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#esp since hes had magic since he came into existence

sepublic · 1 year

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My eerie theory is that the Titan Trappers are Collector(The Species) descendants.

It would explain their appearances somewhat.

I jus wannts to share it w/ u nothing else.

...Hold on-

The Collector and Tarak have similar eyes, and it wouldn’t be so shocking if other Collectors’ had different color combinations, corresponding to those we see in the Trappers...!

After all, they had to come from somewhere, right? Mayhaps a dead Titan from a previous generation long before the Collectors arrived... But then there’s the question of this enormous Titan Trapper we see, who seems to have been the first and, if his size isn’t exaggerated for artistic purposes, must’ve been enormous;

Did he and some Collectors, y’know... leading to the Titan Trappers, with Bill coming from one of the first generations? Or was the Trapper created by the Collectors? Given the similarities between witches and Titan Trappers, are they just the same species? JBO did release an in-universe poem a while back, written by a witch speculating on the origin of their species. Despite imploring King’s father for an answer, they get nothing, as usual. This could indicate the writers plan to touch up on this soon (that or it’s an unlived concept due to the shortening, so may as well share it here if nowhere).

It’d be interesting if demons were born of the Titans, and witches descended from Titan Trappers, born of the Collectors! After all, Hooty does create a distinction when mentioning that bipedal demons can also perform magic like witches, which suggests bile is more of a witch thing. And they say Titan magic cancels out that of the Collectors’... Is the magic of glyphs that of the Titans, and the magic of the bile from the Collectors, whom witches inherited this feature from? Quick I need an X-day for the Collector, stat-

Of course, we don’t see glyphs or the presence of the isles really do anything to counteract witches’ magic. Unless their magic used to be Collector-level, but over generations they evolved and acclimated to the Titan’s, which weakened it over time to our mortal scale. That’d be interesting, if demons started off using glyphs, and the switch to bile was introduced by witches, who probably had kids with demons, which led to the bipedal variants.

That’d be interesting, if Collector magic basically overtook that of the Titans’ through their descendants, creating a posthumous victory of sorts? Or not, since witches and demons naturally co-exist, possibly representing reconciliation in future generations as is foreshadowed with King and our Collector.

Since Luz’s glyphs are framed as a solution and work around to stuff like Eda’s curse, which is itself Collector magic, that could be rather symbolic... Esp since glyphs can bypass the coven bindings, which are likely Collector-derived too! The author of that ‘Unauthorized History of the Boiling Isles’ book speculated witches evolved magic from exposure to the Titan, but in reality they probably didn’t evolve to use the Titan’s, but instead worked from another source entirely! The reintroduction of glyphs might serve as a way for the Titans to live on past the Collectors’ genocide, as does the survival of King!

Also, our poem from JBO speculates that witches came from the eyes of King’s dad. And since we last ended off here, with the Collector...

Who knows? We might get some lore on the origins of witches after all (as well as Grimwalkers for Hunter, directly below), with the Collector able to explain how his disc was imprisoned in the skull! Maybe...

#the owl house #the owl house collector #titan trappers #speculation #ask #reply

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kaleid0sc0pe-daydreams · 4 months

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Laudna theory because I refuse to believe a CR story is going to say your completely soul-bound under the condition of life or death to your torture/murder/abuser in your head (esp when its that bitch delilah briarwood)

I've been thinking for a long time that the Parchwood Timberlands was entrenched in the same curses and magics that exist in Blightshore (which others probably think as well). Something about the way Matt described the need for the Grey Hunt and their purpose to protect Whitestone from all the creatures and messed up stuff that lives in the Parchwood. It just really gave me this gut feeling that they basically have the same thing going on.

So basically, what I'm saying is, Laudna being a hollow one, and hollow ones originating in blightshort, means Delilah is not the one that brought Laudna back. I think when Delilah tried to perform the ritual to bring Vecna back too early, it made whatever necrotic magic that exists in the Parchwood to surge into Whitestone. That's what brought Laudna back as a hollow one, not Delilah. Maybe Delilah has a connection to her because she performed the ritual that created the surge. Maybe, since hollow ones are described as being soulless with a strong sense of self, their souls stay trapped in the Shadowfell, as its an in-between for life and death.

I'm guessing Vecna had some kind of phylactery (I read something about the book of vile darkness working perfectly as it's self-restoring) in the Shadowfell. Once Vecna ascended he no longer needed it and it became Delilah's, so if she died, her soul remained in his reach. Then he was trapped behind the divine gate and couldn't do anything to bring her back. Now her soul is just trapped in the Shadowfell (like Vecna's soul was after his body was destroyed by Kas).

After VM killed her the second time, she needed a connection to Exandria. Vecna's whole thing is secrets and knowing stuff, he would know about Laudna even if Delilah didn't or was only vaguely aware of her. If Laudna's soul is trapped in the Shadowfell, like other hollow ones souls, then maybe Delilah could bind their souls together there. That attached her soul and Delilah's to Laudna's physical body. Vecna would certainly know how to do it if it was possible. He would know that Delilah could easily "provide her gifts" to someone that already had magic within them. Delilah is his right-hand (or left since its a magic item lol), she knows how to use someone to gain knowledge without having to reveal much, esp to the hollow one to whom she attached her soul.

I think Laudna woke up during the liberation of Whitestone, tried to figure out what happened, was forced into hiding in the tunnels of whitestone (which makes sense that she would know how to navigate well if she was constantly having to avoid guards and people clearing out the tunnels in the aftermath), and used stuff she found in the tunnels to create pate and her hovel, which was burned and defaced whenever she was run out of Whitestone. She didn't have anyone but pate for a while, it was just Laudna, or maybe just Matilda.

Then somewhere in the first few years of undeath, Delilah just started talking to her, giving her stuff, magic, knowledge, earning her trust and providing comfort, and becoming more and more abusive and manipulative as time went on. So Matilda died and Laudna, the strongest woman in her life, came to be, getting more and more used to Delilah's words, threats, promises, never being able to escape it, but it still being the only comfort she received from someone she didn't create in her own mind and give a name to. For over 25 years, it was just Delilah with her and then Imogen came into her life and she felt what true comfort was. What true caring and loving feels like from company that is invited, rather than an intrusion. That you offer vulnerability to rather than someone that just takes and forces vulnerability upon you.

And when Laudna died again and Delilah couldn't do anything to bring back her one tether to the mortal realm... Because she wasn't powerful enough? Because she's incorporeal? Or maybe because she wasn't the one to bring Laudna back in the first place? Her soul was still accessible, it still exists somewhere, still connected to her body somehow, even if not within it. All Delilah has done is connect them somehow, but she's still the secondary soul connected to that body. She can only do so much when the primary soul is what most significantly influences the strong sense of self.

I'm not convinced that Delilah is the one that brought back Laudna. I don't know that I even think she can fully take Laudna's body over. Mentally manipulating her into doing things Delilah wants because she still the secondary soul. It can be fought, but influence is still there. I think Delilah benefits greatly from Laudna and everyone else thinking she's the one that brought her back and that she is powerful enough to take Laudna over. So thats knowledge she keeps to herself, letting Laudna make her own conclusions about how their relationship works.

Also it would pull a bit of a patron connection to Laudna's form of dread changing to the Suntree after her resurrection, since it's also connected to Delilah. And why Laudna's feeling more and more like she can't tell the difference between her thoughts and desires and Delilah's.

Also, also, mechanically in 5e, patrons dont imbue warlocks with power, just unlocks it. So it could be that she's only able to be Laudna's patron and that's because Laudna already had necrotic/shadowy magic innately in her, so all Delilah is doing is opening her to more capabilities she had the potential for. Or just that warlock capabilities are much less revealing to gift than all the knowledge Vecna bestowed on Delilah. And probably an easier start than just "hey remember me? i tortured you, murdered you, and hung you from a tree. Would you like some magic now that you're stuck with me?"

Also, also, also, since the Parchwood Timberlands was where Pelor fought Tharizdun, Laudna is the first (I believe) PC for c3 that has a Tharizdun connection. This also makes me think that on top of Vecna wanting the ziggurat under Whitestone for the residuum, he wanted it because the land surrounding it was already filled with necrotic magic. I mean an archlich wanting to be surrounded by fucked up creepy woods to start their take over of the world makes sense to me. The ziggurat in Marquet wasn't underneath a city like Whitestone and Vasselheim. It might be a trek, but it would certainly be easier to use it without people finding out, than trying to kill a bloodline and take over the city the bloodline was the lords and ladies of.

I don't think Tharizdun is all that concerned with the Predathos situation because one of the commandments is "ruin and raze the realms to hasten the arrival of the Epoch of Ends" Followers are meant to make it powerful enough to surpass all other deities. Plus, it's thought to be older than the other gods, bent on destruction. A god-eater and those trying to release it very likely attracts a creature of annihilation to corrupt them into what it wants, especially when destruction of other divinity is an intention.

#critical role spoilers #laudna #these are just my thoughts and theories #im not trying to say this is correct by any means its just what ive been thinking #my bad if i got anything wrong #will happily be corrected on any FACTUAL inaccuracies about exandria not the opinions im just shouting into the void

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zenithpng · 2 years

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i have. tales of arcadia theories.

background info: i have a theory that when a wizard's magic reaches a certain power threshold, they remain the physical age they are then for eternity. so for merlin, since he presumably didn't have much outside training, that time came later in life while for douxie, who received training from a young age, that time came rather early.

so. nancy domzalski.

i think it's somewhat possible that she's a wizard :)

THINK about it: she's almost completely unfazed by the existence of trolls and aliens, taking everything easily in stride. yes she has bad eyesight but we know that magical beings are still susceptible to that (archie, for example).

OH YEAH AND THE FACT THAT SHE'S CANONICALLY OVER A CENTURY OLD

in 3Below (don't remember the exact episode) when Varvatos reveals to her that he's an Akiridion, she responds with the fact that she was a spy during the great war. which means she had to have been born at the latest in the year 1900

doing a bit of guesswork here, we know that the modern portion of tales of arcadia is set in the early 21st century as confirmed by a caption in Wizards. taking into account the widespread use of smartphones (esp by high schoolers) i'm gonna say that it was at the earliest set in 2013 (a couple of places online are saying 2016-18 but i'm going to use 2013 here)

so she is *at the very least* 113 years old, yet seems to get along perfectly fine and even manages to care for her grandson all alone. she doens't *look* terribly old either.

so yeah. wizard.

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #3below #wizards #nancy domzalski #jet's talking again #toa theories #toa headcanons

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hircinesring · 1 year

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since im on my tes blog im just gonna post abt some thoughts i was having when reminded of the paarthurnax thing and i was thinking of like.

the concept of the dragons being 'evil by nature' being. conceptually bizarre?? i guess since theyre not strictly mortal or of the same makeup as the rest of the races of nirn, the concepts of nature vs nurture dont strictly apply, esp since the dragons just. 'exist' and dont seem to... reproduce? at all?

and when youre a godlike being but close enough to mortals to not QUITE be gods, then youre still going to have preconcieved ideas of divinity or lordship.

i just think the entire idea of the dragons and paarthy's line about 'is it more noble to be born good, or to overcome one's evil nature through great effort' just utterly fascinating. like why is that your nature? was there some sort of flaw in your creation that resulted in a lack of empathy for other sentient creatures? or is that in fact the default state of the divinity you came from?

and DOES this make you more or less worthy than those that never had this so called 'flaw' in their nature? are your atrocities forgivable because it's simply part of your makeup to do them, or did you actually have a choice in the matter, and just didnt care until you felt guilt for the first time, or saw that there was benefit in it to get ahead of the curve?

is paarthy truly following a path of repentance, did he truly betray alduin in an act of defiance and support for mortals? or did he see the writing on the wall in that they'd defeat him eventually, and so he wanted to be on the winning side?

my own personal instinct is that no, he doesnt deserve mercy, because those are fucking war crimes- but that's from a mortal perspective where you assume that there was, in fact, actual choice in the matter. regardless of if his betrayal was self serving or not, my instinct either way is that no, he doesn't 'deserve' mercy because he still comitted and contributed to the worldwide subjugation that could only be stopped with a time altering magic and the killing of every other dragon out there.

but then if i try to consider the idea that, as something that isn't mortal, but also isn't a god, but rather an incomplete state of metaphysical inbetween, was it really a choice or more a manifestation of the nature of being from something divine, that asserts its own divinity over the world anyways? and then does him not doing it now mean that he has in fact overcome it? does he deserve the chance to prove that he can go against this apparent 'programming'? does the fact that, if allowed to live, he has other dragons around him and is apparently teaching them his way of peace mean that he should live, if he can 'reform' his own people?

and does any of it matter when it was so, so so long ago that barely anyone even remembers the facts any more and that all of the perpetrators bar him are dead? should he be punished for something so long ago? is the fact that he helped then, and is helping now, enough to make up for having supported aldiun and the dragon's conquest in the past? when all of the dragons were killed for it anyway?

and this doesn't even include my thoughts on delphine and the blades.

considering it's presented as a really simple thing to decide: kill the dragon or not, i find it way more interesting and thought provoking on like, philisophical levels, than just 'grandpa dragon vs mean lady'.

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counterfeitphantoms · 1 year

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OH i didnt explain the general plot of OITT!!!

tldr (ill def make longer posts abt it in-depth later);

- Mira (Zios was left free) was captured right before phantoms left Jamaa alone during the first real invasion/attack

- Jamaa had a LOT longer of a downtime period, as the phantoms didn’t return for quite some time compared to canon, and thus they let their guards down after the Alphas that were looking for signs of phantoms came up empty-handed

- Around the time of Return of the Phantoms (which, of course takes place a LOT later); they ended up coming back full force & with tech that animals just couldn’t match or have any reasonable time to react too, esp since it was developed during that time where Jamaa had its guard down

- Basically from Return of the Phantoms to a few adventures up, it was just a sign of what to come; the animal adventurers failed to do any real damage to phantoms or drive them back even slightly

- Mira was flat-out-murdered after this by the Phantom Queen, which left Alphas that relied on magic basically defenseless

And the rest is just. history. animals are now incredibly divided & only a few small civilizations are really left, several Alphas didn’t make it (one being Tavie). Zios is free but since he knows Miras gone he no longer has any reason to help animals & has basically left them to fend for themselves

Half the reason animals were so ill-prepared was because of their king assumption, too! They assumed Phlegm & Fester were the only kings, and that if any others existed, they’d be similar. And that was just... flat out wrong . Chloro, Plasm, Golgi, and Spindle turned out to be huge, wildly diverse threats- threats that animals just didn’t have the capacity to react too

#animal jam #animaljam #aj #jamblr #OITT #ramble #zios is Not Good :(#most of the major alphas survived . beyond tavie. but arent doing well at all #Liza is doing the best n has a large group of animals she's trying to keep alive & united atm

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phoebehalliwell · 2 years

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4, 6, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19 (Warren Witches or the Coop/Phoebe rival to lovers fic), 23, and 24! I love ask games and always ask too many at once, sorry 😂

4: Tell me about one of your abandoned WIPs. Why did you abandon it?

I had started a um a Penny/Allen origin fic that involved Penny moving to San Francisco for the first time staying with her aunt bowen there was a familiar there a little cat but it just. i never really got around to it. there was also the phoebe's source baby fic but i'm honestly spoiler alert just gonna loop that in with my calling cupid one idk if that one's gonna be a dency origin story or if i'm going for a new source kids bc idk the source's heir?? what a fun little lad!

6: What are some topics you will never write about?

i mean like. i feel like the obvious one is incest bugs / honestly scares the everloving shit outta me how many chris/wyatt fics are there esp considering how few next gen fics are out there beyond that i don't really know ig i won't know where the line is til i find it but like. what the fuck is wrong with y'all wyatt/chris freaks lmao. y'all are bad people.

8: How do you develop your OCs?

god isn't that a great question. they possess me. but no fr a lot of them come from like. the notion of the bit. like. what would be funniest. like with warren and sheridan i mean they literally came about as a joke like lmao wouldn't it be funny if prue and jack had twins. and then i had a previous idea of the next gen kids world jumping and landing in a parallel universe where p3 still existed and they're like okay where are we gonna find the witches we need to find and then parker just points to a poster for a band called the w!tches like call it a hunch but. and i'm like i should use that. and then i said okay which name is less punk rock and i'm like no the idea of warren being in a rock band too cool it must be sheridan. and then i needed a band i specifically remembering calling my buddy rose who edits all my stuff and i formed the band with them on the line rose actually drew them as i spoke that drawing might still exist somewhere. and then for warren he needed to be not sheridan so initially i was thinking hotel management bc my mom almost majored in that and lets be honest its not very punk rock but i wasn't sold on it but then it's like. okay well i also have mentally illness so goes it. and so like sheridan you know. has a death wish. he's not gonna kill himself bc that's gonna depress everyone too much but he can't wait to die he needs to go down fighting so people can be like wow sheridan so brave gone too soon and then you don't have to worry about your future or getting better because your dead. #lifehack. btw if you think like this deadass you need to be in therapy. but. great character motivation. so if sheridan wants to die, warren should want to live. sheridan's got his plan he's gonna be in a punk rock band and then die young. warren wants to grow old but he doesn't know. what he's going to do. he studies history to better know the craft. he's going to get a graduate degree in it to better know the craft. (lie. he's getting a graduate degree because he's terrifies to move forward, to actually live his life. sheridan lives because he believes he's going to die tomorrow. warren doesn't. his actions have consequences, how is he going to move forward? so rather than attempt to do that, he stays in academia, he stays in stasis, because then he doesn't actually have to face his future.) so yeah. foils. lots of foils. if a is this, then b should be that in contrast. basically everything is formed out of relationships. parental, fraternal, plantonic, romantic, like. that's the meat of it. that and whatever's funniest.

9: Are there any fics you’d love to see but don’t want to write yourself? What are they?

that's a good question. i'm so bad at actually writing things. i really want to also do my prandy kids and the magical morrises and honestly shane and abel since one anon brought them back up I Love next gen kids but beyond that i'd love to see more phoebe/coop fics and paige/henry fics and also honestly phoebe/leslie and prue/jack and like more wildcard piper/kyle obvi lol paige/jinny. it's just. there's so much i Want to write but like. won't lol. i want to. but. know theyself. i probably won't.

17: What has been the proudest moment for you so far since you started writing?

idk man i'm really proud of how far i've made it in my next gen fic and honestly warren and sheridan too love those boys they appear in my dreams a lot. and it's like. this shit it's like almost at the length of a novel you know? and i'm just. i used to write a shitton as a kid i was never able to finish anything tho but with these i've made it so far and i feel like i've come so close and it's genuinely stuff that i personally enjoy reading and it's just. i went through a really long phase when you know #itsmentolillnussluv and i couldn't write so to be back adn to have these characters that live within me i just. isk it makes me happy.

18: Do you feel like your work gets enough recognition? What kind of feedback do you like to receive?

i mean. "recognition??" like probably. but i don't think it really gets seen as much as i would like it too bc you know. it's so niche. idk i do kinda wanna someday publish these stories you know w&s and dency and stuff bc i just. i like sharing stories. i like when people like my stories when they like my characters bc they're my little buddies it's like when you throw a party that overlaps your social circles and it goes really well and you just glow a little because everyone likes each other like <3. but no i love love love love love receiving comments on my work or when people are like can i use your characters in fics like omg that always means so much to me lol like i always try to make my stories you know stories that people can sit in that like. you know. like um wrap yourself in a blanket all cozy like or use that like as like a blanket fort with little fairy lights something fun and sweet and safe and like. idk. you know?

19: 15 words to describe the aesthetic of [insert fic].

lipstick stains on cheeks, rosy perfume, dizziness, soft lights, looking away when you laugh, love

23: What’s one piece of advice you would give to anyone who wants to start writing or posting their writing online?

just like. like it. like what you’re writing. and if you don’t like it. ditch it! write something you look forward to writing, something you wanna talk about, something that you like daydream about what you’re gonna do next with. like. bc it’s free man, aint nobody paying you to do this. so just do what you want to do. unless its writing incest fic. then you should just shut the fuck up and reflect.

24: Which fic of yours do you wish people would ask about more? Why?

idk all of them lol i Love to talk <3

#!!!!!!!!#thank u for sending in questions i loved answering these <33333333 #💌

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baekhvuns · 2 years

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The truck comeback announcement was amazing lmao, but the design is different? Reminds me of lots of different groups, like Enhypen for example, it looks more... magical? Mysterious? And "paradigm" hmmm interesting. The cube is back too.

I laugh when Atinys say "Ateez only has Atinys" because yeah obviously, lmaooo but no, they also have their idol fan boys

Winning calls every few months is normal, even one or two each comeback, but multiple times EVERY SINGLE TIME, and you make them act embarrassing, maybe it's fun for some of them, but come on... just give other fans a chance. ☠ I posted my 2020 calls with Atz and Skz on Twitter, but deleted and privated my account afterwards, because people were annoying. I also didn't want to share akydjaysishsjdhnshs

Angel Hwa is so important to me, but I'll always be team vampires! I like CAT BOYS and maybe fox boys, not alphas 😭

I was lucky to experience Shinee's OT5 concerts twice, but once it was in Japan... They came to London too, then we had Music Bank with Taemin in Berlin, but I NEED MORE

Unfortunately Taehyung has been absent and hasn't appeared in my subconsciousness recently, but once he comes back I'll pass your message.

Omg, so many HP actors had died already :(

And yeah in TB I was team Eric... not always, but I've always had a thing for blonde vampires I guess. Ever since Buffy lol

I swear I'm gonna ban you from using the "BUT DO THEY END UP TOGETHER???" sentence 🔪🔪🔪🔪 they're gonna end up together in my fucking dreams, alright 😠

Speaking of Japanese comebacks, so many people around me hate them. What's with the Japanese discrimination I don't love all Japanese tracks, and JP versions of existing songs are usually unnecessary, though Inception in Japanese I love it, same with Utopia! But many original Japanese tracks are solid. Maybe it's because I used to be into jpop and jrock before getting into Korean music

My baby??? I'm not seeing this 🙈 unless we're talking about cats. Btw I watched this messed up show about a girl birthing cats?!

OMG NO, the only man I want is Seonghwa, so I need Y/N x Hwa endgame alright. Just because I be looking at Minki doesn't mean I'm not loyal to the only man ever!

Seonghwa in a suit, I saw a comment that said "My client just got a life sentence, but I looked stunning" so true, be my lawyer plsss. I hate him - I don't wanna see his behaviour on stage today

Why aren't we invited to the SM party??? And kfc they need to do something about the visa issues because it's crazy??? Or better STOP ORGANISING EVENTS IN THE STATES - yes I'm US-phobic. But have you seen this Kaife?! So cute

The quiz was spot on, kpop in a nutshell, though I got the most popular result :/ "don't lie i know you don't give a fuck about all of them!!!! JUST PICK ONE I KNOW YOU LIKE THE MOST POPULAR ONE ANYWAYS" I mean I don't lie about being OTX, because I always have strong tunnel vision 💁🏼‍♀️

🙄 each slide is just...

I'm insane about this, our model - though model Seonghwa is still on ym shitlist! You know I'm team fuck them kids, but some people will go insane if Seonghwa appeared on that show...

Btw have you seen Clannad, I'm rewatching it right now and... you already know what ashshkaysushskajduyesgwh. I also forgot how sad it was at times... - DV 💖

hi hello!

LMFAOOOO ITS SO FUNNY WHO DOES THAT AND WHAT IF THAT FAN DIDNT GO OUTSIDE THAT DAY DBDBD magical! quite nostalgic too,, esp that song tune they did at kcon 🔫🔫 it sounds so pretty,, paradigm is def an interesting name! sounds complicated asf 😭

I laugh when Atinys say "Ateez only has Atinys" because yeah obviously, lmaooo but no, they also have their idol fan boys

BFMWBDKW LITERALLY when they say it quite literally i lose my shit 😭😭

NO BC IMAGINE SEEING THAT PERSON REPEATEDLY EVERY SINGLE FANCALL 😭😭😭 and they be saying the shittiest things too,, ban those 10 ppl right now 🔫 OH NO WAY??? DMAN WE CANT HAVE ANYTHING NICE IN THIS HOUSE 😭😭

Angel Hwa is so important to me, but I'll always be team vampires! I like CAT BOYS and maybe fox boys, not alphas 😭

SO IN CONCLUSION FURRY BOYS????

I was lucky to experience Shinee's OT5 concerts twice, but once it was in Japan... They came to London too, then we had Music Bank with Taemin in Berlin, but I NEED MORE

omg pLEASE IM SO JEALOUS OF EVERYONE WHO GOT TO SEE OT5 😭😭😭😭 HOW WAS IT THO?? omg taemin’s mubank in berlin was so legendary omg NO TAEMIN SHOULD HAVE A FULL WORLD TOUR PLS AND LET THE SET LIST HAVE FLAME OF LOVE SAYONARA HITORI AND HEAVEN IN IT I WOULD MAKE HIM MY NEW RELIGION RIGHT THERE,,, after hearing about sm’s plans for their next year all their artists are coming back as full groups SO WE BETTER GET WORLD TOURS IM BUYING THE MOST EXPENSIVE TICKET FHWKFJWK

Unfortunately Taehyung has been absent and hasn't appeared in my subconsciousness recently, but once he comes back I'll pass your message.

fortunately ur mr thv has been absent due to him earning his bread butter I HOPE HE COMES IN UR DREAMS TONIGHT ✨✨🤲🏼

Omg, so many HP actors had died already :(

right 😭😭😭 it’s so crazy to see something everyone’s grown up watching vanish in front of ur eyes 😭🤚🏼

And yeah in TB I was team Eric... not always, but I've always had a thing for blonde vampires I guess. Ever since Buffy lol

YOU LIKE BLOND VAMPIRES WHO ARE SLIGHTLY/ MISUNDERSTOOD MEAN????

I swear I'm gonna ban you from using the "BUT DO THEY END UP TOGETHER???" sentence 🔪🔪🔪🔪 they're gonna end up together in my fucking dreams, alright 😠

LMFAOOOO BFMWDHAKVDAK SCREAMED sEE IN THE END OF THE DAY HWA GETS TO CHOSE <3

ppl hate japanese tracks???? they are literally some of the best songs out there,, like the electro pop’s + retro + traditional styles are at their peak amazing??? NO UR RIGHT SOMETIMES THE SONG DOESNT DELIVER THAT WELL IN A DIFF VERSION it’s better if they make songs just for that certain language! omg inception is so pretty in japanese 😭😭😭🤚🏼 yEAH MANY ARE SOLID! personally wasn’t in jpop but id be head banging and playing the ost’s of amines on repeat BC SOME SLAP SO SO HARD

My baby??? I'm not seeing this 🙈 unless we're talking about cats. Btw I watched this messed up show about a girl birthing cats?!

LMFAOOOO 😭😭😭 IM SORRY WHAT THE FUCK RHKWDAL ANON WHAT 😭😭😭?????? HELP??? GIRLIE BIRTHED A FURRY????

OMG NO, the only man I want is Seonghwa, so I need Y/N x Hwa endgame alright. Just because I be looking at Minki doesn't mean I'm not loyal to the only man ever!

HFJWHDJ ARE U SURE

ANON BC I KNOW THAT LITTLE SAN YN MOMENT IN DUKE DID MAKE PPL ROOT FOR THEM ☺️☺️ tho i would say is this…the hwa

aND

Seonghwa in a suit, I saw a comment that said "My client just got a life sentence, but I looked stunning" so true, be my lawyer plsss. I hate him - I don't wanna see his behaviour on stage today

this man always delivers in suits, i need his closet so bad,,, men in suits <<< hwa in suits,, no what is up with these kpop idols looking so fine in a suit 😭😭 FBWMFJWK BE MY LAWYER LMFAOOO BFKWHD his behaviour on stage is becoming UNBEARABLE !!!!!!!! IM TIRED !!!!! JUST ONE SECOND TO BREATHE !!!!!

HELP LITERALLY WE WOULD SCREAM AND HYPE EVERYONE UP!!!!! INTERNING AS A PHOTOGRAPHER BESTIE LETS GO,, NO SERIOUSLY PLS STOP WITH US THEY GET EVERY FUCKING THING !!!!! EVERY THING !!!! AND THE CONCERTS ALWAYS HAVE PROBLEMS !!!! RACISTS !!!!! will forever be u.s phobic to bad idc that country is hated and they need to kNOW 😭😭😭 PLS THATS SO CUTE I SAW ON WITH CAKES THAT WERE DECORATED IN HIS ALBUMS ART AND GUCCI AND SO SO PRETTY

and the way sm spoke about it 😳

LMFAOOOO GOT CALL OUT SO HARD FJWKDJWK 😭😭😭 BDSNDH STRONG TUNNEL VISION I GOT THE COMPANY STAN HEAR ME OUT IM NOT LIKE ONE OF THOSE 😭😭🤚🏼

🙄 each slide is just...

ANON

I'm insane about this, our model - though model Seonghwa is still on ym shitlist! You know I'm team fuck them kids, but some people will go insane if Seonghwa appeared on that show...

STOP HES SO CUTE 😭😭😭 MY TURN WHEN WOOYOUNG 🔫🔫 OMF BRKWHD PLS ITS MODEL HWA’D LOOKS THAT GET THOSE POSTS ON IG ABOUT BEING ICONIC AND ITS JUST HIM BREATHING,,, im people.

Btw have you seen Clannad, I'm rewatching it right now and... you already know what ashshkaysushskajduyesgwh. I also forgot how sad it was at times... - DV 💖

my face had a smile throughout this ask and now u mentioned that dreaded anime and my smile just dropped,,, why. WHY WOULD U IMAGINE HIM AS THATR GQJDHQK GET IT OUT OF UR MIND RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW KEOWNRJKW

???? it’s always him 😭😭

BESTIE THOUGHTS

vv la la land vibes! u bet im putting this in yunho’s fic 💃

quizzie!!

AND JIN ENLISTING???

#✉️ : ask #dv 💖 anon

0 notes

authoratmidnight · 3 years

Text

So I had a thought, based on, pretty much nothing but I digress. What if Kalego does know Iruma’s human, and that’s why he’s so hard on the boy, to ensure he can keep up with his demon schoolmates.

Like, Kalego is smart ok. And if Ameri can figure out Iruma is human just based on the fact that he can read the manga, then I see no reason that Kalego can’t draw that conclusion based on MORE/stronger evidence.

Evidence such as:

-The chairdemon shows up one day with a kid he proclaims is his grandson. No one knows where this boy came from and Sullivan isn’t talking. Sullivan is later taken in by demon border control under suspicions of crossing to the human world illegally.

-This kid is totally clueless as to the ways and customs of demons, like, amazingly so. Even if he was sheltered he should still have some idea.

-He summons a demon as his familiar instead of a creature. This is (as far as I can tell) completely unheard of. Tho I imagine the demons that are aware of the existence of the human world would also be aware of humans being able to form contracts with demons/bind a demon to them. And it seems like adults (high ranking ones esp) are the only ones actually aware of

-Has knowledge of strange things not seen/that straight up don’t exist in the demon world-fireworks, the sakura tree

-Has like no magic, at least until the Gluttonous Feeder Ring finds its way to him (which itself is unusual, since when does that owl have anything aside from rank medals in its pouch?)

And like, at some point Kalego has to have looked at all the evidence (esp the ‘Sully was accused of going to the human world, also he just showed up one day with this kid’) and put the pieces together and realized that Iruma is not a demon. Maybe even realized he’s human.

Also Kelego is friends with Balam, who DOES know Iruma is human. And while I doubt Balam would intentionally tell anyone this, they do canonically drink together. So it’s not too far fetched to think that a slightly drunk Balam might accidentally spill it to Kalego.

So like, I can believe that Kalego might have figured out that Iruma is human/isn’t a demon. As for why he hasn’t told anyone? I mean, who exactly would he tell? Demon Border control already determined all is well. Plus Iruma is under the care/protection of one of the strongest demons in the Netherworld. spilling the beans would probably just put him at risk. Which he’s not gonna do.

Between the Teacher’s Oath and Ali’s comment in the latest chapter about how ‘Life is extremely precious in this harsh world’ it’s very clear that demons view children as valuable and precious things, to be protected and nurtured (man, they would be BEYOND horrified if they learned how Iruma was treated lmao) so, why would he tell anyone? Why would he intentionally put a child at risk like that? His role as a teacher still demands he protect Iruma (and what student is gonna need more protection than the non demon one?).

Tough love is how Kalego shows he cares about his students.

Just, what if he DOES know and he just hasn’t said anything?

#Mairimashita! Iruma-kun #Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun #Mairuma

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dennou-translations · 3 years

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K SIDE:GREEN – Chapter 1 (Part 2)

Feel free to message me about possible corrections. If you can, please support the creators by purchasing the official releases.

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“‘Electricity’, activate!” Letting out a resonant voice, Hikotarou raised his PDA up high.

Isn’t this guy reading too much manga? Should I stop looking up to him after all? Sukuna thought, hands buried inside his pockets, yet the PDA’s screen started glowing green before his eyes.

“Eh?”

As if to sneer at his foolish reaction, a green shine burst from within the terminal. Drawing a zigzag track in the empty air, the green lightning pierced a PET bottle about five meters away. A chemical-like smell of melted plastic drifted from it.

Sukuna approached the burned PET bottle, and as if to say that he was acting without thinking, he touched it.

“Hot!”

Instantly, he flung it away. The PET bottle made a loud noise as it hit the ground. White smoke dissipated in the wind. A blistering appeared on Sukuna’s hand.

“What’re you doing?” Hikotarou cackled a laugh.

With his back turned to that laughter, Sukuna was looking down at his hand, forgetting to even blink.

That was real. It was neither magic nor a trick. A real supernatural power.

He had never even imagined that something like it existed in this world. Games were games, not reality. It was exactly because he usually played many of them that Sukuna was perfectly aware of this much – or at least he intended to be.

However, the words that Hikotarou had said to him one day came back vividly. A video game that one could play in the real world. That was most certainly a fact, not a metaphor or anything of the sort.

Sukuna heard an unfamiliar noise. A steadily pulsating beat. That was something Sukuna could hear from nowhere other than his own chest. A fragment of a world that had only ever exited within fiction and fantasy was unmistakably floating before his eyes – this truth was making Sukuna’s heart beat loudly.

“How’s that? It was true, wasn’t it? You believe what I said now?”

It was a wholly different story that Sukuna was annoyed at Hikotarou, who, in a stark contrast with him, was smirking proudly and pushing his PDA against Sukuna’s cheek. He gave quite some thought to knocking down the device, but that would be lashing out while being in the wrong, which was pathetic. After reflecting a little, he decided to attack from a different opening.

“You said you’d bought this thing, right? How much was it?”

When asked, Hikotarou quickly averted his eyes and said in a low voice, “1k.”

“So expensive! Ain’t that the same amount as the promotion points!?”

1k was a short for 1000. In order to rank up within JUNGLE, the points had to be consumed, and the points required when an E-rank was promoted to an L-rank were exactly a thousand. When thinking about earning that many points in an honest manner, it would likely take almost a month.

“Also, didn’t you say this was disposable or something? Don’t tell me this is the end.”

“O-Of course not! I said it was disposable ‘cause there’s a frequency limit! We can still use it!”

“How many times more?”

“Four...”

Meaning that item cost 1000JP for five times of use. Unfair overcharging was an understatement for it. And out of all things, Hikotarou had spent a valuable opportunity to make fair use of those 200JP on a PET bottle. Most likely with the sole purpose of showing Sukuna something nice.

The moment he thought this, something welled up within him.

“Fufu,” he snorted as if about to burst out, a roar of laughter following suit. “Ahahahahaha! What’s with that? Such a waste! Aren’t you an idiot!?”

“Sh-Shut up! It’s fine! Those are my points after all!”

“Even so, you—for something like that—”

“It’s ‘cause you wouldn’t believe what I said if I didn’t do something like this!”

A worked-up Hikotarou was so amusing that Sukuna laughed even louder. If his classmates saw him now, they would be wide-eyed and shocked. Sukuna himself had just found out for the first time that he could laugh with such a strident voice.

“Damn, it ain’t something to laugh so much for. You’re always making such a sour face too,” Hikotarou said with a strained smile. It was apparently influenced by Sukuna’s burst of laughter.

And so, for a while, the two players laughed together.

“But how does this thing work?” After laughing for some time, Sukuna scanned Hikotarou’s terminal with his eyes. “Doesn’t seem like there’s any mechanism planted in your PDA. It’s the same model as mine.”

“Yeah. Everything is apparently thanks to JUNGLE’s personal use app. Everybody calls it ‘ESP app’.”

If one could use psychic powers upon signing in, then there was indeed no social media more revolutionary than this one. It was about enough to become explosively viral, but it had its own reasons to remain as underground.

According to Hikotarou—

“There are these two types, the ‘skill’ and ‘item’, in the ESP app.”

“Skill” referred to powers that could be used constantly. If people called something a “psychic ability” in JUNGLE, it normally indicated one thing. That when rising to G rank and above, they could choose only one power and use it limitlessly. From among many abilities, they would select just one that matched them and nurture it in their desired direction.

On the other hand, any player could use an “item”. However, it was disposable – as Hikotarou had just showed, one had to spend copious amounts of points for each time of use. In exchange, it could be used in combination with skills to develop various strategies.

“You can clear high-level missions by combining those two – that’s what the upper-rankers are doing, it seems. Well, this is just what I heard, since I’m still in a low rank.”

“Huun. Sounds like you can do a lot, depending on the combination.” Looking through JUNGLE’s store, Sukuna nodded as if impressed.

“Yeah. Sukuna, you should think now about which you’re gonna pick when you turn into a G.”

“That so? I can also use it?”

Up until the present, Sukuna had lived a life where “things that he could not do” did not exist. Which was why he had never once thought that he wanted superhuman powers like those from mangas or movies.

The reason for Sukuna to have butterflies in his chest when he saw the “ESP app” was that JUNGLE had destroyed his world.

It was such a wholly different world that it could completely overturn the things imposed on him until now – the tedious common sense and reality – by his parents and the people at school. Coming in contact with a power none of them could imagine and racing to a place their hands could never reach – how thrilling that was!

When he realized, Sukuna was gripping his PDA strongly. This was neither him fleeing from suffocation nor rebelling against parents. Sukuna had just now come to know the true appeal of JUNGLE.

“Right. Aah, that’s right! I’ll rise too! Then, I’ll use even more amazing powers and accomplish bigger missions!”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Hikotarou nodded, laughing.

Sukuna was also grateful that he existed. Hikotarou was the one who had told him about JUNGLE and showed him its real charm – it was all thanks to him.

If he could one day clear up all sorts of missions using various kinds of psychic abilities with Hikotarou, it would surely be extremely, tremendously fun.

It was Sukuna’s first time being excited ever since he was born.

◆

“Well, see ya tomorrow,” Hikotarou said at the three-way junction on the way home that day, waving his hand.

Sukuna stopped walking involuntarily, as their talk had been at the most interesting part. They had looked into the JUNGLE store list, discussed about this and that combination and just as he figured out the best combo, he had started talking about it.

Sukuna’s house was on the right side of a Y-shaped three-way junction. Hikotarou was about to walk toward the left side. Wordlessly, Sukuna went to Hikotarou’s side.

“Sukuna?”

At Hikotarou’s surprised look, Sukuna pouted and turned away. “It’s fine to go the long way around sometimes, ain’t it?”

Hikotarou blinked repeatedly. That gaze was annoying. Enough to make him almost unwittingly forget the invisible combo that he had finally come up with.

“That so? Then hang out with me for a bit.”

Hikotarou did not try to tease him for it. His countenance surly, Sukuna replied with nothing but a “fine by me” to that grinning face.

And so, Hikotarou took a detour. The place he stopped by was a drugstore in front of the station and what he bought was cat food.

As Hikotarou held two one-kilogram dry food packages with both arms, Sukuna asked as if skeptical, “You had a cat?”

Hikotarou averted his eyes with a rather subtle expression. “It’s not like I’m keeping it.”

Through that single sentence, Sukuna was somewhat able to understand the situation. He followed behind Hikotarou, who was walking mutely.

Eventually, the two arrived at a vacant lot on the outskirts of town. In a corner of said vacant lot, where weeds grew boundlessly, there was a cardboard box. Cries of “mew, mew” that seemed to beg for something could be heard coming from inside the box.

“They were four at first,” crouching down and opening the food package, Hikotarou whispered as though talking to himself. “One was the mother and the others were kitties. But one day, the mother was gone, and when I came to see them after a while, the two other than this one were dead.

Sukuna looked around. On a spot at a short distance from there, he could see two small stones lined up beside the block wall.

“This guy here was about to die too, but I did a bit of research, and after I gave him milk and brought him something warm, he managed to recover one way or another.”

“Won’t you try to take it home?”

Still crouched, Hikotarou looked up at Sukuna. He had on a weak smile. “We can’t have pets at my place. My da—my father hates this kinda stuff.”

“Then—I know; how about you use JUNGLE? Send out a mission to find him a foster parent.”

Hikotarou laughed dryly, “I think whoever takes it on will probably just take the points and send the cat off to a health center.”

Sukuna went silent, crouching down.

The little cat was dirty. Its fur and skin were muddy, its tail bent. It was engrossed in eating the food, but once it looked up, its eyes had hardened mucus on them.

Hikotarou took out a tissue and gently wiped it off. “Wanna pet it?”

“That okay?”

Hikotarou raised his voice as he laughed at the dumbfounded question. With a sour face, Sukuna reached out a hand and touched the kitten. Perhaps thinking that he was food, the kitten thrust its nose onto his palm and sniffed it incessantly. It was ticklish. His mouth distorting, Sukuna endured the sensation. Finally, the kitten pushed its body onto Sukuna’s hand and its sleeping breath began to ensue.

As if not to disrupt the revolving, throaty sound, Sukuna complained in a low voice, “Hey. What do I do about this? I can’t move.”

“Won’t it be fine if you don’t move?”

“You!” He let his anger show, but the kitten might awaken if he moved recklessly. As if having bitten into a bitter-tasting bug, Sukuna looked down at the kitten. “Does it have a name?”

“Yeah. He’s also Nine.”

That was Hikotarou’s handle name. Sukuna stared at him with a look that said, “Don’t give it such a confusing name”, yet Hikotarou was gazing down at “Nine” and laughing.

“I’m glad it’s summer right now. A parentless kitty wouldn’t survive if it were winter. Even then, many dangerous things will likely happen to him, but if he grows up just a bit more, he’ll get by on his own—”

“I’ll,” Sukuna opened his mouth before thinking of anything. “I’ll keep it.”

Hikotarou looked at Sukuna with wide eyes.

“My parents probably won’t allow it, but even so, I’ll keep it. I think I can do it. My house is big. I can think of lots of places that neither my parents’ nor the servants’ eyes could reach.”

“Sukuna—”

“That should be better for this guy than here. I can put up a box, a blanket and things like that in our unused warehouse, and a toilet too, I guess. I don’t know about that stuff, but I’ll look it up later. You can also come over when you feel like seeing him.”

As if angry, Sukuna was making a surly face. Hikotarou looked at that expression of his with rounded eyes. Unable to bear the gaze, Sukuna stared down at the little cat once again.

“Of course, only if you’re okay with it.”

Hikotarou replied to Sukuna’s mumbled words, which sounded like an excuse, with a smile that seemed to shine, “It is! I’m counting on you, Sukuna!”

Sukuna laughed sheepishly. The kitten’s sleeping breath ensued windingly from within his hand. While feeling its body temperature on his palm, Sukuna inferred his opinion by muttering a few words, “By the way, can’t you change the name Nine?”

“Nope.”

◆

The home of Nine the kitten was soon found.

There was a wooden shack in a corner of the Gojou estate. Originally used as the gardener’s warehouse, it was now abandoned as the garden tools had been moved to a storehouse in the main residence. The shack, which Sukuna’s parents obviously did not go anywhere near and neither did the servants, was perfect for his purpose. He had arranged the kitten’s needs in a corner of the cramped and dim shack.

He could not possibly bring that cardboard box home, so he had laid a blanket over a basket woven from wood, making it into an improvised bed. The kitten Nine had raised its voice in protest against being moved from its former location, but it soon quieted down after being tossed into the blanket.

He had left it with a box of food, a water bowl and litter for its toilet. He could not take it outside, so he would have to raise it there for a while.

Looking around the small shack, Sukuna had nodded to himself. The kitten would surely be okay there. Nobody would find out. Convincing himself of this, Sukuna had cautiously left the shack and returned to the main house.

Today was the day to eat dinner with his mother.

“How was school, Sukuna?” such words came out of her red lips.

His knife, which had been carefully cutting the meat, stopped moving completely.

Sukuna looked at her with upturned eyes. The appearance of his mother enjoying an elegant dinner on the other end of the pure white tablecloth and silver candlesticks, with two servants at her left and right sides, was almost like the queen of a nation.

“Just normal.”

“‘It was’.”

“It was normal.”

His mother titled her neck a little. With a slight movement from her gaze, one of the servants moved soundlessly and poured wine into her glass.

“Have you been getting along with your friends? Your face has been bright lately. Are you having fun?”

Sukuna was silent.

If she was asking if he was having fun playing with a friend, the answer was yes. But not with the friends she had provided for him – Ninomiya and his former followers. It was with a smart and lively boy named Kue Hikotarou.

What would his mother do if she found out about Hikotarou?

She did not approve of anything that did not act in accordance with her will approaching him. Needless to recall the matter with Ninomiya, if his mother knew about Hikotarou, she would certainly try to keep him away. He could not think that she would be appreciative of things like JUNGLE.

Hikotarou might have to transfer schools because of him. As this possibility crossed his mind, Sukuna was horrified.

After thinking a little, Sukuna answered, “Yes, I am having fun, Mother.”

So you have nothing to worry about. So don’t meddle in anything and leave it as that. Leave me alone—

His mother drank a sip of wine, smiling. “Is that so? Then I’m glad. Your happiness is my happiness—”

Suddenly, the smile disappeared.

She stood up from the chair as if kicking it away. The glass collapsed with a smashing sound, the wine spilling and dyeing the tablecloth red. Approaching the frozen Sukuna with big steps, she firmly grabbed the hand that was still holding a knife and raised it with force.

A raspy voice came out of her lips, which were once tightened into a thing line, “What is this?”

Stock-still, Sukuna looked at it. He had a burn on his right hand. It was the wound that he had earned himself right after school today, when Hikotarou showed him the ESP app.

It had happened due to his own carelessness, and until just now, Sukuna had even forgotten that he had a burn. After all, it did not particularly hurt and he thought it would heal soon.

But his mother was different.

“Explain, Sukuna.”

Sukuna’s mother thought of him as a treasure. He was her property, like gemstones and rings. Of course his mother would be angry if said property was damaged. Whatever the property itself thought did not matter.

Sukuna spoke with a voice that sounded like a gasp, “It—is nothing, Mother. This is just—”

“‘Just’ what?”

“I was eating something hot during lunch and... I touched the food with my fingers...”

It was a painful excuse if he were to say so himself, but he could not think of anything else. Talking about Hikotarou was out of question. If he said he had borne it in class, there was no mistaking that she would check with the school for confirmation. If the lie were exposed, Sukuna’s mother would thoroughly investigate his surroundings.

If this happened, Hikotarou’s existence would definitely be revealed. And if she found out about Hikotarou, farewell would be waiting in the not-too-distant future.

Sukuna’s mother stayed dead-silent, peeking at his face fixatedly. Halting his breath, Sukuna accepted her gaze.

“Is that so?” muttering these few words, the mother let go of Sukuna’s hand.

Sukuna pulled his hand to his chest as if stealing it back. His heart was beating with strong thumps.

As a Crescent Moon-like smile once again crept on his mother’s red lips, she reached her hand out to caress his head. “Mother has an urgent matter to take care of. I will be going now, but you can eat dinner by yourself, right?”

Swallowing saliva as if swallowing lead, Sukuna answered, “Yes.”

“Really? You are a good child, Sukuna.”

Stroking Sukuna’s head in a noticeably rough manner, his mother turned on her heels. The way that the wine splashed on the back of her skirt looked like a spurt of blood was forever seared into Sukuna’s eyes.

◆

Five: You there?

Nine: I am. Got any business with me?

Five: Nothing that you can call “business” in particular.

Nine: Then what is it? Can’t sleep?

Five: Hey. Didn’t anything happen to you?

Nine: I don’t get what you mean.

Five: I mean, like...

Five: Didn’t anyone, like your parents or people from school, say anything to you?

Nine: Aah, I get it. Is it about JUNGLE?

Nine: I told you, didn’t I? That the level of anonymity is super high in JUNGLE. You can change the app icon anytime so nobody can tell who you are just by looking, and you can also hide that you installed it if you feel like it. You’re scared of being found out ‘cause you’re from a good family, right?

Five: No! That’s not it!

Nine: Then what is it?

Five: Like I said...

Five: It’s nothing.

Nine: What’s up with you?

Five: I said it’s nothing!

Five: Just, if anything happens at school, make sure to tell me. ‘Cause I might be able to do something about it.

Nine: Don’t say such creepy things out of nowhere... What, you mean something’s gonna happen to me?

Five: I don’t know. But this is a what-if.

Nine: Yes, yes, thank you for your kindness.

Five: I’m serious!

Nine: Then I’ll answer seriously; I won’t rely on you even if that happens. JUNGLE players are independent by default. No matter if they have friends, they don’t do that kinda thing. Aren’t you the same?

Nine: ......

Nine: Sukuna? You awake?

Five: I am.

Five: I get it. It’s just like you said. Forget about that.

Nine: Ah, that so? Then are you done? I ain’t done with tomorrow’s homework yet.

Five: Haa? You should finish homework the moment you get it.

Nine: Shaddap! G’night!

Five: G’night.

◆

The next day and the one after, Hikotarou did not show up at school.

Sukuna was fretting about all sorts of things, yet it was not as if he could do anything. Hikotarou had said that in the chatroom, but if Sukuna’s mother attempted to keep him away, there was surprisingly little that Sukuna could do.

Sukuna’s mother loved him and tried giving him whatever he wanted. However, it was completely impossible to change her opinions through his. Plead as he might, his mother would do as she willed. His voice would not reach her.

But that did not mean he could fold his arms and watch.

He was the first and only friend that Sukuna could respect ever since he had been born. Just thinking about this friend having to go somewhere far away because of him made chills run through his spine.

Until now, he had never experienced so much fear and anxiety. Although he did feel suffocated and disturbed by his mother’s actions, he had never felt dread.

Before he realized, Sukuna had sneaked out of his room and headed to the shack. He opened the door gently. Relying on the light of his PDA, he found the basket he had left in a corner. Wrapped in its blanket, the kitten Nine had been sleeping soundly.

However, perhaps noticing Sukuna, Nine looked up at him with its round eyes. Raising a sweet cry of “mew, mew”, it scrambled its way up the basket, crawled out and ended up rolling down to the floor with a thump.

“Ah, h-hey—”

He frantically picked Nine up, but this time, it climbed up his arm. As he let it do as it pleased out of not knowing what to do, Nine reached Sukuna’s shoulder, rubbed its head against his neck and curled up on the spot. It was warm and ticklish.

Sukuna’s cheeks slackened. Supporting Nine with one hand, he made sure it would not fall. Sitting down in a corner of the shack, he whispered in pauses, “I gotta protect him, huh.”

As if to respond to his talking to himself, Nine cried out a “mew, mew”.

◆

Even though he had consolidated his determination, on the very next day, Hikotarou popped up in front of Sukuna as he was getting ready to go home.

“Hey, Sukuna. Have you become an L ranker ye—ouch, owowowowow!”

As Hikotarou waved his hand lightly with the same bright smile as usual, Sukuna forcibly grabbed his wrist and went out to the corridor.

Hikotarou raised his voice in protest, “Wh-What’re you doing?! That hurts!”

“Shut up! Why did you take days off!?”

While Hikotarou was not coming to school, Sukuna had imagined all sorts of bad things. Such as, he could be preparing to be transferred or his parents could have told him to stay away from Sukuna. That was why he was awfully irritated by Hikotarou’s carefree smile.

However, Hikotarou, who had no idea about that, said while cackling a laugh, “My bad, my bad. I was just a bit busy with missions lately.”

Apparently, Hikotarou had been absent from school due to fake illness. As he said that he had been running around town while pretending he was at school in order to accomplish JUNGLE missions, Sukuna was flabbergasted.

Feeling spent, Sukuna leaned against the wall. He gave Hikotarou a sharp gaze. Fretting had made him look like an idiot.

At that moment, he realized something. Hikotarou’s forehead was just slightly swollen above his right eye.

“What’s that?”

As Sukuna pointed at it, Hikotarou raised his voice with an “aah” and said, “I hit it in the middle of a mission. Nothing to worry about.”

“Nobody’s worried.”

“Thought so. That aside, wanna go on a mission now?”

At Hikotarou’s shining eyes, Sukuna asked curiously, “Missions can be done in duos?”

“What, you didn’t know? There’s an urgent mission coming out now!”

“‘Urgent mission’?”

Despite finding the unfamiliar term strange, Sukuna tapped on JUNGLE and opened the “mission” tab. As he did so, the words “urgent mission” were indeed dancing over the top row. Unlike the other missions, a large red font was used for it.

The title was “Urgent Mission: Uwagami Town Survey”.

“Activating urgent mission. The mission content is a survey around Uwagami Town. Please record the cityscape and roads of Uwagami Town in photos and videos and upload them. For the photos, the reward is 5 JP each, and for the videos, 50 JP per minute. We will pay double the reward for videos near Uwagami First Street. Details are as follows─”

Sukuna dry-swallowed. “This is around here?”

“Yeah! So it’s a chance! It was activated just now, so most of the players haven’t noticed!”

Hikotarou was excited. Of course he was. Uwagami Town – moreover, the First Street – was precisely the surroundings of Uwagami Elementary, which Sukuna and Hikotarou had to pass through. Meaning that they would earn JPs just by taking pictures of this area. It was as if dirt had turned into gold.

“All right! Let’s go!” Squeezing his PDA, Sukuna gave a broad nod. As if he were infected by Hikotarou’s enthusiasm, his chest started throbbing.

◆

Uwagami Town was a high-class residential area located in the heart of the city center. The adjacent Shimogami Town was a government district where governmental facilities were concentrated, and many people who belonged to government agencies lived in it. In particular, there were police officers stationed in front of mansions where important people lived, watching for suspicious figures.

To start off, Sukuna took a picture of one of said police officers. The police officer merely squinted without saying anything.

“First, 5JP!”

“Let’s go steady! Steady!”

Talking loudly to each other, the two took pictures one after another. A two-lane main street that ran from east to west through Uwagami Town, an enormous building under construction, a vast parking lot, commercial buildings lined up as if to jostle one another, a spacious park and the children playing tag in it.

Upon a more careful look, there were countless other people taking pictures like Sukuna and Hikotarou. Salary men, high school girls, housewives and even elders who, no matter how one looked at it, were over 70 were positioning their PDAs to photograph and record the streets. Amongst them, there were also those who were being interrogated by police officers due to taking pictures too unreservedly. They indeed looked suspicious.

The chances that Sukuna and Hikotarou would be questioned were slim, but they somewhat did not want to be regarded as the same as those people, so they started moving to less popular locations.

“Let’s go, Sukuna!”

“Ah, wait!”

The main street of Uwagami Town stretched through a beautifully maintained city, but when one entered one of the back streets, an old townscape spread out. The back alleys, so narrow that it seemed people would have a hard time just passing each other in them, had branches and leaves hanging over them as if they were tents. Hikotarou and Sukuna sprinted under the sunlight coming through the gaps between the leaves, storing everything that caught their eyes in pictures.

At the veranda of a wooden house, an old woman was napping with a cat on her lap. Just beside the gutter stood an outdated red post. In front of a mysterious shop, there were three lined-up statues of tanuki. Sukuna photographed them all with refreshing surprise.

“It might be my first time coming to a place like this.”

Hearing the whisper that leaked from Sukuna while taking pictures, Hikotarou made a skeptical face. “Your house is around here, ain’t it? Never went exploring?”

Sukuna shook his head. The only part of Uwagami Town he knew was the main street up to the school and its surroundings. He had never made side-trips or eaten outside – he was never given the choice to go “exploring”.

Because by no means would his mother allow such a “vulgar” conduct.

Head tilted, Hikotarou said with a nonchalant voice, “Hu~n... Welp, that’s okay. Then, I’ll be your guide!”

“You know much about it?”

“This area’s my backyard!” Hikotarou said, full of confidence and grinning.

With just a step, they jumped over a stream fortified with concrete. As an unknown dog barked at them, Sukuna laughed at Hikotarou for dropping his PDA. They hopped onto the block walls and rushed through as if to sew the gaps between the houses.

All of it was a new world that Sukuna did not know about. Every time he took cuts of said world, his JP went up. He was accumulating the power to open novel worlds. Absorbed in it, Sukuna pressed the shutter over and over.

Eventually, by the time that this unfamiliar world began to dye itself in the colors of sunset, an electronic sound suddenly echoed from the PDA.

“Urgent mission concluded! The cumulative JUNGLE Points will be calculated now. Please note that any subsequent shooting will not be converted into points!”

As the end of the mission was announced, Sukuna and Hikotarou looked at each other’s faces at the same time.

“How many did you take?”

“About 200, I guess. I’ll probably rank up with this!”

As Sukuna said so, Hikotarou grinned. “Then let’s celebrate!”

Hikotarou turned around, going back the way they had come from. Sukuna followed behind him.

Two arrived at the shop with the tanuki statues that they had seen on the way. The sign that the tanuki were holding had the words “snacks shop” on it.

Sukuna stared at it in puzzlement. “What’s a snack?”

“For real?! No, well, that’s right. You’re a rich kid.”

Sukuna was offended by the disbelief in the way he spoke. However, Hikotarou opened the glass door unconcernedly and stepped into the store.

It was small and dim. The objects tightly crammed into the cupboards and baskets were all things that Sukuna did not get very well.

When he picked one up and inspected it, he found that it was a bag with richly colored gummy-like things inside. It looked like some new type of poison, but he could not rule out the possibility that it was food.

“Sukuna, you’re taking that? Then me too,” Hikotarou said, stealing it from Sukuna’s hands.

“No, hum—”

“Granny~, I’m leaving the money here~.”

“Aight~.”

Ignoring Sukuna’s voice, Hikotarou put money on the front edge of the unattended entranceway and then took cider from the refrigerator. Without time to do as much as be surprised at this innovative system, in which the owner of the shop did not have to even show her face, Sukuna was taken outside by Hikotarou and the two sat down next to the tanuki.

“My treat. We’re celebrating your raising of status!”

Being handed the colorful gummies bag, Sukuna stared fixatedly at it and opened his mouth in hesitation, “Hey, is this...”

“Edible?” was what he intended to ask, yet Hikotarou was devouring them without paying him any mind. Apparently, it was really food.

He opened the seal. If his mother knew Sukuna was eating something that had any foreign substance in it, his mother would probably pass out. That was why Sukuna closed his eyes, readied himself and threw it into his mouth.

“How is it? Good?”

As Hikotarou asked innocently, Sukuna said with an indescribable facial expression, “Tastes like chemicals.”

“That’s what’s good about it. Feel like you’re gonna get addicted to it one of these days?”

“Don’t wanna be.”

Sukuna washed his throat with the cider. Heaving a breath, he looked at the tanuki statues beside him.

“I didn’t know this kind of store existed at all.”

“Told ya that this area was my backyard, didn’t I? There’s lots of other places like this one!”

Earnestly impressed with an “eeeh”, he casually asked, “So your house is around here?”

Hikotarou’s smile instantly thinned. “Hm, well, kinda like that.”

Hikotarou’s complex facial expression caused Sukuna to hesitate asking any further, so he kept his mouth shut. It might be that he did not want to talk about his home circumstances. It was not as if Sukuna wanted to pry either.

Hikotarou was completely different from his “school friends” of until now. He knew Sukuna was a member of the Gojou family, but was not swayed by that. He saw Sukuna for what he was.

So his home circumstances did not matter.

“I see,” Sukuna replied with a mutter, looking up at the sky.

A large airship was crossing the sky, which was painted in sunset colors.

As he ate the mysterious gummy candy and drank the cider, a question left Sukuna’s mouth out of the blue, “By the way, what was so urgent in that urgent mission?”

“Eh?”

“Well, ain’t it kinda weird to make a survey of the city into an emergency? Just what’s the reason to investigate the city in such a hurry?”

Folding his arms, Hikotarou began to think. “Now that you mentioned, it’s indeed suspicious. The reward’s too high in the first place.”

“For starters, who issued that mission? I’d never heard of an urgent mission until now, y’know?”

Sukuna opened his PDA, which was in the middle of charging, tapping the “mission” tab. Even if a mission had already ended, one could check the details from the history category.

Hikotarou explained while doing the same as him, “Just like the name says, urgent missions are missions with a high level of urgency. They’re easy to spot ‘cause they come from the top of the list, but they charge a lot, so not many people issue them. To begin with, only upper rankers can activate these. Well, the one who issued it was—”

“H. N”.

That was the name of the player who had triggered the urgent mission. Apparently formed of just initials, the handle name was tasteless and dull. Even as they tried jumping to the user page, most of the information was private. There was no doubt that this was a top ranker, but they found out nothing more.

Staring in a daze at H. N.’s user page, Sukuna opened his mouth, “Since we’re at it, let’s try to guess. This guy’s objective, I mean.”

“I’m in.”

Meaning that, just as when Hikotarou’s mission and Sukuna’s JP gains had been speculated about, they would try to conclude what goal this H. N. person had that warranted issuing an urgent mission.

“It told us to take pics of the city. Is he a cameraman or something?”

“There’s no way a pro would use photos taken by amateurs. He’s better off doing it himself on that matter.”

“So, in any case, he just needed a big amount of them? He used lots of users for it ‘cause he wouldn’t be able to handle it on his own?”

“If he were taking a bunch of pics alone, he might be warned off by the police. But if it’s done in large numbers, he’d get the pics even if one or two people were caught. Besides—” Sukuna pointed to a sentence in the mission details. “Here says, ‘back alleys that aren’t on the map will give you bonuses’. So he wants info on backstreets, secret paths and the like?”

“For what?”

“The only thing that comes to mind right off the bat is, well – a preliminary investigation, I guess.”

“Of what?”

“Let’s see; some kind of data—”

“Like an escape route?”

The duo’s smiles disappeared at this casual phrase.

Those were disturbing words. As they could not grasp the whole picture, their imaginations were awfully agitated. Pulling their faces close to each other’s, the two continued the “speculation”.

“Escape route for who?”

“If he gotta run, he must be a criminal.”

“Like, say, a robber?”

“There’s government buildings here, so ain’t it more possible that he’s a terrorist?”

Silence.

The “caw, caw” cry of the crows echoed comically. The two burst into laughter at the same time.

“N-No way! There’s no chance that’d be it!”

“Y-Yeah! None, none! No way there’d be terrorists in Japan!”

While laughing, they were aware there a somewhat dry ring was mixed in it. Indeed, something of that sort was, first of all, probably impossible. However, it was not as if it did not exist.

Most importantly, there was nothing they could do now. They had already submitted the photos. No matter what H. N. was scheming, they could do nothing about it.

Even so, unable to erase the vague fear he had once acquired, Sukuna peeked at his PDA. In that moment, a fanfare-like sound played from the PDA. A holographic image of a deformed parrot character – Jumpy – appeared, dancing around Sukuna and Hikotarou’s general area.

“Urgent mission accomplished! 2745 points added to your JUNGLE Points! Rank up! Five has been promoted to JUNGLE L-ranker. Congratulations.”

Just like dates changed, the rank display in his own page was replaced with a flashing noise. From E-ranker to L-ranker. Along with that, the functions that had been restricted until now were unlocked as well. New rank mission ordering rights, mission activation rights, AR function usage rights—

Sukuna felt that his world had expanded yet again.

When he looked to the side, Hikotarou was raising his cider bottle with a cheerful smile.

“Congrats on your promotion, Sukuna!”

“Thanks.”

As Sukuna gave a lopsided smile, he and Hikotarou had a toast with their cider bottles.

Yeah, that’s right.

JUNGLE was the source of Sukuna’s power. It was a window that showed a new world to someone like him, who was bound hand and foot by his parents and simply made to walk the rails that had been decided for him.

No matter how shady it was, he could not think of losing it. That was about as terrifying as losing Hikotarou.

“Hey? Sukuna?”

He came to his senses. It seemed Hikotarou was calling him.

“A-Aah. What is it?”

“Just wondering how the cat Nine is going.”

“Aah, he’s so well that it’s a problem. He climbed on my shoulder a while ago—”

“Eh~, what’s up with that? He’s never done that with me!”

Laughing at Hikotarou’s sullen face, Sukuna said, “Then come see him next time. He’ll be happy too, for sure!”

“Yeah, true. One of these days.” Hikotarou laughed faintly, filling his mouth with cider.

◆

He woke up early that day.

“6AM?” as he whispered, a yawn came out. Sukuna turned off his PDA, put it in his sleepwear’s pocket and got up from his bed.

He had to wake up earlier than usual ever since bringing Nine in. That was the expected, as he was the only one looking after it. He had to set up a time to take care of Nine before going to and after returning from school.

He quietly slipped out of his bedroom and headed to the first floor, sneaking out through the window of an unused guest room. He had secured this “escape route” by making use of Grass Root. He picked places where the servants would not be and times when they would not be around, rushing within the stipulated period.

Therefore, he was at ease. He had made sure that by no means would anyone find out about it.

Upon opening the door, Sukuna learned that this was nothing but an assumption.

Nine had disappeared from the shack.

His heart resounded with a strong thump.

He wondered if it was hiding somewhere. It was a kitten. It might have crawled into a spot that would not cross his mind.

However, he could not find such a breach anywhere in the shack. Neither could he hear its voice. It would always come crying loudly and cling to Sukuna whenever he arrived.

There was only an empty basket and a blanket that had grown cold in there.

He peeked into the bowl that he had filled to the brim with water. It had not decreased in the slightest. Was it not going thirsty or hungry, wherever it was? For starters, where had it even gone? His own expression full of anxiety was reflected over the water in the bowl.

As he looked at himself in blank amazement, a sweet voice coiled around him from behind, “Sukuna.”

His body trembled with a start.

As he turned around with eyes wide-open, his mother was standing at the shack’s entrance. Her red lips were forming a smile. Both her arms were holding a basket with a pure-white kitten on it.

“If you want something, you can just tell your mother.”

Grinning at him while he was motionless as if frozen, Sukuna’s mother left the basket with the white kitten by his feet. Not making the littlest movement, the white kitten stared fixatedly ahead, as if already disciplined to do so.

Words finally spilled from his dry mouth, “Where’s Nine?”

His mother tilted her head, but after catching on, she at last said, “If you mean that filthy one, it has been disposed of.” She spoke while smiling, “You wanted a cat, right, Sukuna? If so, you should purchase a proper one.”

Her hand caressed Sukuna’s hair. As though she were admiring a treasure.

“You mustn’t touch such a dirty stray cat like that one. What if you were scratched and contracted some disease? My dear Sukuna, I can’t let you do that.”

Sukuna looked down at the white kitten. It was well-manneredly, quietly sitting in the basket. There was a luxury accessory, adorned with a golden chain and red ribbon, fitted around its neck.

It was a choker.

While he was looking down at the kitten, a dark emotion gushed forth within Sukuna. It was a sensation that he had tasted countless times until now. When those people had tried to provide him friends. When he found out that those people were watching his room. That was the feeling that welled up inside.

He had managed to swallow it down until now. He had been able to control it. Because he was aware, somewhere in his heart, that there would be no going back once he laid it bare.

But he believed that, if he gulped it down now, something within him would definitely end up broken.

Therefore, Sukuna reached out and took the bowl full of water in his hand. As he glared at his mother, the smile disappeared from her red lips. Fear did not surge even as he saw this. More strongly than that, the dark emotion – “hatred” – was filling Sukuna from the inside.

“WHO—” He swung up the water bowl. “—SAID I WANTED A CAT?!!”

Sukuna slammed it at the kitten.

The bowl did not hit it directly. It collided with the nearby wall, bouncing off a big splash. Struck by said splash, the kitten let out a cry and jumped off the basket. It ran to a corner of the shack and gazed up at Sukuna as if scared of him.

When he saw that look, the dark feeling was gone like a retracting tide.

The kitten was not at fault for anything. It was simply brought here unknowing of anything and made into a replacement for some stranger. It was shameful and pathetic of him to take his anger out on it. He felt like he had become the same kind of person as his mother. Sukuna sensed that his own hatred was aimed at himself.

On the other hand—

Any facial expression had vanished from his mother’s face. She was as expressionless as a Noh mask. Lips sewed into a thin line, she stared intently at Sukuna.

Sukuna did not return the gaze. However, he did not attempt to explain himself either. It was not that he feared doing so. But because he was repulsed of even speaking to her.

After a moment of silence that could be deemed as an eternity, his mother muttered in a few words, “Really? I see.” She then turned on her heels, exiting the dim shack.

Left behind, Sukuna did nothing. He crouched on the spot, burying his face in-between his knees. Recalling Nine’s voice whenever it called for him, the softness of its fur whenever it snuck up to him and the ticklishness of its breath whenever it sniffed him, Sukuna cried with his shoulders shaking.

The white kitten was observing Sukuna.

◆

The next day, Sukuna found the collar that the white kitten had been wearing inside his residence’s trashcan.

That was what happened to the things Sukuna said he did not want.

◆

What should he say to Hikotarou? Lying on his bed, that was all Sukuna could think about.

The answer did not come to him. There was no way it would. The one who had offered to take in the kitten Nine, which Hikotarou found and had been taking care of, was Sukuna himself. There was no way he could tell him that his parents had found out about it and gotten rid of it.

Ever since losing Nine, Sukuna had secluded himself in his room, refusing to go to school or even eat, thinking about this all the while. His parents had knocked on his door and spoken words mixed with persuasion, and every time he heard their voices, he desperately had to overcome the urge to clear them away using the ESP App.

What should he say to Hikotarou? This question without an answer occurred to him whenever he opened JUNGLE and saw messages from Hikotarou piling up.

Amidst his spiraling thoughts, Sukuna became someone who did nothing but fiddle with his PDA. After all, he was able to escape from this reality just by staring at the several lined-up missions in JUNGLE.

The reality was catching up quickly.

It was no coincidence that Sukuna had activated Grass Root at that moment. He was wary of his parents perhaps trying to force him out of the room if he kept shutting himself in it.

Only the security surveillance cameras of the lowest floor could be viewed on Grass Root, but it could detect if someone were to break through the door of his room. He had not decided what to do when that happened, but he imagined that he would likely have to use an item from the ESP App.

However, that did not happen.

The one projected in the surveillance camera was not the robust guard-man. It was a man clad in a wrinkly suit and a boy who he was bringing with him.

“Hikotarou? Why...?”

With the words that he had whispered in a daze, Sukuna awoke at once. There was no “why”. It was because his parents had found out that Hikotarou existed.

Sukuna felt goosebumps. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the door of his bedroom, but gave up on opening it.

There were lookouts on the other side. His mother had arranged a sleepless watch so that she could deal with Sukuna whenever he came out. If he came out, he would quickly be caught and transferred somewhere else. And then, he would never get to see Hikotarou again.

The door’s no good. I need a different means of escape—

He looked back. Outside the window, he could see the trunk of a garden tree about three meters away. Even if one jumped off the windowsill, they would not be able to reach it.

That was the case for ordinary humans. However, Sukuna was a JUNGLE player.

Taking out his PDA, he opened it without hesitation. He activated the item “physical strengthening”, which was within the power of L-rankers.

Instantaneously, a green electric current burst out from the PDA, ran through Sukuna’s whole body and then disappeared into thin air. However, that strength remained within Sukuna. Each time his heart struck a beat, a force that was not his own circulated his blood vessels, his muscles absorbing it.

A countdown appeared on his PDA. He did not know the reasoning behind it, but once this period was over, his power would be gone as well.

In short, he had no time to waste.

Sukuna opened the window and jumped up. The unbelievable jumping power more than compensated for the three meters. The momentum was so strong that he almost missed the tree trunk, spiraling around it when he reached out and clung to it. His eyes spinning from the gymnast-like maneuver, Sukuna jumped from branch to branch and landed as if rolling down.

Sukuna broke into a run barefoot.

It was not as if he could do anything by running. Sukuna’s parents would not listen to his opinions. Rather, they may consider Hikotarou even more dangerous as a cause of his rebellion against them.

However, he had a feeling that he would resent it for the rest of his life if he just watched the current situation with a finger in his mouth.

From the position of the surveillance cameras, he calculated the place where Hikotarou would be at right now. It was one of the normally unused reception rooms. He ran along the outer walls, taking a wide turn around the mansion. Holding onto the reception room’s window, he quietly peeked inside.

And so, Sukuna experienced a lifelong regret.

“Good job on your report,” his father said, sitting on an extravagant chair.

The middle-aged man and Hikotarou were standing opposite to him, on the other side of the office desk. The middle-aged man was giving his father a toadying smile. Hikotarou, standing next to him, was merely staring at his toes with a mask-like expressionless face.

Sukuna’s heart began to beat copiously fast. If he kept looking at this scene, he would lose something important. Even though he knew this, he was unable to take his eyes off it.

“You might be poor, but since you have enough brains to be able to talk to him as an equal, we have selected you to be his friend as a special case.”

Sukuna’s breath caught. The conversation he was hearing through the window was as vague as a nightmare, with no sense of reality to it.

“Make sure to do your job modest and humbly. I have already transferred this month’s payment.”

“Thank you very much! Hey, you show gratitude too.”

While bowing repeatedly, the middle-aged man put his hand on the back of Hikotarou’s head and squeezed it with force. Unresisting, Hikotarou let himself be handled and bowed his head. He weakly muttered incoherent words.

He was extending his gratitude. To Sukuna’s father. To the power of the Gojou household.

His father leaned his body against the backrest and looked down at the two. “However, your interactions seem to be going too far lately. My wife is worried that Sukuna might have become defiant due to bad influence from you.”

The face of the middle-aged man quickly turned pale.

“Who was it that put in word so that someone from the fallen Kue family could somehow attend that school? I would like you to be a bit more aware of that.”

“M-My deepest apologies! Hey, you!”

The middle-aged man grabbed Hikotarou’s head violently. Hikotarou let him do as he pleased. He was mumbling something – perhaps apologizing?

Enough already. I don’t wanna see any more of this.

He did not want to see Hikotarou – his friend – like that. Still, in the end, that “friend” was also nothing more than something those people had arranged for him.

After watching Hikotarou receive punishment for a moment, his father raised his hand. “Do that somewhere my eyes can’t reach.”

“Yes! I-I always—”

“Enough of that. Sukuna is what matters now.”

Hearing the name, Hikotarou sluggishly raised his head.

“He has been confining himself in his bedroom all the time lately. I called you here to convince Sukuna. Talk him into it and bring him out of his room.”

“O-Of course! Hiko! Get ready at once!”

“Hum.” At that moment, Hikotarou’s voice sounded clear for the first time. “Sukuna has been absent from school all this time... Is he sick or something like that?”

Snorting, Sukuna’s father narrowed his eyes as if to poke fun at Hikotarou. “There seems to be no problem with his health. Apparently, he had picked a stray cat recently. By the looks of it, he got angry because we disposed of it. Honestly, children are so...”

Hikotarou went stiff. His small hands balled into fists.

“If he wants a replacement, we can provide anything he wishes. So hurry and do something about this. It will be bad for our reputation if the current situation continues as it is.”

Hearing the words of his father, who thought of no one but himself, Sukuna slammed the windowsill with his hand, reinforced by JUNGLE’s superhuman abilities. The only one who noticed the sound was Hikotarou. His eyes alone moved, taking in Sukuna’s figure. Their gazes met for just an instant. Yet Sukuna would probably never forget those wide-open eyes.

Sukuna peeled his body away from the window. He had lost all reason to stay in that place.

The “physical strengthening” was still within its effect time. Making full use of that power, he ran. Tears spilled as he rushed through the estate’s garden.

That was the first friend he had made ever since he was born. For the first time ever since being born, he had admired someone and thought of him as even cooler than himself. He had taught Sukuna about many things. Such as the enormous power that he had never even imagined and a new world that he had never so much as noticed, even though it was lying right next to him. He deemed the memories of breathing in the air of freedom and of playing around shoulder-to-shoulder with him as brightly sparkling jewels.

However, they were not jewels but glass marbles arranged for him by the adults.

He had nothing. The resounding beating of his heart, the new world that shone so vividly – everything had disappeared. Right now, the all that surrounded Sukuna were adults so filthy they made him want to throw up, as well as the fakes they had provided for him—

No.

“That’s not true,” Sukuna muttered little by little.

At the same time, an electronic voice echoed from the PDA in his hand, “The effect time of item ‘Physical Strengthening’ has expired. If you wish to extend the effect time, please add extra JUNGLE Points—”

“Extend effect.”

“Voiceprint authentication confirmed. Consuming JUNGLE Points in order to maintain effect duration.”

Hikotarou was a fake. A fake that his parents had prepared for him. Whenever he was with Sukuna or whenever he laughed, he had been probably making a fool out of Sukuna deep down.

Nevertheless, it was not as if everything was fake.

Only this power, JUNGLE, was real. True strength. A tangible world. Beyond that window, a new world was spreading out. That was the sole truth.

And right now, having wiped the tears away, Sukuna was seeing yet another world.

In that world, Sukuna was free. Sukuna was lonely. Having lost his only friend, Sukuna figured that there was no longer anything chaining him to that place now. The exciting world that he had once had a glimpse of together with Hikotarou was lost forever, and the only thing spreading out before Sukuna was a desolated, perishing world.

Yet he had no options anymore but to jump into it.

Strengthening this resolve, Sukuna set forth while gritting his back teeth.

◆

On the day that Sukuna used JUNGLE’s superhuman abilities to the fullest, stealing everything he could take and vanishing from the Gojou house, a large number of thieves attacked Uwagami Town.

Multiple government officials’ homes were raided at the same time. After suppressing the police officers guarding them as if it were nothing, the thieves robbed all houses of information related to secrets of the state and disappeared into the back streets and alleys of Uwagami Town.

The Metropolitan Police Department identified the case as a large-scale beta case due to the clear criminal techniques and the testimony of police officers describing them as “physical abilities that would usually be impossible”. The command of the investigation was transferred to Scepter 4.

Sukuna only came to know about it much later.

#k project #kprojectedit #k side green #gojou sukuna #sukuna gojou #k #kue hikotarou #gohands #gora #novel #my translation

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sweet-savvy-slytherins · 3 years

Text

Hi, everyone!

Developing characters is something I really enjoy, so I had a lot of fun putting together a twin set of MCs! This is the first of the two, Evangeline! I’d love if people would give her a read, and let me know what you think of her!

For clarification, I used the Classified Text Generator in a few spots. That way, I didn’t have to leave any information out, and those who had reached that part of the game would recognize what I was talking about regardless, but those who hadn’t wouldn’t be spoiled.

Name:

Hypatia Nadine Linwood, originally

Evangeline Nadine Desrosiers, currently

Usually goes by Vany

Initials spell “END,” which she finds hilariously ominous

Gender: Cisgender female

Age: 16 years old

Birth Date: October 20th

Species: Human (despite her mother’s insistence that they’re part Veela)

Blood Status: Pureblood

Sexuality: Openly homoromantic and homosexual

Alignment: Chaotic good

Ethnicity: Afro-European

Residence: A condo in Bristol

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ESTP-A, the Entrepreneur

1st Wand: When she was eleven, Evangeline was matched with a dogwood wand that was nine inches in length, with a dragon heartstring core.

2nd Wand: In her fifth year, after she unwisely challenged Madam Rakepick and had her wand broken as a result, Evangeline found herself paired with a spruce wood wand, this one nine and two thirds inches in length with a phoenix tail feather core. While she resents Rakepick for breaking her first, Evangeline does admit to feeling like her second wand suited her better.

Animagus: Evangeline never becomes an animagus.

Miscellaneous Magical Abilities: Unlike Jacob and Enola, Evangeline is not a born legilimens. However, just like her mother, she is a Seer. (Because that is just like her mother, isn’t it? To pass on the world’s shittiest super power?) Most of the time, this ability manifests in the form of a vague sense or a murky dream. To this day, she’s only had one proper vision, and it was when she was very small.

Boggart Form: Her mother showering her with praise, and saying she was proud of the witch she’d grown to be. This tends to confuse her peers, since it seems so positive—but Evangeline knows her mother. The narcissist that she is, Mireille would never have praised her like that unless she molded Evangeline into her double. That is Evangeline’s worst fear: becoming her mother.

Riddikulus Form: Mireille more or less being turned into a cymbal-banging monkey, with a kazoo in her mouth, cymbals in her hands, and a silly hat.

Amortentia: When Evangeline smells amortentia, the scent is a combination of broom handle polish, leather, and buttered toast. If someone’s amortentia were to smell like her, it would smell like cherry lip gloss, orange pekoe tea, and, again, broom handle polish.

Patronus: A crow. Although they’re best known for supposedly being an omen of death, they’re also believed to symbolize destiny, flexibility, and mischievousness.

Patronus Memory: About a month before Evangeline turned nine, there was a night where her entire family—Aunt Felicienne, Jacob, Enola, and Casper—all let her paint their nails. They all talked and laughed the entire night, drinking cocoa and admiring their nails, and it was the first time they felt like a proper family.

Mirror of Erised: Her family not only together again, but being treated with the respect they deserve. Her brother’s bad reputation erased, the whispers about her aunt for being a squib silenced, and the ghost of their parents’ actions exorcised.

Specialized/Favorite Spells: Evangeline has an affinity for fun spells, like Colovaria and Orchideous. They may not be the most practical, but is that such a crime? Not every spell can serve a greater purpose.

Physique:

Athletic build, due to her involvement in Quidditch

Strong limbs and a toned figure

5′8 in heigh

Eye Color:

Dark grey in color

Always decorated with pristine eyeliner and a light brush of mascara

Hair Color:

Deep brown

Occasionally experiment with different hair colors using Colovaria

Naturally curly, but is often straightened

Hip length (when straightened)

Skin Tone:

Light brown

Warm undertones

Body Modifications:

One piercing in each ear

Scarring:

Extensive burn scars on both forearms — gained at 7 years old

Thin scar directly across the bridge of her nose — gained at 25 years old

Inventory:

Her favorite cherry lip gloss

A bag of butterscotch candies

A hair clip or two

Her treasured leather journal.

Fashion: Though Evangeline consciously tries not to be vain, knowing it was one of her mother’s vices, she does take pride in her appearance, and enjoys looking good. When not outfitted in her school robes, she usually tries to aim for a classy, feminine sort of style. More often than not her outfits consist of trendy sweaters or turtlenecks (never t-shirts), tea length skirts, and oxford pumps. As for accessories, Evangeline is quite fond of dainty earrings and delicate silver rings, as well as pretty hair clips. The one exception to her style tastes is Erika’s sweaters: they’re over-sized, a little more traditionally masculine, and more worn out than Evangeline likes to let her clothes get. Still, she absolutely covets them.

Hogwarts House: Slytherin, house of the cunning and ambitious. It’s garnered such a reputation for being the “mean house” that people always seem to be surprised to learn that Evangeline was placed there. But, as she’s always quick to remind them, “mean” is not a requisite for being in Slytherin. It’s just an unfortunate trend.

Ilvermorny House: Thunderbird, house of the soul, home to the adventurer.

Affiliations/Organizations: Obviously, as first a student and then an alum, Evangeline is affiliated with Hogwarts. She also joins ███ ██████ ██ ██████ out of support for Enola, and, later on, is a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Professions: After working as a spy for the Order during the second wizarding war, Evangeline builds a career as a grief counselor for magical children.

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: A

Charms: E

DADA: O

Flying: O

Herbology: P

History of Magic: A

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

Electives:

Divination

Muggle Studies

Both are total goof off classes, considering she’s a Seer who was raised in a muggle community

Quidditch:

Seeker on the Slytherin team from third year onward

Played one season as a beater in her fourth year

Extra Curricular:

Art Club

Frog Choir

Favorite Professors:

Professor Hooch — fellow Quidditch lover

Professor Trelawney — endearingly kooky

Least Favorite Professors:

Professor Snape — killjoy

Professor Sinistra — uptight

Brother: The eldest of the Desrosiers children is Theron, who renamed himself Jacob after his parents’ death. Of his three younger siblings, he’s arguably closest to Evangeline, since she shares his charisma and occasional haughtiness. Evangeline understood, better than any of the others, how badly he wanted to restore both the Kastellanos and Desrosiers family names to their former glory. No, actually, not their former glory—a new glory, built on talent and respect, rather than on the subjugation of those considered “beneath” them.

Other Siblings: Older than Evangeline by six minutes, Enola is the second oldest Desrosiers sibling, and easily the one Evangeline is closest to. People can dismiss the notion of twin ESP all they want, but Evangeline believes it. Different as they may be, her and Enola have always been finely attuned to each other. They can read each other easily, and always know exactly what the other needs. There isn’t a chance they could ever be as close with someone else as they are with each other.

Evangeline also has a younger brother. Helios Kastellanos, renamed Casper by their Aunt Felicienne, is five years younger than the twins, and truth be told, Evangeline’s never had too strong of a relationship with him. It’s not like they argue, or they hate each other. They’ve just...never connected. He’s always clung to Enola, so Evangeline figures that it’s a trade off she had to make. She gets to be close with Jacob, at the cost of being close with Casper. Enola gets to be close with Casper, at the cost of being close with Jacob. It evens out.

Father: Truth be told, Evangeline remembers very little of her father, Proteus. Beyond not spending a lot of time at home, Proteus was more concerned with his male heirs than either of his daughters. Everything Evangeline knows about him, she’s learned secondhand, and even then, it’s very little. Felicienne and Jacob always waved off her questions, telling her she didn’t want to know about him, Enola remembered as little as she did, and Casper was only three when he died. Evangeline knows that he was a Death Eater, and that’s more or less it.

Mother: Now, her mother, Mireille, on the other hand...Evangeline remembers her quite vividly. Mireille was a woman who prided herself on beauty more than anything, and wanted to raise her daughters to be just the same—as long as they were never more beautiful than she was. Though she came from a family of blood purists, Mireille was the first Desrosiers to become a Death Eater, and Evangeline suspects that she got in over her head. It’s her theory that the stress drove Mireille crazy, and that was why she was so prone to paranoia and explosive bursts of anger. One of Evangeline’s most vivid memories of Mireille attempting to throw a pot of boiling water in her face when she was seven years old; Evangeline threw up her arms to defend herself, and she still bears the scars from the attack all these years later.

Love Interest: Evangeline has a big, fat, gay crush on Erika Rath, and she’s not ashamed to admit it. She’d already been attracted to her on an entirely physical level, and then Evangeline had to seek out her tutelage when the Slytherin team was short a Beater. Discovering the awkward, uncertain girl that existed beneath the gruff exterior completely sealed the deal. They bonded over their love for Quidditch, continuing to train together even when Evangeline switched back to playing Seeker, and with time, came to find that they really enjoyed each other’s company. Evangeline could make Erika laugh like no one else, and Erika felt like one of the only people Evangeline could be entirely herself with, even if that meant exposing the ugly pieces of herself as well as the polished ones. Finally, Evangeline asked Erika to the Celestial Ball, and the rest was history. It’s rather funny to see them side by side, with Erika, perpetually dressed in her jersey and scowling, towering over Evangeline, with her pressed skirts and sunny smiles.

Best Friends: One of Evangeline’s dearest friends at Hogwarts is local contraband dealer, Jae Kim. Truth be told, he was initially quite intimidated by her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but despite Evangeline’s bubbly disposition, something about her always struck him as distinctly...eldritch. Like she was something unusual, and not entirely human. Maybe it was just the way she could flip her emotions on a dime, entirely of her own volition. Watching her be seething mad and then slap on a bright, sunny grin as she turned away, easy as flipping a switch, was unnerving. Regardless, the two bonded throughout their time spent in detention, and Enola is quite proud to boast that she’s one of the few people that can almost wrangle Jae into following the rules.

She’s also quite close with Penny Haywood and Diego Caplan, two Hufflepuffs who share Evangeline’s popularity and social skill. Evangeline likes to joke that she’s “Penny, but with edge.” Penny gets a kick out of it. Diego, on the other hand, did initially have slightly selfish reasons for befriending Evangeline—namely, his hope that she could help him get closer to Enola, who he had a crush on—but ended up genuinely bonding with her somewhere along the way. She’s his favorite dueling and dancing partner, and they trust each other more than anyone seems to realize.

Rivals: Some people might not understand how two people on the same team can be rivals, but Evangeline and Skye Parkin make it work. It’s not a mean rivalry by any means, but it’s an intense one, with both of them aiming to be the star player on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Evangeline also considers herself rivals with Emily Tyler, who reminds her uncomfortably of her mother, and Merula, who competes with her in, well, everything.

Enemies: Logically, Evangeline knows that there’s really nothing wrong with Talbott Winger. He’s an entirely decent guy, who minds his own business and keeps his head down. She has no reason to dislike him the way she does. But she just can’t help it. Maybe it’s his aloofness that rubs her the wrong way—Evangeline’s always liked to be liked, not to mention the nosy streak she possesses and she finds people that reserved and guarded frustrating. Maybe it’s the fact that she thinks he has eyes for her sister, when Enola could definitely do better. (Of course, this is only Evangeline’s perception. If she really wanted to know who had eyes for Enola, she’d have better luck looking at her best friend, Jae.) Either way, Evangeline isn’t a fan.

Dormmates: Evangeline shares a dorm with Rowan Khanna, Liz Tuttle, Skye Parkin, and her twin sister, Enola.

Pets: On the record, Evangeline has only one pet, and it’s a very old, exceptionally grumpy, melanistic Sphynx cat named Toodles. Despite being more or less a crotchety old man in cat form, Toodles is absolutely the light of Evangeline’s life, and she dotes on him like he is her actual child. The amount of money she’s dropped on Toodles is honestly kind of staggering, but Enola insists that it’s entirely necessary. Sphynx cats require a lot of careful care, and if Evangeline has her way, Toodles is only going to get the best of the best.

However, off the record, Evangeline has also grown unusually close to one Thestral in particular. She’s been sneaking into the Forbidden Forest to study them since she was in her 2nd year, and during one such excursion, she witnessed a Thestral foal being birthed. Since it provided a prime opportunity to study the life cycle of a Thestral, Evangeline focused most of her observations on that foal, which she named Melinoe, after the Greek goddess of ghosts and spirits. It took some time to build trust, but eventually, Melinoe and Evangeline were thick as thieves, and Melinoe greeted her like an excited puppy whenever she came to visit the forest. Leaving Melinoe behind is perhaps what Evangeline’s dreading most about her graduation from Hogwarts.

Closest Canon Friends: Jae Kim, Penny Haywood, Diego Caplan, Nymphadora Tonks, and Tulip Karasu.

Closest MC Friends: Outside of Enola, none yet, but looking!

Pre-Hogwarts: Hypatia was born the third child of Proteus and Mireille Kastellanos. She spent the first eight years of her life in Greece, living on her father’s family estate, roaming the grounds with her siblings, enjoying the abundance of wealth at her fingertips. It should’ve been a charmed life...but it wasn’t. See, Proteus and Mireille were both Death Eaters, and neither were much suited for parenthood. It was a household strife with unease and contempt, and if the ruthless mental (and occasionally physical) abuse Hypatia experienced wasn’t enough, her childhood was also plagued by terrible visions. In this visions, an explosion burst in her family parlor, leaving both her parents dead on the floor.

Then, when she was eight years old, the premonition came true. Aurors raided the manor, and in the ensuing fight, both Proteus and Mireille were killed, with their two young daughters bearing witness. The children were whisked away from the home, and eventually sent to live with their maternal aunt, Felicienne Desrosiers. A squib who had fled her Pureblood-supremist family to live in England, Felicienne was hardly equipped to take on four young, magical, traumatized children, but still, she stepped up to the plate, determined not to fail them the way that their parents had.

The first thing she did? She sat them down, and helped them choose out new names. While her family name wasn’t exactly sparkly clean, it carried less of a stigma than their father’s. And thus, Hypatia Kastellanos died with her parents, and Evangeline Desrosiers was born.

From that point on, Evangeline grew up to be a rather well-adjusted girl. Or, as well-adjusted as a girl with her experiences could be. The only real point of concern was the fixation she began to develop with death; she played funeral director far more often than she ever played princess, and was prone to checking out books on embalming methods from the local library. However, she wasn’t hurting anyone or thing and showed no desire to, so Felicenne decided it wasn’t anything to worry too much about. It was simply Evangeline’s way of coping. Throughout the years, Evangeline found happiness with her new family, and despite Jacob’s disappearance, despite Felicenne’s failing health, Evangeline is determined to protect that happiness.

2nd Wizarding War: As the war starts picking up steam, Evangeline establishes her allegiance to The Order of the Phoenix, and starts working as a spy, able to rely on her charisma and family heritage to gain the trust of dark wizards. She’s not accepted into the inner circle, not nearly, but she’s silver-tongued enough to get information from those that are. During this time, she secretly elopes with her long-term girlfriend, Erika Rath. She fights in the battle of Hogwarts, and in doing so, gains a scar directly across the bridge of her nose.

Post-War: Following the war, Evangeline finds that her ambitions have changed. Despite having wanted for years to be a mortician, she finds that the idea now lacks the appeal it did when she was young. Perhaps she’s just seen enough death. Still, she’s determined to put all of her years of research to use. She ends up finding her calling providing grief counseling to children, and, specifically, to magical children. She makes the unconventional choice to train Thestrals as a sort of therapy animal for children who have witnessed death. Her and Erika, now going public with their marriage, also adopt a set of siblings—an eight year old named Winifred, and a six year old named Josephine, the daughters of a friend of Erika’s who was, unfortunately, killed in the war. It’s difficult, considering both girls are old enough to remember and miss their parents, but Evangeline’s grief training comes in handy in helping them cope with the loss. It may take time, but eventually, they do truly feel like a family.

There's a lot more to Evangeline than there appears to be at a glance. Upon first meeting, she seems...well, vivacious. She loves to laugh and lights up a room with her smile alone, and is playful and a little mischievous by nature. She's also quite the hopeless romantic, and ultimately wants to end up happy with someone she loves. Some may say that this makes her pathetic, but she doesn't view it that way at all. What's so wrong with wanting to be happy?

Though Evangeline may not hand out her trust too quickly or freely, she is always willing to provide a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Her loyalty to those who find a place in her heart is admirable, especially when it comes to her family, and she would willingly fight to the death to protect those she loves. She always finds some way to show her affection, whether it's through a warm hug when one is needed or a good laugh provided when sadness seems to be taking over. She’s charismatic and enigmatic and attractive, and most everyone she meets consider her to be a delightful young woman.

And then her smile sharpens just slightly, glinting like light on the blade of a dagger, and all of a sudden, it’s abundantly clear why she was sorted into the house of the cunning.

Now, the image Evangeline puts forth isn’t a lie. She is genuinely friendly and outgoing, and the majority of the time, everything she says and does is sincere. However, certain traits are exaggerated because she wants to present a specific image of herself—or rather, she wants certain parts of her to go unnoticed, so she emphasizes the ones she wants people to see and lets the other ones slip out of the edges of their perception.

Beneath the girlish laughter and perfect grins is a master manipulator, always poised for battle, whether they be fought with words or fists. The sweetness, the flattery, the pretty little smiles, they coax information out conversations faster than threats ever did. A true Slytherin at her core, Evangeline has long since learned how to use her beauty and natural charisma to get what she needs out of people and accomplish her goals, which are, fortunately, mostly altruistic. Who knows what sort chaos she could wrought, if she put her mind to it?

Total theater kid. She attended muggle primary schools prior to Hogwarts, and you can bet your bippy she jumped on every opportunity to get on stage that she was offered. Notable roles include Belle in Beauty and the Beast, the Wicked Witch of the West (ironically enough) in The Wizard of Oz, Wendy in Peter Pan, and Queen Zixi in Queen Zixi of Ix.

It’s no secret that Evangeline’s one premonition was of the raid that her parents died in. Her siblings all know, and none of them blame her. She was just a child; she didn’t understand what she was seeing. The secret is that, even if she had understood, Evangeline doesn’t think she would’ve warned anyone.

#hphm oc #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #hogwarts mystery #hphm #harry potter #hogwarts #slytherin #evangeline desrosiers #evangeline and enola #hogwarts mystery mc #hogwarts mystery oc #oc

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memcaked · 3 years

Text

Petrify

Source: Subarashiki kono Sekai | The World Ends With You

Characters: The Reaper who missed the meeting from Week 3 Day 5, Kariya Koki, Sakuraba Neku, Kitaniji Megumi, Yashiro Uzuki, Minamimoto Sho, Bito “Beat” Daisukenojo

Additional tags: Apocalypse, Misanthropy, reaper who missed the meeting is also losing their hearing, POV Second Person, Further Warnings in Author’s Note, hivemind, Not beta read, TWEWYTOBER, TWEWYTOBER 2020

Summary: When Kitaniji called that emergency meeting of his, you were grumpy.

Beginning notes: Addendum: this was first written and uploaded on the day of October 7th, 2020. hm so this was certainly not the "wacky shaun of the dead-esque joke about the reaper who missed the meeting upset about all their friends who are ignoring them" that it was meant to be, um. ah.

warnings might be overboard but genuinely did not expect this to be this dark, do want to be better safe than sorry. this work has these very clinical discussion of death and apocalypse and i... i know twewy do be a game all about death but i really do feel some of this is toeing the line. reaper also has hearing + memory loss which might hit too close to home?

to be honest, reflecting on how swiftly a turn this took when i was writing in such a bad mood? i guess writers do fall into their same patterns very quickly.

Body:

When Kitaniji called that emergency meeting of his, you were grumpy. Emergency Calls are for when the UG’s existence is threatened, and as far as you were concerned, the stress is centred around the souls and bodies piling up while the Officers obsess themselves over some prickly kid’s Imagination. So you jigged. It’s a very simple thought process.

Three weeks is so much work; when you’re processing dead, of course, there’s a wintertime uptick, of course, there’ll be no shortage of souls during wars and bombings and accidents and floods and heatwaves and storms. UGs get put under lots of pressure. Kariya told you it’s happened before, in 2 games of the past 10 years, but it was much more common back then. You haven’t seen Kariya or his Yashiro understudy since he told you that.

(Why has it become so empty? There are two fucking players and one of them is that supposed prodigy who crashed and burnt out in his first week, how do so many… so many Reapers drop off? When was the last time you saw those towers of junk and garbage and smashed-up goods that’d kill your smell when you came up to it? There’s so much, so much of the same noise for so little Reapers, where did it all come from?)

The O-Pins the Officers must have issued at the emergency meeting was another brands stunt like the one last fortnight, you thought. Some magical placebo dud to rain hell on two players who didn’t know how to quit, and you’re not too sure if that’s really a bad thing. On the day you last saw Kariya, he danced away with Yashiro in their hushed voices that your hearing on its way out couldn’t grasp other than his skeptical “... they keep the chains on?” You used the cudgel of how you don’t need these special buffing pins to give a good fight though when you look at everyone, the stillness, the simpleness, the ceaselessness, you think you could… who the fuck are you kidding. You haven’t talked to anyone since those two players the UG is going to ruins to get their souls nearly challenged you to a fight, asked about your other friends and why you’re not repeating… whatever they were talking about. You could hear what they said in the first few hours they went like this, but it became background noise to you, your hearing numbing it further.

Something started panicking in you since those two Players talked to you. “These teenage boys are very well going to be the last people I’ll speak to,” it said, “And what will be left over when they’re gone? When they’re gone for the collateral damage of everything?” it feared, “The Officers or the Conductor might not be like this, but what are the chances a lowly wall reaper could meet them?” it screamed. You started moving across all of Shibuya, seeing the same solidified crowds and the drone of voices too quiet for you, searching for anybody in the mix that didn’t have the cursed O-Pin. A lost soul in the sea of to count the wireless Wongs of belfrey or what they’re meant to repeat, repeat, repeat.

You touch any of the actors in the tableaux vivants those stupid pins have made of every corner of Shibuya and that ugly-bright red stare flashes with the same sentences you can barely remember. Maybe hoping they’ll snap out of it, only to hear them recite with the same delivery every time. And from all of the trying with the exact same results, you’re sure you’re hallucinating all the accents. You swore you bumped into some pale pink statue that had such a euro twang you heard the what a wunderkind word sucks vood be as you abandoned it to repeat its trite words to itself, and for those same words to stumble through one ear and out the other with you.

The winds of Dogenzaka chill you to your bones. You peer through the ramen shops’ dark windows, the ones that were all the rage last week, their flashing LEDs off, dirty dishes left on the drainers for the rest of the single-digit days this place has left. You shift in and out of the UG as you stroll by, the reaper decal zoning you back and forth between the collision course that’s Kitaniji’s plans and the living humans of Shibuya. You wonder if its time to give up. You sit on the low windowsill (wow, no hostile architecture?) of some bistro, seeing flashes of your Reaper comrades you can barely name or see their faces of, and wonder what went so horribly wrong.

This morning you know you knew what the kids looked like, Freshmeat without his wings and that fiery, spiky hair screaming for attention, but everything but their biggest details are fading, muddying, merging into the frozen, reddish-grey of the pedestrians, their eyes flashing and droning their motto every, you’ve lost so much track of time you don’t even know. You don’t even know the time except for the blazing Shibuya sun and bitterly frosty nights. You don’t think you remember the date, despite living your unlife by the Timelimit within 7 days. There won’t be anyone left but you, your darkening memory and your deafening hearing and stumbling around the hivemind’s world.

You can see the sun dipping below the skyline. Not that you know when’s the end of this week, but you give Shibuya ‘till the end of that for its unthinking, monotone swan song Maybe when it’s the end and there’s nobody with their wits left, the UG can go through the dead easier. Maybe they’ll be able to write the countless longs or whatever they repeated before everything went solid. It’s a touch strange that even though you’re dead in the ground you’re the one who’s seeing the end of the world.

End notes: or, as a rewording of the final line and keeping in the style this was written in, the world ends with y

realised when i was writing the ending of this probably was thinking of Inventory by Carmen Maria Machado (very nsfw. warnings for an attempted rape in one paragraph and General Pandemic End-Times which were intriguing when this was published back in 2017 but Fucking Terrifying in this day and age!) esp with some final lines. ooo you want to read her body & other parties so bad ooo

#twewy #the world ends with you #twewytober 2020 #07/10/2020 #writing #fanworks

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swampgh0stt · 4 years

Text

Was posting about my Shadowhunters AU in my server, will just paste it here:

Ace & Luffy are parabatai

Dragon runs the New Orleans institute, which operates out of the St. Louis Cathedral

Sabo’s the high warlock of New Orleans too, & has a penthouse on the river front that Luffy & Ace stay at frequently

Deuce is also a shadowhunter

He’s had to walk in on the ASL trio fucking more times than he cares to admit

But you think Roger’s a shadowhunter? You’re wrong. Roger is literally Kéet. He’s a big orca demon

Rouge is a shadowhunter who definitely tapped that orca demon

Akainu is also a shadowhunter. He & Rouge were engaged

He is not happy about Rouge getting knocked up with a demon spawn. After her untimely death, he is very unkind to Ace & even pushes for the Clave to kill him. He also spreads rumors that Keet forced himself on Rouge, so Ace shouldn’t even be here!

Dragon sees no fault in the kid simply existing & is also sus about Akainu’s claims. So he takes Ace in himself & decides to raise him

Which means Ace goes all the way from the Seattle institute, to the New Orleans one

Big culture shock for a toddler

- @stardustrobin came up with Luffy being more angel than the rest. Her backstory for Luffy is that Luffy’s mom is a straight up angel, & Dragon just came back with baby Lu one day

No one knows how or where she came from & Dragon never explains either

But he raises both like they’re going to take over the institute for him one day. Ace decides later on that he doesn’t want that responsibility, so good luck y’all, youre stuck with Luffy

Ofc that’s because Ace is quick to agonize over his own existence thanks to the rumors spread by Akainu. “I’m part demon! I shouldn’t exist! I have demon blood!” Muuuh

Meanwhile, Sabo- being a warlock- is like “bitch me too, tf?”

Since Ace & Luffy are parabatai too- you’re not allowed to fall in love with your parabatai or have a relationship with them

So Ace & Luffy completely ignore that rule & fuck anyway

New Orleans is a rare case where the residents are aware of the magical world around them cause literally no one gives a fuck in NOLA

Most resident downworlders interact with mundanes on the daily- owning shops, bars, etc

They’re pretty well integrated. It’s the tourists who shadowhunters have to police

Esp during Mardi Gras season

Lots of tourists coming round thinking the mundanes are a free for all

Many resident downworlders will also step in like “eXCUSE YOU? WE LIVE HERE, YOU CANT DO THAT. WE’LL GET IN TROUBLE”

Sabo also has a hand in keeping them under wraps

He throws the most extravagant, wild parties during Mardi Gras season too

You will always find him on Bourbon street

With Ace & Luffy at his side. For “security” work! Of course.

That’s what he tells Dragon, & he’s paying them! No harm done!

Except everyone knows it’s not actually security & Dragon’s always like “you’re taking my best two away from patrol”

Many a time has poor Deuce or Dragon wandered in to see Sabo fucking Ace over the balcony on Bourbon Street during parades

Ace, decked out with beads that have been thrown to him

Best security detail ofc

Sanji’s also a shadowhunter

Zoro? Zoro’s a regular hunter. Just some mundane hunter of Bad Things

But Asura hangs around him a lot

Many people think he is Asura, but that’s just not the case

Somehow, Ace & Luffy are too busy to really worry about the demon hanging around Zoro most of the time

Sanji gives him shit for it though

#portgas d. ace #monkey d. luffy #sabo #revolutionary sabo #optext #one piece #sabolu #acelu #saboace #roronoa zoro #black leg sanji #;nsfw text #shadowhunters au

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prof-zimbrane · 5 years

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Ok, so imagine Professor Membrane was an irken, next in line to be the Tallest. But he doesn't want to be Tallest. He's a scientist and that's all he wants to be. So he finds a planet a little off the star maps, (the sticky notes the tallest pointed at in episode 1 ) he fakes his death in a lab explosion and hides on earth, establishing himself as the smartest man on the planet. Mizuki becomes tallest instead.

Ahhhh!! Yeah, he’d pursue his passion for science so he can actually make a difference, instead of just being stuck in a leadership position, trying to conquer other planets to convert them into parking lots (unless the plan for Irken conquest came about later). In this case he’d be stuck on Earth for a long time. Cuz I think Zim’s killed Tallest Miyuki a really long time ago, like before becoming an invader???

More ramblings under the cut. (Endgame Zimbrane! What would this post be without that pairing? ON this blog? ahahha)

SO, he’d be on Earth for decades, away from his own species (unless he got visitors). Still that would make for a really lonely existence, especially cuz Earth is a dirtball full of the universe’s version of reclusive hicks and he’s got to wear a disguise to fit in. But then he’d grow to love Earth and what it holds cuz there’s a lot to be done there and he loves seeing how a short-lived species grows and adapts.

But then he’d wished for some sort of companion/apprentice and so that’s why his kids came about. So, he wanted to use regular Irken cloning technology to create identical clones, but then he’d realize that it would mean having his smeets grow at a slower age than everyone else, giving them Irken weaknesses in a planet that seems out to get them, and making them have to hide themselves from any potential predators out to expose them. Which, is something Prof Membrane doesn’t wish for, so maybe he just gave up on the idea of having actual Irken smeets and just genetically engineers human babies with some of his traits and some cosmic science/”magic”(maybe that’s why Dib has so many allergies and why Gaz has scary powers).

And when Zim finds out that there was another Irken living on Earth who doesn’t want to destroy it, who actively pursues science for the benefit of humankind, AND who is the father of his worst enemy, then I’d guess he’d be super intrigued, especially if he’s well-known as the Irken who disappeared before becoming Tallest, which is the highest honour ever (rumours would abound). Maybe Zim would think that he was kidnapped or brainwashed and as a loyal citizen of the Irken Empire, would seek to rescue/liberate him to reinstate him as the true/hidden Tallest (if Prof Membrane is still the tallest Irken alive) a la Simba from Lion King (”Remember who you are”).

This could lead to funny scenarios where Zim just plops into Prof Membrane’s lab to take him away from his work but then his means of transportation just ends up being destroyed and they land in a romantic location, so ZIm just bullshits his way into saying it was all according to the plan and they just start these intense discussions and talks about how Irk’s been, what it’s been like living on Earth, any surprising scientific discoveries they found, etc. Zim does this often enough that Prof Membrane’s lab assistants/colleagues/employees just start assuming that they’re an item.

Prof Membrane started off being wary of Zim just kidnapping him esp cuz Dib keeps warning Prof Membrane about Zim but he has several plans of attack and defense for every possible scenario, so he’ll never be scared by whatever Zim throws at him. But he doesn’t enjoy any more harm to be done against him or to the surrounding environments, so he started distracting Zim with basic small talk, which eventually became full blown conversations lasting hours. And with all these kidnappings, vehicle crashes, and talks, he’s actually starting to genuinely enjoy Zim. Especially cuz he’s been alone, with no one to confide to on planet Earth.

Somehow, with each kidnapping, Zim manages to crash into more and more extravagantly romantic places, where he’d be forced to stay put to repair his Cruiser or until Gir/Minimoose fetch him an illegally stolen lorry to hide his Voot. Zim would grumble over his crashed ship and delayed plans but with Prof Membrane’s distractions, he’d feel content to talk about things he missed being in space, surrounded by Irk’s culture. He’d feel like he had a friend, someone who he could eventually trust (and what does it matter that he initially thought of humouring Prof Membrane’s small talk to convince Prof Membrane to leave Earth to become the Tallest? He’s honest with what he says).

Since Zim believes that Prof Membrane is the right Tallest, he doesn’t feel the need to appease the current Tallests. So he thinks it safe to open up to Prof Membrane. About his doubts on the mission, his fears of being a bad Irken, a defective, and about all the disasters he caused. This could be the turning point of their relationship. Where they accept that they actually have feelings for the other, i.e. Prof Membrane realizes he loves Zim when he wants to do whatever it takes to take away Zim’s sorrow and end up comforting him, and Zim realizes that he loves Prof Membrane when he feels accepted after Prof Membrane cheers him up.

And how does this all end? Dib and Gaz find out about their heritage, of course they would! Zim finally learns to appreciate Earth and is willing to stay there forever with his partner and adopted kids, although Prof Membrane finding out what the Irken Empire has accomplished on the other half of the Universe, he’d be like “The universe needs my help! I can’t, in good conscience, leave some pathetic, ineffectual little rebellion be the only force going against two idiots too occupied with snacking and destroying to rule the Universe!” He gets one of those “with great height comes great responsibility” epiphanies.

He and Zim end up liberating the conquered planets by taking over the previous Tallests positions cuz height really is everything and the Control Brains are the ones who do the Pak programming, so Red and Purple are tossed to the side fairly easily (they still live a comfortable life filled with doughnuts though).

Many Irkens actually prefer Prof Membrane because 1) he’s really tall, 2) he gives his citizens more rights, and 3) he’s just really badass with his tech and knowledge + he really supports the science sector of the empire and can be found mostly conducting research. Zim rules in his stead when Prof Membrane is busy (Zim is surprisingly good as a ruler, as long as Prof Membrane gives him affection and an outlet for his destructive tendencies (he gets to punish criminals with stuff he designs himself)).

(I know it’s a Disney ending, but I’m just making it up as I go).

#zim #professor membrane #zimbrane #zapmr #pmazr #ask #killyousall #long post #text #mine #ramblings #thanks for the ask!

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kewltie · 5 years

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Bc this is me we’re talking about, here are some infos about my non-existent hpverse bakudeku fic:

Mitsuki and inko are bffs (some even say soulmate), having met at Hogwarts and getting sorted into gryffindor in their first year they soon became fast friend bc mitsuki despite being terrifyingly beautiful (bc of her veela heritage) and powerful she wasn’t super popular due to mostly her temperament and force of personality but she does get her rapid fanclub. Inko was much adore by the student body and teachers bc how humble and kind she was despite being from a pureblood family, easily making her the head girl in her 7th year. Together the both of them were a force to reckon with, they were the talk of the school when they attend there and so much stories about their antics become legend bc mitsuki ‘the bad girl’ and inko the ‘good girl’ was such a weird combo nobody know how they remain the bestest of friends.

inko was from powerful magic family but she broke rank when she fell in love with a muggleborn (A SLYTHERIN MUGGLEBORN AT THAT). She like mitsuki is also a legacy Gryffindor so she was disowned for choosing her muggleborn boyfriend instead of a hundred of years of tradition. Mitsuki was the only one who support and stuck by her through it all and it’s kinda ironic to everyone that mitsuki is notorius as the rulebreaker in school but it is inko who turned back against everything to follow her heart. At least mitsuki married another Gryffindor pureblood but lol she didn’t chose her husband bc of that only bc her husband was the only one who was immune to her veela charm bc he was her soulmate.

ANYWAY, now on to the bakudeku who grew up side by side bc of their mothers and katsuki even as young as he was was extremely powerful. Maybe it’s bc of his blood line or maybe it’s his veela side but he always been blessed with powerful that seem bottomless while izuku for the first ten year of his life developed no magic at all. Everyone thought he was a squib bc of that and they whispered maliciously that is what you get for polluting the pure magic bloodline with dirty muggle blood :(((.

Katsuki knew at a v v v young age that izuku is his soulmate but bc izuku shown no sign of magic and katsuki as the spoiled much love son of an ancient pureblood family (WELL BOTH since his parents are both pureblood), he was arrogant and elitist thinking he was superior to izuku in everyway. He didn’t want izuku, THIS FAILURE, as his mate at all but no matter how much he fought it to his very core he can’t help being drawn to izuku by some greater force then he know how. Izuku never realize or find out that he and katsuki are mate. He just think he’s one of the few people who is immune to veela’s charm just like his mother.

Izuku finally get his magic power from all might later around the time Hogwarts start for them. All might was kinda curse/bless (???) with a spell that make his core magic to be able to pass down from one person to another. It has to do with AFO bc he’s the immortal dark lord who to helped his squib brother get magic power he STOLE it from others (AFO creating a spell that steal magic cores) and that’s how OFA was born. Izuku is the newest heir in the long line of people destine to face the dark lord who is v much ALIVE AND THRIVING in secret.

By the time bakudeku get to Hogwarts izuku and katsuki had a very tenuous relationship bc katsuki hated the fact that his mate is pathetic squib but then he suddenly developed magic and KATSUKI doesn’t know what to feel about it. On one hand that level the playing field b/t them a little bc izuku isn’t a pureblood and he got this idea in his head that muggle and wizards/witches are all equal despite their lack of magic bc he’d learned it from from his dad side when he got exposed to muggles and knows they aren’t all evil/weak. Bc katsuki came from a traditional house with thousands of years of magic and history at their back, katsuki grew up thinking he was superior to everyone else so izuku and katsuki often clash with their world/social views.

This make their relationship even more strain when katsuki (like the sorting hat barely touch HIS HEAD before it declare him a Gryffindor) saw izuku was sorted into hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor like him. It actually took the sorting hat one of the longest time to declare izuku’s house bc izuku share many strong traits from various houses (bravery, loyalty, smart, kind) houses that he could easily fall into any of them but in the end the sorting hat gave izuku a choice and he’d chosen hufflepuff bc that’s the house that often get overlook by others. AND IT’S ALSO THE HOUSE THAT KATSUKI HATES AND LOOKS DOWN UPON THE MOST. izuku admires katsuki deeply and would follow him anywhere but he realizes it’s time he carve out his own path and hufflepuffs are strong and noble just like the rest of the other houses and izuku will spent seven years proving to the rest of the school :DD.

With being from two diff houses, katsuki and izuku sorta STARTED an intense house rivaly b/t the two houses even though hufflepuffs lit get along with nearly everyone and never really get into interhouse fighting b.s. that other houses get. Katsuki immediately become one of the star of his house being that his family got a lot weight to throw around and that he’s also 1/8th veela. So many rumors and interest swirl around katsuki and he thrives on them, showing exactly how katsuki deserves to be one of the top students of the year. He’s particularly best at dueling & potion and placing in his house quidditch team the first year. Izuku, on the other hand, nobody really expected anything out of him but he consistent surprises everyone with being esp good at charm and transfiguration that outdo older students.

Izuku absolutely flourish in Hogwarts and is literally friends with many people in diff houses that izuku’s table is fill with other ppl from various houses bc izuku doesn’t really have strict view on house rivalry and who should hang with whom (his bestfriend ochako is from gryff and iieda is from ravenclaw; making the three of them the ‘golden trio’). People even whisper it’s like inko is back in school again and EVERYONE LOVES INKO. Katsuki is almost equal in term of popularity to izuku mainly bc he consistent outperform many people of his age group and even ABOVE in spellworks, power, and dueling. he’s also exceedingly attractive bc of his veela heritage so he always got a flock of fans wherever he go…. It’s just his prickly personality that keep him from being uh too popular lol.

Katsuki, SLOWLY and surely, spent the years watching izuku really grew into his own through many trials thrown at him bc izuku despite being a hufflepuff (a house that isn’t known for any notoriety) is a trouble magnet and get into ALL SORT OF HIGHJINKS. Followers of the dark lord attempting to kill/sabatoge/kidnap izuku bc of OFA and katsuki get pisser with every attempt bc HOW FUCKING DARE THEY TOUCH HIS MATE????!!!!!! It’s not like katsuki suddenly get over his bigot and elitist mentality but with exposure from his housemates and the rest of the school, he slowly understand how warped his world views was but it doesn’t make it easier for him to accept that izuku IS HIS MATE only bc katsuki hate the idea of anything being force upon him and that he can’t chose who he can be with and also THAT IZUKU can’t choose him either. The thought of alone keep him up some nights when he is plague with doubt that izuku would never choose him if they weren’t bonded with each other…

Izuku still doesn’t realize they’re mate bc katsuki never told him and izuku is… uh very oblivious but around their fifth/sixth year katsuki’s attitude slowly change around him. He becomes more attentive and careful with izuku which suprises him at first but he just thought katsuki wants to become friends again lmao. In katsuki’s case though, IZUKU nearly died in one run in way the dark lord and katsuki lost it when he thought izuku was dead and he never ever want to feel that helpless and utter despair again know that he know what it mean to him to lose izuku bc he had been in love with izuku all along. So yea IT’S TIME FOR VEELA’S COURTING BULLSHIT :DDD.

Veela despite their frail beauty is actually a magical creature that v v v much like a bird of prey; they’re fighters and volatile. Katsuki to show izuku that HE IS A GOOD THE BEST MATE, constantly show off in class and dueling (beaTing izuku in the process lmao) that he can provide and strong enough to protect izuku. HE gives izuku one of his feathers as a gift knowing how much izuku loves his wings ever since they were children even though GIVING FEATHERS pretty much mean I WANNA MARRY YOU AND MATE FOR LIFE but izuku didn’t know that.

The slow seduction/courtship of izuku was the most agonizing and difficult thing ever for katsuki. Taking on four dark lords would be easier than courting izuku bc katsuki does It in the most roundabout way possible; HE’S BASICALLY COURTING IZUKU W/O EVERY REVEALING THAT HE’S COURTING IZUKU and everyone to their friends and parents just sigh v v v v v deeply bc WHY YOU GOT TO MAKE IT THIS HARD. But katsuki wants to win izuku over through brute force of affection, gifts, and interest in him instead of some bullshit destiny thing like mate.

izuku loves katsuki since they were children but he ISNT’ IN LOVE WITH HIM until much later in their sixth year when katsuki risk it all to save him in the triwizard tourntament. IZUKu actually was selected as one of the champion (which pisses KATSUKI OFF SO MUCH but he’s older now and mature enough not to hate izuku for it) and in one of the trail izuku nearly lost his life once more and katsuki was the one who jumped in to save him WHICH IS HILARIOUS BC THAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN BC KATSUKI IS THE ONE WHO GOT KIDNAPPED AS HIS ‘MOST TREASURE PERSON’ which izuku had no clue about but once he realize how true that was.... it was game over for izuku bc he’s finally opened his eyes to what katsuki been LITERALLY COURTING HIM SINCE THEIR FIFTH YEAR lol.

#series: truly madly deeply #bakudeku #not!fic

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sdhanagare · 5 years

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Happy Birthday Amitji

Amitabh Bachchan completes 77 years and 50 years of entertaining us.

It was 1969 he made his debut. I was just 5 years old.

In 1970 we left for Brighton England for my Fathers doctorate, ( before which in 1969 a superstar came on the horizon in form of Rajesh Khanna

I remember the last movie we saw before leaving India was Aradhana).

We were in England for almost 4 years. So I missed the phenomena of Rajesh Khanna and the blooming of Amitabh Bachchan.

I remember the first movie I saw was Roti Kapada aur Makaan it was 1974 at Heer Palace Kanpur. I fell in love with the charismatic character of Vijay .

His journey from a unruly youth to the army where he looses his arm( my father used to tease me for many days as Dunda Haath Chalaaye Bandook ) was very well depicted by him under the direction of Manoj Kumar. The way he drives the motorcycle with the accelerator between his teeth. I was overwhelmed , His anger was so genuine.

The second movie I remember was Benaam. A suspense thriller and my admiration for him increased.

This was followed by reruns of Anand Namak Haraam and Abhimaan at our L7 auditorium at IIT Kanpur ( as they had been released when we were abroad )

I used to ask my parents to take me to see his releases.

Those were the days of advance booking and being away from the main city many times we could not get tickets to his movies..

We had to try thrice before we could see Deewar and Sholay both released in the year of emergency 1975.

Faraar, Chupke Chupke and Mili were the first movies I saw more than once in those days as a 11 year old. Thankfully for me my parents also were movie buffs. ( Obviously I could not go alone then but started doing so 4 years later )

Something which came to me genetically as my grandmother also was a movie fan. We used to see movies over the fortnight.

After almost 2and half months during my Diwali Vacation of 1975, we finally got tickets to Sholay at Sundar theatre. The movie then was ruthlessly edited with Asranis scenes as also Jayas Holi Scenes being cut . But that movie had a great impact on me, esp the character of Jai.

It was later in 1976 in its Golden Jubilee week I we saw Deewaar.

After Deewar I was totally smitten with Amitji, I used to tie a knot on my shirt like he did. Since then somehow or the other I saw every movie released.

In 1978 we shifted to Pune.

In Pune I realised that theatres were not so far as in Kanpur and I had a cycle.

In 1979 in 9th Standard I bunked school and went to see The Great Gambler ( which my parents would not allow as it was for Adults ). In Pune I understood the concept of Advance Booking, where bookings for a movie used to open on Monday and if one wished to see a film First day then that booking needed to be done.

In vacations we used to go my Dads Hometown of Washim ( then in Akola, now a district ) , there we had a theatre owned by a trust of which my grandfather was a trustee. Movies were free for us and seats were reserved for trustees.

Used to love going to the movies there but my memory brightens up when I remember that I saw Muqaddar Ka Sikander 4 times on the trot in 4 days, including once ( Interval to Interval ). Sholay I saw there 5 times in a week, this was thankfully the uncut version .

It is a well-known chapter of Indian film history beginning with the release of Prakash Mehras Zanjeer in 1973 which turned Amitabh into a goldmine.

This movie I finally got to see first on DD and in the theatre as late as 1980 during a re-run. Smouldering in the Salim-Javed dialogues and refracted through the Amitabh flamboyance fired the imagination of a whole nation as nothing had ever done before a trend which was carried ahead in Deewar, Sholay,Trishul, Don, Kaala Pathhar, Shaan, Shakti.

Movies then used to release phase wise first in Metros and a week or even later in other cities . Pune normally movies released a week later than Mumbai

And Lonawala used to come in the Mumbai circuit. I used to take a local to Lonawala to see Amitabhs movies. Once for Yaarana the tickets were not available in Black also , I took a ride at the back of a truck and went till Khopoli and saw the movie. Similarly Kaalia also I saw at Lonawala.

From Pune used to go for Summer Vacations to Mumbai and saw many movies there. Namak Halaal, Dostana, Desh Premee, Mahaan were all seen there.

Once I decided to go and visit his house, then Prateeksha. I had gone alone and after I reached just looked at the house in awe.

I always used to think if I could ever meet him, see him.

Thats a long story and long time ahead.

One incident I remember that in 1991, my father was travelling from Delhi to Mumbai,( and from Mumbai to Pune by road, as Pune airport was not functional then). On reaching home he asked me during dinner , guess who was next to me on the flight ( He was eligible for Business Class then ). I couldnt guess and he told me, your favourite Amitabh Bachchan. I was zapped, I said Dad did you get his autograph ? Dad replied, why should I , Iam not his fan, when you meet him, take it .

Cut to 1994 , I had won the All India award for Best Sales performance and the award was to be given at Mumbai. We were invited to Mumbai and put up at Ajantha Ambassador hotel. We were to join the team from Pune as they started from Sangli by Mahalaxmi express which reached Pune at 6am, we found that very early and decided to come by Deccan Queen which reached Mumbai by 10.30 am. As I reached the Hotel, I saw a Mercedes Van coming out of the gate, I wowed it and came to the reception where my colleague Pravin Rayate greeted me with.. You should have come a bit earlier, Amitabh Bachchan was in the lobby to pick up Jaya Ji {who had her office on the second floor ( Saraswati Audiovisuals, the makers of the TV hit seriel Dekh Bhai Dekh )}. So I Mercedes I saw was his and if I had taken Mahalaxmi express and come, I would have met him. It was not to be. It dampened the spirits of my award ( which I received two days later at Taj from the hands of Adi.B and Nadir.B Godrej .

The Journey moved on..

Insipte of the ups and downs, odds and evens Amitabhs box-office records can be described only in superlatives. Producers and distributors seemed to believe still that even a flop with Amitabhs name on the marquee is a good enough grosser, which was proved by the trade.

His image of the angry young man had viewers reeling under the magic of neorealism, where dream and daydream coalesced in a brave new world. The myriad manifestations of Amitabhs no-holds-barred rebellion offered a blissful release to the repressions of a whole generation. The star became a cult figure of radical dynamism, of iconoclastic change. He was no stranger to the seaminess of street life. His idealism rose not from birth or class, but from action. His avatars recurred in shanties and ghettos, in the underworld dens and among the dregs of humanity. There he battled with the predators of the concrete jungle for survivalhis belligerence hiding a tender heart, family virtues, human kindliness. He was the ultimate good man, often turned bad by circumstances, whose atonement came through self-sacrificeoften unto gory, long-drawn death.

So from Zanjeer through Deewar, Sholay, Mukaddar ka Sikandar, Shahenshah, Inderjeet, Agneepath and Akayla, to Khuda Gawah, the Amitabh archetype continues to reflect variations on a simplistic mould, magnified to a brilliant potency; it has now become part of the collective psyche of a nation of filmgoers. It was the perfect antidote to the dystopian nightmare of modern mechanistic existence, especially in the less cynical times of the recent past. Amitabh individuates his roles with the utmost confidence and conviction. He makes the unsubtle seem subtle, touches the crass with class, makes melodrama credible. Certainly, no other Indian actor had the speaking eyes and spellbinding voice to infuse nuanced suggestivity into stereotypical situations. His finesse did not alienate his characters from the masses.

In the mid 90s he moved towards central Character roles the catalyst being Mohobattein.

Then came the super hit T.V. show Kaun Banega Carorepati anchored by Amitabh. It gave an entire new life to his career which was under the dark shadow.

Finally out of the blue came the date, 12th November 2018.

The prelude to this date was the fact that I had connected to Amitji on all his social media accounts , also my senior colleague Dr Manoj Mehta who was an active participant of ABEF ( Amitabh Bachchan extended Family ), offered us a chance to be a spectator at the KBC show , we ( My friend / ex senior from Godrej Sanjay Pandey, and current colleague Kapil Sharma ) . The date was 12th November. It was the last week of shooting of that season. We reached the sets at Film City at 2 pm sharp but had a long wait till 8pm till we were finally seated, alas in the third row. It was another wait for an hour before the shoot began. Finally at @ 9.00pm he came in a Maroon Suit, seeing him I froze.. There he was some 25 feet away from me. Very interactive with the crowd, very sportive, responding to our comments and jokes. How almost 4 hours past, and it was well after 12am that the photos he has with the audience started and well after 1 am that he left. Look at his dedication reached the sets at 9 am completed 2 episode shoots and left at 1 am. He had just turned 76 then. I had finally seen with my eyes, my hero , my idol, or even if I may say My god.

But better things were ahead, The 2019 edition of KBC started in August 2019.

We had epressed our wish to be a participant again. It was 18th July, at 7.12 pm got a message from Dr Manoj that we could attend the shoot on 6th August as the show restarted on 5th August. This time the procedure was different. There was an online procedure which need to be followed up with the invite.

We did that. But July end, rains started in Mumbai and Pune, everywhere there were spells of flooding, roads closed. Sanjay and Myself were the only two left from Pune and a friend of Sanjay, Kailash Agarwal was to jpin us at Mumbai.

The forecast was rains, we debated till late evening weather to go or quit, but the urge of seeing him was so much that we decided to take the risk.

We reached at 3 pm sharp , but this time there wasnt a long wait. We enrolled ourselves and it was an hour and half later that we were inside. This time being enrolled from the ABEF , we got privileged entry, and were in the first row.

Oh what a feeling it was !! Another hour Later Big B made his majestic entry. Again he was interactive with the crowd, and the shooting ended at 8.30 pm.

Then the photographs moments came. Finally he was in front of me, I had taken a token gift for him, which he accepted. Took his Biography along which he autographed. I was trembling in joy as I shook hands with him, talked to him, it lasted a minute but the emotions were beyond eternity.

Finally at the age of 55 and 45 years later I got to meet him.

Nobody else ever had this deadly combination of unmatched talent and charisma and nobody else will ever have it in future. Then there was style, polish and a great deal of seclusion encouraging rumours and augmenting the aura. Anyway one looked at it, the man radiates power. To recapitulate there has only been one super star in India, and that is Amitabh Bachchan.

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