#the best girl dad boy failure | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

hestzhyen · 5 months ago

Text

Already Waist-Deep

Hi internet void. Please allow me to kagura my bachi all over the place for a little bit. I've got a bad case of the brain worms about these boys that I haven't even had together for 20 chapters yet, so let me ramble a little bit about why they're already so compelling as not only a duo, but a ship.

First off, a caveat. Kagurabachi is a Weekly Shounen Jump (WSJ) action series. That means that if romance is ever addressed in the series itself, the protagonist is going to end up with a girl. Doesn't matter how underdeveloped or lackluster his relationship to her is, or how flat she is as a character. Invest lightly and come along for the ride without any expectations of m/m ships becoming canon. (That said, it might not be the worst thing in the world for our MC to end up with a girl in this case- more on that later.)

Second, I don't really ship that often. Not seriously at least. I need more than two guys being close with each other to start wanting them to be a pair, y'know? So I hope you understand the intensity of the material Hokazono-sensei has been giving us the past few chapters. I am on the brink of going all-in on HakuHiro/ChihiHaku in less than 20 chapters, it's that insane.

Third, I will be talking about current developments without marking potential spoilers. There are only 38 chapters out as of writing this, but there are at least two reveals that would be better appreciated going in blind. Spoilers for the oneshot Farewell! Cherry Boy are also a thing near the end.

Okay? Okay. Let's begin.

Who's Involved? First up is our protagonist Chihiro Rokuhira, an 18 year old boy and the son of a famous swordsmith. He was raised with genuine love and care by his father (no idea what happened to his mom yet), taking care of their day-to-day life while learning his father's trade. And from the very first chapter he is steeped in tragedy as he witnesses his father's murder and life's work being stolen. He then sets out on the long, fraught road of vengeance.

Sounds grim and not exactly compelling, right? Especially when this scene from the first chapter was making the rounds being memed to death:

But there's much more to Chihiro than meets the eye. Flashbacks to his time growing up show him being a natural caretaker to his dad and their fish- cooking meals, keeping his dad on task, and so on. We see glimpses of underlying tenderness when he meets and rescues Char, a sweet little girl with her own tragic past. And we get some insight that he might not be quite as resolute as he's projecting himself to be when he faces off against Sojo, a fan of his father who worships a much different version of the man than Chihiro knew. And now the Rakuzaichi arc has definitively shown us that Chihiro isn't as collected as he seems. One of his father's killers easily cracks the mask and shows us Chihiro is really just a desperate kid with a heaping helping of trauma, then Tenri's pointless sacrifice shakes him to his core. But despite it all he's still doing determinator things in the most badass way possible. Chihiro has layers, man. A lot of them. And the best way to understand our protagonist right now is through his foil: Hakuri Sazanami.

Who is Hakuri? A 17 year old boy with a special lineage, but he's a loser who needs to be saved from common thugs. A pathetic guy who latches on to Chihiro and doesn't take the hint when Chihiro literally runs away to ditch him. An utter failure to his family. A lost puppy looking for a samurai.

Hakuri Sazanami is one of the best goddamn foils I've seen in shounen manga yet.

Let me tell you all the ways I love the writing around this kid and Chihiro because MAN I can't even contain all these feels.

What's Going On? From the start, Hakuri looks like he's just another person for Chihiro to bail out. He witnesses Chihiro's awesomeness fighting Sojo in the streets and decides to imitate it by standing up for a little girl being kidnapped. Instead of winning out, though, he's captured and kicked around. Once he's coincidentally rescued by Chihiro he's immediately all-in on tagging along and keeping Chihiro in his life. Look at this pitiful guy:

Chihiro decides to hear him out due to his connection to the Sazanamis, the Big Bads of the arc. He's initially put off by Hakuri's intensity but brings him along anyway, as Hakuri's insider information regarding the Sazanami family makes him useful. Then, as Chihiro wavers under Hiyuki's assault, Hakuri is truly useful for the first time:

And it only gets better from here. We see Hakuri hanging off Chihiro's every word trying to be as useful as possible for his samurai, striving to do anything he can, though it ends up with him forcing Chihiro to give up his precious sword Enten in exchange for his life. (Yes, Chihiro "buys" Hakuri from Hakuri's own family.)

Later on during the invasion of the auction is where things go into overdrive though. We see their character arcs start to invert and shape each other's as the action unfolds and Hakuri's own tragic past comes to light, eventually awakening him to his special abilities. Chihiro's bravery and strength help him pull this off and finally defeat the older brother that tortured him in the name of "love". Hakuri ascends to being the strongest Sazanami since the progenitor that started their line centuries ago. He's the Special Boy!

All this to say that Hakuri Sazanami isn't just a deuteragonist or a foil…

He's the goddamn heroine.

Kagurabachi's Built Different What makes a shounen series heroine? Firstly, they support the main character without getting involved in most of the heavy fighting. A shounen heroine will usually at most have a fight against another girl while the Big Event is happening nearby, making sure the main character has the spotlight. Second, most of the value they bring to the protagonist's story is emotional. They encourage him, validate him, provide a bit of a refuge for him to safely let his guard down. They can get him to express softer emotions that he wouldn't normally show around others. Third�� they're the love interest. Hinata, Orihime, Chichi, and now… Hakuri? Really?

We know the third one will not happen for HakuHiro in canon. But what about the first two? Well, let's recap what Hakuri has done for Chihiro so far.

Hakuri can defend himself now, but his most useful ability is access to an interdimensional storehouse. Given the way that his magic works -he needs to prioritize maintaining the storehouse or using Isou- he'll likely be the means of keeping the enchanted blades safe rather than a front-line fighter. Support-centric character that will still get some combat time against lesser opponents: check.

Hakuri's given Chihiro some much-needed direct emotional validation that he hasn't gotten from anyone else yet. ("You saved me." … "That katana suits you.") Hakuri's words fortify his resolve and Chihiro later pays it back by trading Enten, an incalculably precious sword and memento of his father, for Hakuri's life. He even uses the same phrase when asked why he'd do that for someone as worthless as Hakuri ("That guy… saved me."). He later reaffirms that Hakuri's encouragement gave him the courage to let go of Enten in the first place:

This is AFTER we see Chihiro open up to him for the first time just minutes after they met:

Chihiro's been a stoic good guy with buried trauma up until this point. But somehow Hakuri is the first person he outright admits his fears to- not Shiba, not Hinao, but the freaky kid he just rescued. Emotional support pillar: check.

"Well that's not enough!" you say. "That's just taking some moments and doing that thing you said you didn't do- smushing boys together just because they're close!" OK but look at how Hakuri thinks about Chihiro:

Chihiro has been his inspiration from the first time he saw him. It can be read as admiration and hero worship, but doesn't that feel like selling Hakuri's feelings short when remembering how devoted he's been since they first met?

And just look at Hakuri's face here, he's beaming when Chihiro busts in to save him just like he believed he would:

Mostly, though, Chihiro is the one who gives Hakuri strength in the moment. The Ice Woman broke him free of his family's mentality, and now Chihiro gives Hakuri what he needs most: hope. Something he never had before, which doomed his relationship to the Ice Woman; he couldn't prove to her that there was more to life than despair because that was all he knew… but that completely changed once he met his samurai.

And that's been their thing through this arc. Each one is giving the other the vital thing they needed to grow and keep going. When Hakuri was struggling at the start, Chihiro was his guiding light towards a better future. And when Chihiro struggled in the aftermath of Tenri's cruel death, Hakuri pulled him along so they could finish the job. They're in perfect sync now as they take down the Rakuzaichi. Don't just take my word for it, check out Hokazono-sensei's color page for the most recent chapter (38): https://twitter.com/KaguraShiba/status/1804898273859445181 From Hella (KaguraShiba): >Kagurabachi Ch 38 JP Color Page 「阿吽の呼吸で薙ぎ払え」 "Two people dancing to the same beat, mowing down enemies" >阿吽の呼吸/"Aun no Kokyuu" Synchronized breathing >Or when people are the most in tune with each other >阿吽の呼吸/"Aun no Kokyuu" Is a Buddhist expression in Japanese meaning something close to "harmonizing in sync together" >"Aun" is also used to indicate an "Aun relationship", indicating an inherently harmonious relationship or nonverbal communication Yeesh. But holy shit it's paying off. In chapter 38 these boys are already in harmony- Hakuri registers Chihiro into his storehouse (yes they both "own" each other now) and sends him in to fight his father. During the fight, Chihiro trusts Hakuri to interpret his intent and it works. Chihiro wordlessly tags a bunch of grenades with his spirit energy and Hakuri pulls them out into the real world to bomb the shit out of the Rakuzaichi audience. They didn't plan this beforehand- they had no idea Kyoura had fucking grenades laying around in there. But they're close enough to understand each other's thoughts already. Peak soulmate material right there!

What's got me most interested now, though, is how they will pull/push each other after this arc. Chihiro's going to be focused more than ever on tracking down his father's killer and the swords. But Hakuri, well… I think it would be very interesting if he starts to become a despair monster. A reflection of Chihiro's state at the very start of the manga where nothing mattered to him except exacting revenge. We're seeing shades of this in the most recent chapter (38) where he's slumped over and obviously depressed about how all this is turning out. He's going to end his family's cruel trade but at what cost to himself? Will Chihiro see some of himself in Hakuri and be able to help him out, or at least promise to find relief from the pain together? Obviously a Bad End where Hakuri takes himself out is in the cards given Hokazono-sensei's previous works but… on a meta level, I think his storehouse ability will keep him relevant. I mean yeah he could be used to slap Chihiro across the face by showing what a bad end for his revenge story could look like but I think (hope) that won't happen. [Note to future self: I give you permission to go batshit insane if Chihiro stops Hakuri from committing sudoku.]

And this is where my brain worms are coming from. In just under 20 chapters we have an extremely strong set up between them- so much room for them to teach each other; push to grow and pull back from the brink when tragedy strikes again.

But where's the real meat, you ask? The actual literary analysis in this gushing rant about how much I love these boys I barely know? Well, fine. Buckle up because it's time for some…

Daddy Issues The Rakuzaichi arc really digs into comparing Chihiro's affection for his dad to the Sazanami family structure. And I gotta talk about this because it's the key aspect that makes Hakuri such a brilliant foil.

First off, the similarities. Chihiro and the Sazanami kids are all intensely devoted to their fathers. All of them were raised with love while learning the intricacies of their family trade. We see the Sazanami kids getting praised for doing well, just like Chihiro. Hakuri and Tenri were even told they were special. During the arc, the Sazanami kids put their lives on the line to defend their dad and family legacy with zeal matched by Chihiro's intensity to avenge his dad. When he falls, Tenri's final words are apologizing to his father.

It's truly heartbreaking that Kyora never really loved them back.

You see, the Sazanamis are one of those families that put their lineage and craft over everything else. Every member of the family lives for ensuring the Rakuzaichi auction goes off without a hitch. One of the clan is chosen to inherit the storehouse, and the rest are trained to defend it to the death. Kyoura, the current patriarch, has no compunctions about letting his son Tenri die just to delay Chihiro and the gang for a few more minutes. He had his kids put their lives on the line to defend a storehouse door that he had already broken in secret- making it completely useless. And he's equally cold when it comes to children who can't perform to standards like Hakuri. Once Hakuri (apparently) fails to manifest an ability for sorcery, Kyoura turns a willfully blind eye to the abuse his kid starts to suffer. He knowingly lets Hakuri be tortured by his older brother for years and does nothing, then disowns him once some "merchandise" kills herself in front of him. There's no love for children who can't be useful to the family's traditions. And yet any love that does exist between father and child is manipulated as seen here:

What the fuck man.

So Hakuri is going into this arc firm in his conviction to end his family's evil ways. He's been abused physically and emotionally for at least five years straight; he knows his father doesn't love him. But even now when he's about to bring the whole place down with Chihiro, he's still yearning for his dad's praise. Hakuri's family is fucked up bad and he needs a hell of a lot of healing after all is said and done.

Meanwhile, every flashback with Chihiro shows us that he was truly loved and cared for like every kid deserves. His dad wasn't perfect but he was exactly what a parent should be- kind, understanding, and supportive. His goofy advice helps Chihiro to this day. Chihiro and his dad had a genuine father-son bond that was broken by tragedy and thus Chihiro's desire to do right by his father's memory is driven by grief, first and foremost. So when we see his expression after Tenri's death, we know why he's so badly shaken. They clashed out of love and duty for their fathers, supposedly prepared to pay the ultimate price. The Sazanami version of "love" is a very different, much less wholesome version than the kind Chihiro knows… yet no less effective in terms of motivation.

You can practically hear his heart breaking for Tenri. And his inner thoughts in the next chapter say it all: he was naive to think he could enact revenge while holding fast to the kindness he grew up with. Chihiro's kindness that he learned from his father is a liability to him in this situation. In contrast, Hakuri knew from the start that he had to finally give up the last of his familial affection. He hardened his heart and steeled his resolve to do whatever it took.

Both Chihiro and Hakuri knew what it was like to be loved. Hakuri's version might have been twisted, but it was still painful to have that bond suddenly broken. And now we've seen Edgy Revenge Man's inner softness hold him back while Silly Soft Guy has a heart colder than the arctic. I go absolutely feral comparing and contrasting their situation and how their positions have reversed. Yeah, Chihiro's going to be the action guy who saves the day but Hakuri's the reason he can do it. Hakuri's surprisingly strong core has pushed Chihiro to put his feelings aside to get things done. I can't fucking wait to see how this arc ends and where these boys end up. What will the the most important thing Chihiro takes away from Hakuri here? I hope it leads him to be a bit more openly compassionate and soft around his allies- Hakuri's situation being a lesson in not letting your family's bonds overtake everything else. For Hakuri, well… I think being around Chihiro, Char, and the rest will help him heal. But I hope it's Chihiro that keeps him stable as the person that can relate to him best.

Meta Ramblings Whew. Now then… Yo dumbass writing this, we're not even 40 chapters in yet. Don't you think it's a bit too soon to start getting hyped for a character that could be shelved as soon as the arc is done?

It's interesting to see the themes and characters Hokazono-sensei's reused in Kagurabachi. From the four one-shots available to read, it seems like he's is interested in writing about characters encountering tragedy through various kinds of love. I think it's intriguing that three out of the four end in despair, and the one that doesn't still involves a fair bit of sadness. It's a bit early to say about Hakuri's circumstances since this is only the second proper arc in the series, but given Hokazono-sensei's past works, I think Hakuri is here to stay. For one, Hokazono-sensei seems to love his color-coded foils (Chain, Enten, Roku no Meiyaku). Farewell! Cherry Boy also explores the circumstances of a blindly loyal boy who feels useless being given his first chance to prove himself… I think this is a theme that Hokazono-sensei is revisiting in a more in-depth fashion with Hakuri, so there's a good chance there's more planned.

And just for fun, if we want to look at his romance stories… Madogiwa de Amu is all about one person being the other's greatest hope, their reason to persevere in the face of hardship and seeing that reciprocated in turn. Complete with the weaker person becoming strong enough to protect the person who inspired them first. Hmm. (Hopefully it doesn't end the same way though 'cause man, I can see Hakuri doing something similar right now…) It's also not impossible for Kagurabachi to touch on love given we see Farewell! Cherry Boy incorporating love as the crux of the narrative, despite starting as a gangster story. The true MC is quite like Chihiro as well in terms of motivation and action plan.

I also think it's impossible to overstate how important it is for Chihiro to have a friendly peer to compare to, narratively speaking. Char is a woobie, Shiba's an uncle figure, and Hiyuki is set up to be the aggro rival/frenemy. Hinao could become more than a side character but it seems unlikely at this time. Chihiro needs someone his own age to just be himself with. And that, I am 99% sure, will be Hakuri. A guy who's suffered just as much as he has. Someone who knows what it's like to have a famous last name and lineage to protect. An equal who's unquestionably on his side, who will lift him up when he's down, yet will still need some protection and care. So yes I think Hakuri will be sticking around to be Chihiro's foil. He might take a back seat at times as heroines do, but he'll still be there to support our sad boi through thick and thin.

Anyway that's why I'm ready to jump feet-first into this ship. It's got all the hallmarks of a wonderfully strong bond and I hope we get to see these boys comforting each other for years to come. If you read all this… thank you? Maybe get yourself checked for brain worms? And tell everyone you know to read this amazing action-packed tragedy laced with BL crack cocaine.

#kagurabachi #hakuhiro #long post #Rest assured I have a clown suit on standby if Hakuri never comes back #This was too long and I couldn't write about her but I hope Hikyuki is the asexual violence gremlin of my dreams #Once we know more about Hiyuki in general I'll feel better trying to judge if she'll become a LI or not #I wouldn't mind her being endgame if she stays chaotic good (Come At Me Bro ver.)#Usually the frenemy/rival gets the most development with MC so it will be interesting to see how she and Chihiro grow together #Anyway Chihiro has two hands again (for now)#Boys who suffer together should find solace together

93 notes · View notes

so-long-soldier-writes · 1 year ago

Text

More Than Friends

kai parker x reader (80s!kai x witch!reader)

summary: your "more than friends" status with kai is revealed when you lose hold of a silencing spell. jo, of course, has a lot to say about it.

tags: jo's boyfriend, fluff, smut, choking, vaginal sex, pet names, overstimulation, loss of consciousness, spell failure, dysfunctional family, mentions of child abuse, siphoning

word count: 2.9k

“Do you hear that?”

The smallest sound of a girl’s whine is heard over the movie playing. The boy watching the screen turns to his girlfriend to see if she caught it, too.

“Jo?”

“Hm, what?”

“Did you hear that noise?”

Suddenly, on the tv, a woman cries out. The killer has slashed her throat.

“That one?”

“No, you goof, the one coming from upstairs. I thought we were home alone tonight.”

“We are. Aside from Kai, but Kai is Kai. He doesn’t leave his room.”

“Well could he be doing anything to be making that noise?”

“Jackson, I don’t even hear a noise. But no, he has strict orders from Dad and he knows the consequences if he breaks them.”

Jackson stills. Maybe he didn’t hear anything. In the back of his mind, he knows he did, but if Jo says it’s nothing, it’s nothing. Besides, if it is her brother, he figures it’s best to leave it alone. Jack’s never met Kai - Jo’s been adamant about that - but he does know the basics from her and her siblings.

You can’t touch him, and you really shouldn’t talk to him. He can hurt people just by touching them, and will hurt people to get his way.

Jo’s little sister, Clara, had said to him once: if Kai doesn’t wear his gloves, Daddy gets mad, because then he can hurt us. He did it to Sarah once and made her cry.

That alone is enough to keep him away from the boy. And despite his curiosities, he refuses to pry, mostly out of fear of Jo’s dad. Even without the dangerous son, the man is scary. The first time he showed up on the doorstep to take Jo out on a date, he had nearly threatened him. Sure, that’s a typical dad thing, but something tells him that Joshua Parker wouldn’t hesitate to actually harm him if he thinks it’s necessary. Maybe that’s where Kai gets it…

An eerie chuckle from the TV snaps the boy out of his thoughts as Chucky approaches his next victim.

Jo curls into her boyfriend, sweating. “Maybe we should’ve watched “Children of the Corn” instead,” she mutters.

Oh, yeah, that’s another thing…

Jackson’s mind flashes back to about an hour ago, when they were picking the movie.

“Not “Children of the Corn”,” Jo shudders, “that boy shares a name with my brother.”

Kai’s real name is Malachai. How creepy is that?!

“Eh, I think we’re better off with the killer doll,” he decides, also perturbed by the name.

As Jo cuddles into him, he starts to forget the sounds he thought he heard upstairs.

~~~~~

You’re breathing heavily, hardly. Kai’s hand is around your throat as he rocks his body into you. He pulls out nearly all the way before thrusting back in, and you swear his cock is reaching your stomach. His other hand holds onto your waist to keep you in place, probably leaving a bruise you’ll find in the morning. Every so often, he ducks his head to nip and lick at your breasts. Or, he’ll lock eyes with you, and you’ll feel your pussy fluttering, wetness pooling.

“Kai,” you mutter, eyes fluttering. Between his grip and the pleasure, you’re having trouble forming words.

And normally you wouldn’t care, but one thing’s wrong: the spell is breaking, you can feel it. You’re losing your concentration, and quite frankly, your consciousness.

“Kai. Sl-slow d-, wait-” the last word turns into another moan, and you’re unable to get his attention.

You can feel the energy of the magic in the room as it weakens. Though as the spell fizzles out, your orgasm draws nearer. Harder, even, as if the magic is channeling itself into you instead of holding up your silencing spell. Kai repositions his fingers on your neck, but he doesn’t slow down. There’s no telling what Jo is probably hearing now. The thought of her telling on you two starts to fill you with fear. Sweat beads at your forehead and you fight to cry out your boyfriend’s name as he keeps pace.

“Cum for me, Princess,” he whispers into your neck.

The pet name takes you out, quite literally. Forgetting all about Jo and the spell, your orgasm hits you. White spots take over your vision and your mouth becomes dry. Equal parts pain - from his grip on your neck - and pleasure - between your high and his, occurring at the same time - are felt throughout your body. He spills into you, filling you so much that it already starts to leak out. Your legs are shaking hard, and for a second, you black out.

When your head slacks onto the pillow, Kai stops abruptly and removes his hand from your neck. “Princess, are you okay? Wake up, please, come on.” He gently taps the sides of your face to bring you back to consciousness. With no luck, panic starts to rise in his chest. “Y/N, please.” Grabbing the water bottle beside the bed, he puts the cool metal against your neck, hoping a temperature shock will do the trick.

Immediately, your eyes open. You wake gasping, still feeling the effects of your high.

“Hey, gorgeous, you okay? Sit up, let me get you some water.” Kai fully pulls out of you, then comes to your side to tuck a few pillows under your head. He holds the bottle as you drink, playing with your hair gently at the same time.

Finally, you’re stable enough to look at him. Before you can get a word out, he’s already talking. “Baby, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you okay? I think I choked you too hard, or maybe I should’ve slowed down. Fuck. I’m sorry.”

His concern melts your heart. “Shh, it’s okay,” you sit up to cradle his face, assuring him he didn’t hurt you. “I’m totally fine, and you didn’t do anything wrong. I enjoyed every minute of that, Kai.”

“You blacked out because of me.”

“Yeah, because you can fuck me that well, Kai. That’s something to be proud of.”

He tries to smile, but you can see he’s still worried.

“I promise I’m okay.”

“Okay… can I at least take you downstairs to go get some orange juice? I don’t want you passing out again. Just in case.”

“Of course.” But as soon as you say it, you realize, “wait.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Part of the reason I think I blacked out was the spell.”

“What? What spell?”

“Kai - the silencing spell.”

His blood runs cold, “oh fuck.”

“I lost it right before we came. I think I tried to warn you, but I was too lost in the feeling.”

“Oh fuck, Y/N, I’m sorry! You tried to stop me, this is my fault!”

“No, no, no, hey, baby, come here.” The boy avoids your eyes, so you hold his face to make him look at you. “It is not your fault. And even if it was, I don’t care. It’s not the end of the world if your innocent little sister hears us.”

“She’s my twin,” Kai misses the point.

“Kai.”

“Hm?”

“She’ll live.”

“But if she tells Dad, we’re both screwed. He’ll ban you; he’ll do a stupid little spell that’ll keep us apart.”

“Then we’ll just have to bribe her. Chocolates?”

“Y/N, she’s daddy’s good little girl,” he mocks, “she’ll tell.”

You try to hide your anxiety. If Kai knows you’re worried, he’ll be ten times as worried. “Well, we can’t undo it. What’s done is done.”

“Maybe you didn’t lose the spell?”

Biting your lip, you answer, “no, I definitely did. But it’ll be okay, okay? Let’s just… go downstairs, like you said. Because to be honest, I am still a little out of it,” you try to refocus his anxiety onto your black out instead of his fear, “and if she brings it up, I’ll handle it.”

Thankfully, he nods.

“I promise you, it’ll be fine, Kai.” You give him a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. I trust you.”

“I trust you, too, pumpkin.”

Minutes later when you’ve dressed, you and Kai head downstairs, hand-in-hand. He’s still adamant about getting you an orange juice, and has now suggested several snacks, too. Though the sound of the TV being on as you near the kitchen has him holding your hand more tightly.

“It’s okay,” you whisper, “maybe it blocked us out.”

The way the Parker house is designed, anyone in the living room can clearly see anyone in the kitchen, and vice versa. The fridge door, however, blocks the person looking inside it. So the minute Kai opens the fridge, and you’re left standing by the sink, Josette’s and Jackson’s eyes turn to you.

“Hey, guys. Are youuuuu-?” You drag out the last letter, pointing at the unfamiliar boy.

“Jackson, Jo’s boyfriend.”

“Right.” You knew she had a boyfriend, but had never met him. Kai hadn’t, either.

“And who are you?” He shoots the question back at you.

Jo, however, cuts you off before you can even start to speak, “Kai’s only friend, that apparently, is a little more than a friend.”

So they heard. Whoops.

“Yeah, um, about that…”

“Dad gave you one rule when you started hanging out with my brother, and it was to not touch him. Do you not remember that?!”

“Oh but how could I not? His skin is so soft,” you whine.

“Y/N!”

“Jo, how am I not going to touch him? He’s my best friend.” You notice her eyes harden as soon as you say that. “What am I supposed to do if he needs a hug? Or if we’re watching a movie and our shoulders touch slightly? Ooh,” you make a wide gesture with your hands, “scandalous!”

“Y/N, this isn’t you.”

“Oh, it isn’t?! I’m sorry, was I supposed to come here almost every day to see you and pretend I didn’t notice your brother being left out of things? Forced to wear those stupid gloves because your daddy thinks he’s trying to hurt you? Not even allowed to talk to people, not allowed to leave his room half the time, not allowed to go on these stupid family functions you always have? Even I got invited to one of those, and I’m not even a part of this family. Josette, it’s insane! No wonder you think he’s crazy, you don’t even know him! You’ve never even let boyfriend over here meet him. Whatcha gonna do if he marries in? Say, ‘oh that’s my twin brother, but you’re never even gonna make face-to-face contact with him’? That screams dysfunctional family, and that’s not Kai’s fault!”

This interaction wasn’t going as planned. You hadn’t meant to start a fight with your ex-best-friend, you wanted to convince her not to tell on you and her brother. Well now she definitely will. Yet, you can’t stop.

“We are a dysfunctional family because of him, Y/N! He’s the reason we’re like this.”

“Why?! Because he was born different?! Because he doesn’t have ma-”

“Shut up, Y/N!” Her eyes widen as she scolds you.

Jo never says anything remotely close to a bad word, nor does she raise her voice. Her reaction only means one thing: Jackson doesn’t know. He doesn’t know they’re witches. Holy shit. You look over to Kai, both of you wearing shocked expressions.

The house goes quiet. Jo’s embarrassed by her own outburst, and everyone else is too speechless.

Finally, she calms, “just stop. I’m sorry I yelled. I don’t want to fight with you, I just want to know why you’re with him,” her face has a look of disgust, “like that.”

You sigh, “I’m dating him, because I love him, Jo. Because I let him in, and got to know him, and fell in love with him. He’s not some rabid animal trying to hurt you for fun, and he’s certainly not the man in the house you should be fearing.”

“Wait, me?” Jackson asks, confused, and ruining the seriousness of the conversation.

“No, idiot. Her dad.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s scary.”

Kai finally comes out from behind the fridge door. You knew he was hiding, but now it seems he’s gotten the courage to face his sister. Jackson stares at him, seeing him for the first time. Without glancing up at them, he hands you a glass of orange juice and a snack.

“Eat that.”

“What is it?”

“Cheese blocks. One sec, I have crackers, too.”

“So you’re Mala-”

“Don’t call him that,” you hear Jo mutter.

“-Kai.”

“Yep.”

“And you’re-”

“Y/N.”

“Soooo, best friends,” he points to you and Jo, “then curious about brother, but can’t be friends with both, so you chose brother, now you’re dating?”

“Yep,” you confirm with the same tone your boyfriend just used.

Kai then rises from the pantry floor, crackers in hand. “Eat this, too. Salt good for dizziness.”

“Why are you dizzy?”

Jeez, this boy is nosy.

“You wanna take a guess?” You can’t help being sassy to him.

“Oh.”

“Anyway… we’re going to go watch a movie now. Leave you to Chucky.”

As you turn to go, Jo stops you. “Wait, Y/N-”

“What?”

“I just… I’ve never felt comfortable with you two alone together, but now that you’re… doing that?”

“Jo, never in my life have I felt in danger around Kai.”

“Yeah, but one wrong,” with Jackson facing you, she makes the gesture of a siphon touch to your arm, “and you can,” she then makes one imitating someone being killed.

You take a deep breath. “Said it once, I’ll say it again. Kai’s not the man in here you should fear. That being said, you tell him you heard us, we’re all in deep shit. Including you, for having your boyfriend over when your parents aren’t home.”

“Dad loves Jack, he won’t care.”

“Believe what you want, but all I’m saying is that I snuck into Kai’s window the other night, and we both overheard Joey getting punished for just kissing a girl at school. You cuddling after what’s probably acceptable Daddy Parker hours, and us actually having sex, plus you not intervening with that? We’re all fucked.”

Her face goes blank at your words. “So you really did?”

“What’d you think we were doing? Hardcore cuddling? Nah, our first time was a loooonnngg time ago, Josette.” You pause, waiting to see if she’ll answer. Nothing; too shocked, apparently. “But yeah… don’t let your daddy find out his kids are growing up. I mean, I guess no dad likes to know their kids are doing that, but yours is particularly aggressive. I literally heard the slap to your brother’s face through the walls when he admitted he kissed some Clarissa girl he likes. I flinched. Kai didn’t. Wake up, Jo, your dad is a monster.”

And with your last word spoken, you take the snacks back upstairs, Kai close behind you.

The walk isn’t interrupted by a single voice, and it stays that way until you turn to your boyfriend. You’re on his bed while he’s just watching you.

“Come here, baby,” you make grabby hands towards him like a child, “let me cuddle you. I’m not gonna let him hurt you. Jo won’t tell; she knows I’m right.”

“She won’t change her opinion of him. She’s always going to be a suck up.” He caves and joins you on the bed, laying between your legs, head on your chest. It’s his comfort position whenever he feels scared: close to you, inhaling your scent, feeling your soft breasts on his cheek, hands intertwined.

“Yes, but she won’t tell about us, because she can’t do that without spilling her own secrets. One of them being that Jackson doesn’t even know she’s a witch. Like, that’s insane alone.”

Kai doesn’t answer, but you feel his tension ease up slightly.

“Hey, you need to relax a little more, okay? Take some,” you hold out your forearm for him to siphon, knowing your magic in his bloodstream usually calms him.

“No. Can’t hurt you.”

“Baby, it never hurts.”

“Already hurt you once today.”

“That didn’t hurt, either. I loved that. And I love this.”

He doesn’t answer.

“C’mon, Kai. You need it, and I need it. Makes me feel closer to you. Y’know, I can feel it, just a little, when my magic’s in you. It tingles my stomach. If I relish in it too much, makes me want you. Makes me wet,” you whisper, letting your breath hit his ear. “And I know you can feel it, too.”

Your words affect him, and soon, he becomes hungry for the need for your magic. The need to feel that same tingling effect, now amplified knowing you feel it, too. Slowly, he reaches a hand out, the one that’s not linked with yours, and grasps your forearm. As he focuses, the site glows orange, and the energy transfers between your bodies. You both moan lightly, and you cradle his head closer to you.

“There you go, my angel.”

After a few moments, he breaks contact, but that’s all that’s needed to have you swirling around his bloodstream. The sensation is there, and it’s strong, but you can tell Kai is too tired to take advantage of the feeling. Sometimes, it’s so intimate it puts him to sleep. Like this time, where you can feel the heaviness in his eyes from your linked bodies. It starts to make you tired, too.

“Take a nap, it’s okay.”

“I love you,” he mutters, almost inaudibly. You feel the words from his lips moving on your chest, though, and know what he’s said.

“I love you, too.”

#malachai parker x reader #kai parker x reader #kai parker smut #kai parker fluff #tvd fanfiction

400 notes · View notes

basu-shokikita · 1 year ago

Text

Thinking about Toki's character arc in Metalocalypse...

Now that Metalocalypse is officially over, or so it seems, I wanted to go over what Army of the Doomstar means for Toki's growth.

Warnings for spoilers for, well, the entirety of Metalocalypse.

So, over the course of the show, we see Toki repeatedly trying (and failing) to form a meaningful bond with several living beings, people and animals included.

Analysis under the cut ⬇️

Season 1

It starts with a dying little girl called Juliette Sarmangsadandle in Dethkids (S1E16). Toki is upset over being misunderstood aka his public image being associated with kids and vehemently fights the idea by adopting an edgy personality.

When he watches Juliette's video, about being a child that longs for violence, it speaks to him and his childhood. Toki feels seen by this little girl and imagines his child self singing with her.

Sadly, when he goes out to meet her, she's already dead. Here goes Toki's first attempt at connection, utterly butchered.

In the following episode, we're introduced to Rockzo in Dethclown (S1E17). Toki brings his clown friend over and everyone pretty much almost instantly dislikes him. Not to mention Rockzo tries to betray Dethklok for drugs. Still, he sticks around for the remainder of the show as Toki's friend.

Though it's important to mention how much of that friendship involves Rockzo abusing Toki's kindness and generally being a shitty person. He's not exactly someone Toki can rely on.

It is not that significant but I'd also like to give a shout out to Dethwater (S1E02), where Toki is locked in an oxygen chamber and sings to the fishes and creatures in the sea. It's an early episode, but already portrays Toki's friendly nature and colorful life outlook.

Season 2

In season 2, we have Dethlessons (S2E02). After having a disagreement with Skwisgaar's teaching method, Toki meets Dimneld Selftcark. Though initially wanting him as guitar teacher, it's clear Toki doesn't actually intend to perfect his craft and more than anything appreciates his company. Toki even refers to him as 'a father friend'.

However, as luck would have it, Selftcark is ill and dies in Toki's arms after Toki gave his first recital.

Then there's Dethdad (S2E15), where Toki learns that his dad is dying of cancer. Toki is very much visibly affected by his parents' abuse towards him, though he still decides to pay his father a visit. When Toki finally gains the courage to see him and bond one last time, his father requests to see the cottage he was born at before dying.

Unfortunately, Toki steps and slips on his way there, dropping his father into the ice. Toki watches his father die and is unable to do anything about it.

This boy is really just collecting traumas all the way, huh?

Season 3

Dethhealth (S3E03) has Toki adopting a cat he found at a concert. Although he is not the best caretaker of the animal, Toki is very obviously fond of his new pet.

But, of course, the cat was dying, solving the mystery of who was the person dying within Dethklok. Toki is so devastated that he faints and then proceeds to have an elaborate dream sequence for closure.

Fertilityklok comes three episodes later (S3E06) and we find a Toki jaded with casual sex encounters. He decides he wants to meet a partner whom he can have children with. Though initially facing Dethklok's indignation, Toki goes forward with the idea and lands in a dating agency.

They find the perfect partner for Toki but nothing ever goes well with this guy and the lady in question disappoints Toki both in looks and personality. To make things worse, the agency wants to force him in a relationship with her and for Toki to impregnate her, even.

Toki manages to escape the whole charade and decides he's better off with sluts. This one is not so tragic as much as it's just another total failure at forming the connection Toki so desperately craves.

Season 4

Diversityklok (S4E04) and Bookklok (S4E05) feature Toki's interpersonal problems within the band so I figured they were mentioning as well.

In Diversityklok, Toki complains about feeling constantly left out by the band, so he forms a 'special persons invite club' to gain agency over his friends. He still ends up being forgotten by them at the end of the episode.

In Bookklok, Toki has a fallout with Skwisgaar after being denied a solo and writes a book denouncing his behavior towards him. In modern lingo, he essentially cancelled Skwisgaar. He fails to consistently maintain the fans' approval as he flunks the solo he so desperately wanted. His fight with Skwisgaar is not resolved (at least, not on screen).

Finally we get to Dethcamp (S4E07), where Toki's erratic behavior conflates with the mainline plot. In the search for friends, Toki goes to the Rock-a-Rooni Fantasy Camp, where he's almost killed by one of the campers. He's saved by Dethklok's former rhythm guitarist, Magnus Hammersmith and they subsequently become friends.

Good ending? No, Magnus stabs and kidnaps Toki over Roy Cornickleson's funeral, his fate being unknown as the season ends.

Doomstar Requiem

We finally learn how Toki joined the band. He showed up late to Dethklok's auditions and had a guitar duel with Skwisgaar, where he eventually lost. Defeated, he was abandoning the premises when Skwisgaar says that nobody made him play as well as Toki did, inviting him to join the band.

From then on, it's all rainbows and happiness for Toki as his life finally takes a turn for the better. He has found a family and a home. He loves his brothers and his life. Current Toki is on the brink of death and thinking about Dethklok is his only solace.

I might be biased in saying this but the sequence from 'I Believe' feels like the peak of the movie, and I don't think this is incidental.

While Toki is rescued at the end of the movie, we don't get to see a proper reunion.

Army of the Doomstar

Cut to 10 years later, Army of the Doomstar releases and while the plot is much about the end of the world, we get to see post-DSR Toki.

First of all, at the start of AOTD it is stated that Toki (as well as the rest of the band besides Nathan) has forgotten about what happened during Doomstar Requiem. However, his attitude towards the band is very loving, stating he's happy to be back with them.

He's especially fond towards Skwisgaar, attempting to hug him multiple times, worrying and being generally attentive of him. Toki shows both verbal and physical affection towards Skwisgaar over the course of the movie, finalizing in the bridal carry during the before last scene. Compared to the show, it's a huge contrast to their relationship, where Skwisgaar and Toki behaved as rivals, with Toki feeling simultaneously admiration and envy towards Skwisgaar.

But what are you trying to say with all of this, Basu? Well, essentially it's the following:

At some point, Toki started feeling neglected by the band and began seeking love from outside sources. The childhood companion he never had (Juliette), a father figure (Selftcark), his actual father, a pet, a girlfriend and finally...an actual friend he could rely on (Magnus). All of the aforementioned failed, eventually landing him in an even worst situation where he started.

However, being stuck there, wounded, malnourished and dying is what reminded him of the best time of his life. Of the people most important to him. And even if those memories were seemingly gone, the feeling prevailed.

Sure, Dethklok is massively flawed and there's lot of work they have to do with regards to interpersonal relationships, but they're his family and his life. Perhaps the lifestyle or his need for ego/power (Skwisgaar plays a big hand in this) made him forget about it for a second, but he knows it now. He doesn't need to look for love from strangers, he already has it in them. They're everything he's always wanted and he's going to cherish them for the rest of his life.

And if you're wondering why the special emphasis on Skwisgaar, my theory has to do with the age regressing that was confirmed in the movie. While it mostly happened over the Ishnifus funeral, I think Toki has generally gone back to the emotional state he was in when he joined Dethklok. A young, easily impressionable man happy to finally have found a family.

Which means he holds Skwisgaar in special regard, considering he is the guy that accepted him into the band. Not Nathan, Pickles or Murderface, it was Skwisgaar.

You could almost say that Toki might view Skwisgaar as his hero, given that he is the reason Toki has everything he has right now. So I think Toki's gratefulness is expressing in that almost overwhelming affection. Just like Toki's not going to let himself forget his feelings for the band, he's not going to let them forget about his feelings, either. It might not be easy, but Toki's priorities are clear now. His heart is with Dethklok.

In short, even if Army of the Doomstar didn't address Toki's issues the way we would've wanted, it's still a happy outcome for him and I fully believe he'll have more than enough to work on them. Metalocalypse is, at its core, a story about found family. This is specially true for Toki.

So, I really believe that Toki is eventually going to heal and be happy with the band. :)

#metalocalypse #toki wartooth #dethklok #doomstar requiem #army of the doomstar #basu post #analysis #sorry for the corniness at the end fdjhsdjkfdj #sometimes a bitch loves her blorbo too much #ive been wanting to write this for months i finally got my shit together and did it

246 notes · View notes

eikichi-supremacy · 9 months ago

Text

ik ppl hate fictional deadbeat moms but im an avid enjoyer. my feminism knows no bounds truly/j

like i get it she did a bad job. but shit she still did a job that's for sure!! like. she did it do you understand. 14 year old girl is pregnant. it's disgraceful. a shameful stain on her family. yusuke doesn't seem to have grandparents or anything so besides yusuke's bio dad she's got no one. and then when yusuke is a toddler the father disappears and considering who he is and what he's like that's probably for the best. gonna go out a limb and say that yusuke was maybe 4 or 5 when his dad cleared out so. at 18 and entirely alone. atsuko looked down at this little thing. this baby because he's still a baby to her this is a baby who only has her. Not even 4 feet tall with the biggest brown eyes looking to her for everything because he quite literally has no one else.

he doesn't know she's a failure yet. he doesn't know people will look down on them just because he exists as he is. he doesn't know how hard this is going to be from now on. all he knows is he loves his momma

so she doesn't cry. she just meets his big innocent eyes and goes "it's just you and me kid" and yusuke doesn't know that that's a sad thing.

so she takes care of him the best she can and it still sucks but yusuke doesn't know what the standard she should be held to is yet. for a small time she is the greatest and best person in his world and he's the only one who thinks so

then he meets keiko and her parents and finds out that his normal is actually dysfunctional and that his mom actually isn't all that great. that living day to day in the bottom of a bottle isn't healthy. so she's no longer praiseworthy but this person he's responsible for. just like that the roles reverse. because while she was all yusuke had yusuke is also all atsuko has. he doesn't respect her but he still punched the motherfucker in the mouth that called her a tramp. she taught him how to do it.

atsuko comes to terms with the fact that Yusuke doesn't really need her anymore, probably never did so she doesn't bother to care when he skips school or beats whoever he wants to a pulp or gambles because at 14 she was expecting so what the fuck can she really say about him. he sneers at her as he makes her coffee. atsuko lights another cigarette

it feels like betrayal when her son dies. at 14 she had him so how can he die at a sorry age like that. i wasted my teenage years on you for what? so you can die and leave me here? you fucking brat. how can she recover from this? yusuke was all she had. he hadn't looked up at her with an admiring gaze since he was 7 and stopped hugging her goodbye soon after but still he was hers he was hers and then he was gone

but then he comes back. and she doesn't get much better as a mom or as a person really. she tries harder than before maybe (keeping him in school) but yusuke never expected her to. he's made up of her bad habits and uncaring attitude but he's so much better than her. became something good something strong despite how shitty of a job she did raising him.

she's not proud because she has no right to be but something like it tugs in her chest when she sees him feeding the people he cares about at his little ramen cart looking as happy as the first time she'd taken him out to park.

yusuke's dad suggests taking another crack at the whole family thing and she wants to laugh in his face. the only family she'll ever have is that little boy who's stronger and braver than she'll ever be.

she doesn't want to see him laying cold in a casket ever again. he's meant for life, a soul as bright and durable as his. atsuko hopes he lives to see the sun explode

#atsuko urameshi #yusuke urameshi #yu yu hakusho #atsuko means warm child and i wonder if she was.#your son is sleeping and you're worried he won't wake up because you've seen him laying dead before #it takes her back to when he was small enough to cradle. she'd stay up all night just watching him breathe #because he was just so small and she'd heard about that infant death syndrome thing #and what if he just stopped breathing and she was alone #she's not a good mom but she's still his mom and he loves her even though she fuckin sucks!#also the fact that atsuko has connections to the Yakuza which is how she keeps yusuke in school #And pays their expenses is so crazy to me and also apt lmaoo #the Infamous Urameshis #people fear the very name 😤#atsuko taught him how to fight you can't convince me otherwise

107 notes · View notes

ethansluvbot · 2 years ago

Note

hi maylee! could you do something based on this dialogue from euphoria where ethan unmasks and the reader says this and it's just super heart breaky?

love you! <3

RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT ME | E. LANDRY

warnings: gf!ethan, MAJOR SPOILERS!!!, mentions of blood and knives.

an: hey, yes of course i will do this. i actually love this idea and would cry if this was ever in the scream movies. inspired by “right where you left me” because i’ve been listening to it on repeat. this is lowkey shitty so like yeah!

❛YOU LEFT ME NO CHOICE,

it was crazy to think that two hours ago you and ethan were hand and hand walking to your dorm. now, you couldn't find him anywhere. you began to worry about him greatly, even with sam, tara and chad reassuring you.

the images that were in your head didn't help one bit. it’s not that you didn’t trust ethan to protect himself, it’s just the ghost face now even more brutal. after what happened to anika you didn’t know what to believe anymore.

now you were standing there watching chad brutally be stabbed. blood gushed out of his mouth as he told you guys to go. you couldn’t believe this was happening to him it might’ve even happened to ethan already.

you felt a hand grab onto your arm as you stared blankly at chads body. hearing sam screaming snapped you back to reality as you smacked the ghost face with your bag. (yes we must keep this bag)

your legs quickly matched the pace of the two girls in front of you. since you were last it was pretty fair to believe that you were next. there’s a sudden stop causing you to collide into sam’s back.

“shit,” you look up to see a detective bailey. tarah was inches away from his chest as she let out a muffled scream.

“you have to help us! there almost here, please!”

to say you were terrified was a understatement. he motioned for you guys to get behind him, raising the gun the way they were running.

you were still worried for chad and ethan. yes, you saw chas had been stabbed multiple times, but he never died. you were only hoping that they both still lived, that you would live to see them again.

bailey stood up in front of the three of you with his gun aimed at their head. he began to lower his gun with a short laughter. he walked closer to then standing in the middle.

“great job both of you,” he chuckles pointing the gun in your face. closing your eyes you felt him still staring at you.

“look at me!”

you automatically flinched as you heard him yell at you. what did he want from you? you sure as hell didn’t want to die tonight, but if it was for your friends at least you would feel good about it.

“who are they?” you heard sam ask. bailey just cocked his head to the side waiting for one of them to unmask. you watched as one of them began to take their mask off.

“no don’t do this to me,” you feel a tear crawl down your face. it was ethan, he was the killer, he might’ve even killed your best friend. reaching up he wiped your tear. even after seeing you cry he was still smiling.

“mindy was right, it was really easy duking the roommate lottery, all i had to do to meet you was room with a conceited condescending alpha literally named chad. fuck, it felt good to kill him!the best part, my name’s not even ethan landry, isn’t that right dad?”

you couldn’t even recognize the “ethan” you were looking at right now. after months of dating this boy you would never expect him to behave like this. you almost felt like the whole thing was a big joke.

you look into his eyes to see nothing, he wasn’t the boy that you truly loved. no matter how much. you cared for him you didn’t want to talk to this monster.

“so that leaves one more…” you hear tara mutter.

“mindy?” sam ask, petrified that one of her best friends would ever do that. mindy was the one always trying to help the group. no one ever believed she could set us up for failure.

“hi roomies, didn’t see that coming did you?”

“yeah because you died,” you didn’t know quinn very well so seeing her there didn’t shock you much. the thing that shocked you was she never talked to ethan before.

“i kind of didn’t, needed to get myself off the suspect list, stabbing gale and mindy was kind of fun,” she giggled to herself jumping forward with the knife.

you flinched back in shock bumping into the two girls. after a while of them yelling at you, you began to zone out. you still couldn’t process that ethan would ever hurt you like this.

you could feel him staring at you almost like he felt bad. you felt a cold metal slide up your arm making you focus again. you knew better than to turn around and look at them.

you stared into ethan’s eyes with a great frown. there was still active tears forming and falling down your face. you feel the sharp object shove inside your stomach.

screaming out in pain you fall to the floor. quinn pulls it out and shoves it back it, except this time she doesn’t pull it back out.

“quinn!” you hear ethan voice yell at her.

“you ruin all the fun.” she rolls her eyes at ethan, she always believed he was the weakest link. he was always the fool who got his heart broken, the one that didn’t want to hurt anymore, yet his dad still convinced him.

maybe he only did it because his dad forced him into it, but either way it was fucked up. killing people and lying about it was horrible. so why did you feel bad when you heard bailey talking about richie. you could see the tears forming in ethan’s eyes as he realized he wasn’t the priority.

you almost feel like they weren’t even there, most of the sound was drowned out and your eyes were blurry from crying. you watch as quinn, bailey and ethan all stand back together.

“go!” you yell to the two of them, if you died tonight you just wanted them to make it out alive. you watched as tara’s mascara smears around her eyes.

“i love you,” all she wants to think about is the group all surviving tonight, “we’ll come back for you!!”

you feel the knife stolen from your body as quinn runs after them, bailey runs the other way and ethan stands over you.

“i’m sorry.”

“no you’re not,” you couldn’t believe those words after you knew what he was capable of. he was a good liar you would give him that. you felt a year but your face but this time it wasn’t yours.

you felt a ripped piece of his cloth tie around your waist. you groaned in pain as he began to sit you up.

“get away from me you crazy bitch.”

he couldn’t lie and say those words didn’t hurt him. he deserved it and he knew that, but when he saw how terrified you were he couldn’t help but tear up.

“goodbye y/n,” you watch as he almost stands up, but you stop him. you play with the piece of glass in your hands, about to do something that ethan would’ve done.

“hey, ethan?”

he turns back at you, “yeah?”

“fuck you,” you lunge the piece of glass into his mouth. falling to the ground you watch as blood spills out of his mouth.

BUT TO STAY HERE FOREVER ❜

#ethan landry #jack champion #scream 6 #ethan landry imagine #ethan landry smut #ethan landry x reader #jack champion x reader #scream 6 imagines #scream imagine #avatar

365 notes · View notes

spinji · 2 months ago

Note

Do you have any idea why Nana continued to dehumanize Shigaraki after learning that her murderer groomed him to be evil?

I think what a lot of people don't get with the whole "you might have to kill Shigaraki" thing is that Nana (and Torino by extension) aren't removing his autonomy when they say that.

At a certain point, it doesn't matter who's fault it is for turning someone into a villian. The entire purpose of Deku's rematch with Muscular is to make it clear that some people aren't going to stop destroying things and hurting people by talking about their abusive dad or their dead mom or whatever tragic circumstances led them here.

Tomura has also reached a similar point, refusing to compromise on his goal to destroy the causes of his suffering. That includes both All for One and the society that left him to rot. AFO meticulously planned a lot of Tenko’s misfortune but he didn't manipulate the strangers that passed him on the street. He didn't create that feeling of abandonment, only pointed it in the wrong direction. Tomura not making this choice for himself because he was groomed genuinely doesn't matter anymore because these are his choices now. He's shown multiple times to understand that AFO is using him against All Might and for his own ends, but he doesn't try to get away and turn to the heroes; he tries to get away so he can be a villian on his own terms.

It's easy to forget, since he's the protagonist, but Izuku's optimism about saving the crying boy at the core of who Tomura is, is a massive outlier and his leaps in logic aren't always solid. Nana is very callous when she talks about it, my personal guess is it's because she's still not fully willing to face her sense of guilt that her attempt to save her son from AFO led to the creation and abuse of Tomura. But she is still correct, regardless of what pain lingers inside Tomura, it is too late to help him.

Even when Izuku reaches his hand to Tenko when he is at his absolute most vulnerable, he maintains his loyalty to the league. He's been cast from society for so long that there's nothing that can convince him to stop. He would rather die destorying than live in a world he couldn't change.

In fact most of the major deaths in the league maintain this theme. Twice would rather die fighting than let his friends get screwed over by his own shortcomings again. Toga would rather die a free girl that lived as she pleased than fall in line with society. The heroes didn't choose to kill any of them from the outset, they could have gone quietly at any time to save their own skin, but their cause was more important.

This is what Nana means when she maintains that Shigaraki dying is a possiblity that needs to stay on the table, because he won't allow anything that isn't victory or death. It's tragic but I think it helps convey the message that the ending wants to, that change in how we treat the strange and disparaged doesn't just need to happen, but it needs to happen sooner. You can't just wait until a villian tries to blow up the country to try and help them, you need to give that kindness to everyone before those villians can even exist.

Sorry this got off topic because I really hate how people simplify the ending as bad writing when to me it seems really obvious that Horikoshi was going for a bittersweet ending with the league. They did destroy society but didn't live long enough to see what it rebuit into because even trust in one person trying to save them isn't enough when you're this far gone.

Either way, Horikoshi's writing style leads to a lot of necessary intuiting about the characters to actually understand the motivations for how they act. I think Nana ends up being a particularly rough victim of this because her stoicism and blunt attitude is very obviously supposed to be a front.

She opened herself up to others and All for One killed her loved ones, so she guards her heart the best she can to avoid showing more weaknesses. She does feel like a failure to her legacy; she never fully believes she made the right choices regarding Kotaro or Tomura. But if she cracks then not only is she done but AFO will make it his duty to twist the knife and hurt the people she cried for too.

She's a contrast to Izuku serving as a cautionary what-if scenario if Izuku's big open heart just makes more people targets by association (which it does!). She's not entirely right when she calls Tomura a monster but she isn't being entirely honest with herself either.

#long post #nana shimura #tenko shimura #tomura shigaraki #mha #bnha #my hero academia #mha spoilers #ask #eclecticfurrywhispers

24 notes · View notes

ericityyy · 11 months ago

Note

I want tender fluffy Georgie + Reader but I’m aromantic is it okay if I’m able to ask for Georgie and a fem Reader of color taking care of baby CeeCee Cooper at the Laundromat while Mandy is working? Where they meet and she is able to help him when he is still adjusting to the new routine and they bond?

𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩?

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮: 𝘐𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘥.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚: 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴

𝙏𝙮𝙥𝙚: 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵, 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 656

𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

“Baby girl, can you please stop crying for Daddy?” Georgie looked at his daughter, begging for the crying and whining to stop. His long sighs and messy hair show how terrible everything is going. He tried to feed her, change her diaper, and sing her to sleep, but she still wouldn’t stop crying.

And it’s taking a toll on Georgie.

The sound of the door opening took his attention away from the child, finally noticing his guardian angel sent to him by God. Or that’s what he thinks after seeing Y/N’s figure and noticing her newly braided hair and golden brown skin that glowed under the sun. Georgie could swear that he could see a halo around her head.

“What in the world is going on here, Georgie?” Y/N took a few steps closer to the situation at hand. The girl looked at the boy and the child back and forth, trying to assess what to do but mainly judging the exhausted look on Georgie's face.

“I don’t know what to do; she’s been like this for like 20 minutes, and I don’t know what she wants. Mary has her work, and she trusted me to handle things responsibly, and now I’m failing everything all at once.” Georgie picked up CeeCee and tried to sway around while shushing her, but she still wouldn’t stop crying, “I’m a bad father.” He set down the baby before sitting down on a nearby chair, rubbing his face together, keeping his head down as he listened to the cries of his daughter.

Y/N slowly picked up CeeCee and gently swayed her while patting her back, humming softly. Georgie looked up when he heard the cries starting to soften into sniffles and hiccups.

“See? I can’t even make my own daughter stop crying.”

“That does not make you a failure of a dad, Georgie.” Y/N smiled at her friend. She knows that Georgie needs some reassurance at times when he finds himself trying to please those around him with his charms and his love for business. The girl gave CeeCee back to Georgie’s arms, who, although a bit reluctant, took his daughter back. He was afraid that she might start crying again.

“All of this is new to you and Mary. There’s no handbook on how to be the perfect parent for CeeCee. Just be as present as you can be in her life.” Y/N put her hand gently on Georgie’s cheek. “You’re a good person and a great father. No one said that this was going to be easy. Know that I will always be here to help you guys out.”

Georgie smiled for the first time that day. Y/N has always been the one to comfort him in his darkest days or when he needs a helping hand to climb up. “Thank you… so much for being here with me.” He then started to joke, “Y’know, you’d be a great mother one day.” It’s not really a joke; he knows that if the girl decides to have a child in the near future, she would be the best parent.

"Oh, please, I’d be an awesome parent.” Y/N then dramatically sighs, “Alas, I still don’t know if I want children for myself, though; I always knew that I’d be this rich, cool aunt who everyone loves and adores.”

“You are cool, and you are CeeCee’s aunt, so two steps closer to your dream. And people do love you, of course, including me.”

Y/N laughs wholeheartedly. Georgie knows that Y/N has experienced more than one heartbreak in her life. Mostly from those people that she meets who claim to “love” her, but once hearing her side, immediately turn against her. It was hard watching his best friend be hurt by those who did not understand her. So it was a good sight to see her so happy.

“I love you too, Georgie.”

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑’𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

i hope this is good, not entirely happy with this one tbh.

i tried to make the reader hint out about her being an aromantic and a person with color. please let me know if it needs some changes to improve the writing. i genuinely do not want to offend anyone with what i write so i make changes as soon as possible if ever it needs to be changed. (and please do so in a respectful way)

thank you.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

@bellaisswagger

#x reader #young sheldon #imagines #angst #fluff #flangst #angst to comfort #angst to fluff #georgie #georgie cooper

103 notes · View notes

daz4i · 1 year ago

Text

@mike-queerler hi hi i didn't wanna derail casino's post so! other instances of transgenderism in bsd (the original tag was partially a joke but these are stuff that certainly makes you go Hm):

kouyou and kyouka being based on male authors, yet being depicted as. well. girls (p sure that's where the common hc that kouyou is trans came from)

q, and that one wan chapter i unfortunately don't know how to find rn. i can't remember who it is but there's someone questioning if q is actually a boy, but it ends with smth along the lines of "when i saw how cute his face looked when he's happy, i stopped caring about whether he's a boy or not"

gin's whole Thing. like presenting as generally androgynous (at work at least) and not correcting anyone when they refer to her as "he" or call her a guy

these are just the most obvious i can think of tbh, not even getting into other androgynous characters (sigma is most obvious, tho fyodor, nikolai, kenji, chuuya are all characters I've seen confuse readers about their gender too) or dazai using gender neutral language etc (bc that's more a homage to irl dazai's writing. still, not gonna stop me from being insane abt nb dazai) and other smaller things that are easier to brush off hehe

also, this one's I'm certain is accidental, but aya and her dad's thing about how she's a failure at being a woman is so. both transmasc and transfem pain. and that last chapter where she talks abt how she never wanted to be an ideal woman but wanted to be like him! is! while not great! even more of a transmasc thing imo

and ofc chuuya being a short guy who speaks in an excessively masculine manner, doesn't remember his childhood + that more angry once a month joke. and his story is all about questioning your own identity due to the people around you - your family especially, or at least people who claim to be your family and that they know what's best for you - insisting you are something that you're certain you aren't, and you have to stick with it and keep believing in it to make it through and truly be yourself, and generally coming to terms with your identity, can be very easily read as a trans allegory as well

tldr: transgenderism. fuck yeah 🔥 if asagiri did even one of these things on purpose then well. i think that'd be really cool 😌 but even on accident it's still p fun!

#there might be other stuff i don't remember rn too!!! feel free to add more guys 😌🖤#and i hope this post isn't too overwhelming hehe :P

57 notes · View notes

xerith-42 · 6 months ago

Text

Redesign The Nine Part 3 (sort of)

If you haven't read the previous posts in this series, don't worry. In the last two posts I turned my attention to characters who didn't exist, or characters who's development/implementation in the story left a lot to be desired. This is going to be more of that second one, mostly because I love all of the characters I'm going to talk about in this post.

This post is partially redesign, but mostly analysis of the Jury and how these established characters might interact with less established characters to flesh out the Jury of Nine as a whole. I just gave it the same title for consistencies sake, please know that I am not making any drastic changes to these characters that would contradict or retcon their purpose in the story. It's mostly adding extra details around what we already know.

With that being said, let's get started with

Ivy The Venom Scythe

Why doesn't Ivy have a scythe? It's in her fucking name, why didn't they-- well I guess I have to!

Bam!

(image found on Pinterest)

This is Ivy's scythe now. Size and all. Big fuck off scythe that's kind of impractical but god damn does it look cool when she uses it. How does a girl learn to use a scythe like this? By being a weapon raised by farmers.

Ivy was raised to believe that her worth as a person was determined by her ability to protect herself. Unlike many other members of the Jury, Ivy doesn't come from Ru'aun. She comes from Tu'la, where might and fury is upheld as aspirational. Growing up in the outer kingdoms, separate from the tyrannical rule of the king, Ivy never had any sense of civic duty to her kingdom. However, she was raised to be a weapon to protect her family's homestead.

She learned how to use a scythe because it was something always around her parents farm, something that made her stand out against any poor boy with a sword and gave her a unique flare she hoped to use to instill fear into her enemies. Ivy's dreams of guts and glory where shattered when she was just a teenager and her little family farm and the village adjacent to it were beset by colonizers of the main kingdom.

That day Ivy failed. She was raised to be a weapon and she failed, barely making it out alive with her dad and getting on a boat to Ru'aun. It stuck with her in a way she never wanted to admit. She later came to greatly resent her parents, but this event and this failure still haunts her. Just in... Different ways. In Ru'aun Ivy quickly picks up on the fact that the best way to survive is to become a guard. She doesn't really understand the inner workings of Ru'aun's political and religious powers, she just needs a means of supporting herself and goes out and gets it.

And she goes so hard that she makes the top of the Jury list without trying. She was literally raised to protect her family, raised to be a fighter, she knows the answers to any tests they ask her without studying anything. She doesn't fight with a sword, she demands that she fight with a scythe, using a terrible wooden one as a demonstration of her skills. She ends up breaking it over someone's body because she went too hard, but it was impressive as hell. Ivy garners instant attention and recognition for her abilities, and when instructors are writing the Jury list, she's the top name on all of them.

But there is one worry. Ivy's attitude. Despite her great combat prowess, Ivy has a really stand off-ish personality. She didn't really interact with other people a lot and tends to be really awkward in conversations. Eventually she just starts intimidating people because it's easier to get them to do what she wants if they think she'll gut them. And she will.

There's a worry that her stubbornness and lack of cooperative skills will make her unfit for the Jury, who are meant to be a collective that fights stronger together. Fortunately for Ivy, this Jury is run by Zane Ro'Meave who has no morals and pragmatic ideals that serve his own ends instead of upholding the sanctity of a centuries old tradition that barely worked. When Zane meets Ivy she threatens him at one point because her brain just has not had the capacity to wrap around how important Zane is. He reminds her of the stuck up nobles that were always badgering her parents to sell their land and become a part of their kingdom.

Zane is endlessly amused by this angry lesbian threatening him with a sharpened gardening tool, and doesn't even think twice about letting her in. He even assigns her name before she's signed all the paperwork signing her rights away to Zane. Ivy the Venom Scythe. It's too fitting. Ivy takes great pride in this name, and in time take great pride in serving Zane.

Her initial judgement wasn't wrong, but she sees the benefit of being in his good graces. There's an element to people who've left Tu'la that I love to implement. This lingering, always present but never quite visible fear, the threat on the horizon but our of focus. Tu'la and the colonizing fucks that run the major kingdoms are always a quiet threat. Ivy sees what O'Khasis looks like, gets a sense for it's military and their values, and gets a taste for how ruthless Zane is and she realizes if anyone stands a chance against them, it's him.

That's why Ivy is loyal to Zane. And that's why Zane always has faith in her, even if he doesn't express it. He doesn't need to blackmail her by threatening her family, because she gladly moves her dad into a nice home in O'Khasis where he won't pose any threat. And over time, as Ivy spends less and less time away from him, she realizes skills she has outside of being a weapon. Thanks to Zane, possibly Teony, maybe Janus, Ivy does start to come out of the armor she's put around herself.

Teony spends a night with her where Ivy confesses that she actually really likes classical theatre. She used to watch theatre troupes that traveled the countryside do different plays and epics and she loves them so much. Zane makes her realize the value of how analytical she is about people. Ivy is naturally talented at reading people, a skill she's picked up over the years of watching people's footsteps in combat. She knows how to get into an enemy's head and then make a battle plan around it, and she attends almost all of Zane's war room meetings because of this.

As Ivy realizes more and more the person she is outside of what her parents wanted for her, a sort of resentment starts to grow. She starts to reflect on experiences differently. Some fond story about a time that her father taught her a harsh lesson quickly makes her feel angry and protective, how dare he speak to her like that. What gave him the right to harm a child? And why didn't her mother ever do anything?

Ivy doesn't like to be controlled. It's what her parents taught her whenever they talked about their disdain for the kingdoms vying for territory at all times. That the best thing they could be is free of all of them. None of them actually care about their individual lives, they're just numbers, just spots on a map they can say they own. She realizes that her parents thought of her the same way.

Barely their daughter, just something to fend off the enemy. How could she ever be ready to fight an entire kingdom? She was a child, and they took that away from her. How dare they. If there's one thing we know about Ivy, she's ruthless, and she doesn't like being controlled. She tends to take matters into her own hands, and she isn't afraid to cut the threads tying her to a legacy she no longer cares to protect.

Ivy rebuilds her life in Ru'aun, serving Zane, fighting for O'Khasis, forming relationships that mean something with other members of the Jury. And then Teony leaves. Ivy wasn't around when it happened, only getting the letter Teony left from her. That's when things change... Probably not for the better. That's when Ivy starts leaving for jobs longer and longer, taking on projects in other regions even if she isn't who Zane wanted to send.

She starts to desperately chase after Teony because in a life of being a weapon for someone Teony was the first person who liked her fighting but made her feel like a person. Teony gave Ivy hope that she could have a life outside of fighting, killing, and intimidating. She still lives this life but her heart has started to fall out of it and it's almost like she's grieving.

This all comes to a head when Janus finds her in Gal'ruk. He sought her out. He hunted her down when Zane was content to leave her while he achieved his goals in Ru'aun. He hunted her down because Zane is gone now, and so is Lilian. Janus didn't have many people he ever connected with, only three, and Ivy is at the bottom of that list. But he needs some tether after everything else is gone, and quite frankly so does Ivy.

The two travel together for quite some time, but eventually end up in Tu'la, a place Ivy is surprisingly eager to return to. Her eagerness is because she wants to prove to those militants and the monarchy that they failed. They failed to kill her, failed to end her bloodline, and failed to keep down a resistance force against their tyranny, especially with Janus at her side.

[looks at the canon for what happened to Janus in Tu'la]

THIS DID NOT GO WELL.

Needless to say trying to stand up to your oppressors starts to fall apart when your best friend kills a few civilians and then said oppressors respond by killing your friend. As admirable of a fight as Janus put up, as hard as he fought, even he fell to their might. Janus was slain and Ivy was left with a choice. The Tu'la military has some great respect for her due to her fury, her fighting prowess, and the fact that she's a natural born Tu'la citizen. She deserves a nice cushy spot in their ranks as a proper warrior of Menphia. Ivy is left with three choices.

Run, hide, or fight. She chooses to hide, playing the long game she always has and taking the job in the Tu'la military, accepting her guard dog, and using her friends sword as a secondary weapon in remembrance of everything she's lost. Ivy serves knowing that one day she will become a thorn in their side and a knife in their back. Ivy has always fought for her own survival, and the greatest threat to that survival has always been Tu'la.

That doesn't change just because she works for them.

Katelyn The Firefist

Imagine this. You're born to a large, not so well off family living in the fringes of the biggest city in the continent. While you could have moved somewhere better at some point in your life, that point is gone now. Now you have three baby brothers to look after, a mom who is gone all the time, and a dad who is working himself into an early grave and still unable to provide. What do you do?

Katelyn fought back. She may have been the only girl in a family of boys but she was manlier than all of them. She convinced her dad to teach her to fight before her oldest brother could even walk. She was an energetic and occasionally violent child. It was good for her to be trained in how to kill someone so she wouldn't accidentally kill one of her family members if she wasn't paying attention.

Katelyn sparred with her brothers all through their childhoods, it's how she connected with them, how they came to be close. Not all of them took to fighting, but they still learned self defense from Katelyn. She never talked to them about it, but it's clear that the environment she grew up in wasn't always pretty. As O'Khasis started to have more presence bandits were driven out and things became more peaceful. But even still, Katelyn never trusted O'Khasis fully.

She really didn't like that she never saw the full face of its leader. It meant they would always have things to hide. Nevertheless, in an attempt to not only get her family out of poverty, but also to potentially serve and see behind the dark secret of the O'Khasis Elite, Katelyn applied to the guard academy, expecting to get her certification and then work as a guard at the Ro'Meave Estate.

She wasn't expecting to make the Jury list. It was just not a thought that ever crossed her mind despite knowing it was a thing. Katelyn was content to do her own thing, and while she could be friendly with her classmates, she never made the offer herself. She always had to be coaxed out of her shell by others, and few made attempts to really connect with or understand her. She didn't go to the Academy to make friends, she went to make a living.

Instead the day before her graduation ceremony she was approached by Zane Ro'Meave. He seemed delighted to meet her, genuinely excited after all he'd heard of her fighting prowess. I mean, she never fought with a sword.

All that time it was hand to hand. Gauntlet to armor. Bladed glove to throat. Different members of the Jury stood out for unique weapon selections and mastery, but Katelyn stood out for being able to kill a fully armored guard without a weapon. She would be an invaluable asset as Zane's personal guard, able to cover a weak spot in his security. One issue.

As Zane and Katelyn are talking, one of her brothers comes running into the courtyard, excited to see his big sister after so long. Her dad brought them early to surprise her at the worst possible time. Zane responds to the presence of her family professionally, even introducing himself to her father and speaking to him about Katelyn getting the Jury position before she even agreed to it.

Despite not knowing Zane, Katelyn can't fight the feeling that this is wrong. That she should be shielding her family away from whatever was hiding behind Zane's mask. But now her dad knows she has this opportunity, she could be a true hero to her brothers, give them the life they deserve. Any doubt she has about the position is overshadowed by her unending love for her family. She takes the position, moves her family into central O'Khasis, and serves Zane exclusively now.

One issue. Katelyn cannot fucking stand Zane. She's really good at biting her tongue and clenching her fist, but Zane isn't an idiot. He can see the change in her expression, the twitch of her brow, the way she gets tense when he brings up less than moral ideas. He knows that she's thought of punching him hard enough to knock his head off, but still needs her to know she can't really hurt him.

The day before he plans to put this in action, Katelyn meets a fellow member of the Jury, the one who joined a year before she did. Their initial interaction doesn't leave her with much, just an idea of the kind person he is. It's their interaction the next day that matters. It's what Zane says to Katelyn.

At this point, she's been in the Jury for a few months. And while she's shown no outward intent to harm Zane, he feels it's only inevitable before she does and decides to nip it in the bud. This is when Zane instates a new rule. Jury of Nine members are not to have family.

Katelyn has a few options, all of them running through her faster than she's able to keep track of as Zane speaks. All she can think of is how miserable her life would be without her brothers, without her dad's cooking, without the joy they bring her. She doesn't know if she can live a life without them. But as it is, her options are limited.

She could quit the Jury, but it would be a black mark against her in the eyes of O'Khasis. She'd be seen as a deserter, and her chances of finding work as a guard would be gone. Her reputation would never be able to recover from this. She could cut off her family, renounce them, and instruct them to never speak to or attempt to contact her. She'd lose the thing that means most to her, but Zane promises they'll be supported so long as she works for him.

He doesn't need to say why, or what happens if she decides to take... Drastic measures. Even if she ran away, there's a chance Zane would send someone else from the Jury to take her out and cover their tracks, and whoever that was certainly wouldn't leave the rest of her family alive. "Willingly" cutting herself off from her family to keep the Jury position is the only way to ensure their safety.

Katelyn promises to do it in the morning before the decree is announced to the public. If she doesn't, she knows what'll happen. Katelyn manages to keep it together long enough to get past Zane, but the minute she finds somewhere alone in the estate she breaks. She breaks and she sobs and she wails and she mourns the family she's done so much to protect that she may never see again after tomorrow.

It's there that the man she met before becomes more than just a colleague. It's in the outer part of the Ro'Meave garden that Katelyn is offered a handkerchief and a shoulder to cry on by a man she never expected to leave an impact on her the way he did. It's there that Katelyn learns she isn't alone. He has to leave his daughter under the watch of a caretaker assigned by Zane, and nobody is allowed to know about her, even if she's his pride and joy and he carries not only a folded up drawing of her, but he even has some of her artwork or poorly written letters to him.

The sincerity shown and the vulnerability between both of them is palpable, something stronger than the metaphorical blades to their neck held by Zane. While Zane may be holding them hostage in a way, during a quiet tear filled talk in the garden, they're holding hands, and showing love to one another in spite of it all.

Katelyn would later recall this conversation as the only reason she was able to get through the next day of her life. Saying goodbye to her family is... Crushing. Nothing in their life is to change, other than the occasional presence of an O'Khasis guard to make sure they don't break Zane's rules. Katelyn's dad is keen enough to know that Katelyn doesn't want to say goodbye to her family, but is putting up a tough facade to protect them. He knows his daughter well enough to know that she wouldn't do this if she had any other choice.

Her brothers don't take it as well, heartbroken, angry, and devastated. While one of them can't even look her in the eye, Kacey won't let go of her when they hug for the last time, refusing to let go of the most stable thing in his life. When he lost a mother Katelyn stepped in as the best older sister he could ask for and he's not ready to lose that again. It's a moment that tests Katelyn's loyalties further than anything Zane tried to do directly. She has to push her brother off, tell him that she has to go, and that if he ever sees her again, he's not allowed to talk to her or tell people they're related. She has to do that.

Needless to say, Katelyn wasn't doing great afterwards. Neither was the poor father she had spoken to, and once more they meet each other near the edge of the garden and talk through their awful days, this time with some drinks or even a pipe. It's the one respite that Katelyn gets, the one place she can be herself and not put up a front.

When Jury work is awful, she can fall back on him. When one or both of them is pushed to do something outside of their moral compass for Zane, they confide in one another and assure each other that they aren't the monsters Zane wants them to be. And while it started slow, these little meet-ups are when they start making plans to get the hell out of dodge and get their families to safety. It takes a while to work out all the flaws in their plans, and they need a lot of that time to get into Zane's good graces again. Get him to trust them enough that they can take advantage of it.

Finally there's a window of hope. Katelyn just needs to finish this one job, and then Zane puts a plan into effect he won't need either of them for. He'll go off to negotiate with Scaleswind on his own, leaving them enough time to get out of O'Khasis and save their families. One minor hiccup occurs when Katelyn gets sick the day before she's supposed to go on her job. While she insists she can handle it, that doesn't really slide. He's going to take her job whether she likes it or not.

Katelyn never forgave herself for falling in love with him. She never forgave herself for "making" him fall in love with her. She never forgave herself for being too cowardly to admit this love. She never forgave herself for killing her best friend.

So she did the best thing she could. She tried to avenge him. When she hears the news that he failed her assignment and is on trial as a traitor, she realizes that their plans are falling to pieces and they have to act fast. Katelyn realizes that... They can't save their families. If he dies now for his transgressions then they'll never have a chance to get them out. Zane will tighten his chokehold on that which they love most.

She has to save herself. And maybe save him. Or at least find out what he was saving. Katelyn reads the official report and any testimonial she's able to get her hands on. They aren't allowed to see each other, obviously, but she's pouring over any detail she can get. And it all comes back to one name. Aphmau.

This strange woman Zane keeps mentioning, this paradoxical lord who keeps sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Her name is never in any of his testimonies, but Zane fills in the blanks of the story with her name. He knows. And Katelyn honestly believes him. From what she's heard it would make total sense for Aphmau to be the reason for the apparent "slip in judgement". From everything Katelyn heard... She sounded a lot like his late wife.

Katelyn has to know more. And that leads her to Phoenix Drop under some guise of "investigation" as if it was possible he didn't do the right thing for once. And we know the story from there... Meaning there's one more--

Jeffory The Golden Heart

GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS THIS IS MY FAVORITE MCD CHARACTER YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND

There's one important thing to know about Jeffory. Out of everyone in the Jury who had the potential to even think about backstabbing Zane, Jeffory was the one who the would-be ruler of Ru'aun was most scared of. Not because Jeffory was the strongest, or because he had a greater threat to his collateral, or even because he had the strongest grudge against Zane. Because Jeffory came to Zane with a title.

In canon MCD we're told that Jeffory's name comes from his Golden Glaive, but let's be real, we know why he was called that. Because Jeffory is golden hearted in and out. He's so kind it hurts, he's so god damn nice it's fucking annoying, this man is infuriatingly patient and compassionate. Jeffory had the name Golden Heart attached to him from childhood, first a compliment he was given when he saved an injured bird and fixed its wing. The golden songbird sang along with him, and his mother remarked that Jeffory's heart was as gold as it's feathers.

As Jeffory grew up his kindhearted nature never changed, only improved. He learned to become a guard because he wanted to protect those who could not protect themselves. He was trained by a local blacksmith and one of the guards who sparred with him sometimes, but he was largely self taught. His mother was a baker and his father was a tailor, they had no idea how to train a guard.

But Jeffory was determined. He felt a sense of obligation, not to anyone else, but to himself. To this inherently kind heart he was apparently born with. Jeffory knows he can be a great warrior, and he knows there are lives he'll be able to save if he's given the chance. Eventually he felt good enough to go to the Academy.

All and all, Jeffory had a very basic academy experience. He didn't stand out from the crowd too much, but there's no shame in being in the middle of the pack. He gained some flack and some respect for his unending chivalry on the battlefield, often being the best sport after a match which did piss some people off, but he never let it get to him.

The other reason Jeffory was called Golden Heart was because after enough people attributed it to him, his father brought it to reality. Any piece of clothing made by Jeffory's father had a small golden heart embroidered in. Sometimes it was over his chest, where his real heart would be, other times it was sewn in where nobody could see it, and even made him one coat where the buttons were all small golden hearts. It was in the Academy that this became a pattern people outside of the small village he grew up in picked up on. People called him Golden Heart like it was a call sign, and he often responded to it.

It wasn't lost on Academy staff how much it sounded like a Jury members title, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. Jeffory didn't even qualify for the Jury list, there really wasn't any worry. He finished his time and got assigned to work in O'Khasis. While he would dearly miss his parents, Jeffory was more than excited to explore Ru'aun more and work somewhere new.

Two weeks into his job in O'Khasis and Jeffory met the most beautiful woman he had seen in his life working the graveyard shift in the shadiest tavern known to man. This shitty bar does not deserve to have the goddess that is Grace working it, none of the patrons treat her well, and most of them are blackout drunk anyways. Jeffory stops in to get a drink before changing shifts, and while he greatly resents the bar that treated her so poorly, he's so glad he went into that bar that night.

Grace is more than delighted to have a patron who's not only sober when they come in, but comes in with a smile and likes talking to her instead of ordering her around. Even if it's only 15 minutes, she is properly flattered by Jeffory's natural charm and well meaning nature. He tips her well, and even tells her where he'll be patrolling if she ever needs help with anything. He doesn't expect anything to come of this, but he's still hopeful that something will.

And boy howdy does it. A few weeks later Grace finds Jeffory on his shift and brings him a little care basket with some booze she snuck out of the bar, some bread she baked, and assorted fruits and snacks she could fill it with. He's almost always patrolling the area around her bar and since he showed up the amount of issues she's had have gone down significantly. Whatever he's doing to keep the streets clean is working and she wants to show that appreciation.

This very quickly turns into Jeffory taking her on a picnic date at the top of one of the watch towers where they can watch the sunset together. Because of course it does. And both of them agree that they want this to be the first of a potential many dates with one another. Needless to say dates of this manner continue for some time, and eventually the two fall fully and foolishly in love.

This pushes Jeffory to decide to fully move away from his childhood home and into O'Khasis with Grace. From there the two only become more infatuated with one another, like I cannot enforce how much these two adore each other. Jeffory was ready to propose to her on the second date and he's amazed that they made it to three years of being together without him cracking.

The straw that made him break was actually rather simple. It all took place in one conversation he had with Grace when she came home from a visit to the local cleric.

"What's the news?"

"...I'm pregnant."

"Will you marry me?"

And like that, Jeffory was living the life of his dreams. Jeffory has always been a very family oriented person, always trying to make his parents proud, valuing them and the collective family of his village, and he always had dreams of finding The One and settling down, and now he had that. He and Grace married shortly after he proposed, so she could wear a more traditional wedding dress with minimal modification.

The following months with Grace were the happiest times in Jeffory's life with very little competition. He loves taking care of his wife, he loves spoiling her, and he loves spending time with her. One minor problem. They're kind of broke. Their incomes were enough for them to live low cost together, but they don't make enough to account for all the expenses of a baby.

So when Grace is 5 months pregnant, Jeffory reapplies to the Academy with the express purpose of being made a member of the Jury of Nine. The training should take three months, meaning he'll be back in time for his child to be born. And this time he's taken advice given to him on a whim by a fellow member of the Jury. He had one chance encounter with Ivy on a patrol, and she gave him an odd piece of unsolicited advice.

"Word to the wise, you've got skill, but it's wasted on a sword. Try to broaden your horizons."

With this in mind Jeffory goes in and trains in using polearms, a spear, and eventually he finds a real fancy for a glaive, It's a weapon that's hard to use in training situations against other cadets, but when Jeffory shows what he can do with the weapon against the training dummies, it's impressive. He always wants to protect as many people as possible, a far reaching weapon is effective at this goal and gets attention. Zane wanted the Jury to be an assortment of fighters with a variety of skills, able to take on different jobs and cover up each others weak points.

Jeffory was the only part of this crop of cadets that ever really caught Zane's attention. There's just one issue he can't let go of. When he see's Jeffory's name on the list, next to it is written "Golden Heart." One of the academy directors explains the origin of his nickname, and how fitting it would be if he were a member of the Jury. Zane despises the idea of Jeffory having a title given to him by anyone else, but the seat is empty and he needs to fill it.

So he approaches Jeffory. Jeffory is as friendly to Zane as he is to anyone else, and only kind of sucks up to him the entire conversation. His natural charm doesn't work on a pessimistic Zane, but he can't argue with the numbers. Jeffory was the best member of this crop of candiates, even if he'd failed before. He'd be a fool not to offer it, and Jeffory would be a fool not to take the offer.

It's the day after Jeffory has agreed to join the Jury that he gets the news. As he's packing his belongings and getting ready for the journey back to O'Khasis, he gets a rather frantically delivered letter, sealed and signed by the cleric Grace had spoken to before. There isn't anything that can prepare Jeffory for the contents of that letter.

He has a beautiful, healthy, breathing daughter. In the process he lost his beautiful, snarky, fantastic wife. He's lost everything and gained everything as well. And he wasn't there for any of it. His daughter breathed her first breath and his wife breather her last and he wasn't there. Nothing else matters.

Jeffory doesn't say goodbye to any potential friend or would be pupil, he doesn't even look Zane in the eye as he passes. He just leaves, goes home to O'Khasis, unable to really speak to anyone. It's the first time in his life he's been this quiet for this long. The entire ride home is just... Quiet. He thinks of Grace in the silence, of her voice, her songs, the music she taught Jeffory, her laughter, her sobbing, any sound she could make that he ever took for granted bombards Jeffory's mind in the silence.

When he reaches home something else fills it. The sound of someone new. Her crying, her screaming, her laughing, her babbling, suddenly there's a new and beautiful life in Jeffory's arms and he's never felt happier in his life. From the moment he laid eyes on her Abby is the greatest treasure of his entire life. Jeffory's daughter is everything to him.

There's a bitter sweet grace period. A time where Jeffory has to start going through all of Grace's things, figuring out what to keep for himself, what to keep for Abby, and what to send back home to her parents. A time where he can adjust to being a father and the challenges of raising a newborn he is not even close to fit to raise. It doesn't last for very long, but Jeffory remembers it as the last time he ever felt peaceful.

Then Zane comes home. And with him comes Jeffory's previously unaddressed Jury summon. There's not any doubt in his mind that he wants to take this job to provide for Abby, but he actually initiates negotiations with Zane to ensure that he'll have time to care for her, and someone equipped to care for her if he isn't present. Zane showed up at his home ready to intimidate and possibly threaten the life of this child and Jeffory's suddenly trying to get proper sick leave and setting up Bring Your Daughter To Work days.

Once again Jeffory displays something that Zane is less than fond of. Jeffory's forward way of thinking, the way that he sees the world in spite of the way that it is and then takes the world into his own hands to get it if he has to... It's unsettling to someone trying to maintain power and control for his own ends. Suddenly Jeffory's a liability but Zane can't get rid of him. He needs Jeffory, needs one of the many empty seats his father left him to be filled, needs someone with his skills and charisma on his side, but he can never trust Jeffory the Golden Heart.

Zane begrudgingly agrees to Jeffory's request, arranging for him and Abby to stay in a smaller homestead near the Ro'Meave Estate, and Zane will make arrangements for Abby to have a caretaker that will care for Abby when he's away. (Don't ask me for details about the caretaker cause then they'll just turn into an OC mid post). Once they're moved, Jeffory does as he agreed.

He serves Zane Ro'Meave. Why wouldn't he? Sure, Zane's a little off-putting, but he's still learning to rule, still learning how to do things. Jeffory sees Zane for the child wearing adults clothing that he is and forgives any perceived shortcomings because of this. He can tell Zane is calculated, but he hasn't wrapped his head around just how calculated Zane is, how many steps ahead he's thinking, and how far he's willing to go for his own ends.

There's just. One problem. Jeffory was the first and Katelyn was the second member of the Jury to come in with previous attachments. Before Zane mostly found people with no attachments, or who were already attached to him and his family. Jeffory was his first taste, and it was not a good one. Jeffory's sincere nature meant Zane couldn't ask him to do messier jobs that he would be best suited for because well, if anyone would tell him "I'm not gonna do that" it would be Jeffory.

And if Jeffory gets away with doing that, if he gets treated differently just because he has the audacity to call Zane cruel, then he won't be the last. Zane cannot let this become a problem. And Zane is rather efficient at killing two birds with one stone. The day after Katelyn and Jeffory first became acquainted, Zane tells Jeffory the unfortunate truth. He needs Jeffory to do a... Less than ideal job.

Kill the last of a resistance group fighting against O'Khasis' forced annexation of their village. Ivy has done a good job of cutting down their numbers, but Zane wants Jeffory to lure them into false peace talks so they lower their guard, and she can do the finishing blow. Jeffory, obviously, says there's no way he's doing that. He'll kill to protect himself or others, but this resistance group hasn't hurt anyone other than Ivy, who has been actively killing them and their friends.

That's when Zane shows how far he's willing to go. Normally Zane speaks in a more... Vaguely threatening manner. He doesn't like to say things outright if he can avoid it, plausible deniability is a powerful tool. When it comes to someone like Jeffory, he knows he can't mince words.

"Kill this resistance, or I kill your daughter. It's that simple."

Zane only has to make this threat once. He never has to say those words again because once was enough to burn into Jeffory's memories. Zane said it with such confidence, such conviction, there's no way it was an empty threat. It puts Jeffory in a... Really bad position. His immediate temptation is to run to Abby, but he doesn't know if he can face her right now. He doesn't know if he can even face himself, come to terms with the innocent lives he is considering taking just to keep her alive.

Jeffory takes a rather aimless walk through the Estate, mostly mulling over Zane's threat and his predicament, and coming to no conclusion on it. Until he's in the garden. He hears the muffled sobbing of a woman in distress, and finds Katelyn the Firefist, curled up and crying against the vine covered pillar. No doubt suffering from a similar family related dilemma thanks to their shared employer.

Jeffory didn't know Katelyn at all. This was the second time he'd seen her, and she made it clear to him that her vulnerability was a rareness he should consider himself lucky to have survived seeing. But her vulnerability is the only reason either one of them open up to the other about their struggles. What started as a hushed conversation trying to relieve some stress turned into them being trusted confidants that either one could go to.

Zane attempted to cut them off from sentimentality, from sincerity, from the things that make them human so they'd be willing to do anything for him. He inadvertently caused his own destruction through this, bringing together two people who could have had a barely passable coworker friendship and instead making them the only people who they can trust. As always Zane's attempt to keep people down only makes them all the better at fighting him.

Jeffory isn't proud of the man he becomes. But every day that he returns home to Abby it doesn't matter. Every night he gets to spend with her by the fire makes all of the blood shed worth it. Zane is careful to space out when he gives Jeffory less than pretty jobs, so they don't happen often. Yet they still haunt him as he's cooking breakfast for her. He just has to remind himself that it's all for her. One day he and Katelyn are going to get out of this together, they're going to get her family, get Abby, and run away together.

When he puts it like that it almost sounds romantic. And the romanticism of the situation is not lost on him, he's been flirting with Katelyn since the first time they talked. He considers bringing up the elephant in the room, but never follows through, mostly because he struggles to tell if it's reciprocated. Katelyn is frustratingly good at hiding her emotions, even if Jeffory is equally good at tearing down her mental walls.

There was one time he almost said the quiet part out loud by accident. When Katelyn met Abby. Abby was about 3 years old at this point, and Katelyn came to Jeffory's house planning on just picking up something for Zane. But the caretaker is gone and she opens the door to find Jeffory sitting at the table teaching his daughter to read. He doesn't shoo her away, he invites her in and introduces the two to each other.

The rest of the day is a delight as Katelyn teaches Abby anything she can ask a question about, plays with her the entire day, and acts like the mother Abby truly needed. Seeing Katelyn interacting with Abby makes Jeffory want to confess his love to her. He doesn't, but Irene help him he desperately wants to. But he can't. Saying that would be putting another target in both of their backs, and it would just complicate things more. Get out of hell first, then fall in love once you're out of the fire.

And just before they're ready to make a break for it, Katelyn falls ill. Jeffory keeps her housed in his room and has Abby's caretaker look after her while he handles her job. Katelyn insists that it's fine, not because she can do this sick, but because she doesn't trust Jeffory to do this and she makes that clear to him. But she's too weak to even get up and stop him from taking this job. He promises to return home to her soon.

He never does.

#wow that was a lot #fuck me I have to tag this #aphblr #minecraft diaries #text post #ivy the venom scythe #katelyn the firefist #mcd katelyn #jeffory the golden heart #character analysis #jury of redesign #zane romeave #hes mentioned a bunch it feels fitting to tag him #jury of nine

17 notes · View notes