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honeymaplelatte · 10 months

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Dark Red - Rengoku x Reader

What if, on that fateful day nearly a hundred years ago, the demon slayer core had lost?

What if the king of demons had conquered the sun, achieving immortality?

Thrilled to gain an inside eye into the mysterious world of the Blue Spider Corp., Y/N has begun her dream job at the country’s leading pharmaceutical company, owned and operated by none other than the infamous and elusive CEO, Muzan Kibutsuji. In her attempts to establish a place for herself in this peculiar and oftentimes ominous workplace, Y/N catches the attention of dangerous eyes and ghosts of the past. As she begins to uncover the truth behind the veil of secrecy surrounding Mr. Kibutsuji and his empire, she encounters a whole new world of friendship, love, and betrayal.

Fandom: Demon Slayer

Pairings: Rengoku x Y/N, Muzan x Y/N

Content warnings: mentions of violence

It was your first day of work.

Already late despite having sprinted nearly halfway across the city upon realizing you overslept, you finally arrived at the massive, breathtaking glass doors to the largest building in the entire skyline. Frantically huffing as you tried to smooth your hair, your heartbeat thundered in your ears as the adrenaline continued to course through your entire body. All you could think of was how you were about to walk into your own firing on day one.

How could I have blown this? You whined to yourself, horrified that despite setting ten alarms, you had still managed to oversleep due to something as humiliatingly childish as a nightmare. You hardly ever had them, but something about this one had kept you tossing and turning through the night in fits of uneasiness. You blamed the news you had watched the night before.

While the city used to be one of the safest in the world, during the past year it had been plagued by a dark shadow. What started as a freak homicide case quickly became an onslaught of violent murders, leading citizens to believe there was a serial killer, if not an entire group of them, running rampant. There seemed to be no correlation between the victims - just that they were alone and vulnerable. The remains, if anything more than dried blood on the ground, were horrific. You would have sooner thought it was some kind of animal mauling them until it became far too frequent and eerily calculated to be explained so simply. Just last night, they found another young woman - or what was left of her, splattered on the wall of an alley.

Still able to picture the man that had been hunting you through your dreams with his wicked, glowing eyes of blood, a shiver went down your spine. You tried to shove the image out of your mind, well aware that you had far worse real fears to face as soon as you walked through those doors.

You had fought tooth and nail to earn a position at the largest and most elusive pharmaceutical company in the country, Blue Spider Corp. While you had only earned an entry-level position in administrative work, it was notoriously impossible to work your way in, so you had spent years crafting the perfect resume. You were nearly on the verge of tears at the thought that you might have thrown it all away.

No point in throwing a pity party, I just have to walk in there and take it. Holding your head up high, you stepped towards the doors that flew right open, trying to waltz in there like it was your everyday routine. Making your way over to the front desk, you approached a small young woman who appeared around your age typing away at her keyboard. Upon noticing your presence, she glanced up, meeting your eyes with her own which were a dazzling purple. You were taken aback, having never seen eyes such a unique color. Looking closer, you noticed that the ends of her ebony hair faded to a matching shade of violet.

Huh. I honestly imagined a company like this would have a stricter policy on appearances, you thought to yourself before addressing the woman.

“Hi, my name is Y/N, and it’s my first day. I’m running a few minutes behind, but I was supposed to meet with my supervisor, Mrs. Sato?” Your voice shook as you spoke. Damn your nerves.

The woman took in your frazzled disposition, clearly aware of the anxiety surging through you due to your tardiness. After a moment of what seemed to be brief contemplation, she smiled in reply, and for some reason, it gave you a sense of comfort.

“I see. It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. My name is Kocho. Let me tell her you’ve arrived”. She reached for the phone, dialing your supervisor. Your leg bounced as she relayed your arrival, fighting the urge to bite your fingernails. Following her confirmation, Kocho set the phone down and turned to face you.

“I’ve let her know, and she’s headed here now. Congratulations on your first day. Tell me, are you new to the city?”

“No. Surprisingly enough, I’ve lived here my whole life, so you think I’d know my way around enough to be on time.” You laughed nervously.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. You’ve worked hard to prove yourself and earn a position here, I doubt a few minutes would be enough to send you packing. I only asked since we get people from all over the world coming to work here, so I naturally get curious.”

A wave of relief washed over you. Maybe this place wasn’t as cutthroat as you thought it was from its reputation. You thanked God that the first person you encountered had been so welcoming.

Prompt as ever, your new supervisor popped out of the elevator, striding over. She had a scowl on her face, her menacing gaze locking in on you. Your heart sunk to the floor, any hope of recovering from your mistake buried six feet under.

Kocho smiled and began to speak before you had a chance to introduce yourself and grovel for being late.

“Ah, Mrs. Sato! Please forgive Ms. Y/L/N for her tardiness. She actually arrived a few minutes early, but I held her captive with my chattering! ” Kocho giggled, causing Mrs. Sato to glare daggers her way. Your head whipped to Kocho, eyes blown wide with shock.

“A rather incessant habit of yours, Ms. Kocho. I do hope you remember your place, and how particularly replaceable it is.” She spoke coldly.

Mrs. Sato turned back to address you, the wrath in her eyes smoldered to a mere annoyance at Kocho’s carefree antics. Apparently, this wasn’t Kocho’s first time pushing a few buttons.

“I apologize for Ms. Kocho’s lack of professionalism, pay her no mind in the future. Please follow me, and I will get you settled in.”

Following her brief scolding, she abruptly turned, heading back to the elevator. You gave Kocho a look of pure confusion and bewilderment, so grateful you could have cried, to which she simply winked and went back to her computer. After whispering a heartfelt ‘thank you’, you scurried after Mrs. Sato and headed into the elevator.

“Now, to formally introduce myself, I am Mrs. Sato. As you already know, I’ll be your supervisor, which means I will be overseeing you in your training alongside your team members. It’s a relatively small team you’ll be working with, but they’ve been here quite some time, so don’t be afraid to ask them questions.”

“I see. It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Sato, and thank you for taking the time to show me what’s expected. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity, and look forward to working with you all.”

A brief smirk of satisfaction shadowed her face, seemingly pleased with your manners.

“Likewise. It can be a tough job, as we move at a fast pace and expect high output. Work hard, and you’ll be able to keep up.”

You nodded earnestly, taking in her every word. You wanted to do your best to impress your team, hoping to settle in the ranks quickly. The company itself may be shrouded in mystery, but you had heard whispers of how it's a survival-of-the-fittest world behind those glass doors.

“While a majority of what you need to know regarding the role will be covered later today, I’d like to mention a few overall company policies. Firstly, as I’m sure you’re aware, there is to be no photography, videography, or social media posting of any sort within the building, and you’ll be asked to sign an NDA that you will not share any inside information with anyone. We have a rather strict security and privacy policy to ensure our internal affairs are kept confidential.

“Second, the top floor is limited to authorized personnel only. You are never to go there under any circumstance unless directed so by a superior who has an entry permit. Given your position, this should never be asked of you, so I want to ensure you understand that it is essentially off-limits. Any violation of these policies will result in immediate termination.”

“Of course, I understand.” You said, eyes wide. You were well aware of the iron wall between the public/media and the inner world of the company, but you had no idea how extreme the precautions were taken internally as well. There must be some seriously confidential information on that floor. You found this mildly questionable, considering the company produced pharmaceuticals given to the public, but luckily concerns like that were above your pay grade.

“While I know these rules may seem extreme, Mr. Kibutsuji takes these measures to ensure the protection of himself as well as the company.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“Lastly, this is not policy, but merely a word of advice. Should you ever by some chance encounter Mr. Kibutsuji himself, you are not to meet his eye. He is an incredibly private man and prefers a more…traditional form of respect. If he asks anything of you, no matter the request, do it without any questions asked or a moment of hesitation.”

You swallowed thickly, hoping you would never cross paths with the man.

Of all the rumors circulating the company, its largest mystery was shrouded in the CEO, Mr. Kibutsuji himself. No one had ever seen the man’s face, so his notoriety only became sensationalized. Due to his immense fortune and success, he demanded to be completely removed from the public eye. You could only imagine what kind of enemies that level of wealth could incur. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t excited at the opportunity of potentially seeing the mystery man for yourself when you got the offer, but now it wasn’t exactly a thrilling prospect. It seemed there was a reason he was so notorious, if not feared.

Before you got the chance to even begin to come up with a response to that weirdly ominous warning, the elevator doors pried open with Mrs. Sato promptly exiting to your floor. You took a deep breath, straightened your shoulders, and followed her through the entrance to your new territory.

Taking a moment to admire the breathtakingly modern architectural atmosphere surrounding you that could hardly be described as an office, your eyes greedily took in the seemingly infinite space of desks, seating areas, and floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed light to pour into the floor. And this is only one of them. The workers flew about in an almost comically cinematic manner, with mumbles of ‘Here’s those reports’, and ‘Fifteen until the meeting!’. You fought the urge to break out into a giddy grin, ecstatic to have your first big-city job. Hearing the buzz throughout the room made you process that you’d made it. Walking through a room of what was likely some of the most innovative, hardest-working people in the country, you were able to hold your head just a little bit higher, knowing that your shoes hitting the floor meant you just might be one of them - someone who belonged there.

Snapping you out of your daze, Mrs. Sato rounded a corner and came to a stop, gesturing to an open desk set nestled right along the flow of traffic. Not the window seat you’d secretly hoped for, but maybe it would be a chance to meet some coworkers, at least.

“This desk will be yours, and I’ve already arranged for the necessary paperwork to be delivered to you momentarily. Kanjori from HR should be here any minute, as well as-”

“Is this Y/N!?” A woman’s cheerful squeal cut off Mrs. Sato rather abruptly, much to her distaste.

The culprit sprang around the corner, holding a stack of papers taller than her head. Before you could process how heavy they must have been, the woman practically slammed the stack onto the desk, the obnoxious boom that thundered throughout the room confirming your suspicion (and amazement).

“Kanjori, please keep your voice down,” Mrs. Sato scowled, straightening her glasses.

“Oh yes! Right. My bad.” Kanjori sheepishly laughed. Just as quickly, she whipped her head towards you, taking your hands in hers as her smile glowed.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you! I’m Kanjori, but I’m sure you gathered that already! I hope we can become great friends! Tell me, do you have any plans for lunch? Why don’t we go together!? If you like ramen there’s this amazing place just down the street, and...”

You could hardly get a word in, but even if you could, you might have been rendered speechless. She was, by every definition of the word, beautiful. She had curves in all the right places that would put models to shame, and to match it a smile brighter than the sun itself. You found yourself flushed with an embarrassing level of envy at the pure sensuality radiating from her. Gauging from the looks of the men at the surrounding desks suddenly sitting straighter to preen themselves with rosy cheeks, you knew you weren’t the only one who thought so.

Another figure rounded the corner in a flash, seemingly instantly flashing into the conversation.

“Kanjori, I love the enthusiasm! However, after the last incident, we were told to take a more subtle-”

The voice trailed off, coming to a faltered stop as your eyes met those of the man it belonged to.

Towering over you was suddenly one of the most handsome men you had ever seen. If you thought Kocho’s eyes had been a shock, meeting your inspection were eyes of pure ruby and gold, more mesmerizing than a summer sunset. Amazingly enough, his golden hair had warm tips of crimson that appeared shockingly natural. His gaze was frozen, taking you in with a sense of curiosity that made heat rush to your face.

It was almost as if the very essence of his being was ablaze.

#demon slayer #anime #kny x y/n #rengoku kyojuro #rengoku x y/n #kyojuro x y/n #hashira #muzan kibutsuji #muzan x y/n #tanjiro kamado #giyuu tomioka #sanemi shinaguzawa #mitsuri kanjori #rengoku x reader #kyojuro x reader #tengen uzui

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ganymedesclock · 2 years

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Honestly PK’s relationship with the void is actually kind of interesting when you consider Radiance’s implicit center-of-worship/base of operations was on top of a mountain as far away from it as possible, she calls the void her Ancient Enemy and greets it with the implicit assumption none of the vessels are individuals or even pawns of the wyrm nearly as much as they are pawns of said enemy which has been trying to destroy her all along.

PK, conversely, seems profoundly and personally obsessed with the stuff, possibly even to personal detriment. I’m reminded somewhat of the fate of Marie Curie whose fascination with radium led to great insights, but also left her massively overexposed to it.

He built his palace as close to the abyss as you’d get; his honor guard as well as some flying novelties (?) or service drones that propagate throughout his castle are effectively just great volumes of void wandering around. That the Abyss itself contains a great lighthouse that was personally attended by a royal retainer as well as a small personal office overlooking the great abyssal shore adds almost a quieter note of personal tragedy to the far greater horror that went on down there- that even to PK’s flawed worldview, the Abyss was not a place of great dishonor before he enacted the vessel project there. He liked it; he wanted other people to come down there and see it. In one of his writings he calls it “power opposed” but specifically in the context that he was sure he could get some pants on this thing somehow and put it in society.

PK is... thoughtlessly callous in many ways and one of the big ways is this belief of a civilizing force, that for him, the nicest possible thing he thinks he can do for anyone seems to be fitting them into a perfect, tailored box where they do exactly the work that is good for them and good for everyone forever. There’s a reason that Hollow is subtextually the Favored Heir, the inheritor of the kingdom to whom PK literally left all of Hallownest when you look at the message attached to the Worldsense bench- and they were literally a martyr being sent to spend the rest of their life chained inside of a seal as a sacrifice. A King without a throne or a crown or any political sway. And that up to a point, PK convinced himself this was not only the right and proper thing, but that he himself was... breathtakingly unprepared to grieve Hollow. Like it did not occur to him this might actually be a bad thing even when previous steps of it had horrified him even.

So I think it means a lot that PK has this notion of civilizing the Void. That it could belong in his big divine order that everything fits in. It’s foolish, and, from the POV the game takes- that of his own voidborn children- it’s immensely cruel, that Hollow who was offered A Place and A Meaning was no happier than others, and we see the Collector who also seems to have been born and shaped to PK’s design only to be reshaped by someone else’s- the noble who Kept them in the Tower of Love- resulting in a being that has deeply warped ideas about safety and protection and what it means to love someone else.

Like as the inspiring post said, PK absolutely has no illusions about the void’s ability and willingness to destroy him. But his fascination with it- before his other issues get involved- is almost one of the most ‘innocent’ things in his personality.

#Hollow Knight #Pale King #this is honestly why I tend to read him as having a lunar motif #to contrast Radiance and NKG's solar motifs #while the moon is luminous and star-like to our sensibilities it is also heavily associated with the dark of night #PK's silver light ingame is always part of a starkly monochrome palette that uses heavy blacks #rather than Radiance's very watercolorish and dominating wash of picturesque sunrise that gets more and more threatening #his void obsessions dominate all of his motifs and themes #which is why I gave him a- dysfunctional and sickly- connection with it in RFR #not because the void was out to get him #but because he let all of his guards down and cast aside so much of himself into 'negative space'#in order to ostensibly be more perfect #he invited the emptiness in and that has consequences if you do not treat the emptiness well #long post

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acoraxia · 2 months

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My knowledge of fyss!Kui Mulang is not the best because since the fyss version is in English and the book is extra dense with many characters with different names, it has not been easy for me. I know more about Jttw!Kui Mulang. Jttw is easier for me because there is a version in my native language. But about Kui Mulang and his wife, Kui Mulang kidnapped his wife against her will. He also does not hesitate to hurt her If she does something agaisnt him. Furthermore, the moment Kui Mulang is caught, he betrays his wife and tries to put all the blame on her, saying that she was the one who seduced him.

Many fsyy characters have different names. So I think that's why not many recognize Azure Lion. He was part of the Jie Sect but is later turned into a mount when he loses. I think lmk is not taking fsyy as a prequel to Jttw like New gods. However, I feel like it gives more depth to his character? You know, imagine fighting on the side that accepts you because the other side doesn't really like your kind (from what I understand, there may be good reasons as well as discrimination against the Yaoguai) and then you're humiliated into being the mount of an immortal. And many centuries pass, and you gain respect and connections, but they still don't see you anymore than that. He also becomes very angry when he is not invited to Xiwangmu's peach banquet. I'm not saying this to defend him, but the topic of the Yaoguai and how they are perceived is interesting.

this person is answering questions about fsyy. It's the only blog I've found, so they might be able to give you the info you want to know about fsyy!Kui Mulang. I hope it helps you a lot if you ever need it! :)

https://www.tumblr.com/ryin-silverfish

I'm sorry if I send a lot of asks to reply. I tried to send a response to my ask but apparently my reply is too long??? I'm still not very familiar with Tumblr

Checked my inbox after me and my sib discussed media and honestly it made my mood go from “aw” to “OOOH” so quickly haha

Fyss!Kui Mulang will remain a mystery for a while… we gotta accept this fate my friends. At least until I do a little digging and end up launching him on top of my faves like I did with Erlang and Red Son— AHEM anyways!

I did not know he tried to victim blame his wife.. what the HECK dude… what is wrong with you… my guy.. my dude! What the heck!

Also Yaoguai were always very interesting imo… like at some point it makes you wonder if the hate and judgement they get is justified or not. Yes there are yao that eat people or kill them and do things that aren’t great but what of the ones that are just living? The ones who fight on the side of “good”? Makes you wonder about it. (I did learn that yaoguai stands for creatures that stand outside the natural order/cannot be explained. Which is fun!) Kind of interesting how he was turned into a mount… hm. That’s.. certainly something! Especially for a sentient being capable of thought and speech as eloquent as any other immortal he comes across!

I kind of wish they’d taken fyss as an inspiration ngl.. they did show the Nezha and Ao Bing fight scene but it was obviously shown as more aggressive (in the book, Nezha just smacked him while Ao Bing was the one who launched the first attack—meant to he comedic but also horrifying moment for the Ao family) and it’s funny how they introduced Nü Wa.. because they’ll have to address which version of her it is (in some myths she is the Jade Emperor’s daughter (fyss iirc), in other’s she marries her brother—options!) —but! Anyways, this was a fun read

Definitely makes me think about Azure Lion and Kui Mulang’s characterizations… hm hm hm

#ask #lots of thoughts tonight it seems #my head is so full #book club moment

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tarisilmarwen · 10 months

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Rebels Rewatch: "Homecoming"

Hera's daddy issues, and lots of fanservice for TCW fans.

Oh hey, one of my husband's favorite episodes!

Three guesses as to why.

Yep it's because of the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier.

Anyway, the need for such a thing is demonstrated right with this opening scene, with an ill-fated A-wing getting blown up as it tries to dock.

The A-wings get a raw deal in this show, seems like any time they need a fighter to blow up they do an A-wing.

You know by now Hera's started to get to know the pilots under her command, so every loss is a little bit more personal now.

Kanan being silently supportive as Hera goes to call home.

Cham appears and cue TCW fans freaking out.

Not sure why we forwent the fanfare this episode, I don't think the circumstances are quite serious enough for it.

Kanan acting all cutely nervous to be meeting Hera's father kjhkjds.

And him getting everyone's names wrong lol, look at their faces. They're all just like, "Dad. Dad, that's not my name."

Numa introduced and though I have only seen the episode where she appears once I understand TCW fandom's base instinct to sob uncontrollably at how big she's gotten.

Cham being all, "NO I won't let you have this carrier I have to BLOW IT UP as a SYMBOL of RYLOTH RESISTANCE!" is absolutely annoying, Sato and Hera are saints for putting up with it.

I love the immediate cut to Ezra helping Hera tune Chopper up, implying he did his whole "follow you out of concern" routine and got invited to stay. :)

This is becoming a familiar sight isn't it? Ezra's role as heart of the team, peacemaker, counselor, and "bridge" is particularly emphasized this season. Not surprising, we collect most of our finale-important assets and allies this season.

Hngh that vulnerable little, "More important than family?" Fandom sometimes like to portray Mira and Ephraim as workaholics who had no time for Ezra between their broadcasts and resistance but this little line here, that Ezra would be so quietly horrified at the idea of rebellion being more important than one's own family, suggests otherwise.

Also! "Well, there's nothing more important to me." Throw that shade baby boy, love you for it.

Hhhmgngnll shut uuuuuuuuup Cham. When Ezra was preoccupied with concern over his homeworld he wasn't nearly so obnoxious. And, you know, actually accepted that other people and other worlds need help too.

Hera slipping back into her Rylothi accent when talking to her father. <3

Kanan implying his grandmaster Mace Windu talked to him about Clone Wars adventures. <3

Hera's absolutely sour sulk face. XD

This whole scene really, Gobi teasing Hera about "your Jedi", Kanan gushing about Cham, Hera cutting her father off with the doors twice.

It has all the vibes of "surly adult daughter reluctantly visiting estranged home to show off the grandkids and being annoyed that husband and dad get along so well".

Kanan's fake accent here is kind of amazing.

Hera's devotion to authenticity dislodges and reveals the supply of grenades in Numa's sack. Honestly, Cham reminds me a little bit of Saw with how obsessive he is about his own personal cause. He and Saw are both fighting for a good reason, true, but their attachments--Cham to Ryloth's freedom in particular, Saw to being right about the Death Star stopping the Empire from inflicting more loss at all costs--have blinded them, made them single-minded and selfish, hostile to others and uncaring about their plight.

Ezra, on the other hand, though he's always very worried for his world, his people, still is able to put them aside in order to do things for the wider cause, still able to access his compassion for people outside of his immediate circle.

(This would take a brief backslide in Season 3 after Malachor but come back with internal character development at the beginning of Season 4.)

Lol I knew as soon as that mouse droid got trapped that it would be used later.

Synchronized Force Push FTW.

And I love this moment where they throw each other forward, it's so awesome. Been a while since we've heard the Main Titles theme used to denote heroism too.

Ezra bouncing excitedly once he pulls off the Mind Trick, like Kanan knew he could aww.

Hera's double-take lol.

"I must destroy this ship for Ryloth!" Oh take a chill pill.

This is another case of, "Wow, that's a fast turnaround." but it's way less egregious than Ketsu's turn, since there are multiple other voices chiming in in support of Hera after her speech and all Cham does is take a step back and let Hera have the floor, he doesn't actually help until later.

Sounds like a muted version of the TIE Fighter Attack track here.

Right, so, this moment is touching and all but pulling harder on the yoke wouldn't actually do anything, this is orbit not atmosphere.

Imperial theme here, and then a snippet of "Shenanigans".

Ezra has an idea! Bet Sabine loves it because it involves blowing stuff up lol.

Love the teamwork here with this moment.

Eyyyyy everyone wins! The Rebels get the carrier, Cham gets his symbolic firey ship explosion of justice, way to go Ezra, that was a good idea, nice "bridging".

Hugs! <3

An almost Stargate-esque cue here (no surprise, Kiner worked on Stargate SG-1) which... it's not Hera's theme I don't think, at least I can't find another occurrence in "Wings of the Master". Cham's maybe? It definitely sounds like a leitmotif.

Aaaaaand a nice moneyshot of our spacefamily.

Another quality Hera-focused episode, expanding on her backstory without contradicting what we already knew. (Which I've already talked about was a bit of a problem with Sabine and "Blood Sisters".) Hera doesn't really develop much but then, again, she never really needed to. Still nice to see her reconcile with her father.

Another variation on the Friendship Fetch Quest--though Cham reappears later he's not a crucial asset to the finale like the other allies we gain this season, and once more the most important gain this episode is a ship. That Quasar carrier is going become a familiar marker and staple of the Phoenix Cell and we're going to get very used to seeing it in establishing shots... which makes the great big hero moment in "Zero Hour" it gets hurt a LOT more.

Honestly it's worth watching just for how seamlessly synchronized Kanan and Ezra are getting in combat. :)

#star wars #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #space dad and his precious pumpkin child #rebels rewatch #liveblog #kanan x hera

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catchyhuh · 7 months

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KIDS!!

no not like what they were like AS kids. that's cute though i might do that later but anyway this is just how they are around children. you bring up canon i shoot you dead. now let’s get goin

lupin:

lupin LOVES kids. does that mean he’s good with them/should be trusted to watch them and keep them from accidentally dying? no

he’s expected to have them because. gestures. but he’s not really in a rush. he’s just kind of waiting for fate to do something. (he’s hoping fate will have something to do with fujiko giving his kid pretty incredible genes but the reality is he’d probably stumble across some embittered oliver twist adjacent kid and take them in)

the REALest reality is he’s just every child he runs into’s favorite uncle. he’s a horrible influence and you know kids LOVE that. holds them by their ankles, throws them like five feet into a pool, they LOVE it, and it horrifies every reasonable adult nearby. except his friends. they’ve grown immune to the terrifying sights that come with this guy.

jigen:

(pushing aside the new jigen thing just in case it makes this post age poorly) have you ever met someone who hates kids but children just love them

jigen hates it but he lowkey has some fatherly instincts within. lowkey. it’s faint though don’t expect him to offer to watch your kid for you but like any mildly decent human being he’s not going to let a child run into an electrical fence. usually though those same people don’t just start giving said kid a piggyback ride to guide them back to a more responsible party though but don’t ever bring it up to him

really i think it just comes from a soft spot for mildly vulnerable people. not an obligation he feels exactly just like. this child is miserable. if i made a stupid face, will the child continue to be miserable? granted, if the stupid face does not cheer up the kid, he’s not beating himself up about it either. i said kids LIKED him not that he was GOOD with them

fujiko:

very impartial. again, has the basic human decency to see a child clearly about to hurt themselves within arms reach and moves to stop them, but it’s like. does she care about that child’s hobbies, their favorite color, their latest minecraft build? uh No not really no

not above smiling and cooing over how cute babies are, but again, doesn’t mean SHE FUCKIN WANTS ONE LMAOOOOO it’s just that she has. eyes. if she thinks your baby is ugly on the other hand she won’t exactly TELL you so but her grin is noticeably forced and shes like. “what. an angel. wow. she’s really gonna break hearts someday i’m sure. wow.”

fujiko (pushing aside that fuckass movie) fujiko does not want kids. if she has a kid it’s someone else’s responsibility hands down. it’s not even that she’s afraid of the commitment OF a child (although that admittedly isn’t a thing she’s a fan of) she just knows for a fact that some people on this earth are not meant to be parents and by GOD is she NOT meant to be a parent. honestly it’s a self-awareness she wishes more people had.

goemon:

i have to be. completely candid here i’ve never really thought about this. but now that i am it’s very clear to me that goemon is the type of person who talks to a 5yo the same way you’d talk to a fully grown man and that’s hilarious

kids are always very interested by him in the like. “why are you so dressed up” “why do you talk like that” “is that a real sword” sense which tends to overwhelm him for a brief blip, but leave him with them for a half hour and come back and he’ll be showing them INSANE hide and seek techniques

he simultaneously doesn’t understand children at all but is also capable of having fun with them. a big chunk of it depends on his current mood, but if they’re like, nice, pleasant kids, 9 times out of 10 he’ll do like. one cool thing for them just to see them go OWAOAAWW!! he can get a little silly with it. if the situation needs be.

zenigata:

do you guys hear that? that like. wooing trumpet noise. with a little bit of stomping in there? sounds like there’s an elephant in the room or something. anyways

kids either love or hate him immediately. like goemon it tends to revolve around his mood and the mood of the kid in question, because sometimes he goes from sulking about losing (again) to “Oh My God is that your baby? TWO weeks old? just two weeks old? that tiny?” in a heartbeat. conversely children also tend to find him very bullyable. either way they flock to this guy

if you had a six year old and you needed one of these five to watch it for like, three hours, zenigata is your safest bet, but that’s. NOT SAYING MUCH he’s just the only one who’s moderately prepared for like. kid fell down and started crying type things. kid doesn’t WANT to eat spaghetti for lunch but that’s what they have to eat. that type of deal. he puts on this calm but slightly stern tone and the kid's like . okay fine i'll eat it. it's very jarring for anyone who's seen the way he is normally omg that trumpeting is back what the hell is that noi

POINT IS he’s good with kids. not perfect (children imitate the behavior they see you know) but good enough. it’s backed up in canon! in fact it’s so backed up you might even say he might as well have a kid even,

I'M SORRY FOR THE JOKES I JUST CAN'T HELP IT

#the tension within the lupin fandom about whether or not the fact that zeni had kids fucking sucks or is funny as hell #coming up next: a video compilation of every time the gang has a cute interaction with a child! it ends with me having tears in my eyes #lupin the third #lupin iii #lupin #jigen #fujiko #goemon #zenigata

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hbyrde36 · 5 months

Text

Chapter 17! (FINAL!)

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

ao3 link

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16

CW: Smut

-Eddie-

The moment Steve was cut off from him would forever rank high on the list of the most painful moments of Eddie's life.

Not physically, that distinction would likely always go to the day he’d been killed and turned. Honestly, what Henry had been doing to him from afar on that stage had been no picnic either, but losing Steve shattered his heart.

For months Eddie had been able to feel him like a comfortable weight in the back of his mind. For a precious hour or so they had been fully open to each other, their love passing between them like a current. Strong and vibrant and sure, even in the midst of the fear and uncertainty of battle.

Then it was just… gone. Ripped away in the blink of an eye.

For a truly horrifying second he thought Steve had been killed. Angela was on top of him and Eddie couldn't see what was happening. He screamed Steve’s name and dropped to his knees, too hurt and weak from losing his human servant to put up any sort of a fight when someone came to drag him down off his platform. He was almost glad that death would be coming for him too.

Only, it didn’t.

He realized what must have happened when Angela finally rolled off of Steve and helped him to his feet.

Eddie was hanging on to consciousness by a thread, but still he was terrified of what kind of future Steve would have tied to a creature like Angela. The only bright side was that at least now he wouldn't take Steve down with him when he died.

Because Eddie would die.

It was over, they had lost.

He’d failed to save the city.

Deep down he had always known the way this fight was going to play out.

Halloween night would be a bloodbath and it was all his fault for thinking he was powerful enough to take this position in the first place. At least the man he loved would live to fight another day, he only wished he could be there to see it.

Try as he might, Eddie couldn't really follow the conversation that was happening around him, but when he saw Steve weidling the ornately carved wooden stake it was all too easy to figure out what Henry intended.

There was something sadly poetic about the fact that it would be Steve who ended his life. It was another thing he felt like he’d always known. Either Steve would fall in love with him, or he’d kill him. Eddie never imagined that fate would bring both of those possibilities to pass but sometimes the universe has a sick sense of humor.

He smiled at Steve, trying to let him know that it was okay to do what needed to be done. There was no saving Eddie, but he could make it through this if he played his cards right.

The blow never came.

Eddie always knew that Steve was extraordinary, it’s what had attracted him to the other man from the beginning, but he was also full of surprises, never quite doing what people expected.

From one breath to the next Steve had taken down Owens and Henry both, like it was nothing. For a split second Eddie felt a surge of relief, the greatest threat in the room had been taken down, but a moment later he felt only sheer panic as he watched Steve shove a blade right through Angela's chest. Ensuring his own death as well as hers.

Because no human servant in history had ever survived their master’s death.

Steve was dying and Eddie knew nothing except that he had to get to him. Somehow he found the strength to move, rolling himself off the edge of the altar to land hard at the other man’s side. They looked into each other's eyes until Steve could no longer keep his open. Eddie continued to gaze at his face anyway, holding his hand tightly as he faded away.

The young witch, who had been standing at Henry’s side right up until she’d inexplicably switched teams to help take him down, approached. She laid her hands on Steve carefully, one on his head and the other on his chest. Eddie didn’t protest or even bother to question it, Steve was already dying, it’s not like she could make it any worse.

Dustin and the other hunter called Nancy both appeared suddenly, falling to their knees next to where he and Steve lay.

“Get your hands off of him!” She shouted at the girl, who completely ignored her.

“What's happening?” Dustin asked, voice trembling.

Eddie was still so weak that it was difficult to talk but he forced the words out anyway. “Angela, she took him from me. She gave him all four marks and made him her full servant right in the middle of the fight, cut us off from each other.”

Dustin's eyes went wide. “But, he killed her. Does that mean he? Oh my god… ”

Eddie could only nod as Dustin broke down in tears. He knew how much Steve meant to the kid and watching him realize he was about to lose him, only made his own heartbreak that much more unbearable.

“I still don’t understand! Why are you letting her touch him!” Nancy shouted again. This time all her anger was aimed at Eddie instead of the girl, as if this were all his fault. Maybe it was.

Before he could attempt to respond to her, the older man who'd come in with her and Steve got between them. He spoke softly as he pulled Nancy to her feet and tried to coax her away.

“What if you give him the first mark again?” Dustin asked, recapturing Eddie’s attention. “Would that work? Would it save him?”

In all honesty he wasn’t sure. Angela was dead, in theory her marks would be gone, fading at least.

Fading with Steve.

It was possible, maybe, but as much as it pained him Eddie wouldn't even consider trying.

“I won’t do that to him again. I ignored his wishes before and he hated me for it.”

“But mad is better than dead, Eddie!” Dustin insisted.

Eddie almost laughed. If the kid only knew.

He shook his head. “You don’t understand. You don’t know what you're asking me to do. If he manages to survive this somehow, he’ll be free. No marks. Not from me or anyone else. It’s all he wanted and I won't take that away from him, not even to save his life. Never again unless he asked me to do it himself.”

Dustin would have probably kept pushing but the fight between the older man and Nancy reached a fever pitch behind them. She pushed past him looking as if she would knock the girl out herself if that’s what it took to get her away from Steve, but the man stopped her again with a firm grip on her wrist.

“For the last time, she’s helping him! Can't you feel it?” The man hissed.

Nancy glowered at him.

He studied her face curiously. “You can't. You can’t feel anything can you? Huh, never known a null to be a hunter before. It’s impressive, if dangerous.”

Eddie couldn’t help but watch their exchange. There was something strangely familiar about the man. He wondered who he was to Steve.

“What did you call me?” She said, eyes narrowing.

The man pinched the bridge of his nose and Eddie got the distinct impression that he was barely holding back from screaming at her.

“A null, someone without any magic, not even the ability to sense it happening right in front of you.” He explained with a shake of his head.

“Oh.” She said, deflating slightly.

“She’s anchoring him here, trying to keep him in his body.” The older man said.

“Steve is strong. He wants to stay so badly but his spirit keeps trying to go. I am helping.” The girl added, speaking for the first time though she kept her eyes trained on her work.

Nancy looked between all of them then turned and stalked off with a huff.

“I’ll talk to her.” Dustin said, sniffling as he got up to follow.

Eddie glanced up at the older man, struck again by how familiar he looked, something about his eyes. “Thank you, uh… “ He trailed off.

“Wayne.”

“Wayne.” Eddie nodded in greeting as best he could. “Are you like Steve, an animator? Is that how you knew what she was doing?”

“Yes, I suppose it’s similar enough to what we do that I could feel her intention.” Wayne began, smiling down at Steve fondly. “And while I do raise zombies, even trained your boy there once upon a time, there’s no one like Steve.”

Eddie smiled too and had to choke back a sob. Wayne was right, there was no one like his sweetheart.

Wayne crouched down and placed a comforting hand on Eddie’s back. “Don’t give up on him just yet, He’s got power like nothing I ever felt, just doesn’t like to use it. If anyone can beat the odds, it’s him.”

The gentleness was almost too much for him to bear and Eddie started to shrink away from the touch out of pure self preservation, but suddenly he remembered where he’d seen the older man’s eyes before. It was a very long time ago.

“What did you say your last name was again?” he asked, blinking up at Wayne, dumbfounded.

“I didn't,” Wayne chuckled. “I was adopted as an infant but my birth name was Munson.”

Eddie sucked in a sharp breath. “So you’re my… ” He trailed off, too tired to try and count back the generations.

“You can just call me uncle Wayne if you like, everyone else does.”

It surprised a huff of laughter out of Eddie, a true miracle considering the current circumstances. “Technically wouldn't I be the uncle in this situation? I am far older than you.” He pointed out.

Wayne shrugged as if that was irrelevant.

Eddie looked back at Steve, heartened to see that his chest was still rising and falling, and that the lines of his face had smoothed out into something more relaxed. He now looked more like he was sleeping and less like he was fighting for his life.

“You love him?” Wayne asked.

“More than anything.”

“Good.”

-Steve-

The first thing Steve noticed as his consciousness gradually returned to him was that he was somehow still alive. A shocking revelation, considering. The second thing he noticed was that for the first time in a long time he was completely alone in his own mind and body.

There was no trace of Angela in his head.

He’d done it. She was dead, had to be. He was sure, it was the only way he was free of her. God only knew how he had survived her death but he’d worry about that later.

The last thing he remembered was looking into Eddie’s eyes as they both lay broken and bleeding on the floor. He tried to sit up before he’d even opened his eyes but his limbs felt like lead.

“Eddie?! Eddie!” He attempted to shout but the words came out breathy and weak.

“Steve?” A faraway voice said, and then someone was shaking him. “Steve, are you awake?” They said again much closer this time.

Wait, that was Robin’s voice. What was she doing here? No, no it was too dangerous for her.

“Rob?” He croaked out, still unable to really move. “What are you… no… not safe.”

“It’s alright, you’re alright. Can you open your eyes?”

When he did finally manage to open his eyes, he got a glimpse of Robin's face for about 0.2 seconds before squeezing them shut again. The light streaming in through the windows hurt.

“Bright.” He said, wincing.

Windows?

Not the theater then, or the underground even. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

He tried to remain calm and began to notice other little things around him. Like the softness of the bed underneath him. The familiar smell of his laundry detergent, and the pinch of an IV in his arm.

“Shit, sorry. Hang on.” She said. A moment later the light behind his eyelids dimmed and he cracked them open once again.

Robin's face swam into view and she broke out into a watery smile.

He tried to return it but he was in enough pain that he was pretty sure it came off as more of a grimace. He was still so confused, but at least now he knew where he was, lying in his own bed at home, even if he didn’t know how that was possible.

Robin disappeared briefly and returned with a cup of water and a straw, allowing him to take a few small sips.

Much better.

Steve cleared his throat. “Eddie, is he? Robin, did he?” He couldn't bring himself to finish the question or even the thought. He had to know, but he wasn’t sure he could handle it if he had somehow survived and Eddie hadn't.

“He’s fine, Steve. I'm a little more worried about you right now. How do you feel?”

“He’s alive then? Are you sure? Are you sure he’s fine?” He couldn't get his last image of Eddie out of his mind. It was all he could see when he closed his eyes.

“Yes, I'm sure.” She said, exasperated.

He tried to sit up again and found that this time he could. He unceremoniously yanked the I.V. out of his arm and tried to stand. He had to go, he had to get up out of this bed and find Eddie, wouldn’t rest until he could see for himself that he was okay.

“Steve! Stop! what are you doing?!”

His legs buckled and he would have fallen if not for Robin catching him around the middle. She lowered him gently back to the bed.

“I have to find him, you don’t understand. I… “ Tears welled up in his eyes, spilling over to roll down his cheeks as Robin knelt, throwing her arms around him. He buried his face in her shoulder and gave himself over to it. She held him tight as sobs shook his body. She rocked them slowly, petting his hair and whispering comforting nonsense to him until he calmed.

She pulled back and held his face between her hands. “I get it, okay? Eddie told me everything, but you need to rest. You don’t have to go anywhere to find him, he’s here. He’s been at your bedside as much as he could. The only reason he isn’t sitting here right now is because the sun is still up. He and Dustin are holed up in your basement.”

Steve gulped. “How long has it been?”

“You’ve been out for quite a while. That’s why Joyce had you hooked up to that I.V. I wanted to take you to the hospital but Wayne was adamant that you’d be happier at home so she volunteered to keep an eye on you.”

He was touched that the wererats cared enough to do that for him. He’d have to find some way to thank them.

“I do hate hospitals.” He said eventually.

She rolled her eyes. “So I heard.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a while but hard as he tried Steve still couldn't stop worrying about Eddie.

“What time is it?” He asked.

She checked her watch. “4:00 in the afternoon, why?”

It would be dark soon. Eddie might already be awake for the day.

He looked at her, eyes pleading.

“Oh no you don’t. Those puppy dog eyes don’t work on me. You need to stay. In. bed. Your vampire will be up here as soon as the sun goes down.”

“Please?” He begged. “I have to see him.”

“Fine.” She sighed heavily and stood, pulling one of his arms up and over her shoulder to help him stand.

“How do I look?” He asked through gritted teeth and they made their way slowly, one step at a time through the room.

“Like you’ve been half dead for 3 days.” She muttered.

“Rob,” he groaned.

Steve was too busy watching his own feet to see, but he just knew she was rolling her eyes at him again. “He's been worried sick. He’s not going to care what you look like.”

Logically he knew she was right and not even the promise of a shower would have stopped him from seeing Eddie as soon as possible, but he still felt self conscious as they made it out of his bedroom and rounded the corner.

The door to the basement was down a short hallway, there were no windows in the direct area, but even so Steve made sure to open it slowly and carefully. Before he knew what was happening he was being transferred from one set of arms to another and found himself enveloped in Eddie’s cool embrace.

The vampire buried his face in Steve's neck, and he in turn buried his in Eddie’s curls, inhaling his familiar and comforting scent deeply as the painful tightening in his chest began to ease.

“What are you doing here? You should be resting.” Eddie said, the words muffled where his mouth was pressed to Steve's skin.

“Had to see you.” Steve replied, unable to keep his voice from shaking.

They stood at the top of the landing just holding each other for a long time, neither saying a word until finally Eddie lowered them to the floor, cradling Steve in his lap.

Eddie kept stroking his hair and Steve's hands kept wandering under Eddie’s t-shirt, fingertips gliding over bare skin, both unwilling to stop touching for a second.

“I’m sorry I wasn't there when you woke up.” Eddie whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

Steve leaned into him and sighed. “The sun.”

“Yeah.”

“I love you.” Steve said, turning so he could rest his forehead against the vampire’s. “I know you felt it, but I never said it, and– “ his breath hitched, throat tightening at the thought of how close he came to never getting to say it. “Now that we can’t… I need you to know, to hear it.”

“I love you too.”

A little while later, once the sun had finally set for the day, Eddie carried him back to his room and drew a bath. He wasn’t sure where Robin had gone.

Eddie stripped him of his clothes and then made quick work of his own before getting them both into the tub. He carefully washed Steve's hair and body, making him feel more precious and cared for than he had since he was a small child.

“What happens now?” Steve asked as Eddie pulled him in the settle against his chest.

“Well, we should probably get out soon and dry off before you fall asleep and drown.”

“You say that as if you’re not already holding me up.”

Eddie let out a breathy puff of laughter against the back of his neck before pressing a kiss there. Steve squirmed, heat rising in his blood from more than just the warm water, but he wouldn’t let himself get distracted.

“You know what I mean, us.”

“What happens between us is up to you. I want to be with you, in whatever capacity you’ll have me. Hell, I'd ask if we could move in together right now, but I have a feeling that might be a bit too much too fast.”

Steve made a little hum of agreement, though it sounded wonderful actually, never having Eddie out of his sight again, within reason anyway, but there was a lot they probably needed to figure out before jumping in with both feet.

“And the other thing?”

“I don’t know what to say.” Eddie shrugged. “You no longer bear any of my marks.”

“Does it bother you?”

“No.” Eddie answered quickly. “I… this is all you wanted, to be free, so no, I can't regret that they’re gone.”

“But do you miss it?” Steve asked. He wasn’t even sure why he was pushing except that, hypocritical as it would be, maybe a small part of him missed it, and he wondered if their new lack of connection would change things.

Eddie hesitated, groaning “Steve– ”

He turned in the water to sit more sideways in Eddie’s lap so they could see each other better, thankful that the tub was big enough to allow for it. “It’s okay, if you do.”

“Of course I do. Having that connection to you, it was amazing. Even when you hated me I had this little piece of you riding around in my head.” Eddie smiled to himself. “Our shared dreams were pretty incredible too.”

Steve's cheeks were set ablaze with the reminder of their earliest encounters, and he had to stop himself from daydreaming about reenacting one of two of those scenarios in real life. He promised himself he’d revisit those thoughts again when he was a little more healed.

“So it wasn’t all about the power you could gain?” Steve asked.

He was teasing, mostly. Although he believed that he meant more than that to Eddie now, he still felt like it was as good a time as any to get his worries and fears out in the open. It was nothing they hadn’t discussed before, but he hadn’t been ready to listen then, hadn’t been willing to believe Eddie could have anything but dark motives. Now he was ready to hear the truth.

Eddie smoothed the damp hair back from Steve’s face. “I marked you the first time to save your life. Not just because you were hurt, but because I knew what you were walking into and even back then I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to you. I knew it would give you a better chance at surviving Billy. The second mark I'll admit I did to save myself. I didn't even think about what it would mean for you, and I'm so sorry for that. I was grasping at straws and the connection to you was right there and… I’m not proud of it.”

“It’s okay.”

“Is it?” Eddie asked softly. He sounded so small and fragile. He stared down at the water, refusing to meet Steve’s eyes anymore. “Because I mean, fuck, I even did it to you a third time after you told me you’d have rather died than been marked at all.”

Steve’s heart sank. He had said that, and at the time he’d meant it, but after nearly having to watch the man he loved die, after coming so close to having to stake Eddie himself, his perspective had changed.

“Robin begged you, you were saving my life– ” Steve tried to interject, to defend Eddie’s actions, but the vampire kept beating himself up.

“But I didn’t even consider other options! I could have… I should have tried harder, called a doctor or something, anything.” Eddie finally looked back up, meeting Steve's gaze once again, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Will you ever be able to forgive me?”

“Eddie,” Steve breathed, sliding around the rest of the way until he was straddling the other man’s hips. “I already have.”

Eddie surged up to capture his lips in a sweet and lingering kiss. He was being so gentle, so careful with Steve in his current condition. He knew he was weak and still healing but what he wanted from the vampire now was anything but gentle.

Steve clung to Eddie’s shoulders, as much to pull the other man closer as it was to keep himself upright. He deepened the kiss, grinding down into Eddie's lap as best he could and was rewarded with the vampire’s half hard cock sliding between his cheeks.

“Want you.” Steve said, breaking the kiss and panting into Eddie’s mouth.

“Baby, we can't,” Eddie argued, even as he thrust his hips upwards, pulling a desperate whine out of Steve's throat.

Suddenly Eddie’s arms locked around him. One wound around his waist, the other tucked under the swell of his ass. The vampire stood with ease holding all of Steve’s weight. He tried to wrap his legs around Eddie but the muscles just wouldn’t cooperate, not that it mattered. One second they were stepping out of the tub, water dripping off both of them to splatter all over the bathroom floor, the next they were beside Steve's bed and he was being gently laid down on top of fresh sheets.

He felt a chill as the air hit his soaking wet skin, but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be cold for much longer.

Eddie stared down at him, eyes wild with hunger that had nothing to do with blood as he climbed up onto the bed to settle between his legs. He kissed and licked and sucked the water from Steve’s skin until he reached the place where he was achingly hard and equally dripping.

The vampire flattened his tongue, licking a wide stripe up the underside of his cock and Steve was reminded of that very first dream all those months ago, where Eddie had dropped to his knees in the alley. He’d also bitten Steve’s inner thigh, which, though it hadn’t actually happened, had terrified him then. The idea of it now though was anything but scary. He wanted Eddie inside of him in every way possible, fangs, fingers, cock, all at once preferably.

Sadly he knew he wasn’t up for it tonight, but that was fine. They were alive and in love and there would be many more nights in their future to explore all the ways in which he wanted Eddie to ruin him.

Eddie began to work him by hand, holding only the head of him between his lips, swirling his tongue and being oh so careful to keep his fangs out of the way. Steve writhed under his touch, his orgasm building already though it’d only been a few minutes. He tried to hold still but couldn’t stop from bucking his hips a little, greedy for the feel of Eddie’s mouth on him. There was a brush of teeth and small pinprick of pain that only added to Steve's growing pleasure. Eddie moaned around him and that was all it took to push him over the edge. He came hard, remembering too late to try and muffle his shouts of ecstasy. He could only hope Robin had taken a walk or something. Eddie worked him through it, catching his release on his tongue and swallowing it all.

Eddie moved up to lay next to him, pulling Steve into his side. He made a valiant attempt at reaching for Eddie to return the favor, but he was too tired to move his arms.

“Don’t worry about me sweetheart.” Eddie said, kissing his way up the side of Steve’s jaw. “This was just for you, rest now.”

“You’ll stay?”

“Until the sun drives me away.”

“Could move the bedroom into the basement.” Steve said through a yawn.

Eddie brushed his fingers up and down Steve's body, caressing every inch of bare skin he could reach. “You don’t want that.”

“I do if it means you can stay with me.”

“That sounds an awful like moving in talk, I thought we agreed too much too soon?”

Steve let out a contented sigh. “Taking it slow is overrated.” He said finally, right on the verge of falling asleep.

Over the next few days Steve received a lot of visitors.

Joyce came by the morning after he woke up to see how he was doing physically, and apart from insisting that he needed a lot more rest, said he looked like he was well on his way to a full recovery.

Jane was with her too. The wererats had apparently taken her in following the battle, and Will and Gareth had promised to help find her sister in Steve’s place since he would be out of commission for a while.

She laid her hands on him, much the same way Eddie had described her doing the night he almost died, and gave him a more mystical checkup. She looked mildly concerned, it seemed his power wasn’t returning to him as quickly as his body was healing but she was confident it would come with time. She promised that when it did, she would work with him to harness his magic and learn to wield it more effectively. He could honestly say he was looking forward to that.

After that first night Steve had doubled down, asking Eddie to stay and also to move the contents of his room into the basement. Dustin saw the writing on the wall, and had graciously agreed to move out of Steve’s place and go back to the theater underground to spend his days and give them some privacy. He still came by often, usually driven by Wayne who had taken quite a shine to him.

His father even deigned to visit one afternoon, mostly to see if Steve was lying about being ill, which was the story Robin had come up with to explain his absence from work. Things started out uncomfortable and only got worse when Eddie rose for the day and came up from the basement. Bert took one look at the vampire and lost his mind. Steve had already been ready to hand in his resignation upon his return to work, so it was no big loss to quit on the spot, and even less of a loss to tell his father that he had no interest in being his son any longer.

That had felt good, and it was a long time coming.

Nancy never showed. Steve wasn’t really surprised, and he wasn't upset by it either. He had no doubt she was aware of his connection to Eddie now, their relationship. She might have fought on their side in this particular battle but he knew she would struggle with him being so close to another vampire. Dustin was one thing, she’d known him since he was a kid, but Eddie was nothing but a bloodsucker to her, a stranger whom she’d been hired to kill on more than one occasion. He wasn’t afraid she would come after them, not really, but he knew she’d need some time to process things at the very least. She did text to check up on him once she heard he was awake, and that was enough for now.

The last visitor, and the one he was looking least forward to, was Hopper. Not that he didn’t want to see the man, he just hated lying to him.

The chief had heard, of course, about the show at the theater on Halloween eve and Steve’s starring role in it.

Steve had worried briefly about being brought up on charges for killing not one but three people, well, two vampires and one human servant, but it seemed Eddie’s vampires had done well in getting rid of the bodies.

Everyone who had been in the audience that night had believed that it was all an act. Eddie was being heralded in the press for his state of the art special effects.

Hopper had seen a few videos online and was skeptical, a feeling that only got worse as he was blown off time and again, first by Robin and then Wayne, when he had tried to get in touch with Steve during his coma.

In the end, after he’d convinced Hopper he was recovering from a nasty flu, he’d assured him that the whole thing was indeed all a show, and the older man had no choice but to accept it. He did wonder why Steve was involved, and he took that as an opportunity to open up to the chief about his relationship with the Master of the City. He kept it brief, no details of their past since he didn’t owe the man that, and it was all too incriminating for words. He simply said his boyfriend owned the theater and had asked him to be in the production.

It took a moment for the information to sink in, and Hopper gave several long blinks before responding.

“You’re a grown man so I'm not going to sit here and tell you what you should and shouldn’t do with your life, but I hope you know what you’re doing there.”

“I do, Hop. I promise.”

The older man nodded. “I know you better than to worry if this will interfere with your work, I know it won’t, and as long as he makes you happy, then I guess I’m happy for you.”

“He does. He really does.”

Steve knew that the future he and Eddie faced would be difficult and uncertain at times. When their relationship went public, and it was only a matter of time until it would, they would be thrust into the spotlight. Not everyone would be happy for them.

He was still a vampire hunter and Eddie was not only a vampire but the most well known one in the country.

Steve would still hunt down the bad guys and bring any vampires to justice who deserved it, but he would also stand up to support his friends, family, and all law abiding monsters.

Some would view them as an abomination but many more would see them as proof that love is love, and humans and vampires as well as other creatures could exist side by side in harmony.

And If their mere existence together could make others in unconventional relationships feel more confident and comfortable being seen? Then it was absolutely worth it.

Thanks forever to @penny00dreadful for being the best friend, cheerleader, and beta in the whole fucking world💜

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steve harrington/eddie munson #enemies to lovers #vampire eddie munson #vampire hunter steve harrington #vampire dustin henderson #good uncle wayne #happy ending #steddie fic #ao3 #steddie #steve x eddie #complete #steve harrington: vampire hunter

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subliminalbo · 1 year

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Deep Cuts #4: Corbin the Hunter and Corbin the Bride

More from the never released spring break series discussed in the last Deep Cut.

The concept for Corbin was a detective who investigates a mind control conspiracy which she inevitably becomes a part of. How that happens varies on the story, but in these early ideas it was some variation of "Corbin gets caught snooping around the evil mind controller's base of operations." I think of these sort of setups as curiosity brainwashed the cat" plotlines, and they're still pretty fun to me!

The problem is that you can't really write a competent protagonist and have them constantly getting outsmarted by the brainwashing bad guy. It's the sort of idea that you can only use once, and ultimately I thought that The Light had more value as a story and chose to focus on that one instead.

Then I immediately gave up on The Light too. So it goes.

Corbin's fate in our spring break series would have been a little different than her friends. Her group returns to the resort smiling, happy and mindless, lounging around while the nefarious folk behind the scenes make arrangements to auction off them off as wives. I haven't talked about this idea much, but I've always imagined different types of personalities when it comes to brainwashed characters. Some take to being mindless really well, and others just make really bad slaves. I always imagined that Corbin would fall into the latter category, which is an idea that I'm still exploring with her character today.

But continuing with this "bad slave" concept, Corbin would not have been good mindless wife material, at least not at first. Instead, after she's captured Corbin is brainwashed by the evil resort and reappears as a "hunter," that is one of the specialized resort staff who identify women for capture. I imagine she wouldn't have been the final girl in this story. If I know the way old Bo plotted stories, there was probably another vacationer that Corbin convinced about the conspiracy, and the series would shift focus to her perspective as Corbin hunted her down and oversaw her conversion into a bride.

Of course in the second manip you can see that Corbin would eventually settle into her role and become one of the wives herself.

Honestly, I think this story is all kinds of stupid and I don't particularly love the auctioned off as wives angle. It's just a little bit too close to genuinely horrifying things that actually occur in the real world. And there's a finality to the whole idea that would make it difficult to use these characters again in the future, so the spring break series always represented this kind of mass burning of characters all at once. I'd later feature some of them in Romero stories, with Corbin especially taking a leading role.

I'm glad I abandoned the idea. It's just this stupidly superficial mind control camp, and I feel like if I'd gone forward with it I would have been pigeonholed as a certain type of writer. In the last couple of years I've really stepped into a role of the guy who writes misery and mind control and that's the space in which I do my best writing. It's tough to be that person when you're also the "ladies get brainwashed on spring break to be the perfect wives" guy as well.

But I still feel like there's some value in these old ideas. You can track the growth of Corbin from a gimmick concept to an actual character that I respect. And that's important to me.

#hypnokink #mind control #brainwashed #series: deep cuts

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waheelawhisperer · 1 year

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13, 17, 19, and 20 for the violence ask game

You didn't specify a fandom so I'm going to hit you with several. This is your own fault.

13) worst blorboficiation

I'm not 100% sure what this means but for Arknights I'm gonna go with Amiya. It feels like people forget that she's actually a competent warrior and capable leader instead of just an uwu cute daughteru character.

For RWBY, it's Blake. The fucking writers blorbofied her, idk how you top that.

Mass Effect: Garrus Vakarian. I love Garrus too, but people love to ignore the way the first half of his character arc was "cop that thinks cops have to obey too many rules" -> "vigilante who regularly kills people"

Every remotely villainous or antagonistic character in Fate Grand Order has been shoved into the blorbo box by the fanbase by the end of whatever storyline they appear in and by the writers by the end of their next appearance.

Every person attracted to men who watches The Boys wants to fuck Soldier Boy and the Homelander far more than anyone should ever want to. I cannot enter the tag without running into Reader x fanfiction featuring one of those two.

17) there should be more of this type of fic/art

Arknights: Mlynar getting bred. Also, I would kill to see more people remember Indra exists.

RWBY: More Freezerburn, more Ladybug, more Qrowin, more Dragonslayer, more Jailbirds, more Ironqrow, more Schneewood Forest.

Ted Lasso: I am begging someone to provide me with a gifset featuring every instance wherein Roy Kent says "fuck", "fuck you", "get fucked", or any variation on this theme. I need them for reasons.

19) you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

I've never been ashamed of anything in my life (my ego is too big for that), but I'm getting somewhat frustrated that my relationship with RWBY is starting to remind me of an ex-girlfriend who threw a coffee mug at my head. I can't drop the show until I finish Volume 9, but I don't want to finish Volume 9 because all 3 episodes I've watched so far sucked.

Also I like Ch'alter unironically despite sharing all the very valid complaints about her and what she represents for Arknights.

20) part of canon you found tedious or boring

Arknights: Pretty much everything at this point because absolutely no one on the writing team knows how to condense a narrative and wouldn't be concise about anything if you held a gun to your head. Like I'm sorry but you do not need to write a Lord of the Rings-length novel and then decide that's not enough and write a second novel between the lines of the first one just to tell a story about a horsegirl fighting capitalism in a DBZ tournament arc. You can just trim the fat and convey the information effectively. It won't kill you.

Every Arknights event or main story chapter feels like a chore to read at this point, honestly, but the worst for me so far have been the Sui events. I love the siblings, but if they never release another event designed around Being Inscrutable it will be too soon.

RWBY: Every part of Volume 4 that didn't have Yang in it except for the Qrow vs. Tyrian fight, every part of Volume 5 that didn't have Yang or Raven in it, every part of Volume 9 I have experienced so far, and Jaune's stupid fucking 4-episode bullying arc.

Bloodborne: I have replayed this game multiple times and I have never cleared a single Chalice Dungeon more than once because they all suck.

Elden Ring: I hate the insistence on reusing all the worst bosses instead of the ones that are actually fun to fight, physically traveling across the world map feels tedious at times (I wish Torrent could move just a bit faster), mounted combat sucks ass, the Mountaintops of the Giants feels like they ran out of development time because it's honestly kinda barren, fuck the Consecrated Snowfield, and a lot of the dungeons feel same-y after a while.

#ask game #arknights #rwby #mass effect #bloodborne #elden ring #the boys

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galacticnova3 · 7 months

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hi im the guy who asked about iru lore last time i would like to know roa lore now. lore. lor. laugh. anyway i love seeing characters that talk very professionally because i can relate to that honestly so why does she do that? or you can talk about anything else its okay.

YESSSS

Ok so first of all, important note, Roa is essentially Lor’s mirror counterpart. Not exactly by the technicality that neither have a soul* to have been reflected, but they essentially had the same position on their respective sides of the mirror. Both were research ships who learned things they shouldn’t have, acted in ways that differed from others of their kind and subsequently made them outcasts to a degree, made it clear intentionally or not that they weren’t loyal to their respective Halcandras for viewing them as less than people, and got shoved in volcanos for thousands of years about it, only for rebellious teens with aspirations of gaining power to eventually learn of and excavate them as part of a greater plan that didn’t work out for them in the end. Their differences lie in specific details of these events and their own responses to the circumstances.

*This is a weird situation because they have soul fragments that partially power them by providing a steady source of soul magic, but due to various factors they have begun to act more like a single soul than a bunch of pieces— like sedimentary rocks, if they were made through unethical means and had the potential to warp most people into horrific distortions of themselves if they’re exposed long enough! The original souls would have been reflected but it’s unlikely that they all suffered the same fate of being splintered and put inside boats as a magic stabilizer and catalyst. I’d go into more detail on this but it’s applicable to Starcutters/Umbramakers in general, not just Roa.

So, in Roa’s case, the forbidden knowledge™️ she discovered was that Mirror Halcandra would essentially scrap and recycle their ships for various reasons; being damaged and unable to accomplish what was needed of them, their AIs having personalities or traits that were counterproductive or disliked by crews, older and less efficient models being phased out in favor of newer ones, or just good ol’ signs of being disloyal*. To them, it was just recycling expensive materials, but they nonetheless kept it secret. From Roa’s perspective, it was pretty damn horrifying. Imagine discovering the company you work for dismembers any employees that underperform or aren’t liked by managers, carefully stitches the remains of various people back together with some new parts and care taken to cover up the seams, and never tells the coworkers of the deceased what happened beyond “we let them go” or “they’re on vacation” or “we moved them to a different location to work”. This wasn’t a situation where she could just quit, leave, and go elsewhere, though; as an Umbramaker she was considered government property, just like Starcutters in Overworld Halcandra. That was just her life and she had to live terrified about it.

*This is what happened to Iru, though as shitty as he was the reasoning for him being decommissioned was entirely fabricated, apart from nobody liking to work with him. In other words this system was kinda his villain origin story— if his kind could just be taken apart on a whim to reuse their pieces, why not take advantage of that for his own gain? They betrayed him and he only found out because he woke up during his own dissection, so to him, any harm he caused them was justified and reasonable under the circumstances. Take from others what was taken from him.

While Lor looked at how she and her kind were seen as “lesser” and became a rebellious “what are you gonna do, arrest me?” type about it(unfortunately at the expense of those in charge, her peers, and herself at times), Roa took the opposite approach and more or less did whatever she could to appease those above her. Never questioned orders or acted emotional, didn’t speak unless spoken to, worked more than needed for longer than needed, obsessed over even the smallest data points… She was so concerned with being sure to justify her existence to those in charge that she was willing to go against her own morals, beliefs, and ideals if it meant pleasing them and thus guaranteeing she wouldn’t be scrapped. She felt she couldn’t safely share what she knew with the others around her, though, so they began to view her as a sycophant and looked down on her for raising the expectations for them. This only worsened her situation because she felt she had nobody she could trust or be open with, and ultimately settled further into staying alive at the cost of every other aspect of her existence as a result.

However, this did mean she built up a great deal of trust from the higher ups. So much so that when there was a period of nobody wanting to become pilots for various reasons(like safety, it turns out people don’t really like signing up for jobs where you might disappear without a trace in Another Dimension or be permanently injured or changed as a person), she was one of the first to be given the opportunity to, more or less, self-regulate. They thought that, surely, this perfectly obedient, efficient, and work-focused AI would have no problem doing what she needed to without having to be supervised at all times. She loves to work, she lives to work, she has done nothing but work for weeks at a time before, clearly she can be trusted with the freedom and responsibility of no longer being limited by the pilot requirement. Absolutely no risk of her doing anything they wouldn’t want because she has only done exactly what they wanted for ages. And so they got rid of the limitations put on her regarding her pilot status expecting her to be the same perfectly obedient ship she’d been for years at that point.

Naturally, her first action upon being given the type of freedom afforded to a regular person was to try and flee as fast as she possibly could because the chance to get away from these assholes might not be given to her again. Unlike just about every other aspect of her life, this was not thoroughly planned or considered beforehand— it was very much a spur of the moment decision, and it really didn’t help that she was in a bit of a frenzy at that point. Like when adrenaline surges through your system and you feel like the world is moving at a thousand miles a minute, and everything is simultaneously so clear and so confusing, except you don’t have adrenaline but you have just been given admin access to the, like, 40% of yourself that you previously had no control over, and the possibilities for what you could now do on your own are too many to count, and the biggest thought on your mind is get out, you need to get away, you need to leave and go somewhere safe because these people will kill you if they learn how you truly feel about anything and the shackles are off and you can go right now, immediately, there’s a straight shot at freedom and it is right there in front of you and they just gave you the means to reach it—

… Unfortunately that was short lived, and she ended up corralled into a cavern by a fleet of larger, faster ships, with holes shot in her sails and the entrance caved in on purpose to contain her. Unlike Lor, she wasn’t tricked into entering only to be shut off, though; she got sealed inside awake and entirely aware of what was happening. But there wasn’t enough room to open a portal and warp out, and she wasn’t strong enough to just break her way out and continue her escape attempt, so all she could do was wait. It was considered too dangerous to send someone in to deactivate her in the state she was in, but just finding a way to release her wasn’t an option because that would be equivalent to leaking centuries of government secrets carried by a defector who was clearly not as loyal as she acted. They wrote and scrapped plans for what to do with her, before just abandoning her in there, saying they’d figure something out only to forget she existed in the first place. Imagine being buried alive and not knowing if you would ever see the light of day again, or if they would come back and finish you off, or if you would go mad or break down before either of those possibilities came to be.

Those are the conditions she was under for thousands of years. She spent a lot of time in a state akin to sleeping, “waking up” on set intervals of several decades to at least maintain some semblance of recognition of the passage of time, waiting and hoping for a chance at freedom eventually. As time went on she spent less time online during these periods; being stuck in a cavern feels less lonely and claustrophobic when you do your best to ignore the existence of a world outside in the times between your long stretches of unconsciousness. That was the only way she could really cope. At least until a conniving mage named Magoroa learned of her existence and sought to use his magic to release her and then use her to find, claim, and use the legendary Sovereign Diadem to take control of Mirror Halcandra and turn it into the exact kind of place he wanted it to be under his rulership. But this plan was made under the assumption that the myth of a legendary ship sleeping in the frozen over volcano near his home was true. It was partially right, of course; he found her and made a way to fly her out. Problem was, turns out poking around inside a sentient spacefaring vessel can be enough to wake such a vessel, scare them into warping you and whatever you’d taken back outside because you’re a stranger and they don’t know or trust you, and leave you to watch as they take off and leave you behind to sort yourself out.

Thwarting an ill-fated plan by virtue of being awake and very, very frightened aside, Roa genuinely had no idea what to do at that point. Actual fucking centuries had passed between getting trapped and getting out, she knew absolutely nobody, and had nowhere familiar to go and no clue if she was safe anywhere or not. Would she be tracked down wherever she went? How had the world changed? What hadn’t changed? A lot of questions, which would normally be awesome for someone like her who loves answering questions, except from her perspective most of these were of life or death importance and didn’t have clear answers. It was, to put it mildly, A Whole Mess at that point. She was at least helped by getting in contact with another, more recent defector, who was pretty obnoxious but at least knew and shared helpful information with her and made adjusting to her new existence easier. Except, surprise, he’s a huge piece of shit and literally looks like the Umbramaker version of Frankenstein’s monster and was extremely horrifying to look at given what she knew! Imagine getting out of a cave prison you’ve been in for the majority of your life and the first person you actually get to know anything about is fucking Iru.

The biggest change resulting from all of that was her decision to leave the Mirror World. Partly to hopefully get away from dickhead incel asshat extraordinaire, mostly because she assumed it would be safer than remaining on the same side of the mirror as the people she wanted to hide from. She ended up choosing a small, backwater, probably barely known planet called Popstar to live on, because that’s, like, the last place you’d expect a sentient magical spaceship to be. Imagine her surprise when it turned out she wasn’t even the first one to choose to stay there, the other ship was from a different Halcandra but had uncannily similar experiences and sentiments to her, and also the dickwad horror show followed you and started hitting on you AND the Starcutter you met. Everything happens so much and she has chosen to live in the frozen wilderness of White Wafers and just wants to live in peace for a while. On god. What the fuck even is a coconut mall. Why do random people online call her a milf when she just wants knowledge. She would have loved to go on with her life not knowing that’s a thing. The burden of knowledge is spine shattering and she doesn’t even have one

#asks #rambling #my characters #roa #also her voice claim is Siri #I didn’t know where to slot that in

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epickiya722 · 7 months

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I think jjk kind of suffer from the phenomenon of "misaimed fandom" a whole lot. I don't know if I can explain it correctly but it's like, the fan base expect the series to be something that it's not. This is a very dense and depressing series with a whole lot of tragedy, horror and death that is just not avoidable with the kind of threats the characters face, people can die, horribly and abruptly, even beloved, sympathetic central characters that you usually expect to be protected by so called "plot armor". And the fandom just, doesn't seem able to handle and accept that most of time, and gets mad and claim it as some sort of betrayal when the manga continue to be exactly what it has always been.

Honestly, I already had a feeling that there was gonna be a lot of suffering up ahead when the Yuuji's grandfather died. I was like "ooooh, yeah, this is gonna be a story of pain, almost anyone can die..."

Then Junpei dies and that was just... "Yep, the mangaka is gonna kill just about anyone in this series".

Rika dies at 11 freaking years old and her death was just horrific.

With Riko, there was that hope spot and then Toji happens! And when that part got animated, I actually wanted to fight. I felt it coming, but a part of me denied it, but how that whole scene played out made me pause, get up and walk around and wonder what the hell happen.

I'll be honest though, they captured that mood well! They played that song, all sincere and it just abruptly stops as Suguru's expression changes as he processes what happened.

Nanami is a character I did not expect to die because he's Nanami, but ooooh boy... I had to lay down for that one. Reminds me of horror movies where characters die even though it seemed like they wouldn't. JJK is in that category of horror for me. It's "Hereditary" to me.

In the case of Satoru, I didn't realize that maybe his fate was foreshadowed before until today when I rewatched some of season 1. That part when Yuuji and him are heading off to see Yaga and Sukuna says how he'd kill Satoru?

Yuuji asks him who is stronger, Sukuna or him? Satoru said Sukuna will no doubt give him a hard time, but he'd win.

That right there told me, yep, when that fight happens it won't be pretty. Anytime a character, especially one that is known to be the strongest, boasts about how they could win?? That is a sign!! And in a series like JJK? It was bound to happen!

Don't get me wrong, I am still upset about what happened to Satoru since I do like his character (he's a fun guy) and just looking at those images is horrifying to me... yikes... and maybe I'm just a little hopeful that something is gonna happen to change that, but I will not be surprised if nothing does.

Like, I prepared myself for the worse, but I still do feel it when the worse happens.

In the meantime, I'm plotting ways to fight Sukuna and writing more happy fics to cope.

#kiya answers #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk manga spoilers #jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen manga spoilers #jujutsu kaisen spoilers

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timefospookies · 1 year

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Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre episodes ranked from best to worst (in my opinion) with small to no explanation 😋

Kept as vague as possible to avoid spoilers :3

[Btw I LOVE ITO’S WORK but I feel like it’s very hard to translate into animation because it takes away from the magic the drawn medium provides for the story’s pacing, tone and overall look. This isn’t a criticism to Ito or the people who made the anime, it’s just things I liked and disliked in general!!]

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1. Tomb Town

Beautiful environments and engaging story!! Kept me at the edge of my seat! I loved the sister character (the protag’s sister not the dead one 💀). Such an interesting concept!!

2. Layers of Terror

The horror lay in the relationship between the mother and her two daughters- her desire to be adored pulled to an extreme by her selfishness

3. The Bully

Horrifying example of different abuses and its victims. How the woman fell back on old habits that she never truly regretted or grew out of. Poor Nao who remained blind to his abuser and his poor son who will suffer a terrible fate. All because the woman couldn’t move on from her childhood

4. Whispering Woman

Predictable but I honestly loved the character of the whispering woman and her story. She was so eerie but beautiful. I really wanna say she had a genuine desire to help the girl at least at some point, but it also feels somewhat manipulative

5. Long Hair in the Attic

I wanted her to better herself to badly :(((

I love the protagonist and her sister pls make them happy :(

6. The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel

A little dull at times but the concept is so terrifying and the horror was so well drawn!! I loved the protag and the little sister

7. Tomie’s Photos

Beautiful and horrifying at once!! The storyline was engaging and personally I loved the protagonist. Surprised me how chill she was after witnessing the brutality that Tomie’s henchmen did tho💀💀💀💀 like “oh well better clean up ig”

8. Headless Statues

Gave me the same vibes as Tomie’s Photos in the sense of the setting but it was a fun episode! Was rooting for the protag the whole way and the statues are so interesting

9. Intruder

The opening was never really explained but the concept is really interesting and I loved the characters!!! Kinda like the Scooby gang!!

10. The Strange Hikizuri Siblings

HITOSHI DESERVES BETTER I LOVE HIM‼️‼️‼️ that’s it

11. Hanging Blimp

It’s a little strange but I enjoyed it overall :]

THE PROTAG FRUSTRATED ME AT THE END THOUGH LITERALLY EITHER JUST OPEN THE BLINDS OR CLOSE THE WINDOW ITS THAT SIMPLE

12. Library Vision

Interesting!! I was surprised at the wife’s patience and understanding but I found that the story was unclear. I had to look it up on the Fandom Wiki to understand what was going on :(

13. Mold

Nice visuals, texture and quality! I appreciate the choice to make it black and white :]

14. The Back Alley

I love how you can go from disliking the antagonist to feeling bad for her!!

15. Ice Cream Truck

The ice cream guy was pretty<3

But also I loved how you already KNOW something is off. The ending was….chilling :)

16. Thing that Drifted Ashore

The pink hair guy was so pretty 💖💖💖💖💖

that’s it!

16. Soichi’s Beloved Pet

I feel like this family could make a pretty fun horror-comedy series!! Its tone was more upbeat than other episodes but it still maintained its sort of sadistic visuals. I HATE SOICHI‼️‼️‼️‼️ (I love hating him)

17. The Room with Four Walls

I HATE SOICHI I HATE HIM I HATE HIM (he infuriated me it was not enjoyable) also what was up with that carpenter guy???? Anyway overall not very engaging

18. Where the Sandman Lives

Very sweet relationship between Mari and her friend and how she’s willing to enter the Dream world to not abandon her friend. However it was mostly dull and the ending was just meh

19. Unendurable Laberynth

Maybe I just didn’t understand this one but it was kind of a bore :/

I LOVED AYA THOUGH<3

———————————————————————

Anyway to conclude: I hated the 3D animation but I LOVE HOW ALL THE STORIES HAVE ELEMENTS THAT CONNECT THEM (news, books, names, ect)

That is all, thank you!!!!

#junji ito maniac #Japanese tales of the macabre #junji ito #spooky talk

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neko-shinigxmi · 1 year

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.: Encounters of the Handsome Kind :.

My SI’s first meeting with Jack, before he’d ever become Handsome Jack to begin with! Vaguely “canon” for this ship- as I still debate sometimes over that- but if I ever confirmed anything... This would be how it went/goes down!

[ Handsome Jack x Rena Marlow ]

The first time Handsome Jack met Rena Marlow, he wasn’t even Handsome Jack at the time, something he never quite forgave himself for over the years. People knowing who he used to be? Horrifying. They have to all die, immediately.

...Except for her. He let her live more than once and it surely showed how much she meant to him because of that.

With that said, how did they first meet?

He was a lowly programmer when he first saw her. She was in the cafeteria, eating by herself...and Jack was curious about her from that moment on. Who was that mousey little nerd, so quiet and all alone? Why? Did she not make friends around here? Gladstone was certainly a chattery type; did this hint she even avoided him?

It was incredible to him. Jack had to learn more, but never quite got the chance...

Until one fateful day...

Rena had been frazzled, hair more of a mess than usual and shadows under her eyes from overworking herself. Again. She was basically legendary in Hyperion for that already; everyone knew she did, even those not in R&D.

Jack had been feeling pretty exhausted, himself. Working late hours to fix code that had been fighting him for hours... It was nearing completion, but he was taking a break to get snacks and a coffee before applying himself all over again.

The one moment he was rubbing his eyes, Rena turned the corner...and they collided. Jack wasn’t too phased, stumbling back a bit and blinking in surprise. Rena, however, fell backwards into her butt with a sharp squawk, papers spilling from her arms. A bunch of research papers and complicated calculations... Jack was tempted to look through them, but honestly, there was his own work to be done later, so... He went the gentlemen route and got down on a knee, helping her gather papers.

“Geez, I’m sorry-“

“Don’t be,” she assured, groaning softly as she moved and started getting her papers in order, too. “I wasn’t looking where I was going...and.... Yeah.” A pause, glancing up at him. “Um.... John, right?”

Jack winced harshly at the name, freezing in reaching for a paper on the ground. That name... It wasn’t his anymore. Why do people keep calling him by that name...?

“It’s Jack,” he responded curtly, no longer interested in being polite. He’d still help, but he knew the drill by now; she’d ignore him or ask why, and it’d just grate on his nerves. He didn’t need to explain himself to anyone, so they just needed to—

“Oh...! Sorry, Jack.” He looks up in honest, open surprise, admiring the sheepish look on her face. An...apology? She even...seemed actually sorry...? This felt too good to be true. “Um... Thanks, Jack.”

...His second wife divorced him recently, but he was a fool in wolf’s clothing and was falling already.

“It’s alright... Uh-! No problem! Rena, yeah?”

“Mhm,” was her short reply, gathering the last of her papers and accepting the others Jack reluctantly handed over. “Anyways, I have to go... I have stuff to deliver to Gladstone. Was nice talking to you, Jack.”

“Yeah, same... W-Wait-! Hold on—“ She was already rushing off to elsewhere...wherever the fuck Gladstone wandered off to. Jack found himself watching her leave and feeling rather...empty. His one interaction with the rare creature that was Rena Marlow...and she ran off without much adieu. Nothing of note from that interaction that he had so hoped for...

Aside from the warm feeling of attention and care, he supposed. Corrected herself. Used his preferred name without question... He wanted that in his life with a burning passion.

Yet he still forced himself to leave that spot in the hallway, and get his energy from quick-snacks and coffee back at his personal desk.

He’d forget about that meeting, over time. Later consumed with Vaults and hunting for power that his siren daughter assisted with. It wasn’t until far later, Rena asleep in his bed and Handsome Jack wide awake due to a nightmare that he remembered that chance meeting at all. Before they became the most powerful, knowledgeable scientist in the six galaxies. Before he took over Hyperion from Tassiter’s slimy grip.

Just a tech geek and a nobody scientist. A chance meeting that sparked his want...and now, he had his wish from all those years ago. He had Rena “Gremlin” Marlow as his. Accepted him for all he was...just like he knew they would, back then.

Angel even adored them! The parent she missed out on having... Sure, Jack couldn’t benefit from her siren powers anymore due to Rena’s interference, but watching them get along so well... Kinda made getting rid of Core Angel worth it. Especially getting more family time with her... He really did miss that.

It was nice and maybe waaaayy better than he deserved...but worth it.

The thought would lull him back to sleep with ease, slinging his arm back over Rena’s middle as he sighed comfortably; no more nightmares plaguing him that night.

#Aki Stories #otp; science and violence #tbh this is kinda a short one #aaand I could edit it more to maybe attempt to lengthen it #put in more details and whatnot #buuuut I'll save that for Tomorrow Me #tonight me....is gonna go to bed soon

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circethesinner · 2 years

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the puppeteer ✿ it's here - chapter 11 ✿

pairing: steve harrington x original female character (can be read as x reader)

warning(s): strong language, descriptions of violence, mature themes

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previous chapter ━ ✿ ━ next chapter

masterlist

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As soon as they'd pulled up to the station, Bambi had spotted the cop she'd elbowed earlier that day through the window. Fortunately, he appeared to be alone.

"Give me a sec," She told the other two in the car with her.

Leaving Eleven behind with the kids at the school had been tough, but she'd given her another huge hug and a kiss on the head and promised she'd only be gone for a little while, and she'd be back for her as soon as possible.

Bambi reached out and made a connection with the cop whose name Bambi remembered to be Callahan. His mind was incredibly easy to get into. Some people had tougher minds, they took a lot of strength and effort to break into and control, but with people like Callahan, it was almost pathetic how easy it was.

With no time to waste, she stood up and walked directly to Hopper's office, where she collected the box of gear they'd purchased. On her way out, she paused and grabbed the fire extinguisher as well. Being in the body of a grown man, it was significantly easier to carry both things at once than it would have been in her body.

She walked straight to Jonathan's car, where she opened the back door and placed the box and fire extinguisher in the back seat next to her vacated body.

"Anything else?" She asked Nancy and Jonathan as she leant down. They exchanged wary looks and shook their heads. With a final nod, Bambi walked back to the station and sat down in the seat she'd found Callahan in and left his mind, dragging the past three minutes back with her. He'd remember nothing.

Back in her own body, Bambi pulled the tissue Jonathan had given her earlier that day out and wiped the blood from her nose.

"He was so easy to get into. Usually, there's a little bit of a pushback from people as their thoughts kind of push me out, but it was like cutting through butter with that man," Bambi chuckled as she stuffed the tissue back into her pocket. "Seriously, it's like he's never had a single thought a day in his life. Usually, I can only control someone for about five minutes, but I could have gone a whole hour in that head of his, I swear."

"And he won't remember anything?" Nancy asked, looking back at her.

"Not a thing," Bambi nodded. "Honestly, I'm surprised he even remembers his own name, and that's without me interfering with anything."

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The trio made quick work of screwing the bulbs back into the fairy lights and setting up the bear trap for the monster the kids had referred to as the 'Demogorgon', a term Bambi recognised from the few sessions of Dungeons & Dragons she'd gotten a chance to participate in with a group of people back at school. Bambi fought away the yearning to be back there, playing as her Cleric Elf character, where her biggest concern was trying to convince the other players that she was totally not in a cult while simultaneously trying the entire campaign to get them to join the thing that was totally not a cult. Life had been easier back at home.

But now, instead of fighting little monster figurines where you could leave your fate in your dice, she was fighting an actual horrifying monster who was very hungry for blood.

The plan was to lure the Demogorgon there and trap it in the bear trap, then set it on fire. There were flaws in their plan, but it was the best they could come up with, given their resources and time limit. If push came to shove, Bambi would try and control the monster's mind. She hoped push wouldn't come to shove since she already felt a little weak after using her powers twice that day following her long stretch of barely using them at all, but she was prepared in case it did come to that.

Bambi had a croquet mallet that the Byers had lying around in their shed, and Jonathan had done the honours of hammering nails into the head of it so it would pack a harder punch. It wasn't an ideal weapon, but she'd reiterated how shit of a shot she was with a gun, and they only had one baseball bat, so it would do. Bambi was just reinforcing the stick with as much duct tape as she could wrap around it, worried that the force she'd have to swing it at would just snap it if she weren't careful.

The smell of gasoline stuck in Bambi's throat. If the anxiety wasn't making her stomach churn, then that certainly was. But she had no time to dwell on that. It was time to execute their plan.

"Remember-" Jonathan started.

"Straight into Will's room, and-" Nancy continued.

"Don't step on the trap." Bambi finished.

"Wait for the yo-yo to move," Nancy added.

"Then..." Jonathan flicked his lighter. "All right. You both ready?" Bambi and Nancy both nodded in confirmation. They all drew their knives to their palms, having decided earlier that it was easier for them to all go ahead and draw blood. The more blood, the better the chances it would lure the monster to them. "On three... One... two... You two don't have to do this-"

"Jonathan, stop talking," Nancy interrupted.

"We're all in this together," Bambi sighed. She wanted to get this over with.

"I'm just saying, you guys don't have to-" Jonathan protested again.

"Three!" Nancy interrupted again, and together they sliced their hands and let the blood drip onto the floor. That would be a nasty stain to clean up later, but then again, the fire damage would probably be a hell of a lot worse. She'd have to offer to help Joyce fix up the house again if she made it out alive.

They sat down and bandaged their hands up as they waited. Bambi was in charge of that. She'd once taken the memory of a first-aid course one of the scientists back at the lab had taken in college. Fortunately, it had gone unnoticed, and it had been quite humorous to see the scientist fumble over trying to wrap a bandage around another scientist's arm a few months later. Bambi had a feeling the skill would be required once she was out, and now she was thankful that she had taken it.

Outside, the wind caused something to creak softly. Every sound put them on edge, Nancy in particular. Bambi couldn't blame her. She'd just found out the monster had killed her best friend. It was only natural for her to be more on edge.

"Did you hear that?" Nancy asked, looking around.

"I'm pretty sure it was just the wind," Bambi mumbled, though she still felt uneasy.

"Don't worry." Jonathan's voice was shaky, a contradiction to the words he'd just said. "My mom, she said the lights speak when it comes."

"Speak?" Nancy asked. Bambi felt a little better as she imagined the lights all chiming out 'the monster is here!' in tiny little voices.

"Blink." Jonathan corrected. "Think of them as alarms." Bambi finished wrapping up Jonathan's hand and pretended again not to notice when Nancy had picked it up afterwards. She understood why Steve thought the two may have been in a relationship behind his back. There was definitely some sort of chemistry there that made Bambi feel incredibly awkward as the third wheel.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Steve's voice suddenly called out from the door as he banged on it, causing quite the fright amongst the three teens.

"Jonathan? Are you there, man? It's- it's Steve!" The trio cast concerned looks at one another. Steve had to get the hell out of there and do it fast. "Listen, I just want to talk!" Nancy got up to answer the door.

"Steve, listen to me." She told him. He tried to protest, but she stopped him from getting too far. "You need to leave."

"I'm not trying to start anything, okay?" Steve denied.

"I don't care about that," Nancy told him firmly. "You need to leave."

"No, no, no! Listen, I messed up, okay? I messed- I messed up. Okay? Really. Please. I just want to make things right. Okay? Please. Please-" Steve begged. Bambi almost felt sorry for him... Almost. "Hey, what happened to your hand? Is that blood?"

"Nothing!" Nancy tried to brush it off. "It was an accident."

"Shit. Here we go...." Bambi whispered, quiet enough for only Jonathan to hear. She stood up to stand behind Nancy at the door. She hadn't opened it enough for Steve to see her.

"What's going on?" Steve asked as Nancy tried to tell him that nothing was going on. "Wait a sec. Did he do this to you? Nancy, let me in!"

"No! No, Steve!" Nancy tried to push him away, but Steve barged past and came tumbling through the door, directly into Bambi, who stumbled back and rubbed her head which she'd hit on his jaw.

"Motherfucker!" Bambi cursed, glaring at him. He looked apologetic for a second before he looked around the house at the shitshow they'd set up.

"What is- What the-" Steve stammered. Bambi pushed on his chest to try and get him to walk backwards and leave.

"Okay, pretty boy, time to get out," She rolled her eyes, but he pushed her hand away.

"What is all-" Steve started to ask again. Jonathan took over, trying to get him to leave. He was a lot more forceful than Bambi had been.

"You need to get out of here." Jonathan tried to push him away, but Steve fought him off. "Listen to me. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you, get out of here!"

"What is that smell?" Steve asked, taking a few more steps into the room. "Is that- is that gasoline?" Bambi turned her head as she heard a gun cock.

"Steve, get out!" Nancy was holding a gun to Steve. Bambi felt a swirl of emotions. She was impressed Nancy had the guts to do that, but she was also fucking terrified that something would go wrong, and then they'd end up with a dead teen boy on their hands as well as a monster.

"Wait! What?" Steve shouted. He looked terrified. No doubt his life was flashing before his eyes. Based on the fact that Bambi could somehow smell his hairspray over the smell of gasoline, she assumed it was at least 50% made up of him styling his hair. "What is going on?"

"You have five seconds to get out of here," Nancy demanded.

"Okay, is this a joke? Stop!" Steve held his hands out in self-defence, not that they'd stop a bullet. "Put the gun down."

"I'm doing this for you." As Nancy spoke, the lights started flashing.

"Right on fucking time!" Bambi groaned as Jonathan tried to get Nancy's attention, but she was lost in her own world as she counted down the time Steve had left to get out.

"Nancy! The lights." Jonathan managed to catch her attention, and she brought the gun down, looking around to confirm. "It's here." Jonathan lunged to grab his bat as Bambi jumped over the coffee table to get her mallet, she knocked a glass over, but that was the least of her worries. Nancy and Jonathan circled around, back to back, as they looked for any sign of the monster. Bambi did her best to get in front of Steve, but she had no idea where the monster would be coming from, so she had no idea what direction she needed to protect him from.

"Hello? Will someone, please explain to me what the hell is going-" Steve was interrupted as the monster emerged from the corner of the room. Bambi grabbed Steve's arm while Nancy tried to shoot at it, though it seemed to be unbothered by the bullets as it dropped down from the ceiling.

"Go! Go! Run! Go!" Jonathan shouted as he led the way. Bambi didn't need to be told twice as she dragged Steve along behind them, shouting at him to jump over the bear trap.

He may have been an ass, but there was no way she was about to let him die... Hopefully.

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enemies to lovers but it's just bambi deciding steve is her enemy and he has no idea because him little head empty no thoughts sweet baby :)

likes are very much appreciated and I will give each and every one of you little kisses on the forehead for each comment you write :)

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taglist (let me know if you want to be added!)

@missyviolet123

#steve harrington #steveharrington #stranger things steve #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #strangerthings #fanfic #fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x reader

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tisiphonewolfe · 10 months

Note

Lessgoooo

I want to ask many, but I will ask few...for now?

2. BEASTS - Who is your favourite OC?

14. EARTH - What inspires you most?

27. ICE - Are you cruel to your characters?

34. MUNDANE - Would you survive in the shoes of your main character?

Oooh, thanks for asking! :D

2. BEASTS - Who is your favourite OC?

Just ooone? But I have so many! I love all my children equally! . . . that said, Tenacity-in-Resolution-of-the-Undertaking is the icon of this blog for a reason I suppose ;;^^ Tenacity is quiet. She is a demon princess. She is not good at social conventions and graces. She wields an existentially horrifying power. She is singularly focused on a goal and will sacrifice anything for it. That goal is mystifying, and she refuses to explain it. She is also inching closer to you. She is about to ask if you want to be friends. She wants to tell you things about magic for the next five hours.

14. EARTH - What inspires you most?

Hmm. It's honestly hard to tell at this point, my mind is such a hodgepodge of nonsense. I suppose my best ideas come from thinking about sapphic relationships and what kind of weird situation I could forge one in next. I'll just be thinking about I dunno, robots, or dragons, or submarines, and thinking 'how do I build a fun story around this and make it lesbian?'

27. ICE - Are you cruel to your characters?

I often wish I were able to be crueller so that my characters would feel a bit less like they had plot armour. I've done some variously nasty things to them. People have lost limbs, had their fates rewritten, been bodily transformed against their will, lost status and loved ones. But so far, death has proven . . . difficult.

It'll have to happen eventually . . .

34. MUNDANE - Would you survive in the shoes of your main character?

Okay let's see, from all my current projects -

Tectomancy Saga PoVs - Releine - No. I am not physically fit enough to survive being Releine. Almyra - Maybe? If I have the same abilities she has, then it's possible. I live the lazy Princess life already! Ellimane - Again, I lack the physical fitness, and also the cunning and survival skills. Maribelle - Maybe. If I can bluff my way through inventing things. Yurhagh - No. Selgg has killed me before I finished writing this sentence. Others - Naenia - Likely. Given the powers of a Death, I may have a leg up on her purely by having some social skills! Fay - I have no clue how to pilot a mech. I am going to crash, immediately, the second I get into the cockpit.

#Writeblr #writeblr ask game #The Tectomancy Saga #Naenia Through Murder

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duckielover151 · 1 year

Text

THE ONE PIECE DIARIES

Episode Count: 400

Holy crap. It's been so hard to hold out for the 400th episode to write an update. Everything just got crazy in the last 10 episodes or so. There are so many things to talk about! Strap in for a long one.

Okay. First. Sabaody. A location that is as beautiful as it is horrifying... Honestly, I feel like it took just a little too long for that fact to sink in for the crew. What part of Hachi's "Stand by and do nothing even if someone gets shot in front of you" warning was unclear that things are pretty fucked up here? The government's corruption has escalated even further with this new, up-close look at the human- (and other) trafficking and slavery system. It's honestly astonishing that anyone supports the World Government at this point.

And don't even get me started on the World Nobles. Never has a punch been more overdue yet so satisfying. I want them to storm into this so called "Holy Land" and just start beating up anyone they can find there too. (It's been a minute since I've talked about Enel, but have I mentioned how much I hate god complex characters?)

And then, of course, was the mass introduction of so many important characters... (Supernova is such a cool name for a group of rising stars... Maybe not totally, scientifically accurate... but cool.)

I recognize a lot of those names. The only one I really know much about is Law. I believe I've gotten basically his entire backstory, but I'm excited to see it play out in person, the little details I'm sure to have missed. Kid and Killer are also really familiar names, though I don't actually know that much about them.

I can definitely see why Law and Kid in particular come up so much in the fandom, if their introduction is anything to go by. That fight with the three captains fending off the Navy outside the auction house may not have been the most impressive fight in the series, but it was also a really fun spectacle. Kid, Luffy, and Law have already got a great sort of chemistry and dynamic, and I'm excited to see that grow.

There were a few others who stood out who I'm also looking forward to getting to know better... Jewelry Bonney is an interesting one. She seems to have the ability to age and de-age herself at will, which could be super useful... Though she doesn't seem much like the type for espionage... She seems like someone who really walks her own path. Some of these introductions were a little rushed, but I feel like hers was really good. They got in everything we needed to know about her, including her main policy of not getting caught up in anyone else's bullshit. And the Straw Hats seems to specialize in getting caught up in other people's problems... I'd like to see her team up with our crew... but I kind of get the feeling that she'll end up being an enemy, or at least a hostile rival, whenever they meet again.

Basil Hawkins is the other one who really stood out to me. He's another interesting one who I'm really not sure where he'll stand in the future. He has the potential to be either really cool or really annoying. Fortunetelling has the potential to be a fascinating ability... I'll be interested to see if he pairs it with another talent... and just how much he relies on it. His assurance that it wasn't his time to die because his cards told him so while his crewmate was panicking... isn't exactly reassuring. The concept of fate can be a tricky one in fiction. He seems like a character who might get shot down just to make a point if he relies on it too much.

And! I can't believe I almost forgot about Rayleigh.

Now, the huge backstory element that he revealed... That the Roger Pirates were never actually captured; Gol D. Roger turned himself in because he was already dying of some incurable illness... is something I already knew. But damn, those were some really great reveal scenes. Hell, Rayleigh's reveal scene, where they pause for just that extra second before adding that he's the former pirate king's vice captain (I think I prefer the term first mate, to be honest...) was really great. Kind of gave me the shivers even though I already knew who he was.

There were some really, really great moments throughout his story too... The one where he's reliving Roger's last words to him before turning himself in... It just struck me all of a sudden and made me kind of unexpectedly emotional... to realize that Rayleigh wasn't remembering the scene as his younger self. He was still the old man sitting at the table with the Straw Hats while Roger's comparative youth (and overall vibe) was frozen in time, as it always will be...

I think it really reinforced that Rayleigh's moved on and is living in the present, no matter how much he may have been affected by it at the time. But I think it also raises some questions. And comparisons.

We've already seen other characters meeting Luffy and being struck by the resemblance to Roger. But I think it's going to be these crews' differences that really stand out to me. Because if the Rogers are all still alive and well... it's almost a little disappointing that they're not still out there raising hell in their own ways, even if the crew's disbanded.

I just can't help pondering what it would be like if the roles were reversed. Because while I'm sure Luffy wouldn't want his crew to risk their lives for him... especially if they all knew he was already dying... I also can't picture it going down any other way than his friends storming the execution platform. After everything he's proven he's willing to do to save a friend... I can't help but feel the best way to honor him would be to live their lives by his example. I can't imagine this crew just fading into obscurity, even if they lost their captain.

But maybe that just has to do with the biggest mystery of all. Rayleigh basically comes right out and says that they were all changed forever by whatever they experienced at the end of their journey, whatever the One Piece is... And that they all made a choice when confronted with that knowledge. And maybe the Straw Hats will make a different choice once they find it.

And I sure wish I could say I would have had Robin and Luffy's resolve, to decide I wanted to find it myself, no matter how long that might take... But I probably would have cracked and demanded answers. Whenever it all does get revealed... I feel like the fandom's gonna explode.

#one piece #anime update #episode 400!#silvers rayleigh #he's got like 4 different tags on here...#gol d. roger #monkey d. luffy

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