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fijiangecko · 3 years

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Maintaining a New Life

Chapter 3: Into the Murky Waters

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Read it on AO3 here

A/N: A day late but it’s here!

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“I think after we visit the police and get their files we should head back to my place and sort through everything. If we’re lucky we might be able to visit one or two of the crime scenes before the sun goes down, but it would be best for us to all have the same idea of what’s going on.” You speak while putting your arms through your coat, the cold air hitting your face as the group walks down the streets.

“Sounds like a plan to us.” Nodding, Iwaizumi pipes up and leads the group further along the streets of Yokohama.

The police station is busy as officers pace quickly through the corridors, quietly chatting amongst themselves. Two men stand by a desk, one looking up for a brief moment before nudging the other with sickly green hair. The latter frowns upon seeing your faces, but walks over.

“Officer Suguru, nice to see you again.” Kuroo speaks, a sly smile spread across his lips when he sees the man. You recognize the officer as well, having worked a handful of cases with him, although he treats everyone at the agency as though they are lesser than.

“Can’t say the same about you.” His voice is stern, almost spiteful while his eyes glaze over the group lined up.

“Alrighty then,” you interject. “We’re just here to pick up the files and maybe ask some quick questions, then we can get out of your hair. Sound good?”

Suguru makes eye contact with you and clicks his tongue. “Follow me.” He turns on his heel and starts to walk off, not bothering to see if you all follow. “ We’ve been covering this case for about a month and a half with absolutely no leads. As soon as we think of something, a piece of info pops up that discredits the entire theory. I told the chief not to bring you weirdos into this but we’re starting to get desperate considering the media still doesn’t know.”

“Figures,” Oikawa pipes up. “Once they know it about this they’re gonna be up your asses.”

“Thanks. Not helpful.” Suguru shoves the handle down on a door and pushes it open with his hip. Inside the doorway is a conference room with one box sat on the long table. “This is what we’ve got so far.”

Iwaizumi walks over and pops the top off. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.” The box isn’t even half full. You assume that most of its contents had already been given to you by Takeda and Ukai. “Again, we called you freaks to help us.” Suguru stands by the door, arms crossed.

“Well, if you don’t mind, we can take these off of your hands and we’ll let you know if we have any questions.” Ever the charmer, Oikawa puts the lid back on top of the box, and slides it off the table and into his arms. Suguru has a displeased look on his face, but doesn’t respond to the banter. “Tell the Chief I said bye!”

The four of you hastily make your way out of the office, away from the prying eyes of countless officers. With a sigh, Kuroo lets his shoulders relax. “I knew from the first step inside that place that they wouldn’t be any fucking help.”

“As soon as I saw Suguru I knew it wasn’t going anywhere.” The thought of the green haired piece of shit makes you mentally gag. “It would be better for us to just get back to my apartment and go over it ourselves.”

With a silent agreement, everyone quickens their pace to the subway.

“Water anyone? We can set up in the kitchen, just let me move some shit.” You put down your belongings and take off your shoes before running over to the kitchen to get rid of the stacks of mail on the table.

No one responds to your question as they walk over to the dining area, but Kuroo bumps your hip with his. “I’ll get a pitcher, you go set up the files.” As a thanks, you bump his hip back and start to scatter papers.

“So…” Kuroo sets the pitcher and some glasses down as you speak. “There have been six murders over the past month and a half, each occurring within six to nine days within the last.”

Iwaizumi picks up a glass. “By the looks of it, all of the bodies were found in abandoned sections of the city, or ones that were sectioned off from the public.” He talks over the sound of water being poured. “Some of them are known spots while others the general public wouldn’t have the knowledge of.”

“So it’s most likely someone who either has access to these locations or knows about them,” Kuroo says absentmindedly while looking over a piece of paper.

“Yes, but that doesn’t narrow down the options all that much.” Your arms are folded across your chest as you gaze over the plethora of information spread across your table. “I think it’s safe to say that it wouldn’t be someone from the general public. These murders don’t look like they were random, but none of the pieces here fit.”

“We should set the files up in a general timeline and visit the newest spots first and work our way back. The last one was almost a week ago so there’s no telling when or where our killer is gonna drop a body off next.” Iwa leans over the table and starts to move the stacks, Oikawa following suit.

A few short moments later, each of the files is placed chronologically. “So we’ll stop at the old shipyard first and then head over to the warehouse district. That should be enough time before it gets too dark and then we can go everywhere else tomorrow.” Oikawa points at the locations.

“Sounds like a plan, but we should probably take my car instead of the subway if we wanna get there in time.” You turn to face your apartment and try to find where your keys are.

“We’re taking your car? The one you told me I wasn’t even allowed to look at? Like, that car?” Kuroo’s eyes are wide, but teasing as he pokes his nose in your direction, trying to hide a smile.

“You and Bo were drunk and if you got a scratch on my pride and joy I would’ve killed you both, but yes. We’re taking that car.” You can feel his sarcastic tone from miles away, but you don’t bother to look at him while you rummage through different purses to find your key ring.

“Shotgun!” Oikawa makes his way to the front door and starts to put on his shoes. “The passenger seat is so much more comfy than the back seats.” His body turns partially to Kuroo’s, looking at him to let him in on this little known fact.

“Wait, you guys have been in the car?!” The tallest guy in the room reels back, genuinely shocked at the revelation.

“Yeah… Y/N used to take us out of missions in the suburbs in it.” Iwaizumi proceeds to put on his shoes as well.

“What the hell dude?! Am I the only one who hasn’t been in it?”

“You, Nishinoya, Tanaka and Bokuto.” You whip out the keys from a bag and jingle them in his face. “Everyone else has at least sat in my car.” He pouts, but follows the rest of the group.

The car is easy to spot from the parking lot, the sleek black gloss finish reflecting the sunlight back at the group. From Kuroo’s knowledge of cars, it looks to be an older Chevy Chevelle but with four doors instead of two. “How old is this thing?”

“It’s a 1967 model, I had to have it shipped from the U.S.” You walk to the drivers door and unlock the car. The boys all hop in, taking their respective seats.. The first thing that catches Kuroo’s eye is the modern interior paired with the stick shift in the center of the front seat.

“I can see why you never let me in here, looks expensive.”

“I don’t take her out too often since I’m in the city most of the time, but it’s nice to be driving again. And yes, a good chunk of change was spent on her.” You pat the dashboard and start the engine. “Once again, I will kill you if you get the tiniest scratch on her.”

“This place is still taped up since it wasn’t all that long ago, but we should probably split up so we can get to the warehouses before too long.” The engine rumbles underneath your voice, the car slowly coming to a halt as you park not far away from the scene.

“Iwa-chan and I will check out the actual crime scene, you and Kuroo can check the perimeter to see if they missed anything!” Oikawa hops out of the car and stretches quickly before walking over. You take notice of the fast blue flash that happened when he was stretching, but no one else seemed to have caught it.

The possibility of the Port Mafia appearing put the three of you on high alert, and almost anytime your group was out Oikawa would use his gift to make sure there were no surprises. The three of you had briefly chatted about it at the agency, behind Kuroo’s back. The general consensus was that Oikawa would be the lookout anytime you all went out and that it was his responsibility to let you both know if anything happens. Iwa’s job is to keep track of all of the data and keep separate files that contain anything related to the Port Mafia, such as the patterned blood stains. Your main focus is to keep Kuroo out of the loop. If the mafia is involved in this case, you could only hope that the police call you off of it before things get too involved.

Kuroo takes the lead and starts to walk the perimeter of the shipyard, checking out all the different angles that could have line of sight on the crime scene. “So, what do you make of all of it?”

“What do you mean?” You stuff your hands into your pockets and lean forward to inspect some of the large crates strewn across the concrete.

“I mean the case in general. You are one of the most seasoned detectives the agency has, and I can tell you already have an idea, if not a couple, of what’s going on here.” He puts emphasis on his words by craning his neck to look at you, but his words are sincere as he’s genuinely curious about your opinion.

Pursing your lips, you think for a moment. You don’t want to lie to him necessarily, but telling him exactly what you’re thinking isn’t really an option. “You wouldn’t be wrong, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions and get something in your guys’ heads before I have enough evidence to back it up, y’know?” With your last word, you look into his golden eyes.

“Smart.” His look softens when he sees that you’re telling a truth of sorts. “Then the whole group wouldn’t have to deal with confirmation bias.” His scientist is peaking through. You roll your eyes and walk off to inspect a different area as he chuckles and moves off.

The yard is bleak for the most part, countless variations of cargo and ship parts placed carelessly around. It’s odd, you think, that the body would be in the center of everything. Like it isn’t trying to be hidden. Your pace slows as you come to one of the last places that has visibility on where the body would have been. There’s a large shipping container that blocks some spots; age and the general wear and tear has caused the large piece of metal to rust. Your eyes rake over the orange container, but something catches your attention around the handle.

You crouch down and move in closer. “What’d you find?” Kuroo notices your position and makes his way over.

“Fibers that were caught on the door.” You point to the black material, careful not to touch it. It could’ve been missed easily, blending in with the rusty metal. “I’ll have Kenma run diagnostics on them just in case.” He nods, but turns his attention to the buzzing in his pocket. You walk over to the car and grab some gloves and a bag.

Taking the fabric between your fingers, you gently shimmy it out of its wedged position and place it into the plastic. Kuroo puts his phone back into his pocket. “Oikawa and Iwazumi said that nothing was out of the ordinary at the scene. They’re headed back to the car now.”

“Okay. I think we looked over everything so let’s go.” You hold the bag up and examine it in what sunlights left.

As you and Kuroo approach the vehicle, Oikawa practically shouts. “I’m just saying! If you like this person then you should just come right out and say it! It’s not like you’re ugly!”

“And that’s why you’re a dumbass. No way in hell am I telling them shit,” Iwa huffs and turns away from his partner.

“Why’d you piss him off, Oikawa?” You speak before Tooru can get another word in, tossing the bag at Iwa.

“How dare you! I was trying to be a good friend and help Iwaizumi with his crush but apparently I’m not allowed to be a decent person.” Whining like a child, Oikawa crosses his arms and turns his chin up and away from the group. You and Iwa roll your eyes.

“This happen often?” Kuroo leans in to whisper.

“More than I’d like to think about.” You take off the gloves and pull out the car keys.

“He does know it’s pretty obvious who it is, right?”

“Absolutely not.” You stare at Kuroo and sigh. “Alright, Hajime rides shotgun to the warehouses.”

“But-”

“No,” you cut off Tooru once more. “After that, Kuroo gets to sit there on the way home.” He silently grumbles to himself, settling into the back seat while the rest of you silently get in and listen to the radio.

Slowly coming to a halt, the metal hunk jerks into place as you put her into park. “Same groups?” Kuroo asks, looking between everyone.

“Can I trust you two to not hurt each other and do your jobs?” You look at Oikawa from the rearview mirror, popping a brow up accusingly.

“We got it Y/N.” Hajime breaks off the childish encounter before it can continue and splits off.

The warehouse is large, but filled with nothing. Your footsteps echo in the dark space. The other two in your group keep forward and walk down where police tapes are starting to fall off from their previously tied positions. You stop and take a second to look around, noticing the staircase and balcony on the outer parts of the room.

The metal creaks under yours and Kuroos footsteps. “Do you think he’ll ever say anything to Oikawa?” Kuroo walks up the stairs behind you, unsure of where to look before ultimately deciding to look at the ceiling.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” You reach the balcony and slow your pace to check everything. “I hope he does. They’re good for each other.” Kuroo can tell you’re being sincere, and he smiles at your statement. All three of you are close and if you think that they’re good for one another, then he decides to take that stance as well.

Following behind you, he checks the wall and floor for anything while you observe the space below and the railing. You can see Tooru and Hajime talking down on the ground level, crouching and standing straight, taking out the photos and finding where each position is.

I hope he says something soon. Tooru can’t take a hint but it’s not like either of them are interested in anyone else right now. You watch them while you walk, a nudge to the shoulder brings you out of your thoughts. “Y/N. Blood stains.” Kuroo points to the railing. Dried splotches of blood are faint on the top bar of the railing, only a few specs and faint from age.

Your face scrunches in thought, impressed that he spotted it. “These weren’t in any of the photos.” He shakes his head in confirmation, and pulls a swab and container out from his pocket.

“Not that it does us all that much good, but at least we can try and get the blood type. See if it matches any of the victims. After the last place, I thought it might be a good idea to bring some equipment with us.” You agree with him by nodding and letting him take the sample.

“We should probably stop by Kenma’s tonight and give him all this stuff since he’s not gonna sleep anyways.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Placing the swab into the tube, he turns and walks back down to the others.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi are already standing next to the car in silence. You can tell Iwa’s just being petty and Tooru looks like he’s about to burst if he doesn’t talk in the next two seconds. “Ready?” You unlock the doors for everyone and they all hop in without a word.

Rubbing your eyes, the dim lights from the lamp posts light the city streets as you blink harshly to bring some moisture back into your eyelids. While you’re staring at the road, you don’t see Kuroo staring at you from the passenger's seat, admiring how gorgeous you look with the different angles of light hitting your face. He loves how you took charge of this case, and he admires your leadership skills on the field. His chest tightens at the thought. You have been doing this for so long, he thinks to himself, and you deserve the praise.

Tooru glances up from the back seat and notices Kuroo’s current state, and decides to nudge Hajime’s arm to get him to look. Both of them smile at the scene, knowing for quite a while that Kuroo has a thing for you, but they quietly return to their work and let it happen.

The trip to Kenma’s house doesn’t take all that long considering it’s getting fairly late at night. You and Kuroo decide to just go and drop off the evidence quickly, and Oikawa and Iwaizumi can stay in the car and wait.

You knock softly on the door, careful not to be too loud for his neighbors. Within a matter of seconds the door is swung open and Kenma stands in front of you both, wearing his pajamas and bags apparent under his eyes.

“Hey Kenma, sorry to drop in so late.” His face is telling you that you had interrupted something, so you speak as sweetly as possible.

“Don’t worry about it. Kuroo already filled me in; I’ll have it done by morning.” He extends his hands towards you and you place the two bags into them. Kenma holds them up and looks at them. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. I’ll call you when I’m done.” And with that, he shuts his front door and leaves you both outside.

“Okay.” You swallow your saliva and turn back to the car.

“He’s probably been up for a day or two,” Kuroo grumbles.

“It’s okay, that means he’ll most likely pass out soon.” You don’t know Kenma as well as his counterpart, but you still knew of his tendencies.

The engine puts you in a trance for the rest of the way home; the sound puts you at ease and your heart rate slows until you are completely relaxed. You pull into the parking space and sit for a moment, taking in the noise before cutting it off and getting out.

“What’s a good time for everyone? The rest of the crime scenes are spread out all across town so it’s gonna be a lot of driving around.” A yawn finishes your sentence as you lean on your apartment door, looking to the three men.

“How does nine sound? That should give Kenma some time to get back to us and give us enough time to get coffee or whatever.” Kuroo shivers in the night air, shoving hands down into his pants pockets and hunching into himself.

“Sounds good to me.” Iwa pulls his suit jacket on.

“Same here.” Oikawa matches your yawn, but smiles at you.

“Cool. Get home safe guys.” You wave to them and open your apartment, feeling a blast of warmth.

“Night.” They each mumble and head on home.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive Y/N.” Kenma’s voice is tired over the phone, words slurring slightly from over exhaustion. “Neither of the samples matched with any of the victims. The blood’s O negative and the clothing was made out of some kind of cashmere, which no one was wearing when they died.”

“Okay.” You rub your eyes and sigh, frustrated that this was going exactly how you didn’t want it to go. “Thanks Kenma. Go to bed.”

Kuroo, having walked in not that long ago, heard the entire conversation. He places two coffees down on the counter and watches you rub your eyes. “No dice?” You shake your head and let your hand run slowly down your chin. “Well at least we know that the police missed stuff. It’s not exactly what you wanna hear, but it gives us a chance to actually piece this together.” Always looking for the positives, he smiles at you and gently rubs your shoulder.

“I suppose.” You put a hand on top of his, patting it lightly. His thumb continues to rub circles into your shoulder, but the moment is cut short by a knock at the door. As you step away, your heart skips a beat and you take a deep breath. Unbeknownst to you, his heart does the same thing.

“Good morning, Strike Team Alpha!” Oikawa practically screams as he enters the doorway, a big, bright smile across his lips. Hajime walks in behind him and waves.

“Mornin’ boys. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?” You walk back into the kitchen, picking up the coffee.

“Please.” Kuroo clears his throat and grabs his cup.

“Better chug your coffee now. No drinks in the car.” You take a few sips of yours before leaving it on the counter. He deadpans and attempts to drink all of the burning hot coffee, but ends up coughing a majority of it up. You laugh and head outside.

“Where to first?” You pull the seatbelt across your chest and click it into place before looking at your co-pilot, Hajime.

“If we’re following the order, we’re headed to the suburbs. It’ll probably take an hour or so with traffic.” He takes out some papers from a file folder, showing you the address.

“Sounds like a good nap to me!” Oikawa stretches in the back, placing hands behind his head.

“Nuh-uh.” His smile falters. “I’ve got files back there you all need to go over in the meantime.” You point over the seats, down to where his and Kuroo’s feet are.“Plan is to get these first two locations over with before two, then get lunch and finish with the last few locations. Depending on traffic and stops we should get done around nine or ten.”

“You think it’s gonna take that long?” Kuroo takes some papers into his hand, glancing up at you through the rearview mirror.

“Unfortunately. It’s a weekday, which means traffic is going to be hell and these places don’t have the police on them anymore, so we have to call ahead of time and get clearance before going.” You twist the keys and the engine roars, warming up for a long day of work.

The morning passes pretty quickly. The owners of the two locations cooperated with no complaints and let you inspect as much as you like. Just as expected, the traffic did hold up some of the progress, but before you knew it, the afternoon had rolled around. You haven't found anything new, and pairing that with the unfortunate news Kenma had given you this morning, your mood is starting to turn sour.

“Alright. One more and no more bathroom stops.” You speak clearly, eyes dead ahead on the road.

“This should be the place near the steel manufacturing site, right?” Kuroo flips through the papers in the back seat, the car now littered with files.

“Yeah, the body was found near the scrap metal. Hajime should’ve already contacted the owners to let them know we’re on our way.” You watch the sun slowly meet the horizon.

“They gave us the gate code and said no workers should be there when we arrive.” He responds at the sound of his name, typing something on his phone. “These are the guys that also gave their security footage to the cops so we don’t have to split up this time.”

Not another word is said while you drive. Oikawa takes the photos, Kuroo looks over the information and Iwa fills in Takeda and Ukai as to what’s happening. You hum softly with the radio and tap your thumb to the beat.

Ever so slowly the sun descends beyond the skyline, leaving the streets to the moonlight. A few more turns and you’re met with a gate and keypad. Hajime tells you the numbers and the large steel construction site was before you. Street lamps light up the parking lot, but on your better judgement you swing the car around the building and park it out of sight. The four of you step out of the car, a cold breeze bringing you out of your tiredness as you lead the group into the building.

“So where was the body found?” Kuroo steps further into the building, looking around at all of the different welding tools.

“Should’ve been right around here based on the photos.” Iwa walks him over in the direction, Oikawa and yourself following suit.

The scene’s been cleaned up weeks ago; no traces of where the body was could be seen but luckily you have the photos to point you in the right direction.

Oikawa staggers further and further behind, his heart picking up in rate while he turns his ear towards the door. His ability Listener in the Night allows him to hear a bobby pin dropping in a room surrounded in five foot thick steel walls and from far distances if he chooses to listen to that distance. His feet stop, as if waiting for confirmation. Not a second later he rushes over to you. “They’re here.”

The urgency in his voice sets off every alarm in your brain. “Where?”

He motions outside, near where the parking lot is and sends Iwaizumi a look. Knowing without saying a word, Iwa’s jaw tenses and he turns on his heel, spotting a concealed spot from the front entrance. Hastily he moves over and waits for Oikawa to join him.

Seeing the guys make their move, you rush over to Kuroo and grab at his shirt collar, pulling hard. “Y/N! What the hell-”

“Tetsuro. Don’t ask.” You run while he jogs, but the tone of your voice and the use of his first name shuts him up immediately. There’s nothing in the world that would let you loosen your grip on his clothes, and he knows this well. When you take charge, you are a dictator. No questions asked.

Your group of four huddles in the corner, Hajime keeping everyone behind him while Oikawa whispers their location to you all. Suddenly, a familiar voice is heard near the doorway.

“The cops give up already?” The voice sends chills down yours, Iwaizumis and Oikawas spines. Kuroo keeps his mouth shut and his eyes on you instead of what’s going on. The man's voice is cartoonish, the inflection on each word is overused making it easily recognizable.

The tension is thick enough to cut as the three of you stop breathing all together. Kuroo places a hand on top of yours to try and relax you, but you are completely unaware that he does so, too focused on the crisis at hand.

“Y/N.” You snap your neck up to look at him and shake your head harshly, mouthing the word ‘no’ to him. His eyes hold endless amounts of worry while yours carry panic. In your haze, you didn’t even realize that Iwa and Oikawa had pulled their guns out and are now standing in front of the both of you. Oikawa’s hands shake slightly and Iwa is taking deep, slow breaths.

“That, or they are trying real hard to keep this away from the public.” A second voice emerges, one that is less familiar to you but doesn’t put you at ease. The two men walk further into the complex, their foot falls echoing in the large space.

You feel cornered, like a rabbit in a trap and your throat is starting to close, making it harder to breath. With white knuckles, you pull Kuroo closer and place your forehead on his chest, below your hands and take a deep breath. He panics, never having been in this situation, and looks to the other two men. They aren’t paying attention at all and focus on the voices.

“Either way, Wakatoshi still needs us to pick up some stuff tonight.” That name sparks another wave of chills. You prep your ability, letting the faint blue aura slowly build around your person, Iwaizumi doing the same but letting his ability release as he prepares for the worst..

“Uh… I hope you realize we don’t have the right vehicle to pick up,” the second voice deadpans.

“No, not that.” The footsteps go quiet. A few seconds of silence pass, but it feels like an eternity as the group tries their best to stay as silent as possible.

“I know you're here, little detectives!” Tendou Satoru’s voice booms over the empty factory, his laughter filling the space shortly after.

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Beyond the Corona Walls Part 1

Ah, now we’re finally here at season two; the dullest season. Yet there’s still plenty to talk about so let’s dig in.

Summary: Rapunzel has begun following the Black Rocks and joining her on her journey are Eugene, Cassandra, Pascal, Maximus, Fidella, Owl, Lance, Hook Foot and Shorty (who stowed away). During this time, Eugene is planning on proposing to Rapunzel again, but when Rapunzel accidentally reveals herself when he is practicing it causes an awkward situation between the couple when Rapunzel doesn't give him an answer. Meanwhile, Rapunzel and the group are making their first stop in Vardaros, a city Eugene and Lance previously visited in their past, but discover it has become overrun with criminals. While Eugene and the boys remain in the city to gather supplies, news of Eugene's arrival quickly spreads among the citizens, including the city's leader, the Baron, a criminal kingpin who previously worked with Eugene and Lance in the past and seeks revenge. Eugene, Lance and Shorty are quickly captured by the Baron's men and taken to his castle where they met by the Baron and his daughter, Stalyan, Eugene's ex-fiancée. The Baron threatens Lance's life unless Eugene marries Stalyan. Meanwhile, Rapunzel and Cassandra meet Adira, a mysterious warrior who harbors knowledge on the Black Rocks.

The Audience Needs More Than Just Single Lines of Exposition

(Yes, that’s a lot of screen grabs and this is where a video review has the advantage, but I’m not fooling with editing, so there ya go.)

King Edmund of the Dark Kingdom here is talking about the moonstone and how he wishes to destroy it.

But how has it destroyed lives? What has it and the black rocks done besides some property damage? Why is he only now just considering this option when the moonstone has been there for centuries? Why leave to prevent people from using it, when the whole point of having a strong hold there is to safeguard it in the first place?

There’s lots that we can theorize here; I’m of the mind that his wife was impaled on a black rock, myself, hence his break down here; but the series doesn’t show us that. Telling us that the moonstone is a threat isn’t enough, you have to prove that it is. Cause right now only the rocks have been shown to cause damage and in this very same episode they stop being a threat and don’t do anything.

Well Looky There, Cass Got a Promotion

So this line, plus all of Cass’s previous guard duty work coupled with her protective nature this season, more or less cements that she was personally appointed by the king to be the princess’s bodyguard. She’s no longer a handmaiden.

Now watch as the show completely forgets this little plot point.

Why Are You Here Hookfoot?

As I said earlier, I do like Hookfoot, and in theory I don’t mind him coming along to round out the group. But in practice he doesn’t really add anything. You could slot nearly any other character into his place and nothing would really change. In some cases, things would even improve without him.

Really Raps? More than Anyone?

More than the poor orphaned boy that you stole that scroll piece from and threw into a dungeon? The one that spent months translating that scroll and trying to figure out the rocks while you sat on your ass and did nothing?

Oh, yeah, Varian is currently in jail by the way, and Rapunzel fully knows this, despite Frederick promising to try and help him.

I can understand the mains not letting Varian come along on this trip, but keeping the character who thus far has the most connection to your ongoing arc away from said arc entirely is bad storytelling. There were countless ways to incorporate Varian this season that didn’t involve hiding him away for a year. Including having him come along on probation, because he’s the only one who can read the your dang macguffin.

Marriage Isn’t a Trap, Stop Acting Like It Is

Marriage doesn’t stop you from living your life. You can be married and still do whatever it is that you enjoy. If it’s a healthy marriage then you and your partner will work together to help each other fulfill their dreams. Especially, when you got the money to do it, which, as royals, Eugene and Rapunzel both got in spades.

Also we aren’t even talking about getting married right now, just getting engaged. An engagement can last however long you want it to. There’s literally no reason why Rapunzel and Eugene couldn’t have been engaged, or even married, for the rest of the series.

I know you got a time frame show and this is suppose to lead into the Happily Ever After short, but then you need to give like an actual physical reason why they wouldn’t want to marry yet, cause otherwise you’re just spinning your wheels and wasting the audience’s time with this melodrama.

Why Are You Here Shorty?

Shorty’s inclusion doesn’t bother me as much as Hookfoot’s. A. Because he’s a movie original and this is a spin off, and B. Shorty doesn’t take away anything. Including him doesn’t steal screen time from anybody else since he gets no real focus. It just also doesn’t add anything either since he gets no real focus. Your mileage may vary on how detrimental this is. It personally doesn’t bother me, but I’m not going to act like it’s great writing or anything either.

We Needed More of This

Remember how I said that there’s no longer any threat this season?

The rocks themselves could have been enough to push the narrative forward, same as they did in season one, if the series had bothered to show their destruction more often and claim that finding the moonstone could help fix things. But all we get is this one scene of a once prosperous town being junked. After that the story never focuses on it. The townspeople more or less get on with their lives, the rocks stop doing anything, and we see no more damage beyond this point.

Also keep in mind that we are never told what taking the moonstone and reuniting it with the sundrop would do, nor how it might help anyone. Rapunzel has no longer has a reason to go on her road trip.

In fact this whole season long quest now becomes pointless because not doing anything would in fact be the better option. Which in turn undermines all of season one as well, because we just spent 24 episodes saying that not doing anything is bad. So which is it show? Make up your mind.

Once Again, Marriage Isn’t a Trap

I wouldn’t mind this kind of talk so much if the show was using Lance and Hookfoot here to set up a later contradiction and challenge this kind of thought process. Cause as is, this is a pretty toxic and sexist mentality. Ladies are no less ‘free’ when they get married. Eugene doesn’t like own Raps just cause he becomes a husband. She can still do whatever the heck she wants. But no, the show only validates this outdated thinking instead.

Cass Deserves To Get Her Butt Kicked

Can’t spell Cass without ‘ass’, hun?

Adria doesn’t do anything here. She cheerfully asks to talk to Rapunzel alone, respectfully requests not to to have her personal space invaded more than once, and even then she tries to deescalate the situation as Cass tries to pick a fight over nothing like a school yard bully; even going so far as to shout elementary insults at her. Which Ardia takes all in stride.

If you’re wanting me to take Cassandra’s side in the Cass vs. Adria fallout later, show, then you’re doing a poor job of setting that up. Being cautious with a stranger is one thing, getting butt hurt after being rightly called out on your BS is another.

Let’s Talk About the Slap Here, and the Fans Misportrayal of Stalyan

Most of the fanbase hates Stalyan, and rightly so. She’s not meant to be likable. She is a villian and the show portrays her as such. However, certain fans like to take things a step further than that and take scenes out of context to imply that she is somehow even worse than she actually is. Scenes like this one for instance.

Keep in mind, Eugene stood her up. He left her at the altar. As in, he didn’t have the decency to break up with her face to face like a respectful human being. The whole point behind Eugene’s character development is that he use to be a jerk.

I’m not going to act like Stalyan is a sweet and wholly innocent victim here, but you look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t slap your cheating ex too when you finally saw him again after that? And yes, it is implied that Eugene use to cheat on her. More on that in part 2.

The point is you can’t just shout ‘abuser’ when all you’ve seen of a relationship is the post break up. Cause you have no idea what went down, and people aren’t always friendly with their exes.

Now we most definitely should have gotten more info on what their relationship was like and more context around the break up, and that is a failing of the show. But a good chunk of the complaints hurled at Stalyan aren’t based off anything she actually did and is more rooted in sexism and fandom’s toxic shipping habits.

What you can rightly criticize Stalyan for is inconsistency.

Stalyan’s Actions Don’t Mesh With Her Motivations

So does she want revenge or does she want to marry him? Which is it? Cause those two things aren’t compatible.

If she still loves Eugene and still believes that he would come back to her, than she wouldn’t be threatening him now. Like I said, marriage isn’t a trap. It’s not punishment. It’s a thing people actually want, and they want their partners to want it too. If her goal is to convince him to marry her, as stated, then she’d wouldn’t be mean to him right now and she wouldn’t be going along with this 'force him into it’ plan.

Look, this entire plot needed a rewrite. I’m not saying that you need to make Stalyan nice nor have her be wholly forgiving of Eugene’s past actions, but you really, really, needed to keep her in the dark about the blackmail. Especially since they try and fail to make her sympathetic later on.

As is, Stalyan is just a confusing character. You gotta do a lot of reading between the lines and digging for exposition (some of which we don't even get till the end of season 3) to make any sense of what she says and does.

But I’m going to give it an honesty try come part two.

Conclusion

I’ll give my finally thoughts in the second half of the episode/review. But for now the only interesting thing is Adria herself. The Baron stuff just drags and feels like a waste of build up.

#Eugene #tangled #anti-tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure

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one-leaf-grimoire · 3 years

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“illusion”

Chapter 13

Yo it's been a while! Sorry about that, I've been busy working on another fic (Triad, if you want to check it out). Anyway, here's the beginning of a fierce battle lol- things will not go as planned. I also forgot how to write fight scenes lol but that's okay bc the emotional moments here are nice. Anyway, enjoy!

WARNINGS: description of graphic injury. Also, I’ll be making an sfw version of this soon so stay tuned!

AO3 LINK (WARNING- THE WORK IS OVERALL SPICY MINORS DNI)

"There are injured civilians and Magic knights throughout the city! Some might be shipped out as POWs soon, but that's why we're here, to stop it! Our primary objective is to clear the area of innocents and the injured, then wait for reinforcements from the Silver Eagles to arrive and drive out the enemy. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!"

There's barely a second to waste, so Captain Hervey barks out his orders to us as we shoot towards the border town, finally coming into view. My heart is pounding, my hands gripping the wood of my broom handle so tight I'm surprised it hasn't cracked. Alice holds onto me as I drive, bent over a bit to avoid getting a face-full of my hair as the wind whips through it. All of us are here on brooms, except Julius, who went off ahead by himself to scout out the area. His absence just makes me more nervous. I hope he comes back soon- what if they were waiting for him, and he gets captured, or worse-

My thoughts are (thankfully) cut off as Hervey continues his spiel. "Once Julius gets back with info, I'll split you up into groups, then deploy you. Remember, try not to attack the enemy until all the civilians are out of the way."

I nod slowly to myself, my eyes still transfixed on the city. There's smoke rising, and I can hear magic blasts from afar. This morning, the vague order came directly from the Wizard King: "The border town of Lullin has been under siege from the Diamond Kingdom for three days. They have finally broken through the Crimson Lion Kings' defenses. Your squad will hold them off until the Silver Eagles arrive as backup."

And that was it. The strange thing is, none of us knew about this siege, even though it's been going on for three days! We land on the outskirts, out of sight from any of the forces inside. The town was walled, as are many border towns, and the fight is going on within the pit. Was it kept secret on purpose? Whatever was going on here, it was now our problem. The Grey Deer were used more as a diplomatic squad, escorting royalty, nobility, and foreign visitors. Most of the battling was done by the Silver Eagles and the Crimson Lions. But today must be desperate, because here we are, nervous as can be, getting ready to jump into our first real fight in a while.

"Well, at least we get to kick some Diamond ass!" Nigel, of course, is rearing to go, even though I suspect this newfound confidence is just a way to cover up his own nerves. He does a few lunge stretches, which at least lightens the mood. "Giles, lets have a contest!"

Giles, who looks like a corpse right about now, nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of his name being called. "Huh? I don't think this is the time for a contest!" he objects.

"No, no, it'll be easy!" Nigel smirks and hits his hand into his palm. "Whoever takes out the most diamond guys wins!"

"Take out? Like, KILL?!"

"No! Like- take out-"

"You didn't think this through, did you?" Alice asks, her face not matching her teasing tone. "Don't bother keeping count... just..." Her gaze drifts, and it's obvious that her next words are meant only for Giles.

"Don't... get yourself killed because you're distracted. Just survive." Her smile reappears, just a whisper. "Alright?"

Giles stares at her for a long second, the sunlight shining on his glasses. You can see the understanding start to dawn on his face, and even he manages to smile back, a smile meant to quell her worries.

"Of course. Right back at ya, Alice."

Suddenly, there's a loud whoosh and a CRACK in our encampment. We whirl around to see Julius land there as powerfully and gracefully as usual. My lips part for a moment in a quiet sigh of relief. He's back! And unharmed!

"Julius, what's the situation?" Hervey demands, turning to walk over to his Vice Captain. "How many are there?"

Julius takes a moment to catch his breath before answering. "A lot..." He shakes his head. "Maybe a hundred Diamond mages. Plus their General."

There's a worried murmur among the squad at the mention of the General. Instead of captains, the Diamond Kingdom army was led by their "8 Shining Generals," who were rumored to be as fearsome as they come. If one of them was here, and had already defeated the Crimson Lions, how on earth are we supposed to make any headway?

"Dear God..." Hervey twists his goatee anxiously, his forehead creasing at least five times as he considers what to do. "Do you know which one?" He glances up in time to see Julius shake his head. "Well, we're going in blind... perhaps we should stick to the perimeter-"

"The Crimson Lions are being kept hostage in the center of town," Julius cuts in before his captain can finish. "The General is stationed in there I believe. As for the residents, they're being kept in their homes in several areas of town. I don't know what the enemy plans to do with them, but I think we should try and evacuate them before the Silver Eagles arrive." He glances around at the rest of us. "We'll split into four groups. Three will sweep the houses and evacuate civilians. Me, Captain Hervey, and a few of you will head for the center and cause a distraction." His gaze hardens for a moment as the orders are issued. "We should be able to accomplish this quickly. I don't want any civilians to get caught up in battle once the Silver Eagles are here."

We all nod silently in agreement. Hervey opens his mouth to say something, but even he can feel it; When Julius spoke, everyone's nerves were eased, if only for a moment. For a moment... it was like Julius was the Captain.

With that, Hervey splits us up into groups and tells us to prepare ourselves. I get put into a group with Wren, Giles, and Martin, which I'm not thrilled about, but at this point I'm to jumpy to even care. Everyone is tense, their hearts pounding adrenaline through their bodies. Alice sits on a rock and taps her foot. Martin starts biting his nails. Malota and Hervey talk together quietly. Julius hasn't spoken- or looked at me for that matter- since we left the base. Now, he stands alone on the ridge overlooking the passage to town, his face turned away from me so I have no hope of reading it. But his shoulders are squared, his head held high, and his stance sure. Whatever lays ahead, he's ready and confident. My heart starts pounding for a different reason, but I shake my head to rid it of any intrusive thoughts.

I have to clear my head, to get ready for this... I have to focus more than anyone else here.

Using my Illusion magic is tricky enough, and even more so in the fray of battle. I have only seconds to read someone's face, cast my spell, and generate an image of something in their mind that will stop them from attacking me. Like with those bandits before, I'll probably go with injuries that will shock them. I squeeze my eyes shut taking in a deep breath.

Injuries... injuries...

It would be so much easier if I could see my own illusions, but by nature they only appear in the minds of my targets. I have to transmit that image as convincingly as possible if it's going to do anything. And in order to do that, I do... research. I have a box full of medical textbooks and trauma first aid manuals under my bed, which have some pretty realistic pictures inside. Every time I crack open a page, my stomach turns and I feel dizzy, but I force myself to look.

It hurts that much just to study... I can't imagine how it must feel to see that injury appear on your body.

But now I have to do just that. I have to hurt people again.

Maybe it'll feel nice... I suck in another breath through my nose, squeezing and releasing my fist a few times.

I've been hurt a lot lately... maybe it'll feel nice to finally hurt someone else.

I imagine what it'll be like, when enemies are attacking and I have no choice but to use my power. I already know, that every single one of them will have Lawrence's face plastered on in my mind's eye.

Before I can think to hard about it, I hear someone crying.

Blinking slowly, I remove myself from my trance and turn to see someone slumped behind a tree, their head hanging and their arms hugging themselves like they were the only real thing left in this world. "Um... are you okay?" I take a few cautious steps, walking into the treeline and realizing that it's none other than Cecelia who's crying.

As soon as she hears my voice, she looks up, her eyes already swollen and red. "Oh- uh- yeah-" She reaches up and starts to wipe her face frantically. "I-I just got really nervous for a second, I t-think I'll be fine now-" She lowers her hand and takes a deep breath. But, when she releases it, more tears burst out. With a whimper, she covers her face, her shoulders trembling.

She's scared. Well, we're all scared, but she lets it show on her face. Her eyes are overflowing with water and she bites her lip hard to keep it from twitching.

She's... so scared...

"Cecelia..."

Without really thinking, I walk forward and pull her into a hug. Cecelia freezes up for a moment, her face planted right into the fluffy shoulder of my robe. I give her a squeeze.

She's only 15... and yet she has to go to war with the rest of us.

"I don't really remember my first battle. I was your age though," I start to say, not exactly sure where I'm going with this. Lately, I'm the one who had to be comforted, so being there for someone else isn't coming as naturally as I would like. But I have to do the best I can. "I bet you won't even remember this in a few months."

Slowly, Cecelia nods and lets her hands come up to hug me back, but her crying does not cease. "Are you s-sure?"

...no.

"Of course." I stroke her hair gently, my heart clenching more and more.

Oh god... if anything happens to her...

"Hey, what's going on here?"

We both look up to see Alice peek around the tree, her eyes widening when she spots Cecelia's tears. "oh! CC..." Instead of being paralyzed like I was, Alice immediately melts into a grin before stepping forward. "Give me your hand."

Hesitantly, Cecelia, lets go of me and lets Alice take her small hand. Alice bends down just a little to look the girl in the eye, her irises glinting with golden determination. "You're nervous, right?"

Cecelia nods.

"You can say it, it's okay."

"I...I-I'm scared..."

"That's perfectly alright. But listen-" Alice clasps her other hand over Cecelia's. "You're in my group, right? So I'll protect you! No matter what. And you're going to protect me too!"

Cecelia's breaths are still shaky, but somehow she manages to smile as well.

"I will..."

"Promise?" Alice sticks out her pinky finger, causing Cecelia to giggle. They lock fingers and shake once.

"Promise!"

The somber air is gone now, replaced by something more hopeful. I let out a relieved sigh before turning to leave. I wish I was as good as Alice, I think sadly. She's so good at handling these types of delicate situations. She's always been my rock... Could Alice really be involved in my attacks? Was she really part of that plan?

... no. Of course not.

"Hey! You too!" I look back to see Alice and Cecelia looking at me. "Promise me you'll protect yourself, and everyone else in your team," Alice repeats.

"Well, maybe not Martin-" Cecelia pipes up, grinning as both Alice and I collapse into peels of laughter. "I'm kidding, guys!"

"Cecelia, never change-" I tell her through a giggle, reaching up to wipe my own eyes. "And yes... I'll protect everyone, I promise."

With that, there's only mere minutes before we have to set out. The fear in my veins is still there, but my new-found confidence beats it back into being silent. This is just like many fights and battles before. Maybe on a larger scale that I'm used to, but it's just another fight. A fight that I will probably forget within a few months. I leave Alice and Cecelia alone, stepping back out into the meadow. Once again, my eyes are drawn to Julius, still standing by himself on the ridge. Should I go say something? I gulp nervously, my heart fluttering a little. Part of me doesn't want to bother him, but at the same time, I wonder if I will regret passing up this one last chance.

"... hey."

Julius looks to his side as I finally walk up to him, my eyes fixed on the city in the distance. "Oh, hi. I was wondering if you were going to come keep me company."

I shoot a glance up at him to see him smiling, and my nerves melt away immediately. "Ah, I see... well, better late than never?"

"For sure." He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again to study my face. "Well... it's been an... eventful day, hasn't it?"

I gulp nervously, glad that we're facing away from the others because my face is definitely starting to heat up. "Um, yeah, I suppose it has-" I let out a breath of embarrassed laughter, the memories of earlier this morning flooding back. These past few days were crazy, and something tells me it's just going to get worse. "I'm sorry, I guess-"

"Sorry? For what?" Julius winks. "I enjoyed myself, you know." I raise an eyebrow, my heart pounding a little. Between last night and this morning, things between us have... escalated. And now, on the horizon of battle, there's nothing I'd like to do more than throw myself into his arms and hold him one last time. I'm sure he'll be fine, but I don't want to die without that...

But we can't. I feel eyes burning into our backs, watching us closely. Malota, I know, is watching. She and Alice alone know about me and Julius, and any wrong move could set off an explosion.

"If anyone should be sorry, it's me." Julius finally speaks again, his eyes narrowing slightly as sadness pools within them. My breath catches in my throat at the look, and I almost want to start crying right then and there. "I... hope you don't feel like I'm taking advantage of your situation, because you're vulnerable. And I hope you know that I was serious about everything I said before, and-"

Suddenly, he's the one who seems desperate to confess something, even though he's been honest with me from the very start. I can't do anything but stare at him blankly, dumbfounded that he's apologizing, before blinking away my shock.

"You're special to me."

And Julius... you have no idea how much I want to love you.

My heart strains hard at the walls I put up around it, begging me to set it free and finally surrender it to someone on my own terms. But this isn't a good time... in fact, it's the worst time possible. So I keep it imprisoned just a little longer.

"Julius-"

He stops talking as I reach out. I want to touch him, to rub up his chest, to grab the collar of his shirt and shut him up with a big kiss. And from the look in his eyes, I know he wants the exact same thing.

But I don't do that. I just let my hand land on his shoulder, like a good comrade would.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Honestly." I offer him a smile, one that I hope comforts me just as he does.

Slowly, Julius nods, then reaches out to grab my shoulder as well. We stand there, still, for a moment, but any longer and people would start to think. So I let go, and he does the same. "We need to go." Julius inhales deeply, the sadness gone from his eyes. "Be careful, alright? There's a lot I want to talk about when this is over."

"Oh?" I shoot him a wink as I step away. "And a lot you want to do with me, right?"

Julius's eyebrows pop up in surprise, but he can't suppress a grin, a slight tinge of pink appearing on his cheeks and nose. "Of course, of course. I still owe you a reward, don't I?"

I open my mouth in mock shock, even though that one comment is sending my heart reeling once again. Oh my god, I better survive today! I'm not sure what Julius has in mind for that "reward" but something tells me that it's going to be something I'll remember for a long, long time.

----------------------------

As soon as we part, the world descends into a blur. Hervey is once again shouting orders, and everyone jumps onto their brooms, ready to go. In one swam, we lift off the ground, but then our groups break off to surround the city. "Hey! Loser!" I look over to see Alice grinning at me as she starts to zoom away. The wind muffles her words, but I can just make them out. "See you later!"

"You too!" I smile and give her one last wave before turning away.

Wren, Giles, and Martin fly behind me, silent but already with their grimoires out. I squint my eyes against the wind as I watch the center of the city like a hawk, where Julius and the others will be causing a distraction.

Any second now... come on-

It happens; the entire area grows cold, and a huge spike of ice rockets up out of the earth like some evil, jagged tower. "There! That's the captain's magic! Let's go!"

"Hell yeah!" Wren lets out a hoot as we start to spiral down to our assigned sector of the city.

"Hold on! Don't go so fast!" I yell over to him. "Someone's gonna see us, we need to give them time to get distracted-"

"So? We're here for a fight!" Wren smirks. "Anyway, it's not like you're in charge, I'm the oldest here."

"Maybe Giles should be in charge!" Martin pipes up. "He has glasses, right?"

"Martin, that's the dumbest thing you've ever said." I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing to God that I had been paired with Julius or Alice or anyone other than these two. "Fine, Wren, you lead us, but for the love of GOD, please don't do anything dumb."

Wren's ego is just growing by the minute, and he even does a fist bump in midair. I roll by eyes at him before looking back down at the city, and notice some soldiers running out of a large building and towards the center of town. "There!" I point out. "That's where-"

"Where the prisoners are being held!" Wren cuts me off rudely. "Martin, you head towards the closest wall and start making a hole in it. I doubt we'll have time to escort the civilians to the main gate. And you two-" he glances over at Giles and I. "We're going in hot, so get ready!"

"Aye aye!" Martin swoops away towards an abandoned section of the wall, his brown grimoire already flipping open. I don't have time to watch him activate his wood magic and land, because Wren, Giles and I start our dive. The wind whips around us, and the few Diamond guards still stationed at the building finally notice us. "Look out!" They start to open their Grimoires, but it's too late.

"Illusion Magic: Sudden Death."

There's seven of them, more than I expected, but the two that I don't manage to transmit the illusion to stand there shocked as their comrades suddenly start screaming and clutching at their stomachs. "Huh? What the hell? What's wrong?"

"Feather Magic: Harpy's Fury!"

They look up just in time to see a barrage of sharpened feathers shoot down at them. The projectiles cut and stab, until the remaining enemies fall to the ground in an unconscious heap, just in time for the three of us to make our graceful landing.

"That was awesome! Did you see me take those guys down?! Did ya?!" Wren nudges one of the fallen with his boot, getting no reaction in return.

Giles puts his broom down and frowns curiously at the enemy through his spectacles. "What did you do to them?" he asks me. "I mean, what did you show them?"

I shrug. "Not much..." I gulp nervously, forcing myself to shut the images away in a compartment of my brain. "Intestines usually does it."

Giles winces a little, but shakes his head. "Well, you distracted them-"

"Come on! We're going to be slower than the other teams if you keep chit-chatting!" Wren yells, already halfway through the door. Giles and I exchange an exasperated look before running after him.

To our surprise, the first halls seem rather empty. If I had to guess, this is some sort of common area for the town. Which means that there's a large, central room, perfect for holding a large number of prisoners. There's probably more guards stationed around there-

Sure enough, we turn the corner and come across an opening. There's a large double door, barricaded shut, with three guards in front. They seem surprised to see us, but we don't give them time to act. Well, more specifically... Giles doesn't."

"Horn Magic: Mighty Ox!"

With a loud yell, Giles balls up his fists and punches forward with both at the same time. Right on cue, two sharp, massive horns form around them, spotless ivory shining in the lantern light. As he thrust forward, the horns broke free, rocketing towards the enemy. With a resounding bang, they went flying back, breaking through the door and skidding to a stop on the tile floor beyond. "There!"

"Damn, Giles-" I can't help but say, my mouth twisting into a smile. Giles, soft spoken, bookish Giles, was a beast! No wonder Alice liked him so much.

Giles brushes off his sleeves before giving me an uncharacteristically confident smile. "Surprised? You've seen this magic many times."

"Yeah? And it still blows me away every time."

"GUYS?" Wren suddenly wines. "Come on, we have a shit ton of people to save."

I don't answer, just sticking my tongue out at him briefly before running to enter the great hall. Just as we thought, it's packed to the brim with people, frightened civilians who are huddled together on blankets and flimsy looking cots. "Y-You're Magic Knights!" one of them exclaims, tears edging her eyes as she realizes that they are saved.

"Yeah, yeah, we're the Grey Deer." Wren crosses his arms as he "kindly" addresses the crowd. "Everyone, get up and get moving! We've prepared an escape route to get you all out of here before the Silver Eagles get here to kick these guys' asses!"

There's a flurry of movement as people jump up, grabbing their meager belongings and scrambling to get ready. Wren gives us a worried look, his eyes narrowing slightly. I know what he's thinking: this is going a little too smoothly. Let's get out of here. "Giles-" Wren turns to address him. "Make a hole in that wall over there. It's quicker than walking all the way back through the building."

Giles nods, bringing out his grimoire once again. "Right!" He directs his attention to the wall, his back to us. "Horn Magic-"

Midsentence, I see it appear on his back. A ball of energy shoots between Wren and I to hit him, and on impact I see his body freeze in place.

My eyes widen, not quite taking in the sight, not before it's too late.

"GILES-"

"AAAAAAH-"

Giles's body crunches up, a quickly growing spot of green foam spreading over his back. His shirt dissolves along with it, and I see that his skin has been burnt an angry red color. With one last agonized cry, Giles stumbles and falls to his knees, shaking with pain.

What?! Wren and I finally react, spinning around to see a group of ten mages coming into the room behind us. One of them, the man in front, wears a fluffy black coat, his hair slicked back over his head, and a wide, cruel smile on his face. Three stones are embedded in his head, one on each cheek and another above his lip. His grimoire is an acid green color, matching the magic that hit Giles, and floats open in front of him. Wren and I stay frozen in place, our heart pounding as if we were in the sights of an apex predator.

Because... that's exactly what this man is.

Almost in slow motion, he speaks.

"Slime Mold Magic... release."

A shuddering breath is ripped from Giles's throat as the magic leaves his body, returning to this man's Grimoire. I glance back to see him sit up, still pale and shaky. Shit! Who is this guy?! I turn back to look at this new enemy. He's strong, I can tell... oh god...

"You three... Magic Knights. I can tell that you're young." The mage licks his lips. "And full of potential. We value that in the Diamond Kingdom. It's not something I should waste." The way the words leave his lips is akin to a hiss from a snake. "So, I'll give you one chance... leave now, and I won't harm you."

"No way!" Wren immediately answers, his hand on his Grimoire. His eyes hold none of their usual mirth; only shrewd observation as he takes in his options. I nod slowly along with him, still formulating a plan of my own. "We came here to save these people, and that's exactly what we'll do."

The mage laughs, the cruel sound echoing through the hall. A few of the frightened civilians behind us are whimpering in fear. "Foolish children... do you really want to feel the wrath of one of the Shining Generals?"

"H-Huh?" The threat takes me by surprise and I can't help but let the gasping word leave my lips. "But..." I glance at Wren, who has gone pale as well. "Wasn't the General supposed to be in the center of town?"

"Silly girl." The Mage laughs again, louder this time, his Grimoire already flipping to a new page.

"Did you think we'd only send one?"

ooooooooooooh noooooo MC has to fight a shining general now... with two questionable comrades lol. How will this turn out? Find out whenever I decide to update again lol!

#black clover #spicy #illusion #fic #julius novachrono x reader #julius novachrono

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majorshiraharu · 3 years

Text

Discussion of Limitations in Live Action & Style Choices

This will be all spoilers for the new episode of the Mandalorian. I’m putting it under a cut so no one accidentally gets spoiled. Fair warning it is long af, I tried doing a mix of my opinions and information from the show, films, etc. I tried putting the more opinion parts in italic, might have forgotten some parts tho. I spent way too long on this lmao

--------------SPOILERS BELOW------------------

I'm putting my thoughts for each time I watched it. That way, you can see how rewatching changed my mind some. I also had almost a whole day to process the episode before I watched it again, then I had a few hours to think about it and add to this, and then now I've watched it for the third time. This will be a mix of my reactions and opinions and then some information about The Mandalorian and things I think many people are overlooking. Especially in a time when we have major blockbuster films with pretty amazing CGI and people have come to expect that level of detail in everything. If you don’t want to read my reaction/opinion parts, skip down past “3rd Viewing” (the sectioned area)

1st Viewing When It Dropped; Right After Watching: — Okay honestly not the biggest fan of this Ahsoka, I feel like they could have done a bit better with her lekku, montrals, and the contacts because they kinda took me out of it a few times. She didn't move a lot like Ahsoka, but then again she does move and act more like the Rebels version, so if you haven't seen that I can see how this would be more off-putting. She's much older at this point and probably can't move as well as she used to. Also, I know we've come to expect the effects of high-budget films and their fancy CGI, but this show is not that and I think they truly did the best they could with what they had. I'm too tired now, but will write about that stuff in my second viewing section. Overall, I think in the scenes where she interacted with Mando and the child were very well done and felt like how I thought Ahsoka would be after the journey she had over the past years. Those moments felt like Ahsoka to me, and I really enjoyed. 2nd Viewing; About 16 Hours After First Viewing: — So I took some time today to think about last night's episode, I also decided to hop on social media and see what people's reactions were. I was surprised how on Twitter and Reddit I hardly found anyone who disliked this version, longtime fans, new fans, people who didn't know Ahsoka. It seemed like most people really loved it and were extremely happy to see her in live-action. Some people didn't like the way her lekku & montral looked but otherwise enjoyed it, and then there were a few people who said it didn't feel like Ahsoka to them. Now here's my opinion on the second viewing, I liked her more after watching it again. As mentioned above she's definitely more like her Rebels version, and we have a few years when she and Sabine were out searching for Ezra and Thrawn. We don't know what she's been through but clearly, she's much calmer and wiser, which I think fits, it's not like how she was in Clone Wars but it's been like 25+ ish years, so she's had a lot of time to grow and shouldn’t be the same. The actress who played her was pretty stiff and monotone during more scenes than I would have liked, but all her scenes with Din and the Child were excellent, and felt pretty close to Ahsoka, really liked her in those. The action scenes were very cool at the start. Her fighting style was more like her fighting in Rebels. I would have liked a few more shots of her with her signature lightsaber hold, but they included them during the right moments, so that doesn't really bother me that much. Now for the mostly on Tumblr infamous lekku & montral, on second viewing I didn't mind them as much because it wasn't as shocking. The length should have been longer imho, and they definitely needed to change the montral, that's what I have the only real problem with. The montral just looked too short, was angled back quite far, and yeah, just didn't look like any animated version, concepts, or even any cosplays I've seen. This was the only thing about her that I really just didn't like and bothered me some. 3rd Viewing; Most of my opinions stayed the same, I watched it this time with some of my friends who love Star Wars and one who loves Ahsoka as much as me, so I wanted to see their reaction. They all loved her, tho they agreed the length should have been longer and the top should have been different. But they all really loved the episode and her.

--------------------- Now all that said, here are some counterpoints and information because I thought it was important to look into why it might be that way, and I will also include ways that I think it could have been done better. Besides having some cosplay experience of my own, I have no idea what they went through to pick or make this look, and it could have been always ended up a lot worse. First off they need to consider the actress, the material, how it moves, how heavy it is, how it looks in movement, fight scenes, etc. - There is concept art that shows many types of looks for her, and while I think they picked my least favorite of them, people need to understand that there was a reason. We don't know and may never know, but it was a choice made. Concept art from the end of the episode:

It could have also been that it looked better in person, or that they wanted a distinct look for it in live-action to make it feel more realistic or unique. Here is other concept art of Ahsoka from Rebels and The Clone Wars, Link Here

----------------- Also, many people aren't aware of this, but the Mandalorian is made to look a lot like the OG movies. They specifically try to only use camera angles/ movements from that time. They try to do action that fits the original films style and also is similar to old westerns. They have a very specific look they're going for, and a lot of people don't know this. This also includes the use of miniatures, puppets, and as many realistic things as they can for costumes and the interactive parts of the set. They use CGI and new tech too, but aside from the large screen they use for scenery they seem to only use CGI when it's really needed and not for everything like blockbuster movies or even some shows do, aka they don’t overuse it.

Here are two links for more info on this. They are long but have a lot of cool insight into the show: link for filming style here — link for the tech they use for filming here They have the tech and probably money to have made Ahsoka's lekku & montral CGI, but it was a deliberate choice in style not to do this. Was it a good idea, maybe yes, maybe no, maybe a mix? In Season 1 Chapter 6 of The Mandalorian when they had the Twi’lek Xi’an and I saw how her lekku moved I was concerned for if they ever included lekku in a more prominent role.

As you can kind of see in the above gif, they didn't have enough weight to them and were too foamy/rubbery in their movement. It seems like the same stuff was used for Ahsoka's, which resulted in the same problem. Since we've only known her in animation where they can change things to a much more finite degree, it's off-putting in live-action, and it kinda falls into the uncanny valley which I think is why it's slightly weird to see. If we had seen her in live-action first this probably wouldn't have bothered people as much.

Video Link to show it better

I included the older Clone Wars version of Ahsoka in here because I believe they mixed her looks together to come up with the live-action design. - We saw Shaak Ti in live-action years ago and many people are pointing to that as what they should have gone with for Ahsoka. A reminder that was done for a film, not a TV show, so there will be differences in quality and style. I do think they could have used that as a model to base Ahsoka on, they should have access to old headpiece unless it just deteriorated with time. Here’s a video that includes behind the scenes looks of Shaak Ti, Youtube Link Here

Also here’s a look of Ayla from the Prequels and from the original trilogy of the Jaba palace Twi’lek to compare how they look with the Twi’lek in the Mandalorian.

I think the original trilogy looked better than the lekku in The Mandalorian so if they’re using similar material to keep it more fitting to that time, maybe they need to make them longer to hold more weight and look like actual flesh and not foamy rubber.

They could have also gone the route of making different headpieces with other material depending on what they were being used for. Again it's a TV show, not sure if they have the time or money to do this or think it's worth it for just one episode. But they could have had one made of that foamy material for action scenes, and then one that looked more like Shaak Ti's for scenes where she just talked or moved some. Honestly, this would have been their best option, and as far as I can tell, that wasn't done. I see people mention they could have done no action or less action and made better lekku, but there are already people complaining that there wasn't enough action or movement in her action scenes. You can't please everyone, and I think they struck a good balance.

----------------

Other opinions of mine on her live-action version. I think Ashley Eckstein should have been the one to play Ahsoka in live-action, or I think they should have dubbed the voice. The actress playing her in this wasn't bad, but honestly, she brought nothing new to the role and didn't do enough to capture the smaller nuances of Ahsoka's character. Some of these problems could have been fixed by dubbing her voice, even if she didn't move or look like how people wanted Ahsoka to in live-action, having her voice would have made a big difference. I don't know if Ashley was brought in on this; she hasn't mentioned anything as far as I have seen. I would find it strange if she wasn't involved since Dave and her are friends. Both really love the character, but he doesn't have full control over the show and maybe she wasn't made a part of it for one reason or another. But if she wasn’t, I think that was a bad choice, she’s the one who brought her to life in the Clone Wars. - I also think that we don't always need a big name or famous person playing a character, we could have a dubbed voice and had someone performing it who was a stunt woman or an actor who isn't as well known, this has been done in Star Wars before.

Also look at this cute cosplay of Ashley as Ahsoka:

--------------------- TLDR: Lekku and Montral are not easy to make or look real, I think the creators did the best they could with the style they try to achieve (again we don’t know behind the scenes stuff or their choices), there is stuff that could have maybe improved the look. Many people don’t understand the amount of work that goes into something like this and that sometimes choices are made for a design that you may not like, but that doesn’t make it wrong. Art is a creative thing which includes taking risks, putting a unique spin on something that exists, and sometimes making choices that not everyone will like.

--------------------

But still I’m happy we got to see live action Ahsoka and I’m glad she was able to bring joy to so many people. I’ve watched the Clone Wars since I was a kid and have always loved Ahsoka and while I have my nitpicks about her live action version, overall, I think they did a good job. I was disappointed at first, but now not so much, and instead I just view her as a different version and that she’s unique in her own ways. I remember when Rebels Ahsoka came out a lot of people hated that version, personally I loved it, there are aspects of her design I didn’t like as much tho.

I also feel this was her only appearance in The Mandalorian, I don’t think she will return again, as far as the story goes, I don’t think there is a need for her to return either. I personally would prefer to have Ahsoka stay as an animated character if she got her own show, animation suits her better and has fewer limitations for the creators.

#enjoy my long info dump #about the new episode of the mandalorian #also spoilers below the cut #sorry info dumping is a thing i like doing lol #i spent way too long on this and should actually be sleeping #whoops #the mandalorian spoilers #manod spoilers #mandalorian spoilers #mandalorian season 2 #mando s2 #the mandalorian #spoilers #ahsoka tano #live action ahsoka tano #shira info dumps #at 2 am lmao

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softbuckismykink · 4 years

Text

The Last Goodbye

So I read that^ and came up with a story and I started writing it... Then when I was about to post I realized opps I read the pronouns wrong... Can’t be bothered to change my story though... so here it is... :)

Not an x-over just borrowing characters from another show. To play Buck’s ex is Clay Spencer from SEAL Team. Now I didn’t watch the show pass like episode ten in season one so I don’t know much about the character or his origin story. I’m just borrowing him cause I can’t be assed to create an O.C. just for a one shot. If you happen to have knowledge of how military/navy works please suspend your disbelief, I did research but honestly it’s just me reading wikipedia so I more than likely have gotten the elements concerning SEAL training and other military stuff wrong. You are warned. Don’t get offended.

Another Warning: This is a Buddie fic but it includes intimate scenes (not sex) between Buck and Clay, if you are a Buddie purist, this is your warning.

X-posted on AO3

Inspired by a tumblr post by @theladyandthewolves (Sorry I forgot to add, I did the linky link thing in AO3 but forgot to add it here)

Summary: In which team finds out Buck has a husband, when said husband turned up out of a blue and asked for a divorce.

********

We were almost beautiful A broken piece of art put on display But we were never possible Another perfect moment thrown away I know somebody out there will love you They'll be the forever we never were 'Cause we were everything that's right at the wrong time

I didn't wanna lose you Leave you with a broken heart But wherever we are, we're miles apart I know that we tried, but this is the last goodbye

Life is going good for Buck. He’s back at 118. His team forgave him and his best friend forgave him, and he’s on his way to forgiving himself. 2019 felt like a sucky year for him with the bombing, recovering from his injuries, the tsunami, the lawsuit, Eddie’s street fighting, Bobby’s being exposed to radiation and weeks of worrying about his found!father dying of either radiation poisoning, aplastic anemia, or some kind of cancer.

Of course there’s no guarantee that 2020 is gonna be better, but Buck likes to feel optimistic about these things. He has to be since it feels like the rest of his found family are the gloom and loom type, so it’s his job to keep the spirits up or they’ll all fall into despair. He said as much to his team as they gather around the side of the fire truck, just having arrived for their shift.

“No seriously look at what happened last year. I got that injury and I was admittedly surly for a while--”

“Oh you were more than surly, Buck.” Hen commented.

“Okay I was, but that’s not my point. My point was I not my usual happy self and you guys were all just affected by it. And I feel like it’s my fault.”

“Not everything is about you, Buck.” Eddie said, shaking his head, though clearly amused.

“I’m just saying, I’m on to something here because all bad luck started with me being injured last year. So this year part my new years’s resolution is to generate enough positive energy to drive away all the bad luck you guys attract.”

“Yeah right, we are the trouble magnets,” Hen gestures to herself and the rest of the crew, “not you who’s pretty much in competition with Chim for the Idiot with the Most Death-Defying Experience Award.”

“Of course, I mean Chim is still winning in that,” Buck said smugly, “which pretty much proves my point.”

“Okay, Buck. Whatever lets you sleep at night.” Chim shook his head, with a laugh.

The good natured ribbing continued until they all noticed a man standing by the entrance of the station. Dirty blond curls and a full beard, in tight henley and cargo pants, he looked out of place among the clean shaven firefighter crew but he walked inside with so much confidence that you’d think he owned the place.

“Clay what are you doing here?” Buck asked as he walked towards the scruffy looking man.

“Hi, Evan.” The man greeted as he met Buck half way, giving Buck a tight hug and, to the young firefighter’s surprise, a kiss on his cheek. Buck could feel the stares bore onto his back. “Sorry to drop in on you at work but I don’t have you phone number or home address.”

“You mean to tell me that years of working with CIA and you can’t even get my contact info?”

“I work as their muscle Evan, I don’t do the intelligence part.”

“We both know that’s bull, Clay. You speak six languages, you are more than just the muscle.”

“And you basically thought me five of those, though I speak nine now, not all fluently but I get by.”

“And you are still arrogant as ever.” Buck sighed, some things never changed.

“Can we talk privately?” Clay asked when he noticed the peanut gallery behind Buck.

No. Buck thought, he didn’t really want to do this here in the station but it’s only the start of his shift and he can’t really leave so he said, “I can’t leave but we can talk inside, I got a couple minutes so it better be quick.”

***

Buck lead the man to the relative privacy that the locker room provides. It’s all glass enclosure and anyone from outside can see in but he knew his colleagues would know not to bother them or listen in.

The moment they were inside the room, Buck turned his back towards the other man, taking a moment to close the door and gather his thoughts. Fucking Clay Spencer, six years and the man still has the ability to turn his day around, making him feel all out of sorts. Buck took a deep breath before facing his husband.

“Not to be morbid Clay, but I figured after I rang that bell the next time I’ll hear about you was when I get a death notification from a CACO officer.”

“Yeah I thought so too.” Clay admitted with a slight grimace. They were young, only 19 when they got married, but they both thought they’ll be together forever. “I mean I did promise ‘till death do us part. I always thought I’d at least fulfill the death portion of that promise. But I also thought I wouldn’t meet another person I’d want to marry again and I did. Her name’s Stella, she’s a grad student at Hudson State.”

“And now you want a divorce.”

“We were over years ago we just never got around to signing the papers for it. I’m getting married in June so--”

“So what you figure you’d come to my place of work, greet me with a kiss like we last saw each other only this morning, not six years ago and what? Demand that I go sign the divorce papers so you could go on living your merry life?”

“Look Evan, I was an ass. Heck I still am, but I wasn’t the one who left. You did.”

“Let be real, we both know I couldn’t stay.” Buck said, because it was true. DADT was repealed but the prejudice lingers. When the instructors learned that yes Evan Spencer was related to Clay Spencer and no they weren’t brothers or cousins, well let’s just say things get ugly. “I was just holding you back. Being a SEAL was your dream.”

“And there was a time that it was yours too.”

“No, I-” It never was. I did it to be with you is what Buck wanted to say but he knew that’s unfair to both of them so he said instead, “I did it because I don’t know what I want back then. But I what I did figure out is that I was never built for that kind of life, Clay.”

“I know. You were always too soft.” Clay commented. Buck glared which didn’t escape his husband’s notice.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way, Evan. I’m glad you never went through with the training. Of the two of us, you were always the saint--”

“And you are just digging a deeper hole, Spencer. You should quit while you’re ahead.”

“I should, but you know that’s not really my style.”

“You saying it’s mine?” Buck challenged, eager for a fight for some reason, but Clay didn’t rise to the bait.

“You’re putting words into my mouth Evan.” Clay step in closer to him, invading Buck’s personal space. “I never thought any less of you when you quit training. I was actually relieved that you did. You were so determined when you told me you wanted to be a SEAL and I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to. So much. Cause I knew it would break you in ways that I never wanted for you, in ways that would take the best part of you that I loved so much. It was why as much as I hate him, I had Dad pull some strings to get you out of your contract and discharged. I didn’t think you’d take that as a cue to walk away.”

“You think I’m fragile, Clay but I’m not.”

“No,” Clay denied, stepping even closer, close enough that Buck could feel the other man’s breath against his cheek as the SEAL look him in the eye and explained, “I treat you like you are fragile, because that’s how you treat something that’s precious. I’ll admit to that. But I know you are strongest person I’ve ever met, Evan. I loved that about you.”

“Then why did you let go?” Buck said, his words are demanding but his tone is all but resigned.

“Why didn’t you stay?” Clay parried back, equally yielding. They both knew the answer to each other’s question, love isn’t enough to keep them together and that’s their reality. That doesn’t negate the magnetic attraction they felt towards each other.

The SEAL stepped even closer, their foreheads within a hair’s breadth of the other, as their lips slowly gravitated towards each other. Buck felt the brush of the other man’s dry lips against his own. The touch is so painfully familiar, but gone was the spark his memories insist had once accompanied such intimate gesture. Still Buck felt nostalgic and he was just about to give in and press back when he heard a knock. They sprung apart and Buck turned to the person at the door. Buck saw his best friend leaning against the doorway arms tight cross against his chest.

“Buck, Cap wants you for the stand-up meeting.” Eddie said tersely informed Buck while glaring at the other man. “Upstairs kitchen. Five minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll be up in two Eds.” Buck nodded with a strained smile. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“I don’t mind but you gotta hurry or Cap would get pissed.” Eddie said before walking away, but not without directing one last glare at Buck’s visitor.

“Did he just call you, Buck?” Clay asked as soon as Eddie left the room. “You change your surname back to Buckley? Since when?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but about two years ago after the DOD finally let me back stateside, before I started at the fire Academy. Just for work and my direct deposit bank, for now. I never got around to doing it for anything else. I guess I have to now.”

“You don’t have to. No law requires it of you.” Clay made to close the gap between them again only for Buck to step back. “It would be an unnecessary hassle.”

“You are getting married, Clay. To another person. You don’t get to act possessive and ask me to keep a name I’m half way to dropping.” Buck shook his head, clearly Clay hadn’t change a bit, still one with the need possessively attach his name to everything. The sound of a ladder truck returning reminded Buck of the meeting he was called to, “Look I really need to get going. Give me your phone.”

“Evan I-” Clay started but at the firefighter’s impatient glare, he reluctantly hands over his phone. Buck quickly typed in his contact information.

“There you have my contact number.” Buck handed the phone back and turned to leave, saying over his shoulders, “I also put in my mailing address, so you know where to send in the divorce paper.”

“Wait, Evan--” Clay called after him, most likely noticing that Buck never put in his home address. “This is a P.O. box.”

“Where I get my mails delivered to and I know you know how that works.” Buck walked away before the other man could launch another protest.

***

“So Buck who’s the hunk of meat?” Hen asked as soon as Buck reached the landing of the upstairs loft where the kitchen is located. His crew gathered around the kitchen island where Bobby was preparing breakfast, not at all looking like they are about to have any kind of job related meeting.

“I thought we were doing stand-up meeting?”

“No that was just Eddie here letting out the green eyed mons--Ouch!” Chimney’s explanation was interrupted by Hen elbowing him in the sternum.

“You look like you needed a save so I intervened, I didn’t know I’d be interrupting something.” Eddie remarked, a touch snidely.

“You didn’t interrupt anything. Clay was just um, saying goodbye.”

“I didn’t know friends say goodbye with a kiss.”

“Clay’s not exactly my friend.”

“Well, he’s not family not with that kiss. What is he an ex-fling? A phase? Is that why he calls you Evan?” Eddie asked eyebrows raised and suspicious.

“Yeah I wondered about that too, we thought you said everyone just call you Buck.” Chim said, scratching his head, “I mean even your sister calls you Buck.”

“Not exactly an ex. And he’s not a phase!” Buck protested, offended at the word phase. At the surprised looks that his friends are giving him for his unusual outburst, he mellowed, shrugged and said, “I mean Clay is Clay. He always called me Evan. Ever since high school.”

“Why?”

“Um, Clay didn’t like that the name Buck is short for Buckley. Some sort of caveman reason I guessed.”

“Okay so the guy is more than a fling then?” Eddie prodded, not letting the topic die like Buck had silently asking him too, with his pointed looks. So much for best friend telepathy.

Buck sighed, resigned to admitting something he has been mum about ever since starting at 118. “Clay Spencer is my husband, or rather my soon to be ex-husband, he’s filing for divorce so.”

It took a moment for his words to sink in and

“Wait, what the fuck?! You were married?! And you didn’t tell us?!” Eddie asked sounding a little furious.

“To a man?!” Chim added, confounded and unable to think.

“And now you’re getting a divorce?” Bobby said calmly but the twitch of his eyebrow and the way he straightened up clearly betrayed his surprise.

“Wow my gaydar’s needs readjustment,” Hen shook her head, frowning. “I just thought you were hetero-flexible not full-on freewheeling.”

His team spoke one after another, all shocked at his revelation which granted was a little unexpected coming from him, a reformed self-diagnosed sex addict who’s afraid of commitment.

“So what happened?” Hen asked being the first one to recover from the shock of Buck’s surprising revelation.

“Between Clay and I?” Buck asked then continued at Hen’s nod, “Well we were together since freshman year, in high school. Um- we bonded over having absent fathers. I thought we’d be together forever but Clay also wanted to join the Navy like his Dad, so we’ve always kept our relationship low key-ish until DADT got repealed. After that, we said fuck it, and got married. My dad got so mad when he found out, which was more because we were only nineteen back then, not because it was so gay which didn’t help of course but yes more because we were just kids when we got married,” Buck explained trying for casual, as he sat himself in the couch. “Anyways Clay enlisted and got into SEAL pipeline program. I got in a year after him, but I had to quit, we separated, the rest they say is history.”

“So that’s why two you broke-up? Because you quit SEAL training?” Bobby asked leaning on the railing across the couch Buck was seated at. Besides the captain is his best friend, Eddie, who has a blank look on his face that Buck couldn’t even begin to decipher.

“Um he wanted to be a SEAL and I knew I was just holding him back so...” Buck trailed off, noticing how his team look at him with pity in their eyes, “Shit guys don’t look at me that way I’m not some broken piece of glass okay?”

When the pitying looks continued, and Bobby moved as if to comfort him, Buck said, “No, seriously guys, I’m okay. I’m not at all broken up about this at all, so you guys shouldn’t be either. Me and Clay were done years ago. It’s just we got lazy and didn’t get around to signing papers until now.”

“You don’t have to put on front with us, kid.” Chim said moving on to sit in the couch beside his while Hen moved to sit beside him. “We are family, heck you are practically my brother.”

“Chim’s right, Buckaroo. It’s okay to be not okay. We won’t think any less of you if you for it.” Hen added, laying a comforting hand on his shoulders.

“I’m seriously fine. I mean I’m not gonna lie and say it never affected me or that it didn’t hurt. Because I did, years ago when first broke up, cause I really thought we were forever. But now? I’m not even sad or anything.”

“But if you are, you know that we are here for you, right?”

“I know that Bobby. And I appreciate it.” There was a prolonged silence that lingered for a couple of minutes as they all just looking for words to say. Eventually Chimney, as always, broke that silence with a joking remark.

“Okay but seriously how did you land some one that hot?” Chim teased Buck.

“Chim seriously?! Your bi is showing.” Hen smirked.

“What? I’m just saying that is one beast of a man. I’m just wondering what he saw in our Buck.”

“Hey, quit it hobbit,” Hen slapped her best friend in the arm, “Our Buck here is equally as beastly looking if not more.”

“Hen, not that I don’t appreciate the vote of confidence because I truly do, but I don’t think ‘beastly’ is a look I aspire to project you know.”

“Joking aside, did you really go through SEAL training? Did you mean like BUD/s?” Chim asked, curious about Buck’s past but knowing the younger man would rather not talk about his soon-to-be ex-husband. At Buck’s nod Chimney asked again, “Isn’t that only for Enlisted Navy?”

“You said you weren’t in the Navy.” Bobby added, confused.

“I wasn’t, I mean not really. I mean technically I was one but only for like less than 180 days? Which meant I got like an ELS.” Buck tried explaining, only garnering more confused looks. “Entry-Level Separation. I entered the program through SEAL Challenge Contract. I got through ‘Hell Week’ at BUD/s but I DOR’d a week after that. So it was like only give or take 155 days before I DOR’d. Which was why I don’t claim to be in the Navy because I barely was in it.”

“DOR?” Hen asked.

“Dropped on request. Clay I guessed heard about it when he was in SQT,” Buck started but had to clarify again, “er SEAL qualification training. Anyways, the instructors were about to shuffle me into the fleet as an enlisted sailor, which is usually what happens when a SEAL candidate drops out. But suddenly I got an offer that the brass would waive my Navy Enlistment contract if I would agree to work as a civilian linguistic analyst attached to a joint operation between the DOD and DEA that’s based in Chile. It was an unusual offer but I figured Clay’s father who’s a retired SEAL pulled some strings. I took the offer and spent four years bouncing around between bases in South America doing translation work.”

“Wait you said you bartender’d in South America, not Schneider’d you way through it.”

“What’s Schneider’d? And when did I say that?”

“Cocaine Wars,” Bobby said as if that alone explains it but of course Evan ‘as far as I’m concerned the world started when I was born’ Buckley didn’t get that reference, so Bobby had to explain further, “Schneider is the name of the actor who is an undercover DEA agent working in South America. And you told me when you were pulling that worm out of that guy who ate a lot of sushi.”

“I wasn’t an undercover agent, I only did translation work in a black site in South America but can’t actually say that in front of strangers so I said the first appropriate thing that came to mind.”

“Bartending is the first thing that came to mind?”

“Well no not the very first thing... um stripping was actually but that seemed inappropriate too?” Buck said, scratching his head. At the incredulous looks he is getting from his team he defended, “What?! Bartending is believable job I could have been doing. I mean Bobby did believe it.”

“That’s not what--” Chim wanted to explain but was interrupted by the sound of the alarms going off.

****

“You were awfully quiet after me telling you guys about Clay.” Buck said as soon as him and Eddie were left alone in the locker room. “You barely talked to me all day too. Is there a problem?”

“No.” Eddie replied, abrupt and clearly not wanting to talk about it but at seeing Buck’s pleading gaze, he relented, “Okay I admit I was a little upset because I thought by now we told each other everything. But then I get a slap in the face and realize I don’t know you at all. I mean I didn’t even tell me you were married. Or that you ex-husband is a slimy squid.”

“I’m still technically married. And I believe military term is frogmen not squid.”

“Well maybe in the Navy, in the Army they are slimy squids.” Eddie huffed. “Seriously though, Buck. Why didn’t you tell me? I mean we talked about our exes before. You told me about Abby. You know about Shannon. Heck I even told you about Alex from boot camp. So I don’t know why you thought you couldn’t tell me about your ex-husband Clay.”

“It’s for the same reason you didn’t talk about your ex-wife back when I first asked you.”

“You asked me that before we got really close. And she’s not my ex-wife, she was my wife. There’s a difference.”

“Exactly, she wasn’t your ex-wife. Just like Clay isn’t my ex-husband. I didn’t talk about him like he is my ex because he isn’t.”

“You were separated, you said you didn’t see each other for six years.”

“I know that. I know in my head we are over and truly broken up,” Buck said while gesturing to his head then he laid his hand on his chest, “But here. Well here it’s stupid, because here there’s hope. So I didn’t talk about him like he’s my ex because then it would be like admitting that it’s truly over, no takebacksies over. I was over Clay but I guess I hadn’t reach that point where my heart’s willing to acknowledge it.”

“You dated a lot after him though, that’s like more than acknowledging it. That’s moving on.”

“It’s adapting a coping mechanism. An unhealthy one at that. I had a long list of one night stands because felt rejected and needed validation. Plus I like having sex but I was determined not to let anyone in again. Then I met Abby, who made me realize I crave intimacy not sex, she made me feel safe to love again, but she left before I could commit to loving her. Which was fortunate cause I don’t know how would get over it if she left me after I learned to love her.”

“I don’t think loving someone could be learned, Buck. Either you do, or you don’t.”

“Maybe so. But my point was I didn’t talk about him cause I thought I wasn’t over him yet. And I would have when I’m ready. I didn’t know when I just knew that talking about him before that would be like--”

“Like poking an open wound.”

“Yes exactly like that.” Buck picked up that metaphor and expounded on it. “What I didn’t realize was that wound long scabbed over. And I left it thinking that if I picked on it, it would bleed again. Only to find out today that it’s all healed.”

“What was the kiss then?”

“The what?”

“The kiss I interrupted Buck.”

“I’m not sure but it felt like a goodbye.”

“I’m not an expert, Buck, but when he kissed you it looked more than just goodbye.” If Buck didn’t know better, he’d say Eddie sounded jealous as he said, “He’s all over you.”

“He isn’t. He kissed me but I’m telling you now, that kiss doesn’t feel like it meant anything to him. Or me. It’s not like what you think.”

“If you say so.” Eddie looked to Buck tryin g to see the truth in his eyes.

“I say so.” Buck said determined as held the other man’s gaze for a few moments, before looking away and shyly admitting, “Besides there is someone else I like.”

The words linger in the air between them as their eyes locked on to each other’s yet again; and slowly they gravitated towards each other without either knowing it. Their foreheads touched, nose brushing. The moment their lips brush, Buck felt the tingle in up his spine making him slightly weak in the knees. He held on to the older man’s waist to help himself stay upright. Eddie lifted his hand to caress the back of Buck’s head as he leaned in to deepen the kiss. Buck can’t help the moan the escaped his lips. And Eddie took that as an opportunity to slip his tongue and explore the younger man’s mouth. If it was up to Eddie it would have gone further further but Buck pulled away.

“I’m not--” Buck shook his head, trying to clear it from the haze. “I like you but you were just widowed, and I still need to get divorced.”

“Okay, but just so you know this,” Eddie said gesturing at the air between them, “this is gonna happen. I’ll be asking you out as soon as you drop the name Spencer.”

“Not if I asked you first.”

“Fair enough. As long as I get to eventually marry you, that’s fine.”

“Sure as long as you don’t expect me to take your name.”

“Maybe I’ll take yours instead. Edmundo Buckley has a nice ring to it don’t you think.”

“Yeah, definitely.” Buck managed to spat out with a straight face. They both look at each other in the eye before laughing out loud at the name.

Fuck Edmundo Buckley sounds ridiculous, maybe just this once Buck would take one for the team and take Eddie’s name anyway. Evan Diaz after all sounded way better.

#Buddie

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 4 years

Text

The Fight

Excuse me...You look like you’re around this area pretty often. Three nights ago, did you see a man in a white fedora head into the batting cages?

Hm. Can’t say for sure...What are you a police officer or something...

W-Well...something like that...

Hey, do you have a moment? I’m looking for info on a person. Recently, did you see a blonde man in a white fedora with a pencil mustache and goatee come by here?

Hey, trying to work here missy. Get lost...

Guess that’s not much of a lead...

Excuse me?

Hm? What’s wrong?

Do you have a moment? A few nights ago, a man in a white fedora stopped by the batting cages. Did you perhaps see anything?

Hm...Well, I can’t say I saw a man with anything like that. There’s a lot of people with weird fashion choices like that around these parts. Although...Sorry, how many nights ago exactly was he around?

About three. Why?

Well, I heard some drunkard smacked down a passing civilian that night.

A drunk man knocked someone down?

Yeah, but I don’t think he was hurt too badly. He was screaming angrily about it for half an hour or so though. I’m pretty sure this happened around midnight.

So that night, somebody was assaulted?

I came to check things out myself, but the guy was already long gone by that point.

Any idea who the man who got attacked was?

I could swear I recognized him from somewhere, but...I can’t really tell. He looked mostly like your average jou.

Thanks for your cooperation. Have a good evening sir.

Not much of a lead then...Guess I’d better contact Ms Kirigiri.

[Future Foundation Branch 1. Branch Chief Office]

So, in short, we’re fresh out of leads.

I’m sorry Ms Kirigiri...I tried...

I already told you, Kyoko is fine...

I can’t refer to you so casually after I failed you...

You didn’t fail anyone Shuichi. In the very least, you found out more information than I did.

*Kyoko opens the door to her office.

Hey...

Makoto? I thought you’d have left hours ago...

Sayaka went back home, but I figured if I did the same, I’d just collapse. I did go out for a bit of fresh air though.

So instead, you’re in here, drinking my juice?

Sorry...got thirsty...

Oh well...Are all of the files done, or is there anymore for me to help with.

All done, no worries.

Anyway, how did the investigation go? What’s the situation?

They’ve got Shuichi and I gathering evidence for a murder trial. Turns out Koichi Kizakura went and got himself arrested...

What!?

A member of the Crazy Diamond biker gang organisation was found half-decapitated behind a nightclub.

We dropped by the holding center to talk to him. He claims he’s innocent, so we went around looking for information. We didn’t find anything solid though.

That’s...one hell of a case you’ve got on your hands...Do you need any help with it?

I’m sure we can handle it.

Well, if things get dicey, then let me know. I’ll jump in and help whenever you need.

Will do, thanks.

For now though, I think we should all go home and get some rest. I’m sure you, Maki and Himiko have some catching up to do, right Shuichi?

Yeah, I wonder how they’re going to react to all this...

Goodnight you guys. See you in the morning.

Night...

*The next morning. Kyoko is sitting at her desk in her office spacing out when suddenly she gets a phone call.

Hello? Detective Kyoko Kirigiri of Future Foundation Branch 1?

Um...Hello Ms Kirigiri...It’s me. We met yesterday, do you remember?

Ms Midori Yamaguchi I presume?

Y-Yes, it’s me. Listen, sorry to do this so out of the blue, but I’m currently at a cafe in the city. I can send you the address, so can you and your sidekick meet me there? I have some important information about the case.

A bit impromptu of you Ms Yamaguchi, but very well. I’ll contact Shuichi and meet you there in an hour.

[Unnamed City, Unnamed Cafe, 10:01]

Hey! We’re over here. Pull up a chair.

Officer Shinogi!?

Yep, your good old friendly policeman's here. Sorry if I’m a bother.

It’s not that, just...is there any reason you’re here?

I’m the one with the info. Ms Yamaguchi’s already seen what I’ve shown her...

I figured it would be better if he’s here. He can explain some things that I can’t.

I see. Very well then. Thank you for your cooperation officer.

No prob...

*Shuichi pulls up two chairs, one for him and one for Kyoko.

Ok, so...You guys go first. Did you go to the batting cages?

We asked around that area. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anyone who could back up Koichi Kizakura’s alibi.

I see. Well, thank you regardless, and good work, both of you.

So, why did you call us out here? Some new info?

Take a look at this...

*Officer Shinogi slides a phone to the two detectives.

The police released this to the public late last night. It’s security camera footage that shows outside the Mighty Anchor.

Mr Kizakura and Mr Isao are both in this video, clear as the sky.

*Midori plays the footage. It shows Kizakura running into a bunch of men in leather jackets, ranging from different sizes. All of them have the same emblem on the back. After learing at each other for a minute or two, Kizakura takes a swing at one of them, and hits him dead in the face. In response, the other gang members start beating down on him, while the one who was punched barks orders at the others and then walks down the street away from the chaos. The footage then shows one of the gang members waving the others inside. The other gang members then drag Kizakura’s brusied body inside the club. Soon after they’re out of sight, panicked people start pouring out of the building. When this is done, Midori pauses the footage.

See that guy beckoning the others into the club? That’s Isao.

I see. This is rock solid evidence of Koichi and the gangs fight.

Hm...I’m already noticing an inconsistency.

What’s that?

When we last spoke to him, Mr Kizakura told me that the fight happened, and the Crazy Diamonds started it.

But it seems that wasn’t the full truth. Kizakura very clearly takes the first swing here. Even if the gang threatened him, it’s clear he’s the one who turned it into a physical brawl.

Yes, you’re right. It’ll be hard for Koichi to talk his way out of this one...

But I have a question. That person with the spiky hair who got punched and started walking away...

Who is he?

About that...That guys name, is Eje Karma. He’s not just a run of the mill member of the gang either. He’s the entire gangs unanimously appointed leader.

He’s...the gangs leader?

Kizakura said as much. He said that their leader had been on the scene with them. Karma’s pretty much the duke of that entire area. He’s such a huge public menace, that even the area’s police are too afraid to go near him.

Be that as it may, I still had him questioned. Didn’t find out anything key though, since he kept dodging the question. Also, at the time, he had several of his goons with him. We wanted to avoid a fight, so we didn’t press for much.

What I’d like to know is how the Crazy Diamonds are able to have such an impact on a whole area. They’re a biker gang, not a yakuza group. Do you suppose they have some kind of hideout in the area?

That must be it. But that’s not all the information that we have.

There’s more?

Yup...This foootage was found at about 10 o’clock, apparently exactly the time Kizakura said this went down. But here’s the thing...I’m about to fast forward the footage to an hour later...

*He does so and the footage shows something else.

What’s going on here?

At this point in time, everyone who was in the bar, except for the barista himself, have left the facility. But an hour after Kizakura’s dragged into the bar, the Barista himself, alongside four other members of the gang, leave the building. That means the only people in the building at this point in time...

Are Koichi Kizakura and Kawaguchi Isao...

Why would Isao decide to stick around?

Who knows? I try not to understand the mentality of thugs like that...

Wait a second...

What?

You said the first footage was recorded at 10pm, and the second was an hour later. That means everyone left the bar and left the two of them alone at 11pm.

But if what the files I’ve read on the case state is true, Isao was murdered at 1am at the earliest and 3am at the latest.

Then there’s a minimum 2 hour gap!

What do you suppose Kizakura and Isao were doing during that wide time frame?

Mr Kizakura told me that as soon as the situation became one on one, he recovered and started fighting back. As soon as he saw an opening, he took it, and won their fight.

But he claims that he just beat him around and knocked him out. He didn’t kill him.

If that’s the case...then what did Kizakura do with Isao’s unconscious body?

I feel if we ask him, he’ll answer by saying he just left him there. However, he claims that that fight was the last time he ever saw Isao, and he also said that he woke up inside the bar after the barista helped him get healthy again. If that’s the case, then clearly he either got up and left, or someone else moved him.

After that, Koichi left the club and headed straight to the batting cages. He burst in and at some point, passed out. He woke up at four in the morning, an hour after the predicted time-frame of death.

Well, I can’t keep playing a case like this too close, since I’m on the local force and whatnot, but I’ve got a thing that could help you find out more about this, Detective.

What’s that Officer?

You see this guy?

*Shinogi points to a certain person in the video footage.

This guy is the barista that runs the nightclub. The police have got him down at the club itself, so you can go down and ask him a few questions.

I see. In that case, we’ll head there right away. Thank you officer.

Good luck Ms Kirigiri. If you find out anything, let me know.

Thank you for your help Ms Yamaguchi and Officer Shinogi.

#danganronpa survivor #danganronpa #danganronpa 1 #danganronpa v3 #your turn to die #yttd #danganronpa another 2 #dr1 #drv3 #sdra2 #shuichi saihara #kyoko kirigiri #keiji shinogi #makoto naegi #midori yamaguchi #the trial of koichi kizakura arc

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steve0discusses · 4 years

Text

Yugioh S4 Ep 12: Pharaoh, a Well Known Magician of Darkness, Swears he Has Never Done That.

I just had the most disappointing cheesecake cup of my entire life, so lets talk about Yugioh. From weird dessert to weird desert. ha.

I mean OK. Sure. I mean they gotta do something while they look for Yugi in a desert that isn’t really known for it’s off-roading, but it also isn’t known for it’s card game scene so...

But then the show decided to fill even more empty time with Rebecca sharing this piece of info when I least expected it. Now. In S4.

Y’all I was SO surprised.

I know that the show is doing this for the people just tuning into Yugioh for the first time but...Man, I’m having flashbacks to that time Yugi didn’t tell anyone that Bakura freakin died for over 40 episodes until Marik had to do it for him.

Yugi never told the girl he gave the friendship card to, that his best friend is ACTUALLY a 4000 yo ghost that haunts his every move. (5000 yo? I forget how old he is)

Tea just patiently reveals all of Yugi’s deepest darkest terrifying occult secrets to Rebecca with a smile on her face the entire time.

That’s girl talk. Can affirm--this is what girl talk looks like.

(read more Girl Talk under the cut)

Her explanation on the show actually did not point out that there is a separate entity with a completely different personality, so I think that people watching the show for the first time would still be hella confused. Instead it was more “this is Yugi’s strong and handsome side which I clearly like WAY MORE, and this is the other one”

Like she kinda left out the part where one is a ghost.

So this scene basically takes away any tension that a 4-way love square would have brought to the table.

And that’s fine. I really didn’t need a love square that involves both a 12 year old and a ghost. For me, as a person who is immune to shipping, it just seemed wildly too complicated for the same writing team who have been trying to bury Kaiba and his relationship with that that paper card since they brought it up in S2.

But apparently no one in this square cares they all kinda like the same person and that this particular person is two people. And as they go on about what they like about Yugi, it’s clear that both girls have made kind of a perfect dream Yugi who...just doesn’t exist at all. Maybe if either of them actually went on more than one date with the boy, they would separate the dream from the reality and realize fully that, in actuality, Yugi and Pharaoh both are a human version of that “hang in there!” poster with the struggling kitten on it.

TBH I think the women in this show forgot they like Yugi, it was a very friendzoning style of conversation.

Meanwhile, Rafael’s giant arms only continue to grow even more muscular with every scene as he tell us the vague deep lore behind this necklace. It’s sort of like watching a webcomic written by a teenager. The muscles keep growing, and growing, but the characters have to keep getting distracted by lore, and then midway the lore drop, the writer goes on a hiatus because of finals and just never comes back so it feels like you’re stuck in lore limbo forever.

I do like that Pharaoh’s like “your necklace is evil, take that off” when he has also been wearing the Oricalchos necklace the entire time.

Maybe because it was just waaay too tempting for Yugi to look at that jewelry and NOT wear that jewelry? Yugi has kind of a magpie problem with accessories, as we all know, and I can’t believe this magpie problem has put him into mortal peril so many times.

And then the show finally does us the favor of explaining why some people go cray when they wear haunted jewelry, and others do not.

Which does not bode well for Ryou. Not like we ever hang out with Ryou enough to find out his personal balance between being a meek little Brishish(ish?) kid that likes to eat cookies and his demon form that likes to stab things. Like seriously, would have liked to know more about Ryou ever at all, but since Season 1 ended, he’s only Ryou for like...2 minutes at a time before he’s back to being wonderful, scene shredding, serial murderer asshole Bakura.

Also, unrelated note, WHAT THE HELL, ART TEAM.

Is that turtleneck just spray painted on??? Why does this guy ever bother with cards? He can just do some punches and probably accomplish the same damn thing and a lot quicker. This man is larger than...any other human that has been on this show.

And so it’s at this point that Rafael’s decided like “ahaha my master plan, I will make Pharaoh doubt himself” and it’s like...

...you actually don't need to give Pharaoh a push, he and Yugi doubt themselves so often they’d list it as one of their hobbies on their edgy Livejournals (because they would keep two)

This fight with Rafael was kinda frustrating, because while most villains make points where it’s like “oh, you were tortured underground your whole life because of something I did in my past life, yeah that checks out.” all of Rafael’s points had so little to do with Pharaoh and were...so easy to debunk...

Like I made the joke about Flat Earther’s the last recap but you know what? I can see Rafael being a Flat Earther. Straight up. You can tell him the sky is blue and he’ll start going off about how all of humanity needs to die because the sky is actually made of Meyer lemons.

Darts even decided to say this line.

Which I thought was mostly funny because Pharaoh still has no idea that thing around his neck can shoot lasers, but also funny because the only reason Yugi has friends is because he initially cursed them to like him in Season Zero. And that wasn’t even Pharaoh, that was YUGI. Rafael is just SO very late to this party.

So, he decides to give Pharaoh an Oricalchos card, and like...

And I don’t believed I capped this part of the last episode, but before they even started this game, Rafael was like “yeah I let Arthur go.”

So...there’s no reason for Yugi to be here anymore other than the bridge is out. There are NO stakes in this game. Other than...Pharaoh’s pride?

I guess it’s one of the problems of sharing a soul with a King who we’re 90% sure did some pretty effed up stuff at some point because he’s a King. That’s just what they DO, I’ve played Fire Emblem, I know how Kings work.

Like we could just sit down and make a list of things that Pharaoh and Yugi did that ended up really screwing him over. (And hearing that nitroglycerin air hockey happens somewhere in the manga does make me want to take a peek at it eventually but I have too much on my to do list)

Like for instance, there was that time he took a fireball for Mai thinking she was a decent person and she ended up killing over 20 people with a gas station and is now a Mad Max Style serial murderer racing down the 101, and actively trying to kill him and more specifically Joey Wheeler.

Or that time he took the ultimate bullet and died but left his tomb to the most asshole tombkeeper family cult known to man who like to carve tattoos onto children with old ass hot butcher knives for thousands of years.

Or that time he thought Namu wasn’t Marik when Marik had insane tattooed eyeliner and a millennium item sticking like 8 inches out of his back pocket the entire time. Could’ve saved him like...2 seasons of content if he just yoinked that item right then and there.

Or that time he actually tried to murder Seto Kaiba. Like actually tried to push his own classmate off of a steep ledge and would have done it if Tea hadn’t intervened.

Or that time he did...a lot of the things that Yugi did in Season Zero and the Manga.

I just feel like...this is our boy. He’s meant to be this gray area protagonist who is trying to do the right thing but at the same time does enjoy his dark tendency towards revenge. Yami is sort of like having the best of both worlds where you can be both villain and hero. He doesn’t need to be a polarizing force like Superman or something.

And...it feels a little bit like the narrative is trying to say he has finally stepped over the line of gray area and it’s like...he’s been here kind of a while, bud. But honestly, if it makes Pharaoh go a little Zero I’m here for it. Why not? It’s been a while, I want to see him go nuts again.

And I mean Yugi hasn’t had a meltdown in kind of a while, we were overdue. I assume that’s all of next episode is just Yugi freaking the hell out.

Anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to take you to the first episode where you can then read the entire epic in chrono order.

#ygo #yugioh #episode recap #photo recap #yugi muto #yami going bonkers #but really that's just yami as normal we're just pretending it's weird #joey wheeler #rafael #tristan taylor #duke devlin #rex raptor #weevil underwood #tea gardner #rebecca hawkins #girl talk #S4 #Ep12

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keeroo92 · 5 years

Note

Commissioned fic request: V & feisty fem reader, friends to lovers w/lots of sexual tension leading to lots of spice. V being awkward; reader finds it charming. Maybe he roasts her for being a shorty. He loves teasing her but she gives him a run for his money because she loves messing with him too, a lot. Little does she know she’s asking for it. Prompts "The skirt is supposed to be this short","Who gave you that black eye?"(reader gets black eye XD), "I just like proving you wrong"(reader to V)

Thank you so much for the commission! You are officially the first person to do so. Since you gave me so much to work with, this will be split into a few posts. I couldn’t resist writing a nice, long story for ya! Enjoy!

(Takes place after the events of DMC5, in an AU where V survived even though Vergil still returned)

Word count - 2,999

True North Part 1

__________________

In a dark room somewhere in Red Grave City, a man tossed and turned as he did every night. The chilled autumn wind caressed his clammy skin and he grunted, his face strained in the moonlight spilling from his open bedroom window. His tattooed fingers clenched and a tear leaked from his closed eye, spilling into his already sweat-dampened obsidian hair. There was no one beside him; the tormented man slept alone.

V bolted upright with a gasp, eyes shooting open as if he’d been struck by lightning. The pounding of his heart refused to slow until he checked every corner of the room, despite how sure he was of his own safety. His nightmares often robbed him of his senses.

As was his ritual, he reached out through the shredded remains of his bond with his familiars, mourning them as if their sacrifice was only yesterday. He still found it difficult to believe; the three demons he’d fought to gain as allies ended up giving the last of their lives to preserve him. Trading what little power they had to anchor his soul.

As a consequence, he no longer had the means to fight demons alongside his friends. He had become ordinary, and while his friends still cared, they were busy saving the world. They didn’t have time to support him or help him heal, for reasons he understood despite the ache in his heart. So, while he survived the showdown, V still felt as if he’d lost everything.

In a way, he had.

V sighed and threw aside the blankets, airing out the portion of the sheets now soaked with his sweat. He shuffled to the small bathroom and splashed water on his face, taking comfort in the sting the cold fluid brought. He stared into the mirror, assessing the worth of the person he saw.

There’s still so much to atone for.

His hands clenched on the porcelain, remembering the many sins of his past. Every day he strived to make amends, but it wasn’t easy. Most of his crimes proved too terrible to counterbalance.

Mass murder. Conspiracy. Matricide. Theft.

Theft. He could fix that, couldn’t he? His emerald eyes shifted to gaze at the dresser where his now useless cane lied, remembering the day he stole it. To be fair, his circumstances at the time were… complicated.

Still, perhaps he could find that shop in the morning, pay for the broken case and for his thievery. It was better than nothing. He sighed again and returned to bed, lying on the side where the sheets remained somewhat dry.

__________________

Retracing his footsteps from the day of his birth turned out to be more of a challenge than he’d expected. The city had changed so much, many buildings damaged or destroyed entirely during the crisis. In some neighborhoods, the carcasses of the Qlipoth roots stood vigil as a reminder to the citizens. V clicked his tongue as he stepped over one particularly large root, disdain written on his every feature.

What a fool I was.

He walked two more blocks before he saw it – the paned glass door, the carved columns framing it. V swallowed heavily as he remembered breaking the glass and unlocking the doors, dragging Griffon inside by his feet. Desperate to stay hidden from the pathetic Empusa. He was weaker now than he’d ever been.

He shook his head. This wasn’t a trip down memory lane, there was no point revisiting the past. No point dwelling on pain. He pushed the heavy door inward and entered the scene of his crime.

It had changed little. A display of porcelain dolls to his left, a case of jewelry to his right. Ahead, a shelf stuffed with baubles and accouterments waiting for a new home. He would’ve liked to browse, but he was here for a reason. His gaze swept the room, passing over the paraphernalia to find a tiny figure carrying a stack of books, a nametag barely visible past the bindings.

I thought child labor was illegal?

He approached curiously and watched as you shelved the myriad of tomes. Eventually he got a look at your face and he chuckled to himself, realizing you were most definitely not a child. He cleared his throat. You spun to face him with an obviously false smile.

“Hi, can I help you find anything?”

He shuffled his feet and sighed. This may end with him in handcuffs.

“I need to pay for something…” he began. You stared up at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He held out the silver cane and gave you a sheepish smirk.

“I stole this a few months ago during the crisis. I’ve come to purchase it properly.”

Your eyes flicked from his face to the cane, then back again. A more authentic grin spread across your features and you snickered, holding a hand over your lips to hide it. V lowered his arms; by the time the cane clicked against the tile, your guffaws had reached a state of frenzy. He shuffled his feet in embarrassment and waited for you to calm.

“Are you for real? Dude, everything damaged during that bullshit got written off as a loss. You could’ve taken Elvis’ jacket and literally nobody would have noticed,” you said eventually. V clicked his tongue, unable to withhold his annoyance at being teased. Especially since he was trying to do something right!

“Regardless. I also broke in through the door and shattered the case that contained it. I may have damaged several other items during my encounter with a demon.”

You looked him over with a sly gleam of amusement and led him to a counter with a shrug.

“If you really want to pay for it, the owner won’t complain. I can get the cane sorted out, but the damage might take a while. Are you sure you want to do this?”

V grimaced. His job at a local bookstore didn’t pay well, and his work experience didn’t merit a raise. He’d have to take on extra shifts to cover the expense. More hours spent helping idiots find something to read on the plane, mindlessly stocking the shelves and pretending to have any deference for his boss.

I must make amends.

“I’m sure.”

You smiled and gestured at the cane, indicating you needed to see it again. He handed it over and you hummed.

“Well, you have my respect, then. Not many people would fess up to that.”

V didn’t respond. He locked his eyes on the floor, remembering how black it looked as Griffon dissolved right before he’d bonded with the mouthy demonic bird. It surprised him how much he missed the snide commentary and barbed insults.

No one left to insult me except myself.

“I think seventy-five would be a fair price,” you said, handing back the cane. V pulled his wallet from his rear pocket, finally having made use of the chain from so long ago. He handed you a few bills with a smile. The register opened with a sharp click and you counted out his change, even printing a receipt. The tiny scrap of paper in his hand lifted a fraction of the guilt from his shoulders and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’ll need your contact info for the glass,” you said, holding out a pen and notepad. He scrawled his name and cell, adding a note explaining his request. You peered at his writing curiously.

“Anyone ever tell you your handwriting looks like you’re five years old?”

V chuckled. He knew better than to mention how young he was, but it was tempting.

“Ah, I must be improving then,” he replied instead. You snickered and shook your head.

“Good one! I guess I’ll talk to you soon,” you glanced back at the pad, “V…”

__________________

As much as he loved literature, working in a bookstore left V extremely unsatisfied. Most customers were after whatever new young adult fiction was big this week, or the latest self-help book. Not a soul asked him about poetry or classics, and the lack of stimulating conversation gave him far too much time to think.

He spent a significant portion of time trying to figure out other ways he could repay his misdeeds. Rarely did he stumble onto any new ideas or insights, and the repetitive cycle left him melancholy. Not a good mindset for customer service.

And according to Michael, we just sold out of that drivel the kids like. This will be a long day.

Still, he plastered as much of a smile as he could muster on his lips and pinned his nametag on, striding out onto the sales floor like it was a battleground infested with Hell Caina’s.

If only…

“Hey, you work here, right?”

He turned to face a youthful blonde, knowing from the tone of her voice alone what she wanted. Why she couldn’t have bothered Cassie instead was a mystery, the two would’ve likely been best friends within ten minutes. The idea twitched his lips into a faint smile as he nodded.

“Cool, you have that new one by Cyril McNabb, yeah?”

His jaw clenched in irritation. The girl didn’t even pronounce the author’s name correctly, let alone know the title. He took a deep breath and responded.

“I’m afraid we’re sold out. Can I recommend something else?”

The girl sneered at him, flipping her hair over her shoulder with a scoff.

“What, you don’t have like, one more copy in the back?”

V hid his hands behind his back and clenched them, keeping the pleasant smile on his face even as he seethed in annoyance.

“No.”

She pouted, puffing her lower lip out so theatrically he wondered how it remained attacked to her chin.

“Can’t you, like, go check? Cuz I didn’t come all this way for nothing.”

Her words echoed in his mind, harkening to that day in the Qlipoth. Nero had used the exact same phrase.

The shelves surrounding him vanished, replaced by falling chunks of rock and bloody vines. He was dragging the rash young warrior away from where Dante held Urizen in a stalemate, even as the boy screamed for him to let go. V’s rage had howled through him, lending him the strength to get Nero out even as he wanted to charge into the fray and finish it.

“Uhhh, hello? So, like, can you go check for me?” the young woman’s grating voice said, shattering the memory like glass.

He didn’t think, responding on sheer impulse.

“I suppose I could, but I will not. I happen to know we sold the last copy this morning, and your insistence on special treatment will not cause another copy to magically materialize just for you. I’d recommend an alternative, but truthfully the best use of your time would be a grammar textbook or a collection of poetry, and I doubt someone of your limited intelligence would make it past the first page.”

Gods, that felt good to say.

Even as he enjoyed a surge of self-satisfaction, he knew he’d fucked up. The girl’s jaw hung open in shock as she blinked back tears. Her lower lip trembled as the first few drops slipped through her false lashes. To make matters worse, Michael stomped out from behind the mystery novels with a scowl, having overheard every word.

“V, go wait in my office. Miss, please come with me and I’ll have another associate check for you,” the pudgy manager said.

Damn.

Barely ten minutes later, V turned in his nametag and walked out the door. He brushed his hair out of his face and crossed the tree-lined intersection. Where could he work, with his lack of expertise in anything besides hell and demons? Life was so much easier when he didn’t expect to live longer than a month. Now, there were bills and rent to worry about, not to mention his car payment.

Granted, V had a respectable amount saved. He lived a modest life and made it a point of pride to set aside what he could. It may cost a great deal to atone, and it never hurt to have a safety net.

A buzz in his pocket stopped him in his tracks; his phone. He pulled it from his pocket to find an unfamiliar local number on the screen. His shoulders tensed and he braced himself for more bad news as he tapped the green dot.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this V?”

“Yes, what can I do for you?”

He stepped off the sidewalk to lean on a brick wall, allowing an old couple holding hands to pass.

“It’s Y/N, from the antique shop on first street?”

He smirked, adopting a teasing tone as he replied. “I believe so, are you lost?”

“Ha-ha, hilarious. The owner passed me the receipts today, total comes out to $3,274.55, including all damaged property. She wanted to say thank you and that you can make as many payments as you need.”

“Ah. I suppose I’m lucky Elvis’ jacket wasn’t damaged.”

You snorted in mirth. “Nah, just his wig. When can you drop by?”

V clicked his tongue. He needed to find work quickly, but if he didn’t have a minimum amount he wanted to make the first payment as soon as possible. Begin the process.

“I’m on my way,” he said.

—Reader—

You chuckled as you hung up, still stuck on his crack about Elvis. The man had a talent for one liners, you had to give him that much. Part of you hoped he’d make his payment in person, so you could exchange jokes with him, but in this era the chances were slim. You sighed and turned back to the thick stack of papers, re-reading the top sheet for what felt like the hundredth time.

Ugh, lame. I wish someone else could work on this.

Still, it needed to get done. You forced yourself to focus and muddled through a third of the stack before a soft voice interrupted.

“There’s a guy here to see you, should I show him back?” Peter asked from the doorway. You nodded and he vanished, silent as a mouse only to reappear seconds later with the tattooed man in tow.

A ruler marked where you left off in the accursed pile as you waved V inside with a smile. He looked strange in khaki pants and an olive shirt, the look so different from the dark jeans and layered tees he wore when you first met. He sat in the only other chair in the room, a mere three feet away from you.

“So! V! Ready to meet the owner?”

He nodded, making a move to stand once again. You cackled internally as you reached out to shake his hand.

“Surprise! It’s me.”

His lips twitched into a smirk and he let out a single syllable of amusement, eyes scanning the cramped room. Cluttered cork boards lined the walls, various notices and a few choice comic strips pinned up. Shelves lined the walls all the way to the ceiling in the few areas left over, packed with detritus and binders you hadn’t opened in years. Your desk was the cleanest surface in the room, littered with the stack of papers you needed to finish reading, a few pens and office supplies.

“So this is your office?”

“Yup! Though I let a few people use it sometimes.”

He nodded knowingly, as if something became clear to him with your words. You stared at him quizzically until he broke the silence to answer your unasked question.

“I was wondering why you had shelves so high when you’re so small,” he explained. “Which begs the question, how do you stock the higher displays?”

You restrained the urge to roll your eyes. It was inevitable, especially considering he was so damn tall. How could he not notice how short you were when he had to look down to make eye contact? You’d heard it all before.

“Witchcraft. And a few piggy back rides,” you deadpanned.

“Also known as a stool, I assume,” he replied with a smirk, not missing a beat.

Damn, he’s good. But so am I.

“Stewart, actually. Though we had to let him go when he started hiding my pens on the top shelf.”

The two of you stared at each other for a moment before you couldn’t keep a straight face anymore, breaking down into laughter as V released a few quiet sniggers. You couldn’t remember the last person you met who appreciated your sense of humor. Wit was a dying skill, in your experience. How nice to find someone who enjoyed it as much as you did.

You fought your lips into a neutral expression, folding your hands professionally on your desk. V’s sparkling emerald eyes nearly sent you over the edge again, but somehow you kept your focus. Business first, jokes later.

Hopefully.

“So, how do you want to do this?” you asked, lips still twitching in rebellion.

He clenched his jaw, irritation radiating off him in waves. The change in mood wiped out the last of your amusement and you wondered if you’d offended him.

“I can do one hundred today, after that I’m not sure. I’ve just been fired,” he said tersely.

Oh my gosh, that’s perfect!

Wait. Slow your roll. Why was he fired?

You leaned back in your chair and crossed your arms, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why?”

He shifted his weight, matching your suspicion with plenty of his own. “What does it matter to you?”

You uncrossed your arms and smiled.

“Because I’m hiring.”

Part 2

#commisions #fanfic #v x reader #dmc5 v #dmcv #vitale #my writing

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yangingaround · 5 years

Note

one thing that annoys me is people going but team rwby are traumatizied when the same thing could be said about ozpin ozpin was a like an old war vet who had ptsd and trauma . ozpin had every right to keep secrets I am sick of people trying to paint ozpin as a bad person or manipulative because he kept some secrets which needed to be kept secret due to many betrayals and if they go out it will only help salem like the relic if info is leaked to salem it will help her. ( lionheart 1/2

“Anonymous said to yangingaround:

was his friend and he just betrayed him to salem a short time ago and he has been betrayed many times in the past so why should he immediately trust team rwby who he doesnt know as well ( and given how they reacted to salem being immortal saying it was pointless it shows ozpin was right in keeping salems immortality a secret the entire reason they kept salem a secret was to prevent the loss of morale ,feeling it was pointless etc )(not to mention yangs hypocrisy 2/2

Anonymous said to yangingaround:

I am sick of the whole oz kept secrets so we cant trust anything he says ignoring that team rwby have kept secrets and told lies many times and they like to pretend its different when its not . ozpin isnt at fault for summers death her dying on a mission is not oz’s fault . ( oz protected humanity this attempt to paint oz as a manipulator or like dumbledore or taking away peoples choices ( check itsclydebitches tumblr she made a post on that ) is bs ( and salem always blames other people ½

Anonymous said to yangingaround:

for her actions like going the deaths of the people who fought against her are somehow oz’s fault or claiming ozpin is a coward for going away after just seeing the worst moments of his life and his friends turning on him and what qrow did to him he was stressed out and needed to go back inside giving qrow what he wanted he was crying and the claim that this was cowardice is utter nonsense he needed to escape from the abuse so he left the only way he could 2/2

Anonymous said to yangingaround:

also the claim that ozpin never tried to unite humanity is complete and utter bullshit his entire plan was to unite humanity and by rwby v1 he was close to achieving that goal the closest he had ever been ( ozpin was the king of vale)

—

okay, briefly coming out of semi-retirement on here because this just dropped in

this was kinda the wrong blog to send this to, because none of the mods are on Oz’s side

but let’s start from the top:

Oz had no right to keep secrets when those secrets were endangering lives (keeping the fact that the relics attract Grimm put hundreds of innocent civilians in danger for no reason because the heroes weren’t prepared), and he was purposely leading the heroes to on a pointless suicide mission rather than be straight with them that he had no plan

on top of that, he’s millennia old, so the fact that he can’t get over his thousand year old hurt feelings is literally not anyone else’s fault but his own, and he’s endangering lives over it - he’s had multiple lifetimes to get over it, and it’s made clear from Jinn’s description of things that for the most part he just moped and did nothing

second, Ozpin is manipulative, we see that in how he interacts with Pyrrha, coercing her into becoming the Fall Maiden by taking advantage of her nature and ensuring it by presenting it as an ultimatum - “become the Fall Maiden or the bad guys win” isn’t a choice, no matter how many times Qrow and Ozpin insist otherwise

it’s not just the keeping secrets thing, though that is part of it (oh, and FYI, his claim that he only keeps secrets and lies because he’s been betrayed in the past? was a lie, the first thing he did when meeting Salem again after reincarnating was lie to her, and he had far less sympathetic reasons to lie to her than she did to him - she was afraid of being judged by the one good thing her life ever had, he was lying to her because the God of Light told him she couldn’t be trusted. and we have confirmation from the writers that the gods are heavily based on Greek mythology, and those gods were assholes), he’s manipulative for far more than that

(oh and maybe Lionheart betrayed Ozpin…. because Ozpin lied about the mission… and Lionheart got scared because he couldn’t trust Ozpin… wild concept but maybe Ozpin is the mastermind behind his own destruction)

and no, Ozpin wasn’t right to keep it secret, because they still found morale after that initial despair, but here’s the thing, if they’d known from the start, shit wouldn’t have hit the fan that hard - knowing how bad things are from the start is a lot better than thinking you’re in a better position than you really are; because when that truth comes out it’s a lot further to fall

Ozpin demands trust but never reciprocates and then acts hurt when he’s inevitably betrayed over it, that’s his fault, no one elses

and funny you should mention Yang’s ‘hypocrisy’ because that’s a brilliant sticking point that would have entirely made your argument if it wasn’t top of the line, absolute Grade A horseshit

Yang keeping a single secret about Raven over a very personal issue when that secret no longer has any value to the rest of the group (they already have the Relic and the Vault is already dead, the Spring Maiden no longer holds any value to Ozpin as Relic’s already out and Salem doesn’t have much reason to pursue Spring knowing that the Relic is out of the box) is not the same thing as Ozpin lying to the group by keeping information from them that could get them killed. so show me where the hypocrisy lies here because i’m not seeing it. acting like one small, harmless act is comparable to thousands of constant lies

when RWBY keep secrets, it’s because they have to, they never do it simply because and have never done anything to intentionally endanger lives while Ozpin does it without a thought

oh and here’s a shocker, by being the person sending Summer on mission, Ozpin was knowingly endangering her, so yes, he actually does hold some responsibility for her death - that’s how the chain of command works

and ‘Oz protected humanity’, interesting. did he? let’s see what Jinn has to say:

“Thus began a long and painful cycle of death and rebirth for Ozma.Some lives were spent in mourning, many were spent attempting to forget it all.”

yeah, sounds like to me, he spent most of his time running away from the problem, so his current behaviour is on brand, at least (also this scene reveals that he lied about the whole “i merge with the next guy i reincarnate into” thing because it’s made clear that until very recently he just suppressed them; and drank at least a couple to death, so add everyone he’s ever possessed to his body count - and the people he jumps into don’t have a choice but to get involved because he can take over whenever he likes)

and i’ve already addressed that he did take away people’s choices, because he doesn’t give them choices, don’t tell me to read someone else’s post and not argue the point yourself, i pay attention to the show, okay? i can understand what’s happening in it - Pyrrha, ultimatum. the rest of the gang after Yang and Weiss arrive, ultimatum (by not so subtly hinting at Raven’s cowardice as a negative quality they should shy away from). all the people he’s ever possessed, only recently did they even get autonomy and that’s only because he lets them have that. every student who has ever attended the four main combat academies - the entire premise of the schools is a false pretense. it’s not to train warriors to protect the world (hell, the very concept of Huntsmen and Huntresses being the sole defenders of the world is almost propaganda in quality because they’ve only been around for less than a century - humanity got on just fine without them before that), it’s so there’s an ever-rotating array of meatshields to protect his god-summoning paperweights. which puts the deaths of the likes of Gretchen Rainart on him too (as well as the fact that as Headmaster he has a duty of care and he tries brushing those deaths off like “they made their choice” which is a disturbing detachment from responsibility)

and yes, Ozpin is a coward for running away, because this is his fault, and he decides to hide himself away than deal with the consequences of his actions - he’s not a child, he’s not some scared little boy who needs his mommy to hold his hand - he is a millennia old asshole who is very much responsible for the mess everyone is in right now, or did you miss the part where Salem was peacefully holing herself away where no one could bother her? or that he was the only good thing in her life and by stabbing her in the back first by running away with the kids instead of talking to his wife when she got a liittle too edgy (which, by the way, wasn’t even her fault because the only reason she was like that by that point was because she’d tried to kill herself and didn’t know this result was a possibility, and that’s one slip after a near decade of happy marriage) and taking the first hope she’d had in so long away; of course she’d snap

that’s what Ozpin does, he builds people up on lies so they don’t know how far the drop really is - just because his goal is ostensibly noble doesn’t mean he is, especially when his actions are anything but

“needed to escape the abuse” holy shit. okay, this is a joke right? it’s a joke?

being called out on your bullshit is not abuse. people getting angry at you because you lied to them, manipulated them and were planning on letting them die for a cause that you know to be pointless is. not. abuse.

i don’t care if he was crying, that doesn’t mean anything - “oh look at the poor sad millennia old wizard, he’s upset that people are angry at him for the blood on his hands which he has no problem sticking his hands back into”

and i wouldn’t call what Oz did in the Great War ‘uniting’ humanity. considering what that amounted to was forcing the other reining monarchs to kneel to him after he beat them up (as well as the Queen of Vacuo, who was his ally), dismantled their power structures to replace it with the council system (and destroying any remaining semblance of real governance that Vacuo had, leaving it a chaotic hell-pit wasteland) and built the schools (which were meant to not answer to any of the Kingdoms) as a front so he could stay in power and control across reincarnations

yeah, some unity - all that demonstrates was that he never really had a problem with the “beat people up to make them do what you want” plan he and Salem had the first time

Ozpin is a very old, very pathetic coward - he doesn’t learn from his mistakes, he repeats them over and over again then acts like it’s someone else’s fault. he refuses to trust people yet gets angry when they refuse to trust him, he lies to people constantly but tries to dodge out of it than take responsibility, when his secrets endanger the lives of others, instead of acting like a fucking adult and facing the consequences for his actions, for the god knows how many lives he has damaged, ruined, destroyed, how he willingly endangers lives rather than tell the truth for no good reason, he runs away and leaves everyone else to pick up his mess

he’s a coward and RWBY and the others have every right to call him on his bullshit. they’re a lot younger than him, they have more room for mistakes and growth

he’s had literally all the time in the world to be a better person, and all he’s become is a lying, weaselly coward

-Mod S

also, read the rules:

#rwb/y #yangalysis #long post #not a comeback #someone decided to rant in this askbox #i decided to rant back #Anonymous

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inexchangeforyoursoul · 4 years

Text

@nagasleeps ... you unknowingly made me sweat blood upon getting the prompts lmfao 😅 (fake dating?? spo rT S??? so many things, none of which I’m into asgdsfafsd,,,)

Getting over the initial turmoil and the need to hire a deep web hitman to assassinate me, however, I thought about it… and yes, I’ve always liked the aesthetics™ of figure skating and racing, so it wasn’t ~that~ hopeless of a case,,, All in all, I ended up revamping a scene from a half-done fic to feature the LoV (instead of the Todofam bc latter are the og cast in the other thing so they were out of bounds but sssh)

I was vibrating when you reacted to the Happy Feet joke, so I really really hope you’ll enjoy the rest just as much!! ✨ MERRY LATE CRAMPUS AND A HAPPY NEW YEEEEAH

OH right: have an ao3 link that will likely read better lmao

“Can I?”

The question itself takes everyone for a loop, but the real catch that makes heads turn is the barely contained excitement in Hawks’ voice. Then there’s his face, too, which is that of a kid on their first festival.

It quickly turns into an embarrassed blush that he tries to hide behind the collar of his jacket, but the damage has already been done- not only did he speak up like that, but it happened just a split second after everyone has unanimously started to move on.

“Can you?” grunts Dabi into the awkward silence with a raised brow, nodding towards the ice rink. He was a few steps ahead of them already, targeting what seemed to be the nearest punch stall available.

Hawks tagged along for the Christmas fair visit in Deika because he figured he might multitask and try this buddy thing with Jin and also catch a few snippets of info, but watching the kids slipping around on the ice when they stopped by the rink… did things to him. Nostalgic, dangerous things.

“You skate, Hawks?” Himiko asks with a glint in her eye. She also doesn't hesitate to turn back and bounce towards the rink, obviously interested in… either him, the fact, or the place itself. He's yet to get a grasp on the girl.

“ … ” His brows pull up as he sulks on behind the makeshift barrier. “... I could. A little.”

She hops against the railing, balancing over the dangerously unstable structure. “Oooh, that's neat! What are we waiting for then?”

Wait, we?

Hawks is almost surprised enough to say it out loud, which… nice save. That sounds all kinds of counterproductive.

Doesn't help with the emotion reflecting on his face, though.

“What’s that face for?” she asks with a pout, looking almost offended before hopping back down. “I’m not going to pass up some fun, if you’re going, I’m going, too.”

“Ah---”

“Me, too!! Me, too!!!” pops Twice’s head up from nowhere between them.

“--- I see.”

“Well then,” Himiko says, her grump already forgotten as she's planting a hearty pat on Jin's head. “Can you skate, Jin?”

His brows, if they exist, inch closer as he squints, as if thinking… but he also immediately says a plain “Hell no.”

“Want me to teach you, then?”

That one rouses a confident “HELL YEAH!!” on the other hand, and he pulls on the drawstrings of his hoodie with such force that he not only disappears up to the nosetip, but an audible ripping sound also conveys the hoodie’s dislike of the abuse.

“Buckle up, then!" Himiko states with her hands on her hips. "First we’ll need some shoes, though. Also, you should get up from the ground, can’t skate like that.”

The man jumps straight into a salute upon hearing that. Considering that his coat is hanging off his head like a tent, it's quite a sight. “Aye aye, Toga sensei!!”

Hawks can’t help but let the uncertain hum break free; he is not sure he’s ready to make a clown out of himself… or that he could still stand upright at all, as a baby bird he was quite a midget. And a lot closer to the ground in case he hit it, making it less, well, scary.

“Mister, you coming too, right?” asks Himiko turning back to the two leftovers of the group.

“Oh…? Oh, sure! Ha ha…” he starts, the nervousness hardly hidden in his voice.

A stone falls from Hawks’ heart; there’s another clown in the making…

The old man (?) is so full of it, though. Just look at him. The only thing holding him back from stuttering is state of the art bullshitting skills…

“--- it is a highly refined form of showmanship, of course I---”

“You’re so full of shit, old man.”

… IT WASN’T HIM. IT WASN’T HIM WHO SAID THAT, RIGHT?!

Said old man’s monologue stops with a soft ‘ah’ of mixed shock and horror… followed by both hands pressed tight over his wounded pride and heart. Not even the mask can hide the damage done.

“Dabiii, you can’t just steal the big man’s thunder like that…” speaks up Jin as he peels a hole for himself on the hood to look out of.

Oh, thank GOD.

The offender isn’t shaken by the callout in the least.

“He should just admit he can’t skate,” Dabi shrugs, turning back to wherever he was headed before the minute disturbance began. “Anyway… I’m off to drown myself in mulled wine or whatever they have for sale. Smell y’all later.”

Yeesh… that’s cold.

… actually, getting Dabi alone out of the picture has made this issue of being seen stumbling around half as intimidating. Which Hawks isn’t gonna complain about.

A few minutes later he’s already received his pair of skates and is mentally preparing for the task at hand. And also trying to calm down, because honestly? He’s excited.

First things first, though, for a change his wings are more of a liability while doing this, so he gets rid of most of the feathers. Only after piling them up in the corner of the coat (more along the lines of 'bag') check room does he try the skates from a few angles on the plastic covered ground. They may be rented, but in comparison to the pair of battered ones he found by a trash container as a kid, few sizes too big then and now just as small, anything shone as long as they fit the task.

With a deep breath, he decides to give this a try and steps into the rink. One leg, then the other… a slow start at low speed, but he’ll have to remember how to stop as well… Yeah, this will do.

Having gained some confidence on the field, he also manages to get out of the way of Toga and Twice as they burst onto the ice with reckless abandon, the latter obviously having no experience in the rink as he finishes the action mopping up every person and shaved particle in his wake.

Hawks skates up to him with a raised brow as Himiko giggles on and makes her rounds around the sprawling man. "You okay there, mate?"

His face that peeks out of the fluffy hoodie still pulled closely around his head looks either really focused… or 100% out of it. Maybe embarrassed, or having a religious experience. Hawks can't tell. In the end, he summarizes his status as follows:

"... yes."

“I told you, didn't I?” chips in Himiko, too, now that she’s over her giggling fit. “Can’t skate while on the ground. Though, if someone can do it… it’s probably you.”

"I'd say he's still got better chances with the usual method," Hawks muses out loud before offering a hand. (Not the best idea. Jot that down, Hawks: Bubaigawara Jin not only is nimble, but also heavy. Easily two-times-your-weight heavy if wings are not included. Do not engage in close combat.)

Nearly ending up on the ice aside, he notes that the number of people in the rink has dwindled down quite a bit in the past minute. Whether the masses are intimidated, afraid, or just conscious of the dumbassery of the big guns, Hawks doesn’t know.

Nor care about, really- more space for him to fuck around. Speaking of which…

He leaves the two jokers behind as Toga starts to legitimately tell Twice how to stand on the ice, and picks up just enough speed to test whether he can do another thing he usually can’t because of his wings.

The first attempt doesn’t go all that well, as he nearly slips when the skate he’s balancing on hiccups upon a deeper trail cut by others; on the second, he manages to stand on one leg, which is half of the battle, alright. He takes a second of a breather to stretch his legs before taking the route back towards the entrance again, checking in on how Twice is faring while he’s at it; seems to be going well for him. A little shaky, but he doesn’t fall ass backwards anymore.

He takes a deep sigh to collect some second hand inspiration, then shoots off to where Mister Compress’ hat has entered the field.

Hawks lifts a leg again, but this time, he also reaches behind his back to get a hold of the blade that should be riiight about… there!

Just sliding in a straight line and not stretched enough for this shit so it hurts like hell? Yes.

It would hurt even if he had stretched, to be frank.

But!! One day, he’s gonna do a legit Biellmann spin, you just watch.

“Why, Starling…!” Mister calls out with an air of awe, the doom and gloom finally lifting from his stance as the blonde is shaking his leg loose. He does stay suspiciously close to the entrance all along, though. “This comes to you as easy as flying does!”

“Could be worse,” he yells back as the momentum from the bend takes him the opposite direction.

Frankly, some may see it as cheating… but his feathers are an amazing addition he's gonna use to the fullest when on ice. So what if he has sonars to know how and where he’ll touch ground, or where to look for his feet from behind? Anyone with functional legs can do this without the help, they just need a little more practice. And why wouldn’t they? This is as close as anyone else can get to flying themselves, and boy is it a lot of fun!!

In fact, he’s so psyched that he does a pretty decent, simple Axel, nailing the landing after. Nice~

Hawks doesn’t bother opening his eyes for the next few minutes, just enjoying the chilly wind pinching his face and ears even pinker. Only then does he look up when someone with a whiff of some peach flavored alcoholic drink is about to cross his way… and goes as far as holding him by the waist, even if it’s for the fleeting moment he needs to grab his arm and spin them around in a circle.

“Not bad for a chicken.”

What the fuck, it’s Dabi.

The suspiciously happy man smirks over the baffled expression that appears on the hero's face. “You should check whether there’s a Happy Feet on Ice project, you could even make it.” Having said that, he gives Hawks a spin and joins him for the next round across the rink.

Wait a goddamn sec…

The blonde looks around with mild suspicion; he’s just noticed that Dabi is keeping up with him fine, which means… he can skate? “I thought you didn’t do, like, sports?”

He is pretty adamant on whining and moaning whenever the need to do anything but stand around menacingly arises… which is understandable, since, um… isn’t this a little… painful with a Frankensteined body like that?

Actually, it definitely is painful, because there’s one--- scratch that, now it’s two red stains on the white shirt poking out from under that ridiculous coat, and--- and blood dripping from one of his elbows, what the sincere fuck. Can he not feel that?!

“Spiked enough to do some stupid shit,” comes the enlightening sigh of an answer as they take the curve at rather high speeds, the faint smell of something not punch like also apparent on his breath. Makes the fact of him coming up close again less alarming, at the very least; a drunk (if not high as a kite…) Dabi averages out as more annoying, and less of a threat. And double the creepy, but that’s beside the point.

“You ready, birdie?”

… okay, maybe there is some room left for worry.

“Ready fo… huh?” The villain has his hands firmly around Hawks' waist now, as if preparing to--- no, there’s no way, he’s such a stick man, but still, the mere possibility…

“Fly!!!”

“WhaaAA---?!” By the time he realizes that Dabi really has that exact thing on his clearly not quite lucid mind when picking up some more speed on the straight line ahead of them, he’s already airborne. Hell if he’s counting how many turns he is doing, but damn it all, he has bigger problems at hand- first, he's actually getting dizzy, and he’s never dizzy with the exception of concussions and being sick, which is concerning, but maybe it’s due to fear. Second, he needs to recalculate his fall right fucking now, because this cackling asshat has managed to throw him quite high and he's also off-balance. He has trouble landing on solid ground when plucked near clean like this as-is, fuck, he's falling already, fuck fuck fuck fUCK---

It costs him a nearly sprained ankle, some panicked arm and wing flapping and an instant heart attack, but he manages to stick the landing somehow. He’s shaking like jello as Mister claps on and Jin and Himiko cry an awed WOOO HOOO, though. In fact, his legs that he’s using as something to lean on now are about to finally give in under him.

Hawks also just about gives into the temptation of collapsing on the spot as his momentum dies off at last… if not for some fucker capitalizing on the situation and dipping him for good measure.

Dabi also adds a hearty chuckle while doing so, certainly pleased at the mess the other is right now. “And here I thought you couldn’t be shaken.”

“I saw… my life flashing before my eyes, asshole,” he breathes between wheezes, contemplating whether he should grab onto the guy, because just hanging around doesn’t make for a stable setup and he’d rather not risk one of the concussions he's been thinking of.

A cock of the head aside, all he gets is an eyeroll. “Sure seem happy about it, don't you.”

Well, now that the villain points it out… Hawks certainly is grinning like an idiot, and has been for a while. For whatever reason, he also starts giggling uncontrollably at that.

“Shut up, will you,” he snickers while trying to find something to hang an arm onto.

It’s little use in the end, because Himiko decides to slide right into Dabi’s leg, both ruining a chance for a comeback and collapsing the unbalanced circus act.

He keeps giggling through Dabi’s moans of discontent and more, though. These few minutes were the most fun he’s had in a decade, if not more.

He's coming over tomorrow, too.

#ctabb ss 2019 #Kate writes #dabihawks #but only low key #Takami Keigo #Dabi #Sako Atsuhiro #Toga Himiko #Bubaigawara Jin #bnha hawks

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nadziejastar · 5 years

Note

They really do humanize Lea in the manga and books

They really do. I picked up a TON of additional info about Lea’s character and his original arc thanks to the novels. They are a goldmine of characterization. I developed a whole new level of appreciation for Lea after reading them. It’s why I am so mad about the way his relationship with Isa was handled in KH3. Isa was the foundation of his character arc. He was the main source of Axel’s emotional depth and complexity. He was the building block of his tragic backstory and inner pain.

For me, it was his relationship with Isa that took Axel from a cool and likable character…into a truly fascinating one. Axel’s relationship with Roxas and Xion was built off of his relationship with Isa. Axel’s attachment to Roxas and his sacrifice for Sora in KH2 became so much more compelling when I learned how Axel lost his childhood best friend. If you take Isa away, you destroy Lea’s character arc.

Lea: “Never Had a Friend Like Me”

Maybe she had been sent away somewhere on a long-term mission, like Axel at Castle Oblivion.

But…asking about Axel seemed to put Saïx in such a foul mood, Roxas couldn’t bring himself to inquire after Xion. Every day, he carried his slender ray of hope to the clock tower in Twilight Town, and every day he sat there alone.

I couldn’t help but notice a recurring theme in Axel and Saïx’s relationship. The concept of worrying. It came up over and over again. It was VERY important, especially in the novels. Saïx was always in a “foul” mood when he was asked about Axel.

“Then what about Nobodies? We don’t have hearts. Does some part of us remain?”

“As if. We’re not even supposed to ‘exist’ in the first place. What’s there to leave behind?”

“Then whoever it was at Castle Oblivion—”

“Gone,” Xigbar emphasized. “Without a trace.”

Roxas hung his head. “So…I’ll never see them again?”

“Nope.”

When word came in that the entire Castle Oblivion team was terminated, Roxas was extremely worried about Axel.

He felt his fists clench. So maybe I’ll never see Axel again…?

“You coming?”

“Oh…” When Roxas raised his head, Xigbar had already started walking. “Yeah.”

He moved to catch up, but before he could—the world around him blurred.

All the sounds of Agrabah fell silent. It felt like he was falling… And then darkness swallowed his mind.

He actually passed out after he heard this. It utterly terrified him to think he’d never see Axel again. And all this happened in Agrabah, which I think is important. It relates to what the Genie said in Days. Lea is basically the Genie. The best friend anyone could ever hope for. I’ll get to that.

Xemnas stared down at the boy. “So sleep has taken you yet again…”

If the words had reached Roxas in his dreams, the boy gave no indication.

Xemnas and Saïx stood over Roxas’ bedside after he passed out. Xemnas made a vague remark which we now know was associating Ven with Roxas. This connection to BBS is important, as I’ll get to later. Roxas has a dream of Xemnas touching him on the shoulder, and when I replayed the game recently the first thing that came to mind were the scenes where Terra touches Ven’s shoulder. And since Xemnas has Terra’s memories, I think this was significant.

“Better hurry, Ventus…or you’ll never see Terra again,” said a sudden voice.

Ven turned around. He should have been the only one here—but someone else was standing there. It was a youth about the same height as him, wearing a black bodysuit and a menacing featureless mask.

“What? Get real. I can see Terra anytime I want,” Ven snapped back at him.

The young man, Vanitas, leaned against the shelf and replied, “Like right now? He’s leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up…he’ll be a different person.” He sounded completely confident.

This was Ven’s worst fear. Never seeing Terra again. It’s why he set off on his journey to begin with.

“The three of us can never be torn apart, all right? I’ll always find a way.”

Ven felt Terra’s hand squeeze his shoulder. Aqua bent over and looked into his face with concern, then brushed his face with her fingertips.

They had it wrong. That wasn’t it.

Ven placed his hand on Aqua’s and gently lowered it, then brushed Terra’s off his shoulder.

His eyes bored into them.

“I’m asking you, as a friend…Just…put an end to me.”

It’s why he took Terra’s hand off of his shoulder and told his friends to put an end to him. Terra said he’d find a way and that they’d never be torn apart. But Ventus didn’t believe that was possible. So, he was willing to sacrifice himself to protect them. This idea connects heavily into Axel’s arc.

“I came to stop you from talking too much…by eliminating your existence, that is.” Axel smirked and took a step closer to him.

“No… Don’t do it…”

“We’re Nobodies. We have no one to be—we just are. But now you don’t have to be at all. No more existence, no more memories. You’re off the hook.”

Axel didn’t seem to be paying attention to Sora and the others. He only looked at Vexen.

While all of that was going on, Axel was at Castle Oblivion.

“No one to be?” What could that even mean…?

“Don’t… No, please don’t…! I don’t want to—”

“Bye, now.” Axel shot a bright light from his hand again. Vexen’s scream echoed through the strange landscape—and then he was gone, not a trace remaining.

“What are you— What are you people?!” Sora demanded.

“Hm. Not sure. I wonder about that myself.” With that, Axel stepped into thin air and vanished.

He eliminates Vexen and the novel delves into his emotional state a lot more.

Axel walked through the long corridors of the castle. Normally, he wouldn’t bother walking places like this. But he needed time to himself.

I don’t have a single friend in this place. All these people on my side—and his and the organization’s… But I don’t know if I can say that we’re really on the same side.

I’m alone here.

He’s nobody—no one at all—and yet he is somebody.

Shards of emotion, fragments of memory. So alike…but they’re completely different things.

Even if we can hold on to a few fragments of memory, we can’t have the smallest shard of emotion.

Nostalgia… And memory.

We are the ones who lost their hearts—the ones who are no one. Nobodies. Not light nor darkness—we live in the twilight.

Taking out Vexen was very personal for him. He has no one to be. He told Vexen that having no more memories means he’s off the hook. Memories are a burden to him. Being in Castle Oblivion, and meeting Sora has brought back a lot of memories, though. It’s important to note that in Days, Xion’s theme is actually called “Who Am I?” I think that’s because it’s not really just Xion’s theme. It’s the theme song of all three main characters. Roxas wanted to know who he was. It’s why he left. Well, Axel wanted to know who he was, as well. He used to be someone who picked up any stray puppy he saw. But who is he now? He really doesn’t know.

Axel stopped outside the crystal ball room and took a deep breath.

Why are we here? What are we doing?

No—why am I here?

Still asking himself that question, he opened the door.

He asks himself why he is there. He does this a lot in the novels. And it’s always about Saïx. He also frequently asks himself who he’s doing it all for. Axel had a strong need to feel like he was doing things for the sake of another. It was his memories of the past that caused him to change so much when he returned.

“Is that your shield? Won’t do you much good. I don’t mind eliminating her as well,” Axel told him, chakrams blazing. “Ready for real oblivion, Marluxia?”

It shouldn’t make any difference to him or to the Organization whether Naminé lived or not. He would destroy anyone in his way.

“Hmph… We’ll see about that,” said Marluxia. “Are you listening, Sora?”

And in fact, Sora came rushing in, ready for another battle.

“Oh?” Axel lowered his weapons.

“Axel says he’s willing to harm Naminé to get to me,” Marluxia shouted. “But you won’t let that happen, will you?!”

Naminé didn’t mean anything to Axel at this point. He was willing to destroy her if she got in his way.

“…Axel!” Clutching the Keyblade, Sora glared at him.

Still? Axel thought. Facing Sora like this reminded him of Roxas, which made him uneasy. The memory of a feeling welled up within, something that had never come over him when he confronted Marluxia or Larxene or Vexen.

But those connections were no more than memories of the past—Axel had never cared about anyone since becoming a Nobody.

What was happening? Why was Roxas so important to him? Why was Sora?

So long as he understood what the stakes were, he should have no reason to recoil from terminating someone. After all, he was a Nobody with no heart.

And yet…he didn’t want to do this.

But Axel remembered a feeling while he was facing Sora. I think it was because he saw Naminé as just a helpless girl at that point. Too afraid to stand up to the Organization, so she complied with their schemes. But Sora was fighting to protect the people he cared about.

“Oh, come on,” he said, feigning indifference. “You’re Marluxia’s puppet already?”

“You think so?” Sora retorted. “After I finish you, he’s next!”

“Heh… Look, Sora…” Axel stared hard at him.

None of that mattered; he couldn’t eliminate the kid at this point. He would just pretend to lose. Go out with a real bang.

“We’ve got more of a connection than you might think. I’d rather not fight you, but…I can’t let myself look bad here!”

Axel sprang into the air to attack.

Axel could see himself in Sora. He could identify with him in a way he couldn’t with Naminé, at least not yet. Lea had someone he wanted to fight for and protect, like Sora does. But Lea wanted to protect Isa. He’s the one he was doing it all for. Saïx is nothing like Isa now. It makes him question everything. But it makes him fascinated by Sora.

“You had me worried,” he admitted.

“Worried?” Axel laughed. “That’s a feat, considering you haven’t got a heart to feel with.”

Roxas had to laugh, too—a little bit.

He really was glad that Axel wasn’t gone. Now that they were both here, they could hang out at their usual spot, and…

“I’ll go get us some ice cream!” Roxas took off at a run.

Axel gets back on ~Day 71 Reunion~. The day after is ~Day 72 Change~. Everyone’s changed. Roxas is more upbeat, especially after befriending Xion. Axel changed after Castle Oblivion.

I wasn’t away for all that long, but it feels like ages, he thought.

“Then why’d you come here?” Roxas wondered.

Because before reporting at the castle, before seeing anybody else, I wanted to have ice cream here with you.

Because I wanted to see if you really are Sora’s Nobody.

Axel wasn’t sure which reason he had been focused on. But he hesitated to name either one aloud. “Guess I needed some time to sort out my feelings first.”

The main reason he changed is because his sleeping memories awakened. And it truly hit him just how much Saïx has changed. Roxas worried about Axel while he was away and this drives the point home even further.

“Hmm.” Saïx sniffed. “All I did was find a place to send everyone who was getting in the way.”

Maybe he was telling the truth. The other members were only obstacles to Saïx— No. To both of them.

Axel half-jokingly asked if Saïx intended to eliminate him. He genuinely wasn’t sure about his intentions.

And yet, Axel couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his response. “Well, nice to know where I stand.”

He said it with a grin, but the hint of a frown tugged at the scar between Saïx’s brows. Apparently, the joke wasn’t very funny. “You made it back in one piece, didn’t you?”

Were you worried I wouldn’t? Axel almost said, but he didn’t want to deal with putting him in an even fouler mood. Disgust and rage seemed to linger closest to the surface of Saïx’s memories.

All Axel wanted was to know if Saïx was worried about him. But asking would have put him in an even fouler mood. Disgust and rage come to mind when that subject is brought up. It made me wonder if Saïx had memories of Isa worrying about and trying to protect Lea, and that’s why it makes him so angry. Like he resents Axel. And I think that is exactly the case, which I will explain.

“They…they’ll find out they don’t need me…and they’ll turn me into a Dusk…”

Xion’s voice was shaking more noticeably now. Dealing with girls who were about to cry was way above his pay grade.

“C’mon, Axel, think of something!” Roxas insisted.

Why can’t you think of something? The retort nearly left Axel’s mouth, but he gulped it back down.

Next day is ~Day 74 Trio~. Axel is put on the spot to come up with a solution to Xion’s problem.

“Hey, friends get to lean on each other now and then,” said Axel. “Roxas gets it.” Affirming his words, Roxas turned to her with a warm smile.

“So…does that mean…you and I are friends, too, Axel?” Xion asked timidly.

Axel hesitated, staring into the sunset instead of at her. What do I say to that?

This is officially the day all three of them become friends. It was because Xion felt like she could lean on Axel for support.

This was the second time Ven had watched him go.

He left me again…

“When I really need you, Ven, I know you’ll be there.”

He repeated what Terra had said. It was natural to help a friend in need. Obviously, Ven would do what he could for Terra—but what was that business about “needing” him?

Roxas is reminding Axel about all of these things. Friendship, support. All things he’d forgotten. And I think it was all to prepare Ven to do the same for Terra. He also needed to be reminded that he could lean of his friends.

Ven watched Lea walk over to Isa.

“Friends, huh…” he muttered, then turned away from the other two.

He may not have been able to go with Terra and Aqua, but he could go after them.

He had to get moving.

Ven set off again.

After Terra leaves, Ven meets Lea and Isa. He looked up at the sky after they left. He thought it must be nice to actually know who your friends are. And I definitely think that scene was important. Because by the time Roxas meets Axel, it’s totally the opposite. Isa has become a different person, just like Ven feared Terra would become. He doesn’t know who his friends are.

“Anyway, matter of fact, carpet and me were on a well-deserved vacation. A little world tour, if you will. But then I got to worrying about how Al was doing…” A gloomy note crept into Genie’s outlandishly ebullient voice. “So we figured we’d pop back in to check on him.”

“Why were you worried? Is there something to worry about?”

The Genie pulled a white handkerchief out of nowhere and dabbed at his eyes. “Well, sure! It’s only natural to worry about your friends. I worried about how it’s going with Jasmine, how the city is doing…and once I get something in my head, I can’t get it back out. Tried everything—chainsaws, sledgehammers, tweezers…”

Next is ~Day 75 Inseparable~. When I first played Days I remember finding it weird how Aladdin didn’t wanna rely on magic to get rid of the sandstorms. Just use the damn magic! It’s not like it has any penalties! Quit being so stubborn and let him help you!

“Al said he wouldn’t rely on magic, right? I want to fix it for him, but you gotta respect your friend’s wishes.”

“Your friend’s… wishes…” So, even if you mean for something to be for your friend’s sake, their wishes are still more important?

Now I think that it was because Agrabah was supposed to tell us something important. Like the Beast’s Castle, Agrabah also was deliberately drawing parallels with Axel’s story. And it involved the idea of worrying about a friend, but respecting their wishes not to help them.

Xigbar: Another storm is brewing. These people will never be able to repair the city fast enough. Heh heh, glad I don’t live here.

Roxas: Plus they have to deal with all the Heartless.

Xigbar: Aha! You picked up on a juicy bit there, Roxas.

Roxas: Why?

Xigbar: The storm and the Heartless… It’s possible they’re not completely unrelated.

Roxas: You think there’s a connection?

Xigbar: All right, I think that’s all we’re getting for one day. Let’s RTC.

Aladdin didn’t want to ask for help because he didn’t want to burden Genie. His wish was for him to be free. And being free means that he shouldn’t have to solve his problems. Of course, this outlook is hinted to be misguided. The city is in dire condition thanks to the Heartless. Xigbar hints that the constant barrage of sandstorms is causing the Heartless problem. Aladdin’s refusal to ask for help is creating darkness, and attracting them.

After Roxas and Xion leave, Genie helps out anyway. In KH2, he helps out even more. It’s not a burden if your friend wants to help you. They’ll just worry even more if they can’t. Your problems ARE their problems. The two are inseparable. Aladdin was being too selfless, and Genie had to help him even though he said not to. That’s what Axel’s character is all about. And it’s what Terra and Ven’s relationship was all about, too.

“Genie sounded really worried about his friend–some guy named Al. But, I guess you can’t always jump in and do everything for your friends–even if you want to. And then he said that you have to respect your friend’s wishes.” Xion bit her ice cream, swinging her feet. Axel leaned his head to one side.

“Your friend’s wishes, huh…” It feels like I have heard that before, a long time ago, when I was human.

And stuff like this is why I love the novels so much. Axel says he feels like he’s heard that before.

Roxas peered at him curiously. “So then why did the Genie say he and Al were ‘inseparable’?”

“It’s not like they’re actually joined at the hip. What’s it mean?” Xion was staring at Axel, too, as if he had all the answers.

“Well, I think you can be inseparable, even if you’re apart,” said Axel.

Roxas and Xion shared a look. “…Even if you’re apart,” Roxas murmured.

They trailed off, and this time Axel finished his ice cream. So he started talking again. “It’s like, if you feel really close to each other. Like best friends.”

“Is that different?” Roxas still had questions. “What’s it like having a best friend?”

Stumped by that one, Axel turned to the sunset. Even if Nobodies could go around playacting friendship, Axel felt like pretending to be best friends was something else altogether. It just wasn’t in them. And he didn’t have a better answer.

He squinted in the blazing glow and finally said, “Couldn’t tell you. I haven’t got one.”

If best friends worry about each other, then Axel feels like he definitely doesn’t have one. Castle Oblivion made that clear. But he remembers what having a best friend was like, and feeling inseparable from them. It’s heavily implied that this whole concept related to Lea’s past with Isa. I think this was supposed to be a MAJOR theme in their relationship. Worrying about a friend, and wanting to jump in and do everything for their sake, but being told to respect their wishes. And it’s not referring to Axel and Saïx, but Lea and Isa. As humans.

Silence fell over the room. He paused in his munching to stare hard at Riku, then finally asked, “What is Sora to you?”

The question caught Riku off guard. He groped for words.

On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.” Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

A similar conversation about best friends happens in the KH2 novels. The subject makes Axel extremely sad, just like it did before.

Riku had followed Sora to Disney Castle, and he was still there.

“He worries too much. Thinks he has to help Sora do everything…” Axel grimaced in irritation.

“But, Axel, aren’t you the one worrying about Riku and Sora?” Naminé giggled softly.

“Me, worry? You think I need to be worried about those two?” He stretched backward and rocked the chair back and forth, like a restless child. Naminé returned to her sketchbook.

And this idea of worrying is brought up yet again, in relation to best friends. It provides even more evidence that the story was going somewhere with this whole concept. Axel is irritated (though pleased) by the thought of Riku worrying too much about Sora. And he’s really worried about them himself, but denies it.

“Say, Naminé… Are you still going to try to meet Kairi?” Her head snapped up at the unexpected question. Across from her, Axel met her gaze, grave and earnest.

“I have to help her,” she said with a sad smile.

He scowled. “Is that really the best thing?”

“The best thing…?” Naminé set her crayons down on the table, her gaze dropping as she thought for a moment, and then she smiled at him again. “It’s the right thing.”

In response, Axel only leaned back and rocked in the chair again. She took up her crayons.

No one could know what was right or wrong.

The picture she was drawing depicted herself and Riku and Axel, too, smiling brightly.

Immediately afterwards, he asks Naminé about Kairi. Axel knows she wants to meet her, even if she disappears. He now cares about Naminé in the same way he does about Sora and Roxas. She’s worth caring about since she puts others ahead of herself. And Axel hates this idea. He can’t stand the thought of a friend sacrificing themself, no matter if it’s for a higher good.

I think Isa WAS worried about Lea. But. I think Isa was actually the one who told Lea to stop worrying about him, stop trying to jump in and do everything for his sake, and to respect his wishes. And it was because Isa was trying to protect him. I think Isa knew they were all going to be turned into Heartless and Nobodies that day in the lab. Lea wasn’t. Only Isa was a vessel. The other apprentices chose to participate in that experiment. Isa didn’t want Lea to get involved.

He knew Lea would do anything to save him, regardless of the consequences. So he told him to respect his wishes, and to stop worrying about him. Lea didn’t listen and came anyways. They all lost their hearts. And I think this is why Lea woke up next to the computer terminal. He was trying to save Isa. After Lea lost his heart, I think Isa felt the same as Roxas. The thought that he may never see Lea again traumatized him so much that he went to sleep. It was his worst fear happening right in front of him, and was exactly what he was trying to prevent. I think that’s why Roxas passed out in Agrabah, where all the talk of inseparable best friends, and respecting their wishes took place. It tied into Lea and Isa’s story well.

When they were turned into Nobodies, Isa was no longer there anymore. Another Xehanort with Isa’s memories was all that was left in his body. I think this was why Axel had such a complicated relationship with Saïx. How is he supposed to feel? He knew was that Isa was trying to protect him. Then after losing his heart, he was no longer the same person. He became cold and uncaring. He has no affection for Axel. He doesn’t like Saïx, but he still loves Isa. He only became that way because he wanted to protect him. They both wanted revenge. But I think Saïx resented Axel due to the effect Isa’s memories had on him. He only got into his situation by protecting him. By caring. Which to him, was a weakness. Whether he ever verbalized it or not, he blames Axel for his condition. Axel lost all of his faith in humanity due to this.

As he watched Ven go on his way, Isa commented to Lea in a frosty tone, “What is it with you and picking up stray puppies?”

Lea just shrugged. “I want everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people’s memories, I can live forever.”

“I know I won’t forget you. Believe me, I try all the time,” Isa replied with a bit of humor in his tone.

“See? I’m immortal!”

“You’re obnoxious.”

Lea and Isa looked up at the castle looming over this world. Lea’s mouth curled into a grin. Responding to his expression, Isa said, “You ready?”

“Well, I can tell you are.”

“Yeah.” Isa nodded at Lea’s question, and then the two of them set off.

I think this is what messed him up so badly. He was just trying to protect his friend, and then his entire world was taken away from him. Isa doesn’t even care about him anymore now. Isa represented Lea’s old self—his innocence and hope. Lea put others first, and was optimistic about life. Isa loved the person Lea used to be and they were inseparable. He said he’d never forget him, and tried to protect him. He lost his heart in the process.

When Isa changed, Lea lost his faith in everything he used to believe in. His innocence was completely destroyed. He became filled with hatred and despair. He no longer cared about hurting others. The total opposite of everything Lea was. This is why Isa was so important to Lea’s character arc. Lea needed to see that Isa never changed to truly restore his faith in humanity as a whole.

I think that’s exactly why Lea couldn’t summon his Keyblade until after he realized Isa was a vessel, and after Riku saved Sora from the Realm of Sleep. Because he finally understood that Isa had never really changed. He just got turned into a Xehanort, like Sora nearly did. Riku became a master by braving the darkness to save his friend. Lea thought he’d catch up in no time, then successfully summoned his Keyblade without an issue. His heart was finally strong enough to truly believe again. Like Aladdin, he wished for his friend’s freedom, and his heart awakened the Flame Liberator in response.

After sending off Xion and Roxas, Saïx spun around to face Axel behind him. “What are you playing at?”

“What do you mean? Just trying to help out a budding friendship.” Axel grinned, bright and innocent.

Roxas and Xion had to be literally inseparable for a while, and Axel did his best to protect their secret.

Atop the clock tower, Axel absently watched the sunset.

He let out a long sigh. Being sent to Agrabah alone was all well and good, except for the part when he’d been slammed into the ground.

Looking out for other people when I can’t even take care of myself—this isn’t like me at all.

A dark portal yawned open behind him. “Hey, Axel!”

“Whoa! Don’t scare me like that.”

On the day where Xion gets her Keybalde back, Axel thinks to himself how uncharacteristic it is for him to help others at his own expense like this. They show up to thank him, and it made him even more uncomfortable.

“Yeah. As long as we remember one another, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?”

I think if my theory is correct, it would adequately explain why Axel valued his memories of the past so much. He’s very cynical, but very sentimental at the same time.

Xion laughed. Roxas found it funny too, and he started to laugh.

Those words were meant to make them feel better, but… if I went into that, I’d look weak.

“Is it that funny?!” Axel asked almost unconsciously. Roxas and Xion stopped laughing for a moment, but when they looked at each other, they burst out laughing again.

Xion burst into giggles, and then, as if it was contagious, Roxas started laughing, too.

“Oh, c’mon, it’s not that funny!” Axel scolded.

They paused, looked at each other, and giggled again.

“I don’t know why I put up with this…”

“But, I mean…it just didn’t sound like you, Axel.” Xion could barely hold in laughter long enough to get the words out.

Just like on Day 75, he talks about never being apart. Inseparable. Saïx wishes for Axel to leave him alone, except if he has any info about the Chamber of Waking. He doesn’t want to be close. Axel respects his wish, although it kills him inside. When some of his genuine feelings come out, Roxas thinks it’s unlike him. Because he learned to stop showing his feelings a long time ago. It makes him weak. That’s what the tear marks mean, too.

A wish that they could always be together—was longing for the impossible. But at least they could always remember one another.

And yet…if that wasn’t to be, either, what could they do?

You can tell how cynical he is on this day. He only said that for their sake. But he really thinks that if they can’t be together…well, what can you do? That’s life. It’d be nice, sure. But it’s impossible. He’s not gonna get all broken up when things eventually change and they can’t be together every day. He’s not sentimental towards Roxas and Xion yet. That comes later. This was 100% about Isa.

“Xion!” Roxas came running to them and peered at her anxiously.

“It’s okay. She’s not hurt,” said Axel.

“But, Axel—”

Roxas was only going to fret more. Axel stood up with her in is arms. “Let’s just get back.”

He didn’t give Roxas a moment to argue before he set off.

They returned to the silent halls of the vast castle. Axel was carrying Xion with Roxas glued to his side. Her face was so pale it seemed translucent—not a comforting sight.

The scene from earlier with Roxas is paralleled later when Xion passes out. Roxas and Axel are very worried, and Saïx is quick to show how much he doesn’t care. Just like always.

“Did it break again? That didn’t take long.”

Only Saïx would make such a callous remark. Rage surged up in Roxas, and he spun around. “Don’t call her an ‘it’!”

He was on the verge of throwing a punch, but Axel stepped in between them, still holding the unconscious Xion. He didn’t look at Saïx, but he did have one thing to say.

“Keep your mouth shut.”

Roxas had never heard him speak so coldly to anyone before. Saïx made no reply.

This is the first time Axel reacts like this to Saïx. I think Axel was so mad because he remembered how much he was worried about Isa and wanted to protect him, in the past. Axel only became a Nobody by trying to save him. Hearing him speak so coldly while he is worried over another friend was like reliving that day, and having all of those feelings spit on. It hurt him very deeply. He’s nothing like Isa anymore.

“Are you worried about her, too, Axel?”

The question slipped out before he could stop it.

Axel eyed him in mild surprise. “Of course I am.”

But his voice was still oddly low. Running into Saïx had brought out a different side of him—and that side was a little scary.

“This just doesn’t seem like you,” said Roxas.

“What do you mean?”

Roxas found he couldn’t quite put the answer into words. What can I say…? “You don’t like things to be complicated.”

That was the best he could do. It wasn’t quite right, either…but he didn’t know how to describe this.

This is just like the day Xion got her Keyblade ability back. Axel has successfully hidden from everyone how much he cares. Roxas truly thinks Axel worrying about them is uncharacteristic of him. Axel is taken aback by this.

As he was trying to find the words for another attempt, Axel spoke instead. “Look, Roxas… Why do you think the three of us meet up to have ice cream every day in the same spot?”

“Huh…?” Roxas couldn’t tell where this was going.

“It’s not like I have to. If you think about it, it’s just one more chore on the pile, right?” From that angle, it did seem like a chore. Except it wasn’t a chore—it was fun, having ice cream together after work. That was why they went to meet up. What made it so much fun, though?

“You wanna know?” Roxas quietly waited for the answer.

“It’s because you two are my best friends.”

Axel had said before that he didn’t have a best friend, Roxas remembered. But now it’s us…?

“Got it memorized?” A smile played at the corners of Axel’s mouth. “The three of us, we’re inseparable. You’re my best friends.”

Roxas felt a grin come to his face. “Yeah… I guess we are.”

It’s right after this that Axel tells them they’re best friends and inseparable. There’s definitely a connection between all these scenes. They’re standing over Xion’s bedside exactly like Xemnas and Saïx were before. Axel stands in Xemnas’ (Terra’s) place and Roxas stands in Saïx’s (Isa’s) place. Axel believes all of his genuine concern for Saïx has been thrown in his face at this point. He cares about Xion and Roxas, but it did feel to me like he was trying to cope with his pain by trying to replace Isa with them, at least in that moment, and albeit unconsciously.

The Organization wanted to have either Roxas or Xion eliminated. But what could he do about it? That was what Axel had to figure out.

Roxas grabbed his collar and shouted, “How could you do that to her?!”

“Do what?”

Axel’s stubborn calm took the wind from his sails, and Roxas went slack. His voice came out small and defeated. “You didn’t have to use force…”

Axel sighed theatrically and circled his shoulders. “Didn’t I?” Still gripping Axel’s collar, Roxas shook his head with the emphatic refusal of a little kid.

“No, you didn’t…” But he sounded uncertain as he said it, and his voice shrank even more. “We’re supposed to be best friends.”

Axel brushed Roxas’s hands from his collar. “This isn’t about friendship.”

Axel was trying to protect Roxas, but keeping the reasons from him. He was willing to deal with his anger if it meant he would remain unharmed.

Roxas raised his head. The glare in his blue eyes was sharp as a knife.

Axel had never seen that from him before. His chest twinged, just a bit. He let out another sigh. “Listen, if that’s all, I gotta go.”

Roxas wilted again, and something in his expression weakened Axel’s resolve slightly.

I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me.

He turned away from Roxas and made himself walk away.

He was trying to find a solution that could work for everyone. He was trying to do things for the sake of others, and trying to respect everyone’s wishes. But he admits that he’s doing it for himself, too. He’s happy if his friends are. Dealing with the fallout from Roxas was painful for him.

Leaning against the wall with folded arms was his once-upon-a-time best friend—Saïx—probably waiting for him. But Saïx was keeping his gaze fixed on an imaginary point below the floor.

“You’re sure things are better this way?” Axel wondered aloud.

Finally, Saïx looked up. “I never expected you to question it.”

Question it? Well, that was one way of referring to the buzzing doubt in his chest.

Saïx left his perch by the wall and came closer. “Which one is more dear to you? Roxas or the puppet?”

Axel looked away. “Dear” to him? What would he know about that as a Nobody?

And he was also dealing with fallout from Saïx as well.

“Or put it this way,” Saïx said, as if he’d heard himself. “Which one would you rather suffer the loss of? Some idiotic charade of friendship or Roxas himself?”

The answer to that was obvious. If it came down to Roxas or a puppet, Axel knew perfectly well which one he would save.

“Things are finally right again,” Saïx went on. “Of course, we’re better off this way.”

Axel had no retort for that. Maybe because he didn’t want to alienate Saïx anymore.

He doesn’t want to alienate him anymore, either. He was being pulled in so many different directions, and it was impossible for him to know what to do.

“Xemnas is exasperated from all the ‘fixing’ we’ve had to do. We have to set things right. There is too much on the line…Lea.”

Hearing his old name, Axel glanced up to see Saïx watching him intently. He remembered being human. Memories surged inside him, crowding the space in his chest. For Nobodies, memory had all the weight of a heart.

I remember. I won’t forget. But those sunsets with Roxas and Xion were part of his memory. Axel broke away again from Saïx’s gaze, looking down at nothing.

Saïx was just manipulating him, but Axel genuinely did want to do what was best for Isa, along with Roxas and Xion.

“Can’t you just let things run their course?” Saïx complained.

“What course? Whose plans am I ruining, exactly?” Axel retorted, still staring at the empty space where Roxas’s portal swirled into nothing.

“The Organization’s. I trust you.”

Axel let out a low chuckle. “Yeah? Because your heart tells you to?”

“Just the memory of it. But if you continue to interfere, I’ll have to overwrite that memory with everything I’ve learned as a Nobody.”

“…Should I take that as a threat?”

“More or less. Keep it in mind.” Finished with the conversation, Saïx walked away.

Axel didn’t move for a while.

I thought it was interesting that Saïx would say things like “keep that in mind” or “think about that”. It seemed intentionally similar to “got it memorized?”

He wanted to find a way to save both of them, to respect both of their feelings. He’d spent most of the night poring over the possibilities, but of course he hadn’t found the answer.

“You’ve meddled again,” said a voice behind him.

Axel stopped short. He hadn’t even noticed Saïx’s presence.

“Sorry, did you say something?” He turned with a slight smirk.

“We don’t need them both. Just one. And pretending won’t change it.”

We, who? Axel wanted to ask, but he held it in, along with a bitter laugh. He wasn’t sure if that “we” meant Organization XIII or just Saïx and himself.

The novel stresses again that he’s trying to find a solution that respects both of their feelings. None of the others know how hard he is working on their behalf, or how much he worries about them. He hides it all.

“Think about that.”

Oh, I am. And I’m sick of it. I’m even desperate enough to ask you if there’s another way.

The words nearly escaped him, but Saïx was already walking toward the Grey Area. The set of his shoulders told him plainly what the answer would be.

Axel realized how great the rift was between how he remembered their past and what he saw now.

Why am I even here? I don’t know anymore. What am I trying to do?

Eventually, Axel trailed after Saïx to the lobby.

Just like at Castle Oblivion, Axel questions why he’s there. Saïx acts so cold. Hes not the Isa he remembers. The person he worried over and the person whose sake he was doing it all for.

I promised Xion. I have to keep my word, don’t I?

What Xion really wants—and what Roxas wants, too—is for the three of us to stay together. But there’s nothing I can do now to make that happen. So if I can at least keep my promise to her…that’s what I’ll do.

Axel didn’t let any of it show as he waited for Roxas to continue.

“You’re not really gonna do what Xemnas says…are you?” Roxas asked, still staring at the floor.

A tiny sigh escaped Axel. “I have to. Or else I won’t be safe, either.”

That was the harsh truth. And if he was gone, too, who would keep Roxas safe?

“Well…can you at least try not to hurt her this time?” Roxas pleaded.

“That’s up to her.” Axel breathed an even bigger sigh.

Axel is doing everything for Roxas’ sake, but he doesn’t let any of it show. He’s sacrificing his own—and Roxas and Xion’s—wishes to fulfill his promise to Xion. He was willing to deal with Roxas being angry at him, in order to keep him safe. I think this is exactly what Isa did with Lea. He protected him, regardless of the effect it had on their friendship. He acted cold and kept his real feelings a secret. He’d rather have Lea think ill of him than have him get destroyed. So he told him to stop worrying about him and to stop trying to jump in and help him, which must have hurt Lea at the time. Axel has a hard time expressing his feelings because of the past trauma he went through.

“You knew all this time, and you didn’t tell me?!” Roxas cried.

Axel couldn’t bear to answer him. But even if this did end their friendship, he would still find a way to protect Roxas—he wanted to. After all, he’d promised Xion.

No matter what it does to Xion, I’ll take care of Roxas. Even if my way and her way don’t mix.

Axel turned his back on Roxas and walked away.

Axel is starting to feel like it’s more important to protect his friend than respecting the way Xion asked him to do it. He always tried to respect others’ wishes. He tried to stop letting people know how much he worried about them, since it was a sign of weakness.

She answered plainly. “I’m going back to where I belong. That’s all.”

“You know, I always thought that’d be for the best. But it still bugs me. Something about this is just wrong.”

“It’s the best thing for everyone,” said Xion.

Everyone? Everyone, who? For us? Or…for someone else?

“How do you know that?” Axel demanded. “Everyone thinks they’re right…”

“This is right,” Xion said firmly. “It’s better this way.”

Axel hated that argument. Nothing was better any which way. All it came down to was what you wanted to do and what you didn’t. He’d learned that lesson back when he had a heart.

He hates Xion’s rationale that she’s doing what’s best. He hates the way he’s been living, too. His heart desires to protect his friends, regardless of whether they would prefer to sacrifice themself for the greater good. There’s just something about that way of thinking that he inherently rejects. He learned that back when he had a heart.

“So it’s better for you to disappear?” he protested.

Because she would—they both knew it. No more Xion.

But she raised the Keyblade against him. “Please don’t hold back, Axel. Promise.”

“What’s your problem?!” Axel roared.

She thinks I’m gonna hold back? Now, after all that’s happened?

“You both think you can do whatever you want!” He summoned his flame-wreathed chakrams to his hands. “I’m sick of it. Go on, you just keep running. But I’ll always be there to bring you back!”

It was a plea, a cry, a bitter lament, and a vow.

No matter how many times you leave, I’ll bring you back. Every time. Both of you. For my sake and for yours.

Xion might well be more powerful than he remembered. But he wouldn’t lose. He was stronger.

He’s finally sick of it. He can’t take it anymore. He doesn’t care what Xion wants anymore. He cant stand letting his friend sacrifice herself. I think this concept was what Axel’s character arc was supposed to be ALL about. It’s a constantly recurring theme. It’s why I think Isa was intending to sacrifice himself, because he wanted to protect Lea. It fits perfectly with his Mystery Gear, too. Roxas and Xion’s relationship with him entirely revolved around this idea. They teach Axel to reconnect with how he used to feel. About Isa. He told Lea that he worries too much, and to respect his wishes to not do everything for him.

He’d been overthinking the do’s and don’ts so much that he lost sight of what he wanted. And he couldn’t gather the courage to follow Roxas. Was he afraid of rebelling against the Organization? No—it was just that he wanted things to stay the way they were, even more than Xion or Roxas did.

Axel didn’t care anymore about what the Organization needed, what Xion or Roxas wanted, or even what was supposed to be good for the worlds.

He had been using the Organization for his own ends from the start. The only thing that had changed in the meantime was who it was all for. Maybe Saïx would call that a betrayal. But his world had changed.

I wanted us to stay together. All I wanted was to hold on to our happiness as a trio in the Organization. But I told myself to grow up and stop wishing for the impossible. Well, I’m done with that. That’s not the answer I want.

“…Axel?” Once more, Xion dragged herself upright. And they clashed again…

The main takeaway that Axel got from Days is that he doesn’t care about respecting everyone else’s wishes any more if it means losing friends. Not Roxas, Xion, the Organization, or the worlds. He wants to listen to his heart. Even if Saïx calls that a betrayal. He isn’t doing it for his sake anymore. Saïx doesn’t care about him and he can’t change that. But I think all that insistence that Roxas was the only friend he’s ever had was STILL Axel trying to convince himself to grow up and stop wishing for the impossible.

Roxas: Hey, Axel. You haven’t forgotten?

Axel: Hm? What?

Roxas: You made us a promise.

Axel: I did?

Roxas: That you’d always be there…to bring us back.

Axel: Yeah…

Roxas: Got it memorized?

Axel: Best friends forever.

But his whole relationship with Roxas and Xion was to teach him to CHANGE that type of thinking. He learned how to listen to his heart and to not give up on his wish. And that wish is to always bring his friends back. During his dream of Roxas, the positioning is just like in Days, on the first day Axel took Roxas out for ice cream. He didn’t like the taste anymore. It’s too salty. He eats it for emotional reasons. To feel connected to his past. And I think that was the message that dream was intended to have. Axel was always clinging so hard to his memories of the past. Well, it’s time to make that a reality. Roxas is there to remind him of the promise he made. He’d always bring them back, even if they didn’t want to be.

Lea: What a drag. Could they not have been recompleted at all?

Ienzo: Well you see–

Lea: Ah! Forget it. You know what? I’ll bring ‘em back myself.

Ienzo: Huh? How, exactly?

Lea: Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?

And that’s why he used the exact same words in this scene that he did with Xion. He doesn’t want to stop caring or worrying. He prefers to do things for his friend’s sake, regardless of what they wish. Now that he’s recompleted, he expects Isa to be, too. And he wants to bring him back. I think this idea is what inspired the theme song “Don’t Think Twice”. Overthinking is the problem. Like Mickey says in KH3, protecting the things that matter is about caring so much about someone else, there’s no room for doubt.

Axel acted with purely selfless intentions, but hiding his true feelings had a terrible effect on his friendship with Roxas. Isa was being selfless, but his sacrifice had a horrible impact on Lea. Sacrificing yourself is not the right way to go. I think a better resolution for Axel and Roxas would be for him to learn just how much Axel cared about him. He was hiding things from him because he wanted to protect him. The same as Terra. He didn’t let Ven come with him because it was dangerous—not because he didn’t want him around. Ventus wanted to sacrifice himself for his friends. Lea would be totally against that. Both Lea and Ven would learn the necessary lessons from each other to use the power of waking on their friends.

#kh meta #kh theories #kh lea #kh axel #kh isa #kh isalea #kh leaisa #kh akusai #kingdom hearts

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raendown · 5 years

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I think tumblr blocked the original post from being searched but this is just a little thingy for Valen-tied Day.

Pairing: IzunaKagami Word count: 2654 Rated: M Summary: Kagami follows his dreams to try something new. Izuna sets everything back to where it should be. They both come away completely satisfied.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

(In)Subordinate

“I really hope you’re sure about this.” Kagami was perfectly aware of the strange dichotomy between his words and his actions, thank you very much. But really it was no less than normal to be worried about one’s first time for anything.

His first foray in to bondage, of all things, was definitely something he was allowed to be nervous about. Especially considering it was also his first attempt at dominating another person in any way.

Not that he was scared or anything. It wasn’t his ankles currently being strapped in to sturdy cuffs with chakra suppressant seals painstakingly carved in to the leather. That honor went to his partner of four months, the only man alive who had the ability to make him simultaneously melt in to a puddle and run for the hills. Fumbling his way through asking Izuna on that first date was both the best and worst decision of his entire life. He had yet to actually regret it.

“Get out of your head,” Izuna tried for a soothing tone, marred only slightly by breathy arousal. “You’re the one that keeps having wet dreams about this, you’re not allowed to have second thoughts.”

“I just want to make sure this is okay! They’re not too tight, are they?”

With a pensive expression Izuna wriggled. “No. They’re perfect.”

Kagami straightened and stepped around in front of the other man to admire his work. He had to admit that reality turned out to be even better than his recurring dreams, quite a feat considering how hard he always woke up afterwards. Izuna looked like a delicious meal like this, kneeling on the floor with his back arched, arms tucked in behind himself, both wrists bounds and secured to the cuffs circling his ankles as well. The restraints left him completely at Kagami’s mercy.

To be trusted so completely by a man so famous for his inability to trust anyone was…there were no words for how deeply it had touched him when Izuna was the one to suggest they try out the scene that kept waking him up at night. Even now as he tested the chakra seals and realized that he wasn’t able to so much as sense his own presence he still remained perfectly calm, looking back up at Kagami with nothing but love and the banked arousal from slowly peeling each other out of their clothes, trading kisses and gentle touches as they went.

“May I service the master please?” he asked in a low, sultry voice. Kagami swallowed thickly. Role play wasn’t something he had much experience with either but he did understand the general concept and damn if the very thought of being Izuna’s master wasn’t already sending spikes of lust to his core.

“I suppose you’ve earned a treat,” he heard himself say. In that tone it was hard to recognize his own voice. His cock was already hard and jutting out proudly as he stepped forward and took a fistful of Izuna’s hair to pull his face forward. “Suck,” he commanded. “If you do well I might let you come too.”

His partner wasted no time shifting back as far as the grip on his head would allow and lipping at the cock almost literally shoved in his face. It was a bit of an awkward struggle chasing it down and fitting his mouth around it without hands but finally he had the head in his mouth, suckling gently and making a show of rolling his eyes back with pleasure.

Kagami fought back a groan. If he was the master in this situation then he needed to stay in control and remain strong in the face of the glorious pleasure bursting through him every time Izuna bent forward to take as much cock in his mouth as he could. His tongue came in to play a moment later, sliding along the underside of the shaft with each bob, and it was clear by the look in his eyes that the restraints had already begun to frustrate him. His blowjobs were usually accompanied by wandering hands that always knew just how and where to touch to drive his partner out of his mind. To be denied his usual tricks and forced to rely only on that clever mouth of his had him furrowing his brows in determination.

Should it be this sexy knowing someone wanted to put so much effort in to pleasuring you? Because Kagami definitely found it very sexy.

It was a bit of a fight not to rock his hips forward – until he wondered why he was bothering to restrain himself. This entire scene was supposed to be about him dominating his usually dominant partner, after all, and he was smart enough to spot any possible signs that Izuna wasn’t enjoying something he was doing. A smirk quirked his already breathless lips as he petted the silky hair unbound and spilling over the older man’s shoulders. He waited until Izuna lifted his eyes just enough to peek up at him curiously before taking a handful in a tight grip and guiding him deeper, hips pressing forward just far enough that he knew he wouldn’t cause any surprise choking.

Getting nothing but a soft moan in response almost ended things right then and there. When his fingers released Izuna all but dove forward to ride the thrust of his hips. Sage, what good deed had he done in a previous life to deserve this? On visuals alone this whole venture was even better than he’d thought it would be. His dreams had always been vague, sort of hazy around the edges and unclear on some parts, and Kagami realized a little too late that he had activated his Sharingan to capture every detail of the delicious portrait before him.

Wrist bindings just barely visible from this angle, arms held straight and back, long neck exposed with the way his chin was lifted and his eyelids fluttering as he swallowed around the cock in his mouth like a tasty treat. Each time he managed to lift his eyes his gaze was an intoxicating mixture of heat and barely contained submission. Izuna would never make a very good submissive, they both knew that very well. That he had agreed to this at all was surprising but that didn’t change the fact that he looked amazing in the role he had deigned to fill for at least one evening. Yet as amazing as he looked Kagami was startled to realize how enticed he was by the idea of filling that role himself. Those dreams that woke him night after night with their blurry details made clear only by the lewd sounds that always chased him in to waking again, could he have interpreted them wrongly?

His thoughts scattered like ephemeral fragments when Izuna moaned around him in that dirty way of his that always shut down Kagami’s brain. Was he excited by the idea of being the one on his knees, restrained and used for the other’s pleasure? Absolutely he was. Did he have the ability to concentrate on that possibility at the moment? He very much did not. The rest of the world was very rapidly falling away until all that existed was the perfect heat surrounding him and the eager body all tied up in such a pretty package at his feet.

“You’re doing so well,” he murmured, tracing the bulge of Izuna’s cheeks and trying to sound much more confident than he actually felt. “I’m so close, pet. So close. Think you can make me come without your hands?”

Izuna didn’t even bother to pull away to make room for speech, his answer clear in the doubled enthusiasm and the moan of arousal.

“So good for your master,” Kagami murmured absently. His own tongue yearned for the weight of Izuna in his mouth, for the triumph of bitter seed spilling down his throat. Thinking about it sent shivers down his spine and he had to fight to keep his eyes open and focused on the man kneeling at his feet.

Embarrassingly, he was pretty sure Izuna could tell what thoughts were running through his mind. The dark eyes watching him were half-lidded and wicked as he continued his work and the more Kagami’s façade of control crumbled the harder Izuna worked to tear him down even faster, tongue working in ways that should be impossible but felt much too good to question. The heat and the slick glide of his mouth, the eyes that now refused to look away, the way his body seemed to project absolute submission at the same time that he seemed to realize he was still somehow the one in control, it was all too much.

Kagami came with one hand in his partner’s hair and the other on the man’s shoulder, bearing his own weight as he bowed under the intensity of the pleasure. Short noises muffled by the clench of his teeth made a mirror of the way his hips stuttered and jerked. Under the guise of being a proper submissive Izuna worked him through his orgasm until he was forced to pull the other away with both hands just to prevent himself from collapsing entirely or anything else that would have been equally as embarrassing.

“Fuck,” he whined as the head of his cock slipped out from between Izuna’s lips, the cool evening air sending shudders down his back. “That was…wow. Okay. Yeah. Definitely your turn.”

“Have I pleased the master?” Izuna purred. His voice carried a very distinct note of teasing.

“Gods yes,” was all Kagami could say.

On shaking knees he fumbled his way around to sink to the ground at Izuna’s back. Trembling hands traced the arms he had bound, following them up to thin shoulders and around to the chest panting in anticipation. His thumbs paused to trace circles around sensitive nipples and he stopped only when Izuna’s head snapped to the side to pin him in place as surely as if he were the one bound and helpless.

“Touch me,” his partner demanded.

Kagami could do nothing but comply. Knowing the other could order him around even when he was the one tied up had his spent cock twitching with interest already, an idea to be explored later. One hand remained where it was to pinch and tease while the other descended quickly to wrap his fingers around the neglected length waiting so patiently for his touch. Izuna let out a pleased sigh and let his head drop back to rest on Kagami’s shoulder, hips rolling in to the pressure of a firm grip, just the way he liked it.

“Yeah, like that,” he murmured. “Faster.”

At his back, Kagami buried his face in the other’s neck and whined. His hand followed the order without thought.

“Perfect, that feels perfect,” Izuna praised him. As they always did, the words went straight through him until he had to concentrate a little harder to keep his hand steady. Burying his face a little farther still didn’t do much to stop him from gasping with want at the sound of another quiet moan.

“I-is it good?” he asked, desperate to hear more of that silky voice.

“So good. Just a little tighter – that’s it, yes. Don’t stop, pet.” If he hadn’t already suspected then that emphasis would have been enough to tell him Izuna knew exactly what had been going on in his head and yet Kagami couldn’t even bring himself to be embarrassed anymore. He shuffled closer to fit his body against Izuna’s and sank his teeth in to pale flesh as he listened for every word, every sigh his partner granted him.

He didn’t have to listen very hard.

Praise and encouragement dripped from Izuna’s lips like fine wine, telling him how well he was doing and how good his touch felt, how he had behaved so perfectly. It didn’t take very much to have him rutting uselessly against the body in front of him as well as he could despite knowing it wouldn’t accomplish much, not when he could hardly maneuver around the bound limbs and it was still too soon for his cock to fully harden again.

It was almost a pity that Izuna was even more worked up than him and unable to draw it out any longer. When his partner crashed over the edge still spilling honeyed words Kagami found himself both relieved and disappointed, wishing he had to time to chase that same high again for himself. A little greedy, perhaps, but no one had ever accused him of being a saint no matter how innocent he was capable of acting. He certainly felt anything but innocent as he continued to stroke Izuna through the pleasure and shivered at the feeling of hot seed spilling over his fingers.

“Don’t stop,” his partner gasped. Izuna loved riding that edge of too much, too bright, and Kagami loved nothing more than giving the man what he asked for.

Only when the high started bleeding in to discomfort did Izuna shakily command him to stop. He did not tell him to let go, however. Kagami kept his face buried in the pale shoulder to muffle his helpless noises and did his best to convince his hips to go still, behaving without even needing to be told to do so. The hand still wrapped around a softening cock twitched with the desire to go on.

“Was it a dream come true just like you hoped it would be?” Izuna asked him in a tone that was both gently mocking and genuinely curious.

“Uh-huh.”

“You enjoyed yourself?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you want to untie me so I can tie you to the bed and spread you open?”

Kagami tried to respond, he honestly did, but it was lost in broken stuttering while his fingers scrabbled to unlock the cuffs holding Izuna’s wrists to his ankles. That probably made his answer fairly clear anyway though so he didn’t worry about it too much. It took only a few seconds to have everything undone and he waited with baited breath as his partner rubbed at his limbs to get the feeling back in to them after being restrained for so long. When dark eyes turned to look at him he felt his breath catch in his throat. He knew that look. That was definitely the same look that had led them to quite a few discoveries in the bedroom over the past four months.

Within a minute he found himself hauled over to the bed and pushed down on his back, wrists pulled above his head and cuffed to the headboard with the same restraints he had just untied. That was all his body needed to kick back in to high gear again. Izuna leered at the hardening cock he had been sucking on a few minutes before as he crawled up the mattress to settle in between Kagami’s thighs, smug satisfaction clear in every line of his gorgeous body.

“Now,” he murmured. “Who’s a good boy?”

“I am,” Kagami breathed without a single thought for disputing it.

“Ah, how the tables have turned. How about I show you what a real fantasy looks like?”

Closing his eyes with a frantic nod, Kagami made a mental note to interpret his dreams a little better in the future. Having Izuna at his mercy had been fun for sure but there was no denying his true nature in the bedroom, the role he was all too eager to fill.

“Yes master,” he whispered. “Yes please.”

Some people were just born to serve. And if he was one of them, well, Kagami had always tried to do his best at the tasks expected of him. If Izuna wanted to help him chase his dreams then he was ready and willing to follow where his partner wanted to lead.

#rae writes #valentied day #izukaga #kagami #izuna #fanfiction

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modernlcve · 5 years

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little info dump of lizzie’s la muses

ADELAIDE LINDHOLM : they still need a last name but . whatever. i was gonna make her like really boring n a lil mean but. i changed me mind. she’s still uninterested in fame but im pulling her out of management she did it for like 3 years and then realized it brought her nothing but stress and pain so she quit and is doing temp work for the time being she’s trying to figure some stuff of her own out but deflects it onto still trying to boss around her siblings all the time. this sounded more interesting in my head. know it all, bossy, putting on a front of being in control of her miserable life

plots for her include : former clients she completely abandoned when she snapped, im working on more but sometimes... being a big sister is a full time job am i right girls

ALISON COLLINS : a woman at a crossroads . wants to follow her big artistic ambition of [redacted] but it just hasnt worked out for her yet so she’s teaching elementary art classes at a Hippie School to pay the bills til something comes her way , but its hard to be the edgy artist type when u got the school breathing down ur back and checking 2 make sure ur on the straight and narrow.

plots for her include : another big sister im ltrying to think of plots for but . sometimes things arent easy you know. she could have art circle friends who make fun of her for Selling Out and making pipe cleaner crafts for a living now

BRUNO VARGAS : i’m copy pasting the fc meme. he bought a “capitalism is unsustainable” sticker off of amazon. prime example of that “little confused but he’s got the spirit” meme. he threw himself into the social activism scene after he dropped out of college and ran away to the city to really make something of himself. he really wants to do good things for good reasons his heart is in the right place he’s just a dumbass. grew up in a traditional catholic military family but hasn’t had contact w them for a minute. lives in the fold because he thinks its cool 2 force people 2 hang out with him. works for an indie underground news publication.

plots for him include : yeah maybe i am still stuck on the boyfriend/girlfriend plot. im not married to it being bf n gf if it just works 2 be 2 gfs or 2 bfs anyways. plot would be that one partner bruno has had longer and has openly been with for a minute now. second partner would be more recent and bc of that less of the whole official We’re Together :) kind of thing. both partners would know he’s seeing other people, but he hasnt gone out of his way to specifically out either of them, p2 just knows about p1 bc they were openly w bruno whereas they arent yet. if that makes literally any sense

COLE EDWARDS : bit of a weirdo. she does something behind the scenes i was thinking like set design because thats something that weirdly really interests me. anyways shes a doormat but in a different way than molly could be read that way she really just likes to be involved in things and help people. ~quirky~ but one day , she will snap. u can tell when u see her at craft night and she gets so much hot glue on her hand but doesnt even react. its like she cant feel it... feel better cole...

plots for her : cole could work for laguna beach or as the mystery novak stepsib im not married to her being on the show or not yet. i figured she could be fun there because she would be a light addition to all these Reality Tv Bastards u know. her bg and plots will fit whichever subplot i use her for so . tba

HOLLIS MESSINA : kill him NOW . hollis is a bad man. not to godmod michele but in my head their parents are also like weird arsty types not necessarily famous but always very into the arts all thru their childhood. they grew up eating a lot of kale and maybe thats why hollis is the way he is. he’s vapid and very insecure because he wants so bad to be cool and funny and talented and suffers from major impostor syndrome which contributes to his online shopping addiction. take a nap hollis...

plots for him : we know im always looking for a plot where my musician writes a song about how crusty their ex is and their ex doesn’t appreciate it, or in general just maybe someone who got past the Phony Fakeass Cool Hollis act but then he decided to be very mean to them because soemtimes it hurts to let people in

JAMES ZAMORA : instagram model and youtuber. new media thot. she makes beauty, fashion, lifestyle, and travel related content. her entire brand is being A Sexy Little Trollop for people to envy. came from humble beginnings believe it or not, but she will never tell anyone that. as far as they need to be concerned shes been toddling around in heels since day one. lives in the fold because it makes for quirky content but once a month she threatens to get the hell out of here.. no one knows why she stays..

plots for her : frankly between the Novak Boyz and the mean girl squad im happy w her plots for now but shes always around to *cheryl blossom voice* create a little chaos if needed...

MOLLY SEKULIC : for the first week he lived at the fold noah thought she was a ghost :0 jadede film school student who thought she would get to do real documentary work at a place like b*zzfeed news but got put on projects shes not as passionate about 2 put it kindly. constantly planning her escape from the fold and worth it and all of that but 2 depressed to actually put any of it into play so she just sticks around and hopes one day she’s tapped for something with Substance

plots for her : she just doesnt get out much. shes got her Horrible sons (alec and [redacted]) and the girlies she hangs out with at the fold so shes not a completely friendless loser. with muses also working in film i think it could be fun to have a plot where they went to school together/worked on a project earlyo n together but now shes doing this and is embarrassed to talk to them abt it not that its even that real of a plot..

NOAH FITZGERALD : i wrote an intro for him in fold and im just gonna link it here. tldr hes very shy,, be gentle,, he wants to be liked and validated which is a common theme for me becuase yeah maybe in my core i dont believe anyone pursuing art does it for any reason but validation i sure know i do

plots for him : he’s got a little going on but other fun stuff could be musicians he jams with that could catch onto his and bradys Scam, maybe some other dorks to commiserate with ive obvisosuly not got as many ideas as i let on huh,

WYATT SONG : gay writer bitch. came from money so he’s just casually pursuing writing full time minus the time he spends on the show (bit less than everyone else just because watching him sit in his home office and do nothing for hours just isnt interesting) but i kinda like the idea of him being a Villain within the show like idk what dynamics we were wanting to set up but i feel ike since he’s more reclusive than the others and when he is around hes Annoying he could be someone the show kinda frames as Not Likable which mostly doesnt bother him but . stings a little

plots : someone whos really nice 2 him off cam but plays to that villain thing on cam, which could work for a few muses on different levels like a friend whos just flighty to someone he’s ~ secretly dating ~ bc it would mess up the current plot of the show if they were fucking just yet

#int

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linssikeittomies · 6 years

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The Place Between Here And There - An excerpt from Ch 6

Masterpost

Ch 6 was supposed to be a fluff fest for the ages, and yet in the 10 pages of fic there is just barely 6 pages of RusAme, and if you squint real hard, maybe 1 of those pages is fluff? Goddamn you Ivan and your secrets and social anxiety! orz

Al had never been to the bar before, so he hadn’t known what to expect. Literally the only things he knew beforehand about the place were the address and that Jack used to work there about ten years ago. When they got there, Al could totally see it as a place Jack, one of the most party-pooper people ever conceived, would work in - pretty small, kinda quiet, with a multi-generational vibe to it. Not clearly for twenty-somethings, not clearly for forty-somethings. Once the hour got later, it would probably turn into more of a nightclub, but at eight, it was sorta quiet and unassuming, a bit more classy than your usual drinking bar. You could actually talk without even raising your voice to a shout. Two smaller dance floor instead of one big, more booths than tables, they gave a little more privacy. Al had noticed that these types of places were what Vanya preferred – the more crowded and loud it got, the antsier Vanya became. He would try to create more and more space between himself and strangers the more people poured in, pretending the crowd didn’t bother him, until finally he broke and started openly glaring at anyone closer than arm’s length and constantly checking the time. Al on the other hand lived for crowds, he loved nothing more than the pulse of a full dancefloor, enjoyed talking and dancing with strangers and loud music. He still went to straight-up nightclubs on the weekends he wasn’t with Vanya, but on dates he wanted them both to have as much fun as possible. Al liked the quieter places alright, as long as he had someone interesting to pass the time with.

They both got a beer at the counter – Al insisted Vanya try it out, because it was his favorite brand. Vanya wasn’t a beer person, but gave it a try for Al’s sake. He liked it enough to not pass it onto Al after the first sip. Though Vanya was hardly the type to not finish a drink even if he hated it - if it was in front of him, he would drink it. “Good, ain’t it?” “It isn’t the worst beer I’ve tried”, Vanya amended. That basically meant it was the best damn beer he’d ever tasted, despite what the sour face might indicate. “Told ya it’s the best! Now, tell me about your day. Nab any criminals lately?” “We’re no closer to finding a viable suspect. At this point I don’t know that much more than you do.” “Gimme some ‘a dat juicy confidential info! I’ll make it up to you later”, Al winked. Vanya wasn’t convinced, and refused any further talk about work. But Al was determined to hear more, so he kept buying his lover more beers, who was helpless to refuse them, while making sure to stay sober himself. About an hour and three beers later, Vanya finally started opening up a bit more about the case. “Everyone’s frustrated, there’s no evidence and no clues. The man’s smart, you have to admit”, he said with a weirdly appreciative tone. Creepy. He needed a reminder of what kind of smart man BK was. “Too bad he uses those smart for something evil. Can you even imagine what a shitty person he is? He doesn’t just murder, he tortures.” “You’re not the first to say that”, Vanya answered flippantly. Every now and then Al got the feeling Vanya didn’t really care all that much about the victims – he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something about the way Vanya spoke about them, it kind of felt a little disrespectful, maybe? That he forgot what they had gone through and that they were dead, with heart-broken families left behind? Mattie would have known exactly what was off, but they didn’t talk with each other – they knew of each other, of course, Mattie had been the first to know about Vanya and Al’s one month anniversary, and siblings tend to come up in conversation. “Everyone needs a hobby, I suppose”, Vanya finished, shrugging, like he was talking about graffiti artists. This was what Al meant by disrespectful – like he wasn’t talking about torture and murder. “Murdering people is a shit hobby. He should take up boxing or something if he really needs to punch something.”, Al sneered, upset and somewhat regretting bringing up the subject. His reactions to the fates of the poor victims were profoundly different from Vanya’s, and reminded him that there was something undeniably wrong with Vanya’s brain. “That would only make him more dangerous. So far all the victims have been weak, you wouldn’t want him taking down MMA fighters. Or firefighters”, Vanya countered. “But wasn’t that one guy like six foot two?” Vanya thought for only a moment before figuring out who exactly Al was talking about. “Turner, 6 feet, 130 pounds, dancer. Looked taller because he was so thin. Didn’t know the first thing about self-defense.” The conversation started feeling like one of those who would win, Batman or Superman arguments. Was it just Vanya’s illness, or did all homicide detectives become like this? What about pathologists? If Al some day got into the academy, would he in time become as nonchalant about rape, death and torture? He liked to think no, his compassion was more deep-rooted than that – but Vanya was a bleeding heart deep under all that pretend indifference, had he at one point been like Al? Could he with utmost certainty say that he would never look at a body and not feel sad? “And the last victim was the twinkiest twink you’ve ever seen.” “Poor boy”, Al said and felt his heart squeeze. He was sure he would never talk like that about someone who had been strangled and beaten for hours, until no healthy skin was left anywhere, then castrated and cut open while still alive, no matter how many years he worked for homicide. “I think you would’ve liked him”, Vanya mused. “How the hell would you know?” You didn’t even give enough of a shit to call him young and thin instead of twink, how would you know what kind of a person he was. Vanya looked taken aback, and apparently only then realized he wasn’t completely sober. How he had gotten drunk enough to not know what he was saying was anyone’s guess, since it always took a good five shots of hard liquor to get him tipsy. All Al knew was that he had learned to read the signs pretty well - more relaxed speech, more open posture, more absent-minded smiling. Vanya never started slurring or stumbling, he just became happier. Al wished that could be his natural state. Maybe with time, and some tender, loving care. “Sorry, I should not talk about cases with civilians.” “’S okay, ‘s just me. So how’d you know I’d like him?” Vanya wasn’t completely swayed by the argument, but he was terrible at saying no to Al. “He had many friends. Very social, everyone said he had a taste for adventure and was always up for trying something new. He was well-known in the gay community.” “Wait, he was actually gay? I thought you called him twink just to insult him.” “I said I should not talk about the case with civilians. Read the papers and you will know everything you are allowed to. I do not trust myself to keep confidentiality right now.” The weirdest thing about Vanya’s drunkenness was that he could tone it down at will. If he wanted to sober up, he would. He had displayed the ability a couple times before, but never this clearly. It was like alcohol had never entered the man’s system – gone were the casualness and smiles. “You’re such a tease!” Al complained, because he was really getting curious again, despite Vanya’s callous words about the victims. “Only for you, my darling podsolnukh”, Vanya smiled, but the playful words were so clearly calculated to steer Al’s thoughts elsewhere it wasn’t even funny. “Don’t try to sweet-talk your way out of this, mister. I’ll kiss you.” Vanya was super shy in public. Even though he had gotten more cuddly in private, PDAs were a great way to punish him. “You leave me no choice, being so cunning as to get me drunk to unveil my secrets.” “That’s it, you’re getting smooched right now!” Vanya did his best to push Al out of reach, but Al was the stronger of them and managed to smack him twice on the cheek. “You are making everyone uncomfortable”, Vanya muttered after Al finally left him alone. “You’re the one making a scene out of it! No one would have noticed a thing if you hadn’t been squealing like a pig!” “I was not, and you should take other people in to consideration before pulling these stunts!” “Oh yeah?” Al said, and Vanya blanched at whatever horror he imagined Al would do next. Al allowed himself a victorious smirk before forming a wicked plan. He got up to stand on the seat. “HEY! EVERYONE!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, and only a couple heads turned. “Stop that! Get down!” Vanya screamed. “THIS GUY IS MY HUNNY BUN – urk!” Vanya pulled Al down by his collar and dragged him out, so red in the face he could’ve been mistaken for Clifford. He was so embarrassed Al had no doubt he would’ve walked home without his coat if Al hadn’t complained about being cold. And even then he refused to enter the bar again, staying outside while Al went to finish Vanya’s last beer and grab their clothes. He was so embarrassed that Al felt a real need to apologize – apparently only Vanya could induce this feeling in him, the only other time he had felt the same need was after causing that panic attack. Vanya accepted it, but not without a long string of Russian expletives – because let’s be honest, they couldn’t be anything else. Then he said he would turn Al’s thermostat all the way down as revenge. Al had expected he would want to stay at his own place after a shock like that, but didn’t question the decision. After all, Al’s home was a mile closer, and there was no way he was walking any further in the wet snow. The streets were mostly empty, but a little past halfway Al spotted a couple making out at a bus stop. He felt a bit jealous, a lot of his past exes had been wary of displaying their sexuality out in public - understandably, sure, since so many of them lived in the south. But even Vanya, who had never shown a single sign of being anywhere near the closet, hated showing affection in public. Al on the other was a very tactile person. He loved holding hands, hugging and kissing. Vanya rarely took the first step, even in private, but followed Al’s lead easily, and lately had started initiating more often. Al liked to think it wasn’t just because Vanya wanted to appease him. Al pointed out the couple to Vanya, who made a face. “Oh c’mon, it’s cute! They’re not afraid to show their love! Unlike some people”, Al teased, and Vanya got a little mad about being reminded of the bar incident. “Lust, more like”, Vanya scoffed loudly. “It’s just not appropriate. They should be more considerate of other people.” “No one’s died of seeing a little affection, babe”, Al argued. “No one’s died of public urination, and yet I don’t see you advocating for that.” “C’mooooooon, just a lil kiss? I really wanna kiss you. That straight couple inspired me.” “No. And you shouldn’t fetishize an orientation.” “I wasn’t fetishizin’ no orientation, I just saw them doing somethin’ I wanna do. How ‘bout just a teeny tiny peck?” “No.” “First you’re a tease and then you’re a bore. Boo.” Vanya chuckled at that, and then took one gloved hand out his pocket. “We can hold hands, if it makes you happy. I don’t mind.” Al took the hand with a giddy smile and squeezed it gently. Vanya’s sweetness shone through these little gestures, and said so much more than his words did. Why couldn’t Al have met him years ago? Woulda spared him a lot of heartache.

#hereandthere #wip scene #tease #fan fiction #hetalia #russiaxamerica #RusAme #AmeRus #linssifanfiction #WIPtale

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