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dreamkidddream · 4 years ago

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Can I request a teen mc who is like YUJI from jujutsu kaisen as in they are the vessel of SUKUNA PLSS? Like maybe they can manifest SUKUNA in his curse form as another being as well like megumis dogs? (If you don’t know JJK can you just do a chaotic teen mc? ❤️)

WHEW THIS ALMOST DID NOT GET POSTED SINCE TUMBLR DELETED PARTS OF IT.

So let me tell you: I started reading the manga but have yet to watch the anime 😭 it’s really good though and I’m probably gonna start it this week, but I’m not sure if I’m 100% confident in writing Sukuna. BUT this request was too good to pass up, so if you don’t like it I will write the other scenario instead just let me know!

So for these headcanons, I made it to where MC is Sukuna’s vessel like Yuji, and that they can manifest him if needed. But, I still kept it to where he’s not exactly a good guy with MC’s best interest at heart. Reader is gender neutral and younger than the Bros, so the dynamic is more family instead of romance just a heads up! Hope you enjoy!

TW: Minor cursing, spoilers for Lesson 16 in Mammon’s, Beel’s, and Belphie’s part

The Brothers with Teen MC who’s Sukuna’s Vessel

Lucifer

Was very irritated with this revelation, but still curious

Still annoyed either way though

He already had to make sure that you stayed alive during your stay and not disappoint Diavolo, but now he had to make sure that you kept this curse at bay too!

#GiveLuciferABreak2021

He’s very skeptical of you: not only because of you being a young human but also being a human with essentially a demon inside of you

A very troublesome demon if not kept under control at all times

Honestly Sukuna was like an buzzing gnat who wouldn’t just go away, so Lucifer didn’t see him as a threat personally. More of a nuisance that could grow into a threat if remained unchecked

After you explained the whole situation, he still assigned Mammon to you, but he made sure to personally keep an eye on you too

Your presence was seen as a threat at first, but as time passed, he, along with his brothers knew you meant no harm, but the same couldn’t be said for this Sukuna

He wanted to have faith in you, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully believe it. After an incident at RAD with another demon attempting to attack you, your powers (or rather Sukuna’s) came out to play

He saw the markings, the extra eyes, the malice spread on your face, and he then realized just how serious this has become. You were able to gain control back, but the damage was already done. You were so distraught, sobbing before you, trying to apologize and swearing that you didn’t mean for this to happen, all the while Sukuna was laughing, morphing a mouth on your cheek

It was so bizarre to see, and he couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for you. You were such a kind person, always going out of the way to spend time and help wherever you could. You essentially became a part of the family, but he knew that you didn’t feel accepted because of him

After that, your “punishment” was to practice holding control over Sukuna with Lucifer, every day after school (which can just be seen as him checking in on you on a daily basis, and trying out different techniques to make sure repeats of this incident doesn’t happen again). Meaning that you trained on manifesting him at will, instead of him completely taking over

Not gonna lie he’s acting like a proud dad when he sees you making progress and Sukuna just sitting in your head tired of all this positivity lol

Lucifer cares for you, he’s accepted you fully even if you hadn’t for yourself. He wants to protect all of his family (including you), and he doesn’t want to think about what could happen if Sukuna becomes a danger to the Devildom or Diavolo...

Mammon

Is impressed but also low key nervous

Humans are not suppose to be like this, ya know!

He’s not the smartest demon in Hell, but he definitely knows that you can’t summon demons without a pact, and he knows your baby face doesn’t have one with the King of Curses

You had to break down the whole deal, and it made him even more confused and distressed

Was still acting annoyed being your designated babysitter, I mean seriously, just how annoying can you be?!

Just kidding! You guys are totally partners in crime in no time and you both make Lucifer get 2x the wrinkles now

“MC, let the Great Mammon show you how’s it done!”

“Mammon, you’re going to be the reason why we’ll be strung up again for the third time this week.”

“It’s going to be both of your idiots’ faults. Such a pathetic display.”

SHIT HE FORGOT YOU GOT A WHOLE CURSE INSIDE YOU

He HATES whenever Sukuna makes an appearance, whether you call on him or he makes his own special appearance. He’s like a gritty and more sadistic version of Lucifer, minus the style and uptight personality (and honestly the finesse too), which made him 10x the more aggravating

He honestly hates Sukuna in general. Here you are, his MC, one of the only people to stand up and defend him always, struggling to live a normal life because of him. It was bad enough that you got sent down here with no warning, but now you got sent with him, and from what Mammon could hear with the conversations between you two, he wasn’t exactly your BFF

Denies being excited about seeing you perform your cursed techniques, but only because it brings him out (and he guesses it’s a little cool that you know how to do it). But human, you don’t need that lame curse, you got the great demon himself to protect you!

On a darker note, you made Mammon swear to you that if Sukuna took over and you for some reason couldn’t gain back control, that he would protect himself and his brothers first before worrying about you. He hated this even coming up, you should be worrying about what’s the next scheme you guys could pull off, not some weird sharpie colored entity causing problems. But you were dead serious, and you made him promise that if the worst case scenario ever happened, he would make sure it’s taken care of

Mammon realized you were the missing piece to their family. It felt nice to have someone depend on him, to actually treat him with respect and care for him truly. He refused to accept Sukuna as a part of you (really he just acted like he didn’t exist, which he didn’t in his mind), and he refused to let him or anyone else harm you

You’re family now, and he wasn’t going to lose anyone else ever again

Leviathan

Oh look, another normie

Wow, you’re such a normie that you’re even talking to yourself through a manifested mouth on your palm-wait WHAT

You broke it down to him, and you just...stared at you, with a blank expression on his face. Until-

“OMG THIS IS JUST LIKE THE ANIME-“

How ironic lol

He practically had a fanboy overload moment whenever you showed off your cursed techniques to him after he begged asked you countless times

You guys remember that vine with the kid saying, “I have the power of God and anime on my side”? Recreate that while doing your moves and he’ll be in awe and dying laughing at the same time

Will post it to his Devilgram and DevilTube

His envy will start to show at first. How is it that someone boring like you get to have all these cool powers and have an actual king reside in you?? You’re living the Shonen dream and not even grateful for it!

But this reality for him would soon shatter after he saw Sukuna for himself, and the way that he behaved towards you. The way that the curse would just look at with disdain in his eyes just made Levi’s skin crawl. He was made well aware that you were in fact not living the anime dream he thought you were. The look in your eyes reminded him of how he would feel whenever he felt like a scummy otaku, and from that point forward he would find ways to cheer you up

You can plan on having anime marathons, game nights, even talking with Henry (I hc that he can talk and understand aquatic animals) when you get into these moods. Anything that helps him get out of his funks he’s hoping it helps you too. You don’t deserve this type of treatment from anyone, especially someone that even he can no doubt eliminate

You were honestly one of the coolest people that he knows, and one of the strongest too! Not just physically, but mentally too. He can’t imagine what could be going on in your head since Sukuna became a part of you, but he knows that you’re strong enough to overcome anything that he throws at you. And if you had moments where you faltered or doubted yourself, that’s okay! Levi would be right beside you the whole way, doing anything he can to keep pushing you forward

Be the teen anime hero that he’s know you can be MC! You wouldn’t be his Henry if he didn’t have any faith in you, you know?

Bonus: you don’t have to worry about your anime nights being ruined after one night when Sukuna somehow found a spoiler to an anime that Levi was really anticipating became a very visual warning for the curse. Levi convinced you to let him take over, and whatever was said resonated with him because you never heard a peep after that, both out loud and in your head

Satan

Oh he was BEYOND fascinated

We all know how much Satan loves to read and how smart he is, so while you look at your condition as a curse (no pun intended), he saw it as an opportunity

Could you feel this curse coursing through your body? Did you feel stronger? Could he see through your eyes all the time or only when you let him? He had so many questions it wasn’t even funny

Very understanding of your situation surprisingly (but still called you dumb for eating Sukuna’s finger)

Satan would be one of the only people you could really trust when dealing with Sukuna. Yes, you trusted all of the brothers, but if you were really in a bind you could count on Satan to come up with a solution quickly

The only issue was his anger. Everyone knows just how angry he can get, and to avoid him ASAP if you even think he’s getting frustrated. Sukuna knows this too, and will be more than happy to taunt him to truly bring out his wrath. While he does need you alive (for now), it wouldn’t hurt to have some type of fun around here. Plus, this could cause your bonds with these brothers to weaken, and the weaker the bond, the weaker the will to help you keep him at bay and defeat him

But Satan knew better, and you did your best in keeping Sukuna away. He may be the Avatar of Wrath but that didn’t mean he was stupid. However, he did have one slip up unfortunately

You see, he was just having a bad day and already got into a spat with Lucifer, and you sensed that he certainly needed his space. So while you slowly backtracked to your room and from his path, Sukuna decided to be the evil ass that he is, and proceed to provoke him. What finally made him snap was his comment that, “You would be a formidable opponent if you weren’t in your older brothers’ shadow, but oh well. Can’t help who you come from I see.”

It took Beel, Mammon, and Lucifer to properly restrain him from ripping Sukuna (really you) limb from limb, with him laughing manically and you scrambling back in fear. Which called for a very long, detailed family meeting (of course after Satan fully calmed down) that resulted in mediated meetings between you and him for the next month. You felt guilty, you should have done better containing him, but you couldn’t predict whenever he decided to pop up!

But after a long talk, Satan didn’t blame you. He blamed himself for losing to his anger and especially blamed Sukuna. He decided that it was time to get rid of this pest once and for all. Be ready MC, cause once he puts his mind to something, there’s no stopping him

Prepare for your bonding time to be deep into books and practicing new hexes and curses. But don’t worry, it’s not always boring and Satan makes sure that you’re having some type of fun. He’s really doing this to have some sort of protection for you: whether it’s against Sukuna or himself. He wants you to know something besides your cursed techniques just in case they fail for some reason

Will shockingly want you to manifest the curse, one main reason is to obviously collect information on him, the other reason is to test said hexes and curses on him

Can a curse be cursed? Let’s find out

You helped Satan with him realizing that anger isn’t the only emotion that you can feel, and with you being so young, he wanted you to experience life as much as you can. And while you had an extra...passenger with you, he will do his best to make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of you enjoying life. It was nice to see a joyous smile on your face

Also you guys did find a hex that made Sukuna meow for the whole day and it was the best thing to ever happen with him lmao

Asmodeus

Honestly wasn’t really bothered with it at first. If anything, he treated it like hot gossip when you told him in the beginning

One thing he will say though: humans can be so revolting at times. I mean you ate a rotten finger, a cursed, aged, sharp, disgusting- you get the point. He did cringe at that, but everything else was pretty normal besides that

Still talked about your daily gossip, painted nails, the works. But recently, Sukuna’s name has been coming up more and more in your recent convos. Asmo, being quite the messy curious demon, wanted to know more about this curse

He really treated Sukuna like he was just your show and tell act and would want you to bring it out to see how he really was. He was amused with your cursed techniques, but he wanted to see more!

He heard you both talking with one another, and he wanted to see him in person! He hasn’t done anything and you’re among the seven strongest in Hell, so what could go wrong?

So much. So much could go wrong

And so much went wrong

After you manifested him, it went downhill from there. The large amount of control you did show caught his attention, but then it moved to the King of Curses himself. He was very delighted to see him up close for more than a couple of seconds, and took his time admiring his physique up close. It was fun for him, but not for you. Sukuna could feel your will slipping since your focus was being divided dealing with Asmo, so he took this as his time to shine

You had an exhausting day, and you were tired, which he used to his advantage. Asmo started to complain when Sukuna suddenly disappeared, but didn’t have a chance to voice it as your arm suddenly gripped the front of his shirt. He felt himself jolt, feeling his heart pumping. He looked into your eyes and realized that this wasn’t you, this was now Sukuna. The black markings that lined your face along with the new eye color (and the extra pair of eyes) came with a grin that stretched across your face

“What’s the matter? You were so eager to be in my presence, is it not to your liking now that the tables have turned? You claim to be one of the strongest, yet I would be able to kill you just being in this form-Ah, the brat is trying to come back, what a shame. Do me a favor, little Asmodeus, don’t insult me like this again. I am a King, and you will remember that. I might have to pay you another visit and take your heart with me next time to make sure you’re aware of that.”

He didn’t give Asmo time to answer, as his grip loosened and you were back. He saw you stumbling, shook out of his own thoughts and reached to catch you. He knew that this curse was an issue, but he didn’t understand just how serious this was, how serious it had gotten so quickly. The thought of Sukuna didn’t scare him, but the promise of him coming back just for him caused some worry. He wasn’t the weakest, but he didn’t want to hurt you! As much as he couldn’t stand his new found scorn of Sukuna, it wasn’t enough for him to take the chance of injuring you

You didn’t strike fear in him, rather the opposite. To see someone he has grown to care about be the one to try and bring his demise was...saddening. He could just feel his heart breaking at the notion. And if this experience taught him one thing is to be more understanding of what you’re going through

You remembered bits and pieces of the incident, and whenever you asked Asmo about it, he would divulge a tad in what happened, but wouldn’t go into too much detail. He didn’t want you blaming yourself, and he didn’t want you to distance yourself from him either. You already proven yourself of formindable you are ever since you gotten down here, and Asmo wasn’t going to let some jealous wannabe demon get in the way of that!

So no more talk of the thing, and whenever it did want to make an unsuspecting visit, Asmo would be ready. The thing was immune to most curses, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be charmed to some extent, right?

Has covered the eye slits up with makeup and other beauty products every morning, becomes both of your favorite bonding activity. Anything to erase any evidence of it existing and to hear your giggles brightens his day everytime!

Beelzebub

Is very sympathetic of your ordeal

Has mad respect for you eating that finger though, even he doesn’t think that he would eat that

Maybe with some sauces and some Hellroast he might

Is another brother that tries to keep an eye on you. If this Sukuna really is as dangerous as you make him out to be, then he would make sure to be prepared if things went south

Beel’s motto: stay ready you ain’t gotta get ready

Will want you to practice your moves with him. Beel’s pretty powerful, and on muscles alone is one of the strongest brothers. He wants to make sure that you can recognize your full potential, and to always do your best. Expect to be in the gym or the HoL’s backyard working out and training majority of the week

Is thoroughly impressed with your cursed techniques

Beel doesn’t understand that while yes, you have a whole curse residing in you, doesn’t make you less of a human. He forgets that you still have some limitations, and you have to remind him at least twice a week. You gotten more powerful yes, but you still weren’t at Beel’s level

“You can do it MC! Don’t give up!”

“Beel this is over 500 pounds...are you forgetting that I’m still HUMAN-”

But you can never stay mad at him, he’s just too sweet and he means well. He genuinely wants you safe and prepared if anything happens with Sukuna, and if getting you buffed up makes him feel somewhat at ease, then you’ll deal with it

Shares his food with you sometimes. He makes sure that you eat properly too, so no skipping out on meals!

Great listener! Whether you’re complaining about class, talking about a new restaurant you’re interested in (he’s definitely tuned in), or venting about Sukuna, he’s all ears. Even gives you advice if you ask for it or if you really need it

Has encountered Sukuna while he took over your body once, and let me tell you, he was not happy at all

Beel is one of the brothers that are in touch with his emotions; he doesn’t really fly off the handle into a rage unless someone has done something to his family or if he’s being denied food. But now that you’re family and vulnerable not only to other demons but to this curse inhabiting your body, he wasn’t taking any chances

He made sure to be very clear when talking with Sukuna. He wouldn’t stand for anything happening to you, and he made sure that the curse would wish he stayed scattered if that boundary was crossed

Beel is a very protective big brother that’s constantly looking out for you all the time. Even if you feel like that you need to bare this burden on your own, he makes sure that you never feel alone.

He already lost Lilith, and he doesn’t want to lose you too. He won’t mess up this time

Belphegor

See, he knew that there was something wrong with humans, and you were living proof of that

How can you trust humans not knowing if they have another creature living within them?!

Whatever, he’s too sleepy to even care about it

And you weren’t one of the worst so...he guesses that you’re tolerable, but don’t push it!

In the beginning, he thought it was easy to manipulate you, but he could just sense that something wasn’t right with you (and no, it wasn’t because you were just human). He would hear you talking aloud to yourself, except that you were...responding to yourself too?

He thought you finally cracked up lmao

He brought it up as a joke once, but the way you reacted was tense and...ashamed? Oh, he just hit a gold mine. This could make things much more interesting. You shared a little bit of your story with this so called “King of Curses”, but he was smart enough to make a plan off of the information. Maybe he could take advantage of Sukuna like he is of you. Kill two birds with one stone

Well his plan backfired swiftly. After he was freed from the attic and went straight in for the kill, things went array. His hands were wrapped around your neck, he could-should see the life leaving your eyes, but instead he was met with Sukuna’s gaze. Belphie thought he planned this right, he made sure that he didn’t give you enough time to manifest him or to use your curse techniques, so how was this-

“You think I don’t recognize the look of bloodlust, you spoiled child? You were foolish enough to believe that you could get rid of me this easily like the brat?!”, and he was sent flying across the room. How was this happening, this wasn’t suppose to happen!-

“As much as I would like to see them die, they’re useful to me for the time being. Once they are of no use anymore, the only one who will be relishing in their demise is me. They’ll be dying by my hand, not by some weakened child.”

Those words still resonated with him still to this day. Honestly, the whole incident did. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that you forgiven him and want to build a real bond together, his mind refused to erase that horrid memory, and he deserved it. When Belphie remembers back to that day, he remembers the horrified and heart breaking looks on his brothers’ faces, the way that your eyes show how betrayed and petrified, and how you were gasping out begging him to stop, before he comes out and puts everyone in danger

He felt disgusting, guilty, mortified, regretful, a disappointment. Those feelings only escalated after having them explain the truth to him, both about yourself and being a descendent of his dead sister. He could see how much you touched his family, and you extended that kindness to him too, and he just exploited it

He stayed far away from you for a very long time. He didn’t try to approach you at all, only staying in the planetarium or even the attic, to avoid crossing paths with you. He didn’t deserve to make a connection with you like his older brothers, as much as he wanted to. He was remorseful, it wasn’t because of the whole Lilith revelation, but because you really didn’t deserve that happening to you

You made the first move to make amends, to have a fresh start, and he couldn’t have been more grateful, albeit nervous. He was so terrified of messing things up again, but you were there to help keep him grounded. “I won’t lie to say that what you did was okay, but I’m willing to move on from it. You aren’t completely forgiven, but we can work towards fixing things, together.”

Belphie was shaken by Sukuna’s words, but he wasn’t necessarily scared of him. In fact, he would personally find a way to cast him out of your body and destroy him permanently as the perfect apology and thank you gift; the thank you for reuniting him with his family, and for helping them develop healthy relationships with one another. They weren’t as separate as before, and it made him feel so warm every time he thought about it

Not that he would ever say that to anyone

You both spent time together either napping or plotting for future LYS (Lucifer You Suck) pranks. And since Belphie is pretty good with magic himself, he would be teaching you some new spells or curses that you could use to protect yourself, even against the curse inside you

Belphie will make sure to not make another huge mistake when it comes to you ever again. He’ll have his little slip ups, but you were never put into harms way because of them. He doesn’t want to sabatoge this bond, and he wants you to truly be happy spending time with him. He’s not the greatest role model (obviously) and may be tight lipped about how he feels most of the time, but he really does have your best interests at heart

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aquafaith · 3 years ago

Text

My lengthy, angry ACOSF rant review.

Spoilers, TW for mental, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.

I loved ACOTAR. I still love ACOTAR. I always will love ACOTAR. But every book afterwards made me give up more and more. ACOMAF romanticized an abusive relationship and assassinated characters for the author's convenience. ACOWAR was a bunch of boring and inconsequential death scares. ACOFAS was all-round dreadful. And each book kept shitting on and pushing away Lucien for no reason.

I'd like to preface this by saying I hated Nesta too. I hated the way she treated Feyre in ACOTAR especially, and I wasn't even too excited for this book because I wasn't that keen on Nesta as a character.

Nesta's POV and her backstory changed my perspective. It does not excuse her actions. All Nesta stans can hold these characters accountable for what they do - trauma is a reason, not an excuse. I, and many others, sided with Nesta because of the way she's treated by everyone else in this book. Also, if you're going to hate Nesta for not teaching Feyre how to read and letting her hunt at fourteen, (which I did, and are very valid things to hate), AT LEAST hold Elain accountable too.

This book. This fucking book.

Shall we start with the intervention? Feyre on her little power trip thinks that her boyfriend that hates Nesta and Nesta hates back, Nesta's ex-best friend, and her possible mate who she never talks to should be at this stupid fucking intervention??? Excuse me???

Remember in ACOMAF when Feyre wouldn't shut up about how rich Rhysand is? Feyre literally has four or five houses and is always talking about how much jewelry and lingerie she can afford because Rhysand is so rich??? Well, Nesta has a few shots. So you know what Feyre does? Humiliates Nesta at this "intervention", TEARS DOWN HER HOME, and forces her to go to the Illyrian training camp.

That was the god awful premise for this book.

Did you think Elain wasn't there because she was against the "intervention"? Nope! She was packing Nesta's belongings without permission.

Remember in ACOMAF when it's made a big fucking deal that locking up a traumatised woman is extremely damaging? Well, when Nesta decides she doesn't want to be in Illyria, Feyre locks her in the House of Wind. Nesta can't fly, so her only way of leaving is down the TEN THOUSAND STEPS, that Feyre KNOWS Nesta isn't capable of climbing.

Feyre's pregnant. In ACOFAS she randomly decided that she wanted a baby to remember Rhysand by if he dies. Which doesn't make any sense because they made that stupid fucking death pact in ACOWAR. It's just SJM superimposing her pregnancy onto her early 20's protagonist. Ignoring the fact that Feyre isn't ready for a baby and Rhysand CERTAINLY isn't, and with a war just ended and another looming and so much trauma and a DEATH PACT are all such horrible circumstances to bring a child into, Feyre is already pregnant. Remember when SJM made a big deal about Fae babies being so hard to conceive, and Feyre said in ACOFAS they wouldn't have to worry for a long time because it can take years to conceive your first Fae child? Well it's been no more than 3 or 4 months and Feyre's already pregnant. Yep.

Also the birth will kill her. Because of course it will. Rhysand KNEW this, and still agreed to try for a baby.

There's no solution. Abortions don't exist for some stupid reason, and a C section would apparently kill Feyre?

(Wasn't this book supposed to be about Nessian?)

In ACOWAR, Cassian was on the battlefield with his entrails around his knees. Someone had to literally hold his guts in for him, and he's fine, but you're telling me a C section would kill Feyre?

Don't worry, this is just setting up the AWFUL ending to this book.

ACOSF amounts to Nesta being gaslit into believing her abusers are right. Her friends and family slut shame her and shame her for her lifestyle constantly. Cassian says it took him decades to work through some of his trauma, and he tried to drink and fuck it away too, but suddenly when Nesta does so it's heinous? Nesta's barely twenty five and she's expected to cope better than these ancient immortals.

Hell, didn't SJM write ACOMAF? Nobody expected Feyre to pick herself up so quickly. The IC (excluding Rhysand) respected her boundaries for the most part and understood when it was grief, trauma, and turmoil that made her angry, sad, want to be left alone, etc. But that's all forgotten here.

Amren also compares Nesta to the people in, and says she belongs in, The Court of Nightmares. You know, the murderers, abusers and rapists? This innocent woman who had a few shots and a bit of sex is on par with them, apparently!

The sex scenes.

SJM is scared to say vagina so she says sex.

She says seed to mean semen.

Apparently the word cunt turns SJM on. I just found Cassian saying that kinda cringe because I'm Bri'ish so the word cunt really isn't a big deal.

Back to the baby killing Feyre, because this is definitely what we all wanted from this book as indicated by the change in covers and format and title... Rhysand decides not to tell Feyre. He tells her friends and family, and tells them not to tell her.

SJM loves sweeping Rhysand's abuse from the first book under the rug and claiming it's always about Feyre's choice... where is that here, MAAS? WHERE IS IT?

Anyway, when Nesta rightfully decides to tell Feyre (although it is kind of out of spite), Rhysand threatens to kill Nesta.

And I believed him. With the way he treats his """mAtE tHaT hE lOvEs sO mUcH""" and all the people he's mindlessly killed before, do you really think he wouldn't kill the person who gave Feyre an inch of autonomy?

So what does Cassian do? His lover who he cares deeply about and suspects is his mate has received a death threat from tHe mOsT pOwErFuL hIgH lORd iN hIsToRy.

Cassian simply gets Nesta out of the court.

EXCUSE ME?

He doesn't breathe ONE word to Rhysand about this. This Illyrian WARRIOR who fought with his GUTS HANGING OUT didn't dare step up to the hIGh lOrD who he considers his brother and sparrs and fights with all the time?

Cassian literally does nothing.

Was it not Rhysand himself who said Mated males are dangerous? Can kill anyone who looks at their mate? Can be dangerous simply leaving the house? Rhys and Feyre both pull the Mate card to justify their bad actions on the other's behalf... and Cassian just tried to get Nesta out of the court?

Also, this High King bullshit.

I swear to fucking god, if SJM DARES to make this abusive, power-tripping, mOsT pOwErFuL hIgH lOrD eVEr, husband-insert of hers hIgH kInG, I will fight her in the street.

My beloved Lucien is in this book. Only for him to be used and shat on.

I really liked it when he calmed Cassian down with just a look though. Yes please fox man.

Helion is also in this book. Nothing to do with Lucien.

Eris is also in this book. ERIS. Lucien's eldest brother. The same one who abused him for years, but according to SJM he's slightly better, because at least he didn't agree to kill Lucien's lover. He betrayed his daddy that one time, therefore Eris is good. Y'know, the same Eris who abused Mor? Left her laying on the Autumn Court border with a nail in her womb? Well SJM is going back on her own canon to redeem yet ANOTHER abusive male, while continuing to demonize Tamlin for things he only happened to do when SJM decided the villain from the first book was sexy.

Nesta and Cassian are Mates.

Remember when Mates were supposed to be a rare and sacred thing? Now SJM dishes them out like Oprah.

I don't want these characters to be mates. I want to see them slowly fall in love. But SJM is incapable of writing that so she forces them together with the mAtInG bOnD. That's literally the only basis for most of these relationships, Feysand especially.

The only relationship where the bond would make sense is between Helion and The Lady of Autumn. Who still isn't named. But I will die on the hill that they're mates, I can feel it between them.

I wanted someone to die in this book. I predicted that it would either be Helion or Tarquin, but Tarquin isn't even in this one.

And the ending.

SJM can't write a decent climax, so she kills both Feyre and Rhysand for the second time. Yep.

The baby is being born which stupidly kills Feyre, and thankfully takes Rhysand with them.

Nesta decides to save them. Bad choice. But she decides to save them! Because she's so powerful and she ATE THE CONTENTS OF THE CAULDRON and she's CONNECTED TO THE MOTHER.

Do you know what happens.

Nesta loses her powers.

NESTA.

LOSES.

HER.

POWERS.

The powers we've hardly seen, the powers that were briefly mentioned and used ONCE in ACOWAR, then we saw like two flashes of in this book? They're GONE now. GONE SO NESTA CAN SAVE HER ABUSIVE SISTER AND ABUSIVE HUSBAND WHO ABUSES THEM BOTH.

Nesta is just an Amren now. They both fought for their powers, and had to give them up to save people who didn't deserve it. Now they're anticlimactically trapped in powerless bodies.

Also, and I can't BELIEVE I didn't originally include this - do you know what else Nesta TRADED HER POWERS FOR?

Illyrian anatomy so she can carry Cassian's baby one day.

EXCUSE ME?

I am so fucking SICK TO DEATH of the narrative that every woman needs a man and children to be happy. SJM clearly loves this because she's literally only keeping Amren and Nesta alive now to be sex objects to their partners and nothing else seeing as their POWERS WERE RIPPED AWAY FROM THEM, and now NESTA TRADED THOSE POWERS TO HAVE A BABY SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW SHE WANTS? Nesta does NOT strike me as a motherly type. She's the wine aunt, she and Cassian are the couple that go on holiday a lot and and babysit their nieces and nephews, but nope. Nesta HAS to have children.

The Feysand baby is called Nyx. That's just so underwhelming, you go from these huge, multiple syllable names like Amarantha and Morrigan and Lucien to Nyx? I get it's supposed to be unique but it's not even meaningful. It's just more shit-flavoured icing on the hAHa nIgHt uWu cake. I prefer Renesmée.

Nesta is wrong somehow. She says she's sorry as she's saving them. FOR WHAT? For being a little rude to Feyre as all sisters are? And rightfully hating your sister's abuser?

Oh yeah, remember in ACOWAR when Nesta took care of a comatose, starving Elain for months? Elain is randomly okay now because she takes care of her mental health the stereotypical way of baking cakes, and not drinking and fucking, which she shames Netsa for.

Remember the slut shaming, demeaning comments that the whole iNnEr cIrClE made about Nesta? They all expect apologies from her. For some reason.

Nesta has done nothing wrong. She coped with her trauma and minded her business in her own ways, and she's expected to apologise to the people who control and emotionally abuse her.

Nothing that any of these characters did to Nesta is right. Nesta wasn't okay at the end, this wasn't Nesta's healing story. This is Nesta being shamed and degraded until she submits.

Oh I can't believe I forgot to write this in my first draft of this review, do you know how Nesta "overcomes" her grief about her Father's death and her conflicting feelings about him and his life and her guilt? When she visits his grave for the first time, she takes Nyx.

NYX.

She holds NYX up to the grave and talks about how it's his grandson.

GO AWAY YOU STUPID DEMON BABY THIS IS NOT YOUR BOOK.

Speaking of, it's revealed that Nesta was abused by her mother and grandmother in this book? Something we were all looking forward to is seeing more of the Archeron's mother seeing as Feyre was so young when she died, but... nope. She gets a few vague mentions, and this newly revealed abuse is entirely glossed over. Nesta was also actively groomed by an older man at 14. But SJM glosses over this because of course she does.

Finally, the bonus chapters.

My edition came with a bonus chapter from Feyre's POV. It was pointless and I hated it.

There's another bonus chapter from Azriel's POV. Once I'd finished this book, he was one of the few characters I still harboured a shred of respect for.

Then I read his bonus chapter.

This exists to purely objectify Elain.

Whether you ship Elain with Azriel, or Lucien, or neither, this chapter is disgusting. He thinks about her coming on his tounge, and other things simply just to please him.

He then dares to suggest that "the Cauldron picked wrong" in choosing Lucien as Elain's mate?

No Azriel, SJM picked RIGHT in not giving each Archeron sister a bAt bOy.

Rhysand does the only right thing he's ever done by telling Azriel to stay away from Elain, but then he has to ruin it by clarifying that it's only so they can manipulate and use Lucien more.

Oh, and Azriel wants to kill Lucien.

Need I remind you that Lucien respects Azriel? Lucien is another victim of the Night Court's needless, baseless torment, and Azriel is no exception.

Lucien stays well out of Elain's way because she makes it clear that she's not interested in a mate, but Azriel wants to kill him simply for being her mate.

Lucien has done nothing. And I mean literally NOTHING to warrant any of this treatment. From the bAt bOyS, from Feyre, from his family, from SJM, from the deluded part of this fandom that think he's done wrong. NOTHING.

All I liked about this book was the Lucien scenes (which is a given), ((although I hated the way everyone talks about him behind his back)), Nesta's relationship with the house, Emerie and Gwyn, the evidence that Gwynriel is endgame and subsequently Elucien, and the book love. Everything else was horrible. Oh, and Nesta hates Rhysand. I love that for her, because everyone else bows at his feet.

Oh yeah, when Nesta DARES suggest that Rhysand is an "arrogant, preening asshole" which I think is a compliment, Cassian can't take Rhys' cock out of his mouth for one second, and has to get mad at her for having an opinion. Don't even get me started on Azriel in that scene.

If each book after ACOTAR made me slowly give up, this book made me give up altogether. I cannot go on to support this victim-blaming, abuse-forgiving, misogynistic series. I've given up on SJM, and the only characters I care about anyone are Lucien, Nesta, Helion, and Tarquin. I'll continue to read this series to see if SJM redeems herself, but I'll be downloading them for free. I'm not giving this piece of shit any more of my money.

I hope we don't get the Lucien book. I don't want her to slaughter my fox in the way she slaughtered LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE.

Thanks for listening.

Edit: I put the review on Goodreads!

#anti acotar #anti acomaf #anti acowar #anti acofas #anti acosf #anti sjm #anti feysand #anti rhysand

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sortasirius · 4 years ago

Text

“Gimme Shelter” and The Bomb

Living in the middle of clown town is always an adventure but they’re recently opened a five star restaurant that’s free to all residents so we’re eatin good lmao.

Wow. Uh. Wow. Lots and lots and lots to unpack here.

This is.........long lmao

I mean. Should we just talk about some of the *cough cough* married details we’ve got going on? That picture of Cas from “Tombstone”? Who took that? Who else COULD have taken that? Why is it a printed photo that Cas just happens to have? Why did it look like it was cut in half?

Okay, I also want to talk about the energy between Dean and Cas, and not the energy of two intensely married people. We haven’t seen them together that much since 15x09 right? I mean we’ve had bits here and there, but to me something still feels off. I just can’t help but go back to the unresolved ending of their time in Purgatory (”I have to say something.” “You don’t have to say it, I heard your prayer.”). It just feels like there’s awkwardness hanging in the air, like when Dean and Sam leave right when Cas gets back, or the way that Dean hangs up on him. It feels like we’re supposed to be sus, which I most definitely am. Things aren’t 100% fixed, even though they’d like us to believe that they are.

Baby man Jack? “Marvelous Marvin the talking teddy, I have one!”

Also just,

“Can we wear matching ties?!”

“Yeah, blue’s a good color on you.”

I CRY.

I think it’s FASCINATING that Rowena is spending her time in Hell making things “boring” for demons, changing things. “People will end up where they belong.” There is NO WAY that’s throwaway.

“Hello! Where can I find the Kool Aid.”

Literal king.

There are a lot of ~parallels~ in this episode, a whole lot of callbacks, and not in the jokey oh hey remember that episode. There are all very deliberate and coded carefully into the dialogue so that even people who watch casually and pay attention will pick up on them.

“We...dated. Years ago, sort of. More like we watched a lot of old movies together.”

Ok.

Which, nbd, same exact fucking episode as

Come on guys. Just like. Come on. Davy. My man.

Good to point out too that Davy Perez also wrote “Tombstone.”

I just want to take a second and appreciate that we at got this Amara this season. No weird drama between her and Dean, just a literal badass who knows she’s a badass. Dabb and co are going to save every poorly written character before this is over.

Cas’ fucking speech y’all.

“I do know what blind faith is. I used to just follow orders without question, and I did some pretty terrible things. I would never look beyond the plan. And then of course when it all came crashing down, I found myself lost. I didn’t know what my purpose was anymore. And then one day something changed, something amazing. I...I guess I found a family. And I became a father. And in that, I rediscovered my faith. And I rediscovered who I am.”

First of all, we deserved to see this from Cas. We deserve to hear him talk about how much he’s grown, how much he’s changed from the “soldier” in season 4.

Cas found who he was with Jack, with Sam, with Dean. He found out he was a Winchester. His love for others is so palpable this episode, the way he mother hens around Jack, the way he looks at Dean, I just completely adore him, and I loved being able to see him reflect on his own growth.

Okay, moving along to Amara and Dean’s convo...fuck man. F U C K.

Dean’s pain in this scene. His pain over Mary, over the lack of choice. It’s so palpable, and I don’t think anything could have prepared me for Amara’s answer to his “Why?”

“I wanted two things for you, Dean. I wanted you to see that your mother was just a person. That the myth that you’d held on to for so long of a better life, a life where she’d lived was just that. Myth. I wanted you to see that the real, complicated Mary was better than your childhood dream because she was real. That now is always better than then. That you could finally start to accept your life.”

“Hm. And the second thing?”

“I thought having her back would release you. Put that fire out. Your anger. But I guess we both know I failed at that.”

His anger.

His anger through the whole season.

His inability to let go of the anger.

Dean’s anger, his inability to let go, we now know, of course, that his happiness didn’t come from Mary. He still had the fire, he still couldn’t let go of the anger, the rage. So what is it? Not even Amara knows what will bring him peace, she just knows that her solution failed.

And then, as if we needed more parallels to this season:

“I’m furious. To learn that all my life I’ve been nothing but a hamster in a wheel, stuck in a story.”

If that line sounded familiar to you. It’s because it is.

It’s not a common phrase, especially since Davy Perez FILLED this episode with callbacks. We’re in the endgame, nothing is unimportant.

For Dean to bring this line back up, right after Amara tells him that she thought that Mary would bring him peace, that she was wrong in that assumption. For that line to get brought back up when Dean talks about his anger in that scene with Cas, right in the middle of their breakup, where the whole catalyst of his prayer is about his anger, how he can’t let go of his anger. How he’s sorry he got so angry at Cas.

Bruh.

And then, as if all of this wasn’t enough. Jack drops the twist. That he has to die to kill Chuck and Amara.

It’s his own version of the empty deal. That isn’t a mistake. Both are going to come into play, Jack’s deal and Cas’. Mirrors of each other.

Putting his hand on Cas’ shoulder, telling him his death is not Cas’ choice, but his own. I think this, this scene is going to come back into play.

And then to end the episode with Cas telling Dean, telling him about Jack’s death.

“In case something goes wrong and I don’t make it back, there’s something you and Sam need to know.”

So...our fluff episodes are over.

There’s so much in this episode, but what I think bears repeating at the end is Dean’s anger, what will bring him peace, Jack’s impending death, and Cas’ deal. All of these are going to be our catalysts moving forward. Dean’s anger arc isn’t over, just as Cas’ deal hasn’t been resolved. Next week ~seems~ like it’ll be a fluff episode, but I am certain that it won’t be. There’s gotta be some big to do about what Cas is going to tell Dean.

Idk what to tell y’all other than the volume inside of this clown car is astronomical.

#supernatural #spoilers #spn 15x15 #spn #my meta #destiel

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mythiccheroacademia · 5 years ago

Note

Hey I love you hc so far I was wondering if you could do one if s/n was about to get in a fight with this girl but Aizawa canceled there quirks but that didn’t stop s/n from putting her hand on her and beating her ass. How would Bakugou,Todoroki,Izuku, and Shinsou react to that

that’s so sweet of you, honey bunny! thank you sm for this ask! ive been itching to write something spicy lmao. i hope you like this!

A/N: i hope you don’t mind, but this s/n will be female-identifying just because if they’re going to get physical (and it’s not for hero training), i’d rather it be between two girls. i personally am not comfortable with the idea of a man putting his hands on a woman over something that’s not life or death.

Warnings: lots of cursing and a few punches

PSA: I don’t condone violence! Especially between women. I think us girls need to stick together. However, if someone is coming at you disrespectfully, they need to get checked and that's on period. Just try to use your words rather than your hands hehe

Before I forget, Happy 2020 everyone 💜

Bakugo Katsuki:

y’all know this man is the king of using his fist first and words later

you’re pretty sweet and laid-back and you mind your own business

anyways, there was this girl didn’t like you for some reason

all she did was gossip and talk shit about you

bakugo told you he’d help you jump her but you were trying to the bigger person and told him you’d talk it out

you and the girl met during lunchtime, you took Mina to help mediate

you politely confronted her

she denied it and called you crazy

you pulled out the receipts

her “friends” sent you all the screenshots

“why are you so obsessed with me?” you ask

“who would be obsessed with an ugly bitch like you?”

“sis, who you callin’ a bitch?”

now Mina wants you to throw hands

like why is she calling YOU a bitch when she’s the one that’s talking shit and you don’t even know her???

things start to escalate and you both are screaming at one another and attracting the attention of your friends

she uses her quirk on you and everyone gasps

like, what the hell?

Aizawa immediately uses his scarf and cancels your quirks and orders both of you to the office

but you’re seeing red at this point

“you’re lucky i’m being held back bc i’m not afraid to pull up on a bitch, and that’s on period”

“shut the fuck up you dirty looking rat”

you don’t know if Aizawa loosened his wrappings or not, but you were able to get free and you went in

Mina and Bakugo cheer

the other girl got suspended

you got two days under house arrest, but you thought it was worth it

bakugo was proud and wouldn’t stop bragging about it

“tch. of course my girl beat her ass. she can check that, dumb bit--”

you hit his head, “boys aren’t allowed to call girls bitches, idiot. but thank you baby”

Todoroki Shoto:

you dated some guy from another school who cheated on you with some girl

you were pretty torn up about it

you broke up with him without a second thought and found someone much better :)

you didn’t know the girl or care about her, so you just forgot about her*ladies, remember to check your bf first before the other woman. she’s not in a relationship with you, he is*

but for some reason, she wanted to torment you

you two went to U.A. but were in different classes

you didn’t see her much, but when you did, she’d make sly comments

it got on your nerves, but you just let it go

shoto told you she wasn’t worth the energy

but then she saw you and todoroki at your locker and said,

“probably won’t be long until I fuck her boyfriend again,” she giggled to her friends

you slammed the locker shut, that was the last straw

“if you have something to say, say it to my face”

“i think you heard what i said, bitch”

“what’s your problem with me?”

“you think you’re all that bc you date the hottest guys in school, but they only want you bc you’re a skank”

shoto looks the girl dead in the eye and says, “then what does that make you?”

the girl gets so angry

but at you???, and uses her quirk on you

shoto pulls you out of the way

aizawa comes out of nowhere and cancels all three of your quirks

it’s meant to calm you down, but the girl is trying to go at you

“you’re nothing more than a $5 prostitute and once everyone passes you around like the whore you are, i hope you get an STD and die”

yeah, all bets were off after that

even aizawa was like 😧

shoto put your hair up for you

“fuck her up y/n”

quirk or no quirk, you beat that ass

Midoriya Izuku

*y’all are in your second-year*

izuku is weak for strong-willed women

literally went 😍🤤 when you told him he should ask you out

you spend a lot of time with each other and he knows about the situation with your (equally as strong-willed) ex-best friend

your ex-friend started to spread disgusting rumors about your little sister (who also goes to U.A as a first-year) just because it got out that her crush liked your sister

izuku, trying to be your hero™, thought y’all should talk it out so he brought both of you to the lunch table

bless his heart but this boi don’t know

you both sat in silence before you glared at your boyfriend

“why am i in front of this girl?”

izuku: 😯

“don’t address me like i’m some child” she says

“then stop talking about my sister like some little ass girl, bitch”

“shut the fuck up, bitch! ain’t nobody care about your ugly ass sister!”

“yo izuku, why the fuck did you place me in front of this low down dirty bitch”

izuku again: 😮

he immensely regretted this

izuku tries to calm you two down, but things just get worse

suddenly there are mentions of area codes and he didn't quite understand how they correlated to how well people fight, but he didn't have enough time to think about it

he’s trying to hold you back now

someone called aizawa over because you two started using your quirks

your sister is begging you to chill out but you’re too furious to listen

aizawa cancels your quirks before things go too far

izuku got so scared because he knows the punishment for fighting and he would hate it if you got expelled because of his dumb idea at peacekeeping

“y/n, please calm down! it’s not worth it”

even with your quirks gone, you two are rolling around the ground, punching, scratching, and screaming awful things at each other

yells at bakugo for cheering you on

Hitoshi Shinsou:

you know this man is shady af

you two make snarky comments to each other all the time

he loves the way you hold your head up high

he just loves your confidence, it was one of the things that made you so attractive to him

so it hurts him when you started being insecure and timid

he asks you what was going on, but you just say you’re tired

but after a while, you breakdown to him about some girl that’s been bullying you

he knows how it feels to be demonized, so he comforts you, and offers ways to defend yourself against the bullying

very mature™️, very adult™️

it seems to work for a little bit, but then it gets worse

her words start getting to you and, instead of being sad, you start getting angry

but its that really calm type of angry

shinsou defends you a lot, but one day you tell him it’s okay

then you tell the girl, “next time i see you, it’s on sight baby girl”

it was in a sickly sweet tone that sent shivers down everyone’s spine

on the lowest of keys, it turned shinso on

he’s like: 🥰😏

you and your bully were then paired up for combat training

you two fight each other and you’re going at her with everything you’ve got

shinsou is at the side, cheering you on

he thinks you look hot when you’re angry

also, he’s so ready to see you destroy that girl

for educational purposes

it’s obvious that you two are fighting with ill-intentions and aizawa is forced to cancel your quirks

she doesn’t stop running her mouth though

“you deserved to be picked on”

“oh word?”

“did i stutter?

there was a moment of intense silence as you stared at her

then shinsou yells, “snatch that hoe, y/n!”

and you did just that

you don’t know what happened to her

but you got detention, but your boyfriend gets it too for instigating

so both of you just eat sweets and gossip to each other

#mha #bnha #bnha scenarios #bnha headcanons #bnha x reader #bakugou x reader #midoryia x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #todoroki x reader #mha x black reader #bnha x black reader #bnha x poc!reader #bnha ask #mha ask

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starsfic · 3 years ago

Text

Smoke and Gold, Chapter 10: Looking

Summary: Xiaojiao and Xiaotian reunite. But things go sour and his bestie lays a choice at his feet.

It's the wrong one.

Notes: @fosermi

AO3

-_-

Xiaotian was a bundle of nerves that morning.

For once, he was glad Red wasn't there when he woke up. He might've been tempted to call this off, homesickness be damned. He barely ate his breakfast, thankfully not throwing up from the anxiety curling in his gut. Soon enough, he was making sure the servants had Xiaojiao's favorite snacks and desserts ready, succeeding in not entering a mood swing. That didn't relieve his nerves.

How was she doing? Did everyone miss him? How was everyone? Would she recognize him-

"Long Xiaojiao is here, my lord."

Xiaotian blinked out of his thoughts, turning. A servant stood in the doorway, thankfully showing no notice of his spiral. Then the news hit.

And he was running out of the room.

He shot past servants and guards, finally reaching the entry hall. He heard her voice before he saw her, yelling at the guards. "-why I'm-"

"Mei?" He couldn't resist the urge to use the childhood nickname. His best friend, still wearing her motorcycle gear, froze. Then she turned, wide-eyed.

They stood there, staring at each other.

Then one of them sobbed. He wasn't sure who because tears were pricking at his eyes and then they were rushing to each other.

They met in the middle, collapsing into a pile of hugs and tears.

-_-

The day was great.

This was the best idea ever!

After their hugs and assuring Xiaojiao he was fine, Xiaotian proceeded to give her a tour. Xiaojiao oohed and ahhed, occasionally making comments about her parents' sense of decor. Eventually, he had her right where he wanted her.

Right to the gaming room, which was much bigger than anything either of them had seen. There, she whooped his ass at every game, just like at the arcade. Just like it was a regular day.

Now they were eating lunch with what stomachs were available from game snacking. Xiaojiao had assured him that everyone was fine, although they all missed him so much. And now they were talking about this and that.

"So, spill," Xiaojiao said, setting aside her drink. "Tell me about Red. What's he like?"

A fond smile formed. "What do you want to know? He's smart. He loves to invent, you two would get along. He's really, really ...attentive." The word sent warmth spiraling through his insides, remembering Red's talents in the last, kissing and sucking and biting…

"Where is he? I mean, I figured he’d want to meet me."

Xiaotian blinked out of his lustful thoughts, blushing. She hadn't caught on to what exactly he was thinking about his husband, right? "Oh, he's at work. He's really busy during the days and if I know I can't see him, I would be-"

"You've never seen him?"

And Xiaojiao's voice had changed. Xiaotian froze, because right. That wasn’t normal in a relationship. He shrugged, trying to pretend it was a normal thing. “It’s one of the rules here. I can never see his face.”

Her expression looked worried. “Okay, look,” And she sounded worried. “That… that isn’t normal. And the fact that you’re a sacrifice for this guy…” Emotions crossed her face. “Alright,” she finally said. “I’m only asking you to do this because you clearly love the guy and I just want you safe and happy.”

That didn’t sound good.

“...do what?”

She reached into her backpack, pulling out one of her spare phones, an old flip phone. She passed it to Xiaotian before reaching back inside. What she pulled out next made his throat dry.

It was a knife.

“You need to protect yourself,” his best friend said gently. Trembling, his hand reached out, wrapping around the handle. “What if this is just a long game?” He shook his head in denial.

“Look, just sneak one look and then you’ll know.”

Just one look?

“If he’s not what he says he is, then use the knife. If you...have to, use the phone to call me when it’s done.” Xiaojiao went quiet. Then she wrapped arms around him.

There, he broke down.

-_-

“Is everything alright?”

Xiaotian resisted a shiver at his husband’s voice. Questions crowded in his throat. “Fine,” he said, instead of any of them. “Just tired.” There was silence, then lips pressed against his shoulder. “Night.” he managed out, snuggling into the covers in an attempt to look like he was going to sleep.

He felt a warm back press against his. “...Good night.”

The urge to apologize joined the crowd of questions but Xiaotian didn’t say a word.

You need to protect yourself, MK .

As much as he hated it, Xiaojiao had a point. He deserved to know that he was safe. Besides, why wasn’t he allowed? His husband had seen every inch of him. Why didn’t he get that privilege?

Look, just sneak one look and then you’ll know.

Just one look.

It felt like an eternity before Xiaotian heard his husband start the slow, even breathing of sleep. Moving slowly, he carefully slipped out of bed. He hit the soft carpet and reached under the bed. The total darkness of the bedroom made it impossible to see his contraband, forcing him to blindly search around.

If he’s not what he says he is, then use the knife.

His hand brushed against the handle of the knife. Xiaotian shivered and kept looking.

If you...have to, use the phone to call me when it’s done.

His hand brushed against the phone and then finally wrapped around the candle. The reason why he had to use a candle was because the phone was one of those old flip phones with no flashlight. Xiaotian pulled out the candle and the box of matches right next to it. He didn’t light it right there.

Instead, he carefully stepped to his husband’s side of the bed. Xiaotian quietly pulled out a match and striked it, lighting the candle. Cupping the flame before he could see, he took a deep breath.

Moment of truth.

He pulled his hand away.

The candlelight gently fell upon his husband and the truth hit him.

Oh no.

Warm skin in both body heat and tone. Long red hair curling around his shoulders. An sharp, angular face. A golden nose piercing that shone in the light. Red bull ears that matched the tail that absently twitched and swished in sleep. Even though he had never seen his face, Xiaotian could recognize the young man from Wukong’s stories.

He scrambled away from Red Boy, son of his father’s enemy the Demon Bull King.

Xiaotian didn’t stop moving until he felt his back hit the wall. He clamped a hand over his mouth as he moved, stifling a noise that was somewhere between a gasp and a scream. His mind whirled at the truth and the possibilities. A trap? He should- he needed to- He took a deep breath in and then out and focused.

His husband was Red Boy. The demon who had attacked Sun Wukong on his journey west, the son of the demon locked under mountain and staff, the half of the danger that they were watching. That would explain why he was never around during the day. He was probably with his mother.

But...he was also Red. Red, who was proud to the point of being a bit arrogant. Who promised to wait to touch him until he asked. Who could go on and on about machines and was all too willing to explain terms and parts and bits if he asked. Who listened to him talk about art and his work and asked informed questions. Who apologized that his hands were a bit rough whenever they touched and kissed him eagerly when he finally asked him to make love to him. Who had the cackle of a mad scientist and was shy about his features and had such goofy grins that he felt when he smiled into his skin. Who Xiaotian loved and…

He let out a sigh, thinking about this.

Okay. So, he couldn’t do this. The stabbing or the leaving. Xiaotian crawled back to Red’s side, staring at his peaceful features until the knot of fear in his chest came undone. Under all that, he found himself happy to finally see the man he loved. That pushed his decision. He loved him and he was okay with that. He could wait until he was ready to reveal himself and ask questions then.

He gave his husband a soft kiss, sealing his promise. He then moved to stand-

“OW!”

The candle had started to drip, Xiaotian realized. And a glob of hot wax had fallen onto his hand and wrist. He yelped, dropping the candle to cradle his burn. But the pain was soon overshadowed by the fact that Red had sat straight up at his cry. The concern in his eyes at the painful cry faded as he realized that he was standing over him and noticed the still burning candle on the floor. It was soon replaced by something else- anger.

“Red, it’s not-”

But his husband’s hair was already flaming. “You-” He apparently couldn’t say anything else before he was engulfed in flames. Xiaotian yelped, immediately going down and hearing fire and wind woosh.

When he peeled his face off the carpet, the bed was empty and the sheets nothing but ash.

And he was heartbreakingly alone.

“...Red?”

Unsure of what else to do, Xiaotian curled up into a ball.

Tears pricked in his eyes and he soon found himself sobbing.

-_-

Princess Iron Fan’s sitting room was filled with the sound of sobbing.

“Oh, my sweet useless boy,” the princess cooed. He was curled up on her sofa, head pillowed in her lap, with her running her fingers through his hair like he was a little boy again. “I should’ve known better than to give you such a task.” She was angry at her son for his failure and his resulting deeds, but she was a mother first. Her poor baby was heartbroken and needed comfort.

“I- I told him not to look- I-I-I-I asked him not to look…” Red Son burst into a fresh round of sobs, wetting his mother’s skirts. “Why did he-?!”

“Oh, Red Son,” Iron Fan sighed. “Sun Wukong is selfish. It makes sense that his successor will be just as selfish.” He winced at the harsh words but she continued on. “If he had truly loved you, he wouldn’t have looked. Forget about him. We have more important things to do.” But she made a little mental note as she peeled her son off her lap and saw how broken he was.

Qi Xiaotian deserved something nasty for breaking her son’s heart.

#my writing #Spicynoodleshipping #Lego Monkie Kid #Monkie Kid #Eros and Psyche AU #au #MK #Qi Xiaotian #Mei #Long Xiaojiao #Red Son #Princess Iron Fan

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rochiomaru · 3 years ago

Text

My Brother's Keeper

Things have been going well for the Family at Spider Miles. I continue to make plans to invade underground trades deeper within the Grand Line, the money is pouring in, and I have learned that Dressrosa has become ripe for the Donquixote lineage to return where we belong. I smile whenever I think of this land, as it is mine by right of my birth.

Those fools at Mariejois thought to take my royalty from me when they cast me from heaven, but my family ruled that land long before the Celestial Dragons became what they are now. Taking back this nation will be the first piece in shoving my bloodline down their fat, self-righteous throats! Finally, I shall be acknowledged as the king that I was born to be and can stop living in this trash heap. I can begin to provide more for my family and to give them all they deserve!

A part of me thinks that everything is lies, but I ignore these troubling thoughts. My family loves me and have been here for me since I was ten years old. My brother has come back to me and stands at my right hand. How can it be anything other than perfect?

It is what I have always dreamed of. And now with Law here, my little family somehow feels complete. Not that I would love the other children less. That is why I gave them devil fruits to make them stronger, just as Trebol did for me. It’s what you do for those you care for. You give them ways to protect themselves and those they love, as well as the power to take revenge on those who hurt them. To make them invincible to the world!

There’s a small feeling of uneasiness in the back of my mind as I think of Trebol. The voices like to mock me, saying that he is using me. However, I know he loves and worships me. Without him, I would have died years ago… Right? I shake my head to clear the unwelcome feeling and refocus my attention on Law.

I haven’t really seen him around since the other night at dinner. I can feel the frown deepen on my face as I remember the cruel way some of the others treated the boy. I have been gathering devil fruits and either using them, or selling them for a while now, but there is one that I have been unable to reach that would be of great use, I think.

The Ope Ope no Mi. The power of this fruit would undoubtedly save his life and would allow him to heal others. He was already training to be a doctor with his biological family. Maybe he will allow me to adopt him into my family and continue his education. Once I find that fruit, Law will be unstoppable. He will be my successor. My own son. The smile on my face practically hurts, but I do not remember having been this happy before. Not even before my family broke when we left heaven.

I call for Machvise and Giolla to go and find him for me before going into my room to read. I take off my glasses and drink some wine to try and relax after a long day. I do not even notice the world beginning to fade away when suddenly I am there again.

I can feel my body struggle against the villagers, but the flames are hot against my skin! The ropes are again digging into my flesh and the blood is pounding in my ears. The pain is so much! Please make it stop! I can sense the arrow loosed towards my brother when the power wrenches from my stomach.

The next thing I know, I am again in my room, covered in sweat, and I can’t breathe. I lean forward, gasping for air, but the tightness in my chest will not relax. I reach for my sunglasses, and though they bring me some relief, the bottle of wine next to them is a welcome sight. I grab the bottle and begin to drink without even bothering to use my glass. Anything to drown the memories and thoughts that come from these nightmares. I don’t even care how I must look right now. For a moment I wonder what it was that brought this on after so many months of being free from this problem.

However, as the world comes back into focus, my attention is taken from my musing and I notice what must have woken me. The transponder snail keeps his incessant ringing until I pick up the receiver. Ah. It seems they have found Law. I throw down the bottle and the sound of breaking glass barely even registers. I will have Baby 5 come clean it up later, as I have far more important things to attend to now.

Once I make my way into one of our common areas, I see that Rosinante is already there. He looks at me and appears to get up to leave. I shake my head at him and smile. “Please stay, brother. I would like you here for this.”

He nods and pulls out a cigarette. I reach over to light it for him to ensure he does not set himself on fire again. As I watch him take a drag, I smile softly. He is truly my light and the one to save me from myself. We are the same and I know that he will take my pain and save me from these demons that constantly scream in my head. I was so lost before he returned to me. I wonder if he felt lost too?

I am about to tell him my plans for Law, as I want him to understand how important it will be for me to have a son to carry on the Donquixote legacy. I know my brother doesn’t like children, but if he would just give Law a chance, I know he would see the same thing I do! He would see the same piece in him that is in us. The same pain, the same potential, the same power…

I go to say something to my brother when there is movement at the door and my family has returned with Law carried between them. He looks angry, but that is nothing new. I smile at the boy and watch as they tossed him to the ground. I glared at the two of them and let a piece of my haki catch their attention. Apparently, they did not understand my intentions the other night at dinner. Well, at least after this moment, Law’s place here will be undeniably clear.

“Law, I called you in for just one thing. I’ve decided to welcome you to the Donquixote family officially.” I sat back and genuinely enjoyed watching Law’s mouth drop open in shock. I’m not sure why he thought he had been summoned before me, but I know he did not expect this. I was expecting some push back from my family, but fortunately they seemed to be happy for the boy and are congratulating him.

I feel like I should explain myself to him. He is, after all, going to be my son in all but blood. “Because you went through such a horrible experience, you got that incomparable hateful look in your eyes.” I look into his eyes. “You have the quality.”

Giolla puts her hand on his head and begins fawning over the boy while going on about my “vision”, but he seems to reject her assessment, bringing up his illness. The voices are clamoring within my mind, but I don’t care because this is such a happy day for me! I’m going to have a son and I will raise and protect him. I will give him a place in ten years as my legacy to the world, so how would I ever let him die?

I begin to laugh and tell him it depends on his luck, though I know it has nothing to do at all with luck. He was destined to become the son of a god. I have the blood of celestial dragons in me, whether the fools at Mariejois were willing to let me and my brother back into heaven or not. The voices and that power are swelling inside my core and I am beginning to become overwhelmed in it all.

I told Law about the devil fruits and that there are types that could heal him, though I did not mention the exact one I have in mind for him. That will come for later. I also told him that in ten years I want him for my second in command. I know that the boy is still skittish and very prideful. I want him to build bonds with me and the other family members before I push him too fast. I’ve already given him a lot of information, so I will see if he will grasp the opportunity presented to him.

At that moment Rosinante begins to cough and my attention is taken away from Law. As I look towards my brother, I suddenly feel like all the air has been sucked from my lungs and the smile is wiped from my face. I force myself to stay calm as I see blood covering Rosi’s side.

For the slightest of moments, even the voices have gone completely silent and everything is numb inside at the sight of his shirt soaked in dark red liquid, though he appears to be trying to hide the spot beneath his hand. In the back of my mind, the only thought I can form is that the villagers got my brother with their arrows. My brother is going to die!

At that thought, a hurricane unleashes inside me and the demons begin to howl and rage! Who would dare to harm my precious baby brother? Do they not realize that he is descended from gods? I fight back the swarming madness and keep my face calm, but my fists clench from the efforts and my frown deepens. When I ask Rosi what happened, I am surprised to hear how controlled my voice sounds.

He writes a note to say that an enemy has done this to him, but it does nothing to quell the tempest that is beginning to storm within me. I can feel the violence within me increasing as I picture the vengeance I plan on taking on whoever did this to my brother. I will make an example of them that the whole world will know to not fuck with my family!

I ask if he took care of them, just to try and get more information from him. I don’t understand why he didn’t say anything to me in the first place. Perhaps when he sees how I rip this enemy to shreds with my strings, and pull the flesh from their bones slowly while they bleed out and scream for hours, he will then understand how much I love him? I would do anything to keep him safe and punish anyone that would dare harm him! He can trust me to save him, just as he’s saving me. We are family, and that's what you do!

He answers me by writing that he finished the enemy off. The pressure on my heart relaxes and I calm the thoughts that torment me, but the wound still bothers me. I can’t lose my brother. “That’s good. Get it treated, okay?” is all I trust myself to say at that moment.

I reach over to pat Rosi on the shoulder and look once more at Law. He looks like he’s in shock, perhaps at my offer to raise him to be my heir? This makes my heart swell with pride, but I can’t deal with my brother’s pain at this moment and don’t dwell on it long. I can feel myself begin to slip into the darkness again and need to go out for some air. I ask Giolla to get medical attention for my brother as I pass her on my way out, and she responds she will get someone right away. I thank her and move on quickly past the others.

As I move to one of my favorite spots to sit on the rails outside of the buildings, I watch the waves crash against the garbage on the shores and try to breathe. I know that my brother can take care of himself, but when I look at him, I see my moth… I see her and I just want to protect him with everything I have. I lost him once and will not lose him again!

The voices began to scream again that he was lying to me and wanted me dead, but I pushed them aside and continued to watch the waves. I know my brother loves me. He is my heart and my salvation. One day, I know we are going to rule the world together.

#donquixote doflamingo #donquixote rosinante #my demons #drabbles #one piece #doffy #love that flamingo #trafalgar law

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1985keery · 5 years ago

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broken - steve harrington.

steve harrington x female!reader

prompt: after 3 years of fighting for her life, steve finally sees how broken she truly is.

words: 2,091

warnings: angst, cussing, mentions of puke, mentions of suicide :(

The ceiling. It was so pretty, wasn’t it. Maybe it was her drugged mind, but she had never seen a better sight then the starcourt ceiling. The bright lights turned the beige top into a beautiful kaleidoscope. She was memorized. “Woah” she mumbles, her voice strained from the use. “Yeah” he agreed.

Him. How was it always him? How are they always risking their lives together? It seemed to be something out of a fairytale. Thinking of it made her head hurt. Couldn’t they catch a break? They deserved it. He deserved it.

She subconsciously began to back up into him. He was a comfort for her, always protecting her and things. His tall frame stood above her as she laid the back of her head on his blood stained chest. If she had turned her head slightly, she could’ve felt the way his heartbeat was out of control.

Whatever was in that drug, it was surely doing it’s worst.

“Steve” she whispered. Her stomach was starting to feel rotten. She felt dizzy and unsure if she was gonna make it. It felt as if there was a curse on her or something, like she was due to melt. Her stomach gurgled again, and she started running.

Working at the mall had it’s advantages, one being the two were able to locate the nearest bathrooms. Her blood stained white chucks squeaked as she turned every corner, She was sure the writing on them had been ruined. Shame, Robin drew such a pretty flower.

As she heard Steve’s blue sneakers behind her, she felt such a heavy pang of guilt. Why did these things always happen to them? Why did they always have to save the world?

As they finally reached the men’s bathroom, they immediately started puking their lunches into the white toilets. He gripped on to the side of the toilets as she held on to her hair. The small bathroom was filled with the sound of gags and cries.

After a minuet he had finally stopped, grabbing toilet paper and wiping his mouth off, blood and vomit leaving his plump lips. She had finished too, but she just wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. She was too weak to think logically.

She laid down on the black and yellow checkered floor and put her bruised legs on the red stall. The cold linoleum felt good against her damaged hands. “The ceiling stopped spinning for me” she said, finally catching her breath. “Is it still spinning for you?”

Even though he could barley see through his swollen eye, he looked up. “Holy shit. No. You think we puked it all up?” She closed her bruised eyes and smiled, relieved at the thought. “Maybe”

Her heart rate was going down to normal, and reality was finally coming down on her. Her brain was on autopilot, almost. Her motives were controlled by wherever her legs were running to.

But now here she was, laying in a bathroom with King Steve after fighting Russians. Shit.

“How do we always end up like this?” she asked, a sad expression on her face. “Puking in a bathroom?’

She laughed even though it burned her cut lip. He always had the ability to make her laugh even under the greyist skies. “No, I mean, running for our lives. Fighting evil. I feel like a comic book character.”

He gave a soft laugh at her comparison. “Nerd”. She smiled, hearing him tease her was a breath of fresh air. “Virgin” she teased.

“You must still be on the drugs” he laughed. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he had a smirk on his face, considering they had slept together. “Maybe. Ask me something. Interrogate me.” she said, mocking the Russian man. “I’ll interrogate you, sure.” he agreed, stopping to think of his question.

The air was light and it finally felt like they could let down their guard. They never did though, they knew better. “When was the last time you peed your pants?”

It was a stupid question, but she still laughed. “Today” she smiled, and she could hear his laugh “What?” The smile in his voice was evident. “When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw”

“Oh my god” he laughed. There was his silly girl, the one he thought would be gone an hour ago. The one who got her pretty face beaten in by evil Russians. He was so glad she was back to him. “It was just a little bit though” He heard her giggle, and he smiled.

“Okay, my turn” she said. She got up from the floor and laid her aching back on the stall. She was about to ask a silly question, like if he thought mermaids were real, but she started focusing on her hands.

There was an equal amount of blood and dirt under her fingernails, and her knuckles were red from trying to defend herself. They would be bruised by the morning. There was blood and vomit on her shirt, she had a black eye and a bleeding nose, a gash on her forehead and every muscle in her body was aching. She looked like a walking pity party.

However, she was nothing compared to Steve. The poor guy couldn’t even see out of his right eye and there were cuts on all his face. She felt her stomach drop and got a quarter sized lump in her throat.

“Do you think it’s even worth it?”

It was barley a whisper, but he heard it. “What?” He asked softly, noticing the mood change. She put her head in her lap, wanting to shrink as much as she can. She was tired of being seen, of being the one always saving the day. She wanted to curl up in a hole, where the villains could never hurt her again.

Every night there was a new nightmare.

She couldn’t escape, everywhere she turned there was a new battle waiting to be fought. She felt angry. It wasn’t fair, she was only 19. Hell, she was just 17 when she fought the demogorgan with Jonathan and Nancy.

Even the cool flooring felt like fire to her, As she dug her fingernails into her palms, she shrunk deeper. “Y/N” Steve called, knocking on the wall. His heart started to race at the silence. “Did you OD over there?”

She lifted her head from her lap and wiped her tears, though there were more forming. “Nope. Still alive, somehow”. Her voice sounded so broken, and so scared. She dropped her head back into her lap

Steve slid under the stall, now sitting opposite of her. “Y/N” he said softly, taking her small hands into his rough ones. “Come on baby, talk to me”

Raising her head, Steve frowned at the tears on her cheeks. “Do you think it’s worth it, Steve? Risking our lives, being heros?”

He had never really thought about it. I mean sure, he had nightmares too, but life went on. It never occurred to him that it didn’t for her, that she was struggling. I mean, she would flinch at a lot of things and refused to walk in the dark, but now he realizes it was deeper then that.

“Well, yeah. The world needs heros” he spoke carefully. There was a fire in her chest, and that was the gasoline. “It’s not fair, Steve!” she yelled. Her usually small voice boomed through the bathroom.

“Why is it always us? It’s not fair! I just wanted to be a normal teenager! But now I can’t sleep, can’t go to parties, and I can’t even put up Christmas lights!” her hands had began to shake from anger, but she was far from done,

“I’m fucked Steve! And I can’t even go to therapy, because they’d think I’m crazy! And Lord knows I can’t talk to my parents. Jesus, everyone gets to have this normal life, but we’re fighting demons once a year. They have no clue about demogorgans, or demo dogs, and- and- a-and they’re happy! I don’t even know what true happiness is anymore because I’m always fucking paranoid!

Angry tears had slipped down her cheeks. She was sobbing at this point. Quiet whines came out of her mouth. A shaky breathe, And her head was back in her lap.

Steve laid his bleeding head back. She was right. Absolutely right. The air was thick, and it felt like it could suffocate them. He felt so sorry for her. He grabbed her hand and put his chin on her knee. The yellow lights of the bathroom gleamed down on them. The hopelessly damaged kids.

“I had a plan, y’know” she said, as the silence broke. She licked her lips and sniffed. “At 17, I had a plan. I was gonna graduate, hopefully valedictorian. I was gonna go to Indiana State, get a job and an apartment, and I was gonna get the hell away from here, Have a family, a normal family, and a life for myself”

Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers came to her mind. It wasn’t fair to them either, how they ended stuck in Hawkins again. Nobody deserved to be stuck here.

He took a moment to process her words. He had a plan for himself at 17, too. One that involved Nancy Wheeler and a white picket fence. Now, thinking of it made him shiver. Looking at the girl who was in his plan now, he sighed.

“And at 18?” he asked. She clenched her first and rose up, unshed tears in her eyes. He watched her throat move as she swallowed. ‘I didn’t think I’d be here at 18″

He squinted, and it was clear to her that he didn’t understand. She squeezed her eyes shut, fearful of his reaction. Surely he would think less of her, he might even treat her with pity.

“But, we survived the demogorgan” the innocent man said.

“Steve”

It was so painful. Having to tell her lover her darkest secrets. She was afraid the bright shades of red and pink around their love would now be black and grey. Steve didn’t deserve her, she thought. He deserved a girl like Nancy Wheeler, or like Tammy Thompson. Someone who wasn’t completely and utterly broken.

“Yeah?” God, it still wasn’t clicking. She couldn’t say it, she had tried, but the worlds simply could not leave her mouth. So she said it with her eyes.

And then he understood.

Something in his eyes had changed, and he finally saw how broken she really was. He always thought she was beautiful, but now he saw every detail of her face. He saw the frown lines and the eyebags, and the hurt in her eyes. “Oh” he mumbled.

This was it, she thought. He was gonna call her a freak, or an idiot. The two never made them selves official, but they knew, Everyone knew. “Holy shit”

Her heart was beating again, for the millionth time that day. “Yeah. Holy shit”

She didn’t look at him, too afraid of seeing his expression, but he couldn’t look away from her. His sweet, sweet girl. How stupid he was, to not see how she was feeling. It was his job to make sure she was okay. He felt as if he had failed her. “You OD over there?” she asked, trying to break the tension.

“No” he answered. “Just thinking”. She nodded and felt another lump in her throat. Her fingernails had left inprints in her palms, and she was desperately trying to not cry again.

“I had a plan at 18 too” he said. She finally pulled her eyes to him, “I was gonna join the circus.”

She certainly was not expecting that. “What?”

“I was gonna join the circus” he said, smiling, “I’d be one of the clowns, or maybe even the ring leader” She finally laughed again. “Why.... why was that in your plan?”

“I thought it’d be cool, and I’d look hot in a rainbow wig.” He was rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand, and was relived to see the soothing action was working. She laughed as she said. “You wouldn’t dare mess up your precious hair, Harrington. I on the other hand would make a excellent acrobat”

“Please, you did gymnastics for what, 6 months? And then what happened” They were both smiling now. “My ankle healed!” she defended, as they both laughed.

The doors burst open and suddenly Robin, Dustin and Erica were in front of them. “Seriously, what the hell” Dustin yelled, clearly pissed. The two only looked at each other and laughed again. Steve stood and reached out his hand. “One more battle?”

Her smile dropped a little, but she took his hand anyway. “One more battle”

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #stranger things #robin buckley #dustin henderson #season 3 #st3 #st3 spoilers #reader insert #self insert

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trensu · 5 years ago

Text

Episode 7: The One where At Last LWJ Sees the Light

We’re still in the cave of wonders, guys, and lan yi is doing plot exposition so we’re gonna skip that

Once Lan Yi is done laying down Plot, we have this cute exchange

Lwj: elder, as your descendent i pinky promise to complete this Super Important Mission

Wwx: oh, same, me too!

Lwj: this is a LAN FAMILY MATTER and none of your business

Wwx: YOU CAN’T STOP ME FROM HELPING

Wwx: and besides, since my grandmaster was besties with your ancestor that means that it’s practically my family matter too, so there

YOU’RE ALSO MARRIED NOW GUYS, REMEMBER, SO IT’S A FAMILY MATTER EITHER WAY

And now, drumroll please…

Our beautiful boys tumble out of the cave of wonders (while still tied together!!) and crash land onto the ground, with wwx oh so conveniently sprawled on top of lwj

THAT’S RIGHT GUYS

IT’S THAT TROPE AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL

Lol lwj’s stunned face here

Wwx: I DIDN’T MEAN TO FALL ON YOU…! Oh hi jiang cheng

yep, jc’s here to ruin the moment (i love you jc, but you have horrible timing)

Wwx is so happy to see his brother, he greets him immediately and completely forgets about the fact that he and lwj are in a…compromising position

It’s adorable, really

Lwj: *glares with every ounce of Repressed Gay Rage in his body* GET UP RIGHT NOW.

Wwx: oh, right sure *totally unruffled bc he is shameless*

At this point we cut to the next scene which is still in the same place and with the same characters but now lwj has his ribbon back on his forehead

Ngl i’m kinda bummed we didn’t see him untie their wrists

It would’ve been hilarious since jc and wen qing wouldve been watching it all happen lol

like, i’m just picturing wq and jc being awkwardly silent as lwj unravels his ribbon from wwx’s wrist. wwx’s eyes would ofc be glued on lwj and he’d be babbling some inane thing or another

but we didn’t get that. oh well.

Oh, and here we find out that lwj and wwx were in that cave for one day and one night

Now that lwj is all put together again, we see wwx, jc, and wq have a conversation that i think counts as a wangxian moment

Jc and wq both start throwing questions at our boys about where they’ve been and what they were doing and all that

Lwj looks very uncomfortable about all the questions.

Lans don’t lie (supposedly; lwj is such a stickler at this point in his life he def doesn’t lie)

So wwx swoops in to ~rescue~ him!!

He answers all the questions by lying thru his teeth: oh yeah, we got lost and trapped and swam for hours and hours in an underground, waterlogged maze that definitely exists before we finally found a way out!! I almost froze to death (he says with a whine bc that’s just how he is lol)

Once he finishes answering all those questions he turns to share THE CUTEST LITTLE SECRET SMILE WITH LWJ. SO ADORABLE GUYS, HOW IS HE REAL

Lwj sees it and HAS TO LOOK AWAY

I CAN’T EVEN BLAME HIM BC IF WWX SMILED AT ME LIKE THAT (WITH HIS CUTE LITTLE BEAUTY MARK IN FULL VIEW!!) I WOULD’VE DIED.

JUST DROPPED TO THE GROUND DEAD.

IT’S TOO MUCH, IT’S TOO MUCH

Now we cut to a Plot Heavy Scene, featuring our boys and lxc and lqr, that is not relevant to this post at all EXCEPT I HAVE TO SAY OH GOD, LWJ LOOKS SO BABY-FACED HERE?? HOW?? HIS LITTLE FACE LOOKS ALL ROUNDED AND SOFT AND HIS LIPS ARE ALL POUTY. HE’S BEBY. I JUST WANT TO WRAP HIM UP IN BLANKETS AND GIVE HIM HOT CHOCOLATE

More plot discussion happens and whatever they’re talking about makes wwx bump shoulders with lwj and call him “my confidant” AKA MY SOULMATE AHHHHHHH

OH WAIT, do you know what else is important about this scene?

It shows how much taller wwx is than lwj!!! And I LOVE IT.

Lwj’s shoulders are a good two inches lower than wwx’s

WHY ISN’T THERE MORE FIC/ART SHOWING THIS??

I MEAN, THE STOIC SOLEMN CHARACTER IS SMOL AND THE SUNSHINEY CHARACTER IS GIANT. IT’S SUCH GREAT COMBINATION!!!

I think ppl in the cultivation world probs don’t realize how short lwj is bc he gives off such an intimidating aura i’m so jealous; i need to get myself an intimidating aura

Blah blah more plot, wwx promises not to tell anybody anything about the plot blah blah

Right after that, they bump into nhs who’s like, hey you guys were gone all night did anything weird happen?? (this is the guy who sneaks porn into this place on the regular, i’m pretty sure we all know what he means by “weird”)

Wwx: oooh, yeah, this super weird thing happened, let me tell you all about it

Lwj: *whips around to stare at wwx likE OMG SRSLY YOU JUST SAID YOU’D KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT*

Wwx: *proceeds to tell nhs a spooky lie about meeting a demon snake*

Nhs: *flees in terror bc he thinks snakes are scary for some reason* (they’re not, snakes are def cute critters)

Lwj: *exasperatedly rolls his eyes at wwx’s frankly amazing story-telling skills*

AND HERE WE GET TO SEE THE FIRST TIME LWJ STARES LONGINGLY AT WWX. LWJ, THIS IS GONNA BE YOUR MAIN HOBBY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

Wwx runs after his brother and slings a playful arm around his shoulders and walks away without a second glance to lwj

Lwj stares soulfully at him, def noticing that wwx didn’t spare him a second look (poor bb lwj)

After a moment of Soulful Staring, his lips part as he lowers his gaze to the ground and decisively turns and walks off

INTERNALLY HE’S LIKE OFC WWX WOULDN’T WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH ME SINCE I’M ALL STOIC AND REPRESSED BUT THAT’S FINE, IDC, I DIDN’T WANT TO HANG OUT WITH HIM ANYWAY

POOR LWJ!! DOESN’T THIS MAKE YOUR HEART TWINGE???

Even more plot stuff happens

But they make it worth the wait because now we get to…

THE LANTERN SCENE (PART 1)

YES, YOU HEARD RIGHT.

WWX: lwj, we should set off a lantern and make a wish together since we’ve been thru so much together now

LWJ: *pulls a batman* I work alone

WWXX: habits change!! Besides, i made this lantern specially for you~! *shows drawing of magic cave bunny on the lantern*

HERE WE GO GUYS, OMG, IT’S HAPPENING

Lwj looks at the lantern and, just, his face, ahhh, LWJ’S ENTIRE FACE GOES SOFT AND WE SEE HIM SMILE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE SERIES

FIRST!!

TIME!!

EVER!!!

AND IT ONLY TOOK 7 EPISODES!!

I’M DYING I’M D Y I N G

HIS LIPS PART AND THE SMILE JUST GENTLY BLOOMS ON HIS FACE, ILLUMINATING IT SOFTLY LIKE A FUCKING SUNRISE OR SMTH

FUCK IT’S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL IT’S MAKING ME POETIC

GAHHH

NO WONDER HE NEVER SMILES

THAT SMILE COULD KILL PEOPLE IN THE BEST WAY

Ofc wwx has to ruin the moment by giggling at him and saying “hey you’re smiling!!”

Okay, guys, you know and I know that wwx is giggling from joy. Like yay!! I made lan zhan smile!! I did a Good Thing!!!

He is genuinely tickled pink about making his soulmate happy!

But remember, LWJ is the King of Repressed Gays here. So, you know, the laughter in his ears sounds mocking. Because he’s a dumb boy who can’t Emotion well yet.

LWJ reacts to the giggles by immediately grabbing his sword which startles wwx into stumbling back into the group behind him and the mood is effectively ruined

But just for a little bit!!

Then ~THEIR SONG~ starts playing in the background AND THEY SEND OFF THEIR LANTERN TOGETHER, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT GENERALLY ONLY ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED COUPLES DO

as is shown by how everyone’s trying to get jyl and jzx (aka our token heteros) to send off a lantern together

The pair of them, need i remind you, are currently betrothed (even tho that dumb peacock doesn’t deserve her)

so yeah, that’s totally not gay at all

WWX makes his wish: “I wish to always stand with justice and live without regrets”

THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE MOMENT.

THIS IS WHEN LWJ FALLS IN LOVE, I SWEAR

LWJ is watching wwx as he’s making that wish (more of an oath, really), and as soon as he hears those words, his eyes widen the way they do when someone gets hit with a life-altering realization. He’s completely thunderstruck

IT’S NOT SUBTLE GUYS

YOU CAN PRACTICALLY SEE CUPID’S ARROW STICKING OUT OF HIS CHEST (OR WHATEVER ANCIENT FANTASY CHINA EQUIVALENT THERE IS)

THAT’S IT. HE’S A GONER. THERE’S NO ONE ELSE FOR HIM NOW. NO ONE BUT WWX.

For real tho, after this moment, we really don’t see lwj be angry towards wwx like he has been. Annoyed and exasperated at him, sure, but never angry in a petty mean way like before.

It’s beautiful

The next wangxian moment isn’t nearly as intense but it happens shortly after the lantern scene

Wwx goes to beat the shit out of jzx for saying he doesn’t want to marry jyl (because jzx is a moron and definitely deserves a beat down for this insult)

Wwx and jzx are surrounded by a group of loud, flailing people

And lwj just dives right into that throng of people to get to wwx (contrast this to a scene in a later episode where he actively avoids going anywhere near a much calmer, collected group of people bc ew people)

Lwj: *grabs at wwx* stop, wei ying

Wwx: DON’T STOP ME, LAN ZHAN, IM GONNA KILL THIS GUY DEAD IS2G

Next wangxian scene takes place the following morning

Lwj is walking along minding his own business and sees wwx kneeling as punishment for the fight before

He approaches him and calls out to him.

THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is the first time we see him willingly initiate interaction with wwx. Every other time, wwx was the one to approach him first and start to pester him for attention.

BUT LOL JOKE’S ON HIM. THE FIRST TIME HE DARES TO APPROACH WWX FIRST AND HE IMMEDIATELY REGRETS IT

‘Oh hey lan zhan’ wwx responds to LWJ. ‘look at all these little ants i found on the ground!!’

‘OMG WWX YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE KNEELING TO REFLECT ON YOUR MISDEEDS NOT TO PLAY WITH ANTS. SO UNTEACHABLE’ *walks off in a huff*

Wwx is left pouting and saying ‘but the ants are so cute.’

I’M SORRY WHAT??

WHAT DID YOU SAY WWX?? ANTS ARE CUTE??

ANTS ARE NOT CUTE.

YOU, WWX, YOU ARE CUTE. ANTS ARE NOT.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.

(i just really hate insects, guys, i would not get near them even if wwx was the one holding them)

(okay, maybe if wwx was holding them, i’d try to get near them, but idk how successful i’d be)

Blah blah more plot stuff happens, blah jin “can’t keep it in my pants* guangshan exists now blah blah

Alright so now we have the jiang clan saying their goodbyes to the lan clan since i guess Ancient Fantasy China summer school is over maybe??? Idk, point is they gotta leave.

As they leave, wwx starts to whisper at lwj “lan zhan, lan zhan, about that Plot Device…”

But gets tugged away by his fam, HOWEVER he manages to hear lxc telling lwj to be careful in that foreboding Important Plot Things Are Afoot sort of way

And wwx makes the effort to go back to talk to lwj but jc grabs him and yanks him out by the arm

Jc: are you crazy?? That guy hates you!! He must be happy you’re leaving

Wwx: LIES AND SLANDER, everyone here LOVES me

Idk about everyone, but lwj definitely loves him and jc knows nothing

now it’s THE RETURN OF WINGMAN LXC

The lan bros are watching the yunmeng sibs leave

Lxc: gosh, it’s gonna be quiet here without him, huh? (HIM, HE SAYS, NOT ‘THEM,’ HIM! BC HE TOTALLY KNOWS WHO LWJ IS ACTUALLY WATCHING)

Lwj: *looks down to the floor and refuses to answer*

Lxc: soooo…r u gonna tell him about your Super Important Mission?

Lwj: no. *walks away*

Jeez, he walks off on his big brother a lot, doesn’t he?? Rude. didn’t your parents teach you any manners? Oh wait that was an awful joke and i’m a terrible person, SORRY LWJ

AHHHHHHHHHHH WWX WITH THE BUNNIES!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Wwx: *holding a bunny* Bunny, are you gonna be happy hiding here??

Wwx: *pretending to be the bunny* Happy!!

GUYS THIS SCENE IS JUST TOO CUTE FOR WORDS.

I REWOUND AND WATCHED IT LIKE, 3 TIMES BECAUSE THE CUTENESS WAS JUST UGH I COULDN’T RESIST.

HIS VOICE GOES ALL HIGH PITCHED THE WAY IT DOES WHEN YOU MAKE VOICES FOR YOUR PETS!! IT’S ADORABLE AHHHHH I DIE, I DIE

Wwx: maybe i should take you back to lotus pier with me…?

Wwx: hmm, no, i can’t do that. What if lan zhan gets lonely and comes here looking for you? He won’t be able to find you!!

This is literally what wwx said. Like, that was the deciding factor for not taking the bunny home.

Lan zhan might get lonely. HOW SWEET IS HE. WWX, THE SWEETEST BOY, WHO’S SO IN LOVE AND DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT YET

Then as he’s bonding with the bunny he gets the epiphany that OMG LWJ IS GOING ON THAT SUPER IMPORTANT MISSION ALONE, WITHOUT HIM

And that’s the end of that episode.

but we got to see the EXACT MOMENT LWJ falls in love for real. And it’s BEAUTIFUL. Not to mention the we were gifted the accidentally-falling-on-top-of-each-other trope.

and we got bunnies! did i mention the bunnies and wwx being adorable together? because that happened.

Ah, this is the show that just gives and gives *wipes away tears* what did we do to deserve it?

Return to Masterpost

#WangXiantics #the untamed #wangxian #aka the second part of my valentines day gift to fandom

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paperclipninja · 4 years ago

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Lucifer post-ep ramble 5x01

Hi there, long time fangirl, first time Lucifan. After devouring all 4.5 seasons of this magnificent show in an impressive/alarming (all a matter of perspective) amount of time, I have very quickly found myself well and truly obsessed dedicated to all things Lucifer. And when a show grabs me like this one has, I tend to have a lot of thoughts and feelings that I can’t help but share, and so the post-ep ramble was born. It will probably contain many words, it may or may not be particularly coherent, there will definitely be over-analysing, but I thought I might indulge in re-capping the season 5 eps as I re-watch, so this is the first ramble off the rank.

‘Really Sad Devil Guy’ (A+ ep name btw) kicks off as we’re still scrambling to pick up all our heart pieces after the season 4 finale, which is why Mr. Said Out Bitch (aka Lee Garner) being in Hell is such a cracker of an opening. Lucifer just waiting below deck on Fishizzle II (wth happened to Fishizzle I??) to greet him with his trademark ‘hello’ made me disproportionately happy, mostly because he was on my screen but also because his encounters with Mr. SOB are always great and this was no exception. Getting an insight into ‘life in Hell’, the way the characters in the Hell loops are played by Demons and Lucifer in action as the King was fab at this point in the series. And does anyone else have a visceral reaction to Lucifer stopping that bullet? I know it’s brief, I cannot explain it, it might be the command he has, the fact it’s awesome, but it makes me FEEL things. Just me? Cool.

I think what really strikes me in the way Lucifer just has to pop in on Mr. SOB upon hearing of his arrival, is the fact that he is a link to Lucifer’s life on Earth. They’ve existed in the same places there, breathed the same air, it’s a way for Lucifer to make that connection to his home more tangible. And when he realises where Mr. SOB’s hell loop has them moored, at Marina Del Ray, the way Lucifer says 'Los Angeles' with such yearning makes those heart pieces I had started cobbling back together really begin to ache. What this episode pulls off so brilliantly is the way Chloe and Lucifer remain connected despite being apart, and it’s all set up when Lucifer tells Mr. SOB, ‘You know, there's a good chance I know who's on your case. To them it's only been a few months, a blink of an eye, but here it's been much much longer’.

What’s happening ‘below deck’ in Hell (sorry...or am I?) is of course mirrored at the crime scene, where Maze is still calling Ella Ellen (never change Maze ILY) and Ella is banging on about Lucifer not responding to her DM’s and texts and it’s all so on brand and the thought of her sending Lucifer a clip of a parrot dancing to techno and him finding it funny is just too perf. Maze having Chloe’s back from the get-go and telling Ella to ‘read the room’ just shows how far this Demon has come. And of course Chloe saying that she hasn’t even really thought about Lucifer since he left...(spoiler alert: she has).

Seeing Maze and Chloe out drinking and dancing, somehow they're kinda dorky together and I love it, but it’s also really clear that they’re both leaning on each other pretty heavily and being there for one another and honestly, I love literally every combination of characters on Lucifer, you put any two together and the dynamic is 100% their own and these two are up there. It’s so weird seeing Amandiel running Lux, I big L LOVE Amenadiel but it’s just...wrong. Plus hats off to D.B. because his delivery of ‘No one sells drugs in my place...without me getting a piece of the action’, not gonna lie, I was THROWN.

So are we assuming that the number of months Lucifer has been gone = the number of times Chloe has rocked up to work with a hangover? Lol at the sunglasses but also, you do you Chloe, whatever you gotta do babe. Just like Amenadiel running Lux is like watching a slightly off AU version of the show, so is seeing Maze and Chloe as partners at work. Don’t get me wrong, Maze clearly supporting her and when they’re interrogating a lead, seeing Chloe and Maze have such a groove that they’re finishing each other's sentences and communicating without talking, I dig it. But I love that while it’s great, it still doesn’t feel right. Because that there is why this show is so clever, as an audience we crave the return to the way things were just as the characters we are watching do.

Linda being a completely OTT mum is so fab. I could write an entire essay about my Linda love. Her adamance that ‘Charlie’s special’ and Ella’s ‘every child is special in their mum’s eyes, huh?’ sums it up perfectly. Did I mention I adore Ella? I definitely get the distinct impression Ella is doing a bit of self-reflection, her comment about being drawn to the bad boys for some reason clearly foreshadowing, but also her reflecting that she deserves a good guy for once (just not this ep when there is a bad boy/potential suspect to be hooked up with). I am curious to see the ‘darkness’ Ella has alluded to in earlier seasons being explored further and feel like this is sowing the seeds and I’m also waiting for a significant Linda/Ella D&M at some point. But clearly not this point, because 'science lesson Wednesdays...I checked your schedule and that's your day off' Linda is NOT about deep and meaningfuls (or anyone who isn’t a 2 month old baby), you need to DIAL IT DOWN friend. I love that it takes Trixie pulling some funny faces and Dan offering some sage parenting advice as he returns the self-help books (love the irony there) for Linda to begin to chill a bit.

So Dan has gone all new age with his oils and self improvement and you know what? I love it. And then of course we have Amenadiel needing to help make the world a safer place, he just needs to make sure for Charlie ya know and ugh my ovaries. I must say, I was relieved to realise that the club life had not in fact corrupted the delightful warrior we all love after all - it’s all a ploy to catch a REAL BIG TIME drug dealer (nooooo I can feel the second hand embarrassment already...)! Amenadiel setting up the ‘drug bust’, telling the dealer, ‘looks like gooood drugs’, oh you dear sweet naïve Angel you. We of course discover that the bust is, well, a bust, because the ‘drug lord’ is actually a kid trying to offload his mum’s pain meds *insert facepalm emoii here*. But rather than ridicule or be angry, Dan is so understanding and supportive of Amenadiel and once again offers up advice and I really am so into this friendship on every level and the care and openness it models.

Meanwhile, the genius parallel between what is happening on Earth and in Hell really takes effect as Chloe and Maze go undercover (I mean, they are a glam couple lbh) to the poker game while Lucifer is at a game hosted by the same suspect in Mr. SOB’s ‘exquisite’ Hell loop. His exclamation that it’s exquisite reflects that Lucifer and Mr. SOB are not that different, that it’s the kind of place Lucifer might manifest as well, but I also feel that Lucifer could be admiring his own Kingdom’s handiwork at creating LA with such accuracy from someone’s subconscious. He allows himself to be absorbed in it, ‘City of Angels, I’ve missed you’, and I can’t help but get the impression that hearing Lucifer call LA this for the first time is confirmation that his Heaven, or place of Angels, is in fact there with Chloe.

Chloe remains firmly in the forefront of Lucifer’s mind this entire episode, with him asking ‘what would she do?’ and wanting to replicate the life he had with her at the precinct. But of course he is soon reminded of his reality, as he tries to get more information from Mr. SOB who is being useless. Lucifer incorrectly calling him ’Detective’ shatters the illusion that he is any closer to Chloe, and this is impressively emphasised as he erases the LA cityscape to reveal the Hellscape. For a moment he’d let himself believe he was back there. Back home. His, ‘you’re not her’ making some of my heart pieces fall out once again.

But then the messenger arrives, ‘Lord Morningstar, there’s someone you should meet’ and lo and behold it’s guy who just got hit by car up on the Earth-side of this investigation and I.am. loving. it. Also, did Lucifer put out a Hell-wide memo that if ANYONE arrives from LA they are to be bought to him so he can send messages to Chloe through their bodies??? NO REALLY I'M FINE. Having a Demon possess the dead dude’s body to pass on the tip from Lucifer was just TOO MUCH. His, ‘hey is that Mazikeen?’ made me actually lol but also, look how far we’ve come! Chloe doesn’t even flinch when the dead guy wakes up possessed to pass on Lucifer’s message. I’m so proud.

'It's safe where you stored it' caused me way more amusement than was perhaps intended, but Ella, Maze and Chloe together, trying to figure out what it meant, it's such a great moment and the comedic timing is gold. Also, the fact it actually helps the case, ugh, Chloe and Lucifer are still connected and working together even though they are not on the same plane of existence and I’m just going to need to curl up for a minute because feelings.

You know who else is having a lot of feelings in this ep? The Devil himself. After he is satisfied he has passed on the message, he’s done with Mr. SOB, sending him, ‘back to your torture. And me to mine’. Any remnants of my heart are now once again shattered all over the floor in case you’re wondering. Lucifer doesn’t even try to hide the fact that being away from Chloe is so painful, almost revealing more than he ever usually would when Mr. SOB asks if she’s ‘somebody important?' to which he replies, 'more than you could ever know'.

He only just stops himself before telling Mr. SOB her name, when he realises he's trying to manipulate him. And I'm so glad, Lucifer so sparingly uses Chloe’s name, it's always significant when he does and I feel like he reserves those moments for only between them. But Mr. SOB really does sum it up when he observes, ‘you just seem like a really sad Devil guy’, BECAUSE HE IS A REALLY SAD DEVIL GUY (can we just take a moment to appreciate how not at all scared of Lucifer Mr. SOB is, he doesn’t even refer to him as THE Devil, just ‘Devil guy’. It’s kind of nice that he sees and accepts him as both Devil and human without really questioning it).

The parallel continues as Chloe and Lucifer are talking to a sister and brother and the way this highlights the place they're both in. It's just brilliant writing and execution. Chloe is talking to Meg about her brother’s death and both her and Lucifer's yearning for one another is palpable. At the same time, Maze telling Chloe that they don’t need Lucifer and kissing Chloe highlights Maze’s desire for connection and love. She wants it so badly and the way she shuts down when Chloe suggests they stop working together breaks my heart.

When Lucifer takes Mr. SOB to the root of his Hell loop, yes, it’s about Lucifer projecting his own guilt and lack of self worth onto him, but his assertion that, 'it is inevitable sooner or later you're going to disappoint them all over again. So you'd rather stay away for all eternity’, really feels as though it carries multiple meanings. As a self-referential comment, is Lucifer talking about Heaven or Earth? Is it his fear of disappointing and letting down Chloe and the other humans or is it his belief that he disappointed his family? And if Angels self-actualise does that mean he was never 'stuck' in Hell at all and could have returned to Heaven? I certainly feel there is some sort of realisation occurring here. Or could be completely over-analysing it. Why not have both 🤷‍♀️

You know the line that just up and got me though? ‘Whose hell is this anyway? Are you sure this is my hell? You just here torturing yourself’- Mr. SOB calling Lucifer out is A MOMENT. And I can’t help but wonder if a part of it is Lucifer wanting Mr. SOB to come to terms with his own guilt, wanting to help him because he knows he’s not evil and he is trying to reconcile his own guilt too. If he can help Mr. SOB face and let go of the guilt then he has a chance of it too. And that’s when Mr. SOB challenges Lucifer, pointing out that he missed his chance, ‘but what about you?’ 'The self-centred simplicity of you humans never ceases to amaze me...I am here out of responsibility, I had to protect humanity, I had to protect HER', the delivery of this line, the frustration of being misunderstood, of ppl thinking that he acts for himself when his very reason for being back in Hell is for others, I can feel it through the screen.

The dead guy we saw get shot in the kitchen appearing at that moment with news about ‘the Detective’ and then cutting straight back to the shoot up in the house, file under: how to brilliantly edit. “Lucifer” appearing; the whistle, the casually strolling in, the ‘hello bad guys’ = I was FOOLED. I mean you have to admit, the ‘thought I'd give you a hand' pun was well played, classic Lucifer, very convincing. My shipper heart was SO FULL for the split second Lucifer and the Detective kissed, until Chloe realised that something was off and her open eyes told us something was up. The cut back to Hell and seeing Lucifer still standing there with Mr. SOB...you may have heard my ‘noooooooo’ from wherever you are. ‘She’ll be just fine without me’...said every Devil who has a dick twin brother who’s going to try and destroy, nay STEAL, his life and love of his life ever.

Michael, you're an evil bastard but damn you nailed that villainous smirk over-the-shoulder pose in the final shot. Whatever you have in store, I will no doubt revel in your awfulness and be confused about whether or not I hate you.

#lucifer #lucifans #lucifer 5x01 #ramble #lucifer morningstar #chloe decker #ella lopez #dan espinoza #amenadiel #deckerstar #recap

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madlymiho · 5 years ago

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Dirty Talk Olympics, Round 2! We have a villain round featuring Katakuri, Doflamingo and Crocodile. Bronze, silver and gold. Do it!!

It's time for a second round! 👏🏻 Bless you, my friend, The Dirty Talk Olympics are such a blast to write ~

Warning : NSFW

Katakuri : Bronze Medal

• This little sweet bean is struggling quite hard in this kind of contest, since talking to you is already a challenge, and it requires a looooot of the time to get him in the dirty mood

• Yes, Katakuri is a walking disaster when it comes to seduction and flirting stuff, so basically, it's hard for him to dig in the dirty path of whispering nasty sweet things in your ear, since wow, having you naked in the same room is already enough to make him cum like a teenage boy in front of his first porn pictures!

• Yet, after a moment, and some lonely pep talks in front of his mirror before you next bestial night, Katakuri, as if it was a brand new doughnut to taste, decides to try this odd and obscur technic, and even if it starts awkwardly, with the sexual tension between the two of you, it becomes slightly more... lovable?

• He clearly doesn't try to go on the insults side of the Dirty Talk technic, but when he rubs his thumbs over your nipples and whispers that you look so excited and sexy for him, man, it really makes you moan harder because his deep voice sounds so good

• Finally, after a long session of foreplays, Katakuri lets himself go. And he goes wilder than you would though! As soon as he's entering you, he pours a generous amount of his best little secret sentences in your ear, purring that you're his favorite snack, and he wants you to scream for him tonight

• Even if he remains super flustered about all of this situation, he likes this new game, and certainly appreciates the little sounds escaping from your throat whenever he goes deeper, his sweet tongue encouraging you to beg for more

• But oh! If you start to tell him that you're his slutty doughnut and you want more, honey, this session turns into the most primal sex you would ever experienced with him! You, his favorite food, your core, your clitoris responding to his thrusts... This is enough to make him cum in a huge and satisfied whimper

• Yet, Katakuri remains really awkward when you mention or imply that you had fun last night when you were in the bedroom... He usually hides his face deep in his scarf and mumbles that you should keep it down... it's so embarrassing...

• Bronze medal : so hard to put him in this particular mood, really flustered about even the thought of talking dirty to you, but not so bad when he's trying! Come on Mochi boy, you can do better! ~

Crocodile : Silver Medal

• Ah, Crocodile, I'm so sorry to betray you on this contest... You're good at it, you know that? Oh, yes, good isn't the right word to describe him when you have him in the sheets though

• Crocodile is an experienced man. He has sharzd his bed with many lovers before you, and he has nothing to be ashamed of when we speak about his performances. He knows what he's doing and how he's doing it, and this is a privilege to share this kind of moment with him

• Intense, but also confident, Crocodile knows exactly when it's the right time to purr sweet dirty words to you, so you can truly have a good time, enjoying his best ministrations, from his tongue, his five best fingers, the tip of his hook, to his third leg

• He loooooves to use his words when he's not inside of you, building this tension in the room, your eyes watching every of his movement, your body reacting to every touch, every word, every caress... You're a toy waiting for your master to play with you, and he just adores the power he has on you when you're focus on his lips

• Yet, dirty talks are always a reward. You need to be good to have some of his best words, never crossing the line of the insult, except when you seem so needy to hear more. If you act good, like sucking his cock while he's still working, or obediently grant him every of his whim when he comes to sex, he lets you taste the sweet skill of his tongue, in many ways

• When he's inside of you, though, those little magical words are less present. He's more concentrated on the many sensations coming from his cock, and even if he's not that loud, he's more into growls and sometimes whimpers, crushing your rear hard as he pounds inside of you

• When you're about to reach your climax, oh, then you deserve to hear some really dirty things, his fingers slowly pressing your clit while he hums that you're his favorite little whore, and he allows you to come... He smirks, chuckling to hear the many desperate sounds coming from your throat, before you squeeze him enough to eventually cause his own end as well

• So yes, depends on his mood, but Crocodile doesn't always use his words to satisfy you. If he judges that you're too needy and not good enough to deserve having him at his best, he definitely punishes you by remaning silent, enjoying that look of despair in your eyes... Oh, baby, you want it but you won't have it. He's a very proud man, you should know it

• Silver Medal : A champion when it comes to whisper nasty things, but a bit too much in the reward kink to grant you this pleasure at every of your sexy session! Crocodile... You know you can reach gold, but pride is a bitch, right?

Doflamingo : Golden Medal

• Doffy is a celestial demon... A demon, darling. Nothing conventional, nothing pure, nothing holy when you're around him. A pure God of sexual desires, lust, mischief, and all sort of bad things which will lead you directly to Hell if you dare to come closer

• Doflamingo literally suffocates you in the sheets... He's hard to handle. So hard, in so many ways. He has absolutely no limits ; everything is fine when it comes to suit his deepest desires and you should be careful when you say that you can take it. Many have tried and many have failed, and he loves that too much

• So dirty talk? Can we really call this just like that... It's beyond what you can ever imagine. It's lust itself falling in the deepest part of your ear, echoing in your bones, your blood and your soul... You crave to be his whore even if you were a nun, you don't even care if he purrs the meanest things ever, you crave his words

• Doflamingo particularly appreciates to get you in the mood first by his talking, describing without any shame what he wants to do to your body, sucking on your clit, pulling on your hair, making you cum only by his cock sliding against your core... And even if there are ears around you to listen, there's nothing to stop him, he wants this right now

• When he desires you, you need to know how much he wants it. He doesn't care if it's not conventional : nothing about him is conventional anyway, and you're dealing with someone who's more than confident about his sexual performances, after all, he didn't have any complaints before! (they would be all dead anyway if they dare to make one)

• So yes, you're going to enjoy this, wherever you are, your heart racing hard to hear him whispering over and over again some precise images to what he's about to do, already opening your legs to offer him a proper access, your mind poisoned by the way he's making you wet without even touching you yet... a demon, a beast, Satan with pink sunglasses

• If he's angry, moody, pissed, happy, blissful, erratic, in love... He will always talk dirty to you. Always rocking his hips hard to make you beg loudly as he never stops talking, over and over again, because he's the king and you need to be under his absolute control, no matter his mood or yours

• Golden medal : a genius beast who doesn't hesitate to use his tongue in many way, chuckling hard when you're craving for more, even if he insults you... Hard to beat that, right?

#one piece headers #one piece headcanons #one piece imagine #charlotte katakuri #crocodile one piece #donquixote doflamingo #katakuri one piece #sir crocodile #doflamingo one piece #doffy #one piece #one piece hc #lemon #not suitable #takethethirdoption

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dreamingsushi · 4 years ago

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Dance of the Phoenix - Episode 15

It feels it has been forever since I watched last episode of this drama. The pas few days have been busy. I barely remember how episode 14 ended. But as the saying goes, better later than never.

So it seems Feng Wu has been in a bad mood lately which worries Qiu Ling and Zhaoge. Zhaoge even says she won’t let Jun Linyuan come near Feng Wu anymore unless he has her authorization. Right when they are thinking of taking Feng Wu out to change her ideas, Xuan Yi comes over. He wants to ask a little favour to Feng Wu. It’s going to be Elder Fang’s birthday soon and he wants to ask Feng Wu about medicine because his grandfather likes to collect knowledge.Then he recognizes Zhaoge because unlike other girls, she doesn’t smell of perfumes but of some foods. It’s so cute how Zhaoge is so obvious about her feelings for Xuan Yi. They look good together, I ship.

The queen is taking Qingluan in her carriage and makes sure she knows she expects her to be accepted as Wu Youdao’s disciple.

Xuanyi goes to the market with Qiu Ling and Zhaoge. He’s really looking down on everything. But SO CUTE. Zhaoge buys him a rock that is supposed to protect him from beasts and demons. AND HE SMILES. Believe it or not. Qiu Ling sees Feng Wu so the girls are going to catch up with her. But right then trouble stirs in the capital. A man lost control of his horse. Feng Wu tries to protect a kid, nearly losing her life, and a random man saves her. probably Wu Youdao. I mean, who else? They needed to introduce the character and that seems a good way of doing so. Xuan Yi saves Zhaoge from the horse. Wu Youdao scolds Feng Wu for truing to save without caring for her life. Zuo Qingluan thanks him, like go away, you did nothing. And Gao Wei guesses he’s Wu Youdao. When he presents himself to the king, the queen tries to get him to teach her and he says no hahaha. Elder Fang sides with him. He explains to Jun Linyuan that it’s best not trying to force him, because he’s obstinate.

Zuo Qingluan is trying her move on Wu Youdao. I hope he rejects her and takes Feng Wu as a disciple instead. He tests her cultivation and seeing that she’s from the Celestial Palace, he rejects her: she already has a master and he doesn’t want to upset other people. smart guy. She won’t give up. But he just tells her to go study at the Junwu Academy if she wants to improve.

Feng Wu is really intrigued by Wu Youdao, she feels he’s really familiar. Also the colourful phoenix tells her he has something similar with her master. And that Mu Jiuzhou founded the Junwu Academy. She’s starting to think maybe getting into the Junwu Academy is inevitable. Right then, Qiu Ling comes over to tell her Jun Kinyuan and the others came. He prepared books for her to study since she knows she needs to study a lot. She studies hard until late at night and Yu Mingye comes to see her. He says he saw Wu Youdao with Elder Fang. Seems like they are friends. With Old Ba too. So next thing you know, Feng Wu is giving a massage to Wu Youdao and says all the nice things Old Ba supposedly said about him. She’s stirring trouble that little girl! Elder Fang comes over angry because he has the drawing Feng Wu supposedly gave him and they are having a go match against each other and Feng Wu takes down notes. And while they have their fight in the air after exploding the chess board, Feng Wu understand something. But I don’t know what yet.

Zhaoge asks Xuanyi to eat with her before the exam. He wishes her success and promises her that if she gets in the Junwu Academy, he will fulfill a wish for her. They so cute together. Then he makes her study and skip the meal.

The queen wanted to have Wu youdao to eat with her, but he refuses. She’s so pissed hahaha! Qingluan says she will work harder, but the queen then says sometimes putting efforts is not enough and then the only thing left to do is to destroy what one can’t have. She sends Zuo Qingluan away, even though they didn’t eat. Poor girl must be starving. But she doesn’t deserve better. Oh the queen is really pissed. She orders Gao Wei to deal with him. They try to kill Wu Youdao, but he’s not that easy to kill.

Of course, Jun Linyuan was in town in the middle of the night. But why only with Xuan Yi ? Where is my Feng Xun baby? They take Wu Youdao away. And bring them to Feng Xun’s place. Wu Youdao tells him though that he can’t help him, he’s too old now. And he knows the queen is the one who tried killing him, but he didn’t tell Jun Linyuan about that.

This drama keeps getting better with each episode. I’m really happy about this one and can’t wait to watch episode 16 now. Probably tomorrow or Sunday.

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pigeontheoneandonly · 5 years ago

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Serendipity

I saw a reply to a post over @ao3commentoftheday suggesting it’s impossible to write a slow burn in less than 10k words. My dumbass brain took this as “challenge accepted”. Who knows if I hit the mark, but I’m pretty happy with the result! This baby clocks in at 2487 words. Tucked under a read more, because that’s still a lot for tumblr.

Fandom: Dragon Age

When we met, I couldn’t see any part of you beneath the mud you’d earned trying to kill me. I don’t know why I took you with us, except that you were an elf without anywhere to go, and in Ferelden an elf with no home was good as dead, and we just don’t do that to each other. Naturally none of the shems understood. I bound up your wounds alone, thinking it would’ve been easier if you’d just fucking died.

The first prick of sympathy came when we arrived at the Dalish camp. You called me my dear warden, mocking the double-meaning of my title and your technical captivity. You flirted shamelessly with me the whole way, undeterred by my gender or my cold silence, and put me in a bad mood because I couldn’t tell if it was genuine interest, or something you felt you had to do, offer yourself to me, to stay in my good graces. With a man for sale it could go either way. But I saw how your ears went red and your tongue fell silent, when our wilder cousins sniggered at your tattoos, your so-called “city vallaslin”. It’s horrible to be an in-between, unwanted alike by the society that spawned you and the one you live with, to be lumped in with those who keep you in squalor and kill you at will. Watching their whispers subdue you angered me more than all the flirting put together. And fuck, wasn’t that annoying.

I bought you a pair of gloves. I don’t know why. They didn’t deserve my money, you didn’t deserve my kindness, but you looked at their tooled leather like you were reading a secret map, and I had to know what you saw written there. You didn’t say thank you. But you told me your mother was Dalish. I told you mine had died. I told you how she died, even though that’s a thing I don’t tell anyone, because my mouth moved before my mind could scream stop.

You made a joke. I shoved you hard into the underbrush and stalked away before I killed you. We never talked about it again.

In fact, we barely spoke at all, the whole long, rainy road to Orzammar. We didn’t speak through the political battle, we didn’t speak cooped up for days in a king’s mansion, and we didn’t speak as the heavy stone gates of the deep roads clanged shut behind us.

I had been a Warden for all of eight weeks. Alistair warned me that Wardens Joined in a Blight always were more sensitive, and all my newfound awareness remained raw as a fresh-hewn board. In the deep, I could hear them everywhere. Feel them, crawling through my skin like worms; smell them in the still and sour air. I could fucking taste them when we stopped to rest and I had no distraction.

The dwarves told me this was where Wardens went to die. I hugged my knees in the weak torchlight of our camp, feeling myself lost in the dark with them pressing in all around me, until they tore me apart, and for the first time, I hoped the Blight would kill me. Sleep was a fantasy. It showed, more and more, the deeper we went.

I didn’t notice the first time you offered to carry my knapsack, so tired I gave it over without question, numb to anything but the need to keep walking. The occasional darkspawn nest was a respite. Better to fight them than sense them waiting, a constant pressure of millions of eyes on the back of my neck.

I didn’t notice when you started staying up with me. I figured you weren’t tired, either. I still wasn’t speaking. But you rambled, about your childhood, about your exploits with the Crows, reciting snippets of awful Antivan poetry and singing bawdy songs you couldn’t quite remember. But it came as a shock when I woke up, the first I’d slept since we entered the roads, curled up against the cave wall, beside you. You smiled, still awake. Wished me good morning.

We fucked for the first time the first night we camped above ground again, drunk on dwarven ale and being out of that thrice-damned hole, that endless crushing darkness. In the morning we agreed it didn’t mean anything. Just the mindless choice of two bodies almost sick with relief.

You flirted less, after that. I talked more. I told you about coming up to the sealed gates of the Denerim alienage, hearing the word purge from the indifferent shem guard, and how I still didn’t know if my father or Shianni or any one of these people who’d been my entire world were alive. The ridiculous story I made up for those two kids, because elves survive on hope. My absolute disaster of a wedding, doomed long before the kidnapping; I was all my father had left, and the truth, that my inclinations were not reproductively compatible, would have crushed him. That if I closed my eyes, I could still feel a ghost of euphoria remembering my sword plunging into Vaughan’s gut, that I was only sorry I only got to do it once.

I don’t know why you listened. Put together, the whole thing rang absurd, not very sane and certainly not much like a Warden.

I do know that when the sloth demon snared us in nightmares, and I saw you stretched on that rack, my vision went red. When I came back to myself, your brother Crows were in pieces and you were gone. A little of whatever-the-fuck that was lingered when we woke; I took two running steps toward you, so damn happy to see you without joints popped and bruised. You stumbled one step back, on instinct, a portrait of humiliation. I faltered and the moment died.

You moved back to your own tent. We’d taken to sleeping side-by-side. The nights grew colder as the season waned, and the Blight spread, and the presence of another body in the night was an affordable comfort. I stared at the large space you left behind, startled to miss you this much.

Things stayed like that as we marched back to Denerim for the Landsmeet. Cordial, but distant. Hurt without reason and annoyed over it, to the point that Leliana warned me that compelling a Landsmeet as an elf would be hard enough without a pissy attitude. Maybe that was why it was so easy for Anora to betray us, because irritation makes me impatient and rude. But you snuck and charmed your way through the most heavily fortified prison in Ferelden to get us out— to get me out. And somehow I was still annoyed.

I said you must be really hard up for protection. You crowded me into the wall. For a wild moment I thought you’d shank me, and then for an even more terrifying one, that you’d kiss me. Instead, you told me to consider your blood debt paid, and shoved off down the street. Angry as I’d ever seen you.

And what was worse, you stayed angry, and I stayed on edge, and maybe that’s how we got jumped by a dozen Crows in a dead-end alley, one of your bad decisions come home to roost in earnest. Their leader offered to wipe your slate, to take you back to Antiva, make up a story and let you go home. Not like an order, but like a friend, offering you a way out.

You looked at me. Months on the road, and I couldn’t read your face. And what I remember isn’t thinking I was about to die, but that I was about to lose you to this smug shem jackass, of all people.

Then you said no. And the shit hit the wall.

We lived, somehow. Your old friend went down last, and hard, your Crow-hilted dagger quivering between his ribs as his heart pumped itself out. You fell down beside him. Uninjured beyond a few nasty scratches, curled into a ball on the cobbles like you were dying, too.

I asked something that amounted to what the fuck. And it all came pouring out. You grew up together, you and him and some girl named Rinna, a little family inside the unending terror of Crow education. If you couldn’t love the Crows, you could love them, and for a time the comfortable rewards of your harsh training were made sweeter by their sharing. Until Rinna betrayed you to a mark.

He killed her while you watched, you told me, your head in my lap. While she begged your help, you taunted her. She died with her love for you on her lips. You both went forward with the job, a loose end to clean up, and discovered there proof of Rinna’s honesty, her fidelity. You killed her together and now you’d killed him, too.

The silence stretched as the torrent of words finally stopped. Feeling your face damp on my leg. There was nothing to say, but that silence was a wounding kind, so I told you the stupid story about the bluebird in the vhenadahl. Recited rhymes we used to sing as kids, playing hopscotch and tag in the dirt. On and on, until the sun slipped below the buildings, and you were able to sit up, and we left.

It never came up between us again. In fact, very little had changed. A mild thaw in an undercurrent neither of us wanted to address. It seemed impossible we’d be able to swim it; diving in could only lead to drowning.

Returning to the alienage put it out of my mind. My family spared by the purge, but still not safe. Murder and disease and hints of darker things make good distractions. When we discovered elves were disappearing, you volunteered to scout, as you had so many times before. I thought nothing of it. Until I was sitting up alone at my childhood dinner table, more than a day past when you should have returned, too paralyzed to do more than stare at the door and plead with the Maker or the gods or whoever might be listening for you to walk through it.

Sometime after midnight, you finally did. You caught sight of me, and tendered a look of exasperation. My dear warden, you said again, chiding this time, and before you could continue I flung my arms around your neck, too tight for you to get anything else out. And we stood still there, like that, because if I let go I’d slap you. I hated you. You were the most important person in my world, and if you died it would change me, and I hated you for it.

We went into that warehouse together, and pulled people— my people— out of cages together. We read the manifest of those already sold away. You put your arms around me, when I stepped into an alley after it was done and screamed and screamed and screamed into my own hands, because even if we somehow got justice this time, there was no undoing it, and no way to stop it happening again. Because this was the Black City we all had to live in. You told me then that you’d been sold, too, into a different fate but one ugly in its own way. And my hand slipped into yours where it wrapped around my chest, just for a moment, until someone called us back to the mess we’d made.

You watched as I took the bastard Loghain’s head, and if it didn’t feel like justice for my kin, it did feel good. You stood beside me as I promised a collection of the most powerful people in Ferelden, shems all, that I could save their country, and hours later, when I was sick back at the manor where we stayed.

You weren’t there when Riordan told me I was going to die. It’s hard to remember now how out-of-our-minds, slap-happy with relief Alistair and I were when he showed up, fucking finally a senior warden who knew what he was doing. That went up like a matchstick when he explained a grey warden giving their life to contain the archdemon was the only way to end the Blight. He said some other things after that, but I didn’t hear them over the sound of one solitary thought: I cannot put Zev through that again. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…

And you weren’t there when Morrigan caught me as I shambled from that room, weak with shock and grief. You weren’t there when she told me there was a way out. You weren’t there to see my revulsion— not at what she suggested, but at myself, because I knew my answer immediately. I could not do that to you, not even with the entire world in the balance. That whatever the consequences, whatever pain this brought on me or on the child to come, if it spared you another heartbreak, the price felt fair.

I stumbled to your room no more than half-dressed. You smelled the sex on me immediately. Your face twisting with hurt and rage, until I fell down at your feet, my head on your knees, and told you everything. What waited for us in the heart of the Blight. The blood magic Morrigan wrought. That I’d done it for you, that I begged your forgiveness, that if you left now I’d never be the same and please, please, Maker, please stay.

Your hand lifted my chin. Your expression like I’d never seen before, tender and fond and something else. Something electric. Your voice a whisper. “My dear warden…”

“I love you,” I said. It was what I’d been trying to say through all the incoherent babble. Maybe for a lot longer than just this night.

You bent and kissed me. And in the softness of your mouth, every worry and doubt melted away.

We’d seen each other many times before. But you never trailed your thumb slowly across my every scar, from the faded wounds of Ostagar to the scrape from just this morning. I never traced over the swirls of your tattoos with my tongue. We never drifted back to each other every other moment for a lingering wet kiss, never burrowed a face into a neck or tangled our legs or clung so close together that we seemed more one person than two. It never felt right, not like this.

And as I looked into your face in the dying firelight, brushing my fingers over your cheek, I thought about you covered in mud and pain and waiting to die. Maybe the world didn’t care about us, but in its making, if there was just enough serendipity to let me find you, maybe that was all the care I needed.

#dragon age #dao #zevran arainai #m!tabris #zevran x tabris #slow burn speed run #alt title: dao in 3k words or less #i think i was possessed when i wrote this #not mass effect #enemies to lovers

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elisajdb · 6 years ago

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Life With You: XVIII

Part Eighteen:

Alone: Gohan

This was the worst week of Son Gohan’s life.

How could so many bad things happen to him when he’s only four years old and all in one week? What did he do to deserve this?

The week started off happily with Gohan having breakfast with Mommy and Daddy, playing, reading, and having lunch with his parents before leaving with Daddy to visit Daddy’s friends. The new people Gohan met were nice. All was well until a bad man appeared, claiming he’s Daddy brother and Daddy’s an alien.

The new word was foreign to the four year old but from what he understood, alien meant Daddy was born on another planet. The bad man said Daddy was sent to Earth as a baby and Daddy was supposed to do bad things.

That wasn’t Daddy. Daddy didn’t do bad things. He did good things. Daddy saved the world. Daddy helped people. Daddy won the World Martial Arts Tournament and was crowned strongest man in the world. No one could defeat Daddy but this bad man knocked Daddy down with one strike. Seeing Daddy crumple to the ground, crying in pain, scared Gohan. When he tried to go to Daddy, the bad man grabbed him and told Daddy he had to kill a hundred people. The bad man took him away but Daddy and the man he knew to be Piccolo came to rescue him.

Daddy and Piccolo weren’t strong enough to stop the bad man. In the alien’s ship, Gohan heard Daddy screaming in pain. It made Gohan sad then angry. He didn’t like this bad man hurting his Daddy. Gohan wanted to hurt him. Somehow he broke out of the alien’s ship and summoned enough strength to attack the bad man. Daddy told him to run but the bad man hit him before he could. Everything went black after that. When Gohan woke up, Piccolo told him the horrible news: Daddy died saving him, he will have to fight two aliens coming to Earth in a year and he had to live outside alone for six months. To Gohan’s horror, Piccolo flew away ignoring his pleas to stay, tell him where to find food, where he will take a bath and where he could find a bed to sleep in.

Piccolo. He yelled, threatened to slice his throat and even threw him towards a mountain just to show he had great power hidden in him. Couldn’t have there been a better way for Piccolo to show he had this hidden strength? Mommy and Grandpa were right about Piccolo and Daddy was wrong.

Once a month, Gohan and his parents visited Grandpa at his castle. Gohan loved visiting Grandpa. He was so nice and always had gifts for him. His home was huge, too. Gohan would get lost if he wasn’t accompanied by his parents or his Grandpa when he wanted Gohan to spend a weekend alone with him. After dinner, Gohan sat between his parents on the sofa listening to Grandpa share tales of his youth. Somehow topics changed to King Piccolo which led to Daddy telling Gohan of his fight against King Piccolo’s reincarnation at the World Martial Arts Tournament.

“And then Piccolo grew over fifty feet tall! He towered over all of us like that lizard in that movie we saw.” Daddy wailed his arms excitedly. “My heart was pounding. I was shaking! It was great!!”

Gohan’s eyes grew wide. He knew of the movie and the monster his Daddy talked about. This Piccolo that fought his Daddy was a giant! “What did you do next, Daddy?”

“I jumped around the ring a lot. Piccolo tried to squash me like a bug. He knocked me down a few times, but I got back at him.” Daddy was on his feet acting out the story as he told it. “I kicked Piccolo behind his knee and he fell on his butt.” Gohan put hands over his mouth giggling at the image. “Then I grabbed Piccolo’s finger and threw him to the other side of the ring. Boom! The whole area shook.”

“Yay!” Gohan clapped enthused.

“Heh. Heh,” Daddy chuckled. “Your Pops was feeling pretty good about himself, Gohan. I tossed Piccolo to show him his size didn’t scare me. I told him I would be in real trouble if he grew bigger. Wouldn’t you know it; Piccolo grew even bigger!”

Gohan gasped, “Why did you tell him that, Daddy?”

“Because your Daddy is a brilliant actor,” Mommy intervened. “Daddy only said that so Piccolo could grow bigger so he could climb in Piccolo’s mouth and free Kami.”

“Ah, ChiChi!” Daddy nearly stomp his foot. “I wanted to tell Gohan that.”

Mommy didn’t look happy. “That’s enough stories about your fight with Piccolo, Goku. I don’t want Gohan to have nightmares.”

“Ah,” Daddy waved off Mommy’s concerns. “Gohan knows there’s nothing to be scared about. I beat Piccolo.”

“I don’t want our son thinking about that monster,” Mommy repeated. “He’s an awful demon and he’s still out there. I still haven’t forgotten what he did to you.”

“I have to agree with ChiChi on this, Goku,” Grandpa jumped in. “King Piccolo was very evil and destructive. He held the world hostage. Many people were killed because of him. It’s great you stopped his reincarnate but if you hadn’t, we would be living the terror of King Piccolo once again. We might not be alive right now.”

What Grandpa said was scary but Daddy shrugged it off with a laugh. “Nah. Piccolo ain’t like King Piccolo.”

“How can you be sure?” Grandpa asked.

Daddy was quiet for a moment as he thought of an answer. Gohan noticed his Daddy’s smile turn to a frown before he settled besides Mommy. “I just know.”

Gohan noticed Mommy grabbing Daddy’s hand. “That’s enough talk about Piccolo tonight. We should get Gohan ready for bed.”

Gohan eventually learned the outcome of the fight. While Daddy wasn’t scared of him, Gohan understood why Mommy and Grandpa was scared of Piccolo. In his little time with the green man himself, Gohan thought Piccolo was very scary.

He was mean, too, leaving Gohan alone to be chased by dinosaurs where he wind up on a cliff with only sour apples for dinner. He still didn’t understand where the apples came from. There wasn’t an apple tree on the cliff. Later, Gohan remembered staring at the full moon (it was the first one he’s ever seen) and the next thing he knew it was morning, he wore new clothes, had a sword and didn’t have his tail anymore.

Gohan had no idea where he got new clothes, a sword or how he got off the cliff. He tried to think of what could’ve happened but the wildness of this place never stopped. Even early in the morning, animal life was teeming and dangerous. He was chased by an alligator and a sabretooth wanting him as their breakfast. While struggling to keep alive from them, he was grabbed by a large bird who got in a fight with a flying dinosaur. He broke free from the bird but plummet several feet from the sky. Even though the soft sands he crashed on were soft, the impact was hard. Gohan didn’t have a chance to collect himself before the ground opened up under him to pull him underground where he encountered a robot trapped below for decades.

Two days befriending a robot gave Gohan temporarily companionship and shelter but when their short time ended it left Gohan wondering two scary things. What if his mother couldn’t find him? What if he had to take care of himself until Piccolo returned?

Don’t even think of escaping. This place is surrounded by desert. A world of death makes this place look like a paradise.

With Piccolo’s threatening words, Gohan was too scared to leave this area. Wherever he was, it was huge to be surrounded by a desert. It would take time to explore this place but Gohan already knew from what he seen, this area had different geological makeup. The outer areas was surrounded by desert but traveling inward where he was now, Gohan found himself in lush green that weren’t far from the rugged, mountainous region Piccolo left him in. Here, there were trees and bushes that grew berries and fruit; there was a waterfall that poured into a lake that were plentiful of fishes. This area reminded Gohan of the forest near his home. Gohan didn’t know where he was but knew he was miles away from home. If he was near home, Mommy would’ve found him by now. He also doubted Piccolo would’ve dropped him near home. He was adamant Gohan stay here until he fought the Saiyans.

Don’t even think of escaping. This place is surrounded by desert. A world of death makes this place look like a paradise.

Piccolo’s word made it too scary to leave but that was a good thing Gohan reasoned. If he stayed in the same spot, it would make it easier for Mommy to find him. Until then, this area will be his home. He had fresh water, access to fruit, meat and plenty of caverns to seek shelter in.

Trying to make the best of a rotten situation, Gohan decided it was time to get some food. Until Mommy came, he will have to feed himself. When he and Daddy went camping, Daddy loved to hunt fish. Gohan never did it himself but he remembered watching Daddy.

Gohan stood with his father at the edge of the lake. It was dinner time and with ChiChi at home, it was left to Goku to get them something to eat on their camping trip. ChiChi did pack some food but Goku wanted something more than what ChiChi packed.

“But Mommy made food for us.” Gohan pointed to the packed containers of food ChiChi packed with their camping gear.

Goku laughed as he pulled off his shirts. “Mommy’s spoiling us. Don’t worry. We’ll eat those but when you go camping, you don’t bring your food. You eat what’s out here.” He pulled off his pants. “Get undressed. I’ll show you how I bring fish home for you and Mommy.”

“Okay.” Gohan undressed and followed his father in the lake. There were plenty of fishes in the lake of different sizes. Goku was a fast swimmer but he slowed his pace so Gohan could keep up with him.

Gohan observed his father swim towards a large fish. He saw his Daddy punch the fish, grab the tail and signaled Gohan to swim to the surface. Once out of the water, Gohan dressed and watched in awe of his Daddy placing the large fish on a long, thick branch. The fish was four times Gohan’s size. He couldn’t imagine lifting it but his Daddy lift it as if it were paper. Daddy was so strong and amazing. Instead of rubbing sticks together, Daddy shot something from his hand to heat the sticks. It created a fire immediately. Gohan wondered if his Daddy will show him how to do that one day.

As he dressed, Goku said, “While the fish cooks, I’ll show you how to find other foods out here. There’s plenty to eat.”

Gohan rushed to their tent. He rummaged and came out with an empty bowl. Gohan noticed his father looking down at him curiously. “We need something to hold the food, Daddy.”

Goku rubbed the back of his neck. “You might not always have that, Gohan. What would you do then?”

Gohan thought for a moment. “I’ll use my hands.” He grinned. “But since I have a bowl, I don’t need to.”

Goku patted Gohan’s head, smiling fondly at his son. “Mommy said the same thing to me when we went camping. All right,” he gave in. “We’ll do it your way today but tomorrow, I’m gonna show you how you can make your own bowls.”

As father and son searched the forest for food, Gohan asked, “How did you create fire with your hands, Daddy? In my books, you rub sticks together to create fire.”

“Rubbing sticks together is one way of doing it, Gohan. I did it myself when I was your age before I learned how to us my Ki.”

Gohan looked up at his Daddy. Ki? Another new word he had to learn. “Can you show me?”

Gohan noticed the smile on his Daddy’s face turn into a frown. He was going to ask what was wrong but his father smiled again and told him. “Maybe when you’re older. Come on. Let’s find some food.”

The further they traveled the forest the more Gohan wondered where he and his Daddy were gonna find food. Gohan only saw trees and plants so far. “If you’re hungry and outside, Gohan, there are foods you can and can’t eat. I lived alone for years and survived by eating food out here.”

“What about your Mommy and Daddy?” Gohan asked. His father turned to him wearing that same frown again. “Didn’t you live with your Mommy and Daddy like Mommy lived with Grandpa?”

Goku knelt to Gohan’s level. “No, I didn’t live with Mommy and Daddy, Gohan.” He shrugged, unsure how to explain. “I don’t even remember them. I don’t know what happened to them. I lived with my Grandpa, your Great Grandpa, the man you’re named after.”

“He died though.” Gohan recalled hearing his parents tell him that. “So, you lived alone? Without Great Grandpa? Without a Mommy or Daddy?”

“Yeah….” he said slowly, “but it was okay.”

Gohan threw his arms around his Daddy’s neck. He was young but he knew enough to know it was not okay. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’m sorry you didn’t have a Grandpa anymore. I’m sorry you didn’t have a Mommy or Daddy to cook you yummy meals or to play with like you and Mommy do with me.”

Goku slowly wrapped his arms around Gohan returning the hug. “Ah, Gohan,” Goku whispered. “You have so much of Mommy in you.” When they parted, Goku noticed tears around Gohan’s eyes. “Don’t be sad for me, Gohan. I survived. I was happy. I made friends. I married Mommy and I had you.” He placed his hands on Gohan’s shoulders. “But know this. You won’t go through what I went through. You’re gonna have a Mommy and Daddy to grow up with. So, no more tears. Okay, Gohan.”

Gohan’s smile returned as his Daddy wiped away his tears. “Okay, Daddy.”

“Now let’s get some food.” Gohan followed his father, stopping a few feet later at a group of mushrooms. “See those mushrooms. Take a good look at them, Gohan.” Goku pointed at mushrooms that were shaped with wide umbrella tops and white rings on the stem. “You don’t eat these. Grandpa told me they’re poisonous and you can die from them. I didn’t listen to Grandpa and ate a bunch because I was really hungry. I was sick for a day.” He pointed to another set of mushrooms. “Don’t eat these. I ate them and threw up everything I ate that day. Grandpa told me not to each those either.”

Gohan frowned at his father. “If Great Grandpa told you not to eat them, why didn’t you listen?”

Goku rubbed the back of his neck. He could feel an awkward blush on his cheeks. “If you tell me to not do something, I have to do it to understand why I’m told not to do it.”

That didn’t make sense to Gohan.

“You’re smarter than Daddy, Gohan. Listen to others. At least listen to others that care about you.”

“Like you and Mommy?”

Goku nodded. “Like me and Mommy.” They resumed their search for food until Goku stopped Gohan at another set of mushrooms. “What do you think of those, Gohan?”

Gohan stared at the mushrooms. They were different from the ones his Daddy showed him. They were shriveled with odd spots on them. Gohan took a stick and poke the mushrooms. “It looks weird and mushy.” Gohan made a disgusted face. “I don’t like them.”

Goku grinned. “Good because you shouldn’t eat them. They’re old and rotten.”

“Did you eat these, too?” Gohan said exasperated. To his relief, learn Daddy didn’t eat these.

Father and son continued on until they came upon a group of mushrooms they haven’t seen before. “These you can eat, Gohan.” Goku crouch down by a group of round puffball like mushrooms. “They taste okay plain but they’re really good if you cook them over a fire.”

“Like marshmallows?” Gohan chirped as he picked the mushrooms.

“Yeah. You can eat insects, too.” Goku placed a hand on a nearby rock. He turned it over to show Gohan several critters crawling underneath. “There are plenty of choices under rocks. Avoid the ones that are hairy like spiders but eat crunchy insects like ants, grasshoppers and crickets.”

“Ants, grasshoppers and crickets?” Gohan stuck his tongue out. “I’m not eating those, Daddy!”

“If you roast them, they’re fine,” Goku cheerfully told Gohan but his son shook his head disgusted. “If you can’t catch a fish or kill another animal, these insects may be all you can eat.” Gohan shook his head stubbornly refusing to add insects to their meal. Goku shook his head amused as he placed the rock down. “You’re just like Mommy. She wouldn’t eat them either.”

Father and son continued their search for food. Gohan understood while the food they eat out here wasn’t Mommy’s cooking, it was still edible. Except the insects. Under no circumstances would he eat them.

Gohan removed his clothes and jumped in the lake. As he swam in the lake, he saw many fishes; some his size; others as big as his Daddy. Picking one, Gohan swam to it like his Daddy did on their camping trip. Gohan punched the fish with all his might. Daddy killed a large fish with one punch. Since Piccolo showed him he can destroy a mountain, Gohan thought he could kill a fish with one punch.

He couldn’t. Gohan’s punch was weak and his hold on the fish wasn’t tight. The fish freed itself from Gohan’s grasp and swam away. Gohan started to go after it but need for air had Gohan swimming to the surface.

“Guess I’m not good at this like Daddy,” Gohan pouted after taking in heavy breaths. Inhaling deeply, Gohan dove in the water again. He couldn’t find any small fish and when Gohan tried to grab a big fish, it slapped Gohan’s face with its tail.

An hour later an exhausted Gohan laid on the grass. He was tired, hungry and didn’t have the strength to swim in the lake again for another fish. His stomach growled loudly. Oh, he was so hungry. He had to eat something. Gohan rolled on his stomach and pushed himself to his feet. There was something he could eat.

“Ants, grasshoppers and crickets.”

“If you roast them, they’re fine.”

Gohan cringed as he turned over a rock. He found an apple tree, some berries but not any of the edible mushrooms. His four year old body was too tired right now to look. It was also getting dark which Gohan found scary. He’ll have to hide in a cave soon before the night animals come out.

Several ants crawled from under the rock. No crickets but there were a few grasshoppers. One actually jumped in his hand. Gohan’s stomach growled again. He was so hungry.

“Ants, grasshoppers and crickets.”

“If you roast them, they’re fine.”

Maybe he can roast them tomorrow. Tonight, he’ll eat them raw. Gohan scooped a handful of ants in his small hand. Several crawled over his hand and up his arm. The grasshopper stared at Gohan. His antennas wiggled at him. Gohan gulped.

“Ants, grasshoppers and crickets.”

“If you roast them, they’re fine.”

Closing his eyes, Gohan stuffed the handful of ants and grasshopper in his mouth. He didn’t think. He just swallowed and pretended he wasn’t eating ants and grasshopper. He followed that up by stuffing berries in his mouth to drown out the sound of crunchy insects.

Gohan sniffled as he laid on the ground of the cave he called home. It’s been five days and Mommy still hadn’t found him yet. She needed more time Gohan told himself. She’ll find him. He wished she’d come soon. He created a warm home but he wanted to be in his own bed. He wanted to eat Mommy’s meals. He still hadn’t caught a fish yet and he was tired and disgusted with himself for eating insects with fruits for the last two days. He wanted to go back in time, back to a week ago where his family were all together and happy.

“Goku! Gohan! It’s dinnertime!”

Gohan sat at his desk reading his picture book when he heard his mother. He could smell the yummy smells from the kitchen to his room for the past hour. He thought to finish this page and join Mommy and Daddy but his father had other plans

“Gohan,” Goku entered Gohan’s room, “it’s dinnertime.”

Gohan kept his eyes on his book. “I want to finish this last page, Daddy.”

Goku closed the book. “You can finish that later.” He ushered Gohan out of his chair and out his room. “It’s time to eat. We don’t wanna be late for Mommy’s food.”

Goku and Gohan cleaned their hands in the hall bathroom before entering the kitchen to see the dinner table laden with food. Goku squealed at the variety of dishes on the table. “It smells so good in here, ChiChi!”

ChiChi set aside her single plate and was occupied fixing Gohan’s plates when Goku and Gohan took their seats at the table. “Thank you, Mommy,” Gohan said when ChiChi placed his starter plates in front of him.

“You’re welcome, Gohan.” After ChiChi placed Goku’s starter plates before him, she took her seat at the table. After a prayer, the family of three ate their dinner.

Mommy’s food was always delicious. As much as Gohan loved his Mommy’s food, it didn’t match Daddy’s love for Mommy’s cooking. He ate loudly and quickly, ignoring the few times Mommy told him to slow down. Sometimes Daddy ate Mommy’s food so quickly, he almost choked.

ChiChi would start cleaning dishes after she finished her plate. This left Goku to refilling his and Gohan’s plates until they finished their meals. Once all the dishes were empty and their bellies full, Goku and Gohan sat at the table talking while Chichi cleaned up. When she finished, the family of three entered the living room for family time. ChiChi relaxed on the floor while Gohan carefully pulled out the board game left intact from last night.

Goku sat opposite of ChiChi and Gohan. He fiddled with the metal pieces on the board game. “Which one am I again?” He touched the thimble metal piece. “This hat? Do I go first?”

“It’s a thimble, Daddy, and that’s Mommy’s. You’re the racecar.” Gohan corrected his father. “It’s Mommy’s turn. I was the last one to make a move last night.”

ChiChi grabbed the dice, shook it and toss it on the board. She moved her piece relieved when she stopped, she wasn’t on anyone’s properties. “Your turn, Goku.”

Goku grabbed the black and white dice, shook it and tossed it on the board. “Five.” Goku moved his racecar five spots. He landed on a spot with a question mark. Knowing that means he picks from the stack of orange cards on the board, Goku did so and read the card. “Go to jail?” he frowned. “But I didn’t do anything bad?”

“It’s a game, Goku,” ChiChi told him. “You picked the wrong card.”

“Yeah, but bad guys go to jail. I’m not a bad guy.”

“Actually, you are.”

“Whaa???” Goku whined while Gohan giggled. “How am I a bad guy?”

“You’re a tickle monster. Attacking me and Gohan the way you do is criminal.” ChiChi hugged her son close to her. “Isn’t that right, Gohan?”

“Uh-huh,” Gohan agreed giggling at Daddy’s annoyance. “Daddy’s bad. Go to jail, Daddy!”

The shock of his wife and son telling him he was bad quickly gave way to a smile. If that’s how they want to be…. “Oh, I’m a bad guy because I can tickle you until you give up.”

Gohan noticed his Daddy’s voice changed slightly. He also noticed his mother suddenly unwrapped her arms around him. “Run, Gohan.”

“Huh?”

Goku grinned wickedly as he rose to his feet. He stared down at Gohan and ChiChi. “If I’m a bad, I might as well go all in.”

“Run, Gohan!” ChiChi pushed Gohan to move as she got to her feet. “I’ll hold Daddy off. Run!”

Goku moved to go for Gohan but ChiChi jumped in front of her son, sacrificing herself to Goku. “Ah!!” ChiChi screamed between laughs as Goku’s fingers danced over her body. “Stop, Goku! Stop!”

“Never!” Goku’s voice was evil as he tickled ChiChi. “I’m the bad guy, remember!” He eyed Gohan who giggled at his mother trying to break away from his father. “You’re next, Gohan.” Instead of running, Gohan watched amused as Goku picked up ChiChi and laid her on the sofa. He straddled and tickled her.

ChiChi screamed and squealed as Goku’s fingers moved faster over her. “Give in. Give in to the tickle monster!”

“Ah! No!” ChiChi squealed. She ran her fingers up Goku’s sides causing him to giggle uncontrollably. ChiChi attempted to pull away from Goku but he grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head. With his free hand, he tickled ChiChi again. “Stop, Goku,” ChiChi said in between laughs. “Stop it!”

Goku leaned over ChiChi, his voice dropping a few octaves. “Tell me what I wanna hear.”

“I give up,” ChiChi gasped between laughs. “I give.” Goku rewarded her with a kiss. It wasn’t a surprised to see Mommy and Daddy be this way. His parents kissed in front of him before but the kisses were quick and Daddy was never on top of Mommy like this. ChiChi pulled away. She gestured Goku to look her way. “Goku, that’s enough. Gohan’s watching.”

“We’ll finish this later.” Gohan wondered what that meant. Goku climbed off ChiChi and turned to him. “All right, Gohan. You’re next. The tickle monster is coming for you.”

Gohan ran out the room laughing as his father chased him. Gohan hid under his bed as his father entered the room. “Gohan.” Goku looked around as he pretended to search for Gohan. He opened his closet. It was empty. “I know you’re here. You can’t hide from me.” He pulled out the chair of Gohan’s desk. “Not here. Where could you be?”

Gohan held his breath as Daddy turned to the bed. “Could you be under there?” Gohan’s heart pounded as his Daddy got closer to the bed. If Daddy grabbed him, it would be over. He couldn’t survive Daddy’s tickles.

Gohan saw an opening to escape. He did so, crawling between the gap at his Daddy’s feet. Gohan crawled from under the bed, passed the V space Daddy’s stance created, got to his feet and ran out of the room.

“You won’t get away, Gohan!” Gohan towards his parents’ room but was quickly scooped in his father’s arms and tortured with tickles. “Gotcha!”

The tickles were relentless. Gohan couldn’t stop laughing. Tears were spilling from his eyes. “I give,” Gohan relented, breaking faster than his mother. “I give up, Daddy. Stop!”

Goku returned to the living room where Goku gently dropped Gohan on the sofa in his mother’s arms. ChiChi held him close as they both laughed at their game. Goku sat with them on the sofa. Being in his Mommy’s arms and looking at his happy Daddy, Gohan never felt happier. For him, everything was perfect.

Gohan stared at the fire with tears streaming down his eyes. “Mommy. Daddy. I miss you.”

The next morning, Gohan woke up starving. After failing to catch another fish, Gohan resigned himself to eating ants, grasshoppers and crickets with berries for breakfast. Frustrated with this morning’s breakfast, Gohan wandered the vegetated land. He had to get better at fishing. He had to get better at surviving. He needed to do his part and stay alive until Mommy found him.

Believe in your power and figure out yourself how to effectively draw out that power.

Piccolo told Gohan this before he left. After a week alone, a week of eating insects, bland mushrooms and fruit; a week of hiding in his cave away from that pesky dinosaur who was determined to eat him; a week of crying and longing for his parents, Gohan was ready to listen to Piccolo’s words.

Gohan understood to stay alive, to eat some meat, he had to build his strength and confidence. He decided to start small. Gohan retrieved a log of wood near his cave. Gohan unsheathed his sword. He raised the sword above his head brought it down hard to stab the log. The sword pieced the wood. Gohan raised the sword over his head and slammed it on the wood again.

‘Remember what Daddy told you, Gohan. Remember it all.’

Gohan sat on the grass watching his father meticulously work. Daddy wanted to show him how to use materials of the land. Gohan didn’t understand why Daddy wanted to show him this. He rather use materials Mommy packed for them but this was important to Daddy so he didn’t complain. Daddy began the lesson by chopping off a thick log of tree with his hand. There was no way Gohan could do that. He wasn’t strong like Daddy. Luckily, there was an alternative.

“Grandpa cut wood with an ax until he carved out a bowl like shape,” Daddy told Gohan. “I used to do it that way, too, but when I got stronger, I used my hand now to cut with enough precision until it’s smooth on the inside.”

Gohan listened intently while watching in awe as his father turned the block of wood in one hand while his other hand glowed and cut the wood to form a perfect bowl. “Maybe one day you can do this, Gohan. Until then, you’ll have to use sharp materials.”

“I did it! I did it!” Gohan danced around happily at his accomplishment. He made a bowl out of tree log. It wasn’t as perfect as his Daddy’s. In fact, it was crude with jagged round ends. The interior was jagged in some areas but it was durable and it could hold his food instead of Gohan carrying it all himself. “Yay! I can’t believe I did it!”

A dark shadow hovered over Gohan. A familiar snarl behind him left Gohan’s blood running cold. He turned. The tyrannosaurus that chased him all week had found him. The dinosaur grinned; pools of drool dropped from his mouth as he crept to Gohan.

“WAAAH!!!” Gohan screamed as he ran from the dinosaur. The dinosaur quickly gave chase after Gohan. So close. He wasn’t losing his meal this time!

In his haste to run away, Gohan dropped his bowl. Gohan turned to retrieve it but saw the dinosaur crush the bowl under his foot. Gohan saw his accomplishment, his hours of hard work, crumple into several pieces. The dinosaur above him laughed, not at crushing the bowl, but at the young meal he will soon eat.

Gohan saw rage. He worked very hard creating that bowl and this mean dinosaur destroyed it. Anger rose in him. It was oddly familiar. He could’ve sworn he felt this rage, this strength build in him when that bad man was hurting his Daddy.

Gohan was so angry. He was angry this dinosaur broke the bowl he worked so hard to make. He was angry with himself, too If he was stronger, he wouldn’t be running away from this dinosaur. He wouldn’t have dropped the bowl. Gohan unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the approaching dinosaur. “You broke my bowl!” Gohan screamed while running madly towards the dinosaur. “You’re gonna pay for that!”

Gohan jumped on the dinosaur’s head, flipped and landed on the dinosaur’s back. He was full of rage. The dinosaur took something of his. Gohan saw it equal justice to take something from the dinosaur. The dinosaur’s tail came into view. Gohan jumped in the air, flipped and as he came down, sliced off the tip of the dinosaur’s tail.

The dinosaur howled in pain. The dinosaur turned to roar at Gohan but jumped back as Gohan swung his sword at him. His eyes were white and full of rage. It scared the dinosaur. His meals never acted like this before. Frightened, the dinosaur ran off putting as much distance between him and Gohan as possible.

As the dinosaur ran off, Gohan felt the rage leave his body. Blinking, his pupils returned and Gohan stared confused at the dinosaur running off. What happened? Why was he holding his sword and what happened to the dinosaur’s tail?

“Did I do that?”

Your power bursts loose only when your emotions are at their peak.

“I was angry at the dinosaur for crushing my bowl. Is this what Piccolo meant?” Gohan stared at the tail. “Dinosaur’s tail,” Gohan murmured. “Meat!” His face lit up! “I can finally eat some meat!”

Gohan took the tail and dragged it back in his cave. For the first time in a week, Gohan felt happy and confident in himself and the hidden power in him. He found another tree log and created another bowl. Gohan was so happy, he didn’t stop there. Seeing he sent a dinosaur running away, Gohan felt confident enough to finally catch a fish.

Gohan returned to the lake, removed his clothes and dove in the water again. He followed a school of fish. He avoided the large ones and trailed behind a lone fish falling behind. Gohan kicked his legs faster towards the fish. The fish didn’t have time to react when Gohan wrapped his arms around it. The fish wiggled and squirmed in Gohan’s arms but Gohan held the fish tightly. The fish fought to live but Gohan fought to eat, fought to survive. If he couldn’t accomplish this, how could he hold on for his mother to find him?

Gohan gasped for air once he broke the surface. Gritting his teeth, Gohan pushed himself to the edge of the lake. Once a hand touched land, Gohan tossed the fish on the grass. The fish flopped wildly as it fought for air. Gohan climbed out of the lake and collapsed on his back, breathing heavily. That was exhausting.

But he did it.

“I did it!” Gohan cheered triumphantly. “I caught my first fish!”

That night Gohan had his best dinner all week. He roasted dinosaur’s tail, fish and mushrooms on a thin stick like shish kabob over the fire. His bowl was filled with fruits of berries, apples and oranges. The mushrooms, tail and fish didn’t have his mother’s special seasoning but it was edible and a lot better than eating insects.

‘I can do this’, Gohan thought to himself. ‘I can survive out here until you find me, Mommy.’

Daddy was in pain. He could hear the screams even in this round pod he was trapped in.

“How could I have thought you could be a warrior?” Gohan heard the bad man say.

More screams from Daddy. The bad man was hitting Daddy really hard.

“True warrior never hesitate to kill! Not even his own brother! Care for a demonstration?”

Daddy’s screams were louder and more horrific. The bad man was gonna kill Daddy!

Daddy’s screams rang in Gohan’s ears. The bad man was gonna kill Daddy. He had to stop him. He had to save Daddy. Gohan was scared he will lose him but mostly Gohan felt rage. Rage at losing his Daddy. Rage at this bad man hurting Daddy. The rage consumed him.

Gohan felt himself breaking free of the pod he was held captured in. The bad man stood over Daddy with his foot on Daddy’s chest. Gohan flew off his feet and ram head first against the bad man.

The bad man stumbled but he didn’t fall on the ground. Gohan felt all his rage evaporate. What happened? How did he get out here? Daddy! Gohan hurried to his father lying on the ground.

“Daddy?”

“Run…. Gohan,” Daddy told him. “Get away….run!”

Gohan felt a large shadow over him. He turned to see the bad man. Something swung at him and everything went black.

Gohan bolted awake. He sat up breathing hard and sweating. Sometimes he had happy dreams of his parents. Other times he had nightmares of the last moments he saw Daddy. He wiped away tears that occurred during his nightmare.

‘Stop crying,’ Gohan told himself. ‘Crying doesn’t solve anything.’

Tears wiped away, Gohan grabbed his sword and left the cave.

For three months, Gohan stayed in the same spot. For three months, Gohan hunted fish and ate fruit and bland mushrooms. He occasionally ate dinosaur’s tail. For three months, Gohan spent his nights in the cave he called home and days happily running around playing with the animals he once feared. The sabretooth that chased Gohan daily when he arrived now ran from Gohan who happily chased him.

Gohan was happy. He no longer feared the snakes and wild animals in the area. The thunderstorms didn’t scare him anymore. He was safe here. He was happy but there was one thing that troubled him.

Why hasn’t Mommy found him?

Gohan thought being in the same spot for three months, his mother would have found him by now. Daddy would’ve. Mommy always found him when he got lost in the forest. This isn’t the forest near home but that shouldn’t stop Mommy, should it?

“Maybe…..maybe Mommy can’t find me.” Gohan spoke defeated. “Maybe Piccolo took me so far away from home Mommy can’t find me.”

Don’t even think of escaping. This place is surrounded by desert. A world of death makes this place look like a paradise.

That’s what Piccolo told him. Piccolo chose this place for a reason Gohan realized. Being surrounded by desert prevented him from venturing out. Piccolo’s threatening words of what’s outside this area kept Gohan here.

“That was months ago,” Gohan told himself. “I’m stronger now.” The little boy clenched his fists and flexed his arms. His arms had gotten stronger over the months. He could run faster than before. He could jump high and down from the highest tree branches. He could subdue a fish with a punch now. He punched a boulder and while it didn’t turn to rubble, it created cracks. “Maybe I’m strong enough to escape this place and go home.”

We need your power! You must learn to use that power and join us in protecting the Earth!!

You hold the key to the Earth’s fate.

Piccolo told him he will have to fight these Saiyans. He was needed to protect the Earth. If he goes home to his mother, would he return to prepare for the fight against these Saiyans? Probably not, he realized. He would be too happy to be home, eating Mommy’s food, sleeping in his bed, enjoying hot baths by Mommy and reading his books. He wouldn’t think about these Saiyans at all.

We need your power! You must learn to use that power and join us in protecting the Earth!!

You hold the key to the Earth’s fate.

What if Daddy couldn’t stop these Saiyans because he wasn’t there? What if his powers were needed? If he wasn’t there, then the Saiyans will kill Daddy. They will kill Mommy and Grandpa, too. If Mommy died because he couldn’t protect her, it would crush him but it will also mean he broke his word with Daddy.

Gohan couldn’t forgive himself if he did that.

“It’s only for three days, Gohan.”

Goku knelt before Gohan wiping away his tears. Goku was packed and ready for his trip. He agreed with ChiChi to be gone for three days while he got in some intense training. ChiChi stood at the door. They already said goodbye but Gohan was having a hard time letting him leave. To Gohan, three days was a lifetime.

“But I’ll miss you.” Gohan pouted. “I want to go with you.”

“I have to do this, Gohan. I wanna stay strong.”

“But you’re already strong,” Gohan told him. “You’re the strongest man in the world. Mommy said so.”

“Yeah, but to keep being the strongest, I have to train. Sometimes that means I do it for days away from you and Mommy.”

“But why?”

“I like being strong,” Goku admitted truthfully. “When I was kid, I wanted to get stronger for myself. Now that I have you and Mommy, it’s different now. I wanna stay strong to protect you both.” Goku rubbed Gohan’s head affectionately. “Sometimes when we do things for others, we have to make sacrifices.”

“So, you’re training for me and Mommy?” Gohan tried to understand. “You’re making a sacrifice to be away from us to get stronger for us?”

“Wow,” Goku was in awe of his son. “Mommy’s right. You are very smart.” At that, Gohan blushed.

“I wanna make a sacrifice for you,” Gohan told his Daddy. “It’s only fair.”

Goku grinned. His child was truly special. “I don’t think it works like that.”

Gohan looked firm at his Daddy. “I wanna do it.”

Three years old and so determined. Goku couldn’t deny his only child. “Not a sacrifice. How about a promise. When I’m not here, you have to protect Mommy for me. Can you do that for me, Gohan?” Gohan nodded firmly. “Good. Because we can’t let anything happen to Mommy.”

Tears rolled down Gohan’s cheek. He understood a little during his talk with his Daddy. Now he truly understood what it meant for Daddy to train alone for days; how what he did was sacrifices for them. Gohan wanted to go home and see his mother but he had to make that sacrifice and not go. If he went home, he’ll forget about training for the Saiyans. He’ll enjoy his life again before Daddy’s reunion and when the Saiyans come to Earth, he would unintentionally sacrifice his mother’s life and break his word to Daddy.

Gohan couldn’t do that.

“Daddy’s the strongest man on Earth and I’m his son. Daddy saved the Earth when he was a kid. Piccolo said my power is needed to save the Earth.”

You have power hidden within you that you never even glimpsed.

Gohan wiped away his tears. “No more crying,” he told himself. “Three months I’ve done nothing but play and eat and wonder when Mommy will get me. I can’t think like that anymore. Piccolo will be here in three months to start our training. It’s time I get started. I have to protect Earth. I have to protect Mommy.”

Time was up. Six months has passed since Piccolo left Son Goku’s son in the wilderness. If that boy hadn’t toughen up in six months, he’ll kill the child himself. That boy had unbelievable hidden power and if he hadn’t gotten some control of it by now, he’s better off dead. He would be useless against the Saiyans and it would be stupid leaving a child with such power alive because at some point he could master it and that would put a wrench in Piccolo’s plans for world domination. He’ll have to kill the child someday anyway. When he kill Son Goku, it’s only logical he had to kill his son immediately after. Only an idiot would spare Son Goku’s son and let the child grow up to avenge his father’s murder.

“I bet Kami is watching and laughing his ass off at the irony. Me, the son of King Piccolo, who’s purpose in life is to avenge my father’s death by Son Goku’s hand, must now train Son Goku’s son against Son Goku’s own people who are coming to kill all of us in six months.”

Oh, yes. Kami was laughing.

“However,” Piccolo grinned wickedly, “there is some joy out of this. I’ll make the remake the child in my image. The child will wear my family’s name; fight in my family’s clothes. That’s sure to get under Son Goku’s skin. Heh. Heh.”

Perhaps, he’ll get something out of this after all.

When Piccolo found Gohan, he noticed the child’s Ki was higher than when he left him. This was promising. However, the child hadn’t managed to feel Ki through others or he would’ve noticed him hovering in the air for the last half hour.

Below, Gohan happily chased a dinosaur. Piccolo raise a brow. It looked like the dinosaur that chased Gohan six months ago and….. did the dinosaur’s tail get shorter? Gohan jumped in the air, luring the dinosaur to crash into a mountain. With the dinosaur dazed, Gohan unsheathed his sword and slice another piece of tail. Gohan happily walked away, set fire to wood with a blast of his own Ki and cooked the slice of dinosaur’s meat.

Piccolo was very impressed. “He seems to be getting this down. Time for the real training to begin.”

Gohan rubbed his full belly and licked his lips. That dinosaur’s meat was really yummy. It was too bad with a few more slices the dinosaurs won’t have a tail anymore and that meant no more meat for Gohan.

“Oh, well,” Gohan thought cheerfully. “I can still eat the fish around here.”

Behind him, Gohan heard a flutter of a heavy cloth. He felt a strong presence behind him. Gohan stood and turned around. Gohan’s mouth fell open in shock.

Piccolo didn’t imagine what Gohan would do when he saw him again. Perhaps he thought the child would quiver in fear of his presence for he knew the hell he will be put through. Perhaps he thought the child will burst into tears because crying and whining seemed to be all the child could do during their brief exchange.

What Piccolo didn’t expect was Gohan to happily scream his name.

“Piccolo!”

The child screamed his name so loudly, so joyfully it forced Piccolo to jump back in fear and confusion. What was going on? Why was the child so happy? Gohan should be scared. He should realize it’s time for Gohan to endure the hell of Piccolo’s training camp. Or maybe the child should be solemn as he accept his fate to defend the Earth. The child should not be happily screaming his name and running to him with waving arms.

“Piccolo!” Gohan screamed. “It’s me! Son Gohan!! I’m so happy to see you!!”

Happy to see him? What the hell was wrong with child?

“Piccolo!!” Gohan wrapped his arms around Piccolo’s right leg. “You came back! You didn’t leave me alone forever!! You came back like you said you would!”

Piccolo gaped at the child startled. What was he doing? Why was his arms wrapped around his leg like this? Why was he smiling? Why was he happy?

Piccolo pushed Gohan away from him. “What are you doing?!”

“This is so great!” Gohan danced around Piccolo. “You came back! You came back! That must mean it’s been six months! I’m so happy you came back to me! I won’t be alone anymore! These six months have been so crazy! I was chased by dinosaurs, sabretooths, alligators and flying birds! I had to eat insects! That was yucky! I ate mushrooms! They weren’t so bad but they could use Mommy’s special seasoning! I made a bowl but that dinosaur crushed it and I had to make another one. I learned how to create fire! I learned how to jump really high like my Daddy and I learned how to land without hurting myself! Ooooo, oooo, I even punched a boulder and I cracked it. I’ve gotten so strong! I can show you right now!” The child spoke so fast and said so many words, Piccolo wondered what came over him. This wasn’t the coddled child he spoke to six months ago “But I miss my Mommy and Daddy so much,” Gohan rattled on. “I thought about them a lot and I had dreams about them, too. Good dreams and bad dreams. I had a nightmare about Daddy and the bad man….”

The child wouldn’t stop talking. Piccolo tried to get a word in but Gohan kept going on and on what life was like for him for six months. For a being who was used to silence, hearing this jabber mouth was irritating.

“SHUT UP!!!” Piccolo roared. Gohan clasped both hands over his mouth. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

To Piccolo’s shock, Gohan was crying but it wasn’t tears of fear. The child had tears of joy in his eyes. “You didn’t forget me and I survived six months alone. I didn’t die of loneliness like I feared. I didn’t think I could do it but I did.” Gohan wrapped his arms around Piccolo’s leg again. “I’m so happy you came back to me. I know this means we start our training, but you being here means I’ll have someone to talk to now. I haven’t been around anyone for so long I was starting to forget how to talk.”

Piccolo didn’t believe that. The child wouldn’t stop talking since he showed up and he was doing this strange thing of wrapping his arms around his leg. What was this? Some human thing?

Piccolo put a hand on Gohan’s head and pushed the child away with such force, Gohan fell on his bottom. “Stop that! I don’t what the hell you’re doing so just stop it.”

Gohan gazed at Piccolo confused. “You’ve never been hugged before? That’s really sad.”

“Hug?” The word was alien to Piccolo.

Gohan got to his feet. Piccolo’s odd behavior made sense now. “A hug is when you put your arms around someone and hold them against you in a gentle way. It shows you like them.”

“Like them?” What was this child talking about?

“Well, uh…hmmm.” Gohan crossed his arms over his chest. How to explain that? “Don’t you like anything?”

“I’d like to kill your Dad if that’s what you mean.”

“No!” Gohan shook his head and waved his hands frantically. He stared at Piccolo dumbfounded. “You really don’t understand, do you?”

Piccolo didn’t understand but he was certain this child just insulted him. To his ire, Gohan giggled. “Wow. You’re just like Daddy. He didn’t know anything about hugs or kisses until he met Mommy.”

“What?!” Piccolo roared. “Don’t you ever compare me to you father! He didn’t have the decency to make you strong. He’s cosseted you since birth giving you food to eat, a bath, a bed and a home without you earning it on your own!”

“But…..” Gohan whimpered, “I’m only four.”

“Four?!” Piccolo threw his head back laughing. This child. How spoiled he is. “I’ve been on my own since I hatched from my father’s egg. I was three when I fought your father.”

“Three?!!” Gohan looked Piccolo up and down stunned. “But....but….” Gohan tried to understand. This didn’t make any sense. Daddy was a man when he fought Piccolo. Gohan saw the pictures when he went to the museum. He counted the years from the last martial arts tournament on his finger. “You’re eight years old?!”

“I am.” Piccolo had to admit the shock on the child’s face was funny. Compared to humans, it did look odd he aged faster than them but he was demon after all.

“Are you like a dog?” Gohan suddenly asked.

“A what?!”

“I read dogs age faster than humans. A dog that’s one in dog years is actually fifteen in human years. Two is twenty-four, three would be twenty-eight. Eight would mean….” Gohan stopped to count the numbers in his head and his hands. He looked at Piccolo astonished, “You could be forty-eight years old in dog years. That’s twice as old as my Daddy!”

“SHUT UP!!!” Piccolo’s voice thundered so loud even birds in trees flew away from the noise. “WE ARE NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT MY AGE!!! IT’S TIME TO START TRAINING SO GET READY!!”

Gohan jumped back. Piccolo was still scary. “Yes, sir!”

Training under Piccolo was harder than Gohan imagined. Piccolo showed no patience or kindness. No part of his body was spared a kick, a punch or frying from Piccolo’s eye beams. From sunup to sundown, Gohan and Piccolo fought. Piccolo cursed and screamed at him to go faster, strike harder and do better for the Saiyans will be ruthless and show no mercy.

Don’t make the same mistake as your father, Piccolo told him. Gohan wondered what Piccolo meant but he never explained.

Nighttime was Gohan’s free time. Piccolo ended lessons at sunset. It gave Gohan enough time to catch his fish for dinner. While the fish cooked, he gathered a bowl of fruit or mushrooms to go with it before it became completely dark. Piccolo only consumed water. Gohan offered to share his food with Piccolo but he rejected him saying he only needed water.

As Gohan ate his dinner, Piccolo decided to bring up something he noticed when Gohan caught his fish. “When did your tail grow back?”

“My tail? I don’t know,” he shrugged as he took another bite of his fish. “I just noticed it one day. Without Mommy to put a hole in pants, I just keep it in. It’s kind of uncomfortable but I’ve gotten used to it.” Gohan happily chewed his fish. His eyes lit up as he wondered if Piccolo could help him with something he wondered about. “I lost my tail my first night alone. I woke up one morning wearing these clothes, that sword and no tail. Do you know what happened?”

“No,” Piccolo lied. “I left you earlier remember.”

“Oh yeah,” Gohan recalled cheerily. “That night was really weird, too. I was lying on the cliff cold and hungry when two apples appeared. There wasn’t a tree so I don’t know where the apples came from.”

“You think I would know?” This child. He was too smart for his own good. “Your clothes.” His eyes swept over Gohan. They were torn and ragged in several places. “I think it’s time I give you some new clothes. Stand up.”

Gohan put down his fish and stood. With a grunt and flash of his eyes from Piccolo, Gohan’s tattered rags were replaced with a replica of Piccolo’s clothes except the cape. Gohan looked over his new clothes impressed. “This is great!” Gohan tugged his pants and new top. “Wow.” He smiled at Piccolo. “It’s just like your clothes!”

Piccolo smirked very pleased with himself. He figured it was time. After all, the kid earned it. He’s improved so much since they’ve begun training. He wasn’t crying anymore. He wasn’t whining over their training. He grew up a lot. “You look good, kid. No! Wait!” Piccolo protested. His eyes grew to saucers as Gohan suddenly threw his arms around his neck.

“Thank you, Mr. Piccolo! I love it!”

‘Mr. Piccolo?’ This child and his human emotions. He should rip the child’s arms off, scream at him to never do it again but instead, he let Gohan hugged him. So, this was a hug. A smile curved his lips. Hugs were kind of nice.

Gohan broke away. “Sorry, Mr. Piccolo.” The child rubbed the back of his neck shyly. Gohan thought Piccolo would scold him or slap him away but his teacher sat there like a statue.

Piccolo looked away. “It’s okay, kid. I didn’t mind the hug.”

“Good,” Gohan sat back down and picked up his fish. “I understand hugs are strange for you. Daddy didn’t hug a lot growing up. He thought Mommy was strange for wanting to hug him all the time but he said he grew to like them a lot and kisses, too.”

Piccolo knew he will regret doing this but he could help asking, “What’s a kiss?”

“It’s when you press your lips against something. Like this.” Gohan demonstrated by puckering his lips and pressing it against his fish. “Mommy press her lips against my cheeks and forehead. Mommy does the same thing with Daddy but sometimes they press their lips together.”

Piccolo closed his eyes and shook his head. He wished he hadn’t asked. “Gohan?”

“Yes, Mr. Piccolo?”

“If you ever try to kiss me, I’ll kill you.”

Piccolo didn’t say many words to him this morning. After drinking water, he sat alone, arms crossed, eyes closed in intense mediation. For the first time since they began training, there will be no training this morning. It was odd to break from routine but Gohan understood why. This was the day and they were all tense.

Yesterday, Gohan and Piccolo were in the middle of training when the skies suddenly darkened to night. Both were confused before Piccolo understood and let him know what’s happening.

Daddy was wished back by the dragon balls. Daddy was coming home. Gohan’s eyes watered with tears but he hid them from Piccolo for he knew his green teacher would slap him and tell him to stop crying.

However, Piccolo was too lost in his own thoughts to notice Gohan’s tears. He was troubled. “This isn’t a good thing, Gohan,” Piccolo told him. “Son Goku’s been wished back but this means the aliens are coming to Earth soon than we thought.”

That was true. It was one month shy of the year of his Daddy’s death and aliens impending arrival but if Daddy was coming home a month early that meant Daddy was stronger and ready to fight these aliens with them.

When the bright skies returned, Piccolo ended their training immediately. He told Gohan they will spend their remaining time resting their bodies for they needed all their strength against these aliens. Piccolo was worried but Gohan was happy. No more training and Daddy was coming home! He couldn’t wait!

Gohan caught himself a big fish and cooked it over a fire. He was so happy! This was the last day he will eat bland fish. Tomorrow he and Daddy will be home with Mommy eating her yummy meals. He couldn’t wait to see her, hug her and eat her cooking. He knew Daddy couldn’t wait it either. Finally, after a year, their family will be together again.

When Gohan awakened this morning, his excitement from last night was gone and his body was filled with nerves. Maybe Piccolo was rubbing off on him but he finally understood his teacher’s behavior from yesterday.

Worry crept into Gohan. Daddy was wished back almost twenty-fours ago. Shouldn’t he be back now? Gohan remembered his Daddy telling him he used the dragon balls to wish a friend’s father back to life. Daddy didn’t say anything about waiting a day for the wish to happen. So, why was it taking so long for Daddy to come back?

Gohan and Piccolo simultaneously jumped as if both were struck by a bolt of lightning.

This Ki they suddenly felt. It was enormous!

“So,” Piccolo rose. He looked in the direction both felt the massive power. “They’ve come at last.”

This Ki was bigger than Gohan expected. The aliens were finally here.

“How can the aliens be here before Daddy?” Gohan asked Piccolo. “Daddy was wished back yesterday.”

Piccolo snarled. “I don’t know. What the hell is taking Son so long?”

“Did the wish work like it should?” Gohan asked.

“How should I know?!” Piccolo snapped at Gohan. “I wasn’t the one who made the wish! Your father’s friends did!”

Gohan cringed at Piccolo’s yelling. Gohan thought the times for yelling had passed but there were occasions like now that proved him wrong. He opened his mouth to apologize but was suddenly knocked off his feet as the entire area shook as if rocked by a violent earthquake. Both looked ahead at an explosion coming from very far away. Neither knew how much time passed before the shakes ended and the skies returned to their normal blue color.

“Those damn aliens,” Piccolo cursed. “They wiped out an entire city.”

“Huh?” Gohan gasped. An entire city. Gohan shuddered. These aliens were so strong. ‘Daddy, where are you?’

“Gohan!” Piccolo snapped Gohan to attention. “The Saiyans. They’re coming to us. Get ready.”

“Oh…okay.” He couldn’t help sounding nervous. He was five years old. This was his first fight and these aliens he will face just destroyed an entire city.

An entire year went to this; defending the Earth against these two aliens. Gohan lived alone for six months. He was beaten so badly by Piccolo, he slept with cuts on his arms and legs and large bumps on his face that took days to heal. Each day he got stronger physically and mentally. Honestly, he rather be home with his books, playing with his parents and Grandpa but knew there was a purpose to this grueling year. It all went to this day. Defend the Earth. Protect Mommy. Gohan hoped he was truly ready.

As they waited, Daddy’s friend Krillin arrived. Piccolo didn’t care for his arrival but Gohan was happy to see a familiar face. The happy reunion was cut short at the sudden arrival of two figures in the sky. Their Ki was so powerful it sent a cold chill down Gohan’s spine. These aliens. They had tails like him. They had tails like that bad man that kidnapped him.

As the aliens descended from the sky, Gohan prepared himself for the fight that will come. It was great he and Piccolo will get help against these aliens from Krillin but when Gohan thought of this day, he didn’t imagine it would be him, Piccolo and Krillin. He thought his Daddy would be with him. With Daddy at his side, Gohan knew he could fight defeat these aliens, but without him….

‘Daddy, where are you?’

Part Nineteen: Alone: Goku

AN: Since Piccolo lived alone away from society, I don’t think he would know what hugs or kisses are. He might know about human intimacy or there is some kind of mating process but since he doesn’t spend his time around humans, he wouldn’t how it’s done so I imagined Piccolo confused and very unconformable when Gohan shows his affection and treats him like a friend. In the anime, Gohan tried to return home but I stuck with the manga where he waited for Piccolo.

#Gohan #son gohan #Goku #Chichi #Life With You #Part Eighteen #dragonball #Dragon Ball Z #Gochi #fanfiction

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prettyboiiharringrove · 6 years ago

Text

Imaginary Friends

Witches && Prey i // read part two here // read on ao3

warnings: mentions of blood, suicidal ideation, actual suicide, major character death, child abuse, addiction, forced drug use, this shit is like emo as hell i’m not going to lie to you. this part does not have a happy ending i’m sorry fam, witchy steve, my sad boiis. I’m so sorry this took so long, I hope you guys love it. the rest are on the way

Harringrove Halloween Countdown — October 12

Demons like to prey on the weak, things are just easier that way. Maybe a little messier, but sometimes vulnerable kids and drug addicts are more convenient, more simple, more breakable; sad to say Billy Hargrove is both and that makes him easy prey, no matter how rabid he pretends to be.

Billy lost his mother young, hardly knew her, and Neil Hargrove, the closest to a monster a human can get, soul already rotten and deteriorating, finds that a small lonely boy with mommy issues and a bad habit of poor judgement and misplaced loyalty will do whatever is asked of him if it guarantees him his father’s approval.

Billy used to be able to fall asleep if Neil promised him chocolate chip waffles and tucked him in at night, but then Neil got lonely and angry, and he noticed that all he had to do was promise not to hit Billy and to hold him while he cried and Billy would fall asleep. Billy grew, Neil’s arms got tired, and his restraint deteriorated. The thought of having to promise Billy he wouldn’t hit him just made him want to hurt him more, so instead he would sit with his bloody son, help him wash up, and crush up some pain pills in his dinner, sneak some sleeping meds into his water.

When Neil starts dating Susan and going out for dinner instead of staying in with Billy, Billy can’t understand why he shakes and vomits, why everything hurts despite Neil not being home to lay a finger on him, not until he hears his mother’s voice urging him to wipe the sick off his face and crawl to his father’s room. He finds the pills in his father’s bedside table. What hurts the most is that he isn’t surprised; his father has been drugging him every damn night to the point of addiction, and he’s only fifteen.

“How long?” he’s unsure why he’s speaking, knows that hearing his mother’s voice must have been a hallucination, a product of his drug addled brain coming down from withdrawal.

“Does it matter?” she whispers, and Billy can feel her sit down next to him even though he can’t quite see her, just notices that where he’s looking through her, the picture is a bit distorted; then again, that could be his own tears obstructing his vision.

“Guess not,” he whispers, pouring a few of the pills in his hands and gagging a bit as he swallows them dry. He feels disappointment in the air, maybe even a little anger, but he hears nothing more. He doesn’t hear from his mother until the weekend when Neil goes out to dinner with Max and Susan and leaves Billy to clean up the house.

——————

This goes on for eight months until Billy finally realizes why he senses disappointment every time he pops those pills. She wants him to take more, wants him to down both bottles in one go.

“I’m so lonely baby. Come on, you don’t want to be with him anymore. Don’t you remember how good I was to you ??” it sends chills down his spine, but he finds himself inclined to listen. Even so, he denies her, he decides to live, even if just a little longer.

——————

Neil marries Susan after ten months, and packs everyone up and moves them to Hawkins after eighteen. Billy has no one. No more friends, not a loving father, and he thinks he’s leaving his mother behind, even worse his dealer. Neil’s supply was weak and dwindling, and Billy could put on a good show with his protein shakes and ridiculous workouts, but without his pills, he’d turn into a sad sack of shit. His theory is that it’s probably a lot harder to score prescription drugs in Indiana than California; for whatever fucking reason though, Neil refuses to leave him behind.

He’s angry, and lonely, and when his mother shows up a few days later he’s so relieved to see her, to have someone by his side, that he almost takes her up on her invitation. He doesn’t though, because tomorrow’s Halloween and maybe he can get in one good fuck before he says goodbye to his shithead father and small town Hawkins.

He doesn’t expect to be so enamored with Steve though. Steve Harrington seems like the type of guy worth moving to some place as shitty as Hawkins for; if he was less rich kid asshole and his snooty little girlfriend were to get hit by a car, King Steve would be his fucking dream.

He can’t get Steve out of his head, and the more enamored he becomes with the fucking princess, the less his mom comes around, and when she is around she seems angry. Billy hates having her upset with him, especially since she’s the only thing that makes him feel safe anymore. He downs a few extra pills when he sees her; not enough to do serious damage, but enough to signify a promise. Some day he’ll say yes; it seems to appease her for a while.

——————

The night of the fight, Billy barely makes it home. It makes sense that whatever was in that syringe took a little while to put him on the ground considering it practically takes horse tranquilizers to get him to sleep these days; if he was willing to go anywhere close to Max any time soon, he might think to ask her where the hell she got it, since it seemed to be the good stuff.

He’s just out of it enough to forget how fucking stupid he’ll be if he walks through that door without Max by his side. His first thought is to crawl into his warm bed, his second thought was that he didn’t have the time or energy to run or fight. He’s on the ground fast and he tastes his own blood. He doesn’t know why, but it somehow tastes differently than when Steve had hit him. It doesn’t take long for Neil to back off. He hears Susan get out of the bathroom after her shower and shoves Billy in his room before he can even think.

His mother comes. He says yes. Suddenly he’s pressing the pill bottle to his lips, and for the first time he notices the name on the bottle, the person it was actually prescribed to. Vivian Harrington. Billy can’t help but laugh, the fucking pretty boy probably sold his mom’s sleeping pills for a pretty penny just to piss her off because god knows he didn’t need the money. Somehow he gets it in his head that he needs to see Steve one last time before he goes, that he needs to apologize otherwise he’s no better than Neil.

“Not yet,” he whispers, setting the bottle on the floor; it falls to its side, a few spilling out. Billy’s used to the disappointment his mother feels by now, but he’s burned by a flash of her rage. She calms herself quickly; Billy’s terrified.

“Soon though, right Billy?? We’ll be together soon ??” Billy nods, makes sure to never break a promise to her again, otherwise she might take matters into her own hands.

——————

The concept of seeing Steve’s face one last time takes a while. It starts out with two major problems ; one — the face Billy wants to see isn’t the one that’s all battered and bruised thanks to his fists. Billy wants to see those dimples, and that smooth skin, that award winning smile, the way he rolls his eyes and scrunches his nose up. Steve doesn’t fully heal for at least three weeks. Two — Billy doesn’t actually know how to apologize for shit like this. Neil hasn’t apologized for beating his ass since he was eleven. It takes him almost two months to muster up the courage, and Steve is apparently over it by then, so he forgives him, thank fuck.

He thinks that should be it, time to go home, down a few pills, and actually be with his mother, to see her with his own eyes, to hold her in his arms, for his spirit to feel whole again even as his corpse lies lifeless on the floor. He thinks that’s going to be the case, until Steve awkwardly asks him if he’s going to that party tonight, like he feels obligated to make conversation even though he owes Billy nothing.

Billy feels butterflies but he smirks, stops thinking about what’ll happen after he dies and more about how nice it’ll be to kiss those plush lips before he goes.

“Only if you are pretty boy,” he doesn’t miss the way Steve blushes; he thinks getting to see that is worth dying for. He’ll be happy, so long as his last night on earth is with Steve.

——————

Billy’s last night on earth turns into five months of Steve rearranging his fucking guts with what Billy has affectionately come to call ‘the real king Steve’, and falling in love in with each other in the meantime. Billy’s mother turns dark and angry, and some nights as she sings Billy old lullabies, he can feel himself choking on thin air. He’s being punished, he knows he is in the same way he knows he somehow deserves every injury Neil gifts him, but he can’t let go of Steve.

His mother hates Steve, even though she’s never actually met him. Apparently he smells odd, which sure the Farrah Faucet hairspray has a unique fragrance, and yeah he smells like a lot of spices which is weird for someone who doesn’t actually bake, but Billy likes how Steve smells and his mom doesn’t have to like him. It doesn’t help that Steve has been slowly helping him come off the pills; she doesn’t want him to get better, not when she’s so so lonely, and Billy gets it, he does, because he used to be lonely too. His mother says Steve has stolen her baby away from her and really, she’s not wrong. Billy hopes she never tries to punish Steve should he enter the house.

On their sixth month anniversary, Steve sneaks over to Billy’s house because Billy’s supposed to watch Max, and he can’t exactly ask his dad to let him go out because then he’d have to come up with some bullshit lie that Neil would definitely look into, or admit he turned bitch for Steve Harrington, which probably would result in a very painful death. He isn’t ready to die anymore, not with Steve and certainly not at the hands of either of his parents. So, Steve being the entitled brat that he is decides to make his way over to Billy’s, and Billy is excited, he really truly is, but he’s also scared his mother will suffocate him and he’ll be all alone again.

Neil and Susan aren’t supposed to be back until morning, so they let Max fuck off to her friend’s house, mostly because it’s Hopper’s house too and he’s way more reliable when it comes to keeping kids alive; Steve just got lucky last year, so it’s probably better that way. That, and this way they get to fuck and then fall asleep curled on the couch.

He wakes up to feel a phantom hand around his throat, chokes out “Mom, please, m-mom,” as he tries to gasp for air.

“You promised !!” she growls, and Steve jolts awake. Billy hears Steve mumble something under his breath and then suddenly the woman — his supposed mother — he’s been talking to all these years comes to life, her skin a charcoal black, her eyes hollow. Billy can breathe again, but he almost forgets to.

“Get away from him !!” Steve barks and Billy thinks he sees sparks fly from Steve’s fingertips, but he’s also still dizzy from the lack of oxygen and he’s kind of seeing stars. He barely has time to react before she’s lunging at Steve. He wants to beg for mercy, swear to go with her if she’ll just leave Steve alone, but the words won’t come out. Even more shocking, as she hurdles herself towards Steve, the bright light that originally seemed like small static sparks grows, flowing from Steve’s fingertips without warning, preventing her from touching him. Each time she tries to touch the light, she hisses, until she becomes too weak to keep fighting and retreats; Billy knows she’ll be back, she always comes back.

The first thing Steve does is pull Billy into his lap and check him for any injuries that weren’t already there from Neil. There’s some new bruising around his neck but that’s it. Billy notices that his fingertips are still hot, but they don’t burn, they seem to sooth him, to offer up some relief. After a few moments Steve grabs the blanket they had been sharing, wraps it around Billy, and drags him to the kitchen.

Steve gets to work the second he finds out where Susan keeps all the spices, and Billy moves to sit on the counter and watch him. Billy’s either exhausted, in shock, or far too used to trauma, because he isn’t freaking out like he probably should be.

Ten minutes later Steve is shoving a mug in his face. It smells weird, and if he didn’t just watch Steve make it, he would assume it was that fancy French tea Steve’s mom buys that he always makes him drink after a particularly rough night with Neil. He’s starting to wonder if it’s ever actually been tea. He gets this sick feeling in his stomach, similar to when he found out Neil had been drugging him, except he trusts Steve. He chugs it down, ignores how his fingers twitch when he stops himself from going to grab the bottle of pills he keeps hidden for the really bad nights. After a few moments, the soreness around his throat and in his muscles starts to ease up, the itch for his fix starts to fade and now all he craves is Steve. He doesn’t have to ignore that need for long, not when Steve steps between his legs and holds Billy’s face in his hands, looking concerned.

“How you feeling baby?” Steve questions nervously, and Billy shrugs like he always does, because he feels sad, and scared, and betrayed but nothing hurts anymore, and nothing’s ever going to change, so it’s whatever.

“Baby, I need you to answer me. Creatures like that, they’re really dark and really powerful. I need to know you’re okay,” his thumb brushes gently against Billy’s cheek and normally that would sooth him, but this time Steve’s said something that’s got him worried.

“Creature?”

“Yeah, a shadow beast, a demon. That monster, you saw it right ?”

“She’s not a monster,” Billy argues sadly, because she had just tried to kill him, and it was all too similar to Neil, but this was different, Billy broke his promise.

“Billy it was choking you, of course it’s a monster,” Steve looks concerned but also extremely confused, which sucks because if they both don’t know what the hell is going on, they might be here for a while.

“I told her I would go with her, I told her soon, but I chose you. She’s not a monster, she’s just hurt.”

“What?!” Steve sounds angry then, and Billy jumps at the noise, still on edge from his mother’s hand gripping around his throat less than thirty minutes ago, still skittish from when Neil kicked him in the shin and then the ribs the day before. Steve can’t yell, not when Billy’s still so scared and he knows that, but he’s worried and it’s hard to keep his cool at a time like this. Still, he takes a few moments to steel himself. He looks at Billy with soft eyes, noting that he’s still a bit shaken up, whether he’ll admit that or even notices being a completely different issue, and realizes that he has to be the voice of reason in this situation. “Baby, why would you make that promise? If things have gotten bad again, you can tell me…”

Bad again Steve says and they both hate how it sounds, because if Steve isn’t with Billy, caging him in his arms and keeping him safe, things are never good, but if Billy was feeling suicidal again, that’s something they need to discuss.

“It’s not like that,” and well, that’s not really a lie because most nights the only thing that makes Billy want to give up is sensing his mother’s frustration or feeling Neil’s knuckles kneed and mark his skin. He doesn’t want to die, not if it means leaving Steve behind, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped considering it completely. He swallows hard, pulls Steve closer to him using his ankles that are loosely wrapped around his legs just above his knees, and rests his head on Steve’s chest. “She’s my mom,” he admits, and the whisper is nearly as faint as the breeze creeping in through the open kitchen window.

“No she’s not,” as soon as the words leave Steve’s mouth, tears brim in Billy’s eyes. He didn’t think it would hurt this much, Steve assuming he’s crazy. He saw her though, he knows she’s real, so this isn’t fair. He’s supposed to feel safe with Steve, but now he just feels stupid and small.

“I’m not crazy,” he whines where his head is rested on Steve’s right pectoral. Steve feels the fresh tears dripping down his skin. He hates how it makes Billy tremble. He hushes Billy, kisses the top of his head, and sighs. This night just keeps getting longer and longer.

“No one said you were.”

“But you said…you said she’s not —” Billy cuts himself off, trying to keep from sobbing. If Steve is going to judge him, he’s not going to make it worse by being a cry baby.

“I’m sure she said she was your mom. I’m sure she played her game well, said all the right things, but that thing is not your mother. She’s a leech. She preys on those who are hurting, and she found you when you were at your worst.”

Billy wants to argue, but he clings to Steve, shakes his head because he doesn’t want to believe him, but after what he had just seen, the pieces of this puzzle are starting to come together and it’s scaring him.

“No, y-you’re wrong, I know my own mom Steve, I know her,” he doesn’t though. He can barely remember what she looks like. He simply knows what he wants her to be, and this woman or monster that he’s been talking to was good enough. Three years she’s been whispering in his ear, telling him he was loved and wanted. It was so easy to fall for her.

Steve shakes his head. If the circumstances were different, he might just let Billy lives in blissed out ignorance, but Billy was nearly killed tonight, and he can’t sit idly by and let him believe the woman trying to steal him away is someone worthy of his love. He may not be able to stop Neil, not yet anyways, but he can protect Billy from this bit of darkness. If he were the type to pray, he would be begging God that it’s not too late.

“Listen to me, I don’t know who she is and I don’t care, but she tried to kill you tonight Billy. I’ll bet she’s been trying to for a long time,” he doesn’t miss how Billy whimpers; facing the truth hurts almost as much as a harsh blow from Neil. If he thinks too much he can still feel fingernails digging crescent moons into his flesh, both from his father and this mystery phantom. Steve knows by the way Billy tries to hide himself further in Steve’s bare skin that he’s not wrong. “You trust me right ?? You know me. I’m always going to be here for you, I’m gonna protect you.”

Billy finds comfort in the promise, mostly because it’s always been Steve that he chose above everyone else, and now he’s starting to see why. Steve is the only good decision he’s ever made.

——————

It’s a week later when he’s laying in Steve’s bed and he feels the bed dip with weight. At first he’s relieved; he doesn’t like being alone, especially not in a house as big and lifeless as Steve’s. All relief fades when he doesn’t feel Steve’s familiar warmth washing over him. He begins to shiver and when he rolls over to reach for Steve he is met by a cold black gaze. She’s back, his not-mom is back and she followed him to Steve’s house.

He knows what she wants, but he can’t give it to her, not when he knows she’s nothing to him but a liar, an omen of pain, his own sadistic, impatient reaper. He has no idea where Steve is and he can’t go with her without knowing that Steve is safe.

“Go away,” he tries to sound forceful and angry, but it’s clear to see he’s terrified. The figure beside him smirks.

“Don’t be like that sweetie, I’m just here to collect what’s mine,” she whispers, her tongue practically dripping with sugar, her sickeningly sweet disposition making Billy shrink away.

“I’m not yours, I’m nothing to you,” he knows it’s not smart to mouth off to her, but he’s so hurt and angry, and Steve isn’t there to protect him or talk him down, so he’s just going to shoot off at the mouth until she leaves or kills him.

“Don’t say that,” she growls, grabbing him by the jaw. “I’m more of a mother to you than yours ever was. She’s dead William, she’s rotten flesh, dirty bones in the ground somewhere. And your father ?? He’s nothing, he’s a beast. I’m the one who’s been here !! I’m the one who has looked after you all this time. Me, no one else, not even that pretty little thing. He’ll leave too you know, he’ll realize you’re not worth it. I’m the only one who stays with you, haven’t you learned that by now ?!”

“That’s not true !!” maybe, somewhere deep down, Billy actually believes that, but the words coming out of her mouth aren’t exactly new and original ideas. Billy’s last boyfriend was some thirty year old who beat his ass for ‘breaking in’ when his wife caught Billy asleep in their bed. He hasn’t heard from a single friend from California since he left. Neil might not even come down to the morgue to identify his body if he was found dead in a ditch somewhere. Tommy and Carol might miss him, but they have each other, and short attention spans; they’ll move on fast. Steve is too good for him; he’s been eerily awaiting the day he decides Billy isn’t worth his time anymore.

“You know it’s true, don’t deny it. You made me a promise, and you need to keep it. Maybe they’ll miss you at first, but eventually you’ll just be another sad small town tragedy, like that Barb girl. You don’t matter, not to them, only to me. So come with me, stop playing games.”

“Not here, I can’t do it here.”

“That pretty boy of yours is taking a shower. I’m sure we can sneak out before he’s done. He won’t even notice we’re gone.”

“You’re probably right,” Billy sighs, but it doesn’t stop him from leaving a goodbye letter. She doesn’t seem to mind; she’s too giddy from having finally won their game.

——————

He’s in the kitchen, hands trembling as he faces the options he’s given. There’s the all too familiar pills, a block of kitchen knives, and Neil’s gun.

The pills feel like a betrayal; Steve has worked so hard to help Billy be a better, stronger person, he can’t go out like that.

The gun is messy, and although he knows Neil will get satisfaction out of his death no matter what, he feels like using his father’s bullets gives him too much power.

The knife is messy too, and as much as he loves the idea of being one last inconvenience, one big ugly red stain in Neil Hargrove’s reputation as well as his kitchen tile, he knows it’s going to be Hopper, or Susan, or god forbid Steve, cleaning up his mess.

“I can’t do this,” he bites down on his now bloodied lip as tears spill down his cheeks. “I can’t do this without him, I can’t leave him.”

“Then don’t. Billy, baby, please,” Billy jumps; he hadn’t noticed Steve walk into the house.

Billy hears his demon scoff, but soon she’s chuckling, something thick and dirty, like she knows something he doesn’t. This time Steve can’t hear her. His eyes stay locked on Steve. Billy wishes he could say this was the first time Steve has caught him in a situation like this, but it’s not. This time it’s different though. Billy is closer to death than he’s ever been.

“You know,” she begins, smooth tone wrapping around Billy like velvet. “We could take him too pet. This world, it’s no good for people like you, and we could have a little witch on our team. It could be so much fun, and neither of you will ever be alone again,” she nudges the knives towards him as a gentle hint.

“No, no, not him, please, he’s good,” Billy begs; he won’t mind if his last words, his dying breath are used to protect Steve.

“I know he’s good sweetheart, you’re both so good. Come on, don’t you want him, forever??” She’s always known just what to say. Billy wants him so desperately; he wants to hold Steve and never let go, but more than anything he wants Steve to be safe and happy.

He nods, swallows hard and turns away from Steve.

“Billy, come on, it’s gonna be okay,” Steve’s tone is gentle, cautious, like he’s approaching a scared, caged animal. He’s always known the best way to talk to Billy.

He picks up the butcher knife and turns to Steve. Steve steps back, and Billy can’t blame him. He knows how this looks. Billy’s thought about killing on more than one occasion, but even when he was pummeling Steve with his fists, he was never really the target of his aggression.

“If I do this, you promise it’ll be over?? It won’t hurt anymore ??”

“Yes,” they both whisper, tones soft and patient. Yes, the pain will stop once you shed blood, she means. Yes, the pain will stop if you put the knife down and come to me, Steve means. He wants to believe Steve, but there has always only ever been one clear ending for Billy, and he decides to stop putting it off.

He raises the knife to his throat, and Steve looks more scared than he did when the knife was aimed at him. Steve tries to move quick and stop him, but that just rushes Billy’s shaking hand. The cut is rough and he tastes blood within an instant. It burns and he’s having trouble keeping himself up.

“You’re such a good boy,” the demon finally shows herself to the world, and Steve isn’t surprised, just angry. It’s the last Billy sees of her, because she’s smart enough to leave before getting into another fight with Steve.

The last thing he sees is Steve’s face, so soft and loving. He wishes he weren’t crying, but beggars can’t be choosers. The last thing he feels is Steve cradling and shaking his cold aching body in his warm arms. The last thing he hears is “Baby please, don’t leave me, please. I love you.”

His final thought is one of both guilt and appreciation. There’s no better way to die than by Steve Harrington’s side.

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