#you get sealed away for your power and viewed as a demon by some and a nameless challenge by others

[perenlop]

morphogala is a yuri tragedy. to me

[aziraphales-library]

Hi! Thank you so much for all your hardwork. I was wondering if you had a list of fics where The Arrangement is viewed by one or both or even by outsiders as a marriage?

Thanks very much!

Hello. Here are some fics that play with the idea of the arrangement and marriage...

when you kiss me heaven sighs by memesf0r0ne (M)

After six millennia, they were marginally better at it, if “it” was a collective variable for getting their point across and finding a balance with the whole angel-and-demon-being-friends thing. Maybe not friends; but they hung out, or at least spoke about non-business-related things― Usually when drunk.

a thousand years loving you by 5ftjewishcactus (T)

In 1020, Aziraphale and Crowley came up with the Arrangement. On the surface, the Arrangement detailed how they’d stay out of each other’s way and lend a hand when needed. Both tasks would still be completed, still reported to their respective head offices. But neither would truly face the other, could keep reporting to head office how they were keeping the opposition from interfering. But further in, the Arrangement was in its essence, a marriage contract. Not necessarily in the way that humans might use the word marriage. But for Crowley and Aziraphale, it meant that whatever came next, however long they had left, it would be with each other.

Sealed by Aethelflaed (G)

London, Three weeks after the Apocalypse: Crowley finds a certain document tucked away in a forgotten book. Mercia, 1020 CE: An angel and a demon meet to finalize an Arrangement... “I’m still not sure,” Aziraphale said slowly, “that the Arrangement need be so…formalized.” “Fifteen years ago,” Crowley snapped, sweeping his wing behind him, “you said you weren’t sure you were comfortable with a nebulous agreement. I don’t know what more you want from me, Angel.” “But it’s hardly appropriate for an angel to enter into a contract with Hell.” Aziraphle carefully placed the document to the side.

or the look or the words by taizi (T)

Crowley raises one dark eyebrow at him. “You sound as though you’ve got something in mind already, angel.” His eyes are golden in the sunlight, and his red hair is plaited loosely down his back. It sends Aziraphale back to 1186, to that spring wedding in a sprawling field of eagerly blooming jonquils. He thinks of how beautiful Crowley looked there in all his sunrise colors. Aziraphale reaches out to touch a rogue curl that escaped the plait. He can feel Crowley holding his breath. “I suppose I do,” Aziraphale admits quietly.

Vows by Bookwormgal (T)

Crowley certainly didn't do it on purpose. It wasn't something that he exactly planned. But a moment of desperation and stubbornness gave birth to the creation of something new. A bond forged of power, hope, devotion, love, and promises that he would never break. It isn't often that a demon metaphysically half-marries an angel.

- Mod D

[baki-tiene-un-simp]

Hey Hey hey! Yujiro, Jack, Baki and Hanayama, BUT. . . They are traditional Onis from the Japanese folklore 👀

En lo profundo de la montaña / Deep in the mountain.

~Palabras / Words~ 1k

It is often whispered that in the high mountains of Japan there are monstrous creatures, mischievous entities that enjoy tormenting people who are unlucky enough to get lost on mountain trails. Demons similar to enormous beasts with fangs like daggers, mountains for muscles and horns majestic like a crown, but terrifying like enormous spears.

It may sound like a legend invented to keep people away from the mountains, to prevent hikers from getting lost or having fatal accidents, but there is simply something that can disturb you about the religiosity with which this legend is maintained; as if it were not a story, if not, a warning.

They warned you a lot, all those kind old people who seemed so concerned when you expressed that your destiny was in the mountains. The worried look on their faces made you endeared, but it was also disturbing how they believed, so fervently, that if you weren't careful you would end up running into those terrifying creatures. However, you couldn't turn back now. Your grandfather, a self-proclaimed hermit in his eighties, lived at the top of the mountain, and it was your responsibility as the eldest grandson/granddaughter to take care of his health now that your father is gone, as well as supplying him with provisions for up to a month.

You belong to a very close-knit and somewhat traditional family, you couldn't even think of turning your back on your grandfather, even if he wants that. Your father went up the mountain every month, cleaned your grandfather's house, showed him respect and came back down, every month without fail. Now it was your turn.

You carried the provisions on your back, duly packed and sealed, setting off towards the mountain when the birds were still waking up and singing in the morning. The paths were lonely, but full of vegetation, an unmistakable sign of the little traffic that there was in that area, the view was simply beautiful; You don't remember the last time you saw a green as bright as the color of the trees that stood and covered the ground.

You kept up the pace of your walk as you reflected, remembering all the warnings and good wishes from the people who lived at the base of the mountain. They talked about the oni and how aggressive they were, that you shouldn't leave the trail for anything and that you shouldn't stop at anything. They mentioned that there were some who walked around these parts more frequently, their names and how you could identify them.

When they told you about Baki they told you to be careful, although he was the calmest among the four oni in the area, the reddish color of his skin still betrayed his greedy nature. Despite his otherworldly and monstrous appearance, it was comforting to look at him, his smooth features a little more striking than his rough fangs and horns that stood out from his short tangle of hair. It would be lucky to run into him when you are lost, he is usually in a good mood, so if you can give him some interest, he will be willing to help you get off the mountain unscathed.

Both Jack and Kaoru can be unpredictable, although they are not very problematic, but they are not completely neutral either.

Jack is a tall oni, you could mistake him for a building if you forgot that you were in the forest, the reddish tone of his skin also denotes a certain greed, but he does not seem to follow these instincts unless he is in the presence of the blue oni. Jack shows very little interest in the travelers, almost ignoring their insignificant presence if he is in a good mood; If he's upset, well, it's easy to imagine what such a large, powerful creature could do to a tiny human who scream and struggles in vain against him.

Kaoru is not very different from Jack, his reddish skin marked by multiple wounds shows that he is a creature to be feared, that he is no stranger to battles and that he is capable of resisting a lot. No one wants to be a prisoner of his enormous hands, gigantic prisons that would end the life of anyone. Not many incidents have been heard involving Kaoru, but everyone who has gone on his hunt never returns. He is more selfless than Jack when it comes to human presence, but his calmness does not guarantee safety.

And finally, the blue oni, Yujiro. He is angry and confrontational in nature, the presence of people is repulsive to him and there is no chance of turning out well if you end up in front of him. Many of the incidents on the mountain are his work. They say that his eyes shine a crimson red in the middle of the darkness of the night, you won't be able to confuse them with anything, because once you notice them it will be too late. There is no way to reason with him, there is only one way to go with him; run away, the problem is that nothing guarantees your survival. No matter how fast you run or how much advantage you think you have, he will catch you.

You didn't quite believe in that, but inside you… Deep inside you, there was a little voice that begged heaven for your path to be safe and away from any problematic entity that would disturb the rhythm of your walk.

The sound of footsteps caught your attention, you would swear they were footsteps. You were sure. The birds moved and took flight, fleeing, small, harmless animals ran a few meters away from you, fleeing, and if it weren't something intangible you would assume that the breeze blowing against your face was also fleeing.

You froze when you noticed a large silhouette among the trees, from your place, you were unable to make out anything other than its large size and unusual height, it was certain that it was not a human. Your mind thought of every possibility; A bear… A oni. Bear or Oni, you couldn't face them, you had to get away before they noticed you, but it was difficult to look away thanks to the fear you felt at the thought of losing them from your field of vision.

You backed away slowly without looking away, which made you not notice the unevenness in the path, you fell with a scream of surprise and when you recovered you could notice that the great shadow was looking at you with luminescent eyes. You froze in place as a clawed hand emerged from the darkness to make its way through the trees that blocked its path, your mind hazy and your throat dry from the long gasps of fear…

… You really would have preferred a bear.

[Open ending to let you choose the ending you prefer, and I don't know, maybe I can write continuations with each character (Baki, Jack, Kaoru or Yujiro)]

Versión es español.

Se suele murmurar que en las altas montañas de Japón existe criaturas monstruosas, traviesas entidades que disfrutan al atormentar a las personas que tienen la mala suerte de perderse en los senderos montañosos. Demonios similares a enormes bestias con colmillos como dagas, montañas por músculos y cuernos majestuosos como una corona, pero atemorizantes como enormes lanzas.

Puede sonar como una leyenda inventada para mantener a las personas lejos de las montañas, para evitar que los senderistas sigan perdiéndose o teniendo accidentes fatales, pero simplemente hay algo que puede perturbarte por la religiosidad con la que se mantiene esta leyenda; como si no fuera un cuento, si no, una advertencia.

Te lo advirtieron mucho, todos esos amables ancianos que se mostraban tan preocupados cuando expresabas que tu destino estaba en las montañas. La mirada preocupada en sus rostros te daba ternura, pero también era inquietante la forma en que creían, tan fervientemente que si no tenías cuidado terminarías topándote con esas aterradoras criaturas. Sin embargo, no podías retroceder ahora. Tu abuelo, un autoproclamado ermitaño de unos ochenta y tantos años, vivía en la cima de la montaña y era tu responsabilidad como hijo mayor el cuidar de su salud ahora que tu padre se ha ido, además de abastecerlo de provisiones hasta el mes siguiente.

Perteneces a una familia muy unida y algo tradicional, ni siquiera podrías pensar en darle la espalda a tu abuelo, aunque él quiera eso. Tu padre subía cada mes a la montaña, limpiaba la casa de tu abuelo, le mostraba respeto y volvía a bajar, cada mes sin falta. Ahora era tu turno.

Cargaste las provisiones a la espalda, debidamente empacadas y selladas, emprendiendo camino hacia la montaña cuando todavía las aves se despertaban y cantaban por la mañana. Los senderos eran solitarios, pero repletos de vegetación, una señal inconfundible del poco tránsito que había en esa zona, la vista era simplemente hermosa; no recuerdas la última vez en que viste un verde tan brillante como lo era el color de los árboles que se alzaban y arropaban el suelo.

Mantuviste el ritmo de tu caminata mientras reflexionabas, recordando todas las advertencias y buenos deseos de las personas que vivían en la base de la montaña. Hablaban sobre los onis y sobre lo agresivos que eran, que no debías salir del sendero por nada y que no te detuvieras ante nada. Mencionaron que había algunos que se paseaban con mayor frecuencia por estos lares, sus nombres y como podrías identificarlos.

Cuando te hablaron de Baki te dijeron que tuvieras cuidado, si bien era el más tranquilo entre los cuatro onis de la zona, el color rojizo de su piel seguía delatando su codiciosa naturaleza. A pesar de su apariencia sobrenatural y monstruosa, era reconfortante mirarlo, sus facciones suaves eran un poco más llamativas que sus toscos colmillos y los cuernos que resaltaban por su corta maraña de pelo. Sería una suerte el toparse con él cuando estás perdido, usualmente está de buen humor, así que, si puedes darle algo de interés, estará dispuesto a ayudarte a salir de la montaña ileso.

Tanto Jack como Kaoru pueden ser impredecibles, si bien, no son muy problemáticos, pero tampoco son completamente neutrales.

Jack es un oni de gran altura, podrías confundirlo con un edificio si olvidaras que te encuentras en el bosque, el tono rojizo de su piel también denota cierta avaricia, pero no parece seguir dichos instintos a menos que se encuentre en presencia del oni azul. Jack muestra muy poco interés en los viajeros, casi ignorando su insignificante presencia si está de buen humor; Si está molesto, bueno, es fácil intuir lo que una criatura tan grande y poderosa podría hacerle a un pequeño humano que grita y lucha en vano contra él.

Kaoru no es muy diferente a Jack, su piel rojiza marcada por múltiples heridas muestran que es una criatura de temer, que no es ajeno a las batallas y que es capaz de resistir mucho. Nadie quiera ser presa de sus enormes manos, gigantescas prisiones que acabarían con la vida de quien sea. No se ha escuchado muchos incidentes que involucren a Kaoru, pero toda persona que ha ido en su casería jamás regresan. Es más desinteresado que Jack cuando se trata de la presencia humana, pero su tranquilidad no garantiza seguridad.

Y por último, el oni de color azul, Yujiro. Es de naturaleza iracunda y conflictiva, la presencia de la gente es repulsiva para él y no hay oportunidad de salir bien si terminas frente a él. Muchos de los incidentes de la montaña son obra suya. Dicen que sus ojos brillan en un rojo carmesí en medio de la oscuridad de la noche, no podrás confundirlos con nada, porque una vez que los notas ya será demasiado tarde. No hay forma de razonar con él, solo hay un camino a seguir con él; huir, el problema radica en que nada te garantiza sobrevivir. Sin importar que tan rápido corras o cuanta ventaja creas tener, él te atrapara.

No terminaste de creer en eso, pero dentro de ti… Muy dentro de ti, había una vocecita que rogaba al cielo porque tu camino sea seguro y alejado de cualquier entidad problemática que perturbe el ritmo de tu andar.

El ruido de pasos llamo tu atención, jurarías que fueron pasos. Estabas seguro. Las aves se movieron y emprendieron vuelo, huyendo, pequeños e inofensivos animales corrían a unos metros lejos de ti, huyendo, y si no se tratase de algo intangible darías por hecho que la brisa que soplaba contra tu rostro también estaba huyendo.

Te congelaste cuando notaste una silueta grande entre los árboles, desde tu lugar eras incapaz de distinguir algo más que su gran tamaño e inusual altura, era seguro que no era un humano. Tu mente pensó en cada posibilidad; un oso… Un oni. Oso u Oni, no podrías hacerle frente, debías alejarte antes de que te notara, pero era difícil apartar la mirada gracias al miedo que sentías al pensar en perderlo de tu campo de visión.

Retrocediste lentamente sin apartar la mirada, lo que hizo que no notaras el desnivel en el sendero, caíste con un grito de sorpresa y cuando te recuperaste pudiste notar que la gran sombre te miraba con ojos luminiscentes. Te congelaste en tu sitio cuando una mano con garras salió de la oscuridad para abrirse camino entre los árboles que bloqueaban su paso, tu mente estaba confusa y tu garganta se secó por los largos jadeos que te provocaba el miedo…

… Realmente hubieras preferido un oso.

[Final abierto para dejar que escojas el final que prefieras, y no sé, quizá pueda escribir continuaciones con cada personaje (Baki, Jack, Kaoru o Yujiro)]

[i-am-a-fan]

Do i? do i want to offer a penny for your thoughts?

*does so anyways*

o |-o

CONGRATS YOU GET MY THOUGHTS ON MY AUS!!!! MAY HAVE SPOILERS IDK IMMA TYPE STREAM OF CONSCIOUS!!

Okay, so basically I have 3 main lego monkie kid aus (one of which i don’t work on at all but I still deeply love)

1. The DND AU which is made 1000x funnier now that Matt Mercer was on the show.

2. Pirate Au

3. Ink Clone Au

I mostly want to talk about my pirate au and the Ink clone au. So for the pirate au, I had NO idea how to actually write redson and the samadhi fire. To me, redson is prideful and arrogant, but is willing to die for their family. They won’t budge a centimeter if it meant their family would be okay, even if they’d never admit it, so I took that idea and ran.

The samadhi fire is the ultimate weapon of destruction, not chaos, but destruction. Redson’s idea of protection, is to be so destructive, that nothing can stand in their way. So, i took that idea too. Therefore, Redson asks Mei for the Samadhi fire in the Au, because he not only views it as his birthright, but as a way of protecting people he loves. (In one of the fics I wrote, he doesn’t even realize why they’re obsessed with getting back the fire. They just know they aren’t strong enough right now, because they internalized that they never will be.)

AND GUESS WHAT WAS IN SEASON 5 BABYYYYY. I have so much more to say on episode 5 but this is my take away. I feel like the reason why I’m not happy with season 5 redson, is that all their character development is happening off screen. We don’t see the causes of why Redson and Mei have each other’s numbers or why Redson is so comfortable around her. We don’t directly see why he’s gained better control of his anger, but i think that Redson is still very selfish. They still crave that destruction and view themselves as weak. So Im def going to be working on that >:)

———————-

Second My Ink clone au.

In that au, i took the fact that Mk could make a terrifying forest out of his stress and applied it to the two biggest stressors that Mk has faced (LBD AND INK DEMON.) The real demons are gone or sealed away, but Mk would obviously still hold onto what they said. So if Mk can manifest cursed evil trees, he can probably accidentally bring other things into reality too.

In the au, Ink clone works closer to how Monkey Mk acts. He tries to get Mk to tap into his power more often and not to run away from his past memories. He’s also an asshole and i love him.

In season 5!!! We find out that Mk’s own mind torments him with replica of the LBD. Which can I just say, made her my favorite villain in the show storywise. I don’t know of anyone else has been an unwilling hostage in their own brain before, but having thoughts that manifest like another person in your head is terrible. Anyways, the show took it in a different direction than my clone au, but it was still kinda fun to see some basic concepts work out in a similar fashion.

[numberonemagolorfan]

Last minute Virgo propaganda

Voice claim is Eris (Sinbad) They are both hot evil women so it works.

Originally, she looked completely different. She had a more alien appearance, but was also a lot smaller and more blue.

https://youtu.be/Nii4iPXAsq0

If she had a boss theme, it would probably be this, but I have a lot of potential themes,,,

Ok so i'm just gonna speedrun all of the evil things she did don't mind me-

Created a tower full of demons promising that if any beings made it to the top they would receive any wish they desire. She wasn’t lying, but if you don’t make it to the top, you’ll receive a fate worse than death. Also you have to be,,,super powerful to even t h i n k of making it to the top. And your wish will most likely be corrupted, unless it has pure intentions.

Emotionally manipulated THREE ancient god weapons and somehow made their horrible lives even worse! Just for sillies tho.

Tortured this one guy by giving them everything they desired and then taking it all away and breaking them until they couldn’t feel pain anymore. Then, she gave them what they desired once more until they were mentally stable and,,,just took it all away again. Said person is now convinced their life is a lie and is extremely afraid of physical touch.

Later, she turned said person into a puppet by completely destroying their will and threatening them with horrible pain if they didn’t do what she said.

Mentally destroyed the embodiment of fate just for funsies.

Manipulated this one lady who has never had any human interaction into destroying planets/consuming souls for her. Unfortunately the lady viewed Virgo as a mother figure, and Virgo completely took advantage of that and very much altered the way “humans” were supposed to think. Occasionally Virgo left her alone while telling her that if she destroyed a certain number of planets she would return. One day Virgo just left, never to return and the girl was convinced that Virgo would not return until she destroyed enough planets. So yeah she killed so many people that an ancient hero that hadn’t been seen in ages showed up and forced her to sleep for like 100 years. Even the EMBODIMENT OF HUMAN EVIL (not Virgo, another guy) told her that she deserved better. And yes, she still thinks Virgo is a good/nice person.

Speaking of those ancient heroes, she cursed, corrupted, and broke all of them!

For Jehan, she corrupted his sister and he was forced to kill her, which caused him to be banned from the celestial realm. Then, she cursed him so that all of his regrets would haunt him as long as he was conscious.

For Merodach, a silly little jester fella who started the ancient hero group, she trapped them in an infinite labyrinth with no true escape, despite the ending always being in sight. Also what happened with Jehan. They were kinda dating.

For Indra, she cursed them so that they would be sealed until somebody summoned them with a request. Depending on the request, Indra could be consumed by corruption. (The rules are kinda complicated) He would get some free time, but it’s very likely that as soon as she’s done she’ll get sealed again. Oh and also she kidnapped his brother and Indra assumes that he is dead and it’s his fault. In reality, her brother is suffering in an eternal nightmare! Virgo forced him to fight an illusion version of Indra a bunch of times. Not fun!

Finally, for Asphodel, she slaughtered everyone she ever knew and loved in an attempt to access the astral realm. However, Asphodel didn’t even know how to do so, so Virgo just left her alive in hopes of her finding it out later. She did, becoming ruler of the astral realm, although she didn’t really want to. After cursing all of the other guys, Virgo showed up and tried to corrupt Aspho, but she fought against it and tried to fist-fight Virgo. (I should mention, Asphodel is 5’2, has weak limbs, and her hair weighs more than her body. Somehow this was actually the smartest thing she could have done in this situation) So yeah Virgo cursed her too. L.

She also cursed my only new york oc (yes, new york is canon in my oc-verse. Why? Because its funny.) so that he’s immortal, but is fated to die once every year. He doesn’t know how, he doesn't know what time in the day, he doesn’t know if anyone else will be involved, and he doesn’t know how many years have passed since this happened. Honestly she just did this for sillies too.

There’s also this steampunk Victorian detective guy that got cursed so that every time he dies, which is random, a little bit of his soul is taken away. He doesn’t know how much of it is gone, he doesn’t know how much is taken, but he is slowly losing more and more of himself. He got too close to figuring out the truth about Virgo, so she cursed him, sent him back to square one, and is now waiting to see if he can find the whole truth before his curse consumes him.

This is about it for direct things she’s done, but indirectly,,,,oh my god there’s so much more,,,

If you read all of this,,,wow, thanks. I know this is very long and probably very confusing, but I still hope you enjoyed reading about my evil little skrunkle. Here’s a drawing I kinda scrapped from an animatic that I didn’t like. But hey this turned out okay I think. (And I spent way too long on it lmao-)

Thanks for reading!!! Have a great rest of your day!!!

[geminmyeyes]

Chapter 6 - Beyond Light and Shadow (Tumblr Backup)

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Morning sunlight only started to grace the earth when Goku Kyubi had brought the muscular Oni back to the Youkai World. 

Shutendouji couldn't count on getting away this time. That wicked kitsune, she had dragged him into a chamber where the demon queen awaited him, alongside that child with way too much summoning power. Not for execution, but for some sort of alternative that she had been cryptically hinting at.

The two Goku leveled youkai chartered for a bit, explaining her plan as Shuten was restrained, only his thoughts aiding him in preparation for whatever the hell this was going to be.

“Foolish Oni,” Goku Hyakki-hime spoke up in her lifeless voice. “If you were any weaker, I would have killed you myself. However, you have strength similar to an extinction level threat that’s too hard to ignore, so allow me to awaken that sealed potential within you.”

Goku Hyakki-hime raised her hand, a bewitching dark aura coming off of her fingertips like black smoke. A delicate hand brushed a wicked finger on the restrained oni’s chest, more of that inky aura becoming more and more intense.

“Seal the emotions that confine you, hold you back from your full potential,” Goku Hyakki-hime began to recite, her eyes glowing a more intense ruby red all the while, voice not raising a single emotion. Not even as Shuten screamed in bloodcurdling pain. “Let only the primordial instinct to fight and kill be the only things beating in your heart.”

The screams subsided, silence filling the room for a moment. Soon, it was replaced with guttural growls and hisses, a shadowy aura leaking off of Shutendouji now. He had transformed into something that was recognizable, but somehow deeply horrific. Fire that didn’t radiate, but rather darkened was eternally burning on his body.

“The process was a success,” Goku Hyakki-hime commented in her usual cold tone. 

The reactions of the others differed. Chiharu’s being more close to his master’s, cold and calculating, fearing that any emotion would show weakness. Deep down, he was absolutely horrified at the oni turned feral creature in the oni’s skin.

Karna also tried to play it more emotionless, though he had trouble concealing it. Like Chiharu, he was pretty mortified that this could even occur, but tried to keep his composure like a part time employee in their last hour, desperately counting down the minutes.

Goku Kyubi showed delight, evilly grinning ear to ear at the monster. What a beautiful creature he was! Perfect, better than the original! Only issue is that he may try to steal her thunder, and she would have to fight if that were to come to fruition.

But, Chiharu’s expression would morph from dullness to being far more alarmed.

Almost immediately after being given enhancements, Shutendouji made an instinctive, almost feral dash right at Chiharu. The boy didn’t have time to think about calling forth help from a Genma.

His eyes looked into the ones belonging to the corrupted, feral Oni, blue and soulless with a faint glow. Yet, full of anger and detestment.

Within a blink, Chiharu felt like he had been cut open  across his left shoulder and chest, with blades that felt like they were on fire, bringing a painful burning and stinging pain across his body. Splatters of bright crimson filled his view, pouring from his chest and onto the floor. Was this guy always capable of this? 

He remembered when he was asked to hunt down this Oni, and how he held nothing back. Chiharu had delighted in beating up Shutendouji, his mind influencing the powerful Genma and Kenbumajin at his fingertips, until he was so battered he had no choice but to obey if he wanted to even dream about living.

Fresh blood dripped from Shutendouji’s much larger claws. He gave a primal snarl, ready to do it again, and again, and again. All until the kid was reduced to nothing.

Before the oni could get to shredding him, a few sunlit arrows struck Shutendouji, hissing in response. 

“Chiharu, I’ll take care of this! For now, run like hell and go through the nearby Ungykiako,” Karna instructed, Chiharu looking worried before silently nodding. 

Fear beat through his heart as he hesitated to start sprinting, blood feeling like it was spilling out faster and faster as each pulse in his chest increased in speed. Why was he feeling this? He was the queen’s perfect knight! He shouldn’t be feeling this way!

Yet, the words of the one shouting at him to run for it was someone he knew he valued more than a tool. A lesson the Kenbumajin had to teach him, that they were friends.

Chiharu went through one of the Ungykiakos and never looked back. Even if a part of him was screaming over if his friend was going to be alright.

Though, while he made it safe, he wished it wasn’t right in front of some girl who responded by screaming bloody murder. Of all places he had to end up in a neighborhood…

“Oh my god, oh my god…are you alright? What happened!?” The panicked voice asked, belonging to Saki. She had merely been walking to school, only for a kid her age, dressed in vintage emo subculture clothing and bleeding out, to appear right in her way. “I can get you to someone, my mom is a surgeon, she can help you!”

Chiharu was silent for a moment, taking off his scarf to try to soak up the blood. But as he did, it was clear he was struggling, his legs feeling shaky, the world starting to spin.

“No…” The boy managed to speak, his voice not wanting to admit such humiliating defeat. It wasn’t long before he passed right out on the ground, Saki screaming slowly fading out.

————————————————————————————————

To Chiharu’s shock, he wasn’t dead, but being laid down in a cold, white room made him feel like he was in hell. Gods no, anything but back there…

Thankfully, as the scenery became all the more clearer, it seems to have just been a guest’s room with more basic, lightly colored walls and bed that upon inspection, made it clear he wasn’t stuck in a hospital again. A sigh of relief was heard in the quiet room. Afternoon sunlight peered through the windows, Chiharu only now noticing the older woman in the room having looked over him.

“Hey, you, you’re finally awake,” The older woman greeted, her aged eyes still having a spark in them behind those round rim glasses. The boy groaned as he began to wake up, hissing a bit in pain as whatever painkillers he was on had worn off, and the stitches around the wound. 

“Unnghh, what the hell happened, and who are you?” Chiharu asked, the girl from earlier walking in.

“Oh, she’s my mom! I told you she was a surgeon, Dr. Inaho Misora,” Saki answered, the older woman looking proud of herself.

“You wouldn’t expect lil’ ol’ me to have a PhD, but I do!” Inaho grinned, before going back into a more professional look. “Right, back to you kid,”

“...Chiharu Shimamura. My name is Chiharu,” Chiharu answered rather coldly, but earnestly.

“Right, Chiharu, do you know what happened to even cause these sorts of gashes?” Inaho continued to inquire, Chiharu looking distant.

“A uhh…ermm…a wild bear?” Chiharu answered, figuring the older woman wasn’t in tune with anything supernatural.

Silence filled the room, Inaho taking a moment before delivering her analysis of the situation to the troubled child.

“Well, had that bear hit you half an inch to your right, one of your most important arteries could have been hit beyond any help. In other words, you would have died. Consider yourself lucky that you survived.” 

Deafening silence seeped into the room, the hair on Chiharu’s back standing up. Once he had tried to claim power and had a near encounter with death, and now it’s happened again. Why was he so weak? Why was his brushing up so close to death twice in recent memory?

Seeing the look on Chiharu’s face, Saki felt it was best to try to comfort him. “Hey now, I know what mom said was horrifying, but you’re alive and well, which is a good thing.”

“...Is there anything else to life other than prolonging the inevitable embrace of death?” Chiharu questioned, seriously shaken by the whole encounter. So badly, he wanted to explain the horrors he witnessed, the pure wrath of that oni, but simply was unable to find the words. If he were to try to give a supernatural exclamation, they’d think he’s crazy, out of his mind.

“I’m sorry that experience must have been a lot, but I assure you there’s a lot of nice things in life! Like video games! And the summer breeze!” Inaho tried to cheer up, but offered a comforting arm to the frightened child. “Do you know where your parents are? Got their number?”

Chiharu thought for a moment, his thoughts racing all at once. Parents? He didn’t live with anyone as far as he could remember…even then his memories were hazy at best. When he tried to remember it was things like recording studios, television sets, hospital rooms…Not a person he could call mother or father in sight of them.

But, there was at least one person he knew.

“...I have a friend I live with. He…He’s like me, an innocent soul whose birth mother and father threw him out to the river.” Chiharu finally had the courage to admit. “I don’t know where I put my cell phone last, do you know where a payphone is by chance? They seem to be hard to find.”

“A what?” Saki asked.

“Whatnow?” Inaho added in.

“...Nevermind, I’ll figure something out. Is it alright if I stay here for the night?” Chiharu perked up. 

“Sure thing! You don’t seem like you got anywhere to go, huh?” Inaho asked. 

Chiharu, in response, simply just nodded. Sure, he technically belonged somewhere, even was indebted to them. But now, he was starting to question if he belonged in such a hazardous place.

——————————————

Later in the evening, after school, a few familiar friends gathered in their usual meeting spot to discuss and discover any new cases. Of course there were the core three members, but Shirogane considered himself an official unofficial member now. Sure he was college bound, had a few odd jobs, and was one of the sacred king’s armory kenbumajin on top of all of that, but he could manage listening in on any possible cases.

“Did anything weird happen today?” Akinori asked, the two other teens shaking their heads.

“No not really, aside from Akira doing daily fortunes, but that’s more of a him thing,” Touma answered.

“Ehhh, most exciting thing is the school wide camping trip, but that’s not until two weeks from now. Still gotta ask my mom if it’s okay for me to go,” Natsume answered.

“Typical adult stuff for me,” Shirogane muttered.

“Even if there’s nothing new, we still got a lot to sort through,” Akinori began, unveiling a massive, rambling pinboard that took up at least most of the wall.

“W-What on earth is that?!” Touma asked, Akinori responded by slamming his hand into the board covered with pins and various colored strings.

“With the bombshells Natsume gave us after her mom talked with her, I’ve started to piece a lot of stuff together!” Akinori exclaimed, looking enthused about the whole board. “So far what we know is the following: Something caused The King of a Hundred Demons to start the reawakening process, first his sister woke up and started recruiting members. That Chiharu kid and his motormouth Kenbumajin being one of them, as well as various youkai who have been corrupted…Dark Youkai and Dark Arcs were the terms your mom used yeah?”

“Yeah,” Natsume answered, Akinori looking to be in a deep think as he thought on those terms for a bit.

“This is just me but I feel Dark Arcs and Dark Youkai are a bit corny without much punch, why not something with a better ring. Like I ‘unno, Maverick Arcs and Maverick Youkai or something? New age, we may as well update the terms, yeah?”

The other three simply remained silent, not even some of the youkai who hung around offered not a peep in retaliation or a better answer.

“I’ll take that silence as a resounding yes. Maverick Youkai it is.”

“Right, and I believe mom said Goku Hyakki-hime, the Queen of a Hundred Demon’s goal was to spread as much violence as possible to ressurect her brother now that a perfectly cloned human is somewhere…” Natsume kept going, Akinori looking somewhat puzzled.

“Natsume, are you sure your mom is okay? Cloning to that level only happens in movies…right?” Akinori questioned, a little worried at the possibilities. Touma decided it was best to chime in.

“There have been some advancements towards that kind of research, but a lot of major medical researchers refuse to delve into it further,” Touma brought up, trying to think about some of the ramblings he could hear his mother and father have in the brief times that they were home. “Cloning physical structure but also memories, that’s…that’s unbelievably dangerous to have in the open…”

“Debating ethics and if we’re in a sci-fi movie or not, what matters is that The Hundred Demon Queen Dushala is back and someone ended up getting cloned to be the key in bringing back her messed up brother!” Natsume tried to reason, the older man among the detectives looking shocked, and not in a way of delight.

“Wait, you said her name was Dushala? That can’t be her, it just can’t,” Stammering through his words, Shirogane looked distraught, his face painted with horror. “I knew her, she would never dream of such a horrible thing…”

“She made a vow after the sheer amount of casualties in The Great Throne Wars, appearing before my brothers and I. Truly, she absolutely despised all of us, especially one of my older brothers most of all, but she vowed to end the cycle of violence that left both of our families nearly extinct.” Shirogane recounted, remembering being coordinated as one of the first kings of the new era of youkai history. 

He remembered her face, how tired, distraught, angry, and then finally at peaceful resolve when she made that vow at the coordination. After that, neither he nor his brothers ever saw her again, to live her remaining days in peace. 

Since then, the Youkai World has been peaceful, for the most part at least. Incidents only seemed to spur up after hiking in those mountains to retire…But thankfully, nothing as horrifying as The Great Throne Wars had happened since.” Shirogane exposited, filling in blind spots about the Great Throne Wars era. He closed his eyes for a bit, sighing. 

“As for the incident involving Ms. Amano’s mother and father, I wouldn’t have a clue since we weren’t reawakened at that time.” Shirogane sighed, opening his silvery eyes after being closed for a while. “I don’t want to think she would bow out on such an important vow. Until I see her face to face, it’s best to assume this is merely someone using her name dirty like that.” 

The usually bustling room with activity and theorizing was quiet. Things sunk in in a way they hadn’t before.

“This may be a lot more dangerous than we thought…” Akinori admitted. “Sure, we faced Rasen and Soranaki, but this feels…bad. Like if someone who was rooted in pacifism broke their oath, and now her brother who’s best known to us for smacking down three legendary Watchers like it was nothing…man…”

“I don’t think it’s hopeless, there’s still your brothers, right? Wasn’t one of them famous for breaking demons in half?” Natsume tried to cheer things up.

“Rakshasa is the term used where I was from, but one of my older brothers is known for that. All of their exact locations, I don’t know myself. I know the majority of us were likely reincarnated as humans, whereas my eldest brother is hidden deep in the Youkai World. Both are like finding needles in a haystack…” Shirogane answered, looking defeated and even…wistful. “I just…”

The younger teens tilted their head a bit, a silent way of asking him to go on.

“It’s just…I just…it’s lonely when you don’t have any of your family, you know?” Shirogane admitted, Touma most of all seemed to understand his predicament most of all. 

“I understand…” Touma answered, the two motioning before wrapping into a platonic hug.

“Yeah, we’ll help you find your brothers, stop the demon army, and bring peace once more,” Natsume answered, bringing light to the dire situation. “...Speaking of which, Akinori, did you see if there’s any new cases?”

“Oh right, yeah, about that, the only things on Usuranura are about bear attacks, and it doesn’t seem like a supernaturally charged sitation,” Akinori answered. “I had a youkai named Kiborikkuma come by and confirm they aren’t behind it, nor are any bears they know.”

“Perhaps it might be something other than a bear?” Touma suggested.

“Maybe, I’ll keep everyone updated on the group chat if something pops up, even if it’s 3 am or something.” 

——————————————

Across the seas and land, it was still late morning in France, about to shift over to noon. A week had passed since accidentally ending up back in Japan, and with the watch inherited from Fumika, it was time to find somewhere that might help Ayame get a much needed upgrade. So that perhaps, when she would find a way back, she could be of use.

She had heard a few things about a watch shop on a particular street, right across from a clock tower in the uptown area of the nearby town where she attended school.

The clock shop looked to be as expected, antiques and clocks of all shapes and sizes stacked high and low. Occasional dusty books were squeezed between a shelf of porcelain, slightly strange looking figures of everything from animals to angels.

A small ding from a little bell on the door verberated through the quirky shop, the sound of footsteps running down some squeaky wooden stairs being heard.

Usually an older person was expected to run this sort of joint, middle aged at the youngest. So it was a surprise when a girl with spiky platinum blonde hair and icy gray eyes ran down the creaky steps, wearing a hoodie so large it was almost like a wizard’s robe, complete with a few faded patches that looked like stars.

“Hiya! I’m Britain’s greatest Watcher, Monique Perry, this is the historic Mister Milligan’s Ticking Antiquites!” The girl, Monique answered with a bright grin, holding a handmade staff with a strange orb-like object on it. “And who you might be?”

“I-I’m Ayame Himeno, I’m not sure if I’m in the making to being one of France’s Watchers or not…didn’t know there were ones outside of Japan,” Ayame answered, Monique pointing an index finger upwards as she got closer to inspect things.

“I’m actually from Wales myself, but I moved first to England and Scotland for a wee bit, then I was in Ireland briefly, until finally to France because of my gramp’s work. Been around the British Isles quite a bit before settling in the land of The Franks.” Monique explained, pointing to the odd golden orb on her staff With a press of a button, its lid was flipped open, and had a watch face of its own. “Though my watch here is a replica from 16th century Germany. I reckon it works maybe somewhat like yours.”

“Yeah, a little bit,” Ayame answered, a press of the watch’s button flipping open the frilly pink exterior, a light coming on as the radar started to hum. With a simple motion, it was closed again, and put onto the counter. “I’m looking to get it upgraded to be able to use arcs.

“Ah, this watch…this watch right here,” Monique observed, holding the cutesy pink watch. “This is either a replica of or dare I say, the very original watch used by one of Japan’s legendary Watchers! Are you sure you want me to tamper with this?”

“Right, inserting internals to accept arcs shouldn’t be much of an issue, you want to keep the original color scheme or not? The pinks seem to really suit you well, miss Himeno.” Monique observed, shocked she was even holding such an artifact.

“Of course, it would be wrong to try to change what isn’t broken,” Ayame laughed a bit.

“Right, before I begin, there will be a bit of a catch. Watch upgrades in different regions are strange since everyone switched back to Arcs following the disastrous collapse of Yopple Inc. The grooves on Yokai Arcs from Japan and Faerie Keys from Europe are going to be different. In layman's terms, the only Arcs you’ll be able to use are Faerie Keys from here, but I’ll keep the medal functionality if you can find a youkai, faerie, deva, asura, mogwai, or what have you still using them.”

Ayame thought, thinking this through. She hadn’t heard or seen faeries before ever since she moved here to study abroad. Then again, she only very recently got a watch of her own, so perhaps they might be more drawn to her if she does have a watch.

“Hmmm…” Ayame hummed, Monique giving a smirk.

“Fret not, I’m way nicer than most other watch places and will thrown in a Faerie Key for no extra charge,” Monique answered with a glimmer in her voice. “Though I’d have to find one suitable for you and your skill level, as well as your general vibe.”

A pause, before finally an answer. “Sure thing, I’m interested, I want to see what I’ve been missing out here!”

“Alright, I’ll get you started!” Monique gleefully said, taking the watch to a workbench to start working on it.

The sound of different magical bits and bobs coming together filled the quiet, almost deserted antique shop, Ayame taking a seat on a nearby chair as she waited for the upgrades to be complete.

Like magic, and a lot of hard work, the platinum haired girl returned with a grin on her face

“Apologies for taking a while, it should be all done and ready to go! But before you go, please take this as promised,” Monique finished, presenting not only the upgraded Watch but also a pretty elaborate arc, a deep blue color with silver accents, the base part where a drawing of the youkai would go being sculpted to resemble a stylized Pegasus. The reverse side depicted some sort of knight with a sword. In terms of length, it was a lot shorter compared to Youseiken by a mile, being more of an arc that someone went to town like a decoden phone case.

“Oh is this the arc, err, key you were talking about?” Ayame asked, Monique giving a hearty nod.

“Yep! This is a Faerie Key I feel should belong to whoever is this town’s Watcher. In your case, that would be you,” The clock shop clerk answered, sounding a bit more serious. “It’s a yokai whose duty is to protect you. Besides, what’s a Watcher without a butler, eh?”

“Oh I would prefer a cute, fluffy, reddish feline myself,” A voice from a cat spoke up, being a reddish mix between a tabby and a mainecoon. He looked normal, aside from…the little booties on him? Who gives their cats boots?

“W-What the!?” Ayame gasped, the shock through her being so strong, it nearly undid the ribbons holding her twintails together.

“...Don’t mind him, he’s my familiar.” Monique answered, giving a shushing motion towards the cat. “Best be on your way, find and befriend those fairies, yeah? Though, they may not be as friendly or as plentiful as those across the pond, just a warning.”

Ayame never forgot the strange cat in custom tailored shoes, nor the absolute wizard of a girl her age who upgraded her watch. 

But the thought that Fairies were lurking, and potentially more dangerous. Such things made the girl be ever so more vigilant, and wonder what secrets were kept right under her nose.

—-----------------------------

Finally, the dead of night had arrived. Hours when only the most devoted of night owls or crafty youths who had gotten into contact with a helpful Baku were awake. Only a few places dared to keep their doors open, convenience shops and bars mostly, and the dwellers were night owls or extra early birds.

One of these places was a bar, not the fanciest but not run down either, great place for drinks or a simple karaoke machine to sing “this is no good, no good, no good at all” to get one’s woes out.

A frequent patron of such a place, simply known as Regulus, was a certain older woman with violet hair, round glasses, and a PhD. She remembered when she first started coming here, was it a year ago or two? She wasn’t quite sure anymore, she knew the Regulus bar had three key things.

Firstly, drinks. Plenty of great liquors and bourbons on offer, both of the more common and rarer varieties if she was feeling fancy. Of course a few appetizers like chips were given as well to help sober up.

Second was Karaoke. Inaho was never good at it, never claimed to be, but something about at least trying was alluring. Corny 80’s bubblegum pop songs about being a princess? Sure! Soulful ballads about how everything has gone down the drain? Oh yeah! Hard, harsh metal duets about picking yourself back up from the absolute worst of rock bottom? Now that’s the stuff! It was all fun to try at least once. Or twice. Thrice, even.

Last but certainly not least by a longshot was the bartender that would pretty much always be at her aid. He was the finest combination of what the domestic pop scene and Bollywood had to offer, dazzling, sunkissed coppery skin framed by long messy black hair, and the right amount of facial hair to be a somewhat grizzled bad boy.

And of course his name, the one and only Akihiko Hisakawa.

“Hey there Ms. Misora, how things been going for you and your kid?” Akihiko asked, Inaho noticing some pretty gnarly bandages covering parts of his arm, the older woman looking concerned.

“Yeah we’re good, but I’m more concerned about you, should you even be working?” Inaho gave concern, the bartender laughing it off.

“Oh please, it was just a small scuffle with a bear, and you know I’m built strong physically and mentally,” Akihiko reassured, going through the bar to get out a glass. “The usual?”

“Yeah you know it,” Inaho instinctively answered, before thinking for a moment.

As drinks were poured, Akihiko broke the silence a bit. “So, does Misao still sting?”

She hadn’t had a drink, but something about Inaho’s voice changed, becoming more harsh, jaded. Something about that name set her off a bit. “Pssh, nah, he left me heartbroken at first, serves him right to get hit by a truck. That ain’t even the worst heartbreak in my heart. The worst one made me despise the starry sky.”

“A bit cold, but I can see your heart is in the right place,” Akihiko answered, serving up the drink. He had remembered when Inaho first started coming here, her husband, Misao, had rather violently decided to split things off without even going to get it sorted out officially, according to the surgeon at the very least. He had a lot of anger problems, and would get angry if his wife left but a crumb, it made one wonder why they were even together in the first place.

A sobbing mess had greeted Regulus that night, Akihiko on shift. He heard her woes, and helped ease it with some stiff drinks. The balance between making a good paycheck and not leaving her absolutely plastered was a tricky tightrope walk, but he managed. 

But perhaps getting plastered twice every week probably wasn’t the best idea.

“Have you…umm, been open to dating again?” Akihiko inquired, Inaho nearly spitting out her bourbon.

It had been three years since, well, that had happened…and she was open and single again. But did any guy or girl want to date her? Sure she was a surgeon, that was attractive enough for some people, but while she greatly prioritized rent, food, and anything Saki needed, any free money she had went to…well, things a 41 year old woman like her shouldn’t be indulging in. Cute plushies, model kits, action figures, the looks she’d get browsing the local toy and hobby shops.

“I don’t know man,” Inaho spoke up, only about one sip into her drink in.

The next response would result in Akihiko having some nice bourbon be splashed across his face like a frenzied hose.

“Would you like to go on a date with me sometime?” Akihiko asked, sealing his fate.

He WHAT?! Akihiko!? He didn’t have a partner after all!? He was a free bird!? But…but he was too handsome, too good looking, too nice for someone like her! She was pathetic, a loser, a failure! Not even being a surgeon could mask the fact she barely left the house outside of work or going to Regulus. What had gotten into this man…

“Uhhmm…uhhmmm…yeah?” Inaho answered a bit flabbergasted. “I have another kid staying with me at the moment, doesn’t have a home and was attacked by a bear. Do you know what in the tar of nation a ‘payphone’ is?” 

“A kid asking about something they shouldn’t know about, interesting,” Akihiko commented, getting out a pad of paper. “How about somewhere outside of the bar, but maybe not too adventurous?”

Inaho thought for a moment, before looking at him. “How about you see my place? I don’t think I’ve had Saki meet you before, and you seem like a nice enough guy.”

Akihiko smirked. “Sounds like fun. Plus I get to see all those Sailor Piers figures you have and keep talking about. Heard those 35th Anniversary Dolls are something worth the high price tags.”

“They are!” Inaho answered, seeming to be in a much better mood, or it was the booze kicking in. “I can’t promise any homemade gourmet stuff, maybe just some takeout and chill. Anything you got in mind?”

“As long as it doesn’t have any beef I’m good to go,” Akihiko answered, the two chattering some more as they figured out a good day and time to try at this whole dating thing.

[dravidssideblog]

With every minute that passes, I can't help but get more and more excited, giggling non-stop and drumming my paws on my head to stim! The couch shifts under me; my demon owner sits down beside me, and I hug and nuzzle their side, still giggling!

My owner wraps an arm around me. "You sure are energetic today, kitty."

"Of course! It's finally gonna arrive today!"

They chuckle, stroking a hand down my little body. "It's not like this is anything new. What, was the collar I got you not good enough~?"

"But this one is special! It's OFFICIAL! And besides, you didn't even get one with a lock."

"Come on, I wasn't gonna spend extra on it just to lose the key and have to cut the thing off. You don't even need a lock anyway."

"But it's... Well, you know... I just want one, okay!?"

"Alright, alright." My owner lifts me up and sits me in their lap. "Guess I'll have to find a good place to store your key."

"You should carry it on you!"

"Why?"

"Well, it's... It's a representation of your power over me! You should wear it on a ring so that every time I hear it jingle I'll be reminded of my place!"

"Oh, you want a reminder, huh~?" They grab my wrist, and I feel magic pulse through me, spectral ropes springing forth. They loop around my arms and pull taut to bind them to my sides, and my pushing and wiggling to test their strength finds that they hold me nice and tight! Another touch on my legs summons more ropes, pulling my ankles to my thighs.

"There we go~" My owner pats my head and pets down my back, their hand passing through the ropes. "Feeling nice and reminded now~?"

I giggle and wiggle in my binds. "I dunno, I'd feel more reminded if you teased me by dangling my key in front of my face~"

"Tsk, you cats are impossible to please." They poke my mouth with a spark of magic, sealing my lips shut.

I just giggle anyway through my closed mouth, purring as my owner pets me and nuzzling into their touch-

*DING-DONG*

"Mmn! Mmf MMMMN!" I thrash against my bindings, but they hold tight! My owner shoves me off their lap and gets up to answer the door, leaving me to wiggle on the couch. I wiggle and twist, but I can't see what's happening. I try to worm my way across the couch to get a better angle, grunting all the while. After a particularly pathetic muffled cry, I overhear some conversation at the door.

"... just my pet beast, we were in the middle of something. BE QUIET, you're worrying the postman!"

I let out a disappointed whine, but don't make any more noise. There's a bit more chatting, a polite goodbye, then the door shutting, and I get right back to pleading like a puppy.

"Sheesh, I hear you, I hear you. Can't you just wait for-"

My owner steps into view with a box in hand, and I give another loud muffled cry!

They roll their eyes, plopping down on the couch hard enough to bounce me up. I nuzzle at the box, whining more.

"Oh? You sure are excited about some cardboard. Classic cat, obsessed with boxes~"

I headbutt the box with an angry grunt.

"Fine, let's empty this thing out so you can have your box, kitty." They raise a claw and slowly, agonizingly, drag it across the tape. They open up the cardboard flaps, one at a time, and FINALLY pull out the thick collar, the mark of their ownership of me. "Well lookie here, a collar! You wouldn't be interested in something like that, would you?"

I headbutt my owner.

"Nah, I didn't think so. Oh, but look, it's even got your name on it!" They show me the tag hanging from the front, with my name engraved on it, then they flip it around to show the name of who I'm property of. But with only a few seconds to soak in the sight, my owner pulls it away.

"Oh, and what a fancy lock!" They turn it around, getting a good look at the lock while I have to watch from a distance. Then they pull something else from the box. The key. I give a desperate moan, but my owner ignores me, continuing the show. They buckle it closed, then put the key in and turn it. It clicks, and they make a show of trying to pull it apart, to no avail. "Mhm, that's a sturdy lock. Once this thing's closed, it's closed!" They put the key in and unlock it again.

Then, they turn to me. "So. You want me to put this on you?"

I nod. "Mhm."

They bring the collar closer. "You want to have this around your neck, marking you as mine~?"

"Mmmm."

"You want me to leash you up and pull you around, keeping you by my side~?"

"Mmm, mmm!"

"You want me to lock it tight~ To never let you go~ To make you mine, and hold your freedom-" they dangle the key "-in the palm of my hand~"

"MMMMM!"

My owner chuckles, standing up from the couch and patting me on the head. I whine as they walk away, until they turn and snap their fingers.

The ropes disappear, and I can move my lips again. I lock eyes with my owner.

"Step forward, pet."

I slide off the couch and walk toward them, trapped in their gaze.

"Turn around."

I turn my back to them. My breath is shaky.

"Kneel."

I drop to my knees, sitting just the way my owner likes.

They loop the collar around my neck, putting the ends together to make it snug. I feel the pressure of the key being put in the lock...

"Who do you belong to, pet?"

"I belong to you."

"And what do you want me to do to you?"

"I... I want you to mark me as yours."

"... Ask nicely~"

"Please..." My heart rate rises, my breathing is fast- "Please collar me master!"

*click*

"I'm still not carrying this key around tho"

"Aw, come on!"

[maguro13-2]

Darkness Reborn ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Pt.18

[Leaving Flow - Hideaki Kobayashi]

Rico : Flowen...Why...Why did you come back to me?

Flowen : I realized that Dr.Osto was a foolish moron, after my death, my body was taken to the Seabed and that man turmed into a hellish beast they call me "Olga Flow". Unfortunately, Dr.Osto had made a terrible and serves him right for turning me into a creature. He got what he finally deserve.

Rico : Flowen...I understand that I'm a young girl. Look, all scientists make their mistakes and I was the first HUmarl to break the seal of Dark Falz and I was complete nut case for discovering the mysteries Ragol, I realized that the Ancient Ruins on Ragol we discovered was actually a hi-tech spacecraft owned by Falz himself. So he captured me and devoured me as his personal host to become the great and powerful Dark Falz again. I was trapped within him ever since.

Flowen : Guess we all died after Dark Falz destroyed Pioneer 1's population, colonizing the planet was a bad idea. All the inhabitants on Pioneer 2 think we're dead, well guess. It's their fault or it's humanity's fault that we were the cause of all of this! We got infected with the D-Cells in our bodies, and of course, one Newman elf girl was the one to have the power of a D-Cells user. That user's name was Rupika FOnewearl.

Heero Yuy : Rupika was the Elf Girl to have D-Cells in her body? I guess this is what Humanity feels like that if they were an arrogant species to Dark Falz's kind so that he would get away of destroying Ragol, by creating one explosion, and BOOM! that's how PSO started in the first place. This was all just a cover up from the men of influence, they hid the from both of you. You all died and there was many mysteries about Ragol's secrets.

Rico Tyrell : Why thank you. I understand that we've been puppets to D-Cells too! Dark Falz, how can I ever forgive him like this?

Flowen : Rico...

Rico Tyrell : (in awe)...Flowen. We are finally reunited at last. This is truly been a moment. And now, our reward to our last moment before we die. (attempted to kiss each other)

Group : Ahem!

Heero Yuy : Save the hugs and kisses for later, would you?

Rico : (blushes) R...Right!

Heero Yuy : So where would you be at for the reincarnation?

(scene changes)

"A few days later..."

[Rose Confession - Hideaki Kobayashi, Yutaka Minobe]

Heero Yuy : This is where the spirits of you two resides?

Rico Tyrell : Of course! I believe this place at the Ruins of Ragol. This monument righ here, is part of the Ruins. And this is where we Like to get Married sometimes.

Flowen : Marriage? What part in particular is that?

Rico Tyrell : (blushes) Well...you know? Although, I could be your wedded wife sometimes I would be the bride and you would be the groom.

Flowen : Really? That would make me a husband. Hey, where did you get some crazy idea like that?

Rico Tyrell : I got a ring, but although we're still spirits and we don't have our original bodies anymore. We should do something with souls not being depleted. I wonder if we could get ourselves tied a knot or something it's like a marriage is possible for us to handle the spirits of the dead! Oh my, what am I going to do!? I can't remember anything! Oh! I'm such a girl who hasn't had any plans to. If players would remove our spirit, who's going to look after the monument?! I'm still a living spirit! There's no one look after to mourn our loss nor will be gone when anybody is upset!

Flowen : Rico. You're a great girl, and a great hunter. I've do known you for a quite some time, but it's good that we might be a something-something, How do I put this in one particular way? Maybe we being hunters and missing persons does sound like an NPC, but the players keeps on messing our spirits.

Rico Tyrell : Should we keep this a secret from my father?

Flowen : Why yes. Of course.

Quatre : Well, I'm not in the mood for a ghostly smooching, but I wonder why can we spirits from our views and that has ability to see other spirits?

Wufei : Maybe for it's the best that it's like some people do not believe in ghosts, fairies, or aliens.

Quatre : Wufei, please let's not talk about the whoel alien thing, that's what makes humanity becoming an arrogant species.

Wufei : Oh right. Well, since we stopped those infested monsters that are Olga and Falz, we decided to head back to the real world and consider the Falz Monument as a home for you two.

Rico Tyrell : I guess we decided to live at this monument as a home to us.

Flowen : I guess living here as spritis, would be a thing to call "home" after all. Let's all agree on that.

Rico Tyrell : Agree.

Heero Yuy : Alright, guys. Through those door that are cartoon logic.

*MGS SFX : CODEC RINGING*

Heero Yuy : What's this?

Meer Campbell (via radio) : Hello! This Meer Campbell from Gundam Seed! We have a widespread emergency going on here in Real World AU. the Space Colony ARK is now being infested with Heartlesses since the Colony's incident and the Black Arms Invasion 10 years ago! I can't believe that it's happening! First the Biolizard, then the Black Arms, now this!? I don't know what's going on with the ARK today. Everyone! Head back to the Real World and get to the Space Colony ARK, immediately! (heartlesses laughs evilly) And beat it! These heartlesses are planning to--*TV BUZZING*

Heero Yuy : That was Meer Campbell. She said that the Space Colony ARK Is infested with Heartlesses? I believe this must've been someone's doing!

Quatre : Damn! So fighting the bosses of PSO was all this for nothing!? Back to the facility, everyone! [Quatre runs to the door on the left and enters it] Hey, what door is this leading me to?

[FLAMES WHOOSHING!]

Quatre : [exits and is shown covered in ashes] Let me guess, that's not a wood-burning pizza oven was it?

Rico Tyrell : Oops, I forgot. That's the door leading to the Dome Dweller, it's the nickname for a Dragon that was inside of the Central Dome. Use the door on the right. That'll get you back to the facility.

Quatre : Okay, I got it. [opens door on to the right and enters it, along with the group]

Wufei : Hope anyone knows that the door leading on the left is not really a can opener.

Trowa : You got that right.

Heero Yuy : Best of luck.

Rico Tyrell : I'm glad that's over with.

Flowen : Same to you.

Rico Tyrell : I wonder what were going to reincarnate into?

Flowen : Let's find out! (Rico holds onto his arm) Huh?

Rico : You know, I guess single reincarnation wouldn't hurt. But we are going to reincarnate into our own son.

Flowen : Reincarnate into our own son? What does that even...(realizing) Oh no. Please don't tell me we're going to reincarnate into-

[Rico and Flowen's spritis fuse together to reincarnate into their own son; It's Endu from Episode III]

Endu : -A dude!? This is the reincarnation that I get?! God Damn it! (throws Rico's Red Ring on the ground) Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad! (shrugs) Eh, worth a shot. I'm still Endu the HUmar and that's final that I'm really the son of Flowen Rico. It doesn't matter, I'm going over to the ARKZ sides in Episode 3 on the Gamecube. (leaves) Stupid Sega.

Rico's voice : Well, at least he was nice of us to call me his Mother, which makes you the father.

Flowen's Voice : [in sniper's voice] Ahh, piss!

~ Ninety-Eight Scene : Two Souls, One Birth ~

[dailytatsu]

Hello! I saw request were open so i was wondering if i could request some headcanons of the Archons and/or the Adepti meeting a God reader who is the God of Chaos and destruction. The reader is not a Archon tho and travels all over Teyvat cuz small bits of destruction were ever they go. They're pretty mischievous and somewhat smug but despite how they act they're actually a good person. They dont mean to cause problems(most of the time anyways) chaos follows them were ever they go. Idk if you have a character limit but if you do please tell me so i wont make a mistake again. And if there is you can just do Zhongli and Xiao. Optionally could you make them a dendro user, there not a lot of dendro content and if not thats fine. I understand. Could you make the reader Gn or Non-binary they/them pronouns please? If not male reader is totally fine. Im so sorry for the long post and I hope you have a good day/night!

Ohmy, it’s my first time just writing headcanons! I’m use to write a lot, so let’s hope I did it right (^ ^' )7

Thanks for the request! ✨

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[HC] God of Chaos! Reader and the Archons + Xiao

Characters: Zhongli, Xiao, Venti, Shogun Raiden (Ei).

Gn! Reader

I tried doing it with everyone but I’m no still that confident to try writing with some characters ＿|￣|○

Sorry for any mistakes!

Request are open!

Genshin Masterlist

Second part ->

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VENTI

To be honest, he didn't notice your presence at first. He had other concerns on his mind that day to perceive the chaotic (and slightly threatening) aura that Mondstadt was infected with that day.

Barbatos is a person of habit, so he couldn't help but be curious when the crowd in front of him began to look a little agitated instead of seeming to enjoy his lyre and his songs.

But then a series of domino events appeared in front of his very eyes.

The purity of the chaos was such that he felt overwhelmed, even without the white-haired boy around, if it wasn’t Bennett fault, then how was it possible for everything to be ruined in such a short time?

His patience ended when, out of nowhere, the strings of his lyre jumped close to his face as they snapped. Making that awful noise that couldn’t mean nothing good.

Okay, enough, who is messing around in here? No more joking in his nation!

He concentrated a little, a faint but unique presence kept his nerves on edge, as if he was being watched from afar. He moved away from the busy areas and then chased that ephemeral energy to the highest point of the church, where the bells were ringing in an irregular and stressful way.

Then he found you. Snoozing against one of the columns, somewhat tired because the trip you made to reach Mondstadt.

Surprisingly, Barbatos understood you since the first exchange of words. A god of chaos who was also a free spirit, you followed no rules ever written in Teyvat, and you had no plans to apologize for the mess you made.

Both of you were Zhongli’s worst nightmare, but that’s another story.

He managed to through your arrogance and your teasing nature that you, in fact, were a lonely spirit that liked to witness the life from above of everyone.

The difference between teasing someone accidentally and committing a crime was really visible, but he still couldn't help but feel like he should scold you after your mere presence messed up with the guild's baskets full of fish.

But hey! He also enjoy the company! Venti tried to teach you how to enjoy the calm and the whisper of wind, music can also contain chaos, feelings, old stories waiting to be told again, expressions and desire united, in a wonderful piece of-

As you yawned his lyre broke up again. Making clear the message.

Okay, not even God of Freedom and Wind can control chaos. Anyways, what a tragedy, but there’s nothing a simple bard can do, smh.

“Do you like kids, don’t you?” He said once, after a nice day of hearing him sing before your chaos reached his little concert. Again watching everyone from above on the hands of the statue, with your attention caught by some kids playing tag.

“… I don’t know what do you mean.” Once discovered you had no choice but to remain defensive, pretending to be disinterested.

“Heh, you aren’t a good liar.” It may not be the wisest thing to make fun of someone who could destroy the place where you were resting, but Venti was confident that he knew you well enough to know that you were not so explosive. “You know!, I just have some pieces, but I think it’s because they are little walking concentrations of pure and innocent chaos, am I wrong?”

He wasn’t, no at all. But you would never confess something that embarrassing.

This guy wrote a ballad about the days when Mondstadt got immerse with that strike of bad luck. Kind of an apology of not being able to handle the situation.

Now there’s the rumor that says that, every time somebody sings that song, something unlucky will happen in front of you.

The song is cursed.

One night when the moon was shining on the Cider Lake his well tuned ears distinguished a melody that was broken from time to time by the accidents of his performer, distracting him of his way to look for you.

It could be painful to listen to, but Venti could certainly feel the dedication of the one who was playing the imperfect song.

The ballad of the god of chaos, hummed like a lullaby that instead of making you sleep makes you question the events of the day. Wishing for the slightest thing to be different after an exhaustive week of peace and tranquility.

A lonely spirits cursing their existence, sitting in the highest point of a stranger’s palace, where you can reach the sky by only rising your hand.

The next day, Barbatos invited you to drink some wine, this time near Windrise to avoid accidents in the city.

As he almost dropped the bottle when a lot of slimes were attracted by your presence, he confirmed the theory about that the way to spend time with you would not be his personal definition of hanging out.

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ZHONGLI

Okay, there’s only two scenarios that could happened when you set a foot in Liyue.

Old man has a soft spot for you for being a relative young deity.

Or he’s always lecturing you for not having control of your aura and powers.

How u dare bringing chaos to the nation of order? It’s that a death wish?

Jokes aside, you’re not really a threat. And he could sense that after he saw how you tried to avoid having direct contact with the city. Rex Lapis found your silhouette jumping and crossing through the mountains until reaching the fairest point that allowed you to enjoy the view of the streets that were filled with life and light as the sunsets.

He even noticed how you sighed in frustration when a storm started out of nowhere. A rain dedicated just for the arriving of the God of Chaos. Not even bothering of getting shield, you stayed in your place to look at all the people who were getting back to their places.

The rain seemed to stop over your head, for a second was enough to stop you from being cruelly swamped by the very weather you had created. An elegant umbrella covered you, the long awaited surprise you expected from someone as outdated as Morax.

You looked up, and found his expression calm and attentive, watching you. As if he had made a great discovery that he could not believe

“May I have a moment of your time to keep you company? Letting out your sorrows in the middle of a torrential storm is not what I would recommend as way to spend a good day.”

“… What are you talking about? Get in your own business, old man.”

“Well, you should know that a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved.”

Next time you knew was that he was helping you to dry your hair with a towel once you let him guide you to his place.

Zhongli picked you up like a abandoned cat that day. Even if having you near meant to deal with new the roof leaks.

Also kept you away from Hu Tao, if you two ever get along for being partners in crime he would seal himself underground-

For all the time you spend exploring Liyue, there he was. Like a little kid showing his treasures. But also like a worried father looking after his child for them not to stumble making their first steps.

Look at you! Almost crushing those Treasure Hoarders when a bunch of rocks fell down after you jumped at the edge of the cliff.

Wait, no- come back here! You should verify the surroundings and be aware of the weight of your power if you’re going to explore in that bold way. You, chaotic brat.

Another one who believed fervently that your mood was to blame for the constant chaos you caused. He also tried to show you the wonders of peace and calm, teaching you how to prepare tea while listening to the storyteller (also both being a little far away from the rest of them, just in case).

He couldn’t help but sigh when the teapot arm broke as soon as you tried to serve the tea. What a waste, he thought.

You apologized to him, kind of stressed with yourself after you took all the pieces with your bare hands to run away with them. Leaving a confused Zhongli behind.

Next day you were back, with the teapot repaired and just like new.

He let out a lot of thankful words, some flattering and a lot more cheesy things that you never had received before.

With that unexpected affection you couldn’t help but react flustered; then a cat that was chasing a bird jumped through a lot of decorations and merchandise, almost starting a fire as the chained events kept going.

Yeah,, uh, Zhongli got some useful mental notes about you and your chaos that day.

Hey, before you go, want to make a contract? You won’t regret it!

But as the wandering spirit you were you had no problems in reject his offer, but also promising that you would visit Liyue if he wanted you to.

Of course he wanted! But.. maybe next time you should stay in Huaguang Stone Forest instead of roaming near the city,,

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XIAO

Tried to kill you.

I mean, your aura is threatening and full of a destructive energy, how is possible that you weren’t a demon to eradicate??

Sorry, but he had a point.

Your first met was on your way to reach Huaguang Stone Forest along with Zhongli for introduce you with the Adeptus.

Xiao, in the other side, thought that you were about to attack Morax from behind, so he just struck against you. With his polearm near to go through your chest, just stopped because you felt him before.

Lifting your hand at his direction, summoning chaos, this time, on purpose. The wind gained a wrathful nature and the biggest roots that were hiding under his feet rose to caught him.

And when you were about to hit each other Zhongli’s shield appeared just in time to separate both of you. Preventing a real catastrophic event.

Now stop fighting and introduce to each other.

Nice(n’t) to meet u.

What if you tried to awake Azhdaha to bring chaos and destruction to Liyue? What if you wanted to summoned Osial? What if… ?

Zhongli had to confirm and promise to him that those cruel possibilities won’t be a near future for respecting the real reason of your travel.

No matter if he wasn’t comfortable with your presence, it wasn’t his decision to allow you to roam freely, so he had to get use to it.

He immediately knew after hearing about your nature that was your fault that lately there were a lot more demons and monsters. Even his karma was getting more painful than usual.

(If you ever meet Hu Tao, please think twice before doing Xiao a prank)

You both didn’t interact a lot, and being honest, it was better that way.

He hadn’t a single intention of talking with you again until the day you were practicing the song that your Anemo friend taught you. By the other hand, Xiao noticed that the melody had the same nature as the one he once heard before being consumed by the karma.

It wasn’t a flute, but a worn lyre that was still in one piece after weeks of being repaired again and again.

“That song… ”

“Do you know it?” Xiao just nodded, staying in silence, being your very first audience even if you still have a lot to learn about playing a lyre.

It wasn’t as effective as the original, but was still… nice, kind of nostalgic.

Next morning, the Yaksha called for you. Made you stay still in the middle of a plain and then he disappeared of your sight.

He abandoned y- wait, what’s that? Why those monsters has that weird dark aura?

You were about to defend yourself until Xiao appeared back just in time to defeat them.

That day you became his personal bait for demons and monsters. Naturally you attracted chaos, so anyway you were, there will be also something to fight.

I guess this is your way to pay for all the troubles you made for him and his duty, so no complaining about it.

If you ask for a unexpected experience to Ganyu she would said that once she found both of you fighting along against the catastrophe, looking after each other’s back and almost having a perfect synchrony.

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SHOGUN RAIDEN; EI

Also tried to kill you.

Well, the puppet tried to.

And then Ei tried when you had the opportunity of facing her.

But since killing a god just mean the releasing of a lot, pure, energy she couldn’t afford that risk, much less considering your “speciality”.

Who knows what would happen to Inazuma if your vital energy burst across the nation. Just like that old story about Sal Terrae and their goddess.

She just defeated you. Letting you rest and recovering in the midst of the plane of her reality within her mind. Your inert body in the middle of the battlefield as she kept meditating.

When you woke up she ignored your presence, but also denying your complaints about letting you go out back.

In her words, you were a burden, another enemy of eternity. Something as unpredictable as you and your “accidents” couldn’t get along with her utopia.

Ei could banish you from Inazuma, but she knows your type. Stubborn and not accepting the most simple orders to obey.

She knew that you would found a way to be back.

It’s better like this.

And in the hypothetical case of you being freed when she trapped the traveler (kicking you out) and then having a chance to see her again after the end of the war, then things would be somewhat different.

There’s not that much of civilization on some islands, so she allowed you to explore as much as your heart wanted. But if something serious happen, she promised that would end her work in the middle of the sea so your remains never be found.

Okay, message clear. Just do chaos near monsters and bandits, got it,,

Even if she wanted to spend some time with you and telling you some stories about Inazuma and other gods she couldn’t found the right time to call you at her presence.

As the current ruler of Inazuma she was busier than the rest of Archons you have meet. Maybe just some letters now and then like a way to keep a logbook, but not really a face to face talk.

Until she got the opportunity of a day off, just to found you messing around near some ruins. Trying to solve a puzzle before your speciality strikes in. The structure fell down after your fingertips reached the stone.

When the dust dissipated, you discovered her figure judging you from the other side of the remain ruins.

Give her a good reason for not errase you from the map, I dare u.

You felt the worst was about to come when Ei ordered you to follow her after a long sigh. Crossing her arms and starting to walk away from the bunch of old and worn rock.

Plot Twist, she actually invited you to rest under a tree, asking in her serene voice the reason for your journey and your origin. In such a direct way that it seemed more like a sentence than a talk to get to know each other better.

You answered what you could remember and then the silence stayed like the only way of interaction between you two.

Ohno, you know this pattern. Something’s about to happen-

“There is some strange beauty in the chaos, it may be the calm after the storm, but the catastrophe itself is seen as a necessary evil to appreciate the stillness. How much it would last until the lighting hit the valley?”

“So I arrived to keep order between the humans?”

Well yes, but actually no.

“… You see, if there is nothing but order and a lack of problems, mortals are likely to create them on their own. Their minds feels the need to be tested, to prove their worth, so I guess some of your chaos may be part of the history.”

“… then shall we take a walk in Inazuma?” You did not know if you were right, but you thought you saw a faint smile through his lips in the same way that lightning can be seen in the sky.

“I’ll allow it.” She said.

Her only condition was for you not to approach the huge boxes of fireworks down the street.

[random-yandere-fandom]

Hey, can I request a Platonic Yandere!Melodias with a child he had with Elizabeth before she died? Sorry if you don't do platonics!

Of course you can! I hope you like it! I don`t have any experience with writing platonic yanderes and before I knew it I had written more than I had planned for the backstory, so... this is all that happens before the main story of Seven Deadly Sins. Btw. I`m gonna assume you meant the first time Elizabeth died.

Platonic yandere Meliodas with his child

So it`s very likely that the first few months you had both, your mother and your father. There was a war raging on but they still somehow managed to drown you in love and affection. Your parents were very protective of you back then, too. You were a hybrid and while many people of Stigma could ignore your demon genes, especially because your mother is Elizabeth, there were still a lot of glares sent your way. Nevertheless you were raised with much care and love.  

You were barely a few months old when Elizabeth was murdered and both your parents cursed. Meliodas woke up to your confused cries only to discover Elizabeth’s corpse holding your small body in her arms protectively. How you got there was a mystery, they had made sure that you were safe and secure while they would fight, not only for themselves or peace but for your right to exist. He was devastated, grief washing over him as he had to take you from her, what he assumed, last embrace. 

He wandered aimlessly for a while, making sure you were well-fed and in good health, playing with you and hoping that he`d make a good parent. You were his only source of joy and he almost burst into tears when you said your first words, took your first steps or did just about anything. Hide and seek or tag were ordinary pastimes, but your sparkling eyes and joy were contagious and Meliodas found himself enjoying such regularities. When he talked to others he was almost always asking for tips on parenting or where the next food source was. Meliodas never staid long with these people, fearing that they`d somehow harm you. However, he let you play with animals he deemed safe. Should they try anything funny he`ll simply send them a glare, frightening them into obedience.   

It was about that time that he met Elizabeth`s first reincarnation. He was carrying you and when you pointed up, babbling and laughing, he followed your gaze to meet hers. Happiness, relief, glee. Those feelings overwhelmed him and before he knew it he tried to hug her with one arm, balancing you on the other. The rejection was harsh, but he managed to stick by her side. Whenever he had doubts that this wasn`t really Elizabeth he would simply watch her play with you, the two of you having naturally bonded in no time and his doubts would disappear. Meliodas and Elizabeth fell in love again and all seemed well. 

You grew up well in the warrior tribe your mother belonged to. They treated you well, even though you couldn`t help feeling isolated from them with the way your father would sometimes usher you away from them. But it was fine, you were happy. Meliodas would train you on how to control your powers as well as how to defend yourself while Elizabeth showed you how to distinguish between plants and how to cook. You knew that you had lived off of meals made by your father before but you feared the day that would ever happen again. So you studied how to save any dish, no matter how horrible. 

You were a few years older now and you noticed something off about your father. There seemed a sadness to him, one you only understood later on. You were already entrusted with the secret of your mothers rebirth and you had no problem with that, you were simply grateful, happy that you had a close bond with her despite her not remembering your earliest months and I mean, you didn`t either. 

When Elizabeth showed signs of regaining her old power both you and Meliodas were elated. Only later did you two realise that it wasn`t a joyful occasion as you watched your mother die in front of you. Before you knew it your father had covered your vision, holding you close as tears streamed from both of your eyes. You were a happy family, so why had your mother died again? 

Going back to wandering, you and your father were alone again. He was spoiling you, anything you wanted you got, being showered with affection and praise was the norm. When there was something threatening you, Meliodas took care of it swiftly. Only sometimes would he search for an enemy for you to fight together, though he`d make sure you wouldn`t even be so much as grazed. You wouldn`t get attached to anyone else, leaving the new place before any ties could be made. Your dad made sure that no one would dare to get close to you. 

By the time you met your mother’s second reincarnation you were a teenager and it was quite the experience. People would assume you and your father to be siblings and you never stayed long enough to correct them. You couldn`t do that here. No, not if you wanted to have your mother-daughter relationship. So the two of you decided to tell her that the both of you weren`t human, you wouldn`t tell her what exactly you were but yes, Meliodas was in fact your father. And later on yes, you`d love to call her mom.

It didn`t take long for the curse to activate and by the third reincarnation you and your father became aware of its full extend. You had a mental breakdown, damned to watch your mother die over and over again. Meliodas wasn`t feeling any better but he comforted you nonetheless. He never wanted to see you in that state again but he couldn`t bring himself to forbid you and him to seek out Elizabeth. So he promised you that day that you two would never separate, that he`d be by your side forever. 

Like this, centuries passed. You would meet your mom, sometimes even as a child, spend some happy years together before she was taken from you again. Your father would always make sure to be there for you but he was hesitant to letting you make any acquaintances. there were only few exceptions to who you could interact with regularly. One would be Merlin who you soon viewed as part of your family, an older sister figure of sorts. 

Life was fine, the two of you living with Liz in a small kingdom, Meliodas was a well respected knight and you were his apprentice, going with the story of you two being siblings. Until Fraudrin appeared, at least. He took you by surprise, injuring you and murdering Liz. Your dad went ballistic and the next thing you knew you were in Liones, your mother`s next reincarnation being nothing more than a small child. 

From then on you were only allowed to walk around with at least one of the other sins. You weren`t an official member but you accompanied them and occasionally fought alongside them. One of their orders was to never let you get hurt and they followed that one almost religiously unless they wanted their cheerful Capatain to turn livid and everything close by wiped of the face of earth. 

When the country turned against you knights and Merlin sealed his powers you just barely managed to get him out of there and into a cave where you met a new companion, the talking and ever hungry Hawk. Planning to reunite with the momentarily disbanded group you opened a tavern, your father in charge of drinks and serving while you cooked, refusing to let anyone taste the hell your father called edible and he didn`t argue, preferring to keep you from those drunkards either way. . 

Work starting in the evening and ending late at night, gathering any kind of information before going to sleep and then spending some quality time with your father which included hunting ingredients for various dishes. It was peaceful for a few years but before you knew it you stood across from someone in quite the impressive armor, Meliodas shielding you protectively. Anyway, that`s how you met your mother again.   

[robbyrobinson]

Predictions for Owl House season 3 Specials

Belos dies. Kind of a no-brainer since he somehow managed to survive being decked by the Collector. But how I see him dying...it will be ironic. Since humans cannot perform magic on Earth, all those glyphs he tattooed on his body would bite him in the ass. The moment he tries to use them for a function like teleportation, the glyphs decorating his body would start eating him from the inside out. Literally, millions of explosions going on inside of him until he literally blows up in a powerful blast of pure, unadulterated magic. A gruesome end he could have avoided had he remained in the Isles, but he deserves every bit of pain.

That being said, I do not see Belos or Odalia and the like getting redemptions, especially the latter. Belos is forced to acknowledge that society had changed and his views are outdated with there being no place for someone as xenophobic as him. Not a real redemption that I doubt would really develop him as a character as I still see him being insistent on being right. The only one I see as viable for redemption is the Collector.

As for Odalia, she gets arrested because betraying your own kind and selling them off to be slaughtered by a genocidal madman would do that for you. She could perhaps "try" to ask forgiveness from Alador and the others, but I strongly doubt it'd be genuine. Instead of it being "holy cow I have been such an awful wife and mother," she would try to get into their good graces to perhaps lessen her sentence or muster up sympathy. But of course, the Blight family sees through her BS and she is left to rot in prison.

The Collector won't be resealed. Really sealing him away in the first place was kind of what started the whole mess. What the Collector truly needs is to be taught how to best use his godly powers and perhaps a lesson on how "forcing people to play an apocalyptic game with you is not a good idea." I can see King being the one who starts to mold the Collector since King was kind of like him: King was at first egotistical and wanted to be worshiped, but once he truly started to examine himself, he felt squeamish about it.

Hunter and Willow get together because why not?

Flapjack is killed. It is kind of a no-brainer. The bird had several death flags on his back. It would permanently sever Belos from his brother as, if Caleb did carve Flapjack, that would be the final shred that needs to be destroyed to complete Belos' fall. And it would further push Hunter to completely sever ties with his uncle.

The gang will return to the Boiling Isles, but as for the ending...much resolved, but as for whether Amity and Luz split up I kind of doubt it.

I don't think we will obviously get the Star vs. ending where both worlds are merged, but I do think there can be some elaborate way for the worlds to be symbolically connected. After all, since King is a Titan, he could provide blood. I mean not to the point where he is just skin and bones, but just a pint in a key and Luz could return to the Demon Realm if she wanted to.

[vodkassassin]

Inspired by your Jiuplane fic, Everyone loves SQH series and Nighthaunting's work.

Shen Jiu has never actually spared much attention to An Ding. While he doesn't consider them less-his past would never allow himself to look at anyone being derided for doing 'servant duties' less- he also doesn't pay much attention to them. Ever since Shang Qinghua modified the teleportation talismans for transporting large amounts of goods between the Peaks, An Ding disciples have all but disappeared from view. Shen Qingqiu occasionally saw a groundskeeper or a cook return back to An Ding but that was about it. He was pretty sure that people outside the sect saw more of the Logistics Peak than the people in it. And during meetings Shang Qinghua barely makes a sound, just records whatever was he was supposed to and just vanish off to his peak the minute the meeting inevitably ended in chaos. It was like An Ding never existed.......in hindsight, that should have been suspicious. But Shen Qingqiu never even noticed glaring absence and he would forever berate himself for that. It happened quite unexpectedly. Shen Qingqiu was supposed to go on mission with Qi Qingqi, the only Peak Lord he could tolerate beyond a certain period of time but Xuan Shu Peak suddenly had an emergency that she had to take care. Mu Qingfang was busy with preparing the Baying Moon Jade Orchid that he had been given (Really that should've tipped him off! Those flowers were ludicrously expensive because they only grow in the Demon Realm and Mu Qingfang had been given an entire crate of them along with his monthly supplies!), and the only other Peak Lords available were Liu Qingqe and Shang Qinghua. The choice was obvious.

The mission was relatively simple. Wan Jian disciples had been sent as a response to a request for assistance from a cluster of villages deep in a mountain valley. The disciples had found evidence of a large monster but it seemed to be intelligent and the presence of cultivators had run it off to a cave system. By the trails it left and it's actions, the lead disciple had judged it too dangerous for normal disciples, especially in the enclosed spaces of a cave system and had reported to his Peak Lord. The mission thus had been entered into the Peak Lords' roster. It should have been routine, should have been simple. But Shen Qingqiu had the world's worst luck and so everything turned sideways within ten minutes of them entering the cave.

First of all, the monster seemed to have destabilized the cave so they got caved in. Secondly, it wasn't a monster at all but a demonic beast, a Thousand Screams of Ruin Swan, a rabid thing that was created when someone forcibly corrupted a Thousand Screams Swan with too much demonic qi. And finally, the beasts absolutely hated each other. A Thousand Screams Swan had the ability to gauge the truth and a lie in its presence would not only prompt the most ear piercing of all screeches but also destabilizes the qi of the liar in particular and produce unimaginable pain. The southern demon courts use the swan in interrogations, putting the accused and the swan in enclosed spaces and the interrogators questioning from behind a sound muffling seal. However if the swan were overloaded with too much malicious qi, it would grow to enormous sizes and it's screech would actually cause death to anyone in the vicinity. In this state it was called a Thousand Screams of Ruin Swan. So after every interrogation the beast is taken for purification. The question is how a pair of valuable demonic beasts from the Southern Demon courts end up in a remote village far away from the borderlands?

If it was any other situation, Shen Qingqiu would've been fascinated. But as it was he had no time to dawdle. The confined space of the caves meant that the screeches of the swan would be magnified in intensity and their muffling shields were already cracking under the pressure of the sound waves. If they did, they would be dead as their qi system would be destabilized enough to cause a painful death. Shen Qingqiu, with his already unstable qi was extremely vulnerable in this situation. With Shang Qinghua having no combat ability to think of, they were completely under the mercy of two rabid S-rank demonic beasts who hated them and each other.

Then the shields cracked. Shen Qingqiu barely had time to close off his hearing using qi before Shang Qinghua disappeared into one of the caves with a beast after him. On one hand Shen Qingqiu now had to worry about only one Thousand Scream of Ruin Swan. On the other hand, no hearing was a double edged sword in a situation like this and there was no back up, negligible as it would have been. But he marshalled his focus and unsheathed Xiu Ya. If that overgrown bird thought that the Qing Jing Peak Lord was going down without a fight, it was wrong.

Two hours later the fight was still going on. His head was hurting only from being flung into the stone walls of the cave but also from sealing off his hearing for so long. The Beast's rampage had destroyed one of the cave walls and they had both fallen into a lake within the cave system. Shen Qingqiu had somehow managed to pull himself out of the water, not being stupid enough to fight a water fowl in water. He was exhausted, looked like a wet rag and was bleeding. There was no sign of Shang Qinghua and that either meant he was dead or that Shen Qingqiu was so far off from the main caves that he wouldn't be found in time. While the former was more likely, he at least hoped that Shang Qinghua made it to the surface and called for help because as much as he hated to admit it, that brute Liu Qingqe and his brutish sword would be helpful at the moment. He was tiring and his core couldn't hold on any longer while the beast was all but brimming in energy. It lunged and the Peak Lord futilely brought up his sword, knowing it wouldn't do anything, realizing that this was the end of Shen Jiu, dead by a rabid bird in a fucking cave. And then...there was light.

Lightning, there was lightning in the cave, huge arcs of it racing towards the beast and striking it over and over, the lake water acting as a conductor and exacerbating the damage. And on a ledge, was a creature wearing Shang Qinghua. Because that couldn't be Shang Qinghua. Shang Qinghua was a mousy, nervous, skittish mess of a man. Non obtrusive, and a pushover. He was weak and had no combat abilities to speak of. He barely had a core....except that wasn't true was it? None of them had ever seen Shang Qinghua fight. None of them had ever felt the power of his core. Shang Qinghua always ran solo and the occasional company of his head disciple so none of them had been on a mission with him. In fact, none of them knew anything about Shang Qinghua. They just assumed that he was weak...because he was An Ding and acted like a coward. But now it was clear Shen Qingqiu that it was by design. It should have impossible to constantly keep up a facade like that but looking at the imperious creature watching on dispassionately at the Demonic Beast writhing in his lightning, Shen Qingqiu knew that the impossible had been done.

The creature that was Shang Qinghua jumped down from the ledge and made his way to Shen Qingqiu. He was clutching a Thousand Screams Swan now back to its original size. He was barefoot. His clothing was ripped in places. A large slit too clean to be from the beast ran up both his legs just shy of his hips revealing long legs adorned in gorgeous ink patterns climbing up them and disappearing up the torso. It was clear Shang Qinghua cut them up to increase mobility. The sleeves were also ripped, also covered with beautiful tattoos and the high collar of the robes were open showing off beautiful collar bones. His hair was left free and falling russet waves down his back to his knees and with each shift Shen Qingqiu could see a silver shine of what seems to be metal strings woven into it. He was... He was a vision.

Shang Qinghua was always covered. He wore high collar robes that never showed an inch of skin on his body. So seeing him with his legs and arms and his collar visible, it was obscene! Shen Qingqiu realized to horror that he was blushing. His entire face was burning! Shang Qinghua must have succubus blood in him! He must have! Shen Qingqiu is not the type to blush at every pretty face! He hoped to the gods that Shang Qinghua just think of his blushing face as a result of exertion.

As Shang Qinghua drew closer, Shen Qingqiu noticed something strange. Gauntlets. Silver gauntlets carved with seals. Two on the ankles, two on the wrists. And one collar on the neck. Hidden underneath high collar robes as they were, this was the first time Shen Qingqiu had ever seen them. At first they looked like enhancers and looking at the lightning still attacking the beast which seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, it seemed most likely. But Shen Qingqiu was done assuming things about Shang Qinghua. And he was right, because closer inspection revealed the seals to be limiters. Shen Qingqiu for the first time since he became a Peak Lord, was truly astonished. Limiter seals active on five points on the body and undoubtedly forming a restructure five point qi circuit and still manages to defeat two S class demonic beasts? Incredible. Shen Qingqiu wanted to know everything about him. He wanted to burrow underneath his skin. He has never wanted anything more.

After the Beast shrunk down somehow, Shang Qinghua retrieved it with a talisman that seemed to be some sort of Binding. He silently clutched the swans together and made his way to one of the caves, silently motioning for Shen Qingqiu to follow. As they made their way up the caves, Shen Qingqiu looked at his mysterious companion and told him what he was adamant about from the moment he saw the other bring down the wrath of the heavens,

"You can't hide from me anymore."

Shang Qinghua was silent. Then, like a whisper of silk on soft skin, he replied,

"I can try."

Shen Qingqiu smirked,

"Yes you can. But you won't succeed."

The Xiu Ya sword looked the two beasts the other was holding, two Thousand Screams Swans.

"Is Shang Lei even a real name? "

The other didn't answer and that was an answer in itself. Shen Qingqiu couldn't wait to have him.

Anon oh my god this is GORGEOUS!!! Thank you for feeding me, it was delicious!! Bamf SQH! Beautiful SQH! Badass, pretty, mysterious SQH!!!! Attractive as hell, an unattainable prospect!!!

@nighthaunting look look, it’s our writing child

[dangermousie]

Hello !

I was wondering whether you could rate and tell us of your top 5 favourite webnovels/cnovels of all time ?! (Sorry if this has already been answered lol😅)

Thank you, stay safe and have a nice day🖤

Awww, thank you and that is such a lovely ask!!!

From n1 to n5, here they are (they happen to be all danmei.)

1. The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha) - my n1 forever and ever.

Taxian Jun, the horrific cultivation emperor of the world who razed cities and destroyed sects, is surrounded on his mountain. The righteous sects are terrified to confront him but tired of living, Taxian Jun consumes poison and dies by suicide at the age of 32. And opens his eyes as 16 year old Mo Ran, Mo Ran long before he became Taxian Jun, Mo Ran who is excited at a chance to save the one person he loved and lost. Oh, and to deal with his loathed shizun, the unapproachable and strict Chu Wanning, his past life’s biggest enemy.

I have no idea if it’s objectively the best on this list but it hits every trope I love, its bleak worldview (the world will change only incrementally but that’s enough, average person will not appreciate the sacrifice but it’s still worthwhile, and love is worth everything) mirrors mine, and the sheer complexity of the plot and cascade of plot twists each of which is insane and yet completely logical, is amazing (this is a rare novel where it’s even more fun to reread than read for the first time because you keep seeing all the hints and trail crumbs laid out that you did not see the first time.)

And the characters!!! I mean, this novel has multiple universes/timelines, a side trip to the Underworld AND the demon realm, a plot more twisted than a store’s worth of pretzels and yet the thing that hits me the most are the characters. Mo Ran is my favorite web novel character of all time and I love Chu Wanning so. All the secondary characters are wonderfully written (and some of them made me bawl) and they are all complex. My opinion of all of them changed many times over; the novel doesn’t make it easy to love some of them but then you do and it’s so worthwhile! That slow change is one of the delights of the novel - I started out disliking the unpleasant, superior Chu Wanning and cruel, callow Mo Ran and then I loved them so so hard and cried for them so so hard and was in awe of their heroism and sacrifice and selflessness and capacity to love.

Oh, and the fact that this novel does something almost impossible - it has its protagonist start out as so clearly irredeemable and then slowly and painfully and thoroughly redeems him (without ever letting the reader forget what it is he needs redemption for.)

Also, for a novel that made me cry so hard I felt ill, this book is just so damn funny with the most sarcastic sense of humor imaginable (the serious angst doesn’t even kick in until 90+ chapters!)

Anyway I should stop or I will write a dissertation. But this is the one web novel that I would put in my top 5 not just web novels but any novels in any shape or form. The plentiful trigger warnings are there for a reason so stay away if they are an issue, but if not, if anyone hasn’t read it yet, what are you doing with your life?!

2. Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - another novel by the author of 2ha. Clearly she just pushes all my buttons every time. This one is much shorter and has a plot that is twisty but less twisty than 2ha. Still, all that means is that intensity and the pain are more concentrated.

Aristocratic Mo Xi and former slave Gu Mang were both legendary generals of the empire and lovers. But Gu Mang betrayed the country and switched to the enemy. Now he is back as a peace offering by that country and Mo Xi has to deal with the fact that his feelings are as strong as ever.

This novel!!! So much pain and intensity!!! So many amazing plot twists and supporting characters. The same bleak world view, the same unjust society, the same protagonists doing right things despite the cost. Mo Xi’s intensity and inability to let go (he’s imprinted on Gu Mang and that’s it) is romantic, bone-shakingly intense, and tragic all at once. And oh Gu Mang! So many times I just wanted to reach into the book physically to protect him. The novel deals with unjust societies, memory versus personality, what it’s like to be good in a bad universe etc. And it both made me sob and giggle, repeatedly, and sold me on literally death-defying (but not honor-defying!) love.

Oh, and special shout out to the fact that like 2ha, you may start out hating some characters and end up a rabid fangirl (cough Murong Lian!)

3. Qiang Jin Jiu - a dense political tome that takes a while to get going but then it’s a runaway train.

In a fictional dynasty, Shen Zechuan, the only remaining son of a disgraced aristocratic family and Xiao Chiye, the younger son of a family of generals guarding the border join forces (and then something else) to get power and pull down the dysfunctional system.

This is so elegant and smart (a rare web novel I’d recommend to anyone who just loves solid period fiction) and you probably need a notebook to keep track of the politics and military strategy. These characters are very very smart not just because the author says so.

As to the characters, there is a large cast and I love many of them, but for me the novel is made by Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye. SZC is gorgeous and delicate and icy and can kill you before you have time to blink. Saddled with the sins of the family he had no pleasant interaction with, he claws his way out of hell (seeing the sinkhole he was trapped in, literally as well) to take down those who wronged him but also to amass power so all the tragedy and corruption won’t happen again and the whole rotten system comes crashing down. XCY is a military genius who is trapped as a hostage in the capital because the court doesn’t trust his family. He longs to return to the plains of home and to take his rightful place. The two men start out as bitter enemies, then reluctant and sniping allies, then as friends and eventually as one of the most gorgeous, tender, swoony OTPs.

Anyway this is one is a bona fide masterpiece, equal parts smart and emotionally intense.

4. Wu Chang Jie - are you an emotional vampire? I am and this novel is a banquet.

In a highly fantastical setting, we meet our protagonists - the sunny Xie Bian and the intense and surly Fan Wushe. Xie Bian is a human who assists his master in conveying souls to the underworld and making sure no mishaps happen. Bian is concentrated sunshine in human form and to meet him is to love him. When the novel opens, his drunk master brings back another human to be his shidi and assist with duties - said human is uncommunicative, intense and surly Wushe. Bian is excited to have a shidi but little does he know that a story dealing with the horrors of past lifetime is about to start.

Anyway, why WCJ? So many reasons. It has such a dark bleak worldview - this world is a horrifying system where powerful cannibalize each other’s cores for an impossible chance to ascend, where gods have sealed off their realm and all that’s left is neverending human misery and hell (the only way you’d see a deity is if they’d been sent down to suffer over and over and over), where even reincarnation doesn’t fix things and bad acts are often unpunished. And the novel then asks - is it worth being a good person in such a world? More, is it worth being a good person in such a world when nothing good has ever happened to you and you have been repeatedly betrayed due to your goodness? And the answer, on Bian’s part, is an uncompromising yes.

Ah yes, the other reason to love this novel - the protagonists and their fucked up fucked up relationship. Bian (who was Prince Ziheng in the past life) is so genuinely good. But he is that rare thing - good but not saintly, noble but not cloying. So much of the novel is his getting taken apart over and over and barely able to put himself back together every time but his soul is still as amazing as ever.

And then there is Wushe (who was Prince Zixiao in past life, Ziheng’s not-bio-related brother.) Wushe is not a good person. He is a monster. And he loves Bian/Ziheng more than his life and his soul and the entire world but he’s also the one who hurt him more than anyone else ever could and did it over and over. His love survived a literal century of torture in the worst kind of hell and refused the usual memory loss of new life. But it also humiliated and broke Ziheng down to his constituent parts.

One of the things that is so fascinating to me about this novel is the question of what can be forgiven/what should be forgiven/what kind of expiation is enough/can you ever love someone who you loved so much and then he hurt you so badly and is now repentant? And it never sweeps trauma under the rug or hand waves it away but deals with it head on.

If you want healthy relationships, you should stay far away from this novel but if intense insane ones with a feral barely human one capable of destroying the world leashed by love and guilt to the sane deeply good one is your bag, come right in.

There is also the world building and the fact that yes, the big fall out between Ziheng x Zixiao is based on not knowing all the facts but it’s not “why can’t you talk?! This is dumb!” But is totally in keeping with both events and their characters. It’s reasonable for Ziheng to do what he does and for Zixiao to misunderstand and decide Ziheng is now his biggest enemy (but still one he’s fixated on) and for Ziheng to never be able to clarify.

Anyway, once again this is trigger warning central so please heed those, but if they are no issue, this one is wonderful.

5. OK, this is hard and switches between Sha Po Lang, Heaven Official’s Blessing and The Golden Stage depending on my mood. So what the hell, I am gonna write about all of them.

Sha Po Lang - so smart and so much clever world building. There is enough politicking to satisfy a Qiang Jin Jiu fan, it’s steampunk, and our two protagonists - Gu Yun, the empire’s most powerful general, who’s loyal to the empire despite being badly wronged by it, and Chang Geng, a cursed prince with barbarian blood and horrifying childhood - are wonderful separately and together. This is a huge slow burn but it’s totally worth it! They fall in love with each other’s hearts and brains and ability as much as anything. (Yes, this is the one with the yifu thing. Gu Yun is made Chang Geng’s foster father when he rescues him and brings him back to the capital as a way to keep CG safe in imperial strife. They are 12 and 19 at the time so clearly it’s never a parental relationship.)

Heaven Official’s Blessing (TCGF) - I love it’s sprawling narrative and cast, I love its inventive setting and picaresque story. It’s hilarious and can make me cry. But the novel’s place on this list is due to Xie Lian who is part Kenshin part drama WWX part pure goodness wrapped in heartbreak and trauma wrapped in sunshine.

The Golden Stage - two smart and principled (yes, they both have principles different though they may be) men navigate their arranged marriage, their past friendship and their past break up, become a super couple (one of the healthiest danmei couples I’ve ever read and proves healthy doesn’t have to be boring), save the country and bring down the emperor or two and just generally this is my rainy day book.

I guess I didn’t write as much for the three n5 candidates as I did for 1-4 but my brain is beginning to curdle so...

[emblemxeno]

JP vs. Localization in Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation

(Okay, for real this time lol)

Again, here’s a link to my sources post.

Fortunately, this route follows suit in terms of good localization quality after Conquest. It’s the shortest out of all the posts, since I don’t really have a lot to talk about. Mostly subtle line changes, references and a few key points of information that were cut out. I also went through Hidden Truths and Heirs of Fate to see if I could add stuff from those on here, but there were no big problems that I found.

Once again, the main part of this post will all be put under the cut. If a chapter isn’t covered, it means I didn’t think there were any differences worth talking about.

I’ll use localized names for characters and locations, unless I feel the need to do otherwise.

I’ll be using she/her when referring to Corrin in this post. (I flipped a coin to decide the gender lol)

Also, note that after Chapter 14, the translation of this route on Fateswartable ends, so I mostly relied on the English patch done by Serenes at that point forward. (I also used PegasusKnight.com as a reference to fall back on if I needed it)

Chapter 7

-A minor gripe I have with localization. The JP version compares Touma (Valla) to hell constantly. To jump ahead a bit, I believe in the JP versions of the End of All Sky/Land/Below tracks are even called The End of All Roads Heaven/Earth/Hell. The Vallites are also often called demons in the JP version, and Anankos himself is known as the ‘Invisible Demon Dragon’.

Another cool thing I just thought of too, is a connection to a popular Japanese short story. Zelda fans might be familiar with the story, “The Spider’s Thread”, which inspired the Ancient Cistern dungeon in Skyward Sword.

The beginning of the story has Buddha walking through paradise (heaven), before coming across a pond. The pond is filled with crystal clear water, and covered with water lilies/lotuses. As Buddha gazes further into the pond, he begins to see the depths of hell.

Sound familiar? “Azura is walking through Hoshido, before coming across a lake. The lake is filled with crystal clear water, and when she gazes into the lake she sees the fallen kingdom of her birth. Valla, the kingdom associated with water lilies/lotuses in the game, has been turned into hell itself.”

This association loses its meaning a bit when the comparisons to hell are a bit toned down, as well as when the Buddhist inspirations were kind of supplanted in favor of Greek renames. It’s not supremely important to the plot as a whole, but it’s something interesting I wanted to bring up.

-In the JP version, while explaining what happened in Valla, Azura eventually says “Using the art of manipulating people’s souls, he (Hydra/Anankos) made the people kill each other.” This bit of the people killing each other was cut in localization.

Chapter 12

-In the JP version, when Corrin asks Flora if she knows anything about dragons, Flora says “Sorry, I don’t know…The ancestral dragon of the Ice Clan has already perished and isn’t part of the legend. I don’t know what role it plays, sorry…” Localization makes her response “I'm sorry, but I can't think of anything... They've been gone so long that we don't even have tales of dragons in the Ice Tribe. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more assistance...”

So, the JP version explicitly says the Ice Dragon is dead (I believe Fates’ second artbook mentioned this as well), whereas the localization only says the First Dragons have been gone for a long time.

Chapter 16

-There’s not really much of a problem that I have with what Ryoma says about Corrin “having leadership qualities at a young age” but I wanted to do comparisons regardless cuz the word choice might lead one to different conclusions. In localization, Ryoma says this:

Ryoma: Huh... So she told us the same thing... I don't think it's in Corrin's nature to lie. And there's a leadership quality about her that just attracts followers. I remember being jealous of her as a child, in fact. Even at such a young age, she displayed the characteristics of a ruler. Silly to be jealous of her, right?

In the JP version, Ryoma says this:

Ryoma: Oh... So, she told you the same thing. …Corrin isn’t one to tell lies. She’s been like that since childhood. She’s always genuine and honest... She has this mysterious appeal that draws people to her. Seeing my younger sister with the qualities of being a ruler... Honestly, it makes me feel envious. …What a ridiculous thing to say, right?

Again, I don’t necessarily have a problem with how it was localized, but some might. The localization version might have people think that Corrin somehow was a fantastic leader at such a young age, but JP is more clear that it was about the qualities she had at a young age that would be valuable as a leader.

Chapter 19

-A minor gripe. In the localization, Azura says that Anankos uses his magic to send Vallites to Nohr and Hoshido to stir up conflict. In the JP version, she says he uses magic, along with the help of a body of water. That’s why whenever you fight Vallites outside of Valla proper, there’s a body of water nearby; Hoshido’s lake (and the ponds shown in Hinoka’s CQ battle which are in the capital) for Chapter 5, the sea for BR chapter 11, the burning falls for BR chapter 21, and the city for Rev chapter 13. Similarly, the consequences of being a victim to the curse are described as “turning into sea foam” in the JP version. Localization as a whole kind of toned down how much water has an influence on the story.

Chapter 23

-Probably the pettiest gripe I have lol. As Arete is fading away from Azura’s arms, Azura has a different reaction in localization and Japanese. In localization, Azura says “Mother? Mother!” while a voice clip of her in-battle pain cries plays. In the JP, she says  “*Sob... Sob*…! Mother... Mother...!”, while a voice clip of her crying plays. Her crying voice clip I don’t recall hearing anywhere else.

This is one of the few times in the you get to see Azura express a heavy and heartfelt emotion, since her rough childhood caused her to remain guarded and stoic around everyone. The equivalents to this scene in other routes is her death scene in Birthright, and her crying with Corrin over Ryoma’s death in Conquest; a normally unflinching and aloof character breaking down is a rarity, and indicates that the cause of it is something to take note of for the character as a whole. Localization softened this aspect, and I take issue with it, despite it probably seeming trivial to most other people.

Chapter 24

-When Corrin is questioning the phantom Mikoto, an exchange happens. In localization, part of it goes like this:

Corrin: But this can't be... Are you truly my mother?

Mikoto: I am. Even as a puppet of Anankos, my spirit at least remains my own.

Corrin: I... I believe you.

In the JP version, it goes like this:

Corrin: It can’t be... …Are you really my mother?

Mikoto: Yes... I became an Invisible servant, controlled by the Invisible King... Even so, I am your mother.

Corrin:  …………

Again, a minor thing that I don’t personally have issue with, but replacing Corrin’s silence with an admittance of belief could make some believe she has “reverted” back to being too naïve.

Chapter 26

-While Gunter is relaying his past, an exchange happens. In localization, it goes like this:

Gunter: I ask myself that, every day. I cannot understand the minds of royals. To you all, we commoners are little more than pawns in your schemes... Or weeds to be killed on a whim.

Corrin: That's not true...

Xander: Is that how people view the royalty?

Ryoma: Such an impression would easily breed powerful resentment...

In the JP version, Corrin, Xander and Ryoma don’t say anything. They just remain silent.

Endgame

-Not a major problem so much as a general thing about the game, but I can think of like... at least three memes that Treehouse inserted into the localization. Now I like memes, but there is no better way to date your media nowadays. One of them was Kana’s “That’s dragon for I love you” which tbh, is kind of cute and isn’t the most well known meme so I guess I can let it slide. Another is Felicia saying “I had one job!” when she messes up in the dining hall, which isn’t that big of a deal since the dining hall is very optional.

The last one I can think of is why I put this specific grievance here, and it’s during Corrin’s speech before facing Anankos.

Corrin: We won't back down! This is my... This is our destiny! Ready your weapons! Fight for your friends! With the Seal of Flames... With the Fire Emblem on our side! We fight for our world!!

Yeah, she says “Fight for your friends” which is everyone’s favorite Ike line from Brawl. Now, this isn’t even a totally inaccurate translation either, but it kind of just... makes the moment funny for the player when it’s supposed to be commanding and serious I guess.

But yeah, not the most important issue by far, but something I’d thought to mention. Hell, it’s not even that bad compared to how they made Peri’s, Effie’s and Hisame’s quirks into exaggerated and tired jokes. And the Beruka-Saizo support. Never forget.

-When Azura and Corrin are by the lake and discuss the latter’s plans to rule, Corrin says this in localization:

Corrin: I'm going to make Valla a wonderful place! In honor of the true last king and for Queen Arete. And everyone who fought... I promise to make them all proud.

In the JP version, she says this:

Corrin: I’ll make the Invisible Kingdom (Valla) into a great land. For the previous monarch, Queen Shenmei (Arete)… And for all of my allies who fought beside me. I promise.

So, JP version only mentions Arete as the reigning monarch of Valla. Which makes sense, cuz unless there was some wild “keeping the bloodline pure” shenanigans in Valla, Arete being the Queen keeps in line with what we know about the rest of Valla’s history. Arete was royalty from birth, as was her sister Mikoto. Arete is the one who passed down Lost in Thoughts and the pendant to Azura.  

[arashikitten]

Dark Danny Should’ve Come Back at Least Once

I think most of the Phandom can agree that The Ultimate Enemy was one of the best Danny Phantom episodes ever made, and for good reason. It was incredibly dark of a kid’s cartoon, especially one made by Bitch Hartman, and on top of that, it provided some very interesting lore and characters. We get to see Danny pushed to his absolute emotional limit in a way that I don’t think the show ever did before, save maybe for My Brother’s Keeper in season 1, and we get our first glimpse at Clockwork, who thanks to @five-rivers fanfic Mortified, has become one of my favorite DP characters. And of course, we get to see Dark Danny, or Dan.

But there’s one little thing about this episode that’s always bothered me: the very ending.

Because at the very end of TUE, we get a shot of the Fenton thermos that Dan is sealed away in rocking back and forth, before Dan’s face forms a massive dent in the side, his laughter echoing as the screen fades to the end credits.

You would think, with an ending like that, that Dan would come back in a later episode. That he would return in the series finale is this last big bad, this final demon for Danny to confront once and for all. 

But that’s not what happens. And it kinda pisses me off.

Dan should’ve come back. We should have gotten at least one more episode with this guy, exploring more of his character, more of his side of the story, anything at all. And you know what would be a great way to do this?

Vlad.

Imagine this, if you will.

Dan makes his escape from Clockwork’s lair, dead set on finishing what he started. Eventually, he discovers Vlad’s portal (let’s say that Vlad decided to rebuild his here) and, upon coming face to face with the man who made him like this in the first place, freaks out. Dan makes an attempt on Vlad’s life, and Vlad just barely manages to escape.

Once Vlad is sure this strange new ghost won’t find him so easily, he realizes that this new ghost had Danny’s insignia on his chest, and puts it together that Danny must be involved in this somehow. 

So Vlad makes his way to Amity Park to confront Danny about this new ghost. Danny assumes that Vlad is there to try to kill Jack or whatever, the two get into a massive fistfight, before Vlad finally tells Danny that he’s only here because a strange new ghost wearing Danny’s insignia popped out of his portal this morning attempting to kill him a second time.

And Danny freezes. He goes from snarky and flippant to sheer, raw terror that has Vlad actually worried. Danny demands to know what this new ghost looks like, and Vlad’s concern turns to fear when Danny’s face goes white with horror because this is the same kid who went up against Pariah Dark without a second thought, who has faced countless ghosts who’s powers could be considered godly with a fearless smile on his face, and Vlad may not have much respect for Danny but he knows what the kid lacks in intelligence he more than makes up for in bravery. 

Meaning that whoever this new ghost is must be incredibly powerful, incredibly horrific, and incredibly dangerous.

Danny tells Vlad to go to Danny’s house and tell them to put the ghost shields surrounding the town up, to not try anything funny, and don’t. Leave. The Shields. No matter what.

For once, Vlad decides to take Danny’s lead. He appears on the Fenton’s doorstep, Armani suit ruffled and hair disheveled, telling them that there is a very powerful ghost making it’s way toward Amity Park and they need to put the ghost shields up now, or risk a Pariah Dark-level threat again. 

Then Vlad makes his way toward the edge of town, because he still hasn’t gotten an answer from Danny as to who exactly that ghost was, and he’ll be damned if he can’t get an answer.

Meanwhile, Danny is just outside the ghost shields, waiting for Dan to arrive. He’s absolutely terrified, because what if Danny isn’t strong enough this time? What if he fails again, like he almost did before Clockwork turned back time? Would Clockwork do that for him again? Would he have to watch his future burn down this present that he’s taken so long to keep up?

Then Dan arrives. Right as Vlad makes it to the edge of the shield. 

And Vlad watches with awe as the two fight. He watches as Danny holds his own against this ghost that had almost decimated Vlad barely 2 hours prior, watches as Danny outmaneuvers, outsmarts this menace, watches as Danny fights tooth and nail in a way that Vlad is sure he’s never seen before, and he realizes that Danny has been holding back. Maybe not at first, maybe not during those first few months, but definitely for a while now, because Danny is holding his own now when Vlad couldn’t.

But then that leaves the question as to why? Why is Danny going all out now? Why was he so scared of this new ghost? More importantly, when did Danny encounter this guy? 

Because he had to have fought this ghost at least once before, to have had that reaction to Vlad’s description. 

And then, he hears the other ghost’s voice, one that sounds like a strange mixture of his and Danny’s, and he hears him say “It doesn’t matter what you do, Danny. You might’ve stopped that explosion, but there are still so many other things that lead to me. A car crash, an unlucky ghost attack, the ecto-filtrator, Vlad getting lucky, all of them could still happen. Your friends, your family, all gone, and you still turn into me.”

And suddenly, everything makes sense. That ghost that Danny’s fighting, that ghost that attacked Vlad, that is Danny, or it was, before something twisted him into an unrecognizable monster, and Vlad has a creeping suspicion that it has something to do with him.  And he realizes that Danny is so much more than he ever gave him credit for. He sees Danny, fighting his own future with a hope that Vlad would call naive if not for the fact that Danny had already thwarted whatever horrible future lead to this at least once before, and he understands that he was wrong about Danny.

Because this? Fighting against the personification of all the worst parts of yourself not once, but at least twice? It would require a maturity, a strength of will that Vlad knows he himself lacks, and he comes to the stunning realization that for all the childish quips and petty pranks, Danny is far more mature than Vlad ever was, far stronger than Vlad ever was.

And then, Danny does the ghostly wail.

And if Vlad was surprised before, then he's absolutely terrified now. That’s enough power to destroy an entire city, that single wail, and the sound is a bone-chilling scream that rubs the older halfa wrong in every way possible because that sound should not come from someone as young as Danny.

And now Vlad is caught between two realizations: that Danny is so much stronger than Vlad could ever be in every sense of the word, and that the only reason Danny is that strong is because he has to be, because he’s a child being forced to go against all manner of ghostly and cosmic horror all on his own, and Vlad suddenly feels intensely guilty because he should’ve been helping Danny, and instead he’s done nothing but make his life harder.

At that point, Jack and Maddie arrive. They freak out because Vlad is so close to Phantom and this other extremely powerful ghost, what the hell is he thinking!? And Vlad is trying desperately to get them to leave, because Danny looks exhausted and Vlad might be an ass, but he’s starting his redemption arc now and that means making sure Danny’s secret, and by extension Danny himself, is safe from his parents. Vlad knows what it’s like to be on an examination table, knows how terrifying it is to have doctors looming over you with knives and bright lights while you have no idea what’s going on, and he’ll be damned if he lets Danny (who he again reminds himself is very much still a child) go through that with his own parents.

But it’s too late. Danny detransforms right there on the street, in full view of Jack and Maddie and everyone else who’s gathered there (Dan’s been sucked back in the thermos at this point).

Danny turns around, covered in scratches and burns and bruises, blood in his mouth from where Dan punched him in the lip, left arm hanging in an unnatural angle, and he sees everyone: He sees Vlad, icy blue eyes so similar to Danny’s own filled with uncharacteristic worry.

He sees Sam and Tucker, both with wide, scared eyes, and he can just barely see the faint shimmer of tears gathering in their eyes.

He sees Jazz, face pale and her knuckles white as she grips the Fenton peeler with all her strength.

He sees Valerie, her helmet down and exposing a flurry of emotions ranging from shock to anger to horror to pain.

He sees his mom and dad, clinging to each other as they stare at Danny, at their son, and come to the realization that their son is dead, their son is a ghost and he has been for a while now and how did they never notice? How could they not notice that they had been shooting at their own son for at least a year now, that their boy had been putting his afterlife on the line for them while also trying to keep up with school, and evade capture by the GIW, all at the same time?

And Danny is scared, he’s so scared, because his parents look horrified of him and they think he’s a monster, and they hate him, because why else would they be looking at him like that?

He feels his fathers arms wrapping around him and he’s sure, he’s so sure that they’re about to haul him off to their lab to be pinned down and dissected by his own parents, because they saw Dan, they saw what he would become, they saw what he is now, they know now. But then his mom and dad start apologizing, because they never noticed, and they should’ve, they should’ve seen that Danny’s low grades and missed curfews and skipped classes were because he was putting his life on the line for everyone in this town over and over and over again. They apologize for not making him feel safe in his own house, because how many times did they rant about dissecting their own son right in front of him? How many times had Jack and Maddie shown Danny a dissected blob ghost and effectively told him that he was the next one on the list? How much hell did their own son have to go through on his own, because his own parents couldn’t see what was right there?

And Danny finally realizes that no, he’s not going to end up on a dissection table, that his parents do accept him as he is now. 

But there’s still this lingering fear because they don’t know. They don’t know what Danny might turn into, and he can’t keep that from them anymore, because Dan is a secret he can’t keep anymore.

Jack and Maddie are confused when their son pulls away, and for a moment they’re worried that Danny’s upset with them, that he’s angry at them, because why wouldn’t he be?

Then they see this nervousness, they see how he’s shaking and tense, and they might not always be able to read the room that well but they can tell that there’s something else going on here that Danny wants to tell them, even if he’s scared to.

So Jack and Maddie ask Danny if he wants to talk about whatever it is back at the house, and Danny says yes, but Vlad, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz should also be there, because Danny needs some level of support and he knows that Vlad won’t stop pestering him about Dan until he tells him.

Valerie steps in at this point, finally getting over her shock to demand to know what the hells going on, was Danny Phantom the whole time? Who was that other ghost? Why did that other ghost say that Danny would turn into him?

Sam and Tucker, who have been through the emotional wringer watching their best friend fight his evil future self, then reveal his identity to his parents, are kinda pissed at Valerie, because Danny’s already stressed out enough as is, she doesn’t need to be adding on to it. A fight almost breaks out between the three of them, which only stopped when Vlad of all people, steps in saying that while Valerie does have a right to know what’s going on, all of this yelling will do nothing but cause problems.

The three simmer down, and they all head over to the Fenton’s house, where Danny tells them everything: the portal, Pariah Dark (Vlad suddenly finds a particularly interesting spot on the floor), and Dan. He tells them about how Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker died in an explosion in that timeline, how that timeline’s Danny turned to Vlad to take him in, how Alt!Danny asked Vlad to remove his human half so he wouldn’t feel that pain anymore. How Alt!Phantom had been driven insane by the separation (he leaves out the part where Phantom fuses with Vlad’s ghost half: he’s not sure Vlad wants him to tell them about his halfa status), killing his human half before destroying most of humanity. How Danny had been forced to fight Dan a year ago, when he had attempted to blow up his friends in family in this timeline to ensure Dan’s recreation here.

When he’s finally done, about an hour and a half later, Danny looks around the room: at Valerie, at Vlad, at his best friends, at his sister, at his parents, and he sees not only acceptance, but respect. Pride. Because they saw that Danny was willing to look his fate in the eye, and say that he would change it no matter what. They saw him fight tooth and nail to protect them, they saw him defend them from his own demons with a bravery most grown adults don’t have, much less a 14 year old boy.

And they accept him.

[scary-lasagna]

BIRTHDAY ASK!!!!!!!

Can I have offender, Zalgo, and slender with an S/O who just so happens to be having a birthday celebration?

THANK YOU KIBBY ILYSM

Everyone should go wish @mothersfrogs a happy birthday today :]]

Offender

Would you like a romantic dinner, a night on the town, a fun picnic with stargazing? Cause that's absolutely what you're going to get.

He wants to treat you like royalty, celebrating the today you were created for fate to bring you together.

Offender is a romantic that will pour his heart out for you and make sure you'll remember today with an overwhelming feeling of adoration in your heart.

Offender can only cook averagely, so when he tries a non-average dish for breakfast...it doesn't turn out too well. But luckily DoorDash is there to the rescue and replaces your burnt food before you wake up.

Despite the lingering smell of smoke, you enjoyed the food and the piece of fine jewelry you received with Offender's comforting goofy smirk.

It was gifted in a [F/C] wrapped box topped with a matching bow.

Until dinner, you spent the day with Offender at home to be pampered with massages, kisses, and firm cuddles that you melt into.

For dinner, your boyfriend takes you to a place you'll enjoy, and then visit neighboring shops to buy you anything you look at twice (while you're not looking of course, surprises must be kept a secret until the stargazing).

This goof has found the perfect place to look over the town's glow and view the stars right before the clock struck midnight. He'll carry you on his back up the hill, and jokes around to hear ou laugh and squeal the whole way.

Your birthday is sealed with a kiss and a promise. He'll always be there to protect and cherish you.

Zalgo

Zalgo wants to buy you the world for your birthday.

But even for a demon king, that may prove to be a bit too much as a gift.

He'll rack his brain to think of the perfect gift for you, or perhaps he should get a mountain of gifts. That way, it's a lesser chance you won't be displeased.

He might send some minions to spy on you, just to look over your shoulder while you're on you're laptop or phone. But nothing shows good enough to be a birthday gift.

He wants you to enjoy your day, and let you know how much he loves you.

It stresses him out so much that he forgets about the cake.

He organizes a party that the both of you manage to slip away from after five minutes of slicing the cake, onto a faraway balcony tucked in a corner of the castle.

"Forgive me, I haven't given you your gift yet." It was rare you heard such a soothing voice from the king, as if he focused all of his energy into a singular sedative voice.

Compared to how he normally sounds with the whole multiple voice thing, it was quite pleasing to hear.

When opening the box, you found a singular handwritten letter in the most beautiful handwriting you've ever seen. Attached was a small bracelet with Zalgo's emblem engraved into the black charm.

The night ended with you on the verge of tears from the letter, and you've never hugged your lover so tightly.

Slender

Birthdays are special and should be treated as such.

Slender will be there when you awake, soothing your tiredness away with a kiss on the forehead and setting down your breakfast in bed.

Your food is accompanied by a black crystal shard that sparkles in the dim bedroom lighting. Slender explains the beauty of it, and the power it contains.

It's embedded with magic, the user who beholds this delicacy in meditation will relive one of their fondest memories.

Also judging by the looks of it, it's awfully pricey, and you're almost scared to hold it in case it slips from your hand.

After breakfast, you join Slender for a nature walk through an overseas forest he discovered when searching for the perfect place for a picnic.

You teased him when birds kept landing on his shoulders and head, possibly thinking he was a very odd-looking tree.

And of course, he offhandedly made a remark about your own height and wondered out loud how you haven't gotten lost through the tall shrubbery.

Slender has planned this day from start to finish, and hopes that you enjoy the beautiful field he's set up for a lunch picnic.

Of course, he may have used a little bit of magic to spawn a few clusters of your favorite flowers, but he pretends he didn't notice until after he made you an exquisite flower crown.

The happy birthday's you receive are immeasurable, and even though he took a risk by being simple, you really couldn't be happier spending time with Slender in a flower field.