#nobody is going to mourn Viktor

[eiivens]

Thinking about the very first time Viktor went back in time to save Jayce in that snowstorm; how he must have felt, knowing the fate he was handing to this poor little boy, dooming this child to his grave, knowing he won't be able to do anything; Viktor knowing he alone is not enough to break the cycle of obsession/his evolution. But Jayce is, and Victor witnessing timeline after timeline as Jayce is given everything and, yet, not enough. Not enough to stop what Viktor was going to become. How Viktor must have felt, giving Jayce that crystal, with different runes each turn, hoping that maybe this is the one to save them. Because he knew there was at least one—that's all they need, just one. And it had to be him, it had to be Jayce.

The sheer amount of trust Viktor had in Jayce to give him that chance, knowing that their fates are intertwines. He watched more than one timeline fall victim to that dreamless solitude, knowing it was his own doing, waiting for the one timeline where Jayce had enough to do what needed to be done.

"Do you believe in fate, doctor?"

[c0zmocl0wn]

OKAY MAYBE WE CAN CONTINUE BEING DELUSIONAL ABOUT JAYVIK BECAUSE LIKE

1. he wears his leg brace. he wears his damn leg brace

2. “ i thought you were done with me “ ooook buddy that’s the face of a man who wants another man back..

3. there’s a sort of mourning in Jayce’s face when he shot Vik. betrayal and realization in Viktor’s monologue.

4. SPEAKING OF THE VIKTOR MONOLOGUE! did you hear how he said compassion. he said it so soft. i mean mr sir is going to get his emotions taken out by singed when he becomes the herald but . there’s still something left to be awakened

5. in the trailer for act 3, we’re shown jayce only talking about Viktor. ooook freak

6. the butterfly shaped hammer. need I say more

7. “ i wish we could’ve met in person “ TO WHAT?? KISS?

8. all the Judas and Jesus parallels

9. oh if you already didn’t know yet Viktor is gonna come back even baddier than before

10. jayce’s tweaking. it’s obviously caused by something. I don’t know what, but the arcane is showing him things. he is not evil for fulfilling their promise. he is not a terrible person for killing the honestly pretty sinister Messiah that was starting a cult down underground. No Utopia is perfect, or else it would be imperfect. there was something going on Jayce knew that nobody else does and that is so interesting.

in conclusion: 30 MINUTE MAKEOUT SCENE NOOOOWWWWWW!!!

edit: guys. we won.

[androgymess]

ARCANE SEASON 2 YAP FEST, SPOILERS season 2 is rushed, to no ones surprise since netflix put a gun to everyone's head for an early release, but that aside, i do personally enjoy reading between the lines of the show

the jesus (smtimes moses) and judas (ramses can apply too) depiction of viktor and jayce, ambessa's protectiveness over mel making some real sense now, amebessa's foreshadowed death and mel picking up the pieces in the intro etc etc, all good stuff

i LOVE this season dont get me wrong, but the speedrunning and time skips (esp when caitlyn goes through TWO ARCS, IN LIKE, SPLIT SECONDS?) i do fucking hope she has not forgiven jinx all willy nilly after becoming reincarnation of hitler for a good minute there

like PLEASEEE TAKE UR TIME, WE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A SEASON 3 MAN. or atleast let the writers cook up for another 3 years, i LOVED the current two arcs of season 2 but i mourn the lack of fucking dialogue? jayce and viktor barely talking is crazy to me?

relying on songs (which are bangers) to carry the emotional weight of your scenes, we have MORE fight scenes than dialogue between important characters, i loved s1 because the characters...talked, you could fill in the subtext there too, at some point s2's subtext was just me over-reading into every aspect of the show, isha is a plot device at the end of the day, the noxian storyline didn't have enough time to stand on its legs, idk, show me more scenes with caitlyn going further unhinged and drowning in mourning that causes more death to people

plus the black rose stuff is...idk? introduced too quickly, that is one of the main problems with the show, it expects people to get emotionally attached to certain things or characters and neglects alot of its core cast in favor of progression

but when the plot starts progressing without your characters, it makes me as a viewer also lag behind. before anyone comes for my neck, like i said i LOVE seasons 2, i love it enough to be critical of its shortcomings in my humble nobody opinion, i loved not being spoonfed and babied by the show. i can even look past the pacing issues, but the plot devices we got this season is crazy, one offs, first draft storylines as one of my friends said, but eh, better we get arcane than have netflix cancel it.

to wrap this up, they are gonna explore more league storylines, probably in the works already so that is something to look forward to

[frogthane]

Okie, so it's been some time since I finished cyberpunk2077 - amazing game, loved it, perfect mix of story plus fuck around and find out - and the ending was... enlightening. Something crawled up from the depths of my foggy and paranoid brain and was released into the world. I knew instantly I was saving Johnny. It didn't matter to me that he had already lived his life, nor that there were people waiting for me back in the material world, nor that I was absolutely petrified of death. I looked up at Alt and a singular tear streamed down my face. I ignored Johnny's patronizing taunts aimed to sway me as I stepped towards the unknown.

I thought of Jackie, my closest choomba who's soul journeyed with me the entire way through his bike. Viktor, the person I had come to view as a father, I remembered the last time I saw him, how distraught and hopeless he'd seemed. Judy, a person who'd been buried underneath, secretly holding power over so many individuals who have yet to realize the full potential of braindances. River, the man so dedicated to saving his city he's willing to put his own needs aside. Panam, a woman willing to take the heat from allies if it means protecting her people, a brash human that harbours a sensitive soul. Kerry, a deeply broken individual who never learned to move on from his past and carries his story deep in his soul.

But then there was Johnny, still throwing nonchalant remarks in my direction, his voice still carrying to me. I hated placing that chip in my head, hated knowing I only had a mere few weeks left to live, hated that Johnny couldn't seem to give less of a fuck. Until he did. I had just lost Jackie, but Johnny unknowingly provided me with a new constant. He could be demeaning at times, he could be the embodiment (engram?) of peer pressure, lulling my body towards alcohol and cigarettes, but Johnny soon became necessary to my survival. He dragged me back to consciousness after a particularly bad bout. He helped think up plans, cautioned me against my idiotic tendencies. He spoke to me, a constant voice by my side, showing me a whole new world.

So yes, I crossed the bridge and stepped towards the metaverse. I didn't need this body anymore. Besides, even if I decided to go on, i would only have six months. Six months in a body that was no longer my own, but Johnny's. Not that that had any sway in my decision. No. Johnny had become the sole most important figure in my life, and I couldn't knowingly kill him. Despite it maybe just being a silly game, it was at that moment that I learned something about myself: I would gladly give up my own life if it meant saving someone I loved. Because yes, I loved Johnny.

Sure, it hurt hearing those messages from all my chooms from throughout the game, and walking down those carved walls of the cemetary were brutal, realizing I recognized a few of the names, but I stood by it. I left this world, and I witnessed those that mourned me. If Johnny had gone, nobody would have been left to miss him. No one but me. So now, I get to proudly watch him start a new life while giving chances to others along the way.

I couldn't be more at peace.

[faerywhimsy]

TL;DR

Nobody: ....

Me: So Benji Mahmoud could have been an incredibly important and dynamic character, with relevant ties to multiple themes Prince Lestat did a good job pulling on. I would have been real happy to have seen more of his character and, since I didn't, I guess I'll settle for writing about it here.

Hyperlinks go to the posts I thought of as I wrote this.

I've been feeling pulled to post a lot of head canons that involve Benji lately and I think I'm starting to kinda stumble across why it all of a sudden feels important to me.

Like a lot of things in this fandom, it actually starts with Daniel.

Daniel is the only character we see in the original TVC trilogy, in real time, being human and then being brought into the blood. He's just Some Guy who happens to start all this shit that blows out 13 books. And that's relatable. Most series have that character through which the reader comes into the world of the story. It's an established narrative technique.

And then we get the final TVC trilogy, the three books we never thought we'd get because Anne kinda finished the series a decade before and went on to bigger and better things.

*cough* not *cough*

So we get the final trilogy. In which we are introduced to a blond, male character, human when we meet him but, oh no, he gets involved with vampires and ultimately ends up begging to be turned, then spends the rest of the series as a vampire.

Stop me if you've heard this story before.

Now I've got nothing against Viktor. His romance with Rose seems sweet, and he's always going to have a bit of the centre stage just because he's the literal genetic clone of our main protagonist, Lestat. It's a bit hokey but, you know, so is a lot of what we ended up with in the later books. We're just grateful it didn't all end with Blood Canticle and now weed out the things we like.

It's just... I can't help thinking an existing youthful vampire from TVC would have given deeper resonance to the story than introducing a new character with a similar trajectory did.

What might the last trilogy might have been like if Benji—the third human-turned-vampire we meet between these two characters—had been just a little bit more utilised. Not as a love interest, or a plot point, but for himself. Cause just his placement in time and circumstance offers a lot of narrative potential.

We first meet Benji Mahmoud as an important character in Armand's recovery after he attempts suicide. He asks to be made into a vampire, but isn't obsessed by it, pretty much accepts it and moves on when Armand tells him it can't be done. ("Oh, never. I don't have such a power. It's never done." "Then who made you?" "I was born out of a black egg." - TVA)

There's a lot of a sense that he and his companion Sybelle are replacements to a writer who no longer wished to write about Daniel in Armand's emotional trajectory, and I know that put me off both these characters for years. But the side effect is, we get a continuity to show Armand doesn't just stop after Daniel walks out on him, and can choose to read that Armand was hurting and traumatised when recounting these events to David.

Back to Benji. When Benji is turned, he is 12 years old and it's the end of 1998. There's a reason I like both of these things: 12 years old is just about the youngest I've heard any us fans picking up the TVC series of books (omg that's way too young for this content, my friends, I mourn all our brain chemistry), and the birth year of 1986 makes Benji not just a millennial, but lot closer in age and experience to a lot of us than the far off birth year of 1952 for Daniel-the-Baby-Boomer. I also think it would have been a lot easier to remember to read Daniel as not a millennial had there been another character front and centre who was.

The way I see it, Benji could have added so much nuance as a character of TVC if he'd been fleshed out. Most of the time if I remember to think of Benji in canon, he seems like the faded middle child, a plot point with a name in Prince Lestat, nothing resembling a fully fleshed out character.

And that makes me sad. Sad for his character, and sad for us. I'm not saying get rid of Viktor, don't get me wrong, I'm just saying that in a cast of 183282 vampires, there was surely enough room to do more with Benji than give him a radio show recorded within the walls of Trinity Gate.

Like, just off the top of my head: Did he ever leave those walls? Was he still as much of a smart ass with a commentary on everything after 20 years in the blood? What did he figure out that he liked to do with his time when he wasn't recording? Did he remain close to Sybelle? How did he feel about forever holding the visage of a 12 year old? What kind of evil doers did he hunt? What was his relationship with Armand? What did he think of Daniel? Was it a bit awkward coming face to face with his maker, Marius, after so long? Was he included with the guys whenever Armand, Lestat and Louis caught up? Is he more like Daniel at court, really fitting in more amongst the more ancient characters, or does he prefer coming across as one of the wiser young ones when he visits Auvergne?

Hell, if Viktor is basically Lestat's son and Benji is kinda Armand's son, what do the interactions of that Next Generation look like??

Conversely, what were Armand's thoughts beyond the immediate aftermath of Benji and Sybelle having been brought into the blood? Did he lose interest in Benji after Marius turned him? Was he protective of him? Were there times when he looked at Benji and felt woefully guilty about Claudia who died for the offence of being a child vampire? Was Benji a way for Armand to heal the mistakes he had made with both Claudia and Daniel in different ways before him? Louis and Benji live in the same house for at least 10 years together; what were their interactions like and did Armand have any thoughts on those?

[bopinion]

2024 / 10

Aperçu of the Week:

"When will conservatives understand that climate protection is conservative because it preserves. When will liberals understand that climate protection is liberal because it secures freedoms and when will social democrats understand that climate protection is social because it protects the weakest in society the most?"

(Ingwar Perowanowitsch - German activist, blogger and political journalist)

Bad News of the Week:

Thousands of Russians are not letting the arbitrary arrests by the police stop them from publicly mourning opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who (it has to be said exactly like this) was killed by the Kremlin. Flowers are piling up at his grave in the Borisovskoye cemetery in the south-east of Moscow and no one is afraid to show their tears. A different face of Russia can be seen here. Vladimir Putin has created a classic martyr who was prepared to go to his death for his belief in the cause.

A second critic with reach has now also been taken out of the game: the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who is also widely known in the West, has found himself on a list of "terrorists and extremists" for a few days now. He has already been listed as a "foreign agent". This shot could also backfire, and here too a great deal of solidarity can be expected from better-informed and more critical sections of the Russian population. But will it do any good? No.

As there are only puppets of the power apparatus on the committee responsible, there is no real alternative to Putin in the presidential elections due to take place in the next few days. This will be just as much an alibi event as the last elections. Which won't even bother the majority of the electorate. After all, outside the metropolitan areas, this majority consumes almost exclusively state-controlled media. And they get what they want: a strong man at the top who knows what's going on.

One insight from this is the same as that gained from the ever more firmly cemented status of Xi Jinping in China, who, like Putin, wields almost dictatorial power without any checks and balances, let alone a corrective: Democracy begins above all with information. Only if independent media observe and comment on political events can voters form an informed opinion. And then press for these opinions to be heard and acted upon. In the form of a genuine opportunity to vote - the keyword is "people's representatives". Unfortunately, more and more nations are further away from this ideal as ever. In a world that could actually be more enlightened than ever before in its history. But people are obviously too comfortable for that. And probably also too stupid.

Good News of the Week:

It was "Super Tuesday" already a few days ago. And it went like expected. As did the following pre-elections. Two guys who are too old were elected by a massive margin. Because this nation simply hasn't managed to build worthy successors - neither the Republicans nor the Democrats. While the former will indeed euphorically nominate a notorious liar and cheat for the most powerful office in the world, the latter seem to simply resign themselves to their fate: if an incumbent seeks re-election, they concede it to him. Even if his approval ratings are subterranean and his physical capacity is at least questionable.

Let's be clear: if the majority goes to Donald Trump in November - and it will probably go to him if the numbers are to be believed - the Democrats should not complain about it. Because they are to blame. There is only one politician who is currently in an even worse position than Joe Biden. And that is Kamala Harris. She is not yet officially running mate. But since it has never seemed so likely that a vice-president would have to take the helm during a term of office, these two are a duo infernale. A team that nobody wants. Even if that may seem unfair or unjustified.

Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán have just met as autocrats in Mar-a-Lago. Trump publicly admires the fact that Orban is a dictator. What he says happens, "he's the boss". And Orbán hails Trump as the "president of peace", with whom there would be neither the Ukraine nor the Gaza war. Par ordre du mufti. A clear rejection of democracy. Which Biden takes to the extreme by stylizing the upcoming election as a decision for or against democracy. And he is right.

The situation is frightening for us Europeans. We look across the Atlantic with the morbid fascination of a car crash that is clearly on the horizon. And which can no longer be prevented. The whole world was surprised by Trump's last election victory, including himself. I remember exactly how I heard about Trump's 2016 election victory on the radio in the morning and thought that I must still be dreaming. In a way, I was right, because Trump was and is a nightmare.

And that makes Super Tuesday good news in the context of its negative circumstances. Because now we know pretty much exactly what we are in for at the beginning of next year. The whole world will suffer from Trump's ignorant "America First" attitude - politically, economically, in terms of security policy and also morally. But we have been warned, we know it. And we can now prepare ourselves for at least nine months of serious damage for the cooperative US-European axis. And the US democratic establishment is to blame. This swamp should have been drained.

Personal happy moment of the week:

For our stay in Montréal with the children in late summer, we got a great loft in a great neighborhood. Having never booked anything on AirBnB before, the host didn't want us at first - he'd had bad experiences with newcomers who were apparently also being rated on this platform. My wife then had two arguments that convinced him that we wouldn't mess up his loft: she was traveling with Germans, the tidiest people in the world. And she was the daughter of a policeman. That worked.

I couldn't care less...

...that Boeing can't get out of a maelstrom of technical defects and quality deficiencies. As a European, I prefer Airbus anyway.

It's fine with me...

...that Jon Stewart is back as host of The Daily Show. For all his humor - and how that guy always makes me laugh - he's actually a sharp-tongued political commentator and investigative journalist who uses the stylistic device of satire to put a non-partisan finger in every wound he finds. Very good.

As I write this...

...I'm listening to songs by Bob Geldof & The Boomtown Rats. Because I realized that although I can really relate to "Tell me why I don't like Mondays", I don't know anything else by these musicians. It's just dawned on me why... Which doesn't change the fact that I think Live Aid and Band Aid ("Do they know it's Christmas?") were and still are great.

Post Scriptum

The strikes on German public transport continue. Just recently there were no trains for two days and the airports also had to close for two days because of the ground staff. Now, in the following week, there will not only be a strike by Lufthansa on-board staff, but so-called "wave strikes" will also begin on the railroads. These are announced at most 24 hours in advance so that it is - on purpose! - difficult to prepare for them. So the necessary "mobility turnaround" will certainly not happen. Why do we increasingly have the feeling that these labor disputes are being carried out on the backs of the passengers?

[onlymurdersintheafterparty]

Death and Other Details Episode 8: Vanishing

We’ve got two more episodes to go after this and tbh, I’m ready for the finale. I think the show took too long establishing characters and etc when they could have been exposing more clues and generating interest in the murder(s) and Viktor Sams. Here is my takeaway from this episode and what I think may happen in the finale. Spoilers ahead so read at your own risk.

The Blackout

I don’t care how cliche it is, I love a good blackout in a whodunnit. The stakes are high bc the killer can slip in and out of places unseen, everyone has to stay together to avoid being picked off, and the fear of death makes secrets come to life. At one point Tripp asks, “Am I going to die?”. and yeah probably 😬 It would be kind of sad though if he did since he wasn’t even involved in the mess and tbh not smart enough to be committing crimes on that level.

That Derek and his Followers

When he said “If you are seeing this that means I’m dead” I got really worried for a second. Whodunnits spare children but he is a teenager so still very much a target since he’s been broadcasting and could be suspected of recording something that he shouldn’t have.

Jules’s Escape

Winnie has some nerve asking Jules to let her out after Imogen slips him the key. Girl you’re a whole murderer, no way are you going to be let out to roam freely especially in a BLACKOUT. Girl bye. He hasn’t done much yet and is still scheming to get off the boat but I hope he survives until the end:

Lawrence’s Apathy at Llewellyn’s Death

That man is an emotionless monster who valued money over the lives of the people that worked for him and if it does turn out he’s been poisoned via his blue drinks, no one will mourn him. And on top of that he killed Kira so she’d stop asking questions. Also how wild is it that Llewellyn is Anna’s biological father?! The theories were that Tripp was the affair baby but Anna?! This is wild. Maybe that’s why Lawrence was so reluctant to hand over the company to her. Katherine killing Llewellyn does not mean that she is Viktor Sams. It just means she doesn’t want her secrets getting out. But it was all for nothing bc everyone is finding out the family secrets anyway 🤷🏽‍♀️

Winnie Distraught Over Llewellyn’s Death

I’m really confused as to why Winnie was so upset over his death since they only interacted briefly, but I’m glad that her grief led to confirming the suspicion that he was poisoned. The way he sadly spoke of the wine when she went to his room earlier that night immediately made me wonder if that were the case.

Who is Viktor Sams?

I still think there are two different Viktor Sams: VS1 who everyone feared when Imogene’s mother was killed and VS2 who is getting revenge on everyone involved with captionem blue. Celia and Eleanor seem too obvious but if it is one por both of them it’s clear why after Celia’s backstory. What I can say is who I do not think is Viktor Sams and that is:

Teddy

Jules

Imagen

Rufus

Tripp

Anna

Lawrence

Katherine

That Derek

WAIT. What if Father Briggs is Viktor Sams?! We know how self righteous religious people can be, especially those who hold power. Maybe he discovered the captionem blue coverup and also lost someone he loved. Either that or Lawrence confided in him during a day he wasn’t lucid and that set the plan in motion/ Nobody would suspect a priest. Also look at his info page. He takes long showers and expects his robes dry cleaned daily. His robes being dry cleaned around the clock washes away any evidence that may be on them and the showering also washes away evidence.

[ciaossu-imagines]

Mini event — The Royal Tutor and Supernatural Detective AU

Of course, anon dear! Thanks so much for sending in the request and I hope you'll enjoy!

Setting up this AU, I will say I see it being set kind of somewhere more modern-day. If I was to write it out as a story, it probably wouldn't be true modern day but somewhere in between, set between the early 2010's at the latest and late 90's at the earliest. It's very much something set firmly in the same kind of reality and world we live in too, with some small changes.

Those small changes? Well, everyone knows magic doesn't exist, right? It's all stage tricks, mentalists, HBO and Vegas specials. The paranormal is just something that crackpots on the internet get obsessed with, with conspiracy theories and talks of cryptid huntings and a new wave of 'reality' ghost series. That's just pretty much accepted facts.

Except that's not the truth. In this setting, the paranormal and supernatural very much exists, it's just not something most people would ever come across and when they do come across it, most human people are in danger from it. Those who are supernatural in some way do a lot of work to make sure humanity doesn't find out about them, after all. Magic, cryptids, curses…all of this is very real and very serious.

And nobody knows this better than the von Glanzreich family. Descended from the city's founder, it's said that in their distant past, one of the sons of the original founder brought a curse onto the family by stealing away a fairy princess to marry. It's said that the men of the family are all cursed to die an early and painful death and the women of the family are all cursed to mourn greatly throughout their lives. That curse, along with the mixing of fairy and human blood, are said to give members of the von Glanzreich family incredible talents but bad luck. Of course, nowadays, that's mostly told as fairy tales to the family members children and nobody quite takes it seriously.

Except for the fact that Viktor von Glanzreich, chief of police for the Glanzreich city police department, definitely takes it very seriously. He knows it to be the truth…after all, there's really no other way for him to explain his own special talent of precognition. And he sees the gifts in those who went before him in his family…and while the world chalks up the fact that no male von Glanzreich has lived past their fifties to bad genetics or potential early inbreeding, Viktor very much believes in the curse. He made sure to tell the stories to his own children, still does even though they are all adults now, much to his children's displeasure. He tries to make sure they believe, though he never does divulge his own powers. He just doesn't know how to talk about it, especially since it was drilled into him that he should never talk about it from his own parents.

Do any of his children believe? None of them truly do, not really…not that they'd admit, at least, not even to their own family. They believe in bits and spells, especially when their own talents start to appear, though all of the current von Glanzreich children do their best to tamper down any 'gifts' they have inherited through their blood. If they can just pretend they don't exist, if they can just be normal…it's not just a wanting to fit into society at large, though there is that aspect, but each child feels as if they are the only person experiencing these weird things. No one else in their family seems to have these issues and, deep in their hearts, part of why they all try so hard to deny and hide these parts of themselves is because they don't want to be the black sheep of the family. They don't want to be the freak or the crazy person.

So, with your father the chief of police, and coming from a family that has a long history of law enforcement, what do you do with yourself? All of the von Glanzreich children know that answer as they all grew up and went into policing themselves. Keep the family business going, after all.

Eins, cursed with the talent of true, supernatural empathy, cursed to feel the emotions of everyone around him on top of his own swirling emotions, pushes through the day and finds it easier to ride a desk than be out walking a beat. He becomes his father's right hand man at One PP, serving a variety of roles from behind that desk.

However, Kai, Bruno, and Leonhard all graduated from the police academy, walked their beats, even got promotions (though, given who their father is, there's a lot of hostility towards them for that). Kai is a Sergeant, normally paired with rookies from the Academy as they walk the beat. Bruno is a detective, and there's been a lot of talk about Leonhard soon joining him in that rank. Licht has just graduated from the academy and is starting to walk a beat himself when the story itself really starts.

So how does the story start? With the chief of police creating a new unit, the Special Affairs unit. He chose a childhood friend and retired FBI detective to head it…everyone is confused about this retired detective too, seeming as they look like a literal child still. Of course, that detective is Heine Wittgenstein. Another thing that has everyone a little annoyed and confused? No one outside of the unit is really given any information on the purpose of the Unit or the cases they work. All the majority of the police force know is that the unit exists, and not helping the bullying received because of the belief nepotism is very real, that the police officers selected to work the unit consists of only the von Glanzreich children.

Of course, we all probably already know that the Special Affairs Unit exists to solve cases that have some sort of paranormal explanation or component to them. The story is not only about the case, but also Heine really teaching the von Glanzreich children to accept not only the existence of the supernatural, but to embrace their own family curse and their own supernatural talents and them all to really bond together and grow as people and as police officers.

For anyone interested in some little world-building parts here, this is what I figure each talent would be. Of course, Heine is also someone suffering from a supernatural curse that he obtained on one of his own cases over the years and that curse is also why he retired. It's so much easier to hide the fact that you never age, that you're cursed with life immortal, after all, if you're not around the same people day in and day out.

Kai, of course, has physical strength superior to that of normal humans and a enhanced healing rate superior to that of normal folks. He doesn't appear to have a real strong sense of pain either.

Bruno has the ability to 'read' objects and people, to learn the history of those people or things he touches. While he's still actively trying to avoid his power, because of his aversion to touching others or being too close to them, a lot of people assume that he's snobbish, stuck up, or some crazy germophobe and his reputation probably suffers the worst out of all the children's.

Leonhard seems to share similar powers to his father. He can sometimes see not glimpses of the past or future though, but catches glimpses of life though the eyes of someone else. Though it mostly only happens when he's dreaming, there have been times when he zones out and experiences these visions while awake and that's actually part of what Heine helps teach Leonhard - how to control what he sees and when he sees it.

Licht is incredibly charismatic, supernaturally so, and not only draws people to him but can seem to almost bend them to his will. He can make people do what he wants, if he so chooses to lean into his power, and that fact terrifies him. He lives his life unsure of whether people actually like him for who he is or because he's forcing them to like him and he's the one who has the hardest time accepting his talent fully and not seeing it as an additional curse.

As for the first case I see them working and where I'd really set the first story of the series (and yes, it would definitely be a series of stories, if I chose to sit down and write them), it starts with a small town near Glanzreich City. A town that just…disappears, along with the entirety of its population. It's still physically there, but everyone just forgets it exists. It was never there, in the minds of almost everyone, and those that approach it on the road are supernaturally compulsed to detour so they never enter the town. Why was this town taken? Can the town be brought back and its citizens saved? Well, that would be the goal of the story, to find out!

[kirbylord]

btw i am going tag umbrella academy spoilers as “tua spoilers” so yea

OK SPOILERS COMING UP NOW

SCROLL AWAY IF U DONT WANT TO SEE ANY

sooo allison just killed harlan? and it was like brushed over? like everyone was fucking defending her and i was mourning my boy harlan. viktor and him deserved better. fuck allison. although i do still feel bad for her idk i need to think

also stan? like? ok. i liked him a lot and then BAM there he goes bye bye fuck u i guess

oh and there goes half the sparrow academy bye bye there goes sloan luther’s wife and now

nobody has superpowers and luther looks like a twig and i hate it. damn everyone is so weak without their powers and also hargreaves owns the world i guess

and all for love too aka fuck you reggie i don’t give a shit about ur dead wife why does everyone have to die for her sake what even happened this season i can’t comprehend anything

anyway i loved it greatest show ever can’t wait for the next season (not being sarcastic it’s actually amazing and also the worst thing ever at the same time. don’t take this too seriously i’m so tired man)

oh haha claire is back (ignore very obviously not the same actor)

[raviposting]

Okay we’re thinking about....Hargreeves sibling headcanons that make me happy and sad simultaneously so ahem:

Five: Klaus is talking to all the siblings and he starts going in on his “waxing himself with chocolate pudding” story and the siblings are just staring at him increduously before Five starts breaking out into laughter, which makes the other siblings join in. There’s a brief pause before they join in though, because each sibling has their own little buffering moment as they register the sound because they haven’t heard Five’s laughter in about 20 years by this point.

Ben: When OG Ben comes back bc he’s coming back the siblings are excited and show him all the photos they took throughout their life, all their big moments. Allison pulls out her old wedding photos because it was the last time the family was (mostly) all there in one place and before she pulls it out Ben’s eyes light up and he tells her he remembers how extra-beautiful she looked that day. He points to an end space at a photo with all of the family and says, “I remember, I was right there.”

Diego: Diego is walking down the street, about to go see Lila for lunch when he sees Patch across the street. They managed to undo her death and they talked, Diego telling her that he’s not going to be a vigilante anymore, that he’s finding his own way to do something else, that he’s always going to be there for her but that she’s right, moving on is best. She had told him that she was proud of him and the clarity he had, and that he seemed older and wiser, somehow. He had that talk with her, knows she’s safe and alive and not a cold body on the floor. It still hits him, though, that she’s just there, alive, happy, and laughing at something someone else is saying. She sees Diego and waves. Diego smiles, waves back, and continues on his way.

Luther: The siblings are at a conservation one day, looking at the different animals out and about and Luther makes a sharp turn to the gorilla exhibit. Absolutely nobody dares to make the obvious joke, until Luther himself breaks the silence when he points to a silverback and goes, “Hey look guys, that must be my dad.” They laugh, and the unease is broken, but when they move on to the other sections Luther tells them to move on without him and he stays there for a while, staring at the gorillas. He thinks one of the little ones smiles at him. He smiles back.

Allison: When they come back to 2019, Allison is desperate to see Claire again, but it’s only been a week to Patrick and he’s still upset at her using her powers on Claire. It takes Allison a few months before Patrick trusts her with Claire again and when she does she tells Claire every story about The Umbrella Academy she can think of until Claire falls asleep of her own accord. Viktor, Klaus, and Diego have all met Claire but they come with Allison and the other siblings to the next visit she has, and Allison tries not to crumble in front of her daughter as she pretends not to notice the tears in Ben, Luther, and Five’s eyes.

Viktor: One day, the siblings are just talking about different tattoos they all have and if any of them ever wanted to add any more. Viktor says quietly that he’s never had a tattoo. The next day the siblings are crowded around him at a tattoo parlor as he gets an umbrella tattooed on his wrist. Viktor is just excited about the tattoo, but Diego is clutching tightly onto his free hand and telling him that it’s going to be over in a second as he looks anywhere but the actual tattoo process.

Klaus: They’re all fighting a villain when he strikes out, killing Klaus. The siblings defeat him and gather around their brother, mourning that they lost him when they had just become a family again. Klaus wakes up, gasping, and tells them that Death and God keep sending him back and that he guesses he’s immortal now. They cry and hug him, encircling him in a group hug, save for Ben. Ben and Klaus make eye contact, Ben’s worried face growing into understanding when he realizes why Klaus looks troubled. Klaus isn’t going to raise anymore siblings from the afterlife when they die, doesn’t want to anchor them to his life like he had done to Ben. When they die he will carry on, immortal and alone. Ben joins in on the group hug, and Klaus closes his eyes and hugs back as tight as he can.

[toku-explained]

The New Swordsman of Darkness

Heroes' Odyssey: Zero talks about X's battle with Greeza, followed by Z and Geed's battle with Greeza.

Saber: Kento, acting very different, says he has come back to prevent destruction by sealing each Seiken. Sabela on hearing this is angered and goes to attack him, but Saikou blocks, prompting her to escape, taking Rintaro with her. Kento says he'll be sealing Touma's sword and vanishes. Later, I believe Yuri explains that those cut down by Kurayami either die or fall into a realm of darkness, so Kento must have returned from there. Kento alone recalls a vision of the Seiken all together, and him seeming to stop the reshaping of the world they cause, but leaving the world naught but dust. Ren asks Reika if it's true Kento is alive, she tells him he's there enemy. Tassel, or "Viktor", appears to Master Logos. Yuri explains about Kurayami's ability to seal Seikens. Long ago a woman connected the two worlds, allowing 5 humans to crossover. One created Sword of Logos, one remained to guard Wonder World, and the other 3, drawn by power, absorbed part of the original book. As the Northern Base members realise that that means, we see Legeiel produce his own book from his body and give it to Storious. During the ensuing conflict Kurayami was created, with the power to seal Saikou if it was ever misused. Tassel confronts Master Logos over his actions, which go against the pledge he made with the original, Master Logos disagrees with that notion and intends to acquire the original book and remake the world in his own image, and as Tassel protests dies something,easing him to disappear. Touma, Mei and Ogami go looking for Kento. Yuri confronts Kento, and after some words refuse to see eye to eye and battle, soon joined by Sabela. Everyone arrives, with Ogami and Daishinji joining, to settle the score and work things out with Kento. Caliber used Jaou Dragon to trap Sabela and overpower the others. Touma reminds Kento of the promise to save Luna, which he acknowledges, but they can't do that if the world is gone. He's seen the future, and it is certain, unless all the Seiken are sealed. When Touma tries to persuade him, Kento finishes his sentence and continues, he's seen this conversation as well. Storious and Zooous might defeat them all, with the Seiken joining to create the Original Book and unmake the world. They might all join together and defeat Storious and Zooous, only for the Seiken to then join together in bring the Original Book out. A last battle in Northern Base, a battle with the Megiddo that Master Logos appears at, more and more, the details vary but the end result is the same. Using Jaou Dragon again Caliber overpowers the Swordsmen, sealing Suzune. Touma, distressed in Kento's change, uses Dragonic Knight, before in his despair quickly being possessed by Primitive Dragon. Caliber leaves, and Sabela grabs Bremen no Rock Band before leaving. Touma sees the boy, who recognising loneliness offers his hand, but Touma is to distraught to do anything and the boy walks away, the transformation cancels. As Daishinji mourns Suzune, Reika returns to Master Logos with what she's retrieved, Rintaro and Ren sit in thought, Kento broods and Touma struggles.

Zenkaiger: The Tojitendo leadership are only aware of the Super Sentai due to their existence in some of the worlds caught in the Tojiru Gears, Gege seeming to have the best knowledge. Vroon hears some talking about this. Ijirude gets the idea to use the Kinokotopia Tojiru Gear on a Kudakk, creating Kinoko World, spreading mushrooms across the world. Gaon has spent his time on earth obsessing over cute things. Now caught up with last times ending, Kaito and Zyuran spot Ijirude and Kinoko World, Ijirude is shocked to learn Gears are the secret to the Zenkaigers power, revealing his use of Gears in the World. Zenkaiser and ZenkaiZyuran use the Goggle V Gear to wield the Pink Ribbon for a Ribbon Spark attack. After that the Tojitendo flee. Zyuran explains how the Tojitendo oppress ass the Kikainoids, Secchan advises recruiting more allies, leading Gaon to be amongst a crowd of witnesses to Zenkaiser and Zyuran Tyranno appearing, but nobody is interested, Gaon finds Kaito cute, and asks to be friends, Kaito is happy to do so even if Gaon won't fight. As people acclimatise to the Mushrooms, Kinoko World activates them, releasing spores which poison the humans, seeing the lain this is causing gives Gaon the determination to fight. I love the gag of the new member just popping off on a random Kudakk. Gaon's look only vaguely resembles the Gaoranger uniforms to be honest, and his head resembles Leo more than anything, but as ZenkaiGaon he represents the "Animal" Sentai, resembling GaoKing. In battle they use the Hurricanger Gear, utilising Chou Ninpou, Kage no Mai. Zenkaiser and ZenkaiGaon finish Kinoko World, but Ijirude summons a Kudaitest, which accidentally absorbs the Tojiru Gear to turn it into Dai Kinoko World, the Mushroom Power running amok. Zyuran Tyranno goes to fight, and Gaon follows, becoming Gaon Lion, which obviously references GaoLion but may also reference GingaRed, ZyuohLion, Yellow Lion and arguably Vul Panther. Kaito decides to grow as well, before Secchan can explain what his gear actually does, combining the pair into ZenkaiOh ZyuraGaon. The pair aren't keen on the combination, but Kaito pilots them to victory, defeating Dai Kinoko World and destroying the Kinokotopia Gear, freeing Kinokotopia, as Vroon sees while cleaning.

Dogengers: Kitaqman has come to face Yabai Kamen alone, he calls in I-Doll. Tanaka and Fukuokaliber return home to Yamashiron who was trying to prepare a reunion party, El Brave comes back early as well, and then Yamashiron gets a message from Kitaqman about the fight. The heroes arrives as Kitaqman is defeated, and angered Tanaka fights before being thrown at I-Doll while Yamashiron, El Brave and Fukuokaliber try to fight Yabai Kamen. Shaberryman arrives, giving over his Golden Seal power on Yabai Kamen's orders. The heroes are all defeated and I-Doll prepares to remove Tanaka from her mind by killing him. Yuki is defiant towards her captors, when Shaberryman arrives to inform them the battle already started, the rest leave to help Yabai Kamen while leaving him to keep hold of Yuki. He claims Tanaka's loss is certain, she disagrees, and intends to fight, Shaberryman suddenly collapses. Yabai Kamen stops I-Doll killing Tanaka, trying to recruit him. Tanaka reminds him Ohgaman will come back, and he acknowledges he probably still can't beat Ohgaman, so as Tanaka shouts out too late, causing I-Doll to react, goes for the last remaining Golden Seal he knows how to get, cutting down I-Doll. I-Doll tells Tanaka she remembered how glad she was when he told her to wait, her fondest memories are of playing with him and Yuki when the two of them were children, those memories were her treasure, as her body fades, leaving the monster and girl dolls they played with as children. As Yabai Kamen notes this must be fate, Tanaka adds one more obstacle to Yabai Kamen's plans, himself. Yabai Kamen activates Service Zangyo Ver, the unarmoured greeting version.

[kingfisherunion]

This world is cold and madness

Chapter 7: dead or alive fight back

Read on Ao3

Rating:

Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)

Relationships:

Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov

Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov

Characters:

Katsuki Yuuri

Victor Nikiforov

Yuri Plisetsky

Otabek Altin

Otabek Altin's Sister

Nishigori Yuuko

Yakov Feltsman

Additional Tags:

Car Accidents

Character Death

Married Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov

Anxious Katsuki Yuuri

Angst

Fluff and Angst

Angst and Hurt/Comfort

Grief/Mourning

Established Relationship

Anxiety

Anxiety Attacks

Death

Hurt Yuri Plisetsky

Character's Name Spelled as Viktor

Comforting Katsuki Yuuri

Comforting Victor Nikiforov

Victor's last season

Supportive Katsuki Yuuri

stage husband yuuri

moody viktor

Fights

Swearing

Yuri Plisetsky Swears

Post-Canon

DJ Otabek Altin

Motorcycles

it seems like Viktor is insensitive

but he really does care he's just not great with feelings

Language: English

“That’s enough, Vitenka.” The washer kicked on with a polite whir as Viktor skulked past Yuuri back into the apartment. The latter almost followed after, but his head was already pounding from all the alcohol last night, and fighting with Viktor was like fighting with an incredibly stubborn, incredibly intelligent brick wall.

Yuuri should have seen the fight coming.  All the warning signs had been there the night they had drunk vodka and listened through the Orff piece.  But he had, as usual, been slightly drunker than the other two, which was slightly more than intended.  The ache of responsibility would not excuse itself from his chest, even though he knew it wasn’t even really his business.

           Except that he considered everything about Viktor’s mood his business these days.

           He had seen that frozen look that Viktor had whenever he was trying – and failing – to be gracious in masking his distaste.  The tension behind the eyes that flicked over a translation he’d quickly googled on his phone.  The fingers curled tightly and pressed to his lips.  The impatient huffs and hums.  Yuuri knew that he was not the only one who noticed the little high-pitched whines when the momentum of the piece lulled, like a dog who whines at a siren.

           Their first year together, the year of their engagement, Viktor’s moodiness hadn’t really come up – Yuuri would later learn that his husband attributed his cool and pleasant disposition to his newfound love and the unlimited access to the hot springs.  But almost two years in, he had become no stranger to the grouchy slumps into which Viktor fell, especially when he was stressed, and especially when he was away from Makkachin.

He’d tried to ask their Russian rinkmates for advice, insight, anything to appease the beast that bristled in Viktor’s chest when things weren’t going quite as planned, but nobody had much to say beyond, That side of him can be so scary – I try to stay away when I see him in a huff.  Mila recalled her first years studying with Yakov, watching a teenage Viktor sit through five consecutive skate sessions until his coach finally conceded to let him skate Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore for his free program.  He’d been a pristine, shining marble statue in his beauty and his coldness and his absolute stubbornness.  Even with Yakov screaming in his face, he’d barely looked up from his phone.

It didn’t take much, especially in familiar company.  Yuuri had seen Viktor’s day ruined by the caption of one of Christophe’s Instagram photos.  One bad proof out of the hundred his last photoshoot had yielded.  A discrepancy between the weather forecast and the actual weather.

Everyone knew to stay away.  Except… well, Yurio knew.  He just didn’t care.

           Viktor didn’t like Carmina Burana.  Specifically, he didn’t like it for skating.  A lifelong legacy of wins had groomed in him a compulsion-like reflex to love or hate the music he heard.  It was obnoxious, the black-and-white-ness of it, especially considering his harsh first impressions were usually right.

           That wasn’t to say Yuuri especially loved it himself – there were certainly one or two strong movements, but the themes tended to be repetitive and without direction, like the chanting of the monks the composer had clearly tried to emulate.  There were a time and place for this kind of music, for sure, and when he had first heard Carmina Burana years ago in Detroit he had been swept away by a story of loneliness and fellowship and love and loss. There were even a few movements he himself would consider skating.

           “It’s all about sex,” Viktor huffed, pacing their apartment the next morning under the weakest pretense of unpacking.  “It’s springtime!  Lusty spring!  Everyone drinks and fucks and one day you’ll die!  Perfect!”  Yuuri wished Makkachin were there to lighten the atmosphere, and possibly to motivate his husband to be a bit less aggressive with his stomps.  “This is not the work to honor with dignity the death of a loved one.  No matter how much he may have liked it.”  He threw the last of his shirts into the washing machine and slammed the door shut.  “I understand Yurio’s in pain but we are not here to humor his every whim.”

           “Viktor, he’s trying to find his footing,” Yuuri muttered, leaning in the doorway to watch his husband’s irate clothes-sorting session with quiet concern.  “It’s something Otabek left behind.”

           “Yes, well, I’m sure he left behind some underwear too, so at least Yurio already has a costume.”

           “That’s enough, Vitenka.”

           The washer kicked on with a polite whir as Viktor skulked past Yuuri back into the apartment.  The latter almost followed after, but his head was already pounding from all the alcohol last night, and fighting with Viktor was like fighting with an incredibly stubborn, incredibly intelligent brick wall.

           Yuuri had fallen asleep before the fight proper had even begun, but in retrospect, he had definitely seen the warning signs.  Yurio had grown more and more irritated at Viktor’s audible displeasure, responding with his own little snorts, an eye roll, a middle finger.

           Viktor had let out a dry, humorless laugh when he heard the song of the roasted swan.  The tortured nasal cry of a countertenor raked against their eardrums as he cried, “Now I lie on the plate, and cannot fly anymore, I see bared teeth!”

           “This one would be perfect to skate – I think I’ll recommend it to Georgi,” he’d mumbled.  Yuuri, in spite of himself, could not help but giggle, but Yurio was approaching totally incensed.

           Why had Yuuri let himself get so drunk?  Could he have stopped this?

           He’d sprung awake to the strangled shouts of a heated argument in what must have started out as hushed tones.  Viktor was half-shouting in Russian while Yuri, tears streaming down his face, jammed a finger over and over again into the older man’s chest, hissing his own retaliation.

           “…отвали, мудак, блядь!”

           “…нет оправдания быть эгоистичным!”

           “пошёл на хуй, я любила его!”

           The bottle dangling from Yurio’s hand fell to the floor with a crash.

           Yuuri was already deep into what promised to be a day-long hangover.  He could feel the room lurch around him as he pulled himself to his feet.

           “What on earth is going on?  What happened?  Viktor?” he shot his husband a pointed glare, swallowing down the bile burning in his throat.  The clock on the stove read 5:14.  He gestured towards it, rubbing his temples with his finger and thumb.  “Don’t you see it’s… where are your neighbors? Shit.”

           “Anata, this is foolish.  He’s being hasty in his…” Viktor started in Japanese, but he was soon cut off by Yuri’s furious snarl.

           “You married a selfish piece of shit, pig,” he clipped.  “This is fucking stupid.  Get out.  Go home.  I don’t want to see your fucking faces.”

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

           The best way to deal with a fuming Viktor was to give him space, let him stomp it out, and let him get hungry enough to think he’d just been hangry.  Yuuri retreated to the bath with a cold sports drink, his Bluetooth speakers, and his copy of The Name of the Wind.  The steamy waters eased the tension from his headache just enough to let him focus on Kvothe’s epic tale, and his classical music playlist was just enough to drown out the sullen grunts and stomps from the other side of the door.  This was supposed to be the list of prospective pieces for his free skate program, but this skating season hardly felt like a reality anymore.

           Besides, Viktor’s fits were nothing compared to Yurio’s.  This little “mood” had been timely enough to potentially settle his decision to take the season off.  Viktor was supposed to start coaching the younger in full this year to open up Yakov’s time to more students.  He’d get over a drunken spat in no time.  He might even hear Yurio out on a few of the solos from the Orff.  Presuming Yurio would forgive his behavior at all, which at the moment was presuming a lot.  What a damn mess.

           The clock on his phone read 15:39.  Ten hours since he’d dragged his seething husband home.  Ten hours since Yuri had kicked them out.  Yuuri knew he wouldn’t be over it, but it was worth a shot.

           He opened a new message and quickly typed out,

 >We should talk about Estuans interius or Stetit puella for your short program if you’re serious about this music.  Don’t let him discourage you.  I’ll even help you choreograph it.

           He reviewed it, not entirely satisfied but not sure how he could make it better, then pressed “Send”.  A reply came in the amount of time it took him to read two more pages.

 >Fuck off.  I’m done.

[iprincezzinuyoukai]

VictUuri Week, Day Three: Dreams

Title: Don't you worry child.

Author’s Notes: Just in case you ask, I prefer more anti-heroes and anarchy.

Rating: Teens and Up Audiences

Warnings: Past Violence, Past Character Death, Antihero AU, Superpowers AU.

Summary: In a world where being different is a crime.

Link to A03: http://archiveofourown.org/works/9615062/chapters/21769196

Edited: January/05/2018

Viktor could barely remember his parents’ face or the place where he grew up. Everything that had once been his past, had been devoured by fire, fortunately he managed to hide among the corpses of the villagers when the Cleaners discovered that no Freak had survived.

Freaks, that’s how everyone called people like him. People who had superhuman abilities, such as intelligence, agility, physical strength, supernatural powers, etc. No one was safe from the human perfection that the government wanted, they tried to live as normal as possible until someone turned out to be a Freak. Then, The Cleaners came to exterminate any suspect.

“Everything we do, are necessary sacrifices for our peace and harmony.” It was the excuse everyone used, a world motto that, although most didn’t accept it for fear of being called Freak, nobody said anything.

Viktor lived at least a year and a half in the streets until finally he was rescued by Yakov. The older man wasn’t a Freak, however, his ex-wife, Lilia, was a Freak. The two of them had joined a kind of organization.

The Freak Show was their name, trying to save all the Freak that was possible, before the Cleaners found them and were exterminated. Because with one less Freak in the world, the possibility of saving the future was less.

Viktor didn’t know he was a Freak until he turned eight-years-old, none of his parents was a Freak but they kept him hidden so that their son wouldn’t die. His power was the manipulation of ice. But it was only his carelessness when they went to the city that below his feet everything began to freeze. At the age of ten, he lost everything. With fourteen years in the organization, he had already killed more than half of the political leaders in his home country.

The Freak Show didn’t have a specific location because it was always moving. It was the safest way they had for the government not to find them.

Viktor found people like him. Yakov was their squad leader, Lilia had great physical agility, almost elastic; Mila was a girl five years younger than him, but with the strength of a thousand men if she set her mind to it, maybe she could pick up the supercomputer that was in the headquarters; Then there was Georgi, with the power to weaken others with just a touch, that’s why the boy wore gloves to prevent his powers from affecting them when they weren’t at missions.

Every day new Freaks arrived, regardless of age, sex, nationality, they all served for something.

The metal doors opened and one of the leaders entered with three children. Two girls who could well be his age and a boy much younger than him. One of the high commanders separated the girls from the boy. The male and female rooms were separate, unless they were a couple or had a family, then the organization took care of that. Viktor saw that the boy was crying harder when they separated him from the hand of one of the girls, and he assumed that she was his sister or some close relative.

Viktor knew that the home of these children was invaded by the Cleaners. The three children were Freaks. One of the girls had the same elasticity and flexibility in her body as Lilia, the other girl could exhale toxic fumes that helped them escape the Cleaners, the boy had skills with ice, like him. Of the Freaks that lived in that small city, only the three escaped with life. The children were sent to the specialized doctors.

At night, the boy couldn’t sleep, Viktor heard his sobs, even though the boy did everything possible to avoid being heard. Viktor doesn’t remember if he mourned his parents’ death, maybe he did. Although he remembers that he mourned for his fallen comrades.

The sobs began to rise in volume and the others started yelling at him to shut up, which made the boy keep crying, Viktor knew he was trying to stop his crying but the pressure on him only made him more nervous.

Viktor sighed, closed his eyes and got up from his bunk walking to where the child’s bunk was.

The boy was white-skinned, with short black hair, his glasses misted by his tears. He was being a ball in bed, hugging himself trying to calm the crying. Viktor sat down, making the boy aware of his presence and looking at him with eyes full of tears.

“Hi, I’m Viktor Nikiforov.” He introduced himself, extending his hand to the child.

He seemed reluctant to want to do it, but sitting on his legs the kid wiped away his tears and with a dry hand took Viktor’s hand shaking it, “Yuuri. Katsuki Yuuri.”

“Yuuri. A nice name.” Viktor smiled, the least anyone could do for this boy was for someone to be nice to him after everything that happened. “The girls you came with, who were they?”

Yuuri pursed his lips, “Mari is my older sister and Yuuko-chan is my friend.”

Viktor nodded, “Do you know why you are here?”

“Because we are bad?” The boy replied.

Viktor gave a soft laugh, seemed to hear that Yuuri also laughed, “No. Simply because we’re different from them. Are you afraid of what is different?”

“It makes me curious.” Yuuri whispered.

“I heard you’ve skills with ice.” At the mention of his power, Yuuri gasped, however, saw Viktor move his hands to create a diamond-shaped ice crystal, “I also do that. And not only that, I can create snowstorms, freeze people, skate, – ”

“Skate?!” The tears seemed to stop, “I used to skate with Yuuko-chan, the ice rinks were always fun... But I made them discover us.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But now my mom and dad... Everyone – ”

“You still have your sister.” He said quickly, “And to your friend, and believe me, many of us couldn’t rescue any special person. You three must be grateful.”

Yuuri sniffed, “Can I see my sister and Yuuko-chan again?”

“I assure you that tomorrow you’ll see them again.” Viktor smiled, making Yuuri feel safer, he liked to see his smile. “They simply wanted to verify that none of you were sick or injured. Policies of this place.”

“Will we go back to Hasetsu?”

Probably at this time this kid’s town was already being cleaned. But he couldn’t tell him. “Someday, but for the moment we’ll all live here to make a better place.”

Yuuri smiled, his eyes were no longer red with tears, “When will we make that place a better one?”

For some reason, Viktor couldn’t see this child fighting with deadly weapons or using his powers to kill people or do some other dirty work. He still seemed so innocent, but this world wouldn’t forgive a Freak just for being an innocent child, he’ll have to grow up and he’ll have to learn. “You’ll participate, in due time.”

Some of his roommates began shouting at them in the most cordial and friendly way possible so that they would shut up and go to sleep.

“Would you like to sleep with me tonight?” Viktor asked, he could still see Yuuri trembling as he tried to leave.

Yuuri seemed to hesitate, but he didn’t want to stay alone in this unknown place, at least now he met Viktor and wanted to be a friend, right? Yuuri didn’t think about that again and nodded, getting up from his bunk and walking with Viktor to lie on the Russian’s bunk and see that the silver-haired boy was also by his side.

Yuuri saw that Viktor closed his eyes to sleep, his childish eyes rested on his hands, it was his fault that he let himself be seen by the Cleaners and instead of running to the mountains he went to Hasetsu. His hands were taken by Viktor, he felt cold. Their fingers intertwined.

“Don’t worry about being afraid, here you won’t need to hide what you do.” Viktor continued speaking with closed eyes, bringing the child closer to him. Yuuri nodded and Viktor continued to stroke Yuuri’s black hair until finally the Japanese kid fell asleep. Viktor opened his eyes, seeing that the sleeping child was relaxing.

A better world. What else could he say to this kid? Maybe he lied in that part, but he didn’t lie when he told him that he should no longer be afraid to be himself here. Everything here would be better as long as Yuuri stayed by his side.

[virgocity]

BB + Eminem Lyrics

Kacey - “Success is my only motherfucking option. Failure's not. Mom, I love you, but this trailer's got to go. I cannot grow old in Salem's lot. So here I go it's my shot. Feet, fail me not. This may be the only opportunity that I got.”

Faith - “There's no mountain I can't climb, there's no tower too high, no plane that I can't learn how to fly. What do I gotta do to get through to you to show you there ain't nothing I can't take this chainsaw to?”

Scottie - “More pain inside of my brain than the eyes of a little girl inside of a plane aimed at the World Trade, standin' on Ronnie's grave, screaming at the sky, till clouds gather. It’s Clyde Mathers and Bonnie Jade.”

Bailey - “When I’m gone, just carry on. Don’t mourn. Rejoice. Every time you hear the sound of my voice, just know that I’m looking down on you, smiling, and I didn’t feel a thing. So baby, don’t feel no pain. Just smile back.”

Jojo - “I act like shit don’t faze me. Inside, it drives me crazy. My insecurities could eat me alive.”

Sabrina - “ Nobody knows me. I'm cold. Walk down this road all alone. It's no one's fault but my own. It's the path I've chosen to go.” (Bonus: “Not taking nothing from no one, give 'em hell long as I'm breathing. Keep kicking ass in the morning and taking names in the evening. Leave 'em with a taste as sour as vinegar in they mouth. See, they can trigger me, but they'll never figure me out.”)

Blake - “I'd never drag them in battles that I can handle unless I absolutely have to. I'm supposed to set an example. I need to be the leader. My crew looks for me to guide 'em. If some shit ever does pop off, I'm supposed to be beside 'em.” (Bonus: “If I get sniped tonight, you’ll know why, ‘cause I told you to fight.”)

Maison - “It’s funny ‘cause at the rate I’m going, when I’m thirty, I’ll be the only person in the nursing home flirting.”

Viktor - “It's just all in your mind, what you interpret it as. I say to fight, you take it as I'mma whip someone's ass. If you don't understand, don't even bother to ask.”

Penny - “The more you, put me through, the more it makes me wanna come back to you. You say you hate me, I just love you more. You don't want me, I just want you more. I buy you flowers, you throw 'em at me, I know it's sad but it's making me happy.”

Valerie - “And if you ask me to, Daddy’s gonna buy you a mockingbird. I’m gon’ give you the world. I’m gon’ buy a diamond ring for you, I’ma sing for you, I’ll do anything for you to see you smile. And if that mockingbird don’t sing and that ring don’t shine, I’ma break that birdie’s neck. I’ll go back to the jeweler who sold it to you and make him eat every carat. Don’t fuck with Dad.”

Violet - “Hey, the prodigal son, the diabolical one, very methodical when I slaughter them.”

Lexie - “And I just can't keep living this way, so starting today, I'm breaking out of this cage. I'm standing up, I'ma face my demons, I'm manning up, I'ma hold my ground.”

Dean - “A corny-looking white boy, scrawny and always ornery ‘cause I was always sick of brawny bullies picking on me.”

Conor - “It's silly. I'm really a sheep in wolf's clothing who only reacts when he gets pushed. Don’t be fooled.”

Jack - “High off her love, drunk from her hate. It's like I'm huffing paint and I love her. The more I suffer, I suffocate. And right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me. She fucking hates me. And I love it.”