#if they combine their abilities they can stay alive and figure out how to get out within a week

[lastwave]

concept of the slendermansion is so fucking funny. no matter how u do it. theyre all like trapped there (will kill each other or at the very least maim each other) and split off into vaguely toxic groups and then theres like. BEN. why is he there. how is he trapped there. its so good.

[deathbxnny]

hello, jing yuan, aventurine and sunday with a teen!assasin reader who was ordered by their master to kill them but couldnt and [character] took them in due to their young age and frankly them being pitiful

Another similar ask:

hiii, dr ratio aventurine and boothill with an IPC agent/assasin teen!reader?

Reader was practically forced onto assasination, is hardened and doesnt show much emotion due to their past kinda similar to bronya zaychik backstory in the azure waters manga

This post is made in combination with these two asks, so I hope you'll like this!! And thank you to the anons for their request!!<33

Content: Angst, assassination attempts, Reader is a teen assassin that has no direct origin, platonic relationships, father/older brother figures, fluff, some brainwashing on Sundays end, sfw

Characters: Sunday, Aventurine, Boothill

Reader has no set pronouns!!

((Not fully proofread))

》BOOTHILL

He finds your attempt at killing him rather amusing. Maybe a bit too amusing. He laughed hysterically when he finally pinned you down with ease, thinking this was all just a joke... until he realised that you were serious.

Now, Boothill was used to people trying to off him through various ways, his robotic body the perfect proof for that, but he never had a kid try him before. And he had to admit, that you would've gotten him, if he was still fully human! Truly impressive!

He won't bother asking you where you're from or what you lead him to you in the first place. Once he gets you to settle down and hears you telling him that you can't return to your master until you kill him, he just sighs and scratches his head. Well... he doesn't really want a kid to die at the hands of their abusive master... so he supposes that he'll just have to take you in until he finds a hime for you.

He isn't put off by your emotionless behavior and even understands it very well, if anything. He doubts anyone could be happy under the harsh conditions you grew up in, but that doesn't mean that he won't try and teach you how to loosen up a bit. It doesn't occur to him over time that he never really looked out for a home for you as promised. Perhaps you have found it with him already anyway.

》SUNDAY

Sunday found your attempt quite saddening, absolutely pitiful and near pathetic, if he felt cruel that day. He felt no worry or fear, knowing that whoever sent you must've been a fool to think that a child could end him of all people, and yet, he doesn't tease nor punish you for it. It wasn't your fault that you were born to be mistreated at such a young age, after all.

He takes you under his wing as a disciple or student in a way. He wants to teach you the "truth" about life and what it means to be alive in the dreamscape. Your dreams can become true here, so why not teach you how to live on after your palms have been stained red forever?

Your emotionless and apathetic behavior does little to deter or bother him. He sees you as a child he had to save before the shadows of this sinful took over you completely. His tuning ability is not spared on you either, if that's what it takes for you to get better. He eventually starts to view you as a little sibling and is delighted when you get along with Robin.

Deep down, he will, however, always feel a little... worried that you may turn around to betray him the way you betrayed your original master by leaving him, too. But he hopes that all his lessons and the home he gave you makes you stay and be grateful for all the love and mercy he had given you

》AVENTURINE

Similar to Boothill, he finds your attempt amusing at best. Pitiful at worst, as he sees a younger him in your cold gaze. He knows he shouldn't trust you after what you just tried... but he makes a deal with you anyways, after you were forced to take a seat infront of him by some IPC guards. If you beat him in a card game, he'll let you take his life and get away with it. If you lose, then you'll have to allow him to take you in as a little "assistant" of some sort. In reality, he just wants to save you from yourself, this determination even foreign to him yet welcomed bravely.

Unsurprisingly, you lose. He jokes that it must've been due to his unbeatable luck... but he really just rigged the game a little. There was no harm in it, and if anything, he just saved your life through it. Otherwise, the IPC would've just executed you for trying to attack one of their agents. Even if Aventurine doubted, they even cared that much for him... but he won't tell you that either.

He gave you a calming, stress-free life, one far away from all the hurt and death you've been surrounded with since birth. He hears your story and perhaps even shares a part of his own, as he shows you that you are the same in a way. You don't have to kill and hurt anymore under his care, he promises you that and to a younger self he was trying to heal through it.

[bestworstcase]

penny was the winter maiden for two days.

ozma has been reincarnating for centuries, if not thousands of years.

assuming that the maiden cycle depends on the exact same metaphysical process (which is in itself textually uncertain, given that the maidens are non-conscious entities said to separate from the host’s aura at death and cleave to another whereas ozma’s reincarnation works by combination of his aura with another—as described, these are explicitly different mechanisms, and because the different outcome of the two cycles (one overwrites the host, one doesn’t) are explained by this difference in mechanism, i see no real reason to question the overtly-stated differences in what is happening when a maiden finds a new host vs when ozma is bound to one), the notion that penny could have—in two days—achieved some mastery over the reincarnation process that has eluded ozma for, again, thousands of years, is… nonsense?

it’s the most grasping-at-straws out of a lot of very straw-grasping penny 3.0 theories and the premise is, more or less, “ozma has been needlessly murdering his hosts for thousands of years because he’s too stupid to realize that he doesn’t have to do that.”

when like. ok. listen to me.

in the lost fable, ozma takes control within seconds of landing in the new guy’s head. he’s not able to answer the question “what’s your name,” because he doesn’t know. jinn talks about ozma traveling for years before seeking out salem. he’s with her for years; they found a kingdom and have children. through all of this time, there is nothing to suggest that ozma has another presence in his head—until his reflection speaks to him, and he physically recoils in pure shock.

i think, when this began, there was no “merge.” ozma just landed in someone’s head and erased them, almost completely, right away.

in v8, oscar says he doesn’t like using magic because it makes the “merge” happen faster, and oz answers “i don’t blame you.”

many lifetimes ago, ozma either divided his magic or carved the divine blessings out of his soul and gave them to four young women who had helped him. the maidens persist as non-conscious entities who confer magical powers upon their host without, in any way, corrupting or taking over the host consciousness. meanwhile oscar is still holding on—by his fingernails, perhaps, but he’s still alive and himself—and he feels that using magic erodes him faster.

do the math.

at some point, ozma worked out that the divine magic he carried was killing his hosts, leaving behind just a reflection that monitored him to keep him in line. so he tried to get rid of it, by giving portions of that magic away, and it worked, even if not to the extent he might have hoped. the maidens are ozma’s best effort at sparing the lives of his hosts.

(reading between the lines of how oz phrases it to the kids—“i reincarnate, but my memories stay with me”—in combination with his obvious projection of his own suicidality onto salem? i’d bet that ozma was hoping to destroy his own consciousness when he did this, too, so that his future hosts would receive his remaining powers and inherit the task but not him.)

it’s a mistake to look at the resigned acceptance ozpin has now and assume that it’s representative of how ozma has always felt about his curse; the whole point of him as a character is that he’s been ground down and slowly corrupted in the gristmill of this curse over thousands of years.

and it’s also, frankly, a mistake to take penny clocking blake as a faunus because she saw blake’s ears through the bow in infrared or penny figuring out that ruby can carry people with her semblance after 1. ruby flew with penny in volume two and 2. several months of ruby demonstrating abilities in training that she’s been doing since v4 without consciously registering that she’s doing them, like splitting to go around obstacles, to mean that penny is uniquely insightful or good at “figuring things out” in general. she has superhuman sensory capabilities (infrared vision, aura-scanning) that give her an advantage in perception of certain situations, and she’s fairly book-smart.

that doesn’t make her capable of solving ozma’s Divine Curse after sitting with the maiden powers for Two Days in a war zone. lmfao

[aboutzatanna]

So, when Zatanna debuted in Batman: The Animated Series she was just an ordinary stage magician with no magic powers but later when she appeared in Justice League Unlimited she had actual magical powers. So why didn't she initially have her magical powers?

In the JLU tie in comic, Justice League Unlimited #40 by writer Ben McCool and artist Dario Brizuela (link), we get some answers:

We find out that as a child Zatanna misused her powers so Zatara had them taken away from her:

(Shout out to the artist Dario Brizuela and colorist Heroic Age, this sequence is beautifully drawn)

Zatara comes off as a good parents in sequence; fair but not harsh or stern and willing to correct his child when she does wrong.

In the present day Zatanna wakes up and we learn that her father disappeared at some point and since Zee can use magic, it's likely she figured out how to tap into some of her abilities over the years:

Zatanna and Doctor Fate head to Central City where Shadow Thief has run amok causing everyone's shadow to come alive and attack everyone.

After some light dissing on Captain Boomerang (oh hey, look it's Alan Scott):

The JL takes on the 8 story tall shadow monster whilst Zatanna and Doctor Fate track down who could be responsible for augmenting the Shadow Thief's powers which leads them to....

......the Warlcok of Ys and Zatara himself! The Warlock is from one of the earliest Zatanna stories (link).

Despite Warlock's attempts to restrain them, Zee manages to tap in to her power and take on the Warlock:

"You're so gonna wish I had my morning coffee!" XD Ngl that panel cracked me up.

Sadly the father/daughter reunion doesn't last but we do get a touching moment nonetheless:

Zatara doesn't come off as the best of fathers in this story but I love the continued affirmation that the League members are her family. The power pulsating in Zatanna's mind is obviously referring to the Medulla Gem and the line about 'his people' is a reference to the Homo Magi, both of which are pulled from Sindella's story and Zatara being forced to stay away from Zatanna is pulled from Zatanna's debut story 'Zatanna's Search'. It looks like the writer combined both stories into one.

Sadly, this plot point is never followed up on. But it was cool to see a writer, especially one for a tie in book do a deep dive on a characters history. Usually tie in comics are treated as an after thought but there are times when the stories are as good if not better than the show.

As for Shadow Thief, well no story, especially one with a Green Lantern, is complete without a trebuchet showing up in some form:

[mageknight14]

Shoka Had a Hard Life: A NEO TWEWY analysis post

Posting yet another analysis thread from Twitter into a Tumblr format.

In a cast full of interesting and fleshed-out characters, I find Shoka to be one of the most fascinating in how she's written and one thing I find really interesting about her character in NEO TWEWY is how her prickliness serves both to protect herself as a façade and also speaks to real genuine facets of herself and how it doesn’t fully go away like some people would claim.

Throughout NEO, it’s heavily implied that Shoka didn’t exactly have the best life before she had joined the UG, to the point that she would rather stay in the afterlife than go back to her old life. Based off of some of her comments, reactions to Rindo’s insinuations about how she must've hated being a Reaper and was forced into it, and her not being as broken up over Shinjuku compared to others, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that she came from a broken home, one where she was powerless when it came to the choices in her own life.

So much so to the point that she didn’t mind flat out erasure as opposed to going back. However, when she had gained actual control of her life for the first ever, she fully embraced it, going so overboard with her newfound power that she had become a Reaper due to her prowess. In a lot of ways, Shoka shares a lot in common with Joshua in this regard when you consider the backstory he told Neku, with both of them feeling trapped and powerless in their lives and being heavily implied to be suicidal. However, whereas Joshua came to know about the UG through outside means (Hanekoma) and actively chose to put himself into the Game, it’s implied that Shoka didn’t know anything about that life before she had lost her own and when she had come across actual power and the ability to have some actual agency, she jumped onto the opportunity.

The rules of the Shinjuku Games demand that in order to get ahead of life, you have to become brutal and ruthless just to stay alive, which is a mindset heavily inspired by Shinjuku’s focus on business culture and sociality. I think it’s pretty telling that one of the key rules in Shinjuku is that once you're out of being a Reaper, Erasure is your only choice. Not even playing to come back to life, like Beat did in the Shibuya Games, just flat-out Erasure. If you can’t keep up, tough. Much like the original TWEWY's Game, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Because of this, it should come to no surprise that due to a combination of this harsh environment and her own home life, Shoka came to enjoy lording her power and taking out her frustrations on others. You can see this with how she thoroughly enjoys kicking the shit out of Motoi. Not just because she was aware of how he was manipulating Rindo, her best friend (though that’s certainly part of it) but because she was taking out her frustrations after having to deal with her feelings of being caught between said best friend and her found family.

When it comes to children with broken homes, they are prone to imprinting on any adult figure that interacts positively with them and in Shoka's case, this is exactly what she did with the Shinjuku Reapers. Note how the first thing she asks of Ayano after her first day of training with her is for her to never leave Shoka. And at this point, you can hardly blame her. Even with her newfound powers and lease at life (or un-life if you will), she's still a kid amongst adults with loads more experience than she has had at this point of time. And after this, she ends up becoming attached to the Shinjuku Reapers as her newfound family, and she even admits as such to Rindo (except for Kubo because he's a prick.)

This is a very big contrast to how the Shibuya Reapers from the previous game worked, with the majority of them, except for Uzuki, Kariya, and the Def March, all being prone towards stabbing each other in the back if the opportunity presented itself, like Konishi and Kitaniji, Sho and just about everyone, and Kitaniji and the Reapers in general. By comparison, the Shinjuku Reapers all care for one another and its' implied that the rules of Shinjuku's Reaper hierarchy allowed for the Reapers to become less emotionally detached and able to form genuine connections with one another.

You can also see from the way that she snaps at Rindo and Ayano and some of her battle quotes that Shoka has a LOT of pent-up aggression and anger issues bottled up inside, as well as some self-loathing and resentment for when she lets those aspects out.

Combine this with how Ayano likes to gaslight her in an misguided attempt to keep her safe, her friends/family more or less turning away from her to keep up the illusion of the Game, and it’s no wonder that the girl is an absolute mental wreck.

And that's not even getting into her passive suicidal ideation. She has little-to-no regard for her own life unless it concerns that people she cares about and even then, she’ll still toss it away for them. Ayano is possessed and is about to attack the party? Shoka throws caution to the wind, ignoring Rindo’s warnings, and almost gets herself killed. Her reaction to her inevitable Erasure at the end of the week due to her not being a Reaper anymore? She’s more concerned about how it will effect Rindo rather than how she’s going to, well, fade away from existence. Hell, when Shiba offers her a chance to become a Reaper again, she refuses, not wanting spend another moment of her unlife watching life around her pass by. And that's not even getting into how her Telewarp power transports her to high places, usually over the edge of a building...

And even when she does join the Wicked Twisters, she still doesn’t tell Rindo the truth because of what will happen to her at the end of week 3. She didn’t want Rindo to go through the heartbreak of finding out that he got to be with his best friend before she inevitably dies at the end of the week and was content to die without him ever finding out. It was only when Erasure seemed inevitable for ALL of them (which isn’t helped by how the Noise gets stronger with each time jump) in the second-to-last timeline that she goes “fuck it” and tells him the truth.

So, with all of this in mind, it's no fucking wonder that she latches on so quickly to the Rindo and the Wicked Twisters, both as Swallow and her IRL self.

Imagine this; the small new life you've created for yourself after escaping your depressive old one implodes because your boss has seemingly lost his mind and helped blow up your city, one of your friends (Tsugumi) gets lobotomized into a robot and your boss tells you to fuck off instead of telling you why, another friend (Susukichi) gets conscripted to be a fake player all day every day, the boss's best friend (Hishima) has pulled away since he went crazy, the woman who you see as your big sister and has been taking care of you this whole time (Ayano) has to take his place instead, and then there's the creepy old guy (Kubo) you always hated.

You then have to spend every day for years on end supervising a BS game where nothing matters because your boss will just declare his own secret team the winner every time anyway and all you do is supervise the players you've been assigned to and make sure they keep marching into the meat grinder day after day by upholding the lie that they could win the game and escape. Over time, you start to realize you are complicit in the murder of probably hundreds of people all so you can blow up a city and murder millions more. You then lose faith in the mission but have to keep going along with it because no one is willing to betray their old friend even if he's nuts now. Your honeymoon phase with your powers is over because what's even the point when you can only use it on small fry players that can't challenge you at all and your friends have all been pulled away from you and so you probably spend most of your evenings alone.

And your one reprieve from all of this?

Talking to the one online friend that you met through a PokemonGo Clone and giving them some life advice.

Imagine spending some years of your life in a broken home TWICE and then coming across a group of people who not only accept you for who you are but also promise to be there for you no matter what and comfort/stand up for you however they can.

And it’s through their influence that you can see Shoka’s hidden kindness (which was previously hinted at with her interactions with Rindo as Swallow as well as the little ghost Shinjuku girl) shine on through when put into a positive reinforcement environment.

Hell, just compare how she initially reacts to sidequests, from begrudgingly helping out others when on pressed time to jumping onto the chance to help people out.

Of course, none of her issues just end up going away overnight. She still has a lot of she needs to work through but she’s actively trying to improve on herself.

I think the most impressive thing about all of this is that none of these traits feel contradictory. Like a lot of characters in NEO, Shoka is written like an actual human being whose certain personality traits manifest more prominently depending on the context of a situation. Like you and me, they aren't 100% consistent. Their personalities are steady but they react a little differently day to day depending on how they're feeling, in a way that feels genuine. Forgive me if I sound pretentious but the TWEWY devs just get people and how they act.

Shoka in particular is a great look at the effects a positive and/or toxic environment can have on a person and their outlook and I’m legitimately impressed by the level of nuance the writers had when it came to her (and this goes for the NEO cast in general, really) character.

[dailycharacteroption]

Operative’s Arsenal Operative (Operative Alternate Class Feature)

(art by Luk999 on DeviantArt)

I do enjoy the operative class, but offensively it can be often pigeonholed given that the trick attack is limited in what it can be used with. (which I get, given adding extra damage to already powerful weapons would be a bit much) Sure, some exploits can let you at least get the debilitating effects on a sniper weapon, but the only real exception is the sniper alternate feature, which gets you a lesser form of bonus damage on sniper weapons only, and the heavyweight skirmisher, which grants the damage but at the cost of some of the more defensive and agile abilities associated with the class.

If you’re looking for that holy grail of using trick attack damage with bigger guns though, you’re better off with the heavyweight skirmisher, but if you’d rather stay agile while also having some better use for bigger guns, today’s alternate feature may be for you.

While the heavyweight skirmisher feels like a true blend of paramilitary might with the sneaky tricks of the operative, these arsenal operatives feel a bit more like they’ve chosen to diversify and master a particular class of weaponry to give them more options in combat, though of course their actual origins can vary quite a lot.

So let’s take a look, shall we?

This alternate option is fairly simple, they trade the third and fourth attack they can get at later levels for training in a class of weaponry normally outside of an operative’s wheelhouse, particularly using them with trick attacks. While they don’t get extra damage with them, they do get to apply their various debilitations with them. Later on, they learn to do so with another category of weapon.

There are two things to consider when trying to make this alternate option work. The first is, the weapons you plan on using. They have to have some useful qualities that you don’t see in pistols or normal operative weapons, such as reach, or the ability to hit multiple targets at once with blasts, lines, explosions, or automatic fire. Second, you have to consider what debilitating trick exploits you plan on taking. Combine those together than you can potentially spread a lot of debilitating effects around the battlefield. I would definitely also keep a proper operative weapon on hand though, so you have some way to deal that bonus damage.

No matter how specific their training, a good operative knows that limiting oneself can be a death sentence on the battlefield or on the job. As such, there’s no doubt that plenty of operatives take this path. The question is, what sort of formative moment might have given them reason to? Was it just part of their training? Did they desperately need a weapon but the only ones available were bigger and heavier than their normal equipment? Or did they simply think it silly to not also wield some of the more impressive melee implements?

The party is meeting with a client in a crowded nightclub when halfway through the meeting assassins with concealed rifles and other weapons burst in, killing indiscriminately as if looking for something. Getting out alive with the client is the first step, then comes figuring out who sent these killers.

Going by the callsign “Sylvan Huntress”, the moyishuu assassin for hire is a mystery, but what she is known for is her lethal grace with a various advanced blades, toying with her prey with strikes to their limbs to cripple them before finally bringing them down.

The party thought that the danger was over when they finally took down that assassin, but they rose again as a voidshard vampire, becoming all the more dangerous and deadly. Now it has become a race to prepare before the next nightfall from this nocturnal threat with both deadly weapons and powers.

[x-adoringvoid-x]

🧛‍♀️ - Vampire AU

I had a lot of thoughts for this! It took awhile to figure out exactly what I wanted. I have some more ideas but I think I’ll just add them on to this later when/if I decide to. Also, someone asked for a Romantic Comedy AU…I have no idea what to do for that. I’m so sorry, my brain just isn’t wired like that! I’ll think more about it but I apologize in advance if I don’t have a response to it

Yeah, I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy with how I draw myself. The skeleton face thing was inspired by Hone Onna from Hell Girl! I thought it would be a cool way of keeping the skeleton trait in this universe. It’s ghostly! It’s not a very useful vampire ability though.

I thought about making Hadri a bug at first but it’s hard to deny the appeal of a classic bat vampire. Wings are hard to draw…but they’re fluffy and cute! They can still shapeshift too, since that’s a cool vampire trait.

In this universe, Hadri is sort of that trope of the First Vampire. I don’t have the specifics planned out but they’re an ancient creature that can transfer abilities to others through blood. They’ve turned a lot of other people but they didn’t get the community they were hoping for. One of them stays with them and works as their Tailor but they aren’t really close. Just associates. Hadri lives with him in a big abandoned castle. Every now and then, Hadri leaves to go get more blood.

I’m a normal woman living in town but I don’t really get along with my family so I leave home. I’m not able to take much with me and I realize that I’m woefully unprepared for the path I’m taking. I keep walking, getting more lost, running out of supplies. Eventually I can’t do anything but rest and enjoy the quiet forest. It’s a nice moment. And then I die!

Hadri finds me awhile later. They’re curious why someone would be all the way out here. They scoop me up and take me back to the castle because it’s a perfect opportunity to try something they’ve been experimenting with: raising the dead. And it works! Unfortunately I didn’t get any cool vampire powers but I am alive, so that’s something. Hadri is surprised to see I’m so calm about the vampire stuff and even more that I’m grateful and want to help them. I can’t do much since I’m so weak so the only thing they can think to do is to offer me a role as a maid.

Our relationship is pretty close. Hadri thinks I’m so interesting since they don’t really get a look into human life often. They also think my appetite for blood is funny (I like my steak pretty rare, combined with new vampire cravings I don’t think blood would bother me much). I’m a little scared of them at first but they don’t give me a reason to stay afraid of them so I’m fairly open with them. Honestly…I think they’d fall in love first. I just don’t think this version of me would even be thinking about having a relationship. Hadri would probably not bring it up either for a variety of reasons. I don’t have a clear idea of how we would get together here but it would probably be a ‘feelings accidentally revealed’ - ‘oh hey that would actually be really cool’ kind of situation.

Anyway, I don’t know how I will do things with this but I want to! This is being microwaved in my mind somewhere. I think it’s kind of interesting because my oc universe is usually very Soul based and this is like a Blood based version of that! Except I am also there and involved more. (I have no idea how I’d work myself into the normal canon lol)

Oh also, I just want to mention that I love the DS Castlevanias. I used to just explore randomly on my brother’s completed files. Soma Cruz is really cool! Such pretty art and cool monster designs. I don’t remember much about Castlevania these days though :p

Thanks for the ask! I hope this was interesting to read!

[v0ideddr3ams]

Finally did the SBI family tree

Well kinda

And spoiler alert, yes QSMP eggs are in it because Philza confirmed its the same character

Hey guys I've been putting this off?

Why?

Idk!

So let's start with the eldest being in the family, shall we?

The Unnamed winds, Aeolus, Ralsiah - The Goddess of the sky, direct decendant of the sky goddess. She was one of the first created, she used to control the winds. She also known as the one who dances. - Status: Dead - Colors: the rainbow actually, but combined together, white. - More Info: originally the Ancient humans had summoned her to figure out how to destroy the wither and she had refused to tell them such. She had also met a human that turned immortal when the skulk took over. We'll talk about him soon enough. During the great revolution against the GreaterX, she was the one who delivered the message of victory to the sun, turning her wings black. She went to the end to fix them but the dragons were dead.

Philza, The Angel of Death, West Winds, Death's Angel - Descendant of the sky herself, practices the arcane magic of Death, bringing him closer to his wife and other people connected to that realm. He is only an immortal because he is smart. He doesn't do stupid shit. He is also known as the Blood God Handler, but we'll get to that. - Status: Alive - Colors: Green and white - More Info: so this is the doozy; Philza has 4 kids legally speaking. Wilbur being his only biological child. From eldest to youngest it'd be Wilbur, Tommy, Chayanne, Tallulah. Now you may be wondering "what about Techno?"

Technoblade, The Blood God, The Host, The Boar, Techno - The host of the Blood God, direct descendant of an entire bloodline of piglins blessed by the Blood God himself. He does not practice arcane magic, that's Philza's thing. - Status: unknown, assumed to be alive because the Blood God title hasn't been passed down to Michael yet and things only the Blood God can do still happen here and there. - Colors: Red and sometimes Pink - More Info: Techno and Philza are closely related friends that happen to live in the same house and raised kids together (NO I AM NOT JOKING.) Techno was traveling when Wilbur was born and raised mostly, only was around the most when Tommy was brought home. Techno avoided Wilbur's birth and childhood because he wanted to stay on Kristin's good side. (Will explain later) Techno also technically helped raise Sally, but it was more training than raising. Speaking of which

Sally, Pearl of the Sea, The Siren, Calypso - Sally is the protector of rivers, goddess of the sea. At least the head goddess. There are smaller gods underneath her for specific parts of the sea. When she gave up her immortality, she was still a God because she was still worshipped. She was in the Syndicate for years before she "ran off to make a government with Wilbur" as Techno would've put it. The things you do in the name of love amirite? Sally also helped finish raising Tommy to the best of her ability along with her two kids and tubbo. Because somehow, she was the only one who was concerned about the kids being forced to fight in a WAR. - Status: Dead, dead as hell, what shoes she got? What shoes she got on the coffin??? - Colors: Fire coral red and Indigo blue - More Info: So she didn't have Fundy, we all know what happened there, if you don't go watch a vod, I ain't explainin it. Fundy is part of the generational curse Kristin put on Philza's bloodline from Wilbur down, so... yeeeaaaa. Sally did, however, have Milo! Milo was baptized in her name, whereas Fundy was baptized in XD's name. So little tidbit: Wilbur and Sally had been at religious war with each other which is stupid when Wilbur knows how important it is for a God to keep their dignity in their own worship because his moms, both his father's wife AND his BIOLOGICAL mother, are goddesses. Kristin is an example of what goddesses need, and Samantha (bio mom) is an example of what goddesses don't need. That being said, he still had the audacity to slowly strip her power away and use it to either his advantage or to have her worship another God, which was the church prime. So Sally, kinda outta spite, baptized Milo in her own name, the Pearl of the Sea, which is something a lot of pirates do if a child is born or adopted out at sea (Dream and Foolish were baptized like that by Puffy)

Putting a pause here, will repost when I feel like finishing this bc boy oh boy I'm tired.

Reminder for myself: we start off with Fundy, go to Milo, jump back up to Tommy, go to shroud, go to Wilbur-Ghostbur-Revivebur, go to Kristin, go to Samantha, go to Yogurt, go to Ranboo, Go to Michael, Jump back up to Chayanne, go to Tallulah

[vovatess6]

Young and E-Commerce Prodigy with Vova Tess

Introduction

Building an Ecommerce Empire

Fast-forward to today and Vova managed to cut through the thicket of e-commerce. Business acumen merged with savvy marketing skills enables him to churn a multi six-figure income that would surely rock the world of men twice as old as him. He knows that digital marketing means, and so he creates an audience for his work by posting on social media such as Instagram and TikTok.

This is Vova, who, like the others, differs from them as he makes it by keeping up with the trends, changing ever so frequently to find his new opportunities in a dropshipping business to affiliate marketing to stay at the top of the e-commerce game. This shows that Vova, with his strategic mindset and innovative approach, rises through the ranks because many businesses are, in fact, successful due to willingness to learn and pivot.

Social Media Impact and Community Creation

Vova Tess is a social media influencer: he shares knowledge, inspires his community, and sells more than just a product. He puts up a community of young aspiring entrepreneurs, putting them all together to share, learn, and grow as an entrepreneur. Throughout his content, he provides views on the world of e-commerce and shares tips and tricks that work for him and for them.

Authenticity is one of his strengths:

The open environment that is created by allowing the world to know not only his successes but also his struggles that he undergoes. It demystifies most things related to entrepreneurship among young people, who end up feeling that setbacks are part and parcel of the process. Most of his followers embrace their entrepreneurial aspirations at any given age because of Vova’s encouragement through his story.

Through interactions with the youths, Vova communicates the message of getting on board very early in the entrepreneurship world. According to him, the time for young people itself becomes an advantage; once to experiment, learn, and grow without heavy burdens that often characterize adult life. Their message is very insightful to the minds of youths and inspires them to apply their imagination in exploring their entrepreneurial interests.

Conclusion:

Vova Tess is just a fantastic specimen of what successful entrepreneurship might look like in a young brain. He is the inspiration behind many of us. From being a video game sales boy as a little boy to now, he has become one of the most successful entrepreneurs working in the e-commerce sector, which goes on to prove that, no matter how old any person might be, will and innovation can be what leads them on to fantastic things in life.

This is when Vova starts growing as an influence to many other entrepreneurs that surely shall embark on their entrepreneurial journey. Anyone interested in e-commerce or looking for a role model to aspire to, surely following Vova Tess shall give lots of necessary insight and motivation. His story is very necessary and reminds readers that the entrepreneurial spirit is indeed alive and kicking and bright for everyone who dares to dream.

So, if you already feel ready to take the big leap toward entrepreneurship, think about Vova Tess’s journey. Everything starts with a single step, regardless of age!

FAQ

1. Who is Vova Tess? Vova Tess is a 17-year-old entrepreneur who began his journey at the age of 10 by selling old video games and sneakers on eBay. He has since become a successful e-commerce mogul, social media influencer, and inspirational speaker, generating a multi six-figure income.

2. How did Vova Tess get started in entrepreneurship? Vova’s entrepreneurial journey began when he sold his old video games and sneakers. This experience taught him valuable lessons about pricing, sales, and customer engagement, igniting his passion for e-commerce.

3. What makes Vova Tess stand out in the e-commerce world? Vova stands out due to his ability to adapt to changing market trends. He effectively combines business acumen with savvy digital marketing skills, utilizing platforms like Instagram and TikTok to build his audience and promote his ventures.

4. What type of content does Vova Tess share on social media? Vova shares a mix of educational content, personal insights, and motivational messages aimed at young aspiring entrepreneurs. He provides tips and tricks for navigating the e-commerce landscape and encourages others to embrace their entrepreneurial journeys.

[fieldnoting]

01.10.24

grateful for the clarity that was reflected back to me by times i was least expecting it;

a combination of solitude last week, focused writing in october, many relationshippy talks over the last year, and the recognition now that i let go of things a little too late because i'm afraid of the change that will ensue

decluttering my room looool / watching caroline winkler talk about hoarding and emotional attachments - something finally clicking about not just my being afraid to do certain things but how i would be stuck in this particular way if i stayed afraid

s who was like "cleaning my room changed my personality"

illusory fear & illusory prerequisites

the triage of questions - do i have enough time, can i trust in my present ability, can i trust in my ability to adjust accordingly

[seeing a, who is 21, and n, who is 29 - people four years younger and older than me, embodying a way of living i admire very much]

believing in the day to day, in being alive and working at things on a day to day, not just with an end destination // the definition that n shared about faith [in life?] as believing there will be time to get everything you want to

[my want to not treat relationships as disposable and then my unwillingness to part; part of that is also my needing to be live & engaged if not attached - wanting someone to be cared for even if i can't be that person]

recognizing how strongly activating the fear of abandonment keeps me from becoming attached; but also, how that fear is also the manifestation of care and love

recognizing how much someone is like family to me, but they need not remain attached to me in this particular way [and me being afraid of losing them, their only wanting to be in my life in a specific form]

on my in/out list for this year -- out: relying on others for self-respect / in: remembering that no one can take that from you // out: extreme oscillations between enmeshment and estrangement in: nurturing space for oneself & connection in ways that encourage me to grow and stretch sustainably [sharing joyful moments and tough times]

w n, talking about how love can take different forms, reminiscing about the sweet pod that was them, s, c, and me - how our relationships to one another have dramatically changed since then

when s asked about the difference between self-trust, confidence, and faith. the glasses of makgeolli he, n, and i gabbed about this over

r, talking about the need to stay with the uncertainty around money ["my mother is the boot heel of capitalism"]

sigrid nunez [via n] - "when i think of the men i've been with every one of them stood between me and my writing" - which made me recognize how i behave in every romantic relationship i've had so far has gotten in the way of me learning how to show up for myself

1) work really pre/figures one's life for better and for worse 2) my relationship to work is v bad 3) i need a lot of space to form a healthy one to work and constructively move through discomforts -- work in the sense of what it feels to feel like a wholly alive player in my life

with s, taking the 22 in the reverse direction to the point i used to commute to from the other side of the city, talking about platonic friendships; our laughing-til-we-cry about the silly little guys we have liked who our friends would (or simply did) not like at worst, were indifferent to at best

[loominilearning]

A Quick Overview of Sensory Integration Disorder

Your sense-processing system works every time you see, hear, smell, touch, or taste something. Sensory processing is how your nervous system turns information from your senses into movements and changes in your behavior. If a child has a sensory integration disorder or sensory integration problem, they may not be able to use their abilities properly, which can lead to problems throughout their lives.

Children with SPD often have trouble with school and everyday skills like movement. It makes people feel alone, lowers self-esteem, and leads to other mental illnesses. To help your child have a happy and healthy future, learn about the signs, symptoms, and treatments for sensory integration problems.

What is Sensory Integration?

Sensory integration disorder is the brain's natural way of putting together and making sense of sensory information from the world. On the other hand, sensory integrative dysfunction happens when the brain doesn't organize or combine sensory data, which can affect behavior, growth, and how it processes information. Sensory support methods that have been shown to work can make people feel better and improve their quality of life.

Sensory integration is mostly about three senses: the touch, the vestibular, and the proprioceptive. Their links begin to form before birth and keep growing as the person grows up and interacts with the world around them. Not only do the three senses work together, but they also work with other parts of the brain. 

These three senses are less well known than sight and hearing, but they are very important to survival. There are a lot of different ways that these three systems work together. They let us feel, understand, and react to different things in our environment.

Here are the three senses:

Tactile System

Some nerves under the skin's surface send messages to the brain through the touch system. Light touch, pain, warmth, and pressure are all in this list. These are important for figuring out what's happening around us and protecting us so we can stay alive.

Vestibular System

Structures in the inner ear that pick up on movement and changes in the head's position are called the vestibular system. In this case, the vestibular system tells you whether your head is straight up or turned back. There are two ways that problems in this scheme could show up. Some kids might be very sensitive to vestibular stimulation and get scared when they do normal things that involve moving. 

Proprioceptive System

The muscles, joints, and tendons that make up the proprioceptive system help the brain remember where the body is in space. Proprioception tells our bodies to change positions so we can sit down properly and step off a curb. We can use our fine motor skills by writing with a pencil, ladling soup into bowls, and buttoning clothes.

Symptoms of Sensory Integration Disorder?

Toddlers can usually tell what's wrong. Parents may notice strange behavior and big mood swings when their child has a sense problem. People may call your child tough or troublesome when reacting to too much information from outside sources. Sensory integration disorder is often misdiagnosed and needs to be understood properly. Kids often use fight-or-flight when they have too much knowledge.

These issues make it more likely for kids with the disease to have a lot of social, academic, and emotional issues:

Having trouble making friends

Problems with feeling like a part of a group

Lack of self-esteem

Problems in school or learning problems

Being called awkward, stubborn, or annoying

Trouble with fine motor skills

Not liking noise and light

They think their clothes are too tight.

Because of the signs, people may become depressed, angry, or have other behavior issues. 

A child who covers their ears when there are loud noises or wants their clothes to be loose may be sensitive to sound or touch. They might not have SPD if these feelings don't affect their daily life or work. Symptoms vary from person to person, determining the illness's severity and nature.

Is Sensory Integration a Form of Autism?

Having trouble understanding sensory information has been called an autistic trait for a long time. Problems with the senses were added to the diagnosis and defined as not reacting strongly to sensory information or showing unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment.

Sensory integration disorder can be very frustrating because it makes doing many normal things in life hard. Sensory integration treatment, a new method, helps people with and without autism calm down and improve many things. 

A lot of autistic people are either too sensitive or not sensitive enough to light, noise, and touch. They might not be able to stand the sound of washing, or they might need to stim and even hurt themselves to understand their bodies fully. These differences in how our senses work are sometimes called sensory processing disorders or dysfunctions. Sensory integration treatment can help people with these conditions.

Occupational therapists trained to help kids with sensory processing issues do it. Sensory tasks help kids get used to light, sound, touch, smells, and more. You can help their senses by swinging, brushing, playing in a ball pit, etc. These things help with attention, behavior, and stress.

How Do I Know If My Child Has Sensory Issues?

Hypersensitive children are more likely to be affected by sensory integration disorder. This makes them quickly overwhelmed by sensory experiences that others might not notice. This can cause outbursts, meltdowns, or skipping jobs that might look like anxiety or behavior problems.

Hypersensitive kids don't get enough stimulation and want more. Often, these kids do something called "sensory seeking" to get more sense input. It can be hard to tell if a child is acting out because sensory seeking can look like aggression or restlessness.

In Conclusion

Several studies have shown that treating autistic kids with sensory integration disorder makes them better. One study found that sensory integration treatment helped kids with autism improve their motor skills. Sensory integration therapy may change the nervous system directly, which can help with change, healing, and adaptive behavior. 

If you decide to get help from a professional for sensory problems, an occupational therapist can be helpful. Occupational therapists use an activity-based method, which helps kids better understand and sense information and practice everyday skills. To find out more about sensory processing disorders, go to Loomini Learning.

[classysassy9791]

They named her Kagome after finding her injured and unconscious on the subway. Suffering from amnesia, she recuperates under the care of a semi-retired surgeon and a fresh young doctor. But when dark and violent flashes of her past come back to haunt her, Kagome begins to wonder if her past was worth remembering. Especially when a man she doesn't recognize quite literally lunges into her life, accusing her of murder.  

Fandom: Inuyasha Genre: Drama, Mystery Pairings: InuKag, MirSan Warning: Dark themes throughout

Ch. 1 l Ch. 2 l 

Chapter 3 Word Count: 3400 Can also be found on AO3

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Sango flicked on her desk lamp as the late afternoon rain continued to pound against the windowpane. The medical examiner’s preliminary report had made its way to her desk, and it had left her rather baffled. According to the M.E., even though the bodies were badly burned from the fire, she had been able to determine that two of the victims had died of blunt force trauma caused by the crash. The detailed description in the report regarding the skull fractures and pierced chest cavities revealed as much. What bothered Sango was that the third victim’s death had yet to be determined. 

The reason why homicide had been called to the scene in the first place was because of the presence of a bullet wound in one of the victims and a gun that had been recovered at the scene. It had piqued Sango’s interest, but she was disappointed to find that the M.E. couldn’t readily determine if the gunshot wound to the abdomen or the crash itself had killed the victim - or perhaps a combination of both. There was a note that the third victim, who had been found in the backseat, had a miniscule amount of smoke in his lungs, divulging that he had been alive for at least a brief moment when the car had caught fire. 

So, regardless of the unknown cause of death, Sango would be staying on the case until it could be determined that the accident was, in fact, an accident, and a murder didn’t occur. They were also waiting on dental records for identification, so until they knew the identities of the victims, the bodies were a dead-end. On the brightside, she still had the station manager to interview as well as some security camera footage to review. Hopefully, she would be able to obtain leads from them. 

“How’s it going?” a man asked as he entered her office. 

Sango looked up and smiled at the welcomed face of her superior, Lieutenant Yuri Yamamoto. 

“Frustrating, as usual,” she said with a sigh, closing the folder in front of her and leaning back in her chair. “Not even sure if a murder occurred here.” 

He chuckled, a twinkle in his eyes. “Well, I’m sure you’ll figure out who the perp is and bring them to justice. Probably before Kuranosuke comes back to work on Monday.” 

She rolled her eyes with a light blush appearing on her cheeks. The lieutenant was a tall man with a lean build, salt-and-pepper hair, and a dense, black mustache he stroked when he was deep in thought. He had always made it clear how much he valued Sango’s ambition and her ability to think critically. Which was part of the reason why he promoted her through the ranks as quickly as he did. 

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” she answered as she stood from her desk. “If only it were that simple.” 

He watched her tuck the folder away in a filing cabinet - one she kept marked for current, ongoing cases - and exhaled deeply. “Not going home yet?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer. 

Sango smiled sheepishly, as if she were being scolded by her father. In many ways, the lieutenant reminded her of the man who’d raised her, rest his soul. Perhaps, that was why she always felt so much more comfortable around him compared to her colleagues, including her partner - with whom she trusted her life. 

“I can’t,” she argued gently, waving away the disapproving look he gave her. “There’s still so much to do, and you know how important time is when it comes to homicide.” 

He shrugged. “I get it, kiddo. Just don’t work yourself to death.” 

With a promising, “I won’t,” from Sango, the lieutenant gave her a wave and left her office, more than likely heading home where an overly worried wife awaited him. Not that Sango blamed her, considering their field of work. 

Sango pinched the bridge of her nose as she sat back down. She had already reviewed their eyewitness’ account regarding what she had seen, including the person who fled the scene, but it had been so dark out that the witness couldn’t even tell if it had been a man or a woman. And, by the time the witness had arrived at her office window to investigate what the loud noise of the crash was, the car had burst into flames. So really, the witness hadn’t been much help at all. 

That left the interview with the platform manager and a phone call to Shippou regarding the forensic evidence gathered from the scene. After that, she would call it a night. Analyzing evidence could take a while, but at the very least she could see what he had gathered so far. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d have a few leads to follow up with before Takeda returned to work on Monday. It would make her day run a whole lot smoother if she actually had something to present to him. 

Pulling out her cell phone, Sango quickly scrolled through her long list of contacts and dialed the forensic crime lab where she knew Shippou would still be hard at work. His sleep schedule was almost as bad as hers. 

“Crime lab, this is Koma.” 

“Hey, my favorite crime stopper,” she greeted, her lips pulling into a smile. Shippou’s cheerful hello always sounded like music to her ears. 

“Hey there, Tachibana! How’s it going?” 

“Just pulling another late-nighter. Ran dry with the M.E. preliminary report. Wanted to see if you had anything for me yet.” 

She heard rustling in the background and some muffled noises before he got back on the phone. “Well, I started processing the blood we found at the scene leading away from the accident. It’s still undergoing analysis, but we may have enough to form a DNA profile.” 

“That’s great!” Sango replied, pulling out a pad of paper and jotting down the information. Although obtaining a DNA profile was far from conclusive evidence, especially in a case as risque as this one, it would still be great evidence to have. 

“We also tested the gun we found for fingerprints, and it was no cigar. Looks like the fire might have melted off whatever biological fluid was there. And, the serial number seems to have been scratched off, as well.” Sango clucked her tongue. “But, Ballistics has the gun now and is analyzing it, so we should have something conclusive by Monday.” 

Sango balked. “By Monday?! Why not tonight?”

“Because, it’s Saturday and a bunch of us are already on overtime. I don’t make the rules.” 

She gritted her teeth in disdain. Didn’t the government understand that crime, just like disease, didn’t stop just because the day fell on a weekend? Police officers worked on a twenty-four hour basis, so shouldn’t the forensic scientists and crime scene investigators, as well? How many times had her case dragged on because of logistics such as this?

“I know what you’re thinking,” Shippou remarked. “But, there’s nothing we can do about it. Let it go.” 

“Easier said than done,” she murmured, but relented to drop the subject for now. Shippou wasn’t the cause of her ire and therefore didn’t deserve her complaints. “Do you have anything else for me?” 

“The car was brought in, but again, probably won’t be processed until Monday. I do have the surveillance tapes from the train station and one of the corner businesses. I can bring those over after shift if you want.” 

“That’d be great! And if you want to stay, I’ll make the popcorn,” she persuaded. Watching videos was always better with company. Usually, Takeda would be the one to sift through them with her, but he managed to evade this particular boring task by enjoying seaside drinks with the little umbrellas in them. 

Shippou laughed. “You drive a hard bargain, but I’ve gotta pass. Souten would kill me if I don’t make it home at a decent hour. I’ve been pulling a lot of overtime these past few weeks.”

Sango pouted. Watching videos all evening seemed less and less desirable by the second. But, someone had to do it. “Fine then. You’re going to miss a great time. Tell Souten I say hello.” 

“Will do! And, don’t push yourself!”

After they said their goodbyes, Sango hung up her cell and stood up. If she was going to be watching the tapes all by her lonesome, she was going to need plenty of coffee and snacks. As she started to make her way over to the kitchenette area, she was flagged down by Haruto. 

“Hey, Fujimori,” she called out to him, taking in his disheveled look. His clothes were dripping wet and his flushed cheeks spoke of an overworked detective. She felt somewhat bad for him, but could vividly recall her days of struggling through the cold, rainy nights when she first came to homicide. She still experienced them, but in cases where homicide wasn’t a sure thing, she was able to pull rank and get away with delegating the less desirable tasks to those beneath her. 

He frowned up at her, more than likely less-than-pleased with how he spent his afternoon. “Good evening, ma’am,” he said as he began peeling off his raincoat. “The train station manager is in interview room one. He brought along the log books you requested.” 

“Thanks.” She gave him an approving smile. Part of her wanted to invite him to watch the surveillance videos with her that evening, but she ultimately decided against it. Not only did she feel like she had tortured him enough for one day, she also wasn’t quite sure how she would enjoy his company for hours on end. “You did great work today. Go home and get some rest. I’ll do the interview with the manager.” 

Haruto nearly crumpled with relief. “You don’t have to tell me twice.” 

Sango watched him go to his cubicle to collect his things, and then she continued on her way to the kitchenette. She poured two cups of horrible cop-shop coffee, grabbed a handful of powdered creamer and sugar packets, and headed toward interview room one. 

She entered the room to find a middle-aged man still dressed in his navy blue uniform, fidgeting with a thick notebook sitting on the table. “Hello. I’m Detective Tachibana from Homicide. You are?”

He swallowed thickly. ”Kazuma Horie.” 

“Care for some coffee, Mr. Horie?” He nodded, so she set down a cup of coffee in front of him, along with the powdered cream and sugar. As he began to fix his coffee to his liking, she took a seat across from him. “I promise not to keep you. I know you’ve had a long day.” 

He chuckled. “I’ll say. It’s not everyday the police come knocking on your door.” His dark gaze lifted to hers. “Especially not Homicide.”

Sango attempted a small smile to hopefully set him more at ease. Regardless if someone was brought in as a suspect, a person of interest, or a witness, the nerves were always tumultuous. The offer of coffee and a smile were her ways of trying to settle them. 

“I’m sure you’ve been briefed on why we needed you down here at the station,” Sango began, counting on Haruto to have done his job. 

The station manager nodded. “I was told there was an accident. Someone may have been murdered and the suspect may have escaped on one of my trains.” 

“That’s the jist of it. We appreciate your cooperation in handing over the surveillance tapes.” 

“Of course. I’ve relied on you guys plenty in the past for all those rowdy passengers in the late hours.” He tilted his cup toward her as a form of gratitude before taking a small swig. 

Sango curled her hands around her cup, the warmth spreading through her palms soothingly. “Glad to hear. I did want to go over the standard process of train scheduling and cleaning.” 

“Yeah, I figured you might. Brought my log books from yesterday and this morning.” He pushed the thick notebook in her direction. “The cars are cleaned every morning before the first scheduled train is to run.” 

She flipped open the notebook and slowly began scanning the scrawled handwriting. “Do you have an idea of which cars may have been in operation last night?” 

“Sure do. When that young detective came calling, I pulled the whole train from the schedule for the day. Caused some delays this morning, especially with the station shut down for your investigation, but I figured you may want to take a look at it. Hadn’t been cleaned yet, either.” 

Perfect! Sango made a mental note to thank Shippou again for being ahead of the game, and Haruto for following through. Before she had even arrived on scene, they had the area pretty locked down. If it wasn’t for them, they could’ve lost vital evidence. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused the station, but your actions have helped our case. I’ll have a team sent out as soon as possible to process the train so you can get it back on schedule.” 

“The sooner the better,” he grumbled. “My boss ain’t exactly pleased about this whole mess.” 

“Of course. I’m also going to hold onto your log book for now if that’s all right? I promise to return it.” 

Kazuma shrugged. “Do I have a choice?” 

She smiled, rather charmed by his gruff undertaking of the situation. “Also, I’ll need a list of everyone who may have been at the station that night - employees and passengers if possible.” 

He grimaced. “A list of employees, sure. That won’t be a problem. But, we don’t keep a list of the passengers. Key cards aren’t registered like credit cards. As long as there’s money on them, it’ll let the passengers on.” 

“There’s no way to track who put money on the card?” 

“I mean, sure, I guess so,” he said, stroking the stubble along his chin. “But, we don’t normally keep those kinds of records. You’d probably have to go through our technical team off-site.” 

Frowning, Sango figured that was probably going to be a dead-end. She was sure there were privacy laws involved when it came to determining who put money on those accounts. Then, there was the problem of how many people could have been present on the train that night. Considering it was a Friday, she didn’t even want to take a guess at the number. 

Depending on what her investigation turned up by Monday, Sango may need to make a plea to the media to see if anyone had witnessed anything aboard the train that night. Taking a sip of her coffee, she decided she’d wait until Takeda was back in the office before calling up her media contacts. 

The last thing she wanted to do was get any kind of media attention prematurely. 

Brown eyes stared at the dark ceiling overhead. A sliver of street light broke through the curtains, allowing just enough light for Rin to see. She listened to the gentle pounding of the rain against the window, indicating the storm still had not let up. Usually, Rin had no trouble falling asleep, swept away by a dreamless slumber. But, tonight she had woken from a nightmare, the same one that recurred every few nights to remind her of the terror she kept buried during the waking hours. 

She rolled over on her side and looked at the clock on the nightstand. Eleven-thirty. She had only slept for three hours. Even still, she couldn’t convince her thoughts to shut back down, the dark images from her dreams not yet fading. Kaede had taught her several methods of how to combat the nightmares: telling herself they weren’t real, that her mom was being cared for, and that she was safe. Rin would then count down from one-thousand, simultaneously telling each part of her body to go to sleep, starting from the top of her head and finishing with the tips of her toes. Sometimes, these methods worked. Other times, like tonight, her insomnia got the best of her. 

Flipping over to her back, Rin sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling again. Maybe a glass of warm milk would help her sleep. She tossed her covers back and slid out of bed, quietly exiting the bedroom and crept down the hallway toward the kitchen. 

A soft glow emanated over the stovetop. Miroku sat hunched over at the dining table with a half-empty beer, and the glow of his cell phone illuminated his features in a ghostly pale. Even to her young eyes, Rin could tell he was exhausted. She rarely saw the young doctor because of his profession, and even when he was home, he was never really there; his mind was always occupied with things she never asked about and he never spoke about. 

He looked up at the sound of her entrance and flashed her a smile, quickly shutting his phone screen off. “Hey, there, Rin,” he greeted quietly. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Had a nightmare,” she replied simply, her hands playing with the hem of her night shirt. 

Miroku stood and closed the distance to the refrigerator. “I know what will fix that. A glass of nice, warm milk.” 

She smiled up at him as she took a seat at the table. He had been the one to teach her about the soothing, nighttime beverage, the same thing he drank when nightmares woke him when he was a child. “Yes, please.” 

He poured her a glass and heated it up in the microwave before setting it down in front of her. She took a slow gulp as he sat back down, his violet eyes gazing at her curiously. “Was it the same dream?” 

Rin nodded, her long, black hair falling into her eyes. She brushed a strand behind her ear like second nature before curling both of her hands around her glass. 

Miroku sighed. “It won’t always be like this,” he promised. “Someday you won’t have those nightmares anymore.” 

“I know.” She had heard that from both him and Kaede several times, almost like a mantra. Another thing they tried to drill into her brain. But, it seemed easier for them to say those words than for her to believe it. And, after waking from one of those dreams, she did her best to quickly forget it. “So, who’s that woman?” 

Miroku chuckled. “You’ve always been too curious for your own good.” 

She pouted, which only earned her another laugh from the young doctor. “It’s not my fault you guys don’t want to tell me anything.” 

He finished his beer and stood to throw it in the trash. “It’s not something you have to worry yourself with. Now, finish your milk and get back to bed. Kids like you shouldn’t be up so late.” He ruffled her hair affectionately as he passed before leaving the kitchen. A moment later, she heard the front door shut. Most likely, he was on his way to the clinic to relieve Kaede for the evening. 

Rin sighed, sipping on her milk sullenly as she fumed over Miroku and Kaede’s blatant disregard for her. She was nearly twelve - hardly a child - and after everything she had been through, they should trust her with things like this. It was her right to know who slept under the same roof as Kaede’s livelihood, wasn’t it? The only thing she knew about the woman was that she had lost her memory, and that little detail Rin had collected by eavesdropping when the adults didn’t think she was around. 

She turned her gaze to the window longingly. The rainfall that had lingered all afternoon still beat against the glass. Usually thunderstorms were her lullaby, so being unable to drift back off to dreamland bothered her. Weeks ago, Rin had even worse trouble sleeping. Being in a new place with so much unknown ahead of her, she had been frightened and scared. There was something about not having control over her own life that had Rin defying everyone around her. She argued with the doctors, shut out Kaede, and even hit Miroku a few times in her fury. But, it wasn’t just anger that caused her to act so. It had been pain, grief, and panic. 

Shaking her head to clear the memories, Rin finished her glass of milk and deposited it in the sink. She started back down the hallway toward her room, hoping that the monsters stalking her from the edges of her mind would quiet for the night.

[liquid-luck-00]

Seven Stages of Being thrown into Teenage Superherodom

Stage 1: Panic

@marijon-week Day 1: Blue Eyes / Identity Reveal

@t1dwarrior-of-earth

Here *** Second

~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since Fu made her Guardian she left Paris. The Kwamii convinced her that the stress of being ladybug and the mental, and now physical, abuse of her classmates has become too much. Her parents also noticed her shift and they supported her leaving.

This was how she found herself in Blüdhaven. She was a student at Gotham Academy, but with Gotham's high crime rate they wanted somewhere safer for her. Sure she could have also chosen Metropolis, but the commute from Blüdhaven was shorter.

She will be the first to admit that it wasn't ideal, but for her mental health it was great. And with complete honesty and sincerity she wouldn't change a thing.

You see one thing that apparently gets overlooked is that Nightwing is the resident vigilante of Blüdhaven. Even more is the fact that he happens to be her neighbor.

OK so maybe a little bit backtracking here. Marinette may have figured out that her next-door neighbor, Detective Richard Grayson, happens to moonlight as Nightwing at night.

So the building they had chosen for her was extremely safe, however they didn’t take an account Marinette's extremely packed and late work schedule. With how Marinette would still be awake in the early morning hours, and if she heard a thump of boots on the balcony next to hers regularly, she is going to look out the window eventually.

When she does, she sees Nightwing at her neighbor's apartment. Which could be one of two possible reasons why Nightwing could be there. One, his significant other lived in that apartment and he just came regularly. Or two, he lived there and assumed every sane person was asleep.

Her question was eventually answered one night when she was at the desk next to her balcony door, she heard boots like normal, but this time they were closer than normal, this time they were on her balcony.

The door moved, causing her to turn and focus on the door. That was when a male voice muttered, I thought I left it unlocked like always.

So most people would have quietly left, but she wasn't most she opened the blinds. She is pretty sure she had a stare down with him but its difficult to say because at the mask.

However after countless akuma attacks, you tend to figure out who the target is, which is what she did. Same height, same rough build, same hit and skin tone, combined with her ability to recognize figures for fashion, that gives you Richard Grayson. Without breaking eye contact she got up, stepped to the door, opened it and pulled him in, shutting it and the blinds, turning to face him. Then is when she noticed the blood near his hair line and down his neck.

“There better be an extremely good reason why this happened Mr. Grayson.” She looked innocently at him, “because I don’t know how to explain.” She gestured to him now seated at her desk. She pulled out her first aid kit and started checking him.

“How did you find out?”

“Night owl,” she shrugged. “I hear you come in every night and well um, well...”

“Curiosity got the best of you.” She nodded.

Of course this was when her phone would go off, she grabbed it, opened it, and groaned, because of course she was being called a Paris in the middle of the night, morning over there.

“You know what you're still alive, just a superficial head injury, but I have to go.” She said moving towards her bedroom when Mr. Grayson finally reacted.

“I’m supposed to… you said you were 14 right?” She nodded. “I’m supposed to let a 14 year-old leave in the middle of the night?”

“I am, I can explain in the morning.” She tried to justify, but he wouldn't let go of her wrist. So in a leap of faith, she gave him a quick rundown of the Paris situation and why she had to leave. If after this Blüdhaven had another vigilante well no one else knew why, Trixx loved it though. And she had someone who not only knew who she was but knew how to help and train her. Even if he acted more like a brother to her.

After all the eyes are the windows to the soul, and as a true guardian and a pure soul of creation, she knows that she can trust Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson’s.

- - -

It’s almost humorous that the next pair of eyes she would this come to trust were a blue so electric that they seemed to hold Lightning itself. Those eyes belong to one Jonathan Samuel Kent.

She had actually met John while in class at Gotham Academy, but nothing much more than their initial meeting and a good morning in the halls. This was pretty much because he seemed to stick with Damian Wayne, the ice Prince of Gotham. And green eyes always hurt her in the past, so she mostly stayed away from them.

However the fates had another plan for them. A group project, yay was sarcastically running through her head because of course, the two people she was partnered with happened to be two pairs of eyes that made an impression on her originally.

“So, should we go to your place, or should we go to the library, oh maybe we should go to Damien’s, or maybe mine to work on this.” Jon rapid fired at her and Damian, as they well she moved in order to talk about the project.

“I um... I’m not exactly...” she couldn’t even finish the sentence before Damian butt in.

“Tt figure this out and inform me later.” With that he go up and walked away. And go figure her assumption that everyone with green eyes were complete and total dicks is just reinforced. Because if you’ve never had a good experience with anything or anyone who shares the same traits why would it be any different now.

“Maybe we should just meet at the café or at the library just get this over with.” She got up with the bell, turned on her heel, leaving Jon sitting at the desk she just vacated.

She heard of a soft, “oh ok” as she walked away.

But of course nothing ever was easy in her life. Because the next thing she knows she hears foot falls behind her, they were actually picking up speed, and then stomps as if they were trying to stop right behind her. That was when I hand wrapped itself around her wrist making her spin and face the person who grabbed her.

In that moment she didn’t think, she reacted, she reacted like every other time one of her classmates decided to hurt her. It was a motion that came as naturally as breathing while in her civilian form, so much so that she would bet her heartbeat wouldn’t have changed. She dropped the books and book bag from her arms and shoulder lifting her arms defensively to protect her head and she pushed her shoulders forward , defend her head, in an attempt to stop a blow. But the swing never came, no weight, no pressure, no kick, no pain, just silence.

She tentatively opened her previously shut eyes eyes and looked forward, towards where the hand had originally pulled her, to the person who pulled her, she saw Jon, shocked at her reaction and then that turned to fear almost, it seemed to her, as if he was wondering if he did something wrong, if he hurt her, quickly she tugged her arm away from him and dropped to the ground and tried to pick up her items. However what shocked her was that he also dropped down and tried to help her pick up her things.

She looked up as he handed her a stack, “I forgot to ask you for your number so we can do a group chat. Are you OK?”

“Oh yeah yeah I’m fine.” She pulled a pen quickly from her bag and a sticky note, she usually uses to annotate her sketches and class notes come on, “here.” She handed him the piece of paper, Marinette got up and started to walk away again, as to not miss her next class.

By the end of the day, she found out that Jon can can text her head off. She always tries to respond to text quickly but this boy spammed the chat trying to get to know her better. If she was Damian, and she figured he did, she would’ve silenced the conversation, but it would be rude of her not answer.

Eventually they did figure out a an arrangement, Damian was going to go meet a brother after school so he wouldn’t be available meaning that she and Jon would start the project. So they decided to open a chat just between the two of them and figured it out from there.

Seeing as both of them lived outside of Gotham they decided it would be a little bit safer to meet at Marinette’s and John would leave from her apartment. And that is what they did, together the two of them left Gotham Academy after school, took the train to Blüdhaven and got into study mode. They worked in relative peace, researching and writing down ideas until there was a knock on the door. Marinette made her way up to the door, looked through and there stood Dick. So she opened the door, yet what got her attention was not just her pseudo Brother but the person who is with him. This person just happened to be the missing member of their project group, Damian.

“Hey Mari, I thought I would introduce you to my baby brother!” He beamed then noticing the other person in the room. “Hey Jon.” He greater and then took a double take “Jon!!!”

“Hey Dick, Damian.” He smiled.

“Tt. Anyone care to explain this.” Damian glared between her and his brother.

“Wow something the boy wonder doesn’t know.” She muttered under her breath, apparently it wasn’t quite quiet enough as some reacted.

“She knows?!?” Jon directed towards Dick and Damian.

“Know what?” She bit the bullet.

“Boy Wonder!?!” He seemed to shout just loud enough to get their attention. This did cause a reaction, Dick almost looked proud but Damian seemed ready to attack her.

“Okay I knew you were clever but seriously?!”

“Not the time Dick!” She moved so the kitchen island was between her and Damian. That was when something clicked Boy Wonder, Robin, Damian is Robin. Dick is Nightwing, both work with Batman. Jon heard her the others didn’t, Robin is close with… oh sweet honey iced tea. “ Dick please please tell me that I’m wrong!”

“I’m going with no your right.” Thump went her head as it fell onto the counter unrestrained.

“Why can’t my life be normal?” She asked no one in particular.

“You are a magical girl who can use the power of mini sized gods who you also protect.” Dick supplied ever so helpfully.

“Not helping!” She glared at him.

“Your life wasn’t normal long before we met.”

“Still.” She grumbled. Damian and Jon were now watching her and Dick interact as if trying to figure something out. Ping. Her phone went off. “Oh come on.” She fell back on the counter.

“Who is it this time?” Dick asked.

She tossed the phone to him. “I hate elementals.” A livestream of Stormy Weather ravaged the city of Paris.

“Cookies?”

“Cookies, I’ll be back.” He tossed her a box from her pantry. Special macaroons for the kwamii.

“Wait! Let me come with you.”

“And how many times have I told you that would be a bad idea.”

“But…”

“No, don’t make me call Honey Bee to venom you again.”

He slowly backed up and sat on the couch dragging Damian with him. “I’ll um… I’ll hold down the fort. Don’t call Goldie.”

“I won’t.” She turned to go to her room. “Oh there is fresh cookies in the jar.”

She silently transformed and portaled away. Luckily her team was already there and they made quick work of the Akuma. Meaning she was back near instantly.

“That was quick.”

“Viperion was there.”

“How many times?”

“Dunno.”

“Liar.”

“Am not.”

“You are.” Jon interjected into their bickering.

“Who’s side are you on anyways?” She asked out.

“I have no idea.”

“Great we broke Superboy.” She plopped down on the couch next to a stunned Jon. “If only… Fluff.”she smiled, and knowing that smile Dick panicked. “Fluff. Hey Fluff.”

“Oh no time travel is what got you into this time travel will not get you out.” Dick jumped landing on her keeping her seated.

“What it’s going fine?!“ Jon screamed at them, looking pretty close to a mental break down, she should know.

“You didn’t explain anything did you.” She looked on up from her position under a pile of a Dick and pillows.

“I was meaning to come up with the cookies were good and kind of had my mouthful.”

“OK great so here’s the rundown. Hello my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I was chosen at the age of 13 to wield the Miraculous of the Ladybug which grants me the power of creation and healing. I moved Blüdhaven and enrolled into Gotham Academy because of my utterly deteriorating mental health as a result of bullying in my previous school. Not to mention the magical terrorist who prays on sad or negative emotions, who happens to be using the Miraculous Butterfly or the miraculous of transmission. My partner uses the miraculous of the black cat which grants them the power of destruction, but he’s a total and complete asshole, but that’s not surprising. I was then given full guardianship of every single miraculous in the Chinese zodiac box, the most powerful of all of them the tender age of 14. I figured out that Dick was Nightwing about a month after I moved in and afterwards I have been going out into with him as he’s in as the vigilante Vulpes. And I literally just figured out you are Robin,” she pointed at Damian. “And you are Super Boy,” she pointed at Jon, “because of you’re a little outburst. I would not have figured it out otherwise! And I’m totally not I am going crazy because now there is a total of three people who know my identity in another country, no less, and I’m sure I can figure out the rest of the Bat family from here but I so I don’t want to.“ She was able to breathe now, after having explained this in just under a minute.

She looked between both Damian and Jon noticed they both looked as if she was either crazy or that certainly made a lot of sense, or a mixture of both she really can’t tell.

“You were bullied.“ Jon seemed to only take away. “That actually explains earlier.” He said just load enough for her to hear, as they were still next to each other.

“I’m not going over this again.“ She huffed, causing Dick to roll off of her laughing onto the ground and she followed suit. “You know there’s a reason I’ve always trusted blue eyes.” That was the beginning of and inseparable friendship between her and Damian, and something more between her and Jon.

None of them quite knew that at the time.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

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[high-functioning-lokipath]

The Servant - Loki x Reader - Words: 4,568

A/N: Sorry for the late posting today, I had some personal issues this morning so I haven't really been online. Hope you enjoy it! 💜💚

You were orphaned at a young age, never even knowing your parents. The only thing you did know about them was on your 1,000th birthday you would receive a gift from them. Something they had planned to give you even before you had been born.

Growing up was, of course, difficult but thankfully, by your 800th birthday, you'd climbed the social ladder enough to be accepted as a servant in the palace. Surprisingly enough, after almost 50 years of working there, you still had not met the royal family. You chalked it up to working mostly night shifts and didn't give it much thought.

On the morning of your 850th birthday, having had the previous night off, you had planned on sleeping in some and then making the most of your day. However, you were quite rudely woken by 2 young maids, who you were somewhat friends with, rushing into your bedroom.

"Y/N!" They exclaimed. "Get up quickly! The queen has requested to speak with you!" You blinked a few times, not believing what they'd said.

"Did I get full last night and forget about it?" You muttered. They pulled you out of bed and selected your best dress from your closet. "What does she want to see me for?" You asked as they helped you dress. Suddenly you were feeling quite nervous and very sick to your stomach.

"We can't tell you," The one girl, Alexandria, said. "But I promise you it's all good things. You'll be very happy!" The other girl, Hildegard, didn't say anything but smiled knowingly.

Before you knew it, you were being shoved through a set of doors and staring at a table full of the most delicious breakfast foods you had seen. "Good morning," A voice greeted. You looked up at the speaker and realized Queen Frigga had been sitting at the table all along.

"Oh! My queen!" You gasped, curtsying quickly. "My apologies! I didn't-"

"Do not fret, Y/N," She smiled kindly. "Please, sit with me and eat. I'm sure you're hungry."

"I-" You paused, smiling gratefully. "I am actually. Thank you." You sat down and served yourself a small amount, not wanting to appear greedy. The Queen was surprisingly easy to talk to, asking about how various things in the palace were doing while in turn she allowed you to ask different questions about palace life. You found yourself smiling and laughing with her as you both ate.

"Do you know why I called you here this morning?" She asked.

"Not the foggiest," You admitted, shaking your head. "This is quite nice, of course, but I am a bit curious."

"Today is your 850th birthday, is it not?" You nodded quickly. The Queen took a sip from her glass, before continuing. "One of my sons is in need of a new servant. The previous one just got married to a young man from Alfheim."

"How nice for her," You smiled. Your brain, however, caught up with what Frigga was implying. "Wait. You mean you want me to be a servant to the princes?"

"Not the princes, dear girl. A personal servant to one. They each have a personal servant to care for their daily needs. You are not only qualified in skill and ability, but also in age. We never assign maids that are too young to the princes. They can be," She paused, chuckling quietly. "They can be a lot to handle. However, I think you will be just fine." You were speechless, staring at the Queen in shock.

"I-yes! Of course, your majesty. I would be honored."

I have not told you which prince you will be working for," She said, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise at your immediate acceptance.

"Does it matter?" You asked. "It is an honor no matter to be working for your family directly." Frigga nodded approvingly and smiled.

"Then you will not care when I say the position is working for my son Loki?"

"My Queen, as I said before, it would be an honor. I have never heard any ill spoken of you or your sons. So why should I care who I am to be serving?"

"Your attitude and innocence will either lead to your success or your quick demise. I wish you all the best. Now come, I will show you to your new quarters."

You and Loki became fast friends. He treated you more as a peer than as a servant, especially since you came to find out the two of you were the same age. You were surprised at how easygoing the young prince was. Working directly with the royal family, you did start to hear palace gossip about them and you were disheartened to find most of it was about Loki.

One day, when you'd finished with the daily chores you had in Loki's room, which was more like an apartment, Loki walked in and flopped down on the freshly made bed.

"Loki!" You screeched. "I just made that!" You ran over, trying to stretch the quilt where he was not laying at least. Loki smirked at you and your eyes widened. "No, no, no! Loki! I know that look! What are you up to-eeee!" You squealed as he pulled you onto the bed, officially messing up all the sheets. You both laid there for a while, laughing and simply enjoying each other's company. "Why are you back so early?" You finally ask.

"Thor was feeling sick today and-" He paused, looking away sadly. "The others had better things to do."

"They didn't want to fight with you?" You asked. He shook his head and you scoffed. "You are a far better warrior than all of them combined. They should consider it an honor to fight you."

"Y/N, love, you are too kind. But-" He was interrupted by someone opening the door.

"Prince Loki, your mother requests your presence," A young girl said. One of Frigga's maids you recognized.

"Of course," He sighed. "My apologies for messing up the bed," He said, turning back to you.

"It's alright, Lo-Prince Loki," You replied. It was sometimes difficult to remember to add the honorifics on his name after becoming such close friends. But the girl was watching and you didn't want to appear disrespectful.

It took about 2 weeks for you to finally figure out what was going on. Ever since that day in Loki's room, the other servants, with the exception of your friends Alexandria and Hildegard, had avoided you like the plague. But today it all came out. You were in the laundry about to fold the clothes Loki had asked you to wash when you heard two maids talking a few tables away. One was Frigga's maid and they were obviously unaware of your presence in the room.

"They were in bed together!" She whispered scandalously.

"No!" The other gasped. "Tell me more!"

"The sheets were quite a mess. You could tell there had been quite a bit of," She paused briefly, smirking. "Activity." The two of them laughed quietly. "And that isn't even the worst! She almost called him by his name without a title! And he even called her ‘love’!"

"Oh my!" The girl gasped. "I suppose it makes sense. She is Prince Loki's personal servant. And I suppose she should serve him personally," She winked. "Although I do not understand why he would be interested in a thing like her?"

"A whore does not have to be pretty to be talented," Frigga's maid replied. The other girl hummed in agreement.

Hot tears fell down your cheeks. You bit back a sob and hurriedly gathered Loki's clothes in a basket. You ran out of the room and straight to Loki's quarters. As much as you wanted to hide away you had to finish your chores but you couldn't stay there. When you reached his room you placed the basket on the bed as it was the best spot to use like a table. Looking at the bed though, you burst into tears, falling to your knees beside the bed.

"Norns! I've never wanted to stab someone so much!" Loki yelled, bursting into the room. You gasped, standing up quickly, trying to dry your tears.

"What happened?" You asked, turning away from him so he couldn't see your face and trying to keep your voice even.

"Odin! Blasted Odin! He dared to imply that-argh! That man, he dares to call himself a king much less a father-" Loki yelled. He was so angry he couldn't even finish a sentence. You patiently listened, trying to finish folding his clothes.

"What did he say?" You asked quietly.

"He implied things," Loki said vaguely. "About my behavior."

"Has he not done so before?" You asked, slightly confused as to what made him so upset today. Loki shook his head.

"Not like this. He-" Loki winced slightly, hesitant to explain. "He wasn't just talking about me in this instance."

"Ah," You said. "So who's honor has you so upset? Lady Sif's perhaps?"

"Why would I be upset over her?" He exclaimed, finally looking up at you. Rushing over to you he grabbed your hands, pulling you closer to him. "Darling! What happened? Why are you crying?" You pulled away quickly, wrapping your arms around yourself.

"Please don't call me that!" You cried. "I-I'm sorry, Lo-Prince Loki. I am not feeling too well. Could I be excused to my quarters? I will send someone to finish with your laundry." Loki nodded slowly, very confused, and you ran off.

As you ran down the hallway, you collided with someone and you both fell down. "Y/N! Where's the fire?" Alexandria laughed as she got up. She reached to help you and saw your tears. "Who hurt you?" She asked.

"I'm just not feeling well," You lied.

"That is a pitiful excuse. What is wrong?" She ordered. As you walked to your room with her, you explained everything. "Oh honey! I'm so sorry that happened! You stay here. I'll send Hildegard to bring you some food and I'll go take care of Loki's laundry. Ok?" You nodded sadly and laid down as Alexandria hurried out. A few hours later, after you forced down part of the dinner Hildegard had brought you, there was a light knock at your door.

"Come in," You said, voice hoarse from crying. Slowly your door opened and a raven-haired man peeked in.

"Y/N?" Loki said, stepping in carefully. "How are you doing?" You wanted to scream at him for coming. You wanted to tell him to leave. But you were tired.

"Sadly, I am alive." Loki chuckled lightly and sat on the edge of your bed.

"For that I am very much glad," He smiled, resting a hand on your arm. "Alexandria told me what happened." You stiffened at his comment, every worst possible scenario rushing through your mind. "That's actually what Odin was speaking of earlier. He said that I was of age now and, well, he said there would be no consequences if I chose to find, how did he put it? Comfort? In one of my maids?"

"I see," You said slowly. "That-that makes sense," You continued, sitting up in bed, hands in your lap. "After all you are the prince and you have more important things to worry about than where to sate your needs." You looked away, nervous at what his reaction would be. You would be lying if you said you didn't want to be with him. But you definitely didn't want to be an object. Something he simply used and then ignored when it was no longer needed.

"Oh my dear friend," Loki sighed. "Do you truly think so little of yourself? Why do you think I was so upset earlier? After my meeting with Odin?" He brushed the stray strands of hair out of her face, ones that had fallen out of place while she slept. Turning her head towards him he smiled at her, eyes brimming with tears. "You are far too precious to be treated like that. I would never want to treat anyone so,” He crinkled his nose, searching for the right word. “So insignificant.”

"I appreciate that, Loki," You replied, blushing slightly. "But that doesn't change what they think. I'm so sorry. It's not your fault. Perhaps I should go away. At least I wouldn't hear any of the rumors they have to tell."

"No! Please don't go!" He immediately said, reaching out to hold onto you as if you'd take off right then. Running one hand through his hair he sighed. "Perhaps this isn't a good time to tell you."

"Tell me what?" You asked, reaching out to touch his hand but hesitated slightly, nervous as to how he would react. Loki stared at you, watching your movement. He took you hand in his and chuckled dryly.

"I care for you deeply, Y/N. You're my closest friend but," He paused. "But I wish for more. I love you. Very much. If you don't feel the same way I understand. If you want a transfer or want to leave I can have that arra-"

"No!" You yelled, interrupting him. "No! I don't want to go! I-" You gasped. "I love you too!" You laughed happily. "I just never thought you'd feel the same way!" Loki grinned, hugging you tightly.

"I promise to love you till the end of time," He whispered. Stroking your tear-stained cheek gently with his thumb he smiled sadly. "I know things will not be easy for you with the other servants. And I will try my best to make things right. But please come to me, darling. I never want to see you suffering alone."

"Okay," You said, smiling gratefully. He leaned forward and kissed you softly, chastely.

"If I am going to court you, we're going to do this right," He said. "I shall speak with the Allfather and Allmother today."

To your great happiness, they allowed Loki to court you. However, to your surprise, they never agreed when he asked to marry you. 1 year turned into 10. 10 into 100. Soon you had found yourself having courted Loki for over 200 years. They had gone by in the blink of an eye it seemed and, though you both wished to marry, you were happy as long as you were by each other's side. Loki had asked for your hand so many times that Frigga and Odin began to answer him before he even asked. He never stopped asking though.

One day, as you neared your 1,000th birthday, you woke in the middle of the night to a loud clatter in the hallway followed by a curse. You giggled, recognizing Loki's voice, and ran to open the door.

"Loki!" You whisper-yelled. "What are you doing? It's 3am!"

"Y/N!" He exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I simply knocked over a-"

"Loki, it's ok," You chuckled. However, you noticed he was unusually quiet and wouldn't look at you. "Loki? Is something wrong?" He slowly looked at you, a cool expression taking over his face.

"I was leaving you a note on the door. You'll have a new assignment in the morning."

"Oh! Loki! Did they finally say yes?" You asked excitedly, running towards him. He quickly backed away from you, shaking his head vigorously.

"No," He said. "I-I think it best we don't see each other any more. Therefore I asked for a change in your assignment."

"I don't believe you," You replied. Loki's expression contorted into one of anger.

"If you don't believe me then go read the note I left you! After all this time you don't even trust me?" He yelled.

"Loki!" You hissed, grabbing his arm before he could back away. "I trust you with my life. Don't make this into that argument. We've been over it already. I meant I don't believe what you're saying. I don't think you truly wish our relationship to end. I think someone or something has gotten to you or threatened you and I think you're trying to 'make it easier on me' by making me hate you before you go. Well guess what? It's not going to work. We promised each other to be in love till the end of time and I, for one, am keeping my end of the bargain so if you don't get in here, sit down, and explain to me what's going on I'll go to Frigga myself and ask her."

"Okay," Loki agreed, suddenly looking tired and defeated. Following you into your room he sat on the edge of your bed, fidgeting with his hands. "Your birthday is coming up," He said.

"Yes, it is," You replied, sitting next to him. "What does that matter?"

"Recently, my mother told me that your parents left you a gift for your 1,000th birthday." You nodded, wondering where he was going with this. "I am," He paused. "Familiar with a custom of certain families, usually ones of higher ranking, that they give their daughters a husband on her 1,000ths birthday. And-" He took a shaky breath, looking away. "I fear that is why we've never been allowed to marry. I think Mother knows what your gift is."

"Oh," You said. "I-I never thought of that. I never dreamt-" You started to cry, suddenly afraid of being taken away from the love of your life. Loki pulled you into his arms and kissed your forehead softly. No more words were exchanged. Loki and you eventually fell asleep reclined on your bed, you cradled protectively in his arms.

The day finally came. You were 1,000 years old by Asgardian terms and you were terrified. One of Odin's servants came to you with a request for your presence at breakfast and an excuse from all your duties that day. You bit your lip nervously. Not having to work today meant you had no real excuse to see Loki before breakfast. You hoped he would be there at least.

"Good morning, Y/N," Frigga smiled as you walked into the dining room. You curtsied and forced a smile back.

"Your highness," You greeted. Odin walked in the room and nodded at you before taking his seat at the head of the table. You curtsied again and then heard Thor coming in with his usual ruckus. Turning around you saw Thor physically dragging Loki into the dining room. The latter quickly walked in on his own when he saw you already there.

"Y/N!" Loki exclaimed, running up to you and hugging you tightly. You giggled and hugged him back. Odin cleared his throat pointedly and the two of you quickly pulled away. Frigga shot her husband a glare and then smiled softly at you and Loki. You all sat down, you and Frigga on one side, the two Odinsons on the other side, and Odin at the head, while the servants brought out the food. You tried to help them but Frigga tapped your arm and motioned for you to sit.

"You're a guest today, my dear girl," She said. You nodded, feeling awful for not helping. Eventually, the meal was finished, though you ate very little, and Odin stood up.

"Today is a special day," He boomed, smiling at you. "I will skip over a long and flowery speech since I care for those very little and I'm sure you are anxiously awaiting your gift." You looked away, a bit embarrassed that it was so obvious. "Do not be upset," He chuckled. "There is nothing wrong with your excitement." You looked up at him again and smiled slightly. Loki was right all these years, it was odd to see Odin happy. Somehow his cheerful attitude doubled your nerves.

"Are you ok, brother?" Thor whispered to Loki on the other side of the table.

"I'll be fine," Loki snapped. He shot an apologetic look at Thor and nodded. "Just worried," He added. Thor nodded and patted his brother's shoulder firmly.

"This paper, a letter," Odin said. "Was written to you, Y/N, by your parents shortly after your birth. As you can see, it is sealed with my seal and has not been opened. I, myself, as well as the Queen were present at it's writing." He broke open the seal and started reading.

"Our dearest Y/N, our love, our daughter,

You may not get to see it until much later, but to us, your parents, your eyes hold a bright future. You've yet to say a single word but you've got us wrapped around your little finger. We can't wait to see what a beautiful woman you'll become. We have lain a path for you before birth and now that you're here, it is time to take your first steps in this new and exciting world. No matter what, you will always have our love and support whenever your life shall lead you. Whether we're far or near, we will always be there with you, every step of the way.

As we said, we have something planned for you. Something that will allow you to fulfill your greatest dreams and something that we hope will give you all the happiness in the world.

Many moons ago, your father saved a man's life in battle. The man promised to repay that debt. It was agreed that our families would be joined by the future marriage of our children. The man later had a son, and we, of course, had you."

At this point, hot tears were streaming down your face. As happy as you were to hear how much your parents cared for you. You now knew Loki's fears were correct. This was why you'd never been allowed to marry him. Each word suddenly became as a stab to your heart. Loki, for his part, was not faring any better as he listened.

"That man was our wonderful King, Odin. We hope you, our lovely Y/N, find all the joys you could ever hope for in your marriage to his son.

We want you to know how much we love you and we wish you all the happiness possible as long as you live.

Your parents ~"

Loki's chair screeched as he stood abruptly. Your head snapped up to look at him but he was already storming through the dining room doors.

"Father?" Thor said uneasily, looking quickly between Odin, you and the door through which Loki had left. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Well, my son," Odin said with a wide smile. "It means that Y/N has been promised to-"

"No!" You exclaimed, standing up. "Thor," You said, looking at him. "I love you like a brother. You'll be a fine husband one day but I'd rather die before I marry you." Turning to Odin you saw a frown painting his face. "Throw me in the dungeons, kill me, whatever you wish, but I will not marry Thor. I love Loki and I could never hurt him in such a way."

"My child-" Odin started to say but you ignored him, running out of the room. "Guard!" Odin yelled, calling for one to go after you.

"Husband," Frigga said softly. "Let her be for now. Perhaps there can be a solution." Odin reluctantly agreed and Frigga sat beside him to reason with him. Thor quietly slipped out, feeling rather awkward.

He wandered out to a secluded part of the gardens, a spot he knew Loki loved to hide in. He smiled sadly when he found you curled up in Loki's arms at the base of a willow tree. "I won't do it," You sobbed, gripping his shirt tightly as you cried into it.

"You have to," Loki said, running his hands soothingly over your back. Although his was just as upset, he was trying to be strong for you. "It's been decided," He whispered. "At least you'll be safe and cared for. Thor may be my oaf of a brother but he'll treat you well."

"No I won't," Thor said walking up. "Well, not that I would-" He sighed frustratedly. "I mean that I won't take her." Loki looked up at his brother in surprise.

"Brother, what-"

"Loki," Thor said, sitting down beside his brother. "She refused me already," He chuckled. "Father was not happy but I believe Mother is trying to change his mind." He clapped Loki's shoulder and smiled. "She's yours. I would never dare take that away from you." The three of you sat in silence for some time before Frigga came and found you.

"My children, please come back to the dining hall. I have spoken with Odin and we've made a decision." Reluctantly you followed Frigga, holding tightly to Loki's hand.

As you walked into the dining room, Odin stood up and smiled at you. It was a forced smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Y/N, you have refused to marry Thor, correct?" You nodded immediately. "And Thor, you have refused to marry Y/N?"

"I cannot take her away from my brother, from their happiness." Odin nodded thoughtfully.

"Well then, here is my decision," Odin said. Frigga cleared her throat pointedly, shooting him another glare. "Our decision," He corrected. "This letter was written a few months after you were born, Y/N. Although we'd made the agreement before your birth, it did not go into effect until it was written." He sighed loudly and looked back at the paper. "And by this time Loki was already in our lives." Loki looked at you hopefully, squeezing your hand lightly. "And the letter does not specify which son you are promised to. So it is my great pleasure," He said somewhat sarcastically. "To give you to my son Loki as a bride. Will that be acceptable?"

"Yes!" You exclaimed. "Yes! Oh thank you!" You were nearly screaming in excitement. Loki was frozen in surprise, having never expected his father to give in to their wishes.

"Really?" He asked in almost a whisper. Frigga nodded at him and hugged her son. "Thank you!" He said. Turning to you he smiled widely, hugging you tightly and spinning you around. You laughed as he spun you, happy beyond your wildest dreams.

"Oh Loki!" You cried as he put you down. "I love you so much!" He grinned, kissing you earnestly.

"I love you too, my queen," He smiled. You blushed brightly, looking away.

"Enjoy your day together," Frigga said. "Tomorrow we can make the announcement and start making plans." You both nodded and hurried off to the gardens again, this time much happier.

"And to think all this started because your previous servant got married suddenly," You mused as you walked through the gardens arm in arm.

"Oh it wasn't sudden at all," He said. You stopped in your tracks, staring at him in surprise. "We'd been planning for her departure for some time. I had seen you working and quite liked you but you weren't old enough to be a servant of the royal family yet." Your eyes widened with every word. "I made mother wait to find me a replacement until you had your birthday."

"You chose me?" You gasped. He smiled, turning to face you and brushing a few stray hairs away from your face.

"I will always choose you," He said, smiling widely. "For all time."

"Always."

Loki

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[majorsoapfan]

The Umbrella Academy Season 3 Episode Titles Analysis

Now that the episode titles for season 3 have dropped, I’ve spent the last few days wondering and theorizing just what they could mean. Most of what I’ve gotten so far rests on symbolism, headcanons, potential theories and a lot of googling, but we all need some way of staying sane until season three drops, right?

Now this is just what I’ve come up with so far, I could be massively wrong in all of these, but these are just my predictions based on what I know of the characters and plot so far, previous ways of naming episodes and the very little I know of the comics.

Meet The Family

Now this one is very self-explanatory and we’ll most likely get to know our birdies very well in this episode. We’ll probably be seeing a flashback to the Sparrows as children fighting crime - maybe already being better at it than their Umbrella counterparts were when they first started.

I’m hoping that we’’ll see another montage of introducing the siblings as adults like we saw in season one with our Umbrellas - which had been so helpful to me at the time as I had started watching the show about a week before season two dropped. I had known absolutely nothing about the show when I started, I had only clicked on it because Robert Sheeran was in the card as Klaus with his pink umbrella and I thought he was pretty. I became a massive fan all because I had thought Robert was pretty and I was bored.

So yeah, I loved the initial introduction montage of the siblings as it helped me figure out who was who quickly without wasting time. And I think that doing something similar for the Sparrows will also help give a better and quicker insight into their personalities and how they work when we see them in episode one.

The World’s Biggest Ball of Twine

If you google ‘ball of twine’ it does mention that this is an archetype for an odd roadside attraction. Now if we’re going literal here, there are plenty of such attractions in the States, including one of just this in Texas, where our dysfunctional family had been last season. Maybe an indication of a road trip or even them fleeing the Sparrows and New York in order to regroup and figure out their next step without the birds circling in?

Ball of twine can also mean wrapping really strongly around something, especially as the material mentioned is usually very strong and durable. A ball of wool isn’t the episode title after all. Now this could mean maybe a family or an emotional issue that is massively at play here. Or more likely, the Umbrella’s and more specifically Five, are trying to figure out their exact steps and actions in the 60′s and just how badly they changed the past and future, both in the general sense of the world and for their own personal lives.

Ball of Twine can also mean wrapping around something tightly, so maybe a trap is being put in place or enacted. Either for the Umbrellas by the Sparrows, or the Umbrellas are trying to lure their counterparts into a trap to regain the upper hand.

Pocket Full of Lightning

Now the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this title is something like this being described or mentioned regarding a character and their abilities. Now the characters that come to mind immediately when referenced to this are either Vanya or Christopher. Or maybe it may have something to do with a team-up, more than likely the Sparrows and what can happen when they team-up and combine their powers.

But lightning also has a lot of symbolism in many different societies and periods and in all honesty, I feel like I have to mention this. Symbolism includes but isn’t limited to: illumination, destruction, punishment, inspiration and revelations. Lightning is also highly associated with the King of the Greek Gods Zeus. Maybe Marcus or Reginald?

Marcus is after all described as a natural leader after all, gaining perhaps a Zeus like image in the public eye?

Whereas Reginald on the other hand would definitely see himself as being as King and acts like it at times, using his children as his soldiers to advance his agendas. Zeus isn’t a very kind or forgiving God either so unlike Marcus maybe this has something to do with the Hargreeves patriarch?

Kugeblitz

Thank you Tumblr for having already given me the definition for this episode title when I had first found out the episode titles so I know that it means a black hole formed from radiation.

Luther and Five when I think of this title in terms of its definition a kugeblitz has me thinking of both space and science, as both topics are highly associated with these characters. Black holes have ties to space which Five who’s powers are teleportation and Luther who spent four years up in space both have ties to a title like this.

But of course we can’t forget the actual alien in the family Reginald Hargreeves. A black hole could be a reference as to what happened to his original planet, or maybe signalling a potential threat later on in the season. Will it cause another apocalypse or a warning for an alien invasion perhaps?

But it also might have links to a well known Umbrella Academy villain, Dr Terminal. I haven’t read the comics so I will admit to a lack of knowledge on this villain although I will Google him later. But as the season will be focusing on the Sparrow Academy and potentially any previous villains, Dr Terminal seems to be the most well known in the fandom and thus the most likely to make an appearance, whether in flashbacks or in person. A few people here seem convinced that this episode title will have something to do with him in some form.

Kindest Cut

When I think of this episode title, my first thought goes of course, to Diego. People can often get cut with knives and they are of course Diego’s preferred weapon of choice.

Maybe however they are referring to another powered sibling and what harm their abilities can cause. Top contenders after Diego of course, are Vanya whose power we know can cut after seeing what she did to Allison at the end of ‘The Day that Was’ in a moment of anger.

But if we go with the Sparrows then Alphonso is at the top of my list. His character sheet is mentioned as him bearing the scars from his years of crime-fighting. His power is assumed to be the voodoo from the comics and if he can transfer the injuries he obtains or inflicts on himself to others, this may be what this title means.

But, and this theory I think is the one that I’m most obsessed with right now, is that the episode title could be an adaptation of the saying ‘unkindest cut’. The definition for this is ‘a cruel or devastating injury or insult inflicted on you by a supposed friend’. 

If we go by current timeline we’re in then my money is that Five may be joining the Sparrows either under duress or having worked out an agreement with Reginald that his siblings would be spared if he did. Only his family might not be aware of what Five has planned and agreed to and would only see the apparent betrayal of what they have all gone through together as a family. Of only seeing their brother join the team that probably want them dead.

But this betrayal may also be coming from the Sparrows and Sloane perhaps. Sloane is an inverse of Five in a sense in that while Five is driven by his desire to save his family, Sloane often feels like hers are holding her back from experiencing her dream of leaving. Maybe she betrays the Sparrows in some way by letting an opportunity to capture the Umbrellas flee or seeking them out as allies.

Marigold

According to what I can glean from the comics, marigold refers to the balls of light that eventually became the 43 super-powered children. So could we be getting an explanation as to how these supers came to be and why?

But like with episode three’s episode title, I can’t not mention the symbolism connected to this title. Marigolds often have conflicting symbolism today. In modern western society their bright colours often have them being associated with the sun and positive emotions and energy such as happiness, optimism and good luck. Not what I think the episode will be about.

But on the darker side of things, which is something that I do think has more ties into what to expect, is that they also refer to jealousy, grief, despair, mourning and cruelty. It is a flower associated with death and the Day of the Dead in Mexico and is said to offer protection from evil spirits. This connection with death is what I first thought of when I saw the episode title and the most obvious character associated with Death is none other than our ghost-boy Klaus Hargreeves.

Klaus as a character has a lot of ties to death naturally and I did see a post on here describing how Klaus will be entering the fourth stage of grief which is depression for both Ben and Dave during season three. This makes sense as they are now both gone in a way that not even his powers can reverse nor can he summon their spirits. Marigolds can often symbolize a despaired love and strong passion as well as well as pain and grief, so it could be a reference to Klaus’ depression over permanently losing both his closest brother and his love. But the main reason I do think that this episode does tie in heavily with Klaus is that it’s a mid season episode and so far that’s usually when Klaus undergoes most of his development. Maybe it’ll continue that way in season three.

Of course if Marigold will also represent a despaired love there are other options in the Umbrellas other than Klaus and Dave: Diego with both Eudora Patch (who is possibly still alive in this timeline) and Lila Pitts still bouncing around the timeline. Allison dealing with leaving her 60′s husband Raymond Chestnut and maybe trying to track down her ex Patrick to find out what happened to daughter Claire in this timeline and Vanya with love Sissy Cooper. Or maybe even Five and Dolores or possibly a love interest for Luther could be a reference to this title. 

Explaining how the Umbrella and Sparrows came to be wouldn’t take the whole episode giving us time for some potential (doomed) love.

Auf Wierdershen

This is very likely to be a Klaus focused episode, even if Marigold isn’t.

The episode title is German for goodbye and Klaus is the character most associated with Germany. Klaus is the only character to have spoken German during the shows events so far and his name is of German origin (interestingly enough, all of the male Sparrows bar Ben, have their names tied to Germanic origin. Meanwhile, Fei’s name is of Chinese origin, Jayme has both Spanish and Hebrew roots, while Sloane is derived from an Irish surname Ó Sluaghhadáin). Not only that but it is considered fanon that Klaus was born in Germany just like Diego and Vanya’s roots are considered to be Mexico and Russia respectively. 

Not only that but he literally has ‘goodbye’ tattooed on his hand.

‘Goodbye’ has many different interpretations for what this could mean especially if this is a Klaus centric episode like we are assuming. And like I mentionned above with Klaus going through the fourth stage of grief in season three, this might be the episode where he moves into the fifth and final stage: acceptance. Perhaps by having one last talk with Umbrella Ben in the afterlife or by trying to track down Dave after Vietnam and discovering he (seemingly - I do have hopes for Commission Dave later on) did live a long and happy life after the war. 

Mending fences with Ben and both getting the chance to air their genuine grievances with one another and mend their relationship from the horrific state it was in at the end of season two might help Klaus find closure. Klaus and Ben both love each other but they crossed a lot of lines and hurt each other deeply with their behaviours last season and they deserved the chance to try and fix the issues as well as say a proper goodbye to one another. This could give Klaus the opportunity to say just that as well as moving into accepting Ben’s death once and for all.

And when it comes to Dave, maybe just knowing that Dave moved on can help Klaus move from depression into acceptance. He was more than fine with stopping Dave from enlisting in the army during season two even knowing that it would mean that Dave would never meet or fall in love with Klaus. He was willing to sacrifice his chance at love with Dave if it meant that Dave would survive. Perhaps if he knew that Dave had been happy and safe in his later life he could then move on and say goodbye? 

And maybe by coming to terms with the departure of two of the biggest influences in his life, motivate Klaus to embrace a new outlook and control of his life and his powers?

Wedding At The End Of The World

This very clearly has ties to the very first episode of the show which is ‘We Only See Each Other At Weddings and Funerals’. Both have marriage and death connected in their titles. The characters that we know have been married so far out of our Hargreeves family so far is Reginald and Allison.

Reginald was married on his home planet when his wife died. Not a lot is known about her other than she was the original owner of Vanya’s violin in the original timeline. Maybe we’ll get information on her and just why Reginald left his home planet?

The next character married so far is Allison who so far has been married twice already (maybe they’re going three for three this time?). And judging by the episode title in season one, that event was the last time the Umbrella Hargreeves (bar Five) were all together as a family until they arrived for Reginald’s funeral. Maybe there’s a link there.

Or maybe this is referencing a whole other wedding that may be happening during the events of season three? I wouldn’t be surprised if Five reunites with Delores and decides just to get married to make it official. To paraphrase Klaus, it’s probably one of the healthiest relationships that family ever had regarding love.

Six Bells

Now this tile had me stumped for a good bit and it will probably make more sense when season three does drop and we watch the episodes, but for now I can just theories on it.

Bells have often been associated with religious services, which may tie in with the last episode, but can also be rung for important events or in deference of important people.

But what is really getting me is that the title is six bells and there are six Umbrellas left so far. Could the bells be in reference to something regarding them, some sort of trap perhaps? Which will definitely tie in in some way to the seasons finale:

Oblivion

Now like episode one this one seems fairly self-explanatory. This seems like Hotel Oblivion is finally coming into play here, meaning they are probably switching the order of stories from the comics. But the question is: if it is Hotel Oblivion, did the Umbrella’s enter the Hotel/prison out of free will or were they trapped here by the Sparrows? Anything goes at this point considering that it’s the last episode of the season.

But when it comes to the Hotel there are so many possibilities as to what happens here:

- Are all of the Umbrella’s trapped inside or did one escape and their other cell mate is a Sparrow perhaps (Sloane maybe for trying to leave the Sparrow Academy?)

- How will this set up the cliff-hanger for season four? Will all or some of the Umbrella Hargreeves be trapped in the hotel once the season ends and that helps set up the tension for the next season. Or maybe a break out of prisoners just like in the comics occurs and the Umbrella's are forced to deal with it?

-Where will this leave our Sparrows at the season end, because I know that we’re going to get attached (I know I will). Will some of them come with us into season four? Maybe they are split into two teams as the season ends, each containing a mixture of both Umbrella’s and Sparrows?

Well that’s all I have, maybe I’m right about some of it, maybe I’m all wrong, just need to wait until season three to find out.

[inuyashaographer]

Answerbox #129

Another question by @cruncylotusroot

Q: Hello it's me again, I am watching anime final act episode 22 - when Inu turn to full demon why he is remembering the past with Kikyo? I thought he's move on when she die 2nd time, was that Naraku's doing? I doubt it is because that only come to Inu thought without Naraku saying anything. May I know your thought on this one please.

Hello again.

So this is one of those yes and no, kind of answers. These are actually Inuyasha's thoughts but they're being coerced and manipulated out of him at the same time. They are real, but they’re being amplified.

Naraku tells them this not long after they arrive.

The Shikon Jewel desires your souls, the rage that fills your heart, the hate and despair. The jewel wants the darkest parts of your heart.

Now let’s look at what Inuyasha is thinking during the scene that you mentioned.

Kikyo... I didn't know...we both fell into Naraku's trap he set us up to hate each other and then... you chased after me... followed me into death.

...Kikyo I swear to protect you this time. I will never let Naraku hurt you again!

... and then... I failed her again.

Which is then followed by Kagome showing up.

I will always be by your side.

Kagome... I swear I'll give my life to protect you... this time I won't...

The smell of Kagome’s blood from the cut on her arm that he gave her before he pushed her away and his memory of her brings him back to reality again at least for a moment...

So this has been brought up a few times before.

The reason he pushes Kagome away during Royokan is because he believes that he cannot protect her.

He finds himself constantly asking why she stays with him, or apologizing to her when she gets hurt, like he does after the confrontation with Tsubaki.

He’s already failed to keep Kikyo safe once before, he now doubts in his ability to keep Kagome safe. Then Kikyo dies again... and he blames himself again and considers himself a failure only further amplifying his fears of failure... then he snaps back to reality when he sees Kagome and she says “I will always be by your side.”

This line is a very big deal for Inuyasha, because it assures him that Kagome will always be there for him and believe in him when he doubts himself.

Royakan

Inuyasha: Why did you...

Kagome: I couldn’t help it! I wanted to see you!

Inuyasha: She wanted to see... Me?

The Talk at the Well

Kagome: Can I stay at your side?

Inuyasha: You... want to stay?

Tsubaki

Inuyasha: I’m sorry Kagome... that you’re always stuck with me.

Kagome: It’s okay... it’s by choice that I’m with

He was allowing himself to wallow in self-pity, until he saw Kagome and she reminded him. If you don’t do something, you’ll lose me. He snaps back to reality because her words give him hope and determination, the ability to break out of that darkness that was engulfing him.

And then comes Naraku...

Naraku: Don’t you remember? I suppose not, you haven’t been yourself as of late. 

Inuyasha: Naraku what did you do to Kagome?!

Naraku: How poignant. Don’t you remember ripping apart the woman you love?

Inuyasha: I... What?!

Naraku: You’ve done it again.

Inuyasha; Not only did you fail to your woman, but Kagome like Kikyo became a blood sacrifice to your weakness.

Inuyasha: Shut up! I killed Kagome?!

Naraku: Inuyasha... allow me to liberate you from your greatest weakness. Forget it all... forget Kagome and your human heart. Know the pure joy of kill, that is what the jewel desires for you.”

So Inuyasha manages to find that hope in order to pull himself up and back to normal, and the moment Naraku sees that he rips it away from him.

Actually using the fact that Kikyo died and that Inuyasha failed again, against him. And when Inuyasha attempts to deny that? Naraku points to the blood on his fingers, and though they were from a minor cut he pushes the idea that Inuyasha instead killed Kagome. It’s with that hope ripped away from him, he’s able to get Inuyasha to succumb to his demon side once again.

So not only did Naraku know about it, he did it because “this is what the jewel desires of you.”

The real kicker of the situation? Kagome was never in any real danger, because she wasn’t going to die, the jewel already had a plan to use Kagome to replace Midoriko, that’s why Naraku pushes the idea for Kagome to kill Inuyasha. Not only would it get rid of Inuyasha it would corrupt her and even possibly, the jewel could have been offered to save him. That’s what makes the situation all the more vindictive on Naraku’s part.

Kagome: In that moment, Inuyasha pushed me away. He helped me escape before he completely lost control.

Naturally any attempt to make Kagome doubt him falls flat on it’s face.

However when this plan falls through, he uses Inuyasha to confront his brother because as Kagome figures out.

Kagome (to Sesshomaru): If you fight your brother, you’ll be falling right into Naraku’s trap.

Because the negativity or the possible death of the other would naturally be what the “jewel desires of them,”

Naturally of course, they do this, Sesshomaru is stubborn and Magatsuhi has possessed Inuyasha’s body, so a fight is going to happen one way or the other. At the start of the fight Inuyasha ends up dropping Tessaiga, which Kagome rushes over to grab in order to use to turn him back to normal.

So while the two brothers continue to clash Kagome is climbing around on the sideline, using Naraku’s body to work her way around, she almost falls at first before stabbing the sword into Naraku’s body to keep herself pinned up. (Small side-note, I love how closely Sesshomaru is keeping an eye on her, he actually turns his attention away from Inuyasha during the stalemate.) However when Naraku forms his body and pushes Kagome off she begins to fall as she calls out to Inuyasha.

Naraku’s words from earlier begin to run through his head, you hurt Kagome, you killed Kagome, you failed Kagome... all that despair and negativity before her voice brings him back. Red-eyed demon, while being possessed by Magatsuhi, he suddenly opens his eyes when he realizes...

Inuyasha: Kagome is alive!

Inuyasha turns not only his attention away from the fight with Sesshomaru, but fights off Magatsuhi to rush over and catch Kagome.

Kagome: Inuyasha...? You saved me? You recognize me?

Inuyasha: I heard your voice.

And it’s with that, we come full circle from Kikyo to Kaou.

All these situations lulled him into feelings of despair and sadness. Kikyo used that sadness and negativity to lull him into a spell to kill him, Kaou did the very same to him during a time where his emotions were at their peak right after Kikyo’s death. Here the combination of corruption, despair, sadness and his own demon blood worked against him.

“I heard your voice.” That says it all.

***

There is one more thing that I want to tackle.

“I thought he's move on when she die 2nd time, was that Naraku's doing?“

So I addressed the fact that he has trouble moving on because he lost a friend and believes that it was his failure twice. There is a lot of guilt there being packed on-top of him.

He isn’t moving on from that until Naraku is dead. Even though Kikyo is gone, he still has to avenge her death.

The Epilogue actually had a really good line when Inuyasha finds out that the situation involves Kikyo, he bluntly responds with:

Inuyasha: That has nothing to do with me.

Because it doubles as a “This happened before Kikyo even met me.” and “That part of my life is over.” because at this point in time, all that’s in the past, he has a life with Kagome now.