#and then once the exorcism fails he puts his mask back on

[scribefindegil]

god. i’m still real fucked up over Manga Mogami Arc, and not for any of the reasons people warned me about. like, Mogami’s world ramps up the violence above what they could show in the anime (which, thanks Bones, I personally could not have handled watching that so I’m glad they toned it down), but that makes sense for him. he’s a powerful evil spirit who’s created a hell dimension. it’s brutal, but it isn’t unexpected.

what got me was what happened before that.

[Image ID: A partial page from the Mob Psycho 100 manga. Panel 1: A psychic picks up an ornate staff and says, “So she beats us to death, one by one ... or we beat on her, all together.” Panel 2: Another psychic, sweating, asks, “You really think the client would agree to that ...?” Panel 3: A closeup of the first psychic, veins bulging and eyes narrowed. He says, “The client is currently bleeding out on the floor. Open your eyes. This is no time for questions about morals and ethics ...” Panel 4: Dialogue continues, “It’s looking more like ... kill or be killed.” The crowd of psychics looks distraught. Panel 5: Reigen, with a horrified expression, thinks “Things were already bad, but ...” End ID]

So for those of you who haven’t read the manga, there’s a point after Mogami has trapped everyone in the basement and revealed the extent of his power where some of the other psychics decide that their best strategy for getting out of this situation is murder! Cool! (Does someone point out that Mogami’s spirit has already jumped into a different vessel and there’s nothing to stop him from doing it again? Yes! Does this give them pause? No!)

I think this is really interesting, because in the anime the real threat in this arc always comes from Mogami himself, even if it’s enacted through his spirits in the mindscape. But in the manga there’s this part that still takes place in the real world, with regular people who aren’t being controlled or possessed, and because their lives are in danger they’re willing to try to kill a middle-school girl to save themselves. Mogami must have been so chuffed. Here are these people all ready to prove his point about the darkness at the heart of human nature and how no one really cares about anyone but themselves, and he hardly even put them up to it! It reminds me of the part with the astral projection stalker, where it’s one thing to see this kind of behavior from an evil spirit, but it hits harder when it comes from living humans.

Also really important to note that they got this idea because of Reigen. Obviously he was not encouraging murder! But it was his successful knee-strike exorcism of Jodo that gave the other psychics the idea that they could defeat Mogami by doing physical violence to his host.

[Image ID: Jodo lies unconscious on the floor. Someone says, “You saw what just happened. Jodo was possessed ... but that dude’s kick took him down! We can try the same thing against her.” End ID]

And Reigen can tell that he won’t be able to talk them out of it! He freezes up! It’s Shinra who, very bravely and very stupidly, runs forward and tries to stop them and gets his face bashed in for it (i’m not screencapping this because it makes me too upset).

It just. It’s already so much in the anime when Mob refuses to accept Mogami’s worldview after six months in his world. It’s even more when the last things he experienced in the real world were so bleak. But he’s so, so brave and so, so stubborn, and he’s willing to believe that all those people deserve the chance to change too.

[houseofupsidedown]

Hobgrog was a lot. He had been summoned as a demon in the shape of a ferret. At least that's what he told the idiots he jumpted out at in that cemetery. He was actually an exceptionally powerful familiar who had used the demon story to be waited on hand and foot by a series of gullible cultists and fledgling witches and wannabes.

Eventually, he overstepped himself with each and every one of them and they either left him, like his original master, or tried to banish him back to Hell.

I caught up with him shortly after such an attempted exorcism and now he glared flames at whoever came into the shop from his specially warded enclosure. He wasn't impressed with the latest patron. A tattooed young man had crept in on a lunch break from the drive thru down the street.

Hobgrog was already sneering as he watched the man looked longingly at the glossy black snake and the stripe-legged tarantula. When he moved on to the cats, Hob was ready to pounce.

"You," he hissed and the man jumped. "Just enough magic to fail at everything you try,"

That was Hob's schtick, to know just enough about you to get you to believe what he said next. "Too late to make Mommy proud, but maybe you could show ol' Dad what you ARE good at... if you're willing to pay the price."

Hobgrog's eyes glowed red and so did the wards on his door. He looked very pointedly at his info card. The man looked flummoxed for a moment. I haven't interfered yet. I'd been watching him too. He had the hair and smell of someone around hot grease all day and the sullen eyebrows of someone who worked with the public. Even if I hadn't known where he worked, I could've guessed.

The tattoos looked homemade, and you could see them slowly improve as they went up his arms. So there was some creative power in him. It wasn't just Hobgrog looking either.

Old Delirabell had raised her head to squint at him. She had been glossy black once too, but now her muzzle was white all the way to her eyes, giving her a death's head mask. She had outlived her last three witches, and I know she had killed the last one herself, so it suited her.

The man broke Hob's stare, which was another sign there was real steel in him.

"You sound like my boss," he huffed and turned away. Hobgrog was honestly surprised too.

Delirabell rose to her feet. The movement of black on black in the shadows made the man look her way and then he stopped in his tracks.

"Oh," he said. Yeah, I thought. OH.

Delirabell walked toward him, taking shape out of the dark aisle like the Shuck of legend. She was a black dog too small to be wolfhound but too large to be much else. Delirabell had only spoken to me once, telling me how her last witch had tasted like hate and gingerbread when she had torn out her heart. Ever since then, she had only spoken with her eyes. When the man reached for her ear, she leaned into his hand.

"We'll have to find our own place," he said. "Dad hates dogs."

Hobgrog had fallen into sulky silence, but I went digging out the paperwork. It was nothing official. Familiars either wanted you or didn't, but I liked to keep track. Whatever Delirabell saw in the man, having it seen had lit up his eyes and put an eager bounce in his step. He scrawled out his name on the form.

"Ben Ngo," I said, reading it. His smile faltered like he thought I might know him. "Be the person your dog thinks you are."

It was sappy enough to be adoption place's slogan but it Delirabell's case it would keep her teeth out of your throat.

"You'd have been better off with me!" Hobgrog shouted after them as they left. Also ignoring him, Glimmerkin and Chickpea began to squabble over who got Delirabell's old spot.

Text: What I run is not an animal shelter, and would be dangerous to confuse for such. It is an orphanage for familiars of every breed and disposition, abandoned on purpose or otherwise.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Random Encounter: Tower of the Hollow Lord

“ Take heed traveler, ain’t none that take the haunts’ road through the wastes at night but witches and ghouls. If you aim to walk there, do so during the day, and you keep the gods names on your lips ‘ere you be caught out before the sun sets and the stones wake beneath your feet” 

Adventure Hooks: 

Out in the mire valley there’s a short, winding stretch of road, roughly cobbled in grey-white stone that provides a useful shortcut to the dry overlook, allowing one to skip a plunge through fetid ponds or slipping on muddy game paths. Known as the “haunts’ road” for its curious habit of glowing a sinister green on moonless or cloudy nights, the route features heavily in local superstion, a fact the locals are more than happy to share should they learn the party is traveling that way. 

The area is a known to be the burial place for thieves and other undesirables, who’s unquiet spirits are blamed for disappearances of those who travel the region at inauspicious times. When the party is asked to investigate a missing stagecoach after it was forced to detour into the mash, they’ll discover that some of these rumors are impart true, and that a gang of roughians garbing themselves in foxfire and old bones have been using these rumors to extort passers by. Most recently, they’ve turned to kidnapping, as a young woman within the stagecoach bragged about her connection to the local magistrate, an attempted intimidation that only increased the value her captors could wring out of her delay. 

A heavy mist will roll through the area during the party’s journey, causing the road to alight as it veils all scrap of sunlight, despite the time of day. From down the road, more lights: fireflies heralding an invisible rider on the corpse of a mare. Both phantoms approach with appalling slowness, something in their movement speaking of failing strength or the very edge of sleep. From beneath a burning mask that covers nothing in particular, the rider will ask the party for directions: he’s become lost in the fog, and seeks the tower for an important rendezvous. There is no tower in the region, and no matter what directions the party might give him, the invisible rider, reeking of bog and blood, will reach into his saddlebags and scatter a handful of corroded coins along the cobbles before riding off.  An eerie encounter to be sure, one that leaves the party a slight bit richer, and perhaps a little bit cursed. 

Setup: So obviously there’s more to this stretch of swampland than just a bunch of random ghosts and bandits with a gimmick. Two hundred years ago this there was indeed a tower that looked over the valley, and though its name (and even knowledge of its existence) have been lost to time, it was the site of a climatic battle that decided the fate of the surrounding settlement for generations to come. An army was invading, and with no hope of reinforcements coming in time, Lord Montigan and his forces fell back from their harrying raids to the watchtower that guarded the pass into their domain, swearing to keep their beacon burning so long as they held out . From this white walled fort they defended the pass to the very last, consternating the invaders so much that when the siege finally broke and Montigan and his troops were finally put to the sword, the enemy commander demanded their bastion be torn down and scattered throughout the swamp. 

Over time, People forgot Montigan, and gathered the rubble of the crumbled fortress into a rough-road to ease their way through the mire and up the overlook, never once suspecting that those stones were infused with the undying determination of their forgotten protector. 

Further Adventures: 

Defeat and obscurity have done little good for Lord Montigan, hollowing him out and leaving behind only a dedication to hold on one more day, and a memory of a beacon fire kept burning in the face of an overwhelming enemy.  If the party wish to exorcize this haunt, they’ll need to reconstruct the beacon out on the overlook and calmly let the old commander down about the whole “ dead for centuries after a pyric victory affair. ” At which point, dawn will break over the valley, and Montigan and the pervasive eeriness he brought with him, will depart from the land. 

Someone is stealing the stones from the haunt’s way, leaving stretches of it disappearing into endless swamp and the travelers that rely upon it confused. This sinister task is being perpetuated by a troupe of ghouls led by a necromancer who believes the beacon tower to have been built upon a necromantic layline. By rebuilding the structure piece by piece, they hope to “resurrect” a ghost of what the tower originally meant, performing an act of architectural necromancy and tapping into the energies of conquest, lost hope, and futile victory so common to that past age of war. 

[petri808]

O5+Itafushi sick/injured/comfort for Anon 😊 totally canon divergent since we still don’t know a lot about their backgrounds and the series is still on going 🙃 Hurt/Comfort, angst w/happy ending. *Does container manga spoiler aspects if you’re not up to date on it.

It couldn’t be helped... logically, Megumi knew this, but what his brain understood didn’t mean his heart could accept. Yuuji was fated from the beginning to die and he knew— Knew that all the man wanted was to die without regret, and saving their world... well how much more honor could one achieve by fulfilling his grandfather’s dying wish? He should be happy for his friend, content in the knowledge that Yuuji gave them a chance to rebuild a better world without the fear of Ryomen Sukuna ever destroying it. Should be... but he wasn’t.

How many times had Megumi convinced himself they weren’t heroe’s, they were just sorcerers. Spiritual police in a sense, there to protect without a desire for acknowledgement. And that their deaths were both inevitable and not immune to regret. All they could do was their best not to garner too much of it and become the very curses they swore to fight. It was why most jujutsu sorcerers learned from an early age not to care about humanity, or at least lie to themselves that it was a possibility. Such bullshit, really.

So, as he stood there staring down at what remained of his best friend’s body, Megumi couldn’t help the regret bubbling up in his very soul. This was literally and figuratively his fault. Yuuji’s, or rather Sukuna’s exorcism was a combined effort in which he’d participated in. That’s not something you can simply set aside. Yes! Megumi was glad that Sukuna was gone, but so was Yuuji! He didn’t care if his friend had been born into, or chosen to, or somehow been trapped in this fate. It wasn’t fair at all. None of this was fair to any of them, just as his own birth had been an unfortunate creation for revenge.

“Fuck!” Megumi gritted out a barely audible utterance as his nails dug into the clenched fists at his sides, and tears trickled down his face. This wasn’t fair at all!

He shouldn’t even be there. If Gojou sensei knew he’d snuck into the morgue he’d be in trouble. But he didn’t care! They didn’t even let him say goodbye to his friend before carting him off to Dr. Shoko. It was for his own good— pfft, fucking uncaring bastards! Yuuji was the first real person he’d ever connected with who gave him back a sense of the humanity he’d lost along the way. The man made him feel, and now. “Fuck...” Megumi knew he was screwed. His heart had crossed the line. Images of a smiling Yuuji play like a movie behind his closed eyes, bringing a pained smile curling on Megumi’s lips. He’d avoided admitting it to himself, but it was true. He’d fallen for Yuuji Itadori.

It had been an unspoken promise Megumi made to Yuuji, one he’d made deep within his heart the moment it had chosen to cross the line. He’d find a way to sever Sukuna from Yuuji and save his love from the ultimate sacrifice. This promise had never been proclaimed from his own lips, but there was no running from the covenant he’d created in his soul. As Sukuna once explained, certain pacts in their works simply could not be broken.

His knees weakened, crumpling Megumi to the floor in a position of summary execution. All of the emotional walls he’d learned to control, gave way in a flood, sending shadowed curse energy to blanket the room. He didn’t even try to stem the flow of power surging out from his pain. It was entirely selfish to lash out with his regret and anger, but Megumi couldn’t stop... didn’t want to let go. “It’s not fair!” He raged into the still darkness. “I should have saved you! If I was stronger, I could have saved you! But I’m too weak... even now, I can’t...” he hung his head head and closed his eyes, “I can’t even let you die properly because you deserve to live Yuuji...” Because I still need you... Damn the consequences, he’ll take whatever comes his way! “Yuuji!!!”

.....Megumi wasn’t exactly sure what happened, how he ended up passed out on his side, or even how long he was laying there. But something gentle brushed against his face, sweeping his hair aside, and caressing it to stir him awake. His body was groggy from the power drain, eyes barely able to focus in the amber emergency lighting. Whatever it was said nothing, just continued soothing him and coaxing with light prodding to wake up. It felt so nice... Wait! Fuck! Was he caught?! Was it Gojou, Dr. Shoko, someone else?!

His eyes flash open wide as he scrambled to sit up, ready to explain himself, but— “Sukuna?!” Megumi screamed in shock.

“What?!” The naked man stumbled back, looking around in a panic. “Where?! He’s supposed to be dead!”

Megumi adjusted his eyes better, because the form in front of him looked like Yuuji, but with all of the same markings as Sukuna, including the second set of open eyes. Although the voice was different... not exactly Yuuji’s, not Sukuna’s, maybe a mix of both. “Who are you?” He asked, noting that the curse energy flowing from this thing was akin to Sukuna in power and this could be a trick from the God of Curses. Is this what his regret had wrought?!

“It’s me,” the figure stepped forward in confusion, a hand over his chest. “Yuuji. Megumi how could you not know it’s me?”

“Because you look like and feel like Sukuna.”

Yuuji looked down at his body and could see the markings too. But that’s when he also noticed something else in the room. His dead body lying on the operating table. His eyes widen as they whip back to Megumi. “Am I?!” His shaky voice cracked.

It was becoming clear. Megumi nodded. “My regret brought you back as a...”

“Curse...” Yuuji breathed out. He was stunned, and yet somehow not surprised. “Wow... but I don’t look like a normal curse.” He could think and feel, “I’m like Mt. Fuji head?”

“I don’t understand it either. I’m so sorry Yuuji— I just couldn’t let you go.” The tears formed again in Megumi’s eyes. “I’d sworn to myself I’d save you, but I failed miserably and for that... n-now you’re a curse.”

“I should be mad at you.” Yuuji knelt down in front of his friend, smiling. “But I’m not. I know all too well how hard it is to let go of people we care about.”

Megumi shook his head. “You don’t understand. I’m being selfish and that’s wrong! I just... I-I just... I love you too much to let you go.”

“You... love me? Like a friend, friend love or...”

Megumi turned away and if it wasn’t so dark his blushing cheeks would be glaringly obvious. “No, the other kind.”

“Brotherly love?”

For a second there, Megumi had to question his own sanity again for failing in love with an idiot. He ran his hand down his face in a huff. “The I wanna kiss you kind! I know you said you like women with big butts and all, but yeah,” he mumbled, “that’s how I feel about you idiot.” His face was truly on fire by this point, only made more difficult by the fact the man he loved was hanging out for all to see.

“Oh!” Yuuji chuckled and sandwiched Megumi’s face between the palms of his hands. “I’m just messing with you. I knew that for a while now.”

“Wait how?!” But dang if seeing Yuuji’s smile again didn’t just melt him. “I kept it hidden.”

“You did, but Sukuna sensed it in you when your domains overlapped, and he showed me.”

Yuuji leaned forward and brought their lips together in an awkward kiss. It was brief, but for Megumi, it solidified how he felt. That yes, he really did love this man and finally! He got to kiss him!

“There was a time I thought Sukuna had a crush on you actually,” Yuuji chuckled. “But then of course, it turned out he just wanted to use you.”

“So... you’re okay with me liking you?” As he spoke, Megumi pulled his coat off and handed it to Yuuji to cover up.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Yuuji smiled and put on the coat. “But what do we do now? Technically I’m not alive, I’m a walking, talking curse.”

“Fuck,” Megumi sighed, his shoulders slumping, “I didn’t exactly think this through, just lost control.”

Yuuji placed a hand on his shoulder, “hey, we’ll figure it out. We always do.”

Megumi couldn’t hold back any longer. He pulled Yuuji into a tight bear hug as renewed tears pooled in his eyes. “I don’t care what you are, I’m just happy to have you back.”

Yuuji returned the hug. “Me too.”

Suddenly, clapping echoed through the darkened room seconds before the light switch was flipped on, causing Megumi to flinch. Shit! They were caught so quickly!

“I had a feeling this would happen.”

It was Gojou’s voice. Aww crap!

Megumi moved Yuuji and placed himself between the two men. “Leave him alone!”

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head Megumi Chan, I’m not gonna exorcise him. I followed you here, so if I’d wanted to stop you, I would have done so sooner.”

“You’re messing with me.” Megumi narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “It’s our job to dispatch curses. Why would you make an exception.”

“Yes, under the old ways, but as you know, those ways were destroyed by us. As long as a curse is not a problem, I don’t care if they exist.” Gojou cocked his head in an evil grin. “Yuuji is now for you, as what Rika is for Okkotsu. I didn’t exorcise Rika, did I?”

“No...”

“Exactly!” He clapped his hands together. “Having powerful special grades on our side is a benefit in my eyes,” Gojou moved his mask to reveal his own, “and these eyes know everything,” he winks before affixing the mask. “Besides, who am I to get in the way of love,” he shrugged.

Megumi rolled his eyes at that last jab, but Yuuji let out a sigh of relief. “Gojou sensei, do you know why I’m like this?” He motioned to his body. “Shouldn’t I be more like Rika? But I can think for myself and talk, and I feel... well, normal.”

“That’s a good question!” Gojou cackled and pointed at Yuuji. “I have no idea!”

“Ugh!” Megumi slaps his forehead. This man never changed.

“But,” Gojou grew serious in an instant, “I can guess there are three factors involved.” He held up one finger, “Number one! You, Yuuji are no ordinary human but created by a curse at birth.” Raising a second finger, “Number two! You and Sukuna were bonded at the instance of death, so you’ve fused with him.” Adding a third finger, “and lastly, number three! When one special grade sorcerer curses another former special grade sorcerer, that amount of curse energy wasn’t going to create a lower lever spirit. So, voila! You were made Yuuji!”

“But is it like I still have control of Sukuna or something?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. Do you still sense him?”

Yuuji paused in thought before shaking his head no.

“It’s likely Sukuna’s soul was fully exorcised, and since Megumi was only thinking of you, it was only you that was brought back. This is just the form your cursed energy has taken. We’ll need to test what powers you’ve retained, but from what I’m sensing, they are on par with Sukuna’s residual energy.”

It’s Megumi who speaks up next. “So, is Yuuji allowed back at school?”

“I’ll allow it, provided your classmates don’t mind. Remember, while you can see him, he’s no longer alive, so normal humans won’t see him anymore. He is just a cursed spirit.”

Megumi and Yuuji looked at each other, then back to their teacher with Yuuji taking hold of Megumi’s hand. “I think they’d get mad if we didn’t return,” Yuuji smiled.

Gojou tipped two fingers as he turned to leave, “then I shall see you in class tomorrow. Try to keep the noise down in your room.” He teased with a cackle.

Megumi flushed red. “He’s so irritating.”

“Yeah, but you gotta admit Gojou sensei’s one of the cool ones.”

“Yeah,” Megumi sighed, but smiled. “Guess we should head back to school too.”

Yuuji squeezed his new boyfriend’s hand and nodded. “I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces when I walk in!”

“Just, no practical jokes like phasing through walls to scare them. We don’t need someone actually trying to exorcise you.”

“Oh, right! I’ll behave.” Without warning, Yuuji then swept Megumi into a bridal carry. “Let’s test my powers! I bet I’m faster than Gojou sensei now!”

“Wait! What are you doing?!”

Yuuji grinned down at Megumi with ruby red eyes glowing. “Trust me.” Cause I’ll kill anyone who dares to hurt you now...

[heartshyuck]

[00:17]

You squirmed into Renjun’s side horrified by the tension and the obvious jump scare about to appear on the tv. Though obvious it still won’t fail to make you jump out of your skin , you bury your face into Renjun’s chest when the moment the tension is released to be surrounded by the comfort of his warmth. 

“You know it’s coming why you still scared?”

 He says as he laughs while staring down at the scene that makes his heart flutter. Renjun wraps his arm around you in attempt to comfort, he pulls the blanket round you tighter so that you’re pressed closer to him.

“How can you not be scared?”

“I’ve seen worse”

He turns his attention back to the movie and head on watches the scenes of demon nuns and the screams of the possessed girl , you don’t know exactly what he meant and couldn’t tell if he was just pretending to be brave or if he truly wasn’t scared. 

“I know I’m gorgeous but I’m sure the movie is more interesting than my face” He joked as he caught your confused stare on him. 

“What the hell did you mean by you’ve seen worse”

“Oh, you’ve seen it too”

Your eyes widened in confusion as your mind raced through the 20 years of your life to find this moment in time that was supposedly worse than Nun’s who served the devil with grey faces and no eyes in their sockets

“What the fuck, there’s no way I’ve seen something so terrifying” 

“How about we bet on it”

Renjun smirked in confidence, which made you doubt yourself. Maybe it was so terrible your mind just erased it from your memory is what you had almost convinced yourself but your competitiveness wasn’t about to let you prove him wrong

“Okay what we betting?”

“How about a kiss”

“fine” you rolled your eyes at Renjun’s cheesy request. 

“You might as well kiss me now since I’m right”

“Just shut up and tell me what this scary thing is we’ve both apparently seen” you say as you hit his chest”

“Lelewise” 

You erupt in laughter, almost on the brink of tears. You sit up to face Renjun and kiss him softly on the lips surprising him slightly but after a few seconds he kisses you back with love. Not letting the sweet innocent kiss turn into anything else you pull back. Renjun unconsciously follows your lips .

“You’re right Lelewise if by far the scariest thing I’ve seen”

[01:36]

“What’s happening?” You said to Jeno while covering your eyes with your hands too scared to look at whatever could be going on. 

“I don’t know” Jeno said also hiding his face but below the blankets 

“Jeno” you whined annoyed by the fact both of you were too scared to look “Come on just look, what’s the point if your not gonna watch”

“What about YOU!!” Jeno cried emphasising the ‘You’ digging his face into your side and kicking his feet making loud stomps that made the whole room shake as well as causing a thumping in your head. That and the added sounds of demon whispers created this uneasy feeling in your stomach .

“No you’re the one that’s meant to look otherwise there’s no point of you being my boyfriend” you shook by the sudden fast movement. Jeno paused the film and turned towards you causing you to remove your hands from your face

“What the fuck does that mean?’ Jeno had a confused look swept across his face , his brows furrowed and his lips pouted.

“It means I only want a few things from my boyfriend” you said in a pout “ cuddles , kisses and him to watch the scary scenes in horror movies so he can tell me what happened” . Jeno laughed while pulling you into his chest , wrapping his arms around you and holding you tight. He placed a long loving kiss on your forehead , then the tip of your nose and then finally placing his sweet lips on yours. 

“Your lucky I love you” he said smiling as he hid your face in his neck while cuddling you. He played the movie and bravely watched the screen 

“I love you too” you muffled as you placed a kiss on his neck 

[03:15]

Even from the beginning of the film where nothing even scary was in sight you had been on edge, occasionally flinching at the smallest of things. Any quick movements made you jump and you were practically watching through your fingers. Hyuck knew you hated horror films or anything in that vein, but he forced you to watch them. He’d say it’s because horror is his favourite genre but really it’s because he found it really cute when you were scared and even cuter when you were annoyed by his teasing. 

“Come on open your eyes already, it’s not even scary” he whined as he shook your arms trying to move your hands off your face “your 20 and your scared like a five year old” he teased, wiggling his fingers under your palm and  pinched your cheeks 

“Hyuck you know I hate horror movies, why are we watching this at three am, how am I supposed to sleep” you cried as you buried your head in Haechan’s shoulder and covered your ears not wanting to hear the screams coming from the exorcism taking place in the movie , that would most definitely keep you up at night. 

Haechan lovingly rubbed your side however in a high pitched voice he teased “oh my baby , it’s okay Haechanieee will fight the demons under your bed” 

The teasing continued for another half hour, you knew he wanted a reaction from him so for the most of it you entertained him but you knew the only way to make him stop was to just watch the film. Of course that still meant the blanket and your hands half way up your face just incase a jump scare comes and you can quickly cover your eyes. Tension was beginning to build, the loud music setting an eerie atmosphere with a heavy bass that seemed to amplify your heartbeat. You were so focused on the movie trying to guess the right moment you should lift the covers, you didn’t realised Haechan putting on a mask similar to the one of the ghost in the movie. Haechan turned towards you slowly trying not to gain your attention , he waited and till the climax of the movie’s scare came and perfectly times his own scare with it. Grabbing you suddenly and screaming causing you to scream and almost burst into tears. 

“HAECHAN YOU DICKHEAD” you screamed pushing him away from you and hitting his shoulder as he apologetically tried to pull you into a hug

“Oh come on babe, you should’ve seen your face” He’s said as he was wiping his tears from his eyes

“Don’t fucking babe me, you dick. Honestly grow up, you know how scared I am” you got up leaving the room clearly pissed off

Haechan didn’t follow you thinking it was best to just leave you to calm down. This wasn’t anything serious he knew you could take a joke , maybe he went too far but he knew it was best for him to apologise when he knew it would be accepted rather than throwing fuel onto the fire. He continued watching the movie and you stayed in your room scrolling through your phone. An hour had passed and you were getting bored , you wanted to go to Hyuck but you were still kind of pissed. You could hear that the movie had finished and he has gotten up to go to the bathroom and that’s when revenge came into your mind. You decided to get an old worn out dress cut some random holes and wear it , you smudged some dark eye shadow here and there to make it look dirty. You contoured your legs to make it seems as though you hadn’t eaten in months . You asked Renjun and Jaemin to play a recording of your voice responding to Hyuck if he tried calling out for you , to make it sound like you were upstairs. Was this a bit over the top? Yes but Haechan deserved it. You head down to the end of the passage , switching off the light . You stood in front of the moonlight that shone in from the window , causing you to illuminate. You placed your thick black hair in front of your face and waited for him to come out. You waited nervously and to be honest you kind of scared yourself. You could kind of see your reflection in the window opposite you and sometime you’d forget and scare yourself. “What the hell is taking him so long” you mumbled under your breath. Finally after another five minuets Haechan finally came out. He turned straight towards you , he jumped back and then laughed but it sounded almost of nervousness 

“Okay very funny y/n” Haechan nervously said 

Jaemin and Renjun had waited at the top of the stair case, well hidden but could hear and see everything that was going on. Jaemin pressed play and your voice replied from the distance “What Hyuck?”. Haechan’s eyes went white and Renjun almost died of laughter after seeing his timid stance. You dragged your feet towards Hyuck , he was shaking and backing away as slowly as possible. Haechan closed his eyes shut and scrunched his face up preparing for whatever was to come. You suddenly shook him and screamed “BOO!!”

Haechan screamed and you , Jaemin and Renjun erupted into laughter. You flipped your hair back over your head to find a Hyuck who was peeping from one eye to scared to look. Once he realised that it was you he panted trying to catch his breath, finally exhaling. 

“Watch out Y/N, you better be sleeping with one eye open” 

“How about a truce for a kiss” you say with a pout 

Haechan pull you in to his arm “deal” he said through a smirk and he placed a sweet kiss on your lips. 

[5:30]

Your scream rang through Jaemin’s ear, so deafening for a second he was sure it was silent. He pressed his finger to his ear closing it shut hoping that it’ll help his eardrums recover. “Holy shit are you that scared” he said in a laugh as he turned to you smiling brightly. 

“No it was just unexpected and surprised me” you crossed you arms over you chest and slightly pouted ,looking sideways to see if he believed you.

‘Okay if you say so” Jaemin smirked, he knew you were scared but would never want to show it. He moved in closer to you so you could feel the warmth go his presence in hopes that it would comfort you. He slithered his arm around your waist and rested his head upon your shoulder. You placed yours on top of his burying one eye into his long soft brown hair to minimise how much of the screen you can see. 

“Jaemin it’s five am maybe we should just go to sleep” you said in a nervous laugh trying to hide that you were trying to get of watching this film

“What no , we started it so let’s finish plus we go to sleep this late all the time’ he wined 

“Ugh but I’m tired” you said as you pushed Jaemin off of you. Jaemin sat up and you saw this as an opportunity to lie down, you extended your feet out and lay the top half of your body on Jaemin’s lap and closed your eyes

“Noooo don’t go to sleep” he wined again this time in a pout making him sound extremely cute.

You rolled onto your back so that his face was now directly above yours. You rolled your eyes as his sparkling puppy eyes met them. “Fine but I’m sitting on your lap and you have to cuddle me”  his grin went from eye to eye as you sat up on top of him. He held you close to his chest , you could feel it rise and fall with every breath he took and breathed out. It was calming until again the same deafening noise rang through Jaemin’s ears. Another jump scare had caused you to scream murder at the top of your lungs. Jaemin out of reaction blocked you mouth trying to muffle the sudden scream. 

“The neighbours are gonna complain” he said in a hushed laugh 

“Sorry , It just happened so suddenly.” You said at the realisation that the sun was rising “They probably think I’m being murdered” you joked slightly laughing

“Or they think I’m just fucking you” Jaemin said in a smirk 

“Oh please, you couldn’t make me scream like that” you laughed while rolling your eyes so far back at your boyfriends over confidence 

“Well then let’s see”

© (jisungiest) 2021. All Rights Reserved.

[creepyalienghost]

Can I have a short fic for the pairing Henry x Joey, please? One where Joey takes Henry on a date to a haunted house?

I had fun writing this one. Thank you for the request!

———

The two meet in a coffee shop on there college campus. Henry went there to work on some history assignments that were do this week. He’d found this place was one of the best places to go for peace and quiet, besides the liberal. And it was later the usually for Henry to do his work. The liberal was closed by now so there he went. Joey goes to the coffee shop to get warm up after an investigation if it was cold out. Which it was that night. He would read a book he was on which at that time was a book oh true other worldly stories.

He was on a story about a girl that could talk to the dead, when he looked up and saw this guy his age paying for his coffee He was good looking in a nerdy way. But he was also a nerd to. Joey closed the book and got up, walking over to the guy who was waiting for his coffee.

He leans on the wall next to the guy. “Hey, you waiting for coffee?”

Henry looked at him. “Me?”

Joey nodded. “Yes. Sorry. You waiting?” Joey scratched the back of his own head, nervously.

Henry smiled. “No worries man. Yea I’m waiting for my coffee. Are you?”

“Uh. I uh already drank mine.” Joey pointed to his table, failing miserably to ack cool.

Henry looked at the guys table and sees a book and a mostly empty coffee cup. “Your into that kind of things? Ghost and monsters?” There was no judgment in Henry’s voice. It was all wander.

Joey smiled and nodded. Glad he didn’t bale out by now when Joey was being awkward and glad he wasn’t judging him. “Are you?

Henry shook his head no. “Nah. I never gotten into the paranormal. “He replied. The employee called his name and he grabbed his coffee and they both sat at the table Joey was a few minutes before. “Do you believe in it?”

Joey nodded without a doubt. “Oh yes. I don’t just believe in it. I seen it with my own eyes!” He said passionately. “Do you believe in it?”

Henry took a long moment before shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not really sure. I mean there got to be other..things out there but I never really thought of these stuff, I guess.” Henry sipped his coffee.

“Would you..like to see...?” Joey asked. “There are haunted places around here. I could take you if you like?” Joey offered

”I don’t know..your not gonna murder be and make me become a ghost haunting a house right?” Henry Joked.

Joey chuckled at his joke. “Hmm not sure. I haven’t decided what to do with you yet.”

The two both chuckled for a good minute then Joey turns to him. “ i’m serious. I’ll show you the other side if you want.”

“You know what, Sure. I’ll take you on that offer.” Henry nodded. And that’s how Henry Stain gotten a date at an abandoned haunted house next Saturday.

——

On the next following Saturday Henry meet Joey in game room of there dorms rooms. “Are you ready?” Joey ask him once he got there. “You know you can back down at anytime you need to, right?”

Henry nodded. “I got it. I’m ready.”

The two had to sneak around to get off campus. They hide behind walls, ran to the next spot and kept out of the lights so the security guards don’t see them. When they made it off campus they could relax now as they walked to there location.

Henry followed Joey down the side of the road then down a dirt path, leading deeper into the woods. it took a while but they came upon a run down house.

Joey slipped off his bag off his shoulder and unzipped it. “Couple things you should know first Henry. 1: because were you step. Lucky there’s no basement but you have to be careful going up the stairs and walking around. Could be holes or the floor could be ready to cave in.”

Henry nodded. “be careful walking, got it.”

Joey nodded. “2. Because of homeless people. Sometimes they can be aggressive. Be careful with animals to. and last be aware of spirts. If you feel bad of any kind. You tell me and we’re getting out of here.”

The last rule made Henry a lot more nervous but he nodded. “Right..”

Joey pulled out two mask and two flashlights. “Put this on. There’s mold in there.” He handed Henry a flashlight and a mask.

They both put on there mask and flicked on there lights. Joey grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder again then they headed inside.

Henry followed Joey inside the door. The first thing he noticed was the rat droppings on the floor. He gave the room a sweep with his light and notice the level of dust that covered everything.

They moved outta the kitchen to the living room. Everything was still there. Toys, books, furniture. “ it’s so..creepy...Everything’s here still.” Henry questioned.

“It is isn’t it?” Joey ask, looking over the old yellow books. ”A lot of places that were abandoned is like this. Just left how they’d been living here...almost like they just.. disappeared into thin air.”

Henry nodded in agreement. “What happen here that made them get up and leave without there stuff?” He turned to Joey.

Joey turned to him as well. “Do you really wanna know?”

“Yes!” Henry nodded.

“The last family that bought this house was the millers family. A nice lovely family. Mother, father, on oldest son and two younger daughters two years about from each other.” Joey informed Henry. “Right away there youngest started having nightmares each night. Terrible nightmares. She’d wake up the whole house with her screams. Once her mother awoke her she explained what she dreamed. The red man she called it.”

Henry stood there listening to joeys story of this place, feeling chills run down his back.

Joey continued. “At first her parents thought it was just nightmares. But as time went on so did the hell. She still had daily nightmares. But within a month the two oldest started acting strange. The middle child started sleep walking and her parents found her in the strangest of places. There son however started drawing this man in red in his drawings. There parents decide to call a Priest to come perform an exorcism on the house. He did but they quickly found out it didn’t work. After another two weeks the mother saw someone standing out of there window in the middle of the night and freaked out. Only odd thing was that there room was on the Second story. They got the kids right after the husband calmed his wife down and left the house. Never stepping in it again.

“Wow..” Henry replied. “Do you believe that really happen here?”

It wasn’t Joey that Answered Henry’s question it was the creek above them that made them both look at the Ceiling. Henry looked back down at Joey. “ Maybe that an animal...?”

Joey shook his head. “No way. That was to heavy for an animal. It was human sized sounded.”

“Well...maybe there be a homeless person walking around?..” Henry ask.

“Maybe. Wanna go check it out?” Joey ask.

Henry nodded and followed Joey to the stairs. “Remember rule one Henry. Be careful of where you step.” Joey reminded him.

Joey took the first step and as he got farther up the stairs he was making sure the floor was going to hold them before putting his full Weight on the step. Henry copied him, making sure the floor would hold him.

They got to the top of the stairs without an incident. The two shinning there flashes in a directions there choose and there eyes followed. It was a sitting area here before a short hallway off four rooms. Two on each side.

Joey slowly moved forward to the first sit of rooms, Henry following beside him now. Joey reached for the handle of the right door, and opened it. It was definitely the sons room. The bed unmanned, his science homework was still on his desk waiting to be finish, a hockey stick besides his bed. Shelves full of sport trophies

Covered in dust and forgotten. “ All those memories had to be left behind...” Henry mention sadly.

“Yea. It’s pretty sad..” Joey closed the door and moved on to the left door, opening that one. This room was obviously the middle child and she loved reading. There were books on her sleeves from Fantasy to poems. On her desk was what most been English homework. It was still open and on one of the pages it was highlighted lastly half way down the page. There was taps on pages before the one that was left. there was also posters of movie that were based on books. Like hunger games and Harry Potter.

Joey closes that door next and went to the other two doors a few feet away. Joey open the door to his right. It was only a dirty old bathroom. This time Henry opened the last door to the little girls room. Dolls. Old creepy dolls that stared at you, watching you. They both didn’t like them and felt them watching.

Before they could do anything they herd another creaking footstep but this it was right behind them! The two looked behind them and screamed. A man red burning skin was grinning down at them. Some would be certain it was a demon. But there minds weren’t thinking clearly. All they thought was run. And they did.

Both of them ran tours the stairs but nether of them never made it. The ground opened up below them and they fail and fail though the first floor into the secret basement. when they landed hard on ground both of joeys legs got smash with a heavy broad. With Henry gotten a pipe stuck into his chest.

“Ahh!! Fuck!” Joey cusses from the pain and shock. He looked over at his friend and immediately knew he didn’t have much time. “F-fuck. Henry! I’m s-so sorry!” Tears ran down his face.

Henry couldn’t even talk. Only blood sprayed out of his mouth and rushed out of his wound. On his last moment he saw the demon watching them from the hole above. Then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his head collapsed onto the ground. His hands slowly slid to the floor.

Joey knew he was gone and cried harder. “No!!” He yelled. “NO NO NOOOO!!!” He would be responsible for this if he got out and most likely go to prison. Why had this happened! He was only supposed to take him out on a date of fun exploring. This wasn’t supposed to happen!

But he realized something horrible. No one knew where they had gone. No one knew they’d come here and now he’s trapped down here in the basement. No one would no to come look here!

All night long and all day he called and called for help hoping someone would be walking by. He knew the demon was watching him but he hasn’t tried anything else. It took days before Joey died of dehydration. No one ever came by or looked around for them.

But once he finally died he could see Henry’s spirt. And not only his but the spirts of the miler family. He was wrong. They never escaped. They all died here and was trapped here forever. Just like him now.

[linkspooky]

Is the story in Owari no Seraph good? Heard it's just your average shonen manga.

Thank you for the question, anon! Owari no Seraph is not just “your average shonen manga” it’s THE AVERAGE SHONEN MANGA, it is every single average shonen manga ever combined into one and that’s why I love it.  I might as well turn this into a reccomendation post to answer your question.

You Should Read Owari no Seraph

Owari no Seraph is like several different shonen manga sewn together in a horrible frankenstein’s monster, but once again as I often say on this blog tropes are not bad things. They’re all about the execution. Owari no Seraph is like, one of five exorcism/demon fighting manga published by shueisha right now (Chainsawman, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Jujutsu Kaisen, Ao no Exorcist, Owari no Seraph). It stands out by raising the stakes as high as they can possibly go, it has no reservations at all over the fact that it’s a tropey, pulp, nightmare. It knows exactly what it is and just tells it’s story anyway. 

So here are a few things I like about the manga that make me want to reccomend it. 

1. The World

The worldbuilding of Owari no Seraph sounds like it was made up on the spot. This is coming from someone who has read the entire manga through twice, and every single english translation available of the spinoff novels. It basically goes like this, there are exorcists who fight demons with magical swords. Then there are vampires but they’re way too strong for an exorcist to ever defeat. Demons are former humans, or maybe former vampires. Eventually the exorcists learn to put demons in swords and allow them to possess you. The world ends because of things called seraphs which are children that were experimented on to turn them into angels to call the end of the world. 

It’s basically a mythology where every single supernatural creature exists simulatenously. It reminds me a lot of the Buffy mythos, where all sorts of supernatural creatures exist and vampires sort of just reign supreme as the strongest. 

While it is kind of a mess, it works well for the story. It basically creates a world where literally everything is out to kill humans, and the humans themselves can just barely fight back. It makes humans seem even more smaller and insignificant in the world they are inhabiting because there are just so many types of magical creatures that are infinitely stronger than them. 

What I love about the exorcists in this manga is how physically weak they are. Literally no matter what desperate strategy they pull, even if they are a once in a generation genius, or from some kind of chosen bloodline, every single character in the manga is desperate to survive at any time. No victory is ever achieved without tons of losses. The characters backs are perpetually against the wall. 

The exorcists really do come off like underdogs just trying to survive the extinction of humanity, because the world of magic is just so overwhelming and unknowable to the human characters. It’s like if the world exploded and every single fantasy creature came to life at once, and they all hated humans and wanted to stamp them out. 

Another thing I like about the vampires is that they’re not X Men. Sometimes when writing vampires authors just make them X Men, as in rather than being vampires themselves they just all have some kind of mutant power like flame conjuring or shapeshifting. The vampires are at the top of the hierarchy in this world because of their sheer strength alone, each one of them is a powerhouse of raw strength. 

2. Yuichiro Hyakuya

Yu’s character is interesting because it’s so weird and offputting but only if you read far enough in the manga to realize why. Yu’s attitude is something that is eventually deconstructed to horrifying effect much later on in the manga.  People often call him a boring shonen protagonist who only cares about fighting and friendship, but to me he’s always been more like Gon. That is a deconstruction of the “Pure-Hearted Hero” protagonist. 

Yuichiro tends to naturally attract people around him, especially damaged and lost people because of how accepting and trusting he is. The problem is Yu is able to accept everything because you get the sense that he doesn’t care. He just doesn’t even think about or consider the consequences of his actions at all, or even how his actions will affect other people.

Yu cares about the people he considers family and that’s it. The rest of the world might as well not even exist. And this is never once framed as a good trait. Yu just doesn’t think at all before he does something, and it’s not even him being stupid it’s him being suicidally reckless. He just kind of assumes that if he wants it everything should work out in his favor.

It’s gotten to the point where people around him are constantly bringing up the consequences of some of the reckless things he wants to try and he just shrugs it off. Somebody warns him reviving the dead is a bad idea, and he just says “but I want my family back.” He trusts and allies himself with complete enemies if he thinks it can return his loved ones to him. 

Yu doesn’t actually trust anyone. He just has the part of his brain where he distrusts people completely shut off. His complete and total blind faith in people ends up becoming a bad trait because as much as it brings his comrades closer to him, you get the sense that he just doesn’t care what happens in the end. As the manga progresses what seems like a typically all loving hero just becomes more and more distant from other people. The fact that he trusts without question is presented as something that makes him seem inhuman.

3. Shinoa Hiragi

Owari no Seraph is one fo the few manga where the female of the main character trio is just as connected and important to the plot as the two boys. Shinoa’s arc about learning to love and trust people also works because she was raised in a family with no love at all that only ever saw her as a tool.

Shinoa is probably the most complex of the main three characters because she engages with everyone behind a mask, but she’s also not a perfect actress. What’s great about her is that she’s flawed, she’s kind of a mess. Unlike her older sister who can manipulate anyone flawlessly, Shinoa is much more human behind the mask and has a difficult time repressing it. 

Shinoa’s arc is as central to the story as Yu’s. However she’s also his opposite and a good complement to him because while Yu is wild and reckless Shinoa is reserved and overly cautious. It’s not a fear of being weak in the same way Yu is afraid to be weak, what Shinoa fears is being out of control. However because she’s not the genius her sister is for Shinoa she only ever really has the illusion of control over situations. 

It’s a female character where basically the entire conflict of her character revolves around her agency, and trying to be her own person separate from her sister. Which is so rare for female characters to be that well developed and present such an interesting conflict. Which is another thing I likie about ONS, it’s a mishmash of tropes but it always uses those tropes very smartly. She fits in so well with the series because basically everyone in the series knows they’re already doomed and we see how each of them cope with it and struggle against it. 

4. Guren Ichinose 

Guren is hands down not only the most complicated character in the series, and also one of the best mentor characters of all time, he’s also where the excellent moral ambiguity of the series itself shines the brightest. Guren is basically the second protagonist of the series at this point because he has his own light novel spinoff and is just as important to the plot as Yu. 

What makes Guren compelling is that he’s not a bad guy at all, but he ends up committing some of the worst deeds in the manga. It once again solidifies the theme that life is more complex than bad people do bad things, sometimes in fact good people do a bad. Guren is great because he’s always one person who is basically struggling against the whole world, and sometimes you get the sense he wants to destroy it because that’s the only way he can throw his burdens off of him. 

But at the same time, this cold blooded guy whose constantly doing terrible things, and is desperate and hungry for power really is just a person who wants his friends to be safe and happy. Guren is someone whose lost literally everything to an uncaring world, his family, his close friends, his lover, he’s also been kicked on and stamped down his entire life. You understand why Guren would end up becoming such a selfish person because literally the world has always told him that he doesn’t deserve to be in it, he’s not a part of this story.

It’s like the struggling of a side character whose not even involved in the plot forcing their way in and trying to be the main character. Guren is so much weaker than everything around him, but he’ll keep fighting. And it’s amazing when Guren does literally every single thing, sacrifices everything, throws away everything and then he still fails in the end. That’s what makes his character compelling because he never gets what he wants no matter how desperately he struggles but he still keeps on fighting. 

His foiling with Yu is also incredible, and you get the sense that Guren is a worse person because he actually cares about things unlike Yu who is so reckless and doesn’t even think about the consequences of his actions.

5. The Conflict

Here’s how the manga starts. The world ends. You’ve been enslaved for several years by vampires that suck your blood. You finally escape but all of your family that was introduced died in the first chapter.

It’s overload but yet, Owari no Seraph always manages to keep these stakes consistent. It’s a manga that actually feels like the characters are struggling at the end of the world. Literally every single person there is past the point of no return in one way or another, and yet they keep fighting.

Which is what makes every fight fresh and compelling to read. Because the main characters don’t even win that often, or if they do win it’s a minor victory that’s evened out later by some loss. Every battle is for survival, not gaining territory. Which really helps along the themes of the story as well to create this picture of a severely broken world, where individual people are all desperate to band together to survive. 

The story itself also never grows stale or stagnant because things are constantly developing and changing around. You never feel one arc drags on too long. Because every single faction is just trying to survive, enemies from yesterday will become allies today and you end up getting to understand the perspective of each faction. 

If you can get past the premise, the manga is actually pretty grounded. Most of the emotional stakes comes from the connection between the characters and the fear of losing them, and that’s the primary focus of the story. It’s about inhuman tragedy and circumstances, and a world that’s so fantastical it’s almost impossible to believe, but there are humans still in the middle of it trying to survive and live even though their lives are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. 

[arpmemething2]

Arrowverse Starters

Was too lazy to do a bunch of individual memes for each series, so here’s one giant meme with quotes from all of them.  Some of these have been slightly altered to take out specific names and/or make them more generic.  Feel free to send in for my muse’s reaction.

"You have failed this omelet."

"I just watched a half-man half-shark take on the fastest man alive. I love this city!"

"Congratulations. You have the wit of a youtube comment."

"I think the seam was starting to split."

"Nobody breaks up my family, you son of a bitch!"

"No offense, but I never met a building I couldn't break into."

"Because I like men. And I like women."

"A jedi craves not these things... No one's feeling that quote."

"I didn’t get to where I am by running and hiding from a fight."

"You two have each other. Most people, in any time period, aren't that lucky."

"You guys are like 10 seasons of Ross and Rachel but smushed into one year."

"I'm from East London. Oh, and the future."

"What kind of tool steals a yellow Humvee?"

"I'm not a murderer. I'm a force of nature. A servant of fate. I enable destiny."

"If you can't kill your enemy, weaken him. If you can't cut off his head, take his heart."

"I want a wife to grow old with. And a kid. And I don't want them to wonder all the time if their dad is in trouble. "

"If we have the power to change the world, don't you think we have the power to change our own fate?"

"You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth. THose puppies don't grow back."

“I was always too good at forgiving myself. You were never good enough.”

"To run a corporation is not the same as ruling a country."

"I don't believe in fat. I believe in choices."

"We go out for one lousy drink and you guys somehow manage to pick a fight with Bobba Fett."

"I have tried everything I can think of. Last night I helped a family assemble their Ikea table. It’s still not enough."

"If there's one thing pirates love more than treasure, it's a good story."

"In my defense, they were happily corrupted."

"He fights for justice and he cares about this city which is no different than any other officer here as far as I'm concerned. "

"Living is not for the weak."

"You and I, we've been through too much together to let each other down now. Please, let me help you."

"Best team up ever!"

"You're the best person I ever knew. You may not think you're a hero, but you're a hero to me."

"Sometimes I want to repay that violence with more violence. I wanna make someone hurt as much as I do."

"In order to live, we must keep daring."

"I hearby christen this building as the bomb."

"More drinking, less feeling."

"All four of you standing there doing nothing, you look like the attractive yet non threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show."

"Alright? We've been kidnapped!"

"Usually I find the person and then I put the fear of God into them until they talk. But we can try your way."

"We all have regrets. But we can't undo the things we've done."

"You know us billionaire vigilantes, we do love our toys."

"If I’m going to be a hero and prove to everyone that I know what I’m doing, I’m gonna need practice. Start small, get better."

"I'd tell you to go to hell, but you'd probably just feel at home there."

"Finally, I realized some people are just bad. But you can learn to protect yourself.”

"We might want to rethink that whole "we screw up things for the better" motto."

"We fight to live as long as we can. That's the only way to live and to be able to live with yourself."

"That film is surpisingly scientifically accurate."

"To quote every 'Star Wars' movie ever made, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I'll take a nightmare that's real over a dream that's a lie."

"If you want to harness your power, you need to learn to control your fear."

"We only break the rules to help people."

"Somebody once told me that secrets have weight. The more you keep, the harder it is to keep moving."

"It turns out at the end of the day, love is worth the risk. None of us can do this alone."

"Get me a salad for lunch. I don't care what kind as long as it has a cheeseburger on top."

"There's something about me that for most of my life, I've run from it. But last night, I embraced who I am and don't want to stop."

"I have no interest in this being a fair fight."

"Say, didn't I kidnap you once?"

"Really? We're trying to save the world and you're lifting wallets?"

"(S)he’s the kind of girl/boy that you take home to your parents, and I am the kind you take to an exorcism."

"We protected the humans of this city by killing a monster."

"You can't change the things you did. But you can change what you become."

"You have failed this city."

"Call security. I haven't seen eyes that crazy since I had fondue with Ramona Singer."

"Do you remember when you told me you had nothing left to teach me? I guess you had one final lesson. How to be a cold son of a bitch."

"I'll go get the alien. You get the girl."

"I have a feeling she'll want to hyphenate."

"Nazis? I hate Nazis."

"It's not a big deal, I got into a fight. I thought you'd be proud of me. I went for the nose, just like you told me."

"They are mostly a jerk. But every once and a while, they could be a dick."

"You're joking. You're working with the man who threatened to kill my entire family?"

"I've spent my whole life searching for the impossible. Never imagining that I would become the impossible."

"Your goodness is your strength."

"Having a nemesis is stressful."

"How can you speak 6 languages and sound like a dick in every one of them?"

"Forgive me, but to me, you've been dead for centuries."

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize being a fake lawyer was more interesting than getting revent on the bastard that kill them."

"Great things are never easy."

"Totally rather get shot than look like a Sears model."

"Well, that's what I am. I'm very boring and really normal."

"You could have just used the door."

"Out of everyone you could've picked to rob, you picked me?"

"If we make the wrong move in here, these cuffs are gonna be the least of our worries."

"Not every hero wears a mask. Some heroes save the day in the simplest of ways. By just being there for us, or letting us know we're believed in."

"There's no bravery without fear."

"You're on fire! You don't seem that bothered by the fact that you're on fire."

"Your choice insisted I not walk around your house naked, so I found one of your dresses. You're out of milk."

"Cops'll never hassle a dad buying diapers in the middle of the night."

"Well, research skills are kind of a superpower."

"They are the objective just not the priority. Not this time."

"No hero can save everyone, but a real hero never stops trying."

[phagechildon]

That Which is Human - Chapter 4

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Summary: No one’s mentally prepared as Natsume’s past comes back to haunt him. But he’s not going down without a fight, especially not when his friends and family are more than ready to protect him, even if it’s from his own choices.

Warnings: Torture, blood, child abuse, mentions of child abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, kidnapping, and memory relapse

----

Taki’s body shook against Tanuma, making him tighten the hold he had around her as he involuntarily let out a soft choked sob. They were comforting each other, just as Touko and Shigeru were as they saw silent tears stream down Natsume’s still, pale and swollen cheeks. They called the doctor in moments ago to check him over, but he saw no change - he was still unresponsive. Natsume was probably mad at himself for making them all cry, yet no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t put a strong front on - not this time.

“I’m sorry, Natsume,” Tanuma sniffled, feeling Taki tighten her hold around his chest in an attempt to comfort him too. “I’m sorry we weren’t there for you.”

Both him and Taki felt like they could’ve done more to prevent this; after all, this was a human threat, not youkai. If they had just walked with him a little longer they could’ve helped fight them off or even convinced him to go fishing instead. Of course none of that mattered now, yet the guilt remained.

Nyanko Sensei sighed from where he was perched on the window seal, seeming to be quietly talking to the others they couldn’t see, but Tanuma could sense them. Ponta looked tense and uneasy, his eyes not leaving Natsume’s body for even a second. They were probably talking about the curses Natori mentioned earlier, but with that intense gaze Tanuma really hoped they weren’t.  

The door to the room opened with a little bit of force, making everyone quickly turn, ready to protect Natsume at a moment’s notice. When they saw it was just Natori they sighed, turning their attention back to their unresponsive loved one. Tanuma didn’t though, there was a determination burning in those dark red eyes and a worry he could practically sense.

“Natori-” he stopped as both Touko and Shigeru fell against each other, making him gasp in worry as he pulled away from Taki. The exorcist was at their side instantly, making sure they were securely leaning against each other.

“Don’t worry, they’re just asleep. Can you and Taki push their chairs together and move them back a bit?” He mindlessly ordered more than asked as he pulled some paper dolls from his pocket, looking them over.

“What are you doing?” Tanuma asked as they started doing what they were told, being extra careful.

“We’re going to perform an exorcism to break the curses,” he said as a magic circle started forming around the bed, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Once you break them, he’ll wake up, right?” Taki asked as she pulled her hands to her chest,

“Possibly,” Natori responded as he ripped up a few papers and scattered them in the circle. “We won’t know until we get rid of them.”

Possibly? So they didn’t know for sure? Tanuma and Taki looked to Nyanko Sensei, seeing the youkai strangely calm about all this. “Sensei-”

“He’s telling the truth,” the youkai said as his black eyes narrowed in on the exorcist. “One of the curses is degrading his health. The doctors probably won’t notice until it’s done a lot of damage and probably blame it on some autoimmune disease.”

“What can we do?” Tanuma asked as he took a determined step forward, growing more pale at the news. “I want to help.”

Natori looked up from his preparations and threw a pad of paper at them. “Rip that up and scatter it around him.”

“You sure this’ll work?” Nyanko asked in suspicion, recalling the way he tried to break Hiiragi from her curse.

“It’s the only way I know of without exorcising the youkai,” he said as he stared at Natsume for a moment. “Hinoe knows a counter spell and will cast it in order to protect Natsume.”

“It’ll either break the curse or do nothing. If all else fails, we’ll just have to hunt down the one who did this,” Hinoe regrettably said, finishing the circle. “Are you ready?”

Natori nodded. “Go stand next to the Fujiwaras,” he ordered the two children who simply obeyed, looking at each other nervously.

In sync Natori and Hinoe clapped their hands together, each starting their own incantation.

Something didn’t feel right, Tanuma realized as a sharp pain shot through his head, feeling the energy in the room sky rocket. Nyanko Sensei seemed to notice as well as he hopped over to Natori and pressed a paw to his leg, lending him some of his power.

The wind in the room started picking up more and more, the light from the magic circle seeming to wane. Tanuma felt his eyes nearly roll into the back of his head as he fell to his knees, nearly falling over.

“Tanuma!” Taki quietly cried as she knelt down, letting him use her as support.

A deep rumble caught their ears, a rumble that sounded like a growl masked by thunder. The room grew cold, the wind feeling sharp against their skin. Fear made the hair on the back of their necks rise as they watched what looked like fog seep from Natsume and settle across the room like a poisonous gas.

This wasn’t a curse, this was something else - something evil. But why didn’t they sense it before?

“Keep going!” Hinoe desperately gasped, feeling Natori falter in his shock. The exorcist tremblingly closed his eyes, realizing how wrong and ill prepared they were.

There were two curses and a youkai possessing Natsume; a corrupted youkai that was powerful enough to give off a poison by merely breathing.

“Why even bother trying?” A deep rumbling voice chuckled. Natori and Hinoe blaunched as they watched Natsume’s lips move, that frown turning into a dark wicked smirk. Very slowly Natsume’s heavily damaged body sat up, the laughter dark and chilling everyone to their bones.

“N-Natsume,” Natori trembled, stopping his chants in utter shock. This was a very powerful youkai whose evil presence nearly overwhelmed him into unconsciousness. Horrible gruesome images flashed behind his eyes, of people being tortured and slaughtered in its name, most of them children .

‘Stop- it hurts-!’

‘Mom, dad- ‘Help - someone- anyone!!’ Natori felt bile rise in his throat, but forced it down.

“He’s my prey you twat!” Nyanko Sensei hissed, though there was a hint of nervousness in his voice. “Don’t make me force you out!!”

“Like you could,” it mocked, those eyes fluttering open. Natsume’s usual warm golden eyes were completely covered in black goo that seeped down his cheeks, slowly turning red and running like blood. Natori felt his heart stop in his chest realizing that thing was starting directly at him .

That smirk widened, the same black ooze starting seeping from the sides of his lips.

“A human’s challenging me? How cute, you’re so pathetically weak, like an annoying gnat that hasn’t realized it’s going to die today. You’re nothing compared to this body,” the voice said as it ran his wrapped fingers over Natsume’s chest, sighing in ecstasy. “So… powerful, so angsty, so miserable!” It flung Natsume’s head back as it shivered in delight, those sickening eyes half lidded in pleasure. “So much sorrow, yet so much light-! What a fine specimen!!” Those fingers danced along Natsume’s pale bruised neck, snapping the three out of their stupor.

It was trying to sink it’s nails into his neck-

It was trying to hurt Natsume-!!

Something splashed against Natsume’s face, making the voice screech as steam rose from the skin.

“Natsume is my Master, I won’t allow you to hurt him,” Misuzu glowered darkly from the window.

Natori quickly pulled out a charm, intune with Hinoe’s movements as they both threw talismans against Natsume’s chest. The horrible screech stopped instantly as Natsume’s limp body fell back against the bed.

The magic circle disappeared underneath them as the lights slowly flickered to their normal brightness, revealing all the scraps of paper that used to be white now black all over the room.  

Silence, everyone was absolutely silent. Even Tanuma who lay half conscious against the chair Touko and Shigeru were sleeping on was completely silent.

“What. The hell. Was that,” Nyanko finally voiced, looking to Hinoe and Misuzu for answers. The two youkai both shook their heads, the female seeming quite exhausted and negatively affected by the presence. So was he, but he wasn’t going to let it show.

“More importantly, how is that thing completely masking its presence now?” Natori asked as he finally let himself fall to his bottom, needing to rest. “It’s incredibly powerful and obviously malicious. Yet I can’t even sense a trace of it.”

No one had an answer, of course they didn’t. This was a youkai unlike any other they’ve encountered before.

“I sensed… children,” Hinoe mumbled, her eyebrows knitting together worriedly.

“I saw children,” the exorcist spoke up, not wanting to recall those visions. “I think… children were sacrificed in this youkai’s name.” Wearily he looked over at Natsume’s friends, seeing Tanuma forcing himself to stay conscious while the girl seemed both out of breath and half conscious as well.

They were in danger. All the children in this hospital were in danger if this thing managed to get loose.

“Those seals should hold it for a while,” Natori sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair.

“My spit weakened it as well,” Misuzu said from outside. “It’ll take a while for it to regain enough power to break them.” Nyanko Sensei looked back to Natsume, his ears flickering curiously. Without giving any warning he morphed into his true form, gently surrounding Natsume’s bed protectively.

“His body’s really weak, I’ll see if my energy can help him stay stable.”

“Won’t that give that thing energy too?” Natori asked, to which Hinoe shook her head.

“If that were the case, the youkai would’ve woken up a long time ago since Madara’s been lending him some of his energy since he got here.”

“The exorcism woke it up.” Natori almost jumped at the new voice as he whipped his head around, seeing the youkai with the big head and mustache back. “One of us can try to force it out of him, but we risk severely damaging his mind.”

The exorcist took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind of all thoughts. If he kept panicking he’d never figure out a solution. He needed to stay calm.

“Do you know any other exorcists?” Hinoe asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “As much as I hate to rely on humans, they’re the best chance we have.”

“Of course I do,” Natori said, trying to figure out who would be best suited for the job. They needed someone powerful to help compensate for his lack of power. “I’ll make a few calls.” The other tricky part was finding someone who was able to do an emergency call. “We shouldn’t let the Fujiwaras or the kids stay,” Natori said as he slowly forced himself up, walking over to Natsume’s friends. “Are you two okay?”

“Yeah,” Taki said between breathes, glancing over at Tanuma who opened his eyes a little more.

“I will be,” he groaned, weakly holding his head. “Natsume�� is he-”

“He’ll be fine, we’ll make sure of that,” he swore, offering a hand. “You two should rest. That thing gave off a nasty poison. You’ll feel better with some sleep.”

Tanuma hesitantly took the hand, unsure if he could even stand. The powerful presence gave him a pretty bad fever and splitting headache, something he was sadly used to.

With Natori’s help, he was able to get up on wobbly legs. Taki quickly stood and wrapped one of his arms over her shoulders. “Where should we go?” They couldn’t afford the hospital staff to get involved, they’d admit Tanuma without a second thought.

“I’ll take care of that,” Misuzu said, making eye contact with Chobihige. “Youkai as powerful as us can manipulate memories and perception. We’ll make them think Natsume’s in another room until we’re able to save him.”

“Wh-what?” Both Tanuma and Taki gasped while Natori grew a little nervous, not really sure how they would be able to keep the ruse up.

It just meant he’d have to work fast. “You’ll see,” Natori merely waved as he opened the door for them, seeing the police officer outside had been put to sleep as well. Not like they had been helpful with how late they were anyway.

The two hesitated as they looked at each other, not really sure if they wanted to leave Natsume alone or not. They felt so useless, a feeling even Natori shared.

“Go ahead, they’ll work their magic. You’ll feel like the new room had always been Natsume’s.”

Once the kids were out, Natori closed the door, looking to the still slumbering Fujiwaras. “Is he… suffering?”

Hinoe sighed along with Nyanko Sensei as they both shrugged. “Don’t think about that, not now. We need to focus on helping him. While you look for another exorcist, we’ll recruit more youkai to help us look for the one responsible for this.”

Natori raised a confused eyebrow. “What if the one possessing him is the one responsible?”

“It isn't,” Nyanko said. “It's too interested in Natsume unless it would’ve just eaten him before you found him.”

That made sense, as much as he hated it. It was probably trying to find a way to break the curses itself in order to keep Natsume for itself. “Hiiragi, Urihime, Sasago,” he said, all his shiki immediately appearing. “Take the Fujiwaras to the new room. I’ll be back.”

----

Natsume let out a choked gasp of air as bony fingers tightly squeezed his neck, his own hands desperately reaching for the wrists of his attacker. Fiery pain shot through his palms as he forced his hands back, finding the entity’s skin as hot as metal that was just pulled from an oven.

‘Misery… feed me your misery…!’ A voice whispered, it’s breath making his nostrils nearly bleed when he inhaled.

‘Poison!’ His mind urgently supplied, making him grit his teeth as heat started forming in the hands that were wrapped around his neck. This was bad, he had to get this thing off him before those hands boiled his skin and he passed out from the poison!

Summoning what little strength he had, he opened his eyes and threw a punch at the pitch black creature with yellow eyes, somehow hitting it right in its face.  The youkai’s hold around him tore away as it tumbled off him. Taking desperate gasps of air, he clumsily rolled onto his side, his body hitting a small metal gate.

‘Huh?’ He looked down, seeing he was laying in a hospital bed of some sorts. As confused as he was, he tumbled over the gate and onto the floor, smacking his head on the cold hard tile.

“You can’t escape… you’re mine - mine!!” The voice growled as the shadow stood up, making Natsume scramble to his feet. Seeing only one door he crashed into it, finding himself in a dark hallway filled with other doors. It was so dark, making it nearly impossible to see where he should go. If this was a hospital it must’ve lost power. However that wouldn’t explain some of the dim lights that stayed on as they flickered.

He didn't have time to focus on the specifics for now. He needed a place to hide until he could come up with a plan.

Taking a deep breath he took off down the hallway, his eyes desperately looking for something that could help him. He could try hiding in one of the other rooms, but what if that thing found him and hurt the other person stationed in the room? He’d never forgive himself.

“You can’t hide from me, Natsume,” the youkai’s voice echoed down the hall, sending chills down his spine. “I’m already inside you. You’re just postponing the inevitable.”

He was already inside? - No, Natsume shook those words from his head as he focused on running. He couldn’t let the other get inside his head, if he did, it was all over.

“There’s nowhere for you to go,” it echoed this time. “Did you forget what they did to you?”

What... they did to him? Natsume’s eyes widened as he felt reality crash into him all at once, the overwhelming pain literally crumpling him. He put his arms out in front of him to break his fall, but as soon as pressure was applied he let out a horrific cry as his wrists felt like they snapped off, his face slamming into the tile.

His head spun as his ears gave off a horrific low ring, completely disorienting him.

So this is why he was in a hospital… if he was here, that meant someone found him!

“S-Sensei!” He called out, hearing his voice echo down the halls, garnering no response. The only thing he could hear was the dragging footsteps of the youkai somewhere behind him as it slowly made its way towards him.

“Did you really think they’d come for you?” The youkai chuckled. “That cat of yours took the Book of Friends and left. It realized how weak you are, how unnecessary your existence is.”

Natsume growled, not believing the voice for a second. Even though they’d never admit it, they deeply cared about each other. In a strange way, Natsume saw him as a loving supportive Uncle, or maybe even a young grandfather. Honestly those examples didn't fully cover their relationship, but he didn’t care. They didn’t need to label their relationship because it would always be there.

“Sensei!!” He called again as he forced his arms in front of him, feeling them shaking.

He could do this, all he had to do was stay away from that thing because no matter what it said, he could feel Nyanko Sensei and all the others around him.

Taking a deep sharp breath, he pushed himself up from the ground, biting back the horrific cries of pain as his wrists, thighs, ribs - everything begged him to just rest.

When he finally got to his feet his ankles gave out, making him stumble and slam into one of the walls, feeling as if nearly every bone became disjointed. Everything became fuzzy again, black dots beckoning him into unconsciousness.

But he could hear it, the soft ominous footsteps getting even closer than before.

Taking another deep shaky breath, he pushed himself along the wall, going as fast as he could. His thighs brushed up against one another, blood slowly seeping down his legs as he reopened the scabs. Natsume felt his lips quiver, trying his best not to express the pain. The further he went however, the harder it became. His legs became so shaky he had to lean forward more and more as he felt cold - so, so cold. The pain was starting to subside as he slowed, the hall swaying as if he were in a boat. The world slipped away for a moment, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he collapsed on his knees.

Cold… he was so cold, but he had to keep going. Unlike last time though, nothing responded to his commands.

Cursing under his breath, he chanced a glance down, only to grow pale. The hospital robe he was wearing was literally soaked in blood as the area around him was becoming a puddle of red. He hadn’t realized it before, but the fall from the hospital bed probably reopened the deep wound on his chest.

His ears started ringing again, the static following shortly after.

“Sen...sei,” he whispered, finding the static sounding slightly different than before. The more he listened, the more it sounded like the ocean as water slowly pooled on a sandy shore before receding.  

‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…’ someone faraway sobbed. ‘I can’t end it, not yet…’

Warmth slowly seeped into his cold body as he finally let his eyes close, the sensation reminding him of home.

‘Thank you, Sensei…’

----

“That’s not good enough!” Natori growled as he punched the wall of a building a little ways from the hospital, his whole body shaking.

“S-sorry Natori, I can’t just leave, not when I’m so deep in this case,” Aimiya sorrowfully said, truthfully wishing he could help.

“But Natsume’s a child -”

“And your friend, I get it,” the other man sighed. “Look, I’ll talk to my client and see what I can do.”

Natori didn’t even say goodbye as he hung up, rubbing his temples in frustration. Either no one was answering or no one was available, even when he tried begging them for help. He didn’t know whether this was his bad luck or Natsume’s. Then again, it was probably their bad luck combined.

Shit… Natsume needed him more than ever, and he was proving to be useless. If only he had more power, he’d actually be able to protect him.

“So you’re here after all,” a sickeningly familiar voice came from behind him, making him stiffen. Of all the people to just show up out of the blue, it had to be Matoba. What did Natsume do to even accumulate this much bad luck?

“What are you doing here?” Natori blurted out before taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. As much as both he and Natsume hated Matoba, he was both knowledgeable and powerful. If anyone could save Natsume, it was him.

“That’s one way to greet someone,” Matoba smiled, Natori finding it unsettling as always. “We received several reports of youkai gathering here in packs, making some of the local ill. Since this is your territory, I wanted to see why you were slacking off.” He tilted his head a bit to the side, his one eye bearing deep into the other as if trying to read him. “Are they too much for the infamous Shuuchi Natori to handle?”

Shit, Natori hadn’t even thought about everyone else in town. He knew the youkai were all after Natsume, so he didn’t even think about how their presence would affect others.

“I’m dealing with it,” he said, his voice just as stiff as he was.

“Are you now?” Matoba mockingly smirked. “Is that why you sounded so frantic on the phone a moment ago?”

Natori clenched his fists and bit back a growl. The other had no clue what happened, he couldn’t snap at him for being insensitive - yet. “Yes,” he hated to admit, not making eye contact. “I highly doubt they’re going to attack someone, not when they’re all after the same person.”

Matoba’s smirk fell, a tinge of curiosity filling that haunting dark eye. “Oh? Who could be so important they’d ignore all the other ‘snacks’ that walk by?”

This whole situation just kept getting worse with no light in sight. As much as it nauseated him, and as much as he didn’t want Matoba near Natsume, he knew this was the only choice they had. No one else was available, no one else could make it. And unlike some of the others, he knew Matoba was strong enough to help.

“Would you be willing to help me with a job? I’d pay you as if I was the commissioner,” Natori asked, one of his lenses glaring over.

Matoba’s smirk fell into a look of suspicion. “Why would you want to act as a client if you’re just asking for help on a job?”

“Because I don’t want the client to be responsible for any charges or requests. I want to be solely responsible for the payment.”

Realization seemed to dawn upon Matoba as his smirk returned. “Does this have anything to do with Natsume?”

“Yes,” he said seriously, his tone making the other frown again. It obviously wasn’t the reaction he was hoping for.

“What’s going on here, Natori?”

He told him everything, about the kidnapping and the possession. The other didn’t interrupt him once and remained stoic, making it impossible to see how he felt about the whole thing, though he could swear Matoba’s posture fell a bit.

When he was finished the other exorcist sighed, watching the wind blow leaves off a dying tree. “I see, so that’s why you were so frantic,” he said as the wind slowly died down again, a small smile forming on his face.

“Like I said, I’ll be the one paying you, not Natsume, me-”

“No, I think I’ll do this one for free,” he smirked, a devious look filling his eyes. “I could benefit from Natsume owing me a favor.”

The color immediately drained from Natori’s face. He made a mistake, he should’ve never gotten Matoba involved. “Like I said before, I’ll be the one commissioning you, not him, me-”

“It doesn’t matter even if you paid me, we both know his nature.” Matoba’s dark eyes suddenly fell along with his smile. Natori couldn’t tell if the new expression was one of disgust or sorrow. “Like the kind hearted fool he is, he’ll make sure to return the favor. However it’s me who owes him for his help.”

He was right. As much as Natori hated to admit it, Matoba was right. Natsume was such a kind hearted fool he’d even want to repay Matoba back. However, Natori would have to be sure Natsume understood it was Matoba who was returning the favor.  

“There’s a mix of allies and enemies among the youkai. Most of the allies are gathered at the hospital watching over him. So unless one attacks, please refrain from exorcising them”

Matoba’s eye widened, becoming intrigued. “Oh?” He smirked, looking towards the hospital where Misuzo peeked over the roof upon sensing the new exorcist. Matoba remembered seeing this one once from a distance when he had captured Natsume in the Eastern Forest a while back.

“They know who you are, and they won’t hesitate to attack if they sense any ill intent towards Natsume or the others. Besides, if you hurt any of them-”

“Natsume would hate me,” the other finished with a smile. “I know. I’d hate for that to happen, especially since he’s so useful .”

Natori hated that response, but let it go. “When can you come?”

Matoba snorted as he put one hand on his hip. “I’m always prepared, as every exorcist should be. Some of my clan are even stationed near the forest, waiting for me to give the command to start exercising the youkai there.”

“Just remember what I said,” the actor mumbled as he led the way. The closer they got the more amazed Matoba seemed to become as that sickening smile kept widening on his face.

As they neared the hospital Misuzu turned to them, glowering darkly. “You brought back a roach. Should I take care of it?”

Natori let his shoulders sink. “We didn’t have a lot of options.”

“I’ve seen you before. What kind of contract do you and Natsume share?” Matoba asked, not showing a single sign of fear. Even Natori still felt uneasy talking to the horse youkai as he grew slightly pale.

“Tch, like you’d understand,” Misuzu hissed, looking back to Natori. “Are you sure he can be trusted?”

“Like I said, we don’t have much of a choice-”

“And I rather like Natsume,” Matoba added, finding the situation amusing. Even powerful youkai like this knew and hated the Matoba clan; he took it as a compliment. “He’s rather useful to have around.”

“And this is the only use you have,” the youkai bellowed, the area darkening despite the sun peeking through the clouds. “If you do anything to my master, even the youkai after your family’s eye will cower before my wrath.”

The smile completely fell from Matoba’s face, making Natori curse under his breath. Misuzu just had to go there. “Focus on keeping the other youkai out,” he hissed, hoping the other wasn’t too upset about the comment as he headed into the hospital.

“Such mouthy youkai,” the head exorcist mumbled, not sounding mad, just thoughtful. “I see where Natsume gets it.”

Natori wasn’t sure what he meant by that, so he merely continued on, hoping Taki and Tanuma weren’t in the room. They held little to no power, so Matoba shouldn’t be interested in them, however they were still Natsume’s friends. That fact alone would make him interested in them.  

As they neared the room Matoba looked around, feeling eyes on them. “What’s the excuse you have going for the doctors? They don’t exactly believe in our work.”

“We don’t have to worry about them,” Natori reassured as he put his hand on the door handle, hesitant. He really didn’t trust Matoba… he just had to hope bringing him into this would be worth it. “Hinoe and Misuzu took care of them.” Before the other could ask for elaboration, he opened the door, letting the clan’s head eye settle upon Natsume, allowing him to take in his condition. For once he didn’t have any witty or passive aggressive remarks; he didn’t even assess the youkai present in the room despite how powerful they were.

He just stared at Natsume, completely stoic.

“Do you sense anything?” Natori couldn’t help but ask, wondering if he could feel something he and the others couldn’t. The other’s eye narrowed, almost in frustration.

“Two curses filled with powerful negative energy,” he said, his eyes slowly moving up to Nyanko Sensei who stayed strangely quiet. “As powerful as you are, you’re awfully useless.”

“We’ve already given him hell,” Hinoe said, her tone so dark and cold it literally sent shivers down the actor’s back. He was thankful he was on her good side. “Why’d you bring scum back?”

Immediately he paled over, praying Matoba wouldn’t take offense to their words. “He was the only one available,” he quickly admitted, watching the exorcist amusingly smirk.

“Thankfully for Natsume,” he said, glancing back to the coma induced child. “I can’t think of an exorcist powerful enough to deal with whatever youkai’s inside him. Not even I can sense it.” Natori’s eyes widened in absolute shock. Not even Matoba could sense it? “A kid with powerful youkai servants like this are bound to attract powerful enemies - I warned him this could happen.” His eye fell though, as if realizing the youkai was probably the aftermath of what Natsume’s uncle did to him. For once, the other almost seemed at a loss for words, something Natori never thought he’d ever witness.

“And a shady exorcist who follows the same hateful path as his ancestors remains alone,” Hinoe merely smirked, a devious fiery glint flaring in her eyes. “Unlike Natsume, no one would come running if you were in this position. Most youkai would actually prevent selfish exorcists from trying to use the opportunity of freeing you just to become famous.”

Matoba couldn’t help but smile again as he put a hand on his hip, snapping out of his previous mood. “You’re probably right. But that’s the difference between me and dear Natsume.” His eye narrowed darkly, obviously annoyed with the meaningless chit chat. “I wouldn’t fall prey to such curse, let alone youkai.”

He didn’t say human, though Natori wasn’t sure what that meant.

The heart monitor suddenly changed, signalling Natsume’s heart rate rising. Everyone quickly turned, feeling the darkness practically pour into the room again.

The youkai heard them, it was waking up.

Nyanko Sensei sat up and took a few steps back from the bed, resisting the strong urge to literally eat them all for being so damn annoying. “Stop arguing and do something!” He snapped bitterly, his seriousness almost off putting.

“Right,” Natori said, relieved to see Hiiragi and the others had fixed the magic circle and replaced the papers while he was gone. He’d have to remember to thank them once this was over.

Taking out a protective charm, he got in position. “Ready?” He asked Matoba and Hinoe who both nodded. He saw Misuzu peek through the window again, ready to spit if need be.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. They couldn’t fail Natsume a third time.  

They started the chant, Hinoe saying her own incantation as the circle became a deep gold color. A soft wind started picking up again, the breathing mask falling from Natsume’s cracked and swollen lips. The seals against his chest started to shake, not from the wind, but from the energy and poison that was leaving his body.

“Fools,” the deep voice from earlier rumbled again, that poisonous stench flowing from the unconscious boy. “Didn’t you learn ?”

No one spoke, no one fed into the monster’s ploy.

That only seemed to anger it.

Without warning the seals burst into flames as Natsume’s body sat up in the blink of an eye, the creature coughing and hacking up black sludge as it held it’s chest.

Natori’s eyes widened in fear, recalling the two fractured ribs. Did that thing just break them?!

“Focus,” Nyanko hissed, forcing Natori to concentrate again. They could worry about that later. If they couldn’t save his mind it’d be useless to worry about his body.

Those dark sludgy eyes opened again, staring right at Matoba with a dark permeating chuckle. “Bringing the big guns in are we? You’re all fools to trust a Matoba. The boy’s better off with me, with all the other kids!”

It wasn’t moving much, in fact it looked severely affected this time. The light from the circle was getting brighter and brighter, for once being brighter than Natori could handle. Everything was blurring and meshing together, images swam through his mind-

Of a small lonely blond child shivering in a pile of dirty laundry, of that same boy having his hair grabbed and head held in a toilet , thrashing for his very life as he choked on the waste water.

‘Yes…,’ the dark voice purred, sounding less deep and fainter than earlier.

Glass shattered and the child yelped. Large hands wrapped around his tiny neck, those small fingers desperately clawing at the wrist.

‘More… more.’

The child was famished, hardly able to move, but the pain - he could concentrate on the pain instead of the hunger.

‘Feed me… feed me your misery!’

Rain. It was raining. The child was very weakly digging in the mud around a metal pole, looking so tired , so scared, so-

Natsume. He was seeing Natsume as a child. There were horrible blistering burns on his arms and back along with horrible bruises with a collared chain fastened around his neck.

‘So much misery… so much pain . More… I need more, I need it with me - in me-!’

The child looked up in absolute terror, those warm golden eyes unmistakable as something came rushing at him.

That was Natsume as a child, and that youkai in the visions was the one possessing him now.

All the energy was drained from Natori’s body as he collapsed, something gently catching him before he fell on his face.

“Master,” he heard Hiiragi faintly say, making the exorcist open his eyes. He saw Urihime supporting Matoba who had collapsed as well while Sasago was supporting Hinoe who did not look happy about it. “Are you okay?”

Natori didn’t respond as his eyes panned over to Natsume, seeing Chobihige gently supporting the unconscious child. Blood was seeping down his eyes, nose and the side of his mouth, making the exorcist’s heart nearly stop as he panicked. The child was as pale as a ghost and he could faintly hear a elongated noise, meaning the machine detected no heart beat-!

“He’s okay, it fled,” Hiiragi informed, confusing the exorcist greatly. “A handful of youkai tried storming the hospital during the spell, distracting the ugly cat, Hineo and Matoba.”

“But the spell cast the youkai out and weakened it,” Urihime finished. “Although it would’ve been dealt with if that useless horse was paying more attention to the forest.”

“I was protecting my master!” Misuzu growled back, to which Hiiragi ignored.

“Thanks to a few other youkai, they didn’t reach the room.”

“Tch, like we could’ve exorcised it in one go,” Hinoe hissed this time, trying to pull herself free, but was too weak. “We chased it out of him and broke the first curse, but not the second.”

‘Shit,’ Natori grumbled, looking back over to the child where Chobihige and - Natori’s eyes widened in shock - was that Kai gently cleaning Natsume’s face off? The god lived in the mountains, how did it hear about his condition and when did he get here?

And that fox child - it was gently holding Natsume’s hand. Didn’t they say they lived far away too?

“We can’t do anything about the second,” Matoba said, sounding out of breath despite trying to hide it. “Not without tracking down the youkai that placed it.”

“You mean we have to track that thing down?” Matoba looked over at Natori, that gaze seeming slightly disappointed.

“What did you see, Natori?”

The actor bit his bottom lip, not wanting to say it outloud. Those were dark times for Natsume, times he never shared with anyone. “I saw that thing chasing him as a child,” he vaguely said, making the other smirk in amusement.

“I saw that, but I also saw another youkai.” He slowly went to stand, finding his legs weaker than he would’ve liked. Urihime stayed close, knowing the stubborn exorcist could fall any second. As much as she wanted that to happen, she didn't want her master paying the price for it.  “It was a cursed god speaking to Natsume when he was kidnapped. I believe I’ve seen it before. I’ll have my people do a search and contact you when I have an update.”

Natori felt worry knot his stomach, not liking Matoba staying involved beyond the exorcism. What if he changed his mind and decided to force Natsume into something! “Matoba-”

“Don’t worry,” he cut him off, turning his back to him. “It’s like I said, I’m only returning the favor.” His eyes slowly settled upon all the youkai in the room, finally seeming interested in them.  

“He has youkai that’ll come to him without being called,” he mumbled, this moment reminding him of when he captured Natsume in the Eastern Forest.

‘Why do you side with the youkai? They deceive and betray humans. You’ve experienced that, I’m sure. And more than once or twice.’

‘You’re right. But that’s not all. Some aren’t like that…’

‘Have you met many like that?’ He remembered asking. Glancing around the room again, he saw the horse youkai staring him down at him protectively as a powerful yet horrified child gently cleaned Natsume's face while a fox child sobbed into Natsume’s hand, begging him to wake up. The youkai with the large head and mustache was holding Natsume very carefully against himself, obviously waiting until they figured out what to do from there with the machine flatlining and all. Nyanko Sensei was gently nuzzling the back of Natsume’s head, probably trying to give him some of his energy to help him stay stable until the doctors came in. A kappa was holding a bottle of water, waving it towards Natsume’s direction and crying as he was held back by a ram youkai that sat with one wearing the same robes, the two of them sniffling and telling the Kappa to wait until the humans came.

A butterfly phased through the window, a youkai morphing from it seconds after. “I brought some herbs that are said to strengthen human bones and help with fevers!”

So, this is what Natsume meant. All the youkai presently here were genuinely concerned for his well being. Even someone like himself could see that. Of course they all probably had something to gain by being at his side, that’s just how youkai worked. But it did make him wonder how they acted around Natsume normally.

“We’ll always come for him, even if he tells us not to,” Hinoe said as she noticed he hadn’t left yet.

Matoba frowned, realizing he was caught staring. “How did he form a contract with you?” He asked, making her click her tongue.

“You exorcist types are so obsessed with contracts that you forget the strongest bond of all.”

“And what’s that?” He asked curiously.

“Something someone like you wouldn’t understand.” There was no use trying to explain it to him, it wouldn’t change his way or give him a new purpose in life.

Matoba couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he headed out the door. “You’re probably right about that.”

“I have my own way of being connected with others,” he recalled Natsume saying, making him smirk. Natsume protected him on more than one occasion and even tried to cheer him up with a fruit despite hating him. That kindness made it easy to manipulate Natsume, and yet there was something about his actions that drew him towards the boy, almost making him want to protect him for more reasons aside from being useful. He’s asked him to join the clan more than once, where he could be kept safe from youkai and human scrutiny.

And yet the danger that nearly killed him this time wasn’t caused by a youkai, it was caused by a human. As much as he wanted to boast that they could have prevented this if he had been part of the clan, he honestly wasn’t sure. Natsume’s uncle was no exorcist, and the people who kidnapped Natsume weren’t either. They were normal humans with bad intentions who didn’t even realize they had a youkai bound to them; the cursed god he saw in the vision.

He wondered how Natsume would answer him if he asked him to join again. Would he respond the same way as he did in the Eastern Forest?

‘It’s true that it’s been difficult at times, but I’ve met many kind people.’ Would he still say that after the hell these humans put him through? After the damage they did to him and the damage they did to the others he saw in his vision? Matoba only saw one instance, he couldn’t even imagine what else the other witnessed.

How much did this event change his outlook? Would he even consider humans worth saving from youkai after this?

‘This has become rather bothersome and intriguing,’ he mumbled to himself as he pulled out his phone. “It’s always good to maintain good relationships with powerful people.” He smirked, clicking on one of the contacts.  

----

Very gently Chobihige and Kai lowered Natsume back against the bed just as Natori heard panicked footsteps rushing towards them, yellowing out code blue. Natori tried to stand, but was held down by Hiiragi.

“I can’t be here, they’ll think it was me-”

“They won’t see you,” Chobi reassured. The door burst open before Natori could ask them to elaborate as the doctor and nurses ran over to Natsume, looking horribly puzzled. He was disconnected from everything aside from the needle in his arm that was hooked up to the IV and medication. They didn’t even notice the circle on the ground, thank gods. The papers couldn’t be seen by normal humans, but the writing was definitely visible.

“Takashi Natsume, can you hear me?” The doctor asked. When there was no response the nurses came forward and started hooking everything up to him again. “Takashi Natsume?” He lifted one of his eyelids and took a small flashlight, shining it over his pupil.

There was a reaction. Unlike before it actually dilated in and out normally.

“Draw some blood, let’s test it again. I want one of the family members monitoring him twenty four seven; I think he woke up and panicked.”

‘If only,’ Natori sighed, closing his eyes, finally able to fall unconscious knowing Natsume was okay.

[francisthegreat]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh absolutely no pressure but please write a part 2!!!!!!! The priest AU is killing meeeeee I love it

HELLO ANON, turns out this got WAY longer than I meant, and there is now a part 3,which is going to be the NSFW part. uh, pretty much a lot. sorry in advance, again. So, here is: The Gang Gets Exorcised, Part 2

Kylo didn’t recognize the man who came into theroom next, but he was dressed as a priest, carried a very heavy looking lengthof rope, and was absurdly handsome. He and Poe immediately started whisperingnear the door.

Kylo laughed. He could feel Hux’s power in hishands, his forearms. He could take these two, easily.

Wait, darling, Hux’s soft, too-close voice said. Every timehe spoke like this it made Kylo’s eyes cross. He was so close. It seemedimpossible how close he was.

“Wait?” Kylo asked, frustrated. He could end this.“Why?”

Poe and Finn (presumably) both looked over atKylo with wide eyes, frozen in the doorway.

“Who’s he talking to?” Poe murmured. Finn shookhis head, expression almost blank in its shock.

Kylo turned his head and tilted it to the floor,listening for Hux’s reply.

Because I want to talk to them, Hux said. Kyloalready felt himself relaxing, anger simmering to something manageable. Theywould never take him. But I want to see them fail to drag me out first.

Kylo rolled his eyes.

“Typical overdramatic ass,” he said under hisbreath, sitting down on the bed. He looked over at Poe and Finn and spread hisarms.

“You guys gonna tie me up or what?”

They worked quickly, as if they were afraid Kylowas going to change his mind and stop cooperating at any second. Which – okay.Was a possibility.

Once he was tied to the bed like a properexorcism subject, Kylo turned his head and spoke in a low voice to Hux again.

“Okay, but I don’t want to talk to them anymore.Play your little game by yourself.”

Hux chuckled but said nothing, settling downinto Kylo’s chest again. Getting comfortable. The effects of the test werealready wearing off, though Kylo’s chest still burned horribly.

Poe snapped his fingers in front of Kylo’s faceand asked in a sharp voice, “Who are you speaking to?”

Kylo rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Poe’s mouth fell open.

Finn sat down in a chair next to Kylo’s bed.“You’re conversing with a demon while it’s inside you?”

“Is that not normal?”

“No, it’s-”

Kylo glared at Finn. “I wasn’t talking to you.”He tilted his head again and the two priests fell silent.

Actually, my dear, it’s not, Hux said. Mostpeople can’t handle having a conversation with me like this.

“What do you mean?”

Poe said something to Finn, who took a taperecorder out of his pocket and turned it on. Finn murmured somethinginto it. They both leaned in, listening to one end of the conversation. Theywere clearly waiting for something. Kylo rolled his eyes again, listening toHux.

They exsanguinate, generally, he said, voice lowand sweet. He sounded … almost aroused talking about it. My voice, thelanguage I speak in. It tends to make people bleed.

Kylo raised his eyebrows at the floor.“Language? You’re speaking English.”

No, darling, I’m really not. Hux’s voice loweredeven further, so much that a shiver ran down Kylo’s spine at the sound of it. You’rerather special, you know. Inside him, Kylo felt Hux look over at Finn andPoe and tighten around his heart. But that’s a conversation for anothertime.

Right.

Kylo looked up at the two of them and raised hiseyebrows.

“Well?”

Poe gave him a confused look. Kylo felt a slow,sick grin growing on his face.

“He wants to see what you can do.”

The two men shared a look over Kylo’s head, thenstood together on opposite sides of the bed and started to pray.

It was almost soothing, actually, the lowcontinuous murmur of Latin. Kylo could have fallen asleep, if it hadn’t beenmaking his ears ring so loud. Hux seemed fairly unbothered.

Really, Kylo wanted to laugh.

There was a knock at the door.

“Oh, thank God,” Finn said, shooting Poe a look.

When the door opened, Hux actually growledlike a cornered animal. Kylo furrowed his eyebrows.

It was just a girl.

No, Hux said, voice shaking with barely-containedhate. This one is different.

“Hi, Kylo,” the girl said, smiling brightly. Shetouched Poe on the arm on the way in, then Finn on the back of the hand. Theyboth seemed to sag in relief. The girl sat down next to Kylo’s bed with nohesitation, no fear.

“I’m Rey.”

Kylo didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. Hux felt swollenwith rage inside him, lodged in his throat. He couldn’t speak. When Hux spoke,it was so loud it drowned out every thought in Kylo’s head. He thought hisheart might forget to beat.

Get her out of here, Kylo. Get her out. Get herout.

Rey turned to Finn and wordlessly held out herhand. Finn handed her the tape recorder immediately.

“The time is 9:07 pm, and the subject’s name isKylo Ren,” she said, voice sure and quiet. Hux’s panic, his hatred, wasmaking Kylo dizzy. Rey set the recorder next to her, kept it running.

“Kylo, can you tell me where you are?” sheasked, voice gentle.

“Get out of my room.”

Rey looked over at Poe and Finn and then back atKylo. Her expression was still kind but closed off, like she was wearing amask.

“How are you feeli-”

“I don’t like you,” Kylo spat, suddenlyviscerally sure the words were true. His hate was growing by the second,expanding horribly in the pit of his stomach, in the top of his chest near histhroat. Hux shifted uncomfortably inside him.

“Do you know why I’m here?”

Get her out.

Kylo looked up at her with more hate in hisexpression than he’d ever felt on his face before in his life. His hands shookby his sides.

“You want to take him from me.”

Rey turned to the recorder and said, “Subject isdisplaying early signs of demonic possession – shaking, sweating. Indicators ofinternal struggle.”

Kylo laughed, fury bubbling up in his throat.Hux seemed simultaneously easier and harder to feel inside him, like there wastoo much of him.

“Struggle?”

Rey blanched. “I-”

“You think I’m fighting, don’t you?” Kylosaid quietly. Rey had to lean forward to hear him. “You think I’m fighting formy life. Didn’t Poe tell you? I consented to this.”

Poe looked up at the mention of his name and apained expression crossed his face. He didn’t seem entirely sure what to do,panic stripping him of all his preparation, all his prior knowledge.

“Yes, he did tell me that. And I’m sure you did. Demons can bepersuasive.”

Kylo leaned forward against the ropes and hissedin Rey’s face, “I didn’t just consent to it. I asked for it.” He looked atPoe and bit his lip, rage making him insane. They would not take Huxaway from him. “I cried for it. And when he finally, finally, did what Iasked, I came so hard I nearly passed out.” He smiled softly. “I would have, if he hadn’t held me up.” Rey’s eyes went wide.

“There’s no struggle here, Rey,” Kylo said, tonesoft and violent. “I begged for him to be inside me.”

Hux hummed where he was too-tight around Kylo’ssoul, voice too loud, too close to the surface when he said, Oh, my darling.His voice was so loud Kylo felt like it was going to break him apart from theinside. Kylo felt power in his hands and he wasn’t sure if it was Hux’s. Helooked back up at Rey.

“So get the fuck out of my room.”

Rey shook her head, gathering herself. “No.”

She looked at him a long moment and Hux feltlike he shifted inside Kylo, dragged closer to the surface. Hux made afrustrated noise and Kylo was seized with the sudden, paralyzing fear that Huxwas going to be ripped out of him.

“You’re not taking him, get out!”Kylo pointed viciously to his bedroom door and it flew open so hard the hingesbroke, the door slamming into the opposite side of the hallway and splinteringagainst the wall. Finn and Poe threw up their arms against the shower ofsplinters.

Oh, sweetheart, Hux said, angry butundoubtedly pleased. That was you. How lovely.

Before Kylo could respond, Rey spoke to the taperecorder.

“Subject appears to have displayed psychokineticabilities. He’s – broken the door –” her voice wavered before she took a deepbreath and turned back to Kylo.

“I’m addressing the entity inside Kylo Ren,” Reysaid, voice deadly calm. It raised the hairs on the back of Kylo’s neck. Ormaybe it raised the hairs on the back of Hux’s neck. It was getting more andmore difficult to tell the difference. Kylo felt like the two of them wereswitching places, like he was being put away and Hux was being dragged to thesurface.

Impossible. She hadn’t said a single prayer,hadn’t touched a single holy thing.

She is the holy thing, Hux said intoKylo’s mind, all screaming white-noise and overwhelmed ringing in his ears.  

“Show yourself.”

Kylo shook his head, eyes screwed shut. Heopened his mouth, but nothing came out. Hux was stuck inside his chest, takingup all his air. Rey leaned closer and Hux felt like he was pushing into therest of Kylo’s body, stuffing him over-full and painful. His feral growling wasso loud Kylo forgot to breathe.

Get her out get her out get her out get her out

Rey leaned forward in her chair until her facewas directly over him, dark hair and freckles and kind eyes with a horriblesteel behind them. She reached out and touched Kylo’s face and he screamed.

It was like being touched by an open flame. Fora moment he could smell his own burning skin, could feel the way it was peelingoff and dropping onto the floor, could see the blisters scabbing over his eyewhere she touched him.

Then it was gone, like none of it had ever beenreal.    

Hux hissed. Actually hissed, like a snake, ahorrible sound that curled at the edges and raised the hairs on Kylo’s arms.Kylo could feel Hux inside him in a way he never had before. He felt too full,like his stomach was churning with blood. His chest felt like it was going to burst.The place where Rey touched him was so painful Kylo’s vision was white on oneside, and the blisters from the cross rubbed against his collar until theybled.

Rey’s voice was still soft, but it clawed atKylo’s insides. He wanted to wrap his arms around Hux and shelter him from it,from the horrid softness of that voice.

Darling, Hux said, voice painfully loud andoverwhelming but still fond. I don’t need protecting. You did beautifully.I’ll take it from here.

“Show yourself, now.”

Kylo had the abrupt sensation of falling into avery deep, very dark well, and of landing rather painlessly at the bottom.

His face stopped burning. The blisters on hischest healed almost immediately. He felt sheer power coursing throughhis whole body, electric and fucking delicious, but it was distant. Almost likehe was watching himself from the inside.

Hux opened his eyes and looked at Rey.

[ghosthunthq]

Never Say Die

For: @evil-dragon-is-evil

By: Raisedonradio [ @roseandradio]

Original prompt: Well, basically, ‘Things with Naru’.  ^^

Summary: He had been a fool to let go of her hand. [End of the Forgotten Children case through Oliver’s eyes] WC: 2056

Oliver’s clothes had yet to dry from the thorough soaking they had received earlier. The storm had brought in a crisp breeze. The break from the heat should have been welcome, but the abandoned school had a chill that penetrated far deeper.

Mai had just finished calling out the names of their missing companions, and she now kneeled close to him, mixed emotions flitting across her face. Horror that they had been forgotten so easily. Relief that the nefarious spirits couldn’t truly take her memories away from her.

He dragged his hand through his damp hair. He had been trained better than this. He knew better than to be drawn into such trickery. They had eight people missing in a location that’s main goal was to not release anyone alive.

“Yuuki Kirishima,” Oliver said.

Mai looked up at him. “Who?”

“Didn’t you see the photocopy of the newspaper? He’s the teacher who died.”

“What about him?”

“He is the culprit of these series of events,” Oliver said. “He’s the one pulling the strings. Do you think children could use such underhanded methods? A diversion is created to make us vanish one by one. If we get suspicious, they confuse us by making us believe the children were with us in the first place. Kirishima-san must be behind the scenes.”

“Kirishima-sensei – then he must be in one of the classrooms downstairs?”

“It’s dangerous to assume,” Oliver said. But it really wasn’t, was it? It was her intuition speaking, and it coincided with his own inclinations. “But I think he is most likely on the first floor. If we want to catch him, he would probably be in the classroom or the faculty lounge.”

“But…how are we going to exorcise him?” she asked.

“It’s going to be either you or me.”

Mai burst out, “You can’t do it!”

Oliver paused at the vehemence in her voice. “Then do you want to try?”

“Do you think I could do it?”

“Not exorcise, no,” Oliver said dryly, causing her to hang her head. “But I think you can convince him.”

“Huh?”

“Convince Kirishima-san. I don’t have the ability to communication with spirits. But there’s a possibility you can.”

“Do…do you think I could do it?” she said, seeming to be unaware she had already asked that question.

“Yes, if you use the same spirit you have when you yell at me.”

Mai clasped her hands together, mulling it over as she attempted to work some warmth into her fingers. But it didn’t take her long to respond.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

Oliver nodded. “Then let’s go to the first floor. I’ll put you in an altered state of mind, like what mediums are in when they bring in a spirit.”

“Oh,” she murmured. “Okay.”

 “Let’s go,” he said. Oliver took her hand. He could feel the tension in her fingers, as if she was afraid to hold on too tightly. He may have just come out of the hospital, but he would not tolerate being treated as if he was fragile.

He said, “Don’t let go,” as he dragged her up from the floor.

“Oh, wait!” she said. She offered him something in her opposite hand. He could barely see it in the dim light. Without releasing her other hand, he took from her the pointed weapon that Takigawa carried around.

She continued, “This is Monk’s tokkosho. He said it was for you when he threw it.”

“Is that so?” he said softly.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “It just seems I’ve underestimated Takigawa-san.” He held the tokkosho firmly in his hand. It was a challenge. It said that Takigawa believed Oliver was fully capable of wielding it if he chose to. It said that Takigawa didn’t believe in the mask of Kazuya Shibuya anymore.

“Let’s go,” he said again.

They went down the short flight of stairs, hand in hand. The building was absolutely silent. Oliver couldn’t even hear the rain anymore. Perhaps it had stopped. The only sounds were the ones they created. Their footfalls echoed in the ears almost painfully. Oliver could hear Mai’s breathing, deep inhale in, slow exhale.

Oliver ducked through the small doorway first. He reached up to balance himself against the shoe cabinet that Lin had placed across the doorway as a spirit barrier. The cabinet started to weave and creak. It toppled towards him, and landed against the wall and created a triangle-shaped space. It left the small doorway partially blocked.

 “Naru! Are you all right?” Mai’s voice was muffled, and she sought his hand which he had released by accident. Her fingers brushed his, and without looking back, he took her hand firmly.

“I’m fine,” he said, pulling her forward. She followed easily.

They continued at a good pace down the next flight of stairs.

“Wait, wait a moment,” Mai said quietly.

 “What is it?” he said automatically, until the strangeness of her voice kicked in. Her voice was quiet because it was far away. It almost sounded like she was still by the small doorway.

His stride broke. He turned as he looked down. The hand that grasped his was skeletal, leather-like skin stretched tight against oddly-shaped bones, nails long and ragged.

Oliver recoiled and yanked his hand away. He could feel the scrapes across his skin from where the nails bit down to attempt to prevent his release. His foot slipped, and he fell down the last few stairs. He twisted and landed on a wrist and hip. It felt like small splinters had embedded themselves into his hand from the wood floor, but he stood up without taking the time to assess his injuries.

“Mai!” he called as he looked up the stairs. A small girl stood from the height he had fallen from. An overly large grin was on her face. Her hands, he had to notice, were completely normal. He didn’t know if it was brighter on the first floor, or if she produced her own light.

“Who are you calling for, onii-san?” the girl said. Her voice reminded him of clinking glass.

“Where is she?” Oliver said.

“Who?” She skipped down the stairs and took his hand before he could pull away. She twirled on his fingers. “Who is she?”

Yes, who was she? Who was he looking for again?

“Come back to class onii-san,” she said. “Sensei doesn’t want us to stay away too long.”

She tugged at his hand, and he followed mechanically. She opened the door to one of the classrooms, letting Oliver go as she rushed in.

“I found him sensei!” she said, then turned around suddenly. Oliver almost collided with her.

She asked, “What’s your name, onii-san?”

“Oliver.”

She frowned, trying the foreign name on her tongue.

Kirishima appeared behind her. He pulled the little girl to him, as if he was concerned for her safety.

“No,” Kirishima said, panic rising in his voice. “How did you get in here again? Be gone!”

Oliver stood there as a wave of surprise, which seemed to be tinged by disgust, washed over him from the unwelcome greeting.

Kirishima curled his lip and whispered, “You’re already dead.”

The little girl seemed to shrink back, just as Oliver had done to her earlier.

“He’s dead?” she asked.

“Well, no,” Kirishima said. “I meant he’s just too old. Go along, join your classmates.”

She looked up at Oliver, an infinite sadness clouding her face for a moment.

She walked away.

Kirishima turned on Oliver again. He was young, probably Takigawa’s or at the most Lin’s age. Anger distorted his features.

“Dead!” he hissed. “Go away. Leave us be!”

Oliver found it within himself to smile slightly. “You must have me mistaken with someone else, sensei. I’m not dead yet.”

Kirishima reached out to shove him, and Oliver stepped back –

– and found himself on the threshold of the schoolroom, the door already shut in his face.

After a moment of hesitation, Oliver opened the door. The air was stagnant. The room was empty of life, the desks in little rows, forever waiting to be used again. He stepped in. His footsteps echoed, a cold and empty sound. It reminded him of being on the stairs with Mai earlier. This time, he was walking alone.

He wondered if the others had seen similar scenes. It was likely, with the so-called ‘kids’ leaving a Welcome Ayako-chan display on the wall for her. He could see his group again, in his mind’s eye, the people he was currently failing by allowing himself to be caught up in illusions.

Oliver left the classroom, shutting the door again. He would have to do the exorcism himself. He didn’t know where Mai was, and what state she was in. How could he be such a fool and let go of her hand? He had fallen for the spirits’ tricks, the same ones he had warned her not to be caught up in.

His body ached from his fall down the stairs. Oliver knew he would need to gather some energy before he could do anything, so he sat down in the hallway, opposite of the classroom so he had a good view if anyone or anything decided to come out. He leaned against the wall and stretched out his legs, crossing his arms. He could feel the fabric of his shirt was still damp. It was such an odd thing to notice that he shook his head and closed his eyes, if it was in laughter or desperation, he wasn’t sure.

It would be a shame to die here, when his true goal was so close to being completed. It just couldn’t be helped, could it? If he succeeded in besting Kirishima, his companions – if they were still alive – would not be able to get him to a city quick enough, not in this already weakened physical state.

Then trust her.

Oliver jerked, opening his eyes.

Trust her for once. Mai said she could do it, didn’t she? Didn’t you believe her?

Did he?

Oliver pictured her face, the seriousness that had risen to her eyes when she said she would do it; remembered the strength in her hand when she had grasped his.

Yes. She could do this. Maybe just as well as Eugene. She deserved the chance.

There was no way to tell the time passing from his position, but he was certain night had fallen some time ago. He felt the desire to go find a broken window and draw in some fresh air. He ignored the temptation. It was easier to stay where he was for the time being.

He jumped when the door to the classroom flew open. He waited warily, ready to leap up if necessary. Nothing emerged, and then he felt it. The fog at the edges of his mind cleared. He had not realized what a stupor he had been operating in until the haze was suddenly gone.

The place was cleansed.

He heaved a breath.

“Can you stand?”

Oliver looked up at Lin’s voice.

“Yes.” Oliver said.

“Did you do it?”

Oliver shook his head, then took the hand that was offered him and stood up. He could hear voices, the real, live voices of his group. He shook off any of Lin’s additional offers of help and walked to the front door.

The outside was bathed in the cool silver of moonlight. Mai stood in the field. The glow of a spirit cleansing seemed to cling to her. She smiled at him.

He turned away.

Someone said, “It looks like it wasn’t Shibuya-san either, since you’re still standing.” Oliver wasn’t sure if it had been Takigawa or Yasuhara who had spoken, so he just shrugged in agreement. He couldn’t tell if the group was just messing with Mai, or if they really were so dense to not know she had done the cleansing.

Then he saw Takigawa caress Mai’s head, and the other quiet congratulations she received from the group as they all headed towards the cars. Even Lin gave her a small smile.

It would have been easy to just walk past her. But he remembered how often Eugene had liked verbal confirmation of the end of a hard case.

So he said, “Good job,” as he passed her.

Mai stopped in her tracks. He could feel her eyes on his back as he walked away.

[pietro-goes-nyoom]

Devil’s Got You Beat

An annotated playlist for the real Percival Graves, and everything he went through when Grindelwald stole his life.

A brief introduction: This is a list of songs that detail my vague thoughts on what might have happened to MACUSA’s Director of Magical Security. Every song has its place, and there were a few that didn’t fit with the flow but still take my mind directly to Graves. Those will be listed at the bottom. As for the playlist itself, you can find it on 8tracks here, but because of the 1 hour listening limit I thought it more helpful to provide links and descriptions in this post. I’ll warn you now, it’s a fairly long one. Please enjoy, and feel free to comment with your thoughts or other songs!

Soldiers - Otherwise

MACUSA stumbles upon a lead for the first time in months. Picquery sends her best, and her best is Percival Graves. He gathers his finest aurors and the hunt is on.

Devil’s Got You Beat - Blues Saraceno

Graves’ team is strong, they’re bold, they’re confident. A single man against the best MACUSA has to offer, led by one of New York’s strongest wizards? Grindlewald doesn’t stand a chance.

Into the Shadows - Cyrus Reynolds, Gregg Lehrman, Ivan Howard

Grindelwald is cornered. They have him right where they want him. Or is it the other way around?

Marked Man - Mieka Pauley

He wakes up in a cell, hands bound and magic suppressed, but Percival Graves was never one to surrender. He watches and he waits. One day he’ll be free. One day he’ll be ready.

Me and Mine - The Brothers Bright

Graves meets every demand for information with clenched teeth and a defiant glare. He blocks out the agony with a steady stream of deadly promises, threats he’ll have no qualms about carrying out the first chance he gets.

Battlefield - SVRCINA

When he finally realizes that physical harm won’t get the job done, Grindelwald changes tactics. Graves lets the dark wizard play his little mind games; pain has worn him to exhaustion and this is a welcome reprieve. He’s practiced enough at guarding MACUSA’s secrets, but maybe the secrets he should be guarding are his own.

Nightmare - Set It Off

One day he finds his own face leering back at him. It turns into a recurring nightmare in which a double of himself, with colder eyes and a colder soul, mocks him mercilessly. Graves doesn’t think he's sleeping.

Castle - Halsey

With Graves locked away, Grindelwald quietly slips into place. The wizarding world has hidden for long enough.

Grave Digger - Blues Saraceno

He doesn’t want to die here. He prays he won’t die here. Prays he won’t leave this world without one more glimpse of something other than concrete walls and iron bars.

Soldier On - Temper Trap

He is surviving. Defiance has faded into exhaustion, exhaustion into emptiness. He is surviving, and that is all he can do.

War Part 1 & Part 2 - Former Vandal

 Graves has to wonder if they’re looking for him, if they even know he’s gone. It’s not until Grindelwald stops coming that he has a shred of hope that maybe they’ve caught on. Less comforting is the realization that he doesn’t have it in him to last much longer.

All the King’s Horses - Karmina

The man they find is shattered, but they think there might be enough left to save Percival Graves if only they can put the pieces together again. They are his aurors, and they will stop at nothing to save him.

Hurts Like Hell - Fleurie

It’s not until he wakes up in the recover ward that Graves really has a chance to process it all. Despite whatever stoic exterior he maintained, the director had always cared more than was probably healthy for his position. How many aurors had been lost because of him? Brave men and women following the orders of a man they trusted? He has no doubt they’d be ashamed to see him now.

I Was Me - Imagine Dragons 

It’s not his face in the mirror. Or maybe it is, but it has already belonged to another.

Afraid - The Neighborhood

He figured it might get better after he was discharged from the hospital. Figured being home might change things. In some ways it does, but the fear of being replaced Isn’t so easy to banish.

Once - Bradley Caleb Kane

They visit him while he’s recovering, or they try to. Most of them are weighed down by guilt, he can tell. Others don’t know what to say. But there are a few of his closest (like Tina, always Tina) who refuse his willingness to give up on the world.

Dead Hearts - Stars

Graves finally returns to his position at MACUSA. Is he so different that the others no longer recognize him, or is it his aurors who have changed and left him behind? He wants to tell them that something has changed, that he doesn’t think he fits in with them the way he used to, but he knows what they would say. It’s okay to feel that way. It will take time. I understand. They don’t. Better to say nothing at all.

I could say it but you won’t believe me. You say you do but you don’t deceive me.

Human - Rag’N’Bone Man

Graves is exceptional at masking his uncertainty. Half of the auror department thinks he's back to normal and the other half assumes that any of the minor changes in him are a result of his captivity. None of them guess that he questions himself at every turn. He should have fought harder. He should have been stronger. He should have died before he let Grindelwald take him. Is that what they think when they look at him, or is it all the whispers of his own traitorous mind?

Exorcism - Clairity

There’s only so long a man can listen to the ghosts in his head before he has to start fighting back.

Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been - Relient K 

They keep telling him it’s not his fault, and logically some part of him knows they’re right. Doesn’t mean it’s easy to forgive himself. Doesn’t mean he has nothing to apologize for. But one way or another he is going to forgive himself, and he is going to make those apologies, and he's going to take back his life if only to spite the bastard who tried to steal it from him.

Everything’s Not Lost - Coldplay

It still hurts, what happened to him. He still feels broken inside and he’s still angry. But he’s less hurt, and less broken, and less angry. Queenie Goldstein brings him a coffee every morning. His aurors offer the usual respectful nod when they pass him by (it turns out they never once thought less of him for what he suffered). Abernathy still straightens up and gets flustered when he walks into the wand permit office, and Seraphina Picquery rants to him about the uselessness of politicians after a particularly difficult meeting. Despite everything that’s happened, remarkably little has changed, and Graves finds that the wounds are starting to heal over.

Hero - Ruelle

Grindelwald escapes custody. Graves feels like he’s suffocating, but the turmoil in his head calms when he realizes it’s him they’re all looking to. After everything, his aurors still trust in him. He will not let them down.

My Story - Leet Mob

He’s done this before; assembling a team, choosing his best. The last time around good men and women had lost their lives, but this is going to be different. Graves is ready for a hunt, and he hasn’t felt this alive since the night he was captured. 

Out of the Black - Royal Blood

The aurors have never seen him this focused. He’s always been unwavering when he catches a trail, but this is different. This is vengeful. This is bloodthirsty. Somehow they can't blame him, and when they finally find Grindelwald none of them dare to step in his path.

This is Gonna Hurt - Sixx A.M. 

It’s the dark wizard who underestimates his opponent this time. Surely a man he’d so thoroughly broken wasn’t nearly strong enough to face him again. That assumption fades fairly quickly, but it’s not enough to regain his standing. Graves throws curse after wordless curse at him, pressing forward relentlessly. He has Grindelwald right where he needs him. It would be so easy, just two little words to end it all. A flash of green light, and he could take everything from the man who nearly took everything from him. Percival Graves raises his wand.

Glitter and Gold - Barns Courtney

Something changed in Graves after his second duel with Grindelwald. It was as though he had reclaimed a piece of himself; the bold glint returned to his eyes, the air of raw power back in his stride. His voice took on the commanding strength it had always possessed before. His aurors begin to think that maybe, just maybe, he’s going to be okay.

Trouble -  Avicii

He would not pretend it hadn’t happened, and he would not try to hide his scars. The scars only proved that he’d gotten back up after being beaten down. He’d seen things that haunted his mind and he’d been dragged to hell and back, but he had enough in this world to remind him that there was good alongside the evil. He had enough reason to keep pressing forward. He was a Graves, after all, and a Graves is not so easy to break.

Thank you so much for listening! I hope my loose interpretation of Graves’ story was close enough to your own to make sense. As for whether that duel ended in Grindelwald’s death or capture... well, I’ll leave that one up to you. Comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Honorable Mentions: The songs that perfectly illustrate Percival Graves, but didn’t quite fit into the playlist.

Someone’s Gonna Need a Grave - Urban Country

Didn’t quite make the cut because the rap verses didn’t seem to fit with the tone, but has quite a deadly chorus.

Monsters - Ruelle

A song about the monsters running through Graves’ thoughts. Alternatively, a taunting song from Grindelwald’s perspective.

Laugh I Nearly Died - The Rolling Stones

A lament to the solitude of being surrounded by people who can never truly understand the demons you’re facing.

Sinner Like You - Parson James

An angry, unapologetic, somewhat defiant song about Graves accepting what he is, though anyone else would tell him none of it is his fault.

All We Are - One Republic

The aurors’ apology and promise to Graves. Lord knows I failed you time and again and We won’t break, we won’t die, it’s just a moment of change.

Fireproof - Coleman Hell

An upbeat celebration of Graves’ newfound invincibility, however fragile it might be.

[joronomo]

Watch New Episodes of Nathan For You Starting in September – Viacom Corporate

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Watch New Episodes of Nathan For You Starting in September – Viacom Corporate

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August 24, 2017 @ 12:44 PM

On Sept. 28, television is about to get weird again, as Comedy Central’s absurdist docu-reality show Nathan For You returns.

Next month, #NathanforYou is back to fight Holocaust deniers, scare ghosts away, and upsell massages in S4! PREVIEW: t.co/ARF4FEhKHC pic.twitter.com/mmmtMKOjSk

— Hidden Remote (@HiddenRemote) August 9, 2017

The fourth season of the business improvement mockumentary series is expected to be wonkier than ever, and this is coming after episodes focused on an authentic exorcism, a shopping mall Santa Claus with a criminal record, and an electronics store that sells TV sets for a dollar—providing customers can walk past a live alligator to retrieve them.

Watch a compilation:

For those of you who haven’t had the chance to watch, here’s a brief overview.

It’s hosted by Nathan Fielder, a Canadian comic who actually graduated from one of Canada’s top business schools (as he proclaims in the beginning of every episode). Fielder plays a droll marketing consultant attempting to pull struggling small businesses out of their economic slump—using outlandish, convoluted and potentially illegal marketing schemes.

He draws from esoteric laws such as “Theater Law” (in an episode where he convinced a bar owner she’d draw more customers if she allowed them to smoke inside. Isn’t this illegal? Yes, except Fielder found a loophole in the smoking ban that allowed patrons to light up inside, provided it was part of a theatrical performance. Customers entered and signed on as “actors,” yet did little more than sit around, chat and smoke.

Another infamous episode centered around a coffee shop in downtown Los Angeles. Fielder thought the place was losing profit because it was not branded well enough—and thus Dumb Starbucks was born. The store offered Dumb Venti Lattes, Dumb Norah Jones Duets and Dumb Scones…essentially, everything you’d find in Starbucks, with the word “dumb” affixed to it.

In the episode, Fielder promised the owner this plan was within the realm of legality based on parody law, which according to Fielder, “allows you to use trademarks and copyrighted material as long as you’re making fun of them.”

While parody is protected under the law, the store flopped because you can’t sell food and beverages without a license from the Board of Health.

Fielder’s radical strategies have occasionally gone viral, without public knowledge that they were part of his show. Dumb Starbucks made international news, with some journalists speculating the store was created by Banksy.

One thing is for certain—the show is unlike anything else on television. Comedy Central is home to many programs that deviate from the typical norm of slapstick humor, like Broad City and Detroiters, all which retain a level of deep insight alongside their riotous gags.

Still, Nathan For You is a hidden gem. The stunts require an inordinate amount of effort, and viewers are privy to this. Fielder and his writing team are assiduous in their efforts to create something that is poignant, melancholy and absurd. But it’s hard to define exactly what that is.

Fielder plays a sophist marketing consultant and socially-awkward outcast, desperate to turn a profit and arguably more so to form genuine human connections with his clients (all of whom are actual business owners, unaware that they are part of a comedy show).

Watch one of Fielder’s most insane attempts to bond with a stranger:

Fielder’s morality is, at times, questionable. He approaches unwitting business owners with elaborate and incongruous marketing ploys; stunts that are designed to fail. His clients are blue-collar, naïve enough to trust a man who would suggest selling booze to minors would be a good way for a liquor store to increase profits.

(Courtesy of Comedy Central and GIPHY)

Yet rather than finding the show distasteful or manipulative, fans and critics find it endearingly hopeful.

In return for using vulnerable people as entertainment, Fielder gives us something rare—a glimpse at his own vulnerability. Fielder treats his clients with respect and adoration. He’s desperate for their approval, as a businessman and more importantly, as a friend. Many episodes feature appearances by previous guests, where he tries (and usually fails) to bond with them; taking them out for lunch or coffee.

(Courtesy of Comedy Central and GIPHY)

To be clear—this show does not intend to actually turn these struggling businesses around, and obliquely lampoons the owners for our entertainment. But regardless of how eccentric these people are—take James Bailey for example, the professional Santa Claus with a penchant for guns and a dubious past—Fielder is the one we mock.

With his deadpan voice and utter ignorance of social mores, the host opens himself up for constant ridicule. It’s a character derived from Fielder’s teenage years, when he suffered from debilitating insecurities.

(Courtesy of Comedy Central and GIPHY)

“From adolescence through his early 20s, Fielder suffered from anxiety or, as he put it, the near-constant ‘fear of a disaster interaction,’” wrote Jonah Weiner in The New York Times.

As Fielder put it, “In a lot of social situations, I understood what was going on but tried to remove myself from it, because it was too painful to exist in.”

Fielder grew out of his insecurities as he became involved in stand-up comedy, learning to embrace what he once thought were his worst personality flaws—such as the need to speak up during a pause in any conversation, as he told Wiener. In Nathan For You, he harnesses these “defects” for his character, and the result is stunning. It’s obvious that Fielder now embraces his natural awkwardness, which makes for great art while suggesting a certain vitality about the human spirit.

While I appreciate the show’s elaborate concepts which meld dry humor and elaborate personal narrative, it is this pathos that makes me an avid fan. I was, like Fielder, an awkward teenager riddled with high school social anxiety. I overcame this by finding a new group of college friends, joining open-mic poetry events, and realizing that I enjoyed my own company.

Several episodes hinge on these ideas of identity and personal discomfort—like the season three finale, The Hero, which deviates from the traditional business consulting plot in favor of a philanthropic adventure. Fielder chose, at random, to impersonate a part-time arcade worker named Corey Calderwood, who knew only that he was part of a reality show.

Fielder then spent seven months learning to walk a tightrope and adopting Calderwood’s mannerisms. He then donned a 3D mold of the man’s face and a startlingly realistic bodysuit and orchestrated a skywalk between two skyscrapers to raise money for a breast cancer charity. Calderwood became a philanthropic daredevil and instant hero.

Ahh tightrope walker Corey Calderwood just completed his stunt in DTLA! (Vid by andrewtrayl) @ABC7 pic.twitter.com/M1q9gaG6pI

— Gisela Margarita (@GiselaPerezTV) July 2, 2015

When Fielder removes his costume and assumes his old identity, he is visibly distraught as a makeup artist peels off his 3D mask – though whether he was shaken from undertaking the dangerous stunt or just uncomfortable in his own skin is left to the viewer to determine.

According to Paste Magazine, the episode shows how Fielder “can’t necessarily find happiness in himself by becoming other people, no matter how effective he is at doing this.”

Paste writes that the third season “found the show at its most fascinating when it relies on watching Nathan helping individuals rather than businesses, and it’ll be interesting to see how both the show and Nathan himself evolves in the upcoming fourth season.”

Hey everyone guess what. Nathan For You returns Sept 28 to Comedy Central

— nathan fielder (@nathanfielder) July 25, 2017

It has evolved into something that includes the following: the return (from a previous season), of a Bill Gates impersonator looking for his long-lost lover, an attempt to “take down” Uber in order to help struggling taxi drivers, and the opening of an asexual computer repair shop (whatever that means).

Watch the trailer:

This much is certain: it will be wacky. After last season’s finale, it was clear that the show had opened a fascinating portal onto humanity. Nathan for You has promised an “epic two hour finale unlike anything that has been broadcast on television before,” according to a press release. After Fielder’s live tightrope walk, it’s difficult to imagine what this could possibly be—but we’re eager to find out.

Catch up on old episodes on ComedyCentral.com., and follow @nathanfielder for show updates. The season 4 premiere airs Thursday, Sept. 28 on Comedy Central.

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