#i wanna just call it off entirely and be like

[23victoria]

my baby

𝒇1 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝒙 𝒇𝒆𝒎!𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

word count: 500

synopsis: 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓!𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓

warnings: 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒇𝒇

authors note: 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒍𝒊𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚! 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 , 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈!!

𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕?! CLICK HERE!

F1 MASTERLIST

Your eyes flutter open, the spot beside you in bed is cold, blankets slightly crumpled from where he must’ve slipped out. You blink a few times, stretching with a small groan before tossing the covers off and padding out of the room in your oversized tee.

You find him a minute later, hunched slightly forward in his gaming chair, headset on, fingers quick on the keyboard. His voice is calm and focused as he talks to chat and his teammates, eyes locked on the screen. You smile softly, watching from the doorway.

He glances over—and the moment he sees you, his entire face lights up.

“Baby,” he grins, pushing his chair slightly back, arms open. “Come here.”

You shake your head, bashful. “I don’t wanna interrupt.”

His brows lift like you just said something ridiculous. “Baby, you never interrupt. Come on.”

You hesitate for only a second before walking over. The chat’s already going crazy:

“OMG WAIT HE HAS A GF???”

“THIS IS SO CUTE WTF.”

“I WANNA SEE HERRRRR.”

“W BRO.”

“DROP HER @ RN.”

You stand beside his chair, glancing at him with a nervous smile. “You sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” he says, reaching for your hand and tugging you closer. “C’mere.”

You lean in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips and then his cheek. The chat absolutely erupts:

“SHE’S GORGEOUSSS.”

“W GIRL W GIRL.”

“THEY’RE SO CUTE I’M CRYING.”

“BRO’S WINNING IN LIFE.”

He doesn’t let go—just gently pulls you into his lap, arms wrapping around your waist like you belong there (because you do). You rest your head on his shoulder, watching his screen while his hands go back to the game.

Mostly.

Because a minute later, one hand stays firmly on your waist, fingers lazily tracing over the fabric of your shirt.

“OMG WAIT HE’S PLAYING WITH ONE HAND.”

“KING ENERGY.”

“THE DEDICATION IS REAL.”

He just smirks, glancing briefly at the chat. “Yeah… makes it more fun this way.”

You giggle softly against his neck. A yawn escapes your lips before you can stop it.

He slides his mic to the side, murmuring just for you, “You tired, baby?”

“A little,” you admit, rubbing your eyes, “but I’m hungry too.”

He smiles, squeezing your hip. “Say less.”

Then he returns to the mic. “Alright chat, I gotta go take care of wifey. Y’all be good.”

The chat’s final flurry scrolls by fast:

“AWWWWWWWW.”

“HE CALLED HER WIFEY 😭😭😭”

“W RELATIONSHIP.”

“BRB CRYING IN SINGLE.”

You tilt your head up, cheeks warm, eyes filled with love.

He glances down and winks. “Told you I’m lucky as fuck I found you.”

And you just smile—because you feel lucky too.

✿ .° • taglist • °. ✿ : @ham1lton @ietss @animeandf1lover @Nelly187 @heartsfromtaeyong @bloodyymaryyy @nor-4 @zacian117 @mel164 @uhhvictoria @hadidsworld @zabwlky1999 @sya-skies @lillysbigwilly @avengers-assemble123456 @santanasaintmendes @km-23mr @hookhausenschips @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @Ronpho @minekarina @aeongism @Formula1-motogpfa @slagclarens @aleexvqa @f1updates4you @booksandflowrs @chaostudee @winkev1 @strawblueberrys @Blakesbearblog @cel-b @perfumejamal @aykxz98 @pandora-08 @teti-menchon0604 @bxtosa @fadingcloudballoon @whatevenisthisxxxxx @anamiad00msday @luula @teti-menchon0604 @bxtosa @fadingcloudballon @whatevenisthisxxxxx @Anamiad00msday @oracleredbullbabe @deena-beena-weena @rOnnsblog @ini3103 @edgyficuselastica @tellybearryyyy @exotic-iris13 @magixpracticality @eoduuung @eternoangel @xoscar03 @ihtscuddlesbeeetchx3 @danieldaviddarren33 @flowerpetalk @xoscar3 @jimcarreyfann42 @oliviah-25 @bbwzrld @goldenroutledge @unkownmystery_22 @sophienorris

[livwritessometimes]

I Have Not Given Up On Us Yet

: Part 16 (Max's Version)

: Who knew all Max needed to do was get drunk in order to get his life together

: Prev | Next

: Series Masterlist

: Main Masterlist

…

It was almost 12 by the time Y/n had gotten the call, and by 12:05, she was on her way. The entire time, she kept thinking about how she almost didn't answer. What would have happened had she not?

By 12:30, she was in the station, standing awkwardly in front of the help desk, waiting for the officer in front of her to finish the phone call he was having. Looking around the station, she could feel her heart beating in her ears. There weren't many people there, just one other person waiting in the chair near the door.

"Hi, sorry for the delay. How can I help you?" said the officer. Snapping her attention back to the man, Y/n said, "umm...I got a call. I'm here to collect Max Verstappen." "Ahh you must be Y/n, right? Yes, just fill out this form and he's all yours. I'll send someone to get him," said the officer as he ushered someone to go get Max. "Umm, officer, is it okay if I ask why he was arrested?" Y/n said as she looked up from the forms. "He was drunk and got in an argument with the bartender. We detained him before things could escalate. He's lucky the bar didn't press any charges," said the officer as he excused himself to finish some work.

After filling the form, she handed the officer the paperwork. "Y/n!" Her head snapped in the direction of the voice. There stood Max, in a hoodie and jeans, looking sheepish, like a kid who got caught stealing candies before dinner. Once he confirmed it was her, he rushed towards her. "I can't believe you came!" Max said as he pulled her into a hug. Standing there stunned at this man's drunk antics, "Oh Max, you absolute idiot, of course I came," she said as she pushed him away and started to head for the door. She reached the door only to realize Max was not following her. "You coming or what?" She questioned. "Yesss, I gotta pee first," said Max as he made his way to the washroom. Y/n sighed at that and took a seat, waiting for Max to return. "Good look with that," said the officer she had interacted with before, walking away.

Max was quieter now. He had been since he returned from the washroom. He kept looking at Y/n and then looking away. It was fine for the first fifteen minutes, but now it was starting to annoy her. "If you wanna say something, just say it," she said before looking back ahead again. "Nothing, It's just, I- I feel so stupid," said Max as he rubbed his face, trying to sober up. Y/n looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "I didn't want you to find out about this because I thought you'd leave me," Max said before he stopped walking. She turned to face him as he continued, "But my dad, you know how he can be. He kept saying all this stuff. Like I'm not doing enough, I'm wasting my time. There are the years where I should 'Focus on my career' and I just-" Max took a deep breath as he looked up, struggling to find the right words. "I just, I thought maybe he was right. So I thought ending this was the right thing to do but then you left, and it didn't feel right. All of a sudden, the house was empty, and I kept telling myself that it was fine, cause I'm supposed to focus on my future, right? But it's not. I don't think it ever will be," said Max as he finally looked at Y/n.

She stood there, taking in everything he had to say. "Do you hate me?" Max asked. By now, his eyes were slightly red. "Cause it's okay if you do. I am used to messing everything up," he finished. Taking his face in her hands, Y/n said, "You didn't mess everything up." "When I realized how late I was, I had rushed to get back home. I was so scared that I was gonna upset you even more, and then I saw what you did and it made me feel so guilty. I thought to myself, maybe you are better off without me. Girls like you don't deserve guys like me," Max said as a tear rolled down his eye.

They stood there for a while, looking at each other, unsure of what to do next. Both had said things that hurt the other, and this was not something they could just forget and be done with. Slowly, Y/n let go of his face and grabbed his hand, pulling him in the direction of their apartment. "I'm not promising anything," Y/n said, looking at Max. "But I have not given up on us yet," she continued as they made their way home.

…

Tags: @regalbanshee | @be-your-coffee-pot | @mrsbrxkkxr | @princessria127 | @moonraysandstars | @prettiest-at-the-party | @theblueblub | @magixpracticality | @slytherinhollands | @overlyexcitedoutlaw | @marvel-at-stucky | @crumbssss | @a-beaverhausen | @felicityforyou | @gigigreens | @jas0nluvr | @khaylin27 | @imsiriuslyreal | @cwiphswmwasohmm | @wobblymug | @e-nonsense | @raizelchrysanderoctavius | @cecedrake2217 | @vintagefucksstuff | @st4rg1rln | @redstappen | @iamred-iamyellow | @tashisgf | @ghost-of-student-sufferings | @saachiep81 | @lozzamez3 | @ravisinghs-wife | @elizamoe133 | @areyoutheregoditsmecelia | @formulaal | @luvsforme | @annabellelee | @a-disturbing-self-reflection | @emryb | @grovelingmen | @illicit-affcirs | @iwilleatyourgod | @youre-on-your-ownkid | @originaldreamerdragon | @landorris | @mountvesuvu | @chezmardybum | @littlegrapejuice | @spitesfvl-blog | @juleshadalittlelamb | @vicurious28 | @phd-catstealer |

[dollyswishingwell]

hihi :3! First off lemme just say that I absolutely adore your writings they’re all so good I’ve spent the past few hours just reading thru all of them! And secondly I wanted to make a request for the obsessed LADS with an MC who’s pretty compliant with them from the start like “oh you wanna lock me away and make me ur pretty little house wife? Sound like a dream <33” or something like that basically an MC whose equally obsessed with them :)

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ I like this

𝒲𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 ˙⋆✮ Rafayel, Zayne, Xavier, Sylus, Caleb

𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒/𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 ˙⋆✮ fluff, crack? this is literally me cause i wouldn’t be fighting shit lmao

> ࣪𖤐.ᐟ You’re quite happy with this new arrangement

𝙍𝙖𝙛𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙡 °‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

From the moment you stepped foot in his world, barefoot on the marble floors of his seaside estate, sunlight catching on your smile like it was made just for him, Rafayel knew. He didn’t need to break you. Didn’t need the slow, aching game of manipulation, coercion, or seduction.

No. You looked at his claws and kissed them. You saw the cage and asked for silk curtains and plush pillows inside.

And gods, he fell.

“You’re not going to run?” he asked that first night, a little disappointed, a little curious, watching you lounge across the velvet divan he had carried in just for you.

“Why would I?” You tilted your head. “You’re rich. You’re pretty. You adore me. And I get to stay home and be pampered like a princess? Honestly, I should be paying you.”

He blinked. Then burst into delighted laughter, sharp and glittering like shattered candy glass, before pouncing on you in a flurry of silk and perfume.

“You’re mine,” he purred, nuzzling into your neck like a smug cat. “Don’t say things like that unless you want me to go and have the entire staff fired for even looking at you.”

“Do it,” you hummed, brushing your fingers through his hair. “Let’s go full tyrant.”

He did.

Rafayel stopped pretending to function in society entirely. His meetings became virtual, or more accurately, delegated. His manager Thomas despaired.

He had you now. Why would he ever leave?

He got addicted to watching you drift through the estate in your soft pastel robes, tiaras in your hair just because, calling him pet names and snuggling up in his lap while he painted. You’d tell him what new shell you wanted for the fountains. What gem color suited your mood today. What dress you wanted copied in ten colors.

“D’you think we should get married?” you’d say casually, flipping through a designer catalogue. “Or should I stay your scandalous mistress forever? Like, hidden flower in the tower kinda vibe.”

“Wife,” he corrected immediately, voice laced with possessive heat. “You’re mine. You deserve the castle. The ring. The surname.”

He proposed three hours later. A box of seven rings, each more ridiculous than the last.

You picked the heart-shaped one with the pink sapphire. Naturally.

Now, no one dares question why you’ve vanished from the public. Why the estate security is tighter than a vault. Why the man known for his detached cruelty is now painting seashells with “my darling girl” scratched into the backs.

𝙕𝙖𝙮𝙣𝙚 ⋆꙳•❅‧*₊⋆☃︎ ‧*❆ ₊⋆

Zayne expected resistance. Not because he wanted it, but because he was used to it. He’d prepared for the fights, the escape attempts, the begging. He’d even gone as far as reinforcing the estate with biometric locks and deleting your Hunter Association credentials behind your back.

But then you looked up at him with wide, adoring eyes the morning after he made you quit your job, and just… smiled.

“So I don’t have to risk my life anymore,” you said softly, curling into his lap like it was your natural place. “You’re just gonna take care of me forever?”

He paused. Scalpel-steady hands twitching.

“…Yes.”

You beamed. “Good. I hated those missions. They made me miss you too much.”

He blinked once. Twice. His jaw ticked.

“…You were going to come back to me,” he said quietly. “Always.”

“I was yours before you even asked.”

You tilted your head, eyes glimmering. “But I like that you made sure. That you made me stay.”

From that moment on, Zayne never questioned the decision again.

He gave you the master bedroom and moved his office into the suite next door, because you liked being able to sleep in his shirts and sneak into his bed whenever you wanted. He stopped accepting surgeries on weekends, because that was “your time.” Spa treatments. Cooking for you. Holding you on the couch while you rambled about the adorable new heels you bought with his money.

You’d kiss him in the mornings before he left and whisper:

“Don’t be late. Your pretty wife gets lonely.”

He became militant about punctuality.

You never questioned his control. You welcomed it. Handed him the leash with both hands. Every new rule, every vitamin he made you take, every tracker sewn into your dresses and discreetly implanted bracelet,

You adored it.

“I like it,” you once said, curling beside him in bed while he checked your vitals on his tablet. “When you act like I’m breakable. Like I’m something precious.”

Zayne looked at you like you’d just opened his ribcage and whispered inside his heart.

“That’s because you are.”

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“If anyone ever tried to touch you… I’d put them in the ground myself. Slowly.”

You just smiled and murmured, “I know. That’s why I married you.”

𝙓𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙧 ⋆⭒˚.⋆🪐 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

Xavier genuinely thought he’d have to be careful with you.

He’s weird. Awkward. He lives in a world of wanderers and underworld corpses and secret identities. His penthouse is too big. His life too strange. He’s… not normal.

So when he told you, quietly, half-asleep on your stomach, words mumbled into your back, that he didn’t want you leaving anymore…

That he was going to make you quit your job…

That you’d never have to work or worry again, but in exchange, you’d be his,

You didn’t flinch.

You just rolled over and looked at him like he’d offered you the moon.

“Wait, really?” you whispered. “I can just stay here? Be your pretty wife and wake up with you every day?”

He blinked. Slowly. “…Yes.”

“Done,” you beamed, snuggling against him. “I thought you’d never ask.”

He short-circuited.

Ever since then, Xavier has been in a near-constant state of dreamlike bliss. You wanted to be kept? You wanted to stay tucked in his arms in that oversized bed, scrolling outfits for the association Gala while he trailed kisses up your back?

“Pick the blue one,” he murmurs, voice thick with sleep and devotion. “Matches your eyes. Looks good when I hold you.”

He installed a custom closet for you. Got the entire place redesigned for your taste. A garden on the top floor, because you said you liked “something soft to look at.” A full kitchen even though he doesn’t cook, because you like baking him things and feeding him from your fork.

And when he’s in Lumiere mode, when the world is cruel and sharp and demanding, he comes home to you.

Crawls into your lap like a lovesick cat.

You always cradle his face. Cup it gently and murmur:

“Who do you belong to?”

“Who kisses your forehead when you fall asleep?”

“Who’s always going to be here, waiting?”

He’s so hopelessly in love it physically hurts.

𝙎𝙮𝙡𝙪𝙨 ✮ ⋆ ˚｡𓅨⋆｡°✩

Sylus had everything, wealth, connections, a global weapons empire. He thought love would be an indulgence. A vulnerability. Something to manage.

And then he met you (again).

Sweet, gorgeous, ambitionless in the best way, perfectly content to let him build your world for you. You didn’t resist when he said you’d never work again. Didn’t fight when he said he didn’t trust anyone to protect you.

You smiled and asked if you could pick the color of your new closet.

“You’re not going to fight me on this?” he’d asked one evening, watching you admire your new pink diamond ring.

You gave a soft laugh, nestled into his lap like you belonged there. “Why would I fight the man who wants to pamper me, protect me, and make me his spoiled little wife?”

His red eyes darkened.

He kissed you so hard he left you dizzy.

From that moment on, he spoiled you mercilessly. Twelve armories worldwide? Now thirteen, one converted into a private resort just for you. Every gala dress custom-designed. Entire floors in luxury department stores cleared just so you could browse in peace.

And you, his darling little thing, you fed into it.

“Buy it,” you’d murmur, brushing your fingers along a jewel you wanted. “For me. Just to show everyone whose name I moan when I’m in your bed.”

He’s never signed a wire transfer so fast.

He adores how you never try to take the power from him. You respect it. Crave it. You let him rule, but you reign at his side. When he hands you your card, you kiss his knuckles. When he orders security to shadow you in public, you smile and wave at them sweetly.

When he comes home from business drenched in blood and smoke, you’re waiting on the couch in your silk nightgown, holding a wine glass and purring, “All done, my love? Did they behave?”

You don’t flinch when he talks about toppling rivals. You don’t question when you’re moved to a different penthouse in a new city overnight.

You just smile and say, “As long as you’re there, it’s home.”

𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙗 ⋆｡ ‧˚ʚ🍎ɞ˚‧｡ ⋆

Caleb had been preparing for war.

Not military strategy, you.

He was ready for the heartbreak. The betrayal. The screaming. The way you’d fight tooth and nail when he finally took you. Locked you in his Skyhaven penthouse. Made you his and no one else’s.

Because you had always been free. Beautiful. Untouchable.

And he had always watched you. Protected you. Loved you in the way no brother, no soldier, no man should. From the shadows. With a military-grade obsession.

So when he brought you home after that final mission, bloody, injured, nearly lost, and told you you’d never leave again…

You looked up from the plush penthouse bed, eyes heavy with painkillers and love and whispered,

“Good. I only want to be yours anyway.”

He froze.

You blinked. Smiled. Reached for him with trembling fingers.

“I hated being away from you,” you breathed. “Please don’t let me go again. I’ll be good. I’ll be your pretty little housewife.”

He didn’t speak. Just cradled your hand like it was made of glass. Like you might vanish.

From that day forward, Caleb changed.

No longer cold. No longer quiet. No longer the stoic colonel hardened by war.

You brought out the boy in him. The one who used to blush when you shared a blanket. The one who used to memorize every little thing you liked. The one who used to dream about kissing you, marrying you, keeping you locked in his arms forever.

Now he had it.

You padded around the penthouse barefoot in his oversized shirts. Asked him if he liked the pink lipstick you wore. Curled into him on the couch while he planned missions, whispering,

“When will you be back? I get lonely without you, you know.”

“I’ll call off the deployment,” he said immediately.

You laughed and tugged him down for a kiss.

You encouraged his obsession. You made it beautiful.

You didn’t just accept your gilded cage, you helped him decorate it.

Matching rings. Matching loungewear. Little domestic rituals that made him feel like he had you in every lifetime.

“I belong to you, Caleb,” you murmured one night, forehead to his. “I always have. Even before you took me, I was yours.”

[chvoswxtch]

crush

pairing: frank castle x fem!reader

summary: you wanna show frank your gratitude for taking on a project for you, but he has other plans.

warnings: swearing, long haired bearded frank (yes that needs a warning), explicit sexual content (minors dni)

word count: 2k

a/n: the first time I listed to crush by ethel cain I immediately thought of frank, & then I saw tons of edits with him to this song, & this has been stuck in my head ever since. I just recently renovated my own kitchen, so naturally I thought about something like this the whole time I was doing it. anyway, this is primarily for @thyme-in-a-bubble & @castawaycreature but the rest of y'all are welcome to stay. as always, feedback is welcomed/appreciated!

he looks like he works with his hands, and smells like marlboro reds

All you’d done was offhandedly mention to Frank that you wanted to redo the kitchen. Some new paint, new cabinet handles, maybe spruce up the backsplash with different tiles. It wasn’t even a full blown project in your brain, more of an idea of a project for when you had the time and energy. But Frank being Frank took that and ran with it.

Needless to say, you were not at all prepared for the sight you came home to that evening.

As soon as you walked through the front door, you heard a loud mechanical whirring noise coming from the kitchen. Perplexity knit between your brows as you hung your keys up by the front door, following the familiar sound of power tools.

“Frank?”

Rounding the corner of the entryway, you stopped dead in your tracks and your breath hitched. The kitchen was in complete disarray. The cabinet doors had been taken completely off the hinges and were laid out in neat rows on top of a large canvas drop cloth that was spread out on the floor. There were sporadic piles of dark beige dust, evidence of the wood being sanded before it had been neatly painted that rich shade of green you’d been daydreaming about. There were open boxes of new tile and handles on the island, but your attention was immediately drawn away from the organized chaos and towards the source of it.

Frank was kneeling in front of the counter furthest from you, his jeans deliciously snug around his thighs, and the light grey tank top he wore had darkened in certain spots with sweat. There was a glistening sheen covering the exposed portion of his chest that made you want to drag your tongue over the tan skin, but what had heat blooming in your lower belly was the way his biceps bulged as he drilled holes through the drawer he was working on. You could see the clear definition in his arms and his back as he pushed the drillbit through the thick wood, his muscles flexing in a tantalizing way, and the droplets of sweat that cascaded down his veiny forearm were no match for the wetness that had begun to pool between your thighs.

He was so laser focused on the task at hand that he hadn’t noticed you, hadn’t even heard you call his name, which worked in your favor to be able to ogle him freely. There was rarely anything Frank did that you didn’t find attractive, but watching him work with his hands…that did something else entirely to you. Watching him do something so manly while looking so rugged with that grown out beard and that mess of unruly curls that were damp against his forehead…it made your mouth water. 

When he set the drill down and reached for the pack of screws and one of the new handles, he finally caught sight of you out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head in your direction. His stoic expression of pure concentration melted into something a little softer. He opened his mouth to say something, but then noticed the way you were staring at him. His dark brows quickly furrowed in confusion, mistaking the look on your face for something else. 

“What? Said ya wanted to redo the kitchen.”

“I didn’t mean you had to do it all on your own, or right away.”

Frank pursed his lips slightly with a light scrunch of his nose and gave a faint shrug of his broad shoulders, slipping the screws through the holes he’d drilled and lining them up with the openings on the back of the handle.

“Had the day off.”

That almost made you laugh. It was such a Frank thing to say, and do. Of course he’d spent his whole day off doing something you’d mentioned in passing. Frank wasn’t a man of many words, but he was a man of action. He wasn’t always vocal or physical about his affection, but you never had to question how he felt. He showed you in how he treated you, and the things he did for you. 

The sweet and thoughtful gesture combined with the way he looked right now had that flame of desire flickering in your lower belly turning into a full blown blaze. Walking over towards where he was still down on his knees, you reached out to push his messy damp curls away from his forehead, smoothing them back with your fingers, and lightly dragged your nails along his scalp in the process.

“Take a break.”

Frank abruptly paused, turning his head to look up at you with those warm brown eyes that could melt you into a puddle on the spot. He knew you like the back of his hand, and he recognized the barely concealed desire in your heated gaze, and heard the breathy need in your voice. He didn’t need to be told twice. 

His gaze flickered down to your bare thighs that were right at his eye level before he looked up at you again, and he slowly set down the screwdriver on the floor. He reached for your ankle, lightly trailing his fingertips up your calf, along the back of your knee, before gliding his warm callused hand up your thigh and giving it a squeeze, his fingers teasingly dipping beneath the hem of your skirt.

“Yes ma’am.”

A soft shuddering breath left your lips as Frank held eye contact with you while leaning in to press a chaste kiss to your thigh. Letting out a breathy laugh, you carded your fingers through his hair again, giving it a gentle tug while looking down at him with a grin.

“I should be thanking you for doing all this. You gonna let me?”

Frank let out a quiet grunt when you tugged at his hair gently, and he gripped your hips to pull you directly in front of him just to press your back against the counter, his greedy hands already hiking your skirt up to your hips.

“Why don’t you let me take my gratitude how I want it, yeah?”

He didn’t give you a chance to protest before your panties were pooled around one of your ankles and one of your legs was pulled over his shoulder to open you up for him.

Your grip on his hair instantly tightened, the strands warm and damp against your fingers, unable to stop yourself from tugging him impossibly closer with a satisfied moan feeling that first swipe of his tongue. One of his large hands gripped your thigh that was on his shoulder, digging his blunt nails into your soft flesh, and his other had a tight grip on your hip to keep you steady as you leaned back against the counter and started to roll your hips against his face.

He didn’t stop you. He gave your hip a squeeze of encouragement and moved even closer on his knees, burying his face in your soaked cunt like he couldn’t get enough, and he usually couldn’t.

“Oh f-fuck…Frank…God right there-”

Your eyes nearly crossed when he sealed his lips around your clit and started suckling, and the edge of the counter dug into your back as you arched against it, tugging at his hair with both hands now as sensual moans and breathy pleas flew past your parted lips.

As much as you wanted to come on his pretty face, the desire you felt for him was so much stronger. Giving his hair a sharper tug, you practically had to beg him to relent, which was not a simple task.

“Frankie��please…I want you.”

He gave you only a moment of mercy to gruffly speak against your drenched pussy.

“You got me, baby.”

“I want more.”

Frank chuckled as he turned his head to kiss and nip at your inner thigh.

“Greedy little thing, ain’t ya?”

“Frank.”

Another deep chuckle rumbled in his chest at your desperate whine of his name, and he rubbed his rough hand over your soft skin soothingly.

“What is it, sweetheart? Tell me what ya want.”

“I want you to fuck me.”

Those seemed to be the magic words, and as soon as Frank rose to his full height, you grabbed the front of his tank top that was soaked with sweat and pulled him down for a messy kiss raw with hunger and need. Frank’s tongue parted the seam of your lips to tangle with your own while his large hands roamed down your body to grab your ass and squeeze firmly. His hardened cock was straining against the zipper of his jeans, pressing against your lower belly, begging to be freed. But the second you reached for his belt buckle, he grabbed your hips and swiftly spun you around to bend you over the counter.

The jingle of his belt being unbuckled and his zipper being tugged down were dull in comparison to your own blood pumping in your ears, your heartbeat as loud as raucous thunder. You’d been holding your breath in anticipation, but all the air in your lungs was quickly knocked out when he pushed his hips forward and his thick girth stretched out your snug walls in one swift thrust, nestling so deep you swore you could feel him in your lower stomach.

In an instant you slumped against the counter, and your eyes rolled while your jaw went slack, a choked moan echoing throughout the kitchen. Frank leaned over you, pressing his chest flush against your back, one of his hands gripping your hip while his other snaked around and reached up to wrap his hand around your throat, giving it a gentle squeeze.

He nuzzled his large nose against your neck, kissing and nipping at your heated skin, dragging his tongue along the shell of your ear, rocking his hips against your ass as he fucked you with slow deep strokes, even though everything in him wanted to fuck you with reckless abandon. Frank never rushed anything, but especially not pleasing you.

“Feel so fuckin’ good, sweetheart. This what you wanted, yeah?”

Blindly reaching behind you, your fingers grasped at whatever you could find to anchor yourself to, the fabric of his tank top clutched tightly in your fingers. 

“Frank-”

“I know baby, I know.”

It was almost eerie how well he knew your body, oftentimes better than you did. He knew exactly what you liked, and exactly what you needed, when you needed it. He kept his hold on your throat, but he let go of your hip so he could slip his hand down between your thighs, strumming his fingers over your clit in rapid succession, making you writhe in the limited space you were trapped in between the counter and his large body.

He let out a grunt when he felt you clench around his cock, but he held out on his own pleasure, always making sure you were well satisfied before he even thought about letting go. He let out a quiet moan in your ear when he felt you come for him, felt the warm wetness of your pussy drowning his cock and soaking your inner thighs and the denim of his jeans.

His hips stuttered, and he let out a guttural groan in your ear as he pushed himself flush against you, gripping onto you tightly as he followed your climax. Your pulsing cunt milked his cock in a way that made his forehead drop against your shoulder, and the soft whimper it tore from him made your knees weak and made that desire burn even hotter.

Both of you were panting heavily, and Frank was peppering soft kisses along your neck and shoulder, giving your hip a gentle squeeze before he slowly started to pull out. But little did he know, you were far from finished.

Not even giving him a second to think, you straightened up on your wobbly legs and turned to face him, fisting the front of his tank top as you pushed him backwards and up against the island behind you. Frank looked down at you in bewilderment, his hands instinctively shooting out to grab your hips.

“What-”

“You got to take your gratitude how you want, now I get to say thank you how I want.”

Flashing him a devilish smirk, you kept your eyes locked on his as you sank down to your knees in front of him, and Frank’s confusion quickly transitioned into hunger, his softened cock already stirring once again with need.

“Well this is definitely fuckin’ worth all the goddamn splinters.”

[izzih22]

Chapter 2

That’s Our Baby!

Note: Ik this isn’t medically accurate but just bare with me😂😂

“Paige,” Azzi whispered, grabbing her wife’s hand as they sat in the waiting room, “you’re bouncing your leg so hard it’s shaking the chair.”

“I have to move something or I’m gonna pass out,” Paige said under her breath, eyes wide with adrenaline. “Do they know we’ve been waiting seven minutes? That’s like a year in baby time.”

Azzi gave her a look, but she was smiling the kind of soft, affectionate look reserved exclusively for Paige Bueckers when she was in one of those moods.

The overexcited, impossibly-in-love, about to combust from joy kind.

This was their first ultrasound.

The first time they’d get to see the tiny little blob growing inside Azzi. The one Paige had already named six times in her Notes app. The one she talked to every night like it could hear her through skin and silence. The one they’d dreamed about for months.

“Bueckers?” a nurse called from the doorway.

Paige shot to her feet like she was being drafted into the WNBA again.

“That’s us!” she said, way too loud, grabbing Azzi’s hand like they were running onto a court instead of into an exam room. “Oh my god, oh my god, okay. Deep breath. Do I look okay? Do I look like a good mom?”

Azzi squeezed her hand. “You look like a golden retriever on espresso.”

“So perfect.”

⸻

Inside the room, Paige could barely sit still.

She hovered by Azzi’s side, holding her hand while the tech got everything ready.

“Okay,” the tech smiled kindly, “this is just a transabdominal scan today since you’re over six weeks. It’ll be a little cold—”

“COLD?” Paige blurted. “Can we warm it up? Like maybe put it near a heater or—”

“Paige,” Azzi warned gently, biting a laugh.

“Right, okay. I’ll be cool. I’ll be chill. Totally not about to cry or punch the air.”

The gel hit Azzi’s stomach and Paige gasped. Like it was already the most sacred moment of her entire life.

And then the screen lit up.

There it was.

Tiny. Barely the size of a blueberry. But undeniably there.

Their baby.

“Oh my God,” Paige whispered. Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes instantly filled with tears. “That’s our baby. That’s our actual baby. Azzi—Azzi—Az, you made a whole person. There’s a whole-ass person in there.”

Azzi smiled, cheeks warm. “Looks like a grain of rice right now.”

“I don’t care! It’s the most perfect grain of rice I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The tech chuckled but kept scanning.

“There’s the heartbeat,” she said, pointing to the flicker on the screen.

Paige audibly choked on her own gasp.

“That’s it. That’s the sound. That’s our baby’s heart. I’m gonna throw up from how much I love them already.”

Azzi laughed, wiping her own tear as Paige leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple, then to her stomach.

“Hey, little one,” Paige whispered. “It’s me again. Your mom who’s completely losing it in front of strangers. But it’s fine. I’ll embarrass you for the rest of your life so get used to it.”

Azzi stroked Paige’s hair, lovingly exasperated. “You are so lucky I love you.”

“Oh, I know.” Paige looked up at her. “I love you more.”

After the scan, while Azzi cleaned off the gel and got dressed, Paige walked around the room holding the print-out photo like it was a piece of gold.

“She has the cutest embryo I’ve ever seen,” she told the nurse at the desk.

“That’s not a thing,” Azzi whispered behind her, pulling her hoodie back on.

“Don’t ruin this for me.”

They walked out hand-in-hand, Azzi trying to move discreetly through the waiting room while Paige very loudly whispered, “That’s our baby! We made a baby! Look at this! This is ours!” to literally anyone who looked in their direction.

“Stop showing strangers the sonogram, babe.”

“But what if they wanna see perfection?” Paige beamed. “This is the most exciting day of my entire life. I wanna yell it off a rooftop.”

Azzi leaned in close, warm and glowing. “You can yell it all you want when we get home.”

Paige wiggled her eyebrows. “Bet. Also I’m framing this photo and putting it on every surface we own. Including your pillow.”

“You’re obsessed.”

“With you,” Paige said, kissing her again. “And our little rice grain.”

[slut4sugu]

⊹ ࣪ ˖౨ৎ 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭... 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐞 <𝟑

𓂃 ♡ epitome of loser in a hot body; like choso isn't just skin and bones. The way he easy carries you with one arm whilst asking if he can use your products at times? How he gently manhandles you? Every now and then you stare at him in disbelief until your burning holes in his abs.

𓂃 ♡ the kind of boyfriend who’ll roll your joint too fat on accident, pass it to you like it’s nothing, then forget what he was saying mid-sentence because your lips looked too good wrapped around it. “Wait—hold on, say that again. You’re just—fuck, you’re distracting me.”

𓂃 ♡ sooo easy to prank; once you did the m&m prank on him randomly one Friday night. "Okay so you see this one right?" You shook the bottle with your sleeved hand before setting it down." Just follow it baby." Your movements deliberately slow as you moved the container around, plastic clinking softly. Choso watched the damn candy tins like they owed him money. Entire focus on the middle one, tongue peeking out his mouth just a bit. Brows furrowed. Arms crossed. Brain running at full capacity.

"The middle." You bit back laughter as you glanced at your boyfriends serious face, taking your empty hand to shake the middle cylinder. Nothing. His eyes squinted, "How the fuck.." He muttered under his breath, you giggled. Hard. Falling back onto the floor with your legs kicking.

Choso just blinked down at the tin like it had personally betrayed him. Then at you. Then back at the tin.

“…You tricked me, huh.” You could barely breathe. “No, no I-pfft I didn't. Here I'ma show you again."

𓂃 ♡ So affectionate when he's faded; tugging on your sleeve, laying on your lap, burying his face in your stomach like it’s his personal pillow. “wanna stay like this forever don't move” he mumbles into your hoodie.

𓂃 ♡ such a boob guy; thats why when the summer rolls around and he sees your pretty boobs all on display in a sexy black tank he can't help but oogle your chest.

𓂃 ♡ can’t look into your eyes for more than three seconds; it’s not even like he’s shy (he’s far from it), but every time you look at him you get that sparkle in them, that pretty shimmer that makes his heart race every time you blink at him.

and if you smile? just a little bit? he’s gone. “stop,” he mumbles, looking away with a hand over his mouth. “you’re doing that thing again.” “what thing?” you laugh. “...shut up”

𓂃 ♡ still gets flustered when you call him “baby.” like… that soft, affectionate “baby” that rolls off your tongue all syrupy sweet when you’re sleepy or asking for something. Just one “baby, pass me the remote?” and he’ll freeze mid-motion, blinking like you just proposed. “…yeah. yeah okay.” (He's giggling and kicking his feet in his head like a damn preteen.)

𓂃 ♡ does push-ups in the living room shirtless for no reason. claims it’s “just a quick set,” but positions himself right in your line of vision. and when you call him out? “oh? sorry, was I distracting you?"

𓂃 ♡ talks you through it; always soft, always a little teasing: “like that, angel? yeah? you sound so good right now. keep talkin’ to me.” Presses kisses to your jaw, your neck, anywhere he can reach. “let me hear it, angel. let ‘em know who’s makin’ you feel like this.”

𓂃 ♡ helps with wash day; after watching you a few times, he's actually learned how to care for your curls pretty quickly. His favorite thing is when you fall asleep in between his legs on the floor cheek pressed into his leg.

Everytime you do he takes pictures <3

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Some update news; It's coming soon!

Someone DM'd me and told me the post i shared this with doesnt make it obvious that i edited lol, so here's a fresh one, my bad!

Because I already posted about the public release new on COG forums here, ill just share it on tumblr as well lol

Some good news for you, the release is now expected in a single week rather than weeks now!

Here’s a lil peek into the rapid pace ive been at since the end of last month lmfao

I think ima keep doing these quick dev notes at the start since they help remind me im actually making progress lololol Sometimes when working at a choice tree you can feel stuck, especially if you try making deep branch paths in there.

So like the image says, my patreons get the small recodex (more like a glossary tbh) tomorrow, and while they nibble on that ill go over the game a few more times and look for any last mistakes, errors, bugs, etc and then add in the last bit of art i had commissioned before launching to the public!

Now that we’re here however, I would like to apologize to everyone for the rough and long journey so far. Thank you for your patience and support, truly.

What i had planned originally would have made the entire game poorly paced with an incoherent narrative/plotline. Then I tried mending it with the first rewrite, and realized I half-assed it, leading to the second current rewrite. That was excruciatingly painful to do.

But I feel it was worth it. It gave me back my confidence as a writer.

The upcoming public update consists of the Childhood Arc (that I am now going to refer to as the Prologue) that sets the foundation up for the rest of the story with planted seeds that will come explosively into play in the future. Many of the events in the future will stem from the seeds here, and itll be fun watching readers find them.

This single fucking section (which was planned to be splattered all throughout the game in the previous versions) has finally been conquered. All the hinting nods, seeds, and “back-of-the-scenes” movements made by characters throughout the world in KaE are done HERE in the Prologue. The world and characters are at last firmly established. You get a hint of the brutality if you go one route, you get a hint of the politics and logistics if you go the other. Much of the worldbuilding is done far more naturally and smoothly. I am satisfied at last.

But again, and I must reiterate; this is the prologue and it is over 160k words. That’s a LONG FUCKING PROLOGUE LMFAO

Okay, time to be technical.

With the command lines, meaning plus the words on the choices themselves for example, it is 162,053 words of content for the stuff you actually play.

Without the command lines, we have 147,598 words of content.

If I include the Relationships tab and all the other lines of code i made for our stat descriptions?

206,133

With this new arc we’re heading into, like ive said multiple times, is when we finally take active stage in the story. I am so freaking excited to begin this with yall!

But the childhood stuff had to be done. The “boring” part is finally over with this. Ihate to call it boring since i put so much heart into it, but im a realist and understand some folks may just wanna get to the cool stuff. Never ever shall i make the mistake of doing baby reincarnation and/or making us the royal heir cause I am not a good enough writer to pull it off.

But forget that. Right now, Im here to tell you the cool stuff is now coming.

I think ima keep doing these quick dev notes at the start since they help remind me im actually making progress lololol Sometimes when working at a choice tree you can feel stuck, especially if you try making deep branch paths in there.

So like the image says, my patreons get the small recodex (more like a glossary tbh) tomorrow, and while they nibble on that ill go over the game a few more times and look for any last mistakes, errors, bugs, etc and then add in the last bit of art i had commissioned before launching to the public!

Now that we’re here however, I would like to apologize to everyone for the rough and long journey so far. Thank you for your patience and support, truly.

What i had planned originally would have made the entire game poorly paced with an incoherent narrative/plotline. Then I tried mending it with the first rewrite, and realized I half-assed it, leading to the second current rewrite. That was excruciatingly painful to do.

But I feel it was worth it. It gave me back my confidence as a writer.

The upcoming public update consists of the Childhood Arc (that I am now going to refer to as the Prologue) that sets the foundation up for the rest of the story with planted seeds that will come explosively into play in the future. Many of the events in the future will stem from the seeds here, and itll be fun watching readers find them.

This single fucking section (which was planned to be splattered all throughout the game in the previous versions) has finally been conquered. All the hinting nods, seeds, and “back-of-the-scenes” movements made by characters throughout the world in KaE are done HERE in the Prologue. The world and characters are at last firmly established. You get a hint of the brutality if you go one route, you get a hint of the politics and logistics if you go the other. Much of the worldbuilding is done far more naturally and smoothly. I am satisfied at last.

But again, and I must reiterate; this is the prologue and it is over 160k words. That’s a LONG FUCKING PROLOGUE LMFAO

Okay, time to be technical.

With the command lines, meaning plus the words on the choices themselves for example, it is 162,053 words of content for the stuff you actually play.

Without the command lines, we have 147,598 words of content.

If I include the Relationships tab and all the other lines of code i made for our stat descriptions?

206,133

With this new arc we’re heading into, like ive said multiple times, is when we finally take active stage in the story. I am so freaking excited to begin this with yall!

But the childhood stuff had to be done. The “boring” part is finally over with this. Ihate to call it boring since i put so much heart into it, but im a realist and understand some folks may just wanna get to the cool stuff. Never ever shall i make the mistake of doing baby reincarnation and/or making us the royal heir cause I am not a good enough writer to pull it off.

But forget that. Right now, Im here to tell you the cool stuff is now coming.

I think ima keep doing these quick dev notes at the start since they help remind me im actually making progress lololol Sometimes when working at a choice tree you can feel stuck, especially if you try making deep branch paths in there.

So like the image says, my patreons get the small recodex (more like a glossary tbh) tomorrow, and while they nibble on that ill go over the game a few more times and look for any last mistakes, errors, bugs, etc and then add in the last bit of art i had commissioned before launching to the public!

Now that we’re here however, I would like to apologize to everyone for the rough and long journey so far. Thank you for your patience and support, truly.

What i had planned originally would have made the entire game poorly paced with an incoherent narrative/plotline. Then I tried mending it with the first rewrite, and realized I half-assed it, leading to the second current rewrite. That was excruciatingly painful to do.

But I feel it was worth it. It gave me back my confidence as a writer.

The upcoming public update consists of the Childhood Arc (that I am now going to refer to as the Prologue) that sets the foundation up for the rest of the story with planted seeds that will come explosively into play in the future. Many of the events in the future will stem from the seeds here, and itll be fun watching readers find them.

This single fucking section (which was planned to be splattered all throughout the game in the previous versions) has finally been conquered. All the hinting nods, seeds, and “back-of-the-scenes” movements made by characters throughout the world in KaE are done HERE in the Prologue. The world and characters are at last firmly established. You get a hint of the brutality if you go one route, you get a hint of the politics and logistics if you go the other. Much of the worldbuilding is done far more naturally and smoothly. I am satisfied at last.

But again, and I must reiterate; this is the prologue and it is over 160k words. That’s a LONG FUCKING PROLOGUE LMFAO

Okay, time to be technical.

With the command lines, meaning plus the words on the choices themselves for example, it is 162,053 words of content for the stuff you actually play.

Without the command lines, we have 147,598 words of content.

If I include the Relationships tab and all the other lines of code i made for our stat descriptions?

206,133

With this new arc we’re heading into, like ive said multiple times, is when we finally take active stage in the story. I am so freaking excited to begin this with yall!

But the childhood stuff had to be done. The “boring” part is finally over with this. Ihate to call it boring since i put so much heart into it, but im a realist and understand some folks may just wanna get to the cool stuff. Never ever shall i make the mistake of doing baby reincarnation and/or making us the royal heir cause I am not a good enough writer to pull it off.

But forget that. Right now, Im here to tell you the cool stuff is now coming.

After the public is out, i will focus on the Upbringing Routes one at a time.

Squire/Prince/Princess.

Squire will be started and worked on first until completion because it is a unisex route, and also because its probably the most traditionally “fun” of the routes. In it, we go to the north with our father and his retinue to quell unrest with the wild tribes and our people, until inevitably it devolves into total war in the north. There, we begin our martial journey and showcase the skills that’ll one day force the world to submit to our prowess.

But for now, we’re still young and have much to learn. Our enemies will never have a better chance to kill us… and yet theyll still fail. Or at least, YOU have to make sure they fail!

The Prince/Princess Routes on the other hand, will be more of a political thriller as the ducal families of the south try to one up one another and take power, influence, and land from one another. We’ll work with our mother to ensure civil war doesnt happen while pops is up in the north.

Alright, thats enough of that lol

Again, thank you all for the continued support!

[freeandiwill]

The Daycare Attendant when you show up to work 🍃High🍃

Unfinished!!! I just spent too much time on this to leave it be tbh. Like barely even started.

You were gonna kill your roommate when this was all over. Assuming you didn’t die by then, which it really felt like you would. They had offered you a small, unassuming edible to end your day off of work last night, completely failing to tell you about that extra 0 on the package. You had relaxedly melted off into sleep…and then woken up absolutely blitzed with paranoia, shift starting in 2 hours. Those two hours felt like a thousand years, feeding yourself handfuls of chocolate chips whilst debating on whether you should, or even could, call in.

You squinted at the sun from the bus stop, trying not to focus on those constant shifts in your standing that made you feel like you were always about to fall. You couldn’t tell if you were more nauseous or hungry. On that cramped bus ride, surrounded primarily by the elderly, you had to stare at the floor to prevent laughing in someone’s face at the slightest hint of eye contact. You were so, goddamn, high. Making it to work felt like entering the first gate of hell.

The PizzaPlex, especially on a Friday afternoon, when was never the most soothing place on earth, but every irritating sensation was amplified by your vulnerable state. The blaring colors and sounds from arcade machines, the wafting scent of pizza and corn syrup, whines and screams from children and adult alike, the varied stickiness of the floor, all overlayed with faint synth music. It was a neon nightmare, the building becoming unfamiliar before your very eyes. You almost cried from the horrid symphony of it all.

But you didn’t. You smiled at guests and tried not to give away your intoxication. You bumped into two cleaning bots before you even made it to the daycare. Your throat burned with all the sobs and giggles you were holding in. You Thanked God when you made it to your station.

The daycare wasn’t any less bright as the main floor, but the lights were slightly softer and the music volume was a tad more reasonable. And the kids, while never completely silent, simply didn’t have it in them to squawk as loudly as their older siblings did. Though now you could only hope that none of those tantrums started.

“Hi Helper!” A little voice said the moment you slid behind your desk. Lilly was standing on her tiptoes to have her chin over the dividing counter, face already stained with what you could only think was jam. She was grinning with nearly all of her teeth left. “I made a pic-ta!”

She slid a multicolor interpretation of a…cat? Rabbit? Unidentifiable big-headed animal with plentiful smears and scribbles on a slightly damp piece of paper. You smiled so big, your cheeks began to cramp. Your stomach twisted, totally charmed and utterly unsettled by her work of art. You suddenly forgot how to do your almost favorite part of your entire job.

“W-Wow!” You started, “That is totally beautiful, honey! Is that your pet?” You were becoming increasingly dizzy. She couldn’t tell, could she?

“No! My daddy’s allergic-“

“Lilly! Do you wanna join this Duck Duck Goose game?”

The little girl squealed and bolted off towards Sun, who sits her down in a circle of equally giddy toddlers. Did he get taller? You don’t remember him being that tall. Was that even possible? Your thoughts were running a mile a minute.

Your breathing is already tense when he walks up to your desk, permanent grin testing the limits. His rays give a fluttery spin. Your organs feel squished within your torso.

“Heyyyy, Friendo! You were two minutes late, rule breaker!” His long fingers tap against the top of your computer. His tone is saccharine sweet, as always. You falter under his teasing and just barely manage a weak laugh, trying not to give away the shivers in your spin. You saw the man bot nearly everyday, considered him a friend even, but only know to you begin to process how scary he can be. “Buuuut, don’t worry! I clocked you in on time! You’re welcome!” He’s utterly chipper, you nearly can’t stand it. You thank him, letting your head rest in your palms before your weight gives in.

And then your worst fear comes true: he notices. “Everything okay there, buddy? Doesn’t seem like it.”

You already made a minor habit of coming into work a little sicker than you probably should have, “Especially considering you are working with children!” Sun gave you a good scolding for that. But this is different. This is an entirely new level of irresponsible. This was unemployment-worthy, possibly even arrest-worthy. Your stomach turned, looking Sun in the expressionless eyes, wondering how well his camera-vision could detect the stoned in your face.

“Uhm, yeah.” You lied, unconvincingly. “Everything’s great.”

He leaned even closer. The entirety of your face heated up. “That’s not pink eye, is it? How did you sleep? Have you hit your head recently?”

“Slept pretty good, actually,” That wasn’t a lie, “My head feels, uh, fine. And I’m pretty sure my eyes are always this color, hehe.”

It eased some of your tensions to crack yourself up, but the wheezing chuckles at something so unfunny didn’t put Sun in any sort of ease. Your head lolled to see past him, scanning the many groups of children amongst the padded floors and jungle gyms. “How long is this playtime?” You asked, “Naps are right after this, right?”

“Yup! Snacktime in an hour then naptime right after that!” Sun was very proud of his perfectly studied and coordinated schedule for the kids. In all fairness, you have heard multiple parents chatting about a significant positive shift in their children after their time at the daycare, so he had to be onto something. “You wanna tell me what’s going on now? It’s noooot very good to keep secrets from friends, ya know!” His tone had deepened, the electronic crackles in his voice more prominent.

You swallowed, noticing how dry your mouth had become. Fuck, did you forget your water bottle? “Maybe later. It’s fine, really.” You were still trying to convince yourself but he took the excuse for now.

“Oookkiiieee-Dokie! See you at lunch!” He spun around and bounded quite gracefully back into his assigned job, “Jason, what did I say about putting things in your mouth?”

You totally hadn’t packed a lunch either, it dawned on you. It seems like the only thing you left your house with was two tied shoes and a dream. And literally anything sounded good right now. This was gonna be a painful shift.

Unknowingly, for the both of you. Because it pained Sun not to dote on you in this condition you found yourself in. Caretaking was apart of his code and his dearest coworker was clearly in desperate need of it. You had cowered when he came to talk to you like he did everyday, jumpier than usual. You seemed to be in a trance when you made your first rounds with the broom, sweeping methodically. He swore he heard you mumbling to yourself as you typed the slowest daily report he’s ever seen. It took everything in him not to prod at you until you fessed up because you were acting so unusual. He’s seen you sick and tired and stressed and sad. He knew what you look liked when not at your best, he had evening single one of your little habits committed to memory by now, taking up an embarrassing amount of his internal storage. But this was entirely different; this version of you was throwing the patterns off completely. Since when did you enjoy counting the floor tiles? Since when did you flinch at moving shadows?

In all honesty, you didn’t look entirely different newborn deer, with how you carefully stumbled and dawdled about. He found the idea absolutely adorable, despite his worries.

For you, the minutes dragged on and you anxiously contemplated how you were going to tell him. Did he even…understand the concept? You know the main floor animatronics had some sort of anti-drug protocol installed thanks to the yearly D.A.R.E-Sponsored show. But Sun and Moon never got involved with any of that stuff. What if he just immediately dialed the police?Weed was slightly legal at best, and who knows the company’s policies surrounding it. Your chest began to tighten.

In a matter of time, Sun had passed out cheese sticks (which were really just repurposed stuffed crusts, a fact nobody was ever supposed to know) and only took a moment to look over the children before his head snapped towards you. That was your cue. Sun wasn’t allowed to leave the children while they ate, choking hazard, so it was your job to come to him. Walking through the playground sets felt incredibly surreal, and he looked like a god amongst the hoards of tiny people.

A few more of them greeted you, their “Helper” as Sun had nicknamed you for them. At the moment, it felt humiliating to be looked up at by their adoring, cherub faces. You tried your best in smiling back, and Sun surely noticed the forced nature of it.

“You’ve been productive today!”

“Oh. Have I really?”

“Heh. No, not at all, but you sure looked busy while doing it!l

He hunches slightly, letting his massive faceplate loom near your shoulder while his gaze doesn’t leave the kids, “Sooo, what’s going on today? You’re acting rather unusual.” At a lower, closer volume his voice is rather hypnotic, commanding. Or maybe that’s the high talking.

You bit your lip as you thought, probably for an unreasonable amount of time. He was in a very inquisitive mood today, which meant Moon was gonna be twice as worse. A nap sounded good too, though not as good as having something to eat.

“Can you, uh, promise not to get mad? Even if it’s in your protocol to?” Your voice is dripping with hesitation.

“Uh oh, have you been breaking the ruuulessss again?”

Your feet suddenly become unsteady and you’re forced to grasp onto his arm for balance. And immediately, he holds you back with a hand on your torso, unwilling to let you collapse in front of the kids. His gangly arms support you like you weigh nothing. His voice box gurgles for a second, “Goodness! Do I need to send you down to first aid?”

He had been monitoring your everything all day. Temperature, heart rate, blood pressure. They all checked out to be relatively normal, with some minor lapses here and there. But even then, you were just totally out of it and Sun just couldn’t stand not knowing what was wrong, what to do about it. Twinges of Fix It kept eating at his circuits, a distracting static he had been trying to regulate for years now and only got worse with every uncontrollable circumstance. Such as this one.

You clung to him, queasy and unsure.

[trancylovecraft]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ WANDERILLUSTREOUS!: Chapter Four!

(YANDERE GENSHIN VARIOUS x READER)

[F/N] [L/N], a twenty-two year old college student goes about her mundane life. Most people would describe her as content, and maybe [F/N] would've described it as such too- Her life. Over and over again, day after day, the cycle never stops. That is, however, until she suddenly drops into Genshin Impact out of nowhere. In any other case, [F/N] might have been glad to be there. In a fantasy land where she had only ever visited in her dreams, with a feeling she couldn't describe flooding her entire being. However, [F/N] couldn't be further from excited.. she had never played Genshin in her life. [F/N] threw her head into her hands, holding back the urge to scream. “I’m absolutely screwed, aren’t I?”

*ੈ✩‧₊˚AO3 LINK *ೃ༄

GENDER: Femme LIST OF YANDERE'S: https://pastebin.com/ErsuA2cz SONG: PIN-EYE! - Jhariah NOTE: anyways so sorry for this being late ya girl was experiencing the horrors <3

PREVIOUS PART *ੈ✩‧₊˚ MASTERLIST *ੈ✩‧₊˚˚ NEXT PART (ON AO3) *

To be frank, Kaeya didn’t know what to think.

It had been a long time since the sun set over the horizon. Blue to orange to red to black. The wispy clouds had already dispersed into mist, leaving only the spilt glitter of stars to adorn the great sea above.

Kaeya rested a hand on his chin. He’d gotten here when the sun was still visible, halfway over the horizon, and still burning shapes into his sclera. He paced back and forth, the soles of his boots clacking sluggishly against the stone.

Wind. It brushed against his skin like dandelion tufts in the spring breeze. 

His eye narrowed, catching a glimpse of the figure in the distance.

She emerged from the grass and the ferns from afar, skipping and hopping down the paved road usually traversed by knights on patrol. Even though Kaeya couldn’t see her face, He could almost feel the child-like smile on her face as she made sure not to step on the lines on the dirt, her movements airy, A skirt of vermilion swaying like a hypnotist's watch behind her.

[F/N] [L/N], Finally, she had arrived.

Kaeya had expected her to take a little later than usual, considering her rather notable disorientation, so he supposed that he couldn’t be too annoyed at her being late. He wouldn’t have been anyway, He was used to playing the waiting game.

His lips upturned as he watched her finally approach, the heels of her riding boots thudding to a stop.

“Apologies for the wait..!”

[F/N] called out as she dusted herself off, shaking away all the dirt from her outfit.

She was dressed in usual Mondstadtian attire. A loose blouse with poet sleeves, draping down her figure. With a leather corset, tied not too tightly around her midsection. A skirt matched with a frilly petticoat that peeked out from under the rose cloth.

It was surprisingly fitting, guessing that it was most likely something Amber had gifted to her. She seemed happy in it, too. Considering the way her boots clacked excitedly against the path she skipped along, Laced up to the knees, Blossomed into a bow.

It was.. Cute. In a naive way. He must admit.

“Ah.. Finally, you’re here.” Kaeya greeted, His voice echoing out into the night as he looked down at her. The glint in his eye resembled the stars that glimmered above. “I was wondering when you’d arrive. Hm, I see you have a wardrobe change.”

[F/N] grinned at his observation. Foot turning, her skirt raising ever so slightly as she gave him a spin.

“Amber handed it to me! It was an outfit she got a while back for becoming an outrider, but it didn’t fit her right. So. She gave it to me instead..!” She said, giving a small bow at the end of her twirl.  “Don’t I look pretty? I feel pretty. That’s for sure. Good to get outta that nightdress at least..!”

Ah, just as he thought.

“And Amber didn’t decide to come along? I admit I was expecting to see her following behind you.”

“Well.. She wanted to, but Amber’s already helped me out a lot. I didn’t wanna keep her from her job so.. I insisted that I come here by myself, you know?” [F/N] explained. “She didn’t like it since Paimon was asleep and out of commission, but.. I’m a convincing person when I want to be.”

[F/N] gave him a smile, Hands trailing to rest on her hips. It was strange, really, the outfit she was wearing. A corset and such a frilly blouse weren’t exactly something she wore often, which was probably why she found it so appealing in the first place.

Amber had said that it would do for now. It wasn’t the best for moving around in, but it was better than nothing.

“Well then.. Now that you're here, I suppose there’s no point in waiting any longer, Hm?”

“Woah..!”

[F/N] let out a small gasp as Kaeya unsheathed something from behind his back. Tossing it up into the air in a quick motion, [F/N] only catching a glimpse- A shine rolling down polished steel. 

Her feet skittered forward. A weight dropped into her hands.

[F/N] blinked. It was a simple sword, an iron blade that shone like silver under the pale moonlight. Glimmering. Clean and polished. [F/N] gawked as she tested the weight in her hands, her nails digging into the leather coating the hilt.

Kaeya smirked, finding amusement in her reaction.

“You can consider this little adventure to be your crash course on swordsmanship, and this personal training from me is a form of compensation for assisting during the earlier Storm Terror incident,” Kaeya said as he watched her adjust to the weapon in her hands. “Besides, the Acting Grand Master took the time out of her busy schedule to request this of me. How could I say no?”

[F/N] held it carefully, yet with an almost childish excitement, looking at it like she had just torn off the sword’s wrapping paper on Christmas Day. This was what a sword looked like up close? [F/N]’s hand moved to the hilt, Fingers wrapping around the leather. Was she actually supposed to swing this thing? No way..

“Well? Are you ready?”

[F/N] turned her head upwards, A smile spreading on her face as her knuckles tightened around the hilt. Swing it? She could definitely do that.  

“Lead the way, Oh Captain Kaeya.”

She didn't need to be asked twice as he beckoned her onwards, His strides long and quick, forcing [F/N] to catch up. A grin framed on her lips as she skipped up the steps like a child playing hopscotch.

Kaeya pressed his hand against the temple door. A bright, Blinding blue hitting their faces as the door grumbled- Dust and pebbles dislodging from the cracks. He breathed in, that same burnt scent of ashwood and overdone meat wafting out from inside.

The scent of Pyro Slimes.

Something must have happened in there.

⭒❅✸✪✸❅⭒

“Watch your step!”

“Woah!”

[F/N] let out a gasp as she felt Kaeya’s hand wrap around her forearm, keeping her steady as she dangled over a ledge. Stars in her eyes and swirling around her head as she was yanked back up onto the platform, His grip being rather firm.

“Careful now. Tripping mid-battle isn’t exactly a proper move..” Kaeya spoke smoothly as she regained her footing, having almost tipped over into the shallow water. His hand let go of her wrist, His palm rather warm and leaving a rather pleasant heat in its wake.

[F/N] shook it off. Exhilarating. Observing the way he snapped right back to the gang of hilichurls.

Yet his eye darted backwards, A glint, landing just behind her.

“Keep an eye on your back, too.”

“Got it!” She grinned, her heel quickly spinning as her sword knocked back an oncoming Hilichurl, who babbled out at the sudden slash- No matter how flimsy.

The Domain seemed much bigger than it did on the outside, [F/N] prancing in, expecting to find some cramped, Dingy rooms filled with cobwebs. Somewhere she’d need to squeeze her body through, and presumably apologise to Amber later about dirtying her new clothes.

And granted, it did come with its fair share of cobwebs, but the spiders were few and far between. Instead, she had entered into a rather cavernous set of catacombs. Solid, Stone bricks fortifying the walls. Trims lined with the cold sheen of gold. The only light came from the flicker of fire coming from shoddy torches.

It didn’t take long for [F/N] to find out who had built them.

“Move your foot forward, don’t give the enemy any chance to counterattack!”

[F/N] nodded. The heel of her boot was digging into the stone, letting out a titter as she swung down her sword.

Words rushed onto her tongue, spilling out as if it were second-nature.

“Windblade..!”

“Yah!”

The hilichurl babbled out in surprise or pain as it stumbled backwards. The shoddy old shield fell to the ground along with the club it had. Charcoal ashes burned from the cut on its gaunt chest.

[F/N] breathed out, Energy exploding from her palms. Fingers twitching.

“Nice..” She breathed.

[F/N] stepped back, watching with interest as the hilichurl collapsed to the floor, exploding into nothing but dust in the wind.

“Do all creatures here die like that?” [F/N] called out to Kaeya, her sword pointed at the remaining few who still remained, waving their clubs.

“These are called Hilichurls, and yes, they happen to do so.. And I’m sure there’s more who do the same.” Kaeya responded as another one was knocked down effortlessly.

His words were proven true when [F/N] drove the hilt of her sword, however crudely, into the top of a pyro slime. She shivered at the texture, but didn’t take her eyes off it as it melted into nothing but sticky residue.

“I don’t need to guess what these are called..” [F/N] remarked under her breath. Sweat dripped clean down the side of her brow as she observed the residue. Barking out a huff, she handled the sword, slipping it back into the small leather strap attached to her corset.

Though as soon as she did, she heard a tutting sound from behind her.

A hand grasped her shoulder, Firm.

“Don’t be so quick to sheathe your sword.” Kaeya admonished, though that omnipresent smirk never seemed to leave his face. “You don’t know what might be lurking in the shadows, waiting for that opportune moment.”

[F/N] sighed, wiping the sweat off her brow.

“Sorry, Sorry.” She spoke, her lips upturning. “I guess I just got a bit too comfortable with the expert around.”

Her hand raised, Fingers dancing as they gripped his hand, just as tightly.

Kaeya’s eye narrowed along with the widening of his smile.

“Just because I’m an expert doesn’t mean you don’t watch your back,” Kaeya spoke as he tugged his hand off of her shoulder. [F/N] laughed under her breath. “That’s how you get a sword through the middle of it.”

He was the flirty kind of character. [F/N] hummed, A smile lifting upon her lips. She could deal with that.

“You’re the only blade wielder I see here, Captain Kaeya. Does this mean I need to be careful around you now?” She teased.

Kaeya chuckled.

“Maybe. You don’t know who might try to strike when you’re unguarded, It couldn’t help to be a bit.. Wary.”

[F/N] laughed at this, His words striking a chord in her. He was certainly a character, in more ways than one. She watched as he twirled his sword in his hand, observing the now-empty crypt in which they stood.

Nothing but the scorched ashes dancing off into the air.

“Don’t fall behind. If I’m not mistaken, the end of the temple should be just up there.” He called out as he waltzed forward, the clicks and clacks of his heels making their way down the stairs. [F/N] following close behind.

She could already see where he meant. A pinnacle visible through the broken ceiling of this domain, swirling, harnessing, bursting with what [F/N] now knew was some kind of power.

Funny.

[F/N]’s palms felt like a lightbulb still cooling off, fingertips still coursing with elemental energy- Or at least that’s what she thought it was. Whatever that ‘Windblade!’ was that took out that hilichurl certainly seemed elemental in nature..

Speaking of..

“There’s a real weird aura about this place.” [F/N] commented as she followed along with Kaeya. Her lips pursed. Eyes scanning the vicinity. “It’s like.. The elemental energy you told me about earlier with those vision thingamajigs. But it makes my skin crawl. Not in a fun way..”

Kaeya’s eye glinted.

“So you can sense it too?” He mused as they turned a corner, wordlessly avoiding the band of hilichurls situated in the other room.

[F/N] tilted her head.

“Sense what?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

[F/N] rolled her eyes, watching as he strutted ahead. Cryptic as he was, she couldn’t deny the eagerness to see what exactly it was- What that feeling was that made her ribs rattle so thoroughly in her chest.

They continued to move throughout the domain, the brick walls eroding and breaking to reveal a vast expanse of ashen gray skies and harsh winds that made her eyes dry out and her lips go coarse.

The wind roared as they navigated the domain with ease. [F/N] gawking at the roaring fire- Only to be pulled back by Kaeya when she had nudged too close. The slimes hopping around, making good targets- 

Truly, maybe being Isekai’d into a video game wasn’t too bad after all..

I mean, [F/N] had always been a big fan of such anime and manga ever since she laid eyes on the stuff. She had an entire collection under her bed filled with the Re:Zero and Inuyasha manga, It wasn’t like she was unfamiliar with the trope- Not at all.

But when it came to imagining herself in such a situation, [F/N] had never thought that it would be a good thing. 

Who wanted to be stuck in some unfamiliar world? Not understanding the rules or laws or how to survive- And [F/N] didn’t want to get started on how the protagonists got there in the first place. Dying.. Meeting some eldritch abomination that siphoned her there..  And don’t even get her started on Truck-Kun.

So [F/N] had always been content to leave it in fiction- Snapping the cover of her manga shut just to tuck it under her bed and call it a night.

[F/N] giggled slightly, her mind wandering off as she continued down the hall along with Kaeya. He had described all these wondrous things as they walked earlier- Visions, Elements, The Seven - 

Maybe she had been a bit too harsh on the idea of being Isekai’d..

“Careful now..”

[F/N] stopped, shaking out of her stupor as she looked down-

A pit of spikes lay below the ledge she was about to waltz off. Hidden under a layer of water that rippled, almost as if beckoning her foot forward. 

“We wouldn’t want you tripping again, would we?” Kaeya mused as he stood there, folding his arms. 

She suppressed a smile. 

“Ah.. Come on. I'm a beginner, surely you can give me a pass.” [F/N] rolled her eyes, though there was no annoyance in it. Hands running up to rest on her hips as she mock-glared at him. “You can at least admit that I'm not that much of a hazard, 

“That is correct.. As much of a beginner you are and how flimsy your skills may be.. You're better than the usual recruits.” Kaeya mused to himself as he sauntered forward, His sword still gripped in his hand as he moved towards the ledge. 

[F/N], Sensing something off, watched him closely. 

“Say.. It doesn't seem to me that you have an Anemo Vision.. Yet you're still able to control the element..” Kaeya commented. A remark on the surface, but [F/N] could feel something brewing just a bit deeper underneath. 

“Pretty much. I don't know how either- Just feels natural.” She responded idly. 

“I see..” Kaeya responded slowly. “For the common person, they'd need a vision to control even one of the seven elements. As such..”

[F/N]’s eyes widened as she saw the glow of the vision on his hip. Kaleidoscopic. The colour of the sunlight against dewy snow- A burst of spectral colours on a melting white canvas. 

“Woah..!” [F/N] gasped both in surprise and awe as she watched ice burst out from his fingertips. Mist and splinters. A cloud of tundra that came out like an avalanche from his very palms.

The water below them froze. Solid and firm. 

“..It would look like that,” Kaeya spoke, looking back at her awe with an almost prideful eye. He enjoyed the way she tittered at the edge now, a foot lowering, the tip of her boot pressing against the ice.

It didn’t crack or splinter.

[F/N] breathed out, her lips upturning as she set her foot down onto the ice now.

“Damn..” [F/N] marvelled. She swallowed back her trepidation as she finally stepped down onto the ice, her heels digging into the frost now. “So that’s the power of a vision? It’s pretty impressive, Captain Kaeya..!“

“If I’m being honest, this is rather simple for someone with a vision,” Kaeya spoke as he rested his hand onto his hip, flexing the other as if brandishing a weapon. “Which is why I should probably be calling you impressive for doing it without a vision.”

Kaeya spoke as he stepped down onto the ice with her, their bodies nearby- Both having to press closer to the center. [F/N] rolled her eyes as she looked up at him, feeling the warmth of his body in contrast to the frigid ice below.

“Hey, what can I say, I’m a natural..!“ [F/N] smirked as she lightly elbowed him. “Maybe I’m just special like that!”

Kaeya chuckled.

“Maybe you are.”

Another burst of mist exploded from his fingertips again, slowly but surely creating a bridge that they sauntered across, avoiding the spikes hidden under the water below. She nearly slipped a couple of times. Though [F/N] loved the heels Amber had provided for her, they certainly weren’t doing any favours for her on the ice.

She nearly slipped, gasping.

Kaeya’s arm was quicker.

“You seem to be making falling a habit.” He spoke, his tone sly as his hand rested on her back. “You might as well hold onto me.”

“So chivalrous..”

That got a chuckle.

Visions. [F/N] hummed to herself as he guided her along the ice bridge, an energy lying up ahead she couldn’t help but be attracted to. Was it the same kind of energy that Kaeya had used to create ice? No.. [F/N] didn’t think so.

It was pulsating. Corrupted, yet coursing through her veins like a drug. 

No doubt there was something strong up ahead. Maybe not in the physical, hulking, muscular sense, but in a mystical- Never seen before sense. Something that could be stabbed and wouldn’t take it lying down.

Something [F/N] was just itching to tear her nails into.

She grinned as they finally got to the other side, her heels clicking as she quickly hopped to the other side. Not bothering to look back as she sprinted forward, turning around corners and hopping up stone steps.

The energy grew closer.

Her eyes flickered like a broken bulb, yet they were bright, fixing on anything- anything that could entice her to draw the blade around her hip.

She skidded forward, heels digging into the stone-

“And that is the end of your crash course.”

“..Excuse me?”

She stopped, pausing; it was like a pin had dropped in the room.

[F/N] turned around, her eyes wide as she watched Kaeya catch up to her without issue. Strolling along with that ever-smug expression on his face, slowly clapping, though it seemed.. Somewhat impressed?

“For a beginner, you pick up on the basics quite well.” Kaeya applauded as he stopped a few feet away from her. “Of course, I can’t say you’d be competent on your own, or that you could hold yourself in a proper fight. But you can handle the regular hilichurl or slime on your own.”

What?

[F/N] stood there not moving a muscle, her face fallen, eyes blank as she registered the words he had just spoken to her. A breeze continued to drift throughout the room she had just rushed into, the open space bearing opportunity yet..

Was he saying..

“Wait.. hold on. Are you saying that we’re not going to go any further..?” [F/N] spoke, her voice controlled as she looked at him. Her fingers twitched as she stared at him, wide-eyed.

“We can end our training here.“  Kaeya spoke, folding his arms as he glanced at her. His gaze locked right on the dissonance of her face. “We’ve reached the source of Stormterror’s power, I can handle it from here.”

[F/N] stopped.

Wait.. No.

That’s not..

She turned her head, taking a glance behind her. 

It was a stone, the colour of sunstruck leaves in the wind. Glowing. Radiating. The source of that enticing elemental power that called to her like a siren at sea. [F/N] could almost feel saliva pooling in the bed of her mouth, just begging to grab the hilt of her sword and dig in to reach that flavour -

And he wanted her to just.. What? Go home? Call it a day?

“But.. But I want to continue-” [F/N] tried to say, her voice wavering slightly.

“There wouldn’t be any point. All that’s left is to just dismantle the power source, and I don’t need any help for that.”

His words rang in the air, an echo in her ears. She opened her mouth to speak, considering her words for a moment. [F/N]’s voice dropped to a flatline, quiet and steady as she looked down at her shoes.

“I just..”

“If you want to keep yourself occupied, perhaps you should look around the Adventurer’s Guild,” Kaeya suggested, cutting her off. “If you plan to stay in Mondstadt for a while, then the Adventurer’s Guild would be a way of getting extra cash. That, and you get the opportunity to explore. Not just in Mondstadt, the Guild spans across Teyvat, of course.”

The Adventurer’s Guild..? [F/N] blinked, the words foreign to her ears. It was.. Unsettling. Disturbing how a knot began to form in the pit of her stomach. Twisting and turning, sinking deeper and deeper into the depths.

Kaeya’s words barely even registered with her anymore.

“If you’re looking for something to do, why don’t you go sign up?”

She paused for a moment.

“..Alright. I’ll.. go do that.” [F/N] trailed off, just staring blankly at him, as if deep in thought. She.. She should go sign up. The Adventurer’s Guild. Adventure. She should go sign up at The Adventurer’s Guild to go.. Adventure.

Right.

[F/N] blinked before turning around in a languid motion. Her eyes untrained as she began to walk off, her arms pressed to their sides-

“How about we go out for a drink sometime? Consider it a celebration. I know a good tavern, and you can tell me about your time with The Guild over a glass.” Kaeya called out to her, his voice cool and composed as he watched her walk away.

[F/N] nodded, but she didn’t stop walking- Nor did she look back at him. 

“Yeah.. Uhm. I’ll see you then.” [F/N] called back, though her voice barely echoed as she stepped out of the room, back into the expanse of the domain. The cold air hit her skin, but she didn’t shiver. Not one bit.

She didn’t feel.. Right.

Kaeya watched as she stumbled off, her form getting lower as she descended the steps. The clicking of her boots getting further and further away, echoing, until he could no longer hear her.

Just as he thought..

He hummed, ignoring the presence of the abyssal mage beginning to emerge from a pillar behind him. Chittering with a rotten tongue, the verses of an acursed spell. It was nothing new, of course-

But she, on the other hand?

She wasn’t talented with a sword by any means, but she picked it up like an old skill- Grabbing the hilt with a sort of excited fascination. If it came down to it, she wouldn’t be able to do any real damage. Not to someone like him or any other person with basic training.

In that regard, Kaeya didn’t need to worry about it.

However, the way her nose twitched when she sensed abyssal energy, the way she commanded the air to swirl and vacuum without the help of a vision. It came to her like a heeling dog, obeyed her, swirling with one hell of a bite.

There was something off about her.

Too off.

And Kaeya would find out what it was.

One way or another.

“Knights of Favonius, Always so insufficient..”

⭒❅✸✪✸❅⭒

The sun was held high in the sky, beaming, smiling down from where it was placed.

It was unfortunate that Mondstadt didn’t get to see or enjoy it.

Flower pots were knocked and cracked on their sides. Wine bottles shattered on the stone. It was strange to see the ivy and moss that festered on the buildings, now ripped into salad and spread like garnish throughout the city.

The atmosphere around them was shrouded in a grey mist that had gathered, the aftereffects of Stormterrors' wrath. The sky was dark and thunderous. Tree leaves continued to fly by with a whistle, out into the broken and chipped streets.

The roof’s in need of retiling—signs ripped from their post. Fresh fruit smashed, their remains spilled from their display boxes.

“So.. What can you tell me about The Adventurer’s Guild?”

[F/N] skipped along the cobbled streets of Mondstadt, Paimon floating idly by her side as she pranced along. She waved to the occasional person who was busy sweeping rubble or picking up fallen roof tiles, wishing them a good morning, all the while conversing with her companion.

The people were surprisingly.. Friendly with her. More friendly than [F/N] expected.

The scent of spoiled fruit and fresh wind entered her nose, caressing her cheeks and entwining in her hair.

“The Adventurer’s Guild.. Right! Paimon remembers! The Adventurer’s Guild is an organisation that hires people to do quests!” Paimon spoke happily as she flew along, drifting by her side.

[F/N] raised a brow.

“Quests? Quests for whom?”

“Uhhhmm.. Paimon isn’t sure.. Paimon isn’t exactly an adventurer. Are you going to sign up?“

“Well.. Unfortunately, yes. I’m gonna need to get a job. I need food, clothes.. I need a lot of things, actually- Now that I’m thinking about it.” [F/N] groaned as she rubbed her temples. God, she felt like she was eighteen again and doing the walk of shame to an interview.

Would she need to interview?

[F/N] shivered as she recalled the stuffy rooms filled with whirring AC. Being forced into a beige dress and a sanquine smile as she tittered off answers to every question they threw at her..

And then never getting a call back.

“Bleugh. I’m getting all icky and depressed again.” [F/N] stuck out her tongue in disgust as she rounded the corner. She shook off the chills that crawled up her like caterpillars. “Come on, Paimon, the quicker we get there, the bette-”

Oh, curse her lack of spatial awareness.

“Ah! Traveller..!” Paimon cried as she watched [F/N] stumble on her feet, her feet scrambling to keep their balance as she fell back. Books and binders of parchment falling around her like rainfall as she tumbled back onto her backside.

“Ow..!” [F/N] yelped, rubbing her forehead, which had been roughly slammed into some strange solid surface. She groaned—a dull ache in her noggin, which seemed to only worsen with every rub.

“Are you alright?”

A calm and somewhat monotone voice called from above her.

“Eh..?” 

Looking up from her daze, she spotted a younger man. [F/N] blinked. He was of medium height and stood almost perfectly straight. Striking blue eyes like the once clear sky looked down at her, observant as they analysed her condition.

Perfect skin. Perfect blonde hair, groomed to perfection.

“O-Oh no..” A girl with vibrant green hair gasped from behind him, a hand over her mouth, and a flushed face at what had happened.

Uh oh, had she bumped into someone important?

“Aw, jeez. That was my fault, I was distracted and knocked into you- lemme help you pick these up-!” [F/N] blurted out, quickly sweeping the dust off of her clothes as she scrambled to pick up the fallen books from the street. Plucking papers and organising them back into their binders.

He swiftly knelt to assist, helping her reorganise his things.

“It isn’t a problem. It was just an accident.” He spoke, his voice unbothered as he took the books and parchment paper from her hands. “Though I suggest keeping an eye on where you’re going for next time.”

[F/N] felt embarrassment creep up on her.

“Yeah.. My bad, my guy.” [F/N] laughed awkwardly as she got up from where she had collapsed on the floor. She shook off the remaining dirt on her attire, nodding to them both. “I hope I didn’t break anything, don’t exactly got the mone- mora on me to pay for it.”

“Everything seems fine.” He spoke as he examined his luggage. He nodded before looking back up at her. “Besides, these books are durable. Hard covers. I doubt a simple fall would be enough to damage them.”

“Ah.. Great. So no property damage..” [F/N] sighed in relief, metaphorically wiping the sweat off her brow.

Looking between the two new faces, the man she had bumped into and the girl behind him, with reddened cheeks, she didn’t recognise either of them. Though [F/N] did take particular note of the girl’s vulpine ears nestled in her ears, that, and the odd diamond shape on the man’s neck.

[F/N] felt her curiosity spark.

Just who were these two?

Thankfully, Paimon had the courtesy of asking that for her.

“Who are you two anyway? Paimon’s never seen you two before..!” Her chipper voice called out, seemingly just as curious as [F/N] was about their identities.

Albedo turned his attention to her. Though his gaze remained composed, calm, [F/N] could see the hint of aloofness. Did he look at everyone like that?

“I am Albedo, Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius.” He, now Albedo, introduced himself as. His hand pressed idly to his chest as he greeted her. He nodded towards the girl behind him. “And this is Sucrose. She is currently serving as my assistant.”

“G-Good morning..! I hope you didn’t hurt yourself..!” Sucrose greeted, resettling the rims on her face. 

[F/N] tilted her head to the side.

Albedo and Sucrose, huh?

Well, [F/N] certainly didn’t know what their deal was, but they looked to be rather important considering the way they stood out from the crowd. Hair that shone like gold, a bob of alchemical green chasing after it. And don’t even get her started on the eyes, both of them had colours that could cause a myriad of questions.

[F/N] could barely contain her curiosity.

“Oh, I’m fine..! Don’t worry about it. It’s my bad for not looking where I was going, I’m just a bit new around here, you see.” [F/N] grinned, waving off Sucrose’s concern with a reassuring look.

Albedo blinked.

“I see.. You don’t seem like you’re from around here, but I can’t quite place where you come from.” 

“I’m [F/N] [L/N]..! I can’t tell you where I’m from since I have amnesia and all, but I arrived here recently with my travel buddy Paimon over here! Nice to crash into you, Albedo, Sucrose.” [F/N] grinned as she stuck out her hand, presenting it to either of the two with a spark in her eyes. 

Albedo’s eyes widened a touch, as if processing the name.

“[F/N] [L/N].. Yes. I’ve heard about you.” He spoke as he took her hand, a firm, methodical shake as they took each other in. 

“Heard about me? I only arrived a few days ago.” [F/N] raised a brow.

“Yes. Heard about you. You were the one to drive off Stormterror.” Albedo murmured as he raised her arm mid-shake. [F/N] letting out a small “Ehh..?” of confusion as he started to examine the muscles and tendons in her wrist. 

[F/N] blinked. Hold on..

“Wait.. People know about that?” She asked, tilting her head as she watched him play around with her joints.

“Yes. While we were travelling down from Dragonspine, I had heard from the townsfolk about a woman who had been lifted into the sky during the recent attack.” Albedo explained, his brows furrowing as his gaze turned to her general figure. “You had been seen using anemo-related abilities to drive Stormterror away from the city.. Yet I don’t see a vision on your person.”

Ahhh.. A vision. That thing Kaeya was talking about yesterday.

“Ohhh.. Right. I don’t have one of those.” [F/N] scratched the back of her head. “I can just use Anemo powers without the need for a Vision. I’m guessing people haven’t been talking about that part?”

“No. However, it’s fascinating..” Albedo seemed in a world of his own as he absorbed this information, his eyes wide as he finally let her arm go free. “To use elemental abilities without a vision..”

Paimon and Sucrose observed the two’s interactions on the side. Paimon looked rather antsy while Sucrose fiddled with her thumbs for the fifth time since they started talking, both perplexed by their companion’s conversation.

“Erm..What is going on?” Paimon commented, folding her little arms in confusion. 

Sucrose’s eyes widened, looking at the weird little anaemic fairy.

“I.. Uhhhh..”

Albedo turned to look up at [F/N] in contemplation as he finally took a step back. How strange. When he had come down from Dragonspine in light of the recent Stormterror attacks, he didn’t expect the excited chatter of Mondstadtians.

A woman lifted into the storm, driving off the attacking dragon. A sign from Barbatos? The whispers had spoken. An omen? A forecast of hope? Someone who was sent by Anemo Archon himself? 

Albedo couldn’t say. Of course, not every result could be calculated. And it was only through testing and experiments that a theory and eventual outcome could be made.

“I would like to study you.” Albedo stated plainly, his voice assured. “If I had the time, I would ask for us to start immediately. But currently, I am occupied with Stormterror and assisting with the repairs to the city, however, when we have the opportunity, I would ask if you let me perform some experiments based on your elemental abilities.”

“Wait, wait, wait-! Study her..?! You make it sound like The Traveller’s an animal..!” Paimon gasped, her eyes going wide at the audacity of Albedo.

“Hold on, Paimon, no need to be so hasty.” [F/N] cut in, her eyes focused on Albedo. “What kind of experiments are we talking about?”

“It’s hard to say, considering I haven’t seen you in action before, however, I’d assume there would be general fighting and combat assessments and..”

“Done!” [F/N] grinned.

A gasp rang out from beside her.

“Hey..! Paimon doesn’t think you should be agreeing to something like this..!!” Paimon squeaked as she quickly floated over to [F/N]. “I mean, we barely even know who these guys are..!”

“It’s fine, Paimon..!” [F/N] laughed, her voice assured as she looked at her companion. Patting her back, “We can do pleasantries beforehand. Get a cup of tea, have idle chit-chat, then we can get onto the fighting slash experimentation.”

Paimon didn’t seem too comforted by that. Albedo, on the other hand, nodded as he settled the cargo in his arm, nodding as he got her approval for further testing.

“I see.. So you are open to the idea. I’m glad.” He spoke. Though his tone remained balanced, [F/N] could see a hint of gratitude hidden behind the surface of his eyes. “We must get going now, however, please don’t hesitate to come find me later on. I am usually situated on Dragonspine. If you need the location, you could ask the acting Grand Master or Timeaus near the city center. Thank you for your time.”

[F/N] nodded as she spoke her goodbyes to the two alchemists, a grin as she waved to Albedo and Sucrose, already anticipating the future visit to wherever Dragonspine was for testing. What an interesting pair they were, Albedo certainly wasn’t the only one with questions to ask.

She watched as they walked off, heading towards the Knights of Favonious Headquarters. Albedo is making his way along with Sucrose stumbling in tow.

“What a pair.. Eh, Paimon?” [F/N] sighed in contentment, glancing over at her companion.

“You could say that, alright.. Paimon’s never seen such audacity! He was looking at you like some kinda animal in a cage!”

“I’m an interesting specimen, I’ll take it as a compliment.” [F/N] hummed, stretching her arms. “Besides, I’m more miffed by the fact that there were people who saw me up there in the sky that day. Call that embarrassing..”

Embarrassing? Not really, more of a conversational term for her right now. [F/N] had assumed that it was just The Knights of Favonious that had the pleasure of watching her flail about mid-air, however, the fact that it was seen by more than just a few was a bit of an.. Unexpected twist.

People were talking. Chatting. Gossiping. That must have been why people had been openly friendly to her earlier..

[F/N] hummed. At least she made a good impression.

“Oh, whatever. Paimon still isn’t sure about those guys..” Paimon huffed, shaking her head in dramatic dislike.

“We can make a judgment about them later, don’t worry, Paimon. But right now I think we'd better get back to our own business, eh?” [F/N] grinned as she gestured at the pathway ahead. The Adventurers Guild, according to the locals she had spoken to, was growing fairly near.

Paimon quickly calmed down, though, muttering grievances about the situation under her breath. [F/N] giggled airily at her words, patting the fairy on her back as they continued to skip down the cobbled path. Heels clicking. 

[F/N]’s eyes gleamed, catching sight of a booth with a four-pointed star.

Bingo.

Though, somewhere not too far on in the city, where the houses remained damaged and in need of repair, Albedo and his dutiful assistant continued their trek towards the Headquarters. Their journey was lengthy, and the trouble the city went through even more so.

Sucrose was already muttering thoughts under her breath.

Albedo, however, deemed it best to keep his silent.

His body felt strangely odd. Tingly, yet it seemed like it was covered in a sheet of slush and ice. Albedo twitched. Could it have been the lingering effects from his time on Dragonspine? No, impossible.. The journey from Dragonspine to the city took a day to complete.. The effects would have been rendered completely null by now.

But his body still felt like it was thawing under an inferno. Melting. Chipping. Drenching it in a wave of cold heat that left him scalded.

“Mr. Albedo..?”

Sucrose’s voice rang out from in front of him.

He had stopped midway through his walk, his boots digging into the ground as he was suddenly snapped out of his train of thought. 

“How strange..” Albedo mumbled.

[azzifudd10]

Chapter 20: The Hardest Breath

Azzi could always hear her heartbeat in the tunnel.

Even after all these years, even after all the high school championships and UConn runs and now season after season in the WNBA — nothing matched the feeling of waiting in the tunnel. The echo of sneakers against the concrete, the rising chant of the crowd, the closeness of sweat and hope and muscle, the tension before everything broke open.

But tonight felt different.

Jazlyn was in the stands. Paige’s mom had flown in for the weekend and offered to watch her, but the little girl had insisted she wanted to be there — to watch both her moms play.

Azzi remembered Paige’s face when Jazlyn called them that this morning, casually over a bowl of Lucky Charms. “Both my moms are playing tonight. Mommy's faster but Ma shoots the coolest.”

Azzi had to hide behind the fridge door for a minute to collect herself.

She felt it all more these days. Hope. Grief. Gratitude. Fear. Joy. They lived inside her now, braided into her ribs like roots.

“Let’s get it,” Paige said now, beside her in the tunnel, bumping her shoulder with Azzi’s.

Azzi smiled, steadying herself. “Let’s give her something to cheer about.”

And with that, they ran out.

The game was electric. Fast. Physical. One of those nights where every pass was crisp and the ball barely touched the floor before it found the net. Azzi was in a rhythm — fast breaks, threes from the wing, her usual sharp cuts off the screen — and Paige was playing like her body was pure lightning.

Somewhere in the third quarter, Azzi stole a glance into the crowd.

Jazlyn was sitting between Paige’s mom and Azzi’s mom, wearing a little Sparks jersey with “Fudd-Bueckers” ironed across the back in glitter. She had one pom-pom in each hand and was shouting something that sounded like “Go Mommy!” at the top of her lungs.

Azzi’s chest tightened with love.

Then the play restarted. Paige got the inbound, sprinting toward the lane.

What happened next unfolded in a second — a blur Azzi would replay a hundred times later.

Paige drove left. The defender tripped. Another player rotated too late and undercut her, and Paige’s body twisted mid-air. Her ankle caught on the landing. Her whole body buckled.

The sound she made when she hit the court was not loud — but Azzi heard it. Deep. Guttural.

“No,” Azzi whispered, already running.

Time bent. The whistle blew. The trainer called for help.

Paige wasn’t moving.

Azzi dropped to her knees beside her. “Paige. Paige, baby, look at me.”

Paige’s face was tight with pain, her eyes fluttering. “My ankle… my wrist… I don’t know—”

“Don’t move,” Azzi said, brushing her hair back with trembling fingers. “Help’s coming. I’m right here.”

She heard the crowd gasping. A few people yelling. A child crying—

Jazlyn.

Azzi looked up and saw her — halfway out of her seat, both hands over her mouth, eyes huge and terrified.

Azzi’s heart cracked in half again.

They took Paige to the back. Jazlyn sobbed the entire time, even after Azzi scooped her into her arms and whispered over and over that everything would be okay.

“She’s gonna die,” Jazlyn cried into Azzi’s shoulder. “I saw it, she didn’t move—”

“No, baby, no,” Azzi said, her voice raw. “She’s not gonna die. She just got hurt. But she’s strong. You know how strong your Ma is, right?”

Jazlyn hiccupped, nodding into her chest.

“Then believe in her. Like I do.”

They waited in the hallway outside the training room, surrounded by PR reps and staff. Azzi didn’t care. Jazlyn stayed in her lap the whole time, holding onto her like she was the only steady thing left in the world.

When the trainer finally came out, Azzi stood so fast she almost dropped her.

“Sprained ankle. Possible hairline fracture in her wrist,” the woman said gently. “But she’s awake, coherent, and asking for both of you.”

Jazlyn’s grip tightened. “I wanna see her.”

Azzi nodded and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go.”

Paige was lying on a padded table, her wrist wrapped and ice on her ankle. Her face was pale but calm — calm the way people get after they’ve stopped panicking and started just breathing through the pain.

“Hey,” she whispered as they came in.

Jazlyn burst into tears all over again. “You lied! You said you wouldn’t get hurt anymore!”

“I didn’t mean to, baby,” Paige said, reaching out her good arm. “I’m sorry.”

Jazlyn crawled up onto the table and laid herself gently on Paige’s chest, careful to avoid the bandages.

Azzi stood by the door, watching them. Her whole body ached.

Paige looked over Jazlyn’s head. “You okay?”

Azzi shook her head. “I didn’t know what to do when you didn’t move. I thought—”

“I know,” Paige whispered.

Jazlyn, sniffling between them, mumbled something.

“What was that, honey?” Azzi asked, brushing her curls back.

Jazlyn looked at Paige. “I wanna stay with Mommy forever.”

“You do stay with Mommy forever,” Paige said softly.

“No, I mean…” She turned to Azzi. “Like, for real. All the time. I wanna be her kid. Like, in the books.”

Azzi’s breath caught. Her eyes met Paige’s.

“Do you mean you want Mommy to adopt you?” Paige asked gently.

Jazlyn nodded hard. “You’re both my moms. I want it to be real. So no one can ever take me away. Not even if they get mean again.”

Azzi knelt beside the table. She reached up and touched Jazlyn’s cheek. “I’d be the luckiest person in the world to be your Mommy. You already feel like mine.”

Jazlyn threw her arms around her neck, nearly knocking her over.

Azzi buried her face in the little girl’s shoulder and let herself cry again — not because of grief this time, but because of something softer. Something like healing.

That night, Azzi sat beside Paige in bed, her wrist propped on a pillow, ankle wrapped and elevated. Jazlyn had fallen asleep between them with her stuffed unicorn and a promise that Azzi would start looking into “the papers” tomorrow.

“I didn’t know if we’d ever get here,” Azzi said quietly, brushing her thumb along Paige’s fingers.

“Me either,” Paige replied. “But I’m glad we did.”

Azzi smiled. “Me too.”

And in the dark, between pain and promise, love held them all like gravity — quiet, steady, and stronger than anything else.

The first time Azzi said the word “adoption” out loud, it had been a quiet night at home.

Paige had just fallen asleep, curled around her like a safety net, and Jazlyn’s tiny pink nightlight glowed softly through the cracked bedroom door. Azzi was alone in the kitchen, staring down at a form she hadn’t even told Paige she printed.

“Petition for Stepparent Adoption.”

The words had seemed so simple.

They weren’t.

She filled it out anyway. And for a moment, the hope settled into her chest like something solid, something real. Jazlyn had called her Mommy for almost a while  now. She had memorized the freckle under her chin and the way her bottom lip quivered when she was on the verge of crying. She braided her hair in the morning, packed her lunch with little notes, and sang her back to sleep when the nightmares came.

Azzi loved that little girl like she was her own.

Because she was.

She never expected it to be easy. But she hadn’t expected him to come back either.

Jazlyn’s biological father — the man who had hit her once and tried to again before security pulled him off her body.

They were in the attorney’s office when it happened. The lawyer had just started talking about the next steps. About getting his signature. “The court will need his formal consent,” she said. “Unless we can prove abandonment or danger—”

“He’s already dangerous,” Azzi snapped. “He attacked me.”

“Was it reported?” the attorney asked gently.

“No,” Paige answered. Her voice was tight. “We just got her safe.”

“Well, if he refuses to consent,” the woman continued carefully, “you’ll have to go to court.”

That’s when her phone buzzed.

Withheld number.

She answered out of instinct. Big mistake.

“You really think you get to take her from me too?”

His voice was exactly as she remembered it — smug, low, venomous.

“I’m not doing this with you,” she said quickly. “Don’t ever call me again.”

But he laughed.

“You’re not her mother. And I’ll never let some bitch who stole my daughter and my girl act like she is.”

The call ended, but her hands were already shaking. Paige stood and grabbed them, steady and firm.

“Tell me what he said.”

Azzi blinked back the rage. “He said no. And that I’m nothing.”

She didn’t cry until later. After dinner. After Jazlyn was asleep again, worn out from coloring and laughter.

Paige found her on the back patio, staring into the dark.

“I don’t understand,” Azzi whispered. “I have done everything for her. Since the moment I met her. Why does he still get to decide what happens to her?”

“Because the law is written to protect biology before love,” Paige said softly. “Even when love does all the raising.”

Azzi leaned into her, the weight of the entire day resting on her chest like stone. “She calls me Mommy. And she means it.”

“She does,” Paige said. “We’ll fight it. You’re not alone.”

“I know.” Azzi swallowed hard. “But it still feels like I lost something.”

Paige ran her fingers through her curls. “She’s still here. She still runs into your arms every morning. She still draws you with purple hair and tiny hearts all over your cheeks.”

“I just wanted it to be official.”

“And one day, it will be,” Paige promised. “No matter what it takes.”

That night, as Azzi tucked Jazlyn in, her little voice broke the silence.

“Mommy?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Are you my real mommy now? Like… paper real?”

Azzi paused, the air stolen right from her lungs.

“Not yet,” she said carefully. “We’re trying. But someone said no.”

Jazlyn frowned. “Why?”

“Because sometimes grownups make bad choices,” Azzi whispered. “And they think love doesn’t count unless it’s written down.”

Jazlyn reached up and touched her cheek.

“Well, I pick you. So that’s what counts.”

Azzi pressed her forehead to hers, tears threatening again.

“I pick you too.”

[tmrwsuns]

(𐙚⋆.˚) liking this for the plot

a mackiah mercer mini smau ! — zero | one | two | three | four | five

upload #5: fairy killer

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ. wc. 1.3k w. curse words! ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

“hey fairy killer,” mackiah’s voice greeted from the other side of the screen the moment the call connected. it was almost automatic the way a smile immediately took place on your lips at the sound of it still being groggy from sleep.

“hey, kiah,” you responded, a smile evident on your voice as you settled comfortably on your bed, having only a half of your face in frame. it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it before, but facetiming him from your bed felt oddly intimate, and you weren’t sure you were completely prepared for that after a mere half hour of being awake. “wanna show me your poster now?”

“oh my god, look at this shit,” he spoke, clearly excited as he jumped off his bed, pointing the camera backwards to where the aforementioned naruto posters were propped up. he moved the phone side to side, allowing you to see the movement in the design before speaking again. “fire?”

“flames,” you nodded, smiling affectionately at his childish behavior. this was something you had grown to love about him; how true to himself he stayed even when being a big social media star. he still bought silly little posters and figurines, and he still rambled about why animes with longer seasons are better. it was entirely charming, if someone asked.

seeming happy with your answer, the boy threw himself onto his bed with a loud hoff, wrestling with his covers until he was propped up against the headboard, letting you see his face and the top of his shoulders once again.

“i can’t see your face properly,” he complained, almost pouting and yet still looking incredibly attractive. it was really unfair how everything he did was looked that good.

“i look like death,” you answered as you tilted the phone further away from your face, cheeks reddening slightly. 

“you look beautiful just like you always do,” he spoke, firmly but all too softly at the same time. “please let me see your pretty face?”

and if you hadn’t been red as a tomato before, you were then. he had such a way with words that you really just couldn’t resist; it was laced with so much affection and honesty that it made you completely pliant. so, ultimately, you caved.

“happy?” you asked once your face came in frame, making you grimace slightly at the sight of your own messy bed head and eyebags.

“ecstatic, hi beautiful,” he said with that stupid lovesick smile he always wore when he convinced you to facetime him; so much that you were beginning to think that was just the resting state of his face. you knew it was a little ridiculous to think that he could just constantly look at everything that way, but it was still hard to believe that there was someone in the world that thought you were worth looking at like that, even if it was through a screen.

unbeknownst to you, mackiah’s world tilted in its axis the moment your face popped into frame. it was ridiculous, really, how his heart sped up immediately and his entire body reacted to the sight of you. it scared him a little, because how would he react when he saw you in the flesh?

god, he really couldn't wait for then.

“hi kiah,” you chuckled, repeating your former greeting as you smoothed down your hair. “how’s your morning going?”

“great, because i’m talking to you,” he smiled, so clearly proud of his answer that you had to contain the eyeroll that threatened to show itself. “how is yours?”

“awful, because i’m talking to you,” you teased, making him roll his eyes with that beautiful smile of his. “kidding, its okay, still in bed,” you shrugged, “although i was way comfier in my pajamas.”

“i told you not to change,” he said, raising his hand as if taking off the responsibility of your discomfort.

“i can barely show my face, no chance i would let you see me in that shirt,” you chuckled, clearly endeared by his childish actions.

“which i think is pretty sick and kinda twisted, if you ask me,” he said, shrugging as he shifted on his bed. “i’m comfy as fuck actually.”

just as he said that, he made a particularly big movement that made the camera flash past his shoulders, revealing a sight you were not prepared for.

“are you shirtless right now?” you asked, voice laced with pure disbelief. look, it wasn’t like you had never seen a guy shirtless before. you had, countless times. but you had never seen mackiah shirtless, and if only his chest and collarbones already made you want to scream out, you didn’t want to know what would happen when his toned stomach revealed itself.

but mackiah was shameless, so he gave you no time to ponder. “yeah, i just woke up and it's hot,” he nodded, raising the phone enough to let you see the rest of his torso where he laid on his bed.

he was many things, and oblivious wasn’t one of them. he knew what he was doing. he could see the way your eyes would dip to his exposed collarbones, and how they widened when you saw a little past them. and obviously, he loved it. so he used it to his advantage, giving you a sight you so clearly wanted to see to coax a reaction out of you.

he was expecting you to do many things, but hanging up wasn’t one of them. 

oh shit, had he gone too far with that?

confused and admittedly a little scared, he called back and waited for you to answer before he spoke again, immediate worry lacing his voice. “hey, why’d you hang up?”

“it was an accident,” you excused yourself, shrugging casually. but he knew you too well now, and he could see the pink that dusted your cheeks. relief washed over his body when he saw the clear flustered expression in your face, because his plan had worked and he was going to continue milking it as long as he could.

“nothing to do with my god sculpted body?” he asked, cockily raising his eyebrows up and down as he tilted the camera down a little, as if he was teasing you with the possibility of his naked torso again.

it very obviously had everything to do with his “god sculpted body” but you weren't going to say that because he was clearly enjoying the whole ordeal a little too much. so you shook your head, faking nonchalance. “nope, not in the slightest.”

“hmh, sure,” he said with a pleased smile on his face before he moved to get more comfortable on his bed, throwing his arm over a pillow and looking far too adorable for your heart to take. “so, i made something.”

you ignored the butterflies that swarmed your stomach when he spoke, getting comfier yourself and looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “what did you make?”

“wait, i’ll send you the link,” he spoke, followed by silence until a link popped in your chat. 

“you’re kidding,” you said in a breath as you clicked on the link, heart about to beat out of your chest at the sight of a playlist with your name on it.

“couldn’t help it,” he shrugged, his smile proud but nervous as he watched your reaction attentively, wanting to note the surprise that coated your beautiful face. “do you like it?”

“kiah, i love it,” you spoke up, and his heart was threatening to explode when your eyes went back up to his. “thank you,”

“of course, pretty girl,” the boy said, gently as his eyes basically flooded with complete affection for you. 

your words were stuck in your throat as you went through the songs on the playlist. some of them were songs you talked about before, even some that you mentioned in passing, and he had remembered.

oh, this was absolutely insane.

𐙚 blue's corner ;; three week times skip because i cant let this turn into a full blown smau..................... sorry about the written chapters ! i love this too much 𐙚 taglist ;; @tiramisumin @astrasng @lovelyjuju @spacejip @kireilien @ivvees-blog @saranghoeforanton 𐙚 back to the masterlist. 𐙚 please do not copy, adapt or steal any of the content !!!

© tmrwsuns, 2025

[dollyswishingwell]

ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ Mama’s Princess P.7

𝒲𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 ˙⋆✮ Rafayel, Zayne, Xavier, Sylus, Caleb

𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒/𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 ˙⋆✮ fluff, for this person who recommended this thank you, made it almost headcanony, not that much mamas girl in this, lowkey a dad and daughter bonding fic

> ࣪𖤐.ᐟ It’s a daddy daughter dance

Masterlist

𝙍𝙖𝙛𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙡 °‧🫧⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

“I’m not going,” Rafayel declared from the bathtub, arms draped dramatically over the porcelain like a drowned Victorian widow. “It smells like glue sticks and abandonment trauma in that place.”

You didn’t look up from your mascara wand. “She asked for you. Specifically.”

Rafayel blinked at the ceiling. Then muttered, “…Fine.”

—

Three hours later, he was standing in the preschool auditorium wearing a sheer lavender button-up, pearl cuffs, and glitter in his waves, glitter, while his daughter twirled around in a custom-made seafoam tutu with a cape that trailed behind her like a royal decree.

The gymnasium reeked of juice boxes and low self-esteem. He hated it here.

“I feel ill,” he whispered, crouching beside her.

She was gnawing on a sugar cookie and beaming at you across the room. “Mama’s pretty,” she said dreamily.

Rafayel made a noise like a kicked crab.

—

Then the music started.

He rose, hand out. “Shall we, my pufferfish?”

She stared up at him.

Then, horror of horrors,

She ran to you.

“I wanna dance with MAMA!” she wailed, cheeks puffed. “Not Daddy! Mamaaaa!”

The crowd turned.

Rafayel’s arm dropped.

You gave him a pitying smile. “She’s just shy—”

“No,” he said, dead-eyed, backing into the shadows like a disgraced villain. “I get it. I’m not the favorite. I’m just the guy who makes couture capes and fries shrimp.”

He sulked in the bleachers the rest of the night, swiping glitter off his sleeves like betrayal.

—

Later that night, you woke to find him curled around both of you in bed. The toddler drooled on his bare chest, tiara still skewed on her head. He stared at her like a ghost.

“She said you’re her favorite.”

You kissed his temple. “She also called a pigeon her ‘real dad’ last week.”

A pause.

He muttered, “…I’ll take second place.”

But he tucked her in tighter anyway.

𝙕𝙖𝙮𝙣𝙚 ⋆꙳•❅‧*₊⋆☃︎ ‧*❆ ₊⋆

Zayne adjusted his tie in the car mirror, dead silent. His dress shirt was crisp, coat tailored, glasses polished within an inch of their life.

“She said we had to ‘match,’” you reminded, fixing his boutonnière, a tiny satin heart your daughter taped to his lapel. It was crooked. It would stay crooked. He didn’t flinch.

“I’m aware,” he said flatly. “She also said I’m not allowed to wear black because it’s ‘boring and sad.’”

You kissed his cheek. “You’re a vision in beige.”

He didn’t smile.

But his ears were pink.

At the dance, he held her little hand like it was a surgical instrument. Gentle, precise.

She stomped her feet with wild abandon, glitter shoes flashing, curls bouncing. Zayne followed her lead stiffly, like someone trying to dance without disturbing a sleeping cat.

Other parents whispered.

Your daughter stared up at him mid-spin.

“You dance like a robot.”

He blinked.

She tugged his sleeve. “But you’re my robot.”

His face didn’t change.

But you swore you saw his mouth twitch.

After the slow song, she abandoned him entirely. Ran to you.

“Mommy,” she said between giggles. “Daddy tried to twirl. It was terrible.”

Zayne sat on a tiny plastic chair off to the side, arms folded, expression blank. The tape-heart on his lapel had fallen off.

You brought him a juice box. He took it without looking.

“She called me terrible.”

“She also said you’re her robot.”

Zayne’s glasses slid down his nose slightly. “I suppose I’ll take that over being replaced.”

Pause.

He glanced at the dance floor.

Then at you.

“…Do you want to dance?”

You smiled. “Absolutely.”

He didn’t flinch when your daughter climbed between you, tiny arms curled around his leg.

Zayne just held you both, coat sweeping the floor.

𝙓𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙧 ⋆⭒˚.⋆🪐 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

Xavier arrived in a full white suit.

Why?

Because she said he looked “like a sleepy prince.”

His silver hair was braided with little flower clips. Not by you. By your daughter. He had no say. He simply blinked once and said, “Okay.”

He carried her in one arm and a paper bag of lemon cookies in the other. They both wore glittery stickers on their cheeks. Also not his idea.

They lasted eight minutes into the dance.

Eight.

You were helping at the photo booth when your daughter came trotting up alone, curls bouncing, tutu fluffed.

She pointed one tiny hand behind her. “Papa’s sleeping again.”

You looked. Yep.

Xavier had found a beanbag chair in the corner of the auditorium, folded himself into it like a dead swan, and passed out, arms crossed, mouth slightly open, dreamless.

There were children climbing around him. He didn’t stir.

Your daughter pouted at him for the next half-hour.

She didn’t want to dance without her Papa.

So naturally, she dragged him by the hand onto the dance floor when he finally woke up.

He blinked, disoriented.

“You’re late,” she scolded.

Xavier bowed with a serious nod. “Forgive me. I was… unconscious.”

They slow-danced like two ghosts, her standing on his feet, his hands holding her up gently.

She leaned in and whispered, “You’re not allowed to sleep at my wedding.”

He froze.

“…I’ll set an alarm.”

𝙎𝙮𝙡𝙪𝙨 ✮ ⋆ ˚｡𓅨⋆｡°✩

“Do I look like a man who attends dances held in public school gyms?” Sylus asked, arms spread dramatically, already in a custom-tailored black-on-crimson suit.

You deadpanned. “You bought the school yesterday, Sylus. You own the gym.”

He smirked. “Precisely. That’s why I shouldn’t be seen in it.”

—

But the moment his little girl appeared at the top of the stairs in her feathery black tutu and matching crow pin, Sylus fell silent.

She looked exactly like him, silver curls, red eyes, smug little tilt to her chin.

He knelt and offered her his hand like she was royalty. “Shall we show these mortals what grace truly looks like?”

She nodded. “But I wanna do spinny moves.”

“…Fine.”

—

The second he stepped onto the glitter-covered gym floor, a dozen moms swooned. A dad visibly panicked.

Sylus ignored all of it, twirling her with theatrical flair while muttering to his earpiece, “Make sure no one posts footage. I will destroy the internet.”

She tugged his sleeve mid-dip. “Daddy. You’re scary.”

He blinked down at her. “Good.”

“Noooo,” she giggled. “You have to smile! Like this!”

She showed him, wide teeth, big cheeks, crinkle eyes.

He looked… unwell.

“…Horrifying,” he muttered. But he did it. Just for her.

—

By the third song, she spotted a little boy in suspenders dancing alone.

She marched up. “You dance with me now.”

The boy looked terrified. Sylus appeared behind him like a shadow. “She asked nicely.”

The child nodded frantically.

Sylus returned to your side, arms crossed, eye glowing faintly. “If he steps on her toes, I’ll ruin his lineage.”

You sipped your punch. “Normal dads just threaten curfews.”

He raised a brow. “She deserves a throne, not curfews.”

—

Later that night, she fell asleep in his arms in the back of the car.

Sylus stared down at her small, sparkly form. Quiet for once.

“…I’d tear down empires for her,” he said, barely above a whisper.

You leaned against him. “She just wants a plushie throne.”

He smirked. “Done.”

𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙗 ⋆｡ ‧˚ʚ🍎ɞ˚‧｡ ⋆

He arrived in full Farspace Fleet formal uniform.

Yes, the one with aiguillettes, gloves, boots, and tactical perfection.

Why? Because his daughter had looked up at him with those big purple eyes and said,

“Dress like a prince pilot general man.”

And so he did.

—

The gymnasium was decorated with streamers and tissue paper stars. Caleb entered like it was an off-world battleground, scanning exits, calculating fire code violations, and quietly making a note to replace the ceiling tiles with reinforced anti-quake material.

You leaned against the snack table and whispered, “Are you going to debrief the DJ too?”

He glanced at you.

“He’s already been briefed. Twice.”

—

His daughter, in a starry blue gown and tiara, stood on his polished boots with her arms up.

“Daddy,” she said very seriously, “tonight is our night but mommy has to dance with us too.”

He didn’t blink. “Understood, Commander.”

You sigh from across the room. “not even one day of peace for mommy”

She stuck her tongue out at you.

Caleb leaned in and whispered, “Operation: never exclude mommy.”

—

They twirled.

Caleb, dancing with perfect, stoic elegance, gently lifted her and spun her like she was a moon orbiting his gravity core.

The other parents were stunned.

Someone muttered, “Is that guy in the military or—?”

You didn’t correct them.

You did take a video.

—

Later, she napped on his shoulder while he stood guard by the door.

A teacher approached and asked if he wanted a picture printed for the school’s bulletin board.

He said flatly, “Only if it goes in the tactical archive as well.”

You snorted. “The what?”

He looked at you over her tiara. “The black vault. Where I store everything precious.”

You melted.

She snored softly.

Caleb didn’t move an inch.

[fox-mulder-gets-pegged]

I'm going to kill all my irl friends. You are all gonna see me on the fucking news.

[fumifooms]

Kabru party analysis - Trust, and codependence vs emotional unavailability

I flip flopped on calling this a masterpost a lot, but looking back, yeah. While I do compile every fact I can about the party and its characters a significant part of this is interpretation, extrapolation and speculation enough that it's an analysis more than compilation at this point. Feel free to skim, skip around, whatever makes the experience more enjoyable and useful. I’ll also try and compile parallels they have with their Laios party counterpart, since them being foils and ‘shadow version’ of sorts to our main party is a big part of their fun fact meta, I am however most interested in analyzing them as their own characters- and as a whole together as an entity & narrative device. I did end up getting into narrative and thematic analysis for the main story... Mostly the Kabru & conclusion segments though.

But ultimately the goal of this post is mostly to analyze their relationships with each other because I think that’s the messy interesting part of their group, beyond just being a kabru party facts list.

Table of contents:

Kabru + party timeline

Rin

Holm

Daya

Mickbell

Kuro

Relationships and overall dynamic

Do they matter at all to the story?

For easy finding if anyone wants to do a focused reread, the main chapters featuring the Kabru party are 10, 15, 31 and 32, and then with chapter 45 everyone but Kabru (and Rin) stops appearing until the final battle.

Kabru of Utaya & his party

What to say about Kabru that hasn’t already been said, how to summarize him as perfectly and concisely as possible… I don’t think I can reasonably do him full justice here! This is an analysis about his party and not just him so I don’t want to spend forever here. Unlike every other character in his party Kabru is a main character of Dungeon Meshi so plenty of analyses around, meanwhile information can be hard to find and string together for the rest of them or the party as a whole. This isn’t a deep dive on Kabru but a summary, I’ll go over his timeline, goals and general attitude.

This'll be critical for later, but notice here that this means Kabru's party formed 2 years before the story happens. We get no indication of whether or not party members have changed much or little over those years, even if the party overall seems somewhat incompetent. Kabru's profile says that despite his skills, his lack of experience makes him a mediocre party leader and we do have that inexperience with monsters and dungeons, from what we see in canon. It's partly due to his foster mother training him intensively in combat against humans but seemingly not monsters or dungeon survivals, and partly from what we see with canon's framig because Kabru has no interest in monsters- You know and understand what you love better than what you hate, so Kabru is good at fighting humans and Laios is good at fighting monsters. The party does have rather good chemistry in action, with Kabru orchestrating everyone with commands, but they still end up being defeated as often as not, and despite Mickbell's warnings Kabru pushes to go to a dungeon floor lower than he thinks they can handle with their current ressources, for example. Laios' party at the start of canon were broke, but it's only because their money got lost in the dungeon and (chap 28) the bank would take too long to get their tokens back & take money out to save Falin- meanwhile Mickbell talks about being in the red just because of their current unfruitful dive, meaning they aren't as successful and have tighter finances overall. We see the party hanging out in taverns off-work (though not unlike Laios' very occasionally does as well) and things like Kabru meeting Dia's fiance and the party visiting Kabru's room, so they mayy be paralelling how it's said Laios' party hung out very little outside of work? They don't seem much closer for it, though.

One other thing to note is that Utaya is not necessarily his birthplace/hometown? The details are unclear, the adventurer's Bible does refer to it as his birthplace twice, but it's also mentioned several times that his mother was "chasen out", even in the original japanese. It sounds like leaving a town to me, but it could be that they were only driven out to their house and moved to a different part of town...? Either way, his mother was "chased out of home" after he was born beause of his blue eyes. Of course, Utaya is where the dungeon overflow tragedy happened when he was 6-7 years old, so it's the town Kabru and his mom were living in, one way or another. It's also mentioned kobolds lived near Utaya, explaining him speaking some kobold, which kobolds also implies the region had conflict beyond the dungeon overflow considering what Kabru says about kobolds in the kobold page.

Her mom having been "chased out of home" over him and then working hard as a single mother to support both him and herself is likely to have made him feel like a burden, which may have influenced his selflessness: the way he's hardworking, the way he neglects himself, the way he keeps others at arm's lenght (maybe thinking getting closer to him would do them no good)*, the way he can be very quiet and a great listener, gauging others' needs- the same way he was his mom's venting outlet when very young whenever she got drunk. *I explore this possibility more in this kabrin brainstorm post. The insecurity of being an incubus/monster, especially with how Kabru did see people transforming into monsters in Utaya- A very interesting recurring angle for him.

Let's be clear, as Kabru shows again and again his goal was 1) to pierce the mysteries of the dungeon, and 2) ensure that if anyone defeats the current dungeon lord that they won't accelerate the process of the dungeon overflowing or use the power for evil, essentially that the dungeon's power won't fall into the wrong hands, which includes him thinking the canaries shouldn't get the final say in how to handle it all. His goal/plan of becoming dungeon lord himself was to take care of both of these in one go.

He's been at this for years and he's seen a lot of things firsthand when he was 6, so already when he first confronts the canaries at the Island governor's he explains the stages of degradation of a dungeon quite well, he has his own theories that turn out accurate, but he's made them while being barred from most information on dungeons, which the elven monarchy controls access to. Goal 2 is always the main point, but goal 1 is important in order to be able to do it efficiently. Once this, goal 1, is achieved and Kabru learns about the demon through Mithrun, he becomes solely focused on goal 2 again (whereas the On Floor 1 chapters ended with him breaking alliance wth the canaries to demand answer) to ensure the demon stays under control and to stop the current (and possible next) dungeon lord. And then, well, the meeting at Thistle's house happens. Defeating the dungeon then at the beginning of canon was half-cover, a simple unsuspicious way to present his goals, half-goal 1 which would also take care of goal 2 by Kabru himself becoming the dungeon lord, as said. The canaries show up so he indulges in goal 1 while carefully teetering on being an obstacle to the canaries and helping them, and then it's right back to goal 2 with renewed determination together after he and Mithrun fall down into the dungeon and Mithrun spills everything. He doesn't trust Laios as dungeon lord, but he also doesn't trust the elves having the sole duty of managing dungeons.

It becomes this sort of tug of war of distrust, of who does he trust less to ally against, who does he trust more to ally with, which side to take once it's clear his own side isn't viable alone- he ends up somewhat playing double agent covertly through the story, but ultimately he ends up more or less trusting everyone and playing double agent openly with the final battle, quote unquote having faith in humanity & others, which he'd been cynical about for so long, finding red flags in everyone. But yes yes backing up again, he came to trust Mithrun during the six days in the dungeon together, but not the rest of the canaries and when they meet up again he's still on bad terms with them, we see it at Thistle's house where he tried obfuscating Laios' party's secret and pinned Mithrun to keep him from chasing after them, preferring for the ball to be in their court and for Mithrun not to go kamikaze mode.

His interest in Laios also extended to Falin, their party was quite capable and was more or less next in line to beat the dungeon, but since she died and Laios went into it on a shocking desperate mission, Laios becomes a focus of his as they make very quick progress. No one dungeon diving ever went beyond the big doors guarded by the gargoyles, but Laios' party passes through them just a little after Kabru and Mithrun team up.

All these deeper thoughts were largely unknown to his party members before the story.

He’s secretive and often cold with his party. Even Rin, presumably the closest friend he has, the one who’s devoting herself to specifically following and helping him (while the others also seem to admire him and partly follow him to put him on the dunlord throne, they have their own reasons too), is left in the dark with an arm of distance kept between them. Kabru first reveals he's been keeping an eye on the Touden's party during the sea serpent 2 chapter for example, and goes into it a little more during the Toshiro-Laios parties meetup chapters.

Although, it might be more appropriate to say that rather the party members aren't really listening. Kabru spoke about his goal to keep the toudens away from the dungeon lord title here, has a whole speech about influence and power falling into the wrong hands, and their reaction is "we know, only you is fit to be dungeon lord!" when that's never been the actual core of the matter, the point. It was the red herring being set up yes, that that was only what kabru wanted, but ultimately looking back he's always had that guardian type motivation more than leader, being a judge and executioner more than a king on a throne, he wants to support what's good and dismantle what's bad, so it suits him to have become a politician in the end instead of the ultimate chief. That also goes into his arc- him learning that sharing duties and goals is good, that he doesn't have to do everything alone and fully trusting others when teaming up can be beneficial, that he alone doesn't have to be the sole voice, that his shouldn't be the sole choice to be made about matters or courses of action. So going back to the topic- another instance of his explanations being dismissed is in this convo with Rin above- Again he talks about dungeons and reveals hints about his true goals, yet after all of this Rin literally only goes "hmm" and silence falls, and then she says she's hungry. Wether she was contemplative or uninterested, the change of topic is rather quick and unceremonious. And this is the person who'd know best about his motivations too, knowing his past well.

And maybe this phenomenon is also why he gets peeved at Rin here and silently chides her. In a "she should know how to think this through by now, she should've taken a second to observe and remember how we do things, she should think deeper about the true important matters" way etc etc. What are we doing this for, what do you take me for? This kind of righteousness is detrimental rather than helpful and strategic, Rin.

I place both Laios and Mithrun to be very important to Kabru's character and arc, and with Mithrun a significant part of the puzzle imo must have been that Mithrun listened, easily understood. Mithrun understood the gravity and danger of dungeons, was even similarly a victim of one. Where everyone else shallowly misunderstands or dimisses what he says about dungeons and his goals, they're very understandable and familiar to Mithrun, and such bumps don't happen with him. Mithrun isn't playing the social game the same way as others, he just dishes out whatever blunt straight to the bottom of the matter points, he skips the social dance Kabru often gets so hang up on, in a way that helps kabru communicate with him honestly rather than hinder, especially since Mithrun is still quite good at reading between lines. This could be a good part of why they take to each other rather quickly and team up, each other's rationale and plans feel intuitive to the other and they find someone else traumatized by the dungeon, someone who understands, understands not only what he's talking about but also what must be done, the ruthlessness needed. And Laios comes to ultimately balance this out, not invalidating their wants and needs but showing there are other ways to proceed, other people to trust, even when they don't intuitively understand them.

And on that note I want to talk about Kabru and laios' confrontation. I've already said that his "Laios obsession" is about his dungeon goals and that's very straightforward, and it only got to this point because Laios previously dodged his every attempt at closeup info gathering and still now he can't get a read or grip on him. BUT while some think Kabru's "I just wanted to be friends with you" is just a bullshit he made up on the spot complete lie, I don't think so. We see Kabru cycle through some explanations, angles and speeches he has like scripts, like one of them on the second page is close to this. And we know they're like scripts because that's what he said and how he spoke with his party, the backstory talk, the framing, it's all how he presented it to others as well. But he knows none will work on laios, Laios pushes him like Mithrun to go offscript, to find new approaches and communicate in ways that are more vulnerable and uncomfortable. And Kabru has trouble finding that angle that'll work with Laios, because he doesn't know Laios well enough, and that's what he wants, too, it feels so frustrating and vulnerable not understanding him. As his desperation mounts it sort of just slips out- I wanted to be friends with you. Childish, simple, inappropriate for the grave context and very embarrassing. And he immediately freezes and backpedals- BUT Laios endlessly dunks on the very idea that it could be true and that sets kabru off- after which he unloads a more personal perspective of how it was like chasing after him. And I think that's what it is, it's not a lie but it's a bit of an oversimplification- Not the full reason, but a part of it. Kabru wanted them to get to know each other better and get along, for him not to have to kill Laios, a want he still clings onto even when stakes are rising. He says it all himself here, explains his statement after Laios all but laughs in his face in disbelief. I think this scene and the slip-up shows that Kabru does have a desire for connection, that even when he's all calculating and manipulative with his business mode on, there's that desire under it all. And with Laios, well, what better excuse is there to be interested in someone that so conveniently is at the center of his plans and goals for the dungeon? Meeting practicality and genuine interest makes for this- I don't think that's unique to Laios perse, I do think Kabru is interested in people in general like he himself puts it in contrast with the touden siblings who don't, but with Laios the difference is the utter onesidedness of it, the brick wall of social cues he doesn't know how to approach but both needs and wants to. Repressing a desire for social connections, being bound by it despite wanting to not need them, is a common theme in Dungeon Meshi! And I think this fits into that. It's in the grabbing of Laios' arm too. Yes it's from despair, from the situation and from not being heard out, but that despair hides a desire, and it's a desire both to fix everything and to be seen and heard finally. And you could theorize it's his time with Mithrun that made him help realize here that yes there's some truth to wanting to be friends with Laios, and learn to seize the opportunity, to chase it not just through mind games but also try honesty, bluntness...

His arc with Laios (and with Mithrun) is a lot about teaming up imo, his party disappears and accomplished little because he never fully opened up to them, but when push came to shove and he was thrown into teaming up with someone (Mithrun) unfamiliar with no pretenses possible in an urgent situation he slowly gained trust for him, he learns that trust can be valuable even through the risk, enough that by the time he has to make his ultimate choice of going against Laios and even killing, vs helping him and letting him do his own plan, conflicted as he is Kabru still chooses to defend Laios from Lycion and have some faith- and this despite having his own opinion dismissed by Laios in the scene we just looked at. He is putting faith in Laios to have the weight of that world he was carrying alone for years put into someone else's hands, upon their choices, despite it meaning everything to him. Dungeon Meshi is a loooot about community and unity, about reaching each other halfway to have understanding and accomplish things together, better, and Kabru's arc very much is about that whole thing. Laios decides to go with his own gut instead of agreeing with Kabru's pleading, and there's much to say about that, but ultimately I see it as Kabru being forced to reckon with having to put full trust in another person's judgement yes, terrifying and risky, but sometimes it'll pay off. Seeking to understand each other earnestly IS good, and it's only after all pretenses are out the window that things start to look up, compromise shows willingness to do that.

So like. Mithrun's half of kabru's storyline is about being understood, getting some of that social connecting need he's been neglecting and showing how genuineness pays off, meanwhile Laios' half is about understanding others, seeing the flaws in how he approaches others. How do you expect people to understand you if you aren't earnest with them, Laios asks? Lycion hammers it home too, being the one to expose Kabru having been fake with Laios and trying being very blunt and direct with Laios. With Mithrun he learns to socialize without playing 4d mind chess again, it's easy with him befause he's so uninterested in respecting social conventions anymore and is so blunt and honest, and with Laios he learns to apply that. Mithrun is his parallel and Laios is his contrast.

Okay this was the story arc bit now getting back to a character analysis focus. Kabru is interested in anthropology in general, with a genuine interest in learning about people and languages & helping people at large. He's concerned with the greater good and "preventing Utaya from happening again", not because he himself doesn't feel safe but because he wants to prevent tragedies in the world, tragedies that affect others the way he's been before. Kabru is individualistic in the sense that he takes everything upon himself, doesn't readily trust others with decisions, but he's also incredibly selfless. He's dedicating his life to investigating dungeons and stopping their meltdowns, thinking someone else than the elves must get involved, he has personal reasons to be motivated to stop the demon but unlike Mithrun it's not out of revenge but out of a concern for others' wellbeing, while Mithrun's motivations are stuck in the past Kabru's are in the future's. In his determined pursuit of his goals he neglects his own needs and wellbeing- Due to his upbringing with the sheltering Milsiril, Kabru has a hard time even doing basic care tasks like cleaning and cooking, if it wasn't for his landlord doing the cleaning of his rented room for him it'd be very messy, bottles laying around because he drinks alcohol to help with insomnia regularly for one. Dungeon diving isn't all that profitable, especially being Kabru's party, and it's unsafe, and it's uncomfortable, and not exactly well seen- He's not enriching himself either in wealth or status, and yet Kabru his spending his every day and every ressource researching about dungeon diving parties on the Island to keep an eye out for possible future dungeon lords, making influential connections like the shadow governor, and of course dungeon diving itself. He even puts it himself, that he'd rather die in a dungeon in pain than stay at Milsiril's, and it's very important to remember that unlike Laios Kabru hates dungeons- He loathes monsters, is terrified of them and the threat the dungeons make, and doesn't even seem to have true curiosity or interest for dungeons' workings beyond how to stop them from causing harm- his dedication to dungeon diving is solely in relation to his mission. While I'm sure he does find some interactions fulfilling here and there, he also keeps himself from connecting with others, treating relationships either as tools (like drinking is to him) or situations to people please and focus on helping fix their issues like with Dia's fiance, sinking a lot of time into it and not opening up himself, gaining nothing from it except maybe some loyalty and reputation, a sense of satisfaction and a sense of having done a good thing.

The end very much justifies the means with him. He's one of the more politically conscious and few greater good caring people of the cast but he's not without bias, his talking about kobolds for one... more on that in the kabru & Kuro section. He's not blinded by ideas of good and evil since he has no problems with greyer areas if the ultimate result is good- but he can be blinded by laser focus somewhat. His fear over Laios- while clearly not unfounded since kui herself stated that at the beginning of serialization she really thought Laios would become a demon king as dungeon lord in the end- makes him take rash decisions, where if it wasn't for people reviving and saving his party again and again and again, Kabru would never have even met Laios. See, again the theme that he can't achieve his goals alone even if he tries. He doesn't want to share burdens and plans, refuses help sometimes, but he does rely on it like everyone else, and ultimately I think that's what his arc is about like we covered- from being so distant with his party to opening up with mithrun and ultimately, in his kill Laios vs trust Laios dilemma he picked trust.

I do think growing up with Milsiril shaped him into who he became a lot, not only because he had access to knowledge with her ressources and her teaching yes, but most importantly imo he learned to manage an emotionally needy adult. It's mentioned his dead mother would sometimes vent to him when drunk, and it's different but similar to Milsiril being a sensitive recluse hermit who jumps from tears to anger in the blink of an eye, with emotional manipulation whether intentional or not, guilt tripping for even small things like which home cuisine he picks to talk about. Kabru grew used to having to anticipate and pacify or counter Milsiril's moods, to push through the wails and downright threats to be able to make a point and be heard like when saying he wishes to go into dungeons, and she seems to overburden her kids with the task of managing her emotional stability like I implied. She doesn't have friends except literally maybe just Helki her employee, she likes dolls and interacting with her kids and that's all that we see, so she seems emotionally dependent on her kids and esp Kabru imo. So like with how he operates in the present, he learned to "manipulate for good", what words tend to set people off, what ways to phrase things make pills easier to swallow, what face is most pleasing and soothing, what gestures are too much and what gestures are too little. Daily life and ineracting at home with his foster family became a visual novel with right and wrong answers and for smooth days he needs to be a good kid. Milsiril & Kabru is a topic for another day but I do have a lot to say. I do want it to be kept in mind here that Kabru's opinion that it's impossible for elves to see eye to eye with shortlived races is explicitly linked to his experience with Milsiril, as written in his Adventurer's bible pages. This coming up is definitelyyy a headcanon though but since [Helki is the only friend adjacent relationship we know milsiril has] and their relationship is master & servant there's grounds to theorize about how much kabru interacted with him too- how much Kabru saw Milsiril and Helki interact, his only father adjacent figure you could even say... As @room-surprise puts it, growing up in that house watching Milsiril and Helki and himself he learned that life is not to eat or be eaten but instead "to use or be used". Having grown elsewhere than the rigid elven kingdom first, that place with its tons of social etiquette rules and hierarchy, helped him be more critical of that society even as he observed how it worked and how he could work it, his original home may have not been much more welcoming, but sometimes difference is all that's needed to start comparing and realizing how systems are built, and not innate or unchangeable. I think being thrown into it rather than born into it shaped how Kabru perceived it. Psychology also helped him deal with his own trauma imo- in the incubus & parasitic bee comic it seems rationalizing the people from his hometown's superstitions helps him make his peace about it, makes it feel less personal, more distant- it's not my great aunt thinking I ruined my mom's life by being born, it's the human instinct and phenomenon of people being scared of what they don't understand, like a child with pale blue eyes. People being scared by what they don't understand, hm, it really always goes back to this in Dungeon Meshi doesn't it.

I think it's needless to say at this point but it's obvious Kabru is a character very affected by trauma. Faced with monsters, which've ravaged his home in the blink of an eye, he shakes and hesitates. He gets flashbacks when thinking about eating monsters. Wild topic swing but believe it or not there's a recurring "is it ptsd or autism" debate that often happens with characters, including L from Death Note for example, and Kabru has had this phenomenon in a niche of the fandom too. As one myself I do heavily relate to Kabru in the lens of him being an overachiever masked autistic, who unconsciously was drawn to learning psychology out of a need to do so and used to approach social interactions as a more scripted and logical affair than intuitive, and that was in part due to trauma yes- but autism and social-based trauma that pushed you to overcompensate and overachieve is, well... There's a causal link there yes, and it's a tendency that does happen with autism, especially in its afab presentation. And Kabru having ptsd is pretty much undeniable, so then, both? Personally I would claim kabru suffered not only the trauma of Utaya being destroyed but also social trauma living through being feared and hated by villagers and then taken in by elves and being constantly talked over- again different but similar to Rin's own experience and trauma. Truth is Kabru not being autistic doesn't change all that much from the "Laios caught his eye because he doesn't mask well and Kabru has to teach him about it he has to tell him that's illegal and look out for him" magnetism theory because that's also what ptsd does, someone with ptsd depending on the trauma also can become very scripted and nervous about skirting from it. Autism just gives it a more personal lens, where it's not only trauma but just who you are, always feeling a bit apart from everyone else in a fundamental way. In the end what autism and ptsd share in situations like this is that they treat social situations like a survival game, no fun included. This isn't the kabru is autistic analysis that's another topic plus many exist already I bet, but yes just know that these are common and coherent readings that can give a good lens for his behavior or obsessive tendencies.

Last tangent last tangent- but words are Kabru's main weapon right, knowledge is Kabru's main warfare method. Being in a society and with a parental guardian who doesn't put weight into your opinions and wants, speaking and being listened to is hard, and Kabru learned to play the game and dance the dance until he could make connections anywhere. It's of course relevant with how he dealt with Misilril and just how he continues to approach problems and matters now too, it's a way to be, a defense mechanism too, again like Rin's. It's interesting to note that it's Milsiril who taught him a lot, which he mentions is what he's grateful for her for most, teaching him and training him- and isn't that very in line with how Milsiril also felt spoken over and rejected by elven society as well, how she despises elven society even. Almost as if knowledge is a tool when you're devalued and pushed down in a society- Something that was important for Milsiril to teavh to him, which also fits nicely in with Kabru teaching Kuro the common tongue later on too. Milsiril's approach to the game of hierarchy was to keep her head down and obey orders until she could retire living rich as a hermit and foster parent, though, and that's emblematic of where they differ too- Kabru wants to be proactive, do more prevention with dungeons to have less damage control to do, even if you have to throw yourself into danger, even if you have to seek it out, so he makes connections and builds influence and goes dungeon diving. Milsiril wants to go away from trouble, leave to be safer, avoid danger, in life like in work, so she decides to live away from wider society to deal with her trauma and social anxiety, and so she retires and doesn't understand why Kabru would ever want to go near a dungeon again. Words are Kabru's main weapon but ultimately he drops arms and shed this attitude for open communication instead... 😌

I've started doing more analyses with enneagrams, I'll link back here when I make my first enneagram character analysis feature with Laios but in the meantime, sorry if you know nothing about it... If I had to call one for Kabru right now, 5w6/6w5 and 163 for tritype? Which would somewhat complement my reading of Laios as a 4w5 478, being his contrary in the action center 1 vs 8 which is the center that dictates how you judge/approach others/interactions, and the order being that the socialization center is the facet that's most important to Kabru vs what's least important to Laios. Inversely what's most important to Laios and least important to Kabru is the heart center aka how you judge yourself, your relationship with your own self-importance, Laios is very concerned with his own identity and interests and flees oppressive places that make him need to conform too much meanwhile Kabru is to himself only a tool for his greater goal and is ready to sacrifice individuality and his own comfort for it. But hey why would Kabru be 6w5 but still have 1 has his most important type in his 163 tritype? Well 6 is the desire for stability, security, and 1 is the high strict standard & concern for what's right vs wrong. I would consider 6 as his more important type because it's that desire that shaped his 1 importance given to morality, justice, good on a wider scale, etc, especially as someone marginalized where moral policies naturally benefit more people, often especially those devalued ykwim? Bettering the country with policies is right and also benefits him, he thinks everyone should have stability and safety, that it's the most important thing for everyone, but it presents as a 1 way to deal with that issue.

I think an important recurrent theme you can notice here too is onesided and unbalanced relationships. Kabru had the role of significant emotional support to both parental figures he had in his life, when as a child you're the one supposed to emotionally unload and the parents are supposed to take on them and manage the both of you, and it's made him be stuck into that mode sort of by default, letting others open themselves to you as much as they want but not opening up in turn, being more detached and unemotional- and of course, that's what's needed when you need to fix things, when you have to make sure everything is taken care of. It's the approach he takes both for his life and for relationships, so he shuts out his own emotions and pushes himself for others and for the world. He likes knowing, but not being known, because that's not supposed to be his role or purpose. He knows how burdening that can be. It does make the reversal of Laios being interested in Laios actively and Laios being uninterested in Kabru himself interesting. I don't know Kabru knows himself all that well, it's always about others so he doesn't take nearly as much time pondering his own wants, I think that plays into the "I wanted to be friends" too. It's how he's so able to get Dia's fiance to emotionally unload on him and vent over a couple hours and so at ease with it- he's used to it. Ah and even with Rin! He was specifically asked to befriend Rin as a kid, a very heavily traumatized girl- he was asked this because he's a shortlived race kid like her and nice, was asked this by his foster mother for the canaries' sake- he was literally put into that emotional support situation there too.

I am not mentioning every parallel & contrast he has with Laios I don't wanna be here all day!! But hey where Kabru had his town ravaged by monsters as a child and has always holds importance for having community, Laios fantasized about monsters tavaged his town because he hated his community, for one. In this precise scenario, Laios saw flaws and he immediately wanted to give up on that community, meanwhile Kabru saw flaws and wanted to fix them- Well, mostly, since Kabru did give up on relations with elves for a good while, and both end up amending those beliefs and seeking to make a better society within the golden kingdom together.

Here is my very quickest Kabru analysis apparently 😭😭 I NEED to get dragged offstage this can't go on- Idk man I still haven't gotten THE ANGLE with Kabru's narrative in the story I still can't see one thread that makes everything seamlessly connect together like it usually happens with Dunmeshi for me, but there's so much going on here about typical dunmeshi themes like authenticity, balancing considering others & your own needs and connecting...... But my biggest impression after my first read that still lingers now is that Kabru was in good part there to embody that people are a tapestry and that we're like an ecosystem, you can't carry the weight of the world alone because you are not alone and humans are creatures that accomplish feats through being social, like how Kabru couldn't have defeated the monster without Laios' help, Laios couldn't have gotten this far without Kabru's interference. Again it's all comes to that final battle where everyone, different as they may be, come together to fight on the same side, to save their collective world... And the guy everyone believed in least being the one on who all hope and faith and trust is placed in the last desperate shot at winning. Idk man!!! What are we doing here go touch grass breathe in the breeze hug your loved ones what a joy it is to be alive and human!! Take example on Kabru and love yourself. Because you're human and he loves humans I mean- don't actually take notes on self-love from Kabru that would not go well I feel. But yeah like to me Kabru's party gives me a nudge of what direction I should go in to figure out what his portion of the story is getting at, the importance of Kabru's party then becomes showing the state of his relationships at the start of the story before things get shaken up, as contrast and a reference point...

Rinsha Fana

OKAYYY here we are. Not everything is about you Kabru! <- said with Rin's voice (it really truly actually is lol)

I've already done an incomplete analysis of her here, please look at it for Rin pictures & material, but basically her sour and strict attitude seems to be a defense mechanism she can't fully control, like how she tends to frown when she wants to smile. Kabru's words about it are somewhat dubious to be sure, we don't have a guidebook on "when is Rin truly angry and when is she just smiling upside down :) ", but it is notable that Kabru does have a point with that, from what we see.

Her nagging attitude is part of that defense mechanism- As explicitly stated several times, her main purpose in following Kabru is that she's worried he'd get himself into trouble without her. Not unjustified, since he has trouble even cleaning and eating well, and then he gets all wrapped up with the canaries during canon, but yes according to Rin he's too smart and reckless for his own good. This may be why he sees her as a big sister figure, she nitpicks every little thing but at the end of the day her support is unconditional and she'll stand with you whenever you need her. Sort of like a big sister, she gives tough love but ultimately just wants you to be healthy and to take your pain away.

She had a very difficult upbringing, seen as a heretic to burn at the stake in her early childhood then treated like an animal when growing up with the elves. Her parents had an unaligned religion and its practices are tied to how she learned magic, which is why her family was reported to the canaries as dark magic users, but not in time for them to arrive before the townspeople killed her parents. Where with the elves Kabru learned to people please in order to gain more agency and safety when he grew up seen as a pet, Rin learned to be irreproachable and stand her ground when she grew up treated as an animal. The townspeople in Kabru's hometown sought to break up his home and chase out his family, and they may have threatened heavily for all that we know, but Kabru was able to keep his love for humans and belief that humanity is good, the trauma he has is of monsters killing people during the dungeon overflow- Rin's trauma is townspeople burning her house down and lynching her family until she was the only survivor. She sees others as a threat, and not without reason.

Both Rin and Kabru wear masks socially. They go in opposite ways though, Rin oversells her toughness to tell people not to mess with her, she makes herself closed off and intimidating, meanwhile Kabru is more of a chameleon but mainly, he makes himself seem open and appeasing, unthreatening to be trusted and liked more.

She was sent into shock and suffered through severe trauma especially since the people who collected her amidst all this, the canaries, are very ill equipped to deal with emotionally/mentally fragile people, especially shortlived race kids. Because of this whole situation she has some contempt for those who had it "easier", like mages who went to magic school instead of having to self-teach like Rin did. And some of this is disdain that where she had to study everything on her own others have teachers to guide them through it all, a sense of superiority, but imo it's also doubtlessly a defense mechanism, an anti magic-elitism where she sneers at them before they can sneer at her. Before they can call her uncultured, she calls them talentless. Counter before they can even strike. Defense mechanism. In the main story, we hear of this tension Rin has about academy mages with how she speaks of Marcille and her spells- specifically she's rude about Marcille's protection charm/ward and says something about how the one who did it was definitely an academy mage because the spell is too by the book in chapter 32- and this is what I mean, she takes issue with how strict about rules and spells they are, how much they conform, because her own background is being severely mistreated and sotracized for being an unaligned unconventional mage, for doing magic outside of these rules and books. Interestingly, we also see in chapter 10 though that she looks down on people she sees as not successful or capable, saying that they'll definitely defeat the mad mage and "we won't be hand-to-mouth adventurers like you people", perhaps from trauma too- wishing to put a distance between the group she'd normally be categorized with and who she wants to become, or having felt mocked by the guy who talked to them before by having been related to them, because she's so on guard and bad faith always. We don't really know the details of Rin's time with the elves, escept that she was "minded like an animal". We don't even know where she stayed, even, just that Milsiril couldn't take her in because her house was already full. Where did she stay, then? Some shitty orphanage? I like to think she stayed with the canaries as "an impounded article" until she became an adult and left with Kabru, explaining even more her attitude since she'd have all the military influence, and further proving the point that any success she earns was self-made, that anything she knows she had to teach berself because her environment never gave her opportunities. But yes wherever it was, we can only assume that it was close enough to Milsiril's mansion or easily accessible, because Kabru and Rin continues seeing each other. It seems like at first, they would have made trips just in order to have Kabru befriend Rin until she could talk. They may have continued through letters eventully too if they couldn't meet. Hust a lot of uncertainty on every ground, all we know is Rin and Kabru became important to each other.

We actually know little of Rin and Kabru's pre-canon relationship, but we know that Rin was taken in by the elves some time after Kabru was, after her parents were killed by townsfolk and report them as black mages to the canaries, who arrived too late to be able to tell, so just took Rin in and...... Well we know very little of how she was treated, too, even where she was kept, just that Milsiril couldn't take her in and that they "minded her like an animal". We know that Kabru wanted and wants to "get her away from the elves somehow", something he doesn't say about the other kids living with Milsiril and explains his reason as being because Rin has bad experience with the elves, but it's unsure how Kabru left home and how Rin came to go with him. Because of that quote of his though it's likely he invited her along when he left, and she followed. But it's not confirmed, for all we know Kabru could have only invited her after 2 years after leaving when he founded his party. It's obvious Rin holds no love for living with the elves anyways, but we don't know how much freedom she had- it was hard for Kabru to be allowed to leave because he was coddled, notably only leaving 2 years after he reached in-world adulthood despite having first voiced his want to leave when he was a kid, but meanwhile I like to think Rin left very easily because no one cared, she was something that took up space and food where she wasn't wanted or needed, an obsolete "impounded article". She was catatonic when she was first taken in, but it's likely things were cleared up once she was able to talk that no, her family wasn't practicing black magic, and then the canaries just didn't know where to send her because she had no home or family anymore. But then, if she could leave whenever she wanted why wouldn't she have left earlier? Probably precisely because of Kabru too, because she didn't want to leave him. She loves him, and they're more or less the only friend each other had, so she couldn't just leave him behind and try to build a life without him, similarly to how he couldn't do that either. She stayed for Kabru and she left for Kabru.

I made another little post speculating more about her life with the elves and the possible impact of Flamela here if you're interested, as well as elaborating on her abandonment issues and the importance of Kabru to her.

Rin does seem to believe in Kabru's cause, in making him dugeon lord and that being important, but her main motivation is still pretty clearly that she's doing this for Kabru because it's Kabru. She doesn’t seem to really know why or what, just that it should be ‘someone who deserves it’ that beats the dungeon and becomes dungeon lord, and her first lines show her determined to prove everyone they can beat the dungeon. Like stated, her main motivation is she wants to make sure Kabru's safe and out of trouble, so hey why not put the "heretic" magic she learned to use and become his offense mage, why not use it to manage a feat so big and desired (defeating the dungeon) that everyone will have to admit she and her art are worthy of respect, to prove to everyone she can make it with her own skills and own unconventional knowledge. Her magic, the last remnant of her family. Her house burned down with everything she possessed, and she's said to have little attachment to her culture due to having been an immigrant on top of everything else, so the memories and knowledge they've taught her, the lessons they instilled in her and the person they tried to shape her to be, that's all that's left of them. She never speaks of them, at all, likely due to the whole heay childhood trauma thing, so we don't really know her feelings on well, everything, beyond that it was traumatic. We don't know what her relationship with her parents was like. She's a very closed off person. That's another contrast we can point out with Kabru, Rin flees her pre-canaries past and never brings up her family, has little attachment to places she's lived in or her culture, but Kabru is fixated on remembering, brings up his mother and culture whenever he can like in the halloween local sweets extra, has made the tragedy of Utaya at the center of his entire life mission. Rin and Kabru really are contrasts of each other in how they deal with trauma I think, whereas they both become very guarded in very different ways I think this highlights how simlar he may have felt with Mithrun, the both of them having become obsessed with their trauma and eradicating the cause of it which happened to be the same thing, having become workaholics and consumed over it.

She's in love with Kabru, but the way I see it it doesn't seem like she's particularly pursuing him romantically. I do think Kabru's occasional flirting with her gives her needless hope, but I don't think getting with him is either her goal in following him or her plan, I think she's content just following him to taking care of him selflessly, even when she knows he can be a womanizer and dishonest asshat, albeit she'll complain every step of the way yes. Again, unintentional big sister attitude.

Post-canon, she keeps in touch with Kabru and becomes a pharmacist, presumably living in Merini but there's no mention of the location, we just know she's kept touch because of a post-canon extra with Laios and Kabru. Her new profession supports that 1) Rin likes caring after others and 2) Rin never had an interest for anything about dungeon diving in itself. It's also ironic, since she was a offensive mage and didn't do healing.

Contrasts with Marcille, where to start... Marcille is optimist and rather open and Rin is pessimist and fully closed off, Marcille is social and smiles a lot and Rin is the reverse. Both of them have a caring mom friend attitude, but Marcille is more gentle and coddling about it whereas with Rin it's pure tough love, both of them do this to a often stifling degree (Falin, Izutsumi, Kabru). There's the contrast in their appearances too, and how Marcille dresses practically but Rin is more flashy, with an... Ambitious skirt cut? They're both elegant but in different ways, they're both very bold in fights, and stubborn and loud in their beliefs. Marcille was a more or less sheltered girl who learned magic in an academy while Rin learned on her own at the cost of blood and sweat. Both of them seem to have grown up in towns rather than cities, a more rural setting, since there were large fields and chickens roaming where Marcille lived and the little we see and know of Rin's town makes it seem closed on itself. They were presumably lonely growing up, Marcille had no peers because of her irregular aging and spent her time absorbed in novels, where Rin because of her family and culture/race was mistreated and avoided and it seems she spent a lot of her time focusing on learning things instead, perhaps paralleling novels with textbooks even in young age. Marcille lost one parent of natural causes and was traumatized by it to the point it became at the center of her life mission, and Rin lost both parents to murder and was traumatized by it to the point she avoids thinking and talking about it ever again. Both of them seek to learn, use and even create unconventional magic eyond the rules set by people. Both of them have cat energy, thank you for coming to my ted talk

Holm

Holm is actually rather mysterious. The biggest thing to notice here is that Holm has been to elven jail before, because his research was too close to dark magic. We have no idea of what his research was about at all, we have no details and little clear hints. He's a man of theorics though, it shows in how he talks about magic and spirits, and with his christmas gift exchange gift it shows how nurturing living things with magic really is something he enjoys and has interest in. It's not a lot to go off of, especially since we know canaries are trigger happy when it comes to dark magic, both arresting people who had minor brushes with it or that seem suspicious without any confirmed crime, and with elves exaggerating people's crimes so they become a canary for manpower. Who knows, maybe he is dungeon diving to try and subtly do research at the same time, but the way we get no hints of that and he just keeps working as a spirit user post-canon makes me think it's just work to him. He never mentions researching or seems to be studying something in the dungeon so it doesn’t sound like that was significant part of his reason for dungeon diving. So he had his run-in with authorities and decided to live more simply from thereon. But that could also just be because of the nature of dark/ancient magic and how it more or less poofed from the world after the demon left, too. With the truth revealed and ancient magic unavailable to channel anymore, research becomes less needed and viable. I doubt Kabru knows about his past. Again, much like Laios' party pre-canon, what got them together is work before anything else, with the added bonus of Kabru spinning an important narrative about conquering the dungeon to become dungeon lord.

His chill laidback, more passive and calm attitude makes him feel more vague and mysterious too, hard to get a good grip on, but he’s also the most mature and put together of the group. Very mellow. He's not quiet to the point of seeming asocial like Dia somewhat does, he just seems... Average, in the extra about his sister for example. And good at keeping secrets. His skeleton in the closest is the jail thing and that's that, seems like it put an end to his researching career and he’s now settled for being a spirits magic user as a job which brought him to dungeon dive. Nope sir prison isn't worth it I'm keeping myself into trouble from now on. What job can I do now though, my specialization is spirits arts... Dungeon diver, okay sure. It could be theorized that his usual attitude + his secret are a persona of sorts, where he keeps himself largely hidden and keeps people at an arm's distance. It's pointed out he freezes in the face of conflict- it shows he dislikes fighting, even being worried for the spirits he makes fight, and that makes me think even more that dungeon diving wouldn't have been his first choice. It could also be a good part of why he's so laidback and quiet then, passive. He dislikes conflict, so he avoids being in the spotlight also helpful skill to have when you've had run-ins with the law, and he has such the nice guy reputation that Mickbell doesn't think twice about crashing at his place in the middle of the night- and sure enough Holm lets him in and practically serves him. You could think him a doormat, but we see with the comic of him & his sister that he's very capable of being mad and agitated and go more on the offensive in a social situation, but yes he has that helpless -panics and wails while all his coworkers does things around him against his will- energy that's pretty sopping wet cat. He seems chill and cool but oh no he was actually the stressed overworked protagonist of a sitcom movie. My condolences for your life Holm. In general he's also a decently judgemental person, and although casually and often with a smile he has no problem "telling it like it is", calling out Mickbell's treatment of Kuro and talking about how Kabru can't clean for shit, how he'd "be willing to do anything to achieve his goals" and is too people pleasing, etc. He's confident in himself, and pretty set in his beliefs though we see him debate and compromise with Kabru.

His sister is the only personal relationship we see him have, but it's stated. She must live on the island too, considering Kabru visits her. The Island isn't exactly a place you're typically born in, so it's interesting to wonder what it means that both Holm and his sister would have moved there. Did their parents disown him after he got arrested over his research? There's nothing to say they did, but nothing that hints they didn't either, honestly, so Holm is a bit of a blank slate backstory wise as well. We know his religion's very important to him too though, and it affects his diet. His spirits are very dear to him and it's mentioned for example that he's raised his undine since basically the spirit equivalent of a baby, so it's implied he's been raising spirits for a long time. If his social life doesn't seem to be thriving, his spirits are definitely filling some of his social & connection needs as pets would. He does both healing and offense.

His contrast with the Laios party would be Falin since they're both healers lowkey doormats who notice the flaws in the people around them but don't act on them and prefer being passive and take upon themselves. They both love nature and were pushed by capitalism and rigid structures that prioritize conformity into work they aren't passionate about. The most important thing in Holm's life seems to be his spirits, and the most important thing in Falin's life are her loved ones, I'd say his enneagram is 592 while Falin's hmm, 926.

I ramble more about Holm in this kabuholm post and compile more of his moments, but it's more speculation than analysis, it's a take on him essentially. My personal verdict is- king of staying in his lane. He's here for work and he keeps his thoughts to himself to speak when it's necessary, he's not afraid of letting people have it outside of that though. The separation of professional and personal life is not going to great with his coworker occasionally imposing on his home lol. Reflecting his maturity, he lets others handle themselves and only steps in when he's needed. Hm, sounds like someone else doesn't it?

Daya

First things first: Daya or Dia? You'll probably have noticed I use Dia, and the reason is pretty simple: Daya/Dia is a nickname. Her official name is Diamond, but the shortening is always used instead- Diamond we have an official spelling for, the nickname we do not. Since it's in katakana (da-ya) and a fantasy world, translations call her Daya, but that's the same pronounciation as the "dia" in "diamond", and isn't it logical for her nickname to just be a shorter version of her actual name? We do know that Kui translates names to katakana being mindful of their pronounciation and not just spelling, like how Tims in Chilchuck tims is written as timzu. Yenpress the official english translator has messed up character names before and this even after official spellings came out, like Mikbell and Sissel, but notablyxthe anime english translation has also gone with Daya. But so, yes, I call her Dia, but of course there's no right or wrong here and by going against official translations I'm making things harder than they need to be. It's just...... Hard to unsee.......

Daya is very underrated for having such an interesting background! She was esentially raised in a cult? The "dungeon keepers". That protects dungeons, in that they keep people from going into it. She never knew why it was an important thing to do, and never questioned it, but as readers at the end of canon we now can imagine that they kept people from going into dungeons so that there would not be new dungeon lords and dungeons would not overflow. Ultimately, Dia fled her home and community because she refused the notion of marrying an older relative to have a child. There's a mistranslation from Yenpress that Namari is from the same tribe as Namari, when the original japanese sentence is just about how they're both from the same race- both dwarves.

No wonder with this background that she "has a slightly otherworldly air". She's very stonefaced and hard to read, but with the focus on duty and discipline she had growing up it's easy to see how she'd have become a somewhat emotionally constipated person in this way. She fell in love with someone of her choosing and is intent on marrying him, contrasting with the man she was ordered to marry back home. It's with a renewed interest in understanding what the life she'd spent so long upholding was about that she went back to work with dungeons as a dungeon diver, in her own words with the goal of understanding what they were protecting. In this way, it seems the marriage order was truly the thing that made everything snap and finally caused her to shake up her life, to look back and start questioning everything- and now she's free, she chooses what to do with herself and who to be with. It's said she loves her husband, and her husband seems very attached to her as well. Somewhat paralleling Chilchuck and his wife, we can imagine how nervewracking it must be to be the spouse of a dungeon diver, who faces death for a living. Dia is very independent and disaffected on top of it, so we see that her fiance feels insecure and even doubts she may cheat on him with Kabru. This insecurity is born from feeling like Dia doesn't need him- and so may leave him in the future. He feels neglected, and Dia probably doesn't show him love and how much he's valued in a way that he sees or satisfies him. That said, her fiance after a couple of cups and an hour with Kabru is shiwn to be very open and emotional, which would presumably complement her well. Dia seems unemotional but she does have her bouts of strong emoting, whether it be distrust, worry, frustration or even wonder- That said, she's not the greatest conversationalist around and I can definitely see her not really understanding how love, care affection and attention, is supposed to look like- Again, she grew up in an extreme social environment.

She's bold and fierce, confident, and notably very very strong. With training from a young age not only in discipline but in fighting she's a warrior born and raised. These are considered tomboyish traits, but I do like how Kabru and the adventurer's bible calls her a lady- she shows wonder at the treasure insects too! She's not disinterested in oretty things, or anything of the sort. We just have little window into her interests, since her life centers around work so much. She also calls out Mickbell for his mistreatment of Kuro, but also does nothing about it. She's quiet and is most often seen closing up the tail end of the psrty looking around for threats while they're on the move. She's quieter than Holm and also more standoffish. The queen of staying in her lane, if you ask me. We'll be talking more about it in the relationships section but you can already see this very interesting party dynamic forming of Rin and Mickbell having their nose all up in others' business while Dia and Holm are very permissive and quiet even while kabrin and mickuro look insane from an outside perspective. Who knows what normal looks like to Dia, though. She disliked Namari because her father made things rocky for dwarves on the Island for a while, so that can show how critical she can be and how her value of not sticking her neck out and staying put & not rocking the boat manifest/the why of it. Like in her home community we can imagine, you have a role in society and being overly disruptive can ruin things for everyone including yourself- even if the one who did the mistake was your parent the fault befalls on your whole family. Very strict hierarchy based outlook on society and community I think... It's interesting that despite of having been a victim of such behaviors herself, part of those faulty lessons stuck with her and she upholds much of the same fallacies.

All of this is very interesting foundation for a character, but yes not much else is developed on Dia and that's wher her story starts and ends- I'll make a diaholm post eventually that delves into her themes of freedom and emotional wallbricking but that's about it from me. I like to think that she likes her husband, but rushed into marriage- that going from a life where everything was structured and decided for her by others to having nothing but choice, from the prospect of marrying an old relative to anyone she chooses, she sort of picked the first guy she liked and made a move on her. Pure speculation, because I like exploring the side effects her upbringing would have had and this sort of detached attitude she has, with some typa off attachment style...

Fun facts: if the modern au christmas gift exchange extra is to be believed, Dia enjoys reading and has some books of her own. In a Daydream Hour she's drawn with Holm out of their work uniforms but she still has a sword at her hip, which may mean she carries a weapon with her even just around town. She has two younger siblings that she never mentions and we presume she left behind at home.

Mickbell Tomas

Okay okay okay now the true insanity may begin! Please refer to this post to see Mickbell's profile pages. Also see the bath comic for another great show of his character! I cannot make a mickbell collage for this there is no pic page umm ummmm additional compilation here.

Despite being an adult of 22 years old, even older than Kuro both literally and developmentally, Mickbell often acts rather juvenile. He tends to be very black and white, he wanted to steal the corpse retrievers’ stuff and was mad when Kabru didn’t allow it, he thinks Kuro talking to others will make Kuro leave him. He's judgemental (exhibit A: comic about Rin smiling) and critical (esp with Kabru). All means justify the end (him having fun, becoming rich) but if others do something wrong efficiency or annoying behavior wise you better believe he'll voice it. He’s very expressive, both in body language and words, swinging his arms as he walks and jumping and stomping the ground in anger. He also has a mischievous streak. He’s casual with touch, touchy feely if you will, and clings to Kuro a lot, both for safety and because he simply likes to. Cough cough separation anxiety and abandonment issues. He knows how to be serious however, especially when it comes to money or risky situations. He does his job well and does it conscientiously. In many ways he's similar to Fleki, if Fleki was more dedicated on the job. He may be very layered, and manipulative when he wants to be, but he seems to value in others the same type of directness that he has with emoting and interacting with others, as seen with his distaste for Rin being a tsundere. He's blunt and straightforward (whenever he isn't with Kuro or scamming), and in that way it seems those are values of his, which may be why he does usually gets along best with Rin, especially on the job.

He has loose ethics and likes to goof around but is otherwise often highstrung, reflecting Kabru's "relax a little" view of him. He's serious on the job- a contrast you can especially notice in the christmas exchange special. He had to steal and do scams to survive, again the christmas special shows he's good with money and making deals- mischievous and full of himself when he has to sell stuff and quick to flee when he smells trouble, but very focused when it comes to calculating costs and revenue.

Again, despite all his troublemaker toddler behavior Mickbell is surprisingly serious! It's still undeniable that he has capital i Issues, from being very uncaring about how others may see him and developing this "it's us vs the world" mentality with Kuro, to how emotional, exaggeratingly expressive and impulsive he is- in a way that lacks emotional regulation skills I'd even say, to what he says when something displeases him like "she'd be a lot cuter if she smiled more" about Rin after she doesn't laugh at his jokes... This all seems to point towards Mickbell having pretty bad emotional intelligence. You could even easily call him stunted. He doesn't seem very self-aware, his manipulation of Kuro is not something he can do solely unconsciously but it is genuinely debatable how much he knows he cares about Kuro, how much he's aware of what he feels & why, why he says what he says and does what he does. What would he do if you told him that trying to manipulate Kuro into thinking that everyone except Mickbell wants him in shackles and in pain and wanting to have a house and a nice domestic normal life with him is sort of mutually exclusive? I don't think he thinks about the wider picture like that, I think it'd cause some dissonance a bit. He thinks ahead when it comes to finance, but socially he seems to very much live in the moment, not really trying to anticipate how much others will appreciate his input or behavior or thinking about how he'll keep up the charade 2 years down the line. He wants to hustle his way out of being homeless, but in many ways he still has the mentality he had to have for running scams and surviving on the streets at his lowest, one day at a time, succeed this step so you can then succeed the next. In his mind he's constantly making charisma rolls on Kuro and he needs to not fail them.

Don't you worry Mickbell & Kuro is getting a whole section, buuut with Mickbell and Kuro both, character analysis is inseparable from analysis of the two's relationship. The ethics and circumstances of Mickbell working Kuro for peanuts are surprisingoy complex- because that is how Mickbell sees their dynamic, but Kuro sees it completely differently and assigns himself full agency in wanting to stay. Kuro obviously wants to follow Mickbell, and that’s what Mickbell takes advantage of unknowingly, what he thinks is Kuro’s helplessness. What I find much more alarming is Mickbell’s need to control not only Kuro's economical and social life but every aspect of his life. He’s not only overcontrolling, paranoid that someone will want to steal him away from him (both for Kuro’s sake but very transparently desperate to not allow Kuro to leave him as well- will get expanded on), but he also wants to isolate him. It’s no coincidence Kuro has no friends apart from Mickbell- the closest thing would be Kabru and even with him, communication can be difficult and Mickbell does interfere. It's not Mickbell's fault there is a language barrier, but it is Mickbell's fault that Kuro has amassed so few tools in navigating the world without Mickbell, but it is his fault that Kuro feels like he can't tell him he's learning common with Kabru, and it is Mickbell's canonical intent to render Kuro just that, powerless enough to need him- again I cannot overstate how it is straight up said and confirmed in the Adventurer's Bible that Mickbell mistreats Kuro the way he does because he's scared Kuro would/will leave him. Mickbell sees their relationship as employer-employee while Kuro sees it more as guardian & guy who needs to have one, but it is also said that Mickbell sees Kuro as family, and I do think that makes sense, and I do think it can't be overstated how on a deeper level it's Mickbell who needs Kuro, and that Kuro is Mickbell's absolute most important person in the world- his only person in the world, even, in many ways.

"Until he met Kuro, Mickbell was all alone in the world, so he seems to see him as family."

Mickbell is desperate for stable relationships, both seen with his clutch on Kuro and his wanting a house to settle in. Or I suppose, relationship singular, he seems very ride or die on the idea that Mickbell and Kuro are the only thing each other needs, he never seems to particularly try or want to befriend others, is a bit clammed up on himself. Distrustful, assumes bad faith, especially as we see with the half-foot union. Perhaps because he's never felt a sense of community where helping each other out of good will was a thing, survival made everything transactional living on the streets, so he has a hard time having good faith with organizations like unions, and this notion of relationships being transactional would have also shaped why he would frame his and kuro's relationship that way, as employer-employee. Not to say he doesn’t like socializing though, we see him work a room all self-satisfied and tell jokes in an extra comic, and he gets peeved when Rin doesn’t laugh at his jokes, he does like getting general social approval. As he isolates Kuro he also willingly isolates himself, and is ready to burn bridges or opportunities for him.

He's sleazy! Debate about egg or chicken all you want, but I think Mickbell running scams definitely shows in how manipulative he is in relationships as well. With the christmas gift exchange thing we see that he can do scams the straightforward way, selling an item to be much more than it us for an inflated price, but it is specifically said that Mickbell doesn't have half-foot pride the same way Chilchuck does and has no problem using his race to "curry favor", so I would think he's done the emotional manipulation kind of scamming as well, acting like a child in need or such. "If you can use something, you should" is stated to be his motto. Because in a life like his you don't have a lot, you seize the opportunities you get because it's a matter of survival and there's no ace up your sleeve dirty enough to justify not taking advantage of it. All this to say- Mickbell's most iconic scene is arguably his short interaction with Kuro here, and it's extremely blatant manipulation. The anime even ups this with the teary eyes and voice acting- the borderline tears followed by a grin shows just how conscious and intensive his manipulating really can get. Again there's a transactional lens he sees relationships through I think- and that plays into Mickbel scamifying his relationships up... Which in the end I do think he feels scummy over. Simply because, chaining someone to you like that is not something you do if you think you're lovable- if you're all that, if you're great and likable and worthy of unconditional love. That man can't believe in that, he can't believe in his life partner of many years choosing to stay if that didn't happen to be his only viable option. Mickbell lives in fear of being abandoned and it's in good part because the world has taught him he's not valuable on his own.

I think Mickbell lives in fear!! And I think that's deeply interesting. Makes sense for someone with such an harsh extreme upbringing as him to be hypervigilant, with food like with money the way he is with the party, he keeps grudges, both in his backstory extra comic and during canon. He lives in fear and distrust and all these little ways he knows toxmake himself feel more powerful than he is. And I think it's so, so interesting how when he finally accepted Kuro following him, inventing something about him becoming his bodyguard, it was because Mickbell just witnessed Kuro kill and maim a man and he was shaking, so afraid but also accustomed enough to violence and needing to bullshit his way through situations to tell Kuro things like "I'm your master" and for Kuro to just go along with it. Mickbell's is the art of faking it till you make it. Mickbell was afraid of Kuro then, and I do think Mickbell was scared of the idea of what this kobold man stranger could do if he decided that Mickbell wasn't his master after all, until his attachment grew and keeping the charade going was less out of a need for Kuro not to hurt him and more out of a need for Kuro not to leave him. So the fear of retribution because he did not know Kuro became a fear of abandonment when he did learn to know and love him- Kuro leaving him alone, the very thing he desired the firt time they met and Kuro followed him after Mickbell freed him. And this is why I made this web weaving about them this makes me ill good god. He lives in fear of being "found out" by Kuro in a way, for this scam of a relationship to be discovered so he only gets tangled up in his manipulation more and more to keep it going as the stakes keep rising and rising because Mickbell is only more invested with time- and he fears that Kuro would realize it one day but he also fears others will expose him, a big part of why he monitors what others say to Kuro, why he wants to be there whenever Kabru talks with him, why he's so scared at the slightest conversation had out of his hearing range. But! Part of it I'd say is also genuine fear that they could take advantage of Kuro, perhaps because due to his own taking advantage of Kuro and how readily the kobold accepts it Mickbell sees Kuro as a particularly vulnerable person, that he could get tricked by anyone, and let's remember that Mickbell met Kuro in a slave trader's cage- Mickbell's fear of others "taking Kuro away from him" is a double edged sword, it's 'them turning Kuro against Mickbell' but it's also what he always says about Kabru or others trying to 'kidnap' Kuro, what he says about how the half-foot guild wouldn't like his bond with Kuro and take him away from Mickbell. He's drunk his own koolaid in many ways. Separation anxiety and abandonment issues!!!!! Distrust at the world and feeling like he can never have nice things or be safe!!! And this plays suuuuuch a role in Mickbell's dream of having a house I think. Because a house is safe- a house means routine, means a place you can stay in and be protected by, is there a more emblematic symbol of stability and safety? In a house Mickbell is shielded from others' gaze and judgement, he's sheltered from the rain and he can keep food inside, he doesn't have to sleep with one eye open to not be attacked or have his things stolen through the night anymore, no there are four walls and it's warm and he and Kuro can live a peaceful life unbothered, away from the rest of the world that seeks them harm and wants them separated. Which hey that could parallel surprisingly deeply Chilchuck's feelings about a house actually, a house and family as something he has but that can be lost and destroyed- both in people leaving and in nightmares of home invasion.

But like Mickbell telling Kuro to stop snarling and growling because it's scary is such a good and fascinating example of this. How much of it is "it scares me" and how much of it is "you're damaging your own reputation, I'm scared of how people will react if you look too beastly and dangerous and what they might do to you- to us"? And this is especially true because Mickbell knows that kobolds are discriminated and how- for these years they've known each other Mickbell has been the one being the middleman between Kuro and the whole world- he's the one securing board and room for the both of them, noticing how people treat them and what they whisper about them, he's the one who gets told "this bathhouse doesn't allow kobolds" and he's the one who decides to leave and visit every bathhouse until they find one who does allow kobolds, becayse he's not taking a bath without Kuro. Mickbell is sticking with Kuro. They are ride or die for EACH OTHER not just oneway. Mickbell washes Kuro, he did that first time after they met each other and Kuro was a ghastly sight and very stinky, and he does now too, Mickbell patiently explains to Kuro how everything works, and when Kuro messes up something like getting Mickbell wet from shaking off water Mickbell gets mad but offers no punishment except chiding. In the bath comic, we see Mickbell spend HOURS brushing Kuro after his bath. There is immense care put into Kuro from Mickbell's end, as well.

"Now you're the cleanest dog in the whole wide world. No one can look down on you."

But hey, where did Mickbell learn "people leave"? That he’s unlovable and no one would stay for him? It’s a common fear that could be from anywhere honestly, whether insecurity alone or a very specific experience- but we do have trails we can follow... Mickbell lived in the slums of Kahka Brud, which he may have been birn in or interestingly enough since Kahka Brud is seen as a city of opportunities might have moved there. First of all, we have to wonder how he got into the streets in the first place. His relatives are listed as "unknown", but well, as a rule of thumb everyone has parents. Not even Kuro has "unknown" listed in his relatives section, and he's had cut contact with them for a long time by canon. What we know about the "relatives" section of Adventurer's Bible profiles is that it only lists living relatives, for example Marcille only has her mother listed, her father isn't listed as deceased and her step-father isn't listed there, meanwhile Kabru only has Milsiril listed, not his mother or even his father (which we don't know the status of, but Kabru doesn't know him either since he left when he was born). So what does this mean for Mickbell's relatives? Either he doesn't know what family he has, or he doesn't know if they're alive. It's not unlike how Kabru's name is stated as unknown, which either means he was renamed Kabru or that Kabru doesn't know just a part of it, like his last name- perhaps forgotten due to trauma, or his mother never told him due to their disowning them.

It could mean he was abandoned on the streets before he could remember so he doesn't know of any parent or caretaker they had, or it could be a lot of things. I do want to point out that both Mickbell and Kuro have "permanently out of contact" with their siblings, but Kuro still has his siblings listed on his profile, not "unknown". Since we get this info I do think Mickbell knew his sister, and I think it all lends itself to the "he doesn't know if they're alive" theory more. I mean, so much could have happened! But I think it's pretty safe to assume that Mickbell and his sister were on the streets together, until they were separated. Due to her messy hair and dead inside look I used to like to think she fell sick and as the older brother it fell on him to take care of both their needs and he couldn't manage to heal her before she died- or they were separated or something happened and he had to assume the worst. But something like some big event making them flee on their separate ways and then fail to see each other again, some other tragedy that made him part from her without knowing of her state... Or my favorite: one day she disappeared. Maybe he told her to stay there while he went to steal some food and he came back and she wasn't there, maybe one night she didn't come back to the alley where they always slept and she never did again, just. Did something happen to her? Was there an accident and she died in some ditch somewhere? Did someone kidnap her? Did she just leave him behind? He doesn't know. He doesn't know and he never will and he can't get an answer. And not having closure is almost worse than suspecting she's dead, or even if he knew it for certain. Because there's always a doubt. There'll always be that he doesn't understand what happened. There'll always remain that knowledge that things can just suddenly disappear one day, it'll be a normal day until it isn't, that people can leave, that everyone he's ever had (and there weren't many) HAVE left they're GONE and he's ALONE, and there'll always be that knowledge that Mickbell couldn't protect his little sister, couldn't even know she was in danger that time, if she was. Again in a way there's that parallel with Chilchuck where Chilchuck is very muh someone worried about the people he cares about's safety and has a protector role the best he can, and Mickbell usually is the one getting protected but he is very possessive and overprotective of Kuro, the one person he has. And just. Waughhhh. Idk if I'll make another post about Mickbell backstory speculation or his sister now if unprompted but for the record I like to call his sister Yukibelle/bella. Yuki because it means snow like deathly pale sickly skin, and it's a 4 letter japanese name, which being 4 letters 2 syllables suits half-foot names aaand most importantly, since Kuro isn't Kuro's real name and it just means "black" in japanese I like to think esp because of the language barrier taht that's just what Mickbell named him. And having no parents imo Mickbell would have named his sister, or even renamed her if she did have a name to spite whoever abandoned them...... In big brother fashion he likes to call her Yuckbelle. Ickybell and Yuckbelle the sublings ever. I was the one who chose your name so I can't make fun of it? Haha try again!........ I need to cope somehow guys. Having lived in the streets with the highest degree of life or death survival on the daily it's also easy to speculate Mickbell had other hardships and trauma like, say, selling his body and to people who are less than ideal. Just saying!! A lot of things you can resdy into his backstory that further explain or explore aspects of his character.

Unlike Chilchuck "I will never fight" Tims, Mickbell actually never fights. Like at all. Ever. His skills are clinging, cowering and getting covered, and giving orders. Both Chilchuck and Mickbell can be both mature and immature, but Chilchuck tends to embody maturity within the narrative and Mickbell is usually much more remembered as immature. Enneagram 6w7 (wants stability and simple pleasures & freedom on the side), same as Chilchuck. 6 is the fear of being without support and that's exactly what Kuro offers..... Very 8 as well, there's a case to be made about him being 683 like Chilchuck but I could see him be more of a 2 or 4 too. God he wants to be loved so bad. He's also quite tall but never mentions a diet to not set off traps, which may be because his diet is already poor. To me he seems like he doesn't care for culture at all having lived in survival on the fringe of society, similarly to him not having much half-foot pride, but he does smile as a dwarf so dwarves being the ideal body type still seems to be something he's in line with.

Post-canon, he opens a variety store with Kuro, and it's said his relationship with Kuro stays unbalanced. We don't know where it was opened, if they stayed in Melini or went back to Kahka Brud- but since Mickbell's dream is to specifically get a house in Kahka Brud's best neighborhoods and it's where he lived before on the streets, it seems to make sense house in Kahka Brud would still be his goal and to set up shop there. Not that we get an update on the house funds, the post-canon blurb is still in the near future after canon so their futures are still very much left open.

Kuro

Please refer to this post to see Kuro's profile pages.

Mickbell is so tragedy coded but Kuro is honestly... Like he's vibing. He has normalized the abuse (emotional manipulation & isolating the target both so that they need you for stability and emotional supoort + control their life and relationships are literally abuse tactics come on guys) but so much so that it appears both to Kuro and to us like that abuse has little grip on him, we see that he has more agency than we'd assumed. Kuro allows Mickbell to lower his quality of life way too much for sure, partly because Mickbell plays the part of vulnerable lil guy well, but what's so funny is that where Mickbell thinks he's being a mastermind all "🥺I was the one to save you from the streets, without me you'd be lost!! Everyone else wants you suffering, better stick with me!!😊" Kuro literally explains their relationship with "he's so pathetic and anxious, he needs me there :(" - which lends a whole new look to how pokerfaced Kuro always is when Mickbell is giving him his manipulative drivel lol. It flips the dynamic Mickbell was presenting because where Mickbell tries so hard to force their relationship to be that Kuro needs him, Kuro correctly identifies that it's Mickbell who needs Kuro- even more than for safety and financial reasons, because of emotional ones. So where it felt like their relationship was one where Kuro was fully tricked in that Kuro can only live by Mickbell's side for his own sake, Kuro wants to stay for Mickbell's sake and is well aware of Mickbell's issues and wants to help as a therapy dog would?? He doesn't care about the money or the food, he cares about Mickbell. The irony of it all is that Kuro could have left anytime, but stayed for Mickbell all along. It's easy then to assume that Kuro has it all figured out after reading the secret study session comic but that's also oversimplifying. Kuro seems emotionally intelligent in many ways- but sort of lacks sense in how it should be applied and how things should be, I guess is how I would put it? I still call their relationship abusive because it still is, Mickbell still isolates Kuro and manipulation is still the intent of a lot of what he says and does with him, and "well I know very well they're shitty but they need me" is a common dynamic irl in abusive and toxic relationships too, but it still reframes their relationship a lot to know that Kuro is not at the stage of "Mickbell is always right about everything and I'll follow him to the ends of the world because of it" but at the "this anxious miserable boy needs me and it's my duty to protect him". Mickbell is running a manipulation onemanshow against himself and Kuro is taking another path entirely, he has an immunity called language barrier lmao. /hj Kuro is hiding things from him Mick has no clue about, that he's having nightly study sessions with Kabru, but he's not hiding this out of a sense of fear but out of care.

Their relationship is based on misunderstandings and lack of communication, and that's due to a lot of things both the language barrier thing and how they tend to run with their own interpretations of things (Mickbell thinking he knows why Kuro stays, Kuro thinking MICKBELL IS A KID WHEN MICK IS OLDER THAN HIM). Kabru himself thinks that when Kuro becomes fluent in common and the two can truly speak together is when they'll really become fruends. It's a hopeful outlook! But it makes sense, because again their relationship is based on miscommunication, Mickbell is afraid Kuro only stays because he has to because Kuro can't reassure him that he cares for Mick, and Kuro only has part of the picture because they can't talk it out, so giving them the tools to truly be able to talk and understand each other fully would completely flip the dynamic. It's truly interesting how they only have each other, but even in their relationship they're both very isolated.

"I don't want to make him anxious if I can help it. He's still a kid, but he's been through a lot of rough stuff. I'd like to be somebody he can feel relaxed around."

So yes, Kuro explicitly thinks of Mickbell as a child he must protect and watch over, care for! He has a more mentor way to talk about it, but it's easy to assume Kuro sees Mickbell as family too. Especially since he has a lot of siblings, many younger! He has a bit of a protective instinct and thinks he should be a protector, simply because Mickbell needs him, not for other more grand or personal reasons. He takes upon himself, both duties and in general for everything, he can't talk with others but that's fine, he's a dungeon diver who gets worked hard and even fights and that's fine by him, he just takes upon himself incessantly, like with Mickbell he sort of shrugs and says it is how it is.

Kuro still thinking of Mickbell as a kid has interesting implications. During the main story Mickbell is 22 and Kuro is 18- how many years could they really have spent together? He left his hometown to see more of the world and was kidnapped at a port, so we could assume he left home after coming of age at 13. He was kidnapped at a port and was part of slave market on the eastern continent, where kobolds are rarer and thus probably more profitable, so it makes sense that he'd have gotten sent to the eastern continent straight away. Just travelling the sea can take a while- the world map makes me think the sea between the western and eastern continent is of Atlantic Sea size, which irl can take a little under a week to travel through at a good pace, but with the lack of navigation technologies compared to today if you're less sure of where to go it can be more around a month. Unlikely for Kuro to have spent all that long in a cage on a boat then, but where it could get messier is once he's on the eastern continent. Mickbell freed Kuro from the guy who was holding him in a cage calling him a demihuman trader rather than an owner, so Kuro wouldn't have gotten sold yet? Or traded between different slave merchants, I wouldn't be surprised if he changed hands a couple times without having been ever sold to a customer really. It's said that the Island has a slave market for example so there seems to be large demand in many places and for it not to be done in secrecy really. But their meeting happens in Kahka Brud let's remember- which is a city with a big economical growth and market & sompopulation due to the dungeon cluster there, so it'd make sense for Kuro to have been sent there straight. Kuro was obviously mistreated, shown to stink and likely starved not unlike Izutsumi's experience caged in a freak show, but he's not bony enough for me to really be able to give a time estimation of neglect and starvation with his looks alone. This is a lot just to say "Well if we assume he left home at 13 and was enslaved soon after leaving home, and the process of getting to Kahka Brud could have taken a month at fastest, he could theoretically known Mickbell since then". During canon they're both on the Island rather than Kahka Brud, but we have nothing to be able to tell when Kuro and Mickbell came to the Island, just that they came together and that he was probably hired when Kabru formed a party 2 years before canon. We can try to compare him with Chilchuck- Canon happens in year 514, but Chilchuck came to the island five years ago, when he formed the half-foot union. Comapring them is relevant because Chilchuck comes from Kahka Brud too, again the place with a cluster of dungeons, so Chilchuck and Mickbell choosing to come to the Island for dungeon diving prospects shows the same attitude that the Kahka Brud dungeons are already all pillaged and overworked and to seek dungeons elsewhere. And who knows, maybe Mickbell didn't really choose to become an adventurer, maybe it was just about fleeing Kahka Brud since that was where he stole and did scams, but dungeon diving does seem to be a desperate man's job in many ways so it makes sense either way. The way Mickbell talks about Chilchuck, I don't get the feeling Mickbell's been on the island for longer/as long as Chilchuck and for longer than the half-foot union's existed, which makes sense if we go by the "maximum 5 years ago" theory of Mickbell and Kuro's meeting. They likely stuck around Kahka Brud for a while before deciding to go for it and move to the Island. So I guess, we can shoot to say that they knew each other for a maximum of five years but a minimum of two? I like to think Kuro spent at least a couple of months enslaved and so I'd put my own estimate at around 3-4 years, which is already a lot if you're them. A looot of time to bond with the only person in your life.

It's a bit odd, usually in a character who's been stolen away from their home a goal of theirs would be to go see their family again, but Kuro never brings up anything like that. Whether that means his homelife wasn't great, or that he feels closure enough just continuing to travel as he wanted, or even that he more or less forgot because of the trauma, who knows truly. You'll notice his stated dream is to travel with Mickbell, which ironically is directly incompatible with Mickbell's dream of settling down and getting a house with Kuro to live in. Since he was kidnapped by slave traders at a port in his original continent, we can surmise Kuro always had a taste for travel. Kuro isn't even his real name, Yodan is! His detachment from his homeland, family and cukture is very interesting. He has no problem just leaving it all behind indifinitely.

So yes Kuro isn't his actual name- so "Kuro", meaning "black" in japanese must have been a nickname given to him, and I bet it was Mickbell. Being a half-foot and a kobold who can't understand each other, the language barrier made Mickbell just start referring to him by the color of his fur. Kuro never mentions his real name so it doesn't seem he particularly cares- which is a wider point about Kuro actually, that he seems to be very laidback and laissez-faire type, unbothered and passive. Things are how they are and he goes along with it. He's not a confrontational person but he also trusts his guts when someone like Izutsumi feels off. He never questions Mickbell. When Kabru inquires about him and Mickbell, Kuro goes "oh don't worry about it it's nothing tbh". Which is also in line with how it's stated Kuro doesn't give a rat's ass about honor or wealth, he doesn't really seem to have a moral compass as much as "Mickbell is what matters to me so only what Mickbell wants and thinks matters", he follows Mickbell's orders with blind devotion when it comes to work or what they decide to do with their lives and that's just well with him. This reminds me of Falin a lot, the way I perceive them. Just utter devotion to their loved ones without really caring for what's morally right or wrong- because love is the priority and loved ones' wellbeing and happiness are all that truly matter, and sacrificing themselves and their own agency to make that happen. Kuro overlooks his own needs because he prioritizes others', Mickbell's. I think his views on relationships and what’s normal are very skewed. That said, Kabru calls Kuro overprotective too, and I think Kuro can be very stubborn as well, and as we see with the comic where Kabru and him talk about Izutsumi's smell he's perfectly able to have strong opinions, he's not only the stoic type. Kuro's very coddling with Mickbell, and while I do think he's a nice guy I definitely think Mickbell is an exception where that's pushed to the extreme for Kuro, Kuro's fixated on Mickbell just as much as Mickbell is fixated on Kuro. Codependence has never been truer a word gdbdgd. Kuro is rather polite and conscientious, in a regular conversation you'd think he very well-adjusted, he's smart and very observant, not just aided by his nose but with how aptly he notices psychological aspects of Mickbell for example, he's eager to learn and hardworking.

Kuro's biggest interest and dream is referred to be travelling, he left home to do just that before he was ever kidnapped already so it's not even an acquired taste from being encaged. And that fits well with Kuro just following the flow imo, Kuro's wants like Mickbell are small pleasures in life like that, just walking around and seeing new sights... Mickbell wants food and a roof over his head and Kuro wants food and freedom. Ironically, their wishes are directly contradictory- Mickbell wants to live in a house with Kuro and Kuro wants to travel around with Mickbell, Mickbell even has his dream of a specific neighborhood. But it is very notable that both their dreams mention the other, whatever it is they end up doing they want to do it together. Post-canon, he opens a variety store with Kuro, and it's said his relationship with Kuro stays unbalanced. We don't know where it was opened, if they stayed in Melini or went back to Kahka Brud- but since Mickbell's dream is to specifically get a house in Kahka Brud's best neighborhoods and it's where he lived before on the streets, it seems to make sense house in Kahka Brud would still be his goal and to set up shop there. Not that we get an update on the house funds, the post-canon blurb is still in the near future after canon so their futures are still very much left open. Just wait until Kuro learns common...! That'll solve everything........!

I tried to go extensively into his parallels with Toshiro and Izutsumi here. Hmm 7w6? Noo 7w8 actually god... Too real... Get me out of here the Mickbell and Kuro double whammy is making me need a smoke. Soooo many characters in Dunmeshi have this theme of learning to live for yourself be comfortable in your skin and get in touch with your needs and desires more Kuro!!

Relationships

: Overlook

Ok THIS is the fun part. So I made this chart as sort of a summary- we'll especially be looking at the personal bonds and work besties relationships through sections, but that's not to say those dynamics are the only things going on. I tried to keep only the basics and essentials, but you could also totally have added a Kuro to Kabru arrow mentioning how Kabru is teaching him common, or one from Mickbell to Holm about how Mickbell crashes at Holm's place occasioanllu. I made the purple lines based on what we see in canon, but it’s totally possible that Rin also judges Mickbell and Kuro, and that Holm and Dia judge Kabru & Rin as well, even though I don’t really think so, not particularly.

And that's what I’m getting at here: their party has a lot hanging in the air that everyone is more or less aware of but don’t truly acknowledge aloud, don't speak about or resolve. Holm and Dia needle Mickbell about his treatment of Kuro but don’t actually do anything or push, Kabru tries to help by teaching Kuro common but seems to be content "meddling" in only small subtle ways over time like that doing just what he can, concludes that the relationship mess goes bot hways and decide to just keep an eye on it quietly, meanwhile Mickbell seems tired of seeing Rin and Kabru bicker over her crush when Kabru teases and they argue, but doesn’t think to have a tal kabout whatever the fuck it is they have going on- it’s routine, it’s just how things are. It's commonplace- so their serious accusations about Mickbell are mentioned a grand total of twice and that's that, and only Mickbell out of everyone acknowledges aloud that Rin and Kabru have a weird thing going on and that Rin is weirdly deoted to Kabru/loves him implicitly. Everyone is much more ready to comment on Kuro & Mickbell than Rin & Kabru- which, absolutely deserved yes, but are what Kabru and Rin have not intensely weird behavior. Would you not get a headache trying to understand what's going on there and listening to their flirting and scolding and arguments on the regular. Do they never get "this needs to stop"? No, only Mickbell? Okay

Made this lil collage above but it's notable that the whole party throws casual jabs at Kabru all the time also, whether about how he can't take care of himself or how obsessed or weird he can be. Although everyone has respect and trust for kabru, they're also all fairly comfortable criticizing him. We see this in the shapeshifter "what if" comic too- his party members often find KAbru too extreme and overly dedicated, but ultimately trust him and follow his lead. Dia keeps her nose out of things but beyond hater duo Mickbell & Rin, even Holm comments regularly on his people pleasing and bad cleaning and organisation habits. Paralleling the Laios hater duo of Marcille and Chilchuck in the main party, Rin and Mickbell are especially critical and harsh on Kabru, here's a short and incomplete compilation to illustrate the point. Do they do fuckall about it though? No not really.

Everyone at some point or other shows concern for Kuro, it shows they don’t default to treating him as furniture or a tool after a long time of working together, they value him, but there’s always a third party barrier through which they have to interact, Mickbell- except for Kabru who can communicate with him on Kuro's own territory and have alone time with. But no one except Kabru and Mickbell even try to talk to/with Kuro, and you could also easily argue Kuro is not fully humanized, there's how no one except Mickbell worried for Kuro here for example.

I want you to imagine being Dia or Holm. I want you to imagine what it must take for there to be not one but two insane dynamics in your party amongst your coworkers, with who your job is so to camp with for weeks at a time, and not even blink at it anymore. I want you to imagine being kind and queen of staying in your lane and having these two obvious codependent situationships amongst your coworkers and just go "if I don't acknowledge this things are gonna go more smoothly". Save them get them out of there. Just the occasional long suffering sigh and "Mickbell that's not right :/" and yes, your job here is done.

You really start seeing this pattern looking closer where their party are fraught with interpersonal drama. The will-they-won't-they casanova leader & his angry tsundere childhood friend and Mickbell and his "employee" he exploits and isolates from the wider world??????? Truth of their relationship aside as we've discussed, this is how people around them perceive their dynamics and the optics are insane (/negative hello). The true doom of Kabru's party is all this interpersonal drama going on??? The very thing Chilchuck fears about parties lol, HOW has this party not imploded on itself yet. And personally I think that's a good part of what they contrast with the main party about- Where Kabru's party failed, Laios' party succeeded because they talked their differences out, they challenged each other on topics they disagree on and argued, instead of always just brushing everything under the rug. The reason canon happens at all is becase under the emergency of the situation Laios decides to be vulnerable and come clean about his interest in monster cuisine after all, and yes judgement and racism is rampant at first, but they reach an understanding through open communication. Meanwile, Kabru's party doing social 8d chess.......... Just keep on making passive aggressive comments forever see where it gets you.

This party also has a running theme with unabalanced and onesided relationships, and emotional dependence/burdening. It feels weird for it to be so weirdly intricately developed and consistent even though it does nothing in the main story- except for strengthening the whole diverse living cast thing which is important to the lesson and theme of people coming together despite differences is good, and like, "you can't judge others' relationships and sitations without knowing them" you know, but. It's here man it's here and present and too loud for me to unsee. Rin is dependent on Kabru and there's an argument to be made about the reverse being true as well even if Kabru is emotionally unavailable, and then there's the codependent Mickbell & Kuro mess, and even Dia and her fiance are faced with some unbalanced relationship and emotional unavailability. So our lineup is kabrin, mickuro, Dia & fiance and Holm who has a barely breathing social life. I suppose the latter's not uncommn though, the same can be said with most of Laios' party including Namari and Toshiro.... But good lord. This combined with how Dia & Holm get along together the best does make the party dynamic really funny though in a vacuum, everyone's going razy with intense tea meanwhile Dia and Holm the quiet judgers who glance at each other like do you see this shit. You are the only one normal here. (One has researched illegal magic and the other grew up in a cult.)

To me it's also really interesting Kabru hiring Mickbell and Kuro especially. Kabru is someone who works off reputation a lot, he has his homegrown informant web called gossip buddies and whatnot, and we know that while he's willing to go to questionable lengths for his beliefs, he has a pretty strong sense of right and wrong where stealing from people who ripped you off and repeatedly led you to death was a no-no. With all the shit Mickbell is catching even now about his slave- ehem, business partner, I doubt Mickbell would have seemed anywhere squeaky clean. Kabru hired a pretty blatant morally loose person who has stolen and scammed- and I think that's very interesting. Was Kabru desperate for party members? Maybe with Dia and Holm, believing in his cause was important-? No no, it's more likely the other way around- only desperate adventurers (or the ones who specifically want Kabru as their party member) stick to being in his party, with all the failures it experiences. Mickbell and Kuro are the only on who don't express loyalty to Kabru, so maybe Kabru's party was the only party willing to hire him- especially if he and Kuro are a package deal where they both get paid. And there's how Mickbell isn't affiliated with the half-foot guild too! Which means no work protections for him but also no salary cut? But yes yes, especially with the way he treated the corpse retrievers you'd think he wouldn't want anyone shifty on his side, but there's also the side of Kabru that loves to help others out, both on a societal and an interpersonal level- and I like to think that despite Mickbell obviously being from a rougher crowd he not only saw the two of them for the skilled people they are but also just, saw they were in a tough spot and wanted to offer a chance y'know? I had a convo about that once where I asked my Kabru expert friend what they thought about Kabru's grasp on socioeconomics and helping out people who are in tough situations for circumstances beyond their control, because you'd think Kabru would be understanding but then with the corpse retrievers, who seem Not Well Off and are comprised by many mixed races individuals like a half-dwarf and a half-gnome........ Helki and Mickbell are alike in many ways and it's interesting to think that may have played a part... Kabru seeing this disheveled obviously sketchy down on his luck Mickbell and being reminded of the only father figure he's ever had in his life, another blonde smartass with a ponytail, an ex-convict from a rough criminal background… And wanting to hire him to help him have a chance to get out of that place lowkey... I'M JUST SPITBALLING!!!!

Anyways so getting back to the crux of the matter, this is how the party naturally divides up with each other, the same kind of way Laios & Senshi and Marcille & Chilchuck did especially early on.

But the interesting thing is that Kabru keeps everyone at a distance, Rin included, so how does it divide up when Kabru and Rin aren’t interacting? She stays alone? Nope, oddly enough she seems to gravitate towards Mickbell. And the reverse is true- which makes sense since his partner isn’t a good conversationalist. Mickbell doesn’t really see Kuro as an equal, Kuro is his beloved fool he's tricking on the daily in his mind after all, so he doesn't seek out Kuro for opinions, because unlike Rin Kuro isn't a peer. In the page on the right notice the second panel, everyone gives each other a silent glance and this summarizes the dynamics here really well. Kabru is telling his plan of keeping going and this is everyone's moment to agree or disagree. Holm and Dia look to each other, more neutral. Rin and Mickbell look to each other, seeming more displeased, and Kuro looks to Mickbell. In that second of gauging each other's feelings through a glance, their resolve and opinion gets steeled and everyone tells their feelings after, Mickbell and Rin more reluctant. On the left you can see who sits next to who, who walks next to who in the party formation- Rin is always right next to KAbru but Mickbell is at her side, with Holm following without attracting much attention to himself and Daya closing the group on the lookout for threats. Mickbell & Kuro and Rin & Kabru as actual friends impotant in each other's lives tend to duo up, meanwhile Dia & Holm and Mickbell & Rin are more like "each other's favorite coworker" than actual friends, so Holm and Dia don't even necessarily stick together, at the risk of being third wheels. In fact the christmas gift exchange is a good character writing moment with everyone, if you want to look at their gifts and reactions.

So yes this explains how I divided up the chart, the duos are Rin & Kabru bond, Mickbell & Kuro bond, Mickbell & Rin coworker besties, Dia & Holm coworker besties.

Rin & Kabru

I made a rather in depth post on their relationship recently, specifically trying to nail down whether or not Kabru could have/had romantic or ambiguous feelings for her beyond/instead of "big sister":

It's a good look at it that covers most of the matter and has much, much more pictures than I could otherwise put here, so I'm allowing myself to go over this section faster here and summarize things.

Their relationship is obviously very onesided and... Needy, for a lack of a better word, because Rin is clingy and Kabru is probably her one friend in her life currently- but it's always been that way anyways hasn't it, did she have anyone else at the elves' too, did she have any in the village she grew up in that hated her family so much they killed them? She's overbearing and hovers over his shoulder for mistakes when they're together, but her reason for doing so is out of worry for Kabru, that because of his ambitious and self-neglectful tendencies he'll get himself into trouble, and she's not wrong about that! Kabru holds himself on his own currently, but it's not hard to see a future where he slowly descends into neglecting himself more and more in his focus on his work, but no currently he's still able to endear his landlord into cleaning his room for him and to put himself to sleep with alcohol. The relationship is onesided because Rin's always the one pushing and Kabru never truly opens up, but their relationship does have push and pull too- Kabru does pull sometimes. It isn't like Kuro simply passively enabling Mickbell's issues and bad behaviors, but in many ways encouraging them. Kabru flirts with her. He jokes and he teases in ways that come dangerously close to acknowledging aloud she has feelings for it, and never turning her down despite it being clear to us he has no intent on ever reciprocating them- He leads her on, whatever his intent is. And I go into possibilities of how and why in the separate post a lot, but overall I'd say that it's because he does need her back in a way too. It's that repressed desire for connection that rears its head with Laios and even Mithrun too. Maybe they're an ill-fitting match, but it's what he has, the friend he's had for the longest- Like I like to say, seeing Rin as his best friend is so sad and tragic but it’s also not wrong. From what we see she’s the closest to him, which is sad to think about. How can a guy’s social life be so thriving yet down in the dumps truly. She completely relies on him for purpose in her state in canon and dumps her emotions and issues on him, but he does play with her back and avoids his emotions and needs through her too. He has the uer hand in their dynamic, was even the one to ask Rin to come along with him when they left the elven kingdom. She's a fixture in his life, she's a safety net, she's someone who'll love him unconditionally, who even if he mistreats her a bit he knows she'll stick with him. He sees her as a big sister, after all. He knows her tough love is love. Does he give her jokes to latch onto as his way to keep her in check, or to make sure she'll want to keep following him? He can't bear to bare himself to anyone, but if it's Rin, she knows infinitely well how Kabru isn't perfect, constantly reminds him of that, and where in every other relationship he tries to be or has people believing he is perfect, with her he can be a little rotten, a little inconsiderate- and idk idk man. I don't think there's really a conclusion we can get to with them, but a lot of their dynamic feels just very. Mutually unhealthy. Like self-harm almost.

And like, look at the picture of them dancing below! Just it alone implies a dynamic already. They balance each other out somewhat, because they're severe about different things, Kabru encourages her to let loose socially but Rin keeps him from getting too full of himself in his own corner, because she always keeps calling out to him specifically, to the Kabru she knows and that he knows she knows- though maybe doubts sometimes. They both keep each other from being too caught up in themselves- but both of them are also frowning here. They also enable each other in very bad ways imo and inadvertently push each other into their bad habits, nagging Kabru makes him retreat into his shell even more and approach their relationship calculatingly or even coldly knowing of her feelings for him, and getting all the attention from Kabru in a way she doesn't want- because she can tell he still has his walls up- makes her more frustrated and it's all just a bad cycle of feeding each other to continue just as the status quo is. Rin nags him so Kabru throws her a bone so Rin nags him etc. But they're also genuinely dear to each other, maybe more iut of memories than because of the present, so they can't really let go of each other. Fucking doom tango fr

My take on Rin being particularly severe on Kabru, beyond just being worried that any mistake has a dangerous cost for people like them, is that like. She knows Kabru, from way back, and she sees his persona, how he tries to be perfect for others and caters to everyone's needs except his own, how he keeps himself hidden like that. And she doesn't wang Kabru the persona, just Kabru the person, the man she loves- and he's trying to be perfect but it's futile, and it just makes him more cardboard cutout, he's being fake and it just makes her so angry how he keeps his distance with her, so at every turn she tells him when he's not perfect, at every turn she reminds him of his flaws, as if to say, "you can't be perfect, just stop". And every flirt he sends her way during the story makes her madder because again she knows it's just empty air to toy with her, so she scolds harder. Like I don't think she's a self-aware person in general, so I think she mostly just feels this as sadness completely masked with anger that drives her foward and makes her impulsively say things, and she thinks what she says is right and she's being righteous, but also there's just this gaping void in her at the state of things, there's frustration whenever she sees Kabru smile a plastic smile at others all the time, and she doesn't know why. And the only worse thing is to have that plastic smile targeted at her- but it makes whenever he offers her more genuine unprompted attention all the more precious, like in the comic about her smiling.

They kept in touch post-canon! But it seems inevitable to me that the change in their lives made them grow a bit more distant, not working together all the time anymore. Rin figures Kabru is being taken care of by now, being a part of the royal court, and goes to pursue her own ventures, but they're still friends and that shows with Kabru inviting her to the castle. Rin can't help herself but to visit him once in a while to see if he's still breathing I bet- I do think she has a bit of a "only I don't get fooled by you (especially when you say you're fine)" way to think about him and their rekationship, a big of why she'd say the "Don't think everyone's going to fall for you". Anyways, it is fun to theorize Rin might be a pharmacist often hired by the castle hehe, but yes yes that's all we get info wise. Here's to hoping she mellows out some

Mickbell & Kuro

So, their relationship is more messed up than Kabru and Rin's, but it's less up in the air/free grounds for interpretation, much more directly explained. Their character profiles & extra pages alone give a really good look at their relationship and both their perspectives of it: Kuro's family that Mickbell has to find ways to chain to himself or he feels insecure, Mickbell to Kuro is a vulnerable kid that he chooses to look after and go the extra mile of being mindful & considerate of said insecurities. I already talked about it a lot in the Mickbell & Kuro sections, and the post I linked above has a longer but more compact analysis of them- but yes yes I'll still cover the essential and the new here. I said it earlier but Mickbell needs Kuro more than Kuro needs Mickbell- Kuro is like the entirety of Mickbell's emotional regulation 'skills' lol, where Kuro needs Mickbell in a material sense where Kuro wouldn't be able to communicate well with others or go far without money and Mickbell, Mickbell needs Kuro because otherwise he'd be shattered- not to say that Kuro isn't also very useful to have around for his muscles. Both of them are very physically and mentally vunerable both, the pyramid of maslow is not being met on any level eesh. Kuro needs a compass and Mickbell needs an anchor, both of them needed a purpose in the day to day life of survival and both chose each other for that- protect Mickbell, and buy a house with Kuro. The human mind thrives off of goals, desires. Again this thing with compass & anchor is very reminiscent of Falin with Kuro, the way she centered her life around others, so much so that when she was a mentally compromised chimera she defaulted to that way of being with Thistle. But they're in that spot very similar to them where one is especially very mentally vulnerable and easy to control whereas the other is very physically vulnerable if the other were to decide they've had enough and go murder mode on him. It's the dog loving the chain on its collar.

How long have they known each other? Who knows, but I estimated it between 2 to 5 years, between when Kuro became an adult and when Kabru formed a party- but even those are just guesses. I also think he named Kuro, since Kuro's name is actually Yodan and "kuro" simply means "black" in japanese, with the language barrier Mickbell wouldhave just started nicknaming him by the color of his fur.

It’s important to remember how they started: Mickbell saving Kuro and Kuro saving Mickbell, Mickbell freeing Kuro out of spite which made Kuro follow him and then Kuro saving Mickbell by maiming the guy who had kept him in a cage and was threatening Mickbell, prompting Mickbell to suggest hiring him (while being broke) as a bodyguard, half out of fear half out of seizing opportunities? And we'll get to that but this is a good way to understand why they're both so "It's us vs the world", they both came from a similar situation surviving in the slums together but even before that they had the same man for enemy, Mick helped Kuro out and Kuro helped Mick out in turn, and they stuck together. So that’s the origins of Kuro being "his employee" that he’s working for peanuts, it’s less disingenuous and eager than we’d expect, the attachment Mickbell formed to Kuro was over time, eventually associating Kuro with both safety and companionship. Meanwhile Kuro seemed ride or die very early, being saved helped I’m sure, but remembering that Kuro thinks of Mickbell as a child to protect also helps frame why Kuro would be so ready to devote himself to guarding him- seeing a small vulnerable "kid" in all this danger, constantly surrounded by threats and famine. So in the end, a big factor for their relationship is that they can’t communicate for shit. For several reasons including language barrier, overly controlling and dehumanizing behavior/abuse tactics backfiring- and emotional constipation. They both have preconceived notions and they both just.... Don't really know each other. I don't think Mickbell even knows his name- Kuro thinks he's a kid! They don't know each other, but they also know each other in the way of familiarity, in the form of having spent years inseparable glued to each other. Mickbell doesn't know Kuro's name and Kuro doesn't know Kuro's age, they don't know the other have siblings they have cut contact with and they don't know each other's dreams, they've never had an actual conversation especially on equal grounds, but also they know each other's mannerisms. They know each other's favorite foods. They know the sound of each other laughing and crying and the feeling of each other's warmth. They know each other but they also don't know each other at all!!!!! Crazy crazyyyy dynamic.

The "it's us vs the world" is so so strong with them especially from Mickbell's end, and can you blame him? Can you blame him when he's been kicked down like a dog all his life and he sees that in Kuro too? And perhaps no one else can ever understand Mickbell and know and stay with him like Kuro does, even when they can't even have actual conversations. This is it for Mickbell, Kuro is all he'll ever get in his mind and he's intent on never letting go, he's all he'll ever get and us all he wants and he cannot, will not, ever, let him go.

And the whole snarling-growling thing is very interesting too, especially since that's contrasted with Kabru (scroll down here for pictures). Mickbell has little experience with kobolds beside Kuro but also his first impression of Kuro was seeing him bite and maim a man to death. Kabru has experience with kobolds from his homeland where they're seen as more serious threat than cute doggy people, where there was fighting and rumors and presumably contact too since Kabru learned some of kobold language and he was only 6, AND Kabru has trauma with monsters and beasts in general. When Kuro growls, Mickbell goes "hey I told you to stop growling that's scary :/", and Kabru goes "Kuro, what's wrong?". And this is sooo so fascinating to me. Part of this already is again the language barrier, Kabru can ask Kuro to comfortably explain the issue where Mick cannot (he could still try though since Kuro can still speak some albeit broken common), so with Mickbell Kuro only has body language that doesn't come naturally to non-kobolds to communicate with- but Mickbell dismisses it as regularly as he doesn't. Part of it for Mickbell is having been on the other side of Kuro when angry, having seen how scary he can be and afraid himself- but then why? Does Mickbell still get scared of Kuro when he snarls and acts like that, the way a lot of us flinch when someone gets mad and yells? Does Kuro feel more unpredictable then, and that's scary for many reasons? Or maybe it's because he's scared of the way others see Kuro, that others will dehumanize Kuro if he emotes in ways like this. From where they come living on the streets, looking wrong at the wrong guy can cost a lot, so Mickbell may have extra developed a sense of keeping your head down at the right times and not provoking when risky- and he can't fully control Kuro so when that choice is out of his hands things feel a lot more shaky. Of course though in any case, growling or no growling Mickbell sticks with Kuro, keeps holding onto him when he snarls, it never crosses his mind to step away from Kuro or leave him behind, consequences or uncertainty be damned. Just, the justified concern mixing with the unhealthy possessiveness and controlling, the genuine fear... It represents their wider relationship pretty well in just one example.

He fucking sticks with Kuro with the baths!! Many bathhouses don't accept kobolds but Mickbell tirelessly keeps looking for one who will, Mickbell and Kuro are a PACKAGE DEAL and it stays that way even when it's inconvenient for Mickbell. Mickbell washes Kuro and spends hours brushing him afterwards with immense care and patience, there's effort there on his end too there is consideration and love!! They are sooooo ride or die!!!! "Now you're the cleanest dog in the whole wild world, no one can look down on you"!!!!!!

They have incompatible dreams of the future, Mickbell wants to settle down in a house and Kuro wants to travel, both want to do it together. My thing with Mick & Kuro post-canon is the only ways I see it develop and go down is: 1) Kuro becomes able to easily converse with him and their relationship changes with a lot of rough bumps but slowly and surely towards something better and/or 2) Kuro leaves to travel here and there while Mick manages the house, they’re still in a life partnership but they’re ok being apart for a while now. Mickbell learns that leaving doesn’t mean there’s no coming back and to live beyond each other ykyk <3 But while Kabru himself is hopeful that when Kuro becomes fluent in common Mickbell and Kuro can "really become friends", their post-canon blurbs break our hopes for a near future resolution, specifying that Mickbell "still works Kuro hard". They open a variety store together! I like to call it Mick & Kuro's knick knacks <3 Does Mickbell still keep his prices and product descriptions dangerously close to being scammy? Possible! He's earned it though he has his own store brooo his own building his own business... I know that shit got him emotional We do see that Kuro gets him to be healthier slowly but surely though- in the last chapters we see him push Mickbell implicitly towards the half-foot guild! Kuro is protective but not possessive and he encourages Mickbell to get out of his shell, reflecting how he talks about Mickbell as someone needing support and gentle care & understanding- he was being real about noticing his issues and wanting him to become happier.

Once upon a time back in my early days of shipping mickrin I entertained the thought Mickbell's attachment to Mickbell may have a romantic nature mixed in as well, whether it'd be "genuine" or maladaptive's too complex for me to say- but what was funny is that even in that case to me nothing changed. I think that in a world where Mickbell likes Kuro romantically, he would neverrr ever make a move because he'd be too terrified Kuro would dislike it and leave- so instead it just gets lashed out in different ways and he vents & seeks that out in other people kinda hoping it'd be Kuro or whatever. Kuro's too precious to risk is the thing. "It's us vs the world" and if Kuro leaves then is when he would be truly alone- like I mention in the Mickbell & Kuro I linked I think Mickbell is very afraid of change. It's why I think the possible future of Kuro learning to talk common well would be rockier than we'd assume at first- and I think in that fear of change is the fear of changing the nature of their relationship and lowkey even the fear of deepening it- What if Kuro starts actually understanding what Mickbell always says and decides Mickbell is stupid and unlikable after all? What if Kuro starts talking and Mickbell doesn't like what he says? What would Mickbell do if Kuro started being more inquisitive, asking more questions and requesting more things? Mickbell is terrified of Kuro having agency and it's for a reason!! Mickbell lowkey dehumanizes Kuro as a possession sometimes because that's less scary, because Kuro being a full person with his own wants and thoughts detached from Mickbell is scary!!

Mickbell needs to be Kuro's whole world- because if Kuro got a taste of the rest of the world, everything else there is beside him- beyond him-, then how could Mickbell possibly compete with that? How could Kuro choose Mickbell over the world? And the irony of it all the thing that gets me choked up is that along it was never a competition, the world has always been Kuro's love, travelling is his main interest, and he wants to travel it with Mickbell- The world is wonderful and Mickbell's presence doesn't take away from it but enriches it, makes the world even more valuable and treasured and life more enjoyable and full and god. God!!!!!

So yes these are insane coworkers to have and this is the dynamic that has Dia and Holm side-eye Mickbell and ask him when he's planning to free his house elf. Imagine having a group project in school and these dudes are in your group.

Rin & Mickbell

The hater duo, no 1!!!! Dia & Holm is the second one but they can't hope to match these two's intensity and hater aura. This is our moment to breathe we're getting back into Kuro & Mickbell madnedd after

I compile their most relevant interactions here, and you can also see a small compilation of them combining their hater powers on Kabru here. There'S a lot of things that make them really fun to pair up, like how they're easily the top 2 most unpleasant bitter Kabru party members and how they like each other best anyways lol, or how they're both in a codependent situationship- and they both have similar defense mechanisms of most things getting filtered through anger, but what's especially interesting is how they're different in the worst way, in Rin's codependent relationship she's the one who gives and devotes herself, the self-sacrificial one, and in Mickbell's codependent relationship he's the one who takes and takes, the self-centered one.

That's already me getting lost in the sauce though because these two are just coworkers and that ends there- in fact with the tavern comic about Rin smiling we see that they get along much more at work than outside of it. I think why they get along is exactly that blunt and critical nature of theirs- Neither hesitate or bother with politeness or little games to say what they have on their mind and when something's a bad idea- it's why with even just a "you see this shit?" glance at each other they get steeled and soothed into reluctantly agreeing with Kabru, "Well, if Mickbell/Rin is okay going along with Kabru's plan, it must be fine after all... Not that we won't shoot him with laser beams with our eyes". Like I said earlier even though Mickbell can be manipulative, but he emotes very strongly and openly and is very blunt as a rule, he seems to value in others the same type of directness that he has with emoting and interacting, as seen with his distaste for Rin being a tsundere in the same tavern comic. You could reach and theorize his distaste in Rin acting all happy because Kabru complimented her, despite her still being very sour, is also from a feeling that she's being easily manipulated, which could be interesting... But yes yes, and similarly Rin is drawn towards someone who is similarly severe with high standards and who's very cautious with plans and money, and with her distaste for Kabru's own playing around and fake politeness it's interesting to think she'd find someone who's authentic to the point of being unabashedly unpleasant refreshing. So yes yes, they're united in haterism, and they look to each other for opinions, and they sit together, and when they meet Laios' party with Toshiro's Mickbell tugs on her (the only other who took a hard stance on wanting the "thieves" to pay) dress to go "hey you see these bastards?", and when Rin casts waterwalk on the party it feels very familiar- which shows still how much familiarity the party has developed together. They don't get together to have a laugh or have fun, but they seem to be each other's favorite coworker and be often on the same wavelength, easily understand each other's thoughts from even just a glance.

You can feasibly theorize Mickbell has a crush on Rin and is jealous of Kabru for it, considering he's always hanging around Rin when it isn't Kuro, how he hangs onto her on the regular, when he sighs seeing Rin and Kabru argue because Kabru flirted, when he's always on Kabru's case, when he's the only one who brings up Rin & Kabru's relationship, when he gets frustrated she doesn't laugh at his jokes and says she woud be much cuter and more charming if she smiled more- which we see Mickbell beam at. Misogynistic energy? Yes. No one said Mickbell hasn't some incel tendencies in him lol. I don't think that's the intent though and all these things can be easily explained by other stuff, but all of these together make it a coherent angle, if you so wish for it. Mickbell lashing out at those he likes because he's insecure when he doesn't have their full attention who'd have thunk! The mickrin manifesto is coming another dayyyy though I can't get more sidetracked

Kuro & Kabru

I already went into some things a bit like Kabru's reaction to Kuro growling despite his trauma wit hbeasts and experience with kobolds' nastier side, and I have a post where I let myself ramble about the two of them here- I'm sorryyyyy I'm sorry everything is so interconnected I can't not repeat myself and link stuff!! But once again I'll cover the bases here- In a non shippy light but also the original post is 90% parallels and analysis too

So their relationship is really interesting in many many ways. Kabru is teaching Kuro to speak and write common in secret, which shows many things already. In the party he's by far the most considerate and caring of Kuro, we see him listen to Kuro's worries about Izutsumi also. We see him ask Kuro about his opinions, for Kuro that's revolutionary, we see him take Kuro's concerns seriously and extensively talk about them and he accommodates with talking kobold as well. For being the one with monster & demihuman trauma, he's the one who humanizes Kuro the most- perhaps because it forces him to take Kuro seriously and keep in mind the whole of him, not only appearances or behavior, in an hypervigilance and "I know what you are" way, if that makes sense?? We see Kabru's urge to spend time to give a voice to the voiceless, to help this one dude, his coworker living in questionable circumstances. And all of this, again, despite his trauma, despite him saying it's best to assume communication with demihumans is impossible in the kobold extra!!! Do see the irony!! And many say that Kabru only said that because it was the Touden siblings and he wanted to say anything to make them think twice about blindly approaching the "cool cute desert dog people", but even if that's fully the case I still think it's interesting that he'd be willing to throw demihumans he spent his early childhood coexisting with under the bus like that- in a way.

He's giving Kuro knowledge... Teaching him like Milsiril once did- the thing he himself most grateful to her for. From one disempowered person to the other he's teaching societal survival skills. He's tutoring Kuro on his own best weapon: words. And he does this in secret, with no laurels and no reward, at night on the regular. I think their dynamic really goes to show just how much Kabru cares about others, how even though he sees Kuro as more "photorealistic" and less cartoony than the others, both because he knows the dangers of kobols and he takes them more seriously- and inadvertently emphasing on the beastly animal side taking away the endearing exaggerated features..... Even then, he's so so very considerate, and kind, and he cares, and how much he wants the world to be better and equal and for everyone to live well. And this shows in how the nightly sessions are also a way he gets to interact with Kuro away from Mickbell's eyes- This is where Kabru inquires about their relationship and learns about Kuro's vision of things. Whenever Mickbell steps in Kabru immediately folds, makes himself as non-threatening and unimposing to Mickbell as possible and steps away without resistance to ease his worries, but when he's away Kabru and Kuro can actually talk. And Kuro does open up to him, and hearing his thoughts Kabru learns about them andconcludes that both of them are overprotective over the other- He sees that the issue and the overattachment isn't oneway, and acts in kind. Kabru keeps an eye on them, as seen also with the end of the extra about Izutsumi's scent, helping in the ways he can, subtly through acts like helping Kuro learn common so one day he and Mickbell may talk.

Kabru is likely the closest thing to a friend Kuro has currently, beyond Mickbell. Which is crazy to think about!! But also man I want you to imagine them having their late night study sessions, talking about their home the western continent together for a bit. Kabru gets to talk about the desserts he couldn't talk about in the elven kingdom and Kuro recognizes them, in just talking about the weather they find so much commonplace, in traditions and myths and habits and ways to be- And maybe from where he's from Kuro's heard of the evil eye as well, knows that tallmen with blue eyes are rare and seen as bad omens, disowned and chased out of cities, but Kuro offers no judgement and so Kabru offers none in return. Like their arrows towards each other are "kobold" from Kabru to Kuro and "he speaks my language", and that's so crazy!!!! That's so little but that's so crazy!! And I truly cannot handle typing these thoughts again so just scroll down here but my god my god!! The heartwrenching isolation of them.

Ah yes- there's also something to say about how only he and Mickbell don't follow Kabru with any solid sense of loyalty! Everyone else praises Kabru's cause and says they're there for him to achieve it, but Mickbell stays quiet on that lol and almost walks out at one point- and then Kuro very straightforwardly says that he'll follow Mickbell whatever he decides- As much as Mickbell is Kuro's "employer" Mickbell is Kuro's leader, Kabru might be the team coordinator in his eyes and he does respect him, but the only cemented in loyalty he has is to Mickbell. Ironically, he's also the one who rates him as a party leader best! At a high 95% score. Which still shows just how much Kuro likes and respects Kabru... And also might show how low his standards are, since the party keeps dying under his lead- Kuro hasn't had great impressions of bosses and workers' rights after all- like with people's behaviors and living conditions and whatnot he has bare minimums standards, a very low bar, like him thinking of Kabru as "The guy who speaks my language!" something that should be so normal, being able to communicate with someone in a language you're comfortable and fluent in, has become something exceptional and precious.

Kabru & Mickbell

Okay this one is sooo interestingly layered. So there's a lot that goes into Mickbell's onesided beef with Kabru- I can try to summarize it as that Kabru seems effortlessly charismatic.

Part of it is as Mickbell puts it here and here, that he's afraid Kabru will steal Kuro away somehow (and that's without knowing about their study sessions). Kabru is so charismatic and likable, and kind something that as we se Mickbell tends to approach with suspicion- nothing in this world's free. Believing that Kuro only stays with Mickbell because he has to and that Mickbell successfully fools him, it's not hard to see him being afraid of Kabru "telling Kuro stuff" that'll convince Kuro or turn him against Mickbell, "he's a smooth talker, don't let him kidnap you"! It's again that belief that Kuro is easily fooled mixed with Mickbell's belief that no one could choose him over others if they had option- who wouldn't go for the cool and handsome charismatic witty tallman? Even his fave coworker who's just as severe as him is all wrapped up around his finger after all. And then there might be more general jealousy at work, about Kabru being an ideal with all these qualities and how well off he seems despite being broke too, Mickbell possesses so few qualities and his party leader that he finds incompetent on top of everything else just has "every quality given to him on a silver platter" or whatever resenting drivel Mickbell would think up. And then yes there's as I put it, the incompetence- Kabru and Mickbell think & operate in very different ways, Mickbell is very direct while Kabru is very indirect, Mickbell is very practical while Kabru is very guided by ideals- they have very different conceptions of "the end justifies the means", very different goals of self-serving vs greater good. They have different morals and views on retribution with the corpse retrievers, he's the one who pushes most against Kabru's plan of keeping going into the dungeon even after things go wrong and so he's the one who gets his concerns dismissed by Mickbell most, alongside Rin. Like with Rin he seems to see Kabu as reckless and as someone who takes things too lightly, which as someone who takes his job very seriously is frustrating, and like with Holm and Dia too he seems well aware of his flaws with people and his "fakeness", which doesn't endear him lol. Also someone stubborn- which from someone stubborn to another is always a sign of a great war incoming lmao.

And I do want to reiterate the beef is onesided!! Kabru is maybe even the most charitable and patient with Mickbell. As much as Holm let him and Kuro crash for a night, Kabru was the one to give him the money to go to a bathhouse. You can see his look of concern at stinky Mickbell in the first panel lol.

Again I'll share this comp of Mickbell and Rin being on his case, to see some examples! And my personal favorite:

And notice the Dia-Holm sideglance in the next-to-last panel. Is it a "he spitting some truth rn" or a "Ahh Kabru is on his corny shit again"? Wouldn't you like to know lmfao

Daya & Holm

You looove to be unbothered and uninvolved in the love square happening. The hate triangle if you will (Kuro isn't involved in that one he dgaf). You looove to just give professional opinions on the party's plans and that's it, you love keeping things to yourself and being a quiet pillar of the party rather than anything showy or flashy. I just love their side-eyes I just love making them quietly judge everyone especially togther, "you are my partner in sanity" fr.

Even together they don't have that strong a bond, like with Rin & Mickbell it starts and ends with their work dynamic pretty much. Still, consistently over and over again when the party divides itself into subgroups naturally, these two gravitate towards each other. As above a Daydream Hour shows them hanging out (off-work considering their outfits?) and points out that they're the party members "closest in age", 58 and 76 respectively, the oldest beside them is Rin at 24. Developmentally, with just proportionally comparing their lifespan to tallman's and calculating in kind Dia would be 23 while Holm is 30, so this thing about being closest in age seem to be about them both being longlived races, thus having a more similar sense of time and outlook on the world for it. They do seem to be all around the most mature and well adjusted of the group- although those appearances can for sure hide some deep flaws we just haven't been able to truly notice.

OTHERS?

These are the ones I felt were worth commenting on but they all have litle dynamics between each other, with Mickbell & Daya the least probably, for example if you want Holm & kabru thoughts I made a ship post about them and compiled most of their interactions. Like, I do like to summarize Holm @ kabru as "i won't talk about it but damn you live like this??". Holm @ most of the party actually lol. Holm has bigger fish to fry anyways, like Mickbell, who already outranks Kabru there and then crashes at his house on top of it. Holm and Rin often team up to talk about magic, when shopping or when Kabru asks something.

Daya and Holm have less strong & deep dynamics because they have less ties, simple as, they keep themselves less entangled in what's pretty much office life- yes they're willing to risk their lives to dungeon dive with th party, but that's as with any adventurer, as with everyone desperate and unstable enough to have it as their main job. Rin is tied to Kabru so that gives her importance, but Mickbell and Kuro have each other so it gives the party dynamic around them a lot of layers already, their personal lives are more shown during canon and extra because of it, meanwhile Holm and Daya both keep to themselves much more and their personal lives are only hinted at in extras, they don't have drama on the regular in front of the rest of the party the way the others do lmao.

Conclusion

Kabru’s party is in a bit of a weird spot in the main story- I think we can agree they’re characters that feel largely forgotten by the story after a point, and don’t matter all that much. I do think they have a narrative purpose, but. It's all about Kabru and setting his character up, similarly to how Namari was to give Marcille growth and Toshiro was to give Laios growth, it offers us an early Kabru to compare middle and late Kabru with when it comes to relationships and alliances, and with how much they fail and the few scenes they have where Kabru has his mask on and even coldly rebutts Rin I think we're supposed to see the flaws in his way to lead and work in team, where Kabru changing on that end would be for the better. They're a window into Kabru's shortcomings in teamwork and social life, his status quo at the startof the story. Laios' team was as successful in the main story because they truly came together, became friends who revealed their authentic selves to be stronger even when they worked together and were all very different from one another- but what Kabru does is try to hide and compensate for flaws, especially his own, and he hides things from his party and he keeps himself at a distance from it. Laios wasn't all that different with his party pre-canon, but where in the emergency of current events Laios shed pretenses at the risk of being disliked and rejected by others, in early manga Kabru instead tightens his grip on trying to control the party- why Kabru pushes his party members into his plans with less and less care for their opinions with his rebuttal of Rin as the peak of that- until he even lowkey isn't all that motivated by his party members being hostages lol. Like- am I making sense??

Analyzing labru vs kabumisu interpretations of Kabru is honestly very interesting because the two ships' fans seem to often have a completely different take on him. Kabumisu fans tend to emphase on Kabru's need for agency and empowerment and labru fans tend to emphase on Kabru's need to learn to compromise and not taking everything upon himself only, and see like, both are true both are good, and which of the two ships you like more depends a lot on these subconscious little differences in interpretation you naturally develop I think, because while I'm a double agent I myself prefer labru a bit and I naturally lean towards the "Kabru has lessons and change to do" angle, where with kabumisu often the focus is on not Laios gaining understanding from another but Kabru gaining understanding from another. For Kabru to grow vs to be validated, for him to finally feel safe and comfortable, and that to be achieved either through growth or through comfort, though both through understanding one another. It's about trust it's about understanding others on your own terms vs theirs it's about how being willing to open up and delve in relationships makes your understanding of people better, truer!! Understanding others, debatably the biggest theme in Dunmeshi!! Anyways don't tell the fandom I said that

In the wider meta narrative- Dunmeshi has a big theme of conforming and fitting into society, all its main character have that as a big theme- Laios being a misfit, Marcille being a half-elf, Chilchuck being a half-foot in a bigoted society, Senshi being an exiled hermit, Izutsumi being a beastkin… The experiences are varied but it’s an universal theme, everyone has things they're ostracized for somewhere or other. And I think all of Kabru’s party have a facet, variance of that that’s interesting, one that’s less about social acceptance and finding your place like Laios’ party but has a bigger focus on economical struggle, Kabru and Rin are to put it very short powerless child refugees, Mickbell and Kuro are dirt poor, Daya was threatened to fit into a strict mold and Holm was put in jail for academic studies. They have codependent relationships and emotional unavailability all around in different ways, there's isolation as a theme there too. That also is largely a Dunmeshi theme. Does no one have a fucking healthy good thriving social life? A good work-personal life balance? Being in touch with yourown needs and feelings perhaps? The triforce of things you can never have all at once in dunmeshi. But all these similar yet different hardships, all these people with hard to pin down exteriors- it's all about understanding too. How can you judge without first understanding, you know?

They're doubtlessly minor characters, but they're also part of that large tapestry of diverse people that's needed for Dunmeshi to do what it does, thematically and narratively. For that final battle to have so many different people come together to fight on the side of humanity, for all its habitants for all the facets of people in it, together. "If even one thing had been missing, we wouldn't have gotten here" as Kabru puts it himself in the next-to-last chapter. This is Dungeon Meshi, everything is interwoven, it's all a web because our environment shapes us as much as we shape it.

They get sidelined by the story. much like they were by Kabru- but he does have their loyalty, like how Laios' party stuck together through it all, even Chilchuck and Izutsumi, and when it's time for the final battle they're there to help and it matters, they matter. Relationships, trust, goes both ways, it shouldn't be onesided. If someone proves genuine why not try opening up? Kabru's party always trusts him and show up when it matters- Because to put full trust in another is terrifying and risky, but sometimes it'll pay off, and still always they take that step to trust their leader. Trust and love and care isn't a transaction, earned or not, and all you can do is try to appreciate it and repay it in care. In the end Kabru's party reminds us of those things, that despite everything we all need someone.

[mrpenguinpants]

Hypothetical question but are we still into windbreaker (nii satoru)? Y'all cool if I put my hyper fixation on center stage?

[blueflipflops]

Sometimes I dream up a fic So Good that I go to my ao3 then realize FUCK I haven't written all that shit yet. Then FUCK I have write all that shit. Then I just cry