#anyway this probably isnt helping my own naming skills is it

[writing-plurals]

for a bit of background, i have a lot of ocs who all exist together in the same universe, and im planning to turn them into animations as soon as i develop the skills for it. most of them, if not all, have some sort of childhood trauma, or at least have gone through crap as kids. this is because i love showing characters healing, and also i want to portray how different sorts of trauma can affect people and their futures.

in this universe, there are two plural characters. one of them im not struggling too much which - he isnt as developed as most of the others, but thats just because i havent had enough time for that, he does have a good story though and i feel like he'll be good rep :)

the other one, however.

they're a (paro/tulpa/trauma)genic system, depending on the watcher's interpretation. they come from an abusive family, their parents being Awful to them for as long as they can remember. they have around 5-6 headmates, though ive only focused a lot on 3, of them: their first host, a girl who formed Really early in their childhood, and Vlad. he used to act as their protector, and is also an anger holder, who can get quite aggressive sometimes. (fun fact, his name is inspired by Calma Vladimir by CDN :3 )

in the system's teens (13? or so), CPS take them out of their abusive home, and put them into a nicer one. yet, that's when Vlad's role starts becoming less useful than before, because he's still in survival mode - and out of fight or flight, he's definitely the Fight type. which will get him to act out, get into fights, break stuff... etc etc etc. the others are partially aware of this, and they let him do, because that's what they're used to ("there'll be consequences no matter what we do, why not let him have fun?", or something like that, they're all too used to their previous living situation for this ;w;)

now, in the universe, there is a pretty big... gang? mafia? criminal organization? something like that. it's directed by a man called Judas (it's not a religious reference on my side, he picked his own name and it makes sense he chose that one), who, ignoring the whole crimes thing, is a pretty great guy. he has a habit of taking in ppl going through hardships, mostly ones who are violent, and getting them to join him.

Judas has been seeing the system, mainly Vlad, for a long time. he picked up on how good at fighting they are, and how with a little bit of self-control, Vlad could make a good addition to his Whatever That Is. so one day, when they're 15, he approaches them and suggests they join him. Vlad accepts, and though it wasn't their original plan, everyone else ends up happy with it. so they move in with them, meet a bunch of people, get a found family with Judas and this one girl, yadda yadda happy ending.

besides.

the gang's main thing is killing people. they do it mostly to abusers, assholes, the ones who traumatized its members. it's like...their whole thing. which, yeah, makes sense i guess. but putting a system there feels like im pulling the whole "serial killer with multiple personality disorder" trope, which sucks ass.

they are a serial killer, they are a system, but both things just happen to be, no correlation between them. all the alters are aware of and ok with their current living situation, they'd probably pick it over any they've been in, and only bad people are dying anyways. it's not like Vlad is the only one doing that stuff, either - at the beginning he was, but not anymore.

i'll probably leave them this way, the whole storyline is already planned too, but is there any way to make it so it doesn't follow that one trope?

(pd, the other system does not join the gang, he actually escapes his shithole of a town and lives a pretty chill life with his friends. does this help separate being plural from being a criminal? since its 1/2 instead of both of them-)

I'm not sure you can actually have one not be the serial killer trope if they're literally in a murdering gang? But you are making an important balance by not having the second system be in that position. It at least makes an easier distinction between those two facts about the first system. Because theoretically, yeah! Those two things can coincide in a person, and it is possible to make an interesting story about it.

Something that that trope benefits(?) from here, is made less bad by, is that most of the times we see it in shows and movies, it's a one off, or we don't see how they got there, or it's been paired with another offensive trope (see also Split, with the body changing shape).

In the way you're framing it, it's softened by the other system being Not That, and the context as to how they got there. If it fits the characters, some remorse that it's part of their otherwise better life helps? But that's up to if you think that's something that would fit them.

I hope that was helpful

-Mod Tick Tock

[edsheerankinnie]

Hey wait im onto something w the fic idea. Just imagine: after Korra a hyper sci-fi world, and a new avatar who does NOT wanna be the avatar so they go into hiding. and their family is in on it. omg maybe give them some siblings too, i dont think we've seen an avatar w siblings yet. Imagine their bending and spirituality, etc is ass. And maybe they're stuck-up and pretentious and worldly and could not give a lesser fuck about the whole avatar thing. and theyre deathly terrified of being found out bc literally why would u wanna be raised in a compound and suffer unimaginable horrors in the name of "keeping balance in the world". The White Lotus has been on the hunt for the new avatar for YEARS after Korra's death. theyre literally HUNTING for them at this point. and idk maybe the world isnt particularly balanced. but maybe benders have somehow been cast into the working class more often than not, yk with all their practical abilities with the elements. they do all of society's dirty work, basically. Maybe throw in some late-stage capitalism while we're at it, why not.

Speaking of late stage capitalism, u remember Kuvira's superweapon? if that isnt a precursor to some devastating *nuclear* weapon idk what is. and also plain old renewable energy. Do spirit vines even count as renewable?? are they more like fossil fuels???

Im getting off track. Different areas of the world are affected to varying degrees with technological advances. More or less, theres like, only a few spiritual places left in the world, those being the air temples and the areas around the spirit portals. Maybe some airbenders break off from traditional airbending tribes in a movement to live a more worldly life. yeah that sounds about right.

Anyways, in my head this new avatar is probably a girl, obviously with the awesome hair and striking green eyes of asami. And shes from Ba Sing Se. all she wishes for is to pursue her education at Republic University and eventually secure a higher-up position at her parents enterprise (or something like that). From the moment she realized she could bend water AND earth her parents told her about the Avatar and the terrifying implications of such a duty ("they'll take you away if they ever find out about this" "remember what happened to Avatar Korra?" etc), and her education only confirmed these fears. Of course, they say/do all this with the best intentions in mind; after all, they don't wanna make their own child suffer or potentially lose her. Oh yeah speaking of education, maybe its more universal and formalized and mandatory, like in real like, like w grades or forms or whatever. Yeah so in short, she grows up into a bratty and materialistic rich girl. lmao if you thought KORRA was bad, just wait till you see this avatar. she is TRULY unlikeable. not a single avatar trait in sight. no conviction to her civic duty, no inherent need to help others, no magical empath abilities, just the standard human emotions and traits and empathy pretty much everyone is predisposed to. she is COMPLETELY out of sorts in the avatar business.

Yeah so and then shes like 20 or something and she doesnt know a lick of bending. Aside from basic earthbending and very very little waterbending, nothing. I was thinking they have standardized bending education for benders and assessments to determine small childrens' bending skills for that reason. and then because of thhat, her parents never sent her to formal bending classes and taught her themselves (maybe they can earthbend, or they know earth benders who wont snitch). But waterbending, she learned that on her own. somethimes, when shes alone and around water, she'll toy with it, just pushing and pulling it; shes not capable of much else. She sometimes wonders what bending other elemnts at their full capacity is like, but she doesnt really care.

Oh yeah adding to the obnoxiousness of this character and her world, they have *phones* and *social media* and *influencers*!!! omg yay !!! I was thinking she either is or is friends with a microinfluencer, so that and her academic and career future are really her only priorities. And so ig she likes vacationing, shopping, blah blah, the kind of things youd expect influencer circles to do.

That all aside, i feel like it would make for a really good plot if for whatever reason she's moved to question her stance on her avoiding her avatar responsibilities. Maybe she fucking hates that Korra has indirectly burdened her of all people with this stupid titanic task, hates Wan for ever coming up with all this. Or does she even know who the hell Wan is? Probably not, actually. But like why couldnt she just kill herself in the avatar state, right?

But yeah anyway, later on she somehow eventually chooses to step into her role as avatar. And then she realizes, shes so goddamn weak. She cant fucking bend anything. she cant even tap into her spirituality, like !! shes so disconnected from it all, like what the hell shes a grown-ass adult and cant bend for shit !! and maybe this causes a rift between her and her family. And then in classic atla style, she has to learn how to bend allll the elements from scratch, just like aang. but because of how much work she also has to do spiritually, unlike aang its sooo hard !! So yeah, just give this girl a bunch of quarter-life crises. thatd be fun. and also figure out how to stop this working-class benders phenomenon. maybe theres sweatshops and she has to get rid of them idk.

Ofc her own gaang is there, idk who its comprised of tho. probably her siblings and then sum1 else like her gf or smth idk

Oh yeah and unlike korra, because of how sheltered she is, shes also really easily shaken up emotionally, by all these i mean. shes such a crier i mean. In fact, after stepping into her avatar role, she goes from selfish basic brat to a massive girlfailure. is it all worth it? Who knows :)

This was fun to write out. i dont think ill ever turn this into a fic tho

[blastlight]

The Undertale fandom just.... never evolved past Toby Fox’s method of naming anything, did we...?

*glances around the fandom, counting names on fingers*

what do I even say here

[imgonnagetkilledbynutstink]

Info dump abt peter nureyev

Im so fascinated with him as a character and how his brain works and ive been thinking (uh oh) that mentally peter is essentially still a child. Like theres 0 way he wasnt severly emotionally stunted as a kid and it shows (not an insult hes completely valid). But i mean he was a homless orphan in possibly the most terrifying place to be a homeless orphan ever and then all of a sudden this adult shows up and tells peter that he can teach him how to survive in that environment and obviously peter (who is literally like 10 at the time) trusts him. Now we can all agree that mags groomed peter right? And slip noticed that mags hanging around him was weird and called it out so its basically canon. But anyways peter listens to mags and trusts him and spends the next 7 years of his life training with him which, sure, it did help in some ways. Peter is an amazing theif and has learned how to put his skills to use because of mags BUT obviously he picked something up there cause people dont just usually mentally beat themselves up whenever they make a mistake. We dont know the details but id say its safe to say that there was probably some mental abuse that went on there to cause peter to be so hard on himself. And of vpurse mags lied to him about a huge part of his life and expected a child to do a world shattering mission basically on his own and it obviously didn't go well for either of them. And then there's slip. Sure we dont know most of the details yet, but we know that peters story abt him isnt a good one. Peter goes to him and its a similar cycle. Slip keeps him safe, loves him, makes him happy and then when the red flags start popping up peter looks away until he literally cant anymore. Theres literally a scene where slip comes home COVERED. IN. BLOOD. and exptected tried to hide it from peter. As far as my memory serves me, he didnt even give peter the whole story, just told him he "didn't kill anyone". I cant imagine how degrading it is to basically be looked in the eyes and be called stupid without literally being called stupid. Then, naturally, peter starts being less trusting until slip does something that resets the whole thing. He protects peters name. It was a pretty big act that could have put slips whole life in danger, and obviously when something like that happens you feel obligated to trust them. Why wouldnt peter question any negative thoughts he had abt slip? He risked his life for him. Then something else happens that we dont know about and it shatters peters trust entirly. He works completely alone for years and continues to use those abusive narratives that mags taught him. He uses a facade to look untouchable and dangerous but you can tell, even though he is very talented and smart, its a lie. And then theres him trusting Juno with his biggest secret only a day after knowing him. This has been a question that has rattled people for years. Why did he tell juno his name? And honestly i dont think its that complicated. I think peter literally just snapped. You can only hold up a perfect facade and keep all your thoughts and secrets inside for so long before you make a dumb decision and say something you didnt want to in the long run. There was probably a moment of regret we didnt get to see after he left and he just ended up being proved right by trusting juno. But i really just think he liked juno and saw him as a good trustworthy person and just acted. Anyways i think im done thanks

[crybabyddl]

I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO REITERATE SOMETHING

Yes, let’s circle back to the beautiful performance of Edge of Great. More specifically the BODY LANGUAGE, particularly Julie and Luke’s, which I will be analyzing with gifs.

Exhibit A

Jealous Luke looks over at Julie and Reggie vibing

Julie is aware that she’s avoiding Luke, which she is doing so bc she realized her feelings for him thanks to Flynn earlier in the episode.

Since Julie has put the task of ignoring Luke upon herself even though she has no obligation to, she ends up failing her own mission. She sees Luke’s reaction to the lack of her attention.

She literally FREEZES. She’s emotionally worried to confront what she’s feeling and it’s beginning to manifest physically.

Exhibit B

It gets better y’all. After Luke finally has even a crumb of Julie’s attention, he beckons her over with his signature head tilt. This is important bc he did this with his longtime bandmate during the soundcheck of what would’ve been their biggest performance. If he feels comfortable enough using that body language with a girl he’s only known for, what, a week and a half(?) then you know this puppy boy’s got it BAD.

Julie is well aware that Luke is getting jealous. But in classic Julie fashion, she will try to tune it out instead of addressing it. Our wicked beauty doesn’t like confrontation and would rather just deny and avoid than potentially make things awkward, especially when she knows Luke would ask her about it at a later time.

The look on Julie’s face. Her eyes widen and the classic tight-lipped awkward smile is present. She’s literally saying “ok enough of that let’s get back to work doo doo doo” with her face. The way her body SWINGS back into performance mode as she faces the audience again. It may have been a split second, but when you’re deliberately trying to avoid looking into the dreamy (dead) eyes of someone you shouldn’t be crushing on, any amount of time feels too long. Plus, she knows Flynn is watching and doesn’t want her to lecture her (but she does anyway bc Flynn is observant and knows her bestie too well to let any action slip past her).

Exhibit C

Keep in mind; NONE OF THE GUYS KNOW WHY JULIE IS AVOIDING LUKE. Flynn, Alex, and Reggie have noticed the Juke chemistry, but it’s still too soon for them to get past the “we like each other but we’re too clueless to notice that we reciprocate” phase, so even though their respective besties know, they are still denying. Besides, Reg, Alex, and Flynn know better than to keep pestering if they want to keep their kneecaps. In reality they’re both smart enough to tell by this point, but for the sake of the plot and to make everything more adorably frustrating, Flynn has the collective brain cell under lock and key, leaving Juke to be like *dog tilting its head and making that “a-roo?” noise*

Anyway, Reggie notices Luke being snubbed after realizing that his extra dose of Julie time was slightly out of the ordinary. Luke is clearly concerned (look at his eyebrows and how his eyes travel from Reggie, to Julie, then to the audience to trying and get his mind off it and bring his focus back to the main goal; the performance.) If he can’t have the moment of connection with Julie that he so desperately craves, he’s gonna fill that void as best he can by connecting with the audience. >:’)

But Reggie’s trying to help Luke brush it off by conveying his reaction as ‘look at julie coming into her own! i told you she was a star! and you thought you were the lead singer? think again buddy this girl’s got you beat!’

But since Reggie isnt a master at hiding his feelings yet, especially around Luke, —who was able to get under his skin earlier (“girls, am i right?”)—Luke was easily able to see through that and interpreted what Reggie was saying as “look at julie go, she all in the zone. you’re literally making heart eyes at her get a grip you’re slacking lmao” (hence luke’s right eyebrow quirking at reggie like ‘dude seriously gimme a break u know i need attention like tinkerbell’) even though Reggie’s true message was a bit less harsh and more lovingly teasing, but it’s Luke, he sees things through his eyes and at his intensity, regardless of who it’s coming from. (This is one of the reasons why Luke comes off as selfish at times.)

Exhibit D

Poor Lukey boi can’t seem to catch a break today! Not only does Julie ignore him, then has a cute lil (platonic but it’s luke so it still makes him jealous >:P) moment, but now she has the AUDACITY to interact with Alex? The guy who was out learning Ghost 101 with this Willie guy instead of rehearsing with the band? What gives?! What’s he got that your moody ghost bf doesn’t? >:’(

He literally just watches, and even glances back in a way that, to me, screams ‘did i see that right? did i just see what i just saw with my own dreamy (but dead) eyes? say sike rn.’ \_(*_*)_/

Meanwhile, Alex pays no mind. I like to think that Alex is fully aware that Luke is an angry boy rn, but has learned to ignore it, especially this bc literally NOTHING happened. Either that or Alex has no clue and just truly thinks nothing of it and is having too much fun to think about Luke’s moody and childish behavior. Either way, Alex is just straight chilling and we love to see it *^_^*

Notice how Reggie is right there vibing with Julie and Alex. Luke feels a bit betrayed like ‘not you too! i know you were the first to turn on me but i figured since you’re such a golden retriever you’d be loyal and come back to my side!😠🥲’

Also; Luke approaches the rest of the group, wanting to be included in at least SOME of the vibing, but when Julie starts dancing and smiling with her buddy Alex, he backs up like

“you know what? nope. nevermind. not doin’ it.”

and the group’s like “i mean hey it’s your loss, but luke we want you to-”

“no, bc you chose to piss me off right in front of my face so no luke time for any of you! no cuddles, no hugs, no nothing! you made your bed, now lie in it and perish.”

Exhibit E & F: This is where it gets a bit interesting and theorized hehe...

Now we all know that this moment is just fucking ICONIC

WEOWH NEOW NEOW!!! WEOW NEHR NEHR NER-NER-NER NEHR NEHR NEOWHR!!! (wer nehr-nehr-ner-ner-nehr-nehr!!) WUEHNER-NEUHNER-NEHR-NEEOW-NEOWH! DLOOLOODDUH-DOODLAH-HOOBLUEH-NEOWHR-NEUEHR-NEEEEEEUOWRH!!!!

But hear me out– HEAR ME OUT!

What if... now don’t shoot the messenger who just so happens to also be the theorist... but what if...

WHAT IF!!! Luke didn’t!! plan this?!!!

Listen i know you’re probably thinking:

“Well uh Nicole, isn’t that kinda the whole point? It literally wasn’t planned until Charlie realized Madi was gonna be standing on the piano so he suggested the idea for the guitar solo to Kenny.”

And you’re right! But here’s the kicker:

What if Luke THE CHARACTER, just decided to do this as an “Alright that’s it! You wanna be like that? Well what if I just hit you with my super awesome radical totally cool wowza guitar skills & make a moment between us? Huh? What do you think about that? Hmm? HMMM???!!!”

He licks his lips & that to me read** like he was nervous (**read rhyming with bed just to clarify) so that means it could’ve been a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment thing.

In the second gif, you can see that Julie’s head is tilted, as if she’s a bit confused, but she’s also delightfully surprised.

Julie is quick to smile and scrunch her nose at Luke, something she does often. It tells Luke his impulsive action garnered a positive response from his favorite girl. Julie also starts to shake her head, but doesn’t go through the motion in full, which means she’s still a bit nervous to let her guard down. This is probably because she doesn’t know what he’s thinking or what he will do next. The lopsided smile mixed with the suave, gliding steps towards her probably brought her back to her daydream lol.

Luke’s happy bc Julie’s no longer ignoring him. He smiles like a GOOBER bc this chump is simping HARD for our Julie. So cute! :’)

Exhibit G

And hear me when I offer this:

What if Luke poofed the guys out???

I know, I know. It’s a bold claim to make. But the boys are special, considering they are a threat to Caleb (3 gay-variant himbos vs. a gay magician that could’ve been on broadway but decided to make some sort of deal with a devil so he just entertains capitalists who most likely sold their souls to get into the hgc which i will probably elaborate on in a future theory so dont do that bc im gonna lmao idc we all have big brains) So it’s not too crazy to think that they could share some ghost powers.

We know Caleb transported the guys during You Got Nothing to Lose. And the guys have left a place at the exact same time on more than one occasion.

And you may be thinking “well what if the guys poofed out to give juke a moment alone together?” And to that I say...

Look at Reggie. He isn’t looking back at Alex like “dude let’s give them some space.”

The timing of him turning around, at least to me, makes me think Reggie was surprised by Luke approaching the piano. (But also he lowkey was waiting for Luke to prove him wrong by doing something to get Julie’s attention so Reggie isn’t mad. Neither is Alex but he doesn’t like being told how or WHEN to ghost) Luke doesn’t even give his bandmates a warning eyebrow quirk, a hand signal, nothing. Reggie turns to Alex like ‘dude what is he DOING?’ And before he can even really convey that, they go *POOF*

This man had a plan and he was gonna do it, so he did. Whether it’s the power of love, they stopped performing, or Reggie and Alex actually poofed out, the odds worked in Luke’s favor so he and Julie could have a super special moment, a moment special enough to make an actual living person (Nick) wonder if a “hologram” has a better chance at connecting with Julie than he does.

Again, regardless of who made them poof or how they poofed, they mf poofed so Luke’s a happy hamster. (Idk it just sounded fitting instead of happy camper lol wait what if someone had 3 pet hamsters and named them alex reggie and luke🥺 someone buy some hamsters and let me be their godmother or their aunt and i’ll love them from afar.) Anyway, Luke’s thriving, flourishing, his crops are going to grow in time for the harvest.

You can see Julie lean back as she turns to see Luke. It’s... almost as if... She. Wasn’t. Expecting. Him. To. Be. There..??

Honey badger Luke bc he DGAF <|:) Bitch, it’s Luke mf Patterson and he’s gonna,, GET! IN! YOUR! FAAAACE!!!

You CANNOT tell me he’s not doing the absolute MOST to try and seduce Miss Juliana Mariposa Rose Molina.

Yes I’m making a headcanon that Julie has TWO middle names and that one of them is the spanish word for butterfly and that the other is her mother’s name. Also yes, I believe (i believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re– oh, that’s not what we’re doing? okay, sorry!) that Juliana is Julie’s full name.

In this house we love and respect Juliana Mariposa (Dahlia)** Rose Molina

**I’m just putting Dahlia there for fun bc I can. :) Whether I’d consider it a possible middle name of hers depends. Anyway I just thought it was a cute thing to add bc it goes along with the other middle names I gave her *^_^* Also, I feel like I made a post giving a bunch of the characters middle names lemme see if I can find it later)

Ok i’m done this took me basically all day from like 10am until 4:08. I obviously took breaks in between, but not long ones...😶

[uwumessenger]

random headcanons i have for each om! character teehee

hi it's been a while since ive posted some hcs bc uni has been kicking my a$$! luckily i only have a few papers to tidy up and im done. here r some hcs for each obey me character that ive accumulated over the past few months wink wonk

most are random but some constants you'll find are what i think they smell like, languages they can speak (other than their native (demon/angel) and eng/jp), and music tastes !

lucifer

i have a strong feeling that he showers twice a day: in the morning after waking up and at night before going to bed

his cologne is probably the type that will last in an elevator for like a week after he uses it once. i dont think this mf ever smells like anything other than his cologne

has a secret folder on his phone of semi-nudes and other scandalous pics from when he felt sexy at the time omg

aside from demon language/eng/jp he can speak french and knows latin

listens to classical stuff yea but he also listens to diavolos mixtapes (re: diavolo's section)

not a fan of sweets but will eat sweet things when craving

really bland sense of humor...borderline cringey 😭✋🏻

mammon

has gone to google images and searched for "inspirational quotes tumblr" "gold aesthetic tumblr" & "relatable crush post tumblr" then reposts it onto his socials or just taps thru them and giggles bc he relates

his cologne doesnt last as long as lucifers and probably smells common. he has to reapply a lot but it's a people pleasing smell. it's cheaper hence the constant reapplying

he probably does have an expensive bottle but is the type to totally overspray...eek

he is canonically a car guy 🥲 and probably tells the one in his room good morning & good night + kisses the hood every once in a while. has tons of car magazines

he doesnt really speak other languages but has attempted to learn spanish before

listens to whatever is on the radio. doesnt rly stan anyone but he eventually will listen to mc's playlist and mc's playlist ONLY

levi

lurks on mc's socials ALL THE TIMEEEE like he will rewatch ur stories and scroll thru ur feed and overanalyze ur tweets/rts or blog posts. if ur mc isnt the type to use sns much he still googles ur name all the damn time just to find any sites u might be on fjdjdjdjskks

probably streams on whatever youtube or twitch devildom site equivalent there is, but only has like 40 or so followers. which he is okay with!

until he sees someone else who gets more attention than him. then the envy starts kicking in bad. especially if they suck 🧍🏻‍♀️

classic gamer boy smell. you know, sweat, tears, must, and (sometimes) axe deodorant. lucifer has to do a scent check before he goes out to any event & lets him use his cologne. how sweet!

kpop stan!! more girl groups than anything and his ults are probably GIRLS GENERATION, wonder girls, twice, loona, & red velvet

cried when ioi disbanded and refused to leave his room. the only thing u could hear was downpour on loop at full blast

can also speak korean & communicate in echolocation like dolphins 😏

satan

listens to country music you cant change my mind

smells like whatever environment he is in. he doesnt really have a designated smell just throws some deodorant on and goes about his day.

he's sooooo bad at driving...gets road rage way too often so his license has been REVOKED

but hes totally a backseat driver. needs to be sedated on long trips

do not let him watch finding nemo when luke asks to watch it. it's not worth it. he will cause mass destruction.

if he was a human or lived long term in the human world he totally has the ability to be a doctor

is studying as many languages as possible, but he mostly knows latin & french & german etc etc. wants to learn all the dead languages out of curiousity

asmo

dont think this mf has ever held down a relationship. ever

he doesnt compromise much & is not willing to change his lifestyle to fit an s/o into it. you keep up with how he lives or it just isnt meant to be (but dont worry! he'll eventually learn...maybe,,,,)

has the hardest time out of everyone when it comes to breaking bad habits

his smell varies bc he uses a variety of perfumes (whatever is the most popular at the time) but he probably sticks to floral and fresh scents. he never uses generic people pleaser scents like mammon

listens to electropop, mainstream pop, & some alternative rock

as for languages he too knows french, spanish, italian, etc. in general, if it's a romance language he knows it!

opposite of lucifer in the sense where he loves sweets and will refrain from eating too many bitter things

i think we all know that asmo is the biggest rockstar of the group! he's probably been in a boy band at least once, but now he makes his own music

has tried to teach mammon how to sing once. ended up in a broken piano and bleeding ears...

beel

i feel like he is SO SHY

like unless ur close to him he will not start conversations or anything

i think he listens to r&b a lot ! and jazz 😎 maybe rock as well

smells like ur typical athlete with undertones of wet wipes. he carries them around bc he likes to clean his hands before he eats & is prepared for when theres no sink nearby

he can drive and he drives really well. no rough turns, parallel parks perfectly, and never has problems with merging

driving with beel is probably really soothing. left hand is steering the other is gripping ur thigh 😫

dont think hes really fluent in any other language but hes probably semi fluent in korean because levi wanted beel to help him out

definitely know how to order food in practically every language tho HAHAHA

belphie

he reminds me of randall from monsters inc

smells kinda musty IM SORRY but not the way levi does hes more like the kind of musty u feel or smell when it's a shitty morning

but that's only because hes so lazy, when he cleans up hes like satan

has definitely murdered multiple people before. mc is not the first 😐✋🏻

with that being said belphie has been put into prison at least twice when visiting the human world, the mf had such a strong hatred for humans theres no way he never got into trouble before

lucifer probably broke him out and they used the pen thingies from men in black to erase everyones memory of that 🙄

dont think he listens to anything other than music that'll put him to sleep. really likes lazy song by bruno mars but thinks that bruno mars put too much effort into the song. should have been one acapella verse and then finish

similar to beel hes only semi fluent in one language, probably french bc of lucifer. doesnt remember much but knows a couple of lullabies and bedtime stories

the sandman used to be his bff until they drifted. they do, however, like and comment on each other's sns posts.

diavolo

once he found out who nicki minaj was he became her #1 stan

def an ariana grande stan too 😌

choreographs dances when hes stressed...idk just seems like a diavolo thing to do

also makes rly bad soundcloud rap music sometimes. turns to poetry when hes feeling emo but only lucifer knows this. barbatos is suspicious of him but doesnt have enough evidence to confirm.

his dad is like hudson abadeer from adventure time aka marceline's dad? something must have influenced him to want to unite the 3 realms + he would need the approval to do so, so his dad must be more chill than all the others before him 🧍🏻‍♀️ IDK ok anyway

currently going through his hamilton phase bc of mc. whether mc's intent was to get him hooked onto it or just to explain it bc of something he saw online, he tells everyone that he found out abt it bc of mc!

this man cannot drive his skills are only second to jumin han

not too fond of many languages but knows the widely spoken ones like spanish, mandarin, etc. if it's taught in high school he knows it

smells like a las vegas casino. not sure why but i feel like he does. but there's also an interesting & nice smell to him if he embraces you. it's a smell you cant quite identify. but it smells nostalgic, it's mysterious, and it's tempting.

barbatos

very calm demeanor but underneath hes WILD hes probably done everything at least once oof

he just has a lot of control and stability over himself (must be nice!)

on a more angsty note i feel like he might have had his heartbroken sO BAD IDK he is hurting and maybe that's why hes so willing to obey diavolo and not abuse his time lord power thingies bc he learned his lesson the hard way

mans is so smart he knows every language you could switch languages mid conversation with him and he wouldnt be thrown off. he'd probably start speaking it too.

BUT HE SPEAKS VIET P E R F E C T L Y

listens to the same stuff as lucifer but also likes eminem. likes the movie 8 mile but criticized it heavily

have you ever been to a chinese herb shop? naturally, he smells like that. his room probably smells like it too. he doesnt really have a significant smell like some of the others

when he bakes he smells like whatever hes baking tho

one of the few out of everyone listed to have been able to travel to literally everywhere

solomon

was probably on kitchen nightmares once, but only to get feedback from chef gordon ramsay. then he used his magic to prevent the episode from airing...

was in an orchestra, one of the best times of his life. played the violin. asmo watched him in the audience once, but didnt approach him until well after that performance.

he CANNOT sing. he can, however, rap.

doesnt listen to music. he listens to podcasts! but every now and then he turns on background music, but prefers it to be instrumental stuff

never wears sunglasses. also does not have a driver's license. cannot drive a regular car. could maybe fly an airplane.

due to his immortality he has learned almost every language to exist, but finds himself speaking mandarin the most. knows most dialects too

similar smell to barbatos but u can also smell some sunscreen on him too. like, generic beach day suncreen

he has a lot of pact marks, so he once had the idea to match foundation to his skin. it took him two weeks but he eventually perfected a combination. yes he will help u find ur perfect shade if u ask him to

simeon

another country music man. has also made a tiktok or two to that one song that goes "he cant even bait a hook." they are private tho

angel country music exists and simeon invented it

if he visits the human world and wears more causal clothing he probably tucks his shirt into his pants

wears a speedo at the beach i tell u, speedo at the beach

he can speak german...i can feel it

uses his pointer finger to type and holds the phone like 2 inches away from his face so sometimes his nose will push a key hence all his typos

has no signature smell. he simply smells like your favorite scent all the time. if multiple people are around him at once, everyone smells a different smell. it's pretty rad

"what does he smell like to himself?" u may be asking. hmm...a church? 💀

luke

his first pet was a goldfish and a few months before the exchange program happened, he was given a koi pond!

secretly likes hanging out with levi sometimes just to play with henry. makes him miss his pet fish back home

so his favorite movie is probably finding nemo and he threw a fit when nemo touched the butt

luke is probably learning german bc of simeon, though he'd like to learn more of the dead languages just for fun

i dont think he listens to music often or has any preferences, he just listens to whatever is playing on the radio

but he finds himself listening to the music mc listens to

smells like freshly baked goods all the time. or fresh laundry. but like, not combined. just depends on the day

[betawooper]

rating every demon fight in kny bc i can

non-biased, completely objective rating (more or less) of every significant demon fight in kny based on a number of factors, including:

cleverness of fighting tactics

placement in the story’s timeline

integration of character backstories

cohesive themes between characters

etc

by non-biased and objective i mean i’m not skewing the rating if a death felt fair or whatever

everything past where the anime ended will be under a read more so anime onlys who havent watched mugen train, youre safe lol

oh and i reread the manga like 20+ times (reread the latter arcs at least 40 times, haha hyperfixations am i right?) so be rest assured im not pulling these ratings out of my ass

also ill randomly be bolding certain phrases just to improve readability

anyways let’s gooooo

VS NEZUKO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and Nezuko. Tanjirou is fending her off by putting the axe handle in her mouth, keeping her from eating him. End Image Description.]

10/10

i like how realistic it is, because yeah tanjirou would react the way to he did with zero fighting skills against a demon

very clear why tanjirou is fighting nezuko and shows a bit of worldbuilding on how normal people react to their family becoming demons

always nice to see worldbuilding

giyuu is the perfect example of a seasoned demon slayer who’s good at his job, and he juxtaposes tanjirou very well in that aspect

my only complaint is not directly in this fight itself but how nezuko is handled throughout the story as a whole

like bro, it is literally never explained why nezuko is different from demons

could have been easily explained if maybe her family’s ghosts like slapped her hand every time she wanted to eat a person but nope

she’s just built different lol

so yeah youll see future ratings get points docked off bc nezuko unlocks some secret power with no prior explanation other than she angy >:3

VS TEMPLE DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a demon. The demon has a sharp-nailed hand over his neck and there are four text bubbles around him saying “But a wound like this... will heal in no time! See? The bleeding already stopped!” End Image Description.]

10/10

may be more forgettable compared to like rui but still good

tanjirou did exceptionally well in this fight and his ability to think on his feet is once again beautifully illustrated here (trapping this dude’s head against the tree trunk with the axe)

very clever

again, establishes more demon worldbuilding regarding regeneration and still being able to move without their head

and the demons burning in the sunlight thing since nezuko wasn’t able to show that

the ending where tanjirou hesitates to kill the demon also serves to show his sympathetic nature towards demons that will last throughout the entirety of the first 60-ish chapters

:)

we’ll talk about what the hell happens to tanjirou after that

or not, it could honestly be its own post

VS HAND DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a many-handed demon. He has six hands around him, three of them covering his mouth while he chuckles, two of them grabbing his cheeks, and one holding on to the top of his head. There are two text bubbles saying “That’s how many of Urokodaki’s students I have eaten! I’ve decided to kill all of his students!” End Image Description.]

10/10

ooooh probably the first big fight against a demon in the series

oh yeah not doing the two random demons tanjirou one shot in a single blow bc eh

anyways hand demon’s pretty goddamn scary, considering the fact that this is the 5th demon or whatever tanjirou has had to face so far

very nice way to show us how much tanjirou’s innate intuition and all his other random abilities (sense of smell, hard forehead) can come together and help him decapitate this guy

i liked the mini history with urokodaki this dude had and why he had beef with our favorite mentor figure, it establishes that urokodaki was in fact a super good demon slayer and its cool to see that actually shown

i also liked that small moment of compassion tanjirou gave this demon, staying consistent with tanjirou’s established kindness

the demon’s sad tale with killing his own brother very much humanizes him when all the reader has seen up to this point is that this guy is a monster who eats people

sets up the theme of demons just being humans but being victims of circumstance that unfortunately doesn’t hold up as well in arcs past mugen train

VS SWAMP DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou fighting off three horned demons as they appear from below. There is a spiky text bubble saying “Three of them!!!” End Image Description.]

10/10

not my most favorite fight but it still portrays everything alright and im not allowed to let my personal opinions mess with the rating so

i like how tanjirou mentioned the fact that he trained in conditions similar to the bog and explains how he pulled off the whirlpool form

using past experiences to aid him in the present, nice nice

tanjirou and nezuko dont quite work together very well but its yknow the first mission so ill chalk it up to simple inexperience

also the way the muzan curse thingie was hinted at here? fantastic way of showing that little bit of demon worldbuilding

...

oh god, it mentions nezuko being stronger than normal demons

ok its not a problem here per say since i can still suspend my disbelief, but later on it just becomes a glaring problem that gets worse over time

VS SUSAMARU AND YAHABA

[Image Description: Manga panels of Susamaru and Yahaba. The first one is a joyful Susamaru about to throw a temari ball. There is floating text saying “Is she one of Kibutsuji’s minions?!” The second image is an annoyed Yahaba, holding one of his eye-hands to cover himself. There are two text bubbles around him saying “My kimono got all dusty. Tch!” End Image Description.]

9/10

why dont these bitches have a good looking panel together dammit

anyways amazing entrance, the way yahaba used his hand eyes to track down tanjirou is really neat

the synergy yahaba and susamaru have is incredible, its awesome dude, they work extremely well together and it shows

tanjirou actually mixing his water breathing forms together is a god tier move and i absolutely love how he can show off his ability to think on his feet once again

establishing how yushiro’s bda works early on is really well done

establishing tamayo as a fugitive this early on is also super well done

not to get into spoiler territory but both these things pay off

how tamayo ended up defeating susamaru is literally awesome in so many ways

shows off both how smart she is by exploiting the muzan curse

and speaking of the muzan curse, we actually get to see what happens to demons who even say his name, back when it was hinted with the swamp demon

tamayo is amazing dude, and we get some real evidence of the horrible suffering demons go through if they even accidentally attempt to betray muzan :D

...

now heres what keeps this fight from being perfect

nezuko somehow grew stronger against susamaru’s temari

with no explanation

which could have been easily explained if tamayo was like “oh yeah the drug also boosts a demon’s strength temporarily”

but nope

god, i just dont like how gotouge handles nezuko’s power boosts throughout the series bc like i said before

no explanation is given anywhere

this is a huge issue, this isnt a pokemon game, you cant just kill demons and get exp at the end of every battle, level up, get some sweet stat bonuses and move on

(actually if gotouge established that this is how nezuko grew in power, than all my complaints about this would be gone, im not even joking)

anyways i get that nezuko is supposed to be “special” but thats too vague of a descriptor

how the hell is she special? ya gotta be more specific and stick with that explanation or that suspension of disbelief is going to disappear

VS TONGUE DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a four-eyed demon with horns and a long tongue. He is crawling in an awkward position, one foot in front of his tilted head. There are two text bubbles around him saying “Heh, heh! I’ll slurpy slurp your brains out through you ear!” End Image Description.]

10/10

not much to say, showcases zenitsu’s true abilities really well

nicely done

VS HORNED DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of a big, single-horned demon. There are three text bubbles saying “You dodged! You’re awfully lively for a human! It’ll be a treat to carve away your flesh!” End Image Description.]

10/10

would have ignored this fight if not for the fact we havent seen inosuke fight before

it definitely shows how very fast-paced and wild inosuke is

no complaints here lol

VS KYOGAI

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kyogai, a demon with tsuzumi drums attached to his shoulders. There are four text bubbles around him saying “Why?! Why does everyone keep sneaking through my house? It’s so aggravating. It’s my prey! It’s my prey! Found in my territory!” End Image Description.]

10/10

establishes marechi blood pretty early on, once again expanding the worldbuilding of kny which is always cool

interesting terrain where it’s always shifting, tanjirou once again proves his ability to adapt really quickly by altering one of his forms to work with the turning room

(man, i wish the form mixing/form modification thing carried on throughout the rest of the story, but it really didnt which is just a shame)

the injuries tanjirou had prior to this mission actually affecting him was a nice touch

oh yeah, kyogai gives us more worldbuilding (which is always nice) regarding the 12 kizuki, and the aspect of him being cast out due to being weak shows a lot about muzan’s indifference towards his own demons if they arent strong

his backstory being a failed writer once again humanizes kyogai as a former human being and not just a monster

tanjirou shows his sympathy and compassion again by not stepping on his written work and complimenting his bda

well, tbh tanjirou’s actions kinda came out of nowhere but its a very minor thing and not enough to dock a point off, like it didnt affect the outcome of the fight that much if at all

(so if you see future battles where points are docked off for things not logically making sense, its bc whatever nonsensical concepts were integrated into the fight actually turned the tide of the battle and thats a big no-no)

very good fight and if you remember how kinda bad tanjirou was at accurately slicing the swamp demon, you can see that he’s already improved leaps and bounds

im so proud of him

VS MOTHER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and the Mother Spider Demon. There is a light shining down from the top right on to the demon as Tanjirou slices her head off, rain following in his wake. There is floating text saying “Water Breathing: Fifth Form - Blessed Rain After the Drought!” around them. End Image Description.]

10/10

i mean does anyone disagree?

all the demon slayers getting their necks snapped by her threads was pretty horrific, probably more horrifying than anything else we have seen in the entire series if im gonna be honest

the death scene is probably the most beautiful one in the series

it reveals a water breathing form that we havent seen before thats the 5th form

as far as i know, no other breathing style has this merciful sword stroke so it shows a lot about the original water breather and what they might have been like

but enough about them, really the focus is on tanjirou bc this is like the best example by far of how kind and sympathetic he is to demons

dunno what else to say, its perfect

VS SON SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Agatsuma Zenitsu performing Thunder Breathing 1st Form: Sixfold on a spider-like demon. Zenitsu is crashing through the roof of a shed, and a zig-zag path is left behind. There are sound effects all over the panel, saying “Bam!” in large font. End Image Description.]

10/10

chose a picture without a huge spider on it bc i would like to not scare myself half to death

anyways extremely amazing fight, showcases zenitsu’s immense talent and skill, adapting the 1st form of thunder breathing to be a more versatile move

theres a moment where his backstory with kuwajima and kaigaku were revealed and his hidden insecurities are out in the open which is super nice and further develops a character weve only considered as comedic relief until now

the anime made the backstory scenes and the killing scene so much cooler

while there is no thematic connection between zenitsu and the demon, it really isnt necessary to keep this fight interesting

anyways another pretty much perfect fight

VS FATHER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kamado Tanjirou and Inosuke slashing at the Father Spider Demon. The demon has blocked Tanjirou’s sword with his arm, and Inosuke is slamming both his blades down on the demon’s other hand. End Image Description.]

10/10

again, not my most favorite fight but it does everything right

i do have to say it was excellent how gotouge hyped up the father spider demon to be the big bad, only just so the plot twist later takes the readers by surprise

nicely done

VS DAUGHTER SPIDER DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kochou Shinobu and the Daughter Spider Demon. Shinobu’s back is seen and her haori looks like a butterfly’s wings keeping her afloat as she holds her stinger blade out to the side. The demon looks surprised as blood gushes from her side, arm, shoulder, chest, neck, and forehead. There is floating text on the panel, saying “Insect Breathing - Butterfly Dance - Caprice!” End Image Description.]

10/10

first time weve seen shinobu and her fighting style

what i love most about this is how much it shows her true character, appearing as a carefree and naive individual so she seems underwhelming

then bam, reveals exactly how dangerous and uncaring she is of demons, listing out the specific ways she would torture the daughter spider demon in grotesque detail

her using poison to take demons by surprise is also super clever and brings back the worldbuilding established way earlier about wisteria being poisonous to demons

amazing integration of that concept

anyways this fight really encapsulates who shinobu is as a character and thats why it gets a perfect score

VS RUI

[Image Description: Manga panel of Rui holding his hand out directly towards the viewer. There are two text bubbles around him, saying “Give me your sister. If you hand her over quietly, I’ll spare your life.” End Image Description.]

8/10

not only is it a super scary fight but there is a deeper conflict between rui and tanjirou, what it means to be family

they are opposites in the sense that while tanjirou believes love is what makes a family, rui’s subconscious desperation for an unbreakable bond drives him to use fear to keep his “family” together

excellent juxtaposition of their values, and this is only further emphasized when rui expresses out loud what he was going to do to nezuko

i also like the symbolism regarding rui’s bda, how he uses threads or the “familial” bonds to cut up his fake family with it if they act out of turn or annoy him

super neat detail

alright what i dont like about this fight is nezuko (again)

mostly her unlocking her bda to turn the tide of the battle bc her mom was like “yo, wake up, your brother is going to be killed”

feels... forced ig

her bda in general is confusing and not consistent

man, i wish i could make a stronger argument for this but i do believe the problem stems from the fact that we dont ever know what nezuko is thinking, and what she thinks of tanjirou specifically

if she even cares for him as a sibling or if shes only going along with what her family is saying to her, things like that which would have been fixed if gotouge actually gave her thoughts some screen time

so the action feels pretty shallow

im also conflicted over tanjirou somehow remembering how dance of the fire god works

on one hand, hes using past information and applying it in the current setting so he doesnt die, which is understandable

but on the other hand, this was a teeny bit random?

i think what could have fixed this is if there was a scene in the beginning of the series where tanjirou was performing it himself, like practicing before he actually had to do it for new years

so that when the rui fight rolls around, it would have felt less like throwing dry spaghetti at a wall

but yeah

overall super good fight, giyuu ending up having to kill rui instead of tanjirou was super good in that tanjirou didnt become a pillar this early in the series and to show how strong giyuu is

there are some odd bits regarding the ultimate “beheading” of rui using nezuko and tanjirous supposed bonds but it doesnt kill the fight entirely so it deserves its pretty high score

***under read more is manga-only fights so beware***

VS ENMU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Enmu holding his hand out directly at the viewer, with a mouth on the back of it. There is floating text to the top right of Enmu that says “Whispers of Forced Unconscious Hypnosis!” End Image Description.]

9/10

id say this fight is definitely overshadowed by the dream stuff prior to this but its pretty good in its own right

enmu fusing with the train was kinda confusing, like when was it established that demons could fuse with objects?

this worldbuilding element doesnt even appear again so yeah thats why it loses a point

how the kmbk gang end up defeating enmu is pretty sweet though, tanjirou using dance of the fire god to sever the neck bone was really nice and shows that him using the breathing style in the rui fight wasnt a one time thing

while kyojuro’s role was smaller in this part, the next part makes up for it so i cant complain

anyways ye, almost perfect score but its pretty good

VS AKAZA (MUGEN TRAIN)

[Image Description: Manga panel of Akaza holding his hand out to the viewer’s left. There is a text bubble saying “Why don’t you become a demon?” End Image Description.]

10/10

this encounter is literally amazing okay?

after the crew kills the big bad, it seems like everything is fine

but plot twist, upper moon 3 appears out of nowhere

this is the first time the reader has seen an upper moon, let alone the 3rd/4th strongest demon in existence and the way gotouge handled this twist is fucking amazing

kyojuro’s death scene really shows just how human even the strongest pillars are against demons with incredible power

its just

amazing

VS OBI DEMON

[Image Description: Manga panels of the obi-like demon. The first image shows the obi hung in the air and strung over each other like decorations, with women-shaped patterns in its folds. The second image is Hashibira Inosuke fighting the Obi demon which now has lips and eyes. There is floating text in that panel saying “Breath of the Beast: Sixth Fang - Jagged Gnaw!!” End Image Description.]

10/10

on to red light district

this fight is admittedly super forgettable and not very interesting at least compared to the main fight with daki and gyutaro

but it wraps up the sub plot of the women and uzui’s wives going missing so it gets a perfect score for not messing that up

oh and it establishes the stretchy neck thing daki has going on which is very good

VS DAKI AND GYUTARO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Daki and Gyutaro. Daki is sitting on Gyutaro’s shoulders. There is a text bubble on the top right that says “The two of us are one, after all.” as well as floating text that reads “The power of the irregular siblings...!? Next issue lead color and the fight reaches its climax!!” End Image Description.]

8/10

love how this battle challenges tanjirou’s sympathy and kindness towards demons, just simply bc daki and gyutaro are horrible people

(too bad nothing came of this, which ill explain in the hantengu portion)

daki and gyutaro are very good villains and kept this fight super interesting from start to finish

uzui acting as a foil to gyutaro is nicely integrated and properly shown with how jealous gyutaro gets over seeing uzui’s perfect form and stature

tanjirou not only mixes forms but mixes breathing styles as well, which is so fucking awesome

(too bad it was only used like once throughout the entire series, its quite unfortunate)

the super high tension right after inosuke gets stabbed and tanjirou wakes up was expertly portrayed and handled, it felt like the kmbk gang and uzui were actually going to lose

super awesome

the tanjirou and gyutaro parallels are expertly portrayed, with how gyutaro taunts tanjirou over failing to protect his little sister, and the more visual thing where tanjirou imagined his own neck underneath his blade, that was super duper nice

the ending is extremely tense and emotionally gripping, gotouge did a really good job with that artistically too

the demon mark acquisition scene was surprisingly not frustrating, considering that it wasnt really explained prior to the battle

i do think it has to do with how it was explained later just exactly how they worked so its not just some random thing gotouge pulled out of their ass

so pretty good

/

what i dont like is nezuko and her full power demon form

first of all where the fuck did that come from? she just got angry and suddenly shes as powerful as an upper moon

like

how?

that doesnt make sense???

her extremely quick regeneration makes no sense

her ability to manipulate her blood’s properties makes no sense

and it doesnt even appear again so what was the point of that existing

none of this is even explained later which annoys me

that one part where tanjirou sings a lullaby to her to calm her down was alright ig but nezuko in this fight makes me extremely irritated and frustrated

just ugh

VS HANTENGU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Hantengu opening a shoji door. He is crawling inside, his hand in a gnarled, unnatural position. There is a text bubble saying “Eeeeeeek.” End Image Description.]

1/10

swordsmith village

this fight can go fuck itself /j

no but seriously it has so many problems that it would be shorter to name its redeeming qualities (which ill do later)

first off, the nezuko full power form thing again

i hate it so much with a passion

again, where did her ability to regenerate instantly even come from???? this is never explained, ever

and why did she cut herself on tanjirou’s sword anyway

did she somehow know that it was going to turn red if she burned it?

gotouge what the fuck, there is literally no reason why nezuko would do that and we cant even read her mind to see her thought process

gotouge hates nezuko, i swear

/

remember when i said uzui is meant to be a foil to gyutaro in the rld fight? its pretty obvious that those two are opposites, it was nicely done

... what the hell does mitsuri’s insecurities about strength have to do with whatever the fuck hantengu has going on (which is basically nothing)?

so no meaningful connection between mitsuri and hantengu

theres no meaningful connection between tanjirou and hantengu other than tanjirou getting pissed off for like the second time

also tanjirou’s thing with being kind and sympathetic to demons was entirely dropped at this point

but instead of it leading up to a corruption arc of some sorts, it just doesnt

like honestly if something actually came of that anger he exhibited in this arc and from red light district from this point forward story-wise, i would have counted this as an amazing writing decision

but it literally doesnt so who cares

(god, i really start to hate what happened to his character after this )

and genya’s revealed motivation also doesnt fit at all with hantengu’s thing, he’s not a foil, not a parallel, nothing, there is nothing

/

tanjirou being the catharsis for development for mitsuri and muichirou, who he has only talked to like twice

theres definitely a better way to handle those two’s developments without his help

like gotouge, you have a big cast of characters, use them lol

/

i want to kick hantengu in the face for being boring as fuck (at least his clones have cool looking weapons)

doesnt even have a proper backstory, just a single spread of him being blamed for shit as a human

like... thats it? this is upper moon 4 what the hell

/

theres no clever form mixing here at all (regarding tanjirou) which probably would have helped with foreshadowing the 13th form for dance of the fire god/sun breathing better

also gotouge established that as tanjirou’s thing and now he doesnt do that stuff anymore which sucks

/

oh hey remember when tanjirou actually learned how to do zenitsu’s speed boost thing?

if you didnt, i dont blame you bc it literally doesnt appear again, ever

you could argue that he adapted it into his “waltz flash” technique or whatever the fuck that is but the way it was integrated into this fight was like throwing dry spaghetti at a wall

which is just a shame bc its meant to be representative of how tanjirou and zenitsu are good pals but the way it was utilized is forgettable as hell

/

i absolutely loathe the crimson blade concept as a whole and im mentioning this now bc its going to come into play why future instances where this goddamn thing comes up again causes points to be lost

its inconsistent as fuck ill tell you that

/

at least some yoriichi stuff appeared here and not shoved into the final battle with everything else

so the yoriichi stuff later didnt come out of absolute nowhere

genya and mitsuri’s unique fighting styles expand the kny worldbuilding just a little more which is always nice

tanjirou got a cool sword out of this which would have been cooler if him and yoriichi had a deeper connection that was actually explored

but we didnt get shit so whatever

other people getting demon marks being revealed here is also okay so that again, the final battle isnt filled with absolutely everyone getting their marks at once

demon marks have their own slew of problems but its not as bad as the fucking crimson sword shit

god i hate the crimson sword shit

...

dude this section needs a tldr, even i cant sit and read through my shit

TL;DR - this fight sucks and crimson swords are bullshit (more on this later)

VS GYOKKO

[Image Description: Manga panel of Tokitou Muichirou and Gyokko. Muichirou is looking to the left while Gyokko is looking to the right, both with their backs to each other. There are mist clouds billowing in the foreground and background, as well as a slash mark going across Gyokko’s neck. End Image Description.]

7/10

this fight suffers from the same lack of cohesive themes through characters like the hantengu battle bc the antagonist is given nothing

but its better

we havent actually seen mui fight before so theres no consistencies that the reader has to keep track of for now

and there arent like 10 characters in the fight so this fight gets a lot of points just for being a lot more coherent

i do like that this fight shows just how good mui is that he can defeat an upper moon by himself

mui’s backstory is neat

gyokko’s bda is very interesting too

... thats pretty much it lol

ye, anyways not the best fight but not the worst fight either

VS KAIGAKU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kaigaku holding the hilt of his blade with one hand. There is two text bubbles around him, saying “...As usual, you’re still shabby. It’s been a while, Zenitsu.” End Image Description.]

9/10

alright on to final battle arc

theres some good fights and then some really sucky ones, but this one was pretty incredible and very emotionally charged

theres a clear reason why zenitsu and kaigaku are battling each other (kai betrayed the corps and inadvertantly caused the only parental figure in zenitsu’s life to die, and zenitsu is rightfully pissed off about that)

the visual yin-yang symbolism is awesome too

zenitsu winning due to using the 7th form he created himself (which i have reason to believe was inspired by tanjirou) was the perfect ending to the fight, really couldnt ask for anything better and is a perfect example of how much of an effect tanjirou has had on zenitsu

the 7th form is what tanjirou’s waltz flash should have been lol

/

what keeps this fight from being absolutely perfect is lack of development prior to this conflict

(since the final battle arc is basically a culmination of all the hinted developments through the series, im going to actually factor in how much and how well these conflicts were foreshadowed)

anyways if we had actually seen zenitsu, kaigaku, and kuwajima actually interacting with each other and showing how they were essentially a family (not just through flashbacks), it would have made zenitsu placing the responsibility of killing kai onto himself a lot more tragic

but like, apart from brief flashbacks where zenitsu actually met kaigaku off screen and that one thing all the way back in natagumo where both kuwajima and kai were introduced, thats pretty much it in terms of thunder family development

so yeah its underdeveloped for sure

also one random thought, i personally think zenitsu should have gotten his demon mark in this fight, it would have been cool to see

VS AKAZA (INFINITY FORTRESS)

[Image Description: Manga panel of Akaza’s face. There are two text bubbles around him, saying “Okay, let’s get started. It’s time for the feast.” There is also floating text saying “The inspection of the strong has begun...” as well as a simple box on the lower left, denoting its the end of chapter 147. End Image Description.]

6/10

oh god please dont hate me for this

ill list the good things first how about that

this conflict was foreshadowed perfectly in mugen train, you bet the readers were expecting a tanjirou vs akaza battle after the death of kyojuro and gotouge delivered

akaza’s power is shown extremely well with how many close calls tanjirou and giyuu had while fighting him

akaza eventually giving up on his own volition was really nice and fit into the context of the battle very very well, like sure tanjirou and giyuu wouldnt understand why he gave up but us readers do know

akaza is a really good character and a good villain

/

now notice how im only mentioning akaza and not giyuu or tanjirou in the good aspects

bc those two are eh

no form mixing at all from either tanjirou and giyuu

i know i said form mixing was kind of tanjirou’s thing but you’d think giyuu would have gotten more creative with his moves once akaza said that he was getting predictable

(well he said he “ran out of water breathing forms” but same thing)

so its kinda bland lol

speaking of giyuu, his whole thing with his insecurities of being weak wasnt handled well (it was sort of immediately brushed off in pillar training, and its unclear what part of his character arc he was in)

like sure him announcing that he’s going to protect tanjirou is cool but it feels like he was haphazardly dropped into the tanjirou and akaza conflict

isnt he supposed to be both their foils? that wasnt really explored that well in this fight and theres no deep meaning behind him even being here just analyzing what he did in it

he could have been handled better or even given more focus is what im saying

the anatta state came out of nowhere, im sorry okay? just bc inosuke like barely hinted at not being able to sense grandma hisa bc she had no fighting spirit and tanjurou magically taught his son how to achieve this state doesnt mean it was properly integrated into the fight

if the anatta state was actually explored prior to this battle, i would have given it a pass but it just feels like a cheap and poorly developed trick to get around akaza’s technique development (which is overpowered as fuck might i add)

gotouge should have just given akaza a plausible weakness to his technique development instead, especially since they dont use or even mention the anatta state after this

the transparent world shit makes no sense but ill elaborate on that in the koku battle analysis

oh and this thing doesnt affect the score but why wasnt there a “yoriichi visage overlapping” moment when tanjirou was fighting akaza? hes an upper moon, he should have gotten those visions but he didnt

for some reason

anyways this battle was alright and has good set up but the middle and end parts didnt hold up as well bc random concepts were thrown at us without prior explanation or development

VS DOUMA

[Image Description: Manga panel of Douma licking Shinobu’s butterfly pin. There are two text bubbles around him saying “Anyway, tonight is a good night. Such fine feasts keep showing up one after another.” End Image Description.]

9/10

damn, such an amazing fight

the build up to this was properly foreshadowed

shinobu finally showing her true anger after hiding it for so long is amazing

douma is a super interesting character and fantastic villain

shinobu showing off her true power and determination against douma was sooooo nice

shinobu’s poisonous body plan is so clever and so interesting

if i was to rate the shinobu part of the fight alone, it would have gotten a 10/10 no question

the reason why its knocked down a point is because of the kanao and inosuke part

dont get me wrong, the way kanao is able to hold her own against douma by herself is pretty cool, how shes meant to parallel douma with their similar struggles surrounding human emotions and demonstrate how she has grown as a person, how she regains the ability to cry

that shit is cool, inosuke also getting in touch with his emotions after learning what happened to his mom was super neat as well

however

bc this battle takes place in the final arc with everything else, there wasnt proper build up regarding many things, the kotoha reveal especially

so inosuke feels kinda forced into the kanao shinobu and douma conflict, similar to how giyuu felt forced into the tanjirou and akaza conflict

its quite unfortunate bc if the kotoha stuff was actually explored prior to the confrontation, this “forced” feeling would have disappeared

i know some people have suggested that the douma fight should have just been its own arc, and i very much agree, it would have certainly helped fix this problem regarding inosuke and kotoha

last random thought, i wish shinobu, kanao, and inosuke got their demon marks

VS KOKUSHIBOU

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kokushibou looking directly at the viewer, holding the hilt of his blade as if he’s going to pull it out. There are text boxes around him saying “This... is Upper Moon One... He’s so different compared to the other Upper Moons. He looks so dignified and majestic.” The text boxes are narrated by Tokitou Muichirou. End Image Description.]

5/10

this fight is... mediocre

at least theres a more tangible connection between muichirou and kokushibou

even though that was handled kinda poorly

tbh there really was no point to revealing that mui is koku’s descendant like at all, it just had no significant bearing to the plot of the fight

sanemi’s backstory being here is... okay ig?

idk the whole shinazugawa conflict has fundamental problems that i just cant think of any other place to put it without changing the entirety of canon

the marechi blood concept coming back was nice though

genya is there

him getting his bda was cool and helped turn the tide of the battle in a satisfying way (before kicking the bucket but thats not the focus here)

gyomei is a hollow husk of a character who barely got anything at all

but his fighting style is extremely cool and conveys his immense power very well

oh and him and sanemi are amazing at working together, like better than giyuu and tanjirou, and better than kanao and inosuke

theyre that good yet pretty much nobody acknowledges it which is sad

koku himself is pretty interesting and pretty tragic, very nice villain

but everyone together?

gonna be honest but this is such a random collection of characters, there was basically no foreshadowing that these four were going to go up again kokushibou, they are not that connected very well

i know there was this one post that focused on the theme of family that was common in all 5 characters in the fight but its just not enough

it would have been more cohesive if gotouge emphasized gyomei, mui, sanemi, and genya being like different aspects of yoriichi coming together to kill kokushibou hundreds of years after yoriichi failed to kill him

lmao its not like the 4 of them defeated koku with the power of family or friendship, they just smacked him over and over with a flail, shot him with magical bullets, and stabbed a crimson sword into his abdomen

wouldnt have been too hard to switch over to koku’s pov and go “damn these bitches are like my stupid brother”

...

speaking of crimson swords

i fucking hate the crimson sword concept oh my god can i complain about it now? im gonna complain about it now

unlike demon marks, the crimson blades werent even given any proper conditions, you just hold the stupid thing hard enough and it somehow imbues it with magical properties with no logic behind those properties

what part of crimson swords completely destroys a demon’s body in an instant? even muzan didnt go through that process when he was almost killed by yoriichi so where in the goddamn fuck did it come from

it could be explained bc the sword was left in the same spot for a long time but this tactic doesnt even appear again in a meaningful way (didnt kill muzan when tanjirou and giyuu held the sword together) so what the fuck was the point of having this even exist

its so underdeveloped and confusing and i hate it

the transparent world stuff is also confusing as shit and its pretty much never explained how they work aside from the vague “close your mind” advice, like why did it exist, it did nothing to help the present day demon slayers

its just so... poorly integrated

yeah anyways this is around the same rating as the akaza fight but a little worse bc there wasnt that strong set up beforehand

VS KOKUSHIBOU (SENGOKU ERA)

[Image Description: Manga panel of a bag getting ripped open, pieces of a wooden flute tumbling out. End Image Description.]

10/10

easily 10/10

this fight shows the tragedy of kokushibou giving in to his envy and hatred, when yoriichi cries over seeing his own family commit terrible attrocities against the people he wanted to protect

and yoriichi dies, now carrying the fact that he couldnt even save his own brother from the influence of muzan on his conscious forever

what a sad ending for yoriichi

and after koku angrily slashes apart yoriichi’s corpse, having him find and keep the flute he gave to him when they were kids to the present day gives him a small shred of humanity in the midst of his monstrous anger

VS NAKIME

[Image Description: Manga panels of Nakime. The first one shows a low quality version of her playing her biwa. The second one is a close up of her eye. There are spiky text bubbles saying “It’s Upper Rank... 4!” End Image Description.]

0/10

no nakime backstory

not even a goddamn fight

forgettable

useless

VS MUZAN

[Image Description: Manga panel of Kibutsuji Muzan in his white-haired, mouth-covered form. There are text bubbles around him saying “Not a single one was of use to me. I will crush the demon hunters tonight. I’ll massacre them all right now.” End Image Description.]

1/10

._.

i have many complaints but ill try my best to not make this another hantengu rant section lol

first off, obanai deserved better

im serious, this poor dude was forgotten until pretty much the end when we finally get a backstory out of him

and then he died

what a waste of a potentially amazing character

mitsuri getting taken out early was ehhh

pretty sure someone else made a post about her supposedly being extremely strong but she was nerfed in this battle which i agree with

literally none of the pillars work together very well, like remember how i praised sanemi and gyomei for being super coordinated? lmao that doesnt exist anymore

you could say this is caused by desperation though and you wouldnt be wrong, its just boring to sit through

that causes issues bc this now basically requires the crimson sword and transparent world concepts to be there to spice things up

but in this fight, they do nothing in the long run (except for tanjirou using the crimson sword at the very very end)

youve already heard me talk about why those two things are super shittily integrated and i cant be bothered repeating myself so moving on

kanao, inosuke, and zenitsu

they... exist? they didnt do much tbh, which i guess is the point but like, now its boring again

nezuko could have been used as a potential way to raise the stakes and make things interesting again (like “ah shit, muzan might actually be unkillable if he gets nezuko but its okay bc shes not here- oh fuck shes here this is not good”)

but nothing came of her running off except confirmation that she became human again so whatever

uzui and shinjuro are useless, why werent they at the fight?

like they could have followed nezuko and contributed to the battle even a little but they just didnt and now theres literally no point to them appearing in this arc at all

wasted potential

tanjirou

i wish him going absolutely apeshit had actual substance behind it, like it being a part of his character arc or something

i remember having this one theory that he had a corruption arc (due to dropping his kindness thing towards demons) and i wanted this to be true so badly

but it doesnt exist

not with how the series ended

god

the only thing that saves this fight from being complete trash is tamayo’s poison thing being amazingly executed

and the part where everyone got blasted away, losing limbs and shit, that made things a little more interesting again

but thats it

VS MUZAN (SENGOKU ERA)

[Image Description: Manga panels of Kibutsuji Muzan, Tamayo, and Tsugikuni Yoriichi. The first one has Muzan and Tamayo, while the second one has Yoriichi pulling out his sword. There are text boxes saying “And the moment I met him, I understood that I was born into this world to defeat this man.” End Image Description.]

9/10

finally something good again

while short, that’s just the nature of all of yoriichi’s battles with demons

anyways pretty nice, theres a clear reason why this battle exists (shows the scenario that made the original breather get super close to defeating muzan in detail)

adding tamayo here was a nice touch

my only complaint is that it seemed extremely coincidental that yoriichi somehow developed a breathing style specifically countering muzan’s multiple organs without even knowing prior that he had all those brains and hearts floating around freely in his body

like thats kind of ridiculous, even for yoriichi whos supposed to be “blessed by the gods”

could just be me though

VS TANJIROU

[Image Description: Manga panels of Kamado Tanjirou in his demon form. The first image has his eyes closed. The second image has his eyes opened and the tumor on his face almost completely faded. There are text boxes around him saying “You will destroy the demon hunters in my stead.” End Image Description.]

1/10

hoo boy

ok first off, demon tanjirou lasted for 2 chapters

thats it

2 chapters

so thats already a problem

i am aware its meant to parallel the beginning of the series but also its ridiculous how completely vague and rushed this entire thing was

nezuko doesnt do shit through not just this battle but this entire arc which i already explained so not gonna go into it further

kanao magically having a demon cure on her made very little sense

the scene where tanjirou leaves muzan in purgatory is pretty but if you look at it in the context of everything else, its ambiguous and confusing

(if someone could explain it and see how it connects to the original theme of “demons just being victims of circumstance,” i would love to hear it)

/

actually you know what makes me so mad about this “fight” as a whole? there was so much potential to do more with this concept

and im not talking about him escaping and nezuko becoming a demon slayer roleswap au (even though its a pretty cool concept)

him becoming a demon could have been a metaphor for his lost kindness and sympathy towards demons halfway through the series

it could have been a punishment for letting his anger towards muzan cloud his judgement

it could have symbolized literally anything about him losing his humanity as he got stronger

but those three things are just scenarios from my head, they dont exist in this series just based off of what weve seen from these two chapters

its disappointing

the only thing keeping this from getting a 0 is the one part where inosuke couldnt chop off tanjirou’s head bc he cared about him too much

that at least shows inosuke had grown as a character

everything else is just meaningless and convoluted garbage and “convoluted” is not what you should be aiming for if this is supposed to be the ending of your series

IN SUMMARY

early kny is very good, later kny is questionable and the ending is just a mess of wasted potential and disappointment

i get why gotouge had to have the transparent world ability, crimson blade ability, and the demon marks appear before they all appeared on yoriichi but theyre all just so underdeveloped and terribly handled in the battles they are used, it makes me want to kick a wall

like lmao, i could literally think of so many ways they could have been properly integrated, hell, im even writing a whole goddamn rewrite using my ideas for these three things (link to that is in my pinned)

just, god

if you want to debate over these ratings, my ask box is open ig? idk

[helisol]

:)

again not a finished fic but very extensive notes, this one’s a chonker, 4k words

tl;dr: take it a ds9 but make it into high fantasy wizards. garashir, kiradax and quodo. we’ve got it all here folks.

SO BASICALLY 

I read a book about a young witch apprentice in a world where every magician has a ~special name~ based on an object/plant/animal they’re spiritually connected to.

then I watched ds9 and got introduced to the concept of cardassians being lizards.

the result- wizard lizard.

So Garak “The Lizard” is a mage that got exiled from his home country and ended up taking a pretty neat job in a rural area of a larger empire where being a wizard is Cool and Widely Accepted. 

his duties include keeping the villages around his tower safe, looking for young mages to turn into apprentices, and sometimes making clothes because he’s Still A Tailor.

however, because of his chronic “i no wanna work” disease, this lizard has not actually been looking around the villages near him for magically gifted children. shame on him. 

because through his negligence Julian Bashir, young village doctor, grew up without even knowing that he can do ~magic~

but he soon finds out when his town gets attacked by a Big Evil Magic Monster. The Lizard is taking his sweet time to come to their rescue and Julian can’t just sit by and watch innocent people get mauled by a Chimera or Giant Mantis.

So Julian does the heroic thing and jumps inbetween a wounded child and the monster in the exact second Garak shows up.

And he gets to watch as Julian unleashes some Magic for the first time.

Then Garak Kind Of Abducts Julian So He Can Teach Him Magic

Garak is contractually obligated and allowed to take on anyone who is capable of magic as an apprentice, and he finds Julian’s magic interesting enough to invoke that contract now. Not Julian himself though. Only his magic. for now.

Julian- for like, the first week- is NOT OKAY with being teleported into a tower fortress by a wizard he finds intimidating and scary, and he loudly protests when Garak actually starts to teach him magic spells.

However, this is Julian, and he *is* intrigued by the thought of being able to use magic For Doing Good.

So one night he admits defeat and slinks up to the tower and goes “Okay. Compromise. Teach me healing magic.”

To which Garak is like 👀 “Okay.”

They start having regular magic lessons mostly focused on healing, which Julian is just naturally good at. So they move on to other things. Which Julian is Not naturally good at.

And he becomes very frustrated.

Garak tries to assuage him and says that he doesn’t have to be accomplished in every single field and discipline- which is logically true- but Julian is having none of it since Garak is accomplished in every field.

In a fit of anger Julian unleashes emotional magic again and breaks some of Garak’s things. Books, vials, a desk, nothing super major. But Julian is still surprised and shocked at himself for causing trouble like this and he Runs Away. Straight up exits stage left.

And Garak, who just got flung against the wall by his little apprentice, just rushes to the window and looks as Julian runs away and he is. Disappointed.

Next we have Julian returning home and everyone is like "Doctor!!! You were gone for half a year???" And Julian is like "I thought I was only gone for a month at most-"

Yeah the joke is time flies when you’re having fun because Julian *did* have fun living with Garak. He doesn’t regret leaving though, after all Garak was probably furious after he wrecked his study he wasn’t.

So Julian says to himself "Hmph. I'll just stay home for a week. Garak will hardly notice I'm gone. And then I can make it up to him."

But Then He Stays For A Whole Month

He has to instruct a new doctor to take over the nearby villages, do some paperwork, help some sick people, practice some magic on his own- and at the end of the month He Doesn’t Want To Stay Any Longer.

He’s always been different from the other village people, and now he finally got a taste of what it’s like to have someone help you to achieve your potential and widen your horizon and he *doesn’t* want to give that up for a boring but busy country life.

So back to the tower it is. Julian arrives, the place is kind of messy, and when he finds Garak he is in his study. on the floor. a little drunk, definitely sad, and Very Surprised To See Him.

Here we get a scene where Garak tipsily tells Julian how much he’s grown to appreciate him, not just for his magic talent, but as a person- and that he’s missed him.

But The Next Morning Garak Does Not Remember

And he's just like "Oh Julian. Youre back. I'd almost forgotten about you."

For a second Julian wants to punch a wall because *Yesterday You Told Me You Missed Me*, but then he just Smiles. settles for what they have right now. and asks Garak to continue teaching him magic.

so they go on. and have. so many gay moments.

And then Garak gets told to attend some kind of magic council meeting/banquet.

Julian says something along the lines of "Oh well, guess I'll stay home. You know, protect the fort. Practice magic." but he's a little sad about it.

But garak just goes "Hmm No. I'm taking you with me"

"What-" "I'm introducing you as my apprentice to the magic council." "W h a t-" "Oh also you need pretty clothes for this so I'm gonna make you some. Since you’re a commoner with no actual taste." "W H A T-"

So garak makes a really nice suit for Julian and for himself they match and they go to the Cool Wizard Banquet.

At which Julian meets a lot of wizards and witches and he's like "Wow this is so exciting!" but he also realises he is a Total Country Bumpkin And Noob compared to these people and their apprentices.

He also hears that Apparently the Local Wizard of every region is supposed to do a 5-yearly sweep of the surrounding towns to check for kids that have magic potential and then send them to Magic School/take them in as their apprentice directly.

And Garak. Did not do that.

He was Lazy and Angery. Exile will do that to you.

Julian isn’t too happy when he learns about this and he walks out of the banquet hall into the garden- to where Garak follows him.

"So just because you were all bitchy about having to follow this country's rules about magic you let me grow up not knowing my full potential? How many of my childhood friends might be able to do magic if they tried?"

“I was in a really bad place back then."

"SO WHAT? Things are okay now because you found me? If you had been two minutes early during that attack you wouldnt even know I could use magic!"

"...but I *wasn’t* early!"

So Julian just throws up his hands in frustration and leaves to get away from Garak for a while.

The next day he mingles more with the other apprentices and they exchange Ideas and Skills and also Gossip about their teachers.

Some of the apprentices suggest that Julian could go to magic school for a while before applying for a *new* teacher, since obviously Garak did him wrong.

This doesn’t sound like a bad idea, so he talks with some older mages and most of them are friendly and are like “Oh yeah, sure, we’d love to take you in.”

But then it turns out a lot of people are talking behind his back about how much of an outlier he is.

(wizard culture is like 50% magic and 50% gossip)

So Julian is standing on a balcony and down below he hears a group of Douche Wizards discussing his inadequacies.

And it kinda makes Julian feel like absolute shit, so his powers go wobbly again. But then enter stage right: Garak

Who properly puts those wizards into their rightful place like "Say one more bad thing about my apprentice and I’ll blast your punk ass back to Romulus. You should KNOW the reason why I dont usually take apprentices, but here you are anyway saying he has no power. He has more power in his pinky than all of you combined."

Turns out there’s an extra layer to Why Garak didn’t do the "Check for Magicians in your Area" thing- it’s because he openly has no interest in training or working with anyone who isnt Special or Powerful.

Which means Julians happens to be. very special. and very powerful.

And hearing that from Garak makes him go 😳

His emotions are running high and he starts *floating*. Probably the worst thing to do on a first floor balcony out of All The Things To Do On A First Floor Balcony.

So he’s Floating and he doesnt know how to make that Stop.

He panics, starts falling and basically crashes right into Garaks arms.

"Oh great, youre right on time. We're leaving."

"What? But the banquet lasts for a week?" also I'm still a little mad but also a little in love with you?

But Garak has already teleported them back to the tower before he can really argue.

Anyway Julian is upset about many things overall, but mostly that he didnt get to dance. He practiced a lot in his off time.

Thank God Garak Knows This 

"...I know how to make magic music. Let’s have a little fun at least."

They dance and Julian starts floating *again*.

Garak 👀’s @ Julian floating "Okay I’ve been recording most of your emotion based powers. This is new."

Julian just Floats Higher out of embarrassment, so garak is like ‘well I'll just join him up there.’

So he does and Julian is like “WHY CAN YOU DO THAT. SHOW ME HOW TO DO THAT. HOW CAN I CONTROL THIS."

Turns out his emotions are too unclear, which makes his magic unbalanced, so really all they have to do is get him some Clarity.

Garak is like "Well one very easy way to do that is-" and then they kiss in the air. Floating. because I’m gay and I will use gay magic tropes as I see fit.

so that’s the garashir side of things, on to kiradax

There's Some Slow Burn In There

Basically Kira is a mage, but instead of using magic to fight she just Enchants Swords/Arrows/Other Weapons.

Because she fought in a wizard war and when there's not a lot of mana potions to go around you have to get creative.

She didn’t get a proper magician name because she was actually never anyone’s apprentice, but people still call her The Blade because she is just so cool.

Anyway in this universe mages age very slowly, and Kira is probably around 60 years old when she meets Jadzia. Which is not a lot in wizard years.

She does feels a little inadequate about being so Young and Inexperienced she didn’t really expect nor wanted to run into the legendary Jadzia Dax who everyone thinks is like 300 years old, maybe more.

So meeting someone who is her complete opposite just makes her go "Hmph. I dont wanna associate with you." 

But Jadzia keeps popping in randomly around her almost every day until Kira snaps like "WHAT is your problem???"

“I never learned how to enchant tools."

"What."

"Can you teach me?"

"The great Dax has never enchanted a single tool or weapon?"

"I took care of everything with other types of magic. Will you teach me?"

So Kira Nerys, The Blade, the person everyone looked down on because she uses enchanted tools instead of magic for everything- is being asked by this legendary mage to teach her something. What an honor. What an incredible thing.

But She Says No

So Jadzia keeps bothering her every day.

But eventually bothering her turned into "Hey wanna get some coffee? Wanna go to the library with me? Can I look at you while youre in the smithy? Do you wanna look at me while I come up with new magic formulas? Wanna get drunk together and maybe kiss but definitely have no recollection of it in the morning?"

- over a span of 10 years.

But at the end of those 10 years Jadzia still hasnt learned how to enchant tools.

And it takes One day at the magic banquet for Nerys to actually realise the Implications of that.

It’s the third banquet they've been to- together, as each other’s plus one.

They color coordinate their robes and wear matching accessoires. The works.

And Kira decides that now is the day to grill her Totally-Not-Girlfriend about the reason why she sticks around.

"You could have just gotten someone else to teach you how to enchant things."

"Why would I need anyone to teach me, I have you to enchant things *for me*."

"No but before I started doing it for you. Like the whole first five years of knowing me."

"Oh well I didn’t want anyone else because I was very much infatuated with you."

And Kira just bluescreens. Error 404 nerys.exe not found.

Until she catches herself.

"You...*were* infatuated with me?"

"Yes? You obviously never saw me that way though. So I stuck around for the good company and the coffee."

Now you see over the course of 10 years Kira’s irritation about Jadzia slowly turned into Something Else. But she thought Jadzia only saw her as a friend.

On the other hand Jadzia definitely had feelings from the start, but because kira was in Denial she didnt act on those feelings.

If I were a shitty writer or- god foirbid- *Straight*, I would have there be a miscommunication right about now and prolong their useless lesbian suffering.

But I’m not.

Basically Kira just goes 

"Okay but when you say *were* attracted to me does that mean you *stopped*?"

"Uh. No?"

"Cool. Excuse me, I need a moment."

So she tries to hide from this sudden revelation and her feelings in a hedge maze, but there’s no use hiding from Jadzia.

 Who, instead of just walking around the labyrinth to find her like a normal person, basically whacks down the bushes in a straight line until she reaches Kira.

"THERE YOU ARE! I used this completely unenchanted sword to get to you and tell you I definitely still like you. Now will you PLEASE teach me how to enchant tools as your first courting gift?"

And Kira is like "God yes you dumbass-" and they kiss.

now wizard quodo is funny because I kind of started this part as a joke but then it all got Serious

First of all Quark is Actually A Really Powerful Magician.

But what does he do with his great power?

Move from his home country to the city of wizards and open a bar.

Because he is still fundamentally *Quark*.

And Odo is still fundamentally Odo, because he is a Shapeshifting Alien From Actual Outer Space You Know.

He still went through the whole "I was studied by scientists (wizards) and couldnt let them know I was sentient for a long time which made me very grouchy and lonely" thing.

So Odo spends like ~100 years going from captivity/being an object of scientific study to living as a guard in the city of wizards.

Basically everyone thinks that Odo cant use magic- including Odo- because, well, he’s a bunch of slime that came from a meteor.

Then he meets Quark, powerful wizard and bartender.

And he has *no* idea who he is.

Only that he’s the guy who runs that one shady gambling bar and is involved in some illegal business.

And Quark is like "Ah finally. A worthy opponent."

So he and Quark have the same vibe as on DS9- where Quark keeps doing illegal stuff and Odo tries to stop him and the universe decides to say enemies to lovers 400k words slowburn.

And one day Quark gets into some Seriously shady business with some people who are now very aggressively demanding Quark give them their money back

and they're. you know. threatening violence.

Odo shows up and right before this one dude is about to straight up sucker punch Quark he's like "HALT!" and Wow He Made A Magic Happen.

Now. Because Quark is Indebted to Odo. He is expected to take him on as his magic apprentice.

At first he is Not Down For That. They both aren’t. So even though technically they are teacher and apprentice they both just refuse to work together.

Until Odo goes to check up on Quark one day- because as we all know he makes it a point to drop by his bar four times a day just to let him know he's thinking about him- and Quark is in trouble again.

Only this time Odo is like "I'm not gonna help him. I dont even know how I *could* help him. Since he hasn’t taught me any magic, the bastard."

So he wants to just pass by and leave when Quark basically starts to just Demolish these people with magic in a frightening and totally not impressive display.

MIND YOU Quark is still generally incompetent. If this was D&D he'd have like, very low skill points but unlimited spell slots.

Anyway Odo goes 👀

Because him being unable to use magic in a country/city where everyone he *knows* can use magic has always made him feel bad.

So he goes to Quark like "Okay. I changed my mind. Please teach me magic."

And Quark tries to teach Odo magic, earnestly. 

And Odo tries to learn magic from Quark, for real. 

But the key word here is *try*.

Because neither is very good at what theyre *trying* to do.

Odo didn’t Really want to learn from Quark and that's pretty much the reason why Quark doesnt Really want to teach Odo. But They Try.

There’s a lot of fights and arguments and "You’re not doing it right" vs "You’re not explaining it right"

But hey, at least Odo can now do some magic, which makes his guard job a lot easier.

He also gets to socialise more with other wizards and their apprentices, and he becomes a generally happier pile of humanoid goo!

Meanwhile Quark slowly but surely turns into a more Respected wizard. And his bar also becomes a bit more respectable as well.

it's almost like,,they both wanna be,,,,their best selves,,

and learning to work together has Somehow set them on the right path,,,

idk man sounds kinda gay,,,,

But then the banquet rolls around.

Quark is like "Oh fuck I Have to take Odo to this social function because hes my apprentice and thems are the rules."

and Odo is like "Oh fuck I Have to attend this social function with Quark because thems the rules."

The vibe they’re both getting is- "It's all fun and games when we're by ourselves but Somehow acting friendly in public feels Wrong." 

So they agree to Arrive together and then split up and spend as little time as possible together lest they fall victim to some kind of *feeling*.

And like all plans that Odo and Quark make it works out brilliantly for Exactly 5 Minutes.

Because while Quark is talking to his accomplished and very boring wizard acquaintances he kinda realises "God I wish Odo were here-"

And as Odo is talking to all these annoying ass apprentices he kinda realises "God I wish Quark was here-"

So that's what they do on the first day of the banquet. and the second. and the third. 

They just keep only seeing each other from the corner of their eyes but dont really get to talk/argue about anything and it's making them feel Not So Good, Actually

Now the fourth day is the kicker.

Because while Odo is talking to some people he gets tapped on the shoulder and there he is! The worst father on this side of the galaxy! Doctor Mora- but like, as a wizard scientist.

"Oh my god Odo? You’re here? How did you manage that? You can’t use magic dont be silly! *I* studied you and who would know you better than me? What? *you* know yourself better? Nonsense, now walk with me- how have you been :)?"

Obviously Odo is getting Very distressed but he can't exactly say No, so he walks around with Mora.

They sit down near a fountain and his ‘father’ just starts grilling Odo about what he's been up to.

And eventually they start talking about Quark

"Wait, *Quark*? The absolute magic failure who runs that disgusting establishment? That Quark?"

"Well I wouldnt put it like that, he’s not-"

But Mora goes on- "Oh no my dear boy that won't do! You have to learn from a *good* wizard. Like me! Dont you want that? Oh I'm sure you want that. That nasty good for nothing will resign as your teacher first thing tomorrow!"

And Odo is like "Now wait a minute, Quark might have his flaws, but-"

"There! See, you admitted it. He's flawed. He can't possibly be a good teacher for you. But I would be! I *raised* you."

But Odo is getting Rather Angy right about now.

"Well you did a pretty bad job raising me considering you didnt even know I could do magic until now."

"I can’t believe it. Quark is such a bad influence on you. You never used to talk back at me. This is what happens when you hang around with people who dont know you like I do."

Then something in him snaps and Odo just goes Off on Mora.

"MAYBE *YOU* DONT KNOW *HIM* LIKE I DO!"

And he basically breaks the fountain theyre sitting at with some accidental emotional magic.

So after Mora goes "...I better get someone to fix that-" and runs off, Odo is standing in front of this broken fountain and thinks about how this might be a cruel metaphor for his life. And then the worst possible thing happens.

He Spots Quark Badly Hidden Behind A Pillar

Internally he just goes 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' 

Externally though it’s more like "How much of that did you hear???"

Quark’s trying to lighten the mood with a "Haha well it's hard to avoid hearing things with lobes as big as mine!" 

But Odo is not playing, so he breaks the fountain some more. As intimidation.

So Quark goes "Okay. Alright. I heard all the parts where you defended my honor. Now move aside."

And Odo goes 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA' inside again, so he doesnt really move but just gets nudged aside by Quark.

Who returns the fountain back to its previous state.

Things are nice and silent for a second but then Quark disturbs the moment by saying "Okay now, real talk- you want another teacher, is that right?"

So Odos head whips up and he goes "No??? What the fuck quark. I thought you listened to that conversation. Youre the only one I want-"

and he Immediately slaps a hand over his mouth because Oh God That Came Out Wrong-

But Quark is just Laughing and being his usual little shit self like "Haha good one, let's go back inside now. (where the social conventions will force us to remain apart so we dont have to confront what you just said.)"

on the inside though- Quark is just as 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' as Odo

"I absolutely Cannot go inside and socialise right now, I’ve had Quite enough of that." 

"Oh...well then...i'll leave you be?"

"No don’t-"

So Odo quickly grabs Quark’s hand (and Quark just fuckin uh dies on the spot) but he's not very communicative at the moment. So Quark kinda has to just interpret that for himself.

"Aaaaalright- let’s just take a walk then."

So they walk through the rose garden. holding *hands*. and Quark points out nice or interesting things while Odo just nods or hums in agreement.

Until they’ve come full circle and end up back at the fountain, where Quark is like "Okay. Wanna go back inside *now*?" 

Because he swears if they spend one more second like this he will HAVE to kiss this pile of space goo and he’d rather Odo make that decision for him.

And Odo is like "I just want to stay with you."

So Quark is like ‘Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool’, pulls them behind a hedge and kisses Odo.

because on GOD I enjoy the “going from an argument straight into kissing” trope, but that one is actually too on brand for quodo so I HAD to change it up.

[chikkou]

Will you talk more about Lisa?? Lisa the character specifically but also your feelings on his feelings about Buddy? I just thought your analysis was so good and I want to hear other thoughts you have on her.

yall are honestly spoiling me rn sdhkfdjfks this is like a dream come true 

i already got into the stuff with buddy in this ask here but i have a LOT to say about lisa and the connection between her and buddy so u better settle in!

ok so firstly ill start with lisa. i played the original lisa game (lisa the first) not long after it first dropped in 2012, and im not even kidding when i said it changed me LMAO.... seeing a story about a girl suffering is nothing new, but austin jorgensens approach to it was so fucking unique. you dont just witness it, you get to EXPERIENCE it right along with her. many stories that involve sexual abuse/rape show or otherwise depict it explicitly for the shock value, which is both disgusting and, in my opinion, extremely fucking exploitative. i feel that it is horrific to dignify an act so deeply evil with screentime. but lisa stood out to me immediately because, even though you know exactly whats going on, the game NEVER shows anything explicit. everything is layered in subtext and symbolism, and austin is fantastic with indirect storytelling, so you learn so much from just a little drop of information. this applies not just to the game proper, but to the character as well.

in case its not clear: i absolutely ADORE lisa. she is my favorite character in all of the games, bar none. its going to sound kind of fucked up, but as a kid around her age going through some fucked up shit, her committing suicide at the end felt like a sort of victory to me. she knew she could never escape from marty or what he was doing to her. he leaks into every single part of her psyche, everything she ever cared about or loved is ruined because of him, and even the vague memory of her mother is completely corrupted, and turned into a muddled version of him. lisa the first also had the added benefit of some religious commentary, as there are crosses all over their home and marty is characterized as an extremely religious man, which i fucking LOVE and wish had come back in the painful, but its an acceptable loss. anyway, lisa committing suicide at the end was an act of defiance against not just marty, but martys god, as suicide is considered a mortal sin in catholicism. lisa knew she’d never be free of marty in life, so she escaped the only way she could; she was defiant to the end.

ive seen people complain that the painful has a bit of a “lost lenore” thing going on, since lisas death seems to fuel the Manpain of both brad and buzzo, but i actually disagree. on the contrary, its just like austin himself said - lisa will never be gone. lisa is ALWAYS there, with brad, and buzzo, and buddy, and marty, and yado, and the ENTIRE FUCKING WORLD. i dont necessarily think that there is something paranormal going on in the game, but i AM going to say that, unlike other cases of a girl/woman dying for a mans backstory, lisa isnt just a bittersweet memory they can reflect on and then put away when its convenient for them. she is a presence that is felt throughout the entire game. brad sees her more than once, sometimes watching, sometimes reprimanding him. buzzo is clearly haunted by her, as he cries out to her a few times in the joyful. every character who was directly touched by lisa - brad, marty, and buzzo - calls out to lisa as they die. call it their guilt or call it her actions, but in either case, it is clear that lisa just as significant of a character in the painful as she was in the first, even if she cant always be seen. even in a meta-sense, every game in the series - even the joyful, whose protagonist doesnt even know who she is - is named after her. she is at the center of everything that happens in them. 

that actually brings me to buddy, because i find the dynamic between her and lisa fucking fascinating. as i previously mentioned, brad never talked about his past with buddy, and snaps at her for bringing up his adoptive son dusty (rando), so it goes without saying that she definitely doesnt know who lisa is. in spite of that, though, lisa is a fucking massive part of buddys life, and while she may not know the person herself, i think she is aware that when people (and brad especially) look at her, they arent seeing HER. 

i mentioned it in another post, but even though brad takes it upon himself to raise and “protect” buddy, he seems to almost unwittingly recreate lisas appearance, primarily by allowing her hair to grow long even though he knows what a risk that is to her safety. he also treats buddy in a manner thats incredibly similar to how marty treated lisa (sans sexual abuse, of course) - he insults her, does not let her leave the house at all, and forces her to do unsavory things that no one should ever have to do (in buddys case, this means killing at least two innocent people because brad doesnt want a “weak” daughter). the most literal comparison between buddy and lisa is the fact that they are both very young girls being essentially held captive by their father figures, albeit for different reasons, and both long for freedom from their captors. 

theres also the fact that both buddy and lisa have to deal with misogyny and the effects of rape culture firsthand; they both battle against men who feel entitled to do with them whatever they please, and the threat of ongoing sexual abuse looms heavy over both of their heads. neither one can seek help from anyone; the neighbors in brad and lisas town seem complacent at best, if they even know what is happening to lisa at all, and buddys only allies (sans rando) are long dead by the start of the joyful. this is not just a hypothetical or a distant possibility. this is the real, tangible fate that will befall them if they cant somehow secure their safety.

sadly, because lisa wasnt playable in either of the rpgs, we dont know if she was able to fight as brad was, but it is highly probable that she had the innate skill but was never able to learn it (as marty highly discouraged them from learning “their grandfathers karate,” and seemed disgusted whenever brad did so). however, she did have ONE weapon she could make use of, and this is a weapon buddy ends up using, as well - her femininity. she became close to bernard (aka buzzo), made him fall in love with her, and then used him as a last ditch effort to stop martys abuse by having him mutilate her face. im not saying lisa never cared about bernard - in fact, i think she DID really love and care for him - but her own fucked up experiences with “love” meant she really couldnt understand what it was supposed to be like, or that it was wrong to manipulate the people you care about. lisa did very few things wrong - it pretty much just stops at the maiming of the cat and her manipulation of bernard - but she knew that she would never get away from marty without some kind of drastic action being taken, and scarring herself was her last ditch effort before ultimately committing suicide.

buddy ends up taking a somewhat similar tack in the joyful, and like in lisas case, its simultaneously resourceful and horrific. one of buddys key moves in the joyful is to flash the enemy (which the player obviously doesnt see) in order to distract them long enough to get the kill. its fucking horrible and disgusting and makes you feel so dirty, but then, how must buddy feel having to do something like that just to survive? shes just a child, but in a world where almost every man is out to get you, she knows this has to be done to save herself, very much like lisa. unlike in lisas case, though, buddy is successful in securing her safety in this way - lisas effort is for naught, and leads to her committing suicide not very long after. 

in a way, i sort of attribute buddys brutality to lisas omnipresence; all of the men pursuing buddy are just like marty, monsters who would harm a fucking child for their own disgusting ends, and i think that when buzzo said that lisa wouldve loved olathe, what he means is that she would have loved seeing so many horrible men being punished for what theyd done. so in my opinion, buddy carving out a place for herself in olathe by killing all those who would subjugate her seems very much in the mentality lisa would have had. sure, there are some innocents who sadly get roped into it, but that would definitely not be her intention; for example, if buzzo could have practiced amputation without harming a living thing, i dont think lisa would have asked him to practice on the cat. note the LACK of brutality at the beehive and the swamp bar, two of the few peaceful places in the painful and both devoid of predatory men hunting for buddy - lisa has no qualm with any of them. but marty? brad could hardly even get a full sentence out before killing him on the spot. i dont doubt that that has a great deal to do with lisas presence. 

ok i talked for a while LMAO but basically i think that, in a more metatextual sense, lisa and buddys relationship really strikes me as an accurate depiction of generational trauma. of course it was intentional with the more obvious trauma chain (marty to brad to buddy), but the trauma chain of marty to lisa to buddy is rarely ever addressed due to lisa not physically appearing in the painful. however, i believe it may inform buddys actions a great deal more than people realize - after all, buddys experience is unique, but who could understand it better than lisa? who knows that sort of pain, of being alone on an island, the lone woman trapped with a man (or men) who want nothing more than to cause you harm? even without her realizing it, lisa is guiding buddy, encouraging her to take back what is hers no matter the cost, to punish those who would try to take what they want from her. lisa might be dead, but she is a vengeful presence throughout every game, and buddys actions feel like theyre meant not only to save herself, but to avenge lisa, even if she doesnt realize it. at the end of the day, buddy and lisa both get to exact revenge against all the men who have wronged them, and they succeed. they are aggressive, and violent, and selfish, and ANGRY - and they have every fucking right to be. 

[the19thduckpotato]

In the Shadow of a Smile (Pt 1)

It’s been a month since the Shie Hassaikai Raid and the resulting aftermath.  Toshinori is quietly struggling with his grief and depression and decides a relaxing afternoon with his favorite green haired fan would help.  (co-op rp writing with @my-favorite-aesthetics from earlier this month)

Izuku knocked on the slightly-open door of Toshi's giant office as he nudged his way inside. "Hi," he said quietly as he approached the messy desk. "The lady with purple hair wanted me to give you these." He held out a stack of papers. "I'd tell you her name but I didn't think to look at her tag until too late. Do you know her?"

Toshi was in the middle of rubbing his aching eyes with finger and thumb when he heard the knock.  He tiredly pushed a smile to his face to greet the newcomer... then the smile deepened into a genuine grin at the sight of Izuku. "Hey kid--" His grin may have wavered at the sight of the stack but he took them anyway.  "Ah yes, Miss Retto.  She's quite organized.  Types blindingly fast."  He tried to find a spot on his already overflowing desk and swallowed a noise that sounded half groan, half sigh.  "Let's see here..."

A little line formed between Izuku's eyebrows, and he moved to stand as close to Toshi as possible without smushing up on him. "Can I help?"

"Heh, you can try.  'Fraid my organization skills aren't quite as sharp as Miss Retto's.  If you want, you can--" Toshi's hand twitched over another messy pile of partially filled out forms.  "Oh no... I forgot something, didn't i?"  He looked to his student, shamefaced and confused.

Izuku wrinkled his eyebrows more, looking at Toshi with a mix of confusion and... protectiveness? That couldn't be it. But he hated to see his hero so troubled. "Nnnnot that I know of...." He trailed off, thinking hard. Does he mean the paperwork? But then why would he ask me?

Toshi paused a moment and swiveled his head back and forth, wide eyed.  Then he clapped a hand over his eyes and slouched in his chair.  "Time to reboot All Might Exe."  He flicked at a loose page listlessly, then sat back up.  "Tell ya what, help me file the rest of these.  Then we'll see if we can remember what we were supposed to be responsible for at the bottom of a popcorn bowl or something, hmm?"

Izuku giggled softly at "All Might Exe". Then stood on his tiptoes with excitement. "Ooooh!! Popcorn!"

Toshi grinned fiercely then looked back at the stacked desk.  "Hoo boy...where to start?"  He gathered the newest ones that Izuku had brought and turned to a nearby filing cabinet.  The drawer rattled open, waiting for the pages. And Toshinori just sat, staring into the drawer.

Izuku picked up a pile, trying to neaten them. "Hhmmm... by alphabetical,  I guess?" Well of COURSE he knows THAT, you probably sounded very naive and foolish and like you don't belong in an office. ??I don't? That's why I sound like it?? I belong in school. Which is... not exactly an office....

Toshi blinked and nodded.  "Alphabetical, yes.  Which means these need to go here."  He twisted about to collect another stack, thumbing through them and quickly adding his signature or a date where necessary.  As he turned back to the cabinet, a folded sheet slipped out of the pile.  It landed on the floor, unnoticed by the now frantically filing blond.

"Oh," Izuku noticed it falling, helpfully bending down to grab it. "Can I get--" He stopped talking as he saw what it was, picking it up and standing up slowly, gaze fixed on the pamphlet.

"Hmm?"  Toshi shifted to see what Izuku was holding.  "Whatcha got there?"

Izuku's mouth opened in anticipation of words, but his mind was lagging behind. "A-ah..." His gaze flicked to Toshi for a second, then back to the pamphlet.

Toshi's senses--hero?  father?--picked up on Izuku's nervousness immediately and he held his hand out. What is it, kid?  What's got you tongue tied?

Izuku's fingers reflexively flinched the tiniest bit away from Toshi's hand, knowing how much the reminder of what he'd lost would upset him. Just as quickly, they returned to their original position, and Izuku's wide-eyed gaze met Toshi's.

"What is it--" Toshi's heart dropped as he saw the familiar picture.  The helpless laughter, the sharp glasses barely held in their owner's grasp.  Toshi remembered taking that picture and cheerfully threatening to use it as evidence that Mirai did know how to smile.  The Foresight hero must have taken that to heart, forever laughing and grinning after that day. Mirai... Toshi carefully took the pamphlet from Izuku's hands and set it back on the desk.  His expression was unreadable, his limbs numb.

A barely-there whisper. "Sorry...."

His chest filled with an ache that he had hoped had dulled some with time.  But no, it remained, as sharp as ever.  He clenched one fist in his lap, nails biting into his palm. Easy now.  Calm.  Not in front of the kid.  Just get through this and you can let it out later.  Just not here.  Not now. Toshi turned to file another stack.  "Not your fault," his voice murmured back from over his shoulder.  "Let's ah...let's just finish up, shall we?" And he smiled big, his eyes crinkling closed.  "Popcorn, remember?"

"I..." Izuku's voice was still extremely quiet. His eyes were glued to Toshi's clenched hand. "...Yeah."

"Hey..."  Toshi rested a hand on Izuku's shoulder and squeezed.  "Forgive me.  That should have been kept in a better spot.  I didn't mean for that to--"  He gestured. If only I hadn't been such a prideful ass, talked to you like Izu had wanted me to.  I just... the way you talked about my kid, though, before you even got to know him. The old frustration turned to guilt, became regret and gnawed on him wearily.  He slipped the pamphlet into a desk drawer and closed it --shut it out, bury it, not doing this today, I refuse, my boy is here and I'm smiling for him now-- "We can leave the rest of this," Toshi said cheerfully, pushing himself up and pulling his coat on.

Something in Izuku's middle curled up into a nervous twist, and he flashed a quick smile that crinkled his eyes. "If you say so," he followed Toshi out the door. "You ready?"

"Always!"  The retired hero followed his protege, stopping long enough to lock the door.  Then, there he stood for another moment, quiet, lost in thought.

Izuku stopped too, looking at him. ...Dad? No don't say that ...Toshi? Too familiar ...All Might? Too cold.... "..."

He was keenly aware of standing too long at his door. He was equally aware of Izuku's presence behind him, waiting. But he just couldnt seem to move.  It felt like some gargantuan task he was suddenly unable to accomplish in his weakened state.  His permanent state. His nails bit into his palm again, goading him to move.

Izuku's hand moved before he could think about it, though he hesitated as soon as he did. No.... He thought of the way his own nails had dug into his palm time and time again, leaving the tiniest imperceptible crescent-shaped scars. Don't do that to yourself, please.... He let his hand move, walking back over to Toshi and gently, slowly, brushing his fingers over Toshi's clenched fist. Not quite pulling at the tight fingers, but... please.

The fist instantly popped open, the fingers dangling limply before they curled about Izuku's scarred hand. Come on, move, your kid needs you. The skin of his palm stung.  His fist started to close again, only just remembering Izuku's hand rested in it. Your kid wants you. He looked to Izuku, wondering if that was true.  Well, of course it's true, the boy is constantly fawning over you. Fawning over All Might, you mean. No... ��he...

Izuku sensed Toshi turning his head toward him and looked up to meet his eyes, his heart dropping and twisting at the empty tiredness found there. Both hands curled about the large one in his grasp. Say something— —don’t say the wrong thing!!

He'll eventually get tired of you once he realizes that All Might isnt coming back. No--!  He--!!   --that isn't true, it can't be! He forced himself to unclench his jaw so he could properly smile at Izuku.  "...right, then.  Popcorn?"

((Part 2))

[fan-clan-fun]

Canon Clans Suffixes (with name changes)

Because I find it fun to scrutinize “The Sacred Texts” with a scalpel and a magnifying glass, I like to revamp little things like naming. So here’s my attempt at giving some iota of consistency to this messy world we love. My goals here are to stick to traditionalism, but also throw in some suffixes I personally love and give them meanings. I’ll also include some canon cats whose names I’ve changed to fit this system.

Lovely! Its always helpful to see personal interpretations and preferences for suffixes, everybody has a few they really like!

-claw: a skilled fighter. Classic pick. Cats who get this include Tigerclaw, Hornetclaw (Bramble-), Lionclaw (-blaze), Shrikeclaw (Ivypool), and Juniperclaw.

I see you are changing a lot of the prefixes as well! I do admit I like Shrike and Hornet as prefixes, and Shrikeclaw does seem to fit her quite well.

-cloud: a calm, easygoing cat. Also a classic. Whitestorm has been renamed Whitecloud to fit this and Tree’s clan name is Ashcloud.

-face: a particularly handsome or beautiful cat. I gave this name to Amberface (Berrynose), Tipface (Stemleaf), and Mothface (-wing)

Honestly giving Berrynose a name with the -face suffix would help to explain a lot of the stuff involving him lol. 

-fang: good fighter and good hunter. From what I heard, Sparkpelt seemed to need this suffix, so she’s renamed Sparkfang. I don’t know who else would earn this though.

-feather: a medicine cat skilled at reading omens. This is my standard pick. It also lets me keep names like Goosefeather and lets Jayfeather keep his suffix (but he’s renamed to Juniperfeather). Shadowsight also gets this suffix, becoming Shadefeather.

An interesting choice, though I am curious as to why this one was chosen (besides name consistency), what is the reasoning behind it? Do omens often come in the shape of birds? What connects -feather to spirituality?

-flower: a nurturing cat. Many cats get this name. Cloudflower (Moon-), Snowflower (-fur), Willowflower (-breeze) Goldenflower, Aspenflower (Ferncloud), Whiteflower (-wing), Daisyflower, and the one notable tom case, Rockflower (Fernsong).

Pretty standard, although I do like that you give Fernsong a -flower name. I may not have read the arcs past Omen of the Stars but he does have that reputation of being a nurturer.

-foot: a fast cat, also a classic. Spiderleg becomes Spiderfoot and Harespring becomes Harefoot.

-fur/pelt: a cat with nothing really notable about them. Alderheart, Tigerheart, and Kestrelflight become Alderpelt, Adderpelt, and Kestrelfur respectively. Bluestar’s warrior name is still Bluefur.

-heart: a cat with strong morals. Rookheart (Hollyleaf), Rimeheart (Bristlefrost), Mudheart (Hawkfrost), and Smokeheart (Cinder-) all get this suffix, as does Fireboy over here.

I am so glad that you have given both Holly and Hawk the -heart suffix, I think it really does fit them quite well. I will probably fiddle with names a bit when the times come as well for my own writing and giving these two the -heart suffix is one of my plans.

-leaf: a medicine cat skilled in the healing aspect of their job. Spottedleaf got this one, as did Speckledleaf (Brambleberry), Fireleaf (Flametail), and Willowleaf (-shine). I think they may shake things up a little with -root and/or -berry and/or -bark.

Out of curiosity, why would only medicine cats shake it up a little with suffixes? It seems like none of the other suffixes have any of the same meaning.

-nose: an intuitive cat skilled in tracking. Only two notable characters get this, Dovenose and Maplenose (Leafpool).

I actually think these name changes work quite well, and do fit Dove’s power and her abilities.

-path: a cat with an affinity for mentoring. I noticed Rosepetal had five apprentices, so I gave her the name Rosepath.

I’ve heard whispers that -path was used by some people as a mentoring suffix, which is really cool!

-storm: a cat with a turbulent disposition, also classic. Crowstorm (-feather) and Beetlestorm (Breezepelt) get this, as does Dapplestorm (Blossomfall).

I mean the suffix sure does fit those cats.

-stream: a strong swimmer. Silverstream gets this obviously. Not sure who else would get it though because I’m only including it for traditionalism’s sake. It’s not one I’m particularly fond of.

Thats interesting, Im curious as to why? Maybe another suffix like -creek or -leg would be preferable if you dont like the sound?

-stripe: a tabby with distinct stripes. Graystripe gets this and so does Honeystripe (-fern). There’s also -speck and -spots for the other tabby types

-tail: an agile cat, very classic. A lot of cats get this. Cherrytail (Squirrelflight), Birchtail (-fall), Wisteriatail (Twigbranch), Honeytail (Heather-), and a bunch of bg characters with -spring, -leap, or -flight in their names.

-throat: a skilled orator, linguist, bard, storyteller, or just a well-spoken cat. This is a very rare suffix and no notable characters get this.

So I am actually very curious about this, because if a suffix is so rare, that you cant name a cat in the series at all to have it, why is it on the list? Would any cat even remember it if isnt in use? What kind of requirements would you have to have for this suffix, since I cant imagine that there would be many (if any) teenagers/young adults who could be considered masters of speech or storytelling at the 12 moons most cats get their warrior names at. I would suggest if you want to keep a suffix on the list, it should have at least one usage in the clans, else they would forget about it. 

-whisker: a prudent hunter. I can’t think of anyone I changed to -whisker on the spot.

And here are some other suffixes I’m indecisive on.

-pad or -shade could be a stealthy cat. Even if I accepted one or the other, it’d be hard to pin down who would get this.

Personally I do think that having a stealth suffix is a pretty good way to expand a more traditional system, because its also a very useful skill. While it can be used in hunting (and some might say a whisker cat is by nature stealthy), a stealthy cat has a separate but partially overlapping set of skills. It does seem like you havent gone through all the names in the many many books so far, so I am sure there are a few cats somewhere who could have qualified for this suffix if you choose to keep it. 

Considering -ear or -eye to mean a skilled scout, but that’s overlapping a lot with -nose’s territory, so I’m hesitant in including it.

I agree with you when it comes to -nose, and since -nose already seems to be uncommon, I would think sticking with nose is sufficient. 

I considered -stone for the meaning of “a very loyal and dedicated cat”. Not sure about it.

I do like -stone as well, but unless you have a specific cat in mind I probably wouldnt include it. 

I’m thinking -pool could be for a wise cat, but I’m not sure about that.

-shine is a cute suffix, but it’s rather hard to work with because it doesn’t mesh well with a lot of prefixes. I could use it to mean “upbeat and cheerful” and give it to Briarlight, but it’s not exactly easy to work with.

-frost is an amazing suffix, but it’s sort of the opposite of -shine. It sounds good with a lot of prefixes, but it’s hard to pin down a meaning for it.

I really like -light as a suffix but dang if it isn’t a monster to work with. It has -shine and -frost’s problems, but I really like it and don’t want to give up on it.

-breeze is a pretty solid suffix, but I’m afraid it’ll be redundant. -foot is pretty solid and I can’t really change that because traditionalism. Maybe it’s like -fang? I’m not sure.

Similarly, I like -thorn and -blaze as suffixes, but they’re pretty hard to work with when you already have names that fill their niches and have the “one suffix per meaning” rule that stricter traditionalism has.

Yeah I see your concern for most these last suffixes. As lovely as they are, unless they have a good solid place in you writing, and cats you can immediately think of using for their names, I wouldnt be too worried about incorporating them into your clans.

Anyway, there’s my suffix list! I hope you enjoyed! And if you have any suggestions, please let me know because I am not bright. Thank you!

[aparecium-hq]

Welcome to Aparecium, Maia! You have been accepted for Rose Weasley. Competition for a character is always difficult, but we appreciated the detail and nuance you included. As we briefly discussed when you submitted the app, we’ll need a more traditionally formatted bio for her character page, but welcome aboard. Check out the new member checklist, and jump right in. 

Character Basics

Birthday (Age): December 22nd (21) Gender (Pronouns): Female (she her) Sexuality: Heterosexual Blood Status: Halfblood. Hogwarts House/School: Ravenclaw Occupation: Cursebreaker trainee Faceclaim: Erin Kellyman

Any requested changes? I picked a different face only because the ones listed weren’t calling out to me as much and I recently fell in love with both these girls!

Biography:

* WHAT ARE YOU LIKE ?

INTELLIGENT

“God. Does everyone have to point it out? Yes, I’m smart. Yes, just like my mum. Good Lord. I know already. I got the best marks in my year. I scored O’s on most of my OWLs and the one I didn’t get an O on was an E. Please, can we not mention it anymore. Mum gifted me with her incredible power of mind. Etc… Etc… It’s not that I mind having the brain power really, it’s that everyone expects me to be just like my mum, and no matter how much I love her, I’ll never actually be her. That aside, a battle of wits with me is probably a bad idea. Not many people can best me. That might sound full of myself, but I assure you, it’s completely true.”

SWEET

“Dad says it’s what he gets for naming me after a silly flower. That because of it I turned out as sweet as it’s scent. I guess someone in the family had to do it. Mum can be a little abrasive, dad a bit, well, air-headed. Hugo’s just his owe breed. I guess I just had to be the normal one? I’m the type that’ll get all dewy eyed over a lost kitten and probably end up taking it home with me. It used to really drive Mum batty. I just like to have kindness and compassion. I can’t stand to see people or animals hurting. I just want to give the world a big hug from time to time. A smile is the best thing you can give a person, in my opinion.”

FREE SPIRITED

“I like my flights of fancy, and that’s that. I don’t feel much of a need to follow society’s main stream. People can be ridiculously like lemmings at times and that just doesn’t fit me. I like to think for myself, discover my own path. It’s probably the thing that set me the most apart from the people I grew up around, especially in the last few years. I never had that driving need to fit in. If I wanted to compete, I competed. If I wanted to be a lazy bum, I lazed. It’s kind of just the way I am. I might go along with my friends or my family in their ventures but it doesn’t mean I won’t go my own way when I fell it’s might be a better option.”

ROMANTIC

“Stupid books. They gave me illusions of grandeur, I swear. I love them so very much, which is a different story but it lead me to this silly idea called romance. I read too many love stories when I was younger and now, no matter how improbable it really is I have this stupid hope in the back of my head that I’ll find some adoring White Knight that wants to sweep me off my feet. Not going to happen, I know. Ruined a good thing hoping for it, I know. You don’t have to tell me. But I just can’t help that little voice inside that wants it to be possible. My cousins and my brother all loved to take the mickey out of me about it. It gets bloody annoying sometimes. I guess I brought it on myself though. It doesn’t help when dashing, good looking young men like Scorpius Malfoy factor into the picture either. I suppose it was an inevitable failure on my part.”

SOCIABLE/FRIENDLY

“Surprisingly enough, though my dad did his best to make me a competitive twit, ha ha, I’ve turned out to be pretty darn friendly. I like to surround myself with different sorts of people. That’s probably how I got to know people like Scorpius, who dad was all set to make my arch enemy. In school I had friends from every house. We’d throw big parties in the old Shack and I’d be the life of the party. I’m not really sure where this particular skill came from. Maybe my dear Uncle George, who is amazingly cool, and my departed Uncle Fred, who I wish I could have met. The stories about them were still fresh legends of Hogwarts when I started school. Everyone liked them, so maybe that’s where it comes from.”

EMOTIONAL

“Yet another reminder of my similarities to my mum. I can get all worked up over the strangest things. I can go from scarily angry to completely teary eyed in the blink of an eye. I can hold a grudge with an outright vengeance… for about a week. (Dad says Mum used to do that to him as well.) It’s just the way I naturally express myself. I’ve sort of got my hear out on my sleeve. I wear my feelings pretty openly and I’ll let you know how you’ve made me feel.”

BOOKWORM

“I think I mentioned it earlier but I have the damnedest fascination with books. I just read like there won’t ever be another book published. It goes hand in hand with my overactive imagination. I can read a book and picture the whole thing in my head, just like a movie. I can make myself the star if I want to. It’s probably what got me into the whole ‘hopeless romantic’ mess with you-know-who. I just get so carried away with the stories that leap off the page that I can be consumed for hours and be totally happy with that.”

* SO HOW DID YOU GET TO BE HERE ?

“I come from the best parents you could ask for. Sure, my mum can be a little taxing at times, she’s Hermione after all, and my dad can be a bit of a goof. But the things you hear about in the stories are true. They’re good, loyal, amazing people who just happen to have fallen in love in the aftermath of a world on the brink of war and had two very silly children. It sounds like a fairytale doesn’t it? You ever wonder what comes after the happily ever after? Me and Hugo, that’s what.

My parents named me Rose because mom had a thing for the smell of them when she was pregnant with me. She thought it was clever I guess. They gave me my Aunt Ginny’s name for a middle name and I love it. She’s a tops lady and I’m glad to share the name with her. I can’t say my name was super creative but I don’t complain about it either. I think it’s classy and timeless which are both very positive traits.

They had me first, thank God, because as much as I love my little brother I am glad he’s my little brother. We are close, as brothers and sister are wont to be. But I am pretty close with all my family. Anyways, we grew up with means enough to have all of what we needed and a lot of what we wanted. The benefit of having famous parents I suppose. Mum and Dad indulged us quite a bit, but they never let us get spoiled to the point of being brats. We spent tons of time with the family. I have too many cousins to count and I love them all, but especially Roxanne. I think it’s because we were both so much our own people that we bonded. I was and am also very close to Albus, who was always my best friend when Roxanne was too busy being independent to play. Albus and I would play together for hours, making up stories and pretending to me our heroic parents. We look back on it now and laugh. We wonder if we’ll be in the history books someday, considering the direction the wizarding world is carrying on it now. This change to magical technology is fascinating but a bit terrfying and I often find myself wondering when it’ll blow up in our faces, figuratively or literally.

Al and I started school the same year. I think he was relieved to go together. I had no fear at all. I came prepared of course, being my mother’s child. I remember looking around the platform and marveling at the number of people that could be going off to just one school. Dad pointed out the Malfoys and Scorpius, who I was to beat at every test, or so dad admonished. Mum told him not to pit us against one another so soon. Diplomatic? Mum? Apparently so. We got on the train like everyone else and started out new life. I spent the train ride reminding Al of all the good things we’d experience at school. We were part of a legacy after all and I was very proud to carry that banner. It worked out alright, for the most part. The three of us were best of friends until I decided to date Scorpius and it all went a bit… well it’s not great.

I did well all thought school. I got Mum’s brains after all. I really did beat Scorpius in tests sometimes, just like dad wanted, but I also made a friend out of him. He’s actually very charming, thought I suppose I’m not supposed to think about im that way anymore. I’m living my own life now, bad decision and all. He certainly isnt’ not the only friend I’ve ever made, you know. I had a good sized group of close knit friends from all the houses back in school. We’d sneak out and throw little parties in the Shrieking Shack sometimes. It was the best of times. Then we grew up and moved away and soem of us stay in touch. Some of them are even in the trainee program with me, so that’s beeen nice though we’re nearly done there, as well. Hopefully we’ll all stay friendly. I need my own friends now, since both my closest mates probably hate me by now.

* WHAT WOULD WE FIND IN YOUR TRUNKRIGHT NOW ?

Honestly? Probably a mess. Whatever I didn’t need got left in it all jumbled up. Most of my clothes and such are in the wardrobe where they belong and my school things are in my night stand. the trunk is probably holding a multitude of things that are unimportant. Classic muggle cds, a few daydream charms from Uncle George’s shop, that Skiving Snackbox that Roxy gave me last year. Who really knows. It’s probably a downright motley collection. I think there’s that pretty amulet that Lorcan and Lysander gave me this Christmas past. I doubt you’d find anything interesting. All the juicy secrets are hidden away elsewhere…

* WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE THINGS ?

Hmm. There are so many. I love the smell of rain, especially when it’s been a warm day out and it’s the first rain, pumpkin pie becasue it always takes me back to the Burrow, pine trees, and warm leather, especially the particular scent of Scorp’s leather jacket I bought him for his birthday. It’s wonderful. But you are never to repeat that to anyone! I swear I’ve got an arsenal of hexes just waiting for you if you try it!

I also like to play Quidditch with my cousins, but I don’t play for the house team or anything, it’s not really my style. I also like to just have a fly on my broom. There’s something thrilling and intoxicating about the feel of being suspended high up there with the wind rushing past you. It’s incredible.

A good practical joke is always a favorite of mine. It probably comes from growing up with Roxy and Fred as older people to look up to though. They are just like their da. I love them. Truthfully I feel that way about all of my family. We’re close knit and they’re all amazing people. That also applies to the extended family like 'Uncle’ Neville, 'Auntie’ Luna, and their families as well. Luna is actually one of my favorite people in the world. I love to go visit Lys and Lor on hols and talk to her about things. She’s got the most unique points of view in the whole world and doesn’t expect me to have all the answers. Actually, one of the things I have always loved most in this world is other people. Albus, who’s as close to me as a brother and my most trusted friends. Scorpius, who is more than just a mate, even if it all went terribly and I can’t look at him without my stomach tying itself into knots becasue I’m either anxious or missing him and I don’t really know which… My Aunts and Uncles and cousins. Even my ridiculous little bother Hugo. They all made the world a brighter place just by existing for most of my life. It’s just hard to carry the burden of everyone’s expectations…

I also love silly little things like swimming in the summer, and flirting a bit or going shopping in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. Looking at the stars is one of life’s little pleasures, as are new, fashionable, clothes and shoes. Music is also among my favorite things. There are so many things that I enjoy I could tell you about them all day, but I think this is probably enough of my talking your ear off.

Character Questionnaire

Answer at least three of the following questions about your character. This could be in character or a third period explanation.

What does your character value in a friendship? At this point in life she values people who look at her as an individual. Not a cog in a greater machine. She’s been a Weasley, Hermione’s daughter, part of a trio… etc for all of her life and she’s been trying (in the wrong ways maybe) to buck that co-dependence. SO she wants friends who accept her as she is, who thin of her as her own person, and who don’t put pressure on her to be a part of a legacy.

How would your character describe their own work ethic? Is that an accurate measure of themself? She is a hard worker, to the point of making herself crazy at times, and she absolutely will not admit that. She’ll tell you shes capable and will do her job well, thoroughly, and on time, but she will not tell you that if you put her in a crunch she might work herself to anxiety attacks to get ti don’t on time.

How would a stranger who has just met your character describe them? Right now, probably a bit cold. A bit too sharp. If they’re perceptive perhaps they’ll say those things are an attempt to hid something else, probably hurt and fear. Not rude, exactly, but not soft.

What magical skill or talent is your character most proud of? Her curse breaking. She decided young she wanted to follow after her Uncle Bill in profession and worked very hard to earn the marks to do so. She’s been top of her trainee pool from the start and is on track to head a team when she completes training. This is, to her mind, her great achievement. It’s something she did for herself, telling her Uncle not to give her any recommendation or benefit. That’s worth gold as far as she’s concerned, because unlike going itno the family business or the ministry, she’s not relying on the name of her parents, just her own skill and work ethic.

Para Sample

Rose hadn’t had occasion to throw much of a party since her birthday the previous winter. While the annual ball for St. Mungos had been fun it was a much more prim sort of fun, full of champagne and fine dresses. Rose wanted to spice things up a bit, less mystery and more playfulness.

Back in her Hogwarts days she’d had a party in the shack every Halloween night from her fourth year on. It had been, in her not at all humble opinion, the social event of the year. Costumes required, some years masks as well, and always full of fun and whatever strange concoctions she could come up with. The Alice In Wonderland theme in her seventh year had been her triumph, filled with glowing giant mushrooms for seating and drinks that did all sorts of strange things to you. It was a bonus of having cousins who spent all summer in a joke shop.

So it shouldn’t have been of any real surprise to her cousins when they received invitations to a costumed Halloween after party with instructions to show up at the Burrow after the ball, with their dates if they wished, and enjoy a night out. Rose had already decorated the back yard, making use of the pavilion that had once been the venue of Bill and Fleur’s wedding. It was decorated now in low light, full of candles and spiderwebs and all the spooky trimmings of a Halloween party. Grandma molly had helped with the food and drink, a boon especially since rose wasn’t much good in the kitchen. Now all she had to do was put on the music and wait for the family to show up.

And they’d better be in costume or she’d have their heads.

[plushievash]

how did leo/alexei happen? give us lore!

so for a long while they both had crushes on each other but alexei is stupid and leo suffered from internalized homophobia believing hes not meant for relationships no matter how much he wanted one with someone he would never pursue it bc he thought he would be a burden/nobody sees him that way/he is repulsive;; alexei just admired leo too much and thought leo was out of his league and that hed never love someone like him and also bc hes alexei and is just like * has severe paranoia and also no social skills *

dasha saw the Signs™ tho bc hes like love is in the air….and i will find out where its coming from and then. he suffered watching these 2 dumbasses for 2 almost 3 years dance around each other and their feelings while nobody else believed him that hey…..looks like somethins goin on between alexei and leo…u ever notice how leo takes any chance to touch him? u ever notice the way alexei immediately becomes more interactive when leo comes along? yes i know leo is clingy yes i know alexei is improving socially just like. Look its Right in Front of You.

but anyways went like that for the longest time where both of them kind of planned to make their feelings known but could never work up the courage to follow through with it. and alexei got with lucien to try to forget abt leo bc he “knew” he ‘had no chance’ and leo just [roblox OOF] and as usual * focuses on work at a dangerous level and does stupid stuff *

which ends up with a mix up and confusion where leo is missing and puts everyone in a panic and miko catches a guy named nikostratos and ooh ooough oh hes so mad hes so ohguh hes so angry that hes mad. and without thinking and following standard procedure does some things and is 8D to find out uh oh! just gave my brother the familys awful itchy scratchy disease! fuck! time to go kms i guess!

and masha is big mad at everyone so shes just like leo and miko are banned from work and if they even attempt it they wont bc theyd cross me and nobody crosses me. and then alexei is put on watch to make sure leo doesnt try to sneak away and work on his own anyways and to nobodys surprise, he does try. instead of sending one of his people alexei personally confronts him and persuades him to go back home. to which leo asks alexei to stay with him and he does…slowly leo starts to ease up again as alexei stays with him and basically lives with him/stella/the twins for a short while as hes stationed to by masha

eventually after a while of watching both miko and leo masha is satisfied enough with their recoveries and allows them back to their jobs calling alexei off since they no longer need to be supervised. but alexei again * is extremely paranoid and well meaning but also awful * so he keeps his people watching leo from a distance just to be sure hes safe; as he does with maxim and miko (the only difference is that maxim and miko Know he does that and asked him to do that; leo didnt.) oh yeah somewhere sprinkled in around that time alexei split with lucien cause he just. wasnt happy it wasnt working. i dont remember where exactly in all this mess it happened LMAO u might wanna ask my boyed friend abt that since alexei is his

so anyways after a while of being back to work leo notices hes still being followed and slowly gets paranoid and irritable. he ends up doing rash things that could end up getting him killed just to get the attention of the people following him to see if hes “just being paranoid” or if hes really being followed still despite masha allowing him to return to work. eventually after the 3rd time instead of sending someone to intervene alexei himself shows up and leo is Angry and hurt tells alexei to call off his people cause if he ever sees them again he wont hesitate to kill them and so alexei does cause he does care abt his people he doesnt try to defend himself or anything it finally hits him that he just “oh hmm. ok yeah that was kinda fucked up. uh oh i fucked up. this is bad”

and leos whole attitude began to shift instead of his usual generally polite and very easy attitude ready to make friends with anyone he became guarded irritable and quiet and he lost the soft tone in his voice. eventually even with his favourite most important people around him (stella/felix/miko) hes just too paranoid sick to his stomach and angry to stay where he is. so he says hes going to take a vacation and instead moves down to work at the other facilities as a lower agent domenico carlevaro; he doesnt alter his appearance too much aside from dyeing his hair and changing his general fashion style. the only person he allows to come down and see him is mikolaj but he says if felix or stella ever asked him he is allowed to tell them they can see him but no one else. not maxim or dasha or alcides not the twins. he cant stand to see anyone else. miko regularly visits him but has to ask each time since leo doesnt stay in 1 place for too long. eventually leos anger just makes him even more reckless causing him to break his prosthetic; so he has to return to apologize to dasha and ask for a new one.

there he finds out alexei has disappeared and immediately he just feels a twist in his stomach bc he wanted to be angry and pretend that hes over it and he doesnt care about him anymore but he still does so after he gets his new arm despite maxims protests he insists that he will assist maxim in the search. miko reports that alexei was last seen injured being carried away by a woman from some abandoned facility and so everyone is like ok fuck! who is that! is he already dead! or what the fuck! goddamn it! eventually maxim and leo manage to find where alexei is hiding running into one of his people; daria who is a tracker and not really experienced in protection. she… doesnt know how to properly use a gun. shenanigans happen bc daria is sweet and maxim and leo are not mean then leo sees alexei and boy ! he is  FUCKED UP. alexei looks like hes str8 up dying (cause he is!) hes extremely weak and has to use a cane to walk hes got bloody bandages all over and his arm in a sling and later leo and maxim see that arm has a huge ass bite taken out of it and maxim is just 8D…im a good doctor but im not That good a doctor what the fuck is this. and calls marina down to see if they know what this is

marina does and identifies it as a kaprinka bite (ask my boyed friend what a kaprinka is) and that all cases theyve been in charge of nobody has survived but theyll do what they can to try to fix it. maxim and leo decide to take shifts to always be in the room with alexei in case anything goes wrong like his condition suddenly gets even worse and they need to call marina or an attempt on his life happens. so the first night while leo is in charge of watching alexei they start to talk and leo isnt angry anymore and instead is just…Really really sad and admits how hes felt and how he knows that he doesnt have to; he shouldnt; and he Doesnt forgive him for what he did but hes willing to push that aside to at least go back to the way they were. and alexei admits how hes felt and apologizes for everything and how he “probably got himself killed” and theyre both just mmmm feels bad toddbut after that it gives alexei the push to keep on living and alexei does Stupid Stuff which is really stupid but! it helps and he manages to bring back the kaprinka for marina to see what they can do to help him since they said that theyve only ever seen kaprinka that were already dead and not usable for testing it takes months and some big rollercoaster ups and downs w/ alexeis progress but he makes it and recovers but continues to stay in hiding til he gains his full strength back and during that time someone is sent to kill him and leo and maxim stop the guy and then stuff happens and alexei is big mad and blah blah and stuff and then after thats taken care of and his recovery is full they all return and leo helps alexei/artyom/daria in their search for what originally caused the whole situation alexei got in

and so basically from the day they found him theyve been dating Finally but never like fully established it but its very clear now so everyone knows and dasha is rubbing it in everyones faces and miko and felix are dying and they just Cant understand.

also a quick note: theres 2 darias…i have a daria who is just a cute crafts girl with rainbow hair but thats not the daria in this situation…the daria in that situation is my boyfriends oc who is a motorcycle racer and tracker for alexei but they are both equally cute and good

[foxglovesound]

🐾, 🌲, 🛠️, 💡, 🌠(instead of whether they are religious or not, how they act and familiarize on their religion, if that makes sense?) for hornetflower, goldenscale, acornbee, lightingface

FIRST OF ALL I’D LIKE TO GIVE A GREAT BIG APOLOGY FOR HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION i wanted to put a lot of thought into my responses (despite how. unprofessionally i wrote them thats just bc i type lazy KFHDSFDDSF) so i took a day or two to mull over as well as comic pages were DRAGGING ON LATE this week q___q !!!! thank u for ur patience AND the interesting questions this was fun >:3c!!!!

🐾: Do they have any future goals?

HORNETFLOWER: Well, honestly?? I’d have to say no. hornetflower isnt a particularly ambitious molly, and she tends to just focus on her current, short-term duties and what she needs to get done. at the moment her main goal is to guide sootpaw to her warrior graduation and to help raise duckkit -- and see duckkit reach her own graduation, of course. however, being minkclaws most trusted confidant, hornetflower kinda makes whatever minkclaws goals are her own goals too -- shell support her friend through thick and thin

GOLDENSCALE: again not really! she doesnt really have any particular ambitions in life, nor is she training an apprentice that she needs to see make it to graduation. part of her does hope that one day she and gorsefang can reconnect, but the rift between them is wide and goldenscale has stopped her attempts at reconnecting with gorsefang after her sibling’s initial resistance. beyond that? not a very ambitious warrior either! her daily goals are probably just getting the word of whats the next hot gossip (u can usually find her sharing tongues and chattering with her fellow clanmates to get those little details hehe)

ACORNBEE: she wants to become the top warrior of riverclan, pretty much! acornbee dedicates her life to upholding clan tradition and code, and her dream is to just become the most admired warrior in riverclan, one that the leader (snowstar….obviously) can trust with her nine lives (supposedly). however, acornbee takes the code a little too seriously -- anything that the leader could ever ask of her, she’d do without a second thought.

LIGHTNINGFACE: lightningface’s main goal in life has become more focused on their career as now they and eveningscale are the senior caretakers and technically like the head ranks of the caretakers. they’ve also got a little bit of a surprise coming on later during the comic ;) and their main goal will be making sure that little group stays safe and is raised happily. 

🌲: What’s their favorite hunting spot?

HORNETFLOWER: probably by the rivers and streams! she enjoys either physically being in the water or amongst the stones overseeing the water flowing by, and she and minkclaw often goofed off together as youngsters around streams and rivers, so she has a particular affinity for hunting in those spots !

GOLDENSCALE: as her name suggests, goldenscale is especially skilled at fishing!! so her favorite hunting spots around the territory would naturally be the streams and river running through their territory as thats where she’s at her prime B)!!!

ACORNBEE: i dont believe she’d have a very specific hunting spot in riverclan, though i’d imagine she enjoys hunting around areas where there’s more shrubbery she can crouch behind and sneak up on her prey !!!

LIGHTNINGFACE: lightningface prefers hunting in the open parts of riverclan territory, where the trees thin out, or near the windclan border! they have a windclan-cat like build, and prefer chasing down prey out in open areas, rather than dodging around trees and shrubbery. 

🛠️: How do they best contribute to their clan?

HORNETFLOWER: hornetflower is a very kind, and nurturing, member of riverclan. besides the typical warrior-duty stuff, such as patrols and hunting, hornetflower also helps out a great deal around camp - she makes sure apprentices are staying safe and out of trouble, and often drops by the nursery to interact with the caretakers and kittens there. BASICALLY she’s a very warm molly and a role model to some, so she best contributes to her clan besides her warrior duties by offering advice and guidance for youngsters and even others her age :3!

GOLDENSCALE: as mentioned before she’s EXCEPTIONAL at hunting fish and streams, so she contributes the best to riverclan by stocking the fresh-kill pile with plenty of fish she can catch, as well as giving tips and advice to apprentices and growing cats on how to more efficiently hunt fish in the river and streams!! 

ACORNBEE: as a very obedient, task-orientated molly, acornbee best contributes to her clan in the smaller ways - she does what she’s told, when she’s told, and she does it thoroughly and properly. she makes sure she gets her tasks for the day done before any free time, and takes her responsibilities very seriously - she also works on the dens and camp setting a lot, making sure everything is secure and, if anything needs patched, she’s the first one reporting to the opening to patch it up! she’s just a busy little bee around riverclan pretty much hehe!

LIGHTNINGFACE: they’re one of the senior caretakers, alongside eveningscale, so they contribute to the clan most by taking charge of the nursery. they make sure caretakers are in order, especially apprentices, and make sure everyone’s staying safe and happy. one of the more important duties they have is keeping a note on kitten personalities and traits, because the senior caretakers often sit down with the leader before a group of kits is to be apprentices and give the leader their input on who should mentor which kit, and what career choices the kits have decided on. of course, the mentor-and-apprentice pair ups are the leaders final choice, but they usually do take the senior caretakers recommendations, and they of course make sure not to pair up a kit interested in becoming a caretaker with a warrior mentor or vice versa!

💡: Give a random fact about them?

HORNETFLOWER: hornetflower is the revamp of an old rp oc named Hopwhisker! I kinda miss the hop- prefix a lot honestly…. Anyways! she had 6 toes and was a scottish fold, both of which kinda got revamped to just big paws and floppy ears, but

GOLDENSCALE: originally she was part of the main group with lampreyface, hornetflower, minkclaw, blackcloud (before cootwhisker got in the way) and marigoldface! they were, conceptually, a very tight-knit friend group, but i ended up making lampreyface older than that generation and the group itself was feeling a little crowded so i broke it up a little. while they are all still friends they’re not like The Group as originally planned sdfhsdf! 

ACORNBEE: she is the second ever cat i used the -bee prefix on :D!

LIGHTNINGFACE: there’s a rumor in windclan that went around shortly after rosepaw’s apprentice ceremony/first apprentice gathering that lightningface was actually rosepaw’s sire - although there’s no real validity to that claim. lightningface just happens to look a lot like their nephew. 

🌠: Are they religious?

HORNETFLOWER: hornetflower isn’t devoutly religious in how she acts, so she doesn’t really pray daily or send her thoughts to starclan daily, but she will head down to the river (a common spot for most riverclan cats to stop by and pray without heading all the way up to starclan’s ledge, should they feel the need to pray for something) and pray for her friends or family if someone she knows is in danger, or battling an illness, or going out on a particularly dangerous job/duty/task. if a clanmate or someone she knows from a different clan has passed away too, she’ll sit down and send a silent prayer up to starclan, asking for her ancestor’s to welcome the aforementioned cat into their ranks securely.

GOLDENSCALE: besides just….believing in starclan, goldenscale doesn’t really do anything or behave in any particularly religious manners. she never really prays unless she feels it’s desperately, desperately needed, and you could probably count the amount of times shes prayed on one of ur hands. her religious behavior/familiarity extends to just simply knowing that there’s a place after death.

ACORNBEE: acornbee, on the other hand, is very attentive in her religious behavior. she typically takes a moment to thank starclan for a catch once she hunts prey down, and prays before she sits down to eat, typically again just a little thank you to starclan for blessing her with a meal. shes not shy when it comes to prayers for starclan, and often thinks to them for advice - however, in her eyes, the closest a living cat can get to communing with starclan outside of starclan’s ledge is the leader: the leader, in acornbees eyes, has direct path with starclan, and whatever the leader orders, it must be a will of starclan. it can be an unfortunate vulnerable way of thinking.

LIGHTNINGFACE: the most notable behavior they do when it comes to religion is the fact they will send a prayer up to starclan before every birth - its usually just a quiet, quick “let this cat and their kits make it through the birth” in their head before they settle down to help the cat in labor deliver kits, alongside eveningscale. they also tell kittens and apprentices lore and mythology, as well as about starclan, so that could also be a way that u can see how they act in according to their religion!!

[outranks]

i hope this isnt a weird request but like..... could you write f!dep/sharky/john threesome pls? Cult or non cult au, your choice.

NONNY LISTEN, THIS REQUEST CHANGED MY DAMN LIFE. I never even thought about John/f!dep/Sharky before and now?? I talk about it all the time. so, thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I hope this is what you wanted???

There are a lot of benefits to John’s ridiculous oversized bed, made to fit at least two grown men and their smaller girlfriend with room to spare. It means that Rook can stretch out at night, practically spread eagle without touching anyone. And it means Sharky can twist and turn, nearly rotating halfway to the other end of the bed, without waking anyone up. And it means that John can get a full night’s sleep without getting kicked or squeezed by either of his chosen bed mates.

Or at least it should mean that.

More often than not Rook ends up draped over John, trying to leach the warmth from him as he is the worst blanket hog. And Sharky will have somehow ended up with his head at the other end of the bed and his foot somewhere near John’s throat. It’s always an accident, and Rook is trying to get better, but she hasn’t slept as well in years and sometimes maybe it’s important to leave well enough alone.

Except how there are times, though few and far between, that she’ll wake up to find someone missing.

Usually John.

Rook yawns and stretches, trying to pull herself out of sleep enough to crawl out of bed. “Where’s John?” she murmurs, poking Sharky in the side. “What’d you do with him.”

Sharky grunts, dragging the corner of a blanket over his head. Absolutely useless at this hour. The weather has been growing colder and John’s house is frustratingly difficult to heat and Rook knows the floor outside of the bedroom will be cold. She really doesn’t want to step on it.

Reluctantly, she does so anyway.

Rook grabs her pajama bottoms from where they were tossed on the floor earlier, and pulls Sharky’s hoodie from the chair it’s draped over. It’s not that she minds walking around the house naked, but there are always guards wandering the property and with Sharky around they’ve already seen enough. He has a habit of stepping out onto the balcony without a stitch of clothing on because the sunlight feels good on my junk, Rook.

Eventually John is going to stop finding him so endearing and start siding with her on the matter.

“John?” she calls softly, not wanting to wake up Sharky even though he absolutely deserves it. The floor in the hallway is as cold on her feet as she thought it would be, and sometimes being right just isn’t worth it. She checks the other bedrooms first, feeling a little guilty for poking her head into Joseph’s room when he’s not even there, before heading downstairs.

There’s a soft glow coming from the living room and the crackle of a fire in the fireplace. Meaning that’s where John is. From the moment the weather started to turn toward winter he’s been finding every way he can to make himself, and the house, warmer. It’s not even that cold yet, but if John wants to start a fire Rook can’t stop him.

She’s tried.

But with Sharky on John’s side it’s two against one. At least the Peggies have started practicing fire safety drills since Sharky became a regular presence at the ranch. So Rook will at least give them credit for that. The Peggies take John’s safety very seriously.

“John?” Rook steps into the living room, spotting John stretched out on the sofa, one arm behind his head. There’s a book on the floor beside him, and she would think he’s asleep except for how he turns to look at her as she gets closer. “What are you doing down here?”

John sighs, long and weary, though Rook suspects he’s only being dramatic for emphasis. “The people I have chosen to share my bed with were, apparently, both raised in a barn,” he says without a hint of true venom. “Sharky kicked me in the shoulder— I can’t even say how he got that turned around— and you cling so hard I thought you might strangle me.”

“You steal all the blankets and I was cold.”

“I— they’re my blankets.”

Rook hums, not willing to argue that specific point when she’s still partially asleep and John looks so comfortable. Instead she considers the best way to drape herself over him without hitting any sensitive spots. She ends up wedging her knee between John’s hip and the back of the sofa, and bracing herself on his thighs. “I guess we’ll just have to sleep out here,” she says.

John only gives the faintest protest as Rook makes herself comfortable on top of him. “The two of you are so—” he shifts until he can get an arm around her waist, fingertips just brushing the exposed skin of her side where the hoodie has ridden up.

“Charming?” Rook offers, “Delightful?”

“Frustrating.”

“Yeah, but you like us anyway.”

Rook can’t really see John’s face from the position she’s in, but she knows him well enough to guess at the soft, pleased little smile he’ll be wearing. The one that only shows up when he thinks no one is looking. Even after they’ve made all their vows and promises, he’s still guarded around them.

“Yes,” he says quietly.

There’s a creak of the floorboards and Sharky slowly walking into the rook, naked as the day he was born. “I guess we’re moving the party down here,” he says through a yawn while rubbing at his eyes. “The bed was empty and I can’t say that I like that.”

“I tried to wake you,” Rook says, reaching a hand out to Sharky and pulling him closer.

“I can be difficult to wake, I admit,” he says. “So, is this a late night, in front of the fire, sex thing? Because I could get it up for that if it is.”

“It’s a sleeping on the couch because the two of you don’t know how to sleep like normal people in a bed thing,” John says.

Rook considers the position she’s in— John between her thighs and Sharky standing completely bare beside her. “It could be a sex thing.”

“Great,” Sharky says, nearly flinging himself onto the sofa, sandwiching Rook between himself and John. “You always say the sweetest things.”

“Sharky.” Rook can’t decide between laughing and trying to push him off. On the one hand, there’s not a lot they can do like this, but on the other hand it’s almost nice having her two favorite men pressed so close. Except for John’s annoyed huffs and attempts to wriggle himself free. Being at the bottom of the pile probably isn’t the most comfortable place.

John gets a knee up and one arm free, pushing at the two of them. “Can’t you behave?” he asks, dumping them on the floor.

Rook laughs, even as she hits the ground, though her fall is broken almost completely by Sharky. “You knew what you were getting yourself into when you chose us.” At least for the most part. And either way, she knows John wouldn’t have them any other way, no matter how much he likes to complain. “We should probably take this back to the bedroom.”

“No need,” Sharky says, pushing off the floor and grabbing the blanket from the sofa and one of the pillows John had been using. “We’ve got a nice fire going, we’ve got this nice set up—” he carefully lays out the blanket on the floor in front of the fire— “and, we have all the supplies we need.”

“How do we—” Rook starts, only to be cut off by Sharky shuffling over to the small table beside the sofa and pulling out a bottle of lube and some condoms.

“Gotta be prepared for anything,” he says.

John sits up, looking at Sharky with an expression that is absolutely perplexed. “You stashed that in here in case we decided to have sex in the living room?”

“Again,” Rook adds.

Sharky grins, tossing both items to John. “I stashed the necessary supplies in every room of the house, just in case,” he says. “Including Broseph’s room because you never know when he might need it.”

“Oh, God,” John says quietly.

Rook tries very hard not to laugh, especially at the utterly pained look on John’s face. Is it the idea of his brother using Sharky’s gifts that’s the problem, or the idea of the Father using them? There’s definitely a distinction there, but Rook is still trying to sort it all out. The Seeds’ relationships are a tangled web of unnecessary complications that she hasn’t even begun to unravel. “That was very thoughtful of you, Sharky,” she says instead.

“I’m a thoughtful guy,” Sharky says, grabbing Rook’s ankles and pulling her onto her back so swiftly that it startles another laugh out if her. “And I plan to show you just how thoughtful I can be.”

“Yeah?” Rook hooks her thumbs in the waistband of her pajama pants and pushes them down her hips as far as she can, only to be helped along by Sharky nearly ripping them the rest of the way off of her. “So what’s your— oh.” She feels light and practically giddy when Sharky lifts her up, hooking her legs over his shoulder, and running the flat of his tongue over her clit. “Fuck.” Her nails dig into the soft blanket that’s been laid out on the floor, needing something to hold onto.

She bites her lip, trying to stifle the whines that keep slipping from her throat. Sharky isn’t going slow at all, his lips and tongue are so wet and eager to make her come.

There’s movement beside her and John finally joins them in front of the fire, cast all in warm light. “I suppose it’s worth putting off sleep for this,” he says, running one hand through Sharky’s hair and the other up under her hoodie to gently rub at her breast. “Do you know what you want?”

Rook barely knows her own name. Sharky’s mouth is skilled beyond her comprehension, even after they’ve been together for a while. Every lick and gentle suck has her breath hitching on sobs she doesn’t get a chance to rein in before he does something else that has her soaking wet and hovering right on the edge. “I— fuck— I want you,” she says, wishing desperately for some kind of leverage to push against Sharky’s tongue. “Both of you, in me.”

Sharky gives another wet lick to her clit before pulling off, just long enough to say, “I like the sound of that.” And to emphasize his point, he moves a hand off her thigh to tease at both of her entrances.

“Good, I—” Rook can hardly breathe as she squirms on Sharky’s tongue. “I—” She’s so close she can’t hold any words in her mouth, especially not with Sharky’s fingers just the barest amount inside of her. It’s not enough and she reaches out, grabbing for John and pulling him down into a kiss that’s frantic and messy as her orgasm hits her fast. She moans, rocking her hips to ride out every last wave as Sharky draws it out with his clever tongue and John catches the sounds she’s making before they ever have a chance to escape.

“Exactly as I planned,” Sharky says, slowly lowering her to the floor and wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. “My ideas are always this good.”

“That’s not—” John sighs, slapping a condom to Sharky’s chest. “Come on, we’re not done here.” His hand travels down between Rook’s legs to touch at where she’s wet and still aching to be filled.

And she hasn’t even had a chance to catch her breath.

Rook sits, with a little assistance from John, then gets up onto shaking thighs to position herself in Sharky’s lap.

“You good?” Sharky asks, running a palm up and down her side.

Rook nods, eyes slipping closed, and sinks onto his cock with a groan. She’s still too close to her release, feeling right back on the edge with the gentle slide of him against her walls. “Fuck,” she whispers, knowing damn well that between the three of them, she’s the one who won’t be able to last very long. “Yeah, yes, fuck.” This isn’t the first time they’ve done this, and it certainly won’t be the last, but Rook is still getting used to keeping up with two men determined to have her naked and wanting as often as possible.

“I’ll take it slow,” John murmurs, pressing against her back, fingers wet with lube as he trails over her ass, gently slipping inside. “I’ll be good for you.”

Sharky snorts. “You say such sweet things.”

Rook huffs a laugh, curling closer to Sharky as John carefully stretches her open. “Worked on you, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Sharky says, as if there isn’t pink staining his cheeks. It’s still hard to admit how easily John’s charm caught both of them so unaware, though it remains the best thing to happen in their lives. No matter how embarrassed Sharky gets at the thought of it.

John brushes her hair off her shoulder and leaves a gentle kiss against her neck. “Just relax,” he says, lining up his cock and slowly pushing in until he’s fully seated inside of her. “There you go.”

All the air feels punched out of Rook’s lungs and there’s a fullness she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to. She makes a sound like a whine, fingers spasming where she’s started to grip Sharky’s biceps. In the morning there will be bruises exactly the size of her hands and she knows she’ll be proud to see them. But for now, she’s just trying to keep from falling apart between these two men. “God,” she says, finding her voice for a moment. “I’m—”

John presses another kiss to her neck, reaching around her to play with her clit. “Tell me when you’re ready.”

Rook shivers, unclenching one hand from Sharky’s arm to grab for John’s waist. “Just… go slow.”

“Of course,” Sharky says, sliding his hands to her ass and spreading her open. “We are going to make you feel so good.”

“I already— fuck.” As slow as they’re going, there’s nothing that can ever prepare her for that first, perfectly in sync, push inside of her. Rook is stuffed full and she can already feel herself adjusting to them, wanting more. And John hasn’t stopped touching her clit which is only helping to speed up that process. She’s going to come on both of their cocks and soon. “Yeah, yes, just— you can— go faster.”

“You said you wanted us to take things slow,” John says, dragging his cock out almost torturously slow before pushing back in like he has all the time in the world. “We only wish to make you happy, my dear.”

There’s not a lot of leverage Rook can get, but she manages to lift herself enough to start her own rhythm, making both of her men groan. It’s music to her ears. If she’s going to come apart between them, then she’ll take them down with her. “Come on,” she says, finally feeling Sharky tighten his hold on her so that he can have her bouncing on his lap, his cock dragging perfectly against her walls. “I—” love you, she wants to say, but instead she drags him into a wet, open mouthed kiss, letting him swallow down all of the breathless words she can’t say.

John laughs again, soft and quiet, picking up his own pace and changing the rhythm again. He tangles his fingers in her hair, pulling her back until her moans are exposed to the open air once more. “Think you’ll last long?”

Rook can barely think at all, but she knows that she won’t. Especially not with the way John continues to rub at her clit and Sharky has started snapping his hips up to fuck her deep. She grinds down, clenching around them as her muscles begin to twitch and her breath catches. There’s an ache inside of her that only they have ever been able to calm. “Harder,” she says, and that must finally be enough because John places a hand flat against her back, pressing her to Sharky’s chest, changing the angle.

“Damn,” Sharky says, “guess it’s gonna be like that,” and moves her up and down on his cock while John fucks her just the right side of too hard.

Rook’s mouth drops open, unable to get any sound out. She’s so close that she can do nothing but ride her two men as John’s clever fingers finally pull her back over the edge. She goes taut for a moment as the pressure builds and then crashes through her in waves. It’s too much and for a moment she thinks she’s going to break apart; every nerve alight with currents of electricity. And somehow, impossibly, all she wants is to pull John and Sharky in deeper. Like they should be trying to claim her from the inside out. She moans, feeling Sharky’s cock become wetter with her release, as the rest of her body becomes pliant and loose.

“Fuck,” John hisses in her ear, his own rhythm speeding and becoming stuttered.

“Yeah,” Sharky says, “fuck.”

Rook would laugh at them if she had the energy, but all she can do is hold on while they use her for their own pleasure. It’s good, though John still had his finger pressed to her clit like he plans to make her come again. As much as that idea has some appeal, especially with the little aftershocks of her orgasm, she doesn’t have the energy for a round three.

Not that she wants him to stop.

Sharky groans loud, pulling her down and slamming his hips up to meet her, and goes still. His face is flushed, cheeks pink even in the low light of the dying fire. He’s cute and Rook can’t help but to kiss him again.

John’s breath is coming out in soft pants against the back of her neck, practically in time with every hard push of his cock inside of her. He moves his hand from her clit, running slick fingers along her belly and up, over her breasts, before cupping her chin and turning her head just enough that he can share in the kiss. There’s a sound caught in his throat, halfway between a moan and a growl, that threatens to break free as he gives another demanding thrust, and another, and presses himself flush to her back as he comes.

They’re sweaty and sticky, and Rook knows she’s going to be a mess, but she feels like she’s never going to want to move from this spot.

“I would live in your pussy if I could,” Sharky says, the only thing louder than John’s breathing while he tries to catch his breath.

“Thanks?” That’s definitely a compliment, though Rook is too tired to understand it.

“You’re such a romantic,” John says, a soft hint of humor in his voice, no matter how much he likes to pretend otherwise. He is utterly charmed by the both of them.

“I hear that a lot.”

John hums, bracing one hand on Rook’s lower back to pull out slowly. She is probably going to be sore later, but it’s always worth it.

“Come on,” he says, gently lifting Rook off of Sharky’s softening cock and helping her stretch out in front of the fire.

“We really should get cleaned up,” she says, not making a single move to do anything about it.

Sharky ties off his used condom and tosses it in the vague direction of the trash can, like John isn’t going to lecture them about doing that. Again. Except he doesn’t. Instead John follows Sharky’s lead, with a small shrug, and joins them stretched out beside Rook on the floor.

“This is the life,” Sharky says, finding a way to sprawl across the both of them, careful to keep elbows and knees away from any sensitive parts.

Rook yawns and shifts closer to John. “I guess we’re staying down here.”

Sharky doesn’t say anything, but he does pat her on the hip which is probably an answer.

“I’m getting a bigger bed,” John murmurs, curling an arm around Sharky and pressing his face to Rook’s hair. “No more sex on the floor.”

“Yeah,” Rook says, knowing perfectly well they’ll have sex anywhere in the house, “sure.”

John grumbles, but doesn’t say anything more, and Sharky is already back asleep.

[ihavenoconsistentname]

Ok actual vent-ish time

Not really a vent more of a ramble about something that just happened but I'll label it vent-ish anyway

So! 👏

All good things have an end, all things in GENERAL have an end-

Eh fuck it

Jamie and I broke up

This morning I got a text on discord and I saw oh it's from Jamie and immediately saw oh it's a long message and reading the notif I was like ah I know what's coming—and this was the thing I mentioned way earlier—I actually didnt feel a wave of anxiety like I thought I would, but that's probably because I've been anticipating it for a while internally. Not that I wanted it to happen?? Its just I've been expecting it to happen because our relationship had some issues, namely communication, and this is all on me. Now, I know people will say oh it's bad to just blame yourself for everything but in this case: shush, shut up. I literally have full reason to blame myself because it really is my fault!! This isnt me blaming myself, it's me owning up to my mistakes, there's a difference.

Now, in this one year we had been together, and yeah it's only one year because we're 13 so—we kind of drifted apart for a few reasons. 1. He changed schools so we couldn't see each other irl (his parents? Hate me- I'm trans so they hate me, they think him being trans is stupid or bad and act like I influenced him and it's a trend or some shit ITS NOT!! But that's not the point here) which contributed to problem 2, which was that we missed each other too much and couldn't do anything about it so we both were upset by that. 3, and this is the main problem, we didnt talk a lot. We dont talk enough anymore because it's hard. I used my poor social skills as an excuse and that was bad of me, I should have tried harder to really talk to him. But I didnt, I didnt try hard enough, and we suffered from that. He told me how he kept it to himself that he was kind of upset seeing me have conversations with my friends and stuff yet I couldn't talk to him. And I'm glad he said that because it helped me really see how I fucked up, which I did. I was always afraid I would do something to hurt him and I did, I even failed to recognize it. Which was bad, of course. We both tried to contribute to the relationship, of course, but we just lacked the communication to keep it stable, and this was mostly on me.

Obviously, we havent lost any love or trust for each other, we just agreed maybe it cant work as a relationship anymore because we just lack the ability to keep it that way. This was his decision, and I let it be his decision, because I contributed to the problem so much more and it wasnt fair to him, so I let him choose what to do and I wanted him to do what would benefit him and his own mental health over mine, especially since it was his being harmed by it.

And theres no way in hell I could be upset with him, not after all he's done for me. He said it multiple times he was worried he would be hurting or upsetting me, but he didnt do that at all.

Hell, just the fact that he even gave me a chance. I'm an absolute mess. I'm a dumpster fire. I'm a problematic ball of anxiety and bad emotions. Yet he saw me and still let me try. He tried with me, and I tried with him. He let me do that. Barely anyone else would do that for me to that extent. He gave me a chance, and theres no way I could ever be mad at him after that. It means so much to me that he even tried.

But the thing that really matters to me is that this is what was best for him, and probably best for both of us since I wanted what was best for him. That's the important part. You'll see all these people "dating" other people at my age and they're just dating for the sake of dating. The majority of them either don't truly love each other like that or they're so loosely connected and do it for some other benefit. But you have to remember that a relationship takes effort from both people to keep it going, it takes mutual love and understanding and trust, it takes healthy communication—something ours sadly lacked. Without that, it really cant be a stable or good relationship, or there just isnt enough there to really call it one.

And even though it's over now, we're still friends. We refuse to stop loving each other even after this. We still have a strong connection with each other. That's how you know we really did try. And I'm glad we tried, because if he never gave me that chance in the first place, I might not have had such a driving force behind my existence and me still being here and alive. Even if we didnt talk much, he kept me stable. He was there as a reminder that I had something good in my life, that I had a reason not to die. And it kept me going long enough to see the other good things in my life. If he didnt do that for me, I could have been gone too soon to realize I had something.

He pretty much helped save my life and I can't thank him enough for that. I'm just so glad he gave me a chance.