#Lost Cuts EP1

[neocatharsis]

< NCT 127: The Lost Boys > Ep1 Mark & ​​Haechan Unreleased Poster Original Cut

#nct #nct 127 #mark #haechan #tlb

[sagewritings]

Car Confessions - Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

pairing: steve harrington x female reader

synopsis: in an attempt to help robin with her crisis in her love life, you and steve set up a plan to help her get closer to vickie. but steve realizes that he might just need the same push with you.

word count: 2.3k

warnings: none, aside from very minimal season 4 spoilers (scenes from s4 ep1 only)

a/n: hello everyone! here’s another steve harrington fic <3 this one is shorter than the one i posted a few days ago, but much more chill. this is sort of like an au where vecna doesn’t happen :)

also, if you’d like to check out my other works, you can check the pinned post in my blog :>

i hope you’ll like this fic! happy reading!

'*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*'

  There is never a dull or quiet moment whenever you are with Steve and Robin.

“And then there’s Heidi tomorrow night, but the problem with Heidi is that she’s going out of state for college. So it’s like, do I really want to start another relationship that has no point other than sex? I mean, I don’t know, does that make sense to either of you?” Steve rambled, looking sideways at you and Robin through his rear-view mirror.

When neither of you spoke, he raised his hands off of the steering wheel.

“Y/n, Robin, are you listening?”

You sighed as Robin ignored him, continuing on her attempts to apply her mascara while holding a small mirror shakily.

“No.” You groaned. “You lost me after talking about ‘Kate’.”

“Cut us some slack, please.” You heard Robin exclaim from the backseat. “It is 7:00 in the morning, we have to go to this stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a total corpse!”

“You’re worried about a basketball pep rally. You expect me to believe that?” Steve gave her a pointed look.

“Yeah… so?”

“We all know what this is about.”

“Who this is about.” You corrected Steve, and both of you chuckled.

“Seriously, Y/n? You’re supposed to be on my side!” Robin threw a glare at you, pushing her head in between you and Steve.

“You know what you got to do? You need to stop pretending to be someone else when you’re around Vickie.” Steve said.

“You’re literally quoting me to me. You do realize that?” She turns her glare to him.

You shook your head as they continued to argue.

“What time is the championship game again?” Steve asked.

“6:00 p.m.” You answered.

“Want me to pick you up?” He offered.

You prepared to nod but stopped yourself after remembering your plans for this afternoon.

As a treat in regards to the pep rally and championship game, the teachers decided to shorten their class periods for today. You initially planned to return to your home after your classes, seeing that there are a few hours to spare before the game.

“Oh, no. I won’t leave the school. I’ll be with Hellfire until the game.” You smiled.

“With the entire Hellfire or just with Eddie?” Robin teased, pinching your arm.

You rolled your eyes, slightly pulling yourself from her grasp. “Seriously, Robin?”

She shrugged and Steve rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to talk, but you know him well enough to figure out what he was going to say next.

“Before you say anything,” You started. “Eddie is a nice guy. Dustin and Mike wouldn’t love him if he wasn’t.”

“Yeah, except he sells drugs.” He pointed out.

You decided not to reply; you’ve lost count on how many times you two have fought about this.

Admittedly, you were wary about Eddie Munson too. His reputation of being held back to the same grade thrice, and selling drugs on school nights isn’t particularly enticing. But that was before Dustin introduced you to him a month ago.

You weren’t a member of the Hellfire Club, but most people have mistaken you as such because of how much time you spent with them. You did this for two reasons; you started to genuinely like their company, and you needed to make sure that Eddie does not give drugs to Mike and Dustin.

You all reached the school a few minutes later, and you immediately spotted Eddie’s wavy hair by the parking lot. You quickly thanked Steve and grabbed your bag, leaving his car in seconds.

Steve watched as you walked toward your friend. He didn’t have anything personal against Eddie Munson, aside from the fact that you’re being way close to him. Despite all your assurance that you and Eddie are just friends, Steve can’t help but feel envious and protective.

“You confuse me.” Steve recoiled slightly on his seat, forgetting that Robin was still seated behind him.

“What?” He asked her.

“I don’t know why you still go out with those random girls when it’s already obvious that you like Y/n,” Robin said as she began to gather her things.

“I don’t like Y/n.” Steve groaned. “At least not in a way that you think.”

“You may be good at talking with girls, but you are not good at lying, Harrington.”

 =====================

 “Are you sure you’re not going?” You asked Eddie as you sat beside him, waiting for Mike and Dustin.

“Nah. Watching little boys toss balls into laundry baskets isn’t really my thing.” He shot you a smile, laughing slightly at his words.

“Alright. Well, I got to go.” You stood up.

“Woah, wait. Are you sure? You know you can stay here for a while longer.” Eddie said, looking up at you.

“I’ve been here for hours, Eddie. Besides, I promised Lucas I’ll attend this game.”

Eddie glowered at his name.

You waved the club goodbye and headed to the gym. While walking, you noticed Steve standing in line for the visitors’ entrance.

“Steve!” You called out, and he turned and smiled upon hearing your voice.

“Y/n.” He said.

You two headed towards the bleachers, taking the seats near the band so you can be closer to Robin.

While the others were tense about the game, your and Steve’s attentions were divided. You would occasionally cheer, especially when Lucas was called to replace an injured player, but your eyes would wander towards where Robin and Vickie whispered to each other.

“Aw, our girl’s finally doing it.” You mutter jokingly to Steve.

He snickered. “Do you think she’s asking her out?”

“They’re just starting to get to know each other, Steve.” You rolled your eyes. It was then that an idea popped into your head. “Hey, let’s go for a milkshake after the game.”

“Sure.” Steve agreed.

“With Vickie.” You continued, giving him a mischievous smile.

“Ooh, I think I know where you’re going with this, Y/l/n.” He laughed, immediately catching up.

You shrugged, still smiling as you look back at the game.

 =====================

Go. You mouthed at Robin.

As soon as the game ended, you pulled her and shared your plan with Steve. Robin was quick to disagree, eyes wide as she looked at a cheering Vickie. You convinced her that it was just going to be casual, allowing her to spend more moments talking with the girl. After a full minute of contemplation, Robin eventually agreed.

Now, with almost everyone leaving the gym, you quickly motioned for Robin to ask Vickie who was cleaning up her things.

You and Steve watched from your seats, observing the smile and nods between the girls. When Robin pointed at the two of you and Vickie followed her hand, you and Steve waved.

You were giddy the whole time. It was as if you were the one who would be bonding with your crush. Well, technically, that was right too.

Having a crush on your best friend is the most cliche thing ever; you used to think that until it happened to you. But unlike the others, it wasn’t just Steve Harrington’s glorious hair that caught your attention.

You lost count of how many times he openly placed himself in harm’s way just to protect his friends, especially you and the kids. You witnessed him try to fix his mistakes, and you were probably the only person he allowed to see him cry. And regardless of all the silly fights, he shared with Robin, he would still take an additional shift at the Family Video so she won’t be alone.

Naturally, you kept your feelings quiet. Though, you might have slipped a few times because Robin and the kids would often tease you silently.

The ride to the diner took around fifteen minutes, and you were happy that Vickie was at ease with all of you the entire time.

“Two strawberry and two chocolate milkshakes, please,” Steve said to the waitress, shooting her a small smile as he ordered. The lady smiled back at him, returning with the milkshakes a few moments later.

Despite the diner being almost empty, the booth that the four of you chose is located at the corner. You and Steve sat beside each other, facing Robin and Vickie.

“Are you dating anyone?” Robin blurted, and her eyes widened after realizing her words. Before she could reply, Vickie laughed and shook her head.

“Nope.” She said casually as she sipped on her shake, then she turned to you and Steve. 

“How about you two?”

Your eyes snapped back between her and Steve, stuttering for an answer. You didn’t know whether she was asking if you and Steve were together, or separately.

“Oh! I’m not dating anyone either.” You chuckled.

Steve uttered the same, cheeks slightly flushed as he distracted himself with his shake.

Meanwhile, Robin’s panicked expression turns into a smug one, a smirk planted on her face as her eyes darted back between you and the boy.

You glared at Robin, asking Vickie a question about the band to redirect the topic.

The next minutes were filled with questions between the four of you, and it seemed that Vickie and Robin are similar in more ways than one. They even shared a simultaneous “no!” when Steve pulled out his wallet to pay, saying that the drinks are his treat.

“Hey, wanna leave them alone for a while?” Steve whispered to you, ensuring that either of the girls couldn’t hear.

You raised your brow. “How?”

“Just follow me.” He said simply, sitting up straight as his voice got back to its normal volume. “Hey, I’ll just check something in my car. I’ll wait for you guys there.”

He stood up, and you three girls nodded your head. He discreetly motioned for you to follow him and you nodded your head, waiting a few seconds after he stepped out of the diner.

“I’ll go check on Steve.” It was your turn to stand, earning a smile from Vickie and a squinted smirk from Robin. “I’ll see you outside. Take your time.”

You hastily walked out, and you caught sight of Steve sitting on the driver’s seat.

“You think your plan worked?” He asked you with a smile as you sat beside him.

“Definitely.” You proudly grinned.

His eyes went from yours to something behind you. No, someone. There were two blonde girls, laughing as they entered the diner. 

“Do you know them?” You asked, confused and slightly saddened but still keeping a neutral expression.

“Only one of them. The one with the red bag is Heidi.”

Your eyes widened, recognizing the name from your conversation earlier this morning. “No way. Heidi? Heidi for tomorrow night?”

He shrugged, reclining his seat back.

“Does it work?” You asked him quietly.

“Does what work?” Steve looked at you.

“Going out with many girls until you find someone you like.”

“I guess. It works in helping me find the characteristics I like and don’t like. But that’s it.”

“Do you think you found her?” You picked up one of your legs and tucked it under the other, allowing you to fully face him. When he shot you a confused look, you continued. “You know, ‘the one’?”

Steve’s face softened. “I think I did.”

You felt your insides turn, in a bad way. It already pains you to see him with other women every night. But him saying that he might have found the right one for him, makes you ache even more.

What you didn’t know is that Steve is also trying to maintain his calmness. He has been thinking about Robin’s words before she left his car this morning, and he immediately canceled his future dates after he made up his mind.

He was scared; he was probably more scared of coming forward to you than facing the giant Mind Flayer several months ago. But he couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to hug you and kiss you, pull you closer to him whenever you needed someone’s shoulder. Most of all, he wanted to be honest.

“Really?” You asked, trying to keep your tone positive.

“Mhm. Never realized it until this morning, actually.”

You raised a brow in question, and he took it as a sign to continue.

“Y/n…” He started. He looked like he was about to close his mouth again but then he took a big sigh. “What I’ll say may or may not ruin our friendship, but I’ve spent way too much stalling already and I want to be honest.”

You felt your heart pump faster at his words, but you gave him an encouraging nod.

“I like you. And not just in an ‘I-like-you-as-a-friend’ type, but ‘I-would-like-to-take-you-out-on-a-date’ type. And if you don’t feel the same, that’s okay! T-that’s cool. It’s just… you’re beautiful and smart and funny and I’ve realized I liked you since that day you took Max and El out to the mall. Then I thought that I could set aside what I feel for you by going with other girls but I can’t. And I’m sorry if this all sounds like it came out of nowhere, Robin knocked some sense into me earlier–”

You cut off Steve’s rambling by holding his hand, your face beaming.

“Steve.” You softly said his name and his eyes widened, thinking that this is going to be the last day of your friendship. You never thought that you would ever see Steve Harrington nervous as he confesses to a girl.

“Did I say something wrong?” He asked.

You shook your head sideways, still smiling. “I like you too, Harrington. Not in an ‘I-like-you-as-a-friend’ type, but ‘I-would-like-to-go-on-a-date-with-you’ type.”

Steve’s eyes twinkled, his smile reached from ear to ear as he processed your words. He pulled you to him, as close as possible with the gear controls between you. You two laughed softly, pulling away when you heard the bell of the diner’s entrance.

You spotted Robin and Vickie walking towards Steve’s car, almost hip to him beside each other. 

Steve looked at you, faking an annoyed expression but still keeping a smile on his face. “I guess I gotta thank Robin.”

“You really do.”

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things season 4 #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington fic #steve harrington one shot #stranger things fic #steve harrington fanfiction #robin buckley #robin x vickie #steve harrington season 4

[rabbiitte]

I've seen a lot of people reacting to the "your friends love you" part and laughing or finding it weird. Of course, it's a matter of perspectives, but..

I do think Boston's friends love him for who he is.

Let's start from the premise that I do believe Mew loves him. In fact, I think this is the reason why Mew is so much harder on Ton than he is on Top. Mew, while always judging Ton's lifestyle (due to his personality and the way he was raised), never rejected or discriminated him for that. In fact, he never thought badly of Boston because of it, it never occurred to him that Ton could sleep with Top because he considered Ton his friend. This is why Mew constantly encourages Boston to settle, because he wants the best for him (and "the best", for Mew, is his lifestyle). However, Mew never tries to force him to change. Actually, he doesn't even try (as he tells Cheum in EP7).

Boston and Ray's friendship is complicated because we don't have a lot of information about their relationship. We know they're close because Ton tells Ray about his one-night stands. At the same time, despite Ray's claim on EP9 that he is thick-skinned, it hurts him when Ton tells him that he's a burden on EP1. Ray does slut-shame Boston on EP6, even though he had never expressed rejection of Ton's lifestyle before (let's keep in mind Boston shared his experiences with Ray), maybe he did it to hurt him or maybe he really feels it. However, what is not debatable, is that at the beginning of the series they were friends and I think Ray was very accepting of Boston's lifestyle.

Ton appreciates his friends and misses them, we've seen it. Ton never wanted to hurt Mew by sleeping with Top, otherwise he would have told him directly (this was more related to a sense of personal fulfillment or perhaps, to possible self-sabotaging tendencies in order to be able to cut all ties before going to America). However, Ton was always terrified that Mew would find out.

When Ray found out, Boston insisted to Ray that he didn't really hate Mew and when Top told him that he just wanted to be superior to Mew, he denied it and decided to stop bothering Top (perhaps because the way he acted gave the impression that he hated Mew when he really didn't, so he felt offended). Also, Boston continues to frequent his friends and allows them to yell, vent and public humiliate him as long as their relationship returns to the way it was before.

In EP7, before the pool scene, Boston is outraged when his friends don't seem to want him anymore. He feels betrayed because his friends were supposed to accept him as he was but they easily turned away from him when he acted according to his nature. This, within Boston's reasoning, makes no sense. He doesn't understand the fact that his friends don't hate him because of who he is, but because of the way he acts that causes them pain.

Therefore, Boston, who always sought validation and affection, lost the affection of some of the most important people in his life and this makes him feel empty. Boston doesn't believe Nick when he tells him that his friends love him for who he is, that's why he looks away while seems to doubt/reflect about it. The fact that his friends don't love him for who he really is, is one of Boston's deepest insecurities.

#only friends the series #only friends series #only friends series ep 9 #only friends #ofts #only friends meta #only friends boston #ofts meta #boston #ton #mew #ray #nick #neo #book #khaotung #mark #gmmtv #thai bl #meta

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group J Round 1: #J4 vs #J5

#J4: Kids conquering dungeons to change the world

A Magi is a magician whose inclination toward magic is so immense that they can be said to shape the world. With their significant influence, each Magi chooses a worthy candidate to become a king, then helps them conquer strange labyrinths called "Dungeons" and acquire the power of mythical djinns within. Above all else, the Magi supervises their elected representative as they build a country that might one day bring the world to its knees.

Aladdin is a young Magi wandering the world in search of his true self. However, his journey is not a lonely one, as he is accompanied by his friend and mentor Ugo—a djinn he summons using his flute. On his travels, Aladdin also befriends Alibaba Saluja and guides him to a nearby Dungeon. With this newfound friendship, they begin an epic adventure across the world, witnessing various irregularities that seem more frequent than ever.

#J5: Girls live in a school, but not by choice

Carefree high school senior Yuki Takeya looks forward to the School Living Club every day. Consisting of the president Yuuri Wakasa, the athletic Kurumi Ebisuzawa, the mature Miki Naoki, the supervising teacher Megumi Sakura, and club dog Taroumaru, the club prides itself on making the most of life at school. There is only one rule the club members have to follow: all members must live their entire lives within school grounds.

[Admin: I didn’t notice it while screening the submissions, but the submitter’s original trailer and tagline contained MAJOR spoilers for episode 1. Luckily, I’ve watched this show before, so I can edit it safely.]

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#J4: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Propaganda 1:

Imagine characters from Arabian Nights/1001 Nights coming to life in an anime. Even though it is loosely inspired off of the tales, it is a unique time and place from most anime settings. It has action, humor, and deep concepts. One of my favorite parts about Magi is how well-developed the background characters are.

Propaganda 2:

This anime has a lot of philosophical takes on what fate is. Basically, is everything that happened to you caused by a force you can’t control or is it what you make of it? Is there something or rather someone pulling the strings on what should or shouldn’t be? Is the person you are because you were lucky or unlucky to be born in the wealthy family or not? Why are things the way they are? Why was I dealt with a shitty hand in life? Is it because I’ll never amount to anything, or is something doing this to me? Why are we here just to suffer kind of deal, but you know not the meme version, the really sad and real version. Then you have the side of the people who may have not had the best life, but found a way out of it. Why do some people get to feel the light when you went through the same thing, but still lost and in the dark?

Trigger Warnings: Partial nudity and slavery. One of the mains is a slave in the beginning, but the other two mains help free her from that.

#J5: School-Live! (Gakkougurashi!)

[Admin: The official trailer spoils ep1, so here, have the opening instead.]

Propaganda:

If you like Madoka Magica, you’ll 100% like this series. It’s hard to explain without spoilers, but it has a huge plot twist in the first episode. The anime is a short one with only 12 episodes, but it has an amazing manga as well! It mixes a cute slice of life high school anime with a darker plot, and it’s handled so well. It doesn’t seem like it’s just dark for the sake of being edgy like some other similar series. It covers topics like mental health and grief well, and it has as happy of an ending as possible for a series like this. The plot twists were executed so well, and I was sobbing by the end of the series.

Trigger Warnings: Animal Cruelty or Death, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Derealization.

[Admin: I had to remove the submitter’s explanations for the TWs because it will spoil the show greatly. You're on your own now. Proceed at your own risk.]

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

#anime #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #animated show #group stage #group stage round 1 #tournament polls #group j #magi #magi the labyrinth of magic #magi: the labyrinth of magic #school-live! #school live #gakkou gurashi #gakkougurashi

[coniangray]

The proud princess, the lost knight and the flowers in the cave

In s1 ep 8, the party plays DND and after they finish their campaign, Dustin, Lucas and Will respectively asked what happened to the lost knight, the proud princess and those wierd flowers in the cave.

Now, I do believe that the order they said this and who said what is also symbolic, but first I want to start with this general symbolism:

We only see one knight in the whole show, and he was also crowned as the leader, the heart of the group, who is only mike wheeler in the painting with the whole party fighting the thessalhydra/tiamat.

So, in those words, mike is the knight.

It doesn't take much to realize that the proud princess is El, given how she's the only one who not only turned out proud of her powers and who she is as a whole by the end of s4, but also the only one involved with flowers.

The weird flowers in the cave:

In s4 ep1, El mentions how she missed the spring flowers in Hawkins, but she finds it pretty in Lenora too

In s4 ep2, mike, after reading the letter El sent him, collects a bouguet of purple, yellow and pink flowers to gift to El once he'd arrive in Lenora.

(tagged from mike)

In s4 ep9, the flowers "in the cave" are rotting, as the upside down is taking over and bleeding into Hawkins, therefore destroying what they know as their reality.

So, what about them?

The flowers in the begging of s4 are bloomed, untouched by any upside down infection, but yet had to be cut in order to be given as a gift. This mugh be me over exaggerating, but I do think that cutting the flowers (in this case having someone else to do it, since that wasn't Mike's handwriting in the card to begin with, aka he most likely told Karen to buy flowers from Hawkins/ just a hc) might be him pretending that everything is great in their relationship.

BUT

The flowers literally rot in the end of s4, and as we see, El is in front of the others while mike is standing next to will

Therefore, the proud princess has finally accepted herself and therefore is proud of that.

The lost knight is still lost, unable to figure out his unrequired love for the cleric.

And the flowers are rotting.

And the cave?

I'd like to believe that the cave is the upside down itself. This is the blind leading the blind but I'd love to think how the "cave" works as a metaphor for either the gates or the upside down to complete this sense of closeness and fear of the unknown.

Who said what, and why they said it:

This is most likely stupid, but I think that Lucas saying about the lost princess emphasizes the foreshadowing of him trying to get mike back with el in s3 and that Dustin saying the knight also respectively foreshadows him and Mike joining hellfire and coming closer by time.

To add insult to injury, I think that will said the flowers in the cave to foreshadow the love triangle between will, mike and el and the whole situation with the flowers in s4.

Now reminder that this was just a silly scene as a conclusion to s1 which can also mean nothing, but I think the duffers give a laugh about those subtle hints about this scene.

If you want more info about el's letter and how she covered her hard time in Lenora with lies targeted towards mike, you can click here

#byler theory #no beta we die like my respect for noah schnapp #byler #ao3 #your son looks like a girl #els letter to mike #dnd #the wierd flowers in the cave #the proud princess #the lost knight #paladin #cleradin #mileven #mike wheeler #will byers #eleven hopper #willelmike #coniangray #theory #strangetr things #stranger things #stranger things theory #theories #flowergate #knightgate #princessgate #lovegate #lovegates #mileven breakup #inspo core

[mofffun]

Kingohger Movie spoiler log

every shot and line i remember in order. reminder lines might not be 100% accurate

started with Gira staring at Rainoir's statue in the Shugoddom throne room. He looks uncertain.

Jeramie is sitting on a spider-string attached across the giant gears to the throne's right

Jeramie jumps down and asks Gira what he wants to do as King

Rita and Douga enter to tell Gira it's time for the coronation

Coronation

Ep1 Kings march scene (Kagu, Himeno, Yanma)

the three chitchat. Himeno complains about making her go outside and Kagu says it's Gira's idea to show the people their kings.

As Kaguragi sits down, a kuroko helps straigten his sleeve.

Gira arrives in Kuwagon

Ceremony starts. Gira's march is interrupted by Debonica and her song

Debonica introduces herself all solemnly as the navigator of the underworld but Gira is just happy to reunite with a childhood friend. The public looks confused.

Debonica used to live in the orphanage/grew up with Gira. She is older than Gira but always lazy and didn't help out.

"I'm here to bring Gira Husty to meet his ancestor and the 5 kings to the Underworld"

reaction shot of Yanma, Hime, Kaguragi looking interested (as if they knew??? ← my interpretation)

Debonica sings and a space whale flies them to Haaka Baaka. The whale is like a zeppelin and what hangs under is a circular disc the kings stood on (like one side of a scale). Rita keeps looking at the direction they came (their back to camera)

Gira recalls the orphans throwing a birthday party for Debonica but she never showed up. Flashback shot shows Gira waking up from a nap and in front of him on the table is the simple homemade birthday cake with a bite taken. Himeno asks if they are "just" childhood friends

Debonica seems upset and sings again, a rectangular dimension gate appears in the sky [Kagu's trailer line about Underworld's gate only opens when a new King of Shugddom is crowned]

Arriving in the Underworld

Haaka Baaka is this floating space with no up/down (a mix of zero gravity/underwater) and ghosts turn into jellyfish-like creatures and fly around. There're ruins of the five castles in the bkg.

Gira, Yanma, Rita land [trailer spinning shot]. Rita asks where did Himeno and Kaguragi go.

Ashes version of Bugnarok foot soldiers appear and attack the trio. They seem to be in a bit of trouble with each of them being grabbed by three foot soldiers or more.

[Aoto said they shot more of wings out-of-suit action here but ended up being cut. When he's in trouble from the enemy dragging his arm so hard it hurts, he turned around and saw Rita doing clean slashes and posing cooly so he felt left out 😅]

Rainoir appears and with a flick of his arm disintegrated the enemy. Each step he goes, a new block materialises from ashes under his foot.

Yanma says the Husty name with weight while Gira recognizes Rainoir as one of the heroes that saved Chikyuu 2000years ago

Debonica calls Rainoir "my king" and Rainoir invites Gira to tell him about the truth of Chikyuu's history as the new generation of Shugddom King

Yanma says "interesting" but the gate closed before he and Rita can enter

Rita: 帰るか Yanma: はやい?!

Rita: Are we leaving. Yanma: Too soon!

Gira meets Rainoir

Debonica was sent to monitor Gira but Gira still thinks of her as an older sister and makes fun of it. [Trailer line give up throne] → cut to wings scene 1

Debonica pinched Gira's cheeks and urged him to just go along like a good kid. Gira hesitates and thought Debonica was just being playful. Debonica said the moment he hesitates, he has lost the right ro be king. But it's alright because Rainoir will take over.

Rainoir explained he understood Gira is a kind person, then showed Gira a vision of people dying to persuade him into handing over the throne

Gira is still not sure because he barely had time to consider. Debonica said it's enough, sang again and a sand glass thing flipped around and they landed on the platform shown in trailer's final fight

Rainoir raised his sword on Debonica and Gira ran to block it out of reflex to his own bewilderment.

Rainoir explained since he's only a spirit so he needs Debonica's "existence" to revive in the physical realm. Gira challenged if that means Debonica will die but she disagreed angrily and insisted that it's fine because it is her destiny

Gira hesitates but took Debonica's hand and runs away

Rainoir commented there's no where to go. The Realm of Death is (a living forest?) → cut to Himeno in a forest

Wings scene

<- Debonica asks Gira to give up the throne

--part 1--

Bkg: underwater N'kosopa

Rita runs with both arms raised straight in the air. [trailer line: want to leave but no exit]

Yanma in foreground studying electronics. [Trailer line about creating a breaking point/picking a lock]

Yanma asks Rita to hand him a cable. Rita asks which one. Close up shot of Rita turning their head side to side in search

Cut to wide shot as each way Rita turns, they find themself in a new colour of a broken Saiban Court. x3 times

many many black skeletons fly towards rita, trailer shot of rita scream → cut to Gira's everyone dead vision

--part 2--

<- follows Kaguragi part 1

(Yanma and Rita are both physically in the underwater N'kosopa space but only Rita can see/hear/enter the vision of Dead Gokkan)

Rita misao pose + cover ears + heavy breathing. Yanma pulls them out of the vision by their back collar.

Rita falls back and lies on the ground facing up

Yanma: You saw something?

Rita: People I put on trial. The dead of Gokkan must hate me.

Yanma: Eh? The Chief Justice cold as ice is afraid of ghosts?

Rita: *catching their breath*

Yanma: Don't mind the things you can't see. Just take on what's in front of you now. How about that?

Rita: I, have a duty.

Yanma: Is that it? *smirk*

(cut to Rita turning towards a sky of flying screaming black skeletons) Rita: These are all, Moffun.

Yanma discovers the spider web Jeramie attached onto his waist before their departure (with a face of disgust)

-> Gira and Debonica scene

Himeno's farewell

Himeno walking in a normal forest and two jellyfish fly towards her. Her parents appear in royal attire and embrace her.

The three are framed inside an ishbana emblem petal.

Himeno: Papa, Mama, I've wanted to see you. 会えたかったよ

Papa: I am sorry (for making you wait that long). I can't let you go/ There is no way back. ごめんな　もう帰さない

environment shifts to dead forest → cut to Kaguragi

--part 2 with Sebastian--

← follow Kuroda scene

[trailer line: i came here to say goodbye.]

"Farewell without Sayonara is not beautiful." (note: sayonara means the never see each other again kind of goodbye)

Papa ghost asks Himeno to stay here forever

"My favourite things are still in Ishababna. The things I want are still plenty to come. I'll see you. bye bye." (またね is bye when you will see the person again.)

["mata ne. bye bye." is not scripted and improvised on set with director according to Erica. and the "too late" remark as well.]

Sebastian: you returned your parents' favour (恩 <- not sure how to translate it, the asian concept of that the parents' care for you is a blessing (and you should be grateful for it)) <- heard this wrong

edit post-release 6/12 : Sebastian simply said "I've come to [receive/greet] your return"

Sebastian brings her her sword and Himeno said it took him too long.

-> cut to ritamoru

Kaguragi

Toufu palace. Already burning unexplained. Iroki waits on the throne.

Iroki: Traitor. Good job stealing my country.

Kaguragi: Outono. It is you who took all the food, the life of Toufu, for yourself. It is you who betrayed the people.

Iroki: And you dirty your hands for this throne. What are you after?

Kaguragi: For the people! For my country!

*iroki evil laughs* (something about one day the same will happen to you) → cut to Wings part 2

--part 2 with Kuroda--

← follows Shiokara scene

The words are too fast for me but the meaning i get was Kaguragi reminiscing about what kind of (selfish) ruler Iroki was, but he is a man who is not afraid of dirtying his hands, that's how he earned the name of Toufu's Outono.

Kuroda does a backflip and kicks the image of Iroki into ember.

-> cut to Himeno & Sebastian

Gira and Debonica

Gira took Debonica somewhere safe and Debonica explained it was her destiny to become a vessel for Rainoir as she turns 20. That's why she never showed up at the birthday party.

Gira refused to accept and asked her to return with him

Debonica hit him and repeated that this is for the best of everyone, that this is what she wished.

The two started tickling each other. Gira said something about the cake that made her hesitate and Gira said thank you

Rainoir followed them here and asked if Debonica has made up her mind. She said yes.

→ cut to Aides scene

Aides - Shiokara

Yanma connects a cable with the spider web and succeeded in making a video call to the living world. He asks Shiokara, who had the lie detector on, to tell a big lie right now

Shiokara returns a "Now?" then do it immediately.

The lie so big that killed him is "Yanma-kun is the strongest at brawls" 喧嘩最強　ヤンマくん!

Shiokara shut the door on arrival. "DON'T!!! THAT WAS OUR WAY OUT OF HERE SUKAPON TANUKI!" "SORRY!"

the other three aides evasdrop classic three heads behind a wall style

Aides - Kuroda

Aides - Sebastian

Aides - Morfonia

Rita & Morfonia

<- follows Himeno & Sebastian

Rita heavy breathing. center close-up. hair blown by strong wind. hand cover ears. mask half down so you can see their nose and upper lip [movie still]

Morfonia: "Ritaaa~ listen closely." (ちゃんと聞いて)

Rita gasps. profile facing right took up half the screen. a small black ghost fly towards them and whispered. "Thank you, Chief Justice." ありがとう　裁判長　(you can glimpse at the blue eye through the messed up hair).

Rita relaxes stop gasping and froze.

Morfonia pulls them up by both of their wrists with a gyaaaa

Morfoina: Seems like among the dead, you are quite popular 😊

Rita nervously pulls their bangs down to cover the blue eye

-> Rainoir & Gira

Rainoir & Gira

Rainoir: Sacrificing one person can save the whole of humanity. Will you rob them of their bright future? a chance of having a family?

Gira: Is that what it was like in your time. Living in this world is hell. Future. Happiness. Those that have those set for them are only strong people like you. In this unsensible world, it's full of sadness and hurt and the unfortunate. The one that made our world like this, is the first king like you. If you think anyone can be easily sacrificed, than watch me destroy 2000 years of history. [trailer line]

Rainoir said bad guy things and "yabbari the king of chikyuu has to be me". the two fight and Debonica tries to make them stop.

Gira promises to bring Debonica back to the living world and make her another cake. She questions why for such a small thing. Gira says it's not small. In a world just like hell, it is the small happiness that gave us hope to live on. "To protect such small happiness, that is the king I will become."

Gira closes and opens his eyes again and jesus light falls onto him

Gira's hair falls down on his left (our right) and he looks SO EVILISH GOOD.

↑ basically that 'raise sword + mantle falls + rule the world speech' in tv but without mantle

the two men fight and Gira asks Debonica to choose who the Crown should go to.

the two transfroms. Rairnoir's transformation is all the ash bugs accumulate on him and he has a monster form like a gladiator.

INFERNO (movie ver.) plays

Debonica throws the crown towards Gira. "I want to live! My king is Gira!"

The others arrive and Gira & co. all say one signature line

Jeramie arrives following spider web on Yanma

Final fight

it's cool trust me.

Kaguragi butt-butting the enemy again

himerita team has three shots

blue white slash from right to left and rita shoots arrow from the opposite side

no mecha fight

soundtrack v1t1 + t24 (waking the king instrumental)

Rainoiru: That path of yours, can you save the people?

Gira: I promise, as the King to a new legacy.

Epilogue

Jeramie narrates in an empty Shugoddom throne room (kinda like ep20 end) as Coronation goes again

Orphans here. Kogane crying

trailer shots of Gira sitting on the throne

Gokkan's throne is there too and Morfonia makes Rita fake-clap by holding their hands

moments of silence when Douga puts the crown on Gira and just after he sits on the throne.

closing words from Jeramie: no one knows what will happen next. even then, he can only go forward in the path of king (王道) he chose.

no op/ed. cast & crew credits played during opening coronation scene.

Debonica eating the cake she deemed too sweet before and says shiawase.

#no spell check and i switch tenses #i can't post pics yet but i marked where the trailer stuff appear if i get the chance i'll do a better report #kingohger #kingohger spoilers #kingohger movie #adventure heaven #ohsama sentai king ohger #tokutrip

[atlailx]

HUGE BANG BRAVE BANG BRAVERN SPOILERS (Hopefully I put the read more thing on right, i still don't 100% know how to use tumblr)

So I just sat and binged watched this entire show, I have NEED to just talk about it because it's just so good.

Ok i went into this calling it the gay robot show bc i had seen so many people talk about it like that (they’re not wrong) but it was so much more than just a silly little mecha show. I totally called the save in ep1 where braven appeared. Like once the huge attack started i said “oh the main character is gonna get hurt and about to be killed and the giant robot is gonna appear and save him” and i was totally right. Then in ep2 (i think) when superbia showed up, i really just thought “oh cool this guy looks sick, sucks that he's gonna die and never appear again” BUT I WAS THANKFULLY WRONG. Up until smith's death, i was totally under the impression that smith would be the one to bond with superbia, like i was thinking “oh this deathdrive is gonna attack smith and almost kill him then superbia is gonna show up and save him parallel to braven and isami” but i was caught SO off guard by the plot twist. I was analyzing the break animation and thought “oh both smith and isami are (nakey) that means smith is gonna pilot a bot,” but NO, i'm so glad it ended up being that braven is future smith. Which huge credit to the writers for putting foreshadowing FROM THE BEGINNING. Like they pulled it off so well. A proper reveal HAS to be foreshadowed, and having bravens FIRST convo with isami mention how he already knows isami’s name is perfect. AND how when braven encountered superbia, HE KNEW HIS NAME. BECAUSE HE'S SMITH. AND BEFORE FUTURE SMITH DIED HE KNEW SUPERBIA. It genuinely surprised me. And even once it was revealed that smith WAS braven i literally lost my mind. I did not expect it, but it makes so much sense. Then once it was revealed that lulu was from the future, i actually started to care about her character. Before that reveal i really hated her, like she was just straight up annoying, but after future lulu arrived she became a WAY better character. Especially with the “flashbacks” (if you can really call them that since they’re a future from an alternate universe) of lulu and superbia having an adorable familial relationship.

AND this was foreshadowed too. THE STUPID LITTLE GAGAPI THING LULU SAYS? THAT'S THE DEATH DRIVE LANGUAGE. LULU IMMEDIATELY LIKING SMITH? BECAUSE SHE KNEW IT WAS BRAVEN. While I do love braven and isami, something about superbia just scratches my brain. I kinda just saw him and decided “yeah this dude's my favorite.” I doubt the show will have a s2 because of the ending, but I'd love a short series about the future lulu came from and how things went down there. I want to know more about a future where superbia became the remaining hero, and I NEED to just see how it would play out. I love the parallels between superbia and braven too, like visually, where superbia does the same pose as braven after he destroys the tower.

Even though the episodes were only about 25 minutes long in length, the show felt long, and the episodes didn’t feel disconnected from each other. I never felt like the transition from episode to episode was unnatural, and the pacing was mostly good. I understand that as the show went on and braven/isami became stronger, it was easier and easier to defeat the death drives, but there was some disconnect from how long the Pessimism/whatever the other guy's name was fight versus how long the Ira fight was. And yes, it did feel longer because it kept cutting to smith, but the double death drive fight felt so easy? Like they did not seem to pose as much of a problem as superbia but the fight took forever. The ending did feel a little rushed, and would have benefitted from a longer season or runtime, but what we got was good. Before this, i've never really seen a show of this type (a gundam/mech pilot show) i really only watched it because the TF accounts I follow were talking about it, so maybe it's a common thing in these type of shows for the characters to basically go super saiyan, but it felt weird. WHY DID THEY BECOME GOLD??? They could’ve just gotten brighter colors. Speaking of the ending, I love that lulu had no idea about vita purely because in her future, superbia never died, which yes i know that was intentional, but its just cool to me. This show makes me want to watch more of this genre, even though the rep might not be present in a lot of the older shows.

#bang brave bang bravern #braven #bang bravern spoilers

[leafwateraddict]

Sonic Prime theory sonce I cant stop thinking about it.

So i was rewatching Shattered (Ep1), and was looking for hints of what could have possibly happened to Amy in order for her to have been turned into a Cyborg, and I think I have a pretty good idea.

When Sonic first arrives in New Yoke, and is confronted by robots, one of them says, “stand down or be disassembled.” I’m going to assume thats just another word for “roboticize” though I doubt that term is ever going to be used in the show.

But anyways, I was looking in the background for more clues, and I notice that not a single citizen is disassembled like Rusty. And maybe it could be because the same few background character models are being used, but it seems pretty weird to me that in a city that is so dystopian, no citizens would have any physical damage from the robots that constantly threaten their lives if they (quite literally) fall out of line.

And I kept thinking, what if theres a reason for that? What if there was something so traumatizing to every citizen of New Yoke that it all struck a fear in them so strong they lost any will to fight back? What if the reason that most citizens are compliant is that they don’t want to end up like someone who wasn’t?

Basically, what im trying to get at here is… What if the Council disassembled Amy and turned her into Rusty Rose as an example?

More on this under the cut

When Sonic asks what happened to her, she tells him it was a “survival required adaptation” and it makes me think that either one of two things happened. Either she was seriously injured, or thats something that she is programmed to say in response to that question, and though I don’t doubt that as a possibility, lets consider that she’s telling the truth for a second.

If she did somehow get seriously injured, why would the Chaos council, of all people help her? Especially considering that she was more than likely a rebel in the past…

Looking back at how the council puts Sonic through several series of tests… its like they’re looking for his greatest strengths and weaknesses. And right before that Rusty said it was a “survival required adaptation, as you will soon learn.”

She actually gives him ample advice throughout most of their interaction.

Theres also a considerable pause between “It will only end badly” and “for him”?? I feel like that’s another part of it but I can’t quite figure it out..

She also outright says that the tests are life endangering when she suggests them…

Was Amy put through the same rigorous tests as Sonic was once? And if that is the case, was she seriously injured during one of the tests and then modified to fix those injuries…? Or was it the plan all along to make her this way..?

#sonic prime #sonic prime spoilers #netflix sonic prime #sonic prime theory #sonic prime netflix #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #rusty rose

[yondamoegi]

Dungeon Meshi ep1 first impressions

I like the artstyle, it has pencil-like lines and pleasant warm colors. It all looks soft and fairy-tale like

I like the voices, I think they suit the characters well (oh boy there's english dub, I didn't notice that. I don't like that one.... Wait is that ProZD as Senshi? Nice. Marcille tho, Marcille sounds too different. Though I lost my ability to watch while reading subs, I'll have to watch the show with a dub)

I like the animation so far, I hope it's not the first episode syndrome where they put a lot of effort into the first episode to draw in the viewers and then drop the quality as the show goes on

Speaking of animation, I understand the reasons they cut some corners. The visuals are pretty so the cut corners aren't that noticeable and it can be viewed as the usual anime stylization

The food does look delicious, thank goodness

I don't really like the pacing, it feels a bit too fast. I don't like the pacing of many shows lately so it might be a me problem (but tbh my sense of pacing is impeccable, that's one thing my professors praised me for)

The cuts between the frames can be confusing in some places

The gag beat with Marcille on the second floor was hilarious

#silly talks

[echantedtoon]

Demon Bride Ch32 Gathering Of The Kizuki

(This will HEAVILY reference s3 ep1 of Demon Slayer.

WARNINGS!!!:Gore, fighting , decapitation, limbs being cut off, some innuendos, blood, threats, cussing, and Enmu,Karaku, and Douma ARE their own warnings.)

"Here. Make sure you eat up now. You'll need it for energy later."

"I like these hot pots. I want to have to soups filled with eggs and meats and mushrooms all the time." No sooner had the small child said that a large chunk of steak was shoved into his mouth.

"Take it easy there, Rui. I don't want you choking on your food now."

The child only nodded with his cheeks puffed out vigorously chewing as a hand patted his back. Rui was all better now! No fevers or sickness anywhere in sight. You had to admit it. Enmu's medicine actually worked wonders! The only thing that concerned you was making sure he ate and slept enough which was the easy parts. However you did get lost on the way back and were a few hours late but it all worked out in the end. Now it had nearly been three days later and things were going rather well. Now it only seemed like you had to wait for Akaza to arrive. Which would be sooner than you think. After all the day had just started and you and Rui had just eaten breakfast (or in Rui's case gone for an entire pot) but it was good his appetite was back. However you weren't expecting the knock on your door or for the door to open and reveal the old lady whom ran the whole sanctuary on the other side.

"Pardon me, Miss," she spoke with a small bow, "I'm sorry for the interruption but you have a very important visitor."

"Visitor?" Your brow rose. Was Kaigaku back? 

The door was pulled all the way back and someone much taller than the little old lady was revealed. You blinked and your eyes widened at who was there. A body of pale grey-white skin, blue markings, and pink hair smiled from the doorway sheepishly.

"Akaza!" You immediately lit up in a bright smile and shot up to your feet. Rui paused mid chew on the steak in his mouth and looked surprised at the man before him.

Akaza, the Demon you had been waiting for chuckled sheepishly before waving. "Good morning, Y/n. I understand if I'm dropping in so unannounced but I had...a few little pests to reign in." He sniffed the air a few times before gold-blue eyes glanced down to the small coffee table and noticed the giant steaming pot STILL steaming and mostly full of food. His eyes slightly perked up at it. "Are you just having break-FAST?!"

He froze as something considerably smaller than him. Darted forward and wrapped herself around him in a hug. The old ladys eyes went wide and Akaza froze, arms out at awkward angles as you squeezed his middle in a hug.

"I was wondering when you would get here! I've been waiting forever!" You smiled widely and let go of him only to see a giant red spear across his face. "Yes. We were just served the food. Do you want to join us?"

BU-BUMP-

He slowly gulped and felt the heat blush from his face to his neck and shoulders and all the way to his ears too. His heart pounding in his ears. Oh be still his beating heart. You looked so cute like this. But he had more important matters at hand to deal with- His stomach rumbled...ok. One meal wouldn't hurt. He hadn't eaten for a while, and surely it wouldn't hurt to take one meal before he left with them surely. After all it would look bad if he brought them back all hungry and grouchy.

He nodded clearing his throat. "Y-Yes. I-I would love to join you both. *ahem* May I come in?" He asked gesturing into the room.

"You can just come in if you're hungry. You don't have to ask me."

"Oh no. I'd never enter a woman's room unless I have permission. It's not an option." He looked almost nervous as he came in and Rui watched him I'm awe. "*ahem* I see you've taken good care of the kid. I'm glad he's alright. I heard that he did have a health scare though."

"Twice," you confirmed, "But he's alright now. I have medicine for him."

He nodded. "That's good." He turned back to you. "Then we shou-"...Gold eyes nearly popped out of Akaza's head when he saw the deep tear in your kimono  exposing your legs. His face BURNT red before he quickly looked away and slapped a hand over his eyes. "Y-Y-YOUR KIMONO!! W-W-What happened to it?!" He felt his face burnt at the sight of it.

"Huh? Oh this? Well it's a long story. I needed to rip it to help out a poor fellow without a bag."

"Y-Y-You can't possibly leave in such a condition!," He squealed out, "I refuse to allow such a sight!"

"Akaza... It's just a tear. You can't even see my whole leg. See-"

"NONONONONONONO!! I mustn't look! I-I-Its a perverted thing for me to do to any woman!" He held up a hand Towards your direction refusing to look your way or even uncover his eyes. You didn't know whether to laugh or feel flattered at his cute chivalry. "M-Madam!! I-If you're still there, P-Please take her to be cleaned up and properly dressed!! W-We can't leave her in this state!" He squeaked out. 

The old lady demon was indeed still there and bowed again. "Of course, Lord Akaza. I'll have her tended to right away. Please enjoy a meal and rest before you go."

Akaza nodded still not facing you. "Y-Y-Yes please! I'll be staying right here until you return!"

You smiled at Akaza and eventually giggled which didn't help his blushing. "Alright. If it makes you feel better I'll go change. Just keep an eye on Rui until I come back. Rui, be nice for Mr. Akaza. I won't be gone long." 

Rui nodded again not looking surprised anymore and just shoved a boiled egg from the pot into his mouth. The old woman bowed again. "Please follow me, Miss. I'll have my servants assist you." 

You nodded and left and Akaza didn't look up until he heard the door closed and looked back up seeing you were gone then sighed in relief allowing his body to relax before looking down at the child still eating and the pot sat upon the small table. It was still hot, plenty of steam rising from the copper colored pot and allowing the heavyset smell of beef to comb through the air. The pot was piled with a variety of mushrooms and meats. Beef, shrimp, crab legs, and bacon strips was squished right next to the mushrooms and next to them was a couple peeled boiled eggs and next to the boiled eggs was a few green vegetables like leeks and potatoes. All of which simmered in a golden brown broth and noodles. In short it all looked delicious. The child was already digging in and plucking out a boiled egg with a pair of chop sticks before putting it in his open mouth. He almost chuckled at the sight before sliding down next to him sitting and smiling.

"Can I have some too?"

The boy just nodded before pausing to just...stare at him a moment before looking him up and down...before pushing over a random pair of chopsticks left behind. "Here you are, Father."

"Thank yo-" Akaza paused. Blinked. Before looking back at Rui. "Wait. What?"

You had returned shortly after bathed with a new kimono fitted on you and one of the girls had fitted your hair up. Although you had tried and failed to refuse any make up, but they forced it onto you anyways and they took your boots!! The ones you had for ages were taken and replaced with very uncomfortable tight shoes that you had no idea how to walk in them without looking like you had stubbed both of your toes, and the kimono they strapped you into was too baggy and had too many layers to it. Then it had dawned on you what had happened when they showed you a mirror. And your stomach sank. They dressed you up like one of the women in this district. The fancy clothes and makeup made sense now. You supposed when Akaza said to have you 'dressed properly' they went for whatever was considered in fashion here. ...You would wipe away the makeup later and take off a few of these unnecessary layers later. It took you forever to get back to the room you stayed in and by the time you did get there,  your feet here killing you and you were pretty sure that a sweat broke out on your forehead. The door was opened and both Akaza and Rui stopped to look up at your tired self for a moment before Akaza held up a hand.

"Sorry. You must have the wrong room. We didn't send for any entertainment."

"It's me, Akaza," You deadpanned.

His eyes went wide. "Y/n?!" He looked you up and down. "I-I-Is that that you?! You look so.... different."

"Ridiculous is more like it. I can't even walk properly in this menegerie!" You frowned ending your little rant with a kick that sent one of the tight shoes off your feet. Instant relief screamed from the foot that left it before being followed by the other. "I feel like I'm in a sauna  under all this fabric! How do oirans and other girls wear these things?! Not to mention my face feels like it's caked in a layer of clay! And they took my boots! I'll have to walk barefoot like you now!"

"What's wrong with that?" 

You shot him a look. "Those boots were sentimental! They were some of the only things I ever bought myself. Some of the only things I ever owned and now they're GONE!! It's not about the condition they were in, it's about the time I spent into them and what they mean. They were just taken and thrown away without even asking me. And I won't settle for some new ones that hurt me. Rui, go into the bathroom and bring me a wet towel to wash this stuff off me."

Rui nodded and immediately stood up to rush off  towards the bathroom as Akaza again blinked and shook his head as you just threw off layers of clothing forced onto your shoulders until you were just wearing one plain kimono. 

"You do look nice in that though."

"Thanks but no thanks. I like how I look without it." A hand reached up to pull the hairpin from your hair allowing your hair to once again cascade from your head. A second later Rui returned with a towel leaving a dripping trail of water droplets on the floor behind him. ''Thanks Rui." You immediately grabbed it from him and just brought it up to your face. 

"Well...I hope you're ready to start traveling soon. Well be traveling in secret for two days until we reach the inner most of the city."

You paused in the middle of wiping off the make up to look Akaza in the face confused. "...What are you talking about? I thought you were taking us back to Kyogai once it was safe."

"*sigh* I wish that were the case. But his home was destroyed considerably, and I've gotten orders from the two most top authorities to bring you and Rui in for the Kizuki meeting." He seemed...sad almost angry even to say that as his fists clenched up. 

"Kizuki.... meeting? What's that?" You pressed the towel to your face again rubbing  your face to remove the last of the makeup. 

"A Kizuki meeting is exactly what it sounds like," he explained popping a whole boiled egg in his mouth and swallowing it before continuing. "It's a meeting held between our Master and any members of the Twelve Kizuki. There's usually separate meetings between the Upper and Lower Moons with him to make it easier but for some reason he has summoned all members of the Kizuki." He hesitated but held up a hand to you. "And he wants both you and him there as well. I'm supposed to bring you there immediately."

You again paused stunned allowing what he said to sink in. ...YOU were supposed to go and meet this mysterious 'Master of Demons' everyone keeps talking about? AND Rui was supposed to go with you?! "What?! What for?! What could he possibly want with us?!" Rui wasn't anything dangerous. He was just a child!! And you were just a plain, ordinary human that didn't have a single coin to your name and grew up in the poorest part of a small mountain village. And you certainly never caused any trouble...Well not any trouble big enough to warrent the king of demons to see you. 

Akaza shook his head. "I don't know myself but I know my Master is not one to be crossed even a little." He then stood up. "If you both have had your fill of food then I suggest we get a head start. The sooner we arrive the more pleased he'll be. Usually Nakime would just summon us there but she can't summon you or the child since you're not a part of the Kizuki." A hand rubbed his neck. "And some of us have a few things to take care of before the meeting..." He nodded his head. "C'mon. It's early. It'd be a good time to sneak out of the city undercover."

"Wait. Now?" 

He nodded. "Now." There was silence for a moment before Rui rushed to the still steaming pot and again started wolfing down the food again. Probably worried he wouldn't be able to eat again on the trip like the last long trip the two of you took. "Whoa there, Little One. Don't make yourself sick!" A firm hand pulled the tinier demon away from stuffing himself to an early stomach ache. "You'll have plenty of food on the way there."

Rui blinked. "Sorry Father."

You both paused for a moment before your wide eyes turned to the stiff Akaza. "...It must be all the stress I'm under. Rui couldn't have called you 'father'....Right?"

Akaza sighed. "It's another long story."

"When do I get a sibling?" You both again looked at Rui who wiggled in Akaza's grip. "I want a brother AND a sister- No. I want two sisters and one brother to balance the men and women numbers."

A glass breaking sound went off in your heads as your faces went red. "WHAT?! R-RUI THAT'S NOT HAPPENING!!"

He gazed at you with a very serious and confused look. "Why not? You like him-" he pointed at Akaza's red face. "-and he likes you. You both can get married and it'll be official."

"No. Rui. We CAN'T have children is what I mean!"

He rose a serious brow. "Why not? It happens all the time. Everyone knows when a Father and Mother loves each other very much-"

"OK!! THAT'S ENOUGH FOOD FOR YOU!" Akaza proclaimed loudly before turning Rui and scooting him towards the door. "I think you have too much energy we need to burn off and the best way to do that is by walking! The Master is waiting anyways so let us not be late!"

"Oh. Do you prefer to adopt? If you are Then I AM making final decisions-"

"LESS TALKING MORE WALKING!!"

Whelp. That was an embarrassing moment you'd never be able to live down. But hopefully this could just stay between you  three. 

Armed with but the weird fan weapon Kaigaku gave you earlier and a bottle of the medicine for Rui, you three followed Akaza out of the Sanctuary and in the back streets of the district heading where else? But further into the city far away from the houses of oirans or any stalkers who might come after you. You debated in telling Akaza the full extent of what happened, but figured that the situation was already taken cared of and there was no point. That man wouldn't bother you again anyways and you suspected he would he hesitant to come back anytime soon with the threat that Gyutaro guy gave him. Plus you didn't want to send Akaza on another man hunt like with what happened to Kaigaku and you had bigger things to worry about. Like trying to figure out ANY reason as to why this 'Master' wanted to see you and Rui. You wracked your brains hard for literally ANY reason at all even if it was small but you couldn't think of a single one. Not for the entire day you three were walking or when Akaza kept peeking around corners, stopping you all before continuing onwards. Something told you he did this a lot. Sneaking around which reminded you of what Kaigaku mentioned. 

''Hey. Don't you have a human disguise? I thought all Kizuki did."

"We do but I prefer to stay hidden and its faster to just weave through the allies unnoticed. Most Kizuki meetings are too secret even to other demons."

"You're literally not human! How hasn't one person even noticed you yet?" 

"Simple. If they do notice me, it's considered highly bad luck to speak about it." 

"Who spreads that rumor?" 

"The Master. No one really questions it."

"I owe Kaigaku an apology. THAT has to be the dumbest thing anyone's ever said to me."

Akaza have you a weird look but seemed to just drop the subject. Night soon fell and Rui was already starting to get tired, to which Akaza just simply scooped up the child and just kept walking but after another hour or two paused to look at you.

"Are you alright? I know humans need more sleep than demons."

I'm truth you were tired but shook your head. "I can still walk."

"No. You're getting tired." He stopped making you stop behind him and gave you a look. Rui was still held in one arm of his and curled fast asleep against half his chest. "I can carry you through the night and then you can continue walking in the morning.  We can't afford to be late."

"I can walk through the night! A human can go three days without sleep-"

"I can go three weeks." You fell quiet as he sighed. "Here. You can just sleep and I'll carry you. I know it's not ideal but you'll need all the energy you can get for the meeting. Trust me. This isn't something to take lightly."

You wanted to say no but your feet screamed yes. So reluctantly you agreed and allowed Akaza to carry you in his other arm. With a red face. Wow. He uh..must be strong to carry both of you without breaking a sweat. And you literally just pressed against his chest and side was a bit more intimate than you'd like, and when you looked up..Huh. his eyes shined a real pretty gold in the moonlight. A shaking of his chest made you freeze as you quickly recognized the sound as chuckling. 

"Is my face that beautiful?~"

"SHUT UP!! IM SLEEPING!!"

You were so happy to continue walking on foot the next day however Rui continued to snore away in Akaza's arms which was cute. And it was just like the last day, and again you tried to deny Akaza carrying you when it got dark...but he insisted and insisted and INSISTED until you could barely keep your eyes open and finally agreed falling asleep faster. By the next morning, you had woken up late in the noon and nearly had to fight Akaza to put you down but managed to get back onto your feet.

"We're nearly there." He confirmed as Rui rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "We'll be at the meeting point by sundown, possibly even meet up with some other Kizuki also heading that way." A blue tipped hand grabbed your shoulder seriously and his face hardened. "You need to be on your guard and stay close to me. I can't guarantee which Moon we'll meet and what they'll do."

It made you wonder just how much more dangerous the other Kizuki were. You have only ever met four. Kyogai who was as sweet as honey to everyone you've seen him act with (other than Kaigaku and Enmu). Kaigaku who had a temper sure but you didn't consider him dangerous. Enmu who wasn't so much a threat as he was just annoying. And Akaza who you guessed could be dangerous but he was respectful and polite to most everyone you've seen too. Were the other Kizuki really that bad? Looks like you would find out soon. Twilight soon began to fall and the farther you all traveled the More quiet it gotten and the less people you saw until the streets were completely bare of any living creatures and no lights other than the occasional street lantern or candle in the window and the setting sun leaving only a little sunlight to spare. It would soon be complete night, and you had no idea where you were. You felt almost like a criminal skulking around back allies, hiding from sight, and keeping secret. A sudden noise made you suddenly jump and a cat yowled out from the inside of an overflowing crate full of garbage and scurried away into the night leaving you spooked. You felt on edge from Akaza's warning and you couldn't help but feel like you were one of those unfortunate victims you always heard in ghost stories. The ones who always meet their early demise in the dark. If you weren't traveling with a giant, powerful demon you would've felt more on edge.

"Akaza, where are we?," You asked just loud enough for them to hear. 

"The more residential areas of this district. Mostly humans live here but there's a few demons. We're almost there. Keep up with me."

"This place has a heavy aura to it," Rui spoke looking around carefully at every shadow that danced by, "It speaks of danger."

"You wouldn't be wrong. We approaching the entrance point." He didn't explain himself further but he still heard her footsteps struggling to keep up with his wider, faster strides. It shouldn't be too long now. With one final left turn he walked down onto a street finally and began walking down the street until he was halfway through and stopped making her bump into his back. There was silence other than her heartbeats. ".... We're here."

You were?! Blinking your head turned this way and that on the street, only seeing the dark street and nothing else. At least you weren't cramped in an alley again but now just exposed like this on the street was starting to make that antsy feeling creep up her spin again. It made you take a subconscious step towards Akaza who just stood there. The last rays of the setting sun was dowsed by the watering night and all light finally left, making the shadows more powerful. More bigger. The outstretched hands of darkness caressed the world in its grip. Akaza stood silently still in the night before his head turned towards the dark opening to a alley, and narrowed his eyes.

"Skulking around in the darkness? I thought you were more civil than that."

A small silence followed and other than a small flinch you gave nothing moved. Your head turned in sync with Rui as you both looked in the direction Akaza was facing and saw no one else there. Until someone else stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight.

"We're supposed to be keeping this secret. Why are you standing in the middle of the street without disguising yourself?"  What stepped into the moonlight was a man. A human man with familiar looking black hair, dark eyes, with a tanish-brown shirt and pants with a purple coat dropped from his shoulders. He wore a light scowl as he did so. Who was this? "You'll endanger Y/n for fucks sake!"

"Kyogai. You're in the presence of a lady and child. Watch your language!"

"Kyogai?" The human man turned his attention to you as you gawked at him.

"*sigh* Hello, my dear. It's been quite a WHILE-!?" He was nearly toppled over when something smaller suddenly tackled him in a tight hug startling everyone with the speed in which you launched at him. 

"THANK THE GODS YOU'RE ALRIGHT!! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!" You yelled at him in the hug before pulling away and grabbing his face with a smile. He blinked as you smiled widely. "You look so different too. But it's not a bad look, I didn't recognize you at first."

He blinked as you cooed and squished his cheeks together giggling when his face went red before he shook his head and pulled away. "I- Yes! Of course I'm alright!" He squeaked out in a high pitch tone before clearing his throat. "I'm a Kizuki. It'll take more than an attack to take me down."

"Is Kaigaku with you?"

"No. He got here before me, by now he must already be somewhere in the Infinity Castle waiting for everyone else to arrive."

"Then we mustn't keep them waiting."

Kyogai only nodded at Akaza before turning away from you and without another word began walking. You watched as he silently walked without another word and without looking back at anyone all the way over to a home on the opposite side of the street. Without even bothering to knock he just opened the door and walked right into someone's house- Until he just dropped. Literally! His body went down into the floor as if a hole opened up right under him as he walked,but the strangest part was how silent it all was. He didn't even attempt to scream or call for help. One moment he was there and the next he disappeared! You have a gasp and look of shock.

"Kyogai?! What just happened to him?!"

"Be calm. He just entered the Infinity Castle which is where we're going next."

"What? AH!!"

You squealed as a strong arm just picked you up by around your waist and Akaza took three leaping strides hopping through the open doorway and disappearing into the same spot Kyogai just did. Your small scream echoing out...And then the door slammed back shut on the silent street.

Black. That's the first thing that enveloped your vision and you instinctively grabbed onto Akaza for dear life as you all felt weightless and kept falling and falling and falling. Until bright light shown from the end of the tunnel. You wondered for a brief moment if you died somehow and this was the afterlife tunnel you've heard about so much. Closing your eyes, you braced yourself...only to feel yourself come to a complete calm stop...Was that it? We're you dead? Was this heaven? Slowly you opened your eyes.

And your eyes widened. 

Hundreds of lights began clicking on.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

Hundreds of rooms and windows and stairs appeared all meshing into one as if they were a maze. Hundreds of halls. Entrapping the light within the confusion of the structure your mind struggled to comprehend.  

"...What is this place?"  It felt too big for you too look at. Almost overwhelming your stomach into becoming nauseous.

"The ultimate dimension. The Infinity Castle. ...This is where all demons came from, our original home."

He did not answer you even as you turned to him, only sucking in a deep breath, letting you feel his grip tighten around you both, before he just tilted forward. And you screamed as you fell. Downwards you all spiraled out of control past doors, lanterns, stairs, walls, hallsways- Doors. Lanterns. Stairs. Walls. Hallways. Doors. Stairs. Walls. Lanterns. Hallways. Over and over again. Reflected in your eyesight and flying past your falling forms at an inhuman speed. This wasn't FLYING. This was falling. Wind whipped your hair around and in your face half blocking things from your sight.  Until there was a brief pause of the strange buildings as you all flew past a wide open space. A grand temple like mansion surrounded by water and lilypads before just as quickly disappearing being replaced by even more of the original buildings you first saw. You couldn't even scream again when Akaza did a few air flips before slamming down on its feet again, too winded by the whole surreal experience. But you were sadly mistaken if you thought that was the end of it. Squares appeared in the walls before they all broke away and launched themselves right at your body. At which point you slammed your eyes shut. Akaza only focused on the high speeds at which the speed of the floors launched him up and into the sky. Up and up and UP he went past tens of doors flying open and exposing the way to the top of brights lights and wind.

STRUM!!

All at once, the wind and movements and you still gripped onto Akaza forehead pressed firmly into his shoulder. And there you remained until the shoulder nudged you gently.

"Y/n. We're here now. You can open your eyes now."

....you slowly opened purple eyes and looked up, and what you saw shocked you completely. More maze buildings and lanterns surrounded you but it looked as if you were standing on a center platform in the very center of it all. You couldn't do anything but stare at it all. What kind of godly powers allowed something like this to exist?

"That was fun. Let's do it again!"

"Absolutely NOT!" 

You wriggled until Akaza slowly lowered you both down. You wobbled the first few steps thanks to the light feelings in your legs  but managed to stand and look around, only to yelp and jump back towards Akaza when someone close moved next to you. Your head turned. And you had to suppress a scream when a hand with an eyeball dead in its center blinked right at you. The green sclera and orange pupil with a literal arrow as the pupil. The eye blinked as the hand was held up at your shocked face.

"Is this the human who caused so much ruckus? Hm. She's not much of a looker is she?"

"Yahaba, don't insult her while in my presence," Akaza growled letting a fist clench at his side.

Yahaba? Why did that name sound familiar too? Purple eyes blinked past the hand held up and made contact with the strangest sights. A man and woman stood there looking right at you. The man of the pair had his eyes closed, black hair, and a largely blue beaded necklace around his neck. The woman whom was smiling in both a smirk and excitedly condescending way was wearing a long orange kimono, black and orange hair, and piercing yellow eyes staring right through yours, and from her ears dangled silver stoned earrings. 

"She doesn't look very strong either," the yellow eyes woman commented. A bell jingling was heard followed by a repeated thudding sound as a hand of her lazily bounced a temari ball repeatedly. "Is there really more than five Kizuki members after this puny thing's heart?"

"Susamaru, I won't hit a woman but you're stepping across a boundary you really shouldn't."

Susamaru? Was that this woman's name?

"Calm yourself, Lord Akaza," the Yahaba man spoke, his eye hands still blinking at you, "She merely expressed a concern over the rumors we're hearing." Akaza narrowed his eyes. "But perhaps we did cross a line. Our apologies. How long has it been since all twelve members of the Kizuki gathered for one meeting? Eighty? Ninety years now?"

"No you high class wannabe idiot! It's been a hundred thirteen years!," A new but familiar voice spoke up making you look over and recognize a very familiar  angry demon scowling. 

"Kaigaku!"

Said demon perked up hearing your name and a moment later another demon arrived behind him in the form of Kyogai again but both of them had dropped their human disguises. Immediately you perked up at seeing them again. Said demons perked up at your voice and in an instant they were staring right at you. A small smile appearing on his face despite his harsh tone.

"Tch. It's about time you've all shown up," he said with a huff and crossing his arms. "We've been waiting two days for you to arri-"

"Y/N-CHAAAAAANNN!~" 

All your heads turned, and Kaigaku bristled. "OH FUCK NO!!" And quickly jumped in front of a teal eyes blur before Enmu could even get close to you with open arms and a love struck look in his eyes. "NOT AT THE KIZUKI MEETING YOU PERVERT!!"

"It's been too long since I've seen you again my love!~," Enmu called from being blocked by Kaigaku, "I didn't forget the way you man handled me on the train and demanded I gave you what you needed.~" A shiver went down his spine as he gushed. "Please hold me like that again!~"

A female voice giggled and you found the Susamaru woman looking amused as her hand eyed friend looked disgusted. "It looked like the rumors we're right and they have all fallen for the same human girl. How fun to watch."

"Hmph. Of all the indignant things. They could've chosen anyone from high society and yet they're all fighting like dogs over a scrap of meat and it's not even an expensive meat like a sweet honeyed ham."

Your brow rose at them. Did this man seriously just compare you to a piece of meat? "And who are you?"

"Y/n," Akaza spoke making you look at him. He nodded at the new pair, "This is Yahaba and his partner Susamaru, they're Lower Moons Four and Five of the Kizuki. And they seem to be forgetting their places in front of me."

Both Yahaba and Susamaru looked at one another... before smirking but bowed when Akaza gave a grunt their way. "Apologies. We're still tired from our trip here. You'll forgive us if we're snappy."

Instead of answering them, Rui was gently placed down on the ground and he immediately began wondering off making you blink before following after him and grabbing his arm before he decided to look over the edge just to see how far up or down below you all were. You ended up standing closest to Kyogai just as more Demons showed up. 

"You men need to keep your voices down and quit being so annoying!," A high pitched woman's voice DEMANDED and you looked up only to jump finding a woman walking down a flight of stairs completely upside down above you all. She looked up...down?? And scowled at all of you. Her body wrapped in a simple but VERY expensive looking pink kimono,  her long hair tied in a ponytail and it was all white except for when it faded to green near the bottom, and she seemed to half some kind of pink flower tattooed on her cheek. But what was most striking was the yellow eyes glaring at everyone from up there. "You all can be so loud, it's bad enough I have to deal with annoying men at the Entertainment District but now I have to do it here too?!"

"Daki," Akaza said simply and politely ignoring everything else she said. "It's good to see you again. You look healthy. Is your brother with you?"

"Of course he is!" She shrieked back. "He's just asleep from the long trip!"

"You'd better wake him up and have him come out for the meeting. The Master wants everyone present for this meeting. Biwa Woman!" He suddenly spoke louder and looked over and up, and you followed his gaze. "Has Lord Muzan arrived or not?"

STRUM!!

You looked over and rose a brow at another new face. This one of a pale skinned woman who sat on a platform high above you all and was cloaked in all black. Her hands expertly held a stringed instrument and her long black hair blocking the whole top half of her face.

"I can say with certainty he has not," she spoke clearly and calmly to Akaza's question. 

"Then what about Upper One? Is he here?" Akaza scowled harsher. "Don't tell me he of all people is late to a meeting."

Upper One? Did Akaza mean Upper Moon One? You don't think you've seen him yet. You again glanced around. Enmu had settled down finally and everyone seemed to be glancing at Akaza or the woman for answers. You looked back up to the woman who had been standing above you all but was surprised to see someone suddenly next to her. A man thin and gangly who towered over the woman who stood next to him. Where did he come from?! Was THAT 'Upper One? He must've felt eyes on him because he looked up (down??) at you and you saw him freeze instantly. His eyes going wide and looking as if he's seen a ghost.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's so harsh.~"

CLICK. CLICK. clickclickclickclickclick-!!!

One after another lanterns on a platformed stairway rapidly clicked off creating a veil of darkness behind you directly. It caused you to jump and go wide eyed as they all closed off to the darkness, the candles all exploding inside of the pretty patterned lantern covers until one side of the platform you stood up on was completely shrouded by darkness. And then silence resumed..Or....it would have-

"You're beginning to hurt my feeling, Lord Akaza,~" a man's voice cooed from the darkness. Immediately it sent a shiver down your spine. "Weren't you even a little concerned about me?" You jumped again and whirled around wide eyed. "And here I was concerned something had happened to you.~ After all you are one of my cherished comrades, and I would be heartbroken if I lost any of my comrades.~"

Purple eyes went wide. Standing there right next to Akaza was the most beautiful man you had ever seen. In fact..you had completely thought it was another woman at first with how beautiful he was, but you could tell it was a man by his voice and physical appearance. Speaking of which- ...He was TALL. Definitely taller than Akaza whom he literally had an arm thrown around his shoulders. You'd say he was as tall as Kyogai. A pair of skin fitted clothes showed off his physique which was admitted impressive, you guessed he was strong. His head was framed by platinum blonde hair that cascaded down his back other than a peculiar ring of red on the very top on his head. His nails a sharpened ice blue. But what struck out the most was his eyes. They were a kaleidoscope someone caught the rainbow in. His skin smooth and unblemished yet pale like perfectly frozen piece of ice. Your first thought was-

This man was bad. Dangerous. It made you freeze up inside and shiver. There was something about this person who made you want to stay away. 

"Lord Douma!," Enmu happily exclaimed raising a hand to wave. Out of everyone he seemed to the only one happy to see this tall man. "It's been ages! I assume your cult is doing well since your territory has expanded."

"Hi Enmu!", The tall man smiled and waved back a creepy look across his face. "Long time no see. I heard you got the newest model of train. It should be so much faster traveling now. You'll have to drop it by my place to show me sometime."

Akaza went rigid. His body cold as he felt the hand tap on his shoulder. Veins appeared along both arms as fists clenched up and a pulse went through his body.

"Get off."

"Hmm?" Chills ran down your spine at the unsettling turn the rainbow eyed man gave as well as the chillingly slow look Akaza gave him. 

"Get your hands off of me."

CRACK!!

You gasped and your eyes widened in horror as blood spattered onto the floor as the entire lower jaw of Douma (that's what they called him) was wiped off with one punch from Akaza. Leaving nothing but blood dripping from his face and red smeared all over Akaza's left wrist and dripping down his arm. The sight surprised you enough to force Rui behind you with a blink from him. No one else really reacted to the sight other than Kyogai whom gave a concerned look your way as you froze.  You expected the blonde man to kneel over in pain or drop to the floor, but no. Despite his lower jaw being missing he managed to let out a coo of fascination, a hand skimming over the still bleeding flesh before with some crackling noises his jaw completely healed back and he turned with that same smile. Although now he had blood smeared all over the front of his clothing, his hands, and parts of his neck and face.

"That was quite a punch.~ If I'm not mistaken you've gotten slightly stronger.~"

He spoke in a similar way to Enmu, the only difference was that you felt like there was...No emotion at all despite the cheeriness of his tone. It was hard to explain but it was like if someone was angry but pretending to be happy but you could really tell they weren't happy. This was almost the same. You could tell he was pretending to be happy but...there was nothing underneath to hear. And that scared you. Akaza merely gave him a look that could be summed up as 'what the hell is wrong with you'.

"You asked about Upper One earlier." Everyone turned back to the woman holding the Biwa just as Rui peered from behind you curious. "He was the first one I summoned. In fact he's been here all along."

"I've been here...the entire time."

There was a tense silence as everyone froze up. A deep male's voice spoke out echoing everywhere and Akaza suddenly moved looking over his shoulder and down into the maze of homes and lanterns. You looked that way too...but you didn't see anyone. 

"It seems Lord Muzan...has arrived."

SLAM!!

You jumped whirling around as Kyogai immediately slammed to his knees and arms pressing his forehead to the ground in the deepest bow he could give. What- Another similar sound rang out as one after another all the demons quickly dropped to their arms and knees in a similar bow until they all were on the floor bowing. All except for the instrument holding demon. Oh she was bowing alright, whoever she was, but not as deeply as the others. Instead just her head alone was bowed, enough to still be seen as polite and respectful but not as deep as the ones around you-

"Psst." You again jumped and looked around at everyone but no one was looking up at you- "Look UP, dummy!" A raspy voice hissed at you and you looked up, only to jump when you met the sickly yellow eyes of the gangly met above you. Both him and the woman were in bows on the stairs but the man was looking up (down???) at you from there with a glare. "Don't be stupid! BOW!!"

You weren't sure what to make of it but you felt an overwhelming feeling that it'd be best to not question it for now. Rui yelled a 'hey' as you dropped to your own knees forcing Rui against and with you before wrapping an arm around his back and making him bow with you. The thoughts hit you. If a demon as powerful as Akaza bowed like his life depended on it, then you'd do well to follow that example. 

There was a tense silence as everyone didn't move. You weren't even sure if you were breathing only feeling the heart pounding in your ears. And then the heavy footsteps came. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. They sounded so close yet so far away at the same time. TAP. The footsteps. Stopped. You couldn't tell where they were or what was making  them. The urge to look up was strong. Briefly you did, and met the side eye of Kyogai whom was literally shaking. His blue eye shot your way...and his head lightly shook no. No. He was telling you not to look up at whatever it was scaring him. You didn't. Instead it went to the polished oak wood below you in wide eyed silence.

"....Do you know what it is I see, Kokushibo?"

"Dissatisfaction."

"Oh no. Far from it. I see a change....Have I ever told you lot how much I detest change? The changes of circumstance, the changes of flesh, ....THE CHANGES IN EMOTIONS. Most changes only cause weakness and inferiority.  And I am not weak. What I'm interested in in perfection in performance. A completion of a perfect wheel going around and around as it should be. Do you understand what I'm saying, Kokushibo?"

"Without question."

"You seem to be the only one who does, so allow me to explain it in words these others can understand."TAP. TAP. TAP. "I made the analogy of a perfect wheel earlier. So let's take that one step further and say this particular wheel it one on my wife's carriage. The wheel on the the carriage is perfectly round, and along with the other four wheels works perfectly to work. But once and a while you'll break down. A dent will appear. Sometimes things go flat. Sometimes you'll have to replace the wheel entire wheel but that's alright. Accidents happen. You just fix what broke and move on. But let me ask you this. What happens when more than one is damaged?" TAP. TAP. TAP. "What happens if there's more problems than you can repair? The break downs build up and get worse. Now if there's an emotionally charged person behind that wheel well...Do you know what they'll do, Kokushibo?"

"They will..not think clearly....They will be at risk...for more accidents on the road."

"That's exactly correct. An emotional driver won't think to fix the mistakes clearly too busy thinking about their feelings, and even if they do the repairs won't be done correctly. If you patch a tire it might fix it for a time but if you fail to completely change the wheel the accidents and build ups will continue until you crash and burn and you'll have a permanent disaster on your hands....And that's EXACTLY what we have here. Recklessness. Driven by a stupid feeling of the useless emotion known as infatuation. So let me ask all of you this...How has so many things gone wrong because all of you couldn't think clearly with that blinding emotion making you stupid?"

No one dared answer. Not even when the new voice hummed.

"Should I tell...Hairou to bring them...out now?"

"Excellent suggestion. Since no one here can answer me perhaps one of them can. I want all the members of the Twelve Kizuki here for my talk anyways. You may tell Hairou to bring them out now."

There was silence once again. Not even the talking sounds of someone walking. Until you heard the distant sounds of...metal clanking against more metal?? The sound filled you with confusion and you saw Akaza slowly lift his head up out of the corner of your eye. What was that?! Footsteps added onto the collage of metal jingling and they shuffled as if walking slowly and slowly  towards you. Eventually it was overwhelmingly in front of you somewhere. Eventually your curiosity got the better of you, and surely if Akaza thought it was ok to look up then. You looked up and you once again froze at what you were staring at. There was six new demons to the scene and you recognized them. It was the five demon brothers who tried to kidnap you and Rui! Although they all looked miserable and you could see why as they all had thick chains and cuffs around their wrists which were connected to one another by the thick ropes of chains. The sixth demon was something to behold too. His entire physical body was different shades of greys other than his eyes which was a black sclera and white pupils. He smiled in sick delight and harshly tugged on the chain pulling the other five along behind him.

"Hairo. Unchain them." The monochrome demon in the military uniform gave him a disappointed look. "You heard me. I don't think those chains will be necessary as I don't believe they'll try to do anything that would further get them into trouble. Spending a week in solitary confinement and chained taught them everything they needed."

That voice. You looked over and paused at not one but two people stood there with his back towards you.  One was a tall  male, with black hair and wore mostly black  except for a white shirt he wore underneath a black vest. The man directly next to him was a few inches taller and the one whom really sent a chill down your spine. The figure was mostly hidden by a long ponytail and black and purple coat. He was dressed in a more traditional way compared to the man next to him. The monochrome demon in the army uniform and cape hissed but complied with the demands pulling out a key from his cape and just yanking the first demon in line painfully closer to him. The red eyed demon growled but didn't make a move to strike in fear of getting more in trouble. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. One after another they were uncuffed and the metal chains noisily dropped to the floor until all of them were uncuffed and rubbing their wrists.

"You all seem to be forgetting something. Hairo, would you do the honors?"

"AH!" 

Something kicked the blue eyed demon of the brothers behind the knees causing him to squeal and fall forward onto his hands and knees in a makeshift bow. ....The other four soon followed the example not having to be told twice. Even the monochrome demon behind them bowed slightly although the sadistic smile returned. 

"That's better. Now that everyone is present, I'm quite certain you're wondering why I called you all on such short notice." No one said anything making the black haired man hum. "No? Very well then. I'll get straight to the point and not waste anymore time. I called you all here to announce that I'll be reorganizing the order of the Kizuki."

To you it wasn't a big deal but you guessed by the shocked looks of everyone else it was some kind of big deal for everyone else here.

"Don't be alarmed. No one is getting replaced but some of you will be placed higher and others lower. After the incidents that have occurred I've made up my mind about this. However there is another far more important issue. And that involves all of your M I S T A K E S." There was a deadly pulse of energy, enough to shake everyone to their cores. "I for one wonder exactly how all of this could happen in such a short amount of time... Kaigaku."

Said angry demon froze not even having the strength to look up at being addressed.

"You failed miserably. Countless times you left your post, you got into fights with at least three pairs of demons who ranked above you, you deliberately failed to notify anyone of your failure to keep outsiders out and I learnt it through a third party...and on top of all of you helped destroy a part of MY territory that now has to be fixed and deliberately kept Upper Moons Four from retrieving what I wanted them to retrieve. Is anything I said wrong?"

"....No."

"Now what about you Kyogai?" Said bookkeeper trembled more. "You also threatened both Kaigaku and Enmu which if I'm not mistaken both rank higher than you, which can be insubordination. You also illegally sheltered a runaway child that was supposed to be brought to me. That's most unbecoming. You also lost sight of the human twice when I wanted her in one place. Your failure to keep a watchful eye annoys me."

"I-I-Im sorry! I had N-No idea!! Please F-Forgive me!!"

"How about you two? Akaza. Enmu. Both of you knew the location of the child and failed to report him in, but I also found out the both of you caused damages to the Tsuzumi Mansion. ...Which I happen to consider one of the most important pillars to my reign. It seems all of your musgrieving are centered around the human. Except for you five." Five brothers trembled with fear. Five different pairs of eyes stared hared into the floor. And five men shook in fear as something heavy crawled over them like sadistic roots seeping into their veins. "For almost and entire you all failed me. It couldn't have possibly been as hard as your five made it out to be to catch one child, but instead of the child what do you deliver?...Failure. Constant, utter failure. Which is bad enough, but you have caused me more trouble than your worth."

"The damage wasn't that bad-"

"Not. That. Bad?" The deep voice spoke inhumanly slow before he hummed. "Kokushibo, do you think it was 'not that bad'?"

"Hardly...I personally saw..the damage. It was...very intense. I was honestly... surprised the mansion was...still standing."

"In all the years of living I have never seen such inherant stupidity from so many of you at once!" The voice got louder and it made you wince from the volume. "INSUBORDINATION. ALMOST IRREPARABLE DAMAGE!! DISRUPTION AMONG THE RANKS!! F A I L U R E. ...Do I need to elaborate further?!" Again no one else spoke. "No one answers. I'm not surprised. However the center for most of these problems happens to be-" His head slowly turned and your own eyes widened as a pair of red eyes met your own. "YOU."

You didn't move. Hardly breathed. Only watched as he finally turned and looked directly at you. This was the Master of Demons? He-.... Wasn't much to look at. You rose a brow. 

"I have heard a great deal about you, and all the problems you caused. Even if you aren't aware of them, you've caused me many set backs...Now the problem is deciding what punishments you all will receive and which ones will please me."

You didn't know why but his words carried a great threat with him than even Akaza. His anger was like standing in the middle of an active volcano. The longer he stared at you, the more you felt like this weight was slowly pushing down on your shoulders and back of your head. Sweat appeared on your face eventually from the intense feeling behind those red ey-

"Daddy!"

...Wait. what?

The intense pressure disappeared as soon as the red eyed man snapped his head over, and almost made his eyes big out when a smaller figure ran right up to him and wrapped their arms around his legs. It took you a moment of blinking at them to realize that the 'they' was actually a she. A little girl that couldn't have been older than seven or eight stood there hugging the man with red eyes sporting a very fancy pink and white dress, her black hair done up in two braids and held there by pink bows.  She happily smiled up at the man with soft brown eyes. You stood there stunned looking between her and the shocked red eyed man before he quickly relaxed back a ...smile? On his previous frowning face, although there was an aura of annoyance in his eyes, although you didn't think that annoyance was aimed at the little girl. 

"My little Princess." The little girl squealed in joy when two strong hands picked her up and held her up in his arms. "You know not to interrupt Daddy when hes working. Aren't you supposed to be studying right now with your tutors?"

"Mommy said I can have the day off!," She happily spoke without any fear of the man. "Are you coming home for dinner this time?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss seeing my girls but where's Mommy right now?"

"Not too far behind her." Heads turned. Your jaw dropped. Footsteps approached. And a woman who looked so much like the little girl walked in from a random platform wearing an expensive looking but comfortable beige dress. She like the little girl showed no fear to the man as she smiled. "I'm so sorry, Honey. I tried to make sure she didn't bother you but as soon as she saw you, she was off faster than that pony you got her." She then sighed. "I don't think I ever had that energy when I was a little girl."

.....You again stared wide eyed. Hey..THAT WAS THE WOMAN FROM THE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT!! WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE!?

The man chuckled. "It's alright. I missed her too, but what are the two of you doing here? I thought you were enjoying that shopping spree with your mother?"

"I was but I was told we had to leave early because you needed Yahaba and Susamaru for something."

"Oh? Well perhaps they can tell me why you're here then." He then turned to the two Demons in question and you instantly knew who his annoyance was really aimed at.

"Forgive me, Lord Muzan," Yahaba spoke up from his bow, "But you specifically ordered us not to leave the Lady's and Princess's sides for any reason, for that reason we had to bring the both of them along. For their own safety."

"...I see." He seemed..at least a bit satisfied with that answer.

Wait...That was a princess and Lady?!

"Oh my." The woman's eyes blinked around her taking in the scene. "Oh no. Did we interrupt you, Dear? What seems to be going on?"

"Nothing to be worried about," he assured her raising a hand, ''Im just having a business meeting to rearrange some departments and going over a few issues that needs to be addressed. It'll all be handled before dinner tonight."

"Oh dear. Oh dear." Her brown eyes scanned everywhere before stopping in two places. The blood smeared all over Akaza and Douma's bodies from their spat and then over to the heavy line of chains still lying near the Hantengu Brothers. "Oh, Kibutsuji. I hope you haven't been hard on them."

"Nothing that they couldn't handle I assure you."

"Mu-Zan." Her brow rose as she gave him a look. "I can see those chains behind you. You've been putting someone in solitary again haven't you?" In response the man's smile widened. "Don't think you can fool me with that smile. I know you better." Her hands were placed on her hips. "What did these young men do to earn that punishment?"

He chuckled not even ashamed about being called out for something so bad. "You got me. I knew I couldn't fool you. *sigh* They happened to just be a bit reckless and destroy something very important. A time out is just what these young people needed to help learn their lesson. I was just about to punis-" he glanced at the little girl. "...I was about to figure out what they could do to help make up for it."

"Did they break a vase from playing ball in the house too?"

"Hmhm. Something like that sweetie only it was a little bigger than a vase."

"I heard that much." She seemed to pause for a long moment just staring at the brother who all seemed too afraid to move back. "...Well they seem like strong young men, if they really destroyed something why don't you just have them help repair it?"

"My thoughts exactly. I was going to do that exact same thing."

"Uh huh." She totally sounded like she believed him. "And why don't you just let the others off with a warning? As you yourself said, in all your years of living this never has happened. A stern warning can do wonders in the long run."

His smile strained like he really didn't like that idea, but exhaled and his face returned to being serious. "I... suppose given the circumstances and the fact nothing like this has happened before, I can overlook your short comings just this once. ... However." You flinched again as red eyes glared at everyone. "I won't be so merciful if something else were to occur. I've been lenient for far too long since you're in a Kizuki position but I had better not see anymore insubordination or damage to something else I consider mine. I hope I make myself very clear to each and EVERY single one of you."

"Daddy. Who's that?"

You jumped when three pairs of eyes turned to you and Rui , and a flash of realization crossed across the woman's face.

"You're that girl?"

The man slowly turned to her. "Rei, you know this girl?"

Rei? Was that her name?

She nodded. "Yes. She asked me for directions back in the entertainment district, apparently she needed a doctor badly. But what is she doing here?" Her eyes shifted. "Dear, who is this boy?"

"She's my mother." You never wanted to slap a hand over Rui's mouth so fast as everyone turned to you both in such surprise and shock, and intense rigid from the red eyed man. "That medicine was for me. ....And you're going to leave her alone."

"Rui. Shh!" You attempted to shush him with a nudge.

He only stared into the red demon's eyes in that blank, scarily serious face he sometimes got. "I don't know what you desire with me, but I won't allow anyone else trying to separate us."

"Rui, be quiet!," You hissed at him.

There was silence for a long, long, llllooooonnngg moment with just the two Demons staring intently at one another. Before the woman called Rei slowly scowled and turned her head to...Muzan they called him? And red eyes slowly looked back to her, before he blinked surprised. Her hands which her previously on her hips, went to cross her arms as she just... silently scowled at him for a quiet moment.

"...I assure you that I can explain -"

"Which part?"

"The girl is not his mother, not really. His actual mother is located at Eternal Paradise Cult I'm the mountains with his other family. He just must've imprinted on the wrong woman and now he's confused-"

"My Ex-mother abandoned me and wished I was dead. My REAL mother fed me and always makes sure I'm not sick." A pale hand pointed at both Muzan and the brothers behind him. "That man ordered those men to kidnap me and one nearly killed my mother."

Rei still stared silently at Muzan. "Do you care to explain that or why they're even here?"

"*sigh* I admit perhaps I...went about this the wrong way, but I was simply interested in the child's upbringing now. His blood is rare and he could become one of the most powerful demons when he's grown. The girl is the one with the strange flower scented blood I told you about. The one who's stolen the hearts of most of the Kizuki and caused so much trouble. She can't just be let go-"

"Well she's not going to be punished either! And you're not going to separate that little boy from here. So you'd better think carefully about this." The man frowned back at her but opened his mouth to which she rose a daring brow..and he closed his mouth. "Well what has she done?"

"She's trespassed. Caused a disturbance in the Kizuki ranks. And distracted them from doing their duties."

"Oh. Is that all?...Well then let her raise the boy." He hummed confused. "It would solve the problem of leaving a child without a caretaker and raising a child isn't easy. You should know that, and that hardship alone should be enough to make up for everything."

"... there's still the problem of so many Kizuki fascinated by her."

"Then allow them to court her and let her figure it out herself. You shouldn't concern yourself in their love life anyways. That's crossing a big boundary."

The man let a deeply annoyed exhale out- Before pausing eyes widening... Before he once again smiled at his wife politely but there was some kind of undertone to it.

"You're absolutely right, Darling. I shouldn't meddle with affairs of the heart or family." He then 'happily' turned back to you. "I apologize for any trouble my actions or my underlings actions have caused you. However you still have caused trouble yourself. At the insistence of my wife, you're to remain here to help raise the boy and allow us what's ailing your blood so." 

.... That's it? That seemed like a rather mild punishment for the feeling you got from him-

"And to show my apologies to everyone I'm making it official. From now on you shall be legally engaged to the men of the Kizuki with the exception of the child you have."

......W H A T?!

#kny #kimetsu no yaiba #demon bride #demon slayer #Daki #hantengu clones #hantengu x reader #hantengu #zohakuten #rui ayaki #kokushibo x reader #kokushibo #kyogai x reader #kyogai #enmu x reader #enmu #kaigaku x reader #kaigaku #douma x reader #Douma #akaza x reader #akaza #karaku x reader #Karaku #aizetsu #sekido #urogi #urogi x reader #sekido x reader #aizetsu x reader

[queenofspades6]

Thoughts on The Bad Batch S3 EP1

Spoilers after the cut

I knew it! Nala Se clearly cares for Omega! What is so special with Omega’s blood that it’s worth every risk? Love the plotline!

I really love this ”empire” ambiance. Everything seems cold, and dismal. No personal items. Just following orders, and surviving.

Emerie’s character seems interesting! I don’t know why but I have a feeling she might care for Omega and help her at some time. I hope she’ll take Omega’s side rather than Hemlock’s.

Omega clearly waiting for Wrecker, Echo and Hunter to save her is sad. It breaks my heart…

Omega with longer hair!!!!!

Omega making a Lula 2 to have something of the Bad Batch to remember, something to give her hope, something to hold onto at night when she feels all alone…

Omega is clever, we can give her that!

Omega can circulate freely in the complex. And what does she do with this freedom? Visit Crosshair!!!! Poor Crosshair. He seems so lost, so hopeless.

What did they do to Crosshair??? His hands are shaking!

OMGGG CROSSHAIR TELLING OMEGA TO GO WITHOUT HIM.

I am loving Crosshair even more than before.

Batcher is so cuteeeee. (Omega gave him this name, and it’s so meaningful, I cant-…).

Emerie giving Lula 2 back to Omega is sweet. She is showing her soft side a bit in this episode, like when she intervened when Omega told Hemlock: ”What are you going to do?“ (or something like that).

During all the episode, we see a hopeful Omega, waiting to have an opportunity to escape with Crosshair. She is clever, and using everything at her advantage. But to be honest, I dread the moment when Hemlock will be less lenient with her. He seems to hold a grudge against this young little clone girl who stands up to him. I think no one has ever stood up to Hemlock before…

Have you seen the clones there? According to Emerie, they are in “reeducation”, but we can see that they are exhausted, drained of strength and life, backs slumped and I even saw a clone who is all wrinkled. Why is that? Is it a consequence of taking blood every day? That seems weird, because it’s just a small amount, but maybe they take the clone’s blood a lot in a day. It may be what drains them so much…

A good episode to see something flourish between Omega and Crosshair. Crosshair desperately needs someone to be there, not to abandon him, even if he says to.

Can’t wait to see Hunter and Wrecker without Omega! They must be so desperate. And Echo must have returned with Rex to help and feel useful after losing Tech and then Omega.

PS: I hate Cid!!!!!

#the bad batch #the bad batch season 3 #the bad batch season three spoilers #the bad batch omega #the bad batch echo #the bad batch wrecker #the bad batch crosshair #the bad batch tech #the bad batch hunter #the bad batch hunter x reader #the bad batch x you #the bad batch x oc #the bad batch x reader #the bad batch analysis #the bad batch theories #the bad batch phee #the bad batch wolffe #the bad batch batcher #the bad batch mayday #the bad batch leak #the bad batch headcanons #tbb omega #tbb x reader #tbb spoilers #tbb #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #tbb season 3 #sw tbb #tbb tech

[hazbinextgeneration]

Demon Bride Ch32 Gathering Of The Kizuki

(DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT INFO!!!: EVERYONE in this story is in their early 20s-30s! This story will contain mentions of past abuse and death! I'll be keeping it as SFW. Some backstories have been slightly altered for this particular story, and some characters cannonically dead or harmed is alive and well. I own nothing.

Credit to @flanelltees​ for the designs I based the demons off to look more demon-like with tails and pointed ears.

This story will be sfw, but there will be some blood, implied death, fighting, some gore mentioned, and a few other things that will be made aware by warnings. Pay attention to warnings at the top of any chapters just under the summery please.)

Once in the mountain villages it was a custom that once a year on the night of the new year's first moon, an unlucky young lady would be selected and left for the demons to become one of the unlucky few who married such a husband. In exchange for this offering the demons would protect the villages and leave the humans in peace. Until one day a powerful warrior drove the demons away freeing the humans of them. Now 2,000 years later, it's become a tradition that once a year, a new young lady would be picked and wait for her future husband to retrieve her from a shrine in the mountains. And now the lucky tradition would fall upon Y/n L/n. It would be her own turn to take on the tradition and not have to worry about demons. After all that part of the old tradition was just fake, made up by paranoid ancestors. Everyone knew demons didn't exist....Right?

(WARNINGS!!!: Gore, fighting , decapitation, limbs being cut off, some innuendos, blood, threats, cussing, and Enmu,Karaku, and Douma ARE their own warnings.)

First Part Here:

Demon Bride Ch 1 Thus It Begins

(WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMERS!!! EVERYONE in this story is in their early 20s-30s! This story will contain mentions of past abuse and death! I'l

TUMBLR

Last Part Here:

Next Part Here:

The results were in. The votes have all been counted on all platforms and the count is-

Douma: 15

Sekido: 2

Urogi: 3

Aizetsu: 11

Akaza:  69

Hairou: 0

Kokushibo: 18

Karaku: 0

Kamanue: 0

And the winner is Akaza!! Thanks so much to everyone who voted! I'm sure everyone is excited for this moment. Plz be sure to read any warnings before you read the chapter.

***********"*""""""*****************************************************************

(This will HEAVILY reference s3 ep1 of Demon Slayer.)

"Here. Make sure you eat up now. You'll need it for energy later."

"I like these hot pots. I want to have to soups filled with eggs and meats and mushrooms all the time." No sooner had the small child said that a large chunk of steak was shoved into his mouth.

"Take it easy there, Rui. I don't want you choking on your food now."

The child only nodded with his cheeks puffed out vigorously chewing as a hand patted his back. Rui was all better now! No fevers or sickness anywhere in sight. You had to admit it. Enmu's medicine actually worked wonders! The only thing that concerned you was making sure he ate and slept enough which was the easy parts. However you did get lost on the way back and were a few hours late but it all worked out in the end. Now it had nearly been three days later and things were going rather well. Now it only seemed like you had to wait for Akaza to arrive. Which would be sooner than you think. After all the day had just started and you and Rui had just eaten breakfast (or in Rui's case gone for an entire pot) but it was good his appetite was back. However you weren't expecting the knock on your door or for the door to open and reveal the old lady whom ran the whole sanctuary on the other side.

"Pardon me, Miss," she spoke with a small bow, "I'm sorry for the interruption but you have a very important visitor."

"Visitor?" Your brow rose. Was Kaigaku back? 

The door was pulled all the way back and someone much taller than the little old lady was revealed. You blinked and your eyes widened at who was there. A body of pale grey-white skin, blue markings, and pink hair smiled from the doorway sheepishly.

"Akaza!" You immediately lit up in a bright smile and shot up to your feet. Rui paused mid chew on the steak in his mouth and looked surprised at the man before him.

Akaza, the Demon you had been waiting for chuckled sheepishly before waving. "Good morning, Y/n. I understand if I'm dropping in so unannounced but I had...a few little pests to reign in." He sniffed the air a few times before gold-blue eyes glanced down to the small coffee table and noticed the giant steaming pot STILL steaming and mostly full of food. His eyes slightly perked up at it. "Are you just having break-FAST?!"

He froze as something considerably smaller than him. Darted forward and wrapped herself around him in a hug. The old ladys eyes went wide and Akaza froze, arms out at awkward angles as you squeezed his middle in a hug.

"I was wondering when you would get here! I've been waiting forever!" You smiled widely and let go of him only to see a giant red spear across his face. "Yes. We were just served the food. Do you want to join us?"

BU-BUMP-

He slowly gulped and felt the heat blush from his face to his neck and shoulders and all the way to his ears too. His heart pounding in his ears. Oh be still his beating heart. You looked so cute like this. But he had more important matters at hand to deal with- His stomach rumbled...ok. One meal wouldn't hurt. He hadn't eaten for a while, and surely it wouldn't hurt to take one meal before he left with them surely. After all it would look bad if he brought them back all hungry and grouchy.

He nodded clearing his throat. "Y-Yes. I-I would love to join you both. *ahem* May I come in?" He asked gesturing into the room.

"You can just come in if you're hungry. You don't have to ask me."

"Oh no. I'd never enter a woman's room unless I have permission. It's not an option." He looked almost nervous as he came in and Rui watched him I'm awe. "*ahem* I see you've taken good care of the kid. I'm glad he's alright. I heard that he did have a health scare though."

"Twice," you confirmed, "But he's alright now. I have medicine for him."

He nodded. "That's good." He turned back to you. "Then we shou-"...Gold eyes nearly popped out of Akaza's head when he saw the deep tear in your kimono  exposing your legs. His face BURNT red before he quickly looked away and slapped a hand over his eyes. "Y-Y-YOUR KIMONO!! W-W-What happened to it?!" He felt his face burnt at the sight of it.

"Huh? Oh this? Well it's a long story. I needed to rip it to help out a poor fellow without a bag."

"Y-Y-You can't possibly leave in such a condition!," He squealed out, "I refuse to allow such a sight!"

"Akaza... It's just a tear. You can't even see my whole leg. See-"

"NONONONONONONO!! I mustn't look! I-I-Its a perverted thing for me to do to any woman!" He held up a hand Towards your direction refusing to look your way or even uncover his eyes. You didn't know whether to laugh or feel flattered at his cute chivalry. "M-Madam!! I-If you're still there, P-Please take her to be cleaned up and properly dressed!! W-We can't leave her in this state!" He squeaked out. 

The old lady demon was indeed still there and bowed again. "Of course, Lord Akaza. I'll have her tended to right away. Please enjoy a meal and rest before you go."

Akaza nodded still not facing you. "Y-Y-Yes please! I'll be staying right here until you return!"

You smiled at Akaza and eventually giggled which didn't help his blushing. "Alright. If it makes you feel better I'll go change. Just keep an eye on Rui until I come back. Rui, be nice for Mr. Akaza. I won't be gone long." 

Rui nodded again not looking surprised anymore and just shoved a boiled egg from the pot into his mouth. The old woman bowed again. "Please follow me, Miss. I'll have my servants assist you." 

You nodded and left and Akaza didn't look up until he heard the door closed and looked back up seeing you were gone then sighed in relief allowing his body to relax before looking down at the child still eating and the pot sat upon the small table. It was still hot, plenty of steam rising from the copper colored pot and allowing the heavyset smell of beef to comb through the air. The pot was piled with a variety of mushrooms and meats. Beef, shrimp, crab legs, and bacon strips was squished right next to the mushrooms and next to them was a couple peeled boiled eggs and next to the boiled eggs was a few green vegetables like leeks and potatoes. All of which simmered in a golden brown broth and noodles. In short it all looked delicious. The child was already digging in and plucking out a boiled egg with a pair of chop sticks before putting it in his open mouth. He almost chuckled at the sight before sliding down next to him sitting and smiling.

"Can I have some too?"

The boy just nodded before pausing to just...stare at him a moment before looking him up and down...before pushing over a random pair of chopsticks left behind. "Here you are, Father."

"Thank yo-" Akaza paused. Blinked. Before looking back at Rui. "Wait. What?"

You had returned shortly after bathed with a new kimono fitted on you and one of the girls had fitted your hair up. Although you had tried and failed to refuse any make up, but they forced it onto you anyways and they took your boots!! The ones you had for ages were taken and replaced with very uncomfortable tight shoes that you had no idea how to walk in them without looking like you had stubbed both of your toes, and the kimono they strapped you into was too baggy and had too many layers to it. Then it had dawned on you what had happened when they showed you a mirror. And your stomach sank. They dressed you up like one of the women in this district. The fancy clothes and makeup made sense now. You supposed when Akaza said to have you 'dressed properly' they went for whatever was considered in fashion here. ...You would wipe away the makeup later and take off a few of these unnecessary layers later. It took you forever to get back to the room you stayed in and by the time you did get there,  your feet here killing you and you were pretty sure that a sweat broke out on your forehead. The door was opened and both Akaza and Rui stopped to look up at your tired self for a moment before Akaza held up a hand.

"Sorry. You must have the wrong room. We didn't send for any entertainment."

"It's me, Akaza," You deadpanned.

His eyes went wide. "Y/n?!" He looked you up and down. "I-I-Is that that you?! You look so.... different."

"Ridiculous is more like it. I can't even walk properly in this menegerie!" You frowned ending your little rant with a kick that sent one of the tight shoes off your feet. Instant relief screamed from the foot that left it before being followed by the other. "I feel like I'm in a sauna  under all this fabric! How do oirans and other girls wear these things?! Not to mention my face feels like it's caked in a layer of clay! And they took my boots! I'll have to walk barefoot like you now!"

"What's wrong with that?" 

You shot him a look. "Those boots were sentimental! They were some of the only things I ever bought myself. Some of the only things I ever owned and now they're GONE!! It's not about the condition they were in, it's about the time I spent into them and what they mean. They were just taken and thrown away without even asking me. And I won't settle for some new ones that hurt me. Rui, go into the bathroom and bring me a wet towel to wash this stuff off me."

Rui nodded and immediately stood up to rush off  towards the bathroom as Akaza again blinked and shook his head as you just threw off layers of clothing forced onto your shoulders until you were just wearing one plain kimono. 

"You do look nice in that though."

"Thanks but no thanks. I like how I look without it." A hand reached up to pull the hairpin from your hair allowing your hair to once again cascade from your head. A second later Rui returned with a towel leaving a dripping trail of water droplets on the floor behind him. ''Thanks Rui." You immediately grabbed it from him and just brought it up to your face. 

"Well...I hope you're ready to start traveling soon. Well be traveling in secret for two days until we reach the inner most of the city."

You paused in the middle of wiping off the make up to look Akaza in the face confused. "...What are you talking about? I thought you were taking us back to Kyogai once it was safe."

"*sigh* I wish that were the case. But his home was destroyed considerably, and I've gotten orders from the two most top authorities to bring you and Rui in for the Kizuki meeting." He seemed...sad almost angry even to say that as his fists clenched up. 

"Kizuki.... meeting? What's that?" You pressed the towel to your face again rubbing  your face to remove the last of the makeup. 

"A Kizuki meeting is exactly what it sounds like," he explained popping a whole boiled egg in his mouth and swallowing it before continuing. "It's a meeting held between our Master and any members of the Twelve Kizuki. There's usually separate meetings between the Upper and Lower Moons with him to make it easier but for some reason he has summoned all members of the Kizuki." He hesitated but held up a hand to you. "And he wants both you and him there as well. I'm supposed to bring you there immediately."

You again paused stunned allowing what he said to sink in. ...YOU were supposed to go and meet this mysterious 'Master of Demons' everyone keeps talking about? AND Rui was supposed to go with you?! "What?! What for?! What could he possibly want with us?!" Rui wasn't anything dangerous. He was just a child!! And you were just a plain, ordinary human that didn't have a single coin to your name and grew up in the poorest part of a small mountain village. And you certainly never caused any trouble...Well not any trouble big enough to warrent the king of demons to see you. 

Akaza shook his head. "I don't know myself but I know my Master is not one to be crossed even a little." He then stood up. "If you both have had your fill of food then I suggest we get a head start. The sooner we arrive the more pleased he'll be. Usually Nakime would just summon us there but she can't summon you or the child since you're not a part of the Kizuki." A hand rubbed his neck. "And some of us have a few things to take care of before the meeting..." He nodded his head. "C'mon. It's early. It'd be a good time to sneak out of the city undercover."

"Wait. Now?" 

He nodded. "Now." There was silence for a moment before Rui rushed to the still steaming pot and again started wolfing down the food again. Probably worried he wouldn't be able to eat again on the trip like the last long trip the two of you took. "Whoa there, Little One. Don't make yourself sick!" A firm hand pulled the tinier demon away from stuffing himself to an early stomach ache. "You'll have plenty of food on the way there."

Rui blinked. "Sorry Father."

You both paused for a moment before your wide eyes turned to the stiff Akaza. "...It must be all the stress I'm under. Rui couldn't have called you 'father'....Right?"

Akaza sighed. "It's another long story."

"When do I get a sibling?" You both again looked at Rui who wiggled in Akaza's grip. "I want a brother AND a sister- No. I want two sisters and one brother to balance the men and women numbers."

A glass breaking sound went off in your heads as your faces went red. "WHAT?! R-RUI THAT'S NOT HAPPENING!!"

He gazed at you with a very serious and confused look. "Why not? You like him-" he pointed at Akaza's red face. "-and he likes you. You both can get married and it'll be official."

"No. Rui. We CAN'T have children is what I mean!"

He rose a serious brow. "Why not? It happens all the time. Everyone knows when a Father and Mother loves each other very much-"

"OK!! THAT'S ENOUGH FOOD FOR YOU!" Akaza proclaimed loudly before turning Rui and scooting him towards the door. "I think you have too much energy we need to burn off and the best way to do that is by walking! The Master is waiting anyways so let us not be late!"

"Oh. Do you prefer to adopt? If you are Then I AM making final decisions-"

"LESS TALKING MORE WALKING!!"

Whelp. That was an embarrassing moment you'd never be able to live down. But hopefully this could just stay between you  three. 

Armed with but the weird fan weapon Kaigaku gave you earlier and a bottle of the medicine for Rui, you three followed Akaza out of the Sanctuary and in the back streets of the district heading where else? But further into the city far away from the houses of oirans or any stalkers who might come after you. You debated in telling Akaza the full extent of what happened, but figured that the situation was already taken cared of and there was no point. That man wouldn't bother you again anyways and you suspected he would he hesitant to come back anytime soon with the threat that Gyutaro guy gave him. Plus you didn't want to send Akaza on another man hunt like with what happened to Kaigaku and you had bigger things to worry about. Like trying to figure out ANY reason as to why this 'Master' wanted to see you and Rui. You wracked your brains hard for literally ANY reason at all even if it was small but you couldn't think of a single one. Not for the entire day you three were walking or when Akaza kept peeking around corners, stopping you all before continuing onwards. Something told you he did this a lot. Sneaking around which reminded you of what Kaigaku mentioned. 

''Hey. Don't you have a human disguise? I thought all Kizuki did."

"We do but I prefer to stay hidden and its faster to just weave through the allies unnoticed. Most Kizuki meetings are too secret even to other demons."

"You're literally not human! How hasn't one person even noticed you yet?" 

"Simple. If they do notice me, it's considered highly bad luck to speak about it." 

"Who spreads that rumor?" 

"The Master. No one really questions it."

"I owe Kaigaku an apology. THAT has to be the dumbest thing anyone's ever said to me."

Akaza have you a weird look but seemed to just drop the subject. Night soon fell and Rui was already starting to get tired, to which Akaza just simply scooped up the child and just kept walking but after another hour or two paused to look at you.

"Are you alright? I know humans need more sleep than demons."

I'm truth you were tired but shook your head. "I can still walk."

"No. You're getting tired." He stopped making you stop behind him and gave you a look. Rui was still held in one arm of his and curled fast asleep against half his chest. "I can carry you through the night and then you can continue walking in the morning.  We can't afford to be late."

"I can walk through the night! A human can go three days without sleep-"

"I can go three weeks." You fell quiet as he sighed. "Here. You can just sleep and I'll carry you. I know it's not ideal but you'll need all the energy you can get for the meeting. Trust me. This isn't something to take lightly."

You wanted to say no but your feet screamed yes. So reluctantly you agreed and allowed Akaza to carry you in his other arm. With a red face. Wow. He uh..must be strong to carry both of you without breaking a sweat. And you literally just pressed against his chest and side was a bit more intimate than you'd like, and when you looked up..Huh. his eyes shined a real pretty gold in the moonlight. A shaking of his chest made you freeze as you quickly recognized the sound as chuckling. 

"Is my face that beautiful?~"

"SHUT UP!! IM SLEEPING!!"

You were so happy to continue walking on foot the next day however Rui continued to snore away in Akaza's arms which was cute. And it was just like the last day, and again you tried to deny Akaza carrying you when it got dark...but he insisted and insisted and INSISTED until you could barely keep your eyes open and finally agreed falling asleep faster. By the next morning, you had woken up late in the noon and nearly had to fight Akaza to put you down but managed to get back onto your feet.

"We're nearly there." He confirmed as Rui rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "We'll be at the meeting point by sundown, possibly even meet up with some other Kizuki also heading that way." A blue tipped hand grabbed your shoulder seriously and his face hardened. "You need to be on your guard and stay close to me. I can't guarantee which Moon we'll meet and what they'll do."

It made you wonder just how much more dangerous the other Kizuki were. You have only ever met four. Kyogai who was as sweet as honey to everyone you've seen him act with (other than Kaigaku and Enmu). Kaigaku who had a temper sure but you didn't consider him dangerous. Enmu who wasn't so much a threat as he was just annoying. And Akaza who you guessed could be dangerous but he was respectful and polite to most everyone you've seen too. Were the other Kizuki really that bad? Looks like you would find out soon. Twilight soon began to fall and the farther you all traveled the More quiet it gotten and the less people you saw until the streets were completely bare of any living creatures and no lights other than the occasional street lantern or candle in the window and the setting sun leaving only a little sunlight to spare. It would soon be complete night, and you had no idea where you were. You felt almost like a criminal skulking around back allies, hiding from sight, and keeping secret. A sudden noise made you suddenly jump and a cat yowled out from the inside of an overflowing crate full of garbage and scurried away into the night leaving you spooked. You felt on edge from Akaza's warning and you couldn't help but feel like you were one of those unfortunate victims you always heard in ghost stories. The ones who always meet their early demise in the dark. If you weren't traveling with a giant, powerful demon you would've felt more on edge.

"Akaza, where are we?," You asked just loud enough for them to hear. 

"The more residential areas of this district. Mostly humans live here but there's a few demons. We're almost there. Keep up with me."

"This place has a heavy aura to it," Rui spoke looking around carefully at every shadow that danced by, "It speaks of danger."

"You wouldn't be wrong. We approaching the entrance point." He didn't explain himself further but he still heard her footsteps struggling to keep up with his wider, faster strides. It shouldn't be too long now. With one final left turn he walked down onto a street finally and began walking down the street until he was halfway through and stopped making her bump into his back. There was silence other than her heartbeats. ".... We're here."

You were?! Blinking your head turned this way and that on the street, only seeing the dark street and nothing else. At least you weren't cramped in an alley again but now just exposed like this on the street was starting to make that antsy feeling creep up her spin again. It made you take a subconscious step towards Akaza who just stood there. The last rays of the setting sun was dowsed by the watering night and all light finally left, making the shadows more powerful. More bigger. The outstretched hands of darkness caressed the world in its grip. Akaza stood silently still in the night before his head turned towards the dark opening to a alley, and narrowed his eyes.

"Skulking around in the darkness? I thought you were more civil than that."

A small silence followed and other than a small flinch you gave nothing moved. Your head turned in sync with Rui as you both looked in the direction Akaza was facing and saw no one else there. Until someone else stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight.

"We're supposed to be keeping this secret. Why are you standing in the middle of the street without disguising yourself?"  What stepped into the moonlight was a man. A human man with familiar looking black hair, dark eyes, with a tanish-brown shirt and pants with a purple coat dropped from his shoulders. He wore a light scowl as he did so. Who was this? "You'll endanger Y/n for fucks sake!"

"Kyogai. You're in the presence of a lady and child. Watch your language!"

"Kyogai?" The human man turned his attention to you as you gawked at him.

"*sigh* Hello, my dear. It's been quite a WHILE-!?" He was nearly toppled over when something smaller suddenly tackled him in a tight hug startling everyone with the speed in which you launched at him. 

"THANK THE GODS YOU'RE ALRIGHT!! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!" You yelled at him in the hug before pulling away and grabbing his face with a smile. He blinked as you smiled widely. "You look so different too. But it's not a bad look, I didn't recognize you at first."

He blinked as you cooed and squished his cheeks together giggling when his face went red before he shook his head and pulled away. "I- Yes! Of course I'm alright!" He squeaked out in a high pitch tone before clearing his throat. "I'm a Kizuki. It'll take more than an attack to take me down."

"Is Kaigaku with you?"

"No. He got here before me, by now he must already be somewhere in the Infinity Castle waiting for everyone else to arrive."

"Then we mustn't keep them waiting."

Kyogai only nodded at Akaza before turning away from you and without another word began walking. You watched as he silently walked without another word and without looking back at anyone all the way over to a home on the opposite side of the street. Without even bothering to knock he just opened the door and walked right into someone's house- Until he just dropped. Literally! His body went down into the floor as if a hole opened up right under him as he walked,but the strangest part was how silent it all was. He didn't even attempt to scream or call for help. One moment he was there and the next he disappeared! You have a gasp and look of shock.

"Kyogai?! What just happened to him?!"

"Be calm. He just entered the Infinity Castle which is where we're going next."

"What? AH!!"

You squealed as a strong arm just picked you up by around your waist and Akaza took three leaping strides hopping through the open doorway and disappearing into the same spot Kyogai just did. Your small scream echoing out...And then the door slammed back shut on the silent street.

Black. That's the first thing that enveloped your vision and you instinctively grabbed onto Akaza for dear life as you all felt weightless and kept falling and falling and falling. Until bright light shown from the end of the tunnel. You wondered for a brief moment if you died somehow and this was the afterlife tunnel you've heard about so much. Closing your eyes, you braced yourself...only to feel yourself come to a complete calm stop...Was that it? We're you dead? Was this heaven? Slowly you opened your eyes.

And your eyes widened. 

Hundreds of lights began clicking on.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

Hundreds of rooms and windows and stairs appeared all meshing into one as if they were a maze. Hundreds of halls. Entrapping the light within the confusion of the structure your mind struggled to comprehend.  

"...What is this place?"  It felt too big for you too look at. Almost overwhelming your stomach into becoming nauseous.

"The ultimate dimension. The Infinity Castle. ...This is where all demons came from, our original home."

He did not answer you even as you turned to him, only sucking in a deep breath, letting you feel his grip tighten around you both, before he just tilted forward. And you screamed as you fell. Downwards you all spiraled out of control past doors, lanterns, stairs, walls, hallsways- Doors. Lanterns. Stairs. Walls. Hallways. Doors. Stairs. Walls. Lanterns. Hallways. Over and over again. Reflected in your eyesight and flying past your falling forms at an inhuman speed. This wasn't FLYING. This was falling. Wind whipped your hair around and in your face half blocking things from your sight.  Until there was a brief pause of the strange buildings as you all flew past a wide open space. A grand temple like mansion surrounded by water and lilypads before just as quickly disappearing being replaced by even more of the original buildings you first saw. You couldn't even scream again when Akaza did a few air flips before slamming down on its feet again, too winded by the whole surreal experience. But you were sadly mistaken if you thought that was the end of it. Squares appeared in the walls before they all broke away and launched themselves right at your body. At which point you slammed your eyes shut. Akaza only focused on the high speeds at which the speed of the floors launched him up and into the sky. Up and up and UP he went past tens of doors flying open and exposing the way to the top of brights lights and wind.

STRUM!!

All at once, the wind and movements and you still gripped onto Akaza forehead pressed firmly into his shoulder. And there you remained until the shoulder nudged you gently.

"Y/n. We're here now. You can open your eyes now."

....you slowly opened purple eyes and looked up, and what you saw shocked you completely. More maze buildings and lanterns surrounded you but it looked as if you were standing on a center platform in the very center of it all. You couldn't do anything but stare at it all. What kind of godly powers allowed something like this to exist?

"That was fun. Let's do it again!"

"Absolutely NOT!" 

You wriggled until Akaza slowly lowered you both down. You wobbled the first few steps thanks to the light feelings in your legs  but managed to stand and look around, only to yelp and jump back towards Akaza when someone close moved next to you. Your head turned. And you had to suppress a scream when a hand with an eyeball dead in its center blinked right at you. The green sclera and orange pupil with a literal arrow as the pupil. The eye blinked as the hand was held up at your shocked face.

"Is this the human who caused so much ruckus? Hm. She's not much of a looker is she?"

"Yahaba, don't insult her while in my presence," Akaza growled letting a fist clench at his side.

Yahaba? Why did that name sound familiar too? Purple eyes blinked past the hand held up and made contact with the strangest sights. A man and woman stood there looking right at you. The man of the pair had his eyes closed, black hair, and a largely blue beaded necklace around his neck. The woman whom was smiling in both a smirk and excitedly condescending way was wearing a long orange kimono, black and orange hair, and piercing yellow eyes staring right through yours, and from her ears dangled silver stoned earrings. 

"She doesn't look very strong either," the yellow eyes woman commented. A bell jingling was heard followed by a repeated thudding sound as a hand of her lazily bounced a temari ball repeatedly. "Is there really more than five Kizuki members after this puny thing's heart?"

"Susamaru, I won't hit a woman but you're stepping across a boundary you really shouldn't."

Susamaru? Was that this woman's name?

"Calm yourself, Lord Akaza," the Yahaba man spoke, his eye hands still blinking at you, "She merely expressed a concern over the rumors we're hearing." Akaza narrowed his eyes. "But perhaps we did cross a line. Our apologies. How long has it been since all twelve members of the Kizuki gathered for one meeting? Eighty? Ninety years now?"

"No you high class wannabe idiot! It's been a hundred thirteen years!," A new but familiar voice spoke up making you look over and recognize a very familiar  angry demon scowling. 

"Kaigaku!"

Said demon perked up hearing your name and a moment later another demon arrived behind him in the form of Kyogai again but both of them had dropped their human disguises. Immediately you perked up at seeing them again. Said demons perked up at your voice and in an instant they were staring right at you. A small smile appearing on his face despite his harsh tone.

"Tch. It's about time you've all shown up," he said with a huff and crossing his arms. "We've been waiting two days for you to arri-"

"Y/N-CHAAAAAANNN!~" 

All your heads turned, and Kaigaku bristled. "OH FUCK NO!!" And quickly jumped in front of a teal eyes blur before Enmu could even get close to you with open arms and a love struck look in his eyes. "NOT AT THE KIZUKI MEETING YOU PERVERT!!"

"It's been too long since I've seen you again my love!~," Enmu called from being blocked by Kaigaku, "I didn't forget the way you man handled me on the train and demanded I gave you what you needed.~" A shiver went down his spine as he gushed. "Please hold me like that again!~"

A female voice giggled and you found the Susamaru woman looking amused as her hand eyed friend looked disgusted. "It looked like the rumors we're right and they have all fallen for the same human girl. How fun to watch."

"Hmph. Of all the indignant things. They could've chosen anyone from high society and yet they're all fighting like dogs over a scrap of meat and it's not even an expensive meat like a sweet honeyed ham."

Your brow rose at them. Did this man seriously just compare you to a piece of meat? "And who are you?"

"Y/n," Akaza spoke making you look at him. He nodded at the new pair, "This is Yahaba and his partner Susamaru, they're Lower Moons Four and Five of the Kizuki. And they seem to be forgetting their places in front of me."

Both Yahaba and Susamaru looked at one another... before smirking but bowed when Akaza gave a grunt their way. "Apologies. We're still tired from our trip here. You'll forgive us if we're snappy."

Instead of answering them, Rui was gently placed down on the ground and he immediately began wondering off making you blink before following after him and grabbing his arm before he decided to look over the edge just to see how far up or down below you all were. You ended up standing closest to Kyogai just as more Demons showed up. 

"You men need to keep your voices down and quit being so annoying!," A high pitched woman's voice DEMANDED and you looked up only to jump finding a woman walking down a flight of stairs completely upside down above you all. She looked up...down?? And scowled at all of you. Her body wrapped in a simple but VERY expensive looking pink kimono,  her long hair tied in a ponytail and it was all white except for when it faded to green near the bottom, and she seemed to half some kind of pink flower tattooed on her cheek. But what was most striking was the yellow eyes glaring at everyone from up there. "You all can be so loud, it's bad enough I have to deal with annoying men at the Entertainment District but now I have to do it here too?!"

"Daki," Akaza said simply and politely ignoring everything else she said. "It's good to see you again. You look healthy. Is your brother with you?"

"Of course he is!" She shrieked back. "He's just asleep from the long trip!"

"You'd better wake him up and have him come out for the meeting. The Master wants everyone present for this meeting. Biwa Woman!" He suddenly spoke louder and looked over and up, and you followed his gaze. "Has Lord Muzan arrived or not?"

STRUM!!

You looked over and rose a brow at another new face. This one of a pale skinned woman who sat on a platform high above you all and was cloaked in all black. Her hands expertly held a stringed instrument and her long black hair blocking the whole top half of her face.

"I can say with certainty he has not," she spoke clearly and calmly to Akaza's question. 

"Then what about Upper One? Is he here?" Akaza scowled harsher. "Don't tell me he of all people is late to a meeting."

Upper One? Did Akaza mean Upper Moon One? You don't think you've seen him yet. You again glanced around. Enmu had settled down finally and everyone seemed to be glancing at Akaza or the woman for answers. You looked back up to the woman who had been standing above you all but was surprised to see someone suddenly next to her. A man thin and gangly who towered over the woman who stood next to him. Where did he come from?! Was THAT 'Upper One? He must've felt eyes on him because he looked up (down??) at you and you saw him freeze instantly. His eyes going wide and looking as if he's seen a ghost.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's so harsh.~"

CLICK. CLICK. clickclickclickclickclick-!!!

One after another lanterns on a platformed stairway rapidly clicked off creating a veil of darkness behind you directly. It caused you to jump and go wide eyed as they all closed off to the darkness, the candles all exploding inside of the pretty patterned lantern covers until one side of the platform you stood up on was completely shrouded by darkness. And then silence resumed..Or....it would have-

"You're beginning to hurt my feeling, Lord Akaza,~" a man's voice cooed from the darkness. Immediately it sent a shiver down your spine. "Weren't you even a little concerned about me?" You jumped again and whirled around wide eyed. "And here I was concerned something had happened to you.~ After all you are one of my cherished comrades, and I would be heartbroken if I lost any of my comrades.~"

Purple eyes went wide. Standing there right next to Akaza was the most beautiful man you had ever seen. In fact..you had completely thought it was another woman at first with how beautiful he was, but you could tell it was a man by his voice and physical appearance. Speaking of which- ...He was TALL. Definitely taller than Akaza whom he literally had an arm thrown around his shoulders. You'd say he was as tall as Kyogai. A pair of skin fitted clothes showed off his physique which was admitted impressive, you guessed he was strong. His head was framed by platinum blonde hair that cascaded down his back other than a peculiar ring of red on the very top on his head. His nails a sharpened ice blue. But what struck out the most was his eyes. They were a kaleidoscope someone caught the rainbow in. His skin smooth and unblemished yet pale like perfectly frozen piece of ice. Your first thought was-

This man was bad. Dangerous. It made you freeze up inside and shiver. There was something about this person who made you want to stay away. 

"Lord Douma!," Enmu happily exclaimed raising a hand to wave. Out of everyone he seemed to the only one happy to see this tall man. "It's been ages! I assume your cult is doing well since your territory has expanded."

"Hi Enmu!", The tall man smiled and waved back a creepy look across his face. "Long time no see. I heard you got the newest model of train. It should be so much faster traveling now. You'll have to drop it by my place to show me sometime."

Akaza went rigid. His body cold as he felt the hand tap on his shoulder. Veins appeared along both arms as fists clenched up and a pulse went through his body.

"Get off."

"Hmm?" Chills ran down your spine at the unsettling turn the rainbow eyed man gave as well as the chillingly slow look Akaza gave him. 

"Get your hands off of me."

CRACK!!

You gasped and your eyes widened in horror as blood spattered onto the floor as the entire lower jaw of Douma (that's what they called him) was wiped off with one punch from Akaza. Leaving nothing but blood dripping from his face and red smeared all over Akaza's left wrist and dripping down his arm. The sight surprised you enough to force Rui behind you with a blink from him. No one else really reacted to the sight other than Kyogai whom gave a concerned look your way as you froze.  You expected the blonde man to kneel over in pain or drop to the floor, but no. Despite his lower jaw being missing he managed to let out a coo of fascination, a hand skimming over the still bleeding flesh before with some crackling noises his jaw completely healed back and he turned with that same smile. Although now he had blood smeared all over the front of his clothing, his hands, and parts of his neck and face.

"That was quite a punch.~ If I'm not mistaken you've gotten slightly stronger.~"

He spoke in a similar way to Enmu, the only difference was that you felt like there was...No emotion at all despite the cheeriness of his tone. It was hard to explain but it was like if someone was angry but pretending to be happy but you could really tell they weren't happy. This was almost the same. You could tell he was pretending to be happy but...there was nothing underneath to hear. And that scared you. Akaza merely gave him a look that could be summed up as 'what the hell is wrong with you'.

"You asked about Upper One earlier." Everyone turned back to the woman holding the Biwa just as Rui peered from behind you curious. "He was the first one I summoned. In fact he's been here all along."

"I've been here...the entire time."

There was a tense silence as everyone froze up. A deep male's voice spoke out echoing everywhere and Akaza suddenly moved looking over his shoulder and down into the maze of homes and lanterns. You looked that way too...but you didn't see anyone. 

"It seems Lord Muzan...has arrived."

SLAM!!

You jumped whirling around as Kyogai immediately slammed to his knees and arms pressing his forehead to the ground in the deepest bow he could give. What- Another similar sound rang out as one after another all the demons quickly dropped to their arms and knees in a similar bow until they all were on the floor bowing. All except for the instrument holding demon. Oh she was bowing alright, whoever she was, but not as deeply as the others. Instead just her head alone was bowed, enough to still be seen as polite and respectful but not as deep as the ones around you-

"Psst." You again jumped and looked around at everyone but no one was looking up at you- "Look UP, dummy!" A raspy voice hissed at you and you looked up, only to jump when you met the sickly yellow eyes of the gangly met above you. Both him and the woman were in bows on the stairs but the man was looking up (down???) at you from there with a glare. "Don't be stupid! BOW!!"

You weren't sure what to make of it but you felt an overwhelming feeling that it'd be best to not question it for now. Rui yelled a 'hey' as you dropped to your own knees forcing Rui against and with you before wrapping an arm around his back and making him bow with you. The thoughts hit you. If a demon as powerful as Akaza bowed like his life depended on it, then you'd do well to follow that example. 

There was a tense silence as everyone didn't move. You weren't even sure if you were breathing only feeling the heart pounding in your ears. And then the heavy footsteps came. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. TAP. They sounded so close yet so far away at the same time. TAP. The footsteps. Stopped. You couldn't tell where they were or what was making  them. The urge to look up was strong. Briefly you did, and met the side eye of Kyogai whom was literally shaking. His blue eye shot your way...and his head lightly shook no. No. He was telling you not to look up at whatever it was scaring him. You didn't. Instead it went to the polished oak wood below you in wide eyed silence.

"....Do you know what it is I see, Kokushibo?"

"Dissatisfaction."

"Oh no. Far from it. I see a change....Have I ever told you lot how much I detest change? The changes of circumstance, the changes of flesh, ....THE CHANGES IN EMOTIONS. Most changes only cause weakness and inferiority.  And I am not weak. What I'm interested in in perfection in performance. A completion of a perfect wheel going around and around as it should be. Do you understand what I'm saying, Kokushibo?"

"Without question."

"You seem to be the only one who does, so allow me to explain it in words these others can understand."TAP. TAP. TAP. "I made the analogy of a perfect wheel earlier. So let's take that one step further and say this particular wheel it one on my wife's carriage. The wheel on the the carriage is perfectly round, and along with the other four wheels works perfectly to work. But once and a while you'll break down. A dent will appear. Sometimes things go flat. Sometimes you'll have to replace the wheel entire wheel but that's alright. Accidents happen. You just fix what broke and move on. But let me ask you this. What happens when more than one is damaged?" TAP. TAP. TAP. "What happens if there's more problems than you can repair? The break downs build up and get worse. Now if there's an emotionally charged person behind that wheel well...Do you know what they'll do, Kokushibo?"

"They will..not think clearly....They will be at risk...for more accidents on the road."

"That's exactly correct. An emotional driver won't think to fix the mistakes clearly too busy thinking about their feelings, and even if they do the repairs won't be done correctly. If you patch a tire it might fix it for a time but if you fail to completely change the wheel the accidents and build ups will continue until you crash and burn and you'll have a permanent disaster on your hands....And that's EXACTLY what we have here. Recklessness. Driven by a stupid feeling of the useless emotion known as infatuation. So let me ask all of you this...How has so many things gone wrong because all of you couldn't think clearly with that blinding emotion making you stupid?"

No one dared answer. Not even when the new voice hummed.

"Should I tell...Hairou to bring them...out now?"

"Excellent suggestion. Since no one here can answer me perhaps one of them can. I want all the members of the Twelve Kizuki here for my talk anyways. You may tell Hairou to bring them out now."

There was silence once again. Not even the talking sounds of someone walking. Until you heard the distant sounds of...metal clanking against more metal?? The sound filled you with confusion and you saw Akaza slowly lift his head up out of the corner of your eye. What was that?! Footsteps added onto the collage of metal jingling and they shuffled as if walking slowly and slowly  towards you. Eventually it was overwhelmingly in front of you somewhere. Eventually your curiosity got the better of you, and surely if Akaza thought it was ok to look up then. You looked up and you once again froze at what you were staring at. There was six new demons to the scene and you recognized them. It was the five demon brothers who tried to kidnap you and Rui! Although they all looked miserable and you could see why as they all had thick chains and cuffs around their wrists which were connected to one another by the thick ropes of chains. The sixth demon was something to behold too. His entire physical body was different shades of greys other than his eyes which was a black sclera and white pupils. He smiled in sick delight and harshly tugged on the chain pulling the other five along behind him.

"Hairo. Unchain them." The monochrome demon in the military uniform gave him a disappointed look. "You heard me. I don't think those chains will be necessary as I don't believe they'll try to do anything that would further get them into trouble. Spending a week in solitary confinement and chained taught them everything they needed."

That voice. You looked over and paused at not one but two people stood there with his back towards you.  One was a tall  male, with black hair and wore mostly black  except for a white shirt he wore underneath a black vest. The man directly next to him was a few inches taller and the one whom really sent a chill down your spine. The figure was mostly hidden by a long ponytail and black and purple coat. He was dressed in a more traditional way compared to the man next to him. The monochrome demon in the army uniform and cape hissed but complied with the demands pulling out a key from his cape and just yanking the first demon in line painfully closer to him. The red eyed demon growled but didn't make a move to strike in fear of getting more in trouble. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. One after another they were uncuffed and the metal chains noisily dropped to the floor until all of them were uncuffed and rubbing their wrists.

"You all seem to be forgetting something. Hairo, would you do the honors?"

"AH!" 

Something kicked the blue eyed demon of the brothers behind the knees causing him to squeal and fall forward onto his hands and knees in a makeshift bow. ....The other four soon followed the example not having to be told twice. Even the monochrome demon behind them bowed slightly although the sadistic smile returned. 

"That's better. Now that everyone is present, I'm quite certain you're wondering why I called you all on such short notice." No one said anything making the black haired man hum. "No? Very well then. I'll get straight to the point and not waste anymore time. I called you all here to announce that I'll be reorganizing the order of the Kizuki."

To you it wasn't a big deal but you guessed by the shocked looks of everyone else it was some kind of big deal for everyone else here.

"Don't be alarmed. No one is getting replaced but some of you will be placed higher and others lower. After the incidents that have occurred I've made up my mind about this. However there is another far more important issue. And that involves all of your M I S T A K E S." There was a deadly pulse of energy, enough to shake everyone to their cores. "I for one wonder exactly how all of this could happen in such a short amount of time... Kaigaku."

Said angry demon froze not even having the strength to look up at being addressed.

"You failed miserably. Countless times you left your post, you got into fights with at least three pairs of demons who ranked above you, you deliberately failed to notify anyone of your failure to keep outsiders out and I learnt it through a third party...and on top of all of you helped destroy a part of MY territory that now has to be fixed and deliberately kept Upper Moons Four from retrieving what I wanted them to retrieve. Is anything I said wrong?"

"....No."

"Now what about you Kyogai?" Said bookkeeper trembled more. "You also threatened both Kaigaku and Enmu which if I'm not mistaken both rank higher than you, which can be insubordination. You also illegally sheltered a runaway child that was supposed to be brought to me. That's most unbecoming. You also lost sight of the human twice when I wanted her in one place. Your failure to keep a watchful eye annoys me."

"I-I-Im sorry! I had N-No idea!! Please F-Forgive me!!"

"How about you two? Akaza. Enmu. Both of you knew the location of the child and failed to report him in, but I also found out the both of you caused damages to the Tsuzumi Mansion. ...Which I happen to consider one of the most important pillars to my reign. It seems all of your musgrieving are centered around the human. Except for you five." Five brothers trembled with fear. Five different pairs of eyes stared hared into the floor. And five men shook in fear as something heavy crawled over them like sadistic roots seeping into their veins. "For almost and entire you all failed me. It couldn't have possibly been as hard as your five made it out to be to catch one child, but instead of the child what do you deliver?...Failure. Constant, utter failure. Which is bad enough, but you have caused me more trouble than your worth."

"The damage wasn't that bad-"

"Not. That. Bad?" The deep voice spoke inhumanly slow before he hummed. "Kokushibo, do you think it was 'not that bad'?"

"Hardly...I personally saw..the damage. It was...very intense. I was honestly... surprised the mansion was...still standing."

"In all the years of living I have never seen such inherant stupidity from so many of you at once!" The voice got louder and it made you wince from the volume. "INSUBORDINATION. ALMOST IRREPARABLE DAMAGE!! DISRUPTION AMONG THE RANKS!! F A I L U R E. ...Do I need to elaborate further?!" Again no one else spoke. "No one answers. I'm not surprised. However the center for most of these problems happens to be-" His head slowly turned and your own eyes widened as a pair of red eyes met your own. "YOU."

You didn't move. Hardly breathed. Only watched as he finally turned and looked directly at you. This was the Master of Demons? He-.... Wasn't much to look at. You rose a brow. 

"I have heard a great deal about you, and all the problems you caused. Even if you aren't aware of them, you've caused me many set backs...Now the problem is deciding what punishments you all will receive and which ones will please me."

You didn't know why but his words carried a great threat with him than even Akaza. His anger was like standing in the middle of an active volcano. The longer he stared at you, the more you felt like this weight was slowly pushing down on your shoulders and back of your head. Sweat appeared on your face eventually from the intense feeling behind those red ey-

"Daddy!"

...Wait. what?

The intense pressure disappeared as soon as the red eyed man snapped his head over, and almost made his eyes big out when a smaller figure ran right up to him and wrapped their arms around his legs. It took you a moment of blinking at them to realize that the 'they' was actually a she. A little girl that couldn't have been older than seven or eight stood there hugging the man with red eyes sporting a very fancy pink and white dress, her black hair done up in two braids and held there by pink bows.  She happily smiled up at the man with soft brown eyes. You stood there stunned looking between her and the shocked red eyed man before he quickly relaxed back a ...smile? On his previous frowning face, although there was an aura of annoyance in his eyes, although you didn't think that annoyance was aimed at the little girl. 

"My little Princess." The little girl squealed in joy when two strong hands picked her up and held her up in his arms. "You know not to interrupt Daddy when hes working. Aren't you supposed to be studying right now with your tutors?"

"Mommy said I can have the day off!," She happily spoke without any fear of the man. "Are you coming home for dinner this time?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss seeing my girls but where's Mommy right now?"

"Not too far behind her." Heads turned. Your jaw dropped. Footsteps approached. And a woman who looked so much like the little girl walked in from a random platform wearing an expensive looking but comfortable beige dress. She like the little girl showed no fear to the man as she smiled. "I'm so sorry, Honey. I tried to make sure she didn't bother you but as soon as she saw you, she was off faster than that pony you got her." She then sighed. "I don't think I ever had that energy when I was a little girl."

.....You again stared wide eyed. Hey..THAT WAS THE WOMAN FROM THE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT!! WHAT WAS SHE DOING HERE!?

The man chuckled. "It's alright. I missed her too, but what are the two of you doing here? I thought you were enjoying that shopping spree with your mother?"

"I was but I was told we had to leave early because you needed Yahaba and Susamaru for something."

"Oh? Well perhaps they can tell me why you're here then." He then turned to the two Demons in question and you instantly knew who his annoyance was really aimed at.

"Forgive me, Lord Muzan," Yahaba spoke up from his bow, "But you specifically ordered us not to leave the Lady's and Princess's sides for any reason, for that reason we had to bring the both of them along. For their own safety."

"...I see." He seemed..at least a bit satisfied with that answer.

Wait...That was a princess and Lady?!

"Oh my." The woman's eyes blinked around her taking in the scene. "Oh no. Did we interrupt you, Dear? What seems to be going on?"

"Nothing to be worried about," he assured her raising a hand, ''Im just having a business meeting to rearrange some departments and going over a few issues that needs to be addressed. It'll all be handled before dinner tonight."

"Oh dear. Oh dear." Her brown eyes scanned everywhere before stopping in two places. The blood smeared all over Akaza and Douma's bodies from their spat and then over to the heavy line of chains still lying near the Hantengu Brothers. "Oh, Kibutsuji. I hope you haven't been hard on them."

"Nothing that they couldn't handle I assure you."

"Mu-Zan." Her brow rose as she gave him a look. "I can see those chains behind you. You've been putting someone in solitary again haven't you?" In response the man's smile widened. "Don't think you can fool me with that smile. I know you better." Her hands were placed on her hips. "What did these young men do to earn that punishment?"

He chuckled not even ashamed about being called out for something so bad. "You got me. I knew I couldn't fool you. *sigh* They happened to just be a bit reckless and destroy something very important. A time out is just what these young people needed to help learn their lesson. I was just about to punis-" he glanced at the little girl. "...I was about to figure out what they could do to help make up for it."

"Did they break a vase from playing ball in the house too?"

"Hmhm. Something like that sweetie only it was a little bigger than a vase."

"I heard that much." She seemed to pause for a long moment just staring at the brother who all seemed too afraid to move back. "...Well they seem like strong young men, if they really destroyed something why don't you just have them help repair it?"

"My thoughts exactly. I was going to do that exact same thing."

"Uh huh." She totally sounded like she believed him. "And why don't you just let the others off with a warning? As you yourself said, in all your years of living this never has happened. A stern warning can do wonders in the long run."

His smile strained like he really didn't like that idea, but exhaled and his face returned to being serious. "I... suppose given the circumstances and the fact nothing like this has happened before, I can overlook your short comings just this once. ... However." You flinched again as red eyes glared at everyone. "I won't be so merciful if something else were to occur. I've been lenient for far too long since you're in a Kizuki position but I had better not see anymore insubordination or damage to something else I consider mine. I hope I make myself very clear to each and EVERY single one of you."

"Daddy. Who's that?"

You jumped when three pairs of eyes turned to you and Rui , and a flash of realization crossed across the woman's face.

"You're that girl?"

The man slowly turned to her. "Rei, you know this girl?"

Rei? Was that her name?

She nodded. "Yes. She asked me for directions back in the entertainment district, apparently she needed a doctor badly. But what is she doing here?" Her eyes shifted. "Dear, who is this boy?"

"She's my mother." You never wanted to slap a hand over Rui's mouth so fast as everyone turned to you both in such surprise and shock, and intense rigid from the red eyed man. "That medicine was for me. ....And you're going to leave her alone."

"Rui. Shh!" You attempted to shush him with a nudge.

He only stared into the red demon's eyes in that blank, scarily serious face he sometimes got. "I don't know what you desire with me, but I won't allow anyone else trying to separate us."

"Rui, be quiet!," You hissed at him.

There was silence for a long, long, llllooooonnngg moment with just the two Demons staring intently at one another. Before the woman called Rei slowly scowled and turned her head to...Muzan they called him? And red eyes slowly looked back to her, before he blinked surprised. Her hands which her previously on her hips, went to cross her arms as she just... silently scowled at him for a quiet moment.

"...I assure you that I can explain -"

"Which part?"

"The girl is not his mother, not really. His actual mother is located at Eternal Paradise Cult I'm the mountains with his other family. He just must've imprinted on the wrong woman and now he's confused-"

"My Ex-mother abandoned me and wished I was dead. My REAL mother fed me and always makes sure I'm not sick." A pale hand pointed at both Muzan and the brothers behind him. "That man ordered those men to kidnap me and one nearly killed my mother."

Rei still stared silently at Muzan. "Do you care to explain that or why they're even here?"

"*sigh* I admit perhaps I...went about this the wrong way, but I was simply interested in the child's upbringing now. His blood is rare and he could become one of the most powerful demons when he's grown. The girl is the one with the strange flower scented blood I told you about. The one who's stolen the hearts of most of the Kizuki and caused so much trouble. She can't just be let go-"

"Well she's not going to be punished either! And you're not going to separate that little boy from here. So you'd better think carefully about this." The man frowned back at her but opened his mouth to which she rose a daring brow..and he closed his mouth. "Well what has she done?"

"She's trespassed. Caused a disturbance in the Kizuki ranks. And distracted them from doing their duties."

"Oh. Is that all?...Well then let her raise the boy." He hummed confused. "It would solve the problem of leaving a child without a caretaker and raising a child isn't easy. You should know that, and that hardship alone should be enough to make up for everything."

"... there's still the problem of so many Kizuki fascinated by her."

"Then allow them to court her and let her figure it out herself. You shouldn't concern yourself in their love life anyways. That's crossing a big boundary."

The man let a deeply annoyed exhale out- Before pausing eyes widening... Before he once again smiled at his wife politely but there was some kind of undertone to it.

"You're absolutely right, Darling. I shouldn't meddle with affairs of the heart or family." He then 'happily' turned back to you. "I apologize for any trouble my actions or my underlings actions have caused you. However you still have caused trouble yourself. At the insistence of my wife, you're to remain here to help raise the boy and allow us what's ailing your blood so." 

.... That's it? That seemed like a rather mild punishment for the feeling you got from him-

"And to show my apologies to everyone I'm making it official. From now on you shall be legally engaged to the men of the Kizuki with the exception of the child you have."

......W H A T?!

#demon slayer #enmu #daki #enmu x reader #gyutaro x reader #gyutaro #kaigaku #hantengu #hantengu clones x reader #hantengu clones #hantengu x reader #karaku x reader #kamanue x reader #kaigaku x reader #kamanue #karaku #urogi x reader #urogi #sekido x reader #sekido #aizetsu x reader #aizetsu #zohakuten #Rui #akaza x reader #akaza #douma x reader #Douma #kokushibo x reader #kokushibo

[organchordsandlightning]

Lighters in Malevolent

Hello, folks! 

So, as loads of people have noticed, there’s some hinky stuff going on with the lighter in Malevolent.  As I was going back through transcripts to see where it popped up, I thought it might be helpful to have a reference of all the lighter appearances so far (a sentence that sounded a lot more hinged in my head than when I typed it out.)

Obviously, there will be spoilers from EP1-26 under the cut. 

Bold: Arthur obtains a lighter. Regular: Arthur uses a lighter. Italics: Relevant but not directly related to lighters.

For brevity purposes, I’ve also omitted repetitive lighter uses. (For example, if Arthur flicks on the lighter four times to guide himself around some tunnels, I’ve only noted the first go unless something has drastically changed in the meanwhile.)

(This is more of a reference post than a theorizing post, but IMO, a lot of the more Compelling lighter red-stringing pops up in later S2 + S3.)

Season 1

EP1: Arthur uses the lighter while exploring the ritual/sacrifice basement.

EP2: Arthur finds a flashlight in the trunk of his car. He leaves it after the crash.

EP3: Arthur uses a matchbook to light a candle, found in the Mansion.

EP4: Arthur steals Kellin’s lighter from his bed.  He briefly drops it, and then lights Kellin’s bed on fire.

EP5: John remarks that they have nothing after the hospital, excepting clothes and several hundred dollars from the Lost and Found.

EP6: Arthur remarks that they need to get a flashlight and matches, which they buy at the gun shop.

EP7: Arthur searches for a lighter on his person to re-light the lighthouse wick. John responds that they have one, but it refuses to light in the heavy wind. He re-lights the lighthouse keeper’s supernatural lamp.

EP9: Officer Collin has a lighter at the start of the episode. Arthur takes both a lighter and a flashlight on the police boat, after the monster attack. He uses a lighter to start a fire on the beach.

EP11: Arthur uses the lighter for illumination and.to construct a torch. 

EP12: Arthur uses the lighter to illuminate the hotel basement.. He initially refuses to light the boat lantern, but eventually does use the lighter to both burn the tadpoles and smash a lit lantern against the boat.

Season 2

EP13: Arthur finds his lighter in his bag while dealing with the Trader. He uses it to cauterize John’s wound. 

JOHN: You said something back there. ‘This too shall pass’. (NB: In reference to Arthur comforting John before biting off his little finger.) ARTHUR: Yes. JOHN: Why did you say that? ARTHUR: I don’t know, it’s just a comforting thought. JOHN: It’s written on our lighter. ARTHUR: Oh, that’s right! (He pulls it out and flicks it.) That’s the one I had with me from... the office, way back when. Crazy to think it’s made it all this way. It’s not even really mine. JOHN: No? ARTHUR: No, found it in an old desk drawer when we moved in. JOHN: Interesting.

EP14: Arthur refers to the lighter when talking with the Three Soldiers.

EP15: Arthur uses the lighter to illuminate the tunnels.

EP16: Arthur momentarily drops and recovers his lighter. He uses the lighter to ignite the supernatural bullseye lantern.

EP17: Arthur lights and extinguishes the lighter per John’s wishes. He also uses the lighter to make his Molotov Cocktail.

EP19: Arthur barters back his lighter from the Trader after his imprisonment.

EP20: Kayne lists his things, but neglects to mention the lighter. In panic, John suggests the lighter to help with Lilly’s bleeding.

Season 3

Coda: Arthur uses the lighter to light a fire.

EP22: The following two exchanges -

As Arthur enters the washroom to bathe:

(The door shuts behind him. Arthur searches through his pockets.)

YELLOW: What are you searching for?  ARTHUR: Our lighter. YELLOW: You have a lighter?  ARTHUR: Of course, don’t you … you saw it.  YELLOW: No. ARTHUR:  You must’ve, you said – (NB: Reference to Yellow saying ‘This Too Shall Pass’ at end of EP21.) YELLOW: I didn’t see your lighter, Arthur.  ARTHUR: Fine, must be in the bag. Any way to light the stove? We need to heat the water. It’s freezing in here.

After Arthur sees Uncle rummaging through his room:

ARTHUR: Oh. Um. (He starts to speak, in the same cadence as Kayne’s original rhyme. The main theme starts to play.) The glass, the stone, the mask, the books, the tooth, the coin, the wallet and … (Normal cadence) Some hooks. Um, the shaving kit, and my … uh, lighter should be in here, somewhere. YELLOW: What lighter? ARTHUR: The lighter, you – I used it... oh! (He flicks the lighter.) YELLOW: What?  ARTHUR: Oh, it’s here, in my – in my … in my jacket. W-Wait! Didn’t I just…?

EP23: Yellow tells Arthur to pull out the lighter to illuminate their way in the estate. Arthur refuses.

EP24: In the mine, John asks Arthur where his lighter is. He finds it in his jacket again. He lights a lamp.

EP25: Arthur lights a torch with the lighter. 

#Malevolent #Malevolent Spoilers #malevolent meta #( can you tell I miss being in the research biz #(as per usual if there's any catastrophic errors let me know and I'll take a loo #Malevolent Podcast #(Oh! And I forgot to mention - if anyone wants me to do this for any other plot elements #(EG. who are all those people in S1. what's up with the books. etc etc #( let me know! no promises but I do like transcript trawling

[kitkatopinions]

New rwby ep dropped V9 ep6, my thoughts, praise, and criticisms (as well as obvious spoilers) beneath the keep reading.

Praise:

I'll give it to rwby, the twist that Alyx had a brother was not expected! I'm proud of them, actually, the two falling lights and the guy in the portrait, and even the footprints in the sand, that was all well done foreshadowing! Good on them.

The blink and you'll miss it reflection of Summer in the water is well done, not a lot of attention drawn to it.

Might hate that Jaune is here, but his line delivery of things like "I was the Rusted Knight" is well done too. Perfectly captures Jaune having wanted to be that, it captured his old feelings of pride that he must've felt, while obviously still bittersweet.

The thing is that I'm half-convinced that Jaune is going to be a secret accidental antagonist, and that his story about Alyx is him being an unreliable narrator, and if that's the case then to me the scene where he talks about Alyx seems - as of right now - pretty good!

The animators are once again knocking themselves out of the park on Blake's facial expressions.

I've already said it in another post, but it deserves repeating that after ten years, rwby confirmed main characters as queer. No matter how it's done (and I talk about my problems with it below) and how badly it's been handled before, it's a point blank period good thing and every bit of rep we see on screen helps normalize it and encourage it as expected for future media.

Again, I have very little praise.... Um, the sound effects remained good? That's all I've got tbh.

Criticism:

Me seeing even a moment of Jaune's POV going through a similar thing to Ruby in the beginning of ep1 was a curse. I am sincerely starting to hate him, and that's such a sad thing because I'm one of the few rwby critics who ever liked him at all (mostly as a concept, he's been used so badly,) but I just get so sick of seeing him and now me at Jaune is like:

Honestly they really just wanted Jaune to get a time-skip and be super old but needed an excuse for why the same thing didn't happen to Team RWBY so they went with special time fruit that he picked that sent Jaune back in time in the Ever After and created himself as the rusted knight he knew from the story in a time-loop worthy of Doctor Who. But I think it's stupid as hell. Sure Jaune jus yank a clock-fruit off of a clock-tree, that sounds like a good idea. /s Sure writers, just make a clock-tree that sends Jaune back in time, that sounds like a good idea. /s

Little is still an annoying intrusion.

Weiss being into Jaune is a bad choice.

I know it's hard for these writers because Jaune fans make up like fifty percent of their most loyal fans (the other fifty are bees shippers,) but if they could stop trying to convince us that Jaune is hot that would be great. Especially because let's not forget that Jaune was a total nice guy to Weiss, bothering her when she'd made it very clear she wasn't interested and I know 'times change' or whatever but it's a bad look to have her thirsting after him now and again it's just gonna feed the more misogynistic Jaune fans.

They cut away from Jaune actually telling Team RWBY what happened of course. Why would the audience want to see characters react to things when we can just understand they had emotions off screen? /s This is just like Yang's story about landing in the Ever After, we just brush it aside, but it makes the emotions so shallow and lacking.

Ruby: "We lost Atlas and the Relic." Blake: "But we got everyone out safely." NOOOoooooo babygirl, you did not do that. Not only were tons of soldiers sacrificed to try and hold her back, but Cinder attacked citizens on that bridge and apparently they were dead in the explosion, and also the Mantle and Atlas citizens were tossed into the middle of a sandstorm and got attacked by Grimm and that last one might not something the girls know, but they know the rest and nobody protests that Blake and Jaune both just think everyone is safe? This is especially weird to me considering that they don't know that Qrow, Robyn, Maria, and Pietro are safe (and they might not be!) And Penny is literally fucking dead. Like no, you guys are just delusional tbh and at this point I legit feel like the writers are trying to manipulate their fans into thinking that what they watched wasn't actually what they watched.

Ruby: "What good is saving anybody if Salem just destroys the world anyway?" Yang: "That's how Ironwood thought." So that's boiling down the volume 7 problem to being incredibly simplistic and tbh in not a very fair way (this is acting like Ironwood didn't want to save anyone in volume 7 and it's acting like Team RWBY had any real plan in volume 7 themselves,) but it's also.... Not wrong. If Salem gets all the Relics, the world could end and kill literally every person alive, Ruby is just saying 'we should've prioritized her not getting a doomsday key because not doing that could lead to Salem KILLING EVERYONE ALIVE ON THE PLANET. Yang is acting like being slightly realistic for two seconds is being on the path of villainy!

Blake's like "Hope the Cat is okay." I understand that the girls are processing a lot, but some of them didn't even think about the Cat risking itself, risking death, after having been freaked out by the Jabberwalker, and now the most they can muster when they remembered it existed at all is "yeah hope it's okay." Shouldn't they be slightly more worried about the life of an ally?

Jaune needs to take a million chill pills. Mr. Trauma he may be but if it's a choice between him or the Cat... I'm taking the cat. And he needs to not pull a "team RWBY" and draw his weapons on people. What was he gonna do, kill the cat? Nice thought, that Jaune might want to be a cold-blooded out-of-anger murderer as well as a it's-what-she-wanted out of kindness murderer.

Weiss: "We've been following this story the whole time and it's not even true?!" Okay, let's review. They arrived in the Ever After and a couple of things that happened to Alyx also happened to them so they assumed that they were going through the story in the same way as her - which is why they played the game with the Red Prince - but then when they beat the Prince's game same as Alyx, they got wildly off track without any of them mentioning it while none of them recognized the Cat right away and encountered a whole character who didn't exist in the book and then said they were off book, and then they went to a market to get a growgurt with none of them even sort of saying Alyx had done the same iirc, And now Weiss is insisting that they have been following the story? No, they stopped doing that like two episodes ago, right? The only thing they've been trying to do in the story is just go to the Tree, and they've been relying on the Cat for that since they ran from the Prince, not the book. So why is Weiss now acting like they've been following in Alyx's footsteps the whole time? They already know the Ever After contains lots of things that weren't in the original book - like the concept of Ascencion and the Caterpillar and other things they act like they don't know about like the loop, so why are they now acting like the story not containing everything in the Ever After is new?

So because of people being mad at the Cat, either the Cat or Ever After itself put everyone in a "punderstorm" (stupid name,) which is a "physical manifestation of a mental or emotional problem" (It's implied the Cat did it, but I'm unsure.) This is another thing that isn't in the Ever After book based on the reactions of the girls, and it immediately punishes Weiss for saying its the pits? Implying that the Ever After itself is an entity with enough consciousness to be offended? Also the gag where Weiss falls through the hole and then reappears falling on her back is very Marvel, very Spongebob. Oddly enough Weiss is just like "yep my bad lol" and doesn't say something like "omg did the Ever After itself just punish me for insulting it?!"

Jaune says the only way out is to fix the problem or 'wait for the storm to pass' before he directs them to keep moving before saying that Blake and Yang must've had 'something bigger' to work out. Here's the thing with that. Yeah, Blake and Yang did have their feelings to talk to each other about, but the Ever After forces them away from the others to talk about their emotional problem, and didn't like, force Jaune and Ruby into a place where he tells her he killed Penny? It doesn't force Ruby to stand across from her teammates and tell them she can't take everything anymore and it isn't fair that she's carrying them on her shoulders? The Ever After doesn't trap Weiss until she works out her clear emotional problems about losing Atlas? The Ever After doesn't put Jaune across from the Cat until they make up again over the situation with Alyx and Lewis? Why is it that Blake and Yang get singled out? Oh yeah, because the writers are singling them out. They might as well have had the RWBY writers appear on screen and shuffle Blake and Yang away from the others while breaking the fourth wall to tell the camera Office-style that they just can't write for characters to do things naturally so please stick with 'em for this brief intermission.

Blake and Yang need to get to the platform in the middle!

It's too bad that they aren't hunters who can launch themselves into the air or have weapons that help them with that!

Yang earlier: "Wasn't Alyx bad? She lied and cheated her way through the whole book." Jaune now: "She wasn't just a little petulant, or inconsiderate. She was selfish, cruel." Either Jaune misread Alyx in the book or Yang did, lol. 'A little petulant' is a minor character flaw (and every character ought to have at least one character flaw,) being a bad example for little kids on what not to do and a liar and a cheat through the whole story is something else entirely! This is hilarious, Jaune and Yang would've been out there accusing the other of being brainless antis who didn't read the same story. XD

So Alyx poisoned Jaune and he died? He says "I was dead" So... how did he come back to life? Is he alive?

Also it's worth noting that Blake and Yang don't even call for Weiss, Ruby, or Jaune and don't act worried about them at all despite the fact that "punderstorms" and their role is clearly also not part of the book. That's not helping the 'no they do care about other people' argument tbh.

Yang: "I like that you've never been intimidated by me." No lie, when I heard this, I burst out laughing. Blake has never been intimidated by Yang? She acted like Yang would hit her because Yang chose to go on a separate mission! Blake has been animated to make worried faces all season long while she tries to patiently coax Yang into not losing her temper like one would talk to a five year old. Blake has acted hesitant to express her worries with Yang - heck, throughout most of season six, Blake was acting like she was waiting for Yang to hit her, and their 'triumphant' moment in volume six was Blake sobbingly trying to assure Yang that she wouldn't ever leave her. Again, these characters are acting like they're delusional. Yang claiming that Blake has never been intimidated by her when Blake as recently as three in-universe days ago at least was ducking her head with a sad face and hunched shoulders while she waited for a scolding looking like she feared being hit because Yang had left her... It just makes Yang look like she doesn't pay any attention to Blake really, and during their love confession, that's a very bad look!

I would so much prefer a love confession where Blake and Yang naturally just told each other how they felt or kissed in the heat of a moment or something rather than having them forced into it, not only is it very fanfic in the worst way but it's also.... Cutting it kind of close to uncomfortable. If I was forced to confess my attraction to another girl, then no matter how sure I felt about my own feelings or how sure I felt that she felt the same way, I'd be pissed off. The fact that Blake and Yang are just like "aww I think we have to tell each other how we feel uwu" and not being like "god the Ever After doesn't even know if we're out and they're forcing this on us?" is weird lol.

Blake and Yang start telepathy communicating with each other?? I think??? And neither of them reacts to it????

Also here's the thing, being completely honest when I don't ship something, the attention and focus the ship gets and the shipping scenes are annoying to me. It's the same thing with Arthur and Gwen in Merlin, it's the same thing with having to watch Aragorn kiss Arwen. It's a complaint that I don't expect or even want to be adhered to because I'm not the only person in the world and I do think Blake and Yang needed the confirmation they got (though with most ships I don't ship my problems usually extend to not thinking they're super well done,) but it did lessen my personal enjoyment of the episode that such a large chunk of it was devoted to this ship that I honestly don't really like. This would be a skip on every watch through tbh.

Jaune: "Feels like I've been waiting forever for that." Buddy, when have you talked to Blake or Yang for more than a minute? Jaune is not only like twenty years removed from this situation but has very little established closeness between either girl involved. I feel like this would be like if I went back to my hometown in ten years and saw two friends of my sister kissing and I was like "I've been waiting forever for that!"

At first I thought I liked the Celtic Women style song that plays when Blake and Yang kiss, but on my second watch of this ep, I feel like I don't.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.... 2/10 episode. Pretty bad generally.

#anti-rwby #rwby-crit #rwde

[fukuwatchesbl]

OFTS Ep1 - Stringed throughts

Let's just dwell in. It's long, so under a cut.

so we have: Mew as table keeper, Yo (❤ Jennie) as bar owner, Cheum the dancer, Sand the singer, Ray the drunkard (or maybe the burden from this translation note), Top as top tier (the translation pun is not lost on me), Boston the hunter

interestingly, Nick is not introduce in the context of the bar.

Ray is a moody drunker, not my favorite kind by far... also your jealousy is showing, sir

that wristband system intrigues me: white single, green free to hit on, red taken... any other colors? is it a special night thing?

Cheum was wearing red 👀 and Ray's color isn't visible

Boston, you're such a slut (affectionate)

love the opening sequence (was title kirati in the trailer? at all?)

they're never getting an A, or if they do it'll cost them their friendship (or both...)

the teacher pointing out how it won't work is incredible foreshadowing

one braincell, and Cheum holds it most of the time, right?

for a sec, I thought Nick would be the designer

Nick knows who is Boston. He seems pretty sure they're the same age. btw is it an inside joke that mark looks younger than neo, even though he's older?

Jojo's music choices are always on point

Mew doesn't drive and doesn't drink. I like that

Ray = designated drinker

Is Cheum family related to hotel industry? Top's is

Boston's plan of bringing in Top is gonna backfire so hard

do boston and ray not like each other much? that the second time I get this feeling

the pressure to lose one's virginity... sigh

i feel top has started to feel exhausted of one night stands, could explain why he got so into mew from the start

boston don't be such a snob about mew's music taste (honestly this attitude always rub me the wrong way, it's personal, sorry)

so who's the next guest who'll hook up with boston (hi drake!)

Sand, your conscientiousness will loose you

what's an airport taxi fare like in thailand? (I'm actually curious because it's regulated for paris airports)

did I already mention Jojo' musical choices?

also does that count as the belt trope?

give me khaotung's single now!

top: I love your room, it looks like you - mew: it's impersonal a fuck and you don't know me

mew may be a virgin, but he is not naive or a prude, he knows very well what's the implication of inviting top in his room

the only trouble is he doesn't want sex for sex

is it the first time someone said no to top? that must be the most surprising experience ever for him

nick... what you're doing is unethical, and also probably illegal

mew: i'm only red flags - top: i only see green

no but seriously, what mew describes is something top never had

wondering if ray's experience feels real to people who have had a blackout

"did we have sex?" -> Sand was so insulted, like who the fuck do you take him for Ray?

mew and top prolonging the night with a date at the library, that would be nice if not for all the mess to come

Ray being distressed because he didn't sleep home. is it just about waking up somewhere unknown?

why mew doesn't want to say who he is with?

also that belt-induced frustration... been there done that

who the hell owns that mobile phone shop? where are you? how did you not walk on your employee having sex with a client? so many questions

top inserting himself in all the groups activities, ew

I honestly had to google PM 2.5, I only know them as fine particles

does Ray know boston and top hook up? or at least suspect it?

and does boston know ray has feelings for mew?

honestly their dynamic is so screwed up, it's hard to think of them as friends, and it makes so much sense how it's going to become a mess

ray leaving right when top arrives. the only way he could be clearer is by actually saying he doesn't like him

sincere apology... that was an unexpected nice touch

Sand don't burn yourself

why is top giving me brian kinney's vibe? is it just me?

please don't sing... thank god... but also wtf, it's literally been a week.

See you next week

#only friends the series #fuku watches ofts

[whumpees]

Voice 2 (2018) & voice 3 (2019) whump list

Synopsis: Listen closely, because skilled voice profiler Kang Kwon Joo is back. Working tirelessly at the Emergency Call Center, she uses her first-rate hearing to save lives and catch culprits. When it comes to responding to emergencies within the vital "golden time," Kang Kwon Joo is simply the best. Do Kang Woo is a mysterious man who's able to tap into the mind of a criminal. He also hides a secret pain that he doesn't share with anyone. When he meets Kang Kwon Joo, they reluctantly form a team. She can hear crime; he can think it. Together, they take on the most dangerous criminals their city has ever seen.

Whumpee: do kang woo played by lee jin-uk

Only S02 is available on Netflix

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S02

Ep1: wakes up on the ground hands tied, takes a bit to realize what's going on, kicked and stepped on, the bad guy cut his face to give him a scar so he'd remember him every time he looked at the mirror, jumps in the water while his hands are still tied, struggles to untie himself but starts to pass out

Ep4: nightmare: woke up panicky, bad headache & took medication for it, punched the mirror, hand bleeding

Ep7: having flashbacks: falls on the ground because of them, found unconscious by his teammates

Ep8: flashbacks: panicking, passed out on the ground

Ep9: having flashbacks: walking in the streets with blurry vision and seems on the verge of passing out, leans on things, tries to take his medication but finds it empty, sits in the bathroom ground having flashbacks and scared and covers his ears, in a hysterical state and passes out from stress

Ep10: has a wound on his stomach, bandages himself, later shown waking up on the ground in a crime scene and groaning from the wound on his stomach

Ep11: being bandaged at the hospital, doc says he lost a lot of blood and should stay at the hospital for a few days but he tries to leave anyway, reveals that he has the fainting spells because of his truama (he passes out when he's in elevated stress)

Ep12: in a fight: cut several times, on the ground, chocked, the old scar is cut again

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S03

In this season he's mentally unwell and keeps having flashbacks and fits of violence where he unconsciousally attacks people so I'm not gonna mention them unless they look kinda whumpy but thought to mention it if you're into "losing control" kinda trope.

Ep1: "missing", in hospital passed out with iv on and handcuffed to the bed, wakes up disoriented not realising what happened or why he's handcuffed so he gets violent and starts attacking the officers to let him go, officers tell his teammates that he was attacking a man then passed out and so they brought him to the hospital and they also tell them he has countless needle marks on his arms (been taking drugs)

Ep2: having flashbacks: panicking and injects himself with drugs

Ep3: triggered, supports himself by leaning on a table, tries to take his med but drops it and drops to ground and someone tries to help him up

Ep10: flash back: lying on the ground

Ep15: punches the mirror & blood on it

Ep16: falls for a trap and hung upside down, shot in the chest while hung up, on the ground passed out, wakes up and fights the killer, strangled & passes out, wakes up and fights again, shot, dies.

#voice 2 whump list #voice 3 whump list #lee jin wook whump #korean whump lists #lee jin uk whump #Netflix whump lists #kdrama whump lists