#because history DOES repeat itself
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Okay, I'm done being subtle about this.
I keep mentioning in my tags and in a post recently that World War II was allowed to happen because Hitler started conquering Germany's neighbors.
The world didn't interfere at the time due to 1) not wanting to start another war so soon after WWI, and 2) The Great Depression was nearing its end, but still happening.
Hitler's excuse at the time was to "reunite Germany" since part of the treaty of WWI was taking all of Germany's military away and splitting the country. They brought it to its knees as much as possible. So when Germany started taking that back, when they started rebuilding their army, it was illegal to do so because of the treaty, but no one stopped them.
Things only escalated to a full-on war when Hitler invaded Poland, after being threatened not to do so by several other countries. He did it anyway.
This is what we are currently seeing in Palestine right now.
What Israel is doing is, by international law, illegal. The people who have the power to stop them are not doing so. Israel is operating under an excuse ("self-defense," and religious zionists support them because they are "taking back the Holy land and fulfilling God's promise" or whatever), and Israel is now attacking Lebanon and Yemen.
They're just going to keep going.
I've been hesitant to call Israel a Nazi state due to the sheer amount of baggage that comes with that, but there is no denying it at this point. They're neo-nazi fascists who are following in their own oppressors footsteps, spreading hatred and violence to other parts of the world while no one in power stops them. Hell, even worse, this time around, the people in power are fucking funding it.
If you think this "war" won't affect you, think again.
If you ask me, looking back on history, if we don't put a stop to this in its tracks soon, then I fear this is only the beginning.
Know your history. Stand with Palestine. Ceasefire NOW.
#please dont take this post as me just trying to fearmonger people thats not my goal#my goal is to blatantly show the parallels between the past and present#because history DOES repeat itself#to not see a potential WWIII coming is either hopeful ignorance or denial at this point#but we have the benefit of hindsight now#we know where this is going and so WE CAN STOP IT#keep protesting#keep boycotting#keep pushing#stand with palestine#stand with gaza#free palestine#free gaza#ceasefire#ceasfire now#from the river to the sea palestine will be free#wwii#wwii history#wwiii#history#dimond speaks#palestine#gaza#rafah#save palestine#save gaza#save rafah#lebanon#yemen
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I think Rhys would be sooooo much more interesting if his dad were still alive
#anti rhysand#heâs like a little kid playing pretend trying to be his dad but not understanding what made him that way#so all he can replicate is the cold aloofness and cruelty that he remembers from his childhood#and the best part is that even this is all alleged!! itâs speculation because we donât know if Rhysâ memory of his father is soured by his#death and the assumed centuries since then or if this unnamed man is actually that bad#I think it would add a really interesting layer to fey/sands relationship too#cause what does his father see?? is he seeing history repeating itself or a train wreck in the making??#would it lead to self reflection on his relationship with rhysands mother and how the mate bond is both a blessing and a curse??#giving you the one person in the whole world who could understand and love you at the most intrinsic level but simultaneously blinding you#to all their worst traits and habits. most likely not because sjm sucks but like just imagine if we had rhysands dad still there as#a monument to what happens with dead mates and bad bonds looming over fey/sand#gold talks.tag
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man we need to stop forgetting that gay marriage has been federally legal in the US for less than 10 years. and exactly 10 in the UK. if you are 10 years old, you have lived longer than most gay people have been able to get married. sigh.
#some of these young gays.... need perspective.#acknowledging how far weve come does not dismiss how far we need to go.#just because you dont like the language our community used to use for themselves or still use#just because queer people used to be queer in a way you didnt like#doesnt mean they were doing it wrong. in fact they were doing it very very right.#history doesnt repeat itself but it often echoes. as eric marcus said.#queer then doesnt have to look like queer now to be important and valid and real and revolutionary#it still was. it still is. please god pick up a history book before shitting all over the gays who paved your path.#i remember celebrating in the living room with my mom when they announced on tv that gay marriage had been legalized.#get some PERSPECTIVE.
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"History repeats itself" THE HISTORY HASNT HAD TIME TO BREATHE
It's not a repeat, It's a continuation. It's the same history!!!!!
#personal post#would you believe me if i told you this is about people personifying and shipping emojis and not politics?#anyway#no this is not history repeating itself its a byproduct of the way this histories culture does things#its the same history god damn it#you're shipping those emojis because we shipped other emojis together in the past#youre drawing blue sad alastor because we made blue sad bill/will in the past#its not a repeat of history its the same time period god damn it#its like if every time a dystopian YA novel came out in the 2010s people said âooo this is a repeat of historyâ NO#social media moves time too fast sometimes#and people forget that a 2 year gap between something is not actually indicative of a repeat#but rather a trend#and the ideas we have right now as a society do actually still move slowly#like we value the idea of two popular emojis kissing#so we draw it. twice#whoopee
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The trend of people saying "Don't take inspiration from my OCs!!!" is so weird to me because like....you GENUINELY cannot stop people from taking inspiration when you post your OC online - hell THEY can't stop themselves from taking inspiration when they have seen your OC. Because the brain automatically pulls from things we know when having to create something new. the brain isn't exactly able to create something completely new from thin air. it takes what it knows and mix matches it all together collage style to make something new.
The fact is that you cannot stop people from being inspired by your characters and designs the moment they get posted online. You cannot stop people from using a similar concept to you because you do not own the idea or the concept. What you DO own is the Original character you made from that idea or concept. that is a tangible thing YOU own and all the features TOGETHER that make up that character are what is protected under your ownership. People cannot copy or make minor changes and then call that character their own because that's just straight up stealing your character.
but if you made say....a platypus girl and someone else becomes inspired to make their own platypus girl....that's not stealing. you can't force someone to not be inspired by the concept of a platypus girl. you cannot say they are copying you for making a platypus girl. Now if they make their platypus girl look very similar to yours? yeah thats sus as hell and definitely something you could probably call them out on because then it is just copying. But inspiration? you can't get after people for that and genuinely you need to get off your high horse and stop assuming that people taking inspiration is an attack on you at all. like literally grow up and learn how the world and art works, bozo.
#text#red rants#I've heard about tiktok going through discourse that has happened on toyhouse deviantart and twitter already and im so fucking tired#especially because we cannot just say it is younger artists doing this when some of those people#are in like 20s and 30s and shit and attcking teenagers for daring to get inspired by a characters concept#especially when it is the most generic concept in the world#like brooooo grow tf up#this shit should've died in the past why does this discourse come up again every few years#it's exhausting#history repeats itself
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In another world, fate was just a little bit kinder
#my art#artists on tumblr#the legend of korra#original characters#sotrl midori#sotrl haya#seeds of the red lotus#look I was feeling extremely emotional recently. and thought about how different life would be for my OCs if Haya was good#and I'm a sucker for AUs like that. it's spiritually healing. so of course I had to draw something for it#I originally wanted to draw a companion piece for suiren too but then thought it was just rehashing the idea#and I draw Suiren a lot already anyways so decided to just take the excuse to draw adorable little Midori and run with it#I have quite a few thoughts about an AU like this too. it starts out like sotrl does. haya gives them the cold shoulder and is kinda mean#but then the news of the rl's imprisonment reach gaoling. haya is shellshocked at first. distances herself and sends the girls to their room#pretends she can't hear the crying. but really she wants to cry too because as estranged as they are. ghazan is still her little brother#she indulges late that night after she think the girls are asleep. deep buried trauma from losing her parents resurfaces#but then she hears footsteps behind her. Midori is awake. haya wants to be angry at first but finds she has no energy to#they talk a little. the warm glow of candlelight catches midori's eyes and their grey shade turns gold. she looks so much like him#haya realises Midori is even younger than ghazan was when they lost their parents. suiren is half the age haya herself was#no one cared for her and ghazan back then. she won't let history repeat itself#so she reaches for midori. heart skipping a beat when she lights up slightly. and takes her into her arms#holds her close as midori hugs her back. if she closes her eyes it almost feels like sheâs 14 again. holding her brother#she swears then that sheâll be as good of a guardian to these girls as she can so they donât end up like their parents did. like haya did#itâs a long road to unlearn her bitterness but she tries her best. itâs easier with midori who soaks in affection like a sponge#Midoriâs happiness is infectious. with suiren itâs much more difficult bc the prejudice Haya holds against the swamp are still there#as is the hatred for their mother. it isnât until the townspeople start calling Suiren a swamp rat does haya snap#she no longer cares about getting alienated from the community that barely welcomed her anyway. she will defend her niece from them all#itâs the first time she calls suiren her niece. they talk too and Haya apologises for favouring Midori and starts working on fixing it#their life together isnât perfect. the townspeople side eye them. they canât afford bending teachers. Haya still has to bite her tongue#but itâs so much better than what could have been had Haya let her pain consume her and started to take it out on the girls. theyâre happy#I have so much more to say and theorise about when it comes to this au but alas. tag limits are a thing. so Iâm leaving this here
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if I've learned anything from grad school it's to check your sources, and this has proven invaluable in the dozens of instances when I've had an MBA-type try to tell me something about finances or leadership. Case in point:
Firefox serves me clickbaity articles through Pocket, which is fine because I like Firefox. But sometimes an article makes me curious. I'm pretty anal about my finances, and I wondered if this article was, as I suspected, total horseshit, or could potentially benefit me and help me get my spending under control. So let's check the article in question.
It mostly seems like common sense. "...track expenses and income for at least a month before setting a budget...How much money do I have or earn? How much do I want to save?" Basic shit like that. But then I get to this section:
This sounds fucking made up to me. And thankfully, they've provided a source to their claim that "research has repeatedly shown" that writing things down changes behavior. First mistake. What research is this?
Forbes, naturally, my #1 source for absolute dogshit fart-sniffing financial schlock. Forbes is the type of website that guy from high school who constantly posts on linkedin trawls daily for little articles like this that make him feel better about refusing to pay for a decent package for his employees' healthcare (I'm from the United States, a barbaric, conflict-ridden country in the throes of civil unrest, so obsessed with violence that its warlords prioritize weapons over universal medical coverage. I digress). Forbes constantly posts shit like this, and I constantly spend my time at leadership seminars debunking poor consultants who get paid to read these claims credulously. Look at this highlighted text. Does it make sense to you that simply writing your financial goals down would result in a 10x increase in your income? Because if it does, let me make you an offer on this sick ass bridge.
Thankfully, Forbes also makes the mistake of citing their sources. Let's check to see where this hyperlink goes:
SidSavara. I've never heard of this site, but the About section tells me that Sid is "a technology leader who empowers teams to grow into their best selves. He is a life-long learner enjoys developing software, leading teams in delivering mission critical projects, playing guitar and watching football and basketball."
That doesn't mean anything. What are his LinkedIn credentials? With the caveat that anyone can lie on Linkedin, Mr. Savara appears to be a Software Engineer. Which is fine! I'm glad software engineers exist! But Sid's got nothing in his professional history which suggests he knows shit about finance. So I'm already pretty skeptical of his website, which is increasingly looking like a personal fart-huffing blog.
The article itself repeats the credulous claim made in the Forbes story earlier, but this time, provides no link for the 3% story. Mr. Savara is smarter than his colleages at Forbes, it's much wiser to just make shit up.
HOWEVER. I am not the first person to have followed this rabbit hole. Because at the very top of this article, there is a disclaimer.
Uh oh!
Sid's been called out before, and in the follow up to this article, he reveals the truth.
You can guess where this is going.
So to go back to the VERY beginning of this post, both Pocket/Good Housekeeping and Forbes failed to do even the most basic of research, taking the wild claim that writing down your budget may increase your income by 10x on good faith and the word of a(n admittedly honest about his shortcomings) software engineer.
Why did I spend 30 minutes to make a tumblr post about this? Mostly to show off how smart I am, but also to remind folks of just how flimsy any claim on the internet can be. Click those links, follow those sources, and when the sources stop linking, ask why.
#long post#side note- this is one of the reasons i dont cover shit i dont like in my video essays. yall havent seen me angry.
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2 & 3 from section 1 for peri and 7 from whichever section has a more interesting #7 for diodore -moss
oooh these are fun ones!
2. Describe their tent set-up (outside and inside) (Peri)
I think Peri's tent is constructed similarly to Gale and Astarion's (boxy, fabric walls, little covered area outside). Deep blue fabric w/ golden astronomical embroidery, mostly the sort of thing you see on star maps. Little golden tassles around the edges of the tarp (?) and the doorframe. He'd have a small, circular, dark wood side table short enough that you can use it sitting on the ground, and a dark blue pillow next to it; there would be some parchment and a bronze miniature astrolabe on the table. The inside would be just. full to the brim with the gaudiest night-sky-themed pillows you've ever seen. No bedroll, no palette, just a nest that would put those cube pits in trampoline parks to shame. There would be two bird perches for his familiar Medani: one taller one next to his tent and one shorter one under the overhang. The shorter one would have a crow-sized bow-tie hanging from it. Rugs on rugs on the outside area ofc. 3. What would their character quest be titled? Why? (Peri)
This is a hard one! His tav ending involves taking over the Waterdeep arm of the Harpers, so I think his arc would have something to do with that. He'd be pretty bitter about being dropped into another near-apocalyptic mess when dealing with the last one a few years prior was supposed to be a one-time thing. Something-something ptsd in a world that doesn't have the words for that yet, something-something 'once a hero always a hero', something-something the weight of responsibility...he's a planeswalker so I think part of it would be whether he decides to stay on Toril long-term and directly help rebuild the Waterdeep Harpers or if he continues to run travel around afterwards, so maybe The Far Traveller/The Far Walker?
Harpson/Fae-son are also potential options. "Fae-son" nods to him being a changeling without it being super obvious (like Astarion's "The Pale Elf"). It would also mimic his backstory reveals from RoT ("oh he's not 'from here' so, like, the Feywild" -> "OH he's not from here"). 7. Describe their arc. How would a player help resolve it? What choices can be made? Can your Tav be turned down a dark path, or pulled to a lighter one? (Diodore)
Buckle up because we're in for a long one here. I've thought about Dora's story arc a lot because she's the first of my tavs that I truly made for the game while having full control over her backstory, etc. (versus Corentin, who had their arc baked into the story as a durge). Dora's a paladin of Corellon (oath of ancients) and her story arc as a companion would have to do with whether or not she should accept capital-r-Redemption, the process by which a drow can be truly "freed" from Lolth and rejoin the ranks of the rest of elven society. It involves all of the Redeemed drow's memories being erased and them being reincarnated as a surface elf. The implication seems to be that without that, regardless of a drow's actions, they'd be thrown back to Lolth when they die? Or at least that their eternal fate is unknown (which is the way I prefer to think of it for. personal reasons). Under normal circumstances, Dora would be a long way from Redemption being presented to her at all (she's not even 200 yet and has only been on the surface for a couple decades), but like with the other gods' Chosen among the companions, near-apocalyptic circumstances tend to speed up those sorts of things.
Of course, you'd have the themes of faith & relationship with deity when they're all unequivocally real and are also mostly all assholes; maintaining or breaking generational cycles; facing the unknown; morality when none of your choices are "good" (and how that interacts with morality vs self preservation); power vs freedom; identity outside of the people who made you; etc. The choice would first be presented to her sometime in late Act I/early Act II, likely the first long rest after the group resurfaces from the Underdark and you've probably gotten some of her backstory already. I have no idea how Larian would have characterized Corellon, but he's considered one of the more benevolent/open-minded deities iirc, which could be interesting to see contrasted with Mystra, Vlaa'kith, and Shar. How much that open-mindedness would extend to a drow, even one who has been a faithful follower even before she escaped to the Surface (and who inherited that faith from her father), is unclear. At the beginning of the game she would be leaning towards accepting Redemption, despite her own misgivings about whether or not she would still be her in that case.
Her final decision (at the ending pier scene) would depend on the relationship she has with the PC and the other companions. Her best ending, imo, would be her not accepting Redemption but continuing to be a force for good. If she has a good relationship with the PC, she would have something to lose. I think seeing the House of Mourning would affect her too. After all, the thing Corellon is offering to her as a way to find peace is the same thing the Sharrans are using as a way to manipulate and control others.
She's viscerally aware of how she was socialized and very actively chooses "good", so pushing her towards a darker path would be incredibly difficult but not impossible. If you side with the goblins she'll leave immediately, and turn on you if she's in your party when you attack the grove. But if you decide to try and control the cult in Act II, depending on your over-all actions before then and how you've interacted with her, you could disillusion her to the point of convincing her to break her oath. That path would entail convincing her that controlling the cult is actually the best idea. I'm sure there would be other times that her oath could break that wouldn't necessarily lock her into an "evil" path, especially with how Oathbreakers are handled in the game. Knocking out Minthara instead of killing her outright and letting Auntie Ethel go in Act I instead of killing her are two things that come to mind.
If she doesn't choose Redemption she would be at the epilogue party, of course. I'm a bit undecided on what would happen if she does choose Redemption. She may not be there at all, w/ Jaheira, Halsin, Minthara, and/or Astarion mentioning running into her in her new, reincarnated state. Or she would be there, confused, and mention how the PC seems familiar in a way she can't quite place. In that case, she would ask them how they know each other and mention something about feeling a twinge of grief looking at everyone, but that she doesn't know why she feels that way. It would be up to the PC how much they tell her (if they tell her anything at all).
#ty for the ask mossy!!#and sorry for the wait lol a couple of these stumped me for a minute#thinking about peri & jaheira as narrative parallels...#b/c i want to be clear here. peri was and is *not* looking for more responsibility re: harpers#he was perfectly happy doing security systems. him not seeking power was an active character choice i made for him b/c he's a wizard#but in the Faerun In My Head (tm) the Waterdeep Harpers also get decimated by the Absolute b/c why would they not? theyd be a major threat#especially b/c their high harper was the catalyst for forming the lord's alliance and. like. you think they're *not* reconvening?#for Weird Cult Two: 2 Cult 2 Furious??#gortash would take remallia OUT if at all possible#and also I like torturing my characters#and i think the whole 'weight of duty'/hero's curse (once you get drawn into one situation you can't ignore the others/they come to you)#thing is interesting for peri in particular. the man just wants to live a quiet life and he will! for the most part.#just now with thousands of lives in his hands b/c he's helped stop 2 apocalypses and is irrevocably tied to the fate of the Coast now#his conscious wouldn't let him just leave the Harpers or Waterdeep to rot. and that seems to be similar to the situation jaheira's in#generational cycles the cruel march of time history repeats itself etc etc#that's also why i think he would get Weave'd and have an unusually long lifespan. he wanted to rest and the universe said âno <3â#i think about dora's story a lot also because the whole 'you can be redeemed (from something you were born with)#but only by removing integral parts of yourself' thing hits *right* in the religious trauma#you cant tell me there wouldn't be *some* part of a Redeemed Drow's soul that remembers the people from before they were changed#unless they just. get a new soul in which case it literally isn't them anymore.#doras first real & healthy relationships happen in-game#thats part of why she's drawn to astarion. his bullshit is predictable to her and therefore feels safer.#definitely safer than whatever is going on with the others#(also why she trusts karlach so quickly: she's straightforward and blunt & doesn't really hide things?#and was also the only one to warn her against astarion. dora'd literally never had someone like that in her life before so it stuck)#and she'd feel a bit uncomfortable w/ the concept of Redemption at first but who is she to argue with a god?#esp one who seems kinder than many of the others#but as the story progresses she realizes that she *can* trust these people and that they trust her#and she sees how Gale and Shadowheart and Lae'zel are struggling w/ their deities#and not only does she have something to lose now but she's seeing more of how the gods work generally
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i hate when i hate my dad because i hate being like him but hating him is hating the person i'll become and hating him is setting me one step further on that path and that's just a little too silly i fear ŕŹ(ŕŠËáľË)੠ŕŠâĄâ§âË
#korv rambles :)#does this even make sense#i dobt know#but theres this little fear in the back of my mind that everything i do is just making me more like my dad in all the worst ways possible#like yk what they say history is doomed to repeat itself#and it fucks even more when he says that he sees so much of himself in me and how we're so similar#and then he goes off and blames himself for everything and. and dad i know#i know he's not a bad person he's just never been provided with proper resources to manage himself#and now he's too stubborn to get help because he's supposed to prove to everyone that hes ok#anyways goodnight
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Thinking about the lifespans of Dungeon Meshi elves... The fact that they're completely unnatural alters my brain chemistry, because you can tell just how haphazardly the demon implemented their wish. They live five times the length of tall-men, so they age at a fifth of their rate. It's simple maths and the implications are terrifying. No wonder their birth rate and population are declining - their early development is so slow that at the age of two, they're still unable to stand.
They don't reach adulthood until their eighties. What does the infant mortality look like? How many elves succumb to illness or injury before they're fully mature? It only takes one accident to lose the child you've been raising for decades - and could you bring yourself to care for another? Add to that the implication elf culture has no idea how to process grief... just look at the way the Canaries treat Rin after the death of her parents. They're callous and insensitive and detached - part of that's racism, but there's also an element of pure cold ignorance. They don't even recognise the emotion on her face.
And that's just scratching the surface... does elven memory accommodate their extended lifespan? Once you reach two hundred or so, do the years start blurring together? Kabru mentions that their temporal awareness is remarkably poor.
Two years feel like a few months. Their lives are longer but not fuller. They're older but not wiser than the short-lived races, and most refuse to understand this. Those that do grasp it are interesting - namely Otta, who's ostracised for pursuing half-foot women.
A 30-year old elf is a young child; a 30-year old half-foot has entered middle age. Otta is in the equivalent of her late twenties. She knows that her elven lifespan makes her no more mature than a half-foot - but she also acknowledges that it creates a rift between herself and her partners, and not just in the eyes of society. 'She dumps them as soon as they pass 30', but probably not for the reasons Lycion assumes. For this to be a pattern, decades must have passed - it's possible Otta doesn't want to watch them die as she herself barely ages. No doubt some of her previous lovers have already passed away. In the end, all living 400 years accomplishes is leaving them out of sync with the rest of humanity.
Marcille's perhaps the best example. As a half-elf, she's got 95% of her life ahead and the thought terrifies her. She's going to lose everyone she loves, over and over and over again, and this cycle has barely even started. She runs at a different pace. This context adds so much to her dynamic with Falin in earlier chapters.
Marcille loves her! She's scared for her! Maybe even of her! She's grown attached to a short-lived girl who she met as a kid when Marcille was a teaching assistant! Biologically and developmentally, they're the same age, but chronologically she's twice as old as Falin! Considering what happened to her mother, is history repeating itself? Her feelings towards Falin are tangled and messy and fascinating. They're also more than a little homoerotic, which makes Marcille's infantilization of her friend all the more interesting. It feels like her way of resolving their power imbalance, of remaining a responsible (former!) authority figure... but it's also a coping mechanism. She's frightened by the ways Falin is maturing and changing - aging - and keeping her mental image of her friend as young as possible is her way of denying the march of time that's destined to sever their bond.
Marcille's dream of lifespan extension would remove the need for this obfuscation, render them equal... only, they already are! This desire is imposed onto Falin, but it's primarily for Marcille's benefit. Watching her fight for a world nobody wants, for reasons both selfish and altruistic... it's as tragic as it is understandable. I love this manga.
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i mean, im not saying im.. bad i guess?
#more so.. saying im a hazard. a hazard that allows myself to be touched despite.. the fact i probably shouldnt!#history repeats itself and im afraid itll do that again#i dont wanna bring you down with me. i know im a handful. i know i hurt parts of you whenever i speak#urgh#how does one recover? how does a person like me be normal for the people i love and care about?#i dwell on that a lot. its why i wish i could be normal. because if i was normal i wouldnât have a screwed up noggin!#i dont care if its a bad thing to wish.. but i wish i could be normal for you! for everyone!#im tired of being the mentally ill freakazoid that even i tend to hate on. one who sits and mopes because working is hard.#how do i get better when i can only learn to cope with the thoughts? theyll never go away. the memories wont ever go away.#the bad feelings wont go away because.. i was born with them! i just need to learn how to cope#but how do i properly cope? do i just.. shut up? so that i stop hurting you?#i dont know if ive ever found a coping mech that works! other than ignoring but thats just destructive.#sorry for the ramblings. ik its all over the place. my minds a bit scattered atm..
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itâs funny when ppl talk about the harpy omelet scene and say things like âwhy did he do all of that? he didnât need to. JUST doing that for laios???â (seen these nearly verbatim on posts iâve made.)
i donât really get how you can hear his backstory & not understand that every decision he makes within the dungeon is fueled by a profound trauma borne out of horrific, structural negligence. of course he would do fucking anything to enact his plan? if he computes âgetting in laiosâs favor = proxy control of the dungeonâ and he has very limited time to do so, he will jump at the chance. heâs already DIED for this.
kabru has maybe the clearest possible motivation that a character can have. he has a Protagonists Motivation, and it guides him forward in a very coherent way in the beginning of the story. things get more complicated in later acts that directly address how that motivation manifests itself/gets contradicted, bc ryoko kui is great at exploring this, but itâs still extremely present.
and as a labru fan i strongly dislike the implication i see from some ppl that his interest in laios is mostly personal or romantic (posts that range from pure joke to actual ship meta.) even when taking the âconfessionâ at face value, where i think he was telling the truth, thereâs still a lot more to it than that. i think at first kabru does see laios as a means to an end in a way thatâs impersonal, partly because he tends to keep everyone in his life at arms length. but that âendâ (preventing history from repeating itself) is something foundational to his psyche, and we should consider that potential sense of safety getting mixed in with his warring fascination/apprehension towards laios. heâs drawn to him for visceral reasons, and his stated motivations are so intertwined with his sense of self that untangling this push-pull is much more interesting than boilerplate Yearning, to me.
itâs just confusing when any meta or basic discussion of kabru diminishes the weight utaya has on his inner world and iâm really surprised every time i see it? like i understand that different types of meta will put other lenses on things intentionally, and in most cases i think itâs an interesting tool to work with. but itâs a massive disservice to his character to put the most foundational experience of his life on the back burner ESPECIALLY when itâs in favor of shipping. dissecting character relationships, romantic or otherwise, is at its best when you have their full personhood in mind!!
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Girl you can rant and rave all day but we all know for a fact you can't vote your way out of this mess so your "genuinely, what else can we do?" sounds like pure cucked defeatism. This downward spiral of American fascism has proven stable, so no, voting isn't going to stop it. The democrats will never be pushed left - as proven by blatant history. I know this is your cue to list a bunch of social services or civil rights concessions a la #bidenwins but the drip violence of homophobia and abortion restrictions under republicans does not come close to the bipartisan armed tyranny that murders people in broad daylight.
Voting isn't going to solve any of this, and no voting isn't going to "clear the way" or make it easier to resist. Democrats have proven over and over and over again they will use the full force of violence to stop anything that truly threatens them and the ONLY WAY to stop American fascism is to threaten them, to threaten the very foundations of the system itself.
You exert all this effort, have all this pained frustration, over the weakest political action you can take. You are not challenging fascism or tyranny or helping any of the people harmed under bipartisan violence. You ignore these people and focus on "harm reduction" for the few who do benefit from the pitiful social safety nets democrats eke out only to be undermined in the next four or eight years as republicans INEVITABLY take back power. Such is the case of a two party system, as history proves. You're staving off the inevitable by exerting all this energy into electoralism, and the people you "save" by electing democrats are inevitably hurt anyways when republicans INEVITABLY take back power - because that's what the system guarantees.
You exist in a cycle of abuse with the American government, a punishment-reward system under the 2 parties that keeps you afraid of punishment and too desperate for reward that you ignore how the hand that feeds you is also putting kids in cages and blowing up babies overseas. You, and everyone who thinks like you, will never be the ones to save anybody.
Idk I was pissed and now got all sad again after writing this. Just so you know my being sad at the state of your ideology isn't a representation of my passivity that people like you like to construe - I am painfully politically active. But it's just...sick. You're stuck in an abusive cult and now I just feel bad for you
I'm usually a lot nicer when I reply to folks, but you brought a certain energy that deserves a different response. I want to be clear to any passersby who I'd normally be polite to in this kind of conversation: This energy is reserved only for chucklefucks who bring this kind of shit to me. Please do not take this as a reflection as to how I'd treat people willing to engage honestly and civilly with me. This anon came to me unprovoked, so they're getting a rather unique response.
So here we go.
Oi, shit head. This was the stupidest thing I've read all day.
Democrats 100% have moved left in the last 40 years. Are we still recovering from when they got dragged right by Reagan in the 80s? Yes. But we've made headway getting things back on track. You claim a lot of stuff here, but don't cite a single example. Likely because you just repeat what someone else told you on TikTok that one time. You couldn't find your way through actual theory if it smacked you in the face with its dick. But you don't want me to actually justify it.
Because your own words told me you'd dismiss any evidence I provided:
I know this is your cue to list a bunch of social services or civil rights concessions a la #bidenwins but the drip violence of homophobia and abortion restrictions under republicans does not come close to the bipartisan armed tyranny that murders people in broad daylight.
Bitch, this shit is a sliding scale. Trump authorized more drone strikes than Obama did in eight years. Are they bad? Yes. But if you're telling me you want more murders, Trump's your guy. Guess what, living in America means dealing with the fact that you've been complicit in genocide this whole time. Look at the land you stand on -- it is soaked in blood. Look at the smart phone you're reading this on, it literally came out of a genocide.
You bathe in blood every day, fucking figure it out.
We do our best to minimize harm. And if you'd ACTUALLY read or watched anything I've said, your two half dead braincells would have noticed the part where I constantly say "voting is not the end of your activism." It's the fucking start.
Either Harris or Trump will be the next President. Trump will be worse. If you aren't doing everything you can to stop him, you're not a leftist, you're a grandstanding piece of shit who doesn't care about anything other than the smell of your own farts.
You want to fuck up the two parties? Great. Put in the fucking work -- because the Presidential election ain't it, shithead. Build a real movement from the ground up. Build community, build a party system, run local candidates. When's the last time your ass went to a city council meeting or a school board meeting? Do you even know when they're held where you live?
But let's face it, you couldn't coalition build if you tried because you're so far up your own ass you kiss your small intestine goodnight.
Daddy Revolution ain't coming, shithead. There's work to do, so get your head out of your ass and do it.
You want Trump to win? Netanyahu would kiss you on the lips for it. Fuck off.
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Something I will never get enough of is Danny killing the Joker. However, something I want to see more of, is Danny killing the Joker for Ellie.
Like, Jason and Danny are neighbors and theyâve been friends for a little while. Jason knows Danny has the 20 something year old mechanic with a six-year-old daughter who is an absolute gremlin. He really likes them both, and he might have a little crush on his neighbor.
Then when they are out at the park or something, the Joker attacks. The joker decides to grab a hostage and who does he grab, but this six year old girl who only seems to have one person who knows her, a scrawny 20 something person. She has dark hair and blue eyes and only person who seems to care about her is her older brother/possible father? Perfect bait for Batman.
He wasnât counting on Danny being able to fight god for his family. He didnât realize that Danny will do anything to protect his family, that, in his literal core, he is sworn to protect his people, no matter the cost. the joker did not realize that Danny loves Ellie enough to not only die (again) for her, but to kill for her.
The Joker doesnât die to Batman, or in some big battle. The Joker dies to a man no one knew because the Joker kidnapped his daughter. The joker dies, because he forgot that not everyone has the same hangups about killing that Batman does. The Joker dies because he pushed a parent too far.
Jason is there during all of this. I think heâs either there as red hood, watching through the cameras, or there is Jason. All three of these have many different pros for various forms of angst.
If Jason is there as red hood, heâs probably with some of the batfamily, and they are holding him back from killing the Joker. Theyâre trying to figure out how to make it so that the joker wonât kill this little girl, and Jason is going feral because that is his kid. That is the little gremlin who lives next-door, who knocks on his door and treats him like a jungle gym. Thatâs his kid. When he sees Danny jump at the Joker, heâs going to have a straight up panic attack and heâs gonna get the guns ready, but he doesnât need to.
If heâs there as Jason, I think the joker would also take him hostage. Jason Wayne, the brat who would get him a lot of money. Especially if the Joker knows that this was the second Robin, because this just means he can get two killed in one swoop. And Jason is trying to protect Ellie with everything in him, cursing himself for not bringing a gun with him and praying that this time Bruce isnât too late. And he can see the pain in Dannyâs eyes and he is so scared to lose this family he has. He praised to a God he doesnât believe in this time, history wonât repeat itself.
I feel like it would be most painful, if heâs watching through cameras. Heâs probably injured or in the middle of doing something for his civilian life . Maybe heâs even out of town, but turned the camera on to look out for the joker, and had a heart attack when he saw the little girl next-door being held by the Joker. This man is trying so hard to get there, breaking every traffic law, praying that he wonât be too late that this wonât be the same as his death. His trauma is excruciating, because this feels like when he was waiting for Bruce and Bruce not getting there until it was too late.
No matter which of these scenarios, he needs to see Danny snap and kill the joker. Maybe, in the camera scenario, itâs just this he arrives that he sees it. Either way, he needs to see the moment, the Joker dies at the head of a single father, and the parallel of Bruce and him and Danny and Ellie need to be very apparent. Because this time the dad wasnât afraid to kill.
This is the moment I feel, Jason would fully acknowledge that he would do anything for these people. That these two neighbors of his have become his family. The moment he sees the two of them holding each other, and the jokers body at their feet, I guarantee you this man is fighting tooth and nail not to go over his red hood exposed them. if heâs Jason, he can run into hug them no problem, but if heâs red hood, heâs not going to be able to do that.
This man will fight with Batman if he even that should get in trouble for killing the Joker. He will threaten to never ever speak to Bruce ever again, will be ready to bribe the police into letting Danny go, we will race every camera footage out there of the event, will do anything for this family.
Later that day, he wonât have nightmares of the Joker for the first time in a while. He will be able to look at his family and rest easy, knowing that thereâs no way that Joker can take them from him.
#long post#dc x dp#dc x dp writing prompt#dead on main#angst#de aged ellie#dad danny#joker dies#falling in love#favorite
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PAINT ME LIKE MONA LISA
đđđđđđđ with an artist!reader
OT7 ENHYPEN x fem!reader . . . CONTENT / WARNING(S) : fluff + est relationship + not proofread . . WORD COUNT : 812 . CHECK MARK !!
( REBLOGS + FEEDBACK APPRECIATED !! )
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"Hee, don't move." You suddenly warn, your pencil balancing in between your fingers as you hold your palm up. "Please don't tell me a bomb is gonna detonate, babe." he jokes, and you chuckle, the sound of your pencil stratching the paper fills the room. "Are you drawing something?" He asks, and you hum. "Yup, wanna take a guess what i'm drawing?" You try to do this quickly while Heeseung is standing as still as he can. "Not sure. Care to tell me, pretty girl?" Heeseung itches his nose quickly, which goes unnoticed by you. "Obviously Mr.Handsome is my muse today."
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Saw you placing a bowl of fruit on the table, adjusting it and looking at it from all angles. Jay starts getting interested in what you're doing, so he gets closer to you from his hiding spot behind a corner. You hum delighted and return to your seat, but see Jay standing there. "Hello?" You ask with a chuckle. "Hey, sweetness. What's going on here?" Jay asked. "Nothing much, just an art project for school, they want us to do realism." You go on and explain the assignment. "So, like in the movies?" He asks, referring to how most movies use a bowl of fruits. You nod your head, and Jay gives you a kiss on the cheek for good luck.
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Jake walks into your room and sees the painting resting on the floor, the paint still looking moist. It's like the canvas is whispering for him to come closer, because he does, his eyes observing each detail. Without noticing, Jake's finger gets closer to the canvas, brushing against the edge softly. "Aye! Don't touch!" You exclaimed upon entering your room and seeing him hunched on the floor. "sorry babe, but this is absolutely gorgous!" He says, a wide smile presenting itself on his lips. "Thank you, but you gotta be careful, babe." You laugh awkwardly, hunching down beside him to admire your art with him.
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He sees you pull out a sketch book and a pen, his eyes glued to the movement of your wrist. "Are you drawing me?" He asks with a smirk as he poses jokingly. "You wish." You chuckle and turn the block around so that he can get a view of it. Sunghoon takes a while to look over the rough sketch, and you start to wonder if he's actually observing it, or just zoning-out. You raise and eyebrow, and he says, "You know, I am a much better view than a simple window." He glides his arm around your waist and pulls you in. "I'm sure you are." You say, pressing you lips to the corner of his mouth.
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You and him went to an art museum, his hands holding yours while you take your time to watch each exhibition before either taking a picture, which Sunoo knoows you'll use later as reference, or pulling out a small piece of paper form your bag and a pencil as you sketch the art while explaining the history behind the artworks. "That's really interesting." He says, and follows you around while you repeat the pattern of taking a photo, sketching and explaining. "Imagine if they one day put up your art, angel." he says in awe, and you reply, "then I'll tell them that the history of it is my love for you."
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He sees you curled up in bed with your art block on the bed as you sketch on it lazily while laying down, waiting for inspiration to flow into your head. Jungwon sees you through the door when he walks by, and walks back to make sure of what he saw. Naturally he walks in, catching your attention. You hum at the sight of him and he plops onto the floor after grabbing a pencil from your desk causing yiu to stop drawing and look at him confused. So far, you've only drawn sunflowers and fishes very sloppily. Jungwon sees them and tries to copy the best he could, but let's just say he did his best. "That's a cute one." You giggle, seeing his attempt.
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Your first date with him was an artistic and creative one. He took you to an art cafe and challanged you to a paiting conset, but he underestimated you and drew a nice sunset instead, confident that he'd win the bet easily. "Times up!" He says with a smirk, and you smile brightly and let go off the brush. "Do you wanna go first?" You ask, and Riki shrugs. "Alright, but be prepared to be blown away." You clap the sight of his scenery, and he urges you to show yours. As you turn the canvas to him, his jaw drops and you chuckle. "So what do I win?" you ask after he was done gaping. "How about a kiss?" He asks, and delivers.
#yuvany's work๨ŕ§#enhypen x reader#enhypen fluff#enhypen#enhypen imagines#enhypen drabbles#enhypen x you#enhypen scenarios#enha x reader#enha fluff#enha imagines#lee heeseung#park jay#sim jake#jake sim#jay park#park sunghoon#sunghoon#sunghoon x reader#heeseung x reader#jay x reader#jake x reader#sunoo x reader#kim sunoo#yang jungwon#jungwon x reader#ni ki x reader#ni ki enhypen#riki x reader#nishimura riki
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ᥣđŠ CHIVALRY FELL ON ITS SWORD
FEATURING: dazai osamu
SUMMARY: history always repeats itself. dazai is captured, you're facing enemies on all fronts, and it's only a matter of time before you hit your breaking point. you can't let things turn out the same way they did two years ago. you can'tâyou'll do whatever it takes.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: happy friday my peeps, i hope your week has been good. ive been looking forward to this chapter for sooooo long so i hope you enjoy ;) unfortunately, there will be no wykyk update this week (i mean it this time), i've fallen behind in civzai and really need to focus on it. reblogs and comments greatly appreciated as always!! ENJOY!
GENERAL WARNINGS: fem!reader, port mafia executive!reader, civilian!dazai, dazai's struggles w suicide & sh, reader partakes in mafia business, dazai isn't dazai without a bit of obsessiveness and possessiveness (the possessiveness doesn't come til later but the obsessiveness starts from day 0).
CHAPTER SPECIFIC WARNINGS: hardly edited. depictions of psychological torture (commit by reader), both reader and dazai are wildly unstable, mori is a bit of a cunt LOL, a bit of legal proceedings in the beginning but i didn't want to deep dive into japanese court proceedings so i just based it mostly off us court proceedings, but again, not entirely accurate because i'm not in that field and didn't feel like doing intense research.
ANOTHER THING TO NOTE: our lovely reader IS A MAFIA EXECUTIVE !! as a port mafia executive, she does port mafia things, this will become very apparent in thIS chapter and the rest of the upcoming chapters. it might be a bit jarring to read but it is something to keep in mind. additionally, she is FLAWED. i wanted to add this warning just to give you all a bit of a heads up.
SEE: WASTELAND, BABY! SERIES MASTERLIST
â... Your Honor, I have to object to counselâs petition for bail, the defendantâŚâ
â... If I may, Your Honor, we donât even know how this footage was obtained and the prosecution has not acknowledged any of our requests to ensure that this is reliable. For all we know, this footage is edited or illegally obtained. It would be a disgrace to our justice system if we were to keep the defendant detained with no bailâŚâ
â... not only a flight risk, but weâre risking witness and evidence tampering. Respectfully, this isnât an unarmed robbery the defendant is being accused of, Your Honor, this woman is a threat to public safety, sheâs being charged with connection to the most dangerous criminal organization in the Eastern Hemisphere, and not just as any ordinary member, but as an executive. I have to insist-â
âYour Honor, the defendant shouldnât have even been brought into custody considering all current evidence might not be admissible. And the prosecution cannot sit here making baseless claims of risk when the only supporting evidence is inadmissible. I donât even understand why I have to sit here and argue this.â
âCounsel seems to think-â
âEnough. Order. Iâll sustain the ob-â
âYour Honor⌠I donât mean to interrupt but you may want to see this beforeâŚâ
âWhat is it, Hasegawa-san?â
â... I see, very well. The defenseâs petition for bail is granted. Bail will be set at one hundred and fifty million yen, bond at thirty million yen. The next hearing will be set for two weeks out, I trust that gives the prosecution enough time to prove the legitimacy of the evidenceâŚâ
âDonât look at any of the cameras.â
âNo shit,â you mutter as your attorney, Tachibana, leads you from the courthouse to where a car is waiting to pick you up.Â
There are so many flashing lights and microphones in your face that you can hardly see a few steps in front of you. So many people talking that each question melds into the next. You couldnât entertain the media even if you wanted to with them all talking over each other to shout at you. Your head hurts and the bright lights arenât helpingâyou grimace as you turn your head to the side but youâre only met with another face full of cameras and microphones.
âBack up,â a familiar voice booms and at once, the tension in your body dissipates as Iceman shoulders his way through the crowd toward you. The man sneers at a paparazzo who tries to cut him off and all but knocks him out of the way to reach forward and grab your wrist, yanking you toward him.
He ushers Tachibana forward and keeps you tucked under his arm as he guides the two of you to the black car. Itâs only when youâre inside and the door is shut behind you, that you can finally relax, but itâs only for a split second before Albatross is bursting into laughter in the front seat before youâve even sat down yourself.
âYou look ugly as hell in a prison uniform,â he wheezes, having the audacity to point at you as he turns around to look at you. âGod, I never thought this day would come. Someone take a fucking picture.â
âFuck off,â you snap at him, which only makes him laugh harder.
âThe entire world has pictures at this point,â Doc says dryly, looking over you once and frowning at the bruises on your wrists where the cuffs had been tightened too much. He clicks his tongue as he runs his finger across them as you pass by him before sighing, âThey really waited as long as they legally could for your arraignment, didnât they?âÂ
 Two whole days. You havenât eaten because you had to watch the prison guard spit in your food before passing it over to youâevidently, his brother was killed by the Port Mafia and he decided to take that out on you, which was nice. So as if you werenât dealing with enough bullshit, you havenât properly slept or eaten in two days.
More than that, youâve had no confirmation concerning Dazaiâs status in two days.Â
That alone has left you with no appetite and no desire to sleep anyway. Youâve been restless trying to figure what to do if Klaus wasnât able to get Dazai away from the Guild. That is, restless, and increasingly more violent and angry. Youâve never been someone prone to choose violence as the answer, but you think the only thing that will satisfy you now is the entire organization eviscerated. Not only have they gotten you thrown in prison, but they have Dazai.
You finally take a seat next to Chuuya. Heâs stuffed in the back corner of the limo so that no unsavory eyes could catch sight of him when Iceman ushered you and Tachibana into the car. As soon as you take a seat next to him, he wraps an arm around your shoulder and squeezes your bicep. You almost want to collapse into himâyouâre so tired and hungry and just so mentally and physically drained that all you want to do is sleep, but you know you canât, not until you have Dazai back.
Just as youâre about to look up at Klaus and ask him how things went, Piano Man speaks up, addressing Tachibana. âHow are things looking?â
The man grimaces. âNot good. They could hold her liable for all of the crimes attributed to the Port Mafia if the jury finds the footage as proof of her affiliation,â Tachibana says. âThe last time they had a Yakuza boss on trial, they had him sentenced to death and he was only being held vicariously liable for one murder and three assaults. They have her down for six and all of the other crimes theyâve been gathering as evidence against the Port Mafia just in case they were given an opportunity like this. If-â
âWhy are we talking about a jury trial?â you ask tightly, giving Tachibana a cool look from the corner of your eye. âGet the charges dropped.â
A frustrated expression crosses Tachibanaâs face. âBut-â
âNo buts, do your goddamn job and get this dismissed,â you tell him before turning your attention to Klaus. âWhatâs the situation with the journalists?âÂ
Klaus looks mighty proud of himself as he raises his chin. âTheyâre dead. Do you want to hear how I did it? It was quite ingenious if I do say so myself.â
He looks excited to tell you, eyes gleaming and smiling wide, so even though you should just drill him for information about Ui and Dazai, you decide to entertain him and nod.Â
âTell me,â you say, hoping at least hearing that those irritating pests got what they deserved is enough to ease the seemingly insatiable bloodlust the past few days has caused you before you get back to headquarters and have to deal with Ace.
Klaus is clearly trying to hold back a laugh as he prepares to tell you. From the way Atsushi looks a bit green next to him, you know whatever heâs about to tell you is going to be gross.
âTheyâre called the Ivory Eagle, right?â he says rhetorically, blue eyes dancing as he stares directly at you, waiting for you to nod again. When you do, he continues, âYou see, when I was back in Europe with the Pale Flame, we learned a lot about ancient torture and execution methods. Nabakov had the trafficked ability users fight in rings, yâknow, gladiator styleâthe winner of the fight would pick a method to punish the loser with in front of everyone. The vikings had a ritual execution method called the blood eagle, so I thought it would be funny âcause yâknow, the name? Ivory Eagle, blood eagle? They can keep their theme even in death!âÂ
âI should not be hearing this,â Tachibana sighs, covering his ears and closing his eyes.
You snort. âMay they soar to greater heights,â you mock their slogan and Klaus lets out a loud bark of laughter, bouncing in his seat in excitement.
âI knew you would get it, Iâm so funny.â he laughs, nudging Atsushi hard, but the weretiger only looks like heâs about to start crying, so Klaus looks back at you, teeth glimmering as he smiles widely.
âWhat happened with Ui?â you ask, glancing down to see Chuuya passing you a bottle of water. You give him a grateful look before redirecting your attention back to your subordinates. âAnd whereâs Akutagawa?âÂ
âThat ugly journalist confirmed they worked with the Guild to get the footage from your boyfriend,â Klaus says, and even though you knew this, it still makes you feel sick. â... I went by his apartment. It was totally trashed, there was blood on the sidewalk. Iâve spent the past two days trying to hunt down the Guild but I canât find them anywhere. I was planning on going to the Armed Detective Agency later today to get that one detective to tell me where they are. Figured they wouldnât be opposed to helping considering theyâre getting the shit end of the stick with the Guild too, I heard two of them were trapped for days in an interdimensional space before they were able to get them out.â
âAkutagawa and Kyouka-chan are out doing rounds around the city. Kyouka-chan found one of the lower-ranked Guild members wandering around the city, sheâs hoping that sheâll lead her back to their base,â Atsushi adds, answering your second question.
You let out a heavy sigh, looking down at your lap. Apartment trashed. Blood. The water you had just sipped threatens to come back up, you feel Chuuya squeeze your bicep again to try to comfort you, but you donât care for comfort, you only want Dazai. You want him back in your apartment, back in your arms, you want him safe, you want him.
You want him.
âWeâll get him,â Chuuya promises like he can hear your thoughts. You suppose itâs probably written all over your face. âIâll do whatever it takes, okay? I wonât let the fucking Guild take him from you.â
Heâs spent two days with them. God knows what theyâve done to him to try to get information about youâthe thought makes your skin crawl, your chest weighs with guilt. You brought him into this life knowing this risk and you still couldnât protect him. You need to do something, you need to-
âChuuya,â you say quietly, âcan I borrow your phone?âÂ
Chuuyaâs brows furrow but he nods, passing his phone over to you. You ignore the way your fingers tremble as you type in a familiar number and press the phone to your ear, you wait a few anxious seconds for the person on the other line to pick up.
âHello?â
âLeo,â you breathe out. âAre you still in New York?â
âYouâre okay,â Leo Tolstoy sighs, the relief in his voice palpable. âI saw the news. I figured they wouldnât be able to keep you locked up long. Iâm still here, yeah, I have a flight to Tokyo in an hour. I just had to finish up-â
âCancel it,â you say immediately, fingers digging into the thin pants youâre wearing. âI need to call in a favor.â
âHit me with it,â he tells you. âYou know Iâd do anything for you.â
Good, you think, lips curving up as you tell Tolstoy your plan.Â
Thereâs only one way to force Fitzgerald into giving you Dazai back, and youâre willing to go to any lengths to do it.
âYouâre awake,â an unfamiliar voice notes just as Dazai starts stirring awake. âGood.â
Heâs been in and out of consciousness for two days nowâawake for a few hours, asleep for double that. He almost wishes that the blow to the head had killed him, because each time he wakes up, heâs questioned sharply about you and heâs tired of it. The first two days of captivity, when Dazai was awake, he spent most of his time staring at the ceiling, your words ringing through his head and your twisted expression plain as day. Heâs recounted every word of his conversation with you before he fled, heâs noted every place where he messed up and could have done something different to avoid this, heâs felt so numb that he would almost prefer pain and heâs felt so much regret that it did physically pain him.
Now, heâs just irritated.Â
Irritated and tired and hungry and most of all, he misses you. Misses you so much that youâre the only thing he can think of clearly. Misses you so much that it makes him sick. Misses you so much that heâs started casting up prayers to gods he doesnât believe him because he just wants the chance to see your face again.
Thus far, heâs been able to evade answering any questions, but he has a feeling itâs only a matter of time before they start taking more extreme measures to get the information out of him, and Dazai has never been one to deal well with pain. He doubts heâll be able to get away with lying to throw them off trail for long.
âNope,â he says tiredly, rolling over onto his side to turn his back on the man. âStill sleeping, unfortunately.â
Dazai doesnât know who this one is.Â
Heâs gotten used to the other two over the past forty-eight hoursâthe redhead is called Mark Twain, a high-ranking member of the Guild whose preferred form of torture is casual conversation. Itâs predictable and Dazai, naturally, doesnât fall for it, but it doesnât stop him from trying. He comes into the cell with food and water that Dazai refuses to touch and talks to Dazai from the moment he wakes up to the moment he passes back out. He asks about you and the Port Mafia without actually asking about you and the Port Mafia, talks about his own woman back home and bitches about his work with the Guild, seeing if Dazai will chime in with his own commentary and grievances.
Dazai doesnât, of courseâthereâs not much he can say about the Port Mafia anyway, the things youâd talked about with him are irrelevant at this point, and Dazai certainly is not going to tell Twain anything about you. He knows that the Guild must be looking for information on your ability and Dazai will be damned if he lets anything about it slip. The most heâll make is snide comments, hoping to piss Twain off enough to leave, but then he has to deal with the other man, James, who is far less pleasant to deal with. Dazai can hardly stand the sight of him and he isnât sure if itâs because 1) heâs just unappealing to look at, 2) his head injury, or 3) he still has a grudge over the head injury.Â
He thinks maybe it might be all of the above.Â
Regardless, the voice of the new arrival is neither Twainâs nor Jamesâs, which means he has a new yet equally undesired visitor. Dazai, naturally, is wary of the unknown. Heâd overheard Twain and James talking about Francis getting involved and he remembers that you mentioned the leader of the Guildâs name is Francis Fitzgerald. He has a distinct suspicion that this must be him and Dazaiâs only thought is that this definitely doesnât bode well for him.
âMister Dazai, please, you need not make this difficult on yourself,â Fitzgerald sighs. âWe already have all of the information we need anyway. We want to help you.â
What.
Dazaiâs cautious now as he sits up to face Fitzgerald, mind racing as he tries to figure out what exactly he means by âwe have all of the information we need.â Dazai has been so careful not to let anything slipâeven when he was half delirious from his head wound, he bit his tongue. He didnât utter a single thing until he was certain that his brain was functioning well enough for him to carefully choose each word he spoke.Â
Thereâs no way that they managed to get anything from what heâd said.
The blonde man sitting on the opposite side of the room is dressed in a fancy suit and wears a watch that probably costs more than anything Dazai has ever owned in his life. He looks unusually earnest as he leans forward, elbows on his knees as observes Dazai. Dazai thinks that heâs decently good at reading people, and he canât find a hint of deception in Fitzgeraldâs face, which leaves Dazai feeling distinctly unnerved, unable to predict whatâs about to happen to him.
âI find that hard to believe when your subordinate bashed my head in two days ago,â Dazai replies, keeping his voice light but watching Fitzgerald carefully.Â
âMy friend, Henry, is quite excitable,â Fitzgerald sighs, faux-remorse dripping from his tone. âI apologize for him, I was very clear that you werenât to be injured.â
That doesnât really help Dazai at all. He needs to figure out how exactly heâs going to press Fitzgerald and figure out what he learned from Dazai. Luckily, he doesnât have to say much at all because Fitzgerald takes it upon himself to continue talking.
âThere were some pieces of information I kept to myself during our endeavor here in Yokohama,â Fitzgerald says. âThere are too many⌠rats scuttering around the sewers. Itâs hard to tell whoâs listening at any given time. Everyone has their own agendas, and thereâs just some information thatâs too valuable to risk falling into anyoneâs hands but your own. Even supposed alliesâ.â
Rats. Allies. Agendas. Dazaiâs mind races as he notes it all down to tell you as soon as you get him out of here. He doesnât respond to Fitzgeraldâs words, waiting for him to make the mistake of continuing his little monologue so he can have more information to report back to you. From what heâs able to piece together, thereâs more than just Fitzgerald and the Guild at work here, but you havenât mentioned any other organizations besides them, which makes him antsy because if you donât know that this is multiple organizations working together against the Port MafiaâŚÂ
You could be in danger.
âI was already made aware of her ability,â Fitzgerald says, watching Dazai for a reaction. Heâs careful not to give one, but his words make Dazaiâs skin crawl. Youâd said that your ability was the most well-guarded secret in the Port Mafia. That only the upper echelon was aware of it.Â
So how?
The traitor.
Dazaiâs throat swells and itâs much harder to keep his distressed emotions off of his face when he remembers the tip-off that Professor Ui had received about a situation happening at the ports on Shinko, remembers that he alluded to someone within the Port Mafiaâs inner circle being the informant, remembers that in his meltdown, he never even told you.
Shit.
âHenry, he is also an ability user,â Fitzgerald continues. Dazai is grateful that he seemingly doesnât notice his increasing panic. âWhat Maisie Knew, an ability that notifies him when somebody around him is lying. My intention in bringing you here was not to interrogate you, but to find out if you knew the extent of the manipulation happening around you.â
Dazai blinks slowly, letting the words process through his head. An ability that notifies him when somebody around him is lying⌠but would that even work on Dazai? You tried to use your ability on him with and without touch and it didnât affect him, so this one shouldnât either. And if he wasnât notifying him when Dazai was lying about knowing nothing about your abilityâŚÂ
âHenry told me that you were telling the truth when they asked you about your knowledge of her ability,â Fitzgerald says, and Dazai almost hates the pity thinly veiled behind the manâs eyes. He doesnât like anyone thinking that he doesnât know something about you, but he lets this slide because it might just work in his favor. âHer ability is a form of mental manipulation. She influences the emotions of people around her to trust and adore her. What you felt for that girl was nothing more than what she wanted you to feelâsheâs spent months shaping your mind to make you believe you care for her so that in a situation like this, you would choose to protect her even at the cost of your own life.â
The surprise that shifts across Dazaiâs face is genuineânot because of the revelation of your ability like Fitzgerald believesâbut because Fitzgerald does know your ability, and he knows it in an alarming amount of detail. He wishes he had some way of contacting you now, but he needs to focus now on figuring out how heâs going to play this.
They didnât kidnap him to interrogate him. They kidnapped him to try to make him willingly turn against you by revealing all of your âmanipulationsâ in an effort to rattle you into making a mistake. A decent plan, honestly, and if Dazai were anyone but Dazai, it mightâve worked⌠but Dazai is Dazaiâheâs never been affected by your ability, or Fitzgeraldâs subordinateâs, or any ability for that matter, and he would rather die than turn against you.
But⌠would it be better to make Fitzgerald think that he has turned against you? It would be safer for him, surely. If the man thought Dazai was swayed to his side, he might even have a chance to escape⌠but it could also throw you off if Fitzgerald tells you, and Dazai isnât sure if he wants to risk that considering thereâs apparently other allies of the Guild that you donât know about. You would see through it eventually, but in those few moments that you didnâtâŚ
Any mistake now could be fatal.Â
âSheâs in federal custody right now,â Fitzgerald says.Â
Dazai almost feels dizzy, hands falling from his lap to the bed to dig his nails into the sheets to steady himself. He knew thisâhe knew it in his heart when Twain mentioned the flash drive and pointed out the sirens but Dazai had still had hope that you managed to evade arrest, that you wouldnât have been dragged down by his mistakes.
Fitzgerald is still talking and Dazai knows that he should be listening, but instead his mind racing, thoughts so quick and jumbled that he can hardly get them straight. If youâre in federal custody right now, the last thing you needed was to get out and hear news of Dazai turning against you. Youâd be worn thin, stressed, alone. You donât think clearly when youâre under a ton of stress, especially when people you love are at risk. You try to, but when it gets too much, you shut down like you did at the beach house and you canât shut down with the Guild at your door and god knows what other enemies lurking in the shadow, preparing to strike.
If youâre in federal custody, then the chances that youâll see through this is even lower because youâll already not be thinking clearly. Thereâs a much higher chance that you donât see through it, that you think the Guild tortured him until his mind broke and he turned against you. And considering your past with Nakahara Chuuya and his lover, it might be the only logical conclusion your brain comes to.
He canât risk it. Itâll put you in dangerâheâs done enough of that lately, but this time, your life really would be on the line.
Instead, heâll put his on it.Â
âNo,â Dazai says suddenly, cutting Fitzgerald off mid sentence. The blonde looks at him curiously waiting for him to continue. âNo. I donât believe youâabout her, about using her ability on me. I donât believe any of it. Get out.â
Dazai doesnât know how long heâll be able to pretend to be blind with loveâmaybe he can convince Fitzgerald that heâs still under the effects of your ability, that might buy him a few days, but it wonât last forever. He doubts that the Guild will kill him if they want him to turn against you to batter you down, and they want him to do it willingly, so theyâll probably spend a few more days trying to convince him before they resort to making him turn on you through force.Â
You just need to get to him before that happens.
Fitzgerald doesnât look surprised by Dazaiâs words, but he does look disappointed. He braces himself for the man to press the issue, but to Dazaiâs relief, Fitzgerald stands to leave. Dazai needs time to think, time to formulate how exactly is the best way to go about this to buy as much time as possible.
âI figured that would be the case, months under an ability like that takes more than a few days of separation to be free of,â Fitzgerald tells him before he leaves. âThink on it, you could be very useful to our cause⌠and we could be useful to you too. Iâll be back for an answer.â
âDonât come back anytime soon,â Dazai replies snidely as the door closes, pulling the blanket tighter around him and resting his head against the wall.
As soon as the door is closed, a heavy feeling settles over his chest and Dazai feels so alone that it makes him sick. Heâs become so used to your presence in his life that every moment without you feels like his chest is being hollowed out. The room heâs in is cold and uncomfortable compared to the warmth of your apartment. He wants to be curled up in your bed, surrounded by your scent, wants to be watching some lame movie or forcing you to watch him play an even lamer video game.Â
He misses you desperately, and his nails bite into the fabric of the blankets as he tries to ground himself, losing himself in the thoughts of you, praying that you come for him soon.
âAh! Our resident convict has finally decided to grace us with her presence.â
âOh, Ace, itâs impressive, truly, how everyday you manage to become more stupid than the last. You must not have any brain cells left in that empty skull of yours⌠Youâre not much unlike a protozoa honestly, â Piano Man sighs whimsically. When Aceâs face twists in confusion, Piano Man gives him a sweet smile. âThatâs a single-celled organism. Basic biology, I fear, thank you for proving my point so quickly.â
âShe hasnât been convicted, you dumb fuck,â Chuuya snaps. âAnd you sound way too pleased over the matter, should probably choose your tone more carefully considering it was you and your subordinate who got her arrested. Sounds a bit like, I donât know, treason. Did you betray the Port Mafia, Ace?âÂ
Wow, you think, they came in hotter than you expected.
You donât even bother to address Ace as you make your way to your place at Moriâs right side, taking a seat in the chair left empty for you. You donât look at him until youâve taken your seat, but even then he gives you no cues, violet eyes watching you listlessly as he waits for you to say something.
Once the circular table is fully seated, your gaze finally flits to Ace.
âGo on,â you say. âAnswer Chuuyaâs question.â
Aceâs face twists at your words. âThatâs a ridiculous accusation,â he says, raising his chin. âThat-â
âIs it?â you interrupt coolly. âYou pride yourself on the use of your collars and their ability to control your subordinates. Either your collars are not quite as effective as youâve so ardently claimed them to be or youâve betrayed the Port Mafia. Which is it, Ace? Both will have consequences, naturally, one will just be more⌠final than the other.â
Unless thereâs some otherworldly interference, Ace is going to die today.
Heâs the reason you were arrested. His subordinates are notoriously fearful of him and his ability to kill them with just a passing thought once he has the collar around their necks. The chance of one of them acting on their own to try to kill you is slim to none. And you know that he knows you know he did it just from the amusement thinly veiled behind the outraged expression on his face.
Heâs too smug.
Somethingâs not right.
âUnfortunately, it seems as if my efforts to deter disobedience have gone ineffective concerning one of my subordinates.â Ace waves his hand, lavender eyes meeting yours pointedly as he speaks his next words: âNo need to fret, Iâve dealt with him accordingly.â
That⌠was not anticipated. Youâre careful not to react to his words, gauging the reactions of the others in the room trying to figure out if this was something they all talked about while you were being held by the government, but Piano Man and Chuuya look just as appalled, even Kouyou hides her pursed lips behind her fan as she gives Mori a careful look.
Mori does not look surprised as the rest of his executives.
What did you do?
Chuuya is the first to speak, voice low, âYouâve what?â
âA betrayal of this magnitude is not something for an executive to handle alone,â Piano Man says, the airy tone of his long gone as he stares at Ace. âEspecially the executive in charge of said traitor. You acted out of lineâthis shouldâve been brought in front of us all before any action was taken.â
âOut of line?â Aceâs voice becomes more mocking now, clearly enjoying knowing something that Piano Man doesnât after the snide comment. âNot at all, I acted on orders of the Boss.â
At once, the conference room goes quiet. You see Chuuya and Piano Man turn to look at Mori for the corner of your eye, but you keep your gaze trained on Ace instead and he keeps his on yours. He looks entirely too pleased with himself, eyes cool and taunting, the corner of his lips turned up just enough to be noticeable.
âItâs true.â
Mori offers no explanationâhe doesnât need to, heâs the Boss, but you know thereâs something else going on here. He never liked Ace, spoke poorly of the manâs easily bought loyalties and undue arrogance. Only gave him the executive position for financial purposes after the Dragonâs Head Conflict left Yokohama in shambles. Let him stay because his arrogance makes him easily manipulated but always keeps him at armâs length, ready to cut off at the first whiff of betrayal.
And now heâs what? Scheming with the man heâs despised for years against you? Is it punishment for everything that has happened with the two Yakuza syndicates and the Guild? Punishment for Dazai?Â
You canât understand it, you canât.
You look at Mori from the corner of your eye, blood running hot and only barely able to keep the fury off of your face.
What are you planning?
Moriâs lips curve up as if he can hear your thoughts, eyes flickering with amusement as he looks at you.
Youâll find out, little hime.
âWhat is Tachibana-kunâs opinion on the indictment?â Mori asks instead, leaning back in his seat and folding his hands over the table as he looks at you.
âHeâs going to get the charges dropped,â you reply flatly, nails biting into the slacks youâd changed into before coming to the meeting, suddenly feeling far too cornered as you realize you have enemies around every cornerâeven within your own home. âThis will be over within two weeks.â
âHm.â Mori sounds more entertained than anything as he tilts his head to the side and studies you. âAnd the Guild? How do you plan to handle them, little hime? More importantly, that boy youâd been silly enough to allow the information that led to your imprisonment⌠I trust heâll be properly handled?â
Putting you on blast in front of all of the executives⌠Kouyou is watching you carefully, Chuuya is stiff, Piano Man tense, and Ace, of course, is mildly amused. You feel like a circus monkey performing for the lot of them and you know itâs exactly what Mori wanted.
Youâre sure not to let your irritation slip onto your face as you smile thinly and reply with: âThe Guild will be taken care of by the end of the week. I fear that the boy is not the issue in this situation, Ace would be more suited to answer any questions regarding my imprisonment. Isnât that right?âÂ
Aceâs smile tightens. âNot at all,â he says coldly. âWhat are you implying?â
âThat it was your subordinate that had dealings with the Guild, of course,â you say with a sweet smile. âWhat else would I be implying?âÂ
âRight.â
âI mean, I do trust that you managed to get information out of him before killing him, right? Weâve all been trained to do that,â you add, raising your eyebrows and tilting your head to the side. âYou did get the information, didnât you?â
âI would like to know how you plan to handle the Guild considering youâve failed spectacularly up to this point,â Mori intervenes, preventing you from questioning Ace about the âsubordinateâ that âbetrayed the Port Mafiaâ.Â
You give him a heavy side-eye, wondering what game heâs playing and why heâs protecting Ace of all peopleâhe must have some plan in the works that involves the man, but what? What could he possibly be using Ace for thatâs so important that it makes the cost of keeping a rat in his inner circle trivial? Youâve always struggled to understand the way Moriâs mind works, but never more than now.
You decide to be plain with your accusations now. Youâre tired of playing coy; although youâre stuck in limbo now as you wait for Tolstoy to come through with the favor youâve asked of him, you still feel like you could be doing more productive things to try to figure out how youâll actually approach Fitzgerald to get Dazai back.Â
âI donât feel comfortable divulging that information in this setting,â you say simply, watching as Kouyouâs eyes widen just a bit, Chuuya and Piano Man share a look, and Ace stiffens as he prepares for a scathing comment, but a motion from Mori has them settling down. âRegardless, I think there are more important issues to discuss. Namely, the setbacks we now have to deal with on the political front because of my indictment. I can reach out to the politicians that Iâm close enough with that the accusations wonât sway them, but I worry that we mightâve lost a lot of key swing votes in the upcoming bill going through the Diet.â
âWe canât let that bill pass,â Chuuya says tightly.Â
Kouyou sighs airly as she fans her face. âI can reach out to my connections,â she offers. âI assume Lippmann will have significant influence as well. Between the two of us, we can hopefully compensate for the losses. Do you think the indictment will prevent you from ever returning to handle political affairs?â
You purse your lips. âI doubt Iâll be back at any government events anytime soon, but Iâll be able to get work done from behind the scenes. Itâll be harder, but not impossible.â
Kouyou hums as she nods, glancing back at Mori. âIf this is all, I had a prior commitment with our friends in Tokyo⌠It would be best for me to not miss it considering the circumstances.â
âI also have business to handle,â you say, gaze cutting back to Mori. âIf necessary, I can meet with you later to tell you about how I plan to handle the Guild.â
âItâs not necessary,â Mori says lightly. âYouâre dismissed, I promised Elise-chan tea time anyway. I expect results this time, little hime⌠Successful ones.â
Your lips tighten. âOf course,â you reply tensely. âI hope by the time of our next meeting, the rat infestation will be handled. Iâve seen a few too many since Iâve been back at headquarters today, itâs unsightly.â
Ace bristles and looks to Mori like a child seeking their parentsâ support. How ironic, you think bitterly, but you donât give anyone time to respond to your words as you rise to your feet and leave the room, intent on getting back to your apartment as quickly as possible. You donât even wait for Chuuya or Piano Man as you get into the elevator and press the button to close the doors as quickly as possible.
Your gaze is pinned on the cityscape as the elevator begins to go down to the first floor. The sun has crossed its point in the peak of the skyâitâs still midday, itâs been sixty-six hours since you were taken into custody, likely just as long as Dazaiâs been captured by the Guild
Sixty-six hours.
The Guild is not an organization that usually stoops to torture. Of all of the organizations in the worldâs shadows, the Guild is probably the one closest to the lightâthey take advantage of it by forcing its members into the public spotlight. Itâs why theyâve done so well in Yokohama so far; theyâve used their political presence to force countries into giving them diplomatic immunity, essentially making them untouchable.Â
Youâre sure they have some degree of blood on their hands, everyone in this world does, but torturing a civilian of a foreign country would be a bold moveâif it got out, and you would make sure it did, it would ruin their station⌠But then again, would they even care?
Fitzgerald was so desperate to get his hands on Atsushi for whatever reasonâthe bounty and now this⌠There might not be any length he wouldnât be willing to go to in order to get his hands on the boy. And Dazai⌠he wouldnât give up the information, you know it in your heart. You wish that he would if only so he could protect himself, youâd be able to pivot and readjust your plans, but he wonât, especially not after his spiels about being a burden and wanting to help.
What an idiot, you think desperately, ignoring the way your eyes suddenly sting as you make your way out of the main headquarters to head over to your own building. Youâre not even fully processing everything thatâs happening around youâyou ignore the subordinates that greet you, donât even hear Albatross calling your name, and when you get to your building, you donât even notice the doorman sitting at the desk in your building.Â
Itâs not until you get back up to your apartment that youâre finally able to break down.
Physically and mentally drained from two days in custody and now Moriâs schemes, it only takes the sight of Dazaiâs sweater tossed on the back of your couch and his backpack lying haphazardly on the ground next to it for you to crumble. You donât even make it to the couchâyour knees give in as soon as your fingers brush the soft material of his sweater. You hit the ground hard, back pressed to the back of the couch as you pull the sweater down to your knees and you cry.
It still smells like himâwell, a mixture of you and him since heâs started using your bath soapsâand you miss him so bad that it makes your chest cave in. You muffle the ragged gasp you take in with the sweater and curl in on yourself; you miss him, you miss him so bad that itâs painful, so bad that regret weighs on you like the burden of the sky, so bad that you think you might die. Youâve felt pain like this before when Itou died, but Itouâs death had not been entirely in your control, not like how this was.Â
You let this happen. The moment you let him into your life, you damned him.
Youâve been teetering on the edge of collapse for days, only sheer willpower and the thin shred of pride you had left prevented you from falling apart during your time in prison, but now thereâs nothing left to keep you together. Any remaining willpower was obliterated the moment you walked into your apartment and saw his sweater and backpack exactly where he left them before fleeing because of your words; any remaining pride was destroyed by Mori and his schemes refusing you at least some semblance of justice for your own imprisonment.Â
Now alone, faced with only the consequences of your own decisions as company, youâre forced to acknowledge the bitter truth: you may never see Dazai again.
You may have gotten him killed.
He may already be deadâspent his last moments alone and in pain, wondering if you were ever going to show up.
You try to convince yourself that Fitzgerald wonât kill him before trying to use him as a bargaining chip over you, but the thoughts are only shallow consolations because you canât push away the image thatâs been haunting you since the day you met him. His body cold and rotting after having been abandoned in one of the dumping grounds the underworld uses as a mass grave, forgotten and nameless, left for the rate to devour. You knew this would happen from the beginning, but you still allowed it.
Youâve never prayed before.Â
Youâve long believed that if there was a god out there, it was a cruel one who took delight in suffering because what other god would allow people to suffer the way you have?Â
What god would allow an eight year old girl to sit amongst corpses for hours only to be saved by a man who would drag her down a path so dark that her blood would rot black and her soul would be so far beyond salvation before she was even old enough to attend secondary school?Â
What god would show someone love only to rip it away before his very eyes in the most brutal way possible?Â
What god would dangle the âwhat ifsâ right in front of your face just to taunt you knowing that the moment you let yourself indulge them, you would be reminded exactly why they shouldâve remained âwhat ifsâ?
Youâve never prayed before, but now, you find yourself crying to any that might listen to you because you donât know what else to do. Thereâs no guarantee that your plan will work and you canât give Fitzgerald what he wants, you canât. So instead, you cry, you beg, you plead, you bargain. You donât know what divine being might be out there, but for the first time in your life, you hope that there is one, because youâve never saved a single person in your life. You got Itou killed, you got Chuuyaâs lover killed, countless men on the warfront who were banking on your ability fix their minds, at this point, youâre sure that even the loss of your family and village was somehow blood on your handsâeverywhere youâve been, ruin and death have followed you, and this will be no different.
You wonât be able to save him, just like youâve never been able to save anyone else before. Your only hope lies in the hands of the very beings that have designed this moment and every other misfortune of yours before this. Itâs a sick joke, you think, but still, you pray. You cry, and beg, and plead, and bargain. You ask them to bring him back to you, you tell them that heâs good and that he never belonged in this life; you promise that if they bring him back to you, youâll do what you shouldâve done from the very beginning.Â
You swear it.
You donât know how long you stay on your floor with his sweater pressed to your chestâcould have been minutes or hours, you donât even hear the elevator arriving at your floor, donât notice someone is in the room with you until you feel fingers brush your shoulder. You stiffen and futilely try to dry your eyes, lifting your gaze to figure out who had entered your apartment without calling up first. Thereâs only a handful of people it might be and-
And for just a split second, you think that it might be Dazai.
Itâs not, of course, your eyes meet the familiar ones of Klausâs, the expression he wears is full of guilt, regretful, and just as your lips part to ask him what he wants, he whispers: âIâm sorry I couldnât find him. I really did try.â
Youâve only seen Klaus cry twice before. Once, two weeks after you took him in when he realized he was finally free of the fighting rings heâd been forced to compete in since his ability manifested. And a second time after he failed his first mission, tossed back into a memory that had him curling on the ground begging you not to send him back. Now, he doesnât cry, but his throat spasms and his eyes shine with unshed tears.Â
âI know you did, Klaus,â you say, voice too raspy for your liking
â... I left him alive,â Klaus tells you after a few moments. Before you can ask what heâs talking about, he continues, âUi. I thought you might want to be the one to deal with him.â
At once, any exhaustion that mightâve been plaguing you disappears, the ice that spreads through your veins promises only one thing.
âBring me to him.â
âIt has been two days since little miss princess was released from prison, howâs that make you feel?âÂ
Dazai stares blankly at Twain, who looks far too pleased as he tilts his chair back and watches him for a reaction. Dazai wishes that he was closer so that he could kick the chair back and watch him go sprawling, but even if he was closer, his body feels rooted to the bed heâs sitting on. Dazai has alway had a quick brain, but now itâs slow as Twainâs words echo through his head on repeat and he starts to understand the implications of them, unable to accept them as truth.
âGuess she doesnât care about you as much as ya thought she did.â Twain shrugs like it's all some big joke, grin crooked. âHasnât even bothered to reach out to ask us about you. Port Mafiaâs been active too, guess she just has more important things to deal with than some kid she played around with for a few months. Francis seems more bothered by it than I thought he would. I think he really thought sheâd really fight for youâfor your sake.â
Dazai doesnât respond, gaze sliding from Twain to stare at the wall in front of him. Itâs been a long four days in Guild custody. Heâs hardly had a moment to himself, and heâs been careful to keep up the act of the lovesick fool who refuses to see things as they âare,â but heâs tired and lonely and he misses you. Itâs all wearing him out.Â
He can keep up the actâif it means protecting you, he could do this foreverâheâs put on masks and fronts for people his whole life, this is nothing compared to all of that⌠itâs just that itâs harder when heâs had a taste of life with someone who he doesnât need to put up masks for. Itâs harder when he wants nothing more than to just be back in your apartment, basking in your presence. It makes him dizzy with longing and it makes him careless.Â
And⌠he thinks Twainâs words are hitting him a lot harder than they should be.Â
âIâm not all too surprised though,â Twain continues absently, waving his hands around. âYouâre not anything special, and I heard her boy Tolstoyâs back in town. She doesnât need you to entertain her anymore now that heâs around.â
For a second, Dazai can see the dams cracking. All of the pent up emotions that have been building the past few days batter the splintering walls holding them back, and Dazai can only barely bring himself to try to reinforce them because nowâs not the time for this. But every time he manages to fortify one section of the crumbling dam, another starts to collapse.Â
It canât be true. It canât beâDazai knows this, in his heart, he knows itâwhat you had with him⌠it was special. It was. (Wasnât it?) The way you looked at him, no one could look at someone that way and not mean it. No one could speak the words you did and not mean them. There must be something else going on, you must be planning somethingâyouâre not going to rush headfirst into a trap, not when it could end with Dazaiâs life in danger and especially not with your past with the Serpentâs Tongue, butâŚ
⌠but Twainâs mention of Tolstoy rattles Dazai badly. Youâve talked about Tolstoy before to him, and it was always with a certain fondness that made Dazai uneasy, and for a second, Dazai thinks it might be possible that you could just be cutting your losses with him and moving on. Because Twain is right, Dazai is nothing special, and itâs not like the two of you ended off on a good note before his captureâyou were mad at him, he was cruel to you, he blamed you for all of this even though he forced it onto you.Â
Dazai wouldnât even really be able to blame you for not coming for him after that; for months, heâs been forcing your hand but when he felt backed into a corner, he threw it all in your face.Â
Not even to mention that it might not even be as simple as you coming to save Dazaiâthere were other factors at play too, the Port Mafia being the biggest. Youâre an executive, you canât just throw everything away to come rescue him when he got himself into this situation after you explicitly warned him that this would happen.Â
If you had to choose between him and the Mafia⌠could he really be certain that you would choose him in that scenario? He wants to say yes, he does, but the word feels weighted and bitter on his tongue, like he knows itâs not quite so cut and dry.
Realistically, you might not come for him. Even if Twain is wrong and itâs not a matter of whether you care about him enough to come for him, there are too many variables that could prevent you from coming for him⌠but Twain might not be wrong.Â
âMark,â Fitzgeraldâs familiar voice chides as the man steps into the room Dazai is staying in. He doesnât even hear the sigh and comment that Twain lets out before leaving because heâs too lost in his own thoughts.
Dazai has never felt so entirely out of control of a situation like this beforeâheâs always been so careful and meticulous in his interactions with people and his surroundings because he likes being able to predict how people will act around him, it makes it easier for him to figure out how he should act. Heâs even had a good hold on himself, learned how to school his emotions and convert ones he doesnât like into ones that are easier for him to manage. But everything about this has just been so impossible for him to get a handle on, heâs tried in every way that he could, but the realization of the fact that you might not be coming for him is sending him over the edgeÂ
âI wanted to break the news to you myself,â Fitzgerald says and Dazai feels bitter and angry about the sympathy in his voice, wants to spit at him. He doesnât need anyoneâs pity, much less his, but he only finds himself staring listlessly at the man instead. âI waited a few days to see if she would reach out, but she never did⌠Iâm afraid I canât keep waiting anymore, I need to move on with the next stage of my plan.â
This is it, Dazai thinks distantlyânow is when theyâll finally switch from persuasion to force. He thought he would have a bit longer to figure out how he would proceed and now he canât even get himself thinking straight to try to figure out how to evade this. His thoughts are scattered and distant and so many different and unfamiliar emotions are battering him from every angle; he can hardly pay attention as the man across from him speaks.Â
âI want you to cooperate willingly,â the Guild leader continues, but his words are going in one ear out the other. â... donât have to worry about them targeting you for betrayal. We have enough resources to shield you from the Port Mafia. Additionally-â
âNo,â Dazai says quietlyâthe refusal slips out before he can even process it.
Fitzgerald pauses. âNo?âÂ
âNo,â he reiterates, voice more strained, the words tumbling from his lips. âNo, I donât need your protection. Iâm not going to cooperate. I wonât betray herânot for anyone, but especially not you. Sheâll come. I know it.â
Something changes in Fitzgeraldâs expression at Dazaiâs words; it becomes twisted for just a second, but then it softens, his lips curl up into a faint smile. One thatâs almost fond, but Dazai canât understand why for the life of him.Â
âI see, so even knowing all of this and realizing that she might not be coming for you, you still choose to stand at her side,â he murmurs. He doesnât try to persuade Dazai like he thought he would. âThere are not many who are able to see the worst of someone and still make that choice⌠Iâve only met one other⌠You remind me much of her.â
âShe chooses me too,â Dazai says. He thinks, for a second, that heâs only saying it to scare Fitzgerald into realizing that youâll come for him, but as soon as the words leave his lips, he knows that itâs true. That he believes it. He believes youâll choose him, he believes youâll come for him no matter what the cost might be. Even after everything that happened the other day, even knowing that youâve been free for days and havenât made any moves to rescue him yet, his faith in you hasnât wavered. âSheâll come for me, and youâll regret this.â
Fitzgerald exhales as he rises to his feet, gaze lingering on Dazai for just a moment before he tells him, âFor your sake, I hope your faith is not misplaced.â
âThe human psyche is unbearably fragile. Itâs one of the first conclusions I came to during my studies,â you say absently, sitting back in your chair. âI donât have a combative ability. I canât control any elemental force and I donât have a superhuman body. I canât summon entities to fight on my behalf and I certainly canât shapeshift. Chuuya spent a lot of time studying physics to fine tune his power, my path laid in psychology. You see, my ability isnât flashy or showy like many others, but it is an ability nonetheless, and even the weakest abilities can become dangerous in the right hands.â
Ui Koutarou stares up at you from the corner that heâs curled up in, his pupils are blown wide and his skin is pale and sweaty. You donât know if heâs looking through you or at you, but you suppose it doesnât matter.
âUsually, conditioning a human mind to have automatic responses to particular stimuli can take months, but Iâve learned to utilize my ability in a way that can speed up that process from months to days,â you explain, watching carefully as you flick the lighter in your hands. âYouâve realized that, of course, Iâve spent the past two days here rewiring your brain to react to things the way I want it to. You canât control the way your heart starts racing when you see this flame, right? I can see the way your breath is short, your pupils dilated. You donât have any reason to be scared of it, itâs harmless, but youâre still terrified. Why?âÂ
He doesnât answer, of course, you didnât say the word, but when you rise to your feet and take a step forward, he scrambles back impossibly further, shrinking into the corner. Your lips curve up as you flick the lighter off and take a seat, watching the way he immediately begins to relax again.Â
âMy ability isnât mind control, I fear if it was, my life would be much more simple,â you sigh, looking up at the ceiling momentarily before lowering your gaze back down to him. âI can induce emotions and states in the human brainâthe weak-minded naturally are much easier than the strong-willed, but I can make both bend to my will, itâs just a matter of how much effort Iâm willing to put into it.â
You tilt your head to the side as you observe him and then pull a pen from your pocket, tossing it in his general direction. You can see the way his chest visibly stutters at the sight of it, breath ceasing, and then he darts to the opposite side of the room. In his desperate flee, his foot brushes the pen and you smile lightly as you activate your ability, watching the way he immediately hits the ground, screaming his throat raw as he curls into a ball. After deactivating your ability, you wait a few seconds for him to calm down before continuing.Â
âThe human psyche is fragile, but the brain is very malleable. As soon as it recognizes that a certain action will always bear a negative consequence, it will adapt and do everything it can to prevent you from taking that action to avoid the negative consequences.â You lean forward, looking down at him. âItâs recognized now to associate fear with a flame and a pen. You canât control the way that the sight of either of these two objects make you reactâitâs reflexive because your brain has already taken the necessary steps to ensure that you donât get close enough to either to trigger the consequence that comes along with touching it.â
The flame is a necessary step. Itâs easier to force the brain to associate fear with something that is inherently dangerous, and you needed to see how long it might take for you to move on to something thatâs not inherently dangerous. It took three hours of conditioning to make his brain adapt enough to have reflexive responses to the sight of fire.
Then you moved onto a pen, because you thought it was ironic for a journalist to fear the same thing he uses to complete his job. That took six hours.Â
âWhen you stayed away from the two objects, I rewarded you,â you explain with a thin smile. âIt mustâve been so relieving⌠all of the pleasant emotions you felt after nearly five days of being locked up here. Happiness, hope, gratitude. Iâm sure it was confusing too, because you didnât know why you felt that way but you were so quick to bask in them that it didnât matter.â
Ui continues to watch you, so you continue speaking. You think youâre talking more to yourself than to him, you donât even know if heâs capable of processing your words at this point, but you need to keep yourself busy while you wait.
âWhen you touched the objects, I punished you,â you continue. âGuilt, sadness, but my favorite is fear. Itâs the easiest emotion to induce in someone, itâs not one that I have to actively keep applied because the human mind spirals once it has a taste of it. They call it the mind killer.â
The last sentence tastes bitter on your tongue. It reminds you of Dazai.
âI did the same thing with your ability to speak⌠Speaking is a voluntary action, itâs a bit different than conditioning reflexive responses, but it still worked. Now, you canât speak until I say the word, right?â
He doesnât respond. You didnât say the word.
âSpeak.â
âYes,â he rasps, voice wet and shaky. âYouâre right.â
âI even made sure that no one else could trigger it. I brought Klaus in here and had him order you to speak. Every time you listened to his order, I punished you. Every time you listened to mine, I rewarded you. Do you remember that?â
He doesnât respond. You didnât say the word.
âSpeak.â
âI remember,â he replies. âI remember.â
âDazai Osamu was captured by the Guild because you worked alongside them to have me arrested. Isnât that right?â
He doesnât respond. You didnât say the word.
Your voice is colder this time as you say: âSpeak.â
âI didnât mean for him to get kidnapped.â He has the nerve to sound like heâs about to cry. âNone of my students, I didnât mean for it-â
âThatâs not what I asked. Speak.â
âYes,â he chokes out. âYes, he got kidnapped because of me.â
âThatâs right,â you agree, âand he might die because of you too. Was it worth it?â
He doesnât respond. You didnât say the word.
âSpeak.â
âNo,â he whispers. âNo, it wasnât worth it.â
âI know,â you say, more to yourself than him. âBut I suppose weâve all done things that had consequences that werenât worth it.â
You sigh, glancing to the side to see a figure waiting outside the cell. Chuuyaâs face is twisted in displeasure, an unreadable look in his eyes as he stares at you.
âIf it were up to me, I would let you live,â you admit. âA journalist too scared to ever pick up the pen again⌠the man trying to bring down the Port Mafia little more than a puppet for one of its executives⌠an ironic fate, possibly one worse than death.âÂ
You rise to your feet and walk to the door of the cell, leaving the room. Before you leave, you look over your shoulder and say:
âLuckily, your fate is not up to me.â
You leave the cell and close the door behind you, looking up to meet Chuuyaâs familiar eyes, cool and disapproving.
âDonât you think you might be going too far?â he asks quietly.
âSays the man who leveled an entire ward,â you reply coldly and he winces at the reminder. âI donât want to hear anything from you about âtoo farâ. If anything, I havenât gone far enough.â
Chuuya sighs, but he doesnât press the matter.Â
âYou should get some rest,â he finally says. âYouâve pretty much been up for two days straight, and I know you didnât sleep while locked up.â
You click your tongue and look away. âI slept yesterday.â
âFor an hour and a half,â Chuuya replies dryly. âTorturing the fuckinâ journalist isnât going to bring Dazai back-â
âNo, but it makes me feel better,â you interrupt, gaze sharpening.Â
âDoes it?â
âIt does, in fact,â you say, giving him a thin smile, âmore than you could ever believe.â
Chuuya lets out another sigh, this one heavier than the last. âIâm worried about you,â he says, voice tight. âI-â
âI donât care, Chuuya,â you say, watching as Chuuyaâs face twists in frustration. âI donât need your concern. I need Osamu back and until he is-â
âThis isnât going to bring him back, you-â
âI donât care!â You donât even realize youâve raised your voice, donât even register your own movements as your hands dart out to shove Chuuya back hard. He only stumbles a few steps, but he gives you a pointed look. Suddenly, you want to cry again and your voice wobbles as you repeat, âI donât care.â
Heâs right. You know heâs right. Torturing Ui Koutarou isnât going to do anything to help Dazai. The man is useless, gave information to the Guild that he shouldnât have, but has no idea their whereabouts or even who he spoke to. And itâs not making you feel better like you claim it is, the sick bit of glee you may feel watching the journalist-turned-husk dissipates quickly whenever the thought of Dazai crosses your mind.
The Guild hasnât even reached out to you.
You donât know if itâs a good sign or a bad signâprobably a bad one. If they were trying to use him as leverage over you and the Port Mafia, then they wouldâve done that by now. They could be waiting for you to reach out, it would give them the advantage in negotiations, but you canât reach out before you have something to negotiate with.Â
But the longer you wait⌠theyâll use it against Dazai. Theyâll tell him you donât care to come after him. Theyâll tell him youâve been out of prison for two days, yet you havenât bothered to reach out to the Guild to get him back. Theyâll make him feel worthless and Dazai already has such a poor perception of himself that you fear heâll believe it, but you canât do anything yet.
Not yet, but soon.Â
Soon.
âThe Diet postponed the military bill,â Chuuya says, changing the subject. Your gaze snaps back over to him. âAne-san just got word from one of her friends in the House of Councillors. They pushed it two weeks out.â
You grimace instantly, shaking your head. âThey want to see what happens with the indictment. If it gets dropped or goes to trial. If it goes to trial, weâll lose more swing votes.â
âI asked Piano Man if he could talk to Tachibana, see whatâs going on with getting the charges dropped, I know you have a lot on you right now, but I figured youâd want to know this,â Chuuya murmurs apologetically, squeezing your wrist.
Dazai is gone. The Guild is at your doorstep. There are countless indictments that youâre not sure are going to get dropped. The military bill is still looming over you. God, itâs never ending. Youâre so tired.
âIâm glad you told me,â you finally tell him, but your voice is strained. âIâll figure something out about the bill if the worst case scenario happens.â
Chuuyaâs lips part like heâs about to speak, but he pauses suddenly, eyes flickering behind you. A dreadful feeling suddenly hangs over you as you turn around to face none other than Moriâthe man never comes to the torture rooms himself so you know he must be looking for someone and that someone is very likely you.
Chuuya takes off his hat and lowers his head. You usually would follow suit but you donât this time, keeping your chin high as you stare at Mori. His lips only curve up in response to your lack of respect, much to your displeasure.
âChuuya-kun, may I?â Mori hums, doesnât have to specify what he wants because Chuuya knows, nodding and excusing himself so Mori can speak to you alone.
His eyes slide away from you to the cell that holds Ui Koutarou. You watch as he looks between the pen on the ground and the way the man is as far away from it as possible. He tilts his head to the side in amusement, lifting his fingers to the chest pocket of his lab coat, pulling out the pen he always has stashed in there before tossing it at him. Ui is unable to dodge it fast enough, doesnât realize whatâs happening until too late.
The moment the pen touches his body, you activate your ability, watching him let out another blood curdling scream before focusing your attention back on Mori, who looks oddly pleased by what heâs found.
âTwo days of work?â he questions.
âA little over.â
âHow impressive,â he murmursâfor the first time, he says it without the mocking lilt that usually accompanies it and your throat swells, eyes flickering away from him to the wall.Â
You know that heâs probably only saying it to try to ease your anger at him, but you canât help the way it makes you feel after years of trying to get him to say those very words to you and mean them.
âDid you know?â you finally ask him, voice too hoarse for your liking.
âDid I know what?â Mori asks, raising his eyebrows to look down at you with sharp eyes that tell you he knows exactly what youâre asking but isnât going to make this easy for you.
âDid you know that Ace was setting me up? Was it punishment?â Your nails dig deep into your palms as you wait for a response, so much so that you can feel the blood trickling between your fingers. âDid you?âÂ
âOf course not, I would never risk our political position so recklessly. Especially with the military bill in the Diet,â Mori scoffs, looking away for a moment before glancing back down at you. âNor would I risk you so recklessly. You should know that by now, little hime.â
You avert your gaze, shaking your head. Heâs only saying this to appease you, you know it, you donât know why youâre still falling for it.Â
âI donât know anything that goes on in your mind,â you bite back, grateful that your voice is steadier than how you feel. âWhy isnât he being punished then? He betrayed the Port Mafia.â
âI still have something I need him to do,â Mori replies easily, lips curving up into a smile that unsettles you. â... Donât fret, my dear, when the time comes, you can be the one to handle his execution.â
You click your tongue sharply. âIt better be soon.â
You can only define the smile on his face as sinister, and you almost regret your words when he replies, âIt will be,â because you donât know what exactly he has planned for him to be smiling like that.
Before you can interrogate him on what the hell heâs even talking about, Klaus comes stumbling down the steps with wide eyes and an excited expression on his face. He pauses when he sees Mori, gaze darting between the two of you.
âIâll speak to you later, little hime,â Mori says dismissivelyâyou wonder what he came down here for, he wouldnât have come to speak to you without some sort of agenda and you donât know what he would have achieved from this conversation beyond unnerving you. â... Keep up the good work.â
Your throat tightens as he turns to leave, gliding past Klaus who awkwardly lowers his head in respect as he walks by. As soon as heâs out of sight, Klaus turns to you, lips spreading in a toothy smile.Â
âTolstoy is here.â
Your eyes widen instantly. âTake me to him.â
You thought he would be a bit longer. Your chest is tight with anticipation as you follow Klaus to another level in the main headquarters. You were expecting to have to wait at least another day or two for him to complete the favor you asked for him and another thirteen hours for him to fly from New York City to Yokohama. You suppose you shouldnât be surprised, Tolstoy has always exceeded your expectations, but still⌠you hadnât dared hope.
The man is leaning outside the door Klaus leads you to, lips curved up in a familiar smile, blue eyes glittering playfully as soon as he catches sight of you. Â
âPrincess,â he greets, holding his hand out for you to place yours in. You roll your eyes fondly as the blonde lifts your hand to his lips to ghost a kiss against your knuckles. He winks at you. âSheâs all yours.â
You thank him quietly before pushing open the door to enter the conference room in front of you. The woman waiting inside is prim and elegant, wearing a long dress with jewels decorating her neck and wrists. Her expression is cool and closed off at first glance, but you can see the glassiness of her eyes and the way her thin fingers tremble in her lap.
You give the woman a soft smile as you approach, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in yours. You make sure your expression is gentle and genuine as you look up at her, watching as your ability instantly goes to work when her fingers stop trembling and her own expression softens as she looks down at you.
âHi, Zelda,â you greet, voice sweet and honeyed. âYou donât need to be scared. Iâm a friend.â
When Zelda Fitzgerald lets out a soft breath of relief, the tenseness in her shoulders easing, you know that sheâs made the fatal mistake of believing you and your smile becomes a bit more authentic.Â
Finally, you can make your move.Â
âCome, letâs go somewhere more comfortable. We have a lot to talk about.â
#dazai x reader#dazai x you#dazai osamu x reader#dazai osamu x you#bsd x reader#bsd x you#bungo stray dogs x reader#bungo stray dogs x you
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