#this matter aside: BANGER TIME

[akai-anna]

Round 5

Round: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

[dennisboobs]

do you guys ever sit and remember that dennis takes a mental health day is an episode that exists

[midnight1nk]

PRESENTING:

THE OFFICIAL WOTFI 2024 BINGO CARD

Come one and all to Puzzle Park, where fun truly never ends...

:)

[BOX EXPLANATIONS & EMPTY CARD UNDER CUT]

BOX EXPLANATIONS (+CREDITS)

Mario Ruins The Show — me, @sardix

No matter what Mr Puzzles does, Mario is the only character he can't control. The one who never obeys. The one who ruins the show. So, it wouldn't be the first time Mario would save the day.

Past Arcs Or Trauma — /sardix

it's bound to happen some time, right? :)

Karma

After what he did to Meggy, it makes sense that Mr. Puzzles will face the same demise. The fate that's popular within the fandom would be his death. But if he lives, he could turn into Leggy himself, his TV head with tiny footsies. Or just his head. Either way, he would end up harmless.

It also refers to Puzzles's defeat. He tried to destroy the crew multiple times, it's only natural that the SMG Crew will try to fight back.

Mr Puzzles having a grudge against SMG4 — /sardix

We already knew that Puzzles hates Four, jealous even. How did Four, a ridiculous YT shitposter, get more attention than him? His original ideas pushed aside for memes? To add salt in the wound, Puzzles's steaming service of 5 episodes only managed 4.5 stars at his highest while Four surpassed him with 5.5 stars within an hour. An hour. And then, Four had the nerve to destroy his perfect screen at the end of the Puzzlevision movie. Then, there's the Meme Factory arc. Four took his only friend away, it's only fair if Four gets what he deserves. Why don't we have some fun with it while we're at it? :)

Park Destroyed — @34saveme34

By the end of WOTFI, Puzzle Park gets destroyed similar to how the simulation lab crumbled by the end of Western Spaghetti, seeing that there are a lot of similarities between Wren and Puzzles with the whole wires thing going on.

It's Gotta Be Perfect — me, @time1srunout, and literally everyone

Interestingly, the show crew brings back moments/parallels from IGBP. After all, everything started at that arc. Perfection, the keyboard, the eyes, the goo, the Showgrounds, Puzzlevision. And of course, Four and Puzzles being Narrative Foils(TM). I mean, you gotta love it.

The reason why it's in its own box is because of how significant it is. And besides, many theories stem from this arc. For me, I'll be looking for eyes, Goop!Four, and absolute karma.

References, confirmed theories, motifs, flashbacks, it all counts.

Freak Show

Referring to the poster made by the SMG4 crew with Tari, SMG3, Boopkins, and Bob being labeled as freaks. Someone's gotta bring this into WOTFI somehow.

(Carnival-Themed) Rap — me, @porschas-palette

Just as a heist-themed WOTFI happened in 2023, an awesome carnival-themed rap will happen this year. And it will be a BANGER!

Puzzles' Backstory — me, @yullalightk

As much as Puzzles is an interesting character, we have yet to learn more about his past. We have already seen some in his Creative Control song and in the 'Mr Puzzles' Clubhouse' episode with his dad. There simply has to be more. The puzzle pieces of his past :) ...I'll see myself out

The Bell Tolls 🔔

For the past few weeks, Ben and Shadow have been trolling the SMG4 twitter with their ;) and the bell emoji.

Stop stop [*points at SMG4 twt*] they're already dead/ref

On one tweet, Ben posted a few lyrics of the song "For Whom the Bell Tolls", a 1984 song by Metallica that was apparently inspired by a book of the same name, which basically tells a scene in the story where 5 soldiers died in the Spanish Civil War. Exploring death in modern warfare. As for whom the bell tolls, it's all of us, being bounded together. It's all of them who the bell tolls for.

Any reference to the heavy metal song, signs of bells, or even death, it marks this box for sure. Sure, it may be trolling, but hey, anything's possible.

Not So Different

With Four and Puzzles being Narrative Foils(TM), I've been waiting for a scene of Puzzles telling Four:

"You and I, we aren't so different. You wished to make people happy. I'm simply doing the same..."

It also be in reverse with Four OR Three telling that to Mr Puzzles that they get where he's coming from but he doesn't have to go down this path. They know what it's like. Whether Puzzles accepts defeat/change, it'll be up to him.

(Ending) Twist — me, /porschas-palette

At the very end of WOTFI, Mr Puzzles finally came out in all this glory of a model, showing he also pulled the strings of WOTFI 2023. Aside from IGBP and Western Spaghetti, of course. It's likely to happen again. Old/new characters, foreshadowing, fake death. It all counts.

Merch

...I mean, it's pretty obvious, right? I'm gonna bet on a poster, shirt/hoodie, a keychain, and something related to the WOTFI ticket. 5 bucks, all in.

Star Rating System

This whole arc constantly comes back to the ratings. Mr Puzzles in the negatives in the "Lowest Point" episode, Mickey referring the single star as the power source in the Engine Room in "Mr Puzzles' Clubhouse". And no, we're not going to forget about the broken star Mr Puzzles had left at the end of Puzzlevision. With Mr Puzzles being THE power source, it has to come back.

Sacrifice — me, /sardix, /porschas-palette

"Character Death" and "Character Fake Death" were great suggestions. But then, when sardix stated "Mario saves the day doing something stupid/protects someone from dying", it made me realize something. That's right, each one of the Crew would do anything to protect the others. Even if it costs them their lives. But it's worth the risk if it means they're safe. Three technically did in the "Welcome to Puzzle Park" episode, trying to warn Four and Mario. I mentioned in my theories that someone will sacrifice themselves, so this might be it.

It could also mean in terms of the exchange of something else, not necessarily a life. It could be Meggy's physical condition, knowing that she was forced to become Leggy again. Based on all those screams, I think her body's not going to be the same. A loss of a limb or something. Or perhaps, after seeing what he's done, Mr Puzzles might admit defeat. The sacrifice of his dream for creative vision.

Tender Tunnel — me, Nicc

What other reason would there be to have the equivalent of the Tunnel of Love in Puzzle Park? Literally, why would they do that? They could've put anything else in there. Popping balloon stand, the horse racing game, any other ride. Why this? And not just that, they keep pointing the camera right at it as if they're like "hey, this is going to become relevant later, so remember it".

SMG4 Kids

This whole arc also revolved around the children. Karen's kids, Beeg4, Eggdog, JubJub. Like I said in my "The Unexpected Guests" theory, they could still be relevant here. Also, the whole Didney thing and their large kid audience and the carnival being fun for kids (and all ages ofc).

Puzzles Dies 💀 — Nicc

As much as some of us don't want it to happen, Mr Puzzles may die, similarly how Wren did. For how to defeat Puzzles, it seems like the Crew would have to destroy the power source that's currently controlling the park... aka Mr Puzzles

Meggy Confronts

By the near end of WOTFI, in the final showdown between the Crew and Puzzles, Meggy might be back to normal and might have a few words with him in regards to what happened to her. In song or pure dialogue, she might confront him about his wrongdoings.

Or perhaps, for the very first time, Leggy might defy him. The whole time, Leggy is like "Join the winning team, he was such a great boss". And what if something snapped in Leggy that made her say "no" to Puzzles? That, no, this is going too far. No, I can't let you do this.

"You Saved Me" 💫 💣 — me, /sardix

SMG4 x SMG3 shippers, we're all too familiar with this line. Ever since SMG3 redeemed himself, the two have constantly said this line, after one indeed does save the other. Actually, it kind of happens in every movie if you think about it. And it works just as well here.

SMG3 being in a horrible minigame trap might get saved by Four and Mario with Four pulling out of it,

Three: "You... saved me?" Four: "Why wouldn't I? You were literally in a trap, dude." Three, hitting the back of Four's head: "I... Augh, just forget it, baka."

OR in reverse, when Four thanks Three for trying to save him and Mario. They didn't exactly escape in time but Three really has grown to become a true friend.

This box also works as a "Four and Three moment that can be seen as romantic" box :)

Brand New Look

This could be new outfits, bringing back old ones (like Three's bunny ears or WOTFI '23 suits), a new Puzzle face, or a new look of the Puzzle Park.

Puzzles Tune

Puzzles' musical motif dubbed as "TV Time", the one we're all familiar with, could come back. Either in the background, as a new arrangement, or as part of the Rap(TM) instrumental. It did that for WOTFI 2023 to foreshadow his subtle involvement so I don't see why it couldn't happen.

Dynamic Change

After rewatching "SMG4 and SMG3 come up with an episode", I predicted that something would change in Four and Three's dynamic, for better or worse. (For better, hopefully). As I said, it could be Three's revelation. Sure, the episode is a silly one, it should not be taken so seriously. But it's also the same episode that "hinted" the idea of a carnival coming to the Showgrounds, so anything could happen at this point.

And it doesn't have to be between Four and Three, it could be anyone in WOTFI. Leggy and Puzzles, the Crew within, etc.

Leggy's Flag

As shown in the "Lowest Point" episode, Mr Puzzles kept Leggy's flag after all this time. It wouldn't be a surprise that it might be used for a turning point in the plot in some way. Maybe it could be used as evidence of Puzzles' humanity, or for Puzzles to realize the damage he has caused. That he lost himself. All for creative vision.

BLANK CARD

If you want to fill in your own card, I leave here a blank version for your use AND a marker png:

Also, feel free to post this on other platforms, the more the merrier. All I ask from you is to credit me.

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Have fun with it, bring in your moots or discord server! But as always, enjoy what WOTFI has to offer. "Love always wins", after all.

I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who has given me suggestions, great job honestly!

And feel free to share your cards after WOTFI either by tagging me or using #wotfi 2024 bingo, I would love to see them! I'll see you all on the other side, my dear fellows.

[quicksilversnails]

The new Pristine Cut announcement trailer is so cool... I've watched it at least a dozen times at this point. But there's this one part I can't get out of my head: that final line from the Narrator.

"I—I refuse to let her get the last word in."

Banger voice acting and accompanying music aside, it's also an interesting character beat for the Narrator imo. He's framing the situation like a debate that the Princess is getting the last word in, and not as a situation with a single correct answer (Slay the Princess) the way He usually does.

I think it shows a little more self-awareness from Him than usual: a moment of hesitation and a quiet admission of His lack of control over your opinions and actions. If He really was able to convince you, it wouldn't matter if she got the final words, because you'd choose to slay her regardless.

It's also such an specific thing for him to focus on... He's not just stopping you from freeing her or stopping her from ending the world, He's stopping her from getting the last word in. Because that's usually what happens, right?

The game starts with His narration, His perspective. You need to slay her, or it will be the end of the world. But then you get her perspective, and as the game progresses, inevitably the Narrator falls behind as you and the Princess go through more and more loops that He can't remember and can't meaningfully respond to. You and She build a vastly sprawling dialogue across a network of lives, and meanwhile He's struggling to get his first words in.

And even when you discover your true identity and talk with him openly through the mirror, He inevitably shatters, and moments after that you talk to Shifty, who has much more space to argue her position. The Princess always gets the last word in.

...except for in this trailer. The sentimental moment with the base princess cuts abruptly to the Narrator. Usually when He talks about stopping you in-game, you have the power to resist or outright ignore Him, but here? The video just ends. He gets the last word in.

I just wonder, what does this mean for the Pristine Cut? Will there be a point where the Narrator really does get the last word?

[allwormdiet]

Arc 1: Gestation, Concluding Thoughts

Two days in the life of Taylor Hebert, with a bonus one night in the life of Danny Hebert. Let's break it down.

Right now, initial feelings are really positive. I like this arc, I get why people are in on this in such a hardcore fashion, like it's making sense to me as I'm reading it. The characterization is really strong, the A to B plot is cool, and the first fight scene was a fucking banger to open up with.

And like, shit, I get why Taylor is throwing herself into cape life, right? Civilian life is already such fucking misery for her, utterly alone and the only person who's theoretically in her corner is sympathetic but just as helpless as she is. Yeah sure, mortal peril, but if she had nothing to do I feel like the bullying would've killed her eventually. Death versus Lung is at least marginally more noble than death by Emma. And isn't that fucking bleak.

Looking ahead a little bit towards Arc 2 and I'm immensely curious how long it'll take Taylor to do cape stuff again. I feel like I'd need a solid month to process the whole "near death experience" thing and then spend time sweating over whether I even put the mask on ever again. Meanwhile I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor went back out in like a week, because she's a hardcore maniac.

It's also very interesting looking at this and considering the exact sequence of events that went through these chapters. If the bullies didn't wreck Taylor's notebook, or if Taylor took a different message away from its destruction, there might be one or more dead Undersiders right now, and to a lesser extent Armsmaster wouldn't both get credit for a major capture and also owe this rookie hero a favor. Both of those things are going to matter a lot, and it's, I dunno, some people would call that contrived but real life is so full of weird coincidence and happenstance I can buy this no problem.

...Honestly now I get why so many AUs that diverge before this point still include the Lung fight and the Undersiders and Armsmaster meetings, like yeah at that point it's contrivance but I'm not going to sweat an author too hard because they don't want to figure out how fucking dramatic the butterfly effect (hah, butterfly) would be on the rest of the story. Like yeah it's contrived, but that's a lot of work they'd have to do otherwise.

That aside, I'm gonna get back on topic and meditate on my current gripes. 1.3 was a legitimate low point in this arc with the description of the Docks and its residents and their circumstances, and the total clusterfuck of the Azn Bad Boys, which. By the by this is the last time I'm going to say the full name of that gang, ABB is shorter and is less embarrassing for everybody involved. Wall-to-wall racism, classism, and an utter lack of sympathy for the lesser-thans. Like we're talking about crack whores in the year of our lord 2011, or, they were written about in 2011 and I'm hollering about it on the internet in 2024. When this kind of thing comes back up (when, not if, I'm not that optimistic) I just hope I can work around it, like eating everything but the bruise on an apple.

To close this out, I'm thinking about the people in Taylor's life. Emma, a former friend turned bully, and her cronies Madison and Sophia. Pretty shallow characterization at this point, just that they're cruel to the point of hospitalizing their victim. Danny Hebert is supportive, but has all the strength of a sponge when it comes to holding up against the pressures that weigh on Taylor, and he knows it but he's not doing anything differently. The Undersiders, criminals who mistake Taylor for a criminal, but identify her correctly as a comrade and potential friend, who realize she was fighting for them and went to fight for her. Armsmaster, who offers her very genuine and very sought-after praise as an authority figure, and then leans on that authority to get what he wants out of a freshly traumatized and exhausted teenager.

Is it any wonder that Taylor takes the path that she does? Would anyone have it in them to be surprised if they could see all of this from a bird's eye view?

I wonder if Armsmaster ever thinks back about this night, lying awake in bed. If he ever wonders what he could or should have done differently, or if he couldn't have done anything to divert course.

I was talking to my girlfriend about something related to this the other night, actually. If it's worse in a tragedy for there to have been a chance to avert it all, or if it's worse for the end to be inevitable. Looking at Taylor, looking at Brockton Bay, looking at Earth Bet? I dunno. If someone had acted early, with knowledge and intention sufficient to actually provide aid, maybe it would've been enough, but hell. Maybe not. I don’t know which possibility is more damning.

...I get melancholy when it's late, but I don't think it'd be right to delete all that; it's how I'm feeling about the novel, and that's what this blog is for, so even if it's a bit dramatic it'd be self-defeating to pretend I didn't say it.

Arc 2... probably starts tomorrow, assuming nothing comes up. Glad to say I'm looking forward to it.

[nyxthejinx]

Heya!

I just saw your open for request post and want to commission an Cyno x gn!reader, please? :) a fluffy and spicy drabble would be lovely. Maybe smth like.. the reader is good friends with Cyno and Tighnari but the reader went on a journey thru teyvat and met the Aether (traveler) on their way and since then they traveled together and been thru much so they have a connection ofc and then when the reader and Aether visit sumeru and they meet Cyno - he will get all jealous? Cause he sees how close they are and he fears that he missed his chance with the reader? But obvsly its not like that and yeah. A lil bit of making out at the end, please? cause Cyno needs to let out some steam after his jealously :^)

Thank you for doing requests btw!

FIRST. It took ages but I was able to sell my soul in exchange for inspiration only recently, I'm so sorry. SECOND thank YOU for asking, I wasn't sure about this until the 3am among us potion made it work. THIRD beautiful pfp, akaza bb fr i love him a normal amount I promise. FOURTH it's 5 am, literally I'm not kidding, I tried to proofread and all that but I don't even know what's my name anymore so I'm sorry for typos and shit. FIFTH I hope It makes sense, enjoy 💀

𝐓𝐖: Fluff and obviously spice (making out, vague allusions to the dirty deeds ;) ), use of petnames (dear, love), lemme know if I missed something.

𝐅𝐭.: Cyno, Aether (but he's your homie) - GN!Reader

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.5k

𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨: Rendezvous - Little Mix (god this song is such a banger)

Cyno fears nothing.

"Cyno, this is Aether."

Cyno fears one thing.

He'd felt so happy after reading your last letter. You said you'd be back in a few days with a special surprise, but honest to Archons the fact you'd be coming back to him - for him, he’d wanted to say, but not dared to- was enough of a present.

He surely wasn't expecting that this "surprise" would be none other than the Traveler who's saved Sumeru, though. A charming blondie who drifts a bit too close to you, in Cyno's opinion.

"We met in Liyue, he's amazing." You smile, squeezing the blond's shoulder. "He's a well known traveler across Teyvat, even in regions he has yet to visit!"

"I just help those who need it, not that much of a big deal."

Aether blushes and rubs his neck. Aether blushes. And you're touching him in a way that only close friends do.

It's fine, Cyno wants to think. You're allowed to do whatever you want in your life, he sure as hell won't stand in your way. He already stepped aside back in the days, as you excitedly told him how one of his worst fears came true you were leaving for adventure.

Everything to make you happy.

But his mixed feelings would always get in the way and unleash endless internal conflicts. It wasn't simply about not having you around, it was some kind of longing sitting inside his chest and screaming at you not to go.

It was the distance that made him realise: he was, and still is, far too in love for his own good.

And Aether could get in the way of that.

"We meet again, Traveller." The General nods, pushing down such shameful thoughts. "I'm glad to see you are both fairing well."

"It's all thanks to [Name], actually." Aether nudges you in the ribs. "They're really helpful, no matter the task."

You smirk. "Oh, what an honour. The traveller complementing me, a common, mortal nobody."

"Hey, I'm not that annoying!"

"Maybe. But you sure snore at night. That is annoying."

"Wh-! I don't. I know for a fact-"

No, you don't sound like close friends. You sound like a married couple. What just happened in this handful of months? Did Cyno hesitate too long and lost his chance? Now that he had decided to expose his deepest feelings?

"You guys! Paimon is starving here."

Paimon's shrill voice cuts short the bicker, as the Matra's jaw clenches. Good time, credits to Paimon, but seeing the two of you stroll towards the tavern didn't ease the knot in his chest the slightest.

Your laughter wasn't addressed to him nor to his uncanny jokes. He wasn't the one making you smile.

He was the moon and he'd just been eclipsed by the Traveller's brightest light.

Dinner was... Gut wrenching, to say the least.

You'd known Cyno long enough to tell apart his feelings even as he wears that stoic facade of his. While Paimon and the Traveller didn't have a single clue about the situation, you could feel his dry gaze burning holes on both of your figures, as if the sun had ascended back to the skies and everything around had turned desert.

He was feeling something you'd never quite seen within him.

It took you a bit too long to realise that the fair, lawful General Mahamatra was jealous, of all things.

He was so subtle with it, carefully hid his resentment in his voice and choice of words, in his gestures and mannerisms. But worst of all he didn't propose a single joke during the meal, not even when you laid the chance on a silver platter for him.

That had your mind reeling for the rest of your time together, and even afterwards, as you waved goodnight to Aether and Paimon. As you walked these streets you still know by heart with your dearest friend by your side.

As you choked on the thick air surrounding the two of you.

Maybe you should've left Aether out of it, for the first day, at least. Cyno hadn't seen you in so long, perhaps he didn't like the way Aether inadvertently hogged your attention the entire time when all he wanted was to hear about your adventures.

Yeah, you'd been an idiot for that one.

But, you still had an ace up your sleeve. Quite literally. One that would grant you his forgiveness and hopefully help you say the words to him.

Because of course, it took you less than a week far from him to realise you were smitten for this dad-jokes-spitting being.

You patted your side as you approached Razan Garden in all its glory, and sighed at the feeling of the rectangular box still inside. You could do it, you had to! It took you months of preparation, you wouldn't let it go to waste.

"[Name]." Cyno's voice was soft, as if to match the atmosphere lingering in the marble gazebo. He'd stopped a couple steps ahead of you, but didn't turn to meet your eyes. "My congratulations and best wishes."

You alt abruptly at that. Where the hell is it coming from?

"Uh, thank you?" You quirk a brow. "Did I do something special without knowing?"

He chuckles under his breath. Yes, you are special and he's grateful a being so perfect can exist in this world and is part of his life. But he would never tell you that.

He turns instead. His eyes rich with emotion, gentler. "I'm beyond glad that you found the right person out there, [Name]."

Oh. Oh.

"I only ever hoped for your happiness and well-being, during this period of time."

"Cyno, wait a sec-"

He takes a step forward. "If I had to voice my honest thoughts... I must admit I couldn't find peace of mind knowing you would've been out there alone."

"Cyno-"

"But I see you're perfectly capable of handling your own," the man sighs, shakes his head. A small smile curves his lips. "Just like you've always done."

"Oi-"

And then he's placing loose hands on your shoulders, as if he's in some kind of automatic mode and has to finish the speech at all costs.

For a moment you think he's gone absolutely senile. "Still, I'm relieved you have someone who can watch your back, now. He's a kind-hearted person, level headed, the best you could wish for-"

"Archons' fucking sake, Cyno! Will you hear me out a damn second?"

Cyno almost jumps back, taken out of his weird reverie, but you're quick to trap his face between your hands. You're close, closer than you'd wanted to, unfocused in your frustrated fervor. So much his breath warms the apple of your cheek, as it wasn't burning already.

You take a breath and force more words out before you can cower away from it. "I get where you're coming from, I neglected you today and acted like a shitty friend. And I'm sorry for that."

You lower your gaze to the ground. Now or never. "But it's you, okay? It's always been you! I could travel across all Teyvat and even Celestia, but it's you and just you. So drop that thing you're on about please."

That was disgustingly corny. But hopefully did the trick, you guess.

A beat passes. Then two. You don't see his face, you don't have the courage to take a look at the mess you've made. Him being jealous didn't mean he liked you, not necessarily. Maybe you should've given him the TCG deck and call it a night.

Another beat goes by.

"So... You and Aether are not...?"

He's gonna be the death of you.

You groan, a guttural sound that shouts exasperation from the deepest parts of your chest. All rationality goes to hell as you drag him closer and slam your lips together.

You're kissing him. Archons you're kissing him-

There's no time for Cyno to react. You're pulling away in a frenzy, hoping the ground will open for the Abyss to swallow you right now. You kissed one of your friends only to prove that you're single, and in fact attracted to them. Could it be worse than that? More humiliating and disrespectful to him?

"I'm so sorry!" You wave your hands around. "I shouldn't have without your permission! Are you okay?"

You search his expression for any sign of discomfort; he looks absolutely flabbergasted, but somehow weirdly composed like a bronze statue. His lips -god you'd just kissed them- are parted in the slightest, his eyes wide and yet still. The calm before the storm.

He's showing yet another sentiment you've never really seen him wear.

"Again." Cyno says.

You blink. "Uh?"

You feel his hand slither behind you and circle your waist, as he pushes your body closer. His skin is running hot like the desert's sands and you curse at his choice, or better lack of clothes.

His silver hair falls like a curtain, his eyes sharp. Dangerous, even, if you're not careful enough.

"Please, do it again. I think I've just seen the gates of Celestia." He mutters close to your lips.

That sounds more like him. You can't help but snort at his choice of words, shuddering all the same. The implications of said words dig a flaming hole in your chest.

"How can you be so smart, but dum dum at the same time?" You whisper, one hand traveling to the back of his neck, the other busying itself with stray locks of hair.

And you dip in for another kiss. One you sigh into, one that can be called kiss, actually. It's slower, but full all the same, scorching hot, pushed by feelings that were repressed for too long.

Cyno locks his free hand at your nape, never possessive, although firm. Small sounds bubble in the back of his throat when you bite at his lower lip, then backs just enough to mutter a couple words.

"Can you really blame me? It feels like a dream coming true." He pecks your lips, then presses his forehead to yours and closes his eyes. "I was scared you'd chosen him."

"So, all those pretty words from before?" You exhale a breathy laugh, cradling his jaw.

"I'd give away everything I have and am if it meant you'd be happy. I could only wish you the best and support you." Cyno smiles, pouting after the next words leave his mouth. "But it doesn't mean I would be fully content with the outcome."

Your brain has turned to mush. This man is too dangerous for this world, a hazard for you and your poor little heart that feels like exploding. It's a threat to your common sense and rationality. But most of all, it's damaging your brakes.

What he's telling you should not be legal.

"Archons, come here." And you kiss, and kiss, kiss again and again. You map each other's bodies with your hands as if it was the last time you'd be seeing each other. You press your mouths, clatter your teeth, intertwine your tongues.

You're straight up devouring in the dead silence of the night, in a public space. But as indecent the sounds you're both making are, it feels as if the world around blurred and blended into nothingness.

You've found yourself with your back to a wall, somehow, a couple buttons loose, skin hit by the cold air of the night. You -surely more clothed than Cyno- are an absolute mess, whereas his appearance doesn't falter much even at your hands' mercy.

It's unfair, he's unfair. He has no right to be this damn perfect even in the face of chaos.

"Not here, Cy." You manage to utter. "Let's go home."

His hand stops halfway up your shirt and he detaches from your neck with a small grunt, red splotches forming already thanks to his work. He doesn't sound pleased with your choice, but wordlessly complies, knocking you off your feet and picking you up so easily it's unfair.

And embarrassing.

You deadpan. "Seriously?"

He finds your eyes, suddenly composed as if nothing happened. "You seemed quite unstable on your legs, dear."

You're audibly gasping at that, whacking his chest and glaring daggers. "You!"

"Let's continue it home, now."

Cyno is really going to be the death of you, in many ways you'd never even considered.

It's almost dawn when you finally let yourselves snuggle up to each other in the peace of your home. More like his home, since yours needs more than a bit of cleaning after months of disuse, but he's made it clear already: everything that's his is also yours.

Cyno traces patterns on the bare skin of your arm, as you card through the knots on the back of his head, formed after... Recent activity. He seems too lost in your touch to even be awake, when his fingers stop.

"What was the surprise, in the end? Was it the confession?"

Your hands still, your face tightening at the question. When did you even... Oh, right.

"Would you be satisfied if I said yes?"

He pinches you.

"Owie!"

"You should know that what has been of this night matters more than anything, to me. Of course I would be satisfied." Cyno raises a thin brow, as his hand starts to descend agonizingly slow, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. "Was I not clear enough about my feelings? Perhaps you need a reminder-"

"Whoa, hold your horses, General." You chuckle, planting a kiss on his forehead before leaning over to your bedside table, where your bag had been thrown previously. "There was no way I'd come back empty handed after all these months, yanno?"

You pull out the wrapped box, place it in his hands. Cyno stares at it quizzically, but opens the packaging with care after you nudge him in the side.

Oh, his expression is so, so priceless. Cute, too cute, so cute you could die right now on the spot for excess of sugar in your blood. He looks like a kid who's just received the toy he oh so wanted and ranted about.

"It's not just any deck," You explain. "It's a deck made of cards I've gathered around from different regions. Some were more challenging to get, but I've been playing with you for a long time, haven't I? Of course I'd win."

Meanwhile Cyno takes the liberty to browse its contents, and just like you said, they're not from Sumeru. He's barely ever seen them, some are literally unknown, and he's ecstatic at the sight. How long did it take? How much effort?

"This is…" there's no right term to describe it. "Wonderful. You are wonderful, [Name]."

He goes for a hug and you feel like your bodies fit perfectly in each other's arms, as if it was meant to be. Right now, all that matters is this. And it will always be for all you care.

You smile into his shoulder, smooch the base of his neck. "Is it too early to say 'I love you?'."

"I would actually say we're late, Love."

"I love you, then, you Dum-Dum."

"I love you."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You are like my asthma. You just take my breath away."

You make sure Cyno slams his head as you throw him off the bed.

DON'T copy/repost my work. REBLOG instead! ©nyxthejinx

[cynthiav06]

I loved the Vengeance saga, an absolute banger. Might be my second favorite after the Wisdom Saga, but here's the thing:

Odysseus wounding Poseidon or even being able to use his trident or trapping Poseidon amidst the storm is all extremely unlikely as in impossible even in the Epic canon.

Before everyone starts a riot, here's why.

Poseidon is a god. Not just any god either, one of the Elder Gods (as in first olympian gods). In fact before the Dark Ages of Greek, from at least Homeric Era to Classical Era, Poseidon was called Wanax or was at least heavily associated with him by the Myceneans and was the old King of the Gods according to them. But I digress.

Point is Poseidon is basically an Eldritch horror on legs while Odysseus, despite his brilliance and strength, is just a mortal, not even a demigod, a human. Albeit one blessed by the wisdom goddess.

Poseidon is a God of storms. And sure Epic might have some different connotations but apparently not cause Hermes himself quotes in track 2 of Vengeance saga Dangerous that no mortal can survive Poseidon's storm I.e he created it so he's the stormbringer confirmed. Plus, Odysseus himself does say that he will make Poseidon stop the storm.

That aside, Poseidon is literally the God of the Seas. No god, not even Zeus, can beat Poseidon in his own bloody domain. So Odysseus has no chance.

Even if Odysseus trapped him on land, Poseidon can create earthquakes with his trident, which is also prominent in his lore. So that's a no, no.

Sure, Odysseus could have made Poseidon drop his trident, but even if that happened in no scenario, would Odysseus be able to lift it. Poseidon's trident was forged by elder cyclops and is one of the three absolute weapons of power in Greek myths ( the other two being Zeus's bolt and Hades's Helm). These weapons were designed specifically for these gods and obey none other. Not to mention it weighs a lot, i.e., "only a god can lift it heavy."

In the impossible scenario that Odysseus lifts it(by some miracle or other), Poseidon could just summon it back to his hand.

For all those saying maybe Poseidon can't do close combat, he has fought titans. He has to all but breathe strongly in Odysseus's direction, and Odysseus will literally die, which is why Odysseus's survival is Odyssey is such a legendary feat.

It also beats the point of Odysseus's legends. Odysseus is the King of Ithaca, sure, but he's no demigod. He doesn't even have any special abilities aside from quick thought or the occasional godly assistance. He's basically a mortal that achieves things everybody, even demigods, failed at all through his wisdom, wit, and trickery. He is only human, but his mind is what makes him on par with the divine.

Odysseus resorting to physical fighting against a literal god goes against his very nature. Odysseus is the smartest Greek hero, a strategist, a manipulator, and he knows very well how to play to his strengths.

In the original works, Odysseus escapes Poseidon the second time due to intervention from both Athena and Ino. Ino is the goddess of protection, especially the protector of sailors. She gifts Odysseus with a veil of protection. And Athena pulls her usual strings.

This is Odysseus playing to his strengths. He has the situation in his favor, a plan as he has convinced these gods either with his past deeds or his unbreakable will to intercede on his behalf. By manipulation or sincerity, doesn't matter. He lies, manipulates, tricks, and thinks his way through, so he would never ever resort to a 1v1, that too physical with a god.

[Circe was a special case. He had the blessing of molly on his side due to him earning Hermes's favor. Through a plan]

I love Epic, I do, and I love Jay even more. He's phenomenal and Epic the musical is an absolute work of genius and I know he said he is taking inspiration from video games and anime which might lead to some divergences but this is a bit too big of a liberty from both the source material and the essence of Odysseus. Sure, it's enjoyable and badass, but it's a disservice to the original Odysseus in a way.

Just wanted to give my honest opinion cause I love Epic so much, especially with its imperfections.

[princessanonymous]

Your platonic yandere vampire fuckin slaps, its so good i want to eat it

Since after turning, the reader is basically a NEET at this point cause I doubt Dorian would allow her to have a life. Are there like any expectations that he has on her on a day to day basis?

As in, does he expect a minimum amount of time spent together as a family (aside from dinners), having the 1700s equivalent of family game nights, does Dorian expect the reader to hug her dads at least once a day? Or does he let her rot in her room with dolls and just likes the idea of having his husband and daughter in the house?

Once again, love your work and great job , fuckin banger series you made thank you so much for the delicious food, looking forward for more

𝓨𝓸𝓾'𝓵𝓵 𝓑𝓮 𝓑𝓪𝓬𝓴 (Ask)

When Night Comes asks Platonic Yandere Vampire Story Chapter list

I'm glad to know you liked it! (*°▽°*) Thank you for asking! Sorry it took so long to answer, I just didn't know how to put it into words until today. o(TヘTo) But here it is :

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Surprisingly, Dorian did not expect a certain amount of time spent together. With time, he had grown to understand that forcing it would only make the girl pull away even more. He knew (Y/n) would come to him or Killian all by herself. Who else would she turn to anyway? Who else would she turn to, after all? Balls and gatherings where she could mingle with vampires of similar age and disposition were few and far between. Being in contact with mortals without feeding on them was even rarer. 

No, he knew she needed them. Leaving wasn’t even an option for one who looked so young, that, she was very much aware of. She wasn’t dumb, far from it.

But every three decades or so, the youngling would forget that and simply confine herself in her own quarters. Dorian learned not to make a big deal about it. Still, she needed company no matter how much she could forget that sometimes. Naturally, he would then find her company; that was his role as his caretaker, after all. The first time, it had been a grey cat which, for the life of him, he couldn't remember the name of. Next, it was a little puppy and, ten years ago, it was a small cat with bright blue eyes named Atlas.

They all died within ten years of their arrival. His little vampire took great care of them, but their mortal existence couldn’t be extended forever. Yet, every time, she would be devastated, mourning them for a long period of time. Just like she was doing tonight, in fact. Atlas had been buried earlier in the night. The poor girl was a mess sobbing in his arms. He gently rubbed circles in her back as she cried all the tears in her body. 

“Now, hush dear," he muttered with a soothing voice, “you gave it a wonderful life. I’m sure he is now thankful wherever he is.”

"Why did he have to go?" She sobbed even more.

"All mortals have to go, starshine, you know that," he reminded her softly.

The stark contrast between mortals and their kind was a truth they couldn't escape. Mortals, with their fleeting lives and fragile mortality, existed on a different plane altogether. They grew old and frail, their bodies succumbing to the relentless march of time, while vampires remained frozen in eternal youth, unchanging and immutable. Mortals came and went like whispers on the wind, leaving behind only the faintest traces of their existence, while vampires endured, their memories etched into the fabric of eternity. Dorian knew the pet would eventually die, just like the others. And yet, despite the inevitability of her passing, she still had them; her family. 

In the quiet darkness of the night, she sought solace in the embrace of the familiar, curling up in the comforting confines of Dorian's coffin. Her tears, silent witnesses to the turmoil that churned within her, traced shimmering paths down her cheeks. He petted her hair gently as Killian placed a kiss on her forehead. And just like that, everything was as it was before. She clung to them as she should.

She would always come to them in the end. Sometimes, it just took a little push, a reminder that mortal life was fleeting — and here she was once again, returning to them with a heart heavy with sorrow and tears.

She would come and they would be there.

┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Does he bring her pets so she can watch them die on purpose as a form of punishment whenever she pulls away for too long?

'Nooooooo, of course nooooot,' Dorian says, u know, just like a dirty filthy lying liar who lies.

[petruchio]

genuine question, what makes taylor embarrassing?

ill put it under a cut i guess but:

idk i guess for me it started mostly all the matty stuff. it was just pretty gross to me. (idc if he thinks he’s an edgelord and claims it’s being ironic and he’s ~actually~ a nice guy behind closed doors. to me it doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day he uses his position of extreme privilege to draw more attention to bigoted racist platforms and that in it of itself just isn’t excusable to me.) (wrt to taylor though, her digging her heels in when people objected to his behavior and pushing it HARD in the media right after leaving her ex… that was just cringey. like aside from the legitimate criticism of the man himself, it was just embarrassing and weird.) then releasing a song about all that that basically just says “you can’t tell me what to do” (admittedly a banger of a track imo but … insane take on that situation.) so all that, compounded with the private jet usage (flying to nyc for one weekend to do a pap walk during your cross country tour) and then responding to THAT criticism with “it’s ok because sometimes i let my famous friends borrow it actually” and then recently the constantly releasing variants and manipulating the charts to keep her album number one (who am i to deny a girlboss from exploiting a rigged system but it’s like … it’s embarrassing!!) idk like sure she can do whatever she wants but it’s just sort of embarrassing to watch for me as a fan. she doesn’t feel cool or aspirational or even nostalgic to me anymore. most of the time it makes me cringe. which is a shame bc i do think she’s talented as a musician and usually pretty good at being A Celebrity and honestly i do still really like a lot of her music. but i have a hard time w a lot of her public behavior since the start of eras.

[salvadorbonaparte]

2024 in Films Part II

The second quarter of 2024 and the films I watched during that time

April

Chuck Berry - Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987) - What I learned is that Chuck Berry was difficult to work with but probably fun to hang out with

Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust - The Bridge to Russia (2014) - Billy Joel ended the Cold War. Jokes aside a really good documentary about a historic tour and how music connects people across ideological and geographic borders. the song Leningrad hits very different now.

Next Goal Wins (2023) - the most underdog story to ever underdog story

Gran Turismo (2023) - What if gamers were oppressed???

Az Men Git Nemt Men (1982) - charmingly bad yiddish disco musical. As a living language, Yiddish has the right to have bad media produced in it. It doesn't just have to be serious, sad classics.

May

Batman Returns (1992) - Iconic

Batman Forever (1995) - Obsessed with the outfits

Batman & Robin (1997) - Obsessed with the outfits again

Chantal im Märchenland (2024) - Surprisingly fun

The Batman (2022) - Dark but like visually as well, couldn't see half the film. I rewatched The Lego Batman Movie immediately afterwards and it was such an experience. I also rewatched the Dark Knight trilogy the day before.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993) - Cute but I feel soo bad for Bill Pullman

July (I didn't log any films in June so I am including July in this quarter, sue me)

Psych: The Movie (2017) - I binge watched Psych in a worringly short time span and then binged the films in one evening. You know I am NOT normal about this because I screamed when Shawn had the glass fish in his office

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home (2020) - the totally legal website I watched this on kept recommending me Beethoven and Hachiko. Also seeing how they incorporated Timothy Omundson's stroke in universe and how he is recovering nearly made me cry. Also seeing the credits say James Roday Rodriguez for the first time also nearly made me cry

Psych 3: This is Gus (2021) - That ending is so chaotic and I hope they make a fourth film. "Previous Holiday" by Curt Smith is a banger

[microwave-core]

I've been plagued by thoughts about the cooking skills of the champions for some reason and have no choice but to write them down so here you go. Blue strikes me as the type of person who has the potential to be a great cook but rarely ever puts the effort in. He just doesn't care too much for cooking. He has other things to do and he can get food somewhere else. That being said, if he is cooking for another person, than he is going to go all out because he is a try hard. Complimenting his cooking gives him the biggest ego boost.

Red is a microwave cooker, as in at least 90% of his meals are going in the microwave. Average meal consists of a cup of noodles and a mug brownie. It's passable, it works enough for him and that's all he cares about. Dude lived on a mountain for a long ass time, he doesn't need luxury, he just needs to get by. He has a male living space, I'm sorry.

Lance is pretty average. Your not getting anything incredible out of him, but you know it's never going to be terrible. He also seems like the kind of person to eat the equivalent of chicken and rice for every meal almost every day of the week. He's not against making something else or eating out, but he would prefer to just make something quick and move on with his day.

Steven is banned from the kitchen. This man will burn water. Anything he touches will be scorched in an instance. Don't ask him how it happens, he doesn't know, his hands just turn ingredients to dust upon making contact, and no amount of supervision or guidance can save him. The only reason he should be manning a stove is to be making Bismuth crystals.

Wallace is a great cook and also loves cooking. He will make a banger meal, every meal, every day of the week, and he takes pride in that. He loves to cook for other people, both to show off and take care of them. He is also the only reason why Steven hasn't died of malnutrition. If they ever get divorced, Steven is in danger.

Cynthia would be on the better end of average. Still not anything incredible, but, again, you know it's never going to be bad. But she definitely seems like the type who would much prefer to eat out at any and every opportunity, especially with company. She doesn't dislike the act of cooking, she just doesn't like how long it takes.

Alder is a grill dad. At every event-family gatherings, league mandated meetings, Ghetsis' court hearing-he is outside and he is grilling. He's got the kiss the cook apron and sandals and everything. Whatever he makes, it is going to be delicious, and you will almost defiantly be sent home with tons of leftovers. Man is just dad shaped.

Iris feels like she ranges between incredible and terrible. As in, she will either make one of the most delicious things you've ever had in your entire life or the worst thing you've ever put in your mouth, and there is no in between. It's entirely dependent on what she makes, like she has some recipes that are baller and anything outside of that is risky at best. Also seems like the type who would make really good ramen.

Diantha is also a great cook, but she rarely has the time to do any actual cooking. Girl is way too busy juggling the work of being both a champion and movie star to set aside time to cook. She's almost always going to eat out, mainly around Lumious City. She's practically a regular at every major café, as she constantly cycles between them for each meal of the day.

Kukui is pretty good, but is also a group cooker. He needs to be cooking with another person, whether that be his wife, or his pokemon, or one of his many adopted children, or his actual child. It doesn't matter, he just needs to be with someone to talk and mess around with. it's lonely when no else is there.

Hau only eats Malasadas. It is the only thing he has consistently eaten for years. The fact that he is still alive is a mystery. People close to him are constantly offering to eat out because that is the only way he will eat literally anything else. It's not that he doesn't like other foods, or that he's a picky eater, he just really likes Malasadas.

Leon is on the lower end of average. He can usually make a passable meal, but he's gonna miss sometimes. He's also never at home, so he rarely even has time to cook with to begin with. However, as a baker? He's nothing short of immaculate. Easily the best baker on this list. He would win The Great Galarian Bake Off every year without any competition.

Geeta is an enigma. Is she good? Is she bad? Incredible? Terrible? Only she knows. She's also the type who barely ever has time to cook to begin with, being the workaholic that she is. She probably hasn't touched a stove in years, and has very little desire to change that fact. Do not ask her to cook, she will not do it.

[is-this-even-relatable]

I’ve seen this a few times and I wanna address it. In the phandom, as a fan of Danny Phantom, you can be a fan however you want.

You’re not wrong for liking what you like. If you don’t care for AU’s and fanon and all the rewriting and fix-its and shipping… then good on you. If you watched the show as a kid and are a fan because you like canon and the show itself makes you happy, then good on you. If you discovered the show recently or as an adult and are diving into a new passion, then good. on. you.

We all love the show, or at least the concepts and vision behind it, that’s why we are fans. (especially the theme song, THAT I think we can all agree is a hecking banger.)

ASIDE 1: What this post is addressing is the concerns from some people who only like canon, or prefer majority of canon over fanon, about feeling left out of the phandom. I’ve also heard some people, who grew up with the show, who’ve said that Butch Hartman is their childhood hero, and feeling awkward and off to the side in the phandom, while people bash on him and the show.

While yes there are problems, and I truly recommend everyone who reads this looking up “Why don’t people like Butch Hartman?” or “What did Butch Hartman do?” and doing a bit of research on your own, this doesn’t mean you can’t still have that childhood respect.

It’s a bittersweet sort of thing, where someone doesn’t turn out to be as great as you’d envisioned they were. Where you have respect for them from the past, and are learning that they’re not who you thought they’d be, and you feel betrayed because maybe your trust was misplaced. But that’s not on you, and you shouldn’t be shamed for wanting to preserve that memory and keep the innocence of your childhood heroes alive.

I myself, have had a huge part of my childhood and formulaic memories, had to be reevaluated once I got older and realized that hey… that was definitely problematic. I was a kid, and didn’t know any better, but the organizers definitely did. I’m glad to have done it because those experiences really mattered to me, but I feel guilty for thinking that because I also now have the knowledge that it wasn’t right. Cultural appropriation is a huge disrespect to the things I thought I was respecting when I was young. So although I appreciate the memories and the time I spent and who it made me today, I can say for a fact I do not condone the ones who orchestrated it, because I have become an informed individual. Because I know better. So I will continue to love the ideals introduced to me, but I will go about it the correct way.

In that thread, I do think that it’s good for everyone to educate themselves on the media you consume, especially on subtle contexts and perhaps why some things get spread around like “butch hartman sucks” rather than just accepting or rejecting hearsay without confirming it for yourself. If you don’t know something, seek to understand it!

But, and I stand by this, any existing or future issues with the show’s aging or it’s creator does not give anyone the right to make any other person feel unwelcome. And if anyone, phandom or otherwise, yells and kicks and screams and or otherwise has a hissy fit at you for liking canon or anything like that… then fuck em.

Nobody can stop you from loving what you love! We are all on earth together, and you truly only live once. So don’t waste the amazing time you have doubting yourself. Don’t spend time reading and consuming content that you don’t want to. If you wanna read canon fics only, never reading crossovers, then you. go. damn. do it.

If you’ve never created anything in your life, never drawn a doodle or written a blurb, you are still a part of the phandom, and we are happy to have you. Leave comments, likes, and reblogs to show your presence and appreciation! Tell the content creators you like the most that you appreciate what they’ve done!

In the end, we are all just people, who one day found ourselves reading/watching/looking at a silly ghost boy who was just 14, and found that we couldn’t look away.

[pigtailedgirl]

Due South's The Deal and Frank Zuko. How to do character antagonist to focus on character.

Say hello!

The opener gives us insider knowledge unknown to us! We already see him as he blowhards and threatens to rule. No shame mobbing it up in a church. It seems sets up another Due South odd interesting villain.

Then hello again my old not friend. What the first inkling of his connection with Ray does, and this first exchange, is show and tell that this is the worst of the everyday evils. The kind that lurks in your life; through doors with smiles, and is forever waiting in your space.

I love how this immediately sets up the it's personal dynamic. He's trying to play with Ray, Ray's not having it but has to go along, story of life, and Fraser is here to butt in forcefully. (BTW , look at Zuko's displeased face at Fraser included!)

And then I wanna highlight something that isn't just shadows and lower camera res season 1. I posted before about the different framing of the seasons. Banger example upcoming.

All the times they do cut to reaction shot, a great many in DS. All the times we have highlighted Fraser's reactionary watching of others in a multiple person scene, a lot of watching Ray.

Like so

Instead, there is this.

Fraser off-side and blurred. By choice 100%.

This is very smart blocking and using the camera to tell character focus and frame.

What you think should be a brief focus shot of Fraser's reaction, what you expect, of watching their back and forth or a clear POV of his read... isn't. It keeps he's doing it, and it matters he's there and between and watching BUT pointedly the POV shown to the audience is it's not about him and what he thinks or feels on it all. Despite even Ray addressing him he's not included. We aren't supposed to be reacting WITH him so the camera obscures him in just the right way.

This is two back and forth, alone, and all the emotion stays focused there til it boils over and he finally comes into frame to interrupt.

But again not the center. He's between and aside and not hero framed or lighted.

Telling us from jump something is different this episode.

Perfection.

[thekingwhereitallends]

MitsuSara One Shot: Tsukuyomi x Amaterasu

Summary:Sarada crosses Mitsuki's path and aims to stop him from embracing darkness.

Main Pairing:Mitsuki x Sarada Uchiha

Genre:Fantasy,Sci-fi,Angst

*This is a fanfiction i finished and published on ao3 for valentine's day but since i doubt you clicked on the link to read the first chapter back then two months ago in christmas, i thought of uploading this banger here.

Don't be afraid of commenting. Likes and reblogs are appreciated.*

"The artwork is a christmas gift for me drawn by @scarletofspring . Do not steal/repost/use it without permission!*

Date:Nov.27th 2042

Primordial World

On the endless planet that exists in centre of the boundless creation, There is a boy praying for gods to lend him a power surpassed by no mortal, but those who know this boy are not certain if he is planning to be a savior or bringer of apocalypse. Mitsuki often wonders if he could really fight off the forces of darkness or not.

"Right on time." Mitsuki says an instant after finishing his prayer. Mitsuki looks back over his shouder to meet a person he cherishes more than any other. "I hoped it's Sumire who follows the traces and reaches me. But of course you will be the one who seeks me out."

"Mitsuki..." Sarada stands around 20 meters away from her friend, staring at her friend with crimson eyes that aim to penetrate the heart of the person in front of them in search of answers but fail miserably as the bearer of those eyes is hesitant.

"Been a while,Sarada." Mitsuki turns back. "I missed you dearly." Mitsuki wears a smile but Sarada can clearly feel the sadness that has shook her soulmate to the core.

Sarada wishes to pull Mitsuki in for a warm hug above all else, to weep bloody tears together with him and finally find solace in each other's arms. However, between Mitsuki and her there is an imperceptible barrier that prevents Sarada from reaching for Mitsuki.

Sarada can sense Mitsuki's dangerous thoughts but she knows Mitsuki will never lie to her.

"I felt a void with your absence for so long as well." Sarada looks away,but why?

"Once a person achives great chakra control, they are able to perform astonishing feats. For instance children will surpass adults, the shinobis will become highly resistant to genjutsu and the ninjas would last much longer than their peers with average chakra control. They can also do this..." Mitsuki snaps his fingers, Sarada finsa herself in a peaceful environment with Mitsuki. The seemingly endless dimension that constantly changes colors.

"The ability to enter Astral Plane. Over two thousand years ago, Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki were became the very first individuals to learn perfect understanding on mechanism of chakra which allowed them to evolve in extremely short amounts of time. By the age of 18, they were already 7th dimensional entities with limitless potential who kept ascending until they transcended the boundless creation. They left immeasurable avatars of themselves in each universe, to teach ninshu to all societies. The people learnt to enter this plane and by spending time together, came to settle all the matters and that resulted in global peace in so many worlds. Many of those worlds are free from evil and corrupted, and many other abandoned their beliefs." Mitsuki continues.

Mitsuki approaches Sarada, touching her chest where the heart is located with his index finger. "I don't even need to touch you here if my wish is to reach your heart. I can read all your emotions like an open book if i will it. But let me ask you one thing..." Mitsuki takes Sarada's hand in her's and places it on his chest. "Are you brave enough to put aside all those fears and do what you must do?"

Sarada closes her eyes to concentrate. Mitsuki realizes Sarada is ready to embrace her true feeling therefore he makes it easier for Sarada to read his emotions.

'Sorrow,Grief,Regret,Despair,Relief...and Jealousy...' Sarada thinks, resting her forehead on Mitsuki's chest, shivering as she can feel Mitsuki's feelings to a great degree. "Why?"

"I'm not the only person whose memories had been lost." Mitsuki speaks,which takea Sarada by surprise. "Let me show you what you have forgotten." Mitsuki's right hand finds it's way up to Sarada's left arm, lifting Sarada's chin up with his left hand's forefinger. "There..." Mitsuki points at his right side.

"That's..." Sarada watches a little girl wearing white buttoned shirt, red tie, red skirt and black sandals approaching a healing chamber filled with water, in a room drowned in dim dark blue light. Inside the chamber, there is a naked boy. The girl covers her eyes.

"Why don't you have anything on?" The little girl with red glasses cries as she covers the slight blush on her face.

Sarada's expression turns into an annoyed one as he witnesses that particular scene, dropping her shoulder. "Did you bring me here to piss me off?" Sarada gives Mitsuki a side-eye, which is funny to Mitsuki who chuckles seeing Sarada like this. "Yeah,that was intentional. Showing me my embarassing younger self."

"Just keep watching." Mitsuki utters, patting Sarada on top of her head. Sarada turns her attention to the tiny version of herself.

The little Sarada lowers her hands to see the boy out of sheer curiosity. "Woah..." Little Sarada murmurs, mesmerized by the sight of Little Mitsuki inside the water tank. His pale skin shining, captivating Sarada. 'He reminds me of Sai-san with this snow white look of his. But that white hair...gosh, i wanna fondle with his silky white hair so bad.'

Sarada and Mitsuki each raise an eyebrow when looking at each other. Sarada frowns, Mitsuki smirks.

"Please don't tell me i wasn't the only one who heard those words?" Sarada frets, which has Mitsuki roll in the aisles. Sarada too cracks up the instant she sees Mitsuki being greatly amused

"I always wondered if someone ever liked to play with my hair. That's one of reasons why i let it grow this long because i surmised you would be attracted to me. It seems the old you would've loved to bury her face in my hair." Mitsuki bubbles as he gently punches Sarada on the arm.

"Come on,you look fine as heck!" Sarada insists. "Honestly, i was searching to find the shampoo you use but i could never find it. I bet it is especially made for you, right?" Sarada continues, pinching Mitsuki on arm as she is laughing.

"I asked my parent to make me a super nutrient shampoo with the sweetest scent and after a few days, they came up with the proper formula. That's the whole story." Mitsuki responds. "Now now, don't let all distract you."

"Right." Sarada said.

"What are you looking for,Sarada?" Sasuke says, jumpscaring his little daughter.

"Gah...you know i am unable to sense your presence and keep doing this over and over again." Little Sarada yells, pouting as she folds her arms.

Little Mitsuki opens his eyes, gaining Little Sarada's attention as a result. Staring at Sasuke with his amber eyes, Mitsuki's gaze is devoid of any positive emotion but also not showing any sign of negative thoughts. 'Sasuke...san...'

"It seems this kid could do what you fail to do." Sasuke teases his daughter.

"You mean he woke up because he could sense your aura?" Little Sarada asks her father.

"Yes." Sasuke responds.

"Is he Orochimaru-san's son?" Little Sarada asks her father as he lifts her from the ground to hold her in his arm.

"That's right." Sasuke answered.

"Why is he inside this water tank?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"How long has he been inside there?"

"Ever since he was born. He can only stay outside of the healing chamber for less than a day and then spends the next couple of days inside it."

"That is awful."

"But it's good for his own sake."

"..."

Sasuke watches her daughter as she reaches for the glass to touch it. Little Mitsuki does the same, pressing his hand against the part of glass where Sarada's hand is touching it.

'What is your name?' Little Mitsuki thinks? interested in the girl who apparently does feel for him.

"When you were born,you too became sick. Your body couldn't handle the powerful chakra you inherited from me. Sakura and I decided to bring you to Orochimaru, who saved your life. You were here, inside the healing chamber. After four months, this boy was born therefore you had a company on your right." Sasuke tells her daughter what he remembers about Mitsuki's birth.

"And?" Sarada turns to Sasuke, with eager eyes waiting for Sasuke to finish his story.

"The kid carries a power matched by none of those in his generation...in your generation. It doesn't mean that you don't have the potential to reach his level, just that he's now a few steps ahead of you and your friends."

"But why has he inherited such absurd level of power?"

"Well,i'm not sure if i can answer this question. It's up to him to decide what to do with this unfathomable might of his. It could be a blessing for the people he comes to love and himself, or a curse that will only bring pain and suffering for everyone he knows. If you are lucky enough, he may end up befriending you."

"Hm..." Little Sarada starts to ponder.

"What do you think,Sarada?" Sasuke asks his daughter in a gentle tune.

'Sarada,huh?' Mitsuki thinks, grateful that he doesn't have to wait for a long time to find the girl's name and that he had learnt some speechreading in the past. 'Why do i care?' He was surprised at himself for being intrigurd after seeing the girl infront of him.

"I think i'd like to spend some time with him. He gives me the vibes of a cool boy. That's my first impression of him, mind you that no other boy seems like him to me."

'She thinks i am cool.' Mitsuki thinks, the words that just came out of Sarada's mouth relieves him.

"Don't you want to know his name?" Sasuke asks his daughter.

"You refused to reveal his indentity, how bold of you to ask me this question." Little Sarada replies, poking on Sasuke's forehead repeatedly which makes Sasuke chuckle. "No,thanks. I will ask the boy the next time i see him outside of the healing chamber. You keep in touch with Orochimaru-san, and then bring me here to see if the boy is as good as he seems or not."

"Fair enough." Sasuke responds. "Shall we leave?"

"Yeah." Little Sarada said as she wrapped her arms around her father's arms who started to walk away from Little Mitsuki's healing chamber. She waves hand at Mitsuki as she begins to carve the lonely boy's image into her mind. 'We will meet again,i promise.' Sarada thinks and the closes her eyes with a sad expression on her face.

"December 29th 2031. A couple of days later..." Mitsuki swings his sword and the thought vanishes to be replaced with another one.

"Ready?Fight!" Karin shouts, declaring the start of Mitsuki's and Sarada's sparing match against each other. The kids charg at each other, five hundred of times faster than speed of light.

Suigetsu is sitting in a corner chewing his fingernails, terrified of of what might happen to Sarada. 'If Mitsuki accidentally messes Sarada up, Sasuke will surely fuck Orochimaru up and we all may be fucked amidst that scary battle which looks more like a massacre to me now that i think of it...'

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk..." Karin is utterly disappointed to see Suigetsu in that condition until she figures what her husband may be thinking at that moment. 'Oh shit!' Karin freaks out.

Yoruza, Suigetsu's and Karin's red haired, pale skinned daughter with violet eyes is sitting close to her father, resting her chind on the palm of her hand. "Dad,get out of this drama king mood of your's and be the badass man you usually are."

Seina Shakudo; Orochimaru's red-haired of fair complexion with beautiful aquamarine eyes companion is standing on The Lord of Darkness' rightt side, drinking her her cup of tea. Not really amused by the sight of children fighting each other.

And then there is Jugo who finds all that is happening to be peak of entertainment. Birds taking seats on his shoulders, chilling with the peace-loving and kind-hearted beast. "You all better stop being so dense and enjoy these moments."

"I admire your spirit,Jugo. But as a mother who has not clue how this boy has been trained to fight, it's only natural for me to be perturbed." Sakura says.

"After the conversations i've had with my dear child, i deduced that someone has had an impact on his mindset. I'm afraid it will cost my son the inevitable victory. And i have no one to blame..." Orochimaru stops talking as they sees Little Sarada on top of Little Mitsuki "But Sasuke-kun." Sasuke's daughter punches Orochimaru's son in the face.

"OUCH!" Little Sarada lets out a groan. "What are you made of?!?"

"I...uh..." Little Mitsuki panicks as he sees his rival broke her hand and wrist because of him. "Sorry..."

"I told you that you all have a screw loose." Log yells at everyone else.

Sarada is left jawdropped agyrt seeing how her younger self was humiliated. "That was embarassing."

"Fastforward to the important part." Mitsuki says.

"It's okay. It was expected, you know. My mother healed my hand. Everything is fine now." Little Sarada telss Little Mitsuki as she putsbher hand on his shoulder.

"I promised your father i will never hurt you. That i will always protect you from anything that threatens your safety." Little Mitsuki says, his head buried between legs.

"Look,i don't plan on becoming a damsel in distress. I appreciate your concern but you don't have to feel guilty for what happened to me. I should've trained much harder and become stronger than everyone else, including you." Sarada asserts.

"Why?" Little Mitsuki asks

"Because my dream is to become the greatest hokage of all time, silly." Little Sarada said and booped Little Mitsuki's nose, the latter blinks after she did that to him.

"You sound incredibly passionate..." Little Mitsuki sighed.

"What's your dream?"

"Me?"

"Yes. You. Who else do you think is supposed to answer this question?"

"I don't have any dreams."

"Come on, don't be ridiculous. That life you're living is so boring if you have no purpose."

"I have been told that my birth was the will of gods. I guess you will have to be waiting till i find the answer you're eager to hear now."

"That's not what i wished for but i suppose it's still cool to know you too are going to have your own adventures. Why aren't you excited?"

"Perhaps the reason for that is i have yet to have a dream of my own.

"Oh...that...actually makes sense."

"Yeah..."

Little Sarada wrapped her arms around Little Mitsuki's arms and leaned onto his shoulder.

"I almost forgot... What is your name?"

"Mitsuki."

"I am Sarada."

"I know."

"I thought you were a cool guy."

"Did i disappoint you?

"Yes."

"Sorry."

"You may be even cooler than my papa."

"What?"

"I should be hating on you but i can't. I am angry at myself for that."

"Hmph..."

And then Mitsuki and Sarada come back to primordial world.

"Ada rewrote the history to alter my memories. Because of Kawaki, i was rubbed of so many precious memories but there was one constant in my life that didn't fade away:You." Mitsuki utters as he is unbuttoning his black and dark blue trenchcoat. "My brother made me think that Boruto is my sun. Boruto,son of Naruto Uzumaki who saved the shinobi world. Beacon of hope, child of prophecy, he has been given multiple aliases. Log thought that Boruto was the right person to guide me for he would never fall to darkness. Ada altered almost everyone's memories and in my mind, Kawaki was the person Boruto was supposed to be. Kawaki messed up, which made me question the nature of reality and i came to realize a subtle truth."

Mitsuki transports his trenchcoat into a dimension in which Mitsuki stored his weapons and tools using the summoning tag wrapped around his left wrist under the separate arm sleeves.

Showing off his shredded upper half, It's the first time to see Mitsuki with six tomoe marks on his chest. Mitsuki also wears a crescent moon necklace made of moonstone and silver that Sarada gifted him on his 13th birthday.

"The bond Boruto and I formed was never as strong as i believed it was. He was indeed a bright child who encouraged me at times and i considered him a dear friend of mine's, but he was living in his own world. He often didn't exist in my life. Boruto was never the sun to my moon because i never really idolized him, always made sure he learnt from his mistakes." Mitsuki asserts.

"But there you were. Perhaps i was drawn to you because of the genes i inherited from my parent Orochimaru who was always obsessed with Uchiha. But ever since we met and were put in the same team, i looked up to you and unconsciously followed your footsteps. You were the one who was guiding me all along. You were there for me when nobody else was. You loved to hang out with me not just to know me better but also to help me become independent. You wanted to be by my side because you found peace when we were together. Think about it..." Mitsuki continues.

Sarada shut her eyes, trying to make a sense out of all that came out of Mitsuki's words. Sarada never hated symbolism and metaphors,but rather that she believed Mitsuki was obsessed with them to no end. She hypothetized that the reason for that could be the loose sense of identity or lack of a defined purpose in life. However, after what she heard a few moments earlier,it seemed to her that Mitsuki had finally realized what his goal is.

"It doesn't matter if i truly am your sun or not. I'll make sure to become one to save you from the limitless void you are trapped in. That's my promise,Mikki." Sarada asserts,with a bright smile on her face.

"That's what i was talking about." Mitsuki shuts his eyes,wearing a half-smile.

"One thing that bothered me in this last four years was that everything was about Boruto and Kawaki. You distanced yourself from me and no matter how much i tried,i could not really figure out if you chose one of those idiots over me. Not that it makes much of a difference now. Had you not chosen separation,you wouldn't be here prepared to beat me into a pulp if that's what it takes to bring me back to the village." Mitsuki glowers.

"You know that's not true! Boruto is there fighting for his life and doesn't really have anyone out there to back him up if bunch of bastards decide to hunt him down!" Sarada insists.

"Boruto was far more powerful than you when he left and he had Sasuke-san on his side! You were only risking your life and almost got yourself killed because of Kawaki! There was no sane for you to do what you did in all those years! You should've had faith in Boruto and valued your life because without you,all hope will he lost!" Mitsuki yells at Sarada.

"What are saying..?"

"The cloud of optimism has blinded your judgement. You may be able to reason with so many people,but there will come a day you will not be capable of empathizing with someone. Either because they are irredeemable or that they don't wish to be saved...You can't save everyone,Sarada. It doesn't worth to risk your life in doing so,because it's upon Boruto as the man who is slowly beginning to truly understand Kawaki's pain."

"I highly doubt that you plan to spare Kawaki."

"Kawaki is much too dangerous to be left alive. I have to get rid of him before he manages to fully masters his powers. He is unhinged and unpredictable,i won't allow him to take the lives of my loved ones or any other living being."

"Mitsuki..."

"What did Ada do to deserve such a horrific death?"

Tears falling from his cheeks,Mitsuki covers his eyes. "Neither Code nor I could save her. I could only just to see how she lost the single ray of hope she had kept in her heart for all her life."

"It's never too late. We may be able to fix it all."

"Only if you follow my lead this time around."

"What is your goal?"

"My goal...is to achive true peace. Not just for humans but all living beings. That includes Otsutsukis as well. This is an ambitious goal. A revolution on multiversal scale."

"Are you out of your right mind? Humans, Otsutsukis and Tenkajoyos have antagonized each other for billions of years! There is no way you can put an end to this conflict so easily! There will be an interdimensional war like no other and countless lives will be lost!"

"What if the one who wishes to settle all the matters shares the same blood with the three species?"

"No way..."

"A hybrid with royal blood of three supreme species flowing in his veins shall be given the authority to rule over the creation itself. But before that,a sacrifice must be made."

"That's why you came here,huh?"

"You always wished to know about my heritage. You asked me if i had a mother or if it was my parent Orochimaru themself who gave birth to me and that i am not really a clone? You came up with so many theories and to be honest,they were weird but interesting nontheless."

Mitsuki summons his 2 meters long sword. Muramasa sword which is in it's sheath that is decorated with jewels and a kanji sentence "Seikyo no Kishin" written on it which translates to "Demon Death God".

"Everything you know about the nature of my birth is true, although it's half of all you should be aware of. I am a synthetic human whose genetics were modified to be perfect in order to carry the power of gods. I am a partial of clone of Toneri Otsutsuki,therefore i descend from Hamura and Mirina Otsutsuki. For your information,Mirina Otsutsuki was a princess but considered to be an abomination for mere fact that she was daughter of Otsutsuki King and Dragon Queen. Two thousand years ago she came to our universe in order to reclaim Kaguya's chakra but fell in love with Hamura who guided her to the path of righteousness and became one with her. The source of Mirina's power is from an ancient god that Tenkajoyo clan worshipped. He is called Ryujin,and in the last two eons ever since Hamura and Mirina,no one was ever able to draw power from that god. I am the first person since my paternal ancestors to muster the true might of both Otsutsuki and Tenkajoyo clans as a human being."

"You said paternal? Does that mean you have a biological mother?"

"Yes. Sometime before the birth of Boruto, my father Toneri became ill for a short period of time. Hinata-hime learnt about it and rushed to his side,and healed his wounds. My Father kept Hinata-hime's chakra inside himself for it was his share of the woman he unconditionaly loved, which partially transforming his genes just like your father whose life was saved by Karin-san and that became one of main two reasons you are wearing glasees."

"..."

"Listen to me, back then i always told you that i will always support your dream to become hokage but i learnt to see the whole picture. You should never be a hokage."

"Mitsuki,i know where you are coming from but i genuinely believe i can change the shinobi system!"

"Just like Naruto-san did,right?" Mitsuki mocks Sarada.

"What?" Sarada is caught off guard.

"This shinobi system is founded by a man driven by fears and ready to terminate whole bloodlines if that's all it takes to protect his nation. Let me tell you the story of a boy whose dream was to become the most powerful ninja of all time,to be a hokage who puts an end to all the war and conflict. Do you know what led to Uchiha Downfall?"

"My uncle Itachi slaughtered his clan because he was tired of shedding blood and sweat for them. He left the village and turned into a rogue ninja who shortly afterwards joined Akatsuki."

"It seems your father didn't tell you the truth. It was the government who ordered Itachi to eradicate Uchiha off the face of earth. Fourty years ago, it was masked man who summoned kyuubi and because of that person, thousands of civillians and shinobis were killed. Danzo speculated Uchiha clan were responsible for the tragedy,but he didn't know it was an outsider who did that. Obito was a chunin of the village,who was said to have given his life to save his friend Kakashi. He was saved by a mysterious man and became his shadow. Obito was Madara's puppet who aimed to destroy the village. The Uchiha inside were deemed guilty and were oppressed and ostracized,while Obito manipulated your grandfather's subordinates for his own benefit. Uchiha plotted a coup d'etat to overthrow Konoha government for treating them fairly,and there was Itachi who was a conflicted double spy forced to make the toughest decision one could possible make. Itachi did what he did to prevent a world war and deaths of millions of innocent children."

Sarada freezes.

Mitsuki has been staring at the ground and now turns his gaze to Sarada.

She is on the verge of crying.

"There is no need for me to tell you what our Tsubasa-sensei and Boruto went through. As long as this shinobi system exists, there will be child soldiers who have to make sacrifices. Races to be eradicated. Nations start wars because of difference in religious views, pillaging other territories for money, invading other regions to gain more influence, killing people out hatred or for revenge. Many do it just to enjoy seeing their victims perish. This cycle of suffering shall not end until someone stands up in the face of injustice and cruelty to fight back. I shall be the one who crushes the corrupted systems of all worlds. You have no place in such world. I won't allow you to serve a system founded on blood of countless innocent lives."

"What is the difference between you and Kawaki?

"I will not commit genocide. Kawaki's mindset is hypocritical in essence as he is ready to kill whoever stands in his way while be pretends he is only trying to save the village."

"But what if you die fighting for your ideals?"

"You and I are the same regarding that matter. I am not a suicidal maniac,but if my sacrifice is all it takes to turn my ideals into a reality then i will gladly give my life knowing everyone will be happy and safe."

"You know that i am not gonna let you do that,right?"

"Then join me,Sarada. Together,we can do anything. There is no need for you to oppose me."

"I can't do that unless i betray my ideals."

"I see..."

Mitsuki draws out Muramasa out from it's sheath. The scarlet-colored sword starts to shine,thirsting for blood. "It's said that Muramasa is a cursed sword that corrupts the wielder as the time passes,slowly turning them into ruthless murderers. But if the one is mentally strong enough,they are able to resist the temptations and use this weapon for justice. This is a weapon that bypasses indestructible defenses and targets the soul to erase the impurities. Before ascension, i have to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts and emotions to become a perfect vessel to host the powers of gods."

"Are you sure that's what truly wish for?" Sarada says as she activates her mangekyou sharingan.

"Those who wish to hurt you...I shall crush their dreams...no one has the right to take you away from me..." Mitsuki says as he stabs himself in the heart In order to break the seal that prevents him from reaching his fullest potential.

"Mitsuki!" Shouts Sarada as she leaps toward Mitsuki.

A torrent of water wraps itself around Mitsuki's body,the drops of water burn through Sarada's flesh,forcing her to jump back as she figures the water is not harming her friend.

"Curse the fate for this unforgivable plot!" Mitsuki utters,and the torrent of water pulls him inside the endless ocean of primordial world.

Sarada summons her Crimson Red Perfect Susanoo and reaches for Mitsuki only to stop in middle of air as she hears a warning in the back of her mind.

"That rivers of abhorrence, concealment, woe, lamentation and fire enter that ocean. If someone like you jumps into that,the best case scenario is they will be erased from the timeline instantly. Direct contact with that ocean in this place will be your doom." Says Katsuyu.

"What is Mitsuki planning to do,Katsuyu-san?" Sarada asks her mentor.

"I remember my grandfather telling me story of a mythological spear that was used to create worlds. Based on what i witnessed here,it seems the tale was a legend based on the weapon Hamura Otsutsuki created eons ego and buried it deep inside the cosmic ocean. It's said that the weapon can turn one into an omnipotent entity. If a person with dangerous ideology finds it,they shall gain the ability to shatter the very fabric of reality itself on a really vast scale. Ameno Sakahoko is the name of that spear."

"Are you implying that Mitsuki is destined to claim ameno sakahoko for himself?"

"Indeed. He is now bonding with the ocean and ameno sakahoko will become part of his identity, thus no one shall be able to steal it from him even if he dies. But even someone as talented as him should train three years to gain full control over such weapon."

Sarada senses a danger coming and flies backward.

An impact from the deepest pits of cosmic sends shockwaves that shake the entire planet, Mitsuki awakens and flies toward the sky, charging toward Sarada, breaks through her susanoo, wraps his arms arounds around Sarada's body.

In less than an attosecond, Mitsuki crosses three hundred sextillion kilometers to protect Sarada from running out of lifespan and falling to madness due to being so close to the ocean.

Mitsuki let's go out of Sarada and as he is falling on his knees, Sarada finds herself in another dimension. Not the universe they belong to. That seems to be a creation of ancient sages to her.

This was the plan to get out of the primordial world because it's environment puts devastating toll on Sarada's body due to unique laws of physics and metaphysics.

"Mitsuki..." Sarada says as he reaches for her friend.

As soon as Mitsuki's hands touch the ground, he enters his dragon sage mode. His new body adapting as he is summoning the strength of mayhem. The aura he releases so intense it could effortlessly shatter the fabric of reality. It only leaves a crater on the ground, rupturing the planet that is thirty times larger than earth.

'Mitsuki's chakra pool is comparable to Prime Juubi level in terms of potency. He is not joking around...' Sarada raises on her feet, levitating in air as the byakugou seal spread over her body and summons a body sized perfect susanoo.

Black clouds forming in the sky, bolts of lightning striking the ground as Mitsuki stands on his feet. Now looking more like a feral beast than a human being. Locking gazes with Sarada with determination.

"Time to settle this..." Says Mitsuki, as the heavenly jeweled spear appears in his left hand. "Sarada."

"If you say so..." Sarada summons Ameno Murakumo as well,prepared to go all out.

"I will never leave you alone. Not again." Sarada asserts.

Sarada leaps toward Mitsuki and targets his left shoulder, Mitsuki stands still,raises his left arm to block Sarada's sword attack and at the mean time waving hand signs. Sarada notices that and right when she thinks of flying away, a hand grabs her collar which shocks her. 'Shadow clone..!' Mitsuki's shadow clone slams her into the ground and drags her for thousands of kilometers till Sarada turns the tides and punches Mitsuki, a brawl starts in midst of air and the fighters exchange blows till Sarada's fist and Mitsuki's leg connect. Sarada uses her feet to slow down and finally stop her from moving any further. Mitsuki's shadow clone uses his claws to achive the same and charges at Sarada similar to a hungry predator.

Sarada weaves seals using her left hand to create four shadow clones of her own. Her clones corner Mitsuki's clone while she turns back to react on time to block a punch from Mitsuki, who flips on Sarada's shoulder and kicks her on the back and jumps up to the sky. Sarada turns around and figures Mitsuki's waving hand signs again. 'Dammit...he is too fast...'

'Water style:great water dragon jutsu!' A sea of water taking form of a dragon and roaring as it attacks Sarada. Sarada leaps backward and waves tiger hand sign. 'Fire style:majestic destroyer flame jutsu!' The two jutsus of opposing elements collide and cause steam to cover a vast area.

'Summoning art:shadow snake assault jutsu!' Serpents start raising from under the ground to grab Sarada by her feet. Sarada flies away and slashes through several hundreds of them. 'Lightning style:Chidori senbon!' Sarada shoots a rain of blades down on the snakes and then targets Mitsuki's using the same jutsu.

'Not bad...' not bothering to dodge, Mitsuki's clone allows chidori senbons to hit him and Sarada witnesses how all of them shatter and turn to dust. Mitsuki's clone smirks and creates a bow made of purple lightning with his left hand and with his right hand creates a purple arrow,aims at Sarada before she gets to chance to charge toward him and prevent him from using this technique. 'Lightning style:rain of death!' The arrow flies at an incredible speed and Sarada is left with no chance but to flee and hide behind the planets nearby. Mitsuki's uses shadow clone jutsu to turn that arrow into twenty thousand unstoppable blades that penetrate stars and planets, causing a series or catasthropic events in the solar system.

Sarada stops moving in midair, shields her body with her susanoo's wings and releases a massive shockwave that obliterates all the incoming purple lightning blades along with the solar system Mitsuki and her were in.

'Yasaka no magatama!' Sarada summons eight extremely dense crimson tomoes, and fires them at Mitsuki's clone.

The dragon sage substitutes himself with his clone after dealing with Sarada's shadow clones, catching the uchiha prodigy by surprise.

Mitsuki swings ameno sakahoko seven times and one by one, the yasaka no magatama disappear and that leaves one. Mitsuki slices through the fabric of space infront of himself, opens a portal infront of himself and bridges it to another spot in space behind Sarada's back, the last tomoe connects with Sarada's body and leaves a massive explosion, sending her toward Mitsuki.

Mitsuki charges at Sarada and delivers a roundhouse on her chest just to see her turn into a large murder of crows. 'Itachi-san must be proud of her.' The crows start engorging then their eyes turn red, and they blow up at the exact same time.

Mitsuki flies toward Sarada at a blinding speed but Sarada is able to react on time and catch his hands before he can land a hit on her. "You can't gain the upper hand on me using distractions,Sarada."

"About that..." Sarada leans back a bit, gathering a chunk of chakra in her head then headbutts Mitsuki on his forehead, cracking his horn as a result and knocks him back, forcing him to retreat and get a few meters away from Sarada.

"Tch." Mitsuki grunts, his horn is healed instantly. "Not bad." Mitsuki admits.

"You used hand signs three times before casting those jutsus. I was paying attention to see if i can find slightest distortion in flow of your chakra. It appears that you no longer need to wave hand signs at all." Sarada deduces based on what she witnessed earlier in the fight.

Mitsuki smirks. "Show me why Sasuke-san is so proud of you."

An explosion.

An instant later, Sarada sees an ocean of water beneath her feet, several hundred kilometers away from Mitsuki and her.

Just as Sarada's intuition warns her to move away, a gigantic serpent made of water grabs her and tries to bite and penetrate her thick susanoo armor just for the watet serpent to break it's fangs. The serpent slams Sarada into the ocean.

Mitsuki raises his right arm and starts spinning ameno sakahoko above his head right as his water serpent catches Sarada. In the empty void, Mitsuki generates an astronomical dragon made of purple lightning that dwarfs the sun in Mitsuki's and Sarada's timeline. "It's gonna sting, Sarada."

Not allowing Sarada the chance to break free from hold of water serpent, Mitsuki's dragon roars and dives into the ocean. The temperature is so high that all the water gets vaporized shortly upon impact. The absurd electric current that reaches twelve orders of magnitudes passes through Sarada's body.

Mitsuki watches as Sarada heals from the mere flesh wounds, showing no sign of fatigue or dizziness. Mitsuki can sense that Sarada is only annoyed, glaring at him with her cursed crimson eyes that are beacon of hope.

The anger fuels Sarada's motivation and makes her chakra more potent than before. Sarada claps her hands and summons an asteriod with density of trillion kilograms per meter and around the same size as the moon. The asteroid hits Mitsuki on the back and Sarada flies upward and charges toward Mitsuki to punch him in the chest so hard that he is sent flying backward and the asteriod gets obliterated.

Mitsuki enters a blue star and starts to manipulate it's core, absorbing all elements except for iron. Boosting the speed of chemical process and breaking the balance between radiation and gravity inside the core of the blue star, Mitsuki forcefully causes a supernova explosion that lays waste to the entire solar system.

A feat impossible for normal shinobis. In fact, one has to possess extraordinary imagination prowess and genius intelligence along with chakra reserves on par with kurama.

Mitsuki then concentrates all the mass in surrounding space into a single spot, creating a singularity with infinite density, giving birth to a black hole using his incredible mental prowess and chakra control. The black hole quickly grows bigger than the planet they landed on after leaving the primordial world. Mitsuki kicks the black hole and shoots it at Sarada.

'Dammit...' Sarada takes a deep breath, draws ameno murakumo from it's sheath and coats it with golden lightning. She swings it and sends a barrage of lightning bolts inside of the black hole.

The particle-antiparticle pairs inside the black are pulled outside of it as Sarada commands it. Sarada prevents the destruction of those pairs, therefore black hole starts to shrink and loses mass rapidly. An event that would usually takes gogols of years to happen, occurs in matter of seconds. The bearers of chakra and those who can mold nature energy in their body are able to bend the laws of physics, and that way a bolt of lightning can be shot faster than light. For instance, Hagoromo was able to travel infinite distance in a mere instant using no space-time jutsu, relying only on sheer speed gained after rigorous training and perfecting his chakra control in his teenage days.

Evaporation of black hole. The tremendous dark sphere dies in a blaze of glory, and it's destruction serves no purpose other than releasing all the energy it absorbed just moments earlier.

It appears that not even the cosmic radiations have any sort of effect on Mitsuki and Sarada. If ordinary ninjas with limited knowledge on the capacity of potential of carrier of chakra were to witness clash of dragon sage and uchiha prodigy, they would think they are looking at two invincible gods who will fight to the end of eternity.

However, Mitsuki and Sarada are fully aware of each other's capacity. The battle's only just getting started.

Mitsuki tilts his head to crack his neck, shrugging his shoulders as ameno sakahoko disappears.

Sarada pulls out her susanoo's twin katana from the sheaths on her back and sets them on fire. Not any ordinary fire but holy fire that is summoned from heaven itself. Sarada is the first uchiha who gained possession of this divine blessing unlike her predecessors who could only wield inferno flames.

"Just as i expected." Mitsuki grins, and makes his own twin katanas with ice style. "You truly are different from the rest of the uchiha."

"Come!" Sarada declares.

Mitsuki and Sarada let out their battle cry that shake the sky, charging toward each other.

The swords connect and release a shockwave that crush the universe to oblivion. They start exchanging strikes as they move and cross different corners of the cosmos.

After three minutes, Mitsuki manages to lock one of Sarada's flame swords with his ice swords. Sarada aims to pierce Mitsuki's abdomen. Mitsuki absorbs the holy fire.

'What?' Sarada is surprised to see that.

'Of course he can do that.' Lady Katsuyu says in spiritual plane shared between her and Sarada.

'What is that supposed to mean?!?'

'You see, the otsutsuki may not be safe from your holy fire, neither are the tanjoyoko. Mitsuki breaks the rule because he not only bathed in ocean of primordial world, but also awakened his divine genes passed down to him by Hamura Otsutsuki who is the supreme ruler of not just primordial world but also heavens too.'

'You mean he's...like what...fireproof now?'

'I guess that'll be a correct way to describe his current state.'

'Amazing..! Do you know anything else about the abilities he may have gained after using cheat code?'

'Luckily for you, he didn't have enough time to obtain invulnerable body. He can't summon water from primordial water nor can he open a portal to that place.'

'That means i have to beat him or i'll look like a total fraud if i lose and...'

'...'

'Forget it.'

"Too dull!" Mitsuki murmurs and then starts kicking Sarada on the chest, first right foot then left foot then right foot again. Mitsuki finishes the combo by doing a side flip kick and moves toward Sarada for another combo.

Mitsuki delivers a raising uppercut on Sarada's jaw with his left fist and hits her with another side flip kick.

Mitsuki turns his katanas into a warhammer and smashes it into Sarada's chest, sends her flying to other side of universe. Sarada crashes into the barrier that separates this universe from the void of multiverse.

The left side of Sarada's jacket is torn apart after the attack, and six of her lower ribs broken. Sarada takes her jacket off and throws it away. Mitsuki flies toward him and the moment he sees Sarada's necklace, he freezes in midair.

"You didn't think that i forgot about this,did you?" Sarada grunts as she heals her broken ribs, with a sad expression on her face.

"I always preferred to believe that it was the most precious gift you have ever received from anyone." Mitsuki responds, a glum smile appears on his face.

"Like the necklace you are wearing,huh?"

"Yeah..."

Date:Mar.28th 2039

Over fourteen months has passed since the day Kawaki sealed Naruto and Hinata inside Isshiki's timeless dimension. So many people are still unable to cope with the fact that their lord seventh and byakugan princess were killed in their own village, at the hands of the boy they adopted and cherished as if he was their flesh and blood. That is what the leaf village believe to be the reality, for majority of them that is the case.

The streets have not been so unwelcoming and gelid for those who mourn the death of their beloved heroes.

And then there are certain individuals whose hearts are filled with sorrow and regret for different reasons. Those who remember what truly happened, those who can see the true enemy.

'For how long am i supposed to pretend that i don't want to knock Kawaki's teeth out? I don't even know if dad is doing well? I hope that idiot Boruto isn't annoying dad with his foolish antics. Gah, i hate worrying about that heedless gremlin of all people while i should be keeping an eye on the sassy emo boy.' Sarada thinks as she walks down her path to home with hands in her jacket's pockets, looking down, not paying attention to her surroundings.

A boy wearing dark out fit approaches Sarada that brings her out of her thoughts with his cold but stable aura. Sarada is not a sensor but there is one presence she's quite familiar with. Each and every single fiber in Sarada's body are sensitive to the chakra that belongs to the person she spends the most of her free time of duty period: Mitsuki.

To Sarada, it seemed like Mitsuki was gonna walk past her but he stands on her right side and stays still, not saying anything nor looking at her at all.

"Your ears." The first words that come out of Mitsuki's mouth.

"Oh, the earring holes... My mother asked me if i wanted to pierce my ears and wear earrings, i thought it wasn't a bad idea." Sarada says. "Sharp eyes."

"I assume Sakura-san's already have something for you as she came up with this idea days before you celebrate your birthday." Mitsuki speculates. 'Sasuke-san is the one who gifts you a pair of earrings, i suppose...' Mitsuki thinks, refuses to say that to Sarada as that will only upset her.

"I guess you are right." Sarada replies. "That dark purple nail polish looks good on your hands."

"You can thank my parent later if you ever met them again."

"Orochimaru-san really is a classy one. You sure have inherited that fashion sense from your mysterious parent."

"I wish that means you are one of few who don't hate my parent."

"There's no reason for me to be scared of the current Orochimaru-san. I'm just wary of them because...well...they seem to be overly secretive and tight-lipped."

"Hmph. Is that so?" Mitsuki asks, then wears a mischevious grin.

"In their defense, they probably act this way to appear charming in people's eyes." Sarada replies, raises her hands in air and shrugs her shoulders.

"Just like me, right?" Mitsuki asks as he puts his left hand on his hip and leaning a bit to the left side

"Yes." Sarada says, smiling.

"Ada is waiting for me. I wished they would give us a break, but crime never sleeps."

"Do you two weirdos get along with each other?"

"If it continues like this, i guarantee you will eventually be jealous of Ada."

"Don't you dare replacing me with that ticklish damsel, Mikki."

"Now that you mention it, i don't see Sumire around. You two are always supposed to be stuck. Strange to see you here walking around all by yourself without your new bestfriend."

"..."

"..."

Sarada scratches back of her head, unable to come up with a cool comeback. Mitsuki pats her on shoulder and starts to walk away.

"See you around." Mitsuki waves hand.

"Take care." Sarada says loudly.

 

Date:Mar.31th 2039

Sarada's birthday party was oddly pleasant for everyone excluding Ada who was uncomfortable in public, and Mitsuki who has began to get annoyed by loud noises.

Sarada picked up and put all the gifts she received in her bedroom with help of Mitsuki decided to be the last person leaving.

Sarada and Mitsuki come out of the room, seeing Sakura who has finished cleaning the house.

Sakura has her back pressed against the wall and staring at the teenagers, arms folded infront of her chest.

"Sakura-san, may i borrow your daughter for a couple of minutes?" Mitsuki asks Sakura who raises an eyebrow.

"Where are your manners, Mitsuki?!" Sarada asks Mitsuki and grabs his wrist, her eyes twitching.

"...Please."

"That feeling of objectification has not faded away, you know."

"That was a figure of speech, Sarada."

"You better watch your tongue the next time."

"I'll try."

"That's not enough."

"Deal with it."

"You-"

"Oi!" Sakura lets her voice be heard.

"Yes, ma'am." Mitsuki and Sarada say that at the same time.

"You better hurry up, or you'll have to feel the wrath of strongest kunoichi in konoha."

"Gotcha!" Mitsuki wraps his arm around Sarada and teleports away.

"Silly kids..." Sakura sighs.

Mitsuki's destination is hokage rock and he lands on top of Minato's head.

"I admit that you are hella fast." Sarada says as she turns to Mitsuki.

"Save that for later. Close your eyes."

"You better not be planning to steal my first kiss, Mikki." Sarada says, pouting.

"Haha, we laughed mad loud for a bit." Mitsuki responds in a mocking tone. "I'm barely thirteen, uchiha-san." Mitsuki pokes Sarada on forehead.

"Ouch." Sarada rubs her forehead. "That was me being sarcastic."

"And that poke was to show you i have class." Mitsuki takes Sarada's hands in his own hands and covers her eyes with the palms of her hands. "No peeking."

"Let's see what you've got for me." Sarada says, a shade of sarcasm apparent in her warm and loud voice.

"You are allowed to open your eyes now."

"Uh-oh..." Sarada slowly lowers her hands and gradually and hesitantly opens her eyes, her heart pounding so hard she feels like it will explode. She is embarassed at herself for being unbelievably excited. 'Future hokage? Puff, jokes on me. I am nothing but a baby.'

"So?" Mitsuki asks, now with a gentle tone.

"Just like what Tsubasa-sensei is used to say: Magnificent!" Sarada responds as she reaches for the marvelous treasure in Mitsuki's hands.

Mitsuki's gift is a necklace. Thin gold chains with a eight-pointed star shaped symbol made of sunstone in red color. It is certainly not the most expensive gift Sarada has received, but probably her favorite after the earrings she is wearing that are created by her father.

Mitsuki goes behind Sarada and clips the necklace around Sarada's bare neck. Sarada shakes uncontrolably at touch of the metal but soon a phenomena catches her onyx eyes.

After Mitsuki finished putting the necklace on Sarada's neck, the star shaped gem starts shining bright. It really does fascinate Sarada.

"Let me guess,you made this cutie yourself." Sarada assumes.

"Yes." Mitsuki says, smiling.

"Did you use yin-yang release method or..."

"I mastered the craft. It took me two days but it seem it did worth it."

"You kidding? I fricking love it so much."

"You're welcome."

"Oh...you used this symbolism again..."

"..."

"Don't get me wrong, i know my mangekyou sharingan has the same shape as this symbol, but still....i...i just...i dunno."

"No,you are right. Your eyes inspired me. Nothing more, nothing less."

There comes a suffocating silence. The wind blows Mitsuki's hair, hiding his golden eyes from Sarada.

Sarada runs her fingers through Mitsuki's hair and slides it to side so she could see his beautiful face. Sarada caresses Mitsuki's cheek, wrapping one arm around his neck and one around his waist, pulls him into a hug, embracing his cold body in her toned arms.

"Thank you...for everything." Sarada says as she holds Mitsuki tighter.

Mitsuki doesn't move, just rests her chin on Sarada's shoulder.

Date:Present Time-Nov.27th 2042

Mitsuki remembers some moments from the past he cherishes, losing focus on the battle, allowing Sarada to gain the opportunity to wave hand signs needed to cast shadow clone jutsu.

Ten shadow clones surround a distracted Mitsuki and jump on him and start beating him up for mere seconds until Mitsuki uses substituition jutsu and gets in iajutsu stance after summoning ameno sakahoko.

"Eliminate all!" Mitsuki disappears from Sarada's sight.

Nearing infinite speed, Mitsuki flies around the universe and slashes through Sarada's shadow clones in a omnidirectional series of attacks, slicing through space itself and disregards their durability, watching Sarada's shadow clones vanish one by one in matter of an instant.

Sarada summons her perfect susanoo again along with gunbai before Mutsuki could cast Wind Style: Great Wind Whirlwind jutsu, expelling the chakra she kneaded in her body into holy fire and uses the chakra of Mitsuki's own attack to cast Fire Style: Great Fire Whirlwind jutsu, creating three enormous whirlwinds that knock Mitsuki back.

Sarada appears behind Mitsuki, strengthening the force of her punches by casting Earth Style: Ultra Added-Weight Rock jutsu and concentrating tremendous amount of chakra that she has been storing in byakugou seal in the last two years, into them and strikes Mitsuki in stomach so hard he crashes through the barrier of universe that shatters.

Mitsuki has no time to recover as his back hits the barrier of another universe.

"Channaro!" Sarada begins to deliver a remorseless and devastating flurry of punches as she shouts angirly at the friend who does not regret leaving her. Sarada screams because she can't forgive herself for hurting Mitsuki, for all there is that she can do is to try beating some sense into her beloved companion. Sarada has to convince Mitsuki what he is doing is wrong, because if she fails to do that, there is a strong chance he will die.

Sarada is afraid of that possiblity and she will do whatever it takes to prevent that from happening.

"GIVE UP!" Sarada yells at Mitsuki, striking him with the palms of her hands, sends him flying until he freezes in midair, gasping for a few moments and starts coughing blood, covering his mouth with his hands as he transforms back to the first stage of dragon king sage mode.

The hanging crescent moon necklace brings back Sarada to three years ago...

 

Date:Jul.25 2039

It's early in the morning, everyone is asleep while the sensory division are watching over the village. Nothing can be heard but the dawn chorus of birds.

'Is there something wrong?' Kohan asks Mitsuki telepathically using mind body transmission technique and chakra transmission communication device that expands the range of yamanaka clan's hiden jutsu and allows the sensory division to make contact with those who are fifteen kilometers away from the leaf village.

'No. Everyone's sleeping.' Mitsuki responds, standing in Ada's bedroom, barely a couple of feets distance between them.

'The night shift is over. You may leave now. I will make contact with Sarada and Sumire.'

'Yes, sir.' Mitsuki approaches Ada who has wrapped arms around a pillow, and puts a blanket over her. Mitsuki caresses Ada's cheek with back of his fingers.

Mitsuki is assigned to this mission not to befriend Ada and Daemon literally but to pretend that he loves to spend time with them and genuinely likes them.

Perhaps Mitsuki isn't of the kind who considers not hurting feelings of the people as he is logic-driven and blunt, that doesn't indicate he lacks empathy for certain individuals who share similar experiences with him.

Ada is a conflicted person and her thirst for love is something Mitsuki relates to. Mitsuki often thinks that he is alone in the world, and he can see that Ada is dealing with the very same irritating sense of melancholy.

Ada is skeptical but also optimistic at the same time. She claims that keeping silence is a wise move but when she is with Mitsuki, she becomes chatty and can go on and on for hours. Ada says she hates fighting but won't bat an eye if someone were to be killed for opposing her.

Mitsuki perceives Ada as a paradoxical existence who reminds him of not just himself but also Tsubasa Emiya, his genius mentor.

Mitsuki was able to bond with Ada because he truly believed that she deserves to be given a chance. He wishes happiness for Ada and considers her to be his companion.

At first, Mitsuki was yet another "cool guy" for Ada but shortly after she started to fraternize with him, Mitsuki grew on Ada. Ada tends to refer to Mitsuki as her Darkest Knight, and prefers keeping company with him than anyone else in konoha as he understands her the best and is always frank without being rude.

Mitsuki walks out of the bedroom, mentally stressed.

Mitsuki comes out of the house and spots Sarada who has her hands behind, Mitsuki knows that she is hiding something from him that will only just confuse him.

"You like to keep me waiting. I don't." Sarada approaches Mitsuki with firm steps and an awkwardly fierce look on her face.

Sarada stands close to Mitsuki, her chest almost touching his, gazing into his eyes.

"Okay..." Mitsuki murmurs.

Sarada is glad that Mitsuki can read her mind and save her the trouble of explaining herself and what she wants to say most of the time. And now Mitsuki shuts his eyes, without even being told to do so.

Sarada gently puts on a necklace on Mitsuki's neck and then pokes on his forehead.

"Here you go." Sarada says with enthusiasm, grinning.

Mitsuki lowers his head to look at the necklace Sarada gifted him.

Thin silver chain and a crescent moon shaped symbol made of moonstone that is glowing.

"I saw it coming and it still baffles me." Mitsuki says, looking at Sarada with a curious expression on his face.

"At first, i was really not interested in that sun and moon symbolism you are so obsessed with. But after my birthday, i don't really mind it." Sarada asserts, Mitsuki raises an eyebrow hearing that. "Because you are the moon. Don't waste your time on Boruto and Kawaki, you are my moon."

Mitsuki is left speechless, drowned in a sea of thoughts and doubts. Mitsuki hates when he can't find a proper answer.

Sarada leans forward and marks Mitsuki's left cheek with a gentle kiss.

Mitsuki presses his forehead against Sarada's with his eyes closed. Sarada interlocks fingers with Mitsuki's to comfort him. From time to time, Mitsuki forgets just how desperate he is for the warmth in Sarada's touch.

"Happy Birthday, Mikki."

"Yeah."

"You love it, right?"

"Absolutely."

 

Present Time

Mitsuki stares at his bloody hand in disbelief.

"You are pound-for-pound the single strongest person i have ever fought." Mitsuki admits and then covers his face with his left hand, his body still trembling because of the damage inflicted onto him.

"Hehehehehe..." Mitsuki starts laughing in a hair-raising manner, shaking Sarada to the core. "HAHAHAHAHAHAH"

Mitsuki's laughter is no longer sweet or genuine. It is sinister, twisted. He has finally snapped.

"THIS ENTIRE TIME YOU COULD'VE MOPPED THE FLOOR WITH SO MANY BASTARDS BUT YOU CHOSE TO WAIT JUST TO GO ALL OUT AGAINST ME?!?" Mitsuki shouts at Sarada, making her break into sweats.

'The ritual is now showing it's side effects.' Katsuyu says in the mental plane.

'Since Mitsuki couldn't fully rewrite his DNA, his mind is unable to withstand the pressure of the incomplete power of primordial ocean bestowed upon him. Is that what you were gonna say, Katsuyu-san?' Sarada says, clenching her fists.

'You have to put an end to this fight. Mitsuki is unhinged, far too dangerous than he has ever been.'

'Are you done?'

'Yes.'

'Good.'

Sarada returns back from mental plane and sets her eyes on Mitsuki.

"I will save you, Mitsuki." Sarada insists.

"I don't want you to save me, Sarada." Mitsuki asserts.

Sarada forms a rasengan in her right hand, and makes it bigger than planet earth itself.

Mitsuki gathers chakra in his left hand and transforms it into stream of black electricity.

Sarada attacks with her ultra big-ball rasengan, Mitsuki quickly flies towards it and tries to deflect the planetary sphere using his dark chidori as he lets out a cry of rage.

Mitsuki releases an electric discharge from his left hand, cancelling Sarada's rasengan as a result.

Mitsuki spots Sarada who shots an arrow after amplifying it's speed with wind style, using a red bow that is her perfect susanoo's special weapon, it travels so fast space around it is distorted. Mitsuki summons muramasa sword and cuts the arrow in half, and the two halves of arrow melt away instantly.

Mitsuki cuts his forearm open with muramasa sword before it starts to thirst for Sarada's blood, boosting his physical prowess and strengthening his chakra by boiling the energy flowing within him, Mitsuki transports back muramasa sword to the spiritual plane and charges at Sarada.

Sarada tries to defend herself from Mitsuki's punch with her bow, but the dragon sage's claw breaks it apart. Mitsuki punches Sarada on abdomen, then on face, then uppercuts her and at last delivers a knee kick.

"What is it that motivates you? Is it the urge to prove that you are not powerless and can save everyone around you? Or the overwhelming guilt you feel because Ada was killed and i went rogue?" Mitsuki yells at Sarada as he is grabbing her arms.

"Cut it out!" Sarada shouts at Mitsuki as she digs her fingernails into his neck and shoulder.

"Why are you so obsessed with Boruto and Kawaki?!"

"WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH ME?!?"

Mitsuki grits his teeth upon hearing that question and lets go of Sarada.

"Back then, you were worrying about Boruto the whole time, always told me that Hinata-san asked you to look after her reckless son. Kawaki came, and your desire to mimic seventh hokage became a reason for you to befriend Kawaki. You know that he regrets nothing at all, and you still wish to believe that there is still good in him." Mitsuki says, with a devastated look on his face.

"You said it yourself the best. If i lose my grasp on hope, i'll be nothing but a shell of my true self. Kawaki can pretend that he is all tough and merciless, but deep down he is the same broken child desperate for slightest bit of parental affection. His ideals are twisted but with Boruto's help, he can change for the good." Sarada claims, her lips curle into a smile , wearing a saddened expression.

"Ridiculous."

"You are so difficult."

Mitsuki and Sarada fly away in opposite directions without turning their back on each other.

Mitsuki and Sarada puff steam breaths, the first being of ice and the latter of fire.

"Who would've thought we would use those two techniques on each other?" Mitsuki says, releases tremendous amount of dark energy that takes form of an endless cold steam reaching thermodynamic temperature to absolute zero.

"You did, didn't you?" Sarada asks Mitsuki, as she expells gigantic amount of light energy that spreads around the space behind her, transforms into holy fire reaching the planck temperature.

 

Date:Sep.11th 2040

Ada is in the hall, sitting on the nine seater, drinking apricot banana smoothie through a straw.

"Here, have a sip." Ada offers Mitsuki to take a small mouthful of her drink.

"You don't have OCD?" Mitsuki asks Ada.

"I'll make an exception this time around." Ada says, outstretches her right arm and rests it on top of the sofa's frame.

Mitsuki leans in, tucks his hair behind his ear and puts his lips on the red straw, drinks a sip of the smoothie.

"Very appetizing." Mitsuki confesses, licking his lips.

"I might open my juice bar one day. Who knows maybe you will be there to lend me a hand in work." Ada says, giggling.

"If only thery was no tension in this world..." Mitsuki says, sighing.

Mitsuki outstretches his left arm and rests it on the top of sofa's frame.

Mitsuki and Ada put on one leg over the other at the same time, sitting crosslegged.

"That's what happens when you are together." Daemon says loudly as he jumps on the sofa and sits next to Ada. "You should never be left alone all by yourselves."

Then appears a man infront of the teens, jumpscaring Daemon.

"You-" Daemon is cut off as another one pops up out of nowhere.

"Your progress is awe-inspiring, Houki." Tsubasa says. "Keep it up and you will surpass some of your predecessors."

"That is only possible because of you, Tsubasa-sensei. You have my sincerest gratitude." Houki says.

"Hello everyone." Tsubasa says, patting Houki on his back.

Daemon disappears, sticks to the roof and leaps toward Tsubasa to hit him just to phase through his body.

"Are you a wizard or something?" Daemon asks Mitsuki, frowning.

"I am a sage of six paths." Tsubasa replies to the kneeling boy. "Ada."

"Handsome." Ada responds to Tsubasa.

"Keep this mini goblin away from me." Tsubasa asks Ada.

"Come here, Daemon." Ada tells her little brother who turns to Ada and then looks back at Tsubasa.

"I'll get my hands on you one day, pretty boy." Daemon says.

"You can't even achive that goal in your dreams. There is no shinobi on earth who stands slightest chance of victory against Tsubasa-sensei. Likes of Kakashi-senpai have stated that Tsubasa-sensei might be the single most powerful being in existence. You can consider him our failsafe asset." Houki states as he sits on other edge of the sofa.

"BS! There ain't no way this edgelord can defeat me!" Daemon shouts.

"You can brag about it all you want. I can't care less about spoiled brats with an ego the size of the universe." Tsubasa says.

Someone throws arms around Tsubasa's waist from back and hugs him tightly.

"I missed you dearly, sensei." Sarada says.

"You have grown stronger." Tsubasa says, knowing well that Sarada always hugs him to lighten his mood.

Sarada unwraps her arms around Tsubasa and goes to sit next to Mitsuki.

"You sit here hand in glove with Ada. My god, Mitsuki..." Sarada whispers in Mitsuki's ear, Ada hears her and nods her head.

"I hope all is well, Tsubasa-senpai." Sumire says as she gets past Tsubasa and sits beside Sarada.

Tsubasa spots a frozen Himawari behind him. Himawari's cheeks glistening with blush, gazing at Tsubasa with heart eyes.

Tsubasa approaches Himawari, lifts her up and puts her on sofa next to Houki while everyone are analyzing his each and every single movement.

"Hima." Tsubasa says, snapping fingers infront of Himawari's face.

"Are you an angel? If not then why are you so pretty?" Himawari asks Tsubasa, who turns to Houki and both roll their eyes and facepalm themselves.

"Whatever." Tsubasa says, patting Himawari on top of her head. "Sumire asked me to come here to share a piece of knowledge with you. My gosh i hate being a teacher to death. So boring." Tsubasa continues with his tongue in cheek.

"Then why on earth you waste your time mentoring these goons for two years?" Daemon asks Tsubasa who frowns after hearing her.

"Tragically, i have been cursed with this sense of responsiblity that pushes me to do what annoys me to death." Tsubasa responds. "Not like you would understand what it means. Anyway, it's history class time! Let's talk about ancient times."

"Aw man, you want to babble on and one and give me irks.

"And ancient gods."

"For real?!?"

"No for fake."

"That doesn't sound too bad, you know." Daemon says, his cheeks blooming.

"In the seventh century and after the death of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the cosmos became battleground of two demi-gods. They were the sage of six paths' sons: Indra and Ashura Otsutsuki. Indra was an outstanding prodigy among his peers, never surpassed by his descendants nor successors. Indra was an individualist who believed he could bring justice and order through force, and never relied on people. Hagoromo saw that and thought that Indra is not worthy to be the next leader of ninshu. Therefore on his deathbed, Hagoromo passed on his powers to Ashura, the younger son who wasn't particulary talented reached enlightenment. Overwhelmed by rage and hatred, Indra rebelled and waged war on followers of Ninshu all by himself."

"Indra was a real one for that. That is peak badassery." Daemon says, everyone turn to him and look at him with mixed feelings of disappointment and shock. "What?" Daemon folds his arms. "You can't change my mind."

"He battled Ashura for years but he failed to taste victory. Indra grew tired and decided to retreat. Indra sought to awaken his father's dojutsu, the rinnegan. But how?" Tsubasa continues, approaching Ada and bending over, waiting for an answer from her.

"He needed to mix both yin and yang chakra inside his body. After an indefinite period of time, knowing that Indra was a bearer of mangekyou sharingan, his eyes would evolve and transform into a single or a pair of rinnegan." Ada states.

"Bravo." Tsubasa pats Ada on shoulder. "You better take your taijutsu training seriously. You have untapped potential."

"If you say so." Ada says.

"Indra had absorbed a small portion of Ashura's chakra, and spent months on deep meditating, multiplying that chakra and then mixed it with his own chakra. After that, he could manifest fantasy and created a perfect avatar of himself, transplanting that avatar's mangekyou sharingan, activating eternal mangekyou sharingan as a result." Tsubasa goes on.

"That is cruel." Himawari says.

"Maybe. Who are we to judge?" Houki says.

"Indra finally attained a pair of nine tomoe rinnegan. Ashura had forseen that, thus he perfected his mastery over six paths sage mode, pushing himself to reach Indra's level." Tsubasa continues.

"We are lucky that things went down they way they did." Sumire says.

"I think not." Mitsuki responds.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk." Sarada utters.

"Indra is not just ancestor of Uchiha, Emiya and Chinoike but also the creator of all forms of ninjutsu. He was a super genius and casually invented complex techniques and experimented on the environment to gain a proper understanding of reality. That is when he created a pocket dimension. Indra wanted to see what happens if space reaches it's boiling point. Indra released the inferno flames inside the pocket dimension and increased it's thermodynamic temperature until the interesting stuff appeared in a certain point." Tsubasa says.

"Planck temperature." Ada says.

"That's my girl." Tsubasa says, making Ada feel proud of herself and sees her cheeks redden. "Planck sized black holes started to form and flooded the cosmos with radiation and particles, triggered a big bang event."

"He was a nerd." Daemon pouts.

"Is there a problem?" Mitsuki turns to Daemon.

"Eh... in this case, i guess he is just way cool for me to slander him." Daemon says.

"Originally, there were two sages of six paths. Hamura was the co-inventor of six paths sage mode who landed on moon and decided to live there. He married a hybrid otsutsuki named Mirina Otsutsuki who bore him a daughter: Meigetsu Otsutsuki. A demi-goddess whose talents were said to surpass even that of the legendary Indra Otsutsuki, Mirina invented a fearsome technique that inspired Indra centuries later." Tsubasa explains.

"Sensei, you should tell me more about Meigetsu Otsutsuki." Sarada says.

"I will." Tsubasa says. "Mirina aimed to find the lowest possible negative thermodynamic temperature, thus she used her ice release and reached absolute zero temperature. The disorder disappeared at that point, all motion stopped which means time could no longer flow, and matters were obliterated on a subatomic level."

"What were the names of those jutsus?" Himawari asks Tsubasa.

"The first was called Genesis and the latter... Nemesis." Tsubasa answers Himawari.

 

Present Time

'I need more!' Sarada shouts.

'Roger that!' Katsuyu says.

In mere moments, Katsuyu channels immeasurable amount of nature energy into Sarada's body, enough to match Mitsuki's rather unparalled energy pool.

'I owe you one.' Sarada says.

'Don't mention it.' Katsuyu responds.

Mitsuki's dark energy enters nigh-infinite number of universes, crushing everything to oblivion.

Sarada's light energy also melts everything to other side, giving birth to infinite planck sized black holes.

Mitsuki concentrates all the concentrated energy he absorbed from the destroyed timelines and suppreses it into a form of blue moon.

Sarada does the exact same thing but instead of creating a moon, she manifests a star that is around twenty four times bigger than the lunar sphere Mitsuki made.

"You are the only one who can rival me, Sarada." Mitsuki asserts.

"I didn't want it to be this way." Sarada utters.

"It's over now."

"Forgive me, Mitsuki."

'Demonic Arts:Ice Style:Nemesis!'

'Divine Arts:Fire Style:Genesis!'

The warriors scream as they shoot the astronomical spheres at each other, pushing their bodies to their limits.

Mitsuki figures that Sarada's technique is overpowering his own, and chooses not to evade this attack from point blank range, embracing destruction to repent for the injuries he inflicted on Sarada during this fight.

Boom!

Mitsuki floating in space, knocked out of his sage mode, surrounding by newborn planets.

One instant, Mitsuki's body glows and the other it doesn't. Mitsuki has not accepted defeat, not yet.

Sarada watches as Mitsuki is regaining his consciousness, bloody tears coming out of her right eye after overusing the ameno uzume ability of her mangekyou sharingan which allows her to summon holy fire.

"You just won't stay down." Sarada mutters.

And a bloody tear falls from her left eye.

This is what kept Sarada safe from big bang's harm.

Amano Iwato.

Sarada transported her body to her personal domain before the explosion was triggered.

Sarada replaces the surrounding space with her dimension.

Chains are created from naught and bind Mitsuki to a torri gate.

"Impossible...how could i...lose..." Mitsuki drops his head out of shame.

 

Date:Feb.14th 2042

"He didn't came, right?" Mitsuki asks the girl who is sitting on bed, burying her face in the pillow she is hugging.

"I hate to say it, but it seems like Kawaki's heart is made of stone." Ada , throwing the pillow away and jumps out of the bed.

"How many times did i tell you Kawaki doesn't deserve your love, Ada?" Mitsuki utters, rubbing Ada's arms.

"This damn attraction won't let go of me." Ada murmurs, putting his hand on Mitsuki's chest.

"You cling to this bond because you think Kawaki feels lonely in this world just like you, yes?"

"There's a single dim ray of hope in my life, and it's the slim chance that Kawaki will love me back. I can still wait but i don't know exactly when i'll grow sick of this." Ada wraps her arms around Mitsuki, who runs his fingers through Ada's hair.

"You're risking everything."

"Even if that's true, You'll be there for me, my darkest knight."

Mitsuki says nothing just kisses Ada on top of her head and wraps his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly.

"You can count on me."

 

Date:Present Time

"I lied...again...and again...i failed..." Mitsuki mutters as cold tear stream down his face.

Sorrow, regret, humiliation, powerlessness, hate and rage.

Overwhelmed with negative emotions, Mitsuki snaps as he begins to absorb nature energy from Sarada's dimension.

"No..!" Sarada mutters as Mitsuki regains the strength he lost.

Mitsuki lets out a deafening roar that finds way to gates of heaven and hell, showing he is not bound by the laws of Sarada's domain.

Mitsuki generates enormous amount of lightning from himself, flooding Sarada's space-time, shattering the fabric of reality.

Mitsuki escapes Sarada's dimension, spots his opponent hyperventilating and severly fatigued, her body couldn't withstand the absurd level of energy it received, could barely even move or mold chakra.

Mitsuki flies toward Sarada who throws a weak punch, easilly grabs her hand and pokes her on forehead.

"Forgive me." Mitsuki says as Sarada loses her unconsciousness.

Mitsuki casted a special seal on Sarada which traps her conciousness in realm of dragon king for a short period of them.

Mitsuki's plan was to weaken Sarada to such an extent she will be unable to resist or break out of the realm quickly.

Mitsuki spent most of his remaining chakra to perform this technique. He summons ameno sakahoko to open a portal and passes through it just to fall on ground with Sarada's in his arms.

Mitsuki looks at Sarada's necklace that emits a dim light, and holds Sarada tighter.

Mitsuki stands up with Sarada in his arms and lays her next to another dear friend of his...

Code.

"I assure you, the victory will be our's." Mitsuki asserts.

[sukirichi]

OH MY GODDDDDD CANON OMIYN KISS OMIYN KISS OMIYN KISSS, WE DID IN LIKE HALF A YEAR WHAT IRIS COULDNT DO IN FIVE YEARS IR WHATEVER 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ she can keep suna - or well… not suna :v

that chapter was insane tho, i hope iris develops a pregnancy ick to vanilla and projectile vomits every time she enters the room. i also know that rintarou’s little act is gonna bite his ass sooooooo hard, like brother pls you’ve never made a single good decision in your life and i know his ass can’t stand iris rn so 😗😗😗 i think no matter how in love yn was before this, it’s not gonna matter anymore, cuz there’s genuinely only so much someone can take before they mentally just cannot handle the heartbreak and disappointment anymore, going forward i think rintarou and yn are gonna work as a team to fight back against the queen, but they’ll never be lovers again me thinks.

that’s okay tho, cuz omi exists and he’s hot and he loves us and the rings mean nothing anymore!!! like genuinely, yn needs to realise morality and ethics are tossed aside when both parties essentially agree on a partner swap 😭 kissing a married man doesn’t matter when his wife is carrying YOUR HUSBANDS BABY LIKEEEE??? stand up yn…. babygirl you’re better than this…. omi’s a good man….. 😔😔😔 it’s time to move on from rinta, he wouldn’t milk a cow for you like omi would 😔

but i do understand, rintarou’s manipulation is harder to shake since despite his words, he genuinely was in love with her and his actions reflected that. it’s hard to rationalise that you need to leave and put yourself first, when the man you vowed to love for eternity through thick and thin and better or worse is like…. a total walking “woe is me” pity party. rintarou’s fatal flaw is that he believes he’s smart, but he’s honestly the most naive character in the story - and we can see him slowly learning, but he’s constantly on the offence when he should really be defence. the queen is good at attacking because she’s got years of experience on how to pick and choose her battles and fight (metaphorically) quick and aggressively, rintarou doesn’t have that.

anyways, banger chapter suki, i’m gonna reread it for the omiyn moments again, need to hear that man whimpering atp 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

(also you don’t have to answer my long ass multi chapter analysis ask if it’s overwhelming, i know it’s like a massive chunk of text, so it would also clog up the dash 😭)

- shhh anon

(ask sent before ch18)

HELL YEAH we managed to do what iris couldn’t in five years lmao 😭 GASP. not you calling him not suna LMFAO. you’re so right though, it’d be nearly impossible for them to work out as lovers after everything that happened between them but it is very likely they will team up together when they have a mutual enemy!

he wouldn’t milk a cow for you like omi would AGDKQLPQ honestly tho omi would do ANYTHING for us! he’s a good man, savannah 😭 and oh god yes that’s like the whole point of rintaro’s character and why he’s so hard to like but also difficult to completely turn away from. i read in some psychology books before that when actions are paired with sweet words, there’s a bigger chance that it leaves quite an impact and right now, rin is half half like he is genuinely in love now but just not... doing and saying the right things so it makes you wonder that like!! what could he be hiding!! why can’t he just be genuine!! and yes so correct, he IS the most naive character in the story like even atsumu has more guts and brains than him bcos we literally saw him pull shady shit just to keep his image good 😭 yes he SHOULD be on the defence ugh i love that, this is why he was never gonna win against the queen because the queen is experienced and knows and controls EVERYTHING in the kingdom. the only reason iris was ever able to one-up the queen is because her mother gave her evidence that the queen was the one who wanted the king gone 😭 also shhh anon thank you SO MUCH for always taking the time to send me your thoughts and theories, i appreciate you so much!! 💓🌷💫

[edge-oftheworld]

albums and activism part 3: blood on the drums by ashton irwin

I was debating whether to include this here and so early on, but blood on the drums seemed the best album to use to illustrate an important point: you can't do any activism if you're dead.

and this is a 5sos blog anyway sorry for nothing but white men to this point

I'm going to go through track by track and discuss how each song talks about mental health and why this is important. Figure we probably need less of an introduction to ashton, but the historical activism on his/the band's part is going to be woven into it. This is dark, even for one of my posts. There will be mentions of self harm, suicide, domestic violence, and addiction below the cut, so please stop reading if you need to; I'll post a reblog of this with the rest of the songs on this album once that section is over which you can skip to once it's up.

but if you can stomach it I’m also proud of this analysis please read it lol

Straight to your heart: this is an excellent introduction to the album to me, because it's an upbeat pop song about love, but if you listen carefully you get a glimpse into darker topics running through the whole song. The album is the same: it's fun and an excellent listen, but it also delves into some really important subject matter regarding all things mental health.

Straight to your heart's bridge, barely 2 minutes into the 'thorns' side of blood on the drums, is where we start to hear 'you kill my loneliness' followed by 'if I'm not with you I'm better off dead'. This prompts a new hearing of the chorus, and what is meant by 'you'll be my hero here in the dark, saving my mind from ticking'. What exactly does the protagonist need a hero to save him from? He's talking about death 2 minutes into the album. And we'll touch on this later but first, I want to draw a parallel between this and 5sos in general. A pop/rock band who write generally upbeat songs with excellent instrumentation and vocals and lyrics that are sadder the more you listen to them (it's no surprise that this is the genre of song Ashton has gotten good at writing). I think that we forget that it hasn't always been normal, but they've been pioneers at starting discussions about mental health in the mainstream music sphere for almost a decade now; especially Ashton and Michael in the early days. They've been honest and vulnerable, sharing their own experiences with things not everyone understands or has compassion about, with the world, for the sake of us fans.

I think it's time we talked about how we can make sure we're being compassionate towards them as well, as well as towards ourselves and each other.

Break up: I do this weirdly morbid thing with this groovy banger where yes, it's a song about cheating, an imaginary scenario for a lot of us and something we've been hurt by for a lot of us too. But it can also be listened to as a story illustrating an important (and terrible) intersection of men's and women's mental health (in a heteronormative society, though neither position is unique to men or unique to women, there is just unfortunately one type of scenario that dominates statistically, and that is men's violence against women (but also against trans, genderqueer and other marginalised groups)). 'In my imagination, the heaven I'm building, you two come together but you don't leave here with him' aside from jealousy, what's another reason you might really want someone you care about to break up (right now) with their significant other and be with you instead?

Here, the concept of a lover being a hero and a lifeline is reversed. The love interest is empowered with the autonomy to decide when to break up with their current lover, while the protagonist tells them what they want as well; but also empowers them with the corrective experience that being in love can be fun. They don't have to feel small and worthless. The protagonist finds hope in the fact that 'you say I'm not like him'. Maybe they're just horny but maybe it's that abuse takes many forms, but has a common impact on the self esteem of the party being abused. Here, the cheating can be read as a way to take that back, a way to feel empowered again to make the difficult decision to 'break up... be with [the protagonist] now' where they might otherwise feel trapped.

I definitely don't think this is the intent of the song--but I also love the idea that when deciding who to blame or even demonise, things aren't always what they seem.

Blood on the drums: the whole concept behind this, getting blood on your instrument (drums) because you’re giving it your all, is brutal and evokes a certain kind of dark imagery in of itself. It reminds me of the old ‘play me til your fingers bleed’ (you ruin me, the veronicas, referring to guitar), a self-destructive kind of passion, which calls back to the concept of ‘working your fingers down to the bone’ as an image of striving and often exploitation. Blood on the drums (song) tells of feeling trapped and waking up and realising the worst of it was a dream but living with the memory of your own subconscious torment still. It speaks of the insecurity of uncertainty when there’s a lot on the line because you’ve invested everything in this endeavour (will I stand or will I fall; will I ever learn to fly, will I make it out alive?) surrounded by the disbelief of others who insinuate that success is impossible.

But hard work does pay off, sometimes, and that can be said of creating art, of activism, of recovery. Sometimes the blood on the drums is necessary, the blood, sweat and tears you put into something are worth it in the long run, a sacrifice that’s more of a multiplying investment. And for those of us who have the ‘bad dream’ of a trauma background to recover from and brains we have to work to work with, survival doesn’t come naturally, I hope you do give it your all. I hope you do learn to understand the difference between the blood from a life-saving surgery and the blood from another injury that’s unnecessary suffering. I hope you learn to channel your urges towards the latter towards the former. Both in yourself and in society. Sometimes blood on the drums means triumph. This is also an album of triumph.

I did briefly want to touch on the concept of guardrailing and the dignity of risk as alluded to in the second verse. I’ll let you research these terms on your own, but I hope you know that you have the right to autonomy to decide what risks to take and you have the right to work yourself as hard as you choose to (but no one has the right to force you to. sometimes it’s satisfying and ends up being the road of least harm to push yourself. Learn to identify that. Learn to just not listen to the haters. And to have boundaries and where oppression can’t be escaped, find ways to take autonomy over yourself as much as possible in ways that are, in the long run, healing—even if they don’t look like it in the moment or to the outsider. If you’ve been anywhere in this fandom the last 5 years or so, you’ve heard about the value of trusting your own intuition). Let this tune convince you you can have the thrilling and worthwhile life you dream of.

anyway did I mention I really love this song? and album?

I see the angels: I think this is a song about religion and finding the holy in the mundane, including and especially yourself. it plays off Christian themes such as glory following suffering (ie I’ve learned to fly with both hands tied). do you see an angel in yourself after all you’ve been through?

‘I don’t see the light but I see the angels’ implies that the protagonist hasn’t found the light of enlightenment and salvation that Makes Everything All Better people like to stereotype. It’s not all fixed. Everything isn’t all better. There’s no ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ but there are angels all the way there. And the song nuts out a bunch of the trials along the way. Trials we go through surrounded by angels if we look for them. Angels that might just be within us; we might be the angels that we need for ourselves first and foremost, but also for each other. It’s a beautiful song of resilience through really dark times. It pairs perfectly with blood on the drums (song). It’s worth it do go through hard things. If you love it let it kill you.

(And it means it’s really sweet how ashton called luke ‘a real life angel’ for his birthday last year and then made a post just to tag calum as an angel in his life recently too, I get the impression it’s a really high compliment to him, and we’re really blessed to get to see this song of discovering there’s an angel in yourself and live it alongside him.) Some people don’t know how it feels. They don’t see the angels. But a few more of us do, thanks to this song.

tw suicide and self harm for the following paragraph

there was a tumblr trend from maybe 10 years ago of referring to people with self harm scars as angels. I think it came from a viral post that may or may not be around, popular enough to pop up on my pinterest feed at the time (I could probably find it in a few hours if I tried, I haven’t). the viral post from sometime in the 2010s in the peak of the ‘if you have one of these 3 mental illnesses that are the only mental illnesses that exist you’re too soft and gentle for the world and can never do any wrong’ was an explanation of the really sweet and tragic worldview of a child whose teenage relative had died of suicide (framed as going back to heaven). here’s my message to all the angels reading this. I believe heaven is real. but don’t return (yourself) to heaven before your time. there are angels all around you and we want to make your stay on earth including all the hard and painful things as liveable and enjoyable and satisfying as possible. this is what we do activism for. it’s also what we build friendships for. cherish the angels in your life past, present and future.

There’s a lot more than just 3 mental illnesses and the mental health movement of the 2010s has been criticised for only covering those that are already the least stigmatised and most common. Mental illness also doesn’t absolve you of personal responsibility and doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing wrong. You’re still just as valuable. And when it comes to activism: some things we go through can mean we have to take more care of ourselves and that may mean being judged by others in the movement. But there’s also a chance that having had dysfunctional and destructive habits of your own, you may have better insight on how to enact change than someone for whom moral behaviour has come easy due to their privilege. Still, cherish yourself like you’re an angel. And balance it out with ‘if it doesn’t hurt it doesn’t thrill you’. Sometimes that can simply refer to trying to figure out how to behave morally.

Lose you: if you’ve heard any 5sos album you know that themes of emotional dependence on a partner and insecurity make regular appearances in their songs and have for at least a decade. Including in the upbeat pop songs such as this one, sometimes it’s not that deep but behind every ‘if I lose you I know that I might not make it back’ is a fear that feels very real at least at some point.

Contrary to the last two songs, we get lines like ‘done chasing’ and ‘why risk it’, ‘pressing on the brakes’ to prevent impulse decisions that turn out to be mistakes. Knowing your heart can break. Asking, ‘am I in my right mind’ rather than simply suffering and calling it normal. Self preservation is actually another part of the picture. Realising we rely on others is too, even among the hard work and prioritising looking out for ourselves. This is the song that highlights the fact that you can’t do activism or be there for anyone if you’re dead. The song that gets you thinking about how to go upstream and choose a bit of self preservation sometimes, long enough to realise that no, you’ve not been in your right mind for a long time now and you’ve been acting as if your heart can’t ever break. You know it can now. And you can sing a happy sounding pop song about it!

Rebel at heart: now we move onto the self acceptance middle section of the album. I feel like this one continues a lot of the themes of I see the angels: how you see yourself, and sustain yourself through times of suffering, recovering your identity almost. Except what's interesting to me is the different connotations of the concept of being an 'angel' vs a 'rebel' and how they're both referring to who you are inside, and in a lot of ways to the exact same thing in this context. Pop angels and punk rebels perhaps? This is a duality that 5sos as a band very much straddles. But who says that these things are actually so different? Angels are associated with sensitivity, but can often be associated with divine justice too. Rebels are shunned by the structure of society but carry with them a certain association with street cred, sympathy for the oppressed, and leadership in standing up against injustice. Surely that hints towards a sensitivity to injustice and to the idea of being stifled? It's a more masculine trope, sure, but Ashton has explored masculinity and sensitivity before in songs like Scar and it's interesting to see the two intersect possibly more than we realise, when we take off the goggles of false dichotomies that really only have to do with the relation to authority.

I've talked before about how I appreciate this band when it comes to accepting myself and this rare and stigmatised neurodivergence I have that centres around easily feeling trapped and needing a lot more freedom to feel like myself than most people. Rebel at heart really captures this for me, and the realities of an unaccommodating world: burnout, escapism, destroying myself trying to play pretend (because I'm not actually capable of sustaining it). And in the end, when you feel the boot upon your chest (any kind of oppression, suffering, even the kind created by our own brains) there's something you should never forget.

Don't you see who you are? Coming out of the dark? You're a rebel at heart. Gonna blow them away. When you're feeling the pain. You're a rebel at heart. It's motivational and it also captures the disability that is the pda profile. That's just one of many applications of this song. It can apply to the mental illnesses we've discussed already. Maybe the 'angel' trope doesn't really work. Maybe the 'rebel at heart' trope works better. Maybe it is empowering in that it gives you the framework on how to live a life that's authentically you and it might not fix everything but it's easier to survive it when you've taken off the weight of other people's expectations on top of everything else. You don't just have the options to go back to heaven or to suffer in a world not made for you, even though yes, the world isn't made for you. Because you're a rebel at heart.

Oh, and it makes it almost expected of you to do some kind of activism when you're a rebel doesn't it? Luckily we've also now got a bit of a blueprint to be able to survive it, sensitivity and all. I can't stress enough the importance of this song.

Last night of my life: we're thinking about death again, but not in a hopeless way. Tomorrow's not guaranteed. We've seen people live and die. So let's acknowledge the fact that these people have hurt me and not pretend to still like them. Am I satisfied with my life; if it were a project I got to rest after, if it was the only thing I did til then, would I be happy? Only if I confess to you all the rain left in my chest. I have a story to tell. It involves not pretending that there isn't rain for one. And when I think like this, for once I don't wanna skip to the end.

It seems self-explanatory, a bit existential, but when you take it in the context of the thorns, of a life filled with suffering, it's actually a beautiful and hopeful piece that says, satisfaction is possible for you. Don't waste your life pretending to be okay, not accepting yourself and how you feel, you've got your whole life, and it's gonna be good if you make it your own. It's the rationale behind all the storytelling. You could extend this to activism too: if the rain left in your chest is filled with compassion for those who need it, yourself included, it's gonna hurt you more to keep it in. And do we need to plan out how we do all this? Absolutely. But don't wait. Don't put it off. Be a rebel and give it your all and cherish yourself for the angel that you are now. If lose you is about not letting impulse decisions become regrets, lnoml is about not letting inaction and waiting to be yourself and live your life become regret either. I love how these songs are spliced together.

Indestructible: The final song of the thorns, with a riff that takes us back to the introduction of straight to your heart? How perfect. It's almost its opposite: a dark song with hope and empowerment, as opposed to a hopeful song with some morbid references. Your mind is in the gutter, there's no heaven above--let's not understate the picture that the verses create just because the chorus is victorious. It paints a picture and says, you can get through this. Heads are gonna roll: when it feels like you're surrounded by enemies you're going to beat them. You're indestructible. While we're talking about mental health and the things we struggle with this song injects validation and empowerment and an amazing beat to get those chemicals popping in our heads. You know you're a rebel at heart now. Don't you run, run, run, run run away, get out of the darkness and into the day. Master the mantra, before it's too late.

I love how universal this encouragement is. The more we hear the song, the more we can read into it. Relate it to our own experiences. I could go on. Onto the interpretations of the tip of the knife giving you life every night and just how much background and legitimacy it gives this song as a motivator and shield in battle. But it's dark and it's hopeful and that's not easy to create.

The Canyon: Now that you've been hyped up and you can take it, onto the main song about men's mental health. It’s really relevant, right now especially. We’ve got so far to go on this one and it breaks my heart. Because of the people we’ve seen suffer. Because of the people we’ve lost. Because of the people who maybe would’ve learned to be better people and not hurt others if they had the help they needed. If they had their (emotional) needs met which apparently is something people still don’t think men have. This song is fairly self explanatory. You can see the fire on the mountain (ambition or whatever, everything we/men are told to want or do want, are chasing etc), many men are victim to the canyon.

just like ashton, I grew up just downstream of the blue mountains. they’re a famous national park just out of Sydney and one of my favourite places to visit. Something the mountain range is famous for is its canyons. To explain it simply on a geographical level, imagine you make a cone (hehe see you in the cone lol) out of wavy paper. Think corrugated cardboard but worse. As you climb the mountain there are ridges where you can travel easily upwards. Between these ridges, the heavy mountain rains have carved out really deep trenches starting at the top of the mountain and descending really steeply. They’re not like the Grand Canyon. They’re dark with rock walls on either side of you that go upwards for days and block out all but a sliver of the sun. They’re cold and they’re filled with water and you don’t ever go in them if it’s raining, because you might actually drown. They often have waterfalls in them that are 30+ metres in height. It’s impossible to climb up inside the canyon, you need to be on the ridges for that (but they’re fun on the way down if you have a wetsuit and good ropes to abseil the waterfalls, but that’s not what this song is about). Many men try to climb the mountain to get to the fire. For whatever reason they end up in the canyon where it’s impossible to climb out unless you go downstream first. Whether because they have no one to teach them how to find a ridge, or they slip, it doesn’t matter. Many men are victims to the canyon. Too many. And I don’t see nobody taking action.

and I know. It’s not just men. Women suffer a lot of mental illness and sexism and the emotional labour we’re meant to do play a big role in that. Trans and genderqueer folk have alarming statistics because of a discriminatory world and being a marginalised experience, along with other factors like high correlation with neurodivergence. These are all conversations we need to have.

but the thing about mens mental health is that more often than not, it’s not a matter of being discriminated against and being vulnerable to exploitation. For some it is. For others it’s expectation that’s too big for reality and no one saying that your worth isn’t in your achievement. Your appearance. Not being allowed to talk about or even feel emotions in a way that’s gender affirming. Especially for Black men, there’s people being scared of you and having to grow up too fast, mask your true self because of it. I also want to tentatively suggest that (and often for good reason too, stay safe people) men having a breakdown are more likely to be seen as dangerous and potentially abusive than someone who’s overwhelmed, hurting, needs help but probably doesn’t know how to let anyone help them. And autistic meltdowns can be terrifying coming from a grown man, so can manic episodes, bpd episodes, psychosis. No one has the obligation to stick around where they could potentially get hurt, but at the same time, there are often no alternative resources given to be able to create a place of safety to be able to unpack the emotions and the neurobiology behind such an event. It’s just having to promise to control yourself even if you’re not sure if you can, until you inevitably snap and someone does get hurt, and then there’s punitive justice, on top of the guilt. Not all the time, but sometimes all of this could be prevented by normalising self awareness, especially if you have a condition that means you’re more likely to express violence or a need for control either towards others or yourself. We’re doing better at normalising getting help. We need to do better at destigmatising getting help and learning to repent and forgive yourself when someone already has been hurt, lest it becomes a vicious cycle of believing who you are is only someone who can hurt others or hurt yourself. You’re never too far gone. Getting better is always possible. Yes, even for men.

It’s just a different set of overlapping factors wherever you are on the gender spectrum and with a bunch of cultural factors thrown in. The canyon talks about men, still the overwhelming majority of suicides despite having a lower diagnosis rate for most mental health conditions (implying that men are far less likely to receive appropriate help). Ashton is a man so that is his experience. He wants to talk about that. The suicidal ideation, how it’s pushed aside until it seems almost inevitable gonna die boy. getting harder to deny boy. Longing for external help from someone with a little more emotional awareness who’s able to lend you some safety to sit in that feeling. How hard it is to face the day and face life when the wave of sadness feels constant, like the torrential stream of water when you sit underneath the waterfall at the base of Empress Canyon (which, over time, erodes the rock to create a pool metres and metres deep. I don’t know if he ever thought of this metaphor but I thought it was cool). How more often than not, your emotionally unavailable dad was emotionally unavailable (and scarred you as a result) because he was experiencing the same thing. struggling. How can you process when the exact thing that made life still so difficult for you was the fact that someone you relied on was in the exact same position you are now? Doesn’t that make you feel helpless?

I don’t see nobody taking action.

California Holds Her Breath: I heard snippets of this one before I heard the whole song, and as a result, I can’t unsee in it the same compassion and pride and admiration which ashton looks at his bandmates with. And hopefully himself a little too. I don’t know who the dancer from Indiana is, but I do know of a four-piece band from Australia who came to California and went through some really amazing things but also some really hard things, who have talked about battling things like addiction and who we’ve seen worry for each other too. Who left the stability and support of a home country which they didn’t quite belong in, that didn’t give them the opportunity to chase after what they wanted at the time, for homesickness and the kind of danger that comes with experiences and substances that are only going to make things worse if you’re already unwell or have some vulnerability to addiction or a trauma background or you just feel alone or one of many other things. From the sounds good feels good era of bathroom-graffiti-like angsty confessions to the makeup and tears of the youngblood era to the surrounded-but-alone vibe of 5sos5.

I didn’t address the alcoholism references in rebel at heart. But I feel like this is the other side of you’re blacking out with alcohol don’t drown yourself again, this world just don’t feel right for you and you don’t play pretend. you’re just another falling star you’re burning out again. It’s deciding to be the rebel you are and to create but it’s hard and you’re bleeding and you’re still blacking out with alcohol after crying underneath your makeup and bathroom graffiti confessions. It’s the same melancholic longing and loneliness we’ve gotten as a vibe from this band forever. that over the years has taken some dark turns and we were holding our breath when it did because stardom is so fucking dangerous especially if you get into it because you felt like you were missing something to begin with. It’s they cursed/gifted you with emotion and creativity and so you came to california. will you make it once you’re there? california holds her breath.

(reblog coming with the rest of the songs)