#Sei Writes

[junsei-alke]

keyframe n. a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your life—set in motion not by a series of jolting epiphanies but by tiny imperceptible differences between one ordinary day and the next, until entire years of your memory can be compressed into a handful of indelible images—which prevents you from rewinding the past, but allows you to move forward without endless buffering

“—And then Usagi-san threw him off the bridge! It was bogus!” A boyish voice dramatically informed the alligator mutant about his latest adventure over a tablet.

The boyish voice talking over the tablet is Michelangelo Hamato, Leatherhead’s best friend. Let it be known that the Hamatos’ and the Mutanimals decided a tablet is more suitable for Slash and Leatherhead as a gadget of communication. The two giant mutants won’t have to mind their strength or how small apps or texts are. 

Leatherhead let out a hum, “Didn’t Usagi say this Jade is immortal?” 

“Jei,” The orange-clad turtle corrected, “And he did! Maybe Usagi-san got his info wrong or Jei just bluff, or he just gets rebirth kind of immortality,” Michelangelo theorized.

“From your hectic adventure, I’m glad you returned safely, my friend,” The older mutant honestly thought the worst when the turtles were gone without notice. For some enemy managing to kidnap his friends without struggle…

Through the screen, Michelangelo winced, “Sorry, but couldn’t really do much when we’re spiritually summoned to another dimension by a blind fake immortal wolf,” The nun-chuck wielder joked weakly.

“Just how long were we gone?” Michelangelo asked quietly,  “Cuz, I didn’t have to check when I have an awesome story to tell my two besties!” The turtle cheerfully added. At the edge of the screen, you can see a yellow bowl and can hear a faint meow.

A small smile formed on Leatherhead but inwardly he was frowning as well. His friend, in true ninja form, is great at misdirection. “Almost a week, my friend”.

The smallest mutant turtle's eyes widen, “Really? It was like—three days for us,” Michelangelo compared with a faraway look.

Leatherhead pressed his teeth together, to anyone who doesn’t know the mutant, they would say he’s restraining himself from eating something, but his expression is equivalent to a human pressing their lips together, a sign of displeasure. The alligator was about to change the topic, as he didn’t like the faraway look on Michelangelo’s normally bright face, but someone beat him to the punch. 

“Mikey! I need your help!” Donatello called out, snapping Michelangelo’s trance.

“Coming Dee! Sorry Leatherhead, I’ll talk to you later,” The turtle apologized, as he moved the screen to a mutant ice cream cat, “Talk with Ice Cream Kitty! You guys haven’t talked since forever!”

“…”

“… How’s the freezer?” Leatherhead awkwardly questioned.

“Meowr~”

“You’re right, that’s an awful ice breaker to start a conversation,” Leatherhead apologized.

“Meow~”

“What? I didn’t pun.”

“Meeeow~”

“Oh… I didn’t realize,”

“Meoow~” The ice cream mutant titled her head a little, “Meow?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

“Meow!”

“When?”

“Meow~”

“That—”

“INTRUDERS!” A blue blur passed Leatherhead and leapt over the railings.

“Ice Cream Kitty, we’ll continue this later,” Leatherhead said goodbye to the cold mutant and ended the call. 

Following the Salamandrian example, Leatherhead leapt over the railing as he saw three humans fighting Mona Lisa, Mondo Gecko, and Pigeon Pete.

“Pete!” The Leopard Gecko shouted in distress, as the human with a skull mask batted the Pigeon into a metal pillar.

Leatherhead roared as he tried to charge the masked human. But a red-haired human threw a smoke pellet at him. If Leatherhead was more clear-headed, he wouldn’t have attacked the red-haired human or the masked human, for they particularly looked like April O’Neil and Casey Jones. [1] It is fortunate that Leatherhead has a third eyelid or else he would’ve been so focused on regaining his vision than blocking a stab aimed at his underbelly.  

“Mondo! Take the light out!” The only non-mutant in the Mutanimals ordered the mutant gecko.

“‘right!” The youngest mutant in the group cheekily saluted and proceeded to smash the control panel with his skateboard.

Leatherhead would’ve complimented Mona Lisa’s quick thinking of turning lights off [2] if he wasn’t busy trying to defend himself. The large mutant isn’t used on the defensive side of fighting, but his opponent is relentlessly attacking him. 

But considering his redhead opponent switched with a black-haired human, that was fighting Mona Lisa. Leatherhead can see why this human hadn’t been knocked out by Mona Lisa, who is the only trained warrior in the Mutanimals with the exception of Slash.

CREEEAAAK

“What is going on!” A human-turned-monkey loudly demands. Beside the Monkey is a large snapping turtle with spikes and wearing a black bandana, carrying groceries. 

“O’Neil! Jones! Opening!” The black-haired human pointed at the open garage door.

Wait. What? Did Leatherhead hear that right?

“Oh no one is leaving–” Rockwell interrupted with monkey noise, “–without giving me some answers!” [3] The former human telekinetically lifted the three human intruders into the air, and then glared at us. (Mona Lisa, Leatherhead, and Mondo Gecko)

“You can’t destroy the control panel to do the Lights off plan!” The scientist hissed angrily.

“Yeah, but I thought about how they can turn it on, so def need to destroy the panel, doc,” The youngest member of Mutanimals reasoned nonchalantly.

Dr. Rockwell’s eyes bulge in annoyance, “You're lucky I thought about this outcome and—monkey noise—made a backup panel!” 

“And our little intruders are interesting.” Dr. Rockwell added as he eyed the three humans with maniacal interest.

“We ain’t telling ya’ nothin’!” Came a muffled statement from the masked human.

“Hm, yes,” Rockwell made another monkey noise, “Slash, you know where the backup panel. Take—monkey noise—Gecko with you, penance for destroying my tech.”

Slash grunted, “Let’s go, kid,” As he dropped the groceries, and walked outside.

“Not a kid!” Mondo squawked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Slash waved off the attempted correction, making Mondo offended.

Leatherhead stared at the duo bickering back and forth.

“Doctor, put them down, I want to try tying them up,” Mona Lisa enthusiastically said.

“Ah yes,” Monkey sounds, and eyes bulged for a second, “Space doesn’t have rope. Instead you alien tie with magnetic space metal.”

The Salamandrian warrior nodded, “Sometimes electricity. Burnt skin and pain make the captive more compliant.”

Leatherhead can attest. The Kraang had tied him with electricity before.

“Raphael taught me the proper ways of tying with ropes or wires. The painful and the non-painful way, and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to test my learnings” By that meaning, the non-painful is actually not painful for mutants or aliens. And maybe non-painful for trained humans only.

“And you’ll be trying…?” Leatherhead wanted to know, as Michelangelo tried teaching him once, but it was futile because Leatherhead kept accidentally cutting the wire/rope. But they did discover Leatherhead can somewhat tie someone with metal pipes in case chains aren’t available in the area.

“Wire. The painful way.” 

Leatherhead felt pity for the human intruders. Michelangelo said the wire is more painful than the ropes. Unlike the ropes tied with the painful method, they irritate the skin if you try to move or escape, the wire on the other hand makes you bleed.

It took 10 minutes, as the humans tried to escape while being tied by the alien. And to Leatherhead’s surprise, the Salamandrian warrior tied the male human with the not painful method. And the fact the masked human gave her the most trouble despite being less refined than his companions.

During the 10 minutes, Slash and Mondo brought the back-up-controlled panel, which Dr. Rockwell quickly integrated into their lair system and managed to open the lights the moment Mona was finished tying the redhead human.

“Now!” Dr. Rockwell clapped and eyes bulged with enthusiasm, “These two humans!” The monkey removed the mask on the male human, “Are alternate versions of our friend April O’Neil and Casey Jones!”

That doesn’t seem outlandish since they look like adult versions of their friend. Leatherhead thought.

“And! This human is Karai!” Dr. Rockwell dramatically pointed at the black-haired human.

The proclaimed alternate Karai didn’t look like Karai in Leatherhead’s opinion.

“It seems, armour and being good at the battle is consistent for any version of Karai,” Mona Lisa complimented(?). 

“You’re just going to accept that!?” Questioned the maskless Casey Jones.

“Casey…” Alternate April hissed.

The alternate Karai remained quiet as she observed them.

“Well yeah. Doc is pretty smart y’know,” Mondo answered, “Besides! Mikey told me that the multiverse exists cuz he already met an alternate version of himself… Twice!”

Alternate Universe Casey nodded hesitantly, “Okay… But all we know you guys are faking this whole alternate-whatever-situation story,” Alternate Casey Jones states with a furrowed suspicious brow.

Well, Leatherhead can’t fault this Casey Jones for being suspicious.

“We’ll call them.”

“What?”

“The turtles,” Mona specified.

“We’ll call them either way to fix this,” Slash added.

“They are the experts at this type of situation,” Rockwell said with a hint of jealousy.

“…So, you’ll untie us?” Alternate Karai asked.

“If you swear on your honour to stay until the turtles come,” Mona Lisa replied.

Alternate Karai raised her eyebrow, “You must know me intimately,” and something rest unsaid, that only Mona seemed to understand.

The alien warrior shrugged, “We have a bi-weekly girls' night out,” 

Karai huffed in amusement, like she heard something funny, “I swear on my honour, I’ll stay until this universe’s turtles show up.”

Mona hummed before turning to the other humans, “How about you two?”

“Will you stay as well?”

When the alternate April O’Neil was about to speak, the garaged door opened, and garbage and rotten food is all they could smell.

“Hey, guys! I just finished an interview with—who are these humans? And why do they look like our friends?” Questioned by the newly arrived resident New York Hero, Muck Man.

Drip

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 Drip

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dri–

GASP!

“Sensei!”

Splinter coughed relentlessly to the point he couldn’t recognize which of his sons had made him sit in a stable position. The mutant also has blurry vision.

“Whoa there sensei, take it easy,” His son rubbed his back. 

It took a few minutes to not hack up his lungs and to regain his vision.

“You okay, master?” Questioned Raphael, who was leaning against a graffitied wall.

“Ye-yes, I am alright, my son.” Splinter cleared his throat, “Thank you, Donatello.”

Looking around with a clearer vision, Splinter can tell they’re in an ally way. Which the rat mutant didn’t expect to be at, being sucked into the portal. And speaking of portals…

“Where’s Leonardo?” 

Seeing his three sons being together gives Splinter hope that his eldest is just reconning the area to be safe and he arrived with them. But with the expressions of his sons, Splinter’s hope wanes.

“We’re… not sure, Sensei,” Donatello took a deep breath, “Because we aren’t in our universe.”

“What do you mean, Donatello?” Splinter asked with a confused frown.

The purple-clad genius handed him a Newspaper, “While you were unconscious, Mikey and Raph did a little reconning around the area and I was protecting your body. When they’re done, Mikey found this,” The mutant turtle pointed at the newspaper date.

“August 6, 2015,” Splinter murmured in shock.

Donatello nods, “I would’ve said we’re in the future if it weren’t the fact the publishing company is different. Of course, I had taken into account the possibility of a new publishing company and future and such, but it says the company has been around since the 1887s. In our universe, it's Hearst, but here it's Hirst.”

“And don’t forget you dragged me to places!” Chimed Michelangelo.

His third oldest sighed, “And the fact I dragged Mikey to find areas that were supposed to be familiar but to only see to be slightly altered, but still related to our universe.”

“Dollar Tree is waaaay better than Cheap Shop,” Splinter’s youngest proclaimed.

“It is a little on the nose,” Donatello agreed.

“Ok, sensei is up to date. What are we going to do now?” Grunted Rapheal.

Splinter’s whiskers twitched at the small made wind.

Donatello puts a thoughtful expression, “We find this universe turtles.” 

“No need,” a hoarse voice echoed through the valley.

Splinter remains in a relaxed form while his sons draw out their weapons.

Two pairs of white eyes dropped down from the fire escape stairs and stepped out of the shadows to show two giant mutant turtles.

‘Their body is completely submerged in the shadow.’ Splinter mused as he was impressed. For he knew these turtles only showed visibility because they wanted to.

“Your Don aaaaand your Leo?” Questioned Michelangelo in a disbelief tone, as he tucked away his nun-chuck.

Splinter can see why his son is in disbelief. The two mutants have different sizes. The one wearing a purple bandana—Who Splinter assumes to be Donatello—is tall and lanky, his muscles aren’t pronounced much, and his eye colour is reddish brown. While his blue bandana companion—Leonardo… Splinter’s heart is riddled with anxiety at the thought of his eldest—is smaller than this universe’s Donatello, with more pronounced muscles and his eye colour is silver-blue.  While his sons have the same height, same muscles, and same eye colour, except for Michelangelo’s baby blue eyes.

“Yes, and yes,” Alternate Donatello answered dismissively, “So, what are you guys doing in our dimension? And what year is it on your end?” 

“Ok–hold up. How can we be sure we can trust you,” Raphael questioned and interrupted before Donatello could answer his counterparts’ questions.

The alternate of his first and third eldest had shared an amused yet exasperated look at each other.

“From the looks of things, you act like our Raph. And if you're anything like our Raph” Alternate Donatello started, “You won’t trust our words regardless,” Alternate Leonardo finished.

“They got you there,” Donatello pointed out with an amused tone as he sheathed his Bō-staff.

Rapheal growled and grumpily crossed his arms after he sheathed his Sais. But the red-clad turtle is glaring warily at the alternate turtles.

“For your earlier questions. We didn’t mean to be here as we were forcefully sucked–“

Michelangelo laughs “Ha ha ha, suck.”

“–into a vortex. And it’s the year 2007 in our dimension.” Donatello continued as if he wasn’t interrupted.

‘Thank Spirit’ 

Splinter inwardly raised an eyebrow at what alternate Leonardo said. With Splinter’s ability to read lips, he managed to understand the young turtle’s words.

“Hm… What’s the source of the vortex? I might be able to replicate it.”

Donatello grimaced at the thought of the unusual source of the portal, “Stars alignment.”

“Excuse me?” Alternate Donatello stared at his son, with a gaze asking if he was joking.

“Yeah…” Unfortunately, Donatello isn’t joking.

“Right…” Came a dazed reply, “Not the weirdest transportation… What’s the stars' alignment called and how long to form?” 

“Stars of Kicaan, and 3000 years to align,” Donatello answers.

“Leo?” The alternate genius turtle turned to his brother.

This universe of his eldest shook his head, “Maybe it forms on another planet,” 

Alternate Universe Donatello hummed, “That is possible… Do you think Mona Lisa or Bishop has some information? Or willing to–”

Ba pa ba pa ba pa baa pa!

Alternate Leonardo was interrupted by a shell with a screen on it(?).

Splinter and his sons watched the object being tapped in the alternate blue-clad turtle’s hand and shared it with his Donatello.

“Looks like we’ll get information from Mona Lisa,” Alternate Leonardo said as he tucked away the small shell away. “We’re going to the Mutanimals,” Leonardo informed as he parkoured up to the building’s roof

“What? And where’s that?” Raphael loudly questioned, although, it sounded like a demand.

“Upper Manhattan,” Alternate Leonardo answered, not showing if he was bothered or not at Splinter’s hotheaded son tone, “And I hope you don’t mind being named by Mikey,” The alternate blue-clad turtled added.

“What about being named by me?” Michelangelo curiously asked as they followed his alternate brother’s example.

“Mikey–well our Mikey–likes naming things. Villains, people, or objects.” Alternate Leonardo explained.

“And if you named something without him, he’ll sulk for days,” The alternate purple-clad genius rolled his eyes.

Raphael scowled, “Why the fuck does he want to name us? We already have names!” 

“Because there are two versions of each of us. So, he’ll want to name you or us. And judging by the text, Raph successfully threaten him to name you guys instead,” Alternate Donatello explained. 

“Alright,” All six mutants dropped down in front of a vehicle, “Meet my baby, Shellraiser,” Alternate Donatello presented in a proud ‘Ta-Da’ position.

“Woah…”

The alternate version of his son revelled in the amazed look from Splinter’sfamily.

“Make yourself at home, But! Don’t break anything! Or dirty anything!” Alternate Donatello said as he sat in front of multiple monitors. While his brother sat at the steering wheel.

“Alright,” Alternate Leonardo secured his seatbelt, “Thirty-six minutes away from upper Manhattan,” The mutant set the Stick Shift.

Vrrrroooooooommm

“違う亀ですか？” Questioned Karai to the kneeling ninja. She had just been informed by one of her chuunin, who knows about her mutation and her other family members and even met them, about a Mutant Turtle with a blue bandana and twin katanas, that isn’t her brother.

“はい、カライさま” The ninja confirmed.

Karai sighed, “彼はどこにいる？”

“河童は会議室にいますよ、カライさま。” The ninja answered diligently.

Karai waved her hand, “解雇する” and the ninja disappeared.

Karai stayed still for a few moments, “Shinigami,” Karai turned to her Chuunin[4], “What do you think?”

“On whether this is an actual yokai tricking us or just an alternate version of your brothers?” Shinigami questioned, as she sat on Karai’s desk.

Karai let out a small smile, as she intertwines their fingers together, “Both.”

Shini hummed before magicking a flower, “Let’s pick Dendrobium petals, and see our answer,”

“Kame”

Pick

“Brother”

Fall

“Kame”

Pick

“Brother”

Fall

“Kame”

Pick

“Brother”

Fall

“Kame”

Pick

“Brother”

Fall

Karai watched as Shinigami plucked off the petals and let them fall to the ground until the last petal is in her hand.

“Brother,” Shinigami eyed the dendrobium petal with a Cheshire smile. 

Shinigami let the petal fall to Karai’s palm. Which the Jounin [5] eyed.

“Tell Daisuke to put other Leo in a box–“ Karai paused as a mischievous idea formed in her head, “Actually–put him in a closet, and the inside must have these colours,” Karai handed a piece of paper, “And appoint a flight to New York.”

“As you wished,” Shinigami dramatically bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke in her wake.

[1] Knowing these two humans looking like Leatherhead’s friends would compromise him. It would feel like he’s attacking his friends. Mona on the other hand thinks these humans were playing a dirty trick to look like her friends, by looking like her friends, these humans thinks she won’t attack them.

[2] Salamander, Leopard Gecko, and Crocodiles has better night vision than humans. Leatherhead is a mixed mutant between Alligator-Crocodile-Human

[3] I’m not typing OOOO-AAAA-OO for monkey noises.

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[seilucard]

"eye contact as a way to say i love you"

TW: motherhood, pregnancy, miscarriages

a poem i wrote based on this comic that tore my heart out left my insides to dry out in the warm tropical sun! made me think about my own experiences with mortality and what my experiences made me out to be

-

my mother nearly died when i was 2 years old and i was right in front of her when it happened i remember it as a 3 second clip before the rest of the memory fades to black of my mother, walking out the kitchen, blood dripping down her legs i could not look her in the eyes then how could i, when she was bleeding out before my very eyes? i do not remember my father coming home just in time to stop the bleeding nor do i recall the days after; i assume there were hospital visits i do not remember the day she was discharged if she was happy, or sad, or neither but i doubt i looked her in the eyes then, either it was probably too much for a young kid’s mind to handle my mother nearly died when i was 2 years old it was from a miscarriage. an error in her body’s functions this was her 4th miscarriage in her entire lifetime i cannot imagine how useless she felt being unable to do the one thing women were expected to do well and yet, until now, i still do not look my mother in the eyes after all, why should i? i remember being given my first camera it was small, and could fit into the palm of my hand i remember taking a photo of her, steadying my little hands as best i could but she did not smile, even as i smiled back at her i could not look her in the eyes after that in fact, i stopped trying to entirely she tries to look me in the eyes a lot nowadays her smile makes my insides curdle with discomfort i don’t have the heart to tell it to her that it’s already too late she could not bear to look at me in the eyes back then so how could i have learned anything different? i have grown up, now, and i can see how human you are i cannot look at you without feeling shame is this where i came from? are you really my maker? it feels like i’ve had to be my own maker for longer than you’ve been alive i wonder what kind of mother you have to be to have your child be unable to so much as meet your gaze i can only hope that one day, if i have children of my own i will be able to look at them in the eyes through the pain, through the fear, and through the confusion and tell them that i love them

[erisenyo]

So excited to finally be sharing my @zukkabigbang2024 fic, betaed by the amazing @kartoonkrazy and with wonderful art from @lizardlicks (link incoming)!

Featuring culture sharing, culture confusion, gossip, a very sassy Kanna, a very over-it-already Katara, meeting the parents when you and the parent are both world leaders and also you have issues with parents, and Sokka's daddy issues.

[“Right,” Hakoda manages. “An honor.” “Once we will endeavor to meet with equal honor in return,” the Fire Lord says so quickly he starts almost before Hakoda gets out the last syllable. “Sure.” Hakoda has to forcibly unclench his teeth to grind out, “We’re happy to welcome the delegation.” As if they had any choice in it. Fuck, but it would have been a lot easier to say no if the Fire Lord weren’t dating his son.] Or, Zuko is nervous about making a good impression on his first visit South as Fire Lord, which certainly has nothing to do with meeting Sokka’s father. Sokka is excited to see his boyfriend after months apart, and is absolutely totally fine with not being involved in the week’s political negotiations. Totally. Hakoda already has a headache just thinking about how exactly he’s supposed to interact with a fellow world leader who is also a teenager, and also dating his son, and wait--Sokka’s old enough for dating now? When did that happen?

To all the people who on my other longfics kept going 'wow, I cannot wait for the conversation with Hakoda about this one!' to which I kept going '…about that.' -- this one's for you :)

[sanb3rry]

nagi is definitely a clingy bf, like he’d always need to be touching you in some way. oh you’re going out? he’s gonna try and convince you to stay and take a nap with him. you leave for a trip? he’s calling or texting you every waking hour you’re away from him. he can’t help it either, you’re perfect and he wants to spend every breath with you. he gets lonely and mopey when you aren’t around.

oh and when you two are at a social event together, which is like a once in a blue moon thing and he has to speak with some investors, he definitely keeps on glancing at you to make sure you’re okay, and he holds your hand or intertwines pinkies. he might be talking to his teammates, but trust me when i tell you his attention is on you the whoooole time.

you both could literally be chilling on the couch, doing you’re own thing and all but yes he’s gonna come up and cuddle against you, is that even a question?? you’ll be in your shared kitchen making dinner and he’ll come up behind you and give you a back hug.

you’re working at home and he’ll be pouting and indirectly ask you to give him attention, he’s too cute for his own good so you give in anyways.

if you point out how clingy he is, he’ll gonna deny the accusations, but that’s just how he is.

© sanb3rry2023

[mirrorthoughts]

The Wolf, The Bitch And The Oak Tree

It's finally posting week(s) for the @steter-bang !!!

This year I wrote the second part for Dead on Time (/my The Fox And The Wolf series!)

Summary: The Hale pack is safe, but Stiles still has his own nightmares and Peter wants to be able to keep his loved ones safe. For Peter the solution comes in form of a rogue Alpha at the same time as the realization that Stiles won't be with him and Mischief forever. And then there are the memories Peter suddenly earns back with his new Alpha spark that neither he nor Stiles expected.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Relationship: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski Characters: Peter Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Talia Hale, The Hale Family (Teen Wolf), Bobby Finstock Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, magical!Stiles, twice the Stiles is double the fun!, Pack Alpha Peter Hale, Peter gets an Alpha spark

Many thanks to my writing partner Timeless who drew a beautiful comic as a partner piece (see here) and helped me with brainstorming and stuff 💕 And also many thanks to @raett97 wo betaed the story for me again! 💕

I hope you all have fun reading it!

And remember: be kind 💕

[eveningrainstorm]

People often talk about Rio Ranger as if he's the doll version of Sei but what I find super fascinating is that he isn't, not in the same way Fake Reko or the Dummies are replications of their human counterparts.

Ranger resembles Sei on a surface level — same physical appearance, just an unclear amount older; same way of speaking. But he is unmistakably different. Ranger is an incomplete being, missing his positive emotions, but even the true Ranger is Rio Laizer rather than Sei, because there's still something different.

Rio Ranger is, fundamentally, inhuman and yet desperate to be human. He was created to be jealous of humanity and despite his hatred for them, humanity is what he is always striving for. But it is something that he doesn't possess, and is forced to steal instead. He takes clothes from the dead and uses drawings on cards to feign emotion; he is the Dress-Up Doll, Rearranger, not possessor of anything of his own.

While the other dolls based on humans in the game have identity issues based on their personhood being defined by someone else, being merely a copy of another person, Ranger is not even allowed Sei's identity to base himself on — it's very likely he doesn't even know who Sei was. He does not have Sei's clothes — nondescript and tied to Asunaro as they are — and he does not have the capacity for expressing emotion that Sei had.

When comparing Ranger and Sei in terms of personality, differences are obvious. There are similarities, naturally — besides the abrasive way of speaking, there's the jealousy and desire for validation. But in Ranger, these are present to an extreme — they're all he has. (And, ironically, this is what Gashu claims to believe makes him so human, even when Ranger's inhumanity comes through most clearly in this lack of anything else.)

In Sei, on the other hand, these traits are tempered by logic, to put things in YTTD's beloved logic vs. emotion dichotomy. Despite his outwardly emotional nature, from what we see of him he appears realistic and focused on survival in a way that Kai isn't. He's aggressive and overly casual about killing people, but he doesn't express the glee at violence that Ranger does, only a fierce desire to prove himself and survive. Sei is jealous of Kai and desires Gashu's affection, but also has an understanding of the situation he's in that both Kai and Ranger lack — he can tell that Gashu doesn't care about him as much as he does Kai, and recognizes that the way Gashu treats both of them is wrong. Ranger believes Gashu truly loves him, a fact proven blatantly false by his eventual demise at Gashu's hands. Ironically, this blindness is more similar to Kai as we see him in his minisode, rather than Sei.

Of course, this understanding isn't simply a part of Sei's basic nature, but rather the fact that unlike Kai and Ranger, he has past experience to go on. Sei wasn't born into the Satou family — though his exact origins are unclear, based on his grief for his birth father and how he talks about Asunaro ("all this shady organization crap"), it's possible he wasn't even born into Asunaro at all. Before being sent to Gashu, he had his own father, one who we don't know anything about but whom he apparently loved. He doesn't accept Gashu's treatment of him and Kai the way Kai does because he has known a different father and a different way of life. This doesn't free him from Asunaro's influence — he still accepts the role of assassin they give him and resigns himself to becoming a killer. What choice does he have, after all? But he carries no illusions about Asunaro or his role in it. He knows that the training is cruel, that he is viewed only as a tool, that Asunaro is wrong even if they are also not worth resisting.

This is a major part of why Ranger isn't Sei, why he cannot be; because Asunaro is all Ranger knows. They are his creators, who he was literally built to serve. In Ranger's mind, he is not only Gashu's son and heir, but his creation, his masterpiece. And of course he wouldn't have been created with Sei's memories — why take that risk? Why give him any sort of knowledge of a life outside Asunaro or reason to be disloyal to them?

Ranger is not Sei — so why model Ranger after him? Because Ranger is the idea of Sei, what Sei was meant to be: a counterpart to Kai, a rival, a second choice. Gashu preferred Kai, once; Kai won out over Sei. But Kai has proven himself a failure and betrayed Asunaro, leaving Gashu with no choice but turn once more to Kai's long-dead competition. Ranger is, like Sei, the opposite of Kai, temperamental and vulgar while Kai is stoic and polite, and perhaps more importantly, capable of murder while Kai steadfastly is not.

And yet Ranger isn't Sei. Sei was jealous of those — specifically Kai — he saw as superior or at least as being treated as such; Ranger is this idea taken to its natural conclusion. Sei had lost everything he had outside of Asunaro; Ranger never had anything else to begin with. Sei was a human; Ranger will never be, doomed to forever long otherwise. Ranger is Sei only in the ways Sei was useful — desperate for recognition, willing to kill, a perfect rival to Kai — but something entirely different, an inhuman machine, in all the ways Sei was a liability.

Sei was human, and he knew that he deserved to have that fact respected. Ranger isn't human and gets only the wanting, desperate to be as good as a human even humanity itself is unattainable. Of course, it isn't being a doll that is actually Ranger's problem — it's Asunaro, who view humans and dolls alike as disposable. Sei's humanity didn't make him any less of a tool as far as Asunaro was concerned, it only made him more difficult to control. All Sei wanted was to be seen as an equal to Kai, a person worthy of respect — and this is what he gets, in the end: his face and voice used as a base for one of Asunaro's weapons, while his true identity and personhood remains forgotten.

Ranger has nothing to hold him back from doing his duty for Asunaro, nor does he have anything to hold onto outside of it. In that sense, Ranger is an ideal asset for Asunaro — at least until the very jealousy and hatred Gashu programmed into him goes too far, and he is, once again, deemed a failure. Ironically, Gashu shoots Ranger for attempting to kill a participant, when willingness to kill was perhaps the one true advantage Sei had over Kai.

In the end, Ranger is offered no more humanity in his death than Sei is — they are both merely pawns of Asunaro, set to die at its whims. But while Sei dies in the arms of his brother, receiving one final act of kindness as Kai refuses to kill him, Ranger has no one in either of his deaths but his creators: in his death as Rio Laizer the dubious kindness of Tia Safalin, making his final moments full of agonizing guilt, and of course in his first death, as Rio Ranger, nothing but Gashu's coldness, the bullet in his head a sort of culmination to the favoritism Sei found weighed against him, and a demonstration of just how far Gashu has come from the father who once genuinely cared for Sei. Sei was human, Ranger was not, but as far as Asunaro is concerned, they are exactly the same: tools, easily thrown away as soon as they stop being useful.

[seirxi]

cursed jury duty….

[astralcamellia]

『 I'm not calling you "good boy" Doctor, this experiment is shit! 』

[x]

[happi-tree]

⚔️👑 shield and scepter 👑⚔️

Howdy, y'all! So my wonderful mutual @raemeh did this really cool fanart of my royalty Swiftli au (the fic for which can be found here), and I had some little design ideas about them in my wips, so I thought I'd post the two of them here! Thank you so much to everyone who's enjoyed it <333

[silentoathprincess]

ooooh man i had such a great idea for an au where sei joins all the polyamorous dmmd bfs and it like goes through his relationship with each of them and all the similarities in their stories and i am FIGHTING myself not to write it right now

[boyakishan]

My theory on laughter. Is that it's a social thing developed as humanity slowly split off, an evolution thing where disparate groups slowly develop similar attributes by pure chance.

Or maybe it's remnants of a thing animals do, where they go GAH after an unexpected thing at "home" or within relative safety.

People who did it, it became associated with happy things. A specific noise by random mutation when you joined a new group (what was probably a common occurrence back then) that helped to integrate into the early society of the time.

Living in a proto society, basic rules and stuff, general respect but that's it.

A happy noise when you're surprised, because that's the basis of comedy. What the funny part of the funny rules in comedy. Juxtaposition and stuff, it's just surprise. Pulling the rug. Etc.

It's not that big of a thing, but it generally increases happy hormones, which probably links people together and closer, so when they get attacked or something, they'll relax more when whatever they did to relax after an attack.

Based on nothing.

Just out my ass, consider it a theory on humans. Based on general ideas and basis of how we do emotion stuff.

[neroniiii]

in the essay tags from earlier i mentioned how midori is currently (or was i guess) under intense scrutiny from shin following the reveal that yeah he was one of the people involved with organizing the death game and thus he's heavily disadvantaged from being understood (as of now at least- a lot of complexities of Ranger's situation only got revealed after he was shot), but it's important to recognize that he was also doing it to himself. I'm not sure if I want to repeat everything I've already said about it on twitter but you know. Man raised under an ideology of strength in solitude and acknowledgement in usefulness finds joy in building genuine friendships with the only people he believed he could stand on equal grounds with. Same man upon being forcibly removed from that due to circumstances beyond his control only finds solace in the constant of the ideology he's been raised with. Same man is still desperately yearning for that normal life and using the image of the friend whose personality didn't drastically shift during the turbulence of his entire life being shattered (which he's still feeling the effects of now) to achieve that.

[esuemmanuel]

Hablar de amor no es tan sencillo cuando entre las manos se tiene el corazón desnudo y palpitando, por eso tal vez borre todo lo que a continuación voy a escribir; son palabras que van dirigidas sólo a tus ojos y no estás para leerlas. Y es que tu alegría y tu bendita forma de ser se han estado clavando en mi mente como filosas agujas que no duelen, mas, me adormecen la razón. Has hecho, lentamente, un espacio suave y cálido en mi cabeza que sólo se dedica a pensar en ti, evocando cada momento que he estado a tu lado, porque es tan sencillo quererte y tan fácil desear no dejar de pensarte… En mis labios ya no se dibuja una sonrisa si no eres tú quien la está provocando. Me has vuelto un adicto a tu presencia traviesa y terca. Se siente tan bien escribirte sin que te des cuenta de que lo estoy haciendo… Fluyen, como agua de río manso, las palabras inspiradas en ti. Curioso es escribir fluentemente, con la creencia ciega de no tenerte cerca, para crearme un motivo que me inspire a hacerte sentirme.

Talking about love is not so easy when your heart is naked and beating between your hands, that's why I might erase everything I am going to write next; they are words that are addressed only to your eyes and you are not here to read them.

Your joy and your blessed way of being have been sticking in my mind like sharp needles that don't hurt, but they numb my reason. You have slowly made a soft and warm space in my head that is only dedicated to think about you, evoking every moment I have been by your side, because it is so easy to love you and so easy to wish not to stop thinking about you… On my lips a smile is no longer drawn if it is not you who is provoking it.

You have made me addicted to your mischievous and stubborn presence.

It feels so good to write to you without you realizing I'm doing it… Words inspired by you flow like gentle river water. Curious to write fluently, with the blind belief of not having you near me, to create a motive that inspires me to make you feel me.

[bokettochild]

Me: This will be a crack fic!

Brain: Yes!

Me (after writing a bit): Maybe... less crack? Still sort of crack in premise, but with a little bit of angst, as a treat?

Brain: Okay!

Me (a few thousand words in): Okay, scrap that. This is a 5+1 of Sky comfort, with a healthy dose of angst.

Brain: Sure thing!

Me (doubtful): Sure you can actually stick with that one?

Brain: Yep!

Me: Are you sure?

Brain: Uh huh! Oh, only, there's one small problem.

Me (already ready for the worst): What?

Brain: I'm only going to give you three situations :)

Me (not ready for THAT situation): ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I NEED SIX, MINIMUM! SIX!!!!!! WHERE AM I GONNA GET THE OTHER THREE?

Brain (sticking it's proverbial tongue out): Well you wanted crack, so how about doing some of that?

[mirrorthoughts]

Found

Sooo, @flashfictionfridayofficial has currently a roll to provide me with prompts that fit to what I want to write for the Teen Wolf Bingo 😂 This time it's "#FFF277 Silver Sparks" that fit beautifully to my idea of @twbingo's prompt "Lost". So just like last week, this fic's got exactly 1k words to fit into both minimum/maximum word requirements 😂 So, have fun with the story! (also readable here on AO3!) And be kind 💕

(Teen Wolf, Pre-Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Branches broke below his feet as he ran through the darkness of the woods. The air was burning in his lungs, his cheeks and hands were hurting from twigs scraping over his skin and clinging to him as he broke through the undergrowth, stumbling, trying his best to keep on his feet, to not get caught in the brushes, to not fall and hurt himself even more.

There had been a monster. Something monstrous. Large like a horse, bulky like an ox, covered in fur, and staring at him with glowing red eyes. It had to be something monstrous, something no one could escape from, something that would hunt, hunt, hunt him down and rip him to pieces if he didn't get out of the woods. The only reason he hadn't yet fallen prey to it was luck, the full moon in the sky and, as scary as the thought might be, that the monster was probably toying with him.

It probably was herding him deeper into the woods, too.

He'd lost orientation a while ago, hadn't recognized any of the animal paths he had crossed in his escape, if he'd seen them at all. He'd never been this deep into the woods even with his ever expanding curiosity. Wherever the monster was herding him, he didn't have much chance to survive. Not if he didn't find a place to hide and keep safe. A burrow big enough for a teenager like him to hide in, maybe. Or a cave small enough the monster couldn't follow. As of yet he hadn't been lucky enough to see either, nor a tree he could climb up without the beast following.

He tripped and jumped into a bush to keep his balance, breaking through it's twigs and ignoring the continuing burn and ripping of fabric and skin as he stumbled onto a large clearing with an even larger oak tree in its midst.

Suddenly everything was silent. The buzzing in his ears was gone, his breath came still in hard and short breaths but he couldn't hear it any longer. There was no rustling of night time creatures, no owls calling each other. He stepped forward, listening intensely for the sound of his steps, but there was still nothing. Not in front of him, not behind-

Stiles swallowed and turned around. A pair of glowing eyes met his. Fuck. Stiles froze and the creature huffed soundlessly.

In the light of the moon, no longer hidden from the shadows of the trees, the wolf was even larger. Or maybe not, Stiles realized as he stumbled back. The creature was standing on two legs now, towering over him as he made his way back until he was stopped by bark. A glance over his shoulder told him it was the huge tree he'd seen before, not that it mattered much right now. It was too large to get around before the wolf would be on him.

There was no way out anymore.

Stiles took a deep, shaky breath and looked back to the wolf who was watching him in return. He pressed himself closer to the tree, slightly confused when he could feel the bark crackling below his fingers, but he wasn't able - or willing - to take his eyes off the creature again. There was still absolute silence around them, no other way to track the wolf that had started stalking towards him, coming closer and closer and closer. He threw his hands forward, fully aware that it wouldn't help against the beast, but not knowing what else he was supposed to do to keep the beast away from his tender bits, to keep himself safe, and suddenly, silver sparks were flying - sizzling, hissing - through the air, their sound loud in the deathlike stillness as they jumped from his own hands towards the wolf.

The beast howled deafeningly when the sparks hit it square in the chest and Stiles flinched back at the intensity, pressing his hands over his ears a moment later to save his ear drums. He almost missed when everything around them cracked and shattered like glass, sound and something else biting sharp into Stiles body and brain. And Stiles screamed through the pain, screamed until his throat was hoarse and everything went dark.

When Stiles slowly regained consciousness, he felt warm and safe. There was light movement like the sway of a very firm and warm hammock. He could hear the rustling of leaves and small animals around him and the almost inaudible steps of a person. Probably the same person that was carrying around the woods right now. Not someone he knew, though. No one he knew was this strong and smelled like this. And no one he knew would walk topless through the trees.

Slowly he cracked one eye open, vaguely sure that he had been alone in the middle of the woods with a rather hairy wolf monster, though whoever was carrying him was decidedly fur-less as far as he could feel where his hand was laying against the chest of his savior. The face of the man carrying him wasn't wolfish or monstrous either - rather the opposite. Neck and cheekbones to die for, slight stubble in all the right places, and the bluest eyes Stiles had ever seen in his life. Stiles had no idea where the man had come from - and was still decidedly too exhausted to think about it - but he trusted his gut to tell him if he was in danger. His gut told him this good looking guy was the best thing to happen to him since curly fries, so he would probably be alright.

The stranger looked down at him, a smile verging on a smirk on his lips as he hugged Stiles closer. "Sleep," he hummed in a velvety voice. "I'll make sure to get you home safe."

Stiles couldn't help but believe him and closed his eyes again. Whatever would happen, he was sure this stranger would keep him safe.

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Rupture (Pierre Étaix & Jean-Claude Carrière, 1961)