#IDK i think the manipulation that continues to happen even After he decides to stop manipulating them is soooo interesting

[trevisos]

god but watching all the ascension stuff w/ramza last night has me so insane about xarrastarion. because like the thing is he never really Stops wanting to manipulate them up until the ritual happens (there is some nuance to what’s happening After that if i get into now i’ll get nothing done at work today at all lol) but just instead of “how can i keep myself safe” it’s “how can i keep them mine” and it’s not about possessiveness (deeply not a thing for the two of them) it’s about well. that one fucking line after you ascend him. “he will always see you as degrading yourself if you continue to be with him.” and it’s not about being insecure or whatever like idk it would be very easy to woobify him here and to be like “poor baby is insecure and sad etc etc etc” and yeah there’s an element here of like. feeling unworthy or whatever. but he’s not really wallowing in that? it’s not the tear filled “why would you ever love someone like me :((((((“ conversations i think people want to see with characters like this it’s very much like. i’m going to do everything i can to Make you love me. i know you said you care for me but the clock is ticking and eventually my burdens will be too much to bear and i have to make the value proposition of my being in your life sound appealing despite all that. he feels that way regardless, but once you get to the ritual the difference between ascended and spawn endings is that for ascended it’s “maybe you like degrading yourself” and spawn recognizes that they don’t see it as degrading at all.

and i think with xarrai specifically like. he believes they care for him. he believes they intend to help him kill cazador come hell or high water. but he also believes them to be someone who is calculating and always aware of the cost and benefit of keeping people around (whether he’s 100% right about that is a different story tho) and so he feels like. idk. the stakes feel high no matter how honestly they try to show him they care for him and need and want nothing else from him. i feel like that line after the spawn ambush that’s like “i’m doing this for you too, you know. to make sure we’re both safe.” is exactly the heart of it - it’s a very valid interpretation to say that’s more manipulation and is entirely a lie but i think there’s something compelling in seeing it as true. manipulative to an extent, but true. xarrai could tell him honestly and plainly that they absolutely want nothing more than his companionship and he would Still be trying to find a way to keep them his because i think the idea of losing what they have, of losing whatever “something real” means is like. unthinkable. and drives him to consider ascension the only option because it would allow him to keep hold of the things he wants and loves; power, sunlight, and them.

[justagirlwhowritesss]

Lost in Time- A Kenji Kishimoto series

Summary: Kenji Kishimoto and Leyla Demir, a time-manupilator, are accidentally transported decades into the past during a mission gone wrong. As they navigate a pre-Reestablishment world, their growing bond is challenged by the decision to alter history or return to their own time, facing the risks of changing the future.

A/n: Had this idea for a while and decided to just write it out bcs I couldn’t stop thinking abt it. But idk if I should make it into a whole series tho. Anywaysss, Hope you enioy and do leave comments if you wish to write your thoughts on this:)

"Absolutely not."

"But Warner-"

"I said 'no', Castle and I won't be risking Juliette's life for it either."

Castle let out a frustrated sigh as he shook his head, leaning forward on the table "You are clearly not hearing me! I am telling you that this is a life or death matter Warner-"

"I don't care-"

"What the hell is happening here?" Kenji came strolling into the small room with an annoyed expression on his face.

He heard Warner mutter something along the lines of "Great, another imbecile." but decided to ignore it and looked at Castle for an explanation.

The older man sighed and stood up from the small chair and crossed his arms. Warner too, got up, saying "It is none of your business."

Kenji just rolled his eyes and pointed to the exit hissing "None of my business? Excusez-moi but your whole little 'argument' can be heard on every part of the base which is why Nouria even SENT me to come check on you guys."

Warner stared indifferently at Kenji. "Well you can go back and tell her that everything is fine-"

"Nothing's fine, Warner, and you know it. The mission-"

"Is not happening." The boy snapped as he glared back at Castle before continuing "I have had enough with this pointless conversation. I am not risking my and Juliette's happiness by doing that right after we got married and while we are all repairing a broken world."

Kenji furrowed his brows as he looked between the two men. "Uhhh....what exactly are you guys talking about? What is Warner going to do?"

Castle shook his head slightly as he said, "I got intel that the Nexus Device is still out there which is why I called upon Warner to inform him on the matter."

"And try to send me on that mission of yours to get it back. Over a meaningless rumor." Warner finished for him.

Kenji just put up his hands, feeling more confused than ever. "Wait a second, what the hell is a Nex-blabla device?"

Aaron sighed out frustratedly as Castle crossed his arms "A Nexus Device. And what it is, is an important relic that was kept very well hidden within the Reestablishment. It is rumoured to have the power to manipulate time which is why, we need to retrieve it before someone else gets to it-"

"You said it yourself, Castle, it is a rumor and I won't be risking my wife's or my life to go on a mission over a something that is only a rumor, a lie."

Castle glared back at the blond boy as he said, "That doesn't mean anything, Warner. You should know better than anyone else that during a war, all possibilities must be taken into account-"

"This isn't war. Therefore, we do not have to take all possibilities, all cases into account-"

"IT IS A WAR!"

Castles angry shout seemingly shocked not only Kenji but also Warner as his eyes slightly widened before becoming cold once more.

Castle gave neither of them a chance to talk as he opened his mouth once again. "Do you know how many people are still out there, still angry with us for taking out the old supreme leaders of The Reestablishment? Do you know how many of them are out there planning coups, assasination attempts and so on, on your, Juliette's and the rest of our lives? Just because we took out the big guys doesn't mean everything's over."

Kenji saw how Warner was clearly about to retort with something cruel so quickly intercepted their argument. " Maybe- maybe you could send me? I mean Warner and Juliette are busy with being leaders and all that shit, everyone else is also busy with the whole aftershocks of a war and I....well, I wouldn't mind doing something exciting."

Aaron slowly turned his head sideways to look at him as he deadpanned, "Exciting? You call this pointless, imbecile plan to go after something that may not even exist....exciting? Of course I should have expected to hear something like this from you, Kishimoto."

Kenji shrugged his shoulders. "Well sorry mr. 'I find everything and everyone except my wife boring and have no joy in life' but some of us want to go on missions and do something EVEN those that may or may not be real."

"Your not even fit for it."

Kenji's eyes widened before he scoffed "I'm sorry? You are telling me that I am not fit for the mission?"

Warner stood fully straight, scanned Kenji from head to toe, looked back at him, letting his emotionless eyes convey the message.

Kenji balled his hands into fists. "You-"

"Actually Kenji, you are right. You may be even more suited for this mission than Warner or Juliette."

They both turned to look back at Castle who has been analyzing them both this whole time.

Warner replied with a "You have gone mad." at the same time as Kenji said "Hell yeah, I am."

Castle sat back down, still seemingly assesing Kenji. "Why not? I didn't realize it when I called you here, Warner, but your and Kenji's skills are incomparable. I think you would be easily caught. Kenji, however, has been trained like a true soldier. I believe he would be able to move, attack and do the job sharply, stealthily, and to the point. Of course his invisibility power is a whole other advantage. Look how well he did when I sent him to take Juliette out of the jail Warner built the first time around."

Kenji smirked and nudged Warner who roughly pushed him away. But then his smirk fell as confusion overtook his features. "Wait, doesn't Warner also have the ability to be invisible."

Warner rolled his eyes. "I do, but I can only do it if someone else does it near me and I take in their power. Do you really think that there is someone in The Reestablishment with powers? Really?"

"Ohhhh right, right. Totally forgot about your whole copying people-"

"It is not copying, it is just mirroring. You idiot."

"Same thing-"

Castles stern voice stopped them both from another argument as he said, "Alright that will be enough you two. Warner, you may leave. Kenji, stay."

Warner looked at him and then at Kenji before heading towards the door "Can't wait to tell Juliette about your death, Kishimoto."

Kenji just laughed and sat down on the creaky stool opposite of Castles desk. "Love you too, bro."

Castles got up and took two steps to reach the small, wooden cabinet near the window. He took out some papers before coming to sit back down, putting the papers on the table and spreading them out.

Kenji took one and began eyeing it. "This is a map."

Castle nodded as he said "Yes, a map of both the insides and the outsides of the whole area where some supporters of the old Reestablishment have taken refuge. Thanks to Sam, I was able to locate this place and get a proper detailed map on their residence. You will be breaking in here."

Kenji looked back at his friend "Quick question, how does this...whatever device look like?"

Castle sighed, "Nexus Device, Kenji. From what I know, It is supposed to look like a small, sleek and advanced piece of technology, almost like a wristwatch or a handheld gadget. You'll know it when you see it."

Kenji looked suspiciously at him "Aha....so just look for small things while also trying not to be killed or discovered, putting the whole resistance in jeopardy."

Castle smiles knowingly. "That is where you're wrong. You won't be going on this mission alone."

Kenji's rolled his eyes. "Please don't send me with anyone from here, God, especially not with Adam."

That caused his friend to chuckle before he regained his composure. "Actually, you have not met her. None of you have. You could say that she is a....good friend of mine."

Kenji's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You have friends?"

Castle gave him a stern look but that didn't stop him from slipping op and smiling slightly as he watched his close friend chuckle.

But then, as if realizing, Kenji's smile dropped as his eyes widened in horror. "Wait wait wait- A she? And none of us know her or ever met her? And you're sending her with me? Who the hell is she?"

"Leyla Demir, she is Turkish and the best trained killer I know with the most unique power. Time-manipulation."

Kenji leaned back with crossed arms, a confused expression overtaking his face. "Time-manipulation? You mean, she can stop time or some shit?"

"Language."

"Sorry, yeah, I mean- she can stop time or stuff?"

Castle smiled while slightly shaking his head. "It means, she can do anything that is time-related. Stop it, blink in to the future, the past, and even reverse it."

Kenji's eyes widened, mouth hanging wide open. "Jesus Christ. How can someone have such kind of power?"

Castle leaned back in his seat and regarded him with a knowing look. "You'll just have to see her for yourself. But do be careful, she is usually deathly quite and her answers are often short, straight to the point and cold. You won't be making much conversation with her but I believe that is what makes her so great at her job. She just comes, does what she is assigned to do, and then leaves."

Kenji scoffed, stood up and took the papers. "Oh I'll make her talk, alright. No one can ever resist the Kenji Kishimoto, after all."

He turned around, intending to head for the door before Castle stopped him. "Don't you want to know when you'll be heading out?"

He turned around with a sheepish smile. "Right, yeah. Uhh when do I need to leave?"

"This night, at eleven sharp. That is usually the time twenty-five minutes before the guards do their shift change which leaves the area unguarded for exactly three whole minutes."

Kenji nodded and turned around to leave but stopped once more when he heard Castle get up and look at him, worry slightly evident in his tone as he said, "Be careful, Kenji. I trust you and your skills very much but-"

Kenji smiled softly before saying, "I'll try my best not to die and if I do, tell Warner I will be coming back to haunt the shi- stuff out of him."

***********

It had been a while since Kenji felt this amount of excitement. Before it was all about them fighting and figuring out how to bring down The Reestablishment and then, once they did that, they had a broken world to deal with. And while it was tiring but great how they were restoring and creating a better, more brighter world, Kenji admittedly felt very useless.

These past few months it was almost always "Do this Kenji" or "Don't do this Kenji" or "Maybe you shouldn't do that" or "Just go ask Juliette" or "I don't know, Kenji, you kinda mess things up. Just stick to easy day to day work."

So what he destroyed a building that had Juliette's wedding dress inside? So what if his attempts at organizing things ended in chaos? So what if he accidentally threw away a stash of documents Haider sent? It was all accidental, okay? Atleast he was trying his best.

"Useless, you're useless." Kenji scoffed to himself as he put on his weapons, attempting to cheer himself up with the mission ahead. Finally, some action. Something to distract himself from.

He has been analyzing and constantly checking the maps for the past couple of hours, planning the area from which he would sneak in, which room the Nexus device could be in. Honestly? The place doesn't even look big at all. Well, he will see it soon for himself anyway. Kenji looked at the electronic clock,

10:58 pm

Time to leave on a little suicide mission.

With a final look in the mirror at himself, his black tactical gear, and all his weapons, visible and not-visible, Kenii left the house.

Twenty minutes later, he had managed to arrive at the location, turning off his invisibility and immediately hiding behind a large bush. Where is this Leyla? They only have four minutes left before the shift change. Whatever, if she doesn't show up, he is going in alone. He doesn't need a nanny to track along with him-

A sound came from behind him.

Kenji quickly took the small knife hidden in his boot and turned around, intending to land a shot at whoever or whatever is behind him but stopped when he saw the person.

He couldn't see her properly at all because it quite dark and she is wearing dark gear similar to his but from what he can see, atleast due to the faint light coming from the broken tall lamp beside them, if this woman is Leyla.....she is absolutely gorgeous.

An elegant yet strong build, warm, slightly tanned complexion, seemingly dark hair but what stood out the most....those otherworldly emerald eyes that could hypnotize you and look absolutely lethal as they stare back at him.

Kenji's trance came to a stop when she said with a slight hint of an accent, "I guess you're the idiot Castle told me about."

He didn't have the chance to reply as she wordlessly crouched beside him and looked through a small opening at the base.

Kenji collected himself and looked at her, asking "I-I am Kenji, this is the first time we meet."

She looked down at her watch, muttering a "One minute left."

He scoffed looking at the guards "Rude."

She still ignored him.

"Um anyways, how did you get to know Castle? I mean, we are like this close with him so I thought I would know about yo-"

She silenced him with a hiss.

"We have nearly twenty seconds before the shift change and I would very much appreciate it if you could just shut the hell up so we can get this over with and then go our separate ways."

He furrowed his brows in frustration. "What's wrong with you? I was just trying to be civil but I guess you wouldn't understand that since you are acting like a cranky old bit-"

She clearly either heard him and chose to ignore him or was too focused on the time because she quickly cut his rant off "It's time. Get up."

Kenji scoffed but got up, refocusing his attention back on the main goal. Get the device and get the hell out. It can't fall into the wrong hands. It can't.

He held his hand out for her to take, causing her to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"How do you expect to get in there? Just walk in? I can make us turn invisible, just hold my hand."

She clearly didn't want to but looked at the base and then back at him before sighing and taking ahold of his wrist instead of his hand. He found it weird but just kept his mouth shut as they both turned invisible.

Kenji felt her hold on his wrist tighten as she adjusted into the feeling. He whispered silently as they began to walk, "Are you ok-"

"Shhh, guards."

Kenji didn't need any more explanation as he saw three guards in the distance seemingly talking with one another. Seems like an awful lot of guards for a small area. That could only mean that they do have something important to protect.

They began silently heading towards an open back door when a woman dressed in a black shirt and loose pants stepped out, standing right in front of the entryway with her head bowed down, looking at a....notepad?

Shit. How the hell are they supposed to move past her and get inside? It's not like they can just walk through her. Kenji felt Leyla's body stand closer to him as they both stopped and just stared at the woman.

Please, for the love of God, can she just-

"Mrs.Pierson, we have a report."

The woman lifted her head to look back at a bulky man who came from behind her.

"I don't have the time, Michael. Tell them if they are going to try and once again just prolong the matter-"

"No, mrs.Pierson trust me, we made it very clear to them that we don't have the patience for their games no more. And by very clear I mean....we used other methods to make them understand."

The woman--mrs.Pierson, apparently--smiled and said a simple "Good" and moved past the man.

What were they talking about? It sure as hell seemed quite crucial. Kenji really felt like he needed to follow them and it seemed like Leyla was thinking the same because she just gripped his wrist tighter with her gloved hand, and made him follow her as she took the lead, entering through the door and following the two strangers.

The hallway was extremely narrow and the walls looked like they are about to crumble down any second now. Kenji barely managed to not trip over something or make noise as he followed Leyla through the tight hallway. Honestly, it seems like she doesn't even have a problem with this. Not once has Leyla made a sound, moving so quietly making Kenji think that if she weren't holding his wrist right now, he wouldn't even be sure if she is still there.

Has she done this before? Of course she has, you idiot. Has she seen worse? What could possible be worse than the war they had? He wonders what she did during that time.

Stop it. Idiot. Why the hell do you care? Why do you even wonder?

Finally, they reached a small opening with only an open door in the center. The wallpaper's here were piss yellow and almost fully ripped off the walls. God, it's not like Kenji is currently staying in a luxury plaza but...what the hell is this shithole? And who the hell are these people?

They quietly came to stand in the entryway as they both took in the room and the people inside it. The woman and the man from earlier were here as well as two more people whom Kenji didn't know about. They were holding what looked like a medium sized, black, shiny box.

He felt Leyla about to step inside the room so he pulled her back immediately, getting the point across that they can stand here and listen. Surprisingly, Leyla listened as he felt her body freeze in one place.

Kenji and Leyla pressed against the wall, their breaths shallow as they listened to the muffled conversation inside the room. The two unknown figures were standing beside a table, the black box placed in the center. The woman—Mrs. Pierson—was now engaged in a conversation with a very short and fidgety man.

"We've had issues with the security systems," Mrs. Pierson was saying, her tone clipped. "Do you have the new codes?"

The man nodded, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small, metal key. He placed it on the table next to the box. "This is the key to the main vault. It’s the last piece we need to complete the upgrades."

Mrs. Pierson’s eyes narrowed as she examined the key. "Good. The Nexus Device must be secured before the operation begins."

Kenji’s eyes widened slightly. The mention of the Nexus Device caught his attention. So it is something important. Hah! Kenji couldn't wait to see the look on Warner's face when he tells him that he was wrong.

The second man, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "The vault's security is tight, but if we can get this device out, it will be worth the risk. The information we’ve received suggests it's an invaluable asset."

Mrs. Pierson nodded, a grim smile on her face. "Indeed. Make sure it's kept in a secure location until the time is right. We wouldn’t want anyone else discovering it."

Kenji felt Leyla’s grip tighten on his wrist. She was clearly assessing the situation, trying to plan their next move. He could sense her tension; she was used to dealing with high-stakes situations, and this one seemed to be no different.

As the conversation continued, Kenji’s attention shifted to the black box. It seemed to be the central focus of their discussion, and if it contained the Nexus Device, they were very close to their objective.

Leyla and Kenji slipped into the room, moving with the practiced stealth that Leyla had demonstrated earlier. Kenji's heart raced, but he kept his focus on the black box, which now lay tantalizingly close. Leyla quickly assessed the room, noting the positions of the two men and the security measures in place.

As they approached the black box, their movements were swift but not without tension. He quickly but carefully as to not touch anything and cause alert, dragged Leyla towards a corner of the room, far from the four people and the three guards currently discussing something in low tones.

"Let's go through the left side of the table, no one is standing there." He whispered so quietly, he thought maybe she hadn't even heard him. But Leyla's confirming squeeze to his wrist told him that she agreed.

Kenji crept closer to the box, his heart racing with anticipation. As he reached for it, he felt a sudden jolt in his power, a flicker of instability.

In that instant, Kenji’s invisibility wavered. He was momentarily visible—a ghostly outline against the darkness—before he could re-stabilize his power. It was enough. Mrs. Pierson’s eyes snapped to his position, her expression shifting from confusion to alarm.

“There’s someone there!” Mrs. Pierson shouted, her voice echoing through the room.

The men turned sharply, their eyes scanning the space. Kenji and Leyla’s invisibility wavered again as they scrambled to adjust their powers. Kenji’s face was now partially visible, caught in the beam of a flickering overhead light. The guards’ alarms were triggered.

“Get them!” one of the men yelled, rushing toward Kenji and Leyla.

The room erupted into chaos. Leyla moved quickly, drawing her weapons and engaging the guards with precise, fluid motions. Kenji, trying to regain full control of his invisibility, grabbed the box and fumbled with it, struggling to keep his powers stable.

Mrs. Pierson lunged for the box, trying to reclaim it from Kenji. He fought back, his movements erratic as he fought to maintain his invisibility. The struggle was fierce, and the room became a whirlwind of combat.

Leyla managed to fend off the attacking guards, her movements a blur of skill and precision. She glanced over at Kenji, who was wrestling with Mrs. Pierson and another man for control of the box.

“Kenji, let’s go!” Leyla shouted, urgency in her voice.

Gunshots were heard everywhere as Kenji managed to regain control over his body and become invisible, quickly runing and appearing behind one of the guards and snapping his neck, then moving on to the man named Michael and using one of the knives strapped to his body to stab his back, causing the man to crumble on the floor with a cry.

Leyla seemingly swiftly took care of the other two guards, her swift and fluid motions knocking out mrs.Pierson in the process. She wanted to kill her but the shouts from the outside confirmed Kenji's thoughts that there are more guards coming and they needed to get the hell out....like right now. He quickly grabbed Leyla and ran.

With the box secured, Kenji and Leyla made a break for the back door, their path now clear thanks to Leyla’s skilled combat. They dashed down the narrow hallway, the sounds of pursuit growing louder behind them.

Outside, they sprinted through the darkness, Kenji still trying to stabilize his powers. As they reached a corner of the building, Kenji glanced back to see guards pouring out, their shouts growing fainter.

Leyla skidded to a halt, pulling Kenji into a shadowed alcove. “We need to get out of here before they catch up.”

Kenji nodded, his breath coming in ragged gasps. “I think... I think I’m losing my powers.”

"No you are not. I think its the effects of being this close to the device that are affecting our powers. It's too strong! Even I feel my own powers waning."

Leyla, her breath steadying, glanced at the device. “We need to figure out what this thing actually does. There might be a way to use it to our advantage.”

Kenji nodded, looking equally determined and exhausted. “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got.”

They moved to a small, dusty and broken chair in the alcove. Kenji placed the box on it, and Leyla began to carefully pry it open. Tension was high, and they both felt the urgency of their situation.

As Leyla worked on the box, Kenji’s impatience got the better of him. He reached over to help, but his movements were rushed and clumsy. “Come on, hurry up! We don’t have all night.”

Leyla shot him a sharp look. “Slow down, Kenji. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

Kenji’s frustration boiled over. “I know! But we need to get out of here before—”

He accidentally knocked the box off the table with a jolt. The device tumbled to the ground, and the lid popped open. A strange, pulsating glow emanated from within, filling the room with a blinding light.

“What did you do?” Leyla shouted as she tried to grab the device, but the light grew intense, enveloping them both.

Kenji reached for the device, but it slipped from his grasp. As he tried to stabilize it, he and Leyla were both caught in the expanding radiance. The light grew brighter and brighter until everything around them was engulfed in a blinding flash.

When the light finally faded, Kenji and Leyla found themselves in an entirely different setting. The warehouse was gone, replaced by a landscape that was completely unfamiliar. They were surrounded by a complete and vast greenery, the sun was high and shining brightly, there were cows and sheep on the grass, large trees covering the area.

“What the hell just happened?” Kenji asked, his voice tinged with panic.

Leyla was looking around, her face pale with horror.

"Where- where the hell are we?!"

"In the past....or the future, I don't even know."

Kenji came closer to Leyla, eyes wide with shock and frustration.

"What the hell did you do, Leyla? This wasn't a part of the plan!"

The moment Leyla turned around to look at him, Kenji felt the air get knocked out of his lungs. He was wrong, her hair wasn't dark at all. The sunlight casted it's soft glows over them, allowing him to see her clearly. Her hair was a very light brown, seemingly slightly curly, her eyes were even more breathtaking under the light, and that face...her soft face that currently held an ice cold expression on it as she stared daggers at him.

".....so you are the one to blame, not me! don't you dare blame me!" Kenji realized then, that she had been shouting at him for the past minute but he completely drowned her words out as his eyes admired every inch of her uncovered body, which wasn't much really, just her face. But it was more than enough because....dear God he had never seen anyone look so beautifully innocent and yet be so cold and hurtful.

"What?" Kenji said with a soft smile, his eyes never leaving her face as his mind was still in his own world. She pinched his ear with her gloved hand, causing him to finally come back to reality as he hissed an "Ow! Why the hell did you do that?!"

She crossed her arms. "Listen, Kishimoto, we need to know the date for us to even know where the hell we ended up in. Time travel, anything having to do with time in general, isn't simple at all. One wrong move and you could end up in a place where you can't even get out of."

"Kishimoto, huh? So we are absolutely formal now?"

She sighed and looked skywards. "Out of all the things I said, this is what you are stuck on? And we were never informal to begin with."

Kenji smirked. "We could be informal too, if you only say the word--"

"Hey! What the hell are you doing on my lawn?"

They both turned around to see a man, presumably in his fifties, striding towards them.

Kenji pushed Leyla behind him as a serious expression overtook his face, readying to strike at any sign of danger. Leyla just scoffed and moved past him coming to stand beside him when the man reached them. Kenji was about to say something but she intercepted quickly.

"What is todays date, old man?"

The man looked at her and threw his arms in the air. "Old man? Old man?! I am only 58! And who the hell d'you think you are, heh? Coming into my lawn, my goddamn property unnanounced-"

Kenji heard Leyla's voice turn even icier, if it was possible, as she asked- no, stated in a threatening voice, "What date is it."

The man too, clearly got the memo as he quickly stopped rambling and looked between them, his hands fidgeting.

The moment he said the date, Kenji wanted to tear his hair off. They were in the fucking past! With no way out! or...

That's right, Leyla had her time powers! she could get them out, right?....right?

Leyla seemingly also understood what timeline they were in as she quickly dragged him away without saying another word to the old man, who was still muttering something under his breath but was too scared of Leyla to shoo them away. Once they were in the other side of the lawn, behind a large farmhouse, Kenji looked at her wide eyed, "We are in the past! Are you kidding me?! Is this actually happening?! What the-"

"Will you shut the hell up, Kishimoto? Yes, we are in the past, but....this past is different."

"How different?"

Leyla's eyes drifted behind him, seemingly lost in thought. "This is thirty years before the Reestablishment took over. I have been in thousands of timelines but never this, never this one."

Kenji's eyes widened as his mouth hanged open. He whisper-shouted "What?! So, you mean to tell me that there is no Reestablishment?1 No wonder this place is so vibrant and alive. Why didn't you ever come to this timeline?"

Leyla crossed her arms, her expression becoming indifferent once more. "That is none of your business."

Kenji sighed. She wasn't an easy one, that much was clear about her. "Whatever, now can you please use your little time traveling powers to get us back to our rightful timeline?"

"No, I can't."

Kenji felt the hope drain out of him. "No? What the hell do you mean, no?! Aren't you supposed to have these time-manipulating powers or whatever-"

"I do, alright? I do. It's just that they are absolutely depleted at the moment. The Nexus Device- it seemingly affected me more than anyone else because we both have the power of time. Like calls to like, it seems. We drained each others powers. I need a couple of days to recharge even half of what that stupid device took from me."

This was madness. Absolute madness. Kenji prayed that maybe this was some sort of a nightmare that he was in, that he would wake up soon and go about his day. But, alas, it was all very much real.

Kenji leaned against the wall, his eyes wide in horror and realization.

"Holy shit."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[sinisterexaggerator]

Okay. The whole Hondo x Aurra post, as usual very on point, but I have questionnnnnnnnnnnnns ♥

Can you make up scenarios/samples of them clashing while in a hunt or anything that lead up to Hondo either calling it quits? Cause, idk.. I feel like Hondo called it quits as opposed to Aurra, but I could be wrong?

(The Clone Wars: Bounty Hunter: Boba Fett | illustrated by Wayne Lo)

Yes, I think so too, as I mentioned earlier! I see Hondo as the one to call it quits, as Aurra would most likely use Hondo to her benefit until she couldn't anymore. HONDO is the one used to using people, so to speak, and he doesn't like a taste of his own medicine. Two, he seems to like to be in control of his own fate, and to leave it in someone's hands such as Aurra, during a job per se, is not something he wants to repeat after experiencing the way she operates in the field, most likely many, many times -- and then regretting it.

I take into account her "never asking permission for anything" and that he "bailed under her command" as per the dialogue.

One scenario might be similar to what occurred with Boba Fett. Hondo, Aurra, and others are working together on some sort of job. He even mentions that in passing before she kills Castas. "Remember dat job we pulled?" Hondo claims he used to be a bounty hunter. In fact, he at some point goes after Q'ira in "Forces of Destiny." It's a short animated cartoon!

Anyway, just like Aurra left Boba Fett to Plo Koon (yer man), and did not go back to help him once he is in trouble, I imagine the same thing happened to Hondo, and maybe more than once. He realizes he cannot rely on her, she cannot be trusted, and is only in it for herself.

Sure, she might come back with a: "I wanted to help you honey, but I would have been captured, too," all sugary sweet. For a while maybe he buys it. But, after one too many times I see it grating on his nerves. He stops putting any faith into her, and does not want to continue a working/business relationship -- even if they keep having sex on the reg.

Chances are, she tries to and does control him in the bedroom more often than not. I bet her strap game is strong. I say Hondo is a switch, so he doesn't mind being dommed or taken control of in the right situation. You can't tell me he had those restraints just for show or hostages. They were heart-shaped for crying out loud.

Anyway. I doubt she stopped there. I can see her being bossy and manipulative to the point Hondo has to cut her loose. That makes it awkward anytime she decides to drop by unannounced, though he saves face by at least being hospitable.

Hondo can be a patient man, me thinks, if the payout is big. Considering there would be nothing in this relationship of benefit to him, he has little patience, and especially if she at all tries to degrade him as is her way with others we see in canon. She even treats Boba like shit for the most part -- at least she doesn't let him drink alcohol.

As far as sex, he can get that from anywhere. Just look at those Weequay chicks hanging off him.

If you want something specific ...

---

Aurra: Where have you been?

Hondo: *Looks terrible, covered in dirt and debris, frowning.* En jail, where else?

Aurra: I thought you would have escaped sooner than this.

Hondo: Perhaps I would not be en jail en de first place ef you had waited for me! I said I was on de way!

Aurra: There were guards on my tail.

Hondo: And yet, here you sit. Et seems you got away and perhaps would have had time tu come and scoop me up. no?

Aurra: No.

Hondo: Yes, very well. All dat matters es you are safe... *Grits teeth and walks off.*

Aurra: And where are you going now?

Hondo: *Turns, agitated. Embittered tone.* Tu take a shower. Es dat all right with you, my dear?

Aurra: "Watch your tone, honey."

Hondo: Ap-ap-ap!! You know what you are going tu watch?! ME! Leaving! Never tu return! Far, far away from here I go! Do not bother tu follow me, I am finished! Through! To the depths with you!"

Aurra: *Filing her nails.* Uh-huh.

Hondo: *Pouting* I'll only be a minute.

[michelleelizabethtanner]

Do you think Beth really believed Rio was coming after them after the truck thing in 1.09? I always just assumed she was jumping to conclusions and was so far out of her depth ("He looked at me funny"), but was there something else to it? Did she really want to take him down deep down?

Hi Anon! Thank you for the ask! Idk if I have a super good answer though. I’ve always considered this scene more based on the mistakes Rio made in underestimating Beth’s reaction. IDK why I haven’t thought more in-depth about why she behaved the way she did.

Unless I’m misremembering, everything in that episode showed her anger, and none of her actions around Rio signified fear. I don’t think she was even jumping to conclusions about what he might do to them. I think she was just mad. Yet another man putting her in her place, taking away her power and her financial “security” because he decided her life for her. So she retaliated. Her “we’re good people” excuse was just a cover to get her girls on board. It’s the line she uses all the time to manipulate people (including Rio.) “I’m a good person. I’m a mother. I eat at P. F. Chang’s.”

The fact that this woman can never think through the consequences of her choices surrounding Rio truly astounds me. She cannot be so stupid to blindly lash out and expect nothing to happen to her. I’ve been kind of thinking about this irritating aspect of her behavior. The ways in which she hurts Rio over and over, even once she sees the actual hurt on him, she doesn’t stop. Contrast that with how she enables Dean over and over, who has a proven track record of lying to her and actively harming her. So it makes so little sense why she would lash out, even contrary to her own wellbeing, in this particular situation. She couldn’t have expected that he would be imprisoned forever just because she gave up some laundering details. So what then? Was it a cry for his attention? A cry to be seen? It’s gotta be. Her nihilistic tendencies come through so strong around Rio. He brings it out in her. So it’s like she doesn’t even care what happens to her, as long as he keeps looking at her, as long as she’s feeling that power he makes her feel.

Which brings us back to what was so polarizing about Beth to so many viewers — she’s selfish af. She doesn’t want to be. She’s torn. She keeps thinking if she just does one more shitty thing to Rio, she will prove her goodness to the universe. Prove that she’s worthy of having a husband who’s faithful, and children who don’t struggle with emotional disorders, and friends who choose her even over their own husbands. This woman has been abandoned and scarred so deeply in her formative years that she’s absolutely desperate to matter and to be chosen. (Kinda like someone else we know.) But Rio seems to be her one “safe space” to be herself. “Just being myself.” And while that may sound romantic (and it IS), it’s also toxic af because for her to be “herself” she has to all the time behave abusively (ugh, I hate that word because it isn’t quite accurate to their dynamic but idk what other thing to call it… maybe retaliatory?) toward Rio. He feeds the monster that she hides from others. He isn’t a “good person” so it’s fine for her to take her trauma out on him. And he keeps coming back for more. And he keeps wanting her despite it. It’s that good old cycle of abuse, continually perpetuated. They find so much warped validation in each other they can’t quit.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent. Sorry about that! These asks are so helpful in getting me back into a Brio state of mind. Reminds me how I love analyzing them. 😊 Makes me wanna not work and write Brio stories (that I’ve been stagnant on for like 2 months now 😩)

[kindheart525]

idk if you're still accepting this but 12 for the apple-pie siblings.

From this post: “What is their least favorite memory? Why is it their least favorite?”

Summer Beauty: Her whole life /j As of now it’s probably the moment Iolite cursed her, especially with the hindsight of knowing how that curse has affected her life. But before that, I imagine there was an event similar to “Invisible” or “Habit” where she got overshadowed by some family emergency, except that time it was her birthday or some other event that was objectively significant for her. The kind of event where it is reasonable to feel really disappointed even if you intellectually understand that certain emergencies have to be first priority. But knowing Summer, it just added to her resentment, even when her parents tried their hardest to make it up to her afterwards. I like to think that incident happened on Soarin’s side because she seems to like/tolerate her Apple siblings at least a little bit more.

Varmint Venom: When she and Brackish were kids (and into their young adulthood), they used to pick on each other a lot. Brackish was usually the one to stir up shit, but Varm could also instigate if she wanted to and she usually got the upper hoof with her wit and charisma. (For example, one time Brack tried using one of her snakes to look cool for the ladies, but said ladies suddenly took an interest in Varm instead.) But there still appeared to be a tiny modicum of respect even on Brackish’s end. When they were kids, though, Brackish decided to be really shitty and “show Varmint a cool frog” which entailed throwing several at her face. What was mostly an irrational, but manageable phobia was made so much worse by Brackish purposely being an instigator and laughing at his big sister’s misery. It was one of the few times in her life Varmint actually felt powerless. Brack mostly moved on to other methods for causing trouble when he grew up, but the one or two times he tried to tease Varm with frogs did not end well.

Brackish: I think Brackish’s least favorite memories entail times that he actually received consequences for his actions. Some consequences don’t really faze him too much; for example, if a mare breaks up with him, it might bruise his ego and piss him off but he never really cared about her to begin with. He can and will find somepony else in no time. Even groundings were mostly inconsequential in the long run because all he had to do was wait them out and push through the extra chores for a little bit. By “actual consequences” I mean his parents threatening to stop supporting him if he continues with his behavior, not because they don’t love him but because they’re running out of options. The support of his family is one constant he counts on. He may not enjoy all the reunions and he may find even his immediate family annoying sometimes, but some part of him still needs to know he still has them to fall back on. You could call it love or you could call it convenience, but either way the idea of losing that support is enough to scare him into…well not really cleaning up his act but being a lot less reckless, but also more manipulative.

Obsidian: For now it’s her falling out with River, which was the first serious conflict she’d ever had with the creature she once thought she was inseparable from. Add to that the shame of knowing somewhere under her defensiveness that she was wrong. Later in her story, it’s the events I described in this post.

Mountain Peak: Definitely when his grandfather died. As implied in “Sedimentary,” Mounty had no idea his grandpa was really that close to death, so when he did pass on it came as a complete shock. Maybe not to his more keen-eyed parents, but definitely to an optimistic young colt like him. It was made much worse by the fact that it happened right around the holidays, and by Limestone not being the most emotionally literate in trying to comfort him. After some time he did come to understand that his grandpa lived a good long life, and it wasn’t like he didn’t understand death before, having heard about all the passed-on Apples that came before him. It’s just different when it actually happens. As you probably read, though, he ended up dealing with it much better than Limestone. Also up there is the events of “Labradorite,” but at least in that instance, part of him already anticipated something going wrong.

[audioaujom]

27: Victim's Memoirs [wrong end 4 ★5]

Corpse Party Hub, < prev, next >

This is wrong end 4 ★5 from Chapter 2! A lot of these bad endings are fucked up and awful but I honestly debated not writing this one because it’s nasty, but… when whump calls lmao

I've also written (or begun writing) nearly every other bad ending for this game and I guess this one felt left out idk

I know compared to a lot of the other graphic shit on this hellsite this is probably nothing, but I’d feel uncomfortable posting this without a bunch of warnings. I don’t really have a taste for such graphic things, but I’m actually kind of pleased with how it came out. I like the ick ig Be safe and enjoy responsibly.

Pairing: Ranboo and Charlie

Word Count: 3190

Chapter TWs: Mind Manipulation ("Darkening"), Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gore, Implied/Referenced Cannibalism, Vomiting, Character Death

--

“Whoa hey, do you see that?” Charlie asked as he stepped out of the classroom, Ranboo poking his head out the door to look over his friend’s shoulder at the floor.

“The notebook paper with blood on it?” Ranboo asked, Charlie turning around to face him with a sinister grin. “Yeah, I see it. Why?”

“C’mon, aren’t you curious?” Charlie all but whined, his eyes darting back and forth between the page and Ranboo’s disapproving glare from the doorway.

“Uhm, not really. What’s it gonna say? ‘Here’s how to get out of this horrible haunted elementary school in three easy steps’?” 

“It could!” Ignoring the obvious deadpan, Charlie smiled hopefully up at Ranboo—who just sighed and shook his head.

“No, it really couldn’t.” Ranboo then paused, an unreadable look crossing his face before he continued, “But I’m not going to stop you if you do wanna look.”

“Aha! You are curious!” Charlie poked a finger into the taller boy’s chest, his smile splitting into a wide grin. “It’s just as I suspected!” Triumphant, he turned and swiped the paper up off the ground, eyes scanning the page from behind his glasses before his grip on the page tightened and his face paled. “Oh. Oh god nevermind.”

“What? What’s it say?” Ranboo asked, his own curiosity morbidly piqued by Charlie’s horror, taking the scrap paper from his friend who passed it over wordlessly.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — ��� — — — — — I ate my friend today. What else was I supposed to do? I was starving. We both were. And there's no food here. So we decided, together, that one of us should try to live just a little bit longer. If I ever get home, I'm supposed to tell all the people waiting for us what happened. We left it all up to a game of rock-paper-scissors. Loser eats winner. And I lost. I felt her blood going down my throat, quenching my thirst. And her meat was surprisingly satisfying. But that blood and that meat was once my friend. Up until just a few hours before, I'd been talking with her. As I feasted, I just kept thinking, this food used to be a person. Before I tore it apart, it all worked together to sustain a life. And every time I thought about that, I just started crying… and I couldn't stop. I wanted some part of her to be with me even after she died, so I decided to keep one of her eyeballs. And I thought maybe I should write all of this down, to help preserve some small portion of my sanity. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Oh.” Ranboo gagged in disgust and horror, dropping the page to put one hand over his mouth as the other went to clutch at his stomach. “Well, alright. That’s… wow, okay. Um…”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Charlie tried to joke, but it fell flat as his voice shook nervously. He then put a gentle hand on Ranboo’s shoulder, quietly suggesting, “Let’s just… leave that there.”

“Yeah. Good idea.” Ranboo nodded, staring down at the paper on the floor, his look turning to a slight glare. “Just when I think things can’t get any worse…”

“C’mon, let's keep looking somewhere else.” Charlie offered, lightly pulling Ranboo by the arm away from the classroom and towards the stairs.

The two silently made their way back down to the first floor, wanting to search in a more orderly fashion by working their way up from the bottom. By the time they’d made it downstairs the odd tension in the air had already dissipated, them hunting in a much more comfortable silence until—

“Uhm… Ranboo? Is that…?” Charlie asked tentatively, pointing at another rather innocuous piece of notebook paper lying behind a ruined table near the rows of shoe shelves at the front doors.

“Another bloody piece of notebook paper probably containing horror beyond my worst imagination?” Ranboo responded rhetorically, giving Charlie a look as he blandly stated, “I think so.”

“Would it be wrong of me to say I’m still curious?” Glancing at Ranboo beside him, Charlie quickly backpedaled, “Not in a weird sort of way, I just… if it’s from the same person I want to know what happened to them.”

Ranboo stared at him blankly. “Why are you asking for my permission?” 

“It makes me feel better.”

“Wow, no hesitation there.” Ranboo shook his head at his friend’s immediate answer, sighing and gesturing forward at the page. “Sure. Go read it if you really want to.”

“Okay!” Charlie nodded, jogging forward and crouching down before looking up as he realized he wasn't being followed. “Are you not coming too?”

Ranboo stood still for a long moment before he finally gave in and stepped over with a quiet, “...coming.” 

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — I hold, in the palm of my hand... a piece of a person's body. A piece of a person who was living and breathing only a short while ago. This body part used to be attached to her head. And now, I'm walking around the school with it. I had no idea eyeballs were so heavy. And I just keep squishing it in the palm of my hand, as if I'm testing its firmness. Squeeze, and release... Squeeze, and release… — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Okay.” Charlie announced, dropping the page immediately after finishing it. “Somehow that’s worse than the vivid description of cannibalism.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Ranboo grinned as Charlie turned to look at him, betrayed.

“Hey! That’s my line!” He whined with his own smile, before it slowly faded alongside the playful air as realization started to dawn on his face. “But dude… this place is really fucked up. The bodies we keep coming across are all of kids, which means—”

“Don’t. I’m gonna stop you right there.” Ranboo cut him off, firmly waving both of his hands and shaking his head for emphasis. “I don’t… don’t. Nope. I am not going to think about the implications. You are not going to think about the implications. There are no implications. None.”

Charlie nodded, his widened eyes slowly closing as he let out a breath to calm himself down. “No problem.” 

Working their way around the main floor and then to the row of first floor classrooms, the second page—while weird—was long forgotten as the two briefly bickered about how to open the nailed shut door at the back of 2-A until Ranboo remembered the nail puller they’d found earlier. The secret room was strange, with large gaps in the floor and a mechanism at the far corner, the two venturing all the way to the back corner to look over the mechanism to try and figure out what it did.

“...Charlie.” It was Ranboo who broke the silence this time, an arm flying out to the side to stop Charlie in his tracks about halfway into the room. The two boys paused, both noticing the page on the floor.

“Are these notes following us around or something?” Charlie questioned with a frown, pushing Ranboo’s arm away. “Cause we can’t seem to go more than a few feet without finding another one.”

“I don’t like this at all.” 

“Yeah, that’s… fair.” Nodding to himself, Charlie paused before shuffling forward a few steps. “...I’ve gotta, right?”

“No, you really don’t.” Ranboo answered, Charlie ignoring him as he bent down to pick up the page with a shit-eating grin. “That sounds like a yes to me!”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — I've been searching every last corner of this school building, trying to find a way of escaping with her. But it's not happening. No matter how much we struggle, only further misery awaits us. I'm so unbearably thirsty… so hungry that it feels like my stomach is eating itself... And every moment, it gets worse. It's like a big, black mass in front of me that's slowly closing in. I can't keep ignoring it. I've started talking to the eyeball in my hand, to help stay focused and maintain my sanity. Stop looking at me like that! I swear, I'll find us a way out of here! I have to make sure I tell your family what you did for me… — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Hopeless. Lovely.” Ranboo commented from over one of Charlie’s shoulders, watching as his friend curiously started re-reading a section of the note.

“What’s that black mass thing they were talking about?” Charlie asked after he finished looking over the page, setting it back down with a huff. “That sounds a little more imposing than the hunger or thirst.”

“I’m not sure… but whatever it is we should avoid it if we can.” Ranboo sighed, staring down at the note on the floor, lost in thought.

“Oh. I assumed that went without saying.” Charlie agreed, before smirking and commenting, “Y’know, to avoid the big black ball.”

“Dude.” 

“Not even  a sliver of a smile?” Smirk dropping, Charlie sighed and shook his head. “Throw me a bone here man, I’m trying to cheer you up.”

“...thanks.” Ranboo smiled a little, recognizing Charlie’s effort but still too anxious to actually feel any sense of relief. “But the best way to cheer me up would be to stop reading these creepy notes and find a way out.”

“Aye aye, captain.” 

Ignoring Charlie’s mock salute, they continued investigating each floor systematically in an on and off silence until they reached the end of one of the hallways on the third floor, the two noticing another bloodied page near a particularly large gap in the floorboards.

“Okay, I know you said to stop reading them, but it’s right there.” 

“I already said I wouldn’t stop you like ten times, Charlie.” Ranboo sighed, watching Charlie run up to the page and instantly scan its contents.

“Epic.” About halfway down the page, Charlie's expression dropped, setting the page down with a wince of nausea. “Oh. Nevermind. I think I’m just gonna… put this back…”“What did it say?” Ranboo asked curiously, wandering over and picking up the page as soon as it hit the floor.

“Oh, you don’t wanna—” Charlie reached out to stop him, but was a moment too late as Ranboo had already begun reading. “Wait!”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — I am writing these memoris wit hsticky hansd but its not me that is stiky but somethng else I hope you re not mad about this maybe you will think im a horribl e person but i got hungry again really hungry like i was about to DIE so i I did something I shouldn't have done. I promised myself I would stay sane, and promised myself I wouldn't do what I did, and I am so, so sorry, really, really sorry, really sorry but there is no excuse for what I did. With my bloody hands, I took the thing that I've been squishing, and I put it in my mouth, and I swallowed it. Iateit. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“...yeah.” Ranboo silently let go of the page as Charlie spoke, letting it slowly flutter through the air until it landed at his feet, Charlie grabbing him by the shoulders to maneuver him further down the hall. “Let’s go, Ran.”

“Yeah.” Ranboo nodded absentmindedly, fiddling with his hands before glancing over at Charlie and timidly asking, “We’ll figure this out, right? You and me?”

“You and me.” Charlie affirmed, squeezing his shoulders. “We got this.” 

No matter how confident Charlie sounded Ranboo couldn’t shake his lingering anxiety, the longer they searched around the school with no clear goal only serving to make it continually spiral. By the time they’d backtracked to the second floor for a second time, it had gotten so bad he almost didn’t step off the landing and through the doorway to the floor, letting Charlie pull him along as he couldn’t seem to get himself to walk forward. The anxious ice in his veins that had shattered when Charlie urged him forward resurged rapidly after the briefest moment as both of them noticed the paper lying beside the large gap in the floor at the same time.

“...is that—?” Charlie asked, cutting himself off as the two stared at the page on the floor.

Ranboo nodded, dread coiling in his stomach as he couldn’t will himself to move any closer to it. “I think it is.”

“It’s fine.” Charlie said randomly, pulling Ranboo into a nearby classroom with a soft smile. “I’m not curious.” 

“What? Really?” Ranboo asked, disbelieving, some of the dread giving way to relief as Charlie sounded genuine and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, really. We have other priorities right now.” 

“Yeah. Yeah.” With a short nod from Ranboo, the two went back to investigating the small room. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

The classroom held nothing useful, Ranboo giving up after a few minutes and slamming shut the teacher’s desk drawer he’d pulled open in a vain hope of finding anything they could possibly use. He turned to comment about the empty nature of the classroom to Charlie, only to realize his friend was no longer beside him. Confused, he poked his head out of the doorway to see where he could’ve gone in the minute he was distracted with rifling through the desk.

“Charlie? Where’d you— NO!” The yell of surprise ripped out of Ranboo before he knew what he was saying, staring at where Charlie was crouched on the floor by the staircase with the previously seen note clutched in both of his hands. “Charlie, what are you doing?!”

“Sorry, Ran. I’m too curious.” Charlie apologized, flashing him a quick smile. “Besides, this is probably the last one, anyway. No harm, no foul.”

Reaching out, Ranboo threw himself forward to try and take the page from Charlie—who easily ducked out of the way. “No, don’t—!”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — if you are reading this allow me to forewarn you there is no hope of rescue there is nothing to be gained endless wandering and endless torture is the nature of this place i succumbed to my hunger and thirst began nibbling on that corpse again there is no flavor, no sensation just meat and fluid to sate my empty belly i promised i would not desecrate your body any more but i broke that promise  please  forgive me — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Charlie had barely read the last few words on the page when his vision completely blacked out.

Everything felt wrong.

The last thing Charlie remembered was reading another one of the bloody notes—please forgive me—and then blacking out on the floor. His head hurt and his mouth tasted metallic, a hand coming up to messily wipe some blood leaking out of his mouth as he tried to sit up and figure out what was going on around him.

“Shit, my head—!” Charlie glanced around with half-opened eyes, shaking his head and looking around frantically for his friend only to realize he was alone in the hallway. “What… oh god, Ranboo? Ranboo?!”

Forcing his nauseous body to his knees, he felt his stomach roil and force a line of bile up his throat from the movement, trying hard to swallow it back only for the metallic taste in his mouth to grow stronger.

“What the fuck is—?” He asked, cutting himself off to spit out a thick wad of blood that was building up in his mouth, the contents landing in an oddly gloopy pile on the wood between his knees. He spat again, the blood a little thinner but still strange as he recoiled from it and toppled over backwards. “Shit, what the fuck…?”

Finally looking up and getting his vision to focus, Charlie wished he could fall back unconscious as he realized he wasn’t technically alone—but the only company he now had was his friend’s unmoving body.

An extreme amount of blood had soaked into the wood flooring beneath Ranboo’s still form, his throat torn open and windpipe crushed, his neck missing a large chunk of jagged flesh from the middle that had already stopped oozing. His mouth and eyes were wide open, the once lively gray now faded, glassy, and frozen in a kind of terror that made Charlie sick to his stomach all over again. The muscles on his upper arms had been torn clean off, white bone sticky with what was left of the crimson tendons and blood missing from his limp arms—one of his elbows bent all the way up the wrong way. His legs weren’t nearly as torn as his arms, but they were ripped by what looked like teeth marks from the knees all the way down to his shoes, pants shredded by the unnatural strength of whatever had attacked and left his mangled body in the middle of the hallway.

“What did… what?” Charlie scrambled back up to his hands and knees to crawl up to Ranboo’s body, afraid to touch him as he realized his hands were already slick with the same blood that formed dried drips on the front of his shirt—and was very likely Ranboo’s. “Oh god, no… no no no, this some twisted fucking joke, there’s no way I would’ve… oh fuck…” Metallic twinged bile threatened to rise up his throat again, Charlie only managing to turn his head at the last minute before the vomit could soil Ranboo’s already desecrated corpse. “Blood… everywhere and… no… no, please…”

Sitting innocently next to the body was a scrap of paper that managed to avoid the worst of the spilled bodily fluids, Charlie reaching for it with shaking hands as he recognized Ranboo’s scrawled handwriting.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — It’s okay, Charlie. I know this wasn’t you. Only the school and that black mist are to blame. If you ever come back to your senses and read this… I’m sorry I couldn’t stop you. I hope you make it out. - Ran — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The rest of the note trailed off into a thick coating of blood, Charlie’s eyes going unfocused with hot tears that gathered in the corners and threatened to stream down his already messy face. “There’s no way I… I did this…?” Charlie asked aloud, his strangely half-full stomach feeling infinitely heavier as he frantically tried to spit or even throw up more of the flesh and blood coating the inside of his throat. “I… oh god…”

Another retch had vomit with chunks of barely digested muscle landing in front of Charlie, his eyes blurry with now freely flowing tears and an odd faded black tint around the edges that creeped in with a cool chill. One hand went up to claw at his throat as the other braced him against the floor, overwhelmed with a self-loathing so strong it was only rivaled by the innate disgust that stung in his mouth like his stomach acid, him clinging desperately onto the awful feelings as they started to slowly slip away from his conscious grasp into the dark void that gave him a sense of deja-vu to when he’d finished reading the last of the bloody notes. 

Charlie was tired and anguished and suddenly overwhelmingly… hungry. He just couldn’t fight it anymore. The hunger ate away at his feelings greedily, him collapsing to the floor as the dark haze re-took over his vision—leaving him in an empty heap of despair lying on the bloodsoaked wood next to Ranboo’s unmoving body.

[angstandhappiness]

@bi-scottsummers: #op this is such a wonderful little essay thank you#also. this could be completely out of left field. but it seems to me that SWK is still grieving & that a lot of his reactions to certain Uhh#situations which arise in the show can be directly traced back to the events of his past#the whole ordeal with LBD is kinda Yikes. bc it reads to me as him impulsively reacting to this untreated …. I don’t wanna say trauma but.#yeah. trauma kind of (the LBD chapter in the og series featured a VERY dramatic breakup between SWK & tang sanzang bc LBD manipulated her#way into the group and Buddha’s Specialest Boy refused to listen to SWK when he was like ‘that’s a demon man. maybe stop engaging with it’#to be fair he did also kill her on sight the first time they met her which as you can imagine would be a big No No for a monk but I digress)#idk how much of the og series theyre keeping as canon in the show BUT if we assume almost all then I think SWK’s flaws make a lot of sense#LBD pops up again; he remembers That Time he tried to protect his buddies from her & they all ignored him & almost died;#he goes Not This Fucking Time!! and leaves his current buddies behind & tries to take her on all by himself#quite stupid! some might even say astronomically stupid. but MMMM I love it when characters are stupid for reasons#not to say part of it isn’t just his reckless personality but SWK has lived a long life & I feel it’s possible that some of the shitty#habits he’s picked up along the way carry over. ALSO this is purely just me but he feels like such a lonely character in the show#I mentioned grief earlier bc of all the murals of the og JTTW gang you see on flower fruit mountain#and the fireworks scene. when he brings out a feast fit for like 6 people#the fact that at the beginning of the show nobody has rlly heard or seen from him in like. centuries ??? like he just isolated himself#completely after his friends died??? it’s like he’s haunted by them bro not one episode goes by where they let u forgot that he used to be#part of something bigger than himself#I forgot where I was going with this. ok wait yes I remember. I’m SO curious to see whether or not his past will ever be DIRECTLY addressed#because while I think he is just an inherently flawed being (as everyone is) I also think a lot of his communication issues and#self-sacrificial issues could be hmmm mitigated I guess if he ever decides to work through (what I perceive to be) one of the factors#contributing to them. just to be clear I don’t want him to be suddenly perfect I just think he’s got some shit to work through#he was canonically kind of an asshole to macaque before the show’s canonical start to JTTW & im sure he’ll continue to be an asshole after#all of this. but hopefully he will be an asshole who is a little bit better at processing & dealing with his emotions accordingly#I’m probably reading too much into this bc a lot of his shit can also just be attributed to arrogance#in which case YUM. love it when characters have to face the consequences of their actions😚love watching silly monke get his ass beat#like to be xtra clear: macaque & SWK both are letting trauma from their pasts ruin their chance at a future. but MK sees them as#villain/hero respectively. I just like this perspective bc then we have to consider where the line’s drawn or if theres even a line at all

@imminent-danger-came; #prev woag#''this is kinda outta left field'' *proceeds to give a lovely little analysis of SWK and his flaws/past*#But YEAH. Wukong? SUCH a lonely character.#I think pretty much everything he does in the show is motivated by whatever happened to the og JTTW crew#Like lol. All of his friends died. After DBK is sealed he's pretty much effectively cut his last tie to anyone.#And so I can imagine after watching everyone he cares about leave him (in one way or another) it's like next time#Next time he won't let that happen. He'll put himself on the line first#He'll protect MK (at this point the only person he has in the world)! He'll do it this time!#He's immortal 7 times over! He can't die! He's going to do this!#And then. Oh no. Oh geez he does NOT do that at all#Tragedy at it's finest fr fr#Prev I don't think you're reading too much into anything I think that's just his character#LMK expects you to draw a line between a lot of dots and by GOD have you drawn them#That scene in 2x00 when MK's like ''I gotta go watch the fireworks with my friends...'' and the way like#Wukong just turns and stares into the sunset#LIKE BRO???#I also always think too hard about Wukong calling the gang his friends in 4x07#''I'm not going to let some curse bully me or my friends a second longer!'' Your friends???#You consider them your friends?? You were confused that Tang was hugging you in 3x05.#And this is after showing how the og JTTW crew presents themselves in the gang like. SIR??? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FRIENDS.#Would love for Wukong to work through his problems. Would love for ANYONE in this show to work through their problems actually#I'm really hoping for a SWK V MK fight at some point.#For both SWK's and MK's arcs respectively MK needs to be the one to chew SWK out. LIKE I'M WAITING.#Anyways whatever a hero and a villain was at the start of the series that has really degraded by this point#it's just soup#I don't even know whats happening here anymore#I will say the first episode of the special is titled ''A Lifetime of Mistakes'' and they HAVE to go into Wukong's scroll piece. So.#These writers are fucking baller they're not going to pass up an opportunity to see SWK's past directly like this#Or pass on opportunity for MK specifically to see SWK's past#Like oh god it's all coming together

@bi-scottsummers: #PREV too true let MK lose his shit at SWK. as a treat<3#poor boy has taken after his mentor with regards to how well he processes + deals with unpleasant emotions#monkie kid#ok I’m done with the reblogs now I promise. no more essays in the tag god bles 🙏

@sterling-starlight: #I know I've joked about how I keep on making the sad old men in my shows my favorites#But for real?#My adoration and love for this stupid monkey is almost overwhelming#He's so so flawed but and he's shouldering several lifetimes worth of pain and guilt and lonliness#but he chooses to do his best when some weirdo kid stumbles into his life#he chooses to be KIND#It would be so easy to write him as embittered and jaded and a complete asshole#but they don't#I just-#he's going to ruin my life if he dies

@cloud-somersault: #ah what great analysis#we love it when people point out and understand that flawed characters are what make a story#expecting wukong to be perfect and not make mistakes even POST journey is not realistic#he was makign mistakes up till the end friends#he is by no means perfect#and that's perfectly fine#he's doing his best#he cares too much#and we love him for it#he goes the extra mile in trying to protect people#by lying and hidng information#making them think everything's fine while he's putting out fires behind the scenes#he wants to handle things and he puts that burden perpetually on himself#wukong still has development to go through and isn't that beautiful#aren't you excited??#characters without flaws...aren't really characters at all y'know?

@chipper-smol :   #good good good analysis

@ec-arts: #this is a really good analysis

@mariposiel :  #screaming crying throwing up

@rorylow :  #WOAWW I LOVE THIS#IN-DEPTH SWK ANALYSIS FOR THE WIN !!

@chaotic-bumblebee-agenda :  #THIS. ALL OF THIS

@confused-dreamer-wolf:  #all of this#he is such a complicated character

@niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian :  #OP this is a really good essay right here#but yeah what was he doing all that time after sealing DBK??? chilling in a eternal hot spring?  #oh i am FUCKING LOSING IT#AHHHHHH

@cosmoshard​ :  #Augh yesss#rly good points here

SWK being so flawed is like one of LMK's strongest bits. I feel like a different show would just have him be infallible or have him be like a twist villain or irredeemable or something. But he's neither of those, he's just incredibly flawed. It's also interesting that even though Mei and Pigsy are critical of him, they're still shown to care about him.

All in all, hes a more complicated character than people give him credit for :/

I 100% agree!

Honestly, if Sun Wukong wasn't flawed I'd find him a bit boring. You remove his flaws and you remove the meat of his character. Even all the way back in season 1 you get the feeling he's withholding information and concealing his past ("Show me the real Sun Wukong! The old you would have leveled this whole mountain range to stop me!"), and that only becomes more and more prevalent as the show goes on.

Wukong is first introduced as a hero, as the King who defended the world from DBK. Next he's introduced as a mentor, planning to make MK his successor (which I think is pretty debatable at this point, as I've said I personally think he just needed an excuse to train MK).

Slowly we learn SWK is pretty terrible at both of those things. He's not the hero or mentor anyone thought he would be—he's not even the mentor he thought he would be:

Macaque: “Haha, you saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn’t have to work for anything, and you thought you were the other guy? The second the hero got real power, he couldn’t care less about his friends.” [ - ] "You know, I meant what I said—you really are a good kid. A good kid, with a really terrible teacher." (2x07 Shadow Play)

-

Pigsy: "Back from what? Your vacation? No- what could have been SO important you'd leave MK alone to face that- that thing! You're supposed to be his mentor!" (2x10 This is the End!)

-

Sun Wukong: "I know I can never make it up to you. Honestly I- I never thought I'd live as long as I have let alone be someone's mentor—turns out I'm not very good at it. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry MK, for all of it." (3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

(he's staring sadly at a bowl of soup, never a good sign.)

s1 of Monkie Kid, as well as the Revenge of the Spider Queen special, establish a baseline. We meet Wukong as we're meant to know him—the legendary yet cheeky hero. Now that he's retired, Monkey King is training the next generation to protect the world and be the heroes in his place.

Right?

Well, just like our perception of Wukong, our perception of the role of the hero slowly degrades as well:

Lady Bone Demon: “Heroes? Please, you’re mere agents of chaos, the very thing I aspire to eradicate in this new world. No more destruction, no more disorder, I WILL HAVE PERFECTION.” (3x12 The Corrupted King)

-

Curse MK: "We’re just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no no- the chaos and destruction we’ll bring upon the world will make Wukong’s past look like nothing." (4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

MK: "That can't be true! Monkey King's a hero he wouldn't just—" Azure Lion: "You saw it with your own eyes! His betrayal, his brutality—he took the only friends I had from me." (4x08 The Brotherhood)

-

Heroes aren't people fighting for the side of good, or even for what they think is right—they're agents of chaos. Destructive. "All doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart." Heroes are introduced as one thing, and then slowly revealed to be another.

Heroes, just like Wukong and anyone else, are flawed. They still make wrong choices. They still hurt people. Of course Wukong isn't a twist villain or irredeemable, because ultimately he IS a hero with plenty of the positive traits that come with that. But heroes are also flawed, and this is something I think is at the core of Lego Monkie Kid.

You can love someone, and that someone can do plenty of good, but that doesn't mean they're not broken, or that they aren't capable of causing suffering. This isn't something that only applies to Wukong either—pick any character and I'm sure you could apply this to them.

Now, all this to say that Wukong's two fatal flaws are his lack of communication and his self-sacrificial tendencies. Like Azure Lion says—he has a habit of keeping people at arms length, and more often than not doing that to protect them. These tendencies more often than not lead to his downfall.

So! Let's make some lists of where we see these flaws in the show.

Wukong's lack of Communication:

"Look, I'm going to come clean—um, I've been kind of watching you."

Leaving MK and lying to him during s2 (this includes lying about both going on vacation AND that LBD had returned)

Keeping his plan to stop LBD a secret during s3

"Where I got my staff!" "Got or took, right? You took it?"

Not telling the gang about the 4th ring

Other lies I'm sure have yet to be revealed (such as MK the truth about MK's origins, if that's the direction the plot's going)

Wukong's Self-sacrificial tendencies:

Leaving during s2 to find a way to stop LBD on his own

"What!? You're not going I'm going!" "Yeah so, here's the problem, you guys have this thing called mortality, so-"

Gravely injuring himself to get the samadhi fire Map

Blocking the brunt of the samadhi fire to protect MK in 3x10

Going off to fight the Lady Bone Demon alone

Protecting MK from the curse in 4x01

(and this post here that travels into theory territory)

Now, most if not all of these decisions lead to something bad happening. It's very in line with MK's words in 4x08:

MK: It doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!”

Wukong, even if he has a very questionable way of going about it, is truly motivated by protecting the people he cares about. However, these choices also hurt those same people. Not to reference samadhi fire Mei another time, but this is EXACTLY what she points out:

Mei: "We trusted you! All of us! How could you lead us into the fight without a real plan? Time and time again I've watched you put MK in danger leaving him to figure out EVERYTHING on his own. Don't you realize you're hurting the people who care about you the most?" (3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

But that's the point, isn't it? Even with all these flaws and after all these mistakes, Wukong still tries (he's very much like Mei in that regard):

Sun Wukong: “Point is, mistakes happen, but so long as you leave the world in better shape than you found it, then it’s all good. Right?” (4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

Sun Wukong: “We can’t change who we were yesterday or in a past life, or a hundred life times ago! We live with the choices we’ve made, for what matter is the choices we make RIGHT NOW! Only we decide who we are and what we do with the power we have.” (4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

This is who Wukong is. He's not a hero or a mentor, but he's someone who cares. That's the tragedy of his character, really. That's the tragedy of both him and MK. They're people doing the best with what they have, but still failing anyways.

"Nice hero speech bud, but I know better—deep in your hearts, you don't believe a word of that."

And people still love you anyways.

[lexpressobean]

I've been thinking about these 3 alot...

... and how much they seem to really respect Shino. I know it's a filler, but, like... Why does it seem like Shino has a knack for finding children who have wondered off away from school? Like, he's just taking a walk, making his way around the village or surrounding forest, and then there they are. Kids playing hooky or some shit. And Shino just takes it upon himself to approach them and steer them back to where they should be, while getting them attached to him somehow in the process??

But honestly. If this was just one of many times this had happened, I'd say Shino does this not out of his knack for teaching or having a way with kids. Rather, he developed a way with kids and easily applies that to his teaching because he has a strong desire to simply protect children. And it's not even from some paternal instinct as much as survival, because I think it stems from the developing trauma of losing Torune to Danzo. And I don't think it's all subconscious either.

Like I know the novel and anime frames his desicion to teach as a sort of a new goal in life as the war has ended for a couple years already and a noticable Peace has been achieved by the Blank Period and well... He's an Aburame.

Like, the Aburame are literal living, breathing, walking bioweapons. With no fight to utilize that, what else is there? Well, much like the Nara have the Nara forest and Pharmacology specifically, The Aburame most likely have a historical stake in the area of Konoha, perhaps it was simply in their Ancestral Home. Idk, but they're here to stay, they ain't budging. They're Clan Culture is very Martial and I'd argue Spartan in nature, but otherwise, they do other things too. I think they'd do well as major players in the conservation and research of native species of animals and plants, but definitely insects too. I bet they play a huge part in the general area's ecosystem, especially due to the fact that the Kamizuru clan attacked with a whole clan's worth of non-native Hymenoptera that could very well have become and still are an irritatingly and consistent problem as invasive species tend to be. And as a far as goods go, why not put some of them to use and handle an apiary? Honey is a great good to sell. All of this is great as a clan that no longer needs to fight. But, what about individual members in general, and so Shino?

Well Shino is the Heir of this clan. This Noble Clan. This "ready to throw hands at any moment" clan. It's future is in his hands, so to speak. So I doubt Shino would completely sever his connection to Shinobi life all together. And so, teaching at the Academy would be a great way to keep that connection. Teachers have to know their stuff, after all.

But what if in order to ensure teaching was his calling, Shino did his absolute best to make Jounin ASAP so he could take on a Genin Team. And. And by chance, it ended up being these three?? And they are absolutely STOKED!!! And they also pass Shino's genin test, which... would probably be a feat in it's own right. But they already know Shino, and Shino has bestowed upon them some wisdom they actually took to heart! Yeah, well, in reality they might be just a tad too old to be Shino's first official genin squad, but they were still his squad one point in a sense, right?

Kon Nohara, Tano Ikemoto, and Aoki Kobayashi

I even gave them names help Imagine these three are already chuunin at least and decide they want to pay Shino a visit and even volunteer to help Shino during class time on a collective day off because they admire him so much (T~T)

But even then if not these three kiddos, maybe these three li'l shits lol

Even in times of Peace, Shino's special set of skills seem too useful to waste, and being a Jounin teacher would definitely have been a way he could still go on missions, but also definitely commit to becoming a Sensei at the academy once he was 100% sure and got older. Kurenai became a Jounin/Genin Squad Leader in her late twenties, but in comparison I see Shino doing that more mid-20s. (He needs some time to travel and find his big bug friend and generally live a little?)

Kurenai was a Genjutsu Specialist who manned a Tracker/Sensing based team. This sounds like it was a highly beneficial combination, even if she ended up being somewhat sadistic lol. Asuma was bound to Team 10 by Tradition as InoShikaCho and Sarutobi have that Pact together. Kakashi's team was literally Cherry Picked for him specifically by the 3rd Hokage. And Gai, a Taijutsu Specialist, had a team that Specialized in Taijutsu and Physical Offense.

Of all four teams, Kurenai and Gai were very suited to their teams, Gai in a complimentary way and Kurenai in a Challenging way. In that same vein, I think Shino would imitate Gai. Shino as a Shinobi himself has a general set of skills, but the way he goes about them are very niche. But, he was always very stealthy, and could sneak up on nearly anyone. Gags aside, he could go unnoticed as long as he wanted too, and by the time he was noticed or was ready to attack, he has you quite literally surrounded. Honestly I can see why Search and Destroy would be an Aburame's forte, but when there's no need, a person with a personal skill of high quality stealth could probably man a team with an emphasis on Reconnaissance and/or Surveillance, even Bodyguarding. I feel like Shino would probably put an emphasis on Stealth and Tracking too, utilizing his insects as sort of assistants that keep tabs on his students (Stealth Test) as well as to encourage just enough fear during too much down time in his students to inspire quality training opportunities, so maybe Kurenai rubbed off on Shino more than they all realized haha

(Plus I'm sure his students would be be smart and thoughtful enough to eventually understand what Shino and his bugs are: a complete unit. They realize just how strong and dedicated Sensei really is to be the way he is, and they all learn more in depth about Kikaichu and it's like WOW SENSEI YOU REALLY ARE RISKING BEING EATEN ALIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY, AREN'T YOU? But he's still here, because THAT'S how strong he's become over the years and the confidence to manipulate the Kikaichu while having to think of current chakra level, the most efficient use at any given time, how many he actually needs, how long usage will last, ect. They are high maintenance, man!)

Shino would no doubt produce highly skilled Bodyguards and Masters of Stealth. Maybe the type that would end up being in high demand for the eventual Celebrities that start to pop up as times change, but still very much needed when it comes to Criminal Activity, like in Sora-Ku?

But as time passes and he decided to teach at the Academy, he'd feel very at ease to do so. He'd be happy to be put in charge of all these children, because he would be able to help teach them things they need to know to defend themselves and others in a world where adults like Danzo had and will continue to exist. Maybe while he's at it, he'd use his stance as a Noble Clan Heir and accomplished Shinobi to push for changes in government with Sai's help and with Naruto and Shikamaru's cooperation? Like, the truth does come out, everyone on the Council were actually horrible and had too much power. So HERE are some ideas and REASONS why these ideas should be implemented because Shino's not going to let his brother's life and death be in vain!? HELL no, we WILL make some changes around here. Shino sees his students and just wants a future where no kid ever has to live in fear of being completely taken advantage of by the very system that was supposed to keep them safe and they pledged allegiance to.

I cannot help but think of the quiet but absolute fear little Shino was harboring for the years to come after Torune was taken by that strange man and Father Shibi didn't even attempt to stop him. His own father didn't dare beat the shit out of this strange man who came looking for him, and the only solution for Shino to stay was for Torune to make himself look more desirable as an asset and be taken instead. I bet there was a lot of misplaced resentment there for a while, and talks that just didn't happen. Maybe a classmate doesn't show up to class one day and Shino is IMMEDIATELY stressed out and just... takes it upon himself to look for them after class. And he's relieved when he see they're simply at home with a fever. Shit like that just fucks with Shino, because theres people taking kids and no one is doing anything about it?? And then as Shino grew older he realized exactly what happened and how slimy the machine of Konoha really is and it was never completely Shibi's fault that Torune had to leave. He grows mentally at a faster rate than most of his classmates, and knows more than a kid really needs to know.

Shino doesn't want that for any other child. Shino is the kind of person who hears kids screaming outside of his house and he can't tell if they're playing or being murdered and it's stressful to the point he'll check through his window and he sees them for himself. He get stressed out seeing a kid in public unattended and WANTS to approach them to help if need be but also maybe he's overthinking it and the parents are there somewhere and he'd just end up looking suspicious. Like, that's what I kind of figure for Shino. He's so hyperaware of the power dynamic between kids and adults and seeing a kid so ready to fall victim to that makes Shino feel ill the more he thinks of what could happen. And he wonders if watching the kid in the market until they finally reunite with their parent so he could move on with the rest of his day causes him even a fraction of the the utterly disgusting flurry of nerves and fear that Shibi must have felt all those years ago. It goes along with his desire to spare every single little insect's life he can. It goes a long with the fact he only gets violent unless absolutely necessary. Like he wants to be strong but he doesn't want to go mad with power either, less he becomes the very thing that hurt him and his family in the first place.

Originally Shino wanted to become strong to be able to defend himself because at a very young age adults failed him and Torune. But then that changes to defend not only himself, but others as he grows on a team, and realizes trust is important. And then he figured if there must be adults out there that would hurt a child, it's only logical that he should become one that would only nurture and teach one to be strong as well.

Anyway, yeah. Had some feelings. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[goldentsum]

— love, you can’t run away from me forever.

PAIRING: soulmate! suna rintarou x reader

GENRE: smut, soulmate au but make it dark

WORDCOUNT: 5.5k

SUMMARY: growing up in a world filled with soulmates was magical but with news about people going crazy and killing people for their “love” made suna repulsive to the idea of soulmates though when you came along, he finally understood why those people did it. 

WARNING: dark content, smut, noncon, manipulative tendencies, cussing/cursing, creepy! and delulu! suna, mean! reader, masturbation (male), photos and audio recording taken w/o consent, kidnapping, oral sex (fem receiving), bdsm, sadistic! suna, dom! suna, violence, abuse, blood, suna is a dick, reader who tries to fight back

AUTHOR’S NOTE: another one cus why not! you guys seemed to liked my first dark fic so here’s another one! <3 might be bad idk prob cus of my writing HAHAHHA also, suna just being a creepy and psychopathic aquarius. DO NOT INTERACT/READ IF YOU ARE A MINOR OR DON’T LIKE THIS TYPE OF CONTENT. 

REMINDER: this is not love and i do not condone this type of behavior. do not romanticize this, this is fiction and in no way am i telling people this is okay. if you don’t like content like this, please click away or block the tag tw.darkcontent

‘the world is fucked up,’ suna thought, looking at his phone as he saw all types of news about people killing and committing all types of felonies to prove that their love for their soulmates were real. 

the stoic male grimaced at one news he came upon when he scrolled up, a young man killed his family and friends because “he doesn’t need anyone else beside his soulmate”. now that was fucked up. suna never thought he'd lose faith in humanity even more with each passing day. it was actually impressive with how fucking stupid and delusional people get when the topic of soulmates come up. 

gold eyes narrowed at the inked skin of his wrist. “(l/n) (y/n)” or whoever that is better not mind never having a soulmate because there’s no way in hell suna’s going to be all lovey-dovey and accept the soulmate bullshit. 

he thinks that soulmates are a scam. it was a hoax to make people do stupid shit and suna will not tolerate that type of bull. if he’s gonna end up with someone, it’ll be because he likes them not because of ‘fate’ or whatever decided it for him. 

he will never conform to society and its standards. 

“suna! what’s with the ugly face?” atsumu snickered, plopping down on the seat beside suna making the taller male groan. 

“oh fuck off, atsumu. i’m not in the mood for your bullshit” 

“when have you ever been in a mood for bullshit?” 

suna raised a brow and hummed, “good point” 

atsumu shook his head and turned to the counter where his brother was standing behind. “’samu! i want 3 tuna onigiris!” 

osamu glared at his brother and scowled, “get it yourself, lazy ass” 

“i’m paying you!” atsumu whined like the little brat he is but osamu ignored him and tended to the other customers in his shop. suna groaned at the noise, “for fuck’s sake, tsumu. shut up. your voice is so annoying” 

atsumu glared at the man and punched his shoulder, making suna winced and scowled at his former teammate from highschool. the older miya twin huffed and ignored his words, continuing what he was about to say before suna insulted him, “anyway! what i was trying to say earlier was that people around us are finding their soulmates while i’m stuck with you bums! how is that fair?!” 

suna groaned, annoyed, at the same old topic of soulmates. “soulmates are overrated. it’s a scam. you’re lucky you haven’t met yours yet if anything.” 

the setter scoffed at suna’s old same line of bitterness towards the topic of soulmates, “what’s with you, anyway? what’s with the bitterness towards soulmates?” 

“it’s bullshit, is all” suna replied easily, not bothered nor giving a shit. atsumu smirked and threw an arm over the male’s shoulder, “one day, you’ll meet your soulmate and everything’s gonna change.” 

“did you just curse me or?” 

“I don't know, did i?”

oh for fuck’s sake. atsumu really did cursed him. suna stared in awe, uncharacteristically so, at you while you glared at him. you clicked your tongue when his gaze was still as dazed and lovesick since you two have met. 

“fuck off, rintarou! i told you i don’t want any soulmate bullshit!” 

suna chuckled with a small blush on his cheeks, “i love it when you call me, rintarou--”

“because that’s your name, stupid! you know what, i’m not even gonna bother. and for the last time, stop following me!” you growled, stomping off to get away from your creep of a soulmate but the man didn’t mind your words. it was quite amusing to him to be honest. 

you’re so cute and small and so angry at the world that it’s so endearing to him. with every glare you give him, it sends pleasant shivers down his spine. ah, so this is what it felt to be with your soulmate. it’s addicting. you two could rule the world together if you want to. 

“love, you can’t run away from me forever. i’m your soulmate” 

you groaned at the persistent male, “i don’t want you as a soulmate! why can’t you understand that?!” 

suna stopped following you after your harsh words. you also stopped, your anger subsiding a bit when you realized what you said and all of a sudden, there was a pain in your heart. you cursed at the soulmate bond that was not letting you reject your fate. guilt resurfaced in your gut when you looked at suna who’s staring at the ground, eyes hidden under his bangs. 

“r-rintarou?.. look i’m sorry, okay. but i don’t really want any soulmate business in my life-...” you tried to explain but quickly cut your words off when suna started chuckling. 

scared and terrified at the creepy laugh and unexpected action, you stepped back and looked at him with wide eyes. suna then looked up at you and smirked, the dark glint in his eyes gave you the creeps, his breath heavy as he panted like a dirty pervert! his eyes were so filled with emotions. lust, obsession, and ‘love’ but you don’t  even know if you can call it ‘love’...

“did you feel that? it shows... no matter what you do. we’re connected.” 

oh fuck no. this psycho is not worth it. you grimaced at his words and turned back around swiftly, walking faster to get away from him. 

“fate will always bring us together, (y/n). the quicker you accept that, the easier life gets” you heard him shouted after you and it only made you quicken your actions, heart beating rapidly at what just happened. 

suna smirked at your figure as it grew smaller and smaller. he figured he’d let you go for now. it’s not like you can hide from him. you can try but the ink on your skin will always remind you where you belong and that’s with him. 

the tall male looked at his phone, the screen showing a picture of you sleeping. he traced your features through the phone with a loving sigh and quickly stuffed it back to his pocket. he whistled a small tune under his breath on his way back home, his thoughts filled with you. 

suna walked inside his apartment, shrugging his shoulders to loosen the tight muscles. he groaned in annoyance when his shoes got stuck on his foot but quickly shook it off. the moment he was in his bedroom, he removed his shirt and plopped down on the bed, opening his phone again. 

in his phone, there was a whole album of you. sleeping, eating, at the gym, when you were at the library. suna also opened one of the files in his phone as sounds of you breathing when you were sleeping echoed in the room. 

a small moan escaped the phone, suna’s eyes shining slyly at the sound. oh how he wants to hear it in person. he wants to hear every lovely sound you can make. he wants to know everything about you. 

what type of weather do you like? do you like cereal at night like him? do you have a special place for cats in your heart like he does? do you hate heat like him? and do you like getting fucked so hard the only thing you can do is scream? 

suna sighed at the last thought as rapid images of what you would look like popped in his head. would you look pouty? would you cry? would you be quiet and shy? or would you moan like a bitch in heat? 

the familiar twitch in his sweats made suna antsy. a hand drifted to his pants to palm himself through the cloth. 

suna massaged his hardening cock through his pants, letting out sighs as he did so. your soft breathing from the phone was making him harder. he imagined you beside him, sleeping. looking so innocent and safe from all the vile things of the world. safe with him. 

your plump lips curled into a small pout as your brows furrows while you dream then waking up, needy for him. suna groaned and swiftly tugged his sweats and boxers off him. he spat on his hand, hissing when he started stroking his thick cock. drifting to the sensitive head of his cock, he massaged it with the slick spit as it ooze out pre-cum. 

he quickly coated his digits with the precum and slicked his twitching cock with it for the smooth friction he was craving. he panted at the feeling when he tightened his grip on his dick, trying to imagine your tight wet pussy instead. 

“s-shit, baby... feels so good’“ he slurred, closing his eyes to focus on the feeling of the tight grip, stroking himself to a slow rhythm. in his mind, he can see your pretty face. 

he can imagine you on top of him, rolling your hips slowly to not overstimulate yourself with his large cock inside of you. suna licked his lips, a small smirk appearing on his face as he imagined the cute little noises you made when you tried to fit him in you. 

his thick cock hitting so deeply inside you but oh how you like it, you slut. you’d look so gorgeous, moaning on top of him, hands on his chest whilst you ride him. 

“r-rintarou” he can hear your lewd voice calling out, your breath getting heavier with each stroke of his cock, dragging in your tight wet walls. your big doe eyes filled with tears as you look down at him, trying to get some help from him to fuck you good already.

he cursed when he felt a familiar band trying to snap in his lower stomach, his hand getting faster. wet slapping sounds echoed in the room along with your soft breathing on his phone. his violent and aggressive movements were getting him closer to his release. 

this is how he wants it to be. him fucking you so violently making you cry, hands gripping you tight that your pretty skin would bloom with violets and blue. 

he can already see it, how your tongue will roll out your pretty lips whilst you get fucked so hard that all you can do is lay and scream for him, your soulmate. your other half. you belong to him. 

“ha-ah-!” suna groaned deeply when his release hit him, thick warm cum hit his clenching abs as the spiraling pleasure made him shiver. his hand pumping his dick fast to ride his orgasm, his chest heaving deep pants. the male gulped down, trying to wet his dry throat as he slowly calmed down. lazy yellow eyes stared up in the white ceiling of his bed. 

he needs you. he wants to feel you. he wants to be with you. now. 

you sighed as you walked home to your apartment, it has been a week since your crazy soulmate tried to bother you in accepting him and it was making you jumpy. his eyes just showed so much when you last saw him that it made you paranoid with every movement that was happening around you. 

you entered your room, exhaling a deep breath of relief as you felt the warm air of your safe home. it was nice to be in your apartment again. no one to bother you. safe from the crazy man that suddenly stopped messing with you. 

after shrugging off your coat, you enter your kitchen to get a glass of water. all the overthinking about the mess that fate got you into was making your head hurt. as you greedily gulped down the water to soothe your dry throat, a movement from the dark living room made you choke on it. 

“shit” you cursed and looked at the wet floor. you put the glass down and looked at the dark living room, trying to catch any movement. you then quietly went to the knives beside you and grabbed one, walking cautiously through the room. you flickered the lights on, ready to strike if something attacked you, but as the lights went on, you sighed in relief when you saw no one. 

you let your hand drop beside you, rolling your eyes at yourself at the paranoia. you cursed the man that did this. now you were overthinking stuff and seeing shadows.

when you were about to turn around, a large hand covered your mouth and tightly gripped your wrist that held the knife, making it clunk to the floor as you screamed but the hand muffled it. 

“stop fuckin moving already.. you’re gonna just tire yourself” the familiar voice made your body stiff, your blood went cold. crying against his hand when you felt his lips touch your ear, teeth grazing it. 

“you’re so pretty” he cooed, his voice heavy and slow. tears pricked your eyes as you struggled against his hold but the tall man was obviously stronger than you being an athlete. you tried to stomp on his feet but the man nudged you forward with his weight as you two tumbled into the couch. 

you can feel the vibration of his chuckle as his chest was against your back. you heard him sigh and a small grind on your ass was enough to make you feel disgusted and dirty. 

“i apologize for this next action, (y/n)” suna muttered beside your eyes and he leaned back, quickly turning you around. before you could even scream, pain blossomed on your cheek. your vision turned blurry at the impact, dizzy.

this motherfucker just punched you. you faced him again and spat the blood on his face, your lip busted as well. “f-fuck you!”

suna growled at your actions but quickly smirked, wiping away the bloody spit on his eye while he held you down. 

“a tough one~ i like that” he whispered and you could feel a hard nudge on your inner thigh making you grimace. this man was fucked up... he just got hard from punching you and you fighting back-

suna smirking down at you was the last thing you remember then everything went dark.

the room was cold. and your limbs ached with each movement you did. you opened your eyes and panic hit you when you couldn’t see anything. you tried to call out but there was a gag on your mouth. 

you cried through the gag, you cursed everything. you hate fate for getting you into this mess. you curse soulmates bonds, you were right. soulmates are a bunch of bullshit. just look at where that ended you up in. most importantly, you hate him. if you can, you’ll kill him on the spot. 

the fucking psychopath. your soulmate. 

you bit the cloth on your mouth as the binds on your eyes got wet from the tears that escaped from your eyes. your feelings were a mess and all you could feel is anger, shame, and dread. 

“oh, you’re awake. that’s good. i thought i hit you harder than i intended to, thank god that you’re okay” you heard the familiar voice that you loathe. you growled through your gag but suna could only laugh at your pathetic attempt of dominance when you’re gagged, blindfolded, and tied to the bed. 

“now now, no need for that. we want to get along, don’t we” he muttered, walking closer to you and sat on the bed, beside you. 

you flinched when you felt his weight beside you and his hands caressed your cheek. you whimpered at the dull pain when he touches your cheek. this fucker touched where he punched you--

“that looked like it’ll bruise” you growled again at his words. you wanted to scream at him. hit him. make him feel the pain of what he did to you. 

your fussing about stopped and you stiffened when you felt him shift on top of you, going in between your legs. you tried to close your legs but his hands were faster than you. 

he maneuvered you like a doll he owns, fixing you into a position he liked. suna gazed at your tied-up body, his cock already starting to harden in his pants. he wants to touch you already. 

his hand went up and tugged your blindfold as he smiled at your dazed look that changed to a mean one. suna chuckled at your spirit. it was making him excited. 

“you’re too cute, love” he muttered, leaning closer to your neck and nuzzled into you, taking in your scent loudly making you flinch in dread. 

“you smell so sweet,” he said against your neck, an unconscious shiver running up your body. suna smirked when he felt it and continued to nuzzle his face in your neck. his hands touching and groping your body while you growled through the gag but he barely even paid attention to it, too caught up at the feeling of finally touching you and being with you. 

“i wanna taste you~” he whispered lewdly, looking deep into your eyes with a smirk. your eyes widened at his words and mustered up all the strength you had and hit his head against yours. 

you were disoriented after it but it was worth it when you heard his curse as he leaned away. your forehead was red you were sure and it’ll bruise with how hard his head was. 

“you bitch-!” your moment of victory was cut off when large hands wrapped around your neck, squeezing it. you choked, wriggling around to get away from suna but he leaned all his weight on top of you. 

he glared down at you, watching with sick satisfaction when your eyes slowly fluttered close and your struggling gradually ceased. suna can snap your neck right now if he wants to. the power he has over you almost made him drool, his cock twitching excitedly in his pants.

he let your neck go, heart beating fast when he saw finger marks on your neck, the shape of his hands on your skin. he watched you cough and try to inhale air, desperately. 

suna then grasped your chin in a tight hold and turned you to face him, making your dazed eyes look up at him, “do that again and i’ll make you bleed.” 

he let your chin go harshly and climbed off you, going out of the room. you gulped and intake the precious air, looking at the door with fear and anger. 

being with suna was an absolute nightmare. you don’t know how long it has been since the psycho kidnapped you and it was agitating. you fought back but suna liked it because it gave him the excuse to hurt you. you knew this but you just can’t give him the satisfaction he craved of you submitting to him. 

your body was slumped into the bed whilst you cried as suna ate you out. his fingers pumping viciously in and out of you, tongue lapping on your swollen clit. he denied you 4 orgasms already and your body was so sensitive from it. 

“just fucking accept this already!” suna growled against your pussy, the vibrations sending violent shivers in your body. you writhe and keened, your body in his mercy. 

you shook your head, tears streaming down your red and bruised cheeks. your neck was decorated with purple and red, bite marks and fingerprints alike. your wrists red and raw from the rope he used on you constantly.

“n-no!” 

suna rolled his eyes at your disobedience but let you be. he knows you’ll be his good girl sooner or later. he just has to try harder, he guesses. 

he sucked on your clit messily, tonguing your wetness. his fingers caressing your walls as he hit your g-spot making you arch your back. suna smirked and continued his ministrations, ignoring your pleading to let you cum already. 

he felt your walls clenching on his fingers as he stopped altogether making you cry in desperation. suna leaned on his feet, admiring the way your body tried to hump him to get the satisfaction of cumming. 

your body is so beautiful. before it was pristine and void of any marks and flaws but now your skin was decorated with purple and red courtesy of his love for you. 

“you really wanna do this, (y/n)? you rather be a bad girl than be my precious girl?” suna tried to reason with you, his tone was as if he was talking to a child. you scowled at him, “fuck you, asshole!” 

suna’s eyes turned dark at it. one thing he can’t tolerate was you saying such crude and bad words. he raised his hand and slapped you, the force of it made you turn to the side as you gasped at the pain. 

blood dripped from your nose. suna then grabbed your cheeks, squeezing. he glared down at you. “when will you learn... and here i thought you were smarter than that” 

you cried at the pain of his grip on your face and the sting of his slap was still there as his fingers pressed down to the bruises you had on your face. he shook your head, growling, “what do you say when you do something wrong” 

he continued to shake you, your aching limbs hurt at the violent movements. you whimpered and unconsciously replied, “i’m sorry-!” 

suna stopped and removed his hands from you. you looked up at him with teary eyes and saw him smiling softly at you. his mood swings were scary. you don’t really know what type of suna you’ll get before it’s too late... 

“atta girl...” he muttered and started to remove his pants. you panicked at his actions and tried to move away but the painful slap on your thigh was enough to make you stop. 

“now, let me fuck you” 

suna grabbed your ankle and pulled you down on the bed further, closer to him. he pumped his cock at the sight of you, so pretty and crying

“rintarou please-! d-don’t!” you cried, feeling so helpless and all your fire from earlier and the past days gone. the dark-haired male grinned at your sobbing and fussing about. 

“tsk. be a good girl, (y/n). just accept it.” he leaned closer to you, whispering against your wobbly lips. his dark yellow eyes stared straight into yours, lust swirling around his orbs. your body shook in fear and a small cry leaving your swollen lips. 

in one swift movement, suna entered you. he captured your lips, muffling your screams because of him suddenly entering you. the wet squishing noises were triggering your tears. you felt disgusted with yourself that you were enjoying the stretch and the feeling of being filled up by this psycho. 

maybe in another world where you two have met differently. a perfect world where things weren’t complicated. if you two worked it out and things were different then maybe you’ve actually loved him and accepted him as your soulmate. but not in this world. not now. 

you cried when suna started moving, hitting your g-spot with every thrust. your body arched on the bed, feeling the pleasure. suna panted above you, arms caging you and his muscles contracting with every movement he does. 

suna cursed at the feeling, it felt so good. you feel so good. your wet and squishy walls sucking him so eagerly. the lewd sounds of your wetness and his constant thrusting was making him more excited. 

he stopped for a moment, pulling out from your pussy to put you in all fours and then entered you again when he moved you the way he likes. suna groaned, fucking deep into you. his tip grazing your cervix making you squeal. you can feel your orgasm coming faster because of the orgasms suna denied you earlier. you sobbed, hips unconsciously thrusting back to his dick. 

the male chuckled breathily, sneaking a hand between your legs to play with your swollen clit. you choked on a moan when you felt him massaging your clit. you let your head plop down to the mattress, arms wobbly, and all you could do was moan as your body jerking at the pleasure suna was giving you. 

“oh honey, you should see how slutty your body gets when i’m fucking you” he snickered behind you, hips never relenting with his fast and hard thrusts. 

you felt tears trail down your bruised cheeks, you don’t know if it’s because of the shame you felt earlier or the pleasure. the fast circles suna gave your clit made you whine and moan as you felt your orgasm wash over you. 

you howled at the satisfying feeling of the violent orgasm, finally cumming after the torture of not coming four times earlier. suna smirked at the way your body convulsed beneath him. 

the unwavering fucking from behind was sending you to overstimulation and suna’s fingers still rubbed down your sensitive clit. you whined and keened, drool slipping past your lips. 

“so fucked out” suna muttered and bent to lean against your back, his dick twitching in your wet walls. he then angled his thrust differently making you gasp. 

he leaned back again, staring at your sweaty discolored back, from his bites from the past fun times you two had, and the way you leaned against the pillows as your pretty face contorting into a fucked out expression, so lewd.

a large hand trailed down to the back of your neck, grabbing it and letting you lean against suna’s chest. his hand then wrapped around your dainty neck, squeezing, as he felt the vibrations of your moans. 

“pretty baby~” 

his other hand gripped your hips, stilling your wiggling around as he fucked into your harder at the newly changed angle. you whimpered at the way his thick cock reached so deep into you. 

suna moaned beside your ear, hips slowly losing his rhythm as he chased his own orgasm. his self-control snapping into something greedy and feral. he ignored your cries and fucked you so he can finally cum. 

the way he used you wasn’t supposed to feel this good. although he didn’t have any intention to make you feel good, the way his dick stuffed your full and the way his thickness stretched you was made you feel the familiar band in your stomach trying to snap once again.

he unconsciously squeezed your neck, breath heavy, when he felt his orgasm getting closer. he growled, thrusting sloppily in you, the sounds of your wetness echoed in the room along with your broken moans and rasps. you can feel him twitching inside you sending you into another orgasm.

you screamed, body arching against suna. the way your pussy squeezed him and the feeling of you cumming again triggered his own. suna moaned, painting your insides with his cum as he rode his orgasm, ignoring your whining. 

he panted, removing his hold on you and letting you hit and slump unto the bed. you whined at the action. suna pulled out of you as he admired the way your pussy was filled with his cum, dripping down to your thighs and down to the sheets. he licked his lips at the sight and leaned closer to you as if he was lured in. 

you gasped and cried when you felt his tongue wiggling around your sensitive pussy. you squeezed your eyes close tightly, body shivering at the overstimulation but suna barely paid any attention to you. he only wanted to satisfy his desires.

you gazed at the plain ceiling, dully. the soft breathing of the insane male beside you was making you grimace. he just finished fucking you or what he calls, “soulmate bonding time” but all he did was make you cry. 

the sun was up and it was probably noon now but suna normally sleeps in and today was no exception. the phone beside suna’s side on the table started buzzing, circling a little because of the vibration. you heard suna groaned, always the light sleeper. you quickly closed your eyes and hid your face in the covers and pillows. 

you felt the male shifting and after a while, he started talking in his annoyingly attractive deep voice. sleep taking a toll in his vocal cords making it all husky. you internally cursed the soulmate bond trying to make you see him in another light or some bullshit like that.

“hey, what’s up?” 

you continued to listen to the one-sided conversation as you pretend to be asleep. your heart skipped a beat when you heard suna’s words. 

“yeah, come over. i’ll introduce you to her” 

your body stiffened but tried to relax. maybe this was your chance to expose him. you have to try something, you can’t keep letting him do these things to you... 

a soft sleepy groan, the sound someone makes when they stretch, rung inside the quiet room. the covers shifted a bit and a disgustingly familiar body heat hit your skin as two large hands caressed your skin. 

“baby? i’m gonna introduce you to my friends, that’s okay right? it’s time i show off my pretty baby~” you heard him coo. you bit your lip, how can this man act like your relationship with him is normal... you then became painfully aware of the bruises and scars on your body making you self-conscious as you tried to make yourself smaller. 

“they’ll see all of these” he whispered sweetly with a dazed look on his eyes as he traced the marks that were in purple-y and reddish hues that it was too nauseating to look at but suna thought it was so beautiful on you.

suna spent all afternoon dolling you up, fixing your short dress that shows every mark he gave you. your eyes looked at your reflection. you teared up at the sight. you didn’t look like yourself anymore... 

tired eyes that sagged with dark bags under it. a deep purple bruise on your cheek. your bottom lip was cut from suna’s slap, neck decorated with hickeys and fingerprints, skin discolored.

the man behind you started whistling the godforsaken tune he always sang under his breath as he combed your hair. after fixing your hair, he let his hands down on your shoulders and looked at you through the mirror. 

“ain’t you a pretty little thing...” he muttered, admiring you. you let your gaze shift down to your lap as the male carried you to the living room. 

“now behave.” his word was final as always. do not question it nor do you go against it. or he’ll hurt you... again and again...

a loud voice cut through the quiet atmosphere in the apartment and impatient knocks was heard. “suna! open the damn door, already!” 

the dark-haired male sighed and went to the door. your heart started beating a little too fast. when his guests see you, or your state, you’ll get away from here... or maybe he’ll hurt them too... you shook your head. trying to stay positive so you can get out of this hellhole.

a tall man with golden dyed locks entered the room along with someone who looked similar to him though their hair was different. honey brown eyes lock with your tired ones, you were hopeful when you saw the confusion in his eyes. 

the man looked back to suna who stood next to him, you knew you were saved when the two identical men glared at him but then they started talking--

“geez! here i thought you’ll be gentler now that you met your soulmate!”

“suna? gentle? like hell. now where’s the food. you promised me food, suna” 

your eyes got teary as you suppressed a gasp. of course, his friends were as insane as he was. 

the golden haired male then smiled at you like there was nothing wrong. like he doesn’t see all the fucking bruises on your body, “hey, darlin’~ suna’s been beating you, huh? were you misbehaving~?” 

suna growled at the man and shoved him, “shut the fuck up, atsumu” the two started bickering like everything was normal as they ignored you...

you sniffled and turned to the light nudged from your side, you looked at the other male that entered the apartment. the man offered you some pudding as a spoon was hanging from his lips. “you look like you need it, miss” he said, his face unfazed. 

you took the pudding with shaking hands and lowered your head as the three men walked around the room, conversing with each other. 

maybe, suna’s right... life would be easier if you just accepted him. you were stuck with him now and always and his name on your skin will forever be the reminder of that. 

fate has a weird way of pairing people up and you can’t do anything about it. 

[moriphyte]

I know defending quackity for dream's torture makes peeps uncomfortable but man idk nothing about goes against my moral compass and maybe that means I have something wrong with me but man Big Q just makes me feel safe. He makes me feel safe because even after he's beat he doesn't lie down and take it, he doesn't shut up, he's angry and violent but he's calm with Tommy, he cares and that makes me feel safe. I don't see him as a protective force, bitch is such a weak little man that I bet even my brittle boned ass could take him, but he's rather an enduring force, he survived meaning so can I. He doesn't preach peace like philza because he knows it's unattainable for people on the bottom.

He's safe man

(also this maaaaaaay be because I was raised in a religion that doesn't see violence as inherently bad because we were consistently oppressed by the dominant religion, idk mate sometimes u gotta beat a green tellytubby to an inch of their life before he destroys everything dear to you)

Idk man I know ultimately giving into hate is bad and that any movement propelled by hate will ultimately cannibalise itself but I just feel that anger is different from hate. Anger protects you, hate grows like a parasite and consumes you, and big Q is a character that plays with the difference between the two and I just wish discussions of him went beyond "man he be girboss, but I don't support torture cause I'm a good Christian"

first of all everything you said about quackity is absolutely correct. he’s strong in that he is a survivor, he’s enduring, and he’s done what he’s had to do, no matter how gruesome, to protect himself and the people he cares about. similarly to wilbur he is hopeless when it comes to fighting but he’s good with people and he knows how to use his words to get what he wants, he’s had to to survive. as for torturing dream, i think the reasoning behind it is a lot more complicated than it seems. on the surface there is the reason quackity openly gives, which to obtain the revive book. technically it is true that quackity wanted the revival book, and was torturing dream to get it, but it was never because schlatt won their bet. quackity owes nothing to the ghost of his abusive ex and i find it hard to believe he would do something as extreme as daily torture for months just do do a favor for a man he hates. however i do think quackity wanted the revival book both to take that power away from dream so they could finally kill him, and to take some power for himself. quackity was in the darkest part of his revenge arc. he was the remnants of a good man who was quickly being lost to vengeance. he hadn’t yet realized with the help of charlie that revenge would only ever hurt everyone involved and continue on endlessly unless the cycle was stopped. he was lying to sam, manipulating people into joining his country, and torturing the man that has done more harm to the server than anyone else. and that’s the real reason he was torturing dream, because he murdered tommy, he hurt one of the few people quackity truly cares about, and after all the pain he’s caused the server big q decided to take justice into his own hands. now i can’t say i like the torture, but more because of its effects on the story than my own personal moral opinions. first of all it brings undue sympathy to c dream, because torture is objectively horrible no matter who it’s happening to. however, when that person is a serial killer that has tortured multiple people and gets his kicks from abusing a kid? this sounds harsh but like…who the fuck cares? i have no sympathy for dream when it comes to the torture. the way i see it he experienced a small fraction of the pain he inflicted on others for research or in tommys case just sick fucking fun. second the torture ends up having the complete opposite effect that quackity wanted. he wanted to punish dream for what he did to tommy, serve the justice that is so often non existent on the server, but it backfired as revenge always does. dream was already fucked in the head, like no normal person would do what he did in exile even at their worst, but after months of isolation, starvation, and physical torture? he’s fucking unhinged. when he was chasing tommy he literally repeated the exact line quackity said to him in the prison “i’m going to make your life a living hell” just another example of revenge hurting everyone involved, especially the person the revenge was for. now dream is hunting tommy, and of course that would have happened regardless of quackity torturing him, but it’s also clearly had a psychological effect on dream. he already found torturing and abusing a child “fun” but now? whatever boundaries he may have still had are gone. and that actually relates to the last and darkest part of why quackity was torturing dream, and that comes from dream himself. at one point quackity says “i’m getting tired of this, i don’t even know why i’m doing this anymore” and dream screams back “you’re doing it because you like it!” and initially quackity dismisses this before reconsidering and admitting that maybe he does like it. and the thing is, the only reason dream knows that, the only reason he could see whatever small part of big q did truly like torturing him, is because he recognizes it. their motivations couldn’t be more different, but the end result is something dream recognizes in quackity. dream enjoys torturing tommy because it’s entertaining, quackity enjoys torturing dream because it’s vindicating.

[featherfur]

Meng Yao should have been around when Jiang Cheng was running around with his head cut off trying to make disciples out of rogues and convince everyone to get started on the war. I just think he’d see this, probably manic, idiot who needs help and is 100% willing to be bossed around and who really doesn’t care about Meng Yao station in life because he’s just fucking desperate and wants to die but can’t because Yanli and just go “actually I’m interested”. Because Jiang Cheng would riot if he knew Meng Yao wanted to go back to his dad, and well Jiang Cheng is very pathetic when he thinks he’s being left behind (“You’re leaving me for the Jin just like Shijie? Tears and loud words for you! Tears and loud words dor a thousand years!”)

And Meng Yao would have a spot in Lotus Pier where he is VERY clearly wanted, he probably doesn’t become sworn brothers with anyone (or LXC and NMJ realize that no one needs to give the Jin any more influence and become sworn brothers with Jiang Cheng) unless it’s Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian (unfortunately WWX will still probably be killed or hunted at the very least but atleast Qin Su is alive? Maybe having MY around will help calm JC into the fact that LWJ wants to bang his brother and help him so JC can convince WWX to let LWJ atleast play for him, then maybe WWX can accidentally let slip about him already destroying one half and LWJ can help destroy the other half… Dunno if the Wen Remnants survive either sorry, honestly I don’t know if anyone can stop JGS in the long run)

So there’s two ways this goes: (under read more I have Thoughts)

Meng Yao DOES go to the Jin Sect still because JC gets wanting your Dad’s Approval even when he’s a dick AND he protects Yanli who immediately adopted him when JC showed up to the war with him. Without being stuck between a Rock and a Hard place (sorry NMJ not everyone is a annoyingly stubborn with their morals as you and MY is being hurt :( leave him alone :(( ) MY is able to continue being pressured without breaking and even though JGS keeps trying to get him to manipulate JC, MY won’t and won’t manipulate NMJ either and every time he goes to Lotus Pier to ‘look into’ the Jiang Sect he actually just spends the week being plied with children and listening to Jiang Cheng explain the fashion industry Again and talk about silks vs cashmeres vs wool so he just gets a vacay and is more prepared to stand up against his dad.

Also JC and Yanli catch on pretty quick to Madam Jin abusing MY because they were there after Madam Yu would hurt WWX and they know the signs of trying to hide the pain and Yanli suddenly starts Show Up whenever Madam Jin tries anything because that is her Didi now and she will protect him and if anyone ELSE tries to mess with him she will rip them apart like when Jin Zixun tries to bother WWX.

JGS does eventually manage to frame something on WWX but MY intervenes immediately by telling JC the truth and without the ‘did my kinda insane PTSD ridden brother so this?” Panic thoughts JC gets his people and is waiting for the force of Jin and smaller sects, with his two sworn brothers on either side. Because yeah NMJ absolutely hates the Wen but can he really ignore LXC and JC? Plus NHS on the side? He’s only there to protect WWX, anyone else can get fucked and even then he’s only protecting WWX because JC asked him too because NMJ thinks WWX sucks for choosing the wens because he’s very much of the one track ‘the wens suck’ mind. MY pretends he has no idea what’s going on but he does summon Jin Zixuan on ‘accident’ who shows up, annoyed he had to leave his kid, and is like “are we really going to accuse Nie Mingjue, known Wen hater, of protecting Wei Wuxian and lying about his innocence? Because his sword is the same size as my body and I’d rather Not”

(okay he’s more polite and subtle but that’s the gist) somehow Jin Guangshan dies, I’m voting Yanli poisoned him because I think Meng Yao is 100% willing at this point to simply take the abuse because Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen aren’t essentially telling him to murder his father and that he’s stupid for not holding harder to his morals (sorry NMJ,,, you just,, I love you but MY is hurting and he’s not as stabby as you) NMJ is still very much crankily telling him his dad sucks whenever they meet but Jiang Cheng gets all sparkly whenever MY is around because MY will say he’s Doing Good, so there’s only so much room before JC start just biting anyone who even looks at MY wrong. (NMJ says he’s proud of JC once and JC just starts crying and NMJ UnderstandsTM why MY won’t leave him alone)

But Yanli has to be the one to kill him because MY wouldn’t because he’s a filial son and probably hasn’t lost his hope he will be Loved, Jin Zixuan wouldn’t because he’s like the only one in the entire show not down with murder, Madam Jin is not about to give up the power and money that comes from being the wife of Jin Guangshan even if JZX would take care of her because Yanli clearly is willing to rip everyone apart who fucks with her family and unlike Jiang Cheng is willing to change the status quo, and if JGS dies on a hunt they’ll blame WWX so Yanli just poisons him slowly and he dies from ‘illness’. JZX takes power, Meng Yao is told he’s amazing twelve times a day because JZX can do busy work and argue against anyone but he cannot have a small talk conversation to save his life. Life continues peacefully, Jiang Cheng keeps kidnapping JZX’s advisor because he misses him. Meng Yao knows how to control literally every single great sect but he’s busy chasing down his nephews and helping Jiang Cheng avoid marriage offers to do anything.

Once Jin Guangshan died, LXC and MY both swooped in to have the Wen Remnants moved somewhere else to ‘civilize’ them (using LXC’s own words here) and WWX is very much caught between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji arguing over who he’s going home with and he’s honestly never felt more Loved TM. WWX spends six months to break the rest of the tiger rally under the grumpy/watchful eye of NMJ who still isn’t happy anyone from the Wen’s is still alive but he’s weak to puppy eyes and also when he’s being strong armed by his sworn brothers, MY, and NHS (though he still keeps an eye on the actual cultivators, he’s pretty much forgotten the rest of the Wen Remnants exist he just cares about the ones who know how to use a sword). Wangxian happens, idk how I’m voting for a wild Jingyi another orphan decides that he wants to meet the Purple Angry Man and body slams into WWX’s legs trying to get to the Purple man and LWJ catches him and it’s a full on romantic moment of staring into each other’s eyes while Jiang Cheng makes disgusted noises and Meng Yao pats his hand and just tells him to accept it.

Or Meng Yao stays in Lotus Pier because Jiang Cheng has problems and Meng Yao loves a messy loudmouth aggressive bitch with a secret heart of gold. Also Jiang Cheng is the exact kind of Demi-aroace dummy to not realize Meng Yao has a crush on LXC and keeps sending him over to Cloud Recesses to help with trade or something and MY gets to hang out with his crush constantly.

MY is Jiang Cheng’s personal advisor since WWX is currently refusing to process his trauma and staying in a very traumatic place. MY does try to help but WWX doesn’t trust him and probably only half trusts him around JC, BUT MY is very good with kids and helps work with JC on how to slip WWX supplies while negotiating directly with Nie and Lan without Jin glaring over him this time, and Jin Zixuan is more than happy to help when he can because again he’s just like the only one with modern morals and wants Lotus Pier to be strong since if all the sects fall then well the fucking demons/ghosts they hunt will eat them. So WWX is slowly atleast not ready to kill him, Meng Yao finds out WWX already destroyed half the Tiger Tally and tries to get him to let NMJ and LXC help him destroy it further (because that ties the three sects closer and so WWX won’t just stab someone if someone isn’t happy about the Wen’s existing)

Yanli poisons Jin Guangshan again because I think that’s the best way for him to go, Meng Yao does grieve but also that lasts for three minutes before Jiang Cheng shows up with some children he found in Yunmeng and Meng Yao needs to explain to him again that just because the kid latches on doesn’t mean you can take them home. But with JGS out of the way it’s a lot easier to strong arm NMJ into letting the Lan take the remnants (JC and NMJ still aren’t happy about it but NMJ can’t fight the three other sects and JC is getting his brother back and he’ll take the Wen living if that means WWX is too) and WWX returns to Lotus Pier. The truth of the golden core comes out probably via WWX having a flashback or panic attack or something (or that one theory of Yanli knowing,,,) words happen, WWX storms off to find LWJ.

Meng Yao wonders why he likes messy cry babies but still helps out Jiang Cheng because they’re technically brother in laws and also because he really does care about him. Wangxian happens and now Jiang Cheng is really pissed but WWX also said he wasn’t going to just up and leave so they’re on a rotating system but honestly everyone’s just waiting for them to move permanently to Lotus Pier because Lan Wangji has this giant hole in his heart for kids who love Wei Wuxian and Lotus Pier is filled with kids who are Jiang and therefore are insane ans love WWX.

Personally I think this one is the least likely but it sounds very nice right?

[rosalielesbianhale]

The human Jacob AU that no one asked for but I can’t  stop thinking about

° The books are the same up to the movie theatre with Mike and Jake (except there are no mentions of Sam’s “gang” because it isn’t a thing, Embry is still hanging out with Jacob and Quil, Jake isn’t afraid he’s next)

° Jacob and Bella have a little laugh at Mike’s expense but make sure he gets home safe.

° Jacob doesn’t get “mono” and drop off the face of the earth, he and Bella just keep getting closer.

° and so, Jacob is with her when she find the meadow and Laurent finds her

° in my version of events Laurent did not decide to suddenly side with Victoria because that makes absolutely no sense. He had no trouble ditching her and James in the first book and has supposedly found a partner in Irina who is friends with the Cullens so why would he be doing Victoria a favour and scouting the area?? make it make sense.

° no, instead, Victoria located him and started asking questions about the Cullens and he, trying to dissuade her from going against them, tells her what he’s learned about them since coming to stay with the Denalis. Alice’s visions, Edward’s mind reading, he lets it all slip in the ernest belief she’ll decide it isn’t worth going after Bella, after all evasion is her heightened power; she should cut her losses and run.

° after talking to Victoria, Laurent decides to warn the Cullens, he has a bad feeling after their talk and suspects she won’t give up so easily.

° he finds the house empty which is peculiar, they seemed so invested in this little human and who do you think he runs across in the meadow but that very human accompanied by a friend.

° he tells her about his talk with Victoria but there is a menacing undertone to everything he says. He is trying not to kill humans for Irena’s sake but as his eyes can attest to, he’s had some slip ups, and, really, she does smell delicious. If she is no longer under the Cullen’s protection then there would really be very little harm in draining her and there’s only one witness to take care off. It might even be a mercy because if Victoria gets her hands on her she would not make it quick, he’d do it as painlessly as possible.

° all of this is said aloud because the reader has no insight into Laurent’s mind otherwise and he seems like a person who’s inclined to give the occasional monologue

° he tells her to run, before he changes his mind

° meanwhile, Jacob is freaking the fuck out. As soon as they reach the road Bella guns it for her truck while Jacob just keeps up a continuous stream of “what the fuck. what the fuck. what the actual fuck. they’re actually fucking vampires? what the fuck. oh, god, dad was right. What The Fuck.”

° after that the whole story comes out, how Jacob was actually the person who helped her figure it out, how she had envisioned spending eternity with Edward and how, now that he’s gone, she hasn’t just been robbed of the person she loves but of what she had come to accept as her future. She has never been able to confide in anyone about the whole story so she tells him everything, right down to what actually happened when she got injured in Phoenix. It’s not like they’re coming back, it doesn’t matter if she tells Jacob.

° Jacob is understandably on overload, Bella drives him home and he says he needs some time.

° this is when Bella starts trying to reach Jacob but he’s unreachable. He’s processing a tremendous amount of information and needs some time away from the madness of Bella’s life.

° Bella starts to get restless. Jacob isn’t talking to her, she feels isolated and she needs to see Edward. She jumps off the cliff.

° I kind of want Sam to be the one who sees her jump and who fishes her out of the water tbh. He doesn’t have Charlie’s number so he calls Jacob’s house.

° Jacob promptly freaks out.

° he brings Bella home, Harry Clearwater has had a heart attack.

° Jacob is frightened for Bella after her jump but he also needs to be there for his dad right now and Seth is so young, Leah seems different after she lost her dad too. He needs to be there for them.

° There’s also the fact that the girl he’s in love with is in love with a vampire but staying away from Bella did not give him the clarity he’d hoped for. It’s still a mess.

° Alice arrives, she doesn’t need blind spots in her visions to go and knock some sense into Bella. Yes, she’s alive this time but she saw her voluntarily jump off a cliff into a raging ocean. Before she left she was a mess talking about how Bella tried to commit suicide and she had to go ensure she wouldn’t attempt it a second time.

° When Jacob rolls up to the house and sees Alice there it feels as though his insides have turned to ice. Are they all back? Is he losing Bella before he ever really got to tell her how he feels?

° Alice leaves to let Bella explain the situation. She tells him only Alice is back and why she came to visit.

° Jacob is a mess, this whole thing is a mess, but he’s left with the feeling that he had when he saw Alice was there. He needs to tell Bella how he feels.

° They have the almost kiss in the kitchen. Jacob is still dumb enough to answer the phone in someone else’s house, he still tells Edward that Charlie’s at the funeral.

° Alice returns, frantic. They have to leave for Volterra. However, Jacob doesn’t basically beg Bella to let Edward kill himself and stay with him. Once he understands that Bella is serious and Edward literally is going to try to get himself killed because he thinks Bella is dead he understands that the only way she can live with herself is if she tries everything she can to stop him from succeeding.

° Instead he is the voice of reason: “Bella, listen to me, Charlie is about to come home to an empty house after burying one of his best friends. He will be beside himself with worry and this note is bullshit, you’re a horrible liar. Tell him you’re staying with Alice tonight because you’re going to Seattle together in the morning, there’s a sale or some shit that she wants to drag you to. Tomorrow night you call him and tell him your car broke down, you have to stay in Seattle while they order the parts for you. It might be a few days. That’ll buy you some time.”

° “And call me when you land or, I don’t know, I might worry too.”

° It feels like tearing his own heart out but he lets her go. He doesn’t beg her to stay.

° The events at Volterra play out the same way they did but Charlie isn’t left to deal with the same amount of shit he was in the original.

° When they return Jacob comes to visit her, she fills him in and, let me tell you, he has a few things to say.

° “I can’t believe you’re just going to get back together with him. Bella he lied to you, manipulated you and left you. His sister can see the god damn future, if you think he didn’t know how this would affect you then you’re wrong. And he still did it. Maybe he’s telling you the truth and he did it because he thought it would be better for you in the long run but he made that decision without you. If you just take him back then you are essentially telling him that was an okay thing for him to do and it just wasn’t.”

° Jacob is so angry at the Cullens and really, what he’s saying isn’t wrong. The angrier he gets the more Bella can feel her own anger flaring to life, it had been buried under the sheer relief of finding Edward alive, the euphoria of being told that he still loves her. Now she feels indignant; how dare he just make this decision for her, how dare he not take into account her own feelings on the matter, how dare he prioritise his own concerns over hers, and how dare the entire family just go along with it. They all left her.

° She drives herself over to the Cullen’s house to have a talk with them. The vote stays the same, the “if you don't want me, then I'm not going to force myself on you, whether Alice is willing or not” part definitely stays in. However, Bella, after having taken the vote has a few choice words for all of them. “You all left me. I have spent months trying to learn to survive without you and it didn’t go all that well. I want to join you, I really do. But I don’t trust you anymore. You all made an enormous decision for me, without my say so. You’ve now made another decision that I was a part of and even though we don’t all agree, we all got a say. It’s going to take time for me to learn to trust you again, in the meantime all I have to say is this: you will never make a decision regarding me without my input again. Never.”

° She also talks to Alice separately, discounting Edward she feels the most hurt by the fact that she would have left her.

° Since Jacob is now the only person outside of the Cullens who she can actually talk to about her life, she tells him about her talk with them, including the vote.

° Jacob has an understandable freakout regarding the fact that Bella has definitively chosen to become a vampire. This is definitely not what he’d thought would happen after he and Bella had their last talk. And because he’s an impulsive teenager he brings Charlie the motorcycle, hoping that Bella will be grounded and get some distance from Edward and maybe even change her mind.

I have a lot of thoughts regarding the continuation of the series but it’s already a mammoth post so idk, i might do a separate post about Eclipse at some point.

[leogichidaa]

What were some of the things you’re thinking of? (I love your Walburga hcs btw! )

Thank you!

Alright, so Orion. As it happens, I have in my hands the notebook in which I wrote my earliest fanfics and thoughts about the House of Black when I was a little teeny bopper, more than a decade and a half ago. Before I even knew his name was Orion (I named him Castor), I gave him a backstory where he murdered his brother. His brother had done something awful to him--it's kind of hard to parse what that was because this notebook has been through a lot--but he had, idk, motivations? Anyway, after killing his brother he shut down emotionally and became hardened and cruel. And if you had asked me before I dug up this notebook if I had ever thought of Orion as the disciplinarian, I would have said no, but I apparently I did when I was 13. Wild.

My second wave Orion thoughts: so I've mentioned that there was a time in my life when I wrote Walburga as monstrously abusive because, quite honestly, I was dealing with vicarious/secondhand trauma at the time and my subconscious decided to project it onto the Black family: I used to have frequent nightmares where Regulus was subjected to all kinds of horrific abuse, which translated into me writing nightmarish fics. Orion's role was to come in after the fact and pat Regulus on the head and comfort him, but he would never actually stop Walburga. So Regulus saw him as a wonderful, compassionate father, but he was actually still a dick.

As time went by, my characterization of Walburga became more nuanced, but my thoughts on Orion remained pretty much the same. He stays out of it when Walburga fights with Sirius, he doesn't offer input. He just comes in after Walburga is winding down, or after she's stormed off, to say something calm and logical, so he looks like the rational one and she's the hysterical woman. He leaves Walburga to take the brunt of the work of child-rearing and offers no emotional support as a husband. Then smiles with smug amusement when Sirius or whomever talks about how crazy Walburga is. This dynamic, this hc: pure, unadulterated projection.

In psych Sunday, I made Orion the kind of person I scoff at. Like, I read about the people who sent their children to Freud and then said, "oh, of course, my child is scared of horses because he harbors a secret desire to have sex with my wife, his mother. She is far too indulgent with him. Thank you for your insight Dr. Freud," and I think...wtf?? While psychoanalysis does actually turn out to be beneficial to Regulus (because it is a therapy designed for the repressed upper echelon of society), it is certainly not a compliment that I made it Orion's idea to send him. And it is not a compliment that I had Orion align right away with the analyst. It's kind of a..."I don't know what to do with this child, here you fix him" mentality combined with, "I will believe a ridiculous theory if it makes me look like a concerned father and my wife look like a bad mother".

I have also had the hc that Orion wanted a daughter since the beginning of time. I don't know why? It doesn't really make sense, given the emphasis of the Black family on having a male heir. And it's kind of a sweet hc on it's own, but I think I adopted it so I could give him more reasons to be disappointed in his family and withdraw from them.

And that concludes the history of me disliking Orion in new and exciting ways! Most of my writing will continue to feature him as third wave Orion: a distant and emotionally withdrawn man who manipulates situations to always look like the sane, stable, and generous one, and who scoffs at his wife and sons for being inadequate but refuses to take an active role in supporting their growth and improvement. But I do want to branch out and experiment with other ways of imagining him.

[sweetescapeartist]

MY DBS MANGA CHAPTER 70 REVIEW

We learn in the last chapter that the Cerealian Dragon's name is Toronbo when Granolah speaks Namekian. Toronbo grants Granolah's wish but can't make Granolah stronger than the gods.

Here's the confusion I have... Goku is a mortal beyond GoDs so making Granolah the strongest mortal is making him stronger than gods. If you wanna say Beerus has been training and is now stronger than Goku, there's still a problem. It was said that Goku and Vegeta were stronger than some GoDs right before the ToP (but that might be anime only, so maybe it doesn't apply here). So Granolah is stronger than GoDs no matter what. If the gods that Toronbo is speaking of are the Angels, then that means Granolah is Ultra Instinct level of power since Goku is the lowest in Angel tier. But whatever. Bottom line is Granolah is temporarily stronger than Goku who may or may not be stronger than Beerus.

Granolah gets his wish granted and the cost is shortening his life... cool. Not much to say except let's see how its executed.

(I recently read that in DBXV2, during the Infinite History Saga, Videl is enchanted with Towa's Dark Magic spell by Dabura shaving off her life but granting her greater power. So granting power at the cost of lifespan has been done in DB before. Not in canon but in the games.)

Also, Granolah's life being shortened to 3 yrs got me thinking... Currently it's almost AGE 781 in the DBS manga timeline. Goku leaves to train Uub in AGE 784. We got 3 yrs left. The original manga shows Bulma said she hadn't seen Goku in 5 yrs. How I see DBS is that it is an alternate timeline that just happens to have a similar outcome to the EoZ.

So... why is Vegeta learing from Beerus again if Beerus isn't that strong now? Is Vegeta being like Krillin and continuing his learning from a master weaker than him, but gaining wisdom & knowledge? I-is Vegeta becoming Krillin 2.0?! (More like dollar-store Krillin)

I do think beerus got stronger tho. He seems very confident that Vegeta can get stronger from learning from him. Beerus probably saw Goku get UI then decide to train aftet the ToP

Anyways, Beerus is teaching us about hakai/destruction energy. Its erasing something from existence, not just destroying it (we already knew that). But, Vegeta quickly figures out how to do it anyways. By destroying a tiny pebble...

A tangent again but I personally think Piccolo is capable of easily learning Hakai energy. Think about it. Piccolo can create clothing out of nothing, why could he not do the reverse?

Goku is uninterested in what Beerus & Vegeta are doing. I dont know about you, but it sounds like Goku thinks that he's above Beerus in strength. Beerus & Vegeta aren't considered a challenge to him in any way. Goku sees UI as more important & better than anything Beerus has to teach, and Goku is right. Plus Goku learned Hakai on his own while Vegeta needs Beerus to teach him. It's a waste of Goku's time to learn it again.

(God Comics is funny. I imagine Toribot writes them)

Goku says "Let's see which one of us can be the strongest in the universe!" Really, Goku...? At present time, Goku is the strongest mortal in the universe already. He should know that. Then Vegeta for some reason thinks he will become the strongest in the universe. The last time manga Vegeta was the strongest mortal in the universe was... never. He's always behind Goku or whatever new opponent arises. This scene is meant to be comedic that they're arguing over who will be the greatest but it's not funny to me. And yet Vegeta fans still hold on for hope.

But why is Goku concerned about being the strongest between him & Vegeta? Goku is far above Vegeta. They're not rivals at this point. Also, Goku was the strongest in the universe until just a few moments ago. Goku should be saying "I knew bein' the strongest wouldn't last for too long. Roshi did tell me there will always be somebody stronger out there. Hehe! This is gettin' me excited! I can't wait to meet 'em!" (This would alsp parallel Monaito giving Granolah the same advice Goku already knows.)

Also, I guess Broly isn't that strong after all. Bye Broly, you served your purpose. And to think that Goku had said that he thinks Broly is stronger than Beerus...

Oh yeah. So Vegeta destroys a pebble. Impressive? Goku kinda gives a compliment or he is practically saying "Good job Vegeta! You're doing great following in my footsteps!" Seriously, this would be so much better and cooler if this seperate paths of training began right after the Universe 6 vs Universe 7 tournament. That would be the perfect spot to have them train under Beerus & Whis. [Vegeta using Hakai against Merged Zamasu, Goku able to fight Merged Zamasu temporarily because he is getting better at letting his body move on its own, Toppo & Vegeta using Hakai against each other as Goku & Jiren use power above GoDs. That would work so much better.]

Then Vegeta says he's gonna destroy bigger things soon... is that supposed to be more impressive? Its not. But this it to build up Vegeta even though there is nothing amazing about anything he is doing at the moment. Maybe later tho.

So Cerealians can't grow beards. Also I guess Granolah's race don't age? His hair grew when his lifespan was shortened but he has no wrinkles. It seems that they age more gracefully than Saiyans. If he has some wrinkles he would have looked cooler imo. Or those lines under the eyes at the very least. If the wish shortened his life & made his hair grow, it should have also showed that he aged. (Here's an edit I made of "Grampa Granolah." You're welcome)

And remember Vegeta destroying a pebble? Granolah can suddenly destroy big rocks! Cool right?! No? Its not cool? Showing Granolah destroy a much larger object right afterwards kinda belittles Vegeta's accomplishment.

Oatmil is surprised by a boulder exploding. This means one of 2 things. Oatmil is stupid & never saw an Granolah explode a boulder. Or it's implying that the boulder exploding is some technique Oatmil doesn't know of. Idk how he can tell its any different from just blowing up a rock with ki. I think it's supposed to be destruction energy. If it is then, ok. If getting his wish was so easy, then why can't he suddenly learn destruction as well?

Yay! Monaito! (This really should be a Namekian focused arc)

Granolah reminds me of Zamasu with his attitude a bit. Monaito tells him somebody stronger will definetly appear. Granolah has become like Vegeta and is over confident, so he is destined to get humbled. And think about this. Goku can probably train a bit and surpass Granolah within a week.

Granolah can now sense ki. Meaning he can have the destruction technique or UI, because why not?

Monaito blames himself for Granolah's actions. Its not your fault Monaito! You did nothing wrong! Dont be so hard on yourself.

Whis being a creep and peeping on people lol.

Granolah's hair growing was pointless because he cuts it off soon after. Nothing changed visually. This kinda reminds me of how Moro lost his arm. Goku gave him a senzu, Moro grew it back, & then Moro broke his arm when attacking Goku. Then Moro tore his arm off & reattached his old one. There was no need for Moro to grow his arm back then tear it off. Similarly, there is no need for Granolah to have grown long hair then cut it off.

Maki still brings a smile to my face. She & Gas stand out the most out of the Heeters. Maki's personality is kinda like Zangya combined with a teasing Bulma. Gas reminds me of a Krillin/Piccolo fusion with dreadlocks. I also ship Maki x Gas cause they're short and look cute together. (please don't be siblings so I can draw them together🤞)

Granolah fights Oil & Maki. I'm not impressed. They seem like they could be defeated by Chaoitzu (he's stronger than Raditz and probably Nappa now too). Granolah's movements could be seen as UI. If it is or isn't UI, it doesn't matter. Showing off that kind of power is like Goku using Ultra Instinct during a rematch with Nam or King Chappa. Its not effective storytelling. There had to be a better way of showing Granolah's new strength than making him fight opponents that give him zero challenge.

The art is good as usual and the panel flow is nice. Toyotaro is improving at creating the illusion of motion. The environment being used in the fight was smart and a good visual. Toyo still uses a ton of panels almost every page tho. But he's still a better artist than I am.

Granolah appears to have used Hakai again. Not the explosive variant but the sand variant (yes I think there are 2 ways of using Hakai).

The "Sand Variant" that Beerus & Goku (& maybe Granolah) have used.

The "Explosive Variant" Beerus & Vegeta (& maybe Granolah) have used.

Maki thinks the "Hakai" is magic so that's interesting. I would say I'd like for the next enemy to be a magic user but, we know how Moro turned out... 😓

Maki has "ki claws" & I like the idea but it would be better if she had used it against an enemy she can defeat. It doesn't make her look useful in this fight. Gas seems confident when he is about to fight Granolah, but Elec stops him. Gas would've gotten beaten but it make ya wonder what Gas can do.

Granolah appears to be a person that is easily manipulated and persuaded. He even gave information they weren't even asking for. He'll probably be easily convinced and manipulated by Freeza/the Hedters or quickly have a truce with Goku.

The Heeters plan to go to Planet Cereal to get the Dragon Balls. As I suspected, the Cerealian Dragon Balls were created so that it would be easy for wishes to be granted. Gathering 2 Dragon Balls on a nearby planet instead of gathering 7 on New Namek or Earth. Plus these new Dragon Balls ensures no interaction between Earthlings & Granolah/the Heeters. A perfect way to write Gohan & company out of the story... *sigh* 😔😒

We learn Cerealians live for 2 centuries. How's that compare to other races in Universe 7? Freeza & King Cold apparently can live more than 200 yrs, But that may be because they are mutants. Namekians can live for like 500 yrs & its possible for them to reincarnate themselves too. So in a way, Namekians can live forever. Saiyans stay youthful & live to be in their 80's, but rapidly age when they reach their 60's or 70's. Average Earthlings appear live to be in their 80's or 90's but some are over 100 yrs old (Dr. Briefs, Panchy, & Ox King are in their 90's in GT) and others can increase their lifespan through elixers or the Paradise Herb. Just some thoughts of mine.

Maki says "If he ices Freeza..." Ha, an ice pun. Elec wants to defeat Freeza so he can control his army. Its revealed they wanna kill Granolah & that they worked with Freeza to destroy his planet & race. Well... that more than likely means they're gonna die by Granolah's hand or Freeza's. This info is also an attempt to make the reader more sympathetic for Granolah. Granolah is too bland (pun intended) so I don't feel any more sympathy than I already had for him. Elec plans to make Goku & Vegeta fight Granolah since Granolah hates Saiyans. Smart but we all kinda expected it. Not bad writing tho.

The final panel talks about fate bringing the 3 (Goku, Vegeta, & Granolah) together. Sounds like a repeat of the Broly movie.

We've had 4 chapters in this arc & not 1 panel of Freeza... If Freeza doesnt appear & do something in the next chapter then I will be disappointed in the writing. Showing Freeza here and there would give tension and build up until we get the encounter with him. We also have no idea who Oatmil is. Is he an A.I. or a person? Not that big of a deal yet, but I would like to find out soon. Either show Freeza or tell us more about Oatmil next chapter pleaae

This chapter was like oatmeal (the food not the character) without butter, brown sugar, milk, & honey or raisins. Not bad, but not very good either. 

So here's my thoughts on the things that could or could not happen in this arc.

Goku vs Granolah. I don't care for the fight because the power is at a point that it doesnt make sense for enemies to get to without cheating somehow. The fight will look cool but I have no interest in it.

Vegeta vs Granolah will have Vegeta being stomped as always and Vegeta fans will make excuses & complain how it's not fair. A lot of Vegeta fans often make fun of Yamcha & Krillin for getting beat up even though those 2 bravely fight opponents leagues stronger than they are. Vegeta has gotten stomped by opponents more times than Krillin & Yamcha combined but the fans gotta deflect somehow. I don't care to hear or see the complaining again.

The interaction and dialogue between Granolah & Vegeta is going to be more interesting than their fight. But I worry because Toyo isn't the best at writing dialogue.

I have no reason to care about power growth, certain interactions, or Goku & Vegeta's training.

What I am curious about/want to see?

Monaito's well being. I want him to reunite with other Namekians. But I think he's been set up to die.

Lore about the dragon gods & Namekian lore we probably wont get.

I want Piccolo, Krillin, Gohan, & others will be involved. Piccolo because of the Namekian & wosh granting dragon lore. Gohan because his interaction with Granolah eould be interesting since Gohan is half Saiyan & views himself as an Earthling. Krillin & other Earthlings because they can bring tensions where characters like Goku & Vegeta can't. Those 2 are too strong for there to be any real tension. However Earthlings aren't all powerful so them using wits to survive is more exciting. But I doubt any of their involvement.

How long a Cerealian year is? Is it shorter than a Namekian year? How much time will pass for the Cerealian Dragon Balls to be active? How much stronger than Granolah will Goku get? Hopefully the answers aren't lazy...

Will Beerus finally fight somebody? There are 6 mortals that are near or above his power (Goku, Granolah, Vegeta, Broly, Freeza, Gohan).

Who's the villian of the next arc & what explanation is going to be given for them having power on the level of Angels? Angel tier fights don't sound interesting to me anymore. After those kinds of battles, Goku will have no challengers left.

Will Goku disappear to train or something so the story can TRY to match up with the EoZ?

Will Goten, Trunks, & Marron hit their growth spurts within 3 yrs?

Will we get spin-off manga about other characters? PLEASE!? 🙏

Also DBS moved too quickly when it comes to power. Now we're at the point that Goku & Vegeta need to stop being involved in fights for there to be any actual threat or tension. The Buu saga took place in AGE  774. After training for 4 years of peace, Goku thought SS3 & fusion was his limits as a Saiyan and he was right. Well, kinda... Goku was introduced to god ki near the end of AGE 778. Then in AGE 781, Goku masters Ultra Instinct... He mastered an Angel technique in 2 year or 2.5 yrs. That was waaaay too fast. As a result the storytelling & writing are suffering from this rushed progress. Now we're gonna have an Angel tier opponent? According to the pattern of DBS, Goku's gonna end up surpassing the Angels within 2 or 3 yrs after learning god ki. Thats not impressive for Goku, that's terrible writing. And no, Goku getting this strong so fast is not a benefit to Saiyans either. It just shows us that without god ki, Saiyans ain't all that powerful unless they're the legendary Saiyan like Broly. Saiyans didn't even have a concept of training until Goku was trained by Earthlings. Gohan, Freeza, 17, & I'm pretty sure Piccolo as well have all surpassed SS3 without the help of god ki. God ki makes Saiyans look like they have limits. With god ki, the writing is broken....

I got off topic again... Anyways that's the end of my review.

[miskatonique]

HERBERT WEST CHEAT SHEET !

since my muses are not super well known in the contemporary rpc ( and i’m too lazy to do a full about page at this very moment ) i decided to put together little posts for them that give their general backgrounds, vibes, and plot possibilities !

this is a mix of canon and headcanon, and these are subject to change / adapt as i get more used to writing the characters

BACKGROUND:

Films: Re-Animator 1985, Bride of Re-Animator 1990, Beyond Re-Animator 2003

We don’t talk about Beyond Re-Animator......

Dr. Herbert West, 24 in the first movie, 27 in the second movie, idk like 40 in the third movie. Mad scientist to the MAX. In the novelization Herbert is an orphan who gets passed around in foster homes before eventually going to undergrad at NYU and pursuing his theory about the re-animation of dead tissue. Mostly people think he’s sort of crazy until one of his articles catches the eye of Dr. Hans Gruber at a university in Switzerland, and he invites Herbert to come work alongside him. Herbert eventually grows to respect Gruber as both a mentor and father-figure.

Herbert and Gruber develop a reagent that affects re-animation in dead animal tissue but they know that for their results to be taken seriously they need to do a human trial. Dr. Gruber volunteers but the dosage of the reagent is too large, and though it brings Gruber back to life it quickly overwhelms his system and he dies again. Herbert is taken into psychiatric custody in Switzerland but is eventually released.

Herbert returns to America and specifically sets his sights on Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusetts because one of the staff, Dr. Carl Hill, used to work with Gruber years ago, and even went on to plagiarize some of Gruber’s work and publish it in America. Herbert makes it his secondary goal to absolutely terrorize Dr. Hill, and because he’s a chaotic gremlin in human form he’s very good at it.

Herbert continues working on perfecting the reagent, rooming with Dan Cain and eventually pulling Dan into the experiments as well when Dan’s cat dies and Herbert is able to prove his research by reanimating it. Herbert isn’t perturbed when Dan’s talk with Dean Halsey goes south, and just digs his heels in and insists that the only way to truly prove that the reagent works is to reanimate a human cadaver.

Results are just as bad as you’d expect. Sure, the cadaver reanimates but it also wrecks the morgue and kills Dean Halsey. RIP. Herbert insists that they reanimate him and the dean comes back less like himself and more animalistic, trying to kill both Herbert and Dan before his daughter Meg shows up and stops him. Despite it all, Herbert manages to wriggle his and Dan out of any suspicion from the police but Dr. Hill takes an interest in Herbert’s work once he does exploratory surgery of Dean Halsey and finds out he’s technically dead.

Dr. Hill confronts Herbert in his laboratory and threatens to steal Herbert’s work and take it for his own, offering Herbert the meager honour of being his assistant. Herbert promptly murders Hill via decapitation but decides not to let his fresh corpse go to waste and reanimates both Hill’s head and his body, which come back to life and knock Herbert out and steal all of his work.

Yada yada, Herbert gets Dan to help him go after Hill, the big climax happens. Herbert is able to prove his theory about overdose by shooting up Dr. Hill’s headless body with a bunch of reagent, which backfires and Herbert is left for dead all tangled up in Hill’s intestines, but not after he ensures that his research is safe with Dan.

They never explain how Herbert survives the first movie but he sure is alive in the second movie! It’s roughly 3ish years after the first film, so he’s got his doctorate now and he’s drug Dan all the way to Peru so they can be volunteer medics in a civil war. This obviously gives Herbert an unprecedented access to fresh bodies for his experiments.

Eventually he and Dan head back to Miskatonic Hospital, where they’re able to get jobs and a creepy cute little house that used to be a mortuary so they can continue the work. Herbert is now obsessed with the reanimation of separate parts and convinces Dan to help him build an entirely new life from parts. Dan’s not on board until Herbert shows him Megan Halsey’s heart and promises that they’ll build the body around it.

Dr. Hill’s head also somehow survived the first movie and it tries to terrorize Herbert, along with a cop who’s investigating Herbert for stealing corpses. Herbert eventually kills and reanimates the cop, and then gets into even more trouble when all of the other strange creatures he’s been reanimating start coming after him because they’re being mind controlled by Dr. Hill’s nasty head ( don’t ask me okay, this script was written in literally 6 weeks it makes no sense )

Anyway Herbert and Dan successfully bring their creation to life right before getting attacked by Dr. Hill and his army of weirdos, all while Dan is having a mental breakdown because he thinks the creation is his dead girlfriend Meg. In the chaos Dan and the creation escape separately while Herbert and Hill and co. get trapped under buried rubble and are left for dead ( AGAIN ).

But surprise! Herbert isn’t dead! We don’t know how he survived but we do know that at some point in time Dan turned over evidence to the authorities that led to Herbert’s arrest and imprisonment. The third movie picks up with Herbert who’s been in prison for 13 years and the dumbass new hospital doctor is a fanboy of Herbert and brings in some of his reagent. Herbert basically starts a prison riot, chaos ensues, this movie is Not Good, but the important thing is that Herbert escapes prison with his work and gets to walk off free and definitely alive into the night <3

VIBES / PERSONALITY:

His work is EVERYTHING to him -- there have been multiple times where Herbert has put his work above his own bodily safety or chance of survival, and I guarantee he would do it again, too. Herbert is mostly focused on being able to do the impossible simply because it’s “impossible.” He’s able to convince Dan to help him because he reasons the practical applications of his reagent, like saving lives by aiding in surgeries or helping with amputations, but at the end of the day Herbert is only concerned with discovery, acclaim, and giving classical science a big ‘ole middle finger.

He can be incredibly manipulative when looking for a specific action or behavior in the people close to him. This mostly is seen in how he treats Dan, often reeling him back in with promise of how much good their work will do in the world when Dan starts to get squeamish. Herbert is also really good at finding the sorest spots in someone and pressing on them, but usually only does this when he wants to prove a point or if he really hates someone.

He gains a lot of power by seeming like the more “level-headed” person in an altercation, but he can get extremely excitable or aggressive, especially when something goes well with his research or if it’s being threatened.

He’s genuinely a good doctor, doesn’t freak out under pressure, has neutral-good bedside manner, is very decisive and isn’t afraid to make difficult decisions when it comes to a patient’s life. However, Herbert considers himself a scientist first and a doctor second. The work on reanimation will always come before anything else.

He’s a HUGE fucking nerd, he loves making puns or little zingers whenever he can fit them into a conversation. He also likes playing practical jokes, though he doesn’t do it often. He’s got a great evil giggle.

Oh he’s terrible at taking care of himself. There’s a deleted scene from the first movie where Herbert is shown to be injecting himself with a weakened version of the reanimating reagent because it helps keep his brain sharp and makes it to where he doesn’t have to sleep. What a NUT. I think he probably weans off this habit, by force or choice. His sleeping and eating habits are still pretty bad, though. Definitely the kind of person who doesn’t eat/sleep/rest unless he’s genuinely about to collapse because of it.

Oh he’s also sooooooooooo gay. gay gay gay homo sexual.

There are very few people he outright respects or enjoys spending time around, and with everyone else he is absolutely so bitchy and rude. He doesn’t give a single shit about being polite. Also ACAB.

PLOT POSSIBILITIES:

Got any canonically dead muses? Want them to be alive again? Herbert can help with that! He’ll definitely want to make sure they stick around and observe them to see why the reagent worked so well, maybe do some extra tests, so he can also double as a really annoying, creepy roommate. Score!

Med student muses? I have a new classmate for you

Ever wondered what your muse would do if they saw someone graverobbing, or smuggling body parts into their house in the middle of the night? Do they stop him? Ask questions? Offer to help? Now’s the chance to find out!

He could always use a new assistant since Dan keeps abandoning him after every movie, jfc, loyalty is so hard to find these days

Meet-cute where one of his reanimated creations tries to murder you and he saves you from it <3

[brief-candle]

ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ - Sakamaki brothers

request summary: songfic of “come little children” with parental maid reader and yandere sakamakis. karlheinz is an asshole, like usual, and stuff happens.

series: diabolik lovers.

notes: yandere (meant to be platonic but idk if i succeeded), heavily implied violence.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

"Come little children,

I'll take thee away

into a land of enchantment."

There was no land of enchantment on this green Earth. Not for the Sakamaki brothers; such a thing had never existed for the entirety of their long existence. This had been a fact that they'd had to face from an early age. There was no land of enchantment that their mothers' nor father would let them escape to, and the latter would not let them do so for as long as he drew breath.

Or not, considering they were vampires and all, but you get the gist.

Even so, that didn't stop them listening to her stories that she spun, the songs that drifted from her lips like a cool breeze on a stifling summer's day. Even Kanato, who was ever so difficult to please and temperamental as a day's long, seemed to ease into a calm, placid state of being whenever she made the slightest of noises. Ayato wouldn't interrupt, Subaru wouldn't fly into a white-hot rage and Shuu would even pay attention. It was as if each word was akin to the Holy Grail, from the way that no one could pry their attention from her as she started to speak.

No matter how much they aged or how horrible they became, they would still go at her beck and call to listen to her. They would still beg for her lullabies before she left for other duties, and sometimes in between. And no matter when or where they asked, she would always comply.

It was perhaps the only time that the boys were docile.

"Come little children,

the time's come to play

here in my garden of shadows."

Even with their father, on the very rare occasions that he visited, they were hardly docile. Barely even scraping polite, with acid words and sneering faces. Apart from Reiji, ever the model son, determined to leave the others hiding in his shadow of prestige. Always polite, pristine and perfect. She marvelled at it, really, and would often remark that he was one-upping her, the actual servant. It was never his intent to one-up her, though he one-upped everyone, really, so it was hard to make an exception to her.

The boys' father did not expect to see those he brought up broken to act so cordially with another, not making a move to harm nor threaten her in the slightest. She did not look uncomfortable in the slightest, either. It was a surprise, really, considering how they acted with everyone else around them. To think that they would treat some low-ranked, rather weak demon with a higher level of respect than the literal king of demons was certainly not to be expected by any means.

Though, in a way, it was a pleasant surprise. Not that Karlheinz finds many surprises unpleasant. In fact, he can hardy tell the difference; if he finds something unpleasant than he'll either fix it or throw it away. Fortunately for her, he did not find this unpleasant.

Unfortunately, he found it intriguing.

"Follow sweet children,

I'll show thee the way

through all the pain and sorrows."

With intrigue naturally came experimentation. He had a hypothesis to test, and would observe the results accordingly. It took little planning (Karlheinz has little reason for thoroughly planning every little thing) until he put everything into action. And he did so swiftly, with little time wasted.

They hadn't noticed at first; she could guess how they'd react, and so covered up the evidence of what he'd done immediately. However he noticed just as quickly as she'd hid them, and so made it much more obvious. Evidence appeared in places she could not hide, and so had to wear them on display to those who cared for her most.

It went about as well as one could expect, really, with Subaru's temper flaring most of all. All of their tempers rose, really, though the youngest's was the most volatile and obvious through his destruction of the house. Kanato became eerily silent, perhaps more eerie than he usually was; Ayato shared many of Subaru's traits of anger, though without as much as the destructive nature; Reiji and Shuu were difficult to read, with both of them going silent and putting on a neutrally silent (though Shuu was normally of very few words) facade; Laito tried to keep up his cheery and playful act, though his voice subconsciously lost the lilt that it often had.

"Weep not, poor children,

life is this way,

murdering beauty and passion."

When they stood, obviously heading to leave the room, she stopped them at once. For once her words didn't seem to hold weight with these boys, and so she had to physically block them from doing something they may have regretted. No matter how much they asked- demanded- her to move, she did not move a muscle. She did not forget her place as a servant to their family, however she would not allow them to get themselves hurt. However she didn't phrase it that way, lest it only breed more anger and fury; as she was bound to obey their father above all, she could not allow him to be hurt. Though they certainly weren't the happiest with that, they had little choice but to listen, as it was obvious that she would not move until they had all calmed down.

If their reason had left them, then she would step back in to provide such a voice. As she often had done, when their mothers had not. She did not blame them, with what had been inflicted upon them, however she often stepped in for them when they shirked all motherly duties. And such a thing happened much more frequently than she was fond of thinking about. 

But there was no way that they could step in now to act as mothers. Unless they had a way of bringing themselves back from ancient graves. And even then, Cordelia had no chance of returning. Not in this moment.

Not that such a thing was necessarily a bad thing, really, but a little help would have been appreciated. Especially when the silence was this thick, this heavy and ominous, rolling in like fog that showed no signs of clearing up anytime soon.

That said, she managed to get them all to sit down once more, even if they were disgruntled with the mere thought of being that close with one another. It was a sad sight to see, considering how they could have easily been so close. However there was no point in dwelling on such a thing.

"Hush now, dear children,

it must be this way,

too weary of life and deceptions."

They were at breaking point to just rush out and find their father. It was visible, from their tense postures and impatient faces. They were easier to read for her than they thought they were. If it wasn't for the situation at hand, she was sure that she'd have found it rather amusing. But this was not a time for amusements, or playing games or acting like children. She knew that as well as they did.

And so, instead of trying to reason with them when she knew such a thing was futile, she began to hum instead. They would not listen to her words on the subject; they would listen to no one's words on the subject. For they were certain that they knew best. Not to mention their obvious anger, which would make them even more unreasonable than their rash behaviour already made them.

So instead, perhaps a distraction would prove more useful. It would delay the- most likely messy- resolution of this situation, and would also give them a chance to letter their anger simmer into something more manageable. Something that would let their heads clear more easily, and let them make proper judgement that isn't drove by blind rage.

"Rest now, my children,

for soon we'll away

into the calm and the quiet."

Vampires don't need sleep. This is a rather well-known fact amongst those which are aware of their existence. That isn't to say that they don't sleep, however, and the maid's lullabies often lulled them into a sleepy state. Often it was unintentional, considering they'd ask her sometimes in the middle of the night, when they are meant to be most active. This time it was not. If they fell asleep then she'd probably have a few more hours in which they could (hopefully) calm down. Or she'd have to try and hold them back to cool off again in a few hours.

She felt bad in a way, having manipulated them in a way for them to sleep. So, as she left the room, she decided to try to make it up to them later in the best way that she could.

It was a lovely sight that she had to leave behind, with the boys resting on each other as they slept. That said, it wasn't as peaceful as it looked with Ayato's snoring. Even as she shut the door and continued down the hall to do other tasks, it never relented.

Barely ten minutes later, they were all on their feet.

"Come little children,

I'll take thee away

into a land of enchantment."

There was no land of enchantment, not in this prison of ground, sea and sky. Not in this cell where they were born and raised. Not while their father continued to mess with anyone whenever he saw fit.

He'd made the mistake, really; he'd brought this whole thing upon himself. If he wanted death so badly, then they saw it fit to deliver. After all, it's what he wanted, no? Their father had seen how much they cared for and appreciated the maid, and took it upon himself to injure her on a whim. To see how they'd all react as he looked upon them like one would an insect.

No matter what they'd had to endure at his hands, they had never directly lashed out upon him before. After all, he was anything but forgiving. Breaking a vase landed you in the middle of the ocean, so the risks were definitely quite high, to say the least. But that didn't bother them. At least not in this moment of white-hot rage that disallowed them from thinking properly.

Besides, if they were to die then there wouldn't be reason to harm her anymore, would there?

It was unlikely that they'd die, considering that their purpose had not yet been fulfilled. However it brought some twisted sense of comfort to them, so that they could fight their all with no regrets.

"Come little children,

the time's come to play

here in my garden of shadows."