#a relationship with someone who cannot have children may not be in the clan's best interest

[avengernomore]

Due to a Tsunade ship I have who’s returned, I’ve been wondering... can Tsunade still have kids?

Like, we know, age-wise, she’s past that, but we don’t know enough about what her jutsu that she uses to transform her appearance works. We do know that if she uses enough chakra it can start to fail, and that without it, she looks even older than she actually is, due to the seal on her forehead, because when she uses that, it shortens her life span, if I remember right?

But how far does her transformation go? I’d imagine it changes how her body feels as well, would it go far enough to actually make her younger, make more eggs, that sort of thing?

[leonalmalsy]

Fruits Basket Parent Ranking List Part 2

With the fast approaching release of the Fruits Basket OVA, it’s time to do a time-honored tradition of ranking things in a series. In this one, I’ll be ranking the Parents of Fruits Basket, because why not?

The criteria of how it will be ranked are as followed.

A: The nature of the relationship between parent and child

B: The effect that relationship has on the child from the start to the end of the manga series.

C: How present the parent is in their child’s life.

D: How willing the parents are in growing a relationship with their child.

So, without further ado...

Part 2 is the parents who in the middle. Their relationship with their children is damaged but many of them at least try to do their best.

Momiji Sohma’s Parents

The Sohma Curse is initially fun for Tohru. People who can transform into animals when hugged? What a cute concept. But when she learns of the hardships they face because of this, it suddenly becomes less fun. Momiji’s life may seem like a charmed one. He’s happy-go-lucky, excitable, and full of energy. His father owns a huge company that he can come and go at whenever he pleases. Plus, he’s a virtuoso at the violin.  But behind his smile is a history of pain.

Momiji’s father married a German woman, someone who was not just outside of the Sohma clan but outside of the country. It’s never stated if his father knew of the curse prior to Momiji’s birth but when his mother held him and he transformed, Momiji’s life trajectory took a terrible swing. His mother was horrified at having given birth to a monster. As his mother’s mental condition deteriorates until she demands to have her mind wiped by Hatori, regretting ever giving birth to Momiji. His father tells him that he will love Momiji twice as much for the sake of his mother.

This doesn’t happen.

His father and mother have another child, his sister Momo. His father decided to live his life with his wife and daughter and have his son on the outside. For Momiji, this had to be difficult, watching his father play happy family while he was literally forgotten, especially at a young age. It’s almost certain that he did provide financially for his son but did little else. He did tell his son that he cannot interact with his mother and Momo because his mother might have another mental breakdown. And while Momiji looks on, his family create a life and home without him, going on trips and giving their daughter everything.

As much pain as Momiji has suffered, he doesn’t blame his father. He, instead, fosters relationships with the other Sohmas. Hatori, it’s implied, steps in for Momiji in an older relative capacity. He also bonds with Kyo and Hatsuharu. Before he even meets Tohru, Momiji is creating bonds with others. He fills his life with meaningful experiences without relying on his father.

And then he meets Tohru. It’s hard to say when it happens but he falls for her, almost certainly in a puppy love sort of way. She’s one of the few girls who interact with him. She offers him kindness and Momiji returns it in grandiose gestures like inviting her to the Sohma onsen and the Sohma beach estate.  He understands that what she feels for him isn’t the same as what he feels for her. And he recognizes that she’s in love with Kyo. So he gladly steps aside.

Momiji is the first character whose curse breaks onscreen. It’s hard to say what triggers it. Perhaps after Akito hurt Tohru, he had felt nothing towards the god with whom he’s connected. Or maybe it was the result of his own efforts prior to Tohru and she helped accelerate it. But in the end, the result is the same. He has already filled his life in such a way that he has no need for such a bond. So it snaps. And Momiji is free.

Freedom comes at a price for Momiji. He can’t have the girl he loves. He can’t just go back to his family. He doesn’t have the link he had with the other Zodiac. But Momiji isn’t deterred. He’s already learned that bonds can be made without having to rely on the happenstance of family or a supernatural bond like the Sohma Curse. He’s free with all the wonders and horrors it entails.

It is mentioned in the Fruits Basket sequel that he does reconcile with his family. But I imagine there many issues to work through because of it. There’s almost certainly a distance that Momiji would have with his mother and father. Also there is the idea of how to integrate his sister and how Momiji’s relationship to her needs to be explained. At least they are trying.

Kyo Sohma’s Mother

Like many mothers of cursed children, it can be assumed that Kyo’s mother had a sense of dread at having given birth to one of the Zodiacs. Unlike these mothers, her child was far worse off than these others. She had given birth to the Cat.

It’s never stated whether one or both of them were born into the Sohma family and whether or not they knew of the curse but soon they would learn of the deep revulsion others would have for this new cat. The Cat is the reviled figure, punished for its crimes against god. And therefore, on top of being cursed with transforming into a cat when hugged by girls, he would also transform into this disgusting monstrous form that is more alien than beast.

Kyo’s mother probably tried to make the best of it at first. She could shield him from the insults she received from other Sohmas that she had given birth to the hated cat, not just from them but from her husband. An abused woman like her, I believe, did her best not to let it impact how she viewed her son. It’s hard to not think in extremes over whether or not she really loved Kyo but I tend to believe that she did. I think she wanted him not to feel that he was a burden but needed the reassurance of his Juzu Beads.

Kyo starts to notices how every time she interacts with him, the first thing she does is check for the beads. Her overprotectiveness bordered on smothering, to the point that Kyo, looking back on it, recognizes it as pity. (In my opinion, I believe she was doing the best with the bad situation Kyo was dealt.) Eventually, it becomes too much for her and, after an argument with her husband, she commits suicide. Many people blame Kyo for causing his mother’s suicide. He, in turn, lashed out, saying that it isn’t his fault, while internally believing that it is. He feels immense guilt that his curse caused her to break down and kill herself.

It’s unfortunate that she killed herself because once the curse is broken, Kyo recognizes that, while his birth may have exacerbated her mental state, she was a victim of the Cat’s Curse as well. She had to endure so much and she never got to see him free. They could never reconcile and build a new relationship.

Hatsuharu Sohma’s Parents

We never even meet the parents of our resident ox boy. However, from the little we glean from Haru’s thoughts on them is that they basically kept him at a distance. As a child, Haru was mocked for being the dumb ox from the legends. His parents didn’t do anything about it until Haru himself started lashing out at those who mocked him, creating his “Black” persona. And their response wasn’t to try and stop the mocking but to put him in Kazuma’s classes.The only other time we hear about Haru’s parents is when he rampages in school after Isuzu dumped him. He says that the only thing that his mother cares about is her appearance.

Okami Sohma and her husband

There are two types of Sohma parents. There are the dismissive abusive parents, like Isuzu’s, and the overprotective parents, like Kyo’s mother. Okami falls into the latter. It’s hard to tell whether Okami was always a nervous person or her disposition came as a result of her giving birth to Ritsu but, either way, she would affect his personality.

Ritsu says that his parents always apologized on his behalf. As such, he would develop into a nervous wreck. Ritsu internalized his faults and felt like he wasn’t good enough. So, to withdraw from the pressure, he starts to dress in women’s clothes. This escapism caused his parents to apologize even more, which, in turn, made Ritsu internalize his feelings of failure even further. This became a constant loop. Ritsu would do something “wrong”, his parents would apologize, he would apologize, then he would sink deeper into his box. Rinse, repeat. This led to his feeling he would have to apologize for his existence. In the present day, Ritsu feels like everything is his fault. He fails to see Shigure’s teasing and thinks they are attacks on his character. He fails to recognize how Yuki feels about Ayame or that he and Kyo don’t have a great relationship.

This culminates with Ritsu accidentally ruining Shigure’s manuscript in front of Mitsuru. Though it was an accident, he feels like destroyed Mitsuru’s life. This leads him to the unreasonable reaction that he must die to atone for his sins because he believes that there is no reason for why he was born. But it is Tohru who tells that he doesn’t need to have a reason to live. Tohru tells him that he can find the audacity to live and find his reason for his existence.

Ritsu is the least explored of the Zodiac (I believe the author just didn’t know what to do with him, just that since she was doing a story about the Zodiac and the Zodiacs need a monkey, Ritsu just filled that role and that’s it) so we don’t see him as much as the others. He doesn’t feature in any other chapter. He appears during the second-year banquet but plays no big part. After the curse breaks, he cuts his hair and starts wearing men’s clothes, although when he’s in a panic, he goes for women’s kimonos. And he is now in a romantic relationship with Mitsuki, Shigure’s long-suffering editor.

Arisa Uotani’s Parents

When Arisa was young, her mother had an affair and left their family for her affair partner. Her father was an alcoholic who was more comfortable drunk than sober. Arisa, like Kyoko before her, would seek validation elsewhere and found it in her gang. She became violent and enjoyed every minute of it. Eventually, she would learn about Kyoko, the Red Butterfly, and realized that was the person she wanted to be. Her father, realizing that he was losing his daughter, tried to make up for his

When she heard that the Red Butterfly’s daughter was in her school, Arisa was very excited. That excitement drained when she realized that Tohru was nothing like who she imagined Kyoko’s daughter would be. However, Arisa started to see the person Tohru was and wanted to be her friend. Because of this, she decided that she was going to change. Becoming Tohru’s friend changed her relationship with her father, from one where she dismisses his existence to one where she helps out more, getting a job and cooking dinner for her father. And while he doesn’t quit drinking all together, she does limit his beer intake.

Kakeru Manabe’s Mother

As mentioned in Machi’s section, Kakeru’s father had an affair with his mother and produced him. Because his father was very rich, there was a contention of who should be his heir, his daughter from his wife or his son from his mistress. (It’s very likely had his wife had a son, as he later does, Kakeru would have never been in contention for his money.) Kakeru’s mother had forced him to be the perfect heir, making him compete with Machi. She probably justified it to herself that she was securing her son’s future but was really doing for herself so she could say that the affair was all worth it. This left him sullen and withdrawn as his girlfriend Komaki later notes. The need to vie for his father’s money and/or love left cracks on him until he reached his breaking point.

It was after this that Kakeru’s mother realized the damage that she had caused him. She withdrew him from consideration from being Kuragi’s heir. This lifted a weight from Kakeru, who was able to smile again. He would allow others, like Komaki, to get closer to her, which would result in them getting together. Kakeru would even make some inroads with helping his half-sister Machi open up (although it would be Yuki who would give her the help she needed to blossom). And his friendship with Yuki helped to drive out his own demons. Kakeru says that he has a better relationship with his mother now, although she frequently gets into arguments with her, and has written his father off as a lost cause.

Shigure Sohma

It’s weird to put Shigure in a list about parents but, considering that he does act as a guardian for the three main characters, it would remiss not to discuss him as a parental figure (if only so that the other non-biological parental figure can be consider). Don’t be fooled though. Taking these three into his house is actually couched in his ultimate goal, to free Akito from the burden of both the curse and her upbringing.

After being expelled for sleeping with Ren (whom he slept with as revenge for Akito sleeping with Kureno), he sets himself in opposition to her by taking away her prize possession, Yuki. His plan, later told to Akito by Ren (who almost certainly didn’t know what Shigure’s end goal was), was to give Yuki freedom from the Sohma Estate. While it had a positive effect on Yuki, this was more of an ancillary result for Shigure, simply because it doesn’t break the curse. And the two would have lived their scummy bachelor lives had it not been for one unexpected wrench in his plans.

Shigure’s plans change wildly when he finds Tohru living on his property. It’s hard to say if Shigure was already doing the math in his head about how he would use her going forward or if he made it up as he went along but it wasn’t out of pure altruism that he invited Tohru to live with them. It’s unclear if he knew the specifics of the curse (as he suspects but isn’t sure if Kureno’s curse has been lifted) but he believes that the curse is already weakening. I’m sure that he makes an assumption that one of the ways to weaken the curse further is to form a strong bond with someone outside of Aktio. Tohru represented that avenue for Yuki. She was a girl from his school in the same class. She was kind and compassionate. And, with her living with them, Yuki might flourish.

And then comes another wrench. Kyo had barged into his house to challenge Yuki after four months of training. Things went awry when Tohru, trying to prevent the fight, hugs Kyo, transforming him into his animal form. Then she hugs Yuki and Shigure, revealing their secret, that they transform into animal they are hugged by the opposite sex. After her freak out, Tohru comes around on the secret. Shigure, again it’s hard to say whether he had already planned on using her at that moment or came to that conclusion later on, does tell Akito that he plans on having Kyo and (in the manga) a housemaid in his house. Akito, not really understanding what Shigure was planning, agrees, believing in the animosity between the Cat and the Rat and in her own belief that her connection with the Zodiac is strong.

Having Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki stay with him is more of a slapdash plan but at this point, Shigure has the two Sohmas on opposite spectrums of the curse, the one most beloved by god and the one most despised by god. If he could turn these two away from Akito, this could prove that the curse wasn’t as powerful as believed. He’s already come to the idea that, with all Zodiac born, that the final banquet will commence and they will be freed in their lifetime. So Tohru and Kyo come to live with Shigure and Yuki and, after a few missteps, find their rhythm living with each other.

If Shigure was concerned that his plans were going to succeed, he would later have it confirmed when Yuki and Kyo brought back Tohru from her relatives’ house and later when they skipped the New Year’s banquet, defying Akito. He realizes that Tohru was, without any of the teens realizing it, breaking them out of their shells. This is ultimately proved correct when Kyo’s true form is revealed. He was concerned that Kazuma would destroy Kyo by showing his form to Tohru. Instead of Tohru running away, she chases after him and was able to bring him back.

Shigure, despite using the kids for his own machinations, comes to care about them, even as he manipulates them and Akito. Among his more helpful action is providing Yuki and Kyo with the address to Tohru’s relatives’ house to convince her to come back, filling in for Tohru’s grandfather at her parent-teacher conference, calling Ayame to run interference for Yuki when Yuki’s mother attended his parent-teacher conference, and even tells Tohru that she needs to confess her feelings to Kyo before he gets confined to the Cat Room. He admits to Hatori that he’s fine possibly destroying them to bring about his selfish goal and that he’s a terrible person for using them like this. He feels especially bad for Tohru because she’s innocent in all of this and she suffers unnecessarily due to his meddling.

There were many pitfalls in Shigure’s plan. This could have ended terribly for all involved. However, despite that, everyone in his house got a happy ending. The Sohmas are free from the curse. Yuki is free to move on from his burden. Kyo no longer must deal with the True Form of the Cat. Tohru is free to love Kyo without the possibility of Kyo disappearing. And Shigure can keep Akito all to himself. So by the end of the series, the baby birds in his nest are ready to fly away and begin their lives.

As an actual father to his son, Shiki says that he only has good memories of his parents. Shigure is also the parent that Shiki is around more due to Akito being busy being head of the family.

[captnjacksparrow]

Why do I ship SNS?

It is a known fact that when people experience a good media, they like to discuss various things they liked, hated, interpret what the creator trying to say and get something from what they have consumed. Eventually people end up in a shipping war if there are multiple possibilities. 

I started watching Naruto on a whim, hoping to see some ninjas in action with some revenge as a background (after all when you have power, there will always be a revenge). Am a sucker for revenge, btw. I am a person who hates romance in media. Because, every movie, book, novel, series has this same recycled romance plastered into every story even though the story don’t need at all. So, I am very tired of it. Every media portrays romance as something inevitable, necessary and something we can’t live without. That’s wrong. 

Usually, romance goes like this... Person A sees Person B... they hate each other and add some possessiveness, jealousy... they magically gets attracted through some shared experiences eventually... they kiss and make babies. There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s just very tiring as I’ve seen million forms of this same repeated trope. I always cringe and yell “Can you give us something different? Grrr.....”.

And also, my motto is that love can happen with any person. It can’t be restrained into certain boundaries. So, I don’t like to put some relationship under an umbrella called Gay, Lesbian, Straight or whatever. Of course, illicit relationships and incest are not normal and am not okay with it.

With all that being said...

My experience after watching the Shippuden series until episode 478 was “Wait, do they love each other?”. I know am very late to realize this, but I have never even viewed them with any romantic lens throughout. 

On my first watch, I was always under the impression that “They are friends”... But there are certain moments I felt “Wait, why are they doing like this which could’ve been handled in a different way!!” I will get to this later in this post. But those moments were overlooked by me because of my curiosity of “What happens next ??”. 

And on my rewatch, it only confirmed my view. 

The other popular ships like SS and NH put forth many points to invalidate what SNS represents. The most common being “They are reincarnated brothers” or  “They are best friends”. Am just going to debunk them from my point of view. 

Naruto and Sasuke are like brothers.....

Nope. 

The best brotherhood title, in this series, should officially go to Itachi and Sasuke. 

You can argue as much as you want that Itachi mindfucked Sasuke and killed his parents....yaada yaada.... 

It is repeatedly shown why Itachi put a curtain on his own clan. The reason is, Uchiha clan decided to forcefully take over the village. No matter how much innocent you are, you cannot take over something with force. Dot. I will write about this in a separate post.

In short, Sasuke realised how his clan members were wrong after hearing the story from the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. That’s why he openly proclaimed “I am going to protect Konoha and become Hokage”. 

Back to the topic, Itachi and Sasuke are blood brothers. If I ship them both, then what you claim is very valid. 

The above gif says, “Sasuke, I know, I made a mistake by filling you with hatred. But whatever you decide to do from now on, I will love you always”. Meaning, He stopped treating Sasuke as a kid and accepts that Sasuke has his own path to walk.

This is exactly how brothers behave. I would do the same to my kid sister. You can see a fraternal instinct from Itachi’s eyes realizing that this is their last time together.

Another thing, Brothers trope always has this hierarchy.... Protect the younger sibling no matter what. It is evident from Madara/Izuna and Hashirama/Tobirama.

Not convinced?

If you pull the Indra and Ashura bullshit, let me tell you one thing. Indra and Ashura were separated and formed their own clan long ago. They eventually branched off into Uchiha and Senju clans. No way you can relate a century old blood relation as brothers. It’s just their chakra got reincarnated over and over. 

Don’t pull up an incest angle between Naruto and Sasuke. Because they never shared a womb. Dot. 

Naruto and Sasuke are Best Friends only.

You know what, you are almost right. I thought that for a very long time. Remember I never wore any shipping goggles ON. 

There are two types of best friend categories. Best Friends without a reason and Best Friends through rivalry. 

Best Friends without a reason in Narutoverse are: Shikamaru/Choji. 

They just became friends and became BFF. They won’t fight or hurt each other. But when you have something to share...you would go to that person and share everything honestly.

Best Friends through Rivalry: Kakashi/Obito, Hashirama/Madara, Naruto/Sasuke

I really cannot provide more proof for the first two pairings as Best Friends as it is not the scope of this post. Although the latter two also qualifies for shipping category. Why?

Because, the common thing among them is that all the three Uchihas awakened/reawakened their Sharingan for their best friend. But Hashirama/Madara and Naruto/Sasuke are the only pairings to awaken or evolve Sharingan when trying to break their bonds with each other. 

Special Brownie points for Madara. He had 4 brothers and lost 3 but still couldn’t awaken his Sharingan but when trying to break up with Hashirama, his eyes were brimming red. 

Sasuke’s Sharingan matures in the first Valley of The End.

That’s why I excluded Hashirama/Madara and Naruto/Sasuke from this Best Friends list.

Because to the both Uchihas, the other person meant something special which cannot be comprehended into a mere term called ‘Best Friends’.

Which is exactly why Kakashi/Obito would perfectly fall into this category.

The way they quarrel, fight with each other, protect each other are perfect scores for a friendship. What makes them best friends is when Obito decided to give his Sharingan despite Kakashi was always putting a cold air around him and most importantly asked him to protect his love ‘Rin’. Also Kakashi carried his friend’s will to his heart and passed on to Team 7.

It all falls under ‘In the memory of my Best Friend’ trope.

Obito may be a trash but he is a good friend. Because after Rin was killed, he massacred everyone around him except for Kakashi. He could have killed him. Understandable. Or he could have plucked his Sharingan back (because he literally plucked most of the Sharingans from the Uchiha clan massacre and kept those eyes as a reserve). This could have enabled him to use Susanoo. I believe Susanoo can only be used with Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes. But for some reason, he didn’t. 

So what makes me think Naruto and Sasuke love each other, not as a brother and not as a friend but something beyond which I can’t term?

My way of shipping is not about marriage, sex and rearing babies. Because literally everyone does this as an obligation. 

So, I don’t ship them in terms of living together in my headcanon and having sex daily. Nope. But it is not wrong though if you ship in that sense.

In this Narutoverse, Women are just some stow away pieces whose sole existence is to fawn over their dreamboy and cry for them. (Usually literally nothing useful comes out of them). Me being a girl, as much as I hate this setup but I have come to terms with whatever it is and have accepted it. If you are a girl looking for a strong female character...... this is not the place. Watch something else. 

But I draw inspiration from male characters who are characterized deeply for which I have to applaud the creator. Reason being, the very first character which I connected with was Itachi. It was when Sasuke thinks about his past with his family in the flashback before the first VotE battle in part I. I will be writing a separate post about Itachi in this week. 

In short, If you are a person who wants inspiration, draw it from male characters. Not in a single moment, you stoop so low for characters like Hinata and Sakura. That’s not how I envision myself or any woman. Dot.

With all this being said, I ship them as a couple who necessarily don’t have to get married or have sex... But they each other has some special allowance towards each other in their hearts which no one can touch, not even their wives or children. 

This doesn’t mean I accept what came after episode 478 as they are literally something they made for $$$$$. 

There are some basic traits which are absolutely necessary for a ship to sail successfully. They are Acknowledgement, Reason, No Hierarchy, Influence, Owning each others rights and Privilege. (All these reasons should come from both the sides for the ship to be worthy)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Acknowledgement, I mean here, is to accept and acknowledge what they are to each other.

They both agree that they are Bonded/Friends verbally as well as emotionally.

To me, this is essential in any relationship especially for the ones you are trying to ship. I didn’t see this in any other ships like SS or NH where it is always one sided. Sakura confessed before the village entrance to which Sasuke said “You really are annoying!!”. Hinata proposed in Pain arc. Naruto didn’t even acknowledge her confession. He went on to beg for pardon for Sasuke. Again she proposed in the War at the expense of Love Cupid “Neji”. Naruto went on to joke with Minato that Sakura is his Girl Friend. 

If I were in both of these girls place, I would literally be mad and drop this shit right away.

Wheras in SNS, I saw both the people I am trying to ship were asking “What am I to you?”, to which they reply “You are my friend”. To me this is very important.

Reason

To those who are saying “Love is blind”, “Love is Madness”, “Love needs no reason”, you all need self-evaluation. This is not some K Drama situation where you don’t need any reason. You should know why you love someone and why you need the other’s presence.

Naruto’s reason is very simple.

I could provide many reasons. But here, Sasuke, without any reservations... knowing full well of the consequence if he feed Naruto but still extended the helping hand to someone who was always hostile. It is just like what Iruka did. And many incidents which happened during Land of the Waves arc are evident.

He wanted to be friends with this lonely Uchiha boy way back when he was around 7 or 8 for a simple reason that he understands his pain more than anyone. But he really became friends when they were grouped together for Team 7.  

Sasuke’s reason goes even way beyond when Naruto series started.

“Because he felt relief”.

Imagine a young boy who witnessed a massacre before his eyes and lost everyone he loved. But somehow another young boy of his age made him feel relieved. This explains why Sasuke went all out of his way to make friendship with Naruto despite being aloof. 

Isn’t this what we want from someone we love?  

Rather than being completely insensitive about an orphan life or just stalking from the distance and never offered any support, I would prefer someone who understands my pain from their heart and try to reach me. Sasuke reached out to him by offering the lunch and Naruto reached out to him by making him his rival and bug him.

NO HIERARCHY

This is pretty self-explanatory. Unlike blood brothers, there should be no hierarchy in a relationship I want to ship. 

We saw Naruto yells at Sasuke many times absolutely for no reason, despite Sasuke bearing this cold attitude. Probably he is the only person who can call him by such variety of names. 

Sasuke always calls him by his trademark ‘Usuratonkachi’. Sometimes he calls him fool just like everyone. But was never insulting or mean towards Naruto. Except for that time in the final battle, he made fun of his Shadow Clone jutsu citing his loneliness. 

In short, be it a physical fight or verbal offense.... neither of them wilts like a flower. They equally give back. 

The only other person who can verbally assault Sasuke is Karin and probably the only girl who never addresses him as “Sasuke-Kun”. 

U-SU-RA-TON-KA-CHI..... Why do Sasuke spend such an effort to call someone with a 6 syllabic word, instead NA-RU-TO, a 3 syllabic word which is way more convenient to call?? I always wonder.

POSITIVE INFLUENCE

I don’t have to spell out anything here. There are many obvious examples but will try to keep it short. 

Naruto became strong because of Sasuke. He trained hard for 3 years with Jiraiya , a month with Kakashi developing Rasen Shuriken and controlled Kurama’s power with Killer Bee. Except for Sage Mode jutsu everything he learnt was all for bringing Sasuke back. 

In short, Sasuke is Naruto’s predominant strength. 

Though Naruto was not the source of strength for Sasuke, but he brings out many vibrant emotions in Sasuke which he really needed for his traumatic mind otherwise he would always be that cold angry brooding doll without any emotions and I am sure Sasuke enjoys to banter with Naruto.

LOL!!! I don’t know why Sasuke feels competitve here. It’s pretty childish even for Sasuke.

Friendly tease :-) I think he also protected Sakura in this scene. He can also ask her the same, isn’t it? I mean as a friend. 

The best one is yet to come

It’s incredibly hilarious to see how Sasuke pouts when he was with Naruto. Sakura!!!! You third wheeling joker :-D :-D

Throughout Shippuden, Sasuke never shows his emotions with anyone. He either looks very cold or angry.

Reminiscing his Team 7 days, for a split second. 

Probably the only positive emotion is this, in all of the Shippuden. I mean not counting Episode 478.

I don’t think Sakura brought any kind emotions in Sasuke except annoyance when they were together in Team 7. Or Hinata too. These girls just moan “Sasuke-Kun”, “Naruto-Kun” but brings nothing to the table. Total wastrels!!!!!

OWNING EACH OTHER’S RIGHTS

This section is exactly where SNS moves on to a whole different level.

Sasuke wanted to inflict his pain over everyone who lives in peaceful Konoha for what it did to Itachi. (though I don’t really accept with Sasuke here since he never even bothered to question about his clan’s history, but what he was doing is understandable. Just like Naruto tells him).

But the context here is Sasuke is on a murder rampage. Starting from the Kage Summit, killing Danzo, unnecessarily hurting Karin and almost reached a point where he could not be stopped anymore. Then Ms.Annoying appears. She literally have no fucking clue what Sasuke is going through. So started to spout nonsense that she wanted to go with Sasuke-Kun with an ulterior motive to kill him without a strong resolve. 

The interesting SS dynamics here is Sasuke asks Sakura “Do you know what I want?” and to which she gives a carefree-shitty-pathetic answer “I don’t care. I will do whatever you want”. Geez!!!

If I were Sasuke, I would think, “This person standing before me don’t even care about what I want but coming with an intent to kill me and not only that... she is a kunoichi from Konoha where I planned to inflict my pain by slaughtering them.. I better ram my Chidori and be done with it”... He doesn’t see her as his former Teammate. He just want to kill that person.

However, Kakashi deflects the attack and saves Ms.Useless. 

( Me : I am a Sasuke fan through and through. But, Sakura..... You always says you will do this, do that.... But you never succeed at anything... Why is that? Why are you even continue being a ninja? No one asked you to kill Sasuke, you decided to. But why don’t you kill him. Probably you would’ve earned my begrudging respect... Pffft” ****sighs with a heavy second hand embarassment)

Anyways, Sasuke becomes an unstoppable maniac at this point because he was very irritated on seeing Kakashi and Sakura spouting some unreachable nonsense. So he started to attack Kakashi as he is even more irritated on seeing his Sharingan.

Again, Ms.Idiot wants to kill Sasuke when he is at his weakest point due to chakra exhaustion and that too from behind his back. (You!!! Gutless wrench). Sasuke sensed this and attempted to kill her again... (Naruto!!! You idiot. Why did you save her...)

However, Naruto appears and saves her. Naruto and Sasuke’s eyes meet each other.

But somehow Sasuke calmed down and hears out Naruto for what he has to say. He says, “Whatever you are doing until now, it’s understandable”. 

Kakashi wanted to kill him and Sasuke got riled up and prepare his Chidori. Anyways, Naruto intervenes and they go to some meta physical plane and talks privately. And Naruto comes up with his idea and announces as below:

Me: Naruto!!!! Sweety..... Do you realize that you have a big dream of becoming a Hokage which you have been shouting from Day 1? But still you want to overthrow everything for that one person who is in unbearable pain. It’s alright. But you don’t want to go alone or send him alone. No Best friend would go this far. And to those Sakura shippers.... Why didn’t Sakura try to bear the burden? Why didn’t she come up with this Idea? Afterall, you spout nonsense like ‘Sakura saved Sasuke from Darkness, isn’t it?’ And, Naruto.... Who gave you the right to take his hatred and shoulder the burden? And what makes you think you are that only person to do it??? Sasuke, might have other special person in those 3 years. How can you decide on Sasuke’s behalf??? Aren’t you going overboard ?

The answer to all the above is simple, Naruto can risk anything for Sasuke. And he clearly knew that Sasuke’s only living bond is him.

And what happened next was almost unbelievable and for the first time I thought ‘What is it with these two guys?’. 

Sasuke agrees with Naruto’s proposition to not destroy Konoha before fighting with Naruto. 

Me: Sasuke!!!! You have every right to reject his proposition. Since, he was not in your life for the past 3 years, your side of bond with Naruto should have been cut-off long back, right? Sasuke??? Well, at this point he was just your former Team 7 member. You don’t need to honor your proposition. You can attack Konoha anytime. Why did you accept?

Also Me: Sweety!!! Why do you always question Naruto ‘Who am I to you’? Why do you need his opinion always? There is an annoying princess standing behind Naruto vying for your attention. And yet you didn’t even ask her this question at any time. But before Naruto, you completely calmed down from your rampage and willing to wait for what he has to say plus asking for his validation. After all you don’t care about anything, why just Naruto???

And the reason being, Naruto is still his closest bond which he couldn’t cut off despite trying very hard. After all, Many years ago, Sasuke was the one, who readily jumped in to protect Naruto knowing full well that it’s a trap. He was ready to throw away his revenge for this boy back then. Sasuke is afraid that he will give in to this bond once more and Naruto is his weakness which he wants to eliminate so badly.

This is definitely not any Best Friend would do..... Fix that in your mind.

The purpose of these GIFs is not show how protective Sasuke is..... Well, I can talk about it all day. Let’s save it.

Me: Yo!!!! Sasuke..... You wanted to kill Naruto.... You said so yourself under the bridge. Meaning, He is the only person standing between your goal and your resolve and Naruto is always known to weaken your resolve. And yet why are you protecting him here? There is absolutely no need. Because, if there is a situation like Kaguya where both of you are must needed to save this world , then there is a reason to save him. But why now? Plus do you know, if Naruto dies, then Madara’s plan may not succeed because if a Jinchuriki dies, tailed beast also dies. It is perfect for your Revolution, isn’t it? Who gave you the right to own his life? Obito has his reason to kill Naruto, why not let him?Why is it that you want to personally remove him from your life? If he is dead by an external factor, you can carry on your path without any interference and pain. Why go so far to protect him ?

The answer is Sasuke values Naruto’s life more than his own even during his Team 7 days. He has this high esteem for Naruto and almost consider it to be a shame if some worthless fool takes his life. And Sasuke never hated Naruto. He once hated Itachi and his resolve to kill was real and intense. But when Orochimaru asked him to kill 1000 people for practice, Sasuke never killed anyone. He even implemented no kill policy for his team “Hebi”. So, someone like Sasuke who never liked to kill random innocent people, how could he let some trash take away a life, he considers dearly to the same level of Itachi? That’s why in this situation, his body moved on his own to protect something special for him. He may not agree it, but he always shows it.

But some other ship wankers try to say Sasuke may have said “You are annoying” but inside he deeply loved her which is why he was smiling. If so, Why didn’t Sasuke never showed his care not even once? He not only tried to kill her twice when she was defenseless but also let her die twice or didn’t bother at all during the war. Or show me where these soul level connection happened between SS or NH

In short, Sasuke and Naruto own each other’s rights unconsciously. Because they are the only ones who can understand each other’s soul which nobody can reach.

Me: Oh, by the way Sasuke, I think Susanoo should be used like this. You really don’t need your hand to protect Naruto. Susanoo can do it’s work for you. Minato would be proud though!!!!

PRIVILEGE

Most of the points I written above are in and of itself is a privilege they give for each other and not for anyone else. Privilege is essential in a ship. Because it shows how different a loved one is from normal people. 

For Naruto, 

I originally want to put how he begs for forgiveness on Sasuke’s behalf before Raikage and weeps immeasurably before hyperventilating. But this one trumps the other. Naruto literally broadcasted everyone how important Sasuke is to him and how he regretted not offering his friendship at that time and how he couldn’t stop Sasuke from reaching Orochimaru. 

If you want to inspire Alliance shinobi forces, you should have shown how you worked so hard from the bottom to top. Projecting Sasuke as your regret and inspiring people shows how deeply you prioritize this person which affects you after so many years and hence, you don’t want any more regrets. 

It’s very unconventionally romantic which passes the shipping category in flying colours. 

For Sasuke,

The following is the Land of the waves arc which was novelized in the name of Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood released in 2006. 99.9% of the material is exactly as it happens in Manga/Anime. 

This is the privilege Sasuke provides for Naruto. “ But coming from Sasuke, It almost counted as a hug”... 

BROWNIE POINTS:

Now, the following are the scenes which add a mysterious flavour to this ship. I sincerely don’t understand why Kishimoto put this. I mean I am absolutely happy with it, but why? What was he thinking while drawing these scenes? 

It’s also strange that, whenever they clash a Chidori with Rasengan..... They always gets repelled to their own sides and fall with a loud thump. But Naruto’s posture looks very perfect, I mean it looks like someone carried him and laid him down. Anyways, What’s Sasuke doing on Naruto’s side?? He should have fell on the opposite side. Why didn’t he walk away? There is absolutely no reason for Sasuke to come over to Naruto’s side and have an intense meaningful gaze. 

This is another mysterious plus intense scene. I am still wondering, Is this really Sasuke? He is a person who avoids casual touches with anyone other than his brother. I’ve seen so many times Sasuke rejecting hugs from Sakura. I can’t even imagine what Kishimoto was thinking. 

If you people pass these scenes off as Brotherhood or Best Friend chemistry... Then you lack basic human emotions. That’s all. 

Me: Well, Sasuke, If you really want to kill him, you should have shovelled your sword right through Naruto’s vital point when you made that exuberant landing. There is literally no need for you to draw a long sword in close quarters. And what about the Personal Space??? With your speed, you can land without leaning on Naruto’s shoulders... 

Also Me: Yo, Naruto... You were panicking when Sai does the same....but you don’t even flinch when Sasuke invades your personal space????

Anyways, it’s funny that both the intense scenes I have mentioned here were initiated by Sasuke. Quite strange and thrilling.

So, to conclude.... All these scenes I have mentioned  made me unconsciously ship them as a pair. With all these being said, I believe all the ingredients for a good romance were laid perfectly. A moment of impulsive tension or affection, say a hug, between them after a difficult battle could mess with both and make a romance happen. And I don’t think either of them will deny especially Sasuke. 

I don’t see any of this aspect in other popular ships such as SS and NH. If I am Sakura or Hinata in this universe, I will not be okay with my pair doing all these things with other person. I intentionally left scenes from Episode 478 as it is so intense and require a separate post. I am happy that even without Episode 478, SNS ship sails high. So, I believe both Sakura and Hinata are still fourth wheeling their respective pairs in Boruto universe also, I guess. 

P.S: I don’t watch Boruto

Final memento:

No way a friend will look this mesmerized on seeing the other one. 

[cryingcow]

Character Story - Mine [RGGO]

I feel like i just wrote an entire MineDai pre-relationship fanfic with the word count on this >_< There’s a section in Mine’s wiki page about the “The Man Called Yoshitaka Mine” event. I’m pretty sure this takes place after that one, because Mine makes references to things Daigo said when they first met.

When it comes to idioms, I decided to leave in the ones that don’t sound too different from their English counterparts as is. The others I just tried to reword (it took a lot of googling to figure them out lol). Also, please note that anything I write before the chapter starts is shit I made up, don’t take them as facts XD

Story: Mine, Chairman of the Hakuho Clan, meets up with Sixth Chairman Dojima. He then goes out for drinks with his boss, loses him in a public toilet, and ends up saving the day with his inherent skepticism that Daigo could be sleeping with a woman (either because our boy Mine’s gaydar is on point, or he believes that the words “Daigo” and “get laid” could never occur in the same sentence).

Mine: (I wish I could be his friend so he could smile at me like that . . . but it seems I am fated to only know him as the Sixth Chairman . . .)

Daigo: “Hey Mine wanna get some drinks together?”

Mine: :O

.

CHAPTER 1

.

[Tojo Headquarters]

Driver: “Well, Chairman Mine. This is where you get off.”

Mine: “Ah.”

Mine: (Today’s my meeting with Chairman Dojima. Heh. I’ve really gotten far.)

Mine: “Hm? That’s . . .”

{Daigo walks by, talking to someone on the phone.}

Mine: “Is that Chairman Dojima? He seems to be on the phone with someone.”

Daigo: “Hahaha. It’s hard work. But I’m fine.”

Telephone voice: “But Daigo-san. Ever since becoming chairman, you’ve become a distant person!”

Daigo: “What, would you like to come visit the Tojo Headquarters next time? It’s full of yakuza . . .”

Telephone voice: “No way! Just treat me to some cabarets and soaplands!”

Daigo: “Idiot, use your own money! Ha ha ha!”

Mine: (. . . Is the other party on the phone a friend of Chairman Dojima? . . . From what I heard, Chairman Dojima was playing around with his friends in the city before he assumed the position of Sixth Chairman. Must be a friend from that time period. I thought he was strict, but it seems he can make that kind of expression . . . to a friend . . .)

Daigo: “Oh, Mine. You’re here.”

Mine: “It’s nice to meet you, Chairman.”

----

[Tojo HQ – Chairman’s Office]

Daigo: “. . . That’s all for today. Good luck from now on.”

Mine: “Yes. I will live up to your expectations.”

Mine: (By exchanging a cup with him, you entrust your life . . . It seems that I may only know this person as the Sixth Chairman . . .)

Daigo: “Hm? What is it, Mine? What’s wrong?”

Mine: “. . . no. It’s nothing. Excuse me.”

Daigo: “Really?”

Mine: (Now I have to fulfill my duties faithfully. To be Chairman Dojima’s . . . the Tojo Clan’s backbone.)

Daigo: “. . . Wait. Mine. Are you free tonight?”

Mine: “Tonight? I don’t have any plans . . .”

Daigo: “Then, do you want to go out for drinks?”

Mine: “Eh?”

Daigo: “It’s late, but consider it a celebration of the direct promotion of the Hakuho Clan. In addition, I’ve never had a drink with you yet.”

Mine: “. . .”

Daigo: “How about it? I know a good place.”

Mine: “. . . Yeah. I’ll be happy to.”

----

[Champion District]

Mine: (. . . no way. To receive an invitation from Chairman Dojima . . . I’m in trouble. What do I even talk about . . .)

{Off to the side, a thug and a yakuza are yelling and fighting.}

Mine: (Jeez. It’s a noisy town. The Chairman will arrive anytime now.)

{The thug and the yakuza keep fighting. The yakuza shoves the thug, and he bumps into Mine.}

Mine: “. . . ku!”

Thug: “What are you standing around there for!”

Mine: “. . . If you two are having a dispute, can you do it elsewhere?”

Thug: “We can have disputes wherever we want!”

Mine: “. . . You’re an eyesore. Scraps.”

Yakuza: “Scraps?”

Mine: “Yeah. Garbage. Messy trash dirtying the Chairman’s path. The Chairman will feel uncomfortable with guys like you around. Get lost now.”

Yakuza: “What part of it don’t you understand! We’re not going anywhere!”

Mine: “I guess it can’t be helped then. I’ll have to announce the Chairman’s arrival before he comes. Bring it on, scraps!”

{Mine takes care of the garbage.}

Mine: “Hn. Not so mouthy now.”

Daigo’s voice: “I think they’ve had enough, Mine.”

Mine: “Chairman Dojima . . .”

Daigo: “Did I keep you waiting?”

Mine: “No . . . I just arrived myself. Even so, a place like this? There’s a lot to be said about the location, the security . . .”

Daigo: “This is my favorite bar. When it comes to drinking, this is the best place.”

Mine: “Is that so . . . hm?”

Bodyguards: “. . .”

Daigo: “They’re coming along while we drink. Those guys are at work, don’t mind them.”

Mine: “I don’t have a problem. This is for the safety of Chairman Dojima.”

Mine: (Now, since I was invited, I have to be enthusiastic . . . It’s time to forget my daily duties and just enjoy myself tonight.)

----

[Bar that might be Shellac unless it’s just reused assets]

Daigo: “Fuu. I finally got a drink. I can’t do without this.”

Mine: “. . . Chairman Dojima, you seem tired. Are the Chairman’s duties difficult?”

Daigo: “Ah, it’s very hard. For days it seems I’ve done nothing but work.”

{A couple overhears and starts whispering near them. The woman wonders what Daigo is a chairman of, but the man says he’s probably no one important.}

Daigo: “. . .”

Mine: “. . .”

Daigo: “. . . Hey, Mine. Why are you calling me Chairman Dojima today? It’s too stiff.”

Mine: “Sorry. I didn’t realize. Then . . . Daigo-san. That’s what I’ll call you.”

Daigo: “Ah, that’s fine.”

Daigo: “You know . . . the Fourth Chairman Kiryu-san’s existence is far greater than I thought. It seems even among those who don’t openly oppose, many are still dissatisfied with my appointment as Sixth Chairman.”

Mine: (Kiryu Kazuma . . . his name will always come up when you talk with Daigo-san . . .)

Mine: “That person, Kiryu, to Daigo-san . . . is he like your aniki?”

Daigo: “Aniki? . . .That’s right, something like that. I can’t express it in one word. But family, no . . . he may be more than that.”

Mine: (More than family? Something that far?)

Daigo: “That person is now running an orphanage in Okinawa. There, he seems to be living in peace with his new family.”

Mine: “An orphanage . . .”

Daigo: “Life in Okinawa is the peace he finally got. I want to protect it, whatever happens . . .”

Mine: (For Daigo-san to declare as much . . . Kiryu Kazuma . . . must be quite the man.)

----

|2 hours later . . .|

Daigo: “Hahaha! Kanda’s face at the time must have been a masterpiece.”

Mine: “Yeah! Once my anger passed, I was amazed. He had a face like a sumo wrestler’s after I hit it.”

Daigo: “Ha-Hahaha! Su-Sumo wrestler-!”

Mine: (It seems he’s having fun. This is nice . . .)

Daigo: “By the way, Mine. Are you a private person? When it comes to friends . . .”

Mine: “Eh? Private? Me? . . . Hm? A phone?”

{A phone goes off with a notification.}

Daigo: “O-oh. It looks like I got . . . an email . . .”

Mine: “. . . !”

Mine: (What? Daigo-san’s face . . . is turning pale . . .)

Daigo: “. . .”

Mine: “What’s wrong?”

Daigo: “. . . N-no. It’s not a big deal. It’s my work email. Good grief, they must be bored. I don’t usually get emails at times like this.”

Bodyguards: “. . .”

Mine: (Daigo-san looks upset. Who did the email come from?)

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 2

.

[Bar]

Daigo: “. . .”

Mine: (Daigo-san. Since that email arrived, he’s been acting strange. He keeps looking at the time, and acting like he doesn’t want to be here anymore. Who did that email come from?)

Mine: “. . . Um. Daigo-san, are you okay? Your complexion looks bad.”

Daigo: “No, it’s fine. I just feel a little sick.”

Mine: (Are you hiding something?)

{There’s a commotion outside. Two yakuza brothers are trying to enter the bar, but Bodyguard A says monkeys like them aren’t allowed inside. They get into a fight.}

Bodyguard B: “Sounds like trouble outside. I’ll go help.”

Mine: (Not again. It really is a noisy town.)

Daigo: “. . . Now’s my chance.”

Mine: “Eh?”

Daigo: “Mine, actually there’s something I need to tell you . . . I need to get out of here alone.”

Mine: “Get . . . out?”

Daigo: “Lately, my bodyguards have been hanging around all the time, and I’m getting sick of it. They even follow me to the toilet . . . I can’t even stretch out my wings. That’s why I want to be alone for once and take a break.”

Mine: (. . . he wants to be alone? What do I say to that?)

Mine: “By any chance . . . does the content of the email you received have something to do with this?”

Daigo: “! . . . No Mine, it’s not like that. As I said . . .”

Mine: (He keeps glancing around the place. What is it?)

Mine: “. . . understood.”

Daigo: “So you’ll let me go?!”

Mine: “Yeah. It’s likely you’ll still try to leave even if I say no. However . . . please let me accompany you. As your bodyguard.”

Daigo: “Wh-what? You too?”

Mine: “It is expected that as the Sixth Chairman, you cannot be walking around alone. ‘I will accompany you as a bodyguard’ . . . that’s the last oath your subordinates swear by.”

Daigo: “. . . Alright. Then come along with me. We should be able to get out through the back door.”

Mine: (Daigo-san’s expression when he received the email is no small matter . . . When it’s just the two of us outside, maybe then he’ll tell me what’s going on.)

Middle-aged Man: “. . .”

----

[Children’s Park]

Daigo: “Fuu. Somehow I found it.”

Mine: “. . . Daigo-san, what are you doing? You said you wanted to stretch out your wings.”

Daigo: “. . . Ah, that’s right . . . I felt like wanting to move my body somewhere.”

Mine: “If so, there’s a batting center nearby. How about that?”

Daigo: “A-Ah, that’s great! It’s been a while, I feel like hitting some balls!”

Mine: “. . . By the way, Daigo-san. About the email earlier . . .”

Daigo: “!”

Mine: “Are you hiding something from me? If you’re in trouble, I might be able to help.”

Daigo: “. . . . . . No, it’s a personal problem. It’s not something I should be telling you.”

Mine: “But . . .”

Daigo: “. . . . . . Mine, I understand your concern. From my position, it seems I am always threatened by danger to my person. I don’t know what or when it will happen. There’s no guarantee of tomorrow’s safety.”

Mine: “Daigo-san?”

Daigo: “. . . No, it’s a long story. Don’t worry about it. Well, you said the batting center, right? It’s been a while. Mine, will you join me?”

Mine: “Yeah. I’ll take you up on that.”

Mine: (Daigo-san is still hiding something. But, why won’t he tell me?)

Daigo: “. . . Don’t get cold, Mine. I’m going to the toilet.”

Mine: “Understood. I’ll be standing guard right here in front, so take your time.”

Daigo: “I’ll be right back.”

{Daigo enters the public toilets. Mine takes his position by the exit. A few minutes pass.}

Mine: “. . . . . . . . . he’s taking his time . . . unless . . .”

{Mine rushes to the toilets.}

Mine: “Not here . . .! He’s gone! Did he go out through the window?! He took his chance the moment he was alone! Fuck, what do I do . . .”

----

[Children’s Park]

Bodyguard A: “Ah! You!”

Mine: “Tch! At a time like this . . . !”

Bodyguard A: “Where is Chairman Dojima?!”

Mine: “. . . I don’t know. I’m also looking for him.”

Bodyguard A: “You’re lying! Did you bring him outside?!”

Bodyguard B: “You, no way . . . did you plan to kidnap Chairman Dojima all along?”

Mine: “Kidnap? You idiot, why would I?”

Bodyguard B: “Until recently, you were a regular man. You might be a spy sent by an enemy organization.”

Mine: “That’s a stupid idea. Right now we need to-“

Bodyguard A: “Whatever. If you don’t plan on spitting out the Chairman’s whereabouts, would you like us to make you talk?!”

Mine: “Tch. I guess it can’t be helped.”

{Mine beats the shit out of Daigo’s bodyguards.}

Bodyguard A: “Fu . . . ck . . . so strong . . .”

Bodyguard B: “Stupid. We are the elite . . .”

Mine: “Fuck! Get out of the way! Daigo-san . . .”

----

[West Shichifuku Street]

Mine: “Not here . . . Where?!”

Barker: “Nii-san, Onee-chan, why not come have fun at our place?”

Mine: “A barker? No, not right . . . now . . . wait, are you always working in this area?”

Barker: “Eh? That’s correct, why?”

Mine: “Did a man in his mid-thirties with black hair, a black suit, and a good physique pass by here?”

Barker: “Yeah, he did.”

Mine: “What?! Do you know where he went?”

Barker: “Where he went . . . I think he took a taxi somewhere.”

Mine: “Taxi?”

Barker: “Yeah. He was joined by a young and beautiful Onee-chan.”

Mine: “Eh? O-Onee-chan?”

Bodyguard A: “So . . . a woman.”

Mine: “!”

Bodyguard B: “I thought he was acting funny when he received the email at the bar. That ‘I’ve done it’ face. It seems that he missed a promised meetup with the woman.”

Mine: “Then, Daigo-san wanted to be alone . . .”

Bodyguard A: “Because he has a secret rendezvous. With who, I don’t know.”

Mine: “Somehow found . . .”

Bodyguard A: “A bad boy is attractive to a woman. Besides his money and his status, he’s also handsome.”

Mine: “. . . he said he wanted to move his body . . .”

Bodyguard B: “Heh. It’s nice to have a great time.”

Bodyguard A: “It can’t be helped. You should call it a night. You had a hard time too.”

Mine: “Stupid . . .”

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 3

.

[West Shichifuku Street]

Mine: “Did Daigo-san go somewhere in a taxi? And with a young woman?”

Bodyguard A: “Chairman Dojima is unmarried, has money, and he’s handsome. It’s no wonder he’s popular. Right now, he’s probably with a model or an actress.”

Bodyguard B: “He should be careful not to get involved in a scandal.”

Bodyguard A: “Now, let’s head back. You should go home too.”

Mine: “. . .”

----

Daigo: “. . .”

Thug Leader: “As promised, did you come alone?”

Daigo: “Yeah. My faithful subordinate tried to follow me, but I left without telling him where I went. I made him think I was secretly meeting with a woman.”

Thug Leader: “. . . Is that right. Did you bring the money?”

Daigo: “Yeah.”

{Daigo hands over a bag. The leader unzips it to reveal cash.}

Thug Leader: “. . . Everything seems to be here.”

Daigo: “Will you keep your end of the bargain?”

Thug Leader: “Yeah. Don’t lay a hand on Kiryu Kazuma. He’ll be living in peace in Okinawa from now on.”

Daigo: “. . .”

Thug Leader: “Even so, that Kiryu person must be really important to you.  . . . Is he your weak point?”

Daigo: “. . . What are you trying to say?”

Thug Leader: “It’s amazing that the Tojo Clan’s Sixth Chairman can be lured out over one person.”

Daigo: “What?”

Thug Leader: “You still don’t get it? I’m saying this time it’s your turn to be the hostage!! Stupid! The aim was to get you all alone from the very beginning! If we kidnap you, we’ll get far more ransom money!”

Daigo: “Fuck . . .”

Man’s voice: “So . . . it was all for Kiryu-san. I figured that would be the case.”

Daigo: “Mi-Mine?”

Mine: “Daigo-san, I had a hard time looking for you.”

Daigo: “Why are you here?”

Mine: “You think you can get away with such an obvious lie? . . . That barker, you paid him off.”

Daigo: “But he didn’t know about this place . . .”

Mine: “. . . Yeah. There are countless taxi companies in Kamurocho. Too many candidates to question where you went. And those guys won’t give out customer information, saying it’s ‘personal information’. So it couldn’t be helped. I had to resort to buying the taxis off. When that didn’t work, I bought off the taxi companies. When you become a stakeholder, you gain access to customers’ information.”

Daigo: “You did that for each company?”

Mine: “It took hundreds of millions. Heh. It was a huge expense.”

Daigo: “Mine . . . Why did you go so far . . . just for me?”

Mine: “. . . Daigo-san. I’ve shared a cup with you. That’s not something I take halfheartedly. I’m ready to sacrifice everything just for you. Forever and always. There are absolute bonds in the yakuza world . . . you taught me that.”

Daigo: “. . . Mine . . .”

Thug Leader: “O-Oi! Who are you to come barging in and interrupting us! I’ll kill you if you interfere!”

Daigo: “Kill him? You don’t seem to understand the situation. With this guy here, you’re the one who’s going to have a bad time.”

Thug Leader: “Ha?”

Daigo: “Mine here looks like a regular man . . . but don’t you know he’s actually really strong? I can trust him to have my back.”

Mine: “!”

Daigo: “. . . Mine. With you here, we can take on a hundred people.”

Mine: “Yeah. Let’s show them how we do things.”

Daigo: “Let’s go, Mine!”

Mine: “Yeah!”

{Mine and Daigo take down the whole gang.}

Thug Leader: “How . . . there are so many of us . . .”

Mine: “You . . . which organization are you with?!”

Thug Leader: “Guh! Th-That’s . . .”

Mine: “Answer me!!”

Thug Leader: “Ta-Takashima Family . . .”

Mine: “Takashima Family? As in ‘The Four Kings of Omi’ Takashima Family remnants? Chairman, what are you going to do? The Omi will want to hear this . . .”

Daigo: “. . . No, I won’t tell the Omi. Even with the conflict finally over, I don’t want to make needless waves over these excommunicated members. The police can handle them.”

Mine: “Is that so . . . . . . Daigo-san, will you finally tell me what’s going on this time?”

Daigo: “. . . Yeah. The thing is . . . I was being threatened before today.”

Mine: “Before?”

Daigo: “‘If you want to protect the peace of Kiryu Kazuma, pay the money. If you tell anyone, his peace will be lost.’ I got an email telling me where to go. Along with a stolen shot of Kiryu-san.”

Mine: “His peace . . . then that means they didn’t directly take Kiryu as a hostage, right?”

Daigo: “Yeah. If they did that, they would be in trouble. Their opponent is a legendary yakuza. However, there are many ways to ‘disturb the peace’.”

Mine: “So that’s why. And you’re Daigo-san. You wanted to protect him at all costs.”

Daigo: “. . . Yeah. I’ve secretly stationed a bodyguard around Kiryu-san. Just earlier, I received a photo of the bodyguard killed.”

Mine: “That’s the email you received at the bar . . .”

Daigo: “As soon as I saw that picture, I had to move.”

Mine: “Daigo-san, why didn’t you tell me this sooner? If you had, I would have been able to help.”

Daigo: “‘Someone is watching you’, the email said, so I couldn’t speak about it. In fact, there was a guy there at the bar watching us. And this is my personal problem. I didn’t want to get you involved.”

Mine: “That’s why . . . it’s unreasonable for you to act on your own. You are the Sixth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, an organization with hundreds of thousands of members in the East. I don’t know the Fourth Chairman or the Legendary Dragon, but acting alone to protect one individual . . .”

Daigo: “. . . It was unavoidable. Kiryu-san is a special person to me.”

Mine: “Which is more important, the clan or one person?”

Daigo: “! Th-That’s . . .”

Mine: “Before, you told me that the clan members are like your family. Isn’t that right? You’re giving priority to someone who’s not even a member of the clan. Are you not aware of that as the Chairman?”

Daigo: “Mine . . . you’re right. I’m sorry. I still have a long way to go.”

----

|A few days later . . .|

[Tojo HQ – Chairman’s Office]

Mine: “Eh? Me be the Headquarters’ Junior Head Assistant?”

Daigo: “Yeah. I’ve been looking for someone to be Junior Assistant.”

Mine: “. . .”

Daigo: “What? You don’t want to?”

Mine: “No, it’s just . . . the other day we had just been promoted to be a direct subsidiary of the clan. I haven’t raised any tribute since then.”

Daigo: “Didn’t you entrust your life to me? Did you not say you were prepared to sacrifice everything for me?”

Mine: “!”

Daigo: “. . . Mine. I realized something the other day. You . . . you’re the one I can trust with my back.”

Mine: “Daigo-san . . .”

Daigo: “In addition, there’s no one in the Tojo Clan now who can preach to me face-to-face besides Kashiwagi-san, Mine.”

Mine: “I might have gone a bit overboard . . .”

Daigo: “So what do you say? Will you accept it?”

Mine: “. . . Of course. I will be happy to accept it . . . Daigo-san.”

Daigo: “That’s great! I’m counting on you, Mine!”

----

[Tojo Headquarters]

Mine: (Junior Head Assistant. That was an unexpected harvest . . .)

Mine: (A man named Kiryu Kazuma. He’s a danger . . . I won’t let Daigo-san take such a reckless action again. I can’t leave that matter alone, as Daigo-san’s new Junior Assistant . . .)

.

-END-

Masterlist

[sonia7atm]

BRIDGERTON BOOK SERIES REVIEW.

So here it is, before I start I just wanted to say that I’m in no way shape or form an expert in english or literature for that matter. English is my third language and I’m studying science. Having said that, I have read all eight books in less than two weeks and I have a lot of opinions that I wanted to share so here they are. Obviously: SPOILERS AHEAD

The series in its entirety

The bridgerton series is probably the best written series that I have ever read. I loved the fact that it is made up of 8 books, but also the way the books are structured. In each of the books we focus on one of the siblings and their significant others, and even when the side characters are there, they are not really a main focus of the story. This means you can pick up a random Bridgerton book without having read the other ones and you would not feel like you are missing something. I really liked this because it meant that with each book you were getting to know a different sibling, thus you are never really bored and there wasn’t unnecessary drama happening with the already established couples, which is refreshing at the least.

However, it does have setbacks. In some of the books, you find that this side characters really change from the way they appear in the background or the other novels, and it can be difficult to digest at first. Another flaw that I found is with the brothers' books. When I was reading some of the books dedicated to the men of the family sometimes I found that we don’t spend enough time with them and when you finish the books you don’t have an understanding of who they are. Maybe I’m not making sense but I’ll elaborate in each book a little bit more.

But in the end, even these little flaws, I had a great time reading the books and finding out what was happening with the family.

My favourite book - AOFAG

I know some people have trouble ranking the Bridgerton books, especially, the favourite one, but I’m not one of them. I am obsessed with “An offer from a gentleman”, I love the story, I love Sophie, I love Benedith and I love Violet Bridgerton with all of my heart. This book is great from the start, even though b, the third book you know a happy ending is what the book is leading to, it still excites you and makes you wonder. AMAZING DARE I SAY.

Sophie is one of my favourite characters in all of the books. She has a strong morals system and you get really inspired by her. All of the things she goes through are horrible, but she still remains such a calm and kind individual that I cannot help but stan. HARD. She has very strong ideas and morals and she sticks with them even when they mean losing Benedict. I found this message really important and powerful because we usually see the opposite: people changing their views for their significant other, and I don’t think it's right. So, hereby I declare Sophie QUEEN of the Bridgerton clan.

Moving on to Benedict, I heard a little bit of criticism with his actions in this book and I see where they are coming from, but I don’t share them. I think Benedict is one of the brothers that suffers from a really deep female counterpart and as such his thoughts are not fully explored. In my opinion Benedict is tormented by the fact that he is the second Bridgerton and nothing more (similar to Colin and kinda Gregory really), and also by the fact that he lost the woman at the ball. On top of that, Sophie comes along and he starts falling for her and he feels guilty that he is falling for someone else, so he doesn’t fully commit to Sophie but also doesn’t really leave her. It’s a messed up situation and he doesn’t make the best decisions but I understand his actions and I support him. The only thing that really annoyed me about Benedict is that he doesn’t recognize Sophie at all. I wanted to hit him, hard, in the head, with a fucking piano.

Now the best of the best: Violet Bridgerton. She was the surprise character of this book in that prison scene. In the previous book you still see her and like her but she saves the day in this one, and I felt like I really knew her after that. She is not the typical ton mother, she really values their children’s happiness and takes everyone under her wing. She knows who she is and the importance her family has and she uses her powers for good. I gained so much respect for her. A surprise character and a great one.

To sum it up, Benedict and Sophie are perfect to each other, like this mellow entity. Two kind souls, always happy, always calm. Of course they live in the countryside, they could not live anywhere else.

Top tier books - WHWW, RMB, TVWL

WHEN HE WAS WICKED

This book wrecked me, I have to admit I was a mess, I could not deal. A tragic story with so much longing and guilt and despair, I love a drama, man this is great. I went in knowing the basics of it but I was not prepared.

The poor Francesca has the most devastating story in my opinion: she suffers from infertility, her husband dies, she doesn’t feel like she fits in her family, and when she falls in love Michael is sick, WHY?!. Throughout the book you get to see how strong she is, how strong-willed she is. We are not talking about this enough. She loves with all her heart and she suffers with all of it too. She and Michel have a really strong chemistry and it translates really well. I think she was really clever to wait and think before committing to Michael, and I see how she would need to see him in danger to really let herself fall completely. In the end, she knows what losing someone you love feels like and she doesn’t want to feel that again. I understand. Also, an important part of Francesca's journey is to realize that loving someone else doesn’t diminish her feelings for John, and I love how Michael acknowledges it. 

Michael is a really interesting character who falls in love at first sight with the wrong woman. He is fully aware of this fact and it is really good to see that he doesn’t doubt his love for her, but is instead aware of the impossibility of doing something about it. Even when he can do something about it, his respect for his cousin is always present. The guilt he feels for loving Francesca both when John was alive and after he died is so different but so well written. It’s eating him up and It is painful to read to be honest. However, I found that said guilt disappeared rather quickly after his conversation with Colin. I may be the only one but I was a little bit put off by it, and that’s why this is not my favourite book in the series.

THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME 

The bees, I could talk about the bees for days after reading this one. This one has a lot of Bridgerton backstory, and it explains so much of the rest of the bunch even if not directly. So I would say not to skip it (but why would you skip any of them?).

Kate Sheffield is one of the best written characters in this series. She is complex, fierce but delicate, confident but self-conscious. I would kill for her, she deserves it. Her family dynamics are impeccable. You feel the love between these three women and the roles they have, and you get them really quickly: Edwina is the little sister, a little naive but good-hearted, Kate is the fierce older sister and Mary is the compassionate step-mother. I really enjoyed their dynamics. The introduction of Kate’s character is by presenting her goal for the season: defend her sister. When Anthony enters the pool of suitors, she obviously opposes and their back and forth shows she is very witty. But as the story goes on we get to see her insecurities and fears, in a way that it’s so in character but at the same time so different from the start. It’s amazing and I can see why she is such a fan favourite.

Anthony is a baby.We can see how Edmund’s death really scarred him, and those wounds are deep. He believes in his own demise so blindly that it is conditioning all of his decisions.He grows a lot until he is able to share them with Kate and they bond so beautifully over it. Getting to see that, was something that I loved and enjoyed so much. It makes you really connect with both of the characters and it explains so much of his behaviour, that even if he frustrates you, you can’t be mad because you understand where he comes from.

Newton is the guest star in this one and I would like to take our time to appreciate the captain of the Kanthony ship. This little dog is such a plot device, put there to cause havoc and bring Kate and Anthony together, it is so funny. He smelled Anthony and decided he wanted a new dad. Put a plan in march, probably alerted his friend, THE bee.

ROMANCING MR BRIDGERTON

The message of this book is amazing. The journey they both go through to re-know each other is beautiful. Penelope and Colin have known each other for years, and they both have a version of the other in their minds but as the story progresses they unveil hidden personality traits about each others and I love how it is acknowledge and developed into a clear message of “people are flawed and not the perfect individual you wish them to be, and that’s ok”. It is really necessary and it made me reflect on my own relationships and how I could improve them. Colin and Penelope have to be my favourite couple of the series, but, because they were because of the show and not the books, when I finished this book I was left feeling like I wanted more, and that is why it is not my favourite one.

This is the book where readers find out Penelope is Lady Whiseldown and it is a big plot line. However, this revelation is maybe halfway through the book and until then, Penelope's inner monologue doesn’t reveal anything. I would have loved to really focus on it and know from the start how she really did it but at the same time, we get to see so much of Pen’s growth anyways. She is shy and kind but when she is with someone she trusts (in this case Colin and Lady Danbury), she is full of wit and boldness. I see myself so much in these characteristics that I cannot help but make her my favourite character in the series (totally biased but it is what it is). She starts with a sense of discontent about her, she knows her fate and accepts it but, she doesn’t necessarily like it. She is trying to change the way people see her and Lady Danbury helps a lot with it. She and Colin spend a lot of the book kind of on opposite sides in part because of their own demons, she wants to prove herself and at the same time is faced with the realization that the Colin she made up in her mind is not the real one. It really makes you wonder if it’s a happy ending at the end of it, because they both have such strong points but they are so diverse. At the end, after they talk about it, their relationship is full of devotion and you feel how they are making each other focused and better. I would die for them.

Colin is such a tumultuous character and it is a stark contrast on how we get to see him in the previous and following books. He is used to putting the charm on and fooling everybody but, of course, in this book we explore his inner workings and now we know the truth. He is just a lost puppy, looking for something to do with his life, and he is so focused on this search and runnin away for his family that he doesn’t see that there is already something that he is good about: writing. His relationship with Pen is obviously key in all of this searching because it pushes his limits and makes him think. His realization, of both his vocation and his love are slow and steady. He sometimes jumps to conclusions and rushes things *ahem*the proposal*cough* but not love, and once he commits he does it fully. The “stay, stay, stay” scene is a monumental hallmark in the book. We see Colin really deciding and choosing Penelope and Lady Whistle down with all that it entails. And later on, he opens out about his jealousy over her work, but he does it when he is ready, and Pen allows him to come to her when he needs without judgement. They are so perfect it hurts. 

The lack of Eloise is an insult to my soul but we get Lady Danbury as the guest star. She is on Penelope's corner helping her navigate the ton and her relationship with Colin, as a mother figure would. I believe she at least has a big suspicion that she is LW, but I might be wrong.

All-nighter books - OTWTTW, IIHK. ON THE WAY TO THE WEDDING

Gregory’s book is full of twists and turns that you just cannot put it down. Not the fact that the main female character is Lucy and not Hermoine, like Gregory thinks half of the book, just because you don’t. It is pretty clear that Lucy is our heroine so the fact that Gregory falls for her is not a twist itself because we (and Kate) already know. But in my opinion, the fact that it starts with Gregory interrupting the wedding and then it goes back and explains the backstory to you, so it is constantly leading up to it. 

Lucy is not the most interesting of the female leads but it is part of her charm. She is a normal girl, her life is already arranged, so she doesn’t feel the pressure the rest of them do, she is just enjoying herself. She doesn’t believe in love, and it is so funny how in denial she is about it, until it all explodes. 

Gregory’s life was influenced by her brothers before him and his big family but he feels so alone because of the age difference. He is trying to find his place in life and, because he saw all of his siblings fall in love he wants the same thing so badly, that he confuses desire with love. He is so precious, and must be protected at all costs.

The last few chapters are action packed, there’s an urgency in everyone's actions: Lucy, trying to save her family and Gregory, trying to save Lucy. I couldn’t figure out what was going to happen and that hooked me. The fact that the wedding actually takes place is the most shocking plot of all of the books.  

To conclude, Gregory owns my heart and I trust him with it.

IT’S IN HIS KISS

This story is another “all-nighter”, because it revolves around a mystery and the search for Gareth’s grandmother lost jewels. This quest brings Hyacinth and Gareth together, with a lot of Lady Danbury’s help. It’s really interesting to read about the felonies they commit, all of them instigated by Hyacinth, who, in my opinion, is chaos personified. 

Hyacinth is the most forward-thinking woman of this series. She is outspoken, confident, loud and apologetic. All of these traits really set her apart, because she doesn’t play by the rules of society, she does what she pleases, and she should. She is the typical little sister, a little spoiled but with a good heart. Her conversations with Violet are really touching. 

Gareth on the other side, is not in a good place with his family, and it is endearing to see how shocked he is by the Bridgerton’s closeness. He has a severe lack of self love, and sees himself as an imposter, and not worthy of Hyacinth. But when he falls, OMG, HE FALLS. His attitude towards Hyacinth’s personality is amazing because he loves her exactly as she is, and knows he will be following her orders for the rest of his life. Adorable. (He is the “That’s my wife” meme).

Lady Danbury is again the guest star and it only helps to cement her as the cool grandma that we all aspire to be. An honorable mention is Anthony getting super-duper happy that all of his sisters are married and therefore he is free (my poor guy).

However, the main issue I have with this book is that the decision of getting married is really attached to Gareth’s need to vex his father, who is a horrible person, and it makes me mad. 

Not my favourite books - TSPWL, TDAI

TO SIR PHILIP WITH LOVE

In this book Eloise decides running off to meet a possible husband is a great idea. Her brain, I can’t. Obviously the Bridgerton brothers follow her and force the two to marry anyways, although they were already falling in love when they found her. Phillip, Eloise's love interest is a loner and lives outside of the ton and I think that these traits really work with her because they are polar opposites but at the same time they fit so well. The relationship Eloise has with Amanda and Oliver is so cute, because you can see that these kids just need some attention and help navigating the world without her mother and Eloise is there for them.

However, even though I loved their storyline and I wanted to rank this higher I couldn’t. The other Bridgertons are a big part of this book and when I was thinking back on it the parts that I remember fondly the most are when Anthony, Benedict, Colin and Gregory arrive to kill talk to Philip, and then when Charles is ill and we get to see Benedict and Sophie as parents. So, I like this book because of side characters and not the main ones, even though I know there is nothing wrong with them. However, I do think the book is ok and I would recommend it nevertheless.

THE DUQUE AND I

I don’t have much to say about this book. The r*pe is completely unnecessary in my opinion. Daphne and Simon have terrible communication skills, but so do Kate and Anthony, for example, but still, the repercussions are not that severe. It is so much worse in the books and it has no consequences whatsoever. Up until that point, the enemies to secret dating to falling in love is such a classic thorpe that I usually like, but I cannot separate the two of them. In fact, I would advise to skip this one.

Hapily Ever After

Thank you to the heavens for this book. It is just a little exploration of all of the sibling’s future and an extra story for Violete.

Daphne’s story revolves around her last pregnancy. A surprise one when she is quite old. I found it really sweet and it looks like she and Simon are really happy with their life so good for them. Also, Colin and Penelope visit with all of their children so I’m obligated to like it.

The TVWLM continuation is a get together in Aubrey Hall for a Pall Mall rematch. I had so much fun reading it and getting to see all of the Bridgertons interact in a “relaxed” manner.

Sophie and Benedict’s story focuses on Posy and her search for a husband. She is lovely and I do want her happiness but getting to see Sophie and Benedict interact while actually together was a treat. I feel very blessed to see them be the balls of sunshine they both are.

Then we get to see how Eloise found out Lady Whisheldow’s identity. It was fun, and we get to see Pen and Eloise being friends, which we don’t get enough of in their respectives books. Colin and Penelope leaving the wedding early, was a gem. They are a couple of horny idiots and I love to see it. After that, we focus on Eloise again and we get to see a little bit more about Amanda and Oliver.

One of the main things about Francesca in her book is the fact that she wants a baby, and it is never resolved. In this one, we get to see how Francesca and Michael become parents and it's another heartbreaking one. We get to see how worried Violet is for her and also how Michael and Francesca talk and understand each other. They are one of the best relationships on this series, I said what I said.

In IIHK the diamonds are never found, but we find them here. It is great to know they were not missing and also a relief to know that Gareth was able to rescue the family even without them. The fact that Isabella actually finds them and proceeds to say nothing is hilarious. But when Hyacinth finds them the happiness she feels is so wholesome.

Then we get to see Gregory and Lucy’s twins be born (their 8th and 9th children). It is not an easy task and for a moment I was afraid for Lucy but it all works out in the end. It was filled with great moments but the one that I like the most is when Gregory says that Katherine gave him purpose in life, because he was meant to be a dad. I cried ngl.

And lastly, we meet Edmund. He is very present throughout the book but I was not expecting to grow so attached to him with this little story. It is divided in different stages of Violet’s life and obviously we get to see her romance with Edmund. I loved the little details, his behaviour reminded me of Gregory but he eats a lot like Colin so it is great to see where they get their traits from. The later parts, after he dies, show you how much importance Violet puts on remembering him and preserving his memory. They were truly soulmates, and it is such a shame that their time together was cut short.

[dovewingz]

moonkitti bramblesquirrel video: summary notes

please keep in mind that because i wanted to keep things shorter and, well, summarized, i included close to no quotes. moon uses a lot of quotes, so if you want evidence from within the text i would suggest skimming through the video. secondly, i didn’t include any of my personal opinions for obvious reasons.

link to video. content warning for discussions of abuse.

BRIEF SUMMARY: to say that bramblesquirrel are both entirely in the wrong is completely ignoring the consistent signs of an abuser that bramblestar exhibits, just as squirrelflight behaves like a victim of abuse. there is a clear power imbalance between them that has been present since the beginning of their relationship.

NOTES: about a 10 minute read

INTRO > the fandom has brought about a belief/take that squirrelflight and bramblestar are equally bad to each other. this is a compromise; a way to excuse bramblestar’s poor behaviour & find reason for him to treat squirrelflight poorly.

> the fandom consistently brings up reasons for him to treat her cruelly (victim blaming), as though someone being annoying is any reason to treat them badly.

> the fandom also jumps between using cat morals (the warrior code) and human morals to back up their opinions. when squirrelflight helped the sisters, she disobeyed her leader (against the code), but it was for a morally good reason. she was doing the right thing.

> there is a clear power imbalance between bramblestar and squirrelflight. more on that later.

THE NEW PROPHECY > squirrelflight doesn’t trust hawkfrost, and neither does leafpool based on previous experience. when she confronts brambleclaw about this, he believes that this is because of who hawkfrost’s father is. squirrelflight insists that that is not why.

> brambleclaw continues to work with hawkfrost, training in the dark forest with tigerstar (the one thing that he is upset with squirrelflight for accusing him of). he believes that hawkfrost is a good person, even when mudclaw reveals that he and hawkfrost were working together.

> brambleclaw doesn’t listen to squirrelflight’s concerns or take her seriously. they do not trust each other.

> throughout their hawkfrost-disagreement, brambleclaw continues to find excuses to punish/scold her. squirrelflight defends herself, acting aggressive/defensive. she’s growing closer with ashfur, trusting him and preferring how he treats her. >>> “that’s what you want, is it? a loyal warrior to follow after you and smooth all the thorns out of your pelt?” brambleclaw mocks her for wanting someone who will treat her kindly.

> brambleclaw continues to get more controlling and aggressive, while ashfur is overprotective and also controlling/babies her. brambleclaw is very cold and passive-aggressive towards squirrelflight & her relationship with ashfur. it is unclear whether ashsquirrel are mates or not, but they are likely in the middle phase (on the path to becoming mates but not officially mates yet).

> squirrelflight eventually realizes she still has feelings for brambleclaw (for some reason) and breaks it off with ashfur. leafpool receives a vision from starclan which confirms that they are bramblesquirrel shippers too! wow thanks starclan.

> to conclude: brambleclaw was projecting his insecurities about tigerstar onto squirrelflight (while also training in the DF with tiger). he pushes her away when she attempts to talk with him, and goes out of his way to boss her around/control her. squirrelflight was not intentionally trying to upset him.

LEAFPOOL’S WISH > brambleclaw isn’t treating squirrelflight like an equal. >>> “brambleclaw wants me to fetch soaked moss for the nursery, even though it’s an apprentice task. he hasn’t stopped giving out orders since firestar made him deputy!” /// “...treating me like i’m still wet behind the ears.”

> squirrelflight is having issues only a month into the (new, romantic) relationship. she feels patronized. there has almost always been a power imbalance in their relationship (apprentice/warrior and now warrior/deputy).

> when it comes to the three, squirrelflight states multiple times that she doesn’t want to lie to brambleclaw. she doesn’t change her mind until she finds out that she is barren and will never have biological children. starclan themselves tell her this, pressuring her into taking the kits.

POWER OF THE THREE and OMEN OF THE STARS > their relationship is solid until hollyleaf reveals the truth about her parents at the gathering. brambleclaw breaks up with squirrelflight on the spot, not understanding why she didn’t trust him enough to tell him.

> the question is, can we trust brambleclaw? he trained in the dark forest and never told her, he held a grudge against squirrelflight for months, etc. of course he had every right to break up with her, but squirrelflight rightfully had worries.

> after their break up, brambleclaw avoids, ignores and acts very passive-aggressively towards her. in forth apprentice, it is mentioned that they hadn’t spoken in months. their only communication was squirrelflight watching him longingly & sadly.

> before the tribe quest, squirrelflight asks brambleclaw if he has a message for the tribe. jayfeather detects something else in her voice, and he realizes that she wants brambleclaw to show her any kind of sign that he still cares about her.

> after finding out about the three’s powers, brambleclaw accuses her of lying, intentionally trying to hurt him, etc. they fight several times. then, suddenly, near the end of the last hope, they are on good terms. this is a pattern in their relationship: brambleclaw only treating squirrelflight fairly during/after a huge crisis has occurred. this time, it’s the last hope battle. after the battle, he trusts her and makes her deputy.

> why does brambleclaw suddenly trust her after treating her so passive-aggressively for a whole year? he manipulated and controlled her, punished her for hurting him, and there was still a power imbalance. he’s not just her mate, he’s now her leader.

> while brambleclaw gave her the cold-shoulder, squirrelflight acted very submissive and sad. she’s typically headstrong, independent and active. brambleclaw makes her act scared.

BRAMBLESTAR’S STORM > bramblesquirrel are not together and their relationship seems to work best this way.

> bramblestar chose squirrelflight as deputy because she has her own ideas and will challenge him. he’s glad she’s deputy and thinks she’s good at her job, believing that he would be “lost without her.”

> scenes with jessy are trying to show us that squirrelflight is jealous. during a couple of scenes, squirrelflight does act unreasonably and snaps at bramblestar, where jessy defends him. >>> “wow, is she always like this?” “yeah, pretty much.” - bramblestar and jessy > later, bramblestar and jessy go out together. when they get back, bramblestar forgets to tell anybody that he saw windclan trespassing for, like, 10 minutes. squirrelflight is frustrated, but even after he gets injured, she doesn’t scold him.

> after they help shadowclan, bramblestar understands why squirrelflight lied to him. she was protecting leafpool, which he gets because he would also do anything for his sister. he says he respects her and her courage. they also acknowledge that lion, jay and holly are their real kids. >>> “squirrelflight and i share a bond that cannot be broken” - inner monologue from bramblestar 

A VISION OF SHADOWS > squirrelflight is pregnant, proving that starclan lied to her about being barren. bramblesquirrel have some casual scenes, although squirrelflight is a bit “toned down” / not as independent. this may just be because she’s not a pov character or because she’s getting older.

thats literally it

SQUIRRELFLIGHT’S HOPE this one is like 50% of the video!

> squirrelflight likes the idea of having another litter of kits and bramblestar gives her a vague response. it is important to note that she didn’t ask anything, she just mentioned the idea.

> she changes the subject, wanting to feel like they’re young again! bramblestar is serious and talks about the gathering. it is implied that they haven’t had fun in a while and that he isn’t giving her much attention.

> they discuss the skyclan territory dispute at the gathering. bramblestar doesn’t want thunderclan or skyclan to give away territory. squirrelflight gives her own solution, that there is territory above thunder and shadow. she believes that this is an open discussion for different ideas.

> after the gathering, he is furious at her for giving her own idea without discussing it with him first, and that skyclan will have to move again. he also mentions that the territory she’s talking about could have dangerous animals, and that warriors could die because of her idea.

> because this is a discussion over territory, squirrelflight mentions that the clans are getting bigger + that there will be new kits by new-leaf. throughout the entire talk, he had been growling and lashing his tail.

> bramblestar deflects and brings up something that she had already dropped: having more kits. he is scolding her, attempting to trivialize her feelings. he runs away, and squirrelflight follows him, trying to continue the discussion. >>> then he guilt-trips her, “isn’t being deputy enough?” he is accusatory and it is clear that he doesn’t want to have this discussion. > squirrelflight explains that she’s worried because she knows she’s getting older and wants another littler before it’s too late. to herself, she worries that because bramblestar has nine lives, he will live longer than her and eventually replace her. >>> “don’t you love me anymore?” she asks. could be a guilt-trip, could be a genuine question because squirrelflight feels unloved.

> afterwards, bramblestar apologies. he admits that he brought up the kits out of anger because he felt like she wasn’t on his side at the meeting. he says that he would love to have another litter with her, but squirrelflight can Tell that he doesn’t, he’s just saying it because she wants kits. she never brings up the topic of kits again.

> moon super briefly goes over the cycle of abuse: tension between the abuser and the abused (abused feels anxious), abuser lashes out, then afterwards feels bad/apologizes + there’s a brief “peace” period. this happens multiple times in the bramblesquirrel relationship, with hawkfrost, with the three, etc. something else to note is that every time they reconcile, they have a litter of kits, so it wouldn’t be hard to say that squirrelflight associates the “peace” period with motherhood.

> squirrelflight feels very guilty, like she’s replaceable, and blames herself. she goes over the argument in her head again. eventually, she and leafstar go explore the territory beyond thunderclan. squirrelflight feels bad about lying to bramblestar, but doesn’t tell him even when given the opportunity (running into sparkpelt). she believes that she is doing the morally right thing but knows that bramblestar wouldnt agree with her.

> while she’s with the sisters, she only grows more anxious, feels bad for the trouble she’s causing thunderclan, and worries about bramblestar’s anger.

> when thunderclan find her and bring her back to camp, bramblestar puts a restriction on her. if she’s “going to act like an apprentice,” then she must run every decision by him. no more going off on her own, no more “arguing” at the gathering. he is using his power as leader to control her. he threatens to replace her as deputy, causing squirrelflight to panic about how he no longer trusts her.

> later, bramblestar micromanages her. he orders squirrelflight to tell him how she’s organizing the dawn patrol and blatantly insults her methods. bramblestar is using a “trust exercise” to express his anger and lash out. squirrelflight defends herself, saying that she loves him & her clan. >>> “bramblestar was supposed to be her mate. why couldn’t he talk to her instead of trying to make her feel small?”

> after sparkpelt reveals that she’s pregnant and bramblestar mentions having kits to squirrelflight, squirrelflight snaps at him. she feels guilty about it. she also feels bad about not being happier for sparkpelt, feeling selfish, guilty for wanting something that bramblestar doesn’t, and scared that she’s never going to be happy again. she feels as though she’s making all the wrong choices.

> squirrelflight finds sunrise (a sister) injured and brings her to camp, knowing that bramblestar will be angry (as does the rest of the clan), but wanting to do the right thing. bramblestar refuses to help sunrise until he gets starclan’s approval, but it’s clear that he is acting out of anger towards squirrelflight.

> the message from starclan is incredibly vague, and bramblesquirrel disagree over it. squirrelflight insists on helping sunrise no matter bramblestar’s feelings, and bramblestar worries that helping sunrise will cause tension between the clans.

> when leafpool goes to help sunrise, bramblestar stands in front of her as a way to physically threaten her to step back. squirrelflight worries that bramblestar will fight leafpool just to stop her, so she jumps in front of leafpool to protect her. while this is happening, sunrise is dying. >>> “we can’t keep doing this. if you keep undermining my authority, you could destroy the whole clan” despite bramblestar’s words, squirrelflight wants to do what she knows is right. she believes that thunderclan is stronger than any leader/deputy disputes. >>> “why are you doing this to me? you’re my deputy. you’re my mate. you’re supposed to support me” /// “thanks to you, there’s not even unity in thunderclan anymore.” bramblestar guilt-trips her, unable to physically intimidate anyone into stopping. squirrelflight isn’t trying to hurt him, she’s trying to do what’s right.

> later on, bramblestar suddenly forgives her, but implies that he is willing to put the sisters in danger for what was previously squirrelflight’s plan. he wants to drive the sisters out by force. > tension between the clans grow, which sparkpelt blames bramblestar for. squirrelflight jumps to his defense. >>> “why are you sticking up for him? he’s hardly spoken to you in days. he’s been treating you like an apprentice. and you’re defending him! why are you being such a mouseheart?” sparkpelt says, making it clear that other cats are aware of bramblesquirrel’s toxicity. > bramblestar does not see squirrelflight as an equal. when he’s upset with her, he treats her as such, talking down to her, giving her apprentice-jobs, etc.

> bramblesquirrel haven’t properly made-up. squirrelflight is too anxious to talk to him, worried that she’ll make things worse or that he’ll lash out at her. she believes that bramblestar blames her for everything that’s wrong. as bramblestar plans the patrol to attack the sisters, squirrelflight hides away. he questions her about it, and she says that she doesn’t agree with what he’s doing, while bramblestar expects her to back him up no matter what.

> squirrelflight feels like he believes borders/battles are the only thing he cares about + bramblestar feels like the sisters are the only thing she cares about. he believes that he’s following the will of starclan. after that, squirrelflight apologizes to bramblestar and they say that they love each other. she supports him in front of the clan, despite the fact that she does not agree with what he’s doing.

> that night, she has a dream about kits dying in battle, and knows it was a prophetic warning. she talks to leafpool about this and they realize it was moonlight’s kits. they run ahead of the patrol, bramblesquirrel argue, they decide to attack then they don’t... it eventually results in squirrelflight’s death.

> [ moon skipped the starclan trial ]

> much like in other times, such as during the new prophecy and the last hope’s final battle, it takes a huge crisis for bramblestar to realize that he needs to treat squirrelflight fairly & apologize. he apologizes while she’s Dead, and once she wakes up he’s super worried about her. >>> “...don’t be sorry. don’t be sorry for anything. i was so worried. i love you so much. we should never have let things get so bad. i’ll never let it happen again.” even here, bramblestar is being manipulative, not fully taking the blame (”we”) and acting as though they are both equally at fault.

> from here, bramblestar is extra loving and supportive, defending her at the gathering. squirrelflight decides that she no longer wants another litter, she can be content with helping sparkpelt’s + the clan’s kits, plus she has bramblestar’s affection.

OUTRO/CONCLUSION my notes were getting less detailed by the end, but moon just reinstates some point she’s already made (as expected)

> bramblesquirrel follow the same patterns as the cycle of abuse. bramblestar consistently finds reasons to put her down and does things out of anger (even admitting to that). squirrelflight is constantly thinking about his anger and how he’ll lash out at her.

> there is a severe power imbalance in their relationship and there has been since the beginning. bramblestar does not treat her as though she’s on the same level as him.

> particularly in squirrelflight’s hope, the text presents squirrelflight as being in the right. she does what she believes is morally just, and bramblestar is shown as the antagonist. she constantly feels guilty and never even thinks of placing her wants/needs over his.

> it does not matter how many flaws squirrelflight has, it does not matter if she is annoying or entitled (she’s not) or bratty, she does not deserve to be abused. she is a victim of bramblestar’s abuse.

[the-moon-prince]

The Last Of us~Kurapika x Reader ~Chapter V

AN: Hi my lovely fellows!

This chapter contains a mention of sexual abuse. I understand how hurtful this topic may be to a lot of people (me included). Likewise, I'll mark it at the start and the end, so you don't have to read it if you prefer. I made sure for people to be able to read the chapter without reading forcefully that part. I added this as a form of venting. I feel like it's an avoided topic, and it's my form to show support to other trauma survivors. This was made with the only intention to comfort. If something is bad written or harmful, please tell me. I also ask for your understanding if you plan on commenting, thank you very much!

I wish you a pleasant read, and I hope you’ll enjoy the new chapter of my story.  (Chapter I) (Chapter II) (Chapter III) (Chapter IV ) (Chapter VI coming soon!)

Paring: Kurapika Kurta x GN! Reader

Word count: 2 888

TW: Mentions of sexual abuse / Mentions of abuse ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Y/n) appeared more comfortable around Kurapika. Occasionally letting their ears escape while staying in the privacy of their houses.

But there was still something mysterious about (Y/n). Some of what they didn't say. Kurapika was filled with doubts and fears because of that. He pondered scenarios, each one worse than the other. Are they lying to me? Maybe they're in some kind of danger or distress. Creating a vicious and unhealthy cycle in Kurapika's spirit. 

The two were patient in the relationship, neither comprehending fully how to give or receive affection. But despite the time they had been together, (Y/n) seemed resistant to accept fondness. Particularly physical. They had never tried to hold hands. When Kurapika attempted it, they recoiled in alarm more than once. In the few hugs they had given each other, (Y/n) shivered. Loud noises made them shake and jump, and they hand a list of tics as sudden shaking chills or protectively shrugging shoulders. Kurapika could understand that, he had tics as well. But his partner seemed triggered by his touch. They continued to be protective of their eyes. It was normal they didn't meet his eyes often, however, they tried to hide her eyes whenever they looked more cat-like.

~

Suspicions of his beloved being at risk grew bigger. He didn't want to, he couldn't permit himself to lose someone else. What kind of cruel mockery of life would be that, when finally there was someone like him-Someone who understood and supported him-was erased from this plane. The idea that these funny tail and ears weren't going to survive grieved Kurapika. The plausibility of not seeing those (curly/wavy/messy/straight) (hair/color) strands nevermore haunted him. Undoubtedly, it didn't end there. Fury consumed him when he conceived the idea of someone injuring more further a being so humane, kind hearted, and compassionate as (Y/n). Hadn't both of them grieved enough? But what they were suffering, adding would be disastrous.

Yet, (Y/n) didn't utter a single word regarding the matter.

~

Kurapika entered a state of fright. At that limit, he needed at the very least to know what was going on. He showed up that night at (Y/n)'s residence, knowing that they had no guard at the hospital and that they would be there. He had a spare key and wasn't abnormal to simply arrive at the other's place. Either of them had the habit of picking phone calls or answering messages.

Except for the scene he arrived at was abnormal.

He saw (Y/n) from behind sitting on the floor, a thing they never did, and if anything was remarkable about them, it was how strict they were with their customs. They had their elbows leaning on the coffee table, looking down at something. They did not react upon his arrival. (Y/n) never missed a noise, even less the one of a door opening. Yet, they remain immobile as if the lives of the universe depended on them staying frozen in place. Kurapika approached them. To see that there was a call in progress on their phone resting upon the table. (Y/n) did not dare to see the phone directly. Their hands held their head by the forehead, their gaze hidden behind their (curls/waves/strands). Just as Kurapika opened his mouth to speak, a female voice came from the phone's speaker-"So you won't answer me?"-silence again-" My baby... I know you think I broke you..."-the voice was sweet and honeyed, full of compassion"-Who could that woman possibly be? Why did she address (Y/n) like that, what did she mean by "break". Kurapika craved to question (Y/N) what, for love for his clan, was happening. He was relucted from doing so, he could perhaps extract information from the person on the other end of the line, taking advantage of the fact that she believed that (Y/n) was alone.-"But that's not true! I didn't do anything, my love. You were born broken, your demoniac eyes are the proo-" (Y/n) abruptly cut the call before the sentence finished. They didn't turn to see Kurapika, despite knowing he was beside them. 

Kurapika had his breakpoint. "What's happening (Y/n)?! Who was that?! You can't keep things as such from me?! Do you understand that?!"-he started to scold, raising his voice. His eyes would look scarlet if it weren't for the contacts he was wearing at the moment. Someone else knew about (Y/n) identity. Who can say such atrocities? On top, with such a sound and sweet voice, it was twisted. She was talking about their eyes. Did she want them? Was she behind (Y/n)'s eyes? All these questions flooded incessantly in Kurapika's mind. (Y/n) hid upthrusting their shoulders and covering their face with their hands, their whole figure was shaking. They drew their ears back and adhered the tail to their body, probably changed on instinctual reaction.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"-(Y/n) started to lament, voice quivering. Their breaths were heavy as if it were inhumanly tough to keep breathing. Whoever the other person was, were bad enough to provoke a position of panic on (Y/n).   Kurapika knew that and seeing that getting angry only seemed to affect the feeble trembling figure in front of him, he decided to calm down. He was greatly concerned that someone he esteemed as highly as (Y/n) was in that position. It was not wise to let his humor aggravate things. 

He lowered himself to their level and sat down next to them. He raised his hand to stroke their hair. As soon as the tips of his fingers touched the (curls/waves/bangs/strands) he heard a heavy "Don't!" and backed up his hand.-"It's alright. I'm not touching you. Still, I require you to explain to me what happens. Who was that woman?" Besides offering physical contact, Kurapika had no distinct idea how he could comfort (Y/n). He felt frustrated and powerless.

"My mum."-they whimpered, (Y/n) was distressed although not crying. Not a single tear came out during all that night. Kurapika no longer understood.

"Weren't your parents deceased?"- He felt that they had lied to him, and it sure bothered him that he kept that from him. But this was not the time to discuss that part.

"No, my family is dead..."-(Y/n) began to breathe more calmly. They readjusted, moving their hands away from their faces to hold their arms. "They did not raise me. My grandparents did. When my grandad got ill and died I left to study. They always lived far away." -(Y/n) didn't look at Kurapika at any time. They kept their gaze at a standstill. Nevertheless, he could notice that their pupils were very dilated, reminding him of the stare of a scared soaked cat.

"What did she mean by break you?"-he continued trying to maintain a moderate voice. He was somehow scared to hear the answer. It would hurt to know that someone hurt (Y/n).

"I wasn't the legal age. Someone had to take my guard when my grandfather died."-Their face stayed still in a sober expression.

"Did they hurt you?"- He felt progressively more scared and worse.

"It's not important. I don't believe it's something you desire to know." -Even with everything happening, (Y/n) refused to speak. How could they be so obstinate?

"(Y/n), this cannot continue. I require to know. You are not delusional, you know you have to tell me."-Kurapika got a heavy sigh.

"They never loved me, you know? I was never certain why. I tried my best. Maybe they were expecting a human... Maybe they blamed me for their separation...Perhaps they were disappointed to learn that I have a disability."- Kurapika didn't know that (Y/n) could have a difficulty, they never mentioned any medical condition. He would ask about that a little further. They were finally discussing if he interrupted now, possibly the opportunity will not present again.-"I spent most of my time in the university's boarding. Only I wasn't allowed to stay on vacation, so I would go home. Sometimes they put a muzzle on me so I wouldn't bite - although I never bit anyone. They put an electric collar on me once. I guess they were scared of me. "It's for your good because we love you, and you have to behave. Good kitties don't scratch and don't bite." my mother told me. They believed it to be true. They did many things to me under that pretext..."-They stopped there. Still having something to say, but not wanting to.

(WARNING: MENTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE AHEAD)

"Did they... something else to you?"-Kurapika asked again. At that point, he was not surprised (Y/n) never mentioned their parents and did not consider them family. His anger was replaced by compassion. Expecting the worst.

"Yes."- there was the resistance again.

"What did they do?"-(Y/n) made a little movement with their head still hesitant.

"My mother did. She told me she had to check I was okay. Because I was not like other children..."-They lowered their gaze. Kurapika felt a chill. Neither of them was foolish, they knew what was to come. (Y/n) shrugged even more and started to play with their (color) hair -"It happened more than once, I don't remember precisely how many, but more than once for sure. She ordered me to... take off my clothes and... to lay down. It was unpleasant. For a long... for a very long time, I... I denied it. I told myself that she was an adult... that she knew better. If I doubted a bit more... If I weren't so naive... I would have done things differently, you know?"

(END OF THE MENTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE)

Kurapika felt horrible. It felt awful seeing someone he loved so much like this, someone innocent who didn't deserve anything of what happened. For the first time, he didn't know what to say. He had no idea how to act. It was something he did not understand.-"And the rest of your family? You couldn't ask other Uniliums for help?" he probed, wanting to understand their circumstances. 

"I tried. I ran away twice. They discovered me at the first try. Two adults facing a 9-year-old child. They clearly gave me the beating of my life.

The following was 4 years after, more prepared. When I returned to our community, I found out that they got butchered not long ago."-(Y/n) lamented. It was probably what ached most of all. That they got that tiny hope and comfort taken away. -"I'm convinced if they had known, they would have helped and appealed to my favor. I concentrated on my studies in the faith to forget. It was also my opening to escape. I like my career, you know? Although my father told me during the 10 years it lasted that it was disappointing and worthless."-they added with a trembling smile. Those were the two details that provided them any comfort.

"Why didn't you tell me any of that?"- Kurapika asked once more. 

(Y/n) raised their shoulders.-"I don't know. I was scared and ashamed. I was afraid that you would hate me. Perhaps I imagined you would be disappointed in me."-They were conscious that it was not a rational fear. But it was stronger than them.

"How could I hate you? It wasn't your fault."-He comforted. Full of regret for what happened-"It was not your responsibility at any time."

"I know... Though, still, sometimes I wonder if it was. Even acknowledging that it is a lie." (Y/n) sniffled without shedding any tears.

"They won't do a single thing to you, ever again. I'm present now, and I'll make sure they don't put a finger on you. You are safe. Okay?"-The blonde man secured.

"Thank you."-They smiled again. Many would have said it was the same smile. But for Kurapika it was different. This time it was a touch more melancholic than usual, but there was a side of profuse relief. They relaxed and their ears were forward, symbolizing more relaxed humor. 

"It's impressive you succeed the Hunter exam possessing a physical disability." It was Kurapika's crafty way of questioning the subject.

"It was quite difficult. I was born with a respiratory condition, so I cannot develop many physical abilities. I am not physically powerful and I have restricted time to run. I depend greatly on my ability Nen and my wits. However, I won't allow that to stop me. Nobody tells me what I am capable of or not."-(Y/n) bragged. They could be proud. Even with that disadvantage, they had come a long way. That night Kurapika was aware of how strong his companion was. It didn't seem like it, at no time did any of the people who saw (Y/n) imagine all this side of them. After so much, they stayed strong-minded and sweet. They were truly brave. They were both survivors after all. They had both succeeded to get so far despite all the grief. And they both held pride in that. For Kurapika, the fact that (Y/n) had a more sensitive and altruistic side did not make them weak. Of course, they were qualities disapproved among several Hunters.

However, no other hunter held him during his afflicted moments. He could be vulnerable with (Y/n), and he was safe with them.

"Can you remain with me tonight, please?"

Kurapika didn't expect that request.

It was the first time one of them stayed overnight in the other's place. They had stayed really late together, but they didn't stay until the next morning. Plus, knowing how reserved (Y/n) could sometimes be, he assumed they would favor time alone following such an intense experience. Nevertheless, there was something so personal and vulnerable about that request. Kurapika felt the immense desire to stay and protect them.

"Of course."-He couldn't help but use a soft tone.

During all that conversation (Y/n), although exhibited fear, did not manifest weakness at any time. They stayed dignified without losing control.

"Can we lay down, please? I feel a bit tired."-they called after a moment of silence. Their voice resonated dull and tired.

"We can do whatever you desire."- Kurapika smiled at them, his only preoccupation at that instant was to ensure the well-being of the person he treasured, and their head started to bob. (Y/n) slowly nodded and got up. They silently asked him to follow them and padded to their chamber. 

It was the first time that Kurapika entered their bedroom as well. It was fairly more adorned. It had a relatively big bed, with light cloths and a  fluffy (color) colored bedspread. Without neglecting its childish side, it was full of stuffed animals of all kinds, colors, and sizes. Several shelves were overflowing with books. Shelving with toys and cute figures, alongside a record player and a cloth case with music records was also in the room. Next to the bed was a stool with a lamp and a framed photo. The apartments had their private bathroom, on which (Y/n) entered. Kurapika sat on the bed- or in the space left without stuffed animals- and waited. No longer than 15 minutes should have passed before (Y/n) came out with slightly wet hair, and a matching (color) pajama shorts and shirt. Kurapika didn't identify the exact scent at the time, but they smelled good, familiar. (Y/n) took the stuffed animals and arranged them as best they could on an individual loveseat.

"I apologize for this disorder."-they pointed to the bathroom door.-"There is the other toilet, so you can use it whenever you desire. I have each item, please serve yourself."-They laid on the left side of the bed and rested their head on the puffy pillow.

Kurapika merely laid down next to them, not too close. He was uncertain if it was correct to hug them or stay near. (Y/n) arranged the beddings covering the two. They smelled identical at them.

"Kurapika..."-an reluctant voice called his name.

"Yes?"-It felt strange, being in that place that, until then, seemed confidential. But it wasn't unpleasant at all.

"May I hug you?"-The request was bashful and quiet.

He thought of just opening his arms but preferred to give a vocal response as well.-"Of course you may."

(Y/n) approached him steadily. They proceed to timidly embrace him, after their arms were wrapped around him, they snuggled their face on him.-"You're warm... I feel ... comfortable ... with you. Which is bizarre. I don't feel secure with anyone since I was 6 years old."

Kurapika held them protectively. He felt profoundly touched by that strangely honest statement. He attempted to affectionately stroke their (curls/waves/locks). They allowed it.-"I love you (Y/n)."-He couldn't think about anything else he wanted them to know.

"I adore you, Kurapika." 

(Y/n) ultimately permitted themselves to be vulnerable with Kurapika too. It felt good. It was good for them to have someone so strong to have their backs and accompany them.

They could hold each other.

[floatingfish626]

MC Server ಥ_ಥ

Me and a group of friends made our own MC server. Unfortunately, the server was abandoned. Me, being the person I am, still feel the server has potential, so I still play/write lore for it. This may be wayyyy out of the usual for my page but lets be honest, who actively stalks my tumblr page? This is mostly gonna be a place for me to dump the failed server ideas/backstories. So, here goes nothing. If you wanna read them, random stranger, feel free to! I wanted this server to last a while, and we made it almost 2 months with about 12 people in total. So, enjoy!

Word Count: 2,603  (11,679 Characters)

**ALL ORIGINS ARE WRITTEN BY SEPERTE PEOPLE, ALL EDITED BY ME, NONAME**

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Character Origin 1, Seven: Seven was born into a life of poverty, shortly after he was born, he got sold to work as a slave on a sea village, quickly being transferred to a sand village outside of a prison. He did is work as a farmer to a small, yet kind and caring family, who adopted him as their own. His name, Seven, coming from a number tattooed on his neck while in the market. During Seven’s time at this small village, they had a fatal accident, having a berserk enderman ruin the home he had grown custom to. He rebuilt the fallen Village, only to have a Piglin army slaughter whomever remained. Seven only escaped with his life, befriending a Guardian named Marvin, who became his best friend (RIP Marvin, we miss you <3). The Guardian helped Seven grow stronger, and learn to fight. A few years later, he came across two children, Tex and Rox. Seven, taking sympathy for the two, took them as his own. As the revenge grew further from his mind, his children grew older. As they grew, he taught them what he knew about farming and combat. His kids grew older and left him, a crazy old man in a dirt hut with the guardian, forgetting the revenge he wished for many years.  On a normal day, Seven had witnessed something unforgivable happen. He had met Oxlo, Void, and Levi. After spending every waking moment together, the three ended up falling for each other, having adopted Levi and marrying the other two, Seven had have a happy life, with his 3 stolen adopted kids and poly relationship. (End Seven.)

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Character Origin 2, Levi:  Levi was born into captivity from a hybrid mother. By the time he could walk, he was taken from his mother, and raised like a solider. Levi had large, beautiful wings, that got removed as a child, leaving him scared and unsure of who he was all throughout his ‘childhood.’ Being he was a hybrid being, he was used on for testing, by horrid endermen. Having experiments done constantly, he had mutated a mouth (basically Venom from the movie Venom) that he had grown to hate. As Levi grew older, he became rebellious against the unfair people. He gained many cruel and inhumane (lol) punishments. During one of these ‘rebellious moments,’ he had expected to be caught. instead, he was left alone to do so. He heard a loud crash and began to investigate. He had walked outside to see 2 large entities trying to fight against the endermen, and winning. Levi took this as an opportunity to escape. He left the end before the two closed the portal to the end. He blacked out and woke up to a short, sandy blonde man and 2, really tall men, resembling endermen, staring at him. After many, many years of building trust and learning how to communicate, Levi became one of their family.  He Moved out many years later, only to return to his home town to find everything left barren and abandoned. (End Levi.)

Looks: Light blue, messy hair, dark blue eyes, scarf covering his mouth/nose, unhinged and slimy mouth, white and blue tshirt, black jeans  (you can tell this one is my, NoName’s, OC cause he is a lot more detailed LMAO)

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Character Origin 3, Tex:  Tex is 15-17, a strider hybrid. He comes from a Nether village called Riften, but now resides in Toadstool Field. He works as a dealer and supplier for the Midnight Mafia. He can easily build and mine, and is also good at navigating the Nether and finding gold (piglins wanted gold all the time so he grew accustomed to getting it) he's obsessive and goes into a blind rage near piglins, and gifts objects and builds often. Tex was a runt in his village, so when it was attacked by piglins when he was 6-8 he was left behind for a offering, after years of being with piglins he came to despise them. He escaped around 11-14. (He isn't good with remembering his age) He had multiple siblings, but cannot remember them very well. He assumes they are dead along with the rest of his village and now only is comfortable around Seven, Void and Levi Tex has pointed ears, and scars from water/staying with piglins. He has sharp teeth. He cannot see well, water is hurtful to him and his memory is bad but he can easily swim in lava/fire resistant. He is twitchy and quick, he has curious movements and is very touchy and talks quickly and mumbly. He wears a magenta sweater, black overalls, purple flowers scattered about and no shoes Tex wants to be renewed in his new family's eyes, he wishes not to be known as a runt he thinks everyone sees him lower bc of him being a runt. Tex doesn't understand human feelings/ striders don't have many emotions, his anger was very new to him he is scared of Piglins/hoglins and hates water

Looks: Messy, dark hair, pointed ears, black eyes, fangs, darker, loosing fitting clothes

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Character Origin 4, Amber:

So amber was born in a town called Fransin in the nether and lived there with her single mother, she was bullied a lot as a kid because she didn't have spare money for the nicest clothes or shoes she stayed there until about 15 when her mother had kicked her out because it's the same as her mother did when she was younger, she stumbled upon a portal and went through which lead into dark woods and after wandering around for a bit she came upon Toadstool Fields. She was a bit scared, but after meeting the town's folk she adjusted to the overworld, yes she had a few bumps along the way (especially when her friends suggested they go swimming, as she’s part blaze), but she has grown more and made more friends, plus they even let her build her own home! She has always been grateful because they've always helped her and given her everything she needs, especially since she grew up kinda rough

Looks: Light brown hair, Golden eyes, ash colored freckles, Bee striped shirts

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Character Origin 5, Rox: When Rox was young around 4, she was made as a science experiment, (hence the endwalk state that will eventually happen later) she was later sent out to the street after all of those tests (for over 3 years), that she hated so dearly, After about one week on her own in the world, she was soon adopted by seven. She was taught how to fight and defend herself. As she got older, he became smarter and was filled with anger from the past. (hence chaotic good and neutral evil yknow?) So yes, around 16, she married milly and has been with her for a year now, she is just trying help people with her bakery and fight people if necessary (Since she’s in the mafia clan thingy).

Looks: short, pink hair, glasses, blue eyes, dark clothes

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Character Origin 6, Void: Void was born in the end, to a noble Enderman, though they don't remember that. They don't remember their original name, or their parents, or anything about their life. All they know is that they're not welcome in the End anymore, being ostracized after a series of unfortunate events in the End. Their first interaction with the Overworld wound up in them in a village and slaughtering everyone in it due to someone making eye contact with them, shortly afterwards picking up the masks to avoid eye contact and avoid looking at the scars on their face. They fled the premises with their sister Redacted and hid deep into the woods, starting on making a mansion for themself and their sister, where they would be safe. They want to keep all those dear to them safe, bordering a bit on possessiveness with the protectiveness. They have a lot of secrets, and in general are an unknown entity to those around them. They're extremely morally ambiguous and run a mafia, with their pet as their right hand man. 

Extra: -Redacted is not Void's blood sister. -Void has worn their masks for so long they don't know what they look like. -Void only takes their mask off to threaten people. -They have such a love of birds because the first mob that didn't run away from them was a parrot. -They hate government because one tried to kidnap them once and study them as an Enderman, using water torture against them. Void escaped and killed a few people, grabbing two masks off the wall as they went to hide their identity.  -Void's eyes are different from fellow Enderman, and if you look into them it's an unpleasant experience for you both. -Void is a peaceful entity until provoked, just like Enderman. -Void has an immense hatred for sand. -Void likes gazing at the stars because it reminds them of gazing into the void in the End, which is where they got their name from. -Void has a dog named Spark because shortly after they found him they were struck by lightning, which they found hilarious.

Looks: Tall  (height unspecified), Dark, fancy clothing, Mask (smile, no he isn’t dream), dark, messy hair)

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Character Origin 7, Milly: Milly is a neko hybrid, she's part feline, part human. Her existence came to be when her mother, a neko, and her father, a human, fell in love. She grew up in a small town which wasn't very popular, she wasn't picked on but she did get pushed around by some people growing up. Despite bullies, she had a normal upbringing; her parents were nice and supportive, teaching her everything they could. Her mother often told her how horrible the world can be, teaching her how kindness is a must and how no matter what, she should always help people in need and keep up a smile if she could. Milly followed this advice the best she could. While her mother taught her things through talks, her father tried to teach her things physically: he told her how he agreed, how the world was horrible, so he taught her to fight- to defend herself and protect others with her fighting skills and feline abilities. Although Milly loved her parents and the friends she had, she grew adventurous when she turned the age of 15- she wanted to explore, to see and meet more than she has. Her parents respected her wishes since they loved her dearly, they gave her all the supplies and advice they could before they hugged her goodbye. It wasn't long after that she met Rox, an enderman hybrid who she grew to cherish being around. So, her and Rox got married at 16 and  She moved in with Rox, in the smp she loved living in for all her days. Hence where the story starts. 

Headcanons: -Milly has about five cats she keeps, she loves cats. -She likes to draw, collect flowers, bake sweets, and help out people. -She's a lawful good person and pacifist -She likes dogs but they don't like her :( -She has special feline characteristics: she can jump two blocks higher than a normal person, she can purr, she will take random naps sometimes during the day, she has fangs, and she gets distracted by cat toys sometimes

Looks:  Long pink hair, light pink eyes, collar (it has a bell), white shirt and a pink skirt

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Unmentioned Characters (ones without backstories): Sammy, Oxlo, Will

this took me an hour. JUST EDITING- (ó﹏ò｡)

[the-busy-ghost]

Thoughts on TSP S2E05- The Plague

Well that was An Episode. Actually I thought the writing in this one was a little better than the other episodes (at least until the last three minutes or so, what the fuck), and I did like some of Katherine’s speeches this time. Nonetheless some thoughts:

- Firstly, I would like to see the casting call. Do they cast for ‘Whispering Lady #1′ and ‘Whispering Lady #2′? Seems like you could make a career out that, given how often they appear in period dramas.

- How long has Sir William Compton been ill? I know the plague was a terrifyingly quick disease but you would think someone would have noticed he looked a bit peaky BEFORE he dropped dead in the middle of the hallway. Also they’ve established that he’s the physically closest person to the king and yet nobody is at all focused on checking to see if Henry is well?

- I really feel like they’re setting up Anne and Katherine’s relationship to be Bessie Mark 2. Like Anne is going to be portrayed as a close attendant and confidant and then stab Katherine in the back, thus robbing Anne (and indeed Bessie) of any independent motivation or justification.

- Could they call this episode Bessie Blount and the Fastest Three Year Pregnancy in England

- And while we’re on the subject poor Bessie. I really feel like she’s been robbed a little by the writing (not by the actress, Chloe Harris is great). She doesn’t get to say a word in her defence until halfway through (the silent Other Woman), and then we’re supposed to believe that being the king’s mistress was such a huge dishonour she’d be chucked out, and then the only reason she is restored to favour is probably going to be because of Katherine? That’s a lot to saddle on one woman. I was already a supporter of the Bessie Blount defence squad and I am quietly seething on her behalf. Also I feel like they could have had Katherine help at the birth IN LITERALLY ANY OTHER WAY THAT WAS VERY GROSS AND NOT AT ALL SAFE AND THEN YOU JUST LEFT HER THERE BLEEDING AND FUCKED OFF WITH HER BABY

- Katherine “what did you think I was going to use it for” WELL SURE I DON’T KNOW KATHERINE BUT HOW IS THIS BETTER??? The Myranda absolutely JUMPED out here, I cannot even BEGIN to describe how appalled I am.

- Also again is this supposed to be a sympathetic portrayal? Snatching baby Henry away from his mother before she’d even held it? Even if you hate her it’s a dick move especially since you are known to dislike the pregnancy and you also just pulled a knife on her? And you won’t even hold your own daughter so like double shit?

Anyway moving on...

- They are really playing up the ‘Wolsey lives vicariously through Henry’s mistresses’ vibe this episode. It is A Lot

- Also how does Stafford always manage to say things in literally the grossest way possible. Who gave Olly Rix these lines.

- Lol @Wolsey just dropping his cardinal’s hat casually into the conversation. Classy.

- Nobody “understands” Henry. Except Wolsey of course. Poor misunderstood baby king, AYE RIGHT.

- Mary’s storyline was actually pretty well done. They ARE cute. But I suppose it’s easier to pull off the ‘beautiful princess in arranged marriage and secret wedding’ plot than anything more complex like Margaret’s. I’m still not over the fact that that is very clearly Waddesdon though.

- *Technically* I’m not sure their marriage actually counts as treason, in the terms of the fourteenth century treason acts, but I’m no expert on that so I could be wrong. Just seems that period dramas throw the word treason around a lot when it had quite a specific meaning in England (in Scotland not so much, it’s a very flexible word there).

 - Mega Feminist Katherine of Aragon refusing to touch her daughter and continuing to refer to her as a ‘useless girl’. 100% Accurate and Feminist portrayal this (not). But Girl Power right?

- Awkward sex scenes GALORE this episode

- Margaret’s storyline was... somewhat comprehensible this episode but still a bit naff. Not the actors fault, they are doing their best. But I suppose it works? I do have some specific thoughts on details on that though, so more below

- Do I have to keep pointing out that James V WAS the king not the future king? Did you all miss the mourning coronation or something? Also the ‘Stewart clan’ does not “insist” on anything, because that is waaaaay too simplistic and also the wrong terminology.

- Albany’s line about ‘civilised company’- I mean as a Scot OUCH but also it’s quite believable coming from him I suppose, wee John was not a huge fan of Scotland.

- Holyroodhouse was not part of Margaret’s dower so far as I’m aware? At least it wasn’t traditionally part of queens’ dowers in Scotland and it wasn’t in any of the documents I’ve seen made at the time of her marriage.  It also had a freaking abbey attached to it (though tbh, that had fallen into decline a bit by the early sixteenth century). So why not pretend you’re using one of Margaret’s actual dower houses, further north? Also if I were Angus and I was trying to hide out from the Duke of Albany while illegally retaining control of James IV’s illegitimate children, I would probably go to the much more secure castle of Tantallon, not Holyrood. But everything has to happen in Edinburgh I suppose.

- Ok it’s a tiny detail but I am still exercised about the Presence of James IV’s illegitimate children. Firstly, how are they all still kids?? The only one who should still be under the age of twelve in 1516 (or 1519? God knows when this is) is Janet Stewart, the future Lady Fleming and daughter of the Countess of Bothwell. There is no evidence that she was ever raised at court and her mother Agnes was still very much alive (she actually spent Christmas with Margaret Tudor at Morpeth after the queen’s flight into England). 

The others were either dead (Alexander via Flodden and a few who died in infancy), married adults (Katherine, Countess of Morton, and Margaret, Lady Gordon- the latter *might* have also been in a relationship with Albany’s older brother Alexander Stewart at this time, it’s unclear), or teenagers approaching adulthood who were either on the continent or in Albany’s camp (James, Earl of Moray). 

SECONDLY how does it AT ALL fall in Margaret’s purview to raise them, let alone that of the Earl of Angus. Margaret could theoretically have stepped in as a benefactor- that’s not unknown and the royal family was a wide concept so Albany and Margaret sometimes did act on behalf of royal cousins and illegitimate children- but Angus? Even Jane Stewart of Traquair would theoretically have more right to one of the children than him (and NOT because of some stupid ‘Stewart clan’ nonsense) since wee Janet Stewart was probably her first cousin. (Margaret Stewart, Lady Gordon was Angus’ first cousin but once again, she was a married woman with children of her own). Although if they’re implying this was a political move on Angus’ part then that would have been a smart move- having custody of James IV’s illegitimate children could be quite useful politically, as later events involving both Albany and Margaret Tudor showed. But since the show has sort of been implying that they’re useless and that Margaret is stuck with them, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

- Also none of this is how a pre-contract works, and while we know very little about Jane Stewart of Traquair anyway, it’s clear that the show knows even less. But we love to see the Earl of Angus torn to shreds by both Margaret and Jane. One would hope that that was him Telt but sadly we all know this isn’t the case.

- Oh and a woman! In Scotland! Who is Scottish! We’re not cryptids after all! And she was then immediately chucked out.

- Also he just... walks off?? No attendants, no kinsmen, no horses? Do the writers have any idea of the level of power and status the Earl of Angus theoretically held?

- One of the men behind Margaret had A Line. I fear this is how Henry Stewart is being introduced to us.

- Can they shut up about the god damn kilts for TWO. MINUTES.

- BUT the real award for the most truly disappointing thing about this episode goes to the fact that we are now unlikely to get the Margaret and Mary reunion we all deserve. I mean I cannot BELIEVE this show passed up the opportunity to show the Queen of England and the dowager Queens of Scotland and France all acting in consort after the Evil May Day Riots. But then I suppose they would have to deal with that event in a sensitive fashion which like, I do not see them doing. I am genuinely disappointed by this, since the actresses are doing their best and I think it might actually have been a good scene. And it would have been an excuse for some fabulous costuming.

Anyway. That’s about all I’ve got.

[kurowrites]

Letters From Beyond - Chapter 4: The Reply

AO3

---

How did one reply to a letter such as this?

Lan Wangji sat in front of an empty sheet of paper for far too long, and still he couldn’t think of a suitable reply. Hei was dozing now, apparently not in a hurry to return home after gorging himself on too many berries. Lan Wangji could take his time.

He considered the empty paper. What did Wei Wuxian want from him? What had he wanted to say by sending him a single line of text?

Wei Wuxian had answered every letter that Lan Wangji had written so far. Perhaps that was already answer enough.

He set the brush to the paper and started to write.

Wei Ying

I do not know how to reply to your letter, other than telling you that I do not wish to make you cry. It was the same then, too. I was angry, maybe am still angry now, though that is no excuse. I simply do not understand. I wish you would let me understand.

They call you a monster now. I have had the misfortune of hearing the stories they tell about you, how you eat children and hunt in the dark with glowing red eyes. But when I think back, instead of a monster I see you asking me to look at the ants in the courtyard because you thought they were cute. I do not understand. Your sister worries about you, and I wonder how you can subsist in a place like Burial Mounds. I wonder why you chose your own confinement instead of justice.

That was your wish, was it not. To be just and live without regrets. Are you without regrets now, Wei Ying? Have you chosen the right path for yourself? I have regretted not listening to you many times. Perhaps, if I had, your sister didn’t have to lament the absence of her brother on her wedding day. How can she believe you are still good when you are clearly guilty of the crime you are accused of? I do not understand.

Lan Wangji

He didn’t reread the letter, knowing full well that he wouldn’t sent it if he did. He folded it and placed it in front of Hei, so he could take it and choose to return home whenever he wanted. Then he cleaned his desk and went to take a bath.

He felt tense, harried. A bath might help to soothe his warring emotions.

---

The distance between Cloud Recesses and Burial Mounds was not inconsiderable even to a winged creature, and Lan Wangji couldn’t reasonably expect a reply before many days had passed. If Wei Ying was still willing to answer him, that was.

He knew he could do nothing but be patient, but despite his best efforts, he spent the next few days in a state of constant expectation, an impatience giving its way to irritation, making him more withdrawn than he already was.

Lan Xichen asked him if he was all right more than once. He only shook his head and assured his brother that he was, since he could hardly tell him that he was expecting a letter from the elusive Yiling Patriarch. He knew his brother wouldn’t judge him for telling him the truth, but he might want him to make the communication public. That, Lan Wangji could not allow.

He pondered over whether that constituted as a lie or not. But then, he had already broken another rule of his clan – do not associate with evil.

At the same time, Jiang Yanli’s words still reverberated in his ears.

Whatever he did, there is no doubt in my mind that he is a good man.

Could it be true? Or was it simply the denial of someone who wanted to protect themselves from the truth?

If this was about Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji would say the same thing without hesitation. He knew that his brother was a good man, that he would never draw his sword without reason. But Lan Wangji didn’t know the relationship between Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian, and he hadn’t known Wei Wuxian for long enough to truly know the depths of his character. He did not know if malice and falsehood hid behind the silly mask Wei Wuxian usually wore. He had no way of gauging that now.

He continued to debate the issue internally, until finally, Hei returned.

Lan Wangji found him hanging upside down from one of the tassels that held up the bamboo lattices in front of the windows of the Jingshi, amusing himself by gripping the cords with his feet and swaying back and forth.

“That is not a toy,” he chastised Hei. “I will give you some berries.”

Hei crowed in eager agreement, dropped from the tassel, and fluttered over to land on Lan Wangji’s shoulder. For such a large creature, he was surprisingly light, not at all what Lan Wangji had expected.

He went to fetch the berries he now always kept ready for Hei, and set them in a place he could easily clean up after Hei was done eating, careful to keep him far away from any more books he could destroy with a beak full of berry juice.

Once Hei was fed, he went to his desk. To his surprise, Hei hadn’t delivered just one letter this time. There were two.

He picked up the one that looked familiar to him now, the way it was folded saying “Wei Wuxian” more surely than any actual writing. It was, again, disappointingly short.

Lan Zhan

You say you do not wish to make me cry, and yet I must believe that you do. Telling me these things. That you of all people speak of regret, it pains me. I cannot regret what I have done. I still believe I made the right choice, and have chosen the right path. I have no proof, and so I hope that you believe me when I say that. Just… don’t blame yourself, please, Lan Zhan. This is my burden to carry. I shouldn’t keep writing to you, I know it puts you in a difficult position, but I cannot help it. I was serious when I asked you to be my friend, even though that can never happen now. I am so sorry. I knew when I saw you the first time that you were a special person, and I could not resist wanting to know you. If I had never met you, then I would be without regrets.

Wei Ying

Lan Zhan stared at the letter in shock. His heart was beating fast, blood rushing in his ears. What a letter this was!

He read the last line again.

If I had never met you, then I would be without regrets.

He put the letter down and closed his eyes, breathing deeply for long moments, trying to compose himself.

Me too, he thought to himself. If I had never met you, I would be without regrets, as well.

He fought for composure and reached for the second letter once he felt reasonably calm.

It was much longer than the first one, and as soon as he opened it, he could see that it was written by a different hand. It was also written in an entirely different style. It was properly addressed to him, as well, and contained the appropriate greetings and civilities at the beginning. The writer of this letter clearly wasn’t Wei Wuxian. It was Wen Qing.

He skipped over the general civilities and moved on to the main body of the letter:

Forgive me for being so frank, but I cannot stay silent any longer. Every time a letter arrives from you, Wei Wuxian is distraught, and it is worrying us to see him like this. He smiles and he acts like it is nothing, but I have never seen him as discomposed as when it comes to you.

My word may not be worth much in the eyes of the cultivation world, but I know that he will not tell you unless I do it first. Let me give you a true account of what happened that fateful night.

As you no doubt already concluded, I was sent as a spy to Cloud Recesses by Wen Ruohan himself, tasked with helping Wen Chao find one of the pieces of the Yin Iron. We knew it was in your possession, but were unable to retrieve it. I had my reasons for complying with Wen Ruohan’s orders, and I will make no apology for my deception.

At this point, we all believed that no one else was aware of the existence of the Yin Iron, and though we were pressed to retrieve it quickly, we weren’t much worried about anything else. That proved to be a major mistake. I do not know how he learned about our plans or where the Yin Iron was, but Jin Guangshan gained knowledge of it somehow. Since we were already suspicious and, compared to Wen Chao, relatively unimportant, he must have thought my brother and I convenient scapegoats. We were asleep when he snuck into our dorm that night, overpowered us, tied us up, and abducted us. He was smart about it, too. He knew how much my brother means to me, and he made use of that.

I don’t know the exact details of his plan, but I’m sure he wanted to make it look like the Wen sect stole the Yin Iron, and then planned to get rid of us once we had fulfilled our roles. Perhaps he was truly afraid that the Yin Iron would fall into Wen Ruohan’s hands. Perhaps he was simply greedy for his own share of power. Whatever it was, he showed no hesitation in stepping over a few dead bodies in order to get what he wanted.

He nearly killed my brother when I tried to disobey him, and he might have succeeded if it wasn’t for Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian is a magnet for trouble, but it saved our lives that night. He had snuck out of his own dorm that night, to plunder the kitchen or sneak wine into Cloud Recesses or whatever foolish thing he tends to do when left to his own devices. He managed to find us just in the nick of time. He is an honourable man, and did not hesitate in defending us. He stood between Wen Ning and Jin Guangshan without fear or hesistation. Jin Guangshan told him that if he was decided on defending the scum of the Wen clan, he should die with them too. He was the one who drew his sword on Wei Wuxian. I am sure Wei Wuxian didn’t want to kill him, but he also refused to let us die. You know how the fight ended.

As Jin Guangshan finally lay dead, we panicked. Perhaps we should have woken you up, and relate the circumstances to you, but it all happened so fast, we had no proof that Jin Guangshan had been the perpetrator, and we were scared. I was a spy, after all. So we ran away, taking the Yin Iron with us because we were afraid it would fall into the wrong hands.

The Yin Iron is still with us. Rest assured that I would never hand it over to Wen Ruohan now. Wei Wuxian uses the Iron to keep us safe, but the effect on him is becoming more and more visible each day. He is not doing well. I worry how long he can keep doing this, before he destroys himself completely. He says he does it to keep us safe – me, my brother and the remaining members of my clan that have made it to Burial Mounds – so it is no burden to him. He is lying, however. He knows he is slowly destroying himself, and I know that he is trying to figure out how to make sure we stay protected once he dies.

I cannot go against him and protect him from himself. But maybe you can. That is why I thought you should know the truth.

Lan Wangji put the letter down. He noticed that his hands were shaking, but he couldn’t stop it. His heart clenched, and bile rose in his throat.

If only Wei Wuxian had called for him. If only– If only–

He reached for Wei Wuxian’s letter again, and read it once more.

I have no proof, it read. And then, that last line again.

If I had never met you, then I would be without regrets.

Tears rose in his eyes, and for once, he didn’t try to stop them from falling.

To lament for a person he barely knew.

He looked at the letter again.

No, he thought. No, you will not.

[tartutation]

Venus de Milo (TMNT AU Profile)

A/N: English is not my native language. Therefore, any advice on any grammatical errors is very welcome! Thank you and enjoy your reading <3

Warnings: None

The TMNT AU summary: This is an alternate universe of teenage mutant ninja turtles (mostly inspired by the 2003 series and Bayverse movies) that was inspired by the structure of a "coming-of-age" novel. After losing their beloved father and incomparable master and defeating Shreder, the enemy they have been chasing since the age of 15, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo must learn to accept the grief and move on with their lives. None of it will be easy, now that the transition from adolescence to adulthood will be strongly impacted by an unexpected reunion with two women from their past and the new friends who have joined them.

Introducing Venus de Milo

You can see Venus aparence HERE

In this universe the boys met Venus because she spent 9 months being trained by Mestre Splinter when they were only 10 years old. It is a consensus among them that they share the same mutation, but all the genetic tests that Donatello made were inconclusive (yes, that does strasses him out).

During this period when Venus spent 9 months in New York studying the old history and secrets of the biggest and most famous ninja clans with Mestre Splinter (Hamato Yoshi's only living heir) her relationship with the turtle brothers was somewhat troubled. At the time, they were all children and the tension of having a girl in the group made it very difficult for them to interact normally. Raphael and Michelangelo used to exclude her from the games and playdates with the excuse that it was "for boys only!" and Leonardo felt very jealous of his master (and father), who seemed to pay special attention to this lost konuichi. Of all of them, however, the one who made the most hell of Venus's life was (who knew!) Donatello. Even with his gentle and pacifist spirit, Donnie did not like this new guest who claimed to be (ABSURD!) high priestest of a lost lineage of magical Konuichi. They were doomed to disagreement: after all, a little prodigy of science and a child with magical powers are two existences that contradict each other. But as soon as she came, Venus left, after finishing her intensive course with "Master Hamato" (which is how she referred to Splinter) she returned to Japan and spent the next 11 years training extensively every day to be able to become the best guardian of the Secret of Kunoichi Magic that had ever existed. Without the distraction of other brothers or  any friends close by, Venus became the most dangerous and disciplined warrior who had ever set foot on this Earth.

Now a young woman, Venus reencounters her former hashi colleagues. What does the future await?

Name: Venus de Milo

Age: 21

Species: Mutant Tortoise

Favorite color: Blue

Moral alingment: Lawfull Good

Sign: Libra

Sexual orientation: Demisexual

Characteristics:

Because of her disciplined and restricted upbringing, Venus has a very difficult time socializing with other people (or mutants!) her age. She doesn't know what a "meme" is, how twitter works, what's the fun of a 6-second video with a cat sppining to the sound of "sweet dreams are made of this". Having grown up in a temple and spent her entire life studying, she has a different concept of what "fun" is.

Her favorite hobbies include reading, meditating, studying ancient history documents, doing push-ups, kneading healing herbs, studying new types of incense and their calming propreities, etc ... All things that she also does as part of her daily work as the Keeper of the Kunochi Secret, so... The boundaries between fun and work are very thin.

She is an excellent reader and can read fluently in three languages: English, Japanese and Cantonese. She loves to read, it's her favorite activity, especially out loud, as she considers herself an excellent announcer.

She can defeat any of the Hamato brothers in combat (including Leonardo). Although neither bigger nor stronger, Venus uses the weight of the enemy's and their strength against them. In addition, her physical speed and strategic ability together makes her literally unbeatable.

Despite her advanced combat skills, Venus is extremely shy and anything makes her blush. Especially conversations that involve sexual pleasure and explicit language. Unfortunately for her, Michelangelo will discover this very quickly and will be able to defeat her in a fight whispering "What's up, hot stuff?" during combat. None of the other brothers will understand how he did it and he will never tell.

Despite being aware that her appearance isn't considered neither normal nor attractive to humans, Venus has no problems with self-esteem. She is very proud of her origins and to be the heir to a lineage of magical warriors is enough to make her one of the most beautiful people in the world in her mind.

Despite having a limited social skill, she is a very valuable friend and after she becomes attached to you, she will do everything to guarantee your safety and comfort.

She is very elegant and graceful. She was taught during her upbringing that each movement must be calculated and rehearsed strictly, what makes some of her very commom and daily actions, such as putting on a shoe or pouring tea look like choreography of a soft dance.

Venus believes deeply in soul mates. So she never worried much about learning the art of seduction or how to flirt with other people, since she always knew that one day the right person would cross her path and she wouldn't have to change who she is to win their heart (spoiler: she was right!)

It might not look like it, but she is very easily irritated. The fact is that she can disguise her stress and impatience just as easily. Never loses her temper.

Even with all these characteristics, she is not the leader of the group. This role was given to Mona Lisa (you will be able to read about Mona Lisa from this alternative universe very soon) through an election between the four friends (description of the twins May and June coming soon!). Venus has no grudge against her friend, as she knows that despite her physical abilities, herself lacks the charisma that a leader needs.

She is not very good at comforting others, nor is she a big fan of physical contact.

She was educated to never feel hatred towards anything but despite this she cannot control her contempt for lies. Trust is the most important thing in the world.

Summary of relationship with each of the turtles:

Leonardo: Venus and Leo are kindred spirits. They have, all jokes aside, everything in common. Therefore, when they met each other for the second time, they developed a friendship that made them absolutely inseparable. She likes how he doesn't underestimate her and how he respects her discipline and life doctrine and he likes having a partner to meditate and train. Their union allowed Leonardo to finally have someone with the same dedication (and obsession, honestly) as he, someone with whom he could complain about the neglect of his brothers and someone to train his japanese with, which also guaranteed them a certain privacy and intimacy that Leonardo had not yet experienced with anyone.

Raphael: If asked, Raph will say that he thinks Venus "is ok". Deep down, meeting her for a second time left a bitter taste in his mouth. He is very jealous of his brother and wonders if Venus would not be the true sister that Leo always wanted - besides (of course) the fact that her discipline and posture are literally the combination of all the things he doesn't like in Leonardo multiplied by 10. Despite all this, the thing that he hates the most is her absence of anger: there are few things in the world that Raphael likes more than stressing his perfect big brother and watching him lose his temper, but it seems IMPOSSIBLE to get the same reaction with Venus . No matter how much he teases her, ridicules her or bullies her ... she never breaks! And THAT is unforgivable. (As they will get to know each other better, Raphael will be able to see Venus for what she is: not the incarnation of perfection on Earth, but a very shy young woman with very basics communication skills )

Donatello: Donnie, now a 21-year-old man, is ashamed to face the ghosts of his childhood that Venus brings with her. He remembers very well how he treated her when they were young and is very ashamed of how bad he was to her. Age made him realize that despite not sharing the same beliefs he didn't had the right to mistreat her. Because of this, upon their reunion, Donatello can't even look her in the eye... The situation gets so much worse when he realizes that she is kind, peaceful and strategic and that the obsession and discipline she exercises in her spiritual rituals are equivalent to those himself repets with his inventions, experiments and research. In silence, he starts to admire her more and more, and the more he admires her the more shame he feels for how he treated her. For a long time, he fantasies with the day when he will be forgiven and accepted, who knows, maybe she will admire him in the same way ... Poor Donnie, he doesn't even imagine that Venus does not hold a single drop of resentment and that she ends up interpreting him distancing himself of her as a form of showing contempt. (Agsnt is my fucking life)

Michelangelo: Mikey finds Venus so.fucking.intimidating. He remmembered her as a very small and shy crybaby, but now? Now she is the greatest warrior he have ever seen. If Leonardo tries to be the authority figure and ends up rejected by his younger brother, Venus does not have the same intention, but ends up winning the respect and trust of the youngest of the group. She ends up being the only figure that Michelangelo really respects and obeys blindly after Master Splinter. He adores her  just as a troubled student adores the patient and empathetic vice director. Their friendship ends up becoming so sincere and pure that he starts playing video games on mute just to hear the stories she reads aloud.

_________________________________________________________

Well.. That’s it for Venus BIO! Please tell me what do you think! Every comment and opinion is welcome. My ask box is also open for any questions about this AU! Thank you so much for reading till the end. 

[bluesunsdusk]

Sigma in different setting verses and family

Strap yourself in, this will be a long post. 

Main/Overwatch

I imagine my Sigma to have had two brothers, both older than him, but both also ultimately shorter. Wouter, the eldest brother died in the Omnic Crisis while he was working for Lucheng Interstellar, which created friction between him and the family, as they felt rather upset at his absence during this very tumultuous time despite the fact that his research served to improve the chances of survival for those back on earth. The  other brother, Joris, became a sheep farmer, because he had fanciful ideas about living the farmer lifestyle up north. Siebren was surprised that he manages to get a husband, in all honesty, because he hasn’t a clue who would want to live on a farm far removed from any bus stops and towns. 

Anyway, after a while, the tension brought on by Wouter’s death dissipated, since people knew very well that Siebren cares a lot about his family. He just wasn’t as lovey-dovey as some people and showed his care through things like developing protective measures in his lab that can be used down on earth. It wasn’t like anyone would benefit from him buying candy or some shit. Leave that to Joris. Besides, what was he supposed to do if he had stayed on earth? Take the missiles in his brother’s stead? 

Sometimes, he would try to assist in looking after the children of the family, despite only being able to use long distance communications. 

He travelled away from the family home on many school trips and went into an apartment when he entered college. Being as distracted by/focused on his studies as he was, it could be hard to manage his time between his studies and his family, so he would not visit as often as they would like if he wasn’t reminded to do so because he had a hard time missing people. He had a hard time with emotions in general and was prone to tunnel vision that made him lose track of broader time.

He loves his family, he just doesn’t spend much time with them, and he clearly loves his direct family (brothers, parents) the most. Honestly, he sometimes forgot others and had to put a lot of effort into keeping them in mind early on, especially with the limited energy he had for social interactions. That being said, the children usually did enjoy his company, which made it a lot easier to remember contacting the family, especially for the children who contacted him or asked their parents about him.

If contacted, he would not just ignore a message, unlike some uncles. It could sometimes take him a while to get back at a message, but he would try to get back to it.

Merfolk

Siebren has two siblings. With the lack of a war, his eldest brother is alive, but he nearly died protecting a school of merfolk from a human attack. Humans like to collect merfolk for prestige or to eat. Most merfolk cannot speak the human languages because they spend most of their time underwater and use nonverbal means to communicate. When above water, they also just speak a different language than any of the human languages, though they might have similar enough accents to certain local dialects.

He travels a lot, so he is used to not seeing his family for long stretches of time. That being said, he makes sure to visit them every now and then, and they make the most of it whenever he is by. His eldest brother worries about him a lot, knowing how close he gets to humans in his research. 

When he visits, ge brings some items from his research. Sometimes, it’s items that are seen as junk to humans, like broken off parts of ships or parts of marine observation technology.

In an attempt to keep everyone safe, Wouter teaches his children and brothers how to defend themselves. Because Siebren isn’t around often, he has been taught a lot less. 

Monster Hunter

In this verse, Sigma has one brother, having lost his eldest brother to a demon attack while Siebren studied different dimensions for the monster hunting order he is a part of. After his brother’s death, he continued his studies, but he was less focused, eventually having an accident that exposed him to the unfiltered energies of a demonic plane. 

Anyway, he isolated himself from his family since his brother’s death. He was not at his funeral. Like in his main verse, it put a strain on the relationship between him and his brother, though his sister-in-law understood why he didn’t show up. She was just worried about him.

Like in his main verse, he is used to not seeing his family for long stretches of time, and he is aware that he may be killed in the line of duty. As time passed, he began to contact his sister-in-law more often.

Eldritch

El just... He knows he/his host has a family, and being in this body means he has a bond towards them. In fact, he cares more about them now than he did before. Eldritch just can’t visit them, because he is an eldritch host, and he doesn’t want to do harm to his family or have them do harm to him. 

He is upset sometimes because he will never meet them and he is a stranger in his own body now. 

Vampire

His family is his vampire clan. Anyone who isn’t in the cult isn’t his family. His brother and everyone else hasn’t heard from him since he went on his little expedition. They don’t even know he’s alive. He doesn’t even think about them, and he doesn’t miss any of them. All he cares about is the melody and sharing his blood with people.

Demon

He has been a demon for so long he doesn’t even remember his family, aside from vague things. Sometimes, he may recall a name or a feeling. He is used to isolation. Sometimes, he does feel lonely, so he seeks out mortal interaction, but then he tires from said mortals. 

It’s unpleasant having a need for mortal company when having such limited patience for them. Whenever he attempts to give them a chance, they remind him of why he dislikes them. 

Orc Warlock

In this verse, Sigma lives with his family in the tribe and helps raise the children when he has the time to do so. One of his brothers was killed by outsiders during an attack on their tribe before they had relocated, and the other members of the tribe offered their hands in taking care of the children while his partner mourned. Sigma was among them, despite mourning the loss of his brother as well. Back then, he had studied the arcane and partially blamed himself for not being able to fend people off well enough to protect his brother. 

As one might imagine, the orc tribes are less about studying abroad or working in space. In fact, he’s spent most of his life with the tribe. It’s big on communal childrearing and exile is seen as the biggest shame an orc can have thrust upon them. The tribe sticks together and they protect each other. An isolated orc is far more prone to being attacked and killed than a tribe is. 

Furthermore, he’s not exactly in possession of the privilege a cis white European man with higher education would have. 

People fear his kind, though unlike with certain other races, he can understand why one may have a logical reason not to trust an orc, considering Gul’dan and the Horde in a WoW verse. 

In a general fantasy setting that so happens to have the fel, which he is in, though, he believes most biases about orcs to be just that. Biases and made up nonsense, such as that all orcs are genetically predisposed to violence and inherently worst at arcane arts shouldn’t be taken as fact, yet so many do it. It doesn’t help that orcs look less than elegant to most other races, what with their sharp teeth and tusks. The hulking mass most have doesn’t help either, nor do the more extreme groups of orc that think people like Sigma should have been drowned at birth for not being born absolutely stacked.  

People, especially orcs, don’t really trust mages in some places either, so he’s double fucked. 

The tribe has people keeping watch all day and night, in shifts, and has wards around the area to detect and hinder intruders. When away from the tribe, he is on high alert and has trouble relaxing and sleeping. His eyes will open at the slightest noise, unless he’s with someone he trusts. This means someone he trusts to protect both themselves and him, and to not get caught by surprise. He won’t even sleep much better from putting up wards, and demons can draw attention.

Sometimes, the children will visit his shaman tent when he is doing normal shaman things instead of warlock things. 

Being an important member of the tribe, he also just worries about how well his people would do without him. They already almost died a few times. He’s had to protect them on numerous occasions and the forest was chosen because it’s far from people who might harm them or try to rope them into a conflict. The demons are bound to his will, too. What would happen if he was gone for so long that they ceased to be bound? Sure, Moira is there and could tame them, but he doesn’t trust her. What if she does something that alters the tribe in a way that can’t be reversed?

He doesn’t want to admit it, but he gets anxious if cut off from the tribe. It’s in contrast with regular Overwatch Sigma, who is fine not being in contact with his family for a bit, because Warlock has hardly ever been separated from his family ever, and there is a huge mentality of loyalty to the tribe He gave his actual soul for the tribe. 

That being said, even if he got a letter while away, he would not respond to it immediately if he is occupied. He will make sure it’s safe and will check it almost immediately though. 

Dragon Age

The Augur of the Obscure does not remember his family, only small snippets of it, along with blurred and scrambled memories from other parts of his life. He thinks they were close when he was younger. His studies made them drift a little apart.

Naturally, everyone he grew up with is dead. It has been quite a long time ago since the first blight, after all. Perhaps, them being dead is for the best, considering the circumstances. 

Verses not included: 

Fable 2 and 3

Fable 3: Traitor’s Keep

Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Disciple of Order

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Mass Effect ot

Mass Effect Andromeda

[captnjacksparrow]

if you had to rank your fav naruto characters how would it go? love your blog btw!!

Hmmm... Complicated ask, anon.😂

[My personal life would be splashed here and there. Please bear with me]

Before 5 months, if you asked me about Naruto, my response would be ‘What the fuck is that?’. I absolutely had no idea such a treasure existed. For me, it started out like a blockbuster movie for the sheer variety of fights and the resulting emotions it brought within me. 

However, there was a point I stopped and thought, ‘Wait a fucking second. This resembles my family dynamics. This person is speaking the exact same lines I spoke to my parents few years ago. This person’s situation resembles mine. Did this creator a time traveler?’. Naruto is the only piece of media that gave me such feel. Am not even exaggerating, believe me. 

I really liked so many characters very much but am going to try my best to list just 10. 

The only characters I hate in this series are Danzo, Sakura and Hinata in no particular order. Meaning, I absolutely cannot see any positives in them. They are crassy, cringey and completely detestable.

FAVOURITE NARUTO CHARACTERS

10. Killer Bee

HaHaHa :-) Just seeing this character makes me smile and light-hearted.

It’s a pity that he is the only character who don’t belong to Konoha in my Top 10 rankings who was developed well apart from Gaara.

I loved him from Frame 1 onwards and I sincerely wished Team Taka should be packed up with their ass beaten up mercilessly. And that’s what happened.

Despite being a Jinchurikki, he never bothered to mind his surroundings and filled his heart with love from his over protective Brother alone was nice to watch.

He makes a great Tag Partner with Naruto next to Sasuke. No doubt.

The way Killer Bee treated Team Taka like some annoying flies and his cool and don’t care attitude was top notch. It’s not just with Sasuke, Bee treated Naruto with the same IDGAF attitude at first.

Best Moments:

Lariat punch to Sasuke (TBH, Sasuke deserved it. LOL)

Blasted off every member of Team Taka like a doll

His entire conversation and fight sequence with Kisame (Their banters and exchanges are way too hilarious)

His dynamics with his Elder Brother (God!!!! Whenever Raikage gives him an Iron Claw.... What a hilarious duo!!!!)

9. Hatake Kakashi

Kakashi was my most favourite character when I started the series for simply being ultra-cool with the way he conducted the Bell-Test and taught a valuable lesson for those bratty kids in Team 7 called ‘Team Work’. 

Best Moments:

Kakashi vs Obito Hand-to-Hand Combat (the best in the series)

Kakashi in the Gaara retrieval arc (His fight with Itachi & Deidara gave a good start to the shippuden series. His Mangekyou reveal was surprising).

Kakashi & Guy teaming up with Naruto to reveal Obito in a twisty and tragic way. (Kakashi couldn’t handle the truth at all and neither did I)

Kakashi vs Zabuza (That’s when I realized that the series was getting real serious)

8. Jiraiya

Jiraiya was my next favourite to Kakashi during my Part 1 days. His open perversion and his entire dynamics with Naruto was one of the best things during the Chunin Exams arc. Taught Naruto about Chakra Control and about the way of a shinobi by just enduring. Naruto follows this even today.

Best Moments: 

Kuchiyose No Jutsu training (Man, I never expected him to push Naruto off the cliff)

Rasengan Training (One of the best arcs in part 1 and it was soo satisfying to see Naruto punching his first Rasengan on Kabuto, He also acted like a quasi parent to Naruto... heartwarming)

Jiraiya Vs Six paths of Pain ( 6 vs 1 was always doomed but still he had the guts of a shinobi and plunged ahead)

7. Uchiha Madara

Geez. What is there to not like him?? 

Everything he did was absolutely wrong ever since he broke up with Hashirama in a romantic way much similar to how couples break up in my country.

I am an Uchiha. You are a Senju. I wish it had been different.

This roughly translates to how 75% of lovers break up and marry someone else from their own clan in my state. (Duh!!!)

I am from XXX clan, you are from XXX clan. So we can’t love each other and my parents won’t accept this relationship. So let’s break up.

Alright, my first shipping couple in this series is HashiMada for this exact reason. (I started shipping SNS only after episode 478). 

Just like Hashirama, Madara had an extensive build up right from episode 1 where Kurama compares Sasuke with Madara. And flashbacks from Itachi and Tobi spiked my curiosity and I wanted to see his face so badly ever since.

But the moment he landed gracefully like a diva in episode 321.... Woaahhhh!!!! He literally danced in the battlefield and ate up 100′s of guys with just a fucking Sharingan. 

Best Moments:

Going Shirtless before 1000′s of people with Hashirama’s face, no less (Well, I literally went heart-eyed for 5 minutes. Sorry Sasuke, your ancester was way much sexier than you in the Orochimaru hideout and beats you by a million points).

Screaming Hashirama’s name like a cockatoo for 300 times even till the very end (Sorry Naruto, your obsession towards Sasuke for about 6 arcs is pale in comparison to Madara’s obsession which was established in just 6 or 7 episodes.)

I have 25 clones now. Do you want me to put Susanoo or not? You can’t answer. The answer is yes. (Man, his I don’t give a fuck attitude is just an alien level thing)

Openly admitting Only Hashirama Can Beat Me (Say what you will about Sasuke, Madara has no qualms about accepting his inferiority in terms of power. An absolute Straight Forward diva-queen)

Awakening Sharingan for breaking up with his ‘friend’ rather than for his 3 dead brothers. (Geez, Poor Soul. He is the forefather of a Romantic Uchiha. That romantic blood still flows in Sasuke)

6. Senju Hashirama

Man, I would have placed him somewhere in top 5 if only he was introduced early or had more scenes. I started watching Naruto only because of this very name. There is a local podcaster in my state who goes under the alias of Senju Hashirama and in his podcasts, he hinted about this character and how he was inspired by his ideals. I just googled and saw that this character belonged to Naruto series and I considered watching it. Here I am, making analysis on that very series.

There was this excellent build up for him right when we got introduced to Captain Yamato. He was constantly referred in flashbacks from Itachi and Tobi especially.

But the moment he was reanimated again..... Geez..... It was an hilarious ride all throughout. Out of all the flashbacks we got from this series, Founders Era flashback was my absolute favourite.

From where I come from, we are still under the stupid influence of Clan infrastructure and are not growing up in many aspects like people in western countries do. For me, I hope, one day, someone like Senju Hashirama appears in our state and change our lives for better by uniting all clans as one and treats everyone equally without the shitty favouritism for their own children, friends, parents, siblings.

That’s why this dialogue struck a thunder in my heart

“Be they a friend.... Be they a sibling.... Be it even my own child. I will not forgive anyone who threatens the village.”

Because the clan leaders in our place are absolutely selfish, trash bastards who serves their own needs with no regards for other people from other clans. For a person like me, Hashirama is not just a fictional hero, he is someone who many aspires to become. No wonder that podcaster chose this name as his alias.

He rightfully deserved the title ‘God of Shinobi’. And no one can surpass him, not even Naruto.

Best Moments:

Wood Style vs Eternal Mangekyou sharingan + Kurama powered Madara (He just beats Madara’s ass by a wide margin. This shows he was a whole fucking different level than Naruto + Sasuke combined. In terms of strength, nobody surpassed him YET. Sorry Naruto and Sasuke, you guys are no match even now with your Rinnegan and Kurama lost forever).

His entire banters with Madara (ROFLLLL. Without him, it would have been just another lifeless arc.)

5. Senju Tobirama

Hmmm, let me tell you something about him.

First off, he is not a racist or fascist as many hardcore Sasuke fanatics claims. He is one of the best hokages according to me. He is abso-fucking-lutely practical, rational, logical and holds no grudge. And Sasuke resembles Tobirama with all these characteristics as compared to soft and naive Naruto. If only he had more screen time, he would be easily in my top 3. 

Just because he didn’t lick the boots of Uchiha (many people’s favorite clan or may I say the only clan that was given any shit about in this series), it doesn’t make him a racist or fascist.

No, he never persecuted the Uchihas. Danzo, the crass bastard, driven off the Uchihas only after the Kyuubi incident. It was explicitly mentioned in the databook and was clearly explained in the series. 

He literally gave the highest position in the village for the entire clan. That is, a military power inside a military village. ‘Shinobi who can cause crimes can only be stopped by shinobi who are even better’. In my state, if a powerful clan decided to persecute another clan, they simply start by cutting off basic amenities like Water and Electricity. Compared to what I’ve seen, Tobirama did nothing but given the Uchihas, the highest position in their village. 

Orochimaru only said giving such a power made them conceited (arrogant). Tobirama had a trusted subordinate called Kagami, an Uchiha in his team. He suggested Kabuto to help Sasuke and even teleported him on his request. He even spited Madara for killing Sasuke, an Uchiha. He openly claimed Uchiha clan exceeds Senju in terms of Love. He openly appreciated Itachi and Kagami as someone who sees beyond their clan. In what world, would a racist or fascist do all this for a clan he hates??? 

Yes, he was cautious of Sasuke at first because he saw him with Orochimaru and even went full-on battle mode because of Sasuke’s carefree threat to destroy the village. But once he decided to go to the battlefield to fight Madara, he simply forgot everything that happened before and started to work with him as a comrade, and even helped him twice. In which world, a racist or fascist behave this way?

Believe me, a person like me who was grown with these clan politics surely can say who is a fascist. He was not. He was just cautious of them because of their ability to attain superpowers with just emotions alone. Let me ask you all this, ‘Would you be okay with people getting crazy powers whenever they are depressed?’. Being cautious is not racism. It really disrespects people who faced real oppression under fascism.

What Madara and Danzo did was a classical example of fascism. 

And No, Izuna didn’t die only because of Tobirama. He died because Madara was too arrogant to instigate war with Senju clan. And this was way before forming Konoha. If Tobirama killed Izuna after the alliance between Uchiha and Senju, I would agree that he was a racist. Izuna lost his life just like any other Uchiha and Senju soldiers in that battlefield. 

Just because he shitted your beloved ‘Sasuke-Kun’ doesn’t mean he is a racist too. Tobirama saw Sasuke along with that scoundrel Orochimaru who once used this very two hokages to destroy the very village they strived hard to create and protect. What will you do, if you were in his place?? Please don’t lie and say ‘I wouldn’t be judgemental’. 

And Imagine you are Tobirama, Sasuke is threatening to commit genocide against the entire village who had no idea about this coup detat instead of going against those old hags. Will you sit quiet as a Hokage?? 

He was the first person to suggest his brother, Itama, that Revenge against Uchihas are futile. All we need is an agreement to make truce. That gave the idea for Hashirama to pursue his dream. And Tobirama was happy to follow that dream and very supportive. 

It’s because of all these reasons I placed him above Senju Hashirama.

Best Moments:

Amazing power display against Sasuke & Co with just an index finger (It was a pleasure to see everyone’s face trembling with mild sweat including Sasuke).

Acted as a decoy to save his young subordinates. (The way he sacrificed his life saying young wills of fire must be protected is just Woow!! I wish his subordinates listened to his words and passed the mantle to the younger ones rather than playing game at such an old age and screwed up many lives. Pfft!!!)

Any time he says ‘Shut Up’ to Hashirama (ROFL)

His absolute ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude to Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, Minato and Madara (He trolled them all mercilessly and I love it)

4. Senju Tsunade

It hurts me to say that Tsunade is the only female character in my list because every other female characters were written in a much more piss poorly way. Only Konan came close to Tsunade but her role was very short. 

Despite her character’s purpose revolved around another male character (Dan) and a blatant objectification of her breasts, I liked everything about her other than those mentioned above. 

She is the Second Best Hokage who took Konoha right after the destruction made by Orochimaru, excellently handled the aftermath by making friendly relations with Suna (Sand village), provided her best medical support to Konoha in the Pain Arc and successfully handled the fourth Shinobi world war. 

She is such a badass who developed her own original jutsu called Byakugou no Jutsu, which can heal herself. 

She is just way too amazing and it’s a pity that we got very less scenes in Shippuden.

Best Moments:

Took 25+ stabs from Madara’s Susanoo like a piece of cake (Man, I simply couldn’t describe that scene. All the other Kages were shocked and even Madara too)

Lifted her advisors like a cabbage sack (Those fucking old hags deserved it. Those shits should’ve died)

Her index finger flick assault on Naruto (Aww, Naruto was definitely bratty in his first meeting and Tsunade didn’t hold back at all)

Played Orochimaru like a basketball (In that same arc, she fought Orochimaru mercilessly like a devil left and right. Someone who claimed to have surpassed Tsunade never even dared to fight Orochimaru’s student and crying for his attention after just receiving one stab from Madara. Just saying)

3. Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto is the titular character and your emotions evolve along with him. He surely deserves a spot in Top 3. The only reason I didn’t place Naruto even more higher is because he didn’t experience something very important which many characters in this list faced. That is, Losing a loved one before his eyes. Every villain in this series became what they are because they lost someone important before their eyes like Nagato, Obito. (Nope, I don’t count Neji as his loved one). I think this tests the mettle of any character and Naruto failed to experience this. The only person he ever lost was Jiraiya and that too from off-screen. That’s why I felt his journey to his dreams seemed little easier compared to the rest of the characters.

His best block of episodes will always be the part 1 Episode 1, 2, 3. Episode 1 is the character defining episode for Naruto and what he learned there will be applied everywhere till the very end of the series. He learned 3 things

Forgiveness, Empathy and Acceptance

Talk-No-Jutsu

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

From then on, this boy wins many friends to his side, not only from Konoha but from other villages too and even made them to acknowledge his strength only through his sheer hard work. 

However, there is this person, whose acknowledgement he wants the most.  That person is his most important bond along with Iruka Sensei. He is none other than Sasuke. One day, Sasuke left him alone for some unavoidable reason at the end of part 1 which left a huge scar in him and he vows to bring him back to the place where he belongs. That becomes his ultimate goal rather than becoming an Hokage.

The way he goes to any extent to protect the people he cares about is just simply entertaining to watch.

Every time he makes an heroic entry to save the day was never boring, not once. 

Best Moments:

Sobbing from his heart after hearing Iruka Sensei acknowledging him (It just makes me feel heavy for no reason. The anime team did an awesome job to capture his emotions convincingly)

Awakening Kyuubi Mode for the first time after seeing Sasuke die in his arms (Man, out of all the collective hatred he got from the villagers, this moment affected him a lot speaks volumes)

Punching Neji from the underground to win the Chunin exams (God, I honestly believed Naruto lost but he just surprised us heavily from nowhere. And that failure speech was just pure bliss to watch even today)

Pain Vs Naruto (One of the best arc for Naruto. Because unlike other arcs, where Naruto fought with a team, this arc he was all alone fighting a person with Rinnegan. Be it the exuberant landing from the frogs with a dramatic kabuki music, creating multi-step attacks, coming up with novel solution in that difficult situation, finally ending the conflict without killing the enemy, becoming an hero. Superb journey. The only thing I didn’t like in that arc is some shitty selfish proposal. PUKE!!)

Bearing the burdens of his most important person and die along with him (This boy always shouts he will never die until he becomes an Hokage. But for Sasuke, he was ready to die along with him in order to not leave him alone proves how much he loves him. This shows his emotional maturity rather than shouting at Sasuke like he always did before which never reached his ears. This time it did)

Final Good Bye to Minato (Honestly, I was bawling just like Naruto in that scene no matter how many times I watch it. It started out slow but as he speaks more and more, he simply couldn’t hold back and wept a sea of tears 😭😭😭)

2. Uchiha Sasuke

One of the well written characters in this series, with all the flaws and positive stuffs which makes him more of an Anti-Hero. He always subverts my preformed opinions and never ceased to surprise me.

Despite being aloof and cold, his warmer side will always be exposed towards Naruto. This is evident by many things he had done for Naruto which he don’t have to or no reason to. Starting right from roasting Sakura, offering lunch, asking for tips, enquiring about breakfast, protecting him many times and dying for Naruto. 

Why I placed him above Naruto is because of his unavoidable decision to tread in a complicated dark path primarily due to the trauma he carried and was stirred up again by collective factors such as Orochimaru’s cursed seal, Itachi’s arrival and Naruto’s growth. Compared to Sasuke, Naruto had an easier path because he never saw anyone die before his eyes and hence he don’t carry any trauma which can divert his path.

Even after watching his entire clan and family members murdered before his eyes at an age 8, he managed to pull himself and never snapped out like many other good characters does. But the moment when he found out that Itachi was good all along, he simply couldn’t tolerate the truth and gave himself to Vengeance. Because, he loved his brother more than he hated him all these years. This shows he loved his brother more than his parents. His resolve to destroy Konoha was perfectly understandable. But is it good? Nope. He can kill Danzo and those old hags but killing other people was never justifiable.

But still, his resolve to have his vengeance was diverted by Naruto and weakened by Itachi, at some point. So, he decided to know the truth and when he heard it, he understood the Hokages also sacrificed many precious things to protect this village just like his Brother Itachi. He understood the mistakes of his clan and decided to protect the village which he swore to destroy. [Many Sasuke fanatics think that he succumbed to the Government and Kishi wrote Sasuke to bootlick them. Their idea was to tackle genocide with another genocide. What a stupid idea!!!!]

And No, I don’t consider him trying to kill Sakura, Karin and Kakashi as his bad moments (though I feel bad for Karin). For the simple reason being, he became a monster by losing himself in the darkness who lost the rationality to differentiate friends from foes. Much similar to how Naruto lost himself to Kyuubi’s hatred against Orochimaru and in Pain Arc. It’s so hypocritical to ignore Naruto and accuse Sasuke here. Plus, Sakura had no business to be there otherwise Sasuke would not have tried to kill her. 

But does it mean Sasuke did nothing wrong???

Nope.

He definitely shouldn’t have joined Akatsuki and hunted Killer Bee like an animal. Because, he knew that Tobi was the one who helped Itachi massacre the clan. When fighting Itachi he specifically vowed to kill Madara (Tobi). On top of that, Itachi passed on Amaterasu in his eyes specifically to stay away from Tobi. Why did he ally with him? Plus, Sasuke was one of the few characters who was exposed to the name ‘Akatsuki’ in part 1 itself. He clearly knew that this organization targets Naruto, his closest bond. Why did he join there? This is where the stupid part of Sasuke came out. I was grunting... ‘Oii Where did that clever Sasuke, who faced 1000 soldiers without killing any of them, went??’. 

And his plan for Revolution???? I thought it would be reasonable. But his vision was eerily similar to Danzo’s vision. Grrr..... Danzo also wanted to create his ideal village by destroying the current Hokage. He wanted to unite the Five Village and put himself on top of everyone as evident from the Kage Summit arc. 

I appreciate him that he finally adopted the Will of Fire, by wanting to protect the village at all costs just like Itachi and Hashirama did. But his methods are not very democratic. Plus, he wanted to do it alone. I was screaming at him... ‘Grrr, Sasuke, did you listen to Itachi at all???. He failed because he did everything alone. Why can’t you understand????’ This is also another instance, Sasuke’s stupidity glanced out.

I am happy Naruto knocked some sense into him by telling him not to do it alone but together.

Many fanatics also ask, ‘What did Sasuke do wrong to atone for his sins at the end?’.

I was like ‘Reallly????’

He joined Akatsuki, an organization which terrorized all the 5 villages and he hunted someone like an international criminal.

He spoiled the Kage Summit and attacked Raikage who lost his arm because of him. I know what happened over there is not Sasuke’s fault. But these are the kages who was loved by many people in their own villages. How can the world forget it and simply let him go?

It’s exactly because of all those lovely stuffs he did in Part 1 and all these mistakes he did in Part 2 but willing to correct his mistakes by sharing the burdens of his other half in the end made him more interesting, complicated and exciting and that’s why I love this character.

I also have a personal bias to love this character sooo much because of the character on top of my list.

Best Moments:

Defending Naruto before Sakura (Awww!!! Such a good boy he was. Eventhough I thought he was a typical arrogant K-Drama hero, he just subverted my opinion in that one scene. I always have a thing for people who stands up for someone even though they don’t have to. This is where I started to like Sasuke)

My body moved on its own. (Is there anything that trumps this scene in terms of emotions and love in this series?. This moment is where I understood the depth of Sasuke’s emotions towards Naruto).

What is a Clan? What is a Village? What is a Shinobi? (I was really hoping for Sasuke to question himself something similar to this. Because he was so self-absorbed in his hatred and failed to look outside him ever since he left the village. It was so gratifying that he did that)

Killing Orochimaru (I always thought Sasuke will kill him only after he tries to take over the body. Never imagined that he will strike the snake first)

Killing Danzo (Man, what an amazing battle!!!. It was so gratifying to see such a crass bastard die many times over and over).

His dramatic confession through his monologue (After the mystery of Who is this Tobi, Sasuke’s obsession towards Naruto remained a mystery for me. Why did he listen to Naruto under the bridge? Why did he protected Naruto in the War? I got the answer only after this confession. It was so heartwarming to see this mellow side of Sasuke)

1. Uchiha Itachi

I could write pages about him. The foremost reason I like Itachi and earns the top spot in my rankings is because he shockingly resembled me in many ways. As I already said, I come from a place where clan politics plays a major role and when I see Sasuke’s flashback in part 1, I was simply dumbstruck by such a detailed similarities.

Elder child of the family - ✅

Have an adorable younger sister who loves me more than my parents - ✅

Same age gap (5 years) with my sister as Itachi and Sasuke - ✅

Parents paying total attention on me while ignoring my sister completely - ✅

Parents constantly comparing my achievements with my sister - ✅

A sister who bear hugged me every time I entered the home after returning from my school - ✅

Despite my mom being a teacher, my sister always prefers me to teach her stuffs as she considers me to be way too better than my mom -  ✅

Love my sister more than my parents - ✅

Clan-Obsessed parents - ✅

Used me as a tool for the benefit of the clan - ✅

Sending another person from my clan to spy on me - ✅

Strained relationship with my parents - ✅

Disgusted with my clan - ✅

Most importantly, this dialogue from part 1 episode 129,

Clan? Clan?

Obsessed with the organization, Obsessed with the clan, Obsessed with the name, that’s merely the detestable action that restrict yourself.

I have given up all hope in this worthless clan

Because, people obsess themselves to their clan, a thing so petty, they lose sight of the things that are truly important.

A real change cannot occur under restraints and controls

I confronted my parents with the exact same dialogue (almost 98% similar) in my own native language some years ago. 

I didn’t even know the existence of Naruto series at that time. I was simply shell-shocked by all these similarities with this character. 

And Yes, The moment I heard these dialogues, I knew Itachi, was a good guy, who had a very strong reason for his actions and I instantly knew Sasuke’s revenge will not bear him any happiness. 

It is exactly because of all these striking similarities of myself with Itachi, and my lil’l sister with Sasuke, my family dynamics with the Uchiha family.... I could understand the magnitude of Sasuke’s love towards Itachi. 

And precisely because of that, I could understand Sasuke’s love towards Naruto is not fucking ‘brotherly’ one but something that leans towards Attraction. 

No wonder, Itachi left Sasuke in Naruto’s care. 

Anyways to speak objectively, 

Itachi is an extremely self-sacrificial person whose life is full of pain and miseries but never blames it on the world unlike other Uchiha members like Madara, Obito and Sasuke to an extent.

He did things considering the bigger picture which never benefitted himself in anyway and was willing to go to any extent even at the expense of his own family and his brother’s happiness. That is, Uchiha Clan Massacre and Joining Akatsuki. None of this benefitted him in anyways but he did it anyway, for the village of Konoha. 

His ideals are shockingly similar to Hashirama, Which Sasuke pointed this out and Hashirama acknowledged that Itachi was a better shinobi than he was. ❤️❤️❤️

Now, does this means I support Uchiha clan massacre?

No way. Even Itachi didn’t.

This massacre happened because of the huge clusterfuck from Hiruzen’s incompetence, Danzo’s paranoid arrogance, Uchiha clan’s devious plan to over throw the government by force rather than approaching it in a peaceful way, say, a peace talk or a protest. 

All these people acted on their own self-interest. Itachi and Shisui caught in their whirlpool, bear their burdens and paid for it with their life. Sasuke suffered for it.

But, it’s not the only reason I love this character. It’s because, the moment he decided to massacre everyone, he marked his own death by the hands of his beloved brother. I love people who owns up their mistakes and face the consequences rather than making excuses (even though it’s not entirely his mistake).

Itachi is also the only character in this series who realized his failures on his own without anyone’s interference or Naruto’s Talk-No-Jutsu. 

And he apologized for everything he did to Sasuke.

Again, some hardcore Sasuke fanatics criticize/hate him for torturing their poor ‘Sasuke-Kun’ with his Tsukuyomi. I was like ‘Hmmm...What?’. 

First off, Itachi apologized to Sasuke for not thinking out from his point of view and also for not telling him the truth earlier.

Second off, Sasuke never even blamed Itachi for anything (even he didn’t hold him for killing their parents). If Sasuke himself, forgiven Itachi... Why are his fans being so rabid?

Third off, for all of his supposed ‘crimes’, he paid for it by dying as a disgraceful Madman rather than a Hero who really saved the village. He is someone who should be celebrated like Naruto but instead died proudly as a Traitor of Konoha.

All in all, One of the wonderfully written character I have ever seen in the media. 

Best Moments:

Itachi vs Sasuke (That battle was a pure brilliance and highly emotional especially after knowing the truth. When Sasuke released his Kirin, Itachi showed off his ultimate armour Susanoo like a badass. Seeing Susanoo for the first time gave me chills. No, Sasuke didn’t kill him. Itachi died on his own)

Itachi vs Orochimaru (Man, Itachi may look mellow but when it comes to Orochimaru he is a pure Sass. He screwed that snake up both the times by a wide margin. It seems Uchiha brothers like to fuck up Orochimaru, LOL)

Talk-No-Jutsu’ing Naruto (Geez, Naruto was being completely bratty and was full of saviour complex like he was going to bear everyone’s hatred by himself. I was almost annoyed. Thanks to Itachi, he realised. Probably he is the only character to shut Naruto using his own jutsu)

Izanami’ing Kabuto (Other than Naruto, he is the only character to go out of his way to empathize with a villain and put extreme effort to change him. I think this is why Sasuke loves Naruto, for seeing these similarities??? ).

Goodbye to Sasuke (The first time when he said ‘Forgive me, Sasuke. This is the last’ by poking his forehead and finally closing the distance by butting with Sasuke’s head softly saying ‘I will love you always’.... It always evokes uncontrollable tears in me, no matter how many times I watch it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭)

HONOURABLE MENTION

Uchiha Obito

God, Am such a sucker for Uchiha guys individually, though collectively as a clan they fucked up big time. I simply couldn’t find the place for him in the top 10. He is a classic example of What Naruto will be like if he becomes a villain?

However, all those horrible stuffs he did just for a girl whom he had a crush on which was never reciprocated seems childish. That’s why I couldn’t put him in Top 10.

And his understandable but weird obsession on Naruto was always enjoyable to watch. 

One cute thing I liked about him was, whatever criminal stuffs he may have done, he was never a cheapskate though. He had every chance to take back Kakashi’s Sharingan to activate his own Susanoo. But he never even thought of such an idea. He was a bad guy. But a good friend, no matter what. 

Pure Baby!!! But lost his way!!!

Best Moments:

Importance of Team Work (’In the ninja world, Those who break the rules are  scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum’. This very legacy he left to Kakashi came to defeat him later. And Naruto follows this motto even today)

Sacrificing his Sharingan (’I am giving you my Sharingan. No matter what the villagers say, you are a great Jonin. Please take it’. Awww!!! Obito. He left his Sharingan which helped Kakashi to complete a jutsu called ‘Chidori’, which is a go-to jutsu of Sasuke)

Thanks for the ask, anon. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. ❤️

[that-otome-potato]

More Jinpachi stuff!  I started this when I was on vacation back in August, but once I got to the end of where I had handwritten it on the plane, it just stopped.

Fast forward six months (holy crap!), it’s done!  Goes along with the other ficlets I was writing for Jinpachi before that unintentional hiatus.

Jinpachi x Asayumi (slbp mc)

@all-my-cuffs-have-buttons @thanatosbanshee @calicocrest @saizoswifey (if the tag pops up for you XD)

~*~

Had it all been a dream?  Asayumi had traveled to the home of the Sanada to be with Jinpachi, but weeks had passed with little to no interaction with her illusive ninja.

Lord Nobuyuki had placed her in the kitchens to work feeding the voracious clan. She had learned much about the local flavors and spices, as well as food preferences, in the short time since she had arrived.

One day while presenting lunch, Lord Nobuyuki stopped her as she set his tray before him. “I’ve noticed some changes in our usual fare.  Is that your doing?”

“Yes, milord.  I hope it is to your liking.”

Asayumi was nervous because he had asked his question with a deadpan look.  It reminded her of Jinpachi. When she replied, however, a smile lit up his and Lord Yukimura’s faces.

“It’s delicious, my dear.  I thought I caught some familiar flavors.  The tastes from the capitol are more subtle than here, but they certainly add dimension to the heavier flavors of Ueda.”

Asayumi felt pride at his praise and smiled.  “Thank you, milord!  I’m honored you enjoy the food I made.”

“Might I ask you to meet me outside my chambers tonight.  I have a proposition for you.”

She felt the smile on her face fade slightly at the vagueness of his words. “Of course, milord.”

~*~

‘What could this be about?’ Asayumi thought to herself, carrying a bowl of armitsu with her to Lord Nobuyuki’s chambers after dinner service was cleaned up. He hadn’t asked to the treat, but she thought bringing him something sweet would help in case she had done something wrong.

When she reached Lord Nobuyuki’s chambers, she knocked and announced herself.  When she heard his voice from beyond bidding her entry, she excused herself and moved into the room, dessert in hand.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Asayumi.”

“How may I serve you, milord?”

“How would you like to be the Sanada head chef?”

Asayumi paused, her eyes wide. This was definitely the last thing she had expected when he had asked that she meet him here.  At first, Asayumi had thought he was going to ask her to warm his bed. Could she have refused him?  then, she assumed she had done something to get herself in trouble.  He wanted to make her the clan’s head chef?!

“Milord, I’m honored you would offer such a position to me.  But are you sure?  I’m newly arrived in Ueda - surely there is someone more qualified who has lived here longer?”

“How can we progress as a clan if we are unwilling to change? No, I believe you are the best choice for this position.”

The feeling in her chest at his praise during their meal returned. “Then I shall perform my duties to the best of my abilities so as to ensure your faith in my abilities isn’t misplaced!”

“Very good.  Now, I do believe there is somewhere you would rather be?”

She felt her cheeks flush at his implications, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Yes milord, but I have not seen him in a number of days. I am still new to this castle, to this relationship.  I have yet to pick up on all of his quirks and tendencies.”

“Then you’re in luck.  I have known him since we were children.  You will find him in his room. Two doors down to the left of here.”

“Thank you, milord!” She exclaimed, rushing to the door.  Before exiting, however, she turned back to Nobuyuki. “Milord, I have a question if I might ask.”

Nobuyuki nodded and Asayumi continued. “Where has Jinpachi been?  He didn’t tell me before leaving, which is normal.  I just...”

“.....Miss him.”

“Yes.”

Nobuyuki was silent for a few moments before he replied, “He was in another province.”

Such vague words caused her imagination to run wild.  Anything, from battle to pleasuring another person with his body in the name of gathering information for Lord Nobuyuki, flit past her minds eye. It left a hollow feeling in her stomach that she didn’t like. She quickly offered him a deep bow of respect before hurrying out the door and following his instructions, putting distance between her and the imagery his words caused.

Try as she might, however, the images of Jinpachi with his long limbs wrapped around the body of a woman that wasn’t her, formed as she walked. Of course, they were lithe, beautiful, and experienced.  All the things she wasn’t.   All the things she had seen men fawn over in the capitol. Except Jinpachi. But he had also been off on multiple missions that he never spoke of when he returned. For all she knew the thoughts her mind had conjured were accurate.  The life of a ninja was not their own, from what she had greened - If Lord Nobuyuki ordered him to seduce a woman who had information he wanted, Jinpachi would have to do it.

Asayumi signed at the thoughts running amok in her head. She needed to have faith in Jinpachi.  She couldn’t let her jealousy scare him away. Refocusing on searching for her destination, she was about to knock on a door she assumed was his when a dark shadow jumped out towards her and lifted her off her feet. Asayumi was inhaling to scream when she caught his scent from the person who had their arms around her.  She felt her body immediately relax.

Moments later, the wind rushing past her face stopped and she felt something firm at her back and her front.  When she looked up, it was Jinpachi’s dark gaze she felt ensnared by as he pressed against her, his knee moving between her legs to pin her to the tree at her back.

“You are home!  I’m so glad.” Asayumi maneuvered her arms to embrace him, but he pressed harder against her and propped both of his large hands on either side of her head on the tree. When she looked deeper into his eyes, she saw passion there, but also something else.

But before she could ask him about it, he leaned in and covered her lips in a punishing kiss, taking her breath away. Bruising nips and nibbles, he sucked on her lower lip until she could feel it become puffy and red.  New to kissing she may be, but Asayumi could feel something was going on with him and she wanted to know what. This one felt like he was laying claim to something that was already his.

Reluctantly, she brought her hands to his chest to push him away gently. “Jinpachi, what’s the matter?”

His eyes wavered as he looked at her, his voice a deep rumble when he finally took a breath to speak. “I...you are popular among the retainers. They speak of you often, friendly and otherwise. On my return, I looked for you, but you were gone. I found you coming from my Lords chambers. A darkness came over me. I apologize for how I treated you.”

Jinpachi backed away from Asayumi, unable to meet her eyes. His reaction and words clicked in her head, spelling out a single word she realized she felt directed towards him, too.

Just as he was tensing as if to disappear, Asayumi gripped his dark kimono. “I think what you felt was jealousy.”

“Jealousy?”

Asayumi nodded, not relinquishing her grip on his clothes.  “I was just feeling the same when I thought of Lord Nobuyuki sending you out on missions and I hear rumors that they involve other women.” She hears him inhale to reply and looks up, shaking her head to silence him.  “I know. I need not worry about you - you have proved it a number of times before we left the capitol. But I cannot help what I feel.”

Jinpachi hooked one of his long fingers under her chin to pull her close, placing  a chaste kiss on her passion-bruised lips as if to apologize. Asayumi smiled and nodded, wrapping her arms around his sturdy waist, feeling his heart beating as fast as her own. She silently basked in the fact that someone as amazing as the man in her arms would feel an emotion such as that in regards to her.

She nearly jumped when she heard a deep growl in his chest before she felt him move and push her back against the tree, lifting her up with his powerful powerful arms to wrap her legs around his waist. “I should not have kissed you without permission before. I apologize. May I, now?”

Love for him warmed her chest and she nodded again as he leaned back in to drink from her lips like a man dying of thirst as he pressed her against the tree for support.

[chicagocityofclans]

Arthur ‘Art’ Milligan Jr. → Hal Ozsan, Ellen Page, Brett Dalton, Daniel Gillies → Human Shifter

→ Basic Information 

Age: 287

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Asexual

Birthday: November 5th

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio 

Religion: Atheist

→ His Personality In his adolescence, Arthur Milligan Jr, was a person who could not stay out of trouble. As the younger of the two brothers, Arthur was something of a black sheep to Michael Milligan's golden child; he made unwise, reckless, often selfish decisions. Arthur was an outgoing, rebellious party boy and as a teenager, he got into some legal trouble, including one incident of stealing a local mayor's form performing multiple elusive acts. Arthur embodied a petty and jealous nature; he had an affair with Michael's girlfriend while using his brother's form. That was the last straw and his family had had enough; he was sent to join the clan of distant cousins, Marco and Giuseppina Cipriano and their son, Jev. It was after this incident that Arthur noticed he was different. He had never wanted someone romantically or physical. All of his conquest had been out of revenge or spite; Arthur lacked the normal sexual attraction to others and had no interest or desire for sexual activity besides inflicting pain. Arthur did stop his sexual quests but it only increased his desire to start fights and ruin lives. 

However, after his near-death experience with a vengeful ghost from his past, Arthur became more introverted, apathetic, and cold, as well as infatuated with ghosts and the afterlife. His obsession led him to Roman Cleirigh, a warlock with the power of evocation and his gaggle of ghosts. It took decades but after spending time with Roman and his ghost, Arthur soon regained his sense of trust and loyalty. Arthur often stews in his personal feelings of self-loathing due to his difficult past. It sometimes causes him to believe that he does not deserve to be friends, or consider most of them family, with the people he is attached to. Despite Michael being one of the inspiring motives for his reckless behavior in his teen years, Arthur still cares for him, to the point that when Michael disappeared, Arthur employed everyone both supernatural and not, to aid in the search. 

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Criminal Investigator 

Scars: On All Shifts/Forms 

Tattoos: Depending on the Shift/Form

Two Likes: Pizza and Outcasts

Two Dislikes: Manipulators/Users and Time Travelers

Two Fears: Being Shipwrecked and Temporal/Grandfather Paradox

Two Hobbies: Ghost Hunting and Spelunking

Three Positive Traits: Manly, Adventurous, Charming

Three Negative Traits: Prideful, Arrogant, Temperamental 

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Arthur Milligan Sr (Father): Arthur sent him away while he was still a teenager. His father once told him he was a stain on their family name. 

Marco Cipriano (Father Figure): Marco is a distant cousin but raised Arthur like his own son. Their relationship has now moved past father-son and Arthur can genuinely call Marco his best friend. 

Michelle Milligan (Mother): Michelle did not fight for him when Arthur's father decided to send him away. She never loved him as much as Michael. He was only the spare son and treated as such.

Giuseppina Cipriano (Mother Figure): Giuseppina treated him like a son should be. Even after the couple had their own son, they continued to treat Arthur as their own. Arthur can be a little overprotective of Giuseppina since she prefers younger attractive female forms. She and Marco both look younger than him and their son.

Sibling Names:

Michael Milligan (Brother): Arthur grew up being compared to Michael. As an adult Arthur knows that the anger towards his brother was unwarranted. However, he cannot make amends since Michael has been missing for 250 odd years. Arthur knows he is out there and constantly changing his forms. Arthur just wants a verbal confirmation that he is okay and is not running from danger. 

Jev ‘Patch’ Cipriano (Brother Figure): Jev was born decades after Arthur joined the Cipriano family. He never felt left out or as if his place might be taken. Patch has been more of a brother to him than Michael. Patch alway handles his cases first and was the one who introduced Arthur to Roman.

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Greta Bow (Romantically Interested): Arthur has never shown any genuine interest in another person. However, Greta has been a constant buzz in his head for nearly a century. Sadly, his self-loathing and sexual confusion has kept him from pursuing her.

Platonic Connections:

Roman Cleirigh (Old Friend): They share the same interest in ghost/spirits and sexuality's. Roman is easy to hang out with and is always willing to randomly go on an adventure with him. Roman introduced Arthur to caving/spelunking.

Vincent Kane (Old Friend): Vincent was one of Arthur's first friends in the coven his parents sent him to. Vincent has always been there to help Arthur put the pieces back together when he screws things up or after a particularly bad fight. 

D.W Colt (Good Friend): D.W is one of the select few from the younger human shifters Arthur talks to on a friendly basis. He finds her wildly courageous and intelligent. Arthur knows about her dealings with the Colt family and has one of his forms tied in as a high school and college connection for D.W.

Winston ‘Sticks’ Abioye (Friend): Winston and Arthur get along well enough and share a mutual respect for one another, their clan and superiors. 

Churchill Darling (Friend): Arthur can also count on Church for his darker nights and activities away from the usual ‘right and wrong’. Church also offers Arthur a judgement free zone that most of the younger human shifters do not. 

Sirius Cobic (Friend): Arthur has acknowledged a long time ago that he looks for father figures in all of the wrong places. Sirius is far from being one of those places. Arthur has broken enough of their laws and started enough fights to be severely punished, however, Sirius keeps him alive and sees something in him.

Douglas Gish (Friend): Douglas is hilarious and keeps Arthur entertained. He is able to switch from joker to superior in a heartbeat to handle dire situations.

Angel Landyl (New Friend): Arthur stopped visiting newborns a few decades ago. Angel was among one of the batches he missed and has just been introduced to. Arthur believes he knew Angel grandparents and once worked alongside them. 

Eli Kohen (New Friend): Arthur met Ben during an outing with Winston and Douglas. They continued to share pleasantries while at work, have recently exchanged numbers and are planning on going out for drinks.

Colin Colt (Acquaintance): Colin is married to D.W, Arthur had a run in with them in the beginning of their relationship while test driving a new female form that Arthur will later call Artemis (Ellen Page). The form has taken on the role of a former high school and college friend. Colin and Arthur only share pleasantries and a few drinks.

Imani Anderson (Acquaintance): Arthur has dealt with with multiple Anderson hunters but Imani has always been the most pleasant to work with. 

Montgomery ‘Monty’ Wilders (Acquaintance): Monty is new and Arthur has yet to have the chance to hangout with him. Arthur and Monty have exchanged pleasantries around the department but nothing more, yet. 

Hostile Connections:

Ishtar Cleirigh (Fears): Ishtar is a time traveling warlock who is a part of the Cleirigh family. One day Arthur started a conversation with her that terrified him. After talking about temporal and grandfather paradoxes, Arthur is convinced that certain powers should not be in the hands of everyday people, immortal or not.

Nada Rajui (Arguing/Old Friend): Arthur and Nada were once good friends. However, with Venus' death and the disorder among the clan, Arthur and Nada haven’t been on the same page. Arthur had to bring in a few hyenas for questioning and that did not sit right with Nada. 

Mary Ametheon nee Stone (Stalker): Mary had made a few unwanted advances towards one of his forms. She did not know he was a human shifter but had become a stalker of that form. Arthur was forced to retire the form to keep Mary from finding out who and what he really was. 

Garrett Cleirigh (One-Sided Hate): Garrett may or may not hate Arthur because he joined Roman a few times in separating Garrett while he was disintegrated. Arthur does not hate Garrett; he just likes to see him angry and Roman laughing.

Belle Cunningham (Dislike): Belle mistakenly caused a city wide manhunt when she brought home a supposed possible witch; which they were not. Seekers/Liaisons usually contact them if they are taking someone underage or who would be missed. Belle did not follow protocol causing Arthur to be stuck on the case and messy coverup over a holiday weekend.  

Pets:

None.

→ History (paragraph(s) on background) → The Present (paragraph(s) on how the character connects to the plot)

[cryingcow]

Sera, Jingu, & Kazama - The Tojo Clan Secret [RGGO] - Ch. 6-7

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

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I got swamped with schoolwork, but I promise to finish the rest of this this weekend!

Previously: Sera shows off the fact that he doesn’t have to do his own laundry anymore by going to a forest in a white kimono. Together, he and Yumi demonstrate that they both have the same shit taste in men. (Real talk, if you’re going to devote yourself to a politician who won’t hesitate to throw you under a bus, at least have the self-respect to choose someone who’s actually hot).

Btw, Jingu keeps using 同志 to refer to Sera, which according to Google Translate means “comrade/kindred soul”. And honestly it’s just fucking sad that Sera keeps falling for it. Someone give this man other friends please :/

Warnings: Major Yakuza Kiwami/1 spoilers

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CHAPTER 6

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|In 1996, Yumi Sawamura gave birth to her daughter Haruka. Destiny is gradually set in motion . . .|

|A few years after Yumi gave birth to Haruka . . .|

[Tea Room]

Sera: “What? Are you in a relationship with the Prime Minister’s daughter?”

Jingu: “Oh, it was like dew drops on a clear sky. It’s not official yet.”

Sera: “Hey, what are you going to do with Yumi and your daughter?”

Jingu: “So I’m in trouble. Fortunately, we haven’t registered our marriage yet . . . “

Sera: “’Fortunately’ . . . ?!”

Jingu: “Sera. Like I said before, engagement is a strategy for politicians. We cannot afford to miss this great opportunity. Of course, I’ll discuss it with Yumi. I’ll get her to back out.”

Sera: “. . . you think you’ll convince her?”

Jingu: “. . . Yumi will understand. Sera, we have dreams. They’re still the same even today. I would sacrifice anything for that to happen, even the woman I love and my child.”

Sera: “. . . Jingu . . .”

Jingu: “That’s enough on that. So my next job . . . I want you to threaten someone. Apparently, there is another candidate for the Prime Minister’s daughter’s hand in marriage. He’s a politician like me, but he comes from a long line of politicians.”

Sera: “Jingu, do you even know what you are trying to do? Is this man a promising politician that has a shot at being Prime Minister in the future? Is this to kick off your ambitions?”

Jingu: “I know. It’s dirty. But it has to be done. As long as I have this marriage, it’s like a ticket straight to being Prime Minister myself. This is the final step in reaching our dreams! Sera, did you forget your promise to me?! Are you backing out now?!”

Sera: “. . . and you’re sure this is the last?”

Jingu: “Thank you. I knew you would understand . . . comrade.”

----

[Politician Tomino’s Office]

Sera: “If I may disturb you.”

Tomino: “What is it?”

Sera: “The marriage with the Prime Minister’s daughter. You need to back out.”

Tomino: “What . . . ?”

Sera: “If you won’t listen, I’ll have to take rough measures.”

Tomino’s bodyguard: “Get out. This isn’t a place for people like you to just waltz in.”

Sera: “I should have known it wouldn’t be easy. I guess it can’t be helped.”

{Sera and his men defeat the politician’s bodyguards.}

Sera: “Forget about the marriage.”

Tomino: “What does that mean?! What does it have anything to do with you?!”

Sera’s subordinate: “Don’t pry!”

Tomino: “Guh . . . ! Okay, just please don’t hit me . . .”

Sera: “It doesn’t matter. But I’ll be watching you. If you talk, I’ll end your life. Understood?!”

Tomino: “Yes!”

Sera: (. . . fuck.)

 ----

|After a few weeks.|

[Tojo HQ - Waiting Room]

{Jingu gives Sera a call.}

Jingu’s voice: “Sera, lend me a hand. Something bad happened.”

Sera: “What is it?”

Jingu’s voice: “Just come, okay!”

Sera: “Alright, I’ll bring my men. Where?”

Jingu’s voice: “No . . . I want you to come alone.”

Sera: “What, why?”

Jingu’s voice: “The corpse . . . I want you to clean up a corpse.”

 ----

[Parking Lot]

Sera: “Jingu . . . “

Jingu: “. . . Sera. The corpse is in the trunk.”

Sera: “Jingu, what is the meaning of this? Who is the corpse?”

Jingu: “. . . it was an accident . . .”

Sera: “Accident?”

Jingu: “This is a freelance reporter. He found out about the situation with Yumi and Haruka. He thought he could blackmail money out of me, with my marriage to the Prime Minister’s daughter. So . . . I pushed him . . . he hit his head . . . and now he’s dead. And it’s not just the corpse. I need you to go to his house and destroy all his memos and photos. I implore you, Sera! You’re the only one I can count on for this!”

----

[Murder Forest]

Sera: “Unless a landslide occurs, no one will ever unearth the corpse. Is this enough?”

Jingu: “No. There are other things we need to take care of.”

Sera: “What . . . ?”

Jingu: “To make sure this never happens again, I need you to get rid of 2 more people.”

Sera: “You . . . no way . . .”

Jingu: “Sera . . . this is for our dreams.”

Sera: “. . . Kazama-san’s daughter and grandchild. Killing my benefactor’s family . . . I can’t do that.”

Jingu: “Sera. Do you think you can back out now?”

Sera: “What?”

Jingu: “You’ve dirtied your hands for me. You, the Third Chairman of the Tojo Clan. If you forsake me now, I’ll leak everything you’ve done! Including the laundering of the police’s 10 billion. If they find out, you’ll be punished and killed. And that’s not all. The crime of money laundering is heavy . . . the whole Tojo Clan will be punished . . . !”

“You and me have a shared destiny. We rise with each other and we fall with each other. We’re stuck together until the end . . .!”

 .

-END-

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CHAPTER 7

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[Yumi’s Room]

Sera’s subordinate: “. . . are you sure about this?”

Sera: “Yes. Please do not let both mother and daughter suffer.”

Sera’s subordinate: “. . . understood.”

Sera: (It can’t be helped. This is . . .my promise to Jingu. It’s for our dreams.)

Yumi: “Who?!”

Sera: “Fuck. How did you notice . . .”

Yumi: “No!”

{A shot rings out. Sera’s subordinate collapses.}

Sera’s subordinate: “Guwah!”

Kazama: “. . .“

Sera: “!”

Kazama: “Do you know what you’re doing? . . . Third Chairman!”

Sera: “Kazama-san, this is my promise . . .to Jingu.”

Kazama: “Sacrificing women and children . . . is that the kind of promise we should keep?”

Sera: “. . .”

Kazama: “I won’t let you do such a thing!”

Yumi: “. . . hand . . .gun?”

Yumi: “Iyaaaaaaaa?!”

Kazama: “Yumi, Yumi?! What happened? You . . . saw the handgun . . .”

Sera: “. . . Kazama-san. Please step out of the way.”

Kazama: “If you can’t understand, then I’ll have to make you understand.”

Sera: “!”

Kazama: “I don’t need to hold back. I’m going to kill you!!”

{Boss fight with Kazama. Technically I won, but because of plot, Sera loses.}

Kazama: “Sera. My arms aren’t weakening.”

Sera: (. . . kuu. So strong . . . even with that leg . . .what is this ability? As expected from a man who sounded like a great hitman . . .)

{Kazama lowers his gun.}

Kazama: “I can’t forgive you if I go any further than this.”

Sera: “Kazama-san, I can’t give up here . . .”

Kazama: “. . . I see . . . I understand.”

{A thud is heard as Kazama whacks Sera on the head.}

Sera: “. . . hn?! . . .Guh . . .a . . .”

Kazama: “You want to die? . . . cool your head.”

----

|Next morning . . .|

[Another Room]

Sera: “. . .”

Kazama: “. . .”

Sera: “Kazama-san. I was wondering . . .”

Kazama: “Hm?”

Sera: “What is Yumi’s state?”

Kazama: “Calm, now. She’s sleeping. Fortunately or unfortunately, she seems to have regained her memories. Probably from seeing the handgun.”

Sera: “! . . . is that so . . .”

Kazama: “Sera . . . why are you doing this?”

Sera: “I received a request . . . from Jingu.”

Kazama: “Jingu?”

Sera: “There’s talk of him marrying the Prime Minister’s daughter.”

Kazama: “What . . . ? I hadn’t heard. But Yumi and Haruka are the guy’s . . .”

Sera: “Yeah. That’s why he’s afraid of the scandal and wants Yumi and Haruka dead. I hope freelance journalists will be shaken up by what happened and it won’t happen again in the future . . .”

Kazama: “! . . .”

Sera: “Kazama-san. I think Jingu has gone crazy. He’s not the same guy I once knew. . . . if he finds out that Yumi and Haruka survived, he’ll take other measures. He will try to erase her.”

Kazama: “. . . Sera. Report to Jingu that you have killed Yumi and Haruka. I’ll hide them away somewhere.”

Sera: “. . . understood.”

 ----

[Car]

Sera: “Jingu. It’s over. Everything . . .”

Jingu: “Did you kill her?”

Sera: “The corpse was thrown over a cliff. Even if it was found, it will be treated as an accident. It is more likely that the body won’t be found because of the waves.”

Jingu: “That’s a good decision. If they were found dead, suspicious eyes would turn to me. You did a good job as expected. I will continue to make requests of you. You are the best partner.”

Sera: “Jingu . . . is this the last for your job?”

Jingu: “What do you mean?”

Sera: “I’ll never touch a woman or child ever again. I . . . I want to clean my hands of this.”

Jingu: “Isn’t it, Sera?”

Sera: “!”

Jingu: “I’m not at the top of the country yet. In addition, how much help did I lend you to get the chairman’s seat?”

Sera: “That is . . .”

Jingu: “Don’t worry. This is the last kill. I won’t make you do it again. So Sera . . . will you continue to cooperate in the future?”

Sera: (If I decline, I’ll be threatened with the 10 billion yen laundering. . . . Jingu. How did we . . . end up like this. Where did we go wrong . . .?)

 .

-END-

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Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6