#ended up cutting this piece in two 'cause I had too many ideas and no room to fit them all ^^'

[veinsfullofstars]

🎩 Putting on a show with style… and snow! 🎩

(ID: Kirby series fanart of Shadow Kirby interacting with Daroach, with guest cameos by Dark Meta Knight and Spinni. Top right - SK & DMK reflected in a steampunk-inspired mirror, each dressed in the Dreamy Gear attire of their counterparts but more tailored to them (purples instead of blues for SK, a tattered red cape and a spiked hat belt for DMK). SK stands on his tiptoes and holds his cheeks with a wide, starry-eyed smile, delighted with his new outfit, while DMK stands just behind him to our left, curled into his cape and looking disgruntled, a bit of blush peeking through his mask. Outside the mirror, Spinni stands proudly on our right, smiling and giving a thumbs-up with a hand on his hip and a few sewing pins in his teeth, while Daroach (dressed in his own Dreamy Gear clothes) stands on the opposite side, pointing at his friends' reflections with an affectionate smile. Middle left - SK & Daroach holding the Magic top hat together, the puffball looking up in awe as the thief taps it with his wand, causing a pair of white doves to fly out in a small burst of confetti. Bottom right - SK wearing the Ice hat and skating gracefully on one foot towards the viewer, arms held out and expression full of joy. Behind him, Daroach skates by in the opposite direction, holding up his wand to unleash gusts of glowing snowflakes all around them. END ID.)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 (you’re here!) | Part 7 | Compilation

Sketch started btw 12/23 - 06/24, render started 06/08/24, finished 06/13/24, updated for color correction 11/02/24.

[takamimami]

hii! 🫀 anon here. i saw ur event post and just knew i HAD to request!!

i wanted to request a law x fem reader nsfw piece with 1. Our bodies fit so well together and 2. Everything alright?” “I just missed you.”(from the fluff prompt) if two isn’t okay then you can scratch the 2nd one! maybee some size kink and tummy bulge too 😽 also i love that you use angel sm in your writing law saying absolutely filthy shit w the angel pet name would be the end of me

congrats on the 100 followers <3!!! you deserve every single one and more!

Ohhhhh 🫀 anon, my precious, thank you so so much for your kind words and continued support <3 I'm not going to lie, I squealed a lil bit when I read this DELICIOUS request. I hope I did your idea and our moody boy justice with this, and I hope you enjoy the read :3

Law x F!Reader - NSFW - “Our bodies fit so well together" & "Everything alright?” “I just missed you.” STORY UNDER THE CUT - MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DNI 🔞 CW: SMUT; overstimulation, law makes you squirt :3, mirror sex, pussy-drunk law, fluff and smut, lots of praising, law edging himself bc he missed you, law calls you 'angel' --- word count 1.2k

The drag of Law’s thick cock along your walls has you panting as he thrusts into you slowly, each deep thrust sending a shock wave of pleasure through your entire being. The two of you had been at this for hours, both your bodies slick with sweat as a hint of concern creeps into the back of your mind at the fact that your boyfriend hadn’t finished yet. He’d just returned from a stint with the Straw Hats in Punk Hazard, and instead of enjoying the warm welcome the crew had prepared for him, he whisked you away to his quarters almost immediately. The two of you had barely gotten the door shut before his fingers were inside you - not that you minded - but it was a slight cause for concern you knew you’d have to address when this was over.

You knew Law to enjoy teasing and edging both of you occasionally when you went at it, but you’d lost count of how many orgasms he’d pulled from you tonight a while ago. You knew he was close - you could practically feel his cock pulse each time he bottomed out inside of you, his head kissing your cervix as he held you to his chest and groaned into your neck. But just when his thrusts increased pace and you were sure he would tumble over into euphoric bliss with you, he pulled out of you completely.

“Everything okay?” You ask, looking up at him as he stands from the bed, his hulking frame hovering over you as he pulls you to the edge of the bed by your ankles. He leans over, his chest muscles rippling as he wraps his arms around your waist and lifts you into his arms, carrying you in the direction of the bathroom and setting you down on the counter before hitching your legs around his hips. His grey eyes are glossy as he looks down at you, pupils blown out with lust as his raspy voice cuts through the silence.

“‘M fine, angel, I just missed you,” he croons roughly as he slides his hips forward into yours, his eyes dropping down to where you two are once again connected as he sheaths himself inside your velvet walls once more. “Missed you so fucking much.”

Your back arches and your lips fall open with a moan as he pumps himself into you roughly, his short and shallow thrusts prodding at the gummy walls of your g-spot. Law smiles wickedly at the affirmation, eyes trained on the slight bulge of him in your abdomen as he works himself deeper and harder inside of you. He pulls you to the very edge of the counter, the veins in his arms popping as he supports the weight of you with one arm slung under your hips, the other pressing down on your lower abdomen where his eyes had been trained moments ago. 

You knew this spelled out the end for you, your body immediately going slack against the cool tile as you felt the familiar sensation rise in your gut. Your mind was spinning as you prepared for an earth-shattering orgasm, one Law somehow knew how to pull from you like it was his god-given purpose in life. 

“Relax angel,” he coos, chest now hovering over you, his larger frame encompassing nearly all of you as he looks down at you, his face quite possibly the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen in this pussy-drunk haze he was in. You comply, and the cord inside you tightens as you screw your eyes shut, each one of Law’s thrusts pressing you harder and harder into the counter.

“That’s it, angel, make a mess for me.”

His words snap the cord, your orgasm crashing over you harshly as your hips begin to buck into his thrusts. Law digs his fingers into your hips as he holds you steady, leaning into the counter for support as he thrusts into your soaking cunt. Your release begins to spray out of you, splashing onto his torso and the floor as he pulls out, the pressure being too much so he instead replaces his cock with his fingers, curling them up into your g-spot and pulling even more waves of pleasure from you.

Your eyes remain shut, stars twinkling behind your eyelids as waves of pleasure ripple through your body. You’re not sure if you’re even making any sounds, but your mouth goes dry as your orgasm starts to subside, Law’s fingers working tirelessly against you until he’s sure he has pulled every last drop from you. 

He can’t resist the temptation to drop to his knees and swipe his tongue over your swollen lips, a strangled cry ripping out of your chest from the over-stimulation as your hand pushes his face away.

“Wait, wait,” you pant breathlessly, needing a moment to recover from the intensity of your last orgasm. Law chuckles below you, standing up to hover over you again, his body coated in your release as he presses his entire self into you, pulling you into a sitting position.

Your body is weak, hopelessly so, and you can’t help the groan that leaves your body when your eyes drop down to Law’s cock, the tip blushed and swollen.

“How have you not come, yet?” you ask with a laugh, tensing as he chuckles back and slides you off the edge of the counter. Your legs are shaky as they try to keep you upright, and you’re grateful for Law’s strong arm around your waist otherwise you may have ended up on the floor.

“I just can’t get enough of you,” he croons, your eyes meeting his in the mirror before trailing along the tattooed arms that held you flush against him. You hiss as he slides back into your sensitive cunt, and he nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck to pepper gentle kisses there. “You got one more for me, angel?”

You moan lightly and lean your head back against his shoulder, feeling your walls clamp around him as he begins moving inside you again. 

“Look how perfectly our bodies fit together,” he rasps, and you open your eyes to meet his fiery gaze in the mirror. His arms wrapped tightly around you, his hips jacking into yours as your back arches with each movement. “It’s like you were made for me.”

You hum as his pace increases, a hand sliding down to rub gentle circles on the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of your thighs. Your moan comes out as more of a whimper from the contact, and your hands fly out to brace yourself on the counter in front of you as Law presses himself deeper inside of you. 

“You’re gripping me so tight, angel,” Law groans, feeling the familiar flutter starting in your core as he speaks, “So, fucking, tight… So perfect.”

His babbling is met with a string of moans from you, your brain going fuzzy from the praise. “Law, come for me,” you beckon, teetering on the edge of release as you clamp down on his length, trying to bring him over the edge with you.

You’re successful, and Law buries his face into your neck again as he feels his own cord snap, thrusts growing sloppy as his cock pulses inside you. You’re so absorbed in watching Law shatter behind you that you barely comprehend the way your body shakes in his arms, milking every last drop from him while he strings together curses into your neck.

His hips finally still, and he holds you tightly against him - his breathing shaky as he tries to ground himself again. He hisses when he finally pulls himself from your grip, an instant rush of both your releases trails down your leg.

He loosens his grip around your body and moves his hands to your hips, gingerly leading you over to the tub and running the two of you a warm bath. He sprinkles some essential oils into the tub before scooping you up into his arms and settling into the water. You straddle him as he leans back against the tiles, your head resting on his chest as the water soothes your now sore muscles.

“I love you, angel.”

The words pull your gaze up to him, lifting your head so that you’re at eye level with him, before connecting your lips to his in a gentle kiss. When you pull away you can see a hint of something lingering in his eyes, and you know there is something under the surface that he was still unpacking. You don’t press it, instead offering him a gentle smile to tell him that you’ll be here when he’s ready to talk.

“I love you, Law, and I missed you, too.”

[perseephoneee]

okie dokie does a Dean Winchester x reader fic work? Had an idea way back in s1 when jess first dies, (older sister, who kinda takes sam under her wing) reader ended up meeting dean through sam. They had similar personalities but (reader) was more of a hopeless romantic than Dean. Sam on the other hand could totally see them together but Dean always denied it.

“Stop eyeing her like she's a piece of steak, you creep” “The hell? I do not do that, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

so they left ca and travelled and maybe in s2-3 (doesnt have to be accurate) they end up back in ca because of a case or cause reader called sam for help. (not expecting dean to show up as well) and after shes not in danger, turns out they get along really well.

"Im not an arm rest, dean." "Mhm, then why are you so short?" "I'M 5'3 THATS NORMAL"

and just fluff..? idk man let me know if its not what you want to write, i can totally change it💜

not a steak (dean winchester x f!reader)

↳ masterlist  ↳ ship exchange ↳ taglist ↳ 1k celebration

wow remember when i could actually write things in a timely manner? yeah, me neither. i miss those days (that never existed). whomp whomp.

You don't necessarily remember the exact moment that you met Sam. He's been a constant in your life since you were his TA as an undergraduate, watching this freakishly tall freshman so eager to succeed in your class. He made your heart soft, and he made you feel protective. Even though he was so much bigger than you, a naivety in his persona made you take extra time to ensure he succeeded. He ended up getting an A in the class.

You do remember when you met Dean, however. You had heard stories of Dean from Sam the few times you'd catch lunch outside of school. By this point, you were a grad student, filling the void of the older sibling that Sam unconsciously needed filled. You never pried for too many details, and that's how you got people to shut up really fast. But you did meet Dean right as he left town to look for his Dad. Dean was coarse and dismissive of you as if you were just another roadblock stopping him from taking his brother. When you finally got his attention, it was just to size you up before wordlessly climbing into his car. Sam seemed apologetic, but mostly, you were just worried. You had every right to be. Jessica died a week later.

The thing about you is that you can't let a dead dog lie. Where's the fun in that? You'd much rather figure out ways to raise them.

Sam was brilliant, but he let enough details slip to allow you to research him. And you were a law graduate student; you knew a thing or two about studying. Random newspaper clippings, shoutouts of various names, and blog posts allowed you to figure out the supernatural aspect of his life that he had kept from you. You should've been more surprised, but you were more excited than anything. There was more out there. What a strangely relieving thought.  

This knowledge proved helpful when you realized you had a poltergeist.

The new place you moved into was charming and Victorian, the dream of everyone with a Pinterest board. It was in fairly decent shape, and with your roommates, you guys thought you could polish it up to something livable during your suffering years of graduate school. Unfortunately, the price was too good to be true, which led to the unfortunate circumstance of hauntings culminating in one of your roommates in the hospital, barely alive. You called Sam that night.

"Hey Sam, it's me…" you trailed off at that, feet tucked under you as the machines' beeping cut through the silence. "I need your help."

The next day, he was at your door, enveloping you in a hug. He smelled exactly the same, and you didn't realize how much you missed him. Dean was with him.

"I'm Dean," he nodded, holding out a hand. You raised a brow.

"We've met."

"I would've remembered someone who looks like you," Dean scoffs, an easy smirk on his lips that probably made many women swoon. You just rolled your eyes, going back into your house and hoping Sam followed.

A week later, the boys were still here. This ghost was frustrating, and it was more the principle of it that was pissing you off more than anything. You let the brothers stay at the house since it was safer in numbers and cheaper. Plus, your roommates took a wide berth of the place before returning. A routine developed in the short time they were here. You cooked breakfast, Sam made coffee, and Dean woke up at some point. You and Sam would enjoy the paper before something happened (usually related to the crossword that Dean was totally not interested in), and you ended up bickering with the older Winchester until Sam got fed up with it and shut it down.

"Stop eyeing her like she's a piece of steak," Sam muttered to Dean when you weren't around, having stormed off to some other corner of the house. Dean almost spit out his coffee.

"The hell? I do not do that. I have no clue what you're talking about."

Sam just nodded, hiding a smirk behind his book as Dean grumbled about not checking you out.

For the first time that week, Sam was out that night. He was following "a lead." What that lead was, no one knew, but it meant you were alone. With Dean. In a house. Without supervision.

You grumbled something about making dinner. Dean followed you.

"Are you lost?" you asked, hands on your hips as Dean plopped himself at the counter.

"I'm following the food."

"Of course you are."

"Please, no more rabbit food," Dean groaned. "I can't take it anymore."

"Oh no, definitely not," you smirked, pulling out some steaks from the fridge you had been saving. Dean's eyes immediately lit up. "You're helping me cook these. I'm not letting your dumb ass sit around while I prepare a meal."

"You're bossy," Dean grumbles but doesn't complain further as he removes his flannel and sets it on the chair. You ignore that he looks really good in a t-shirt and return to grabbing ingredients. To his credit, Dean is good at letting you tell him what to do and following through. He is definitely a better chef than Sam, who has burned many things in your kitchen. Dean is an excellent sous chef. You tell him as such.

"The hell? I am not a sous," he says while furiously stirring butter.

"It's a compliment, you knobhead."

"Knobhead? What 1950s show are you living in?"

This conversation went back and forth for a while. But you finished cooking a meal, which is always considered a success in your book. Dean devoured him almost immediately before you could even finish cutting through it. Then, it was just you attempting to finish your meal in peace. This was difficult, as Dean continuously kept eyeing your food, hoping you might give it to him, and then would complain outwardly when you didn't.

"You're not going to finish it," he drank his beer, once again looking at your dinner. You glared.

"I can finish it."

"A girl like you doesn't finish an entire steak."

That comment pissed you off. You finished your steak in two bites, shocking Dean, and then proceeded to grab his glass of beer and down it in one gulp. You slammed the glass down, raising a brow. "You have no clue what type of girl I am."

You grabbed both your plates and made your way to the kitchen, putting them in the sink and starting to clean the dishes. You barely made it through a plate before Dean pushed you out of the way.

"Dean—"

"I'm not questioning your ability, but in my world, the one who doesn't cook cleans. So, sit your ass down," Dean said before you could chew him out. You bit the inside of your cheek and sat down, still glaring at him as he washed each dish meticulously and put them either in the dishwasher or on the drying rack. When he was done, he threw the dishtowel over his shoulder. The domesticity made you soften. "I'm sorry for earlier."

You blinked, not really expecting any sort of apology from Dean Winchester. You did expect that you would not get anything besides those words.

"I don't understand women."

You laughed at that, leaning on your hand with your elbow on the table. "Aren't you a self-proclaimed ladies' man?"

"I know how to sleep with women, but I don't get what goes through your heads," Dean leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "You want one thing and then a different thing, and I can't keep up."

"So, you're admitting you're slow." Dean threw the towel at you. "Women aren't that complicated; men are just bad listeners. You included."

"I can listen."

"Really? What was I frusterated about at dinner?" you challenged, getting off your seat and leaning over the counter. He blinked a few times.

"That I kept asking for your steak?"

"No, that you presumed that as a woman, I couldn't finish a steak."

"Well, that's not what I said," Dean replied, getting defensive. You just rolled your eyes, grabbing the wine bottle on the counter.

"Oh, also, insight into women; they lie about how good men actually are in the bedroom," you winked, leaving the room and taking the wine with you. You could almost hear Dean's jaw drop.

"It ain't a lie, princess," he intercepted you, his stupid legs moving much faster than yours. You frowned but didn't say anything. Dean took a breath, locking eyes with you. "Why do you insist on always pushing my buttons?"

"Because it's fun? Because you're both annoying and easy to annoy?" you shrugged, clutching your wine bottle to your chest. You didn't know why you picked on him, besides the fact he could be an absolute ASS sometimes that needed kicking. No, you suppose it goes back to early schoolyard days where instead of 'flirting,' you'd push the person and maybe claim to the entire class that they had cooties. To this day, you still had no idea what cooties exactly were, just that you never wanted to catch them.

"I think you like me," Dean smirked. He had crowded you against the wall leading to the living room. Your wine was an innocent bystander clutched to your chest. Maybe not as tall as Sam, but you still had to look up to see him. "I'm gonna prove it."

"Excuse me?" you breathed any sort of bite to your words caught in your throat as he reached up to your face and stroked your cheek. His hands found purchase holding your neck, tilting your face even higher and infinitely closer. Dean took the wine bottle out of your hands, your last line of defense, and stepped away for a second to put it back on the counter. His hands found your face again.

"Hey princess," he whispered, voice sultry. "Breathe." You couldn't do such a thing even if you wanted to because his lips were on yours, and he tasted like the draft beer in your fridge and apple pie. He was gentle, too gentle, and you wanted more. Your hands, first unsure of what to do, grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. One of his hands moved to your waist, thumb brushing the exposed skin where your shirt rode up. He was everywhere all at once, masculinity encapsulated, and you were drowning in it. He pulled away, letting you breathe, the command you forgot to follow. "I wanted to do that since I saw you."

"Bullshit."

"Honest to god— well, not god, but honest— but then you had to go and be increasingly difficult," Dean scoffed, still holding on to you.

"You don't even remember the first time we met."

"Of course I do; it was a week after my Dad disappeared," Dean responded. "You were wearing pajamas and had a raincoat wrapped around you as you asked Sam not to go so that you could figure it out together. I was curt, and you looked like you wanted to call me a thousand horrible names, but you let it go as we drove away."

You smiled a little at that. "You do remember."

"What can I say? I like pushing your buttons."

You smacked him on the chest, earning a laugh as you fought off your smile. You did finally get your wine and let Dean choose something to watch. About halfway through your movie (and three glasses of pinot noir in), you got distracted by a makeout session that would've made your teenage self swoon, but it didn't progress more than that. Neither of you wanted to go too fast. Most of the time, it was just light conversation, cuddling, and the realization that maybe you two were much more alike than you thought.

Both of you fell asleep like that on the couch, blissfully unaware of the morning light. Sam came home early in the morning, dropping his bags before seeing the both of you entwined on the couch. A smile crossed his face.

"Finally."

taglist: @lover-of-books-and-tea @qardasngan @evasmlp

[lanawinterscigarettes]

Can I ask for Natasha x reader where one of them calls the other one by their real name and the other one freaks out because they usually call them by petnames? Thanks!

Of course! I always love fics based off this idea 💞 this is kind of angsty because I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff alright 😭 also Малыш is supposed to mean baby in Russian, but I honestly have no idea how accurate that is

Terms of Endearment (Natasha Romanoff x reader)

Warnings: mentions of insecurity/self depreciating thoughts, not really hurt/comfort but also kind of?? Idk

You and your girlfriend Natasha had always been fond of using petnames for each other, often more so than your actual names themselves. Whether it be honey, sweetheart, darling, or simply just babe, you never ran out of cutesy names to call each other. But as much as you loved hearing the never ending abundance of pet names roll off Natasha's tongue, what you didn't love was how often you got teased for it. 

You knew the other members of the team didn't mean anything by it and would stop if they knew how much it upset you, but the problem was you didn't really have a good reason for feeling that way. It seemed silly just thinking about it, childish even. So you kept your mouth shut, laughing along at their meaningless jokes as you made yourself a promise to cut down on the cheesy nicknames. 

You hoped Natasha wouldn't notice the lack endearing terms on your part, but she did, of course. She always noticed the small things nobody else picked up on. It came with the job description of being an assassin.

Although she'd noticed it, she couldn't understand why there was a sudden change in your behavior, especially when she knew how much you loved the petnames you had for each other. 

Because of this, she cut down on the petnames, too, and only used them when you were alone, hoping maybe she could solve the problem that way, even if she didn't know what it was.

It all came it a head one day when you were cooking together. It was just the two of you, everyone else either busy or in another part of the Avengers base. 

Natasha was standing by the stove, making some sort of soup. "Малыш, could you hand me the salt?" She asked after tasting it and realizing it needed something. 

The way you tensed up at the name she used for you did not fly past her, and it caused her to let out a small sigh. "Are you okay? You haven't been using nearly as many petnames for me as you used to, and I've noticed whenever I use them you seem... upset. Even when we're alone." 

You let out a sigh yourself, knowing it wouldn't do you any good to lie about it. "I... I was hoping you wouldn't notice." You began meekly, looking down. 

Natasha had a slight frown on her face as she turned towards you fully. "And why is that?" Her tone was gentle, but firm. It was clear she wasn't going to let you leave without some sort of explanation. 

"It- its not you. Or me. Its the others," you confess quietly. "I didn't really like the way they teased me whenever I called you honey or babe, so I stopped all together." 

She nodded her head, the pieces suddenly falling into place. "Ah, so that's why. At first, I thought I'd done something to tick you off." She joked, it making her heart warm to hear the laugh that came from you after. 

"No, it wasn't that, and even if it was, you know I could never stay mad at you." You said playfully, finally handing her the salt. 

She took it from you and added some to the pot on the stove before speaking again. "I'll talk to everybody, and tell them to lay off on the teasing, that way you won't have to worry about it anymore." 

You gave her a loving smile, your tone filled with gratitude. "Thanks, hon." 

She smiled back at the petname before giving you a soft kiss. "Of course, darling. Anything for you." 

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[mariamakeslemons]

Spooktober 2024: Day 8 Folk Horror

Warning: Inhuman x human relationship (both parties are sentient and can consent), mild anti-military work mentioned (helping soldiers abandon their post), too many ovens for a kitchen...

The idea behind König is based on @ghouljams Fae AU.

You moved out to the woods for inspiration, health, and to escape a piece of shit ex who refuses to admit that they fucked up by cheating on you. Two of those three goals are being met, but your ex is insistent, throwing around their parent’s money to constantly find ways around the blocks you put up. The only upside, you muse while sipping on your morning cup and watching the rain fall in the woods, is that your ex is “nature averse”. As if technology hasn’t advanced far enough to find work arounds even in the densely packed woods.

As a combination of more protection from your ex and honoring your grandfather, you signed up for a soldier housing project. Should a mission occur within a certain distance of your house, the soldiers can use your home as a safe house. Most of the time, you just acted as a host and sent the soldiers on their way when it’s time for them to leave. Sometimes, however, you make your grandfather proud by helping the soldiers that didn’t have an option leave the military.

With all this, you also got a boyfriend. He’s a soldier, and you hold his leash to his delight. Usually, when you house other soldiers, he stays elsewhere, but still close. Which makes his insistence that he be at the house during this housing confusing.

“Thank you again for housing my boys and I,” Captain Price repeats, tilting his boonie hat at you politely.

“As long as you guys aren’t going to be assholes, I see no reason not to house you,” you wave off with a smile, already heading into the kitchen to prep the rabbit your boyfriend hunted earlier. Braised rabbit with some bowtie pasta for the entrée, some roasted potatoes and broccoli for veg, and your gran’s special chocolate-strawberry bread pudding. A bit time consuming, but it will make more than enough food for the four men in your house, yourself, and your boyfriend when he returned from whatever the ‘wild hunt’ is.

“You need help in here, love?” Sergeant Gaz asks, peeking into your kitchen. You offer him a smile and shake your head.

“No, I’ve got it,” you assure him, pulling out the dead rabbits. You hear the Sergeant choke as you start to work off the skin and fur from the poor things. It always takes a bit more time than you want, but at the end, you still have completely cleaned rabbits, just needing to be broken down for cooking.

“Those clean?” a deep voice rumbles from behind you, causing you to nearly knick yourself with the knife. Looking over your shoulder, you see the masked man, almost the same size as your boyfriend and staring at the rabbits.

“Yes, Lieutenant,” you chirp, beaming as Lieutenant Ghost shifts. Just like your boyfriend, the man’s a bit awkward. But, unlike your boyfriend, he plows onward with what he was going to do or say.

“Y’ wan’ some help?” he offers, nodding at the meat still attached to the bones.

“Only if you can properly butcher them,” you reply.

“Was a butcher’s ‘prentice f’r while,” he huffs, walking into the kitchen and taking the knife from you, already moving the rabbit around to start cutting the joints. You hum in reply, before grabbing the vegetables. You work in silence with the Lieutenant, eventually getting the rabbits into the oven to braise. Shooing him out of the kitchen once the meat’s cooking, you move on to prep the potatoes and broccoli, as well as the strawberries and stale bread for the pudding. Your boyfriend had pointed out how much you bake and insisted you get an extra oven and a storable oven as well.

“Looks like I’m using all of them,” you chuckle to yourself.

“All o’ whit?” an accented voice asks, drawing your attention to the door once again. Sergeant Soap peers in curiously with Sergeant Gaz at his shoulder.

“The ovens,” you chirp, lifting up the mini oven up with a huff and dropping it on your available counterspace.

“Steamin’ Jesus!” the Scot yelps while Sergeant Gaz lets out a whistle.

“Didn’t know you had three of those,” he mumbles as you start to heat up the mini oven.

“Yeah,” you laugh, “I rely heavily on baking with a lot of my cooking, so three ovens.” Sergeant Gaz chuckles as Sergeant Soap practically beams in delight. However, before you could make a joke that delights your boyfriend when he hears it, a loud noise outside draws your attention to the back yard.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Price knows about the Austrian merc that’s been on base with them a few times. The giant that shies away from anything social, often seen staring at people with eyes that seem to glow. Here and now, König towers over all of them, strange spines coming out of somewhere. His eyes are glowing, a bright blue that stares down at Price and Ghost, while an inhuman growl rumbles from him. His bare hands are dyed bloody brown-red with fucking claws.

“Oh, that’s what it was!” you chirp, the sweet thing that opened their home to Price and his boys.

“Fuck,” he hisses, looking back as Ghost shifts to block you from sight. He calls to you, “Go back inside! It’s not safe!”

“What are you talking about?” you ask, stepping out of the house and around Gaz and Soap’s grasping hands. You slip past Ghost and Price and stand in front of the beast that isn’t a man despite its shape. Then, you pat what was its wrist twice while scolding, “And shrink down, you goober. You’re scaring them.”

“Good,” König rumbles, but he still listens to you, shrinking down into the form they’re far more used to. You huff and roll your eyes, but rise up on your toes to slip under König’s hood to press what sounds like a kiss to what might be his face. Slipping back out, you smile up at him.

“I’m making braised rabbit and pasta for dinner,” you tell him, as if the 141 isn’t between you and the house, as if these armed men don’t have a hand on their guns. The behemoth perks up.

“The ones I brought you?” he asks, leaning over you.

“Yep!” you chirp, so fucking sweet. König purrs, sounding just as animalistic as he had earlier, before scooping you into his arms and stomping into the house, ignoring the 141. The Taskforce watch as the house darkens, twigs pressing out of the wood the house is built with. The woods around them is no longer serene, but foreboding, waiting for possible prey.

“Yeh think ‘ll behave?” Soap asks nervously.

“…If they ask,” Price finally offers upon hearing you scolding König for something, causing the Austrian to whine.

“Gun’s loaded and at ready,” Ghost intones, not even taking a chance.

[carniekisses]

Here's a long post that I really hope Tumblr will not flag as NSFW (please don't flag this), I remember back when I showed off the needlefelt Gomer sculpture I had made, someone asked if I had like a work process to show off for it. And I did not, because I had kept it all confined to a private account. I thought it'd be fun to have something to show for it for this one.

So I've been wanting to make a BJD for at least the past 15 years, back when I was a kid with no money to buy supplies with and also with a worry for symmetry, and also also I wasn't very skilled. It's 2024, and I vaguely know how to use Blender now

I've started this project on April 6th, as I've been documenting this on the above mentioned private account.

Of said model I (much) later ended up only being able to salvage the physical sculpts of the chest and torso parts as I messed up somewhat badly, see down below. I also ended up dropping the 'magnets in hands & feet' concept as it was just redundant, one can simply unhook them off the elastic if they are to swap them out.

At any rate, I 3D printed it all and got to sanding, and painting.

So far so good I guess, really not a fan of how the knee and elbow bean slots were just holes (I fixed that later don't worry)

So This was Not looking good lmao. I used acrylic paint, which was not necessarily the problem, the problem was that I'd applied it with a sponge brush which caused the surface to feel really sandpapery once dry. So don't do that I suppose, bad idea

On top of this, I realized that given the thickness of this doll I absolutely needed double joints in the legs, in order to have decent articulation. You can see in the above pics I *had* sculpted those, but I later fused the knee beans with the shins with apoxy resin, for some reason? I think it was because as I posed the legs the knee beans kept falling *into* the hollowed out shins/thighs, and I got tired of it.

The final blows for this model were me applying some 3D finish resin in a last ditch effort to smooth out the horrible texture, which rendered the pieces extremely shiny and smooth (disgusting), WHICH then prompted me to apply matte varnish to fix that bullshit. It absolutely did not work lmfao, and I have no pictures of that disaster because I became pretty discouraged about having to go back to like square two or three.

Some time passed (months really because I kept getting distracted for many a reason [sanding is so fucking boring, Blender was a mistake, I was feeling overwhelmed, I was too sad/tired to work that day, etc.]), I buckled down and finally retooled the pieces that needed it: everything But the chest and torso parts, off of which I managed to sand the varnish and smooth resin. I had fixed all the double joints too to actually be decently functional this time. The head was completely resculpted to better reflect the character's latest design iteration.

bean slots: Fixed

So after sanding (which was the part I was dreading the entire time, because it's so tedious and also it hurts after a while), I caved and got myself an airbrush to, hopefully, lay paint down good this time.

Very glad I did because the difference is kinda crazy. Please ignore my dirty ass desk, it's what happens when you craft. These pictures are from last week btw.

The blue base and the blush were airsprayed, the finer details like the dark shading and the pinker parts were done with both chalk and just acrylic paint. I miiight remake the eyeballs, or at least add more of a smooth finish. The shine to them is really nice

Here's she with lashes, wearing a shitty little scrap of fabric I cut in 10 minutes for fun (please DON'T flag th), and posing to test out the double joints too, they definitely could be better but they work Fine and I'm okay with that.

As of today I'm waiting for the fibres to deliver, for the wig, I already have the cap done. I guess I can update this when it happens, thanks for reading so far, I hope it was interesting, see you next time.......

[lovezbrownies]

I am a bit curious of the after affects of, “Thank you, cruel savior.” Of the one you wrote a while back. I honestly want to see the after events and how Gen’s reaction to us coming up as missing/successfully escaping. Whether she knows it was one of her trusted servants or not I want to see how much she looses it. Also, the long term effects to months to years afterwards to see if she will or won’t give up after still no traces

Hello! Thank you for your ask :3! I love love getting asks like this, really makes my brain start up with ideas. Rereading the "Thank you, cruel savior" fic made me realize how vague all the details are im so sorry!!!

Masterlist

Gen Ludenhart x GN!Reader

Warning: Loss of sanity, cannibalism, stalking, themes of depression, abuse of power, torture mentions (to you and others), crazy lady activites.

Gen is an important woman, so travelling every month to meet other monarch's and their subordinates and to work alongside them was a normal thing. But she had only left for a week. A week. So why was it when she returned, she couldn't find you or that rat Reina? Why are some of your clothes missing? Most of Reina's belongings were also gone. Immediately without thought she gave out many orders to close the entire country down in the name of a danger prison escapee who had taken a poor defenseless citizen hostage. Wanted posters of Reina were plastered on every surface of the empire. And missing posters of her darling.

Over the weeks Gen slowly and slowly loses her mind. She'd lash out at anyone that had incurred her wrath that day. This crazed depraved woman had damn near caused a war after insulting a delegate of another empire. Soon this behaviour ends up with her being fired. Of course this meant nothing to Gen, she was a rich noble to begin with. But now with a new Military Chief in power, all the orders she had given out to locate you had been removed. Her brother wouldn't listen to her nonesense any longer. Gen is now alone. She doesn't even have her family on her side any more. She fired every servant. She was truly all alone isolated in her big mansion, with no spouse, and no joyful kids.

Gen's manor by now has completely become delapitated, dust and grimes everywhere, some pieces of wood falling apart, and a remorseful woman in the middle of it all. She wanted to end it. Without you she was nothing. Gen was nothing to begin with until she met you. Gen needed you. You were her life, her air, her nutrition. But after a year of hopelessness and depression, Gen realized she could just look for you herself, she had so so much money, and she was incredibly strong. So with the last bit of logic and reason, Gen sought out a trip to Dacos, Reina's home country. She was sure that woman had seduced you into coming with her to Dacos. But no worries darling, your dear loyal wife is coming to rescue you.

Gen knew Reina was a village girl from the beginning, with her attitude, mannerisms, way of speech, and looks in general. Not only that, but if Reina ever bought a new house in one of the cities in Dacos it would be much easier to trace, and unfortunately for Gen, Reina was smart enough to know that. So Gen went from village to village, showing a picture of Reina or you to any villager she meets. If Reina was smart enough she would change all of your names.

Eventually, Gen reached a tiny village named Lesannea. When she approached an older man with a picture of you and Reina and he confirmed you two lived on the house on the hill to the right of the village, a twisted sickening smile spread across her face. Of course Reina was far too overconfindent with her escape. If this devil thought she can steal away Gen's darling and get away with it well she was dead wrong. Gen will take you back and kill Reina's family be as well as Reina as slow and painful as possible. Gen will make sure you don't see any of it though, but because she will cut up Reina and cook her. So she can feed you the remains of the traitor. Even if you refuse, this woman is no longer sane, she will shove it down your throat one way or another. Gen will then wisk you away oh so romantically and pamper you for a short wile. And when she's done she will regain her honor.

But most importantly. This event changed Gen tremendously, did you leave because she hurt you too much? Don't worry darling, Gen will love and coddle you so you can feel all the love she has for you, so you can never run away again. But of course, she needs to teach you one last lesson before she does that. So you can never attempt to leave her again.

[frogsarecoolandsoamj]

Mouth full, pt. 2

Aint over yet

Aged up! Billy and Stu x reader smut

PART 2 

Warnings :18+, smut, ghostface costume, thigh fucking,blowjobs, handjobs, rough, mentions of bruising and blood, knives, pet names, spit, cum, no pnv, and recorded sex (at the end), older men, female reader.

   With half opened lids and a sore, shaky body, you tried to get up from your bed. You were immediately pushed down into your back by Mr. Macher, with a grin. His gloves soft on your bruised flesh as he lightly rubbed it with a slight tenderness. Almost as if he was admiring the damage he had done, a masterpiece of bursted blood cells beneath your skin, causing a beautiful piece of work, his brush being his own hands and fingers. You winced at the pain, making him chuckle out, leaning down to kiss your equally bruised neck. “God, you’re so pretty. I just wanna fuck you again, and again, and again.” He growled the last one into your ear, making you whimper. You felt Mr. Loomis’ weight shift the bed as he sat on it, chuckling at your squirming body under Mr. Macher. He grabbed the strings of your tanktop you were asleep in and played with them. 

  “We were already missing you, so we thought we’d give you a visit. But we had the idea to show up in something a bit more nostalgic.”  He says, gesturing towards his costume. You wondered if they were both naked under it, making your legs clench, remembering the monsters between their thighs that caused you to end up like you were now, fucked out, sore, and barely able to walk without hitting one of your fresh bruises or cuts they so lovingly left on your pretty little body of yours. Each time one of them was touched, it was a reminder that you were now their bitch, their plaything. You loved it.

  “Jesus, we really did a number on you, huh?” Loomis grinned, shifting even closer to you. You gulped quietly, knowing you were too sore to do anything. “Oh its gonna be okay.” He said reassuringly, almost as if he had known what you were thinking, “We won’t go all out, we just wanted a taste.” He growled in your ear. Mr. Macher proceeded to bite against a bruise on your thigh, making you yelp out of surprise and pain, causing both men to laugh, your thigh throbbed from the new assault. Mr. Macher grabbed your ankles and thrusted your closer to him, making you instinctively close your legs. You knew it wouldn’t be hard for any of them to pry them open. They both almost took it as a challenge. Loomis moved to now sit behind you, getting ready for something, as Mr. Macher started to pull your little shorts down. “I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t sleep naked, start doing that. It’ll make it easier for us to visit you.” He grinned, a sinister way laced into his words. Once he got them off, you groaned at the feeling of your bruises hitting against all the surfaces. Mr. Macher leaned his face down to your core. “At least you didn’t wear any panties, a bit of a shame, you look cute with them on.” He was so contradicting in his words, it made you feel crazy sometimes. Not that it mattered because they drove you insane in different ways. Many different ways.

   “Stu, hurry the fuck up, I wanna hear her.” Mr. Loomis said, sliding his hands up your tank-top and to your breast. Mr. macher nodded and got so close to your dripping pussy, you could feel his hot breath already on it, causing you to quiver. He took note of that and let his tongue roam out of his mouth and connect to your clitorous. Licking and licking, with quick flicks, making you squirm and let breathy moans escape your lips. Mr. Macher didn’t waste any time as he connected his whole mouth onto your sopping cunt, and sucked away, using two fingers to enter into your little pussy with ease, making you flutter against his big digits. Mr. Loomis went on to grabbing your tits hard and squeezing your nipples in his hands, biting your neck, like it wasn’t already assaulted with bruises and hickies by them only a few hours ago. Your breathy moans filled the room as Macher brought you closer to the limit. You were so close, practically grinding against his face, begging him. 

  “Fuck yes, please sir, please let me cum, fuck let me cum.” You begged him, pleading for that release. Macher grabbed one your thighs tightly and held it away from his head so he could finish without too many interruptions of your shaky legs, as he continued to lick and suck at your sopping cunt, savoring your taste. His fingers pushed in and out of you, curling on the spot, making you see stars and he drove you closer and closer to your breaking point. You flung one of your hands towards his hair and grabbed a fistful of it, making his mouth go deeper against yourself, making you moan out, with a satisfied smile. Mr. Loomis looked shocked when you turned back to him, when he abruptly stopped playing with your tits. “Keep going..” you begged him, with puppy dog eyes as you face fucked Mr. Macher, hearing him moan against you, making you throw your head back against Mr. loomis’ shoulder. Mr. Macher had no complaints to your sudden action and rolled with it, happily, you could almost see that he was grinding against the bed, probably to relieve his aching erection. With another few long licks and delicious pumps from his fingers, you came all over his face, squirting on the bed, your thighs, and his mouth. Which he held open, with his tongue out with a sexy smile. You squealed out when you came, the hot white pleasure taking over as you came to your euphoria. 

   After coming down from your high, you weakly let go of Mr. Macher’s hair with a smile, him looking up at you with a grin. You look down and notice a huge tent in his costume. Well, you got your answer, they’re naked. Or at least he is. He shifted upwards and lifted the material, letting his cock fall out of it. Twitching and ready, precum already dripping from his pink tip. If you hadn’t already came, you’re sure you would’ve again at that moment. Mr. Loomis removed his hands from you and shifted out from under you, also moving the material from off of his cock too. They were both naked. That made you extremely excited. But knew you probably wouldn’t be able to handle them again, that worry bubbling back up into your stomach. Mr. Macher stroked himself and got close to your lips, just a breath away from kissing you. He grinned at your hitched breath, “stroke my cock for me, won’t you princess? Show me a good time.” He slurred a little in his words. This made your cunt dripping, and clench into nothing. Wanting more and getting zero.

   You nod your head shakily as you wrap your hand around the shaft of his pulsing cock. It was hot to the touch, ready for action. Mr. Macher’s face went straight for your neck as you started pumping his cock with your hand, oh so slowly. He let out breathy moans against your shoulder, his warm breath grazing upon your skin, sending goosebumps down your body. Your hand still pumped shading his cock, but it was getting harder to, without any type of lube, so you bucked your your hips and slid your slicked cunt against his cock, making you both moan, feeling his tip slide across your wet hot folds up to your clit. Once you started jerking him off again with a now wet dick, his moans became loader. 

   You look back at Mr. Loomis who’s eyes haven’t left you two, he was stroking his own cock, and in your eyes, he looked so lonely. All by himself as Mr. Macher used your hands. You stopped what you were doing for only a moment, making Mr. Macher whine in protest to you stopping. “What’s wrong baby? Come on, I was so close.” He breathily pleaded. You moved from under him, which you were suprised he let you, but you crawled over to Mr. Loomis with a smile, a sly little grin on your face. 

   You lifted your ass up slightly as you made your way to him, lightly shaking it. Mr. Macher had no hesitation to slapping it loudly, making you moan a little. “Want some help,” you asked “sir…?” You added a second later. He growled at that and grabbed you and jerked you upright. You yelled at this sudden movement. He turned you around and pushed your thighs together. 

   “Matter of fact, I think I can use some.” He whispered in your ear, before making you bend over, back into Mr. Macher’s lap, to finish your job with him. Your ass still up, so that mr. Loomis would use your pretty thighs to get off to. You looked up at Mr. Macher, who waited for you expectantly, you lick the tip of his dick and swirled over it with your wet tongue, to get it wet again, he threw his head back lightly as you did so. You wrap your hand against his cock, rubbing it vigorously with little moans, due to Mr. Loomis fucking your thighs, his tip bumping against your clit every time he bucked his hips. You pumped Mr. Macher, bobbing your head down to kiss against the bottom of his shaft. He grabbed your head quickly and pulled it back. Making you look up at him. You didn’t stop yourself from smiling as you continued your handjob on him. His face contorted into a sick little smile as he leaned down slightly. 

   “Baby, don’t think I won’t use your sore throat again. You already stopped once, and you’re teasing me now. I wouldn’t push it, I’m trying to be patient with you. But don’t think I won’t lose it soon. “ he growled, you nodded, leaning up to kiss him. He pushed into you as your lips connected. His tongue entering your mouth with ease as you still jerked him off. You could feel him and Mr. Loomis was close, due to the stuttering of his hips accompanied by Mr. Macher’s whines and moans. Your hands stroked Mr. Macher’s long and thick cock, feeling every vein against your wet hand, once you made it to his tip, you would slide your thumb over his slit and rub more vigorously. His moans grew louder when you started to kiss his tip, licking it and sucking at his cock. Your throat was still horribly sore but you wouldn’t let that stop you from putting on a show for these gentlemen. Mr. Macher grabbed onto your shoulders tightly, still letting you do your thing, to brace himself. Mr. Loomis had now bent over, still rutting into your pretty thighs, the sound of his hips slapping against your ass echoed through the room. 

   “I’m so close, you wanna be painted with my cum? Want your ass to be covered in my seed?  I wanna see you painted in my white.” He groaned. He then roughly grabbed your hair and shoved your head down onto Mr. Macher’s cock. “I’d love to watch him paint your face, my little Mona Lisa” he chuckled. You gagged at the new intrusion of your throat, but the feeling that it was Mr. Macher’s cock in there did help a little with the pain. You felt Mr. Loomis rub your ass as he still bucked against your clit, getting you close to your orgasm too. Mr. Macher was the first to break, that wasn’t too surprising though. He let go of your shoulders and lifted your head up, by your hair. You gasped for a breath, his hand reaching down to vigorously jerk off his cock, and him finally releasing his thick, white seed across your face. His cum painted against your cheek and chin. You smiled and went to wipe it off, but he grabbed your hand to stop you. 

   “Oh no, no, no princess. Why don’t you show Billy how good you were to me? Maybe he’ll give you a reward for being such a obedient slut for me.” He cooed, turning your face towards Mr. Loomis. You looked up to see Mr.  Loomis smiling, his face flushed and his hair a mess. He looked so sexy when he wasn’t his usual perfect self. It was hot seeing him so out of his element, so messy, so desperate, so horny… for you. He roughly grabbed your chin and kissed you. His hips moving faster, his free hand grabbing your ass tightly. He grabbed you off of macher, still fucking into your thighs, hooked his arms between yours and kept thrusting. Mr. Macher watching, his soft dick twitching at the sight of Loomis’ cock disappearing and reappearing between your pretty thighs, every times getting wetter and wetter from your sopping cunt. Your legs shook as you got closer to your orgasm, looking up at Loomis, begging for release. He rolled his eyes with a smirk and thrusted faster, finally giving you enough friction to cum all over his cock, your moans filling the quiet little room, happy and horny. He finally came after one last harsh thrust. His seed all over the bed, and against your thighs. He was breathing heavily, a smirk heavy on his lips. He unhooked his arms, letting you fall against Macher. Your breathing was ragged, a smile spread across your face. After a minute you sat up. Mr. Loomis and Macher doing the same. Before you really realized after a second, they were getting dressed.

   “W-where are you going?” You asked dumbly, face and body still covered in their cum. You looked so cute with your doe eyes. They both looked at each other and back at you, sick and sadistic grind on their faces. Which made your stomach (and pussy) flutter. 

   “We can’t stay for long, pretty sure your roommate heard us and we got other things to do.” Macher said. You didn’t even want to know what other things was. 

   “We just wanted to make a quick stop your our favorite girl.” Loomis commented as he threw on his mask, face now the one of a distraught ghost. He faced you one last time, “we didn’t want to leave you all high and dry if we were gonna be out all night.” You could hear his smile. Once they both were dressed, they snuck through your window and disappeared into the night. 

   You laid shading your bed, still naked. You desperately wanted sleep and you curled up against your bed, throwing a blanket over you. Once your eyes started to give out and your breath started to calm down. You got a phone notification. You drowsily opened your eyes, thinking it was going to be your roommate yelling at you. But in your lock screen it showed an unknown number. You opened your phone to see a video… the video Mr. Macher took.

“Thought you’d want this for whenever you missed us ;)” said the message on the bottom. You smiled and put your phone down. You’d watch it tomorrow. For now you wanted sleep.

a.n (I’m so glad I finally finished it but I feel as if I have to defend myself now for how short it is. Yes I’m aware it is nowhere near as long as the first, and has a lot less content. I am aware of that. I would love to say I was excited to write this but really, I felt extremely pressured into making sure this was done. I didn’t expect my first pair to blow up like I did, and I’m hoping I can keep up with demands. But I have a lot in my plate as it is. I wish I could you guys what you need but I’m most likely going to be a one his wonder. It sucks but I know it’s true. To the pipeline who will stay with me and watch me slowly write more and more, I thank you for staying with me. I do have other stories I’m working on now but I’m not sure when they’ll be done. -🐸)

[anxiouslyfred]

Sweepshakes

Summary: Thomas gets an old british game on holiday that causes some headaches when the sides play it. All because of a dice shaker.

Author's Note: I have no clue if Gambler was released in other countries. I do know it's no longer made in the UK as my brother tried to get one this year and it was second hand... and could've saved that money as the one we know about the game from is waiting for one of us to claim. So many fond afternoons at Grandad's playing this game. I'm going to miss them.

My Idea for this fic: Remus would love playing Gambler. The issue is getting him to put the shaker down, ever, at all, not just when there's a sweepstakes or lottery. That man would always be shaking it until Roman or Virgil are starting a fight just to get it off him. Janus is calmly avoiding calling sweepstakes by always trying to roll doubles again until everyone just wants them to move around the board

/\/\

It was an old British game that Thomas had come across on a holiday. Remus had been obsessed when he’d seen it in the shop and Janus was pretty intrigued too. The other sides weren’t as thrilled to see a game called Gambler, but with Logan mentioning that it could have been a game to help people stop gambling and Virgil hoping that would mean Remus might stop trying to convince Thomas to gamble it was brought home.

Logan’s theory was soon disproven but that didn’t matter to the other sides when they now had a new game to play together, even if only four of them could play at a time.

One thing Virgil regretted however was his part in getting the game brought. He still believed that playing Gambler occasionally would reduce Remus’s desires to actually gamble, but didn’t think that was worth the headaches, never ending headaches, that came every time the game was played.

See one thing about Gambler is that for the sweepstakes and the lotteries there was a dice shaker specifically made and it got loud. When it came up in the game that was fine, a moments shake, place it down on the board and everyone can carry on getting their prizes or not and taking their turns.

The rest of the time Remus had a tool left right in front of him that could make a lot of noise, get a lot of annoyed reactions, without him needing to say or do anything besides pick it up and shake.

“Janus, are you having your go?” Logan asked, frowning and clearing having just checked everyone’s positions after the shakers noise got too loud.

Janus shook their head, smug, “Oh I already have. I rolled a double and decided to try rolling a second.”

“Couldn’t give us that moment of peace, could you?” Virgil hissed out, trying not to get Remus’s attention as he rolled. “A horse race. Remus put that down and put money in the pot.” He snapped aloud after moving.

“Oh, Why?” Remus leant over the board looking at everyone’s pieces curiously to see what was happening.

The card was dealt in front of him before anyone explained, Logan, Janus and Virgil already having put their entry fees in already. “We’re betting on the races.” Janus smirked, “And I’m going to-”

Virgil rolling the die cut them off.

“That appears to be my number, Janus, so I believe you lost.” Logan stated, taking the winnings as it had dubbed itself banker for the game.

“And Remus’s go before you reach for that infernal thing.” Virgil forced the dice into Remus’s hand before it could be picked up.

He took that as a challenge to roll two uncontained dice as noisily as he was shaking the five.

“Kiddo’s will your game take too much longer? I’ve almost finished dinner.” Patton asked, looking through from the kitchen.

“Two rounds max.” Janus replied confidently.

“The chances of you rolling four doubles over your next two rolls is 0.00077160370370444. We should be done shortly, Patton. I think at least two of us are halfway to completing the game.” Logan corrected, looking back at the board at Virgil’s snicker.

With a smirk Virgil turned the fortune card Remus had passed him to Janus. “Pay up.”

The hiss they replied with was drowned out by the shaker starting up again.

“The game is over now!” Roman declared, popping up in the room, sword already in hand. “I will slay you for that infernal racket.”

“You’ll never stop me shaking my thing.” Remus screamed in return, leaping onto the game board to twerk while still rattling the shaker

“Yes I shall!”

Logan straightened his glasses, having dodged Roman’s charge. “I suppose Roman was right. We can’t really continue with one of our players leaving and taking an important game device with them.”

[adoringdo]

EXO Theory Pt. 16 - I Need All 'Ya ~ Cream Soda

What a bop, SOTY, AOTY, I love EXO. The music video has too many fast cuts that it's kinda annoying to analyse, but the fast cuts really reminded me of Love Me Right and Love Shot and some other MVs that have strong dreamlike vibes - so that's fun! Anyway...

<<- First part | <- Previous part | * Masterpost

The first thing to note with this MV is that we have two sets of EXO in the MV. The colourfully dressed EXO:

And the EXO wearing black suits:

In this MV, I actually think the suited members are representing X-EXO and the colourful ones are normal EXO, so I will refer to the suited EXO members as X-EXO from here-on.

I think it's quite obvious that the brightly dressed EXO members in this MV are trapped in a dream state that they are trying to escape, as we have seen in many EXO MVs before.

We get a few different clips of the Bright!EXO members laying like this on the floor, asleep. Very reminiscent of Love Me Right.

In Love Me Right, we watch as the members take on the roles of Alice in Wonderland characters and try to escape the dream that the Red Force has put them into. In Cream Soda, we see the EXO members asleep, but not taking on characters. Instead, they are wondering around in this space that seems to me to be very cube-like.

However, we do also see EXO outside of this space. At the beginning of the MV they arrive at this fancy dinner hall where they immediately wreak havoc and destroy the layout with a skateboard.

Straight after this we see an image of X-EXO partying and a drink falling over, seemingly out of nowhere.

This is signifying to us that these two scenarios must be connected with each other; EXO cause drinks and plates to smash and fall in their scene and a drink also falls in the other X-EXO scene. So bearing that in mind, we move on.

Next, we get this scene of EXO Chen falling onto a bed and it kind of transitions to this image of some jugs and bottles under water.

From here on I think Chen sort of wakes up from the dream and takes the place of X-EXO Chen. This is sort of in keeping with this idea I've had in my theories where Chen was the spy for the Red Force, but since Let Me In, we have seen him repent and come back to the EXO's side. I think in this MV we get some more of this theory.

Once Chen falls into the X-EXO space, we watch a scene of X-EXO Chanyeol and Kyungsoo playing chess, and we see a clip of 'X-EXO' Chen playing cards.

The chess game gets interrupted by somebody putting their drink on the table. I cannot tell who it is, but the significance of chess is still quite interesting. We've seen chess in a few different places, most notably in the Tempo MV where we see Xiumin and Kyungsoo play and their chess game creates the cube which the EXO members reenter to try and solve the puzzle to escape. The cube is a tool of the Red Force, even if the members do need it in the Tempo MV. We also see chess in Obsession where we watch EXO and X-EXO Chen play against each other.

Chess is clearly used as a symbol of the Red Force, we even see chess pieces in one opening VCR to the MAMA 2016 performance which was heavily lore based.

The card game that Chen is playing is significant in the overall storyline for Cream Soda because we get the reveal later in the MV that Chen actually played the Joker card. Just before this, we get a clip of Xiumin dropping a drop of his glass and it shows us the members aimlessly wandering in the cube like space again.

Chen then sets the Joker card on fire and we see the EXO members from just seconds before begin to celebrate.

Right after this we then see this image of a wine glass smashing to the ground - which again, is signifying this idea that as the EXO members win this round, the X-EXO members lose (as the wine glass is definitely from the X-EXO member scenes).

Not long after this we also see time go backwards; at the beginning of the MV we get a close up of someone's watch which ticks forward a second. At the end of the MV, it ticks back a second again, resetting time.

We then also see Baekhyun and Kyungsoo leave the setting looking very pleased with themselves.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are shown in another few clips together as well, so clearly the two of them were up to something in this MV.

This duo actually really reminded me of the two of them in The War comics - as the two of them are the ones monitoring the other members and giving them instructions in that comic. I wonder if they were the ones that told Jongdae to go over to the X-EXO side and be the spy for them in this MV. As Chen seems to be the reason that they have got free and escaped from this scenario at least. We don't actually see any of the other members escape though, so maybe only Kyungsoo and Baekhyun did in this one. Hmm..

It could also be that the two were responsible for telling Suho to talk to the girl we see in the MV as well. Before I have been over how I think girls are significant in the EXO MVs - they are almost always a representative of the Red Force.

I wonder if Suho is distracting the Red Force from noticing that Chen has replaced X-EXO Chen in the other universe. We do see cream running down the car and blocking all the windows, blocking her sight, so that could make sense.

As I said before, we end the MV with the watch ticking backwards, in line with the Let Me In and Hear Me Out MVs where time was a pivotal theme of the MVs. I think it's less so here, but I do think it's still important that time was reversed back to the beginning of the MV, but now with Kyungsoo and Baekhyun freed. It could be that we will now get a continuation of that damn The War comic as it's driving me mad we still have nothing??? It's been 6 years SM c'mon!

Anyway we mustn't ignore the most important part of the MV:

These amazing outfits and the amazing dance. Not at all lore significant, but it did need to be noted.

Tbh this video really isn't lore heavy - it's mostly aesthetics and dancing. Not complaining, but not much to really read into imo. Hope it was somewhat interesting anyway! See you in 3 years when EXO has another comeback lmao 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[reikunrei]

okayyyy so i made a post abt this last night that was just a short ramble trying to piece my thoughts together but basically... i’m just really curious how will’s (possible) powers might manifest and what they might be, and i’m trying to like. reason out how i feel about them and what i personally think would be cool or fitting...

lots of people have talked about this before (like user pinkeoni has made some really good posts abt it, and i think heroesbyler has had good discussions abt it too) and what his powers might be, and a lot of them revolve around creation or light, both of which i’m very fond of

this isn't so much a theory or prediction as it is a "these are things i noticed and i think this would work well with the themes of the show" type of spiel. it ended up way longer than i wanted it to and goes off on multiple tangents because i can't stop myself, so i'm putting it under the cut lol

it's more just for me to try and articulate what i'm feeling about it, but if anyone actually reads this mess, you're more than welcome to share your thoughts :3

with the creation stuff, it automatically makes me think of the UD taking the shape of hawkins... because we know that henward grew to hate that town so why would vecna shape the UD to look like the place he hated? i suppose it could be bc he wanted to take revenge on the town, so why not daydream about it and destroy your scale model of it to get some catharsis, right? but... then it's frozen on the night will went missing? it’s possible that the UD could have simply taken the shape of hawkins when the s1 gate was opened and made the two worlds touch, thus making the UD a true "mirror" dimension of hawkins. but i also really like the idea of will getting sucked into the UD, panicking, wishing he had his hiding places to go to to escape from this monster chasing him, and poof! now he's in hawkins and all of his hiding places are there (he's good at hiding!) but it's still the "wrong" hawkins

but anyway, i want to move on to the "light" angle because there's so many things that i love about the possibility of will's powers taking the form of some kind of light to counteract the darkness created by vecna and the UD ("hide in the light" thank u max)

i especially think it would be cool for it to take the shape of some kind of fire or flame, even if the powers themselves don't behave like fire, like it's just a stylization choice to give some sort of visual that the characters and audience can see

i don't recall if there's any specific moment where any version of henward/vecna/001 or other characters talk about burning or fire as a form of destruction in a metaphorical/symbolic sense, but we see it enough of it literally throughout the show. fire is a means of causing pain, of killing, of destroying

season 1, nancy and jonathan think to burn the demogorgon to a crisp because, hey, that'd be a pretty effective way to kill something, right? so they carry that theory over into all the other seasons

season 2, we see hopper using his lighter to maneuver through the tunnels below hawkins, and the vines flinch away from the flame. we see owens and the lab using fire to cull the "weeds" still growing out of the gate. we see will react physically to the burning, feeling the pain through the link with the hivemind, and requiring it to be cold in order to not be in physical agony

season 3, uuuh i can't remember any direct usage of fire against the fleshflayer other than the fireworks, but that's more about the explosions than the flames imo lol. but we do get the sauna test (best s3 episode hands down mwah love it) and the aversion to heat that we see in billy and also in heather, though less prominently

season 4, we get murray's killer flamethrower scene and hopper using the flaming spear to keep the demogorgon at bay. our hawkins crew relies heavily on use of fire (flambé) in order to take out vecna's physical body

so there's just a lot of fire and fire as a means of destruction. but i can't help also thinking about how fire isn't purely a means of harm. fire keeps us warm, it brings us light in the darkness, it cooks our food and brings us health. the sun, a giant ball of fire, is essential for life to exist on earth. i especially keep thinking about how wildfires are a necessity to the planet, and in places like healthy grassland ecosystems, fires are crucial to burn out old growth to make way for new, fresh green, which the animals there then rely on. letting old growth continue to sit and dry out and die isn't good. it has to be removed completely so that new grass shoots can take over

(not to mention that allowing for controlled burns and letting wildfires run their course in a regular system ultimately allows for fewer, less destructive wildfires to happen. if there's no old, dry growth to burn, then there's less stuff to catch on fire)

how does this tie into the show, though?

to me, it makes me think of the concept of simply living with your trauma, not talking about it, and pretending everything is fine, when all that's doing is creating more kindling for a bigger, more destructive fire. it makes me think of season 2 and the conversation will has with jonathan about how everyone keeps treating him like he's gonna break, and the instructions joyce and hopper got from owens to just "treat him how you normally would." you can ignore trauma all you want and pretend everything is fine, but it's going to be more destructive in the long run. instead, letting him talk about it, listening, letting him burn things down a little bit, will be healthier because it'll clear out that old, dry grass clogging everything up and leave a clean patch of earth for him to build back up with new, healthier growth. you can take a weed wacker to it all you want, but those old roots are still there

not to mention the way they get rid of the mind flayer is to "burn it out of him." they literally let the "fire" run rampant, cranking up the heat to make his body inhabitable to the mind flayer, clearing out those nasty "weeds" so will can grow on his own (more or less) unimpeded

and then there's the s1 flashback scene between will and joyce where he's drawing will the wise shooting green fireballs. joyce asks, "why does he need fireballs if he's so wise? can't he just outsmart the bad guys?" but will explains that sometimes the bad guys are smart too, so he needs the fireballs

only here, they're green because he doesn't have a red crayon. this specific tidbit makes me think of how will's powers are currently repressed in some way. at that time, it was possibly because his powers "hadn't come in" yet, if we want to follow the idea that powers are a symbol for puberty or coming of age

he hasn't "found his flame" yet, so to speak (which is what got me thinking about all of this at all last night bc of the song 'find your flame' from the sonic frontiers ost the absolute slapper that it is) and at this point it's obvious that any awakening of his powers will happen in s5 when he's no longer being suppressed, much like how he currently has to suppress his true feelings, or how he's been unable to move on from what happened to him in s1 and 2

he has to use "fireballs" because sometimes the bad guy is smart. sometimes the bad guy has a trick up his sleeve (like *checks notes* literally not being able to die) and your original plan won't work. you can stock up on weapons, you can create as many sneaky ambushes as you want, you can solve all of the bad guy's riddles, but sometimes you need the fireballs

and, once again, we come back to how i feel like will's powers won't be literal fireballs, or something he physically wields. when it comes to el, henward, and kali, as well as the other powers that we see from other subjects, it's all something that they do. and here's where i start to struggle with how i want to articulate what i think about will's powers...

to me, will's possible powers aren't a weapon in the way that we've seen other powers used, or at least framed as, a weapon

like... i guess i do think that it's something that he can "do," but it's less "i'm going to move this thing with my mind" "i'm going to go into your head and walk through your memories" "i'm going to make you see something that isn't really there." like, he himself, his person, his mind, his essence, his intent, is the power. will byers is the light. why else constantly bask him in rays of sunshine, hm?? lol

again, i want to touch on the possibility of the UD hawkins manifesting simply because he wanted it to. he didn't think about it, he didn't deliberately go like "okay and now this house is here and this place is there" it simply... was. it just happened without much of his input other than a vague wish and panic

if we want to make it into something more deliberate, it makes me think of lio fotia in promare. the movie is basically about this group of people who suddenly developed "burnish" abilities, where they contain fire and have some sort of fire powers. they're persecuted by the rest of the planet, and are treated as terrorists and locked away in prisons and experimented upon. the fire, or "promare," inside of them is a double-edged sword, where they supposedly rejuvenate their bodies, but if they don't let it burn, it instead kills them and they turn to ash. spoilers i guess (you should definitely go watch this movie i highly recommend it), but near the end of the movie, lio is taken captive by the antagonist, kray foresight, and our other main chara galo thymos tries to save lio. kray lashes out using his burnish powers and tries to burn galo, but lio launches his own flames toward galo to protect him. when galo's firefighting team finds him, he's on fire, but he doesn't notice because the fire doesn't hurt him. it's a special kind of flame that doesn't burn! in the end, in order to save the world, they have to let it fully burn one last time, and galo and lio work together to wrap the entire earth in a massive wave of fire, and it's fire that takes the form of water. it engulfs everyone, but everyone realizes that it doesn't actually burn

i'm getting off topic but !! now we start getting less into "will has fire powers" and more "his powers are light and warmth" instead. like lio and galo's combined powers and intent (that's the other thing, that final big burn is different than the rest because of the intent behind it), it's not actually about the fire, it's about its purpose

he needs the fireballs to fight the bad guys, but in the case of our "bad guy," literal fireballs don't work. henward's past is a complicated one, and a lot of where he's been led was caused by his lack of a proper support system. he was villainized for being different. even when he was found by someone who "cared" for him, it was for that man's own personal gain, not because he actually cared about henward

henward was only ever burned and then left in the cold. nobody gave him a second chance like el, nobody listened to him like will. he was forced to fend for himself on his own in the darkness. he came to rely on the darkness. vecna literally focuses on the darkest thoughts of his victims in order to gain enough power to open gates. and sure, focusing on negative emotions gives all of our characters with powers some burst of strength

but then we're shown that love is what makes them even stronger. focusing on happy memories, memories of friends and loved ones, memories of the love itself, is what allows el to overpower 001 in the lab and to close the gate in s2 and to break billy out of his tether to the fleshflayer. and even in that final showdown in s3, she's not using her powers. she's burned out. in that moment, it's not the powers themselves that save them, it's the message behind it

will's whole character is about love and understanding. he puts himself last consistently, he puts the needs of others above himself, and he does not know how to be a little bit selfish when it comes to his feelings. he's sensitive, he's kind, he's artistic, he cries easy, he relies on his friends and family to feel safe and loved, and without them, he feels lost and hurt and alone. and there might be ups and downs, but he gets that love and support from them. they always have his back. he knows what it's like to feel pain and to suffer, but to have people who will stay by your side unconditionally through it all

and that's something he can offer to vecna and his alternate versions. he can offer that love, and that warmth, and that light in the darkness. and once again, i think it would be neat if it was less of a literal flame or source of light, and that it was will who is the source of light. like, he is the example for henward/vecna to see. he's the proof that despite all the bad shit there is in the world, there are people who will still love you anyway. there's people who will listen to you and care for you even if everyone else shuts you out

and even if it does take the form of something literal, of an actual flame or glowing ball of light or more of those glowy particles, it's not a weapon like the other powers we've seen

it's also about just shining a light on all the good stuff that's mixed in with the bad stuff. again, there is no black and white (thanks brenner, you fuck). henward was miserable in his life, he hated it and was frustrated that he felt trapped in a cage, and he only saw all the bad in the world. he couldn't see any of the good mixed in (ie. the possibility that he was friends with scott clarke as a kid, or even the fact that victor was really so caring and loved his son so much) because he just assumed it was all bad and he'd have to start from scratch to get any of the good he wanted

even focusing on the negative thoughts and feelings of his victims, vecna was able to be evaded by thinking of happy memories that took place at the same time as the bad ones. "hide in the light." again and again, we see max use memories, both past and present, to free herself from his clutches. good memories that still exist alongside the bad ones. and if vecna acknowledges that there's still good mixed in among the bad, his whole source of power, the foundation for his plan, completely crumbles

if will's power has to do with light, then he'll be the one to shine the light on all of the good memories that henward had mixed in among the bad. and this isn't to victim blame this 12 year old boy who was miserable and didn't know what else to do, but it's instead about his lack of support system, and how it's understandable to have grown so jaded, but that doesn't mean everything is bad, and there's still a chance for him to come back from it and change his way of thinking

henward was a wildfire waiting to happen, and rather than having someone to let him burn a little, to let out his anger and listen, he was trimmed back and suppressed. he had his old growth left there to dry out, which only added more kindling. he was never given the room to bring in new growth

and then to really tie in the use of fire to match the theme of "no black and white," i think about avatar the last airbender, and specifically the sun warrior temple that aang and zuko visit in the final book. in book 1 of atla, aang tries to learn firebending and jumps in too quickly, ends up burning katara's hands, and swears off ever learning firebending because he doesn't want to hurt anyone with it. in book 3, zuko offers to teach him, but aang is still very timid about it because of that incident in book 1. zuko also finds his firebending ability diminishing, and they surmise that it's because he no longer has this drive to find and capture the avatar. that was his source of power, his purpose, and now that it's no longer his purpose, he has to find the true way to master firebending. so, the two boys travel to the sun warrior temple to try to find answers. there, both zuko and aang admit that they really only see fire as something destructive, but the sun warriors remind them that fire is warmth and light and life. fire can be destructive, but it is not only destructive. it's something beautiful and necessary, you just have to respect it

feels pretty fitting for stranger things, yeah?

so, to wrap this all up before i go fucking crazy:

i personally think that will's powers will predominantly take the form of fire or light

i do also still adhere to some of the creation power theories, but it also wouldn't be crazy for him to have more than one power, right? after all, el can use telekinesis, track someone's physical location, and go into their minds. that's 3 pretty different things that she can do!

will is directly tied to the behavior of the lights in s1 and called back to in s4. throughout the show, and especially in s4, will is basked in sunshine on multiple occasions. sure, those instances are mostly about his bond to mike, and how mike sees him in this halo of light all the time...

but that still ties into the theme of love. those rays of light are about mike's love for will, and vice versa. but that kind of unconditional love and acceptance is something that will have to be extended to henward and vecna. therefore: light is the key

and again, it just feels very fitting to have the key be something like fire. something that's so often villainized and only seen as bad and destructive, when it truly is something that's misunderstood. unchecked, it can run rampant and cause pain and grief, but when respected, it can bring life and healing, for lack of a better word

so far, we've only seen fire used as a means of harm. it does keep our characters safe (ie. hopper's flaming spear, the flame thrower, the moltovs, etc.) but it is wielded as a weapon first, when it doesn't have to be

fire can cause pain, yes, but fire is also passion and love. light is something to be extended, to help people find their way out of the darkness, and i just think it would be really cool to see vecna, who's always shrouded in darkness, or henward who hid away in the dark attic surrounded by candles, to have a ray of warm sunshine like will byers hold out a hand to him and try to help

[nicomrade]

On being lost in the Labyrinth; a Souichi Kiruma and Kaoru Yukiide joint analysis.

I've been wanting to write about Souichi for a while now, but Usogui is BIG and DENSE and goes a LOT of places and Souichi (/Hachina Naoki/Hal) has unstable memory and his role in the story varies a lot (sometimes antagonist, deuteragonist, love interest, side-kick, … ) so... To properly talk about this in one coherent, whole way I had to limit my scope by A LOT so I'm going to look at Souichi through the lense of Kaoru Yukiide, the ways they mirror each other, where they differ and what it means for the broader themes of both Souichi's story and Usogui (manga) in general. And try my hardest to stay on topic.

The full piece turned out almost 7k words long so join me for a bit of a journey under the cut! I included as many images as tumblr allowed me to and it's sectioned in 6 parts including the short prologue so it's hopefully not too hard of a read. Cheers! 🐜🐝

0. Prologue

Kaoru Yukiide is a minor antagonist for the 1st part of the Labyrinth gamble (chapters 83 to 104) of Usogui. His active participation feels almost cut abruptly short but this is indicative of the kind of character he is. He’s no Sadakuni and no Vincent Lalo, he’s just Yukkii. But in those 20 chapters he’s given a full inner world and a full character arc. He is a complete character.

He was diagnosed at 12yo with Encephalitis lethargica (“sleepy sickness”) and at 15 he went into a coma. He’s the son of a police official involved in framing innocent people for crimes the wealthy committed, all for the sake of “keeping order”. His father framed his own wife in one of these schemes, and eventually took the blame for a higher-up’s crime himself. This is a duty and fate Kaoru inherited after waking up from his 10 years coma. He’s now the one who frames innocent people and he, too, will shoulder a death penalty for something he didn’t do. This catastrophic loss to Baku not only condemns his life it also made him realize how twisted his actions and his idea of order have been and it triggers another catatonic episode in him. He’s a character who’s been deeply hurt by following along with what his parents taught him was right without questioning it, and when this worldview crumbles, so does he. But his epilogue in chapter 147 is a happy one! Kaoru wakes up, and yes he now has to come to terms with all the harm he’s done and he feels like it would’ve been better if he’d stayed functionally dead, but he has people who care about him and who will help him. You are never truly alone, things can always get better, you CAN break free from your family’s Labyrinth.

I think Kaoru’s generally an easy character to find hope in- as someone who caused immense harm, but who was still a victim of his circumstances and got to have a second chance at life. In-story we have Marco who comments on the two of them being the same and a lot of what I will discuss here will apply in some measure to him too as a mentally ill character with an abusive dad. However, I find he has striking similarities with Souichi’s story specifically, and looking at the two together can help us shine a light on the complicated fate at the heart of Souichi’s character. I realize by using Kaoru as a tool to talk about someone else- a means to an end and not his own person- I’m perpetuating the very workings of his abuse. I’m sorry Yukkii :(

I. Inheritance

Souichi and Kaoru are both successors to their fathers and they were raised to follow in those footsteps. Souichi, as a Kiruma, is a member of a “sinful bloodline” and was always going to be 21st Leader of Kakerou. His dad raised him this way and put him under Eba’s guidance all so he could stand at the top of Kakerou- the ones who make sure the rules are obeyed perfectly.

[1. Vol 37 Ch. 404 Duwang translation 2. Vol. 9 Ch. 93 Easy Going Scans translation]

Kaoru was not strictly raised as a successor in this way but he inherited this vision of order from his dad, one where the ants that step out of line must be killed. Both him and Souichi are sons who took on that very heavy duty to “keep order” after their respective fathers, and they both became orphans from it. Kaoru’s mom was sacrificed by her husband, and then he sacrificed himself too, leaving Kaoru alone when he woke up at 25. Similarly, Souichi’s mom died before he was born and he will lose his father during the course of the story. He was orphaned, too.

This is not to imply that Tatsuki Kiruma (Souichi’s father) had a personality like Yukiide senior. Kaoru’s dad is characterized as borderline abusive, he is refused any real kind of redemption as we don’t even have a first name or a face to put on him during the Paper Labyrinth chapters. He is the shadow that haunts Kaoru, and he is talked about as the origin of this specific worldview. Tatsuki was an odd father but he was not responsible for his wife’s death and he, too, inherited this fate from his own parents. He is not the root cause of Souichi’s ill. Where Kaoru was lied to and manipulated into following in his father’s footsteps, Souichi became leader willingly. This is getting to the impact a heavy family history can have on someone (whether forced onto them or embraced by them) more than any one individual father’s harm.

The impact of that family history is shown in Kaoru with his sleepy sickness that makes him literally absent from his own life at times. It is a way for him to escape from the real world and the responsibilities and ideals pushed on him. I think it’s very meaningful that his big episode was triggered at 15, that’s right into his first year of highschool, soon an adult. And this mental harm is also seen in Souichi and his chronic memory loss. His own timeline is more vague than Kaoru’s but I think it’s fair to estimate Souichi was around 15 during the 1998 flashbacks, which is when he has a significant memory loss episode and also when he receives doctor feedback on this illness. It is first said to be without cause but later confirmed this is a way for him to remain “perfect” at all times, by throwing out the memory of his flaws and resetting himself back to a clean slate. This is how he is coping with this responsibility of being (or becoming) leader of Kakerou. In Kaoru, this weight puts him in a coma and creates a 10 years gap in his memory, for Souichi it will lead to him forgetting a length of 10 years after the Tower of Karma arc. Sounds familiar?

[vol42 Ch 454 Duwang translation]

What they’ve inherited from their fathers is not just this responsibility towards order, it is also more literally a spot where they have to resort to playing rigged games. Kaoru’s routine with the Paper Labyrinth game is revealed in the manga to be nothing more than a well-practiced script. We see a similar resort in Souichi for the Flying Vehicles bet where he simply has Baku’s (Kakerou appointed) men betray him. This way of approaching games goes against how the Usogui manga portrays gamblers. As shown in Drop the Handkerchief when Souichi admits re-using these sort of means for this game would not give him a “perfect victory” and when Baku congratulates him on “gambling” for the first time, a gambler in Usogui is not just someone who participates in gambles. They are a kind of person who is able to cling to a low chance of victory and keep to their unlikely plan the whole way through all because they aspire to something better than they already have. They are moving forward with no certainty of what will come of it because the reward is worth the risk to them. We see it in Kaji’s character arc, first someone who is the perfect prey to various scammers but who is then able to keep to his convictions and win the Contradictions game without killing his opponent.

Souichi and Kaoru are much closer to the Kaji in that 7-Stud Poker gamble (who is totally out of his depth the second things don’t go as he thinks they should, who loses large sums of money without truly registering it’s happening) than to him in his face-off against Floyd Lee. Think of Souichi accepting and then losing the bet with Baku on the Missile Launch for a grandiose sum, or how he hides behind Yakou in the tunnel. Kaoru is a volatile character during his games, incapable of thinking on his feet (he freezes completely when Kaji interrupts him), think of his outbursts against Kaji or Kadokura that he frames as righteous. The two of them are only performing for the sake of rules and order. They aren’t gamblers because they don’t have that thirst for something better, their drives are completely extinct. They have accepted their situation despite the harm it’s causing, all for the “greater good”.

[Vol48 ch523 Duwang translation]

Their common obsession with puzzles (Kaoru’s Labyrinths and Souichi’s Rubik’s Cubes) is part of this drive for rules and keeping order. Chapter 101 gives us this narration: "Upon first glance, the bewilderment and fear of not knowing what lies ahead reminds one of disorder. But, in ancient times, people created and solved these [mazes and puzzles] to acquire the feelings of relief and order." This text is illustrated by a jigsaw puzzle, a sliding block puzzle, Picross, Tetris and, on the next panel, a Labyrinth as Kaoru knows them. This explains the symbolism behind the Labyrinth Gamble for the Police Department (“The Labyrinth [...] doesn't just solve unsolved cases, they are being solved at the hands of the police.") but also for Kaoru himself. This is a way to fulfill his own need for order, and this idea applies to Souichi too. The Rubik’s Cubes give him relief throughout the story with too many appearances to list comprehensively. We see it as a memory exercise (post-memory loss in the Hangman tunnel, chapter 64), as a motif on a childhood T-Shirt (chapter 412), it simply helps him think (he’s seen playing with one at Gakuhito’s, chapter 273), and the imaginary cubes in Drop the Handkerchief. This culminates in the Rubik’s Cube becoming a symbol of Souichi himself as made explicit in chapter 521. By seeing himself reflected in the cube he is made to be the object of his own obsession. Solving the Cube then becomes his urge to “solve himself”. It is dehumanizing and belittling of his own (very real!) mental problems to view himself as a puzzle that exists for the only purpose of being solved- and that CAN be solved at all. What’s the “true ending” of the human mind? This is not something that has any answer or exit. We know that by the end of 2008, Souichi has resetted his memory 138 times. Souichi and Kaoru are trapping themselves in their own Labyrinths here.

[1. vol10 Ch101 Easy Going Scans Translation 2. vol48 ch521 Duwang translation]

In a way, Kaoru IS the Minotaur: a son who was locked away to his Labyrinth where he is fed innocent victims regularly, both victim and executioner, all because of his father’s sins. Along with Souichi, they are two kids who were groomed into taking their father’s place and have shouldered the weight that came with it from a very young age, and this weight has formed cracks in their minds. This is their way of coping with their fate: they stop being fully present in their own lives, they stop wishing for more, and they blame themselves.

II. Worker Ant and Prince Bee

It’s made clear during Kaoru’s breakdown that ultimately, he too, was an ant. In that final moment before losing consciousness he remembers how, as a child, he did not crush the ant that had strayed out of line. He’d tried to guide it back with its peers, but it did not follow and was accidentally killed. I think both Kaoru and Souichi are acting a version of this story on themselves, both as the child and as the ant. They are forcing themselves to stay in line, hurting and killing themselves slowly for “the greater good”.

[both vol10 ch102, easy going scans translation]

Souichi is likened to an insect as well within the story, he’s Hachina (“蜂名”, 蜂 “hachi” meaning bee), the Prince Bee, the Lost Bee, etc. From that shared bug symbolism we have to remember Souichi’s super-organism speech- a kind of organism that necessitates the loss of individuality for the well-being of the hive. Tatsuki brings this concept up to say the Private Funeral Division and the police as a whole are in such an organism, which would include Kaoru too. Even only going by the definition it’s easy to interpret him as in such a place, “just a cog in a machine”, and the same can be said of Souichi. They are both included in the ones losing their individuality to keep the system alive: “Even the Queen will draw her blood or sacrifice her life for the system.”. This self-sacrifice is something Souichi takes pride in: “[He] isn’t even worth an insect”. He rationalizes his own resolve to harm himself (“being prepared to bleed”) as something he is doing right.

[both Vol 24 ch 257 Duwang translation]

This loss of individuality is seen in how Souichi’s identity has been fragmented. He is “Souichi Kiruma” when he is acting as Leader and “Naoki Hachina” for public-facing matters- disregard that the two often overlap as seen in chapter 68. He was taught not to "build too deep a relationship with anyone" (chapter 273), and his memory loss routinely erases the memory of his bonds anyway. He allows his personal history to be rewritten for the sake of Kakerou (accepting that he did not face Baku Madarame but Kaoru Yukiide on April 9th 2001) and lastly he positions himself as non-human in his introductory scene with the Alien Invasion speech. This speech will come back a 2nd time during Air Poker when he gains full control of his memory, it is iconic of Souichi’s character and it is worth looking more deeply into.

[Vol6 Ch55 Duwang translation]

The image evoked here is that of an alien leader, “we” means the alien society as a whole- in this case it’d be Kakerou. Just like in the super-organism speech, he views himself as only one element in something much bigger than himself. This really puts the dehumanization into perspective. He’s a bee, he’s a super-organism, he’s an alien. He’s just barely a name, and not even a face. It takes the manga until the very end of chapter 68- the conclusion of the Hangman gamble- to show us Souichi’s face properly. It is completely obscured during the Alien Invasion scene and the referees do not call him by name. He’s just a faceless leader. He’s so little of a person already, and digging into the alien analogy only furthers this idea.

Alien Invasions as a trope also come with the “take me to your leader” shtick, that IS reflected in the story if we look at who Souichi has directly interacted with in the manga. He’s first introduced outside of flashbacks when he personally comes to the Hangman gamble to see Sadakuni, the leader of a terrorist organization. He gambles with Commissioner Sasaoka during the Tower of Karma arc. He invites Vincent Lalo, leader of Ideal, to meet him. He seeks out and shadows Nobuko during Protoporos, who will be crowned King and is shown as the strongest player on the island. Only then does he seek out a meeting with Baku, after he’s won the Ban and has earned that right. The point is, he only really interacts as a Leader and with other Leaders- it’s from one super-organism to another. He only deals with other people as parts of their own collective, this is the same world view as Kaoru’s with his ants that cannot exist outside of the collective. They both dehumanize others and themselves and this is something they’ve inherited from their fathers (the super-organism speech being started by Tatsuki Kiruma).

The dehumanization inherent to their places is also seen in the shadowy figures that haunt Kaoru and Souichi. Kaoru’s represents the memory of his dad, it tells him what to do and what to think, he looks to it for reassurance. Souichi’s takes the shape of a stretched version of himself that act upon him (as an alien does the human it kidnapped, and like Kaoru does to his ants.) These are two strikingly similar manifestations of the inner workings of their suffering minds. More than that, Souichi and Kaoru’s goal, here, is to fully BECOME that shadowy figure that haunts their psyche. That faceless, nameless existence is representative of what’s already succumbed to the super-organism. It’s something that takes over Kaoru when he gives in to the idea that anything can be justified for the sake of order and it’s the part of Souichi that dictates the memory resets. Their shadow is the part of them that’s “prepared to bleed”. It is the ideal ant. Let it be noted, then, that Kaoru becoming one with his is drawn in the same way as Souichi is when we first see him.

[the shadowy figures. Vol10 Ch98 Easy Going Scans Translation + Vol42 Ch454 Duwang Translation]

[Vol 10 ch98 Easy Going Scans translation + Vol 2 Ch 14 Duwang translation]

This is where the comparison takes its full meaning. It is obvious from Kaoru’s story that he is a victim of his situation; that he was manipulated into taking his father’s place by someone he trusted during his most vulnerable moment. He had just lost all that remained of his family, of course he’ll chase after the only thing he has left of it (his father’s spot in the Labyrinth game). Telling him not to is only making him believe that he had more agency in this decision than he really had. Can we say the same for Souichi?

Compared to Kaoru’s worker ant, Souichi holds much more power and freedom. This is reflected in his family situation being healthier and in him willingly stepping to the Leader role instead of being manipulated into it, as discussed previously. It then begs the question, since Souichi realizes that this is harmful to him, that his very humanity is being taken apart, why doesn’t he leave? Being Leader of Kakerou is not a lifelong duty, his dad retired and became referee almost 10 years before he died. Even without an heir to succeed him, couldn’t Souichi find a way? Is the system really worth all this harm?

III. November 23rd 1998

In 1998 Souichi has a memory loss episode and wonders around, following the instructions Eba gave him to find his way back. During this period he meets Baku Madarame and as per the Prince Bee narration they filled the hole in each others hearts.

[Vol30 Ch323 Duwang Translation]

Baku also gave him a new name- Hal- and generally showed him another way of living. One that is much more chaotic, dangerous, but also much more free. This is his alternative to Kakerou and being assimilated into the super-organism. After some time he gets his hands on the clue that will allow him to meet up with Eba, but before that there is a gamble he decides to take. That is the Russian Roulette Poker game against Fukurou on November 23rd. Souichi- Hal- usurped Baku’s place and decided to take the gamble himself. Despite the common in-story interpretation, this was not a sacrifice he made for Baku (see chapter 455). It is something he did for himself.

The reason he takes that gamble is because he’s a man of rules. He wants to stay by Baku’s side but he can’t just abandon his duty at Kakerou like this, and most importantly, he doesn’t want to make the choice himself. To decide for himself has consequences, it’d mean he, on purpose, betrayed his bloodline. It’d mean he broke the unwritten rule that it is his duty, as a Kiruma, to lead Kakerou. So instead, he turns to leaving his fate to a gamble. If he wins, it would be his sign to forsake his Souichi Kiruma life and stay by Baku’s side, but if he loses Hal would die.

There is a suicidal drive in this. We know Souichi did survive his loss and that the gamble took place in the building owned by Eba; there were preparations in place to facilitate his survival. Despite this, it is my reading that he was truly, fully, prepared to lose his life if he couldn’t keep being Hal- if he had to go back to being Souichi. Regardless of his intent at the time (if he did bet on his survival or not) there is weight to that symbol. Hal- Souichi- put a gun to his head because he yearned for something else, and in chapter 321 as Souichi in 2001 explains that he’ll kill himself if Baku wins Surpassing the Leader, we are then shown a scene from November 23rd of a black-suited man laying on the floor, presumably dead. This was suicide, if not on a literal level, on a symbolic one. It really did “kill Hal”- the only part of him that didn’t belong to Kakerou.

[Vol 30 ch321 Duwang translation. Notice the date on the clock.]

This leaving of things to fate brings us back to the Alien Invasion speech again, but in a flipped perspective of it. Another big part of alien stories is the alien abduction. Its appeal as a trope is the fantasy of being forcefully taken away and changed forever. Now, Souichi would no longer be the alien but the human the aliens act on. It’s an inversion of our original reading of it and it does position Hal in the picture instead. In a way, he has already been “taken away and changed forever” in 1998. His thread to return home was intercepted by Baku (the Prince Bee picture book) and he had to follow him into this new lifestyle. He feels like he “will never be able to become [himself] again” (chapter 321). But the aliens always bring the person back home in the end, and they have to carry on with that memory (and alien abduction stories also come with their share of memory loss, another one of Souichi’s motifs). What I really want to get to here is this duality of the invasion speech. On one hand, Souichi is the Aliens and a part of something greater, and on the other, Hal is the individual being taken away.

[Vol30 Ch321 Duwang translation.]

Souichi will try to escape his fate of being the alien again. During the Lost Bee arc, he has another major memory loss incident and he flees so he can meet with Eba secretly (having forgotten that Eba is now dead). During that escape he meets Baku again and from there the Protoporos arc starts, an arc where Souichi willingly takes on the name of Hal again. He will cling to this identity, seeking out his missing memories (chapter 449 for one exemple), looking for that place outside of Kakerou’s reach once more. Just for a little while, he is indulging in this special permission he is given to be Hal until the Ban ends. Then, the game is over and he has to be Souichi Kiruma again. Hal goes back to the dead, reburied, it’s over, it’s gone.

[vol43 ch469 Duwang translation]

This is also relevant to the end of Air Poker. During the game, he realizes that his systemic erasure of memories under stress will make him lose, that this aim to be perfect has rotted his brain, and that it’s nothing but a pipe dream (chapter 455). He finally accepts the fact that every person is flawed- only to then turn around and decide that therefor he has to try even harder to be perfect. He views his newfound control over his memory, of what he forgets and what he keeps, as proof of his extraordinary being. He thinks that even though no human can, HE can get close to perfection. It’s Icarus building himself a 2nd pair of wax-wings and giving the sun another try. The mythological comparison applies a bit further than that too. Icarus is the son of the architect of the Labyrinth. His father warned him not to fly too low or too high, which is to say not to want too little or too much. Tatsuki taught Souichi that “to be able to enjoy a delicious meal, to feel pain when you see blood, or wanting to avoid being hurt and hurting others" that is the default state of being he should seek. Instead, Souichi embraced his hubris, as discussed this role where he is “prepared to bleed” is something he takes pride in. He is no longer flying to escape the Labyrinth he was put in but to reach the sun itself despite having already fallen into the sea once before. It’s a fool’s errand.

[1. vol42 ch455 Duwang translation and 2.vol46 ch496 Duwang translation]

This contradiction arises from the fact that he did try being human and flawed before! He is not naively refusing to change. He already tried being Hal and he died for it! He died. He has no other option: “A dead person cannot be revived." (chapter 496). There is no alternative for Souichi, yes he is the Prince Bee, yes he is the ruler of the mind-breaking machine, son of the Architect, but he cannot escape his bloodline on his own. No matter his place in the system he cannot win against it. He is powerless to change things for the better as long as he is navigating within its rules.

IV. The Place That You Belong

There is a recurring idea in Usogui (manga) of the place that people belong to. It’s presented as something everyone has, and that as long as they’re there everything will turn out right for them. It’s “the stage that you shine on” (chapter 539), etc. Souichi explains this idea himself in the epilogue. Are you where you’re meant to be? Are you betraying yourself by refusing to stand in the right place?

[vol49 ch539 Duwang translation]

This concept is relevant to every character in Usogui but it’s best illustrated by Baku and Kyara. In Kyara’s fight against Jonglyo it is his bond with Baku that makes him win, the place that he belongs is by Baku’s side (chapter 384). This is why he lost against Marco during the Hangman arc, and never lost again. Baku’s only ever lost the Flying Vehicles bet, which he lost on purpose: he is already at the place that he belongs. This why they are the two characters who “keep on winning” no matter what, because they are following their “correct path”. It is why you want to be where you belong and why you belong there in the first place, because as long as you keep to it you will keep on “winning”.

For Kaoru I think it’s obvious the Labyrinth gamble is NOT where he belongs. As mentioned, he’s gambling while not being a gambler himself and he’s completely out of his depth when things are out of his script. He’s not even fulfilling his wish to “keep order”- he’s never solved a single labyrinth, he’s never saved a single person.

After his failure against Fukurou, Souichi resigns himself to accepting Kakerou as the place he belongs. But is that really true? As discussed, you know you’re on the right path because you keep on winning. In Hangman he had this to say: "A life in which I continue to win forever... I guess that's just my destiny?" (chapter 56) but it’s demonstrably not true! Souichi does lose! He lost his bet for the book in 1998, he lost against Fukurou, he didn’t manage to take over Tipa, and he lost Drop the Handkerchief. If it was his place to be Leader of Kakerou at that time he wouldn't have lost Surpassing the Leader. He isn’t Baku or Kyara. He is not where he belongs.

So if it’s not by Baku’s side and it’s not at the head of Kakerou either, where does Souichi belong, then? There are times that Souichi miraculously “wins”. We see it in Air Poker where he overcomes his memory loss and regains ALL discarded memories, and we see it when he wakes up in the hospital during the epilogue. These miraculous recoveries, I think, are indicative that he was doing something right at those times. The common thread between the two is that Souichi (or Hal) was acting in Baku’s interest without totally disowning his ties with Kakerou. He invites Fukurou to become a referee at the end of Air Poker and he steps up to being Leader again during the epilogue, but in the 1998 flashbacks he was hiding his bloodline and denied knowing what Kakerou was. This blatant lie is the narrative reason that made him lose against Fukurou, and his rejection of ever having been changed by Baku is what made Kakerou wrong for him afterwards. He does not belong anywhere until he stops living these lies. He cannot abandon Kakerou OR Baku, he needs both.

This is the reason Souichi and Kaoru became prey to the Lie-Eater. They were living their respective lies, and so Usogui came and ate them up. “It all began with a small lie” (chapter 535).

[vol6 ch 64 Duwang translation]

Kaoru should’ve died from this defeat after he was made to shoulder Baku’s loss at Surpassing the Leader, but he was saved in extremis by his own mental illness. He fell unconscious and this was judged as “collection on his life” enough for Kadokura so he was spared. He got to wake up in a hospital post-canon, free of this place he did not belong to, and still living. This is also the pattern Souichi follows. It is his mental illness that makes him lose Drop the Handkerchief, his memory loss episode that made him forget about the leap second and that Baku exploited. This defeat at Surpassing the Leader means he is now free of his duty to be Leader, and it allows him to later wake up in the hospital like Kaoru did. He can now be his own person, without any lies, without killing his mind to stay perfect- the very thing he’d tried to do on his own and failed. In a way, wasn’t he saved by his illness, too? And isn’t it their respective flaws that let them become their own person again, that re-humanized them?

In a lesser way this is also reflected in the Referee who presides over the Labyrinth gambles, Yuudai Kadokura. He’s characterized as a man of restraint during the arc. He, too, is obsessed with carrying out his job perfectly and tries his best to contain his emotions. “Please excuse me... Momentarily, I, Kadokura Yuudai, have unintentionally made a face that was a little indiscreet." (chapter 91) and this self-restraint will be lifted after he suffers (and recovers from) brain damage. It’s their mental ill that saved Souichi and Kaoru and that lifted Kadokura’s chains.

Usogui (manga) as a whole has more to say about this idea that it is our flaws that make us human. We see it in the Hangman gamble, when Sadakuni is hanged. He first claims he’s not afraid of death but in his final moments he thrashes and struggles and admits he doesn’t want to die here. Baku comments: “I won't let you die as a monster. You should at least die as a human.” (chapter 66). This explicitly conflates someone’s humanity with this display of desperation. It asks the question, can you accept your own death gracefully and remain human? What is being human but to fight tooth and nails for more out of life? Isn’t being alive inherently grotesque? This is also reflected in the ending of Air Poker in Vincent Lalo’s final, ugly, moment, just to name one other example. We are back to Tatsuki’s definition of what being “normal” is like, and it is this human fear of death and blood that makes the gamble against Commissioner Sasaoka work. Generally, it is the thirst for things that you don’t have and the willingness to fight for them no matter how unsightly you get that makes us truly alive- like a gambler is. This is reflected in the Protoporos arc when Champ chooses to stay on the island because he feels alive for the first time after having gambled with Baku as well as in Kaji’s character arc more broadly.

[Vol7 ch66 Duwang translation + vol38 ch 412 Duwang translation]

For all that Souichi tried to erase his failures and reach perfection he was only making himself less and less human. It’s only when he let his true desires show in Drop the Handkerchief and that he truly fought to “one up” Baku that he started to approach something that rings true. To be human is to be flawed and to accept and remember this, and grow stronger from having tasted defeat. And it is this defeat, that honest and bitter defeat, of Souichi at Drop the Handkerchief that leads to the realization of the Prince Bee story’s happy ending- the Prince Bee Duo rising up.

On a surface level, if Baku had lost again there was no way for him NOT to die this time with how weak we know his body to be (see, the Labyrinth Minotaur game and the Dotty game). But more than that, Souichi had to lose and stop being Leader so he could be himself, so he could stop lying about who he is. He cannot change his bloodline, he cannot stop being a Kiruma, but he cannot stop yearning for something more either. He’s a flawed, weird little guy and he will always be changed from Baku’s presence in his life. This defeat returns his humanity to him and it allows him to reconcile the contradictory positions he was in. He can then embrace that he IS Baku’s ally, and he IS Kakerou, too, and come back as his full self and no longer forced to keep people at arm’s length. That is the true place he belongs, both Leader of Kakerou and Baku’s friend.

[all three are vol49 ch 539, Duwang translation]

Both Souichi and Kaoru had to bear the weight of their fathers’ inheritance so much so that they hurt themselves and lost their very humanity, all to stay somewhere they shouldn’t be. It is their flaws that free them, but it is also the people around them who saved them. It’s Baku speaking up that Kaoru is “pretty much already dead”, it is the summon for Hal to wake up because “if it’s you, it will be alright.”. They woke up knowing people cared for them and sincerely wished for their recoveries. They were accepted fully for who they are, sinful bloodline and flaws and all, and with their curse lifted they can now return that care, too.

→ You are never truly alone, things can always get better, you CAN break free from your family’s Labyrinth. If it is forcing you to harm yourself and is keeping you isolated, then it is not the place that you belong.

[vol 14 ch147 Duwang translation + vol49 ch538 Duwang translation]

V. Conclusion

We see this loose pattern ripple in other characters. Kaji and Marco are grappling with what they’ve inherited from their parents too (namely, abuse) and it is through Baku’s support and help that they could set their minds free from this influence. As symbolic of the turning point where they can truly start to heal is their stay in a hospital (Marco post-Labyrinth gamble, Kaji on bed rest during Protoporos). To truly break free comes with being hurt deeply before becoming anew. It will be different but it will be okay.

The motif of dysfunctional or fragmented families generally runs rampant, most characters with known backstories have some sort of family troubles from our main characters to one-off antagonists (Marco and Kaji as mentioned but also Kyara, Satoru Suteguma, the Yakou twins, Voja, Jonglyo, Mitaka, and so on). Usogui (manga) features a lot of parents who suck absolute ass, yes, but it also more generally touches on the way parents shape their children even in healthier families- think Ranko taking over her dad’s mafia, the sons who’ve never faced consequences because their fathers are powerful, etc.

In light of this, the fact that our protagonist is someone who is seemingly completely devoid of family starts to stand out. We do not get to know anything about Baku’s parents, his childhood, how he was raised, etc, anything from before he was already a well-established gambler within Kakerou. This is very significant in a main protagonist, who we’d usually know a lot more about. It separates him from the weight of inheritance, only he is free of those bonds that tie someone to their family (or lack of it)- for better or for worse.

This feeds into the repeated use in the story of Surpassing the Leader as a way to lose your “bonds”. It’s stated Baku lost that 1st STL bet to get rid of this past that tied him to Hal, when Souichi loses Drop the Handkerchief he escapes his bloodline, and it’s the thing that’s pinned on Yukkii and frees him of his Labyrinth. This is the big “reset” button featured in the story but its point is not to go on with life devoid of relationships and ties to other people. No, Baku does rebuild his bond with Hal, Souichi comes back to Kakerou a healthier man, and the last scene Kaoru sees before falling unconscious is himself as a child holding both his parents’ hands. Loss is always painful but it often cannot be avoided (may it be to break free of an abusive family or a toxic job, or because a loved one dies, etc) and bonds are what shape us. The two ideas coexist. You cannot go on without any attachment to anyone. This is seen in the “planting seeds” imagery of chapter 320, all lives are interwoven and ripple against each other to grow and become something else.

Bonds are also the strength and support you gain from other people, it is how Kyara wins against Jonglyo, and it is Souichi’s parting words in Handkerchief: “It is you who made us stronger.” (chapter 530). Who can ever hope to leave the Labyrinth without Ariadne’s gift of yarn to guide them out? It is the two Bees’ friendship that’s at the core of the picture book, and it is also those relationships between people (good or bad), and love, that’s at the core of Usogui, too. To be loved and to love someone is to be changed.

[Vol 35, ch384, Duwang translation]

[contentloadingandstuff]

Death - Platonic Childe x GN!Reader

A/N: While I work on some Nilou smut, enjoy a little something from my word docs. Enjoy!

CW: Violence.

At last, the Maguu Kenki crumbled to the ground. Childe stood up, still gripping his chest. Blood still flowed through his fingers, seeping from the thin bandage. You dropped your sword to the ground, and fell to your knees. Childe, ignorant of his own injuries, dashed to your falling body. He scooped you up in his arms. Your whole frame was a bloody mess of injuries. There were many cuts, tears, gashes  and a broken piece of rib pierced the skin, poking out from the crushed armor. His breathing was shaky.

"Childe… - you spoke, but were soon silenced by a bloody cough. The Harbinger could feel tears making their way to his eyes."

This Maguu was not like the other ones - it was fully functioning. It contained the knowledge of a thousand lifetimes, and its control of not one, but three different elements posed a significant challenge not even his Delusion could handle. He knew from the start that sailing to an abandoned, forsaken island far past Gunyu Stone Forest was a bad idea. If you had not stepped up, revealing your power over the elements, this could have been Childe’s last fight. And so there he was - wounded but alive - holding the dying body of his dearest friend. The one who loved him as a brother, the one who remained loyal and true, the cause of much joy and the creator of many memories. 

Childe could feel his voice crumbling.

"Comrade, don’t worry, you’ll be fine, you hear me? We’ll get you some help and you’ll be as good as new, just as always, right?" 

A slow, labored breath was the only response he got. Your eyes were slowly closing shut. Childe could feel the desperation growing within him. He clenched his fists. No. This will NOT end like this. 

"Hey hey hey, don’t… don’t sleep just yet, Y/N. As long as I am here, you mustn’t fall asleep, yeah? Promise me you’ll fight it… I know you can do it, please…" 

"I’ll…t-try…” - You forced yourself to speak as clearly as you could, choking on your own blood. 

His eyes widened. Yes! Yes! There’s a chance! He picked Y/N up, as gently as he could with his shaking hands, and stood up.

"Just hold on! Stay with me!" 

He grit his teeth, forcing himself into overdrive. His body cried as he started running, every cut and bruise making itself known. But he pushed through. 

The rotting boards creaked alarmingly as he ran with dizzying speed towards the Fatui ship.

***

Childe sat opposite his bed. In it, tucked with the utmost care, were you, deep in coma. Several strange devices were anchored to a stand by the bed. Satchels containing strange fluids, delivering nutrients to your unconscious body via needles. Your chest rose and fell slightly before his eyes. It was barely visible under the fat layers of bandages covering your broken flesh. With a pained sigh, he moved closer to the bed. Placing his hand on top of yours, he spoke in a gentle, quiet voice.

"How are you feeling today, comrade? I’m alright, if you ask me. Just as you recommended, I slept well today. Full eight hours, get it? I thought I’d never have the time, you know. But I finally found the time today. I hope you got some good rest, too. Heh. All you do is sleep, so you’ll have a lot of energy when you finally return. I can’t wait! Just imagine for a second - you and I on a hill, surrounded by a sea of Treasure Hoarders, Hilichurls, Geovishaps and Abyss servants…Undefeated as always! As…always, comrade."

His smile turned into a frown of pain. Not physical, but emotional. Childe never suffered this type of injury. It left a gaping hole in his chest. Daily, he felt something was missing. A large chunk of his time was now free. The Harbinger used all of his free hours hanging out with you. You usually walked around Liyue, beating up everything that looked at you funny. You two talked, cooked, fished and fought. It was fulfilling for him. The first day after getting back home was filled with boring, dull work he couldn’t focus on. So he dropped everything and went out, bow firmly in hand. Childe didn’t even think much of it - it was his instinct. He kept his composure at first, slicing through waves upon waves of monsters and Hoarders, but before long he broke. He changed into a crying, screaming storm of deadly rage. He cut and stabbed, staining his clothes in bright, red blood. Nobody was spared. Yet it didn’t give him any relief. The ravine you left couldn’t be filled, even with his beloved combat. He got back many hours later, refusing to give any explanation as to the reason for his departure. He found himself unable to focus, eat much or sleep for long, spending time by your bedside. He just idled. No thoughts. No memories or desires. Just grim emptiness.

Childe dropped his head on the edge of the bed.

"I’m sorry, comrade."

Thanks for reading!

[itzrafee]

One Piece Chapter Discussion (Chapter 1122)

This week's cover page is in honour of My Hero Academia’s last chapter. The drawing of Smoker a recreation of fanart that Horikoshi sent Oda when he was young. Back when Oda first found out that one of his contemporaries was a fan of his that had sent in fanart, I remember both Oda and One Piece fans being ecstatic. It must be such a unique feeling for a fan to rise up and be a colleague essentially. And now it’s ending. Jujutsu Kaisen also seems to be nearing it’s end so the landscape of Jump will look very different soon. At least among the Simulpub series there isn’t much else other than One Piece and Chainsaw Man that are at similar levels of popularity or cultural relevance. Personally, I don’t think that’s the worst thing either. While I don’t think anything nowadays really matches the relevance or impact of the Big 3, that concept holds water because it’s something that’s cross cultural and relevant across many mediums. I hope Shonen Jump doesn’t trip over itself to establish the successors to these as something organic as well as thoroughly vetted will probably be better for the medium as a whole. With the prevalence of Manga and Anime these days, it might be beneficial for one or two series like One Piece and Chainsaw Man to be the face and ambassador of Shonen Jump and manga as a whole. This is an idea I want to explore further sometime later but for now let’s jump into the chapter! Thoughts below the cut!

Just like how Whitebeard and Roger set people off towards the One Piece, so too does Vegapunk, though with a twist. Whereas before, the One Piece only attracted Pirates, now everybody seems to be aware and many are after it. We are no longer in the age of mock town. Of Dreamers and Cynics. We are in the age of Believers. But with that Belief comes panic. I feel like Vegapunk instilled within not only us and the pirates but also everyone else, the urgency to seek out the One Piece because he wants as many people in the way of the World Government and Imu. Cause let’s be honest, Pirates aren’t the most altruistic sort. Telling everyone is basically hedging the bets. Letting the citizens know is also this huge act of rebellion as the powers that be would rather it’s citizens be in the dark so that they can continue their rule unopposed and unquestioned. 

Also the fact that Oda redraws flashbacks is so apparent here as there isn’t a one to one to that panel of Luffy’s face and Koby used to look much dorkier, with his glasses having huge straps on the side. 

I also think Koby’s declaration and determination here shows one of One Piece’s central theses, that dreams aren’t meant to be static. They are meant to end. To be achieved so that you can grow and find a new one. And Koby fulfilled his initial goal of joining the navy a long time ago. Now he wants to build it into a just place as he believes the navy is a vehicle for that. It’s why he’s a part of Sword. And it’s why he now too wants the One Piece. I find it funny how now everyone’s goal is the same as Luffy’s. Was it inevitable or is it through Luffy’s sheer force of will that he’s brought attention to it. Before him, the world was at a stalemate between the great powers. Whereas before Luffy was moving through an actively changing world, it’s him now that moves it. I also find it funny that Luffy’s goal exists beyond the One Piece, his true dream something ridiculous and unimaginable. I like to think he wants to explore space but who knows.

As an avowed Buggy stan, it’s always a treat to see him like this. He’s my Pirate King (￣^￣)ゞ

I fucking love this clown <3<3<3

Getting back to Emeth, possibly the first proper crew member of Joyboy’s we’ve seen, we learn a lot of small details that make the bigger picture a little clearer. While we don’t know Emeth’s full story we can already get a glimpse of how tragic it is. Emeth seems really kind and innocent, kind of like a cross between Chopper and Oars Jr, and it’s obvious that he misses his old friend. It seemed like Joyboy was a lot like Luffy or Ace where he was always protecting the people he loved. It seems that Emeth wasn’t confused at the time period but more that Luffy looks exactly like Joyboy, so much so that he hoped he’d survived the centuries like Emeth himself. And here those feelings of betrayal and failure rise up again in regards to Joyboy. Joyboy had failed his promise to the Fishmen. And Zunesha committed a crime and was forced to wander the earth for centuries. And finally here we learn that Emeth failed to make Joyboy King. What kind of king could that be? Could it be that Joyboy never was the king of pirates or is it something else? Could it be that Roger himself never fully achieved it either? Luffy’s definition of the role of the Pirate King is that they’re the freest person in the World. And how can you achieve that if the world itself is oppressive. So by any metric, as long as Luffy dismantles the current oppressive structures of the world, as the promise seems to be, he will be the greatest king of the pirates, if not the first. 

It’s curious that both Emeth and Zunesha recall the drums of liberation with fondness and nostalgia. It seems to be something that’s a lot more important than we even realize now. It’s this magical beat that can be felt and heard by everyone nearby, especially those who align with values of freedom. And alongside that, the magical seeming storage capabilities really highlight the magic side of One Piece in an arc about Science. I think very often Oda tiptoes the line between explaining everything and making it seem scientific and having a sense of unexplained magic in the world, with how unquantifiable things like Haki and Devil Fruits can be. And with a combination of both weather magic and haki, Oda goes all in on magic here. I think also making the ancient technology seem simplistic in comparison to the current world adds to that as well. The return of the knots also reminds me of the dials from Skypiea in that they may be another ancient technology. 

Emeth’s explosion of Haki also shows a lot of things. One, that the beast version of the Gorosei almost coat them like armour. Two, that they themselves are kind of like impermanent summons in that they can be sent back to where they came from. If you remember, Saturn actually came to Egghead himself. And Three, either Joyboy’s haki is felt by Imu, or more likely, he has a connection to the Gorosei on a physical level. Also we get a look at Imu’s silhouetted attendant once more as well, maybe hinting that they’ll be important near the end too. This reveal of Joyboy’s powerful and sealable haki also gives us a hint towards where Luffy could develop and how he could learn to fight the Gorosei and Imu, who seem untouchable right now. Also it seems like Emeth always talked to Joyboy through the voice of all things. I wonder what Emeth really is?

Also if we look at Emeth’s hand there’s a cross/X on it. It kinda calls back to the X’s on the Strawhats arms but also the idea of the Jolly Roger and the Marine and World Government Flag as well at the idea of the Road Poneglyphs being used to triangulate the One Piece. 

Also if we look closely at Joyboy's Silhouette, the first time we've got a proper look at him, we see that his right hand and right leg look a little odd. My first thought was that he had a peg leg and an artificial hand that kinda looked like a lego arm if that makes sense? Oda once said that when we see a character with an eye patch we'll know One Piece is near it's end. So this makes me wonder if this flashback isn't set sometime after the war and the war having taken it's toll on Joyboy, left his right side damaged, from his leg to his arm to his eye, making him the first character we could see with an eyepatch. I do think Luffy could get one too eventually. Also Joyboy's prosthetics also reminded me of Nami's original design so I wonder if there will be any crossover there. The perspective is a bit skewed but it doesn't look like the giant strawhat Imu had would fit Joyboy. Unless Joyboy changes sizes a lot or Imu is a lot smaller than we think.

Finally it seems like we’ll be moving on from Egghead soon as the Strawhats and Giants are all together on the water and in the clear. It seems like the Strawhats have a tendency to fly through the air with their ships. This moment being kinda reminiscent of them leaving Skypiea and Wano. As the Strawhats seem to begin their journey, Emeth is faced down by Saturn. It looks like the last attack by the Gorosei took out the transponder snail so the transmissions is at an end. I think all that remains is to see if Emeth is alive and what Saturn will do to him.

[msookyspooky]

Spooky!!!!! Can you plz share your thoughts on Neve Campbell returning to scream? 👀

(Sorry if you've answered this already!)

Ps I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE ur series so much - ur writing is SOOOO good 🥹 The last chapter tore out my HEART but has me kicking my feet GIGGLING at the same time - I genuinely wish u the absolute best bc you are AMAZING 💗

OMG THANK YOU!! I appreciate that especially since I was lowkey a bit weary of even adding Billy and YN at the end but damn we're 4 books in this has to happen eventually 😭🥴 I swear that the latest chapter is actually done (Just proofreading) but the plot is so heavy so damn 'wtf' that I'm writing the next chapter because I wanna make sure this pieces together smoothly cause there is no going back afterwards. So I swear I ain't dragging my feet TOO much 😅 But I'm giddy and nervous to post bc omg I don't think yall are ready 😗🤭

That is...just complicated. I love the idea of Sidney returning but not for this movie simply because of how they handled Melissa. Idc what side of the aisle you're on firing someone for speaking their mind on their Insta instead of being a meek media darling will always rub me the wrong way.

ANNNNDDD these Producers and Executives have lowkey butchered Scream in so many ways since Wes Craven passed and the fact that they made Sidney have less screen time in 5 not only for ageism in my humble opinion and money hungry greed to replace her with younger actresses no one asked for (Sorry I was all pissed they killed Dewey just to replace him with Chad even if I love Chad and got rid of Neve for the sake of 'new chapter' bs with a Billy's daughter trope if they were gonna do that they should've went with Scream 4's original plot IMO OR Sidney's daughters and Mark etc)

THEN by 6 we got very use to them and Sam became a beloved character that we could live with her and Tara being the new final girls just to shitcan them (Jenna walked from what I remember good for her) over an opinion that wasn't stated rudely or anything just talking about the kids involved in this war and they treat her as badly as they did Neve cutting Neve's pay and tossing her aside just for Neve to agree to come back???

Man, I'm sorry I am not a Neve lover nor hater but my pride could never. Guess that's why I'm not in Hollywood or loaded bc I would NEVER sign onto a movie that publicly humiliated me by basically saying I'm not worth the pay, then treating a younger co-star so poorly, then signing back on because they paid me what I should've probably gotten paid in the first place. My Manager and PR team could bite me...Probably why I'm a struggling artist instead lol

I do not hate Neve for this choice because ik money is money but it's disappointing.

And honestly? I have BEEN vocal how Scream 5 is by far my least favorite and they suckered us in with nostalgia and Scream 6 was GREAT except for the ending with the killers being so...Wattpad to be blunt coming from a wattpad fanfic writer. Hate or love Jill Roberts but she was a great Ghostface and it's so OBVIOUS what movies Craven worked on versus not. The killers in 6 COULD have been great too had it not been for them related to Richie (Who is my least favorite GF by far) and how fanfiction both latest installments feel with reveals. Scream 3 did too but Scream 3 purposely did not take itself seriously while 5 and 6 did except for Mindy as comic relief.

Of course this is my opinion and thank you for asking I'm honored you wanna hear my rinky dink opinion but I am not looking forward to 7. Scream 6 may not be my favorite but it is top 3 for me up until the reveal and Sam letting go of the mask and choosing a path to the future feels like the perfect ending! Franchise is done! Move on!

These movies are not like Friday the 13th of TCM with new victims these are stories tying in the victims and making 7 with the political climate rn and how they got rid of THE TWO NEW FINAL GIRLS just to beg Sidney to make a comback while probably having the safest most generic plot with how many changes they probably had to make after the characters were gotten rid of.

I'm just not hyped for Scream 7 and probably won't watch it. Ya know, all good things have to come to an end. Even this fic in time has to end. And I think the execs bit off more than they can chew and are backpedaling instead of doing the reasonable thing and canceling and I hate that Neve and some writers etc are on board still

And let's be real; Scream is getting less believable with tech. 96? Yeah, I could see it! 2000's? Sure! But 2020 onward? With smartphones and smarthomes and ringdoorbells and dna collected its time to say good bye to something that has to move on! Scream 6 did a descent job with the multiple GF and Scream 4 despite me not liking it they did it best as far as preparing future Scream for the murders. Not to get away with it but to be caught and sell the footage. They SERIOUSLY could've ended at 4 and I would accept it :/

But whatever, they're still decent movies but 7 is just one I have no interest in truly watching. For me personally but thank you for asking and listening to me rant and hopefully if you want cheesy overdone meta tropes my fic will do the trick rather than the movies 😅🤞🖤

[septembersghost]

what songs from present day would you want to hear elvis cover?

ANON!!! 🥰💕 i love this message an enormous amount, and then it tormented me for two days because i read it and instantly forgot every modern day song i've ever listened to somehow lol. the actual problem was, i felt like i didn't have a solid enough handle on today's genres that he might lean more towards or that would do him justice? i was sitting here frantically thinking of songs by pop girlies™ and i could hear him softly laughing over my shoulder. so i was going to give you a short answer.

then i ended up looking at my actual music library and came out with a novel.

first, i sent this to both my loves @joons and @headfullofpresley in my initial dilemma, looking for suggestions. sidenote: if anyone would like to add to this, you're welcome to!

chelsea gave me three that i think are simply marvelous and i will weep forever that we cannot have them: million reasons by lady gaga (the taste this has, the vision this has. I bow down to pray, I try to make the worst seem better, Lord, show me the way to cut through all this worn out leather. I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away, but baby, I just need one good one to stay. hello?!), praying by kesha (well, you almost had me fooled, told me that I was nothing without you, but after everything you've done, I can thank you for how strong I have become, 'cause you brought the flames and you put me through hell, I had to learn how to fight for myself, and we both know all the truth I could tell, I'll just say this is "I wish you farewell." I hope you're somewhere prayin'...I don't need you, I found a strength I've never known, I'll bring thunder, I'll bring rain, oh, when I'm finished, they won't even know your name...can you imagine how much i would cry?), and love on the brain by rihanna (baby, I'm fist fighting with fire just to get close to you, can we burn something, babe? and I run for miles just to get a taste. i NEED to hear how he would arrange this).

tam i know would say peace (there's robbers to the east, clowns to the west, I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best, but the rain is always gonna come, if you're standin' with me) by taylor. also slow dancing in a burning room (this is the deep and dying breath of this love that we've been working on. can't seem to hold you like I want to, so I can feel you in my arms, nobody's gonna come and save you, we pulled too many false alarms) and shadow days (did you know that you could be wrong, and swear you're right? some people been known to do it all their lives. but you find yourself alone, just like you found yourself before, like I found myself in pieces on the hotel floor. hard times help me see, I'm a good man with a good heart, had a tough time, got a rough start, but I finally learned to let it go...).

for my part, i feel like there is this endless list of songs i could mention from further back in time, but i wanted to pull from our modern era since you said present day, and i've been mulling some of my favorites in my mind. granted, elvis would play around with how these are crafted and produced, but in my head, i can hear these.

taylor is such an obvious go-to, and i wracked my brain trying to think of what would be right for him. something with her country flavor, or something with a bigger sound, a more rock-infused sound, like state of grace (PLEASE), like the story of us. but these jumped out - the original version of that's when. i love the duet with keith urban, but the original can be carried by one person. i can't explain, but it's very kentucky rain-coded to me. also just the story there, that idea that all these mistakes have been made, but the person you love is always welcome to come back. there's also an unreleased song of hers called just south of knowing why (drive all night) that is SO GOOD, and i hope it'll be on debut tv. for some reason i can connect it with him easily. "if I could drive all night, would I find my peace of mind? would it be a million miles of cold white lies and unfamiliar exit signs? I just drive on by, just south of knowing why. I don't have a plan, I don't have a map, I don't even know if I'm ever going back." lastly, and this is the biggest one, i toyed with a bunch of folklore choices (this is me trying...they told me all of my cages were mental...), but my brain just kept circling back to fearless, specifically to change. this is curious because i never used to like change, it's the re-recording that, well, changed it for me. the initial letdown of it (the final blow hits you, somebody else gets what you wanted again, and you know it's all the same, another time and place, repeating history and you're getting sick of it), and then the hopeful triumph overcoming it (but I believe in everything you do). the spirit of it - and we'll sing hallelujah! anyway i cried thinking about this so that tells you everything.

to the lady gaga connection, can i say that el would sound phenomenal singing any number of the songs from she and bradley's version of a star is born? always remember us this way. alibi. music to my eyes (i know it's a duet!). and especially maybe it's time.

harry's version of just a little bit of your heart where he made it rockier (I know I'm not your only, but at least I'm one, I heard a little love is better than none). canyon moon, you just have to trust me.

and it hit me, LITERALLY ANYTHING by lord huron?! there's an entire playlist of elvis-as-lord-huron songs that i could make, but if i can only choose one, i'm going to say the man who lives forever. (ends of the earth? time to run? love like ghosts? the night we met? louisa? wait by the river? love me like you used to?) also he'd make fool for love really fun.

miscellaneous choices i adore from my library that i know he'd transform amazingly: green eyes and a heart of gold by the lone bellow, in the light by the lumineers, let's be still by the head and the heart, morning comes by delta rae, ghost towns by radical face, the weight of love by snow patrol, all of me by john legend, river by josh groban, you and me by niall horan (time's never been on our side, so would you wait for me?). wait for it (death doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints, it takes and it takes and it takes, and we keep living anyway, we rise and we fall and we break and we make our mistakes, and if there's a reason I'm still alive...). breathe by la'porsha renae (I swear I pray every day, but still nothing's changing, feels like my life might need rearranging. you say that you're here and right now is a test of faith. so open up my heart and have your way, I'm sinkin' in my thoughts, so pull me from the waves, my head's above the water, you're my sweet escape. I need you just so I can breathe).

songs that are absolutely bonkers to choose, but i know how they could be re-worked somehow, i can HEAR it i just can't psychically share it with you: miley's never be me, aly & aj's symptom of your touch, hallelujah by alicia keys, someone new by hozier, graveyard (acoustic) by halsey (they say I may be making a mistake, I would've followed all the way, no matter how far. I know when you go down all your darkest roads, I would've followed all the way to the graveyard), golden by fall out boy (and I saw God cry in the reflection of my enemies, and all the lovers with no time for me...i like to cry idk), and simply because it tickles me as she is a huge fan, lana's get free. there are couple of lyrics in it that i question how he'd feel about, but this is modern elvis, i can open him up a little. here's why i couldn't help but choose this, in the end: there's no more chasing rainbows and hoping for an end to them, their arches are illusions, solid at first glance, but then you try to touch them, there's nothing to hold on to, the colors used to lure you in and put you in a trance. sometimes it feels like I've got a war in my mind, I wanna get off, but I keep riding the ride, I never really noticed that I had to decide to play someone's game, or live my own life. and now I do, I wanna move, out of the black, into the blue.

i could honestly go on forever, but have one last song, and it's an oldie (probably a cliche, but i do not care!), and that is landslide by fleetwood mac. considering how i feel about e's cover of bridge over troubled water, i think if i could hear him sing landslide i might be fixed forever (or shattered, but still healed somehow). picture this with me: I took my love, I took it down, climbed a mountain and I turned around, and I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills 'til the landslide brought me down. oh, mirror in the sky, what is love? can the child within my heart rise above? can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? can I handle the seasons of my life? well, I've been 'fraid of changin' 'cause I've built my life around you, but time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I'm gettin' older, too. it would be beyond beautiful.

honestly, for anyone reading, if you don't understand what i'm talking about in regards to the way he transformed and brought the incandescent soul out of songs, i just...please listen to this. my entire heart forever.