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all-for-geek · 1 year ago

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Drawn to the Dark: A Nightmare to Remember Chapter 9: Vivid Hallucinations

Chapter 8

Chapter 10

Fandom: Escape the Night

Summary: The guests are so close to freedom. Will they escape, or will the madness consume them?

Warnings: Electrocution and Stabbing

Word Count: 3,568

The five remaining guests sat in the dining room, searching in vain for the motivation to keep moving. They only had two more owners to free. Which meant two more deadly challenges awaited them. Any animosity between the guests was either dead, buried, or both. They could barely stomach the thought of one of them dying. It took every shred of Oli’s willpower to open the journal and begin reading.

“Vincent Wells is a madman,” Oli began, “He sees impossible, horrifying things.”

“Sound like anyone else we know?” Joey commented. Selena glared. Perhaps there was one more person she could stomach dying.

Oli ignored him and continued. “He would stare endlessly at lightbulbs. I never knew what he saw, but it seemed like he was trying to burn holes into his eyes. His sanity may be gone, but his heart is good. He hid something in the dining room, but I was never able to find it.”

With their new task in hand, the five got up from the table and began to look around. It didn’t take long for Oli to find a box locked with a number lock, each number being matched with a color.

“The journal said that he liked to stare at the lightbulbs,” Eva pondered, “Maybe there is a clue in one.”

They continued their search around the room this time focusing on the many, many different sources of light. Selena wandered next door into the study and noticed something odd. Hadn’t that light been on the last time they were here?

She unscrewed the bulb and, sure enough, on the bottom was a number written in one of the colors on the lock. At the same time, the others found other lightbulbs with their own color and number. The guests huddled back around the box. As it opened with a click, Joey pulled out a key to a room on the second floor.

They made their way upstairs unsure of what they would find. None of them had encountered a “madman” before. Selena tried to repress the images her brain was cooking up. They weren’t going to help even if they were true.

They entered the room on the second floor and were met with an empty bed. The room was neat and tidy as if awaiting its next guest. It didn’t look like anyone lived there let alone a madman.

They then turned to find a man in a straight jacket standing in the corner. The sight alone was enough to get LeLe to try and leave the room. He continued to face the corner as if he was unbothered by their presence. Or perhaps he was unaware of their presence.

“Hello?” Oli said.

Vincent slowly turned around to face them, but his eyes stared at something a thousand miles away.

“Vincent?” Selena tried.

The man blinked and saw the five people for the first time. His body clenched in fear.

“How are you?” he asked. “How long have you been there? Did the doctor send you? Please I promise I told him everything I know I-”

“No, no, no,” LeLe reassured, “We’re not from the doctor.”

“We’re here to help you,” Eva added.

Vincent scans them frantically until his eyes land on Selena. Whatever he saw, it seemed to calm him down enough to have a conversation.

“The house seems inviting at first,” he started, “It feels warm and safe. Like the home you never had. A place where all the things you’ve seen won’t matter, but then it catches you, and it never lets you go. It has me trapped in this jacket so that I may never escape.”

Vincent tugs on the jacket restricting his movement. He began to mutter to himself. The guests couldn’t quite make out what he said, but he twisted and turned back and forth as if he was two people having one conversation. An urgent one.

Vincent turned back to the group. “You need to find the three keys to the straight jacket to free me. They are hidden deep in my darkest hallucinations. Out on the landing, there is an inkblot that will show you how to get there. Hurry!”

The group did not hesitate in taking his advice. They hastily made their way out of the room. All except for one.

“Selena,” Vincent called out.

Selena stopped at the doorway and faced him. “How do you know my name?”

“Be careful, Selena,” he continued, “Those like us, those drawn to the dark but born in the light, we are not destined for pleasant lives.”

“What are you tal-” Selena’s question was interrupted by Vincent's ear-piercing scream. She silently left the room. He was in no condition to answer her questions.

The others were gathered around a table by the stairs staring at a piece of paper covered in the black splotches. As she gets closer, she sees that underneath the splotches are a map of the manor and its grounds. Two marks indicated places outside the manor.

“What did he want?” Oli asked.

“I hope I never find out,” Selena muttered.

The group went back downstairs and out the door to the house. Selena felt a shiver run up her spine as she crossed the threshold.

The guests find themselves at the greenhouse. The dense, humid air inside clung to their skin just as it did the plants. They quickly began to search around for anything that could be hiding a key or a clue. There was a clipboard sitting on the lip of one of the planters, but it was just a series of diagrams showing plant classifications.

Joey reached into the dirt to look underneath a nearby rock. As his fingers slipped through two eye sockets, he realized what it actually was. He yelped and quickly dropped the skull.

Over on the other side of the greenhouse, Oli and Selena spot a leather-bound journal sitting by a stool. As Oli goes to pick it, Selena's eyes are drawn to the paper-thin walls. There was not much light inside, but there was enough to see. And enough to illuminate the lumbering shadow getting larger.

“Look out!” she shouts as she pulls Oli away from the wall. A second later, a decaying husk of a man’s arm smashes through the wall and swipes at the spot where Oli used to be. The zombie growled at them as it tried in vain to catch its prey.

“Thanks,” he whispered. Selena nodded.

The group gathered in the center as Oli read the journal. It was of a scientist working to combine plant and animal matter into some kind of swamp man. His first attempt failed, resulting in a mindless creature only desiring destruction. The zombie outside groaned louder.

He had managed to perfect his formula by burying the body parts in specific dirt and then combining it with the plants. The guests once again ran around the greenhouse, searching for the right plants and all the body parts that they needed. None of them were sure if it was a good idea. They had no idea if this swamp man creature would help, try to kill them, or what, but it was the closest thing to a clue they had.

It took a minute to find all the body parts, mostly because nobody wanted to touch them. LeLe ended up searching for them the most while everyone else focused on finding the right plants. They weren’t sure how much they needed, so they just kept piling everything onto a nearby compost pile until a massive creature bursted out of it.

The guests didn’t think twice before they started running. The Swamp Man followed them out of the greenhouse. They had made it onto the path before they noticed the sounds of a struggle. They turned back towards the greenhouse to see the zombie fighting the Swamp Man. Well, fighting was a kind way of putting it. The zombie was no match against the Swamp Man’s sheer size and strength. It didn’t take long before the zombie was on the ground, and the Swamp Man was carrying its body off to who knows where.

The guests erupted in cheer. It was a rare moment of victory for them that night. Joey noticed something gleaming on the ground near where the fight had broken out and led them back into the grass. Sure enough, there was a key lying where the zombie had once been.

They pulled back out the map and followed it to the next hallucination. The field around them morphed and grew into a forested clearing covered in rocks and trees. In the darkness, many trees bulged in the center as the guests found themselves staring into masks of many different shapes and sizes.

They paused near the center of the clearing where a woman was standing in a circle of rocks covered by more masks. Her own face was concealed with a fencing mask. She simply stood there, giving no indication of if she had any idea they were there, but none of them wanted to test it given she was holding a katana in her hand.

A plaque was carved into the trees giving them their instructions. They had to find 5 specific masks by solving 5 riddles. Finding the right mask will reveal the next riddle. If they pick the wrong one, the woman will attack them. There was a pile of burlap sacks in a pile next to the tree that kept them protected from the woman and basically acted as an extra life.

The first riddle was ‘the demon that is dreaming��. The guests spread out around the clearing. None of them were quite sure what the riddle meant by dreaming. LeLe suggested a very colorful mask. Eva seemed drawn to one that she insisted looked like the moon. They kept going back and forth between that one and a black one Joey had found. With the same accuracy as a coin toss, they tried Joey’s. Unfortunately, they chose tails.

“Shit,” Joey whispered as the woman approached them.

They quickly pulled the burlap sack over their heads. Selena closed her eyes, not that she could anything through the sack if they were open. She could hear the footsteps of the woman getting closer, and prayed to whatever would listen that she wasn’t picked.

The cold night air flew into Selena’s face. She sighed as she opened her eyes, revealing what she already knew. The woman was standing back where she had been before with Selena’s sack at her feet.

“Great,” Selena muttered to herself. She yanked the mask that Eva was suggesting of the tree. It was the right one.

“Music plays, the dancer grows, spot me with a liar’s nose,” she read off the inside of the mask.

Luckily this one was easier to spot. A mask covered in music notes with a long, pointed nose was laying on a nearby rock. As they picked it up, LeLe grabbed Selena’s arm.

“Hey, look I’m gonna be nice for the first time tonight,” she said, extending her own bag out for Selena.

“Thanks, but you keep it.” It was a nice gesture, but whoever got taken at this stage didn’t really matter. They only seemed to be in actual danger at the voting challenges.

“Okay,” LeLe shrugged. She walked over to the rest of the group.

Forged in hate, I am the vessel of your nightmares. The protector of your fears. That was the next riddle. Selena spotted a mask blending in with the rocks on the other side of the clearing. It was gray, and rough, and almost resembled armored plating. She turned it over to find the next riddle.

As you burn in the depths of hell, demons will spread your ashes. Charming. The guests searched the clearing, once again reaching a 50/50 split on which mask they thought it was. Selena swallowed. She volunteered to choose the mask. At least that way, whatever happened, she had no one to blame for herself.

Selena stared at the smooth, blank interior of the mask. She groaned as the woman approached her again. She didn’t know what was going to happen now, but she didn’t like the way the katana gleamed in the moonlight.

The woman pierced Selena in her stomach. For a brief moment, Selena felt hot, scorching pain. Then, she felt nothing.

She was floating. Or was she standing? She walked around the darkness as if she was walking through a room, but she couldn’t feel anything underneath her.

Selena instinctively reached for where she had been stabbed. Nothing. Not even a cut in the fabric. She sighed. It was just a hallucination, but everything felt so real. Is this how Vincent felt?

Something shifted in the darkness. Selena felt it more than she saw it. A presence that dwarfed her own, nearly suffocating her with its power. The darkness swirled and undulated like waves in the ocean.

“Hello, Selena,” a deep, old voice said, “I have been waiting to see you for a very long time.”

Selena could barely open her mouth to speak. Her mouth was dry as she tried to form words.

“W-who are you?” she finally asked. “How do you know who I am?”

The voice chuckled. “All in good time, little albatross. I have great plans for you.”

Selena felt the wind get knocked out of her as she fell onto solid ground. She fell to her knees, touching the grass as if it were made of gold. Selena never wanted to think about that creature ever again, even as it consumed more and more of her mind.

Selena heard a shot come from her right. She turned to see LeLe standing in front of her. Her eyes were wide, but LeLe quickly regained her composure.

“Selena, oh my god!” she shouted. “We finished the riddles, but the last one was for that chick’s masks, and we got it, but she started chasing us, and-”

LeLe was cut off by the shouts of the other guests echoing across the yard. LeLe ran to meet with them with Selena not far behind. Selena couldn’t help but wonder if LeLe saw the darkness like she had.

The two ran back into the lounge to find the others standing in the middle of the room, out of breath but none the worse for wear. Oli ran over to Selena and put his hands on her shoulders protectively as he scanned her body.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m not any worse,” Selena answered. She didn’t want to mention the creature living in the dark. She never wanted to even think about it again. “I’ll take that as a win.”

Oli nodded and turned back towards Joey and Eva. Eva held the fencing mask the woman in the clearing had been wearing in her hands. She fiddled with the inside as a key and a note fell out of the netting.

The note explained that the final key was found in Vincent’s most vivid hallucination. Unlike the others, this one would have deadly consequences. It would require a vote, and challengers would need to pick a partner of the opposite gender. The guests sighed. They knew this was inevitable, but it didn’t make it any easier.

“Guys, I don’t want to vote for anyone,” Joey said, “I don’t want to see anyone left die.”

“Yeah,” LeLe agreed. “I mean, at this point, I would probably rather vote for myself.”

They looked at each other. There was an idea. It would mean that they all had an equal chance of being in the challenge, of dying, but at least their consciences would be clean.

Each guest walked up and placed their own name into Arthur’s hat. As he shuffled the names, everyone clasped their hands together.

“Selena,” Arthur announced. She barely registered Oli squeezing her hand in comfort.

“And LeLe. Selena, since your name was drawn first, you will choose your partner first.”

“Oli,” she answered immediately. Even if it hadn’t been for the odd rules of the challenge, it would have been her choice. There was no one in that house that she trusted more.

LeLe tried to hide the face she was making as Joey squeezed her shoulder. Selena registered that by picking Oli, she had left LeLe with Joey. She didn’t know whether to feel optimistic about her chances or devastated at her friend’s.

The guests journey down into the basement, hopefully for the last time. LeLe and Eva held each other closely as they descended. They remembered what happened the last time they were down there. That first challenge seemed so long ago yet was rushing back at the same time.

They were not the only ones with sour memories. Selena walked the same steps she had descended in that horrible nightmare she had when this whole mess started. She knew now that it was more than a nightmare. It had to be. She steeled herself for what was going to happen at the bottom of the stairs.

The ungodly machine was no longer in the basement. As the walls flickered and changed, two wooden chairs came into view. Wires and electrical lines were connected to the restraints of the arms of the chairs. Selena’s heart stopped.

Selena and LeLe were to be hooked up to the electric chairs. Oli and Joey were going to have to play a game of demented ring toss to determine which one would make it out of the room alive. Each failed throw would result in another shock.

Eva helped Selena and LeLe get into their chairs. She made sure that the restraints were only as tight as they needed to be. There was a helplessness in her eyes that filled Selena with so much rage. None of them deserved this.

Oli and Joey lined themselves up to begin. The shocks probably weren’t going to be too bad, right? Selena rememberd getting shocked by the electrical sockets in her house once or twice as a child. It was more uncomfortable than-

She was wrong. She was so so so wrong. The first jolt of electricity sent her whole spine on edge. A scream escaped her lips of its own accord. LeLe responded in kind.

More and more rings were thrown, and more and more rings missed. The pulsing white pain seared through Selena’s entire body. She relished the brief reprieves when Oli got a ring to land properly. Or maybe he was just grabbing more rings. She couldn’t tell. All she was aware of was the pain.

This was it. She was going to die. Selena could taste the blood in her mouth mixing with the tears rushing down her face. It hurt so much. Selena’s body twitched uncontrollably. A loud scream pierced the night.

Selena’s heart continued to pound even as the shocks stopped. The restraints were thrown off her wrists, and someone gently grabbed her shoulders. Selena picked up a voice calling her name through all the ringing. Slowly, her vision returned, and she was face to face with Oli. His concern immediately melted into relief.

“Can you walk?” he asked.

She saw LeLe’s limp body sitting next to her out of the corner of her eye. The air stung with the smell of burnt flesh. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Selena stood slowly and shakily. Her legs begged for rest, crumbling like jelly more than once. She had to rely on Oli to get up the stairs, but it didn’t matter. She refused to spend one more godforsaken moment in that basement.

The four returned to Vincent’s room, keys in hand. The madman was still standing in the same corner. It was unclear if he had even moved since they left.

“Vincent, we have the keys,” Joey announced.

Vincent’s eyes grew wide. “Don’t tease me,” he pleaded. Still, he turned around in the vain hope that he would receive his freedom.

Once all the keys were unlocked, Vincent shook the straight jacket off and threw it on the ground. He moved his arms slowly, working out the years-long stiffness that resided within. He turned back to them with a clarity in his eyes that had not been there before.

“Thank you,” he whispered. He walked over to Selena and gently placed something in her hand. “I have seen glimpses of your path, and I’m afraid that there is farther down the tunnel to go. Hopefully, this will do you more good than it did me.”

Selena felt the cold circular metal in her hand. The engravings on the outside were thin and intricate. She felt the button to the watch, but Vincent stopped her hand before she could open it, giving her a knowing smile. He then looked up, passed Selena, and his eyes hardened.

“I tried to warn you,” Vincent started. “I tried to warn you. The owner of this house is a monster!”

The guests gasped. Oli, Eva, and Selena turn to Joey, fearing that all their suspicions had been confirmed. But only Joey was following Vincent’s line of sight to the glaring butler standing behind them.

Arthur stomped forward, towering over Vincent. “That’s enough!” he shouted.

“You don’t control me anymore,” Vincent remarked with a smirk. He turned his attention back to guests. “If I were you, I’d run.”

They didn’t need to be told twice.

#escape the night #escape the night season 1 #etn #joey graceffa #my works #drawn to the dark #a nightmare to remember

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password-door-lock · 1 year ago

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Mystictober Day 8-- Mummy

Saeran is staring out the window when a knock comes at his door. “Hey, Saeran?” You call nervously from outside his room. “Could you come help me with something?”

He weighs his options— he supposes he could always say no, but you've been so kind to him in recent months, and it's not like he has anything better to do. “What is it?” He asks eventually, figuring that he can make a decision when he has more information.

“I'm making cookies, and—” That's all the information Saeran needs. He throws the door open.

“I'll help.” He’d never turn down an opportunity to eat something sweet, and he’s found since leaving Mint Eye that he very much enjoys cooking and baking. Besides, if he changes his mind later, he can always just come back to his room and wait for you to finish the cookies on your own. You've made it abundantly clear by now that you'll never be mad at him for canceling plans or getting overwhelmed.

You beam at him, wiping a flour-coated hand on your ridiculous cooking apron. “Okay, good. Come on— they're cooling right now; I just need help decorating them.”

“Can't you do it yourself?” Saeran asks as you lead him into the kitchen. Usually, you have no trouble whipping up all manner of baked goods on your own. In fact, ever since you moved in, the bunker is usually filled with the smell of sweet treats in the oven. He’s surprised that you would ask for his help with something you could easily do alone.

“Maybe, but it's more fun with a friend.” Nearly every viable surface in the kitchen is covered with cooling racks, where you've laid out rows and rows of oblong cookies. A few of them are a little bit burnt, but otherwise, they look delicious.

“Okay.” Saeran shrugs. Once again, it’s not like he has anything better to do.

“I wanted to do something fun for Halloween,” you explain, “They're supposed to be mummies, but I'm no good at drawing faces. Here's the one I did on my own.“ You hold up a horrifying-looking cookie, with one red eye running down its face and the other hardly a pinprick of crimson icing. The mouth is shaky-looking, like you weren't sure what you were doing when you drew it. It's clear that it's supposed to be a mummy, though— you've done a pretty good job rendering its wrappings with white icing. “I figure I can do the bandages, since I'm okay at that, and you can draw the faces? Maybe? Please?”

“I don't think it's going to look any better if I draw it,” Saeran points out. He doesn't understand why you're asking him to do something like this— it’s not like he’s ever drawn a face on a cookie before.

“Well, it can't be worse than the one I did,” you grin. “And besides, if they look bad, we can just eat them all, and no one will know.” You offer him a conspiratorial wink. Saeran can’t help but be endeared by your hopeless optimism, though he doesn’t plan on mentioning it. As sweet as you are, and as much as you go out of your way to include him in your life, he’s still a bit awkward around you.

Nevertheless, Saeran considers your proposition. Honestly, he doesn't mind helping you decorate the cookies— it's something to do with his hands, at least, which often distracts him from his thoughts, and he knows that it'll make you happy. It's nice to be a source of joy for once. “Okay. I'll do it.”

You continue to beam at him, like his agreement to help you with your cookies has erased all of his misdeeds from your memory. Saeran doesn't get it, but he's glad that you're enjoying yourself, and that you inexplicably still want to spend time with him. “Here,” you hand him a tube of red icing. “If you want to do the eyes a different color, let me know— I have black icing too, and I can make green and blue.”

“Red is fine.”

Just as he expected, Saeran's first few cookies look worse than the one that you made. He's never so much as held an icing tube before, let alone tried to draw a design with one— but he finds that it's a calming process, once he gets the hang of it. The motions are repetitive, and your constant chattering further distracts him from his thoughts. “These look so good,” you gush, surveying the final row of cookies. “I knew you'd be good at this.”

Saeran blushes at your sudden words. He's still not accustomed to the genuine praise, and he doesn't quite know how to handle it. “Thank you,” he manages, “Your part... looks nice, too.”

“Okay, now that they're decorated, let's eat them,” you decide, “Saeyoung can have whatever's left when he gets home.”

Saeran rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue. After all, he's not going to complain about free cookies.

#Don't ask me how I got from mummies to cookies because I'm not sure #All my other drafts for this prompt involved my thinly-veiled self-insert MC infodumping about Ancient Egypt lol #MM_mystictober2023 #mystic messenger #mystic messenger drabble

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lonely-lost-soul · 4 years ago

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Under the Floorboards Pt. V

(Technoblade X Reader): Pt. I, Pt. II, Pt. III, Pt. IIII, Pt. V, Pt. VI

Alright so maybe you spoke too soon; the four of you were going to do great things, minus Tommy. Technoblade had finally agreed to let you join Tommy and him on an adventure into L’manberg. The plan was to crash their festival, and ultimately attempt to get Tommy’s discs back from Dream and Tubbo. You expected your first adventure into the country to be fun, if anything you’d get to steal some shit, what you didn’t expect was to be thrown in the middle of a public dispute.

Clearly, you underestimated what ‘getting the discs back’ actually entailed.

You and Technoblade were back to back swords drawn, surrounded by about thirty people in the ruin of what was once deemed a community house. Technoblade never would’ve agreed to let you come if he thought the confrontation with Dream was going to be this serious, he assumed they’d watch from afar. If things got to dicey Tommy and him would rush in and he’d have you stay behind to watch from afar. If only he could’ve predicted someone blowing up a random building would cause such turmoil.

Nothing could ever come up Technoblade.

“Yah know when you first invited me out to partake in a festival for some reason I didn’t expect to be attacked by like thirty people.” You chirped a hesitant smile on your face as Technoblade made a confused sound.

“You definitely should’ve expected it,” Technoblade grumbled, barely taking his eyes off of Tommy and Tubbo’s argument. You watched Techno’s back but you couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the boys conversation as well. As much as your heart broke for the two war-torn children, you had your alliance first and foremost with your boyfriend. You also couldn’t help but feel this conversation should be happening privately but here they were airing things out seemingly for the first time in front of everybody. Speaking of your boyfriend, your attention was drawn back to him as he caught Tommy’s attention, “be very careful what your decision is here Tommy.”

You narrowed your eyes and took a step in front of Technoblade, he made his classic ‘heh’ sound as you did so. You felt his hand grip your forearm and tighten trying to hold you back in case you wanted to do something stupid.

“Tommy, come home with us.” You held out your hand to him, the one Technoblade didn’t have a hold of obviously. “Phil’s waiting for us, we’ll get your discs back together as we planned.” The smile on your face could part the cloudiest of days and it broke Tommy’s heart, she had given him something that he hadn’t had since the war with Dream began.

A home.

“(Y/N),” That’s the first time he used your name, the first time you weren’t just Ms Blade. It broke your heart and you whimpered a little bit, “thank you for everything you’ve done for me. But I can’t go back with you and Technoblade. I don’t like what I’ve become, this isn’t me. I’m sorry. I hope one day we can be friends again. Tubbo give Dream my disc.” You leaned back into Technoblade in disbelief, Tommy had just betrayed Technoblade right before your very eyes. The man who gave Tommy the clothes on his back and a place to stay when no one else would. Weapons to help him fight against Dream when everyone else abandoned him, even though they all treated Technoblade as a weapon he still went out of his way to help Tommy. Your hands clenched into fists at your side as Dream let out a roaring laugh collecting the disc from Tubbo. He called the two children stupid right to their face and no matter how angry you were with them that was harsh, it’s like everyone in this country forgets that they are children. Children fuck up, it’s how they learn and it’s in their nature why does no one here understand that. You looked up at Techno your eyebrows furrowed and you pressed your lips tight but he didn’t take his eyes off Dream, he had different priorities in mind.

Protecting you from the Dreamon if anything went south.

Dream continued to mock and criticize the people of L’manberg before turning to you and Technoblade. The mask he wore may hide his facial expressions, but it couldn’t mask the unadulterated glee in his voice. Technoblade pulled you behind him as Dream stepped closer to the both of you, you felt a growl rumble in Technoblade’s chest,

“That’s close enough.”

“Down boy.” Dream mused, holding up his hands to show faux innocence. “I have no issues with the both of you. Tomorrow, with your help, Technoblade and woman.”

“(Y/N).”

“Don’t tell him your name.” Technoblade gaped at you and you only could huff in frustration,

“Better than just being called woman! Plus Tommy already said it.”

With an eye-roll Dream continued his speech, “With the help of Technoblade and (Y/N) L’manberg is going to be a crater. We’re blowing it sky-high.” Dream turned over to face Tubbo once again, “I had to pretend to be friends with you, to get the dumb disk back! I don't care about you. I'm not your friend. Okay? I cared about getting the disk back, and I got the disk back. I got it back. And that's-that's- that's the only thing that really matters. You can't even run your nation right. RANBOO IS A TRAITOR. ONE OF YOUR MOST TRUSTED FRIENDS.”

Your eyes widened as you spotted another child looking horrified, it was the half enderman from the butcher gang. You’re adopting him next.

“NO, IT IS TRUE. READ THIS BOOK. READ THIS BOOK. There's his memory book. He was meeting with Techno and Tommy and told them EVERYTHING. The proof’s all his own memories! He writes it down! You can't even run your own nation correctly Tubbo. Listen. Tubbo, you, I mean you, ... L'Manberg is weaker than it's ever been, and it's because of you! You have- you have destroyed everything. You have ruined your friendships. You have ruined L'Manberg's allies. You have just-you are a horrible president Tubbo.” Dream continued as Tubbo looked sick to his stomach, you felt just as nauseous.

“YEAH, YOU SUCK TUBBO!”

“TECHNOBLADE!”

“What?” He flinched at your tone, “he’s right!”

“They’re children,” You tried to argue but Dream cut you off by stepping in between you and Technoblade. Your pulse skyrocketed as you were separated, and you made sure an ender pearl was at the ready. Tommy looked at the both fo you nervously, but there was a spark of hope in his eyes when you defended Tubbo. Tommy turned over to Tubbo who honestly looked just as shocked that a partner of Technoblade’s would defend him, espeically considering he had tried to kill her a few days prior. Tommy had hope that he wasn’t completely dead to you.

“Techno. Got any withers?” You watched a sickening smile spread across Techno’s lips he picked at his nails.

“I got a few.”

“Good. Then I’ll see you all tomorrow when the L’manberg loses its last cannon life,” Dream announced before disappearing into the wind. The citizens turned to face you and Technoblade, he only had to utter a single word:

“Run,” Before both of you pearled away from the wreckage of the community house.

Technoblade scooped you up in his arms as he made his way through the Nether portal back to his base. He was much faster than you were and you didn’t fight him on wanting to make a quick getaway. You both were silent on the way back to his base, bottom line was you didn’t know how you felt about what just went down. On one hand, destruction was your middle name and you weren’t going to oppose blowing a government to smithereens with your boyfriend.

Nothing could be more romantic than that.

Yet at the same time, unlike Technoblade, you felt the guilt eat away at you. These were people’s homes, and lives you’d be destroying tomorrow. Most of the citizens you had no affiliation with, which you were grateful for, but those you did you almost couldn’t justify blowing the country up. Tommy was by all accounts dead to Technoblade and by that extent you as well. Still, you didn’t want to see him physically dead, it wasn’t his fault he got corrupted by the government and a homeless teletubby.

You were starting to sound like Technoblade now too.

You made a sound of distress and Techno glanced down at your form, his face flushed as you nuzzled your nose against his neck.

“You okay princess?”

“No…” You answered with a sigh, you reached out and twirled a strand of his pink hair through your fingers. “Tommy’s gone, we’re going to blow up a country tomorrow. I feel bad for the people we’re gonna leave homeless. So, no I’m not okay bubs.” The socially awkward man winced a little as he battled with what to say to you, he tends to forget you both aren’t the same person. For as much as both of you agree, you were still different from him, you had more empathy than he could ever wish to have.

“You don’t have to come.”

He watched a frown appear on your face as you pulled away from him. You clicked your tongue in distaste, a sure sign that you were about to pick a fight with the blood god. You were one opponent he could never seem to defeat. That did not come out the way he intended.

Time to backtrack before he got his ass handed to him.

“What I mean is, you have no affiliation with L’manberg. You have no prior issues you need to settle with them so technically you can stay home tomorrow, no one would blame you. You’d be safer away from the explosions, I’d feel better with you at home.”

“That way you’d only have to worry about Phil tomorrow right?”

“Well, that’s part of it,” He stated bluntly, never one to be dishonest. “He has only one life and he’s going to want to fight, he has a lot to avenge. The government drove his eldest son mad, enough that Phil had to kill him. He’s one of my oldest friends, I wanna look out for him and protect him.” You couldn’t help but sigh softly at his response, you brushed your thumb across his cheek fondly.

“You’re wrong.”

“Eh?”

“I do have something I want to fight for, I want to fight for what I believe is right. Let’s face it Techno the way everyone’s treating those children is sick. Dream manipulated Tommy and used Tubbo to get what he wanted from him. I know you did what you thought was right for Tommy but he’s a product of a war-torn country, they all are. Now, that doesn’t excuse his betrayal but… did he even know what the right thing to do was in this situation, does he even truly know what peace is? I want to fight to protect those kids. They deserve to know peace, true peace away from bloodshed and war. If I can I want to give them that.” You watched Technoblade’s jaw tighten, “I’m going with you tomorrow but I’m not going to kill the children.”

“I don’t think I can ever forgive Tommy.” He sighed adjusting his grip on you a sure sign he was nervous, “but I love you.” Techno kissed you once again, it was long and tender you watched as the apples of his cheeks turn red after you both pulled away. He took a breath, “You’re unstoppable and you’ve never stopped me before so I won’t do the same for you. Just stay safe. Please. You need to come home with me tomorrow I won’t settle for anything else.”

“I will. I promise.” You pressed a light kiss to his cheek, and he hummed gently in response. “I love you Technoblade, I’ll fight beside you. Till the end of the line.”

“Till the end of the line,” He repeated as you both approached the snow-covered house to convene with Philza Minecraft himself.

~~~

Hi guys! Officially feeling a bit better, enough to get a small part out before I work on the next chapter. I hope you like it, thanks so much for reading and your amazing feedback. Also, thanks so much for your kind words and well wishes! Also, also, If anyone ever makes fanart of this story (I doubt it would happen) please tag me and let me know. I love to make art myself and always wanna support other artists! Thanks Again!

#technoblade x reader #technoblade x you #technoblade #mcyt x reader #mcyt x you #fanfiction #fanfic #minecraft fanfiction #x reader #dreamsmp x reader #minecraft x reader #x you #Blood for the Blood God #rp #dream smp

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dumdumsun · 4 years ago

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Of Starlight

A/N: Enjoy ❤️

Warnings: none that I’m aware of

Word Count: 2912

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Chapter 18: What Would Have Happened

It happened so quickly. One minute, Hazel had shown up to the mansion with the desire to help the family with the prevention of the apocalypse, then next minute, Five was watching Diego and Hazel fight before him for almost a full forty five seconds. Punches and kicks were thrown, blood was drawn, but Five decided to step in when Diego clamped his teeth down on Hazel’s ear. Setting his margarita down on the bar, Five blinked behind his brother with a glass vase before smashing it down on his head, the vigilante collapsing to the ground, unconscious. “I draw the line at biting.” He remarked as he made his way back over to the bar. He glanced over at Hazel, who was groaning and nursing his ear. “Hazel, whatever you came here to say, I suggest you make it quick, before he comes ‘round.”

“I left my partner, quit the Commission, came to volunteer.”

“For what?” Five returned to his seat at the bar, picking up his drink.

“To help stop the apocalypse.” Hazel swiped glass off of his shoulder. The man earned a chuckle from the boy as he sipped on his drink. Hazel frowned. “What on earth could be so funny to you right now?”

“Before I answer that, why do you wanna help us?”

Hazel took a deep breath and straightened his posture. “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in a doughnut shop.” Whatever that meant. Five smiled as he took his straw out of his mouth.

“Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but you’re a day late and a dollar short. The fact that you’re here right now means, without a shadow of a doubt, the apocalypse is over.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“The mark is dead. Found him this morning,” Five inhaled as he thought over (Y/N)’s words of suspicion. “You were the last known unknown left in the equation.”

Hazel let out an airy chuckle, slightly shaking his head. “Shit… Really?”

“Mmhm,” Five nodded and turned around in his seat. “And if you’re out, then Hellrider ain’t riding.”

Throwing his head back, Hazel inhaled deeply, raising his fists in the air. “Oh! Alright!” He grinned. Letting out a relieved laugh, he stepped away from Diego and joined Five at the bar. Picking up the blender, he gulped down what was left of the margarita, Five chuckling and turning his head forward. When Hazel emptied the blender, he set it back in place, exhaling in content. “So now what?”

“You know, to be honest, I don’t know. I’ve been chasing this thing for so long, I…,” He and Hazel turned to each other. “I never really thought about the day after… I don’t know. What about you?”

“I’m done with all of this madness,” Hazel shook his head. “Time to start over. You should do the same.”

“That’s easier said than done…”

“It doesn’t have to be hard. I mean, think about it like this. If you never time traveled, you never got caught up with The Handler, what would have happened?”

Five glanced over his shoulder, at the unconscious Diego, before turning back to Hazel. “I guess I would have grown up to be an emotionally stunted man-child like everybody else around here,” He nodded, Hazel softly chuckling. “But after that… I guess I would have married the love of my life.”

Hazel raised his brows and leaned back a bit. “Really? I would’ve never guessed a cold-hearted killer would have a soft spot. Especially for a girl.”

“Yeah, well… neither did I. But there’s nothing else I’d rather do right now…”

“Well, there you go. Now you can grow up and get married,” Rising from his seat, Hazel nodded at the boy. “Good luck.” As he began to leave, Five glanced over at Delores. This was the time to make things right. The boy called out to Hazel as he turned toward him.

“One more thing before you go.”

“Shoot.”

“Which one of you was the triggerman for Detective Patch?”

“Triggerwoman.” Hazel blinked. Five sighed through his nose.

“Huh. That’s too bad… That gun could’ve cleared my brother’s name.”

Hazel inhaled as he reached into his pockets. “Well, today’s your lucky day, amigo,” He took out two guns and walked up to Five, setting them down on the bar. “Take ‘em both. I’m done with this life.”

Five gave him a ghost of a smile of gratitude as he watched him leave the parlor. And with that, another weight had been lifted from his child-like shoulders. Turning back to Delores, Five deeply sighed. “Now it’s… Now it’s figuring out what (Y/N) wants…”

“Diego?!” As if on cue, the girl’s voice rang throughout the room. He looked over his shoulder to see her crouching beside their brother, placing a hand on his head, (e/c) eyes full of concern.

“He’s fine.” Five spoke up. Her head snapped up to him.

“He is?”

“I just knocked him out. Did what I had to do.”

“Oh, well, then…” She stood with a shrug, moving to his side. Sitting down in the seat Hazel once occupied, she placed a hand on his back. “How’re you doing, bub?”

The nickname sent a rush of heat to Five’s face and ears. He hoped to god it wasn’t noticeable. “Honestly, I’m a little lost, Starlight… I didn’t have a plan after this.”

“Well, then, what do you wanna do?” She held his free hand in hers, raising it to her lips. “Now that you’ve got loads of freetime.”

“I was hoping you’d help me with that,” He leaned closer, gently touching foreheads with her. “Now that I have no idea what the future holds for us… I just want to have one with you.”

“I’ve cried enough these past eight days, Five,” (Y/N) sniffled with a grin on her face. “Don’t make me do it again.” They both chuckled quietly, hands tightly clasped together. They knew this wasn’t a life or death situation, but they’d been so used to losing each other that every moment of peace felt like nothing but the calm before the horrible, horrible storm. (Y/N) wrapped her arms around her love in a warm hug. Not even hesitating, he returned it, gently rubbing her shoulder. “You mean it? You want a future with me?”

“I mean it with every pubescent bone in my body.”

“Ew…” She laughed, the sound alone tugging at his heart. He then felt the warmth of her lips pressed against the corner of his mouth. He swore his heart exploded right then and there. When she pulled away, he couldn’t speak, couldn’t formulate a single sentence in his mind. It hadn’t even been a real kiss and yet it had rendered him speechless, nonetheless. She smirked in amusement at his current state. “Five, you’re staring.”

“I’m well aware.” He breathed. She giggled and circled around him to leave the room, their eyes never breaking contact as their fingers lingered against each other. When they had finally let go, both their hands twitched, itching for that contact again. (Y/N) placed her fingers against her lips as she turned away and left the parlor to head upstairs. She had planned to go check on her children again. It had felt like months since she’d last seen them. Now that the end of all life on earth had been stopped, she knew she had to make things right and explain everything to them. No matter how crazy she sounded. She owed them that much.

She passed by Allison’s room, but stopped when she saw movement from the small crack in the door. Slowly opening the door wider, she gasped at the sight of Allison, now in different clothing, walking around her room. The woman turned towards the door, a tearful smile stretching across her face. “You’re awake…” The girl teared up as the two ran to each other, engulfing one another in a hug. Allison sniffled and kissed the top of her sister’s head. “Oh, god, you’re okay, Ally, you’re okay…” She repeated, more to herself than to Allison. When they pulled away, they sat themselves on the bed. The Rumor reached over to her notepad and began to write something down. (Y/N) leaned over and rested her elbows on her knees, waiting patiently for her sister with a small smile on her face. The smile faltered when Allison turned the notepad to her.

VANYA KNOWS

“She knows?” (Y/N) frowned. “She knows what?” Her gaze followed Allison’s writing.

WHAT WE DID

“Allison, I’m not understanding.” She shook her head. Allison sighed in frustration and hastily scribbled down her response.

THE RUMOR

“The rumor? Like… when we were little?” She asked, Allison nodding. “Is that why she did this? She found out about… but I don’t understand. What did the…”

“I heard a rumor… you think you’re just ordinary.”

“Number Eight, summon a clone. Tell it to make sure Number Seven does not leave her room. No matter what.”

Her face formed into horrified shock. “So, Vanya has powers,” The nod of confirmation from Allison had the girl running her hands down her face. “Jesus Christ… and we were both in on it…” The two sat in silence. Both in fear. Both in shame. Shameful of the pain they’d caused their sister, of blindly following through with their father’s plans without a single word of protest. (Y/N) turned her attention to the sound of the marker against the paper.

ITS MY FAU-

“No,” (Y/N) held Allison’s wrist, forcing her to halt her writing. “It’s my fault as much as it is yours. We were both there… I take this blame with you. Okay, Ally? You don’t have to make yourself feel like shit all the time,” The scoff she got from Allison made (Y/N) frown. “Allison, tell me one good thing you think you’ve done.” Silence followed. Allison stared down at her knees for what seemed like forever before shaking her head with a shrug.

“Well, I’ve got a list. Let’s see… You promote my work in your interviews… You gave birth to my favorite niece,” The woman silently giggled at that. “You were my maid of honor… You stay so fucking strong despite the shit thrown at you constantly,” She reached over and held her sister’s hand. “You’re learning, Ally. We all are. No one said we had to be perfect… We do shitty things and then we learn from them. Yes, part of the process is feeling like shit, but it isn’t the end. I just want you to know… you’re one of the best things to ever happen to me. If you ever feel like a piece-of-shit-sister… know that I think otherwise. Vanya doesn’t hate you… I’m sure after we properly apologize, she’ll understand, right? She just found out that everything she was ever told was a lie… and the source of it. She’s learning, too. We just need to be patient with her. No one really ever was…”

Allison smiled down at her notepad and scribbled something down before holding it up.

PRETTY SMART FOR A KID

“Piss off, Allison.” (Y/N) laughed.

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

After leaving Allison to her own devices, (Y/N) slipped into her bedroom and swiped her car keys off her bedside table. She whistled a tune and spun the keys on her finger as she walked towards the stairs. Hearing rustling, she halted when she saw Five in his own room. She walked inside and gently knocked on the door. He looked up from the duffle bag he had just unzipped and smiled tightly. “Hey, Starlight.”

“Hey, bub,” She watched him with a raised brow. “What’re you doing?”

“Uh, well… I figured if I’m going to move on and live as much of a normal life as I can… I’ve gotta let go of the past.” He motioned towards Delores, who sat in her usual chair. (Y/N)’s mouth fell open in shock.

“Seriously? Five, you’re returning Delores?”

“It won’t be easy, I admit,” He grunted. “But I… I have to do this.”

“Make things right,” She nodded, Five staring at her in slight confusion. “You could say I’m on my own journey with that…”

“We all might as well be,” He slowly picked up Delores, his green eyes holding so much care and fondness for the mannequin. He hesitated as he so very gently placed her in the duffle bag. Sighing, he turned his head to (Y/N). “Would you like to say any last words to her, (Y/N)?”

“Oh, uh… Sure,” The girl cleared her throat and slowly walked to Five’s side. He stepped back a little to give her space. Her eyes darted around the room. From Five, to his posters, to the window, before finally landing on Delores. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Delores… um, well, we didn’t talk all that much, but… I think if Five likes you so much, you must be pretty great. I, uh… actually wanna thank you… for taking care of him. He went through hell and my worst fear was that he’d do it alone… but you came in and did what I couldn’t. And I’ll be eternally grateful for that. I wish you luck in life, Delores.” Standing up straight, she turned to Five, who nodded in satisfaction.

“Beautifully said. Now,” He walked closer and zipped up the duffle bag. “I’ll only be a little while.”

“Oh, wait,” (Y/N) gently pressed her hand to his chest to stop him. “I can drive you there.”

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

(Y/N)’s car parked in front of the department store Five had directed her to. Very slowly, the boy removed his seatbelt and turned to the backseat, where the duffle bag sat. He let out a breath and slowly reached back for it. “I don’t know, Starlight… If I can…”

“I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want, Five… But if you truly want to move on and have… that future… This is kinda necessary. I know you can do this, bub. You have more than just Delores now. You’ve got our siblings, you’ve got me.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. Five hummed and grabbed hold of the duffle bag, dragging it into his lap. His finger gently ran over the fabric as he shut his eyes.

“I know…”

Seeing the somber look in his eyes once they opened, she tilted her head and smiled. “Make sure they get her a new outfit. She’d look beautiful in red.”

Five chuckled and shook his head, opening his door to leave. “I’ll be back.” He whispered.

“And I’ll be right here.” She smiled. He returned the expression before getting out and closing the door, swinging the bag onto his back as he strode inside the store. (Y/N) leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, a distant vision she’d had years ago resurfacing her memories.

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

The clone stood a few feet away from Five, who sat on the hood of an abandoned car with Delores by his side. The boy sighed and stared up at the star-painted sky. He threw his arm around the mannequin’s “shoulder” and leaned into her. “These stars remind me of (Y/N)... Who is she? Oh, just… a girl…” The clone stalked closer to the car in silence. “What? No, Delores, she’s… Well, she’s dead now. I just called her Starlight because… that’s what she was to me. In an endless sea of darkness, she shone in all her glory. She didn’t make the darkness go away, but she sure made it more bearable to live with… Yeah,” He bitterly chuckled. “Yeah, I was in love with her… But it doesn’t matter. She’s… She’s gone now,” He turned his head to face Delores, his eyes softening. “But at least I have you…”

The clone’s foot came into contact with a nearby scrap of metal, the screeching of it sliding against the ground alerting Five. He jumped up and turned to the clone in anger. “Go away!” He tried waving it off. When it didn’t respond, he hopped off the car and stormed up to it. “I said go away! All you ever do is stand there and look like her! You don’t talk like her or smile like her o-or laugh like her! You just sit there and take up space! Just get the hell away from me!” He shouted, not daring to get any closer, for he knew he’d only get shoved back. The clone only squinted its eyes at Five, the boy sighing in exasperation and stomping back to the car. It watched as he sat atop the hood, burying his face into his hands.

“What the hell am I gonna do with it, Delores…?”

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

The girl snapped her eyes open when she heard the car door opening. Turning to her right, she was greeted with the sight of Five. Alone. As he climbed into his seat and shut the door, she grinned brightly at him. She reached her hand over and placed it over his. “I’m so proud of you…” She whispered. The boy only nodded, eyes trained on his knees. (Y/N) tilted her head and hummed in a soothing manner. She considered her next decision for about a solid two minutes before starting the car up again.

“Do you want to meet Michael and Jada?”

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#the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #umbrella academy x reader #tua #tua fanfic #tua x reader #tua five #five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #number five #number five x reader #five x reader #of starlight

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whatwillyoudodifferently · 4 years ago

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Look, Louts! Lilies! - Yuri For A Hope-Flung Present and Hopeful Future

Look, I’ll be frank. I typically try to keep to a more formal tone when I write for this blog. I’m not in a formal mood. It is June October 2020, and I, like the rest of you, have been under quarantine for a little over three almost seven months now due to the Covid-19 virus. Throw in a eensy, teensy bit of massive political movements and change in response to police violence and racism, and an increase of police violence and racism in response to those movements, and I think it’s fair to say it’s been a tumultuous couple of months. Except, strangely, it also hasn’t been, because so much of this time has been characterized by ennui and isolation. Stressful, yet soul-numbing. In short, it’s been a very weird place to be in.

So, we’ve all found our different ways to cope. My sister’s way has been getting really into succulents(?), and my way has been buying digital manga and video games. I’ve finished stuff I’ve put off for literal years and bought stuff I had heard was good but wasn’t that hyped to get into. And somehow, the one thing I’ve really gotten into has been yuri?

Now, yuri has a very long and rich history, as well as its own sets of conventions and nuances, so it is with a great, great, GREAT deal of respect that I say that I’m going to simplify it for this essay as “Japanese media with a particular focus on romance between women” for brevity’s sake. If you want to know more, there’s actually quite a lot that’s been written about it in English, but I’m aiming this essay at English-speakers who have had at least a little experience with yuri and more than just passing knowledge.

Because you see, I’ve found that yuri fans have a lot of things to say about yuri! And a lot of those things really bug me!! “Yuri is only fetish quasi-porn written by men,” “yuri is only bland wholesome fluff,” “yuri is only high school drama,” so on, so on. It made me mad, but it also made me realize something: a lot of people simply must not know how big this field of lilies truly is! How else can we get people saying “yuri is oversexualized” and “yuri is sexless” as gospel truth? Something’s not adding up here, guys!

So, all that is to say I’m doing something different for this blog: I’m writing up a recommendation list of yuri. A large chunk of it will be stuff I’ve read and can officially give my seal of approval to, while some of them are just titles I’ve heard of that I think will interest others. All of them have been specifically chosen to counter common untrue things I’ve heard about yuri as a whole. I hope you can find at least a few things on this list that you will enjoy and help you keep your head as the encroaching darkness lurches yet a few inches closer!

1. “Yuri is all schoolgirl stuff! Where’s the sci-fi, the period pieces, the action, the fantasy?”

Otherside Picnic

What It Is: A light novel series written by Iori Miyazawa (illustrated by shirakaba). Ongoing, four volumes at time of writing. The story is being adapted into a manga by Eita Mizuno, and an anime adaptation directed by Takuya Satou will be airing in January 2021.

What It’s About: It was on her third trip to the Otherside that Sorawo Kamikoshi almost died, and it was on that same trip she was saved by an angel. Toriko Nishina is a beautiful and confident young woman who also happens to have intimate knowledge of the Otherside, a dangerous yet captivating world that Sorawo can’t help but being drawn to. Toriko convinces Sorawo to join her on her expeditions to the Otherside, fighting off bizarre creatures that have somehow been ripped out of Japanese urban legends and finding strange artifacts in order to make a little extra cash-- all the while keeping an eye out for someone dear to Toriko’s heart.

What I Think: Otherside Picnic is heavily inspired by the novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and features several creatures and scenarios from ghost stories, net lore, and-- there’s no other way to put this-- creepypasta. On paper this sounds deeply unoriginal, so it’s pretty surprising that OP has an incredibly strong identity. The idea of fusing horror with a yuri love story excited me enough the moment I heard about it, so when I finally got to read it for myself, I was delighted to find that the horror elements and the romance elements are both quite strong.

I will say that thanks to the author’s commitment to following his sources of inspiration to the letter sometimes causes him to undercut his own writing (good example: in one arc there’s an ominous train that keeps being mentioned, causing the reader to dread its arrival with each passing page, but seeing what’s on the train will inevitably fall flat in comparison to the reader’s imagination), but those moments are made up by the more original moments-- the things that are left unseen and unexplained.

The place where the story truly shines is the relationship between the two leads. Sorawo and Toriko are great characters, both incredibly charming and deeply flawed, and they achieve a great chemistry with each other right off the bat. Sorawo is a very interesting protagonist, one who turns out to have a deeply tragic past that has made her into a reclusive, somewhat selfish young woman. What’s great is that Toriko, vivacious and confident, everything Sorawo isn’t, accepts this part of her, in a way. Toriko flat out admits she’s not looking for a particularly virtuous person to accompany her, but an “accomplice.” A big part of the appeal of OP is seeing these two “accomplices” bounce off each other, and eventually come to care about each other, all playing against a background of some genuinely spine-crawling horror. Otherside Picnic is a truly underrated series, and I deeply hope that the anime adaption next year will finally get it all the eyes it deserves (menacing phrasing very much intended).

Where To Get It: The light novels are published by J-Novel Club and can be found via various digital platforms and bookstores. The manga will be published by Square Enix Books starting May 2021. The anime will start airing on January 4th, 2021.

Goodbye My Rose Garden

What It Is: A manga by Dr. Pepperco. Three volumes, complete. It inspired a stage play that ran for a while in Japan, but not much information is available about it in English.

What It’s About: Hanako has two goals: to meet Victor Franks, the mysterious author who pens the books she adores, and to become a writer herself. Despite having the mettle to travel to England on her own to pursue her dreams, she soons finds that it’s difficult for a young, unwed Japanese woman to dream in 20th century London. However, her luck seems to turn around when she meets Alice Douglas, a noblewoman who offers her a job as her maid-- as well as a surprisingly warm friendship. Alice even offers Hanako a way to meet her idol… but at the price of a horrifying request.

What I Think: In the afterword of Volume 1, Dr. Pepperco openly admits that Goodbye, My Rose Garden was the result of them trying to marry all of their favorite tropes (“Victorian maids! Loads of frills! An English family manor!” are some standout items), and this is apparent in the best way possible. GMRG is a lush period piece that will likely appeal to fans of movies like The Handmaiden and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, with loving attention paid to details like clothes and settings.

The relationship between Alice and Hanako is quite charming, with Alice supporting Hanako as much as she can while still taking every available opportunity to tease her, while Hanako constantly surprises Alice each time she shows her moxie and strength. It’s an adorable, sweet dynamic, yet a dark, melancholy weight lurks in the background in the form of Alice’s request-- in short, it’s a relationship that feels tailor made for me. Still, I believe this “darkness” never threatens to overwhelm the story, only enhance it in such a way that the reader will soldier on, hoping for a happy ending for our two leads. With an engaging plot and gorgeous art, this is a great manga for both longtime yuri fans and newcomers looking for an introduction to the world of yuri.

Where To Get It: Seven Seas Entertainment has translated the first two volumes, with the final one coming to English soon all three volumes into English.

Seabed

What It Is: A visual novel by paleontology, a Japanese doujin circle.

What It’s About: Mizuno Sachiko is a designer who is haunted by visions of Takako, her vivacious childhood friend and former lover. Narasaki Hibiki is a psychiatrist who wants to help Sachiko make sense of these hallucinations. Takako is… confused, trying to figure out why she keeps losing her memory and why she and Sachiko drifted apart despite being so close. Seabed is a story that spans the pasts and presents of these three women as they attempt to find and understand the truth.

What I Think: At first glance, Seabed seems simple, but it’s a bit of a hard story to explain. In a way, there isn’t much to explain-- it’s a very slow, down-to-earth story that gets almost tedious at times. I think it would be a hard sell to someone who isn’t used to visual novels, but I could imagine it being challenging even for fans. All I’ll say is this: if you give Seabed a chance, it will draw you into a surreal, gentle, melancholy tale akin to slowly sinking beneath the water of a strange, yet not unfriendly sea. For its simplicity, it’s got quite a few surprises in its long, long runtime, and any attempt to explain further will just ruin an experience that’s meant to wash over the reader over time. The only thing I’ll say is the one thing I think everyone knows: the climax will make you cry.

Where To Get It: Seabed is published in English through Fruitbat Factory and is available on Steam, Itch.io, and Nintendo Switch.

SHWD

What It Is: A manga by Sono. Ongoing.

What It’s About: Sawada is one of the few women working for the Special Hazardous Waste Disposal, and the only one in her office. But that changes when the stunningly-strong yet staggeringly-sweet Koga is hired, and the two become close in no time. Sawada trains Koga and soon the two go on their first mission to dispose of the “hazardous waste” left after a recent war… the dangerous, organic anti-human weapons known as the Dynamis.

What I Think: SHWD opens with several close-ups of Sawada’s arm muscles as she works out. I have found that page alone is sometimes enough to convince someone to read SHWD, and if not, pictures of Sawada and-- especially-- Koga are often enough to do the job. In all seriousness, what I love about SHWD can be summarized by something Sono said in an interview about the manga:

‘The first motivating force was "I want to write a yuri manga featuring strong women." I was very drawn to strong female characters by watching "PERSON of INTEREST" and "Assassin's Creed Odyssey." However, I felt that I should differentiate myself by doing something other than a "strong woman" and "weak woman" dynamic. So, I thought about coupling women with different types of strength. This is why all of the SHWD main characters are "strong women."’

It’s a mindset I love a lot. Koga is remarkably strong in a physical sense, but her mental fortitude is fragile due to her past experiences with the Dynamis, and as such, it’s Sawada who uses her immense mental strength to support her. Indeed, every character in SHWD so far bears intense trauma born of the Dynamis in some way, and it’s hard to see how their pasts still hurt them in the present. But that just makes it satisfying to see these women come together to support one another. SHWD drew me in with a unique and often dark action-oriented story with horror elements, but it’s this idea of “strong women” who make up for each other’s weaknesses that really makes it dear to me.

Also, it can’t be stated enough that Sono is so so so so so (etc) good at drawing muscular women.

On a completely unrelated note, there’s a side story about Koga and Sawada playing sports together. This includes judo. I am saying this for no reason.

Where To Get It: The English translation of the manga is released in chapters by Lilyka Manga.

Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!

What It Is: A two volume light novel series by Ameko Kaeruda, illustrated by Kazutomo Miya. Possibly complete.

What It’s About: Tanya Artemiciov is an absurdly talented Mage. So why the hell was she kicked out of her adventuring party? Her leader and former friend sums it up in four words: “You’re a woman, Tanya.” In a fit of rage, Tanya channels her anger into a “venting” session that involves swearing her head of and casting a volley of Explosion spells into the wasteland… and accidentally releases a legendary sorceress! Luckily, Laplace is actually quite nice, and just as powerful as the legends say, so the two decide to team up so Tanya can have her revenge!

What I Think: So, this is a silly one, but after a couple of darker entries I think it’s a good palate cleanser. Sexiled is a loud, not-even-remotely subtle, unabashedly feminist take on the “power fantasy” light novel, especially the “revenge fantasy” subgenre-- and even if that sounds awesome on paper to you (ex. me), it will probably feel over-the-top at times to you (ex. me). But in a way, that’s actually kind of its charm.

I like that Kaeruda utterly refuses to let up on what she wants to tell you, especially because the story was inspired by a real case in Japan. One may be tempted to think “this story is ridiculous, no one would ever be this cartoonishly sexist!” and then you read a news article about how in a famous Japanese medical university was found rigging the test scores of women, and you realize, “oh, people are still this cartoonishly sexist.” So I’m fine with Kaeruda letting it all out in this story. At the same time, I think Sexiled is best when it’s focused not on Tanya’s revenge but on her kindness, and the way her compassion, her strength, and yes, her anger inspires the women and girls around her.

Sexiled is a fun and often very funny romp about assholes getting theirs, with some surprisingly deep and nuanced moments hiding in a very unsubtle story.

Where To Get It: The light novels are published by J-Novel Club and can be found via various digital platforms and bookstores.

BONUS: Other titles with sci-fi/fantasy/action elements that may interest you!

The Blank Of Describer: A one-shot manga by kkzt about a pair of two dream-builders. They’ve taken all kinds of commissions in the past, but one job they recieve throws them for a loop: a request for a shinigami that can predict and report death. And then comes the kicker: the customer asks the two of them to give it features that the both of them “adore the most…” (Published in English by Lilyka Manga)

A Lily Blooms In Another World: A light novel by Ameko Kaeruda (illustrated by Shio Sakura), author of Sexiled, about Miyako, a Japanese wage slave reincarnated into another world based on her favorite otome game. However, she’s not interested in her would-be love interest, but in Fuuka Hamilton-- the game’s villainess! After Miyako confesses her love, Fuuka decides to give her a challenge: if Miyako can make her say the words “I’m happy” in fourteen days, she’ll stay by her side! (Published in English through J-Novel Club, available on various platforms)

Superwomen In Love: An ongoing manga by sometime about the sentai villainess Honey Trap and her infatuation with the masked superheroine Rapid Rabbit. After being kicked out of her evil organization, Honey Trap decides to team up with her former nemesis to fight evil-- and hopefully, find romance! (To be published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment, coming in April 2021)

2. “Yuri is all stories about teenagers! Where’s the stuff about adults?”

Take a look at the previous section: there’s the stuff about adults! Otherside Picnic, Goodbye My Rose Garden, Seabed, SHWD, Sexiled, The Blank of Describer, A Lily Blooms In Another World, and Superwomen In Love are all stories with adult-aged protagonists! But if you’re searching for a more down-to-earth romance, I’m happy to report there’s quite a bit of options to look into!

Still Sick

What It Is: A manga by Akashi. Three volumes, complete.

What It’s About: Makoto Shimizu is an office lady with a secret: she’s a yuri fan who draws doujinshi. She’s able to keep her two lives separate, all until the day she comes face-to-face with her co-worker at a convention! To Makoto’s horror, Akane Maekawa is amused by her nerdy secret, but Akane may have some secrets of her own...

What I Think: This one was a roller coaster for me: I loved the premise of the manga, but wasn’t sure about the dynamic between the leads… that is, until near the end of the first volume, where something happened and everything changed. Without giving too much away, I implore people to give Still Sick a chance-- it has a much deeper story than one might initially guess, as well as an interesting character dynamic between the two leads with some surprising turns.

Where To Get It: The first two volumes of Still Sick are published in English by Tokyopop, with the final one coming soon All three volumes have been published in English by Tokyopop.

After Hours

What It Is: A manga by Yuhta Nishio. Three volumes, complete.

What It’s About: After being ditched by her friend at a club, Emi Ashiana is ready to write the whole night off. All that changes when she meets Kei, a DJ who seems to be everything Emi is not-- cool, confident… employed.... But Kei and Emi hit it off and Emi’s life changes as Kei draws her into the world of Japan’s club scene!

What I Think: It’s hard to explain exactly why I like this manga, but I reeeeally like this manga.

There’s just something about the sleek art, the amazing atmosphere of the scenes set in nightclubs, the chemistry between Emi and Kei, the focus on more mature topics.... it’s a manga that’s remarkably magnetic for how down-to-earth it is. It’s also just interesting to read stories about subcultures that don’t normally get a spotlight in comics. To sum it up, After Hours is just a lovely manga that’s severely underrated that’s perfect for someone who’s looking for a story that’s both fun and mature.

Where To Get It: All three volumes are published in English by Viz Media.

How Do We Relationship?

What It Is: A manga by Tamifull. Ongoing, five volumes at time of writing.

What It’s About: Miwa and Saeko’s first meeting is… interesting. But despite that, and despite their clashing personalities, the two of them become fast friends. Well… actually, perhaps more than friends. You see, pretty soon the two of them learn that the other is into women. With that in mind, Saeko suggests they try dating each other-- might as well, right? “Might as well” seems like a strange place to begin a relationship, but perhaps even something like that could end in true love?

What I Think: “Why do romances always end when they decide to start dating?!” That’s the question Tamifull poses in the afterword of Volume 1. And it’s a great question! What makes How Do We Relationship? an interesting manga is how oddly realistic it is, highlighting things like the compromises people make in relationships, people who get into relationships for pragmatic reasons rather than love, the whole “thing” about sex… as well as highlighting the additional issues queer people have to deal with. That may sound like a heavy story, but it’s actually quite light-hearted, as well as very, very funny at times. With a cute art style and surprisingly deep premise, HDWR is a great manga for older yuri fans who are craving a more mature story.

Where To Get It: The first volume has been published in English by Viz Media, with more on the way.

BONUS: Other titles with adult protagonists that may interest you!

Even Though We’re Adults: A manga by Takako Shimura about two women in their thirties. Ayano and Akari meet each other in a bar and almost immediately feel a sense of chemistry between them. There’s just one problem: Ayano is married to someone else. (To be published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment, coming in January 2021)

Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon: A manga by Shio Usui. Uno Hinako wants nothing more than to be seen as a normal young woman, but she just can’t seem to make a “normal” romance work. But maybe Sato Asahi, a woman who works at the same company as her, can show her a new kind of normal? (To be published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment, coming in February 2021)

Our Teachers Are Dating: A manga by Pikachi Ohi. Hayama Asuka is a gym teacher, Terano Saki is a biology teacher. One day, they come into work both looking suspiciously happy… because they’ve started dating! (Published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment)

I Married My Best Friend To Shut My Parents Up: A one-volume manga by Kodama Naoko. Morimoto is sick and tired about constantly being badgered about finding a man to marry, so her kouhai from her high school days offers a solution: marry each other to make her parents back off! (Published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment)

Now Loading…!: A one-volume manga by Mikan Uji. Takagi has just snagged her dream job at a games publisher, but being put in charge of a mobile game that’s barely pulling in any attention isn’t exactly what she was hoping for. What’s worse, she’s drawn the attention of her strict higher-up Sakurazuki Kaori… who also happened to design her most favorite game of all time?! (Published in English through Seven Seas Entertainment)

3. “Yuri is all schoolgirl stuff! Where’s- wait, didn’t we already do this one?”

Yes we did. And you know what? I’m making a stand! There’s a lot of really, really good yuri stories set in high schools, and I think more people need to give them a chance! Here are some high school titles that I think are worth a second look for one reason or another!

Bloom Into You

What It Is: A manga by Nakatani Nio. Eight volumes, complete. A twelve episode anime aired in 2018, covering about the first half of the series. A three volume spinoff light novel series written by Hitoma Iruma was also published.

What It’s About: Yuu Koito has long dreamed of the day she’d find That One, Storybook Romance that would make her feel like she was walking on air, but the day that a boy confesses to her, her feet remain firmly planted on the ground. When she meets Touko Nanami, a girl who seems to have the same strange, distant relationship to romance as she does, Yuu feels like she has found a comrade. But what will happen when the next person to confess to Yuu… is Touko?

What I Think: What can I say about Bloom Into You that hasn’t already been said? There’s a reason it’s basically considered a staple of yuri despite being only five years old. The art is beautiful and delicate, the story has a deft mastery of comedy, drama, and romance, and the characters are deeply loveable. Really, the only reason this one is here is to tell you to get to reading this manga (or watching the anime) if you haven’t already. So get to it!

Where To Get It: The entire series-- as well as the spinoff light novel series Regarding Saeki Sayaka-- has been published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. The anime is currently streaming on HiDive.

Yuri Is My Job

What It Is: A manga by Miman. Ongoing, seven volumes at time of writing.

What It’s About: Hime wants nothing more than to be adored by everyone and to someday bag a rich husband. Of course, being loved by all takes a lot of work, and she prides herself in keeping her perfect, adorable facade so well-maintained. But of course, the one time she slips up, she ends up injuring the manager of a local cafe! Hime finds herself strong-armed into working for this cafe under their star employee, a kind, graceful girl named Mitsuki. But things aren’t quite so simple-- you see, this cafe has a gimmick in which all the employees are constantly acting out yuri-inspired scenes for the customers, so in a way, the employees also have their own facades. And under her facade, Mitsuki… hates Hime’s guts!

What I Think: Yuri Is My Job is an odd duck, but in a good way. It’s advertised and initially framed as a comedy, but it becomes a surprisingly thoughtful drama about the personas people adopt and why they do so (though, luckily, the comedy never truly goes away). There’s an interesting web of relationships between the girls, and having those interactions take place in a setting where they must act out a completely different sort of drama adds an extra level of drama and intrigue. The cute, polished artwork is just the icing on the cake. YIMJ is a good manga for those who are already familiar with yuri tropes and those who are interested in a drama that doesn’t get too heavy.

Where To Get It: Six volumes have been published in English by Kodansha comics, with the seventh on the way.

Riddle Story of Devil

What It Is: A manga written by Yun Kouga and illustrated by Sunao Minakata. Five volumes, complete. A 12 episode anime aired in 2014.

What It’s About: At Myojo Private School, an elite all-girl’s academy, Class Black has a secret. Twelve of the thirteen girls are actually assassins who have been offered a dark deal-- one wish will be granted to whoever manages to kill Haru Ichinose, the thirteenth student. But there’s still hope for Haru in the form of Tokaku Azuma, one of the assassins who has decided to defect to Haru’s side-- and defend her from the other girls at any cost.

What I Think: I’m not sure… if I can say Riddle Story of Devil is “good.” It’s definitely something. Although its premise is vaguely similar to Revolutionary Girl Utena, its tone and atmosphere remind me a lot more of the Dangan Ronpa series. It’s schlocky and ridiculous and often over-the-top and at times exploitative. It’s pure junk food, basically… and I believe that’s where the charm comes from. It’s my guiltiest of guilty pleasures. It may not exactly be good, but more often than not, it’s fun. It’s hard not to be immediately interested in a yuri battle series, you have to admit.

And if it does have one undeniably good element, it’s Tokaku and Haru’s relationship. They contrast each other nicely, and while one might expect Haru to be boring and helpless, she’s actually quite proactive at times, and some of the most interesting, engaging parts of the series come from seeing how the two work together to fend off the latest assassin. It’s a short read and if anything, it’s worth it to see how each girl ends up. I recommend it for older viewers who are okay with violence and ludicrous battle scenarios.

Where To Get It: All five volumes are available through Seven Seas Entertainment. The anime can be watched through Funimation.*

*Please don’t watch the anime.**

** At the very least, please don’t watch the anime unless you’ve read the entire manga. Riddle Story Of Devil was one of those unfortunate cases where the anime adaption was produced before the manga reached its conclusion, and as such it has a very strange, rushed ending that includes none of what I enjoyed about the actual ending. Several scenes were also changed, and if I recall correctly, fanservice was added in several places where there was none previously. All in all, I’d really only recommend it for big fans of the series.

Side By Side Dreamers

What It Is: A light novel by Iori Miyazawa, illustrated by Akane Malbeni. One volume, complete.

What It’s About: Saya Hokage has been suffering from insomnia, but one day finds relief in the form of Hitsuji Konparu, a strange girl who can put people to sleep. As it turns out, Hitsuji is a person who has the special ability to move freely in their dreams, known as a “Sleepwalker.” The Sleepwalkers have been battling beings that possess people through their dreams, and it turns out they want Saya to join them in the fight.

What I Think: Side By Side Dreamers is short and… well, dreamy. I really enjoyed the premise and I think it’s a good novel for people who think Otherside Picnic may be a little too much for them. I also enjoyed each dream sequence-- I tend to find that the writing in light novels is a little dry, so the use of figurative language to describe these scenes was really refreshing and interesting. SBSD is a fun oneshot that I think is especially ideal for newcomers to yuri.

Where To Get It: Side-by-Side Dreamers is published by J-Novel Club and can be found via various digital platforms and bookstores.

Cocoon Entwined

What It Is: A manga by Yuriko Hara. Three volumes, ongoing.

What It’s About: Hoshimiya Girls' Academy is a strange, almost otherworldly paradise with a peculiar tradition. For all three years, each girl grows out her hair to absurd, breathtaking lengths, in order for it to eventually be cut and weaved into uniforms for future students. Perhaps it is these strange uniforms that seem to whisper about the past that makes the school seem frozen in another time… picturesque, yet stagnant. But one day, a shocking incident shatters the quiet peace of the academy, and the tumultuous feelings that have long been hidden in the hearts of these girls come rushing into the light.

What I Think: Cocoon Entwined is, in a word, eerie. It’s not marketed as a horror story, and I don’t think it’s intended to be one, but I’ve seen some that say they get horror vibes from it. I definitely understand that-- there’s a deep sense of unease that permeates the entire story in a way that’s a bit hard to articulate. The running thread of uniforms made from human hair definitely doesn’t hurt (it does-- I’ve seen many people understandably turned off by this element), but it’s more than that. It’s the sense that everything at Hoshimiya feels frozen and fragile. It’s the sense that everyone is burying their true feelings under countless layers. It’s the fact that in one scene, Saeki reaches out in a dark room full of uniforms and feels her arm touched by countless hands made of hair.

Cocoon Entwined is a strange manga, and I feel it’s not for everyone-- besides the way many are put off by the central premise, the way that the story jumps around in time can be a bit confusing to follow. But in my opinion, I love it for these elements: the uniforms and their marriage between beauty and grotesque, the sense of frozen time, the delicate artwork that feels like it might be shattered by the weight of your gaze, the strange, airless atmosphere, the girls and their clear exhaustion of having to be ideal women. It’s a strange little series that I think should be given a shot, particularly if you want something a little more out there, or a darker take on Class S tropes.

Where To Get It: Yen Press has currently published two volumes in English.

BONUS: Other high school titles that may interest you!

A Tropical Fish Yearns For Snow: A manga by Makoto Hagino. Konatsu Amano has just moved to a new town by the sea, and must deal with her new school’s mandatory club policy. Luckily, she meets Koyuki Honami, an older girl who runs the Aquarium Club. Recognizing her loneliness, Konatsu decides to join her club. (Published in English by Viz Media)

Flowers: A four-part series of visual novels published by Innocent Grey. Flowers focuses on Saint Angraecum Academy, a private high school that prides itself on overseeing the growth of proper young ladies. One notable thing about the academy is the Amitié program, a system that pairs students together in order to foster friendships between the girls. But friendship isn’t the only thing blooming… (Available in English from Steam, J-List, and JAST USA)

Adachi And Shimamura: A series of light novels written by Hitoma Iruma and illustrated by Non that has recently received a manga adaptation and an anime adaption. Adachi and Shimamura are two girls who encounter each other one day while cutting class. Little by little, the two girls become a part of each other’s lives, and feelings begin to form. (The light novels are published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment, the anime is licensed by Funimation)

And there we go! 24 different yuri titles. I didn’t even go into the series that I tried but personally didn’t like that still might interest other people. I primarily made this list to gush about yuri that I liked, but I also tried to include a fairly wide range of things so that, hopefully, any random person who read this whole list could find at least one new title that interests them. And I hope that includes you!

The yuri scene is quite large and wonderful if you know where to look, and it too often gets a bad rap. I hope that this list could give you a new perspective on what kinds of titles are available, and I hope it gives you something new to try. And remember: if you want something specific, try looking for it! There’s a good chance the story you’re craving is already out there, waiting to be discovered!

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crystalkleure · 3 years ago

Photo

Haha hey remember that post I made awhile back, speculating on what a bad idea it might be to fuse dead things in the godless Frankenstein fossil machine

Meet White. He is a reanimated corpse. Two of them, actually. Or more like 1.5. [And I whipped up this half-assed partial reference sheet in one night instead of sleeping, so don’t look too hard at the chickenscratch lineart and visible guidelines, and kindly ignore the total lack of shading as well as any other messy jankiness.]

White is a product of me wondering not only about what happens if you NecroFuse a human with a Pokemon, but also what happens if you make it even worse and specifically fuse that human with a Pokemon capable of mega evolution. Because canon seems to imply that mega evolving is at best deeply uncomfortable -- and at worst outright agonizing -- for whatever creature is going through it.

Character Lore under the cut. Lots of text:

White is one of actually multiple undead guys who got mashed together with bits of dead Pokemon. They’re science experiments, so they've got the dex numbers of the Pokemon they're spliced with tattooed on the backs of their necks, and those numbers were treated as their names In The Evil Science Lab.

In his Original Life, White [and some of his buddies] got gored to death by some escaped Horrible Fucking Monsters that were accidentally [...and then not-so-accidentally] created via Two Pokemon At Once In A Fossil Resurrection Machine, because hey, it is SUPER easy to think you got Just One Thing's Bones from an excavation dig but then later you realize that Some Of Those Bones were from something TOTALLY different that just died in the same place. It happens. So, some Fossil Scientist People accidentally resurrected an Abomination, realized they fucked up pretty fast...and then started wondering if they REALLY fucked up or if this is Cool, Actually. And then the team of Science People split into two Morality Factions, with one half being like “This is unethical as shit, we need to make sure this doesn't happen again because it's not natural so who knows how this poor fucked up creature is suffering” and the other, cooler half being like “WE NEED TO DO THIS AGAIN RIGHT NOW BECAUSE SCIENCE. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES HOLY SHIT.”

Cooler group splits off from the Horrified Group With Morals, and they promptly use their Science Knowledge to Construct More Machines and Make More Monsters. Doesn't take too long for them to realize, however, that Abomination Pokemon are stupidly hard to control, because not only are they suffering, their masters obviously don't care for their wellbeing, so Revolt Inevitably Occurs and they escape to wreak havoc upon the nearest congregation of townspeople. They promptly maul some people to death at a nearby local rock concert, scientists chase after them to clean up the mess, realize “Oh Shit, Manslaughter Charges Impending”, and then realize...

Science Guy 1: “...Hey, what happens if you put a dead person in the fossil machine?”

Science Guy 2: “Hey, people probably listen better than Pokemon. We can, like, TALK to people.”

Science Guy 3: “Lads, I got a stellar idea just now. And we got plenty of Dead Guys to start with right here! Great way to hide the bodies too, probably.”

This goes approximately as well as you would expect, and precisely as ethically. A smashing success!

However, because they Fucking Died, the reanimated Newly-Monsterized dudes do not remember shit about who they were pre-resurrection. They're not technically even the same people, they’re more like clones. They've been remade. So, all they know now is Science Lab Life, and they have no initial attachment to eachother aside from "that other guy is also a Science Experiment Person just like me, so Same Hat @ Labrat Neighbour ig", in spite of several having been friends or even family prior to death. They also just...don’t know/remember things in general. They are fresh blank slates. And to a morally-bankrupt team of scientists, that’s perfect! They can train these guys to behave however they please!

...However, people might be People Instead Of Animals, meaning they can be Reasoned With And Manipulated And Coerced far better than animals due to their far better communication abilities with the Science People, but...there is Still A Problem in the sense that Holy Shit, A Person Can Only Take So Much. You can only treat someone as "Experiment [number]" for so long, blatantly putting no value on their life outside of The Value Of Scientific Research, in spite of literally basically needing to raise them like a normal child due to the Lack Of Memories issue. Eventually they're not gonna be able to take that anymore and they are gonna Fucking Leave, too. And they’re gonna be much harder to track down than the rampaging Pokemon were. Impossible, actually, once they’ve ripped out their tracking chips.

So then there's just these monster dudes, who don't actually know what they are because they weren't ever told anything more than necessary to get them to cooperate with Tests And Experiments, just Escaped Into Civilization and having NO idea how Anything works. Fun! Especially considering how, at first glance, these just look like Normal Dudes. Their monster bits either aren't apparent or just look like funky body modifications.

They've also got Science Things in them and they Don't Know What The Fuck Those Things Even Are. They've just got these little Devices in/on their chests, and they were never informed of the exact functions of them because there's no reason to explain to the experiment What Is Happening, just that the experiment needs to Hold Still and Cooperate and Now Do This, Now Do This, Now Do That, Good Job That's Enough For Today, etc.

Those devices contain both key stones and mega stones.

If you were a Mad Pokemon Scientist, you would most certainly be interested in the mega evolution phenomenon. What would YOU do if some of your Undead Fusion Experiments happened to be spliced with bits of Pokemon known to be capable of mega evolving? You’d kill two birds with one enigmatic set of stones, that’s what you’d do. Your Frankenstein Experiments can even TALK to you and tell you exactly what they are experiencing when you run tests on them! It’s perfect!

So, if a rock-bearing monster’s heart rate goes too high, part of the little device, which is a barrier between one type of rock and the other, opens up and Exposes One Rock To The Other Rock. Which exposes the monster to the Rock Energy Reaction. The greater the stress, the higher the dose. And I’m sure you can see the snowball effect that’s gonna create, at least the first time or two.

They were INTENDED to eventually be made to Physically Fight With Eachother to gauge the effects of The Rocks™️ when the Guys With The Rocks are under Stress and need to Do Some Self-Defense. The Science Squad was basically trying to suss out the Actual Purpose of mega evolution. Because mega evolution is weird -- it puts ENORMOUS stress on the body of whatever is undergoing it, so the hypothesis was that its true power is probably drawn out best via a perceived life-threatening situation, like it’s a type of hysterical strength, because what else would cause a need for that kind of ability. And aren’t ethics a bit overrated?

So, there’s our premise. White is just wandering around without any particular purpose outside of never ever going back to Science Hell, and he has no clue what the funny little doohickey buried in his chest does until it activates one day and absolutely fucks him up [...as well as everyone around him. Mega Absol radiate an Aura Of Sheer Terror that can literally scare people with weak hearts to death if they’re not careful.]

And now, some Miscellaneous Character Info:

The bit about Lots Of Death happening at a rock concert specifically was important. White was actually the vocalist of the band that was playing. He doesn’t remember that now, but he still loves music and has the same strong vocal cords. And THAT is important because White is partially an Absol now and Absol naturally learns Perish Song. These Fusion Monsters are absolutely capable of using Pokemon moves, though whether they’re aware of this is a different matter entirely. Imagine what happens when they end up tapping into those abilities accidentally.

That band was a relatively-unknown little local band. White was by no means anywhere near famous. Very few people even realized he was gone, and most of the ones who would have noticed also ended up Equally Unalive.

That black stuff between the belts on White’s arms is mesh. Like, stocking mesh. It gets Ripped The Fuck Apart when he goes Mega Mode and his arm fur gets Extra Spiky. Hence one stocking being a bit tattered in that reference pic. He frequently has to replace those things, they are fragile.

“How did White get his name if he doesn’t remember his original name and didn’t have a real name in the lab” I am glad you asked! Post-escape, he eventually encountered a situation where someone asked him what his name was, he bluntly told them “I don’t have one. I am #359.”, they said “Well That Is Not A Name, I need something proper to call you”, and he was just...Super Apathetic. So, the other person picked out the name “White” just based on the fact that White’s hair is white, and he just shrugged and rolled with it.

As you can see in my Incredibly Quick And Rough Sketches, the backs of White’s shirts are open to accommodate that huge amount of fur that bristles out into false wings when he goes Mega Mode. Because his Actual Normal Hair is relatively long and overlaps with that fur, it blends in with his Actual Normal Hair and doesn’t look too odd [when it’s down]. Probably mostly because nobody’s expecting it to be anything OTHER than Perfectly Normal Hair That Just Happens To Be Very Long.

White does not particularly like violence. White does not want to beat you up. He will, though, without a bit of hesitation, if there’s some logical reason he feels like it’s the most practical course of action. Being essentially raised by Cold, Emotionally-Sterile Scientists With No Care For The Wellbeing Other Living Beings uh, tends to affect a guy a little bit. White has a bit of an internal dilemma regarding “It would be efficient for me to just Harm This Other Person to defuse the current situation, because attempting nonviolence will be overall more risky somehow” vs. “Holy shit it feels bad when I hurt people. Why does it feel bad when I hurt people. Is it...SUPPOSED to feel bad when I hurt people?? No one ever felt bad for hurting me.” He Figures Out How Empathy Works Eventually. He is a good guy at heart. He is a Monotone Snarker, but not actually Cold or Malicious at all.

If an Absol can do it, White can probably do it. He has incredibly keen senses and a STRONG ability to Detect Impending Doom. He has exactly the amount of Supernatural Absol Powers you would expect. He is also stupidly physically strong, way more so than he appears to be.

White can’t punch people. Look at the fist he’s making in the pic, he’s doing it wrong. If you punch someone like that, you WILL break your own thumb. That’s not a Revving Up To Sock Someone pose, he’s just tense. He’s using his thumb as a buffer between his long-ass Sharp As Fuck claws and the flesh of his palm. If White tries to punch anybody, or just makes a proper fist at all, he will impale his own hand on his nails. Like, all the way through. He CAN slash straight through things like metal and bone with those claws, though.

White...is unsettling. Completely accidentally, and unknowingly. He just radiates an Aura Of Intimidation [...or Pressure], even when not in Mega Mode, that scales depending on his mood. Just being near him tends to put people and Pokemon on edge. Thus, he’s generally avoided.

The latter point is especially unfortunate, because White’s preferred method of Socializing and Bonding is to just kind of quietly hang out in the same room as whoever he is trying to Socialize and Bond with. He just wants to, like...chill out Near A Buddy and watch a movie and share a bag of chips or something. His social skills are predictably not good.

#DO YOU LIKE MY TOTALLY NORMAL GUY #HE SUFFERS #He's pretty though and that's what actually matters here right #I need to draw the other Totally Normal Guys sometime too. White is Part Of A Set.#Pokemon #CK's art #OCs #I have Long Pointy Fingernails myself can you tell

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astrayas-misadventures · 3 years ago

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Journal Entry Three

4E 201, 5th Frostfall

Once I entered Dead Man’s Respite, I immediately noticed a sort of apparition in the chamber ahead of me. I lost sight of it quickly, however, as I was caught off guard by the draugr protecting the place. I kept noticing it just ahead of me, though, as I proceeded through the ruins. Eventually I came to a place where I was horrified to discover that the only way I could proceed was to jump down into a cavern of water. I’m not the best swimmer, and I must say that deep water is one of my biggest fears... However, Sofia was able to convince me to jump down while she waited at the top in case I needed help getting out. Luckily, it wasn’t much of a drop, and there was a short passage that lead out into another chamber where the water only reached up past my ankles. After that was more of the usual - making our way through the ruins, trying not to get injured.

Then I came upon quite a strange scene. As it turns out, that apparition was leading me to the verse. The book was clutched in the arms of a corpse, and I can only assume that it was the body of whatever soul was guiding me. What I found even more interesting is that nearly half the lines inside were blacked out with ink. Here is what I could read: “O, Olaf, our subjugator, the one-eyed betrayer; death-dealing demon and dragon-killing King. Your legend is lies, lurid and false; your cunning capture of Numinex, a con for the ages. (Marked out words) Olaf grabbed power, by promise and threat; From Falkreath to Winterhold, they fell to their knees; But Solitude stood strong, Skyrim’s truest protectors. Olaf’s vengeance was instant, inspired and wicked. (Marked out words) So ends the story of Olaf the liar, a theif and a scoundrel we of Solitude commit to the fire. In Solitude bards train for their service, they also gather each year and burn a king who deserves it.”

On the way out, that apparition appeared again, lifting some kind of barrier on a door and charging through with its ghostly blade drawn. Inside was another one of those “claw doors” like in Bleak Falls. I used the one I found upon entering and was able to pass through it into a large, spacious chamber.

I must say, through everything I’ve experienced in my life, hearing that spirit shout, “Olaf, it is time!” has got to be one of the strangest things I’ve seen. What followed was essentially a battle between the living and dead. Sofia, myself, as well as the spirit slew quite a handful of draugr, and then went up against the corpse of King Olaf One-Eye himself... Sometimes I wonder if I’m going mad, but then I realize that the injuries I sustain are very real.

There was at least some decent loot to be found in the ruins. I hope that I will be able to finish the house soon with the coin I get from it. Ah, well. I’m off back to Solitude, then home. After this, I think I’ll take a break from adventuring for a while.

#skyrim #skyrim oc #altmer #altmer girlboss astraya #journal #skyrim journal #oc journal

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kenpxchi · 4 years ago

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hellish. || origin

Hell in the world of Bleach is a crazy place.

In the movie and novels, it is given far more lore than in the manga, with its own locales. However, the interesting thing about Hell is that it predates the creation of the three main worlds of Bleach (Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, and the Living World). Moreover, as revealed in Can’t Fear Your Own World, the Soul King was born into a world overrun by Hollows, and was essentially the first Quincy, as they completely eliminated any Hollows they found, but their actions earned grave consequences.

Interestingly enough, the existence of Hell predates the existence of even the Soul King itself. It has somehow always been there, always accepting those worthy of its punishment. Moreover, Hell seems to have an affinity with Hollows and those with Hollow-like abilities, trying to draw out the Hollow within.

In light of this, here’s my theory: Hell is the ultimate origin of all Hollows, and Kenpachi has a connection to it.

I’m gonna be making some crazy cosmology theories below the cut.

Exhibit A: Chains and Fate

Hell is bound by a gate of chains, and any sinners who escape it are forcibly dragged back by chains that link them to Hell. Similarly, when a soul becomes a Hollow, its Chain of Fate is completely dissolved through the process of Encroachment. Moreover, when the soul of a sinner, a Togabito, manages to escape hell, they must constantly hide their face with a mask. Moreover, in the manga (Volume imaginary number 01. the unforgivens, which is helpful if you want icons of Szayel & Aaroniero), it is revealed that Hollows and even Arrancar, who are composites of hundreds of thousands of Souls, retain their original form in Hell.

So, here’s my theory: the first Hollows were Togabito who managed to escape Hell by severing themselves from the chains that bound them and wearing masks to remain hidden, but in the process, they lost their identity and became monsters. As for why Arrancar appear in Hell, it is likely so that the individual souls that make up their being can slowly be torn away and sifted through, so that the innocent souls can leave and the guilty remain trapped. In the beginning, since there was no life or death, there really only remains one dichotomy between the unified world and Hell.

The unified world was where good people lived in peace, and Hell was where bad people were punished. Or, at least, the bad people who got caught. And this has remained Hell’s purpose for the entirety of time immemorial: to punish Togabito and make them suffer. Which brings me to my next point.

Exhibit B: The Denial of Suffering

Now, as we all know, due to the Soul King completely erasing the Hollows, the balance of the world began to destabilize. The Soul King was willingly split into pieces by the original five Noble Houses of the Soul Society, and the world was divided up into three different pieces: Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, and the Living World. However, there are some pretty significant plot holes which I hope to address.

Why would the Soul King’s actions destabilize the world if there was no life or afterlife, and therefore, no balance of souls between them?

Simple. Hell was being denied its suffering. By completely annihilating a Hollow, you’re essentially destroying it quickly, cleanly, and without any punishment for its misdeeds. Hell, obviously, is going to be very angry about this, as it was robbed of its escaped prisoners, assuming my cosmology theory is correct. This would definitely lead to a destabilization event. The caretakers of Hell, the Kushanada, are indestructible juggernauts who eat sinners (this is what we in the business call foreshadowing, kids).

You would not want them getting mad and coming out of Hell to ruin your day, Soul King or not, because not only are they entirely indestructible, they can pool their power together into a single entity (or person, if you’re the protagonist) capable of damning someone to eternal torment. No matter what you can do, no matter how strong you are, if the Kushanada deem you a sinner, and all unite to come after you, prepare for literally eternal pain.

So, now the decision to take a nigh-omnipotent and omniscient god, cut him into pieces, stick him in a crystal, and split the world apart sounds a bit more reasonable considering the alternative would be to doom the entirety of all sentient beings to unending agony at the hands of the Kushanada.

Why would the Soul King agree to being sealed in the first place?

Simple. He realize that if his actions doomed the entire world to Hell, that whatever fate awaited him there would be worse than being dismembered and sealed away for eternity acting as the lynchpin between all three worlds. Faced with this choice, any sane person would take the option with less pain... as grisly as that option may be.

Why would the Soul King create a place for Hollows if he wanted to kill all of them?

My guess is that if the Soul King was kind enough to be hacked up for the sake of the world, the reason he was completely erasing Hollows in the first place was in order to protect them from eternal torment in Hell. Unlike the Kushanada, who thrive on making sinners suffer forever, the Soul King likely held the belief that people can change, and don’t deserve such cruelty. So, Hueco Mundo was created as a world that gives Hollows some respite from the horrors of Hell, which are apparently worse than a desert full of cannibalism and death. However, that’s me psychoanalyzing a character who has no dialogue in the manga proper, and is mostly used as a plot device until he dies. Nice job killing him, Ichigo.

Now, having patched up some of the plot holes with liberal application of assumptions and theory, let’s move on to Kenpachi’s connection to it.

Exhibit C: Suffering in the Separate Worlds

So, the Soul King and his five teenagers with attitude noble family heads all managed to appease Hell somehow. However, this likely wasn’t all they did to keep Hell from engulfing everything. Remember how earlier I said that the original, unified world was a place where only good people lived? Now, look at the three disparate worlds.

Hueco Mundo is a barren wasteland ruled by the strongest, who exploit and devour the weak. Soul Society is an authoritarian nightmare with a disparity in class living conditions so stark it’s worse than some caste systems. The World of the Living is... well. We all live in it, and we know how it’s going. So what happened to each of these three worlds to make them so bleak?

My guess is that Hell demanded to have its own little piece of itself in each of these new worlds, in order to make up for all the suffering that was lost due to the Soul King’s actions. It’s why Bleach is a horrifically depressing world. The Soul King defied the guys who believe in eternal punishment. Disproportionate retribution was bound to occur in that situation.

Now, to sprinkle in a little more theory. There are locations in these three worlds that have a strong connection to Hell. They aren’t set in stone; they’re simply the locations where the most suffering occurs. Kushanada are drawn to it, since it’s usually where their prey is causing trouble. One such location might be the Outer Rukon.

Specifically, Northern District 80: Zaraki.

The Nameless Boy

So, in light of all this headcanon lore and all these attempts to plug up the plot holes of Bleach, we come to the origins of Kenpachi Zaraki, the man who was born in the most hellish district in the Rukon. I’m still going with the idea of him being the son of a sex worker who fell pregnant and fled to Zaraki. However, we don’t know who the father is.

The mother goes into labor and dies in childbirth. Shortly after, her baby dies. However, because the baby is born in a literal actual hellhole, there’s an innate connection to the energies of Hell, which thrive on suffering. The baby wound up forging a connection to it, as its death in such close proximity to Hell at such a young age would likely grab the attention of the Kushanada, who would be somewhat miffed that they were denied such good suffering.

So what do they do? They decide to put a little piece of Hell into the baby, as retribution for their loss. And so, the baby boy comes back to life. He eats the corpse of his mother, grows old enough to escape the basement he’d been hiding in his entire life, and goes out to start killing.

This gives us a few interesting implications:

The reason Kenpachi doesn’t stay dead is because he cannot stay dead. He’s meant to be a piece of Soul Society forever corrupted by Hell, and to act as an agent of the Kushanada. It’s why he heals so quickly and just keeps getting back up no matter what he gets hit with.

Kenpachi’s impossible durability and horrifying strength come from his connection to Hell, as does his seemingly unending pool of reiatsu, mimicking the Kushanada.

Because Kenpachi gets stronger every time he dies, even after unlocking the unconscious seal he placed on himself, he’s tapping more and more into his connection to Hell whenever he dies.

When Kenpachi goes to the Living World, he is literally Hell on Earth.

tl;dr - Kenpachi is Bleach’s version of Ghost Rider.

Anyway, that’s my spiel. If there are any inconsistencies, feel free to DM me and let me know.

#;; under the patch #;; headcanon #;; drabble

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evil-slytherin-queen · 4 years ago

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More Than Our Blood

WARNING: physical and verbal abuse, homophobia, racism, child abuse, small amount of blood

It was a few days after winter break, and so far it had been rather uneventful which was, in Harry's opinion, an extremely good thing. No one had confessed their undying love for him, no one had spread any rumors about his relationship, and no one had harassed Draco either. So far things were looking very good.

Harry and Ron were walking through one of the outside corridors, returning to the common room after a day of classes, when the pair unexpectedly rammed into a bunch of other students. The two Gryffindor's exchanged exasperated looks. Large groups of students gathered together never meant good things for them. They usually ended in fights and house points being taken away. Reluctantly, they pushed past the dense and chattering crowd only to find Draco and an older wizard in the middle of it all.

It seemed Harry spoke too soon.

This would most certainly be an event.

Harry's eyebrows knitted together and his green eyes shone with worry as he watched the older wizard shout at Draco. He was slightly taller than Draco with the trademark silvery blond hair of a Malfoy that reached far past his shoulders. A permanent snarl stayed on his lips almost like a wolf baring its teeth, and that fact alone made Harry feel even more unsettled at the thought of this man yelling at Draco. He also took notice of the cane the man held that had a snake’s head as the handle, no doubt a wand hidden inside of it, which furthered his cruel-looking image.

Must be Draco's father.

Harry chewed on his lower lip worriedly. He'd only ever met Draco's mother, a lovely witch who was equal parts elegant, kind, and fierce. No wonder she had left Mr. Malfoy. He was vile, cruel, and pathetic. The complete opposite of the refined woman she was.

As far as Harry knew she'd raised Draco by herself other than the odd holiday or weekend he was forced to spend with his father, something Harry's boyfriend complained about constantly. Although, now that he thought about it, Draco hadn't complained about his father in quite a while. He'd actually been rather quiet about it lately. But Harry had just assumed he hadn't been to see his father in a while. That was his mistake.

He tuned into Lucius Malfoy's shouting then, his voice rising even louder than before. It bounced and echoed throughout the courtyard, grating Harry's nerves.

"You're as worthless as your good for nothing mother-"

"I'm sor-"

"Do not interrupt me when I am speaking!" Lucius Malfoy hissed as he raised his right hand and struck Draco across the face. A sickening clap rang out in the courtyard as Draco let his head fall forward till it hung in shame, his eyes glued to his feet and a red handprint surfaced on his pale cheek. The courtyard was now completely silent of all of the students’ whispers. Many had sympathetic eyes focused on Draco, but a small few, including many Gryffindor's, were looking smug about the harm that had come to him. Bloody bastards, he couldn't help who his father was any more than Harry could.

Rage blossomed in Harry's chest like a roaring wildfire as he shoved his books into the nearest students’ arms, which just so happened to be Ron, and stormed toward the two Malfoy's. His eyes were blazing with anger as he whipped out his wand and harshly pressed it into Lucius Malfoy's neck, completely unfazed by the Death Eater. He stood between one of the most infamous dark wizards and Draco without an ounce of fear. He vaguely remembered Draco calling him stupidly heroic and awfully Gryffindor-ish earlier that year as he did so. Draco was probably correct.

"Touch him again, I dare you." He spat, his face mere inches away from the older man. It was a threat and it came out in a cold and detached tone. He barely contained his urge to curse the old man with something foul and unforgivable. No one was allowed to lay a hand on Draco like that. No one. Not even his loathsome father.

"Look at that, your little half-blood faggot has come to save you. The things your mother allows you to get away with and with a filthy paki no less. You've truly tarnished yourself, Draco." Lucius drawled bitterly as he looked down at Harry with the utmost disgust, his lips curling nastily.

"This does not concern the likes of you," he said, harshly shoving Harry to the ground with a swipe of his cane. Harry let out a growl at the words, blood boiling viciously. Draco wasn't tarnished.

Lucius grabbed onto Draco's forearm tightly, nails digging into his pale flesh. His nails would no doubt leave marks and a possessive part of Harry's brain couldn't help but think that no one other than him should be allowed to leave marks on Draco.

Lucius pulled Draco harshly towards him, little beads of blood surfacing as he tore Draco's delicate skin in the process. And Harry's fury only seemed to grow at his actions. Who cared if Lucius smacked him around and threw slurs at him, but how dare he touch Draco like that! How dare he dig his nails into his arm so painfully that it left blood trickling down onto the cobblestone floor. Harry could see nothing but red as he grit his teeth.

"We are leaving," Lucius announced pulling his son along. Harry looked up from his position on the ground and was seriously debating on whether or not he should just charge at the bloody git who dared harm Draco in his presence. It was, after all, a very tempting idea. But, being the wise person he was, he thought better of it and remained silent. He knew this was something Draco had to do alone. He knew his boyfriend was stronger and braver than anyone gave him credit for. He could do this.

He watched as Draco yanked his arm from Lucius and hurried over to help him up with a soft smile that Harry returned. Harry held firmly to the blond's hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze as Draco faced his horrid father.

"I will not be going with you, Father, and I will be informing Mother of all your doings," Draco looked down at Harry and gave him a smile that melted his heart, before turning and glaring at Lucius, "You ought to leave before she hears, Mother can be ever so nasty when displeased. Besides, there isn't a thing you can do to make me into something I am not. I will never be like you."

Harry did not doubt that Lucius stared horrified as Draco leant down and kissed him square on the mouth. The ferocity behind the kiss left butterflies swirling in Harry's stomach after he pulled away. He truly was head over heels for this boy.

The pair stood staring into one another's eyes until Harry heard Ron shout from somewhere within the crowd.

"Harry, watch out!"

He looked up to find Lucius raising his wand at not him, but Draco with a malicious and manic grin on his face. Harry's eyes flared, his hand clenched around his wand as he lost complete control of his emotions which set off his magic as well. A strong wind whipped around him as he marched towards the Malfoy patriarch, a murderous look on his face.

With a few wordless spells, that he had no idea he was capable of using, he forcefully shoved Lucius against a wall, flicked his wand out of his grip, and had the vines wrap around him keeping him firmly in place.

"I warned you, didn't I?" He hissed with a look that could have made any and every one of the students present in the courtyard turn tail and run. He could hear them gasp at his actions and the faint click and flash of a camera going off somewhere to his left. A small part of him realized this would certainly make the front page of the Daily Prophet later that week. It surely was a sight to behold, the big bad Lucius Malfoy splayed halfway up a wall by a teenager on a rampage. He could see the headlines now, 'Breaking News: The Boy Who Lived Assaults Ex-Death Eater Lucius Malfoy on School Grounds over his Son!'

Good.

They should all know not to mess with Draco unless they wanted to deal with Harry.

"Professor! Harry's gone mad!" Someone squealed from somewhere in the crowd. Harry was too infuriated to look away from Lucius' scowling face to see the crowd part to let both Professor Flitwick and the Headmistress walk in.

"That will be quite enough of that, Mister Potter. Thank you." Headmistress McGonagall said as she laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. The tension in his back bled out as he allowed himself to be maneuvered away from Lucius and into Draco's awaiting arms.

"Mister Black, please take Mister Potter to the infirmary." Professor Flitwick said, gesturing to Harry's arm which had a large gash from elbow to wrist. He hadn't even realized he was bleeding. It didn't even hurt. He supposed that must've been the adrenaline. Draco nodded dumbly, a dazed look on his face as he began to pull Harry away from his spiteful father. And Harry would have let him too if Lucius Malfoy hadn't felt the need to open his mouth and speak again.

"Just you wait, Draco, I'll beat the disobedience out of you if I must, but you will not disgrace the Malfoy name with such revolting dalliances any longer!"

Harry shrugged off his hands and turned back around to storm up to Lucius, digging his wand back into the old wizard’s throat. The older man flinched at Harry's actions and went to speak again when he cast a silent Langlock, effectively gluing his tongue to the roof of his mouth and silencing him.

"Come near him again and I will be the one in Azkaban." He growled lowly, his heart pounding, eyes narrowed, and a cruel curl to his lips. No one dared touch him, his hair standing on end, magic angrily crackling around him.

"You are nothing! Nothing, but a pathetic, racist, homophobic, blood purist, and entitled prick. Just a stupid bully who never grew up. You couldn’t be more worthless if you tried," He pressed the tip of his wand further into his neck, if it had been a knife it would have more than drawn blood, and leant in leaving them nearly nose to nose, his voice dangerously low as he continued, "Draco is a Black, he may be a Malfoy by blood but he has never represented you or your awful family. I will kill you next time, Lucius, do not doubt that."

With that he drew back and smiled venomously, patting the older man’s cheek. It was a purely condescending gesture and Harry watched as Lucius angrily threw his head in the opposite direction of his touch. Like he was poison, like it burned. Harry hoped it did.

"Have a lovely time trying to deal with Narcissa Black once she hears about all this, I'm sure she'll gladly put the fear of Circe into you herself." Harry laughed coldly, then turned and pulled a stunned Draco towards the hospital wing.

• • •

Once they had gotten to the infirmary, Harry continuously refused treatment until Draco was healed, effectively pissing off Madame Pomfrey in the process and making him bleed all over her pristine floors. But he was adamant. He didn't want Lucius' marks all over Draco any longer than they needed to be. And Draco didn't need the reminder, neither did Harry.

He said nothing as he watched Madame Pomfrey clean up his boyfriend. He silently pet Draco's hair and rubbed his back soothingly as she gave him a calming draught for the panic attack that seized him after he'd snapped out of his stunned stupor. Harry stayed that way as she healed him and finally finished flitting around them anxiously, leaving them alone with an exasperated huff.

Harry sat propped up against the pillows an armful of pretty blond. Draco was curled up against his body, a shaky hand clinging to his shirt as they cuddled in a cot. Despite the near foot he had over Harry he always was more of a little spoon.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Harry," Draco murmured looking up at Harry from where he was tucked into his arms. His pretty silver eyes, red-rimmed from the hysterical crying he had done a few minutes prior. He sighed and kissed Draco's temples.

"I know," Harry hummed, pressing his nose to Draco's hair and breathing him in, the smell of green apples and parchment settling his nerves. Draco was fine. He was safe. Lucius wouldn't touch him again, he would make sure of that. He turned his head, leaning his cheek against Draco's hair, "I just wish you had. Why didn't you, love?"

"I thought I could handle him on my own. I didn't think he would show up and make such a scene. I thought I could-could make him see reason about me, about us," Draco said, his voice getting quieter with each word, "It was childish, a stupid idea. I was being foolish, seeking his approval. I'm sorry for how useless I am, for dragging you into all this."

"You are far from useless and nowhere near foolish or stupid, Draco. Your father, from what I've heard and what I've seen, is an unreasonable and foul man. He doesn't deserve to have you as a son, he never did." Harry said, his voice firm and unwavering. Draco shifted a little, making Harry raise his head till their eyes met.

Draco reached up a hand and stroked soft fingers down Harry's cheek. His eyes were full of guilt as he glanced from Harrys’ now healed arm to his face.

"I'm sorry he called you those nasty things," He whispered, "You aren't dirty or anything of the sort. Not for your blood, for your skin, or for who you love. And he hurt you, too. I'm so sorry, Harry."

Harry's eyes softened as a few stray tears ran down his boyfriends’ cheeks. He wished Draco understood how little he cared about being called racist and homophobic slurs or about getting a little scratch. None of that mattered so long as Draco was safe and happy.

"Sweet thing, you don't have to apologize, especially not for something you didn't do. I'm alright, I've had worse," Harry said as he wrapped a hand around Draco's and brought it to his lips. He kissed his fingertips, his palm, the soft inside of his wrist just where his pulse was at, and hummed quietly. He loved kissing his wrists, feeling his pulse on his lips, reminding himself that Draco was here, was real, was his. It had taken a while for them to get to this point and he loved to remind himself of this.

Draco made a displeased sound at his words.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with such disrespect and cruelty, it doesn’t matter whether you've had worse or not. It’s awful, you do not deserve that, especially not from my relatives.”

"How you view me, Draco matters more than anyone else. Their words carry no weight, no value in comparison. Not even big bad Death Eater, Mr. Malfoy."

"But-"

"But, nothing, love. If you can see me for more than just my blood, then I can do the same for you."

Draco gave him a sweet smile and leant up to kiss him, only for Ron to burst into the Hospital Wing with a loud slam of the doors and Harry's books in tow.

They both shot up, gawking at him, wide-eyed and shocked. Ron was disheveled, to say the least, his hair sticking up at odd ends, cheeks flushed a dark red and huffing deep breaths before he took a large gulp of air and fixed Harry with a dark look. Oh, Merlin.

"Never," he said dangerously low, "Never, leave me alone with those blasted monsters ever again!"

He stormed over to the shocked couple and continued to speak, his voice steadily rising to a yell.

"Do you know how many of your fans I had to pry off of me just to get here?! They were all falling on top of each other, on top of me, trying to grab your bloody things and return them to you!"

He unceremoniously dumped Harry's things all over the ground and huffed out a sound of irritation before poking Harry in the shoulder roughly.

"You owe me butterbeer for at least a week." He grouched before turning to Draco with an altogether different look and demeanor.

Ron smiled at him sympathetically and pat him on the shoulder, a large contrast from the angry boy he had been moments ago.

"I'm glad you're alright, Black. I'm sorry that happened. If you ever need anything ‘Mione and I are always here in case this git," He jabbed a harsh finger into Harry’s shoulder again, making Harry scowl and flick his finger away, "Isn't around with his bloody hero-complex to save the day."

"Hey! I do not have a 'bloody hero-complex'!"

Draco snorted at that and merely pecked him on the cheek.

"Of course not, my love. And thank you, Weasley, I appreciate that."

Ron gave him a kind smile, then turned to leave, but not before flipping Harry off and shouting, "A whole week, Harry," over his shoulder as he went.

"Yeah, yeah whatever, mate!" Harry called back before turning to face his boyfriend, "And you, don't you patronize me, Draco Black, I do not have a-"

Draco let out an exasperated laugh and crashed his lips down on Harry's to shut him up. He snogged the living daylights out of him before pulling back, leaving a dazed look on his face.

"Yeah, alright," Harry babbled, face feeling flush and mind fuzzy from the kiss, a dopey grin settling on his face, "I suppose I do have a 'bloody hero-complex', but I'll only admit it as long as you keep snogging me like that."

"Hmmm, I think I will. Your 'bloody hero-complex' is rather hot. So's the wordless magic, Merlin was that mouthwatering."

"Good, I'll keep that in mind."

Draco laughed again, a sweet and elegant sound before Harry stole his mouth into a kiss.

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