#and it's not even an ironic joke ending it's played out in the most devastating way imaginable | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

miraculouscontent · 4 years ago

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*rubs hands together*

The first thing to talk about with this episode is the pacing, and I think this might contribute to why people think it’s the best/least bad of Season 4 (personally, I’d rather watch “Furious Fu” but that’s just me; also, this isn’t the only contributing factor as to why I think people might feel this way, but I’ll get there later).

The episode has a very serious pacing issue, particularly with its more intense scenes. There’s only one minute of time dedicated to Ladybug landing on her bed, de-transforming, and her snapping at her friends plus them leaving. More time was spent on Chat Noir and Ladybug in the movie theater and Ladybug storming out.

I particularly remember watching the episode and getting eighteen minutes in, at which point I had the realization of, “It feels like nothing’s happened?”

This episode is supposed to be a big gut punch, but the season has been going by at the speed of sound, like they’re trying desperately to play all their cards at once (Lukanette break-up, Adrimi break-up, then Alya is told Marinette’s secret identity). Instead of letting things build and play out for a while in the interest of suspense, the show just throws whatever will get a big reaction out of the fandom (whether positive or negative) and it doesn’t care how shoddily put together everything is. The first two episodes feel like hastily put together drafts, and while this one is technically more put together, it still feels like a draft.

Let’s just start with Chat Noir, who feels completely out of place in the episode. Not only does he imply that he intentionally calls Ladybug “Bugaboo” (which she has told him to stop doing) in order to get a reaction out of her, but when Ladybug insists that she doesn’t want to talk, he tricks her into thinking that he has a good location to do so (and my heart breaks a little at how readily she trusts him) only to then take her to a romantic movie, then shush her when she calls him out for it because she “said she didn’t want to talk.”

Gee, and people wonder why she didn’t tell him her secret (even outside of “Chat Blanc” existing)?

And... look, I know it’s a joke, but I do not find it funny. The “joke” is basically that Chat Noir is taking advantage of the situation to flirt with Ladybug, and though I find it at least mildly cathartic that Ladybug is unaffected by all the people staring at them while Chat Noir is embarrassed, this episode is coming right after the one where Kagami broke up with Adrien, and here Chat Noir is getting his flirt game on. I already talked about all my problems with “Lies” so I won’t do it again, but I’ll just say that it’s not a mystery why Ladybug doesn’t want to talk to him and would rather avoid her problems.

(Not to mention that Ladybug knows that Chat Noir likes her, so talking about her romantic problems with him is awkward to say the least and would come off as insensitive.)

Honestly, at this point I feel like they must be building to something with Chat, like Ladybug finally going off of him with no mercy and that forces him to give up/fall out of love for her because reverse love square, but if that’s what they intend to go for, then that means Marinette is going to fall for this guy who’s repeatedly disrespected her feelings for multiple seasons, almost abandoned her and let Paris drown because she wouldn’t tell him a secret that wasn’t hers to tell, and just generally all the other things he did????

Ugh, I don’t wanna think about it. Let’s just move on.

Talking about Ladybug and her rant next, it basically summarizes the whole show in a nutshell, but simultaneously casts a shadow of sorts over “Truth” for people who maybe missed the episode entirely (which is also sort of the show in a nutshell). I mean, Ladybug confirming to the audience that she was genuinely in love and happy with Luka (you can’t watch how depressed she was over the break-up and not think that) was great, but Ladybug’s dialog implies that Luka “hated secrets” and that’s why they broke up, when Luka was more just... hurt that she couldn’t be honest with him, and he didn’t actively hate secrets. Marinette broke up with him because she felt like she had to; because she had to keep ditching and lie to him.

In addition, what she says also hints to the audience that they’ve both held and kissed each other, which not only indicates cowardice on the part of the staff (”yeah this happened but--um--off-screen; we’d still like credit tho plz”), but may perhaps go back to the theory I had about how Adrimi and Lukanette were supposed to last longer in Season 4 but their arcs got cut (based on the Adrimi kiss having supposed to have gone off). This could mean that Ladybug’s statement was originally accurate to canon but the scenes got cut and the scriptwriters just awkwardly left it in, which is made more awkward by the cinema scene in “Truth” that felt like Luka and Marinette were kissing for the first time (again, alluding to the whole, “this entire season has been a draft” thing).

Also, if you think about what that actually means - that Luka and Marinette did have successful dates and kisses but they were off-screen - then all it adds up to is that showing Marinette happy and comfortable was something that the series didn’t deem as “interesting/fun enough” to show, because Marinette being happy isn’t something they want to see; only watching her be miserable, which is exactly what Ladybug says, along with how everything was “almost too simple, too easy,” because Marinette isn’t allowed to have nice things without being jammed through the wringer first.

And... sure, let’s say that Chat Noir thought the movie was genuinely a good idea; let’s assume that it could be a joke, him wanting to flirt, and him believing that it’d make her feel better somehow.

If that’s the case, then where’s the apology when it fails miserably? Ladybug goes from her semi-anxious state at the start of the episode (a little scatterbrained but ultimately just looking for a distraction), to outright enraged by the movie, and then to this upon leaving the cinema.

She just got her heart broken from being forced to break up with a boy she genuinely wanted to be with and there’s not a single, “Okay, maybe coming here was a bad idea, I’m sorry,” (which could’ve been seen as another joke with the audience like “lol no duh Chat Noir” so there’s no excuse not to have it) or, “My bad, that was insensitive of me. I really thought this would’ve helped but I wasn’t thinking about what you would’ve wanted.”

No. The only people Chat apologizes to are the other people at the theater because he’s embarrassed by Ladybug’s reactions, yet he himself feels no remorse for taking her there and has the gall to go on now about how he’s “there for her if she wants to talk.”

Again, it’s no wonder Ladybug doesn’t want to open up to him.

And I’m sorry, I just don’t buy that Marinette suddenly has all this free time. It’s one thing for her to have a little more time now that she’s broken up with her boyfriend (likely avoiding spending time with him altogether now), but “Truth” went out of its way to talk about all of the emergencies she had to deal with and how she doesn’t have any spare time. which is causing her to become forgetful and lose track of certain events (patrols with Chat, dates with Luka, etcetera), yet Marinette spends most of “Gang of Secrets” simply sulking on her bed. It’s so jarring to go from “Truth” where she was doing “too much” (which I called them out on for not describing what the “too much” she was doing was) and now “Gang of Secrets” where she’s not doing anything.

It’s almost like they invented that plot point to break Lukanette up and it served no purpose outside of it.

Furthermore, the scenes of her finally talking to Tikki and then deciding to live as Ladybug does nothing outside of making the plot more predictable, the latter because of the “Alya almost sees Ladybug” moment (an obvious indicator that Marinette is losing control and is struggling to maintain her secret identity due to her emotionally breaking down) and the former because of Tikki herself and what she doesn’t say.

Because, really, think about what actually goes on in the scene. Marinette (eyes rimmed red and filled with unshed tears, as she is for a good chunk of the episode) is venting to Tikki about - yes - her love life, but also that she has to lie to everyone in order to keep her identity a secret. The fact that Tikki focuses solely on the note of Marinette’s love life and not say a word about the identity/lying issue or even consider telling Marinette, “hey, this is clearly too much for you, you should tell someone, I think the benefits outweigh the risks right now,” really proves that the episode tried to avoid the topic altogether to try and make the ending more shocking (which ironically made it more predictable).

So yeah, not only does Tikki’s dialog with Marinette provide nothing except for a line about how she can’t help Marinette with love issues due to kwami not falling in love (alright, I guess aros can’t give good love advice then or have any input whatsoever), but Marinette’s line about lying to everyone being why she can’t pursue Adrien nor Luka is repeated in the very last scene of the episode. The only reason that scene and the scene after exist is because the writers needed Marinette to be emotionally devastated enough to leave for her balcony as Ladybug for the almost-reveal to Alya and so Rose would get close enough to the dollhouse to have an almost-reveal with the Miracle Box, making the scene feel further contrived because the emotional punch of Marinette wanting to live as Ladybug lasts for barely any time at all.

And it could’ve served a purpose, like if Ladybug had genuinely left and Alya finds her goggles and towel, recognizing them from a news story about how Ladybug had gone to the swimming pool after losing her temper at the cinema, which could’ve led to Shadow Moth making the girls believe that Ladybug was no longer heroic and had kidnapped Marinette, or... heck, Ladybug coming back inside would’ve been so much less jarring if she came back because she heard the girls’ voices talking about the dollhouse and had to hurry (but of course, then they’d have to point out the ridiculousness of Ladybug not hearing Alya calling her and the girls not hearing Ladybug literally shouting for Shadow Moth to come fight her, even though the kwami heard the girls calling for Marinette from the balcony).

But instead, the entire scene feels off and unnatural, forcing every part of it in order to get to where Marinette has to snap at the girls to make them leave.

(Oh, by the way, just a little detail to add to the annoyance: they bothered putting Tom and Sabine in the episode when the girls are leaving, clearly saddened by something that happened, and neither parent even bothers to go and check on Marinette to see if she’s upset or just to see what might’ve happened. They’re such a “blink-and-you’ll-miss it” moment in the episode and it’s not like I’m surprised because they’ve done this multiple times by now but really?)

As for the girls themselves... oof, where do I even begin?

Alright, first off is the annoyance that they assume Marinette’s problems relate only to lovesickness. Marinette has been an anxiety-prone mess throughout the entire series, and suddenly now the girls care about Marinette’s love problems on an emotional level rather than “we’ll meddle sometimes unless we don’t feel like it and be wholly inconsistent on how much we push for it.”? It’s not that I don’t see how they came to the conclusion (hearing that Luka and Marinette broke up and now seeing Marinette is depressed, it checks out), but considering they bothered noting that Marinette hadn’t told them anything, one would think they’d come to the conclusion of, “okay, we haven’t talked to her, we have no idea of what’s going on, maybe we don’t know her as well as we thought then and shouldn’t make guesses.”

Secondly is the “eternal friendship bracelet,” which comes off as a copy of the “Secrets” game from “Syren” extremely manipulative. Mylene goes on to explain that one is supposed to give a secret to the pearl “mentally,” yet when the girls actually show up to see Marinette, they expect to be told the secret directly. I’ve already talked at length about peer pressure and the mental stress Marinette goes through when they mock her and/or meddle for her, but this idea of, “well we all used this friendship bracelet after we mutually agreed to it so now it’s your turn because we said so!” just comes off really bad. I know the episode is going for this idea that their hearts are in the right place, but they’re really not. It feels like they’re the ones in denial and are trying to compensate by forcing Marinette to prove that they’re friends, unable to handle the idea that they might not be as close to her as they thought.

Thirdly, the show acts as if the girl squad are her only friends when we know that’s not true because we’ve seen episodes like “Befana” (the guys in the class), “Reverser” (Marc), “Ikari Gozen” (Kagami), and “Silencer” (Ivan) that all established Marinette having more friends than just them, but for the sake of “drama” and the depressing line of, “at least I don’t have any more friends to lie to,” the episode just pretends like Marinette’s friends are limited to Luka (who she had to break up with) and the girl squad (who she forced to leave and refuse the friendship of).

Fourthly is the actual set-up and the sheer grossness of it all. The girls call Marinette and leave a message about how they much they love her and how she can talk to them “where and when” she wants, and then - immediately afterwards - decide that they’re going to go straight to Marinette’s house completely unannounced, go into her room completely unannounced (not even knocking, by the way), and when Marinette begs them to leave, Alya basically tells her that she’s overreacting. When Marinette demands that they leave, Alya refuses and makes demands right back that they won’t leave until she tells them what’s wrong.

So much for “where and when” she wanted, right? It’s already one thing for the girls to invade Marinette’s privacy and demand/guilt-trip answers out of her, but it’s another thing to give the illusion of respecting her feelings and personal space only to actively plan to go back on it. I can’t tell if it’s a bad draft that they didn’t catch in quality check (you know, the quality check that they definitely don’t have) or just an intentional way to make them seem more sympathetic so Marinette looks worse for driving them out, but either way, it’s awful and I hate it. I would’ve rather had them be all in on invading Marinette’s privacy and learn a lesson in the end than outright contradict themselves.

There are also little nitpicks I could make (like Juleka’s constant mumbling despite Luka’s crush on Marinette playing a role in the episode, Horrificator getting sidelined due to being mute, and the girls’ akumatization ultimately being for spectacle and nothing else, serving no purpose to the plot and being furthered by the fact that Timebreaker goes after Marinette despite it being a bad idea and Reflekta’s power clearly not lining up with any sort of plan), but the real issue issue here comes down to the fact that these are Marinette’s so-called “friends” and the episode refuses to address their actual issues.

Alix, who is known for making rude comments at Marinette (”Gigantitan,” “Chat Blanc,” “Miraculous New York”) and then gives mixed messages by going along with meddling anyway.

Mylene, who is the closest thing to a background character in the girl squad but nevertheless finds her way into being definite voice against Marinette in “Chameleon.”

Juleka, who blamed Marinette for things she didn’t do in “Reflekdoll” and got huffy with her until Marinette apologized for said things.

Rose, who outright screamed at Marinette in “Chat Blanc” over a freaking stuffed animal, which pressured Marinette enough that she snuck into Adrien’s room to deliver her gift which nearly led to the end of the world.

And, of course, Alya; freaking Alya. I don’t even have to go into every single thing she’s ever done because I have a history of giving her absolutely no mercy.

...But let’s go through some anyway because I want to.

“Copycat” - Alya gives Marinette a script and tells her to memorize it, then immediately pushes the “call” button when Marinette hesitates after Marinette had just told Alya that she’s awful at improv.

“Darkblade” - Alya takes a jab at Marinette when Marinette says that she’s too busy to be class representative, implying that Alya thinks that Marinette does absolutely nothing with her time.

“Gamer” - Alya is busy recording the gaming competition when she and Marinette were supposed to be researching for a term paper. Alya then scolds Marinette for wanting to use the competition to get close to Adrien only to do a 180 and put up a fight about it when Marinette decides to quit.

“Animan” and how “The Puppeteer 2″ follows up on it - oh, I’m not going to touch that particular point right now, but keep those in the back of your mind, because I am going to absolutely go off later

“Simon Says” - Similarly to Marinette’s parents, Alya gives zero damns about whatever might be going on in Marinette’s life that's causing her to miss classes.

"Despair Bear” - Alya laughs at Marinette being forced to kiss Chloe’s cheek and then outright compares Marinette to Chloe after knocking Chloe multiple times during the episode (sure, just compare your “best friend” to her multi-year bully, how "hilarious” of you).

“Gigantitan” - Alya has no qualms about mocking Marinette’s over her failures, even if it embarrasses her and she’s been through enough already.

“Frozer” - Alya tries to find ways for Marinette to prevent herself from third-wheeling for Adrien, but when Marinette tries to show character growth by wanting to go, Alya gets into a shouting match with the other girls over how Marinette has “liked Adrien forever and isn’t going to give up now”.

“Catalyst” - Alya claims that Marinette is only salty over Lila out of jealousy when “Frozer” exists and literally is the prime evidence of Adrien liking another girl and Marinette telling Alya outright and very genuinely that she’s not jealous.

“Chameleon” - Alya doesn’t care about her best friend sitting in the back by herself while Alya herself get to sit next to her boyfriend and everyone else in general gets to sit where they want (Alya even acting confused at the mere suggestion that she’d tried to engineer things to let Marinette sit next to Adrien), then not only believes Lila over Marinette but contradicts herself twice (asking Marinette for proof when she has none herself, then claiming that she wouldn’t let her best friend sit by herself).

“Christmaster” - Alya leaves Marinette to babysit so she and Nino can go out on a date.

“Desperada” - Alya suddenly is for Lukanette for literally one episode and doesn’t know how/doesn’t even try to cover for Marinette’s Adrien blindness despite mocking her for multiple seasons over it.

“Reflekdoll” - Alya invites Adrien to something that’s crucial for Marinette to focus on after Marinette has already told her not to and continues meddling to the point where it gets Juleka akumatized (she also doesn’t get punished for it and the blame gets thrown onto Marinette).

“The Puppeteer 2″ - Alya pushes her luck with Nathalie to try and get Marinette to come with her, Nino, Adrien, and Manon to the museum, then traps Marinette in a room with Adrien to force her to spent alone time with him, even abandoning and forgetting about the child that she offered to watch for Marinette so she and her boyfriend can go off alone.

“Miraculous New York” - Alya is told directly by Marinette that she needs help seeing Adrien as a friend, which leads Alya to do the exact opposite throughout the entire special, at one point shouting at Marinette and pressuring her to chase after a car, in the rain, while there’s a supervillain rampaging through Paris, and all of this right after the scheme that Alya had set up caused both Marinette and Adrien to go missing.

And just saying, as Marinette’s supposed “best friend,” Alya sure doesn’t know how to handle her. It was acceptable back in “The Bubbler” when she asked Marinette about signing the gift too late and the same goes for “Dark Cupid,” but by the time we get to late Season 2/3 and Alya refuses to learn Marinette’s weak spots (unless it’s to mock her) and adjust accordingly (like if she’d already made sure the gift was signed in “Chat Blanc,” which would’ve prevented Adrien seeing Ladybug at all due to the time difference), it starts getting infuriating.

A best friend is supposed to cover for their friend’s weaknesses. Alya doesn’t do that; she meddles and often drives Marinette’s anxiety even further up a wall with absolutely no consideration for Marinette’s feelings (”Dark Cupid,” “The Puppeteer 2,” “Reflekdoll,” “Miraculous New York”).

And here, she and the other girls are rewarded for it. Luka actively resisted his akumatization whereas the girls gave in immediately, yet Marinette still opens up to them in the end, likely because they had pressured her and made her feel bad for the secrets she was keeping while Luka was willing to actually wait for her to be ready to talk to him. I can’t put into words how frustrating it is watching these girls trample all over Marinette’s feelings, not have their worst actions called out, and then jump cut post-deakumatization to Marinette telling them exactly what they wanted to know about her love life.

You know what this entire episode is really missing, outside of a coherent plot, properly-paced development, and a basic understanding of rewarding a character for things they’ve held firmly to?

It’s missing the apology. Chat Noir apologizes to a bunch of moviegoers and Rose apologizes for the broken dollhouse, but no one apologizes to Marinette for how they treated her, especially not the “friends” who got rewarded in the end.

“Sorry, we shouldn’t have told you that we’d respect your feelings and then showed up unannounced to make you talk about them.”

“We’re sorry we came into your room and invaded your privacy. You were right to be mad at us.”

“Oh my gosh, Marinette, we got akumatized and we’re so sorry for literally all five of us going after you and probably scaring the living daylights out of you.”

And as if that wasn’t enough, guess what else this is missing? It’s kind of important and brought up directly in the episode, yet the episode simultaneously goes out of its way not to bring it up again.

It’s the reason why Marinette didn’t tell the girls about her relationship with Luka. It’s not there - it’s missing - and the girls never try to pursue the subject. They talk about how Marinette didn’t tell them but don’t think for a second that maybe it’s them who have failed as friends. Instead, they don’t guess anything about why Marinette wouldn’t tell them (which is already strange considering how much they already assume about her) and jump straight to, “well clearly we just need to push for her to talk to us.”

Gonna just go out on a limb here and say that maybe - just maybe - Marinette didn’t tell them because they are habitually pushy in everything they do.

Because they would’ve teased her relentlessly about, “ohhhh you’ve got eyes for Luka? what about Aaaaaadrien~? aren’t you sooo tooorn between both of these cute guys?”

Because they would’ve meddled to force her and Luka together and gotten on her case when/if she ever had to bail on him.

Because their intrusion on her feelings for Adrien had caused her nothing but problems and she just wanted to be with Luka in peace without them forcing their way into things.

Because--hey, wild thought--maybe they’re not really friends???

But the episode completely avoids it, because that would’ve meant addressing it; it would’ve meant acknowledging that they messed up, which - fun fact - they actually don’t do in the episode.

They invaded Marinette’s privacy, insisted that she tell them how she feels (not about them of course because that would imply that they felt like they screwed up), and in the end it’s Marinette who gives them exactly what they asked of her, and the closest thing we get to acknowledging anything is Alix telling her/joking with her that they’ll help her confess to whoever she likes as soon as she tells them she’s ready.

That’s not an apology. That’s not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. Even when the five of them are about to get akumatized, it’s not a circle of them saying, “here’s how I screwed up, I could’ve done better but I didn’t and I lost Marinette because of it.”

No. It’s just them talking about how sad the situation is. Mylene has the closest thing to remorse in saying, “I hoped it would work,” but where does it go? A grand total of nowhere, especially because Marinette still takes the bracelet in the end instead of the girls mutually deciding, “okay, maybe the bracelet was a bad idea; how about we all agree on making something together instead, no requirements attached?”

And then the episode has the gall to act as if Alya has gone through character growth when all they did was put Alya through the same thing that Chloe did. I’ll explain that last bit momentarily, but first let’s talk about the whole “growth” thing.

Because there’s no apology or acknowledgement of wrongdoing, all Alya does when she’s finally alone with Marinette is do a 180 from where she was at the start of the episode, going from, “friends have to tell each other everything,” to, “hey, if you don’t want to tell me, then that’s your right.”

The crucial part that’s supposed to go in the middle is missing. Instead of acknowledging her failures, Alya just cuts straight to “””being a better friend,”““ but storytelling doesn’t work that way.

It literally would have taken zero effort to fit an acknowledgement into that scene. “You don’t have to tell me everything, I get that now. All my meddling’s done is hurt you and I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t trust me.”

In a world where Marinette has to apologize for everything, has to learn lessons and suffer because the narrative says so, I will not accept anything less from other characters who are trying to develop and improve. That’s not fair to Marinette, nor has it ever been.

Instead of properly developing Alya, the show does whatever it can to get its audience to root for her as Marinette’s “best friend” (ugh) without having to put in the effort of admitting that Alya hasn’t been Marinette’s “best” friend.

Remember when I brought up Chloe? Yeah, “Malediktator” did a similar thing, showing Chloe doing something awful, then being sad (while not actually acknowledging the thing she did wrong), and in the end she was rewarded with a miraculous prematurely.

One show of character from Chloe and Marinette gave her a miraculous. One show of character from Alya and Marinette told her that she was Ladybug.

(Also, for the record, I think Chloe is far worse than Alya character-wise and I’m not comparing their characters; this is just the simplest comparison I can draw here from a narrative standpoint.)

“Miraculer” is another apt comparison, perhaps even more so. Chloe got Hawk Moth in her head after an akuma landed in her photo of her and Ladybug, but Chloe resisted and fought back, ultimately forcing the akuma out of her and freeing herself from Hawk Moth’s control.

But it wasn’t to develop her character; no, it was to convince the audience of Chloe and Sabrina’s friendship so they’d feel something during Sabrina’s happy flashbacks, then lay the foundation of tricking viewers into believing that Chloe might not go to Hawk Moth’s side.

At the end of the day, it was doing something that’s “never been done before” in order for the character to earn brownie points for something that the writers can just have them do because willpower is an easy thing to just write in. “Gang of Secrets” does the exact same thing when Lady Wifi breaks free from Shadow Moth, with Ladybug even hammering it home by talking about how no one’s ever done it before.

And the pacing is - again - awful. Not only is Ladybug banking on this working when she herself says that it’s never been done, but the conversation between her and Lady Wifi where Ladybug tries to convince her doesn’t even take a minute.

It also has nothing to do with Marinette herself; Ladybug relies on Alya’s adoration/friendship with her as Ladybug (you know, after Alya took a photo of LadyNoir kissing and posted it online without Ladybug’s consent, betrayed her by putting information on the LadyBlog that Hawk Moth was able to take advantage of, and is the only hero outside of Chloe to resist returning a miraculous) in order to break from Hawk Moth’s control, because talking about Marinette with Lady Wifi didn’t even work.

(Ladybug also uses her yoyo as a portal to the Miracle Box when this has never been pre-established to be a thing despite Ladybug acting as if she knew it was; further proof that this episode was rushed.)

And of course talking about Marinette didn’t work, because that would’ve meant convincing Alya that her reason for getting akumatized was “wrong” and the episode didn’t want to do that. It didn’t want someone else actually learning something and feeling bad; surely, this is just Alya being manipulated by Shadow Moth and having the power to break free because Ladybug “needs Rena Rouge” and not because Lady Wifi and her friends are chasing after their supposed best friend and that’s--you know--wrong???

Rena Rouge’s reappearance is also yet another thing the episode refuses to address because it avoids the topic of “but my identity--”. At least “Heart Hunter” had the tact to have Kagami question why Ladybug was giving her the dragon again, but “Gang of Secrets” treads as lightly as possible on any discussion of identities outside of Marinette saying that she can’t, as if it were Marinette who made the choice of concealing her identity and not the basic idea of heroing that has been stressed over and over for the whole show.

Even Plagg of all kwami stated back in “Origins” that no one is supposed to know about secret identities, a rule that continues becoming flaky and muddled with each passing season, almost like they kept attempting to retcon and make the audience dulled to the idea so that the reveal in “Gang of Secrets” would be more acceptable.

But now, with the way they did it and how they don’t even have Tikki comment on the matter, it once again has it look like they’re making it - say it with me, everyone - Marinette’s fault.

Alya says that Marinette has a choice in telling her secret, Marinette insists that she doesn’t and goes on and on about how it’ll change everything, and then just... tells Alya her secret in the end.

And remember all the way back in Season 2? “Sapotis”?

Alya: What were you saying about her secret identity?

Marinette: Ladybug needs it to protect her family and friends. Otherwise the villains could use them to get to her.

Alya: Well, if I knew who Ladybug really was, I'd keep it a secret. I would even help her! Like say, if you were Ladybug, I'd cover for you — when you needed to transform in school, go fight the "baddies", you know?

Marinette: Oh yeah? Well, if I was Ladybug I wouldn't even tell you, to protect you from the "baddies", you know?

Alya: You serious? If I was Ladybug, I'd totally tell you! Because I tell my best friend everything.

And now here we are in “Gang of Secrets,” as if the narrative is saying, “See, Marinette? Alya was right all along, you were just being ridiculous and making yourself suffer for no reason!”

Yet Marinette had a right to keep her secrets. When Alya and Nino learned each other’s identities, Alya took a hit for Nino in “Catalyst” and both of them fell to Scarlet Moth’s akumas. Chloe was a mess and a half because of Hawk Moth knowing her identity. Fu had told Marinette that her miraculous would get taken if she and Chat Noir learned each other’s identities.

The only ones who received no consequences due to someone knowing their identity were Pegase (who Chat Noir and Markov knew), Ryuko (who Chat Noir, Ikari Gozen, and Hawk Moth knew), and Viperion (who Adrien knew). “Chat Blanc” also exists where Marinette got the impression that people discovering her identity would be a disaster, and even all the way back in “Lady Wifi” insisted that not telling anyone her identity was “listening to her head and not her heart,” and the narrative has relentlessly humiliated her for going with her heart, so yeah, probably for the best.

I hate that the episode avoids talking about anything identity-related outside of what comes out of Marinette’s mouth to make it appear like it was her choice all along. I hate that they had Tikki fixate on Marinette’s love problems instead of having her actually support Marinette and admit that Marinette should tell someone before she has a mental breakdown. I hate that the episode inserts Rena Rouge into the plot as if to brush all identity issues away so as to make Marinette’s identity reveal seem less jarring.

Now, of course I’m glad Marinette told someone. Of course I want her to get love and support from someone. Of course I think the benefits outweigh the risks, or I wouldn’t have written multiple fix-its where her identity gets revealed in some way or someone already knows.

But I didn’t want it to be Alya, because I knew how they’d do it. I knew they’d do it wrong and I knew that they wouldn’t have the courage to address Alya’s issues properly.

Those familiar with my blog will know that I’d been taking negative predictions for future seasons for a while and adding them to cards whenever they were proven right. Does anyone remember the Season 4 predictions that were proven correct for “Gang of Secrets,” specifically these ones?

- “Alya will suddenly be portrayed as a good/worthy friend to Marinette in/if there's an episode where Marinette tells her that she's Ladybug”

- “Alya resisting Shadow Moth/fighting back against him will be used to excuse telling Alya Marinette's secret identity“

- “Alya will know that Marinette is Ladybug first because "BFFs" despite being one of the worst candidates for it“

- “The secret that broke Lukanette up will be resolved in episode 3 when Marinette tells Alya“

Each and every one of those were mine, because I knew that whether Season 4 had a proper chronological order or not, the writers would not have the guts to develop Alya first and then have Marinette tell her in a future episode after Alya has properly earned it.

I knew that they wouldn’t take time to develop Alya. I knew that they would have Alya resist Shadow Moth to make Alya look “worthy” of the secret. I knew that Alya would swoop in during the last minute and a half of an episode, insisting that Marinette “didn’t have to tell her anything” when Alya had been pushy and insistent for the entire rest of the episode and the whole series in general, and would ultimately be rewarded with the big secret simply because she’s “the best friend” and that’s it.

The Alya at the end of the episode isn’t the Alya I’ve known for the entire rest of the series before this, or at the very least they turned her into an Alya I don’t recognize.

Alya claims during the ending scene that she knows that Marinette is hiding something beyond her love problems because she - as a reporter and “her best friend” - can sense such things, and all I’m left wondering is

w h e r e ?

Where and when has Alya been suspicious or worried about Marinette keeping a secret from her? What, back in “The Pharoah” where she didn’t immediately disregard Marinette for the role of Ladybug, or “Simon Says” where she vaguely teased Marinette about having a double life, both Season 1 episodes?

Where was Alya in “Truth” saying that she didn’t know Marinette’s secret but knew that she was keeping one? Where was Alya anywhere in Season 3 being concerned that Marinette hasn’t told her something? Where was this “supposedly very observant” Alya when Marinette needed her to out Lila because Lila got her expelled--oh wait, Alya “observed” that Lila did nothing and Marinette was just jealous.

What, is it only now that Alya suddenly “knows” that Marinette is hiding something else? Now, after Alya has already not known that Marinette was literally dating someone, even when Alya had multiples pictures of Marinette and said someone giving each other heart eyes and saw Marinette leaving school with said someone riding on the same bike together, you know, like normal, typical, average friends would?

Where’s the line where Alya acknowledges the problem? Where’s Alya sitting down with Marinette and admitting, “hey, I’m sorry I haven’t noticed this stuff, but I promise I’ll do better starting right now, and that’s how I know now that you’re hiding something else, and I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that it’s been hurting you”?

I can’t tell you where it is, but I can say that it’s certainly not in this episode. 60% of the episode features the Alya we knew from the rest of the series and then switches her out the second she’s de-akumatized for another Alya who hasn’t done anything that the old one has because she pretends like it didn’t happen.

You know how I know? Because of this absolute gut punch of a line that showed that the series wanted to handwave everything away.

“I know how to keep a secret.”

...Really? Does she now? Well, I hope everyone remembered my point about “Animan” and “The Puppeteer 2,” because I’m bringing it right back.

Considering that “Truth” has been burned into all of our memories, we all definitely remember when Truth shoots Alya and questions her on Marinette’s secret, to which Alya states that Marinette’s secret is, “She’s in love with Adrien Agreste.” Now, at the time of Season 4′s airing, this is very much not a secret, as most characters already knew about Marinette’s crush, to the point where it’d been broadcast on television during Season 2.

But do you know when it was actually a secret? Back in Season 1, specifically in the episode “Animan” where Alya told Nino.

And not only did she tell Nino, but she lied to Marinette by claiming that she didn’t, acting as if Nino knew that Marinette had a crush but didn’t know who she was crushing on, which is then directly proven false as Nino accidentally implies that he does know who it is. This is also after Alya had gotten on Marinette’s case for trying to set her up with Nino, and then she had the gall to say that she wouldn’t spill Marinette’s secret because she, and I quote, “doesn't go around making decisions for other people,“ a statement that is directly contradicted by this little thing known as everything Alya has ever said and done in the entire series.

And while Marinette meddling in Alya’s love life actually ended up working out for Alya, Alya meddling in Marinette’s by telling Nino who Marinette is crushing on comes back to bite Marinette - not Alya (because of course) - in the infamous episode of “The Puppeteer 2,” where Marinette realizes that Alya really did tell Nino that she was crushing on Adrien.

Marinette: You told me you wouldn't tell Nino!

Alya: I haven't told him. Right, Nino? I didn't tell you anything. (elbows him)

Nino: She didn't tell me. And besides, I told her I wouldn't tell.

Then, when she’s called out on it, Alya lies again, and shamelessly so.

Marinette: Why did you tell Nino everything? You promised you wouldn't!

Alya: I didn't, I swear! Besides, even if I had told him everything, he would still be clueless. Ugh, who cares anyway? I've set everything up with Nino, who doesn't know a thing, so you can finally pour your heart out to Adrien, girl!

And now, here we are one season later - and not even half of a season if you go by production code order - and Alya claims that she knows how to keep a secret.

No. No, she does not. In fact, she does even worse because she won’t even admit when she’s spilled said secret. I absolutely refuse to accept that Alya is “worthy” or “deserving” of learning that Marinette is Ladybug when she couldn’t even keep a basic secret like who her friend was crushing on.

And no, it didn’t matter that Nino was her boyfriend, or that maybe she thought it would work out because Nino was friends with Adrien. By that logic, Alya would tell Adrien that Marinette is Ladybug if she heard that Ladybug is who Adrien was crushing on and we all know how that would’ve gone.

Marinette has a right to tell her secret to whoever she wants and I’m glad that a burden has been lifted from her, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy that it’s Alya. That doesn’t mean I have to be happy that, after so many moments of Alya disrespecting Marinette’s feelings, she is the one who gets to hear the big secret that the fandom has been waiting for someone to find out about since the very start of the series.

Luka said it best in “Truth” that the truth is meant to be shared, not taken by force, but Marinette was forced to tell Alya by the narrative because Alya is her supposed “best friend.” It pushed Marinette to her breaking point, forced her to break up with the guy who has respected her agency and feelings since the day they met, and gave her a version of her “best friend” with the same name and face but with none of the responsibility from previous events so that said version was there at the right time and the right place to hear what had to be heard.

And in the end, I end up feeling nothing. Marinette doesn’t even have a “Marinette” reaction to saying it as one would expect; for her to blurt it out and then immediately start panicking until Alya hugs her to calm her down. Instead, Marinette just says it and stares silently at Alya - after blabbing this huge, very big deal of a secret - until Alya goes in for a hug (the “happy/hopeful” ending of which is why I feel like this episode also gets less flak, as the previous two ended off rather depressing/upsetting).

It’s off. Everything is off. The pacing, the delivery, and the logic that the episode uses. The emotion in Marinette’s voice when she’s rambling about how hard it is to keep her secret is so powerful, but then the ending hits and she just says it, breaking the momentum they had going. They pulled the card of Alya walking away too soon when they could’ve saved it, having Marinette go quiet and letting Alya take a few steps away in order to let the moment build before Marinette finally blurts out the secret she’s been painfully holding in.

But they didn’t, and I’m so many levels of dissatisfied. I wasn’t against the idea of Alya learning Marinette’s secret at some point (though honestly, Alix would’ve been a better pick considering that Bunnyx will know eventually anyway, and I say that not even liking Alix!), but not now; not when Alya had so much to work towards.

And now what? What happens now? Now Alya will turn against Lila, not because she learned to have faith and believe in Marinette, but because Marinette is Ladybug, which disproves Lila’s ultimate lie that got Alya’s attention in the first place? Now Alya will be supportive and less teasing/mocking whenever Marinette will be late, not because she understands that Marinette isn’t perfect and has so many other things on her mind, but because she’s Ladybug and has “hero stuff” to take care of? Now Alya will be careful about what she puts on the LadyBlog, not because she respected Ladybug and what Ladybug would want, but because Ladybug is now her best friend and that changes everything?

Because now, Alya has a free pass to all of that, the show making her spontaneously “developed” now so they won’t have to develop her later, and disappointing doesn’t even begin to describe it.

#category: salt #episode: Gang of Secrets #other: ml spoilers #category: long post #word count: over 7000 #other: ask and answer #((I know this is long so I did what I did in ''The Puppeteer 2'' where I had pictures to break it up.))

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deejadabbles · 4 years ago

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Vampire Atem/Yami Alphabet Headcanons

Found this list of vamp-themes headcanons by @an-annyeoing-writer and I knew I had to do them for our favorite king-turned-spirit!

For those of you who read my Spells of Defiance series, these headcanons can be taken as 100% canon to that AU <3

A - Accident - would they turn someone to save their life?

Oof, already starting with a hard one. So, Atem is one of those vampires who hates his existence, he believes it’s a curse. However, he does still love and care for people deeply, and he knows that for many, life is sacred even if it’s a cursed life. I think in a moment of weakness, especially in his earlier years as a vampire, he might turn someone just because he’s desperate not to lose them, only to regret his decision later, especially if that someone is like him and hates what they’ve become. We all make mistakes, right?

B - Bite - how do they bite? Sensually, aggressively? Do they make it hurt or try to be gentle?

Atem is extremely gentle when he feeds off of people, always careful not to bite too deep or tear the skin more than needed, he even holds you and tries to soothe you with gentle strokes of his hands. Now, whether he tries to make it “sensual” or at all sexual...that’s a complicated topic. While Atem is almost always disgusted with himself when/while he feeds, he does recognize that there is a level of intimacy and even romance that can be connected with drinking blood, so sometimes he can be persuaded to make it a more sensual thing if you’re his lover.

C - Control - do they take advantage of their powers?

That depends on who’s in the equation. I can see Atem using his new powers in order to bring justice to those he sees as wrong doers (like his season 0/early manga-self) as a way to make his vampire abilities useful, so from that angle he would “take advantage” of his powers. He might even get some small gratification in using his strength and speed to hunt down evil people, them cowering in fear is retribution for their wrong-doings, but even that’s not too over the top. Other than that, no, he doesn’t really use his powers for advantages over others.

D - Dangerous - how scary they can get? How bad things can they do? What’s their ethics?

So, while Atem does have a very strong moral code, Atem also has a temper, and said temper might be harder to control when he’s a vampire. Even when he’s not growling in anger, he can have this cold glare that could make bikers squeamish. There are moments, especially when he was a younger vampire, where he loses his temper and can get pretty scary. If you’re his loved one don’t worry too much, he would never lose control enough to hurt you, even though his yelling (and maybe throwing a thing or two) is pretty scary on it’s own. If you’re someone he sees a vermin though watch out, when he gets scary you’re probably going to end up dead or wishing you were dead.

E - Exchange - do they opt for blood bags or animal blood, if possible?

He opts for animal blood as often as he can. Sometimes he’ll hunt said animals himself but even that is a little too violent for his liking (Atem is a softie okay?!) so if he can go to a local butcher and get animal blood from them he’ll do it that way. He’s not fond of blood bags because A) they’re harder to acquire and B) having human blood in a cold plastic bag just makes him long for warm human blood and skin under his teeth more. Sure animal blood isn’t as sustaining for him, but Atem spent decades (maybe even centuries) figuring out how much animal blood he needs to consume in order to keep his blood lust under control so he’ll choose that over harming an innocent human.

Also, side note, if you live with him I hope you don’t have a sensitive sense of smell, because he heats up the blood on the stove to make it taste better and it can make the house stinky lol

F - First bite - on what occasion would they bite you for the first time?

Oooh that’s a good one. Like I said Atem has a very complicated relationship with feeding from his loved ones, especially his s/o, and he’s never going to ask you for your blood. So I’d say that not only would you have to offer your blood to him, but he would have to be out of other feeding options at the time. He knows that once he reaches a certain point of hunger he loses control and might kill you in a hunger-induced blood rage, so if drinking from you now, before he gets to that point, prevents that danger, he’d be willing to. Like I said above, Atem would be very gentle with you on that occasion, holding you close and stroking the skin around the bite mark to soothe any pain, and when he’s done he’d kiss the wound and the sore skin around it as amends.

The only other “first bite” scenario I can think of is if you spend months convincing him that you don’t mind (or even like) the occasional bite and finally convince him to drink your blood during an intimate moment, and again he’s very gentle and mindful of not hurting you.

G - Growl - are they more on the “civilized” side or do they enjoy hunting their prey down?

A bit of both, I guess? Since he tries not to drink from humans he’s more civilized in that way, but like I said before he does “hunt” evil people like an avenging dark angel, which he may get some small form of enjoyment from, so...

H - Hate - how do they feel about their kind? About themselves?

It’s honestly pretty depressing how much self-loathing Atem harbors. He genuinely thinks he’s an abomination. It doesn’t help that in all his centuries of living, he’s met very few vampires who’re “good” like him. He’s also someone who’s on a high horse and if he met a vamp who didn’t kill human’s but also wasn’t self loathing like him, he’d look down on said vampire. I’m warning you now if you fall in love with him, his self-hatred is very upsetting and can be hard to deal with.

I - Intimacy - how fast would they let you close to them? Would they want to share with you what they are?

Surprisingly, I say it’s not that hard. See, even though Atem thinks he’s a monster and tries his best to stay away from people, he also craves companionship and love. Sure, he’s spent several chunks of his immortal life isolating himself in remote woods and tall mountains for decades at a time, but he always returns to humanity at some point. So if you show that you want to be close to him he’ll try to warn you or even scare you away a bit, but it won’t take too long to let you in. And yes, he’d share what he is with you if you started to get close to him, not only as a means to scare you away “before he can hurt you” but also so you know what you’re getting into by being near him.

J - Joke - would they do pranks on other people with the use of their powers?

Sometimes, yes. If he’s close to you, he’ll start to get comfortable and like teasing you, so he’ll do minor things like sneak up behind you soundlessly and jump scare you, or zoom past you to get to something before you and play keep-away. Also, he doesn’t do this one intentionally, but sometimes he’ll be sitting in a dark room, and when you walk in you just suddenly hear this voice calling out to you in the darkness, scaring the crap outta you lol

K - Key - what’s the way of making them open up to you?

Honestly just...continue to shove your friendship in his face. Like I said under “intimacy” he still craves relationships and companionship despite how much he fears hurting people. He may try to push you away at first but if you just continue to hang around him he’ll eventually stop trying to scare you away and start opening up to you little by little.

L - Life - do they wish they were human?

Absolutely. I can see Atem, ever the fixer of problems, spending the first few hundred years searching for a cure for his “condition” not just for himself but for others who view vampires the same way. He often thinks about what his life would have been if he hadn’t been turned, and daydreams about the possibility of becoming human again.

M - Murder - would they kill someone while feeding? Have they ever done so?

Atem has killed while feeding, yes, but not voluntarily. I’m going with the general lore that vampires, when starved too long, can't control their bloodlust and Atem has killed while in that state. When he wakes with a limp, lifeless body in his arms, he’s a devastated wreck. Hurting innocent people is literally his living nightmare and the idea that his bloodlust can turn him into an animal sickens him. He would spend decades learning how much blood he needs to consume and how often, in order to keep that bloodlust from taking control.

N - Nature - do they justify their doings? Do they consider them natural?

Atem, the self-loathing martyr of a fanged prince, considering his bloodlust natural? LMAOOOO No. No he doesn’t, nor does he ever justify his actions. In fact, he uses the terrible things he’s done to justify why he shouldn’t be loved or even alive.

O - Odd - do they have any specific hobbies or habits?

Our gentle dark prince still loves games and puzzles, I think he’d like modern brain teasers that keep his mind sharp and un-ironically loves the puzzle games printed on the back of sunday newspapers, even though they aren’t hard (for him anyway). If you got close to him and showed him games he never got to play bc they’re multiplayers he’d honestly love you. He’d win most of the time, let's be honest, especially things like Clue, but his expression is just so cute and excited when you play his favorites that you’d lose 1000 times over just to see it.

P - Pain - are they sadistic? Do they enjoy what they do?

Nope. I think you all have the idea by now but Atem is one of the most self-loathing and gentle vampires you’d meet....or at least he’s gentle with you. Other vampires who hurt people for fun? Okay, I can see him being ever so slightly sadistic when dealing with creatures like that, he has no mercy for vampires who’ve embraced their monstrous curse, best you run the other way when he punishes them, else you may actually get a little frightened of him...

R - Roles - do they enjoy pretending to be normal people? How do they feel about leaving their life behind to start a new one?

I wouldn’t say that Atem pretends to be normal, in fact, the only part of his vampirism that he embraces is being an “other”, or rather, the aesthetic of being odd, something that most humans feel uneasy when confronted with. He’d see this as a good tool to keep people he may hurt away from him. He’s no stranger to stalking graveyards/cemeteries, creeping in the shadows in a way that has others scurrying past if they happen to spot him, basically anything that makes him seem creepy and makes others keep their distance. Ultimately it hurts him since he’s unexplainably lonely, but it hurts more to know he may hurt the humans he comes across. On the same note, leaving behind one life for another to avoid suspicion is a double-edged sword for him, while it reminds him how terribly lonely existence is, it’s good to keep those who might’ve grown close to him safe.

S - Scars - do they leave marks or try to make the wounds small and invisible?

If Atem feeds from someone voluntarily (as in, not in an animalistic state), he’ll do everything he can to not leave lasting marks. Leaving marks means more pain and we all know how much he hates causing pain to others.

T - Turned - how were they turned?

In my fic, Marik turned Atem as a form of revenge, but otherwise, I could honestly see Atem being turned by any YGO villain. I say villain because him being cursed with this life by a villain (like Bakura for example, or maybe another minion of Zorc) kind of goes along with the original story’s need to punish Atem and cast him into darkness for things that ultimately weren’t his fault.

U - Universe - what’s their biggest wish that they can’t achieve as immortals?

Mostly just...being close to people without constantly worrying that he’ll hurt or kill them. I can also see Atem yeaning for the simple pleasure of growing old and dying with one's family. If he fell in love he would crave the ability to just settle down and grow old together. Hell, he’s even one of those morbid romantics who thinks couples dying within days of each other is sweet and wishes he could do that when he loses his lover to old age.

V - Vampire - would they turn you?

Man again with the hard ones! Oof, okay, so...If you asked Atem to turn you, he’d say no, reciting his monologue about how vampires are cursed vermin who shouldn’t even exist, even if you retained your humanity after the turn, he knows the deep reaches of this curse and what it will make you do, and he hates the idea of you going through what he has.

...However, much like in the very first headcanon on this list...Atem makes mistakes and has his weak moments. If your life ended unexpectedly, of you were taken from him suddenly, like attacked or in some fatal accident, he may turn you in a moment of weakness; a desperate need to cling to you taking over his better judgment. He’d hate himself after and the only way he’d ever feel okay with it, is if time proved that you retained your humanity. He would teach you how to control your blood lust so you don’t have to go through half the things he has, and only then would he be okay with what he did to you in his moment of weakness.

W - War - would they engage in fighting their own kind for the humanity’s sake?

Yes! No one even has to ask him, Atem basically thinks the only good thing he can do with his powers is to rid the world of other vampires. He’s basically an avenging angel who’ll hunt down any vampire who threatens a human.

Y - Yandere - would they become dangerous to you (their lover)?

For the most part, I’d say no. Atem is self-aware and emotionally intelligent enough to tell if he ever starts crossing lines into “unhealthy” territory, and if that ever happened, he’d literally run away. He would leave you in order to protect you, no matter how much it hurt. There may be one (literally ONE) incident where he does something to you that crosses the line, but he’d be instantly horrified and remove himself from your life, moving to the other side of the world with no means to follow him, if it meant protecting you from himself. Now the chances of this happening in the first place? Hard to say. I really don’t think Atem is unhinged or even violent enough for it to be likely, but, an argument could be made that after everything he’s gone through, Atem may start seeing you and his love for you in an obsessives, unhealthy way. Again though, even if this did happen he would realize it and run away before it can go too far.

Z - Zombie - are they on their way to losing sanity?

I don’t think so. Atem is as strong (mentally/emotionally) as they come. Maybe eventually, after millennia and millennia of constantly losing loved ones and dealing the the monster he’s become he would start losing his sanity, but that would take a long, long time.

#atem #yami yugi #atem x reader #yami x reader #pharaoh atem #yami yugi x reader #yugioh x reader #vampire au #vampire Atem #vampire yami #ygo #headcanons #atem headcanons #yami headcanons

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breadknight-likes-things · 3 years ago

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Bread's Game Journal 03/01/22: What Garners An Emotional Response In Horizon Forbidden West, Stays In Vegas.

*Mid Game Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West* Horizon Zero Dawn is a game I had a complicated path to enjoyment in. Mostly just in that, for whatever reason, it took me like four separate tries to get into the game, with each start and stop increasingly more random in ways that never really made sense. Happily, I haven't had that problem with Horizon Forbidden West. Something about this game has clicked fairly quickly, and I'm finding a ton to appreciate every time I play it. I wanted to write, tonight, about one part of the game in particular, the ruins of Las Vegas, and the surprising emotional payoff it brought with it. Horizon is good at mining meaning and pathos out of things that, we as the players, understand mean little or nothing. Most locations in the game world aren't even ever referred to by their actual past names, even if it's clear to the player what those names are, but interestingly, Vegas is spelled out to the player from the start. The basic plot of the section is simple, Aloy needs the Poseidon Program, which has entrenched itself in some kind of dome underneath the ruins of Las Vegas, and there's a team of salvagers already there when you arrive, this is of course, where things get interesting. The salvagers aren't rough and tumble types looking for riches, they're looking for "Embers". It isn't immediately clear what an ember is, but the first real thing you learn is that the leader of this group has a deep emotional attachment to them, and you fully buy into his need to get them out of the watery grave they find themselves in. In the kind of ironic twist these types of stories love, it turns out "Embers" are little more than cheap holograms used to advertise casinos. Importantly though, that doesn't change anything. There's no reveal that crushes the salvagers spirt, he's fascinated by these things in an incredibly genuine way. He speaks of seeing a hologram of a buxom woman directing him towards a buffet as a child, and describes it as high art that changed his life without even a drip of ironic humor. The best part is that the voice over performance is so well done, and so well directed, that you really do believe everything he says. And it's not just the salvagers either, throughout the quest you find brief but enlightening data points filling in a little bit of the backstory of this zone in fantastic ways. The story makes it clear that, long before the world died, Vegas was abandoned. Unable to sustain itself in the middle of a climate change ravaged desert, everyone left, which devastated one man who truly loved the city. Without getting too much into the details of the story, the important thing is, that when Vegas was truly lost, that man made the decision to simply leave Vegas "On", so to speak. Even knowing that it was all hacky lights and tricks, he believed in Las Vegas. In simply leaving all the machinery on in standby mode, he hoped that someday it would mean something to someone else again. He was right, of course, as I said before, Morlund, the salvager thinks of Las Vegas a paradise of wonder on this earth, and he's keeping the dream of this long ago mogul alive. All of this is really a long way of saying: Horizon Forbidden west specializes in finding pathos and genuine emotion in areas that could otherwise be filled with cheap jokes and other played out tropes. It can spend an entire main story quest set in the now underwater ruins of Las Vegas hammering home how important this shackle of ruins is to two people in this world, and it never feels out of place. Those two characters have such a genuine love, that you might find yourself like me in the big payoff at the end. Tearing up a bit because someone, somewhere, just made the choice to leave the lights on, and influenced more than they could have possibly known.

#horizon zero dawn #video games #ps4 #bread's game journal #game journal #video game #vegas #las vegas #ps5 #horizon forbidden west #aloy #aloy horizon #hzd #hfw

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animeyanderelover · 3 years ago

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Sorry, sorry for a second request! Do you think you could do Prompt 9 or 17 with Shisui Uchiha?

I recently got so many requests about him which is kind of funny since he was a minor character in Naruto. But he is an Uchiha so I guess that explains it.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, kidnapping, manipulation, sabotage, intimidation, Shisui revealing his dark side, threatening, mentioning of killing

Prompt 9: “Do you want me to break your legs or lock you in a cage to prevent you from running away?”

Would you kill for love? Would you be ready to go as far as hurting, threatening and manipulating everyone in your way just to be able to know that the person you were madly in love with would return the favor and love you back? And would you feel guilty if you did so? Or would you tell yourself that this was necessary? Would you even feel ashamed of it in the first place?

Maybe it was sometimes easier to be obvious and more naive, maybe being blind was sometimes a good thing. Because seeing things very clearly and remembering whatever he did took it's psycological impact on Shisui, a lot more than he let others see. He was sure that he had every time be lenient with people which had saved a lot of stupid asses from him. He had been careful with whatever he had done, be that stalking, killing or other things he had done due to his obsession.

Everything had been hidden under multiple layers of friendliness, charm and intelligence, a nice guy act he had put on so he wouldn't scare you away and make you suspect him. Shisui had been rather determined to make you fall naturally for him without having to rely on anything else besides his natural charm and maybe a few threats here and there to scare potential rivals away. He had worked hard for all of this, having invested months to bring you to confess your love to him and a few other years just to keep a strong relationship with you. There were imperfect times as well, but that was normal and both of you had always been able to discuss it out. Shisui had been proud of this, that both of you were able to always talk about things and find a solution.

But even the sweetest lie must find it's end and looking back on it, he should have seen it coming. Love was in the end the strongest yet most fragile thing in this world. It could either go through the toughest of times or shatter with the slightest breeze of the wind. Truly ironic. Only one small mistake had been all that was needed to expose him to you, though many things were still in the dark for you and Shisui was not willing to tell you detailed everything he had ever done.

And now you were afraid of him, something he had never wanted. Instead of a smile you wore a mask of horror, instead of leaning into his touch you flinched away, instead of warmth and trust there were pain and tears in your eyes.

It was distraughting to see for the Uchiha, to know that the person he had planned on loving and protecting with all he had was now afraid of him. Life didn't go always his way and it was something normal, but even he had been mad at no one in particular because he hadn't had someone to blame except the person who had tattled too much and they had gone silent already, Shisui had guaranteed this to happen. But now he had been left with the knowledge that you knew the truth, wanted to break up with him, wanted to let others know the truth about the golden boy who was together with Itachi one of the most talented Uchiha.

How could he ever let that happen? He had a reputation and didn't want to disappoint his friend, his Kage, his village. Much less could he imagine a life without you on his side, he had never felt that desperate before like when he had seen you in such a devastated state, crying and shouting at him to leave, to go away, to never show his face in front of you again.

What other choice had he left except not only having to use his Sharingan on you and to make sure that you wouldn't be under too much humans for a while? You would have ruined everything he had worked on. Shisui had quickly thought about all sorts of excuses to why you would be gone for a long time, why you wouldn't be able to see friends and family for a while anymore. He knew that this wouldn't work for forever, even he was not allmighty. But he had been able to buy more time to think of something better because controlling you with his Sharingan for the rest of his life was tiring even for him and he disliked the thought of forcing you to love him. It didn't feel right to do. Not like anything he had done so far had been right.

But recently there had been something that had unnerved him a lot, managing to make him question his sanity. The way he had suddenly turned so much more threatening and intimidating on you. The first time he had done it, it had been quite surprising and he had paused when he had noticed what he had done. Never before had he been forced to do this, using threats on you. But now he had to, a new and frightening thing for you to witness, making you understand just why he was so feared by rival villages. Shisui had a cold and rational side to him, only doing what was best for his village and his comrades.

But being so selfish over it was something you weren't used to see, Shisui always made sure to be fair. But what had you known about him anyways? All you had known was his one side, the other side of him had always been a mystery to you. And you knew why. Now you knew why.

"Do you want me to break your legs or lock you in a cage to prevent you from running away?"

Because no one wanted to be near a cold killer like him, someone who kept all his emotions hidden under a perfect poker face with the red eyes that reminded you of a demon gazing at you. There was nothing on his face, no sympathy, no guilt, no nothing. It was probably best to not let emotions get the better of him, not when he was being assigned to kill people without hesitation.

His words had a numbing effect on you, causing you to stop struggling instantly, instead slowly falling down to your knees, trying to get your trembling breath under control. You had troubles to stay the smallest bit calm, not when fear was pumping through every single cell of you and made you flinch by even the smallest noises.

You didn’t know what was even scarier. The words he had just spoken or the person who had said them. Or maybe it was even the fact that you didn’t even know anymore whether to believe he wouldn’t do it or he would. There might have been a time where you would have taken all of this as a joke, but as you felt his cold presence lingering right over you, the glimmering eyes feeling like attempting to drill through your head and the tight grip he had the moment he wrapped his fingers around your arm, the hands with which he had killed and hurt others, made you doubt that he wouldn’t do it.

Still though, you wanted to play with your luck. Maybe you would be able to calm him a bit down and make something more human appear on his face.

Maybe.

“You wouldn’t.”, you stated with a more firm voice than expected, looking him daringly in his eyes. The glimmer of hope in you must have been still there inside of you.

You saw him quirking his eyebrow slightly when being met with the sudden courage of yours despite the fact that you were still shaking like a mice in front of it’s predator.

“What makes you feel so confident?”

“I might not have realized what you’ve been up to. But I’ve known and loved you long enough that you wouldn’t hurt those you cherish and love.”, you replied, continuing to endure his Sharingan despite the knowledge that he might trap you in a genjutsu at any moment.

He stared at you for a while, scanning you up and down in an observing way.

“I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you. You do not know what I am capable off.”

This was discouraging because you couldn’t tell if you had managed to hit a nerve of his or not, Shisui was an excellent actor. He didn’t give anything away.

“That’s true. I don’t know what you’re capable off. But I know that you have your honor and duty as well. So you wouldn’t hurt an innocent citizen, not if you are loyal to the Leaf. Because if you do, you are a terrible person. If you really love me, you won’t hurt me. Otherwise I am just an ignorant fool who still believes in love. In that case I would like you to do what you just threatened me you would do so I can stop seeing you as my love, but as the manipulative and cruel person you are. I won’t sugarcoat anything anymore. However, be aware that I will hate you for eternity afterwards and would rather die than acting like nothing ever happened.”

Your tone sounded warning and he knew that you had just threatened him just as much as he had done. He was a bit surprised that you had still the guts to talk to him like this, but you had always been someone who often managed to feel brave in a tricky situation.

You still had faith in him despite everything he had done? Shisui felt his inner conflict growing more and more, feelings clashing with each other and he maybe felt himself moving his poker face the tiniest bit, though it was too short for you to be sure you had really seen it.

Why had this to happen to you two? You could have been a happy couple. But it was too late to regret this. The past was the past. And Shisui had to focus on the present and the future.

“You think too highly of me.”, he told you, bending down so he didn’t have to stare down at you like this.

“You do not know what I had to do already in my life (y/n). You have no idea what I could do. I don’t want to hurt you, I really don’t want to hurt you. However, I won’t take the risk of you potentially ruining everything I’ve worked on so hard. So do not test me and my patience.”

For a short moment he looked a bit exhausted, though this moment flashed by rather quickly and he went back to his emotionless face.

You felt bitterness stirring up inside of you as well as the feeling of losing hope and disappointment. Did he really mean this?

You jerked away when he suddenly grabbed your shoulders, looking like he wanted to say something else.

“I don’t have a choice (y/n). You left me no other options. I do not expect you to understand why I do what I do. But at the very least please understand that I never wanted this to happen. I still love you.”

The slightest bit of distraught, marking all his actions slightly, specifically the sudden desperate tightening of his grip.

“I’m sorry. But I have to be this way.”

#yandere naruto #yandere naruto shippuden #yandere shisui #yandere shisui uchiha

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flowercrown-bard · 3 years ago

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A comforting embrace

Summary: Still thinking that he was the one with the Djinn wishes, Jaskier is overcome by guilt for killing Valdo Marx

Relationships: Jaskier&Valdo Marx, Jaskier/Geralt (background, pining, no actual relationship, unrequited)

angst, hurt/comfort (but mainly hurt), somewhat open ending

Word count: 2773

Content warning: grief, guilt, mention of blood, presumed character death

“I wish very badly to leave this place forever!”

Jaskier was lucky. He was so damn lucky that the Djinn hadn’t twisted his last wish and killed him off right then and there.

One should think a bard, master of words and silvertongue, would know how easily words could be misinterpreted, and yet, in his moment of blind panic, he had blurted out a wish that could have been his end.

He liked to think that Geralt would have cared if Jaskier had died. Maybe not as much as Jaskier had, when he had thought that Geralt had been crushed by a crumbling building, but maybe a teeny tiny bit of devastation would have been appropriate.

Then again, Geralt would have had Yennefer’s arms to find solace in.

While Jaskier was overtaken by the chilling realisation that he could have died by his own words just a couple of minutes earlier, and needed Geralt close to assure him that they were both alright, that nothing bad would happen to them now, Geralt didn’t wast a single thought for Jaskier and instead turned all of his attention to the woman who had held a knife to Jaskier’s throat and had nearly killed Geralt.

The initial surge of relief and pure joy at seeing Geralt alive was quickly dimmed when the events of the past hours came crushing down on Jaskier with a force that took his breath away and squeezed his throat as tightly as the Djinn had earlier.

Jaskier had nearly died. He had come dangerously close to watching his best friend and the man who held his heart in his hands, die. He had to watch said man fall in love with someone else.

And yet Jaskier was lucky.

He had to be, for if he wasn’t, if he were to lose this one last piece of driftwood he was holding onto for dear life, he would fall apart and drown in the terrifying reality of what had happened to him that day.

Jaskier was lucky. Others weren’t.

Jaskier had thought that, when the Countess de Stael had left him for a troubadour, who wooed her with poetry and love songs stolen from Jaskier, he had thought that he had every right to be enact revenge on Valdo.

And he had. A ditty dragging Valdo’s name through the mud. A scathing sonnet about how Valdo was no more a poet than a common ass was. Winning back the Countesses’ heart. All of it would have been revenge that Jaskier wouldn’t have enacted with a smug smirk and satisfaction surging through him.

But this… the thing he truly had done….

Jaskier’s hands began to shake and abruptly, he turned away from the sight of Geralt and the sorceress together. Even as his breath came short and his heart began to pound against his ribs like the beating of a drum at an execution, Jaskier evaded Chireadan’s concerned questions.

He had to get out of here. He had to leave, to make this right –

There was no making this right. He had killed a man. A simple sentence had been all it had taken and Valdo had been no more.

The fate that Jaskier himself had only narrowly escaped had been inflicted on another man – and for what? Jaskier wouldn’t be able to see the Countess ever again. Not after the wish he had made when he had been drunk on cheap alcohol and bitterness. The thought of her welcoming him with little clothing, that had been so appealing when he had been heartbroken and deep in his cups, churned his stomach now that he thought about it. She wouldn’t have a choice. She would do whatever Jaskier had damned her to do and he couldn’t do that to her, no matter how much his heart ached for a pair of loving arms to embrace him and for gentle lips to tell him that everything would be alright.

Geralt had never embraced him and whatever words he would have for Jaskier, probably wouldn’t be gentle. They still would be enough. Because they would come from Geralt.

Yet, Jaskier didn’t stick around to find out if Geralt ever was going to offer him any comfort.

He took his bags – not that there was much of Jaskier’s that Geralt had taken with him when he had hoisted Jaskier onto Roach and brought him to this accursed place – and his lute and left.

Maybe Geralt would worry when he realised that Jaskier was gone. Maybe he wouldn’t even notice.

With an ache in his chest, Jaskier forced his feet to take him away from Geralt and the happiness he experienced right now. Geralt didn’t need Jaskier, his fears, his doubts and his guilt to drag him down. He didn’t need Jaskier to wish he was in the sorceresses’ place. He just simply didn’t need Jaskier.

He didn’t even know where exactly he was going. Away. That was the most important thing.

It was only, when he reached a small port, where merchant vessels could dock before heading further down the Pontar, that he knew where he needed to go.

It took up most of the coin he still had to his name and a promise to make himself useful on board, to convince the captain of the vessel to grant him passage to Cidaris via the sea route.

The days until he reached the coastal city, Jaskier spent agonising about what to do.

Back in his Oxenfurt days, Jaskier had considered Valdo Marx something like a friend, or at the very least a rival that he enjoyed drinking and joking around with. But decades had passed since those days and now, there was no second chance to rekindle the friendship they had once had.

The troubadour was dead and it was Jaskier’s fault. He had no right to weep over his grave. Yet, Jaskier knew, the least he could do was apologize to the man he had killed. It wouldn’t make anything right. It wouldn’t bring him back to life. But maybe it would make this guilt that lay around Jaskier’s chest like an iron chain, lessen its grip.

He left the ship without saying goodbye to the crew and for the first time in his life, he didn’t enter Cidaris with his head held high and a song on his lips, ready to prove that he was far superior to Marx.

“Where is the troubadour’s grave?” Jaskier asked the first person he came across, an older looking woman with flowers bundled in her arms.

She gave him a strange look – She knew! Somehow she knew Jaskier had killed Valdo! - and handed him one of the flowers she was carrying, a poppy. Red, like the blood on Jaskier’s hands.

“If you’re looking for someone sleeping beneath the earth,” the old woman said with a gentle smile and a pat to Jaskier’s hand, “you should head east. That’s where the cemetery is.”

How fitting. Valdo had always loved the sunrise, had made fun endlessly about how Jaskier was never able to get up before midday.

Now, he would never see the sunrise again.

Jaskier’s heart got heavier with every step he took towards the cemetery. By the time, he was walking the rows, looking for a headstone with the familiar name, his throat was restricted and his eyes burned.

It was his fault.

And now he couldn’t even find the damn grave.

He must have spent hours searching for the grave, before he eventually gave up. It was no use searching for longer. The sun had nearly disappeared beyond the horizon and the poppy in Jaskier’s hand was wilted and crushed from how tightly he gripped it.

With his head hung low, Jaskier left the cemetery. Perhaps there would be a plaque of honour at the court the troubadour had played in? If there was, it wasn’t very likely that Jaskier would be permitted entry to go search for it.

He still went there.

Just as he had thought, the guards didn’t let him in. Jaskier simply nodded in dejection and sat down a little ways off, where they wouldn’t be able to hear him.

His hands trembled, when he took his lute out of her case and began plucking the strings quietly. Quietly, he sang the words of grief and guilt he had come up with during the journey to Cidaris. He didn’t dare sing any louder, lest he found out that his voice wasn’t restored yet. It was shaky and tight and it hurt as he forced the notes past his throat, but he continued singing nonetheless, whether because the dead man deserved the respect or because the man still alive deserved the pain, he couldn’t tell.

The melody was soft and mournful. It wasn’t good enough. If Valdo were here, he would hate it, would despise that Jaskier had written a song for him and criticise it mercilessly. Jaskier would take it. He would gladly accept every jab and insult coming from Marx, if only he was still alive.

But he wasn’t.

All Jaskier could do was play a dirge for a friend who had become a bitter rival and who had been killed over some petty spat.

He wished, more than anything he hadn’t spoken those hateful words to the Djinn. He wished, he was still with Geralt, consoling him about his struggles with his child surprise and probably arguing, but at least they would be there together. He wished Geralt had never found the Djinn. And above all, he wished that Valdo Marx was still alive.

“Good gods, who died to make you sound so maudlin?” A familiar drawl reached Jaskier.

The bard flinched, his fingers missing the right strings and creating a dissonant screech. He whirled around and –

No. It couldn’t be.

“That sounded terrible,” Valdo Marx said with a lopsided smirk. “And I’m not just talking about the ending there. Everybody knows that you shouldn’t use that key for a slow song. It’s just going to make it sound miserable. Speaking of which, what in Melitele’s name happened to your clothes? Not even wearing a doublet and –“ the troubadour blanched. “Is that blood?”

Jaskier stared at him. Slowly, afraid that the vison would vanish if he moved to quickly, Jaskier took a step closer, clutching his lute, his only source of comfort. His eyes raked over the man in front of him. The cocky stance that had shifted as a horrified tension had grabbed hold of him. The blonde curls that were immaculate as always, despite the late hour. That damned stupid feathered hat. It was Valdo Marx. It was impossible.

“You’re dead.” The words leaving Jaskier were barely louder than a breath.

“What?” Marx’ brows drew together and a flash of true concern twisted his face. “Juli- Jaskier, are you alright?”

“I-you – “ Jaskier’s voice broke off with a sob and he shook so badly that his lute would have slipped out of his grip, had it not been held up why the strap around Jaskier’s neck.

In a heartbeat, Valdo was standing before him.

“Give me that,” he demanded with uncharacteristic softness and took the lute away from Jaskier, placing it carefully back in her case. “What happened to you? Are you hurt?” His eyes drifted back to the bloodsoaked chemise that Jaskier had been too distracted to change out of, not that he had had any other clothes with him when he had left Rinde. “Why aren’t you with your Witcher?”

Another choked sound escaped Jaskier. He didn’t understand. How could this be? How was Valdo Marx still alive? Djinns were obligated to grand any wish their master gave them. It had been a wonder that Jaskier’s last wish hadn’t backfired, but there had been no room for interpretation with his second wish and –

Oh.

The truth hit him like a bucket of icewater being flung over his head.

“Jaskier?” Valdo asked, concern making his voice tight, but Jaskier couldn’t react.

He hadn’t been the Djinn’s master. It hadn’t been his wished fulfilled.

He hadn’t been the one who had set a Djinn on someone he had once considered a friend. But –

‘I just want some damn peace!’

His throat had tightened, like a garrotte was pulled tight around it, making it impossible to breath, to speak! Jaskier had looked up at Geralt, so sure that he himself was somehow the reason for what was happening to him. He was so sure Geralt would save him.

It hadn’t been Jaskier’s words who had nearly killed someone he had once considered his friend.

‘Jaskier, you’re okay.’

Geralt had cared. He had been happy that Jaskier was alive. It didn’t matter that not a minute after, he had abandoned Jaskier to risk his life for the witch. Geralt cared that Jaskier was alright…didn’t he?

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions.’

Geralt was his friend. He was…he…

He hadn’t faltered once when Jaskier had begged him not to go into that building again. After it had collapsed, he hadn’t wasted a single moment to let Jaskier know that he was still alive.

When Jaskier had left, had Geralt even noticed?

“Jaskier, snap out of it!” Valdo grabbed him tightly by the shoulders, shaking him slightly.

Jaskier hadn’t been the one who had nearly killed someone he had once considered a friend. Then again, neither had Geralt, apparently. Because it seemed after everything, after decades of Jaskier singing his praises, of him trailing after Geralt like a devoted puppy, after years of Jaskier admiring and loving Geralt more than he had loved anyone else before, it was very likely that Geralt didn’t consider him a friend.

Maybe he could fix it. If Jaskier proved himself useful, if he made sure to be there for Geralt, when his relationship with the witch crashed and burned, perhaps he could save what he thought they had had. He could…he could be a good travel companion. He could become Geralt’s friend. He could-

Cool hands touched his cheeks, interrupting his spiralling thoughts.

“You’re shaking,” Valdo said, all of his earlier arrogance was gone. “Let me take you home. I know we have our differences, but I can’t let you stand here, looking like that.”

There was no bite in his voice, despite the lacklustre attempt at keeping the snark they usually exchanged going.

“Valdo?” Jaskier asked uncertainly, not knowing where to put his hands or what to do.

“I know,” Valdo said, dropping his hands immediately and taking a step back, “that we have our differences. But…we were friends once. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here. I even promise not to turn what you tell me into a song.”

He smiled wryly and Jaskier’s next sob was mixed with an unexpected laugh. When Valdo relaxed at that sound, there was nothing left of the pompous prick that was Jaskier’s most bitter rival. This was the man he had called his friend when they had been younger. This was the man, whose shoulder Jaskier had cried on, when he had gotten his heart broken for the first time, and with whom he had practiced the poems they were going to recite to the pretty medical students who would patch them up when they had drunk too much.

“Valdo?” Jaskier asked and he wasn’t the arrogant bard who sought to take revenge on his rival, anymore either.

“I’m here for you.”

Jaskier’s chin wobbled and before he could think twice about it, he flung himself into Valdo’s arms, burying his head into his chest and soaking the elegant doublet with his tears.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was muffled, but he didn’t stop talking. “I’m so sorry, Valdo. I’m sorry.”

Valdo didn’t reply. But he stroked one hand soothingly through Jaskier’s hair and held him close.

The embrace wasn’t given by the man Jaskier had wanted to hug him, but they were comforting nonetheless. If he could fix what he had broken between Valdo and him, then he could also fix his friendship with Geralt.

For now, though, he didn’t want to think about the witcher who had set a Djinn on him and broken his heart.

He just clutched the fabric of Valdo’s doublet tightly and let himself be held.

He wasn’t alone in this. Not anymore.

Tomorrow – for now, there was hope again for such a thing as a bright tomorrow – Jaskier would tell Valdo everything. And perhaps, if he was lucky, he would get to keep this friend.

As Valdo mumbled soothing nothings into his ear until Jaskier’s tears dried, Jaskier thought that maybe everything would be alright.

Maybe he truly was lucky.

#my writing #fic #witcher #witcher fic #the witcher #valdo marx #jaskier&valdo marx #jaskier #fanfic #Sorry I didn't edit this #I got really frustrated at being stuck with my writing and I just had to write and post something #to get it out of my system i guess #geraskier #angst #blood tw #jaskier whump #emotional whump #will post this later on ao3 #if i don't forget about it again

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mxvladdy · 4 years ago

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True Form- Leviathan

Here it is. Sorry for the delay! I hope you like it!

True Form- Leviathan

In the celestial realm, he loved the waters and was gifted a body that was best suited for it from his father. It was beautiful, so sleek, shiny, and fast. When he was in the water even Mammon had trouble keeping up. But, the best part of it all was that some angels were envious of it.

He was pretty close to Asmo during this time too. Asmo would help him dry brush his scales and moisturize the harder to reach areas across his body. In return when Levi would shed Asmo got to keep his pretty scales. From there Asmo would make makeup and jewelry from them.

When he would visit the human realm with Lilith and Belphie they would play near any body of water that tickled their fancy to teased the mortals with his splendor. They would get a good laugh out of the stories of mermaids and great sea beasts that were created around him afterward.

During the fall he was separated from the rest of the brothers. His unconscious body flung away from the pack to careen into the parts unknown while his brothers plummet into the Devildom.

He comes to briefly to the feel of his blistered flayed skin hissing on impact by the cool ocean waters of the human realm.

He slumbered for a long time down there. His body recovering from the war in the quiet. It adapted without him, working overtime to survive its new environment. His broken halo’s edges dull out, the deep trench’s currents buffering and polishing it down to horns. They grow out slowly into a large coral reef for the deep-sea inhabitants.

The lack of light turns his skin a translucent grey color, the warm glow from the celestial realm leached from him. While his scales and hide turn dark and take on an oily sheen. Great clumps of basalt rock grow over the burns from tearing through the earth's atmosphere. The rapid heating and cooling of his skin formed iron-rich patches around his flaking scales.

When he wakes he is distraught. His once illustrious serpentine tail and radiant body were now battered and stained in his eyes. He stays down there in the depths out of shame for a few more years.

The rest of the changes to his body were of his own making. A grand mixture from the creatures that he observed around him. His bright celestial markings now took after the bioluminescent creatures that would flock around him. He grew his hair out, enchanting some strains to take after the jellyfish he ate. Absorbing their toxins to imbue into his hair and blood.

He finds the fish with razor sharp teeth and large net-like mouths fascinating and takes after them too. Once he is satisfied (and has pulled himself out of his little self-pity party) he moves from his den, traversing the ocean floor and migrating with some of the other larger sea beasts.

The years of separation from his brothers did a number on his mental health and social skills. Being trapped under the water for so long healing has stunted that part of his physique. The years before his brothers found him have dulled his social skills with higher beings and humans. Making him antisocial as well as paranoid.

His communication skills with sea life are much better. During his travels, he bested and then befriended many mythical creatures. But his greatest ally has to be the legendary sea beast Lotan.

The older beast taught Leviathan a lot about the human realm and what has changed over time. Took up a bit of a parental/ mentor role for Levithan. They settle together in the waters of the east sea.

Leviathan was drawn to this particular patch of water because of the pretty boats, atakebune Lotan called them. For years he watched the coastal regions of China and Japan grow and prosper and more ships entered his territory.

He became somewhat of a local legend. Sailors and warriors would bring him offerings of food, gold, people, and other valuables for safe passage through his waters or help in an upcoming naval battle. He sometimes helped but most of the time he just observed.

He did take great joy in battles. It was a great game for him. Something different from the boring year among the fish.

Contrary to belief, he can’t control the weather or the seas but his massive body can create devastating waves and his control of sea life is deadly to sailors. His fishy friends eat well when he emerges for a battle. He keeps the bloated and rioting corpses of fallen soldiers. They feed his smaller friends and help him maintain his coral horns

His brother’s eventually find him and bring him to the Devildom after they hear rumors of a mischievous sea serpent.

Whether it was because of his old injuries or just all his time under the sea with a tail he doesn’t have great control in his bipedal form. Both his human and demonic form have a slight limp and no aptitude for physical activity. 100% has a pass to get out of P.E.

Moving back in with the brothers really brought out his cardinal sin of envy. He used to be so close with them all and then he was separated for so long he feels like he will never catch up. Between their new forms (that he finds much more practical and prettier than his) and his inability to adjust to their new lifestyle, he cemented himself in his envy. He tucks himself away in his room and surrounds himself with distractions and stories.

Diavolo gifted him his enchanted aquarium after hearing about his struggles to adapt from Lucifer. Levi was appreciative but will never say it. When he gets overwhelmed by life and his video games can’t distract from his racing thoughts he likes to go in for a swim and tend to his aquatic gardens.

Mini Fic

Warm water laps at your toes. The salt of it clinging to your feet in thin crusty layers. You wiggle them, washing away some of the grime and to propel yourself deeper into the water. You take joy in disrupting the mirror-like finish of the once still water. Smiling up at the giant sun lamp mounted over you, you adjust your sunglasses.

Sunday lounge days were the best. Just you, a cold bottle of soda, and a new swimsuit. You missed the beach and waters of the human whelm but not the crowds. Ugh, screaming kids and impolite beach guests were the worst. This was the best alternative you could have imagined. Between the warmth of the heat lamp and the slow motions of the water underneath you, you felt the stress of the week slowly washing away.

Dipping your hands in the water you begin to push your floaty further away from the edge of the thick aquarium wall. The light blue water underneath you deepening to an emerald green when you reach the drop-off point of Levi’s tank. The water is cooler here, but still comfortable as most of your body is still dry and safely nestled in his oversized pool float. Little surface fish and aquatic animals swim by, splashing your floaty and nibbling at your toes gently in greeting. They all knew better than to actually bother you.

Letting the gentle current of the water pumps push you around in lazy circles you pull out the manga Levi had bought you (magically coated to make it waterproof) and flip back to your last bookmark. Enjoying the peace and quiet you immerse yourself in his latest hyper fixation.

A few chapters in and three empty soda bottles later you notice your idle turning had stopped. Leaving you at a complete standstill. The water around you was still. The little fishies that had been following you had disappeared to the devil knows when. Yet despite the sudden abandonment of your aquatic entourage you still felt a presence. The heavy aura of a predatory gaze makes the fine hairs of your neck stand on end. The self-preserving part of your mind kicking into fight or flight mode. Best to just ignore that for now...Peeking out from behind your sunglasses you lean over your floaty to see what had stopped you. A gargantuan milky white eye stares back up at you.

When you had first been introduced to this side of Levi his pearly gaze had been so guarded. It had been by complete accident that you saw well- him. So that couldn’t have helped much with his confidence. You had come by to drop off a few handheld consoles that he had lent you to see if you would like one as a gift. You remember being by his desk trying to find a noncluttered space to put them all when the blue glow of his room was suddenly thrown into darkness.

That was the first time you had been face to face with The Leviathan. It was magnificent. Even your textbooks in your Introduction to Demonology didn’t do him justice. It was breathtaking and bone chilling all in one. You remember locking eyes with him and the both of you freezing. His reflexive gaze boring into you a mixture of betrayal and fear fighting for dominance. A wordless dare for you to scream or curse his appearance. They had been closed off to all your kind words and encouragements at the beginning.

Now they are open and warm. If not a little mischievous. Scratch that-very mischievous.

“Don’t you dare.” You warn with a dawning realization. “Levi!” You shout over the edge of your float after him. He sinks down without even making a ripple. The shadow of the beast's body turns the green waters black as he jets underneath you. The little flicks of bioluminescence on his hide blink in and out of focus as he moves. Distracted as you were leaning over the side you didn’t notice the slim tip of his tail rise from the other side.

It happened quickly, a slight jerk on your ankle and then a shock of cold water. Coughing and sputtering you breach the surface. Floundering about blindly for your floaty, your hands rest on something thick and sturdy. He chitters and laughs at his little joke. “Ya-ya laugh it up.” You grip his tree trunk sized tail like a lifeline. He keeps still giving you time to blink the water out of your eyes. “Ok. You got me in the water now what?”

HAvE- sUrpiEssss. Levi’s large mouth clicked clumsily over the syllables. His long thin teeth always made it hard to shape his words. It had taken some time and effort to get him to loosen up enough to talk. He was very self-conscious of the phlegmy- waterlogged sound of it. The years spent under the sea having permanently filled his lungs with briny saltwater. Each breath of air rattle deep in his barrel chest.

Schooling your expression you shot him a scowl Lucifer would be proud of. “What, a mouthful of salt wasn’t enough?” He scoffs white eyes narrowing, seeing right through your false agitation. This wouldn’t be the first or the last time he got your attention like this and he knew you were fine with it. “Alright you oversized guppy, how far down is it?”

Levi beams, wide mouth stretching to flash you his blood-stained fangs. His gills flaring up in excitement down his large neck and rib cage. Careful of his more toxic strands of hair and the abrasive patches of rock around his neck, you swim closer accepting help from his long pale fingers. Clutching onto his strong neck you give him a small thumbs up.

He dives into the water with practiced ease slowly descending to give your body and the magic protecting you time to acclimate. It was bone-chillingly at first, your whole body seizing as you are submerged. But soon the magic of your pact began to work warming you and making you able to breathe underneath the artificial currents. Eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light you nestle into the crook of his neck for the remainder of the ride.

He takes you to an underwater cave. The mouth hidden behind flowing purple and green water weeds. The entrance of the cave was like nothing you’ve seen before. Other caves in his habit were filled to the brim with coral and little crustaceans. Sometimes even an elusive mermaid or capricorn nursing injury. But this one was- empty. Warmer too as you swam deeper. The great sea beast dragging himself through the cave with his needle like claw above you. A defensive stance if ever you saw one.

You catch his eye and raise a brow. Don’t worry- itss ssafe...I think.

“Wait? You think?” You stop in your tracks only to have a massive hand nudge you along. He pushes you through the last of the tangled seaweed and kelp you look up into a- “nursery?” Levi smiles and nods twitchily.

Do you like it? I’ve spent months getting this place ready. He leaves you to look around freely, instead slithering up to a slightly less floral. You gape turning slowly in circles to take in the beauty around you. The cove simmered with the lights from his heat lamp pushing through the cracks in the rocks from above. The yellow warmth makes it easier for the crazy amount of plants and sponges to thrive. But the vast majority of the light came from the jellies and fish that had probably never been seen by human eyes before floating around you.

They were busy, grooming the anemones and rainbow colored corals, eating and pushing bits of waste away from large lilac colored eggs. The larger of the sea creatures swim above you checking on some of the moving eggs completely ignoring you and Levi... “Are they-”

Sirens. Lotan found a broodmother and her clutch last winter. We thought they had been wiped out centuries ago. He chitters at one of the eggs and scratches at his coral horns. She needed a place to nest so we made a deal. Taking great care he pulls at a large clump of sargassum from the base and pats it into a bare patch of rock. You watch him with a growing smile as he pulls more plants and critters from his horns. Once satisfied he scoops up a few of the larger eggs below him and nestles them into their new home.

You peek over his shoulder to look into the nest. Hauntingly beautiful babies look back up at you. Cherub sweet faces follow you and Levi’s movements. Levi grins proudly as one of the girls stretches out in her small space. They should be hatching soon. With some prompting from Leviathan, you accepted an egg. The inhabited squirming and clawing at its elastic membrane. It looked too small for its leather confines. The baby siren opens her tiny mouth and screeches, little needle teeth biting and ripping at the egg.

“Should I help it?” You ask. She was squirming so hard it was a fight to keep her in your arms. Levi looks over and emits a little series of clicks and coos at the fussy babe. The babe stops wiggling as hard but begins to claw at a thinner part of the shell. He turns after that to tend to a few squirming eggs himself. His claws were much more helpful than your blunt human fingers. Well then... You wait until the little beast has punctured the shell itself before helping it widen the breech.

Once freed the siren floats to the soft cave flooring. The kelp and anemones cushioning it, covering her body almost lovingly. A swarm of little crabs and shrimp descend on it picking and eating away at the remaining goo and membrane clinging to the infant. She giggles at the tiny pinches and mouths nibbling at her tail and claws. With a squeal of delight, she crawled after them and began to devourer them. Blue and green blood coming up in clouds from her mouth.

Levi laughs at your look of disgust momentarily distracted from freeing a few more babies. They will grow to bring the bodies of sailors to me for Diavolo’s navy. This is but practice.

“Oh-” You blink down at the monster now enraptured with your toes. The mood changed quickly.

Oh no. Levi buries his face in his hands instantly regretting opening his big mouth. That’s gross, isn’t it? Of course, this whole thing is disgusting to a human. I should have never shown you, nobody likes this stuff. He coils in on himself sinking to the bottom, eggs forgot to his misery.

“Now what a minute! I didn’t say that.” You sink down after him. “I don’t think it’s icky. Just another learning curve for us normies right? Honestly, this is kinda cool.”

Really? He peeks out from behind his hair and fingers.

You grip his hands, struggling to pull them away from his face. “Yeah!” You beam. “I mean you built all this? It is beautiful. Totally reminds me of that anime you watched with me last month.”

I think my roommate is a sea god and almost drowned my ex? He brightens tailing wagging.

“Exactly! You’ve really outdone yourself this time. Plus think of all the cool names you can come up with for all these sirens.” His gills flare again with a shrill screech.

Henry’s!

Ah- well maybe it would be better if someone else named them.

#obey me fandom #obey me leviathan #obey me fanfic #my writing #leviathan

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jazzy-art-time · 3 years ago

Note

Please... I love this Scrafty talk. Please continue.

BLESS FOR INDULGING ME HAVE SOME MORE STUFF ABOUT THEIR POLYCULE BELOW

YE A A A A. A A A HHHH

Priest technically doesn’t have a “real name”. Since they originally were a Angel that was sent to protect others against Abigor, they had no name. They ended up using the name “Priest” because it’s a harsh nickname that Abigor gave them.

BUT. Jody and Solo often call them “Peyton”! It’s a more casual name that the two gave them. Priest really enjoys it! It’s not entirely specific to Jody/Solo, but Priest prefers it only those close to them call them that. But it makes Priest really happy when Jody/Solo call them that.

Priest also gave up their angelic properties to be with Solo/Jody! Originally they just were sent down to protect the others from Abigor, but once they started to fall for Solo they began to question things. As soon as Priest realized they fell for Jody, they knew they couldn’t “return to heaven” like they were supposed to. So they ended up giving up their angelic properties, over time they lose their halo and the feathers on their body begin to fall out. They do not feel shame about this as there is no sin in it, it’s for a deep love and they don’t regret it.

All three of them have pet names for each other!! Granted they have many nicknames for all them, but their main ones are:

Jody is often called “Puppy” and “HoneyBee”. Solo is called “Bananee” (like banana but with eee at the end) and sometimes jokingly called “Groupie”. And Priest is called “feathers” and “licorice” and once they start to lose feathers, Jody coined the nickname “rotisserie” as a joke

Jody is extremely close to Rexmile. It’s a joke between Solo and Priest that “Rexmile is going to steal her away”. Sometimes Rexmile literally does come and randomly take Jody away to do stuff. But it’s a constant joke between Solo/Priest that they make often.

Solo fell for Jody after having his arm chopped off in a wood chipper. Originally he had a extreme crush on Diane, but when Jody nearly risked losing a mission to pull Solo from the chipper, he caught feelings. Solo fell for Priest during a evening when they had to hide out in a church during a mission, Priest started to play piano to ease the tension and Solo got lost in the sauce while listening to them play and fell for them.

Priest fell for Solo after he made a risky move in a mission and nearly got himself killed. When Priest was trying to bandage him, Solo kept cracking jokes and trying to be silly to ease the mood. Priest basically fell in love right then as they laughed together. Priest fell for Jody after she went missing in the Separation Arc, when she returned with newcomers Ulbrecht and Oxide, Priest was one of the first to run up to her to scold her. When Jody looked at them and said “why do you even care, aren’t you supposed to be happy I was gone?”, Priest was taken aback and instantly realized that they had fallen for Jody and not realized.

Jody fell for Priest in a ironic way. Jody would jokingly flirt with Priest as a way to piss off both Abigor AND Priest. But slowly realized that she wasn’t doing it as a joke anymore and began to get nervous around them. She knew priest was there to protect others from both her and Abigor. So she kind of stuffed those feelings aside knowing it would never work or that Priest would be disgusted by the thought. Jody fell for Solo after the “event” with Yvette. Jody was left practically emotionally devastated and Solo was the one there for her most. After all that time of unrequited affection, Jody realized that Solo was being serious about his feelings for her. She was under the assumption that he was just doing it as a joke since he detested her so much at first.

All three are actually married to one another! Although IRL I don’t.. know if you can “legally” marry more than one person?? Idk marriage and legal stuff confuses me. BUT this is a fantasy story so they are all three married yes.

Solo and Priest got married during the two years Jody was “dead”, their wedding was rather extravagant. Priest wanted something on the down low but Solo is very extra and surprised Priest by going all out. Solo actually ended up singing his vows to priest.

Meanwhile Jody got married to the two a bit after they discovered she was still alive. It took Ryan’s convincing to get her back to them and even then she was extremely uncomfortable to be around them. Jody gained a lot of PTSD and other issues but being around priest and solo made her really upset. After all they did not leave on a good note. But once Jody reveals that she still does have feelings for them, Solo instantly gets down and goes “then let’s get married. Right now, run down to the church and not worry about planning. Just us getting married.” , Priest is taken aback by this and is worried that Solo is greatly overstepping a boundary. But as soon as Jody goes “yes” Priest and Solo practically drag her to the church (the one Jody is comfortable with) and get married at like 11:30 at night. Later on they have a “proper ceremony” once they get in touch with the other group members.

ALTHOUGH I HAVENT DECIDED 100% as this AfterMathAU is still in the works. After all it is… the aftermath of the main plot which that itself is still in progress and updating as I learn to storytell better….

But I haven’t decided if they will have a kid?? Jody does have extreme issues around children, mainly due to plot events. She is anxious and is horrifyingly worried that she will scare or “ruin” the child.

Jody is actually unable to have children due to Abigor as he “revoked” her ability to have children, to put it lightly. Even after her curse is broken she is still unable

BUT…. Again this is dumb fantasy stuff..

I imagine that Solo would be a donor for the sperm… and due to Priest’s not being a normal mortal… could have some sort of influence to like… “revitalize” Jody’s eggs… or something??

So if they did have a kid… would literally be the child of all three of them… because I think that would be adorable. Is it stupid and would not work IRL? Ya. But listen… one of them was literally a Angel so like I do not care what makes sense. Like I know it doesn’t matter because they all would love them as their kid anyways… but idk I think it’s cute!!!

Despite Jody’s fear… they all would make good parents!!! Happy lil family.

Jody was a quarterback in highschool before she dropped out. So I imagine she still likes football a lot. So cue them having Super Bowl parties a lot fkfkfk. Solo does not care for sports but he likes just being at a party and shouting. Priest does not understand sports in the slightest, so they sit there in confusion a lot and is usually late to cheering with everyone. Also I think it would be funny if Jody randomly threw a football at Solo or Priest. Priest would catch it but Solo would probably get hit in the face a lot or stumble around.

Solo is a test dummy for anything Priest or Jody does, happily of course. Jody gets a new nail polish? Solo tries it on first. Priest gets a new pair of shoes? Solo wears them first to break them in. Any time either of the two gets a new outfit, Solo tries it on first. Solo often parades around the house and does poses to try and make the two laugh. Solo is a goofball normally but he is EXTREME silly with those two.

Jody and Priest do workout routines together! Or well.. Jody does her workout stuff (although not as extreme as when she was cursed) and Priest often does Yoga and tries to teach Jody it. Jody is not that flexible because of her muscles so she struggles a bit but she’s trying. Solo goes for morning jogs but that’s it, Solo is not… a gym man. Scrawny thing!!

For Halloween Jody still always goes as a dog, she still wears onesies based on different dogs each year. (when it’s not Halloween, Solo wears them sometimes). Priest always goes as the phantom of the opera, they enjoy that musical a lot and was one of the first things they watched when they came to earth. Solo is the only one who goes as a different thing each year.

Jody wears a bee themed nighty to bed! It’s a normal silk nighty but it has tiny wings on the back. Sometimes Solo picks her up and goes “BuZZZzzZzZzzzzZz” and gently swings her around and pretends she’s a bee. Priest wears a tank top and some silk pants, often wears a robe with it and sometimes playfully walks around the house fast to make it seem like a cape. Solo wears boxers and long socks to bed, yes he wears socks to bed he is a menace to society.

Solo and Priest take advantage of Jody being short a lot, in the way of constantly bending down, nuzzling her neck and whispering sweet things into her ears. It destroys her always. Also Solo picks her up a lot and Priest hugs her from behind and picks her up a little bit and waddles around with her slightly off the ground.

Jody often stands in front of Solo and stands on her tippy toes to kiss his chin/neck. Jody also picks up Priest a lot and buries her face in their stomach, sometimes giving them raspberries to make them giggle since they are ticklish there.

Priest usually walks behind Solo and gently drags their fingers up and down his spine/shoulders gently. It gives Solo shivers but he loves the gentle touches. With Jody, Priest loves to intertwine tails with her and hold her hand and gently rubs their thumb.

Solo loves to just pick Jody up whenever he can, He’s just happy he’s strong enough to pick her up. He will often sprint in and suddenly swoop her up no matter what she is doing and just kiss her face all over. Yes there have been accidents when he sprints in without thinking. With Priest, Solo adores doing a “socks slide into room” right up to their side and grabbing their waist. Usually accompanied by something corny like “come here often?” Before kissing their cheek several times.

It hasn’t been shown in the blog yet, but Jody is a very skilled skateboarder! Her preferred way to travel around town and such. Solo has attempted to do this many times and has broken his nose.. MANY times but refuses to stop trying. Priest has also tried to skateboard and instantly broke their arm. Jody likes to flex on them by being the only one who can skateboard.

AND THATS IT FOR NOW IVE RAMBLED TOO MUCH THANK U FOR INDULGING MEE

#not art #anon #long post #delete later #JazzyRambles

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therealandian · 3 years ago

Text

Heroes Have Been Made from Worse

A story based in @welcometogrouchland’s superhero AU for The Magnus Archives.

Claws nicked through the air where his face had been a mere second before. They followed up with another swipe, this one connecting with his neck.

Jon fell back, gasping and clutching his bleeding throat. Shallow, he assessed, didn’t hit anything important. As if that was somehow better.

The Hunter glared at him with sharp, animalistic eyes. There was no way he could talk her down from her enraged state, and he’d never win in a fight. He needed to get away. Now.

He scrambled back, but her fist grabbed his throat and lifted him into the air. He tried to breathe. He couldn’t. He tried to kick her away. She wasn’t even fazed.

I’m going to die.

And for what? In the end, what had he even managed to accomplish? To gain superpowers he didn’t want from a dying old woman? To try to help people only to be killed a few months after it all began?

I don’t want to die.

The Hunter squeezed his throat. Jon’s vision swam with pain and the void.

Someone help me. Please.

He saw her clawed hand raise for the final blow. He closed his eyes, unwilling to watch himself be gored.

“Archive!”

Someone was there. To help? To harm? What did it matter? He was caught in the iron grip of the Hunter, unable to breathe and unable to fight. He was dying. No one could save him, even if someone, somewhere, wanted to.

His consciousness blinked out. He wondered if people would be surprised that it was him all along.

***

“That fucking idiot,” Melanie muttered, summoning an ethereal knife to her hand. What the hell was he thinking, taking on one of the Hunters on his own? And at close range!

And where were the other two Hunters?

Didn’t matter. If her heat vision couldn’t detect them, they probably weren’t lurking around nearby. At any rate, they probably weren’t in their enraged forms, so that just left the one.

The one currently strangling a now-limp Archive and about to gut him with her claws.

Melanie sighed. Just another day. “Hey ugly!” she shouted.

Well, she definitely had the Hunter’s attention. Now she just had to get her to let poor Archive go, assuming he wasn’t dead already.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you!”

The beast woman snarled.

“I’m blind and I can tell you’re ugly as fuck! Now drop your chewtoy there so we can play some tag.”

The Hunter looked at Archive, deadweight in her clutches. Yeah, he definitely wasn’t breathing. Not even trying anymore. His body heat seemed to be fading, too. A shame—she’d almost like him. Not that she’d ever admit that to anyone.

The beast dropped him, and he crumpled onto the pavement, his body still. She looked back at Melanie. Melanie grinned. “Got your attention now, you stupid mutt?”

The Hunter roared and charged, leaving Melanie just enough time to dodge out of the way. A shame she hadn’t figured out how to make her body go completely incorporeal on command, yet. That would’ve been useful here.

***

Martin was having one hell of a day. He’d just finished dealing with a bunch of shapeshifting clowns alongside Stranger Slayer (for whose help he did not ask nor want), and now he was hearing something about a Hunter fighting with Archive across the city. What was he thinking!? Surely the man knew better than to take on such a heavy hitter on his own, especially when there were two other Hunters probably watching nearby.

He faded into the Forsaken, trying his best to keep ahold of that thought as his body evaporated into mist in a pseudo-London made from fog and broken dreams.

The Forsaken was a strange place. He didn’t necessarily hate it, but he didn’t like it, either. It was...too alien. Plus, Peter was there sometimes, and it made things...awkward.

When he forced himself back into reality, he was met with a very worrying sight. War Ghost had appeared on the scene, and was taking on the Hunter, while Archive lay crumpled in the middle of the road not moving.

Martin rushed forward, skidding across the ground until he was kneeling beside Archive. There was a gash through his neck, and he didn’t look to be breathing. Hopefully he’d forgive him for pulling his mask up, just enough to reveal his nose; he didn’t want to know who Archive was. It’d make things more complicated than they already were.

He double-checked whether or not Archive was breathing, trying not to focus on the fact that he had a very nice jawline. Definitely not breathing. No pulse. Martin grimaced; all he really knew was how to perform CPR, not anything further than that. Still. He had to try.

He started chest compressions, feeling Archive’s ribs give way under his hands. Hopefully those didn’t hit anything too important.

***

Tim finally made it to the square where Archive and one of the Hunters were fighting, except now it was War Ghost fighting her while Archive looked to be dead on the ground. Somehow The Forsaken Man had beaten him there, and looked to be doing CPR. How nice of him.

War Ghost, on the other hand, seemed like she might need some help. It wouldn’t be their first time fighting together, and they’d left on decent terms, despite her temper. He felt good about his odds of not getting on her bad side by butting in. He pulled his axe off his back.

“Need a hand?” he called, bodying the Hunter before she could make for a possibly devastating blow. Not that he thought it would actually hit War Ghost, but it was something, anyway.

War Ghost’s nostrils flared. Was that how she saw? Was she, like, smelling him? Hopefully not. Those clowns hadn’t been the most hygienic.

Thankfully, if that was how she saw, she didn’t comment on it. “What?” she smirked. “Feeling left out?”

Tim returned the grin. “Only a little. After all, no one invited me.”

“Mm. Make yourself useful and give me that axe.”

“What!?”

Nobody touches Doris.

He tightened his grip. “Absolutely not.” He still smiled at her, even if it might have been a bit less friendly now.

She knocked the Hunter down again before she could hit Tim. “It was a joke, dumbass.”

Tim nodded. “Right.” He knew that. Of course he did. Definitely.

Fortunately, the Hunter seemed to be tiring. Her moves were becoming a bit more sluggish, and the feral gleam of her eyes looked to be fading.

“Had enough yet?” he asked, twirling Doris.

The Hunter snarled and lunged at him. Ah well. He had plenty of fight left in him, anyway.

***

Read the rest on AO3!

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loominggaia · 3 years ago

Text

Anonymous asked:

Okay reverse personality anon, I seriously thought this scenario would be atleast mildly amusing… didn’t think it would be that outright terrifying. Especially in the case of reverse Ocean. Let’s change the scenario up to make it less disturbing. Have the duration of the spell last one week instead of one month, and only a single crewmen get hit with the spell, not the whole crew. What would their reverse selves do in that time? How would the crew treat them? And how would they feel about the

Experience once the spell wears off and they return to their true selves?

If it was just one Guy at a time, yeah I think it would be significantly less devastating lol. This is just how I personally imagine things going down, but...

Evan: Becomes cruel and selfish. Starts sending his crew on high-risk contracts, only caring about the money. Doesn’t show concern for their well-being at all and refuses to join these contracts himself, but takes part of the reward anyway, probably steals from his own crewmens’ payroll. Lukas is the first to notice that he hasn’t been acting like himself and immediately knows some kind of magic is at play, even if he didn’t see the incident happen. The others just think he’s being a dick, but Lukas knows him too well and ends up being the one to either cure him or keep him from getting anyone killed. I could see him locking Evan in the sundown room and acting as temporary captain until the spell wears off.

Lukas: Becomes warm, friendly, and super gullible. Just believes whatever anyone tells him and goes into situations with blind optimism. As much as the crew bitches about his bad attitude, Lukas’ skepticism and distrustful nature actually proves to be a boon most of the time. There’s a running joke in the series where he says he’s “always right” about everything, and ironically, he’s pretty much right about that too. He has a good, analytical head on his shoulders, and losing that would get the crew into a lot of shit. I think he would have mixed feelings when it wore off, because he would miss that sunny outlook he had, but he wouldn’t miss being a smiling fool.

Glenvar: Becomes sober and stroic. Never laughs or cracks jokes anymore, is just no fun at all. Doesn’t get angry, cry, or show any emotion at all really. His friends would be glad that he seemed to get a handle on his drinking problem, but they’d be very concerned about his sudden shift in personality. He’s always been everyone’s morale booster with his jokes, vivacious personality, and all the meals he made them with love. Losing that would hit the crew hard. I could see them getting stressed out and giving up on jobs a lot quicker while he was like this. Alaine would absolutely hate it and break up with him. He’d beg her to take him back when the spell wore off, and she probably would eventually.

Alaine: Becomes lazy and unmotivated. Loses her passion for music and does nothing but smoke weed all day. Spends more effort thinking up excuses to get out of work than just doing her job. If it went on long enough, she’d stop training and get so out of shape that Evan would have to fire her. But since it’s only for a week, he’d just put her on leave until the curse wore off. Glenvar would lose his attraction to her pretty quick.

Jeimos: Becomes almost too stupid to function, but also loses their anxiety and becomes really confident. You know what’s more annoying than a stupid person? A super confident stupid person who thinks they’re smart. That’s exactly what Jeimos would be like under this spell, and their crew would get sick of their shit REAL quick. They would be too dumb to wield their spells responsibly, but they’d be confident enough to try anyway. The crew might actually have to imprison them until the spell wears off so they don’t burn down the whole village.

Isaac: Becomes mean-spirited and downright malicious. Goes out of his way to hurt/trap/poison/gaslight people because their pain brings him twisted joy. He would be a sinister, psychotic little shit, but the crew wouldn’t realize it right away because he’d pretend to be normal for as long as he could. Someone like this should NOT have the Divine Executioner in their possession...Reverse-Isaac would be truly frightening. He could do an insane amount of damage in a week, and even scarier, the week would nearly be over before anyone realized he was the one causing all the trouble. I think the first to notice would be Shadow, because she would detect something was “off” about him with her animal senses. She might even be the one to stop him.

Linde: Becomes toxic and crass in her behavior. Linde normally has a compulsion to fight for justice, so I suppose under this spell she’d be compelled to oppress others. I can’t see this having super dire consequences in the span of a week, except that it would really annoy her friends. Depending on how far it goes, Evan might fire her for acting bigoted and hateful towards her fellow crewmen. She would say a lot of really vile, toxic things and destroy every relationship she had overnight.

Balthazaar: Becomes posh, fussy, and really intelligent. Basically becomes the new Skel, except Skel is still a good guy on the inside. Reverse-Balthazaar doesn’t give a damn about his friends or anyone but himself. He develops an inflated ego and decides that he doesn’t need this crew, he’s going his own way. He splits off from the Freelance Good Guys and declares himself leader of the Valentino Squad...except it’s a crew of just one: himself. When the spell wore off, he’d beg Evan on his hands and knees for his job back, apologizing profusely for his behavior.

Skel: Becomes a compulsive slob, but is also a lot kinder to others. The crew welcomes this change of attitude, but they do not appreciate his sudden obsession with filth. Evan catches him smearing shit on the walls in the dining hall one day and fires him on the spot, because what the fuck. The crew possibly has him institutionalized, as he’s become a walking health hazard to himself and others. When the spell wore off, Skel would be absolutely horrified by his own behavior. It would either make his obsessive cleanliness worse or cause him to chill out a little when he realized the filth didn’t kill him, it could go either way I think.

Javaan: Becomes slow-minded and oblivious to his surroundings. Loses his confidence with women, is completely socially inept. I don’t think this would be too devastating to the crew itself, but it would be very devastating to Javaan and everyone who cares about him. If this went on long enough, I could see him becoming suicidal from loneliness and his own ineptitude. But in this case, he’d just have one shitty week and be super grateful when the spell wore off. He’d hit up every bar in Woodborne to celebrate, picking up every chick who would have him, and have the biggest, wildest orgy that town has ever seen...

Elska: Becomes timid, subservient, and flaky. Would quit her job as a mercenary quickly, assuming she wasn’t fired first, because it was too scary for her. Loses all confidence in herself and just paces around anxiously all day, jumping at every little sound she hears. Does whatever anyone tells her to do without question, fearing they might hurt her if she doesn’t. Faints at the sight of blood and runs away from any sort of violence. The crew would realize something was very wrong immediately and keep her safe until the spell wore off.

Mr. Ocean: Becomes hateful, sadistic, and self-obsessed, craves power over others. With someone as powerful as Mr. Ocean, things could get really nasty really fast. He could enslave everyone in Drifter’s Hollow within a day if he wanted to, so a week is plenty of time for him to fuck up that whole region. I don’t know that he’d realize his full potential right away though, because no matter how evil he becomes, he still has some serious brain damage and he’s pretty unaware of what’s going on around him usually. I think considering how slow he is mentally, he’d probably just enthrall a handful of villagers and do mean things to them before the spell wore off. Of course he’d feel horrible about it once it did. Overall, reverse-Ocean would be really bad news for him and everyone around him.

Zeffer: Loses his paranoia completely. In fact, he develops pronoia--the delusion that the universe and everyone is out to help him instead of harm him. Normally this might be a positive change, but considering he’s a vampire, well...he’d get himself killed on day one. I think Evan would quickly realize he wasn’t acting like himself and supervise him until the spell wore off.

Sorry these answers aren’t much less disturbing than the originals...when it comes right down to it, the opposite of the Freelance Good Guys would be the Freelance Bad Guys, so it’s to be expected lol.

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

#ask #askliterature

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pridewhatpride · 3 years ago

Note

"rival"

There you are. You. Asking for a GX Rivalshipping drabble with 'Rival' as a keyword. Here you go. I hope you're happy ;; The length is around 2k words.

Special thanks to @deadkura for proofreading, but I note that any and all mistakes are on me. They were just... my poor lab rat. Apologies, my friend.

That aside, there are no warnings that need to be given, this is light-hearted in tone. Nobody dies and nobody gets hurt, aside from Shou who happens to be there at some point and just succumbs to the need to get on with some semblance of a plot.

... It's on Ao3 because why not. Here.

The story is below the cut! Enjoy (or don't)!

____ ____ ____

Manjoume could vaguely remember the first time he’d watched the Battle City recordings. He couldn’t remember when it had been exactly, but he did know he’d been at a classmate’s house with a bunch of other kids. He had a faint memory of being pressed up against other children, all of them shouting and cheering along as the duel between Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutou came to a roaring end.

… It had been noisy. And he’d found himself mildly annoyed. Not that the duel didn’t have him on the edge of his seat- quite the opposite. He was completely mesmerised by the unforgiving tornado of grace that was Seto Kaiba, most of all. Perhaps that was why he’d found the others to be so bothersome in that specific instance. It seemed very rude to him that they would take him out of the experience with their screams. Was that fun? Was it supposed to be fun? Was he simply out of the loop? Should he have been screaming, too?

The thing he could recollect with a surprising amount of clarity was some kid who’d grabbed his arm to get him off the couch. To this day, he still had no clue what his name was.

“Jun! Come on, I want to play Yugi! You can be Kaiba!”

He remembered muttering something about the suggestion being extremely stupid. The kid wasn’t Yugi Mutou and neither of them possessed any Duel Monsters cards. What was the point of just replicating what they had just watched on screen? They could just… rewatch the scene. But the kid had seemed to be very set on the idea and when Manjoume looked around to see expectant looks on the others’ faces, he ended up giving in. He remembered thinking something along the lines of: ‘Why me?’ And even in retrospect, it made very little sense. He’d never played with this specific kid before. He was a friend of a friend- or a friend of someone he thought was a friend at the time.

“Why do I have to do this?” He had ended up asking, not hiding any sign of his annoyance. “Because you’re like Kaiba!” “I am?” “Yeah! You always say mean things like him! And Taro says you’re like… super rich.”

The rest was a bit of a blur, but he remembered being the ‘Kaiba’ of the group, for as long as it lasted. Which wasn’t a very long time, admittedly. But it had been the one and only ‘friend group’ he’d found himself being a part of, up until he’d entered the dueling circuits, when people started sucking up to him either because of his early successes or just to see what could be squeezed out of the youngest of the Manjoume brothers.

Reminiscing about things like that was… weird, to say the least. He wondered why he’d been that stuck up, even as a kid. He just couldn’t figure out what exactly had made him believe that acting like he was above everyone else could get him anywhere at all. Of course he was aware of the futility of the act, now that he’d grown up and a few years had passed, but it turned out that knowing something on a rational level does not, in fact, equal being able to put it into practise.

… He knew why he was doing what he was doing, anyways. It had stopped being meanness for the sake of being mean when he knew he could get away with it and had stepped into habit territory. And he hadn’t been allowed to go to Duel Academy so that he could make friends who shared the same hobby. He had imagined that 3 years could go by in the blink of an eye if he got involved as little as possible. All that mattered was winning duels, right? And the last thing he needed in order to do that was to start caring about his opponent’s feelings, really.

The thing he hadn’t really considered was that, maybe, his winning streak wouldn’t last forever. He should have known that the outcome of a duel did not depend entirely on how driven one was. It was still fucking annoying to have to see everyone’s surprised- no, incredulous faces upon seeing him finally defeated. Finally, yes. Clearly people had been waiting for nothing more than to see him brought to his knees. It turned out they had firmly believed he had no actual merits outside of his family connections. They had their long-awaited confirmation. He’d lost a single fucking duel. Obviously he was nothing but a blowhard.

Well, good. Whatever. He couldn’t have cared less.

What did infuriate him, however, were the words that the idiot who’d defeated him had exclaimed, entirely unaware of the fact that he’d just completely crushed everything Manjoume had tried to build for himself.

“That was a fun duel! We have to do this again some time!”

He hadn’t cared to stay behind to listen to anything else the other had to say. The guy clearly hardly had a clue where he was or what he was studying to become. Who had allowed that moron to smile like that while trampling his pride? How the fuck had Manjoume let himself be defeated by someone like that?

May the fucker go to hell. Him and his dumb red uniform. Everyone in the Academy. They could fucking die for all he cared. And Manjoume would have probably laughed at the sight.

He really thought he would have. And yet.

As he was going over his deck, sitting with his back against a tree, doing his best to avoid anyone and everyone, he heard footsteps approaching, accompanied by two voices he felt he knew.

“Aniki, I still can’t believe you beat that guy- he’s an Obelisk Blue- and the top ranking first year at that!” … Is this- “He is? Well, that checks out, he was pretty tough.” That’s- Yuki Judai. No doubt about it. “But you beat him.” … Because that needed to be pointed out, how insightful. “Doesn’t everyone lose at least once?” No. “Not against Osiris Red students!” Exactly. “… Why does that even matter in the first place?” It just fucking does, asshole. “Because! A top student isn’t supposed to lose against just anyone, Aniki! I don’t think he took that well.” … Who the fuck would. “Why, though. He didn’t duel poorly or anything. We were pretty evenly matched, there shouldn’t be shame in that.” “Doesn’t that just make it worse?” “… Does it?”

He’d known they were about to pass him, but didn’t bother getting up or making it look like he hadn’t heard anything. He’d clearly been right about this Yuki guy. A complete idiot who clearly understood nothing of what it meant to be a duelist. He glared at the two as they walked by.

… Ah, so the other was Marufuji. A failure younger brother, much like him. How ironic. The boy looked absolutely devastated to see him, too. What, wasn’t expecting the woods to have ears, eyes and a blue uniform?

He furrowed his eyebrows as Yuki abandoned his carefree walking posture, disentangling his fingers from behind his nape and letting his arms drop to his sides. And then proceeded to point straight at him, as if he’d just seen a mythological creature prancing about. Tch.

“It’s Manju!”

… Was that supposed to be a joke? Why was his first thought that that would make for an awful pet name?

After a second of silence, he decided there would be no harm in responding as he usually would to his name being tossed around improperly. “It’s Man-jou-me,” he corrected, making it a point to hold a hand up to count the three syllables as he spelled them out. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not actually food.”

Marufuji’s hands shot up to cover his face, at least he had the decency to be embarrassed for his friend. … But Yuki just laughed. “What! My name isn’t so forgettable that you’d just mistake it for dessert, asshole!” And laughed harder. “I-“ he paused to catch his breath. Manjoume looked on, entirely unimpressed. Hopefully. “Look- look, I’m not the best with names, I didn’t-“ a loud exhale. “I didn’t mean to make fun of you, I swear.” “… Sure you didn’t.” He tried to keep his voice as hostile as he could. But he… couldn’t fully bring himself to shut the guy down. He supposed his laughter was just contagious.

“Glad that’s settled!” He turned around to face a barely still present Marufuji. “See, Shou? The guy isn’t so bad!” Ah. Right. It had almost slipped his mind. “Aniki- please, I get it, there is no need-!”

“I’ll be winning the next one, anyways,” he said as he got up. And that, apparently, was enough to get both boys to gape uselessly. For half a second. Because before anything else could be said, Yuki shot him a thumbs up and a wide smile. “I’m counting on it, Manjoume!” He couldn’t stop himself from smirking back.

It didn’t take long for rumours to spread about a supposed rivalry between himself and Yuki Judai. It turned out that most off the students of the Academy had very little to do aside from gossiping about such things, which was honestly just a disappointment. Perhaps that was why Judai ended up growing on him, despite everything. While he wasn’t necessarily serious or studious by any means, he was… passionate. He meant it when he said that he was looking to have fun and, to an extent, it was admirable. Enjoy the game no matter the outcome. Easier said than done. But in a sense it was… pleasant to get along with and play against someone who was so different from him.

On one specific evening, they had ended up staying out, discussing strategies and dispensing sarcastic advice- or at least that was what Manjoume was doing. Judai actually seemed quite intent on asking how he’d built his deck and why he’d chosen certain card combos rather than others. They had had a match a few hours prior and Manjoume had surprised him with some new faces. Manjoume Jun was a lot of things and predictable wasn’t one of them. And if the way Judai’s face lit up whenever he pulled a surprise play was anything to go by… it was clearly a trait he appreciated immensely, which it was something that made him swell up with pride. To the point where, when switching out cards, he would often find himself thinking about what Judai’s reaction would look like upon the big reveal of his new strategy.

“It’s always my pleasure to be your lab rat, Manjoume.” The response came in the form of a light shove. “Oh shut up, I like testing out things and, clearly, so do you.” Judai’s laugh rang out, light and unintrusive. “You’re right about that, at least.”

They spent some minutes silently studying eachother’s decks. Manjoume had been about to comment on the card ratio, before Judai blurted out something that made him forget all about it. “We’re kind of like Yugi and Kaiba.” And then a necessary addition, judging by the urgency in his voice. “If they had been actual friends, that is.” … Huh. One of his eyebrows shot up. “Don’t tell me it’s because you win most of the times and I’m a stuck up asshole who also happens to be rich.” Judai laughed, as he always did. And it was only fair that after being shoved earlier he’d playfully punch Manjoume’s shoulder. “That could be one way to look at it, I guess.”

A small pause followed. And the increase in intensity of the sound of shuffling cards suggested that Judai was… nervous. “What I meant to say is that we’re rivals. Like them.” Majoume scoffed, without any actual bite, his eyes set on a Polymerisation copy. “That isn’t specific to them. Isn’t it just… normal? To have someone you want to defeat, I mean?” “Hah, so you admit I’m the role model you’re striving to overcome!” “I didn’t say anything of the sort, dumbass.” “… Well, for me… playing with you keeps the game fun.”

Manjoume actually looked away from the Elemental Heroes he’s been adamantly staring at. He turned to face Judai, who seemed to have been looking his way for some time.

He would do that a lot. Make a joke, get a snarky reply and immediately say something serious afterwards. What an idiot.

Fun he said, huh? “Not that it isn’t fun in and of itself, but it’s different, I guess. I find that I actually do want to win, when I’m up against you.” Judai’s hand moved to play with his bangs. “I didn’t think I’d ever think twice about a lost duel, but I… kind of do, now.”

“Oh yeah, sorry- Welcome to the magical world of normal people who don’t necessarily win every single time.” “You speak like I’m not the only one who’s beaten you.” “So do you, asshat.” Judai’s expression morphed back into a smile. “It’s refreshing to have a genuine challenge. If you were to quit I would probably lose my interest in playing, too.”

Ah. That part of the Yugi-Kaiba rivalry. He felt like he started to understand.

“Keep dreaming, Judai. I’m not quitting anytime soon. I vowed to never let you off the hook.”

He thought of what he could or should say next. A part of him suggested: ‘You make it fun for me, too.’ That wasn’t in his style, however.

“But I have to agree. I’d get really bored if winning were to become too easy. You’ll die before I allow you to quit, Judai.”

#ygo #yugioh #ygo gx #yugioh gx #gx rivalshipping #manjoume jun #jun manjoume #chazz princeton #yuki judai #judai yuki #jaden yuki #ulri's abysmal fics #@ deadkura if you'd rather i untag you i will

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niksixx · 4 years ago

Text

Plus One

We’re on part 4 already!!! I’m soooo excited for this part. I plan on throwing a few curveballs and cliffhangers in the remaining parts of this mini fic, and I can’t wait for your reactions!

Note: This fic takes place over the course of a few months!! Just keep that in mind while reading!

A/N: Please leave comments telling me what you think🖤

*Picture is NOT mine. Found on Google. Credit to the owner.*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Pia’s POV*

I look in the mirror, completely unsatisfied yet again with my outfit of choice. Ten years out of high school and I find myself still caring about what my old classmates will think of me. I sigh before pulling off the simple blue dress and toss it on my bed dejectedly.

It takes me another fifteen minutes to find a better outfit and soon I’m staring back at myself adorned in heeled boots, black pants, and a skimmery gold long sleeve shirt.

I give myself a half smile just as the bell rings. I make sure to grab my purse, filled with lipgloss and a generous amount of breath mints, before heading down the steps.

My heart squeezes in my chest. In leather pants and a black button up shirt, Nikki grins happily. I’m well aware of his eyes examining the length of my body, and I don’t try to hide that I’m doing the same thing to him.

“When’s the last time you were this dolled up?” He asks, pressing the softest kiss to my cheek. There’s no one watching. He doesn’t have to appear affectionate. So why does he?

I snicker back at him before locking the door behind me. “It’s not like I’ve had anywhere to go. Now come on, we’re going to be late.”

~~~

Every inch of the school is decorated in navy blue and maroon streamers. Balloons are tied to chairs, littered on the gymnasium floor, and floating to the ceiling. Teachers stand by the entryway while old friends mingle about. I spot my friends laughing at a circular table in the back of the gym, and my hand slides into Nikki’s before pulling him in that direction.

“You made it,” Vince remarks, giving us a nod. “We didn’t think you were coming.”

“We wanted to make an entrance,” Nikki answers with a lighthearted laugh, giving my hand a squeeze. “Fashionably late and all that jazz.”

I walk around the table, exchanging hugs and quick pecks on the cheek, making sure to even press a tiny kiss to Vivian’s growing stomach. It’s good to see everyone together again. Sure, we’re all used to seeing each other on the weekends, but life has caught up to many of us, making it difficult to keep to our regularly scheduled adventures.

“So, you and Nikki,” Charlotte whispers, only for the girls to hear. My lips quirk up in a smile. “It’s about time you got your happy ending.”

“Let’s not jump ahead,” Viv interjects, stuffing a brownie into her mouth. No one says anything about the six other brownies piled onto her plate. How ironic it’d be if baby Alice May ended up hating chocolate. “They just started dating a month ago. But, I am mad I had to find out from Amanda,” Viv pouts before sinking her teeth into another treat. “How’s he been treating you?”

“Like a queen I hope,” Amanda chimes in, swirling the straw in her drink.

I see how happy they are for me, and I have to push away the nagging thought that screams it’s not real. No matter how much I want it to be real, and no matter how well Nikki treats me, that thought is ever-present in my brain.

“He’s amazing,” I say breathlessly, sneaking a quick peek at Nikki. He laughs at something Tommy says, eyes crinkling in delight. His smile is wide and genuine. “He’s unlike any man I’ve ever been with.”

Charlotte shakes me happily. “How many dates have you been on?”

“A few. We went out to dinner one night, a museum another. We stay in sometimes too. Order pizza, watch movies, play games. He even cooked for me last night. Being with him is an adventure I never want to end.”

~~~

*Nikki’s POV*

From the gymnasium bleachers, I watch with a grin as Pia and Charlotte dance with a few classmates. My eyes stay glued on Pia. The more she smiles and laughs, the more I can feel a dopey grin widening across my face.

I can feel my chest tighten as I watch her. It’s a feeling I’ve been having for a few days now whenever I’m around her and I can’t quite place what it is. From the dance floor her eyes find mine and she winks subtly, and the tightness is present once more. I balance my elbow on my knee, cheek in my palm, and sigh.

“You’ve got a little drool right there buddy,” Tommy pokes the corner of my mouth and I swat his hand away, frowning.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tommy rolls his eyes, crossing his ankles and leaning back on a higher bleacher. “How long are you supposed to keep up this act?”

I’m well aware of the extra emphasis placed on act. “Only a few more months. After her work party and cousin’s wedding, I am a free, single man again.”

“Uh huh,” Tommy tuts, his eyebrow raised in question. “So there’s absolutely no chance that this fake relationship turns into something real.”

I straighten my shoulders, shooting Tommy a warning look. He’s treading in deep water. “Don’t start. I don’t see her that way. Never have.”

Tommy was never one to listen. He takes a swig of water, brows raised as if to challenge me. “But you’re starting to.”

“Enough,” The word comes out harsh through gritted teeth. I ball my fists tightly, lowering my voice. “Be careful with your next words, man. I’m serious.”

Tommy chuckles, shaking his head. It’s a game to him. My reactions are his entertainment. “You won’t do shit and you know it. Seriously, man, what gives? I can see it on your face. You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”

I’m about to open my mouth but commotion on the dance floor stops me. I turn, scrunching my brows as Pia and Charlotte dart over to where Tommy and I are sitting.

“What’s going on?” Tommy asks, looking frantically between the girls.

“It’s Viv,” Pia answers, waiting a moment to catch her breath. “Her water just broke.”

~~~

In Vivian’s arms, the tiny pink bundle squirms away. There’s a smile on each one of my friend’s faces, Mick especially, as he strokes the top of his daughter’s head.

“She is so beautiful,” Amanda gasps, tears filling her eyes at the sight of her godchild. Even Tommy’s eyes are bright with unshed tears as he gazes at his new goddaughter, only a few hours old. “We’re so proud of you, Viv.”

Beside me, Pia squeezes my hand. I look down, smirking at the tears that are falling from her eyes, and instinctively brush them away. When I turn forward, I’m greeted with Vivian’s eyes narrowed, holding me captive. No one else seems to notice, and I squirm under her intense gaze.

“Now I hope you know I love you all, but this new momma is hungry and tired,” Viv chuckles, rubbing her growling stomach. Mick is the first one out of the room, no doubt sprinting to the cafeteria to find something semi edible for his wife to eat. Everyone nods in understanding. We begin to file out into the hallway, but Vivan’s voice stops me.

“Nikki,” I turn around, again met with Vivian’s hard gaze. “Close the door. Stay here.”

I freeze. Her voice is anything but welcoming. My fingers twitch as I close the door to the room, taking a hesitant step toward her.

“I thought you wanted to rest,” I say dumbly, stuffing my hands into my pockets. It was never easy to tell what Vivian was thinking, but her face always gave away how she felt.

“I do, but we need to talk first,” Viv’s voice is low and even. She sucks in a breath, exhales, and glares. “Why are you doing this to my best friend?” She shakes her head. “A fake relationship? Really?”

I frown, the realization dawning on me. Mick had told Vivian. “What are you getting at, Viv? Pia asked me to be her fake boyfriend. I’m not doing anything to her.”

It’s a scary sight, Vivian chuckling darkly. “Wow. You really are oblivious, huh?” When I don’t answer, Vivian continues, voice softening. “You really expect me to believe that you don’t know Pia is in love with you?”

I blink. “What?”

Viv rolls her eyes exasperatedly. “Pia is in love with you, Nikki. Somehow, everyone else can see that except you.”

Hate is a strong word and I don’t use it very often. But at this moment, I hate Vivian. I hate the way she’s looking at me. I hate the way I feel so small under her scrutiny. But most of all, I hate the way she’s acting as if I’m in the wrong.

“She doesn’t love me,” I respond with a laugh. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Vivian laughs quietly, repositioning Alice in her arms. “Of course you don’t think so. You never pay attention. I do, and I have over the years. You don’t see the way she watches you when you talk, so fascinated by anything you have to say. You don’t see the way she laughs when you tell a stupid joke. And by the way, she’s the only one who’s ever laughing. You don’t see the way her cheeks flare up when you compliment her and she tries to hide it by looking away. You never, ever saw the devastation in her eyes when you chose each one of us over her. That’s your problem, Nikki. You don’t see.”

My pulse races and suddenly I’m warm all over. The ground beneath me begins to sway, and my fingers lock around the back of the single wooden chair beside the hospital bed. I lower myself down, rubbing the tension from my temples, trying to understand.

Vivian’s hand on my shoulder is light. I’m tempted to push it away, but I know she means well. “This relationship...this fake relationship, is going to end up with one of you hurt. And it’s not going to be you.”

“Why does everyone think something is going to go wrong? First Mick and Tommy, and now you,” I pull the chair closer, gripping Vivian’s hard. She flinches, but says nothing. “You said my problem is that I don’t see. Then help me, Viv. Help me see. If Pia loves me like you say she does, then why did she ask me to be her fake boyfriend and not her real boyfriend, huh? I’m clearly not good enough to be her real boyfriend, right?”

Viv sighs, thumb brushing over my knuckles. “She asked you because she trusts you. And this fake relationship gives her the chance to experience a real relationship with you, one that you never gave her because you were too busy using me, Charlotte, and Amanda to occupy your time. You want to know a secret? You just told me why you never gave Pia the chance. Because in your mind, you don’t think you’re good enough for her. And for someone that puts on the front that he doesn’t want a relationship with her, you certainly are going to lengths to prove this one is real.”

“I know I’m not good enough,” I spit back. “I just...I just know it. I can act the part and put on a show, but that’s all this is. It’s a goddamn show.”

I can see the blood rushing to Vivian’s cheeks. “You stubborn jackass, you know that’s not true. You only have to play the part in public. And believe me, you’ve done one hell of a job with that, so explain to me why you’re still dating her in private? Movie nights? Game nights? Homemade dinners? Explain that to me.”

For the tenth time that night, I’m speechless. Why was I still dating her in private?

“So what do you suggest then?” I ask seriously after a long, silent moment. “That we just call it off completely? Because I can do that right now.”

Viv shakes her head, eyes wide. “If you have no intentions of making this a real relationship, then you need to stop acting like it is behind closed doors. No more movie nights. No more game nights, homemade dinners, none of that. Because the more you do that, the more she’s going to fall in love with you, only for you to rip her heart out in the end.”

#nikki sixx #motley crue #motley crue fanfic #motley crue fanfiction #motley crue fic #nikki sixx fanfiction #nikki sixx fluff #nikki sixx angst #nikki sixx x oc #nikki sixx fanfic #nikki sixx fic

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translations-by-aiimee · 4 years ago

Text

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 6

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

TW for this chapter: Sexual Assualt

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 6 - Shame

On the way back, Yin Zhou rocked back and forth while laughing in the car. He patted his thigh and breathed out: "Haha, little. . . little girl, that makes me an uncle. Lin Yan, you're truly are blessed. You've got a Loli handed right to you!"

Lin Yan couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching. After joking with Yin Zhou for a while, his expression sank again. His hope was shattered, and the things in his hands were in a mess. The sunset falling on the horizon looked like a roasted sweet potato slice. Lin Yan couldn't help but laugh at himself. The night was coming. Who knew what would happen tonight? With twists and turns on the country road, a squirrel squatting on the ground picking up fruit was frightened suddenly by the car. It turned around and bumped into the tree. The little guy held onto the pine cones dumbfounded for a while before changing directions and fleeing.

Lin Yan felt that his current state was not much different from that silly squirrel.

After sending Yin Zhou home, Lin Yan sat in a roadside noodle shop until it closed before driving back. Since the start of all these strange things, the word 'home' has become synonymous with 'nightmare'. He didn't even have the courage to open the door, and he was even more unwilling to face the cold and decayed hellscape behind the door. Lin Yan clenched his fists, and a strong hatred rose from his heart. He had never harmed anyone, and he hadn't interfered with anyone. Why shouldn't he be allowed to live in peace?

The elevator climbed up from one floor to another; Floor 5, Floor 6, Floor 7. . .

Suddenly a burst of cold crawled up his back.

Lin Yan was already familiar with this feeling.

After a second of utter shock, he madly pressed the button to open the door. There was no response. The elevator rose slowly. The number on the display jumped to Floor 11 and stopped. There was a soft bang, and the whole elevator fell into a deep, never-ending darkness.

Lin Yan fumbled around on the wall to find the emergency call button, but his raised hand was blocked by something that shouldn't exist. A long sigh sounded in the solidified darkness, and he was crushed against the wall by huge brute force almost at the same time. The hands holding his arms were like a pair of iron tongs. It wasn't the kind of power that a human could exert, and it couldn't be counterbalanced at all. However, Lin Yan still struggled with all his strength and cursed fiercely: "Get away from me!"

That thing had never been so overbearing and crazy. It seems that Lin Yan's action of going out privately to ask for help from a witch doctor completely angered it. It grabbed Lin Yan's neck with cold hands and picked him up from the ground abruptly. Lin Yan kicked his feet, his weight and the power of that strange hand making him breathless. If the suffocation of last night was only a warning, then now it was like murder, with his breathing getting weaker and weaker and his vision blurring.

Lin Yan closed his eyes, his last bits of consciousness not enough to help him resist. The enclosed elevator was like a small coffin, the walls closing in on him. A sense of despair walked over him. It's all over; after this humiliating game of cat and mouse, the evil spirit is finally going to end this.

It's a pity that his life didn't have time to officially begin, so he would end with this grotesque finale.

As if perceiving Lin Yan's submission, the strange hand loosened around his neck. After the support keeping him up was gone, Lin Yan leaned on the metal wall and slid to the ground. Then freezing lips kissed his face. They slowly moved down, kissing his lips, neck, collarbone. . .

Psychotic, paranoid, irresistible.

"Fuck you. . . Fuck your mother and all your ancestors. . . You. . . Ah. . ."

Moist lips blocked his mouth. Lin Yan shook his head helplessly, but the thing didn’t care about the disgust he showed. It spread Lin Yan’s legs apart, kneeled between his knees, bent down and hugged his waist. It stretched its tongue into Lin Yan's mouth and sucked hard.

Lin Yan could even hear hissing in the darkness.

Like a grumpy beast, it was enjoying taunting its prey before going in for the slaughter.

The sound of entangled lips and teeth twitched Lin Yan's nerves that were already taut like a bowstring. His chin was also being pinched by the ghost hand. He could no longer restrain it, sobbing in despair and fear.

The buttons of the short-sleeved shirt were unbuttoned one by one, and a cold palm touched his chest, its fingers rubbing against his nipples.

"Let me go. . ."

"I beg of you. Let me go. . ."

After devastating his body with the most violent and fierce means, the ghost was slowly insulting his spirit. The experience of dying, again and again, told Lin Yan that this invisible power was saying: Your life is in my hands. No matter where you go, you can't escape me.

The shirt was dropped and tossed aside. The cold and damp tongue twirled on his nipple, and then licked and rubbed his lower abdomen. Lin Yan sat paralyzed on the ground, covering his face with his hands. He was completely defeated in this contest. His voice shook as he cried: "Please. . . let me go. . ."

The thing stopped. It pulled on Lin Yan's wrist to make him stand up and kissed his eyebrows as if it were trying to soothe him. When the light flicked back on, the elevator trembled like it was suddenly awakening from a deep sleep. The hollow sound of the parts spurred, and the green arrow in the middle moved upstream like a fish.

On the eleventh and twelfth floors, Lin Yan couldn't see clearly, but his body's sense of touch became much more sensitive. The ghost squeezed him against the wall, rubbing his waist vigorously with both hands. There was a layer of goosebumps on his bare chest. He could even feel the monster's clothes; the soft fabric, wide sleeves, probably funeral clothes. There were silk-like things hanging onto his chest. It took a long time for Lin Yan to realize that it was hair.

He imagined strands of long black hair clinging to a rotten face, and his bones twitched.

The elevator door opened.

He was dragged out of the elevator by the invisible force, pressed hard against the door panel, and was repeatedly kissed and tasted as though he were a dish. Its hands untied his belt and unabashedly caught his limp member and threw itself down, impatient and eager. Lin Yan’s head hit the coffee table with a bang, and the pain stimulated his almost numb nerves. Lin Yan began to swear using the most vicious and vulgar language he could think of, but this power did not stop. The rough palms pressed roughly against Lin Yan's body, and then it swallowed even more once it got the sexual response it was looking for, desperately and madly pleased.

Lin Yan bit his tongue until it bled, spewing one curse after another until his throat became hoarse. The monster's swallowed faster and deeper. Each stroke made Lin Yan's words catch in his throat. His cursing became drawn out and weaker. He panted hard, clutching the man's hair carelessly; it was as smooth as silk.

He came into the ghost's mouth.

There was a swallowing sound in the darkness.

In these absurd nights and absurd affairs, Lin Yan remembered releasing himself four times in "his" mouth and hands, until his waist became weak and his throat was hoarse to the point he couldn’t swear anymore. Finally, he sat on the lap of the invisible "person" and sobbed into its shoulder.

He felt anger, hatred, fear, humiliation, disgust, but, most of all, powerlessness.

"What the hell are you?!"

"What do you want?"

"I haven't done anything to provoke you," Lin Yan said weakly.

"I will help you make peace with your death, burn some paper money during Qingming, and take the memorial tablet home with me to worship."

"Let me go."

Without answering, the ghost put Lin Yan on the sofa. No matter how much Lin Yan talked into the dark, it would not respond anymore. Instead, it silently disappeared again.

Lin Yan didn't dare to close his eyes at all. He rummaged through some boxes and found the amulet he bought during the trip and the rosary beads sent by his relatives when he moved. He placed a knife in his hand and tucked it under his pillow. The knife was charmed, meant to ward off and suppress evil spirits. After gathering everything together, Lin Yan turned on anything that emitted light in the house, and sat in front of the computer to search for information related to exorcism. The sound of typing on the keyboard sounded particularly harsh at night. Lin Yan's eyes were glued to the screen, but his ears kept paying attention for any movement behind his back. The tension in his back made him want to curl up under his blanket. Supported by unbelievable perseverance, he was entangled in such unholy things, and he had to do something before he was slaughtered.

The mantra of rebirth was chanted over and over through the speakers, and the whole room was filled with peaceful Sanskrit sounds.

"namo amitābhāya tathāgatāya

tadyathā

amṛtod-bhave

amṛta-siddhaṃ bhave

amṛta-vikrānte

amṛta-vikrānta

gāmine gagana

kīrta-kare svāhā"*

*This is the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra that Lin Yan is playing and I absolutely could not find a single translation besides the original Sanskrit version or the one in Chinese and I'm not about to butcher a Buddhist mantra.

If you recite it 200,000 times, you can produce the buds of wisdom. If you recite it 300,000 times, you can see Amitabha. You can get everything you want in this world without being deceived by evil ghosts and spirits. Lin Yan thought, maybe he should be a dojo to overthrow this vain ghost, but it was so hostile that no place would necessarily accept him.

#dig a grave to dig out a ghost #dig a grave to dig out a ghost translation #chinese novel #chinese bl #english translation #yaoi novel

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