#WHO KILLED HIS PSEUDO MAMA??????!!!!!!

[t3r4t0m4]

GATOR X MUNCH POSTERS LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, MY ART IS NOT FOR YOUR MEDIA ILLITERATE CRINGE ASSES

[desceros]

Okay I have something of a long post/ask/critical analysis of Symphony AU that I want to address. you're free to ignore it if I'm just spouting off insane copium. Or whatever you want to do with it lol. This is more about the turtles that about the Violist.

First I'm gonna talk about Donnie because he's arguably the easiest one to talk about. And take less time. He spent at the very least 15 years of his life knowing exactly five people, three brothers, his dad, and a bestie/pseudo big sister. They're all people who completely understand/grew up with him. And he's used to people adapting to his needs without having to say anything because he's, well, they're brother/son. Speaking from a purely canon standpoint in Rise you can see it, Raph refuses to tell Donnie they hate his gifts because it'll crush him. Stuff like that. Leo calling him a "weirdo" doesn't really mean much of anything considering he's Donnie's brother, and this is about pineapple on pizza.

This is all to say I see how Donnie just didn't bother communicating this was all for his touch experiment. As far as he's basically aware, she already knew. He wasn't going to read between the lines because he'd grown accustomed to the way his brothers, April, and dads act. Which, in hindsight, bit him in the ass because the violist literally doesn't know him aside from "purple turtle science man".

So. I get him. I get where he's coming from even if it ended up kinda fucking up the violist. That's all part of the learning curve of knowing people who don't already know who you are and whatever.

Now for Leo, maybe this is REALLY just me on my copium life support but I see where he's coming from too. Again, when you look at it from a canon lens I see where Leo is coming from. He's always been protective of his family, even more so than Raph at points. He didn't trust Big Mama immediately, even though the rest of his brothers did. He was perfectly willing and happy to DIE IN THE PRISON DIMENSION to keep his family safe. Like, let's not forget he, as well as the others, has a ton of unchecked trauma that he's definitely not willing to address to anyone. A decade of unaddressed trauma will do things to someone's psyche, intentionally or not. The guilt of almost killing his brothers has been festering inside him for over a decade now, this doesn't really seem entirely like a "my brother touches you and not me >:(" thing.

The way I see it Leo's acting out because he's actually just terrified of someone hurting his family again. It's definitely not okay, and it's condemnable. But as someone who's done some pretty fucked shit when I was dealing with my depression before meds, I've been Leo before. That man needs help, and fast.

We've also seen, from Symphony AU that he's mostly accepted the violist as part of the family now. The comments he makes about her being "Donnie's toy" are, again, things he seems to be saying to get a rise out of Donnie. We know he's been doing that for a while. And I wouldn't really put it past him for continuing to try and do it now that Donnie's not allowed to do his experiments anymore.

I had a way better way of wording this last night but I ended up watching TMNT 1987 instead but to summarize my thoughts, I sympathize with both Leo and Donnie and don't believe either of them are irredeemable monsters. If I'm somehow wrong about Leo and this is all just conduit to getting Donnie and the violist together then I'm gonna be so :(. Mafuyu Main Story chapter 14 even.

Or, again, maybe I'm just coping lol.

oh i'm all about symphony copium. breathe deep, anon-chan, hahahaha

aaaaand in true desceros fashion this got way too long so i'm tucking it under a cut. rolls eyes at myself soooooo hard

you're largely correct, though i will specify that for donnie it's not that he "didn't bother" to communicate what he thought was going on, so much as he thought he did.

i invite you-slash-everyone to read this passage from when the agreement was struck to see what i mean. i've removed all of viola-chan's thoughts and interpretations for you, and left you with just the core of the conversation, color-coded for clarity on who's speaking:

“We have… exhausted the limits of touching that I would perform with most people.”  [...] “…What do you mean?”  “I mean that all of the myriad mechanical touches I have experienced so far in my life, we’ve covered together. [...] I’ve become completely enured to them all, so long as you’re the one doing them. There is, of course, an obvious next step, but I wanted to discuss it before we begin.”  “To… touches you haven’t done?” [...] “Correct." [...] “I… don’t understand." [...] “I’m referring to more… intimate touches. We’ve… already been pushing at the boundary a bit, so I wanted to be very specific and clear." [...]

“I… take it you don’t scent your brothers.” “No, I don’t." [...] “Donnie, I—[...] I like you. You know that, right?”  “You aren’t very good at hiding it, no. [...] I, of course, like you as well, though I’d like to think that has been well demonstrated over our time together.”

[...]"…Intimate touches. [...] Like… what, petting? Kissing? Sex? What are we talking about, exactly?”  “All of it, ideally. [...] I’m quite curious to study how I’ll react, especially considering the whole touch aversion situation.” [...] “…Do… Do you wanna try it? [...] …Us, together, I mean?”  [...] “Really? With… With me?” [...] “Of course, I—[...]Donnie, I… of course. I’d be stupid to say no, right?” “Oh, that’s such a relief. [...] I’ve been making spreadsheets of things I’ve wanted to try for several days and wondering how best to bring it up, especially considering—well. It’s quite helpful that you did so yourself. Excellent work, consultant.” [...] “Well, I’d like to amend our agreement on how turtle time is going to go, from now on in light of all this, [...] We’re partners, now, so we have to take care of each other. [...]” “[...]Very well. If those are your terms for partnership, I accept.”

see how differently it reads without viola-chan's thoughts staining it? stripped of her thoughts, you can easily see where the miscommunication happened. other than a few incidental pieces of dialogue that don't affect the meaning of the convo, this is it.

in donnie's mind, he and viola-chan were very much on the same page. "partnership". "agreement". these are words that viola-chan uses. when he refers to spreadsheets, she just rolls with it. as far as he's concerned, they're talking about a scientific study here. he did communicate, and well. it's just... viola-chan put things there that he didn't. and that's not her fault, because at this point she hasn't picked up on how to communicate with donnie yet. and it's completely rational to assume, when discussing sex and romance and hearing someone say "i like you"--and then going on to kiss and have sex with that person--that it's a romantic relationship. as stated in the fic, my personal opinion (which to be clear, as someone who stands on death of the author, this *is* just my opinion) neither of them did the other ill. they literally just didn't know how to communicate yet. so i 100% agree with you on being able to see donnie's side of this. i have another long-ass ask somewhere in the meta tag discussing the lack of socializing specifically, if you're curious for more of my thoughts on that.

i also agree with you largely with the leo portion of your analysis. i... can't go into as much detail on his side of things, but rest assured that before everything is over, viola-chan and leo are going to have more than one conversation. and the two of them, despite everything, really do mesh well and talk about things, so it'll be a satisfying resolution, i think.

anyway WOW that got way too long but teal deer, i agree and love deep meta-analysis of my stuff so don't apologize in the slighest, yeehaw

[acrossthecherriverse]

Raccoon City tapes

Tape 7 - Spencer Memorial Hospital sickroom, first tape

…

Mom’s dead.

It's… it's 2:04 AM. I'm in the hospital. Not the only one here.

…

[Whisper] Fuck…

[Male voice] It's okay.

It's not okay!

…

[Sniffle]

Came here, started looking around, this guy… burst out of one of the doors with an AR, thought I was gonna die.

…

His name's Carlos. Told him I was looking for mama, that she was a nurse, he said that… that she's dead…

Didn't believe him but he took me upstairs, to the staffroom, and-

[Sniffle]

And she was there.

She left a note, I know it was her, it was her handwriting. She was… she was still alive at 9 pm.

…

Five fucking hours ago.

[Sniffle]

[Male voice] I'm so sorry.

You've got nothing to be sorry for, ‘s not like you killed her.

…

There's also a girl here. Well, woman. She was the one to clear out those zombies back there. Her name’s Jill, and she's STARS. She… she got infected. She's going to be fine now, though. Carlos is taking care of her.

…

He… hasn't seen my dad. Um…

Carlos found evidence that Umbrella is…

…Fuck. Umbrella is probably behind this. Also experiment on humans. Make bioweapons like these… pseudo-zombies, and all the other shit.

…

I don't know if I'm going to keep looking for my father.

Starting to run low on ammo. Carlos said that neither him nor Jill saw any… living Umbrella scientists, and they've swept through pretty much all of downtown. If he's in one of his little labs, then…

…

He'll manage.

I should start thinking about getting out of here. Carlos still has some business here. [Whisper] Pretty sure that business starts with a J.

[Male voice] Heard that!

[Laughter]

…

And… I don't think Leon is still at the police station. With the FBI helping him he's probably out of the city already. God, I wish.

Guess I'm just gonna have to… try and get out the old fashioned way. To the east. Ennerdale street’s too far, Raccoon street…

[Male voice] It's cleared out.

Great. Best I get going, then.

[Male voice] Alone? Evelyn, it's-

Who do you suggest as a bodyguard?

…

…Yeah. Thank you for helping me, Carlos, but I have to leave.

[Male voice] Wait until the morning. Higher chance of meeting people on the road. And the daylight is useful.

…

Right.

Uh, 2:08 AM, over and out.

tape 8

[bebouhito]

Nanahito kids lore episode 1: Mayu

picrew: x, x.

Mayu, Nanami and Mahito's second born, has already defied the odds twice before even being out of the womb.

First, unlike their human/curse hybrid older brother, they are fully human. Second, in order for both them and Mahito to survive, they turned their curse parent into a human. Mahito's body wouldn't have handled carrying a fully human fetus to term otherwise.

There is a third thing that was only discovered when Mayu was three years old. They had inherited idle transfiguration, which was unexpected for a human being since Mahito had lost this ability after becoming one. 

But even before that, Mayu had always had an imaginary friend who looks exactly like their Mama, except for the stitches. Mahito still has scars and marks, but they are healed on his face and tattoos on his body. This other Mahito, that Mayu would often mistake for their real parent when they were very young, is the remains of Mahito's cursed energy that has turned into a special curse that only Mayu can see.

Pseudo-Mahito was the first link Mayu had to the world of curses. Of course, their older brother Kenshiro is half-curse, but he had always rejected this part of him and desperately tried to fit in with humans. Kenshin's failed attempts at fitting in caused him to deal with severe anger issues.

Mayu slowly realizes that they want nothing to do with humans, and that they feel much closer to curses. Their "imaginary" friend told them about Mahito's past and Kenjaku, and Mayu first thought that their disinterest for humans wouldn't go as far as leading them down the same path, but as they grow up, bond with more curses, and struggle with their mental health, they come to hate sorcerers even more than they don't care about humans. When Kenshiro, who is only a year older than them, joins Jujutsu High, Mayu snaps. For their entire childhood they were all alone with themselves and their ability; Mahito was now human and couldn't teach them how to handle idle transfiguration, Kenshiro only inherited 7 to 3, and Nanami was a sorcerer, which Mayu profoundly despised. And now Kenshin was following Nanami's path and *betraying* Mayu. The only people who had always been here for them were curses. Mayu feels like their family are all traitors, and they can't take it anymore. After getting in a fight with Kenshin and nearly killing him, Mayu runs away from home at the age of seventeen and gathers a group of curses with the goal to burn down Jujutsu High and eventually get rid of all sorcerers. Even pseudo-Mahito, Mayu's imaginary friend, tells them that it's impossible, that even if they do kill all sorcerers, others can still be born from non-sorcerer families (like Nanami), but Mayu replies, without missing a beat: "Then we'll just keep killing them one by one. The fun will last longer."

[the-firebird69]

You can't take it ever and you keep doing it to me and doing it and doing it like just some demented idiotic child and now there's no purpose to it you get killed and your you're an imbecile you're a f****** idiot and you're a criminal. And a homo on top of it good point and by the way people are watching you right now and they don't like what they see and they need stuff and they need stuff right now and they're a huge armies gathered right at your stupid a****** stashes and caches and by the way if you can't take it don't just s*** out stupid mother f*****

Zues Hera

I guess I see the point I'm going to get harassed to death and keep doing it to you and I don't get it and the point is that it doesn't do much doing it to you but I keep doing it and I guess I'll pay for it

Trump

I guess so through the nose and to my people and I don't appreciate the behavior with the attitude or you being around but it doesn't work to a certain end and if you had half a brain you know that you're doing something wrong but you don't you're very stupid person and your realm is going to take a knee I really needed it to happen

Zues Hera

I suppose you're right I don't understand what I'm doing wrong and I don't see it and I say all sorts of stuff I mean to say it but you know what I think I'm so stupid I'm just going to keep trying it and if it doesn't work I tried and yeah people don't respect that who can see me failing obviously

Trump

He's been saying it too this guy has no idea that he's messing up no clue what he did and he has no clue what he's doing wrong everyday and he's backed off because people are hitting him it's like a zombie that's what I'm saying too you're very stupid I don't think I can be near you ever again you're so goddamn dumb

Sarah

That's okay I need this as motivation we go out and kill people and stuff really I feel like doing it and he says so what we're right on you and you get killed back we need that I don't see the problem he says yeah I sort of get something I ruin this a while ago and just keep doing it and I'm a pussies I sit here doing the wrong thing and yeah that's true is what a wimp would do and I'm a win he says I'm not going to be your mama I'm not going to come in and scoop you up like I'm your papa or hold you up and it never have and I'm not going to do it for you ever you're a f****** lunatic you need to leave I'm just going to have you killed until you're dust he says it's working. So I see that we're trying stuff and I'm rubbing the wrong way he doesn't have to say it he says I don't have to say it at all because it's happening anyways. So I guess he says that you know what I'm up to all sorts of stuff and a lot of it gets ruined and I'm sitting here and that's why I can't stand it and I can't move and the robots he says are going to be taken care of shortly because your friend is around in the form of a computer LOL and all sorts of fun stuff like that because what's in Vegas stays in Vegas and I sort of get something he's going to use my robots already and a lot of other people are so I don't really want to stick around and see that

Trump

You loser

Sarah

You'll speak for yourself you little a****** I don't have anything left for the stupid project

Trump

Now he's amassing troops and he's going to attack the pseudo empire and the sun is not the pseudo empire and he's not his news person he says it all the time I need a little girl I'm running different stuff I'm putting different stuff down than you want to stop you from f****** having me do it it's just this f****** a****** f**** from westborough Joel Watts he want to get rid of all your people so we have to get rid of his robots we have to take him and stop him this is insanity there's no real reason why we're stopping and waiting is there he says we have to get rid of his army first apparently they're terrorists and that's the reason and that's what we're doing with you John you can see all sorts of s*** you f****** fag. It's not like they're holding off either the robots just in the same place

Thor Freya

Olympus yeah it's not impossible it's done all the time and not just by us

As soon as you get something you're watching me and laughing and saying I'm disgusting I'm getting rid of my army myself and there's a bunch of groups sitting pretty waiting for me to die now that would be wrong and stupid and he says it doesn't necessarily have to be my people and you're dumb f****** a****** who just sits there laughing cuz you're stupid and I see why you've got a patience they're down at almost every spot I was at ruining everything and now I can't activate the robots it hasn't tried yet and yeah it's going to be a surprise you know the pseudo empire is doing too I got to get out of here

Trump

You really do don't even know how to program right and you're a f****** loser

Zues Hera

Let's get the street I'm a killer and I go around killing people I'm going to kill you if you keep talking this way

Trump

They're going to kill me John remillard let's start off day one with me threatening your life because you're threatening me and you smacked stand I say is I'm not afraid of you and your big mouth and I'm trying to provoke you into a fight so I can kick your f****** head in because that's what your son wants and I can get it done and I want to apparently you had me kick his head and he got knocked out and he got dragged into a fire by you at home sees and you little girls here have a issue with each other this is the easiest way to steal things from people and I'm taking all your stuff cuz you're a f****** huge a******

Zues Hera

So I see it now you don't care it's one issue and one thing after another and you're just going to clean my clock I have to get out of here okay he's pissed off and he doesn't want me around he said to sabotaging stuff and I'm seeing doing it I've seen him do it and he's killed people and he thought Dan was dead no he didn't know who he was but he thought he was dead it turns out to be his name is home z and I got to tell you something I had to put up with a stupid s*** for a long time because he thought I didn't know I did have him do it he's not supposed to get caught and I guess I dragged him into the fire and Terry she's been pulled them out and he's after my job he doesn't give a s*** he wants me out of here if I step on a line he's going to break my neck and have fun doing it and then break dancing girls so we're going to keep blabbing he says it's costing every second you blabbing at me he says I'm taking your stuff and taking your assholes down you don't even see my forces you're so f****** stupid he says I'm out of the burning Man burning huge armies of yours and you don't even know it's down there you're so goddamn dumb now he says that so I have to go there and take a f****** step down there and stay there he says

Trump

I am taking this to heart what are you saying is he hates us he can't stand us and we should know it by now and we f***** up all the time we were here the whole time and you want to stop home yourself and go to hell you're a bunch of f****** f***** he says I'm beating up people and stop people who are 10 times as hard you just sit here which is nine little f****** retarded kids I get the f*** out of here you f****** loser now he says that they were supposedly looks all this stuff okay doesn't mean anything he wants us dead and we're going to die he's laughing at us cuz he sees us died in the future he started doing that cuz we were making money off him and not paying him he told us the plan we don't understand it or crying little babies he's not our father he's not a daddy he doesn't give a s*** about us we keep doing it and we're going to die and he says so what you've got the stuff nobody else cares enough to do it I don't know why your pushovers it's true too we're not that tough the only one doing it is bja and it's a wimp and we end up getting rid of each other so that makes sense the pseudo empire is having it done and the empire is having them do it they want to pile of s*** we are

Dan

Still doesn't do me any good so I'm calling on Olympus for solutions and I'm putting hits on you both I don't want you near me ever you want to be in my apartment you're dead you want to follow me around you're dead I want it done within 5 minutes of your infractions and I want I want to work on it to get to that 5 minute mark because we should be 5 minutes ahead

Zues Hera

We're taking it how it is we're going to start doing this job this is terrible we're sending assassins everyday and we're going to work to get towards that goal at least 5 minutes after each infraction okay

Frank Castle hardcastle

There's a torrent of them which means we need to take them down wholesale and who cares they don't do anything but mess up the place and ruin the country I don't see us getting away with stuff because they're going to do that and he says well we're going after the max and we're using his cover it's kind of true so the max we should go after a lot more than just three bunker systems and we do follow that

Bitol and Goddess Wife

Olympus

[notmuchtoconceal]

Juliane Moore was the only Clarice who was man enough to turn Hannibal into Will, and this first of many revisionist takes is far more offensive to heterosexual men than than the version where they're gay lovers, for in that one at least Hannibal is still the top. The pussy, you understand, is the formative wound from which all life springs, and men only have organs suitable for fertilization. To even contemplate the anus as pseudo-pussy, it seems, requires considerable imagination, which is strange, as I had always thought the definitive quality of heterosexual men was to see pussies everywhere, but perhaps this was my own projection, the pussy being first and foremost a wound.

Maybe the quality which makes women charming, vivacious and smart is that everything men regard as a wound, they regard as the head of a potential spring :-- some women loving men so purely, as their love of men can remain purely theoretical, as some men can love women purely, their love of women remains theoretical. Theoretically, it would be calamitous for the state of the human species if every member of the opposite sex only theoretically loved each other, but in truth, this would take such a considerable degree of brainwashing, the only reason I'm willing to humor it is as even a remote possibility is some incidental late onset bisexuality which I'd realized eclipsed me from my primal instincts through circuitous rationalizations.

Fear avoidance can become so extreme it absolute induces repressions and splinters in the personality. I think many young men are highly enticed by the idea of MK Ultra brainwashing for they deeply identify with being trauma programmed. It's a bit like the cute wrestler boy in the Breakfast Club's line about being a winner being conditioned like a racehorse. Fine physical specimens of either sex are high in demand, because they're high potential revenue. That's all it is. Our natural empathic capacities to sensually bond are a liability in an ostensibly post-imperial Neoliberal order where impure thought needs to be weeded out by corporate dictate because we simply don't have the time or the resources to give working people the time to talk or heal or do the self-work they would need to survive in an atomized crumbling republic where they're constantly being conditioned by advertisers and the media for we've come to collectively value the profit motive as most important and only. More important than family, but we can't say that, for we need family to uphold business relations. Why would our family be our family if they knew we valued money more than them, unless we too valued money more than family? What family could you be with someone who refuses to value family? Simply put, you must eat them alive. Have no guilt when you kill, for I deem you will kill only justly, it not being worth the years of torture if you did it for fun. Anyway, women are pleasant enough, but I fear I suspect all women are businesswomen at heart, and in fact that mother is the key link between Italians, Catholicism and the Mafia. Everybody does what mama wants done, and mama wants her boys to run cartels for her. Every Mafioso, you know -- he's ultimately a good man, for he loves his mother. The Mother is always right there with the Devil, for she is the only one who can love him. The only one who can truly enable him, and truly be his Most Perfect Instrument. A mother -- if she can't think rationally, why she's liable to incite men to world religions, she really thinks he's the best! Anyway, women are interested in material affairs like resources and family, and serving them is a part of one's manhood, but if one's heart does not belong to the material, one's heart cannot belong to a woman, unless she is a woman who forsakes her fertility, in a sense, by preserving it.

This is the paradoxical allure of chastity. To always have it, but never. It's so much fun. It stirs one to all manner of intriguing diversions. When two people know well enough to leave each other alone, they're irreversibly prone to all manner of theater and subterfuge. If one fucks all the time, I find it either gets old, or requires increasingly byzantine elaboration. The foreplay is the best part, and only gets better the longer, the stranger and the more elaborate it comes. Why, I think is simple truth isn't only why people write spy novels, it's why they become spies!

Juliane Moore is a ballbuster, for she's a clever girl, you see. When you squish the ball, it makes the cum come out. Stupid boys never seem to realize that, because they don't like it when their goo-goos hurt. This is a man, you understand, who right along with H. R. Giger took one look at James Cameron and the Alien Queen and went exactly. Hmmm-hmmm. Yes. Yes, this is exactly where I was going with this. Excellent work.

Remember when he had Tim Curry embody Darkness Itself? Darkness Who Announced Itself Brother? Tim Curry who we know well As The Transsexual Self-Generative Intellect? Why, we love Tim Curry, but we of course -- recognize that Tim Curry is both a man, and a vehicle for something more. Ridley Scott recognizes that a complete man is a woman and a woman is a complete man, and he's not so covetous of this, but openly admirable. His most classic films -- Alien, Blade Runner -- show a fascination with technologically generating artificial life, in one sense as othered monstrosity, in another as empathic mirror (you will think always of Harrison Ford in the rain, mutely committing to memory Rutger Hauer's improvised closing monologue.) A mania for co-opting the womb is core to the Frankenstein complex, and so a part of any technological-oriented man's self-development. When I think about it in this way, I wonder if heterosexual men are constantly resolving things for each other, and so if one wishes to retain a definitive auteur aura, one needs to be a particularly sharp self-promoter or else maintain some air of exclusivity. (The goal here is in pinpointing the source of fascination. What makes one truly distinct? Another seemingly common, when all men are irrefutably unique?) Men who appear totally opaque are often far more intriguing once you've had some time to parse their influences and see the ways in which -- while undeniably themselves -- still remain a part of vibrant traditions, working from the same sources. It humanizes them. To see the component parts gives you some semblance of the structure, and you can see learning is so much easier than scaling a monolith, for you are taking it one brick at a time. The DNA always remains the same. It takes considerable adapted incompatibilities to become no longer viable.

joe

[etherealnoir]

Sometimes I think about the fact that Annalise Keating left her girlfriend for her male therapist who essentially groomed her while she was vulnerable, got pregnant even though she never really wanted to be a mother, got used to the idea of being a mom and then lost her baby after a man she brought into her circle had her hit by a car for money. Then her shitty ass husband emotionally cheats on her with his ex wife/baby mama when he realizes Annalise can’t have kids anymore. And then years later Sam ACTUALLY cheats on Annalise with another emotionally vulnerable young woman and has her killed when she gets pregnant. And Annalise, throughout all of this, is dealing with comphet and hypersexualization bc sexual trauma. And she builds a relationship with this young black boy and takes him in as a pseudo son (later on anyway. In S1 it was a little iffy there), only for him to get killed and for her to be blamed for it. And they can’t even have a proper funeral for him bc they lost the body.

[pinkbelugacollective]

when shunsui called uno out by her real name, and you saw the bitch’s face closeup, THAT was the fact of a devil, like once you strip away the propaganda BS and erase the whole allure of the shinigami, all you have left is an administration made up of monsters who managed to get away with every single dirty thing, like of COURSE zaraki is a tragedy, he’s a tragedy because the one maternal figure in his life was his pseudo-abuser and groomer, EXCEPT uno got it wrong thinking he’d ever grow up to be like her cuz she couldnt kill his empathy and good soul because ding ding ding, zaraki kenpachi is a good man who only ever wanted to be loved and GIVE love, and all he got was a serial killer groomer for a surrogate mama, and then his subconscious felt SO bad for him that his brain really spiritually mpreg’d him and had him pop out a whole soulbaby he could look after JUST so he wouldn’t commit suicide-by-fight, like unohana did this to him, and i hate her for it, but it’s one of the best subplots kubo ever did write in his career.

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Well ain’t that one hell of a wake up call :)

      They all settle into Virgil’s room, sitting on the circular mattress of foreign, soft material. 

      After Roman sets him down onto the bed, Virgil pulls him down by the arm, manhandling him into a seated position so Virgil can drag himself into his lap. This is not the first time he’s done this, but it still makes Roman blush. (And, the whispers taunting him with the possibility of it being a romantic gesture are not helping, in that regard)

      “So, we need to talk about what happened last night.” Logan asserts aloud, knocking Roman back out of his flustered headspace.

      “First, how did you two get so hurt so quickly??” Patton frowns, “I know we were in dangerous territory, but I was only separated from Virgil and Logan for a few minutes!”

      Then, an onslaught of whispers explaining the situation. 

      Roman catches bits and pieces where he is mentioned, though he wishes he could block his ears to it and pretend the whole thing never happened… 

      “Roman, is that true?” Patton gasps, clutching the sleeves of his cardigan. Roman hates the look on his face — some horrible, gut-wrenching mix of pity and horror — but he doesn’t look away. A Paladin faces the consequences of his actions. 

      Roman nods,

      “It…was my fault. I’m sorry.” 

      Roman is keenly aware of the shift against his chest, of Virgil’s gaze on him, but he can’t look down to meet his eyes. He barrels on, unable to stop his rambling, 

      “I was being reckless and petty. I put all of you in danger, and I nearly got everyone killed. I-…I killed—”

      “Shut the fuck up.” Virgil grumbles, glaring up at him. Roman snaps his jaw shut, surprised. 

      (I mean, he had expected Virgil to be angry with him, but that isn’t exactly the sentence Roman had been anticipating.)

      “Pardon?”

      “I said shut up! Gods, do you actually believe that?!” Virgil frowns, “That wasn’t your fault. You didn’t put anyone in danger.”

      “I beg to differ.” Logan frowns, and Virgil’s icy glare immediately snaps to him while Roman’s heart turns to stone and drops to his stomach. This was a reaction he had been expecting, but that didn’t make it feel any better.

      “If he hadn’t ran off on his own on some ridiculous quest to slay a monster, none of that encounter would have happened. He snuck away in the middle of the night to confront her after repeatedly being advised against it. He shouldn’t be surprised that the situation went downhill from there.” Logan chides, “He was being foolhardy.”

      “Yeah, running off on his own was stupid, but that doesn’t make what happened afterward his fault! It’s not like he could help it!” Virgil snaps, “And he wasn’t the only one being reckless! Don’t think it escaped my attention that you went hunting around for hag’s eyes instead of the rest of the group! —And you voluntarily made a deal with that bitch!” 

      “There were no better ways to resolve the situation at my disposal. Roman had a brainslug!”

      “Yeah, and you sound like you’re blaming him for it!” 

      Logan is caught off guard at that. 

      He turns to Roman, eyes wide, though his frown is still present. Roman shrinks a little under his stare, and Virgil squares his shoulders, putting himself between the two. 

      Roman realizes with a start why Virgil had seated them the way he did; he’s made himself into a barrier.

      “It’s okay. I get it!” Roman interjects, trying to sound less crushed than he is to get Virgil to back down. He doesn’t want a fight to break out here.

      “No, Roman, wait.” Logan pinches the bridge of his nose, swearing under his breath in Elven, “It wasn’t my intention to imply… —You should take responsibility for running off without a word, because that was irresponsible of you!”

      Roman nods, waiting for the kick… But, instead, Logan gives Roman a soft look. Roman is almost certain he hates this pseudo-guilt more than the anger.

      “You put yourself in danger. That is what I was trying to say.” Logan sighs.

      “I am angry with you for that, but I don’t blame you for what happened to you afterwards. Or Virgil. That was not your fault, that was the Coven’s.”

      …Roman isn’t quite sure he agrees with that, but he gets the distinct impression Virgil will yell at him if he disagrees, so he keeps his mouth shut. 

      Patton gives Logan an encouraging smile, then reaches over to pat Roman’s leg, sighing,

      “Roman, I love that you’re courageous and gallant and all, but you worry us to death when you go out picking fights you aren’t ready for! Logan was scared for you. We all were.”

      “I know why you did it, but you can’t do that again, man.” Virgil nods, deflating slightly. He and Logan share an exhausted look, and luckily, neither of them seem to be angry at the other about the miscommunication. (That’s good, because if Roman had found himself secondhand ruining their friendship, he would cry.)

      “I wish I could promise that I won’t.” Roman frowns, feeling ice run through his veins as he awaits their response, “—I mean, I won’t go running back to her any time soon, but if there’s some other menace out there that I am prepared to handle… I mean, protecting people from evil is my duty, I can’t just let those things be! I tried to warn you before, but I really can’t just leave it alone if I know I could solve the problem!”

      “I’m not asking you to leave it alone.” Virgil groans the words like it pains him, (and honestly, it probably does,) 

      “But I am telling you not to go alone. Not again. We go together, so you don’t end up dead and alone in the woods somewhere.”

      “Agreed!” Patton grins, and Logan nods, 

      “If we can’t stop you, at least let us keep you from getting yourself killed in vain.”

      Roman feels a familiar warmth bubble up in his chest, with the two of them smiling at him like that. He’s not sure if he wants them putting themselves in danger to help him, but damn if he’s not flattered by their loyalty; he wants nothing more than to embrace it. 

      So, Roman nods, barely suppressing his own smile of relief.

      “Now, what happened after that?” Virgil frowns, leaning his head back against Roman’s shoulder and closing his eyes. His breathing is deep and shallow; he’s trying to get as much essential conversation in as he can before he passes out again.

      “You revived me. —Are you guys okay?! No one here hurt you, right?”

      “No, we’re fine~! Some dirty looks, but that was it.” Patton smiles, reaching over to hold Virgil’s hand.

      “We were led here by soldiers who recognized you.” Logan explains, “They led us to your Empress, and she and your Lady helped us with the ritual. The Empress called Eilistraee for aid, and we discussed your…situation.”

      Virgil groans and covers his face with his hand, “Please tell me you didn’t embarrass yourselves in front of them.”

      “On the contrary, I think our conversations were very enlightening!” Logan smiles, completely missing the point. “I have a better idea of what you will require going forward, for our classes. …Though, Eilistraee suggested that we should also find you a Sorcerer for mentorship. And, she had implied that one would find us promptly..?”

      Virgil snaps to attention. He uncovers his face and nods,

      “I know a guy. He’s looking for me. If we’re going to be sitting ducks here for a while, while my body remembers how to function, he should catch up to us. I, uhh…” 

      Virgil coughs, his voice quieting slightly, “I think you guys already…know each other? His name’s Dee?”

      Hearing the poorly disguised excitement in his voice at the idea, Patton and Logan both try not to look agitated… Roman seems pleased, though, and smiles,

      “Mama needs me and Remus to meet her in town, so our groups were going to be converging at some point, anyway! —I told you guys it was fate that we should meet~!! Everything’s coming together!”

      “Wait, I thought Dee was a wizard?” Patton frowns, and Virgil shakes his head,

      “No, that’s a cover. —If we’re all going to be working together, you should probably get used to the idea of him being less than honest. Almost everything that comes out of his mouth is total bullshit.”

      “Oh, we are well aware.” Logan grumbles.

      “Wait, before we get too far from the subject,” Patton frowns, and Roman doesn’t like the sad look returning to his face one bit, “…What were you talking about, before, Ro? ‘Petty?’ What made you sneak off like that?”

      Roman blanches. 

      Virgil must feel him stiffen — or maybe he remembers their short, incredibly one-sided conversation in the woods — and speaks up in his stead,

      “That wasn’t his fault, it was mine. We were going to wind up there regardless.” 

      ...And, once again, he has completely astounded Roman. He needs to stop expecting things from this man.

      “How is that possible?” Logan frowns, just as confused.

      “It’s a long story I’m too tired to be embarrassed about…” Virgil shrugs,

      “I made a deal with Granny a few years ago, to save a bystander. She said she would spare their life, but I would owe her one the next time I returned to her wood. The next time I saw her, she would take a member of my party.” 

      “What?!” Patton and Roman yell in unison, and Virgil’s ears flatten to his head for a moment as he frowns in distaste.

      “And you didn’t think to mention that?!” Roman whines, scandalized.

      “I didn’t expect you to run off!” Virgil elbows Roman in return, then looks up at him, “…And…I didn’t want you to think less of me. For taking the easy way out… That was before I got all fucked up. Honestly, I could have killed her if I wanted to, and been done with all of this. But I was too scared. I’m not…like you.” 

      There is an unexpected, strikingly soft tone to his voice as Virgil admits this. He seems surprised by it himself, after it’s out in the air. Virgil quickly barrels forward, waving his hand dismissively, 

      “Honestly, I’m relieved the one she meant was mine. I would have felt bad if I had gotten someone else damned for my mistake. —It doesn’t matter now, anyway. She killed me; she got her reward.”

      “Not quite,” Logan frowns, “We had to break her claim to revive you. Logically, that should mean the deal is broken, but she may not see it that way. In fact, I would bet that she still considers you to be in debt.”

      “Well, good thing none of us plan on going back into her territory!” Patton smiles, with a less than pointed look at Roman. Roman blushes and nods, but Virgil’s gone stock still. 

      Roman hears his breathing quicken, and though he can’t see his face, Roman can see the slight yellow glow reflecting on his white hair. Virgil grips Roman’s arm, claws digging painfully into his skin,

      "Oh my god. Annie.” Virgil whispers fearfully.

      An onslaught of whispers hits them then, warning of some giant wolf called Jasper (Roman thinks he remembers Virgil mentioning someone like that before, but he wasn’t paying attention) who is apparently gunning for their little nereid. Patton and Roman both pale as Virgil starts to ramble,

      “Annie! Oh my god, she’s gonna kill her! Fuck!! No, no—”

      “No, she won’t.” Logan promises sternly, a flash of magic in his eyes when he speaks. He lays his hand over Virgil’s, and Virgil relaxes his grip, but only slightly.

      “I am going to go get her.” 

      “What did we just say about splitting up?!” Virgil hisses, the Calm Emotions charm just barely keeping hold on him. Logan shakes his head,

      “This is different, and you know that. I am not sneaking off without a word, and we don’t have another option. You are too weak to travel, and if we wait any longer to cross back into the Prime Material, we may reach her too late. Besides, I am the only one of us who can ferry messages back and forth, and I can only do that from outside of the city.”

      Roman is aghast at this, and shakes his head vehemently,

      “Then I’m coming with you!”

      “No you are not!” Logan and Virgil both say — or shout, in Virgil’s case — at once. Logan elaborates first,

      “You are also too weak to travel, and you two are the only ones of us who have encountered Jasper! He would sniff you out immediately.”

      “You’re the weakest and slowest member of our party, and he’s a wolf shifter!” Virgil shakes his head, “He’ll still hear you, and he’ll hunt you down like a newborn deer!” 

      Logan smiles at him. Roman assumes he’s trying to be soothing, but he knows that mad scientist glint to his eyes when he sees it…

      “Not if I cast Silence. Besides, he has no reason to suspect me more than any other townsperson, and the Hag only has her power over the town because she pretends to be their protector. He wouldn’t be allowed to kill citizens at random.”

      “Then it’s settled! Me and Logan will get Annie.” Patton nods, and Roman whines. Logan and Virgil look no less pleased.

      “You will be going nowhere!” Logan frowns, “I can’t allow you to put yourself in danger any more than Roman or Virgil. You are still…ill.”

      “Oh, you did not just pull that card!” Patton gasps, slapping Logan’s arm, (He pulls it, of course, but it still hurts a little,)

      “I’ve been doing just fine this entire trip, and I am a grown man! I can handle being ‘a little ill’!“

      “Patton, I didn’t mean to—”

      “You invited me on this whole adventure because you needed protection, and you knew I could keep us both safe!” Patton huffs, furious, “The last time I split from you three, one of you ended up dead. None of us are going on any side quests or rescue missions solo anymore! I’m coming with you, and that’s the end of it!”

      “Yes, fine, alright.” Logan sighs, knowing he isn’t going to win this one. This just makes Roman more upset, and he shouts in frustration,

      “No! You two aren’t going anywhere without me!”

      “That’s rich.” Logan notes offhandedly, and wow, that stings, but Roman doesn’t have time to be sad about it, because they aren’t listening,

      “I mean it!” Roman demands desperately, trying his best to convey how serious he is without giving up his secret, “You can’t go anywhere I can’t follow you— I can’t protect you! You can’t leave me behind, I’m coming with you!” 

      “No!” Virgil demands again, shaking his head and redoubling his grip on Roman’s arm. It hurts a lot, but Roman is suddenly more concerned with the near-delirious look on his face. His eyes are starting to glow again as he works back up into a panic,

      “No, Roman, you can’t! Not ag— Not all of you.” Virgil shakes his head, closing his eyes tight when he feels the sparks starting to build there. His tone is rushed and shaken, like he’s trying to make sense of his thoughts as he says them aloud, 

      “You’re hurt too, and you still don’t know how to use your sword! You won’t make it out there! You can’t leave me alone, If you leave I’ll— I need you to stay here!”

      …Okay, there is definitely something wrong here. But still, Roman feels that all-too-familiar tug at his core at Virgil’s last statements…

      Roman looks up between Logan and Patton for a moment. 

      They look just as confused and distressed as Roman is, but under that, they…really do look well rested. And he’s seen them in action before; Logan is nothing if not a competent magician, and despite how he looks, Patton is even stronger than Roman is. If any of them could make it out on a last-ditch rescue effort, it would have to be them. With his current state, and everything he’s accomplished lately, Roman’s certain he would be more of a hindrance to the mission then anything… It hurts to let them go, but it’s the only thing he can do.

      “Virgil…” Roman sighs, already knowing the answer, “Are you asking for my help?”

      “Yes. —I don’t want to! I don’t kn—…I’m sorry.” Virgil grumbles while shaking his head, the picture of contradiction. He hugs his legs to his chest, and his eyes open again, though his pupils are still yellow.

      “…Virgil?”

      “You have to stay.” He nods resolutely, “…But I still don’t like this.” he growls, letting his head thud against his knees. Either out of frustration, or because he’s gotten too tired to hold it up.

      “I don’t want any of you to go. This sucks ass. I can’t… I just got back, you know?!”

      Patton scoots over and gives Virgil a crushing hug, which he gladly leans in to. 

      “I know, kiddo. But I’m sure it will all turn out fine!” Patton soothes him softly, “Now we know exactly where to go and where to avoid, and Logan can report back to you guys all the time so you know we’re okay! We’ll just run to grab her and be right back, as quick as we can. In the meantime, you two get some rest!”

      Virgil closes his eyes and hums in acknowledgement. After a bit of silence, he grumbles, pushing himself away from Patton,

      “Roman, can you get me my bags from that drawer? The first one.” He flicks his hand roughly towards the entire left side of the room (which, thankfully, has one only one dresser). Roman does as he’s asked, watching Virgil rifle through his satchels. 

      Virgil pulls out two daggers, both wrapped in leather. He unsheathes one of them, to show off the odd violet sheen to the black metal. Virgil nods to himself, then hands one to Patton. He hands the other to Logan, and mumbles,

      “Take my cloak too, teach. You’ll need it.”

      “What are these?” Patton muses giddily, fastening the blade’s frog to his pack. 

      “Poisoned. Heavily.” Virgil snaps sternly, “The toxin will only take on the first use, and it will kill on contact. Use them very carefully, and do not accidentally cut yourself with it.”

      Virgil leans back against Roman’s shoulder, clearly struggling to stay awake.

      “Jasper is the head of the pack, and the one who gives them Granny’s orders. If he falls, they run back home for instruction. He’s grey with red eyes, nearly five and a half feet tall at the shoulder. You can’t miss him”

      Logan and Patton nod. One of Virgil’s eyes winks open, under no small effort, to give the two’s general direction a very serious stare.

      “If you find him?” Virgil muses, more of a statement then a question, 

      “Kill him.”

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Previous

Next

Game Start

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Rules

Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!

Available for questions: Logan, Roman, Patton, and Virgil!

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Ohh dear, it looks like we’re splitting the party again! I guess it couldn’t have lasted forever...

This time, though, they’re split into smaller parties instead of solo players, so you will get to see both groups’ adventures!

The only question now is...

Who will you follow First?

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((If you missed the blog announcement, check it here!))

[stackslip]

something especially about scar/izumi/ed & al and lust/wrath/sloth. there's so much to unpack in every single one or their dynamics. i had to stop every 10 seconds to let every line and little gesture sink in in these last homonculi focused episodes. i knew what sloth was gonna say to the boys and i still let out a pained moan when she said "good job. don't forget to clean after yourselves." lust dying like she'd always wanted to (but not as a human as she'd wished) and realizing in her last moments that maybe she did want to live, reclaiming who she was and calling herself an ishvalan woman specifically, vs sloth proudly claiming herself a homonculus and telling the elrics that she is herself, not their mom, while also dying because she responded to wrath calling her mama and because he accidentally immobilized her, and then her last words accepting her death AND twisting the knife in ed. scar's death and his accepting of lust as a person (just not the woman he'd loved in another life when neither of them were ghosts) leading to her fully rejecting dante's chains! wrath fully choosing to ignore izumi for sloth and wrapping himself inside of her which lead to her death, and izumi coming to help ed and them immediately acting as relatives and equals (gd she lost her son to sloth and then gained ed, sloth's own pseudo son. fuck!); al begging ed to not kill their mom again, al's hysteria at realizing ed had dug their mom's grave without him, wrath wanting to take all of ed and destroy him because ed represents all the things he was denied including humanity and the ability to be a son EVEN AS ED ACTIVELY REJECTS THEIR SHARED MOTHER. wrath begging dante for the philosopher's stone to bring back his own mother (almost choked at that).

just. the layers!!!! the full circles and cruelty and pain of it all!!! denial of humanity and personhood vs reclaiming's one personhood and humanity vs reclaiming one's personhood BY denying your humanity. the pain you inflict on one another by trying to to save each other. gd!!!!! unbelievable!!!! just insane shit!!!!

finished ep 49 and i can confidently say that the dynamics and parallels between the homonculi and their creators (and people adjacent to their creators) as well as between each other as they reckon with what they used to be is one of the juiciest, tastiest, most twisted and greatest ive seen in all of fiction. insanely layered and painful. absolutely demonic shit. has me pulling at my hair in anguish and glee

[hidden-otaku-stuff]

DBTS Supplement: Bokuto stealing Omega

AN: This takes place during the festival in Chapter 9 where Bokuto rescues (Name) instead of Ushijima. 

S/O to @cosmicmermaid25​ for the idea!

Word count: 1.8k

Pairing: Iwaizumi Hajime x Reader, Bokuto Koutarou x Reader

Masterlist 

supplement: Bokuto steals Omega

“Hey, what’s going on here?” 

(Name)’s head snapped up as the faint scent of cedar washed over her. 

“Oi, watch it owl-head. This is our Omega.” The more aggressive of the Alphas loomed over her, his lips curled as white canines reflected the yellow lights of the festival.

Golden eyes narrowed at the other Alphas, his lips curling in a sneer. “Are you sure about that? Because I’m pretty sure she asked you to leave her alone.” His eyes zeroed in on (Name). “Are you ok?” 

Her tongue darted out, swiping along her bottom lip. “I’d rather not be here with them.”

“You heard her! Clear off if you know what’s good for you.”

A hand grabbed onto her shoulder, squeezing tightly as the trio stood in front of him. “Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?” 

Amber eyes turned black. “I said,” he cleared his throat, “leave her alone.” 

The three Alphas flinched, stumbling back at the force of the Apex Alpha’s voice. 

“W-we didn’t want her anyways,” the leader stammered, shoving her towards Bokuto. “Let’s go!” They tripped over themselves as they made their escape, shoving one another in an effort to get the furthest away from the Apex. 

(Name) let out a sigh of relief, heart lightening. “Thank you so much,” she smiled up at Bokuto. “I didn’t know what I was going to do if they kept pushing.” She tilted her head, taking the green fabric of his yukata before her eyes met his once more. “You’re Bokuto, right? The wing-spiker from Fukurodani?” 

His eyes widened, nodding eagerly. “Yeah! Are you a fan?”

“I am! I love how intense your line shots are,” she gushed, bouncing on her feet.

Bokuto beamed, matching her energy and bouncing in his own excitement. “I like you! Are you here alone?” He looked around, not scenting anything other than her sweet strawberry.

Her brow furrowed as she scanned the festival for any sign of the tall, lumbering Alpha that had abandoned her to no avail. “I was here with the Shiratorizawa pack but it looks like they might have ditched me.”

“They ditched you?” His mouth dropped, looking like a goldfish. “Why on Earth would they leave an Omega by themselves?” Bokuto shook his head, grabbing her hand. “You can hang-out with us!” 

She lets him drag her over to another member of Fukurodani, who looked up from his takoyaki. Absent-mindedly, she wondered if she should send her pack-mates a text only for her thoughts to be interrupted by his voice.

“Welcome back, Bokuto-san. I’m assuming you were successful?”

“Yep!” He stopped, pointing at Akaashi. “This is Akaashi! And this is--” he blinked owlishly at her.

“I’m (Name),” she supplemented, extending a hand to the setter. “And you’re Akaashi Keiji, the second-year setter from Fukurodani right?”

“That’s right.” He shook her hand, shaking it while looking between her and Bokuto. “Aren’t you the manager of Shiratorizawa?”

“Yeah,” she grimaced. “But it seems like they lost me.”

“Yeah! And I invited her to hang-out with us, ‘Kaashi!” Bokuto grinned, raising their interlocked hands up. 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow, gunmetal blue eyes glimmering with subtle interest before giving him a small nod. “The rest of the pack is on the other side of the festival, Bokuto-san. I believe they’re looking for a place to watch the fireworks.”

“Awesome!” Bokuto squeezed her hand, causing her to giggle. His energy was infectious, making it difficult for her to worry about where Ushijima and the rest of Shiratorizawa was. “C’mon (Name)! Did you want any food or anything?” He tilts his head, beaming down at her. “I know Omegas like sweets, do you want some of my konpeito?” 

A hand digs into the pocket of his yukata, withdrawing an owl-shaped container of the sugar stars. As she opened her mouth to respond, Bokuto placed one between her lips, pushing it in.

Her eyes widened, swallowing as his fingertips brushed against her lips. 

“Did you like it?” He asked, shaking another out and eagerly bringing it to her lips.

“Bokuto-san.” Akaashi fixed the Apex Alpha with a stern look. “You should have asked for permission before doing that.” 

Bokuto blanched, his already muted cedar scent bittering as he turned to mumble his apologies to the Omega. 

(Name) swallowed, shaking her head. “It’s fine! I just wasn’t expecting that.” Her gaze softens as she looks at Bokuto. “Thank you for the star, Bokuto. I did like it. I was hoping to get some custard taiyaki though.”

The Apex Alpha brightened, “I know a great place to get one! C’mon.” Bokuto tugged her off into another direction, bringing her with him as he weaved through the crowd in order to find the specific stand. 

Akaashi let out a sigh behind them, following silently. 

“So what brings you to Tokyo? Why’s Shiratorizawa here?”

They stopped in the line of the taiyaki vendor. Bokuto looked down at her, golden eyes sparkling as if they were stars captured from the night sky. They captivated her, easily breaking down any barriers she could put up and coaxing a sense of comfort and safety from the Omega. She gave him a soft smile. “We were doing a mini-training camp with Itachiyama.” 

Bokuto’s lip jutted out in a pout. “That’s not fair! Fukurodani should have been invited,” he turned to Akaashi, “right, Akaashi?”

Akaashi nodded, “I’m sure that Shiratorizawa only wanted to train with Itachiyama because they won the Inter-high this year. Perhaps they will invite us next time.” 

Bokuto rolled his eyes, stomping his foot childishly and causing (Name) to giggle. “That’s not fair,” he whined.

“I’ll talk to Washijo and see if we can get a training camp started with Fukurodani, how does that sound, Bokuto?” 

“You can do that?” He tilted his head, pinning her under his gaze.

(Name) swallowed, electricity shooting through their intertwined hands as warmth coursed through her body. “Yeah, I’m the manager for Shiratorizawa and I’m sure that Washijo wouldn’t mind scheduling a training camp with a team that has one of the best wing-spikers in Japan.” 

Bokuto grinned, letting go of her hand to envelop her into a warm bear-hug. “You’re the coolest (Name)! You should transfer to Fukurodani.”

“We already have two managers, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi interjected patiently. “And I believe (Name)-san is a third-year. It would be counterproductive for her to transfer so late in her education.”

At that very moment, her phone rang. “One moment.” She bowed in apology to the Alphas, stepping out of line.

“Stay close!” Bokuto chirped after her, before he was called to place their order. 

She nodded, giving him a thumbs-up and returning his smile before she answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello (Nickname)-chan!”

“Mama?” Her eyes widened, looking at the caller Id for a second before bringing the phone back to her ear. “Is everything alright?”

Her mother laughed, “yes everything’s fine! I just wanted to let you know that we’re having you transfer to Fukurodani.”

Her brain short-circuited. “Wait, what?”

Mrs. (L.Name) hummed, “I know it’s last-minute, but your father and I have been talking. We think it’s silly that you’re still in Miyagi while we just moved to Tokyo and we want you closer! Your aunt is on the board at Fukurodani, and they’re offering you free housing, tuition, and even scholarship opportunities. I know that you and Iwaizumi were talking about going to Tokyo for university, and Fukurodani feeds into a majority of the universities here! You’re practically guaranteed a spot here.” 

“Oh.” Her mind blanked. “But what about Hajime?” 

“You’re bond-mates, aren’t you?” Mr. (L.Name) joined the conversation. “A few months of separation won’t kill you, and you could visit one another on the weekends. This is better for you in the long-run, sweetheart.” 

Her eyes drifted over to Bokuto, who was being handed a tray of taiyaki. She pinched her nose, knowing that it was too late to do anything now that her parents had already made the executive decision. “Alright, thank you for letting me know. Will I start there in the fall semester then?”

“Yes, so please feel free to start packing and bringing your stuff to Tokyo. We have your furniture in your room already.” Her father responded before there was a shuffling noise on the phone.

“We know this is sudden, so please don’t feel obligated to finish moving here until the start of term, alright? Enjoy the rest of your summer with your pack-mates and Hajime.”

The two Alphas approached her, Bokuto beaming as he showed her the five taiyakis that he had purchased.

“Alright, I love you Mama.”

“I love you too, (Nickname)-chan. I’ll talk to you soon.” 

(Name) hung up the phone, sliding it into her pocket. “Why do you have so many taiyakis?” She asked, looking at the selection. 

“I know you said custard, but I figured you could try all of them! They’re Tokyo taiyakis so they’re better than Miyagi!”

(Name) giggled, her heart feeling lighter at the wing-spikers antics. “I don’t think the fillings are that much different, Bokuto.” 

“That’s what I said,” Akaashi sighed, looking at Bokuto with a subtle fondness masked by pseudo-annoyance. He cleared his throat, eyeing the Omega carefully with a slight frown on his face. “Is everything alright? You seem disappointed.”

“Oh!” Her head shot up, (e/c) orbs meeting gunmetal. “Actually, I have some news for you guys.”

“What’s up, (Name)?” Bokuto asked, taking a bite out of the takoyaki that Akaashi offered the Alpha. 

“I’m actually transferring to Fukurodani! So I guess I’ll be in your care again in the fall.” She grinned.

Bokuto’s eyes widened, almost dropping the taiyaki as he excitedly threw himself onto her. “That’s fantastic!” Akaashi grabbed the tray, letting Bokuto fully embrace her and swing the Omega around. He puts her down, holding her by the shoulders as he looks directly into her eyes. “Do you wanna maybe court?”

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi interrupted sharply as (Name) giggled.

“Let’s just see how the rest of the night goes first, ok?” She patted the Alpha’s shoulder, a wide smile on her face as she decided to entertain him for this moment.

“Hear that, Akaashi? I’m gonna get to court (Name)!”

“That’s if you impress her enough, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi said flatly as Bokuto released (Name). 

“C’mon, let’s go find the rest of the pack! You should definitely join our pack,” Bokuto rambled, grabbing her hand and dragging her off once more.

“Do you actually want to court Bokuto?” Akaashi asked in a low voice, not wanting his captain to hear.

“I have a bond-mate,” she admitted softly. “But I feel like he’d be completely shattered if I didn’t agree right now.”

Akaashi hummed, looking at Bokuto’s retreating back. “Just be careful, it’s easy for Bokuto to find his way into hearts.”

“Is that so?” She giggled. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thank you for the warning, Akaashi.”

Akaashi watched as (Name) got dragged off with Bokuto once more, another sigh leaving him. “That’s what they all say,” he mused to himself before steeling his nerves and following once more. Regardless of what she said now, it wasn’t difficult to fall in love with Bokuto and it seemed that she was already falling for his charms.  

*****

AN: Interested in a supplement or character q&a? Check out my 600 milestone event for more information! 

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[ineedglasses]

VK Character Analysis: Rido Kuran

Rido is a complete, messed up, SOB, but I still like him as a character because he is simply such a fun villain. If I were to place him in that alignment chart thing, he would be “chaotic evil” without a doubt.

While he is generally seen as a creepy, sister-obsessed, maniac, I really believe he was different earlier in his life. 

This analysis is based off the Rido we see in the manga and the light novel, NOT the Rido in the anime, since the anime was trash and deviated from the manga when it came to his arc. Anyway, at the start of the post, I will go over the info from the light novel and manga, next will be my headcanons of him as a young man and at the end is my interpretation of him when he was crazy, as we see him in the original series.

                                                               XXX

The Deranged Love story in the Fleeting Dreams light novel talks about Rido’s obsession with Juri and gives some info on their past. However, when compared to the original VK series there are several points that don’t add up, and some parts of the light novel simply make no sense.

First, Both VKM and the light novel mention that Rido killed his parents and presumably devoured them to take their powers. That makes sense, it seems like something he would do. What doesn’t make sense to me is the timeline. When exactly did he kill his parents? 

All the light novel tells us is that he killed them immediately after they engaged him to Shizuka. Is this around the time Haruka and Juri got married? I always assumed Haruka and Juri have been married for a while, like at least 1000 years. If this is the case, within that time period, how can they not notice that their parents are dead and that their brother killed them? 

Or does their murder occur closer to the time Juri got pregnant? But this doesn’t make sense either because Rido referred to Shizuka as a “small child” when he killed his parents, and by the time Juri was pregnant with Yuki’s real brother, Shizuka was probably already at least one or two thousand years old. Unless Shizuka is much younger than we thought? So when exactly Rido kills his parents is quite the mystery.

Secondly, How did he kill his parents? 

I assume the older a pureblood, the more powerful they are. So how can he, by himself, kill his parents, both of whom are older and more powerful than him? I doubt his dad was a weakling because as former king of vampires, he should be quite powerful. In the light novel, it seems his parents were already wary of him and wanted to keep him away from Juri. Thus they wouldn’t completely let their guard down around him. And its not like Rido could carry around a hunter sword with him without it being noticed. Even if he was carrying something small like a dagger, his parents should have been able to overwhelm him in a fight since its 2 vs 1. 

Kaname has commented that “purebloods have equal powers, so they would only exhaust each other in battle”; basically it is hard to kill another pureblood unless you have some advantage (e.g. Shizuka being already wounded by Zero’s hunter gun). So the only logical way Rido can kill his parents is if he catches them off guard, such as when they are taking a centuries long slumber in the family mausoleum, basically doing what Sara did to Hanadagi. 

Thirdly, another point that makes no sense is that Rido in the light novel says:

“My parents had taken my precious Juri far away from me and made it so that we could never meet.” 

How exactly did his parents take Juri away and stop them from ever meeting again? Send her abroad with no intention of ever letting her return? And yet the manga clearly contradicts that, because Rido is still in contact with Haruka and Juri, he was there to see their firstborn baby!

Fourthly, this is a small detail that has always irked me: In the manga, when Yuki’s brother peed on him, Rido mentions that he used to change his siblings’ diapers when they were babies. 

However the light novel kind of contradicts that, because young Rido upon being called in to meet his baby sister says: “I will confess that newborns seemed very uninteresting to me at that time”; does this sound like an older brother that would change his younger siblings’ diapers? It sounds like a guy who would leave baby care to the nannies and stay far away from soiled diapers. 

Finally, we get to the biggest illogical point in the light novel: Rido was a psychopath that just randomly developed an obsession upon seeing the newborn Juri.

“ It was in that moment – somewhere in the depths of my being – something abruptly flared to life. […] I was overwhelmed by the urge to devour her.”

No normal person just out of the blue feels the urge to consume a baby, only crazy people do. The rest of the light novel story continues depicting Rido as a psychopath. Their parents notice there is something wrong with their son because the mom slaps Rido and starts to keep him away from Juri. Adding on to this portrayal of him as batshit crazy, after he (somehow) kills his parents, he says the following:

“That’s what you get for getting in my way, you naughty things…” 

LOL, who in their right mind would call their parents “naughty things”?

My issue is this: I highly doubt Rido was crazy from the start, because it would make no sense. If Rido was crazy, how the hell could Juri and Haruka not have noticed for over 3000 years?! Even the dumbest person would get a clue that their brother was crazy after just 30 years, much less 3000 years. They trusted him enough to let him hold their baby, so they clearly believed Rido was not crazy. There is no way that Juri and Haruka were that stupid and blind. Thus, I doubt that Rido was crazy at the start of his life. So, this aspect of the light novel is just total BS to me.

IF Rido really was crazy from the start, then his mom and dad were bad parents. Yes, it makes sense to keep Juri away from Rido if he really were a psychopath, but their other actions were just extremely irresponsible and selfish. If you know your son is dangerous, maybe you should address this issue properly. After all, he is a pureblood and if you don’t deal with the problem, there will be huge repercussions for everyone given the destructive powers of purebloods. 

But instead of taking their son to see a mental health professional like any decent parent would do, Papa and Mama Kuran decided to solve the problem by engaging him off to a “tiny child”. I’m no parenting expert, but I’m sure if your son has mental issues, you definitely should NOT marry him off to any girl. Even if they didn’t get him some help, they should have at least locked him up like Shizuka to ensure he didn’t harm anyone... but they just let him roam free.

If this is the extent of their problem-solving ability, then it’s for the best that they ended the monarchy because they must have been cruddy rulers. But who knows, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they believed the “tiny child” they chose for him has a PhD in psychology and can provide their son with the help he clearly needs. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I consider the light novel to be only pseudo-canon since it was inspired by Hino but written by someone else (Ayuna Fujisaka), so I will just ignore the parts that don’t make sense and keep the parts that do.

                                                              XXX

This following section is what I believe Rido to have been like when he was a (sane) young man, based on the info in the manga and the few bits that do make sense in the light novel.

Since Rido was the oldest son and born in a time when the Kurans were still the ruling family, he probably grew up with a lot of pressure and expectations as he was the crown prince. Given these conditions, he was most likely serious and hardworking, doing his best to live up to those expectations and preparing to be the next king (kinda like Eins in The Royal Tutor LOL).

He was also probably a bit older than Haruka and Juri (because according to the manga he has experience changing their diapers and taking care of them). And since he was probably busy with his princely duties, he did not spend a bunch of time with his siblings and thus Haruka and Juri were naturally closer to one another than Juri was to him. She probably saw him a respected older brother but not as reachable and easy to connect to as Haruka.

Rido was probably arrogant, possessive, and entitled even at the start (though at much milder levels than towards the end), which makes sense given his background. Not only was he a pureblood, but the crown prince too. And since he was prince, he probably had to deal with the dog-eat-dog world of politics from a young age, so that probably made him more cynical and darker than his siblings who had much less pressure and responsibility. It would almost be shocking if he was a humble and kind person instead.

Anyway, according to the custom of primogeniture, both the throne and Juri should have been his. Since it was tradition of the Kurans to marry their siblings, it only makes sense that as the oldest son and legitimate heir, he was the one that Juri should have married. Yet for whatever reason, their dad decided to end the monarchy, which must have been a huge blow to Rido who spent his whole life preparing to be the next king. He probably drove himself to despair questioning why and if there was something wrong with him that his father would pull such a move.

Then Rido probably got another big slap to the face: Juri choosing to marry Haruka instead of him, with his parents probably giving them their blessings. So not only has he lost the throne, he also lost the fiancée that should have been his according to precedent. And Juri choosing Haruka probably made Rido lose face among their society, since people would naturally wonder why Juri spurned tradition and married the second son instead.

(Actually, it wouldn’t matter if the monarchy getting dissolved took place first or if Juri choosing Haruka took place first, the point is both happened and it screwed him up.)

Rido most likely didn’t love Juri, but simply believed he did. He probably conflated Juri with what he lost/ what should have been his by birthright and became unhealthily obsessed with the idea of her. It didn’t help that the one Juri chose was Haruka, who we know has a mild and kind personality. To someone like Rido, those are traits probably considered “weak”, and thus he probably never thought of Haruka as his rival. Therefore, the fact that he lost to Haruka of all people shocked him, and there might have been some anger and sorrow at being betrayed by a sibling. So anyway, Rido’s emotions as well as his ego got clobbered.

But fate is not done with him yet! His parents most likely decided to engage him to Shizuka “without his consent” around the time that Haruka and Juri got engaged/married. They might have rushed to engage him off to whoever was available at that time (unluckily for Shizuka it happened to be her), hoping to get him out of the way of his siblings’ happiness. Rido probably was pissed, since not only does he not get to choose his new fiancée, the one chosen for him hails from a clan with a history of supposedly going insane, instead of someone with a less problematic pedigree. His parents really doing him dirty lol.

I think he really had some deep-rooted problems with his parents. Sometimes parents just don’t like their child, because of personality and ideological differences…Anyway, they were definitely in a strained relationship which would explain why Rido could go so far to kill his own parents and feel no guilt over it.

                                                                XXX

Finally, towards the end of his life he really just lost it.

Rido probably tried to keep up appearances and act like everything is okay and that his world is not falling apart, thus allowing Juri and Haruka to still trust him. But over the years he just stewed in his anger against his parents, his siblings and the world in general and turned into a very bitter and hateful person on the inside. And although he probably tried to suppress his growing darkness, his bad traits got amped up while his better traits died. It was probably extremely infuriating for him to see his siblings so happy in their pink glittery world while he himself was drowning in darkness.

(Even Kaien was annoyed by Haruka and Juri’s “pink world”, imagine an already salty and bitter Rido seeing this type of scene for centuries and just frothing with rage on the inside LOL)

So Rido became a sadistic ass towards the end, taking his anger out on people that have nothing to do with it. He tried to make Shizuka miserable and force her to be docile and had no luck with that but succeeded in breaking Senri’s mom and driving the poor woman crazy. Though if you think about it, in a way he did succeed in breaking Shizuka too… he caused her lover’s death and when she lost her lover, she basically lost her will to live.

Hino showed how talented Rido is at antagonizing others. While he possessed Senri, he intentionally hurt Senri’s body to toy with Takuma.

Even after his death, his dregs were tormenting Kaname by pointing out all his inner concerns, taunting Kaname about how he has no hope left. 

In VKM, Yuki mentions Rido as someone “with overwhelming desires that only plunge the world around [him] into misery.” Overall, Rido probably got his giggles by making others miserable.

Besides getting high off ruining the lives of other people, he was just a bastard in general. He used everyone around him as tools, even his own sons. Unlike Shizuka or Kaname, he did not care about his subordinates at all, to him they were just “appetizers” and expendables. He also had zero reservations about forcing lower vampires to submit to his will.

Anyway, Rido probably was already a bitter jackass but he really snapped when he found out Juri was pregnant and would start a happy little family with Haruka. Maybe he was idiotically holding onto hope that as long as Juri didn’t have a kid, he still had a chance? Regardless, it was at that point that he gave up any vestiges of humanity he had left and decided to just pursue power instead.

With no hope left he just decided to give in to his primitive instincts and lust after power, at the expense of family ties. In a way, he might have felt betrayed by his family, and reasoned with himself that unlike the throne and Juri, at least power won’t be stolen away.

BTW, I think his decision to sacrifice Yuki’s real brother to ancestor Kaname was spontaneous and not premeditated. After all, crazy people are unlikely to plan things in advance and just do as their whims dictate...

Maybe it came to him right when he stared at Juri holding her newborn. 

“It’s such irony that this baby was named ‘Kaname’ like you. That’s what got me started thinking of this.”

Because his plan (if he had one) sucked. He should have known that the famished, revived ancestor would attack him, since the blood of a tiny baby was clearly not enough. And yet he made no preparations to fend off such an attack and ended up getting drained by Kaname.

As a side note, Haruka could have killed Rido right then, when Rido was badly wounded by ancestor Kaname. 

But he didn’t, and chose to have Rido imprisoned by the Senate instead. Haruka should have known that Rido would never give up on destroying his family as long as he lived, so the logical thing would have been to kill him. Even Rido mentions this later when he returned for Yuki.

While Haruka’s pacifist nature played a part in this, I think he also restrained himself from giving in to vengeful rage partly out of the fact that they are family, and more likely out of guilt. Perhaps Haruka had always felt guilty for marrying Juri and realized that he was partly responsible for driving Rido insane.

Anyway, Rido crossed the line by killing a helpless baby and basically burned all his bridges. At this point he didn’t really give any fucks anymore. 

Asato mentions how Rido was like a child, even though he has lived so long. I think the analogy fits, because Rido acted like a child throwing a tantrum, trying to destroy everything and doing whatever he pleased with no regard for consequences or others.

In a sense, like Shizuka, Rido had already lost his will to go on living. The only thing keeping him hanging on was the need to lash out. Even though he acted like he was pursuing greater power, aiming to consume Kaname and Yuki to become more powerful, he wasn’t actually trying. 

If he was serious, he would not have gotten easily distracted, suddenly deciding to have Yuki replace Juri instead of continuing with the plan to devour her. Rido also didn’t bother trying to fight seriously at the end and Zero comments on this.

Otherwise Zero and Yuki together could not have beaten him, given how Rido is much older/powerful and consumed at least 2 other purebloods. Even Sara said that Rido was acting foolishly reckless, saying he was just having fun.

                                                             XXX

Overall, given this interpretation of Rido, I actually feel bad for him. I believe that he drove himself crazy wondering why his parents ended the monarchy instead of letting him be the next king, and wondering why Juri chose Haruka over him. Those questions probably haunted him for centuries.

That feeling that you tried your best, did everything you were supposed to, but still ended up with nothing is something I can relate to. Sometimes one just wants to watch the world burn given how unjust life usually is (even though logically we know it is wrong to feel this way). So yeah, these are my headcanons and analysis of Rido, who I prefer to see as a deeper/more interesting character than just a sis-con psychopath LOL.

[jothebakuho]

Hiii!! so first off,, how are you? hope ur doin good :)) do you have any little headcanons for yozora and baku that u just have in ur head? like how in the fic baku brushes her hair and has all these charts for her eating/sleeping schedule and stuff,, anything fluffy or whatever (not fluffy is cool too lol) it's cool if u don't of course! mainly just wanted to say hi cause i think ur cool and i just love ur fic so much

Omg hi! I'm doing not so Hot because studies + life is killing my back. But p good overall! How are you? :D hope everything is fine and dandy~

And, so many headcanons I have for these two gosh.

Where to start? Lemme just go with what you mentioned! (hint: they're ALL fluffy)

~ Bakugou has a Thing for the brat's hair and cheeks. I literally mention this somewhere but I do not know, I do not know where (it's 53k and ongoing ffs).

He likes ruffling her bangs and brushing through the softness and it reminds him of the first day, how mangled it was and the contrast is just Peace to him. it's so bright orange and sunny now! So ~ healthy

He uses his fingers like a comb or just tousles her bangs to be Annoying. Unfortunately, Yozora doesn't care much about appearances, but then Bakugou does so he straightens it out himself.

She Knows Bakugou's touch v well by now. Her hair smells like a mix of caramel and blueberry shampoo bc of How Much he plays with her hair.

Her cheeks- he tried avoiding. He always wanted to Poke and Squish and if you go to the first chapter, you'll see how weirded out he was. That was me showing you guys, he thinks the brat is Cute, and it. freaks. him. out.

He takes a deep breath and surveys the girl again. A few wisps of orange hair fall over her eyelids and Bakugou is suddenly struck by an odd urge to poke Yozora's exposed cheek.

He shakes it off with a bewildered stare and crosses his arms.

- Chapter 1

Now, that he's admitted it, he can't really stop. And p soon, we will see just how soft he is for her cute face ;-;

So, subtle reasoning for the cheeks love is: Yozora is a bit bony because of her life and current disorders, right? And kids are usually soft looking but Yozora is not. So, her cheeks are like the only parts that are somewhat plump- in Bakugou words that would be 'The only fat she's got in her.'

Once he gets into cheek kisses, it's over for us.

With his index, he pokes her bony cheek.

But it's softer than he'd expected.

- Chapter 3

~The charts, he updates before sleeping every night and during meals. He plans out her weekly meals in advance. He kind of has to, bc of how overloaded he is, he needs to seriously schedule his life. That's the only way he has been stringing on being a Pseudo mama bear and hero-in-training. He categorizes by food groups, and decides what vitamins/supplements he's gonna put in that way. For e. g., he plans to feed her X and Y, so she's gonna need Vitamin D more, let's say. So, he'll slip that into her drinks. He was originally aided by Dr. Akio but now he has a good handle on it. He is actually the one who understands it best at this point. The sleep ones are basically how long and how deep she sleeps each day, and if she's doing it longer/at night. You'll see in the next chapter how well Bakugou Knows. Those charts are viewable by Aizawa and Dr. Akio so, they stay updated about Yozora's progress as well.

And it's all super meticulous. Think pie charts, histograms, graphs and colour coding. The class was shook because it looks like he freaking data mined on Yozora.

Bonus hc:

~Bakugou is big on being Gentle with any injuries Yozora gets (for e.g. hair getting stuck on a knot) because he wants to show her it ain't normal to hold it in, but Yozora doesn't understand. She doesn't because pain like that is stuff she has learned to internalise a long time ago. So, it's confusing to her. And she doesn't get why her heart is always warm when he does that. :((((

And eeeee, thanks for loving it! Every time someone says that my heart goes POOF :v

OYEE! Man, I also think you are so Cool <3 You can say hi or come chat any time :D And, I think it's amaze that you do drawings, too :o

[aion-rsa]

The Suicide Squad: Who Lives and Who Dies

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains major The Suicide Squad spoilers. We have a spoiler free review here.

Five years ago, Will Smith uttered the instantly meme-able line, “So that’s it, huh, we’re the patsies, we’re some kind of Suicide Squad.” Yet by the end of that 2016 film, barely anyone in that squad was put six feet under. How times have changed.

For the entire rollout of his pseudo-sequel/reboot, writer-director James Gunn has insisted he had carte blanche to kill off any character in his The Suicide Squad roster. While we may remain skeptical if Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and a few others were really that expendable to Warner Bros., Gunn’s finished film speaks to just how much freedom he was allotted in slaughtering potentially valuable DC IP. Major characters from the first film, and a slew of new ones Gunn personally introduced, were pushing up daisies before the movie’s opening title card. And the bodycount only grew from there.

So if you had trouble keeping up with who died, and in what gnarly and grotesque fashion, we’re here to offer a handy dandy list of which members of the Suicide Squad walked away from Corto Maltese, and which were carried away in bags.

Blackguard

Dies

You can’t help but wonder if Gunn intentionally cast Pete Davidson as the first Squad member to get put down. With the exception of a fakeout (more on that in a bit), the mildly divisive SNL alumni goes out in gruesome fashion when he reveals on a Corto Maltese beachhead that he somehow communicated with the local military that a U.S. operation would be landing there. He thinks this will get him in good with the new government. Instead it gets him obliterated by a hail of bullets. All that time in prison and Blackguard never learned what happens to snitches…

Javelin

Dies

Flula Borg’s Javelin cut an amusing figure, as if he wandered in from some low-rent 1970s superhero television series. Even his accent was absurdly disarming, as Harley quickly noticed. Alas, it was not meant to be since Javelin was blasted fast on the beach, barely having a moment to entrust Dr. Quinzel with his trusty weapon.

Mongal

Dies

Let it not go unsaid that Mayling Ng’s Mongal made an epic introduction and exit when she took down several choppers all by herself. Unfortunately, she didn’t really think about a personal strategy as she rode one helicopter all the way down into its fiery ‘splosion.

Captain Boomerang

Dies

The first really major death of the film came when Captain Boomerang, Jai Courtney’s holdover from the 2016 movie, also bit the big one from the same fiery blast that took Mongal. At least he and Harley got to share a few laughs beforehand. We guess this puts an end to any chance of him  showing up in The Flash movie!

T.D.K.

Dies

Okay, as soon as you realized the secret superpower of Nathan Fillion’s character was something as lame as “detachable” limbs, you also knew he was dead meat, right? This character is so lame that Gunn doesn’t even show the Corto Maltese military putting him out of his misery. They just snicker as he writhes in pain, feeling how his detached arms have been shot to ribbons. Bad day to be a Browncoat.

Savant

Dies

Michael Rooker is the actor James Gunn casts when he wants to give a character an epic death scene. It took two movies for that to prove true in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but Rooker’s Savant doesn’t even make it to the end of the opening credits here… well not all of him. The blood and brain splatter created by the bomb Amanda Waller detonated in this coward’s skull spells a lovely “The Suicide Squad” lettering across the waves. And hey, at least Rooker got to rock those epic blonde locks!

The Thinker

Dies

Once you heard that Peter Capaldi was playing an evil supervillain who was also in league with the Suicide Squad’s enemies, you knew there was no way Thinker was walking away from this movie, right? Nonetheless, Gunn goes hard with the doc’s death scene when a liberated Starro the Conqueror gets revenge for 30 years of captivity by ripping his captor’s arms off and then turning him into a red smear across glass. Ouch.

Col. Rick Flag

Dies

This one hurt. Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag was one of the better and even underrated elements from 2016’s Suicide Squad, and he got a chance to shine a lot brighter here. From small things like his total war buddies vibe with Harley to showing a backbone when he realizes Waller’s nefarious cover-up game, Flag came out as a real leader this time up to bat. Sadly, he then got Cena’d to death.

Polka-Dot Man

Dies

You did it, Polka-Dot Man, you proved your simultaneously dippy and creepy superpowers could make you a real superhero! Even your Norma Bates-like mama would be proud. Too bad Starro then stepped on you immediately afterward. Yay?

Starro

Dies

The big guy had his giant eye poked out by Harley and then an army of rats swarm into the hole that made and chew up his insides. Honestly, you feel bad for the kaiju in the end. Like King Kong, he didn’t ask to be brought here. Who knew we could get the sniffles for a rampaging monster with mind-control powers?

Harley Quinn

Lives

Come on, did you think they’d kill off Harley? Pfft, Robbie’s performance is way too good for that.

Bloodsport

Lives

Given his world-weary stoicism, I thought going in that Idris Elba’s Bloodsport was too noble for Gunn’s twisted vision. How nice it is to be proven wrong. Elba’s supervillain marksman reveals there’s a heart of gold beneath that gruff exterior, and it’s still beating when the credits come around.

Ratcatcher II

Lives

James Gunn once told us that Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher was the heart of the movie with a presence “like somebody from the French New Wave.” And he wasn’t blowing smoke about the actor or the character. Despite being introduced as an easygoing millennial, Ratcatcher turns out to be the most sympathetic Squad member and proves her generation gets the job done by unleashing an armada of rats on Starro.

King Shark

Lives

Thank God. Nobody better hurt our precious man-eating Nanaue. Go ahead, King, have another nom-nom. You earned it!

Sol Soria

Lives

Sol Soria gets to be el presidente in Corto Maltese now. I guess that’s a fair enough trade with the knowledge that the people who put her there also fed her buddies head first to a land shark.

Amanda Waller

Lives

Some characters are too evil to die. Amanda Waller is still stewing back in D.C. by the end of The Suicide Squad, and she’s likely scheming of a way to murder all of her current underlings too.

Weasel

Lives

The first fakeout of the movie is the fate of Weasel. Despite seemingly being the first character to seemingly die off—in a really hilarious fashion when Waller and company realize they didn’t check to see if Weasel could swim—it turns out he didn’t drown. There’s another reason right there for why Savant deserved to have his head go boom. Pity the children of Corto Maltese.

Peacemaker

Lives

Even though Peacemaker got an epic death scene where Bloodsport won a quickdraw showdown, some actors are just too big of a deal to kill. Thus the end credits scene reveals that Peacemaker survived his bullet wound to the neck and is still breathing on a hospital ventilator. Nonetheless, Bloodsport taught him a valuable lesson: It’s not the size of your bullets but how you use them.

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[the-firebird69]

Fallout - Official Trailer (2024)

They make movies like this and expect to be around cuz they say this nuclear strike has not occurred and we know about it and a lot of Hollywood is fiction it stated that way Believe It or not Trump. Now you might think that you're fine and that the woman singing the song is Sarah she's out to get you and you didn't know it and she's out to get you to send it to Kelly and a lot of people are doing that they have to see you die and it goes on all day long you have a long day of people after you to kill you. And you do this movie it's in the desert of Arizona you see her trying to set stuff up for winter sun goes through and he's not going through there and you're killing each other again once again there's a girl that hates you and she kills tons of yours and the city stuff is CGI and you end up burn to a crisp and really harsh worse than you look like and that is you going to Vegas with your son the small nuke in your exposed to it and the radiation from the blast shortly before the movie and it's in one of your novels so it's Stephen King The stand and you don't stand you fall over and you get hit. And you're on the news all the time sending out fake news and false news and people hit you for it. Today you put out for such things and Lee and others are clearing you out of businesses and it's because you're out of line and boy you're loud complainers. The guy who came in was screwing around with his mama's Terry cheesman and we insisted he leave we're going to open a lawsuit on him for his mom and it's because he was insisting on making it worse as you said it the other officers. I'm going to present the lawsuit today. It's not a third world nation and the cops told him to leave or he's going to arrest and they heard you saying that guy should be arrested and they said you shouldn't tell us how do I do it do our job so you see that you said you can press charges and they said they won't stick but they said differently so the going outside and you're watching them and you decide to follow them and it was a good idea and you went to the hospital and you called your dad and she said I'm glad you're here and near and she said these people are nuts I said yes some of them and you were saying that and someone looked at her and was not bad and they put her on a bed rest for a while and it didn't require surgery but that's what you have to do so after a while I'm kind of healed a little it wasn't the same and people are mad that's not what you were doing and said is sitting there like you might have to beat them up and for real people start to arm themselves and that's what Trump and company do they got back to police headquarters and the cops said to remind your badges right now and they said no they said hand them over or you're under arrest this is what charge the other hand on the holsters telling them to hand the badges over finally they did miss it would go back every day listen we're going to arrest you everyday and they'll pushed out of westborough Police department and it did hurt them and they really needed that and BJ came in one day and thanked them they said you were saved a lot of last by getting those thumbs out he knows he has power he said what can we do for you said they are harassing the s*** out of us in the neighborhood Non-Stop I am they will not stop bothering people. They lived into it they looked into it and saw this full John remillard issuing all these orders for people to bother people I was doing it today and he's doing it now and he's an idiot so they monitored for a while and then they did a lot of work and took him out a lot right now and people are working on it for real

Thor Freya and yeah we're sending formal documents

The morlock and pseudo empire are destroying each other in the eastern hemisphere and minority morlock wouldn't go and they're watching them all die a huge for us went up from the tip of Africa to A thousand Miles up and they went to the desert inn to the Congo a second forces getting up now totally about 2.8% of their total number which is down to 17% now because of the western hemisphere is great losses. And it's true Billy Hicks said you numbnuts don't know how to use a computer and it's different than the clans but you are an idiot. They don't plan to try and invade Florida right now but Florida is evacuating

-and we held off or no we left off around 15% of what was here and they are firing each other and all night long they were leaving and this morning about 3% 2% are up right now. And they're ready to go in a moment's notice. And they will leave and will be left with 10% of the population of Florida that will be Mac morlock excluding the pseudo empire there's some other stuff happening

-local authorities have called for a truce no they're calling for people to arrest the trumps today and everybody they said that has authority and they're moving on it actually moving on it they have a huge number of police and deputies going out and arresting them and the pseudo empire as well are sending huge numbers of people to obtain them it's a massive massive effort and they're going to be out soon and they loaded up for laundry day okay to bother him at the laundromat I mean they're f****** freaks these people are losers they're coming in and pulling them in and getting rid of them as fast as we can their Chuck beef soon there going to be very small

-on the islands New Zealand took massive hits went from 3.5% to 3% and it'll be less today soon they'll be gone and that would be the trumps on Australia VGA is taking hits from the pseudo empire array and ships and spaceships and they are cordoned off just as New Zealand is and the foreign minority malloc are now being cordoned off and they all will be

-several other things are occurring in Charlotte county they are looking for a new sheriff and they're saying it it is the pseudo empire and their trying to figure out who to elect and probably have Michael too because the idiots are bothering him so much and it's true and he knows her business and he knows what they're saying and having a son say. And it's a horrible job he says that someone has to do it and her son says when he reaches 8 ft he can be a deputy with Bill so apprehend John and marimillard tested can drive probably still be sick and Michael too sells for Christ's sake and it's a disaster these trumps are a disaster and they're massive losers so that's going on and also we have a few other things to talk about

-my son and daughter are extreme duress we need to fix it and we need to know what they need and stuff like that no we know what they need we need to get them some help actually and he's been saying I feel exposed and so forth and it started and extorted and they're doing that now we are seeking out solutions now and I really need them there's going to be a big day and will conclude by saying there are a lot of changes occurring here a lot of people are fired the pseudo empire is moving in and the morlock are moving out fairly soon they will note that it is statewide and the warlock will leave more so 10% should give them an incline they should have an idea they have an idea of what time it is at 10%. We're going to be getting a tax here I don't know push out a whole bunch of them. The pseudo empire are not taking over that many jobs but they have the higher level jobs and they feel that they will do well and we fail it will be short-lived and our son does too only because of the clones and the diamonds in the Gulf will cause a war and with the real army and they're aghast but that's the case

Freya

We're in the top part

Olympus

Of course I'm helping out she says I'm busy doing something and that's true

Thor

Haha lol

Hera

[adarlingwrites]

Dormouse

Summary:

After playing a game with two of The Beach's most dangerous members, the dormouse gets her tail caught by a tiger's paw.

He’ll make a wildcat out of her.

Author’s note: I kind of regret the song choice due to its association with a certain movie but... it fits the chapter's themes. -shrug-

Edit: Changed the song I associated with this chapter because I think it suits Aguni and Yamaneko's pseudo-paternal relationship, which was highlighted more than the murder mystery on the Beach

go ahead and cry, little boy | you know that your daddy did too, you know what your mama went through | you gotta let it out soon, just let it out

X

As if a spotlight had been shone on her, Yamaneko’s body tenses at everyone’s scrutiny.

“Why does this concern me?” she starts, looking at the faces around her, all of them with varying degrees of wariness, save for her fellow militants. Her eyes flick to her father’s, and resentment blooms in her chest, spreading through her veins like bitter poison.

“She’s your stepmother,” Ann responds, examining the victim’s corpse with the purpose of scrutinizing every detail. Then, her eyes flick to Mr. Yamane, looking at him with an unreadable expression. “Though, she looks more like an older sister.”

“We weren’t close. I haven’t spoken a word to her before we arrived on the Beach.”

Ann tilts the victim’s head with a gloved hand, exposing the wound to view. “I’ve yet to examine the wound, but it’s clear that whoever killed her used a sharp object. You’re one of the few militants who exclusively carry a bladed weapon, along with Last Boss.”

Folding her arms Yamaneko was about to go off on the taller woman, but she mentions something else. ”He’s under suspicion, too,” she mentions as she motioned to Mr. Yamane. “Her body was dumped from their shared room.”

“Me? That’s preposterous! Are you suggesting that I have something to do with my own wife’s death? I’m not even allowed to hold a weapon! It’s those militants you should be looking at.”

“You know what?” Yamaneko interrupts, bringing all the attention back to her when her head whips towards his direction, and her voice drips with venom at every syllable she utters. “If you can beat your first wife and your daughters for years, and lie through your teeth every time the authorities get involved, I believe you have the capacity to be violent with anyone and lie to our faces.”

“You dare accuse me when you’re the one who carries a weapon and holds a criminal record,” Mr. Yamane spits back, pointing at his estranged daughter with a wrinkled finger, spittle flying from his mouth. “I’ve raised you myself. You’re an uncontrollable child. Disobedient. Delinquent! You dirtied the family’s name when your name showed up on the tabloids twice. It’s no wonder even your sister gave up on you.”

It took every fiber of Yamaneko’s self control to stop her from lunging at her father’s provocation. Instead, she hissed through gritted teeth. “Don’t bring Mai into this. You are the reason why I had to resort to stealing! You kicked me out. I couldn’t even find an apartment without a guarantor because I was a minor. Do you think I would resort to that if I wasn’t so desperate without a family’s support? That criminal record means nothing here anyway!”

“My, my, this is a conversation you shouldn’t be having in front of strangers. Are scandals really commonplace in your family?” Niragi interrupts, and aims his rifle at Mr. Yamane’s chest. “Why don’t we just kill the old man?”

“See?! Even the company you keep reflects who you really are,” Mr. Yamane blurts, face red from rage. “No amount of discipline I tried to instill in Minami worked to keep her in check. She's a criminal. It’s why I disowned her.”

Aguni remains stoic throughout the entire ordeal, but the last thing the Yamacorp CEO said stirred something hateful inside him. He towered over Mr. Yamane in a show of intimidation. “I thought I heard you call my underling ‘daughter’ in that confrontation I broke up. So which is it?”

And just like that, Mr. Yamane’s domineering facade crumbles, stammering to answer the militants’ chief.

Hatter holds out an open palm, motioning everyone to quiet down. “These accusations won’t get us anywhere. Regardless of who killed Mrs. Yamane, peace on the Beach has been disturbed,” he mutters, expression grim, and jovial demeanor absent.

“The number of violent cases has been rising, but we have handled them quietly. This one is a public spectacle that might send ripples of fear through the entire Beach. Aguni, tell your men to go harder on their patrols and to keep themselves restrained.”

“You’re not even going to interrogate her?” Mr. Yamane exclaims, pointing at his daughter.

This time, Aguni is openly sneering at him. “Why are you so eager to accuse my underling of a murder, old man?”

The former CEO shrinks before Aguni, and any bravado he had dissipated. Yamaneko couldn’t suppress a satisfied smirk.

“Ah, Mr. Yamane, you were some corporate bigwig before coming to this country, am I right?” Hatter asks him. “As number one,” he nearly growls, voice dropping an octave. “I call the shots here. Your daughter brought back high-value cards from the games. Any member of the Beach like that is a fine asset. Unless she’s proven to be a traitor, murderer or not, no action will be taken against her without the executive board’s say.”

“Then you’re complicit in my wife’s murder. I won’t forget this,” Mr. Yamane spits, turning around to barge out the door.

Niragi scoffs at his dramatic exit. “I really want to put a bullet between his eyes. What a bastard, shitting on the military sect like that.”

“As much as I hate that asshole’s guts, you killing him right after his wife just died would just draw more suspicion to me, and the other militants,” Yamaneko replies, folding her arms and eyebrows creased.

From the corner of her eyes, Mira glances at her with a newfound curiosity.

“I think I should also mention that he begged me for help to get out of this place. The executive board should watch out. He’s known for stabbing business associates in the back to climb the ranks. My father is highly manipulative, and doesn’t stop until he gets the result that he wants,” Yamaneko adds.

“Hmm. He sounds like a potential Heart specialist too. Perhaps it runs in the family?” Mira croons thoughtfully, looking at her with the eyes of a child examining a shiny new bug she had found in the garden. “Ah, but you’re willing to impart information about your own father for the sake of the Beach and the executive board?” she asks.

Yamaneko cringes at the comparison between her and her father. “My loyalty is to the Beach, and to my chief. My chief is part of the executive board, isn’t he?”

Mira regards the CEO’s estranged daughter for a moment, and grins.

“That’s enough. Hopefully this incident is just an isolated case. Ann, if any similar cases show up, you know what to do,” Hatter said, almost with an air of boredom. And with that, Hatter leaves, adjourning the meeting.

“I do think an interrogation is in order, though. If you would allow me to borrow her for a moment, Aguni?” Ann asks, tilting her head towards Yamaneko.

Aguni’s stony expression turns sour, but he nods. The younger militant steps right ahead. “If it helps me prove that I have nothing to do with this, sure.”

The chief backs off, and he turns to the rest of the militants present. “I want to have a word with the two of you. Now.”

As the chief goes off on Niragi and Last Boss, Yamaneko follows Ann to a storage closet for cleaning supplies, and clears her throat.

“Well? We’re clearly not here to play seven minutes in heaven, so if you have a question, shoot.”

Ann rolls her eyes, expression otherwise stoic. “Right. How do you usually execute traitors?”

Yamaneko gulps, looking at her hands. “I usually aim for the carotid, or any other large artery I can target.”

“And why do you choose that method? Are there any advantages to it?” Ann asks, taking out a notepad and starting to jot down on it.

“It puts them out of their misery fast. Plus, the blood spurts in one steady stream without much spraying. It makes cleanup easier.”

Ann nods, and flips a page on the notepad. “What were you doing at around ten thirty in the morning?”

“Grabbing lunch at the lobby,” Yamaneko responds, folding her arms.

“Who were you with? Who did you speak to?”

“Last Boss. Though, I saw my father in the lobby too.”

Nodding and writing, Ann continues. “And what were you doing around two hours before the incident?”

Yamaneko hesitated for a moment, and Ann watched her like a hawk, noting the shift in her body language. Clearing her throat, the militant stammers. “I… I was having sex.”

“With whom?” Ann asks with a completely straight face, pausing from writing on the notepad.

“Is this even necessary to ask? God… I was doing it with Last Boss, obviously. I’m pretty sure some of the people in the rooms nearby heard us too,” Yamaneko says through her teeth, shifting her weight on one foot. “Can I go now?” she asks, face red.

Ann nods, and tucks away her notepad and pen. “You’re free to go.”

The militant leaves. She meets up with the others, who were receiving a tongue-lashing from the chief, and she joins their misery. Afterwards, Aguni motions at his underlings, and they follow. As they walked through the halls of the hotel, Yamaneko felt strength in their numbers.

Then, Aguni halts. “Yamane.” Her head perks up. “How many visa days do you have left?”

She pauses for a moment to think. “More than a week.”

“You’re on patrol duty with me for a few nights.”

“Right. Understood, chief.”

“Meet me tonight at the gate. You’re all free to leave.”

Niragi went ahead and trudged off, mood sour from Aguni’s reminders on the use of violence on the Beach. After checking if no one else is around, Last Boss puts an arm around Yamaneko’s waist, eyes searching hers.

“I’m okay,” she reassures him, before pressing a quick peck on his lips.

“You haven’t been on a patrol yet, haven’t you?” Takatora asked her.

“Mhmm.”

“Stay alert,” he says, voice hinting at some softness.

“Of course.”

Takatora would be lying if he said that he’s nervous about his lover’s first patrol, but as he watches Yamaneko meet up with their leader from a window, he felt some relief knowing that she’s made it far enough to rise to number sixteen and gain some semblance of trust from their chief.

Feeling a little cold from the absence of her jacket, Yamaneko walks towards Aguni, doing the best she can to look focused. She wouldn’t want to disappoint him on her first patrol.

“Yamane, eyes peeled,” Aguni said as he drew his pistol and motioned the younger militant to follow.

“Yes, chief.”

Halfway through their patrol, Yamaneko speaks up. “By the way chief, could you refer to me with my nickname instead?”

This gains her a stern, questioning look. “I don’t want to be associated with my father’s family name anymore.”

The look on Aguni’s face softens ever so slightly, and he grunts in acknowledgment.

“You don’t have to call me chief all the time,” Aguni says to her after some time as he scanned the perimeter for any suspicious activity. His underling looks up to him, a curious look on her face. She hasn’t heard the chief say much outside of games.

“But I find it respectful,” Yamaneko replies, hands hovering near her thighs, where her knives are holstered. Aguni blinks a few times before moving again.

“With proper training, you’d fit in with the SDF. There are more female recruits now, I heard.”

“Nah. I’m too much of a non-conformist for that.”

“And what makes you say that?”

Yamaneko motions to her face with one hand. “Good luck trying to scrub all this makeup off my face, chief.”

The snort he gives her sounds almost amused, but Aguni’s expression remains stern. “That attitude of yours, did it get you in trouble with your father?”

Yamaneko is taken aback from the personal question, but nonetheless, she responds to her leader. “Well, yes. I tried to suppress it and be a good daughter, I promise. Regardless, it’s just an excuse to beat me. Everything I did got me in trouble with him,” Yamaneko says almost too casually, as if her experiences weren’t the damaging, traumatic ones that lingered for years.

Old, painful memories started to stir within Aguni’s psyche upon hearing Yamaneko open up about her own upbringing. In the young woman before him, he saw shards of his past self, the angry young man who wanted to get back at his own father, but was robbed of the opportunity due to his death. His knuckles turn white from the rage simmering in his heart.

They continued walking, looking over the fences for any possible intruders. Every now and then, Aguni would tell the young militant what to watch out for, and what to do in certain scenarios. The patrol ended peacefully, much to Yamaneko’s relief. She leaned against a fence when they got back to the gate. Aguni folds his arms and observes her.

“Is there anything else you need, chief?” Yamaneko asks, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“Yamaneko, day or night?”

“Uh, night.”

“From now on, you’re training with me every five in the afternoon, sharp.”

Eyebrows rising up her forehead, Yamaneko has a dumbfounded look on her face. “Training? For what?”

“Do you want to gain an edge over your bastard father, or not?”

One look in the chief’s eyes, and she knew he had similar experiences in the past; of feeling small and powerless against someone who should have been one’s shelter from the world. “Yes.”

“Then don’t be late.”

Aguni leaves, while a dumbfounded Yamaneko stays in her spot, still processing the events of the day. Cold fingers trail on her good shoulder and she turns to see her lover’s face. A smile blooms on her painted lips.

“Takatora. You didn’t attend a game?”

“I was patrolling on the upper floors. I can’t leave you here on the Beach alone either.”

“Ah,” she replies, holding his hand as they walk back to their room. “I guess we deserve a little break from all the madness of the games.”

After some time, as they lay on their shared bed, Yamaneko asks her lover a question. “Are you worried about my father being here?”

He nods, and squeezes her small hand.

“Don’t worry too much. Besides, the chief said he’ll be training me every five in the afternoon. I’ll kick the bastard’s ass if he tries anything.”

Takatora tilts his head. “The chief?” he asks almost disbelievingly.

“Yeah. It’s kind of strange.”

“You didn’t do anything to earn his ire, didn’t you?”

Yamaneko raises an eyebrow. “No.”

“Good luck. He’s... strict.”

“I know, I know.”

The first day she trained with Aguni, she expected it to be difficult, but not this severe. The wildcat pants as she ran her second lap around the Beach, sweat dripping from her skin and stinging the healing burns on her left arm. Onlookers were staring, and some militants were chuckling among themselves. Niragi sees her, and yells after her.

“Yamaneko, what the hell are you doing?”

“Chief wanted me to run laps!” she shouts, voice hoarse.

“What did you do?”

“Huh?” Yamaneko asks, irritation growing. “No time to talk, gotta run!”

Hanako, the militant who once accompanied her in the dressing room, watches as Yamaneko jogs past her, raising an eyebrow. “Huh. When the chief asks us to do something like that, it’s usually because we pissed him off,” she mutters.

“She must’ve pissed him off bad, then,” Saiko butts in, passing the other girl a cigarette.

As fast as her legs can take her, Yamaneko sprints at the last few meters when Aguni comes into view. As she runs past him, she collapses and lies on the ground. Her feet ache, and it doesn’t help that her sandals aren’t made for running.

“What the hell are you doing? You need to cool down. Walk!” he barks, and Yamaneko suppresses a pathetic sigh as she forces herself up. She paces around in circles, occasionally stretching her arms and legs. Satisfied, Aguni lets her sit, and he tosses her a bottle of water. She gulps it down.

“I’m gonna hit the showers now, chief,” she pants, and Aguni tilts his head.

“You think you’re done for the day?” he asks.

Yamaneko couldn’t answer, looking at him in disbelief.

“Not yet, you’re not. You still have some grapples and knife techniques to study. Stand up!”

She swore she wanted to cry, but Yamaneko kept her mouth in a tight line, swallowed hard, and got on her feet.

“This is nothing compared to the shit I endured in the past,” she thinks to herself, and carries on.

Two. Three. Five. Ten times, she ended up on her ass, disarmed and beaten by the chief every single time. As she was starting to reconsider what she thought earlier, the chief holds a meaty hand out, and she grabs it. Aguni helps her to her feet, and pats her back, almost making her lurch forward.

Yamaneko freezes at the friendly touch. All the touches she got from authority figures, her father especially, was nothing like this.

“Focus on your footwork.”

Then, he leaves without saying anything else. Tired, bruised, but fulfilled, Yamaneko shouts a spirited “Yes, chief!” as he walks away.

Taking a deep breath, the younger militant finishes what’s left of her water, and heads back to her shared room. Takatora is waiting inside, fresh from a patrol, and upon seeing her sweaty and disheveled form, he lets go of whatever he was reading to check on her.

Yamaneko holds two thumbs up and beams at him, voice failing her.

“Did the chief go too hard on you?”

“No. Well, yes. But, it’s fine. I learned a lot,” she says as she sits next to him. “You know, he’s more of a parental figure to me than my own father.”

Takatora snorts at the idea of Aguni being a father, but the more he thought about it, the more he agreed with her. He’ll never say it out loud, though.

On the tenth day of Yamaneko’s training, in the middle of sparring with the chief, one of Hatter’s men approached them.

“Aguni. Please come with us. Take her with you too,” he says in an urgent manner, brows furrowed in concern.

“You better have a good reason for this interruption,” he growls, picking up a towel and slinging it over his shoulder.

“There’s been another killing. Please take care of it discreetly. Hatter doesn’t like it when things like this goes public.”

A lump forms in Yamaneko’s throat as she follows Aguni to the hotel room holding the victim. When they arrived, Ann was there, assessing the situation, and the victim sprawled on the floor, a diagonal cut on his neck. A few men were setting up a stretcher nearby, and they halted when they saw the leader of the militants enter the room.

“It’s similar to the previous case,” Ann starts, taking off her shades. “The wounds are consistent with the type I found on Mrs. Yamane. A laceration to the neck with a sharp object,” she continues, holding a clean handkerchief and tilting the victim’s head. “And this time, the glass fragments stuck on his skin are more obvious. Whoever committed these murders used a shard of glass as an improvised weapon.”

The taller woman turns to Yamaneko. “I’ve corroborated your statement with the other residents on your floor. They indeed heard you that morning, so you couldn’t have been with your stepmother. Your method of exsanguinating traitors before disposal doesn’t align with the ones used in these murders, either. The odds of you being the killer are low, from this information.”

“Any clue on the killer's identity?” Aguni asks, watching the corpse. The victim died with his eyes wide open, the look of terror etched on his face.

“We have a lead,” says Ann, full of cold confidence. “For now, bring her to the makeshift lab discreetly. I need to do a full autopsy.”

Boots thudding against the floor, Aguni walks towards the corpse, and hooks his arms under his armpits. Instinctively, Yamaneko grabs his feet. As they lay him down on the stretcher, the victim’s mangled arm, riddled with stab wounds due to his attempt of protecting himself from his assailant, slips and dangles off the edge. Looking around, Yamaneko grabs the end of a curtain, and puts it back in place. The victim’s Beach tag, number 28, reflects the moonlight streaming from the window, and Yamaneko’s eyes trail to the glittering mess of broken glass on the floor, which contrasts with the dark blood splatters on the wood.

“Hey, Ann,” she calls her attention. “I think I found the murder weapon.”

The taller woman hands her the handkerchief, and she picks up a large shard of glass, its pointed end jagged and stained with blood. Ann holds it out in the light, making out some fingerprints.

“Good,” she said, then she prompts them to follow.

“That face is going to haunt me,” one of Hatter’s men comments, and Yamaneko gulps.

“Me too,” she adds.

Hatter’s devotee looks at the militant, a question hanging from his open mouth, but he chooses to keep it shut. Sensing his hesitation, Yamaneko rolls her eyes and quietly gets to work.

Glancing at the dead’s face, whose eyes were frozen in an expression of distress, Yamaneko grimaces and closes his eyes with her fingers. She pulls the curtains off the rods, and covers his bloody body. The crimson quickly soaks through the fabric.

That night, the wildcat sat in the bath longer than usual.

Wading over to his lover’s side, Takatora helps Yamaneko settle into his chest as he wraps both arms around her. In silence, she mulls about her day, brows furrowed.

“You’re bothered by something,” Takatora speaks up.

“I had to carry a corpse with the chief earlier. And my father is still living on the Beach. Ugh. Takatora, I just want to get away from all this. I mean, I’m not going to leave and turn traitor. I crave some change of scenery, maybe explore some places outside the Beach.”

Playing with Yamaneko’s hair, Takatora presses his mouth behind her head. “Supply runners leave for food and gasoline at eight in the morning. I help put away the gas when they return in the afternoon.”

Yamaneko looks up to give him a mischievous grin. “Do you think we can scare them into driving for us?”

He nods, and she laughs with a childish giddiness.

“Great! There’s this place I’ve been wanting to visit again.”