#so obsessed with getting as high level as possible but gets killed by a low level spell
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there's something so poetic about kipperlilly copperkettle—who hated one of her classmates for daring to be better than her and having a dead dad, who refused to improve herself and instead chose to be bitter and entitled, who was so obsessed with being Special and Important like she felt she deserved that she willingly worked with a rage god, betrayed her party, and killed her friend—getting killed by fucking. Hold Person. her fancy optimal build IMMEDIATELY folding in the face of riz's cleverness and experience and applied knowledge. she spends years fixated solely on racking up EXP and getting the Best Abilities, and then when she dies, she's killed not in glorious combat but by a clever, practical application of a 2nd level spell that she NEVER would have ever thought of using because she has no creativity or adventurers' spirit, cast by the same classmate she always hated with a watch his dead dad gave him.
#so obsessed with getting as high level as possible but gets killed by a low level spell#one she never would have considered casting herself because she's level 20! she's optimized! she has the BEST skills at her disposal!#but she ultimately loses to riz who follows the proud gukgak tradition of hard work as an act of love#who has years of experience gained from a genuine desire to help people rather than a desire for attention or accolades#and who is simply fucking better at pvp#kipperlilly copperkettle#riz gukgak#fantasy high#fhjy#fantasy high junior year#dimension 20#d20#anyway i fucking KNEW she was evil!!!!
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Hi! Could you please do Jack Marston with a childhood friend reader? If Honor level is needed let's go with high Honor for this one. Thanks! <3
sure! Sorry if this is a bit ooc, I have yet to play high honor jack, so I'm going off the wiki and yt clips
Yandere! High Honor! Jack Marston with Childhood friend hcs
Warnings: Gender neutral darling, yandere trope, obsession, spoilers for rdr1, gaslighting, breach of trust, stalking, isolation, kidnapping, guilt tripping, possibly ooc Jack
✘ Oh boy, a tragic one. Seeing your best friend go from a bright smart boy to a killer and obsessed stalker. Granted it's high honor at least.. so you won't get some of the nastiness of low honor.
✘ His obsession won't start until after both his parents die, leaving him alone, with only you around. It starts as worry, worry you'll be ripped away from him like his father and mother, just when things were starting to get good.
✘ You probably can excuse it as a reasonable thing, grief can change a person. In this case, it's a really big damn change. That's the advantage he has. He isn't as openly vulgar, crass, and deranged as his low honor self.
✘ It's things like insisting on following you around, escorting you places, casting doubt on certain people he's jealous weary of. He's just looking out for you that's all! After all you two been friends how long? Yeah. That's right. He's just worried about his best friend.
✘ He uses the childhood friend card like a drug. Paired with the grief one. Any accusation of him stalking you, beating up townsfolk, chasing other people away, stealing things? That's ridiculous! Do you hear yourself? You really believe some strangers over him? He's hurt. Even if it's all true. You don't need to know that!
✘ He even feels guilty sometimes for what he's doing, but he tricks himself into thinking it's reasonable again. After everything he's lost its only fair he tries to keep the one person left right? Anyone else would do the same in his position! Even if means shooting down a few people, they laid their hands on you.
✘ He is less trigger happy than his low honor counter part. Someone's gotta get real, real under his skin. He'll make it quick and brisk, leave their body, and never speak of word of it to you. He knows you wouldn't be exactly over the moon if he openly admitted to stalking you, stealing some of your things, or killing someone.
✘ He also conveniently takes up Journaling around this time. Don't worry. It's just fifty or so pages about you and his ramblings. Nothing you need to worry about at all.
✘ He really struggles. He knows it's wrong. It's dirty. Yet he can't just.. stop. His father was an outlaw, he was doomed to be like this wasn't he? A filthy crook dragging another innocent person down.
✘ Yet he also bounces back, you're his friend, you two have know each other for so long, so long before he was this? You've stuck with him for so long. You wouldn't mind staying with him forever would you? It's only reasonable for you two to be together after all your history, as he so claims. You should feel the same.
✘ Kidnapping will be a last resort. If he's guaranteed to loose you, like if you plan on moving. He's reluctant the whole time. You'd really see him as a monster now wouldn't you? He's talking to you the whole time, pleading for you to not make this harder for either of you than it needs to be.
✘ You cry and scream at him and get very little back. He understands he's broken your trust, that's that. He can't un-break it. Yet he argues back, you should've know, you both should've known this would be the outcome. All you two can do now is stick through it together right? You don't have a choice anyways.
#yandere red dead redemption#yandere red dead redemption 2#jack marston#yandere jack marston#yandere jack marston rdr1#yandere rdr2
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Hey, I just read chapter 3 and it was GREAT.
I am just posting here the comment I left on Ao3 with my questions, mostly because I am not sure if you are replying to comments on AO3 or not.
WOW, this is A LONG chapter, 15k words. 75% of the word count so far. I get it why took a while for this to come out.
Plagg and Marinette is an interesting dynamic, especially on how so different she is from Adrien. In Adrien's case, he was someone who had a strict life but wished to be free and wild. Someone who was on a leash and never tasted freedom. This allowed for Pagg to mostly be himself, someone carefree and relaxed. But Marinette is strict with herself, someone who never places herself as a priority. She has the freedom but never takes it. She worries a lot and never takes time to relax.
Unlike Adrien, who would choose freedom the moment it was presented to him. Marinette never sees that option, even when it's presented to her face.
Marinette places Plagg in an unusual place. A guardian who is as self-destructive as himself.
So, just to clarify. This takes place the (two) weeks before high school starts (aging up the characters by 1 year), and Marinette basically had a test drive with every miraculous (Missing the first week of class). Did she test the powers? I have a feeling that someone noticed the strange individuals roaming the night during that time.
Also, was the part where "the Kawami of the guardian changes" part of canon, or was it your addition to the fic?
I guess the Akumas are going to shop up to "drag out" the new guardian?
Something that I felt from reading the previous chapters, but it felt that Gabriel as the Butterfly holder, felt like a red herring. Just that were never saw who was the holder that killed Master Fu. So having us the readers think Gabriel was the villain would be an interesting trick.
The "Miracle Tree" is something really interesting. Really different from the box Marinette had. I do wonder how the tree works. How can she store the jewels in and out of the tree?
I do wonder how Marinette is going to fall/if she will fall in love with Adrien. Canon had the whole Stone Heart during class, and that chaos led her to the Umbrella in the Rain scene. Here she kind of "got the hang of her role" before she started school.
Marinette arriving 1 week late sure is interesting. With her not being there from the start, she is kind of an unknown to Adrien. As he got somewhat used to the school setting, having Marinette appear out of nowhere was something new to him.
Hmm… From what we got in this chapter, the Scene under the rain is not that emotional compared to canon. Mostly that, unlike the canon chapter, having Marinette get a crush on Adrien from that umbrella does not feel as powerful, mainly because without the Akuma attack, her falling for Adrien after the only exchange they had was the Gum on her Sit scene, feels a bit off. Just that her "level of obsession" would be VERY low compared to canon.
Hmm… So Marinette is going to find a holder for Tikki. I was thinking she was going to try and do it all by herself.
Is going to be really nice to read a "stoic Marinette" story.
hope you don’t mind me adding your other ask onto here! tysm for all the questions and comments, i’m kinda disorganized on ao3 but I try to respond to everything here!
For the sake of convenience, let’s say this is what the month of august looks like within FBAU! The first year of high school begins the 9th, but Marinette misses that entire first week. She’s 14 at this point, as well as Adrien (but he turns 15 in bubbler)
Within the time she spent studying the miraculous (the 2nd-15th) she did test drive all the different miracs! I do think some civilians would see an occasional blurry figure on rooftops and hear some shuffling around at night, but Marinette is in full overthinking mode. She would be avoiding everything and everyone possible while transformed, convincing herself the butterfly is watching her from around the corner. In the end, the mysterious individuals roaming the night are nothing more than a freaky rumor that no one can really confirm.
She did a general test of all their powers, but tried to keep it small. The rabbit for example, is insanely powerful, so I think she would just practice opening a burrow and peeking inside to ensure it worked or something along those lines. Most of them, she willingly tried on herself, seeing as she had no other kind of means to practice them. The pigs gift, the snakes second chance, etc. Nothing too permanent or serious, just enough to get a feel of how the power could work. Beside that, she practiced with the different tools, the different abilities (night vision, flexibility, stealth, etc), and getting to personally know the kwamis.
Marinette and Plaggs relationship is so much fun to me! Like you said, Adrien uses being the black cat as an escape from his strict life and as a sort of freedom, meanwhile Marinette puts herself and her freedoms aside to be the black cat! It puts Plagg in a really tough position where instead of being able to encourage his holder to rebel and be themself, he has to push and remind her to relax and even just take care of herself.
The kwami of the guardian changing is my own aspect, but i have some basis for it. In origins, we see Wayzz freaking out because he feels a negative energy coming from the butterfly miraculous when Gabriel activates it, and warning Master Fu about it. But in Volpina, when Adrien is going through his dad’s vault and finds the book, we see the peacock miraculous, and we also see Plagg have no reaction to it (It was said somewhere that that was because it was a fake replica of the peacock but like. why would he keep the real book in there with a fake mirac. why not also make a fake book in that case.). We also learn that within the order of the guardians it isn’t allowed for guardians to be holders, so I think it’s fitting that it might be because that can ‘upgrade’ the kwamis in a sense, especially in a way that might be unstable. I also really like the new layer it adds to Marinette and Plaggs relationship!
Hawkmoth lost all leads on the miraculous when Fu transferred guardianship and hid Marinette. He has no idea where the Miracle Box is, who the new guardian might be, or if the earrings and ring are even still in Paris. He has no reason to really send out an akuma yet, seeing as how it would only expose more about himself and possibly lead to nothing but irreversible chaos, which— while fun— isn’t the ultimate goal. First he’s gotta wait for a sign of a new guardian, then the butterfly might make his first move :3
You’re not the first person to think Gabe might not be the butterfly and Imma be so fr I did not mean for that to come across at all lol. Gabriel is definitely the butterfly holder, I just like avoiding using his identity because he’s such a vague and looming figure to Marinette at this point. All she knows about him is his miraculous, he probably abuses his kwami, he somehow hunted down and killed master fu, and he wants her ring and earrings. Besides that, the butterfly is a blank slate to her.
I gotta firstly say I have always hated that damn ladybug egg box she gets in canon. I think it’s ugly as all hell, but I like the concept of the box changing its rules according to its guardian! Canon Marinettes was based very heavily around her identity as ladybug, while FBAU Marinettes is based entirely on her identity as ‘Marinette the guardian’ and her relationship with the kwamis. Similar to in the show, the kwamis are free to move in and out of the tree at will, but unlike the show, only they are able to retrieve their miraculous! They enter the tree through the yin yang-ladybug black cat symbol on the trunk, and return from the dimension inside with their miraculous. Its function relies entirely on her trust with the kwamis.
Even though Marinette joined a week late, she’s not an entirely new presence. Like Alya said, her classmates had been talking about her during that week, and Adrien had befriended Nino, who knows Marinette already. When Nino mentioned Chloe’s history of bullying, Adrien connected the dots that the annoying inconsiderate girl in all of his best friends stories had been Marinette, her own victim.
Sorry if you didn’t enjoy the umbrella scene, but I’m happy with it! My intention wasn’t to make Marinette obsessed, or make her fall in love with him, it was to have her see he was genuinely trying to help, and he genuinely wants to be friends. Sure, she gets a bit flustered and blushy and Plagg teases her about developing a crush, but it’s in the same way a teenage girl is going to get flustered around a cute teenager model. Especially one who just offered her honest friendship, an umbrella, then ran out into the pouring rain. She doesn’t have the emotional or mental space it takes to have a crush or be in love with someone, and what energy she does have needs to be channeled into being the perfect guardian. I mean, this girl is barely even allowing herself to have friends, a romance of any sort is basically entirely out of the question in her mind.
tbh, I think she would try to do everything on her own if she didn’t have 17 kwamis at her side screaming at her she needs to take care of herself lmao. Not having anyone besides the kwamis, they’ve pretty much become her mentor(s), so when they say she shouldn’t fucking wear the earrings and the ring together she’s not gonna argue about it. For now, at least.
Honestly, I don’t really care about Lila. I never really have before the s5 finale, and even now I’m only sorta interested because I’m curious how she’ll differ as a butterfly holder from Gabriel. I do think she’ll be involved and be her normal sketchy shady toxic self, but her story is still tbd! Like you said, I don’t see Marinette making as big a target for herself like in canon, but she still won’t be susceptible to her lies and manipulations. I already have a semi solid idea for an ‘ending’ which doesn’t leave a lot of space for Lila to do much of anything, but we’ll see!
Chloe’s a different story, considering she revels in genuinely just shitting on Marinette. Not getting a reaction definitely wouldn’t give her the fun she’s looking for, but she still gets to belittle someone she hates. There’s also the problem of Alya, who takes a stand for Marinette when she won’t stand for herself. She can get a bit of amusement out of that if it goes her way, but more often than not Alya is ready to dish it right back.
Marinette and Juleka definitely have a nice silent lunch together omg I love that. You’re giving me ideas for future chapters aaa!
Marinette still has her passion for fashion, but like a lot of things in her life, it’s been cast aside for the time being. The only fans of her designs she has for quite a while is the kwamis, and even they can struggle with getting her motivated to create.
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Whew! Sorry, that was a lot of words, I hope I covered everything (and made sense :P), thank u again for so many questions and comments!!
Chapter 4 is in the works, as well as brainstorming for Reverse!FBAU >:3
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One Piece OC Bio: Mara
Full Name: Mara
Aliases: Mara the Moocher (a play on the banger of all time, Minnie the Moocher), Snail Queen Mara (courtesy of @probably-not-a-cannibal )
Age: 26 pre-timeskip/28 post-timeskip
Devil Fruit: Kyui-Kyui no Mi/Itch-Itch Fruit
Provides the useless ability to make people itchy when touched. Fr her weakness is literally someone scratching themselves. Or calamine lotion. It takes a few years for her to figure out she can give people hives/send them into anaphylactic shock.
Hometown: Loguetown
Appearance: Pre-timeskip Mara has waist-length brown hair. She typically wears high-waisted shorts and crop tops with combat boots. Post-timeskip she looks the same except she grave robs now also wears Ace’s hat, necklace, belt, and knife.
Pre-timeskip bounty: 100,000 berries
Post-timeskip bounty: 360,000,000 berries
Likes: Den Den Mushi. She treats them like pets rather than objects and has a bad habit of stealing hoarding them. A few even like her enough to tap into private Marine/World Government lines and enemy pirate lines so she can eavesdrop when possible. Oh, also she’s a whore.
Dislikes: The World Government and Marines. Any sort of physical labor, responsibilities, work, or chores. Her goal is to breeze through life by mooching off of people—like a leech with a great personality.
Goals: Mara’s dream is to find a dream. She’s encountered so many people who are driven by a singular goal or passion in life, and she hopes to one day find that thing she believes in so strongly she’d lay her life down for it. Eventually she discovers it’s the desire to kill every Marine or Government Official she sees, to the point that she becomes Very Problematic (see bio for the tea).
Bio: Born in Loguetown, Mara meets Shanks at Roger’s execution when he sees some townspeople picking on her for crying over his death. She’s too young to understand who he is or why he’s hated—all she knows is that it makes her sad to see so many people happy that a man has been killed all alone on a platform. Seeing that someone is mourning Roger inspires a small spark of hope in Shanks, and they form a bond similar to the one he shares with Luffy.
As they get older, Mara expresses an interest in becoming a pirate. Like Luffy, Shanks bullies tf out of her for it which doesn’t upset her until one day Shanks passes through town missing his hat and his arm. Unlike Luffy, though, he takes her with to the Grandline. Naturally she assumes this means she’s part of the crew, but nah he dumps her at Whiskey Peak.
Realizing she has no real skills of her own, she ends up joining Baroqueworks, doing her best to blend in as just another low-level agent, allowing her to utilize their resources without actually doing any sort of work…but even freeloaders have morals, and once she discovers the actual purpose of BW, she dips and hitches a ride with the first crew that will take her.
And that’s how she lives her life, hooking up with randos for funsies and hopping from crew to crew then dipping as soon as they realize she’s just there for the food and shelter. Eventually she runs into a hot rookie named Ace who somehow hasn’t lost his virginity yet so she takes care of that (creating the greasy whore we know and love ❤️). Is he down bad? Absolutely. Do they hook up every time they run into each other? Of course. Does he try to get her to stay past morning? Absolutely not, that would involve proper communication and who has time for that!
Mara briefly ends up traveling with the Strawhats during Alabasta, but leaves with Ace because he fucks Sanji and it’s the final straw for her to admit that fuck, she simps for Ace just as much as he does for her. Things are good for a while until his obsession with killing Blackbeard gets too out of control so he leaves her with Whitebeard’s crew, promising to come back when he carries out his mission. Whitebeard doesn’t let her get away with being lazy and puts her ass to work. She trains with some of the others, learns that her Devil Fruit isn’t as lame as she thought,,,,but she still gets her ass handed to her at marineford. And she still watched Ace die in his brother’s arms on the other side of the battlefield.
Post timeskip, it’s on SIGHT any time she sees a marine, even if they’re minding their own. Eventually she runs into Shanks, has a toxic on again/off again relationship with him, and has to eventually learn for herself that maaaaaybe being driven by revenge isn’t super healthy. And maaaaaybe she needs to revaluate her life and her place in the world. (Except I like to mostly think about her in a world where Ace lives rather than the more ~canon~ timeline so that’s as far as we got baybeee).
Shout out to all 1 person who read this far. Thank you for learning about my little trainwreck. She has a compulsion to be liked by everyone so hmu if if you want to talk about our OC’s becoming buds ✨
Also big sup to the folks I commissioned to draw her!!!!!!!!!!
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Upside Down- CH 10
Author's Notes: I know I try to exchange and do one chapter of Tainted Reflections and Upside Down at a time, but I have brainrot for this plot right now. I couldn't even wait till tomorrow to post it. I hope you guys enjoy!
Warnings: Violence, Death, Cussing, Weapons. As Always, Read Safely!
Word Count: 7409
Previous Chapter Next Chapter
Breaking Old Ideals
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A wave washed over you all, one of anger and hatred and Envy. The time was now. You had minutes to get ready, if even that. You looked back at the sleeping humans, watching their faces remain peaceful despite all they had been through. Levi had tossed and turned a little throughout his sleep, almost slipping out of bed, but you kept him from falling to the floor, tucking the blanket in around his side. With a sigh, you shook your head. You desperately wanted to do this on your own. What a blow to the gut to know you needed these two for the plan to work, the insane plan you’d come up with in the last few hours. Who knew if it was going to even work? And was it worth putting the two humans at risk?...
You tugged the blanket off the both of them, shaking the both of them harshly till they woke up. “Wha…what is it?” Mammon groaned, blinking at the light and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Lifia is coming, we have to go.” You glanced over at Levi who, against all odds, was still trying to curl up and go back to sleep. You picked him up easily and set him in a chair instead. “We don’t have much time!” With a shove and a bit of in-game magic, you handed Levi his metal armor and equipped Mammon fully. “Let’s go over the plan.”
“Since- Since when did we have a plan? Why is she coming for us anyway?! We’re not leveled for that!” Levi shouted, the last bit of grogginess leaving his voice with his panic.
You helped Levi put on his chestplate, rushing to go grab his shoes. Why were humans so slow?! “For one, I wasn’t exactly encouraged to escape. And I might’ve…possibly blown up part of her castle.” One of the humans opened their mouth to retort to that, but you didn’t give them the chance. “Secondly, she sent that whole army to kill Mammon, and not only are you still alive,” you glanced up at your pact-mate…well, the one being mentioned, “but we destroyed her army. Not to mention, I just made a pact with you!” You took Levi by the shoulders and jostled him a little, trying to snap him out of his weird little gaze as you dressed him. “Need I remind you that she’s obsessed with you? The moment she finds out we have a pact together, it’s over. Game over. Life over!” Levi suddenly seemed to almost regret his decision, not that you blamed him. You tugged him up out of his seat, grabbed Mammon’s hand, and booked it out of the house. A little light glowed between your fingers as you summoned the whistle. With a brisk blow, a high pitched melody echoed through the streets. A few seconds later, your white horse galloped in your direction. Knowing what you wanted without asking, Mammon climbed up easily. Levi struggled a bit with the weight of his armor. You pushed him up there and settled him in the saddle. You pointed towards the northwest, the general location of somewhere you had passed during your escape. “Start heading in that direction. Don’t slow down. Mammon, use your stealth. Levi, use your new pact ability to mimic Mammon, if it works like I assume it does, you'll be able to copy Mammon’s powers. You’ll both be cloaked for a while.”
“Wait, wait, wait, you’re going too fast and explaining nothin’ to us! What happened to telling us about the plan?!” Mammon held onto the reins, but kept the mount from moving. “And why’re you talking like we’re leavin’ you behind?!”
“Because you are. Only for a little bit. For the plan to work, we need to be as high of a level as we can get. We’re all still too low. Once I’m done I’ll grab another horse and meet you two out there. Just remember to go straight towards the smoke, okay?” You reached up, guiding Levi’s arms to hold onto his brother, making sure Mammon’s boots were firm inside the stirrups. “We’ll get you guys home, I just need you focused.” Both their eyes hovered over you nervously, confused. Before either of them could speak further, you commanded the horse to move forward, both humans speeding down along the path towards the outside of the city. This would work…it had to work.
A little bit of you felt strangely bad for sending them off alone, but you didn’t want them to see this. You didn’t need them to participate. This was better off left to the demons. Even if this town was completely fake, you were worried the two humans might still harbor some sense of morality. So you’d do the dirty work for them. No NPC was safe, no items locked tightly enough away. You stole, destroyed, obliterated these non-human images without a second thought. Anything that could give you an ounce of XP you went for. You wouldn’t be satisfied till you went over every inch of this place, leveling up as close to Lifia as you could.
The citizens were too easy. The soldiers were a bit harder to deal with. It seemed the further you went on a rampage, the harder the enemies got. Just like regular humans, more and more determined to strike you down. If only they would’ve just worked together and sent everything they had at once at you, then you might’ve slowed down, but no, they always had some hubris, waiting till the very end to give it all they had. Mages fired down arrows of pure magic, soldiers carrying immensely large shields and spears tried attacking you from a safe distance. Even in the shadows, it seemed assassins were ready to strike you down. But you wouldn’t be taken so easily. Not here. Not now.
It wasn’t until dust rolled over your shoe, complete silence filling the town till you looked up at your level now. Ninety-one. Using every item available in your inventory, you used whatever would give you more points. You burnt through old weapons, used up amulets, broke level gems. Ninety-three. Still seven whole levels below the Demon Lord. It would have to do. You dashed back to the town’s stables, snatching a horse covered in a dark-brown coat, tugging it out of its pen. With a graceful twist, you landed on its back. You heard a rumble off in the distance. A giant black cloud was making its way towards the town. That was Lifia, surely. Time to catch up to the humans.
You snapped at the reins, your new mount sprinting through the desolate city, through a hole that had been punctured through the high stone wall. A little tug sent the horse in the right direction, towards a little pillar of black spiraling through the sky, towards the craggy outline etched into the horizon, towards the volcano. It was a rushed plan sure, a risky one, but it was all you could think of. What do you do when you have an enemy you can’t out-strength? You use your surroundings. You find something stronger. Of course, there was no way of knowing if this would even work. But it was worth a try.
You spotted the little white dot that was your horse sitting at the base of the volcano. Your new mount was pushed to its physical limits, sprinting forward as fast as it could manage. As soon as you were close enough, instead of waiting around for the horse to slow down, you jumped off, hitting the ground running, stumbling a little, but still moving. “Mammon, Levi, are you here?” You shouted.
Two shapes rippled before the humans unveiled themselves for you, looking nervous, unable to miss the large angry mass that was approaching you all in the sky. You took their arms and began dragging them up the volcano, the air around you all going heavy with heat. “What’re we doing here?” Mammon asked, and while he was the more agile of the two, even he seemed to struggle to keep up with your pace.
You went to talk, but Levi spoke for you. “It’s- It’s like a final showdown! The last epic battle, taking place above a raging blaze! Definitely final boss material!”
“I’m hoping we won’t have to do much fighting…It’s a last resort.” You admitted. With a little tug, you brought them up to the rim of the volcano, listening to the churning of lava beneath you all. The smoke was thick, the heat was immense. It was all the three of you could do to simply breathe. Although, even as the volcano rumbled beneath you all, you could still hear the roar that was vastly approaching. You didn’t have long left at all. So, with the last few minutes you had, you explained the plan. The looks they were giving you were clearly uncertain. “Levi…this is dangerous…but are you willing to do it? You can back out if you wish.”
He was crucial for this plan to work. You were hoping he would be on board, but you didn’t blame him if he changed his mind. He looked around him, like he was taking in everything all at once, like this world had just sunk in. These humans…were ready for it to go wrong, and either they were naively hopeful, or they had made their peace with the potential end. “No. I want to do this. I trust you.” Then he looked over his shoulder at his brother. “And…while I hate to admit it, I trust you too, Mammon. I’m- I’m- I’m trusting you with my life, okay? And…if we don’t make it out of here, I want you to know that…you weren’t a bad older brother.”
Mammon appeared a bit stunned at those words, and instead of being proud, he looked a bit sad. “Shuddup! I don’t want to hear it! Don’t say stuff like that! We’ll get out of here, all of us!” He came over to punch Levi in the arm before walking off, disappearing into shadow.
Now you were alone with Levi. You strode over to a little outcropping of rock that jutted out further than the rest of them, almost like it was a little platform. It allowed you to stand right over the pit of lava, like it was intentionally made, and who knew, perhaps it was. It suited your purposes just fine anyway. “Are you afraid?” You asked him as he came to stand right beside you, trying not to watch the way disturbed pebbles and chunks of rock plummeted towards the sea of death below.
“O- Of course,” he muttered. “I’m so terrified, I can’t think straight. But…I feel…like I can move forward anyway.”
“You humans are always so contradictory and ridiculously determined…” You shook your head at him but found it in you to smile a little bit. It was weird, smiling again at a human. You’d done it with Mammon before, and now you were doing it to Levi. How strange. “I–”
Words of support didn’t come in time though. It wasn’t long before the light got snuffed out by rolling black clouds. Sparks of red lightning struck the air around it. Everything above and below you seemed to surround you in a dangerous wrath. As if this pit of lava wasn’t intimidating and dramatic enough… Lifia seemed to fall from the sky, landing in front of you with nothing but pure murderous rage in her eyes. There was a bit of silence as you stared at each other, tension straining between you two. Although, the scowl on her face, the mess of her hair, the frustration in her features, it had you grinning. She knew she had underestimated you. She should’ve destroyed you while she had the chance. The silence didn’t last forever, she pulled out her weapon, lunging straight for you. “You pathetic, little–” She gasped so hard, the air caught in her throat.
Levi was struggling over the lava pit, eyes frantic, sweat dripping down the side of his face. He was in your grasp. As he dangled in the air from your hands, he gripped at your body. You stared Lifia down, finally glad to see her scrambling. “Hurt me and he drops,” you threatened.
The ‘Demon Lord’ crumbled. This high and mighty persona that she tried to present herself to be was nothing more than a character she put on for Levi. You knew what she was. It doesn’t take too much for a demon of Envy to break. She dropped her weapon, her hands tugging at the hair atop her head. “It’s not fair!” The howl she screamed sent your ears ringing. Red lightning from above you rumbled and flashed, striking parts of the volcano, making the entire mountain rumble. Large chunks of stone were cut from their place, falling into the lava. Suddenly the rock you were in didn’t appear as stable as you thought it would be… “Everything I did…everything I built…everything I gave…it was for Levi. He’s mine! I deserve him!”
Your heart pounded heavily in your chest. This was your plan, it was all following your expectations…yet…what happened to your resolve? It suddenly…was gone. You looked over at Levi, your human which you were holding over an assured death. You…couldn’t… Levi glanced at you, and then at Lifia. All the sudden, this human had more courage than you did, which was saying something. “Hey, Demon Lord!” He shouted, catching her attention. She seemed to glow when he addressed her. “If you want me… Save me!” In a swift action, he pulled out his sword, jabbing the hilt into the back of your hand. Reflixily, your fingers loosened. You let him go.
“Levi!” Lifia shrieked, running over to the edge. She went to cast a spell, but before she could, you pushed her. Now they both were falling, towards the lava, towards death. Her cast still went off though. A gnarled black vine twisted around Levi’s arm and connected to her. All she wanted to do now was pull him into her arms, it seemed, have him for a moment at last.
A flash manifested itself by Levi. Mammon grabbed his brother, pulled out a knife to cut the vine away, and then blinked away, taking Levi with him. They reappeared on the other side of the chasm, standing on a very small ledge of rock. You were right…Mammon could only blink forward, not up. They both were still far too close to the pool for you to feel comfortable. You were trying to figure out what spell would work best, but Mammon beat you to the punch. He pulled something out of his inventory, it appeared to be a scroll. He locked eyes with you from his position, showing you the item and then pointing at the sky. He sure did have a lot of faith in you to expect you to understand and react in such a short amount of time. He threw the scroll as high as he could in the air. With a gust of your wind, the paper rocketed to the sky, reaching all the way up past the edge of the crater. The scroll lit up with magic. Mammon grabbed his brother’s arm before they both teleported to where the scroll had been. With another blink, Mammon and Levi hovered over safe ground before crashing down.
Now the only one that was falling was–
Something wrapped around your leg, a weight pulling you to the floor. You had just one second to claw against the ground, to grasp at the platform’s edge. There weren’t easy places to fit your hands, you were relying on pure grip strength, which in this world, wasn’t the best. You heard your name being called by the humans. They were running around the edge to make it over to you. “Hold on! We’re coming!” They were screaming.
Beneath you, dragging you down by a thorny corrupted vine, was Lifia, who was practically brushing against the lava, her health ticking down in small sections. Rather than attempting to crawl back up, she seemed more intent at pulling you down with her. “If I can’t have him, you can’t either!” She snarled, her dying act bent on revenge. Just a little longer…you just had to hold on… Another vine tugged at one of your wrists. You dug into the stone with one hand as hard as you could, your fingers feeling like breaking, and then, you were lightweight as you slipped. The two humans reached the end of the platform just too late. They watched you plummet.
There are many things that happen right before you know you’re about to die. You mostly think about your regrets, which you had plenty of. But…as you were recalling everything you wished you would’ve changed, you were surprised to discover that meeting these two humans wasn't among them. Funny, wasn’t it? You felt a bit guilty. I’m sorry, my love, you thought to yourself. Seems my promise to only care about you has been broken. You wondered…if once you were gone…if you’d be able to see them again.
A third vine snaked around you all the sudden, tugging at your other arm. You snapped out of your daze, focusing on Levi, who was digging his feet into the ground, tugging you back up despite being steadily pulled back towards the volcano’s edge. Mammon wrapped his arms around his brother’s waist. They were both pulling you up. Below you, Lifia gasped, her hold on you going slack. “A…pact…ability? L- Levi?...Why?...” Her HP bar was almost fully depleted as she sunk into the fire. A choked sob gurgled in her throat. “Why…couldn’t…with…me? I just…wanted…” But she never got to say that last word as her body suddenly was consumed in a pillar of fire, all her sins, all her envy shooting out of her as she took her last breath. Everything was blinding. Everything seemed to go white. Everything went numb.
Your eyes opened. For a moment, you had a hard time comprehending the fact that you were even still alive, able to take in the scenery in the first place. Your body ached as you attempted to sit up, your hand coming up to your face as you groaned. Then a huge weight crashed down upon you. “You made it! You’re alive! We’re alive! We’re back home!” The two humans seemed to grapple for you until they let you go. After that, the two humans slapped each other’s palms in another high-five. Mammon was beaming, somehow radiating energy despite all that had just happened. He looked at his brother and pulled him in, giving Levi a little squeeze before pulling his head under his arm, ruffling his hair. “And it’s all thanks to this guy!”
Levi took the affection for a second with an embarrassed flush, although it was clear he appreciated it in some way. “Stop, stop it, Mammon!” He slipped out of his brother’s grasp, bouncing his body weight between his feet. “I didn’t do much, I just used the pact ability.”
“Still!” Mammon punched Levi a little in the arm. “Sharp thinking!” Levi tried to debate back, but Mammon wouldn’t let him. It was strange how an argument could be so…wholesome. At least they weren’t at each other’s throats.
However, you looked around yourself, raising a little eyebrow. When you all had disappeared, it had been night. The other two demons had been part of Lifia’s plan, but now it seemed as if they were nowhere. The three of you spawned in a small room, the smell of grime and must clinging to the papery carpet. There was one bed against the center of one of the walls in between two nightstands each with a matching lamp. “Where are we?” You asked.
The two humans suddenly stopped talking, taking their own moments to observe the room. Mammon walked over to one of the nightstands and picked up what looked to be a little flier. “From the looks of things, seems like some cheap motel. Think the demons brought us here?”
“I-If that’s the case, we should make a break for it while they’re gone, right?!” Levi raised his voice just to lower his question into a whisper at the end, eyes darting around like the other two demons might pop out of any corner.
Mammon shrugged, stepping over to where you still sat on the floor. “You’re right. Let’s get the hell out of here!” He held his hand out to you where you simply settled in silence for a moment, frowning at his palms before taking his help. He assisted in pulling you to your feet. Your mind swayed. As much as you hated to admit it, the two were right. Running now was the best option. It seems your little time in the video game world didn’t solve your exhaustion from earlier. In fact, you felt worse. If you ran into those demons again, any demons in fact, there would be little you could do to stop them. If you used much more magic, you’d collapse. You were almost in the same defenseless boat as your two companions now.
“Hold on,” you muttered just as Mammon made a dash for the door. You walked over to the bed where the magical device was laying square in the middle right over the covers. You took the thing in your hands before throwing it to the ground, your heel stomping down on the screen right after. It cracked and fizzled, sparked and gurgled before dying down completely. There. Now Lifia was gone for good, and so was the realm she had worked so hard to build. You could pity her on that one aspect. The both of you just strived to remain in your individualized ideal worlds. Yours contained no one but yourself, and Lifia’s was just her and Levi. Both your worlds were essentially broken now, shattered at your feet. However, as you were snapped out of your little daze by Mammon’s voice, you had to wonder what your ideal world was now. Once these humans were gone, once you had finished your task and were free from looking after them, would you revert back to your old habits? Was this just a temporary distraction? You bent over and scooped up the remaining pieces of the broken game, placing it in one of your pockets. You had a feeling some evidence would be crucial for explaining the situation to the prince. Mammon opened the door and waved you out. You could ask heavy life questions later.
The ‘motel’ as Mammon called it, was fairly quiet. The sun seemed to be on its path to set, although there was plenty of daylight around. You all stood on a little second floor balcony path, more doors to more rooms off to your left and right. Mammon took point here. Seems his many greedy escapades trained him for days like these. He led you both over to a set of stairs that led down to the parking lot. The human of greed looked around at the few unmoving cars, running up to the side of one. That’s when Levi started to hiss. “What’re you doing?!”
“What’s it look like I’m doin’? Be quiet!”
“Are you trying to steal–”
“Shuddup!” Now they were back to their regular bickering. However, as they growled at each other in frantic whispers, you sensed something in the back of your mind. A demon wasn’t too far away. If it was one of the two you had met earlier, you could not tell. They were too far away, which was a positive for now. There was a second presence as well, and you would assume it was the second demon, but it wasn’t…the same. It was powerful, sure, but… With a shake of your head, you grabbed Levi and Mammon by the crook of their elbows, tugging them away from the car, away from where you could sense the two auras. The humans seemed to want to say something, but after everything that had happened, they gave into your better judgements.
You let go of them after a while, taking the lead with the both of them at your sides. It wasn’t too long before you came upon a road, turning left down the sidewalk, heading nowhere in particular. “Man, I don’t recognize where we are at all…” Mammon started walking backwards, trying to look down the other side of the street. Eventually he shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets before gasping. Both you and Levi flinched, stopping in place. “Our phones!” Mammon then shouted, pulling his device out of his pocket.
Levi’s eyes widened and shimmered, fishing around for his own phone before almost tearing up. “Sweet sweet technology!” He tapped the screen a few times before his face ran through several emotions. “Mammon, do…”
“Do I have as many missed calls from Lucifer as you do? Yeah…I don’t know if I should feel touched or terrified.” It seemed they both were leaning towards terrified. Mammon’s face turned shocked for a moment. “Hold on a minute! You mean to tell me we’ve only been gone for…for a day?!” He turned his phone screen over to Levi so his brother could take a look.
“Not even a day…like, sixteen hours it seems. Which means–” A high pitched voice began singing from Levi’s speakers, making him jolt and almost drop his precious device. He then began to panic. “Oh god, it’s Lucifer! What do we do?! Do we answer it?! Do we ignore it?! What do we say?!”
Mammon sighed, shaking his head. “We’re in hot water no matter what we say…” A more serious and somber expression painted his features. “Here, lemme handle it.” He reached his hand out, taking Levi’s phone before his brother could answer. He hit a green button on the screen and brought the phone up to his ear. You could still feel the very faint presence of a demon, so with a gentle hand on their shoulders, you guided them back into walking. “Yo,” Mammon spoke as he answered the call.
A very loud, very angry voice answered on the other end, speaking so loud you figured even a human like Levi could hear. “...Yo? Yo?!” Mammon pulled the phone a little away from his ear. “You disappear in the middle of the night, are gone for hours on end, especially after being put on house arrest, and all you have to say for yourself is yo?!” Lucifer started to rant very loudly about the state of the streets in the neighborhood, of the broken fences and crushed cars, rubble and broken concrete causing a mess. No one had figured out the cause, most assumed it was a problem with the pipes under streets, but either Lucifer had a magical sense of intuition, or he just instinctively blamed any issue no matter how ridiculous on his brothers. “What have you done this time? What ridiculous scheme have you dragged your brother into?!”
Mammon clearly was shaken, but somehow he still had a little smile on his face. He glanced over at his brother and then back over his shoulder at you. He seemed to try to convey something to you through his eyes. ‘Trust me’ it seemed to say. “You deserve to know the truth.” The words made something in your stomach drop but…you’d let him handle this… “It’s my fault,” Mammon suddenly said, making the voice on the other end go silent. “I fucked up, Lucifer. Real bad this time. Pissed off the wrong people. I never meant for anyone else to get involved, I swear. I was gonna handle it myself, but Levi tried to stop me. I’ll take whatever punishment you give me, but right now we all just want to be safe at home.” The emotions in Mammon’s voice were real, not a lie. Although you knew he was using the situation about Cash from earlier to be his excuse for what happened now. Technically a lie in its own right, but it seemed to work.
Lucifer was so quiet, you wondered if the phone call ended, but finally, you heard him speak, although just hardly audible now. “Where are you?”
“I don’t know,” Mammon answered truthfully.
“...Are you all okay?”
“A bit shaken up but I think we’re all fine. Can…Can you come get us?”
A little pause was on the other end, and for a moment it seemed as if the answer was going to be no. At least, that’s the sort of answer you’d expect from him. But then a noise rang through the phone speakers. It sounded like a car door closing. “Share your location with me now. Keep running till you feel like you’re in a safe place– a safe public space, then wait for me. If you can, find a bus stop and get to the next city over. I’m on my way.” Then the phone call ended abruptly.
Mammon sighed, but seemed to be working on what his brother asked. With a sharp breath, he clutched at his head. “Jesus, we’re ages away from home! It’s gonna take Lucifer a good few hours to catch up with us. We better try to find a bus or somethin’.”
“Hours?! What if we get found by those demons again by then?” Levi rubbed at his palms nervously.
Right before you spoke, a jolt ran down your spine. The demon’s presence that you had felt before just suddenly…was gone. Something cold settled in your stomach. Getting out of here as quickly as possible was ideal. “Lucifer’s plan is…” You couldn’t believe you were about to say this but, “right. I don’t think the demons know we’ve escaped yet. The further away we get, the harder we will be to find. Let us find this…” You paused, looking over at Mammon.
He blinked at you for a second and then beamed. “Oh, a bus? It’s like a really long car! With lots of seats inside for multiple people. They follow routes and schedules to drop people off at certain places.” Mammon seemed all too pleased to share another human fact with you, although his pride suddenly fell flat. “Sh…I don’t have money for the fare though. Do you, Levi?”
The third-born shook his head. “I- I don’t remember having my wallet with me.” He rummaged through his pockets and confirmed his suspicions with a sigh. They both looked at you.
“Why would I have human money?”
Levi looked suddenly like he was about to collapse. “I just want to be home…”
“Come on, we gotta keep movin’!” Mammon started jogging down the sidewalk. “The Great Mammon’s got a plan!”
“Ta da!” Mammon pulled a bag out from behind his back as you and Levi sat in the shade. You’d been sitting here for a while. After the three of you walked for what seemed like an hour or two, Mammon pointed to a little bench that was under some sort of canopy. A bus stop, apparently. Mammon had left you and Levi alone to go on his own little adventure, which you were loath to allow him to do, but you were beaten down. It was so hard to keep your more human form together. It was all you could focus on. No one else needed to know about your identity today. Besides, Mammon seemed adamant on going alone. Said he ‘worked better alone’, which could only mean that he was up to no good. “I got us all something to munch on while we wait! Plus enough for a ticket for each of us! Go ahead, tell me I did good!”
Levi put his phone down and grimaced. “You stole that, didn’t you?”
Mammon scoffed loudly. “If you’re gonna have such an attitude about it, you don’t get any snacks and you can walk home!”
“That’s not fair!”
“Then admit you need me!”
They already seemed to be adjusting back to their life here. The serious way they had looked at each other in the game was gone now. Although that was fine, for some reason, you almost preferred them like this, even if they did give you a headache. Mammon handed Levi a drink and some snacks before sitting on the other side of you, forcing you between them. A bag was suddenly settled in your lap. “What is this?” You picked it up in your hands. It was light and crinky.
“Huh…you don’t even have chips in your world?” Mammon raised an eyebrow at you. “It’s a snack.” He leaned next to you, his shoulder almost bumping into yours. He took hold of the bag and pulled it open. There were little flat shapes inside. “You eat ‘em!”
You handed the bag back to Mammon. “You share it with Levi, I don’t need to eat.”
“Yeah…I remember you sayin’ something like that before. You really don’t need to eat at all?” He reached a hand in the bag and ate one of the chips, passing the back over to Levi.
You shook your head. “I do not. I will not die like humans if I do not eat. Demons only eat to regain their energy, to increase their magical power. However, human food does not seem to provide as much sustenance as my world does. Eating these would not benefit me.”
“You don’t even get hungry?” Levi asked.
“I stopped feeling hunger a long time ago.” As well as many other things…
Suddenly, a cold sensation spread through your forehead. Mammon held a can up against your skin, waiting till you took it from his hands. “Have something to drink at least. Even if you don’t need to, it might feel nice.”
You rolled the can around in your hands. Maybe you would oblige him on this one. Your throat was feeling a little dry. Although…how did one…? Levi was the one to help this time, moving so fast you thought he flinched. Seems he was trying to beat his brother to the punch. He placed his fingertip against a metal tab and pulled at it till the can snapped and hissed at you. You almost jumped, making the two humans laugh at you. You frowned at both of them. Bringing the can up to your face, you smelled it before you drank it. It smelled and tasted sweet. Almost too sweet, but a tingling, almost popping sensation filled your mouth and ran down your throat. “I’ve never had anything like this before,” you admitted.
There was light-hearted conversation as the two humans explained more things to you, describing the snacks they had, their favorite drinks, candies. They both often started debates over which flavors were better, although the whole concept seemed to go over your head. You sipped on your drink as you listened to them and waited. The conversation died down soon. Perhaps the recollection of the day’s events finally came back to them, wearing them down a little. You looked between the two of them, mostly at Levi. He was staring down at his phone, so he wasn’t aware of your eyes on him. You tilted your head a bit, slipping your hand down the back of his shirt. He made a noise that seemed to be a mix of a squeak and a choke. You could feel your pact mark on him, it was still there, between his shoulder-blades.
You brought your hand back to your lap, sighing heavily. “Thank you, Levi.”
“H-Huh?”
“For saving me. It’s not every day a demon gets saved by a human…” You squinted up at the brightness of the human sky before turning back towards him.
His eyes wavered away from yours. “I’m just…glad I could do something this time…”
Mammon frowned, apparently disliking the new mood. “Aw, quit looking like that, both of ya! Weren’t we all so cool? We tricked the Demon Lord so easily! We did something people only ever do in movies! Sure, it was rough, and we were in there for forever, but we made it back again, and we’re all stronger because of it!”
Levi watched his brother speak, clearly trying not to smile. The youngest of the two suddenly groaned. “Only you would have such a stupidly positive view on it, Mammon. That experience was awful!”
“Hey! You liked parts of it!”
A very quiet and small chuckle rumbled in your chest at the two of them. Was it a brotherly thing for them to always disagree, or were these two just like that? These humans… The sun was almost fully set by the point the bus finally arrived, the sky the last few bold colors of oranges and yellows. Mammon picked up the trash and threw it away before leading you all onto the bus. He paid a man seated in the front of the vehicle and brought you all to the back where you could all sit together in peace. The other seats were almost completely empty. You all wouldn’t be bothered at least.
“This is great,” Mammon smiled. “We’ll almost be able to meet Lucifer halfway.” He started talking about where to get off, about how you all needed to remember the story. Debts, blah blah blah, kidnapping, blah blah blah. You didn’t mean to ignore him, but somewhere along the line, you tuned him out completely. You tuned everything out. You’d fallen asleep without releasing it, and by the time you were shaken awake, it was dark outside. The bus had stopped. The humans were ready to get off. As you stood, you almost felt your legs falter. Your body ached. As strange as it was…you were…looking forward to returning to the Morningstar home. It would be nice to have a private room and somewhere to sleep in at least. Somewhere to regain your strength.
You trailed behind the two humans, stepping out of the vehicle. You turned to watch its doors groan shut before the long bus drove off. “Lucifer!” Levi suddenly shouted, startling you. Glancing off to your left, you watched the eldest Morningstar fold his arms. He was standing by a sleek black car, one you recognized from the garage. He looked irritated, as he usually did, but his eyebrows were bent in a different way. Almost like he was…glad. Levi ran forward a bit, hesitating in front of his big brother before pulling him into a tight hug. Lucifer looked genuinely shocked, which was a unique expression from him. He almost tried tugging his brother off before realizing it was a futile effort, his arms lowering over his brother. Mammon headed over too, clearly wanting a hug, but feeling like he shouldn’t. You watched Lucifer roll his eyes before pulling Mammon’s head against his shoulder. The three humans embraced, saying words you didn’t bother to listen to. You could only tell that Lucifer was harshly chewing them out while somehow managing to sound concerned at the same time. He lifted both their chins and ensured they were in good health. He did smack the back of Mammon’s head though, ruining the gentle gesture. Then both Levi and Mammon crawled into the vehicle while you still stood far off down the sidewalk.
Lucifer finally seemed to address you, although it was just to shake his head at you as he opened one of the front doors. “Were you intending to walk home? For god’s sake, get in the car.” You managed to refrain from scowling at him out of a twinge of fear that he would actually leave you behind. Walking around to the other side, you opened the other front seat and sat in the chair. You looked over your shoulders at the two humans in the backseat. Dead asleep, the both of them. Traitors. Now you were left alone with…him. The oldest Morningstar looked in the rearview mirror and sighed. “Honestly…”
“They’ve been through a lot today,” you said flatly, almost like you were defending them from judgment.
The car rumbled to a soft start. It seemed much quieter than Mammon’s cars. “You almost sound as if it didn’t affect you.” The car pulled away from its parked spot and down the street. The city lights during the night weren’t a terrible sight. They almost looked like stars.
“It didn’t,” you tried to proclaim.
An infuriating noise came from his mouth, one that sounded like a conceded hum. “Oh? Then why would you explain why you look like you’re about to collapse at any second?” You gave him a murderous glare from the corner of your eye, but he seemed unaffected. “Sleep if you must.”
“No thanks,” you replied bluntly. No way were you falling asleep so close to him.
“Suit yourself.” He didn’t seem to particularly care one way or another. He touched a button on a little screen in his car. Soft classical music filled the space, quiet enough not to stir his sleeping brothers. At least it was something to fill the silence. You weren’t sure how long it had been since a word had been said, but eventually, for some odd reason, Lucifer spoke to you again. “Thank you, for helping my brothers.”
He was thanking you? Really? It felt so unnatural, you thought it almost was a joke. “What do you mean?”
“Mammon has the power to completely lose all natural sense, and Levi is such an anxious mess, I know neither of them would’ve gotten out of a situation like that unharmed. Which naturally leads me to believe you had a hand in protecting them. So, I thought I’d thank you.”
There were plenty of responses you wanted to say. Most of them were rude, which would’ve been satisfying, but eventually you just sighed. “They both deserve much more credit than you give them. Mammon might be impulsive, he might not know how to plan for the future, but he is loyal, strong-willed. Levi, he might be anxious, but his worries for how things will turn out force him to plan ahead, thinking through the steps. Because of the two of them, I got to keep my life.”
He hardly reacted to that other than suddenly gripping the steering-wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. “I don’t need you to speak to me like you know my brothers better than I do.” An undertone of anger was in his voice.
You swear, trying to talk to this human was mostly useless, but regardless… “Just try to go easy on them. They deserve to feel safe right now.”
“Everything I do is to keep them safe.” His statement came suddenly, almost as if he didn’t intend on saying it himself. “I’m harsh on them because they all need it. If I look away, if I let them run free, then they go off and almost get themselves killed!” His voice raised, his hand pounding the steering wheel before he stopped himself. He looked at the mirror again to glance at his brothers, and then you caught him peeking at you through the corner of his eyes. You might’ve read him wrong, but he seemed almost embarrassed at expressing so much to you in this moment. He looked towards the road, eyes squinting, tired. “Your suggestion is noted, but not needed. I’m their brother. I know what it is they need.”
Is it what they need, you thought to yourself, making sure not to voice your opinions, or what you need? There was more to Lucifer than met the eye. But did you have the patience to discover it? You shrugged a bit, trying to get comfortable in the seat. Before you could fully do so, something buzzed in your pocket. You pulled out your phone, looking at a new message. It was from Simeon…
We will have a meeting in the morning. We have much to discuss. Bring Mammon and the other one with you.
You tried hard not to groan, tucking the phone back in your pocket. ‘The other one’ clearly meant Levi. The prince knew. How he knew you had no idea, but he always seemed aware of what was going on, which made the need for reports useless! You had no idea how he would react to this, and the fact that he specifically requested both humans made you a bit queasy. Out of one problem and right into another…Who knew if you’d be able to sleep tonight…
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I wanna be able to make custom avatars for Vrchat of some of my more uncommon species characters but tutorials for how to use blender absolutely kill me (I do better learning if it's written down with some pictures, or entirely hands on with someone guiding me in person) how did you learn to make your own models? Do you have any recommendations for instructions or any YouTube videos that might be easier to grasp and follow along to? I really love your work and I'm actually saving up for one of your bases for my kitties <3 my only experience with avatars right now is texturing, and even that is subpar unfortunately.
Written down resources for beginners on how to use blender are scarce, because it's such a big program with so many things, and you really need visuals to know where things are when you're learning (Very possible with written guides, but very tedious to put in Enough pictures to show everything) Every time I've used a written Blender guide, it was for some really high level niche thing I needed haha I learned how to make my own models by figuring out projects I wanted to do, then googling/youtubing every step/aspect on how to do them, and repeating! After the first low poly model I made though I just kinda went straight into attempting to make pixar models and they took me FOREVER and looked horrible but I had so much fun in the process of doing and learning I kept throwing myself at these huge projects and got better over time. Then I discovered toony models, and then vrchat, and I was like wow this is way easier and extra fun *permanently changes the course of my career and artistic style*
What I recommend to everyone who asks me how to learn, is pick a project you want to do (start small! very important so you don't lose motivation) and google/youtube how to do it I haven't kept up to date on newer beginner tutorials, there might be something better that's more recent than these! But I think they teach you applicable knowledge to making character models (vs the donut..lol) Froggy | Bunny | My 3D tutorial playlist | Great overview of the pipeline
Motivation is the most important factor on if someone learns 3D. Attempting smaller stuff before moving onto slightly bigger things, then slightly bigger, etc, means you don't spend a billion hours on 1 REALLY hard project only for it to suck and demotivate you so much that you don't wanna do 3D anymore. (Or have blender turn into an obsession like me and do that and not get demotivated, judge for yourself :P)
If a tutorial feels like its taking WAY too long to get to the point, it probably is, don't feel bad about needing to put it on 2X speed or looking for a different tutorial. (Donut tutorial sucksssss) Blender is probably the most heavily documented and tutorial'd 3D program out there so you're in luck x) most of the other ones you have to pay money to properly learn them
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Big Run Tips: Getting Bigger Scores
DISCLAIMER: These tips are based on my personal experience! I have hit Top 5% in both Big Runs thus far, and these are just the things that have helped me get higher egg counts! Results may vary based on map, weapon comp, etc!
THIS WILL BE LONG...But if you're lookin' for some direction on how to snag that silver or gold, this may be the post for you!
Tip #1: Get Familiar with EVERY Weapon Type
As it turns out, Big Runs are all random weapons! Which means there is absolutely an element of luck to getting the big scores. This means your best chances of performing better consistently is getting familiar with all classes of weapons at least to a general degree!
My weakest weapons are Splatlings, so when I was handed them, I struggled. However, doing a LOT of Salmon Run has helped me get used to them in stressful situations! Which leads me to the next tip...
Tip #2: Play more Salmon Run in general
If you're newer to Salmon Run, Big Run may be overwhelming for you! If your goal is to get those big scores, play Salmon Run more often! And if anything, play Solo more often!
"But my randoms are always trash!" Believe me, I understand this sentiment, but that's exactly why you should! Nothing teaches us better than hard games that force us to adapt. Be honest with yourself: Is YOUR performance always shining, or do you have bad games? Do not use your teammates as your excuse all the time! If your numbers are rough (High deaths, low eggs, low boss kills, etc) then it's okay to admit that! Get out there and practice your multitasking skills!
Which also leads me to the next tip...
Tip #3: EVP Is Basically A Requirement
(This applies to getting the Gold/High Silver Trophies)
The truth of the matter is, your best chance to get more eggs, is to have higher quotas! At Max Hazard, your quotas are 31 + 33 + 35, which is a bare minimum of 99 eggs just to pass! Most of the time you will get above the quota anyway so the higher your Rank, the more likely you can really stack those eggs!
If you're down in the lower ranks, this may be difficult for you! You're gonna want to not only get to EVP (Eggsecutive VP), but to also be able to handle the difficulty level that comes with the rank! It's VERY tough up there, but if you can make it there, and stay there, you will build the skills to be amazing at Salmon Run!
Join servers, look up video guides, and just get out there and practice!
Tip #4: If Possible, Squad Up With Friends
I understand this one may be hard for some folks, but luckily with the Pool feature, many people are opening up rooms to allow you to play with strong players! (NOTE: Please be sure you are close to their ranks too! Do not rely on them to 100% carry you unless you are absolutely confident you can carry yourself well despite being stuck in a lower rank!)
Salmon Run is a team game! You want better teammates, remember THEY also want better teammates! Be the teammate you want for your team too! HOW MANY TIMES CAN I SAY TEAM
Tip #5: Overluring Is A Thing, And It Can Be A Problem
You may be familiar with the term "Luring". It means bringing the bosses closer to the basket. DO NOT GET ME WRONG: Luring is a fantastic tip, and you should utilize it! However...
There is always too much of a good thing.
In my Big Run games, I had randos insistent on waiting by the basket and luring EVERYTHING. This wasted a good 20-25 seconds of our precious 100 second time limit to get about 30 eggs. It made finishing some waves difficult because we couldn't quite get the egg counts needed. I Promise It's Okay To Take Out A Couple Of Bosses At The Start
More WILL come to the basket as time goes! It's a good time to get a few eggs built up WHILE luring more to the basket. Do not get too obsessed with luring and waste precious time! Just make sure not to take out those bosses way too far away from the basket. Let them come to mid at the very least!
Tip #6: Living Is The Most Important Thing
The temptation to REALLY land those big egg counts is strong. After all, isn't that the entire point of Big Run?
HOWEVER: Do NOT get in over your head for those eggs!
As unfortunate as it is, sometimes you gotta let the big counts go in order to survive to the next round! Live all 3 waves, build your Rank up, and try to push the quota under better circumstances if you must!
Take some risks, but try not to be TOO risky! Sometimes you gotta spend more time taking out important bosses like Stingers and Flyfish rather than being greedy for eggs. Your team needs you focused and alive!
Tip #7: Teamwork, Teamwork, Teamwork
SALMON RUN IS A TEAM GAME!! Please do not run off on your own and ignore everything around you, rolling your eyes at how incompetent your teammates are when you aren't watching their backs!
You don't have to babysit them, but if you see a teammate struggling to take out a boss (maybe they have a bad weapon), take a few seconds to help them out!
Alternately, if one person is on a Fish Stick and they got it, don't go up there just to steal eggs! Trust that they got 'em and go handle something else! Be aware of your team.
If they got it covered, don't hover around them! If they need help, give 'em a hand! Everyone wins!
Tip #8: Do Not Underestimate Ink Management
Related to Tip #6 and #7, INK COVERAGE IS CRUCIAL! If you have a great inking weapon, take a second or two to give your team some turf to swim in! Grizzco Brella was FANTASTIC for this. It's okay to not constantly be attacking bosses every single second, as long as you are productive in those few seconds! Ink some turf, get your team set up, and then go do what you need to do!
This especially helps those who are stuck with Hydras, E-Liters, etc.
ALSO INK ALL CLIMBABLE WALLS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, PLEASE THESE COME IN HANDY -SO MUCH- WHEN THINGS GET CHAOTIC!! Ink those right at the start if you can, and as you pass by them in game!
Tip #9: Don't Let Losses Be The End Of The Team
So picture it: You're Solo-running, you've got a team of randos, they seem to have good heads on their shoulders! However, you get an unfortunate comp, maybe with Glowflies, and suddenly you all wipe. Everyone is tempted to leave after a loss, but HANG ON:
If your team is good, STICK IT OUT WITH 'EM! Bad luck happens, bad weapons happen, but it doesn't mean it was necessarily anyone's fault! Matchmaking is atrocious, and you NEED to help each other as much as possible!
Now if they leave you, sadly there is no tip for that LMAO;; BUT, stick it out if you vibe with the team! I stuck with teams where we lost a handful of times, but we'd snag wins later! I appreciate them so much for hanging out with me
Tip #10: Be Willing To Learn And Improve! (Also Take Breaks)
The folks who got those high egg quotas, the overfishers, the pros up at 200+ etc, they built those skills through a LOT of practice. And even if they make it seem so easy
IT IS NOT. NOT BY A LONG SHOT LMAO
The games are ridiculously difficult no matter how pro you are. Keeping a cool head, knowing what to do, etc can get you far, but it isn't an instant-win easy button. It takes hard work and a lot of focus to get those scores! Don't let envy blind you. YOU, yes you reading this right now, have the ability to get there!
If you aren't interested in getting the gold, that's fine! Set your sights for Bronze or Silver, and you can get there!! But if you want that gold, it may be a long road ahead
But if it's what you want, be willing to learn! Be willing to say "I'm not there yet, but I will be", and evaluate yourself in an honest and humble way on how you can do better!
Bad teammates are real: They are, you will get unlucky. But do not use that as your 100% excuse of "I can't do it". Focus on what you can do better! Focus on how you can HELP your team live longer! It's not always about just us and how everyone should be getting US that score.
Once again, be the teammate you wish you had.
AND TAKE BREAKS, oh my god it is so hard to stay focused when you are already stressed and tilted. Sincerely, take a 5-10 minute breather and get yourself focused again /dies
Anyway that's all the tips I have for now! If any other Big Runners want to add anything, please feel free! And as I said, these are not 100% exact guides on how to win, but I'm pretty dang sure they won't hurt to learn!
Good luck next Season! May your scores and rewards improve!
#Salmon Run#Big Run#Advice#Long Post#I RAMBLED ON THIS ONE BUT HOO BOI#I see a lot of folks feeling hopeless about getting higher scores and I wanna help!#But I also see a lot of people blinded by 'MY TEAMMATES MY TEAMMATES' and it just doesn't help them in the end#Take it as it is bad luck does happen but don't let it blind us to our own shortcomings#KEEP A COOL HEAD STAY FOCUSED and try to find some fun as you go!!#And as I said any other pros out there wanna add tips please 100% feel free!! We gotta help each other#I'm still learning new stuff all the time
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Music Games Investigation
This time, I have broader genres. Any game that uses music or sound in an interesting way, for my purposes, is a "music game".
Friday Night Funkin - This is a game I was obsessed with back in 2021. It's a prototypical falling-arrows rhythm game, with the funky counterculture aesthetic of late 2000s Newgrounds. You know, Madness Combat, Pico's School, all of that. Mechanically, it's nothing special, but a few of the tracks really stand out, and the levels have interesting gimmicks - Week 3 has a rushing train to throw you off, and Week 7 takes place in an active warzone, with soldiers running about and tanks rumbling across the screen, further blocking your arrows. The fanbase is... difficult, it seems they can't go a week without ending up with a mod cancellation or some new drama. But, mechanically, it's fine. I'm no way near as good as I used to be at it, but sometimes I still open it up and play a round or so.
Metal Hellsinger - I've only seen a little of this game, but it looks really sick. You enter Hell with a cool sword, and then you kill demons to the beat of heavy metal, starring actual metal singers. I don't know what else to say; it's pretty distilled, no real bloat or feature creep. You can do combos and executions, and the longer you kill on beat for, the more your combo meter increases. Interestingly, unlike a lot of music games, the focus isn't on going at ludicrous speeds, it's about staying on beat, so the character is actually pretty slow.
Hi-Fi Rush - I've heard of this game, but I honestly knew nothing about it until today. All I know is it's a rhythm game and possibly a JRPG, and it stars a cat, and it's all really stylised and cel-shaded. After watching a few videos, I've found it's pretty cool! It's some sort of third-person action game, where everything in the world is tied to the beat - screens flash, trees bob, and enemies move according to the music's BPM. You also have to attack, using elaborate combos and moves to the game's alt-rock soundtrack. Everything in the environment just pops with colour; it's a very bright game, taking you from lava pools to gigantic robot factories. It seems like something I'd actually enjoy, to be honest.
Also, here's a quick look at dynamic soundtracks. The first one I'll look at is the hi-tech hack n' slash Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Apart from having some of the best music in the Metal Gear series, the music is sort of dynamic. In boss fights, it loops the bridge of the song until you get to a point where you can critically wound the boss, at which point, the chorus flares up, perfectly timed with you slicing a chunk off your current cybernetic foe. Once you've cut them down to low health, the lyrics kick in. It's so amazing. Doom 2016 had a similar system, where the music would fast-forward to a high-octane segment when you got into combat, and the beat would loop until you were at a point in combat where the beat would drop. The earliest dynamic soundtrack I know of is System Shock. Different parts of the soundtrack would be louder/quieter, higher/lower pitch based on your current health, SHODAN's grip on the floor you were on, whether you were in combat, and a bunch of other features. Thing is, nobody noticed it, and so they removed it for System Shock 2.
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DANNY "JED OLSEN" JOHNSON | THE GHOST FACE (dead by daylight)
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“Try Not to Scream” (Danny “Jed Olsen” Johnson | The Ghost Face x Fem!Reader)
| After you’ve been with Danny for a little while, the instance of him kidnapping you and revealing who he really was behind you but not forgotten, he decides it’s high time he start desensitizing you to what it is he does.
| NSFW, canon typical violence, murder, mature themes, moral dilemma, the reader-insert has in braids (TW: general sadism, kidnapping, unhealthy relationship) -dark!reader & goth!reader
| This fic is a continuation of sorts to the “Jed Olsen” section in this imagine post. This also doesn’t take place in the Entity’s realm. (Pic source: DbD promotional material)
| 2k+ words
EXTRA HC: The justification I’m operating on, in regards to Danny sparing anyone and/or genuinely “dating” anyone, is that Danny has to see some sense of kinship in the other person. A sense that you’re not lying to yourself like everyone else but him about your darkness, and seeing the potential for murder in you. Then he’ll allow for a little partnership action.
“Stop trembling.”
You flinch.
That low timbre travels through all the nerve endings in your spine like an electric shock, jolting you ram-rod straight out of your curled up position close as you could get to the door of his new school vehicle.
In spite of his talking to you your lips remain sealed in a thin line as you glower out the window. At the bottom level of an otherwise uninhibited parking tower where Danny figured you could make the least trouble. Staring at nothing but white lines on the asphalt lit sparsely by dull yellowing lights.
Even now his voice still has heat pooling in your gut that makes you want to grind your teeth into a fine alabaster powder. The less pleasant queasy feeling in your stomach that accompanies that warmth isn’t much consolation.
Jed— Danny was full of possibilities, and not one of them was conventional or safe.
Really the only ‘good’ thing about tonight was that he wouldn’t have time to keep all his focus on you, to weigh you down with the force of it, because he had a target he planned on killing tonight and an op-ed that would need finishing right after.
Horrible though it may be, you’re glad you're not the center of his obsession right now. Pierce, his newest victim since you guys settled into town that he’s been dragging you along to watch for weeks, firmly held that position in your stead tonight.
He clears his throat. Reluctantly, you turn your head to watch him.
Cracking his knuckles, Danny gives you a long look, full brows furrowed. You give the thicket above his eyes more attention than you do the dark orbs themselves.
“Don’t do anything dumb, yeah?” he says. He doesn’t wait for your response or stick around to try hammering in his point more, however, twitching fingers a clear sign of his being more eager for carnage than any type of lecturing.
He slips on the mask right before he leaves the car; the rest of him decked out only in civvies and hunting boots. The ghost mask is one you’ve gotten plenty familiar with in the past. Vividly, you can remember the sight of that mask hunting you down and then directly in your face as the news dubbed “Ghost Face” slit your then boyfriend’s throat and christened you in his spray of blood before Danny had done you the disservice of sparing your life.
It's hard to look away as your ex(?) makes his way from the car with the hood of his black hoodie up, leaving you sitting pretty and still struggling to hold back your trembling in the passenger seat. Left to do nothing but watch.
Or to call the cops once your sense finally daigns to come back to you.
He had seemed so certain last night that you wouldn’t, and you hate that you even have to wonder whether you’ll prove him right or if you’ll finally buck up, reactivate your stalling-like-shit morality, and call the cops on his pasty ass right now regardless of your general distrust of the police.
As Danny waltzes without a hitch across the parking lot to where Pierce’s car is bracketed by two thick concrete pillars on either side at the back corner of the lot, though, no part of you moves towards Danny’s burner phone where it rests in the cup holder beside you like a taunt.
Or an opportunity.
Your painted nails tap against the button to turn the window down, a light rhythmic clicking sounding through the silent car while your eyes stay transfixed to Danny. Danny, who might as well be invisible as he closes in on the car without incident just as Pierce is ducking down to get in.
The transition after that is well timed and impressive enough that your eyebrows raise in place of where you should be screaming your head off.
Heedless of good citizenship, your lips stay stubbornly shut as you watch Danny wait until the exact moment Pierce — still unaware of where the seasoned killer is crouched out of immediate sight by the passenger door — closes the driver’s door shut behind him to open the muscular man’s passenger door and slip inside like he belongs there too.
When your window slips down a crack you don’t even bother acting surprised, you just stop moving, hold your breath, and listen.
In the immediate seconds after Danny enters Pierce startles, his face contorting in disbelief, and then he has a knife through his sternum from one blink to the next.
A muffled scream, high and panicked and quickly cutoff, meets your ears for hardly a second before silence descends around you once again.
His expressions look stilted as they come to him, like he’s lagging, but Danny doesn’t give him the chance to do much but emote as his next three stabs come in quick succession.
Sternum, the joint of his shoulder when he tries to sit up better, somewhere besides his Adam's apple, his damn cheek; all leading up to the final blow where Danny’s blade glints against the lighting in the sports car before being buried to the hilt in Pierce’s eyeball.
Blood flies everywhere.
Danny’s just pushing out of the passenger’s seat to get more leverage, knocking the bottom of the hilt with the heel of his palm so that the knife goes even farther in, when the automated lights go out and plunge the inside of Pierce’s car into darkness.
This time you don’t hear anything.
Not a stray beep of the horn or the drag of soaked fingers over tempered class or a squeak from the slightly rocking cars’ joints.
Not even when the flash of his camera gives you a few seconds of discombobulating previews of the carnage he’s created does the silence break.
Nothing.
Not until Danny’s slipping back out of the car and closing the passenger door with a hardly notable click. In that brief moment the lights kick back on and the scene that greets you is even bloodier than when you saw it last.
Blood managed to spray a dripping arch in front of the driver’s seat window, the skin around Pierce’s eye socket protrudes as if a tiny bomb had been planted in it, and his eyeball dangles precariously from his head by whatever tendon lies behind it.
His throat is slit now too, not just stabbed. One continuous perforated mess that’s compromised the structural integrity of the muscled man’s neck so badly his head, where it’s trying its best to slip over the side of the headrest he’s propped up against, has slipped back far enough it creates the illusion of a gaping cavernous maw below his chin. Crimson and gurgling. Like he gave one last wide grin as he met his death.
You can barely imagine the amount of blood you’d be able to see up close…or the sheer force of how it would all smell. It makes your stomach clench and by the time the lights have shut back off and Danny’s easing behind the wheel beside you your eyes burn too.
Contrary to the mild sample you get of what the inside of Pierce’s car smells like, he's covered in less blood than you had expected him to be. Instead of that striking you with fear all you can think about is how much of a Danny Thing that is to manage.
Of course he’d fucking kill like he’s afraid of increasing his dry cleaning bill even when he’d been so hyped up he was trembling on the drive over; there was control behind all that strange unconventional bravado of his.
He slips off his mask.
All but a single dark smear across the stark white of the masked forehead bears no sign of his misdeeds.
“Don’t faint.”
That’s what he leads with.
No questioning the security of the contents of your stomach or how red your eyes have gotten. He just jumps directly back into conversation like you didn’t just witness him kill a man.
It unfreezes you though, and with a gasp of breath you’re talking before you can fully check yourself, “That doesn’t sound like a ‘me’ issue.”
“Oh?” Danny chuckles darkly. “I can make it a personal issue for you after the fact, I assure you.” He raises his brows in question, the quirk of his lips sharp, and you can’t help the way your saliva turns bitter in the face of it.
At your lack of comeback he lets himself pull out the camera in his pocket. That too is streaked only minimally crimson.
When it slips up and he points it at your face you’re not fast enough to give him your back. You’re gazing directly at him and probably looking utterly enamored in your shock.
The murderer — the man who seems utterly determined to drag you against your will across the country with him — heeding no mind to your displeasure, takes a few more shots before you catch yourself and shift out of the light shining in through the windshield.
Pictures already taken, though, Danny doesn’t bother with you, already flipping his camera around.
“Nice,” he murmurs, clicking through the photos. He glances up at you then, winks. “I think these might be better than the pictures I took with you the night we met.”
You're speaking before you can talk yourself out of it, tone sharp, “The night you tried to kill me?”
He pauses.
His fingers stutter for a second over silver buttons, his camera whirling, before he meets the fire in your gaze with his own inferno.
“Careful,” he murmurs. “Spit too much fire and you might burn yourself.”
For a while you hold his stare regardless of his warning. He kidnapped you, he didn’t get to force you to act like this was some kind of fun outing. It didn’t matter how avidly you had stared into Pierce’s car.
The unused burner in the cup holder still staring back at you didn’t mean anything.
Part of you wants to break that damn camera. Maybe then he’d finally fucking cry about something, show some actual genuine emotion for once.
Fuck.
Letting out a harsh breath through your teeth, you turn away from him, hiding your clenched fists in between your legs.
It was best you didn’t provoke him and you knew that. The good thing about Danny, though, was that while he burned hot, he didn’t burn long.
And you were determined to work that in your favor any chance you got.
From the driver's seat you hear your companion relax and your shoulders slump.
They ache with the remnants of your tension.
“Sure,” you acquiesce, licking slowly over your cracked lips and looking back at him with a little less fire in your eyes. “Why then? Why all the stabs if you were just going to slit his…you know?”
“His. Throat,” Danny stresses. Low, short.
He works his gloves over his fingers with his teeth, stuffing the leather in his waistband near where you know the sheath for his tactical knife is strapped against his thigh behind the center console.
You duck your head, braids knocking forward, force your hands to relax, then begin to fiddle with the rosary beads hung low on your neck. A dower mirth lifts your brows; as if the god you didn’t even believe in could save you now.
And for all you knew this was one of Danny’s gifts that he’d stolen off some poor person's dead body, so what good juju it could’ve had was probably tainted anyway.
“Fine,” you mutter, voice stilted and rough. “Why do all that if you were gonna slit his throat anyway?”
Hands on the wheel Danny shrugs - shrugs!
“I like to slit their throats sometimes, it makes the scene more dramatic, you know? Plus, I wanted to get you as acquainted as I could so I drew it out a bit more. But I’ll admit I went a lot faster than I would’ve if I was in a more private space, that’s why I like killing them in their houses.” He turns to you fully, lifts his hand past the partition without a care for how you flinch, and moves some of your braids interwoven with your fluff of curls out of your face so he can bore his gaze directly into yours. The pad of his fingers are dewy against your umber skin, his touch tender only because of their feel. “Sometimes it’s fun when they fight, when I get to debase them in the one place they feel like home.”
You bite back the urge to grimace.
It figures that the one time you get a straight answer out of him is tonight.
“Oh,” you breathe, fingers stumbling over the beads you’re rolling between them, “I…guess that’s good to know.”
Danny smiles, it’s not fake but now that you know the truth it doesn’t sit right on his face either, before turning back to his camera.
At least, you supposed, you now had more of an idea as to how he’d dispose of you if you stopped being entertaining.
The memory of the glint of Danny’s knife in the light, its own omen, as he closed in on his victim’s car (the victim of his stalking, of his murder) flickers through your mind. Flashes of the dead man’s gaping flesh swiftly follow.
Would you like it when The Ghost Face finally claimed your soul too? Would his being through with you grant you damnation or not?
Silent, you watch him get situated once he’s finished looking over his cache for the evening. His profile stands out starkly against the tower lights behind him, reedy defined features and that blocky nose that once regularly held up glasses he didn’t need to see. He’s almost angel-pretty like this. Makes a pang strike through your chest at the remnants of before, of poking at him while he worked until he couldn’t help but indulge you and his numbing kisses and the dorky (curated) way he’d push up his glasses after laughing at something cute you’d done.
It was ridiculous, this war within you. Everything about Jed Olsen had been a lie and yet still the phantom of him intrinsic to Danny continues to have you yearning.
Still you can’t help but wonder if the stab of his knife through your dark sensitive flesh, the feel of his masked or barren eyes stripping you to tendon as he plunged past your ribcage, would feel like divinity.
Danny brushes the choppy fringe of bangs that line his forehead back, streaks blood through brunet strands, and still your heart’s desire remains. Would it be…better like this? If you stayed with him, let yourself be content with a knife in your hand and a far more familiar devil reigning at your side?
The car turns on and Danny starts driving you guys away from his newest crime scene, flicking the radio on as he goes. The dvd in his player spins and the moody tones of The Ire fill the heavy air between you both. Despite yourself you fall into Maya Brooks distorted vocals, letting your body sway and shift minutely in tandem with the music.
Danny’s eyes when he glances at you are dull — you’d say they were grim if you thought he had the ability to feel remorse, but his expression is unusually open. His gaze intent on the way you’re softly mouthing along to Derelict.
“We won’t stay west too long, okay, Honey?” His voice is dry, but the curl of his tongue around the pet name is like a verbal lash. “You just hold on and I’ll have you slitting throats up north before New Years. You’re gonna love it.”
NOTES: Hope you enjoyed!!
I seem to only be able to write Danny once every year (not necessarily for a lack of trying, I’m a slow creator), but I really love exploring the horror and moral fuckery of these slasher romances so I had a great time writing this. And, yes, I did give Danny glasses as a part of his Jed ruse.
Ignore that I included a band that isn’t 90’s, I just really wanted to include The Ire idk (they’re described as goth/post-punk, but really I just wanted to talk about them a little). Plus the setting is nebulous anyway.
btw: if you’d like to leave a comment I’d very much appreciate it!
Alt. Banner (scrapped) —
#danny johnson#the ghost face#black!reader#black y/n#danny johnson x black!reader#the ghost face x black!reader#an apocalypse-shuffle halloween special#slasher x black!reader#dark!reader#goth!reader#ghostface x black!reader#danny jed olsen johnson#danny jed olsen johnson x black!reader#danny johnson x reader#dead by daylight x reader#ghostface#dbd x reader#ghostface x reader#ghostface imagine#slasher x reader#horror x reader#ghostface fanfiction#dead by daylight#x black!reader#ghostface x you#horror imagine
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Music Games Investigation
This time, I have broader genres. Any game that uses music or sound in an interesting way, for my purposes, is a "music game".
Friday Night Funkin - This is a game I was obsessed with back in 2021. It's a prototypical falling-arrows rhythm game, with the funky counterculture aesthetic of late 2000s Newgrounds. You know, Madness Combat, Pico's School, all of that. Mechanically, it's nothing special, but a few of the tracks really stand out, and the levels have interesting gimmicks - Week 3 has a rushing train to throw you off, and Week 7 takes place in an active warzone, with soldiers running about and tanks rumbling across the screen, further blocking your arrows. The fanbase is... difficult, it seems they can't go a week without ending up with a mod cancellation or some new drama. But, mechanically, it's fine. I'm no way near as good as I used to be at it, but sometimes I still open it up and play a round or so.
Metal Hellsinger - I've only seen a little of this game, but it looks really sick. You enter Hell with a cool sword, and then you kill demons to the beat of heavy metal, starring actual metal singers. I don't know what else to say; it's pretty distilled, no real bloat or feature creep. You can do combos and executions, and the longer you kill on beat for, the more your combo meter increases. Interestingly, unlike a lot of music games, the focus isn't on going at ludicrous speeds, it's about staying on beat, so the character is actually pretty slow.
Hi-Fi Rush - I've heard of this game, but I honestly knew nothing about it until today. All I know is it's a rhythm game and possibly a JRPG, and it stars a cat, and it's all really stylised and cel-shaded. After watching a few videos, I've found it's pretty cool! It's some sort of third-person action game, where everything in the world is tied to the beat - screens flash, trees bob, and enemies move according to the music's BPM. You also have to attack, using elaborate combos and moves to the game's alt-rock soundtrack. Everything in the environment just pops with colour; it's a very bright game, taking you from lava pools to gigantic robot factories. It seems like something I'd actually enjoy, to be honest.
Also, here's a quick look at dynamic soundtracks. The first one I'll look at is the hi-tech hack n' slash Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Apart from having some of the best music in the Metal Gear series, the music is sort of dynamic. In boss fights, it loops the bridge of the song until you get to a point where you can critically wound the boss, at which point, the chorus flares up, perfectly timed with you slicing a chunk off your current cybernetic foe. Once you've cut them down to low health, the lyrics kick in. It's so amazing. Doom 2016 had a similar system, where the music would fast-forward to a high-octane segment when you got into combat, and the beat would loop until you were at a point in combat where the beat would drop. The earliest dynamic soundtrack I know of is System Shock. Different parts of the soundtrack would be louder/quieter, higher/lower pitch based on your current health, SHODAN's grip on the floor you were on, whether you were in combat, and a bunch of other features. Thing is, nobody noticed it, and so they removed it for System Shock 2.
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Yandere mafia sukuna au ( Jujutsu Kaisen ) maybe he falls for his favourite waitress who works at his favourite bar or cafe?
Yandere Mafia Boss! Sukuna
tw: Yandere Themes, Mafia Themes, Crime, Attempted Assault (Not by Sukuna), Violence, Broke Reader, Obsession, Possessive Behaviour, Usage of Curse Words, Mentions of Killings, Child Neglect, Punishment, Starvation, Abuse, Branding, Themes of Captivity
a/n: Okay, so this turned out darker than I intended it to be but this reflects more on how I think Yandere! Sukuna acts so it is what it is. Also, I used a new style of writing here lmk what y’all think.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna is a cruel man. The head of the infamous Ryomen crime family. An illegitimate child of his father, the former head, and a one of his many mistresses, Sukuna’s childhood was miserable. His father tossed him and his mother out on to the streets. He was forced to watch as his mother suffered in agony, too poor to afford the medicine she needed. The day of her funeral, his father came to take him in, not even sparing him a glance. From that day onwards, Sukuna swore to never allow himself to be weak again. And he kept that vow, clawing and killing his way to the top. Then when the time came, Sukuna rose up against his father and took control of the Ryomen Mafia, massacring anything and anyone who stood in his way.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna owns the entire city, having expanded exponentially since he took over. He has the media, the police, even the mayor in his pocket. Anyone who isn’t is too afraid to act against him. They’ve seen what happens to those who do. The city has an order, an order that is dictated by Sukuna. You’ve lived in this city all your life. And you’re desperate to get out of the cesspool of crime and corruption that takes place there. But you can’t do that, not yet at least. Hell, you can barely pay rent. So begrudgingly, you start to work at one of Sukuna’s many clubs. You hate it there, the uniform is too damn small; although you’re not really sure you call a pair of shorts that barely cover your ass, a top that squeezes your chest painfully, thigh-high leather boots, and fishnets a uniform, the leering gazes from perverts, and your shitty manager. But hey, the pay is decent and your dignity probably wasn’t worth that much anyways.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna boredly watches the club’s scenery. His men holler and hoot at the stripper who dances on the pole in front of them. Sukuna honestly couldn’t possibly care less. Same old dancers, same old expensive liquor, same old tarts trying to tempt him. Seriously, is there nothing exciting anymore? Has his city run dry of entertainment? Sighing irritably, Sukuna leaves, there’s nothing for him here anyways. Slinking through the backdoor of the V.I.P lounge and into an alway for a smoke. That’s when he sees you, dressed in your delicious little uniform. You’re cornered, by a low-level goon of his who just earned a promotion. Sukuna couldn’t be bothered to learn his name. He rolls his eyes, intelligence was so hard to come by these days. This idiot was trying to assault some unfortunate server in the clubs employ instead of taking one of the more well-versed participants of the act he was forcefully soliciting.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna goes to step in, that is until to kick the guy in the balls. Sukuna stares in utter shock and amusement. Who knew you had that in you? The goon howls in pain and snarls at you, promising a world of pain. Suddenly, your angry demeanour is gone, replaced by one of terror. You back up and prepare to flee. Then, Sukuna swoops in, effectively knocking the goon out from behind. He asks if you’re alright and gives his arm to hold onto so you can calm yourself. You steady your breath and thank him profusely. Sukuna coolly offers to walk you back to your car, a beat-up rusted thing, much to your embarrassment. You thank him once more before climbing into your car and driving off, leaving Sukuna intrigued.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna who’s had his interest peaked. He’s intrigued by you, that fiesty and kind spirit of yours provided him with the greatest entertainment he’s seen in years! Sukuna has his most trusted associates stalk keep tabs on you. He learns everything there is to know about, your hobbies, your likes, your dislikes, your medical information, your favourite food, even what time you go to sleep. As he delves deeper into the rabbit hole of obsession, Sukuna begins to follow you himself. A master at the act, Sukuna watches you, anytime he can. He watches you interact with the world. The way you cheerfully greet the owner of the small convenience store you frequent. How your laugh sounds as though it is a symphony from the greatest composers when you’re with your friends. The teasing smile you offer to a particularly attractive coworker that stopped coming into to work for some unknown reason the next day. And by god, Sukuna swears, you’re perfection. And he deserves nothing less.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna owns this city, so by default he owns you too. And it’s time to bring his prized possession home. Carefully, Sukuna, organizes your disappearance return to him. Anyone who’ll miss you is either bought off or scared off. The police couldn’t care less, after all, what’s one missing server to the amount of cash that they’ll be earning. And so finally, it’s time. You’re walking back to your dingy apartment, you were let go on the orders of Sukuna. He couldn’t bare to let anyone else see you in that number which was your uniform. Strangely enough, the stingy landlord allowed you to remain there, sweating and shaking as he did so. You suspiciously began to look for other jobs, because you didn’t trust the guy, but nobody was hiring. And then suddenly, like a switch, your landlord flipped and demanded that you pay all the accumulated rent. You furiously began to look and apply for jobs but was rejected every time. You’d just been rejected once more, leaving you dejected and walking back home; you had to sell your beaten up car to try and pay back your landlord. Too engrossed in your misery, you didn’t notice the men trailing you. Swiftly, one came up behind you. He quickly grabbed you and placed a chloroform cloth up to your mouth and nose before you had a chance to react. You went out like a light and the men loaded you up in a van to be delivered to their boss.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna is incredibly pleased to finally have you. You’re unconscious, tucked under the expensive sheets on the luxurious bed within the extravagant room Sukuna prepared for you. Sukuna hums as he gently holds your chin, tilting it up with four fingers, using his thumb to softly rub circles on your cheek, then tracing it down to your lips. You look so serene, steady, slow, breaths, your hair splayed across the pillows, and wearing the customized silk pyjamas he bought for you. You’re finally where you belong, with him. When you awake, you’re confused. Your bed has never felt this soft before. Then you look around the room, this isn’t your room. Panicking, you try to jump out of the bed, only to find that you’re bound to the bed with chains, the cuffs are padded softly though. You pull at the chains but your efforts remain fruitless.
“So you’ve finally awaken, hm?”
Freezing upon hearing that slightly familiar voice, you turn your gaze towards the directions of its owner. Your eyes widened and your throat dried, it was the man who saved you.
“You! Did you do this to me?!” You demanded as his eyes bored into yours.
“As in returning you to where you belong? Yes, I did.”
“What the hell are you talking about,” you snarled.
“Quite,” he ordered, dropping his neutral tone for a more menacing one. “You’re mine, I saved you didn’t I? You should repay the favour.”
“Let me go!” You cry, struggling with all your might. “Please,” you beg as you finally break, beginning to sob.
“Enough, there’s no need for that. As long as you behave, you’ll be rewarded.” Your captor says gruffly before stalking out of the room, leaving you to wail and beg for release.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna stays true to his word. As long as you ‘behave’ or do as he says, you live better than you ever could’ve. You eat gourmet food and drink rich, costly alcohol; that you consume in copious amounts in an effort to forget where you are and how you got there. Your wardrobe, although chosen to be suited to Sukuna’s taste rather than yours, is filled with luxurious clothes and items you never would’ve been able to afford. Yet nobody can put a price on freedom, and to be free is all you want. Any escape attempt is futile, you cannot bribe the guards meticulously watching you. And even if you were to slip past the guards eyes, you’d be caught in a number of minutes. All that results in is the torture and murder of guards and in you being punished.
Mafia Boss! Sukuna takes a sadistic pleasure in punishing you. Of course, he likes when you’re docile but he adores your fiesty spirit. It’s really more of an ownership thing to be honest. Nobody else can touch you; Sukuna is the king of the world and you are his consort, his and his only. His to love and his to punish. Punishments can range from starvation to broken bones, all fit in accordance with his mood. But don’t worry, none of it is permanent. Well, most of it isn’t permanent, the brand labeled ‘Property of Sukuna’ looks absolutely gorgeous burned into your skin! Oh, how delicious your cries and pleas were. Otherwise, Sukuna is wonderful towards you, all your wishes, save your freedom, are granted. You live in comfort, it only being cast aside for Sukuna’s pleasure. Afterall, he’s your saviour, so shouldn’t you be a bit more considerate?
#yandere romantic#yandere romance#mafia au#jjk mafia au#yandere sukuna#yandere sukuna x reader#sukuna x reader#yandere ryomen sukuna#yandere ryomen sukuna x reader#ryomen sukuna x reader#possessive Sukuna#yandere jjk#yandere jjk x reader#jjk x reader#yandere jujutsu kaisen#yandere jujutsu kaisen x reader#jujustu kaisen x reader
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Hmm I think neomorphs would understand bonds and maybe could bond w humans?? I also think they *could* be smart enuf to understand human culture
Like imagine ur horny and u start shedding ur clothes and the neomorph immediately knows exactly what u want
I think I heard u say this abt breg in one of ur fics, but they would def also make low noises to comfort a mate bc I imagine them as very territorial
I also feel like they could have have a crush on a human if said human took care of them(or they just find them mate worthy) so they try to pursue u.. I remember one scene in a movie where rhe neomorph just stood quietly infront of a human (b4 getting killed oop) literally towering over them.. if I was there and had it staring at me like that I’d feel some romantic tension
Yes, that's what I was hinting at with this ask.
To me, I believe their ability to form bonds outside the species would stem more from the fact that they're the "blank slate" before David 8 starts fucking with them to make the xenomorphs we know. But take what I say with a grain of salt, I'm rusty on Alien lore. Anyhow, I don't think David could have made xenmorphs into such a social/colony-based species if the neomorphs themselves didn't already have some level of surprising social adaptability.
The scene you're mentioning is a tad dubious because the person standing in front of the neomorph was David, who is a synth. Xenomorphs can tell a human apart from a synth, so I'm keen to believe neos can do the same, and they might have hesitated purely out of morbid curiosity. It could also just be the fact that the neomorph had recently eaten, and therefore might not have had as much of a violent drive at the moment. Though the way they reacted inquisitively to David's exhale, as opposed to violently, is a good start.
My idea with that comic was to explore that hypothetical bond a little bit more, this time in a setting where you meet one in a premature stage and experiment with the possible outcomes of raising one of these beings (which makes absolutely no sense from a realistic point of view, but all my brain cells were effectively shut off when I sketched it). You're under the impression his obsession with you is typical of pack behavior, and to a degree it is, but you mean more to him. And that only sinks in when it's already too late to do anything about it. Now, I'm a yandere blog primarily, so of course the neomorph was implied yandere in that comic.
The bond implies that he'll get to know your body through scents and gestures. Just as he'll be able to decipher your intent from the tone of your voice and you'll pick up on the different meanings of his vocalizations. It's a learning curve, but they're very fast learners and extremely adaptive, so you might "synchronize" much faster than expected. Naturally, this would definitely lead to him understanding what abrupt stripping means, or if nothing else, gouge your arousal through some sort of scent stimulus. Mimicry is likely to happen at some point, wherein the neomorph will attempt to reproduce your own sexual gestures in an attempt to behave more like you and further erase any sort of communication barrier.
When it comes to noises, I haven't really thought about it too much, but I like to imagine they might be capable of differently pitched rumbles, judging from that same scene where they interact with David. Not all of their high-pitched vocalizations might be born of hostility/fear/alarm, but if they're quiet around you it's probably a good sign.
I'm on the fence about them being territorial. I can see neos being protective, but I just haven't seen enough to determine if they'd stick to one place and become attached to it.
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INFODUMP AU continued
(Star Wars AU #22)
Possible Continuations from INFODUMP. I headcanon that exchange taking place about a year before episode II and episode IV
A) Anakin Force Shenanigans
Anakin walks up: “master- who’s this guy?
“You can SEE him/me?”
Obi-Wan urgently cry/yelling at Anakin to either wear a condom with Padme or at least take her to a healer if you’re worried about her pregnancy (seriously healer BEFORE evil sith wtf)
(its been a number of years for Ben so he’s pretty much puzzled out the ‘doing this for padme’ bit)
just before obi-wan fades out anakin panics because ben hasn’t told him how he gets together with padme
yanks him into this timeline and now Old Ben has to deal with Obi-Wan and Anakin freaking out over all the info he just vomited at them AND everything else
B) Brush Off
Obi-Wan practices some good old fashioned repression to mostly convince himself it was all a weird dream
yoda always says in motion, the future is anyway
he mostly puts it out of his head until a year later when Anakin VERY obliquely references having dreams of his mother
“...what kind of dreams, exactly?”
end-up rescuing Shmi shortly after her capture, Obi-Wan’s there to make sure Anakin doesn’t go off the deep end
Council is a little disapproving of their side mission because now Anakin is even more attached/devoted Obi-Wan
Obi-Wan is a LITTLE freaked out but Shmi being in danger isn’t exactly a hard prediction to make considering they left her on Tatooine but...
almost immediately after they get specially requested to protect Senator Amidala.
things proceed like canon and when Dex says the dart is from Kamino, Obi-Wan has a little panic attack attack
the whole trip to Kamino he’s just thinking pleasenoclonearmy pleasenoclonearmy pleasenoawFUCK THAT’S A CLONE ARMY
good news here is when he’s bullshitting his way through the meeting/ inspection he very confidently brings up removing the control chips
at first there’s some hemming and hawing ‘oh you mean the inhibitor chips, are you sure you want them removed we’ve already installed them’
“I DEMAND they be removed- I- can i speak to your manger? Do I need to take my business elsewhere??”
Nala Se is very reluctant, “I was ensured by certain high level parties that the chips were intended to be an important safeguard...”
*Obi-Wan sweating, but all-in at this point* “Well, uh, Master Dooku and Chancellor Palpatine themselves told me they were concerned about the chips being abused by the wrong parties, and sent me to supervise, so,”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were read-in on the project architecture to that extent, well here are our options-”
Obi-Wan still chases to Jango to Genosis because he’s got a mission and ‘this might as well happen’
Still gets captured in that stupid rotating energy field by Dooku
“What if I told you the senate was now controlled by a dark lord of the sith?”
“...I would say that I would be very interested in any holo-recordings or legal documents you might have to that effect”
“oh?”
“would very much like some sort of proof to bring before a court of law, yeah.”
The rescue attempt actually goes well this time! Anakin is well rested and practically glowing after his week-long all-expense paid vacation at Varykino
They all manage to escape and intercept reinforcement mid-flight
The council is pleased Obi-Wan is safe and not surprised to find Anakin there, but it doesn’t really change their mission as the senate has ordered them to take out the federation army before they can attack...
“The Senate ordered it?”
“Yes, much has happened, while gone you were. Were given to the chancellor, emergency powers. Drafted a military, he has. Generals, the Jedi have been made. Uneasy we are, but serve the senate, we do.”
“Oh kark, the Chancellor ordered it? We DEFINITELY can not invade.” Obi-Wan's starting to have another panic attack, not sure how to get out of the sith trap
Anakin’s a little offended. “Obi-Wan! The Chancellor is a good man; the Jedi must do this, for the good of -”
“PALPATINE’S A SITH LORD”
“what”
C) He tries, ok? (inspired by @ourhitofsucrose )
Very similar to B except for the full year between the ‘vision’ and aotc, Obi-Wan is desperately trying to follow the future’s warnings but failing hysterically
kamino and genosis have both erased from the archives and it doesn’t occur to him to ask dex so he doesn’t even have a direction to go on
tries to find some proof about Palpatine but he is a sneaky bastard
tries to separate palpatine from anakin but he’s like I’M AN ADULT NOW YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO
tentatively brings up Dooku falling ‘in a vision’ to the council because that is something they can check up on- Yoda gets really offended
‘garbage planet on the outer rim’ is not a lot to go on
when he tries to get help searching because he knows that the sith who killed Qui-Gon is still alive and planning to kill his ex-girlfriend even Anakin is like... ‘ok buddy, i think you might be under too much stress, maybe we should visit the healers...”
best he can do for Shmi is leaving her an emergency beacon
A+ success in relationship repair with Anakin tho! through the application of a very awkward hug and a mumbled “you know I love you, right?”
Anakin drags him to the healers immediately, and after a drug test and an overnight stay finally responds by bursting into tears and ugly crying on Obi-Wan’s robes because “YOU’RE A FATHER TO ME BUT I THOUGHT YOU HAATED ME”
Obi-Wan is uncomfortably patting him on the back “Of course I don’t hate you! You’re my padawan! Why would you think that?”
Then when Shmi activates her emergency comm the same night Anakin has his first nightmare about his Mom and they fly to her rescue he’s even more OBI-WAN 5EVER than canon or scenario B because
“You...checked in on my mom?? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry Anakin, I knew the council wouldn’t approve...”
hugs Anakin again since that is the only piece of advice he can follow from his future self and he just thinks ‘well its a long shot but hopefully this is enough to prevent any lava planet incidents’
it is
Seriously in this version of events Anakin actively RESISTS being knighted because he was already obsessed with Obi-Wan in canon and now with hugs + verbal affection + protecting Mom proactively he is ALL IN FOR OBI NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN
low-key ruins palpatine’s plans by itself because now when he tries to drive a wedge between them with his bullshit ‘your master doesn’t truly trust you’ Anakin gets huffy and responds with a space powerpoint presentation
i mean other stuff is going to go down once we get to the armies but already the stage is set for him to go running to Obi-Wan the minute he has a nightmare about Padme dying and him responding “J. Force Christ, lets just... go to a healer, fuck’s sake Anakin I hope it doesn’t need to be said but do NOT turn to the darkside over this”
canon would definitely diverge before that point but its also very funny to me to imagine RotS playing out more or less the same but when he gets to Palpatine’s big offer he just goes ‘sorry dad told me no’
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Rewatching Me and My Dick
While I understand many people’s trepidation when it comes to Me and My Dick, my rewatch of this show for Rewatchers With a Thousand Eyes gave me a new appreciation for it. I myself waited a few years to watch it after it came out. I was 14 when they put it on YouTube and had only just watched AVPM and was therefore new to the fandom; I was nervous that I would be too uncomfortable with the subject matter. There’s a reason that they have an Adult Content warning, and I think still have it age-blocked. It’s about high schoolers played by college students (only a few years apart really), but young high schoolers like me then may not be ready for this type of content. And by this type of content, I mean frequent discussion and representation of sex and genitalia. I think they do it as tastefully as possible, though; I’m not that uncomfortable with it watching it now, but I’m also nearly 27 instead of 14. Even my asexual ass can find enjoyment in it, and I think it’s because this show has so much more to offer than just the surface level content.
What makes this show special are its messages about relationships (romantic and platonic) and self-worth. Joey has his ideas about what a romantic relationship should be (sexual attraction) because he’s a horny and lonely teenager, so he pines after Vanessa and then pursues her with the guidance of his foolish teenage heart. He overlooks his platonic friendship with Sally because he’s not immediately sexually attracted to her; he never considers her as an option at all until the end. Sally is a hopeless romantic with an obsession with Joey Richter; she has her own sexual desires but doesn’t think she’s worthy of any romantic or sexual relationship because of her low self-esteem. It’s only when Joey understands the difference and balance between sexual and romantic attraction that he sees that “what [he] needed was the one who [was] perfect for [him]”, i.e. Sally! Sally can stop obsessing over Joey and start to form a real relationship with him once she confesses her feelings and gains some self-confidence when he eventually reciprocates. These are great messages for young people in new relationships to learn!
This is all balanced with great jokes, delightful character acting, and fun music. Not all the jokes are sex jokes, though: besides the witty one-liners and everything with Joey’s heart, Sally’s excitable nature when it comes to the chemistry project (a film noir about silver nitrate) gets me every time! The main characters are fun, especially because Joey and Jaime delight me to no end, but the side characters are vibrant too! Vanessa and Tiffany are obviously great best friends who are most definitely in love with each other without realizing it, and Ali Gordon and Alle-Faye Monka really sell it--and it makes me sad that we barely saw those two after this show (Ali was in A VHS Christmas Carol and Alle-Faye was in A Very Potter Senior Year and A Very StarKid Reunion; both were at StarKid Homecoming, and it was so nice to see them again!).
The music is underrated, and we need to talk about it. First, the brass! The songs that aren’t stereotypical pop musical songs are big band jazz numbers, and the brass section is so fun! Numbers like “Listen to Your Heart” and “Land of the Dicks” are reminiscent of classic jazz standards with the instrumentation and upbeat tempo. They bring in some funk for “Big T’s Temptation” (listen to that smooth bass), and Corey Dorris kills it as always! As for the pop songs, they’re still stellar! “Me and My Dick” and “Ready to Go” are a great combo for a classic musical theatre intro, bringing in each character and their wants and needs only to combine them all in a fun chorus by the end of the number. “Even Though” is a beautiful love song for an underrated StarKid couple.
Me and My Dick may not be my favorite StarKid show (more power to you if it is), but it’s not without its merits! Thank you Nick Lang, Matt Lang, Brian Holden and Eric Kahn Gale for such a fun coming-of-age story and A.J. Holmes, Darren Criss, and Carlos Valdes for a great mix of pop and jazz songs and score!
#starkid#me and my dick#rewatchers1000#joey richter#jaime lyn beatty#joe walker#devin lytle#ali gordon#alle-faye monka#corey dorris#aj holmes#nick lang#matt lang#eric kahn gale#darren criss#carlos valdes#brian holden#sk musical score
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A Family Affair | Euro 2020 Football Fanfiction
Hi besties!! here is the long awaited part 9!! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did whilst writing it!! a big thank you goes to @emwritesfootball for proofing this part & making sure its up to scratch for all of you lovely readers! Let me know what you think babes hehehe!! Love Always, Steph xx
Part 9. | nona parte
word count; 2006. writing tools; third person until dashed line, first person thereafter. next update; Friday 13/08 5pm AEST. Updates are three times/week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday)! tags (as requested by users); @footballffbarbiex @obsesseds-world @abysshaven link to fic masterlist here
The season kicked off in the middle of August and Amelia had been more than prepared for her first match in the premier league. She spent day after day analysing the players in the first team, introducing them to the magical world of rehearsed tactics. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the brilliant girl; she had to learn how to implement the plays coupled with the speed of the game. But so far, so good. Chelsea have been winning and her plays have been working, the boys were getting the hang of it - no matter how apprehensive they were at the start.
Jorgi played a big part in demonstrating the success of the play, performing best in his midfield role to guide the game and direct the change in play to his teammates. By the time they had played a few fixtures, they had really gotten the hang of her approach to set pieces and began to put their trust in the young girl. They were starting to see results and wanted to keep the winning streak going while they could. The fourth fixture in the new season was one that Amelia was looking forward to, personally: Chelsea v Aston Villa, Stamford Bridge, 3pm kick off.
Jack and Amelia had grown closer and closer, FaceTime‘dates’ as Jack would call them, a weekly occurrence. She had spoken to him just as much as she had spoken to Jorgi - and they were still carpooling to and from Cobham together. Her friendship with Jack was full of easy conversation and flirtatious banter, teetering over the line of friendship but being that they were kept physically apart, the friendship line remained largely intact. One person that had drifted even further away from her, despite her believing that it couldn't be possible, was Ben Chilwell.
Every time she walked into a room that he was in, if he didn't have to be there he would immediately leave. Amelia didn’t understand what the problem was. Yeah sure, they were flirty together in Mykonos but they never crossed a line together, no matter how many times the wine went straight to their heads. If anything, she should be the one running away from him. She was the one who sent him a couple of messages here and there that he just opened. She spoke to Mason, Jorgi, Billy Gilmour - who was another one of the boys she had developed a strong friendship with - and all of them insisted they didn’t understand their friend's strange behaviour.
On the evening before the Villa match, Amelia was laying on the couch in her townhouse binge watching yet another docu-series on Netflix when her doorbell rang. This was strange, most people that came past the house these days had their own set of keys (her parents, her brother, Jorgi) or they texted to let her know they were outside. Her townhouse was three stories high, so if she was upstairs on the top level vacuuming the chances of her hearing the door were slim to none. Either way, she got up off of her loveseat and walked to the front door, peeking through the peephole - she lived in London, alone, she wasn’t opening that door until she knew exactly who was on the other side.
______________________________________________________________
“To what do I owe this visit, Benjamin?”
“Hi, Mils.”
“Wow, nickname basis already - I thought only friends called each other by their nicknames.”
“Did you think we weren’t friends?”
“Well, friends don’t treat friends the way you’ve treated me since the evening I left Mykonos.”
With a sigh, Ben looked down at his feet. I did feel a small bit of guilt for that one, but he deserved it. Continuing to find the cracks in the marble step of my door’s threshold more interesting than facing my expression, I took a step back and forced Ben to look up at me.
“Well, are you going to come inside? I’ve got the kettle on and a really good series going that I would like to get back to.”
With a charming smile, Ben took a step forward, took the door handle out of my hand and shut it behind him. Slipping out of his shoes, he followed me down the short hallway to my kitchen and pulled a seat out at the island bench.
“So, really now - why are you here? Nervous about tomorrow?” I questioned as I took two cups out of the cupboard and brewed one tea for him, one coffee for me. 3 years in Italy and coffee in the evening became the norm for me. It was my comfort drink.
“I’m here to apologise for the way I've been acting towards you for the past six weeks. I’ll be honest, I don’t know why I’ve been like this”
“Cut the crap Ben, you know exactly why you’ve been doing it. Now tell me the truth or, as far as I'm concerned, you never came here tonight and tomorrow we will be back to how we were yesterday - you running away from me and me pretending that it doesn't bother me. Even though all it does is bother me.” Not expecting that outburst to come out of me, and to be fair neither did I, Ben looked me in the eye and stayed silent, choosing his next words carefully.
“The first time I saw you, the night you told your brother off in the rec room at St. George’s Park, I thought you were the most determined woman I had ever seen in my life. Not scared of the 30 grown men who were very obviously all on the same side, literally. Then the next time I saw you, after the final match, how you comforted your brother when you were at the highest of highs and he was lower than low, I thought you had more compassion than every person in that stadium put together.”
“When you came to SGP again the next day and delivered the tactical analysis of the game you won, I thought ‘wow she is so intellectually brilliant’. And then when you turned up in Mykonos, all sunkissed and relaxed, sitting next to me and involving me in conversation with my pals but making me feel like you wanted my contribution...I remember it like it was yesterday. Amelia, you smiled at me and my heart did a somersault in my chest.”
“You shut me down outside the club that evening, and when we came back inside I caught the end of your conversation with Jorgi about Fede. Putting two and two together, I understood all that I needed to. The few days after that we carried on like normal. Then, you left and I didn't know if I would ever see you again to be fair. When you messaged me, I got too nervous to reply because I didn't know how to just be your friend. And then when I thought I had finally gotten through a day without thinking about my friend's little sister, you showed up at Cobham as my tactical analyst. I didn’t know what to do Mils, I don't know how to be just your friend when I've had nothing but unfriendly thoughts about you since the first time I saw you command that room of men you had never met in your life.”
The whistle of the kettle ringing out behind me is the only noise filling the kitchen. I’m staring at Ben; he’s staring back at me with nothing but truth behind his eyes and his heart on his sleeve.
“Benj, what you were feeling, what you are feeling is totally valid and I never want you to feel like you can’t share those feelings with me. You’re right, Mykonos changed things for me. What you were feeling was reciprocated, but Ben, I was going back to Italy. At that exact moment, I had no idea I would end up here. I thought I was enjoying a break before another high-intensity season in Italy. I wanted to kiss you so badly at the club that night, but I knew it would only hurt you. I’m used to being hurt, it's a feeling I've grown to expect. But you, you’re too pure to experience the kind of hurt that comes along with knowing you’re making a bad decision, but doing it anyway, because I wanted to be selfish with your heart.”
“Amelia, can I ask you something?” I nodded, holding my breath as I braced myself for the question poised behind his eyes. “If you were in the mood to be selfish, what would have come from that evening?”
“I can probably show you better than I can tell you,”
Walking around the island bench, I pulled the back of Ben’s chair slightly so he pivoted towards me. Standing in between his tracksuit-covered legs, I ran both hands up his arms until I got to his neck and finally beside his face. Threading my fingers through his hair, I pulled his face towards mine and our lips met. It was as soft as a butterfly kiss but as powerful as anything I had ever felt before. His hands wound around my waist and settled themselves on the small of my back before travelling down and giving my backside a gentle caress, forcing a laugh out of my lips and straight into his mouth. Pulling away slightly, so we both had a bit of breathing space to sort out our lightheadedness, Ben spoke his next words very softly.
“I need you to promise me something, Amelia.You need to promise me that you will stop thinking about my heart before your own. I am old enough to make my own decisions, and the decision to ignore you for these past few weeks has been one of the worst ones I've made in a really long time. But I did make it, and it was because I got scared, and I hurt you, and I am so sorry. The decision to come here tonight however, I feel like it more than makes up for that one very very stupid one”
“You’re such a smooth talker, Benj.”
“Say my name again, Mils, you don’t know what it does to me.”
“Down boy, your tea is going cold and I need to find out who killed Sophie in West Cork.Meet me in the lounge.”
A few hours had passed and it was nearing 10pm, well past Amelia’s bed time, but Ben was still sitting on her couch, feet on the table (despite her telling him to remove them) and arm around the back of her shoulders.
“Chilly, I don’t want you to think I'm not interested in you because I so am, I just don’t want to rush into anything. What I left behind in Italy was complicated and heavy; I'm still trying to learn how to exist without him if I'm honest. I want you to just give me the space I need to grow into my own here in the city, if that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it's okay, Mils. From what Jorgi has told me about Fede, I can understand why you want to take it slow now. But please, don’t call me Chilly. My friends call me Chilly, and Mills. I thought I made it clear before that I don’t want to be your friend.”
“To me, you’re Benj. Thank you. Wait - what do you mean what Jorgi has told you about Fede?”
“I may have asked a couple times about you, and for the record, he is team Bamelia.”
“Bamelia? That is the ugliest word I have ever heard. Never use it again.”
“How can it be ugly? It's mostly your name, and nothing associated with you could ever be considered anything less than beautiful.”
“Stop being so smooth Benj, you’re going to make me blush in a minute.”
“Good, can’t wait to see how you could possibly look even cuter than you do right now.”
“That’s enough Benjamin.”
“Okay I’m done now.”
Part 10. | parte dieci
#football imagine#football fic#jadon sancho#ben chilwell#mason mount#declan rice#ben white#jack grealish#tyrone mings#kyle walker#ben chilwell imagine#jack grealish imagine#mason mount imagine#football one shot#tyrone mings imagine#x reader#a family affair fic#steph writes#stephspurs#italian national team#jorginho#federico bernardeshci#jorginho imagine#bernardeschi imagine#juventus fic#juventus imagine#italy nt imagine#england nt imagine#three lions imagine#azzurri imagine
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A different take on SessKag relationship or why it would be more realistic than InuKag.
Let me begin with
Sesshomaru's and Kagome's past and how they are similar.
Sesshomaru had always been a very sentimental and emotionally receptive being. He had loved and cherished his dad the most. Loving and competing with him, wanting to surpass him, desiring recognition and acceptance so much so that his entire world revolved around his father. He did not want the swords because they were powerful or the bs about supreme conquest. What is that shit? Sesshomaru never needed that. The swords, especially Tessaiga was the most important acceptance to Sess. I will get back to this later.
Now Kagome. This kid was born and then we never saw her dad even when she was a kid. Another classic case of growing without a dad? Perhaps. But I feel her grandpa filled her missing dad's place. That is why the kid grew up in a lovely household, filled with love and peace and made Kagome what she was later on, a selfless girl who wants to love and protect her friends. Because that is what she learnt. Her grandpa, mom, everyone and her own family dynamics taught her how important it was to cherish the ones she loved.
What they initially thought of Inuyasha in their life
Now back to Sess. When his dad died, he dies saving Izayoi. What is the thing he feels at the time I wondered. Surely devastated? Yes, but even worse. His most important person, his goal, the thing his life revolved around was gone. And for what? To protect a weak, useless bitch like Izayoi? Here is a thing, he never knew Izayoi but knew the hut had collapsed on his dad when Izayoi had escaped. What can a teen feel when they hear such a thing? 'That useless bitch, ran away when my dad was in danger and cost him his life. Fuck that bitch and that kid they made. Useless, all humans are useless and weak.' This was really where his hatred came from. Probably.
Kagome on the other hand from the beginning was shown as a selfless kid, who loved both humans and demons alike. Reason? She had never lived in the feudal era. She was a kid grown in a society where everyone is placed on a equal pedestal. How would she, a modern kid understand the bad blood between demons and humans? If she were ever born in Feudal Japan, would things have changed? Maybe. Then she falls into a world where nothing was similar to where she was from. She was frightened, unsure and confused. And then Inuyasha came into her life. Honestly their first meeting was not romantic and pretty terrific in a sense. That was a weird day for Kagome. She fell into an alien world only heard in fairy tales, got involved in a weird prophecy, learnt she was a mythical sort of being herself and then got attacked by a guy who had saved her only seconds before, all ready to rip her heart out. In such a case, the 'osuwari' was probably a safe word for her. Why she uses it later in the series? Probably because she never trusted Inuyasha and felt more comfortable using a word which gave her power over him. Honestly, what would you expect? Kisses and love showers?
Analysis: Kagome was still scared of Inuyasha for a long time and did not trust him completely.
Before Inu no Taisho's tomb battle
Kagome before this went home and then cane back because she felt that fixing the Shikon was her duty. More honestly, she just returned coz Yura attacked and she wanted her family to be safe. Here I want to take some time to gush over how cool Kagome is. Intelligent, smart and extremely powerful. How she understood that Yura's skull was her weakness and breaks the god forsaken thing with just an arrow. That is some level of OPness. Who says Kags is useless?
Anyways, after that when Inuyasha called her 'Kagome', a lot of the viewers thought that Kagome was ecstatic because it was romantic and she was in love. But that is bs. It is not possible to love someone a week later they tried to gut your heart out. It is masochistic and unreal. Kagome over here felt a sense of acceptance from a guy who she felt previously hated her enough to kill her. And that to Kagome was a sign of friendship and more like, 'don't worry, I am not at least gonna attempt to kill you anymore.'
Kagome, inheritently a person who gives a hand when given a finger. She accepts Inu as her friend and they were far from being lovers.
It is exactly this time that Sess attacks them. And quite cruely might I say. Bringing Inu's dead mom like that was not funny and Sess was an outright jerk for doing that no matter how much he hated Inu and Izayoi. He is all weird and sarcatic at high levels. And Kags hated him. She hated how he was attacking this one friend she had made in the era. She hated how cruel this bastard was and how much pain her friend was going through. And her own lovely bond with her brother did not help her to look into their complex brotherly bond which seemed to her more like some battle royale. She probaably hated the bitch for showing up and hurting her friend like that even when he, being the older brother should have loved his younger brother and nurtured him like she would do for Souta.
For Sess, it was really weird and shitty all over. A basic human bitch, standing behind Inu like she was weak fawn. Reminded him so much of Izayoi. Someone who never even tried saving his dad. That was why his sarcastic words were like, "Inuyasha, it suits you so much to have a human behind you". Ya and he was irritated by looking at how helpless af the bitch was. He was narcisstic, filipant of Kags presence and all around indifferent to a 'weak human filthy woman', who he felt was just like the one for whom his dad died.
Surprise is how he did not outright murder her. Perhaps he felt like they were worthless and beneath his boots.
Lol, these two are the best.
Inside Inu No Taisho's tomb
Kags was really angry with this bitch who just chained her up, clawed a pearl out of her friend's eye and then jumped into a black hole. That is why she followed with, "This sort of a person, with no blood or humanity in his veins, I cannot forgive him" and then she chased. Even Inu was like, WTF bro. It was fun. Then she spouted lines like, " Take the sword Inuyasha, it will be like a hit to his pride, what a shame!"
How tf did she know about how much his pride hurt him. Lol felt like Kags knew Sess more than Inu ever would and they only met. That was some soulmate level shit right there. Lol!
Then there was Sess who was outright dismissing Kags and she was not even a spec of dust in his eyes. Then she went and pulled that sword out. Remember the scene where he was so surprised that he stopped the battle with Inu and turned around and LOOKED. Like really LOOKED. It was such a heart stopping moment and for good measures as well. He saw a girl, a woman standing there, holding an inheritance which was supposed to be his and she did something he could not. Did Tessaiga accept her then, did his father accept her more than him? He was baffled, confused and low-key awed. That was why he said, "What are you?" And legit measured her top to bottom. That was some turning point for Sess. Something that proved to him that all humans cannot be dismissed. But he was in rage. How can a mere human be worthy of Tessaiga and melted her along with that sword. I wonder if it was his second test to see whether Tessaiga would protect her or not. And then it did!
Sess went ape-shit crazy after that. A sword he desired for so long (The sword used to protect Izayoi was a thorn in his heart. Made him feel like his father had chosen a human over him. But if the sword had accepted him, it would have proved that his dad had still loved him, thought of him). That was the significance of Tessaiga to him. Power sure, but more of an acceptance. His dad's acceptance. And then what happened? The sword preferred a human who then gave it to his damned hated brother.
Aftermath of tomb battle
Kagome never really liked Sess's guts and probably had no form of sympathy towards someone like him. On the other hand things picked up with her and Inu's relation. She came to know some facts about Kik. And her inferiority complex began with her incarnate. But having a part of Kik's soul in her, began her obsession with Inu. She strived to understand him, make a better person of himself. But their relation was still not there to lovers.
Then Sess came across Naraku. He probably just wanted to dick around more with Inu and accepted the human hand.
2nd battle for Tessaiga
Sess's desire to possess the Tessaiga had increased at this point. His rage of having his arm cut off by that sword felt like the worst rejection from his dad. He was going insane and might have wanted to kill Inu for real in this fight. He was in no mood for theatrics in this one, unlike the tomb where he actually watched some InuKag drama and even applauded (lol). He was absolute business this time. He snached the sword and showed Inu exactly why he should not get that sword, 'You cannot even make the wind rift, why should you be more worthy?'
He meant to kill Inu and then Kags arrow sailed in, charging with enough power to even cancel the demonic energy filled into the sword by Sess himself.
His thoughts were for the same reason, " She canceled Tessaiga's transformation? Who is this girl?"
His respect scale jumped for her here. He truly had never met anyone who could rival his power to such extent. He had never met a girl who stood so powerfully in face of danger to protect this some half-breed scum. She was like the embodiment of everything he had hoped Izayoi to be to his dad. A strong woman who would wager her life to save the one she holds dear. Sess had learnt this fact from his dad's death. To sacrifice in name of love and then in this fight he understood how much that meant both for Inuyasha and Kagome. He probably somewhat understood what this feeling was after seeing these two.
Sess had an idea of love and protection and Kags became its centre. She was this vague expectation Sess had of human love and an absolute loyalty towards whom you love most. He felt complicated towards her. He respected her.
3rd Tessaiga battle
Sess's most sceptical battle yet. Why break the tessaiga? 'I will break it if I can't have it!' Desperate much?. Then the wind drift appears and for the first time Sess acknowledges Inu. For maybe being a somewhat worthy of having Taisho's blood, only if a little bit. He is saved by Tenseiga. Oh, how he hated this worthless sword more. This sword could not cut throught things and saves his life. What a worthless shit.
Kagome's narrative here was important. "How can he weild the Tenseiga? He needs a compassionate heart for that." Always wondered why Kags was the one to say this. But realised the reason later on.
Rin
Obviously the most controversial topic of Inuverse. What Sess felt for Rin, why was she there.
Rin has often been compared to be the Kagome version of Sess. And that is the only truth. She came in like a ray of sunshine when he was in most need. He was in self doubt, hate towards Inu and complex emotions towards Kags. And then Rin was there with the exact same face and the same warm feeling like Kags. Even he knew what InuKag were to each other then and no matter how much he respected Kags, he was not really interested in a further relation with Kags. But his deeply unsated desire to understand his dad's mentality and reason behind saving a human was what made him think of Rin. As she was his chance to understand that. His chance to understand why his dad could do that, why Inu could do that and why humans like Kags and Rin could save and love demons. It was not romantic in any sense. He had a confusion and Rin was his way towards a solution. Though it was a different fact that he loved her later on and cherished and protected her. Enough to feel that there was no meaning to his anything if she was not there.
So yes in a way, she is Kags embodiment in Sess's life, a picture of Kags selfless love. His desire to truly understand such beings called selfless humans and the result of his single minded belief of human women being trash and unable to love shattering.
And for fun just to contradict Kags speculations, for first time ever, Sess uses the sword and we viewers realise how wrong Kags was. Sess had every bit of compassion in his heart.
Later events
The events went on with Kags finally understanding her position in Inu's life and her single-minded chase to be accepted by Inu as just Kagome and not Kikyo's reflection. I do not even know if this could be called love or just a misinterpreted need of attention from someone you hold dear. But whatever, we realise Kags is in love with Inu now and still cannot stop from feeling compassion towards Kikyo. Honestly she and Sess are truly two opposite sides of a spectrum.
Sess on the other hand gets Tokijin and attacks Inuyasha. This time around, I highly doubt he was still chasing Tessaiga. It had more evolved into his need to show he is more powerful than Inu. 'What you do best, I can do better.'
Stopping Inu from transforming
In this the most debatable question was whether he was there to stop Inu or not.
Sess had wanted to see and experiment the limits of Inu's blood beast.
After some fighting, Kags jumped in. Sess stared at her, like forever. That staring tho. Even when she was like, "Stay away, you idiot." Sess stared. For Sess, that was what he admired the most in Kags. Her selfless devotion. He was staring at that fearless figure who once again surprised him by being a sacrifice to save her loved ones. She was to Sess what he had always thought of 'love' to be. She was the embodiment of the term 'love' to Sess. For a guy who knew nothing of how to define emotions, it was Kags who showed him what love was. And thus he jumped over and over again in front of Rin to protect her. She taught him how to cherish even the even the most weak individual in a group, and thus he protected Jaken.
Rin was there to show him the same thing everyday. But no matter how much Rin showed him her own loyality, love and warmth, Kags always remained that shining beam to him. I will say later on how I understood this.
Kag's love was the validity of his dad's sacrifice. A way for him to make sense of his dad's mindless death over protecting some weak human.
And in this scene for the first time ever, Kags saw Sess as more than an insufferable pest to her friends. She saw his noble ideals and realised why he was there and thus she thought, "Was he here to save Inuyasha?"
It is very curious as to why Kags was again given these lines. It was probably because her opinion mattered, to Sess it did. And we will see more why in the future.
Random encounters
There was one time when Kags saw Rin while Jaken was trying to steal Tessaiga and she had asked herself, "Why is a little human girl traveling with Sess?' It was again a small thing which she did not need to feel but was very imp. for her development towards Sess. How she started to understand him more.
Kohaku incident
Here we saw how was the first time Sess listened to Kags.
Kags opinion mattered. Inu's mattered and when he realised that Kohaku was being used he let him go. There was one reason that he did not want to be used, the next I am sure was for Kags and Inu. He knew then that Kohaku was imp. to them and he stopped. Big character jump for him.
Then the most curious fact was how Kags knew what the girl meant to him, "Please let him go Sesshomaru, the girl is fine."
Kagome: Thanks Sesshomaru!
Sesshomaru: I just never wanted to be used by Naraku and fall into his trap.
Lol...
Then after Rin left, Kags thoughts about how she had left with Sess and was awed . An important point for her change in feelings towards Sess. She understood the guy was changing and Rin was changing him.
The fun fact was how she was instantly in love with this little girl and that would become important later on.
More random events..
After that it was shown that many times Kags was the only one who could stop a fight bet. the brothers. Example that time when he fought with Inu to get some direction for Naraku. And then Kags came and told him to go north or something and he was like, "That is all I wanted to know." And left.
What is to be seen in these parts is how RT made only him and her interact like this. He listening to her like they have been friends forever.
The saving of Kanta's father was also an example of how much she affected him.
Her plea to save Kanta's dad even when no one believed and no one bothered to ask him. Tensaiga moved because he felt deeply moved by her plea. He might have never wanted to voice it but since Tensaiga only worked when the weilder felt compassion and a need to save someone. Sess must have felt it subconsciously and Tensaiga had stired. Or it had stired because it is a SessKag shipper as well. Lol!
Mukotsu
I wonder how Sess knew Kags was in trouble. Another fun fact like how he appears at times when Inu is not there to save Kags. Sess is there. Probably he knew her scent too well and hence could even distinguish between that and the poison. After that was the gruesome death of Mukotsu. The thing to notice over her was how large Sess looked in that hut doorway, it was a symbolism to how big and huge his protective self looks when he is protecting Kagome. A very romantic thing indeed. The first time he protects someone who is not under his protection. A complete selfless act if considered from his pov. Sess being a very private person and while saving Kagome showed her place in his heart. Yeah and that was very visible from how he killed Mukotsu.
The takeaway from this episode is not this though. It was the fact that Kags defended Sess. For the first time ever, all the good deeds she had seen him doing had outplayed her hatred for him. She accepeted him as a friend with these words, "No Inuyasha, he was here to protect us, he saved us." It was a completely unnecessary detail in the whole scheme of this episode but very important for Sess. Her acceptance matters, her opinion matters and Sess is a Tsundere.
Sesshomaru: I did not save YOU, I just killed him coz he did not answer me properly.
This proved how much she affects him, rattles him and how much her life means to him. And an unspoken promise to himself to protect her when Inu was not around.
Fight with Shishinki
No one ever mentions this fight. But there is a very important SK interaction in here. Something which was important for Sess. Kagome's understanding.
When Sess was lost in the same darkness of never being accepted by his dad, Shishinki made things worse by saying Tenseiga was a cast out of Tessaiga and it was given as a leftover to Taisho's least fav. son. Sesshomaru was hurt, lost, and his daddy issues, his biggest weakness was sharply opened by a knife, cruely and Kagome's words saved him.
Kagome: But there might have been a reason their dad had done this.
Kags belief that Taisho had infact not rejected Sess was like a balm to his soul, the only thing he had needed to hear throughout his life. The thing which made him accept in the end that Tensaiga was there to protect Inuyasha, the thing that was needed to sort of activate Tessaiga and then he finally formed his biggest and truest meido. It was romantic, touching and outright heavenly. Then it was made cute with Inu's awkward concern. It was the best ep. as of yet.
Kagome's deep concern and her understanding of Sess's pain was brilliant and alien level insane. She should not have, but she did and that's why they felt more like soulmates.
Battle with Magatsuhi
Sess had gone batshit crazy when Magatsuhi had hurt Kagome and that had only been worsened by him questioning Sess's honor and pride. Sess had turned full on doggy mode and lost control in that way for the first time since the tomb. And the strike at Magatsuhi's eyes was another symbolism of his revenge for doing shit to Kags eyes and mindfucking her.
RT has always thrown these small hints in between IK drama. Which are brilliant and lovely. Even that one scene where he stands protectively inbetween Kags prostrate body on Kilala and Magatsuhi. Beautiful symbolism, really.
It was also fun to see how Kags half power was sealed by Magatsuhi and Sess's half power was returned via Bakusaiga. I felt that Sess's true acceptance of his protection to Kagome and his detachment from Tessaiga was what made him the true daiyokai and surpass his father. Since somehow Tessaiga has always been linked to protecting Kagome and somehow protecting her might have also been the thing to finding Bakusaiga. The desire to protect her perhaps.
Soul mate mind link theatrics
This is something only some people realise. Sesshomaru and Kagome have been shown not once, but twice to be doing this. Once while fighting for Kohaku's life and the last shard and the other in Naraku's body. Kagome and Sesshomaru had been shown to think in absolute synchronisation. He thinks half the sentence, she completes the rest. Absolute soul mate shit.
SessKag power combo
Shown a lot of time in Inuverse. Sess attacks and Kags completes. A small thing but their timing is insane. And is defintely the best power combo, far better than an InuKag combo.
Fight in Naraku's body
This was the time when Sess finally shows what Kagome means to him. Where she stands and how much he cares for her. She is his FIRST priority. Proof? When Rin and she are in simultaneous danger, he stands there infront of Kags for God knows how long, removing those snake things like he had all the time in the world and once she is awake he is concerned about her well being.
Sess: Those wounds, are those Inuyasha's doing?
And his disappointment in Inuyasha not being able to protect Kags.
Sess: As expected of a half-demon. He lost himself in the bloodlust.
Kags obviously considered Sess to be a friend at this point. A very close friend at that. Family perhaps? Their familiarity here was not missed by anyone. Her defending Inu and then still prioritising Rin over Inu were only somethings we realised this chapter.
The most important was her belief in him.
Manga exclusive,
Kags: I believe that you would be able to do it. Do not fall into Naraku's trap and play his cards that is what he wants. Only you can do this, I know.
Wow, Kags wow...just wow... It is the best actually. She does not believe Inu in this situation but she does Sess. She believes in his protection and she knows her influence on him. This speaks volumes. This shows her unreal connection to him and how they match each other instinctively.
Sess knows her influence. This is his weakness.
The mokomoko scene was truly Sesshomaru's best confession. For him who cannot say much in words, allowed her to fly on mokomoko. Something which everyone of us know has a heavy weightage for Sesshomaru. It is his weapon, his forever companion and his support when he is injured and tired. Offering such a thing to her for whatever reason was truly his way of showing what he exactly feels for her. He cherishes her the most and I could say even more than Rin. Trusts her the most and would jump in front of danger to protect her.
Which is only seen more when he asks her to stay away from the fight because she would be a 'hinderance'. Which means he could not fight if she is in the middle. He would be vulnerable and weak. Intersting, very interesting. Another time where he stood between her and a dangerous blood beast that Inu had become.
The best part was truly him getting concerned when she fell down from the top while removing Tessaiga and then when Magatsuhi tried to possess her.
His anger was so vibrant. "Get away from her!"
What a brilliant thing to say. The possessiveness. The will to protect her. The absolute anger. Brilliant. So much was spoken in those lines.
The best ending though was the SessKag power combo of Bakusaiga and holy arrow. Best ending. Inu was not even much involved in ending Naraku. It was weird how the titular character failed in finishing the main villain with his meido. Shows a lot what SessKag meant to RT.
Big brother
Yes, the iconic scene where fans of all ships shout out that SK is not a romantic ship.
Well over here I want to say that Kagome truly saw Sess as a big brother figure at this point. Part of it was because she still felt that she was in love with Inu and part because she was not receptive to her reactions to Sess and what he truly meant to her at this point. She feels an intimate connection to him but cannot justify the weirdness because she still feels a closeness to Inu so she thinks of him as big brother. Which was a very intimate thing for Kagome to say. She loves him like family and clearly places him higher than the rest of her friends only second to Inu. That was more of a declaring her closeness to Sess rather than a confirmation of her and Inu's relationship. Kags is not a vain character who does things coz they are convinient. She would not call a friend if they are not a friend. And certainly not a big brother if she does not feel so.
Sess actually was relieved, ecsatatic and happy when Jaken informed hin of Kags arrival as was seen in his expression. Very funny actually. Because next second he was called big brother and he was hilariously ticked off. He could not believe what he was being called. Lol that interaction though. It showed how close they ended up being. Even more close than he was to his own brother.
But he accepted the title even if with much pain in his neck and then was really offended when Jaken badmouthed Kagome.
Conclusion: No one badmouths Kagome.
Haaha....end of this long analysis. I tried to analyse it from the character's pov and found some interesting small tidbits and detail that RT had hidden in this story.
Thus I felt that SK would be a more natural ship maybe not outright. Since Sess loves her truly but does not understand the nature of the relation and Kags is still too much blinded by Inu filter a.t.m. Maybe given years when Kags will realise exactly what sort of love she feels for Inu. Which will happen because such a toxic relation like IK should not exist and then she will probably see Sess's love for her.
My Conclusion: SK is a defintive. It will happen with some time and care. When both would mature. But it will happen for sure. All the ingredients are there, the stage has been set just the players have to realise what they feel for each other.
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