#while he could fight the summoning he really doesn't want to

[hello-eden]

Unexpected Hope

Damian has been disoriented all week. When he was told that stopping the ritual would have repercussions, he did not expect this. He had been dealing with the memories on his own but unfortunately he could not postpone this gala. 

He had been stopping a ritual that would end up summoning the being he now knows as Undergrowth. Damien does not regret that choice especially now that he has the context. Unfortunately it brought back his memories of Phantom.

He didn't quite understand they were memories for quite a while honestly he was a little bit concerned he got possessed. Thankfully after some compartmentalizing and a little bit of isolation, he figured out what was wrong. It did not help the confusion that comes with being a Midwestern teen and an assassin child put into one body but he has gotten the hang of it. 

Unfortunately Damian did not get long before he was forced back into the presence of his family. he had put off many public family events in the last few months so he was not able to get out of this event. he probably could have faked being sick but he'd much prefer to be able to pass off any of his symptoms from the memories as uncomfortableness being around strangers then be alone with his family. 

He's honestly very happy with his choice after he sees her. He doesn't recognize her at first with the dark auburn braided hair and the dress being something other than black but something made him turn around when he heard her rant.

She was giving a humanitarian speech to one of the investors. At first he got closer just to hear about it. It's always funny to see the faces of the imbeciles when people don't bow to their wishes.

Damien thought he finally found someone who was not a gold digger or a social climber. What made him really stop in his tracks was her body language. It was like a neon flashing sign opened up and said ‘hey this is Sam Mason’. 

Damien walked over with hope in his chest that he was not alone. she eventually seemed to get tired of the man or maybe he was able to scramble an excuse and walk away. he couldn't quite hear but by the time he walked over there it was only her.

 “you seem to be quite passionate,” Damian says, trying to start a conversation and figuring out how to ask the hard question.

 What is he exactly supposed to say? ‘Hey, are you my best friend for my last life or hey do you remember being on my ghost hero vigilante team that ended up with all of us being Undead royalty.’

The girl looks him over, probably trying to figure out what he wants. 

“Are you here to argue?” She says angrily, obviously ready for another fight.

“Your speech reminds me of someone, have you ever heard of Samantha Mason” Damien says trying to be nonchalant.

Her eyes seem to widen and look him over again.

“Where'd you hear that name.” She ordered.

“I've heard enough of her rants to be able to pick it out from a crowd.”

 “Danny,”  She said softly her grabbing his hands and squeezing as she looked around to make sure no one saw. “what how I thought it was the only one” Hope seemed to be filling her eyes. 

“Hi Sam” Damien Whispers just as softly just as glad he is not alone. 

Without another word Sam drags them to the stairway rushing up to the floor upstairs and trying to find a room that isn't being used. She eventually finds one two floors above the room they were using for the gala and pushes him into what looks like a break room.

 “How the hell did you get your memories” Sam demands 

“Why are you yelling at me? You have your memories too obviously if you are recognizing your name” Damian says shouting back at her. 

Sam always has a way of catching him off guard. She was happy just a minute ago. 

“yeah well I did something stupid which means I know you did something stupid” Sam said pointing her finger at him.

“ Well I may have accidentally stumbled upon a ritual for summoning an ancient and when I stopped it the backlash gave me my memories back. ” Damien stumbled over their words trying to justify themselves. "What stupid thing did you do?”

“The girls in my stupid Prep School in my grade went through a very witchy phase. there was a slumber party and they were stupid enough to actually find real magic. I had a cut on my hand earlier in the day and try to freak them out by adding a little bit of my blood. apparently my protection spell is literally stuck into my soul, so things went down” Sam says just as hesitantly as Damien

 “you have zero leg to stand on okay fine we were both stupid” 

They both sat there in silence for a while, mostly just basking in each other's presents realizing they weren't alone anymore.

“it's good to have you back," Damian says, giving her a weak smile and running his hands through his hair.

He'd been trained out of all of his nervous ticks but it probably makes her more comfortable to see him just as nervous as she is.

“it's good to see you too da- do you have the same name?” both of them don't seem to realize at the same time that they didn't get each other's names. 

“Damien” he says as he pulls his hand out of his hair and puts his hand out for a handshake. 

“Sarah” she says, grabbing his hand and giving it a shake.

the two of them shake their hand for a moment before they look at each other's eyes and burst out giggling. 

Damien's really glad he decided to not pretend to be sick.

[pangaeaseas]

was rereading the Tottenham court road scene from DH and a couple things stuck out to me: the Death Eaters being able to blend into Muggle society ok (which makes me think there was probably some kind of task force where death eaters who could blend were assigned to missions where they'd have to. and that there were probably more muggle-passing death eaters than we might assume--more Snapes than Luciuses potentially. at least dolohov and thorfinn Rowle are at least able to briefly pretend to be muggles.)

and also the trio dynamics.

Hermione was the one who initially took control by packing and planning and disapparating them. Ron is the one who immediately wants to connect with his family and the broader WW (foreshadowing obvs but also he's the one with the most ties to society and the one who has yet to let go of his family while Harry never had a family and Hermione has ruthlessly cut hers off). But when the Death Eaters attack Harry is the one who takes the lead, not Hermione. She and Ron are unprepared whereas Harry immediately realizes something is off because he has good instincts, and he's the only one who's really useful in the fight--Hermione lands a spell but it's in the throes of panic. Ron gets immediately incapacitated and Hermione panics and ends up hurting Ron by accident. And then in the aftermath Hermione's still panicking and dismisses ron's actually useful point about identifying the death eaters. while Harry pretty calmly takes control and comes up with a human solution to what to do with them (obliviating them). Ron suggests killing them, but is clearly relieved when Harry comes up with the idea of obliviating them instead (which makes me think that a lot of the Ruthless!Ron portrayals are missing the mark! he doesn't WANT to kill and is happy to do something else if he can avoid it!). and Hermione shudders at the thought of killing them but handles obliviating them just fine--it actually calms her down when she'd been freaking out. And then Harry is the one who continues to lead the group by deciding to go to Grimmauld in the face of the others' objections, even though they suspect there may be a Trace on Harry which caused the death eaters to summon them. just interesting to think about in terms of trio characterization and dynamics!

[hadesisqueer]

What's your favorite fight in the show?

In RWBY? RWBY vs Ace Ops, no doubt. It's just amazing and it shows how smart team RWBY is and how that gets them the win rather than just going with strength/skill. Like the factors:

The taunting: Harriet and Elm are the clearly the most emotional members of the Ace Ops and very quick to anger, something that Ruby and Yang take into consideration and both of them provoke them with words, which makes the other two act without thinking. “We're the best Huntsmen in Atlas”, “You were, then you trained us” specifically was not only badass but also a genius response from Ruby's part. She then gets to run away and make sure Harriet for sure follows her, driving her away from their teams, which is the smartest move considering she's the only one who could handle Harriet's speed for a while. She then mostly proceeds to stay on the defense rather than straight up fighting her, and lets Harriet tire herself out.

Yang and Blake's team work: The Bees take on the Trees (lmao). At first it doesn't go well, trying to 1v1 and all, but they're both smart enough to see one clear thing: Vine and Elm, rather than working with each other, they keep disagreeing and arguing with each other. So, Blake and Yang decide to do the opposite: work together. 2v1. Take one out first and then the other one. And boy does it work, because the moment Vine is out the other Ace Ops are like "oh, shit" and they realize they're fighting Huntresses, and that they're not playing around. And that sets the tone for the rest of the fight. Then Elm falls hard too lmao.

Weiss VS Marrow: Marrow's semblance is very OP, but it works only on one direction at a time. Which means that the moment they left him against Weiss, the poor guy —who didn't even want to fight and was holding back— was already kind of fucked, because she happened to be the one RWBY member that could fully counteract his semblance with her own. Weiss simply pulled a Freezerburn on her own, creating mist that gave her time to summon (showing how much she'd grown from her fight against Vernal). Then she kept her Arma Gigas and herself and opposite sides. Marrow uses Stay on her? Arma Gigas will attack him. Marrow uses Stay on Arma Gigas? Weiss is free, now she can attack him. She turned the 1v1 into a 2v1, and considering Marrow really didn't wanna fight her or hurt her, it was clear he was going to lose the moment they left him with her.

Weiss and Ruby's team work: Ruby showed up to assist Weiss against Marrow. Instead of choosing to work against them together, Marrow and Harriet argue and disagree with each other, and then Ruby runs and drives Harriet away again in anger. Then, after Weiss has dealt with Marrow, she's the one that shows up to help Ruby again, and kind of takes Harriet out-- well, really, Harriet took herself out, but you know what I mean here. Despite fighting Marrow and Harriet separately (99% on purpose, they were definitely keeping them apart intentionally), Ruby and Weiss were still working together. Harriet and Marrow weren't, because Hare was too blinded by her rage to even consider collaborating with Marrow. Again, the taunting worked.

In any case, genius fight. Team RWBY won not for skills or because they were stronger. They won by using their brains and working together and proved that what they lacked in experience compared to the Ace Ops, they made up for it by being a much better team. That's why it's my fave.

[starbop]

How SMELLY all the Honkai Boys are...

Here's my ranking of HSR boys based on how much I think they smell. Explanations + headcanons below the cut!

The Top Stinkers

Caelus literally digs through garbage for fun. I don't think I need to defend their spot as the #1 stinkiest mf in this whole game. 11/10 on the stink scale.

Sampo also has the energy of someone who enjoys garbage. I, for one, have no idea where that thing has been and I don't think I want to know. He is also known to hide in piles of snow when need be, meaning he's just out there rolling around on the ground sometimes. 10/10 would not sniff again.

Luka is the sweatiest man alive. But he looks SO good doing it. The sparks and smoke his arm produces, while very cool to look at, do not help his smelliness rating. 8/10 because he at least has good reasons for smelling funky.

I do not think Blade has ever taken a shower. You could fry a whole chicken with the oil from his hair. 9/10.

Boothill smells like a mixture of motor oil, grease, and sweat. Not a smell I would personally hate, but objectively not a good one. Yeehaw/10.

The Smelly

I feel like, in theory, you could smell like anything in the Dreamscape. I just also feel like Gallagher would not choose to smell good. 7/10.

I really want to believe that he'd smell good, but the second he finishes his magical girl transformation sequence, Imbibitor Lunae reeks with the smell of seaweed. I will deduct a stinky point from my initial rating because some people may think this smells good. They are wrong. 7/10.

Neutral Smelling

Yanqing should reek from all the time he spends fighting and training, but Jing Yuan is not letting that boy leave the house without taking a bath. 6/10.

Arlan bathes regularly, but I can't imagine him having a particularly strong smell. Asta will occasionally gift him some lightly scented soaps, though. If anything, he smells vaguely like Peppy. 5/10.

Gepard might get a little sweaty under all those layers, but he doesn't have a strong scent one way or the other. 4/10.

I Am Sniffing Respectfully

I just KNOW that the Astral Express has the nicest bathrooms in the universe. Dan Heng and Welt stay smelling FRESH. 3/10.

(Though Dan Heng has ended up smelling like bubblegum on a few occasions after borrowing March's shampoo...)

Misha smells like a sweet dream. I don't know what dreams smell like, but that's the only way to describe Misha's scent. Vaguely like cotton candy, perhaps. Ethereal/10.

Jing Yuan takes bubble baths with Mimi and you can NOT change my mind. I can totally picture him dozing off peacefully after a nice, warm bath. I-can-overlook-the-cat-hair/10.

We've seen Ratio take SO many baths at this point that I don't think you could find a single speck of dirt on that man's perfect body if you tried. How are his fingers not just permanently pruney? I hate him so much. 1/10.

I AM SNIFFING DISRESPECTFULLY

Argenti smells like roses and sunshine. 0/10 smelliness can I please bottle your sweat sir

Luocha has to smell great with all those flowers he summons. I would grind him down to make potpourri. Not sure about the coffin, though. -2/10.

And as for Aventurine? Cologne. SO much cologne. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you, but he certainly has A Smell. Subjective/10.

[sleepyorchidmonster]

Okay, but what if Riddle attempts to fight Malleus alone to buy Idia some time?

Like, we know Riddle is both reckless and confident in his power, also, if timed correctly, Off With Your Head can be make a difference in a fight, and even Leona was having trouble with it (granted it was normal not-overblotted Leona and this is Malleus we're talking about).

It can also play with the reveal that Riddle thinks everyone hates him, so he convinces himself that the least he could do is make sure Idia stays safe, both for the mission and Ortho (and maybe he's feeling guilty because last he checked Ortho required urgent repairs and it's his fault). Or maybe Riddle just feels like his lack of understanding of technomancy is not being helpful enough andhe is eager to actually do something right (he doesn't understand the situation and, as far as he can tell, everything went wrong after his dream).

And then Idia has to stop his doomed typing with a side of panicked ramblings to take a deep breath and tell the 17-year-old kid to "Calm Down. We're not dead yet, and I'm not letting you go on a suicide mission."

And before Riddle can make a counter-argument, Idia is already following up with some extra points:

1) "Yeah we're both housewardens and troublemaking SSRs. I'm also older so I'm supposed to be the responsible one here."

2) "Technomancy is my domain, so if I say you're doing okay, you're doing okay. It's natural for veteran players to carry the noobs when they're just starting out!"

3) "You're a powerful DPS, but you're also a glass canon. Meta dictates that good DPS units need great supports, and I'm trying to summon them with negative gacha pulls and a dream here!!!!"

4) "If we open the door to let you fight Malleus, then the door will have been opened anyway, and that guy can multitask like a PRO..."

5) "You know chess right? Great. We're currently in check, with the only thing between total anihilation being a Rook (A.K.A. my precious door) and the Queen (A.K.A. you). The lil' pawns may have metamorphosized into a murderous army, but there's still a whole board between us, so we have to hold on!!!"

6) "And before you get the chess analogy wrong, I am NOT keeping you around just because of your magical power. You're a TEENAGER not a weapon, for crying out loud. Did you really think I'd be that stupid?? Ortho is literally my brother and I'd rather DIE than treat him like a weapon!"

7) "Is it really that hard to understand that I don't actually hate you? Sure, you have zero E.Q. and is in my "Top 5 Most annoying Students in NRC", but I don't want you dead! Who would drag me to dormhead meetings then? Vil and Ortho need a buddy who's not afraid to break the doo- NOT NOW MALLEUS"

8) "I actually like being alive and don't want Trey and Cater to kill me, and neither that freaky cat friend of yours. Or Floyd, Kalim, Sebek, Silver, Vil..."

Idia: And that would be all! Thank you for coming to my TED Talk! Now, I know the Final Boss is right outside that door, but why don't you read a manga or two to pass the time? You've already helped me A LOT, so why don't you rest a bit?

Malleus, from the other side: You should listen to Shroud, Rosehearts. I will even refrain from tearing the door down while you read, rest assured!

Malleus: Also, who gave you the idea that everyone hates you? I just want to have a pleasant chat with them! Lillia taught me the importance of understanding the point of view of others! :)

Meanwhile the others are trying to use Meet Me in a Dream while driving a gigantic Blastcycle so they can speedrun the dream hopping and get back to Idia's dream so they can make sure Idia is okay (Ortho), complete the final stage of the plan (the others) and locate Riddle (Heartslabyul and Equestrian Club mostly, but everyone's at least worried that he's MIA). Also Silver is resting while Ace uses his UM and Deuce drives.

Leona got what he wanted (a better mean of transportation between dreams) but at what cost (two freshmen at the wheel, and they're not the competent robot kid).

[barblaz-arts]

Fellow Chaggie shipper, here and I wanted to ask you a question. Could you please do an analysis post on the Chaggie argument from Hello Rosie. I know this will sound weird but I can't get over the level of icy anger Charlie had towards Vaggie or how despite everything going on, Charlie is more hurt from Vaggie not being honest with her. Just angst all around.

Oh yeah sure I'd love to!

I'm not sure there's a lot I can say about that argument that isn't already super obvious, so I wanna talk about Charlie's anger because of something my brother said as we watched episode 7. He loved that episode apparently because "When they're separated, it's even more obvious that Charlie is the one who's more quick to lose her cool." Which, looking back, is actually true!(To an extent)

Vaggie and Charlie are both quite quick to anger. Charlie is just better at hiding it because she's a chronic people pleaser. Although Charlie wouldn't immediately show her anger at a person being a jerk to her specifically, she's immediately summoning fire and brimstone over anyone who hurts/insults her friends or the cause she's fighting for.

Love this lil bit in "You Didn't Know". How Vaggie is the one telling Charlie to calm down, as if she knows what's about to happen. She knows that if she doesn't at least try to reel in her girl Charlie would be spitting literal fire at a goddamn seraphim.

It would seem like such a surprising role reversal, but if you look at all the times Charlie would lose it whenever Vaggie's not there to tell her "babe, chill", then it makes sense.

But then when their fallout happens, Charlie's short temper is even more apparent. She calls Alastor an asshole to his face even though she considered choosing his support over her father's. She openly glares and rolls her eyes at Rosie when she jokes that her and Alastor look like an item even though she still kept things cordial with Valentino after he licked her arm. She flips the bird at some old lady even though she didn't take visible offense at all the demons that inserted their crude and rude selves in "Happy Day in Hell." While she was cold and subdued even when upset with Vaggie, she was explosive and in ur face when she was pissed at everyone else.

Vaggie reigned in both the girl in Charlie who dreams a little too big and the demon who's waiting to lash out in flames. It really makes me wonder if there's a difference in the kind of person Charlie used to be before Vaggie. Before she had friends to be angry on behalf of and a person to calm her down. And then, in the wake of their argument, Charlie is left with a lot of anger that is easy to ignite.

But I love love love that despite all that anger, Charlie can't bring herself to deny that she loves Vaggie with all of her hurt heart.

This little moment is one of my favorite parts in the series. My brother mentioned that this episode and episode three were his favorites because he liked the beats the dialogues followed. So he looked back--

(the man literally paused the episode to check the opening credits of ep 7 and 3. I was a little annoyed because I just wanted my Chaggie dammit! We'd make terrible youtube reactors with all the pausing and discussing mid-episode that we do...)

--and was satisfied to see that it was written by the same person, Ariel Ladensohn. Apparently she's in a sapphic relationship too and projected her own experiences whenever she wrote Vaggie and Charlie, and it must have paid off because the moments she wrote with them felt so real.

Charlie expressing her fear that even Vaggie's support and love could also be part of the lies she told was understandable considering the betrayal she felt. But immediately following that she goes "Oh that's a horrible to thing to think!" which I love even more. Even when she's understandably mad she thinks about how Vaggie would feel over Charlie thinking that of her. Because although Vaggie lied about who she is, Vaggie was always sincere about how she felt for Charlie. Vaggie's past may have been a lie, but the things she did for, to, and on behalf of Charlie were very real and held dear in Charlie's heart.

I dont have anything smart to say to conclude this. Sorry, I'm not even sure where I went here. Let's all just appreciate the smile Charlie has on her face when she thinks about Vaggie even when she's under a lot of stress I guess.

[eyedoeluhn]

So uhhh what's been happening in BCF lately

It actually updated last night which I haven't read until now! Yay!

BCF Chapter 113.2 Interlude: Alan Barnes. Ah fuck. I almost wish it was filler. I'd rather eat glass. I have eaten glass and it was infinitely more pleasant than this. Its not like this b plot really matters to anything important so it's like the worst of both worlds.

For a quick recap of Emma's involvement, we haven't moved past any Winslow related plots. School was temporarily held on pause because of Joe's whole giant kaiju vs mecha fight that destroyed the city, but Taylor is still dealing with harassment. She went back to school with Emma and then decided to stand up for herself and then made a super cool awesome speech that #owned Emma so hard Emma attacked her. Joe watched this remotely from the wristwatch he gifted Taylor and then hacked into several other children's phones and leaked the video on Twitter and such. This went ultra viral and completely destroyed Emma's modeling career as basically every company made public statements about it and she was totally canceled. She missed out on modeling for the charity event his fashion summon did and he replaced her with his child robot thing Tetra who is so awesome and cool and epic that she totally overshadowed anything Emma could have done. Oh and he called the cops on her or something so she was arrested. However none of this was enough after all, Joe has returned to dunk on a child once more because he'd rather do this than save lives with his technology.

All of the fight happened largely in chapters 98 Finite Resolutions and 98.1 Interlude Taylor, Preamble Emma, Addendum Danny, and other chapters, however Joe has been aware that Emma is "bad news" for a while now because of his shard. Youd really think after establishing the fact that his shard has warped priorities he wouldn't trust it when it says some high school girl is the devil but the "fanon shard" honestly just seems like an excuse for Joe to already believe in spacebattler opinions and not have to waste time establishing then. Yawn. Oh, and the Protectorate are aware of Taylor's civilian identity, they worked it out from the video or something a while ago on 104.1 Interlude Hannah, Addendum Joe.

And oh my fucking god is 113.2 a DOOZY. BCF really just wanted to jack off about how awesome and moral Joe is, oh fucking man. Joe is one of the worst wormfic protagonists of all time already honestly and he spends all of his time sucking his own dick and letting people die unless he spontaneously develops a crush on them (Chen) i fucking guess but oh no Taylor was saaaad. She's literally fucking immortal now. Whatever. Okay.

Alan decides to head over to talk to Carol to try and manage the situation and then finds fucking Joe there in Apeiron garb just fucking hanging out. Because of course. What could possibly be more important than this. We have to spend the next 21 thousand words mauling this civilian. No other options. Emma must Suffer for her Sins. I imagine we're also gonna put them under 24/7 total surveillance.

He then talks to Alan about magazines about himself because hes cool and awesome or whatever and then goes let's read this one about Annette and then starts his ominous speech about her daughter. Joe by the way was one of Annette's students or something because I guess even Lord thought this was a little creepy without some personal connection but it really doesn't land. Alan then says "the unwritten rules" which Joe then goes ha, this is a unimportant school yard fight and not cape business. Anyway brining back from the Taylor discussion last chapter he accuses Emma of attempted murder because the locker was a biohazard and ecoterrorism and she's basically Bakuda.

Joe then tells Alan he lies to himself and he must be a very desirable lawyer for being able to believe anything basically calling him corrupt and Alan pauses for the 6th time now to think about how he could fucking die because of this conversation. And he could! I'm not gonna bother wasting breath on why this conversation is stupid but christ alive. This has already gotten an award BTW. Joe has had a bigger reaction to this than the Nine. Than to literally any other problem hes faced. It's really the most wormficy shit ever. Ugh. He brings up the flute. Joe you raging dick.

WHAT THE FUCK. Joe spawns in a SOLAR FLARE from a STAR and then tells Alan he wants to fucking kill him and Emma with this. WHAT. Fuck you Joe holy shit. Hes put more effort planning ways of torturing these two than into anything else. He has endbringer tier weapons literally made for Emma. I cannot make this up. I hate this fucking guy so bad. I hate him. Whatever.

This is basically porn for a sbsver. He also implies he soma'd Alan and is running a neural counterpart of him to predict his actions. What? Whatever. What the fuck? Why are we putting Alan into a simulation. Why? Fuck you. Whatever. WHAT?

Okay, so for some time now–by that I mean the chapter before the Bakuda fight–Joe's had a crossover companion insert named Alma and I'm not familiar with her source material outside or BCF but basically shes a dead little girl that's haunting some sort of psychic plane. She's been a negative character existing in maybe four scenes of attacking Joe and then offhand mentions of giving her gifts to placate her and thats a very very generous number. Now we've fucking summoned Alan to go meet the extremely powerful unstable dead little girl because of course she's upset about the locker. Why not. Why is she even in the Forge since Lord says he removed companions other than the Palico? Fuck you shes technically not a companion.

Okay man. Whatever. Joe continues to larp. Its hard to not laugh at his rants about the perversion of justice and abuses of power considering he is Joe and literally everything about Parian happened. He continues to threaten to kill Emma. By the way Joe turned into like a thirty foot tall cybernetic dragon creature to scream at Alan. What the fuck is your problem man. I gotta laugh at the fact that he was gonna trap Alan for months in a nightmare dimension. This reads like it was posted in 2017 for fucks sake. He then only decides not to (graciously) for Alma's sake and decides Emma is going to prison. Oh and Alan is being constantly surveilled 24/7 on literally every level. Cause fuck you. Joe why are you glazing yourself for violating Alan's mind with your mind copier. That was totally fucking unnecessary and wildly unethical. You treat snails better than this. Literal snails.

It ends with some glazing introspection about how cool and awesome the Forge is. Fucking amazing. If I reread this right now I could find something even more stupid than the general events and honestly I might later. This is genuinely one of the worst wornfics ever imo. The sheer length to just then take a massive shit in your lap with the same self righteous garbage you can scrap off of the side of the average op si is really just unmatched. Throughout all of this Joe and the narration made massive ovetures to justice and grand declarations and how furious he is and it's literally comical. This is like almost parody. I wish Joe died in a horrific car crash.

This was definitely difficult to get through. The Brian chapters mightve been worse but that was literally glaze over tech we've seen before for like three chapters straight and anything BCF does with aisha should land you on a watchlist. I can't wait for the next 4 chapters to be about nothing else but this and then 5 of filler haha. I jest–previous estimates placed us at about ten to fifteen chapters until the Slaughterhouse Nine but the handling of this does inflate the count. Plus I wouldn't put it past this fic to want to relax with some more filler soon. 2026 slaughterhouse 😭

[coupleoffanfics]

teehee I have a small thought (batfam related, yk that one where y/n gets killed)

imagine if y/n was brought back by the pit, but instead of being a "shell" in that hc u made, she becomes completely stoic, like just blurts out what she was feeling back when she was neglected with the most blank expression ever, I imagine it being more focused on bruce and Damian since yk..bruce was the shittiest parent ever, and Damian with his sparky ass insults.

You…God, damnit Anon. You summoned me and I suddenly have the motivation to write after reading your two requests.

I don't know if you wanted a one-shot or HC. So I just went with a HC because it's much easier to push out. Though if you want me to make a one-shot feel free to ask. I'll take 7 years to write it. Though at the end I did sort of a one-shot.

Damian should have known something was wrong when y/n didn't start thrashing around and attacking anything that moved after crawling out of the pit. She just stared at her hands, clenching them into firsts and then unclenching them slowly.

Maybe Damian was too relieved to see y/n breathing and moving to really care. Maybe he thought that she was just in shock. Coming back to life isn't always expected and it can take a real toll on someone.

Not to mention that y/n was, compared to her brothers, far weaker. Not just physically, but mentally as well. So it's not surprising that she was so docile, right? It's only a matter of time before that effect wears off and she'll be normal. Or something close to normal.

Okay, maybe deep down Damian knew that there was a chance that he wasn't getting y/n back. Everyone knew that there was no getting her back, but he was willing to take the risk. He came this far and it didn't take long for Bruce to pick up on what his youngest was doing.

Damian has his big sister back and he's not going to let her go again. It's only a matter of hours before Bruce comes breaking down the door to drag them back to Gotham. So Damian took the time to clean up y/n.

She was still in her funeral clothes for goodness sake. She reeked of death, but that didn't stop the boy from hugging her tightly.

While getting cleaned up, she doesn't say a thing. Or even make a lot of noise. It was almost like she was still dead.

By the time Bruce gets there, he's not surprised by Damian's actions. He thought of doing the same thing, but he couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. He couldn't disrespect her life by bringing her back. How could he dare think of that when she looked so at peace when she died.

He remembers how her body was tense before it became horrifyingly relaxed. There was a fear of death in those [eye color] eyes, he knows because he saw it. But it was so quick and fleeting that he could have missed it if he wasn't so close.

In a twisted way he wished y/n had clung on to him just like she did when she was a wide eyed little girl and cried. Cry that she didn't want to die. Cry that it was too early to leave now. Cry that she didn't want to leave them.

But all she did was give a crooked smile and mumble to herself as blood dribbled down her chin. She spoke incoherent things to herself. A name or two slipped from her cold lips, but they weren't ones of her family. From what he gathered it was just a close friend and her significant other's name. She died thinking of those who cared and loved her back. Not of the family that she couldn't stand to be around.

Even when her own adopted father held her dying from close, they were far from her line of thought.

So seeing y/n alive was gut reaching for Bruce. There was no pain, anger, sadness, or joy on her face. She was just there. Staring at him with an uncomfortable indifference.

Damian was ready to start a fight with Bruce. Not a physical one, but he would cross that line if he needed to. He was ready to defend himself in what he thought was best for y/n. Yet Bruce lets out a quiet sigh and tells that it's time to come home. How anticlimactic.

The plane ride back to Gotham is long and quiet. It also felt cramped by how close Damian was to y/n and unwilling to give her too much space.

By the time they made it back to the manor, everyone was caught up to date. The development is surprising to some while others not so much.

Everyone is in the bat cave. Gathered around to see y/n back from the dead. The silence is deafening as they wait for something. Just something from her, but she walked past them all. Out of the cave and to where her room was. Nothing was out of place in her room, though it was mostly empty after she had moved out a few years ago. She laid on her bed and slept as if nothing was amiss.

That's where the family infighting starts. Question of was this the right thing. What are going to do now? Why the hell did you think this was a good idea? There's going to be a lot of hash words being shared, but at the end of the day what was done was done and they had y/n back. They weren't going to mess up the second time.

Did they really get a second chance because it didn't feel like it. A week would pass and y/n has yet to come out of her room. She's alive and breathing because the trays of food left outside her door are always empty.

The camera's installed while she slept showed that she was doing nothing. All she did was lay in bed. She'd get up to use her private bathroom, but other than that there wasn't much. She was rotting away alone in her room.

This rang familiar bells in Alfred, Bruce, and Tim's head. y/n wasn't prone to long depressive episodes, so this could be something similar. The lack of socializing and excessive oversleeping was typically a big red sign for them to do something. In the past they would not force, but push her into doing social things or at least being out of her room.

They could approach this situation the same way, but they'd have to be extra careful. This was a unique and tricky situation to be in. It was also odd if not worrying that she hasn't succumbed to lazarus fever.

They could try to bribe y/n out of her room with activities that have to do with her old hobbies.

"Alfred is baking today, he said might need some help."

"I just stole the keys to the batmobile, you wanna take it for a ride?"

"Hey, do you want to…um, play a video game with me. I remember we used to play Hellflight Deadcraze a lot. They came out with the 3rd game. I just bought it today, so...Yeah."

Though the likelihood of that working is low. If they're really desperate to interact with her, they might as well just bust down her door.

At some point all the poking and prodding is going to irritate y/n. Whoever popped her bubble is going to be on the receiving end of pent up emotions.

I don't believe y/n would ever intentionally say how much the family's treatment harmed her. Again it would bubble up and fester for a while before she explodes. The thing about y/n is that she has an inferiority complex. In her life she aimed to please and help.

She understands that Gotham is dangerous. A lot of people need help and she couldn't bring herself to pull them away from their job. To her it would be like pulling a fireman away from a fire to chat as people burned alive. Even if the fire was out the fireman would be tired and need to rest, so she couldn't just pull them wherever she wanted to go. She shouldn't pester them.

In y/n's eyes, she was never worthy of being a hero because she wasn't good enough. She was never worthy of being with the family because she wasn't helping enough. She should do this to prove her worth. She's not worthless because she can do this for you and this as well!

She embodies inferiority and self-loathing. Someone that feels insignificant and has the strong urge to do more. She has- or had in this situation, hope. Hope that she'll be worthy of love. Love, affection, praise is what drives her and will seek it out if she's desperate. If she does ask or seek it out she'll be feeling guilty since she didn't really do anything to get it. In her mind she was being greedy and she couldn't help herself.

Bonus

"Just stop. Leave me alone." Her voice was almost pleading as she gripped the wrapped gift box. The gift was a symbol of peace, almost a treaty. That's all it was supposed to be, but she acts as if she had been spat in the eye.

Seeing that Bruce wasn't listening to her, she dug her nails into the gift. Almost tearing into the [favorite color] wrapped paper. He stood before her like an unmoving entity. The longer he stood by the more she wanted to snap into herself. She didn't want to slowly curl into a ball. She wanted to snap herself together with a violent and almost sickening crack. This just wasn't fair.

Clenching her jaw, her voice became much colder. It wasn't as cold as the middle of winter, yet it still had a chill to it.

"I thought you'd get it that I didn't want this. I shut you out, but you- all of you just keep buzzing. None of you are getting the hint. You just keep coming back louder than before. Why can't you let me be alone? Why can't you act overworked and tired? Why can't you just leave things the way they were?"

Bruce was conflicted upon hearing her say that and would try to claim that everything is going to come around. Everything always comes around in the end and this wouldn't be any different. They are going to get through this as a family.

y/n's frown would deepen and her eyes would furrow at his attempt at comfort. She looks as if she just ate something that was expired, leaving her mouth with nothing but a nasty sour taste.

"Because we're family." She whispered to herself before almost grimacing at the words. Her voice became sharp and cold as a blade, "I don't understand why you'd suggest that I was still a part of the family. I don't think I've been family for a good while now."

She clicked her tongue as she dropped the gift box while looking Bruce in the eyes. "Come on, you can't say you cared about me after I stopped being useful. When did you realize that I wasn't anything special? Was it when I kept crying about punching villains or when I was too slow to teach."

Seeing the conflicted look in his blue eyes confused her. Why would the truth conflict someone unless it was pity. Even after all this she's just a pitiful little crybaby to him. One good hit and she's out wailing on the floor for someone to kiss her boo-boo away.

Somehow this hurt her. Her pounding heart felt like it was twisting on itself. She wanted to cry and laugh at how she thought things couldn't get any worse. Then somehow it did. The universe, the world, the Wayne had proved her wrong yet again. It was as funny as it was sad.

She could have broken down there, but she needed to hear it. She had to hear the truth, so she kept twisting her heart with her own hands. It didn't matter how much it hurt.

"Or maybe you were in denial? You had wasted a lot of time and resources on a dud. Then Damian threw cold water on you and left you shivering, right? I'm just leeching off of you and the others. Then…Then you choose them over me. I was an afterthought, or is that being too generous? Did I ever circulate in your mind before this?"

Her voice was becoming shrill and gruff like she was on the verge of tears. "When did you realize that I was dead weight, Batman? Did I make Bruce Wayne look more caring to the people when I talk about how much I love my family? Did my life serve any use or was I always just a speck of dirt on your shoes?"

Those words were far from the truth, yet with how she spoke Bruce knew that she believed in all that she was saying. Each and every word was true to her. Honestly he didn't know what to say. This was all too much. Having to hear your own child degrade themselves with such honesty was heartbreaking.

Taking his silence as a sort of confirmation, y/n ordered him to leave and of course he did. He'd fix this somehow. He just needed time. They needed time.

I cut off the ending because I didn't want to write too much. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it. I haven't proofread this, Google Doc says there aren't any errors (probably a lie), and it's 3 in the morning. Goodnight.

[2-marigold-2]

WOOO another thsc post let's goooo

So uh, this time is a bit different, I'm going to ramble a bit about my headcannons, specifically COMBAT HEADCANNONS !

Copperright

Reginald - I imagine him as a long range guy, who's not good at close combat due to his rather lanky build, never getting close to the threat and keeping his distance. This could be problematic if not for the fact that he has his loyal right hand man with him for most of the time. Reginald specialises in using guns and often is the brain of the operation.

Right Hand Man - While he's seen using a gun in various parts of the game, he seems to like engaging in close combat more, he uses a gun only when he wants to eliminate someone quickly (in most of his battles with Henry he doesn't use a gun, only long range attack of his being the laser in his reborn form)

Reginald doesn't engage in fighting much when he's the leader of the toppat clan, but at the time when he was actively taking part in heists (or after the toppat king ending) him and RHM would form a good duo <- my copperright ass brain thinking about RHM protecting Reginald whenever he got himself into a fist fight of sorts during a heist. Vice versa Reginald would protect RHM from long range attacks, shooting his opponents from farther away. They just got eachother backs i think.

Triple Threat

Ellie - Her and Henry are pretty similiar when it comes to combat I think, but she's more on the close combat side to me, either using her fists or a weapon of choice (think like, the STOP sign or some other metal pipe or pole). She's good at quick planning and is capable of working and bouncing off of others when fighting. She can also use the force, which might be more on the long range side, but she's more of a jump into action kind of girl to me.

Henry - He's actually a secret third option to me, he mostly relies on items or on weird/stupid ideas when in danger, rarely seen doing actual fighting, he's literally just a guy with weird item summoning abilities. But if the situation calls for actual combat, he's more of a close combat guy (Stickmin Pawnch, and the cheap fighting combo)

Charles - He's wayyy more used to being a long range guy and using guns or his helicopter, it's rare to see him outside of it, but he could win a fist fight for sure. He prefers long range though, it's the most comfortable way of fighting for him, he knows that helicopter better than the palm of his hand.

So Triple Threat is mostly two close combat idiots and a long range one, they are either really successful together and pull off crazy impressive stuff, or they create the stupidest plan to exist and explode and die badly💥.

Rupert

Rupert - To me, he's good at both, long range and close combat, he's an officer after all, with 8 years experience of being a policeman. He's good at what he does and pretty strong, though I like to think that he's very independent sometimes and could jump into a situation in which he tries to bite off more than he can chew, getting himself into a fight with more people than he is able to defeat (thinking about him trying to fix his past mistakes by working extra hard and trying to do more than he can sometimes, does that make sense)

[icycoldninja]

Hi!! Could you make the boys from Devil May Cry with a reader that is Alisa Bosconovitch from the game Tekken You can do some research in case you know this game or not, okay?

Sure, hope you enjoy!

Sparda boys + V x Alisa Bosconovitch-like!Reader headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Dante thought you were so adorable, like a lovely angel-princess that had descended from heaven just for him.

-You're also the sweetest and most polite cutie pie he's ever had the pleasure of meeting, and it just makes him want to protect you even more.

-He is enamored by your pretty fairy wings and can't stop trying to touch your hair because it's so soft and pink, and he really wants to know how it feels.

-Watching you pull off then detonate your own head was...jarring, to say the least, but after you reassured him (when you generated a new one) that this was completely normal and that you could easily recover, he stopped worrying.

-Sometimes, when you fight demons together, he asks you to hand him your head, and proceeds to chuck it at said demons as if he were only throwing a football.

-He also thinks it's so cool of you to be able to turn your arms into literal chainsaws because come on—who wouldn't want that power?

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil the boomer isn't very familiar with androids or robotic technology, so he's quite wary of you and your unusual abilities.

-However, if there's one way to gain his favor, it's by proving your combat prowess, and you've certainly done that.

-Watching you rip off your head, sweetly place it in the hands of your enemies, and then have your headless body duck while your head explodes is quite unsettling, but after seeing what he's seen, Vergil surprised for long.

-He sometimes forgets you're an android simply because of how polite and sensitive you are. You know when he's feeling down, you can tell when he's particularly smug about something, and you're just so kind to everyone all the time.

-He isn't used to seeing such pretty fairy wings like the ones you have, but he enjoys looking at them all the same.

-Sometimes, he fantasizes about doing the waltz with you and watch you twirl in that lovely dress you always look so stunning in.

□ Nero □

-Nero is so happy to finally meet someone he can truly relate to.

-Being the somewhat proud owner of a prosthetic arm, he can help you service your android parts with ease and even has a few tips for dealing with your joints, which can get rusty and malfunction, a fact he learned from experience.

-Notices your fondness for flowers and makes an effort to always buy some for you whenever he can.

-Thinks your head detonation ability is freaking hilarious and whenever you do it, he follows up by blowing up his own arm.

-You both frequently visit Nico to request additional attachments and accessories. Of course, you need to bring proper payment, but as long as you do, everyone's happy.

-There are times when Nero feels that he doesn't deserve you and your wonderfulness, and that you should leave him for someone better. The thought of not being able to see your lovely smile changes his mind immediately.

● V ●

-V literally sees you as a benevolent fairy godmother that has chosen to bless him with your light and beauty.

-You're adorably polite to everyone and everything, (unless they do something extraordinarily rude) that it's not possible to not admire everything you do.

-He digs up the most romantic poetry from his collections to woo you with, and even if that's not your thing, it's still very sweet.

-Griffon always has something to say when you whip out your arm-chainsaws or detonate your head.

-Speaking of detonations, one time, you accidentally blew up Nightmare because you didn't know what it was, nor did you realize V was the one who summoned it. He quickly forgave you, though.

-He really couldn't believe that you were an android when you told him, and now that he knows, he has begun looking up ways to care for robot bodies because he wants to keep you safe and understand good condition.

[metalotaku-da]

Dcxdp Danny phantom and klarion are friends.

Danny as the ghost king who loves to prank loves teaching a younger appearance klarion all kinds of fun gags and tricks of magical nature. It's like the younger sibling he always wanted. And is a nice break from some of his royal duties. But things have been a little busier than usual they haven't gotten to really get out and have fun. Danny is 30 looks 20. Klarion is looking 14. But in the thousands for age.

Klarion is bored and upset. He wants time with Danny to himself. No interruption from clockwork or the eternal. Other ghosts. No one. It's not fair. He needs a plan to sneak Danny out of the infinite realm, hide him and not be the fall guy when they get caught. Because it's clockwork they will be caught it's the when. He needs someone else to do the summoning work. But who and how.

He lands on John Constantine. Clockwork doesn't like him much. And Danny inherited all the old kings claims. So he be able use that if things got dicey. And klarion is not a fan either of the jerk. To buddy buddy with nabou. So he has a fall guy to blame for the summoning. Just needs to setup a prank so good that John thinks he has no choice but to summon someone who could destroy the world.

Takes him a week to land on act like I'm gonna do it so he has to first. Easy. And he can brag to a bunch of villains to really drive the urgency. Perfect.

Plan worked like a charm. Maybe to good though. John got a bunch of heroes to help. No good no good. John is lieing to his super jerk friends. Klarion can see the seal. It will make Danny weaker and lock him to the jerk like a dog on a leash. Not to the artifact he said they could lock him away with. He's gotta fix this quick. He drops in the pawns he recruited to distract. While discreetly changing the ruin on the summoning without mucking it up so it doesn't work. All while fighting zantana, and racing the circle lighting up.

The summoning is completed. But something obviously went very very wrong. Klarion has teakle distract zantana while he goes over the summoning again to see what he shifted. Oopsie. The ruin for shrinking power turned to shrinking age. But thats ok. It can be fixed later. Maybe. Probably. He didn't get the teather changed before it set. But that's an easy fix by killing Constantine. But his friend is here. And now they can really play. So it's all good. Klarion is ecstatic. So much so teakle runs to him as he shrinks causing one of the supers to over swing on an attack on his familiar.

But Danny needs a minute. As he blinks wearily on his feet. Rubbing at his face. Ugh summoning. He hates summoning. And this had to be a strong one. Because he couldn't resist like most of them. Whatever once the brain fog clears he'll be good and can really give the jerks who did a real stern talking to. Or maybe he'll scare them. That sounds better. Standing infront of him is a blonde man looking like a dirty drunk cop dective from TV. Who is gapping at him as a cigarette burns on the ground at his feet. This guy has to be like a gaint too cause Danny has to really crane his head back to look up at his face. There is a bunch of commotion going on but he's to focuses on this weird feeling he has towards this weirdo. Who seems like he's confused. Maybe it was an accident. Whatever. Danny still isn't happy. He puts his hands on his hips. "Hey jerk face! What do you think your doing?" Then Danny's eyes went wide. "Oh by the ancients is that my voice! What's wrong with my voice!" Danny now clutched his throat before waving his arms wildly at the creepy man. "What did you to me you weirdo! I sound like a baby!"

"It a bloody fucking child."

"It's bad to cuss infront of kids Constantine." Someone else says outside the circle.

Danny's head snaps their direction. Danny's eyes widen as he puts his hand into view looking at himself panic taking over and he looks around at all these tall people looking at him or fighting. He opens his mouth to scream in fear or frustration he doesn't know till he hears a voice he recognizes.

"Don't wail, don't wail!" Danny closes his mouth and looks around for the source.

"Klarion?"

"Sorry my bad. I messed up change the circle so it wouldn't weaken you. And well oopsie " klarion rushed into the circle hugging little Danny tight. "But you are here. So now we can play." Klarion gasped as he pulled back from Danny. "I can be the big brother now!"

"Noooooo, klarion I was already a little brother. I wanted to be a big brother more." Danny whined. His white hair flopping over as he rolled his head in complaint.

"To bad. I'm the big brother now. We are gonna have so much fun. You just have to get rid of this looser so we can go do our thing." Klarion gestured towards Constantine.

[dootdootwriting]

hii can you do where like the genshin impact boys lovers are like taller than them?

featuring: albedo, alhaitham, ayato, baizhu, cyno, diluc, gorou, itto, kazuha, kaeya, kaveh, tighnari, venti, xiao, zhongli, (separate) tw: light foul language (scattered throughout), mention of violence/fighting (childe), mention of chronic pain/illness (baizhu), haitham is autistic because yeah. type: fluff, sfw, hcs reader: tall, gn, no pronouns, no use of y/n a/n: i was GOING to do literally all of them but i gave up after tighnari sorry i just did NOT have it in me. if you want hcs of this same scenario with different characters, do feel free to request that!

also not using canon heights for this bc they don't . make sense to me so you get mY HEADCANONS. (close to canon at least i promise)

ALBEDO

not hard to be taller than him tbh, he's like 5'4

i can't see him particularly caring about height in an s/o, rather just personality. if he likes you, he likes you and that's really it, you could look like just about anything

you could be three feet tall and he wouldn't care as long as you were understanding about the unholy hours of the night he has to stay up to in order to do his work

he won't deny the fact that dating someone tall has its advantages, though.

for one example, he finds it particularly difficult when an ingredient he's trying to get to is too far up for him to reach

and yes, he could just summon his geo flower and have it elevator his ass up the tree or whatever, but it's so much more convenient AND so much more comfortable to just have you pick him up so he can get higher

also, it's insanely hot

probably would be into it

DILUC

he's probably just a bit taller than average, i'd place him at about 6' or so

so it's not rare that he meets someone taller than him, it just doesn't happen every day

has no qualms about your height other than he finds it slightly annoying to look up at you when you're having a conversation

it's hard to be intimidating when the person you're talking to is looking down at you with an adoring smile, as you can understand.

other than that, if need be, he has the winery mansion adjusted to suit you

just some basic things like carving a bit out of a doorframe if you're prone to bumping your head on things. nothing too drastic

KAEYA

thinks it's hot

he's kind of a slut for people taller than him, i think. or just a slut in general maybe. either way, thinks it's hot

he's probably just a bit shorter than diluc, maybe at 5'11. diluc won't let him hear the end of it and it pisses him off

looks are the first thing he sees in a person. it isn't nearly the end-all be-all of choosing a partner for him (he really looks for someone with more mental acuity and wit), but it does play the part

being tall helps you with this

is the type to DEFINITELY be able to reach the top shelf and pretend he can't anyway so he can grin at you while you get things for him

asshole

VENTI

did someone say short-ass twink?

he's like 5'3 sorry i don't make the rules. short.

so yeah, again, not hard to be taller than him.

he's so playful about it too

"oh nooooo~ they put the apples all the way on the top shelf so i can't reach them~ whatever shall i do!"

bitch, you can fly. be fr

it doesn't matter. if there's something you can do (even if he can also do it) for him because of his height, he'll bat his eyelashes and flash you a grin so you can't help but show off and do it for him

also makes sharing the bed a hell of a lot more difficult. venti already flails around all over the place, and having someone taller sleeping next to him...? forget about it. you're both waking up on the floor.

BAIZHU

tall

probably like 6'1, and lanky too

there is no cabinet he can't reach, and besides he has changsheng to slither up in the rare situation that he actually can't reach something

however, the tables are turned on him completely when he's having a flare-up. a lot of the time, if he tries to exert himself reaching for something (or just getting out of bed at all), he'll dissolve into a fit of coughing and have to sit down

this is when having a tall partner really comes in handy, and you're more than happy to get him whatever he needs to help him calm it down

extremely grateful for your help, and lucky that he has you. anytime you get him something, especially when he's not feeling well, he'll thank you and give you a kiss

XIAO

joining the "it's not hard to be taller than him" club at a whopping (not really) FIVE FOOT TWO

bro is SHORT short

this doesn't bother him as much as you think it might. in xiao's own words, "height has little effect on one's ability to fight," and therefore he can protect you and fight for you even despite how small he is

will pretend not to be thankful if you help him with reaching things, but instead sends you a short glance that only you can decipher as being grateful

going out with him is a little bit like walking with a small but on edge dog

ZHONGLI

taller than REX LAPIS?? REX FUCKING LAPIS??? THE LORD OF GEO???

i think in his human form he's about 6'3, but he gets to like 6'8 with his draconic features out. no, i'm not counting his horns, i think he actually grows when he relaxes and stops hiding his features

is impressed that you're taller than him, and, honestly, a little worried about your back

with this tall of a couple, he definitely has to adjust his living situation. for sure has his ceilings raised and doorways sanded so the both of you can fit

walking around liyue harbor with him is a SIGHT. two giant sized folks casually going out for a stroll along the waterfront, enjoying their date as if they aren't big enough for a seagull to accidentally fly into their faces

also likes having you do things for him. he's tall, he can do them himself, but he's lying if he says he doesn't like watching you reach to screw in a lightbulb or the like.

AYATO

he's probably around 5'11, so he's tall but it's not unusual for someone to be taller than him per se

he's kind of a cheeky lil bastard? he puts everything on ridiculously high shelves on purpose so that he can watch you get them for him

"oh, sorry to trouble you my dear, but it seems the brown sugar is just a few inches out of my reach. could i trouble you to grab it for me?"

"there are like eighteen other different shelves you could have put it on."

"are there? i hadn't noticed! oh, well :)"

also likes to show you off. pulls up to the function (important dignitary meeting) with his tall ass partner

GOROU

little guy! he's probably around 5'4-5'5 so if you're even like average height you're probably a little taller than him

embarrassed about it, almost as much as he is about the whole tail cuddling thing

that isn't to say he doesn't love how gorgeous and tall you are (he does for sure!), he just is a little self-conscious about his own height

he WILL hide behind you if he sees yae miko approach. benefit #1 of having a tall partner: meat shield

also bonus for you: he is a dog, so when he wants you to grab something for him, he'll look up at you with the most adorable puppy eyes you've ever seen

ITTO

good lord you must be insanely tall . i think he's probably around 6'3

the first time he meets you he's blown away. bewildered. incredibly flustered. possibly already in love.

he's used to being the tallest guy around, used to being the big guy in charge. so when he finds you, and has to look up at someone else for a change, he's stupefied (in a good way)

there are no shelves he can ask you to get things from that he can't already reach. instead, he likes to watch you just pick people up

he'll gather some arataki gang members and ask them to stand in a line and have you go back to back with each one just to measure how tall you are compared to other people

he WILL give bear hugs. if you're more lanky, they may break a few bones... so, beware of that

KAZUHA

another almost short-stack, probably around 5'6

he hasn't ever really thought about his height, he isn't insecure about it or anything.

to him, your height is just another thing that he loves about you! he doesn't care much for physical appearance, it's what's inside that counts to him

and once he gets to know you, he finds everything about you stunning!

probably writes poems about how you look standing strong in the wind or something. really he'll write poems about you no matter what.

since you're taller than him, he enjoys being the little spoon. let him recite lines to you while you hold him!

ALHAITHAM

tall ass guy. prolly around 6'1

is surprised that you're taller than him, but other than that doesn't really care all that much

while he does care for physical traits such as height, he mostly values intelligence and wit, so as long as you can keep up with him in a conversation, you're good enough to date

he has parameters, you understand. you have to fit to a certain standard in a series of specific categories, including age, wit, compatibility....

he might be a little autistic.

my point is, height doesn't really factor in there

still enjoys being the big spoon, even if there's more of you or if you don't quite slot together ideally in that position

it doesn't matter if you're 8 feet tall, this guy Will hold you

CYNO

putting him in around 5'5

despite his small stature, he's a force to be reckoned with. everyone around him knows it, even if he sometimes wishes they didn't care as much

has absolutely no trouble asking you to get things for him if he can't reach them. unbothered king.

this comes less from a place of him not caring about being short and more of a place of him knowing his limitations and understanding when he needs help!

doesn't really care about being shorter than you. well... unless you tease him about being short, then he gets a little miffed. he doesn't mind being the shorter one as long as he isn't just called short

doesn't mind being the little spoon if you suggest it

KAVEH

i wanna say he's about average height, 5'8-5'9 ish!

he's comfortable with his height. he doesn't really think about it very often

that being said, i do think he would be very into someone who's taller than him. i just get those vibes

PLEASE please lean in a doorway and look at him or something. he thinks it's so attractive

probably will ask you to reach up and get things for him just so he can like... poke you in the side??? for no reason?? while you do it

likes to show you off but is also shy about it. will hold your hand when you walk around in public but also really doesn't want anyone to notice. there are two wolves inside of him.

TIGHNARI

I AM A 5'6 TIGHNARI TRUTHER. idk. he gives 5'6 vibes and i don't know why!!!

honestly couldn't give two shits about his height. As long as he can get to the samples he's trying to study, he doesn't care!

Thinks every part of you is stunning, so to him your height is a part of that!

Looks come second to personality to him. This isn't to say he doesn't find you attractive, just that the second he actually starts to like someone all of a sudden oh, they're really pretty actually.

lowkey wants to do like, a family gene chart of you? He wants to learn everything about you, down to where all your different traits come from!

[irritatedirishfrog]

"𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄"

𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘺𝘶𝘫𝘪

*:･ﾟ✧ In which, Itadori and Sukuna both form an unusual crush on an even more unusual upper classmate. You seem so calm, yet you look deceitful and it scares Yuji to the point where he doesn't want to be around you. However, Sukuna knows what he saw, he can feel your power, so he pushes Yuji to befriend you.

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Disclaimer!: old humor, like, from the 2023-2024 era

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────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────────

Yuji doesn't really know who you are.

He doesn't know why you're a sorcerer or how you're so much stronger than almost everyone else.

All he knows is that one day, you come on the training grounds outside with Gojo and the second years for some sort of sparring lesson.

All he knows is that you're three years older than him, with a burn mark on the inside of your elbow that trailed up to your shoulder, an eyebrow piercing, and a rather intimidating expression.

All he knew was that one moment he was fighting you, and the next moment? He was flat on his back with you restraining him.

That didn't just happen to him. It happened to his classmates too, in the same exact way. And Gojo just stood there, a pleased smirk on his face.

The second years were smart enough not to get involved, only watching since they had already gone through the same torture that had your name plastered all over it last year.

Megumi? Summoned almost all of his shikigami that wouldn't kill you. And all you did was dodge.

Dodge!?

The audacity to just just stand there, unfazed, while he attacked you, then take him down once he was exhausted? That was insane!

Same with Nobara. She tried everything she knew—from throwing her nails infused with cursed energy, to hammering her voodoo doll into a piece of cloth from your school uniform she had ripped off.

You flinched when the air around you exploded, but even with that, you still ended up winning, catching her by surprise through the smoke with ease.

Sukuna wanted to choke you out and teach you a lesson. He wasn’t even fighting you, but he was pissed just seeing you.

Yuji could just tell that if a person you respected told you to do something, you would probably do it without question. For example, if one of the higher-ups told you to kill him, you would probably kill him without any questions asked.

That wasn't what bothered Sukuna, what bothered him was that you were pretending. You weren't even going all out, he could just tell.

They could sense that you had no morals. Your eyes told him you’d seen things that would break most people, yet you remained unbothered—like you didn’t care.

You almost reminded Yuji of Sukuna, the nauseating demon that was using him as a vessel.

You weren’t innocent, yet you looked so simple, so quiet, so tranquil. Yuji didn’t like it. You were strange, yet unchanged.

He didn’t want to be around you; he felt scared.

That might have also been partly because he could hear Sukuna’s deep voice in his head, urging him to beat the crap out of you before he jumped out and killed you instead.

Yuji didn’t know why Sukuna was freaking out, but all he knew was that he was going to fight and win.

Until he fought you—and lost scarily fast.

Sukuna felt threatened in his own habitat. He could sense the pressure you were putting on his soul, the way you were a threat. As if you could kill him instantly if you wanted to—and you hadn’t even done anything dangerous yet.

Yuji lost faster than his classmates, never even getting a chance to use his cursed energy to attack. You just somehow got behind him, and it was over.

Now here he is, far too close to you as you restrain his hands, sitting between his legs so he can’t kick you.

He probably would have been turned on by your body against his if it weren’t for the dark, psycho stare you gave him. It was a glare that made it clear you were willing to kill him if he did anything out of line.

Still, he felt a little hot, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t just from the sparring.

Quickly after letting him go, you stood up and offered your hand. But Yuji dismissed you, not wanting to be near you for another second due to his embarrassment. He simply got up and walked away, sulking from his loss.

Nobara scolded him, telling him not to be a sore loser, while Megumi left, standing next to the bleachers as Gojo praised you and turned to his students.

Gojo explained that he started the day with an unfair sparring match with you because they needed to understand that hand-to-hand combat couldn’t just be learned—it had to become muscle memory.

He was basically making it clear that they would all be screwed against you because you were a killing machine who didn’t need to think.

Lesson learned. Whatever.

Yuji let it go, choosing not to be around you just in case he was misjudging you. If he was wrong, he didn’t want to be rude and accuse you of something you weren’t.

Besides, he thought you were hot—though that was beside the point.

Unfortunately, you intrigued Sukuna. He couldn’t sense any cursed energy from you, yet he could tell you were dangerous. And what better way to figure out what you were than to pester Yuji non-stop until he was exhausted?

“What do you even want?!” Yuji groaned, dragging a hand down his face as he lay in his dorm room, desperate for sleep. For nearly a month, Sukuna had been harassing him with endless comments about you—your presence, your movements, the way you carried yourself. And worst of all, how your body felt against his.

…Okay, maybe that last thought was just Sukuna being Sukuna. But the rest was frustrating enough to keep Yuji from getting any decent sleep.

“I want you to get close,” Sukuna said, his voice smug. Yuji almost recoiled in anger as the cursed spirit’s eye appeared on his cheek.

“That’s even more reason not to,” Yuji grumbled, forcing himself upright with a yawn. “You don’t do anything unless it benefits you.”

“I couldn’t care less what you think I’m planning,” Sukuna replied. “I just want to talk. Maybe play a bit.” His eye disappeared, replaced by a mouth that curved into a sharp grin.

“Exactly why I won’t do it! They don’t deserve to have your nasty ass hanging around them!” Yuji snapped, flicking the light on. He needed to move—anything to escape this stupid conversation.

“Watch your tongue, brat,” Sukuna warned, voice dark. “You and I both know what we saw in those eyes.”

Yuji had to admit—Sukuna was right. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that you were just an ordinary person, it wasn’t true.

You were more than that.

Whether you were depressed or some kind of high-functioning sociopath, one thing was certain—you weren’t innocent. You were dangerous. Borderline evil.

It was an unbridled power that even Gojo didn’t emanate. And the fact that Sukuna could sense it—despite being trapped in a body he couldn’t fully control—was unsettling. Just how strong were you?

“…Why?” Yuji asked with a sigh, stretching his arms over his head.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you.” Sukuna backtracked, going silent for a long while.

Finally. Peace. Maybe Yuji could actually sleep now.

He exhaled, flicked off the light, and crawled back into bed.

Silence.

Only the sound of his own breathing filled the room.

Until—

“If you must know—”

“Oh no. Oh my gosh.” Yuji groaned, shoving his face into his pillow. He did not want to hear Sukuna’s annoying voice right now. He didn’t want to think about you—who you were or what you might be.

“Quiet, brat. I was about to explain myself, but now I won’t, since I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“I didn’t ask for yours either.”

“You did when you swallowed my finger.”

Someone. Help. Him. Please.

He was going to strangle himself.

Sukuna could get used to bullying Yuji into doing whatever he wanted him to do, if it was this easy, then he could get anything.

“Let me sleep,” Yuji whined, rolling off the bed and hitting the floor with a dull thud. There was no way he was going to survive this.

“No,” Sukuna sneered. “Go talk to them. Otherwise, the next time I take control—I’ll kill them.”

“Damn it!” Yuji yelled, pushing himself up from the floor and stomping over to his dresser.

He pulled on his socks.

Then his slippers.

A shirt? Not worth the effort.

Instead, he grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around himself like some sleep-deprived gremlin. The exhaustion was so overwhelming it was almost funny.

Opening his dorm room door, he stepped into the silent hallway—only to immediately trip over his own feet and crash to the ground.

He let out a pitiful whine before groggily picking himself up. Hopefully, no one else had woken up. Not that he cared at this point. He was so done with life.

“Pathetic,” Sukuna scoffed in the back of his mind, barely holding back laughter.

“Shut up,” Yuji muttered, trudging down the hallway.

He wandered around, trying to remember which dorm was yours. When he finally found it, he hesitated before knocking lightly.

Waited, then knocked again.

If he were in his right mind, he wouldn’t be doing this. But he was so sleep-deprived he could hardly care how stupid he looked.

After a moment of silence, he knocked again, groaning under his breath. Screw it. The door was unlocked anyway.

Pushing it open, Yuji frowned when he realized the room was empty. He couldn’t help but admire how neat your room was as well. It was annoyingly spotless.

With an exasperated sigh, he shut the door. So much for that. Clearly, you weren’t sleeping—at least, not in your dorm.

Dragging his feet, he made his way back toward his dorm, passing the shared kitchen—then stopping in his tracks.

There you were.

Sitting on a stool in front of the counter, casually eating an apple while reading the back of some random box. You looked completely at ease, as if the late hours didn’t bother you at all.

Yuji watched for a moment, taking in how calm you seemed. For some reason, right then and there, he didn’t feel like you were hiding anything.

Was this really the same person who had kicked his ass a month ago?

Slowly, Yuji stepped into the dim kitchen light, trying not to startle you while also attempting to look casual. He reached for a cup, filling it with water as if that was the only reason he was here.

“Hey… how are you doing?” He asked with a small, tired smile, stifling a yawn. He didn't really want to make small talk, but he might as well before Sukuna decided to say something. Hopefully, you wouldn’t think he was weird.

“Good,” You nodded as you let out a quiet yawn of your own.

It was only then that he noticed something.

Something baffling.

Something flabbergasting.

Something that absolutely bamboozled him.

He could go on and on, but the bottom line was—what he was witnessing should’ve been illegal.

“…Are you eating a bell pepper?” Yuji blurted, completely forgetting to keep up the act of getting water.

“Yes… why?” You replied, taking another bite like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Yuji wasn’t upset that you were eating a bell pepper—he knew they were healthy. He wasn’t even upset that you were eating it without cutting it up.

No.

He was upset that he had thought it was an apple in the first place.

This was a problem because never in his life had he seen a human being—of any age—eat a raw, uncut bell pepper like it was a casual snack.

Like it was a fruit.

“Oh… okay. Um… wow. Well… good night?”

Who knew he could feel horny and deeply confused at the same time?

He wasn’t even sure if it was horniness—he just knew, without a doubt, that he wanted to be around you now.

You ate a bell pepper like you were just casually flipping off nature. Like, ‘Screw you and your apples.’

There was no way you were evil. No damn way someone with villainous intent could eat a bell pepper like that, people who were evil wouldn't have outed themselves that easily by doing what regular people never think of doing.

“Good night,” You sighed with a small but polite smile.

And then he saw your eyes again.

They were pretty—serious in color, a little blank—but this time, he could tell. You weren’t just going through the motions.

You were present.

And for the first time, you looked calm. Maybe even… happy.

“Wait… um, do you remember me?” Yuji asked, deciding to take a seat on the stool next to you.

“Yes… You’re Itadori, right?” you replied with the same relaxed smile, yawning before taking another bite of your bell pepper.

He still wasn’t over that. You were acting like it was completely normal.

“Yep, that’s me,” Yuji grinned, pointing at himself—only to feel his cheek start to move.

Damn it.

"Hey, brat."

“Brat?” you echoed, glancing at the sudden mouth on his cheek before looking back at Yuji himself.

“Sorry! That’s Sukuna. He, uh… does that sometimes.” Yuji rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to sound too embarrassed.

“Oh, right… He has a title, doesn’t he?”

"I’m the King of Curses, you weakling," Sukuna muttered, attempting to sound menacing.

But if he was expecting a reaction, he didn’t get one.

Instead, Sukuna found himself weirdly intrigued by the way your expression subtly shifted. The way you carried yourself now—calm, a little tired—was so different from the person who had fought him before.

And for some reason, he was drawn to that contrast.

“Well, nice to meet you,” You started, but before you could finish, the curse interrupted.

"Yeah, whatever. Don’t you forget it, rat! I’ll have you kn—"

“I’ll give you a moment to shut up.”

You didn’t raise your voice. You didn’t even look particularly threatening. But the bored and tired way you said it made Sukuna instantly go quiet.

Yuji blinked in shock.

“…Is he always this articulate?” you asked Yuji, teasing amusement slightly in your tone.

Yuji couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah, he’s an ass. And honestly? He’s kinda vile.”

“Well, he is the King of Curses.” You replied, completely unbothered.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, but you didn’t mind the company. Your insomnia wasn’t letting you sleep anyway, so this was a decent distraction.

“So… your night going well, Y/N?” Yuji asked, watching as you took another bite of your bell pepper.

“Yep. Yours?” You yawned.

“Good, good…” He nodded, then—seemingly out of nowhere—blurted, “How do you feel about Jennifer Lawrence?”

What a fun question.

“How do I feel about her? Well… she’s a great actress,” You shrugged, thinking back to the one movie you’d seen her in. That, and the interview where she randomly pulled a Rubik’s cube out of a plate of Jell-O.

“Yep…” Yuji nodded, though he looked like he was waiting for more.

Wait.

Didn’t both Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson star in, like, three movies together?

That was something you could talk about.

“So… Have you seen that Josh Hutcherson edit?”

Yuji immediately groaned. “No! Don’t remind me of that tiktok trend! It’s all over my for you page and I’m gonna lose my shit!”

Safe to say, the two of you basically became best friends that night.

Now, Yuji definitely doesn’t hate you. In fact, he likes being around you a lot. You two have secret handshakes, inside jokes, and far too many conversations about Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.

Of course, Nobara loves calling him out for it. She says that he acts like a lost puppy around you and Megumi just asks him not to hurt your feelings too much.

Whether it be due to how hilarious you looked when you were eating a bell pepper or the fact that you could get Sukuna to shut up if he talked outta line he didn't know why he would act that way.

Either way, Yuji respects you.

And—unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it—he’s also developed a crush.

Sukuna, on the other hand? He wants absolutely nothing to do with you.

Not in a million years.

His pride has been in shambles ever since you told him to shut up that night. But what was he supposed to do? Cry about it? God forbid.

Still, as much as he hates to admit it, he wouldn’t mind being a part of your life.

…Maybe.

Though, if he were being honest, you kind of made him uncomfortable with the fact that he was willingly evil. Which was insane, considering he was literally the King of Curses. And yet, something about you unsettled him in a way he couldn’t quite explain.

Not that he’d ever say that out loud.

But Yuji knows.

So now, whenever Yuji gets tired of Sukuna’s bullshit, and you’re not around to deal with him, he pulls out the ultimate weapon: You.

“If you don’t stop, I’m gonna let you out and tell Y/N to beat your ass.”

"Don’t you dare, brat!"

“Then be nice.”

"How dare you—I’m the King of—"

“Y/N!! Sukuna’s being an ass again!”

"Damn it, brat! I’M SHUTTING UP!"

“... Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

"... Useless-"

“That’s it.”

"Wait! No—!"

[amxrany]

!! CHAPTER 7 / DIASOMNIA ARC SPOILERS !!

Damn we are eating a lot (Part 2):

During the battle, Baul is shooked on how Silver and Sebek are good at dealing with horses to which Sebek replies that they're part fo the equestrian club so it's a natural thing for them

Yuu and Grim were about to get attacked by an Iron Man but Lilia comes in to defend them. BUT THEN LILIA PROCEEDS TO SMACK SILVER AND SEBEK BEING ALL "This is why I hate children 😒" 😭😭😭

After the battle we reach the castle (which is the castle in the Sleeping Beauty movie) AND THEN WE SEE THE KNIGHT OF DAWN

Anyways going back to the topic, we also get Henric, who is pretty much going "Meleanor if you don't get out of that castle right now we'll invade the castle together with the Knight of Dawn" AND JESUS FUCK HIS SPRITE 💀

Yucks

It turns out the Knight of Dawn doesn't want any part of this either, cuz Henric wants Meleanor's magic orb and dragon egg (aka Malleus) since they're really precious things

Idk what's up with this chapter and their thing for turning characters into orphans cuz the Knight of Dawn is also an orphan adopted by the king 🧍‍♀️, and Henric tells him that if he can steal the orb maybe it could save the king and Leah

We then see Meleanor, WHO IS A FUCKING BADDIE SO DAMN REAL TWST YKNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE YOUR WOMEN 😍😍😍

WE ALSO SEE EGG MALLEUS AWWWW

Meleanor tells them that she was planning to take a nap with the egg but useless people interrupted that, and she refers to the egg as Malleus already 🥹. Lilia is just confused and asks how is she sure that the egg is a boy, in which Meleanor replies that a mother is always sure and knows that Malleus will grow up to be beautiful like his father, Leverne

But then she sees Sebek and Silver and makes them get down on their knees (MAAM I'LL ALSO GET DOWN ON MY KNEES FOR YOU 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️), she then goes on about how humans are weak and stuff. Lilia tries to defend them but Baul tells us about Meleanor's hatred for humans and that we might as well stay quiet

But then Lilia loses his shit as well and tries to tell Meleanor about the danger that's just waiting outside but Meleanor refuses, saying that she wants to fight because she's a mother who wants to protect egg Malleus (I swear I can't this update is making me cry 😭). So she tells everyone to escape with the egg while she fights the Knight of Dawn and we get this scene of Lilia holding on to egg Malleus

Meleanor tells them to leave but Lilia refuses. So out of anger, she zaps him which causes everyone to panic cuz he has the egg and Silver tries to stop it but Meleanor gets even more mad that she zaps him too like jesus this woman and her anger issues. Silver tries to plead with them to stop fighting because people who love each other don't fight

Meleanor replies that even if she doesn't make it, Malleus is still there. But Lilia tells her that Malleus can't hatch without the true love of a parent. BUT THEN WE GET THIS REVEAL THAT LILIA PROPOSED TO MELEANOR 200 YEARS AGO AND HE ALSO LOVED LEVERNE LIKE LILIA MELEANOR LEVERNE POLY RELATIONSHIP IS FUCKING REAL. Meleanor reassures Lilia that he will find a way to love Malleus since he also loved her and Leverne 🥹

She then summons thorns that drags Lilia and the rest away from the castle, saying her final goodbye to both Lilia and Malleus (I'm crying rn guys). Lilia tries to find a way back in to save Meleanor but Baul yells at him to calm down cuz he was still holding egg Malleus, and that Meleanor trusted them to protect the egg

Meleanor makes her appearance to the Knight of Dawn and Silver Owls, which starts another battle....

Next: Part 3

Previous: Part 1

[databoyreekoo]

Kairi and Darkness [speculation thread]

!Find the original thread HERE on my twitter! (Sorry if any of the images are absolutely fried, they were all moved from twt since I didn't have them saved on my pc anymore lmao)

In BBS, we are introduced to Terra, Aqua and Ventus as parallels to Riku, Kairi and Sora, respectively. However, as the story of Kingdom Hearts continues to evolve, parallels between Aqua and Sora, Aqua and Riku, Terra and Sora, and Ventus and Kairi, are established as well.

I'd like to focus on the parallels between Ventus and Kairi, because it's possible that a terrible accident from the distant past may end up happening again.

Kairi and Ventus were both forced into a comatose state due to unfortunate circumstances, with someone close to them fighting to restore their hearts. Both are also associated with sleeping princesses.

Neither one of them remember their past, and they experience immense pain when they try to remember, or when they have a flashback.

Both were originally from another world until they were plucked and moved to another by Xehanort. Kairi was taken in by the mayor of Destiny Islands, while Ventus was taken in by Eraqus, the master of the Land of Departure. These worlds become their new homes.

Kairi's heart and Ventus' heart were required to complete the Keyblade of Heart and the X-blade, respectively, which both have the ability to summon Kingdom Hearts. (The Keyblade of Heart summons the door to Kingdom Hearts).

Both are pure hearts of light that were crystallized/frozen by Xehanort in order to "motivate" another Guardian to fight so the Keyblade War would reach its climax. (Literally in the same spot too, oof).

Oh, hey, this looks familiar! (Below, a demonstration of their light dispelling darkness through will alone).

They were both experimented on by Xehanort.

Xehanort used Kairi as a backup, which led to Sora's disappearance, just as he used Ventus to manipulate Terra into succumbing to darkness (which led to Aqua getting trapped in the Realm of Darkness).

Ah, and then there was this callback in ReMind, meaning the parallels between Kairi and Ventus are still relevant and important. Be sure to keep an eye out. 👀

Now, what does this have to do with Darkness? Well, in khux Ventus is depicted as a loner with a longing for friendship and a hidden desire for power. His complicated emotions attracted Darkness, which led to his "possession." (He was controlled like a puppet, more like).

After deciding that waiting wasn't good enough, Kairi got herself caught in the middle of another one of Sora's adventures. Kairi resolved to joining the fight, and openly expressed her irritation with being left behind.

She actively tried to help in any way she could, but it ultimately led to her getting used and destroyed by Xehanort and his many incarnations. We see this cycle eventually come to a point in Melody of Memory.

Kairi literally trembles with rage as she tells Xehanort, "because of you, my fate is at your mercy -- Sora and everyone got hurt because I wasn't strong enough!" But...her guilt, frustration, fear and lack of confidence causes her to get overpowered by illusion Xehanort.

Constantly getting left behind, not being strong enough to keep up with Sora and Riku, repeatedly getting used to endanger and hurt those she cares about, getting taken from her home world only to have her fate toyed with...

Kairi may be a Princess of Heart, but that doesn't mean she's resilient to trauma and the darkness that comes with it. Even Cinderella, another Princess of Heart, attracted the Unversed with her sorrow. If the emotions are real...darkness will respond to it, no matter who it is.

Kairi being a heart of pure light already puts her at risk of encountering darkness, because darkness is drawn to light and vice versa. And with her desire to become powerful enough to fight alongside Sora and Riku...it's just adding more bait to the trap.

"I really want to go with you... But, I can't do it now. I'd be a liability. I'm going to keep training to get more powerful so I can fight alongside you and Sora!"

And...with Melody of Memory's cover referencing the album art Nomura drew with the premise of "something that makes people want to know what's going to happen next, something that expands the imagination" where every keyword in the commands has a meaning...

"And, as one waits for Utada to perform again, there is a double meaning in this content. What happens if she starts to move again?"

It's implying Utada, as a performer, only has partial control of themselves. That, in this "game" they're in, they're at the mercy of the audience. After they're done recharging, what will happen next? Will they break free? (Of course, this is all up to interpretation).

I think Nomura wanted those same feelings to come across with Melody of Memory's cover; Kairi surrounded by memories of everyone smiling - even though, in reality, some of them weren't smiling - while sitting in Sora's empty throne, sleeping. What will happen when she wakes up?

It's rhetorical. We know what happens when she wakes up, but what we don't know is how she'll handle the guilt of seeing everyone so tired and worn out from searching endlessly for Sora for an entire year.

Would she think "if I was more powerful, I could fix everything"? Or maybe "once I'm strong enough, I'll fix it all since it's my fault"? And with her going to train under Aqua, her getting close Ventus is inevitable. It's the perfect set up.

"But she's a Princess of Heart and has a pure heart of light! She can't fall to darkness!" Yeah. You're right. I'm not saying she'll fall to darkness, but the probability of her being used like a puppet is high and not impossible.

What did Darkness say in ReMind again?

"He is too pure. It's because he's so pure that he has many gaps."

Pure...as in "untainted by darkness," and because darkness is half of everything - even people - it leaves those with hearts of pure light full of "holes" that darkness can easily hide in.

Which is exactly what happened to Ventus.

[picaroroboto]

one of my favorite WoL Moments is still this dialogue choice in Heavensward:

Context is that during the HW roadtrip, the party gets caught in this Catch-22 where the dragons won't let us pass through unless we get the Gnath to stop bugging (lol) them, but the Gnath have summoned Ravana. It seems obvious that the WoL needs to kill Ravana in order for anything to progress, but Alphinaud asks to make sure they're willing first.

There's a lot you can dig up in this seemingly simple interaction - first, Alphinaud's side of things: during late-ARR and it's post-patches, there's a lot of evidence to be found that shows he treats the WoL like a bodyguard, like a weapon, taking their strength for granted for his political ends while giving little, if any, thought to their own thoughts and feelings. It's not outright malicious manipulation, just a sort of blindness. Since the betrayal at the banquet he's been humbled, and grown closer to the WoL thanks to their continued support of him despite the fact that his vanity caused the disaster. Him asking the WoL is they're okay with fighting Ravana, even though it's a given that they have to, can be seen as him not wanting to repeat the same pattern of using them.

For the WoL, the "choice" seems obvious - kill the Primal. Their first Primal battle, Ifrit, was a fight for survival brought on by a twist of fate. Every one since then has been an active pursuit by choice - if you can even call it a choice when they're the only one who can do it and many people would die if they didn't. By HW they're already firmly locked in to their role of being the guy who kills Primals, and whether they like it or not they continue to choose to fight. By choosing the upper line here they confirm that, while also giving some cool and heroic bravado to reassure Alphinaud. But notably it's just to say that they don't fear their duty. They may hate it, regret the choices that lead them here, all manner of things, but they are not afraid of fighting Primals.

Or they could simply say nothing. Giving silence also recognizes that their choice doesn't really matter and they're going to have to fight anyways. When it comes to silent protagonist-type characters who have few dialogue options, every option they're given has all the more weight. There are cases where choosing to say three ellipses "..." says a thousand things more than not being given a dialogue choice at all, and this is one of them. It's as if the two choices here are actually "Be the Hero" or "Be the Hero (not happy about it)".