#VIOLENT BUT IN REALITY LIKE EVERYONE SHE KILLED IN THE ORIGINAL HAD IT COMING SO LIKE

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

tw lots of animal death but. listen

so when I was a kid I got super into reading the og books that Disney would make movie adaptations of cause they were always super different. Like, 101 Dalmatians has four Dalmatian parents actually.  Mary Poppins had four Banks children, two of which were twin infants. The sequel to 101 had superpowered comas and the dog star Sirius.

But like... the wildest was The Fox and the Hound. Because like

ok so the disney movie. everyone cries over it. It’s a metaphor story about two little kids who meet and befriend each other, only to be torn apart by society.

the book is. not that

some notes:

the fox and the hound are not friends, they never were

that’s the most important one. second most important:

there is no plot, only the author saying “hey wouldn’t this be fucked up if--”

featuring!!

the fox is abandoned in the woods way earlier

the fox intentionally kills the other dog, chief, by leading him onto train tracks when the train is coming. yea

the fox has two different mates and two litters of kits. ALL OF THEM DIE. ALL OF THEM. PRETTY VIOLENTLY

speaking of the fox having two different mates, one of my most distinct memories is reading about fox sex in the middle of a state-specific tavern while the music was too loud and I was waiting for my goddamn fries. I was very concerned my Mom would find out I was reading about fox sex on accident. that was fun

there are so many animal deaths too i should not have been reading it as a child

and finally!

the hound kills the fox at the end

the hound kills the fox and then the book ends when he has to be put down

anyway. you know how people keep complaining that disney let esmeralda live at the end of hunchback when she dies in the original book?

let’s be this annoying about fox and the hound let’s insist they make a live-action remake where copper just fuckin kills tod because “reality.” /s

#the fox and the hound #fox and the hound #disney #mine.

[world-of-ryan]

Looper article on the character of Tom Keen.

Unassuming school teacher, cold-blooded killer, devoted family man — Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) has played many parts on NBC's "The Blacklist." Tom has flipped the script on just about everyone he has come into contact with. Even though he was first contracted to infiltrate Liz's (Megan Boone) life as her husband, things do not turn out as planned. Through no fault of his own, Tom falls for Liz and soon realizes that the only loyalty he has is to his wife. Not always on the side of righteousness, Tom's complexities make him one of the most fascinating characters of the series, and it was a shame to see him go. 

But being Liz's ride-or-die had not always been in the cards for the character. Executive Producer John Eisendrath has been quite open about plans to kill off Tom early in the series (via The Observer). Yet, after Eggold was brought on board that reality became quite impossible. The actor's nuanced interpretation of the character meant that the series would have to take Tom in a different direction. But before the spy became completely devoted to Liz and the child they had together, creatives had a different idea of where to take him. 

You thought Tom was dark already

Characters full of innocence are a rare commodity in "The Blacklist." To catch all of the criminals on Red's (James Spader) list, ethical compromises must be made — something that Liz learns in part due to her marriage. At the end of the pilot, Liz finds a secret compartment in her house full of money and fake passports with Tom's picture. This was the beginning of the reveal of who Tom is. And although he eventually proves his loyalty to Liz, love was not always in the cards for the duplicitous character.

"[T]he original incarnation of the character was actually much darker than what we did. It was much more violent and evil, like horrendous," Ryan Eggold shared with PopSugar. "But that character has been scrapped, and there's something else happening." The final version of Tom that makes it into "The Blacklist" is not one to be trifled with. He murders without remorse and lies indiscriminately, but that is not all there is to him. He may have a particular set of skills and a chilly disposition to get done what needs doing, but he does it all for love. After Liz finds out that he was employed to be in her life, their relationship is rocky at best. But through reconciliation and having Agnes (Katherine Kell), the most sympathetic character in the series, they make amends. At the end of it all, Tom finds redemption — which is a far cry from being pure evil.

Tom is redeemed

Ryan Eggold's command of Tom's character became so undeniable, one show could no longer contain him. Instead of being killed off like the original plan, creatives realized there was something even bigger for the actor down the line.

"Played by the wrong person, Tom could have been entirely unsympathetic and somebody we would have needed to kill off after 17 episodes," creator Jon Bokenkamp told Entertainment Tonight. When Liz finds out Tom has been deceiving her, she wastes no time in shooting him. But that isn't the end of Tom, and soon the redemption that he finds on "The Blacklist" became a prime opportunity for a spin-off series. Teaming up with his biological mother Scottie Hargrave (Famke Janssen), Tom embarks on a path to make up for his past misdeeds in "The Blacklist: Redemption."

"This is a guy who's a spy and assassin and orphan, but also someone who's discovering his ability to love for the first time and developing his first genuine relationship," Ryan Eggold elaborated. Just as Liz grapples with her own identity, her husband has a similar path. He learns that his life as an operative started when he was kidnapped from Scottie when he was three years old. And although "The Blacklist: Redemption" was short-lived, it didn't stop Tom from carrying out his final wish before leaving "The Blacklist." He redeems himself by fighting with Liz until the brutal end, even though it takes his life.

#ryan eggold #tom keen #articles #press #media

[sorrengailherondale]

I personally absolutely loved fourth wing. Spoilers ahead

Violet had Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and it is something that is written very well into the book (though at some points it's sort of ignored, though, I think that's actually good.) As someone who has egelrs Danlos syndrome, the struggles of the disease are so clearly written by someone who gets it. Violets talk with Mira with the premise of "nothing will really fix me" is so relatable I nearly cried, and that with her insecurity "what if underneath all the frail joints and brittle bones, was just more weakness" again **chefs kiss** The author even manages to play in with mobility aids in the context of a dragon riding college with Violets saddle, and Tairn telling her that she's worked harder than anybody else, and just because her body is different doesn't mean she should reap the benefits of hard work. This is what originally drew me to this book, and makes violet easily the most relatable character I've ever read, "You look all frail and breakable, but you're a violent little thing" could be my motto for life.

"should I call the wing leader" is one of my favorite lines, and Dragon sass and mockery is a staple. In much of the fanfic, it's the key reason to read

Did I see Brennan being alive coming? Yes. Did I see Dain's betrayal coming? Yes. Did I see Liam's death? Yes. None of this makes the book less compelling. The only thing that concerns me is the length of this series-- Vi and Xaden are basically already together and Dain has already shown his true colors? Why not drag it out some more? (Though personally more dragging if the Xaden and vi may have killed me) It's like showing your hand too early, though maybe this is all just the tip of the iceberg

Lilith Sorrengail was trying to kill her daughter with the rain on that parapet, maybe it was bc of the book, maybe something else, but the fact that Violet doesn't catch into that is infuriating, considering how observant and resourceful she is

On that note... I wanted Xaden to seem more awful. Like maybe not show his true intentions so much until the end of the book... But writing worlds like this takes time

Also-- I don't know why people are so flipped out about their modern behaviours despite a non-modern setting... Who cares? Personally, I find the modern things like (sometimes unnecessary) swearing, mocking each other's sex lives, and common phrases make fantasy books easier to deal with, the old timey stuff drives me up the fricking wall.

I hope we get more of the political climate and manipulation in the next books, it's also very obvious that violet will be going back to Basgiath, probably lying to everyone and keeping Dain fucking Aetos from touching her at all costs. What I want out of that off the bat is more character development for Rhiannon (I don't think the lack of this was accidental, leaving more page space for it in the next book,) a big falling out with Dain where hopefully violet can control her lightning and he realizes she is a true threat, and another falling out with her mother, I NEED more Mira, the Mira-Brennan- Violet-Lilkith angle is one Im dying to see. How will Mira react? How will Lillith- knowing her son is not only alive, but left her and her husband to join a rebellion that supposedly killed his and (is implied to have) caused the heart failure of her husband? I want Mira in the rebellion too, Mira realizes the reality of who her mother is, but there should be pushback

#fourth wing dain

[writingssummit]

Hi I just read you’re tsukishima story and it was so cute omg but I have an idea

Let’s say y/n has a huge crush on tsukishima since they were children right. But tsukishima never rlly liked y/n in that way. So he would always like be kinda aggressive but like not in the physical way, like he would be cold to her whenever y/n would constantly say something abt them dating. In reality he did like her but he didn’t realize it. Then suddenly a new guy shows up, he’s like really handsome and he’s in a small band, he plays the bass. Y/n actually listens to that band and she was so excited so the two of them click really easy, that’s when she starts being distant with tsukishima and stops the talks abt them dating, tsukishima starts to miss everything y/n would say to him and he wanted to get y/n back, but when he tries he sees y/n and the guy sharing a peck 😔‼️ sorry if this was longgggg ugh

a/n: ahhh! I’m glad you thought so, haha! don’t worry about the length, specifics are always welcome! <3 this is a really good idea! i think it ended up on the longer side, but yk, more content is good? i also ended up naming him, so it’s easier to refer to him. i keep holding on to highschool settings i’m sorry LMAO- i haven’t finished season 4 and i’m not reading the manga yet :( but anyways, here’s a bit of angst/unrequited love to balance out my recent fluff posts !

asks/requests: open !

word count: 2.6k

warnings?: some angst/unrequited love

worth a try.

- TSUKISHIMA KEI -

growing up with tsukishima had been a whirlwind of experiences. ever since you had moved and transferred to his school the last year of primary school, you’d been drawn to him. the tall, blonde kid with glasses. you found his pride in volleyball admirable, and you even found him to be so much cooler than you ever would be.

you originally didn’t know anybody when you first moved, but you fit right in with both tsukishima and his own friend. it was a strange combination, but it worked somehow. while tsukishima was rude, and yamaguchi timid, you were loud and energetic. you were lively. you challenged him just for the fun of it, you poked and prodded, just having fun being around him.

you were his self-declared best friend.

looking back on it, you probably always had feelings for tsukishima. back in those days when you tried to get into volleyball yourself. wanting to be like him, you tried your best, but you weren’t all that good. he would make fun of you for it, but you weren’t bothered by settling for being supportive of him and your freckled friend. You were just as passionate as they were about it.

you were even there when that passion jaded. watched as he stared at his brother from across the game.

it was when you started junior high, that you came to the conclusion that you were in love with your friend. but unlike most people, you did nothing to hide it. why would you? you were always open, always honest and straight to the point. you just weren’t one to hide that.

“go out with me, tsukki!” you poked his side with a cheeky grin, your eyes bright. your friend wasted no time in rejecting you.

“no.”

“aw, you sure?”

“i would never date somebody so stupidly annoying.” you shook off the blatant insult, laughing instead with your hand on your neck. a small thing you picked up from your other friend. yamaguchi.

“you’ll come around one day!”

“i doubt that.”

it went on like that all throughout your remaining years until high school. a constant back and forth that became a schedule at that point.

it was decided that tsukishima would be going to karasuno, as would yamaguchi. and so would you. you would go where they go, you’d never thought about leaving them both. you’d stay with them as long as possible, holding on to their friendship like it was your lifeline..

and holding onto tsukishima even more so.

you were there with them on the first day, when they joined volleyball club. that first practice match against aoba johsai.

you weren’t always watching their practices, since you had your own club duties to attend to of course. but you always made sure to stop by the clubroom while the boys were getting ready, just to say hi to everyone and to a certain someone.

“hey, hey!” you poked your head from around the door, waving a hand. the team greeted you cheerfully enough, minus tsukishima. who looked annoyed to no end.

“tsukki, wanna go grab something to eat after your practice? i know a really great spot!”

he didn’t even look at you, only giving you the middle finger.

you laughed, shrugging. “worth a try.”

the first time the team had witnessed your very forward approach to asking the extremely salty and crude boy out, they were surprised. the way he turned you down so effortlessly too, threw them off. the added shock of anybody even liking him was the cherry on top.

“is this normal?” sugawara asked, a chuckle falling from his lips. asahi was beside him, sweatdropping at the sight of your affectionate display, and tsukishima’s obvious lack of reciprocation.

yamaguchi smiled awkwardly, nodding. “well- yeah, actually. It’s been happening for years.”

“i’d kill to have somebody all over me like that! lucky bastard!” tanaka held his fist up dramatically, as if clenching his heart in it. he even had a tear in the corner of his eye.

“well then, i’ll be on my way! good practice, everyone!” you chirped, finally leaving them.

“l/n’s got some serious determination.” tanaka whistled.

“misplaced determination. they won’t shut up about dating, it’s annoying.” tsukishima didn’t sound as impressed as his loud senpai was.

yamaguchi tilted his head to the side. “really? i would’ve thought tha-”

“shut up.”

a small laugh. “sorry, tsukki.”

it would forever continue, it seemed like. you never thought you’d give it up, you always knew that you liked tsukishima. your heart would pound, your stomach would feel fluttery. but even though you’ve been with him since you were children, it didn’t seem like he’d grown to feel the same. it would get you down sometimes, his mean and harsh words whenever you’d bring it up. either casually, or intentionally.

you couldn’t help being so hopelessly whipped!

you were walking down the sidewalk with yamaguchi and tsukishima, humming along to a new song that had been dropped recently. you were so into it, strumming your fingers like you were the one playing in the recording. tsukishima watched you with critical eyes, but yamaguchi watched as if this was entertaining.

“new song, l/n?” yamaguchi asked you, and you paused the music. you nodded right away, grinning.

“yeah! there’s this kind of new band I found a bit ago, i think around the time you guys met nekoma for that first practice match? their music is so cool!” you could go on and on about them, to be honest. they may be small, and very underground, but you liked them anyways.

“wahh, they sound cool- right, tsukki?” yamaguchi and you both looked behind at him, faces expecting the same sentiment.

he only scoffed.

you roll your eyes playfully, sidling up to him for the first time today. “you want to go get some ice cream, tsukki?” you wished, hoped for him to just say yes for once. your heart was begging at this point.

“get out of my face, l/n.” he said coldly.

with a defeated sigh, you walked a few steps quicker, before unpausing the music. the humming resumed, and yamaguchi glanced back and forth between you both with a weary expression.

“you could try to be a bit nicer, tsukki-”

“they can’t take a damn hint, it’s not my job to be nice about it.” He said stubbornly.

yamaguchi sighed himself, nodding along. there wasn’t a point in continuing the topic; he always shut it down whenever yamaguchi brought it up. he’s never been so aggressive about something before.

interhigh had come, taking up your friend’s time with it. you were upset that they’d be so busy now, but with the new tournament coming, came a new student.

he was friendly, and cheerful, and honestly probably one of the most charming people you’ve ever met in your life. he even looked familiar to you, like you’ve seen him somewhere before. you couldn’t figure it out, so you just opted to the conclusion you must have just passed him down the street at some point. or some strange case of deja vu? either way, he was in your class now.

you were just coming back from the bathroom, your earbuds plugged into your ears like they usually were nowadays.

“l/n, please take your earbuds out, it’s class time.” iour teacher scolded you gently, and you pouted a little. It was just getting to a good part-

you had tugged on them a little too hard, and instead of just getting them out of your ears, they came out of the headphone jack completely.

you were embarrassed as your new favorite band’s music started blasting out of the phone’s speakers, and you hurried to turn it off. You were blushing, laughing at yourself as you went to go sit back down.

ahh, dang! everyone heard that! you were just laughing at yourself in your head now.

there was a tap on your desk, and you turned your face towards the hand. it was the new kid, and his face looked bright.

“you listen to my band’s music?” he whispered to you, his face beaming, and you gasped quietly.

“is this you?” you pointed at your pocket, where your phone rested. he nodded.

“that’s so- wow, i go to school with one of the people in my favo-”

“l/n, do you have something to say about the lecture?”

you shook your head violently, holding back a huge grin. “n-no, miss!” your teacher sighed, and continued past the interruption.

the looks you both shared didn’t go unnoticed by tsukishima.

everyday now, you were hanging around the new kid. you had come to learn his name, which was ishiwaka teruo. you both had hit it off instantly, it was like you guys had known each other forever, and not just a few weeks. it was almost like some crazy twist of fate, or luck. you guys were both alike in a lot of ways, held similar passions, too.

“see you, ishi!” you waved a hand, grinning as he waved a goodbye back. you guys didn’t take the same way home, so he ended up leaving the opposite direction, while you walked with tsukishima and yamaguchi. you were humming again, one of ishiwaka’s band’s songs.

“you seem pretty happy, l/n.” yamaguchi chuckled, watching as you danced a little. 

“oh yeah, you bet! ishi actually invited me to sit in for one of his practices, isn’t that so cool? he plays the bass, and he even offered to teach me a few chords. i don’t really mess with instruments, but-”

“can you shut up about him? all you do is just yap on and on about this guy, hanging out with him isn’t enough for you? what’s so special anyways?” his tone was harsh, and condescending. “if you’re just going to talk about him all the time, i’m not walking with you guys anymore.” your eyes widened as soon as you heard what tsukishima had just said. your heart was pounding, like it had been caught in the act of something terrible. you even felt slightly ashamed.

“wow, nice, tsukki. sorry for being excited about something.” you muttered, clutching your bag straps tight. what did you expect at this point? he didn’t like you as much as you thought, if he was so ready to just leave you behind. yamaguchi sensed the tension between you both, which made him uncomfortable.

you were all quiet for the rest of the way home.

interhigh came and went, the loss against aoba johsai stung the volleyball team, leaving their spirits broken, and cracked. you hadn’t been to the game that day, busy with a certain band member. and your missing presence hadn’t been looked over.

“where were you?” tsukishima had confronted you in the hallways, while you were walking with ishiwaka to the water fountain. it was break, which meant he could freely talk to you now.

you looked away from him, a nervous air around you that wasn’t like you at all.

“i’m sorry i couldn’t make it, tsukki- i heard that you guys lost, and i’m really sorry i couldn’t have been there!” your words were careful and slow, like you were thinking on how to say the right thing to him.

the blonde closed his eyes, and looked off to the side. he didn’t look pleased in the slightest. “were you with your precious band member? like some kind of groupie.” 

ishiwaka raised an eyebrow, and you just shook your head. tsukishima was really doing this right now? you said sorry, what else were you supposed to say?

“you know what, yeah. i was with him. it’s not like..it’s not like i have to be around you or yamaguchi every second of the day, okay?” you sighed. “look, i’ll make it to your next practice, and skip my club activities. is that fine?”

he hesitated, before giving you a curt nod. you smiled in relief. “great! i’ll see you then. now, about that specific measure-”

you had left him behind, and tsukishima had been hit with a realization.

you hadn’t mentioned going on a date at all. not today, not even within the past few weeks. was something wrong with you? he’d gotten so used to that, but now even that wasn’t a constant.

it was like you were slipping away from him, day by day.

and he realized that he didn’t like that.

as the days went on, thoughts about this ran rampant through his mind. it was maddening, he was trying to focus on school, and now, as he was walking to the clubroom, volleyball. he was scarily silent, and yamaguchi caught onto it right away.

“tsukki?” he asked quietly, not wanting to push. but he wanted to know. ever since tsukishima had come back from break that day, he’d been acting strange. he was even saltier, if that was possible.

“am i not enough for l/n?” he spit out the question, like it was a disease.

taken aback, the freckled boy could only blink. the two stopped walking, looking right at each other now. “what?”

tsukishima barked out a laugh, running a hand over his face in frustration. “you heard me, yamaguchi.”

yamaguchi’s jaw dropped. “do you miss them?” was he for real? was this jealousy actually coming from tsukishima?

“hell if i know.” he muttered. but he knew the answer, and that’s what upset him.

“i knew it. tsukki, why did it have to be now, though?” he shook his head in disbelief. at the utter obliviousness of this boy. yamaguchi knew himself that there was something there in tsukishima, something resembling feelings for you. but of course it was when you were no longer always around that he saw it.

“what?”

“l/n isn’t a puppy anymore, they’re not following after you. if you haven’t noticed, they’ve given up. you need to do this yourself, and fix it.” yamaguchi stated. he wouldn’t be lying if he said that he’d been frustrated with the back and forth between you both, it was so obvious to him, but apparently not obvious to tsukishima. or you, for that matter.

“i know that.” he muttered. he would have to confront you about this. was he stupid? why didn’t he get this before? 

“then do something about it.”

tsukishima was quiet.

it was decided by him that he’d catch you outside of practice, since you said you’d be coming to watch. it was a quick, and impulsive decision from him, but he needed this to be figured out. his head was at it’s most unclear, and that was affecting him.

you were affecting him.

he looked around the outside of the gym, trying to see if he could spot you coming. it took a minute, before he saw a figure off to the side. it was you, he could tell by that bag anywhere. he stepped out, only to be met with the full picture.

you were with ishiwaka, and you were kissing him.

tsukishima hurried back into the gym with a stone-cold expression. oh. so this is where he stood now.

no longer at the top of your list, no longer important.

you walked into the gym, beaming. it angered tsukishima, more than he should have been. he yanked your arm, and held you by them with a vice grip. you looked up at your friend with nervous, maybe even scared eyes. you hadn’t seen tsukishima like this before.

“what is he to you?”

you blinked. “wh-what?”

“who is he to you? that little bass player.” his eyes were searching yours, for anything, anything that he could hold on to. you didn’t respond, only looking away from his intense stare.

your eyes didn’t hold that same look that they used to whenever you looked at him. 

he had his answer. and he didn’t like it. so he let go of you, maybe for real this time. things had changed so much, right under his nose. and he had let it happen.

#tsukishima x reader #tsukishima angst #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x reader angst #tsukishima x reader angst

[codenamesazanka]

TOGA!

and the answer she’s looking for: a very long ramble. 

Toga! Toga Himiko! Her quirk lets her transform into anyone she wants, provided she’s got their blood. When she was 14, she reportedly stabbed a classmate she had a crush on to take a sip of his blood, and from then on, she’s been on the run. Spent the next two years on the streets, dodging Heroes and avoiding capture, until she joined the League of Villains. Now she’s 17 years old - still a minor, though, and that’s likely why Giran says her name has been kept under wraps, at least until Kamino:

So that’s 14+ years of her life living as a “normal” kid, going to school, having friends, living with a family— as far as we know, out of the League, Toga is the one member that had been living most adjacent to the standard norms of the world; been enculturated/socialized as a person living in a Hero society. (Shigaraki was raised from age 5 by All For One, Twice was on his own as an homeless orphan for more than half his life, Spinner was a hikkikomori, etc) She was from “the other side”, she was from the “right” side, part of the civilian population that Heroes had a duty to protect.

In other words, she would’ve learned, from an early age, that when she’s in trouble, a Hero will come save her. Heroes are good people, Heroes are there to help, Heroes protect everyone. Symbols of justice and peace, associated with fairness and kindness and all that nice stuff, etc etc. Heroes are people who save people.

So... why is Toga so scared of Heroes?

Ever since her attack on her classmate, she’s been running, desperate to avoid capture. When I say ‘desperate’, I do mean desperate.

Everyday she has had to run, and so she had to learn some street smarts, gain new skills, train her instincts. Within two years, she’s mastered her quirk and all it entails - like observing people, behaving just as the original person did or close enough, and measuring the exact amount of blood needed to finish her goal without killing the person (Camie). Within two years, she can hold her own in a knife fight and more, she has learned to be sneaky as heck and gain a frankly supernatural level of hiding, and who knows what else.

Which is understandable. She’s up against multiple Pro Heroes, which Shigaraki has said regular Villains don’t stand a chance against, probably because Heroes are trained combatants who have mastered their quirks and have years of experience. So she had to learn fast and quick. Toga says the trick is to not see the training as training - because to her, it wasn’t, it was like being thrown into a rushing river to learn how to swim or else drown.

But still— why? Why this amount of fear? Why throw her lot with Villains and the underworld at 14 years old, instead of going to juvenile court and rehabilitation?

Why in the world did she think she’ll be better off hiding among vicious, dangerous Villains than Heroes that are supposed to help her, like she’s been (supposedly, I admit) taught her whole life? Heroes, who are people who save other people.

And she’s still scared! She’s joined up with the nation’s most notorious terrorists, but she kept her wariness. Moment more Class A students - kids younger than her, still just trainees - shows up, she’s retreating, she picking flight over fight.

—saying she doesn’t want to die. It’s a statement that I think we can logically say comes from a belief of something like, “Heroes can kill me,” which then also logically means—

To Toga, getting caught by Heroes will mean she’ll be killed by them.

No, she’s not insane. No, she’s not some airheaded teenager prone to melodrama. No, she’s not a ‘psychopath’. Toga’s got some strange ideas about love, but otherwise she’s perfectly functional: she’s clever, she’s able to assess the situation and risks and act upon that information, and she’s shown to be observant and empathetic to her teammates, especially Jin. Any ‘damage’ she has isn’t from reasoning or understanding social norms and cues. She’s smart, she gets people, and she knows that as a Villain, she’s liable to be executed by a Hero. Even if that was just a fear before, she’s now seen it happen in reality to Twice.

I think we can all agree that in a civil society, people who have done wrong still deserves to have the right to due process and a trial, and not be executed right then and there on the street. That’s the agreement most societies has come to on conflict resolution - innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and despite what crimes you’ve committed, there’s a system to give you a fair chance for amends and atonement. Ideally, when you know you’ve done something wrong, you’ll turn yourself in because you expect to still be treated as a person and that the justice you’ll receive is appropriate. At the very least, that’s the better option than living the rest of your life on the run, always looking over your shoulder, possibly committing even more crimes because you’ve run out of options in your effort to not get caught.

But that’s not what’s happening here, with Toga. Whatever she learned from her 14 years of life in Hero Society tells her that now that she has committed a crime, a Hero will come and kill her.

And that’s kinda messed up. Why is that?

Putting aside Twice’s situation for now, we haven’t seen blatant proof of this - that if you’re a Villain, you might as well have a target painted on your head for a sniper’s bullet. What we have seen is the masses’ quick and harsh condemnation of potential criminals. Toga’s parents essentially disowned her after the stabbing incident.

But even with people who haven’t done anything wrong yet, people are so quick to judge.

“Does he even have a future?” That’s harsh, Journalist man. Bakugou’s a kid, 15 years old, he’s the victim here of a Villain plot, and here you’re talking about “no future” - meaning no career, no functional role in society, no chance for a normal life. That’s like giving him up for the dead. There’s not even a body and you’re already chipping in the words for the gravestone. Except maybe even worse, because there’s at least the courtesy to not speak ill of the dead; Villains tho, Villains are ‘bad’, ‘evil’, ‘violent’. Demon child.

What we have seen is a terrifying ostracization of anyone deemed criminal, considered acting against a Hero’s work, considered outside the norm. You’ve got people giving up on you, you’ve got your property getting vandalized—

And maybe you even eventually get a lost kid denied help for not looking like a proper victim.

If you’ve got any association with being a Villain, Heroes aren’t gonna help you. Even if that’s not true, I think people can be forgiven for thinking that from what we’ve seen. Toga certainly thinks this. Villains won’t be helped, even if they need it. That’s what she has gleaned from all her years living in Hero society; that’s what all the Heroes might do to her, if she ever gets caught, and she’s not getting caught to find out; and now that’s what she has seen, her friend dying right in front of her, killed by a Hero. Villains - and those who approach that label in any capacity - don’t get saved by Heroes; they are at best defeated, at worse killed.

So then, if Heroes are people who save other people, then who exactly are those who Heroes don’t save?

And that’s the answer she needs to know.

#nalslastworkingbraincell #Toga Himiko #Himiko Toga #bnha #mha #heroaca #long and pretentious #I’m sorry

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Hiii!! I really love your tumblr posts and I'm pretty new to the Batfam (meaning I have only read fics and textposts about them, no comics) and I wanted to ask about the year Bruce/Batman gets "lost in time". I know general things of what the kids have been doing–Dick became batman and fired Tim from robin, giving it to Damian, everyone thinking Tim was crazy for believing Bruce was alive, (don't really know what Jason was up to though, was he still murderous towards Tim? Does the pit still affect him? Also I have no idea about Cass and Duke, were they introduced at this point??) Anyways, my real question was why was Bruce lost in time, what villain put him there? And how did he get out? And how long was he "dead"? Was Bruce in another reality or like just asleep the whole time? Oh! And how soon did this happen after Damian got introduced to the family–a couple months?

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope you answer and thank you!!

(I’m going to try and cover all my bases here by going into how exactly Bruce “died,” what went down during the Battle For the Cowl, what the Batkids did while Bruce was gone, and how Bruce came back. Hopefully it all makes sense?? We’ll see how it goes lmao.)

Part 1 - What Happened to Bruce:

So there was this event called Final Crisis (which I won’t go completely into since it would make this post a million times longer than it already is), but the bottom line is that Darkseid wants to overthrow reality and release his Anti-Life Equation, which would overthrow the whole planet and turn everyone into slaves. (If you’re interested in knowing more about the storyline, here’s a Reddit thread that explains it WAY better than I could.) 

What I CAN tell you is that during his final confrontation with Darkseid, Bruce is hit by an Omega Beam and turned into a burnt chicken nugget killed. Poor guy.

Final Crisis #6

Clark and Diana bring the body back to the Batcave and break the news to the Batfamily. Batman #687 covers a good portion of the aftermath such as Bruce’s funeral, the Batfamily grieving, and Dick coming to terms with his new responsibility of becoming Batman.

Batman #687

Part 2 - Battle For the Cowl: 

Musical chairs time, fellas! After word gets out that Batman is gone, Gotham erupts into chaos. Dick doesn’t want to take over the mantle, Tim needs Dick to take over the mantle, and Jason says “fuck it” and takes over the mantle himself because somebody around here has to. He becomes this murderous psychopathic Batman and starts taking out criminals with deadly force because someone’s gotta do the job, so it might as well be him.

Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1

(Okay honestly, this series had some pretty bad characterization overall, which sucks since it’s such an important storyline. Jason is portrayed as this violent psychopath, which...okay, he was kind of insane after the Pit and all, but not to this degree. Personally, I choose to owe the bad characterization to Bruce’s death because as much as Jason resents Bruce for all he’s done, he does still love him and losing him would be devastating, which would exacerbate his already fragile mental health. As for Damian, this happens roughly three years after his first appearance, so we can assume it’s been a few months since he first joined the family. He’s still relatively new at this point, so nobody knows how to write him yet. He ends up being depicted as if his main two personality traits are Bratty and Assassin-Child and that’s it. It’s all just a mess.)

Anyway, Tim tells Dick to become Batman and stop Jason’s reign of terror. Dick says no, so Tim follows Jason’s lead by saying “fuck it” and putting on the cowl himself. He goes to confront Jason, which ends in Jason beating the crap out of him (again) and leaving him for dead after Tim declines his offer to become Jason’s Robin. Dick goes to save Tim and ends up fighting Jason. 

Battle For the Cowl #3

Dick wins, Jason disappears, Tim is fine, and Dick finally gets his head out of his ass and becomes Batman. 

Part 3 - What Happens to Each Batkid While Bruce is “Dead”?:

Dick: 

As I said, Dick becomes the new Batman a month after Bruce’s death. He’s got big shoes to fill, and it takes some time for him to get used to his new role. He and Damian end up flipping around the classic Batman and Robin dynamic, with Batman now as the fun counterpart to Robin’s edginess. Dick, Damian, and Alfred relocate to the penthouse above the Wayne Foundation building, operating out of a secret Bat-Bunker in the basement.

Batman #688

Jason: 

After Battle For the Cowl, Jason is still batshit insane and determined to make Dick’s already stressful life even harder by becoming a supervillain with an ugly costume and an even uglier hairstyle. (I know it’s just because the artist sucked, but still. Jason is horrifying to look at during this time.) He mostly just gets on Dick’s nerves by running around Gotham with his new sidekick Scarlet and killing criminals as Batman and Robin wannabes. Eventually, Dick has Jason committed to Arkham Asylum and he hangs out there until Bruce returns.

Batman and Robin (2009) #5

Tim: 

Tim...doesn’t do great after Bruce’s death, mentally. Dick makes Damian Robin, his reasoning being that Robin is more of a sidekick and he sees Tim as his equal. By making Damian Robin, Dick hopes that it will give him the stability he needs to keep him from straying back toward the “bad” side. (It’s the right move ultimately, although his execution was pretty messed up since he didn’t discuss it with Tim beforehand, but he’s allowed to make mistakes. Dick’s father just died and now he’s in charge of picking up the pieces of their broken family. It’s a lot to handle.) 

Long story short, Tim has a breakdown, realizes that Bruce is alive, dons the Red Robin identity, and cuts ties with his family to travel the world in search of proof. It’s a rough time. 

Red Robin #1

Damian: 

Our little guy becomes Robin! So proud of him! As I explained earlier, Dick makes Damian his Robin with the assumption that it will keep him out of trouble, and he’s right on that account. He mentors Damian, teaching him how to channel his violent instincts into something productive, and it works! Slowly but surely, Damian makes the transition from bratty assassin to actual hero!

Batman and Robin (2009) #22

Cass:

Duke sadly was not introduced at this point in time, so he missed out on all the pandemonium. Cass, however, has been Batgirl for years by now, but she got kind of pushed aside by the writers after Bruce’s death. Bruce disappears shortly after adopting Cass, but once he was “dead,” the writers sort of moved Cass around for a while, not quite knowing what to do with her. First she was with the Outsiders. Then they got disbanded and Cass tried forming a new network of heroes to take over for Batman if needed. Then she helped out in said network during Battle for the Cowl, taking care of a newly ravaged Gotham. Then Cass gave the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown after she became disillusioned with the role, thanks to the loss of her father and mentor. Then Cass picked up and moved to Hong Kong to “follow Bruce’s plans” by continuing whatever work he had set up for her there. It was all very vague and confusing, and Cass more or less got swept under the rug during this time. Thanks, writers.

Batgirl (2009) #1

Part 4 - How Bruce Came Back: 

When the Blackest Night storyline happens, the Justice League realizes that the corpse buried under Bruce’s grave is apparently not the real one and that he’s actually alive out there somewhere! How wild is that! This is further proven by Dick after he places Bruce’s body in a Lazarus Pit to revive, which has the same result because it’s very clearly Not Bruce and they should have listened to Tim from the start.

Batman and Robin (2009) #9

Anyway, what actually happened is that the Omega Beams that Darkseid shot at Bruce didn’t kill him, but rather blasted him back through time to the prehistoric era with his memories wiped. The Omega Energy inside of Bruce ends up catapulting him through various time periods, which is all part of Darkseid’s plan. With each time-hop, Bruce builds up more Omega Energy in his body which, when he gets back to his original time period, will be unleashed and destroy everything.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

It’s been a little under two years since Final Crisis, though in-universe it’s uncertain exactly how long Bruce has been “dead.” We can assume it’s been a year, give or take. The way he comes back is too scientific and complicated for me to understand, so uhhhh the bottom line is that Tim and a few Leaguers save Bruce at the Vanishing Point and the day is saved! Hooray! 

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6

(If you want to read about how it actually goes down, then I seriously recommend reading Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. It’s only six issues, so it’s a quick read and it explains the situation far better than I ever could.)

Bruce eventually reunites with his family after spying on them for a period of time as Insider to see what has changed in his absence:

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

After that, things quickly settle back into their new normal. Dick and Damian stay on as Batman and Robin. Bruce goes back to being Batman as well, with him handling Batman Incorporated business and Dick continuing as Gotham’s defender. Tim keeps the Red Robin outfit, Steph stays on as Batgirl, and Cass becomes Black Bat. Jason stays in Arkham for a while before filing an appeal to be moved to a regular prison. He kills 82 inmates in less than a week and gets transferred back to Arkham, which he promptly escapes from. It’s a ride, I tell ya.

Aaaaand that’s about it! I hope this answered all of your questions!

#lay it on me papa bob #batman #bruce wayne #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #nightwing #damian wayne #robin #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #idiot duckboy #cassandra cain #black bat #batgirl #stephanie brown #alfred pennyworth #darkseid #final crisis #battle for the cowl #dc comics #batman and robin #soho reads comics #get your comic references kids

[pan-ic-at-the-homehome]

OK HOMIE i have been having shera brain rot so WHAT IF TECHNOBLADE WITH A S/O THAT ACTS LIKE ENTRAPTA you know.... very smart,wants to know everything, and can create anything they can think of

  Ok so I accidentally made this less of Y/N being the character you asked for and more of an Inventor! Reader because I got an idea for how to make this request into a series sdkshsajdsa-Anyways I did my best and I hope you enjoy ^^

~Techoblade With An Inventor! Reader~

  Wiping the sweat off your forehead you look around cautiously. It didn’t look like there were any mobs nearby, but you could never be too sure in the nether, especially with the very open bridge you made to get to your creation station.

  You were working on something Wilbur asked you to make, an automatic TNT system. You originally thought it would be extremely easy and quick money, but it turned out a lot harder when he gave you the description of what he wanted. A large amount of TNT that can only be triggered by one button and nothing else, and it ALL has to be triggered at the same time. Then, install it under L’manburg. But most importantly, make sure no one else knows about it. You wanted to question him but he very quickly walked away.

  But you decided to do it anyways. His citizenship may have been revoked by Schlatt, but he was still your friend! He doesn’t have any bad intentions and you know that. Even if he somehow did, he couldn’t use it. That would be breaking the law.

  To install something like this you would usually need Jschlatt’s permission, but you already knew that he would refuse to allow you to legally do that but you really needed the money or else he’d kick you out anyways. Even with the Blade on your side, the “president” of L’manburg would still kill you or throw you out with nothing to survive with.

  The mention of the Blade snaps you back to reality. He’s probably waiting for you. How long have you even been here?

  You look down at your skin and clothes. You need to hurry home and clean up fast. You couldn’t go on your date looking like this, especially because you’ll already be late.

  You decide to leave the explosives and the other material in the nether so they won’t slow you down and run down your bridge to the nether portal. Scanning your hand on a scanner you made to make sure no one can get to your portal or into your house, you check the time.

  11:46. You had been caught up in your work for 5 and a half hours and are running 6 minutes late from the agreed time. And because he was always super early to your dates, he's been waiting for a very long time.

  I have to install an accurate clock in the nether sometime soon.

  No, that’s not what I should be thinking about. Get ready. Then you can make a clock after. Techno comes first.

  You clean off as efficiently and quickly as possible and change, grab your bag, and run out L’manburg to meet up with Technoblade.

  Eventually you see an annoyed Technoblade in the distance, sitting on a red and white striped blanket with two picnic baskets and his infamous Orphan Obliterater laying on his lap.

  “Techno!” You breathe out, tired from all the running.

  He looks up in your direction, his face slightly brightening when he sees you.

  Technoblade moves his sword to the side and runs over to you to make sure you don’t pass out on him. “So..... Sorry... I got caug...ht.... Up in something.....” You somehow wheeze out.

  "You don't need to explain, now come on, you'll pass out if you keep using this much of your energy." He says, audibly slightly upset about how late you were, but mostly concerned. Taking your hand, he carefully walks you to the blanket.

  After a bit of silence, Techno speaks up. "So, what were you working on?"

  His question sent you into an internal panic. Techno trusted Wilbur, they were brothers after all, but even he wouldn't trust Wilbur enough to make a TNT contraption without any questions like you did. What if he thinks you'll do anything for money? His trust issues would never allow that. You knew that you wouldn't do ANYTHING for money, you loved him! But he probably won't see it like that. Either way, you had to tell him............

        Or....

       You could lie.

  "You know how Jschlatt taxes Niki way more than he should? I wanted to make something to make Niki's bakery work easier to take at least a little bit of the stress off her back." It wasn't a complete lie, you did want to make something for her, but it wasn't what you were working on and wouldn't take this much time.

  "Oh, how kind of you." He smiles. Thank god he bought it.

  "Thank you Techno....." You huff, still trying to regain your composure.

  The two of you eat your food, just enjoying each other's company, and occasionally making comfortable small talk.

      After finishing the food, the two of you say your goodbyes."Oh and uh.... Sorry about being so late. I got lost in thinking of ideas on how to help Niki....." You mumble out. "It's fine, you were only 10 minutes late. It's my fault for getting here an hour before the scheduled time."

  After a bit of arguing over who's more sorry you two actually say goodbye and go your separate ways. You head back to the now horrid L'manburg.

  "Where's the money Niki." "I don't have i-" "You've had plenty of time to pay your taxes Niki. I'll give you one more day, but then you'll have to rely on Wilbur to keep you alive."

  You had grown used to hearing this conversation between the scared but kind voice of Niki and the harsh and violent voice of Mr. 'President'. It always made you want to give up on all the hard work you've done for L'manburg and burn it all down in flames, but you knew that would hurt everyone else and would only help your pride.

  However, those words were new. Niki was always able to pay her taxes on time. It was a huge stress on her, but she always did it.

  'It'll be fine. Maybe if I finish Wilbur's project earlier than I expected I can get the money and help Niki out if she's really struggling that much.' You smile at the thought...

  OOPSIES I WENT REALLY OFF TOPIC BUT IDEAS ARE BLOSSOMING AND THEY'RE ALL NOT REALLY WHAT YOU REQUESTED, AND SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG :-: PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO WRITE WHAT YOU ACTUALLY REQUESTED

#fanfiction #mcyt #technoblade #technoblade x reader #technoblade fanfiction #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt x reader #x reader

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 120

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 120: The Thirteenth Door

Right after the new year, it came about time for Gu Longming to enter his door.

Ruan Nanzhu selected a sixth door hint slip, and on it was a name familiar to all—Minotaur. A monster from ancient Greek mythology with a bull's head and a human's body that guarded a maze.

In the myth, it was a creature of an extremely violent temperament born of a human and a white bull. Shut away in the Labyrinth on the island of Crete, it ate seven pairs of boys and girls each year. Then it was killed by a bastard son of Athens, Theseus. Point was, there wasn't much intel to gain about the door from a hint like this. Only once they went in and encountered the actual situation could they connect it to the hint on the paper slip.

Lin Qiushi also showed this hint to Gu Longming ahead of time. After Gu Longming received it, he expressed his thorough gratitude for Lin Qiushi, and Lin Qiushi too was forthright with a vaccination—he said that in this door, he could not be responsible for Gu Longming's life, and Gu Longming ought to prepare himself accordingly.

Gu Longming agreed to every stipulation, and said he had already prepared himself for never coming out.

Their time of entry was roughly the tenth of the lunar new year, when celebrations were trailing off, leisurely vacations were coming to an end, and everybody grew busy again.

Lin Qiushi readied everything and began to wait for the door.

The tenth quickly came. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and few people were in the mansion. There was only Lin Qiushi sitting in the living room eating Lu Yanxue's freshly cooked pumpkin seeds. Lu Yanxue's culinary skills were, as usual, the best; the pumpkin seeds she fried up were flavored with the five spices and fragrant as all hell. Lin Qiushi could pass an entire afternoon with just a handful of the stuff.

Ruan Nanzhu had already gotten changed and was waiting upstairs. Lin Qiushi saw that it was about time, and so hoisted his hefty backpack and headed upstairs to go look for him.

Due to their last door, Lin Qiushi intentionally stuffed his bag with a great number of food items. Daily necessities from outside could be brought inside, but weapons that were more against the spirit of the doors were not. Guns and other firearms, for example, could not be brought inside.

Once you'd entered the doors, of course, there might exist some special limitations, like in the sanitarium door when the NPC told them the rule where they could not eat food brought in from the outside. The reality was that these kinds of limitations were rare, but all Lin Qiushi wanted to achieve was the principle of Better Safe Than Sorry. At any rate, the condition from the tenth door where they had to open a chest if they wanted to eat had left quite the shadow on his psyche.

Lin Qiushi entered Ruan Nanzhu's bedroom and sat with him on the bed for a while. Then he felt the atmosphere around him change. It took only the time of a blink for Ruan Nanzhu, who had been sitting right beside him, to disappear without a trace. Lin Qiushi pushed open the bedroom door in front of him and saw that what had originally been the hallway was now a series of twelve black metal doors. What a familiar sight.

He walked to the sixth door and gave it a tug. The next moment, Lin Qiushi was sucked in by an immense force. The scenery around him was also altering dramatically, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he could feel a faint rocking beneath his feet.

Lin Qiushi took a closer look, and discovered that he'd appeared on a large old ship. It was just about sunset, and there were black clouds frighteningly low in the sky, as if they were going to smother the horizon at any moment. Inky seawater tossed before him, blown into violent waves by the winds.

Lin Qiushi smelled the gamy salt of the ocean, and because of the excessive waves, the ancient deck beneath his feet was ceaseless in its swaying. He saw that on the floorboards, there were seaweed-clung creatures clutching at the wood, making for an immensely uncomfortable sight.

Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and saw in the ship cabin a dim-glowing light. He followed the corridor to the interior, and heard miserable wailing coming from inside.

"Uwaaaa, why am I here? What the hell did you all do to me?!" It had been a while since he last heard these cries of a newbie—Lin Qiushi was actually a bit surprised. He spotted the crying person immediately. It was a young woman, wiping at her tears with her hands. "You goddamn perverts, you guys must have kidnapped me. I'm going to call the cops and have you all arrested!!"

Most people were listening to her sob in silence. Newbies, after all, only ever reacted in so many ways: most cried; some tried to run; and some, of the truly psychologically frail sort, came in and pretty much had an immediate meltdown.

Lin Qiushi stood where he was. He noticed that around this girl were a few people who didn't look so good, who also seemed in various degrees of panic. They clearly weren't prepared to enter a door, and were likely newbies like the girl. But at least they weren't wailing endlessly like the young woman, and were still calm in comparison.

Lin Qiushi's gaze searched through the crowd and very quickly found its target—a woman seated in a corner and smiling at him.

The woman wore a long dress—the same outfit Ruan Nanzhu wore before they came in.

Lin Qiushi had the script in his head, and he took his time approaching the woman and holding out his hand: "Yu Linlin."

"Zhu Meng." The woman took his hand and smiled. "The red thread of destiny found us inside this door, let's cherish this meeting."

Lin Qiushi couldn't help but laugh.

"Indeed. Let's cherish this meeting."

Really, this little drama queen of his—putting on a show even when there was no stage to be had.

Just as the two were talking, a young man came tumbling in through the door. Though his face was unfamiliar, his clothes told Lin Qiushi his identity—it was Gu Longming, who'd agreed to meet with Lin Qiushi over the internet.

Gu Longming was entirely soaked. Once he came in he began to curse under his breath: "fuckers, throwing me on a lifeboat—why don't you just throw me into the ocean huh? Goddamn jealous of my beauty or what—"

Though he kept his voice down, Lin Qiushi's hearing was superb, and so could easily hear all the crap he was spewing. For a moment, Lin Qiushi himself didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course, he didn't laugh. He only cleared his throat once and covered his mouth with his hand, swallowing down the urge to smile. Gu Longming's eyes lapped the gathered people and very quickly fell upon Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. He came over with a bright grin, greeting the two as if they'd just met completely by coincidence.

As a matter of act, this little trick where they faked a chance encounter was only useful for the earlier doors. Once in the later doors, that old fox-spirit manifested in everyone, and not having a partner actually made you the odd one out.

As for whether or not somebody would identify them as part of the same crew, Lin Qiushi used to worry about that. Now though, not so much.

The cabin of the old ship wasn't big, nor was it bright. The only lighting equipment was a handful of tiny kerosene lamps overhead, flickering periodically with the sway of the ship.

The sky grew darker outside, and the number of people kept increasing. Finally, it stopped at the count of fourteen.

Everybody assessed their surroundings as they met up with their own teammates. The crowd seemed to be very quickly divided up into teams, with the handful of newbies left out. Without much choice, they had to make up their own team.

Just as the crowd grew noisy with discussion, a middle-aged man came in from the outside. His get-up looked a bit like a medieval pirate, and he carried a swaying kerosene lamp in his hand.

"Welcome to the Black Skerry," the man spoke. His voice sounded quite raspy, like the effects of long-term drinking or smoking had brought about irreversible damage to his throat. "I hope you all have a good time here."

After he finished saying this, he laughed like a maniac, and his high-pitched laughter, like fingernails scoring a chalkboard, sent goosebumps rising along the skin.

"In ten days, the Black Skerry will reach harbor," the man said. "Our voyage will end then, so please enjoy our wonderful time together."

Just as he finished speaking, somebody rushed out of the cabin. Lin Qiushi first thought that this person had gotten scared, but not long after, there came from outside the sound of violent vomiting—it seemed that some unlucky bastard was seasick.

"Where in the world are we?" The sobbing young girl had also been scared by the man before her, and she spoke: "are we filming a show? I'm really, really scared, can I please quit? I don't want to play anymore, I'm begging you…"

The man completely ignored her. He merely went on watching the crowd with a cool gaze.

The girl seemed to want to go up and take hold of him, but when she got to his side she suddenly stopped, face draining of all color. She then backed up a few steps, as if she'd seen something truly terrifying.

Lin Qiushi's eyesight wasn't as good as Ruan Nanzhu's, and due to the dim lights he didn't see a thing. It was Ruan Nanzhu who quietly explained the situation to him:

"That person's covered in some sort of black insect."

Gu Longming shivered.

"Is he dead or alive then?"

"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Doesn't look too good either way."

Under typical circumstances, only the NPC who provided them with the key information was somewhat normal. If even that NPC wasn't normal, then there really weren't any normal people to speak of.

Lin Qiushi hadn't imagined that their door this time would be an ancient ship. And by the looks of things, the time limit was ten days.

"Come along, I'll take to to where you'll sleep," the man said. "It'll be dark soon…and it'll rain."

After this, he began that manic laugh again, and the group was even more disturbed.

The man brought them to the guest cabins and began divvying up the rooms.

Most of the rooms here were doubles, with a rare triple here and there. At first, Lin Qiushi was assigned a double, but Gu Longming brazenly went and found a man to switch room numbers with, strong-arming them into a triple.

"You'll bargain for even this sort of thing?" Lin Qiushi shot Gu Longming a look of admiration.

"Well I'm scared of dying, aren't I…" Gu Longming said. He didn't want to sleep alone, and though it wasn't quite right to be a third wheel, being a third wheel was much better than being dead.

Ruan Nanzhu’s smile was inscrutable.

"That's fair."

They'd planned to inspect the entire ship, but because the night was already so dark, moving about outside would be too dangerous. They would rest first, and wait until tomorrow to make plans.

And so the three got their key and went to their room, getting into bed after quickly washing up.

When Ruan Nanzhu went to change, Gu Longming took the opportunity to poke at Lin Qiushi, whispering, "yo, not cool man, how come you didn't tell me you had such a pretty girlfriend?"

Lin Qiushi answered a vague: "…mh."

"Oh she's stunning," Gu Longming said with a sigh. "If I had a girlfriend like that I'd want to stick around her every day too."

As he spoke, he looked to Lin Qiushi with an expression that was both envy and admiration.

Lin Qiushi watched him back and wondered how he would react if he knew Ruan Nanzhu was drag queen. Of course, it wasn't something he could tell Gu Longming now. Gu Longming was not yet part of Obsidian, and the fact that Ruan Nanzhu wore drag was Obsidian's biggest most vital secret…

After Ruan Nanzhu got changed, he came back inside.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Lin Qiushi answered in brief. "He said you were pretty."

Ruan Nanzhu replied with a meaningful oh.

Gu Longming: "…" Why did a chill suddenly go down his back?

The beds on the ship all emanated a damp smell—very uncomfortable for the people lying on top. At this point, the waves and wind were getting bigger, and even the sleeping quarters were beginning to rock. Lin Qiushi remembered that ridiculously seasick, endlessly vomiting pal of theirs from earlier and thought that that guy was pretty much done for.

The sky outside gradually darkened in entirety, leaving only the bellowing winds and the sound of waves beating against each other. With his eyes shut, Lin Qiushi grew drowsy—but before he could fall asleep, he was woken by a sudden crack of thunder. It was like lightning had struck right above their heads. With the loud boom, all three of them awoke in an instant.

After that, it was the pattering pour of rain. The rushing rain and the howling wind—they seemed on the verge of destroying everything.

Their quarters rocked even harder. Lin Qiushi sat up in his bed.

Through the window, he looked to the black evening outside. He saw, however, two illuminated lights. It seemed like the only light sources on deck were kerosene lamps, but how did these lamps stay so bright in the middle of a thunderstorm…? Just as Lin Qiushi wondered this, he suddenly felt that there was something off about those two lights, and Ruan Nanzhu, sitting behind him, spoke up quietly:

"Don't look anymore."

Lin Qiushi, "hm?"

"Those aren't lights," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Those are eyes."

A pair of yellow, inhuman eyes. The owner of the eyes spied through the darkness with malicious intent, as if a beast looking for its prey.

Lin Qiushi instantly looked away, and asked, "what is that thing?"

"I don't know, I can't tell," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The shape is humanoid, but it doesn't seem to be human."

Lin Qiushi's brows lightly furrowed, but by the time he looked out the window once more, the eyes were gone.

Thunder rumbled on and on, and that stench of ocean salt grew thicker and more cloying.

Ruan Nanzhu climbed into Lin Qiushi's bed, and holding each other, the two very quickly returned to sleep. However, the only bachelor present Gu Longming didn't have such luck. Lying beside Lin Qiushi, he stared with plaintive eyes, thinking that in the following days, he'd be fed enough dog food to bloat.

The rainstorm lasted until dawn, and though the rain let up, the weather did not turn any sunnier. Black storm clouds still hovered over the ship, and when the alarm rang, Lin Qiushi actually thought it was not yet morning. He checked the time, however, and saw that it was 8AM. It was just still dark outside.

"Good morning," Ruan Nanzhu greeted Lin Qiushi.

"Good morning. It's so dark outside today."

"It's probably going to keep raining," Ruan Nanzhu said. He walked out onto deck with Lin Qiushi and watched the black waters roil underneath the ship.

Looking up, they couldn't see any land, only the endless swath of sea. Only the old ship beneath their feet felt like any sort of reality.

This sort of isolating environment was easily taxing on the psyche. Even for Lin Qiushi, the scene before them was discomforting.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Gu Longming called to the two.

"He's pretty thick-skinned," Ruan Nanzhu commented after hearing Gu Longming's call.

"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said. "His nerves are petty good."

Inside the doors, you didn't have to be too smart, but you definitely had to be brave enough. Before terrifying situations, fright could make a person abandon a large part of their cognitive abilities. The smartest person could lack a strong heart and still do worse inside the door than the obtuse, oblivious Cheng Qianli.

The three went to the dining area and found there an atmosphere that could very well be called lifeless.

Lin Qiushi didn't know why at first. After he saw the menu, however, he couldn't help but also feel a touch of depression.

All the ship offered was fish. And it wasn't even fresh fish—Gu Longming poked at a dead-eyed staring head with his chopsticks and said, "is this thing even edible?"

It was disgusting just to look at.

"It looks gross," Lin Qiushi said. "Try a bit?"

Gu Longming took a bit of meat from the gills and gave it a taste. His expression twisted.

"Fuck, did they deduct the food budget for this door or what? It's disgusting. It's like they’ve had it outside for three days. You try it?"

Lin Qiushi, "oh no, no thank you."

Gu Longming: "…"

The breakfast served in the dining room was, for the most part, stale fish. Aside from that there was only flavorless noddles and peas. The environment had already been vicious enough, but the food in front of them now was salt on top of the wound.

But Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn't care at all. After seeing the inedible breakfast they snuck back to their room and fetched from their bags the food they'd prepared.

Gu Longming watched as they pulled out a bottle of chili sauce, eyes bulging out.

"You guys even brought Lao Gan Ma? Did you come here to picnic?"

"Want some?" Lin Qiushi drizzled the Lao Gan Ma over some noodles they'd brought out of the dining hall.

"Yeah yeah yeah. More please." Gu Longming's expression was shameless.

With breakfast finally done, they got ready to search the ship.

There were a total of three decks in the ship, constructed a bit like the sailing vessels of the great nautical era of the Middle Ages. It was extremely old, was all, covered in the marks and traces of times past.

Beside that NPC, they didn't see any other crew members on deck; there was likely only the one NPC on the entire ship. Wait for the ship's return was the mission the NPC left for them this time, but Lin Qiushi had thorough reason to believe that if they couldn't find the door in ten day's time, this voyage of theirs would cycle back and repeat—and they'd experience the ten days all over again.

When Lin Qiushi climbed onto the second deck, he heard a sort of thumping sound, and was uncertain if Ruan Nanzhu and Gu Longming had heard it as well. So he asked, "did you guys hear that?"

"What?" Gu Longming didn't seem to have heard.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I think I did, but not very clearly."

"I think it came from the corner…" Lin Qiushi followed the sound forward. "Let's go see."

But before they could get close, Lin Qiushi was hit with a thick, fishy stench. It was disgusting and nauseating to smell; fortunately Cheng Yixie wasn't here, or he might have passed out immediately upon smelling it.

The source of the sound and smell was the same room, and they were close enough now that both Gu Longming and Ruan Nanzhu could hear the thumping noise as well.

The three of them slowed their steps, and through the window, looked into the room.

It was a kitchen with knives and other tools hanging inside. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the dense masses of dead fish hung up on hooks all over the sides.

A person in an apron stood in the center of the room with their back towards them and head down. They were chopping something. After some observation, Gu Longming almost gagged, and said, "don't tell me he's making our breakfast—"

Ruan Nanzhu was very calm.

"It's possible."

Gu Longming did gag. He'd even had a bite of that fish that morning.

Lin Qiushi gave Gu Longming a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

This person in the kitchen, however, was the second living NPC they'd found on the ship.

The three of them stood watching in the kitchen doorway for a while, and saw that besides chopping fish, this person didn't do much of anything else. And so they decided to go see elsewhere first.

Very soon, they discovered a more peculiar room. This room was locked, and curtains were drawn over the window. It was quiet inside, but they could still smell that thick waft of stale fish. Lin Qiushi initially thought the smell had clung to them from the kitchen, but after a careful sniff, found that it was coming from inside the room.

"Do we go in?" Gu Longming was pressed against the window trying to look in, but he could see nothing.

Ruan Nanzhu gave this some thought, before saying, "let's try," and getting out a hairpin to pick the lock.

Watching his adept motions, Gu Longming's eyes widened. Then Gu Longming glanced at Lin Qiushi.

"Is this…is this a basic skillset that y'all come with?"

Lin Qiushi grinned as he joked, "yeah. You have to learn to pick locks if you want to join us."

As he said this, there was a click. Ruan Nanzhu really got the lock open. But oddly enough, after he unlocked the door and gave it a push, he found that though the door lock was undone, there was another lock hanging on the inside. The chain on that lock held the door closed, and they could at most manage a crack—it couldn't be opened at all.

"Wait," Lin Qiushi suddenly said, stopping Ruan Nanzhu from going up and pushing the door. "Stop for a second. There's movement inside."

Ruan Nanzhu halted, and just as he stopped mid-step, a hand, sharp-nailed and covered in scales, reached out of the door. And through that crack in the door, a pair of yellow eyes looked out, peering at the world outside with malicious intent.

Translator’s Note:

The name of the ship could more simply be translated as “Black Reef,” but “Black Skerry” sounds more like a ship name? Let me know if you think otherwise (or know if it’s a specific reference to something).

Lao Gan Ma is a brand of **hot sauce (edited: 7/26), as you can probably tell from context. The original next never uses “hot sauce” though, and just call it Lao Gan Ma in both the prose and the dialogue.

[Ch. 119] | [Ch. 121]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒 #NEW ARC #i like ships where the people take on characteristics they like about each other #and this is the peak 'rnz is a horrible influence on lqs' arc #but also rnz is a great influence on lqs #honeymoon door baby

[shuttershocky]

Shutter, I’m a little confused and new here, are their three Shiki’s or two?

I’m glad you asked Anon! There’s like. 6-7 Shikis, all in the same universe. buckle up.

Ryougi Shiki

The Original and Still The Best.

Magic prosthetic arm.

Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Everyone in the world is out to steal her husband.

Ryougi SHIKI

Ryougi’s male personality.

Hella into murder and violence, but did not actually get to kill anyone.

Died to keep himself from killing his boyfriend.

His death unlocked Ryougi’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Void Shiki

Doctor Manhattan if they were tremendously sleepy and in a kimono, and also owned a katana.

The Root of Akasha personified, literally everything all the mages in Fate kill each other and their children for.

Created Ryougi Shiki and Ryougi SHIKI to occupy the body she inhabits so she could sleep forever.

Literally the power of God and Anime.

Tohno Shiki

Also has the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception

Was written in Nasu’s edgelord phase, poor boy swings wildly between being ordinary and boring, and being a fucking freak you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

Superspeed, agility, and can contort his body. Imagine if Spider-Man just fucking killed you.

Every single woman falls in love with him without fail despite the shit that comes out of his mouth, except Ryougi Shiki, who is magically immune to the infamous Tohno gland.

When they say “Can Shiki kill servants?” they actually mean this guy.

Tohno SHIKI

An oni-human hybrid who can turn his blood into blades.

The original “Tohno Shiki” and heir to the powerful Tohno clan of oni. 

Obsessed with Tohno Shiki, who had stolen his life and identity (though it was neither of their faults)

Laughably underpowered compared to the monster that is his sister.

Nanaya Shiki

Tohno Shiki’s violent, killer nature given form as a separate person.

Formed from magic, either by dreams from a dream demon or a reality marble that makes rumors and nightmares come to life.

Can be thought of as Tohno Shiki’s version of Ryougi SHIKI, though with almost no redeeming qualities.

Does not have the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, but has all the assassin training that was hypnotized out of Tohno Shiki. 

Fake Shiki

This is a dude from a story in Tsukihime’s fandisc, PLUS-DISC.

Was a psychic who was obsessed with Tohno Shiki and wanted to steal his whole life

Could read the memories of the people he meets

Wow he sure does look like Issei from Fate/Stay Night huh

This guy is not important I just thought it would be funny to add him here.

#long post #Tsukihime #Kara No Kyoukai #Anonymous #Nasu sure loves the name Shiki #fave

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

i saw your post about Charles and what his personality past and part in the story line so i was wondering if u could do the same for vlad? :)

Ah, well, I can at least let you know what I’ve seen so far? I haven’t delved too far into Vlad, and some of his general impressions can be confusing, so I’ll do my best to make it sensible and unbiased! Here you go lovely <33333

Fair warning, there will be mentions of a lot of JPN app content since Vlad and his boys aren’t around much in the ENG app yet.

My general sense of Vlad is basically discount vampire Sasuke Uchiha.

What I mean by this is to say–according to what I’ve read so far–his clan/family were murdered by vampire hunters in cold blood when he was just a young boy. Presumably as a result of that traumatic event, he harbors a sizable enmity towards humanity and kind of lashes out on them in weirdly specific moments of violence. Another aspect of his motivation is something that’s mentioned within Comte’s route; which is that Vlad went through the timespace door on his own one day and allegedly saw a devastated future, where nothing remains of life on earth more or less.

I guess the reason I find him to be so perplexing is that he speaks about his actions in terms of efficiency, while most of the things he does just feel like unhappy outbursts (v often a product of unresolved trauma symptoms, I’d wager.) I also say this because he appears to have no larger pattern to his fury beyond the original event of his loss. Most of the human beings he attacks aren’t much of a threat to him and hurting them really doesn’t bring him any dividends beyond revenge.

For instance, he insists his disdain for humanity and insistence on controlling them is for the sake of ensuring they do not destroy the future–the horrifying wasteland he witnessed when he traveled through the timespace door. However, I’m not really sure how his current movements really speak to that goal? I mean sure, maybe he’s relying on Faust to create an immortal human so that humans will be forced to care because it will be their future too, but he doesn’t allow Faust to draw his pureblood blood for experimenting. (One can most certainly argue this was more about a lack of trust, and perhaps for plenty reason: Faust is vindictive enough to try to turn the tables and exert control over Vlad, or act on his own whims with his findings.) But if that’s the solution he’s waiting on, turning the rivals of the men in the mansion doesn’t really bring him any closer to that vision either? I mean, what good does it do to bring back Gilles de Rais–a prominent French serial killer? How would unleashing him on the populace help humanity “realize the error of it’s short-sighted and wasteful ways” and move to a brighter future?

Can’t help it, I ask these questions as I read.

In Comte’s main story, Comte hammers home that Vlad is not somebody to be taken lightly. One day when MC goes out to buy flowers, Vlad poses as a human florist to sell them to her–which is how Comte finds out he’s in France, and that he’s made contact with MC. When prompted, Comte describes him in a very particular way; and I think people really overlook this when they talk about their relationship. He says that Vlad is frighteningly pure in terms of the way he thinks and acts. The way I understood his description (given what I’ve seen of Vlad) is that Comte really does mean it point blank: Vlad is very simple in terms of why and how he does things. The issue with this is that nuance and context are lost on Vlad as well–and that’s where the problems start to flood in. Vlad is angry at humanity for what they’ve done to him. Baseline? That’s fair, they killed his damn family. However, Vlad thinks that by extension he has the right to decimate the general public and attack people completely uninvolved in his hurt.

And that isn’t right either–it’s ignoring so many factors here. He’s ignoring how much vampires use and toy with humans as pawns, it’s ignoring the massive power imbalance between him and his victims (this really isn’t a case of self-defense most of the time, nobody but Comte/Leo is a sizable threat to him), and he’s ignoring whether or not a person even did anything to deserve his retributive violence. While murder is never okay, it is perhaps more understandable when we see Jeanne’s frenzied and violent belligerence in response to a man who murders a boy’s mother for the sake of his own amusement/convenience. Vlad literally sees almost every single one of the rivals he created begin to heal/improve and murders them in cold blood because they are no longer of any use to him. That’s uh……..that’s a little messed, not gonna lie to you chief.

While part of me understands the efficiency here–he doesn’t want to leave any traces of his involvement, he doesn’t want any loose ends–it’s also just kind of foolish and cruel ultimately. From my understanding of the narrative, all the people he turned had some visible sign that indicated their origin to Comte. So even if he claims it was for the sake of concealment, it was more likely about his personal convenience. Which…..also yikes.

[Comte clearly does not trust Vlad to be reasonable, and I think there’s plenty of good reason enumerated above, but I actually don’t sense quite so much hatred? I think he’s just given up on the idea of Vlad growing up, even if he doesn’t like giving up on people. And considering Vlad’s behavior, I think it’s overkill to say that Comte just abandons him because he doesn’t care lmao. Even when Comte expresses real anger at the end of his own route, it was more because Vlad was fine with endangering MC’s life just to get back at him. I think Comte’s unhappiness with Vlad has more to do with Vlad’s treatment of human life as meaningless and worthless. It’s fascinating but also kind of sad? Vlad’s traumatic experience results in behavior that is a direct exacerbation of Comte’s trauma, and as such--no matter their potentially fond history--they can’t stomach each other.]

In Comte’s route, Vlad also has Shakespeare abduct MC and take her to the cathedral. Later on in the castle, we see an immediate display of Vlad’s shocking powers: he has the ability to manipulate people’s desires/thoughts. I’m not exactly sure how this works, but he is able to give MC visions of the mansion and Comte coming on to her–which shocks her into realizing it’s all just a dream. It’s not reality; it’s all manufactured by Vlad.

After that...weird introductory note...Vlad gives MC the rundown on his life together with Comte, which as always is subject to a question of bias. My assumption is that he did not lie, only because he was trying to convince MC that he was “right.” Furthermore, he does not omit the most damning evidence of his erroneous judgement, which suggests a continued inability for him to see where he went wrong.

We get a series of three flashbacks. The first is them as young kids. I don’t know if Vlad had already experienced the horrors of his family being destroyed, but this particular flashback focuses on Comte. His parents, in an effort to teach him that vampires and humans have no ability to co-exist, send away all of his teachers/mentors/nannies/the servants--pretty much everyone and anyone he was closely bonded to. Think about it this way: we can see that Comte is very sociable and affectionate by nature. He was living in a house full of people, all of whom cared about him and looked after him in their own way. Now the house is entirely empty. Naturally Comte is very very upset, and Vlad appears to try to cheer him up with little success. 

[When I look back on this scene I don’t think I initially registered the sheer dissonance of Vlad’s reaction, versus Comte’s catatonic misery. There was a very solemn feeling to that memory, and the correct choice in terms of extending comfort is to hold his hand believe it or not. There is a sense that he feels very alone. When young boy Vlad enters one can argue that it was the proper thing to do; he was trying to cheer up his playmate and friend. But at the same time, I think I need to double check. Because I’m beginning to wonder if I was wrong. What if Vlad was happy to see someone as alone as him, and that joy is accordingly dissonant for that reason? He can’t see what Comte needs or how he’s hurting because he’s so glad he isn’t alone anymore in a way.]

The second flashback is the war nurse scene that I have spoken at length about. The important thing to focus on here is Vlad’s surprise that Comte would opt out of turning her out of respect for her wishes. The way Vlad frames the situation is starkly different from Comte’s. Comte sees himself as an outsider, somebody who invaded her life as a result of the timespace door and therefore has no right to suddenly change the course of her fate. He had no idea if she even wanted to live (considering the horrors she’d have to cope with and remember) or leave that time period at all, for that matter (considering the only thing keeping her going was helping the wounded/victims). Comte really was listening to everything she had to say, and he was taking her concerns and motivations seriously. 

Vlad simply says: if you want her, take her. It’s as simple as that for him. And in one way that’s not entirely wrong--assuming Comte would have every intention of looking after her and actually cares a lot about her. But what’s being ignored here is her agency and the fact that they really don’t know each other that well? Something like that could begin and be rocky, if it doesn’t end in complete disaster. Worse, I get the feeling Vlad is perfectly fine with the notion of turning her and if things don’t work out, just kill her or get rid of her. Again, the simplistic thinking comes into play here: it ultimately comes down to Vlad being self-centered. He’s thinking only in terms of satisfying his needs, he doesn’t seem to have any concept of a larger pair or group feeling. There’s an inability to bend/be flexible for the sake of maintaining a greater harmonious feeling. 

[For the record, I don’t think this makes him irredeemable? Only that it makes it very hard to live with him or love him, probably. There’s an inability to live at a joint pace? It’s always answering to what he wants without room for anything else most of the time, which to me is not living and it’s not love ;;;;]

Following their escape back to their own time, Vlad explains how he wants to use the door to turn geniuses and control humanity. He eventually wants to create a surveillance state, which would mean everyone is forced to move with his explicit approval, more or less. (He almost reminds me of Louis XIV, can’t tell if that’s what they were going for.) I have my doubts that his abilities could extend that far, but human history shows us that we are plenty susceptible to fascist and totalitarian rhetoric. In a shocking display of anger, Comte draws the line at controlling humanity and forcing them into a regime in which, and this is Vlad’s description not mine, “we (purebloods) would be like kings.” There’s definitely a concept of evolutionary superiority at play here, which echoes what I mentioned earlier; vampires seem to have this awareness that they’re apex predators in a sense, and enjoy the power that comes with that. Unfortunately, that probably makes for a fairly toxic/uncomfortable larger species culture, which is exactly what Comte and Leo hate lmao.

Vlad does not seem to find any issue with this sort of outlook, and asks MC to decide which of them--Vlad or Comte--is right. Who is more realistic, who best understands the future? As expected the MC replies that it's Comte, and Vlad goes from beseeching to big mad at record speed. He's p much that gif of the teddy bear that smacks its head down on the tables and then has the angry eyebrows.

This is where Comte intervenes, firing a warning shot that grazes Vlad's cheek and demanding he let MC go. In response, Vlad shoves MC into the turbulent timespace door--p much guaranteeing MC's death. (Essentially timespace is a void of sorts, a human being could never survive in that environment for long. Vlad fully knew this, and yeeted her anyway.)

So uh, yeah. Disagreement? Death. Moving on? Death. Nuanced approach to reality? Death. Beginning to think he doesn't really have a lot of patience or open-mindedness or any other kind of problem-solving approach. 

He raises flowers and gardens like a fiend, and he openly plucks any single flower with a blemished leaf. Even if a single petal is slightly damaged, it will be removed and destroyed. So one could argue his extremism reflects a kind of perfectionism as well. No room for errors or troublesome dissent. No ugliness of any kind. I mean in all of his interactions with Faust and Charles this is the overt undertone. Don't ask more of me than I'm willing to give. Behave like good children, mommy's busy. Is that insubordination? boss music begins

One thing I actually don't understand very well is his decision making in Dazai's route. Dazai finds out about what Vlad's doing in a nanosecond when he senses MC is in danger, and yet Vlad makes absolutely no move to eliminate Dazai? He just watches from the shadows. Even when Dazai grills Charles about his loyalty to Vlad, no retribution.

My best guess for this specific situation is that Vlad does derive some level of satisfaction thwarting the future of human beings/former humans. Dazai--being somebody with no great desire to live, no rivals to speak of as far as we can tell, and no larger aspirations--is a life that is easily extinguished. There's no satisfaction in it. When Vlad's clan was murdered and he saw the future decimated, it could be that he felt humans had invaded and eradicated every potentiality that was important to him. Where he might have lived happily with his family, that future was ripped from his grasp. Where he might enjoy his flowers and the creation of an immortal for the rest of conceivable time, that too was ripped from his grasp with a desolate future. 

So much about who Vlad is is about control, so it's very possible his lashing out is an extension of that. Dazai does not awaken any of the disdain he feels, and he does not succeed in overthrowing Vlad's control over Charles, so Vlad simply lurks in silence.

And last but not least, I've seen the preview to Vlad's newest birthday event story. The contents are incredibly revealing, in that MC wishing him a happy birthday and offering him a gift has him saying that it was "the best birthday ever." Granted idk if that’s sweet or just...beyond sad, but here we are. It’s only compounding my curiosity about the wound on his chest--I really do wonder if he was attacked and locked away by vampire hunters or hostile human beings or something. I say that only because that line speaks to a lot of isolation, and given how little he seems to care about turning people/subjecting them to his whims it feels odd. Why the isolation or lack of people who care about him? Is it a perceived lack where his actions alienated all the people who wanted to be close to him, or is it a more involuntary lack?

When she says let’s celebrate again next year, he seems a pleasantly shocked by the notion, and remarks “Ah yes, it’s a promise c:”. The preview was also mega horny: “You make me feel so loved, I don’t think I can be gentle with you tonight. If you enjoy it so much, then I won’t stop. I want to see you completely lost for me. I’ll teach your body what it means to be loved by a pureblood.” Aaaaaand pretty sure the CG was alluding to him licking the good stuff from her basement, though not entirely sure given it was only the preview. 

The brief POV they give us is also very revealing:

“You always keep your promises, and I think I underestimate all the time how much you saved me. You are good, only you are good in this world.”

“Will we continue to make promises to each other in the future? Well in that case--you will always, always be mine, my vampire.”

Tbh he’s...v sweet? In his own way? Honestly he feels like a crabapple that is just so sick of the world and wants softe wife to take comfort in. While granted that’s not really my thing, I know a fanbase appeal exists for these types--so if that’s your thing, have at it!

So now that we have reached the end of my ridiculously long analysis (when am I ever brief, I’m so sorry. If you made it all the way here you deserve a cookie at the very least, if not the right to chase me with a bat) perhaps it’s more clear why I said discount vampire Sasuke Uchiha? “My clan is gone, every other second I’m going to be in retraumatization insanity, when I’m not I’ll be seeking power/hobbies, planning the demise of people who wanted the best for me, building a team to my advantage and unquestioned control, and eventually settling for a lifelong love who sees the best in me despite my more difficult moments and perceived hollowing loneliness. Not the most ideal comparison, but I will say if Vlad was not already named the historical figure, would have pointed and yelled Uchiha.

That’s all from me folks, hopefully this was a fun way to get introduced to him? And again, hope I didn’t alienate--I fully respect what people do and don’t enjoy o7

#asks #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp meta #ikevamp vlad #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #ikevamp leonardo #ikevamp faust #ikevamp charles #ikevamp dazai #i hope this was helpful! #i had too much fun writing it jkahlgkjhgdf i love meta #but thank you for submitting <33333 #oh discount vampire sasuke uchiha we really in it now #rambles #not incorrect quotes

[jackarychaoti]

DWC2021-#1 - Rebirth.

- [Music] -

Ardenweald.

Going through the motions in the Shadowlands, Jackary had only one goal. His original intentions were to find Darnath and get him the hell out of here, to be reunited with his mate. Yet a snare in those plans overtook the dragon’s entire world by storm. It was in the endless glimmer of the forest of rebirth that Jackary had felt at peace and like he was home for the first time in years. No matter how long he spent in The Dream, it was always truly empty… Empty without her.

But here?

He couldn’t explain it until he began to watch the guardians be drained of their own anima, their own power of rebirth to be brought back into the world. A haunting notion for any druidic being and though he wanted to save them all, the closer to the Heart of The Forest he wandered in aimless pursuit, the more he could feel a familiar tugging at his own heart, his whole chest lit aflame. And that was when he saw it.

A mere seed, larger than the others but something called him forth, the warmth in his chest only grew when he came ever closer and unknowing why a single tear escape without warning to cut through the dirt on his cheek. Jack could only feel a hand on his shoulder by an ally he’d grown to respect in Ardenweald and in that moment, it all became clear.

“It seems to know you. But its death was so violent…”

No, it couldn’t have been.

“Will you help me calm this one? The spirit is restless.”

Nodding in agreement, Jackary reached forth to aid his own spiritual energy to try and calm the soul, but where he was taken was a haunting memory.

‘STOP! STOP YOU’RE GOING TO KILL HER!!!’

Fear.

That stench of dragon’s blood splattered all across white marble stone as Darnath stood there, shaking and trying not to cry as his arms were being clamped down on by a powerful set of fangs. He was trying to protect those around him, particularly Jack from falling to a fate darker than the Nightmare that was already consuming him. The pleading Death Knight looked up into the Emerald’s corrupt eyes, storm grey met crimson in silent begging.

Not like this. Please... Not like this.

‘STOP IT!!’ Jack’s plight rang out on deaf ears, his hands shoved hard at anyone he could reach to stop their casting, their attacks, and yet he was frozen in place, even unable to save his own Knight through blurred eyes.

‘MOTHER!’

Yanking his hand back, Jackary zoned back into the reality of where he stood, those same tears that flowed back then again ran down his cheeks, not for the sudden realization of who he stood before, but also the knowledge that the reason he had hated Darnath that night, that he hadn’t tended to the grievous wounds wasn’t that his Knight had slain the creature that adopted him in this world…. But because at that moment, Jackary realized that Darnath had been trying to save him and those around them. All Jack could do was come to terms with was that his mate truly was trying to save…

“Mother...”

The search for Darnath halted. Jack remained close to the pod for as long as he could, resting against it to ease his weary soul, his tired heart, and hurting body. He’d been through so much and it was comforting, up until a moment where it was nearly all taken away again.

“We cannot afford to continue giving it anima, even if it is my sister’s pet.”

There Jack stood, boiling in anger as the White Queen he served had threatened to simply snuff out the only light his heart had been able to find. Would he attack such a diety? Without hesitation.

“SHE IS NEEDED! DON’T DO THIS!” Again he pleaded those words, once more his breathing was erratic and he was hunched over but this time… This time he was ready to fight. “DO NOT LET HIS ACTIONS BE IN VAIN! SHE IS NEEDED MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!” Darnath needed her… Leon, Sulfyr, Fang… Every Druid, every Emerald, everyone who had ever been in her grace or was there the day she was struck down.

“I need her…” Sniffling, Jack moved to wipe his face furiously, unable to will the tears away from his stinging eyes. “I don’t want to lose my mom again…” Like a child, lost and helpless, Jack further felt his world shatter around him until a soft sigh sounded and caught his ears. Such rendered the pathetic expression to pull up from his arm, emerald eyes were nearly red from the growing Nightmare that was willing to spill forth and plague the entire lands to save a single pod… a single seed.

“Bring her to the Heart.”

Something spiked a small glimmer of hope in Jack’s chest and through the procession to escort the anima pod, Jack’s form returned to its original shape, the wingless dragon stayed close to flank the living soul, protecting it with everything he had. What felt like an eternity of holding his breath, the Heart was finally revealed and with that, the very life essence was given to grant the wish that Jack had begged the stars for since that fateful night.

The pod sprang alight with the warm glow and with each cracking bloom, it peeled open like a flower greeting the spring after a long, harsh winter. Tendrils of a familiar soul escaped, writhing upward until familiar wings formed and with a loud, chest-rattling roar, the Aspect sprang back to life, taking her full shape in all of the former glory that it was.

The Rebirth of Ysera.

Struck in shock to see her again, Jack stood there awkwardly, his tail coiled around himself akin to a whelp, uncertain if it was alright to run over and latch onto something. Jack found himself shy - what if she didn’t remember him? He watched several others rush to greet her and once she raised her vision to him, a low rumbling purr called to him.

There was no hesitation and the dragon sprang forth, and no matter how large Jack truly was, he was dwarfed at that moment by the Aspect - his Aspect. Crashing into Ysera, the smaller dragon writhed against her, nuzzling in a ferocity that was desperate for attention until he hid away under her wing. Claws clung tightly, his tail coiled around her where it could.

“Jackary…” It was a gentle coo but she still was soft with the fragile beast, for even now she could see the new scars, the new wounds, and a broken heart. “Where is your Champion?”

“I d-don’t know…” How could he? He couldn’t even feel his bond with Darnath anymore and the painful reminder had him shove his face hard into her side, coiling up like a timid whelp too scared to leave the nest.

“I wanted to thank him… He sacrificed so much that day for us.”

Something inside broke when a warm feeling came over him and through the streams of tears he’d suffered through The Maw and since realizing it was her, his heart slowed its racing. Her confirmations that Darnath’s actions had been for the betterness of Ysera and Jack’s own safety caused his head to lower and--

Eyes snapped open, feeling uncomfortable wetness down his face. Peridot hues darted this way and that to look around in the darkened room, the sun had already begun to set - but how long had he been asleep? The brief, existential dread that it may have been another two years was quelled with a soft coo.

“Hey…”

Jack turned his attention to face the voice, that familiar soft grin plastered on the handsome face of his Champion, his Knight, his mate. A hand reached up to cup along Darnath’s jawline a moment to assure he was real, to feel over the familiar skin and runes that were there to keep the man’s face intact.

“It was just a dream.”

But it wasn’t… It was a reminder. A reminder of how far they’d come and how far they still had to go. A reminder to look beyond and see past the veil of emotions, to trust.

- | @daily-writing-challenge | @darnath (Mention) | -

#DWC2021 #HER WE FUCKING GO #AGAIN #Into the Maw Arc #Jack and Dar #Ysera #Shadowlands Spoilers #DWC2021-1 #Jack's aspect #TW:Blood #TW: Death

[scarfdyedshadow]

The Unveiling of Ibaraki-Douji’s Character Across FGO (1/2)

I should start with the disclaimer that this isn’t specifically intended to be an analysis of Ibaraki as character, or so to speak an analysis of her narrative arc, character development, and growth over the course of Grand Order. For that, I extremely recommend reading the meta posts of @xenodile​. They are very thoughtful, insightful, and nuanced analyses of her.

This is more or less a consolidation of my thoughts on the reveals made about her character over time, the slow meting out of tidbits about what lies under her surface and what her true basis is. In short, the deciphering of her puzzle. In that regard, this post won’t go into Ibaraki content irrelevant to that, such as the relative low points of her treatment over time.

Ibaraki: “Kuha, kuhahahaha! Woman, woman, woman! Is this the first time you’ve seen something like me? Then engrave it within that body. Cram it in in place of the organs that’ll be devoured by insects after death. Violent like a rampaging beast, terrifying as a god, miserable as an insect! Knowing neither human weakness nor a warriors’ pride, lowly so as to wield one’s rotting arm as a weapon! That is an Oni. One who terrifies humans with all they have, a man-eating demon!”

When we’re first introduced to her in Rashoumon, Ibaraki is an intimidating presence, speaking of the depravity of the oni and how she is the embodiment of it. Right off the bat, there’s something to be said about her being fixated on what an oni is and how she fits the bill, rather than her own individuality.

Ibaraki: “Kuha, kuhahahaha! How nice, how nice!”

Kintoki: “This isn’t nice at all! Your eyes aren’t laughing at all, damn you!”

Ibaraki: “….mu, don’t insult me. I’m not used to laughing. Laughter from the bottom of my heart, huh… I can’t do it like Shuten.”

And only just a bit later, it already becomes clear she’s forcing herself a bit. She’s not used to laughing, to be able to do it fully and genuinely. And again, shortly thereafter, her weakness is called out.

Kintoki: “Can’t you tell? Bah, whatever. Hey General, can you tell her?”

Protagonist: “It’s because you haven’t eaten Shuten.”

Ibaraki: “Y-you human! Don’t say such a cruel thing! Eating Shuten was just a manner of speech! That... like hell I can eat her! I would never injure the Shuten that I respect so much, you fool!”

Kintoki: “See? She’s like that.”

Protagonist: “…a chicken.”

Quite contrary to her initial impression, Ibaraki’s fundamental nature is that of a coward. Certainly she has some capacity for fierceness and fighting, but she doesn’t truly live up to the violent, miserable, and terrifying image she projected at the beginning. And as for why she did that?

IbarakI: [Blushing] “C-can’t help it, this is an Oni’s custom! An Oni must always put on airs! That’s what Mother taught me!”

At this point we learn that the airs she puts on are an ideal she tries to live up to in order to be a proper oni, as taught by her mother. That’s someone that will come up later, but for now we learn from her debut event that Ibaraki feels compelled to hold herself to a particular impression, to appear as a fierce inhuman oni, due to her mother’s teachings.

There’s nothing in particular I want to highlight in her profile and lines, wherein she mostly presents as she does at the beginning of the event, as an imperious and deadly leader of oni. It certainly can be gleaned from her lines though that she puts a particular emphasis on her being an oni as opposed to a human. Throughout her various appearances in this interim period, she continues to insist on being a true and vicious oni while generally in practice being a big dork, though she never truly acknowledges this.

And indeed, throughout all this, her esteemed mother she seems to hold in veneration, perhaps even fear, continues to come up. It’s evident that even if she isn’t physically present, her influence is felt every time Ibaraki pushes herself to be a proper oni, to hold herself to that standard.

And then we get to her mats profile.

Ibaraki isn’t just upholding that image with words and to a mild extent actions, she’s literally pushing her own body to adhere to that particular image. It makes what we’ve known about how she forces herself pale in comparison.

Her personality section, as much as it understates what she went through because this game isn’t the ideal of taking things as seriously as they should be, explicates why she is how she is quite clearly. Her mother of noble birth, devoid of love, literally beat her into the mold of a proper oni. The reason she acts the way she does is because she was forced to every single day act as a proper scion to the oni, assume responsibility as a leader of oni. She was left with no choice but to mutilate her own heart and strive to act as a prideful monster, and she is constantly self-conscious of maintaining that image.

This then would seem to be the final word on how Ibaraki’s character came to be, but there are some additional wrinkles, first alluded to here as well.

Watanabe no Tsuna is a hunter of oni, the man who put an end to her grief stricken rampage and humiliated her by cutting off her arm. It’s only natural that she should hate him and want to kill him. But why then does she feel the conflicting impulse of wanting to talk to him? Why does she feel strong curiosity about him? What is there to be curious about, when he did what any human would do if possible and put a stop to her destructive rampage? Shuten only offers a cryptic answer, and Ibaraki is left with the lingering question.

Dialogue 9 I am an oni from Hell, but from the looks of it, that one's an oni of the present world. I can sense the blood of a high-class god from Shuten Douji, but Ibaraki Douji has a smell similar to mine. ...She must have been a human, originally. (If you have Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji)

The sparrow Beni-enma, soon to release in FGO NA, has a line for Ibaraki Douji, and it is a truly absurd place to receive such a major revelation. Ibaraki was not born as an oni, but as a human. It’s a detail that contextualizes why her mother of noble oni stock was so unrelentingly harsh on her, why she was so particular and forceful about making her into a proper oni. Such is doubly necessary to make up for the deficit of having once been human, of being so impure. It contextualizes as well why she didn’t take to that traumatic teaching easily, why she still lapses into a sweets loving coward. Her fundamental nature isn’t quite that of an oni, and that’s why she has to push herself so hard.

But then, how has this not especially come up before? Ibaraki’s basically never alluded to having formerly been a human, something which you would think impossible, even if she has an image she works hard to maintain. Likewise, she seems a certain degree too casual, too unaware, when it comes to what her mother put her through, even if she bears fear and awe.

Of all the places to do it once again, the tail end of Beni-enma’s interlude answers the matter, and once again contextualizes all of Ibaraki as a character prior. She was so thoroughly traumatized, so thoroughly indoctrinated, so thoroughly broken, that she repressed the memories of what she endured. She only remembers it as a distant emotional impression of having to crawl towards an impossible goal, of having to smile even as if she was in agony.

And Shuten maintains that illusion. Ibaraki has always been how she is. She’s never been through anything like that. She’s always been an oni’s oni, the ideal oni everyone wanted, and there’s no need to dwell on anything else.

Ibaraki is able to maintain her current self by burying her trauma deep inside of her, clinging to a reality of a stern but teaching mother that never existed. Of course she’s full of pride. She’s an oni, so she should act like an oni. There’s no need to think about difficult things, or be moved by uncomfortable sentiments.

Of course she doesn’t remember being a human. She had her past torn away from her by what she was forced to become, her memories ripped to shreds by the unsentimental abuse of her so called mother. To acknowledge what came before what she is now would be to undo her entire self.

And Shuten reveals she maintains this lie so that Ibaraki can remain happy. She fears Ibaraki will fall apart if the delusions she clings to are torn away. To simply allow Ibaraki to be carefree and pursue her desires is all she feels she can do.

But why does Tsuna come up? What bearing does he have on Ibaraki’s trauma? He’s nothing more than a sworn enemy that put a stop to her rampage and disgraced her by cutting off her arm. Certainly his presence stirs up some feeling, but it should have no bearing on her past, her pain, what she was and what she forces herself to be. Why does Shuten believe that if Ibaraki were to meet Tsuna, she might break down?

Tale of the Beginning and the End

― And just like that, it was all over. Grisly claw marks, destroyed houses, shattered household belongings. And a single woman nearby, close to the brink of death. I may or may not make it in time. It seems like I was wrong from the start.

I never expected us to come in contact with one another. The last thing I wanted to do was to even look at you. However, as long as you were alive. As long as you were happy. I thought that would be enough. But look, this is the reality.

she's dead / it's your fault she was killed / it's your fault that oni escaped / you must kill her don't avert your gaze / look away i'll carve out those golden locks of hers / you're not done yet decapitate her / kill yourself who should I blame? / no one is to blame

― And just like that, the man ceases his delusional thoughts. Oni are meant to be killed. I will slay her...that's all, nothing else to it. No, think. I have to keep thinking. Even if I die, until I die, even if I become corrupted.

I remember that look in her eyes, like bubbles that floated away and vanished.

Quietly, without a hint of any intense emotion, I stared back at the girl who had fixed her gaze on me. Everyone is a sinner. Oni are sinners, people are sinners, the girl is a sinner, I am a sinner. They are not just sins, but responsibilities as well.

I tightly grasp the hilt of my sword. I have no intention of giving it up to anyone. Having it even be stolen would be absurd. "Slaying that oni, is my duty."

― Tsuna, Tsuna, TSUNAA!

......the oni's claws approach. Something, whatever it is, swells within my trembling heart. I rotate my body, turn my arms, and swing my sword.

The truth of this fight, along with its conclusion, will soon disappear to the passage of time.

No one else can understand, will be able to understand this fight to the death between the two of us.

Watanabe no Tsuna’s profile paints the picture of a man unmoved as he slew countless oni. He is without hatred and without joy. He is akin to a robot.

And yet In his Bond CE this man who is even uncertain he has emotions to begin with, when it comes to Ibaraki, is left questioning everything he is. He is wracked with self loathing, desires even his own death, and condemns himself as a sinner. He berates himself and rages at himself.

He never expected to come into contact with her. The last thing he wanted was to ever see her again. It was enough that she was happy and alive. And yet it had come to this. No one but him can understand the truth of this fight.

The picture is perhaps of having come home to ruination. A doll lays discarded. Why is it that Ibaraki-Douji wishes to talk with a human she has only known as a sworn enemy in a single encounter? Why is that she has such a sheer curiosity about him? Why is it that to meet him again might break down the illusion of what she is? Why is it that the machine of a demon slayer breaks when it comes to encountering her and her alone?

Ibaraki-Douji, despite everything she pushes herself to be, was once human. She had a human family, and a human past. And perhaps that past is not quite as dead as her heart makes it out to be.

#fgo #fate grand order #fgo meta #fate grand order meta #ibaraki douji #ibaraki-douji #watanabe no tsuna #fate series #fgo spoilers #ibaraki doji #I fully expect information from 5.5 and Tsuna's lines to either add to this or potentially mess up the impression I garnered from the CE #time will tell #fate grand order spoilers

[nyaagolor]

may we please get the mirror world headcanons?

heck yes u may

Most of it will be under the cut bc I talk a lot

I like to think the Mirror World is a reflection of the regular world (I call it Prime World for convenience's sake), and by reflection I mean opposite. It's not opposite in a "good v evil" way, just in the sense that a mirror world counterpart is the inverse of their prime world self, for better or for worse. For example, Noddies in Prime World sleep for most of their lives, while Mirror Noddies barely ever sleep and are constantly alert. Instead of a Sleep Ability, they give Panic, aka the Kirby equivalent of slurping down 15 espresso shots in a row. The mirror world counterparts are no better or worse than the prime world, just different!

Headcanons for all the mirror world counterparts of the Star Allies (or at least the ones I've thought abt) are under the cut :3c

Shadow Kirby (Skirby): Where Prime Kirby is reckless, bold, and overconfident, Skirby is reserved, cautious, and kinda pessimistic. They're no weaker or meaner than Prime Kirby, but seem a bit shy and non-confrontational because they always want to scope out the scene before they launch into anything. Some might call it cowardly, but Skirby thinks it's pragmatic. Much like prime Kirby, though, he's the hero of Popstar and is usually the planet's last defense against whatever eldritch horror comes their way. He deserves a break, though, since unlike Prime Kirby he's not surrounded by friends to help him out

Shadow Dedede (SDDD): He started off as a good king, always being diligent, professional, and responsible in contrast to Prime DDD's self-serving, goofy ways. He wanted what was best for the mirror world, but life didn’t make it easy. The mirror dees, rather than the loyal helpers we know from the prime world, were backstabbing jerks who were loyal to no one but themselves. SDDD tried so hard to be a good king, but had no one to help, no one to pull him out of a slump, so he just slipped through the cracks and got worse. Bitterness and anger consumed him until he started looking out for himself and himself only. He became a tyrant, turning into an iron-fisted, merciless ruler whose laws were enforced through violence. DDD got better with the help of his friends, but SDDD got much, MUCH worse as a result of his isolation and loneliness. Also he has a battle axe instead of a hammer bc I think it's cool

Dark Meta Knight (DMK): He's basically the antithesis of a knight: he's willing to work for anyone no matter how rotten they are; he always plans on backstabbing them later, cares about no one but himself, never plays fair, and is a lazy, rude jerk. He likes spicy foods instead of sweets, challenges children to duels WITHOUT offering them a sword first, and is deathly afraid of heights, despite having wings. He was in the process of creating a land-razing tank called the Halberd, but his crew betrayed him and cut up his wings and mask so now he isolates himself out of anger and fear. After being with the Star Allies, he's made some friends and realized the value of teamwork-- also he likes teaching Adeleine swears. With Dark Mind gone and the Mirror World still a bit of a dump, DMK would much rather hang out in the prime world and get on Meta Knight's nerves. He tries his best to protect the two (2) people in the mirror world he does tolerate, though (it's skirby and sddd).

Mirror Bandee: Hates SDDD with a passion. In fact, he's attempted to assassinate the king at least 26 times, but fails both because SDDD is way smarter than him and also Mirror Bandee is a sniveling coward who runs at the first sign of danger. His repeated failures have made him more of a scaredy cat, so no one takes him seriously anymore. He has a knife and ties his bandana around his "mouth" like a scarf, but it doesn't help to make him more intimidating. His repeated attempts to kill the king (and more recently Skirby and DMK, who hang out with SDDD) have become a constant in their lives and weirdly enough they don't mind his company.

Mirror Marx: I always assumed that Prime Marx was a noddy with Mirror instead of sleep. Well Mirror Marx is the opposite-- instead of having Panic like the regular hyperactive Mirror Noddies, he has sleep. He didn't show up for the events of Amazing Mirror bc he was snoozin. Because of this, he never got the Nova's powers, never tricked skirby, and never did anything evil. In fact, unlike Prime Marx, Mirror Marx cares too much about everyone's feelings, is always kind, and doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's the glue holding the mirror world together bc not even the worst of villains want to hurt him. He's just so darn CUTE

Mirror Animal Friends: Imagine the animal friends. Give them angry expressions and sunglasses. Now make them part of a gang. Yeah that's it. The Animals are no friend of skirby's and would sooner maul the poor kid than ever lend him a paw (or flipper or wing). The forest bows to their whims and they rule it like your typical mafia boss. They're jerks.

Mirror Daroach: See these posts.

Dark Taranza: Hoo BOY he's bad. He's real bad. He rules over Mirror Floralia (Sporalia?) which is underground and filled with nasty creepy crawlies. He hates getting his hands dirty and will do anything it takes to get more power and luxury so long as he doesn't have to put himself in danger. He only cares about one thing, and that's himself. What about Queen Sectonia, you ask? She was the original queen of Mirror Floralia, but Dark Taranza mind-controlled her into his puppet to do his bidding. When the people finally snapped and declared war on the tyrannical queen, it was her they shattered, being none the wiser that Dark Taranza was the one pulling the strings. He still has a box of her shards in his castle, just in case he needs a new puppet to play with. He loves jewels and machines, all things inorganic. The imperfections of flowers? Not his style.

Mirror Magolor: Quick tangent here: Mirror Lor Starcutter, rather than being a ship to BRING people to paradise, is a sort of pocket paradise, a little virtual reality magic... thing. It can also be easily modified to only open from the outside. That's important for later. Anyway, Mirror Magolor is brutally honest, but also rude, unfriendly, impulsive, and incredibly violent. He hates machines and will start punching a lamppost if he accidentally walks into it. Scrappy little dude. He would actually rather claw his ears off than be friends with another living being. He just likes brawling and destroying ancient artifacts and that's it. Well one day he tells the mirror crew he wants to go get this thing called the Master Crown so he can destroy it. SDDD, Skirby, Mirror Bandee and DMK realize hey, that'd be nice for us to have, let's join him and then betray him at the last minute. As soon as they get there, though, the crown ends up choosing Mirror Mags as a host before anyone can do anything. Oops! The others manage to shatter him... but then the crown pulls his shards back together and attacks them again. Realizing he's both totally lost it and also immortal, the others lock Mirror Mags inside the Lor as the crown erodes the last of his humanity. Consumed by blind rage and the crown's power, Mirror Magolor just lashes out at anything that moves, biting and clawing at whatever he can reach like a feral cat. There's like a 80% chance he has rabies.

Sorry to Susie, Gooey, Adeleine, and all the non-Star Allies crew, I haven't thought abt them yet

#THANK U FOR THE ASK #i love sharing headcanons #kirby #dark meta knight #shadow dedede #shadow kirby #dark taranza #mirror world #amazing mirror #mirror marx #mirror magolor #mirror daroach #mirror animal friends #Headcanon #mod vex

[five-rivers]

Intervention

Prize for @reblogthegods!  This is a no one knows AU!

Enjoy!

.

.

.

Danny touched down behind the school and leaned against the wall, one hand firmly over the gash in his hip.  He blinked at it, feeling bleary.  It wasn’t bleeding, exactly, ectoplasm was too viscous for that, and it tended to gel quickly, but…  Yeah. It didn’t feel good either, and it had been oozing before.  

He should get it cleaned out and put a bandage on it.  Fast. Before he missed even more classes.

Also, what would happen when he changed back to human?  Like, when he changed back, his wounds were usually less bad, but they were never completely gone, and he usually didn’t get anything quite this deep.  Or long.  

Mostly he just got bruises.  Or scratches.  One time he thought he’d broken a couple of fingers.  Which had motivated him to learn how to punch properly, but, well. Yeah.  

Cuts like this were new and terrifying territory. Why did that ghost have a sword?

Maybe he should just try and stay a ghost for as long as possible?  Would he heal faster like that?  He didn’t know.  

Between keeping everything secret from everyone, protecting everyone, and trying to live his life to whatever extent ‘live’ and ‘life’ still applied to him, he hadn’t any time to test the- the limitations of- of whatever he was now.  Maybe he could have made time, but he hated this so much.  

He just-

He just-

(He wanted to be a normal person in a normal town with a normal family.)

He took a deep breath, and trued not to notice how it didn’t make him feel refreshed, or that he hadn’t been breathing since he sat down against the wall.  

Right.  First aid.

And he still had classes.  

Slowly, he reached into the wall and pulled out the kit he had hidden there.  

.

He slouched into sixth period, avoiding Sam and Tucker’s eyes.  No one else really paid him any mind, although the teacher frowned at him.  It was still passing, though, and he didn’t get called up or told to go to the office.  So.  A win.

It didn’t feel like a win.  It felt like pain.  

Sam leaned forward.  “Where were you?” she hissed, through her teeth.  “You missed fifth period completely.”

Danny shrugged and regretted it instantly.  

It hurt.  

Tucker huffed and turned away.  “If you’re going to skip class,” he said, “you could at least tell us what you’re doing.”

“I’m just—” started Danny.  “I’m not doing anything.”

“Don’t lie to us, Danny.   We—”  She bit down on her lip.  “We are still friends, right?”

“Of course we are!”

Sam looked dubious.  Tucker, for all his staring as he came into the classroom, wouldn’t meet his eye.  

Then the teacher started class.  

.

“It has to be drugs,” said Sam to Tucker, sitting on the steps in front of the school.  “I don’t know how Danny could be that stupid, but it’s the only explanation.”

“Maybe the hospital gave him painkillers back in August and he couldn’t get off of them?” suggested Tucker.  “I think that happened to one of my aunts…  She got better, though.”

“Maybe,” said Sam.  Her face twisted up.  “But how is he paying for them?  Like, he doesn’t have an allowance.”

“Underground fighting ring?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Someone’s beating him up,” said Tucker, “and it isn’t Dash.”

“Dealer?”

Tucker shrugged, scowling at his PDA.  “I hate this,” he said.  “I hate – Why won’t he talk to us, Sam?  It isn’t like we’d throw him under the bus or rat him out. He knows that.”

“He should know that,” corrected Sam. “And I’m so mad at him, but…” She trailed off, staring down at the weathered concrete of the steps.  

“Yeah,” agreed Tucker.  “Do you think we should tell Jazz?”

“Heck, no,” said Sam, immediately.  “What is that going to do?  We need, like, an intervention or something.”

“Don’t you need someone’s whole family for something like that?”

“I’m going to intervene right in the face of whoever is selling Danny drugs.”

“Ah, the violence route,” said Tucker.  “How did we get here so quickly?”

“Shut up,” said Sam.  “Anything else we do is just going to get Danny in trouble, and I’m not doing that.  Even if he’s being a garbage friend right now.”

“Yeah…” said Tucker.  “So how are we doing this?”

“We?”

“I may not be the best friend in the whole wide world, but even crappy friends don’t let each other beat up drug dealers in alleyways on their own, even if they do have five years of self-defense classes under their belts.  What if this guy has a gun?  What if there’s more than one?”

Sam buried her head in her hands.  “Frick,” she said, very softly.  

“Would this count as vigilantism, by the way? That’s illegal, right?”

“Frick,” repeated Sam, more passionately.  

“Is this going to be our superhero origin story?” asked Tucker, turning his eyes skyward and making his voice waver dramatically.

“Don’t even joke about that.  The only superhero we know of is dead.”

Tucker turned to look up at Sam.  “I still can’t believe you believe that.  Something weird is going on, but… ghosts?  That sounds more like Danny’s parents than anything acquainted with reality.”

“You’d believe it, too, if you were there,” muttered Sam.  “If you—”  She shook herself.  “Whatever. You, me, tomorrow?”

“If I knew what you were asking me to do, I’d probably say yes.”

“Following Danny, duh.”

“Sure, but… Joking about punching drug dealers or whoever is beating Danny up aside, we should probably treat this as just recon. Because I don’t want to get shot by some crackhead in an alley.  Like, if I did become a ghost, my parents would kill me.”

“Not if the Fentons got you first.”

“Aw, Sam.  You wouldn’t let them hurt your bestest undead friend, now would you?”

“Best undead friend?  No.  You? Yes.”

Tucker snorted, choked, and started wheezing.  

“Anyway, I’m not getting into a fight with you anywhere near me.  If you didn’t take yourself out, you’d take me out.”

“Don’t say it.”

“Bad luck Tuck.”

“Ugh, you said it.”

Both of them sighed, staring across the street without really seeing anything.  

“Tomorrow, then,” said Sam, feeling vaguely relieved.

“Tomorrow,” agreed Tucker.

.

Whatever had decided to crawl out of the woodwork to torment Danny today hovered on the edge of his awareness, making him shiver intermittently as he played the most aggravating game of ‘hot and cold’ in the world.  Where was it?  He’d lost track of it after he chased it away from Mr. Quigley, the janitor.  

His breath came out blue, briefly, and green flashed in the corner of his eye before something checked him against the shoulder.  He stumbled, biting back curses (he was a superhero, now, technically, and he needed to be a good role model), and gripping his hip.  The cut from yesterday had healed a lot, but not completely.  

But- He knew the ghost was close, now.  Close and fast.  He’d been trying to save his energy by tracking the ghost down as human, but now…  He felt himself smile.  

It was not a particularly nice smile.  It was full of all the stress and nonsense he’d had to put up with since August.  

He was going to beat this little interloper into the ground, teach it better than to haunt his town, hurt his people and get away with it.

Bright white light swept over him, and he jumped into the air.  

.

“Holy—”

“No,” said Tucker.  “We did not just see that.  I refuse.”

“That was—” Sam made a large sweeping upwards motion. “He just flew off!  What the heck kind of drugs do that?  This is—This is—I don’t even know how to say it!”  She kicked a nearby garbage can and then sunk down into a crouch.  

(Even in this state of mind, she was not kneeling on the ground here.  It was gross.)

“We didn’t—It’s got to be something his parents made.  Like Fenton Ghost Steroids or something,” said Tucker, who was shaking.

“His parents,” said Sam.  “His parents.  They’ve been shooting at him, Tucker.”

“I mean…  Yeah.  I guess so. But we didn’t…  Sam,” he croaked.  “Did Danny die and not tell us?”

“No.  No. Just, no.  No way.  He—You were right, earlier.  It has to be ghost steroids or something, and his parents don’t know, so that means we still have to beat up his dealer, but they’re probably a ghost, how do we beat up a ghost?”

“We could ask Danny’s parents?”

“God, no!”  She shook her head violently.  “Did you miss the part where they’re shooting at him?”

Tucker shrugged, defensively.  “Well, who else could teach us how to fight ghost drug dealers?”  He pushed his glasses up his nose and stared up at the sky.  “Maybe it’s not drugs, though?  Like, in retrospect, if it isn’t painkillers, I can’t really see Danny taking drugs.  Even ghost drugs that give you superpowers.”

“I hate all the words that just came out of your mouth.  I must be having a psychotic break.”

“Hey, wait, that’s my line.  I’m the one in denial.  Give it back.”

“Find your own denial.”

“We can’t both be in denial.  Someone needs to drive this car.”

“Drive you right off a cliff, that’s what I’ll do. And I’m going to kill Danny for not telling us about whatever this is.”  Sam’s gestures grew progressively more violent.

“I don’t think you can kill a ghost.  They’re already—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”  

Tucker held up his hands in surrender.  “Do you think we should wait for him to come back?”

“He probably won’t,” said Sam.  “I mean… he can… fly… apparently.”

“Yeah.  Can’t believe he had his superhero origin story without us.”

“This isn’t a joke, Tucker,” snapped Sam.  

“Well, I’m sorry I have a coping mechanism, okay?” Tucker sighed.  “Should we go back to class?”

“I guess,” said Sam, kicking at the ground. “We’re jumping Danny at the first opportunity, though.”

“Duh,” said Tucker.  

.

Danny limped into seventh period, drained, and flinched away from Sam and Tucker’s glares.  He felt sick.

There wasn’t anything he could do about the ghost attacks except try to finish them faster, but he’d been a terrible friend lately. They probably were starting to hate him. They were going to leave him.  He could tell.  He couldn’t even blame them.  

If he told them—

No.  

They’d be in danger.  

Danger from what, at this point, wasn’t clear, because even if they knew, Danny wasn’t going to let them near any ghost fights, but danger was definitely involved.  A lot of it.  

But if they stopped being friends with him…

The cold thing that had taken up residence in his chest cringed, and he stumbled.  Dash laughed, made an inane comment about his coordination, and lobbed a ball of paper at the back of Danny’s head.  Danny barely noticed.

He didn’t want that.  He needed his friends.  

Sam and Tucker were having some kind of conversation with only their facial expressions by the time Danny sat down, effectively ignoring him.  Now the little ball of cold in his chest felt crushed.  

(Just barely, he resisted the urge to check his pulse.  Whatever had been added to him, he still had that.)

(He was still alive.)

Sam and Tucker were very studiously not looking at him.  

He sank lower in his chair.  

It hurt.  

.

As soon as they were able to, Sam and Tucker dragged Danny into a secluded nook formed by the intersection of two of the school’s exterior walls and shaded by a large bush.  It was unlikely that anyone would bother them there.  

Danny looked surprised, apprehensive, and oddly pleased at the same time.  

“Uh,” he said, very eloquently.  

He probably intended to say more than that, of course, but Sam didn’t give him the chance.  

“We followed you when you skipped today,” she said.

Immediately, all the blood in his face drained away, leaving him bone pale.  “What?”

“In our defense,” said Tucker, “we thought you were meeting a drug dealer.  Or going to fight in an underground club.”

“No, we didn’t,” said Sam.  “Well, we did with the drug dealer, but not the underground fighting ring.  That’s stupid.  Drugs make so much more sense.”

“You think I’m on drugs?” wailed Danny.  

“Thought,” emphasized Tucker.  “Past tense.”

“That’s not any better!”

“Au contraire!  Now we think you’re on ghost drugs!”

“I am not on ghost drugs!” hissed Danny. “Where would I even get ghost drugs?”

“Your parents?” suggested Sam.  

“Why would my parents have ghost drugs?”

“To drug ghosts with? I don’t know, man, your parents are weird.”                                                                                                                                        

“Why would ghost drugs even—Wait.  How much did you even see?” asked Danny, squinting suspiciously.  “Did you actually see anything, or are you just trying to get me to say something?”

“To be fair, we are trying to get you to say something.”

“We saw you turn into the ghost boy and fly off after a ghost,” said Sam, sharply.  

“Oh.  Heck.”  Danny leaned against the wall.  “You did see something, then.”

“Yeah, and we want to know, if it isn’t ghost drugs, how?  And why?” asked Sam.  “And why didn’t you tell us?”

“I just, um.  I didn’t—This is just—I’m freaked out, okay?  This is really freaking weird, and I—You’re not going to tell my parents, are you?”

“If you’re getting high off of ghost drugs,” said Tucker, “then, yeah, maybe.  Don’t think we haven’t noticed you looking like hell.  There’s got to be a bunch of side effects from ghost drugs.”

“Oh my gosh, Tucker, I’m not on ghost drugs.  There are no ghost drugs, and, considering everything, I’d really prefer it if you didn’t give my parents the idea of ghost drugs because that’s the absolute last thing I need.”

Danny finished the sentence in a rush and now he was breathing too much, which was just great, because apparently that was a thing that could happen to him, now.  Going from maybe not needing to breathe to breathing too much…  He was really having doubts about his humanity right now, and his friends were mad at him because they thought he was on ghost drugs.  Ghost drugs.  

“I’m not on ghost drugs,” he said, perfectly calm.

“Are you—Dude, I think you’re hyperventilating.”

Okay.  Maybe not perfectly calm.  He slid the rest of the way down the wall to the ground, which, wow, was a thing he was doing a lot, lately.  

“Danny?” asked Sam, hesitant.

“I’m fine,” he said.  “Mostly.  Just. Give me a minute, okay?”

They gave him a minute. The minute spiraled into five. Then ten.  Which was a really long time to spend in anxious, awkward silence.

“Okay,” said Danny.  “So.  Uh.  Accident.  In the lab. With the stupid ghost portal.  It kind of messed me up a bit.  Like.  And then I’ve been able to, uh, turn into a ghost.  Since then.”

“You can just… turn into a ghost?” ventured Sam.  

“Yeah.”

“Just, like, whenever?”

“Yeah.  Pretty much.  At the beginning I couldn’t control it at all, which was pretty, um…  Yeah.  And I can’t when I’m too tired.”

“So, you can die on command?”

“I’m not dead!” snapped Danny.

Tucker took a step back, hitting the bush.  “Sorry. I’m just trying to wrap my head around this whole… thing”

“Yeah,” agreed Sam.  “I mean, you’re breathing and everything. That means you’re alive.  You’re not dead.”

“I’m not dead,” repeated Danny.  “I’ve just got, like, ghost powers, or something.”

“Yeah.  That makes sense.  Because you can’t be dead and alive at the same time.”  Sam laughed.  It sounded more than a little forced.  “That would be—That’s impossible!  Right?”

“Right.”  Danny took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  He was alive.  Sam agreed.  

“And, uh, thanks,” said Sam.

Danny looked up, surprised. “What?”

“For saving me from that ghost,” explained Sam.  

“Oh.”  He blinked.  “You’re welcome?  It really—I mean, of course I saved you.  You’re my friend.”

Tucker leaned in.  “I think Sam has a crush on ghost you.”

“Tucker, if I kill you, they’ll never find the body,” said Sam.

“No murder, please,” said Danny.  He sniffed. “Are we—Are we okay, now?”

“No,” said Sam.  She poked him in the head.  “I still don’t get why you didn’t tell us.  And you have to tell us everything.  And let us help you.  Because you really do look like you’re on drugs.  That’s how crappy you look.”

“You can’t,” protested Danny, alarmed.  “I’ve got, you know, but you-!”  

“I don’t think she means actively fighting the ghosts, dude.”

“The hell I don’t.”

“Okay, maybe Sam wants to actively fight the undead, or whatever, but you need people to cover for you, at least.  Your skipping out of class thing is… not subtle.  Why do you do that, anyway?  Why not go after the ghosts when it isn’t school time?”

“I don’t really have a choice,” mumbled Danny.  “I can feel them, and it’s like, I don’t know…”  He looked up.  “Can we… talk about this somewhere else?  I don’t want to do this in the open.”

“Crud.  Yeah,” said Tucker.  “No superhero stuff where normal people can hear it.  Come on, we can camp out in my attic or something.”

“Are there even normal people in Amity Park?” asked Danny, pushing himself off the ground.  

“I don’t—Oh my god, Danny, what is that?”

“What is-?  Oh.  Yeah. So.  Ghosts are not gentle.  And some of them have swords.”

“You got stabbed?” wheezed Tucker, his voice squeaking.  “By a ghost?”

“More like slashed, but…” Danny raised his hands helplessly. “Yeah.”  He rubbed one of his eyes.  He was exhausted.  

“Are you… okay?”

Danny laughed.  “No.  No, I am not. Can we go, now?  Please?”

“I’m saying this as someone who hates hospitals, but you should get that looked at.  Really.”

“I’m ninety percent sure I have ectoplasm in my blood, so I’m going to take a hard pass on that one.”

.

“Ouch!” said Danny. His most recent fight with a ghost had been violent, and he’d yet again come away with injuries Sam and Tucker deemed ‘serious.’  “Are you sure you’re doing this right?”

“Look, Mr. No-Hospital, I had to learn first-aid from YouTube.  And I’ve only had a week to learn, because you didn’t tell us you decided to take up the family business.”

“Still more than what he did for himself,” said Tucker, peering over the back of Sam’s sofa.  “It’s just butterfly clips, anyway.  Not stitches.”

“Heh, butterfly clips,” said Danny.  “Makes me think of—Ouch!—barrettes.”

“Berets?” asked Tucker, adjusting his hat.

“Barrettes.  Hair barrettes.  Like, you know, the one Star wears all the time.  With the flower.”

“Oh.  Yeah.  No, I get what you mean.  But, yeah, you’re right about Danny’s medical skills.  Or should I say, the lack thereof.”

“Guys, I’m injured. Can you give it a rest?”

“Hm.  As you let yourself walk around with a mostly untreated stab wound, no.”

“It was more of a slash,” protested Danny.  Again. “A cut.  Not a stab.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” said Sam.  “Anyway, I’m done.  And you’re lucky whatever’s going on with your body keeps you from getting infections. I had to pick so much gravel out of your back it isn’t even funny.”

“Are we sure he can’t get infections?” mused Tucker.  “He could just be really lucky.”

“In no universe am I lucky,” groaned Danny.  “You’d think the freak lab accident would have shown you that.”  Danny sat up and stretched before pulling his shirt back on.

“Speaking of,” said Sam. “Are you ever going to tell us what actually happened?  You said it had to do with your parents’ portal, but…”

Danny had frozen.  “I…” he said, softly, not looking at either of them. “I will.  It’s just… not yet.  I’m not…  Just not yet.”

“It’s cool, man,” said Tucker.  “Take your time.  We’ll be there when you’re ready.”

Danny smiled.  “Thanks.”

#danny phantom #prize #winner #danny is a mess when you remove his support network #fic #drugs????? #GHOST drugs???? #jk no drugs here guys

[tsufangs]

Some analysis...

Sup peps ✌️ today I offer you a little theory!

Enjoy!! (I guess...)

⚠️ Contains manga spoilers ⚠️

-

-

“ Tell me your wish too! Yugi Tsukasa! ”

First of all, I never knew Tsukasa could have a proper wish, he’s like uh... difficult to understand and emotionless; he’s the type of person who only knows how to smile even when he gets mad or annoyed. Basically, Tsukasa is like a puzzle as his twin brother Amane: we are trying to solve the puzzle in order to know the shady truth behind both.

(Well, they are twins lol 😂 ‘course they are alike in some lines)

*cough* So, in the next chapter we have various options of what could happen:

1. Continuation of where we left last time

Most likely it would happen, since we are discovering the truth behind the Red House and the Yugi twins... so I belive we will learn about Tsukasa’s wish (if he has one) and we might get some flashbacks of their past?!

Like, we will maybe get some scenes of Amane and Tsukasa’s childhood?? I would be so hyped if that happened because in that way we’ll learn about how their relationship was before middle school and all those unpleasant events: was Tsukasa always like that? Was he always unstable/manipulative?? Is Tsukasa the real bad guy who did bad things to Amane or they just want to make it seem like that?

These questions are still unanswered, but what if when Tsukasa was a little kid he was a bit different from when he was a teen... I mean, think about it: we are now seeing this little kid of the Red House and it is now confirmed it’s definitely Tsukasa.

Supposing Tsukasa as a kid was like the one we see in the Red House, we all understand he looks a biiit different from the original one! I don’t know if it’s just me lmao, but kid Tsukasa looks more “chill” (?) from teen Tsukasa.

Proofs are clear in the chapters:

he asks Kou to hold hands, which is unexpected by him since he never held back hands with anyone as we see in various arts of AidaIro (Example: when Amane and Tsukasa held hands at the entrance of the school we see Tsukasa who didn’t hold back hands with Amane, and basically Amane is holding Tsukasa’s hand but it’s not mutual).

(Chapter 76 reference)

Or when he follows Kou while he could not care about him getting lost and not coming back, but Tsukasa offered him his help which is unexpected too. Even when he sobs because he fell several times, we never saw Tsukasa of the school sObBIng lmfaooo 😂

(Chapter 76 references)

Resumed, the Tsukasa we know is way more more more CHAOTIC, that is the reason why I think this kid hits completely different oof~

With that said, my theory is that Tsukasa wasn’t always unstable and still had his sanity back when he was a kid. But something or someone may changed him and his mental health started to decline. Maybe the “destroying his belongings” is a starting symptom meaning his mental health is already about to decline, maybe that something or someone already partially affected that kid we see in the Red House but not at the point of him losing his sanity yet? THIS IS INTRIGUING GEEZ!

And here we can reconnect of why Amane killed him: several people says it’s because of (TW) Tsukasa ab*sing him... but is it really true? It’s not confirmed yet. Tsukasa may had lost his sanity as we saw but not at the point of hurting his own brother? We saw that Tsukasa loves his brother, he would even jump and hug him everytime they see each other. Maybe the reason why Tsukasa seems to consider him as an arch-nemeses, like he said in the Tea Party Arc, is because his brother always obstacles him everytime Tsukasa does what he retains to be “the best to do”, and that’s why ever since the moment he was alive he didn’t like it, he didn’t like when Amane stopped him from reaching his own purposes, knowing that I don’t think Amane would’ve provoked him any further. Like we see in the Star Festival Arc: little Amane is shown to not provoke Tsukasa stating he would’ve throw a fit if he did so. That’s why I don’t think Amane provoked Tsukasa at the point of (TW) ab*se.

Of course Tsukasa there might have been 7-8 years old (grade elementary school kid) judging by his brother’s aspect he was a little more older than the Tsukasa of the Red House, meaning that Tsukasa was already drastically changing from that age, showing a more violent attitude (?)

(Chapter 38 reference)

Anyways, looking foward to theorize more about this and discover something more about the huge secret behind the twins!

2. We’ll see Nene’s POV

This is one thing which I strongly hope happens in the next chapter.

I read so many theories where they said that “thing” who took Nene might brought her to the other side, in other words the far shore.

Just one thing bugging me: only people who are already dead (or the ones who are half mysteries, like Akane or who have an high spiritual power, like Kou or Teru) can access to the far shore where all apparitions lies.

(Chapter 71 reference)

As we saw with Aoi when n^6 took her to the other side in order to plug the hole using Aoi as a kannagi (since she’s from Akane’s family). She already died at that very moment when n^6 took her away.

In fact, the reason why she could see Akane that time, before she was taken away, was because she was already going to die... or maybe Aoi pretended not seeing supernaturals, but in reality could see them from the beginning.

However, we know Aoi’s goal was to die to begin with, as we saw from chapter 69 where she always felt to be treated differently from others whenever they learned her true nature stating that everyone always lied to her, she wanted to disappear equal meaning of dying (another reason why she was always involved with supernaturals and knew too much about them).

(Chapter 69 reference)

But it’s true that this was Hanako’s plan all along (as we see in chapter 71) in order to grant Nene’s wish, Aoi was sacrificed and died in her stead (which is really sad though).

(Chapter 71 reference)

From all of this I doubt Nene will die since she has Aoi’s lifespan: what if she didn’t go in the far shore but she went in another part of the house or an “hidden place”?

It is really probable though!

It’s true that we don’t know the exact position of the house right now, since it’s cursed we saw in a panel a real big fish passing by the window. It seemed like it was swimming in the water so it does seem like outside of the house there is water.

(Chapter 77 reference)

Water is present only when we’re in a boundary, but boundaries are closed right now, because of the separation between apparitions and humans. This house it’s only a connection to a boundary most likely the twin’s boundary, that’s why outside of the house there’s water: we are slowy arriving to discover the hidden truth which lies behind the house equal meaning we’ll discover where n^7 boundary is.

This place is only a way to reach a connection with mystery n^7, as we know Nene, Kou, Teru and Akane’s goal is to discover the connections with all the mysteries and by that bringing them back.

This said, I think Nene probably went in an unknown place of the house and that’s where she might makes some encounter with a certain someone... imagine the house split in 2: one where Tsukasa and Kou are, the other one where Nene went and where the other twin might be.

The house grants wishes exactly like the twins do, so it is really a possibility that both of the twins are there but separated from each other.

Although, I’m still unsure if Amane is really in the house or if there’s an Amane as a kid. We see in a panel the house is like an huge labyrinth as it is obviously playing with Kou.

I don’t know, this is hella confusing, but I can’t wait to discover more!

There might be a part 2 of this analysis, I’ll try to continue it!

Yeah, this made more sense in my head and now I made the whole thing messy sorry > _ <

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shonen hanako kun #hanako kun #jshk analysis #analysis #tsu’s theories

[yazthebarbie]

Alewife

draco malfoy x reader 

(based off of the song alewife by clairo) 

it was your duty to take care of your childhood best friend. you knew all he went through and knew you were his safe space. when your mother gets ill things begin to go downhill for you, but you keep up appearances as to not worry draco. eventually, you break. 

(reader is slytherin, can be based in whichever year you’d like, very angsty but w kinda fluffy ending!) (this is also the first imagine i’ve written in years, and the first i’ve written on this account. so i apologize if my writings’ a bit rusty or there’s some errors.) words: 1.4k 

tw: lots of tears, cussing, anxiety attack, mentions of self harm (hitting, scratching) 

-

With tired eyes you watched your companions goof around and gossip about the latest drama. It wasn’t just the Slytherin table with positive energy that day, the entire Great Hall was bustling with energy. Nothing in particular was going on, but it just seemed like life was going great fro everyone. Maybe it was because winter break was coming up, or for once their school wasn’t under attack from the powers of some evil. But either way, everyone was happy. 

Aside from you.

Every so often you would give a half-hearted laugh at the occasional joke, or nodded when someone asked you a question. But lately it was getting harder for you to keep up the act. Inside, you were tired beyond imagine. Ever since your mother had fallen an ill to a mysterious unknown illness a month ago- life had taken a dark, dramatic turn for you. She wasn’t getting better at all. Each time you received a letter from her, it seemed her handwriting got shakier and her normally precise letters were loopy and falling off the lines. It was clear something was desperately wrong but there was nothing the healers could do about it. They didn’t have to tell you, you knew that your mother didn’t have much time left to live. Every little part of you hoped that somehow she’d be able to pull through the rest of the year so you’d be able to enjoy the winter and summer holiday with her before anything drastic happened. 

The sound of deep laughter felt like music to your ears. Draco was messing around with Blaise and Theodore, all of them in a stitch of laughter over something you weren’t sure of and couldn’t remember. 

Lately, Draco seemed to be beaming. With you by his side, winning the latest Quidditch game, and Potter not being smothered with attention for once, he was very content with the way things were going. You admired the way his platinum blonde hair messily rested at his ears, shaping his face nicely. His jawline was sharp and accentuated from the angle you were facing him at. The rosy tint to his cheeks complimented the paleness of his skin. Every few minutes he would squeeze your hand, a good sign. Seeing him happy, made you happy. Even if it was for a second. It was extremely rare seeing him smile so much in public, you didn’t want to ruin that for him and burden him with your issues. 

Your beloved snow white owl, Hydrangea, dropped a letter in front of you. Straightening your back with a smile, you picked up the thin envelope with excitement. You hadn’t expected mother to respond this quickly. 

As you began to read, your originally joyful expression became crestfallen. Your face twisted and it looked like you were in pain. 

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Daphne asked, noticing your face first as she was sitting across from you. Her question caused the rest of your nearby table mates to divert their attention and look at you, including Draco who sat at your right side. 

You swallowed, eyes flickering to Draco nervously before cracking a small smile, “Yeah I’m fine, my stomach is killing me with these cramps, though.” 

The response seemed to satisfy everyone’s nosiness and they went back to their mindless chatter. Draco, however, looked at you strangely. That boy knew you like the back of his hand and he wouldn’t fall as easily for an excuse like that. Part of you hoped he didn’t remember you had already had your period last week. 

“Speaking of, I have to go to the bathroom,” You faltered, shakily getting out of your seat. Before anyone could ask anymore questions, you were already out the Great Hall. The speed walk pace shifted to a full on sprint as your feet carried you through the Slytherin common room and into your dorm. 

Everything was happening all at once. Thoughts, worries, fears- all violently shaking and interrupting each other. Reality didn’t seem real at this point, it was like life had stopped but was flying by you at the same time. Tears blurred your vision as you slammed the bedroom door behind you, falling to your knees. The news finally seemed to come crashing down.

“We send you our condolences and are deeply sorry for your loss,”

Those words on the paper weren’t real, there was no way. It wasn’t supposed to happen this quickly. 

“Your mother, M/N L/N, passed away early this morning at 3:37 AM.” 

You started choking violently at your lack of breath. Her last moments and you didn’t even get to spend them with her. 

“She asked us to tell you something that wasn’t stated in the will.” 

Her last words.

“I love you so, so much N/N. Please do not cry, be happy. I hope I was a good mother to you. You were the best daughter I could ever ask for and more. I am okay with going now, because just knowing I had you in my life while I was here is enough for me.” 

You’d never felt your heart physically break in half before up until today. You felt like you had failed her by not being there. You wanted to go home early to spend time with her but she had reassured you she would be fine until you came home for winter break. 

Fuck, fuck. This was all your fault wasn’t it? The more you smacked yourself, the more the pain reminded you this was real. 

“Y/N? Where- holy shit,” 

You looked back and your eyes made contact with a pair of blue-grey ones. Draco stood over you, frightened and concerned at what he was seeing. Pulling out his wand, he mumbled a spell to lock the door from unwanted intruders before kneeling down next to your shaky body. 

Despite the other emotions you were going through, you felt embarrassed. You’d never broken down like this before, especially not in front of the boy you’d tried so hard to be strong for all these years.

His arms gently wrapped themselves around you, lifting you up from off the floor and onto your bed. “Don’t move, okay?” He rushed into your bathroom, coming back with a soaked hand towel. You were confused until he lifted one of your arms, softly rubbing the towel against your forearm. That was when you noticed the blood trickling out of your skin. You hadn’t realized you were in such a deep state of panic that you had begun scratching yourself. 

When he went over a particularly deep scratch, you took in a sharp breath. Draco looked up at you quickly, pulling the towel away from your skin. “I’m sorry, am I hurting you?” He whispered, almost as if he spoke any louder you would break into a million little pieces. 

You barely shook your head, too busy staring into the distance as salty tears rolled down your face. For a second you glanced at his face and saw the heartbreak in his eyes. 

After tending to your wounds, Draco almost hesitantly wrapped his arms around you. Not as if he didn’t want to- but he wasn’t entirely sure how. He was acting partially off instinct, and partially off of how you would comfort him in the past. He cleared his throat and gathered up the courage to ask the question you knew was looming in the air. 

“What happened?” 

At this you began to cry again, pointing towards the letter soaked with tears on the floor. Using his wand to bring it over, he read it. Not once, not twice, but three times. It took him a second to process the shock of it all himself. You knew your mom was like a second mother to him. In fact, she was the one who brought you and Draco together in the first place.

Draco’s grip around you tightened as he set down the envelope. “I’m so, so sorry, love.” 

You wailed into his chest, squeezing him like he would disappear if you didn’t. His hands rubbed comforting circles in your back. The smell of his expensive cologne and peppermint breathe put you more at ease, you choked sobs slowly turning into into small sniffles. He whispered sweet nothings to you, telling you that he would stay by your side and he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’m here, darling. I’m right here.” 

He was all you had left now. 

You weren’t sure how much time had passed, but it felt like hours of you just laying on his chest. All the crying had worn you out, and your eyelids began to flutter. 

“Draco?” You mumbled in a disoriented state, into his now damp shirt.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” 

As you drifted into slumber, feeling safe in his arms, he replied. 

“I love you, too.” 

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x y/n #harry potter #hogwarts #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy x slytherin!reader #draco malfoy x fem!reader #draco x reader #draco x y/n