#say you actually do want to punish her and go

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

Dorana 2 let her mouth drop and broke eye contact on Oberon. Her palms are rubbing her clothes. Their mother, Dorana who is there, behind her daughter, proud of her daughter for apologizing, is surprise by her son’s rejection. “Why? Why won’t you forgive me?” Dorana 2 asked.

Oberon let out a sigh. “You bullied me. Bullying is a serious crime here on Earth as you get older. The older you get, you will forget what you have done, but the victims never forget. No amounts of apologies will never make up for it.”

“Oberon, she did not know about your existence back then,” Dorana defended.

He frowns at his mother, who he sees after nine years of living all alone. “She did not know that I was bullied for having no parents, and isolated me from you whenever I visited.” He said.

“What? Oberon, I didn’t know, we can talk about this, so that there is no more misunderstandings.” Said Dorana, heart crushed by what happened to her son.

“I don’t cares about it anymore. Goodbye!” Oberon declared.

“Oberon, wait!”

Dorana 2 grasping at Oberon’s arm. “Don’t go!”

Oberon narrowed his eyes and his arm phrased through, freed from her grasp. He turns invisible and fly away. Dorana 2 chasing after him.

“Dora!” Said their mother, follow her daughter and catch her in her arms.

“Mom! Let me go! I have to apologize!” Said Dorana 2. “I need to fixed this. We can be a family again.”

“Dorana 2, that is enough. The damages are done. I lost my son again. You got what you wanted.” She declared in quiet rage, with tears in her angry yet disappointed and despair in her eyes fall down in Dorana 2’s face.

Dorana 2’s conflicted eyes are shaken up as she see that she hurt her own mom’s feelings again.

~~

Hours have passed, Dorana 2 is in her room, at The Solaria’s Townsville summer house, rightfully punished for her actions. All while Dorana is sitting on a sofa in the living room, thinking about where she has messed up in parenting because she did not raise her daughter to be a bully. Argan, sitting next to her is comforting his big sister.

“I just don’t know what went wrong! She was suppose to be a good fairy. At the same time, Oberon should not be unforgiving toward her sister. They are just kids!” Said Dorana.

Argan nod, agreeing to her, but there is a doubt on his face because he is contemplating on what she said.

“You are not wrong, he is a kid, however he is knowledgeable. I don’t blamed Oberon for building boundaries to protect himself, even if it means not wanting to be Dora’s brother,” Argan admitted. “Her words actually hurt. Oberon is not the only one who suffered and you enabled her behavior.” Her younger brother pointed it out. He brushed his red dyed short hair.

Dorana is conflicted by what he said. “Excuse me? What are you even saying little brother?”

“I am saying that Oberon is not the only victim. You cutted my hair short, while I was asleep and then suggested to me to dye my hair and change my attire to stop being teased.” Argan continued with a sad tone. “The most hurtful parts are it influenced my own kids and your own kids to do the same thing and you not being there for me, after all I done for you. That is why it all goes wrong….” He said. His words cause Dorana’s world to shaken in a realization. A realization that she changed for the worst. Where did the kind hearted queen who loves her brother, and not want to hurts his feelings ever again go?

“I do wonders, where did my big sister go?” The Co-King of Lumenia asked sadly.

“I have no idea…..,” the Co-Queen of Lumenia answered.

Dorana 2 Starling of Lumenia and Oberon belong to @gloriousdreamunknown

Prompt #1118

"We both made mistakes. But I don't think I can forgive yours."

[chaoskull]

Briton Rivière - Una and the Lion

Devoided of Words - part 2

Lion El'Johnson x fem!reader

Summary: Lion has now learned about his mistakes, but in a moment of closeness in isolation, was he truly able to keep such a promise of composure?

Thank you so much for the love on Part 1!

Finally finished part 2, I'm not sure what happened, I had a clear vision on the start, but then I just kept going.

Days have passed since she last saw him, from what she has heard, nothing like that has happened ever since, it was most likely he'd been in the castle for a week.

Unexpectedly, as she wanders through the fortress, she hears the voice of Luther.

A window seat outlooks a patio below, if she's lucky enough she may be able to see him, so she sits inclined forward to observe the scene below her. She can't quite make the situation he's being punished for, but through the strings of curses, and the anger of the one reprimanding him, she can recognize that he won't be able to leave his wrath until he deems him conscious of his actions.

Lion stares at the man, Luther scolds him, but all he thinks is how those men dared to take him away from you days ago, their smell must've been all over you, he despises the ideia. He wished nothing more than to hold you again, bathe you in his scent, he must take you away from them, where no one is to find your location, to be the two of you alone in your closeness.

He knows what he's done is wrong, the look Luther gives him says much, but he ignores the motive he was actually here for, he is to find you tomorrow at best, perhaps you may be near the place he once found you.

Something catches his attention, he's being watched, instinctively he looks up only to find her, she quickly tucks her head in to view him more discreetly, blocking his sight of her. The words stop for a moment and she hears the movement of steps of someone in armor.

Luther approaches the boy, he follows the boy's gaze to the window and he questions Lion, firmly pointing up to the window, he looks back at him dismissively, Luther sighs and pats the boy on the shoulder leading him away.

Now she's curious of the boy's behavior, she'll have no other way, she must find him and have her answers. He might've not spoken to her, but his conviction afflicted her, his utmost obstinacy and determination captivated her. ‘Today I must wait, they don’t seem to want to leave him alone yet’ she concludes.

Luther never thought one could improve their knowledge in such short time, and yet the young man, who he discovered, is far more clever than others he'd deem near his age, in addition to that, he knew nothing before he was taken to study.

To learn a language, as late as the boy started, is both complicated and grueling. He heard from a few colleagues that it would be hard to teach the boy, but this case is exceptional.

Values and morals are complex to understand, but Lion seems to absorb them at an incredible rate.

However, the knight can be stressed at times the beastly habits the boy shows appear erratically, it was to be expected. He was to make Lion into an honored person, he decided it'd be best to teach him another lesson on the matter.

He guides Lion to a study, where he can learn and be uninterrupted, as it seems the boy seems not to care for his teaching. The walls of the room seem to be entirely covered in books, he takes a long while finding which to take as he looks back he's met with the bored gaze of the boy, he's in desperate need to find a second tutor to supervise him.

A round wooden table is positioned in the middle of the room, he places a book he deems fit to educate the young man on it and sits, gesturing for Lion to do the same.

He does what the man asked of him and sits, he did not wish to be reprimanded again, specially after being chastised in her presence, it was humiliating to know that she was attentively watching as Luther shouted rules and principals at him, he doesn’t feel anger as much as he’s ashamed, he thinks she know what it meant when he was punished, that he was wrong for his doing, and so if he was to see her again only for her refuse him as she initially did.

The book cracks when opened, Lion awakes from his thoughts, and Luther starts, he speaks with clarity to emphasize every syllable, the boy was sick of this, he takes a look at the book, searching for words, focusing on their meaning, he points to 'need' and 'girl’.

He did not want to be separated from her so quickly, their moment together was far too short, and yet he yearns for her.

"You've known her for minutes! What are you talking about?!" Luther exclaims, perplexed by his proclamation, "No, you do not." He says as clearly as possible for the boy to definitely understand.

The answer is a simple connection for Lion now, the opposite of ‘no’. "Yes." Lion replies, it's been days since he uttered a word from his mouth, his deep voice, without practice, is hoarse as he speaks. “So now you speak, I see” Luther is starting to feel more irritated by the second.

“I will take you to her, you finish this first” He gives in to the boy’s wishes to prevent what could become a far worse scenario.

Lion's eyes are now trained to the book in full concentration, he silently hears the teachings, just as how it was in his initial days, when he was completely foreign to civilization.

As Luther explains to him the subject of human relations yet again, he disciplines the boy about the importance of boundaries to prevent the boy from being part of another disastrous scene. Lion waits for this expendable conversation to end.

Lesson concluded, as promised, Luther took the boy to where she could possibly be, he found her at a secluded watchtower, now abandoned, many artifacts, books, and scrolls could be seen everywhere.

She was sitting on a couch that was pushed in front of a bookshelf but quickly got up to greet them. What he did not expect was to not be acknowledged, she looked at Lion, who stood still as if he was asking for a cue so he could act.

The look they give each other is what one could describe as embarrassment or nervosism. Luther stands in front of the girl, grabbing Lion by the arm as if he'd latch himself at her immediately if he were let go, they were two adolescents, an adult figure interfering their communication, and so they stare at each other not knowing what to do.

Although it's clear something else is present in Lion's mind, he seems tense at the presence of Luther near you, his jaw was clenched, shapely eying the man, he wishes to get rid of him.

“I've come to you as it seems Lion is fond of your company, I am in need to have a reunion with members of the order” Luther speaks breaking the silence, he pats the boy on the shoulder and takes his leave. “I'll leave you two be, Lion” He says in a warning tone.

The moment the knight is out of sight he gets closer, he knows you won't be interrupted a second time if he is to be less abrupt, so he tries to get near her as caustically as possible. That is in his view to walk towards her and embrace her in his arms.

Luckily she expected it to be like this and so she lets him hold her, waiting until his grip on her loosens a little to move back.

“Do you… speak now or…?” She tentatively asks and receives no verbal answer, only another grunt.

He tries again to envelope her in an embrace, but she quickly catches his arms holding in place, he leans forward anyways, in what could be almost considered a careful attempt to pounce on her, only to make her stumble from his weight and fall back to the couch.

She winces, being squashed between him and the furniture. “What a graceful hunter you must've been.” she comments and is met by a displeased gaze from Lion. “...you understand me?” she asks, curious to know if he knew what she said.

He presses her further on the couch only to drop himself entirely on top of her, pulling his arms off her hands. He nods, no matter how much he learns, he's always kept himself silent, although now that could change, there is more that stops him from doing so.

Even in an environment that is foreign to him, Lion had always had himself in control, as a hunter he'd have a plan for all possible scenarios in his head. Now his issue was not one in need of a violent or authoritarian resolve, he was to present himself in a much different way, one he had no idea on how to do so.

Caring gestures were out of his mastery, as of now he's found a solution, closeness. At times, in the forest and castle, he'd been observant of the couples, both beast and human, one common factor had always been fisical affinity.

In truth, the reason for his lack of words was that Lion was not trusting of his speech, he had no knowledge of the habits of humans in such regard, as the subject seems to be closed for those who participate in such costumes and Luther had no interest in teaching him about such things.

The girl was waiting for a response that would not be uttered, even if he did know what she said meant he could not answer her yet. His expression said enough, he thinks, although in her vision he practically didn't move a line on his face. But one thing didn't change, his eyes, once again, almost made her tremble in his hold.

He leans in, his face getting closer to hers for a second - she notices the awful bruise he must've gotten had healed already - only to nuzzle on her hair and shoulder. She will be certainly his, he'll make sure they will all know that.

“What are you doing, Lion?” She says, just to avoid having a long period of stillness.

Placing her hands on his shoulder blades she can feel the rise and fall of his breaths, and when doing so she notes a fairly small hum coming from his throat.

Shifting slightly to properly lay on the couch she accidentally drops a book she was reading before. The action surprised Lion, lifting himself from her to look at the perpetrator only to find another book, how he despises them now.

She reaches out for it but is stopped by Lion who takes it himself and is about to throw it across the room “You want to read it?” He stops to look at her, she seems so interested as she looks at him in fascination, an itch let her read it takes ahold of him, no matter how much he despises when Luther does so.

Shoving the book to her, she takes it, and opens to reveal what appears to be a historical book, she does not truly know what could be understood by him, but regardless she starts to read to him.

Lion didn't care for it, he stopped listening after a while, all he could concentrate on was her voice, her lips, and eyes. He had to sit beside her, inclining into her back. A hunting beast can wait patiently for long before they are certain they'll claim their prey, and now he embraces her, in a blissful moment, as if his life depended on it.

A true successful capture would be if no one was to disturb the two of them, but that will soon happen no matter how much he's against it.

I'm not sure I'll be able to continue writing so I kinda left it on an open ending, hope yall like it!

[hyperions-light]

hey I was planning another post today but instead let’s talk about how much I love that there’s not really a ‘good’ ending to the companion plotlines in Veilguard. It reminds me of Leliana and Alistair’s plotlines in DAO in that what you choose says more about the player/protagonist than anything

I just finished Isana Negat a second time, and I did the other ending and I thought it was just as good. Like, yeah, Harding does deserve to be angry! They did fucking get everything taken away from them! It’s so painful and horrific; yes you can, and should, be mad! But also Harding prioritizing her very real love for and compassion towards other people is not wrong. It’s just different! It’s just Rook’s friend/lover asking them for advice, and Rook giving it! You know, like in real life except with huge magical rock giants

And okay I’m never going to kill Illario because I think it would make Luca really sad and he has enough problems, Whoops I misremembered this, I don’t think you can kill Illario actually. I love that for Luca <3 But yk, I’m probably still not going to imprison him. but I can see it! Because the cycle has to end, right? The violence and infighting of the Crows endlessly attacking each other over power is part of what allowed the Antaam to get a foothold in Antiva, because there was like a double agent or something (if I’m remembering right from Tev Nights). Some kind of ending needs to be made to this endless violence. And I suppose it depends on how retributive Rook is, which is a great question to ask of the player (one that is asked repeatedly throughout the game). It’s not like Illario didn’t do anything, you know! He probably deserves punishment. But Rook, as they always can at various points, can be merciful, can choose absolution. Wow no, I’m glad I was wrong I love it more like this.

And oh boy, I LOVED the ending of Emmrich’s quest, don’t even get me started! Like!! I thought it was going to be ‘well obviously we HAVE to save Manfred’, but how Emmrich talks about accepting his death and his sacrifice convinced me! I was like alright man, this is a real choice! I actually did make him a lich last time (made a lot of sense from a Watcher perspective, imo) and not only was the cutscene sick as hell, but the follow-up was so funny and I got some really sad Spite dialogue which fucking wrecked me. It was great— seriously, his plotline is one of my favorites in the whole game.

And Davrin’s! I’ve already expounded at length about how much I like his quest line and how it ties into the Grey Wardens, but I really think both of his options for the griffons are so workable, because you know the Grey Wardens, especially under Antione and Evka, aren’t going to hurt those little guys again! But also the scenes with Eldrin are so endearing, and Davrin’s hope for a brighter future for them is so sweet and genuine. It’s hard to pick! It’s about Rook's perspective!

Neve's I'll admit I don't vibe with as much just because of the like 'trust the authorities' angle, but i haven't tried saving Minrathous yet and I think it would be sooooo involving as a Shadow Dragon especially. Because that's what they're fighting for, right? That better Minrathous where they CAN be sure that if they send the insane cultist lady to prison she’s going to stay there? But there’s always the practical consideration of people’s lives being at stake NOW, of Neve needing her friends safe NOW. And just killing Aelia ensures she will never be an issue again. So I can see both angles for sure

And Taash ;-; oh, Taash. I haven���t posted about them that much yet because they make me very emotional and it’s hard to organize thoughts like that. But I really love their quest, and their struggle to define themselves. And look, I know people wanted the option to tell them they could be both, but like as a person who has lived a similar experience, it really feels sometimes like the world is making you choose. It can feel like you’re not enough of either thing for anyone. And there are parts of your identity that you will have to make a choice on, and I think it’s trying to speak to that. I did the Rivaini one, and it’s like… well, they’re embracing the culture of Rivain, but it’s not like anyone is ever going to look at them and NOT see a Qunari. You can’t get away from that. What you choose to do in response is a real dilemma and I think that if you engage with the text genuinely you can see what Trick was doing. Also, there is a really great dialogue from Rook that I think gives more context to the discussion; they can say that they have been many things, and it’s important to take what works from each experience and make it part of yourself. So I don’t think Taash’s plot is trying to make them throw away any of themselves, just defining priorities. (Sorry, that got long. Feelings, opinions about that one)

And I don’t think Bellara’s is obvious, either, especially with how they involve the Nadas Dirthalen in her personal plot. This is a thing that is really emotionally and culturally significant to her, but at the same time it is part of what hurt her brother and ultimately took him away from her. She’s really preoccupied with not causing harm by her actions; she spends the whole game worried about it! And even though Rook doesn’t see the dangerous elements of the repository, that doesn’t mean they’re not there. The puzzle quest you can find in Arlathan proves that other people besides Cyrian were taken in by Anaris. And also, there’s the plot thread they briefly touched on in the last game which is that the culture the Dalish have built, that they have RIGHT NOW, is not wrong. You can tell Solas during the romance that you want to keep the Vallaslin, even knowing what it once meant, because it means something else to the elves now. But it’s also important to remember history, even if it’s unpleasant or could be dangerous, which is another thing you can discuss with Bellara during the game. So there’s no wrong choice! It’s just about Rook and Bellara and what’s important from their perspectives.

Anyway it was super refreshing to have these kinds of choices! It reminds me of the best character choices in DAI and DAO, especially, and I’m so happy they carried those things forward and improved on them.

[jamethinks]

Model Un but instead it's model parliament.

Damian obviously goes for prime minister but he couldn't pick between emile and ewen for deputy so he just picked George for some reason.

Becky wanted to go for leader of the opposition but got too nervous, and somehow, Anya managed to become the leader of the opposition. Everyone was pissed because they were sure Anya was going to lose. Becky was realistically their best pick since she had the charisma and aggression to match Damian.

In a shocking turn of events, Anya actually does well. Her method? Just disagree. Eventually, the cracks in Damian's plans will show, Mr Henderson will catch it, and therefore, Anya will and she can send him packing every time.

Also, since Ostania is a capitalist hellscap, comrade Anya had no problems denouncing everything with a bit of repressed Marxism.

----------

Damian: Before we begin, let's have a prayer and welcome the Lord into this space to guide us along this discussion.

Students: sure

Anya: hold it right there buckaroo. I am not Christian I am Muslim. I have no interest in praying to your God.

Damian: fine then pray to whatever made up god you worship

Students: *nods in agreement, Anya's team is getting nervous*

Anya: Mr. Desmond. Did you know only 47% of Ostanians identify with some denominator of Christianity. Not to mention there's an approximate 0.1% who practice Islam. Are you sure this is the approach you want to take when discussing religious diversity.

Damian: jeez what's the point of focusing on 0.1% of the population? Just sit down and let us pray.

Anya: *mischievous smirk*

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

Damian: i think we can all agree the tax rate for the upper class is far too extreme. We worked very hard for our money no reason we should be punished extra for doing better

Students: *rousing applause in agreement*

Anya: I object!

Damian: that's not what you're supposed to say Anya

Anya: speaker of the house, I want to relay a few important statistics to you. The proposed tax brackets will mostly impact Ostanians making over one bazillion dalc a year. And according to recent surveys only 0.1% of Ostanians make that much a year. In fact, the total percentage of people that will be caterized in the upper 3 brackets is a whooping 3%.

Damian: whats your point?

Anya: I'm just saying, the increase in government revenue can be extremely beneficial to the public and helping to improve the southern states infrastructure. Why are we passing on such a beneficial bill? Because it can slightly inconvenience 0.1% of Ostanians compared to the 36% that will be aided with the infrastructure improvements?

Henderson, in his head: honestly I'm just surprised she knows so many words and numbers. I checked out an hour ago when they started debating ice cream flavors.

Damian: t-those statistics are wrong

Anya: oh really? *snaps*

Martha, fabricating out of thin air, sets up a poster board.

Anya: right here on this board we can see all my numbers accurately crunched with sources properly cited.

Damian: there is no way you did that.

Anya: Of course not. Your brother did.

Damian: WHY WOULD YOU MAKE MY BROTHER DO THAT?

Anya: fufu, in the wise words of the longest running Prime minister of Ostania, the Right Honourable Sir Donovan Desmond, "The key to success is humility. To know what you cannot do and surround yourself with those who can."

Students: *applauding in agreement*

Damian: don't quote my dad? And what does that have to do with anything?

Anya: tch, Is this your prime minister? I say we have a vote of no confidence!

Students: *cheering in agreement*

Anya: *goes on a vaguely communist tangent. Starts just speaking Russian at some point*

Damian: what the hell just happened?

Class: Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch! Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch! Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt Euch!

Henderson: none of you are working class? You're literally calling for your own downfall...?

[sufferu]

Your fantastic writing skills gave me angst I demand compensation. Lol. You gave me a lot to think about and I have to say, in my nearly 9 years of being an avid fanfic reader. A writer never made me THIS invested.

After being abandoned by everyone, do you think subaru will go to Priscilla? She was the only one who saw his side.

I have to say tho I get Subaru's side more. He can't control RBD. If anyone had the power to bring back loved ones they would. I'm sure Ferris wouldn't hesitate to save crush. I think everybody is so upset that they tunnel visioned and didn't do right by him. Everything is outside of his control. He doesn't choose to come back. But he is, so he tries to save more people everytime.

Subaru obviously has issues. And I don't like the way the re zero narrative punishes him for using RBD. Meanwhile, Al is over here spaming reset with no consequences.

The world hates Subaru and the rest of the cast blame him. He is trying harder then ANYONE to LIVE, but they call him a suicidal monster.

I’m so glad that you’re enjoying my fic! That is some high praise right there, lol: I do hope to meet those expectations going forward ;)

Though I will say…I am approaching this from a slightly different angle. For starters — this will be a lot clearer in the actual chapter than it was in this ficlet, but Arc 5 does not go the same way it does in canon, hence how Subaru managed to save EVERYONE and capture/kill literally every attacking Archbishop in Priestella. This is the main reason why everyone is so angry and devastated. If it were canon Arc 5, things might have gone differently. …Then again, Arc 8 DOES exist. So maybe we would have ended up in this situation someday regardless.

But also…well.

Return By Death isn’t JUST a powerful ability that Subaru has access to: it is the epitome of weaponized self-destruction, in which he can literally sacrifice himself over and over again for the sake of those around him whether they like it or not. He is fully capable of taking all their pain on himself, of placing himself in unimaginably horrible situations on other people’s behalf, and doing it for…maybe even all of eternity, depending on how things go. If you’ve ever read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin — Subaru has the potential to basically become That for the entirety of Lugunica. And even worse: if he’s employed as a knight, it is arguably his sworn duty to do exactly that, because a knight is a profession in which one lays down their life for the people they want to protect. What does that turn into when the knight can do that again and again, indefinitely?

The cast of Re:Zero shows every sign that they would absolutely fucking hate the idea of being reliant on something that disgusting. Julius sacrifices his reputation to try and keep Subaru alive, Tivey and Hetaro declare that throwing away one’s life for a cause is a fucking joke, Ferris has this whole thing about valuing life to the point where just a hint of Subaru being suicidal sends him into an actual nervous breakdown, Vincent is raked through the coals for his attempt to sacrifice himself for his country just that one time by both the narrative and the people around him, Arc 4 exists — there’s A Lot that points to most of these characters finding the idea of this cycle of repeated sacrifice bring just AWFUL, and even to the idea that they’d actively take offense to someone attempting to do such a thing on their behalf.

There is one exception to this rule, however, and that is Priscilla Barielle — who actively praises subjects that sacrifice themselves for her, who forces Aldebaran to reset whenever he does something she doesn’t like, who praised Subaru as a brilliant knight when he was (narratively speaking) at his very worst, who symbolizes the mechanisms of fate itself, who’s final moment involved her sacrificing herself for her homeland, and who is in every way the pinnacle of the Sword Wolf that Vollachia praises as the ideal subject (VOLLACHIA, mind you, which is a nation that has the whole Muspel contract going on). Priscilla is an actual monster, an awful personality, and the antithesis of the themes of Re:Zero. So her siding with Subaru in this instance is — completely in character, but it’s one of the most damning things I feel I could have done.

(I am glad that someone was able to actually connect with her though — was afraid that I made her too cartoonishly evil lmao)

As for what’s happening to Subaru now…well, you’re right about the end of that duel being the rock bottom of his character’s state in this fic. But — just because he was fired from his post doesn’t mean he’s being ABANDONED. They can’t afford to abandon a time traveler to be left to his own devices, first of all. But also, even in they’re all Very Angry with him right now…all these people still love him an awful lot. There’s a reason Wilhelm decided to duel him for the position and take the blame for his removal all upon himself, instead of doing something that would leave Subaru more at the mercy of public opinion. And there’s a reason Crusch’s idea of “suicide watch” was basically, “Hey, Wilhelm, do you want a new grandchild?” instead of something like “Let’s imprison him in the catacombs of the Kingdom.” They DO care about him. That’s the problem.

[chaoticly-shy-dragon]

I'm back with more demigod dead boy detectives (parts one and two for those interested)! In short, Edwin is a son of Athena (born at the turn of the 20th century) who spent seventy years in the fields of punishment by accident - after he escaped it was 1989 and most of the gods had moved to America of all places.

And despite all that, St Hilarion was still functioning as a demigod heaven. Edwin is not happy. At all.

Charles on the other hand is having an interesting time all around. The backstory for him that I came up with starts from before he was born. The OG pjo au that I read had his father be Ares and yes?! I adore the Frank Zang of him?

But his mom and Ares didn't click in my mind until I realized that Ares is in an on-and-off relationship with Aphrodite - who is cutting and sharp and tough but also soft and ditsy and a bit shallow. His past lovers don't all need to be veterans or kickboxers. It was an eureka moment, to be honest.

Charles' mom (name still in the works) met Ares in a museum showcasing ancient pottery and jewelry - some of them Greek - most of which depicted old heroic tales or bore the scars of the years. They started talking completely by chance - Aphrodite had stood Ares up and he didn't feel like going back to what he was doing. He decided to check this collection out - to reminisce or to try and remember fallen friends. Or just to sulk. Either way, he was there.

Charles's future mom sees him and the conflicting aesthetic of his clothing and the display he was looking at makes her want to talk with him. They hit it off. He asks to see her again and the rest is history.

They are together for four months before she gets pregnant. As expected from a god, Ares disappears from her life with only a few words. Charles's mom is left alone with a baby, in a shitty apartment with no family in the country.

It sucks. Like a lot.

Then she meets Paul Richard Rowland.

(I'm sorry but I can't do Paul's name dirty in a pjo au, I just can't. Although the irony was amusing enough to make me consider it for a whole second.)

They hit it off even with the occasionally crying baby in the next room. Soon they are engaged to be married - and married soon afterward. Charles's last name is changed and would you look at that - a happy family.

Not.

Charles is a charming and athletic boy with a love for ska and a bit of a temper. His dad is a cunt and his mom is quiet. That's fine until it isn't.

In an argument, it gets out that Richard isn't Charles's actual father (he is 14 when that happens). Stuff gets progressively worse after that (both with Richard and with the monsters - Richard's whole "something is wrong with you" really drives in the "I am different" mindset you really don't want in an untrained demigod) until Charles' mom gets desperate and contacts the boarding school - Ares had assured her that it would always have a spot for Charles.

(The phone number is that of the school board of all the still functioning demigod establishments. Had Charles been a girl they would have referred the mom to one of the all-girls or mixed schools. It's a system run by descendants, wind spirits and satyrs.)

((It's not as efficient as say sending satyrs to schools, but they only have so many satyrs. They do the guardian routine! Honest!))

Fast forward and Charles has been to St Hil for almost a year and a half. He is a semi-full-year camper in the sense he went home once for one summer and then only for two to three days a year.

He gets along with his siblings and the cricket team. He is friendly and nice but 80s racism and classist bullshit exist - he can't be too vocal with his thoughts and opinions less he is ostracized by his peers, he has to play a role he only has half the script of. The demigod thing isn't always a blessing.

He is a deft hand with daggers and knives, he is skilled with a sword - but he would prefer to play cricket or go to concerts. No magical barrier means nightly patrols and the occasional monster attack.

Cue the death scene. It plays like canon but with weapons. He is chased into the freezing lake by his siblings and his former mates. (And Charles had been so excited about having siblings - but this - they - he couldn't call brothers.)

There aren't any naiads during the winter - or they are sleeping deep into it. No one intervenes. He manages to escape his pursuers by going deeper into the woods until he comes across an old shed.

Charles goes in.

(He didn't hear the sharp snap of twigs and branches in the other direction of the one he was going. He didn't notice the second pair of footsteps shadowing his own.)

((He does see the lantern.))

And they finally meet. Isn't it grand? (TBC)

[yes-i-write-fanfiction]

Hey how are you doing I happy your inbox is open again so how would the tfa bots and elite guard react to Optimus and sentinel femme bot daughters got into a physical cat fight because sentinel daughter make fun of Optimus, calling him an embarrassment for the elite guard and even more embarrassment being related to him and making Optimus daughter lose her temper and attack her

-Optimus is trying to calm the situation down and drag his daughter away from the fight. Yes, he gets that she didn't start it (sure, she threw the first punch but Sentinel's daughter caused it to happen) but just getting into fist fights because someone said something is not the right thing to do. Doesn't berate his daughter too much though and after a short "I appreciate the thought but please don't do that again" he lets her go.

-Look, Ratchet will intervene... but not until Optimus' kid have landed a solid punch. What can he say? Sentinel's daughter went too far and now she found out that her actions have consequences. Afterwards he will pretend to be disappointed in OP's daughter for getting into a fight but he will sneak her a candy or something to make it clear he agreed with her.

-Bumblebee is cheering Optimus' daughter on and shouting pointers. "Go for the face! Jab her on the jaw!" Is doing nothing to stop the fight and honestly would have done the same in her situation. Afterwards he praises her for standing up not just for herself but also for Optimus.

-Poor Bulkhead, he gets stressed so fast when the first punch is thrown. Wastes no time separating the two, placing one bot under each arm to keep them from hitting each other and continuing the fight. Gently scolds OP's daughter for resorting to violence but does tell her that she is not wrong for getting mad.

-Honestly? Prowl stands back and watches the fight. What's that thing humans say? Fuck around and find out? Yeah, that's it. Sentinel's daughter must learn that she can't just say whatever she wants and get away with it. Will however intervene if it appears the two of them are actually hurting each other. Afterwards, Prowl just gives OP's daughter some pointers and tips on how to get better at brawling.

-Ultra Magnus sighs and tells them to stop fighting. His voice is loud and commanding, leaving no room for ignoring it. He will scold OP's daughter for resorting to violence but will also scold Sentinel's daughter for bad mouthing an autobot to such a degree. It was not proper for any of them. Very disappointed.

-Sentinel is so upset! Not at his daughter of course, no, she did nothing wrong, but at Optimus' kid for daring to attack her. What a savage! An undisciplined brat! How dares she hit his precious child? Demands that OP's daughter is punished in some way. No wonder Sentinel's daughter is the way she is.

-Jazz immediately breaks up the fight, mostly by getting between them and going "whoa, whoa, easy there!". He straight up tells Sentinel's kid that what she said was really not ok and that she needs to apologize. But also tells OP's daughter to apologize as well for starting to throw punches, except in a much gentler way since he understands why she did that.

-The moment the fight breaks out, Jetfire and Jetstorm are placing bets. They are not CHEERING but they are also not doing anything to stop the fight. Sometimes you just gotta brawl things out, ya know? Will however intervene the moment someone looks actually hurt. No kicking people when they are down.

[libraryofbronze]

Honestly, this is the sort of thing that all of us who deal in dark kink one way or another have to deal with. I remember when I first started writing darker stuff - bondage, noncon fantasies, that sort of thing - I was genuinely haunted.

''Am I a bad person for writing this stuff? For enjoying it?''

It was made worse because I was writing what I liked. I remember trying to deal with it at first. A sheltered girl who felt the need to write hardcore stuff as a way to cope with the world while worrying that this made her a bad person. In a sense, I suppose that worry was a good thing? it made me examine myself. I introspected a lot. I actually thought out what I was doing and why I did it, and the conclusions I reached I still hold to this day.

Fantasy is fantasy. It's human nature to be attracted to the extreme, drawn to the abyss. We're like moths to a flame in a way. We know that in reality, what we dream of would be horrible. It would hurt people, it would destroy lives. But there is a part of us drawn to the *fantasy* of it. To the game of it. Just so long as we know we can put that game down at the end of the day and come back to a world where everything makes sense.

Writers like me - I don't want to speak for you here since I am sure you have your own conclusions and feelings on the matter - we create fantasies. We weave forbidden tales. We satisfy the desire for dark things in a safe way. I won't say that we don't walk a thin line. We absolutely do. People can consume what we create in an unhealthy way. We need to be aware of that. We have to hold it in our minds.

But we can also help people.

Some people - many people - deal with their traumas, their fears, their worries about the future with sex. The most basic example of that is the classic BDSM surrender thing. Where a sub just wants to surrender, to let their guard down, to *not worry* for an hour or so and relax into a world where they're taken care of and they don't have to make decisions. For them, the lack of control isn't a punishment, it's a release. And they have the right to experience this. For some of them, it's the only release they get.

But it goes further than this. Sometimes for people who face prejudice and bigotry in real life, whose lives might very well be in danger and who face suffering for who they are, fantasies like this are a safe way to engage and cope with those facts. This is true both now and in the past. During World War 2, Nazi porn was massive among people who could be targeted by the Nazis. You know why? Because if you take something scary, something terrifying, something that wants to hurt you and you make it sexy? In a sense, you're removing it's power. You're taking control. You're telling it that you won't be scared of it. You'll take it and use it as fuel.

That's also human nature, and it's something that many people - people who don't deal with it because they're lucky enough not to be threatened in that way - don't really get. They look at, for example, noncon fantasies and think it's about guys lusting after a world where they can just fuck a woman no matter if she wants it or not. There are some people like that, I won't lie. But there are also girls who use it to cope with a fear that they might one day *live* in that world. There are women who were forced into encounters like that and who use stories to contextualise their experiences and reclaim their power and control.

There are trans girls who write and get off to stories focused on transphobia and misgendering, not because they're self-hating but because those are things they deal with every day and they need a release.

And these days, as things skew more and more towards the worse in the real world, releases like this are only going to become more important.

tldr, humans when given the choice will usually choose horny over scary. A lot of people are having to make that choice right now. Dark kink like the sort of thing we produce can be a release for those who desperately need it. Also, apologies for spinning off your post into one of my own. It got me thinking and I wanted to put my work words to it.

Kink in the Hard Era

I got a message recently. It succinctly told me to end my life. Interesting how we can do that in three letters!

Normally, I ignore such missives. This time, however, I engaged. I asked why I should die.

The answer was simple: "you're a misogynist loser".

And you know what...? I get it. I do. This kink, involving power, mind control, gender roles and all that good stuff is a lot less fun when reality seems to be turning fantasies into nightmares.

I trust that everyone here knows I'm not a misogynist, right-winger, complete asshat. But if you need to step back from my content, I absolutely understand. To be honest, I'm not conflict-free in my head about it.

My hope is to provide a place for play, for fantasy; a haven where we can explore power dynamics without the inherent malignancy of hierarchy. But, as stated in my bio: this is all fantasy. Always has been.

And if you are truly a misogynist, transphobe, racist or any other flavor of pond scum making the real lives of real people harder and more dangerous: kindly fuck off.

[loveinsomesacredplace]

the disregard for Belly’s happiness is something I expect from the other side, but is so disappointing when it’s your own fandom

the fear/expectation that Jere’s character is going to be dismantled and denying that because you know the show has a narrative to push but not saying a word about the potential destruction of Belly’s character to further said narrative and expecting of it of her because she broke Jere’s heart in season 1 - and not considering, oh this is fucking bad writing too

The DISCONNECT

Show Belly, I’ll always love you, and that C endgame is not it for you

[bumblydumbly]

insane how people act like charles is ‘the jealous one’ like edwin didnt spend the whole first episode screaming crying throwing up every time charles looked at crystal and not him

[cuteniaarts]

Small drawing collection of my latest creation Emran as a teenager/freshly minted Air Acolyte, for my dear partner in unhinged OC shenanigans @katkastrofa, as promised <3

[bnhaobservation]

@rhythmic-idealist said:

I’m gonna do my best to come back to this! A short response: the Iida family didn’t need Stain killed. Rather, Tenya needed saving, in that his villainous actions were also going to get him killed. Tenya is deemed worthy of saving, by the narrative, regardless of the fact that he was making horrible rage-fueled decisions. So that’s what I’m getting at when I say Tenya needed saving- he very much was going to die if Izuku hadn’t shown up in that alley. I am still trying to process why he was saved when Tenko and Himiko (and mostly Touya) weren’t, because BEFORE we knew the ending, the hero killer arc felt like a tone setter- you either have to condemn Tenya Iida to deserving to die, or believe Tenko and Himiko and Touya deserve to live. Final half-response before I formulate proper thoughts for later (sorry): one of my main BNHA ending thoughts involves how I sort of expected it to be pointing out and handling privilege and the “way things are” in order to suggest ways to actually upend that imbalance in privilege. Analysis I do of the ending often revolves around…. this seems like a story about privilege happening in the way that privilege happens, so WHAT was it for? And it has a lot of shortcomings in that regard I think. It’s just important to me to let you know rn that this post doesn’t contain my full reaction to the ending, which is a lot of sadness, confusion, and disappointment. Okay now I’ve gotten that out of my system. Apologies, real response incoming, I was just struggling to sit on that

Ops, sorry, I misunderstood you on the whole Iida family needed saving.

Now... maybe I'm totally off track but I like to think there was a time in which Horikoshi considered saving Tomura, Himiko and Touya.

We've various arcs that offer understanding, we've Shouto who understands that Rei burned his face merely because his father made her life impossible and don't blame and wants to save her, we've the Stain arc in which while it's made clear iida wanted to do the wrong thing, he's given plenty of sympathy for hos his rage twisted his thoughts, we've how Shouto and Bakugou during the remedial courses were told to connect their hearts with the kids, we had Gentle Criminal, we've Nagant, we've the story implying killing Twice was a mistake, we had Uraraka claiming she wanted to save people because she couldn't save Nighteye and so on.

Maybe Horikoshi wasn't sure if he wanted to kill them and left open both options.

On the other side... saving all the aforementioned people is narratively 'easy'. Rei was punished by spending 10 years in a hospital for a scar she caused in a moment of misplaced panic, Iida had bad intentions but ultimately he saved Native and didn't kill Stain, Gentle Criminal never did something too serious, Nagant was jailed and helped defeating AFO and Tomura, placing her life on the line.

The story is basically saving people who did light crimes or was already punished. It's hard there would be controversy in this, while there would be controversy if the story were to save people who had murdered multiple people, there could be controversy, especially since they don't show regret nor have time for redemption.

So many tales prefer to end things tragically by killing them off.

It's not really something new, "Saint Seiya" (1985-1990) wasn't shy to murder many antagonists who did less and were even regretful for it.

Said this doesn't mean that I agree with the choice of murdering them, I think Horikoshi with them went on the 'easy' route' which killing them off offers. Which okay, it's a possibility but I was hoping for more.

Honestly I though Midoriya and the others would become the greatest Hero because he would manage to save them. I'll summarize because it's not so simple but, fundamentally, he instead became the greatest Hero because he killed the greatest big bad (AFO) which doesn't make him any different fromt he Heroes that preceded him, like Son Goku from "Dragon Ball" (1984-95) or Kenshirō from "Hokuto no Ken" (1983-88), which would have probably be fine if the story didn't seem to imply he would do more than what they did.

And yes, he inspired people which indirectly made society better but... maybe it's just me but I wasn't impressed. I get Horikoshi tried hard to deliver this, I just wasn't won over.

I probably won't manage to reply to you for a while as tomorrow I'll get hospitalized, so my apologies for my future silence.

When I'll come back home I'll get back at you!

One problem with the society of BNHA is that being “someone in need of saving” is an undesirable category to be in.

“People who need saving” is a category of people. It’s hypothetically a valued one, since heroes save those people.

However: there’s no glory in needing to be saved.

There’s glory in SAVING, but we value the people who do the SAVING, not who need to be saved.

One thing that REALLY felt off to me in the final chapter was how that granny talks to Joki Joki Boy. She talks about herself, about who she can be. If I was in his shoes I would itch under this. Under someone explaining how they can be so charitable to people like me.

I was trying to think about what Izuku could possibly have “showed the world.” I still don’t quite have my answer.

But weirdly I do know what wasn’t shown to the world when the cameras on Ochako and Himiko cut off.

They didn’t see a villain being a hero. They didn’t see a hero needing saving.

The lines between the three societal categories - hero, villain, and people who need saving/protecting - blurred. And the camera missed it.

[zouisalmightie]

sometimes i am put in situations that only could happen on tv but you can’t make this up

sonon wednesday my coworker called me during my prep period and was like hey can you come to my room really quick. and that’s normal like 1 im department lead so if they need something i told them to hmu and i got them 2. we’re friends so if you have to pee well fall each other to cover. so im like yeah sure what do you need. and this bitch goes [name of student i hate] keeps saying the n word with the hard er and i bet him he wouldn’t say that to a black persons face so can you come to my room to prove a point’ and she’s like laughing as she says this. with her whole class there like it’s some sort of joke; when she’s acting like she’s shaming this child. and like…. what the actual fuck. mind you, this kids that i hate HAS called me the n word with the hard er before my coworker KNOWS this because we all went out drinking afterward and i cried cuz i was so angry. so I was like what the fuck no and hung up on her. then like 30 mins later she texts me and says “that was such a silly call! i didn’t actually expect you to come lmaoooo. i just like to fluster them when they do things like that” and i didn’t respond and haven’t spoken to her since.

and we are in a bunch of group chats so i left the chats that aren’t work specific and blocked her number and blocked her on ig. and i don’t say anything to anyone at work cuz im grown and i can stop being friends with people without making it an announcement. and so today she texts one of our other coworkers that ive been friends with for almost 5 years now, like omg have you talked to asyah i think she blocked me on ig and idk what i could have done to deserve this it just makes me so sad cuz ive had people just stop being my friend for no reason before and i have abandonment issues please ask her if i did anything wrong. and so my friend came up to me like girl wtf and so i told her what happened and my friend was like this is the last straw for me she’s been saying fucked up shit for a while and i didn’t want to rock the boat but im tired of her.

and then my coworker texted one of my OTHER work friends like omg woe is me everyone is being so mean to me cue white woman tears™️ and im like…. i would have NEVER asked you to be in a position like this. when students do antisemitic things i stop that shit right then and there and never tell you about it because that’s harmful to you! and i thought we were friends i would never put you in a place of harm but you have the nerve to call me and ask me if i want a child to call me a nigger to my face? you laugh while you say it, then send me some fucked up not apology and then when im not fucking with your ass you drag my friends into your pity party? bitch fucking CHOKE.

i was just going to ignore her and leave it as it is but now she’s trying to play the victim like im the one in the wrong here. like im so mad! ive been mad since my homegirl came and told me what she texted her. im going to go to my union rep and let her know what happened too before this girl tries to tell the whole school im bullying her no one would believe her cuz ive been there for 6 years and have no problems with no one but i don’t like people being in my business and would rather get ahead of this but my GOD.

[wheelercore]

Constantly thinking abour karen wheeler btw but in a way that makes everyone here super madsies

[linagram]

[ 𝚙𝚛𝚎-𝚝𝟸 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 #𝟶𝟸 ] 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕

IT'S OFFICIAL THE SECOND TRIAL IS HERE BABYYYYY oh god now they're going to suffer even more

(Warnings: mentions of attempted suicide, physical violence (prisoners get injured and beaten up and also Eiji and Kei's relationship gets mentioned), toxic relationship dynamics and heavy implications of self-harm)

Miki: Eiji-san?..

Miki: Eiji-san, can you hear me?

Eiji: .. Ah, sorry.

Eiji: I just.. I was too deep in thought, I guess.

Miki: I-it's okay! I just didn't expect you to be the one getting distracted this time, haha..

Eiji: What was that?

Miki: N-nothing! 

Miki: B-but seriously, a-are you okay? You've been acting a bit weird lately..

Miki: Did something happen? Y-you can tell me!

Eiji: I'm fine. Don't worry about me.

Miki: .. If you say so.

Miki: So.. You know why we're here, right?

Eiji: .. Yeah. Because of the second trial.

Miki: *nods* I.. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about everything that happened after the first trial.

Miki: Would you be okay with that? I-if you're too tired, I completely understand-

Eiji: No, you're right. We do have to talk about it.

Eiji: There's.. a lot of things we have to discuss. 

Miki: Ah, do you want me to do most of the talking? I can do that-

Eiji: NO! 

Miki: *screams*

Eiji: .. Sorry.

Eiji: I will do it. You can just sit here.

Miki: U-um..

Miki: O-okay then..

*sounds of Eiji getting up*

*sounds of Eiji's footsteps*

Eiji: So.. Many of the prisoners feel like completely different people now. 

Eiji: Some of them are acting like the complete opposite of their past selves and some of them are acting like.. if you took their personality traits, even the good ones, and made them much worse.

Eiji: It doesn't even matter if they were voted guilty or innocent. All of them are equally bad. 

Miki: Eiji-san..

Miki: Are you saying our judgement was incorrect?

Eiji: .. I don't know.

Eiji: Maybe. 

Eiji: No, it would definitely be better if we just voted all of them guilty-

Miki: So that they could suffer even more?

Miki: Eiji-san, I respect you a lot.. 

Miki: But I think a lot of prisoners finally got the confidence they needed this way. They feel so much safer now too!

Miki: Who knows what they would do if all of them were voted guilty..

Eiji: I'm not just talking about their personalities, but their relationships too. 

Eiji: Those who were friends are basically enemies now or their relationships are just much more toxic now. 

Eiji: You know who I'm talking about, don't you?

Eiji: I mean, our relationships with the prisoners are different too now. 

Eiji: .. Let's begin.

Eiji: Prisoner 001, Miyagawa Akio.

Eiji: He got the well-deserved guilty verdict last time and his ideas and thoughts were rejected. Serves him right, honestly..

Eiji: I wish I could say that without feeling worried, but.. I can't do that because of what happened. 

Miki: .. So you are worried about him.

Eiji: Because he was voted guilty, I knew that I will have to punish him for his sins. At first I just wanted to beat him up, but..

Eiji: I-I guess I underestimated how passionate I am about that kind of stuff.

Miki: He got a head injury because of you, Eiji-san.

Miki: A really.. bad one.

Eiji: Guard 002, with all respect I have for you, you think it was bad just because there was a lot of blood-

Miki: ISN'T THAT ENOUGH FOR ME TO SAY HE WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED?

Miki: Miyagawa-san.. He got traumatized both physically and mentally after that.

Miki: If it wasn't for me.. If I didn't manage to stop you before it was too late..

Miki: I think you would have ended up killing him, Eiji-san.

Eiji: ...

Eiji: S-so what? He deserves to die anyway.

Miki: He's only 16 years old-

Eiji: Anyway, about his personality. Akio definitely feels like a different person now, but he still has many personality traits he had before all of this.

Eiji: As I said, his ideas were rejected. Which means we have basically told him.. 

Eiji:"You're not a king nor a god that you think you are".

Eiji: And considering that because of his head injury, it's much more difficult for him to do most things, now he feels like he actually isn't as smart and talented as he thought. 

Eiji: It's hard for him to walk without feeling dizzy and feeling like his head is spinning, so he often needs help when he has to go somewhere. 

Eiji: He's also a bit more quiet now, though he's still very loud whenever we try to talk to him. 

Miki: And for a good reason. You're the reason why he's like this now.

Eiji: Stop blaming me. I wasn't the only person who decided to vote him guilty. 

Eiji: If it really was the wrong decision, then it's our fault, not just mine.

Eiji: He's more quiet now mostly because it's harder for him to talk now. I also almost never see him reading or studying anymore. 

Eiji: .. I-I guess it really was a fitting punishment for a "genius" like him-

Miki: How can you say that?!

Miki: What if that injury really is serious? You know I can't take proper care of him, right? 

Miki: What if his life will get worse because of it? What if..

Miki: .. What if he will die if he doesn't get any help?

Eiji: All of them are going to be executed by me anyway, so-

Miki: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM??

Eiji: ...

Miki: .. You wanted to talk about everyone's relationships too, right?

Miki: Do it. Tell me more about them.

Eiji: .. Well, Akio never really had any friends in this place, though he could often be seen with Aimi and Riku. I assume it's because of them being high school students, so they got along well, since they all are almost the same age.

Eiji: But if Akio's verdict was "Guilty", Aimi and Riku, on the other hand, were forgiven. 

Eiji: And that has changed their relationship dynamic a lot. 

Eiji: You see, after being voted guilty, Akio started becoming more and more.. unstable. He claims that he hears someone's voice sometimes and he can even see that person. There was a time when Naomi told me that Akio couldn't sleep because he felt like he was being choked by that person. 

Eiji: Some prisoners also say that they can often hear Akio mumbling to himself and Aimi thinks that he's actually saying someone's name repeatedly. 

Miki: .. I-I think I know what's going on here.

Miki: I'm not sure about that voice he hears and that person who has tried to choke him, but.. What if he's actually saying the name of his accomplice?

Miki: That would also explain.. well, that incident.

Eiji: .. I'll ask Aimi to pay more attention to what he says. That information could be useful for us.

Eiji: Anyway, because Akio's hallucinations have started getting worse and worse, he couldn't take it anymore and ended up having a breakdown in front of all the other prisoners.

Eiji: And he tried to ask Riku for help and grabbed his hand and I don't know what exactly he said, since we arrived when it was too late, but Riku did not like it.

Eiji: I'll talk more about it later, but.. After that, Akio slowly walked back to his cell, even though it was still hard because of his condition and..

Eiji: *sighs*

Eiji: I'm assuming he tried to make his injury even worse by beating his head against the wall. 

Miki: .. You know that he had a reason to do that. And it wasn't just about "trying to make it worse". 

Eiji: Fine, what else do you want me to say? This guy is not doing well. That's it.

Eiji: Now, let's talk about the person who stopped him from doing that to himself when we weren't there. And also, the only person he can trust right now.

Eiji: Prisoner 002, Hanasaki Aimi.

Eiji: Ah, the poor girl who was bullied by her entire class. 

Eiji: She was voted innocent and her ideas and thoughts were affirmed.

Eiji: .. I still don't trust her.

Eiji: As I said, her ideas were affirmed, so I assumed that she will try even harder to make friends after this and she won't be so shy anymore..

Eiji: .. But she is actually much more quiet now.

Eiji: She still acts nice and she's still very polite, but now she doesn't really try to become friends with anyone in this prison.. except one person.

Eiji: And that person is Akio.

Eiji: She was the one who stopped him from basically killing himself and she's also the one who takes care of him, holds his hand when he's having trouble walking and I think I also heard her read a book out loud for him once. 

Miki: Isn't she so nice? I still don't understand how such a kind person like her can be a murderer-

Eiji: I wouldn't trust her so easily if I were you. Sure, she's nice to Akio now, but she stopped talking to Riku after she found out what he said to Akio.

Eiji: Just so you understand, she completely ignores Riku now. She doesn't even look at him.

Eiji: She's acting like this with some other prisoners too now: she tries to avoid Yurika and she has also called Asahi out once for his behavior.

Miki: But I think that's understandable?..

Eiji: What I'm trying to say is.. It's kind of interesting, don't you think? Aimi already knew that all prisoners are murderers and she already knew that they are not good people and they obviously have flaws, but when it was the first trial, she still insisted that she likes them all and wants to be friends with them.

Eiji: But now, she doesn't try to become friends with any of them except Akio, who also can't really do anything without her help anymore.

Eiji: .. I feel like I'm starting to see a connection here.

Eiji: Anyway.

Eiji: Prisoner 003, Ishizu Shun.

Eiji: Sadly, he was voted innocent, so his ideas and thoughts were affirmed.

Eiji: Come on, I know you regret voting him innocent.

Miki: .. W-what else was I supposed to do?..

Miki: If we voted him guilty, who knows what he would do and how he would act! 

Eiji: So you admit it? You admit that this guy is unpredictable? 

Eiji: So you admit that this guy is dangerous?

Miki: .. Ishizu-san is just.. 

Miki: .. He's just very hard to understand..

Eiji: He sure is more confident now thanks to his thoughts being affirmed. It's not a good kind of confidence, it's a very annoying kind.

Eiji: Also, is it just me or he doesn't care about his ex anymore?

Eiji: I mean, he openly flirts with both Kei and Eiko now, even though when Eiko herself said that she's interested in him, he rejected her since he's "taken".

Eiji: He also rarely mentions being in love with his ex and now he doesn't even say stuff like "I did this for her! I just wanted her back! I just loved her so much I had to kill her new boyfriend for her sake!"

Miki: Maybe he just.. forgot about it?

Eiji: I doubt it. Though I can't say that him being in love with her was an act, this guy's video showed that he really did care about her in his own twisted way.

Eiji: Although..

Eiji: We haven't actually seen her face. We've only seen her new boyfriend's face and that's it.

Eiji: Maybe we should make him talk more about that guy this time.

Eiji: And also.. now that he's more confident, he refuses to take no for an answer.

Eiji: .. Especially when it comes to Kei.

Miki: ...

Miki: Eiji-san..

Miki: Are you worried about-

Eiji: I'm not.

Eiji: I just find it disgusting how he started to take more and more advantage of Kei now that the guy can barely move. I don't remember him being so "dominant" before Kei got punished. 

Miki: .. So you are worried-

Eiji: I'M NOT!

Eiji: A-anyway, Shun and Eiko are much closer now since both of them were forgiven unlike Kei.

Eiji: .. And they sure like to remind Kei about them being "superior" to him all the time.

Eiji: .. I don't want to talk about him anymore.

Eiji: Prisoner 004, Chiba Naomi.

Eiji: She was forgiven and her ideas and thoughts were affirmed.

Eiji: I guess she's mostly fine, but still.. I feel like something is wrong here.

Miki: Why? Chiba-san is so nice and understanding and she always helps me out when I need advice.. 

Eiji: Just like Shun, she's much more confident now. And why would she start acting like that if she's truly sorry for her sins?

Eiji: She wanted us to vote her guilty, remember? I thought that she would ask us to rethink our decision, but no, she just accepted it and moved on. 

Miki: W-well, maybe she just.. you know, started to see her crime differently? Like, maybe she doesn't think it was that bad anymore?

Eiji: If she's not lying, her victim really was a child. Do you think it's okay to just go "Oh, maybe me killing that kid actually wasn't a big deal"?

Miki: But what if she had her reasons-

Eiji: I don't care about her reasons. She's a child murderer and her victim most likely was one of her students. And now she thinks that her crime wasn't even that bad and doesn't try to make us change our mind. 

Eiji: She says that she simply doesn't try to do it because "we're the guards, so we know what we're doing", but I know she's secretly happy that she got voted innocent.

Miki: .. Again, you're saying my decision was wrong?

Eiji: .. Um-

Eiji: I'm just saying that now we can see that Prisoner 004 actually wouldn't try to become a better person and she actually doesn't think that her crime was that serious. Voting her innocent helped us realize it, so.. 

Eiji: Maybe you were right in some way.

Eiji: Ah, and even though she's still acting like everyone's.. uh, mom, basically, her ideas were affirmed, so now she's more strict with the younger prisoners.

Eiji: If she sees someone misbehaving, she will tell them to stop it and if they don't, she might actually get angry at them. 

Eiji: Though she's mostly nice to all prisoners who are still kids.. except one of them. 

Miki: ...

Eiji: .. Yeah, I'm talking about Asahi.

Eiji: And even though I would gladly vote Naomi guilty this time, I support the way she treats Asahi. 

Eiji: Yes, I know that he's most likely your brother, but you have to admit-

Miki: I-I will talk to him about it, okay? I will.

Miki: I'll prove his innocence to you, Eiji-san. I'll prove that he really deserves to be forgiven.

Eiji: The next prisoner is-

Eiji: .. Prisoner 005, Sanada Kei.

Eiji: He was voted guilty and his ideas and thoughts were rejected.

Miki: .. I still have no idea how you just.. can be so cruel to him without feeling anything.

Miki: He's your brother! If I had to vote Yano-san guilty-

Eiji: Are you telling me someone like him deserves forgiveness?..

Eiji: Guard 002, he's the one who turned my life into a living hell. 

Eiji: He.. He always was weird. And I had to protect him from other kids and people in general because of that. 

Eiji: .. I remember him thanking me for that once. 

Eiji: But then something happened and.. He started beating me for no reason every single day after that.

Eiji: He actually almost killed me once, no, twice! Maybe even more times!

Eiji: He's literally the reason why my whole body hurts all the time, why don't you get it, Miki?! Who cares about him when my body will never truly heal and it's all his fault!

Miki: .. *sobs*

Miki: I'm sorry.. I really.. I didn't mean to..

Miki: It's just.. I'm used to trying to see the good in all people and..

Miki: I thought that maybe Kei-san still deserves forgiveness..

Eiji: *sighs* Listen, I can't deny that I kind of admire that trait of yours. 

Eiji: But Kei doesn't deserve any of your forgiveness and kindness. Trust me.

Eiji: .. He refused to believe that all of this was real and that he really is going to be punished until I actually came and.. well, gave him what he deserves.

Miki: I still remember his cries and how loud he screamed from all that pain.

Miki: But that's.. weird. I thought Kei-san was a much more..

Eiji: Same. Remember him saying that he's not afraid of pain and that he can handle it all or something like that?

Eiji: .. It turned out to be another lie of his. 

Eiji: He's so used to being the one who hurts people that he has no idea what to do when someone hurts him.

Eiji: "More pain means more love"? Sure, whatever you say, Kei. You agree with what our mother used to say only when you're the one who's inflicting all that pain.

Eiji: .. Something is bothering- um, I just find something very confusing though.

Miki: Really? What?

Eiji: For some reason, I noticed that Kei already had a lot of scars on his body even before his punishment. 

Miki: Wait, what?? W-were they bad? Why didn't you tell me?

Eiji: If I did, you would never let me punish him. 

Eiji: Even I got scared, but only a little bit.

Miki: .. Don't you feel at least a little worried for your brother?

Eiji: W-why should I care? Maybe someone just got "a bit too rough" with him or something, I don't want to think about it. It's none of my business.

Eiji: Anyway, Kei still hangs out with Shun and Eiko very often, but now it's not because he wants to. He can't even leave his cell without anyone's help because of how much pain he's in, haha..

Eiji: Ahem, so Shun and Eiko are the ones who drag him out of it and they just make him follow them around. Actually, I feel like now they spend even more time together compared to the first trial.

Eiji: But don't you even think that this guy is just a poor victim and we absolutely have to forgive him this time-

Miki: Should I remind you that he almost got beaten up because of Maruyama-san?

Eiji: I have no idea who I should believe, but she told us that he was acting creepy again and she wanted to defend herself.

Eiji: I don't trust her most of the time, but since it's Kei.. I can see him saying something and Yurika getting mad at him for that.

Eiji: If that was the case, I can't blame her.

Eiji: .. I still can't believe that he actually got saved by someone though.

Eiji: Prisoner 006, Yoshioka Eiko.

Eiji: She was voted innocent and her ideas and thoughts were affirmed.

Eiji: Well, she did thank us for forgiving her, but I'm sure she didn't actually care about her verdict. She's just not that kind of person.

Miki: She is.. very affectionate with you now because of you agreeing to vote her innocent.

Eiji: Yes, and I hate it.

Miki: "Do you though?.."

Eiji: However, I feel like she actually did change as a person.

Eiji: She openly admits that she likes Kei and Shun only because of their appearance, but still keeps them close because she likes the attention she gets from them. 

Eiji: So it's like.. She said that she knows Kei will never "truly" love her and she also said that it would be easy to forgive her because of her looks, but now she agrees that she and Kei aren't actually that different.

Eiji: Also, even though she was one of those prisoners who refused to accept that all of this is a real thing, she has recently started asking me more questions about Milgram.

Eiji: Like, how it works, who created this place, why we were chosen as the guards, all of that..

Eiji: I have no idea why she's so curious about it now.

Miki: Maybe after the first trial was over, she started to realize that this isn't just a game and our verdicts really do have consequences?..

Eiji: Or maybe she just wants to spend more time with me.

Eiji: I don't get it though. I'm not that, uh.. "attractive" and I never give her any attention, so.. why me? Is it just her trying to make me forgive her again?

Eiji: .. No, she's not like most prisoners here.

Miki: But I think you're very pretty, Eiji-san!

Eiji: Um, thank you?..

Miki: Still not my type though.

Eiji: I wasn't even trying to.. never mind.

Eiji: Prisoner 007, Yano Asahi.

Eiji: He was voted innocent and his ideas and thoughts were affirmed. 

Eiji: And, well, he reacted to it just like a spoiled kid his age would.

Eiji: He thought that it was going to happen anyway and now he's sure that no matter what he does, he will still be forgiven, because.. you know, he's a child.

Miki: But isn't he right-

Eiji: Well, that's not gonna happen.

Eiji: I never judge anyone only based on their age. No matter how young or how old they are, I will make sure they will get the verdict that they deserve.

Eiji: And because all of them are murderers, all of them deserve to be-

Miki: I know, you don't have to say that again.

Eiji: .. Huh?

Eiji: U-um, okay, let's talk about how he acts now. 

Eiji: Prisoner 007 is much more confident now and I rarely see him cry or throw a tantrum, though he still likes to use his.. uh, "cuteness" to get what he wants. 

Eiji: However, he's now surprisingly good at controlling his emotions. I have no idea what happened to him, but he's much more polite now and I almost never hear him swear anymore. 

Eiji: Eh, he's probably just trying to manipulate us into voting him innocent again.

Miki: But what if he actually did change? What if he's trying to become a better person?

Eiji: I doubt it. He always has this.. weird smile on his face. Like I want to punch him whenever I see him smile like that.

Eiji: He keeps ordering other prisoners around too, again, he's just more polite about it now and it's harder to tell that he really is just using them.

Eiji: I should mention something about his personality and his relationship with other prisoners. Now that Akio is no longer as narcissistic as he used to be, Kei can't even leave his cell without anyone's help and.. we'll talk about Riku later, Asahi and Shun are basically the most "powerful" male prisoners now. 

Eiji: However, Shun is still disliked by mostly everyone and they don't really like Asahi either, but it's hard to deny that this kid is much better at making everyone believe that he has "changed" and that he really is more nice now.

Eiji: It's like.. this kid has all the power now. 

Eiji: "Andou siblings really rule this prison now, don't they?.."

Miki: W-well, I wouldn't say that.

Miki: True, he is much.. uh, "nicer" now and people are starting to like him a bit more, but he's still just as vulnerable. 

Miki: Like.. For some reason I'm starting to feel like he wants more attention from me now? Like now he requests even more things, but he always asks me to get him something and not you.

Eiji: "I think it's because the prisoners don't like me that much in general."

Miki: But when you don't count all the food, toys, clothes and other things, he just.. wants to spend time with me. Like he actually wants to know more about me and he keeps asking me so many questions..

Miki: .. It's still hard for me to get used to him calling me "Miki-nee" though.

Miki: He doesn't even know that we're most likely related..

Miki: And speaking of him still being one of the most vulnerable prisoners, Kei-san wasn't the only prisoner Maruyama-san has attacked.

Miki: Yano-san was her victim as well.

Eiji: Again, it's kind of justified. Naomi said that she saw everything with her own eyes and I usually don't trust her, but I will do so this time. 

Eiji: Basically, Asahi's been taking full advantage of Yurika's status as a guilty prisoner and her punishment and he eventually got tired of his "good boy" act and he spilled some really hot tea that she made for him on her. He claimed that it was an accident but both Naomi and Yurika could tell that it wasn't one. 

Eiji: Yurika had enough and, well.. decided to take her anger out on him. 

Eiji: I stopped her before she could actually injure him though. He only got a cut on his cheek from her nails and that's all.

Miki: Thank you, I appreciate it. 

Eiji: .. I-It's not because he's your brother. I would do the same thing even if it wasn't Asahi. I can't let those prisoners fight each other like that.

Eiji: *laughs* Though of course they would try to do that. They are murderers after all.

Eiji: Speaking of Yurika..

Eiji: Prisoner 008, Maruyama Yurika.

Eiji: She was voted guilty and her ideas and thoughts were rejected.

Miki: I'm still finding it so hard to believe.. I mean, I thought she seemed like a nice person when I first met her.. 

Eiji: Is it just me or you voted her guilty only because of what she said about you that time?

Miki: .. I really do want to save everyone here.

Miki: And I will do anything to achieve my goal. 

Miki: *gets up* Who does she think she is to go and say that I'm just doing this to make everyone trust me?!

Eiji: Okay, okay, calm down.

Eiji: Fine, let's not talk about it. You have your reasons to vote her guilty and I have mine.

Miki: .. Y-you're right. Sorry.. *sits down*

Eiji: Her punishment was a bit different from Akio and Kei's punishments. It wasn't a physical one, it was more about.. mental pain, I guess? 

Eiji: Since her thoughts were rejected, she lost all the potential freedom she could get and now she's back to doing what she hates the most.

Eiji: She has to act as everyone's maid now.

Eiji: We don't have to bring anything to prisoners personally, we can just ask her or, you know, make her do that. She can also serve them food now.

Eiji: I know, that was very smart of me. Less work for us~

Eiji: .. I wish I could say that, but her temper is.. something.

Eiji: When I first told her about her punishment, she cried. Loudly. She cried like a little baby. 

Eiji: And when I tried to make her stop, she almost punched me, but oh well, she obviously wasn't able to do that.

Eiji: And now, whenever she refuses to listen to my orders, I just remind her that I can make her punishment even worse and she listens to me.

Eiji: But now her relationship with the prisoners is much worse. People either see her only as their maid, they think she's scary or they even find her annoying.

Eiji: She's used to be close with all the female prisoners, but now Aimi is one of the prisoners who thinks she's too dangerous, Eiko just makes her do everything for her and even though Naomi actually tried to be nice to her at first, Yurika wasn't as nice. Her relationship with Reina is.. complicated now.

Eiji: Prisoner 009, Kuroki Riku.

Eiji: He was voted innocent and his ideas and thoughts were affirmed.

Eiji: .. I still have no idea how you could have forgiven someone like him.

Eiji: He obviously just wanted to make us feel bad for him. 

Miki: Even if he did, he still was in pain and he needed help. If we voted him guilty, I think he would start acting even worse.

Miki: Just imagine what he would do if he found out that he was going to be punished!..

Eiji: But guess what? Now that his thoughts were affirmed, Akio almost killed himself because of him, Aimi left him and pretty much all prisoners don't want to do anything with him anymore.

Eiji: Because I remind you, this guy actually wanted his childhood friend to die. 

Eiji: Let's go back to his fight with Akio. Again, I still have no idea what Akio said to him, but I do know what Riku told him and what made Akio.. do what he did.

Eiji: After Akio said something that made Riku angry, Riku, just like a normal boy his age, said this:

Eiji: "Go and die then."

Miki: ...

Eiji: .. We shouldn't find Akio's suicide attempt surprising after this considering his mental state and how much he liked Riku. 

Eiji: So? Are you going to defend him this time too?

Miki: .. I will talk to him about it. Of course, he can't just say things like that, but I want to understand why he did it. 

Eiji: Well, I'm sure he will appreciate you still trying to defend his actions, because I remind you that this happened while all other prisoners were watching.

Eiji: And yeah, Aimi stopped seeing Riku as her friend after this. 

Miki: "She's a victim of bullying, of course she would leave him.."

Eiji: And all other prisoners kinda stopped talking to him after that. Their conversations are just really awkward now, especially because Riku still refuses to apologize for what he said and claims that it's all Akio's fault.

Eiji: He has no one to talk to anymore. Akio and Aimi are doing great without him, Shun is having way too much fun with Kei and Eiko, Naomi and Reina have no idea how to help him, Kei simply can't do anything for him right now, Eiko and Yurika don't care about what happens to him and Asahi says that he's "bad" so he doesn't want to spend time with him, though I'm sure he's doing it just to make him suffer.

Eiji: .. It's kinda interesting, actually. They know that every single prisoner here is a murderer, but they were mostly fine with that fact until now, when one of them has almost killed the other prisoner with his words.

Eiji: And.. he went back to his unhealthy coping mechanisms because of all of this.

Eiji: He's okay with doing literally anything to make people look at him, including hurting himself in different ways.

Eiji: I literally can't even leave him alone with a fork and a knife anymore and I have to watch him while he eats.

Miki: .. Again, I will talk to him about it. 

Miki: I want to save everyone in this prison. Especially Yan- 

Miki: .. I mean, my brother and Riku.

Eiji: And finally, the last one.

Eiji: Prisoner 010, Himura Reina.

Eiji: She was voted innocent and her ideas and thoughts were affirmed.

Eiji: Honestly, I think she's one of those prisoners who have changed the most.

Eiji: She's like a completely different person now.

Eiji: She's no longer pretending to be someone she's not. She almost never mentions the whole "I'm actually the most dangerous murderer in this prison" thing anymore. 

Eiji: She's also very.. calm now. To the point of showing almost no emotions.

Eiji: She doesn't make dumb jokes anymore, she doesn't say things like "Oh, I actually have more than 50 victims", she isn't that loud anymore.

Eiji: .. And she also was the one who protected Kei from being attacked by Yurika.

Eiji: If that doesn't prove that she has changed, I don't know what will.

Miki: .. What if she actually always was capable of that? What if she always could protect someone like that and we just didn't know?

Eiji: Well, I can't say anything about that.

Eiji: She and Kei are actually surprisingly close now. She's the only person here who isn't afraid of him and doesn't take advantage of his condition.

Eiji: I was shocked at first, but now that I think about it..

Eiji: It makes sense. Their personalities are actually very similar.

Miki: So that's why she's been asking me to take care of him so often lately.. 

Eiji: .. What surprises me the most is that Kei never flirts with her or tries to impress her. I guess it has an obvious explanation, but if we trust Yurika's words, he's still more than capable of being annoying in that way.

Miki: Well, maybe he just sees her as a friend? Isn't that nice?

Eiji: Don't say that. I can't imagine this guy having friends that actually like him.  

Eiji: She isn't that close with Yurika anymore and when I asked her about it, she sounded like she was.. disappointed in her? I guess she wasn't prepared to see the real Yurika.

Eiji: .. That's all I have to say.

Eiji: *sighs*

Miki: So.. Do you still want to vote all of them guilty?

Eiji: Why are you even asking me that? Of course I do. Actually, I want to punish them even more now that I've seen what kind of people they become after being forgiven.

Miki: But isn't it natural to start acting more calm or confident after being forgiven? 

Miki: Just like you said, their ideas and thoughts were affirmed. Of course, they think that they were the ones in the right now.

Eiji: .. I wanted to talk to you about something.

Eiji: You don't have to think too hard to notice that all, or at least, most prisoners like you much more than me.

Eiji: Most of those who were voted innocent are thankful to you for saving them and they're hoping to be forgiven this time again.

Eiji: And those who were voted guilty are this close to begging you to save them from me and forgive them.

Eiji: It's like..

Eiji: It's like you're a goddess of this place, haha..

Miki: .. Hehe, come on, I-I'm just doing my job..

Eiji: Don't try to forgive all of them this time though. Be more careful. They're obviously going to try and take advantage of your kindness.

Eiji: Now, let's go and interrogate-

Eiji: !

*sounds of Eiji falling on the floor*

Miki: Eiji-san!

Miki: A-are you okay?!

Miki: Are you hurt? What happened?

Eiji: .. W-why..

Eiji: Why is everything so.. blurry now?

Miki: Please, tell me if you're not feeling okay! We can just interrogate everyone tomorrow-

*sounds of Eiji trying to get up*

Eiji: I'm fine. I'm fine, I can do this. 

Eiji: H-huh?..

Eiji: "Why am I feeling so weak?.."

Miki: Eiji-san, your body is shaking. A-are you feeling any pain? Maybe discomfort?..

Eiji: I told you I'm fine! Let's just go and begin the second trial already-

Eiji: Ah-

Eiji: .. T-thank you.

Miki: If it wasn't for me, you would fall again!

Miki:*sobs* Eiji-san.. Please, just tell me what's going on..

Miki: I just want to help you!

Eiji: Guard 002, let me go.

Miki: I can't do that when you look like you're about to-

Eiji: JUST LET ME DO MY JOB, MIKI!

Eiji: WHY CAN'T I HAVE AT LEAST ONE THING I ACTUALLY ENJOY DOING? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING?

Eiji: I'M BASICALLY NO ONE BECAUSE OF YOU NOW, WHY DON'T YOU GET IT?!

Eiji: ...

Miki: .. Eiji-san? Eiji-san, can you hear me?

Miki: "I should let him have some rest.."

Miki: "What did he mean by me ruining everything though? Was he talking about everyone's verdicts?"

Miki: "I doubt that he's jealous of me being more respected by the prisoners or something like that.."

Miki: ".. I'm a goddess of this place.. What did he mean by that?"

Miki: "It doesn't sound bad though, hehe.."

Miki: "Trust me, Eiji-san, I will save everyone in this prison. I will forgive them for all their sins and I will guide them."

Miki: "I will save everyone, Eiji-san.."

Miki: ".. Including you."

***

???: Hm? 

???: What is going on with that screen?.. 

???: Ah, it's you!.. Sorry, I forgot your name again.

Jackalope: .. Maybe we should have chosen someone else. 

???: *laughs* You're right, you're right. 

???: No, seriously, I still don't understand why I was chosen. I mean.. 

???: Look at me. Why would you make someone like me the guard of this prison?

Jackalope: You're asking way too many questions for someone like you. By the way, I left your guard uniform at the door. You can go and get it, I'll open the door just this once.

???: Really? Okay..

*sounds of slow footsteps*

[ ??? opens the door ] 

???: Wow!..

???: .. I-it doesn't look that comfortable. 

[ ??? closes the door ]

???: And why would I even wear it? Didn't you say that I'm not allowed to leave this room?

Jackalope: True, but now you'll actually be able to participate in the trials. 

Jackalope: As always, you'll be able to see everything from here. You don't even have to leave.

???: .. Does that mean I can participate in the voting process too now?

Jackalope: Absolutely! You can even say hi to the other guards if you want. 

Jackalope: That girl is very cute, by the way, so I doubt that you'd want to lose your chance-

Jackalope: Wait, or are you-

???: Hmm, I think it will be too hard for them to accept the fact that there's a third guard hiding somewhere. 

???: .. I think I have an idea. You already did that thing to the first guard, right?

???: I think I know how I can interrogate the prisoners without letting the other guards know anything.

Jackalope: You remember that you still have to vote though, right?

???: I do, I do. Don't worry, I won't disappoint you~

???: *yawns* Sorry, looks like I've spent all my energy for today.

???: Hehe, I wish I had a stuffed animal that looked like you-

Jackalope: Don't even think about it. Cuddling with a guy? No thank you. 

???: Calm down.. You know I can't even be in the same room as you anyway.

???: But before I go to sleep, can you answer my question already?

???: Why was I chosen?

???: I mean, I can't even participate in this trial properly. I just spend all my time in this room. 

???: I'm also not that interested in "saving" or "punishing" those prisoners..

Jackalope: .. Well, let's just say that all guards have their reasons to be here.

Jackalope: That guy wants to see his brother in pain and he wants to get his revenge on him. The girl is harder to figure out, but I'm sure she has her goal too.

Jackalope: You also have a reason to be here. Why don't you think about it yourself?

???: Hm... 

???: Maybe you're right. 

???: Either way, I don't think I'll lose much if I participate in this thing.

???: I have nothing to lose anyway. 

[favroitecrime]

finally watched west side story. #that scene from where anita and graziella reach for each other… yeah. one of two scenes that shook me to the core