#but what if i gave you a statement directly talking about the remains of that event that you probably haven’t revisited since you moved away

[pineconnie]

someone should make a tma statement that’s about the house that the 17yo got taken in by the mr spider book and like the house is infested with spiders now and it mentions offhand an old book inside/near the doorstep that looks like it’s been sitting there for decades (but like that isn’t the main focus of the statement idk it can be another web thing) i think it’d be really evil for jon to have to read about that in s1 while still in deep denial

[tobiasdrake]

Your statement about the lack of Goku’s “poison” in Gohan’s heart makes me very excited for your thoughts on Super Saiyan 2. It’s fascinating that at his most bloodthirsty, Gohan is willing to drag out a fight even more than his father would be.

Oh yeah. Super Saiyan is a hell of a drug. I talked a bit about it here but focusing in a bit on Gohan:

Accessing tremendous power for short bursts at a time was always Gohan's big thing. He's never been able to keep it up for any length of time, and consequently it's never been more than a momentary distraction for his adversary.

But it's what he had. This was the power that was uniquely Gohan's own. Originally referred to as Gohan being a "Super Saiyan" before that term was later redefined to mean something different.

It's honestly never been clear what these explosive bursts of ki and battle fury are supposed to be beyond "Something something hybrid Saiyan". Goten and Trunks are hybrids too but their abilities don't act like this. They're much more traditional Saiyans, whereas Gohan's demeanor seems like 98% human and the remaining 2% is him snapping into a momentary Saiyan battle frenzy.

"I'M SO MAD I'M GOING TO HIT YOU WITH THE MOST POWERFUL ATTACK I'VE EVER IN MY LIFE-- well that failed. Okay, I'm done. That was literally all I had."

Kinda feels like this is meant to be connected to Super Saiyans in some way, right? Like. Setting aside Nappa literally calling him a Super Saiyan, it's not that dissimilar to what happens to Goku on Namek.

After Frieza kills Krillin, Goku snaps. The same way Gohan typically snaps.

And he's filled with intense power and intense battle fury.

It's worth noting that in the race to see which proto-Super Saiyan would ignite their transformation first, Vegeta directly equated Gohan's snaps to the Super Saiyan and wondered if he was actually the closest of all.

He's ultimately proven wrong when it's Goku, not Gohan or Vegeta, who ignites his Super Saiyan transformation for the first time. But it certainly is interesting the way Gohan's hybrid powers and the Super Saiyan are being conflated, and I generally wonder if this is something Toriyama simply didn't elaborate on sufficiently.

Because this conflation of Gohan's hybrid strength and the Super Saiyan forms the basis of what would later be known as Super Saiyan 2.

Goku's plan for winning the Cell Games is to trigger Gohan's rage powers as a Super Saiyan. This became the focus of their training after he gave up on breaking the Super Saiyan's limits.

Limit-broken Super Saiyan forms suck actually, so Goku decided it would be better to perfect the form itself while working within its natural limits.

Instead of trying to trade up to a stronger Super Saiyan form, instead the plan became to become better at being Super Saiyans. Part of which, something Goku had already been working on with Gohan before he broke the limit, was reining in form's heightened aggression and battle lust.

This was pretty much the crux of their training. How do I Super Saiyan without bleeding ki? How do I Super Saiyan without blind fury? How do I Super Saiyan without berserker movements? How do I Super Saiyan as a martial art?

But you can also see the wheels turning in Goku's head in retrospect, can't you? The similarities between Gohan's rage power and the Super Saiyan? Goku's planning to use Gohan's rage flareups to defeat Cell. Meanwhile, for the focus of their training, he's teaching Gohan to resist the effects of enhanced aggression without losing the power it brings, instead mastering that power to make it his own.

Goku did a bit of a tricksy there, didn't he? There's a reason Kaio officially declared Goku to be a formal master back on Namek.

He does make a miscalculation by assuming that just being in a fight will be enough to make Gohan snap.

Gohan has the spirit of a hero, not the spirit of a warrior. He's only ever snapped as a reaction to people being hurt; Never to win a fight. Doesn't even need to be people he cares about; He once triggered to save a Namekian child in a village under fire. But that's where his motivation lies. His fury isn't battle lust, it's outrage for the mistreatment of other people.

So, bit of a flaw in the plan. Story wouldn't be interesting if everything went off without a hitch every time. But once it works, it works.

It's super weird that the Buu arc made this an attainable form for Goku and Vegeta because the way it's presented here is uniquely Gohan's own. What would later be called "Super Saiyan 2" in a way that is hilariously disrespectful to Super Vegeta and Super Trunks was originally just. Like. Gohan's rage power channeled and controlled through his mastery of the Super Saiyan.

The one fed into the other and the result was this.

Still compassionate.

But merciless.

And cruel.

Fun fact: The anime dials down some of the violence with Cell because some of the shit in this arc is gorey as fuck. Toei made all the Cell Juniors erupt into blue smoke upon death to avoid having to animate too much of the intense violence Gohan inflicts on them, such as that decapitation seen above.

They did a similar thing to Cell himself. Cell gets torn up quite a bit to show off his regenerative abilities, with the anime replacing shots of Cell's vaguely drawn but bloody insides:

With. Uh. Whatever this juicy rubber anus is supposed to be.

Anime Cell, I have so many questions about your internal biology. But I digress.

Gohan's first order of business is, true to the heart of his character, to snatch the Senzu away from Cell and help his friends. Even in the grip of even more Saiyan battle lust than Goku's training prepared him for, Gohan's still a hero first and a warrior second.

Gohan learns from his mistake, grows as a fighter, and resolves this time to bring an end to--STOP

HERO TIME

He just. He can't help himself. This is who he is in his heart of hearts. This is literally:

All over again. This is who Gohan is in his heart of hearts: A kindhearted and compassionate boy who cares more about helping other people than about winning fights.

Even the Super Saiyan can't take that away from him.

[kitorin]

OUR SPRING

013. bros before hoes

a/n. rin pov for this chapter !

July 2022

Challenges and new difficulties never scared or worried Rin.

However, that was only limited to football. Sure, a successful change in career was an amazing feat done by him, and it doesn't compare to moving up a class in mathematics. But in music, he has the other three, as well as the company, and on the soccer field there are 10 other players by his side, as well as the bench, coach and manager.

But within this classroom, he was on his own.

He knew that very well, and his expectations were met the moment he walked in and settled down at a desk.

"Why is Rin in this class?"

"He's delusional if he thinks he can do well here."

"Isn't he really stupid?"

Hate isn't something foreign to Rin. Even before becoming an idol many despised him and his diligence, as well as his skills and abilities. They can't do anything to him; they don't even have the guts to say it directly at him because they know they his fame won't let them get away with it.

What really worried him, was how true their statements were.

"Oi Tada." Rin wasn't one to involve himself in any drama, but this time he was genuinely curious, and was also technically apart of it. He carefully listened to the stranger without making it obvious.

"Don't go around running your mouth. Especially about grades when you've only gotten 60% at best here." Aside from English, Rin would've considered 60% on a test great, to him, a pass was a pass.

'Tada' was offended, immediately lashing out. "I'm sorry you're smart, only three people got As last semester." What kind of excuse was that?

The stranger remained stoic, Rin would've retaliated violently if someone tried to justify their words by calling him skilled. "Then join us three, shouldn't be that hard?"

"The tests here are hard-"

"Doesn't matter. Regardless of how hard it is you have no right to judge someone else and are in position to do so or even try."

The argument was cut short with the arrival of the teacher, but the winner was evident; the calm stranger sat next to Rin. Must be a fan of his if they sat with him without hesitation.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I already said I was." He had no idea why they kept bothering with him, maybe if he gave them an autograph they'll stop.

"Geez. You're cold."

"Then go sit somewhere else." Rin missed when all his actions and words weren't monitored, now he can't call anyone an idiot or lukewarm without getting cancelled.

"You think I want to sit near that?" He'd rather die than admit it, but the disgusted accentuation of the last word and the gesture towards the rest of the class amused him. "That's what I thought."

"So, what's your name?" They continued speaking. "I'm y/n."

The question proves his guess wrong, you weren't a fan and didn't even know who he was. There's a tiny bit of guilt for assuming otherwise.

"Itoshi Rin."

"Nice meeting you. I'll be seeing you a lot from now on."

"Doubt that." Give it a test or two and the teacher would start convincing him to move back down to standard. "Studying isn't my thing."

"You're so pessimistic." You switch to a whisper, as the teacher assigns work for revision of the previous semester.

"I'm being realistic. I'm shit at school." He wouldn't talk about himself this much with someone outside of his band, but his academic capabilities were no secret, pretty much everyone knew how low his results were.

"So? You can improve a lot regardless."

"Easier said than done."

"I was bad at math last year."

"Your idea of bad is anything under an A." It's a guess, most people who were good at school would rather die than get anything that wasn't outstanding. Rin acknowledges how suffocating perfectionism was, especially when people invalidate the sense of disappointment just because others would kill for the same result; now he sort of understands how other soccer players felt.

"I guess that's true." Rin scoffs at your agreement. "But I've done a lot worse than a B."

"Can't be that bad."

"47% was my first result last year." It's pretty good in comparison to Rin's results, but if a pass was a pass, then a fail was a fail. "Then I got around 70%." You probably ended up investing in tuition if you improved that much.

"Then 30%." That sounded a lot more relatable to Rin.

"You weren't wrong about bad."

"See? But then I got an 87% after that."

"Are you here just to show off your grades?" It came out coldly, but he didn't say it with hostile intentions.

"No, my point is, anyone can improve."

"Don't bother, I can't get a tutor."

" You don't need a tutor either, I didn't need one." But we're not the same. Rin's so tempted to say it out loud, why were you trying so hard to help him?

"Fine. I'll give you a term and if you were wrong don't even bother."

"Deal."

Rin's happy.

He can't help but grin (a rare occasion) at the 75% in bright red, you really weren't lying when you insisted he'd be fine. It's not exactly perfect, nor an A, but it's such a significant improvement and that's all that matters; he's proud of himself.

"See? I told you you'd do better. Well done." You pat his shoulder, as you're both on the way to the station.

Even if you were wrong about him, he'd still be content. Not only you were efficient at teaching, but you were also kind, and a generally comfortable person to be around. Nothing you said was unnecessary or illegitimate, you were honest but not harsh.

Rin's opened up to you a lot. From the reason why he quit soccer to another potential career change in the future. It didn't matter what it was since you always listened without judgement.

"I can't take any credit, it's all yours. You're the one who taught me everything. He still can't understand why you think of him so highly, you're the one who put most of the effort into making sure he could perform well, while maintaining your own grade simultaneously.

"Don't discredit yourself."

Before Rin can respond, you continue speaking.

"It was you who ultimately decided to join the advanced class, you put a lot of effort it without ruining the rest of your schedule. Be proud of yourself Rin, most people can't even dream of confronting their struggles. It's scary to try something new."

Rin agrees with the last statement, even if he did it with the expectation of giving up quickly.

"y/n."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For?"

"Everything." For defending him on the first day. For helping him. For believing in him.

"That's what friends are for, no?"

Friends. The closest to those were his bandmates (or as Reo calls it 'family', with him as the doting parent and Hyoma and Rin as the 'kids'), or teammates, who he doesn't even speak to anymore. You're probably the first person to willingly talk to him normally, not because you're forced to or interested in his fame.

Rin pulls you in for a hug, earning a surprised gasp from you. He releases you quickly, after processing what he just did.

"Sor-"

But before he can finish apologising, you hug him back, to Rin, the affection is foreign yet welcomed.

July 2023

Rin tosses his phone onto his bed, as he drops his school bag on the floor. He'd never tell him but the conversation with Hyoma had a smile tugging at his lips; both at how ridiculous is was and how it reminded him of you.

There's a deep sense of gratitude Rin has, that two of his close friends are dating; because he cares for both of you. He knows very well that you're both amazing people (even if he does slander Hyoma constantly) and only wants the best for your relationship.

TWELVE | FOURTEEN | MASTERLIST

PAIRING. chigiri hyoma x reader

SYNOPSIS. school gets overwhelming with constant rumours and accusations, thankfully someone is willing to help. but what happens when this mutually beneficial agreement escalates into something more?

GENRE. social media au, fake dating, idol / actor au

TAGLIST. @saesins, @angelchigiri, @punkhazardlaw, @silly-ez, @y-sabell-a, @mellozhi, @luvlunazx, @oldest-dream-pdf, @misfits1a, @hoshithinker, @livelaughloveisagiyoichi, @mave-in, @rinsie, @luvcryo, @fabitheraven, @h3xi2g0n3

© kitorin : do not repost, plagiarize, change, or translate

[manlikeazi]

Bank - King Kenny

Invited in a video for beta squad as one of the guest. In order to win, you need to tell a story of your past with Kenny but convince them that it is a lie.

Masterlist

Being a guest in a special guest in "Would I Lie to You?" And being in Team 2 along with Harry, Sharky, and Kenny. The Team 1 with Johnny, Niko, and Aj. The host being Chunkz.

It's a really good game and pretty easy too. You just follow what your cards say to either lie or tell the truth about a statement and the other team will guess if you are lying or not.

Chunkz started to introduce the game along with the members of each team.

"And lastly, Y/N alongside with his man King Kenny, Mr. Rigger" Chunkz said followed by a round of applause for the both of you as you waved energetically to the camera.

"Introduce yourself man, come on" Aj said, talking to Chunkz

"And the host, is the handsome man and he goes by the name of Chunkz" Chunkz said with a smile cheering for himself while the others didn't and just made it purposely awkward.

You and Niko are about to clap but you both just followed the other guys on not clapping. You tried to contain yourself to not laugh and make a neutral face but obviously failing to do so.

Well, Sharky clapped twice. What a moral support that was. It's just funnier that way. Making Aj laugh and Niko looked down refraining himself from laughing while the others remained neutral.

"And the host... Is a jokeman that goes with the name of Chunkz...?" Chunkz said with uncertainty and hand gestures, looking around waiting for a reaction.

Everyone finally applauded, including you. Chunkz started to explain how the game works and gave an example involving him. Both teams guessed it to be true and ended up being right. 

Round after round the game continues the score being 6-2 from Team 1 and Team 2. It's finally your turn, being nervous and anxious about it.

You wanted your team to win and you're making sure to get this point.

You stared at the card infront of you and you started to read the card first to yourself before reading it out loud.

It highlighted the word "TRUTH". So, you're telling the true story as it truly happened.

"Before I read this, remember that Kenny and I met in childhood yeah?" You said looking at the opposite team.

"Read the card man, we don't have time for waffling" Aj violated and making all of us laugh afterwards.

"Shush" You said, making a gesture by putting your index finger to your lips.

"So, Kenny spent a stolen money from his mother on first time Kenny took me out" You finished reading the card and putting it down to the table.

Everyone laughed, throwing nonstop violation and making Kenny a little bit embarrassed but still smiling next to you.

"Shall I tell the story or?" You said and they eventually calmed down.

"Come on, chat to us" Johnny asked making his attention fully on you.

"In summary, Kenny asked me to come out with him as he does a lot of times but I always say no because of the responsibilities I had back then" You said, avoiding eye contact with others. As they listened to you very carefully, not missing any details.

"He persuaded me at the end when he made some convincing statement and eventually, I said yes" You continued to talk.

"Times running, get to the story" Niko said, hurrying you. Slamming his hands on their table.

"You can't say nothing when you're a shit storyteller" You said and playfully pointing an index finger at him. Violating him then laughing afterwards.

"Alright, fair enough" He raised both of his arms out in defeat at you while smiling. You really did got him there.

"He's got a lot of money in him so I directly asked him where the money came from. He said it's from his work but he doesn't have any at that time. I caught him lying and yeah, that's about it" You said ending the story.

"But we still ended up spending the money on foods" You added.

"Where did you both exactly went to?" Aj asked.

"Uh... Park?" You said pretending to think too hard.

"Went to get some foods there like ice creams and stuff while walking" You added to the details.

"I think, Kenny really did that but I felt like she might be lying at some information" Niko said fidgeting with his hand while talking to their team.

"She's giving a little information, if you can ask something that's specify something then go" Aj said.

"he's got racks of money on him and both of you only spending it on ice cream? Good waffle" Johnny said. Fully convinced that you are lying.

"No, wait, damn, I meant ice creams and other foods" You said.

Trying to justify your answer, it'll look like you're being defensive that makes them think that you're being guilty.

"That's mad waffle, I think it's not true" Chunkz said while holding a card and watching the both of team.

"You're not in the game so your opinion doesn't matter" Harry said to Chunkz. Violating.

"That's what we're doing yeah?" Chunkz gave Harry a nod he usually does when someone violates him.

"Kenny, you're not trying to defend yourself from stealing money from your marge?" Aj asked Kenny while laughing.

"If I say something, it'll give you any advantage" Kenny said with a smile. He moved close to yours.

His hand found it's way to intertwine with yours. Where it can't be seen by the camera, or at least you hoped it's not.

The other team had a discussion on whether it is true or it's not. You waited patiently, thinking that you did great.

The other team had made up their mind that you are, infact lying. Although, Niko said that you're telling the truth but he went along with Johnny and Aj's decision.

"So, Y/N tell us, are you lying?" Chunkz said waiting for you to reveal your card as everyone did.

"It is... The truth" You said smiling at the camera.

Everyone seemed surprised including your own team except Kenny who's just laughing in embarrassment.

"You stole money, and you chose to spend it on a gyal?" Harry said turning his head to Kenny, laughing afterwards.

"I'm just a child back then y'know tryna impress her, don't violate me like that" He said, crossing his arms and tugging down his cap.

"It's literally why he's called banks back then" Niko said pointing at Kenny, making an aggressive point to his teammates.

Your arm wrapping around Kenny as he leaned his body towards you.

"Aye, why does he's called banks tho?" Aj asked, being genuinely curious about it.

"Cause..." You said to tell the story.

"You lost your mind if you think you're getting that for free here" You said pointing at the camera. Sending everyone off.

Everyone laughed at it, refraining their curiosity came through.

"Fair enough, let's get back to it" Chunkz, the host said.

"You'll tell that later?" Sharky asked you.

"Maybe" You said with a teasing smile before you completely focused to the next round.

_________________________________________

"C'mon Y/N, I'll take you out" Kenny said about a hundredth time by now, infront of you.

Literally begging you to come with him despite him knowing that yo have a lot of responsibilities at home.

"You know I can't, mom's waiting at home" You reasoned for the hundredth time. Stopping the urge of rolling your eyes at him.

"It's my treat, I'll buy you whatever you want" He tried to persuade again. He showed you his money. Making you arch an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Where did that money came from then?" You said looking at him suspiciously, giving him a knowing look.

He remained himself calm and not looking like under pressure. He took a deep breath before answering.

"I earned it" He said it casually.

"You didn't stole that from your mother's wallet, did you?" You frowned at him, ready to smack him up if he said it's true.

Knowing him, he probably did.

He looked like a deer under headlights. God, someone help the boy in front of you. Making an attempt to waffle his way out of this conversation.

"I didn't-... I worked for.. like I helped someone and they gave me money for it" He tried to explain himself and stuttering halfway through it but you knew him better.

"Good one. You should return that money and apologize to your mother" You said giving him a look, not giving him any chance to say no.

He scratched the back of his head, knowing that he got caught lying.

"I didn't steal it, I just... Y'know, borrowed it" He said the end part with a shrug. You rolled your eyes at him.

"Just come with me, I know I'm getting whooped by my mum but at least make this be worth it" He said with a shrug, looking at you, waiting for a reaction.

He's trying to guilt trip you, isn't he?

"Alright, but we're not spending all of that" You said, giving in to him and rolling your eyes as you did.

"Half of it?" He asked with a bright smile, leading you to the way to the park.

"That's more than enough" You said with a smile.

He intertwined his hands with yours very smoothly as the both of you walked to the nearest park in your area.

Walking under the heat of summer, where the sunlight danced around the leaves. You and Kenny found yourselves at the park, sitting in a bench next to each others.

You leaned your head to his shoulders, feeling the content warm in your chest as he wrapped his other hand to your shoulders. The air is filled with sweet summer scent of flowers.

His fingers intertwining with yours and his thumb rubbing your hand speak volumes for itself.

The both of you sat in silence, just feeling each other's presence and being content with each other. Not worrying a thing about the future and just enjoying the moment now.

"What do you want then?" Kenny asked you.

"Maybe an ice cream and sandwiches?" You said. Remembering the food stalls the both of you walked past earlier.

"We can do that" He said moving his head to look at you. Waiting for you to stand up and get some food.

"Right" You finally stood up and the both of you walked to find some food to eat.

He payed for the both of you got. You still felt a little guilty for spending a money that didn't belong to neither of you.

After getting food, you went back to your previous seats. Just watching as the sun fully goes down, making a beautiful scenery.

"Y/N, you know, that I like you?" He said, now staring at your eyes matching his.

You felt your heartbeat throbbing through your chest.

"I like you too Kenny, more than I think I do" You said with a smile that now matched his.

His eyes from your eyes dropped to your lips, having a dilemma whether this might be the time to do it now or he'll pussy out like every single moment he had with you.

This didn't go unnoticed by you, you saw him, and you knew what to expect when he finally leaned in and surprised you with a kiss, just kiss. Both of your eyes closed as his lips pressed into yours and just lingering there.

He didn't dare to move, figuring he might ruined this for you. Both inexperienced people kissing in public, that doesn't look good if someone was watching.

He pulled back and held your both hands in his. Eyes meeting eyes and smiling to each other. Your heart felt full of happiness that it might explode.

The both of you didn't want this moment to end. Knowing life, it'll eventually will but you knew what you felt for each other wouldn't be a one time thing.

You both ate in silence. Being gently embraced by the surroundings of the park, you both knew that you're each other's comfort person. Each other's home.

Watching the sun finally goes down with a beautiful scenery it made. You leaning your head in his shoulder as your hand are intertwined with his.

This memory that you had created together, and the love that blossomed from it will forever bind them.

- end -

How is everyone though? I did miss some of you lmaooo but I hope you lot are doing well.

Love me some Kenny man, I promise that I'll be consistent this following school break (at least I'll hope to)

I hope y'all have an amazing day and absolute love and guidance.

As I said everytime, send in some request and ideas!!

[talonsaga-trash]

Hi, um, what if, there was a dialogue when between Garret and Tristan while at a bar, it would be kinda funny to see Tristan drunk🤣

(Takes place directly post-inferno epilogue)

Tristan won second place in the drinking contest between himself and two dragons. Garret did not know whether to be impressed or concerned.

At least Tristan was a calm drunk, though— something Garret had known since he was fifteen was that when Tristan finally made it back from a night in town, he was never upset or angry. He usually beelined for water and bed and passed out for a good ten hours without interruptions, and it seemed this night wasn’t looking to be an exception, considering he had his head tilted back, staring at the ceiling, thoroughly ignoring the world around him. Loud music coming from the speakers, Riley animatedly talking to Mist about something or another, Jade scamming the barman for more drinks— she had, well and truly, drunk both Riley and Tristan under the table— Ember trying to get an alcoholic drink without Wes noticing and failing for the third hour and counting.

Experimentally, Garret leaned over and gave Tristan a poke. Tristan didn’t startle, like he would when he was sober. Just blinked slowly and continued to stare at the ceiling.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Garret tried.

“I’m playing beer pong in my head,” Tristan responded, like it was a calm and logical statement to make, and a normal activity to do. “I think I could calculate the parabola to make a good shot, but it’d come down to hand-eye coordination.”

God. It was easy to forget sometimes, under all of his charm and wit, but his partner was a nerd. A nerd who was staring at the ceiling and calculating parabolas for an imaginary game of beer pong.

“Are you gonna name yourself Patriarch?”

Wait, what?

“I don’t… plan to, no,” Garret responded slowly. Tristan hummed in acknowledgement, still staring at the ceiling. “Do you think I should?”

“No,” Tristan replied. “I killed the last guy. Let’s… not have any more Patriarchs. Or Elder Wyrms.” He furrowed his brow slightly, and then his eyes widened in some sort of realization. “Oh, I killed both of those guys.”

Garret winced. “You did, didn’t you?”

“Huh.” Tristan said. He didn’t say anything else for a long time. Just stared, wide-eyed, until Garret almost considered poking him again, or trying to convince him to start drinking water to hopefully curb the hangover.

“Beer pong again,” Tristan announced.

“Playing beer pong?”

“Yep.”

“How’s the math going?”

“Do you actually wanna know? You can get me a napkin, I’ll write it out.”

Garret snorted. “I’ll pass.”

Hopefully Tristan would remember this conversation in the morning. It was, maybe, one that was worth continuing on a more serious note. What it meant to be a leader of St. George, after what happened to the last one. What it meant to have killed the last one, and still remain in St. George.

But it was definitely a conversation to have while sober.

[kataraslove]

i’ll admit, it took me a long time to understand what hakoda (and gene luen yang) could possibly have meant by this panel. because as far as i’m concerned, there are two instances in which aang has sacrificed himself/his duties for katara:

when he offers to give himself up to the fire nation to protect her in the first episode

when he gives up learning cosmic energy for her

for both instances, i doubt hakoda has heard about directly from aang. maybe the first one from sokka and katara. but as far as the second one goes, i read somewhere that aaron ehasz had confirmed that aang would never tell katara about how he gave up completing his training to protect her - that would make her feel even worse about his death.

so what could hakoda possibly be referencing by his statement regarding sacrificial love? and no, he’s not talking about the time her fanon love interest took lightening for her in these sets of panels lmao. especially not when the boy that she’s actually in love with literally appears around the corner in the next panel.

interestingly, the reason why gene luen yang started having katara and aang call each other sweetie in his comics in the first place is because katara’s mother originally called her sweetie in the series. and given that there’s clear distinct parallels between aang sacrificing himself to the fire nation to protect katara in the second episode & kya sacrificing herself to the fire nation to protect katara in the southern raiders….

Aang: If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone? (B1EP2: The Avatar Returns)

Kya I: If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone? (B3EP16: The Southern Raiders)

…. it makes sense then that hakoda is more or less echoing the words that the guru had advised aang, but this time to his daughter. “love is a form of energy and it swirls all around us.”

the real, sacrificial love that he’s talking about, the one that kya had for katara - the most important type of love that katara held on for years and years - has indeed not left the world. it is instead reborn into the form of new love - the love that aang has for katara and the love that she has for him in return.

and this is so important for katara to hear, because her entire arc in north and south is learning to find a balance between staying true to her traditions and cultures while embracing the changes of the future. katara needed to hear that her love for her mother could never die out, because love, as a form of energy, has remained the same - instead reincarnating into her love for aang and their shared future together.

thus, the promise of new but old love becomes the hope and encouragement that katara seeks in order to embrace the changes that start to come to herself, her family, and to her tribe in the post-war era.

[aquadestinyswriting]

Titan Modern AU- Chapter Four

Summary: Meredith and Elowyn have a chat with Starhammer regarding the shooting that took place two days ago, and what Fangthane's interest in it is.

Words: 1,798

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes @warriorbookworm, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @hippiewrites

Warnings: Political BS incoming.

Notes: Had to do a little more worldbuilding for this one. Enjoy the little history lesson.

Meredith hovered in the door an extra moment, before Starhammer’s flat stare forced her to march in and stand at semi-attention next to the sofa that Detective O’Toreguarde was now sitting in. Starhammer ambled back to his desk and sat on the edge of it, stroking his impressive moustache,

“I had rather been hoping that I’d misheard the name Gruksdottir gave me, Detective. Not that I’m displeased to see ye, mind, but given why I need to talk to you…” he trailed off, glancing over to Meredith, who was looking between the Detective and her Lieutenant with a politely confused expression. He ‘harrumphed’ and looked back at Elowyn, “Given the situation, I think it’s only fair that one of us explains a few things to Constable Gruksdottir.” he said. 

Meredith stood a little more at attention,

“Sir, if necessary, I can leave the room and get back to my post –” she started, before Starhammer held up a hand to cut her off,

“Negative, Constable. Command has requested that you be informed of the situation as it pertains to the security of the Kingdom with Toreguarde’s borders, seeing as you’re the only officer here besides myself for the time being.” he replied. The Lieutenant’s statement caused both women to frown in wary confusion, first at each other, then at the old man sitting in front of them. Elowyn sighed, then nodded,

“I suppose it would be advantageous to explain why and how you know who I am.” she conceded. She looked over to the Constable, whose frown of confusion had only deepened, “Lady Frigidwake and I know each other on a personal basis. She, and her friends, took me under their wing after the chaos of the attacks that almost destroyed Toreguarde ten years ago died down and we started to rebuild. We’ve become close since then, and consider ourselves as family.” she explained.

Meredith nodded as she took in what Detective O’Toreguarde had said,

“I, of course, had heard about the attacks.” she said, finally sitting on the arm of the sofa, her voice low. “I was only a bairn at the time, but my Uncle Snorri and my brothers, Alfie and Magni, were deployed to help in the defence of Toreguarde, in honour of the alliance between our states.” Meredith looked down at the floor, her hands gripping at her kilt, “Only my uncle made it back in one piece.” she murmured. She shook her head to clear the memories away and looked back up at the Torejar Detective and Lieutenant Starhammer, “However, I fail to see what Detective O’Toreguarde’s relationship with Lady Frigidwake has to do with the shooting that occurred two days ago.” she said.

Elowyn’s face fell into a sympathetic grimace as Meredith spoke. No one had asked Fangthane to send reinforcements, but they had been enough to secure Toreguarde’s continued existence. Without them, Elowyn dreaded to think what would have become of her home and what remained of her family. She, likewise, shook her head to clear away the unwanted memories and looked up at Lieutenant Starhammer, her face twisting into an unhappy grimace,

“I’m guessing word has reached Fangthane about what happened?” she asked. Starhammer nodded, his face, likewise, falling into an unhappy frown,

“Aye, lass.” he confirmed. He glanced over to Meredith, who was looking more confused than ever. He sighed and shook his head, speaking directly to Meredith for the moment,

“D’ye remember the attempted assisination of King Storri a few years ago?” he asked. Meredith sat more upright and nodded,

“Aye, sir, I was a cadet at the time, but it was the only topic of conversation back at HQ for at least two months after.” she replied. She glanced over to Detective O’Toreguarde, who was staring at the window, not moving a muscle, “I also recall the… upset over Toreguarde’s refusal to extradite the suspects back to Fangthane when they fled here.” she added. Starhammer nodded,

“Aye, that caused quite a lot of upset alright.” he muttered. He stood and walked behind his desk, “It will not surprise you then, Constable, to hear that those same suspects are currently being investigated for the attempted assisination of the Triumverate Council of Toreguarde.” he said, leaning on the desk and looking at Elowyn.

To her credit, Meredith thought, the only reaction Detective O’Toreguarde had to the statement was a very slight twitch in her jaw. She watched as the Torejar woman sucked in a breath and slowly let it out before speaking,

“Olin, I understand that you have a duty to the Crown of Fangthane. But I’m just a detective, I’m not someone who has any authority over the decisions of the Toreguarde Council.” She stated, “I was put on this case to track down and bring in any and all individuals responsible for the crime that was committed. No more, no less.” she added firmly. 

Starhammer blustered for a moment at the candid reply, before huffing an irritated sigh and sitting in his seat, the metal and plastic creaking loudly as he leaned back,

“I know ye don’t have that kind of authority, lass. That’s not why I’m annoyed.” he groaned, “The point is that I’ve been ordered by High Command – at the behest of the King’s Guard, mind – to try and convince the Toreguarde Council to agree to their latest extradition request.” he sighed.

Elowyn frowned in confusion once more,

“I fail to see the problem, Lieutenant. Yes, the Toreguarde Council has previously refused to extradite any members of the Grimbeard Clan back to Fangthane, mostly because they were seeking political refuge, claiming they were being targeted due to being open Throffites –” she was cut off by Meredith’s snort of derision,

“Bloody bollocks is what that is.” the constable muttered in Ghàidheal. Starhammer sent her a sharp glare, cowing the younger officer, before gesturing for Elowyn to continue.

Elowyn glanced between the two Fangthanians warily. Clearly there was some contention there. She shrugged it off and continued,

“However, given this latest turn of events; should any members of the Grimbeard Clan be convicted of the attempted assassination of the Triumverate Council, then I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to extradite them to Fangthane afterwards.” she said. Starhammer grimaced,

“That’s the problem, hen, His Majesty wants them extradited now, not later. High Command isn’t convinced that having them tried in Toreguarde first will lead to the request being granted. The expectation is that the Toreguarde Council will stall for time by insisting that the criminals serve their time here first, which could be at least another twenty years.” He shook his head, “I’m already arguing the toss about this with yer aunt.” he added.

Elowyn sat more upright, her face set into a determined grimace,

“While I appreciate that you think you’re trying to prevent any issues pertaining to my relationship with Lady Frigidwake – and her involvement in the mess that is the relationship between Toreguarde and Fangthane – I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. I’ve already cleared my involvement in the case with the Attorney General.” she said firmly. “In fact, I think she asked Fugit to put me on this case.” she added.

Starhammer blinked for a moment, ‘harrumphed’, then crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled,

“Right. Well now I know who to direct Selene to when she throws a fit about yer involvement.” 

“When she throws a fit about my almost getting shot you mean.” 

Starhammer pursed his lips, but said nothing in response. Instead, he turned his attention to Meredith, who was looking pointedly out of the office window,

“Gruksdottir, I do hope ye’ve been paying attention and not been daydreaming on the job.” he called. Meredith snapped her head around so she was looking at her Lieutenant,

“I have, sir, I simply believed it wise to not get directly involved in the latter part of your conversation as it seemed personal, sir.” she stated, trying her best not to look as offended by the comment as she felt. Starhammer nodded,

“Good.” he said, “Now that you know what’s what, I want you to look up any files we might still have here about the Grimbeard Clan and corroborate with Detective O’Toreguarde to make sure our records on them are up to date.” he ordered. “I might as well have something to give Sergeant Major Ragnarsson when he calls for an update.” he added with another grumble.

Meredith hopped off her perch, stood to attention and saluted,

“Aye sir.” she said. She looked over to Elowyn, who looked between both Fangthanians and nodded, also standing up. The detective gave the Lieutenant a short bow,

“I’ll have a talk with Captain Fugit about what other information we might be allowed to give you. I want to see justice done as much as you do, Lieutenant, and I’m not going to stop until those responsible are behind bars. Though, which ones those will be, I cannot say.” she told him. Starhammer sighed,

“I’m sure ye will, lass. Go on then, I’ll not keep you any longer. Gruksdottir, ye’re dismissed.” he said wearily.

Meredith saluted again, turned on her heel and marched to the door, holding it open for Detective O’Toreguarde and quickly following her out into the reception area. She gestured to another door across the small reception area,

“Why don’t we sort out that witness statement first?” the Constable suggested, hiding a small smile at the barely hidden flustered expression on the other woman’s face. Not that she thought the slightly shorter woman looked quite cute like this. Of course not.It was a strictly professional observation.

Elowyn’s eyes went wide and she ran a hand down her face,

“Cuthbert’s scales.” she groaned, but quickly collected herself, “Yes, of course. I apologise, that conversation with Lieutenant Starhammer derailed things a little bit.” she added. Meredith shook her head,

“It’s no trouble, I realised that we’d all gotten a bit waylaid.” she glanced at her watch. It was now 1:15. She grimaced as her stomach rumbled, loudly. Elowyn cleared her throat to cover up her snort of laughter at the flush of red that spread across the Fangthanian woman’s cheeks and nose,

“Tell you what, Constable, why don’t we grab you some lunch? Then, assuming Lieutenant Starhammer’s relieved you of guard duty in favour of looking into the Grimbeards, we can pop down the station and get the statement out of the way. Then I can find some information that might be of help to you after that’s done.” she suggested. Meredith blew her breath through her moustache with an annoyed huff, but nodded,

“Aye, that sounds like a plan.” she agreed. Both women then turned to the stairs and made their way down them in almost perfect lockstep.

[sl-walker]

OTW Candidate Q&As

There’s some interesting stuff in there, but the upshot of this post is that only two of the candidates mentioned supporting a decentralization of fandom, and only one of those candidates actually reached out to Walter and I to ask how we got otw-archive running and the effort it took.

Anh P. still remains the best, in my opinion, for having a genuinely balanced view of not only what problems OTW is facing, but also in how to look into fixing those.  They also go into their thought processes as to how and why they’re thinking the way they are without coming across as some kind of weird HR Generalist, which can’t be said for some of the candidates.

I appreciate the shoutout, but more than that, I absolutely appreciate that they took the time to listen and discuss ways to decentralize fandom and make it so that the Organization for Transformative Works is actually -- get this -- for more than just this one archive and one wiki.  That they collaborated with Walter and I to do something about the problem, even before being elected, because they’re committed to fandom (and diversity in fandom) and want OTW to be for fandom.  

Which is not the feeling I got from almost all of the other candidates.  Kathryn S. was the only other one discussing supporting other, indie archives (and gave Walter and I a shout out as well), but didn’t contact us directly.

(Even though it’s frankly embarrassingly easy to get ahold of us, and we also are two incredibly geeky people who would love to talk about our archives and the love behind them that had us putting in this work and giving hours and hours of time to it.)

Anyway, you can read all of the statements here.  In terms of who I am willing to personally vote for, Anh is still number one contender.  They not only impressed me when they reached out, their answers are balanced and detailed and explained.

Second might be Kathryn.

The rest need to stop circling the wagons around AO3 as if somehow having a giant monopoly on fandom, and borg-assimilating struggling archives before offering them any help staying alive, is a good thing.  OTW was never meant to be just AO3.  I remember when it started.  A couple of those candidates are frankly embarrassing in their answers; AO3 is never gonna love you back, you couple I’m talking about, so maybe stop worshipping the golden idol.

There ya have it.  Ad Astra’s founder and archivist is officially endorsing Anh P. now for OTW Board.  And if you want to talk about how Walter and I did it (and how we want to help others to!), you know, we’re right here.

My two cents to rub together, for what they’re worth.  Thanks.

[midnightactual]

A lightly edited rant on parts of Ryōgo Narita's postscript from Can't Fear Your Own World vol. III:

When Matsubara and I met Kubo directly in order to prepare for the novels, we asked him rapid-fire questions about the mysteries remaining in BLEACH’s world: “What about that?! What happened in that part?!” “What about that character’s past?!” When we heard Kubo’s responses, I was blown away by his many charming creations. “Wh-why didn’t you include the past of the Reio and the aristocrats and the underside of the world in the original story?!” When I asked him that, he gave me a clear answer that I couldn’t disagree with: “This is a story about Ichigo and the Soul Reapers’ battle, so I didn’t want to muddy the story’s focus by taking it away from that.” Regardless of the past, Ichigo and the other Soul Reapers were fighting in order to stay true to their souls. If the story’s focus were shifted away from that, then it would no longer be a part of BLEACH’s original narrative. However, though he had purposefully not written it as part of the original story, when I heard about the many incredibly fascinating backstories he had, I automatically asked him, “In that case, may I divulge those things you’ve established as part of my novelization?” I was sure that would cause him to angrily respond, “Did you even hear what I said?” However, rather than being angry, Kubo was kind enough to give me even more intricate details about what he had created and gave me a lot of advice about a new character that would need to be created. Then, as a result of the conversation about which character, who wasn’t Ichigo and who would preferably be part of the Soul Reapers themselves, could fight against that malicious head of the Four Great Noble Clans, we chose Shuhei Hisagi as the main character.

I want to focus on the bolded sections in reverse order. For the second:

screw off! literally the entire novel, okay, the two people constantly on Tokinada's ass are Shunsui and Yoruichi. Yoruichi as a Great Noble who despises Tokinada as a piece of shit and actually fights him twice, and Shunsui as a Noble who hates the nobility. Shuuhei DOESN'T EVEN FIGHT Tokinada! he fights Hikone! he barely interacts with Tokinada! but you wanna blow smoke up our asses in the author's notes at the end about how he fights against him when we have literally just seen that is not true. bullshit. he comes in at the last minute as a deus ex machina so Kenpachi doesn't chop Hikone in half. screw you. it was literally a Yoruichi and Shunsui novel that you then turned into the Shinji and Shuuhei Bankai Extravaganza which doesn't even matter now because Shinji's Bankai is in the anime and I'll bet SP shows Shuuhei's Bankai training. you claim that it revealed the truth of all this lore, but actually it revealed pretty much jack shit. okay, let me explain that last statement. suppose we are talking about the Ukraine War, okay? and I tell you it's the last battle of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire for supremacy. you go, "huh?" and I tell you about Romulus and Remus and the Trojan War, and then I don't tell you anything else. wouldn't you still be going "huh?" that's what they did!

For the first:

hey Kubo, you jerk, you had these end chapter omake. 686 of them! MAYBE DO SOMETHING USEFUL WITH THEM AND USE THEM TO SHOW YOUR HOMEWORK instead of a crummy sketch? like AT THE START OF THE MANGA? how about THOSE FIVE DATA BOOKS YOU GOT? the ones where you just repeated the same info over and over and over? "I didn't want to muddy the waters and let anyone understand the stakes or the context or why any of this shit was actually happening because the EMOTIONAL RESONANCE was so vital" oh my god piss off with your self-serving bullshit and inability to plan or utilize your time well

I would also like to note this:

By the way, after Matsubara and I heard the story of how Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin met, both of us said the same thing immediately. “You have to draw that with your own hand as a manga, Kubo!” Or “Really, I’d like to read that as a manga!” Those fascinating characters as well as a story hidden within the world…

fuck you

[catboyebooks]

back to mukuro. she makes it to the entrance hall without encountering mondo or sakura, but of course monokuma intercepts her as she approaches the bulkhead. he's basically making fun of her for leaving naegi with kirigiri instead of taking the opportunity to eliminate her romantic rival. side note, this is interesting, i guess that means there was romantic tension between naegi and kirigiri before the memory wipe? i'm not surprised exactly, but i could see that one going either way. implies that either this was solely on kirigiri's end initially or that naegi got over his crush on maizono at some point (i'm leaning towards the latter interpretation lol).

mukuro manages to not react to this, so monokuma charges at her to attack her instead. she dodges but then narrowly avoids a second attack from behind. junko's sent two monokumas after her at once, and she's using both of them to speak to mukuro in unison. the monokumas ask mukuro what her plan even is — is she just going to confess her role in the situation to the rest of the group and escape with them? even though the outside world is in an apocalyptic state, thanks in part to mukuro's actions? there's no happy ending awaiting mukuro no matter what choice she makes here, and it's her own fault. oof. kind of just saying the central point of this story out loud there.

even during this, mukuro's able to stay calm and remain focused on the immediate situation. i think it's actually easier for her to remain unaffected by the things junko/monokuma says when she's focused on combat, she kind of goes into soldier mode and tunes out everything not immediately related to her own survival. the suggestion that naegi might blame her for her role in all of this does get to her but she's able to keep outwardly calm and also let's be honest that's not something she has to worry about at all. anyway. mukuro demands that junko unseal the bulkhead so that they can leave the school.

junko is evidently pretty surprised by this request, as both monokumas act very taken aback and then make a big show of acting like they're having a whispered discussion about this. mukuro ignores them and keeps talking as though she's addressing junko directly. she says the others will stop doubting naegi if she can show them the outside world; they'll know her story to be true, then. monokuma argues that the air outside is polluted, but mukuro counters that it's not so polluted they'll drop dead immediately and besides it beats the whole mutual killing game thing. monokuma then brings up how everyone agreed, pre-memory wipe, that they wanted to stay in the school. he asks mukuro if she really wants to betray their wishes. in response mukuro says... and i'm actually just going to quote this directly because this is a hell of a statement. mukuro says "i don't... really care about their feelings. you're all i need, junko. so don't worry. i'm always watching out for you... i'm going to make sure you feel despair, and i'm going to make naegi... and the others... happy. if you want to revel in your own despair that badly... then i'll trust the hope naegi gave me, and take my chances with them instead of you." this post is now over because i think we may need to unpack that statement a bit before continuing

[whileiamdying]

Asghar Farhadi Forcefully Denies Plagiarism Allegations: ‘My Film Was Not Based on the Documentary’

By Ramin Setoodeh May 17, 2022 6:33am PT

Maarten de Boer for Variety

Speaking about the matter for the first time in public, Asghar Farhadi forcefully denied that he plagiarized his 2021 film “A Hero.”

“My film was not based on the documentary,” the Iranian Oscar-winning directed said on Tuesday afternoon at the Cannes Film Festival. “I think the matter will no doubt be cleared up. And I’m sorry it has created so much ill feeling.”

An Iranian court is hearing a case involving a former student, Azadeh Masihzadeh, who has accused Farhadi of copying the idea for his movie from a documentary that she showed him in a 2014 workshop in Tehran.

“A Hero,” which won the Grand Prize in Cannes last year, tells the story of a man who finds and returns a bag filled with gold coins while he’s been temporarily released from prison. But once his deed as a good samaritan receives media attention, police suspect he could be lying.

Farhadi’s producer Alexandre Mallet-Grey has claimed that “A Hero,” which was released by Amazon Studios in the United States, is based on a story that was covered in Iranian news reports. Masihzadeh says that she first uncovered the story in her documentary about an inmate in Shiraz.

The Iranian court is expected to deliver a final verdict, although the timeline of the ruling remains unclear. In April, press reports incorrectly suggested that Farhadi had been found guilty. Those stories have now been corrected.

Farhadi addressed the allegations in a long and impassioned statement at a press conference for the 2022 Cannes jury, of which he’s a member. As his peers watched on — including “Titane” actor Vincent Lindon, Rebecca Hall and Joachim Trier — Farhadi gave a detailed answer in Farsi, which was translated into English by an interpreter.

The public nature of Farhadi’s comments suggests that the director felt the need to defend his reputation internationally. He’d been rumored to be in the running to lead the Cannes jury as president, until the plagiarism allegations surfaced. As a Cannes juror, he could find himself in a tough spot since Iran has two films in competition: Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider” and Saeed Roustaee’s “Leila’s Brothers,” neither of which have been cleared by local authorities to screen in Iran.

Read Farhadi’s full comments below:

Asghar Farhadi: “I have never spoken directly about this matter. A lot of the information that you have just given was published in the newspaper. The information was incorrect and was corrected subsequently. So I think we need to rectify the situation in light of the correct information.

“This documentary was something I saw at a workshop. I talked about it with the student. But much later on, I created the film ‘A Hero.’ And it cannot be viewed as a way of plagiarizing. In fact, in ‘A Hero,’ what is in the film is something quite different.

“We have to see why certain journalists have spread this incorrect information. What we do is to make fiction films and what I did in my film ‘A Hero’ is not related to the work done in the workshop I just referred to. It was based on a current event. This documentary and my film ‘A Hero’ are simply based on an event that happened two years prior to the workshop. When an event takes place and is discovered by the press, then it becomes public knowledge and you can do what you like  — you can write a story or make a film about the event without one being a copy of the other.

“You can look at the information on this event. ‘A Hero’ is just one interpretation of this event whereas the documentary was a documentary. It was not the same take at all. The newspaper you’re referring to talked about plagiarizing. This is not actually true and likewise the case is being studied by the religious authorities. There will be a jury to judge the case. But we don’t know when the case will be heard. It’s a very lengthy process.

“Obviously, this has created a certain amount of ill feeling, but my film was not based on the documentary. A suggestion was even made that the earnings of the film be shared between the two fo us. I think the matter will no doubt be cleared up. And I’m sorry it has created so much ill feeling. I hope, however, that this mistaken information that’s been written about this matter will be corrected. It has even said that I’ve ben sentenced, which is wrong.”

Nick Vivarelli contributed to this story. 

Read More About:

2022 Cannes Film Festival,

Asghar Farhadi

[skvaderarts]

Petrichor Chapter 62: Measures

Chapter 62: Measures

Note: Hi, everyone! I hope you’re doing well! Enjoy the chapter! I sure enjoyed writing it!

(-~-)

The room remained silent for about a minute, the only sound consisting of Sirrus’s tired breathing and V’s deafening silence. If you weren’t looking directly at him, you’d have no way of knowing that he was even there. He seemed to be waiting for something to happen. Just like that, a cold chill shot its way up his spine. He had a bad feeling about this. What was he here to tell them? Had something happened?

“Before we proceed, you need to know something.”

Gustave took a few steps towards them, his demeanor as serious as it was calm. He maintained eye contact with them, his arms folded behind his back as he took slow, deliberate, striding steps toward them. There was no humor in him, and he was obviously not here to participate in leisurely downtime activities with them. His word was the law at the moment, and he was about to lay it down. They needed to listen.

Sirrus sat up as best he could, sighing softly from discomfort as he did so. It seemed that his rest was well and truly over. He would have to push aside his understandably serious issues for the time being. If Gustave was here to talk to them in private, then it was in his best interest to listen. Only an idiot ignored the words of a man who rarely initiated conversation. And he was no idiot. Perhaps a fool. But not an idiot.

“Alright then. You have our attention.” Sirrus said, crossing his arms over his lap as he leaned forward, his demeanor as uncomfortable as it was quiet and respectful. And V quickly took note of that, making a mental note to keep a close eye on him and to make sure that he listened as intently as his companion was. Both of them were typically good judges of when it was best to give their undivided attention to something. There was no discussion to be had here. They both recognized the seriousness of the situation. Whatever that situation was… 

“Good. As I would hope.” Gustave said as he came to a stop, somewhere between them and the middle of the room. He leaned against a pillar, his back mostly to the door as he addressed them quietly. He wasn’t whispering but keeping his tone as level and incognito as possible was a priority. Whatever this was about was clearly meant to be kept private. He didn’t need to tell them not to repeat what he was about to say. That was a given. And as they both sat up, alert and fully focused on whatever it was that he was here to inform them of, he knew he had their undivided attention. And he almost seemed to appreciate that fact. Not that he was going to say as much, of course.

“This is neutral ground. There will be no combat here.” His tone was completely humorless and unwavering. It wasn’t a request. It was a guarantee. And the implications as to what would happen should they break that expectation were clear in everything from his eyes to his delivery. There would be no quarter given. He would not, could not, -or was unwilling to- show them any mercy.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” V said almost sarcastically, half expecting to be told something akin to that. He was almost certain that neither of them had any intention of starting a fight, but he did get why they were being explicitly warned. It probably wouldn’t look very good for whoever their host was should they decide to get scrappy. It probably wasn’t very healthy for your reputation to entertain and tolerate guests with a violent streak.

Gustave’s gave lingered on him for a moment. He wasn’t bothered by the statement. Even when being sarcastic, V was clearly being sincere. Both the older gentlemen and V knew that Sirrus was capable of controlling himself, especially after their little trip through the woods. The older man knew that they could both be trusted, but he could only hope that nothing came up that might cause either of them to break that serenity. It was unlikely, but he still felt the need to say it. They weren’t mind readers. He had to be clear about his intentions if he was to have expectations of them.

“Do be careful what you say and to whom. Omission is paramount. Transparency is a virtue best left at the door here. Unless it’s with Her. Then only speak in whole truths. And nothing less.” He unfolded his arms, no longer leaning against the support pillar. He nodded, confirming his exit before glancing towards the door momentarily. “I have work to return to. Only seek me out if absolutely necessary. I have fallen behind regarding my duties today, and I do not tolerate subpar work. I shall see you this evening. Someone be along to collect you shortly. Be prepared.”

With that, he turned the doorknob and exited the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Sirrus and V looked at one another in intrigue. That had been… interesting. But it seemed that now there was nothing left to do but wait. Someone would be there to collect them for their meeting soon enough, it seemed. They could only hope it would go well. And hope that he was correct about the wait times.

(-~-)

The Same Day V and Sirrus Arrived on the train… 

The door loomed large in front of her like a monolith, foreboding and almost unwelcoming by nature. It was just a door to be fair, but there was something almost terrifyingly unsettling about it. Perhaps it was the knowledge of the kind of power that the person on the other side of it possessed in comparison to her. No, that wasn’t it, either. They were of no threat to her. But if that wasn’t the problem, then what was? It was beyond her, but as she took a deep breath, shook off her nerves, and reached forward to knock, only a single thought came to mind.

Let’s get this over with.

Two knocks, soft the first time. She paused, only to hear nothing for about the next twenty seconds. Guilt and discomfort settled into her gut as she wondered if she should just turn back and muster up the courage to return later. She didn’t want to cause a disturbance, after all. That wasn’t typically a good thing to do when attempting to start a dialogue with someone.

Coming to the conclusion that perhaps making her identity known might help the situation, she persisted. She knocked on the door again, this time quietly but firmly announcing her presence. “It’s Flora. Can I come in?”

The air around her shifted. She didn’t hear anything, but she felt that her actions had garnered the reaction that she was hoping for. About half a minute later she heard the door unlock, the heavy metal sliding back just a smidge to reveal an almost dark room. And a familiar figure in a black dress stood before her, her hair draping around her shoulders like waves parting around unyielding stone. She had come to see Aluta. This was of the utmost importance.

“Sorry, I know you like to be left alone. I do, too.” She said, shrugging somewhat awkwardly. She and Aluta didn’t have an antagonistic or even unfriendly relationship with one another, but that was partially due to the lack of a relationship in the first place. Aluta didn’t really talk to anyone. She kept to herself in her tower, her endless grief and sorrow an anchor that held her in place. And a shackle that largely kept her from venturing out and interacting with the wider world; now a shadow of the formerly bubbly, optimistic, and sociable person she’d once been. “How are you feeling?”

Aluta seemed surprised to see her. It was subtle, but it was there. A slight twinkle in her eyes betrayed her confused introspection. She closed the door softly and unlatched the many locks that kept it held tightly shut before opening it again and holding it so that the young woman who had come to call upon her could enter. And as soon as she had, the door was shut behind them again, leaving the two of them to their silence and privacy.

“Fine now,” Aluta said softly. She’d been utterly drained since her role in the battle against the devil prince Belial and his summoner, and she’d sustained some very minor injuries in the process, but she was largely fine now. She was simply working towards recovering her strength. She’d certainly overexerted herself, though. That much was certain.

Flora nodded, relieved. That whole situation had been a mess. She was glad that more blood hadn’t been shed during the events of the last month. Enough people had been hurt for one lifetime. It was good to see that Aluta was doing better. But coming to check on her wasn’t the only reason she’d ventured up there. Unfortunately, she was there for a reason, and it wasn’t a social call.

It was time to come clean about what had happened that night.

Taking a deep breath, Flora steadied herself, using her right hand to brush her long black hair out of her face. She came here because she knew that this was the right thing to do. She only hoped that she wasn’t too late to do something. She’d had a bad feeling ever since the night that they’d all almost died in that town. Now was the time to say something. In fact, it was far past that time, a fact that had been eating her up now for a few sleepless nights.

“I… made a mistake.” She said, her tone a mixture of embarrassment and dejection. She didn’t know a better way to phrase it than that. Well, she did, but she wasn’t going to use that kind of language in front of Aluta. That was not a conversation she wanted to have. Not a lecture she planned on receiving today. She probably had one of those lined up anyway.  “There was a vault of some sort in Lympha with our crest on it. I opened it. I would’ve told you sooner but everyone was busy or hurt.”

Aluta gave her a subtle but strange look, almost as though she knew precisely what she was talking about or at least had some notion as to the possibility of what she might be referencing. She seemed to ponder this for a moment before going so still that she could’ve been mistaken for stone, her eyes betraying her silent horror as she stepped slightly closer to Flora, the room suddenly just a little bit colder than it had been previously. She couldn’t tell if there had physically been a change in the environment, or if the sudden shift in the atmosphere around them had all been figurative, but it seemed that way to her. It felt real.

“Something escaped,” Aluta said, her tone hushed and unpleasantly certain. Aluta had known that something was wrong. Even in her weakened state that night she’d felt that something was amiss. And she’d clearly written it off as meer nerves. Until that moment. The look of petrified fear on her face alone was nothing to scoff at. She knew something that he hadn’t said yet, and frankly, Flora wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Upon seeing Aluta’s expression, Flora felt a cold chill crawl up her spine as guilt overcame her. She felt awful about this whole situation. The last thing that she’d meant to do was cause any sort of trouble, but it seemed that she might have done that without realizing it. And whatever that trouble was probably had a head start.

This was bad.

“Yes. But I don’t know what it is.” She admitted. She’d tried looking into it with the resources that they kept in the library, but she’d come to a dead end. And the last thing she was going to do was sneak into the more dangerous texts housed in the estate. No one wanted to get hexed or cursed. It seemed that she had enough problems to contend with.

A cursory glance back at Aluta revealed that she seemed to be contemplating something. She walked over towards a window on the other side of the room, pausing to lean against the window sill. The sheer black curtains were drawn closed, but it seemed that she could see just enough through them from where she now stood to be content with the view. And after a long moment of silence though, she turned back towards the young woman, a look of anxious resolve in her eyes. This was a time for action. Flora only needed to know what to do.

“Of course you don’t. Very few do. You were correct to come to me when you did” Aluta wasn’t going to sit here and blame Flora for her actions. It wasn’t as though she’d been warned about the horrors that lurked within that mountain. The source of what held that region in its thrall. She knew that an inscription laid upon the door had served as a general warning, but that typically wasn’t the sort of thing any of them heeded anyway. But that did raise an important problem. She was going to need a second opinion. And on very short notice, at that. “... Where is Sirrus?”

Her family as a whole had no record of what was in that vault. But she knew. Call it a gift or a curse, she knew. And now was the time to do something meaningful about it before it was entirely too late. They’d started the train rolling down the tracks. They needed to stop it before it reached terminal velocity.

“I think he went up north. Went home. V tagged along with him, I think. Everyone else left town, too.” Flora wasn’t firm on the details regarding everyone’s locations, but she did know that all of their guests had gone back to their respective homes. She knew that Dante and Vergil had left town, but their destination wasn’t something she was privy to, having only learned that through second-hand information. Sirrus had been a lot easier to pin down, though, and she’d half thought to contact him herself but opted not to until after seeking counsel from someone more experienced than her since she was still in training. It seemed that her instincts had been spot on.

Aluta nodded, walking over to a shelf in her room that contained several books and a row of scrolls. They all looked ancient, and the young witch got the impression that these were spells or materials that Aluta had probably created or otherwise procured herself. Most of them looked looked old. Very old. And as the middle-aged woman scanned the shelf, she seemed to land on the item in question, extracting it from its resting place along with a considerable amount of dust.

“Contact him. We will start there. I may need his assistance.” She said, writing something down on the scroll that she’d pulled from the shelf. It was just a roll of paper, but it appeared to have information that would be relevant to him on it. At least that was what she thought. She couldn’t actually read anything on it except for the part that Aluta had just handed her. Was she supposed to give this to Sirrus in person?

Before she could ask, there was a knock on the door. It opened a moment later to reveal Willow, the woman stepping into the room as she began speaking, seemingly in a hurry of some sort. But to be fair, that wasn’t out of the norm for her. By the very nature of her role, she was always busy doing something or another.

“Sister I- Flora? Sweetheart, I didn’t expect to see you up here… ” She paused the second she saw Flora, genuinely shocked to see anyone else in her youngest sister’s room. No one ever came up here to interact with her. They just waited for her to come downstairs. It was something of an unspoken rule not to disrupt her isolation. They weren’t sure that it was good for her, but they really didn’t know what else to do to offer any kind of meaningful assistance.

Realizing that this was not a topic that she really wanted to explain a second time, Flora’s brain struggled to come up with any sort of meaningful rebuttal to that line of questioning. She wasn’t so much afraid to get in trouble as she was uncomfortable with not having a good explanation for the actions she’d performed to get them into this situation other than “I thought it was a half decent idea at the time, but only barely.”

“Yeah I… “

Sensing that this conversation wasn’t going anywhere worthwhile, Aluta gently waved for her to stop, her social battery depleting faster than ever with the number of things that she was currently juggling mentally. This was… a lot to take in. But she knew that they had better things to do right now than make pleasantries or small talk. She needed to address one thing at a time. That was the most productive thing they could hope to do at the moment.

“We were discussing something. Did you need something?” Aluta asked, assuming that her sister hadn’t come all the way up there just to invite her to tea. Besides, they had tea together on Fridays anyway. The two of them were creatures of schedules in that regard, at least when it came to making time for one another. She needed to know in advance how much preparation time she had to perform social tasks. How else could she be expected to cope with having to talk to other people anymore?

Willow nodded, gesturing towards the door as though to say that she needed her sister to follow her. It seemed that whatever this was about was important if her facial expression was anything to go off of. She almost seemed confused about something.

“Yes. I need to borrow you. Someone associated with Sirrus is here to move… him.” Willow practically spit those words, the very thought of having to interact with the treacherous summoner was completely repugnant to her. She didn’t even want to look at him after everything that he’d done. Not by a long shot. She looked forward to having him locked away somewhere more secure. His punishment was long overdue. “Your presence might be helpful. Please?”

Aluta seemed to consider her sister’s words for a moment before nodding a single time, gesturing for Flora to follow them. They could continue this conversation downstairs. But if someone from Sirrus’s job was here then this had to be important, and her older sister was correct to assume that she might be of use to them. Even if it took the last ounce of her utterly depleted power to do it, she would protect the members of this house if she needed to. It was best that she be there if only to deactivate the hex she’s placed on the cell for their protection. She would go downstairs. And Flora would follow.

(-~-)

The building grew quiet. Not in the way that it had been previously, but in another entirely different way. The kind of silence that only came with the night.

Even though the sky didn’t have a sun and, as such, there was no daylight to speak of, it was clear that some sort of evening had settled upon them. The low background murmur of distant talking and other activities unseen to them had all but dissipated entirely, and now they were left with only their thoughts and one another for company to alleviate the silence. It wasn’t something that either of them minded, but it was notable. The entire atmosphere of the place had just changed, and it was almost slightly creepy in a way that the young white-haired summoner couldn’t explain.

V half wished that he owned a watch at that moment just so that he could see what it thought the time was. He wondered if it would simply act as it normally did. Would the dials spin uncontrollably? Unlikely, but not something he was capable of testing either way.

But as he sat and wondered this, there was a knock at the door, this one different from the last. Upon their request, the individual entered the room, revealing themselves to be a hooded figure, their long black robes dragging behind them as they stepped forward, their unseen feet making no sound as they almost appeared to hover towards them. A middle-aged woman, by the look of it. As she came to a stop, she bowed before straightening back up and gesturing towards the doorway with a flowing wave of both of her arms, her long, trailing sleeves dangling past her hands, barely exposing them. She didn’t make a sound, but somehow V knew that he wasn’t mistaking them for someone else. She was here to collect them. And a single look over at Sirrus was enough to confirm this. They were ready.

It was time for the meeting. It was time to meet her.

(-~-)

My goal is to get in one more chapter this month before I take my little yearly Christmas break, but we will worry about that next week! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! This one has been a long time coming, so I’m interested to see what you think in the comments! Take care out there, stay healthy if you can considering everything going around these days, and I’ll see you next week! Bye bye!

[sanguinesorcery]

Fariah gave a nod of her bejeweled head toward him as he answered the concerns on his title. Her cabinet followed soon after, hands over hearts with faint bows at the shoulders in address. Not enough to expose themselves as vulnerable, but enough show their respect to the monarch, hands to hearts pledging life-blood at its source to be as respectful as they were treated fairly.

"King Ganondorf, it is then. I will have it issued to my delegation as well so they will address you properly when speaking with you at any length." she promised before resuming her position and listening to any of his further details and concerns.

The mage had snapped up the new papers, pen scribbling along on each of the points that were being added to. Locations, the names of different peoples. Notes to look into other details and other notes. Fariah made it a point to look over her shoulder at the hasty recorder.

"Make sure to make a note somewhere in the margins about researching records on these races, please."

A nod of, "Yes, High Empress" was expressed before the scratching of the penhead slowed and shifted position. Which left the Empress to address the other elephant in the room. Markesh was addressed next as Ganondorf expressed interest in seeing the repeaters in action.

"Markesh, where is the nearest repeater being stored?"

The Regent had to stop and think for a second before answering. "About two days to the west, in Mahadurga, High Empress."

For the first time since talks had begun, her brow creased a little in mild frustration. Of course they hadn't brought one with them in the delegation itself; the siege howitzers that they were, it seemed aggressive and inappropriate. A Dragon was a statement, a repeater was a declaration of war.

Of course, they hadn't expected Hyrule to be under the control of someone with interest in the things. The previous king had apparently distrusted the Sidhe on basis of their military background enough that to see even an inactive cannon would have paled him. Zelda might have taken it well, but from what Fariah remembered in that brief talk with her in the last renewal, she had little interest in such devastating warfare and so the engineering of the thing was lost on her.

Ganondorf was proving to be not like either of them, it seemed. She would have to make sure any new weapons were brought to these renewals in the future as long as he remained on the throne which, if he was to be believed, would be a long time yet. For now, she could only hope he would be patient, then, as she turned her attention back to him.

"It appears we do not have one directly on hand. But if you will permit us a few days here, we can have it brought here for your scrutiny, King Ganondorf. If this pleases you, I will have my Regent send a messenger to acquire and transport it."

She seemed awfully lenient for being kept from a prize her family had been after for decades. But as she figured it, not only would it not kill her to wait a little bit longer with those hopes that it was indeed on the way, but she could also use the time waiting to dig into the royal archives here to begin reading on the neighboring races. She had not asked for that bullet note for nothing. The fact of it was, she simply felt that she could not trust this new king yet, nonethebetter for the Aeroglaive still vibrating like it housed a colony of bees in her hand. It may be that she would have to step up and speak with these races herself to get to where they needed to go.

As she was about to address the end of his statements, Markesh made himself known again by snatching one of the papers on the table and handing it to her. She scoffed at the Regent but upon realizing what it was he waved at her, she understood.

"It seems I have overlooked the only thing your predecessors would give us that we do still need to keep our economy running. If you would grant us your pardon to our merchants to continue to roam your land without incident, so long as they abide by your laws and your rules, then you will continue to have access to our textiles, small metalwork, and cuisines."

Here, Fariah placed the page on the table again, turning it so that Ganondorf could look over the details himself. It pretty much mirrored everything she had said, the dates in which the older treatises for the endeavour were signed, and even reference points where to find them in their own archives on the islands.

"If you like, we have always brought gifts of our merchant goods with us to delegations, you are permitted to look over them and keep any that you see fit. I can accompany you to the rest of the party later, if it pleases you."

"Sustainability is a good goal to have as a start." she told him finally as a closing statement once any and all other concerns had been addressed, settling back in her seat. "I do hope our future dealings from here will be fortuitous for the both of our nations. I extend a hand in friendship to you as the new and rightful monarch of Hyrule, King Ganondorf. And I hope you will accept it -and the Empire- as equals."

Twas odd to say these were allies yet. This was merely a meeting to hash out terms of a so-called trade and really the muttering amongst them didn't help too much either. The Gerudo had their own language as did the Hylians. These "Sidhe" seemed to follow suit in that trend speaking in their own tongue when the matters were to remain between them and not to the outsider: him. Regardless, he didn't take it personally simply keeping it earmarked in the mind palace. If only there was a way to know what they were saying though. For now that thought would be let go. Too much energy was being spent already trying to understand the words they spoke in the local language.

So far...he would be offering up access to the land of Hyrule, specifically the mines of his/their choosing so that they may begin operations. Afterwards would he get what he requested. Repeaters at that! He had an idea of what they may or may not be able to do. Even so, one must never assume. Ganondorf sought them out because of their utilization of steam technology. In truth, there was nothing known about how they used this to their advantage and by extension in their weaponry. A demonstration would be in order.

"Call me King Ganondorf." The empress's statement was addressed while remaining statuesque under the pressure of all the cascading information versus his own whims & desires. Plus, that title had a ring to it. "If it is a water source you'll want, then I will need to make contact with the Zora to the north. Lake Hylia is theirs." At the very least he could offer an inkling of his thoughts on the matter before them. Positioning their work would go a long way in helping getting things set up.

The new king leaned forward to assert his next point. "I'd like a trial of these 'repeaters' you speak of. Books only do so much to paint the picture in matters of weaponry. I am willing to grant your request for the needed mines should their destructive power prove promising." The intentional movements of his counterpart, Empress Fariah, weren't lost upon him despite this process itself being new. Yet, he continued. "Again, as for positioning, there's a place that I believe will fit your needs. The eastern province: Eldin. There lies a massive volcano called Death Mountain, home to the Gorons."

"Much like with the Zora for your waterworks I'll need to speak with them about this little arrangement." He clarified while reaching up to his beard to stroke it and stimulate thought. Both tribes may not be receptive to a simple "command". He'd need to make peace with them both and sweeten the deal. But how?? A thought for after their meeting. That fell to him to make it happen. "The Goron are mountain-dwellers who are made of and feed on rocks. Ore is simply tastier to them than normal rocks. I'd imagine once you do meet with them then you could obtain ore they may already have on hand and set up shop simultaneously." A suggestion, but he wouldn't deign to tell them how to do business.

Squeezing this neighboring nation before proceeds began wouldn't bode well... "If you simply need time to begin your operations before I see a set of repeaters for my soldiers then that is the end of my concern: show me what they can do and if they are worth the wait then you may commence. I trust" In truth, Ganondorf was a tad envious. This same envy consumed him when he was King of the Desert. The land kissed by nature vs the tortuous sands where only the strong may survive. May. Now that he had that land & light there was even more he coveted: the unity this quintet exhibited. They moved together, spoke as one, and were all on the same page as far as this would go. Was it jealousy or admiration? He had a knack for phrasing things too strong...out loud and to himself.

"At the end of the day, I hope this is the birth of a beneficial relationship for us both. Hyrule & The Sidhe. What I want is weaponry, what I need is sustainability." And not just in this room or with them but all of Hyrule. His time as King was to be a long one and he''d need to ensure it. This alliance surely would help...right?

[why-am-i-here-someone-save-me]

Then Came The Dawn Pt. 3

Ever since the execution of the ‘imposter’ Ajax had not used his Vision. When he fought, he did so using only his Delusion. If asked why, he would have given a rather blunt answer. “If Celestia cannot be bother to intervene on behalf of the Creator; I want nothing to do with them or their gaze. I’ve no desire for a gift from gods who stand by while something so catastrophic occurrs. They can have their Vision back for all I care.”

The Fatui were a rather efficient force. However, there were some things that even they struggled to carry through. Which is why four whole weeks after Tartaglia sent out his subordinates to search Guyun Stone Forest; they finally had returned with news. The harbinger had wasted no time, setting out for the cluster of islets immediately.

Upon drawing near to them, the Sigil of Protection began to respond, a sort of invisible tugging urging him forward. He reached what seemed to be a plain and featureless wall of rock, but suddenly the talisman flew from his hand, floating in front of the wall, glowing brighter and brighter.

Childe’s eyes widened slightly as the wall seemed to melt into thin air, revealing a passageway behind it. Shaking off his surprise, he grabbed the now dull sigil and entered.

If his instincts were correct; Osial would know what happened to the so called “imposter”.

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

You were a bit surprised at how much of a conversationalist the overlord was, but the surprise was soon to give way to appreciation. He was happy to talk about anything and everything with you, from the mundane affairs of your life before waking up in Teyvat, to your slime companions you’d made on the run. You miss them dearly. In return he told you of times before the archon war, lore you’d never heard before coming straight from something who witnessed it transpire.

While on your journey of trying not to get murdered, you’d grown to not talk very much. In fact, it was your capture that brought the first words out of you in months; resigned words of disappointment aimed at the characters you’d once loved. You hadn’t been merciful with them, each statement had been crafted to cut deeply; each one aimed directly at their most sensitive areas.

“Guizhong would be disappointed.”

“So much for your ‘new age’ Kequing.”

“And here you claim to be a pacifist. Lying doesn’t make you look good Ganyu.”

“Judging someone for their appearance is rather hypocritical of you Xinyan.”

“I see your concept of chivalry is as fake as your pen name Xingqiu.”

“All the mora in the world won’t make you a better person Ningguang.”

“Did the other Yaksha murder people too, or is that just your personal habit Alatus?”

“You should get those red strings looked at Shenhe: they don’t seem to be working.”

“Last time I checked, a person who truly pursued justice wouldn’t go along with a witch hunt Yanfei.”

All of Liyue had been there, and you’d made sure to hit each and every one of the vision holders with your blades of harsh words.

Your words had been cruel, and you knew it. Occasionally you regretted them, but then the memory of what you’d gone through, of what they put you through, would come to the front of your mind and the guilt would wither and die on the spot.

Regardless, it was rare for you to speak after what you went for, and you appreciated Osial filling the silence.

While on the run you had loved silence. Silence meant peace: silence meant a moment of respite.

Now though, now that you no longer had the shadow of death lingering over you at every moment, the silence gave your mind ample time to reflect on your woes.

But Osial seemed to understand, as he gladly kept you company, and his companionship kept the demons in your mind at bay. It was only in his presence that you felt safe enough that you could fall asleep, and he would remain with you while you rested, there for you should the trauma of the hunt torment you with nightmares. Osial was always nearby when you awoke.

Which is why your heart was currently pounding loudly. You’d woken up, but he wasn’t here with you. You begin to frantically search for the overlord, only to freeze when you hear Osial seemingly speaking to someone. You know you should confront the situation head on, but you couldn’t work up the courage to do it. Interacting with someone aside from Osial isn’t something you think your ready for yet, and so you opt to stay hidden in the shadows.

“I cannot tell if you are simply a fool, or overly courageous. Walking into a god’s domain never ends well for mortals, so let’s get to the point immediately here. Who are you, and why have you sought me out?”

“Their Grace, you saved them right? They’re okay, right?”

Osial’s voice turns guarded and tense at the others words.

“And if I did? What does it matter to one of the mortals who forsook them?”

The seabed trembles ever so slightly, and the overlords voice hardens. If you likened his usual tone to a gentle current; this would be a raging maelstrom in contrast.

“If you have come to harm them further, I recommend you turn around and leave before I strike you down personally.”

The reply you hear is a familiar voice, but it takes a moment for you to place it. You cautiously peek into the room where the two are speaking, and sure enough, it’s exactly who you’d thought.

“…A-Ajax…?”

Both the god and the harbinger freeze before turning to face you. Osial visibly calms down at the sight of you alive and well, while Childe on the other hand takes you by surprise. There’s practically tears of relief in his eyes, and before you can even truly process that information, he kneels in front of you.

“Your Grace I’m so relieved to see you are safe.”

“H-Huh?”

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

The explanation that the ginger provided certainly helped you make sense of things, but that left you with a choice. A choice which in all honesty, you weren’t sure you’d be able to make. You had no shortage of options, but you didn’t know which was the truly “right” answer, and that’s assuming there was a right answer at all.

You could remain with Osial here in this small haven of peace you’d managed to find.

You and Osial could leave with the harbinger, and work with the Tsarita to overthrow both your mimic and Celestia, though a run-in with Morax would be certain; there’s no way he wouldn’t notice Osial being outside of the seal.

Or you could lash back at Liyue for the suffering it’s people caused you; paying back their cruelty with destruction.

While a small part of you wanted to pursue vengeance, to make them pay, you couldn’t find the resolve too. You were just so tired of the fighting. So tired of chaos. You just wanted to rest. There had already been enough bloodshed. You didn’t want any more.

The thought of staying here was a comforting one. Hiding away from the cruel world that had deserted you had been blissful so far, and you weren’t entirely sure you wanted to give it up.

But…

That thing…

It was still wearing your face, speaking with your voice, going by your name.

The fact alone made you feel nauseous. You weren’t like them, not an abusive tyrant like you’d seen them be; yet they sullied your name, your identity; with their acts.

No, you didn’t want vengeance on Liyue.

You wanted vengeance on the accused creature that had ordered your death, and it alone.

“……Alright. When should we leave then?”

“[Name] are you certain you wish to do this? Once we leave this place, you will be in danger again.”

“I know. But I can’t just let that thing hurt people, especially not while hiding behind my identity.”

“…If you are certain, then I will not oppose. I pledged my service to you, and whilst I may not be as strong as I once was, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe [Name].”

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[saltymongoose]

Hi, I'm 🍇 anon (I'd like to be if I'm not busy), I've read a lot of your writing and love it!

But I have a question...

Are the recipients jealous of the chat?, when you send a donation and the player reads that you write "I love you so much" or "you're amazing" or comments on how the player looks, how would the recipients react?, It would be interesting to know how they would react to his possible jealousy.

(English is not my original language, so I hope it is understood)

Hello 🍇 Anon, welcome to the blog! Glad you've been loving the content. :D <3 To answer your question, yes, the vessels are totally jealous of the chat. When you really think about it, "Chat" is just an amalgamation of hundreds of people who collectively fawn over the Player. Not only this, but you actively respond to them too, thanking each individual and talking directly to the people who attend your streams. They're jealous when you even share a joke with them, so when you react to the compliments and comments on your appearance, this just makes their feelings about it worse.

For example, let's say you get a donation with the message of "I love you!" followed by a ton of emotes, and you stop moving your current vessel for a moment as you sincerely thank your viewer. ("Awww, thank you (insert viewer name), I love you too! You guys are being really kind today.") Hearing you say "I love you" to someone who isn't them, and someone who they don't even know at that, really stings.

It only gets worse with every subsequent message you read out from your chat, too; the little comments on how you're looking very cute/hot that day or how much this "chat" admires you as a person and looks up to you. It flusters you more and more the longer it goes on (which naturally only makes your chat do it more) until you're laughing and shyly thanking the entire group of them for being so sweet to you. Sometimes you even rebuke some of the statements, trying to say that you're not really all that they're saying, but your chat refuses to accept that. And so the cycle of compliments and loving donations begins again.

But the fact that you and "Chat" seem to be entranced with each other during those hours of your streaming session fills your vessels with a mixture of envy. You never had this big of a reaction when they gave you little compliments, maybe because this Chat was closer to you than they were? What did Chat have that they, your chosen vessels, didn't?

Hank usually deals with his envy by putting a little extra force and finesse behind his next kills. If he can really impress you, perhaps you wouldn't pay attention to whoever Chat was for a few minutes (and more importantly, you'd focus entirely on him again). Sanford and Deimos will grumble about it to each other since you use them both for missions, even coming up with multiple ideas on how they could get rid of its influence from you. (Not like any of them would work, since they didn't exactly know what Chat was). Doc, on the other hand, doesn't deal with Chat's disruptions a lot of the time since he isn't out with you a lot. But this just makes their interruptions a lot more impactful, since he only has so much quality time to spend with you. It really annoys them, to say the least. While you and your chat talk to each other, you remain unaware of the four grunts currently conspiring on ways to destroy any chances of Chat speaking to you again. It's a shot in the dark since they can't comprehend or impact your realm's workings, but it's worth considering. Besides, you already have them, who else's compliments would you really need?

[beels-burger-babe]

Familial Attachments

***Awwwww, I'm so happy that you're enjoying my blog! This request warms my heart and I am WEAK for soft big brother Lucifer. I hope you enjoy @lorkai! - B*** Summary: MC keeps favouring Lucifer. It baffles the other brothers. Lucifer is intrigued by the behaviour and slowly begins to open up to them.

No one really noticed it when you first arrived. You were new to the Devildom, and so much was foreign and scary around you. So you following orders without question and lingering near Lucifer, the strongest of the demons living with you, could've been passed off as a survival technique. But after a few months of you staying in the House of Lamentation, Lucifer thought the initial fear would wear off, and yet you still continued to follow him around like a little duckling. Still, Lucifer hadn't really clued in that there was perhaps sentiment behind your behaviour until he had walked in on a discussion between you, Mammon, Beelzebub and Leviathan. He had approached your bedroom door and raised his fist to knock when he heard Mammon's annoyingly loud voice. "I'm just sayin'! There ain't no reason for you go followin' mean old Lucifer around like that! He's old. He complains a lot. He never has any fun. You should be spendin' time with me! I'm supposed to be your protector ya know!" Lucifer huffed in annoyance and was about to barge in when he heard your giggle. "I'm hanging out with you now, aren't I?" "I don't know MC. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mammon has a point." Levi pipped in. At this point, Lucifer cracked open the door and peeked inside. You were sitting in Beel's lap as he munched away on a bowl of popcorn. Mammon was standing, punching harshly onto the buttons of the remote he was holding, while Levi sat playing with the ease and skill of the pro-gamer that he was. He didn't even look away from the screen as he spoke to you. Lucifer made a mental note to talk to him about conversation manners. Leviathan continued. "You're always hanging around Lucifer. You only spend time with us if we specifically ask you to, or if we arrange it ahead of time," Levi shifted uncomfortably as he pressed a button on his remote; Mammon cursed as a result. "I-I-Is he your favourite or something?" Lucifer couldn't help but perk at the question. He wasn't aware that you were spending particularly more time with him than the others. Sure, he noticed that you would listen to him much better than any of his brothers ever did (and that alone made him warm up to you), and you always seemed to smile when he was around. But he thought that was just the kind of person you were; happy and compliant. Much to his, and everyone in the room's, surprise, you nodded. "I guess he is." Chaos erupted inside the room.

Beel dropped his popcorn. Levi sputtered and actually looked away from the game to gape at you. Mammon threw his remote and whipped around to face you. "WHAT?!?! You mean you prefer that old bat to the GREAT MAMMON?!?!" to Mammon's defence, he looked genuinely hurt by the confession. "But I'm your first! I thought we were pals, MC?!" Levi tensed and sniffed before turning back at the game. "I'm not that surprised really. Makes sense that you wouldn't l-like a slimy gross otaku like me." Beel remained frozen and quiet. A frown etched on his face as his hands tightened around you. Your eyes widened at everyone's reactions. "Woah, woah, woah! Who said anything about not liking you guys? I love hanging out with you three, and I do see you as my friends," you looked directly at Levi. "Otaku or not. I treasure my time with you." Levi pouted and refused to look at you. "Then what does Lucifer have that we don't? Why does he get the title of your favourite?" Lucifer was shocked to see your expression soften as you smiled gently at just the thought. "He reminds me of my big brother in the human realm," everyone went quiet and looked at you. "I-It was hard being ripped away from everything I knew and be forced to live in a world that I didn't even know existed. When I saw Lucifer and got to know him a bit, I noticed how much he acted like my brother. It was comforting to have just that little bit of familiarity amongst all the chaos of the Devildom, you know?" The eldest brother's heart warmed at the statement. It stroked his pride in the best way possible. He loved his brothers, but none of them were very affectionate with one another with the exception of the twins. To hear that someone cared about him and saw him as an older brother was...touching. His younger brothers seemed to agree as, with a little irritation, they settled back down into their game. Forgetting what he came for, Lucifer smiled and went back to his office. Since that day, he was notably kinder and more vulnerable with you. If you saw him as an older brother then he was determined to be the best older brother you could ask for. He gave you a pat on the shoulder or ruffled your hair every time he saw you. He always made sure to congratulate or acknowledge your accomplishments, no matter how small they were. He asked you how your day was and allowed you to come to him with any troubles (which he would promptly take care of the moment you left the room). Every night he would invite you into his office for some tea and a round of chess before bed. It felt like in no time, he had begun to see you as a little sibling just as much as you saw him as an older brother. Lucifer did his best not to let his brothers catch on to how soft he was around you. He tried to compensate by teasing you a little more whenever they were around. Or pretend that he was taking you into his office to scold you when he really was going to look you over and make sure you weren't hurt in the most recent incident. The result was an endless amount of taunts and ridicule from his brothers on how he was a better sibling to you than he was them (which was mostly true), that you had thawed his ancient icy heart (which he would never admit), and that he couldn't say no to you (which he tried to prove wrong but inevitably failed, much to his embarrassment). Still, the bond between you two was one that was strong and pure. When it was finally time for you to go back to the human realm, you were in tears and refused to let go of Lucifer. Lucifer held onto you tightly. It was obvious to everyone there that he was just as reluctant to let you leave. "You have to go know MC. Your real big brother is up there worried about you, I'm sure," his voice was steady and firm. He refused to cry; no matter how badly his heart ached at that moment. You sniffled and buried your face deeper into his chest. "I know. But you've become just as much a brother to me as him, a-a-and I don't want to leave you. What if I never get to see you again?" Lucifer inhaled sharply at the thought.

He looked over at Diavolo. Something in his eyes must have given away the hurt and inner turmoil he was feeling, for Diavolo's eyes widened in shock before he smiled softly at his friend. "You may take your D.D.D. with you, MC, to stay in contact with the brothers. Perhaps, on occasion, we can also organize visits. This will not be goodbye forever." Lucifer chuckled as you held him tighter and ran a hand through your hair. "See? You'll see me and everyone else again. But for now, it's time for you to return home." You shakily nodded and reluctantly pulled away from his arms; Lucifer felt his chest tighten as coldness filled the warmth where you once stood. Still, he refused to cry or show vulnerability. He would not become a blubbering mess like Mammon. He was better than that. He clenched his fists as you went around giving everyone final hugs goodbye. He held his breath as you picked up the bag the two of you had put together full of keepsakes from the Devildom. You took a step towards the portal. "MC, wait!" Lucifer rushed towards you, damning his own pride and reputation to hell, as he pulled you into one final tight hug and pressed a kiss to the top of your head. He held you there; closing his eyes and allowing himself to pretend for just a moment that he didn't have to let you go. He felt a tear roll down his cheek. "I love you, MC. I will miss having you here." Suddenly you were sobbing again. The two of you held each other for several minutes, as Diavolo had Barbartos escort the others out to give the two of you some privacy. Finally, he let you go, and within a second you were gone and back to your true family. Lucifer went home, and sat in his office, wondering what you were doing with your real big brother and if you were as happy up there as you were with him. ***HOW THE FUCK DID I MAKE THIS ANGST AND END UP CRYING WELL WRITING I AM SO SORRY I SERIOUSLY MEANT FOR THIS BE FLUFF GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! *Wipes tears* Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this no matter how accidentally painful it was. Thank you for the lovely request @lorkai! I was touched by how personal it was!***