#mark clearly is not in anyway remorseful.

[karolinanovotneys]

yet another bananas night

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

I Love You, I've Sinned - Silvio

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

While I was busy doing official duties, a maid walking behind me suddenly called out.

Maid: "Um, there's a hickey on the back of your neck."

Emma: "What!?"

I hurriedly let my hair down to hide the hickey, but the embarrassment made my face flush.

(I told Silvio so many times!)

Just a few days ago, another maid pointed out a hickey to me, and I confronted Silvio about it.

------------Flashback-----------

Emma: "Prince Silvio, what’s the meaning of this?"

Silvio: "Huh? Why do you look so angry?"

Emma: "Who do you think is responsible for making me this angry!?"

Emma: "Didn't I mention last time not to leave hickeys where I can't hide them?"

Silvio: "Heh, you already noticed?"

Emma: "The maid told me. I was so embarrassed I felt like my face was on fire."

Emma: "Why do you always put them in such obvious places? You're so cruel."

(Just remembering it makes me want to faint.)

Even though I was seriously protesting, he laughed as if it were none of his business.

Silvio: "You're my woman. What's wrong with marking what's mine?"

Emma: "There's nothing wrong with it, but at least do it in places where I can hide it."

(I'm happy to hear him say that, but having other people point it out all the time is still embarrassing.)

Emma: "Anyway, seriously, please stop."

Silvio: ".........."

Emma: "W-What?"

Striding over to me, he grabbed my chin and tilted my head up.

He gazed at me with eyes that held a hint of amusement and smirked.

(I have a bad feeling about this.)

Silvio: "You don't like it when others point it out, right? In that case..."

With a confident gesture, he pointed to my neck.

Silvio: "Here."

Emma: "Here? Wait, what!?"

Without hesitation, he pressed his lips there and sucked hard.

Feeling a slight pain, I quickly pulled away and rushed to the mirror, where I saw a vivid red mark.

Emma: "Just because you gave me a warning doesn't make it okay!"

Silvio: "Like I care."

Emma: "You should care!"

As he tried to close the distance again, I turned to evade him, but he grabbed me from behind, nibbling on my nape this time.

Silvio: "How about here next?"

Emma: "Ah!"

Frustratingly, I couldn't deny that I was weak to his kisses, as my voice betrayed me.

Silvio: "You act so stubborn, but you sure make pleased sounds."

Emma: "You're the one who's being stubborn."

Silvio: "Huh? I can't hear you."

His teasing voice brushed against my ear, and he traced his tongue over the freshly made hickey.

Emma: "........."

Silvio: "If your embarrassment is stronger than the mark I've given you, maybe you don't fully realize that you're my woman."

Silvio: "In that case, I'll just have to keep marking you until you do. Next will be here."

Emma: "That's not the point, mmph!"

He firmly embraced my waist from behind, repeatedly sucking on my shoulders and neck while we stood.

The relentless rain of forceful kisses showed no sign of stopping, and he showed no remorse, let alone any hint of regret.

---------Flashback Ends--------

(Things are getting out of hand. I need to come up with a plan.)

(Now that this happens...)

Silvio: "Hey, Emma. Later..."

Emma: "........."

(Since he's not showing any remorse, I'll have to maintain a stern attitude and not let my anger show for a while.)

I remained resolute in my silence, but since he had repeated the same behavior yesterday and the day before, perhaps sensing my irritation, he furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed my arm as if to stop me.

Silvio: "Are you sulking?"

Emma: ".........."

Silvio: "Don't just stare at me."

(I bet he only thinks I'm just slightly upset.)

(I won't talk to him unless he gets the message.)

Emma: "Take this!"

Silvio: "Damn it, don't just suddenly hug me like that!"

Blushing and clearly flustered, he watched me flee hastily from the corner of his eye.

Silvio: "Don't make things any more difficult."

(Ugh, I didn't expect him to chase after me.)

Silvio: "Hey, if you have a complaint, say it to my face."

(I tried to tell him, but he didn't listen to me!)

In defiance, I turned my face away.

Emma: "If you're not going to listen to my requests, then I have the right not to listen to yours."

Silvio: "You finally decided to speak up, huh? And what's up with that attitude?"

Silvio: "You know what'll happen if you talk to me like that, right?"

(Until he understands my side, I won't yield to any kind of threat.)

Emma: "I don't know. I've said my piece, so if you'll excuse me."

Silvio: "Fine, suit yourself."

The next morning--

Emma: "What the hell is this!?"

I started getting ready but was shocked by my reflection in the mirror.

(There were hickeys on my neck, arms, collarbone, and in places I couldn't hide.)

Silvio: "I could hear you all the way from the hallway."

(When did he come into the room!?)

I was too shocked by the hickeys to notice.

Emma: "What’s the meaning of this?"

Silvio: "I did it while you were asleep."

Silvio: "They suit you better than any jewel."

Silvio: "You understand now, right? No matter how much you struggle, you're mine, so let me leave my mark as I please."

Emma: "Y-You tyrant!"

(I only wanted him to show some remorse, but my defiance seems to have fueled his fire even more.)

(I've completely lost this round. Ugh, this pisses me off!)

Emma: "I'm sorry. I apologize for ignoring you."

Silvio: "You're unusually obedient."

Emma: "I've realized that resisting is futile."

Silvio: "As long as you understand."

(Ugh!)

I suppressed the urge to charge at him.

Emma: "I appreciate you giving me hickeys, but I can't help feeling embarrassed when others point them out."

Emma: "And I also don't want to show the marks you leave on me to anyone else."

Silvio: "You felt that way?"

Silvio: "Then why didn't you say so from the beginning!?"

Emma: "Kyaah! Don't ruffle my hair like that!"

Silvio: "Shut up! It's your punishment for ignoring me."

(My cheeks must be as red as his by now.)

To dispel the awkward atmosphere, he cleared his throat softly.

Silvio: "Since you seem to understand what happens when you defy me, I'll forgive you this time."

Silvio: "But think about why I purposely leave marks in places you can't hide."

Silvio: "I don't like pests getting too close to my woman."

(I feel embarrassed, but his feelings make me happy.)

Suddenly, he pulled out a sea-colored scarf from his pocket and wrapped it around my neck, covering my hickeys.

Silvio: "You drive me crazy when you ignore me."

Silvio: "So from now on, I'll be a little more careful."

Emma: "Thank you."

(He always seems to understand my feelings.)

(Still, putting so many hickeys is going too far.)

As a small retaliation, I hugged him tightly and planted a kiss on his Adam's apple.

Silvio: "W-What the!? You!"

Ignoring his flustered reaction, I sucked on his skin and left a mark.

Silvio: "You always do this to me."

Emma: "I'd like to call it even, but there aren't enough yet, so brace yourself."

I made the declaration, and he burst into laughter.

Silvio: "You've got some nerve. I hope you don't regret it."

After leaving a kiss on the back of my hand and marking it, he lifted me in his arms and pushed me down onto the bed.

Silvio: "It's not me who needs to brace myself."

Silvio: "I'll leave plenty in places covered by clothes, too, so get ready."

Emma: "W-Wait! It's my turn to leave marks now!"

Evading my plea with a smirk, Silvio continued to leave marks all over my skin.

Repentance and retaliation both eventually turned into sweet moments as I bathed in the evidence of his love.

[wrathofrats]

Wrath my beloved, may we get a little hurt comfort Domdrop scene with RainDrop?

Yeah you can

This is just 1k of sap. It’s exactly what it says on the tin.

Rain wiped a damp cloth over Dews face.

His skin felt like it was burning, red and covered in sweat and other fluids. A small smile followed once the washcloth passed over him with a playful glint still in dews eye. His head still felt fuzzy, a sweet cozy feeling as he let rain clean him up after the long scene. The insides of his thighs still hurt from rains long nails holding him still. It stung as rain passed over them with the rough cloth, earning a small flinch from the fire ghoul.

“Sorry baby, gotta make sure you’re cleaned up” rain practically whispered with a guilty look on his face. His gaze lingered over the crescent shapes that seemed to be carved into his skin. They’d heal in time, they always did.

Rain always found these situations weirdly funny. That he could degrade and hit someone until they bled with little remorse, happiness in his actions even when the other ghoul eventually came down from their submissive state to thank him.

It was always the smaller incidents that happened to get to him. He didn’t intend on being mean, dew acted on a whim dragging rain into their room in hopes for a quick fuck to release some stress. But rain took control anyways. He tended to end up in charge unless dew clearly stated he wanted otherwise. Even when being sweet his words tended to stray towards strict and harsh, his actions leaving marks when not thinking about it.

“Raincloud? You ok? You look like you’re about to be ill” dew slowly sat up as rain continued to examine his skin. He placed his hand under rains chin to drive his gaze upwards in hopes of breaking whatever trance he seemed to be in.

The blood had at some point ran out of his face, the blue tinge to his cheeks no longer there. His eyes looked wider than normal while he played with his lip between his teeth.

“M fine dew, let’s get you dressed yeah?” Rain said, grabbing his clothes off the ground. Dew instinctively raised his arms as rain pulled her shirt over his head, punctuated with a peck on the lips as his head popped through as he always did.

The sense of normalcy was the only thing staving off whatever feelings rain could feel lingering in the back of his mind. The knowledge that something was wrong settled in his stomach as he hoped that dew would just drop it. He could sleep off whatever it was, as long as he had dew in his arms.

However the fire ghoul had never been known to let something go.

“Rain there’s something wrong, I can tell” dew gave the water ghoul a concerned look once he was fully dressed. Rain seemed uncanny, like he was trying to mimic someone else being calm instead of actually being ok himself. His face uncharacteristically still, movements almost too careful. Rain was known to come off as cold but this didn’t feel like the rain dew knew.

“No there’s not dew. I already said I’m fine so I don’t understand why you can’t drop it” rain snapped.

Rain gave a harsh glare before his face fell. Dew looked a bit hurt, startled at his harsh tone.

“Rainy I’m sorry-“

“No dew you didn’t do anything. I shouldn’t have snapped like that” rain avoided his gaze, instead shuffling to move the comforter back into position and over dew.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something earlier?” Dews tone softened as he reached for rain again as the blanket was pulled up to his chest. He moved over, motioning for rain to join him.

“You’ve done nothing wrong droplet. It’s me”

“Talk to me rain, mountains been making me do that voicing your feelings bullshit so I might as well make you too” rain gave him a small chuckle before dragging him closer into his side.

“I just worry I’m being too mean to you. I don’t want to hurt you, at least not without your consent. And sometimes I just feel like I’m being too much”

“Id tell you if I didn’t like it, you know that” dew said, looking up at rain who was attempting to bury his head in dews hair.

“But you don’t deserve to be hurt all the time. You deserve for me to love you and sometimes I feel like I’m not giving you that” rains voice became more restricted, trying to hold himself back. He hated feeling like this. He hated being on a borderline breakdown when he’s not even the one who should be upset. This was dews aftercare. Not his.

“I know you love me more than anything. I wouldn’t trust you if I didn’t think you did. I like it when your hurt me, I like it when you’re rough.”

“But I don’t think I like it when I’m rough” rain practically whispered, his grip tightening around dews t shirt.

“Then I’ll start asking you to be soft” dew dragged rains head down to his to pull him into a chaste kiss. More to hopefully stop the tears he knew were forming in rains eyes. Rain didn’t cry often, at least on his own accord.

“You don’t have to change your preferences for me dewdrop”

“I want you to be soft with me. I want you to make love to me and act like I’ll break if you push me too hard. I want what you want. I want you to be happy. I just want you rain.”

Rain just looked at him. Stared into his fiery eyes as dew rubbed his cheek with his thumb.

“I’m sorry, this is dumb” rain force chuckled.

“It’s not dumb, I love you” dew said. Rain gave a sad smile before leaning into him, breathing in his scent as if he would open his eyes and dew would be gone.

“Yeah, I love you too”

[wyvchard]

What Part of "No" Do You Not Understand?

Inspired by this thread.

Agent Phoenix is quite annoyed at the fact a certain actor can't take "no" for an answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Agent Phoenix took a deep breath as they leaned back onto the chair, prayer slipping from their lips like a lifeline.

"Dear Heavenly Father, grant Your child aid in this trying time. My flesh is weak and I need strength to overcome this."

"Oh, Agent. That's quite an adorable prayer. But you're not going to get away with that easily." He took a few steps closer, a smug grin on his face as he anticipates their resolve falling any time soon.

"You and I both know I can and I will get away that easily." They narrowed their eyes at him as they gently rubbed their wrists as soon as they cut the ropes. "Please step away before I give into the temptation."

"And why should I do that, agent? Hmmm?" He watched in amusement as they took down the jammer and lasers. He stepped closer, causing them to back away until they reached the wall.

"Please shut up before I do something stupid. Don't. Do. This. No! I mean it!" Their tone was laced with a plea, only for his ego to grow bigger.

"You won't be doing something stupid. Just let what you feel out." He felt satisfied seeing them squirm. Yet, instead of feeling them melt under the touch of his hand, he felt a sharp sting on his cheek.

"What part of 'No!' do you not understand, Mr. Juniper?"

"I didn't even touch your cheek yet. Or any part of you."

"That still doesn't count."

"Normally, people would melt at these kinds of situations. You didn't... feel anything?"

"Other than my gut instinct to punch you? Nothing." He felt incredulous, seeing someone stare at him with complete disgust. "I get that you're quite a sight and all and you do have a knack for directing heart racing scenes but what else? You're too overrated in my opinion. But then again, standing alone on stage with that much people is a skill. So points for you there, I guess. Some people do that every day on Sunday so it's not really special."

"Why are you immune to my charms? I'm an incubus. How on earth?" He was staring at them like he just heard the trumpets and they were one of its players.

"I don't know? Who knows? Maybe I got baptized as a baby or something. Does it look like I know? Ah. I'll stop here before I give you an hour long lecture about this. I have a lot of words about it."

John felt himself paralyzed under their intense stare, yet it was different from the usual ones. Far from carnal, it was the gaze of someone examining an object of interest.

"I'm sorry for slapping you hard." The remorse in their voice was enough to give him pause. "You should get that treated."

"You... aren't... looking at me like-"

"Why would I?" The disgust returned with full force. "You're a person too. And I really should apologize to that sweet old lady who told me that Hollywood is dangerous. If they let an incubus like you run around, how many more of you are out there?"

"Can I take you out on a date?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why wouldn't you? You're the first to view me as more than a sex object. Literally."

"You need better people to be around. Seriously. You do."

"And where would I find these kinds of people anyway?"

"Probably people who are too busy surviving to care about those things. I don't know. I'm too focused on stopping Zoraxis to actually give you an answer."

A sharp click interrupted the conversation coupled by a clearing of the throat.

"Agent, I see you're doing alright." Reginald gave them a gentle smile, yet clearly worried at the marks on their wrist.

"Wait. If I say I'm switching sides, will the agency consider it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had fun with this. XD Please excuse any out of character moments.

@definitelyunhingedagentphoenix, @sml8180, I hope you enjoy this. I took the idea and practically sprinted with it. XD

@jellyfishgummy

@phoenix-and-found-family

@the-one-and-only-043

@ghostlystarwanderer

[chococara2005]

Last Friday Night Part One

Ranma groaned as she picked herself off the ground, one hand holding her aching head the other helping her balance herself against the wall...well the wall that should have been there, she comically slipped through the hole in the dojo wall...wait there's a hole in the dojo wall...

" OH FUCK!!! THERE"S A HOLE IN THE DOJO WALL!!! AKI!!! AKI!!! AKIHIRO!!! WAKE THE HELL UP!!! OH GOD WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!?

Ranma's hot tempered and emotional but kindhearted and strong fiancé groaned as he woozily sat up, and waited for the room to stop spinning as Ranma ran up to him and forced him to his feet, but not before taking in their appearances, Aki was wearing nothing but his underpants and Ranma was wearing a pair of panties and one of Aki's shirts, both were covered in bite marks, scratches, and bruises

"...Oh...right...everyone went out for the weekend...and we were busy...exploring each other...and everything else was a blur from there" Aki muttered as he blushed looking at Ranma's appearance and she blushed back before he realized that there wasn't just a hole in the dojo wall...but several holes, including some in the ceiling, the floor was broken and dented, cinderblock bits were scattered all over

All in all, it looked like a tornado blew through the Tendo Dojo...and the trail of destruction trailed out of the dojo and into the living area, the two lovers turned pale as both of them walked to examine the rest of the damage...and it was even worse than they imagined, the living was trashed with broken walls, broken glass from the smashed T.V., the kitchen was even worse with broken plates and bowls, food stains all over the walls and counters and the ceiling, and a clearly destroyed stove and fridge, the garden was the least damaged with only some patches of grass missing and the bedrooms and bathrooms were basically untouched

"...Kasumi's going to be SO UPSET once she sees what we've done to the place...she's going to be so disappointed in us" Aki said with tears in his eyes

"We can just tell her...this was an accident?" Ranma said with a nervous grin, Aki the looked back at her in disbelieve then anger

"...An accident...AN ACCIDENT RANMA!? AN ACCIDENT IS US SPARING OUTSIDE AND ONLY BREAKING ONE WALL IF ONE OF US SENDS THE OTHER FLYING!!! AN ACCIDENT IF ONE OF OUR MANY NOW FORMER SUITORS COMES IN AND STARTS CHAOS FOR ONE OF US AND ITS NOT OUR FAULT IF THEY BREAK THINGS!!! THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT YOU DUMB TOMBOY!!!

" DON'T YELL AT ME CRYBABY!!! THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT!!! AND IF WE SHOW OUR REMORSE HOPEFULLY MY PARENTS AND YOUR SISTER AND FATHER WON'T PUNISH US BADLY!!! AND BESIDES YOU OWN THE DOJO SO WE CAN BREAK IT NO PROBLEM RIGHT?

"That's the thing...I only own the dojo which is my inheritance, not the house It's under my dad's name until we get married...which won't be happening for a while, and we're 19 and should know better than to cause all this damage which is going to need a small fortune to pay off" Aki hissed "How did all of this happen anyway? Not even we could do this at our worst...someone must have had to help us do this?

" Aki...I found the helper and its name is Sake" Ranma said while holding the empty bottle, it then came back to her, and she talked him into drinking some of Genma's booze and then they had an all-out Anything Goes Martial Arts Fight that lasted till morning

"Of course...why did I let you talk me into doing that...this is all your fault Ranma" Aki said but with no real bite or anger while sitting on the floor

" So we just going to ignore the part when you willingly took half the bottle with me because you said I would never take you seriously in a fight sober and then I drank some because you knew I don't back down from challenges, then this happened" Ranma quipped while leaning against his back

"Yup"

They both laugh for a bit before they heard footsteps and talking coming in from the door and they both quickly realized they were screwed

"....Ranma you gotta plan?"

"Of course my dear fiance"

"Okay what is it?"

" The Saotome Secret Technique"

"And how does that help our situation?"

They both heard gasps from 5 other people who just walked in to see the destruction

"IF WE RUN FAST ENOUGH AND LONG ENOUGH HOPEFULLY THEY'LL BURN MOST OF THEIR ANGER, CRYBABY, BEFORE THE SHOCK WEARS OFF LETS GO!!!"

The couple sped past the rest of their families and out the door into Nerima, Soun began to sob at the destruction, Genma was mad and started yelling and cursing, Nabiki began counting the repair bills for the damages and getting madder with the number rising and Nodoka and Kasumi were quiet, before Kasumi in a low, serene but threatening voice

Father, Aunty Nodoka, Uncle Genma...can you go and find Ranma and Akihiro...it seems like they had a little too much fun this weekend and we should find out how they did all this...

And so our story begins

[abbyandhanako]

“There is no way in hell Old Plasma would accept Donna and Cletus if they tried to defect to Old Plasma after everything they had done…..

Their actions including stealing Hana’s Purrloin and signing the paperwork to have Mark’s Flareon and Glaceon released into the wild clearly shows even Old Plasma has a limit…

Their lack of remorse for all of this also seals the deal….

It wouldn’t matter anyway if they fucked off to Old Plasma or not, Lord Ghetsis hates them and hardly anyone in Neo Plasma can tolerate them….” - Abby

[childlikegoblinqueen]

Comic ANALYSIS TIME!

I am glad that at this point the Sheriff praised Hunter and Willow for their work on the Emerald Entrails, something they LOVE and accomplished through their own talents -- as opposed to anything related to their trauma.

So! Pandora. She was I THINK the first fan kid revealed in the Mark-verse, and the dad joke comic obviously had a lot of influence on the inception of SCOM (the first chapter is a retelling of it!) SCOM Huntlow kid's name is NOT Pandora btw. She's had a name since day one, but it will be revealed at the end.

ANYWAY RE: This comic. The image of Pandora losing control and nearly running Jay through with her vines has some REALLY interesting parallels to both previous MoringMark comics and canon.

First?

Bam.

Now if you recall in the really sweet and tender comic where Pandora falls off the swing, Hunter recalls this moment in his life and notes that life has given him so many scars and he swore to himself that he would never let Pandora suffer as he did.

It makes me wonder if she had internalized her father's fear for her and became extra vigilant. She also has a strong sense of justice and recently been affected by Grom. This could all be part of her losing control -- which as we know is a BIG theme in TOH.

She clearly feels remorse in the cell for what happened. If anything, because she realized what almost happened with Jay who is (seemingly) her best friend.

And the parallel for that is this:

Bam (again)

And then?

And OF COURSE the moment before this happens.

I wish there was more comics planned specifically for the other fan kids. I adored the small arc we saw for Milan. I wanted more about Jay!

And dang if there isn't some fresh ground for some father and mother daughter Heart to Heart's here.

Loving these storylines. My family and I read these comics together every day.

Pandora (2/4)

[imthatchishiyasimp]

I fucked my way into this mess, and I’ll fuck my way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh shit” was all I could say, looking at the now crimson red-hoodie.

“You better fix that”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi!!! Had this idea and couldn't resist writing about it, also the title helped to develop it hahahaha.

it's not NSFW, but it hints a bit about it at the end, so be careful. Also, TW: death and blood are both mentioned and described.

The previous game night I got my sweatshirt broken, and since then I had been borrowing people’s clothes. I wasn’t able to search for a new decent one and I was planning on scabaging a few stores on my way back to the Beach after this game.

I had managed to steal a few clothes from Kunai and some other people, and they didn’t mind. No one minded but Chishiya, that bastard. His hoodies were so clean and soft, wonders where he took them. So, given that he didn’t want to lend them over, I broke into his room and stole the best one. It was pure white, big and comfy with a front pocket and a hood.

He wasn’t supposed to go out and play tonight, so it would have been fine. He wasn’t even in the car when I got there. But, out of nowhere, he was at the lobby of the game arena I was supposed to clear.

I mean, the mad look he gave me? Dude, I was scared.

We were playing a spades game, an easy one. In total there were eight participants, two of them were new to the games and scared to the bone.

“REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED. THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 8 PARTICIPANTS. THE GAME WILL NOW COMMENCE.”

I looked around and saw a path going up the stairs and into a wide corridor. Two small tables were placed at the bottom of them, one holding the phones left after we all took our own, and the other one with several collars. I had heard of them in other games, but I didn’t have the pleasure of trying them on.

While the phones were informing us of the difficulty of the game, I got closer to Chishiya, step by step, judging if he was mad enough to give me the silent treatment. Apparently not, because he didn’t push me away nor did he go to the other corner of the mini crowd we formed. I tucked my hand into the pocket and balanced on my toes, listening to the rules of the game.

“GAME: TARGET SHOOTING.”

“PLEASE, PUT ON THE COLLARS PLACED ON THE TABLE”.

Reluctantly, we all clasped the collar around our necks. It felt wrong and cold, like the hand of a murderer patiently waiting to squeeze harder and harder until you died. I swallowed hard, rolling my head and trying to get used to the feeling. My eyes drifted to Chishiya’s form and I wasn’t surprised to find him unaltered. His hands were hidden in his pockets, his face covered by the hood, but I caught a glimpse of his eyes.

He looked at me, from head to toes. Would he forgive me because I looked good in his clothes? Probably not, but I could wish.

“RULE: MANAGE TO SHOOT ACCURATELY TO THE TARGET WITH THE CROSSBOWS LEFT IN EACH ROOM”.

“CLEAR CONDITION: PASS THE 10 ROOMS WITH PERFECT AIM. IF YOU FAIL, YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED. IF YOU MAKE ANOTHER PLAYER SHOOT IN YOUR TURN, YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED”.

“TIME LIMIT: 30 MINUTES, EACH ROOM HAS A MAXIMUM OF 3 MINUTES. IF YOU DON’T CLEAR THE ROOM IN THAT TIME, YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED”.

“THE GAME WILL START ONCE YOU OPEN THE DOORS”.

Without a word, we all took the stairs up to the first mark pointing to door number 1. Some guy opened it and we walked inside. It was almost empty, leaving one table with a crossbow and a handful of arrows. At the end of the room there was a kind of dart-board, but the red center was way bigger than usual. Just a few steps from the door there was a mark with two feet, signaling the shooting position.

Our phones chimed with the time starting the countdown. Below the time apparead the face of one of the players, giving him the first turn. A black haired boy took the crossbow with confidence, getting the arrow ready and shooting with efficiency.

“Are you mad at me?” I whispered to Chishiya.

He gave me the eye and grunted. “I clearly remember telling you not to steal my clothes. Are you going deaf?”

I giggled and hid my nose in the hoodie. It smelled like him, one of the very first reasons why I stole it. I love the way he smells of new things, undiscovered fragrances and fresh days. It brought me peace and calm; I felt safe.

“I was cold and couldn’t find anything else. You weren’t supposed to see, I thought you weren’t due yet”.

The first three participants did well, the last one getting too close to the limit but managing anyway. I was next.

Taking an arrow and getting ready for the shooting, I placed myself on the mark and breathed deeply. I didn’t like guns, but I had a good aim when needed. With a clear shot, I gave the crossbow to the next player.

We all passed the room within the time limit and left for the next one. Given the easiness of the first room, a bust of confidence started to grow in each player, so when the target became a pain to shoot, panic bursted in the room.

It was room 4 where the first player died. An old woman that was trembling with fear and exhaustion missed the red circle. She dropped the crossbow and looked at us in fear, grabbing the collar and pulling with force. I walked backwards until I met the opposite wall. Chishiya was next to me, with his eyes locked in the body of the lady going down after the bomb exploded. I couldn’t look at it.

The next player had to move her body to be able to step on the mark, and that was when all of us were aware of the situation. While I knew what the collar meant, some of the participants didn’t.

“I will return it after the game, I promise. Just wait until we finish and I’m able to take something from some mall” I told him walking towards room number 6. No one was talking, so my voice was easy to pick up above the steps of the players. They looked at me from the corner of their eyes, wondering how I was so calm, how I was able to think of something else apart from the game.

Chishiya brought my hood up and placed it on my head, covering my hair with it. “If you don’t bring it back, you will face consequences” And then he walked faster to the next room. I gulped, not wanting to know what would await me if I didn’t. The feeling of his fingers through the strands of my hair still alive on my mind.

Room 8 only held four players. Chishiya and I were with the boy with shooting experience and a girl with short hair. Both of them were young and composed, getting through the game without a word from their lips.

It was getting noticeably difficult. The target was in higher places and getting smaller by the point. A headache was starting to grow and it made me clench my fingers more often, almost making me shoot a moment before I was ready. The pressure of the time was smaller since we were less people, but it meant we took more time to get ready and I was getting nervous.

The four of us made it to room 10. It looked like the last one, extremely difficult with a very small target and too high to comfortably shoot. The boy was called first and he got ready to shoot. His confidence had wavered in the last rooms, same as the rest, but he still made an effort on showing a calm facade.

I was sure he was gonna clear the game. I think all of the players in the room thought so. And I was behind him, waiting for my turn, looking anxiously at the time getting close to the end. But also, we all thought there wasn’t going to happen anything else. No one saw the vents opening and giving a rush of air, making the arrow go a bit to the left and missing the target. It was a soft breeze, but enough to change the course of the arrow.

“No. No, no, no. No! This wasn’t supposed to happen! They didn’t tell! It’s not fair! I was the first one to shoot!” He shouted. He started screaming at us because now we knew about it. He died in the middle of a cry, shaking me from the shoulders. And I just stood there, listening to his cries and too shocked to fight him.

I got all his blood spattered on myself, his dead eyes printed on my mind.

I don’t recall what happened after. I just remember throwing the body of the dead player to one side, taking the crossbow and shooting to the target. I almost missed, having miscalculated the force of the air released by the vents. I think the girl went after me and cleared the game too. We waited until Chishiya shot and stood there, listening to the beeping sound of the phones.

“GAME CLEAR”.

“CONGRATULATIONS”.

Leaving the hotel next to Chishiya was a bit awkward. He was playing with the card in his hands, looking at it with an interesting face. And he wasn’t talking, not even humming. He liked to point out things about the game after he cleared them, about the rules, the players or the place we played in. But he didn’t. We arrived at the nearest car that was going to the Beach and I made a move to get in. I wasn’t in the mood of walking all the way back, but Chishiya stopped me before I could open the door.

“Nope, you are not coming” He told me, pushing me away from the car.

“What? Why?” I asked, frowning my eyebrows. He pointed to my chest and I looked down. “Oh shit” It was so far gone. There was not a single white spot in the hoodie. It was absolutely red. “Oh fuck, oh no, I’m so sorry”. I looked at him, my face showing full remorse, big eyes asking for forgiveness. I tried to reach him, failing when he moved out of my reach.

He just smirked and shook his head. “I will wait until tomorrow night. You better fix that before then”. And he got in the car, leaving me alone in the street, hands still in the air.

“Chishiya you bastard! I didn’t do it on purpose!”

So there I was, going into every shop I could find, searching for an identical hoodie and taking advantage of the trip to pick a few things for myself. It wasn’t a special hoodie or something, but most of them were either the wrong size or too dirty. I took my precious time looking for a perfect one, also taking some more to give as an apology and for me to match. We would see who would try to steal then.

I had miscalculated the time it would take me to walk back to the Beach. The ride to the game arena was a bit longer than usual, but I didn’t think walking would take me that much.

The sun was going down when I reached the Beach. I was famished and thirsty as hell. I was only able to take a fast lunch and I walked a too long distance. I went straight to the kitchens and I gulped down a full bottle of water with some snacks.

After I was satisfied, I stood and took my bags to my room, putting away the clothes I picked and changing into something clean. Taking the ones I chose for Chishiya, I left my room and went to his.

I knocked and waited until I heard footsteps coming to open the door. I fought a smile miting my lip and tried to remain calm. He opened the door just a bit to see who was knocking, opening fully seeing me there.

“Do you like this one?” I said while turning around and opening my arms. “It’s exactly the same one, size and all, and don’t forget the hood and the pocket!” I watched him lean into the door frame and smirk behind his hair. He gave me a look crossing his arms and letting out a breathy laugh.

I remained serious and gave a sorry look. “I mean, if you don’t like it, I have a few more for you to choose. Here, let me try them on so you can see how they look” Taking the sleeves, I pulled my arms out and started to take the hoodie off in the middle of the corridor.

I heard him moving just when I was about to take it off. Suddenly I was being dragged by the arm and thrown into Chishiya’s room.

I laughed out loud, almost tripping because of the strength and the lack of vision due to the hoodie being over my head. His room smelled like he did and I was high on it.

“Do you need to be such a pain for me to do something?” He said with a smug voice, taking the hoodie completely off me. His dark eyes checked me out and I felt so vulnerable under his gaze that I felt chills running through my body.

Could he be any more handsome? The way this eyes held the whole world’s knowledge made me shiver in both fear and awe. The white strands of hair dancing around his face, making him shine even more. His smile, a rare but precious sight.

His touch was warm and delicate. His fingers went through my hair, to my cheekbones and to my neck, going slowly and leaving me breathless.

I took a step forward and grabbed at his clothes, feeling brave for a moment, getting close to his ear to whisper with a soft and heavy voice: “It worked, didn’t it?” Besides, now I know what it takes to bring you down”.

“You’re on”.

[curiosity-killed]

Lang Qianqiu deserves more love goddammit: a post, unfortunately

This brought to you by the wonderful @veliseraptor & @/yuer on Twitter but also mostly out of spite and the fact that it’s preventing me from writing a very dumb poke-the-bear post abt the entire weird social media culture around The Minors

As always ✨SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE✨

So first off: when I hit the scene where lqq confronts xl and screams “I will never be like you” I sat up in bed, did a little shimmy of delight, and hissed “fuck yes” at like 2 AM so. Now you have a preview of wtf this train wreck will be

1 ) lqq is a good character

We don’t get a ton of time with lqq because tgcf is 87 side characters running across stage with The Most Interesting Concept constantly one-upping each other before vanishing. But what we do get is, I think, enough to make a pretty compelling story: Lang Qianqiu is a kind and generous prince who is also the sole survivor of the bloody massacre of his entire family, committed by the people dearest to him (both in his belief that Gusohi Fangxin did it and in the reality of An Le’s involvement), who goes on to peacefully lead his fractious nation into a peaceful reign before he ascends as a powerful enough (aka beloved and worshipped enough) god to be ranked among the top heavenly generals. That’s like. Pretty fucking classic protagonist vibes right there.

And, as usual with mxtx’s characters, we get a lot more than this lovely little backstory. In his interactions in canon, lqq is capable of great grief and anger; he is willing to sacrifice himself if it means avenging his murdered family; and he simultaneously holds both great hatred and great respect for his old teacher. And, of course, he winds up raising and taking care of his enemy’s son which shows a remarkable depth of compassion and emotional messiness that I find terribly compelling. He struggles with a simplistic view of justice that is supported by lies told to “protect” him and that is uprooted by the truth and forces him to try to make sense of the world without the guardrails that others installed around him (looking at you mister fangxin sir).

Also I’m stealing my own tweets bc I’m Right but:

*pulls up single barstool to lqq is a good character table* I think it’s interesting & Says Things abt the continued relationship btwn lqq & xl that lqq *didn’t* recognize xl, implying that he left fangxin’s mask in place even when he went to kill him

Like here is the man who killed his family & best friend, who left him abandoned in bloodshed on his 17th bday—& here is also the man who saved his life, who taught him, who lqq looked up to & wanted to be like

Even when lqq *does* recognize xl, he still has so much respect for him paired with that hatred that it’s honestly rlly tragic? Like man. There’s so much grief in lqq’s repeated demands for a duel & insisting it’s fine if xl kills him as long as he doesn’t hold back

*pats lqq pompom* this bb is so sad. And so much more like his teacher than either of them seem to realize or necessarily want

Despite being a pretty minor character, lqq gets a lot of complexity and nuance! Look at this child trying to be grown up while desperately turning to his old master for guidance and “the truth”! Look at him! Be sad!!

2 ) lqq is an excellent parallel to xl

Okay stealing my own tweet again don’t look at me I yell the same shit everywhere

Xl didn’t want lqq to become like him (self-sacrificing, vengeful, alone) but lqq not only became alone, chasing vengeance, & willing to sacrifice himself for revenge—he also became kind, open-minded, & remorseful!! & he still clearly respects xl @ novel end 🙃🙃

We all know hc’s “they’re not very alike at all” and yeah sure baby go support your man but narratively, there’s a lot of importance given to cycles, parallels, and foils in mxtx’s writing and most explicitly (compared to mdzs, haven’t read svss) in tgcf. For example, *gestures at beefleaf, gestures at Xianle Trio vs Wuyogn Crew, gestures at Xie Lian & Jun Wu’s whole uh. Deal.* And while I’d argue xl and lqq are part of a triumvirate rather than a pair, we’re not including mister three-face in this conversation so just looking at xl and lqq:

Both adored and sheltered crown princes

Both taught by a guoshi who was seeking to prevent the repetition of their own tragedies and in their efforts, lied/omitted information and failed to protect their charge from tragedy

Both were betrayed* by their closest friends

Both are the last living members of their respective royal families

Both caught the interest of supernatural beings from a young age

Etc etc I’m getting v bored and distracted writing this so moving on

Most importantly to me, we have their betrayal by a very close and adored mentor and how they react. The confrontation I mention at the start of this shitshow is really imo one of the most important scenes in the novel because it a) illustrates the differences in xl and Jun Wu and b) sort of gives you a preview of how xl ultimately wins

So a) Jun Wu and Xie Lian both take a talented, marked-for ascension young prince under their wing. Jun Wu sees himself in the boy and obsesses over shaping him into Jun Wu’s own image in the belief that this will make him the perfect heir. Jun Wu pushes his chosen heir into situations where Xie Lian is repeatedly harmed in an effort to show that the common people are fickle and cruel and don’t deserve his compassion and care.

Meanwhile, Xie Lian is reluctantly roped into mentoring his prince due to his inability to stand aside when he feels he could do something to prevent hurt or injustice befalling another (simultaneously his great strength and great weakness! God I love him). Xie Lian tries to teach his student to believe in and care for the common people and not to sacrifice himself (see: flashback convo re:taking the force of the sword strike into his own body).

When Xie Lian refuses to bend in the shape Jun Wu demands, Jun Wu bashes his head into the wall. When Lang Qianqiu cries “I will never be like you!”, Xie Lian laughs and says “Good!”.

B) this of course feeds directly into foreshadowing! Like Lang Qianqiu’s bold words, xl ultimately refuses to become like his mentor and remains defiant even when it would stop him from being hurt. Xl beats lqq and says so what if I tricked you, so what if I lied, I still won. Naturally, xl beats Jun Wu not through standard swordplay but by using a trick he learned while forced to busk and wander the earth alone and unlucky for centuries.

…okay so I have fully forgotten what I was actually saying here! Anyway!

Like Xie Lian, Lang Qianqiu spends a time consumed with the need for vengeance, hunting his enemy and rejecting the heavens. And like Xie Lian, he winds up caring for his enemy’s “son” and trying to both comfort him and maintain what’s left of Qi Rong’s life force despite having previously been hellbent on destroying him—bc he sees the impact it has on another person. In the end, he even gives a gift to Xie Lian—his mentor, his role model, and the one who killed his father—that was once given to him as a symbol of unexpected kindness. Sound familiar?

But, importantly, and contradictory to what I have been yelling abt but whatever it’s 12:30 am, Lang Qianqiu is not a direct mirror of Xie Lian but a closing of a vital loop in the story. Lqq is very similar to xl (I will die on this hill!! Only I won’t bc I’m stronger than y’all and will keep swinging these pots and pans) but bc xl tries to do better and keep lqq from suffering the way xl has, lqq is able to have a gentler and more optimistic path forward. He’s proof that even a small act of kindness or even kindness to only one person still matters and has a ripple effect that can’t be seen when you’re in the middle of it—a thread started with xl giving the coral pearl to Lang Ying and closed with Lang Qianqiu returning the pearl to Xie Lian.

So I have no idea if any of this is coherent or compelling but I meant to be asleep two hours ago and the points are:

A) Lang Qianqiu is good actually

B) parallels!!!

C) look ive already started another wip about Lang Qianqiu and Xie Lian and I didn’t want this but no one else wrote it so now I have to so pls just accept this as a warning

*sort of air quotes around this for Xie Lian bc frankly Mu Qing was right & Xie Lian kicked feng xin out BUT on the other hand, it was experienced as a betrayal and we also again have all of Jun Wu’s shit so it evens out

[colorfuldream]

Okay but like what if the reason he looks different here is because he sees himself not as the hero anymore but as one of the monsters he was slaying?

Think about it: he's begging for his life during most of his song. In the MV, he's running away but keeps being faced with his wrongdoings and his judgement.

Unlike his previous song, he can barely hide it behind a tough, brave, arrogant façade. He KNOWS he went too far. He KNOWS he messed up. The problem is that he thought his behavior was justified. Who cares if one person got hurt? He punished other, guilty, people. He's the hero goddamnit! That's what held him together during the first trial.

Now, his conviction is slipping. He was already horrified at what happened but he could still find excuses for himself and for what happened. The reason why he isn't focusing on his actions anymore is because he doesn't want to confront it. He can't really pretend he's the hero anymore. So he focuses on calling US out on being hypocrites. Beings exactly like him. Judging them all and causing the Guilty people to get hurt -almost killed. Making the same mistake as him, yet holding ourselves high and mighty. Judging despite us being as guilty as him. That's the difference between HIS call-out and Yuno's. Yuno thinks we look down on her, infantilize her, make things up to justify her actions. She refuses our judgement because we don't know shit about her. Fuuta refuses it because this makes us like him. And we're going to be fools if/when the exact same thing happens.

Of course, he's also a hypocrite. Our judgement isn't okay but his is- Or is it? He doxxed a young girl. He caused her death -no matter how indirectly it was. His first song was very much him convincing himself he was the good guy. So what happened wasn't his fault. It wasn't a bad thing because she was a bad person anyway. She did that to herself.

Now he, in this song, his teeth are sharp. He has those marks under his eyes, similar to eyebags yet clearly some kind of mark. He's looking more like a monster, a mob, from a RPG. We KNOW this isn't just a stylistic choice because the animation style wasn't like that before. Milgram is also very keen on details. Fuuta getting an entire new design is pretty suspicious.

That's why I believe he isn't just afraid of the consequences of our judgement. When he got doxxed, he looked sad, deep in thought. He didn't contest it. He knew he deserved it. Even if all the others deserved some consequences too. Here he's breaking down. He looks deeply afraid of the eyes, of us watching. He's getting antsy. We remind him of what happened. We're not letting it go. Anytime he turns around, he's confronted with that poor girl being killed. That's what he's afraid of. That's why he looks more demon-like. He's the bad guy. He hurt someone. And he's running out of ways to ignore it, to ease his mind. The line where he claims he's okay with us voting him guilty? Utter bullshit. Unlike Amane, he cares about this. Unlike Kotoko, he needed validation for his actions. He would have gotten smug like Haruka and Muu had he been forgiven -but he probably would have still been eaten up by his guilt. He's trying to be like Amane: standing by his actions despite the judgement. But he knows it's wrong. He fucked up. He knows it, we know it, he knows we know. He doesn't want to admit it but it seems like he wants to change. He doesn't know if we'll give him a chance to though. He's scared to back down -understandable if he's chronically online who backs down from an argument on the Internet ?- and show remorse. He knows pretending to not care is fucking him over. He knows he's the bad guy. He won't admit it. He's too scared to. Just like he's scared to ask for another chance. If he owns up, then it's real, he's guilty, he cost some girl her life, he's a horrible person. But this keeps slipping through his songs, through the MVs. In his inner world, he cannot escape it, he's begging to be allowed to live and be better. In his mind, he's no hero no more. He's becoming the monster, one that was being slayed by the doxxers and, now, by us. We're burning him to a crisp while he's crawling and begging to be helped.

MILGRAM • Backdraft

[imgonnapanic]

Haikyuu Boys Getting Yelled At In Front of You 😀

More specifically, the Karasuno first years. Enjoy!

Yamaguchi Tadashi

You poor souls.

Tadashi forgot to start the dishwasher this morning, even though he was told a thousand times to do it.

Now, his mother can’t make dinner because of the dirty dishes.

Tadashi has forgotten all about this up until his mom comes stomping up to his room.

He takes one look at her face and alllll the color leaves.

“Tadashi...:) you did the dishes, right? :)))))”

And he’s like “oh no, sorry Mom-“

And his mom looks at you, glares at him, and takes a breath.

“You better count your lucky stars Y/n is here. We will talk about this...later :)”

Then she slams the door and goes stomping out.

And Tadashi, who looks as white as Gary from the golf course, is like.

“Uhhhh sorry you had to see that. She gets a little...”

And you’re like “no no no it’s fine.”

...

“But ya gotta do the dishes, Tadashi.”

“I know, I know.”

Tsukishima Kei

He really fucked up with this one-

TcH.

You guys were not supposed to be sitting on the glass coffee table.

AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT ON THE EDGE.

Tsukishima’s mom was pretty quiet, watching it all unfold, just how she told you it would happen.

Tsukki fell through the mf table, and his mom lost her marbles.

You’re just evading the area as you try not to laugh.

Because: A) Kei is sitting in a pile of glass shards looking very remorseful.

B) Tsukishima’s mom is very funny when she’s not mad at you.

Still, you apologize more than once by the time she calms down and helps glass-ass out of the mess.

“Oh, you’re fine dear. I know you were only doing it because of Kei.”

Passive aggressive remarks the entire rest of the time.

Kei mumbles a quick apology to you, but mostly he’s embarrassed 😭

My guy just got scolded like a five year old in front of YOU.

Oh well...it was kinda his fault anyways-

Kageyama Tobio

Apparently you were not supposed to be over at his house :o

This was something that you didn’t know, but he did, so he got in trouble.

The minute he heard the door click early, he knew he was done.

And when his mom came in to check on you, she was like.

“To-oh hello, Y/n-Tobio. I told you that your sister was coming ����”

“Oh. Forgot. Sorry.”

As you may have guessed, that response was not satisfactory for his mom.

She might have been having a bad day or something but Kageyamas just mortified.

“AND YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ANYTHING I SAY BECAUSE YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT VOLLEYBALL AND SEX.”

And you’re like wOaH wOAh WoaH-

Eventually she finishes, and she’s grumbling.

“I guess you can stay, Y/n. Tobio was supposed to come straight home and spend time with Miwa, his sister.”

The second she shuts the door you start laughing.

“Volleyball and sex, huh? I guess that sounds like you.”

“Uh, you need to shut up.”

Hinata Shoyo

Natsu bit Shoyo and that didn’t end well for anyone because Shoyo proceeded to let out a string of curse words.

And mama Hinata conveniently materialized into the doorway right that second.

So now you’re listening to the muffled but clearly legible scolding that’s going on right outside the door.

Oh well

Maybe Hinata shouldn’t have shouted “OW! MOTHERFUCKING BITCH!”

In the presence of his seven year old sister.

And maybe Natsu shouldn’t have treated his arm like a turkey leg.

Tomato tomato.

Still, you didn’t remember the last time you saw Hinata’s mom so mad.

“Natsu, how many times have I told you that biting is really bad?!!”

“And Shoyo, we do NOT speak like that, am I clear?”

And they both come slinking back to their rooms.

Shoyo is more mad than he is embarrassed lol.

Now he has a fucking bite mark on his arm.

“...You saw her bite me right-?”

[totiredtowrite]

"Ｔｈｅ Ｇｒａｖｅ Ｄｉｇｇｅｒ"

Warnings - Talks of death, blood

Note: plot didn't agree with me ig, if it sucks deal with it 🙄

FEM READERS DO NOT INTERACT (SHE/HER, SHE/THEY)

/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿ ̿ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿̿

There were only two people in this town who nobody seemed to see. Whether it be by their own choice or public displeasure, they hardly showed their faces. Town hall meetings, events, the occasional festival, never. Unsurprisingly, the two men who never showed up both worked with the dead.

The executioner, and the undertaker.

Matsukawa Issei, the undertaker, wasn't commonly known by his name. Or even his title, for that matter. Somewhere along the line he'd earned the nickname of 'The Grave Digger.'

He knew why, of course. Everyone knew why. The only time the bulk of the townsfolk saw him was when he was out digging graves at the edge of town. For those who lived near to the graveyard, it was a rather common sight.

Just as dusk fell they would see him out in the field, rusted copper spade in hand as he shoveled up dirt. Typically there was a body wrapped in linen laying somewhere near him, and on the nights where they weren't the people knew he would be back the next night with one.

At first, he'd struggled quite a bit.

Digging human sized holed in the ground, six feet deep, wasn't easy work by any means. Especially not for one man. At nineteen was when he'd started his work. If he wasn't well built before, he certainly was now. If it was possible, he was sure that his shovel would have dents in it from where he clutches it. It was his own little cycle. He obtained the body, he prepped it, (if the family could afford a funeral), he dug, he buried.

Only the reverend and the grifter who hung around these parts really had any continued conversation with him. Even still, he and the reverend had limited conversation. Their talks were short, concise, formal. And, even more so, that was only when a family could pay for a funeral and wanted it in the church.

Naturally that left little to no opportunity for relationships.

Though, it wasn't like people didn't want him. Unlike the executioner, people vied for his attention. The few times he goes into town, he can feel eyes on him. Women and men alike. The grave digger has earned the tag of 'tall, dark, and handsome.'

He sighed heavily, dropping his spade by the door of his home. He never liked burying children. He had two today, twins. It always made him feel remorseful. Like they could have done so much. All he really wanted to to was stare at the ceiling in the company of his phonograph.

It didn't help his mood that the grave robber situation was spiraling. Some sicko was taking bones from graves, keeping them. Maybe he was selling them. Issei opened the door, turning his back to the main room to close it. He let his head fall against the oak. He relished in the silence, though something didn't feel right.

He narrowed his eyes to the door, slowly taking his hand of the handle and turning around when–

"It's honestly about time. What was that six hours? You usually take less."

He stopped, eyes wide in your direction.

The shock prevented him from really saying or doing anything, so you took that as an invitation to continue. "Anyways, nice place! This is the first time I've actually seen the inside," you laughed a bit. From where you were sat, Matsukawa could make out a few things.

A shovel sat by your side, one similar to his. Similar, except it was very clearly made of silver. You were seated on a desk against the far wall, directly across from where he stood. Your legs, one crossed over the other, were clad in dirtied work pants. His expression turned defensive at the realization that there were little splatters of blood near your boot.

"Though you did have to bury kids today huh?" You continued. "I get it. S'not fun digging them up either." You sighed dramatically.

Your remark killed any words I'm previously in his throat. The grave robber.

His face quickly morphed into something threatening, something that most people would run far away from. "You're the–"

"Yep!" You didn't let him finish, pulling up a wanted poster from god knows where. There was no face on it, just a black silhouette with a white question mark in the head. "This is what you meant right? You're absolutely correct."

He moved to advance. "What the hell are you doing in my home," he snarled.

You held up a hand. "Woah there, tiger. You know these things can seriously hurt someone, right?" You tilted your head to the shovel at your side. Matsukawa stopped in his tracks, though his deadly glare didn't falter.

"Look," you sighed, "Can we please get off on the right foot? I'm (l/n) (y/n), the man who's been digging up bodies. Well, parts of bodies. It honestly depends on the price," you giggled. "I know exactly who you are, but why don't you tell me anyways?"

No words left his throat. Well, none that were very nice anyways.

"Right," you rolled your eyes at the obscenities that left his mouth in the place of his name. "But I'm not here to fight." You slid off of the table in a rather smooth manner, sweeping up the shovel at the same time. "In fact, I'm here to help!"

Matsukawa's lips pursed in thought. He should turn you right in to the sheriff. Yet, some part of him wanted to hear what you had to say. After all, if he didn't like it, you've simply engineered your own arrest. He didn't say another word, harshly grabbing your shoulders and steering you towards the small dining table. "Sit." he said gruffly, not giving you a chance to respond before he practically threw you into the chair.

Taking the seat across from you, his eyes locked on you expectantly. You took that as a sign to speak. "Ha, anyways, the other day I found this," you set a femur on the table. Matsukawa cringed slightly. Not because he was nervous by it, but because where did you even have that? "This belongs to a man that's easily six feet tall."

Matsukawa nodded. "And?"

"And," you scoffed, "I found it in the grave of a woman. A woman who was no more than five feet." Matsukawa decided to ignore how weird this conversation was getting. "Unless you're just really bad at your job, these bones aren't matching up. Not to mention the woman I dug up the other day," you let out a breathy laugh. "Can you believe it? Her jaw was far too large."

He shuddered, declaring to himself that he had a psychopath sat at his table.

"Anyways, handsome," you have him a predatory grin, "Wanna entertain me for a bit? Just how do you think those bones are being misplaced? It's messing with my business, you know. Making me less credible."

"Business? What business?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Y'know, grave robbing? You think I just keep the bones I take? The bodies?" You laughed. "Gross, no. I sell them. Shady medical students who wanna get ahead, witches, people who do extremely innocent things with dead bodies." Matsukawa cringed again.

"I should turn you in," he said. He stood up to lean over the table, slamming his hands down right in front of you, eyes angled down his nose.

You, unfazed by this, shrugged. "If you turned me in, you'd get the money, but you'd never know what's going on with the bones switching place."

He let out a muted frustrated noise. "Come on," you tilted your head to let the candlelight illuminate your eyes, "What's the worst that could happen?"

~

Do not repost, translate, or copy my work on to other platforms.

[haechanokeh]

I'm Right For You [pt.9]

pairing: popular college! mark x average! reader

genre: romance, smut, angst, series.

warning (general): corruption, oral sex (both receiving and giving), cream pie, rough sex, mention of religion, rough sex, self-esteem, public sex, sub! reader, sex toys. possessive mark two-faced mark

[teaser] [ Chapter 1 ] [ Chapter 2 ] [ Chapter 3 ] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8]

when mark said that he will not touch you, he failed again. you're sore everywhere and exhausted.

"y/n?" mark poked your cheeks but you didn't respond at all or move an inch. you're weightlessly lying on top of him, cheek squished against his hard chest, arms on each side of his head, and legs spread, dick still touching your stickiness. you can still that the mixed liquids are dripping from you and mark also can feel it.

he played the tips of your hair.

"i love you." he whispered on top of your head and gave it a kiss.

"-mm too." you mumbled. he grinned as he fined it cute.

his phone suddenly rang and it wasn't that far so he reached for it. it's his mom. mark answered the call.

"mom?" he answered with forehead wrinkled in curiosity. it made you flinched and made you panic, you stopped yourself from cursing and was about to get off from mark's body but his hand on top of your lower back pushed you down preventing you from moving.

"stay still." he said with his commanding tone. so you did yet hoping that his mom didn't hear him.

"mark, where are you? your classmates are already here, they told me you weren't in class? what happened?" you could hear the concerned mother from the phone. your heart beating fast in panic and nervousness.

shit, they already knew he skipped class?

"where are my classmates? what do you mean?" mark ignore his mother's question on what happened why he's not in classes.

"we have worship service today mark, remember? you even invited your classmates"

you saw mark squeezed his nose bridge, brows furrowed, and he looked like he screwed up. it felt like you're at fault, if only you stopped mark from bringing you here and just pushed him to attend class. the truth was you loved the idea of staying alone with mark but now you could tell, it wasn't a good idea.

"mom, i'm sorry i forgot. it's because..." his eyes landed on you. mark saw your guilty face. he gave you a reassuring smile and caressed your cheeks. "have the headache today, i'm feeling under the weather mom. sorry."

he lied. you bit your lower lip. mark is a devoted christian and he will never lie about this kind of matter.

"oh my, okay okay. do you want us to go there?" his mom asked, totally fell from his son. mark's mom knew his son as someone who will lie and mark never skipped the worships unless he's sick.

"no, mom i'm fine. just have to rest." he replied. his mom told him to get enough sleep before she hangs up. mark placed his phone beside him.

"mark, you did not attend your worship." you were obviously guilty. "we should've gone to school."

mark didn't like the mood you're giving him, he translated it as if you regretted spending your day with him, alone. he also doesn't like that you're blaming yourself.

"but i got to spend my time alone with you, there's nothing wrong with it." mark smiled at you. his smiles always make your heart flutter but, this one... it's strange. "we don't have to worry about anything, won't go to hell for my absence in worship and my grades won't fall for skipping for a day." mark tucked some strand of hair in your face and tucked it behind your ear. there's no guilt or remorse for skipping two things that his world used to revolve into.

"you and me, that's only matters, hmm? do you not like being with me, y/n?" mark eyes were dark and icy, he smiled but it was cold. it made your blood run cold. he was asking you but he clearly was ordering you to answer him what he wanted to hear from you.

but it's taking you so long, mark looked slightly upset.

"y/n?" his hand grabbed your cheeks and squeezed it but it didn't hurt you, it was playfully but it felt like your heart was stabbed by cold spiked ice.

"yes." finally respond to him with a forced smile.

maybe he's lying, maybe he's just making me feel less bad.

you locked your front door and get inside in mark's car.

"how's your sleep." he started to drive the car.

"insufficient, i still want to sleep." you yawned. mark looked at you.

"do you want to sleep in my condo or your house?" he said.

"what? no, i'm good. i'll just sleep in class." you joked. mark smiled but he knew you will really fall asleep especially during pharma marketing.

"so, does your mom know that i exist?" mark changed the subject. you went silent. "no plans in introducing me to your mother?" he was calmly laughing but he's slightly upset.

"ahm no, well... she doesn't even know i gave friends but ahm, if she has a chance to meet ahm..." he touched your hand and squeezed it.

"relax, i know your mom is very busy." mark intertwined your hands with his. you're staring at him.

he's switching mood so fast.

"you're not yet even my girlfriend... yet." he added. he glanced at me and raised his brow but smirking.

"you can ask me again though..." you lowered your voice but you made sure that he will hear it.

his head quickly turned to you and you burst into laughter when you saw his eyes bulging out.

"yow, dude are you serious?!" his voice cracked and you couldn't stop laughing. you nodded your head.

"but mark if you want me to be your girlfriend, don't call me dude. okay?" you teased him.

"then can I be your girlfriend-- wait what?" both of you looked confused.

"mark!" you threw your head back and shaking in laughter.

"I mean, can you be my girlfriend, dang it." you chuckled and squeezed his hand.

"yes." your eyes were locking. "but eyes on the road."

"oh, yes! right!" he panicked.

it's been only 1 hour after you officially became his girlfriend but he's already pouting.

"mark, we should be careful. i don't like to be the center of attention just because you're my boyfriend." you said.

he stayed silent. well, he kept on insisting that both of you enter the school at the same time but you decline it because it's better if one of you go first just to avoid suspicion.

"I'm going first, okay?" you gave him a calming smile but it didn't reach him. he just stared at the steering wheel. you sighed and just stepped out of the car.

when you entered the room, same morning, no one greets you because the only person who greets you was sulking in his car. you sat on your usual chair, your class has no fix seating arrangement but everyone knows that the corner on the fourth row is your seat.

"hey." you looked up and saw lucas sitting beside you.

"hey." you smiled at him.

"where were you yesterday?" he put down his bag. you already prepared your excuse.

"fetch my mom in the airport." though your mom use land transpo.

"oh, i see well mark is absent to- oh hey dude." lucas offered his hand to mark for hand shake.

you looked up, he's infront of you but he's staring at lucas with his emotionless face. lucas fingers where slowly folding because it seems like mark will not take it.

"move, that's my seat." mark's voice was frosty and slightly loud but it didn't raise a pitch.

"dude, you seat everywhe-" lucas didn't finish his word when mark grabbed his shirt. he was looking up to mark who's standing and towering him.

everyone was alarmed and stood from their seats, including you.

"mark, calm down..." everyone was trying to pull you away from him, some were trying to remove his hand from lucas' shirt.

"mark!" you grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from lucas who's stop dead in track on the seat.

"you thought you can have her just because everyone kept on saying that you and y/n look good together, that doesn't mean you can have her! stay away from my girlfriend!" he spat harshly. everyone saw the mark that they never expect to meet, eyes dark and glaring.

your jaw dropped when he announced your relationship that wasn't supposed to be revealed.

"mark!" you stomp on your feet and tried to pull his arms once more. "mark, let's talk!"

some of your classmates were staring at you and you started to over analyze it. your felt embarrassed and in verge of crying.

"mark, please." you voice was shaking and tears started to fell from your eyes.

when mark heard that voice he quickly went back in his senses and looked at you. he freed lucas and forget that they exist. mark was about to cup your face but you stepped back.

"let's talk, outside."

mark followed you until you reach the front gate of your school. you brought your bag because you haven't remove it from your back and so was he.

"what was that?" you angrily turned to face him.

"he likes you, but he doesn't like you like ido-"

"i don't care about him!" you raised your voice. mark was surprised from your voice and angry face. your chest was heaving and nose flaring, you face is also redden in anger.

you know that lucas doesn't like you anyway which made you angry more.

"i told you, we're not supposed to tell them that we're together."

"i didn't agree, because if i agree with you, that boy will try ask you out." he pointed his finger to you. "why are you so mad, i just tried to warn him."

"you just made a scene mark! that's not you!" you pointed your finger back at him.

"and you're not suppose to be talking to anyone or get too close to anyone because that's not you. i am the only one who talks to you, all these years i am the only one who notices you and they never did so i don't understand how did lucas casually sitting on the seat beside you which is by the way my seat." he growled, his face was inches away from you but his breath fanning your face. he was fuming in anger.

"you are mine, they are not like what you think they are. they are bunch of losers, blood suckers. i lied when i said that they want to befriend you, they never mention you because they don't care. i am the only person who tried to get close to you so fucking stay away from them!" he shouted.

you flinched. you were staring at him as if you're looking for something... or someone.

"who are you?" you whispered. "where's the mark that everybody loves? the kind mark that i always look up to?"

mark face slowly soften when he realized what kind of behavior he was giving you.

"you only like me because i'm kind." he looked disappointed. again, he wasn't supposed to feel that way.

"no, i love you because you're lovely." you sobbed. you bit your lip and burst into tears. you shook your head. "don't go after me." you were dead serious and walked away from him.

✨if you want to be added in I’m Right For You Tag List, you can DM or Ask me so i can add you ✨

Tag List: @babylion-mork @lalaname @cloudykeiji @jjikyuu @sunshinedhyuck @wassup-haeyadwae @mrklyy @resceluwu @jenonctcity @wanlore @watermelonlovermark @erisxczenie

[sam-t-a]

I'm praying really hard for a plot twist next episode that redeems Han Seo.

However, wishful thinking aside, I think the show set this episode up with Han Seo's arc so perfectly that it could go either way.

Han Seo is the perfect underdog, easily endearing and impossible not to sympathize with. We've also only seen it very briefly, but he has the capacity to be resourceful and generous, and he's a lot more resilient than he looks at first glance. All those things can make for a wonderful addition to an already colourful team that clearly benefits from growing and doesn't mind integrating reformed criminals into their newfound family. He has also pretty much cut all emotional ties with his brother and no longer struggles with the thought of betraying him.

His interactions with Jipuragi, especially in comparison with his interactions with the other side, are proof that working alongside them makes him feel good about himself and helps him in many ways. And while we've seen that he can be an astoundingly bad liar/actor at times ("You made a chess pun. It's so cool") he can also be a great one when necessary (the whole Babel Tower event), so just because he's convincing in the interpol scene, doesn't necessarily mean he isn't acting and making the best out of his new relationships.

In the hockey scene, for example, one nice thing that stuck out was that they were both dressed in the same type of clothes, as opposed to one of them wearing a suit and being in a position of weakness and the other wearing his gear and causing physical harm (which is the only way hockey has been portrayed so far in the show).

Him asking Vincenzo if he would kill him was also very different from how he asked his brother if he would kill him if he kept disappointing him. Neither one actually responded with anything resembling "no", and in both cases he had to guess the answer. With Han Seok, I would say it was "I think you will, but I'm still hopeful", whereas with Vincenzo, it was "I know you won't, but I'm still worried."

But on the other hand, much as I tried to focus on the "sweet" part of it (and I tried really hard), that scene still felt bittersweet. Han Seo has very traumatic experiences with hockey stuff and (most probably) with being punished for using banmal (I don't think we've ever heard him call his brother Hyung, it's always Hyungnim, which I think is telling, but that might just be me misunderstanding the culture). So, when Vincenzo hits the puck very hard and startles him and when Han Seo complains that he wasn't wearing the helmet or backs away from Vin, or says "thank you" and Vincenzo trips him in response, it stings a bit. Mainly because achieving that kind of rapport with someone (anyone) takes time, and achieving it with a torture survivor who has had little to no agency over his body since childhood is even harder.

Him being loud and brash isn't really an indicator that he's feeling comfortable or brave because we've seen him raise his voice multiple times with Han Seok and get punished for it and still do it later. Being cheery and smiley after the scene could mean a lot, because he's rarely ever seen happy, but it could also mean very little because he was equally cheery and smiley after his brother threw the lamp at his head just because he felt cool for dodging it.

A lifetime of handling abuse has not only taught him to bounce back really quickly, but also really raised the bar for what he would consider awful enough to pause at. Han Seo also definitely has major trust issues, regardless of the fact that Vincenzo hasn't really explicitly said he wouldn't hurt him, which would understandably be heightened by the fact that he just watched that one guy die after Vin promised him money and freedom.

He waves it off when Vincenzo doesn't answer his question, but the fact that their interaction could still be seen as brotherly when one party is literally afraid the other might kill him only works because "that is my brother" and "I'm not entirely sure he wouldn't kill me" aren't mutually exclusive in Han Seo's mind.

On Vincenzo's side, I think it's totally feasible that he would refuse to fully accept Han Seo. He's shown an appreciation for enemies joining his side, especially if they do it voluntarily (Bye Bye Balloon), but not when it's personal (the shadows responsible for lawyer Hong's death). The time Han Seo's resourcefulness shone was when he caused the deaths of the victims' families by helping his brother find them. Not only was this a very personal turning point for Vincenzo and Chayoung, but it was also completely his initiative. Han Seok didn't ask him to do this and might even have said no if Han Seo had asked him before doing it since he thought his way was "the hard way", but Han Seo did it anyway, and he did it purely to get his brother's validation and has shown no remorse or empathy throughout the whole ordeal.

There were times like this and like the time he basically begged his brother to assassinate Chayoung and Vincenzo where the only thing stopping him from being as ruthless as Han Seok was that he couldn't, not that he didn't want to, but perhaps the fear keeping him in check is now gone.

We've seen his personality completely change from the beginning of the show to this episode. Where once he would have pounced wholeheartedly and gratefully at what Han Seok is offering, he now hesitates and even turns it down at first. Han Seok comes saying "You're my brother" after Han Seo had already made peace with being a puppet and cut the strings off. He couldn't go back to being his brother if he tried. In fact, in none of the situations where Han Seok was at risk did he seem remotely worried about him. And the distance goes both ways - no more "stand with me while I do bla bla bla" from Han Seok. It's always "leave, get out, stay away".

Another reason might be the fact that Han Seok's olive branch (aside from being so obviously fake, even before you google Elizabeth Holmes), comes in the wake of weeks of escalation. First, we went from mark-less physical violence to wound-leaving violence and then to slapping on the face. I'm not sure if this is universal, but in so many cultures, a slap in the face is so much worse than most ways of hitting because it might mean less pain, but infinitely more degradation. It could also be the ludicrousness of Han Seok's phrasing, (I mean, "be nice to you and take care of you"? get outta here!) and he takes it with a lot more self-control than he originally would have.

Han Seo has learned how to emotionally distance himself from a lot of things, but he still doesn't have a real support system of people who care for and respect him. He has as much potential as he does baggage, and the transition phase he's going through guarantees that his feelings about everything and everyone, especially his brother and Vincenzo, are bound to be mixed and messy, so whichever way this swings, narratively speaking, I would totally buy it.

But I'm really really hoping this works out for him, because I'm going to be totally heartbroken if it doesn't.

[larrythefloridaman]

Y'all like your deities with or without the shell?

Under the readmore is aaaaaaaaall color god observations and musings based on them, because I am studying to become the world's Premiere Chromatheologian and RGB Understander so under the cut is pretty much Oops! All Spoilers! up to the most recent episode of season 3.

Apparently Universal Color God Attributes:

Damage to their domain hurts them, but fixing the issue, or lashing out by using their powers destructively, can help them to repair the damage.

If they sustain enough damage, it can temporarily paralyze them and send them into a strengthened but 'exposed' state (chartreuse's spirit activation in the last fight of 19) and further damage after that will activate a failsafe, which is unique by domain but seemingly designed to give them the chance to balance things, but can get… very out of hand or backfire depending on circumstances. (see: cobalt’s failsafe sending mark's universe into a never-ending apocalyptic war because word of the cure for death became too widespread for the killing urge failsafe to affectively balance anything because every side could simply revive their fallen.)

Chartreuse's failsafe is something of a stopped time bubble quarantine where processes that require the passing of time cannot complete, allowing her the time to wear down the offending party to beat them to death or plan around finishing them.

Cobalt's is inciting war, the casualties serving to balance the scale. I'm not sure we know Crimson's yet- he's never taken enough direct damage without doing damage to compensate in order to trigger it, although i dont remember season one well enough to recall if any of the universe stuff in it tracks with the pattern bc season one is a bit fucky

Connected in a fashion that allows them to simply Sense the overall status of the others to some extent, although they don't know Why theyre in the state theyre in without asking (chartreuse [and by extension, folk, presumably on her information] confronting crimson via crimsonaut for pretending to be dead, Cobalt confronting both his siblings about how they are handling their duties improperly but not knowing about Folk. He knew about the constants deaths because hes a death god, duh, but he didnt use their names like crimson did, possibly implying they're erased upon death so thoroughly that only crimson and the constants can really recall a shattered constants' existence, not even the other guardians.)

Abilities of the guardians can be replicated by mortals through three apparent methods- through machines (dimensional bus, the time machine, presumably J0hn's part in Sephiroth's resurrection,) simply through advanced enough individual skill (Home MD curing death, potentially Dantoinette's universe portal travel, maybe Genwun's sped up time bubble that evolved them into Genfour? although that could very well have just been an illusion and theyre just like, a fuckin theater kid that was doing pretend character development for the Bit or something given GenFive turned out to be a zoroark) or through stealing some of the power of the relevant god (Dr. Order stealing Chartreuse's power, Dani maybe having stolen some of Crimson's when she beat his ass. Dani's one woman universal travel is like, wicked ambiguous)

Cobalt:

Can seemingly perceive or act through any living material. (The Tree. Cobalt instructed Larry to slap his hand on that tree, that shit glowed and he had a new deal tattoo without Cobalt ever having been physically present)

Can influence the resurrected by giving them a killing urge. Represented by an aberrant brainwave and a ringing in the undead's heads. This doesnt appear to be direct control- as the Grunk could clearly restrain himself from killing people that genuinely didn't deserve it (like nightly and cha cha, who WERE grunk event targets but not fatally so. Nagito was a crimson thing so it really doesn't count here. God poor grunk his life really is just a constant plaything in the hands of the gods huh) and Sephiroth very much had personal motivation to want to kill Folk. failsafe activates this ability on the scale of war.

Deals. The extent of what Cobalt can do with these is unclear but Iggy's god powers were taken from him as his part in the deal so what he can take isn't limited to physical things or things obviously related to his domain.

Weaknesses:

Deals. While this ability is impressive his preference for making deals for those that offend against his domain is potentially very exploitable- Larry's knowledge of the cure for death is, if word of it were to ever get out beyond Larry, wildly dangerous for this dimension, so technically the safest thing for the iron-fisted cobalt to do would be to nip the problem in the bud and get rid of him. But, fascinatingly, that wasn't even put on the table, the first thing Cobalt does is threaten J0hn, prompting Larry to make a deal. While Cobalt enforces death, he also doesn't like unnecessary death, and Larry demonstrably knows how to keep a secret for the good of the world even at great cost to himself and Cobalt is aware of this- easily clarifying to Larry the aberrant thing endangering the universe wasn't his timeloop business. So while he's clearly not letting his resurrection fuckery go unpunished, he's being pretty merciful when he doesn't have to be and from a strictly, brutally pragmatic perspective probably shouldn't be.

His control over the undead manifests as a ringing and an aberrant brainwave trackable by J0hn's equipment, and could probably therefore be accounted for and circumvented? J0hn has, wisely, largely sworn off fucking with people's brains after the sephiroth fiasco went So Wrong, So Very Wrong, Oh God Oh Fuck Someone Cool Almost Died, but if he hadn't, and if J0hn let his dislike for authority and keeping Larry safe outweigh reason like he let safety, spite and comedic value outweigh good ethical sense when reprogramming sephiroth, in theory Mr. 'hacked a time machine for breakfast?' could. y'know. probably do it. what is a god's authority to an anarchist, what better to challenge life and death than the cold and eternal machine, you get the point its a fun scenario

Olive Garden Breadsticks and Small Cute Dogs, apparently

Chartreuse's:

Time Clones: taps into parallel timelines to retrieve alternate versions of herself to utilize.

Time Travel: what it says on the tin. Travel to the past creates painful splits in the prime timeline, but through careful action and traveling back into the past, these can be weaved into a time loop. A split from the timeline is a wound, and a successful timeloop is the surgical scar it can become with attentive care, to use a medical metaphor. Carefully closed and healing. Keeping Folk here is essentially akin to chartreuse pulling out her stitches on the initial incision.

Time Stopping: creates a space wherein things that take time to complete cannot complete, where things can move, but everything within is in a perfect unchanging stasis until the bubble drops. This is the form her failsafe takes.

Timeline Creation: can create timelines from scratch.

Can fuse alternate timeline versions of the same individual to allow them to coexist. (Ryan's confirmed in the discord that Dantoinette experienced both failures in 20, because Chartreuse fused the two instances of her to save the post-raid instance from fading. Could... theoretically do this to Folk and save herself the pain, but while Folk and Therapuppy are the same person, there's seven years and untold amounts of difference deriving from the time and circumstance between them and the inherent cognitive dissonances that would result from attempting that would be wicked fucked up to inflict, and that's assuming there isn't some reason that it wouldn't be possible anyway. while the two Danis had like. A day or so's difference between them, so she could be safely fused with the only dissonant thing being that she remembers both being too slow to prevent order's time escape and beginning to dissipate post-raid, AND losing that fight to her pre-raid. RIP Dani, that perfectionism must be kicking her ass)

Weaknesses:

Unwilling to use her powers destructively in her pursuit of domain repair and thereby much easier to damage to the point of paralyzing her, making her particularly vulnerable to Power Theft

Morally Optimistic. At one point in 19, she briefly justifies Crimson's shitty evil actions to herself after experiencing for herself how Wack the kerfuffleverse is firsthand, ("and all he did was kill a couple people!" Chartreuse. Honey.) and when she fights Crimsonaut she seems to actually believe for a second that he's actually worried about her when Crimson asks if she's okay after he beats her. Additionally, as D+, she concerns herself with trying to understand doctor order's motive, and after Larry defeats Order, he makes a point of confirming she feels no remorse before making his request for what Chartreuse does with her, and appeals to the idea of letting Order fulfill her desire to be a god in a way which isn't a problem for anyone and Chartreuse is more than happy to oblige under these conditions after what Larry's done for everybody. Then immediately threatens to evaporate him for playfully teasing her about having a crush on folk. Fucked up a little bit

Crimson's:

Universe Shifting: Travel between universes.

Universe Correction: appears to replace an aberrant individual with the 'correct' version of themselves for that universe, presumably sending them back to their own. (Mario from super mario was universe corrected, but still seemingly exists in wario form as evidenced by smashup kerfuffle, and was simply temporarily replaced with his corrected universe counterpart. But like. The dimensional bus system is still active crimbo doing the Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me routine aint gonna work if they can come back with a shrug and bus fare. you're fighting the symptoms without treating the problem)

Universal Constants:

Three individuals per universe that serve as the pillars which stabilize said universe, created by absorbing red orbs Crimson creates. Becoming a constant grants power, but also makes the constant fragile, and death wipes them from the face of the multiverse, only crimson, those he's possessed and the other constants seemingly able to recall they ever existed, although some physical evidence is still left behind (Larry's record of Nagito's death, which is just as redacted as everything else relating to him but still is very much something Larry has. Kind of a Voidfish adventurezone type beat ironically enough? Taako really has seen all this shit before no wonder he peaced tf out)

To counterbalance the weaknesses the constants have, they have a sort of spidey-sense to alert them to danger, and an intrinsic bonded connection to their fellow constants, and additionally, Crimson apparently doesn't suffer any pain from the death of constants or the structural instability of a universe.

Possession: what it says on the tin! Seemingly can only be done with permission to living things- none of crimson's direct hosts seem to have entered that agreement unwillingly, Valentine lost a bet, Hamburger and Crimsonaut have been by all evidence intentional allies to Crimson- but electronics are fair game, as seen with The Guy's suit. Kinda curious how that rule applies to bitches that are half and half, like J0hn or the clonebot gang, as its unclear whether The Guy's suit was yoinkable without permission because it was mechanical or because its not sentient. could go either way but if it's the former that's potentially very frightening

Fusion: Two individuals from alternate universes can be fused into one shared body which can take on aspects of either depending on which is currently in control. (possibly allows someone who traveled into a given universe to become a fixed resident there without it being an issue for Crimson, whose job is to prevent interdimensional travel?) Monday Mark and possibly T.O.M. are our main examples.

Corruption:

Unpleasant As Hell and can even kill you instead of changing you if you cant handle it.

turns the corrupted individual into a twisted exaggeration of themself, allows them supernatural control over their shape, and makes them very difficult- if not impossible by traditional means- to kill, based on Garfield.

Subjects them to control by Crimson, but can be exorcised of this influence just like crimson's direct hosts can, although the supernatural changes to their physiology are seemingly permanent, judging from Shantae.

Notable Weaknesses:

Exorcism can be performed to free a possessed or corrupted individual of Crimson's influence. Its unclear how exorcism works/is learned in CPUK, but confirmed exorcists: dantoinette and yung papaya's snake dad, confirmed non-exorcists: folk

The universal constant orbs are physical objects so they are Very Stealable and they grant a power boost so theres literally an Incentive to beat his ass for anybody who wants to be strong and either doesnt know or doesn't care about the whole 'getting erased when you die' part

Crimson has lots of tools to create pawns, but all of them have drawbacks. Corruption could kill a potential pawn, possession generally seems to require permission, and he has no control over the constants' choices and actions

Manipulative bitch's highest stat is charisma and it shows. This motherfucker is selling snake oil. If he was mortal rather than a Whole Entire God he'd make an excellent ineffectual saturday morning cartoon supervillain and i think everyone, including him, would be happier for it, ngl

Something interesting ive realized that likely wasnt fully intentional, is that a lot of Dr. Order's creations, considering her motive, can kind of be sorted by a color god it appears to be a crude attempt at mimicking the abilities of. My Grunk is a poorly executed resurrection, the clonebot gang vs chartreuse's timeclones (this one deserves special mention because Chartreuse used this shitty attempted mimicry to her advantage with D+, very smart and ironic play, excellent job Treusy,) spirits are somewhat similar to universal constant orbs (orbs which can be absorbed to grant power, but which have physical repercussions- key differences being that spirits require activation and grow stronger while attuning to a user without being used, and having far less severe drawbacks, taking a heavy toll on the body, but only once they've worn off and without the risk of wiping yourself from the face of existence,) and she also augmented Perfect Spriteman and Larry, which kind of track as crude imitations of Crimson's corruption!

Garfield was an acerbic cat who loved food and hated mondays, now its an actively malicious ever-hungry amorphous entity whose only weakness is monday and whose only consistency in form is 'cat-like.'

Shantae was (to my extremely limited understanding of shantae,) a friendly heroic type who had to introduce herself often, and she became something akin to a biblically accurate angel that can *only* introduce herself.

The Grunks a tough but sweet and supportive single dad with stage presence and a tendency to fly off the handle when he or his family are slighted, and now he gets so hype in the audience when his son does well that he bursts into flames and ascends and we get random grunk events along with the associated murder charges when he gets mad and the target sucks enough that he doesn't hold himself back from killing them.

Perfect Spriteman and Larry fit the trend of exaggeration of already present traits- Spriteman fucking loves sprite and became something that only thinks about sprite, and Larry the Florida Man, characterized from minute one by unpredictability and who spent his first matches in the series pre-shapeshifter transformation staying alive keeping stocks for Shockingly Long even despite getting seventh, became literally physically random as well as developing the ability to regenerate, albeit with the ability to feel pain normally very much intact, unlike Garfield just... Soaking up damage like its nothing in his pursuit of Jon. The fact that Arbuckle legit defeated Garfield, even temporarily, is terrifyingly impressive honestly that dude is fucking built different for being so chronically bland

i dont think they're actually corrupted in any meaningful way we have to worry about, to be fully clear, Spriteman was cured with fucking antacids, i simply think they could be a fucked up attempt at making something that kind of seems like it from a functional standpoint, from the wannabe god doctor that brought us green clones whose only fundamental association with time was accelerated aging and who thought an actively rotting corpse thats just reanimated enough that it can throw hands was as good as curing death

[austennerdita2533]

I was doing some idle musing on Rory's boyfriends and Austen heroes, and what I came up with was that Jess is part Mr. Darcy and part Frederick Wentworth, and Logan is part Henry Crawford and part (in his best moments) Henry Tilney. Any thoughts?

I think those are good Austen-to-GG-boyfriend classifications all around!

Jess has quite a few of Darcy's social anxieties in that he doesn't seem to like being around large groups of people at once, prefers to keep to himself, and doesn't talk or open up easily. Both characters also have a propensity for being taciturn and standoffish at times. They can rub some the wrong way as a result. In addition to that, they're introverted intellectual individuals who have embarrassing or disappointing relatives (i.e. Lady Catherine, Liz Danes). Their first "I love you" declarations are on par in Disaster Fireworks, too, don't you think? I mean, Darcy point blank calls Lizzie's entire family an embarrassment who is beneath him in social class AND manners and then still excepts her to accept his hand in marriage, which is so unbelievable it's hysterical, and Jess tells Rory he loves her after pulling a cross-country disappearing act that ended their relationship only to disappear AGAIN immediately after he blurts out the words, not even pausing long enough to blink, or like, to roll down his window so she can shout her reply at him as he drives by on his way out of town. It's next level Don't Do This romantic foolishness on both their parts. They deserve an award or a badge of honor or something to commemorate their mutual totally-bungled-that idiocy. 😄

Like Wentworth, Jess is the "suffer in silence" type. (I'd argue he takes after Luke in that way.) They both venture off on their own paths after they experience heartbreak, finding themselves, making something of their lives. For Wentworth, that means going to sea and amassing a fortune. For Jess, it means writing a novella and later working at Truncheon. And clearly they have the whole pining for the girl they love thing in common. Plus, there's that sense of mutual understanding that ripples through those two dynamics. Something that exudes "I know you better than anyone" energy because words aren't always necessary. They fall short. As Wentworth writes in his infamous letter to Anne at the end of Persuasion: "You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others." Jess and Wentworth are able to notice things about Rory, about Anne, that everyone else overlooks. Or plain don't see. The connection they share never truly dwindles no matter how much time has passed, either. It burns beneath the surface like an ember, waiting, flickering softly in the dust of what once was, of what still could be, perpetually on the cusp of catching flame again.

I'd also make an argument for Jess having some Mr. Knightley in him as well. They're both emotionally repressed as hell, for one. The frustration is rife, I'm telling you! Jess has a hard time expressing, sometimes showing, his feelings for Rory and I've always thought that falls in line with Knightley's "if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more" vibe. And while Jess doesn't lecture in the same way that Knightley does with Emma, he isn't afraid to ask Rory the hard questions, he doesn't hesitate to deliver the harsh truths she needs to hear. Jess challenges Rory to be better, to be true to herself, in the same way that Knightley does with Emma.

Onto Logan now. I definitely see a lot of Henry Tilney in him and a decent amount of Henry Crawford as well. I've always considered Tilney to be Austen's most charming, sociable, good humored, and extroverted hero, and I think that tracks well with Logan. He's also outgoing, seems to have no trouble making friends, and when he puts his mind to it, will and can charm the pants off of almost anyone he meets. (Gilmore grandparents, especially. But he's no slouch with Luke, Lorelai, or Christopher either, is he?) Tilney and Logan are both bright, witty men with active playful minds. I think those traits act as catnip for Rory and Catherine, it's what attracts them. They like the stimulation. The never-know-what-they're-going-to-do-or-say spontaneity. It's adrenalizing emotionally, intellectually, and sexually. Another similarity between the two men is that they each have fraught relationships with their fathers who have an "image" or "expectations" for their sons to uphold. The fathers view their name, or the social strata where they belong, to be superior to that of other people. Tbh, Mitchum Huntzberger and General Tilney should form their own Cad Dad Club because they're both cads. 😂

Henry Crawford and Logan share a considerable amount in common, too. Wit, attractiveness, and considerable charisma aside, they also both come from wealth. They're privileged, entitled, and have essentially had free reign to indulge their whims and vices throughout their lives without many consequences. I think Crawford's more wanton in his exploits with the opposite sex than Logan, though. The man doesn't just flirt he seduces. And he does so without much remorse. Granted, I know Logan was a bit of a playboy, a casanova, or whatever you want to call him, when he and Rory first started up but he commits to her eventually and loves her. He does his best to make her happy. And he is a present, caring, devoted boyfriend most of the time (the bridesmaid shagfest and jetting off to base jump, cliff dive, I forget the specific thing rn when he's upset, notwithstanding) whereas Crawford's feelings/intentions with Fanny are a little more hazy. It's hard to know whether he was actually in love with her or if it was about the chase, since she wasn't responding to his advances in the the way he'd grown accustomed or had hoped she would. Fanny never trusts Crawford. Rory does love and trust Logan, so there's a marked difference there.

In addition to Tilney and Crawford, I also think it could be said that Logan has some of Mr. Willoughby's good traits. They're both passionate individuals, for one, and aren't afraid to show it. They lay it all out there. Go after things. Live life to the fullest. I admire that in both of them. Fanny and Rory needed a little bit of that in their lives, I think. It pushed them out of their comfort zones. In a good, productive way. That said, the men's zest and spontaneity could teeter into recklessness as well, which is behavior they both exhibited in different ways and at different times.

I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it longer but that's all I've got for now.

Anyway, thanks for the ask, sweets! This was fun to muse over! xoxo