what he wanted to see happen. The section ends with him disappearing into the night, confirming a sequel to the novel.

[Part 3.3]

#text post #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd fifteen #bsd storm bringer #bsd stormbringer #bsd arthur rimbaud #bsd paul verlaine #rimlaine #asachuu

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melodylnoelle · 2 years

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Knight Captain

The Cards Have Spoken - Week 6 (My cards)

Hello! We took the week of Christmas off from this, but still pulled cards. Here is the one that was my cards for last week! The one for this week will be posted later today. We are doing the same thing on Friday with each other’s cards.

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters: Knight!Steve Rogers Category: AU - Royalty Timeline: N/A Setting: No card pull - Castle Warnings/Notes: Violence. // This kinda got away from me, and I skipped over some details to make it shorter... might make a whole story out of this, we’ll see // We are trying to keep these all to a minimum of 500 words. You can use these same cards for your own story if you like, but please tag me and @brightsun-and-darkmidnight so that we can see what you do! Please enjoy Words: 3839 Summary: Something is amiss within the castle walls, and Steve is determined to get to the bottom of it. Masterlist

Steve walked down the lengthy hall with his team, armor clinking on all of them as they went. He would never cease to be amazed by the beautiful stained glass and vaulted ceiling of the throne room. It was such a stark contrast to the small, nearby village that he came from – one where he had lived in poverty for most of his life. Even tired, battered, and a little bruised as he was, he still couldn’t help but to glance up at the kingdom’s crest encased in the colorful panes of glass as he went.

At least until he reached his destination in front of the throne. Then he joined him team in taking a knee, bowing his head.

The hall was mostly empty now. This wasn’t the cheerful, triumphant return of heroes from their quest – that had been yesterday. Today, it was silent but for their footfalls and armor, and the inaudible whispers of the Royal Advisor to the king at the throne. They had been summoned privately today.

The King had his head turned to the side, listening to his advisor. As they knelt, he turned to look at them.

“Your highness,” Steve greeted, head still bowed.

“I am sure you are curious why I summoned you here today.” He paused, but Steve knew he was not truly expecting an answer. “I am sorry to have interrupted your celebrating.”

“How may we serve you, my king?” Steve spoke for the group, his voice echoing back to him in the large room.

“I was most troubled by your report of what happened on your last mission.”

Steve’s eyebrows knit together at the memory. It had not been the cleanest mission they had ever been on. They were there to prevent an army from amassing to close to their border, and it turned into a brutal fight before the other side was scared off. A few civilians had lost their lives when the battle got too close to a village, and even more of the village itself was destroyed. They had been able to end the battle without too much loss of life, but that it happened at all had weighed heavy on his shoulders. The king had offered his assistance to the village in the form of crews for repairs and money for the families that lost a loved one, but that could never fully make up for the damage done.

Even more so since the king was bringing it up.

“Our apologies or allowing them to get to close to the townspeople, sire. We will be more careful next time.”

The king nodded. “I am sure you will. From this moment forth, there will be an advisor on each mission with you that will be in charge of telling you when it is time to leave the battle.”

Steve’s eyebrows rose, along with his head. He looked the king in the eye. “But sire-“

The king stared back at him with an empty stare, but his harsh words bellowed through the room. “That decision is final. Is that clear?”

Steve shoved his head back down, internally cursing himself. “Yes, sire.”

“There are dangerous times ahead, but that doesn’t mean we need to lose our perspective on who we are fighting for.” The king paused a moment. “We need to keep both our eyes open, or we are no good to our kingdom in the first place.”

Steve’s head rose again, slowly this time. He knew after that outburst that the others would have their head down. They would not see Steve raise his head, his eyebrows raising the slightest bit in question. They would not see the king’s expression barely change, just a bit more set, or the slight wave of his hand toward the adviser, mostly hidden under his sleeve. The advisor would not have seen the gesture, but he did.

This time, Steve held eye contact with the king as he spoke. “Understood, King Fury.” Then ducked his head before the advisor could think anything of the exchange.

“Good. The oversight will be by someone the Royal Advisor chooses for each mission… maybe sometimes even the advisor himself. You are to heed their every word and bring them back home safe.”

“Yes, sire.”

“You are all dismissed. I will call you again when there is a need. For now, return to your guard duties.”

Steve rose first, and the rest of his team followed his lead. They turned and made their way to the door, the king’s silent warning ringing as loudly in Steve’s mind as the echo of armor clanking in the hall.

He went about his duties, ceasing his celebrating to join in the patrolling of the guard. He needed to take some time to think, anyway, and long walks through the castle usually helped him to do that.

Not twenty minutes into his patrol, though, that was interrupted.

“Sir Rogers,” the Royal Advisor spoke as Steve passed through the hall.

He paused, not quite turning his head enough to see the advisor. “Yes, sir?”

“I would speak with you a moment, if you are not in a hurry.”

He turned to face the man but said nothing.

“You seemed to be rather… displeased with the arrangement that the king has decided for you.”

“What gave you that impression?”

“You attempted to protest it.”

Steve shrugged. “I suppose I just don’t like someone else making the decisions that involve the safety of my team.”

“Ah. Is that it?” He chuckled. “Well, I will have you know, I have the safety of everyone in mind, not just your team. You know, it won’t be all bad, I assure you.” The advisor was circling him, like a wolf about to jump down his throat. He had a grin to match. “I won’t get in your way. I will just be there to stop you if things get… out of hand, so to speak.”

“You know, if things get out of hand, it’s not always our choice.”

“I’m surprised you would be so adverse to having such supervision. You who normally is all about order.”

Steve bit back a scoff, tried to keep his voice level. “Order is one thing. Blind control is another.”

“You dare speak of your king’s decisions that way?” His face was reddening, his smile turning into a smug expression.

“No, sir, of course not. That wouldn’t be my place.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” He stepped forward as he spoke, getting very close to Steve. “I wonder if this oversight, this control could have kept you from losing you pal… your Bucky. He seemed to be your sense of reason. Maybe this could have kept him around. But you don’t even know where he is, do you?”

That name sent hackles all down Steve’s spine. Bucky had been his partner before Steve had ever had a team, and he went missing a month ago. He spent weeks trying to find him after he was taken prisoner by another kingdom. The king had given him a monument in his honor, as his actions had led to the rest of the force getting home safely. Both he and the king believed that he was alive. Steve kept waiting for him to come back, searching for any word on someone having seen the knight with one arm.

The fact that that word would have come from someone in his own kingdom was a shock all of its own.

“Do you?”

“Again with the accusations.” His grin was back. He backed away one step, eyeing Steve suspiciously. “What is it you’re getting at here, knight?”

He thought a moment. He had to choose his words carefully, as the king taught him, not to show his whole hand. He made sure his face was expressionless as he spoke next. “Nothing… sir.”

The advisor took one more step back. “That’s what I thought.”

“I will see you on the next mission. Just make sure you’re ready in case things get ugly.” Without allowing him to get another word in, Steve turned and walked around the corner to leave the hall.

It was three days before there was a new mission from the king. Three days of pacing back and forth along the city walls with the rest of the guards. Every once in a while, he would pass by one of his team mates, and he would try to gauge their reactions about their new situation.

“I don’t know… maybe it’ll be a good thing.” Natasha had said. “Then they can see what really goes on. See that it’s not us that wants to bring the fight near the people.”

He hadn’t been sure what to make of that. He wasn’t sure that mattered to anyone.

“Sounds more to me like political posturing,” Sam had argued. “It’s not something that I’m overly fond of, but if it’s what the king wants…” They had trailed off into silence after that. Steve didn’t say anything more, not wanting to give his own thoughts away.

“We’ve let ourself get out of control. Did you see how scared the people were? The king is right, we should be fighting for them, protecting them.” Tony had been angry, maybe had the most weight on his shoulders considering he made the swords and weapons that damaged the town. They had been sold to an opposing kingdom by the king – or someone – and then used against them. But then again, it could even just be the fact that he knew plenty of people from that town. Steve hadn’t envied his position.

The others were all across the map, some echoing his thoughts and some echoing Tony’s, and a few not knowing where they stood. It was doing nothing to ease the thoughts that ran through his mind. The only person who probably could was the king himself, but there was no opportunity for him to speak to King Fury. He was always either with the Royal Advisor, or in the company of so many that Steve dare not even think of speaking any words aloud.

Hours after being called to the throne room for a briefing, Steve stood in the mirror of his chambers, adjusting the pauldron that adorned the king’s crest. He stared deeply into his own reflection, willing himself to decide what to so.

He had learned long ago that he was more of a confidant for the king than the Royal Advisor ever was. He recalled days where he called into the king’s private office, ready for a reprimand, only for him to dismiss anyone else from the room and ramble his thoughts to Steve about the things that were going right or wrong. Even then, he knew King Fury hadn’t told him everything – but then again, he didn’t think there was anyone that knew everything he thought or knew. It was one of those visits when King Fury had asked him to listen for the code words, the phrase that only Steve would know meant something was amiss. Something that maybe could not be said in company. A safeguard, in case there was no safe place for them to speak of these things.

When he heard that phrase in the throne room, he was both surprised and not. One of the king’s ramblings of late had been to express his concern about his advisement – that he was being asked to do things that he did not agree with, or that there was some plot to overthrow the crown entirely.

But now Steve was suspicious that there was no plan to overthrow the crown, but to puppeteer it, which, truly, was likely worse. The king would take the fall for anything that would happen, leaving room for one to step in his place. This was something Steve could not allow. His duty was to the king, and the people in the kingdom, and if the king was concerned enough to warn him, that couldn’t be good for either of them.

And yet, he was torn, knowing that his team would not understand. All they would see would be their Captain defecting – he had never made them privy to the king’s warning and his request, and, if the enemy was within, watching them, he could not do so now. But the last thing in this world that he wanted was to fight against his own team.

Maybe he could convince Natasha. She was hand-chosen by the king, and maybe second to Steve on the list of people he trusted. She had proven herself a valuable warrior, and Steve had trusted her completely. The king had taken notice of her skill in a time that many would have shunned her for her chosen profession. She may have enough loyalty to him to hear Steve out.

Tony, though… that was another story. He was always so focused on protecting the kingdom – a noble trait, to be sure – but sometimes that made him lose sight of the little things going on around them. Whatever move Steve made, it wouldn’t be one that would be sanctioned by any oversight that would be appointed to their crew. Tony would only see it as betrayal, and the thought of that made Steve’s heart feel like a stone.

But then there was the other reason to dig deeper that was clawing at his mind – Bucky. The Royal Advisor spoke of him as if he knew exactly where he was. His best friend, his left-hand man, had been missing long enough. It was time to bring him home. And if this was one step in that direction, he had to take it.

Steve sighed, grabbing the rest of his gear. It was almost time to deploy for their next mission, and he could put this off no longer.

He couldn’t wait for his next mission. His team was getting ready, and he didn’t want to involve them in all of this. Instead of joining them in the ready room, he marched down the corridor that led to the Royal Advisor’s office. He kicked the door in, nearly taking it off the hinges as he did so.

The man was taken by surprise, dropping the book that he was placing on the shelf to the floor. “Sir Rogers! You are absolutely out of line!” His voice wavered, taking any sense of authority that he had in those words right out of them.

“Quiet, or things will be worse for you. I don’t want to make this messier than it has to be.” He took his sword from its sheath. The advisor tried to run, but Steve was quicker, pinning his squirming frame against the bookshelf with the blade to his throat. “But you’re coming with me where you can do no more harm.” His teeth gritted together, his next words coming out as a near-growl. “And you’re going to tell me where Bucky is.”

The advisor took a deep breath. His shout for help was cut short by Steve knocking him unconscious.

Steve shook his head. This was not going to help them get out of the kingdom unnoticed. But he got to work, binding his hands and feet with the rope that he had brought with him. He also found a cloth that he could use to muffle him in case he woke and tried to scream again. When he was secure, he stopped to consider his options. He could just go the way he came, but there were guards at the end of the hall – he would have to render them unconscious, too, or they would surely not let him leave with a captive. He didn’t want to kill members from his own army, even if that meant that they would turn him in when they woke up.

He moved to the window instead, prying it open. The cold autumn wind hit his face as the glass swept outwards. He judged the distance to the ground, cursing himself for the oversight of not bringing more rope. It would be a hard decline to get to the ground from this high in the tower, and even more so with someone on his back. It could kill them both, and then this would be for nothing.

Well, not nothing. At least the king would be free of him. But there was no telling whether he was the worst of the people to be concerned with.

So, hall it was after all. He sighed, re-secured the window and hoisted the heavy man onto his shoulders. He kept his sword in his hand, hoping it would be enough to keep the guards from wanting to challenge him.

He knew it had been wishful thinking. They had their weapons drawn the moment they saw the man on his shoulders.

“I assure you, he is just feeling ill,” Steve said half-hardheartedly. “I am taking him to the infirmary to be checked out.”

The guards eyed him suspiciously. “Then why is he bound?” one of them asked. Their grip tightened on their swords.

“I was kind of hoping you would overlook that.” He threw the man off his shoulders, bringing his sword up to parry the swing from the guard on his right.

He kicked out with his leg, striking the other guard in the chest and staggering him back. He took that moment to shove forward, knocking that guard over and punching him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

His attention flew back to the first guard, who was raising his sword again for another swing. He dodged it, ducking off to the right. He blocked the next two swings of his sword.

When the guard stepped over to Steve’s right, Steve rolled to the left, maneuvering himself behind the guard. He wrapped his arm around his neck, cutting off the guard’s air. He tried to pry his arms off, but Steve kept them locked in place until his head lulled off to the side, unconscious.

He laid him down next to the other guard, and then hurried to pick the advisor back up and start his jog down the long hall. He likely didn’t have a lot of time before someone found them, and he didn’t want to waste any of it hiding them from sight.

It was going well for a while, until he heard the alarm sound. Someone either found the guards, or they had woken.

Either way, things were about to get more difficult.

He ran into more resistance after that. He took care not to kill anyone, but eventually there came to be too many of them to stop and overwhelm them every time. As he got closer to the castle wall, he started evading them as much as possible, keeping to the shadows where he could and running through secret shortcuts in the castle when there came to be too many on his tail.

He was almost in the clear. He had one more corner to round to get to the exit door that would lead to the stables. Then he would just have to commandeer a horse, and he would be able to get away much quicker.

But when he rounded the hall, his heart dropped, and his breath felt heavier.

Tony was there alone, waiting for him.

“Figured you would come this way.” His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, but it wasn’t drawn yet. “Probably won’t take long for someone else to figure it out, so I’ll make this quick. Put the sword down and maybe the king will pardon you.”

Steve tried to get his breathing under control. He lowered the advisor slowly, leaning him against the wall. He didn’t take his eyes off Tony, and positioned himself as he stood to be between him and the unconscious man. “I can’t do that, my friend. Please don’t make me fight you on this.”

“You haven’t killed anyone yet,” Tony continued, “so at least there’s that. That makes one of you anyway.”

Steve was taken aback. “One of who?”

“You know who.” Tony’s mouth was set in a hard line, fury in his eyes. “Sam, Clint… both of them ran away somewhere, Natasha’s trying to find them. Wanda went and killed some guards trying to keep them off your ass, so she went and got herself locked up.”

No. Steve didn’t know what to think – couldn’t fathom that they had heard that he was up to something and they had just acted. He had no right to have so much loyalty from his team. He needed to find them once this was over, get them out of this situation.

But he had to get himself though this first.

“Come on, Steve, is this oversight really that bad that you need to go and commit crimes against the crown in protest? Is that what this is about?”

“You don’t understand-“

“I do understand! We got to callous, too focused! We got people killed and destroyed a town.” His grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. “This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. This isn’t some random politicals that are controlling these decisions!” Tony yelled, his voice echoing off the stone. “Hell, even if the citizens were making the decisions, that would probably be alright! But this is the Royal Advisor that we are talking about here! We have to listen to him!”

“But it’s not just the Royal Advisor,” Steve shook his head. “Though that’s bad enough. It’s his whole advisement team. Our every move is to be decided by people with agendas, and agendas change. They can be impure.”

“Oh, like ours can’t? Look what you’re doing now!”

“This situation will affect the whole kingdom! There’s more going on than you know, and I’m so sorry I can’t tell you.” He hung his head, not wanting to meet Tony’s eyes. “But this is going south. And if I see a situation going south, I can’t ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could.”

“Captain…” Tony started but stopped short.

Steve looked at him then. He could see that he was torn. He had agreed to work on Steve’s team, follow his lead, as long as it served the greater good. But Steve knew that he would never be able to see that this was the greater good until all the cards were on the table, but that was something that couldn’t be done here. Not without letting anyone who could overhear know that the king was involved in this plan, and that would not be safe for King Fury.

“I know you think what you’re doing is right,” Steve sighed. He reached a hand under the pauldron on his left shoulder – “so do it.” He dropped the pauldron to the floor, the king’s crest landing right-side up. “Just know that I will not like having to stop you.”

Tony set his jaw, and then pulled his sword. “And just know that I am not enjoying this either, friend.”

Steve pulled his sword and steeled himself. This was not going to end well.

#the cards have spoken #writing #royalty au #mcu

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findyourrp · 4 months

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🐺🐶1x1 Werewolf pack!

Splitting up from an excisting abandoned rp,

But with new characters, plots, and making our own world.

After a 4/5 year long rp, my friend ended up dropping it. But im not able to completely give up on our 5year long rp with multiple generations

We wont continue the 4/5 year long rp. But start our own branch of this universe

Cause;

He understood, not like Lyam could resist anyway. He was only the grandson of the 5th sister. They only warmed up the seat in case the 5th or his children ever returned.

But, have werewolves ever been seen in canada?

In this rp, we will be having two pairings,

I will be portraying Lyam, a sweet and responsible gentleman

And the future mate of the beta.

I expect you to portray

The human girl, future mate of Lyam

The male who will become Lyam's best friend and future beta of the pack

A lot can happen! The alpha might actually reject his responsibilities, or the pack might get themselves involved with other packs that dont allow them to deal with humans.

We can actually come up with villains, whenever its hunters, the maffia, alpha concurrent, an enemy pack, or the ordinary bully from school.

This will also be highly nsfw at some point!

I prefer slowburns as we work our way to that point

Though keep it 50/50 with nsfw & plot

Who am i looking for?

first thing first, im looking for a friend who likes to roleplay and talk about goofy stuff on an ooc chat. xD

someone who is completely committed to making this rp work. I know people have lives outside of social media, and that's completely fine.

someone who is creative and likes to come up and collect many different ideas and is able to play all kinds of characters.

About me,

I've got over 4 years of experience in werewolf roleplay. Loving each and every pup of the 10 generation long roleplay and missing every character that passed away🥺

#rp finder #18+ rp #fandomless rp #oc x oc rp

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douglysium · 6 months

Text

Episode 3 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 2. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 2 TMP Quick Thoughts).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

General Thoughts

I’m going to go through a bit of the episode like usual but this time I’m going to try to be briefer about the recap and focus more on just the bits I notice or think are the most important and see how I like that method. It might make these shorter, faster, and quicker to the point.

Like always, we cut to some sort of device being used to perceive what is happening, a computer in this case. Which is again pointing to the idea that an Entity such as the Web, Eye or maybe even something or someone else entirely is listening through devices in the same way an Entity listened through the tapes. I have to ponder if maybe even something like The Extinction could be listening through these devices. As Leitner pointed out in TMA, all the Entities can manifest as just about anything as long as it produces their fear and we have seen Entities manifest as more modern technology in the past. The Eye has manifested as cameras and the Slaughter has manifested as an entire battlefield that probably included things like guns and bombs. We have statements of the Cult of the Lightless Flame benefiting from destruction wrought by plane bombings and Gertrude postulates that if the followers of The Slaughter had known that the atomic bombings were going to happen in WWII then maybe they could’ve set up a ritual or something similar around it in MAG 137 (Nemesis).

But make no mistake, despite all that it is still very clear that some Entities tend to manifest in certain ways more than others. The Buried is much more likely to involve someone burying you alive than The Slaughter is even though being buried alive can be a very real form of violence. But I suppose manifesting as a gun or knife gets that point across much quicker. Certain manifestations can also be more difficult to use when invoking fears unless you are targeting a specific person. It is very hard for The Buried to make you feel trapped if it is manifesting as wide open areas unless it was just using them for contrast or something. Not that it couldn’t, but the association of being trapped in a tight enclosed space is much more common and easier to understand imagery in regards to being trapped. Likewise, you could make the argument that while all the Powers can and do manifest as certain forms of technology it is possible that The Extinction manifests as more advanced forms of technology more often.

As I mentioned earlier, The Extinction seems to be the fear of catastrophic and large scale change. As postulated by Dekker in MAG 134 (Time of Revelation) “But now the fear is not of a rapture or a revelation. It is of catastrophic change. Mankind will warp the world so much it kills us all, and leaves only a thousand years of plastic behind. Technology will strip us of what it means to be human, and leave us something alien and cold. We will press a button that in a moment will destroy everything we have ever been. Animals are witnessing the end of their entire species within a single generation.” Additionally, some of the names for The Extinction are “The Terrible Change” and “The Future Without Us.” So even in TMA characters were noting connections with The Extinction and technology. Additionally, the thing technology, mutations, and apocalyptic events tend to have in common is that fear of large scale change. That even if what is being added or taken away wouldn’t kill us like The End might, we will live in a fundamentally different and scary world. Tying into this is of course the fear of advancing technology and by proxy gaining more ways to fuck us over or make the world a worse place. Dystopian surveillance states often use technology to help keep people in line. Monitoring via cameras or any other number of things like peoples’ social media. Something that is a lot harder to do without this technology.

We also have to ask if The Extinction did emerge would it be like The Web and The End? Most of the Entities operate in a manner that is simplistic yet alien to us. They just want as much fear as possible at any given time but don’t really seem to care where they get it or what happens after most of the time. However The Web and End have a mind and philosophy that is at least closer to that of a human or one we might understand. The Web and End can both conceptualize the future and sort of plan for it. Where the other Entities are fine enacting The Change even if it traps them, The Web and End seem to not be interested in that and The Web at least realizes if the rituals worked the Entities might end up trapped and die without a plan while The End doesn’t seem to mind and apparently craves finality anyway. So is The Extinction similar? Can it conceptualize the future, does it have a similar sort of understandable philosophy or even a grand plan? Is it using The Eye like the Web did in TMA or something similar. Thematically it does sort of make sense that a being born from a fear so often tied to the future consequences based on current actions might be able to form long term plans like The Web (an Entity tied to plans, schemes, manipulation and control).

Some people might seem confused about how I can call The Web and End’s mindset different from the other Entities when they are all nebulous categories that overlap with each other and in MAG 200 The Web even seems to distinguish itself from the other Entities. But I would argue it’s kind of like how you can’t control every part of your body. Yes, an eye is a part of our body just like our brain is but they serve 2 different functions and we cannot control when our pupils dilate even as your eyes burn from a bright light. They just do so automatically when exposed to light. In more extreme examples sometimes parts of the body can even attack or reject organs as well as other parts of itself in a sort of weird reaction in the same way two Entities might attack each other even if in actuality they are both part of a bigger whole.

Whether or not The Extinction has emerged I cannot say. There is an argument that even if you want to buy that the Entities we are following right now are indeed Smirke’s 14 then they might have been reset and since The Extinction wasn’t needed in Jonah’s ritual you could argue it never got the chance to emerge and is back to square one. HOWEVER, you could also very well make the argument for The Extinction emerging too. The Change might have been just the massive burst of fear the Entity needed to come into fruition and on top of that Dekker seems to imply the Entity is based on the fear of massive change. The Change was literally a universe spanning event that turned everything into a fear hellscape and we do see that some, but not all, people are aware that their lives used to be different and something changed to make it so much worse even if they don’t always seem to know what. Additionally, Jon says this in MAG 175 (Epoch) when talking about The Extinction’s domain “Of course it was real – A-At least in the sense that – it was a thing people feared. Whether it was strong enough in its own right to be considered at a level with Smirke’s Fourteen, or – whether it was on its way to getting there, I – maybe. This sort of thing is always muddy.”

But why is this all important, why am I mentioning this and why now? Well, previously I argued that Smirke’s 14 are probably still applicable and I even argued that for the most part they seem to be behaving and acting the same. The Eye forcing people to see things, The Stranger wearing skin to disguise itself, The Flesh taking advantage of a desire for perfection, etc. and I do stand by this idea being the most likely possibility right now, even if it’s not guaranteed. Or at least I stand by it in the sense that I think Smirke’s categories are still relevant and in play to about the same degree they were in TMA. While I do disagree with the idea that the categories are any more or less vague and are somehow revolving around desires instead of fear now I failed to consider how an emerging new Entity could impact how the existing Entities manifest, and as some people have rightly pointed out there’s clearly a greater emphasis on technology in TMP.

As I’ve mentioned before, all the Entities are connected. They are like parts of a body according to Leitner or a spectrum of colors according to Gerard. So what if The Extinction emerging created a sort of ripple effect across the other Entities? Would the emergence of The Extinction push or pull The Entities towards manifesting with or around more advanced forms of technology more often? If we are using the color example from Gerard you could make that argument (even if you want to say that we’re taking the example too literally). Imagine you can only see yellow and blue due to the limitations of your eyes or brain. These two colors are the existing Entities. Now imagine one day you suddenly get hit in the head and your eyes suddenly mutate or a neuron is knocked back into place and now you can also see red (a new Entity). Did you go from being able to see 2 colors to 3 colors? No, you went from being able to see yellow, and blue along with all the possible combinations those two colors have with each other as well as black and white to being able to not only see red but every possible combination red could have with one or both of those colors as well as black and / or white.

In this example it’s not like red didn’t exist before either. You just couldn’t perceive it but now that you can and your entire view of the color spectrum has changed. To get what I’m saying just look up some color wheels based on color blindness. The loss or addition of a color doesn’t just change one color on the spectrum but all of them.

It might change how you maneuver or navigate through the world as certain things stand out more or less to you based on their color. A rock might suddenly seem more shiny or more dull. Parts of the previous colors are still there but now suddenly you not only see red but more shades of blue with more nuance. It’s kind of like if all the Entities were stretched just a bit to the left or something. It also makes me wonder if something similar happened when the other Entities emerged. For example, with The Dark there are plenty of statements that take place at night, in shadow, or darkness that have nothing to do with The Dark (there’s even statements about The Eye involving strange shadowy figures in the night despite its eyes clearly being visible). However, the emergence of The Dark would have signaled that the fear of the darkness was becoming more common and so adding darkness to something scary could have heightened the fear for the Entities. For example, only The Hunt existed before The Dark and being chased is scary but for most people being chased in the dark is even scarier.

Now imagine The Stranger emerges. Suddenly you don’t even know what’s chasing you in the dark which makes it even more frightening and then suddenly The Eye emerges and now people are making statements about that time this event happened while they are constantly reminding you of it in order to make you relive it. Also, the unknown monster has your house address and knows where you live too AND is threatening to dox you. Of course, you could argue against this by saying this might just depend on the fear and it’s possible not every fear would have this effect if at all. It’s possible that there were just as many darkness related instances before The Dark but it was just tied to The Hunt.

This metaphor could go both ways for both the Entities and people. Since people are becoming aware of more fears and they are becoming more visible then the Entities can get more “nuanced” or “vibrant” with their colors. For people, they may suddenly notice concepts and objects they did not before due to a fear becoming more common.

u/UffishWerf also makes an interesting point about color theory and how the words that evolve to describe certain colors often come about in a certain order(https://www.reddit.com/r/themagnusprotocol/comments/1bm3fja/comment/kwbdv6e/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). “Berlin and Kay are the guys to read up on for this, but the basics are this: in the languages they studied, black and white were named first, then red, then green or yellow, then the other one of green or yellow, then blue, then brown, then (any order), purple, pink, orange, and gray. (Let's take a moment to remember that in English, the color orange is named after the fruit. Wild.) There's also a theory that in civilizations, before those words evolve, they don't really notice or have a concept for the colors they haven't gotten to yet, like how Homer wrote about the "wine-dark sea," describing something we'd think of as blue as red, instead. Not everyone agrees those theories is are, but I think they're fine for applying to TMA.” I would personally argue that there’s actually a precedent for this when looking at the Entities. The Powers didn’t emerge all at once and most of them are primarily fueled by and born of human fears because they are “more nuanced.” Just like how the mantis shrimp can see more colors than we could ever dream of, humans might be able to perceive more nuanced and different kinds of fears than most animals ever could. It’s not just about being hunted anymore but the possibility of Extinction level events. We also know that both TMA and the TMP universes seem relatively similar to our own (outside of supernatural fear entities) and parallel each other greatly. One could argue that because of this the order in which the Entities occur might remain relatively the same. First, is a fear born of the basic predator and prey relationship of being hunted, then animals like humans realizing all the stuff that could be lurking in the dark, so on and so forth.

Of course, I’m not saying this would necessarily be a hard rule and one could make this argument in support of the idea that we aren’t seeing the Entities from TMA but rather a new set of similar Entities

There’s also time and culture. The fear of The Eye might become more prevalent the more knowledge humans as a whole obtain and the more ways we have to record and track things like statements and various accounts. The Stranger might become more prevalent upon the realization that the world isn’t just determined by gods and magic that we have laid out in detailed creation myths that leave no room for speculation but that we might not know how the universe was created and we still don’t know a lot about most of the universe. Heck, most of the ocean hasn't been fully explored, much less space.

Most of this is just conjecture and I’m not sure how much I even buy all these points but I think it’s just a nice food for thought.

Episode 1 Again

Okay, I’m going back to TMP episode 1 for a second because I’m fucking kicking myself here. In the quick thoughts about that episode (Episode 1 TMP Quick Thoughts) I pointed out that the first statement kind of screams of The Stranger and not only has themes of someone being replaced and the idea of wearing skin but more specifically the monster in question seems extremely similar to the Anglerfish in TMA (a monster that also stole skin).

But let's look at the response in that TMP episode. When Harriet asks “Arthur” if it’s really him he says “Some of him.” Now, when Jon asks Sarah Baldwin if she is still herself in MAG 096 (Return to Sender) we get this.

ARCHIVIST

Are you the same Sarah Baldwin that disappeared in Edinburgh in August 2006?

SARAH

Some of her. Skin. A few memories. Not on the inside.

So when Jon asks Sarah, a victim of the Anglerfish, who she is, what she says is SOME of her, SOME OF HER. This isn’t even my fucking maddest point because the first episode of TMP might actually parallel the first episode of TMA. The first statement we ever get in TMP shares a lot of similarities with the Anglefish and do you guys fucking know what the first episode of TMA is??? MAG 001 (Anglerfish)... FUCKING ANGLERFISH (sorry for the strong language I’m just getting a bit excited).

Something I’ve also pointed out is that sometimes the Entities have thematic roles in the story. The Stranger is the fear of the unknown so when our characters are learning about these new Entities they don’t yet understand they are being thrust into the unknown, so it makes sense that the first statements thematically connect with that via the Entity.

Episode 3 “Putting Down Roots”

Okay, okay, time for the actual episode. The statement in this episode has been throwing people for a loop the most and probably led to the most speculation on if the Entities have changed but I need to slow down.

We cut to Colin trying to fix Alice’s assigned computer while Alice commentates and we just see how shitty the computers are. When Colin tries to insert a command he gets a .jmj error and when Alice questions what that is Colin says “Nothing. It’s just an excuse for the system to ruin my day, is what it is.” Alice suggests trying another computer but Colin says “No. It’s doing this on purpose and that will only encourage it.” Which is odd. First, like I’ve mentioned before, Colin has some traits we have seen with some other Eye related stuff via his obsession with trying to fix things like this. This desire to understand a piece of old hardware is actually similar to an Eye related statement from TMA in MAG 148 (Extended Surveillance) involving a “Security Camera Instruction Manual.” Upon reading the Leitner the victim ends up metaphysically fusing with the camera system the manual is tied to but that’s not the important part. The important part is what led to Samson Stiller reading the manual in the first place. Specifically, a desire to understand and fix the camera system.

Similarly, we have someone here struggling with an old system of technology that might also be tied to The Eye. In case you aren’t completely convinced about where I’m coming from (even if you disagree) Colin says “I know this system better than anyone alive and I still don’t understand how it works. So, I can guarantee you that none of those mouthbreathers would even know where to begin with this steaming pile of.”

In MAG 148 (Extended Surveillance) we get “I remember the smell of dust when Dave went and cracked open the filing cabinet in the back room, before waving his arms in the direction of the drawer and shrugging. I mean, I’d have just left it, obviously, but I think Samson was taking the whole knowing how the system works thing as like – a point of pride? Something he could salvage from the whole situation. Just a way of getting some control over his life, you know?” So here we can see someone else taking pride in fixing an old outdated machine that other people seem not to care about.

But this also shows Colin treating the computer like it's alive. People talking to their computers isn’t SUPER weird or unheard of but considering Colin’s reaction last episode this might be a double meaning.

Colin could be trying to talk to whatever he thinks or knows is watching him through the computer. It is also possible that the computer literally is part of an Entity such as The Eye, Web, or Extinction due to being some sort of artifact or maybe even a being or monster (kind of like the Distortion looking like a weird door for a good chunk of its existence despite being sort of alive). Colin also pushes back against Alice trying to give the computers nicknames and says “Making friends with this god awful program that tries to throw itself into oblivion every time I turn on a console is not cute. It’s hard enough using every nanosecond of my waking life just to keep this byzantine mess from crapping the bed without you taking the piss.” Maybe he’s just annoyed but he might literally think the computer is trying to spite him and wants to keep people like Alice from getting too attached.

Also, pointing back to what I said earlier about The Extinction, Colin says this “Do you have any idea what will happen if this thing finally managed to extinct itself?” So fear of change and we also know the computers don’t react well to updates. Colin manages to fix it, Alice gives a quip, Colin acts annoyed, and then we get to hear the statement.

I’m not going to run through the statement in as detailed a manner as I usually do but I am still going to see if it maps onto Smirke’s 14 (plus the Extinction (So Dekker’s 15 maybe?)). Like I say every time this could be an act of hubris but even if I’m wrong it’ll still be fun to note possible parallels.

Okay, I think this statement is dealing with either The Eye or The Corruption. Let's run through The Eye similarities.

Edit (I Might have Fucked Up)

Okay, on further review I may have misinterpreted some important parts of this statement. Luckily, many of the points I made about the statement’s connection to The Corruption and Eye are still pretty accurate I say but I really don’t want to spread misinformation and it’s my first time doing more active content like this and trying to actually keep up with something instead of chewing on it for a month while I write a 100 page essay on it. I’m just going to run through some of the stuff with some corrections.

First off, I’d still argue themes of The Corruption and The Eye are present although I’m leaning way more towards The Corruption now. There’s also some pretty strong spiral themes.

I’m just going to leave what I said about The Eye here- First off, Dr. Webber mentions this “Today was bedlam. I had it all planned out, all of it! And then a panic attack just choked the nerve out of me. It was so humiliating! Felt like the ground was going to swallow me whole, with everyone staring at me only to roll their eyes at my “hysterics,” as the paramedic put it. They don’t understand. I was so close to getting caught... but it’s done. All I need to do now is disappear. I can’t go home. Not for a few days at least. And I’ll have to avoid the usual haunts until they forgot about me again. That won’t be difficult. What’s one more stressed doctor. Just a grey man in the crowd, unnoticed until I’m useful. One man kept staring at me on the tube. He looked like he was connecting the dots… I’m paranoid, I know, lying low amongst wildflowers in an overgrown garden. The mud has ruined my shoes.” Here we see Webber is having a panic attack and he seems upset that people were judging him. The Eye also includes the fear of being judged. Additionally, he seems fearful of being caught / perceived, and he notes a man staring at him and begins to fear that he’s “connecting the dots.”

Webber mentions he is paranoid which could point to The Spiral but I question what he is paranoid about. The Spiral is the fear that you or something is wrong. You thought it was one way only for it to be another. This can be from someone lying to you but also your senses being inaccurate causing you to see or think about things that aren’t there. But paranoia takes many forms and paranoia isn’t always just uncertainty or confusion. There are all kinds of paranoid conspiracy theories about how we are secretly being watched or monitored that would be up The Beholding’s alley. As I’ve mentioned previously the Eye also connects to the idea of “ignorance is bliss.” That sometimes merely knowing something can put you in danger or hurt you. The idea of “seeing too much” as mentioned in MAG 200. This “seeing too much” can take the form of trauma permanently mentally scarring you but also someone or something might punish you for knowing something or might also want to know what you know. Sometimes knowing something puts you in danger. For example, if you see a murder by the mafia said mafia may kill you or hunt you down because you have seen / known too much and you're now a witness or loose end. If a shady government realizes you know something, such as whereabouts of certain people, they might “make you disappear/”

We also get “It’s almost midnight.(Why isn’t it darker?).” Which is interesting. Usually people prefer being in well lit areas but what’s something the darkness provides? It’s harder to be seen and perceived in the dark. The kind of people often operating in the dark either have a specific job or are trying to avoid being seen. There’s a reason that ninjas performed espionage and assassinations in the dark. If you are operating in well lit areas you are more likely to be seen and it can be harder to sneak around.

Webber talks about changing his identity which further points to the fear of being found out. He also says “I’m cold but it’s worth it; no one will find me here.” and “I don’t have much choice; where would I go? I can’t go home, that’s the first place they’d look. Besides, too many memories there, and then there are the neighbours… Always snooping around with their community watch flyers. I won't miss parking scheme meetings, that’s for sure.”

Going back to the point about how unusually bright it is we get “It’s well after midnight. It should be pitch black, but I can still make out grey shapes in the gloom. The voice is still calling for me. I’ve got to stay still even though my heart is racing.” So yeah, Webber is almost definitely banking on the cover of night and doesn’t want people to see or perceive him.“It is noted that Maddie “makes a good point, though. Doctors do make the worst patients. We are always self-diagnosing, and it’s always doom and gloom.” and “I can see my bones are tangled with the same fine strands as my wounds. It’s fascinating to see.” which I feel could tie into The Eye and extreme curiosity. In MAG 92 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah / Elias read a statement from Barnabas Bennett involving a letter being sent to Jonah Magnus for help after Barnabas pissed off Mordechai Lukas. Jonah / Elias tells Jon in the post statement that Magnus could have intervened and saved Barnabas but chose not to. He didn’t choose not to do so out of malice or lack of caring but simply because he was curious about what would happen to Barnabas and wanted to observe the events. So the Eye definitely has a precedent for just staring at things but not actually doing anything about them.

But then there’s that weird rash infection with all the roots. I mean yeah there’s a very real argument for The Corruption, both thematically and physically, but Leitner has mentioned that the Powers can manifest as anything that generates the fear they feed off of. Not only that, but there is a precedent for The Eye manifesting as a disease or infection. Albrecht von Closen had an encounter with The Eye after coming across a tomb and taking a bunch of old books with numerous statements (something Jonah later stole). In MAG 127 (Remains to be Seen) it’s clear Albrecht is being beset by a strange illness and he is becoming sickly and dying (he’s also spouting statements and staring at people). Albrecht later dies from unknown causes (the mysterious illness) and an autopsy reveals that his internal organs, bones, and inner skin had been covered with eyes… but there’s no eyes visible in this TMP episode. It might literally just be a disease caused by Webber not getting medical treatment or it could be The Eye trying to force Webber to choose between hiding and dying or risk going out and interacting with people. To risk being perceived.

Okay, here is where I make my first mistake. I say he doesn’t like how Jasmine talks to Gerard even though he is clearly talking about Maddie and in addition to that I misread and misheard Gerald as Gerard. So she was talking to someone completely unrelated to the Eye. Something that weakens my point for the Eye.

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. The Corruption is more likely a possibility here. Jane Prentiss mentions that she didn’t like The Eye and her worms reacted to it. She even described it as anathema. So maybe the fear of being perceived is similar to what Jane experienced. Additionally, the Corruption often ties into themes of toxic love. Specifically, forms of toxic love we might find disgusting or repulsive. The Corruption doesn’t just relate to physically disgusting things but also behaviors and mentalities we might find gross. Someone can be physically sick and have a “sick” behavior or be “sick” in the head. Here we see Maddie caring for Webber even as he rots away but she never seems to try to get him the help he probably needs from other people.

You could also argue that Webber seems unhealthily attached to Maddie and is using her to enable his self-destructive behavior. Not to mention The Corruption and disease with all the maggots going hand-in-hand all the time. Something I stupidly forgot in the original version of this was that in the very medical files NORRIS is spitting out, Maddie is “Maddie Webber, age 39 – Deceased— ” and in addition to that the part of the file before this says “journal of Dr. Samuel Webber, age 46. Issued by grief councillor Harriot Manning.” So if this is being documented by Webber as he is turning into a tree that would mean either 1. Maddie is already dead and this is all happening due to the doctor’s unhealthy emotional response and attachment or 2. The doctor possibly straight up killed Maddie. With this in mind that would mean that Webber’s panic attack is linked to the death of Maddie and the thing he is freaking out about is the possibility of people knowing he thinks Maddie is alive or that he might have killed her. The fact that he says “They don’t understand. I was so close to getting caught... but it’s done. All I need to do now is disappear.” points to the idea that he might have killed her.

This part of the statement “Thought I heard someone calling my name. No flashlight though, no movement, just the voice. Sounds like Maddie. My hands won't stop shaking” might have been The Corruption using the feelings of disgust and love Webber has towards himself and Maddie to call to him. So when Webber dies he rots away and can metaphorically join his also rotting life within the garden or dirt that everyone’s body will one day decompose into.

This wildly changes the reading to being way more Corruption coded. Someone who loved someone in such an incredibly unhealthy way he ended up killing the person he loved. There’s also an interesting metaphor here for the garden. Someone being killed and metaphorically or literally being used to allow a garden to grow as their body rots into something disgusting before being combined with feelings of shame, self loathing, and disgust. The Corruption and self loathing is something I haven’t really mentioned but there’s a precedent for it. As I’ve mentioned, corruption is the fear of disgusting things and that would often include the fear that you yourself might be disgusting physically or in terms of behavior. If you hate yourself you might say “I’m a piece of shit” and the idea of that is usually people find shit to be disgusting and repulsive.

You could even argue for overlapping fears or similarities here. The Corruption is basically the fear of disgusting things and The Eye also includes the fear of being judged. So where they might overlap is the fear of you yourself being disgusting and the fear that other people might judge you as disgusting.

Sam also says “What do I even file that as? I doubt there’s a code for “parasitic-garden-that-whisperswith-the-voice-of-the-woman-heclearly-murderd-and-sort-ofturns-you-into-a-tree”” which could point back to The Corruption and themes of a toxic relationship. Alice also says ““Infection” comma “arboreal”. Cross link it with “guilt” if you’re feeling fancy.” And yeah I can see why someone might be afraid of being found disgusting via guilt about a certain behavior or belief.

There’s also an argument for The Flesh and body horror and in TMA sometimes The Flesh had a bit of garden theme, such as with Jared Hopworth’s domain.

In the original version I do mention The Spiral as a strong possibility but I also don’t give it a fear shake. I’m not going super in depth to it but Webber is clearly losing it and you could argue that maybe this Maddie person is connected to the Spiral and Webber acknowledges he is paranoid so he might be plenty afraid of going crazy. Mentions about how, for example, he is having trouble telling what time of day it is due to the unusual amounts of light could point to themes of The Spiral and being mistaken about something.

This statement is definitely more nebulous than the others so far but at the same time I don’t really see it being different than for example the vampire or that one time someone had to watch a video of a guy eating a computer. There are still statements from TMA that are just as nebulous and people are still debating to this very day what Entity these statements or beings might / should belong to.

Due to the additions I am more confident that this statement is probably connected towards The Corruption. Maybe like 85% sure this is The Corruption (If I had to assign an Entity and we assume they are still present) and the other possibilities being The Eye, Spiral, and Flesh respectively. With The Eye and Spiral being more likely than The Flesh.

Gwen enters the scene and offers Alice some sort of job “thing” on the 27th but refuses to elaborate on what it is. Which reminds me of the behavior Jonah had after taking over Elias and how he often held information from people like Jon for reasons that weren’t always clear. But eventually Alice gets Gwen to open up and she admits that it’s dinner with friends. Despite this it’s still kind of weird that Gwen thought to ask Alice of all people. They don’t exactly seem like friends so that’s strange. I can’t say if this means anything though.

Someone pointed out that Gwen is probably asking Alice to take her shift which makes a lot more sense then whatever the fuck I thought was happening. It’s still interesting that Gwen would ask for a favor though and then proceed to not elaborate which I still find really weird. Normally, if you ask for a favor you usually want to say why in order to get sympathy or understanding and trying to just get someone to do stuff for you for no reason tends to come off as shady. I still wonder if there’s a particular reason Gwen is so cagey. She asked what terrible event led Sam working for this organization in a past episode so I wonder if all the characters have some sort of trauma or encounter with the supernatural that is affecting them differently.

Conclusion

I don’t have much to say because I’ve been talking too long. Feel free to reply, maybe I’ll respond with my own thoughts in agreement or disagreement.

Also, make sure to point out if I misread anything or accidentally forgot something.

#TMA #TMP #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #discussion

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aineryeo · 2 years

Text

‟You Are My Best Friend.„

Synopsis: Tengen, Giyuu, and Kyojuro see you in wild tatters. You recover and unpack all the issues you've hidden for the past year/s.

Themes & Warnings: Coming-of-age, Slice of Life, Lighthearted Romance, Graphic Violence due to Setting, Heavy Canonical References (Theoretical calculated age to fit into the present time in the anime), Spoilers, Eventual Smut, Kind of Slow Burn, Domestic Violence (Verbal/Physical) because Shinjuro. (18+) Also, you meet Akaza, so make of that as you will. → AFAB! Reader.

Chapter Author Notes: I think this one has a lot more flashbacks and time-skipping ahaaa i did not mean for that :")) but it's safe to say we'll be having ~good times~ for a little while + i will be taking a break from this series for a little while after chapter 11 — but anyways, this is shorter than usual, but we'll meet the original cast soon as well anddd we're adults now starting here hehe

i have to write for DG next so see you later my MMF readers ^__^

Marry me first! (먼저 결혼해줘) — Series Masterlist (Age Guides, Playlist, Gallery/Picture References, Terminology List.)

Chapter 8.2 « Chapter 9 (Current) » Chapter 10

Two years and a few months back, Kyojuro could still remember the incredibly vivid memory. Though, really, anyone who thinks of such a haunting event everyday will have every detail nitpicked and memorized. Never to be left unforgotten. The concept of you was, as of right now, much more blazing than the voices of both his late mother and absent father.

Right. You left him, but he made you go.

Kyojuro directed unfair frustration towards you, and in the end, he had to pay for the repercussions. He knew you were fairly sensitive, and extremely avoidant when faced with difficulties. Thinking that he knew you, rather, being satisfied with the surface personality you showed him was his fault. He didn’t think to dig deeper, to understand you more.

Initially, Kyojuro thought of you as family by bond as you grew closer. But he can’t call you a sister, nor a brother, and most especially not a parent. It didn’t sit right with him.

A friend then?

A friend, you were. A terribly great one. Maybe you were just such a great friend, that Kyojuro feels the crushing waves of emotions washing over him all the more when you left him alone that night. He remembers laying on the bed, unable to call out to you due to his injuries and the medics checking for his current situation. How could he know that you’d never show yourself for years on end, what more when he finds out from Tengen that you’ve been asking all the Hashira but him for training a few months from now.

You’ve left him with no letters.

No greetings.

No visits.

No gifts.

Anything.

Kyojuro would eventually notice his little brother looking at him worried when he spaced off despite having a smile on his face. Most especially if he did so with a blank face. Most of his nights were spent with endless thinking. Of what? Many things.

How can I fix this?

How will I look for you?

Are you mad at me?

Will you shun me if you see me?

What are you thinking right now?

Are you sleeping well?

Why weren’t you staying with Haia-san?

Why did you only send two letters to me for both 28th of April for the past two years?

These were one of the few that were the constant flux inside his mind. Then, he met Umeki.

Kyojuro was about to go home when he sensed the weak presence of a demon in a small diner along the road near the south entrance of his village. When he came in after a brisk knock, a small litter of blood trailed all the way behind the counter. That was when he saw the demon straddling the girl who looked pale, weakened, and terribly afraid.

Their first meeting.

After Kyojuro quickly disposed of the flaccid demon, he helped her. A lot of the items inside the diner were damaged, Kyojuro offered simple assistance. Bringing her back to their home so she could have a place to stay and recover from her injuries that night. The events that followed after that consisted of Kyojuro eating Umeki’s cooking just as she had insisted.

“It’s the only way I can repay your immense kindness, Rengoku-san.” She smiles.

Kyojuro laughs heartily. “I’ll visit often then. But beware, I eat a lot!”

Umeki gives him a soft laugh, putting her hand on her mouth. “I’ll stock up a lot more for you then.”

It was all in his inherent kindness and genuine admiration for Umeki’s skill in cooking that kept Kyojuro to visit the quiet diner often. At least as often as he can with his heavy responsibilities. Sometimes, he even brought Senjuro with him. His little brother was pleased with her cooking, much to Umeki’s joy. Soon, Kyojuro found out that Umeki was left alone by her parents to run the diner alone, as they were old and retired already. She’s lucky though, to have trusted employees who also acted much like her friends.

Kyojuro thought that maybe he could ask for advice from her. But the day he thought of asking the help he sought out for, was the day that Umeki confessed to him.

In a bright and sunny afternoon inside the diner, Kyojuro rejected Umeki.

“You’re really nice, and I like you very much Rengoku Kyojuro-san.” Umeki’s face tinted pink, looking down timidly, intertwining her fingers together as her thumbs rubbed over each other.

“I’m sorry!” Kyojuro replies.“I have to reject you, I…” I… He pauses.

I’m not looking for a woman nor— No, that’s not right. “I’m…”

Then the words blurt out of his mouth. “I have a fiance.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Kyojuro awoke from his little nap, still awaiting orders within the Ubuyashiki household where the Hashira normally gather. Rubbing his eyes, and letting his palm rest on his aching head. He tries to remember his peculiar dream. You were there, he was sure. But the messages in the dream started to become muddled in his wake. But he remembers one thing, vividly.

He told you… That he’ll look for you. Why? Why did he say that?

“An upper-rank! An upper-rank!” Kaname began yelling as soon as the bird got in earshot’s range. Kyojuro, Tengen, and Giyuu looked up to the crow, all with a briefly shocked expression.

Kyojuro had an abysmal feeling deep within his core. He felt as if someone just told him bad news before it even happened. “Where is it?” Tengen spoke, already up and about.

“Kamo District’s Port Nakagi.” Kaname replies, hovering over the gate.

“Did you see the number… Or is that all you know?” Kyojuro asks, slowly.

“Three. Rintaro said, Upper-rank Three.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

It was silent when the backup had arrived in Nakagi. But Tengen and Giyuu already opted to split directions to survey the area surrounding the body of water to check for any remnants of the demon. They were sure there was a fight, they already saw the pile of mens’ bodies hidden within the darkness of the cove. Tengen assumes that there were no survivors, as two Kinoe slayers already looked beyond repair lay on the sandy ground when they first came to the area. He wouldn’t say that they were incompetent at this point, just unlucky. Even Tengen doesn’t know how to measure an Upper Moon, because no one, not even him, has met an Upper Moon.

That’s why… Kyojuro can’t—shouldn’t—come with them.

[...]

“Let me go. Tengen.” Kyojuro stands in front of Uzui, frame attempting to combat his visibly larger frame.

“We don’t need unnecessary emotions in this time-sensitive mission. I can’t let you go with us if you’re going to act rashly, a Pillar can’t die needlessly. Your mistakes might put us in danger too.” Tengen crosses his arms, looking down. Kyojuro was looking up at him, visage darkened, his head wasn’t tilted up to meet Tengen’s.

It was the first time that Kyojuro had looked so enraged. Tengen was more intimidated with the accompanying silence of the man’s silent fury, and his eyes that pierced through the darkness, baring their fangs right into his vermillion orbs.

“What mistakes?”

[...]

But how could Tengen even hope to stop Kyojuro now? He certainly can’t when the man’s never been this frightening before. It was no joke that he was appointed Hashira like him, despite being younger. Kyojuro was a man who filled the role of a Pillar flawlessly, just as those in his family did before him. The Sound Pillar jumps through trees, roaming around, listening for any unusual noise.

But much like the Water Pillar, Giyuu, Tengen didn’t find anything.

“The woman that Rengoku-san is looking for…” Giyuu speaks amongst the dead of the night. Already back to the area where they began before splitting up. The coast that met the trail of blood beneath the cimmerian darkness, just barely hiding the mountain of victims, gave the two men a shared feeling of sorrow. Something that wasn’t new to their job.

“This is why I didn’t want him to go.” Tengen replies, with half-lidded eyes. Staring at the soft brushes of sea and rock. “There’s no way that woman would have survived.”

Giyuu hums. He remembers passing by a litter of broken trees and assumes that it was a trail that the demon left behind.

The three of them came much earlier than the kakushi meant to handle the mess left behind by the monster that resided here. “An Upper Moon. Do you think you could beat one?” Tengen asks, now looking at the ever-stoic Water Hashira.

“...”

Tengen guesses that Giyuu’s silence was understandable. They don’t know how strong those demons are, a concrete answer is something that neither of them can ever provide until they’re actually in the situation. But they have heard the stories. No Hashira has ever come back alive after fighting seriously against an Upper Moon demon. That fact alone was a weight heavily placed on their shoulders once they were appointed.

“By the way, where’s Kyoju—”

Pit-a-pat.

Was it supposed to rain tonight?

Droplets of water began pouring over the area, but the skies were clear of clouds. It was then that Tengen and Tomioka looked up, seeing you. Standing atop the peak of the thorny rock, bare-feet, already looking half-dead, a mix of blood and seawater on your whole form. In your hand, you were holding Kyojuro by the collar. The Flame Hashira was damp, and was gently holding your shaky forearm that held him tightly. You were almost like a wild animal that somehow found its way to them, where you bare your teeth, wary of their presence.

Just what exactly did you go through?

Tengen and Tomioka were beyond shocked to see you at all. Even more that you’re holding Kyojuro right now as if he weighed nothing. As if your injuries were nonexistent. It was you, they were sure… But they could not see your eyes. Are you currently unconscious?

The air around them feels tighter, harder to breathe.

What should they do? It feels wrong to attack you, they were sure you weren’t a demon despite your disheveled appearance. If you were, you’d have killed Kyojuro already and drank his blood to fix all your injuries. The man in question is the first to break the tension, eliciting a small chuckle from his throat.

Kyojuro offers you a genuine smile as your white sclera, devoid of your luminescent irises, looks at him. “You’re cold again.”

“...” Your chapped lips remain ajar, hiding your teeth, as you only look at him and he at you.

“Look, the sun is rising.” Kyojuro looks to his left, and you follow his gaze, right into the horizon where the skies meet the sea. The light from the evanescent beauty that was greeting you, spilled all over your figures. Basking your dull skin and his skin.

Oh.

His skin. Him. Him. Him, him, him…

You feel his hand slide up from your wrist to your hand. “Let’s get you warm.”

It was neither blood nor seawater that got into your eyes as you felt it water up. Starting to feel yourself get back into reality once more, your eyes that once only showed your sclera, rolled to reveal your irises.

“My (Name)...” Like a waterfall, your tears fell on your messy face whilst your hand let go of Kyojuro’s collar. Allowing him to regain his balance, and catch your fatigued figure. Kyojuro’s other hand supported your head, whilst the other that held your hand was now on your back. His face leans closer to yours, resting on his chest, in a gentle embrace, just as the rays of the sun reflected the tamed flame within Kyojuro’s heart.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Two Months Later.

At The Butterfly Residence.

A few months after your encounter with the Third Upper Moon, you awoke to face the dark wooden roof of the Butterfly Mansion’s collective patient room. You blink slowly at first before squinting, trying to get used to the bright light that gets in your eyes from the window beside your bed. Turning your head, you see two other slayers, bandaged fully, nearly head to toe.

On the bedside table, there lay a mountain of unopened envelopes. Next to some fruits, your kumihimo, and your folded haori that looks to be newly washed. You clutch your head, remembering everything that happened.

“A-ah! Aaah!! A patient is awake!” A little girl points at you, making her drop the tray she held in her hands. Causing the medicine in the teacup to spill all over the floor.

“Naho, the tea!” Another small girl peeks out of the door frame in a panicked state. Naho, now realizing how she messed up, gets the tray and cup off the floor.

“Here, I ran to get a rag when I saw.” A third petite girl pops up.

“Kiyo!! Ahhh, thank you!” Naho pipes up, looking like she’s about to cry.

After the whole situation, two of them approach you with a smile on their faces while the other rushes to return the dishes. They look really young. Much younger than Senjuro, you were sure. They looked around six? Or perhaps seven… Senjuro should be about ten now.

“Hello! I’m Kiyo,” The girl with short hair said.

“I’m Sumi!” The girl with twin tails said.

“I’m Naho…” The girl with twin braids said, just now coming into the room.

“Hello, Kiyo, Sumi, Naho.” You greet back with a parched throat, coughing immediately after.

“Ah, here I got you water when I took back the other stuff!!” Naho fusses, handing you a cup filled with lukewarm water. You nod back to her gratefully and you take the cup to drink the water in one gulp, sighing in relief after. “How long was I out…?”

“The Flame Pillar carried you here about…” Kiyo counts on her fingers, “Four months ago!”

``Four months? That’s a lot of wasted time…`` You think. For you, it felt like one long, comfortable sleep. Plopping down on the mattress, you stretch your limbs as the little girls watch you. Right now, your hair was one huge mess. But apart from that, your whole body feels lighter than it's ever been.

``So, Kyojuro brought me here… I wonder how we’ll act when we see each other again. Do I tell him about my dream while sinking in the ocean? Or about how he stole Shiba? Maybe about what his father told you? Should you ask about Umeki? — Right, everything should be cleared up when I see him.`` You resolute on your own as the girls watched your expression changing from one to another emotion in the span of a minute.

Sumi pipes up, trying to fill the air. “You actually recovered really quick, onee-san!”

You tilt your head to the side in intrigue. “What do you mean by that?”

[...]

Kyojuro headed to the room where you were as soon as he heard you’ve awoken from Kochou and consequently, Rintaro who told Kaname. Information travels fast with these birds. When he slid the door open, he already saw you standing up, fixing your uniform collar. Your hakama pants were replaced with a skirt this time, and your legs were covered in black tights that hugged them well. It was almost like deja vu when he saw you in your old attire; with the most notable difference being that the once loose cloth was now hugging you more snugly.

As you fixed your collar, he hears you mumble about why Haia had left your old uniform for you instead of the hakama pants that you actually got used to. Kyojuro then shakes his head, ridding himself of the small blush that formed on his cheeks when he first caught a glimpse of you. Then, his initial emotions come rushing back to him all at once.

“You’re… Awake!” Kyojuro says with a downturned mouth, eyebrows scrunched together as if his most intense worry was lifted off his shoulders at last. Looking like he’s about to cry but not quite.

You finally look at him, standing still at the door frame, hands gripping the frame harshly. Grinning and giving him your most rambunctious laugh, you reply with raised open arms. “I’m awake!”

Kyojuro takes your invite for a tight embrace, quickly moving from the entrance, already close to you. It’s like that for a while, you and him, wrapped in each others’ arms. The chirping of sparrows, and the rays of the sun penetrated the room, providing you warmth. It was the middle of Spring right now, and so, everything seemed much more colorful. Like the flowers that bloomed in the season.

“It’s been such a long time.” Kyojuro finally speaks, breaking your temporary tranquil. “I have so much to tell you.”

You simply hum in reply, and hug him tighter, holding on to the back of his uniform. You deeply inhale his oaky scent as your eyes close in thought. He’s probably just gone back from a mission, light sweat on his skin, and yet you couldn’t get enough of his welcoming aroma. Did he always smell this good?

Unbeknownst to you, Kyojuro did the same, ever pining for your figure.

Putting your chin over his shoulder so as not to muffle your voice, “I also have… A lot to say.” You say. “I’ll tell you the truth. I’ll tell you everything.”

Slowly pulling away from each other, you look into each other's eyes. And while Kyojuro’s eyes were looking at you as if he was still in a trance and a small smile, you look at him with a somber expression. You wanted to tell him everything about why you disappeared, you wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, you wanted to tell him that if he likes someone else, then it was okay. But why was he doing this? Looking at you with his sienna orbs, holding you closely still, you’re caught in the spell that he cast.

A slow force was pulling you two together, closer and closer… Until your foreheads touch, and your skin meets his just as your warm breaths exchange. Until both your noses meet each other in a haze, and then Kyojuro speaks. Saying something that immediately snaps you out of your peculiar daze.

“I like you.”

A moment of silence. You’re trying to see if what he’s saying was real, or if he was real. But the light dust of pink on his cheeks and his whole figure that was evidently getting warmer as your arms stayed around his torso proved that this was real. The serious and sudden situation gave you a sudden pump in your chest, one of immense panic.

“...Haha, what..?” You tread carefully.

But Kyojuro, ever resolute with his current decision, immediately says with a loud voice; rather, his normal voice: “I like you!” — Then he grins widely, as if what he just said wasn’t something out of the blue at all.

“Ah…” You reply. “AHHH!!!” You scream.

Flustered, you push yourself away from Kyojuro. Your action makes him look visibly down, and you hate that he looks like an abandoned puppy. A rejected puppy. Though I guess essentially he was…? You cover your face with the back of your hand, trying to think properly with how you were going to deal with the situation. Watching Kyojuro’s suddenly clingy disposition has caught you totally off guard.

“You’re— You’re not joking?”

“No! I like you!” He repeats, moving from his sad look to his immediately upstanding face.

You clear your throat, feeling your face heat up in embarrassment. Or so you would like to say.

“Kyo…Ju…Ro!!!!” You yell, as you grab your own head and then point at him accusingly. Kyojuro flinches. “Just because you’re starting to be popular with girls, you’re already playing with me? Who do you think I am, huh?! Just because you got a better complexion now, or is it because you got taller? Or is it, is it because…” Your eyes start to wander down to his torso before quickly looking back up at him.

Enraged, you continue with your scolding. “You—!!!” Kyojuro pouts at you. Is this deliberate?! (It was not.)

Kyojuro, who was genuinely confused, starts thinking about what you said. “Popular with girls? I’m not.”

Kyojuro doesn’t remember ever doing anything that would conventionally make girls flock to him. He doesn’t care for any other women’s attention. Though now that he thinks about it… Senjuro brought up a topic with him before. He was about to speak up about it, until he saw your somber face, as if you’ve already made a decision by yourself.

You look up at him. “I used you.”

Kyojuro doesn’t speak, and your words just continue to tumble out. “My family is centered around the idea that I should get married. Most especially into a good family like yours. I don’t talk about them ‘cause we’re not on good terms…” Your throat feels clogged. “—And, and then there’s my sister, and my mother. They’re all crazy.” You laugh, looking down.

You continue, still staring down at both your sock-clad feet. “I mean, I look after them every other night when I was with you. Then it turned into every night when I lost you.”

You look up at Kyojuro’s face who was listening to every word. “I wanted to marry you so I can prove to my mother that I was worth something even if I don’t do things the usual way. So when I met you and was around you more, I genuinely enjoyed your company.”

Jokingly chastising Kyojuro, you say, “But you were so mean that night.” — Though jokes are half-meant. You can’t deny the dull stab in your heart at the memory.

Kyojuro, on the other hand, frowned and his eyebrows downturned, looking utterly sorrowful. “Don’t do that face.” You say.

“I’m sorry…” Kyojuro whispers.

“I said stop it…” You look down, feeling your eyes burn.

“It’s my fault. I never should have said that. I was dissatisfied with myself. I also wanted to accomplish the expectations my parents had left on me. Or otherwise shatter the expectation of what I’d become… So, in a way, I also used the joy you’d usually bring to avoid the suffocation. In turn, I gave you so many things to worry about, but as selfish as I could be, I’d never wish for you to leave.” He says as if he’d reflected on that thought countless times.

Kyojuro softly grabs a hold of your face, wiping the tears you were hiding from him with his thumbs. You finally let out a sniffle, trying to get yourself together. “You never made me unhappy.” And then he offers you a smile. “—And I’m not in love with anyone else. So please stay with me.”

Your hands move to hold his that were on your damp cheeks. “You’re such a playboy.” You joke.

“Umeki-san did admit that she liked me,” Kyojuro explains, the first line he chose already made you frown. An ugly feeling quickly forming within your chest. “But I rejected her.”

“...Is she nice?”

Kyojuro had to think of an answer for a while. “Yes?”

“I’m not nice.” You sulk.

“You’re the person I look for when I’m happy, sad, and everything in between.” He says.

The conversation after that seemed endless. Both sitting on your once made bed, you both recall having a collective dream, but neither of you remember the full details. You laugh, you gloom, and you smile as you exchange stories. He knew of your reasons, and you knew of his.

“Seriously, when you marry into the Rengoku family, the wife has to stare at the fire of a candle for hours when she’s pregnant?” You remark, both amazed and scared.

“That’s what my mother said to me before.” Kyojuro looks up as if he was trying to look for said memory.

A knock on the open door interrupted both your train of thoughts.

“Hello? Oh!” Aoi peeks out, bowing at the presence of your companion. “Rengoku-san!” Then she looks at you, slightly nodding. “(Name)-san.”

“Aoi-chan~” You greet back. Kyojuro hums enthusiastically back at the girl.

“It’s already late and I have to clean the room up. I thought you left already, (Name)-san.” Aoi talks to you. You notice how she’s a bit more formal now that Kyojuro was around. For the past couple of days, she was quite harsh towards you, like a tsundere. Though she was much harsher toward the boys, especially those in lower ranks.

What she said causes both you and Kyojuro to glance at each other then out the window, noticing how the skies were starting to become the familiar gradient of the sunset. “We didn’t notice, sorry!” Kyojuro replies before you.

“We’ll go home now.” Kyojuro continues, standing up from beside you, holding his hand out to you.

This makes Aoi look between you and Kyojuro, immediately forgetting her presence when you reach your hand out to his own. She watches as you two walk out the door, shoulder-by-shoulder, with grins big enough to show your teeth.

Aoi faces back to the bed where you once sat on to fix the few crumples left behind, she thinks back. “Rengoku-san feels less intense today…”

[...]

On your way back with Kyojuro, you’re not sure if he forgot to let go of your hand or if it was on purpose. Of course, he did say that he liked you, but neither of you really wanted to rush into a relationship. Because you also had to make sure that your feelings were real and there for him. And then there’s the issue of your family… For him? Shinjuro-san wasn’t much of a problem. Despite being a cruel father, you understood his avoidant coping the best. You haven’t heard anything from Senjuro about Shinjuro being as aggressive as he was at first, he did however, became a heavier recluse instead.

You decide to stop by to see Haia-san first. Kyojuro told you that she stayed at Shirakawa with her long-time boyfriend Mitsue Koki. It was safe to say that the moment you called her out from their door, her eyes immediately landed on your twined hands. Haia pointed this out easily, making you release Kyojuro’s hand in hasty embarrassment and denial. You thanked her for leaving you a new pair of uniforms while you were still knocked out after your old pair of pants got ruined. In the end, you both agreed to meet up soon to recall everything either of you missed. Kyojuro would pipe up every now and then as he stood tall next to you, but for most of the time, he smiled and listened to you talk to your previous teacher.

It wasn’t long that the conversation ended and you had to walk again. On the way, familiar faces met familiar faces. Some neighbors in particular recognized you, who was next to the ``ever famous young bachelor of Shirakawa`` Rengoku Kyojuro. As soon as you made it to the Rengoku household, a series of barks can be heard behind the large wooden gate. A familiar booming voice resonated in the air. Though a small difference was present in his usual tone. Shinjuro-san sounded rather… Sick.

You slam the wooden gate open.

Then, you were met by the sight of a fully-grown Shiba laying on Shinjuro-san’s lap. Even having the gall to roll around and spread her fur more on his kimono. What was more surprising was that Shinjuro, despite having a red nose, had his hand rubbing Shiba’s neck with a nasty scowl on his face.

“Ah.” You let out.

“Ah.” Kyojuro lets out.

“Ah.” Shinjuro lets out.

“Woof!”

“A-Ah!!! Help, Shinjuro-san is abusing my dog!!!” You yell and point at him accusingly as if it was on instinct. Your voice resonated across the whole town, birds flying away, disturbed by your volume.

Your unmistakable entrance makes Shinjuro look quickly between you and Kyojuro, looking utterly panicked. Cursing right out of his breath.

“I’m the victim! Me!” Shinjuro aggressively retaliates, pointing at himself and then sneezing right after.

“Oh.”

Just ``Oh?`` Shinjuro thinks with a scowl. Ungrateful brat.

You and your long lost dog Shiba finally meet through eye contact. For a while, Shiba only looked at you quizzically, as if racking her brain as to who you were. You walked towards Shiba who refused to leave Shinjuro’s lap, lowering yourself, crouching; you smile as you scratched behind Shiba’s ear.

“My Shiba Inu has grown so much.”

It clicked. You were her first savior! The one who saved her from the cold and dark place that day! Shiba whimpered, internally beating herself up for forgetting you for even a second. Your hand rubs her snout, until both your hands stretch her cheeks, making the dog’s eyes thinner, and smile wider.

“Have you successfully chased away other women approaching Kyojuro?”

“Bark!”

“You have! Oh, I’m so proud of you, I love, love, love you so much.” You coddle, picking Shiba up in your arms easily and embrace her fully. Sitting on the ground as she licked your face happily barking.

“Ane!” A small voice calls out as the sound of feet running through wood catches your attention.

“Sen-kun!” You open your arms.

“Ane!!! You’re back!!!” Senjuro yells shakily, hugging you tightly, tackling you to the ground as two heavy weights were now put on top of you. You laugh at the boy. Despite growing so much in the two years you’ve spent apart, his personality has barely changed at all. “Someone tipped me off that your brother was starting to like another woman. I can’t let that happen! I’m the only one who’s allowed to be Sen-kun’s one and only ane!”

Your accusations make Kyojuro crouch down in front of you. His image, in your perspective, was upside down. Kyojuro lightly grabs both your cheeks… Everyone watches intently at what he was about to do. And then… He stretches it.

“A-!” You react.

“No one else!” Kyojuro says with resolution.

“Hai, hai, sorry. It hurts, Kyo-kun.” You say with a semi-obstructed voice. And yet he doesn’t listen. Kyojuro kept your face stretched even when you looked impossibly ridiculous. “Kyojuro— Oi, Kyojuro, listen, oi.”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“Ane, tell me more of what happened while you were gone!”

Shinjuro watched silently. Albeit his silence, his face was that with a form of tranquil. Your laugh and Shiba’s barks filled the air, you held a perfect conversation with the dog whilst dealing with both of his sons. Shinjuro, after a few minutes, chooses to look away and stand up as he pats his clothes for fur that may be stuck on him. When you notice this, your eyes follow his figure that walked back inside the house. Your hands move from holding both Senjuro and Shiba, to Kyojuro’s hands to lightly pat him away, to which he follows your movement fluidly.

After everything, you guess that Shinjuro was the one who really helped you come back here. So… Sitting up, you yell for him.

“Shinjuro-san!”

The man looks back at you, waiting for what you had to say.

Thank you. For accepting me.

“Let’s eat dinner together. All of us.” You grin.

Ridiculous. Shinjuro gave a bleak smirk to himself. I’ve barely done anything… After all, for a long time, I was and still am, quite a terrible father. But he just can’t deny that perhaps… You were his son’s own ``Ruka.`` — Shinjuro hates himself. That’s why he’d hate it even more if Kyojuro ends up to be truly like him.

“I’m drinking tonight.” Shinjuro replies with his back faced towards all four of you, walking away to lock himself in his room to think.

[...]

For the remaining time that passed, you caught up to Senjuro and Shiba, Kyojuro was naturally inclusive, of course. Your jokes hinting about Umeki died down after a few more jabs. Neither Kaname nor Rintaro came over that day. Soon, the day was nearing its end, the skies getting darker; a sight that signaled that you must be alert. But for now, it seems that no news of a mission was to come for either you and Kyojuro. It was late, and you had no spare clothes here, you were sure you had to go back to the empty house you once lived in with Haia. Still, you don’t want to leave.

All of you finished eating Tempura and simple white rice for dinner. You promised a feast soon, even though Kyojuro and Senjuro defied that and decided to throw a feast for you instead of the other way around. Right after you all ate and gave some leftover beef that they had to Shiba, Shinjuro walked in the dining area. Contrary to what he said, Shinjuro didn’t look or act drunk tonight. Senjuro didn’t flinch in his presence as much as he used to, and Kyojuro had a civil reaction in the presence of his father; simply greeting him accordingly before helping wash the dishes.

It was amazing how much has changed from before. You remember Kyojuro telling you of his realization when he told his father that he just became a Hashira. It was terrible—Which was exactly why Kyojuro chose to move on by himself. To enjoy what was happening in the moment. To work harder for the future that could either be close or far. Kyojuro worked hard to enjoy being by himself and being a good figure for everyone, and you were happy for him.

Now sitting out on the porch that faces the Rengoku household’s garden, you and Kyojuro remain in silence as both of you are stuck in your own thoughts; staring up at the night sky that was to be engulfed with the lustrous stars. The crescent moon lit up the otherwise dark area that you both currently resided in. Either of your skin was moon-kissed, glowing by the glaze of the beautiful moon in the sky tonight. And so, deciding to speak your thoughts, you look at Kyojuro and talk.

“I have to meet my parents again.” Kyojuro looks at you, now listening, pulled from his own mind easily. “Tomorrow I’ll go if Rintaro doesn’t meet me by morning for a mission.” You slouch, sighing. “I have to ask my father something. Whether it becomes significant in my search for my own greatness, I’ll find out from him.”

“Can I go with you?” Kyojuro asks all the sudden. “I want to meet your family too.”

“I don’t know why you’d want to go, I told you about them already.” You scratch your neck.

With wide and reassured eyes, Kyojuro showed an expression that meant he would not back down despite whatever you could possibly throw at him. What more, he replies: “It’s all the more reason I should go. I want to be there for you. I like you, (Name).”

This makes you chuckle defeatedly amused by Kyojuro. “You’re hopeless, Kyojuro.” You say, dropping the side of your head on his shoulder. He adjusted himself to sit closer to you so you wouldn’t have a stiff neck later.

“It’s true.” Kyojuro replies, looking down at you who had your eyes closed. You can feel the rumble of his chest as he talks.

“If you say it too much I might not believe it.” You jokingly chastise.

“...Really?” His meek response immediately made you feel guilty. You feel your cheeks heat up at his intense sincerity, you lightly cough in embarrassment, putting your hand over your mouth.

“...No, please keep saying it.”

Kyojuro’s hand that once hesitated to put itself around your waist landed softly on the fabric of your uniform. Inching to your hand placed in front of you, he holds them with his. The cold night air made the natural heat eminent from Kyojuro’s body comfortable to your naturally cold physicality.

“Will you go home tonight?” He whispers.

“I have to, but I don’t want to.” You reply in the same fashion.

“Stay here. There’s still the room you slept in, it’s been well-kept and neat.”

“Mm…” You hum. Simply enjoying the whole being that was Kyojuro. He’s the best hugger, you wish there is never a time where you’d ever be deprived of this again. “I don’t think I brought any extra clothes…” You yawn, tired from the day already.

“I’ll get them for you,” Kyojuro suggests but you let out an instinctive whine when he pulled away from your warm embrace, immediately feeling cold as you rubbed your eyes awake. “I can be quick if I run.”

“You should be more tired than me, didn’t you just come back from a mission?” You scrunch your brows as you stare at his face. He was smiling very proudly as he clenched his fist in front of you. “If this tires me out, then I’m not worthy to have become a Hashira!”

You felt shy to allow Kyojuro to go through your wardrobe alone. Seriously, sometimes he’s just so dense. Standing up, you stretch your back and give him your hand to help him stand as well. “We’ll go together—If I don’t get there first.” As Kyojuro took your hand and stood up, stretching his body as well, you were already jogging out of their gate immediately after putting on your sandals.

Kyojuro was amused, jogging after you slowly. What he initially thought was to be a simple jog towards the house where you once lived in with Haia, was actually an intense race. Because the moment he saw you step out of their gate, you looked back to him, and then the next second, all you left was a trail of dust amidst the sparks in your steps.

When had you gotten this fast?

Kyojuro had no time to think any more than that as he tried to catch up to you immediately, remembering the directions from way back clearly in his head. Though he noticed that you’d definitely become faster, he was able to catch up to you easily, much to your mock dismay. Kyojuro just knew that you were tempted to put your tongue out and pull your cheek down to mess with him; but you were both aware that at the speed you were both going in, you’d most likely catch a bug in your mouth.

Of course, that didn’t stop a smile and an internal laugh to form from the boy as he watched you think to yourself. It didn’t take long for both of you to arrive at Haia’s old house. Kyojuro wasn’t tired, and he noticed how you also barely broke a sweat. After he patiently waited outside for you to rummage through your wardrobe, you came out with a boro bag, sliding the door to Haia’s old house shut.

“Let’s go back!” You say with a satisfied face.

[...]

Since Kyojuro first saw you, he’s been plagued. When you were thirteen and was first accepted as a slayer like him, when you first touched his hand and immediately expressed your thoughts: ``Your hands are warm. — And the odd feeling, the hurt, the guilt, the longing, all of which crashed on him when you left. And now, he feels as if overflowing.

That’s why he’s plagued. It spilled over when he said he liked you. Kyojuro knew that he did, at this point, he was sure he did. He had years to think about it, though maybe what was hard is that the only people who truly knew his struggle apart from little Senjuro were all… Men. No concrete answers were ever given to him, and the only guide he followed was how he simply wants to be with you.

Is it wrong when late into the night, he couldn’t sleep?

Is it so wrong when he sits up from his futon, trying to talk himself out of his own thoughts?

And would it be the worst sin if he stood in front of the room you were sleeping in… Debating whether to knock and ask if you were already asleep, even if he knew you were still recuperating from months of being bedridden… Was it wrong?

You were his best friend, you are his best friend. The way you’d easily mold into each other even after a long separation, Kyojuro can say that your relationship with each other is like a force of nature.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Are… Are you asleep…?” Kyojuro asks quietly into the dark hallway in which he stood. Into the door in his face, into the figure who was laying on the futon inside.

There was no response. Right. It was his mistake. He should sleep.

“Maybe.” A similarly quiet voice replies from inside. And despite having a hard time hearing for most of his days, Kyojuro can hear you, whether it was in the silence of your room, or the noise of the crowd; he knows how to hear you.

Maybe what both of you felt was still yet to be properly defined, but it’s something you can feel in the stillness. The door slides open. Sock-clad feet skid along the smooth floor, the door closes. He takes a step, it’s not much, but it said enough. You can see it with the lights out.

He is in love.

Chapter 8.2 « Chapter 9 (Current) » Chapter 10

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