#also how he was recovering from his injury when the bros left

[teatitty]

Thinking about how Sakamoto was the one who got all the supplies during the Joui war. About how he would go off to various towns and somehow managed to convince various officials that it was worth funding, coming back to the army laden with food and weapons and whatever else they needed. How he did all of that by himself, singlehandedly, and it being the earliest example we have of how fucking amazing he is at business and merchant deals

Do you know how hard it is to do something like that even once? And he did it constantly. Nobody asked him to do it. He didn't have to do it. But he did. He succeeded and that would've made such a huge difference even though they ultimately "lost" that war. How many lives do you think he saved just by doing those runs. He was literally their main supplier and that's completely nuts to think about

[with-my-murder-flute]

Cristabel and the proverbial sandwich

(Spoilers for Harrow and Nona the Ninth)

I have not known inner peace since I saw someone say, "But come on, does anyone ACTUALLY buy John's story about how the nun died?"

Because honestly, I'd just kind of gone, "Super random, very weird interaction, boy there sure are cult mindworms at play here," and moved on to the next page.

But as soon as I saw that question asked, the amount I did not buy that story hit me like a load of bricks, to the point I'm kind of amazed that I ever did believe it.

Two people. A locked door. A nuclear standoff. A close-range head injury.

On one side, a full-fledged Catholic nun—well done, that’s the classic—who's best friends with a staunchly atheist world-class scientist and believes, if we're to believe John, that Jesus's problem is that he didn't stick to office hours.

On the other, a woman described as, "A total delight. Effervescent. Kind to animals and children. A master of the sword. Did not have the intellect you’d ordinarily find in a sandwich or an orange, and was a sickening twerp into the bargain."

Oh, and in the middle, there's also a necromancer who wants to bring back his friends... minus any little details about things he they might have done wrong. He "knows where memory lives in the brain", and they "won't have any of it." And "guys as careful as me don't make mistakes," but then again, all that means is that if he kills someone, he did it on purpose.

C— talks her way into a locked room with John, who's on the phone threatening some world leaders with a nuke, expresses care and concern for him, and then... decides he needs more data on the soul? And kills herself to provide that for him?

I'll be honest, I just don't believe that John was an ordinary guy, totally normal, could be any of us, and he just got put in a really stressful situation and made some bad choices but who HASN'T done things they aren't proud of??? I reject that point of view completely. Like, Elon Musk in any given interaction probably is really stressed out and unhappy and having trouble responding in a way that's at all well-considered or emotionally mature, but that doesn't mean that Musk isn't also, at baseline, a deeply stupid, petty, immature, grandiose, entitled, egocentric person. No matter what situation you put him in, he's going to keep on being those things.

I think that John's initial idea was to put the entire human population of Earth, minus some necessary staff, into some giant cryonic freezers, and give the Earth some amount of time to rest and recover from the effects of human-caused pollution. A plan about which I will confess some hesitation myself; being told "just lie down in this coffin, bro, you'll only be a little dead, I'll totally bring you back to life* in a couple centuries (*98% effective!) " does not fill me with an enthusiasm to hop on board.

And then his project got cut. And he decided, "Well, if they won't agree, I can just make them agree." After all, all that end game needs is 10 billion frozen corpses hanging out in those tin cans, and a small team of staff left to keep the place running. How it gets there is something he can afford to be flexible about. If people won't climb in on their own, he can put them there.

So when C— or the nun tell him to stop focusing on revenge, to bend all his energies to saving the world, I think he thinks: Well, I am. He's gonna wash the earth clean at the end of this! He just needs to be able to set the dominoes in motion. He just needs to engineer a situation that will justify taking his nuke out of the vault and making the pieces fall.

A situation that would be sabotaged, ruined, if anyone made a true deep sincere good-faith effort to talk him out of Plan Nuke and called the legitimacy of this crisis into any sort of question. He needs to prevent that from happening.

Actually. Also. He needs one more thing than that.

He needs an excuse to use the nuke, but also, he's finishing his homework at the very last minute. He still hasn't mastered the soul. He does need a few more test subjects.

Maybe he let her in and thought: Two birds with one stone, eh?

[armand-dearest]

Breaking Bad update!

I'm now almost done with season 3. The pacing of this show is very slow, it's very of its era. I feel the show would actually benefit from episodes being 5-10 mins shorter, and having about 3-5 less episodes per season. The overarching plot I don't really care about. What I do care about is the characters, their development and their insane dynamics with eachother tbh

I had elements of the show spoiled for me decades ago, so I know my now favourite character Gus Fring gets Harvey Dent'd eventually and I really don't wanna see that. I genuinely smile and kick my feet a little when he's on-screen. Extremely competent, evil, cunty and autistic gay villains who are a hairs width from overreaching their limits are my favourite niche. When he smiled like a giddy little kid after hearing a man get shot over the phone after he arranged said mans death it made me grin ear to ear, he's such a little freak. I adore him. I wanna see him commit war crimes 🖤

I still love and support Skylar. The only "bad" thing she's done imo is take Walter back. I'm sad Walt Jr is less present this season as I wanted to see him grow up a bit and become more likable. When he was blowing up at Skylar I just really did not like him - but I understood it. Typical child of divorced parents, blaming the "unfun" parent, who is usually the mother.

I think Hanks development so far has been fantastic too this season. I've only just finished the episode where Marie agrees to take Walt's "gambling money" to help Hank recover from his gunshot injuries - but I know the second Hank is awake and able to really focus on how weird that is, he's gonna become immediately suspicious of Walt. I really wanna see that. I also appreciated the scene of Hank finally breaking down and crying in Marie's arms in the elevator. I wanna see his toxic masculinity break down a little piece by piece. He has a good heart in there and I wanna see that more.

I left Jesse and Walter last........ They may have one of the most interesting relationships I've seen. The ways in which Jesse is constantly paralleled against both Skylar and Walt Jr is so sick. They're so sick. The way Walt argues with Jesse like he's his spouse, but comforts him like a kid. Uses his proud / soothing dad voice to actively manipulate him against his best interests. Walter White so deeply sick in the head, he's using his former student / narrative other woman / narrative son / narrative guard dog for narcissistic supply - for everything he's got, and is carelessly ruining his life. Walt let the one girlfriend - the one partner he's seen Jesse have die, and constantly refers to himself as Jesse's (business) "partner". But always treats him as his hated wife and naughty child. It's................ Bro. Bro what the fuck

[prpletoast]

I MADE A DUDE!! A FUNNY DEMISEXUAL MILITARY TWUNK!!!!! (also; 'Draugr' is the Old Norse term for the undead, or just zombies)

Name: Keiser 'Draugr' (Lee) Hindenburg

Age: 24

Lore (+ extra info; including height):

Keiser's parents were based in Germany; his father, Paul Hindenburg, fell in love with his mother; a Norwegian woman named Åshild. They were married for two years; until the year 2000; Ashild gave birth to Keiser. He strikingly takes after his mother; other than his hair being a fairly darker blonde. In school; Keiser was learning both English and German; he also learned a bit of Old Norse from his mother! By the time he was 16; Germany was recruiting cadets for its military; due to a severe shortage. Due to how well he was growing; Keiser thought it wouldn't be a bad starting-job (He was already a shocking 5'11). However; he didn't know he'd be entitled to genetic modification.

By the time he was eighteen; the genetic modification he was thrust into boosted him into a mortifying 7'9. He grew a strong dislike for Germany after they did this to him, but what hurt the poor man the most was that everyone was scared of him; he was rather social growing up. There are some benefits to being a Super Soldier though! A fucking ridiculous level of stamina, endurance, strength, and a mortifying ability to survive severe conditions.

During his service; Keiser survived being shot 13 times (a good chunk of them being concentrated on the torso), having his throat slit open, and two concussions. The genetic modification made his stem-cells extremely strong; the healing began almost instantly. However; another funny quirk they gave him is that this regeneration required a high intake of protein. Which on the battlefield; was difficult to obtain.. So (unfortunately); Kaiser had to turn to cannibalism to regenerate from these injuries. The cannibalism he turned to (in order to survive), witnessing the few friends he made die, and the fact his mother died of cancer; while he was away, drove the lad insane. He had to go to the ol' nuthouse for a few months; so he'd recover enough to function, and that's how he earned the nickname 'Draugr'.

At 19; not long after he was released from the mental-hospital, he got a job at a lumber mill, and began saving to immigrate to America; for the sake of starting a new life. There was also a really good therapist there; who specializes in his issues. At age 20; he moved to America, and was immediately registered into therapy.

That's where he met his current girlfriend; his therapist, Annabelle Irene Johnson. She's a chubbier woman who has vitiligo (dark skin w light spots), basil green eyes, and puffy auburn hair.

Keiser has selective mutism, and when Annie found out about this, at their first session (she knows American Sign-language); the two of them communicated through sticky notes, and they grew to be great friends!

Annabelle genuinely liked Keiser; not just for how muscular he was, but she genuinely saw him as a good guy. But how hot his voice was (when he trusted her enough to speak) was just a bonus for her! She saw him as a good friend, but Keiser was already head-over-heels; because the last person who'd shown him kindness was his mother, and she died (practically) right after he left for war at 16.

They started officially dating when Keiser was 22, and Annabelle was 23. He was nervous as shit, and went Annabelle accepted his proposal; what was left of the skin on Keiser's face went BEAT RED, and he went non-verbal for a day or two.

also

do NOT let bro ramble about his gf.. he'll have you there for HOURS...

(I'll make a ref for Annie in a lil bit)

THATS SO CUTE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! YOU GOTTA DM ME ON THIS OMLLLLLLLL

[sakusasmolesryn]

KNY - Demon Slayer  Kyojuro Rengoku x gn!reader fluff one shot

• Welcome Home •

Summary: Kyojurou comes home from a mission, after being deprived of him, feelings start unfolding and relations go forward

Warnings: none

Word count: 1.4k

Pairing: Kyojurou Rengoku x gn!reader

It’s been 4 days ever since Kyojuro left for a mission. He mentioned it was quite a bit away, but you didn’t expect him to be gone for this long. You’ve been training under his wing for over a year now and you’ve made a lot of progress since then. You’ve been a demon slayer ever since you were 14, but it wasn’t till recently you started working with a hashira in hopes of becoming one. Rengoku saw a lot of potential in you, even if you two were close in age. “You still have plenty of time to become a hashira,” he tells you over and over. “Stay focused, concentrate on your breathing, and set your heart ablaze.”

You spend a lot of time during the day with Kyo. Whenever you’re not training, you, Kyojuro, and Senjuro will have fun together and hang out. You were very close to the Rengoku family, even Shinjuro somewhat enjoyed having you around. Senjuro likes to spy on your training, he likes to tease you about liking his brother.

Even though it’s only been 4 days, you missed him a lot. You couldn’t wait to see him come back home and spend every minute with him. He wasn’t battling an upper or lower moon demon, but 5 amateur demons in a small village north. Perhaps he got held up with another mission? Or maybe he was in a clinic residence? Surely his crow would’ve come and updated you by now. You started getting anxious about his whereabouts when suddenly Senjuro came running towards you screaming.

“[Reader]!! Kyo is home! He just got here!” upon those words, you jumped to your feet faster than lightning, sprinting to the front of the Rengoku manor. “Kyojuro!” You ran to him at full speed tackling him into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re home, big bro! [reader], and I was so worried!” Senjuro joined the tackle as you both laid on top of Kyojuro on the ground. “Well, you both must be happy to see me considering you tackled me to the ground,” Kyojuro stated.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” you looked up at him into his eyes. He looked uninjured but he didn’t look as joyful as always. “How was your mission? And how are you feeling?” You helped both Kyo and Senjuro up and walked alongside them both inside. “My mission was successful. Unfortunately the demons I had to slaughter had pretty bad reasoning forever becoming a demon, I may have even been a little touched by their stories. But I assure you they died peacefully and free from the pain that has been thrown to them. As for me, I feel great. Left without any severe injuries.”

“What took you so long?” Senjuro looked up at his brother with concern. “Ah. After my mission, I was called to join Shinazugawa on his task. He ended up getting another slash so I stayed with him for two days while he was recovering at the Butterfly Mansion. I’m sorry I didn’t send a message. You both must’ve been so worried.”

You took his hand in yours, “Don’t worry about it, Kyo. We’re just glad you’re safe. Now come inside, I’m making dinner. And it’s your favorite! Sweet Potato salad.” You’ve never seen that man run faster into the house, him and his sweet potatoes.

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

“Tasty!” You sat next to him as Kyojuro finished off his 5th plate. You chuckled, “I’m so glad you enjoy it. I’ve missed you so much I made sure to make it extra special.” Senjuro finished his plate quite a bit ago and went out to do some garden work before sunset.

“Tasty! Thank you so much, [reader]. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The best meal I’ve had in a hot minute.” His smile was always so bright, and it never failed to make you smile in return. You stood up adjusting your attire and took your and Kyojuro’s bowls to be washed. “It’s starting to get late. The sun will be down soon. I should probably get going,” you said. “I’m really glad you’re home Kyo. Are we training tomorrow?”

“Actually, do you think you could stay here tonight?” he asked. “I want to stay up and have a conversation with you.” He sounded pretty serious, but who were you to decline. “Oh- alright. That shouldn’t be a problem then. Should I tell Shinjuro?” Kyo shook his head, implying his father probably wouldn’t even notice you spent the night, considering he spends most of his time in his room.

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

You and Kyojuro sat together in the garden looking up into the stars. “I missed you a lot, [reader] while I was on my mission.” His voice was softer than it normally is, also keeping a low tone since Senjuro and Shinjuro are sleeping. “When I listened to Sanemi talk about how much he missed his girlfriend back home, it made me think about how lucky I am to come home to you, my brother, and my father.” he cleared his throat turning his face towards yours. “Thank you so much, [reader]. For always being there for me and my family.”

You couldn’t help but get a little flush from his words. He always knew what to say to pull your heartstrings. His love and praise always sent butterflies to your stomach, and he cared about you more than anyone else. “I’m hoping that you feel the same,” he breaks the small silence. “I’m hoping that you feel the same way I do about you, [reader]. I realized I want to be with you more than just a friend.” His eyes were filled with love as he stared at you.

“Kyo, where is this coming from? I’m not complaining. But I’m curious.”

“While staying with Sanemi, and hearing about how much he loves his girlfriend, and why. It made me realize that everything he said was the same reason why I love you,” he grabs your hand and places a soft kiss on top of your knuckles. “Please tell me you love me too,”

“I do.”

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

You spent that night cuddling with Kyojuro and falling asleep in his arms. The next day, you planned to have a day with just him. You wanted to go to the city and visit shops together, and meet up with Tengen and Obanai for lunch. “Two bowls of udon please.” The four of you sat together enjoying the food and time together. You and Obanai have always been close too. When you first started training under Rengoku, he would visit to join the training as well. But after a while, he stopped coming. Kyojuro believes it’s because he spends his time with Mitsuri.

“We should get going,” Tengen said. “My wives are gonna pester me about not spending enough time with them. “Yeah. I should get going too. Mitsuri and I have plans,” Obanai left behind Tengen leaving you and Kyojuro alone. It was hard to believe that this was the first day of being Kyojuro’s significant other. You were both so open to each other, and nothing felt odd. He was even starting to look more handsome than before, but that may just be because you fall in love with him all over again every time you see him.

“What do you say, [reader]? Shall we head back? We can either go to my residence or yours.” It wasn’t often that he came home with you. He did once but you never invited him back over because your family was kind of loud. As if Rengoku wasn’t loud either. “Let’s go back to your place. My family might be home and I don’t want to deal with them right now.” as the two of you headed back, Kyojuro paused and picked up flowers from the ground, handing multiple to you. “They’re radiant, like you.” Again, his words never fail to swoon.

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

For the next two weeks, you and Rengoku spent every moment together. But of course, you had to include Senjuro here and there. You started growing closer and closer, thinking it was impossible since you were already so close. Being with Rengoku felt like time stopped. And that you two were the only ones alive. He showered you in love and appreciation, and he never once allowed you to feel incompetent. He never wants to let you go, and he couldn’t feel more blessed to be with you. “I love you, [reader].”

[i-desire-jake]

Let's Dance (part 1)

Charecters : Jake and fem (mc) pairing. The DW group and a few imaginative Charecters.

Genre: Romance, fluff and comedy

Summary: It's an AU, where everyone from the group are high school students. They all are members of a dance group who are practicing for the annual function competition. The DW couple dance group.

Author's note at the end.

*music plays in the background*

-  Ok, let's start 1..2..3.....1..2...3.....1...2-

 - aaaahh!..... *Alex falls down on the floor*

-oh my God Alex! Are you okay?!

You ask visibly shocked and panicked after seeing your dance partner twisting his leg, falling to the ground the next moment and wincing in pain.

- Hannah! Call the teachers now. I think he's got a sprain.

You say crouching beside him and helping him to his legs.

* The teachers arrive and carry Alex to the medical room*

- oh my God. I just hope he is fine and not badly injured.

You say

- I hope so too. Hannah says.

You and all your friends in the group wait outside the medical room to hear from your teachers.

After a few minutes of waiting, your dance teacher finally arrives and mentions that, He's got a sprain and he won't be able to dance properly for the next few days.

You all go to his room to check his condition.

- Hey guys. He says with a sad smile.

I'm sorry Mc but I don't think I would be able to dance with you. You'll have to look for a new partner.

You crouch next to him saying

-It's okay. I'm just glad the injury is not severe and that you'll recover soon.

After chatting and gossiping with him for half an hour, you and your friends leave him to get some rest.

- what are we gonna do now? You ask Hannah and the group.

- we don't have anyone else to replace Alex. All other boys are already in some other group and the few who are left are either too blunt or too rough. Says Jessy.

Everyone starts thinking  as of what to do now. You were about to say that you'll quit when suddenly Hannah speaks loudly clapping her hands.

- I've got an idea, as of who will partner up with Mc.

Everyone stare at Hannah questioning.

- I think my brother will perfectly fit in the role. He doesn't know much about couple dance but I'm sure Mc will teach him. Hannah says giving a wink to you.

You blush at the mention of Jake. Everyone in the group knows that you have crush on Hannah and Lilly's half-brother Jake.

- uh... that computer nerd. Really?

Dan grumbles visibly annoyed.

- so what? He's good at what he does.  His dance partner Lilly says while nudging him with her elbow.

- so?? What do you think Mc? Hannah asks.

- umm.... I think...If Jake will agree.., then why not.

You stutter shyly.

- OK then. Let's ask Jake. He won't be able to deny me.

Hannah says while pulling you with her to Jake's classroom.

You both enter the class to see Jake focused on his computer and typing something.

-Hey big bro! Hannah says with a bright smile.

He turns his head to greet Hannah. But when his eyes meet yours, you both just stare at each other. You both break your gaze blushing when Hannah coughs to get his attention.

- Enough staring guys. Now let's come to the topic. Hannah says with a teasing smile on her face.

-uh... ummm...  Hi Hannah. You wanted something? Jake says in  embarrassment that he was caught staring at you.

- Actually yes. We want you to pair up with Mc for our upcoming annual function. Her dance partner Alex got a sprain this morning and so he won't be able to dance. Hannah said.

- but I don't know how to dance. Argues Jake.

- Please big Bro. I beg you. Mc is a good dancer but she won't be allowed to dance without a partner. It's a couple dance, she can't dance alone.

-But Hann-

- Please Jake... You speak looking him in the eyes.

He huffs but then finally agrees to it.

- yay!! Hannah cheers and leaves the room to you two.

- Thanks Jake. It really means a lot. But if you are not comfortable with it you can tell me. There's no pressure. You say to him in an understanding tone.

- No, it's okay. I'll pair up with you. It's just that I don't know much about dance. Jake says blushing.

- Hey, I'll teach you, don't worry. We'll be a great partner.

You wink at him. You both chat for a little while then you leave him to his work after telling him about the schedule of the dance practice.

             ______________

*In the practice room*

You were stretching and doing a little workout before practicing to warm yourself a little and become more flexible.

When you turned around you saw Jake standing at the doorway staring at you. You cough a little make him come out of his little daydreaming.

- Hey! I'm here. I hope I'm not late. He says.

- No, of course not. I just came a little early for warm up.

So...um..... Why don't you change into something comfortable. Some clothes are kept over there, in the closet.

Jake glances down at his black hoodie and jeans then nods and leave the room to change.

When he comes back, you both start practicing.

You both were dance practicing. But from what it looked from outside it was more of him stumbling and falling over you and stepping on your toes.

-aah! Ouch!...

- I'm so sorry again Mc. I suck at dancing. He mumbles before moving away.

-Hey, it's okay. It's your first time. Everyone stumbles when they do this for the first time. In fact I think you are better than others. You assure him.

- Really? He asks.

- Yes really. When I first started dancing I was really bad at it. I stumbled over and fell on the floor for God knows how many times. Atleast you are better than me.

- OK OK. ... enough flattery let's continue. He says.

 He holds your one hand and the other snakes behind your back on your waist. You hold his one hand and keep the other on his shoulder and continue practicing.

*music plays in the background *

- OK,  1... 2....3......1....2...3....1- aaahhh!!

He steps on your toes so hard that you wince in pain and fall behind pulling him over you. What happens next is you lying on the floor with him on top of you. You both just stare into each other's eyes.

*Everyone in the room turns around at the sound and stares at you both surprised.*

Jessy covers her and her partner, Richy's eyes. Lily, Hannah and her boyfriend blush

You both only come to senses and realize what's happening when Dan grumbles - get yourself a room.

Jake awkwardly removes himself from you and mumbles sorry, with you following him in the aplogy process. You both look around and see some of your friends staring. Before you could explain the situation everyone starts laughing.

Jake and you just blush brightly and both look at the floor to avoid further embarrassment.

- Our computer boy knows romance too. Dan grumbles.

You give him a death stare and tell him to shut up

- uh...ummm.... I think our practice for today is over. We can meet tomorrow to continue. You mumble in embarrassment.

Jake just nods and then you both leave the dance room.

From the next day you both decide to practice somewhere more private so you both won't have to feel embarrassed with others staring at you.

Both of yours practice continued for the next few weeks before the annual function. Of course stumbling and falling over one another wasn't just a one time thing. You both made mistakes at starting but then you both became perfect in swinging your hips and moving your legs on the rhythm. The dance practice together brought you two closer to one another. You started spending more and more time with him.

You both would leave the class together chatting and smiling, go to the nearby cafe together and sometime you both just hold each other's hands and stroll in the park.

This dance practice definitely brought you two closer. You sometimes even wished to be his girlfriend. The others of course noticed your behaviour and would often tease you about this.

        ____________________

The day finally came. The day of annual function. Several competitions were held. Group dance competition, solo dance, singing, drama, dance drama and many more.

All the members of your group collected on the backstage. Everyone were holding their partner's hand.

They all were nicely dressed. Girl's were in knee length dress and boys wore shirts paired up with trousers or jeans.

Your eyes kept on drifting on Jake's.  He was wearing a deep blue shirt with black jeans . Jake was also just staring at your beauty. You wore a shimmery red dress which reached just a bit above your knee. You had a pearl necklace around your neck and a silver bracelet around your wrist.

- Now our next group of dancers are requested to come on the stage and enthrall us with their performance. This is a couple dance which will fill our atmosphere with love and romance. Please welcome them with a huge round of applause. The host announces.

* followed by a huge applause*

- looks like it's our turn. Let's go. Hannah says.

Everyone nods in agreement and moves to the direction of stage.

- I'm nervous. Jake says.

- It's okay. You don't have to be nervous. We are the best team. You squeeze his hand a little to reassure him.

Everyone in the group takes their respective position to start performing. The music plays in the background and everyone starts their dance.

After a few minutes,

*music plays in the background *

- I'm getting nervous again. Jake whispers when you both were swinging your hips and moving to the rhythm.

- It's okay. Just look me in the eyes and forget the rest of the world. Just focus on us and the music. Your body will automatically move. You say him sweetly.

You yourself were nervous but then you both just followed your advice and stared into each other's eyes.

You both don't know when the time passed. You both were so focused on each other that you didn't even realize that the music was coming to  it's end.

You only realized it when you heard applause and cheering from the background.

The ending song played..... you all swiftly performed the ending steps, bowed and left the dance stage when the music came to an end.

The anchor continued

* followed by a huge round of applause*

- wow that was indeed a mesmerising performance. It filled the air with love and roma-....

The background chatter continues when you all come back stage.

Everyone just starts chatting hysterically with their partners about their performance. They laugh, chat and even worries whether  their performance was good enough to win. Jessy even starts arguing with Dan, Richy and Thomas. Hannah and lily are in their own world chatting and giggling like kids.

When everyone is busy with their own stuff, Jake suddenly hugs you mumbling - I was so scared and nervous. I was sure that I would stumble and ruin our performance but you really helped. I can't believe that it's over and I didn't got a heart attack. Jake says laughing in your arms.

You return his hug pressing your head on his shoulder saying

- We were really good. I don't care if we win or lose, I'm happy that we gave our best.

- But I would prefer winning this competition than losing. You say laughing.

You both separate from each other and join the group in their non stop rambling.

           -------------

Your whole group waits in the audience room desperately waiting for the results to be announced.

- Jessy will you please stop tapping your feet on the ground. Don't you know nervousnes and anxiety are contagious..... Richy grumps.

After about half an hour, the host stands on the stage announcing the winners.

- That moment has come for which everyone were waiting for.  Our judges have decided the winners from all categories of performances.

* The host opens the envelope, taking out a glossy sheet of paper*

- So..... from solo singing we have two winners. The first one is ........ Amalya from 'rock n roll' and the second one is Mark from 'slow tides'. Give a huge round of applause for our winners.....

The award giving session continues untill  it finally comes to dances performances.

- Now it's for our dancers to get their awards. From solo dancers we have again two winners. They are............Leslie smith and Maria Blake.

- Now comes the announcement of winners from group dancers. We have seven groups from which only one group would be the winner. So, are you all ready???  The host shouts creating an atmosphere of suspense.

* The audience cheers and whistles*

- So, from group dancers the winner group is.............. The couple dancers of DW group......

* the audience shouts, whistles and clap their hands in approval and excitement*

You and your group rushes to the stage when you all hear that your group has won the dance competition. None of you are able to control your excitement. You all happily recieve the award enjoying the moment. When you all finally get off the stage, there's a big round of happy chattering and body crushing hugs.

Jake still looks surprised. He still can't believe that they have won the competition.

A/n:I wanted to post it as a one shot. But it exceeded the word limits, so I'll have post it in two parts. The second part will be posted as soon as I have completed it's editing.😉😅

And please let me know how it is. I have changed my style of writing. This fiction really took a lot of my time and effort. Please let me know😅.

Advices for improvement are always acceptable and appreciated.💕

[shadowsfiguresfigments-blog]

A good place to die Chapter 27

Warning: GORE, violence, harsh language, fluff

This was what he was meant to do. Despite his feeble human body, all his senses were on high alert. The bottomless anger of his prey tickled his nostrils and made his mouth water. A brief glimpse into their thoughts had been enough to trigger his lust for the hunt. There was just so much to draw inspiration from – broken lives begging to be ended.

He might have let them get away, just as he had done so often over the last months, if they hadn’t turned their criminal thoughts to his girl. He had seen what they wanted to do to her – it made their actions towards the previous owner of the store seem like child’s play.

For a fleeting moment his attention turned back to the energy that had scared him so much, but it hadn’t moved any closer. In fact, it was still at the same place, and his prey moved steadily away under his lead. Of course they didn’t know he was taking them into solitude and darkness. Just a couple of words had been enough to anger them and turn their attention towards him, just as he had come to expect from foolish humans. They were too drunk to walk steadily, but their anger gave them the energy to follow him regardless.

Penny turned down another street and finally reached the deserted shore of the Kenduskeag. It was too cold for the usual array of couples and prostitutes, just as he liked it. He came to a halt and turned around slowly. And there they were, like the obedient stupid filthy creatures they were, ready to become his meal. Oh, the multitude of choices to make – should he devour them then and there? Entrap them and keep them for later? Take them to his lair and have fun? The second option was probably the better one, considering that at least one of his enemies was in town. Less suspicious.

They stumbled closer, brandishing their ridiculous knifes like that Bowers boy he used to toy with. If he set them upon his enemy, would they take care of them? Or would they fail? It didn’t matter, Penny was hungry. Better to eat them and then think of something.

Another quick scan gave Penny his first idea. How convenient of one of them to fear drowning and one of them to fear squids.

Squids.

How pathetic.

How human.

Of course not any old squid would do. It had to be something big, with milky blind eyes across all its tentacles, a huge beak he could click menacingly, and wonderfully cold and slimy skin. Also, spikes. Spikes never failed to scare humans (except for his little girl) and the additional injuries they created were very useful in further weakening and terrifying his prey. Just for fun he could emit a strong smell of decaying fish and stale water – involving all senses usually gave the best results, and humans tended to forget how powerful any sort of scent could be. Penny started changing, grinning until his mouth morphed. As a finishing touch he added tiny sharp teeth to his suckers.

His prey had stopped dead in its tracks. One of them peed himself, the other dropped his knife.

“What the fuck, bro…”

Determined to not listen to their disgusting voices any further, he shot his long tentacles forward and grabbed them, squeezing hard enough to rob them of their breath. His suckers drew blood and the ecstasy of that brief taste almost made him lose control. But he restrained himself, and dragged his body to the canal. The river allowed him to travel much faster.

Surely he could have just warped himself to his lair, but where was the fun in that? The water entered the lungs of his prey, slowly drowning them. They tried to fight, the one who still had his knife even attempted to slice himself free, but the alcohol and the shock of the cold made them weak.

Not that they would have had a chance in the first place.

He could taste their panic rise, making their blood sweeter and sweeter and giving him more and more strength.

Despite being completely out of practice, he had planned his water ride perfectly. By the time they reached his lair, the two men were almost dead – but not enough to not be brought back by some more horror. To entertain himself just a little further, he changed into one of their former victims and started jerkily moving towards them. The sight of them trying to recover from their ride enough to crawl away was something that never failed to excite him. His female form only allowed him to move slowly, though. They had violated her so much her body had lost its shape, with her broken bones making her extremities stick out in weird angles. They had also almost flayed her skin off with their knifes.

A brief memory rose in his mind, a memory of his precious girl having her clothes and skin dangling off of her.

Rage welled up inside of him and swallowed his restraint. With a roar his body changed again, this time into his spider self, and he tore into his first victim. His chelicerae dug into its belly, ripping it open. The intestines spilled to the ground, and the twitching body fell into them. Penny didn’t hear it, nor did he hear the screams of the other man. Again he struck, this time tearing of a leg. Blood, flesh and bits of gut covered his head and body. His other victim had composed itself enough to run away. In a flash Penny was behind the man, slamming him to the ground and using one of his large hairy legs to hold him down. He used his pedipalps to pick up the mangled remains of the man he had attacked first.

Surprisingly, he was still alive, although barely so. That made eating him all the more enjoyable. As Penny bit off his head, the blood sprayed everywhere, especially in the face of the man he still held down.

He originally had planned to keep some leftovers for later, but once he started, his ravenous hunger didn’t allow him to stop. Soon, there was not a single shred left, and, for the first time in decades, Penny felt a little full. He had changed back into his clown form, resting in the crater his impact had created eons ago. The familiar sleepiness after every meal slowly crept up, but it felt slightly different from before. He couldn’t understand why.

Had it not been glorious?

Had he not longed to once more strike terror into the hearts of men?

Their fear had made him feel like his former strong, invincible self again, as he had been fifty-four years ago, before those insolent kids had found him. Now, at least one of them was back in Derry. It had been so long he wasn’t sure which one it was – they had to be at least sixty-five years old, and they surely had changed over the years. Also, hadn’t the energy been much weaker? Wasn’t that the reason why he hadn’t picked it up earlier? A strange emotion overcame him.

It was… relief.

Penny watched as his trembling hands became still once more. He hadn’t realized just how tense he had been, and it made him furious at himself. After all he was the devourer, the curse of that feeble human world, a god of fear and pain, way above those pathetic humans.

Except for one.

The mental image of his girl obliterated all other thoughts, and his body reacted immediately. Gone was the fatigue, gone was the fear, and gone was the triumph he had just felt. Instead another need drove him mad, much more powerful than his hunger had been. It had been several days since they had mated, and his body craved hers more than it craved further food.

That realization surprised him. He couldn’t fathom what had caused that change, nor understand it. She had been so tired, busy with that stupid human enterprise of hers, her face becoming gaunt once more. Penny didn’t want to rob her of her much needed rest, so he had satisfied himself with watching her sleep in his arms. She looked so tiny, so fragile, yet utterly comfortable. Just like so many times before he had wondered whether she truly understood just how easily he could kill her if he desired.

But he didn’t desire it anymore. At first only the lack of excitement she gave him had kept her safe. Now she had made both of them addicts to the pleasure of their bodies. He thought back to the last time they had sex. The urge to fill her entire body, every inch of her with him had so easily overpowered him, making him forsake any restraint. Afterwards Penny had been afraid he had done too much, that he had hurt her, injured her.

Curious, considering he had just attempted to eat her only moments before – another situation he still didn’t understand as well. She had tasted only of herself, and he had been determined to follow through with devouring her, just to be rid of the confusion and the uncertainty. But when his true self, the deadlights, had attempted to absorb her soul, something went wrong. There had been an echo of himself in her, an echo that in turn resonated inside himself. He couldn’t do it, and he would never be able to.

She was his, but apparently he was hers as well.

Even the thought of a mere human holding such power over himself no longer disturbed Penny the way it had before his ill-fated attempt to snack on her.

His desire arose once more, and Penny decided to look for her. Surely enough time had passed. She would be home in her bed, and he would pull off her panties so he could plunge his tongue into her, taste her, as she twitched and moaned for him...

A sudden realization shook him to his core.

He had left her at her store, left her in the possible presence of his arch enemy.

What if they knew she was his? What if they did something to her?

He had thought he feared his enemy. He had thought he knew true fear.

But that was nothing compared to the panic he now felt.

He leaped up and flew through the night, rushing as he had never done before. Within a heartbeat that still felt like an eternity he had arrived at her house and saw her window was open. He jumped through it, prepared for the worst –

And was greeted by warm arms that curled around him. His precious girl crushed herself into him, crying desperately. Penny picked her up, nuzzling his nose against the soft spot of her neck, and breathed in deeply. Her scent washed away all the anguish, and her familiar bony frame calmed his racing heart. She buried her fists in his hair in what he presumed was an attempt to hold him even closer.

“Penny, you’re here, you’re okay…” She repeated the words like a prayer, only interrupted by her own sobs.

“I am, I am. What is wrong? Did they hurt you?” Though he didn’t smell any blood, he still tried to look at her body to make sure she was uninjured. But she refused to let go, and he didn’t want her to hurt herself.

“I was so worried you’d get hurt and disappear. I thought they’d gotten to you.” Her voice broke again, a sound that wounded him deeply. “And your phone was dead, and I couldn’t reach you…”

Fuck, he had completely forgotten about the toy she had given him. Now that she had mentioned it he felt the weight in his pocket, but he was pretty sure that the battery had been empty for some days.

She looked up, her hauntingly large eyes overflowing with tears. He licked them away, over and over again, until she finally let out something between a hiccup and a chuckle.

“You’re tickling me.”

“I know.” Penny gave her his most dazzling smile, all gleaming teeth, and she leaned against him with a sigh.

“What do we do about the people who’re trying to hurt you?” Her voice was full of determination. His girl was ready to fight for him, and his body reacted immediately. The yearning was back full force.

“I don’t know yet.”

“You said you’ve encountered them before, right? What’s your hibernation cycle again? Twenty years or something like that?

“Twenty-seven years, to be exact.”

“So they must be at least over fifty-five years old now, right?”

He nodded.

“That doesn’t sound like there’s too much they should be able to do now. They’re not exactly the youngest anymore.”

“Age isn’t important. They were kids when they first nearly killed me.” He couldn’t help shuddering.

“Well, I guess, you shouldn’t come into Derry in the meantime. I think our house should be safe, since we’re very much at the outskirts, but it would be better if we don’t risk you running into one of them.”

He knew what she said was rational, but he didn’t like it at all. It would mean less time together with her. As if she’d read his thoughts she sighed.

“Guess I’ll have to work out a schedule to sneak into the sewers again, huh. By the way, what happened to the two dudes you were with?”

Penny swallowed. His girl knew technically what he was, but he still wasn’t sure how she’d react if he told her. The silence expanded, lasting way too long to be broken. Finally, she put her hands on his cheek.

“Did you eat them?”

Penny didn’t want to look at her. What if she’d turn away in disgust? Somehow his feast seemed much less glorious all of a sudden. He nodded.

“They were bad people?”

He nodded again, and another long silence followed. Jumbled thoughts ran through his mind. Was she put off? Would she no longer be his?

What would he do if she no longer wanted him?

At last, she spoke, and her words pierced the core of his existence.

[pizza-soup]

Sorry I've been missing in action.

Long story short I got very injured at the labs, but I've been making a fast recovery. For the more detailed, graphic version, you can read below. Warning: Mention of hospital, blood, car accident.

As I mentioned, I got really injured at work beginning on February 21 at around 9 PM. It was during a routine check at some of the sites, one in particular needed our higher clearance because there had been a breach at a fence that past week, so I, and two other guards went to check out any tampering of the fence again. They say it might be vandals but a lot of them say it was some kind of large animal. The road to those sites are a single path through the woods, lit with a few lights, no curves, just a flat road with a hill on one side. It hadn't snowed that week either, so no fear of ice or anything. It was just a routine jeep trek.

It happened so fast. Our vehicle was knocked over, I'm not even sure how, but we were rolling in the dark down a hill, hitting trees. I remember the shouting, holding fast, and the glass. I remember crawling toward a tree and trying to sit up against it or maybe I was put there by the other guard, Dolores, I remember her telling me to stay awake. I asked her if I was dreaming. It didn't feel real. I asked what was happening to me because I couldn't move right, everything felt so slow and muffled. I passed out by the time they got us into the medical ward. I don't remember them putting me in a gown or putting in an IV. I woke up later, I buzzed the call button out of fear and pain. My whole left side was throbbing. A nurse was relieved I finally came to. She gave me pain meds and called the doctor in.

I was told there had been an accident, that much I already knew, but no one was killed, just injured. I lost a lot of blood, my uniform was soaked in it and they had to cut it off me. Part of the metal from the door frame folded in and pieced my left shoulder and I had minor cuts on my hands and arms from the glass. My blood pressure dropped so low they were scared my heart might've stopped. I was given blood, hooked up to a lot of things and I would have to stay under watch for a few days. There was a lot of tests they needed to do to figure out just how bad my injuries were.

For the next few days I was just sleeping, I couldn't sit up without feeling dizzy. I had to lay semi flat, my blood pressure was still very low. My left side was still throbbing and the stitches itched. A lot of bruises developed from being tossed around like I was, mostly on my arms because I was shielding my face and head. My minor glass cuts stung while batheing. Nurses came in every few hours to check my vitals, help me use the restroom, shower, help me eat, ect. I got so tired from the smallest things. I couldn't call anyone, my phone was in my locker. I finally got someone to help me call my brother to tell him what happened. My brother was naturally scared, he thought something happened to me and he was sad to know he was right. He wanted to see me, but he couldn't, I was in the medical ward on lab property. He wanted to call our mom to tell her but I told him to wait, there was a possibility that I might be transferred to a local hospital where they can visit me, and I didn't want her panicking and trying to drive up here in bad weather. It's best she waited til things cleared up.

After the first week I was transferred to a local hospital after getting a bunch of tests done. No brain trauma, no broken bones, no blood sugar issues or thyroid problems. I could sit up in bed by then and eat on my own. I still couldn't walk very well without feeling really dizzy, again, low blood pressure. A lot of minor bruises were fading away. I never had my anemia officially confirmed, but they confirmed it and had me take daily iron and placed on a blood building diet in the new hospital. I was tested for covid, I came out clear.

My brother and mom visited me daily, and the other doctor said I was recovering really quickly, that gave us a lot of hope. I could be out of there by a few days, though my blood pressure was worrying her. Seems it wasn't so much the blood loss, but that it might have been an underlying condition already linked to my untreated anemia. She would get the in-house dietitian to include a bit more natural sea salt to my iron rich diet, as well as tell me what I should eat at home and that I need to drink a lot more water than I normally did. This is a problem I've had for awhile, I forget to drink enough water. The doctor warned me I better remedy that immediately especially with low BP. My mom was already taking notes. She really wanted to just take me home already. I really liked her being there, I'm not that shy about my body, but I honestly felt better having my mom bathe me and comb my hair instead of strangers doing that. She was also a lot more gentle around my stitches and bruises.

Eventually I did come home, I still needed a lot of rest and help getting out of bed. I had to fight the urge to clean house, help with groceries, ect. I'm so used to being self sufficient. I felt so frustrated that just walking around the room would tire me out, when I'd hike for miles just a few months ago. I was tired of sleeping and sitting down. But there wasn't much else I could do. I did a lot of origami, my bro got me a coloring book, I watched a lot of movies, took my iron -which is nasty btw-, ate meals that were saltier than I normally would prepare but my taste buds would have to adjust. I was happy my new diet included a lot of fish though.

I did have some close calls. I really thought I could stand up in the shower instead of sitting, and wound up calling for my mom to help me up after collapsing. I collapsed again when I was trying to cook dinner for myself. My face, according to my mom, was drained of color and my breathing was shallow. I felt so dizzy and nauseated. She nearly wanted to call the hospital again. My bro said I was pushing myself too hard and I always had a problem with not asking for help. That I needed to learn to stop being so damn stubborn and rest. To anyone else, that sounds harsh, but he knows me way too well, probably better than our mom. I do have that problem, I do push myself too much. After that, I decided to be more patient with myself. I was sick and might be sick for awhile.

This week I'm doing a lot better. I can do my daily things now, I even went to get groceries and take a little walk to the river. But I can't over do it, I can't stand up or walk for too long, and I can't lift anything heavy, otherwise I get bouts of dizziness and need to sit down. The pain isn't as bad on my back anymore though it's still very sore, my arms, especially my left side, have a dull pain. I can't sleep on my back and left side, only my right and on my stomach. A lot of the cuts on the back of my arms and hands have scabbed over, minor bruises are gone but major ones on my shoulder and neck are still pretty dark and tender. I'm still finding glue spots on my chest and stomach from the medical tape and the EKG patches they put on me, but a bit of lotion is taking it off. My stitching, according to my mom, is definitely going to leave a pretty bad scar above my shoulder blade, but it's fine. My body has a lot of scars here and there from close calls, but I consider them ' Marks of Life'. They're proof I survived and thrived.

It'll take time for me to really feel like I'm back to normal. My mom refuses to go back home until I make a full recovery. She hasn't tended to me like this for a long time, mainly because I rarely get sick. I trait from my dad's side. We don't get colds or flus for years, no history of cancer, heart issues or diabetes, and his family usually remain active to their elderly years, not to mention our graceful aging. My dad used to say it was our native blood, we're just built tougher. The only thing that could kill us is getting injured like this. God, he'd be so worried about me though. I remember how he'd fuss over me when I skinned my knee as a child or got my allergies. If he was alive, he'd probably refuse to let me do anything out of bed, but then that's exactly what I should be doing anyway.

I got a report on the other guards health yesterday. Dolores and Elijah. She was the least hurt out of all of us, just a dislocated arm, mild whiplash, and some really bad glass cuts on her chest and arms, she's home recovering with her husband and kids. Elijah was the driver and got knocked unconscious with a bad concussion, his entire left arm was sliced by glass and metal, he lost a lot of blood like me and is recovering just as slow as I am. He opted to stay in the lab medical ward because he doubts his roommate can care for him at home, he's on a lot of pain meds, so he sounded distant on the phone. I think out of all of us, he's going to take the most time to recover. I told him I'd pray for him and if he wants, I can visit. He appreciated that a lot. I thanked Dolores for helping us that night, she was the one trying her best to keep us alive and sent the distress signal on our ARK devices so they could find us in the dark. Without her, I think we would've bled to death.

God, it feels like a distant nightmare. I still can't figure out how we were knocked off the road like that. Something hit us out there and it was strong. I felt the impact in the backseat, but I didn't see it. Dolores says it looked like a bear, but bears aren't that strong. Eli says he saw horns, so maybe a bison. Bison are that strong, especially against a little jeep. The incident is still under investigation. The lab is also very concerned about how this happened. It's possible the same thing that hit us, has been tampering with the fence.

One less thing to worry about is the hospital bill, the accident happened on lab grounds, everything is taken care of through them, probably because they don't want to get sued. They are giving us another two weeks before we report back in to the doctor for another round of tests and physical tests, as well as check to see if my stitches were still secure. Our return to work solely depends on our results, we may not be able to come back until late April. They really want to be sure we're okay. Because I'm an 'Ophanim' aka Tier 3 guard, I'll also be given a mental test before being hooked back into Selene. They just want to be sure there's no cognition issues and I can sync properly to her. I may have to do a refresher since I've been away for so long, but I'll worry about that when it comes.

Well, if you read this far, thanks. I hope I didn't scare you all too much. I am doing a lot a better though, I promise. I'm getting stronger everyday, though activity on this blog will be slow. Send me some prayers, good vibes, whatever. I'd really appreciate anything. Hope you've had a good month, better than mine hopefully.

[lucdoodle]

The Role Of A Big Brother

Also on ao3: The Role Of A Big Brother

Summary: Raph saw a shadow from behind him grow increasingly bigger and bigger, engulfing both him and Donnie. He understood what was going on, they were this beast's next targets. And he was determinated to not let his baby brother get hurts.

Or, Raph’s POV while protecting Donatello in the Battle Nexus: New York.

.

Foot recruit's voice drew the attention of everyone in the room. "There is no Shadow Feet... Only..."

A silhouette loomed through the fading smoke that had been created during the fight. The cloak of the Shadow Feet moved violently by the force of the wind, until the hood torn apart and his face became visible to all.

The foot recruit voice continued although she was no longer the center of attention, all eyes were fixed on- "The Shredder!"

Raph as well as his brothers, April, Spliter and Draxum all shared the same shock at the discovery of the true identity that was hidden under the hood all along. In a second, it was as if all the confidence they'd had while fighting the Shadow Feet was gone, making room only for the fear of having to face the furious beast once again.

As shocked and stunned they were, they could barely hear in the background a voice surging up again filled with confidence, "Master Shredder, destroy your enemy!"

And it was as if a button had been pushed, his father, rushed with adrenaline that the situation had created hurried to find a way to make his sons, April and the others flee away as fast as possible. He then urged Leo to create a portal.

But Raph's mind was too focused on Shredder to lean into it. He didn't need his pops to tell him what to do, he already knew it and he did it his whole life as best he could.

He was going to protect his little brothers.

Suddenly, The Shredder was approaching them at such a speed that he could only clearly see him when he was right in front of them, destroying Raph's mystic form and pulling them all apart, causing them to scatter from each other.

The red turtle got sent to the ground, his shell hitting the ground but he knew that it wasn’t the moment to worry about that.

Raph knew there was no time to waste. He quickly passed his gaze over everyone now scattered on the floor in the room they were in, his instincts as the leader of the Mad Dogs (they had talked about changing the name, but still hadn't) allowing him to make a quick assessment of the situation and to know if no one was injured.

Splinter had been the one that was thrown the farthest away, Mickey had been thrown to the opposite side where Raph was, somewhere towards Splinter and had curled up into his shell after the hit that monster had given them. Leo was not far from him, still slumped on the ground which worried him a little but Leo started to get up quickly which calmed him. Other than that, none of them looked hurt.

If they were the next target, Raph would have to waste precious seconds going all the way to help them, faced with the extreme speed of their enemy. So he had to be prepared to run as fast as he ever did.

April was on his left, with no apparent injury and Draxum was by her side in the same condition. They were a little far from him but closer than Splinter, Leo and Mickey. If Shredder targeted them, Raph could quickly lend them a hand.

Foot recruit was in exactly the same place as before and the… Beast! Was somewhere behind him.

But there was still someone he hadn’t seen and check yet. Where was his purple little brother, where was Don-

Oh.

Donnie was right next to him but on the opposite side of where the others were and had already recovered, and although he didn't look hurt, he looked absolutely terrified.

Donnie stared at something that was somewhere behind Raph's shoulder, and although Raph wasn't the brain of the gang, he didn't have to be as smart as Donnie to know what it was.

The expression on his little brother's face looked absolutely terrified and distressed. Raph suddenly remembered that his baby brother, although he looked like a mad scientist at times, had fought face to face with The Shredder, and had all his tech got destroyed. And had gone so far as to damage his fighting shell, which he was  always so proud to be so resistant and of which he had boasted so much.

After the fight, he hadn't bragged about it once and had worked his best to make it as tough as possible.

The older brother suddenly realized he had to be there for him and help him somehow now, but how?

Suddenly, Raph saw a shadow growing bigger and bigger from behind him, engulfing both him and Donnie. Raph understood what was going on, they were this beast's next targets. And he just couldn't let his brother get hurt.

He saw tears starting to form under his brother's eyes as he looked truly helpless, and a light sob slipped through him. Then his big brother instincts clicked instantly on and he moved instinctively without thinking.

Raphael threw himself over his younger brother, creating a human, or more like a turtle shield directed against all the rest of the world that could harm his lil’ bro, and especially directed to the nearest threat, Shredder.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leo protecting Mikey as well, still in his shell, as he was shouting something to their father, but the adrenaline rush kept him from hearing what they were talking about.

The older brother made quick eye contact with Donnie, then the purple turtle clung to Raph like it was a lifeline and closed his eyes shut. It was his role as their big brother to protect them after all. The red turtle did his best to shield his brother entirely, which wasn't that difficult given their difference in stature.

Raph closed his eyes firmly, bracing for the impact.

He suddenly felt an immense force concentrate over the middle of his back, pushing him down. He did his best not to give in to the kicks he took so as to not affect Donnie, but the force in question was so powerful that it seemed like it came from another world.

But with each new push, his body began to gave until inevitably squashing Donnie. He hated every second of it, he truly hated the sensation of not being capable to protect his baby brother correctly. The last thing he ever wanted was for his brother to get hurt.

Finally, the blows suddenly ceased as a metal-to-metal clatter was heard when Leo's sword has been thrown by Splinter to push the creature away from them.

The sword whirled around, creating a large portal below them. He knew that the fight was finally over. Raph made a mental note to check on everyone if they had any injuries that needed attention, especially Donnie after all those pushes. He made sure to give him all the comforts and medical attention he might need.

He completely ignored the pain on his back.

[birdhouse-of-shadows]

   If I’m going to angst jail, I’m gonna go for a good reason. Buckle your seat belts and prepare for some real angst. Also half way through this I came up with a title for this so maybe I’ll put this on Ao3. Also I managed to use the word assfuck for the stupidest reason so I’m happy. 

Side note: HCDISHBKFJ I KEPT FORGETTING THIS WAS HERE BUT ITS FINALLY DONE SO- 

“The Ghost and the Moon God” 

TW: panic attack, mentions of abuse 

It was only two weeks after the war had ended. Many pros were still recovering from their injuries, and Hawks was no exception. His back was healed, but he suffered some severe nerve damage. It was going to take months of therapy to relearn how to fully use the left side of his body. However, the ex pro hardly cared about rehabilitation. Since he had been in the hospital he had not been allowed to see his intern, or rather, his intern was not allowed to see him. 

Tokoyami had to endure questioning about what had happened to Hawks, and whatever else he knew about the villain, Dabi. It took a long time for the teen to say anything at all. He had internalized so much, and would only give broad descriptions of the event. He was so conflicted about what he had done, was it really right to save a murderer? It was his job as a hero to save his mentor, right? Aizawa was busy recovering, so he couldn’t help in coaxing the answers from his student until a week into the investigation. The teacher knew well that Tokoyami would need comfort before he could answer any questions. They were only together for 5 minutes before Tokoyami was crying and spilling his heart out to his teacher. 

Once the Commission got wind of what Tokoyami had seen, they knew that had to do something about him. They decided it would be a waste of potential to simply get rid of him. The HPSC decided instead to invite him to join their program. They thought that the young boy would be absolutely honored to have the opportunity to receive the same training as his mentor. Unfortunately, they were completely right. 

Tokoyami received the invitation personally. He had finally gotten to talk to Hawks and catch up. They 3 hours just talking to each other, venting, crying, apologizing, making jokes, laughing, with just each other. They would always be bros, even if one of them had lost their feathers and couldn’t be considered much of a bird. After he finally departed Tokoyami was met outside of the hospital by the president of the HPSC and principal Nezu. The meeting was a total coincidence, the two were originally going to speak to Hawks. It was quite the stroke of luck because they’d be able to get two birds with one stone. 

“Tokoyami Fumikage, am I correct?” The president was the first to greet Tokoyami. Principal Nezu was next to speak.

“My dear student, I’d like to introduce you to somebody! This is the president of the Hero Public Safety Commission! I assume you’ve spoken to Hawks, yes? We came here to speak to him, but it’s good that we ran into you. We’ve got a proposition for you!” Tokoyami wasn’t surprised when he wasn’t able to get much of a word in, the principal was known for his ramblings after all. Principal Nezu explained that the Commission was grateful for Tokoyami’s involvement in saving Hawks and they wanted to offer him private hero training. It would be the same training that Hawks was given, the training that helped him rise to the top so quickly. 

The young hero was absolutely astonished and humbled at the offer. However he was still hesitant. What about UA? Would he be able to get the same quality education? He would also have to speak to his family about this. The president assured him that the education would be an even higher quality than UA. Nezu agreed, albeit losing a little pride in the process. Tokoyami happily agreed to inform his parent and get a meeting setup. With that, the three went their separate ways. ‘

Hawks was tense when he saw the president entering, but confused when he saw the small mouse creature. No, wait, that’s Tokoyami’s principal. Why would these two be together. Hawks’ mind immediately began racing with thoughts and theories. He was stopped mid-thought when the his intern’s principal climbed onto his hospital bed. Nezu seemed to have a reassuring smile on his face, which brought down Hawks’ anxiety a bit. He opened his mouth to greet the pair, but was interrupted by the small principal. 

“Hello there Hawks! My name is Nezu, though I’m sure you already know that from Tokoyami! We actually ran into him on the way in. I have come here with the HPSC president to propose an offer! I’ll let her take from here.” The cheery little animal swung his feet over the side of the bed, and looked over to the president. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

“Hawks, as I’m sure you know, your injuries are going to prevent you from returning to your hero work. While you could return to your office and simply do paperwork, we believe that would be a waste of your talent and knowledge. We would believe that it would be in the best interest of the future that you pass your knowledge onto the next generation.” She paused and looked back over to the principal. 

“So I am offering you a position as a teacher at my school!” Hawks was a bit shocked at the proposition. A teacher at UA? He could be around Tokoyami and watch him grow. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of excitement. He could create more bonds, similar to the one he has with Tokoyami. The ability to help children see their true potential. As soon as Hawks came to this conclusion, he accepted the position. The joyful tone was not meant to last. 

“Principal Nezu, would you mind letting me have a word with Hawks on my own?” The president joyfully agreed let the president have her moment alone and exchanged his farewells with his new employee. The President watched the small creature leave before approaching the side of the bed. 

“Hawks, I am sure that you already picked up on the fact that I am not here just to tell you about a new job position.”

“Yes ma’am. I’m almost excited to hear the news.” Hawks tried to let out a small laugh to cover his fear. He already knew what this would be about. The boy who had saved his life, but in the process got far too close. 

“Its about your former inter, Tokoyami Fumikage. We both know that he knows far too much about you and your position with the league. He will need to be taken care of. It would be a waste to prevent him from being a hero, so we’ve decided to be merciful. We have invited him to join our training program to become a top hero just like you, just like his mentor.” Hawks could only listen as she spoke, he knew that he had no opinion on the matter. His heart sank as she continued, he wanted so badly to protest, to cry, to scream, but he couldn’t. With or without him, with consent or not, Tokoyami would be going through that training program. She finally began to conclude her lecture. 

“Hawks, do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am”

“Oh, I have one last thing to inform you of. Since you are no longer a hero, you are no longer Hawks. Keigo Takami, I am looking forward to seeing your work as a teacher. Have a good day.” With that, she was gone. Takami let out the breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding in. After that sigh, he could hardly breathe. His kid was going to go through that same hell that he went through as a child. Takami began getting flashbacks to the training. He remembered the blood, the injuries, the abuse, the punishments. He spent hours just crying in that hospital room by himself. 

- 3 weeks later - 

It was finally time for them to go their separate ways. UA was holding a large scale party celebrating those who fought in the war. Here it was announced that Takami would be joining the staff, here it would be the last time he saw Tokoyami Fumikage. They sat outside together, away from everyone else, simply watching the sun go down. That was until Takami broke the silence

“Tokoyami, I’m proud of you. I am looking forward to the hero you’ll become”

“Thank you, but why say this so suddenly?”

Takami looked over to the confused face of his friend. He was hoping the next thing he said would be the last time he would have to lie to Tokoyami. 

“I just wanted to...” He didn't just want to, he needed to.

“...I might not see you for a while. With you going off to that private training and all. It was pretty tough when I was there, and I’m proud of you for stepping up to the challenge.” He knew he wouldn’t be seeing Tokoyami again. It wasn’t just tough, it was hell, no child should endure it. Takami realized that maybe that last part wasn’t a lie. He was proud of his little bro, but he was also terrified. There was a slim chance that maybe, just maybe since Tokoyami already had some hero training, the commission would go easy on him. There was also a possibility that since Tokoyami only had a year and a half left of school, that the Commission would be harsh, in order to make Tokoyami a top hero in a matter of months. 

“Well again I thank you Ha-, I mean Takami Sensei” 

“Don’t call me that, kid.  Its way to damn formal. Remember, we’re still bros.” Takami smiles, he hadn’t done so genuinely in such a long time. Maybe it was all of the memories that he had with the bird headed kid, maybe it was the fact that he was happy to be near somebody he cared for. He didn’t care about the reason, he was just happy to be happy. 

“Are you two done?” Takami almost fell off of the bench he and Tokoyami were currently sitting on. Aizawa has come out of the very depths of assfuck nowhere and scared him. Tokoyami, as one of Aizawa’s previous students, was used to these sneak attacks. The ninja teacher spoke again, 

“Ah, sorry, you’re gonna have to get used to that. Tokoyami, the Commission is here to pick you up.  Hurry and say bye to everyone before you leave” Aizawa jumped in his sleeping bag and disappeared again.

 “D-does he always do that?”

“Yes, Aizawa-Sensei is known for it. You are never quite alone here at UA. That fact could be good or bad depending on the type of individual you are”

“Great, that’s great.” Takami couldn’t help but feel nervous about working with somebody like that. He didn’t have long to feel nervous about that though, he remembered why his fellow teacher had come in the first place. It was finally time. He had to say goodbye.

Takami looked up to his friend, who had already stood to leave. He wasn’t sure what to say. This goodbye is only hard for him, he’s the only one who really knows what is happening. He could stop this now, couldn’t he? Why not stop it before it starts? That’s right, he’s not allowed to, if he does things could be worse off. He let out a soft sigh as he stood, hoping that maybe it would cause some kind of butterfly effect, and save Tokoyami. 

“So, I guess that’s that. My time at UA is over. It was fun while it lasted, and I met many great souls.”

“Are you sad to be leaving?”

“Dark Shadow more so than I, he says he’s going to miss all of the affection he gets here. I believe I will miss people, but I am not sad. I will see them again, even if it’s not within UA’s walls.” The soft sigh that followed seemed both sad and reminiscent. Tokoyami began to speak again, but was interrupted by something warm. It was a hug. Takami was holding him tightly, and didn’t seem to want to let go. The teen hugged back in a moment of understanding. They knew that wouldn’t be seeing each other again for a very long time. The two stood there for a long time before finally letting go. 

“So I guess this is goodbye for now, little moon god”

“Moon god? That’s a new one.” Tokoyami chuckled “But I don’t consider this goodbye. It’s not like the Commission is going to kill me. I mean, you’re not dead. Unless you are a ghost and I didn’t know that. Are you a ghost Takami?”

Takami couldn’t help but laugh. He knew that Tokoyami had been trying to lighten the mood. 

“As far as I know, I am not a ghost. I might just die if you leave me for too long Mr. Moon God.”

“Oh goodness, you seem adamant about this new nickname. Fine then, ghosty. 

“Ghosty?”

“I am convinced that you are a ghost and I’ll be joining you in the afterlife once I am done with my training” The word training snapped Takami back to the reality of the situation. Tokoyami also seemed to come back to reality. There was a small silence before the older of the two spoke up. 

“Seriously Tokoyami, I am going to miss you. I’m not the only one whose gonna miss you though. Your classmates are waiting for you.”

“Right then. I’ll be seeing you then, ghosty.” With that Tokoyami finally turned around and opened the door to go back inside. With one last parting look, he went inside. There was a small black feather that was sitting on the ground next to the door. Takami could only watch as the wind caught it and floated it away. 

- 3 Years Later - 

“All right everyone, that's all I’ve got for you today. You’ve got English with Mikey next. Bye now”. Takami began to leave his class when the sliding door slammed open. 

“TAKAMI! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!” Present Mic managed to sound cheery and angry at the same time. “I’VE HAD TO TELL YOU THAT SINCE YOU STARTED WORKING HERE!” 

“Okay, okay sorry” Takami seemed to be genuinely apologetic until he finally made it safely out the door “Mikey” 

“TAKAMI I SWEAR TO G-” Takami had already shut the classroom door in Mic’s face. He let out a slight chuckle before turning around to head to the faculty lounge. A voice came from behind him. 

“Takami.” 

“CHRIST! AIZAWA STOP DOING THAT. You know I hate that”

“Well, I recall that somebody told you to get used to that years ago. That person is also here to see you.”

Takami turned to face Aizawa with a confused look on his face. “Who? There have been far too many people who have warned me about you.” 

“I would assume he was the first person to have told you” 

Takami seemed to be even more confused. Who was the first person to tell him? How was he supposed to remember who told him something over three years ago? Three years ago was when he had become a teacher for the old class 2-A, Tokoyami’s class. They had all graduated a year ago. Wait, wait a minute, Tokoyami’s class. 

“TOKOYAMI? IS HE HERE?”

Aizawa simply spressed himself against the wall and prepared for Hawks to bolt down the hallway. 

“Meeting room 2-A, please don’t run anybody over on the way there.” Aizawa’s plea went completely ignored seeing as Takami had already bolted down the hallway. He was on the fourth floor, and on the wrong side of the building. He quickly calculated the quickest route to Tokoyami. Left, right, down the south hall, another left, avoid All Might, remember to apologize later, down the stairs. His mind ran on simple instructions. There it was, 3-A! One of the few things Hawks had retained was his ability to move quickly without running out of breath. He stood straight and composed himself, tears nearly slipping out. He took a deep breath and slid the door open. 

The sight that awaited him was something he hadn’t been prepared for. Tokoyami sat looking at him, his eyes dead. There was a large scar across the bridge of his beak. The typical black shirt of his hero costume was replaced with one with the Commission’s emblem. It was the same branding that he had to wear when he had been a hero. Upon seeing the young hero, Takami knew that was no longer the kid he used to know. 

The President sat next to him, as serious as ever. There was a glint of curiosity in her eyes. It was obvious that she wanted to know what Takami’s reaction would be to this new version of Tokoyami. The sick curiosity made Takami’s heart sink. He knew what had happened to Tokoyami, he knew that the teen would never be the same. 

“Hey there, you two. Its been a while, hasn’t it?” Takami moved to sit down. 

“Yes it has, and in this long while Tsukuyomi here has become a wonderful young hero.” 

Tokoyami said absolutely nothing. 

“We’ve come to visit you because next week Tsukuyomi will be having his debut as a hero. We would have done it sooner, when the rest of his class had graduated, but creating a hero is like making a fine wine. More time results in higher quality, wouldn’t you say?” 

“Of course” Takami knew that she didn’t mean that. He assumed that the Comission had issues with getting rid of Tokoyami’s emotions and previous training education. There may have also been issues with how complex Dark Shadow was. Usually the shadow was around whenever Tokoyami was greeting somebody familiar. There was no sign of him, meaning that there was a high possibility that Dark Shadow was only allowed out for combat reasons.

“I have nothing else to talk to you about. I am going to leave you two to catch up, alright?” The president just left without saying anything else. At this point Takami could hardly think. After his peaceful 3 years of teaching, he would have to face Tokoyami and his 3 years of hell. 

“Tokoya-”

“Don’t call me that. You and I both know that is no longer my name.” Tsukuyomi’s voice was dry and harsh. It was obvious that the training had destroyed his personality. He spoke up again, 

“I don’t have much to talk to you about. You already know what the training was like. While I am quite please to be seeing you alive and well, I can’t help but feel betrayed when I look at you. You knew exactly what I would be put through, and you did nothing to warn me. I remember the last interaction we had. You had so many chances to say something, and yet you didn’t. I remember how we joked about how the Commission's training had killed you, and maybe you were a ghost. I almost wish that you were dead, then I never would have met you. However, you did help me with some things, so your life has some value. I hope that my training does not become a waste. That’s all I have to say. Goodbye, Takami.” 

Takami couldn’t get a single word in before Tsukuyomi left. There were absolutely no words to say. Tokoyami Fumikage had been killed by the Comission’s training. The only thing that was left was the vengeful moon god, Tsukuyomi. 

[wrestlingisfake]

Raw Fake Rankings, 12/31/2020

Men’s heavyweight singles division - babyfaces

Drew McIntyre (WWE world champion)

Sheamus

Keith Lee

Ricochet

Men’s heavyweight singles division - heels

Randy Orton

Bobby Lashley (WWE United States champion)

AJ Styles

MVP

Elias

Mustafa Ali

Unranked: Akira Tozawa, Angel Garza, Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo, Jaxson Ryker, Mace, Slapjack, T-Bar

It feels like the real direction for the main event involves the intrigue between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, with the Miz in the background with his Money in the Bank contract.  Sounds like a pretty solid plan to kick off the year 2011, with fresh young talent that...wait, I’m being handed a bulletin.  Tomorrow is 2021.

Seriously, though, the Sheamus storyline is at least novel, in that he never really turned babyface but--by virtue of his association with McIntyre--he’s all but ceased acting as a heel except to tease turning on Drew someday.  And they seem to be doing a better job than usual protecting a guy (Lashley) to set up a money match down the line.  (Although I’m not sure what that match is, since Lashley already challenged McIntyre and lost.)  And I suppose they have a plan for Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt, even if I don’t get it.

However, Raw has struggled to make new stars.  (McIntyre’s 2020 push has been a success, but I’d call that a do-over from when they dropped the ball on him in 2009-2013).  Keith Lee’s run on this brand has been a critical failure.  Elias is about 5% wrestler and 95% cheap heat skits, and now he’s got Ryker standing around helping him not wrestle much.  Ricochet and Ali’s Retribution stable are in a battle of losers.  The Hurt Business is getting over as a top heel group, but they have a median age of 45 and they’re running out of hot faces to fight.

What will make Raw interesting in 2021 is that the brand is truly painted into a corner.  The show hit record low rating multiple times in 2020, and tried a lot of quick-fix hot angles that went nowhere.  The big arrivals this year didn’t make much of an impact, and indeed they’ve eroded the fandom’s faith in “calling up someone from NXT for a big push on Raw.”  So what else can they try?  We’ll soon find out.

Men’s tag team division - babyfaces

The Hardy Bros - Jeff Hardy & Matt Riddle

The New Day - Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods

Lucha House Party - Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado

Men’s tag team division - heels

Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin (Raw tag team champions)

The Miz (Mr. Money in the Bank) & John Morrison

I’m not even totally sure Riddle and Hardy are a long-term team, but I guess WWE has already trademarked “Hardy Bros” so for now they believe they’re sticking with that.  Lucha House Party showed up on the December 30 NXT to feud with Legado del Fantasma, which sure sounds like they’re leaving Raw for good, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Women’s singles division - babyfaces

Nikki Cross

Women’s singles division - heels

Reckoning

Raw’s women’s division is currently revolving around the tag title, so the singles division amounts to the women who don’t have tag partners right now.  Incidentally, I’m very surprised that the Alexa Bliss-Nikki Cross split ended without either of them really turning heel.

Women’s tag team division - babyfaces

Asuka (Raw women’s champion) & Charlotte Flair (WWE women’s tag team champions)

Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose

Women’s tag team division - heels

Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler

Lacey Evans & Peyton Royce

Jax and Baszler were kinda thrown together as a monster super-team a while back, which then led to them picking on Lana, which then led to Asuka offering to help Lana go after the tag title, which somehow led to Asuka and Flair as the tag champions.  Meanwhile, WWE went to all the trouble of repackaging Rose and Royce as solo acts just to turn around and put them in new teams for lack of any other ideas. 

I suppose you could build up the tag division from these four makeshift teams, but I don’t expect they will.  It’s all just in service to Asuka and Flair inevitably feuding over the singles title.  Once that gets going, I would imagine Asuka and Flair will do a “lose the tag title through miscommunication” thing and the belts will go to Evans and Royce, and get lost in the shuffle just like every time Royce and Billie Kay got the belts.

No matches in 30 days: Alexa Bliss, Dabba-Kato, Erik, Omos, R-Truth (WWE 24/7 champion), Titus O’Neil, Tucker

Dabba-Kato has yet to wrestle an actual match on Raw, and hasn’t been seen since Raw Underground was shelved.  Omos also hasn’t had a match yet, and technically isn’t even listed on WWE’s official roster.  I’m not sure what the in-ring future is for Bliss--her association with Bray Wyatt is money, but I don’t foresee it leading to a lot of women’s matches.

I’m starting to wonder if WWE has actually lost interest in the 24/7 title, given that nobody seems to have chased R-Truth around for it in a while.  It’s one of those things that can keep running on autopilot, well after they stop putting in actual effort--not unlike the original WWE hardcore title that inspired it--but now they don’t even seem to be doing that.

Part-time/semi-retired: Shane McMahon, The Big Show, Triple H

Shane was brought back in 2020 as the spokesperson for Raw Underground, so when that idea got canned, he disappeared as well.  So it’s really hard to imagine how he could return, since his primary value to WWE is to make an unexpected return to hype some new hotshot idea, and they literally just tried and failed to do that.  And it wouldn’t make much since for him to “invade” with a hotshot new faction, considering they still haven’t wound down Retribution.

Inactive

Andrade (elective surgery)

Becky Lynch (maternity leave)

Braun Strowman (storyline - indefinite suspension)

Bray Wyatt (storyline - burnt to a crisp)

Edge (right arm - triceps tear)

Ivar (neck - cervical vertebrae injury)

Jinder Mahal (right knee - unspecified injury)

Lana (storyline - head and left knee injuries)

Mickie James (nose - collapsed nasal cavity)

Naomi (abdomen - myomectomy)

Riddick Moss (knee - ACL tear)

Samoa Joe (concussion)

It was never entirely clear why Strowman was taken off TV, but I would assume he’ll back in time for the Royal Rumble, unless he’s dealing with an injury.  Similarly, I’m sure Wyatt will be back by the end of January, having magically recovered from being immolated by Randy Orton.  It’s interesting, though, that Wyatt and Orton will be settling their differences right around the time Edge is expected to return to renew his rivalry with Orton.  Is it possible Orton could go 2-0 with Wyatt to build him up for Edge?  And if so, how does Orton finish off Wyatt in a way that can top burning him alive?

Lana should be available to return whenever WWE needs, but it’s tough to gauge whether they’re waiting for the right moment in her story with Nia Jax, or if they’ve given up on all that and will leave her on the bench until they think of some totally new gimmick for her.

For the record, Andrade and James were in the 2020 draft pool but never picked, so technically they can show up on any brand once they return to action.  Lynch, Edge, Ivar, Mahal, and Joe weren’t even included in the draft pool, but I think that had more to do with their lengthy time away than anything else.  Regardless, I wouldn’t count on any of these performers leaving Raw anytime soon.

[avionvadion]

So the first two are some VERY old drawings- like, I was back in high school kinda drawings. Oof. Sorta hurts to look at it, but whatever. XD The next two plus the dancing one are closer together, though still fairly old, and the Ienzo drawing is one I did literally the other night because I was listening to “soldier” nightcore and OH MY GODS. 

Because, like, Nobodies grow hearts over time? Well, Irene is crushing on Zexion from the start, and she pretty much just sort of annoys him into falling in love with her- though he doesn’t realize it. He just gets angrier and more flustered, until La City de Cloches happens (right before CoM) and he snaps. (Riku witnesses their friendship in the DDD part of the fanfic, or at least will when I’m able to write ti) Also, while I originally planned on them masquerading as gypsies because it’s fanfiction and I can do that, um, I rewatched Book of Life and realized-! BATTLE DANCE MOVES! Which basically inspired the last page because it’s them fighting and doing a team attack. A dancing team attack. 

I’M A ZEXION/IENZO SIMP OKAY I’M SORRY I LOVE ONE MAN AND IT’S HIM HE IS BEST DISNEY PRINCE 

Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12448743/chapters/28327938

Major Fanfic Spoilers below

Anyway, the whole Irene/Ienzo conflict is that Irene was super freaking in love with Zexion, right? She was happy and sweet, and he was calculative and manipulative and smart, and she knew that, and he knew that, and it worked. But then he died. Lexaeus- bodyguard/father figure- died. Everyone at CoM died. Even Xion. But then Roxas defects. 

Irene tracks Roxas to Twilight Town after he ran away from the Organization in a desperate attempt to bring him back so to avoid his obliteration. In the process she meets Hayner, Pence, and Olette who mention they just met a blond a day or two ago and wish her luck in finding her friend. She learns of the abandoned mansion and encounters “Ansem” at the gate. She asks him about Roxas, but the only response she got in turn was Soul Eater pointed at her face. Irene tries to go about things peacefully, but when he refuses to put his weapon away Irene summons her own and tells him that she won’t go easy on him for hiding her “brother” from her. Irene wins and manages to break into the mansion. 

There she encounters Namine, who is all too aware of who Irene is because of her connection to Roxas and Riku- and therefore her connection to Sora. Namine is surprised, but says that she should have expected Irene to come to the mansion because of how much she cares for Roxas and the other organization members. She then says that she’s always wanted to meet Irene since she found out about her, having learned of her apparent affection towards Nobodies. She explains that Roxas is hidden in a version of Twilight Town DiZ created, but his memories of her were now locked away. 

“Without the memories of Kairi… Sora can’t wake up. He needs Roxas.” 

“So do we! Roxas is my family; I’m not leaving without him!” 

“But… if you take him away, then…” 

“Then he gets to live. I am NOT losing him, too. Just take the memories out of him and put them back into Sora!”

“I… I can’t… it’ll take too much time…”  

Irene storms out and locates the basement, but during that time Namine panics and tries to mess with her memory. Unfortunately, as a Keeper of Heart Irene’s memories can’t be altered as much as a normal person’s and due to that Irene becomes incredibly dizzy. Having made her way to hidden basement Irene encounters DiZ, who mocks her in her state for caring so much for a being that doesn’t even have feelings. Irene snaps at him, saying that he knows nothing about Nobodies and their feelings, and tells him that the bonds between her and the Nobody friends she made are what keep her going. 

“I-I’ve already lost so many… I won’t… let you… take Roxas, too!” 

She summons her staff and goes to attack, but “Ansem” arrives in time to protect DiZ. She goes so far as to call them murderers for trying to remove Roxas from the world, but DiZ merely laughs and says that Roxas shouldn’t have even existed in the first place. This only makes Irene more angry and her attacks against a weary “Ansem” become more wild and frustrated. 

“You know NOTHING! Of them, of the Organization, of the way they treat each other! One may lack a heart… but the feelings are still there! Wh-When they died… when that girl went missing… Roxas cried! And mourned! And hurt!” Knocks “Ansem” back and switches her illusion staff to her own. “Without being there or witnessing any of it… YOU CAN’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT NOBODIES!” 

Goes to swing the staff with a huge surge of light, when Namine started to try and lock up her memories of the Organization- thus causing Irene to fumble. She falls to her knees and begins to panic, knowing SOMETHING was happening to her. Her eyes lock onto the rings and gloves on her hands and she realizes- she couldn’t remember who they were from. A face was starting to fade from her memory, the face of someone very important to her, and she begins to panic- frantically trying to recall the name as she stands and stumbles back into a wall. 

Irene begins screaming when her head begins to throb to the point it felt like her skull was splitting into two. Namine’s powers were starting to fail and Irene was on the verge of recalling Zexion’s name when “Ansem” takes the initiative to knock her out. DiZ decides to place her in the virtual Twilight Town with Roxas, removing all the gear the Org members have given her (including her coat), and had Namine alter both her and Roxas memories enough to where they would coincide. However, Namine could only do so much and was unable to “make” new memories for Irene, only able to lock up the majority of them and edit the details of the remaining few. 

When Irene woke up she remembered nothing except her sibling status with Roxas. Roxas believed Irene to be his sister and the only remaining survivor of the “accident”. She obtained amnesia since the accident and was brought home only recently since she recovered from hospital. He explained that any gaps in her memory could be because of the head injury she sustained, but Irene couldn’t feel much pain at all aside from a light headache. During the seven days Irene behaved overly doting towards Roxas, taking side-jobs from the help wanted boards in an attempt to help support them so Roxas wasn’t doing things on his own anymore. 

Also Struggles with him sometimes to help prepare for the tournament after it gets revealed that she was the one who taught him how to struggle. Is surprised by her own strength. Eventually sometime while hanging up posters for the upcoming struggle match Irene encounters “Ansem” again. He’s just standing there and watching her, and her feeling rather uncomfortable upon noticing him calls him out and tries to strike a conversation. 

“Hey~ random person! How you doing? New in Twilight Town?” No answer. “O-kay… well! You want one of these posters? The tournament’s coming up soon and my little bro’s gonna be fighting in it! Well, I say “little” but he’s like fifteen? Also taller than me, which is lame, but hey! You should come watch! You might enjoy it.” 

“...” 

“No?” 

“Ansem” leaves and Irene is left very confused, but also feeling like she should know that person from somewhere because of the coat. Thinking about it makes the pounding in her skull worse, so she stops focusing on it. More time passes and Irene is at the accessory looking for something to help Roxas out a day before the tournament when she catches sight of the rings. Her head starts to hurt again and she wonders why looking at them hurt her heart so much, and why her fingers suddenly felt so exposed. Leaves the shop, only to crash into “Ansem” again who shoves two rings into her hands. 

“If they’re so important to you, you should try harder not to lose them.”

 Before she could ask what he was talking about he’s gone and Irene is left standing there, staring at the rings in her hands and wondering what he meant by that. She puts on one of the rings and places the other in her pocket, and heads home to get started on another cooking attempt for dinner. Sometime later Roxas comes out of his room- very dazed and confused, not understanding how he got there since he was certain he fell off the clock tower- and after dinner when Irene is putting the dishes away she asks Roxas if he knew why the rings she had were so important to her. 

He’s surprised to see them, having believed they were lost in the accident, and hesitantly tells her that the ring she was wearing was given to her by her boyfriend- the same one that died in the accident- and that the other was the ring she gave to him. Irene’s headache gets worse, but she’s just barely able to recall a face. In the mansion DiZ questions “Ansem”, demanding why he intervened, and “Ansem” responds that those rings in particular were something they should have never taken from her. Later that night Irene winds up in her heart, where she is asked a question and is forced to fight a previous Keeper. 

During the day of the struggle when time freezes and Roxas is forced to fight the dusks, Irene moves to help him only to be dragged away by “Ansem”. Continuously blocking her way, Irene gets frustrated and in her determination to help her “brother” she summons her weapon. There she fights “Ansem”, but just as she starts to win the world unfreezes and he vanishes into a corridor of darkness. Irene is really confused and her weapon disappears, but quickly runs back to the match and is surprised to find everyone cheering- the dusks nowhere to be seen and Roxas apparently victorious against Vivi. The dusks reminded Irene of something and she passes out after focusing too much on it, and recalls pieces of her conversation with Zexion/Lexaeus after she found out the dusks listened to her. 

When the seventh day comes Namine releases the locks on Irene’s memories and the girl goes in desperate search for Roxas, but ends up having to evade the hordes of Nobodies attacking. Memories back she heads to the mansion and finds Roxas just in time, stopping him from calling out to Sora. Roxas apologizes, knowing full well he was causing her and Maria both grief, but tells her about the dreams he had of Sora and that- even if he didn’t want to- Roxas had to do this. So many worlds and people needed Sora. He asks her to respect his decision and to keep smiling,  and then fades into Sora. Irene starts to breakdown and panics when Sora starts to wake, running off in an attempt to hide. Unfortunately she slams right into Goofy and Donald who have just woken up, and is almost instantly mistaken as “Mazy” by Goofy who had last seen Maria when she was a young teen. Irene is instantly confused only to remember Maria’s stories about Goofy and realizes mid-bear hug what was happening. He sets her down, only to notice her eyes were brown instead of hazel and that she WASN’T actually Maria, and apologizes. Then asks why she’s so upset, but Irene quickly changes the subject by bringing up Sora and saying something about how “someone was waking up in the next room” and Donald and Goofy run off to find Sora. 

Irene makes a break for it, but encounters “Ansem” again. He tosses her bag and white coat at her, all her equipment inside, and tells her to “Go”. Rather than grateful she ends up even more confused and mad at him as he was the reason Roxas was now gone, and she didn’t understand why he was helping her so much, but he says nothing and merely vanishes into a Dark Corridor. “What is wrong with that man?” 

Finds a room to hide in and puts her coat on, looking through the bag to find her equipment and is more than alarmed when she finds the bracelet she made for Lexaeus in there. He had worn it to C.O so it should have been there, so why was it in her bag…? Did that man put it there? His weapon looked a little like a keyblade- could he have been the one to kill him? And the photo from Halloween Town with them and Zexion... Irene was just about to open a portal to the castle, ready to resign herself to her fate of having to explain the situation to Maria, when the door slams open and Sora, Donald, and Goofy walk in. 

Gets questioned by Donald and reluctantly answers most of them, when Goofy has a realization like, “I get it! The reason you look like lil’ Mazy is ‘cause yer her other half, isn’t it?” 

Sora is super duper confused and Donald is in disbelief, and Irene is like, “Er, I mean, I am, but the reason we look alike is because we’re sisters??? Not because we’re both Keepers??? Hi??” 

Que Goofy having an excited freak out because holy crap his little Mazy has a little sister he’s so happy for Maria. Asks how she is and what she’s doing, but before Irene could actually answer Donald throws a fit because the King was looking for the other Keeper and she’s right in front of them- they HAVE to bring her along- and Sora is just asking what the heck a “Keeper” is and who “Maria” was. Goofy and Donald explain, then bring up how the Keepers of Heart are supposed to work together with keyblade wielders to free captive hearts, and Sora gets on board with bringing her along because why not?? The more the merrier, right??? And Irene is all types of “Nope” but they aren’t having it. Donald is the most aggressive about it. Irene is cursing her luck as she just wanted to go back to the castle and burrow under the covers like a depressed bunny rabbit. 

And now Irene is even more distraught then before. Maria learns that Sora was in C.O and tries to kill him, and Irene attempts to defend him because Roxas was still in there somewhere- she can feel his light- which causes Maria to call her delusional. Maria, feeling betrayed by Irene, tries to kill HER while Sora is unconscious, and Goofy drags Donald and Sora back to the gummi ship. Irene doesn’t fight, instead keeping a shield up the entire time as Maria is wailing on her, until the woman is exhausted. She tells Irene to get out of her sight and she does, and every now-and-then Maria will appear. To simultaneously check up on Irene, to attack her, and to attack Sora. 

And though Irene hates Sora for stealing Roxas away, she can’t help but also be friends with him. At least... until Demyx dies. Then she snaps, claiming Maria was right all along, and goes after him- only for “Ansem” to intervene. Sora heads farther into Hollow Bastion and Maria attacks him, thus how she gets her chest scar, and Irene nearly kills “Ansem”. She was seconds away from doing it, but then the hood falls down and she can see his eyes... and realizes that he was a person just like her. Like everyone else. And if she killed him... someone who cared for him would be feeling exactly what she was. 

And then “Ansem” won. Her face burned, stomach ripped open and then simultaneously healed/burned shut, he tosses a defeated Irene and Maria somewhere safe where they can talk. And then more org death happens, and the girls are depressed. Luxord was the last for Irene- she couldn’t handle anymore. She gave up and just hid in her old room, even as the castle fell apart. The previous inside her heart eventually opened a light corridor and pulled her through, saving her, and for a long time she just stayed there before accidentally wandering into Destiny Islands where she encounters Riku. Through some things Maria and Irene are able to start working together as sisters and keepers again and make a home in the Radiant Garden castle, helping the restoration committee, until DDD. 

Lea is pretty much the same Axel. The personalities don’t differ that much. But Ienzo? Heck, even Irene? They’re not the same as they were. Irene is depressed, traumatized by all the events that occurred in such a short span of time. She’s still grieving. And for a man with the same face and voice as the one she had loved so wholeheartedly before, only to be so DIFFERENT, appearing before her? it hurts. And she’s conflicted. And she’s scared. 

And while she wants to protect him, to keep him safe and ensure he lives this time around, she also wants to avoid him at any cost. But Ienzo loves her- he was as much as Zexion as Zexion was him. And Lea tries to help her see this, definitely not as patient as Ienzo and being far more annoyed that the tension in the room was so physically painful he wanted to rip his hair because GOD DAMN IT GIRL JUST ACCEPT HIM ALREADY. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE HIM. It isn’t until after Tangled that she does, witnessing Eugene’s death. 

Also Riku feels massive guilt over killing Zexion, especially after becoming friends with Irene (poor girl unaware he was “Ansem”), and witnessing their interactions in La City de Cloches during his exam. 

The songs “Haven’t Had Enough” “All to Myself” and “Who Do You Love” by Marianas Trench fit  Irene/Ienzo pretty well, actually. Especially if you imagine the PoV shifting back and forth. “Soldier” is more Irene/Zexion to Irene/Ienzo, but... yeah. XD I’m weak, okay? I’m sorry. I love torturing characters. 

[a-student-out-of-time]

Twisted Sister Arc Review Part 3

Prison Break

And with this we are finally coming to an end here. Again, apologies for breaking this into 3 parts but I doubt you guys wanted to read about 5k words in one sitting so it’s easier for you to digest. I also feel like I’m not doing a review like this in a long time. Anyway, time’s a-wasting let’s get back to where we left off as we left the demonic guitar child to be mind gutted and to catch those criminals that got out!

With all the criminals running around the one question that is on everyone’s minds is ‘where’s Iroha’? Did she go back to Makoto or did she head home? The answer is, she went back to Makoto and the two having been making it out ever since. Their intense kissing session was interrupted by Nikei and Emma catching a bad guy that got too near the house, and not only does this mean that Nikei gets the confirmation that Iroha is alright, but also Makoto gets to meet Emma and Nikei for the first time. Emma and Makoto meeting went just as I suspected, given that Maku was cool with Makoto and due to how close Emma and Maku, there was little doubt that Emma was gonna approve of Makoto. Nikei though, his reaction shocked a lot of people. I’m guessing since that one dream got posted of Nikei putting a gun to Makoto’s head and threatening him, not helped with how trigger happy he still is, and also all the threats he’s made about Makoto already, for Nikei to be like ‘Sup bro, I’m cool’ means either Nikei was just joking all those times he threatened Makoto (likely) or Makoto’s just that pure of a person. Remember that in Class 78, Makoto was able to befriend literally everyone in his class, and Class 78 had a lot of people who were anti-social and had severe trust issues, so it says a lot about his character that he was able to connect with so many people, and the one person he didn’t connect with, he STILL tried to safe, it’s just Junko didn’t want to be saved and you cannot help someone who refuses it. And given that Nikei’s pretty good at reading people for who they are, he would have realised that Iroha would be in safe hands with him, and that all that worrying was unfounded. Also, Komaru, as expecting is 100% on board with Iroha’s relationship with her brother. When we Anons were suggesting for Iroha to hook up with Makoto, part of us worried how well Komaru would take it but seeing how well they got on, once Komaru finds out that Iroha thirsts for her brother, and I do mean thirst because you are very dirty minded girl, especially given that Komaru won’t be befriending Toko in this timeline so she needs a friend who has indecent thoughts, she would be like ‘yay go sister!’. At some point the other girls will get involved so let’s see when Makoto decides to create Cuddle Puddle 2.0. And even if that doesn’t happen, I can see Makoto by extension of him dating Iroha, hanging out with the Voids in general and giving them the Hopeness energy that he just emits which once Mikado decides to get involved, he is going to have a very hard time doing what he is doing.

That leads me to a thought experiment, what would happen if Makoto meets Utsero? If he starts hanging out with the Voids, and once Makoto becomes relevant to the ‘Saving teh world’ then, then the hunt of Utsero will commence at some point, and while I feel like Utsero won’t give a rat’s arse about his ‘children’, he’ll be quite interested in Makoto as Makoto is basically someone who is the complete opposite of him. Makoto has extreme bad luck rather than extreme good luck and while Utsero‘s entire life is derailed because of it and making him miserable and death seeking, Makoto has one of the most well-adjusted lives out of everyone in Danganronpa, both canon and fanon. Granted I could see Hajime and others screaming if it happens as they fear the world imploding from the sheer luck energy, but while Hajime and Utsero’s talk would be interesting, from a thematical standpoint, the talk between Makoto and Utsero would be more compelling. Also, another way Makoto could spite Mikado.

Anyway, moving Makoto and Iroha’s make out sessions aside back to bad guy wrangling where the QC, assisted by Fuyuhiko and Peko, start to assist the police with arresting all the criminals. This leads to a standoff between an arsonist and Tsurugi who mentions he has planted bombs somewhere…. oh dear…oh dear indeed. Recall the incident when Sasaki loses his life which was the triggering point for Tsurugi’s morality to go down…worrying paths. Now of course that wasn’t caused by a prison break but at this point, we have changed so many things timeline wise that the event could be caused by this, and the QC cannot afford to take any risks. So, when Hajime decides to tackle the bombs, he goes in with Tsurugi and the rest of the QC bar Sasaki from entering. And then shit hits the fan as the bomb goes off and Tsurugi and Hajime get hurt, though thankfully Hajime’s injuries are minor and while Tsurugi’s more severe, he’ll live. This is going to a major event for Tsurugi as before then he was very anti-Kasugano and wanted to arrest him on the spot, and would have done so earlier had the Prison Break not been a bigger concern. But now, Kasugano saved his life, had he not listened to him to hide, the bomb would have killed him. Sasaki is also probably going to have to talk to him about Juu, who is the bastard behind this whole thing. I feel like this isn’t over because not only does Tsurugi have to recover, he and Sasaki need to talk about what Sasaki feels about Juu, but also, I see a massive re-evaluation of values towards Kasugano as if Kasugano is a hypocrite like Tsurugi claims, why would he save his life? Sasaki did sort of guess almost accurately that the police is so corrupt that he has to take matters into his own hands. Shinji makes an appearance here as well and that’s glorious as seeing our Fire Daddy is always a nice thing to see. Mikan getting freaked out over Shinji’s lack of indoor voice is quite amusing as well.

And with that Hajime collapsed into a deep sleep due to all the smoke and everything that has occurred. It’s unknown how successful the QC are with dealing with the criminals, though the lack of mention of Storm concerns me because well…it’s the same prison he was held out and ever since Kyoji mentioned him, I’ve grown concern about him being relevant to the plot. Kyoji might keep telling us he won’t break out but I’m too savvy, when you mention a villain like that, they’re gonna escape it’s just a question of when. Kinda curious to see how Storm is handled as he is essentially a Villain OC. Sure, Junyu and Juu are but they were characters that appeared in canon or fanon, it’s just they weren’t fleshed out, but Storm is an original creation. Can’t wait to see when he shows up and how much I want to strangle him with his purple tie.

And thus, that’s the Twisted Sister Arc over and done with! Easily the most plot tense out of ALL the arcs that have been done as we had bad timelines, villains getting upgrades, serious questions getting answered and the character developments of some characters concluding and others showing they need progress. I will give this Arc an A. And its tied with Concert Arc as my overall favourite Arc, the only reason it doesn’t exceed Concert Arc is because of the whole ‘Yasuke-Multiverse-theory’ which knocks it down some points, though I do kinda blame the fact that Yasuke is generally that much of an arsehole anyway. Don’t expect my reviews to be this intense going forward and with the next arc, I hope I can cram all I want in a single submission. Until then, bye bye! - Review Anon

[fenheart87]

Mark of the Butterfly

I have a soft spot for Marc being the true Butterfly holder and another for Nooroo getting the love and care that little beautiful creature deserves! Slightly angsty but its mostly good feels and bonds being strengthened. also on AO3

It was over. The loud sound of the sirens and screaming of Gabriel was completely drowned out by the beating of her heart, adrenaline still flowing through her body. Marientte hugged a newly revealed Adrien closer as he slipped into shock, the reality of his father's actions finally sinking in. All this time and all the terror, sleep deprivation, injuries, property damage and emotional strain just so he could have a shot at a pipe-dream to revive Emilie... It was finally over.

"Gabriel Agreste, your reign of terror is over. Your control of Paris and it's people's emotions is no more. Most importantly, your time as the holder of the butterfly miraculous and torturer of Nooroo is done." Ladybug cradled the butterfly miraculous gently and steered Chat Noir away from the still raving former designer. Tossing her yo-yo and latching onto a building, the din of reporters firing questions and screaming for answers went ignored as she took her partner to her safe apartment where the rest of the miraculous holders were waiting.

"He's in shock and Plagg needs a break at least, if he wants to suit up again then he can after Plagg eats." Max jumped into action and grabbed Adrien's favorite blanket to wrap around him, a flash of green came from under it.

"There's tea and all kwami related snacks in the kitchen, even some Marinette favorites." Luka murmured, taking a quick moment to hug his girlfriend and by extension Adrien who had yet to let go of Ladybug.

"Let Tikki rest too Nette, you know she loves group hugs like this too." Nino joined in, bringing Alya and everyone one else followed to create a giant group hug.

"Spots off." Marientte whispered and felt the tears start. "I'm so sorry chaton, I never wanted to be right about him being Hawkmoth. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, and more I'm sure you never told me about. I failed you and I'm sorry."

"Milady, you didn't fail me." Adrien whispered, still not moving his face from her shoulder. "Not as Ladybug and not as Marinette. You were always there from the beginning. I love you but you know that already."

Luka raised a brow to Sass, who mimicked the expression as he held Tikki and Plagg closely. 

"And I love you too chaton. We will always be partners, we were destined to be in each other's lives. Don't forget that you have everyone else here for you too."

"I know..." She could hear the smile breaking through and felt one on her own face. "I was thinking of asking my girlfriend to come with me on a trip and maybe my best friend who happens to be an awesome superhero if her and her boyfriend would like to go."

"Dude! Totally knocked out by the superbug?!" Nino complained, causing laughter to spread through the solemn atmosphere. "I get it though she is pretty awesome."

"Well you got the pretty part of that right." Luka smirked as the blush forming on pale cheeks.

"She's always been awesome, just a little preoccupied you could say." Alya teased.

"Preoccupied enough to walk into doors and walls." Alix chimed in, now sitting on the couch.

"Or tripping up the stairs." Juleka muttered. 

"One time! One time!" Marientte whined embarrassed but smiling as she felt Adrien chuckling. "And i think best friend is a pretty big spot for me to fill..."

"Nino is my bro, I am unofficially a Lahiffe. I don't want anything to do with being an Agreste anymore." 

"Adrien, I understand that you don't want the connection to Gabriel and his nonsense but don't just give up your connection to your mom either. She loved him before he became the Gabriel of today and you know her better than anyone. " Tikki flew in, wiping away the tears that spring forth from her words. "Why not step away from the bad stuff but keep the good?"

"How do I do that?" The blonde miraculous holder finally raised his head and stared at the Tikki with such heartbreak in his eyes.

"I don't know, do you Luka?" She smiled mischievously.

"What are you talking about?" The guitarist was confused and looked at his girlfriend who was slowly turning into a tomato. "I missed something?"

"Oh my god Tikki! Do you really have to bring that up now? I like only freaking out for a day- okay okay like a week which considering wasn't all that bad but this really isn't the time!" Marientte babbled and then realized what her kwami was actually talking about. "Adrien... That's it!"

"I don't follow bugaboo."

"Instead of Adrien Agreste, follow your mother- okay not really because you'd be changing your name and she didn't but you could become Adrien Graham De Vanilly. Oh it's perfect!" She hugged the surprised boy to her tightly and bounced in place, causing those left in the group hug to laugh and step back a bit.

"I mean you're always a Lahiffe bro but you're pretty awesome as you."

"Guys, I don't-" Adrien broke into happy tears, launching himself at Nino and pulling in Tiki for a forehead kiss, irritating Plagg who stole her back with a playful hiss.

"I think we're going to be just fine... Just one last thing to do." Marientte leaned into Luka's side fully, letting everyone party for the moment before she would have to collect the miraculous' and let them visit with their newly reclaimed lost brother.

"I see your thinking face and I trust whatever you decide next Songbird." Luka whispered, sneaking a kiss when his sister wasn't looking because she was looking to get revenge.

Ladybug loved the feeling of flying through the air and running across the many roofs of her city. It was a freedom she loved and willingly shared with the other heros even if they could not keep their miraculous full time like she could being the Guardian. For a long time she had worried and thought until she was dizzy about the end of this fight and what would happen after. More importantly who would be best for poor Nooroo as Duusu would need a long time to recover and special help before the peacock would be ready for use again. Seeing her target clad in red made her smile and Ladybug swooped down, startling the boy.

"Marc Anciel, I have a very special request for you. Should you accept, I have a very special friend who needs someone like you."

"Wait, the fight is over, are you giving me a miraculous?" Marc squeaked, green eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"This miraculous is quite different you see, this is the butterfly miraculous that was misused by Hawkmoth and the kwami Nooroo wasn't treated well. I was hoping you would accept and become the true butterfly holder to inspire and help sort through the crazy amount of emotions that everyone will be feeling now that the reign of terror is over. To do good and spread love." Ladybug waited, watching the emotions flash across his face and pulled out the miracle box she had been saving for this moment.

"I accept." Marc smiled and opened the box, flinching slightly from the bright light. A butterfly kwami shook a bit as he opened his eyes and looked at his new holder, awe slowly shining through his countenance.

"Nooroo, this is Marc and I think you'll be in very good hands from now on. There is still much to fix and balance but for now I want you to take some time to spend with each other."

"Oh Guardian Ladybug he is truly inspiring!" Nooroo flew close and stared deeply into frozen green eyes. "Such a beautiful and gentle soul to have been through so much and still so very strong..."

"Well if I can do it, so can you- Nooroo? Right?"

"Yes Mas- I mean Marc. It's very nice to meet you." The kwami settled in his shoulder and seemed to glow with happiness.

"What is your favorite food? I was just going shopping for some stuff." 

"Oh I love cinnamon rolls!"

"Oh I almost forgot, here!" Ladybug handed the new holder a coupon for free cinnamon rolls at the one and only Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. "Bug out!" She winked and threw her yo-yo to head home.

"Thank you Marinette."

"So now we get to adjust to actually finishing dates and having to come up with actual excuses and finding things to do when bored." Luka mused aloud, making Marientte giggle from her place tucked into his side. "Only good things from here."

"Well emotional aftermath and work through a lot of issues but with Marc and Nooroo I think things will be on the right path. I think Adrien needs to visit him eventually once he gets more settled."

"Speaking of Adrien, I hear he is going through with the name change and the courts are having a tough time with the company in shambles."

"I'm out of a job at the moment, debating if I should wait for the reboot or move to another design house."

"I think MDCC has a nice ring for a new design house, to avoid confusion could just keep MDC."

"Luka! It was just something you said and I was sleep deprived and you know how my mind is. I won't freak out again unless it happens."

"And how long did you calculate for that possibility miss planner extraordinaire?"

"Luka!"

"I just want to know my time limit…"

"Shut up and kiss me."

[veilofher]

MDZS Meta: Why did Lan WangJi live on?

Guys. Guys.

Lan WangJi. Loves. Wei WuXian.

Period.

If you’ve read Mo Dao Zu Shi / Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, then you know this is a hard fact.

Like attack his own family just to try and protect him for a bit longer and bear 33 scars on his back for it kind of love.

Like break the very rules he so strictly upholds, and stash his favorite alcohol- Emperor’s Smile in his house kind of love.

Like adopt a baby he loved kind of love (which if any of you know, taking responsibility of babies aren’t exactly the easiest thing to do, we’re talking a minimum of 16 years here guys).

So that got me thinking, if LWJ loved WWX so very very much, so much so that one of the very first descriptions of him, as said so eloquently by WWX, was “nothing could help the bitter facial expression that made him look as though his wife had passed away“, then why did he not just take his own life? Or at the very least become as nonfunctional a person as his father who was mourning his wife.

Because can you blame the man? The love of his life, who was probably the best person he knew, okay no probably about it, had been viciously villianized for his strength and then brutally murdered for his choices- choices that LWJ himself agreed with.

I mean just look at the family history of the Lans, those bloody suckers just feel too damn much.

And God knows the Lan sect wouldn’t have stopped him. Be grudged him? Yes. Hated on WWX more than they already were? Definitely. Used him as an example of how not to love? That’s a given. But stop him? I don’t think so. I mean just look at what they did with his father- Qingheng Jun. They left the man alone, to do whatever the fuck he wanted, in the name of love. And they let LWJ, who was so heavily injured that he needed three years to recover, just leave and go to the Burial Mounds merely three months after said injury. They did not even try to stop him or follow after him to make sure he was alright. They just let him do as he wanted, now that his punishment was complete.

Side note: The Lans really do allow a lot in the name of love, don’t they?

So yes, LWJ could’ve very easily ended his life, and not suffered through the next thirteen years of grief, which in his case was kind of tripled, because not only did the love of his life die, the world just blindly hated on said love, and everyone also kind of thought his soul was destroyed. Actually fuck triple grief, make it x100 fold.

But did he do that?

No.

What did he do?

He followed the principle he shared with WWX, one that WWX died to uphold- always be there for others regardless of the fame it brings / always be where the chaos is. And this is something they both have done all their lives, think LWJ protecting Mian Mian despite having a broken leg, and WWX protecting the Wen sect remnants despite the infamy if brought him.

This man, who cherished every part of WWX that he had left behind, so desperately, how could he just take his own life when WWX himself hadn’t?

I mean think of the absolutely pain and horror of the last couple of years of WWX’s life- he was one of the best cultivators of his generation who lost his core days after he lost his sect and his father-figure, then was stabbed by his own sword and thrown into hell on earth, aka The Burial Mounds, then was thrusted into a war when he was barely out of his teens, where he was reduced to a weapon by his own brother (and you cannot say anything to make me think otherwise. Jiang Cheng had the front seat view to his brother’s misery, and he did nothing. LWJ, who barely interacted with the man knew that his spiritual powers were somehow impaired, but JC, who lived with him, had zero clue? Bro do you even see your brother?), and then just when the dust was settling, and he could finally begin to psychologically heal, he took the Wen sect remnants under his wing, for which he was villainized by the entire world and it’s mother, and pretty much everything went downhill from there.

And despite all that, not once does WWX think of committing suicide. After Qionqi Path and Jin ZiXuan, he would’ve surrendered himself, I think, had he been able to secure the Wen remnants’ safety. And then after the Nightless City Massacre, and Jiang YanLi’s death, he still doesn’t kill himself, as most people in his situation probably would do, because imagine the fucking guilt of having murdered the very sister you loved more than anything. Instead he finds a way to destroy the Stygian Tiger Seal, and dies from a backlash.

LWJ was one of the few people who saw and perhaps the only one who understood WWX even in the midst of his madness. So how could he, knowing all that, just kill himself? What was his pain of losing one loved one compared to the pain of WWX’s, who had lost pretty much everyone?

So instead what does Lan WangJi do?

He lets go of the wordly affairs, and just leaves. He can’t leave his sect, because his brother and uncle and A-Yuan are still there, but he doesn’t even stay really. He’s just on the road, going from place to place, and protecting people. And teaching kids, so that they don’t end up as close minded as his and his previous generation were.

He’s doing the only thing he could do-

Live on and protect Wei WuXian’s values.

[mango-da-dango]

It’s Purgatory Time!

Warning: Death, cursing. If you are not comfortable with any of these subjects, either proceed with caution or click away.

^^^ The image up there are the characters, but Y/n, This is how I had her dress and how I imagined how she would look like. 

Main Characters: Y/n L/n (Reader) Rico Brzenska, Yuuto Takahashi (OC) Daniel Stephenson (OC)

“Rico-Hancho!” A cadet screamed out.  The small woman groaned as the titan gripped her body          

“Damn! I can’t breathe!” She panicked. The titan looked closely at the woman. Expecting it to eat her, Rico drew her sword attempting to fight one more time. Instead, the titan gripped her harder before tossing her like a rag doll. Her body limps as she rolled down the hill. Each stone hitting her felt like spikes piercing her skin. Finally stopping, she laid there in pain,

“ I. . . have to keep fighting! I can’t stop now!” She panted. Trying to move one of her limbs felt like her body was being ripped apart. The pain surged through her veins as she tried to get up. Her eyes felt heavy and her vision started to blur. She felt her heart rate decrease.

“No…. I can’t die. Not yet.” She thought, gripping the emblem on her breast-pocket. As the blood seeped through her clothes, the thick red liquid painted the ground beneath her. She coughed out blood and tears pricked the corner of her eyes. Slowly her eyelids drooped and finally, she drew out her last breath.

|  ￣￣￣￣￣￣ |  

|   Time skip      |                  _______

|____________|                 /   R.I.P.   \

               ||                         | Here lies |

               ||                        |    Rico     |

               ||                      (\|________|/)

(\__/)      || 

(•ㅅ•)     || 

/ 　      づ  ______________________

Beep. . . Beep . . . Beep

The sound of chatter and a constant beeping was enough to wake her up. Bright white ceilings and strange glass contraptions made of glass blinded her blurry vision.

“Oh, glad to see you up. Hope ya had a nice nap.” said a masculine voice. Rico squinted at the figure in front of her. He picked up a small framed pair of silver glasses and held it out for her. Rico sat up while taking her glasses and looked around. She gasped seeing familiar faces.

Everyone who was thought to be dead. They were right in front of her, all in white clothing and wrapped in bandages. 

“Rico? What happened?” A familiar voice piped up. Rico yelled at the sighted of her formally deceased friend. Ian Dietrich, the Ian who got his head chopped off was there. Well . . . part of him. Right now, he was just a head on a neck and a small part of his shoulders.

“I-Ian?” She stuttered. 

“Rico? Is that you?” Her other friend Mitabi called out at the bed next to her. Half of him looked ok and the other half looked flatter than a piece of paper. “Hey, Rico. How’d you end up here?”

“Wh-what? A-am I dead? Where am I?” Rico faltered, “Is this the afterlife?”

“Eh, more or less.” The black-haired male said as he picked up a clipboard and stood up.

“My names Yuuto by the way. You’ll have to wait for my work bros to get here so they can tell you the info you need.” He added before walking off.

“W-work . . . bro?” She muttered to herself.

“Apparently, it’s a term called “slang” from where he’s from.” A male voice clarified. There he was, Freckled Jesus himself, Marco Bodt, bandaged up and half his body missing. “By the way, you’re in the purgatory hospital.”

“Purgatory? So I’m dead?” She questioned. The clicking of heels grew louder as a small woman with (H/C) hair and heterochromatic eyes marched in. 

“Affirmative!” chirped the small woman. Her gloved hand held up a pink and blue clipboard. 

           “But, possibly not for long,” said the woman. “You see, you’re a special case. Since your body wasn’t too injured and nobody saw you die. You should be perfectly good to go home in a few hours!”

           “Wait, I’m going back after I die?” she asked, confused.

           “Yep! You are a soldier! And all soldiers, warriors, fighters etc, etc, go to this reserved heaven where they live the rest of your afterlife. Unfortunately, that place is lacking space for everyone and you have some unfinished business to attend to.” The woman explained.  Rico examined herself. She no longer had the small scratches or bruises made when she rolled down the hill, it looked like it never happened at all. And more importantly, the gash on her body was gone and what was left was a pink scar running down her stomach.

           “Now you just have to wait for your check-up with Dr Daniel Stephenson. However, he is with another patient right now so we have a bit of time in our hands.” Said the woman, grabbing a chair and sitting next to the silver-haired woman. Crossing her leg and placing the clipboard on the nightstand, she turned to the woman and smiled. “How are you feeling? Do you have any questions? My name is (Y/N) (L/N) it is a pleasure to meet you.”

           “Likewise, it is a pleasure to meet you too,” said Rico. “And yes, I do have questions, What exactly is this place?”

           “You are at Purgatory Hospital. This is the place where the people who died in battle go to recover from their injuries before going into soldier heaven, and as I said you have unfinished business to attend to in your universe.”

           “Business? Universe? There are other universes and this supposed heaven is lacking space?” Rico pondered. The (H/C)-coloured woman nodded.

           “Yes, unfortunately, there are too many people dying on the battlefield, and it is too much for soldier heaven to adjust to the rapid increase of the population, and your universe is not the only one, this place is connected to various universes in different timelines.”

           “Well how exactly do you get here and how do you go back?”  asked Rico.

           “You get here by dying, your spirit floats itself into the hospital for treatment, If your body is intact you’ll be able to heal quickly, however, if a part of your body is missing, it’s a different story. For example what happened to your friend Ian.” said (Y/N) motioning to Ian’s disembodied head. “You have to wait so we can regenerate the rest of your body, but it also comes with conditions.”

           “Conditions?” Rico asked. (Y/N) nodded.

           “Yes, because of your replacements, there are side effects that relate to your death. For example, the scar on your stomach shows the fatal wound that leads you to your passing.” She explained.

           “Alright, but what exactly are you? Are you some sort of nurse or doctor?” Rico speculated. The woman in front of her laughed.

           “I guess something similar, but not in the medical field.” She explained. “I am a doctor in the scientific field, but I am here to explain to you what is happening, so you don’t go crazy or anything like that.”

           Just at that moment a tall two-toned man with a lab coat and an eye patch over his right eye walked into the room and stopped in front of Rico.

           “Are you Ms Rico Brzenska?”  The man asked. Rico nodded.

           “Good! I’m Doctor Daniel Stephenson, and I am here to your physical exam to see if you are ready to go,” said Daniel, putting on his stethoscope, and placing it on her chest. He continued the exam. Writing the last bit of a sentence down, Daniel smiled at Rico. 

           “Good news, you’ll be able to go home now! You just need to sign here and (Y/n) will bring you home.” He said, pointing to a line with an x on the side. Rico took the pen and wrote down her name. Daniel smiled and motioned for (Y/n).

           “Little lamb, she’s ready to go home, you can take her now.” the two-toned male smiled.

           “Aye-aye captain.” (Y/n) smiled, turning to the silver-haired woman. “Well, Miss Rico. Follow me and we’ll give you a change of clothes and we can bring you home in a jiffy.”

(Y/n) lead the silver-haired woman thorough a hallway and to a door with a metal plate saying “Belongings space” She opened the door and let themselves in. The inside was fairly big and had clothing racks that stretched miles and miles far. Each rack was labelled with numbers and titles. The scientist led Rico to a rack that was labelled “Titan Universe: Garrison soldiers”

           “It should be around here somewhere . . .” she said sifting through the countless racks of uniforms. “And . . . Here it is!”

           The small scientist pulled out a familiar uniform, handing it to Rico she leads the woman into a changing station.

           “You can change here, call me when you’re done.” (y/n) said as she closed the curtain giving Rico the privacy she needs.

           Rico stared at her uniform. She noticed that her name was hand-sewn into the back of her collar. Stripping herself of the grey clothing she was provided with and changed back into the familiar uniform. Once she had finished changing she moved the curtain and saw the scientist waiting for her.

           “Good! You’re done!” she beamed. Grabbing her by the wrist she led Rico out to a room with a variety of sharp objects. All a variety of scissors to swords and spears. There were also large platforms and machines next to them. Everything was interesting but what piqued her interest was this one platform with what looked like a big hole in the air.

           “Alrighty Rico, You just need to step into the portal and you should be in the forest close to the walls!” She explained, “Also, don’t mention this place to anyone yet. Okay, Bye Bye!”

           “Huh?” Rico asked before she was shoved into the bright portal. A flash of blue light surrounded her before landing on the green ground. Groaning, she got up and dusted herself off. 

“She could have at least told me first.” Rico thought to herself. Seeing that there were no titans she jogged closer to Wall Rose.

           Two garrison soldiers were talking amongst each other on top of the wall when they spotted a small figure jogging to the walls.

           “Holy Shit! It’s team leader Rico! Tell them to open the gate!” One of them yelled. The gate soon rose from the ground letting Rico pass through. She was soon surrounded by her comrades asking her questions left and right.

           “Rico! Thank the walls! Good to have you back!” Hannes shouted passing through the crowd with Kitz.

           “It's a miracle that you survived out there without your gear." A soldier praised in awe,

            "Yeah. . . survived...."  Rico mumbled under her breath.

            "It's commander Pyxis!" A soldier shouted. The bald man came through the crowd and stopped in front of the small woman. Rico saluted and Pyxis chuckled.

           "At ease. Rico. You should go and freshen up. You must have been through a lot it there with no gear, you have my permission to take the rest of the day off." Pyxis insisted.

             "Thank you, Commander. You're too kind." she thanked. The male nodded and left, leaving Rico to her own devices. Eventually, everyone else left and she went back to her room. Once there she closed the door behind her and went to sit in her chair. She leaned her head into her hands and began to think about everything that has happened,

             "They'll be back. Everyone who died. Who got eaten, squished killed by the titans. . . They're going to come back..." Rico thought she had very mixed feelings about this. She was happy that her comrades would come back to her, but does she really want them to go back to this hellhole? Just so they can die again? She didn't know. 

             Rico sighed and got out of her uniform, changing into her nightwear and went to bed. She closed her eyes and let the darkness of slumber take her.