#i rushed the animation so i could post it as quick as possible lol

[un-lucky1114]

2 days L8 4 Halloween yipeee!!!!

Live Nom Nom reaction:

"i know right?"

[xmarchwarden-of-lothlorienx]

A World Away

Thranduil x fem!human!reader

Requested: Anonymous

Summary: “I want a modern reader thrown into mirkwood forest. Found and thrown into a cell by thranduil. During an escape attempt reader sees an animal and decides to rescue an animal and get caught by thranduil. He takes an interest and reader is treated as a guest. Thranduil starts falling for her and sends her to live with humans. “What did i do? Why are you sending me away?” And then during the battle of five armies she meets with thranduil again and fluff”

Warnings: a little swearing (like twice)

Authors Note: Splitting this into two parts so everyone can suffer (joking lol)

Edit: Not me trying to schedule this and realizing it didn’t post 🤦🏻‍♂️

__________________________________________

With every step, you could hear your heart pounding in your ears. Your adrenaline rush prevented you from noticing the sharp briars that tore at your skin and clothes. You could worry about that later. Your only concern now was making it out of this forest.

You had planned your escape from the Elvenkings dungeon for weeks. Today, the opportunity to put your plan into action had finally arisen. As you dodged fallen logs and low hanging branches, you thought of how you came to be here in the first place.

Your head was throbbing as you came to. You attempted opening your eyes, but the bright sunlight forced you to close them again. You could hear strange voices speaking in a foreign tongue. You attempted to move your hands, but they were bound. Forcing your eyes open a second time, you took in your unfamiliar surroundings.

You were in a forest, surrounded by men and women dressed in strange clothes. All of them had long hair that was intricately braided, revealing their...pointy ears? Okay, what on earth was happening here.

“Excuse me, but who are you people? Why am I here?” You voiced. One with blonde hair, you assumed he was their leader, snapped his head towards you.

“You were trespassing on our lands. You are now in the custody of King Thranduil. He shall decide your fate” You gulped. Oh lord, what had you done now?

You were ripped away from your thoughts when you tripped over something in your way.

“Shit!” You hissed at the pain now shooting up your leg. You turned and looked at what had caused you to fall. A small fawn lay trembling at your feet. It didn’t appear injured, but your conscience wouldn’t let you leave until you checked. You extended a hand to the fawn, but it flinched away. “C’mon, I won’t hurt you. I promise,” you reassured. As you were checking the animal over, the sound of a sword being drawn reached your ears. You turned to see the tall figure now standing behind you. You recognized him as one of the guards that had taken you prisoner when you arrived at this miserable place.

“I see we didn’t get very far,” the elf said sarcastically. You dropped your head in defeat.

“Damn my good conscience,” you thought.

___

The first time you were before the Elvenking, he had been perched atop his throne. This time, you met him in his private study. He was seated in a large chair, sipping a glass of rich red wine. He appeared unbothered. You weren’t sure if anything could sway him.

“Leave us,” he commanded the guards placed at the doors. He took another long drink of his wine, then placed it on the table beside him. Neither of you spoke, and the silence was deafening. Thranduil took a deep breath and gestured to the seat adjacent from him, ”Sit.”

You obeyed, the large plush seat nearly swallowing you. You fiddled with your hands-noting that they had been left unbound this time.

“Do you have any idea what the punishment is for those that try to escape my prison?” He questioned. You shook your head in response, not trusting your voice to remain steady. “A more barbaric king would likely have you put to death.” Thranduil noticed you becoming more anxious. “But do not worry, I don’t plan on doing such a thing.”

“O-Oh?” You stuttered.

“You must be quite clever to have out maneuvered my guards,” Thranduil continued as he poured another glass of wine. “It was surprising to learn that your escape failed because you stopped to help a fawn.”

“It wasn’t my greatest decision,” you admitted.

“Perhaps, but I think it’s ultimately been in your favor,” Thranduil hummed.

“What do you mean?” You questioned.

“What I mean is that I’ve reconsidered my original sentence. I believe I may have been quick to judge when you were first brought before me,” Thranduil paused. “I hear of all the happenings in this forest. Humans are typically uncaring of those around them. Despite your situation, you stopped to help another in need of aid. Quite a noble trait to possess, yes?”

“Yes, I suppose,” you replied. You had never considered yourself noble before. Helping others had always felt like the right thing to do.

“If it would be no trouble, I should like you to remain in Mirkwood-as my guest.” There it was. The point that this conversation had been leading to.

“I-Really?” You exclaimed. Just when you thought you were starting to understand how this world worked, you were blind sided once again.

“If you have family you would rather return to, I understand. We would be more than willing to supply you for your journey-“

“Oh, no,” you cut him off (which surprised him). “It’s not that. I just wasn’t expecting it is all. I appreciate the offer, and I totally except.” You were glad to finally move on from being a prisoner. The treatment in Thranduils dungeon was alright, but a prison is still a prison after all.

“Well, then,” said Thranduil, pouring a second glass of wine. “Let’s drink to the hope of newfound friendship,” he offered the glass to you. You accepted and raised your glass to him. A possible friendship with the king? Oh, this was going to be a story to tell.

___

Life in Mirkwood was very pleasant; spending your days exploring the endless gardens and library. You would share dinner with Thranduil once a week. Then twice a week. Then soon you would dine together most nights. You noticed how interested he was in your life-both before you came to Middle Earth and now.

What you didn’t notice were the whispers between the elves. Since the death of his queen, the king had been closed off. Now, he was showing such favoritism to a human woman. Sharing dinner with her. Strolling through the gardens together. Gifting her with clothes and her own dwelling. It wasn’t until Legolas brought it up did Thranduil notice how fond he had become of you.

“Ada?” Legolas asked one day.

“Yes?” Thranduil replied as he leafed through paperwork.

“I’ve seen you’ve become quite partial to (Y/N),” said Legolas.

“Hm, I suppose I have,” Thranduil paused from his work.

“Do you think you may have...romantic feelings for her?” Legolas hesitated before asking.

Thranduils eyes widened at what his son had said. “O-Of course not! Honestly, Legolas, I don’t see why you would say such things!” Legolas gave his father a look and turned to leave.

“If you say so,” Legolas teased before closing the door behind him.

Thranduil pondered over what Legolas had said. Yes-he could see it now. He had slowly become wrapped around your little fingers. Falling for you so slowly he didn’t even notice. He wanted to feel joy-could he have found a second companion at last? But he couldn’t help the guilt that clawed at his stomach. Many elves only married once. Though his wife was deceased, her soul still lingered in the Halls of Mandos. What then? Should he do you both a disservice and pursue his newfound love? Thranduil stood and paced the room, thinking of what he should do. Finally, he called to the guards outside the room. He had made his decision.

“How may we serve you, My King.”

“Tell Lady (Y/N) to pack her things. She must be gone by daybreak tomorrow. She is not to step foot in the Woodland Realm again, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Thranduil felt sick. This was for your own good, he kept telling himself. To be with you would only hurt you both. It had to be this way.

___

You wiped away your tears as you packed. You didn’t understand. Mirkwood was your home. Thranduil had become your closest friend, but now he was banishing you? You thought the Elvenking liked you, even entertained the thought that he more than liked you, but not now. Now you felt foolish. Of course it would never work. He was a stupidly handsome immortal king. You were a human girl from a different world.

You threw the last of your belongings into your bag. The guards escorted you out of the castle. Before the cart you were placed upon moved, you took one last look at the kingdom, trying to absorb every detail. The coachman urged the horses forward, and that was it. You would never see Thranduil again. As night fell, so did your tears.

Little did you know, you weren’t the only one who cried that night.

Tags: @themerriweathermage

[lovelybarnes]

cry- avengers

a/n: so i forgot to post it the other day lol

pairings: platonic!avengers x reader, peter parker x reader

warnings: period

about: a crackfic; y/n cannot stop crying

y/n sat in the middle of her bed, eyes red and swollen and lip jutting out in a pathetic pout as she attempted to hold back tears.

at some point, she realized it was hopeless, but, considering she was tony stark’s daughter and lived with the most stubborn people in the world, she refused to give in.

it was idiotic, really, but she was hormonal and a stark and she wouldn’t give in, even if it was stupid.

she hadn’t moved from her room for two days, only surviving off of the food she left in her room and the fact her dad and the others, including her boyfriend, had been on a mission without her- which, by the way, did not do much good to her already pitiful state.

her family had already come back, and she was pleasantly surprised at the fact nobody had come up yet, seeing as she lived with possibly the nosiest man ever, and a mind reader. she was glad, though, because she was sure the moment someone would find her in her sad room, covered with tissues and in crumpled, tear stained clothing, they would overreact. it was in their blood, really.

she knew she should clean up, both herself and her room, but she couldn’t bring herself to drag herself out of bed, which made her feel useless, thus making her feel worse.

god, she really couldn’t believe the same girl who was here, making a y/n sized hole in her bed was the same y/n who would stomp on a man’s face without so much as a thought.

she sighed loudly, throwing her arm over her face and mumbling incoherent things even she couldn’t understand.

“miss stark, your father is requesting you to the kitchen to eat,” friday informed her, breaking the silence, and making y/n groan loudly, “tell him i’m not hungry.”

there was a small pause, and friday beeped back. “mister stark says, and i quote,” the background noise changed, and y/n realized it was a live recording.

“get down here and cut the bullshit, little stark, you’re always hungry.”

y/n groaned again, mumbling a fine and literally rolling off of her bed. she landed on the floor with a thud, sighing. “friday, tell me, honestly, how do i look?”

there was an unnatural pause and y/n groaned once again, jumping to her feet and checking herself out in the mirror. she had to agree with friday’s long pause, even begrudgingly. her eyes were so swollen and red, she physically cringed, throwing some extremely cold water on her face and wincing.

“ugh,” she said, before friday interrupted her. “mister stark is-”

y/n cut her off with a groan, silencing the AI and dragging herself out of her room.

y/n slapped at her cheeks before going into the dining room, attempting to cover up her still blotchy face with her hair, which, of course, didn’t work as she wanted, because when does it ever?

y/n trudged into the room, dragging her feet and ignoring her sweet boyfriend, knowing he would know that something was wrong immediately. she wanted to sit next to thor, or maybe even scott, considering everyone else knew her way too well.

unfortunately for her, fate still hates her, and thus made her sit between her father and natasha, in front of wanda. great. an assassin trained to read people, a mind reader, and a father that knew her too well.

“sit down, honey, it’s lasagna day, and you know how these animals get,” her father cheered, not noticing her yet, too busy staring at the lasagna in rhodey’s hands, who gave tony a dirty look (not the lasagna, rhodey). clint’s eyes followed her as she walked, making an unsettling feeling sit at the button of her stomach, and, for a reason unbeknownst to even y/n, tears rush to her eyes.

suddenly, vision, from wanda’s side, ticked his head to the side. “y/n has been crying,” he stated, and suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on her. y/n gasped, mouth open, indignified.

“she has!” sam pointed out, staring so deep into her eyes, she thought he could see the back of her brain.

“what?- y/n, why are you crying?” tony started, but didn’t let her answer, his eyes bouncing dangerously to peter. bucky, however, beat him to the punch.  “what did the spider dick do? i swear to god-” peter shrank into his seat as y/n shook her head, a small pout beginning to form on her lips against her will.

suddenly, her father lunged at peter, and y/n shrieked, melting into peter’s own terrified scream at being in iron man’s iron grip.

everyone was screaming, and suddenly, y/n’s shaking lip stopped, the tears she didn’t even know the reason for bulging from her eyes.

she hiccuped, ugly sobs making her shut her eyes, and everything stopped.

y/n heard the sound of natasha slapping the top of her father’s head, presumably to push him off of her boyfriend.

y/n pried her eyes open, staring into the eyes of the wide eyed avengers.

“lady stark?...” thor started, a small glimmer of fear in his eyes that made y/n want to laugh and cry at the same time.

“i’m hormonal and i’m sad, and i’m on my period and i can’t stop crying because i stupidly decided to watch a stupid movie that i love but it makes me so sad, and all i want is ice cream right now but you won’t stop attacking peter and i don’t know why everything makes me cry!” y/n sobbed, leaning into wanda’s touch as she hugged the crying teen.

steve stared at y/n bug- eyed, blinking owlishly as he exchanged a look with bucky. “bucky bought some strawberry ice cream yesterday, and i’m not really sure why because he hates the cold.”

y/n giggled at the stray fact steve had decided to add to his statement, making the man grin, i made her laugh.

“thank you stevie- and bucky, thank you bucky,” y/n sniffled, and the two super soldiers smiled, bucky shoving steve to signal for him to get the ice cream- which, y/n had to admit, was the right move.

“i’m sorry my dad attacked you, pete,” y/n groaned, almost passing by her dad. “but thank you, dad, for caring enough to attack peter,” she giggled, giving tony a quick kiss on the cheek. peter, poor, poor, peter, was gulping, adam’s apple moving as y/n tugged him.

“i think you broke him, dad,” she sniffed, poking peter in the cheek. tony shrugged, and a small, comfortable moment of silence passed. “can we watch movies and eat in the theater room? thor can drag peter over.”

[jawritter]

Twelve Days Of Christmas

Summary: Dean never realized that Y/N missed Christmas until he turned off an annoying Christmas song on the radio on the way home from a hunt, now he will make it his personal mission to give her the Christmas he misses so much, and if he plays his cards right, maybe he will give her what he has wanted to give her for so many years, himself.

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Written For: @spnchristmasbingo​​​​

Square Field: Christmas Pajamas

Word Count: 1963

Warnings: Fluff, Dean on Ice Skates, lol. Fluff

A/N: This is to help me catch up on my SPN Christmas Bingo card lol Chapter 6 will post tomorrow! I knew chapter will post every day until Christmas! I know I’m insane lol. This is a real time fic collection and all mistakes will be my own! Please do not copy my work! Hope you all enjoy these!!

**SERIES MASTERLIST**  **MASTERLIST**  **BECOME A PATREON**

Hibbing, Minnesota was a small town that had an almost rustic, old-time feel to it. The old stores that lined the streets downtown spared no expense in decking themselves out for the holiday season, and you could have sworn that you had taken a step back in time as soon as Dean turned Baby onto the main street in the town where most everything was located. 

You could even see Dean out of the corner of your eye looking around excitedly as he drove down the street. Pedestrians were walking around with bags and in their warmest winter attire. You could hear the faint ding of the Salvation Army bells ringing from the corners. If you listened hard enough you could even hear the kids you just passed laughing as they launched snowballs at each other from around the old light post in the street. 

Dean smiled to himself as he watched you take in the sights around you. The smile that graced your face makes his world seem all the more brighter. In the dark world that he had been thrust into at such a young age, when you found the slightest little bit of light you tend to cling to it. His hand twitched on the steering wheel, and for just a moment he almost took your hand in his before he caught himself. He didn’t want to move too fast. 

You weren’t just some quick fuck to him, you weren’t just something to do. You had come to mean the world to Dean, and even though his feelings for you were a big driving force in all this he was doing for you, he wanted to make sure for the first time he did it the right way, and not in some rushed hurry in some truck stop bathroom or a motel quickie. He wanted you to fall for him the way he’d fallen for you if that was possible. Even if it was selfish to want you, he did, and there wasn’t any changing that. He was tired of trying to stay away from you.

Finally, Baby’s wheels came to a crunching stop in the middle of the street at a little shop, and before you could get out of the car Dean grabbed your shoulder, stopping you. 

“Stay here Sweetheart,” he tells you before jetting out of the car before you had time to argue. You watch with intense curiosity through Baby’s frost kissed windows as Dean made his way to the counter to talk to the elderly gentleman that was working there. 

The older man disappeared into a small room that you couldn’t see and returned with two boxes in his hands, passing them to Dean, as well as a bag, before Dean paid the man, and made his way back to Baby, throwing the bag in the back seat before passing your box to you, and shutting the car door against the bitter chill of the wind outside. 

“Open it,” he said excitedly.

You would have normally given him hell about how Hallmark this was, but those bright green eyes left no room for kidding, so you gingerly pulled the lid off of the box on to your lap. Finding a brand new pair of Ice Skates will be in their protective paper wrapping. 

You were smiling like an idiot, and you knew it, but the fact that he’d gone through his much planning and preparation made your heart feel like it was going to fly out of your chest and flutter around the room. 

“Dean, are we going ice skating?” you asked excitedly as he put Baby in drive, and began to slowly pull away from the curb. 

“Yep, I remember you saying you used to go with our dad when you were a little girl. Every year Donna said they open up an outdoor ice rink for everyone in town, and I just had to bring you.”

You could have cried on the spot, your eyes and heart were swimming with so many emotions as Dean smiled a little while he drove down the road towards your destination. You couldn’t believe he paid that much attention to you, much less remember everything you had told him about your life before hunting the way he was slowly revealing he did. 

When the car parked out in the parking lot, you leaned over in a moment of bravery and placed a kiss to his stubbled covered cheek, and threw your arms around his neck the best you could in the car with a box of skates in your lap. He never hesitated or pushed you away, he just wrapped his arm around you, hugging you back like his life depended on it.

“Thank you for this Dean, it means the world to me,” you tell him, and you could have sworn he placed a kiss on the top of your hate covered head, but it was so fast that you couldn't be sure. 

“Anything for you Y/N/N, you know that.”

It had been years since you had been on a pair of skates, and Dean said he’d only ever did it once or twice in his entire life, but you found your footing quickly. It really was almost like riding a bike. Dean was taking it a little slower, but cat-like reflexes he’d developed as a hunter had him moving pretty well after only falling on his butt three times. 

Dean was surprisingly more graceful than people ever gave him credit for. Years of fighting had taught him how to move in a way that made him limber and almost fluid. You could see it in the way he moved now next to you as the pair of you glided alone in a circle with the rest of the moving crowd. You laughed harder than you had in years when Dean collided with the ice the first time, and the second, and this third, each time growling out an adorable “son of a bitch”, but he was determined, and now you would think he’d been doing this for years.

You were so distracting watching him move next to you that when a group of teenagers sped past you it knocked you off of your balance, but before you could actually collide with the ice Dean’s strong arms wrapped around you, leaning against the makeshift wall they had placed as a barricade around the ring to balance the pair of you. His breath fogging out in front of him and mingling with your own as you repositioned yourself. 

His eyes scanned your face, as his gloved hand came up to brush the hair away from your face that had fallen when you lost your balance, his piercing green eyes boring into yours as your heart pounded away against your ribcage, which had nothing to do with the near-fall you almost took, and everything to do with the fact that this Adonis of a man still hand his arms securely around you even after you regained your footing. 

“You okay,” he asked, his breath coming out of his parted pink lips in white puffs. He was so close to you smell the gum he’d been chewing. Your entire body tingled with excitement, for just a moment you thought he was going to kiss you, but just before he would have followed through he straightened and laced his fingers with you. 

Blushing furiously you cleared your throat and smiled at him, nodding because there was no way in hell your throat was going to allow you to speak. It felt like it had literally caved in on itself the moment you realize just how close Dean was to you. 

Dean’s eyes searched you over like a protective mother hen, still worried, always worried. 

“Your cold Y/N/N, your shivering,” he stated, taking his top layer coat off of his body and draping it over your shoulders. “We’ve been out here for a few hours. What do you say we head back, take a hot shower, and make something hot and laced with alcohol.”

You blink a few times as the scent of his cologne laced in his jacket clouded your sense, and his hand rejoined your own. 

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

Dean helped you from the ice and out of your skates before getting his own and placing them in the back seat, turning up Baby’s heater to warm you. The drive to the cabin back through town was peaceful. You hadn’t noticed that you had been out most of the day, but the sun sinking pink behind the clouds added an enchanted feel to the little town as you went. Day 9 had by far been the best yet, and if today was the last day you’d cherish this time with Dean forever. 

Still, Dean wasn’t done, far from it. 

Once you got back to the cabin, he grabbed your arm, stopping you from going to the shower with the bag you had all but forgotten from earlier in his hand, holding it out for you to take. 

You took the bag suspiciously in hopes of getting that full-body laugh from him again that he did the other day, and it worked to your surprise. 

“What’s the suspicious look for sweetheart, it’s not gonna bite! Open it! You’re gonna need it before you take a shower!” 

You pulled the tissue paper from the top of the bag, and two pairs of Christmas pajamas, complete with socks, were waiting for you. One for you, and one for Dean. 

“Oh my God! You’re actually gonna wear Christmas pajamas?” you asked him in disbelief, pulling out your Elf pajamas as well as Dean’s which proudly declared “Merry Christmas you filthy animal,” across the front. 

“What can I say, they looked warm, and it’s a classic,” he said, taking his pair from you. “Now if any pictures of this rare occurrence surface once we’re back at the bunker just know I might have to kill you.”

You snort out a laugh, hugging him again, and enjoying the way he all but melted against you. His hand going to your hair to play with your hair as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Now, you know I make not promise Winchester,” you tease him when you finally force yourself to let go of him.

His eyes narrow at you playfully. 

“You better go take that shower Sweetheart, or else I’m gonna go first and use all the hot water,” he teases you, snatching up his pajamas and making his way into the kitchen to start on some hot chocolate for the two of you. 

You grin your way towards the small bathroom, mind swearing with events from earlier today. You would have never guessed this side of Dean existed. You definitely weren’t going to be ready to get back to reality once Christmas was over. Even as you sat tucked safely into his side with his arm around you later that night, several cups of adult hot chocolate in, and about three episodes of Dr. Sexy M.D. deep you still couldn’t believe just how lucky you were that he would care enough to do this for you. 

Dean, on the other hand, was just as surprised that you were willing to do this with him at all, and didn’t tell him to fuck off the moment he bought the present on night 12. He didn’t think it was even possible, but somehow, right here with you tucked safely against him for the first time he could see himself with a happy ending, and that was a gift enough for him this year. 

He was sure you were all he’d ever need.

Forever Tags: 

@deandreamernp​

@forgetthisbull​

@miraclesoflove​

@deanwanddamons​​​ 

@rvgrsbrns​​ 

@chevyharvelle���​ 

@onethirstyunicorn​​ 

@i-love-superhero​​ 

@lyss-dw79​ 

@magssteenkamp​ 

@lemondropirwin​ 

@squirrelnotsam​ 

@hobby27​ 

@spnbaby-67​  

@mrsjenniferwinchester​ 

@defenderrosetyler​ 

@screechingartisancashbailiff​ 

@thecreatiivecorner​  

@vicmc624​ 

@busy-bee-angel-misska​ 

@justanotherwinchester​

@brilovesdeanwinchester​

@idksupernatural​

@lyarr24​ 

@amandamdiehl​ 

@miraclesoflove​ 

 @emoryhemsworth​ 

@dean-winchesters-gardian-angel​ 

@softsebastian 

@tatted-trina6​

@anaelsbrunette​ 

@hayleeharling​   

@flamencodiva​ 

@coldmuffinbanditshoe​ 

@dirty-pan-goblin​ 

@itmejado​ 

@supernatural3002​ 

@teresa-67​ 

@thoughts-and-funnies​ 

@hearteyes-j2​

@miss-nerd95​ 

@writers-whirlwind​

@peaches007​

@bobbie3939​

Jensen and Dean’s Babes

@akshi8278​

@love-jackles-37-blog​

@supernatural-bellawinchester​

@bobbie3939​

Twelve Days Of Christmas Tag List: 

@440mxs-wife​

[fl1nt-and-st33l]

Memories and Bath Time

I'm sad so there's a random part of angst at the bottom lol. Im sleep deprived so idk what to say. just take this. Im so bad at titles. 

This is part of the Dadblade and sonboo au like part.....5 I think?

Techno hisses peeling the bloody bandages off of his arm. After dedicating the whole day to reading and researching what the child..er Ranboo could be and where they could have come from, he just wanted to finally take a bath and go to bed. He has been neglecting his hygiene ever since he got hurt because he has been so busy adjusting to the new state of his body and taking care of Ranboo. He peels the bandages off of his leg and lets himself into the hot bath. It hurt like hell to move but once he let go he smiled. He despises baths since he thinks swimming in your own filth is the opposite of getting clean. Though this time he felt almost comforted and a little nostalgic. He lets himself sink in closing his eyes letting his body completely relax. The warmth of the water helps his muscles unstiffen, but makes the wounds all over his body sting. Though he couldn't get himself to care.

The last time he had a bath like this had to be when he was a kid. Techno smiles, remembering when Philza dragged him and Wilbur out of a mud pile and scolded them. Phil forced them to take a bath which they both fought him on. Techno wonders if Phil still has that scar from when he bit him….He wonders what Philza thinks of him now.

Once the water begins to cool he sits up and decides to actually scrub the dirt from his body. As he carefully uses a rag to clean his arm he notices behind all the dried blood and dirt black spots formed under his skin. He looks closer and determines it probably has to do with the wither sending a direct blast to his arm. He sighs knowing he’ll have to make a potion to make sure it doesn't get worse. He lifts his leg looking at the burned marks then looks at his stomach where the messy stitches he made seem to be close to falling apart. He tries to remember what he thought himself about taking care of stitches. You would think he’d be an expert on stitch care after making himself in charge of fixing up every bump, bruise, and scratch Tommy and Wilbur received. He sighs and takes the tweezers from the side of the bath deciding to start with taking all the splinters out of his body, that he got from some wood exploding. While he does that he notices the water turned brown from the blood and dirt from his body. He sighs and gets out draining the water, deciding to just take a quick shower then do whatever maintenance he needs to do for his body afterward. Fuck why does everything have to hurt so much, hopefully it’ll just go away soon.

Philza sits with his legs hanging out into the crater his oldest son made. The rain soaks his hair and clothes but all he can think about is his little boys. He remembers Techno reaching for his first book on government. He remembers the first time Wilbur strummed a chord on his guitar, and he remembers the first time Tommy waddled out of the house looking for adventure. He remembers all of their firsts so well, he watched all of their firsts with pride. At the time he was so proud he had forgotten that they’d all of their last. Their last play fight, their last storytime, their last crush, and their last demand to be tucked into bed had never come to him as a worry. After all, for most of their last, he probably wouldn't be there. At least he didn't think he would be there for their last breath anyway. 

Tommy sits with President Tubbo and the rest of the cabinet discussing Tubbos plan to rebuild L’manburg on top of the crater. Tommy smiles putting his arm around Tubbo as Quackity once again interrupts the meeting to do some random dance. They all laugh too distracted to see Tommy fighting back tears as a wave of memories of his brother in the same van come rushing over him. It's fine though Tommy has had years of practice holding back his tears.

Wilbur smiles walking around enjoying the scenery. It's a beautiful place beside the giant creator. There are a lot of flowers, animals, and people...though they all seem to ignore him. No matter though he was just about to explore a nearby lake, yay. There are so many new possibilities just waiting to happen. 

Word count: 757

Date posted 12/4/2020

[ausblack]

Invenio | p.jm

➻ Request: “Here I am!! Can I request a series of witch au jimin x reader, I leave to you the plot decision I know you can write such wonderful things thank you in advance.”  

HELLO EVERYONE✨✨

I’m aware that I said that this blog was dead and buried, but I found this fanfic in my drafts and I decided to post it as a farewell, to give you one last nice goodbye to the BTS Fanfics that I’ve posted during these years. Since it was in my drafts, I didn’t write a complete story and it’s a bit rushed especially in the end (because I meant it as a first part of a series) but I think it’s nice to just post it like this, so you can all see what has been sitting in here for 2 years. I love you all and who knows, maybe I’ll write some fanfics about other things in the future💕

✵ Summary: During your escape from the royal castle, you meet Jimin, a beautiful witch who offers you help in exchange of a little favor. 

✵ Genre: Fluff , tiny Angst, mild smut lol

✵ Pairings: Witch! Jimin x Reader

You had never been out of the palace or it’s ground. To you all floors were marble, all stair rails were ornate, carved and polished so that it shined. Family portraits were painted in oils and hung in gold frames. Furniture was all handmade by master craftsmen and nothing ever got dirty. You, the princess, had never seen dust in the years of your life. The air was scented with fresh flowers every day of the year, yet you had never seen a flower ever die or wilt. Food was always perfect and served precisely on time, but you had never seen a kitchen. Each room was as big as a three bedrooms apartment and came equipped with everything you would ever need.

It seemed like the perfect life, the life that beggars and poor nationals dreamed off when they were faced with financial issues and popular diseases.

Every girl wished of being dressed in tight corsets and large gowns, with the only worry of acting pretty and knowing how to appear innocent to other royal families who came in town.

The reality, was much darker than that, and to you it was like a nightmare.

While they dreamed of being you, you dreamed of being free.

You wanted to go out and talk to normal people, that weren’t going to judge you if you didn’t laugh at a joke that wasn’t funny.

Every day you looked outside the window of your room, and you looked at the plaza of your own city beyond the walls of your castle, thinking about how great being there would have felt like.

You were tired of it all, and today It was no different.

✥✥✥✥

Putting on the tight corset that crushed your belly, you let out a tired groan at the sound of knocking against the door of your bedroom.

“What?” You called out and soon the low and snooty voice of your personal guard resounded through the door.

“Your mother ordered me to go to the marketplace in town, wait here and don’t go out without me.” He said and, as soon as those words came to your ears, you widened your eyes.

“Wait!” You yelled and opened the door, without worrying about the lack of corset on your body.

He stood in front of you with a confused expression stamped on his face.

“Wait for me, I’ll come with you.” He shook his head.

“You can’t, orders from the king. You know you can’t go out of the castle.” He repeated with an almost robotic voice.

You groaned in response “Why can’t I? Other princesses are allowed to go out!” He smirked.

“How would you know? I’m sorry princess but the rules are untouchable.” You know that he wasn’t even one bit sorry.

You thought in silence for a moment, before an idea came to your mind.

Now you were the one to smirk.

“If you don’t take me with you. I’ll tell mom that you’ve been seeing my maid every night instead of standing outside of my room.” He widened his eyes at your threat.

You had plenty of time inside that castle, and the only way of spending them quickly included spying on the people that surrounded you. It wasn’t something you were proud of, but in order to survive the boringness, it was the only option.

“You’re not telling anything.” He said with a lightly shaky voice and you shrugged.

“Not if you bring me with you.” Crossing your arms, you waited for his response and smiled when you saw him groaning in annoyance.

“Just get dressed properly. You won’t tell anything to your mother. Not about me, nor about the fact that I let you out of the castle. Now be quick.”

And that was how you found yourself out of the walls for the first time in your life.

✥✥✥✥

Strangely enough, the town was exactly like how you expected it to be.

A large crowd filled the streets and each person moved as if unseeing hands dragged them this way and that, pulling their eyes to one thing and the other. You could feel the tight grip of your guard as you walked next to him, feeling uncomfortable in your wide and rich gown – in deep contrast with the poor rags that others wore as they looked at you with a hint of hatred in their eyes.

You would have undressed yourself of those clothes in front of anyone if you could, so that they could see the scars and the bruises caused by the tight corsage that your maid forced you to wear. They were so quick to judge, but you didn’t blame them. You could understand why they were coming from.

The asphalted street was occupied by a large number of stands, each with different items and workers inside. They sold food, furniture, objects, animals and many other things that you had never saw before.

Standing in the middle of all that chaos made you feel a sensation that you’ve never felt before – you were alive.

“Wait here, I need to get what the queen asked for, then we’ll go away from this shithole.” He muttered and you scoffed. How could he describe it a shithole, when you were used to live inside of a cage?

As soon as he gave you his shoulders to wait in line at a stand, you decided to take advantage of the situation, and look around as much as you could before he came back.

You were aware that sooner or later he would have found you, but postponing that moment was still possible.

You walked around without worrying about your long skirt, that was swiping the dirt from the street as you looked at the different stands – and you let your hair get loose from the unbreathable grip that the maid had created to keep them in place.

You looked at sellers of flowers, the source of the smell that you could sense in your own castle; and sellers of food that cooked the meals that you’ve only eaten – without knowing how they could become what they were.

The sight of a young men inside a stand caught your attention, and you unconsciously walked closer to where he was sitting, furrowing your eyebrows when you saw a sphere of quartz crystal in front of his hands.

Many people were waiting in line to sit in front of him and hear about their future and the fortune that they would have encountered, while the man smiled at them and touched the crystal ball lightly with his finger and closed his eyes – letting out warm words that would have left them anybody content and satisfied with how they’ve spent their money.

Without noticing, you found yourself next in line and your eyes met his majestic ones.

He was wearing a brown blouse and his brown hair was brushed back by his hand when a smirk compared on his face as soon as his eyes landed on you.

“Take a sit princess.” He voiced with a voice sweeter than the desserts of your castle’s cuisine, and you obliged – feeling somewhat enchanted by him.

“H-how did you know?” You asked, wondering if your clothes gave out too much information.

“I didn’t” He said under his smirk and you felt your cheeks blush.

“Excuse me if I ask you, your highness-“ He started but you cut him off.

“I’m not a highness, my mother is. I’m just her daughter.” You muttered and he smiled before correcting himself.

“Well, princess, why would you come here of all places and ask to a fortune teller to read your future?”

You shrugged “Can’t I?” He tilted his head.

“I thought the royal life offered more interesting things to do.” You furrowed your brows at his words.

“You mean like giving fake hopes to beggars?” You said and, for a moment, you worried that what you said might have offended him, but his small smirk said otherwise.

“I read the future. I just decide to ignore the bad sides of it.” Now it was his time to shrug and you nodded at what he said, thinking about it for a moment before speaking up.

“Mind reading mine?” You asked and he smiled at you “Not at all.”

You waited as he looked at the crystal sphere in front of him, and you rolled your eyes at the whole acting, before looking at him again.

Unlike before, the smile on his face had disappeared.

“You’re in danger.” He muttered before looking up, behind you - you widened your eyes.

“W-Wait...What?” You got up from your sit and he did the same, taking you by your arm.

“What are you doing?” You asked feeling him pulling you lightly.

“We need to get out of here now.” He said, looking at you in the eyes before a scream made its way to the crowd of the plaza.

“Y/N!” You recognize the voice of your guard and you looked at the fortune teller with confused eyes.

“It’s just my guard.” You said and he shook his head. It was then that you started hearing other voices, all overlapping each other. They all started screaming: at first you couldn’t understand what they were saying but as the voices were getting louder and stronger you understood the whole crowd has started screaming and looking for you: the rich princess lost in the city.

“You’re surrounded...” He breathed, without letting go of your arm and you froze at his words.

“We need to go. I’ll hide you.” For some reason, the stranger in front of you made you feel safer than the guard who was supposed to protect you with his life, and you decided to take the hand that he was offering – to step towards freedom. No more maids, no more controlling, no more watching eyes. You’ve always wanted to escape from that hell, and now someone was offering you just that.

The screams of your guard continued as he looked for you in the crowd, but the young man started to ran away from there with his hand tight around his, towards somewhere safe.

✥✥✥✥

You kept on stumbling over your gown, trying to keep up with the pace of the young man who kept on running, urging you not to give up and to keep on running.

You walked through narrow streets, dark spaces, trying to get away from the noises or shouts.

At one point, the stone houses started to minimize, more green was showing in between them.

And as vegetation started to increase, the young man's pace started to slow down.

When you entered in a deep forest, he let go of your hand and stopped walking, to let you catch your breath. And once you managed to stand on your feet without being afraid of falling from exhaustation, he started walking again, slowly this time.

The forest was deep but full of light, birds chirping and the noise of your shoes breaking thin branches.

Then suddenly the trees disappeared: you saw an immense cornfield, a golden color kissed by the rays of sun, in the middle of which you saw what seemed like a normal house.

The outside was covered by grey stones, its roof made of many tiles.

As you walked on a path in the middle of the cornfield, you could feel the wheat underneath your feet. 

Once the boy opened the small red door, your senses were welcomed by strong scents of what seemed erbs and spices. The house seemed really big, but the rooms appeared so small because of the amount of stuff there was in there: black wooden tables almost entirely covered by thick books, parchments and strange tools of all forms.

Some where rounded, some where pointy and in the middle of others you could see crystals and stones.

"Welcome to my humble abode, my princess. My name's Jimin, just a poor futureteller at your service" you could hear the smirk in his voice as he bowed to his feet in a dramatic move. You took a look at his clothes: you could see intricate but subtle patterns in the fabric, the simbols on his rings and necklaces. "Born in a small village and travelled across the world to learn all that I could." "Y/N" you said playing his game, with a small bow.

"I was born in the royal castle and I've never left from there. They kept me busy by making me s-"

"sew and painting your parents and relatives to hung the artworks on the walls and show every nobleman the skills of the princess. But you never really liked being forced, that's why you used to leave small but controversial details in your paintings". He completed your sentence as he took off his jacket, waking inside what you presumed was his living room. You stood there, eyes wide open as he described such intimate details of your life.

"H-how did you know that? You lived in the castle, or what?” As you waited for a response, Jimin kept on looking at you with a smirk on his face as he played with his necklaces and sat on a big, black chair. You stood in front of him with hands tight around the material of your gown - feeling ready to go towards the door. Maybe following him wasn’t the best idea.

"..d-do you actually read the future? Or the past?" your being nervous started to grow: he didn't respond and you began hearing strange noises coming from other rooms. You remembered all the books you had read at the castle about supernatural creatures, thinking that they were all just a result of a great imagination, but when in particular had to do with fortune telling. 

"Are you a witch?" the loud noise of books hitting the ground made you jump.

Books were falling from the shelves, parchments were floating: you were at the point of screaming at him to give you an answer, still sitting there as he focused on his necklaces, when a big vase in the corner of the room broke and pieces flew everywhere.

You jumped at the loud noise and he looked up at you with shiny eyes. It was then that you backed off towards the door and ran away from that damned place. 

Your legs were numb as you ran away from the second time in a day. You passed the cornfield, feeling like the weight of the gown you were wearing was slowing you down, before you reached the forest. You turned back, to see if Jimin had decided to look for you but he wasn't following you. The only thing behind you were your shadow and the bright light of a sunset that soon would have brought dark: you needed to hurry up before the darkness swallowed the forest.

Feeling tired of running around with the huge weight, you looked around for something sharp around the forest. It could have been useful to cut off the excessive cloth on your dress.

It was only after a plenty amount of minutes, that you managed to find a rock that could be used to your purpose and you teared off your gown - sighing in relief when you walked around without that huge weight on your legs. You followed the footprints on the ground, trying your best to go back towards the city where you could have hidden yourself in other ways, but you immediately stopped when big figures hanging some sort of announcement on walls and trees came to your sight.

You squeezed your eyes trying to catch something on them but your blood froze when your name in capitals, your painting and the price came to sight. Your heart started racing and without realizing you almost tripped backing off, causing one of the guards to look in your direction. 

“Is someone there?” He called out with a grunt and you managed to hide behind a tree, not even breathing. It took them a couple of seconds before giving up on trying to see with the now missing light of the sun. When you realized they were gone, you started walking back to the forest, hugging yourself as frightening sounds came to your ears.

You needed help and the only person willing to give it to you was the one you just escaped from. 

✥✥✥✥

It didn’t take you long to realize that being out in the wild by yourself was only going to be a suicide move from your side, and it was exactly the reason why you found yourself with wheat against your legs – just meters away from the damned house that you visited just a couple of hours before.

You knocked a couple of times on the red door, and it took the young man only a moment before opening with a smirk stamped on his face. The one that he probably had since you first met him.

“I knew you would came back.” He stated before letting you come inside and closing the door.

You looked around, shocked to see that the mess of before was all cleaned up and the broken vase laid intact where it was supposed to be. What was he?

“A wizard. Or a warlock if you feel like being fancy.” Jimin answered, making you gasp.

“You read my mind?” You asked him and he shrugged, going towards a table filled with potions and bottles with different coloured liquids.

“I can do almost anything that involves magic, but I prefer working with potions and spells.” He said with a calm voice, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

He was opening a huge book written in a language that you couldn’t understand as he spoke, searching for a page in particular.

“I thought witches didn’t exist.” You muttered under your breath and he chuckled.

“You don’t know about the existence of many things, my princess.” Jimin joked and looked up at you, moving his hands up in defence when he saw that you weren’t smiling.

“Maybe it’s too soon to joke about that.” You nodded at his words and walked around the living room, enchanted by the different objects that you could find in every corner.

“No worries, I’ll take my time to teach you everything you need to know about my world.” He said and you looked at him with wide eyes.

“Really? I can stay here?”

“Well, I had no problems before. But after you ran away like that I don’t know…” You froze on the spot as he responded deep in thoughts and you panicked, so much that you didn’t notice the common smirk on his face.

“You took me by surprise! I’ve never met a witch before, I’m sorry if that offended you. I really don’t know where else to go.” You begged as you walked towards him with scared eyes, and for a moment he regretted playing around too much.

“You can stay here but on one condition.” Jimin started before passing a hand through his dark hair and you nodded, looking at him with excitement.

“I’ll give loyalty and protection to the princess…” He looked back at his table, taking the book that he was reading before and placing it in front of you.

“If she helps me make a potion in exchange.” You furrowed your brows and you detached your eyes from his to look at the name of the potion, the only readable word of the page: Invenio.

✥✥✥✥

"So what’s the potion about?".

The hot cup you had in your hands was warming up your cold body, making the room smell like berries and fruits.

Your partially bare legs were covered by a thick blanket as you sat on the soft couch.

"Just something I need, but I can't make it alone.” Jimin was sitting on the other end of the couch, legs crossed and hands holding a cup similar to yours, with the only difference that the spoon was moving without no one touching it.

"But I'm not a which, how can I help you?" you were looking at him, curious. His dark locks shielded part of his face from your eyes, but his were fixed with a bored look on his magical spoon.

"You'll see." You weren't a particular short tempered girl, but he was for sure testing your patience.

His smirks, the vague answers, the misteries. But for some reason you couldn't help but feel attraction towards him: maybe not in a romantic way, maybe just because of how interesting he was. You couldn't tell yet, but for sure you felt something strange linking you to him.

"Then what is it for?" your soft lips touched the mug and your mouth was welcomed by a strong yet enjoyable feeling. Your senses calmed down as you drank in the hot fluid, feeling more comfortable after each sip.

"It lets you...find someone" his eyes were now looking at your hands holding the cup to your lips, and then at your eyes. His dark eyes didn't feel intrusive as they took in your posture, your figure and your features. They seemed curious, and for a second you bet you had saw a shy, proper smile on his lips.

"Years ago a friend had to go away, and even after promising he would have wrote me, I haven't heard anything from him in years. Almost like he disappeared."

"He must have been a really close friend for you to miss him so much.".

And indeed he was. His name was Taehyung, and him and Jimin had been friends since childhood. They had done everything together, from kids things to sharing secrets and advice in their more grown up days. Since he had been gone, Jimin felt lonlier that ever.

You stood there listening to his shooting voice as he told you about their adventures, their accidents, their mischief. You couldn't help but smile when you saw Jimin so happy to recall such long gone times.

It felt strange, staying there under a blanket sipping tea: hours before you almost felt threatened there, and now you were slowly feeling at home.

✥✥✥✥

The sun had set hours ago, and after asking you if you were hungry, to which you responded you weren't, he took you to a cozy room: the bed was covered by many different blankets and pillows. He surely did know you loved being surrounded by them. A big window was ready to be covered by thick curtains, and in front of the bed there were a mirror, many shelves and a wardrobe. You opened it and inside you saw what seemed like dozens of different dresses: their colors went from light yellows and pinks to deep burgundy and purples.

On the bed you also saw a sheer, thin nightgown of a cream color. You stood there for a second, but then you realized something: how were you supposed to take your corset off?

Grabbing the lace with your hands, you tried to tear it off with all the force left in your body - failing miserably after only a few seconds. Usually, your caring maid would do it for you although you begged her to teach you so that you could be at least independent in the way you dressed, but she always shook her head saying that a princess shouldn’t wound her hands. 

After feeling a sharp pain in your right rib, you decided that asking for help was probably going to be the right choice and you headed to the only man that could actually do something about it. 

Jimin was sitting on his bed, bathed in a big book, as some tall, white candles burned quietly.

He was turning yet another page when the soft sound of knuckles hitting the door came to his ears.

He immediately stood up, wondering if he had forgot to give you something and scolded himself for being so dumbfounded until he opened the door, when he saw you standing him front of him with only a corset and a sheet, ripped petticoat.

He felt his ears and cheeks tinting of a pink color as you looked at him, almost embarassed. Your naked shoulders looked like they would glow and for a moment he wondered how they would look like if covered with love bites - but was quick to shake his head and get those thoughts out of his head. You were part of the royal family, how could he even think about such thing. if anyone knew, he would have been guillotined on the spot. 

"I...I was wondering if you could help me to take this off." You looked so fragile, so pure in front of his eyes, just like a kid that never really learned how to put her clothes on.

He smiled at the soft scene and opened further the door, letting you in.

"Of course". You looked around, seeing a big bed, books everywhere. His desk was full of vials, bottles and flasks. The young boy had discarded his clothes, that now were placed on a chair.

His body was covered by light brown pants and a loose, sheer white blouse.

He made you sign to sit on his bed, and he took place beside as you turned a bit so that he could face your back.

“Usually my maid does it for me...its not that I don’t know how to do it, it’s just to hard for me to reach for it.” You explained feeling somewhat embarrassed and worried that he might think of you as spoiled, but Jimin was quick to make you relax by chuckling briefly. 

You stood there, trying not to make noise even while breathing. You started feeling his warmth and his perfume, almost intoxicating.

His fingers started tracing your skin, from your neck to your lower back. You felt shivers everywhere, cold and warm at the same time.

You had never experienced such an intimate touch, and the more he touched your bare skin, the more you craved it.

His slim fingers started to undo the bows of your tight corset, and he couldn't unhear the way you sighed of relief when he loosened the strings.

You felt his hot breath on your shoulders, then the feeling of cold air hitting your bare back signaled you that the corset was fully untied.

You placed your hands on your chest, keeping the corset in place and making sure it wouldn't leave your body bare in front of his eyes.

You tried to get up when you felt his warm fingers on your skin again.

And you almost flinched when his fingertips traced your scars.

His gaze was fixed on the folds of your skin, red and purple splashes and tiny scars from the friction of the laces on your soft skin.

Both of his hands started tracing your sides and they stopped when they reached your waist, that until not much earlier was being suffocated by the strong, oppressive material.

Jimin wondered why the wounds on your skin felt like he had them himself, and he looked at your back with sad eyes - feeling like he should hold you back from going back to the royal lifestyle once again. 

He couldn't help but place a soft kiss on the nape of your neck, whispering a soft "I'm sorry" before letting you go.

You wondered if he felt sorry for the kiss, or for the scars that he had seen, but the thoughts were cut off as soon as you laid on your bed - letting the sleepiness take over. 

✥✥✥✥ 

The morning after, Jimin decided to wake you up in a very unconventional way, dropping a couple of pots on the floor right next to your sleeping form - causing you to almost die of a heart attack. 

You looked at him with shocked eyes as he laid chuckling in front of your room, announcing that you had just about half a hour to get ready before starting to work on the potion. 

After discovering that Jimin had casually thrown your corset in the trash, you wore the dress that he had given you - which fitted you perfectly and was almost as comfortable as your night vest - and you sat down next to him in the other room, ready to learn about what you had to help him with for the mysterious potion. 

"What does this mean?" your fingertips were tracing strange looking simbols on the yellow paper of a big book, placed on the table of the living room. Pointy, long strokes of ink that, combined, created intricate symbols and drawings.

"It's a recipe, for the potion". Jimin was standing next to you, letting you look at the page he had opened a moment earlier.

"It's so strange..." your eyes were still glued on those black strokes, trying to translate them in any way possible, frustrated at your sudden ignorance.

"It's called Flaedrian. Every witch learns it when they are little, my mother tought it to me when I was 6." a smile grew on his pink lips.

"She's also a witch?" You asked, looking at him curiously.

"My grandma was one. My mother never got this gift, but she learned all the languages and potions that had anything to do with magic" he remembered.

"Anyway, this is why I need help. This potion lets you find people, but it has some kind of...a higher price than usual" he seemed uncomfortable, almost scared. You looked at him with a confused expression, waiting for him to go on.

"It needs royal blood" The witch wondered if you would back off after finding out that you would have to hurt yourself in order to help him, but to his surprise, you were looking back at him with no expression at all on your face. 

"How much you need?" Jimin was taken back by the strenght and convinction in your voice, not even a drop of fear.

His eyes scanned quickly the page, translating the simbols in words in his head.

"5 drops" He didn't even had the time to reassure you about it, you already had a knife in your hand and made a cut on the other palm. Ruby red drops colored the bottom of a porcelain cup, and the contrast between the red and the pure white seemed so strange to your eyes.

He gasped, grabbing a towel from the table and wrapping your hand around it before looking at you ready to scold. 

“I need 5 drops, not a whole barrel. Why would you use the knife? I could just lend you the needle.” You laughed at his behavior, shrugging. 

“It’s not like a cut will kill me, you know?” He looked at you with furrowed brows before leaving your hand and looking at the red filled bottle. 

“I just need to mix the blood with other ingredients but I think I have them in my cabin already. Maybe I still need to get something from the city, it’s no big deal.”  He ignored you, reading the old and dusty book that now laid on his thighs as he sat back on the couch. 

You sat next to him, looking at the weird signs on the book’s pages. 

“It’s so fascinating.” You whispered, touching the page with your fingertips. 

Jimin looked at you as you stared down on the pages, feeling his heart getting warmer at the sight of you with messy and loose hair. The dress that you were wearing was the first thing that he had made that morning, after throwing your corset away. It took him half an hour to made something comfortable enough to not irritate the wounds that you had in your back, but the view of you in it made it all worth it. 

It was so natural, almost as if he could see a future with you by his side like that.

When you look up from the book, you gasped lightly when you noticed that Jimin was looking at you so closely, without backing off. The two of you stared at each other fondly for a couple of seconds, before he decided to get up shaking his head lightly - leaving you on the couch as he told you that lunch would have been ready soon. 

For the second time he had imagined something that should have been forbidden, and he doubted that those thoughts would have disappeared anytime soon. 

✥✥✥✥ 

Weeks passed by quickly with Jimin by your side and each day you felt more thankful for him and for the decision that he had made that day in the city. 

You were learning about witchcraft and supernatural traditions by staying with him, and you were also learning about real life - the one that you didn’t get to live in your own home. 

That night, you were chilling in your bed after a long session of reading Jimin’s old book with the witch itself. 

The potion was almost done, the only missing ingredient was the one that Jimin didn’t own - an adventitious maca root that could be bought in a small cornered shop that you’ve never heard of before. It was far from the centre of town, and you were sure that no one would have recognized you if you went there - since, as Jimin said, only a few people knew about it. Maybe going and buying it for him as a surprise would have been a nice present to thank him for all the things that he had done for you since he first find you.

So you decided to go and you successfully got the ingredient, wrapping it as a present and placing it under your bed, ready to give it to him.

The rush of thought was stopped by the sound of knocking from the closed door of your room. You furrowed your brows at the sight of the hour, why would Jimin look for you at 11.53 PM? 

“Come in.” You said, sitting up on the mattress of your bed and he opened the door slowly before closing it again once he entered. 

He was holding a small package in his hands and what seemed like ointment filled it. 

“I hope I didn’t wake you up.” He muttered with a blush obvious in his cheeks that made you smile sweetly - you haven't seen him so embarrassed since the day you asked him to take off your corset. 

“No no don’t worry about it? What’s up?” You asked patting a spot beside you in bed and he quickly sat down, chewing on his lip. 

“I just...I made you this.” He showed you the package and you tilted your hand. 

“What’s it for?”You asked and he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

“I saw the wounds and scars that you have on you so I made this ointment. I made a spell on it so it should make them disappear completely...it just..it looked like you were in pain.” He explained and you couldn’t help but smile. 

“Jimin I...” You stuttered and he looked down and you reached out your hand to touch his thigh. 

“Thank you, really. I’m so thankful for all the things you’re doing for me.” You said and he looked up to look at you in the eyes. 

No words were spoken as you looked at each other. 

“Do you want me to put it on you, I don’t know if you can reach it.” Jimin said scolding himself mentally, the blush reddening once again on his cheeks and you chuckled. 

“Sure...” You mumbled, turning to give him your back. 

You started unbuttoning your blouse, feeling slightly embarrassed at the intimacy, and you used the cloth to cover your chest as your naked back faced the blushing witch. 

You hissed slightly when his fingers came in contact with your skin, massaging the cream that he had made on your scars with gentle movements that caused you to close your eyes and relax at the feeling. 

Jimin didn’t know what he was doing, he knew that it was wrong and that he needed to keep a distance if he wanted to stop himself from trying anything on you. 

Your presence had weird affects on him, as if you were a spell that he couldn’t get enough of. He gas falling in love, and you were becoming the only thing that he thought about when he first opened his eyes in the morning and the last think he saw when he went to sleep.

“Hey...Jimin, I want to give you something” you suddenly said, pulling your robe back on and turning to face him. He looked at you slightly confused with a tint of red still present on his checks.

“What...?” He asked and you got up from the bed, kneeling down to pick up the small box that you placed there earlier.

“I wanted to give you this present..as a thank you for all the things that you’ve done for me during this time. You truly changed my life and I can’t believe that a small trip to the city ended with me meeting you” now it was your time to blush and you looked at him as you handed him the small box wrapped in scarlet-Coloured paper.

He wrapped his fingers around it and started to rip the paper with slowly, with a bit of hesitation.

As soon as the last ingredient for the potion came to his sight he couldn’t help but gasp, widening his eyes.

“Y/N I can’t believe it... when did you get this?” He asked incredulously, now looking at you with a smile on his face.

“Just the other morning.” You chuckled.

“You were asleep and I decided to sneak out and find it before you woke up. It was a hard because no one knew where it was, but I’m glad that I remembered some information that you gave me a couple of days ago.” You continued, feeling his hands in yours. He had put the small box on the bed, reaching out for your hands as soon as they were free.

“I have no words...really. Thank you.” He said looking at your hands and then at your eyes.

Your hands intertwined and you got lost in his gaze, a gaze full of adoration and gratitude that made you feel warm and loved.

“I should be the one saying thank you. Jimin you’re my saviour.” You muttered without deataching your gaze from his.

His hands reached for your cheek and he caressed it with his thumb, looking for a moment at your red lips before speaking up again.

“I think I’m falling in love with you.” He whispered, now the distance between your faces was shorter than ever before.

“I think I’m in love with you too.” You laughed touching his wrist, his hand still on your cheek.

“Who would have thought that I would have fell in love with a princess” he smiled, all fears pushed aside when he saw your lips curve at those words. You felt the same.

After a brief chuckle you couldn’t help but kiss him delicately, touching his lips with your and reaching to touch his neck, brushing his hair with your finger.

He responded almost instantly, pushing you as close as possible to him with eagerness.

Jimin held you close, squeezing your waist with his hands and pushing you on top of the bed without breaking the kiss.

“I guess from now on it’ll just be us..” he murmured in between the kisses.

“The with and the princess” he chuckled, kissing your cheek, then you neck, your collarbone.

You laughed and moaned at his touch.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way” you said, falling deeply in love and thinking about how bright your future with him would be.

[majolishious]

Ummmm~Hello! I love your blog and I love your writing hehehe 😍 I want to ask for HCs for the brothers if you may? Um, with an MC who has appendicitis during her stay at Devildom and has to go back to the human world to undergo a laparoscopy surgery (it's a much faster surgery using improved equipment rather than normal ones)? Then the brothers go visit her in the Hospital and she's feeling after surgery pain so much so they comfort her? Thank you and sorry if it's too specific for you 😣

Hilarious story, but uh, my appendix actually burst, and I had no idea, even my doctor was like, “No ur fine lol, take some pain killers,” and then 5 days later I was in surgery and later the ICU. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this, I put it under the cut due to the length of the post.

It’s obvious to the brothers that you’re experiencing pain, not that clutching your stomach wasn’t a dead giveaway. They assume that perhaps you just ate something, the food in the Devildom might be too rich, or too heavy for a human handle, but the other symptoms you’re experiencing; even after Beel gives you some stomach medicine warrants a visit from one of Diavolo’s royal physicians. Once they finish the exam, and draws the conclusion, the doctor informs the brothers to get you immediate medical attention at a human hospital, as the hospitals in the Devildom simply aren’t equipped to deal with such medical issues.

The doctor suggests that one of the brothers accompanies you, while trying to reassure them that this is a relatively common condition in humans, and is rarely fatal if caught in time - which does no good as the brothers now realize they’re on a time limit. The doctor proposes the idea that you should choose the brother that takes you, and quickly leaves the house before more chaos ensues.

【Lucifer】

It was natural you would pick him. He’s the only brother that seems even remotely calm, though on the inside he’s deeply worried. Lucifer wastes no time on creating a portal to the human world, and making sure you get to the hospital in the shortest amount of time - while he takes notice of your worsening pain and discomfort. It was rather fortunate that your case was treated as a priority, but that didn’t ease his concerns - and holding onto your hand became more of a way to calm himself down rather than you, not that his pride would ever allow him to admit he was worried.

Lucifer makes a promise to you that he’ll be there when you wake up, and the time spent waiting for the surgery to be done was almost agonizing for him. As soon as you’re brought out and he’s able to see you again, Lucifer rushes to your side, as a wave of relief washes over him. He sits quietly as you rest, but is even happier when you do wake up, though the pain hits you, and is almost unbearable. The first born of the brothers does his best to comfort you by carefully wrapping his arm around you, showering you with words of praise while he gently holds you until a nurse is able to give you some relief from the pain.

Lucifer would rather stay in the hospital with you, but knowing that the whole house is likely to be in chaos - and there are some things he has to do, Lucifer bids you goodnight, giving you a soft kiss on the head, and telling you to rest and get better soon, promising he will be back to visit tomorrow. When Lucifer returns the following day, he’s happy to see you looking so much better, even if you’re still in some pain. He spends the day with you, doing what he can to ease any pain and make you more comfortable, but he’d rather have you back at the house of Lamentation as soon as possible, since he doesn’t have to worry about the tedious visiting times in his own home.

【Mammon】

Not the wisest choice you could have made, but given the situation, everyone assumes that it’s because Lucifer assigned him as your protector while in the Devildom. Regardless of the reason, there’s really no time to dwell on it, as getting you to hospital was the top priority, and even if the hero wasn’t ready, the portal was, and Mammon had no choice but to take the leap with you. Mammon is just worried you’re going to die, even after you reassure him that you won’t, he’s not convinced, and squeezes onto your hand that’s interlaced with his own, fearing he won’t get to feel it for much longer.

Mammon cries when you’re taken for surgery, and can do nothing but nervously pace around the waiting room - despite it being nothing more than a small box room with three chairs and a small table with some books. He eventually resorts to quietly watching the time tick by, but as soon as you’re out of surgery, he is right at your side like the faithful demon he is, watching as your chest slowly rises and falls as you sleep. He can’t help but think that this is the first time in days he’s seen you look comfortable and not in pain; a fleeting thought as when you awoke, you could only weakly smile at Mammon before the pain came for you with a vengeance.

Mammon does everything to shoo the pain away from you, though he can’t do much but allow you to cuddle into him until you’re given relief for it. He tries to convince the doctors to let you go home as soon possible, telling them the great Mammon can care for you. It’s not very convincing, and they decide to keep you in their care, forcing Mammon to reluctantly return to the house of Lamentation without you. Fear not, he returns the next day as soon as he is able to, despite the fact he looks exhausted and has clearly been crying all night, though he denies it hard when you ask him what’s up.

【Leviathan】

To say he was shocked you picked him would be an understatement, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it much before you were both hurried to the human world. It hadn’t really sunk in how dire of a situation you were in, but he didn’t like seeing you in pain, and tried to awkwardly soothe by rubbing small circles on your back as your continued to writhe in pain. Levi’s eyes scanned the waiting room, until eventually falling back onto you as the doctor called out your name. He tried, really hard to be comforting while the doctors reaffirmed what you already knew, and only then it hit him that this was serious, “You’re gonna die?!”, he exclaimed, catching you, and the poor doctor off guard.

Levi ends up sitting quietly at your bedside squeezing your hand, trying to distract you by talking about an anime he was excited for this season - though it was more of a distraction for himself. It actually worked, until you were taken to surgery and the reality hit him once more. The envious demon had nothing to amuse himself with while waiting, and anyone that came close to him only tightened the knot in his stomach. He wanted so desperately to know what was going, to know if you were okay, and when the doctor finally came out and told him it was fine, he nearly collapsed on the spot. Levi only listened to half of what the doctor was saying, he zoned out once he heard you were fine, but still had to see for himself.

Entering your hospital room was a strange experienced for him, but he was just to see you were okay, at least until you woke up in pure agony, unable to do anything but whimper and calls out for Levi, who rushed to your side as quick as he could. Anime always makes the process look so much easier, with the protagonist waking up and being fine, but here you were, waking up and not fine. All he could do was hold your hand and attempt to shush and calm you down - his awkwardness making it a difficult task. When it came time to turn in for the night, Levi really didn’t want to leave you alone, and swore he’d be back the next day with video games to help distract you from the pain.

【Satan】

Once you make your choice, Satan won’t hesitate and has you both through the portal to the human world in record time. Despite appearing calm, he’s incredibly worried, and every whimper that escapes your lips only adds to his concern. He does his best to take your focus away from what the doctors are doing, but often can’t help but quiz them on what they’re doing, or what certain things mean, but as you lightly squeeze Satan’s hand, his focus snaps back to you, as he shoots an apologetic look your way, and masked sure to focus his attention on the one that needs him the most.

Once you’re taken to surgery, he has no idea what to do, and can only impatiently wait in the waiting room. The books did little to amuse him, or take his mind off of you - he just wanted to know that you were okay. The time seemed to pass by slowly, and when someone finally came to release him from his own confinement, he was scared, worried they were about deliver bad news. Satan was relieved when the news was good, and as soon as he could, he was right at your bedside, a relaxed smile spread across his face.

When you eventually woke up, and began to deal with more pain, Satan’s smile quickly faded, and he moved to sit beside you on the bed, bringing your head to his chest while he softly peppered your head with loving kisses, with it being all he had to offer you as a pain reliever. Satan was unwilling to leave your side, and even refused to at first, even after you promised him it would be fine, he wasn’t convinced. He knew you needed rest however, and returned home, only to return the next day with a pile of books he planned to read to you while you were recovering.

【Asmodeus】

Picking him wasn’t the best choice, as he immediately tired to run to his room in order to pack, though he was reminded of the fact you were both in a race against time by his brothers, as they pushed him through the portal with you. Asmo was going to complain about the less than soft landing, but your pained expression stopped him, “Oh love,” he murmured, doing his best to help you through the pain. He really wasn’t a fan of the hospital, fearing that just being there would make him sick, and ruin his flawless skin, though he hardly had time to be dramatic with you holding onto his hand, silently pleading with him for comfort.

Asmo does his best, softly running the slender fingers of his free hand through your hair, while the other reminded entwined with your own. He couldn’t bear to let go of you when you were taken for surgery, and the loneliness he felt in the waiting room was agonizing - flirting with the doctors and nurses that passed by did little good, as they were too busy to pay much mind to the avatar of lust. Asmo has no choice but to admit defeat, sitting back in the less than comfortable chair he began to hum to himself while waiting. He nearly squealed when the nurse came to give him an update on your condition, granting him the permission to go and see you.

Asmo was expecting you to be fine, and able to return home immediately, so he got the shock of his life when he saw that that wasn’t the case. He didn’t know what to do at first while you slept, and resorted to lightly grazing your cheek with his hand, only excitedly taking them away when you stirred and woke up. Before he could speak, you winced when as the pain hit you, and despite trying to hide it, Asmo knew, and was able to get someone to help almost immediately. He was also able to charm his way into staying longer than was allowed, but he only stayed until you fell asleep, but rest assured, he came back the next day with fruit, cakes, and some self-care items to aid in recovery.

【Beelzebub】

There was no hesitation when you picked him, as Beel scooped you up into his arms and carried you through the portal. Despite it being unnecessary, he carried you through the hospital too, and held you tight while the doctors looked you over, until he eventually had to place you onto a bed. Beel settled for keeping your hand in his own, while showering your forehead with tender kisses to calm you down when needed. He did his best to put his own worries aside, but once you were taken for surgery, it was all he could think about while he waited for any news, or simply for you to come out so he could see you again for himself.

While waiting, he ended up raiding the vending machine, and subsequently devouring all the snacks while passing nurses gave him worrying looks. Beel looked like a sad puppy while sitting in the waiting room. He had been worried when you first took ill, even more so when his stomach medicine didn’t work. The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. While deep in thought, a nurse finally came to give him some relief, to confirm that you were okay, and finally let him see you.

Beel darted to your bedside, taking hold of your hand as he settled himself beside you. Though you didn’t hear most of what he said, Beel was talking to you while you slept, only stopping when you finally woke up and locked eyes with him. His face lit up, but seeing you wince from the pain with a sharp intake of breath took the smile away, and filled him with concern. Beel did his best to comfort you, softly rubbing his thumb over your hand, while whispering sweet nothings to you. He outright refused to leave at first, and only did so because he got hungry and had no choice, though he came back the next day with plenty of food so he could stay for longer.

【Belphegor】

He was pretty surprised when you chose him, but it wasn’t like he had time to complain before being shoved into the portal with you. He really wasn’t happy to be in the human world, and was only willing to put up with it since it was for you - though he did feel guilty when he saw how pained you were, and letting out a sigh, he decided to his best, for your sake. He did his best to comfort you for as long as he was able to; holding on tightly to your hand and allowing you the comfort of his pillow. The demon couldn’t do much more for you, as you were soon taken out of his reach and into surgery, leaving him alone in the waiting room with bated breath.

Belphie couldn’t do much while waiting, other than curl up onto a chair and take a short nap - since the doctors had to give him back his pillow for the meantime. He hugged it close to his chest, nuzzling into it, trying hard to pretend he was cuddling with you - it didn’t work, but he was able to fall asleep, even if only for a short time. The nurse that woke him nearly got an earful, though the sharp glare he gave them said more than enough. The nurse nervously informed Belphie of your condition, giving him the okay to see you, turning his original sour expression into a more relieved one before he hurried to your bedside.

It was a surreal experience for him, seeing you so vulnerable and weak. It gave him bad memories of what he did before, and part of felt as though he had no right to be at your side like this. When you awoke, he tried to brush away his thoughts, and offered you a small smile, which you only weakly returned before being struck by pain, with Belphie doing his best to comfort you. He crawled into bed next to you, being careful of any wires and tubes, especially as he switched your pillow out for his own, giving your head something more comforting to rest on. It wasn’t long before you ended up falling back asleep, snuggled up to Belphie as he quietly dozed off next to you, getting his wish to cuddle you close - this time without anyone disturbing him, as none of the nurses dared to this time.

[strafethesesinners]

Any ones you haven’t done for Cooper for the Horror asks! 💜

Alright thank you Lici! Here we go :3

7. How does your oc die? How old are they when they die?

I don't have anything official planned out for him. Obviously I would like him to be able to live forever, but, barring that, to die peacefully of old age. But I'm not sure how likely that is nor if that's what he would want. In at least one ending for an AU (yes almost all his Aus also have aus of their own just....that's just how it is) he gets killed fleeing from the police, which I think he would consider a decent way to go out. He might die in a couple others but I haven't planned anything for those yet either.

11. Has your oc ever killed anyone? How many? Why?

Yes. The exact number I don't know. Nor does he really, because in a lot of cases, where he was involved in a shootout with another gang or with police, he doesn't know whether the people he hit died or not (unless it was pretty obvious.) He's also killed people with his bare hands before. I will say in his defense (not as an excuse) that almost all of the time he was doing it to save his life and/or the lives of his friends (who were pretty much like a family for him for a long time....).

13. Has your oc ever tortured/hurt someone else without killing them?

No and yes lol. Cooper hasn't tortured anyone but he has allowed torture to happen when he could have stopped it (which is something that constantly haunts him in the back of his mind.) He has, however, hurt many, many people without killing them. Cooper goes for non lethal attacks 90% of the time. He really doesn't want to kill you, but he does need you to be incapacitated and unable to fight him or go get backup. He's honed this skill down to near perfection. He's a lot sneakier than you'd think, so it his go-to is to come up behind someone and choke them into unconsciousness. If they do happen to see him, a quick bonk on the head or knockout punch works. If stealth isn't possible or gets ruined, Cooper will still go for non lethal but it won't be as uh, nice. He will shoot (or break with his bare hands) arms, legs, hands, wrists, feet.....anything that would take most people out of a fight without resulting in their death. (Cooper is honestly thrilled if his opponent is disarmed and forced to fisfight him....especially if they give him a challenge. This isn't very efficient for taking out outposts etc. though.)

14. Does your oc have a signature weapon? If they don’t, what would it be if you had to design one?

His hip tattoos lmaoo. No not really. Maybe his fists? He could have a sweet ass set of brass knuckles maybe. But tbh he would be thrilled to have a pair of real revolvers to match his tattoos to be his signature weapon.

19. If your oc were to turn into a vampire or a werewolf, which would they be, and what would they be like? If they already are one of those, what would they be like as the other one?

Ooooh hmm. Probably a werewolf. For one, he much prefers to be part of a group than solitary (not that vampires have to be solitary, but I feel like werewolves usually have like a pack or something?). And he'd really prefer to live life *somewhat* normally except for during a full moon. He loves nighttime, but he would also want to be able to go out during the day if he wanted to. Plus, as sexy as cool as vampire cowboys would be, I feel like a pack of cowboy werewolves is cooler tbh. Plus I mean....werewolf Cooper.....c'mon

20. Are there monsters (of any kind) in your oc’s world? Is your oc one? If not, how does your oc react to monsters?

There are not. Although I think it's kind of left vague as to whether there is a sasquatch in Hope County or not. Cooper is much more likely to believe in cryptids (sasquatch, mothman etc.) than in other supernatural type things. He would probably try to be friends with them first, but would 100% be ready to throw down if they attacked him.

23. Has your oc ever been possessed?

No unless alcohol or drugs count. I guess once Faith figures out how to Bliss him he sort of is to different degrees depending on the AU. In his main one with John, she's able to subdue him and get him thinking he's in the Bliss but still can't make him do anything.

25. Has your oc ever been kidnapped? How did they deal with the situation? How would they, if they haven’t?

Yes, by the Seeds multiple times across his various AUs. This makes him hoppin' mad. He gets away from the Peggies almost all the time, because the Bliss bullets and arrows only have a slight effect on him and it's pretty much impossible to get enough into him to calm him down before he's taken them all out. If he is captured by some other method (typically a trap or Jacob resorts to tranquilizer darts); he will fight like a wild animal to get free. (Slight spoilers ahead) John has managed to get him high enough on Bliss that he stops fighting, but he also won't do anything else either. As in, refusing to get up off the ground and go in the water for baptism. Jacob knocks him out with tranquilizers, but then has to also chain him to a post inside of a cage to stop him from trying to reach the lock through the bars, kick or slam himself into the door to try and break it open, rush and knock down anyone who might try to get into the cage for any reason, and grab anyone who gets too close to the cage (or ya know, sticks their entire arm in). Faith I haven't totally figured out all the way for his main canons, but she has a very difficult time trying to get him into the Bliss.

[appreciatethefoolishness]

BUNNY TROUBLE | 01

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07

― pairing: Jeongguk x reader  ― genre: fluff, future smut, (kind of) hybrid!jeongguk, bunny!jeongguk, magical wishes, Taehyung!best friend, crack/humor lol I tried, swearing ― word count: 5.9k  ― summery: A quick decision to save a hurt bunny on the side of the road might not seem like a big deal to many people, Y/N doesn't think much of it either and decides to take care of the little male rabbit but what she doesn't expect is when he one night turns into a human and hell breaks loose...  

― A/N: So today’s my birthday so I thought what better way to celebrate it than uploading the first part of the series I’ve worked on for a little more than a week now? I hope you like it and I’ll start writing part two as soon as possible! posted: June 23, 2019

don’t post/copy my work without my permission © 

“So what are you gonna do now?” Taehyung’s low voice filled your ear as you walked down the long sidewalk.

A heavy sigh left your lips, the cardboard box in your hand was impossible to ignore and just reminded you of how bad your day had been. Not only did you burn your breakfast, miss the bus which made you late to work but you also lost your job today.

“Honestly, I’ve no idea,” you answered, feeling how your eyebrows furrowed together, “I don’t even know why that evil hag fired me in the first place!”

As Taehyung could see your facial expression through the phone he laughed, “Maybe ‘cause she’s evil?” and you snorted at that, sure your boss, or more like ex-boss, was a bitch but did she really have to take her anger out on poor you? “Anyway, do you want to come over? My shift ends soon so maybe we could watch a movie, maybe that one you told me about a few weeks ago?”

“Oh, you remember that? Then yes, please I just want to forget about this day ever happened.” You whined and threw your head back to see the dark sky above, even the gray clouds matched your mood today. “I’ll go to you now.”

“Great,” you could hear his smile, “see you later, bae.”

“I told you not to call me tha-”, you started saying but he had already hung up on you making you roll your eyes. “Taehyung!” you exclaimed but you couldn’t keep the corners of your mouth from turning upwards. Your best friend was such an idiot, you thought shaking your head before turning off your phone and putting it in your pocket.

You tried to keep smiling but it was difficult, you just lost your income and would have to start searching for a new job as soon as possible and who knew when you would be hired again?

“Aish,” you hissed before kicking a small stone lying in your way and watched how it rolled away toward the ditch on the side of the sidewalk. You didn’t really think much of it and kept walking but a strange noise made you stop in your tracks. A weak whimpering sound made you turn your head and look down, a gasp fell from your lips and you dropped the box.

“Oh, God,” you whispered as you got down on your knees to get a closer look at the little bunny, his black fur was covered in red liquid and dirt and your heart sunk immediately. He had an ugly wound on his back, it was a deep jack and though you weren’t a vet you could tell just by looking at it that it required medical help. “What happened to you..?”

You didn’t know if the bunny was still alive until he moved his small nose to whine measly, his big brown eyes were teary when they locked with yours. His ears were flat against his head, he ground his teeth and his whole body shivered as if he was cold. His eyes were pleading and you didn’t even need to think before you had picked up your box again to throw out the inside material so all the papers flew everywhere and your stapler and shit landed on the ground with a thud but you didn't care. You tried to take a deep breath to calm yourself down and cupped your shaking fingers to gently lift up the dying animal in your hands and you noticed how small he actually was, he could fit in your hands without any problem so he couldn’t weigh more than just 1 kg.  

You could tell he wasn’t a wild hare but a pet rabbit which only made it even more difficult to bare and as warily as you possible could you placed the animal in the box. You felt a little dizzy standing up and looking down at the mess with all your office supplies lying on the ground before you but you couldn’t care less, you were already fired and would probably not be able to use that stuff anyway for a long time. And without wasting any more time you started speed-walking toward your best friend’s workplace.

“Shh,” you hushed the small thing as he whimpered again and it almost sounded like a sob, “you’ll be okay, Bunny, I’ll save you, just hold on.” You mumbled feeling his starry eyes on you and you swallowed hard to prevent yourself from crying, you just couldn’t handle seeing animals hurt.

A few minutes later you were pushing up the heavy door with your back and storming into the empty waiting room, totally out of breath. “TAEHYUNG!” you called out with a panic-filled voice as you moved toward the room where you knew the needed equipment where.

“What?! What is it!?” he yelled back and opened the door to the room, his eyes were wide making the white in them pop matching his doctor coat. You didn’t have time to answer as you rushed passed him into the room and put the box on the metal bed.

You turned to him, flushed cheeks with your chest going up and down. “It’s a b-bunny… he’s hurt!” you shuttered as Taehyung shut the door and you could clearly see how his brows pulled up in confusion but without questing he ran up to the bed to examine the little creature.

With his latex gloves, he gently picked the coal colored bunny up to put him on the bed tissue and started to look at the sore. The bunny tried to jump into the box again and yelped as he tried to escape Taehyung's grip when he started to touch the bloody wound and you bit on your thumb nail uneasy. “Where did you find him?” Taehyung asked as he made a face and moved with the bunny toward the tap to run warm water over his back which made him whimper again and your breath got caught in your throat. Even though you just met this rabbit today you felt thousands of things for him.

“O-on the side... of t-the road.” You said but you couldn’t keep your eyes from watering. “Will he b-be okay?”

Taehyung hummed, “Yeah, though it’s a deep wound so I have to use stitches.”

A surprisingly growl rose from the back of the bunny's throat as he jumped out of Taehyung's hands but before he could get any further your best friend had caught him again and the rabbit hissed.

“Yes, please do.” You tried to blink away the unleashed tears from your eyes which made Taheyung looked up.

“He’ll be okay, ____.” He said, seriousness covering his features as he gave you a reassuring smile. “I promise.”

You nodded and let him continue the rescue by applying some anesthetize before taking out a curled needle, needle driver and some medical thread to start stitching. You helped to hold the bunny down and as your hands touched his shaky figure he stopped struggling and just high pitched whines escaped from his little mouth. Taehyung worked quickly but precisely, each stitch was carefully sewed and you had never seen him so focused on one task, his brows were furrowed and hands steady.

"What do you think hurt him?" you asked as he snipped the thread and backed away from the bunny to clean all his tools in the sink.

The now free rabbit looked up and turned his head to look around the room and when his gaze fell on you, you expected him to immediately run away but unexpectedly he jumped into your arms instead. You were surprised to say at least but were quick to wrap your hands around his body and held him against your chest, your heart fluttered at the action.

"It looked like a laceration so probably some other animal but I have no idea," Taehyung replied with his back turned to you. "By the way, how did you know it was a guy?"

"Um," you were still puzzled by the closeness of the rabbit, his whimpers had stopped and his face was now rubbing against your collarbone. "I don't know… I just guessed."

"Well you were right," he said and turned around with a smile on his face and it only brightened when he saw the bunny in your embrace, "and the little guy seems to really like you."

You grinned before gently bringing your fingers up to pet your new friend’s head and he didn't protest as he just closed his eyes and cuddled closer to you. "Oh, he's so cute." You cooed and the fur felt so soft against your fingertips, "aren't you the cutest? Yeah, aren’t you are a cutie, Guk?"

You didn’t know what that name came from but you liked it.

"Guk?" Taehyung's repeated and his voice startled you a bit, "shouldn't you give him a proper name?" he teased. "Guk is too short, give him a full name."

You playfully rolled your eyes at him, "okay then, this is Jeon…," you trailed off as your inspiration died halfway through and Taehyung lifted his eyebrows as in a gesture for you to keep going, "Um, Jeon...jeongguk. Yeah, Jeon Jeongguk."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I like it," you defended yourself toward his uncertain voice.

"Okay, then go for it."

"I will," you sassed back but not even a second after you remembered something important, "but wait why are we even naming him? What if he already has an owner?"

Taehyung sucked on his bottom lip before shaking his head making his hazel mop of hair move like waves. "I doubt it, he doesn't have a collar on and neither seems to be chipped."

"But then… what are we gonna do with him? He needs a home." You mumbled and Taehyung gave you that look again, "what?"

"Well, maybe his new home is much closer than you think." He said with a glint in his dark eyes.

"You mean…," you started but he didn’t let you finish.

"Yeah, didn't you talk about being jealous over pet owners? Well now are one." And Taehyung’s words became more true then you first though because a few days later Jeongguk moved into your apartment and you couldn’t be happier.

But of course, not everything brought you joy especially when you tried to work, Jeongguk was, for lack for a better word, an attention whore. Not that it was a bad thing, you loved how much he wanted to spend time with you and seemed to adore everything you did but when you had to focus on writing your CV your bunny’s constantly honking sounds and running did not help at all.

“Oh, God,” you mumbled as you moved your fingers away from the keyboard on your computer. You were sitting in your living room on the couch with Jeongguk energetically jumping all over it, trying to get your attention and well, it certainly worked. “Sweetie,” you sighed and reached out to stroke his silky fur and he purred in victory as he got what he wanted, “you must let me do this so I can send it in to more companies and eventually get a new job, you know I can’t take care of you if I don’t earn any money.” Jeongguk tilted his head just slightly as he was listening to you, “yeah, so be a good boy and stay still for me or go somewhere else and play, okay?”

And after that, he sat quietly beside you only licking and nibbling on your hand from time to time but it didn’t bother you and you finished writing and editing your document rather quickly and after you pressed the last ‘send’ button you were done.

“Okay, now we’ll just wait and see how it goes,” you announced, closed your laptop before placing it on the coffee table in front of you and turning to the bunny again, “and you’ve been such a good bunny and deserve some well-earned cuddles.” You cooed, brought him up against your chest and he immediately started humming while you petted him. “How’s your wound by the way? Is it healing nicely?” you asked and moved your fingers to be able to see the stitches across his back, “Ah, it looks good, we just have to wash it again today and soon we’ll remove them and you’ll be like new!”

A few hours later of you two watching TV (A bake off because for some reason you loved watching them even though you never baked) and Jeongguk seemed to also find the screen with all the moving pictures interesting. Just like you he liked carrots but without the dip, obviously, but he took the word ‘like’ to the next level, he nibbled so passionately on the orange sticks you gave him that had to stop before he ate too much.

You hadn’t said it out loud yet but Jeongguk had become such an important part of your life these last few weeks and you couldn’t remember how you managed to survive without him before. He always made you feel less lonely and brought out a smile on your face when you felt devastated due to being unemployed. You two fell into a daily routine almost immediately with him waking you up early in the morning by running around your apartment before jumping on your bed so you would pet and feed him as soon as possible.

In the beginning, he used to sleep under the dinner table or in his indoor house that you and Taehyung had built together but after a while, he started to creep up on your bed to sleep beside you. Of course, you were surprised, especially after you asked Taehyung and he confirmed that no, it was not normal for bunnies to sleep beside their owner, but mostly thrilled and happy but who wouldn’t if a cute bunny wanted to cuddle you to sleep? It almost seemed to be too perfect to be true and soon you discovered that living with a hormonal rabbit had its flaws...

As the dark silence slowly swept you into dreamland a weird feeling on your leg made you open your eyes and you stirred awake. Dazed you reached out to the light on your nightstand to turn it on and when the brightness lit up the room the sight that greeted you would certainly be hard to forget.

“Oh, my God, no!” you cried out as Jeongguk humped your leg. His small hips were thrusting against your bare skin and you quickly lifted him up in the air, separating him from your body. “Stop, we're not the same species! It doesn’t work that way!”

He kept thrusting in the air for a few moments before he realized he wasn’t grinding on anything anymore and he stopped.

“Bad r-rabbit,” you tried to school him, “don’t do that!”

Your stern voice worked surprisingly well and his ears flattened on his head and he whined apologetically and tried to bump his nose against you. You learn from that night that he hated disappointing you and every time you had to lecture him he took it to heart and tried to never do it again but the thing about him humping you- he couldn’t stop it. It was his instincts telling him to do it and you didn’t see yourself spaying him anytime in the future.

Except Jeongguk’s never-ending rutting against your body parts and the sexual aspect to it so was company something he loved. He followed you around everywhere you went and when you had to leave the apartment he always tried to make you stay by protesting, whining and ‘blocking’ the door as best as he could but as soon as you returned home again he would attack you with licks and cuddles and his previous sulking would be long forgotten.

“Oh, hi sweetheart!” you exclaimed as you opened the door to walk inside and an energetic Jeongguk greeted you by jumping up and down.

You put down your two grocery bags to see your little bunny running circles around your feet in excitement as he made happy honking noises and a bubbly laugh rose from your throat.

“Did you miss me?” you cooed and scrooched down to pet him, “I was only away for an hour, why do you always act like I’ve been away for years?” you giggled as he started to climb up your body with his cute paws and then licked your hands and whatever he could reach. “Ah, Guk!” you shrieked and fell on your back and he continued to lick, nuzzle and nibble on your skin.

“Why does it always feel like I’m the third wheel nowadays when I visit you, ____?” a voice a few meters away made you throw your head back on the floor to see an upside-down Taehyung standing in your doorway.  

He was dressed in his normal clothes or the most normal Taehyung’s style could be‒ a t-shirt with a simple print on it and jeans. When he wasn't in his vet/doctor coat he usually wore designers like Gucci and Prada. In the beginning you were confused from where he got all that money to spend but eventually figured out that people used their money differently and that’s how.

“Ah, Tae!” you said still slightly laughing and stood up with the excited bunny in your hands, “I promise you’re not, right Jeonggukie?” you asked and held him up toward your friend’s face but instead of agreeing with you he started hissing and kicking to get out of your grip. Surprised you quickly sat him down on the floor but instead of running away he jumped in front of you in a protective manner and grunted hostility at your friend, “What are you doing, Guk? It’s only Taehyung, you don’t have to do that.”

Jeongguk didn’t flinch when you leaned down to collect him but kept hissing and grunting toward Taehyung who looked like a question mark. You tried to calm the bunny down by holding him against your chest and pet him but he still wouldn’t stop glaring at your best friend.

“That’s so weird, he didn’t do this when my mom was here yesterday,” you mumbled as Taehyung closed the door behind him and removed his shoes.

“Maybe he’s just really protective of you, you know in his eyes you’re his and when another guy comes over he might get a bit aggressive? I don’t really know, rabbits aren’t my specialty.” He shrugged and you laughed.

“Oh, that’s so cute!” you said and turned Jeongguk around so he was facing you and he immediately stopped growling, “Too bad you need Tae, otherwise who will remove your stitches, huh? Isn’t that why you’re here?”

Taehyung was already half-way through your kitchen with your grocery bags in his hands, you hadn’t even noticed because you had been too busy talking to your pet and you hurried to his side. “Yeah, but also to make that move night that never happened happen.” He said and opened your fridge to start packing in the milk and eggs you had bought.

“Oh, really?” you carefully put Jeongguk on one of the counters before leaning down to help him, “that’s dope.”

He froze midway through his movement and slowly turned to you with eyebrows slightly pulled together, “Did you just say ‘dope’?” he asked and you could clearly hear the judgement in his voice.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Oh, wow… I don’t think I can look at you the same way anymore, bae.” He sighed falsely disappointed and shook his head and without hesitating you hit him with the leek in his face.

“If I can’t say dope then you can’t call me bae!” you snorted amused as he rubbed his cheek that had took the hit, “You should call your girlfriend that not me!”

He chuckled and moved closer to you so you had to lean against the stove while he was towering over you, “Why would I want a girlfriend when I already have you, my love?” he also had made his voice much lower and huskier as you gripped the leek in your hand tighter.

A moment passed with you two just staring at each other, his arms were on either side of you trapping you against his body but it was soon over when you burst out laughing. Taehyung’s eyes narrowed like they always did when he smiled and showed his straight teeth.

“Aish, you’re such an idiot,” you giggled and pushed him away, “no, thanks.”

He jokingly winked at you while smirking making you laugh even more but what you didn’t notice was how his smile slowly faded and eyes dropped when he turned away to keep stacking stuff in your fridge. The rest of the evening was spent trying to hold Jeongguk back from biting Taehyung when he cut the bunny’s stitches and to get him to calm down but he would still give your best friend the evil eye every chance he got. And another thing that happened was in the middle of the movie when Jeongguk decided to hump you again but this time with Taehyung as a witness.

"I know _____'s pretty but can’t you at least try to keep it in your pants?" Taehyung chuckled as you tried to pry the bunny off your knee with loud complaints leaving your mouth.

"Jeongguk!" you made an attempt to sound harsh but he didn't even flinch as he kept thrusting against your hand and grunting lightly. He looked at Taehyung with his big brown eyes as he kept going as he wanted to claim you as his but the other male just kept laughing not understand a shit about Jeongguk's intention. "Stop it!"

"He's much more feisty than I first thought," he snickered again and you sighed.

“Oh, tell me about it.” Eventually, you got the bunny to stop by hugging him and stroking the bottom of his long ears and he rapidly calmed down and started to grind his teeth showing how much he loved your affection. "You know, the humping is kind of cute in a weird way." You spoke after a while and Taehyung just shook his head at that.

"I repeat; I can't look at you the same way anymore," he joked and you hit him with the hand that didn't hold Jeongguk. "Ouch! What was that for?" and you just shrugged. "Anyway, instead of talking about your weird rabbit what about the meteor shower that will take place in two weeks?"

"The meteor-what?" you asked and turned to him.

"Yeah, you know shooting stars and shit like that," he explained with a small smile on his face, "Wanna go to Han River and wish for some money with me?"

You snorted before caressing Jeongguk's fur again, "sure but don't expect the wish to become true."

"Oh, trust me, if you really want something, anything’s possible."

The next week passed with you going to different job interviews and after a particularly long one, you couldn't wait to come home to be able to complain to Jeongguk about it. He was a good listener and cuddle buddy who didn't seem to mind all your endless talk about life and shit like that.

You were thankful you had remembered to bring an umbrella with you as you walked toward your apartment. The rain hit the shelter above your head with small tapping sounds and the sky had slowly turned from a light blue color to a gray one.

After fishing out your key from your pocket and unlocking the door to open it you were met with nothing. There was no bunny attacking you with kisses or anything like that- just dead silence.

"Jeongguk?" you called out and closed the door behind you with a thud. "Jeonggukie?? Are you here?"

This had never happened before, he usually waited for you in front of the door and this absence made you anxious. You dropped the long-forgotten umbrella on the floor and swallowed hard, you started looking for him with your heart beating a little faster then usual.

"Guk?" you said again but softer, after searching through your bedroom without any success you felt how your voice began to shiver.

Panic rose up from your stomach to your chest and the constantly whipping against the windows by the rain only added to the pressure. Lightness blinked through the apartment for a millisecond making you look outside to the storm and a moment later thunder rumbled in your ears. You almost didn't even notice as you walked into the living room still looking for your Jeongguk and a small whine made you stop. It came from under the couch and you were quick to get down on the floor to check if he really was there. He usually only hid under furniture when he wanted to chew on it but this time it was for a different reason.

The heavy weight lifted from your shoulder by the sight of him even though he looked so small and pitiful with his long ears covering his eyes. His whole body quivered when more sobs leaked out of his mouth.

"Oh, baby~," you cooed and reach out to touch him but he shied away as more lightning and thunder struck through the apartment. "Are you afraid of the thunder?"

He whimpered again and your heart broke, just like the first time you saw him he looked scared and frightened but this time you didn't know what to do. To force him out of his hiding place didn't seem like a good idea at all and it wasn't like you could turn the storm outside off. Hesitantly you sat up to lean against the couch, still with your hand under it to let him know that you were there for him. Another thunder thud wrecked through the room which made Jeongguk hiss terrified at it and the heavy feeling in your chest increased. Without thinking about it you started humming comforting to your bunny just like your mom had when you were a kid and dreamt nightmares.

Soon the humming turned into soft words falling from your lips, you weren't a singer, far from it, but you could hold a tone or two. You didn't know if it helped the poor bunny anything but you kept singing lowly with the rain in the background, the song was from the radio that you had heard a few days ago and it had calmed you down so why wouldn't it work for Jeongguk too?

You didn't hear any growling or sobs as you skipped the part of the song you didn't remember the lyrics to and focused on the chorus where you confidently mumbled the lovely words out in the air.

Honey it's true

There ain't nothing I can do

'Cause there's no place

No place like you~

You didn't know for how long you sat there and sang but after a few minutes you felt something soft against your fingers under the couch and you soon realized it was Jeongguk's little nose. He rubbed his face, butt his head against your hand and licked on it before quickly crawling out to jump on your lap. His ears were still pushed back but his eyes didn't wander when the thunder attacked again and just looked at you with the stars in them shining brightly as he cuddled closer to you. You didn't even need to say anything as you embraced his petty form, letting him rest in the space between your breasts, where your heart was. Even though there were many questions surrounding your bunny like the ones about his wound and his oblivious fear of storms, you still didn't know exactly how he got hurt or from whom neither the reason why he reacted so strongly toward the thunder, maybe he was traumatized? Either way, you hugged him tightly and kissed his head.

"I'm here," you whispered between heart beats, "you're okay."

Tae not his bae✨: Today, 19.36

Sorry I know it was I who suggested it but I can't come tonight and watch the stars with u :(

_______________________________________

You: Today, 19.38

What? No :(( Why did something happen?

_______________________________________

Tae not his bae✨: Today, 19.38

Im so sorry Something came up and I have to work overtime tonight Again I'm sorry but I hope you can enjoy the stars without me

_______________________________________

You: Today, 19.42

It's okay Tae Don't worry about it I won't forget to wish for money for you ❤️

_______________________________________

Tae not his bae ✨: Today, 19.43

Yes love u Wish for big cash I don't want small change ❤️❤️❤️

_______________________________________

You: Today, 19.43

Yeah yeah Luv u too 💞

_______________________________________

You looked down at your phone with a crease between your brows. You didn't like the thought of him overworking himself and the fact that he would miss the thing he had seemed really excited about. With a sigh you started to remove the makeup you had applied for going out to the Han River, you figured it was better to stay home, you didn't feel like going out alone without your friend anyway.

"So it's only you and me now," you said turning in your chair to Jeongguk who laid on your bed watching you. "Wanna go to the balcony with me?"

The sky was just as beautiful as Taehyung had promised, black with thousands of shining stars lighting it up and the small moon stood stately in the middle of everything. With a glass of wine in your hand and the other stroking Jeongguk's fur while he laid comfortable in your lap as usual, you waited for the meteor to start falling.

"Wasn't it typical that Tae would diss me at the last minute?" you mumbled out loud and took another sip, letting the bitter taste of the red liquid paint the inside of your cheeks. "Now I can't tell him but I think I might get one of the jobs which means I finally can spoil you! I'll buy anything you would like, hmm…. what 'bout carrots? Or I don't know, what does a bunny want?"

Jeongguk looked at you with his intelligent eyes as his nose twitched and his cuteness caused you to coo at him. "I'm so lucky I have you, Gukkie, you know?" you sputtered before leaning down to give him a kiss on his head, he ground his teeth making a purring sound almost like a cat as you leaned back again and chuckled lazily, "you know, sometimes I just wish you could speak to me just like I do, then you could tell me what I should buy for you..." you sighed, feeling a little light-headed from all the alcohol, it was your third glass and you didn't plan on stop drinking anytime soon. By coincidence, you looked up and realized that some of the bright dots had started falling, "Oh, Jeongguk, look! Shooting stars!" The bunny followed your finger that pointed at the sky and hummed lightly, he didn't care about the stars like you did as you clasped your hands together in front of you before closing your eyes, just like a prayer, "If you exist you great God in heaven," you began shouting as the cold air hit your face making your hair fly in the wind, "please give me and Tae-Tae some money, we need it!"

The rest of the night contained you admiring and taking pictures of the wonderful sky while finishing the bottle of wine and talking to your pet. Jeongguk couldn't speak but it was clear that he was worried about your drunk ass, though you tried to convince the little one you were okay being tipsy didn't help your case at all. You later fell face plant on the bed and Jeongguk was quick to jump up beside you as you two fell asleep.

“Good night, baby boy~,” you faltered and snuggled your way under the duvet and the small rabbit nestled closer to you, "Sweet dreams…"

The next morning you woke up with a hideous headache and feeling extremely warm, too warm and with an unfamiliar heavy weight on top of you. Half asleep you whined by the unfamiliarity and tried to move away from it but a strong arm around your stomach forced you back to the warmth again.

"Huh?" you muttered, laying on your back and turned your head to the side to see a guy's face only a few centimeters from yours.

At first, you didn't react, still weary of sleep and a pounding head, and just stared at his obvious beauty. His features were delicate, dark brown brows barely visible through his bangs, in the same color, that covered most of his forehead. His eyes were closed as he slept making his long eyelashes stand out more against his honey skin, his button nose, and sharp jawline- he looked just like a model. He snored lightly, his pouty lips parted and you took notice how the guy looked to be around your age or maybe a little younger. As your eyes eventually drifted lower to his naked torso it was like the lightning struck you and you suddenly remembered the situation and your eyes sharply widened. With a high-pitched scream, you fell off the bed and took the duvet with you.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" you exclaimed as you struggled to stand with the thick blanket wrapped around your form.

The pretty guy stirred in his sleep, his eyelids fluttered as he slowly propped himself up onto his forearms and when he did that you noticed his clothes or more like his lack of clothing. "What? What's the matter?" he questioned with hooded eyes, his voice was raspy with sleep and surprisingly sweet and calm, unlike you who felt your whole chest rising up and down with the adrenaline pumping through your veins.

In survival mood you grabbed the first thing you could reach which was a book from your bookshelf to point at him with it. "STAY AWAY, I HAVE THE FIFTH HARRY POTTER BOOK AND I'M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT!" you threatened and backed away while eyeing the naked guy. "I'M ASKING AGAIN; WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU NAKED??"

The stranger who had awoken from all your fuss rubbed his eyes before opening them fully and your breath hitched. Big sparkling dark eyes that seemed almost too familiar but it couldn't be possible… "What do you mean?" he asked, brows furrowed behind his bangs and tilted his head to the side just like someone you knew all too well did, "How can you not recognize your own bunny?"

When those words left his rosy lips the thick book slipped from your hand and landed on your foot but you didn't even flinch at the pain as you stared at him.

"J-jeongguk?" you breathed and your jaw fell slack.

"Yes?" he smiled but it quickly died on his lips when he saw your horrified face. Hesitantly, he followed your glance at his body and froze, his doe eyes widened and he gasped before locking eyes with you again. Jeongguk's expression mirrored your own, fear and confusion mixed together as he looked back at his hands to examine them and then up again meeting your eyes. Together you screamed so loudly your neighbors probably woke up to wounder what the hell was going on, and well you asked yourself the same question.

What the actually fuck?

[lotusdiscussthis]

hey, i know v3 is DR1 and DR2 inspired, but is there any connection to DR3 anime? in the japanese subtitles there was a word that is word NG and it was said both in the video of rantaro and by Ouma in chapter 2, plus there is a lot of talk about anime and manga, brainwashing, all these things are also present in DR3 with a well known character who is Ryota Mitarai. Perhaps the future foundation formed team Danganronpa and used kiibo to get the cast to vote for a fake hope (brainwashing)?

Hoo, boy. The DR3 anime is something I vaguely remember in comparison to the games. I just remember bits and pieces and I honestly couldn’t bring myself to look at the episodes again and keep my reply for you waiting any longer. Though as I was looking through my past conversations with my friends on discord, there wasn’t anything particularly standout-ish.

I only found one possibility in my quick Google search that shows any relevancy. Here’s my source. It also holds a Wikipedia page link in the same post if you wish to further dig into this.

https://www.quora.com/When-and-how-did-the-Japanese-abbreviation-NG-meaning-Not-good-or-Not-OK-a-counterpart-to-OK-originate

[ NG is a term that was originally used by GHQ.

Japan was under occupation by GHQ after WW2. GHQ implemented heavy censorship so that any information that they thought was inappropriate should not be spread. In this censorship, they called Japanese drama and films that didn't pass it NG, abbreviation of No Good.

The word remained in broadcasting / movie / entertainment industry even after the occupation was ended, and its meaning changed to refer to 'no good' recording, film or performance. English equivalent is outtake or blooper.

And eventually the word was spread out of the industry to the public, where the word means something that is not OK in general. ]

This was surprisingly straightforward. I originally thought it meant Nonary game from the Zero Escape games lol XD

I honestly thought it was gonna be something more to it, but heck, this is still a understandable explanation.

The reason I believe it’s relevant is because NG is a Japanese broadcasting term, which would make sense given the fact that DRV3′s big “reveal” was that it’s actually a tv show. (Well, not really a surprise given that every DR story had something to do with broadcasting) This abbreviation would make more sense to the Japanese audiences than it would with Western audiences and thus why it wouldn’t register me or probably many other DR fans in the West. DR3 would also have Junko using Ryota as a tool to make content to bring forth more despair to viewers as if it’s some brainwashing despair propaganda. 

But the only real connection with NG in all this is that it’s a term used for censorship and to prevent things from damaging the content being shown. So yeah, if the mastermind in DR3 were to use NG (Not good) codes, it’s to give the players limitations that would most likely doom the majority by the end anyway. For DRV3 however, the importance of NG comes from the fact that they came from the mouths of two of the most enigmatic characters in the story, Rantaro and Ouma. They were the only ones in the entire game (iirc) that mentioned NG in their dialogue, giving us hints that they were personally told from the gamemaster what they should and/or should not to. If that were the case, to give those two NG censors and forbidding Rantaro from saying something, then they probably were the most informed individuals that could easily ruin this “game”.

This is interesting because they were the only two characters whose existence are not fully understood amongst the rest. The fact that Rantaro (in main game) has “no memory” of his talent and was the supposed V2 winner, and there’s also the fact that Ouma couldn’t afford to be straightforward with his friends no matter what and he had the most sketch talent, aside from Maki. The NG term only pertained to the two characters that left the most details out about their lives when protags tried to get involve with them. (Yeah, we get to learn about Rantaro, but not until AFTER the main story. Like, what the hell) What that important info is however, I cannot say. Needs further analyzing.

As for the matter on whether Future Foundation’s part in this whole thing, my friend, Jacks, and I talked about it and she mentioned that she had theorized in the past about how DICE may have been put together by the Future Foundation as a branch or as a response to them. She wasn’t certain, but according to DR2′s chapter 6 events, FF were the only ones that have been able to witness the second game’s VW killing game and most likely have not been seen by the entire world. And with that said, if the DRV3 history book were to indicate anything, is that Team Danganronpa may have gotten hold of FF’s records of that particular killing game in order to document it. I’m not sure, but I’ll let you take that for what it’s worth.

I’m sorry for making you wait this whole time. I’m losing sleep and I was holding this off long enough, so forgive me if this seemed a bit rush. I hope that this response is satisfactory. If anyone knows more about NG, then by all means, get in contact with me. I would enjoy hearing what more I can learn from this.

Thank you for messaging me! Have a nice day.

[chaoticriderlessb]

“Camp Cretaceous” Season 2 Review

 As the title says, this is what this post is gonna be about xD. And, unless I’m very stupid (which is entirely possible), but the whole “Under the Cut” option for spoilers no longer seems to exist. Sooo....

SPOILER ALERT!!! For this whole post, just in case.

 Alright, first off, I just wanna say this show has surprised me, yet again. I was concerned that this season was going to feel very rushed and turn out disappointing since the date for it was so soon after season 1. Because as I’ve probably said in my last review of this show...usually, when things get a date that soon after the first season/movie/book/whatever, they don’t turn out quite well, most of the time. So yeah, the date for this 2nd season did make me feel really skeptical. However! I binged it, today, and was genuinely surprised that it turned out to be just as good as the first season! Maybe even better!

 I’ll try not to make this review as long as my last one ^^;.

 Anyway, first off (again, but for realz or whatever), I knew that Ben was going to come back. I noticed the twitch in his fingers at the very end of season 1. So I saw that coming. What I didn’t see coming was his kinda sudden character development (if that’s what it’s called...I dunno, I’m no expert on the whole character development thing ^^;). He went from a very skittish boy to like, Tarzan. Lol! He grew a pair, and I’m a little proud of him xD. Then again, I guess that’s what being alone and surviving like that with lack of sleep will do to you. I also loved how big and powerful Bumpy grew up to be! And protective! I mean, of course, she kinda did imprint on the boy (or is it the other way around?), just as how Blue was protective of Owen. I just love those sort of bonds in wild animals and humans that they share (I’m being a nerd, please ignore me xD).

 Oh! Blue! I love that they gave her a bit more screen-time! Just like the first season, her screen-time only lasted about a second...but she had more scene cuts like that than she did in the first season! I kinda hope she’ll make more of an appearance in season 3 (yes, I read that apparently, season 3 is probably a strong possibility), and if she does, I hope she’ll actually have a full scene with her in the spotlight, if that makes any sense. She is just like, my top most favorite character in the Jurassic World movies (with Rexy coming in second).

 Speaking of Rexy, our old girl is as badass as frickin’ always! Her roars will forever give me the chills (I’m still so happy that they kept all the dinosaur sounds from all the movies. I find it interesting that she had pretty much made Main Street her little home. I was confused about her making a nest, though. Like, she an old lady, why does she need a nest xD? On a different note, maybe I just didn’t see them...but, I noticed that she did not have her scars. That confused me because since I didn’t see any of her scars, I wasn’t sure if it was actually her...or, if there has actually been a 2nd T-Rex on the island that nobody knew about (that’s unlikely, though). But she’s supposed to have scars, people! She’s a fighter, and has been in some tough battles! Lol!

 I liked that the people who made this show brought back Toro. Even for only two scenes, and Ben had gone up against her in his story of what had happened after the end of the first season. The Ceratosaur making an appearance did kinda surprise me, as the last time I saw that dinosaur, she was in the 3rd Jurassic Park movie (please don’t at me about that, I grew up with all 3 of those movies). I mean, I saw her in the season 2 trailer, but honestly, she had such a small clip in said trailer that I forgot about her ^^;. Even in this show, she didn’t really make too much of an appearance as I had thought she would.

 The Baryonyxes. This trio were very interesting antagonists! I actually liked them, a lot! And I’m not really much of a Baryonyx fan (probably because growing up, I never really paid it too much mind as I did Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurs. I only remember seeing 1 Baryonyx in the Jurassic World movies, but she only got a little bit of screen-time. Now that I think about it...it might’ve been the two siblings in “Fallen Kingdom...because I think one of them died when the volcano exploded, and the other one was carried onto one of those ships. I could be totally wrong, though...but after watching this season, it would kinda make sense and an interesting theory. Anyway, I went off-track, there. Main point being: Baryonyx, very interesting antagonist, actually terrifying. I was not expecting them to sound like that, either. Maybe I’m just crazy, but they sounded just a little bit like the Indominous! Maybe.... 

 I was not expecting poachers to be in this show, at all. I’m actually very against poachers...I feel like they’re the reason some certain animals are going extinct. But anyway, that was an interesting reveal! I was suspicious of them from the get-go, but I honestly thought that they would turn out to be working for Manticore. The show did a good job on making me constantly second-guess this couple! I never liked them, to begin with, simply because I felt something off about them...but they were just horrible people! The woman, I forget her name, was the worst of the two, or so she turned out. She seemed to be the one actually in charge of things. Lemme tell you, when she killed one of the Baryonyxes, I literally had a “uhhhmmm” moment because I just knew that her actions were going to come around right back to her...literally. My heart actually went out to the other two Baryonyxes because it was just...a bit of a roller-coaster of emotions, there! The woman later on left her husband for dead (now, that’s just a douche move). But ya know...what goes around comes around! So, I wasn’t shocked when the two Baryonyxes made their way onto her boat.

 Yeah.... Karma is a bitch.

 What I really liked about this season was that it threw in so many elements of the first Jurassic Park movie. I loved that! I haven’t seen the movie in a really long time, so those elements in this season was a nice quick nostalgia ride for me. Raptors in the kitchen (though, in the show’s case, Baryonyx in the lab), the watering hole (I think that was in the first movie, but I could be very wrong), Rexy with the flipped over Jurassic Park (World) vehicle...all of it was amazing to see!

 I talked a lot about the dinosaurs, sorry ^^;!

 The kids were great, of course. Honestly, I feel like there isn’t too much to say about the humans, this season. The kids get along, well, and prove to be a great team, Kenji is...well, Kenji xD, and like I said, Ben coming back was expected but still great to watch. One thing I also liked was that the kids realized and pretty much implied about what had happened to the Indominous.

 To close this review off, I have just one question in mind about something that has me totally thrown off and kinda desperate for answers.... What in the hell is in that locked room in the lab?!?! What was cooked up that the show is so implying to be incredibly scary and dangerous?! Is it another I-Rex or is it a I-Raptor or a half-dino, half-human creature?! What?! Dr. Wu?! Explain, please!

 Ok, I’m done with my confused ranting xD.

 That is my review for season 2 of “Camp Cretaceous”! I am curious to see what season 3 will bring and what the kids will do, now, since they’ve decided to no longer wait for people to come rescue them. I’m also curious to see what sort of dinosaurs season 3 will bring. That is all if season 3 does get decided to become a thing. 

 Until next time! Later! 

[yeats-infection]

@sqvalors tagged me in a lil writing meme... if you’d like to participate please do and tag me! 

ao3 name: fluorescentgrey but i also post some things as drglass (dr. glass is the second song on the fluorescent grey EP by deerhunter, so if i make another pseud it will be likenew, then washoff, etc.) 

fandoms: about two thirds of my fics are harry potter or star wars but there are a lot of random little goodies. currently i have shifted into the terror (2018) mode. 

number of fics: 59 right now... i will throw a party when i get to 69... 

fic i spent the most time on: this is funny because some of these technically took me like six months or more of working on them extremely intermittently... namely, bone machine. the series in the garden has taken me the most time generally... and in that, minuet did take me several months of working really hard while i had a schedule / commute that was not conducive to having a creative practice... 

fic i spent the least amount of time on: hilariously, literally my most popular fic by ninety miles, the witcher PWP that i wrote out of spite in two or three hours. 

longest fic: the source codes series... particularly heelstone which is 102k. i wrote these two stories in a single summer like a crazy person and i hate talking about them because i find them WAY too gooey. honestly, that’s why they are so long. it’s all the gooeyness!!!!!! 

shortest fic: yes, the answer is the witcher porn again (this silly thing is going to be the answer for many other questions in this little meme but i’m just going to stop talking about it while i’m ahead). the west end is just about 50 words longer and is much better and is a much better and more interesting story. 

most hits: we’re just going to pretend it’s sex and dying in high society, which has the second most hits. this is certainly due to the fact that @wolfstarwarehouse hypes this story a lot for which i am endlessly grateful! 

most kudos: recovery position has the second most kudos so let’s go with that one! i have been very touched by the response to this story, though i do personally like the sequel beachcoma a little more... i understand why not everyone wants to read it because it is a little more bittersweet. but it also comes from my soul. 

most comment threads: the two stories in the source codes series are leading here, because i only posted two chapters at a time so that i would get maximal validation, lol. 

most bookmarks: in order to talk about a story i haven’t talked about yet, the rosary has the fourth-most. i think this fic is truly my r/s swan song... i said everything i wanted to say and did everything i wanted to do. it’s a really good mystery/noir story that i didn’t think i could pull off until i did! and i love the OCs in it who have sort of manifested these secret headcanons for me that i may expostulate upon someday. thank you to @piovascosimo for the inspiration to write it. 

total word count: 1,000,478. lol! 

favorite fic i wrote: cannot possibly choose but probably the top five in order of date posted are: desperado, a handful of dust, doom town, beachcoma, jump into the fire

fic i’d rewrite / expand on: i already said all of source codes because it’s way too gooey, i also could make hard time killing floor blues a lot tighter, and a memoir of the flesh deserves a way better ending because i was rushing to make the yuletide deadline...

share a bit of a WIP: i was trying for a while to write a band of brothers AU where they are vietnam vets who start growing cannabis... based on the steve earle song “copperhead road.” this could have been SO good but the plot was too huge and unwieldy so i gave up. my roommate is obsessed with this idea and keeps asking me how it’s going so i may yet finish. but there’s a bit below the cut.

The knock at the door in the night was a sharp shock, bright as lightning, that sent them both back to Khe Sanh and before. Nix ducked. Dick went behind the doorframe. They kept low into the kitchen, where Nix took his old officer’s pistol out from where he kept it hidden behind the fridge. Then they went to the door, keeping to the edges of the hallways.

On the porch was Liebgott. He could have made his own way in likely right onto the couch without either of them noticing, so it was something that he had knocked on the goddamn door. It was particularly something given that none of the boys from Easy should have known about the grow operation, or even about Dick’s farm, being as Dick’s address on file at the V.A. was a post office box in town and Nix’s was still in Jersey. These considerations were nil to somebody who had spent the better part of five years in the bush of Vietnam. He took a last draw from his cigarette and put it out against the rubber sole of his boot, then he put the butt in his pocket. As far as Nix knew, he hadn’t said a word since January 1970.  

“Joe,” said Dick diplomatically. He put his hand out and Liebgott took it. Then he took Nix’s. He had handsome dark eyes, but they were full of a wall. You could tell he saw you, but it was like nothing followed the necessary channels to the brain to spur emotional response. It had been like this even while he was still talking, and after a while you got used to it.

“You comin' in,” said Nix, knowing he probably would even if he wasn’t invited.

Inside, they all three sat at the kitchen table in silence nobody was about to break. Finally Dick got up and went to the drawer where they kept the rollies and their share of the product. He passed a sheaf of papers and a film canister full of bud to Liebgott across the table. Nix understood as well as Dick apparently did that there would be no getting anything over on this kid, who had eyes in the back and sides of his head. He’d probably had a nice tour of the property before coming inside. “You hungry, son,” Dick said.

Liebgott shook his head. He extracted one of the buds from the canister and inspected it. They did look mighty good if Nix said so himself. They looked artful in Liebgott’s hand. There were black scabs across his knuckles and a dark rime of filth under those fingernails which still existed. He seemed satisfied enough with what he saw to take a paper out of the sheaf and start shredding the flower into it.

“Captain Nixon calls it Easy Diesel,” said Dick, like he was trying to pretend it wasn’t the funniest thing in the world.

Liebgott looked up and a smile flashed across his face like the savage golden light of a flare falling over the far hills. His smile was sort of brutal, like the edge of a knife in a barfight, or like a seething animal. Luckily it went away as quickly as it had come. He rolled the joint with a quick grace and lit the business end with his old silver Zippo Nixon hadn’t seen since the war. There was a skull engraved on one side and on the other it read IF YOU ARE RECOVERING MY BODY, FUCK YOU.

“I don’t know how you found us, Joe,” Dick said thoughtfully. “You don’t have to… tell us. But we ain’t exactly keen to have just anybody here.” He paused and looked quickly to Nix, who tried to make it abundantly clear by means of eyebrows that he wasn’t sure they ought to go down this road, wherever it was leading. Dick ignored him. Liebgott was watching them, fully understanding their attempted clandestine exchange. “We ain’t exactly keen to have the DEA here,” Dick said at last.

The cherry at the end of the joint atomized with a crackling hiss. Liebgott looked between Dick and Nix with extreme seriousness sullied only by his exhaling a dignified white cloud out his nose. Then he nodded, once, curtly, demonstrating he understood his orders as they had been relayed.

Nix flashed Dick what he thought was a what have you done type look. But Dick looked totally unbothered. He should have gone into this business years ago for how violently unflappable he was. He said to Liebgott, “I’ll get some blankets and you can make up the couch.”

Liebgott shook his head to say no need. He got up, careful not to scrape the chair against the floor, shook each of their hands again, and in less than a minute’s time he was back out the door with nothing more than what he’d come in with except the joint.

Nix and Dick, on the porch, listening to the crickets, watched him disappear into the darkness.

“Are we hallucinating,” said Nix eventually.

“I sure as hell hope not,” Dick replied. “We’ve got to ship all that product or we’ll starve.”

-

In the morning Nix was in the field, inspecting the plants. Liebgott was standing there at his quarter for god knew how long before he cleared his throat and Nix jumped about six feet in the air. There was a smirk shifting across Liebgott’s face that he would have been better about hiding when Nix had been his commanding officer. He looked like he hadn't slept. Back over there he had looked like that a lot, but it had been different, because of all the uppers they were taking. He cocked his head back over toward the long driveway and then he was off across the dew-wet grass which had already soaked through the hems of his canvas pants and his destroyed shoes.

Nix followed, like a duckling behind a hen. Liebgott still walked as though there were eyes in all sides of his head quickly processing information as he moved. Nix doubted you ever lost that kind of skill, even if in the real world it made you look like a mental patient. He caught up so they could walk side by side through the dew-wet grass. “What did you think,” he asked Liebgott.

Liebgott passed Nix the universal sign of furrowed brow that meant please clarify.

Nix gestured with pinched fingers to his own mouth as though Liebgott were also deaf. “The grass.”

He shaped his hand into an a-ok sign.

“You get any sleep?”

He nodded an infinitesimal nod, like the answer was a secret just for Nix to know.

“Well if you think it could be better just tell me how.”

Nix had had a high school friend whose sister was deaf from scarlet fever and whom he had watched on occasion communicate with her by means of sign language. Early on, back over there, he had sent off to command for a book, but by the time it came he understood it wasn’t that Liebgott couldn’t speak, he just didn’t want to. It was something like how people’s hair supposedly turned white if they witnessed some evil thing, or how people became ascetics in the name of god. If you were really fucked up on drugs or fear or otherwise, or if the natural magical thinking from childhood hadn’t been fully beaten out of you, you might have seen it as the sacrifice he had given to the forest for letting him out without a scratch so many goddamn times. It had been a bit of a trial to explain this to Spiers, who was practical almost to a fault, sometimes.

Liebgott showed another a-ok sign. Then he did a thumbs up which Nix knew meant it was good.

All in all it was smart. If he was still talking, Nix might have asked him, what have you been up to? You been sleeping on the street? You been to the V.A.? What did they tell you? And the answer would’ve been nothing good. Instead they just walked in the cool grass together in the sunshine and the morning was beautiful, and the air was sweet. It was all lovely until Liebgott had to physically stop him, laughing, somehow silently but also hysterically, from stepping right onto the razor-thin tripwire stretched invisibly across the dark gravel.

In the kitchen, Dick was doing the numbers. He took his glasses off when Nix came in and put the coffee on. “He learned a thing or two from Charlie,” Nix said, leaning against the counters.

“Who, Joe?”

“Our driveway is thoroughly ratfucked.”

“Hmm,” said Dick. He put the glasses back on and turned back to the accounting book. He was going to do this whole thing as above board as was humanly possible. The vivid daylight came through the window and struck the lens of his unstylish Ray-Bans and threw a kind of prism of color upon the white paper and the chicken-scratch sums. Nix felt like maybe this was something you would paint if you had the necessary implements and artistic ability. “Maybe we should see if we can get any more help.”

-

He was mildly ashamed to say it, but the doc had always kind of creeped Nix out. He imagined a hypothetical conversation with Dick, who he knew loved the kid, almost like a son: Listen, don’t get me wrong, he’s a good kid, I owe him my life, yadda yadda. But either he’s dropped the brown acid one too many times or the voodoo exorcism went FUBAR.

The doc had arrived on the farm on the heels of Sunshine and Rainbows, aka Mr. Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed, aka one Edward “Babe” Heffron. Nix had written Babe in South Philly, being as he was a connoisseur of bud and once upon a time had been famed among their company for smoking anything anyone put in his hand, often to his own detriment. The operation was getting big enough that Nix needed another pair of hands, other than Liebgott, of course, who was still fortifying the long driveway whilst giving away his cover by playing Led Zeppelin IV as loudly as was possible. It was a tough calculation, because Babe was a genius of pot, but he couldn’t keep a damn secret, and lo and behold he had dragged along with him a dark shadow in the human form of Eugene Roe. They came up the driveway in a big old Ford pickup that rattled its rust off in the potholes. Liebgott had dismantled the traps specially for their arrival when they had called from Williamsport to say they were an hour out.

“I figured we could use a medical professional to lend some credibility to the operation,” said Babe thoughtfully, sparking a joint on the porch over sweating jam jars of iced tea.

Roe snorted or something but it wasn’t really a normal person’s self-effacing laugh. Winters clapped his back. Nixon knew Roe had dropped out of medical school after two years but there was no need to say anything. Everyone knew that. Now he was working construction and Babe claimed to be working as a mechanic in a garage, but this seemed suspect given the state of the car they had driven up in.

“Well we sure as hell are glad you boys are here,” said Dick magnanimously.

Babe exhaled an opaque cloud that rivaled Nix’s own father’s ability with a stogie. “Can we see the bush?”

They went out all together to the field and ducked between the rows of corn. Babe knelt in the soil. It was damp with dew and quiet in here. It would have been almost like over there except it smelled good. “What’s the cross,” Babe said, inspecting the plants.

“It’s an indica blend…”

“Well, I can tell that,” he said.

“So you’re an expert on the plant now too?”

“I’ve just smoked an awful lot of joints in my life, Captain Nixon.”

Roe snorted again. When they all looked to him he said, “You said in the letter there was some kind of altruistic reason for all this.”

“It’s medicine, Gene,” Babe said gently, but also like they had had this conversation thirty thousand times. Nix filed away for later the intimation that Roe had read the letter he’d sent Babe at home in South Philadelphia.

“I guess you don’t remember the psychic break you had at the Do Lung Bridge.”

Babe waved this remark off, even though Nix remembered it too. It threw a chill down his back, like a water balloon had hit him at the base of his neck. “That was laced,” Babe said.

“With what!”

“I don’t know! Something bad!” Babe turned to Dick and Nix. “Gene’s teetotal,” he said, like this was a big old point of contention.

So that counted out the bad acid. Maybe he was just like this. Maybe he had had those big sad bug eyes as a child or an infant or a fetus in the womb. “Good on you, Doc,” Nix said.

“I ain’t trying it,” Roe said, folding his arms over his narrow chest, “no matter what it does.”

The doc was a tough cookie. Babe had claimed, over there, about as high as the Byrds song, that the doc came from a long line of the kind of folks described in Dr. John’s “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” and that, as such, he could heal wounds with his mind. When it didn’t work, as on the night when Jackson died, or the night when Hoobler died, or in the forest when Muck and Penkala died, or the night when Liebgott stopped speaking, he went to sit for a while on the edge of camp until Dick went over and made him eat something. Nix watched them in a state of confused envy, and then he went to write the letters to the families, so that Dick wouldn’t have to.

At dusk, after they ate a light dinner of corn on the cob and rice and beans, he took the boys up into the hayloft with an armful of blankets. “Sorry this is the best we got,” he said. He had said that about a hundred god damn times since they got here.

Roe looked like he wanted to say, you’ve got to stop apologizing for everything. Instead he said, “Where does Lieb sleep.”

Babe perked up. “Joe’s here?”

“You didn’t see him in the driveway?”

Nix sighed. “He’s gonna want to know what he did wrong that you saw him,” he said.

“Does he still — ”

Nix shook his head. “Not a peep.”

In a couple days time, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he was hot and tired and stoned, up to his elbows in earth in the field, showing Babe how to replant the hatchlings he’d grown from seed. “You guys room together or what?”

“Me and Gene?” Babe’s eyes were red in the corners from smoking and from the sun. “What about you and Dick?”

Dick, who had the radio on inside turned up as loud as it would go, so that they would hear it in the field, playing Crosby Stills and Nash doing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “What about me and Dick?” said Nix.

Babe was a smart kid. He realized this was going nowhere. With muddy hands he popped one of the seedlings out of its little pot and cradled it into the ground. “Well, I think he thinks he’s looking after me, but in actuality, I am looking after him.”

[let-it-show]

Making Frozen 2, Quick Look

I know there’s another review out there and....er well probably several at this point. But I still wanted to make my own, maybe I’ll hit something someone else hasn’t. The documentary was very good, too. Whether you like Frozen 2 or not, the way they showed the entire process was really cool to take in. They visited with people from different departments and showed several steps and then how they come together. There’s a lot of little things to cover there but if I were to try and catch everything I...would just post a link to the episodes instead :P It was very cool to see how the Lopez couple puts together music. Watching the major songs coming together and seeing how they try to work out parts of the plot through backs and forths with the songs is inspiring. I know that it seemed like a rush job on how little they had of the movie a few months out but when you watch you easily see how every little step, every drawing, every note, every sound takes discussion and scrutiny. And, honestly, how MUCH a story changes in the process with more minds feeding forth new ideas. The end did leave me emotional, even if I think they put out a super flawed story. I DO noticed that during the doc they barely touch on the story of the sisters TOGETHER. That should have been the main thing to stay aware of. Anyway I’ll just highlight a few good and bad things under the cut, I took a few notes here and there.

- From early on in screenings they had a lot of people confused. Jenn Lee and Chris Buck expected their work to be torn apart and it definitely was. I’m not sure how much they learned from it, because they were told early on that it was confusing, very dark, and they needed notes to keep track lol. I’m wondering if this was a screening where Elsa was left as dead? They didn’t mention it if so, and in fact, they never brought up that possibility. I hate it but I wish they had to talk about why it didn’t work at all. - Idina’s reaction to seeing Into the Unknown animated was precious and I want that known. Nice to see her seeing her work being used and being so happy about it! - ...I have another note about Lopezes’ (how do you pluralize that!?) music but no idea what it meant. - Heartwarming note, there is a hall in WDAS that displays framed letters sent from fans about how touched they were by certain movies. The one read about Frozen was featured in the doc’s trailer. - Show Yourself was a production hell song. Lol. They had ideas on what it would be about and sold it as Elsa “coming home” and almost named it “I’m Home”. Which I believe Kristen Lopaz kind of bluntly pointed out was dumb, powerfully singing “I’m home” was actually kinda mundane. (In my personal opinion that sort of phrase usually is followed by “Did u make dinner” so yea glad that title was scrapped). Originally Elsa was to see a reflection of herself as what she was meant to be, and then she would step into it. Then the transformation. That wasn’t working no matter what they did. Story wasn’t working and the idea was odd and well they just went round and round on it. Eventually they ended up tying it up with the All Is Found and tossed in Elsa’s mother. Which as we know, ended up amazing. And of course for this they decided she was going to be down inside the glacier, and Ahtohallan had to actually be designed and created and THAT was a process too. It was cool to see Brittney Lee in the process of putting the visuals for that idea together. The lullaby was also adjusted pretty late, to make it more powerful/moving with the orchestrated parts. And then tie in with the end, which they called “locking the movie down”. It may sound dismissive to say they didn’t know what they wanted and just sort of tossed things in but that’s kind of what it came down to. And you can see the messiness. But where these things worked, they WORKED. Show Yourself was ridiculous but we got a powerful, incredibly moving song and scene out of it. The time taken to figure it out did well. I could have lived without Jenn Lee repeatedly going on about “Elsa is HOME”, though, and calling her lonely. Was frustrating. Actually watching her frustrated me a lot and I was a little surprised by that... - Lost in the Woods coming together was quite cute. Whatever you think of Kristoff, it was nice watching Groff work on his parts. Also he seems like a teddy bear?? He had to record a number of reindeer voices. And also this scene made a bit of a challenge for the reindeer riggers, because this movie, the reindeer had to SING. So they had to figure that out. There was an adorable animator that took a video of herself acting out the expressions she thought Kristoff would have during the song, LOL. Love watching the little personal bits they add in. They did touch on Get It Right, a little. I don’t think they explained why they dropped it. Also one of the team said something about Kristoff seeming like a Nick Offerman character which was funny, but he definitely is NOT that in F2. MAYBE F1. But hell I hear that name and think Ron Swanson and Kristoff would have to be a sturdier character to be a Swanson... - The Next Right Thing was kind of straight forward commentary. Good, but nothing stood out since we already know it is a song of deep pain. Kristen Bell drew from her experience of anxiety and depression. I also deal with those lovely ailments and I the song lines up for me. People have commented this was TOO dark for little kids, maybe, I wouldn’t know. I think young me would have just eaten it up because it was animated with singing. Adult me however resonated with it, as did my own best friend/”Anna”. That feeling of just trying to push forward - to take one step, and then, try hard and take another, and do what feels right - its very real. And I’m going to say it, I felt...seen/recognized seeing this in a kid’s film rather than having to be an adult only seeing depression and anxiety in characters in what is already an adult targeted show/movie. There’s something incredibly important about that and Kristen Bell delivered it amazingly. - Comments about our little Anna included pointing out she’s a lot sadder this movie, and also that...yes, she was more reckless in F1 and more protective in this one because back then she had nothing to lose, now she has everything to lose. Which is a  fair statement and what I wish people would see when they go on about Anna being clingy and co-dependent. In her shoes I would be scared to death of Elsa even being in the forest. - Chris Buck spoke about the son he lost, Ryder. It was a difficult part to watch but..I think important to watch. I believe it was Jenn Lee who asked him if she could name a character after his son. And Ryder in the movie is meant to be light spirited and happy. Kinda sounds like Anna after F1! - Jenn Lee: “Are people going to be angry at us for the choices we made on behalf of these characters?” oh honey I’m sure I’m forgetting something because I’m actually a terrible note taker, surprise! But overall I loved watching the creation of the film. However that is kind of where it stops. Like, they touch on story stuff and all that but this is really a “how it’s made” with Frozen 2 as the subject. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fascinating. I knew a lot of work goes into animation and putting together a movie but the way they broke it down and showed it in detail was cool. I just wish we had more cleared up about this story. This connection with Anna and Elsa and the decision to split them, what the hell happened there? Why did the spirits function the way they did; what IS the fifth spirit, exactly? And all that stuff. But, maybe farther down the line. Frozen 2 is a bizarre mess that I love regardless and I’m so happy I got to learn about the nuts and bolts that brought this film to me.

[edgydepressedchoicesthot]

Act of Courage (Noah/MC, Lucas/MC)

Summary: It shouldn’t feel like this, after all this time. We won, didn’t we?

No, Josh realized. We didn’t.

In which a survivor contemplates what was, what is, and what could have been.

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24061654

@ladyseaheart1668, @marmolady, @it-lives-in-westchester

A/N: Between work, college, and my f*cked up head, finishing this up took a lot longer than it should have. I'm trying to make writing into my coping mechanism, so that I'll do it more, lol ;D

I have one more fic I promised on tumblr, an AME one I'm gonna work on. I'm also gonna try to go back to my ES novelization, so stay tuned for that for its continuation.

————————

The two of them were at Josh’s place, waiting for Ava, Andy, Dan, and Lucas. Lily was sick in bed and Stacy was visiting her grandma out of town, leaving Noah and Josh waiting for the four others while they drew figures in the dirt in the yard with sticks and talking about anything their minds jumped to.

“Hey, Noah?”

The boy turned towards his friend.

“Yeah?”

For a moment, Josh, who was as lively as ever seconds ago, was being uncharacteristically quiet.

“Do you…like anyone?”

“‘Like’,” Noah repeated. “Like I like you and Jane and the others? Or you mean like-like?”

“Um, yeah” Josh nodded, blushing. “Like-like.”

“Then no,” the other boy shrugged. “Stacy, Lily, and Ava are fun to hang around, but I don’t like-like anyone.”

“What about,” Josh began hurriedly, but slowed down. “What about boys…?”

“Huh?”

“Do you like-like any boys?”

Josh was beet red. Noah was just confused.

“No,” he shrugged. “I’m a boy. It’d be weird if I liked-liked a boy. That’s what my mom says though.”

“Right…” Josh looked hurt. “Right, forget it.”

Noah wanted to ask why his friend looked so sad.

He hated it when Josh got upset. Unlike Jane, who’d get mad, Josh would be quiet, pouty, and would go off by himself, refusing to ever acknowledge what made him upset in the first place.

But before Noah can say anything, the doorbell rang and their friends poured inside.

Noah forgot that Josh even asked him any question about who he liked.

It was something they’d both forget in the years to come, a memory of the conversation fading into a small feeling.

————————

After reading Lucas’s texts, Josh shoved his phone into his pocket. His smile started to fade as he continued down the road, focusing on his surroundings.

It really is a beautiful day, Josh mused.

And he hated it.

The sun shone through the trees in a way that reminded him of an image you’d find on a tourist pamphlet.

It made Josh think about how the only thing this town is good for is being fake.

Like how the town somehow fooled themselves into thinking everything was just a freak animal attack.

But the more he thought about it, Josh guessed he couldn’t blame the town for that. Having to deal with the truth might actually be more of a clusterfuck than it all happening.

It was all a question of why.

Why did this all happen to them? Why was he the one who had to find Redfield’s shack?

All he had to do was keep his goddamn mouth shut about some stupid fucking rock floating all those years ago…

It’s my fault.

Josh scoffed.

Like that’s big news.

And when it was time to pay the piper, Josh was too much of a coward to do anything…

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Josh forced himself to think about something, anything else.

His mind wandered from the date Lucas promised they’d have before he went back to his university, to that new video game Lily’s been raving about, Stacy’s latest Pictagram post about celebrating another perfect score on an exam, Ava’s latest binge on occult books in the library, Andy whining about how he just wants to be free of high school already, Dan’s updates on his new art blog…

…Noah crying, apologizing…

Josh wiped tears from his eyes as he kept walking.

————————

Noah always envied Josh.

He was a charismatic go-getter where Noah was shy and bookish. Josh always got stickers that came with having a perfect score on spelling tests, ones that Noah just passed by never more than five points. Josh was brave enough to make the first move in befriending him and Jane, and began their circle of friends the same way.

Noah not only hated how he was too wimpy to ever say any of this out loud, but also that he held this kind of resentment towards one of the best friends he’s ever had.

Noah hated how nervous he feels around Josh too. How he can’t help but constantly compare himself to him.

Josh was like the sun; radiant and bright and impossible to miss, and Noah had felt like the grimy earth beneath it.

But everything changed after Jane died.

Their whole group of friends changed. They started to see each other less and less, and eventually, they never saw each other outside of school.

Having different classes in middle school widened the gap between them, leaving silent nods as the last bit of interaction they had.

Soon, even those were gone.

Even after they all fell apart, Noah couldn’t help but notice Josh.

Before, Noah had always seen Josh happily chatting with at least one person.

Now, Noah never saw him hang out with anyone ever again. He was like the dusty remains of a star that went out.

There were times Noah wanted to reach out, to see if they could be friends again, to hang out, laugh together, be together-

-and Noah would stop himself when he came short of any reason Josh would want to talk to him.

————————

“You look like shit.”

“Hello to you too, Ava.”

Josh was semi-thankful that his shift at one of the town’s few fast food places started early in the morning. Only a handful of people stepped in here for breakfast, and none of them were impossible to deal with. So, for a few hours, Josh could enjoy a bit of peace before the lunch rush.

And it was always good to see a friendly face.

“Alright, fuck the pleasantries then.”

Usually.

Ava stretched her hand at Josh and waved it dramatically.

“In the name of the Dread Goddess Hekate, get me my usual.”

Josh punched in the register an order for an apple pie and a milkshake.

“That’ll be $2.78.”

Wordlessly, Ava hands him money and Josh went in the back to get her order.

“Talked to Tom today,” Ava said. “He looked really interested in the stuff I found in Cora’s shack. Maybe he can be my apprentice or some shit.”

“A witch’s apprentice?”

“Turned him down. Teaching is a rock bottom I’ll never hit.”

“Cuz the teacher’s at school we sooo great.”

“You get it.”

Josh finished up, pie in a paper bag and milk in hand.

“So, you talk to people,” she asked before he held out her order. “You’re social like that. Everyone’s gonna be at the memorial tonight, right?”

“Yup,” Josh nodded. “All seven of-”

Josh stops himself, remembering what happened to the seventh.

Ava’s face went steely, and for a moment it looked like she had a lot to say.

“Hand me my order,” she sighed. Josh obliged.

Before Ava walked out, she stopped and did a half turn. Josh sees several shifts to and from anger and sympathy.

“Tale care,” she said before leaving.

————————

Noah couldn’t remember the last time he and Josh talked.

So, when Josh sat next to him at the pep rally, he hoped his quietness came off as indifference, and hid his anxiety about the whole situation.

Josh didn’t seem to mind, since he started talking semi-comfortably. He was mellower and less gloomy than he used to be, and Noah felt the familiar jealously that was always the third companion amongst the two.

The pep rally ended after the blackout, Josh called everyone to meet after school, and four of them were stocking up on makeshift weapons.

When Josh told Noah that he won’t leave him again, he let himself believe it.

Noah halfheartedly thanked Josh, and for a second was afraid his sort-of-friend would take offense.

But instead, Josh smiled at him, and Noah felt like he was looking at sunshine.

A warm feeling bloomed in Noah’s chest, and it stuck around even when they were done talking and gone back to looking for weapons.

Noah remembered the warm feeling later on, when he noticed how Josh’s face was red when he was close enough to Lucas, how he stammered a bit more when the two were talking.

Noah wasn’t as dumb as he was as a kid. He knew that Josh liked Lucas. He also didn’t want to believe he was feeling jealousy, because of what it implied.

It wasn’t until during Britney’s party that Noah started to ask himself where these feelings for Josh came from. Was it sometime after everyone drifted apart, and their absence leaving an ache in his heart? Or was it before, when they were younger, innocent, and still friends?

After the party and after Josh revived his hope for the future (something he’d been doing well the past few days), his own personal devil reared its shadowy head, and signaled the end.

In the near future, while they were all forced to play the game again, Noah would wonder if anything could have happened to keep this whole mess from happening.

If he just told Redfield to fuck off, or just ignored him (no, her).

————————

“In school,” Andy said with a mouth full of pizza. “You froze up every time you had to present something. And up there, you didn’t break a sweat.”

Josh was taken by surprise when Stacy’s mom called him up to say a few words (he didn’t even think the town’s mayor even remembered his name). Surprisingly, where there was usually quick breath and sweating, there was just emptiness.

His mind flashed to Cora when he was up, about how she risked her life to help them and went to warn them while she was injured and dying.

And then it went to Noah.

He kept his part about Noah as brief as possible, and stepped down the second he gave his last “thank you”.

Josh would like to say that Lucas’s hug and quick kiss after the memorial made him feel better, but after talking about Noah, he couldn’t shake the feeling like he was betraying him.

“I get a lot of speech practice when dealing with customers from hell,” Josh finally answered, shrugging.

“You mean Ava?” Andy snarked.

“Andy, don’t be mean,” Lily scolded

“You think I take offense to that?” Ava grinned evilly. “I go there on the weekends.”

Josh finished his Graveyard, and turned to Lucas, right next to him.

“Bartender, one more.”

“One for me too,” Stacy smirked, wiggling her empty cup.

“I think you’ve both had enough,” Lucas said in mock seriousness.

“How can you stand to drink those?” Tom asked. “I almost hurled taking a sip!”

“That’s it, you’re dead to me,” Stacy pouted theatrically.

“Aw, come on,” Lily nudged Stacy with her shoulder. “We all just pledged our eternal devotion to each other five minutes ago!”

And just managed to avoid talking about Noah…

Noah could be here. Right now.

Maybe not here though. The others might still hate him, maybe not, but at least he’d be alive. Maybe everyone would even slowly come to stop hating him.

He could find a way to pay for culinary school. He could open up the diner he talked about…

And I wish I could just stop thinking about those last moments…

Josh has vague memories of blushing and being embarrassed around Noah when they were younger, but he didn’t think it had meant anything.

Every time Josh started thinking about his...crush, if he could call it that, he’d just start thinking of Lucas, and guilt of betrayal would stab at his gut.

Josh’s eyes drift over to Dan, who’s been silent the whole time, aside from giving halfhearted laughs and accepting Graveyard refills…

…along with bringing up the one who’s been on Josh’s mind for a while.

“Well…not the whole group.”

Josh remembered that this night would end, and that everyone would go back to dealing with their trauma.

Not alone. Please for the love of god not alone.

He felt like some kind of traitor again, for feeling this awful around people with whom he should be happy.

It shouldn’t feel like this, after all this time. We won, didn’t we?

He remembered the panic attack he talked Lily through by phone after Britney called him, begging for help. He remembered Ava’s blank face as the signs of a flashback started to show. He remembered the bags under Stacy’s eyes as she drank more coffee than was healthy. He remembered the late night texts from Andy faking small talk when he couldn’t sleep and needed some anchor to reality. He remembered the way Dan finally admitted with tears that he wasn’t fine, was anything but fine.

And he remembered seeing the thing that used to be Noah in the ruins, looking back at him with those white eyes before vanishing.

No, Josh realized. We didn’t.

————————

Seconds ago, Josh had gotten Noah out of Redfield’s (no, Jane’s) control as he was seconds away from being stabbed.

He goaded and taunted the monster they all feared since childhood, and fended it off with a whistle.

So this should be easy, right?

Taking Jane’s place so she could finally be free of the hell she spent nearly a decade in.

“I’m sorry, Josh,” Noah sobbed. “Please…please tell my mom-”

“Wait!” Josh said shakily. “It doesn’t have to be you!”

“Josh, please, it had to be me,” Noah begged. “Let me do this. Let me fix my mistakes.”

“NO!” he screamed. “Don’t you dare! Let me do this! Let me take her place instead!”

Except…

Josh didn’t say any of that.

He wanted to stop Noah, he wanted to so much, but no matter what, his throat wouldn’t obey.

When it mattered the most, all he could give is silence.

If the two of them were any closer, their faces would touch. Unfallen tears pooled in Noah’s eyes, filled with regret

Josh didn’t know what to do. He wanted to scream at Noah. He wanted to hug him and never let go. He wanted to punch him.

But Noah acted before Josh could.

His lips weren’t soft, but warm and gentle, and soon turn salty when tears hit their lips. Neither of them knew whose.

“I’m sorry,” Josh lost count of the number of times Noah’s apologized today. “I just…I needed to do that. Just once…”

Those are the last words Noah ever said as a human.

————————

The night ended with everyone promising to see each other tomorrow, and soon after that.

And so, here were Josh and Lucas, waiting together on a bench on the sidewalk for Josh’s mom to come pick them up and give Lucas a ride to his house.

Despite everyone parting with the unspoken promise of this goodbye isn’t for good, Josh couldn’t help that irrational fear that the opposite would be true, and they’d all fall apart over again.

“You good?” Lucas pulled Josh out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” he mumbled dumbly.

“You’re squeezing my hand pretty hard there,” Lucas shakes his hand holding Josh’s, and he finds out he’s right; Josh is squeezing Lucas’s hand like some kind of lifeline.

“Sorry,” Josh says sheepishly as he eases his grip, but Lucas gives a gentle squeeze, keeping him from pulling away.

“Hey, you’re alright,” Lucas says before Josh can apologize any more.

Josh smiled at him, not trusting himself to speak right now. Unfortunately, it just gave way to an awkward silence.

“Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Lucas asks.

“What…” do you mean, Josh wanted to say, but he just didn’t have the heart to lie to his boyfriend’s face.

“I know,” Josh sighed.

And he did. But that was a different story than being able to do it.

“I’m here for you. So is everyone else. And if something’s been on your mind, we’d all listen if you wanted to talk.”

Josh wanted to.

He probably needed to.

Josh remembered Dan, how he desperately needed someone to talk to, how he needed help, and what happened after he didn’t get it (it wasn’t his fault, it was mine).

But what could he possibly say?

Is it okay for me to have lingering feelings for someone else? Someone who betrayed us and led us to a monster? Someone who’s a monster now himself? Someone almost all of you understandably hate?

There’s no way he can bring that up. Not to his friends, not to his boyfriend.

“I don’t wanna talk,” Josh sighs. “Could we just…be here…? If that makes any sense?”

“It doesn’t,” Lucas jokes. “But it’s a good thing I’m a mind reader.”

Lucas put an arm around Josh, pulling him closer.

Josh rested his head on Lucas’s shoulder and closed his eyes, enjoying his boyfriend’s presence.

In the future, when Josh finally found it in him to talk, he’d be able to go back to the cabin. Against all advice, he’d look for Noah in the shadowy figure that haunted the woods. And he’d find him. And soon after, Josh would be able to help more people who were forced into a world of monsters like he and his friends were.

[xenoredux]

The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 3: The Soldiers

If you haven’t read episode 2 yet, you can do so here.

As mentioned before, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Animal death, animal injuries, and drowning. This one is exceptionally less violent then the others, but there’s still ungood things in it. Don’t read it if you don’t like dead dogs

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here, here, here, and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

ENJOY MY DOG FANFIC PLS

As the shadowy figure continues howling, the dog pack departs, clearly following some sort of order. They fall in line and take off at breakneck speed, quickly leaving Gin and Daisuke in the dust.

Except not Gin, ackshually, because he's going with them. As Daisuke calls out to him, Gin gallops behind the other dogs. The dogs are super fast as they make like a tree and get the fuck outta there. 

But Gin, thanks in large part to his training, easily keeps pace with them. The pack is being lead by the dark fawn dane, and he casts a glance over his shoulder at Gin. A white Saluki at the dane's side mutters about the silver dude trying to roll with them, but the dane assures her the Akita will soon give up. 5 minutes later, the Akita has not given up at all, and this time a mantle dane pipes up about the intrusion on the party's flash triathalon.

The Saluki sighs and says she'll take care of him, and by take care of him she of course means "run headlong into him, smash his forehead with mine, and step on his head when he comes to a halt," which she proceeds to do.

Gin is taken aback by her quickness. Then he's taken aback by how gently she chides him. She softly informs him that only members can run with the pack. They can't be distracted. They're on a mission, possibly one of the most important in Japan's history.

Before Gin can either argue or launch into The History of Japan by Bill Wurtz, he hears Daisuke call to him. The Saluki notices and sighs. She levels with Gin and tells him she's not a fan of mankind, but Gin should go back to his boy. Children always have the chance of being better then their elders.

"You've got a good thing going for you, kid," she says wisely. "Don't throw away the happiness you have." With those words simmering in Gin's mind, she goes and rejoins the collective.

As the Saluki leaves, Daisuke finds Gin, relieved that he's alright. The child tells the dog to follow him home, and despite his desire to follow the others, Gin obeys.

It's nighttime when the boys arrive back. Daisuke's parents launch into a vicious scolding the moment their son enters the house. Gin's never been interested in people's squabbling, so he sits outside, gazing at the massive full moon. His mind wanders as he lets the moonlight wash over him. Fantasies of running alongside the dogs fill his head, as do fantasies of meeting their mysterious leader. He ponders whether or not it all has to remain a fantasy.

After he eats his ice cold dinner, Daisuke goes back outside to buddy up with his pooch. The problem is that no pooch can be found. He's not on the roof, out on the porch, or chilling with his mother. Daisuke slowly becomes worried. Could Gin have run off? Maybe back to the dogs? No, that's not like him.

Turns out Daisuke's slow on the uptake, because Gin totally went back to find the dogs. He's made his way to the forest by now, and though his motivation has yet to leave him, he's never been in the forest by himself. He's quickly coming down with a bad case of the heebie jeebies. His confidence wanes, and he startles at every unfamiliar sound. He also startles when he sees something in the dark suddenly leap out at him.

The something chortles in a most self-absorbed way, and Gin instantly realizes the only thing he's in danger of is being taunted. It's only John. The nosy bastard followed Gin into the woods to see what the deal was. Well, really it's about more then that. John has decided this town ain't big enough for the several dozen of them, so he's come to see what the feral dogs are made of.

The two frenemies are in luck; the wild fidos are just over the nearest hill. John tells Gin he's going to demand the dogs taken them to their leader, and to catch their attention he starts howling as if his life depended on it.

The dogs notice this mostly out of confusion. Most of them haven't seen John before, but the Saluki has. She tells the others not to fuck with this dude - his owner has an adult super soaker and he knows how to use it. Gin offers similar advice to John, detailing how these guys have killed and eaten bears in, like, 5 minutes flat. John teases Gin for being a wuss before descending the hill with bared teeth, clearly in the mood for a tussle. He aims for the dane who's been calling the shots and leaps square in the middle of his back.

The dane barely registers John's weight, easily flinging him off. John returns once more, this time tooth first, and bites into the dane's neck. After some eye rolling and condescending chuckles, the dane flings him off once again.

John pretends with a snide remark that his ego hasn't been dick-kicked while the dane warns him not to step too far outta line if he wants to return home alive. Just as John's about to say something that begins with "Oh yeah?" Gin anxiously tells him to take a look around. Spookily, the rest of the pack had encircled the two.

A youthful voice from atop the hill calls down to someone named Ben, asking who these two clowns are. A French Spaniel mix is the source of the voice, and it seems he's trying to look tougher then he really is. The dane responds to the Spaniel's call with the name Smith, chiding the lad on abandoning his post just to get involved in drama.

Smith drops the tough guy facade with a laugh, assuring Ben that he and his men will return to their post in a moment, but that Ben should consider testing these two. They may be cocky, but they've got spirit. Smith leads his group back to their unseen post and Gin wonders what sorta hazing rituals packs of wild dogs have.

John's had enough of these games. He demands the pack to bring their leader to him stat. Ben ignores his huffing and puffing and says that the pack doesn't have time for this. They're soldiers for Chrissakes, and they need to get back to their commanding officer. But, for fairness' sake, he tells the two that he'll let them come with on two conditions.

The first is the two must agree to be soldiers in their growing army. The second is that to become soldiers, they must prove they're worthy. He states that whoever whoops his ass gets to become Dog Soldiers (2002). John agrees to a fight  embarrassingly quickly.

The shepherd and the dane encircle each other for a bit, posturing like nobody's business, until their would-be duel is interrupted by a non-sci-fi UFO. A projectile flies through the air to a chorus of screams.

The object that strikes the ground a second later turns out to be the severed head of one of Smith's gang. Smith and crew quickly double back to Ben's posse with some pretty bad news: OH FUCK ITS MADARA.

A fierce growl precedes a new arrival. It is, in fact, Madara, and she's got blood on her lips. Ben scolds an apologetic Smith for allowing his party to abandon their post. The Saluki rushes forward to avenge the dismembered doggie.

"Cross, stop!" says Ben. The Saluki pauses. Ben reminds her that The Boss doesn't want any more unnecessary casualties. Madara will get the ass kicking she deserves for killing Bazzet here, but not right now. Right now they have business to attend to. The pack scampers off.

John laughs mockingly at the departing party. Clearly these guys are pussies, he figures, because Real Badasses would've avenged their friend instantly. It takes every ounce of Gin's willpower not to tell John to shut up as he dashes after the dogs. He still wants to meet their leader, and he's sure this is the only chance he'll get to do it.

But Gin's not confident he knows where these guys are going. The pack is quickly approaching the edge of a gorge. Wind whistles up from the depths of a fast approaching canyon. The pack doesn't slow down as they advance, seemingly unafraid of the gap they're faced with.

With the stoicism of bored superheros, the entire party makes a leap for it one by one, and every single dog makes it across. Gin screeches to a stop, dumbstruck at how they've managed such a feat. He's never lept a gap like this even once!

The crew notices Gin as he examines the drop downwards. Cross calls out to him not to be stupid. He's not ready for a leap this wide. Ben calls out to Gin that Cross is right because only a dog suited to be a soldier in the Ohu army could manage this jump.

For a moment Gin doesn't seem to be paying attention, instead allowing his ears to wave wildly in the canyon wind as it hits his face. Then, wordlessly, he turns around and begins trotting away. Ben grunts, certain that this'll be the last they see of the silver kid. By now John has managed to catch up too, and he's equally surprised that Gin seems to be giving up the ghost.

But Gin wasn't leaving. He was merely getting some running distance between himself and the cliff's edge. He turns back around as everyone looks on. Memories of his past misadventures with ravines cloud Gin's senses, but only for an instant. Letting go of his doubts, he barrels towards the gorge.

Everyone gasps, certain he won't make it. Even John cries out for him to stop. But Gin's running too fast to stop. He has no choice but to try. And try he does, for he gives the biggest leap of his life the moment he reaches the edge.

Then everyone gasps yet again, because Gin's descending quickly without being anywhere near the other side. John swears aloud, his tough guy facade cracking as his frenemy plummets. Everyone is certain Gin will go the way of 50% of Disney villains, but he doesn't. Instead, the harsh winds from below give the lean little dude an extra push upwards.

As the plot spits openly on physics' face, Gin surfs the invisible wave to the other side, landing further out then any of the other dogs did. Ben praises Gin for his achievement. Gin puffs out his chest and states he's earned his right to meet The Leader, yeah?

Everyone is in agreement that Gin can come with, but first a wee small problem has occurred. Madara wasn't satisfied with just one beheading, so she followed the group so as to slap more heads off more shoulders.

A lone John snarls at her, thinking this will be the perfect time to flex on all the haters who are watching. He takes his own running leap towards her and she promptly smacks him in the ribs hard enough to knock him on his ass. John's too proud to surrender, so he keeps trying to fight as he stumbles around painfully.

Gin can't stand seeing his pigheaded compadre in danger, so he waits for another air current to whoosh its way up and coasts back over to help a brother out. He calls back to the pack that they still owe him one free meet-n-greet with their boss before he goes to stomp in some bear teeth.

Impressed by Gin's loyalty, Ben orders the other dogs to go back over and fight Madara off. After a hearty round of knuckle cracking and leg stretches, everyone literally leaps into battle.

Spooked by the sudden resistance, Madara tucks tail and runs away, a universal gesture meaning Fuck This. Ben tells everyone not to bother following as they've got other business to attend to now, like, for instance, welcoming two new members into their ranks. The dane regains his composure completely and begins initiating the two newbz with some introductions.

He is (obviously) Ben, leader of the first platoon. Cross is his second in command, a title unique to his platoon and bestowed upon her for her especially leet skills. The mantle dane is Great, leader of the second platoon. The scrappy Spaniel mix is Smith, leader of the third platoon. Gin and John share their own names despite having no platoons to speak for.

Ben further explains that the Ohu army is named after the mountain atop which their boss commands them, and that the army itself is made up of 12 different platoons of feral dogs.

Antsy as per ush, Gin asks for the billionth time when they're gonna meet the big boss himself. Ben smiles and lets him know that they're finally, FINALLY heading back to Ohu mountain to meet him. As the pack heads out in earnest, their ears are met with more powerful howls. Gin's spine tingles with anticipation. He has got to meet the dog attached to that voice.

Ben begins leading everyone to the gathering place, certain the CEO of Army Dogs, Inc. has something important to say. Ben's group isn't the only one making its way downtown, though. Several other squadrons are falling in line, coming to a stop at the foot of the forest's broadest mountain. Ben and Friends are tardy to this party, as every other platoon has already arrived.

John hangs back with Gin for a moment. He tells Gin that this is great and all, but he's not into the whole "being part of something bigger then yourself" thing. He wants to be THE big thing. So when he gets a chance to, he's gonna kick the leader's ass and take his name, becoming new leader of all his loyal servants.

Gin thinks this is the dumbest shit he's ever heard and says so as he tries to dissuade John from bouts of idiotic egotism. John ignores him and they both run to join the others.

They regroup just in time to see Ben, Great, and Smith being yelled at by a Doberman Pinscher for being late. The group crumples like guilty children at the mention of a mark on their permanent records as Ben tells General Sniper, the Boss's second in command, to lay off.

Ben says he's the one at fault here because he commanded all three platoons to save some new recruits from a bear attack. He gestures to John and Gin with the assurance that they're worthy fighters and loyal to the cause. John introduces himself with a smug grin and Gin introduces himself with a more down to Earth smile.

Sniper begins huffing and puffing about how it's bad enough Ben brought some up-his-own-ass pretty boy here, but he also brought some kid who's not fully grown yet. What does he think this is, a daycare? When Ben respectfully explains that he wouldn't bring fighters he believed to be incapable, Sniper starts throwing a hissy fit about how Ben's in no position to pull rank, sounding like the sort of bratty kid he's afraid of letting join.

Smith leans over to Gin and whispers for him not to worry, Sniper's just pissy because Ben made a sound decision without his say. Sniper can't stand the idea of Ben being more in charge then him. Truthfully, the general's started to hate Ben, probably because the dane's made a good impression on the leader and Snipey Boy's afraid of having his job stolen.

Gin's about to try faking an understanding of workplace drama when the clouds in the sky shift and send moonlight flowing down over the once unreadable silhouette of the leader.

Gin's breath catches in his throat. He knows that dog. It's his father. It's Riki! He's looking a little rough given the massive scars he's received from his one-off gig as Akakabuto's punching bag, but it's undoubtedly him. His powerful but gentle eyes meet Gin's.

Without thinking, Gin bounds up the mountain to see his father, unable to contain himself. The other dogs gape in horror at his insolence. These others excluding Sniper, that is, because Sniper is overcome with irritation. Not only did Ben bring a kid here, but the boy doesn't even know his place. Gin doesn't notice because he's paying no mind to anything except Riki. He cries out "Father! That's my father!"

Sniper's had enough, and he leaps to beat Gin into submission. As he tussles with Gin, he snaps about how that is NOT the way we act in the army, maggot! Everyone looks on unsure of what to do when Riki speaks, his voice just as booming and powerful as his howls. A well emphasized "Stop" is all it takes to break up the fight and focus all eyes on him. When he has everyone's attention, he continues with "Sniper, that's enough. Show some respect."

As everyone settles, Riki continues. The lad held his own well against the general, which proves him a capable fighter. Further, Riki is flattered that one of his newest recruits would see him as a father figure. He says he regards all his soldiers as his children, and he truly appreciates their devotion. Everyone just kinda takes this and runs with it while John tells Gin that sucking up is for losers.

Gin can't find the right words to explain himself, but he's confident that this dog is Riki. He just can't fathom how his dad has both survived and forgotten who Gin is.

Riki continues on. The dogs gathered here today share a common goal: kill Akakabuto dead. He's ruining the lives of every human in Futago pass and lbr most of the dogs' lives, too. In fact, it seems like the redheaded shithead is trying to establish a stronghold, constantly expanding his territory further and further. This has caused both he and his followers to boldly infringe on human settlements, and now they hold the countryside in an iron grip.

As everyone here knows from experience, bears are like 10x stronger then any individual dog. Even an average pack of dogs would be lucky to down a fully grown brown bear. To fight an army, one needs an army. Problem is that the surrounding neighborhoods have all been stripped of competent fighters. Given this, the plan is now to gather more dogs, experienced ones of varying backgrounds and skillsets, from other parts of the country.

And so Riki is giving every platoon 3 months to gather as many soldiers as they can from all around Japan. The pack is to rejoin here three full moons from now with as many dogs as they can manage, and then everyone will stop the Futago pass menace once and for all.

The crowd of dogs shout adulations, determined to complete their mission. Riki begins dividing the platoons into groups and sending them separate directions to cover more ground. Platoons 1-3 (and by extension, Gin and John) will head south, 4-6 will go north, 7-9 go west, and 10-12 go east.

While the troops leave to find recruits, Riki will remain here, learning about the bears' own army and, if he can manage it, shaving a few off their numbers before the final battle. Everyone will depart at dawn, so they'd better get some shut eye tonight.

In an endearing display of comaraderie, the dogs settle in to sleep by cuddling up beside each other. John and Gin lay beside one another for a moment before John gets up. He gives Gin a gentle nudge to rouse him and tells him he's blowing this popsicle stand. He doesn't wanna lead a buncha people who are dumb enough to think they can down Akakabuto with no fire power. Wars aren't won on good intentions, they're won with guns and shit. He's gonna go home to Hidetoshi to help him instead.

During a lull in conversation, the two hear someone approaching. They quickly pretend to be asleep, snoring loudly and unconvincingly.

It's Riki, come to stare wordlessly at Gin as the hamster wheel that he calls a brain starts spinning. He's not entirely convinced that the kid called him Papa out of flattery. Who IS this kid? Hell, who is HE? Gin knows him as Riki, but Riki himself doesn't even remember his name. All he knows himself as is The Boss.

He doesn't remember his past. He doesn't remember anything before waking up at the bottom of the pit. All he remembers is a seething, incomprehensible hatred for the red backed tyrant. He shakes his head and goes back to his cliff, a shooting star's tail following him in the night sky.

Without anyone's knowledge, two conniving-looking silhouettes have been gazing at both the boss and Gin this whole time. One silhouette belongs to General Sniper, still assmad about the leader backing up a newbie who's still wet behind the ears. The other is his only "friend" and henchdog, a Weimaraner named Hyena.

Sniper thinks aloud that maybe there was some truth to the kid calling the boss his dad. Hyena politely dismisses the idea, saying that all Akitas look the same. It's a good thing it's probably not true, he says, because the boss would surely pass on his position to his own kid instead of Sniper-Sama. Hyena dumbly snorts to himself about how silly the idea is as Sniper sits stewing and staring.

Gin and John stand up. They murmur to each other before approaching Ben. Gin tries to rouse the resting dane, tries to say he's going back to the village but he'll be back in a jiffy, but Ben's out cold. John gets bored of waiting and takes off alone, so Gin just whispers into Ben's ear that he promises to return before following the shepherd.

When the two are out of sight, Ben and Cross lift their heads, having been pretending to sleep this whole time. They were a lot more convincing because they weren't snoring like malfunctioning chainsaws.

Cross tells Ben she believes Gin's telling the truth about being back soon. She figures that he just wants to say goodbye to his boy. Ben teases Cross, suggesting she's gone soft on the human race. She nips at his ear playfully, reminding him that she trusts youngsters more then adults.

She gives a wistful look in Gin's direction, muttering something about how he's likely spent very little time away from his mother. Her eyes glaze over as Ben reaches out to touch her paw. He whispers that she did all she could for her own children, and she lies her head against his shoulder.

As the two bros are heading back to the village, John tells Gin he should stay home with him instead of cavorting around the woods with a bunch of suicidal maniacs. Gin disagrees. John tells Gin that he's just a kid so CLEARLY he's too young to understand that only dumdum morons put their trust in a group.

Gin stops running and tells John that he doesn't care what he thinks, it's better to try instead of standing by while their home is terrorized, and if John can't understand that, then he needn't join the pack anyway.

John stops, taken aback. He looks over his shoulder and meets Gin's glare. His eyes drift over the scars on Gin's forehead as he heaves a sigh. Despite the rocky nature of the two's relationship, John admits aloud that he can't help but respect Gin's conviction.

"Don't let it go to your head or anything," he says, "but there have been a lotta times where you've surprised me. Just come back home in one piece."

Gin nods solemnly before his crinkled brow settles into a warm smile. John chuckles and jokingly tells Gin to have a nice life starving in the wilderness. Gin teases back that he hopes John has an equally nice life sleeping on 300 different dog beds. John half jokes that he'll be too busy killing Akakabuto to rest.

Gin doesn't agree or disagree, but he grows serious for a moment and asks John to take care of Daisuke while he's gone. He knows the boy will be heartbroken when he realizes his dog is missing. John nods and wordlessly disappears into the night.

Gin heads to Daisuke's house and sniffs him out, finding him sleeping in the shed alongside his mother and siblings. He wonders if Daisuke was waiting for him to return home as he pulls a loose blanket over the dozing child. Daisuke stirs momentarily in his sleep, and Gin's face softens. Gin murmurs Daisuke's name when he notices someone sitting up in the corner of the room.

It's his mother Fuji, gazing tiredly but lovingly at him. For a moment, Gin considers telling her everything about the night; about the pack, about the bears, about Riki.

But he doesn't. He just tearfully tells her that he's going away for a while. Fuji opens her mouth as if to speak, but she doesn't. She just smiles weakly at her son. She trusts he'll return one of these days. Gin whispers for his mother to take care of Daisuke while he's away. The young akita turns to leave, suddenly overcome with emotion. It's been such a long time since he's sought connection with his mother, and he fears that he may never get another chance to.

Before he leaves he runs back and leans against her, tears streaming down his muzzle. Fuji licks her son's head for the first time since he was a baby and tells him that whatever he's going to do, she knows he'll do her proud.

Gin flees into the night. He feels like a child again, and not in a good way. His father doesn't recognize him, he's had to leave his mother and boy behind, and, truth be told, part of him is scared that he'll be leaving home for unseen lands with a bunch of strangers. He externalizes the tidal wave of emotions sweeping over him with a howl as he departs his place of birth.

Gin quietly returns to the pack and slips in beside the others, finally settling in to sleep. While he's in la la land, he begins dreaming.

He dreams of fighting the mother bear he killed with Daisuke, only now she's utterly massive. She strikes Gin across the forehead, scarring his face. As the scars bleed, they work through Gin's body, splitting him into four equally sized slices of somehow still-living dog.

He wails as Ben, Cross, and the others materialize behind him, leaping over him and tearing just as easily through the mother bear, turning her to a few dark brown ribbons. The dogs give one last battle cry as Gin is woken by a gentle nudge to his shoulder. It's Cross come to collect him.

It's time to start their journey. And oh what a journey it will be - there's a LOT of running ahead of them. Ben leads the charge as everyone follows behind him. The pack runs over rocky terrain, never halting.

Gin's a disciplined young dogman, but he's also young enough to have trouble containing his curiosity. He breaks out of formation for a moment to examine the trail alongside to road, only doubling back once Ben tsk tsks at him. The sight of the dogs galloping along makes good montage fodder, but GAWD they just keep going and going.

Hyena seems to think the same thing, and he begins bitching audibly about how the journey will be long enough without everyone having to babysit. Great rolls up beside Hyena and, in all his Greatness, tells the whinerbaby that they can always send him back to The General, his own sitter, if he can't nut up and shut up. Hyena buckles instantly, but Gin's overheard his complaints and decides to keep a close eye on the fusspot.

The dogs continue running. They don't pause to sleep all that night, and they continue into the wee hours of the morning. By now they've left Akakabuto's in-progress bear suburbs far behind, instead entering Yamanashi. Kai more specifically.

Cross speaks for everyone when she says that holy shit she's tired can they please rest oh my god. Ben agrees, making believe his lungs aren't fixing to burst, and the pack settles in the shadow of a cliff.

Everyone collapses into a dogpile of panting, wheezing bodies. Even little Gin's muscles ache like the dickens, and he's used to long runs. Ben, still pretending that his legs aren't about to liquefy, tells Gin that it's his duty as the newest recruit to find food for the pack. Gin's feeling a bit overwhelmed by the command when Cross elects to join him. She insists it's not to go easy on him, but more because there's a lot of soldiers to feed. Ben lets the two go.

Gin and Cross start poking around the surrounding forest. It doesn't take Cross long to find and maul a quail, and Gin is very impressed. He asks her if she'd been a hunting dog before, to which she responds politely but in a way that's like WELL DUH.

Cross explains that, like most of the other soldiers, she'd belonged to a hunter back in her day. When Gin asks for a bit more elaboration, Cross's face falls and she changes the subject back to bird slaying. Gin shrugs and then yoinks a bird out the sky.

After a while spent downing a flock of avian idiots, the pack has their fill. Ben lets everyone know that as soon as they're all done eating they've got to get a move. Hyena pipes up and says he doesn't understand why they're out where nobody lives when they're meant to be looking for dogs. Ben condescendingly smiles at him and explains that he doesn't owe Hyena an explanation for anything okey sweaty <333

Great agrees that Hyena sucks ass and all, but he too would like to know what they're doing here. Ben tells everyone all will be revealed shortly, and everyone gets back into, you guessed it, jogging.

Ben leads the pack to a rocky overhang, showing them all a city miles below. The city is Kofu, and it's where Ben was born and raised. He knows the ins and outs of the city and the forest, and he knows from his history here that the city dogs can't compare to an illusive lot who's set up permanent camp in the woods. Gin is about to say that that doesn't actually explain anything tbh before Ben rallies everyone to run again.

Unfortunately the dogs are forced off the path by a massive wild boar barreling towards them. They disband in an effort to get out of its way and the unlucky among them are trampled or, like Gin, flung painfully to the side.

Despite the boar's unwieldy size and propensity to beat strangers without a second thought, it's being followed closely behind by three Kai Ken dogs, all of whom are dwarfed by most of the soldiers but are notably muscular for their height. The tiger-striped trio utilized their gymrat bods to down the boar in moments, and they merrily begin tearing into the beast's corpse while it's still warm.

Everyone is confounded by the triplets, but it's pretty obvious Ben means to recruit them. Ben explains that they're known creatively among local dogs as The Kai Brothers, and they're a devilish sort.

Each brother is, funnily enough, representative of each color the Kai breed comes in: red (light brindle), brown (normal brindle), and black (heavy brindle). Akatora ("red tiger") is the red guy, Chutora ("brown tiger") is the brown one-eared guy, and Kurotora ("black tiger") is the black one-eyed guy. Ben explains that the reason the manlets are so powerful for their size is because they were abandoned at a young age and forced to fend for themselves early on.

This entire introduction has happened no more then 20 feet from the brothers, and they aren't amused at a biography written about them while they're eating. Akatora tells Ben to shut his exposition-hole and get the fuck out of their territory. Smith mutters about the trinity's lack of table manners and Kurotora shows they mean business by knocking Smith on his ass.

Cross tells Ben these guys are assholes not fit for an army, but Ben insists they need their strength. Good to his word, Ben approaches the three and asks them polite as peaches if they'd join his ranks and fight alongside him. Like, as payment for the past.

Before Ben can explain either to the bros or to the audience what he means by "the past", the short kings get pissed and start beating the shit out of him. Chutora says that maybe, just maybe, if Ben defeats them, they'll cut a deal, but nobody has ever defeated them in hand-to-hand (paw-to-paw?) combat before, so the odds aren't great.

Unwilling to watch Ben get his ass handed to him by dogs half his size and twice his temper, Gin joins the fray and catches Kurotora by the tail. Cross also tries to save her doghusband by pile driving Churotora. As the married couple busies themselves with two of the brothers, Gin spends some time taunting Kurotora while leaping around, trying to wear him out.

This doesn't work, as the little black mad lad is too vicious to be reasoned with. Kurotora is offended that another brindle dare turns his fangs against him, and so snaps at Gin. Gin dodges out of the way at the last second and the Kai Ken chomps not into him but into a hunk of bark off of a tree. This forces Gin to acknowledge that he is super fucked if Kurotora bites him.

Gin runs away with Kurotora trailing behind him. Meanwhile, Ben and Cross are dealing with their own hang-ons. Chutora refuses to release Cross's throat no matter how much the comparatively giant woman tosses him around. Ben's got the same issue with Akatora swinging from his scruff.

Ben commands his men to stay back, insisting he and Cross can handle the situation as Cross kinda disagrees by yelling Ben's name. Akatora's onslaught comes to a halt as he rolls the name Ben around in his mind. He swears he's heard it somewhere before.

Gin sprints back to his struggling friends and cannonballs on Chutora, effectively freeing Cross from his piranha grip. Cross scolds Gin for his savior complex and Gin scolds Chutora for beating up on a chick. Chutora and Kurotora are both confused and a touch embarrassed, saying they mistook Cross for a dude with a high voice. Smith coughs awkwardly from the sidelines.

Kurotora goes back to chasing Gin while Chutora questions whether it's more or less misogynistic to hit a woman in this situation. Cross responds to his moral dilemma with her teeth.

Akatora is still clinging to Ben, only releasing his grip to grab softer areas and mock Ben for being the weakest pack leader he's ever met. Ben says he has no desire to harm any of the brothers. Akatora just laughs and continues biting before Ben does something unexpected.

The dane cranes his neck awkwardly to look at the dog biting his belly and says "You really have grown, Little Tiger." Akatora freezes at the words, overcome with an emotion he wasn't aware he could feel.

Akatora releases Ben and stares at him, jaw hanging open. He runs over to Chutora and tells him to hit pause on the brawling. Chutora asks why, but Akatora ignores him and says they need to find Kurotora before it's too late. Only problem is that nobody was paying attention to where he and Gin ran off to, so the pack gets off their asses at long last to go find them.

Kurotora is hunting for his prey beside a pond. The kid ran out of sight and he's definitely cowering somewhere nearby. Unbeknownst to Kurotora, Gin isn't hiding in fear. He's standing above him on a tree branch, the months he spent leaping across houses having paid off.

The Akita jumps down on the Kai Ken, catching the one-eyed hoodlum off guard. The two tumble into the pond where Gin gains the upper hand. Killing two birds with one plot device, Gin utilizes his underwater training to slap Kurotora around under the surface. His opponent is untrained in the art of water boxing, so Kurotora ain't doin' so hot.

But Gin is no murderer, just a violent juvenile delinquent. When Kurotora's been subdued (i.e. passed out from water inhalation), Gin pulls him back out of the pond. While the two were playing splashies, the rest of the dogs have found them, and everyone gazes over Gin's shoulder as he performs CPR (Canine Pondwater Removal) on his waterboarded opponent.

Kurotora vomits up a lot of water and a little fish as he rejoins the land of the living, and he's ready to give Gin proper retribution before Akatora tells him to knock that shit off.

Akatora goes on to explain that they can't kill friends of their former godfather, the man to which they owe their lives. The pack is confused before Akatora elaborates: Ben was a hunting dog who often came to their forest with his master. During one of his last hunts here, the then-infant brothers had been oot and aboot looking for prey when they were attacked by a pine martin. The animal tried to kill them, half-blinding Kurotora in the process, before the great dane came and rescued them.

The dane continued to look after the boys when his master took them in, and he allowed them to head back to the woods when they hit adolescence and could better protect themselves.

The bros apologize to Ben for the whole ass-beating thing, to which the old dog just smiles. Everyone chills out. Gin apologizes for waterlogging Kurotora and Ben and Cross lick one another's wounds. When everyone's made peace, Ben says that he came out here to ask the trio for a favor. Could they pretty please join his platoon in the battle against The Bear Menace?

The Three Stooges say they'd be happy to help Ben with anything, especially if it involves killing something. That said, they have a personal issue with a neighbor they'd like to resolve first, and if Ben would be willing to help that'd be greeeeaaaat.

They explain that a fat bastard named Moss lives nearby with his own pack on a mountain peak called Kasume Dake ("Misty Mountain"). He's got his own army in a way, though they're more like mafioso then soldiers.

Ben thinks it over a moment and asks the three if they think Moss would be willing to lend his own strength to the cause. None of the bros can make any promises, but if given enough "persuasion" (wink wink nudge nudge wiNK WINK) they figure Moss would agree to anything. Otherwise it'd just be nice to be rid of the obese tyrant.

So it's settled. The newest recruits are The Brothers Kai, and the posse's next stop will be Kasume Dake. Everyone takes off running yet again, this time followed by the three brindle brethren. Ben praises Gin for holding his own in battle, to which the younger dog humbly smiles.

The pack continues their trek and everyone is in high spirits except for, curiously, Hyena. The dog is discreetly snorting to himself, a mischievous look spreading across his face.

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End of episode 3, which marks the kinda sorta halfway point of this series. This is where things really start amping up plotwise.

Episode 4: The Gang Wars

[behardonyourself]

I joined a Facebook group today and had an overwhelming response to my intro post. I was asked to make my posts shareable, but since it is a private group, I can’t, so thought I would just share it here.

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Well, I totally didn’t expect the response I got from that first post, so I would like to share a bit more.

Please note - this isn’t to beat my chest or to brag. I am nothing special. Just a normal guy that got tired of being tired. I am slow and will never win a triathlon, but I am stubborn.

June 30, 2018. Rushed to the hospital because I think I am having a heart attack. I wasn’t, but the doctor told me it was just a matter of time. Insanely high bp. Cholesterol. Fatty liver. Elevated A1c.

I decided to have a drink when I got home.

My daughter was born July 19, 2018. I was still being a lazy asshole.

I made my commitment to change Dec 12. I took off running and damn near died half way up my street. So ashamed. The next day, I sat my fat ass on my Peloton for 2 hours. It was hell, but it gave me hope.

One year ago today (Dec 22), my life turned upside down. Had finally committed to fixing me, and my wife fell and shattered her leg messing with Christmas lights. That is a different story but she crawled 75 feet through the yard with the bone out of her leg. We just had her 10th surgery.

My baby is 5 months. My then 14 year old had just come to live with us as well.

I became mom, dad, chef, nurse, chauffeur, etc. I don’t want credit for that because single mothers do all those things every day.

I couldn’t let my flame die. I stole 3 minute runs through the day. With a baby and a 15 year old and a physically broken wife that I had to bathe, change her bandages, and tend to like a child.

At first, I thought “Why me, why us?”

But I flipped that shit - it became “why not me???”

If I could do something amazing, then what the f have I been holding back for??? Who could that story touch and inspire? Who NEEDS this? Who is where I was at and feels hopeless like I did???

I had a goal of running a 5 fucking K to live. But, tragedy hit. So I decided to do an Ironman. Arizona was the last one in North America, so I signed up for it. Talk about burning the boats... Oh - I had never done a tri. I couldn’t run for shit. Hadn’t swam a lap in 25 years. Had never been on a road bike.

The plants...

I am the last person that anyone has ever expected to give up animal products. It was the best decision I ever made.

How’d I get there? It started as an elimination diet. Then, I instantly loved how I felt.

And instantly, I could tell a difference. I felt great. I slept great. I recovered amazingly. My digestion was perfect. My bloodwork did a 180 almost overnight.

Understand that I probably hoped it wouldn’t work at first. I had never even liked veggies. But as I ate more, I fell in love with tastes that I had never had.

And I looked better. Here is a pic of 5 months as a plant based eater:

Now, I cannot imagine eating any other way. Oh, and I have my full blood/nutritional panel. My shit is perfect.

The workouts became more and more intense. My limits disappeared quick. I had never ridden a road bike. Bought my first in April (then bought an ultra high end tri bike in June).

I did a sprint tri on Father’s Day. It was so hard. Lol 250 yard swim, 16 mile ride, 5k run. I was thinking “How in the fuck can I do an Ironman?” But when I crossed the finish line, my family was there as if I had won Kona. My son hugged me like never before. I was now a triathlete. A very slow triathlete.

Did my 5k with my son a week later. It was a Spartan Stadium race at Jerry’s World. Piece of cake.

I kept training and training. I didn’t hire a coach - I wanted to do it all. One foot in the grave to Plant Based Ironman in under 12 months. All the workouts are on my Strava. I would like to say that I was scientific, but my science was get out there and get the hell after it every single day.

As I am writing this, it seems unbelievable. Reading it may as well. I would see these things and I would think that is cool, but not me.

Here is the deal - I AM YOU. I have a family. I have a demanding career. I don’t have time. I have bad days. Well, very few these days.

I know it is overused but if I can do this shit, you can - and you can do it better.

I am now completely limitless. I am not a runner. I don’t love it. I suck at swimming. But I cannot imagine stopping.

It’s hard to organize this and express my feelings with words. I just hope that one person reads this and knows that it is inside if them to do something crazy.

On November 24, I completed my race. It’s a story in itself. I panicked like a child in the practice swim. I lost my goggles in the first 100 yards of the race. Lol I swam 2.4 miles oin 62 degree water with no fucking goggles. Oh - my first Marathon? After that swim and a 112 mile ride.

Now I am actually being a bit more organized with my training as I prep for a 100k run on April 19th. But make no mistake - I still take myself into that dark, dark place as often as possible - that is where the fortune is found.

I am just getting started.