#narrator: and he continued to wait. and yes it was worse for him | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gofancyninjaworld · 2 years

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OPM Manga Update 214 Review: Daybreak

Long ass review, but I did have a lot to say. I wouldn't normally bother with such a long summary before getting to the meta, but with such an unusual chapter, I think it's worthwhile. You can skip past it if you really want.

Story

We begin close to where we left off, with Garou on hands and knees, trying to understand what the hell hit him. He comes to notice that he's being watched... by the Tank Toppers who he beat up a few days ago. This is not going to go well.

We then cut away to return to Saitama and Genos. Saitama has used what remains of his uniform to tie up the hole in his crotch and is explaining that he came round to find himself holding what looks a lot like Genos's core. Genos plugs it in to find out if it's authentic, and yes, it is. It's not a copy of his core -- it IS his core. And a lot of information comes along with it, detailing what happened in the interim. Bless him for not trying to rationalize the improbable away. He tries to explain to Saitama that both it and Saitama have come from the future and that Saitama in the future had created a time divergence which was resolved once he re-entered the timeline and merged with his present self. More pertinently, it meant that no matter how badly things went, Saitama would always be able to go back and fix it.

He starts to consider mechanisms whereby this could have happened, but Saitama's brains start leaking words and he stops him. Genos, thinking that Saitama is being modest, feels smug for a moment for being the only person other than Saitama to know this incredible fact. As Saitama continues to look lost, Genos summarizes it for him. In other words, Saitama always be in the right place at the right time (thoughts about this will wait until the meta).

Well, Garou might not have been able to travel back to the past. However, where we cut to next tells us that nevertheless, he was able to send information back in time. We go to Tareo laid out face down in some rubble, where, had Saitama not come back to take Garou out, he'd have laid until he died. A familiar voice wakes him up, urging him to stand up. Tareo comes to see a vision of Garou, all in white, smiling sweetly as he crumbles away to nothing. Tareo runs towards him, but he's gone. He looks around. He appears to be all alone, but over in the distance, there's a commotion.

This commotion resolves itself into a knot of Tank Toppers kicking and punching Garou, who isn't putting up a defense as he thinks to himself that it's all over. The narration implies that even though Garou in the present understands nothing of what happened, his future self appears to have influenced him to stop his hero hunting (again, more of this in the meta). As Garou sneers at them that their blows aren't hurting him, Metal Bat intervenes to stop the assault, and even though yet more heroes protest -- damn, Garou sure has made a lot of unnecessary enemies -- it looks like he might get through. Until Amai Mask shows up to make everything much worse. Despite all the brouhaha, none of the gathered heroes actually has any killing intent towards Garou, they're just venting. Amai Mask, on the other hand, really does want Garou dead, and the panel of his trying to push past Metal Bat is appropriately all black:

no ambiguity as to who is being cast as the bad guy here

It's at this point that Saitama shows up, Genos tucked under one arm, to back up Metal Bat. As Amai Mask asks who the hell he is, Saitama changes the subject by asking who took down Garou (it's an honest question), and speculates it's Blast.

That throws a spanner in the works as Flashy Flash recounts what he saw of the mysterious hero and somehow we end up with everyone thinking that Blast came to beat Garou in the buff. Talk about reputational damage!

The one person who does know what happened, Genos, says nothing to the assembly but mentions to Saitama that by rights, he's the one who should deal with Garou. Saitama demurs, saying that he's not much for rights and besides, the only reason Garou's getting hit is because he's permitting it. So he continues to watch.

Bang and Zombieman show up, the latter making the Tank Toppers step back so he can ask Garou about God (no Id). Garou scoffs at the idea (yes, he has no memory of ever interacting with God -- another thing for the meta) and insists that everything is all him. Why won't people kill him already? As Amai Mask steps up with fiendish glee to do just that, Tareo finally catches up to grab him by the leg. Bravest boy in the world!

As they watch Tareo plead with Garou to run away and berate Amai Mask for his meanness, the mob starts breaking down into the individuals it's constituted of, with individual heroes questioning what the hell they're doing and others insisting that, no, this was necessary. It looked like the situation was going to become quite the ugly brawl, until King stepped forward.

King's heart pounding louder than it ever has, he asked everyone to stop what they're doing, for there's a child watching. Everyone recoils in fear and with a sense of shame. Amai Mask tries staring King down, but even he backs off.

Bang finally speaks up, telling Garou that the way to make amends was not by throwing his life away, but rather by dedicating it to saving tens, if not hundreds, more people than he hurt. As Garou glares back at Bang, Saitama interjects, saying that Absolute Evil was pretty good at saving people. And indeed, all the people around him have shown him, Garou, what he truly is.

It really is over. It dawns on Garou that he is going to be allowed to just go. Go and sin no more. It feels... unbearable. He warns Saitama that he'll regret it and in reply, Saitama says that he'll regret nothing. Indeed, he never had a chance to thank Garou for saving King and Genos (back when he beat up the cadre). Garou stares. Saitama is not joking. He's totally sincere. This is too much for Garou. Saying that Saitama made him sick (although, we must note, not with anything like the venom with which he first said those words to Superalloy Darkshine), he jumps up and makes good his escape, disappearing so fast that only Saitama sees which way he goes. Genos reckons that Garou will soon be back to his mayhem but Saitama disagrees and thinks that it's a matter that can safely be left to Bang.

interesting that they were already thinking of how to extricate Garou

Not that there's time for any hue-and-cry, for one of Metal Knight's tanks shows up, along with a flotilla of drones, glinting in the sky as the first rays of the Sun poke above the mountains. Someone nuked the aircraft carrier he designed, so he's here to find out how the hell that happened and decontaminate the area. All the heroes (and Tareo) were swept up to the lab to be treated for their radiation poisoning.

The dawn finally breaks properly and we see Saitama, Genos still tucked under one arm, looking out at the saltwater flat where his apartment used to be. I guess that having his own facilities exempted Genos from being dragged off to Metal Knight's lab -- maybe he took responsibility for Saitama as well? Who knows? Saitama sighs, and, when Genos asks what's wrong, says that they'll ask Dr Kuseno to repair Genos's limbs (this doesn't sit right with me for reasons I'll get to in the meta) so Genos can help him retrieve their stuff.

Chapter ends there.

Meta

Brief note on a much-maligned character

No, I don't mean Garou. I mean Metal Knight. No, he's not the nicest person nor the most cooperative, but if the worth of a person lies in what they do, then he doesn't deserve the bad press Drive Knight is so eager to put out about him. Once again, he's shown up in the aftermath of a great crisis to clean up, he's literally saving all the heroes' lives by making sure they get appropriate treatment early and he's containing the fallout from Garou's nuclear antics. Not to mention that his robot army is very much not in the hands of an enemy, as Drive Knight tried to persuade Sekingar they would be.

Bofoi will probably never be anyone's favourite character, and he'll not win prizes for courage, but on balance, he's one of the good guys.

Human beings in the mob

The beatdown is quite the study on people. At first, I'd thought that Feather had joined the mob and I was very disappointed, but it's Death Gatling, phew. None of the people who witnessed Garou helping participated in hitting him. As the mob roils, you can see that a lot of heroes are conflicted, particularly once Tareo comes into the picture and what's on show is how the hardest people to oppose are those in your own circle. There are a lot of heroes who aren't happy with what's going down but don't dare oppose Amai Mask. Until King stepped forward, both keeping his promise to Tareo and giving the mob permission to stop. It only took one person to turn what would have been a venting session into something much more dangerous and it only took one guy to stop it.

Taking Garou's words 'Stand up' to heart doesn't get any better than Tareo standing up for him. Truly the best boy ever.

A bit on structure

So, this is the end of the Hero Hunter saga, except for the shouting we'll get in next chapter's coda. Structurally speaking, this is a pretty open ending, much more so than the webcomic, where Garou has been definitively beaten by Saitama, acknowledges that he's been beaten and doesn't know what to do any longer and so receives instruction from Saitama. The manga leaves Garou with a lot more options as to how he'll act next and does mean that there's a lot more reason for the story to keep looking at what he doing, if not with as much intensity as before. Much more so than was in the webcomic, where he disappeared for twenty chapters (or four years as ONE writes).

It's also interesting that Saitama may have come back in time and taken Garou down, but he doesn't push himself forward and put himself front-and-centre, possibly because he doesn't 'remember' (again, I'll come back to that in a bit). The ending is not about Saitama being Right and everyone else being Wrong. It's as if Saitama's the black hole at the centre of the galaxy, vital to holding it all together but invisible and all but imperceptible.

Am I bothered that it's not gone down the way it did in the webcomic? Hell no. I more than made my peace with the manga being its own thing when Phoenixman vs. Child Emperor was rewritten. I know we're not in Kansas any longer. The webcomic is the webcomic, the manga is the manga. I love having two cakes, two ways a story can progress from similar starting conditions. That zero punch beating was worth any number of shut-the-fuck-ups or but-you-can-never-defeat-me panels.

The manga hasn't depended on revelation to drive the plot forward: rather than Garou being 'revealed' as a good guy at the end by Saitama, Saitama's comment to him about others showing him who he really was was the culmination of us watching a good guy struggle with himself, which has enabled a different story to be told about Garou. Speaking of Garou, let's talk about him properly.

What travels

I know this is going to make some people wince but stick with me a second because it's worth it. Genos is right that it is not Garou who can leap across space and time. Why is he right? Because if he could, Garou would have done so rather than teach Saitama. From the beginning, Garou has been a ferociously independent person, thinking for himself and doing his own thing without regard to what's going on around him. Additionally, he recognises that he's the one who created this catastrophe and is rightly responsible for fixing it in any way he can. If there was any way in which he could have travelled to the past and fixed things he would have without involving Saitama.

However, this is not the whole story. The first part of it is that because the manga makes no bones about Garou being a good person, it can show us just how good he is here. Garou could have let his bitterness and pride overwhelm him and just said nothing so that he and Saitama had to live and suffer together in an increasingly bleak world, but he set aside his pride and conviction to ask for help in doing the right thing and that's testimony to Garou's true character.

The second part is going to be very important. Garou could not travel back in time; however, he could send information back. The easy-to-see and wholesome consequence is that he was able to manifest to Tareo and give himself closure. The less easy to see one was that he was able to influence his present self to just stop with the Ultimate Evil pathway dead. In the previous chapter, I'd been concerned about Saitama appearing to forget why he'd come back to the past, as just walloping Garou wasn't going to convince him to change his ways. Future!Garou solved that problem for himself, and even though Garou doesn't understand, his desire to continue as the Hero Hunter and to seek to bring more evil into the world (to make it better... haha) is gone.

You've heard about quantum entanglement and spooky action at a distance. Well, this is spooky action at a temporal remove. Chronological entanglement?

I need you to keep what travels in mind for later.

Meta^2

A fascinating thing to note: this is the second time that Genos has been the only witness to a massacre. Since none of the people in the second massacre are currently dead, the only reason Genos is a witness to it at all is because of his time-travelled core. Leaving aside all the information it contains within, the fact that its clock will be a few hours older than the one in Genos and the outside will be coated with an unmistakable set of chemical and physical signatures that attest to its journeys, signatures that can be verified using equipment available to anyone who develops and analyzes high-performance metal parts for a living, is an attestation to the impossible having happened.

Of course, the core has an even wilder tale to tell. Other than the data one would reasonably suppose would be logged (like time, location, temperature, pressure -- things helpful to its recovery because you really don't want a nuclear reactor to fall into the wrong hands), it contains information that isn't possible: memories of Saitama's epic struggle. But whose memories? Any idea that it comes from God is pure nonsense if you stop to think a little. The important thing to note is that Saitama has not forgotten that he traveled in time: HE NEVER DID ANY OF IT. It didn't happen; he doesn't have any knowledge of ever having been in the future, or ever having learned how to travel across time and space. Nothing. The core is the only physical object that has survived the time travel. I don't think Genos would be quite so smug if he knew that Saitama really doesn't know any longer and he's the sole keeper of what happened and how to time travel.

if he knew his words were the literal truth, he wouldn't be smiling. Just what does ONE have planned for this character that he's given him this information?

I need you to keep one important thing in mind: ONE does not write stupid or insane characters. They will act in their own interests. God has a great vested interest in a) keeping as much information about Himself secret and b) really, really fears and hates Saitama. I was conflicted about Garou having no memory whatsoever of encountering God, but remembering what happened to Future!Garou and to Homeless Emperor when they started blabbing, it's for the best, for God would have killed Garou here too. There is NO WAY THAT GOD WOULD MAKE INFORMATION ON HOW TO DEFEAT HIM AVAILABLE TO HIS WORST ENEMY.

Saitama already scares the shit out of God just by the nature of his physical prowess. Saitama with the knowledge to travel through time and space (not to mention that he can go to non-physical dimensions, as Phoenixman found to his cost) is game-over for God whenever Saitama cares to take Him on. Saitama losing that information because his intervention has meant he never acquired it works out great for God. Just as the narration said, the memories are those that came with Saitama. Just as we've seen with Garou and Tareo, it's possible to send thoughts and states of mind back in time. In effect, the fact that Saitama's memories are somehow on the core is the worst thing that can happen to God, for at some point, Genos will remind (remind? teach? I don't know what verb's best here) Saitama that he can do this. Why didn't God stop it? If you've noticed, God appears to have no way of knowing what a person will actually say or do until they speak or act, or He'd not have to keep killing His former agents.

How and why this happened we don't know. To speculate for a moment, maybe it was the fact that protecting that core was something that Saitama put all his will into doing, no matter the cost, that turned it into his witness. Come to that, Saitama didn't survive; when he merged with his present self, Future!Saitama ceased to exist.

I have no idea what ONE has in mind, but some die has been cast: God's days are numbered.

So, Sun's up; what now?

I've found this chapter much more thought-provoking than I initially thought it'd be. This is already too long, but I see how many of the initially incongruous features of the manga, particularly the Phoenixman saga, have laid the groundwork for what's happened here. I think that Garou's struggle being to accept what others could see about him has made for a story that isn't neatly cut and dry but has things that make you come back, think, and think again. Seeing the complexity of characters interacting and how what different people think and feel to be their interests drive actions means that there's a lot here that's going to result in a lot more happening down the road.

Like some milk that's just on the point of starting to turn, so that it's still drinkable, but you know you'd best use it quickly, I'm not entirely sure that what's changed between Saitama and Genos is going to be entirely wholesome. But damn if I'm not here to see where their story goes.

I can't wait for the coda to tie this saga up so I can start rereading the whole story.

#OPM #review #long #update 214 #sorry it's so long #so many thoughts

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extraneousdominomask · 1 year

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more like super smash SISTERS.

happy non-denominational winter holiday season, you animals

Ten years ago, I wrote and published my first long-form crossover fanfiction. It was intended to function as an advent calendar, with 23 individual chapters to be read once a day in December, with a finale on Christmas Eve. In practice, two chapters were cut when the finale ballooned in scope; the standard format ends on Day 21 so the final three days can be devoted to wrap-up.

What was the standard format, you may ask? Well, the story grew from something unbelievably Autistic(tm) I had done in previous years, where I poured out a bunch of blorbos on the floor and arranged them into small piles. Continuing this trend, each chapter featured three characters, all from different things, fighting a villain from a fourth thing in a location from a fifth thing.

Yes, it was bad.

But as I forced myself to reread it for its ten-year anniversary, I noticed something deeply unnerving. I noted, with some amusement, that while Marvel Comics was easily the most widely represented pool of characters (thanks in part to, say, RDJ's charismatic Tony Stark registering as a fundamentally different entity than his milquetoast comics version; conversely, favourites like Deadpool, She-Hulk and Doctor Doom had no cromulent adaptations at that juncture), the same was very much not true of DC. There are exactly four DC characters - specifically the Batman: The Brave and the Bold version of Aquaman, Red Tornado(???), mark hamill's...... the JOKER, and Green Lantern. All of them die immediately. Lol.

But then I had to ask myself: wait. Where's Catwoman?

And that led to the much more dangerous question: where's ANY woman

21 times four is 84. Eighty-four characters. Of these, seventy are he/him, thirteen are she/her, and one is Pyro Teamfortress2. (Sloppily referred to in narration alternately as 'he' and 'it'.) Day 12 features two female characters, and then there is an eight-day gap where every single chapter is male-only until motherfuggin Day 20

Don't worry, it gets worse. By and large there was a less-than-50% survival rate. Of the 84 characters, 34 make it to the end; 30 men and four women. Of the starting 13, six die immediately (as the DC characters and Pyro do) and three die subsequently. One of the four survivors contributes nothing to the final battle other than having her throat slit (non-fatally...?) in front of a male friend as motivation.

Now, is this is the worst thing about the story? Lord, no. There are plenty of other places to start. But in my modern capacity as the women-respectin' ThievesInTime-hatin' male feminist I am, it's something that embarrasses me. A different, more bearable embarrassment than the one arising from the presence of internet reviewers in this story, but embarrassment nontheless.

To! That! End! I have wrung one last category five autism incident out of this adolescent enterprise, by assembling a new, modern roster of 84 goddamn characters. I only allowed myself 13 he/him characters, and only in the exact same weird pacing of the original story. I was a little looser with the non-binary characters, who I upped by 500% - a 'they', a 'they/it', a 's/he' [sic], a fucked up evil dark fantasy 'it', and someone who used to alternate between 'he' and 'she' mid-sentence before settling on 'they'. Also I didn't bother with locations because I barely found that fun the first time

Full list under the cut, because this has gone on long enough and I doubt anybody read this far anyway. Okay!

1: Carmelita, Catwoman, Valkyrie vs Victor von Doom (Sly Cooper, DC Comics, Skulduggery Pleasant, Marvel Comics)

2: Judy, Freya, Static vs Princess Azula (Zootopia, Final Fantasy IX, DC/Milestone, Avatar the Last Airbender)

3: Mae, Toph, Taako vs Maleficent (Night in the Woods, A:tLA, The Adventure Zone, Sleeping Beauty)

4: Carolina, Radical Edward, Reigen vs Xanatos (Red vs Blue, Cowboy Bebop, Mob Psycho 100, Gargoyles)

5: Blake, Gwen, Luz vs Nye (RWBY, Into the Spider-verse/Marvel, The Owl House, SP)

6: Junahi, Krystal, Crusch Lulu vs Zaheer (Knights of the Old Republic, StarFox, Overlord, The Legend of Korra)

7: Peridot, Quina, Holtzmann vs Neyla (Steven Universe, FFIX, Ghostbusters, SC)

8: Jadzia Dax, Garrus, Rivet vs Wolf (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Mass Effect, Ratchet & Clank, StarFox)

9: Diane Foxington, Kay Faraday, Parker vs Carmen Sandiego (The Bad Guys, Ace Attorney, Leverage, C... carmen sandiego.)

10: Penelope, Rikku, Tali vs Entrapta (SC, Final Fantasy X, ME, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

11: Tanith, Katara, Alex Vega vs Queen (SP, A:tLA, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Deltarune)

12: Nick, Legoshi, Webs vs Liv (Zootopia, Beastars, The Bad Guys, Into the Spider-verse)

13: Lulu, Eda, Never vs Mz. Ruby (FFX, TOH, SP, SC)

14: Riza Hawkeye, Legion, Ruby vs Sniper Wolf (FullMetal Alchemist, ME, RWBY, Metal Gear Solid)

15: Kat, Michiru, Maya vs Catra (Gravity Rush/Daze, Brand New Animal, Ace Attorney, S:POP)

16: Amelia, Tigress, Ty Lee vs Risky Boots (Treasure Planet, Kung Fu Panda, A:tLA, Shantae)

17: Yang, Susie, Tex vs Spinel (RWBY, Deltarune, RvB, SU)

18: Hawkgirl, Undyne, Marceline vs Demona (DCAU, Undertale, Adventure Time, Gargoyles)

19: Bismuth, Aisha ClanClan, She-Hulk vs Augustine (SU, Outlaw Star, Marvel Comics, inFAMOUS Second Son)

20: Blacksad, Sophie Devereaux, Mz. Pauling vs Double Trouble (Blacksad, Leverage, Team Fortress 2, S:POP)

21: Mission, Grif, Data, vs GLADoS (KotOR, RvB, Star Trek The Next Generation, Portal)

#this was. hard #SO many stories have a small number of thinly-written female characters

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s00h · 5 months

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Red Strings

"Let's follow each other, no matter what."

M-0

"I'm taking too long?" The voice in the man's earbuds suddenly said, seemingly to nobody. "I didn't take you for the impatient type."

"Are you... talking to me?" He couldn't help but sound a little annoyed. "I didn't say any—"

"Just get to it already."

"For someone your age, you sure act childish." The voice cut him off.

The man was taken aback. Sure, he wasn't acting with the expected maturity of someone in their thirty-somethings, lying on his bed with his feet up in the air like a little kid. But she was in no position to judge him, this was his time and money.

"What's that supposed to m—"

"But this is soooo boring."

"What are you, a little girl?" The voice's judging tone made the man's legs flop flat against the bed. She couldn't have been talking to him, right? "You should know it's no fun just getting right into it."

"Hey, who are you talking to?" The man half-yelled into the phone, and was surprised he wasn't interrupted this time. The girl didn't respond. He couldn't see her face, but he felt judged nonetheless. Was it him she was talking to, after all?

"Look, if you're not going to continue what we had planned tonight, don't expect me to pay you again. You can't just stall for this long and not give me what I—"

"Not you."

The man was taken aback. The girl's voice, usually full of that cutesy, flirty flair that had him coming back time and time again despite never getting to see her, was now completely indifferent. It was obvious that she had been ignoring him the entire time. "Who are you—"

"I'm so sorry, dear. Are you unhappy with me?" The usual tone of her voice was back, so abruptly that the man questioned if he'd been hallucinating.

"I—"

"I know you are. You paid extra for this, after all." The girl's voice was understanding. Her calming words seemed to wash the thoughts right out of his mind, and with them, any traces of anger.

"Yes, yes. I did. Now, let's pick up from where—"

"Now?"

"Don't worry. I know what time it is." The girl had cut him off again, but he wasn't mad. It sounded like she knew exactly what he wanted, and he couldn't wait another second to see the fruits of all these weeks of late-night calls. A wide grin grew on the man's face as he kept his bloodshot eyes glued to the small screen.

"Let me do something that..."

A hand brushed past the man's left ear and pulled out his earbuds. Before he could react, the same voice whispered directly into his ear:

"...Will make it all worth your while."

E-1

"...And as the tree that once stripped man of divinity extended its branch to the twins, the two made a decision with a single glance between them. Reaching out and grasping a golden fruit, the children of man took their first step into the realm of the divine." I gestured dramatically, waving around a piece of sausage as I proudly presented the story to my friend across the table.

"But, Professor Enoch?" He raised his hand and shook it around as if he was in a class, drawing some glances from the tables around us.

"What is it, Matthew?" I responded accordingly.

"Weren't there two trees in the Bible?" He asked.

"I can take some creative liberties here and there, can I not?" My arms, still held up in the gesture I ended my narration at, dropped back onto the table.

"Yeah but what about the implications?" "Whaddyamean?"

"The fruit from that tree is supposed to give immortality, right? Isn't that like, pretty bad to just eat without giving it a second thought?

"Is it?" I thought about it for a second, then followed with: "But doesn't it make sense given their situation? They've got nothing left in the world."

"Why would you take immortality if you've got nothing left?"

"Uh...?"

"I mean, wouldn't it just be worse if they've gotta watch all their friends and family grow old and die before them over and over again?"

"Well, Matt, I think people nowadays overthink immortality." I sat back, preparing in my mind something truly profound. "Even with the rest of the world moving at a different pace, they have each other. I think the real spectacle is being able to see it all play ou—"

Bzzt... bzzt...

My profound thought was interrupted by the vibration of a muted notification against the table. Matt glanced at his phone and suddenly stood up.

"Oh, shit." He shoved the phone into his pocket and patted at his pants to check if he had everything. "I've got a meeting."

"For?"

"So you know that string of really weird murders that's been going around since the start of the year?"

"What?"

"You don't know?" Matt looked at me like I'd just killed his dog.

"About what?"

"The Red Strings of Fate? The murderer that's been killing a bunch of people with almost no correlation to each other in super gruesome and almost physically impossible ways?"

"Red Strings?"

"It's just a name the internet gave them. Probably something about how none of the cases seem related at all. Y'know, kind of like some invisible string of fate connecting a bunch of random people?"

Matt then proceeded to ramble on about a bunch of past cases that I didn't bother to listen to.

...Is immortality really that bad of a concept?

"...And this time, it's some middle-aged dude that's been sliced up and laid out like deli meat in his own apartment. It's some really fucked-up stuff. You've gotta have been seeing this shit in the news at least, right?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"You should come with me, then!" He suddenly grabbed my arm. "Me and some friends are trying to solve this thing, and we're like, further ahead than anybody else. Even the officials! Just imagine your name in the history books. It'll be awesome."

That, I thought, sounds like a pain in the ass.

"Nah, I've gotta keep working on this." I tapped at my notes.

"Your loss, I guess." Matt let go, nearly bouncing up and down in place with excitement. "I've gotta go. There's new info that came out and everyone's waiting. Uh..."

His eyes drifted to his half-eaten pancakes.

"I'll cover the bill," I said.

"I'll pay you back next time."

"Don't bother, that's a pain."

"Okay, thanks dude!" Matt practically sprinted out of the door, leading to a lot of weird looks directed at me from the other patrons.

I waved a waitress down for our check, then looked through my notes one last time while finishing my drink.

Maybe... A loud slurping noise from my straw told me that my cup was empty. My fantasies aren't something people will want to read.

E-2

It all began with a pair of orphans, raised in a church.

The kids were twins, with locks of shimmering gold for hair and beads of radiant emerald for eyes.

The priest named the two, and raised them like his own children.

As the twins grew, so did their curiosity. Until eventually, the walls of the small church could not contain them any longer.

Without so much a word to the Father, the two snuck out under the cover of moonlight, their eyes glowing with curiosity and smiles as wide as the waning moon.

— — —

While Matt had taken an olympic-speed sprint down the road to his meeting, I leisurely strolled back to my apartment and started working on the story I had been writing at the time. I liked to keep it all handwritten, so a few dozen pages were scattered across my desk at all times.

Though, they felt a bit more organized than I was used to keeping them. Maybe I had the sudden urge to tidy up the night before, or something.

Matt was an energetic guy, but I had never seen him start talking so fast that he was practically speaking chipmunk by the time he'd run off. It made me wonder, just a little, how interesting this murderer could have been.

I turned my TV on to the local news. There it was, with a big scrolling headline at the bottom: "The Red Strings Claim Another Life: Office Worker Killed In String of Serial Murders." Sure enough, it was definitely a thing.

"...no information about the case has currently been released, but a detective is currently on the scene..."

I did some quick googling. "The Red Strings of Fate," the internet called this killer. After months of investigation, nobody could even agree if it was one person or a group of them. A case like this probably had all those true crime fans frothing at the mouth anticipating the outcome, or maybe the lack of one.

I could already see the video titles: "Twisted Genius: How The Red Strings Fooled an Entire Nation."

I chuckled. It really did feel like something that ridiculous. I guess for a guy like Matt, who loved to get to the bottom of everything, a mystery like this would be the absolute greatest.

But definitely way too much effort for me.

Now, what to do... I didn't really feel like writing any more, and I sure as hell wasn't going to join Matt in researching some random murder case. It was one of those nights where that sudden motivation comes on, but I had no idea what I wanted to do.

I closed my eyes for a moment, soaking in all the little things happening around me. It was something I liked doing to go back through my memories and gather my thoughts. A soft wind whistled past my window, the A/C unit shuddered as it turned on, and a light breeze chilled the area around my ankles where my pants were just a little too short to cover while I was sitting...

A... light breeze?

My eyes snapped open and locked onto my window, where the curtain was fully pulled shut. I stared at it for a second. It was moving. In and out, like waves on a calm day at the beach.

I pulled the curtain aside. Sure enough, the window was wide open.

I paused.

I would never keep my window open, and this was the 6th floor. Who the hell was going around climbing into people's windows and not even taking anything?

I slid the window closed and checked the lock, nothing was wrong. I was probably overthinking things. I mean, it could have just been me opening it and then forgetting to close it. Glass isn't exactly the most visible thing, and my memory wasn't exactly the most accurate about little details.

It felt off, but nothing else was wrong. It was best not to dwell on it.

I grabbed the curtain to pull it closed again, and an odd metallic glint caught the corner of my eye.

On the windowsill, waving around in the wind with one end stuck in the tracks of my window, was a single, long strand of silver-white. Not quite stiff enough to be a stray wire, but much too long and thin to be a part of the insulation that had just come loose. It looked almost like hair.

Almost like my hair.

E-3

"A pair of twins sat in a large, empty room. The sister, Mary, stares out of the window in boredom as her brother scribbles away on endless sheets of paper. Mary sighs. She kicks her feet onto the table, much to her brother's disgu—"

"What are you doing?" Michael's hand shot out to move his inkwell before Mary's feet could land on top of it.

"I'm bored," Mary said. "So I'm trying my hand at narration. Maybe I'll write a book, or something."

"You, write a book?" Michael pretended to hold back a laugh. "The day you sit down long enough to do that is the day these stupid aristocrats stop trying to marry you."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Mary asked.

"Doesn't mean it's any more likely."

"Hmph." Mary shifted her feet, shaking the table and causing Michael's perfect handwriting to waver ever so slightly.

"Be careful where you're putting those." Michael moved his inkwell further away, annoyed.

"Those?" Mary feigned offense. "How rude."

"Ink's annoying to clean off the table."

"The servants can do it."

"Spoiled brat."

"Grandpa."

The two fell back into silence, the only sound being the scratching of Michael's pen on paper.

"What are you writing?" Mary asked.

"Letters."

"Boring."

"You want to end up as some random rich guy's fourth or fifth wife, then?" Michael tapped his pen against the table, barely lightly enough to not split the nib. A splotch of black ink flew onto the polished, reddish-brown wood. "Because rejection letters should not be my job to write."

More silence. Mary's boredom became more and more apparent in the tapping of her fingers against her arm as she stared at the ceiling.

"I'm bored," she complained."So it seems."

"Play with me."

"Busy."

Mary sat up and glanced at Michael's writing. Suddenly, a mass of golden strands pulled the pen from Michael's hand, and began scribbling away at where his writing stopped. In just a few seconds, the pile of papers had all been filled with writing from front to back and were neatly stacked on the other side of the table. Mary dropped the pen back in its inkwell.

"Still busy?" She raised an eyebrow at her brother.

"Show-off," He scoffed.

— — —

"It just makes no sense," Matt said over the phone. "It was on the 9th floor. 9th."

"What was?" I asked. He'd called me in the middle of the night, at an hour that I'd rather not admit I was awake at, and immediately started ranting with zero context.

"The murder! How did they kill a guy on the 9th floor and leave absolutely no traces on the cameras?

"Tampered with?"

"Nope. No signs of that, and the window was locked too."

"How do you even know this much?"

"Hehehe," Matt chuckled smugly. "I have my sources." "Mhm."

"But like, it makes no sense. How does someone even go up that high and leave a scene that nasty without any traces of themselves?"

"Vents?" I was just throwing the first word that came to mind at him, still a little too lost in my own thoughts to really be listening.

"Vents? Dude, Enno, you've been playing too many video games."

"Ow."

"And the officials arrived on the scene before—" Matt stopped himself.

"Before...?" I was so zoned out that I didn't even question it.

"...Before any more information got out, and then they locked it all down." Matt said. "There's like nothing for people like us to work with, man." "It is their job."

Matt sighed, "Yeah, I guess."

"Gonna give up?"

"What?" Matt sounded almost offended. "No way, this is what makes it fun. You really should join us next time." "I'll pass."

"Pleeeeeaaaaaaaase?"

"Nope."

"You're no fun."

"Don't you have classes tomorrow?"

"Sleep is for the weak," he proclaimed. "Plus, if we can figure this out, I think we'll be well on our way to cracking the rest. And well before the officials do!"

"The sun is literally coming up."

"I'll talk to you later!" Matt hung up.

I stared at my phone's home screen. Motherf...

I put my phone down and walked over to my window. Sure enough, the hair-looking strand was still there, flapping around in the wind.

I unlatched the window and pushed it open, sending it flying off into the breeze. I watched as it fluttered away into the darkness.

Guess I'll go on a walk.

E-4

A field of green stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. Mary's long, golden hair flowed with the wind as she cheerily skipped along. Michael walked alongside her with a disgruntled expression.

"Where are we going, again?" Michael asked.

"Dunno!" Mary didn't even look back at him.

"That place was fine. Why are we even leaving?"

"I was bored."

"You were bored? Of what?" Michael raised his voice. "We had everything. You had people at your every beck and call. You didn't have to worry about food, sleep, security, anything. What in the name of God made you want to tear all of that down?"

"It was boring. There was nobody interesting. Everyone was like a zombie, just doing the same thing every day, all the time."

"And what is wrong with that?"

"It's boring!"

"If you maybe treated them like people, they wouldn't have been so boring."

"I did treat them like people."

"Then try acting like one, yourself."

"But people are soooo boring."

Michael let out a sigh and stopped walking."Hm?" Mary turned around. "What's wrong?"

You, Michael thought. You are.

"Nothing."

— — —

"Hey, kid! Isn't it past your bedtime?" A slurred voice shouted at me as I walked past a bar. I kept walking, not even bothering to look towards the sound.

I didn't really think I looked young enough to be called a "kid" by any right, but I guess drunk people will be drunk people.

As I walked past all the closed street stalls and clothing stores, I took in the cool night air and peopleless streets. A wave of cheering from the bar I had just passed blew past on the wind, one of the only signs of life so late at night.

I walked along the edge of the sidewalk, avoiding the people sleeping bundled up in their jackets and blankets on the side of the street. The city was very different this late, it felt kind of eerie. Even with the bars blaring sports commentary and the sound of the occasional drunk stumbling around some alleyway, all of it became eclipsed by the sheer calm of the darkened sidewalk as I kept walking.

At the center of the city was a park. A large rectangle of grass with a playground, a tennis court, and a few picnic tables scattered around. During the day it was filled with bored parents and hyperactive children, but nobody stayed on the grass after sunset. It wouldn't have been much fun, anyway, since only the area around the playground and tennis court remained lit after hours and the field of painted green grass was clad in pitch blackness. I could imagine a bird's-eye view of the city at night would be somewhat akin to a rectangular donut.

Dead grass crunched under my feet as I walked onto the field to cut across to the lit areas on the other side. Being in the darkness with all these bright, tall buildings around always felt kind of cool to me. A little like stepping into a hole in reality.

It was just about the only place that was truly silent in the city. I could hear every step I took, every rustle in the trees made by some nocturnal animal, and every late-night taxi speeding past, carrying a passenger barely sober enough to still say their own address.

As I neared the playground area, the loud buzzing of the lights meshed with the chirping of bugs to create some truly unpleasant white noise. I stepped onto the perpetually damp wood chips covering the floor of the playground, grabbed onto the fireman's pole, and pulled myself up into the structure with a healthy dose of exaggerated swagger. It was something I'm willing to bet a lot more people would be doing if the place wasn't taken up by kids all the time.

I always liked hanging around on the playground whenever I was out late. It was the best place to just settle down and think. I would stand with my arms dangling over the plastic arch that went over the slides and stare out at the sparkling buildings, high and low, that looked a little like stars in the distance if I squinted hard enough.

Kids would always try and fail to run up those slides for some reason. I guess it's the same urge that they get when they see an escalator going the opposite direction that they're going. Though, when you're older and you can just walk up and down them, the act of doing so ends up feeling kinda empty.

Or, maybe that's just me. Those things weren't really around when I was a kid.

I stared out over the expanse of darkness that I'd just traversed, and let out a sigh towards nothing in particular. From behind me, another sigh came seemingly in response. I spun around in surprise.

A girl, who looked to be around the same age as Matt, sat there on top of the tube slide with her legs hanging over the opening of it. The shadow of the little pyramid-shaped roof over the slide darkened all but her white sneakers, which were nearly glowing in the light. How had I not seen her?

We stared at each other for a second, probably going through the same thought process in our heads.

"Hi there." I spoke first, managing an awkward smile. "Didn't think there would be anybody else here."

"Yeah," She spoke softly, almost whispering. "She didn't either."

Did she just refer to herself in third person? I glanced around quickly to see if there was anyone else that I'd failed to notice.

She totally did.

More awkward silence. She eventually turned her head back away from me, so I did the same. I guess neither of us really wanted to question why the other was on the kids' playground in the middle of the night.

The tube rumbled. I turned around, the girl had started walking off towards the darkness that stretched out in the opposite direction from where I came.

Figured. I wouldn't want someone else intruding on my late-night thinking session either.

I started to turn back the other way, but a strange familiar glint in the corner of my eye grabbed my attention.

I didn't see it before because of where she'd been sitting, but now that she was right under the bright lighting, the vaguely metallic glint of her white scarf immediately grabbed my attention.

It struck me as a strange choice, since it wasn't exactly scarf temperatures, even at night. But I figured anyone going around calling herself "she" was going to be a bit weird, and I was just glad to be left alone, so I didn't question it past that.

E-5

"Michael, Michael!" Mary shook her brother awake, much to his annoyance.

"What?"

"I know what I want to do."

"That's not an exciting thing to hear when you say it every day."

"But I actually do this time!"

"Spit it out, then."

Mary took a step back, allowing Michael to sit up and look at her. She walked to the window across the room, swung it open, and spread her arms wide.

"...What?" Michael tilted his head.

"All of this!"

"You want to take over the world."

"Noooo~," Mary turned around to face her brother. Her hair became a bright, golden outline around the silhouette of her figure standing with the rising sun between her shoulders. Michael could barely see her face against the harsh glare behind her, but he knew exactly the kind of glowing smile that had formed across her face.

"Let's become gods."

— — —

"The Red Strings Strike Again: Owner of Popular Breakfast Spot Murdered in His Own Store."

I blinked at the headline on my laptop. Wasn't the last one literally a day ago?

Almost on cue, Matt's face pops up on my screen with the goofy ringtone I'd set for him. I drew in a deep breath and picked up.

"DUDE!" Matt screamed a single word, and then hung up. My phone buzzed with text notifications.

"1728 N. Yorns Ave."

"Meet you in 20."

I dropped my phone, letting out my breath in a deeper sigh.

"That's such a pain," I said to my ceiling.

"It's boring!"

The familiar sentence echoed around my room, even though it wasn't spoken out loud.

"...Fuck."

– – –

Matt was waiting for me in front of the taped-off cafe, bent over his phone at an angle that was surely uncomfortable.

"The officials aren't gonna come back for a while, so we have some time." Matt snapped back upright like one of those slap wristbands you'd get at an arcade.

Or, actually, I guess the opposite of one of those.

"Some time to...?" I asked, confused.

"Check it out ourselves, of course!" Matt pointed at the alleyway a few feet away. "They didn't lock the back."

"You-"

"...and the officials arrived on the scene before-" His words from yesterday suddenly made sense in my head.

I limply slapped my own forehead, dragging my hand all the way down my face before I continued talking.

"You've been sneaking into fucking crime scenes."

"Well..."

"Wait, how did you get up and down from the 9th floor without getting caught?"

"Okay," Matt pressed his fingers together. "Technically, I didn't..."

"Go on."

"I might be friends with one of the detectives on the case..."

"That sounds like so many different levels of illegal."

"Look, it doesn't harm anyone, okay?" He pulled me into the alley, glancing around like people were listening. "Nobody's gonna leak it."

"Except you, apparently." My sarcastic tone was lost in my attempts to not gag at the stench of the alley. God, I thought they stopped throwing their shit out of windows in the middle ages?

Matt turned to look at me with the best puppy dog eyes he could manage. "Don't snitch?"

"Had no intention to."

"Okay, let's go." His usual energy came back.

I felt like I was being suffocated by the stench of... whatever was in that alley, so I just let him drag me through the back door of the cafe.

Huge mistake, because the inside smelled worse. And the lights were also all on. I guess dead men pay no electricity bills..

"What are we even looking for here?" I asked in a dumb nasal-sounding voice, probably because I was holding said nose.

"Anything that'll give us a clue." Matt pulled a pair of gloves from his pockets, and handed me one. "Try not to leave your fingerprints on anything."

"You're gonna expect me to search through a crime scene with a rubber glove." I gave him the most deadpan expression I could manage with my fingers still pinching my nostrils shut. "Have you ever even watched a movie?"

"Can't hear you over the sound of me cracking this case." Matt zipped off towards the other room where, presumably, the body was. I chose to stay in the back for the sake of my own sanity and searched through the employees' lockers instead.

Most of them were locked, so I had my excuse for doing nothing at the very least.

Matt had made plenty of noise rushing off into the other room, but the door squeaking open was the last sound I'd heard from him.

Well, he was in a closed-off crime scene while the officials weren't there. Maybe he was better at being sneaky than he let on.

"Matt, it smells so bad in here I can taste it," I yelled towards the other room.

No response.

"I'm gonna head out if you've got it handled." I stuck my head through the doorway. Sure enough, Matt was standing there, right in front of the other room, completely frozen. "Matt?" I grabbed his shoulder, and he nearly jumped over me in response.

"Oh... it's just... you..." Matt said in-between rapid breaths, the fear in his voice was completely unlike the ecstatic tone he had just a few minutes prior. "I think we should get out of here. I'm not feeling too good."

Was it really that bad? The guy was all pumped up and ready to commit some trespassing not even 30 minutes ago.

I turned and looked into the room. It was so covered in red, I couldn't even tell that it was all organic at first. In fact, nothing in the room even looked like it was disturbed. I almost thought that somebody had just decided to paint a room red for fun.

Well, that very well could have been the case here, too.

A fully intact skeleton sat at the desk, poring over the completely stuck-together papers before it. It was as if the poor guy had just exploded like a water balloon in the middle of doing paperwork. Little bits and pieces of guts and brains were sticking out of the thick, reddish-brown mixture pooled on the ground. Other than that, there was no way to tell if it was even real.

Well, no way except the horrid smell, of course.

What the hell was he killed by, a blender?

I couldn't take my eyes off the scene. It was, for some reason, kind of satisfying to look at. Almost like a perfectly shaped cube of jelly, or one of those tinfoil balls.

My eyes took in every inch of the room as I stood there, frozen the same way Matt was. In one of the pools of congealed liquid on the ground, a thin strand of something stuck out of the red. A hair? But it was way too long to be from the same guy whose picture was shown in the news article. It was stained almost completely red, but the ends of it looked almost... metallic.

Ding!

The sound of the front door opening froze both of us right as we started to walk back where we came. Matt and I reflexively turned to look at the source of the sound.

A dark-haired girl dressed in a police uniform and a scarf that was definitely not regulation stood in front of the door, which had been taped up to prevent any of the inside from being visible. She was looking directly at us.

Wait, isn't that...

"Aren't you—" I started, but Matt's shaky voice cut me off.

"Arles?" He said. "But didn't you say—"

His friend, I assumed.

"Matt?" The girl—Arles—didn't look surprised. "I told you, you being here messes with the actual case. That's why I..."

She paused and looked at me without even a hint of recognition, then back at Matt. "Who's this?"

"I'm Enno." I raised my hand in a slight wave.

"Sorry, Arles. I got too excited when you told me the place was going to be empty." Matt apologized weakly. "But we were just on our way out. I don't think I should've come."

"Well, yeah, you shouldn't have." She didn't seem to pick up on his distraught tone, or maybe she just chose not to. "What if someone else came to check instead of—"

She paused, tilting her head as if listening for something. An earpiece, I guessed.

"Sorry." Matt apologized again.

"I need to talk to Matt." Arles turned to me. "Enoch, was it? You can leave first. You better not tell anyone what you saw here."

Enoch?

"No problem. My lips are zipped shut." I said, making the zipping motion with my fingers.

Matt nodded in response. I'd never seen him look so out of it before.

I looked back into the red-covered room as I turned around. The hair I'd seen earlier was nowhere to be found.

Weird.

Maybe the smell was playing with my eyes.

Arles made a shooing motion at me, so I hurried out the back door and through the alley, sucking in a deep breath of air after I'd made out onto the sidewalk. Smoky city air had never tasted so damn good.

I stood against the front of the cafe for a moment, letting all the thoughts sealed off by the stench flow into my mind.

Last time I checked, there wasn't anything in the world that could do that to a person and leave the room they're in intact. Whatever I saw back there, a human shouldn't have been able to do.

Not anymore.

E-6

Golden rays of sunlight came through the tree's leaves, creating pillars of light that appeared to hold up the mass of branches that hung far from the trunk. The twins couldn't help but stare at the sight as they stepped through the giant, pearl white metal and stained glass gates.

"Woah..." Mary exclaimed, mesmerized by these swaying lights. "Have you ever seen a tree this big?"

"Anything you haven't seen, I haven't either." Michael replied, rather uninterested. "It has been here since the beginning of time."

"Why do you sound so bored?" Mary looked at her brother. "Aren't you always the one that goes 'history is so cool,' or something?"

"I've never said that." Michael sighed. "And this is an amazing sight, I'd probably be able to appreciate it a lot more if I didn't know what you were planning to do with it."

"Don't be so boring." Mary said, her eyes fixated on the golden fruits hanging from the branches. "You came with me, didn't you?"

Michael didn't say anything, watching as Mary reached for the nearest fruit. Her hand stopped just short of grabbing it.

"Michael?" Her voice sounded strained.

"What?"

"I... Can't grab it." Her arm fell back to her side. "It's like something's pushing my hand back."

"Maybe you're just short." Michael reached up, and touched the fruit with a finger. "See?"

"You grab it, then."

"It's not like I'm the one who wants it."

"Just shut up and get it for me."

Michael stood there for a second, thinking.

"Fine." He plucked it from its branch.

Mary held her hands out for the fruit, making little grabbing motions like a child who knew they were getting a new toy.

Annoyed, Michael tossed it at her. To both of their surprise, Mary jumped out of the way, letting the fruit hit the ground. It rolled a short distance back towards Michael, completely undamaged.

"My body moved on its own."

"I can see that." Michael picked the fruit up again, holding it out towards Mary. She reached for the fruit, but stopped just short again.

"Why can't I touch it?" Mary furrowed her brow. "How am I supposed to eat a fruit I can't touch?"

"Maybe you're not supposed to eat it, then?"

"Well that's stupid." Mary pouted, dropping onto the grass. "After we came all this way, too."

"Oh, well." Michael shrugged, dropping the fruit. "Want to start heading back?"

"'Head back' to where?" Mary asked. "We can't just leave the Garden."

"I don't see why not."

"Just look at this place!" Mary gestured at everything around them. "It's where everything started, where we're the closest to the divine. Can't you just feel it?"

"So... What? You want to just stay here?"

"There's got to be some kind of hint to why I can't touch it." Mary stood back up. "Let's look around."

Michael's left eye twitched. He bent down and picked the fruit back up. "You know what, how about I just eat it?"

He brought the fruit up to his mouth. Suddenly, Mary's hair shot out and grabbed his wrist, pulling the fruit away. Drops of sticky, golden liquid dripped off the fruit from where Michael's teeth had nicked it.

"I..." Mary's hair was shaking, its grip barely strong enough to stay wrapped around Michael's wrist. "I don't know why, but I don't think you should do that."

— — —

I sat in my apartment, staring at the ceiling with the pages of my story scattered all over my desk.

Maybe this isn't something people would read, either.

I sighed, sliding all the paper together into a messy stack and placing it to the side for me to worry about later. As soon as I did, a different question occupied my mind.

Just what is up with that detective?

It kind of made sense that I'd run into her sitting on the playground in the middle of the night if she was the detective Matt was talking about, since I'd imagine these unsolvable cases would cause more than a night's worth of worrying. She was a bit young to be a detective, but it wasn't completely unheard of. What really bothered me was that...

She didn't have anything in her ear.

She was definitely acting like someone was talking to her. I doubt Matt caught it since his eyes were glued to the tile floor the entire time. That, and the piece of hair that I spotted just disappearing from the scene felt a little bit off. Especially with all the silver-white I'd been seeing recently.

Matt was better than me at this conspiracy theory shit, so I decided to call him.

I looked at the clock. Enough time had passed that Matt should have gone home already. I pulled up his contact on my phone.

Ring... Ring...

"Hey, Enno." His voice was still uncharacteristically timid.

"Hey, man. 'Solve the case?"

"I... dunno. I took one look into that room and just felt... Overwhelmed?" He was speaking slowly, as if choosing his words carefully. "I don't think I was all that cut out for actually seeing that stuff up close."

"Flew too close to the sun," I said. "What did you and that detective talk about?"

"She just told me to stay out of crime scenes, and that she would handle all the hands-on stuff."

"So just what she's told you before, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, yeah. About her, by the way."

"Mm?"

"Do you know why she wears that scarf all the time? It doesn't exactly scream 'detective.'"

"I don't really know. I've never seen her without it."

"Did you ever ask her?"

"She always brushed me off, so I just stopped."

"Fair enough."

We sat in awkward silence for a second. I wasn't used to driving the conversation with Matt, since he'd usually go off on his own tangent.

"Hey, uh, I'm still not feeling too great," Matt said. "Can we talk later?"

"Oh, one last thing." I quickly said before he hung up. "She called me Enoch earlier. Did you tell her my name at some point or something?"

"I don't think I—"

"—Did anything of the sort." A female voice came across the line, followed by the sound of the call ending.

I jumped up. That wasn't normal.

Without thinking too much, I bolted out of my apartment and down the stairs.

Explained why he was talking like there was a gun to his head.

E-7

Michael stood atop his sister, the heel of his shoe pressed against her throat. Spears of silver light shot through the leaves above and pierced into the ground around them.

Mary's eyes met her brother's with a single, silent question: Why?

"I'm sorry, Mary." Michael spoke softly. Moonlight outlined his silhouette, concealing his face in a veil of darkness. "It might be better if you stay asleep. For all of us."

Mary opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She tried moving her arms, but they were bound tightly to her sides. Michael pressed his heel down even harder. Mary's hair swirled together into two pseudo-limbs, wrapping around Michael's ankle, but his foot did not budge no matter how much strength she used. Mary's eyes widened as she watched her hair unravel and fall away from Michael's leg.

A faint, sweet-ish sour smell met Mary's nose as the strength continued to drain from her body. A golden fruit dropped onto the ground beside her head, a bite missing from its juicy, perfect flesh. She twisted her body in an attempt to reach it, stretching out her tongue to hopefully get even a taste of the liquid dripping from the wound. But just like before, she stopped just short of touching it.

A harsh gust of wind brought with it the distant rumble of falling metal and shattering glass. Before Mary's very eyes, a leaf from the mass of branches above them came loose and fluttered to the ground, allowing more moonlight to pierce through the gap it left and landing on the fruit as if taunting her.

Her eyes drifted back to meet Michael's again, two emerald orbs filled with outrage, confusion, and betrayal. The harsh moonlight behind him and her own rapidly dimming vision darkened Michael's face, but the shiny, silvery droplets rolling down his cheeks made his expression all too clear.

"Sleep well," Michael's voice caught on itself. "Sis."

— — —

"Matt, you in there?" I slammed my hand against the door to his apartment. "Oy, Matt!"

No response. It was very possible he'd answered my call from elsewhere, but his apartment was the only place I could have thought of going.

"Matt, if you're asleep, now's the time to wake up." I banged my fist against his door again.

Nothing. I put my ear against the door, and the muffled sound of a female voice came through it. I couldn't quite make out what was being said, but it sounded like she was having a pretty casual conversation despite there only being one voice.

I moved my hand down to the handle.

Unlocked.

I threw the door open. The sharp scent of iron immediately reminded me of the scene Matt had dragged me to earlier. The voice promptly cut itself off.

Shit.

The lights flicked on without me even touching the switch. Matt's apartment had been unorthodoxly reorganized. His sofa was all ripped up and laying on its side, with his TV and coffee table thrown on top of it. In the middle of his living room, in the space that had been cleared out, Matt was strung up by a web of thin, red-stained strings. His arms were stretched out in a T-shape, his head tilted a little to the side, with a bright, glowing smile stretched across his face. His shirt had been stained with a flowery pattern of red similar to tie-dye, and his jeans had a few more tears in them than they came with. His hands were turned forward with fingers outstretched, as if he were showing off a masterpiece.

"All of this!"

An unmistakable chill ran down my spine as her voice echoed around the inside of my head.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"What do you think," A white sneaker stepped out from the kitchen. "A little too tacky?"

Arles stood behind this web, in the doorway to Matt's kitchen. Her scarf was a lot shorter than when I'd seen it last. The end of it had unraveled into the strings that were now soaked in red. The rapid pounding inside my chest paused, then kept going, as if it was just as confused as I was.

"You're not her." I murmured, taking a step into the room and letting the door slam shut behind me. "Who the hell are you? That's not something a human should be able to do anymore."

"You say that as if you aren't one." Arles stared back at me with a smile. "Weren't you always the one closer to them, Michael?"

Michael.

Michael never existed.

If she's calling me that...

I stood staring at the girl before me, processing just what, exactly, she meant. No matter how I tried to spin it in my mind, her calling me that could have meant only one thing.

My fears were not unfounded, and that made me feel no better.

All these years, all that time...

— — —

"Enoch." My sister tapped her heel against the log she was sitting on.

"Hm?" I glanced over from my position on the ground, through the flickering campfire that sat between us.

"What would you do if you were immortal?"

"Having second thoughts?"

"Just curious."

I thought for a second.

"Sounds pretty painful, to be honest."

"Painful?"

"Watching time pass without you, everyone you know and love growing old and dying right before your eyes..."

"I'm not gonna die, though?"

"Lucky me."

— — —

I laughed. I threw my head back and let out all of my despair in waves of laughter.

...for nothing.

"You read it." This time, I met her grin with one of my own.

"Sorry for leaving your window open." Her smug expression showed no signs of remorse. "Hope you didn't mind."

I ran my finger along one of the strings closest to me. It came away sliced clean to the bone. The wound closed quickly as soon as I pulled it back.

It was ironic, really. The only person who would end up reading my story was the only person who already knew what happened in it.

"Also, for... Digging into your past." Arles tugged at her scarf. "She didn't seem to mind, though."

"I doubt she would have." I said. "But it's been awfully long for such a sudden comeback, don't you think? The last guy only took 3 days."

Arles snorted at my joke, then tilted her head as if listening for something.

"She got bored, she says." Arles relayed.

She often did.

"So, what does she want?" I asked. "Revenge? Because believe me, that isn't exactly going to be easy anymore."

Arles paused again.

"Fun," Arles said.

"What?"

"She wants what she's always wanted. To have fun." She turned back towards me. "And I'm doing just that."

I blinked. That was a stupid reason to be killing people.

But oh, how that was just like her.

"I always wondered how long it'd take her to reach that point," I said. "So Matt was just that to her? Entertainment?"

"You don't sound very upset for someone whose best friend was just murdered." Arles pointed out.

"Attachment's not really my thing."

"I see," she looked over her shoulder with a hint of mock pity. "Must be a boring life."

"I manage."

"To answer your question," Some of the strings strung across the room retracted, letting me step through. Matt's left arm dropped back against his side. "She wanted to get to you."

"And what did she want to say to me, exactly?" I asked, taking another step forward and out of the way of Matt's empty, unblinking gaze. I reached up and slid his eyelids closed. "What did she want to tell me so badly, that she'd trample over everything I'd gone through to keep her from this world?"

That she would break the one rule we always had between us?

Arles spun around playfully on one foot, her scarf regaining its length as the strings around the room retracted. Matt's body fell to the ground with a loud thump behind me. Arles took an energetic step—almost skipping—forward, placing her foot directly in front of the other as if balancing on a tightrope, and stretched out her hand with a nostalgic, radiant smile plastered across her face.

"Let's become gods."

#literature #short story #original fiction #mystery #murder #modern #medieval #supernatural #slice of life

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makeste · 2 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 333: [sad bald eagle noises]

Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “GIRLS CAN BE COOL AND AWESOME TOO! TAKE STAR HERE FOR INSTANCE, WHO IS ALMOST AS POWERFUL AS ALL MIGHT IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT, AND WHO HAS BEEN SUPER IMPORTANT TO THE STORY FOR GOING ON THREE WHOLE CHAPTERS NOW,” which just about perfectly summarizes the ups and downs of this manga’s history with female characters. Anyway so S&S hit Tomura with a bunch of missiles, and Tomura was all “WOW THAT ALMOST WORKED, YOU CAME SO CLOSE,” which would be really great if this battle was being evaluated on a letter grade system, instead of being an all-or-nothing pass/fail. Anyway so now Tomura is grabbing S&S’s face, and we all know what that means.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “[kills off another badass female character].” Fandom is all “[politely trying to act like they’re shocked in order to humor him].” Star is all “BUT LITTLE DID AFO KNOW, I MODIFIED MY QUIRK BEFORE LETTING HIM STEAL IT, SO NOW IT’S FUCKING UP ALL HIS OTHER QUIRKS FROM WITHIN THE TRIPPY OFA SOUL STONE REALM! LOOKS LIKE I GOT THE LAST LAUGH AFTER ALL!! [CRUMBLES INTO DUST].” Anyway, so rest in peace, S&S. You died as you lived: very abruptly and violently without really having any sort of clear purpose, while giving all of the credit to All Might. sob.

I don’t have any introductory remarks this week lol let’s just get to it

“the battle to the death continues” ...did you mean “concludes”? you meant “concludes” right?? please say you meant concludes

(ETA: this arc basically just moved in and claimed squatter’s rights right under our noses you guys. A MANGA ABOUT LOVABLE, DISASTER-PRONE SCHOOLCHILDREN USED TO LIVE HERE, BUT NOW AFO AND S&S HAVE CLAIMED IT AS THEIR PERSONAL SPARRING GYM. IT WAS FUN FOR A CHAPTER OR TWO, BUT PRETTY SOON I WOULD LIKE TO GET MY REGULARLY SCHEDULED PLOT BACK HORIKOSHI.)

LOL SAY WHAT NOW

ALWAYS. RIGHT FROM THE VERY START. PLEASE JUST TAKE HER WORD FOR IT ON THAT IF YOU DON’T MIND. IF STAR SAYS THEY WERE ALWAYS WORKING TOGETHER THEN THEY WERE ALWAYS WORKING TOGETHER END OF STORY

oh wait, is this AFO narrating? whoops

ah yes, AFO’s long-established end goal of stealing New Order. his very well-known and not-at-all-abruptly-planned endgame, which he definitely has receipts for and absolutely did not completely pull out of his ass just three weeks ago

MAN YOU GUYS IT SURE IS CRAZY TO SEE THIS FINALLY HAPPENING AFTER ALL OF THAT BUILD-UP. I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME

AND TO THINK, FANDOM DIDN’T EVEN PREDICT ANY OF THIS UNTIL JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO. CRAZY HOW NOBODY SAW THE SIGNS. GO BACK TO THIS TIME LAST YEAR AND NO ONE WAS EVEN TALKING ABOUT STAR AND STRIPE AT ALL! SMH THIS FANDOM IS SO BLIND

anyway so this is a perfect example of why foreshadowed plot twists > “shocking” plot twists lmao. just throwing that observation out there for reasons that are definitely not at all related to my U.A. traitor theory agenda. nope. no sir

anyway so time to see what kind of last stand Star is going to make here, because hopefully she didn’t come all the way to Japan just to deliver her quirk to TomurAFO on a silver platter making things 100x worse than if she had simply never come at all sob

-- lol is it really that simple??

SO YOU REALLY ARE KATHY AFTER ALL LMAO OKAY. SO THEN WHAT WAS ALL OF THAT “CASSIE” STUFF THEN, CALEB. YOU SEEMED SO SURE OF YOURSELF LOL

VERY EXCITED TO SEE THAT NEW ORDER CAN MAKE UP RULES THAT DEFY THE NATURAL WORKINGS OF OTHER PEOPLE’S QUIRKS. SO THEN “I, [INSERT AFO’S SUPER SECRET REAL NAME HERE], WILL BE ABLE TO STEAL ONE FOR ALL” OUGHT TO BE POSSIBLE THEN, RIGHT? SINCE TECHNICALLY YOU’RE MAKING THE RULE ABOUT YOURSELF RATHER THAN ABOUT THE OTHER PERSON’S QUIRK (which is presumably much harder to define)?

MEANWHILE THOUGH, WHY DON’T YOU USE YOUR OTHER RULE TO MAKE YOUR FUCKING QUIRK UNSTEALABLE, STAR YOU FUCKING DONUT

OH MY FUCKING LORD

HORIKOSHI KOUHEI: “I’LL DO IT! I REALLY WILL DO IT!! OH MY GOD I DID IT. OH MY GOD THAT’S SO CRAZY. HE ACTUALLY TOOK HER QUIRK!! HE REALLY FUCKING DID IT Y’ALL. I AM DANGEROUS. SHIT JUST GOT R-E-A-L” yes, good, we’re all very shocked I promise

lololol

this is anticlimactic as fuck lol. come on

oh my god you guys it’s a baby Yoichi??

CAPTAIN HERO LOL ARE YOU SERIOUS? THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE HERO NAME OF ALL TIME

HOW FUCKING DUMB WAS BABY AFO THAT HE READ A COMIC CALLED CAPTAIN FUCKING HERO AND SOMEHOW CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE EVIL VILLAIN WAS 100% GOING TO WIN IN THIS STORY, AND WAS SO CONFIDENT THAT HE DECIDED HE WASN’T EVEN GOING TO READ THE ENDING LMAO

CAPTAIN FUCKING HERO YOU GUYS I SERIOUSLY CANNOT GET OVER THIS

LOL HE’S ACTUALLY TRYING TO DEFEND HIS TERRIBLE READING HABITS OMG, OKAY FINE LET’S HEAR IT

BABY AFO: [THREE VOLUMES INTO A SERIES LITERALLY TITLED CAPTAIN FUCKING HERO] “MAN, I REALLY LIKE THE LOOKS OF THIS DEMON LORD GUY. OKAY YOU KNOW WHAT, I’VE SEEN ENOUGH, I’M PRETTY SURE I’VE GOT MY FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THIS NARRATIVE. I’M SO GOOD AT READING COMPREHENSION.” turns out the real villain was AFO’s third grade language arts teacher all along

LOL WHAT THE FUCK

HOLD THE FUCK UP NOW LOL. WHAT IS GOING ON. DID WE SUDDENLY CROSS OVER INTO THE OFA MOON COSMIC POWER MAKE UP REALM

KWDJKSLDFJKKLFDSLFK

HOLY SHIT STAR DID YOU ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR OTHER RULE AFTER ALL?? “NEW ORDER: I, KATHLEEN WHATEVER MY NAME IS, WILL MAKE MY QUIRK UNUSABLE FOR ANYONE WHO TRIES TO STEAL IT”??

OKAY YAY SHE’S EXPLAINING IT THIS OUGHTA BE GOOD. STAY TUNED TO SEE IF THAT SENTENCE TURNS OUT TO BE SARCASTIC OR NOT LOL

holy shit, either way I am loving this

S&S has more of the Bakugou-style “win with a smile” vibes than the All Might/Deku-style vibes huh. love that feral energy

oh snapppppppp!!

well well well. I believe one of our finest American poets foreshadowed this scene when he said, “welcome to my house. baby take control now”

lol, so New Order can indeed make up rules about quirks, including itself. noted! the shenanigans potential rises

anyway but you know what, as lovely as this is, at the end of the day AFO still has the quirk now, and S&S is quirkless (ETA: and also dead sob). and even if AFO won’t be able to use the quirk as freely as he’d like, I’d bet you anything that he will manage to get it under control enough to get off at least one or two uses of it. and all he needs is one use to undo the “revolt” rule and then that’s that

(ETA: it’s either that, or Horikoshi’s real purpose in introducing S&S was to nerf TomurAFO before the final battle. the latter would be pretty unexpected and appreciated actually, but at this point I’m not gonna get my hopes up too high just yet.)

meanwhile you know what would have gotten the job done much more effectively with much less collateral damage to the heroes’ side? “NEW ORDER WILL BE UNSTEALABLE.” what a crazy fucking thought, I know lol

AND NOW SHE’S DYING ANYWAY SOB OF COURSE SHE IS

did you stop it, though? or did you die in vain having helped AFO finally accomplish his lifelong goal. don’t answer that lol. Horikoshi you are hereby banished to the timeout corner until further notice. I am not forgiving you until you give us the rest of the BKDK apology, and/or something else to placate me like a new hilarious Kacchan face, or a sketch of Aizawa with a new hairstyle or something

so now AFO is all “THIS ISN’T LOOKING GOOD.” but do you mean like how the missiles in the previous chapter weren’t looking good? another “so close, one second later and I would have been...”? time will tell but in the meantime YOU SIT THERE AND FEEL THE WEIGHT OF MY SKEPTICISM, HORIKOSHI

so now he’s going to try and give the quirk away to the pilots lol

and they’re all “UH, NO??????” and just blasting the shit out of him lmao

gasp???

is she going to pull them apart???

(ETA: jury’s still out on this one but HMMM.)

meanwhile Star is still dying, like Peter Parker speeds of disintegrating very slowly and theatrically. I guess Horikoshi is trying to make us sad, but he’s already trained us not to get emotionally invested in new female characters, so idk how effective this really is

like, look. it’s a close up of her smiling face saluting an imaginary All Might as she fades into nothingness. but we only just met you four chapters ago, Kathy. it’s been real, I guess

should I even bother breaking out the Hamilton quote I’ve had ready on standby for the past month waiting for this inevitable moment lol. on the one hand idk if it’s appropriate, but on the other hand THOUGH, IN REVIEWING THE INCIDENTS OF MY HERO TENURE, I AM UNCONSCIOUS OF INTENTIONAL ERROR, I AM NEVERTHELESS TOO SENSIBLE OF MY DEFECTS NOT TO THINK IT PROBABLE THAT I MAY HAVE COMMITTED MANY ERRORS. I SHALL ALSO CARRY WITH ME THE HOPE THAT MY COUNTRY WILL VIEW THEM WITH INDULGENCE; AND THAT, AFTER YEARS OF MY LIFE DEDICATED TO ITS SERVICE WITH AN UPRIGHT ZEAL, THE FAULTS OF INCOMPETENT ABILITIES WILL BE CONSIGNED TO OBLIVION, AS I MYSELF MUST SOON BE, TO THE MANSIONS OF REST

STAR AND STRIPE IS GOING HOOO~OOOO~OOME. TEACH THEM HOW TO SAY GOODBYE

HORIKOSHI YOU’RE RUINING THE MOMENT HERE OMG

“yes, good, moment of silence for S&S... OKAY NOW BACK TO THE FIGHTER JET LASERS.” it’s like even he knew it wasn’t really earned lol

well whatever you guys! so the bad news is that S&S is finally dead. but the other bad news is that this fight is somehow still not over! S&S lingering on with surprise late-game plot twists like an American election count sob. I guess next week we’ll finally get confirmation of Horikoshi’s grander purpose here though, so I’m looking forward to that

#bnha 333 #shigaraki tomura #all for one #star and stripe #bnha discourse #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #man I am ready to consign this whole arc to the mansions of rest lmao #I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat #in which I promise myself to realize the sweet enjoyment of partaking #in the midst of my fellow citizens #the not-so-benign influence of this latest development and the ensuing angst #the ever-favorite object of my heart #please bring on that angst soon lol

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yondzone · 3 years

Text

Bungou stray dogs relationship headcanons

sfw very sligth nsfw

those under 16 please do only read the sfw part

↰ 𓂃 ⌲ ⌂.

⋆ ☄.⠈⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠂* ; ☔

𝕱𝖎𝖔𝖉𝖔𝖗 𝕯𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖔ï𝖊𝖛𝖘𝖐𝖎

▚ 𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ If you managed to have your way to his heat, then you are definitely one special fellow to him, so only to you and around you he will show is soft persona that he never let anyone see in decade.

⌗ If you end up living together, the little time he his at home he will he bring your breakfast at bed to make up for the fact that he his basically never here.

⌗ He prefer kissing you on the cheek rather than on the lips. And in the morning (if by miracle he didn’t already leave) he’ll automatically kiss you cheek to wake you up. And if he his here before going to sleep he’ll ask for a kiss on the cheek.

⌗ He also like night cuddles (of course he won’t admit it.) he never touched anybody so you give hi this feeling of constant novelty.

⌗ He loves when you are jealous and he is gonna tease you with those word : "you seems jealous, is everything fine ? :)" in fact he hates people but if it means seeing your jealous face he don’t mind playing the womanizer for some minute to just tease you.

▚ 𝖓𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗Fyodor is definitely a top this bitch will rather die than being a bottom.

⌗ He know the effect it have on you when he tie his hair up so you can be sure that evrrytime you do the deed he while have is hair up ✨.

⌗ Low key have a master servant kink that get him going for hours.

⌗ Hes not someone very vocal when you both do it.

⌗ He doesn’t look like this but he his really touchy in the bed.

⌗ Bed is his favorite place he is quite traditional in fact he does not want it in other place rather than the bedroom.

⌗ But he lost his traditionalism the day you introduced to him ‘sex toys’ oh so a new way to torture you without killing you? he’ll take this opportunity gladly.

⌗ One day you tried to be on top and your ‘master’ did not like that so he destroyed you for the whole night.

𝕮𝖍𝖚𝖚𝖞𝖆 𝕹𝖆𝖐𝖆𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆

▚ 𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ Chuuya is very romantic, like very romantic.

⌗ He likes kisses, giving and receiving, he does not have a favorite place to kiss or to be kissed because he loves hems all.

⌗ When he is stressed or tired (or both), he likes to cuddle you, wine and cuddle are his comfort things.

⌗ Speaking of cuddling, he likes to cuddle you while taking a shower (hot water and rose petals) after all he his very comfortable with you and love your presence

⌗ He feels more confident when you compliment him, and he will shamelessly admit it ‘please compliment me more’

⌗ Chuuya is quite jealous and possessive. If someone tries to hit on you or make a move, he will go feral on this person and make sure everyone in the future who you belong too

⌗ A whore for PDA in public, he will always hold your hand or put his arm around you, so that everyone will see that you are taken.

⌗ He won't tell you that he loves you often, because he prefer action out of words. He's the type of person willing to do anything to drown you in gifts and make you happy.

⌗ If you find something nice or cool, he will buy it for you, just to see you smile. Needy Chuuya want to see you smile

▚ 𝖓𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ He his totally a switch, one day he can feel like a total top and the day after will feel the need to be dominated.

⌗ He like being on top yes, but he prefer it when you are riding him he really love seeing you body from below, its exquisite.

⌗ He is an hips man, he love them. So you being on top of him gives him the opportunity to admire and explore your body.

⌗ Chuuya likes your moans very much, he finds them adorable and it shows that you feel good, which makes him happy.

⌗ Chuuya is vocal, way too much vocal in the bed.

⌗ He his considered as the king of aftercare trust me, its heaven.

𝕯𝖆𝖟𝖆𝖎 𝕺𝖘𝖆𝖒𝖚

▚ 𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ Do not lie to yourself, a relationship with Dazai have high chance of ending not well because of some toxicity he may develop as time goes on.

⌗ He his really possesive, once he got you he wont let you go,never ever.

⌗ He love to kiss you. He loves the taste of your lips and the feeling of kissing you makes him feel something he never had.

⌗ In public, dazai will be the dork he his but… in worse. (yes its possible) he will be playful to death with you.

⌗ While when you are alone, he is much more sentimental but he will continue to remain slightly playful.

⌗ He loves teasing you, if he manage to make you blush, it will makes him continue even more because he finds you oh so adorable when you are embarrassed.

⌗ At night, he will cuddle you while holding you tightly, so that you can feel safe and loved.

▚ 𝖓𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ Dazai doesn't really feel the need to have sex he have better thing to do and never really tough about commitment wit anybody.

⌗ But when it's with you, he will have sex with you after-all all opportunity to your body, he’ll take it.

⌗ Slow and passionate sex over here! He his rarely pn the fast and rough side but if you ask he’ll comply to any of your desire.

⌗ He don't really have favorite position, nor kink except maybe some bondage

⌗ Did I forget that he have a praise kink? Of course receiving and giving,

⌗ Dazai is very vocal, im not talking about moan they are relatively low, but about praise, when you both are doing the deed, praise are overflowing (🦋🦋🦋)

𝕾𝖎𝖌𝖒𝖆

▚ 𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ Sigma never had anything except his casino which his his whole life so at first when he get implied in a relationship he will be clumsy not knowing how human relation work

⌗ He will need guidance from you, he wont make first move simply because he does not know how it work.

⌗ He his kind, really really kind to you. He view you as something very fragile and it will take time for him to comprehend that you are not weak.

⌗ Because he his always in his casino the only moment you can see him his when he his in his office, he barely goes to sleep too occupied maintaining the casino.

⌗ You finally gave him what he desired : reasons to live, you are very much cherished by him.

⌗ And you also need to cherish him and make him gain confidence in himself.

▚ 𝖓𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ He his a bottom he have no social skill and does not know anything about how the society or relationship work as I already said.

⌗ You basically need to do everything and engage everything.

⌗ Your kink are his kink, you’re favorite position is also his favorite.

⌗ The man cry a lot out of pleasure in the bedroom, he his utterly beautiful when he cries.

⌗ As time goes by he will gain in assurance and try to be on top but out of habit he just revert back to being bellow. But please praise him, he tried.

𝕹𝖎𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖘 𝕲𝖔𝖌𝖔𝖑

▚ 𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ … how did you get yourself into this relationship again?

⌗ do not go out with him I repeat to not go out with him, at home its okay but when in public he start to theatrically declare his love to you, I promise dying would be better than having to support this embarrassment anymore.

⌗ you know that he love asking rhetorical question right? Just let him be, read a book or play on your phone while he monologue

⌗ the number of nickname you have can’t be counted on two hands

⌗ he forces you to call him by nickname and pet name he himself thought of ‘from now on call me the pineapple of your ocean eyes’ …. the fuck is wrong with his brain, where your first tough

⌗ He always kept on repeating that he wanted to be free and first say to you that you should not hope for him to be sweet or be present but every time you come home he his here patiently waiting on the couch.

⌗ his change of persona really surprise you every time they happen, even after years of dating it’s sill hard for you to grasp his true self, a playful sadistic idiot, or a serious full of guilt person aware of his cruel crime.

▚ 𝖓𝖘𝖋𝖜 :

⌗ he his so sadistic, he love to see you cry

⌗ definitely into cosplay and role play in the bedroom ‘today I am the pirate and you my parrot look at those beautiful costume’

⌗ you have an enormous box with all of your disguises

⌗ he have every sex toy possible, may or may not have already bought every sex toy from a store

⌗ usually rough, very rough, and sometime he break the mood with his goofy attitude, he does not mind the mood being broke because he’ll restore it in no time

⌗ they are time he his acting like a narrator as he fuck you ‘then gogol slowly slap her pink ass-’ this is really disturbing

⌗ you can have a little of respite when he decide to have sex with his serious personality respite.

when it happen it’s fast but passionate and stop the joke and the room become silent only filled with both of your moans

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dimonds456 · 3 years

Note

*sees your tags about being salty about suf spinel*

YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT AND NOT SHARE YOUR SALT /LH

Okay, but I'm warning you, you asked for it.

LONG POST WARNING.

LIKE A REALLY, REALLY LONG POST WARNING.

Dimonds456 Presents: How They Did My Baby Dirty: An SUTM and SUF Analysis on Steven and Spinel (Told by a Progressively More and More Angry Narrator)

THE CONTEXT: There was a post talking about how you think a character will fix everything, but then they wind up making it works. My tags were "#*looks at suf spinel* #I am still salty about that like the bitch I am fghdjskgfa"

Grab some water, guys.

Let's start by talking about Steven for a moment. In the original show, when we were following him as a 12-14-year-old, we watched as he built up trauma and then learned how to hide it expertly well, to the point that most of the audience didn't even realize he was struggling.

You can actually pinpoint the seconds he makes those decisions, too. The best example is in "The Test," when he's storming up to the gems. He's pissed. His fists are clenched, he's got that anime eye shadow overlay on his face, he's frowning, all that. the Crystal Gems are clapping for him and lying to his face, and he KNOWS they are because he overheard them talking about how it was "impossible for him to fail" that test (- Garnet).

And yet... he also overheard them saying that they're just trying their best. They don't know what he needs. They never really have. No one is sure. So, Steven realizes that by picking a fight, he would just be making it worse for them because they would know they messed up, and nothing gets solved, and everyone gets more depressed and Amethyst and Pearl go back to fighting each other and- well, you get the picture. He doesn't have a full understanding of what's going on, so his kid brain went "so I can either be angry at them and cause problems, or I can tell them I did a good job to make them happy."

"I can lie to make them happy."

He storms down there angry, still mulling this decision over. He drops to the floor, frowning and pissed, and says "I can't believe you guys." He is so close to yelling at them, and yet, when he looks up at them...

"That was so... INSANE!"

You never would have been able to tell. It was right there. That moment. And then he never stops. For the ENTIRE REST of the series, he NEVER STOPS. He puts the Crystal Gems above himself every time. Think Rose's Scabbard, The Message, The Return/Jailbreak. The Cluster. Peridot. Dealing with Jasper. The zoo arc (ESPECIALLY the zoo arc). Aquamarine. Then pretty much the entirety of Season 5.

(NOTE: I went back and rewatched that scene for the screenshot. There is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it lip tremble in there too! D,: )

He lives for the people around him, and not for himself. Almost never for himself.

Put a pin in that.

Now, let's look at his maturity. People thought that was just him being mature, right? That he grew up. No. That was not it at all. He was learning from his own behaviors as well as the people around him, and building up this idea that he had to "fight to be everything that everyone wants [him] to be when [he's] grown" (- Steven, the extended intro).

Yes, he matured, but not because of that. He started making various decisions to benefit the group that oftentimes he wasn't fully comfortable with, but something he believed would be better for everyone.

Put a pin in that.

Then, later in Future, we see it all manifest. He is selfless to a fault, to the point that he can't think of himself in a positive light in the sense that he's good. We see it a couple of times, but especially in "Prickly Pair," when he vents to Cactus Steven about everything that happened. He feels useless, which is taking a toll on his mental health.

"Why do I need to be needed?" He needs to be needed because that's everything he was as a kid. His entire IDENTITY rests on his ability to help other people, no matter what happens to him. He literally sacrificed himself for them countless times (the big one of course being the Aquamarine incident), and now as a teenager, his whole sense of self is wrapped up in this need to get up and do something to make the world better.

And when he can't make the world better, his world falls apart.

Put a pin in that.

Now, let's talk about Spinel, the moment we've all been waiting for.

Spinel, as a gem, was made specifically to be a friend. That is her niche, and her purpose. Her reason for existing. At first, she and Pink Diamond got along very well, as shown in the flashbacks right before Drift Away plays (I headcanon she has illusion powers and was literally projecting her trauma, but that's a completely different post).

She and Pink vibed together for who knows how long, until one day, Pink started to not like being around Spinel anymore, finding her annoying and childish. We don't know what really caused the switch, just that it did happen (but of course, I have headcanons for that, too). Spinel never realized until it was FAR too late.

Steven actually describes his younger self as annoying at one point during the Diamond Days arc, when he decides to throw the ball, so I'm legally allowed to make this comparison.

Steven and Spinel were the SAME. They were both young and dumb, and something that at least a few people found annoying. People put up with their BS though, since they cared about them. But, while Steven realized this and matured because of it (or bottled up his emotions, to each their own), Spinel never did. She never matured. She was never given a chance.

In the movie, we saw her as a child, and watched as she played with Pink and never tried to be or do anything else, to the point that Pink Diamond thought to realize she might be struggling (and maybe Spinel didn't, either!).

She lives for the people around him, and not for herself. Almost never for herself.

And when she can't be friends with this one person, her world falls apart.

Sound familiar? It should. I literally pulled from things I said earlier lol.

Spinel and Steven are mirror reflections of each other. Reset!Spinel is 14-year-old Steven, completely devoting her entire self to one idea. Steven's was helping others no matter what, Spinel's was serving Pink no matter what. Spinel is like a combination of 14 and 12-year-old Steven in this sense, honestly. Goofy, without a care in the world, except one thing: the people around her. She would do anything for Pink, just as Steven would do anything for his family.

Now, Pink Diamond left Spinel. We all know this story. She left Spins there in the garden for 6,000 years because she grew more mature and started a rebellion, effectively forgetting about this one gem she kinda stopped caring about standing there.

Personally, I don't think Pink had any malicious or even intentional intent in that, but this ain't about her. This is about how Spinel continued to sacrifice herself for Pink, even when Pink didn't need her to anymore. She wanted to please Pink 24/7, all day every day, to the point she self-sacrificed and stood perfectly still for her for millenia.

Now, back to Steven. The gems don't need him anymore in Future, right? They've all grown up and matured and headed off towards their own futures, effectively stranding him alone in terms of self-identity and self-worth. But he stays there, ready to assist at the drop of a hat, or- in Future's case- the call of a phone.

Episode 6 anyone? The one everyone says shouldn't be in Future? That it should have been cut to allow more focus on Steven himself? The fusion episode? YEAH. THAT. He is running himself RAGGED to try and help others, to give himself a purpose. He is self-sacrificing. (He's a professional, don't worry. /j)

Steven metaphorically planted his feet down and decided that he was going to devote himself to the people around him.

Spinel's feet were literally tied down soon after she made that very same decision.

Okay, enough with the backstory. Time for the salt.

In Future, Steven is at his lowest low. He is running to the Diamonds for help, to see if there is SOMETHING they can do to help him. And we first see Spinel.

Spinel has been through the ringer on a lot of the same mental problems Steven himself is facing. She self-isolated, watched as everyone grew up and left her, and then began to lash out because of it. She understands what he's going through. We even see her concerned as Steven starts to tell her why he's there.

Spinel takes him from Diamond to Diamond, until he's running out of White's room in a blind panic. Spinel is able to catch up with him, and Steven realizes the same. SHE GETS IT. He turns around and says "Hey, you used to have vengeful thoughts!"

Spinel replies "Ohhhhh yeah, but I don't have 'em anymore."

"How did you make them stop?"

She then goes on to sing Change to him, effectively cutting that conversation short.

On paper, that sounds very in-character for her. She's goofy! And that is what worked for her! But the problem is that they had to dumb her down in order to make that character decision work. In the movie, she was shown to be observant and able to put two and two together, even if she often jumps to conclusions (see her being the one to figure out that the gems needed to remember their "pieces," as she remembers the Garden, her re-realizing what Pink did, and her meltdown later when she reactivates the injector).

Spinel is smart. It should have been in character for her to realize that Steven was panicking just as she had been, and needed to be talked to gently. But no. Instead, she starts belting out Change, which given Steven's situation, would not work for him.

At the very least, she would have started doing little tricks or started trying to get him to join a game, which would have taken his mind off of it (to her anyways, that wouldn't have worked either), which then could have prompted further discussion.

Then, once they finally start talking, Spinel could have been able to share some legitimate advise. She was hurt and lashed out. What worked for her was opening up to others and letting them in, learning to trust again (which Steven also has problems with- he can't trust that the Gems won't break down the second he turns his back. Trust does NOT equal love, there is no doubt he loves them to no end), and allowing other people in.

That is what Steven needed, too. He needed to let his guard down and just talk to someone. Sure, Spinel was not going to be a fix-all, but she could have at least offered some insight on what to do.

She UNDERSTANDS him. They are a reflection of each other.

But instead of offering help, Spinel made it worse. She was dumbed down to allow the rest of Future to happen, to make Steven feel even worse. Because- and here's the kicker- because the one person who MIGHT understand him doesn't, that means there's no hope for him.

At least, that's how he sees it. And so, the denial- and "Everything's Fine"- begins.

Here's the thing, though; they DIDN'T NEED to make that decision. If the Crew wanted to have Spinel not understand Steven, then draw the line of her being a Gem from Era 1, used to the Diamonds shattering people.

Steven has killed Jasper and revived her at this point, so maybe Spinel offers that at least he's trying to get better, just like the other Diamonds! See, they're doing so great now! And then that makes him feel worse since he IS trying to do better, but is only failing, while the Diamonds- who were MADE to be nasty dictators- are doing better than him.

The Diamonds shattered a lot of people, and they're doing better than Steven, who has only shattered one person, and not even on purpose. How horrible is that?

Then boom. THERE'S your angst, with a much smarter, more helpful Spinel.

Look, I knew going in that Spinel wasn't going to be able to help. The finale had to happen somehow, and we hadn't seen Wormy Boi yet. I have always been a storng believer of the corrupted Steven theory, so I knew it was bound to happen. But I was hoping that Spinel would at least try. But she really didn't. She just brushed him off, offering really loose advise that didn't even fit his situation and thinking that would be enough.

No. It's not.

I can see where the Crew was coming from. I still love that episode, and I love seeing Spins in it (until that exact moment). This is probably the only thing in SU that genuinely gets me mad. Or, well, maybe not mad, but definitely annoyed and- you guessed it- salty.

I have an unfinished fic where I kinda delve into Spinel's head for that episode called "A New Start". If you really want my thoughts on where Spinel's head was at, there's a bit in there that really explains it. In the fic, Steven decides to rejuvenate himself and brings Spinel along with him, and that's all the context you need for this.

I cannot explain that moment in the climax of the episode, though. Maybe she thought it would make him feel better, or that maybe he really did just need to open his eyes and see the error of his ways (which doesn't make sense, he KNOWS what he did). Maybe she thought that being silly would help somehow.

But you'd think she'd learn from her time with Pink as she grew more annoyed with her, but apparently not. Or maybe she would realize for a second that being loud and annoying was bad. Or maybe she doesn't learn.

Either way, it- and she- was dumb. And they did my baby dirty.

*drops mic and walks away*

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indulge-that-sin · 3 years

Text

A Social Experience

Characters: GN!MC, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Mammon

Wordcount: 1700

Tags: Fluff, Domestic, Bonding Activities, Humor

(No spoilers for latter lessons, but takes place fairly late in the game.)

***

"--a gross, shut-in otaku like me!" Levi finished, on the all too familiar note.

Usually by this point you would already be launching into reassurances that he certainly wasn't gross, and shouldn't talk about himself like that, but this time there was nothing but a silence that bounced off the walls, damning and louder than any words.

You reached into your bag of chips, removed a single potato chip, and ate it as you tilted your head in thought. Levi took your silence like a slap in the face, and recoiled, his face already wavering. The sound of your chewing was distressingly loud in contrast.

You finished chewing and swallowed. "I mean, is that even true anymore?" you asked after a nerve-wracking length of time.

Levi's expression twisted more into confusion than hurt. "Huh?!"

"Don't you kind of lose your hikikomori credentials if you become popular and people start coming to spend time with you all the time?"

"That's not-- I'm not-- You don't count!" Levi sputtered.

"Oh, I don't count, huh," you repeated, putting a hand to your chest and dramatically feigning heartbreak.

Levi looked abashed now. "Th-that's not what I meant," he rushed to add.

"I know what you meant," you said. "Give it an hour."

Now Levi tilted fully into confusion.

"Give what an hour?"

"My point to be made," you said, and placed your D.D.D. onto the lip of the bathtub, out of your own reach. It was also clearly visible to Levi as you both sat on beanbags in front of his TV, next to the bath tub. "An hour," you repeated in a portentous video game narrator voice.

Levi scowled and picked up his controller again, turning back to his game. But his reactions were off, now. His character moved jerkily around the screen, doubling back and taking wrong turns on the 8-bit map as Levi's mood roiled with the strangeness of the conversation.

You continued eating your chips slowly, savoring the taste of the limited edition novelty flavor that Levi had generously acquired for you. He'd tried to pass it as a coincidence, but he didn't really know anyone else who unironically enjoyed the taste of cream and devilradish chips.

Not even half an hour passed before there was a knock on the door. Levi asked for the password on reflex. Surprisingly, from the other side of the door came a sigh, and then Asmo's melodious voice reciting the string of nerd trivia that Levi had set as a password for him ever since they became unlikely allies for the Bloody Moon competition.

"Come in, I guess," Levi replied, giving you a long look. Your D.D.D. was still on the edge of the bathtub, untouched as you sat there elbow-deep in greasy chips. You couldn't have called anyone over. And yet, was this what you expected to happen?

"Give it forty more minutes now," you said low.

Asmo fluttered into the room, like a passing breeze bringing in the smell of perfume.

"Oh, there you are, darling, I was wondering where you were," he said, face lit up as he saw you.

He sat uninvited next to you in the beanbag, and you scooted over to make space for him. Levi would have complained, except moving to make room for Asmo meant you shuffled closer to Levi instead, so he ended up biting his tongue.

"What do you want?" Levi grit out.

"Must I want something?" Asmo asked, "Is it not enough that I give my adorable brother the opportunity to entertain me?"

"He's bored," you translated.

"I'm soooo bored," Asmo whined, his shoulders rolling in a full-body sigh. But he perked up as he leaned forward to look at both you and Levi. "But what about all this? Mind if I join the fun~?"

"Let's find a game Asmo can play," you suggested.

"If you'd like," Asmo acquiesced with a shrug, indicating he'd had some other kind of fun in mind.

Levi gave you another sidelong glance, full of suspicion, but his head was out of the game he was playing anyway, so he exited and pulled up his game library instead. Deciding which game to choose was the trickier part, because Asmo had terrible reflexes, and an attention span worse than Mammon's when it came to playing anything. This ruled out anything requiring twitch reflexes or understanding complicated rules.

Asmo, meanwhile, scrunched his nose at your chips.

"All that grease and salt is going to be awful for your complexion, darling," he said, clearly disapproving.

"I'm not rubbing it on my face," you said, and defiantly sucked crumbs off your thumb. Levi nearly choked at the sound, which was borderline obscene. The little sound Asmo made in response did nothing to contradict this impression. Levi managed to swallow back the wave of envy before it came undammed by concentrating on the list of games on the screen. He still had to make a selection.

A farming sim seemed like a safe enough choice; something bright and frivolous. Just like Asmo.

Levi passed the controller as the title screen came up, and Asmo, to his credit, managed to choose the 'New Game' option without messing anything up. Yet. When the screen went dark as the game loaded, Asmo couldn't resist looking at his reflection and primping his hair a bit. Levi did resist snorting and rolling his eyes, but it was a close thing.

The character creation screen popped up with its myriad of options, and Asmo gasped in delight.

"Oh! This is a good start! Much better than getting shoved into some ugly gray metal suit at the beginning," Asmo remarked cheerfully. He cycled through the hair and clothing options with the speed and deftness of a veteran player.

"Hey, beginner armor in RPGs can be colorful too," Levi protested.

"But not fashionable, apparently," Asmo sniffed.

Asmo had only just barely settled on a hairstyle and color combination he thought was adequately cute, and was scrunching his nose at the shirt options, when another knock came at the door.

"Come in," you called out, before Levi could demand a password.

Mammon's head popped through the door, and he pulled a face when he saw you there, just like he always did when you were in somebody else's company and not his.

"Eh? What're you doing here?" Mammon asked, closing the door behind him and sidling up to the three of you.

He craned his neck and squinted at the screen, like he was verifying that whatever you were doing, it passed his requirements for propriety. Between knowing the kinds of games Levi had in his collection, and seeing Asmo there, maybe he was not completely unjustified in some suspicion, but it still made you want to roll your eyes.

"We're watching Asmo create his character," you explained.

Mammon guffawed. "Betcha been watching him do that for a while!"

"Fifteen minutes, more or less," you said. "But to be fair, Levi takes way longer to create characters."

"It's an important step!" Levi sputtered.

"Especially with the quality of the options," Asmo added. "Look at this. A purple T-shirt with a pink butt on it?"

"That's a peach!" Levi protested, his face turning red.

"I know what a butt looks like, Levi," Asmo replied tartly.

"Wait, wait, Asmo, that black one with the gold design ain't half bad! Go back an' pick that one."

"That gaudy thing! Absolutely not!"

"Mammon, why are you even here?" Levi asked, now completely exasperated with his brothers.

"I was just seein' if we were still on for Devil Kart against those Purgatory Hall guys. We need ta win back our honor, ya know."

"Do we?" Levi asked suspiciously, "or are you running a betting pool again?"

Mammon made a good show of appearing indignant at the very suggestion, but he'd hit you up earlier today about whether you'd be willing to take a dive in the second half of Candy Mountain in exchange for a lump grimm sum, so you knew too much about the subject to defend Mammon without exposing him.

"Can't I be showin' an interest without ya gettin' all suspicious a' me? What makes me so weird, huh? Asmo here doesn't even play games, and I don't see ya hasslin' him!"

"I do too play games," Asmo protested.

"Really? 'Cause only thing I ever saw you play was that stupid matching thing with the gems, and I ain't seen much of even that lately."

You knew which game Mammon meant, because it was the only game app you'd ever seen on Asmo's phone. You'd watch him play in moments of boredom, swiping his screen with a completely blank look of concentration as he matched the colors of the gems in rows and columns, and they burst into sparkles.

"Ugh, of course you haven't seen me play, I finished it. I have to wait until they add new levels."

"Didn't that game have like ten thousand levels already?" you asked. "You mean you passed all of them?"

"Eleven thousand and sixty five," Asmo corrected primly. "And yes, I did them all. I have to wait until they add more now. I asked."

The room fell into shocked silence at this. Even Levi looked mildly dyspeptic at the thought of completing eleven thousand levels of a match-3 game. You'd played it yourself for a while, and past the two hundredth level, the number of complicated mechanics the game introduced had completely broken you.

"Anyway," Mammon said after a few more beats of silence. He gestured to the screen, where Asmo was flicking between two shirt options. "This thing got co-op or somethin'?"

You finished your chips, and folded away the empty bag. When you picked up your D.D.D., fifty five minutes had passed.

"Still five minutes left," you muttered to Levi while Asmo and Mammon bickered over the choice of pants. "Wanna play the long odds and see if the twins show up too?"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," Levi grumbled. "I let way too many people waltz in here. I'll have to tighten security."

But Levi's heart wasn't really in it, and when he turned to watch Mammon try to swipe Asmo's controller while the latter loudly protested, there was almost a smile threatening to spread over Levi's face.

#obey me shall we date #obey me fanfic #obey me leviathan #obey me levi #obey me asmodeus #obey me mammon

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debiteful · 3 years

Note

Are you still doin' writing requests? If so, could you write about a giant finding a borrower, with some unintentional fearplay on the giants part?

Content: apparent threat of harm, size difference (Giant/tiny), fearplay, hand held, crying, trapped under a bowl, ends on a positive note

Taking on a renovation by yourself was a monumental task. Thankfully the boundless strength of a giant made it much easier. Will spent weeks planning everything before he was finally ready to begin.

He started with the floors, tearing them up bit by bit. Beneath the boards there were scraps of fabric, bits of metal that seemed to have once been staples, and even an old cereal box. At first Will assumed whoever had built the place had been careless. As he progressed and found more trash, he began to see patterns. Strategic cuts in the cardboard here, nails running in a diagonal line without securing anything, and other such seemingly intelligent designs.

Though it was odd, it helped click some puzzle pieces together. Rustling in the panty, socks disappearing, and soft yet shrill noises in the night. Something tiny was living in his home. By the looks of it they were taking things for their own purposes too! Nothing important of course, or he might've noticed sooner.

Now he had more planning to do. After all, he was tearing apart their home too!

Skip berated herself for the hundredth time for sticking around after that bean began tearing the place apart. Safe hiding places were growing fewer by the hour it seemed. It was impossible to predict where it would go to next, meaning she had to move all the borrowed things hastily. Already she had left a lot behind, and, to make matters worse, it had been found. Thankfully the bean hadn't seemed to catch on.

On the bright side, the renovation left lots of building scraps. Most helpful was the chunks of insulating foam. They were easy to cut and carry, and they could be used to build all sorts of things.

Presently Skip was trying to move them into the shed across the back lawn. She'd never lived out there because the temperature fluctuated too much. With insulation it might be bearable, and it would certainly be safer than in that madbean's house!

Unfortunately, the main house was still the best place to get food. Skip would wait somewhere secure in the evening until she heard the bean go to bed, then sneak out to get what crumbs she could.

Tonight, a fallen cracker tempted her, but it was the crushed cereal on the counter that would be doable to bring home. She darted out from behind the toaster towards it, but she didn't get far.

Something caught her leg. As she fell, there was a grating sound. Then darkness. Something had landed atop her! A bowl? Probably.

Skip walked slowly with her arms out as feelers. Upon reaching the edge she tried to get her fingers under it and lift. That failed, of course.

She tried to fight back panic. Her shim and pry bar lay securely at home- this was supposed to be a quick in and out job! Essentially equipmentless, there were very few options.

She took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. Mind a little clearer, she searched her memory for what direction she must be facing. Slowly she walked around the edge of the bowl to the side closest to the edge of the counter. At least, she hoped it was.

Pushing with all her might got her nowhere. Getting a running start for the shove did about the same. Soon, Skip was throwing herself at the bowl in desperation.

Battered and exhausted, she sunk to her knees. Body and tears fell to the countertop.

The rest of the night was spent filled with tension. Every sound was certainly the giant coming. Paranoid thoughts spiraled, centered around what the giant would do to her.

When at last Will did come, the sound was unmistakable to the trembling borrower. She had heard those thunderous steps a thousand times.

Skip envied the ease with which the giant lifted the bowl which confined her. Tilted up on one edge, it could now shove its gigantic hand beneath. She couldn't help but utter a little shriek as fingers as large as her groped around blindly. She didn't dare try to dart through the gap lest the bowl snap back down on a limb.

Dodging the fingers was difficult with no sleep or breakfast. The tip of one brushed her leg. The whole hand rushed her. A massive thumb pinned her to the pointer finger.

The bowl lifted slowly, so she had ample time to imagine the look on its face while she struggled. Her heart was racing wildly. Tears threatened to well up, but she had spent most of them through the night. Stinging eyes locked on to the enormous face.

The giant had quite the satisfied grin splitting its features. Its eyes flicked side to side as the giant took in its captive.

Likewise, Skip's eyes darted frantically. No sign of a weapon. Then again, with teeth and hands like these, it wouldn't need a weapon. Gracious it was absolutely gigantic up close, larger than she had ever thought.

The thunderous voice she had heard dozens of times was deafening at such a close range.

"Hello there," Will said in awe. The borrower was silent and flinched. He frowned and spoke more softly, "Who are you?"

Even at a dull roar the sound was too much. Skip growled like an animal and bit at his knuckles. He inhaled sharply and adjusted the hold to pin her head. It wouldn't take much for those fingers to crush it.

Will put her in the jar he had for this purpose. Being moved through the air was a disorienting and unpleasant experience. If she was lucky, she would be too dizzy to see whatever killed her coming. Skip was genuinely surprised when she landed on something soft in the bottom of the glass.

Left on the counter, she didn't dare take her eyes off of her captor. He bustled around the kitchen humming softly. She was familiar with this habit of his- the sound echoed through the walls in the evening. For the first time she heard the lyrics of his little ditty, "Gonna cook you up, gotta cook you right up! First I gotta chop you up, then plop you in the pot to cook you up!"

Hearing the giant narrate his process sent a dreadful chill through her. He was going to cook and eat her!!

More vigilant than ever, her gaze never left him. Eyes locked onto the shining blade of a knife pulled from the block. Watching the vegetables get chopped up brought to mind terrible images. The ease with which the bean could toss a heap of food into the pot brought to mind just how small she was.

Finally, the tears spilled out. Where they had been held in reserve, she had no idea. Frantic little hands rubbed one eye at a time. Delicate fingers brushed away tears without obstructing her view too much.

By the time the food was filling the air with its aroma, she still hadn't stopped crying. She watched through bleary eyes as he filled a ladle with the sauteed vegetables and brought it over. So she wasn't to be cooked: he was going to heap scalding food onto her!

Skip scrambled to one side of the jar and slid her back up the wall. That one scoop wouldn't be enough to bury her here.

Her warped upturned face looked back down at her as the ladle lowered. The giant stuck it right into the jar, then let go. What was its angle?

Tearing her gaze from his intent face, she eyed the handle of the ladle. Yes, it should be doable. Three bounding steps took her to the ladle. Using her momentum she vaulted over the bowl of it and grasped the flat handle. Like she had done hundreds of times before, she shot up the metal beam.

Just as she reached level with the lip of the jar, the giant reacted. He shouted, a deafening thunderclap. Those enormous fingers engulfed her momentarily, then they knocked her back into the jar. Now one hand lay over the mouth of her prison, effectively sealing it.

Will crouched, bringing the jar to eye level. He spoke gently, "Hey, aren't you hungry? I don't know how long exactly you were stuck on the counter." When she didn't respond he pressed on, "I promise it's good. I didn't know if you ate meat, but I figured veggies would be a safe choice. Hope it's okay that it's cooked- do you cook? Oh nevermind, it doesn't matter. Hey- can you understand me?" As his eyes scanned for any response, he finally noticed the red eyes and wet cheeks, "Oh no, have you been crying? Why? I didn't hurt you did I? Oh- I might've scared you… I'm really sorry little one."

Skip listened to his continuous ramble. It almost sounded good natured… Could she have been mistaken? A small bubble of rage rose up and erupted, "Wouldn't you be terrified if some gigantic brute trapped you and started singing about cooking?!"

Will frowned in dismay, "I didn't think about it like that."

"Beans never think," she screeched, "They just kill."

The frown deepened then flashed to a smirk, "Bean? Is that what you call us? Why?"

Skip rolled her eyes. What a dumb question! ….why did they call them beans? That didn't matter right now.

She walked over to the ladle and picked up a spear of carrot. One eye still on the giant, she took a bite of the tender veggie.

He gave a big grin, "Is it good?"

She nodded, honestly a little surprised. "So, why did you catch me? Why feed me too?"

"Well, as you've probably noticed, I'm doing a little work on the house. I found some of your stuff and I worried I might accidentally hurt you. Considering you've never introduced yourself, I figured just asking you to come out wouldn't work. I wanna help you move somewhere safer- whether it's temporary or not is up to you."

"My name's Skip," she piped up.

"Oh, mine is Will," he said with another big smile. His teeth were hardly threatening now.

She smiled back. "Oh! Actually I was already in the process of moving most of my stuff."

"Really? Where?"

There was a moment of hesitation; her distrust of beans ran deep. "Your shed, outside."

"All the way out there?" His eyes widened.

With a barked laugh, she nodded, "Yeah its pretty far. Not ideal, but I haven't a clue where you're going to strike next."

The harsh choice of words made Will frown a little. He recovered quickly though, "Well now you have the inside scoop! The entire upstairs is going to be left alone. There's also the kitchen. I- well, I still don't know what sort of places you like to live, but I'm sure there's some somewhere around here.

Skip considered her options. The upstairs was rather far away, but it was a big area so safer. The kitchen was prime territory for food and other bits n bobs, but the giant would frequent it. He seemed nice enough, but one encounter couldn't undo a lifetime of learning.

"Up the stairs should do nicely," she trailed off, already scheming on how to move all her stuff.

"Alright! Sounds good. So, is there anything I could help you move?"

The response was an absent nod before she realized what he asked. What was his angle? "Oh! Um, I guess."

They discussed what exactly needed to be moved and where. Though she was on her guard, Skip didn't notice anything untoward. The move went just as smoothly. Soon she was settled into a secluded gap beneath the floor, where she had moved all her stuff herself after he brought it to a nearby location.

By the end of it, Will was very pleased with himself. He had begun to make a new friend. What's more, she was his neighbour! He felt more at ease knowing she would be safely out of the way of the renovation.

#fearplay #giant/tiny #g/t #giant #tiny #borrower #tldr:#Skip 'what is he thinking'#Will 'No thoughts head empty'

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 3 years

Note

Ooh! I would love to hear your thoughts on how Twilight is like Othello!

So, in a nutshell, it goes like this: Carlisle is Othello, Edward is Iago, Aro is Desdemona.

The Beginning

Our story begins with Carlisle departing Volterra on amiable terms. Yes, the diet became a non-negotiable difference between him and Aro, but none the less he views Aro as a very close friend and an uncorrupt and wise ruler.

On his end, Carlisle is the only true friend Aro has (now that Marcus is out of commission). While Carlisle was able to leave Volterra, I imagine Aro both expected and hoped that one day Carlisle would return after realizing for himself he was unable to find the like minded in the wide world.

However, it didn't end up that way. Carlisle turns Edward and rapidly builds himself a coven.

However, there's still no ill feelings towards the Volturi, quite the opposite. We don't hear much from Carlisle himself, but of all Carlisle's many friends, it's only the Volturi who get featured in Edward's story. And, speaking for Carlisle when he's not in the room, there's a giant ass picture of the Volturi on the wall.

Edward loathes that painting.

And this is where the tiniest seeds are sown.

Edward never really likes the idea of a Carlisle before the Cullens, before him, that is to say. When he tells Carlisle's tale, there's this pervading sense of narcissism throughout it. Carlisle's life was miserable and damned until he saw the divine spotlight hanging over Edward and turned him.

The Volturi, oh, yeah, guess they were around and important BUT NEVER MIND THEM.

Edward never outright says anything, not even really to Bella or to himself, but his internal narration and what he does say speaks for him. He doesn't like the painting, he leaves only the bare minimum of their influence in the story, he doesn't even tell Bella what they really do and why he may have fucked up in telling her the secret.

He doesn't want to think about them and never wants to meet them.

If he ever does, it is only under the pretext that they will be the tools he uses to kill himself when Bella dies.

New Moon

As Edward told Bella, when he thought she died, he travelled to Volterra and asked for assisted suicide. They said no.

And that, that is the moment that they become corrupt tyrants.

Before then, Edward didn't necessarily like the Volturi, he certainly didn't like the threat they represented to Bella but he had no real thoughts on them. Indeed, he viewed them with enough respect that he thought they would grant his suicide request.

But then they didn't.

And granted, we don't know what Edward witnessed in Volterra, we don't know what he heard going around in everyone's head, but given that this is Edward I think this alone is enough.

They didn't give Edward what he wanted. Then, worse happens, they become a legitimate threat to Bella Swan.

They have now seen Bella in person, Aro lays down the law, Aro shows interest in her gift, and everything's spiraling out of control. By the time we hit the meeting in New Moon that Bella is present for, Edward is accusing Aro of openly being a corrupt tyrant.

However, ultimately, Edward, Bella, and Alice do return to Forks unharmed (though with Bella's turning hanging over their heads). And Edward does not forget that.

We don't see Edward's immediate reunion with the family, we don't see exactly what he says to Carlisle about what happens, but I imagine Edward tells Carlisle what he tells him later in Eclipse: that Aro is a power hungry monster who will stop at nothing to collect Edward and Alice (funny how Edward always leaves Bella out of that when she's the one Aro would actually want but never mind that).

Given what has happened so far, Carlisle very likely does not believe this. Yes, Edward has his gift, but he hears so little of what people think and things are easily misinterpreted.

Had Aro wanted Bella, he would have demanded she be turned and stay there, it was well within his rights. As it was, he did something very generous for the Cullens and Carlisle at least will be grateful because of it.

Edward goes and smashes another TV after having smashed the first after the vote.

Eclipse

Then the events of Eclipse happen.

First, we start with the ramp up.

Seattle is being terrorized, it becomes clearer and clearer that this is not gang violence nor another Ted Bundy, this is a newborn army. The Cullens, Carlisle, wait on the Volturi to arrive: they never do.

Edward continues to disparage the Volturi but now... Now Carlisle is starting to listen.

Aro is letting Seattle burn because he wants Edward and Alice, he has this vision of total omniscience by holding on constantly to Edward and Alice's hands and he will be utterly unstoppable. He'll use this as an opportunity to wipe out the coven so he can take the gifted members.

As for Bella, a vampire has been sneaking into her bedroom, it's likely a Volturi agent sent by Caius or Jane under Aro's implicit orders. (Though everyone actually disagrees with this one, even Alice, who helpfully tries to give Edward an out of "maybe it was Jane!" Carlisle just sits in the corner looking pained and dubious.)

Carlisle likely doesn't believe all of this. Yes, Aro collects gifts, and yes the Volturi's absence is bizarre and damning, but what Edward is saying is... well, evil.

But then Jane shows up, just after the battle has ended, strolling in like she has all the time in the world. She tortures and murders Bree Tanner, a girl who never even had a chance to know what the law was, and leaves with a parting threat that Bella better be turned or else.

Carlisle's faith in the Volturi is completely shaken, such that, when the Renesmee debacle happens, desperately gathering witnesses is his family's only means of survival.

Now, where the Othello comes in, is I don't think Aro's guilty. His having given that order makes no sense on any level. More, for all Alice was stretched thin, she was certain that she would see any major decision coming from Aro during Eclipse. She did not, implying that someone else was behind it (my money's on Caius).

However, by allowing this to happen, any of this to happen, and with Edward spewing poison, Aro becomes everything Edward is saying and more.

And there is nothing he can possibly say to make up for what happened and so he says nothing.

Which, of course, just makes everything worse.

Breaking Dawn

Irina goes to the Volturi and tells Aro that the Cullen coven has created an immortal child. Less than six months ago, the Volturi subtly tried to wipe the Cullen coven off the map, and now Irina has just handed them every excuse they need.

Carlisle doesn't question what happens next: he gathers witnesses.

If his coven stands alone, they will fall and they will die, and if the Volturi act then there must be many vampires watching this go down so as to hold them accountable.

Of course, gathering witnesses quickly turns into gathering an army, which is not what Carlisle wanted but what he got.

In the meantime, Edward and Eleazar are riling each other up and painting a very bleak history of Volterra: of what has happened to other gifted covens in the past.

And then it happens: the confrontation in Breaking Dawn.

Renesmee is clearly not an immortal child, the Volturi admit as much, but the confrontation continues regardless. It becomes about whatever Renesmee is, about the wolves, about anything and everything.

Then Aro does it. He uses every gifted vampire he has against them. Jane, Chelsea, Alec, through Bella's gift alone the group is spared but if Bella hadn't been there.

I imagine Carlisle thought he and every witness he gathered would have died that day.

(For the record, I don't think that was Aro's intention.)

And just like that, it's done, whatever man Carlisle thought he knew in Volterra was a lie. Edward was right, this man is utterly corrupt and will sacrifice everything for power.

And the end isn't here yet.

There will be another confrontation and, the way canon will likely go, the Volturi will lose.

Which is very bad for all of us.

Back to Othello

The important thing here is that, throughout all of this, while a series of the world's most tragic miscommunications and events took place, you also had Edward on the side insisting the worst about Aro at every turn.

Hence, Carlisle is Othello, Edward Iago, Aro Desdemona.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #othello #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #carlisle cullen #aro #the volturi #meta #headcanon #opinion

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autumnsart22 · 3 years

Text

First time in College: Suna x reader

College AU with the Haikyuu boys: Suna Rintarou x fem reader 🤤

Let me know if you want part 2 :)

He is literally so fine I--

Art creds go to agatha123naruto

God, you should never have agreed to do this. Your laptop was calling you, Attack on Titan already pulled up and ready to watch...and yet here you were, shifting uncomfortably in a tight crop top and booty shorts your roommate had provided you with. You crossed your arms over your stomach, trying to hide yourself, but you only succeeded in pushing your tits up.

“Hey, relax, it’s just a party.” Kiyoko smiled softly from her side of the room, applying some chapstick and holding a pair of sneakers.

“Ugh,” you rolled your eyes. Yes, it was just a party...but it was also the first college party you were going to be attending. And a frat party at that. Ugh.

The first few months of college had been perfectly well off without them, and you weren’t exactly sure why Kiyoko had been able to convince you to come along this time. Maybe you had felt a little like you were missing out when your roommate would come back giggling and tipsy late into the night every weekend, and maybe you wanted to put a bit more effort into socializing. You had friends, but not a huge group--which was fine. But also, college was a time to try new things...even if that meant frat parties.

“Don’t worry, you’ll probably know some people. And if not, you can just stick with me.” Kiyoko finished putting on her shoes, heading towards the door. “We’ll get drinks as soon as possible.”

You sighed, resigning yourself as you followed her out the door.

The party was just as bad as you expected. It was packed in the house, the lights dimmed, flashing, and confusing as people pushed from all sides. You almost spilled your third drink as you searched for Kiyoko, pretty much impossible in the darkness. You had lost her a little while ago when she had started talking to a guy named Tanaka, and now she seemed to be missing.

“OI!” You looked up to see a clearly wasted, shirtless guy standing on the table, a bottle of beer in his hand. He had blonde hair with a dark undercut, and you were pretty sure you recognized him as one of the frat guys...maybe Atsumu? You didn’t know him well enough to be sure. “We’re putting on a movie, if you fuckheads want to join,” Asumu yelled, practically falling off the table.

Maybe Kiyoko was with them watching a movie.

The crowd swallowed you up again as you headed towards where Atsumu had disappeared, but you managed to push your way into the living room. There were four couches stuffed into the wide space, but every seat was taken, including spots on the floor.

You scanned the room for Kiyoko’s hair, but yet again, no such luck. The projector was set up to play a horror movie, and your stomach clenched unpleasantly as you realized what it was. You really, really hated horror movies--did they seriously have to pick this to watch?

You bit your lip, but the lights were dimming and you had to stop standing awkwardly off to the side. You spotted the arm of one of the couches that was free, but that same couch was also filled with frat guys with girls in their laps. Would I be weird for taking a spot next to them? Would they be ok with that?

Shit, calm down. This isn’t high school, and I’m a bad bitch. Also, I’m sexy as fuck. I got this.

Right. You straightened your shoulders and marched across the room, dodging random girls sprawled across the floor mixed with bongs and beer bottles. You barely even glanced at the occupants of the couch as you settled precariously on the arm, as far from them as possible as the movie began to play.

Almost immediately, your heart was racing and fingers digging into the cushions, and you wanted to run from the room. Why, why, why had you done this to yourself? You could have just turned and left the living room to begin with. Fuck trying new things.

You were considering how you’d make a subtle escape when a drunken kid with bright orange hair slammed into your shoulder as he tried to get past, causing you to lose your balance on the arm of the couch and fall directly into the lap of one of the guys to your right.

For a moment, you were too stunned to move, and you could only stare up at the equally surprised face of one of the frat boys. He had dark brown hair and yellow eyes, the whites tinted red; presumably from the joint in his hand. The smell of weed rolled off him, and you were pretty sure that it wasn’t his first one.

“Oh-Oh my god I’m so sorry,” you gasped, rolling awkwardly off him onto the floor. “I didn’t mean to--I mean--um--”

“Look what you’ve done Suna.” You glanced over to see the same shirtless guy from before, the one you assumed was Atsumu. “You scare off all the girls.”

The lap guy, Suna, just shrugged and took another hit.

“No, that’s not...” you tried, your halfway drunken brain desperately trying to calm down. “I fell on him.”

Atsumu grinned at you. “It’s ok, you don’t have to bother with him. He’s a piece of shit anyway.”

“I didn’t say--”

“What, so you want to sit on his lap?”

“What????” How was this conversation even happening? You wanted to punch Atsumu in the face, and you also wanted to sprint from the building and never show your face to the light of day again.

Unfortunately, now Suna was looking at you, as were the other frat boys sitting on the couch and the girls on their laps. “I mean,” you cleared your throat. “I- I guess.”

Idiot. IDIOT.

“Ah nice. You see Suna, that’s how you get girls--”

“Fuck off, Atsumu. Stop pressuring her.” Suna glared at him, and you let out a breath...until his yellow eyes turned to you, and your lungs hitched yet again. “You can if you want, but we’re holding up the movie.”

He was right; someone had paused the movie since Atsumu was standing right in front of the projector, which meant everyone was waiting on you.

“Are you ok with that?” You asked as you stood up, trying to sound confident and bored.

Suna’s eyes lazily trailed down and up, and he shrugged. “Whatever.”

Ouch. “Uh, right.”

He leaned back on the couch, his legs sprawled wide to give you room between them, and your heart began to pound. Jesus Christ.

You awkwardly sat down, trying to give him space in the very limited area, but his thighs were still pressed tight up against your ass.

The movie started again, and almost immediately every muscle in your body tensed up. At the first jump scare, you flinched so hard that you elbowed Suna’s knee, making him grunt in pain.

“S-sorry,” you whispered, hands shaking a little.

He shifted, leaning forward so you could feel the heat from his chest inches away. “Hey, are you good?”

“Um, yeah. I just really hate horror mov--” The serial killer stepped out from behind the door and you gasped, turning your face away.

Suddenly, you felt Suna’s hands pressing against your ears, blocking out the creepy music and the sound of people getting murdered in front of you. You looked up at him in surprise, and he shrugged, leaning even closer.

“Horror movies are worse with sound,” he said in your ear so you could hear him.

“Thanks,” you murmured, and he smirked.

“You can relax. You’re so tense, it’s freaking me out.”

You let out a breath, forcing your muscles to unclench. It was more comfortable, but it also meant that you were now flat against Suna’s chest, his hands still on your ears.

You tried watching like that for a while, and it was better, but in the end you decided that sound or not--horror movies weren’t your thing. You ended up hiding your face in Suna’s shoulder, until you realized what you were doing and quickly jerked back.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to get in your personal space--”

“It’s fine. Be quiet.” He wrapped his arms around your waist, tucking you against his chest so you could easily bury your face in his shoulder. He smelled nice, mostly of pot, but with undertones of mint and almond or something.

As the movie continued, he turned his head to press his lips against your ear. “Want me to explain what’s going on?”

“Oh...okay.”

“So basically...ugh what is even happening.” You smiled a little at his annoyance. “So this idiot girl just went into the house when clearly she shouldn’t have, aaaand there’s the murderer. Damn she’s dumb. Honestly he’s kind of dumb too, why is he running with a knife? That’s a safety hazard.”

You snorted, feeling a large part of your fear drain out of you at his stupid narration.

“This is literal shit,” he muttered. “How does this scare you?”

You huffed, annoyed at his condescending tone. “I don’t know, just the jump scares, and the creepy lead up, and the music...I just hate it.”

“Do you want to leave? You don’t have to watch, you know”

“I…” I clenched your fists, suddenly determined. “No. I can make it through.”

“Why…? You’re literally not even watching.”

“Just shut up. I’m facing my fears.”

He laughed under his breath, and you felt it in his chest. “How admirable.”

He patted your head, taking another hit of the joint, which was practically gone. “Want some of this?” He gestured to it.

“Oh, sure. That’s fine?”

“I wouldn’t have offered it if it wasn’t.” “Right...” You took the joint from him and took a deep hit, and then another, just needing to relax. It didn’t stop you from almost jumping out of your skin when the murderer suddenly pushed someone down the stairs.

Suna smirked at your terror, and you glared at him. “This isn’t funny!”

“Kind of is.”

It took another twenty minutes, but then finally the film was over, the lights were turned back on, and you were facing Suna again.

“Thanks for doing that,” you said, a blush creeping up your cheeks as you met his pretty eyes.

He shrugged. “Sure.”

“Well, uh. I should probably go. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Wait, hold up--”

You didn’t wait for his response as you rolled off his lap, awkwardly waving, before practically running from the room.

You found Kiyoko sitting on the couch with your friends Suga and Daichi, and you must have looked pretty panicked because she didn’t protest when you dragged her from the frat house.

“So...how was it for you?” She asked imploringly as we made our way back to our dorm.

“Um….” You weren’t sure how to answer.

Part 2

#suna #suna x reader #ive never met this guy but he could high key get it #suna rintaro x y/n #suna rintarō #haikyuu!!#haikyū!!#haikyuu suna #fandom #fanfic #fanfiction #fluff #anime

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

Text

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 01

(Masterpost) (Next Episode)

Warning: This is **FULL **of spoilers, not just for this episode but for the entire series. If you haven’t finished all 50 episodes, please don’t read it!

Intro: 2020 continues to be much much too much while also being incredibly boring, and Im done with Shen Wei’s Lewks, so now I’m doing a deep meta dive into the Untamed. Let’s roll!

Prologue: The Battle of Mordor

The Demise of our Protagonist

Unlike some other shows I won’t name, The Untamed kills its suicidal queer protagonist immediately, rather than waiting four seasons, so we know what we're in for.

This is Wei Wuxian, who is about to yeet himself off of a cliff. He is having a bad day.

Note: if mouth blood bothers you...C-Drama might not be your thing.

Reasons for mouth blood: a sampler

Anyway...cliff time

Note: if (fictional) suicide bothers you...C-Drama might not be your thing.

To be fair there are hardly any suicides in The Untamed. No more than ...five? As long as you don’t count the entire population of the Wen Corporate Headquarters in Yiling or those wall bandits in Qinghe or Madame Yu or all those Wens who supposedly threw themselves into the mud puddle or that Mo guy who broke his own neck. Plus watching Wei Wuxian’s cliff drop several more times from multiple angles. So, you know. Hardly Any Suicides.

This is Lan Wangji, who is about to have his first losing encounter with physics. He is having a bad day.

In fact, if it is possible to have a worse day than the guy who is currently falling to his death, Lan Wangji is having that.

This is Jiang Cheng, who is feeling extra stabby from this camera angle. He is having a bad day.

Camera operator: why you gotta take it out on me?

(Much, much more after the cut!)

The Amulet Situation

This is the Stygian Tiger Amulet. Yes, by all means, (Netflix) subtitles, let's use a 12-dollar word, “Stygian,” that every English speaker who is not a Shelley/Byron shipper will have to look up. Let’s not use a normal word like "deathly" or "corrupt" or you know... "Yin" which is clearly what they are saying on screen.

Why does this tiger amulet look like a chameleon crossed with a remora? Wei Wuxian can paint photorealistic bunnies on a flimsy lantern while sitting in a field having distracting teenage lust, but two months of meditating with super magic gets him a tiger that looks like a chameleon. And don’t try telling me this is a traditional-Chinese-art vibe because this jade tiger from frickin 1000 BCE is way more tigerish than Wei Wuxian’s attempt.

Try harder next time, Wei Wuxian.

This is thousands of cultivators having a battle. What do you mean, it looks like about 40-60 dudes?

Any time someone in The Untamed refers to a number of people, it is like when you do your high school play and look off into the wings at nothing and say “Hark, A Ship Approaches!” and everyone’s parents nod indulgently.

Jin Clan Mountain Hunt:

*viewership nods indulgently*

This is Captain Blowhard, over on the right, courtesy name Clan Leader Yao. His job is to talk smack about Wei Wuxian and stick up for whoever is the biggest asshole in any given scene.

He represents mainstream cultivation-world values so here he is shanking one of his allies to take the deadly amulet of evilness.

The Present Day

Spilling All That Yiling Laozu Tea

Down at the Exposition Tea Shop, the Lan juniors are chilling and listening to Tea Dude tell the story of Yiling Laozu.

How did they get permission to take this field trip? “Principal Qiran, we want to go downtown to hang out with the local rabble and learn about your favorite person, Wei Wuxian.”

Waiting in the wings is the man with a fan and a plan, Nie Huaisan(g), who is paying tall loot to get these stories told.

...Why? Is Mo Xuanyu having tea here and listening? Or is Wei Wuxian being summoned back by hearing all this smack being talked about him? *Shrug.*

Gank Your Soul

Drunk flag guy out here talking about spirits. Wikipedia tells me that In one school of Daoist thought, a human being has a collection of physical souls (魄 pò) and ethereal souls (魂 hún). Drunk flag guy is saying “hún ” at the moment.

The many types of souls don’t translate well into English, where spiritual vocabulary has always been shackled connected to Christian beliefs, and is too limited for this context. So when the subtitles have conversations like “Is it a soul eater? No, no, it’s a spirit taker!” just roll with it. (Speaking of hún, if you have any interest in linguistics, do yourself a favor and go read all the wonderful meta @hunxi-guilai)

The spirit-carrying flag looks a lot like Raava and Vaatu from Korra which...probably doesn’t mean anything.

The Demise of our Trill Host

Suicide #2 happens about 8 minutes in.

Mo Xuanyu is that hippie roommate with the annoying wind chimes and bead curtains and blood spatter.

He is super mad at his terrible family and also at Jin Guangyao, who sent him home to his terrible family. I wonder if Fan Man Nie Huaisang influenced Jiggy’s decision-making there. Mo Xuanyu’s choice to die for revenge might be excessive, given how easy it actually is to murder the Mo family.

Being Alive Is Fine I Guess As Long As I Get To Fuck WIth People

Wei Wuxian starts his new life by splashing a little water on his face, which instantly makes his hair go from this

to this.

He looks at his reflection and wishes he was dead, which--mood--but he gets over it as soon as he finds someone whose day he can fuck up.

And he is ALL in on being crazy.

OP wishes she had the Wei Wuxian kind of crazy instead of the kind she actually has.

Meanwhile, this is the sane Mo cousin:

This asshole is wearing one of the best fabrics in the whole show, incidentally. Asshole.

My favorite bit of Wei-Mo craziness is when Wei Wuxian does a meaningless 360 all the way around this dude before ducking in the opposite direction, which is like when I make 4 right turns around a whole block to avoid making a single left across traffic.

Perhaps I Do Miss One Thing In This Life

Wei Wuxian has pining thoughts about Lan Wangji, so he plays WangXian on a fucking blade of grass well enough for Sizhui to recognize it from his dad's guqin jams.

Wei Wuxian is a better flautist than even Inspector Gadget BeatBoxing Flute Guy (Google it).

Our Many Many Spirit Lure Flags have Lured A Spirit, Oh Shit

Lan Clan has a Plan and Wei Wuxian is a Fan

Having one single lure flag stuck in Wen Ning’s torso caused spirits to basically eat him alive, so to catch one evil spirit, 6 disciples holding flags on the roof plus 8 more flags on the ground seems like a good amount. Wei Wuxian is like “yep, a single one of these will lure every spirit for five miles, carry on, younglings.”

Baxia Does the Heavy Lifting

Wei Wuxian is supposed to kill four people because of this curse situation, and in the course of the series they all die, and he kills exactly zero of them. The curse on Wei Wuxian’s arm should be called the scorekeeper curse.

Baxia’s spirit pinballs around the Mo clan, rapidly killing three people on Mo Xuanyu’s list plus a couple extras for good measure. Who's a good blade? Baxia is! Yess you are! Yes you are!

This here is the exact point in the show where your friend, who has listened to you squee about The Untamed for three months and finally agreed to watch it with you, will say “what the fuck am I watching?” and try to get up off the couch. Tackle them!

This also the point where we all realize that the prosthetic and practical effects in this show were probably not made by the people who made the clothing, because the quality is...variable. The white eyeballs are pretty good, but the glove of death is ridiculous.

Camera operator: why you gotta take it out on me?

While Baxia goes to town on the Mo clan, the Lan Clan babies...watch? And tie up the various victims after they are already goners.

Narrator: Her son is dead.

Meanwhile,

Wei Wuxian, you motherfucker. You’ve been alive for like 7 hours and you’re already building a new zombie army. No wonder you don’t want them to call Lan Wangji.

Hanguang-Jun Cut It Up One Time

Lan Wangji shows up and very slowly kicks zombie ass with his guqin. If you are used to Hong Kong action speeds, you will find The Untamed very peaceful.

All of the baby Lans fan squee up at Lan Wangji like he's the cultivation world's David Bowie and...they're not wrong. Jesus Fuck, he’s charismatic.

Lan Wangji is soft boi when he discovers this murderous sword full of dead-bastard energy, because it reminds him of his true love.

Like the talk about souls, the conversations about the nature of the murderous entity really don’t survive translation into English.

Servant: it’s a ghost!

WWX: it’s not a ghost, it’s a spirit

Babies: It’s a spirit

LWJ: it’s not a spirit, it’s a [...] ghost

Our Protagonist gets the FOH

Wei Wuxian is soft boi when he sees Lan Wangji, but not so soft that he considers actually, like, sticking around.

Wei Wuxian is also clueless boi, noting Lan Wangji’s white clothing and thinking, as in the past, that he looks like he’s dressed in mourning. The term he uses is 戴孝, which google tells me means the type of outfit worn by Jiang Yanli after Wen Ning rips her husband’s heart out someone who is in mourning.

Actually, Wei Wuxian, you dumbass, he is in actual mourning, actually, for you. Dumbass. He probably packed away all of his blue outer robes 16 years ago and only takes them out occasionally to reminisce about that nice date you had on your mountain of corpses.

On his way out the door Wei Wuxian manages to find a red ribbon for his beautiful hair, so things are looking up.

Where to go next...hey I know, how about that one haunted mountain with the killer statue, you know, the one that all my executed friends and child came from? That’ll be fun and a great way to put the past behind me!

Episode 02 Restless Rewatch is here!

#fytheuntamed #the untamed spoilers #the untamed gifs #the untamed #restless rewatch the untamed #tw: blood #tw: suicide #chen qing ling #cql #c-drama #bl drama #canary3d-original #the untamed memes #my gifs

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legends-live-in-memories · 3 years

Text

“How Did All This Happen?”- A Memoire by one Marinette Dupain-Cheng 1

Soooooo I decided to write this. much longer than the other things i posted, also very tonally different. I will definitely continue that other fic tho. I was just brainstorming and now this exists. Yeah.

without further ado

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

People Fucked Up and Now It’s All Marinette’s Mess to Clean Up I

This was not how Marinette planned for her night to go. Granted, she also could not envision it going literally any other way. The woes of making a deal with the hell-raiser himself, John Constantine, she supposes. She truly hoped Adrien was having a much better time than her with his cousin in London. After the circus that was the past three years, he deserved some reprieve, even if it was with his bratty doppelganger. Regardless, Marinette. Was. Not. Pleased. No matter how many times she thinks over her plan, recalculates every step and decision, she could not fathom this night ending well for her, or anyone really, but mostly her. And no amount of old Ladybug or Guardian luck could help her. Now, if one were to wonder what kind of tragedy had befallen Marinette on this disgraceful night, a brief history of the last three months could enlighten such a person. Or better yet, let’s start at the beginning. The Real Beginning.

So, things existed. Obviously. First there was nothing, and then, something. And as more things began to exist, as new schools of knowledge and concepts and ideas began to, well, exist, Kwamis formed as well. Each Kwami was the physical manifestation of these ideas or abstracts. Creation was the first, coupled with Destruction. And as more things began to exist, more things began needing to be protected. Thus, the Kwami of Protection. This went on. For a while. Soon thereafter there were Kwamis of all types. Jubilation, Time, Strength, etc, etc, and etc. Now these Kwamis did not linger in one spot. They roamed across the far stretches of existence and interacted with the life they found.

Some Kwamis decided to form a magical pact which intergalactic historians would later dub the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. Sounds familiar? The Kwamis themselves were completely blissfully unaware of this title, lest they would have explained to these beings, Maltusians they were called, that they were not in fact, electromagnetic but more so a part of the Powers that Be. Kind of. But this side-story involves the formation of a few universally known Lantern Corps, and that is a barrel of monkeys our exasperated narrator does not want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Or ever.

Other Kwamis, who stuck close to what would become known as the Milky Way, were discovered by a mage who granted them the ability to interact with humans. This mage— and Marinette was silently cursing his descendants, herself included, for if it weren’t for this absolute mad lad, none of the subsequent events of this night would have transcribed—had bound the Kwamis to magical jewelry called Miraculouses. An interesting side effect of these Kwamis being bound to the miraculouses was that the wearer could call upon the powers of the Kwamis for their own usage. The mage feared what could become of the world if this kind of power became so easily accessible, so he created the Order of the Guardians. The Order was dedicated to training young mages to protect, wield and harvest the powers of the miraculouses. The Order swore to true neutrality; wishing not to impose their will on one side or the other, to maintain balance and to not upset the natural order of the world.

This went surprisingly well for a few millennia, that is, of course, if you ignore the sinking of Atlantis, the extinction of the dinosaurs, the Black Plague, the creation of the Lazarus Pits, Pompeii, to name a few completely egregious instances—not necessarily in order of course—and well, the point stands that it could have been astronomically worse. Until it was.

One young mage and Guardian in training had caused the downfall of almost the entire Order of the Guardians. All the centuries of history, teachings, artifacts and even the people at the head temple, were lost to the calamity. Dozens of Miraculous Boxes were lost, destroyed in the fray. The Kwamis themselves were relatively unaffected, being immortal and all, but the magical jewelry binding them to the earth were broken, thus those Kwamis were lost to mankind once again. Only one singular box, and the young mage himself, survived. The new Guardian of one miraculous box was left to scour the earth in solitude. Well, about as much solitude one could have with 17 pocket gods as company. The fact that the only box that survived was missing two more miraculouses caused the already stressed guardian to grey further. But that tidbit of information would be a problem for later. And for someone else entirely too. Oh joy.

But before that sequence of events, aptly named “Marinette’s Trial by Fire,” however, the young guardian had a couple more life mistakes to make before he reached his internal quota apparently. Rather than travel to another sector of the Order on the other side of the earth, this young mage stumbled upon another organization, one similar in architecture and hierarchy but a pendulum swing in the total moral opposite. Yes, that’s right, the guardian found himself upon the League of Shadows, led by Ra’s Al Ghul in his endeavor of global cleansing; by acts of ecoterrorism, but who sweats the small stuff, right? There, the young guardian, who adopted the name of Wang Fu, met his first love Ming Hong and they had a son. The son had a daughter he named Mei. Now Mei was only a few weeks younger than Ra’s Al Ghul’s grandson, Damian. Now with an appropriate heir, and someone to procreate with said heir, Ra’s Al Ghul gained a special interest in the small Fu family that originally flew under the radar of the League.

Now this is where things continue to go downhill, but not until much, much later in this story. Ra’s Al Ghul, despite his radical ambitions, was particularly good at playing the long game and understood when he couldn’t accomplish a task directly. This being said, he recognized that, due to prolonged exposure to the Lazarus Pits, his soul could not bear the strain of being a wielder of a miraculous and so he waited. Waited until a suitable heir was sired and could copulate with an heir to the guardian of the miraculous box, desiring to create a bloodline of genetically suitable successors and wielders who were loyal to him and his cause.

Ra’s ordered for the Fu family to have a place on his court and ordered for Mei Fu to be trained in mastering the secrets of the miraculous. And master she did. By age 6 she was fluent in the coded language of the magical text, or as fluent a 6 year old can be in any language, and she had mastered 7 out the 17 miraculouses. By age 10 she was as skilled as the grandson of the Demon Head in combat and could handle simultaneous wear of 3 miraculouses. Her training, however, had to be put on hold as somebody thought usurping the Demon Head was of the utmost importance that glorious Tuesday and staged a coup. She wished Deathstroke had lost more than an eye that day, but a girl can dream she supposes. Mei and her grandfather were separated from the rest of the League and journeyed west. Somehow they ended up in Paris, France. After one too many run ins with the authorities, Mei was removed from her grandfather, who was deemed too unfit to support her. It was a miracle he wasn’t deported.

Mei was put into protective custody where she resided until she was 13. Recently adopted, and thoroughly done with the plebeians of her daily encounters, Mei Fu became Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of the best bakers in Paris. All was well and good for the new Dupain-Cheng until the start of the new school year.

She met her grandfather again. And apparently he had a job for her and her soon to be new partner.

Hawkmoth, that bitch, had somehow acquired the two last surviving miraculouses and the only surviving grimoire and thought domestic terrorism was on the agenda for the next few years. Why? Because investing in a family therapist was too much of an inconvenience for local recluse, Gabriel McFucking Agreste, Marinette would shortly learn.

After dealing with all of that and juggling between her reignited guardian training, and ‘normal’ girl life—because her parents don’t know that she’s a magical girl in the making—, Marinette was ready to sleep for a thousand years. Or commit murder. Whichever gave her enough serotonin to complete her current passion project. But, alas, no rest for the totally-over-it or however that saying goes. Because after declaring Paris safe once again, sending off her brother-in-arms, Adrien Agreste, to family in London (marginally decent but anything beats the abusive prick of a sperm donor), in waltz one drunken John Constantine.

Ah yes. Him. That absolute bastard who doesn’t deserve nice things in life. That guy.

This unpleasantry approached Master Fu and Marinette, who has been regulated to errand-girl in lieu of training, with a job that he proclaimed that only one blessed with magic, and specifically NOT connected to the Justice League could accomplish. Apparently, a group called the Cult of the Kobra resided on Santa Prisca and was in possession of a dangerous magical artifact that had been the backbone of their organization for years. Constantine came to them asking them for assistance in retrieving it as the Justice League could not interfere in the Caribbean due to new UN legislation. It was a mission of utmost urgency for he feared the cult leader, Kobra himself, was planning on enacting a ritual that could bring calamity to Earth. Which is just what the doctor ordered. Not. In exchange, he agreed to add to her magical training as while master Fu was good, he was still young when he ran away from his problems the first time and thus was limited in his magical knowledge.

That was three months ago. Three months of planning, training, and convincing her parents that letting her go on an extended retreat for an undetermined amount of time with her mostly absent biological grandfather was totally reasonable for the seventeen year old to do. Like, come on. She’s almost old enough to drink, almost ready for university and has been praised for her independence and self-sufficiency for years. She’ll be fine is what she told her parents and she was almost able to convince herself of that too. She would be perfectly fine. Right?

Wrong.

Marinette was anything but fine. She was stressed, she was tired and she was abso-fucking-lutely pissed at anything that even breathed in her direction. Why? Well that brings us back to the beginning of the story when everything on this mission did not go according to plan. So here she was along what was once upon a time the eastern coastline of Santa Prisca. Oh and look. The Junior Justice League has arrived.

Purrrrfect.

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@deathwishy @neakco @ virtualreading @f-rget-lt @your-resident-chicken-nugget

#maribat #marinette x damian #daminette #i was bored and left unattended #no salt in case you were wondering #yes i am looking at you antis who feel like stalking this tag #im not tagging characters cuz reasons #badass!marinette dupain cheng #idk what plot this is going to have or how heavy the romance is but this just exists so #i wrote this at 1 am #hdath #thats the fic tag im gonna use if i post more

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