#ok but like?? directly post-war perhaps? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tachimichishrine · 1 year ago

Text

"sweet and sour"

◝≞▣≞◜ crime executive!jouno saigiku x gn!reader

warnings: except for a bit of guns + cursing and ooc jouno,, none! this is all fluff :) i didn't write this in lowercase??? crazy amirite

"Jouno Sai... Saigay? I was certain there was gay in there somewhere... Anyways! Hi!! It's a pleasure to meet you!!"

The mispronounced man in question glared at the individual who was giggling happily, strolling around in the office like they owned the place, shooting a, "Hey, Fernando, did you get a new haircut?", "Lookin' good in that suit, Ichika!", and, "Oh my god! Where did you get those shoes, I swear I saw the exact same ones at that store down the street, the uh... what's it called? Y'know what I'm talking about, don't'cha?" to his fellow executives like they've been friends for years on end.

The room had always been tense, from what he recalled. When people entered, they expected to get shot by the boss, or be given a task so difficult to complete that they would ultimately get shot. In short, a meeting with the renowned organization that Jouno Saigiku worked for was a death sentence for his subordinates, even more so for rival organizations.

Yet, this person had been bouncing around the walls like a child in a candy store, waving around the knife at their fingertips like a ten thousand yen bill and showing off the gun strapped to their thigh and waist with the same bubbly confidence of a new outfit they'd just bought the previous day.

'They're going to get themselves killed in no time,' he laughed to himself, waiting for the one in charge to enter the room.

For now, he was responsible for managing the building and their potential customer (from another criminal organization. It made him wonder how on earth someone like them could possibly be working in the same sadistic field as he did) until their meeting began. He'd never met this person in particular before, and wished he would've never had to. However, business was business, and he would need to accommodate them well enough to prevent a war between the two groups to break out.

"[l/n], was it?" he smirked, a strained playful smile that was barely hanging above the devilish one he had underneath. "It's Jouno Saigiku, and I'd recommend that you refrain from making yourself too comfortable in here. You are, as you know, on our turf, which means that-"

"Bla, bla, bla! you're so formal!" they scoffed with a wave of their hands, bouncing off of the velvet couch and strolling up to the executive, glaring at him with a particular expression that he couldn't see. "I'm actually rather touched that you knew my name! [l/n] [y/n], I'm your connect with [criminal organization name ~ [c /o/n]] so don't be a meanie!"

..."Don't be a meanie? "

As if by miracle, the boss entered right when they were about to get close enough to his straightened-out figure, almost army-like in posture, to tap his nose with their fingertip as one does with children. In his field of work, only people of utmost trust managed to meet directly with the person on the top, so he considered that perhaps they were prevalent in some other field that didn't have to do with relationships and appearance. Now, all he had to do was wait for his boss to get infuriated at their attitude and demand that he dispose of them and he'd be able to drag them out back and peel off their skin...

"[l/n], dear! It's been a while, has it not?"

This keeps getting better and better.

"Kantoku!" they beamed out, running over to the old man and avidly shaking his hand. "Oh, I've missed you so! Things have changed around here, didn't they? You never told me you promoted a new executive!"

With a playful eyeroll, Kantoku - the man in charge of his crime syndicate - gestured to the couch and began to converse, almost casually. What baffled him, perhaps the most of all, was that every regular beat of their heart was steady, this wasn't a feigned façade nor overcompensation for fear. This person was truly, genuinely an idiot.

"Pst, Jouno," the woman executive standing beside him nudged his shoulder, "the boss is here so we're free to go. Plus, that asshole who stole from us isn't talking, so we might need your help."

With that, he left behind both the room and the lingering feeling of confusion regarding [l/n] [y/n].

Jouno Saigiku did not have a very complex job.

In fact, his daily tasks mostly consisted of torture and punishment, with the occasionally laying off (which undoubtedly meant death. There was quite a bit of death around him, a certain fading scent that permeated throughout any room he'd visit. This was not a literal physical scent, for that would obstruct his sight and handicap his senses, but nonetheless he found himself rather pleased when he felt warm blood splatter across his soft cheeks.)

Today was nothing different; supposedly, someone from [c /o/n] had blundered and fled right into their territory. Given the amical relationships between the two groups, it was their job to retrieve and return the fugitive, annihilate them if they do not cooperate and it becomes necessary.

At the moment, he found himself seated in a vehicle, driving to the last location that this person was last seen, being described as "[s/c] skinned and [e/c] eyed", all attributes which couldn't possibly make any difference to him, due to his lack of vision. When he asked for a name of this person, he was shocked to learn that it was the same energetical and bubbly individual who vaguely crossed his radar a few weeks back.

"Oi, oi, Jouno slow down, we don't wanna pass 'em 'cause you're drivin' too fast, 'ight?" his coworker for this mission reprimanded. "Just 'cause you can do that fancy hearin' thing ain't mean my eyes ain't good, 'ight?"

Jouno thus pressed his foot with more force against the gas pedal, speeding up the car only because he didn't quite like the tone of this person.

"Hm?" he asked innocently. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you very well, what did you say?"

"I said slow down you-"

They cut themselves off, not allowing for a response since their silence indicated that they had learnt something new.

"Woah, yeah, they're right over there!" they exclaimed, tapping a point on the window so that Jouno could hear the faint sound and distinguish which direction their target was. "Pull over, I'll tie 'em up and toss 'em in the back."

The white-haired man paused momentarily, thin brows imitating each other as they angled upwards in confusion.

"What do you mean? That's not them."

"For a blind bitch, ya really think yer all that, don't'cha? I can literally see them right now, they're standing outside the fuckin' car so pull over and lemme mug 'em."

His lips had pressed into a line, contemplating the situation. The reason he wasn't allowed to go on his own was because they were extremely picky about identifying the right culprit, yet Jouno cared little for his escort of sorts. He'd encountered [l/n] before, and what marked his memory the most, asides from their childlike behavior, was how their heart hadn't betrayed a thing on the outside attitude, despite being blatantly threatened. This person, the one that his temporary partner had suggested was their target, was in fact sweating buckets and had such an erratic heartbeat he might've believed them to be having tachycardia. On top of this, their breathing was not the same, from what he gauged, they couldn't possibly be the right height, build and walking pattern. People on the run obviously become more more jittery when faced with escaping an impossible situation, but this conflicted his knowledge in too many ways to be true.

"I believe," he suggested calmly with a grin appearing, still refusing to unlock the doors or pull over, therefore driving past the individual, "that [l/n] might not be as gullible as we first presumed, and that this person is a decoy set up to distract us."

And so, Jouno found himself pleasantly challenged by the least likely person.

As the sun bled out into the sky during its descent from the zenith to the crepuscule, Jouno had finally managed to shed his gravely irritating partner and complete his task alone.

That idiot - really, that's all he could call them - decided to ignore his words and kidnap the scapegoat. Of course, this person sobbed and repeatedly told them that they're not the right person, that there's been a mistake, but no one believed their words. Inevitably, they were tortured for a few hours and deemed unnecessary. Jouno shot them, then headed back to search for the real culprit.

"Now, where could they be?" he hummed, almost amusedly, to himself. "Most people tend to lay low when running from important and dangerous organizations, but something tells me..."

He was rather lucky, in a sense, that someone had spotted the fugitive near a bar. However, this was over 5 hours ago. People on the run tend to be smart enough to scatter from location to location, but he supposed he shouldn't be overestimating other people's intelligence.

The door creaked with a lowly groan, as did the floor when he applied weight onto it via his heavy tread. Upon first impressions, the bar was nearly empty.

Then, he heard a voice call out.

"SAIGAY!! Ahh, it's been a while, hasn't it?! Come, come! Can I order you anything? You look like a bourbon man, are you into bourbon? Unless... fine wine? Oh dear, don't keep me guessing, come, sit!"

Immediately, as soon as they called out his name and announced themselves with such ardor, he knew he had the right person.

"No thank you," he smiled. "I can't drink, I'm currently at work."

"Are you? Aw, you don't mean you're here to kill me?" they replied, voice dipping down to a pouty grumble as they neared the end of the sentence. "I'm tired of people trying to kill me, it's no fun."

Idling at the entrance, Jouno didn't quite motion to sit next to them, nor did he seek to keep close in case of sudden evacuation. From what he had heard, this person was without ability, so they didn't pose much danger. Nevertheless, he was a cautious man, and had known that false information could potentially be fatal in certain circumstances, especially when the target is acting so laid back.

"You stole half a million yen from one of the most dangerous organizations around, I don't particularly think you'd've expected it to be fun."

Met with muttering, he would've asked them to speak up had he not heard the nearly incomprehensible, "but I didn't steal anything" from their lips.

"You didn't?" he said aloud. "Then where do you suppose the money had gone?"

A pause insinuated, and he pondered repeating his question in a more forceful way when they answered. "Woah, you've got great hearing! I wish I were like that, half the time people talk to me and all I hear is 'bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bl-'"

Jouno pulled out his firearm and pointed it directly at them.

"Enough games. Cooperate and I'll only make it hurt a lot."

"Gee, mister, did someone piss in your cheerios? I'll come, I'll come, just give me a second! I want to finish my drink."

On the table, however, there wasn't a single glass.

Upon having Jouno point this detail out (for while he could not see, he could still visualize objects in space with his other senses), they paused briefly. "So either you're blind but scarily good at it, or you can see through that crazy squinting of yours."

"I don't appreciate you stalling," he hummed, cocking the gun. "Do you think I won't shoot?"

"No, no, it's clear you would!" giggled the individual. "But, oh, do tell me more about yourself. Being threatened is so much more pleasant when-"

He shot them once.

He shot them twice.

Both bullets landed in non-lethal locations, such as their right shoulder and calf, which was enough to get his message across without rushing his punishment for their actions.

"That hurt!" they frowned, clutching at the opening from which blood was rushing out. "Owwie! You really don't like talking with people, do you, Saigay?"

"Saigiku," he corrected with a hiss. "Do you ever stop talking? I could very well kill you right now."

"Well, I sure hope you don't!"

This just made him want to shoot them even more.

He listened eagerly as they let out a few hisses and groans, then a soft squelch and the clattering of a metal against the marble countertop. He guessed that they were taking out the bullet from their calf, since the one in their shoulder had effectively shattered into hundreds of shards, and would require special medical attention immediately if they wished to live for a few more years. Then again, he knew that they probably wouldn't live past tomorrow, so it wasn't his concern.

Letting out a soft gasp while they tore off part of their attire in order to wrap their injured limb, they still seemed to be laughing. "Thanks."

"For the gunshot wound?" the white-haired male tried to clarify. He didn't take them to be such an open masochist.

Yet, his question only spurred a flurry of coughing and chuckles. "Of course not! I meant, thank you for not attacking me further. Really thought you'd kill me here and now, but you're letting me treat my wounds without interference. Is it because you have orders not to kill me?" Adding with a terribly comedic bite of their lip, they said, "Or have you been seduced by my charm?"

Once he made it perfectly clear that he'd shoot again, they backed off on the teasing remarks and requested that he help them up. "To walk," they'd clarified. "I can't walk, y'know. How do you plan on getting me back to your base?"

"I'll drag you by your hair if I need to," he replied.

(He had to hijack a car because there was no way he'd drag a body across the city, especially not a body as talkative as this one.)

"So you're telling me," they pondered while blindfolded and cuffed in the back of the vehicle, "that you're blind, yet you have highlights? They're pretty, I'll give you that, but why did you colour it? Midlife crisis? Doesn't sound right to me, plus you can't even see the colour so why on earth would you do it? Are you responding to me? I can't hear anything with this blindfold over my ears. Aren't blindfolds supposed to obstruct your vision, not your hearing? Man, but maybe I can hear perfectly fine and it's all your fault because you're not answering me. C'mon, Saigay, humor me!"

Of course, he had no intentions of humoring them.

"You're lucky I didn't gag you," he said. "Or cut off your tongue. In fact, knocking you unconscious would've been a splendid idea."

"But you didn't!" the ex-criminal beamed. "Besides, I'm going to get beat up enough once you deliver me back to [c /o/n]. If you ask them to let you watch and/or participate, they won't say no, I think. Pops isn't too strict when it comes to those things."

"Pops?"

"Y'know, the head of [c /o/n]. He's my dad's close friend and the brother in law of your boss."

That explained a lot of things, starting with this seemingly innocent person's involvement with such dark themes. Yet, there was still something Jouno needed to know.

"And you betrayed your own family friend?" asked the blind man, quickly approaching the location of the building in which he was given rendezvous for the drop-off of the traitor.

"Ahh, connections don't mean shit," they scoffed, waving around their tied hands as if to emphasize their point. "But I didn't betray them. I'd have to be an idiot.... No, not an idiot, whatever is worse than an idiot in order to steal money from a man who would've given me the cash if I asked him for it. So, no. I didn't steal anything. That's why I didn't run; I'm not guilty of anything, running would make it look like I am."

Jouno was interiorly perplexed. So they've got a decent brain behind all of that buttery personality, after all. But, there was just something about them that didn't fit with the narrative, something he couldn't wrap his head around.

"Why wait for me to tie you up?" he finally suggested aloud, hearing his own words formed allowing him to make more sense of his confusion. "Why not just waltz into the building? This makes you look both stupid and guilty."

A laugh burst from the backseat, the kind of laugh that makes you want to join in despite not fully understanding the reason behind it. It was however cut short, due to a sharp inhale of pain then a few curses murmured at their injuries.

"Maybe I am an idiot. Maybe I wanted to get caught. Who knows? Maybe this was all part of my master plan to lure you near Negishi Station so that I could use my all-powerful ability."

He spent a few seconds registering that last bit. Lure him out to Negishi so they could...

"BOOM!"

With a jolt, he nearly crashed the car; luckily, in time Jouno had realized that this was just a sound effect from the hostage, and not a real crash caused by an ability. They were, in fact, right next to Negishi, which made the whole thing a huge coincidence, but other than that, nothing occurred. They were still in the car, unharmed and untouched by any ability that he could detect.

Meanwhile, [l/n] was laughing their ass off.

"BWAHAHAH, you actually fell for it!!" they managed between heaving breaths and uncontrollable laughter. "I knew that since you were blind you would be sensitive to loud noises but that worked so much better than I thought it would, you should've seen your face! You were all like," then they proceeded to make a plethora of faces he couldn't see, but that he knew were all mocking him.

[l/n] continued, "By the way, just because I haven't used it doesn't mean I don't have an ability. So watch out for your ass, pretty boy, or else I might just... BAM!"

He did not flinch this time, but he found himself rather frustrated with his previous reaction. People, normal people, never teased him this way. He'd have thought [l/n] would be a bit less friendly around him after sustaining the injuries, but so far, that appeared only to drive them towards a playful alternative to revenge on par with a snowball fight between two children.

"I'll tell you what," concluded the hysterical individual attempting to calm themselves down, "let's do this again, same time tomorrow? Muah, it was lovely meeting you Saigay!!"

Before he could protest or question this, they waved around their somehow uncuffed hands, reached for the handle of the car door, pushed it open and leaped out.

He found himself standing at the entrance of the bar the very next day.

It was beyond frustrating to pick up the pieces of yesterday's aftermath; based on his recollection and the most probable situation, [l/n] likely used the loud noises not only to ruffle and distract him, but to cover up for the sound of the click of their handcuffs being taken off, courtesy of a pin they had picked the lock with. On top of this, their haphazardous mention of Negishi station was just a way of situating themselves in space (since they had been blindfolded) so they could think of the safest escape route.

He quite frankly did not expect to be outsmarted by someone who can't even remember his name right. Yet, the fact remained that he was strolling up to the entrance of the same place as he'd previously apprehended them at, same hour of the day. He rather hated the sunset; nothing felt right for him. Not the consistent buzzing of the cicadas during the day nor the melodic trilling of the crickets; dusk never held a sustainable aura, and for this reason he'd grown to loathe it, despite being told repeatedly that the setting sun was beautiful.

Rushing curtly inside the building, the bells connected to the door jingled, and, almost on cue, a loud cheer roused him from his lucid trance.

"Saigay!! Over here, over here! Can't say I expected you to show up, but I'm pleasantly surprised!" gleamed [l/n] upon his arrival.

"It's Saigiku," he repeated for an umpteenth time, "and I'm here to turn you in."

They shook their head. "I'd have hoped you'd realized that I don't take to being kidnapped. But I do appreciate the perseverance, so I'll make a deal; have a drink with me, then I'll cooperate for an entire 5 minutes without trying to escape."

"...You truly are an odd person," said he, despite taking a seat by their side and waiting. He didn't know what trick they had up their sleeve (rather, their cast. Turns out, they'd gone to a private medical professional in order to have it looked at. He smiled when he noticed this; a sure sign that victory was much more likely tonight.)

"I'll take that as a compliment!" [l/n] laughed heartily, then called for the waiter. "One [favorite drink] for me, and he'll have a cup of whiskey. The good type, y'know what I mean, darling?"

The waiter raised a brow at the nickname and odd hint, but took the order anyways and began preparation. Meanwhile, Jouno sat, trying to protest that he did not want anything to drink, but was quickly cut off by his temporary enemy's much louder affirmations that he did indeed want some.

"You don't look like the type to be trying out sobriety," they hummed, "but I know if I let you chose for yourself, you wouldn't get anything. You'd be all," (and here their voice deepened and became gruff in an attempt to make it clear that they were looking to mock him,) "'I'm here to kill you! I'm a mass murderer so fear me!!' Am I right or am I right?"

Before he could respond, the fingers on their uninjured hand began to flick his dangling earring, on the right side of his face.

"You have an earring," they pointed out, almost stupidly. "Why don't you have one on the other side?"

He wasn't going to respond to any of this. In fact, he was toying with the knife in his pocket, gauging the right moment to strike with such an unpredictable opponent.

"Because I don't," he said dully. The waiter came, their glasses clinking with the ice inside as it toyed around in the liquid, gently being placed onto the counter.

"Fair enough," they smiled. "Okay sooooooo, wha'd'ya wanna talk 'bout? Gimme anything, I hate silence."

That made two of them.

"What is your ability?" he said rather bluntly, with a soft hum. He was in an optimal position to strike, only a few centimeters away, but he thought better than to attack without knowing such an important piece of information. Besides, with the way the conversation was going, they seemed to be eager to tell him the truth, for whatever reason, so he wouldn't lose anything to try.

After taking a long sip from their drink, they paused. "Nothing, I don't have one. You?"

The cautious man pressed further. "I find it hard to believe you haven't an ability in such a dangerous environment."

With a chuckle, they took another gulp from the glass. Then, turning to him with a relaxed heartbeat, they said very calmly and slowly, "I don't believe in needless deceit. Unlike you, Mr. Hide-my-knife-in-my-pocket-that-I'm-going-to-stab-you-with, I don't play dirty. So, when I say that I don't have an ability, don't be so surprised, yeah? The majority of people don't. I supposed when you're gifted, you don't quite try to sympathize with those unlike you."

So, they're aware of the weapon, yet made no move to dodge? Perhaps he's overthinking this, after all there are many people who seem invincible just because one doesn't act based on rational decisions, but based on their feelings. He should know, he spends most of his free time toying with said emotions and tearing them apart.

In one swift movement, he let his knife slide back down his pocket and removed both hands from the shadows.

"You sound genuine," he said, almost to himself.

"Well, I sure hope so," they laughed, despite nothing particularly funny being said. "I am being genuine, after all. You'll be able to bring me in and tie me up properly in a little while, so I'm going to enjoy the now while I still can, that's my philosophy!"

"Your philosophy is to drink something before you get kidnapped instead of trying to escape?" he repeated, incredulous. Perhaps their drink was laced with something, some kind of drug that drags your mood to a high. Even if he smelled no trace of anything other than [favorite drink], he concluded that this was the only reasonable explanation to this indecipherable human being.

Doubling over with a violent wheeze, they were (yet again) laughing at his words. They babbled a few words between gasps for breath, such as, "Didn't know you had a sense of humour!" and "Please, I can't breathe!" like he'd been a world renowned comedian. He almost felt the urge to clarify that he was attempting to degrade them, to criticize them and point out their stupidity, but one does not simply explain themselves when insulting another. Typically, their words transmitted the message well enough, but this was far from a typical recipient.

Finally recovering, they put on a mock angry face and waved around their finger. "You fiend, take it easy, I'm injured! At this rate, you'll make me pop my lungs out, ahah! Is that your master plan? To incapacitate me verbally? Bravo, I didn't expect that!"

"I wasn't..." he said, trailing off as he was thoroughly perplexed. What does one say in his situation? At this rate, his biggest concern was their oddities, not their capture.

On second thought, he nearly forgot that he was here to capture them.

"That's the beauty of it," they exclaimed, waving around their drink and spilling a considerable amount on his shirt accidentally with the grand gesture. "Unintentional torture! Wow, you must be even better than what I've heard about you, Saigay."

Not even bothering to correct them, he said, "And what exactly have you heard of me?"

"One, that you're very attractive. Two, you're ruthless when it comes to sadism. Three, you have exceptional intellect and four, you can hear heartbeats. Is that last one true? Wouldn't that make you a living polygraph?"

He was, but also wasn't, listening. The first thing they'd mentioned was his attractiveness, likely physical, but what an odd thing to point out, that is! Fighting down the odd feeling blooming in his chest with success, he finally mustered a response; an affirmation.

"That must be your ability," they pondered. "Isn't it? You'd be too strong if you had something else on top of this."

With a grin, Jouno explained, "It is not."

A melodramatic gasp could be heard echoing throughout the mostly empty room. "It isn't?? Gah, I must've been astronomically lucky to have escaped you last time!"

He'd've agreed had he not been promptly cut off by a rush of guesses regarding his ability. Most were way off, a select few absurd, and the entirety of them wrong. He felt his face contort into that of a confused expression when they suggested that he might be able to listen to people through walls, drawing an example by explaining that he might, and here the words were engraved into his mind, "listen in on people while they went to the bathroom, thus deducing whether their digestion was going well." Somehow, this had become a conversation in which they recounted the vivid tale of their daunting task of finding a bathroom once when they'd been in a 'foreign environment' - also known as the downtown region of the neighboring city during a negotiation.

All done and said, they'd contented themselves with a fairly one sided discussion, and he sipped down the Japanese whiskey he'd been handed. Upon noticing this, [l/n] stuck out both of their wrists as best as they could, pressed near one another as if pleading.

"Well, a deal's a deal! Take me away, Saigay! Ah! That rhymes! Maybe I should become a poet!" they giggled.

Jouno considered this for a long time, the topic that was on his mind ever since his arrival. The previous day, he'd told his boss that [l/n] couldn't be found, and that he must've made a mistake when saying that the doppelganger was a fake. This, of course, was untrue, but it also gave him leeway in case he found himself up against a formidable opponent. All of this meant that, if he did not turn [l/n] in to [c /o/n], he himself would not lose anything.

It wasn't sympathy, he told himself, that led him to get up and walk away as they left their arms extended. No, it was just an avoidance of unnecessary effort. If he walked away now, he would save himself the hassle of detaining them, all the while giving this person a second chance. Who knows, perhaps they'd be useful to him in the future.

Jouno had not expected to be called by the lower ranking members of his organization early in the morning. What he had expected was to go to his office; not being told that there was a "package" waiting for him at the base.

He hadn't a clue what this package was. His first instinct was that it was a weapon of sorts, a bomb, anything that did damage. Although, it could very well also be a traitor who had been tied up and sent to him as a peace offering. The more he thought about it, the happier he was as he approached the location in which he was expected.

"J-Jouno-sama!" exclaimed one of the nervous underlings - a kid, really - holding a...

...A dog?

It barked at him, growling and struggling in the grasp of the two kids tasked with holding it down.

"What is this, a prank?" Jouno hissed, ready to make them pay before he even got the entire story.

One of them audibly gulped as their blood drained from their face, while the other stuttered an explanation. "N-No! We f-found this dog attached w-with a leash right in front of the building, and there was this attached to its collar," they said as they handed the executive a wrinkled piece of paper which, upon further inspection, turned out to hold an uncanny resemblance to a napkin from a nearby fast food place.

On it, there were an assortment of dots which were ink being pressed hard onto the fabric. Braille, he concluded. This person seemed not only to have specifically destined this to him, but desired to keep the contents for him only, rather than have someone read it for him.

On it, he managed to decipher the following:

'Dear Saigay, Thanks for not trying to kill me!! I'm certain you're just a big softie heheh. The doc told me I shouldn't be moving around too much after those wounds you gifted me, so now I'm kinda on house arrest lolol. Either way, I'd've loved to thank you personally but can't so I got you a present, its name is undecided yet BUTTTTTT they're a bitch just like you so I called them saigay jr. for the time being ♡ plus I figured you never had a guide dog, right?? So here you go! XD

p.s. you never told me what kind of drink you liked. was I right about the whiskey? pls tell me!! i'll recover properly then find you, so you better have an answer by then >:( p.p.s. heheh peepee s p.p.p.s. you still haven't told me why your hair is dyed p.p.p.p.s. SAIGAY JR HAS YOUR MISSING EARRING BTW!!'

What on earth-

He certainly was no longer angry at this weird dog, but at the owner.

What made it worse was that the two kids had finally gotten over their fear of him and started calming down the dog (which he was not going to called Saigay Jr., much less Saigiku Jr.), noticing the earring; it was only a clip on that was obviously made up of cardboard clippings and poorly colored insides, as well as engravings that he could physically feel and recognize, but the resemblance to his own was noticeable. He wondered if this was an insult from [l/n] disguised as a present, but decided that there were too many exclamation marks for this to be anything resembling a threat. Not to mention the "XD".

Now, he had to figure out the dog. It's too much noise and too much effort, besides he doesn't like dogs all that much. He supposed he'll just have to snatch off that wretched earring and dispose of it before anyone makes the link and this haunts him, then kick it out. Surely it'll wander back off to its home or whatever. None of what followed would be his concern.

"Jouno s-sama, what should we do with the dog?" uneasily asked the kid. He shook his head, snatched the makeshift earring in one fell swoop and crumbled it into a ball in his hand.

"Take it outside, it isn't mine and I don't care about it. This was just a prank from someone I know."

With this, Saigay Jr. was released back onto the street, the collar still coated with braille dots that spell out its name.

Once work was done, he decided to go for a walk, for some fresh air. However, Jouno was not expecting to hear panting coming from his side.

Saigay Jr. barked at him, happily wagging their tail and bouncing on their paws.

"What is wrong with you," he swore under his breath, then made his tone much vocal. "Go away! I don't want you here!"

None of this, obviously, got across to the dog, who was still following him closely.

"I said go away!" he yelled, a bit louder but also significantly harsher. "Stupid bitch."

It somehow reacted differently, barking much more avidly and skipping over to him with apparent excitement.

At this rate, he'd never get rid of the dog. He contemplated calling the pound and having someone take them in, but knew that this was likely an unnecessary step to take. Regardless, he'd have to get rid of it soon. All this barking is going to make him dizzy soon.

The sounds subsided as it transitioned from growling to a soft whine, choosing to lay down. It was then that he noticed a certain odor that he hadn't paid attention to before.

...Blood?

He almost could've sworn the dog was injured.

Jouno decided that it was not his concern and left it there, on the street, alone.

The dog was certainly a stubborn little thing, as it was there when he came to work the next day.

He took out his gun, shot it in the air (loud noises hurt him a lot, but he knew the same applied to the animal) and hummed contently as it scurried off out of fear, out of his life.

Saigay Jr. came back the very next day.

"Oh, will you fuck off already?" he groaned, taking out his gun yet again to fire a warning shot. Of course, he wasn't going to actually kill the beast, but he was reaching a point where he was very well considering it.

He stopped himself as he heard it whine, then lower itself to the ground, almost bowing to him in a human fashion.

"I'm not keeping you. [l/n] should've just left you in the dump where they found you," he said, realizing that he was talking to a literal dog.

He reached his hand out with a sigh, and began to pet it. This clearly made the dog calm down significantly, as it was finally getting recognition from the one it believed to be its owner, and so it didn't noticed as he curled his fingers around the leash, detached the ends of the collar then used it to attach the canine to a post.

As soon as it realized its situation, it began to growl, barking aggressively at him, then pouting and almost seeming like it was about to cry. Jouno didn't care, however, as he took out his burner phone and dialed animal patrol.

Somehow, by some un-abiding law of the universe, Saigay Jr. was there, sitting happily, waiting for him outside of the building in which he operated.

Its leg and arm seemed to be getting better, he could tell, which made it likely that it wouldn't stop coming back to annoy him.

"It's like a miniature [l/n]," he laughed to himself.

Over time, he'd almost began to enjoy his daily encounters with the animal. He found it almost enjoyable to pet and ruffle its soft fur, eliciting the pleasant reaction of a calm dog.

Today, he decided, he would stop pushing it away. It's Houdini, this mynx, a Houdini who refused to disappear and could get out of any trap he laid for it.

"First off," he crouched down, stroking its ear, "ground rules. You are not my dog. I'm doing this to see if it'll get rid of you once you get bored with me. Got it?"

Ears drooping, Saigay Jr. seemed to be saying, "aww, but I wanted to be your dog!", to which Jouno replied with a look that said, "Don't make me get up and leave."

"Second rule, keep your piss and shit away from me, I'm not touching or smelling any of that. Third, you do as I tell you to. Understood?"

He wasn't expecting the dog to nod, but would've liked seeing it react other than burrowing its head further into the palm of his hand. Reluctantly, Jouno didn't resist, and sat there entertaining its need for physical touch for a few moments before springing to his feet.

"I'm going home. You are not allowed in my house," he warned, turning around.

Saigay Jr. followed him home anyways.

Somehow, as the day turned into night, he found himself helpless when it comes to resistance against this dog. It was thankfully very unproblematic, not making much of a mess when they arrived to the apartment which he lived in (it wasn't his, evidently. The criminal organization he worked for simply scared off all the tenants and let their members live there, unofficially.) He gestured to a corner for it to stay while he settled down, and stuck there for as long as he told it to.

As he took care of his own affairs, the time to rest finally came, and the dog didn't appear to have any plans to depart from its new best friend.

"Leave," he repeated forcefully, pointing to the door left ajar for it to crawl outside. "I said leave."

The message seemed to be getting across, as Saigay Jr. finally began to trek towards the entrance.

Then, it used its snout to shut the door, returning promptly and sitting down in front of him, waiting for some kind of reward.

"I'd really wish you'd die right now," he threw a hand on his face, tilting it upwards to display his frustration. "Fine. Let's play this the hard way."

He walked outside his apartment, knowing that the dog would follow, and shut the door behind them both. With a smirk, he activated his ability, disintegrating into the smallest specks and re-entering the room while sifting through the openings on the side of the door.

This way, he was back inside while the animal was whining from the outside, scratching occasionally to ask him to let them back in.

"Absolutely not," he laughed proudly, tossing himself into bed, trying to will himself to fall asleep before he'd begin to feel guilt about leaving the diligent and loyal gift from [l/n] outside.

A click, a creak and a shuffle later, and he heard a very clear panting noise.

Saigay Jr. had somehow managed to get inside.

"Fuck, you know what? I don't care anymore," groaned the tired man. "I give up. You win."

As he let himself doze off, the dog had crawled up onto the bed and softly laid its head on his chest, breathing steadily.

Jouno wouldn't admit that the sound and feeling was a nice change to his norm.

At this point, Jouno had practically adopted Saigay Jr.

He didn't hear anything from [l/n], which he found odd since it had been over 6 months since he'd last seen them. He knew that he shouldn't be thinking about them; he'd only known the peculiar individual for a grand total of about 3 encounters, one of which he hadn't even interacted with them and the other two being attempted kidnapping and murder. The white-haired man knew that the only reason their image stuck in his head was due to this dog, this constant reminder of them, on top of their boisterous personality that he could've swore made him look at people like him (who had little to no personality, all business and no fun, as they might've said) differently.

The dog was a weird new addition to his life as well. He'd never seen it eat nor require to be walked. In fact, their relationship had gotten to the point where he was becoming more and more eager to be in its company; he woke up with Saigay Jr. (whose name he couldn't bring himself to change nor get out of his head), the both of them walked to his work, and then when he was done with his daily torturing, the loyal animal was waiting for him at the door of his apartment. He occasionally let it sleep in his bed, but mostly it found a small corner on the couch where both of them seemed content. It was a particularly odd situation; Jouno did not like pets. In fact, he didn't like people, so why would he expose himself to this small, fluffy thing for daily companionship? He didn't know, but found that there was no need to question a mutually beneficial situation.

Today, however, something odd had happened.

Saigay Jr. was not waiting in front of his door when he got back, covered in the heavy smell of blood for today's session was especially... artistic.

"Junior?" he found himself calling out, a name he never had the need to say out loud due to their chemistry. Yet, there seemed to be no movement nearby.

Weird, he thought, but there's no need to make a big deal out of this. The animal probably had to attend to its animal business, or whatever. Maybe the meeting that they always attend while he's at work was running late, he humored himself.

A few hours later, and nothing happened, no one showed up scratching at his front door or barking at it. He'd told himself that he was going to keep going on with his day as if nothing happened, but sleep was difficult to find because of the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

It was then that he heard a knock at his door.

Not a scratch, but a knock.

He grabbed the firearm from the drawer next to his bed, and greeted the guest with a smile as he unlocked the door cautiously.

"Saigay!!"

He couldn't believe it; [l/n] was standing at his door.

"Sorry, sorry, I know this is sudden but at least be glad you were wearing pants when I knocked on the door," they spoke casually, letting themselves into his apartment and spreading themselves on the couch like they'd been living there for a while, in a particularly odd way that eerily resembled that of his dog, "but I was running late since my dad was telling me that I should come clean about this whole thing and bla bla, y'know that old man wisdom? You seem like you know what old geezers think. Anyways, Dad was givin' me the lecture and whatnot, so I told him that since I was mostly recovered, I might as well come and say hi without barking."

"Without... barking?"

He squinted his eyes even further as he tried to make sense of this.

"So you didn't gift me a dog, you..."

"Were the dog? Yup! The name's actually Soseki [y/n], and I've been a spy at [c /o/n] for about a year or two, can't remember too well since my time was cut short by a certain injury some pretty asshole gave me. Annoying, ain't it? I hate getting shot at. Being a dog is so much easier."

"You lied," he said, trying not to panic from the fact that he had been sharing his life for quite some time with another person in disguise, "when you said you didn't have an ability."

"Of course! Isn't that what everyone does? People lie tons, like when you told 'Saigay Jr.' that you didn't have a ticklish spot, only for me to find out that you have sensitive ears and chest. Very ticklish, especially when you think no one is watching."

He felt the blood rushing to his face while he swallowed dryly. What else had he done accidentally in all that time? He couldn't possibly have kept track of everything.

"Aw, he blushes," they laughed, tapping his nose before he could recover. "Relax, I'm not out to get you. I thought you were interesting and cute when you kidnapped me, so I thought I'd put you to the test for a bit while I recovered from my injuries. Okay, not so much a test, per se, but I wanted to hang out with you. I had a feeling you were lonely, and I was right!"

Heartbroken wasn't the right word to describe how he felt; what was running through his mind was a hellish mixture of embarrassment and fear of vulnerability. It's the sensation one feels when one is deceived and looks back on it, wondering how they could've been so foolish. He should've known, he kept telling himself.

"I get that you probably feel humiliated. Dad says that most people do, so I've just gotta smile and remind them that I've got a terrible memory," they laughed, reading his mind. "Maybe once you get over it you'll come to realize that I wasn't lying about wanting your friendship."

With a timid smile, nothing like what their usual bubbly personality would typically make, they bowed gently to him, seemed to consider leaning in to hug him, then decided that this all would be too much at once.

[y/n] left, hesitantly adding, "Same place... tomorrow?"

Why had Jouno showed up at the bar where they had originally been introduced, all those months ago, when he'd been so foolishly deceived?

Perhaps it was as he kept repeating in his head, that he was there to pick up the pieces of his torn dignity. Or maybe it was to finally kill them and receive the reward on their head.

Or was it to accept their offer?

He reassured himself that he couldn't possibly, that people were terrible and he couldn't let himself get soft with this one or else he'd become mushy and weak. He wasn't sure what terrified him so much about that idea, but he didn't even consider it as an option.

As always, the bells jingled as he entered, but there was no shout of his mispronounced name.

Nevertheless, he took a seat at the counter, ordering the whiskey not because he wanted some, but because he subconsciously attributed it to this location and time, despite not having an overwhelming number of memories here. He supposed that certain memories can be short but impact you more than you could ever fathom.

Even while he waited, he'd began to feel the pit of his stomach drop, like he had a cavity in his chest in place of a soul. Jouno hadn't realized up until now how accustomed he'd grown to a persistent joyful presence in his life, be it [y/n] under human or canine form.

The waiter returned, placing his order against the counter, and murmuring in a melodic voice, "I didn't expect you to come."

He didn't have to glance upwards to know it was [y/n], and so kept his gaze downcast.

"I'd say I'm sorry but I don't quite see anything to apologize for," they said, taking a sip out of his drink, lips lingering at the rim of the glass. "I had a lot of fun in the past few months, haven't you? My approach might've been a bit cruel, but think of it as Karma for shooting me, twice. This way, we're even! Wha'd'ya say? We good?"

Jouno's mouth betrayed him as he snatched the cup from them, chugged it all down at once, then said, "yeah, why not?"

Immediately, their heart rate sped up from excitement, and they leapt across the counter to trap him in a bear hug. Trying to resist but knowing there was no point, he eventually melted into their embrace.

Pulling away, they giddily babbled, "Okay, so now that you've forgiven me, I feel like it's a great time to mention that I've seen you strip multiple times and I would've told you that it was weird to change your clothes in front of a dog but I didn't know how to tell you or look away without acting weird so I just went with it and I feel like maybe I should compliment your stellar abs while I'm rambling like this but complimenting you will probably not do much good so how about I just offer you another drink and we forget this whole thing?"

Jouno cursed under his breath, nearly chuckling but not quite, realizing that they were right. "Fuck, what else did I do?"

"Well, I've got to tell you that your snoring is adorable, but you roll a lot in your sleep and that, mister, is something we need to take care of."

For the first time since he could remember, Jouno laughed a genuine laugh, not laced with malice or sugarcoated, as he listened to [y/n] vividly recounting their numerous embarrassing tales of him, only to be teased back for their dog habits like the panting and tail wagging. He'd've thought that the drinks were making him loose, but [y/n] had actually told the waiter to give them both multiple shots of apple juice.

As the night progressed, Jouno slowly found out that he'd opened himself up a lot more than he was comfortable admitting. Yet, this made him both want to retreat and lock [y/n] out of his life and invite them into his daily rituals, to never let them go. On the other hand, [y/n] had always found him to be a wonderful person, and only became further entranced as they watched him operate on a daily basis.

Somehow, Sweet fell in love with Sour, and Sour fell in love with Sweet.

Another set of months later, Jouno returned from a particular mission given to him in the middle of the night, exhausted, ready to do nothing expect collapse onto the bed and sleep.

He was practically dragging his feet as he approached the door of his apartment, inserted the keys lazily and opened it. As always, his partner called out for him.

"Sai!" they said, skipping up to the door and noticing his beat up expression. "Damn, what did they force you to do this time?"

He shook his head before burying it into the crook of their neck and letting his hands dangle by their side. "The guy I had to interrogate was an opera singer, lungs of fucking steel." Strands of his hair were brushing by their skin, and his lips were murmuring against the warmth. "He wouldn't stop screaming my ears off, even with the gag."

Unable to contain their laughter, they poorly comforted him with a rub on the back while shaking from giggles. "My poor baby, today hasn't been your day, has it?"

Almost like handling an infant, they snuck their arms under his own and half-carried him to the bedroom. Getting in with him and tenderly placing a kiss on his cheek, [y/n] traced out random features on his face with their fingertip, hoping to soothe his body with touch.

"You smell terribly by the way," they said sarcastically in a deep sultry voice. "Do I kick you out to sleep on the couch or are you gonna take a shower? I can smell the blood on you, darling."

Half-asleep already, he slurred a, "Tomorrow...", followed by, "It's not my fault you've got the nose of a dog."

"You aren't any better," [y/n] teased, rolling over on top of him and kissing his sensitive lips with the delicacy of a flower blooming in spring snow.

"Just... let me sleep," he groaned, waving them away like a fly, only to have his hand caught by their own.

"Mnn, fine," murmured the [h/c] haired individual, gazing at him softly with heavy eyelids, as mesmerized with him as always. "Want something fluffy to snuggle into?"

"No, stay the way you are."

With another kiss that lasted a bit longer and in which Jouno participated weakly, [y/n] rolled back and cradled his head, bringing it onto their chest.

"'Night, [y/n]," he managed to say, shifting himself so that he was curled up against their figure. After a brief pause, he shuffled himself again under the covers, resting his head on their body. With their chest steadily rising and falling in sync with their consistent breathing, he found that he slept so much better.

They smiled gently.

"Goodnight, Saigiku."

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #saigiku jouno #jouno saigiku #bsd jouno #jouno bsd #jouno x reader #bsd x reader #jouno bsd x reader #jouno saigiku x reader #jouno x reader bsd

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gunsandspaceships · 9 months ago

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How do you watch movies?

Ok, let’s get back to my specialty – the sad stuff.

My ex-boyfriend used to watch them like this: he could turn on the TV and watch a scene from the middle of a movie. Later, he might come across the same movie and watch the end of it. After that, he could decide to watch the whole movie from the beginning, watch half an hour, and decide that he had already seen the whole thing. What could he understand there?

There seem to be a lot of people doing something similar. Perhaps they saw something but completely missed the point.

Yesterday I stumbled upon an anti-Tony post here, on Tumblr, where its author didn’t notice the whole antagonist of the first Iron Man movie. The author states about Tony “He created and built and sold weapons to both the US government and its enemies (Let us also bring attention to the blatant islamophobia and the Pro US imperialist propaganda in these movies), making him a war criminal and guilty of treason”.

I’ll write about “the blatant islamophobia and the Pro US imperialist propaganda in these movies” in a separate post. The author missed the point of the entire Iron Man trilogy, so it looks like there's a lot to talk about.

But now I introduce to you Obadiah Stane, also known as Iron Monger. The villain of the Iron Man (2008).

This is the guy who sold weapons to “US enemies” on the black market. Including the terrorist group The Ten Rings, hired to kill Tony, whose business ethics were mentioned in the same movie, and were also a nuisance to Stane’s business.

Tony was never a war criminal and never sold anything to “bad guys”.

Knowing nothing about the character, having missed everything he did and everything that happened to him, the author says such dirty things about him and accuses him of what he did not do, which is directly stated in the original sources.

If Tony were a real person, or the author were a fictional character “living” in the MCU, these statements could be regarded as slander against him, which actually would make the author of the post a criminal.

P.S. I just found out that the OP was deleted. What a shame. Well, perhaps the author finally found time to watch the movie.

#tony stark #iron man #mcu #marvel #avengers age of ultron #obadiah stane #defamation

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wilcze-kudly · 3 months ago

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I read about your "Avatar Bolin AU" and I got curious. And what would the end of season 3 and the whole season 4 be like? (+2 season, if you want, although Bolin would really not trust Unalaq-) Is Bolin still poisoned? Who is working for Kuvira now? By the way, I really liked your idea and the idea of "Someone is the Avatar, and Korra is not"

Huh that's actually very interesting. I think B3 would still go similarly, though I'm also 50/50 if Zaheer could even carry Bolin's beefy boy ass like he did with Korra.

I feel like our short king would struggle lmao

Though if we really wanna divert from canon, I can see Bolin being more receptive to Zaheer's rethoric due to having seen what the Earth Queen's rule has done to his own family and also because of his own upbringing disillusioning him towards governments and law enforcement, since republic city officilas apparently did fuck all about the many orphans.

It could provide some interesting drama between Bolin and Mako who probably might make a bond with Lin. Not sure if Mako would become a detective in this AU, probably feeling a lot of need to protect his brother.

Also the conversation between Zaheer and Bolin would be so funny.

Zaheer: we want to help the common people by removing leaders from power

Bolin: ok. Yay ❤️

Zaheer:*whispering to P'Li* what do I do now

I would also like to still see Bolin and Ghazan have that weird bantery mentor/student thing and maybe even expand on it.

LET THEM BE HOMIES LET GHAZAN BE BOLIN'S COOL WEIRD CRIMINAL UNCLE IT'S ALL I ASK

So I could see the Red Lotus storyline going completely differently depending on how much the Red Lotus would change their approach to Bolin. Since I'm not even sure they got arrested in this AU bcs in canon they were captured during their attempt at kidnapping Korra. So they might be mildly saner in this AU lol, or at least be more understanding of Bolin since it's not like he ever "had a chance" to join them.

It would also be an interesting look into them and how dedicated they are to their ideology. Since they wanted to kill the Avatar in order to stop the Avatar Cycle but Bolin being an Avatar more open to their ideas might cause them to think more about this. Maybe they'd even be divided with, for example, Zaheer trying to continue the mission of poisoning Bo, while maybe Ghazan would feel more conflicted and perhaps even consider other options.

So perhaps Bolin still gets poisoned but this time Ghazan (and maybe Ming-Hua, depending on who she sides with) would try and help him.

I imagine Bolin would still need a lot of time, just like Korra, to recover and he would be in the South Pole a lot. I imagine Mako would be with him, as his brother. So would Korra, whom I imagine as Katara's apprentice in this AU. I would love to imagine some Katara and Bolin interactions bcs I think that they're actual pretty similar in many aspects.

Katara and Bolin paralleling each other

Discussion of Mako and Sokka's similarities vs Bolin and Katara's similarities.

Long ass post on these two pairs of siblings

I think Bolin would be more willing to accept other people's help than Korra, so he could recover emotionally more quickly, bit I think he'd still be very wary and more insecure in himself. Maybe he'd really fall wayyy to deep into his coping mechanism and rely on people directing him even more than usual and the plot of B4 is him finally becoming more independent.

I actually find Asami working with Kuvira very interesting. I don't think she'd work directly under Kuvira, but she could be sort of a business partner, supplying weapons and mechas to the Earth Empire. And then having a crisis when those weapons are eventually used against Repuvlic City because she should rethink being a war profiteer tbh.

I also think it would be interesting to see Bolin interact with Kuvira in an AU where she hasn't been manipulating him for years. Since he has a more personal connection to the Earth Kingdom than Korra. Also, since I want Wei to be Bolin's romantic interest in this AU (bcs I'm me), I think this would provide an interesting extra layer of drama lol. Let Wei radicalise Bolin against Kuvira it's the right thing to do.

I honestly really like this AU bcs Bolin would be a fascinating Avatar due to his past.

And I love Korra as the avatar but girlie deserves a break lol.

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zalrb · 5 months ago

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i am so so sorry if you have been asked this before but i have some trouble finding posts. but could you please shed some light on your thoughts on a good villain origin story, what makes a redemption arc compelling and what I'm most curious about : what a good morally grey character looks like?

OK, sure. So, for a morally grey character, actual complexity is something that is necessary. A go-to character for me would be Juan in Moonlight.

Juan [is] a man who loves Little

he’s the first person (and perhaps the only person) to tell Little/Chiron/Black it’s OK to be gay,

he gives Little a safe space

and he’s also a dealer who sells his mother drugs,

causing dysfunction in Little’s life, feeding one of the reasons why Little needs a safe space away from home at all

So, Juan is a morally grey character because he is not simply "bad" or the "villain", he clearly has true affection for Little and does what he can to provide him what he needs, but he is also not simply "good" considering that his vocation is one that directly destroys Little's family and most likely other families in the community, and though the movie never gets into Juan's backstory, we can infer that he's not simply a drug dealer out of greed, he is doing what he needs to do to survive but at what cost? The types of questions his character and his role generate are what make him a good morally grey character.

Or so many of the characters in Mad Men who make choices that can be understandable with context but aren't wholly moral or right.

In terms of a good villain origin story, for me

This is an odd example because I thought the origin story for the villainy was understandable/good but hated the kind of villain ths character becomes after the origin story because it was so unnecessary, but in Spartacus, there's Tiberius.

When we first meet Tiberius, he's gentle, not much of a fighter, and he has this intense bond with his friend Sabinus, which was strange because they never made them lovers even though Spartacus did not shy away from mlm/wlw ships at all, and yet they clearly weren't platonic either, anyway, they have a really strong bond

and Tiberius' father, Crassus, who was in charge of the army meant to crush Spartacus' rebellion realized that his army was too weak, his son was too weak because they retreated during a battle rather than stood their ground and fight so he decides that in order to win the war, his army has to be more afraid of him and the consequences that he will bestow on them than Spartacus so he implements decimation where the army was split into different groups, each of them had to draw from lots and whoever drew a stone would be beaten to death by the other men in his group, and he sends his son to be a part of it, which is already traumatic

but then during decimation, Sabinus is the one who must be beaten to death

and Tiberius has to lead the charge

and I believe does the final blow killing him

and at the end, he goes to his father and is like,

and he holds onto that day throughout the rest of the season and carries the stone with him

and after decimation, he's a monster, and like I said, while I don't like how they made him a monster, like the things that he did, I understood how that experience would make a villain because even though it's using "my friend/lover" died and "my dad was mean" tropes, it's not generic, the sheer brutality of what happened and his role in it has me like, yeah, that's a villain origin story.

In terms of what makes redemption arcs compelling to me, for me, they're never really "villains", like Zuko in ATLA was an antagonist, there was never anything he did in the show that I didn't think he couldn't come back from, or they're, again, morally grey characters like Eleanor in TGP where the entire show is dedicated to her learning to be a better person

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sundanceritz · 7 months ago

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further elaboration on the tragedy of super dimension fortress macross and lynn minmay

watching macross for the first time and basically knowing what everyone said the themes of the whole franchise were (music and love as an alternative to the violence of war) i was, honestly, baffled - because i wasn't sure how the story i was watching could possibly lead to such an optimistic conclusion

for the majority of its runtime i think the original macross series hits mostly as a tragedy. to the point that the ending isn't really a reversal of this, but just a moment where the show happens to end

a LOT of macross is borrowed from ideon, which famously is a tragedy. so many plot points are copied directly - the militaristic alien race which is actually identical to humans as both spawn from the same ancient technology, the orphaned space colonists whose ship is shockingly barred from returning to earth, the baby whose existence proves the potential for a union between the races (with the same hair color even), the mecha accidentally overloading and instantly wiping out a whole city. they do share a major scriptwriter; the word "IDEON" also appears on a screen at one point

the character arcs, too, felt like tragedies, people pushed in opposite directions by circumstance and resigning to their fates. minmay herself tells hikaru, who is very anti-military, to join the military; hikaru joins the military, sees kakizaki die, and hangs up on minmay when she calls him because he is simply completely unable to relate to her anymore, despite having done everything for her. he went this direction out of love for minmay, but has a dream that suggests that, due to the experiences MINMAY pushed him towards, he is resigned to only be comfortable with a military woman like misa now - to which i can only respond so that's bad, right? so that's bad, right? it's bad that that happened to hikaru, right...?

but when i looked into how fandom talked about this, and how the rest of the franchise went ... it became clear that this was just seen as a "love triangle", and in fact one in which hikaru "ending up with" misa is the "favorable conclusion" to fans (and the writers apparently), instead of a tragedy involving all three characters as protagonists

but, again... the show is written as a tragedy like that. and so we have to talk about lynn minmay... perhaps it's robotech's influence here, but the idea that people see her as "immature" and a flawed character who has to grow up is kind of absolutely bonkers. yes, she's immature, but also, she was made the commodified celebrity idol of an entire isolated community at a young age and also - and this is key - is literally being groomed by her older cousin on-screen without any abstraction or it being played as alright or whatever

it is surreal to me that the reason people hate kaifun is because he is whiny about the military or "is a jerk" or something. what happens on screen is completely unambiguous. he is insidious and realistic in his actions. frankly it's a clear prototype for utena (in the post-timeskip eps he has the autonomy of Having A Car).

and then, also in the post-timeskip eps, he just ... drops minmay and disappears into history (until he does more scuzzy stuff in the liner notes to fire bomber american and then disappears again). she has been totally broken down over the last few years and now has nothing. so she goes to hikaru, the person she was almost close with once

and after a few eps of back and forth love triangle nonsense hikaru and misa are like well we're together now and you have to go build a life entirely on your own starting from zero. and she's like oh ok! and leaves. does she even have a house at this point?? i dont think so??? and then the show ends????

its such a random place to end for me. the show could've ended a few eps earlier or gone on for another few. hikaru "choosing" misa is not a meaningful statement at that point because he's gone back and forth between misa and minmay for many episodes at this point. also hikaru and misa could break up later anyway, it doesnt really feel like an ending to me

it felt like minmay had the roughest life ever and the narrative wasn't sure how to frame that by the end, despite being actually VERY critical of the idol industry up to that point (this is NOT a pro-idol show tbh)

i think if hideaki anno did Shin Macross he would make a version of this story that is actually about her

perhaps this sounds critical of the show. not really, i think most of it was perfect - when they try and do a space war fight but both sides are taking action to defuse the very concept of a gundam space war scene and the generals have no choice but to go okay i guess we're just not doing this anymore!, that was completely genius. and then time skipping shortly after that to show all the political and interpersonal issues resulting from the decisions that could've been an ending, we're back into the feelings of tragedy...

it's just, from the beginning i thought, how could this end up as Macross, the franchise i've heard of? and it basically didn't! it just ends. not on an ending that emphasizes the tragedy that is the whole narrative, but not on a happy ending either. and i think its because shoji kawamori is more of a "normal person" compared to tomino et al

#macross #sdf macross #super dimension fortress macross

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lilmackiereads · 2 years ago

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A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – SPOILER REVIEW

For my first official review, here is the fourth Hunger Games novel which I finished last week. A spoiler-free version of this review has already been posted on my blog if you prefer to read that.

My score chart: 0-5 stars

0 stars = Hate it/ Regret reading

1 star = Meh, not for me

2 stars = It was ok/ neutral

3 stars = Liked it

4 stars = Loved it

5 stars = One of my favorite books of all time!

Overall rating: 3 to 3.5 stars. I liked it, but it is my least favorite book of the series of four. I do recommend reading it though if you are a big fan of the Hunger Games trilogy, but if you are a casual fan then you can skip it. I would love for Collins to write two more books, one about the actual war while it was happening (at least 10 years before this story) as well as one that takes place between the end of Songbirds and Snakes and The Hunger Games. There is a whole six decades between these stories, so she has a lot of content to work with if she wants to.

Do you agree or disagree with my review? DM me for your take and your recommendations.

——

Detailed Review:

Plot = 3 stars

Part 1: The Mentor

Collins choosing to narrate the story from Coriolanus’s perspective was very refreshing to me. When reading the original series, I didn’t spend too much time considering what life would be like for Capitol innocents, such as children, who were affected by the war. The story he mentioned about being a child and seeing a neighborhood woman dying in the street and being eaten by a cannibal was such a wakeup call for me about what the Capitol experienced in the aftermath. I didn’t realize how much they were also starving since all of their food is grown in the Districts.

Having the story take place during the 10th Hunger Games was very exciting since I was very curious to see how they have developed over the years, especially since they would have been harder to enforce directly after the war. Lucy Gray’s Reaping moment was iconic; I can’t believe that she was daring enough to put a snake down the mayor’s daughter’s outfit! I can’t wait for it to play out on the movie screen.

Later, when Coriolanus sees how the tributes are bound and put into carnival train cars to be transported reminded me at how much the Capitol sees the tributes as animals. While Katniss and Peeta were still mistreated, at least they had a bullet train with gourmet food, luxury furniture, and air conditioning. On that note, keeping the 10th Games tributes in the zoo really hit the nail on the head for the lack of humanity. I was shocked when so many of the tributes died from starvation and exposure before the Games even started. I wasn’t sure if they would call for another Reaping to replace the tributes lost and that was making me anxious.

Another shock was when Arachne was killed by her District 10 tribute. How can I say this...? I was surprised, but not surprised. I wasn’t surprised at Arachne’s cruelty toward her tribute by taunting food in her face in front of the crowd and media, but I was surprised at how quickly the tribute was able to murder her, especially when surrounded by Peacekeepers. This (in a morbid way) is where the book drew me in. Another interesting touch was when the bombs went off in the arena before the Games during the Mentor and Tribute tour. This moment showed the Captiol that the District members meant business and actually helped the tributes by giving the arena more hiding spaces.

I feel wishy-washy about Coriolanus helping Lucy Gray cheat by giving her the idea to poison the other tributes with the makeup compact full of rat poison. Cheating can get her whole District in trouble and have had way worse repercussions than what he actually got as punishment in part 3. I really thought that they might kill Lucy Gray in public, even as a victor, to show the Districts that winning doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps this wouldn’t have worked and caused another revolt and maybe that’s why they just “punished” Coriolanus by not letting him go to University.

Part 2: The Prize

The relationship between Coriolanus and Sejanus was like a rollercoaster. I understood how Coriolanus felt about being afraid to put his family and future in danger, but at the same time, I think Sejanus was right about society as a whole. To be honest, I am definitely more like Coriolanus and would have put myself first, which sounds horrific, but... sorry not sorry. I think I would have been too much of a coward to be like Sejanus and would not have tried to martyr myself for Marcus or my former district. On that same track, Marcus’s death was brutal! Beheading is just a whole other level, but I do think that when the female tribute was whispering to him that she was asking for his permission to put him out of his misery and put herself ahead in the media’s eyes. I don’t think there was any malice in it.

I was soooo worried for Sejanus when he stormed out after Marcus’s death and even more afraid when he trespassed into the arena to bless his body. I despise the fact that Coriolanus only went in to save his own skin, not because he really cared about Sejanus, which is especially sad since Sejanus sees him as a brother. Coriolanus defending himself against Bobbin was a great nerve-wracking scene because even though I knew Coriolanus was going to survive, Sejanus might not, and Coriolanus could still be greatly wounded. If he had been permanently wounded, I don’t think that he would ever reveal it to others. I think that he would imagine that others would see these wounds as weaknesses (proving that he is not invincible) rather than strengths (that he was brave and survived a tragedy).

The fact that Lucy Gray won the Games was very predictable to me because she is a character foil and foreshadow toward Snow’s resentment (and respect) toward Katniss. However, I like that Lucy didn’t use physical combat to take out her competition, but rather used poison and mercy. The whole rabies aspect was spooky. It’s sad to think about how the Districts are not given adequate health care such as vaccines. I really hate her relationship with Coriolanus because he does not see her as an equal, but as property to be controlled and admired. She is just a trophy. A pretty songbird that he can put in a cage.

Oh, and side note, I truly dislike how fricken direct the symbolism of Coriolanus is a snake and Lucy Gray is a bird. I mean, even her last name is Baird, which of course sounds like “bird” and literally means “someone who sings songs or poetry.” And Coriolanus Snow is cold-hearted. Cold, like snow. Ha. Soooo funnyyyy. I had never heard the name “Coriolanus” before, but it is originally made famous by the Shakespeare play. I haven’t read it, but this link here basically tells the same story as Songbirds and Snakes. So, I guess this prequel is really a Hunger Games fanfiction about Shakespeare’s story? It was a little disappointing to find out. I thought it was an original concept. Boo.

Part 3: The Peacekeeper

I was very confused at first about why Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom would send Coriolanus to District 12 after winning the Hunger Games because it means he would reunite with Lucy Gray. I found this part to be a bit slow (which of course was to make us feel how bored Coriolanus was since there were no mental challenges in the Peacekeepr training other than executions.) I rushed through the blandness so I could get to the climax faster.

Yet, a few parts of this section that I liked are reading more about The Hob and the origin of “Katniss’s songs” from Mockingjay, which were created by Lucy Gray. The Hanging Tree scenes were terrifying. I wanted Coriolanus to act out and become a rebel, but I knew his sense of loyalty to the Capitol and self-preservation would get in the way. I liked how we learned how and why people become Peacekeepers since it seems like a terrible job to me, but apparently it has perks for a lot of people. I didn’t ever think about how the Rebels organize revolts with bombs or guns in their own districts. It makes me wonder if when Katniss’s dad died in the original story if that was a revolt gone wrong, just like how one of the mines was destroyed in this book. I always wondered why Suzanne Collins uses the mockingjay as the main symbol of the series because I feel like the reason was a bit vague in the trilogy, but I feel like I did get these answers in Songbirds and Snakes. Sejanus’s death was so sad. I had to read it quickly to get it over with so I would not get too emotional. His final word, “ma,” was absolutely haunting.

Lucy Gray’s end was a bit annoying. I knew deep down that Coriolanus would never run away with her or marry her, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to end up killing her or letting her go. Even worse, we don’t actually get to know. I would have liked a more definite answer on whether or not she escaped or was killed on their way north, but I get that Collins left it ambiguous like the song Lucy Gray was named after.

Heading back to the Capitol, the fact that the Snow family is responsible for most of the concepts used in the Hunger Games is both awful and amazing. I did like reading about how Coriolanus “innovated” the 10th Games to be more high-tech and interactive with the drone gifts, the betting, and the tributes and District winning a prize, but it makes me shudder to know that this infamy is what kept him in power all those decades. I wonder how old he was when he got elected president.

______

Overall Main Characters Rating = 3.5 stars

Coriolanus: 3 stars

Coriolanus describing the lack of nutrition, the hand-me-down clothes, the inability to afford his familial home, the desire to go to university without any savings, and being an orphan made me feel a lot of sympathy toward him. It now makes more sense into why he evolved into the villainous President Snow. I would have loved for him to have taken this trauma and turn it into something good, but he chose selfishness over selflessness. I feel like his “snap” against Sejanus was a bit rushed, like Daenerys Targaryen, so I would have like a little more to happen before his change. He always valued his own life over Sejanus and others who lived in the districts, but his decision to turn against him just felt a bit hasty.

Lucy Gray: 4 stars

Despite the fact that Lucy Gray and her successor, Katniss Everdeen, are both thin brunettes with lovely voices from District 12, I find Lucy Gray much more likable. She has so much spunk and passion for life and art that I think she would be a fun person to be around in person. She is definitely a glass half-full kind of girl and sees the beauty in the frightening. I find her Covey background interesting and want to know so much more about those who live “outside” of the Districts and Capitol since I had no idea people exist outside of there (which is exactly what the Capitol wants you to think). However, I am grateful that this story was not from her persepective because it would have been to similar to the original.

Sejanus: 4.5 stars

He was my absolute favorite! I think he was the best because he was the only person we met that could really bridge the gap between District and Capitol lives. His conflicting relationships with Marcus, Coriolanus, and his family broke my heart. Even though the book is narrated from Coriolanus’s perspective, I would have liked if this was written like Marie Lu’s Legend series where it goes back and forth between characters that have different opinions about the war. He would get 5 stars if we got chapters from his perspective. He is the exact opposite of Coriolanus since he is impulsive, outspoken, and ashamed of his family, while Coriolanus is calculated, reserved, and proud of his heritage to a fault. I like seeing the two of them together because they are so different.

Dr. Gaul = 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed Dr. Gaul, but I can’t give her more than 3.5 stars because I yearned to see more of her lab experiments, and I feel like the readers didn’t get to see much more than the snakes. Her manipulation throughout the plot gets snaps from me, especially sending Coriolanus to District 12 for him to spy for her when he didn’t even realize he was a spy. Brilliant!

Tigris = 3 stars

I like how sweet she is, but other than taking care of Coriolanus and Grandma’am, she doesn’t do much. I need to know how and why she became the woman she is in Mockingjay. Considering I didn’t even mention her at all in my “plot” section, I think she definitely needed to be more fleshed out.

_____

Would I read it again? Yes. Especially after the film comes out since I enjoy comparing books to movies. I’m afraid of what they will cut out because they are only doing one film and there is a lot of content here. I have a feeling they won’t show Marcus’s beheading due to its gruesome nature or the District 12 hangings. They might just mention it or cut away when the actual violence happens which is understandable for a PG-13 film, but disappointing in showing the true fear of the moment. I think that’s part of why these books are so scary though. Violence can happen to people at any age, and it has throughout history. Keeping it from people doesn’t protect them from it, but showing too much numbs people to it. It’s a hard balance. I hope that the film shows the whole story justice.

#the hunger games #a ballad of songbirds and snakes #songbirds and snakes #mockingjay #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #president snow #katniss everdeen #suzanne collins #spoiler review #book review

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haberdashing · 1 year ago

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hi Im the gaza post anon. I'm sorry. I didn't realize you would feel obligated to respond publicly about your stance and I didn't want to force that. I just wanted to warn you about some of the people I've seen rebloging that post specifically for bad reasons. but your response was really beautiful and nuanced. thanks for taking the time to write that. I hope your family is doing ok, just as much as I am hoping for the safety of all the innocent people caught in the crossfire.

It's all good! I didn't feel obligated, honestly--I had been considering making a post like that anyway, and figured that an anon ask on the subject was as good an excuse as any to take the plunge.

My family is, thankfully, not directly connected to the conflict (is that the right word? or war, is that right? it's hard to know) in any way, as far as I know. Even close family friends aren't directly connected. The two IDF members I have known connections to are the son of a family friend who I'm only somewhat close to, and another child of someone who's an acquaintance at most to me, really. And as far as I know, both of them are doing fine too.

I have Internet friends, or Internet acquaintances, for lack of a better word, in Israel, too. But they're doing fine too so far.

I don't know anyone in Gaza. But perhaps that's inevitable. It's not new that the people of Gaza have been oppressed, after all. Worldwide friendships only travel as far as an Internet connection can reach.

I hope for the safety of the people in the crossfire too, of course, on both sides. I hope that the atrocities stop. I hope that some solution is found, one that won't end in another conflict like this in a few years' time.

And I hope that people learn that Zionism and Judaism are not synonymous, that Israel is not the lone speaker for the Jewish people as a whole, and that Jewish people are not in turn able to speak on behalf of Israel. And I hope that this does not lead to another wave of antisemitism around the world as people seek to blame innocent Jews for the wrongdoings of the Israeli military and government.

#personal #ask #anon ask

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vees-strangeworld-omniverse · 1 year ago

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STALEMATE SHIFTER: the kelxvern

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

since i'm posting all the most important lore bits of argonus, i guess i should talk about the "stalemate shifters". no better place to start than to begin with perhaps the most prolific of them, the kelxverns.

the kelxverns (pronounced kelks-vern) are, at their bare basics, beings that can shapeshift between an elkinet and non-elkinet specie (typically a human). they were very loosely inspired by Turbo Teen, and that's only because during argonus's infancy, i was listening to a reveiw of that show (its a...very weird show.)

anyways, here's my in-depth piece about them:

BACKSTORY

between the year 2410 to 2421, a very "cold war"-like situation is brewing between amerigia and center kingdom. both those two countries have been at arms with eachother for at least 10 years now, however now it's revealed that center kingdom has been storing their missiles in western swauda, a neighboring country. swauda and amerigia have been on rather ok terms, but ever since the new knowlage of undergound missiles have been put out, amerigia wanted said missiles out of swauda since it didnt belong to that counrty to begin with. amerigia even said they'll use their own missiles if they have to. so, it a tense stalemate [hence forth, being called "the stalemate war"]. on one hand, center kingdom can shoot those missiles at any time. on the otherhand, amerigan can do the same thing, and shoot their own missles as well. so, most of the warfare resorts to small battles or, more commonly in this time, spying on the enemy, which is where the kelxverns come in.

you see, shapeshifters are highly desired for warfare ever since, well, anytime a world discovers their existence, and even better when said country want to create their own. they wanted a being that could blend into elkinet society, but also could easily change into a much smaller lifeform and hide out in human society as well. this was because, ever since humans and other sophonts came in, the entirety of argonus has made it so that non-elkinets are to not be forcefully involved in any war of any sort. however, there is an issue: under codagian laws, no transformation technology should be invented for war, regardless of how bad they want it. not only that, but any non-shifters developing any kind of transformation technology requires one to go through several round of paperwork, tests and background checks before given a permit to do so. and yet, some have exploited certain exceptions and loophole: perhaps the main example for the kelxverns was that technology wasn't directly from by the pukanis, but by other shapeshifter sophonts who weren't entirely aware of the laws and regulation regarding transformation and shapeshifting. not only that, but since pukanis dont like to get involved with any sort of warfare other than their own (not unless absolutely, positively nessisarly), they could go forth with their experimentations under their radar, so long as it's kept a secret. thus, the scientist (more specifically the amerigian scientist) went to work. it took them many, many tries to perfect it. they've combined the DNA of both the shapeshifter and various elkinets, as well as put a bit of rat & mice DNA since it seemed to help in the process. finally, after nearly ten years, they got what they were looking for: an opaline, stone-like object filled with transformation liquid that give the user the ability to shapeshift into an airplane at will. it was just on time, too...just on time to see the end of the war.

of all countries to finally bring an end to the looming threat of nuclear war, it was center kingdom's northern neighbor, L'russ. l'russese royals had had enough and decided that they'll cut trade with both amerigia and center kingdom if this conflict continues. and since l'russ is a major body of import and export (primarily with livestock, food and metals), both countries had no choice but to make peace. however, the scientist weren't deterred. they continued with their new shapeshifting technology, now under the reason for super-soldiers.

then the pukanis began to become suspicious.

however, around the time the pukanis were catching wind of this, some of the documents "mysteriously" got destroyed in a lab fire (later suspected to be arson in an attempt to cover their tracks). still, now that they were aware of the kelxvern's existences, they and more qualified shifters started to quickly take over the entire project. once the shifters took over the operation, they were finally revealed to the public. it had been over a century since then, and the kelxverns have been among the planets most common shapeshifter. they're given all the normal rights both shifters and non-shifter have. however, many do find it a struggle to fit in, especially those where are new to being a kelxvern.

HOW THEY'RE CREATED

now that we got down the history, we can now get down to the shapeshifters themselves. first things first: how are kelxverns put into this new world?

well, there are two kinds of kelxverns: created and born.

"create kelxverns" are where the kelxverns that were create the original way, which was was through the opaline-colored liquid-filled "stone" known as premeerisite. it's actually more akin to a glass-like capsule pill, which the outside layer dissolves and releases the transformation liquid into the body. it was originally given to humans due to the original premeerisite only and inch long in diameter, however if an elkinet wishes to be a kelxvern they'd would require a premeerisite that's of size for them for it to be effective. now, when it comes to their "Human" forms, it's not strictly humans that can be kelxverns. it is instead strictly sapient, predominantly earth-like beings that are used since they're the most capable of handling the changes. this would include beings like anthros, uplifted animals, and even sentient beings from other copy-planets of earth. the nevardian tronics like the animatronics and vulpanexes are also able to be kelxverns themselves, since they're the only non-earth-like sophont that can handle the transformations. regardless, there are two major way the premeerisite is put inside you: surgically or orally. surgery is where they cut a hole into the abdomen, place the stone in the hole, and then sew it back up. this is the most effective way, but requires the person in question to be knock out with shifter anesthetic (an anesthetic for shifters that keeps them from shifting while under the knife). orally is where it's swallowed by said person. while this is also effective, it also has the risks of the stomach rejecting the stone and having the user throw it back up. either way, the premeerisite will begin to dissolve within the first hour, and it could take up to 12-17 hours for it to completely dissolves. by that time, if the person got the stone surgically, the incision site would've completely healed up, leaving nothing but a scar on the skin. once completely dissolves, they begin to transform into their new form. every created kelxvern's first transformation and what they experience can vary by individual. for some, they develop flu-like symptoms before, during and/or after the transformation. others feel varying degrees of abdominal pain, as well as the transformation itself being painful as well. there are also others that don't really feel much beyond the mild discomfort of the transformation itself, if anything at all. it can take seconds for them to change, or couple hours. sometimes it's goes strait from on form to the other, and other time it takes it's time in short "spurts". regardless, most are knocked out and place in an appropriately-size room for them to change in. once in there new form, they'll stay like that for 24-36 hours before they're able to turn back. depending on the individual, they'll eventually have full control over it within a 1-3 week period.

the other ones are known as "born kelxverns". they are "naturally" born, or as naturally as one can get. because funnily enough, even if both parents are kelxverns themselves, the fertilized egg wont develop inside the mother's womb and will just get reabsorbed/rejected like it would when not fertilized. so, it has to be artificially done by having the egg develop in an artificial womb. whether their child's an elkinet or the other species depends on the form the mother was in when it was done, and it usually required that both parents must be in the same form to do so. a kelxvern is also capable of having children with a non-kelxvern, so long as the other is either an elkinet or the same species as their non-elkinet form (whether that be human, anthro, etc.) like many other shifter species, the child is incapable of shifting for the first few years of it's life, but eventually gains the ability to do so. for the one's who's parents are both kelxverns (pure kelxverns), it begins at young age and starts rather gradual, usual a bit at a time but eventually after a couple years they become fully capable of going between elkinet and human. however, when it comes to the children who only has one of their parents as a kelxvern (interspecies kelxverns), it more sudden and happens when they reach there older teen/ younger adult years (roughly 15 to 35). the sudden transformation has all the same variations as what a created kelxverns would go through, whether it be the time length, symptoms pre/post-transformation, the levels of pain/discomfort, etc..

THE PHYSIOLOGY AND SHAPESHIFTING ABILITIES

alright, now we get into the fun stuff...

while the non-elkinet form can be any compatible sophont, humans are the more common ones, only second to anthros and uplifted animals. throughout this part i will mostly talk about humans.

anyways, by default the kelxverns have a total of five forms between human and elkinet, called "Phases", which from human to airplane start at the feet and tail. nobody knows exactly why they go through these, since some of the reasonings behind the phases (as well as some other stuff) was destroyed in the fire. however, one of the theories is that it's meant to provide balance. the elkinets themselves are rather top-heavy with their large wings, and they'd constantly be tripping and falling over if it wasn't for their lower bodies. their center of gravity is at the pelvic region, often aided by a tail to keep balanced. not only that, but elkinets with longer wings require longer legs to keep said wings from dragging on the ground. it'd seems that starting from the bottom and working it's way up would make sense, as it give the individual the balance (and leg length) they'd need before going through the rest of the body (Or at least when it comes to the default transformation). for the sake of simplicity, i drew a generic naked person turning into a generic airliner-like jet. the five default forms goes as follows:

-human while relatively self-explanatory, there are some things that need pointing out. one of the most glaring differences between a normal human and a kelxvern in their humans form is the hairless, rodent-like tail. their human form always has a tail, even if the aircraft their elkinet form doesnt have a standard tail (flying wings like b-2 spirits, for example, don't have much apart from a thin and tiny tail). the tail can vary between 7in to 3ft long, however it's more common for a kelxvern's tail to be between 8in-1ft. another thing that kelxverns have, physically speaking, are large and often rodent-like ears. not all kelxverns have big ears, but the ones that do are often the ones with longer tails. these larger ears are able to be moves much like that of a rat's, and just like the tail they're completely hairless. although it's clear the large ears are a callback to the present rodent/mice dna, it's not sure whether the tail is also related to the lab rodents as well or also part of the elkinet DNA. however, there is the theory that this tail lends a starting point for the elkinet tail to come in. while we're at it, let's talk about clothing. of course, in their human form they'd wear clothing. however, in all circumstances these are not ordinary clothing, but rather shifter-friendly clothing that either changes alongside them or disappears (most commonly the latter since it's cheaper).

-theropodal the first phase of the transformation and already alot of things have happened. beyond growing a little bigger (which is expected for most kelxverns), their legs have already starting taking shape into that of an elkinet's. while not completely like that of an elkinet's, the core aspects (ie digitigrade/avian legs and gray skin) are definitely there. alongside the legs is the tail. the tail is also taking shape, changing into the length and thickness of their aircraft form. however, it had yet to gain color, stabilizers, ect., so for now it's more theropod-like (hence the name "theropodal"). a really bizarre change that also happens is when the two holes(or three if a girl) end up becoming one cloaca. thankfully, this part of the transformation is covered up by the shifter clothing, the disappearing kind still staying on.

-satyr aka midpoint the satyr phase is the middle part between human and aircraft, and they're (quite literally) half human, half elkinet. their lower bodies now greatly resemble that of an elkinet, and their size is directly in the middle between their human form and aircraft form. at this point with the disappearing clothing, the lower half of the outfit (pants, socks, etc) may or may not be gone. though, of course, at this point bottom wear isn't nessisarly to cover up anything since now there's not much there anyways.

-half-plane it is often said that between the satyr form and half-plane for is where the most changes happen. externally-wise, they now look almost identical to that of an elkinet. their fingers are absent as their arms become wings, their heads not only taken shape but also having the cockpit/canopy (which, like i say every time, is nothing more than skin integument), and basically everything else. internally, on the otherhand, still has alot going on beside the changes to the organs and such. while the finger bones shrink and disappear as the arms turn into wings, the entire arm shortens and the the metacarpal that once held the finger bones is now small and instead holds all the muscles that would control the front half of the forearm. inside the mouth, they keep most of their teeth (which turn into the near-identical psuedoteeth) with the exception of the incisors. since the elkinet's remaining beak acts as the incisors, the human incisors retreat into the gums and disappear, while at the same time the beak breaks out of the jaw to come in and replace them. however, some key difference often set them different from their final form. for one, while they're now able to glide, they're incapable of actual flight because they don't have functioning engines. typically, engines that are placed on the body are present but not functioning, while the engines that are placed on the wings have yet to come out at all. kelxverns at this phase will also retain a tuft of hair on their heads, as any and all hair/fur will simply get absorbed back into the body. sometime, if their non-elkinet form wasn't humans but, say, a kemonomimi, anthro or uplifted animal, then certain features like ears, horns and wings may still be present in this form. in addition, if the disappearing clothing wasn't gone before, it would certainly be gone now.

-airplane / elkinet the rather self-explanatory one here. there elkinet form can be, really, any kind of elkinet aircraft. initially, though, during the development they were all stealth or reconnaissance aircraft (since center kingdom was one of the places they've came from), but when it switched from spies to super soldiers, bombers and cargo aircraft where then used. nowadays, when a person wants to be a kelxverns, they're able to choose the aircraft they want. some elkinets also have their elkinet form be that of a argonian tronic or triffinoid [don't worry, both of those are next]

now, all kelxverns go through these default phases in the beginning, whether they were created kelxverns, pure kelxvern or interspecies kelxvern. typically, with created and interspecies kelxverns, they have a cooldown period of 15 minutes when going straight from human to elkinet in the beginnings of their powers. if they were to change into one phase, they'd then need to go all the way to the other form and wait until they're able to change back. this is, however, only for the first few transformations. eventualy, this cooldown time becomes shorter and shorter until it's not there anymore. still, many kelverns will at least wait a few seconds before changing back.

however, they can go a few steps further.

kelxverns, once able to gain complete control over their default transformation, are then able to start messing around with their bodies. at the beginning, they're able to change and/or keep major body parts (head, body, limbs and tail), and so long as one of those major parts is left untouched they'll experience little to no size change like they would when transforming normally. but, it gets more crazy. some kelxverns will start to change/keep more and more minor details like hair and ears, having more and more control over their size, and eventually they'll be able to size shift between their human/elkinet sizes. getting to this point obviously takes times, as they need their body to be able to take on more and more advanced forms before they can learn how to turn into said forms. also, it's worth noting that the changes are proportional to their bodies, which means thing can look weird as well as posing some difficulty as well. for example, the U-2's long wings means they'd need equally long legs to keep them from dragging on the ground. not only would you look weird, you'd also would be constantly dragging the arms as well.

OTHER MISC INFORMATION

so, i got down some of the more important parts of it, but now it's time to get into some of the smaller (But just as important) information/trivia about these shapeshifters.

-there are ways to pre-activate the transformation with the interspecies kelxverns. this is the route most parents go for when it comes to their child's wellness. one of the common ways of doing this is via an antishift collar. antishift collars, as their name implies, collars that keep one from shifting (commonly size shifting but also shapeshifting as well) when worn. it use a kind of anti-shift compound inside of the collar itself, and a very weak electromagnetic impulse to keep the compound activated. it doesnt just keep one from shifting, though; it can also be set to allow one to change into certain forms/sizes, and some antishift collars also activate previously dormant shifting abilities when worn. thus, antishift collar are not only used to activate the individual's ability's, but also have them gradually change bit by bit until they're fully able to change between human and aircraft. alternatively, there exists "activator shots" that also activates the shifting abilities, however not before the individual in question is often sent to a special facility meant to help new shifters gain control of their ability. while just as viable of an option as the collar, many people (particularly parents) often dislike the idea of being sent to another place to get a shot and learning how to shapeshift.

-sometimes kelxverns tend to get along better in elkinet society than non-elkinet ones, and even prefer to be elkinets most of the time. this can be due to a wide variety of reasoning, often having to do with their mental health and argonus's societies' as a whole. for example, while elkinets are generally at peace with the other races, there is still alot of racisms and discrimination between the two groups. kelxverns, particularly ones that were humans, often tend to gravitate towards the elkinets, as they view them as more accepting and progressive. plus, the aircraft's larger sizes also may give a sense of security or protection (whether it be false or not). another major reasoning is their newfound capability of flight. much like many outdoor exercise (jogging, walks, ect), flight is seen as beneficial to both physical and mental health, even more so since elkinet are practically geared to fly in the first place. it not only exercises their engines and help burn off some energy, but also provides some mental stimulation and can act as a form of meditation. combine this for man's desire for individual flight like that of a bird's, and you can see why some prefer to be an elkinet most of the time. of course, there are some other things that play into the fact, such as most kelxvern homes being not too unlike an elkinet's home (say for some addition to make it human-friendly as well), some pre-existing mental/neurodivergent conditions, etc. however, there are plenty of mental health resources on argonus specific to shifters, and many new kelxverns (create/interspecies) are often appointed to some form of therapy/counceling as well since mental health is very detrimental to controlling one's shifting abilities.

-they can shapeshift into their elkinet forms under certain life-or-death situations. this is known as "shifter instinct", and it's not even unique to the kelxverns. shifter instinct is many things, but in this case it is when the body forces one to shapeshift into a form that takes them out of danger, often sudden near-death situations. for example, referencing one of my stories, if a kelxvern was trapped in shallow waters and were beginning to drown, shifter instincts would kick in and they'll quickly turn into their bigger elkinet form to escape death. the weird thing? shifter instinct seemingly knows exactly if, where and when it's needed, and will immediately kick in just mere seconds. despite the seemingly straightforward concept of shifter instinct, it's often a mystery as to it's function due to the specifics of it varying between shifter species. however, with the kelxverns it's pretty easy; most of the time it's brought by adrenalin and our flight-or-fight responses. sometime new kelxverns in their human form will suddenly shift into their aircraft form due to a sudden influx of adrenalin, often brought on by panic, stress or simply getting startled. it's also one of the reasons therapy and counseling is important for new kelxverns.

now, of course with all these longer posts, more information can and will come in other posts

#aircraft #airplane #anthro aircraft #anthro airplane #planet argonus #argonus #worldbuilder #worldbuilding #speculative fiction #living airplane #living aircraft #shapeshifter #shapeshifting #shifter #spec evo

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cathartes-aura-shitposting · 1 year ago

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STALEMATE SHIFTER: the kelxvern

(NOTE: description copy-pasted from DA where i normally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

anyways, here's my in-depth piece about them:

BACKSTORY

then the pukanis began to become suspicious.

HOW THEY'RE CREATED

now that we got down the history, we can now get down to the shapeshifters themselves. first things first: how are kelxverns put into this new world?

well, there are two kinds of kelxverns: created and born.

THE PHYSIOLOGY AND SHAPESHIFTING ABILITIES

alright, now we get into the fun stuff...

while the non-elkinet form can be any compatible sophont, humans are the more common ones, only second to anthros and uplifted animals. throughout this part i will mostly talk about humans.

however, they can go a few steps further.

OTHER MISC INFORMATION

so, i got down some of the more important parts of it, but now it's time to get into some of the smaller (But just as important) information/trivia about these shapeshifters.

now, of course with all these longer posts, more information can and will come in other posts

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gallaghercest · 3 years ago

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Lyric Analysis - Moscow Rules

Hello, everyone! This is probably my first post in years - I believe that getting front row in Knebworth + Liam’s new album made me feel reconnected to Oasis again. This post is about my - probably - favourite tune from C`mon You Know. Probably one of the best things a Gallagher has released (ever). In my opinion, Moscow Rules has two possible interpretations. The first one would be a post-war context, where Liam directly talks to/about a guy who went to war and from the moment this guy gets home after war to these days, he’s got nothing, cause the war took everything he had. Actually, that’s the interpretation that I believe that is the real one. Like, the one the writers had in mind when they wrote this. Aaaand there’s the other one, which is... Noel. Again, I know the song wasn’t written planned to be about him, but if we didn’t have our imagination, what we could have? :) Please, find below the analysis.

Home again But in your dreams you creep back to the wire Tell the truth or something close They'll just call you a liar And when it's done you can't even retire Back on the run, back in the line of fire

For the full understanding of this lyrics analysis, I first need to clear that, instead of the war being an actual war, I would say that the war was Oasis, indeed. Liam and Noel were always fighting for a bigger cause that they didn’t even know what it was, aka just an excuse to show who had more power and control under the other/the band. I could say that I can go deeper and say that the war is Oasis in the final years - 2008 to 2009, since that’s when the shit hit the fan. The first two lines, to me, could be about Noel finally quitting Oasis (home again), but still, his mind keeps wandering back to Liam/Oasis itself. Something that he can’t really help. I’m still analysing the two following lines, since, to me, they could speak both for Noel and Liam himself. If they’re about Liam, it could be about the media attacks right after Oasis split, when Noel and every single soul on the planet would blame him for the split. If they are related to Noel, I’d say they’re in a nowadays context, where the tables have turned and the media and every single soul on the planet is against Noel. A kind of karma effect in mind, since now Noel is tasting his own poison. “And when it’s done, you can’t even retire” - even though Noel and Liam are successful musicians, they can’t simply retire cause the bills keep coming - don’t get me wrong, I know they have a shitload of money, but IIRC, Liam recently said that we would like to retire and live a peaceful life but he can’t manage to do that. Period. Perhaps, the retirement itself has a psychological meaning - retire from the Oasis memories and everything they went through, which would emphasise the first two lines - and the last one as well.

Turn the page and burned the book The day we said goodbye, I walked alone And looked ahead, avoided all the eyes But when it's dead it doesn't even die

These bunch of lines to me are not even about Liam and Noel’s emotional split - which, to me, occurred around ‘96-’97 (and I’ve already talked about it a lot in my previous posts), they are about Oasis split, again. When Oasis broke up, Liam immediately knew that he could not let that stop him - that’s why Beady Eye was formed only a couple of hours Noel walked away. Liam avoided all the eyes, first cause as I said, everyone was blaming him, and secondly cause it seemed like Beady Eye was chased (in a terrible way) by the media, no matter how Liam put effort in the band, everyone would say it was a lame band. WHICH IS NOT TRUE, OK?!?!? Please, respect me, I’m Beady Eye’s #1 fan. Also, may I add that “I walked alone [...] avoided all the eyes” can be about the hidden meaning of Oasis breaking up - which is, too, an emotional break up, from Noel to Liam. Massacring Oasis’ existence was the final step of Noel’s ““revenge””, the last straw, indeed. That was, to Liam, far more personal than just putting the band away, it was a way of telling him that no matter how beautiful things they lived in the past, it was Over. and “avoiding all the eyes” would be a way to don’t let the sadness regarding Noel to show up. “But when it’s dead, it doesn’t even die”, again, can be about Oasis, since you can’t murder something so huge and get away with it/let people forget about it, or their feelings for each other. Even after almost 13 years of the split, they can’t get over each other, because that they have will always live. And I quote Liam:

“Me and him are brothers and we will never be over. In the back of my mind, there was always a way back. Me and him will go on forever, and beyond…beyond ... beyond this time. It will go on forever and ever.”

That’s most likely my favourite Liam quote.

Nothing's new, nothing's cool Here again and baby, we're both fools

Nothing new happens regarding they getting over the other, the cycle always seems to repeat itself (”here again”) the beef continues and Liam knows, indeed, they are both idiots for being to proud to not reach out, expecting that, as mentioned in the previous lines, their thing will someday “die” and they will be happy to move on without each other, since that scenario would be nonsense.

Follows me, follows you It's the same Moscow rules Lonely man, I think you're never alone Even at home The empty seat across the table is staring back

That’s what I’m talking about! Just like a war keeps track on someone forever, becoming a real trauma, the feeling of love, the memories they shared, Oasis - everything, they follow Liam and follow Noel, just like a ghost, a kind of haunting. Just for the record, The Moscow Rules are:

Assume nothing. Never go against your gut. Everyone is potentially under opposition control. Do not look back; you are never completely alone. Go with the flow, blend in. Vary your pattern and stay within your cover. Lull them into a sense of complacency. Do not harass the opposition. Pick the time and place for action. Keep your options open. In the actual war context I mentioned, I believe this line would be regarding the trauma the war caused to the man Liam’s talking to/about - the man keeps thinking about these rules forever, repeatedly, even after the war is over. Liam and Noel, somehow, are inside a war against each other since 2009. To me, the Moscow Rules are like a guide that teaches someone how to be strategic and a cold person, not ruled by their feelings. So Liam and Noel are following these rules ever since they broke up. Treating each other not like humans, but as war opponents. Which sucks, to be really honest. I believe this song is actually about how every battle eventually comes to an end, but theirs seems to never finish. From “Lonely man” onwards: from the first moment I listened to those lines I could only imagine Noel sitting at Peggy’s house at the same table they all used to dine, and seeing Liam’s seat empty and doing nothing to change it. That can apply to the dining table of his own house too, to be honest. And, clearly, even though the seat is empty, he can still see Liam on it, staring at him with the pair of eyes Noel loves so much - have you ever realised how many times Noel mentions “eyes” in his songs?

Overcast, can't see the sun But I can see the moon Paralysed by memories of ruined afternoons Get outta bed and come sing us a tune

SO WON’T YOU LET ME HAVE MY HEAD AND THEN I CAN SEE THE SUUUUUUN? Just kidding. Noel can only see the moon - this part is kinda of obvious, since the night is always the perfect time to get sad about everything. Noel can’t see the warmth in life anymore, just the darkness around. ”Paralysed by memories of ruined afternoons” - paralysed by the memories of when things were perfect but, for reasons as pride and cockyness, either of them would fuck everything up just to, again, prove who was the more powerful among them. ”Get outta bed and come us sing a tune” - get out of depressive thoughts (or even lazyness) and reform O-fucking-asis please Noel Liam is once more BEGGING you.

Nothing's new, nothing's cool Here again and baby, we're both fools

Follows me, follows you It's the same Moscow rules Lonely man, I think you're never alone Even at home The empty seat across the table is staring back

That’s it, basically. Thank you for coming to my TED Talks, feel free to send me asks about it and share your opinions on these magnificent lyrics. Don’t forget to reblog too because I’ve been non-stop writing for 45 minutes and I wish I can get some acknowledgment on that. Cheers!

#Liam Gallagher #Oasis #Noel Gallagher #c'mon you know #c'mon you know era #lyric analysis #gallaghercest #moscow rules

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runningtwiceasfast · 4 years ago

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I’ve Never Not Wanted You

This is my contribution to the Hinny Ficfest organized by the wonderful @clarensjoy - Thank you for organizing and for the fantastic contributions. I haven’t published a fic in awhile and this one is very not proofread and rough but I wanted desperately to contribute something. I hope you don’t mind this one is under the wire! Eventually I will post a cleaned up version on AO3, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy!

Prompt: “I’ve never not wanted you”

“You have to come to dinner tonight. Mum has invited another suitor and we are all going to want to watch the bloodbath.” Ron’s mouth was full of curry, so it was hard to make out exactly what he meant, but the gist was an invite for dinner.

Harry scowled in response and pushed his food away from him, suddenly having lost his appetite.

“When will Molly stop? After Ginny has killed someone?”

Ron gave a barking laugh. “Maybe. It’s hard to stop a determined Weasley though.”

“So, who is more determined? Molly to marry Ginny off or Ginny to resist?” Harry wondered out loud, still staring at his noodles as if they had offended him.

Shrugging, Ron reached over and helped himself to Harry’s discarded lunch. “Mum just wants Ginny to be happy. Wizards marry pretty young in our world and everyone else has mostly coupled off,” Ron pointed his chopsticks at Harry. “Well, except you mate.”

Harry frowned.

“I’ve been busy,” he finally said, and Ron gave a series of nods.

“Of course. Ridding the world of unstoppable evil and what not. I’m sure that’s why Mum is focused on Ginny and not you.”

“That’s a bit of a double standard, isn’t it?” Harry asked, irritated at the way the conversation had changed. The last thing he wanted to talk about was his sorry dating life. Or Ginny’s for that matter.

“The entire wizarding world is a double standard innit? Best to just make the best to just make the best of it and enjoy the show.”

Harry merely gave a small noise of assent, turning back to his noodles to find them completely gone. He looked up at Ron’s sheepish look.

“I thought you were done.”

_*_*_*_*_*_*_

Avoiding the floo network entirely, Harry opted to apparate to the Burrow, pausing outside the familiar door to collect his thoughts.

Using his free hand, he smoothed down his shirt and jeans, his other hand grasping the bottle of red wine Arthur had mentioned he liked the last time they had dined together at Grimmauld Place. He rose his hand to knock, but the door swung open before his fist even made contact.

“Harry! You’ve come to save me!” Harry was rather unprepared for the sight of Ginny, fresh faced and beautiful, greeting him at the door and found himself unable to say much of anything other than a grumbled hello as he shoved the bottle of wine at her.

She was wearing a simple black cotton dress that hugged her waist and flared out at the bottom. Her hair was down and bouncing around her shoulders. He gestured stupidly at his ears.

“You are wearing the earrings.”

She gave a tinkling laugh and pushed her hair behind her ear so he could see more clearly the diamond studs that he had given her last Christmas. “I’ve practically never taken them off. They are gorgeous. Probably one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten.” She smiled at him sincerely and he felt his heart rate accelerate uncomfortably.

“I’m glad you like them so much.” He smiled back at her and they remained that way, smiling at each other silently before Ginny was called rather abruptly from the other room.

She gave a grimace in response. “She’s invited Ernie Macmillan over can you believe it? Him and Hermione are currently fighting over some horribly boring historical fact in the other room and she expects me to marry this man?” She rolled her eyes and Harry gave a weak laugh in response.

Learning up, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek, her hand resting on his arm. “It’s so lovely to see you, Harry. Please feel free to rescue me from inane conversation as you see fit.”

She floated away and he stood there struck rather dumb for a few moments.

Following the trail of voices from the entryway, Harry entered the living area to various greetings. It appeared he was one of the last to arrive and he grabbed a butterbeer and joined in where Ron and George were huddled together by the fireplace.

“I think the formula is off. People shouldn’t be incapacitated. Just unconscious for a short while.”

George shook his head. “They are fine if you just poke them—Harry! You’ve come to join us!” George gave him a broad smile that Harry couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“Is this for something you’ve already invented, or you have created something else to wreak havoc on the wizarding public?”

“Harry my dear boy, I’m not sure why it can’t be both,” George said sincerely causing Harry to snort into his bottle.

Ginny’s laughter brought their attention to where she was standing in the center of the room with Ernie.

Ron frowned. “Maybe mum actually found a winner.”

They watched as Ginny laughed again at something Ernie said, her hand placed on his arm.

“Apparently he works with Percy. Probably in the Department of who has the biggest stick up their arse,” George laughed to himself.

Harry frowned as he watched Ernie with his patrician features and pedigree push a tendril of crimson hair behind Ginny’s ear causing her to blush.

“What did that bottle do to you mate?” Ron joked and Harry looked down at the tight grip he was maintaining on his butterbeer. He loosened his grip and stretched his fingers.

Molly’s appearance in the room quieted most conversations as she herded everyone into the dining area where amazing smells were wafting. It required gymnastics in order for everyone to get into the magically enhanced room.

“No no Ginny. Don’t sit there. Sit over here by Ernie,” Molly smiled warmly at the tall boy. Ernie smiled back in a way that made Harry’s hand flinch towards his wand, imagining all the new curses he had recently mastered in his second year auror training.

“Mum it took me straining my hop to even get a seat. I’m going to stay right here,” she turned to Harry who suddenly realized how close she was. “You are ok with that right Harry?” Her eyes widened slightly and he managed to cotton on.

“Er yes sorry Molly. Ginny is fine here.” She gave him a brilliant smile and nudged his shoulder with hers.

“I think I’ve lost some of my brain cells.” Harry had to resist flinching as he felt her breath brush his hair as Ginny leaned over and whispered to him.

He gave a tight-lipped smile. “You seemed rather fond of this one,” he whispered in return to her causing her to wave a hand at him dismissively.

“I’m just trying to be nice. If I hex this one she will just bring in someone worse. I heard Malfoy was keen,” she gave a dramatic shiver, her impish smile telling another story.

Harry felt a rush of relief he tried not to analyze. “Molly can keep on bringing by all the unsuitable young men of the English wizarding world if it means I get to sit next to you.” The words are soft and filled with way too much feeling and for one frightening heartbeat he wished he could take them back.

She remained silent, grabbing a dinner roll form the passed tray and fidgeting with it between her hands. “Harry, you shouldn’t say such things to me,” she finally said mildly, refusing to look at him. “I might start getting ideas.”

Impulsively he reached for one of her hands, forcing her to drop the bread. He pulled her hand under the table and squeezed it gently.

They sat with hands clasped under the table, but otherwise ignoring each other, answering direct questions but otherwise staying mostly silent. Harry thought he saw Ginny’s face was rather shiny and he wondered what he looked like. Probably pale white and sickly.

“Ginny, how goes the season? Should I be placing my Harpy’s bets now?” Ernie asked Ginny directly causing her to drop Harry’s hand and inhale shakily.

“Oh, I’m just reserve for now. But a bet on the Harpies is always a safe bet,” Ginny gave a wicked smile causing the table to collectively give a ruckus laugh.

“Ernie, you know Ginny is the youngest reserve chaser in the league,” Molly boasted, and Harry noticed Ginny resist rolling her eyes.

“Mum, I’m so glad you support my career choice now.” The words were biting but the soft look in her eyes made Harry think Ginny actually meant them.

Harry stole a look at Justin. To his disgust the boy was looking at Ginny rather starry eyed. It isn’t like Harry could blame him; a similar look frequently graced his own face.

He was rather sick of it all though. The constant parade of unworthy men being thrust at Ginny.

The rather petulant thought that Molly had never asked him to be one of those unworthy men flew through his brain unhelpfully. Perhaps everyone had given up on the possibility of him and Ginny ever making it work.

They had made it work though. For a few blissful months they had been something new and delicate and untouchable. Frequently Harry thought back to some of those times. Of walks around the school, hands clasped and of breathless goodbyes leaving them both wanting and late for class.

Ever since the war Harry had been trying to pick up the pieces, but it had been hard and often he had found himself rather aimless. Without even realizing it, he had found that he had pulled back on all the ties that bound him-rarely coming by the Burrow, never seeing friends other than around the office and busying himself with work and tracking down rogue Death Eaters.

He had finally looked up and while he had stayed in the same spot, everyone else had moved on. Ron had ditched the aurors and found his calling with George in the joke shop. Hermione had proven herself immensely capable apart from him in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

And Ginny had graduated from Hogwarts and immediately absconded to Harpy training camp.

Unfortunately, in all his chosen one lessons with Dumbledore, the wise wizard had never told him what happens after the bad guy has been slain. What happens to the chosen one when he’s done being chosen?

In this instance it seemed as if Harry was doomed to sit there and watch as everyone he loved moved on without him. Bitterly he looked down at the roast on his plate, moving the discarded pees around with his fork.

“You gonna finish that?” Harry looked up to find he was almost done at the table, Ron leaning over him, fork in hand.

Scowling, Harry pushed his plate towards Ron who tucked in happily. “Ernie left a bit ago,” Ron said, in between bites. Harry’s eyes snapped up at that.

“Why would I care whether or not Ernie had left?” Harry snarked at him, frowning when Ron paused his eating to give Harry a knowing look.

“Either way, Ginny is in the backyard if you want to talk to her,” Ron scooped up some mashed potatoes. “Or not.” He shrugged.

Harry pushed away from the table and paused in front of the living room. He could hear the rest of the Weasley’s making their normal noises and he hesitated before joining, his eyes straying to the backyard where Ron had said Ginny was.

Whatever gravitational pull Ginny had made the decision for him as Harry turned and slipped out the door.

She was silhouetted against the starry sky, the light of the moon reflecting off her hair in a way that made his throat dry. He approached her slowly and she turned at his footsteps, giving him a warm smile.

“I came out to get some fresh air,” she told him unnecessarily and he plopped down next to her, his arm brushing hers. “These family gatherings can be a lot,” she said, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her, but that’s probably more to do with the quick sound of his heartbeat in his ears.

Feeling that same impulsive urge he had felt during dinner that let him hold her hand, he lifted his arm up and over her shoulders. They both froze at the contact, but before he could regret it, she leaned in, setting her head on his shoulder.

“Where did Ernie go?” Harry asked eventually, that familiar monster roaring in his chest.

Ginny leaned even further into his side. “He got an owl, had to go into the office.” Her hair brushed against his neck and he caught a whiff of her comforting flower scent that hadn’t changed since sixth year.

“Did you want him to stay?” He asked her, the darkness giving him some sort of courage.

She shook her head. “Not really. He wasn’t as bad as the other’s, but he’s not really who I want,” she said, voice low and husky.

Finally, she sighed deeply and pulled away, pulling her knees under the skirt of her dress and into her stomach.

“At least he seemed to want me,” she mumbled, and Harry took a deep breath, tired of always waiting for the right moment.

“I’ve never not wanted you, Ginny.”

Amazingly, the words didn’t sound weak or pathetic out loud like they did in his head. Instead, all he felt was relief.

The sound of a sharp intake of breath was the only indication that he had been heard. Summoning his Gryffindor courage, he looked up at Ginny. She was staring at him, eyes wide.

“You want me?” She asked finally, incredulously.

He ran a hand through his hair nervously. “Watching your mum parade those boys in front of you has been a special kind of hell for me Gin. I miss you.” They aren’t the most eloquent words, but they are the ones he had.

“Then why didn’t you say anything, you stupid arse?” Ginny finally spit out and Harry let out a choke of laughter.

“I’m an idiot?” He told her helpfully and she shook her head, a fond smile on her face.

“Can you come closer Harry? I need to smack you,” she laughed, and Harry obliged, scooting back towards her until there was no space between them, his body tingling in anticipation.

“So no more set ups from your mum?” He asked, moving his face toward hers so close he could feel each breath she took, could count the freckles on her face from just the soft light of the stars.

“Harry I can confidently tell you I will no longer let my mum dictate my romantic life from here on out,” she giggled and Harry fought the smile that threatened to climb up his cheeks.

“Harry,” she said, drawing his attention back to her and her lips.

“Yes?”

“I’ve never not wanted you to kiss me,” she said before closing the small gap between them, her soft, sweet lips under his. Suddenly all the pining and scowling became worth it as he rolled them over, her body under his, molding to each other as if reminding him that they’ve done this before.

As he kissed and kissed her, lips trailing down her neck, he sent a silent thank you to whatever work emergency had claimed Ernie’s attention. Tonight and forever Ginny was his. And he set about showing her over and over.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_

“Ernie Macmillan? Really?” Ron took a noisy bite of his biscuit.

“I don’t know what you are talking about, Ronald,” Molly tutted, waiving her wand so the corresponding feather duster would wipe down the windows properly.

“I just want you to know that I know what you did,” Ron shrugged, gesturing out the window Molly was cleaning to where Harry and Ginny were clearly engaged in some unwholesome activities.

Molly smiled at the image the pair made before closing the curtain and turning back towards her youngest son.

“Don’t you have your own home?” He lifted his hands in surrender before leaving the room. Molly watched as he disappeared from view. Really, what was she supposed to do? Let them pine away for each other forever? No, she did the right thing. She did feel a little bad poor Ernie would have to go all the way into work to find that emergency cauldron bottom situation wasn’t quite the emergency that ministry owl had made it seem. But the boy had gotten a home cooked meal for dinner so he surely made out alright.

Smiling one more time to herself, a very satisfied Molly Weasley set about cleaning dishes, brainstorming how she might next get Percy to dinner along with that nice young man Oliver Wood.

#hinnyfic #hinnyficfest #runningwrites

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vividxp · 4 years ago

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I was scrolling the crspoilers tag on twitter and found a screenshot that someone posted of their talks question submission that asked if Matt felt a way that the group sidelined their revolutionary ideas as soon as they gained power.

And my instant reaction was:

Hold on, ‘revolutionary ideas?! the M9?!’

Wait, ‘power?! The M9?!’

Now, I actually think the bare essence of the question is a valid and interesting one; Matt clearly had plans about the setting of Wildemount and there were opportunities for the characters to really get involved in its contentious politics. But I would not describe the M9′s ideas or actions throughout the campaign as ‘revolutionary’ in any sense of the word. In fact for the most part the M9 have actively avoided getting involved in things unless it concerned a person they cared about. Arguably, it wasn’t until this last arc where you started to see the M9 start to move in a different direction.

So, sure, I absolutely would love to know how Matt felt about how the players approached the setting. I would like to know if he had to change things up because he felt the players weren’t responding to or having fun with what he put out there.

I wonder if in retrospect, recognizing that the M9 was very focused on their in-group, Matt would have tried harder to try and give the M9 some stakes and investment in Wildemount that were more than just existential and universal (as the Eiselcross arc was).

I think the biggest issue for anyone who was hoping for a revolutionary turn for the M9 is that the vast majority of the characters appeared to be/were disconnected from the political realities of the Empire and Dynasty which were the highlight of the campaign. Jester and Fjord were from Menagerie Coast which was neutral territory. Even at the height of the war between the Empire and the Dynasty, Nicodranus didn’t take a side, so it was the place where the M9 could go and not be worried about the Empire or Dynasty getting involved in their business. Yasha is Xhorhassian but from outside the Kryn Dynasty and from a tribe she was alienated from at the beginning of the campaign. Molly and Caduceus are from Shady Creek Run and the Blooming Grove respectively, two areas that once again are outside of the Empire and the Dynasty.

Beau, Caleb and Veth were citizens of the Empire. But despite that, Caleb was basically a nonentity and for the most part he wanted to keep it that way. He had a few moments here and there, but it was only until after the war wound down that he was like ‘ok, it’s not enough for only me to escape the Cerberus Assembly’. (Which is fine, mind you, that’s called having a character arc).

Beau is the only character that I would describe as someone who gained power during the campaign. However, I felt that becoming an expositor made only made Beau more invested in shaking shit up politically not less. However early on in the campaign, what did being a member of the Cobalt Soul actually mean for her? The Cobalt Soul never gave her any missions but allowed her to be a free agent and report back anything interesting that she found. There were some moments with Dairon during the Xhorhas arc, but again it fell mostly on Dairon to do that work instead of Beau and there wasn’t really any follow up on the choice Beau made to help them infiltrate the Dynasty especially since Dairon didn’t really discover anything the M9 didn’t already know. There was so much potential there but very little opportunity when it came to Beau who IMO would have absolutely risen to the moment.

And finally, you have Mrs. Veth Brenatto. Here’s a flaming hot take for y’all: the investment and stakes that the M9 had in the politics of Wildemount for the campaign was mainly because of Veth. Take her away and the M9 would have probably been pirates and out of things for a whole lot longer.

But even then, there were opportunities with Veth that were missed. For example, her whole entire backstory. The goblins who raided Felderwin during a harsh winter and killed her? Would that have happened if the Empire had treated goblins as actual citizens and not monsters to be eradicated? As Nott the Brave, it didn’t really matter that Yeza would have accepted her as a goblin, her home was still closed off to her because the Empire and the society at large would rather see her dead.

Though mind you, despite all that backstory it was never really engaged with at all. And Veth’s antipathy towards goblins seemed to be treated as a unique, personal character flaw that came from nowhere. But that makes zero sense! It wasn’t like the goblins who killed her could have went to the market that winter. The Empire is a deeply racist society that systematically excluded goblins from society and violently suppressed them into the margins. We got to see how things were in the Dynasty were goblins were allowed to live freely and participate in society. The issue and moral of the story isn’t ‘well Veth has to realize that goblins aren’t all bad’ the issue is to realize that she was the casualty of a moral and political failure of the Empire. That her circumstance was the consequence of a society that makes sure that the only option a group has for survival is violence. Those dots could have been connected and there was potential for change if the issue was ever confronted directly, but alas.

I have a lot more retrospective thoughts on the campaign, but long story short, I think that while you could argue that maybe the M9 were moving towards a more revolutionary direction and perhaps if the campaign kept going a little longer we could have seen it especially confronting a political institution like the Cerberus Assembly. But I definitely think the M9, for better or for worse, was very much a neutral party.

#critical role #the mighty nein #caleb widogast #beauregard lionett #veth brenatto #meta

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onceupona-chaos · 4 years ago

Text

Elain, healing arc and Night Court

In this post, I'll discuss a few points: Elain's healing arc, why it's most likely she's staying in the NC and why being an Archeron matters.

DISCLAIMER: My focus here is Elain, but I'll approach her discomfort towards the mating bond. As usual, English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes.

Be kind!!

SJM already told us that she planted seeds in ACOFAS for Nessian's book and "the next after that". With that in mind, in this post I'll approach how SJM, in both ACOFAS and ACOSF, set up Elain's story in terms of healing.

I'm doing this because every single time I see someone arguing this or that character is going to be main character because they need a healing arc as if Elain doesn't, my reaction is the same as Amren:

“Elain has her own problems to focus on.”

“Such as?”

Amren just gave me a Look. I ignored it.

Just to be clear: Elain needs one, too. So that argument applies to her as well.

So let's go back to ACOFAS.

“And you?” I made myself say. “Are you—all right?” Elain looked over a shoulder at me as we entered the foyer, then turned left— to the dining room. In the sitting room across the way, all conversation halted at the smell of food. “Why wouldn’t I be all right?” she asked, a smile lighting up her face. I'd seen those smiles before. On my own damn face. (ACOFAS)

Elain doesn't answer directly Feyre's question, she never said she was ok.

And what kind of smiles is Feyre taking about?

“Fine,” I breathed. I made myself look him in the eye, made myself smile. “

I was introduced and passed around, and my face hurt from the smile I kept plastered there day and night.

Looking at that box, at what was inside, felt like examining a crow-picked corpse. I tried to smile. Tried to will some brightness to my eyes.

These lines are from the beginning of ACOMAF, when Feyre was in an abusive relationship and suffering from what had happened UTM. When Feyre was in her worst and forced herself to smile, to look happy, when actually she was dying on the inside. Feyre took months, months to give a real smile.

That's what makes Starfall scene so special: it's when she genuinely smiled for the first time since UTM.

“Smile again,” he whispered.

I hadn’t smiled for him. Ever. Or laughed. Under the Mountain, I had never grinned, never chuckled. And afterward …

[...]

So I smiled at him, broad and without restraint.

“You’re exquisite,” he breathed.

Feyre knows what is to pretend. That is why Feyre acknowledges on her POV that Elain needs help. SJM made the comparison between smiles back in ACOFAS to show us that Elain is suffering in her own way.

Elain can be all sweet smiles, but I wonder how many of those are genuine, real.

"Like the rest of us, Elain’s recovery was ongoing."

"Most days, she was lucid—perhaps quiet and prone to melancholy, but aware."

"Quiet and prone to melancholy, but aware." Elain being aware and lucid means she's not trapped in her own visions as she once was. However, she's still melancholic (according to the dictionary, it means passive sadness).

She's struggling, but keeping it to herself.

I've said a million times and I will say it again: she is not fine and we don't know the first thing about what's going on in her head.

To me, the fact that Nesta kept saying Elain had become "the adjusted one" and how she only needed time to adjust only serves to show us that Elain's deal with her inner issues quietly.

For whatever reason that I'm not going to pretend I understand, Elain prefers to keep it to herself, but that doesn't mean she's not suffering.

SJM not only already told us that Elain's recovery is "ongoing", but she also emphasized Elain's trauma in ACOSF repeatedly.

But Elain said, “I went into the Cauldron, too, you know. And it captured me. And yet somehow all you think of is what my trauma did to you.”

“Elain was right. We’ve become so focused on how her trauma impacted us that we forget she was the one who experienced it.”

(...) he understood that Elain had spoken true, claiming the trauma of that memory.

Elain had been stolen. By Hybern. By the Cauldron, which had seen Nesta watching it and watched her in turn.

Do you not remember the Cauldron kidnapping you, bringing you into the heart of Hybern’s camp?

The Cauldron looked at her. And then took Elain.

“Bad things happened the last time. The Cauldron looked at me. And took Elain."

"I know. I helped rescue Elain, after all.” Az hadn’t so much as hesitated before going into the heart of Hybern’s war-camp.

He’d gone with Feyre into the heart of Hybern’s camp to save Elain—he knew the risk

These are just a few examples from the book, we still have Feysand's bonus chapter, too.

Do you really think SJM didn't want us to remember what Elain had been through? She is reminding us of what happened to Elain because this will be important.

Besides her trauma, the mating bond is another reason why she's struggle and ACOSF made that pretty clear (This is no way an insult to Lucien, the poor thing is clearly uncomfortable as well, but it's clear Elain doesn't want the bond and that's hurting her):

There had been some tightness in Elain’s face as she’d said it. Normally when she made such excuses, Lucien was around, but the male remained in the human lands with Jurian and Vassa.

Her brown eyes were wary. Usually, that look was reserved for Lucien.

So Elain is dealing with her trauma and with the mating bond.

Given that, I do not believe for a second Elain is leaving the NC, not only because she already said she's a part of that court, but also because of this:

"Unusual, yes, for Elain to be so vocal, but she’d been improving.

Elain is not completely healed, so her trauma and the mating bond need to be address in her own book.

However, she's not regressing either, she's is slowly improving and that's clear when we compare with the beggining of ACOWAR.

It's so different from this scene, where she loses all progress she'd made:

Elain only shrank further into herself, no trace of that newfound boldness to be seen.

Also, we already saw a glimpse of her "different side", of her developments and she didn't need to leave the NC.

With SJM, characters heal surrounding by people who love them and working on their struggles with their love interest ("healing in each others arms"). It's just the formula.

And honestly do you really think SJM is separating the sisters after this:

She found Feyre and Elain waiting halfway down the hill, Nyx now dozing peacefully in Elain’s arms. Her sisters beamed, beckoning her to join. And Nesta smiled back, her steps light as she hurried down the hill to meet them.

ACOSF IS NESSIAN STORY, BUT SJM STILL FINISHED THE BOOK WITH THE ARCHERON SISTERS.

She could've finished with Nessian and it would make absolutely sense, but she didn't. She chose to finish that way, because ACOTAR is about the sisters.

Just look at the books:

ACOTAR: Feyre Archeron going to the Fae world

ACOMAF: Feyre Archeron healing/ dealing with being turned Fae

ACOWAR: Feyre helping Nesta and Elain Archeron to deal with being turned Fae + war/("Nesta needs help" at the end)

ACOFAS: repercussions of the war/ Tie up Feyre's story/ Nesta and Elain's traumas and how both are dealing with

ACOSF: Nesta healing/ dealing with her trauma/ ("Elain needs help" at a bonus chapter)

I don't understand how there are people claiming that Elain being an Archeron means nothing. What books are you reading????

Of course your favorite characters can be side characters, but we can't misread their position in the novels. At the end of the day, the ACOTAR books are still about this:

All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match your own.

All three sisters were now High Fae with considerable powers.

The Cauldron chose three sisters.

Three sisters turned Fae.

Feyre needed help. Nesta needed help. And now...

"Let's focus on helping one sister before we start on the other."

SJM's telling us is time to help the other sister.

#pro elain #pro elain archeron #elain archeron #pro archeron sisters

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op-sheepy · 4 years ago

Note

ok so I'm particularly interested in

Bellamy Law

Law and Bible stuff

Law is a substitute kindergarten teacher

shichibukai applications

reverse hanahaki disease (?? do u spit out flowers when your nemesis walks by?)

if you feel like elaborating on any of these!

This is gonna get long and I actually contemplated posting them separately but would that have been more work? Yeah, that felt like more work so for anyone interested, check under the cut. :D

---------------------------------o

Bellamy Law

Hm… This would be an attempt to explore the parallels and contrasts between Bellamy and Law. I've always found it fascinating that the former was a foil to the latter.

They both come from well-off towns in the North Blue.

Bellamy left because of boredom. Law had no choice because Flevance.

Both ended up seeking Doflamingo because of his notoriety as a pirate. Both admired him initially

Doffy favored one over the other though. Bellamy always sought his approval but was never really part of the inner circle Doflamingo cared about.

Law got the dubious privilege of being part of the family despite being absent for so long. Even offered one of the highest seats by Doffy's side for seemingly nothing.

Law had no trouble turning his back on Doffy once he realized the man's nature. Bellamy tried to stick to his principles until the end despite admitting that he new he was wrong.

Bellamy can (and did) quit piracy after his ordeal with Doflamingo. Having the option to live peacefully, perhaps a return to his previous life (the one he considered boring). Law can't do that quite as easily what with his Devil fruit and his reputation.

I thought it would be interesting trying to explore what Bellamy was thinking. Did he hear the Donquixote Pirates talk about their missing 'family'? Did he get to see Doffy be amused at Law's rise as a Supernova while he kept being reminded of his own status? Did Law save Bellamy partially because he also saw what he could have been had Corazon not saved him?

On principle, Bellamy should have hated Trafalgar Law. Does. Bastard even saved him without him wanting it. But there was something about the shadows haunting those eyes and Bellamy started to wonder.

He had heard the family talk about Law before. The child personally taught by Doflamingo, chosen to be his right hand. Never was he compared to the man because Law was just obviously better. Smarter. Stronger. Bellamy was ever just an uncouth thug.

He was allowed to 'borrow' Doflamingo's symbol while Law had an empty seat waiting for his return–a seat Bellamy had wanted enough to risk everything for.

Maybe he had resented, Trafalgar Law for carelessly rejecting the things he had that Bellamy had always desired. In the end too, Trafalgar Law did prove to be better. He'd done as a child what Bellamy had trouble doing even as he was now.

But having been given the chance to observe the other man as they all recovered, he wondered, perhaps for the first time, whether despite Law being better than Bellamy, Bellamy had had it better–barring the poor life choices.

---------------------------------o

Law and Bible stuff

This is just me wanting to know how many biblical parallels and themes I can draw from Law, the Donquixote brothers, the characters associated with them, and his backstory. Honestly not sure whether this would become a fic and in what style or I'm gonna give up and just make it a post.

Not gonna elaborate on them much but here are the ideas in more bullet points (yay):

Law gets familiar with all four horsemen of the apocalypse: conquest, war, famine, and death. He even survives them.

Law is like the son in the parable of the prodigal son to the Donquixote pirates. Except the themes are inverted.

Doflamingo and Rocinante -> Cain and Abel

Ope Ope no Mi -> Granting eternal life by sacrificing one's own life

Gods descending or living among humans. Also, Homing and his family being prosecuted for other people's sins.

That scene where they were hanged by their arms outstretched looks like a crucifixion. Also, Rocinante was on the right while Doflamingo was on the left. Similar to how the penitent thief was on the right and the unrepentant one to the left.

Flevance being considered a paradise with walls/fences/gates and somewhere Law cannot return to.

In the panel where the Donquixote pirates are seated at the table, there were thirteen of them with Doffy at the center. Same as The Last Supper

There are a lot more of these (David and Goliath, Solomon, Jonah, Job, etc.) but I kinda lost the notes and some are more visual so I can't really explain it too well. This would is a drabble series to emphasize or highlight the parallels so no proper snippet for this one.

---------------------------------o

Law is a substitute kindergarten teacher

Originally an idea to get around most of the Heart Pirates being nameless but evolved to include other characters as kids. Chopper is a kindergarten teacher and he convinces Law to take over his class for a week because somehow Law has the qualifications to and free time. Naturally, he wasn't able to say no.

Unfortunately, despite not being terrible at handling children, Chopper's class is filled with menaces. Also, despite not being terrible, Law can still be awkward so...

"Mr. Trofao–fargar—"

"Trafalgar."

The kid—which one was this one again? Shit, he should really get them name plates or something—scrunched up his face and tried harder, "Tar-pal—"

"Law. Just call me Law."

"Mr. Low"—eh, close enough—"can I go to the bathroom?" Wide imploring eyes stared up at him.

"Sure, go ahead." Law gestured towards the exit of the classroom with his head.

The kid just stared expectantly at him and he tried to suppress the need to narrow his eyes.

"Is there… anything else?"

"Mr. Chopper always comes with me to hold my hand."

Really?

"Mr. Chopper isn't here. You should practice doing it on your own now." He said after a deep inhale.

"But the monsters might get me…"

"No, they won't."

"You don't know that."

"I do." Before the kid could open his mouth again to argue, he added, "Besides, children taste terrible so you're safe."

The kid looked stricken and took a step back from him. Uh oh. Glistening eyes, wobbling lower lip… "Alright! I'll go with you." The kid did not look reassured. In fact he looked like going alone with Law was the last thing he wanted to do. Guess, he kinda implied that he ate children didn't he? Oops.

Well, the kid needs to go and he's not going to be cleaning up after him if he wets himself.

Law glanced at the rest of the children. It was Arts and Craft time and they seemed preoccupied enough. Still, Law doubted Chopper ever left these kids alone–already he could see some of them glancing up at him, waiting for him to leave no doubt to cause trouble. That Monkey kid in particular looked extremely suspicious.

He stood up from his crouch and clapped twice to get everyone's attention.

"Alright. Fall in line. Single file."

There was some grumbling and questioning directed at him. "What's going on?"

Law shrugged. "You're all going to the bathroom."

---------------------------------o

Shichibukai Application Forms

Crackfic where the World Government and relevant parties review various Shichbukai Applications. Most submitted by the pirates applying themselves, some produced by their own staff. They discuss and debate. As well as judge pirate resumes.

She scanned the document. Terrible format, really. If you fail to impress within the first page, you've failed entirely. There just wasn't anyone promising enough in this batch of applications or any of the other ones before. The last one had been that clown. "Apprentice to the Pirate King," was a pretty hefty credential.

"Oh, how about this one? Three years experience pillaging, and they even listed all the towns they looted." One of the newly transferred administrative staff said.

"None of these are worth considering at all. You know, when Mihawk was asked to submit his application, he hadn't bothered with all of this. He just sent us a card with his name on it and the title "World's Strongest Swordsman," underneath."

The staff perked up. "Oh, there was an application like that." There was scramble and some shuffling before a plain white card was produced. "Here."

"'From Trafalgar Law'. What does this even mean?"

"Well, it did come with a big box..."

---------------------------------o

Reverse Hanahaki Disease

(?? do u spit out flowers when your nemesis walks by?)

Haha. At first it was going to be that way (because it is hilarious) but the inflicted would probably choke to death too soon. Or if both enemies had it, they'd end up just coughing flowers at each other until they stopped being enemies.

The version I ended up going with was that this variant of Hanahaki, instead of afflicting those with unrequited love, affected those in denial instead. The reverse part comes from the original idea that this would usually happen if you somehow fell in love with your nemesis (someone you originally hated). So it's not the thought that the other person can't love you, it's that you can't accept that you love that other person. You get cured by confessing to the person sincerely.

This is actually another KidLaw (surprise!). And the flower coughed up directly represents the person they're in love with (I went with Oda's flower representation for them because I found it funny for plot)

So the idea is that, you get sick but you don't automatically know (maybe) who it is because that's part of being in denial. Kid and Law have many enemies after all. In this story they both get it though not exactly at the same time and not known to the other.

He survived Amber Lead Syndrome only to be killed off by a stupid flower disease that apparently knows more about his own feelings than he does.

He glared at the petals. Tulips. Red.

An image of a cocky grin and a shock of red hair flashed through his mind and—nope. That's not right.

He coughed harder, tears stinging his eyes with the effort. More flowers. Now he has enough for a bouquet.

Alright, he was a doctor. He could do this. Differential time.

First, which variant does he have. He doesn't particularly feel unloved or hopeless. There wasn't anyone he wanted in particular to love him. Ok, nothing. It was maybe safe to say he had that other variant.

Which was stupid because Law had many enemies and he hated all of them.

And cue the racking coughs. More red. He was very familiar with that particular shade.

New theory. This was a new variant that somehow makes you sick when you think of the person you hated the most.

Yes, that had to be it. He thought as he all but collapsed on the floor from the sudden paroxysm.

I knew this was gonna get long. :) Oh well...

Thank you for playing. :D

#One Piece #One piece fanfiction #wip game #trafalgar law #donquixote brothers #donquixote doflamingo #donquixote roci #donquixote homing #donquixote pirates #one piece bellamy #bellamy the hyena #eustass kid #kidlaw #trafalgar d water law

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