#then there were just straight up mean ones that lead into disrespectful

[knightyoomyoui]

[COMMISSION] LIVING WITH VAMPIRES: UNDER THE VEIL OF NIGHT  | TWICE x Male Reader | CHAPTER 1: "A Nightmarish First Encounter"

Welcome to another brand new TWICE fic series of mine! This story will serve both as an adaptation and a soft reboot of the TWICE horror-comedy book titled “Living With Vampires” written by SaiDaChae29 published in 2020 which was sadly left discontinued until this day. For this one, it scrapped some of the parts from the original while others were kept and applied changes which will lead to its direct continuation. Special mention also to @nchris00 who ordered a commission and entrusted me to recreate this interesting story as his request. Hope this one won’t disappoint! Thank you so much again! -> Read the PROLOGUE here <- “LIVING WITH VAMPIRES: UNDER THE VEIL OF NIGHT” By knightyoomyoui Commissioned by: @nchris00 Part: CHAPTER 1 : "A Nightmarish First Encounter" Word Count: 5,879

2 YEARS AGO

I knocked at the house where there was an old man living in there that I used to help throwing the garbage every night. As he opened the door, he greeted me with a curious gaze as soon as he saw me standing in front of his doorway.

“Jeonghoon? What is it?”

“Uhh hey pops uhm… I was just wondering if you have some extra food left there?” It took some courage to ask that from him, since this is my first time begging from somebody straight into their home for some food to eat. Also, I just did this now from him because he only just know me as a hobo who helps people throw trash in their neighboorhood.

“I already ate the leftovers that I collected few days ago so… if you won’t mind, can I-”

“You came at the right time, Jeonghoon. Ofcourse I will.” He nodded understandably after cutting off my words. I didn’t find it disrespectful at all now that he responded the same thing I was expecting for him to say to me.

He left me in his doorway to grab something from his kitchen. I heard some metal clanging and probably procelains, maybe grabbing something from the plates. I was curious but I remained in his doorway, without any intention to come inside and do something that would break his trust.

Because I will never do that. I may have know how it feels to lose something… but just because it happened worse to me that doesn’t mean I have to make others feel what I felt.

It’s painful, enough to have your life get destroyed in an instant.

Which is what I’ve been going through these days. Imagine I was having these things for me too until that person I thought would be the nicest one among everyone took it all away from me and didn’t spare nothing.

I didn’t noticed I was too occupied at my thoughts when pops here even had to pat my chest twice to steal my attention. “Hey, are you okay young guy? You must be spacing out.”

“Oh u-uhm… I-I’m really sorry pops, I didn’t heard what you said.”

“No don’t worry, I just called your name repeatedly and you can’t hear me, so I checked up on you and I found you hear staring at nothing.” The old man waves it off for me. I looked at his hands and he was carrying a tupperware of the food he cooked for dinner.

“I cooked too much that I wasn’t able to finish it all, that’s why I said that you came here at the right time because I feel a bit dismayed at leaving this extra for tomorrow.” Pops said to me. He handed it to me and I accepted it.

“Do you want to eat here?”

“I would be honored, pops but I think i’m fine out there. I would like to grab some fresh air afterwards.” 

He nodded and he took my answer well. “Okay, eat well Jeonghoon.”

“Thanks a lot again, pops. Good night.”

“You too, kid.”

I bowed again to double the respect I have for his kindness and he smiled softly for me because I helped him close the door. I looked at the beef steak he has for me and probably this is the first day since I lost a home that I smiled with pure genuine.

I looked for some spare bench here along the road and thankfully I found one where I can sit and enjoy this meal I have tonight. I opened the container and smelled the food, oh it was surely mouth-watering and fragrant. 

I prayed as my gratitude to have this kind of food despite of my poor situation. Without wasting much time, I grabbed the spoon he gave for me and I ate my dinner in less than three minutes, an effect of the hunger I was tried to hold onto since earlier.

After I finished my dinner, I went to my scraps to place this in a plastic so that I can return this to pops tomorrow. Then I went back at the spot where I decided to sleep along with my carton as my sleeping mat to make myself more comfortable.

I laid on the couch and stared at the stars above, deeply wondering what the future still awaits for me even after my life had its rock bottom state. Will I still be able to save myself and get back up to slowly reclaim what I never lost in the first place or… if I will be lucky…

Is there someone else out there who will be willing to lend me a hand and assist me with it?

I don’t know exactly, but not gonna lie I don’t lose hope yet. Well, I just think that’s what I should do while I’m still breathing and living you know? I don’t want to waste this opportunity yet, that’s why i have to find a way to look for something that will add more purpose of why i’m living right now. 

I still believe that just because we lost something in our life doesn’t mean we remain worthless forever. 

Anyways, enough of these deep thoughts. I just want to relax myself and call this a day. I just hope there’s a karma awaiting for that person who made me like this. There’s no instances that someone can just ran away freely after doing something reckless to others who did nothing wrong to them.

I closed my eyes and breathe deeply before I let my body soak into slumber.

However, few hours later I suppose, well since I don’t have a watch or a clock -I do have my phone with me but it’s still lowbat since I didn’t get to have my charger with me when I got abandoned-, my ears caught something irritating that woke my senses back up even if it doesn’t want to yet since it’s still midnight.

It was gibberish loud and since it’s slightly audible, I can tell that those noises were coming just nearby from me. I slowly opened my eyes and I blinked rapidly as I try to hear the noises again that caused my peaceful sleep to be rudely interrupted.

I groaned as my reaction before I stood back up. The sound became much clearer now, and I grabbed some of the words they’re talking about. Not being overly interested in gossips, but I do caught that they’re talking about ‘paying something because it’s already due’ thingie.

I looked around to find out what it is, and what I saw didn’t gave me a surprise, it just explained why the sound was so close to me.

There are three kids being cornered by a tandem of intimidating guys cornering them from left to right as they ask them about something.

They’re too busy at what they’re talking about so I tried to hid myself from the nearby lamppost to eavesdrop their conversation more.

“That’s a part of our deal, and we told you that each of us would respect our rules and roles here. We let you borrow our money… and you have to pay us back on the due date.” The guy on the right said, and he’s talking directly at that tallest kid who looks like he’s protecting those two little kiddos he has with him from them.

“I’m telling you sir please, I’m going to pay for it I know about that! It’s just that what I’ve been saving as of now isn’t enough yet to reach that amount.” He replied while trembling in fear.

“And do you think it’s a good thing that even if you don’t want your deadline to pass, you have no choice but to let it? Do we look like we are nice enough to give a second chance?” The left guy said, stepping forward to scare the three kids more.

I understood their situation now. So this kid took a loan agreement with them and these guys are the sharks who are trying to collect the money they gave to the kid as per the agreement says. I get it that they’re just following the rules but… does it really have to come this way?

“Look kid, you better do something right now to pay what you requested for us or else… we are the ones who will look for an alternative.”

“And hey man, I think I know what we should took rather.” He grinned evilly at his partner on the right before his sight landed on the kids.

He tried to reach the arm of that little guy but the tallest one sways his hand away to avoid having contact with the kid. “Get your hands off from them!”

Wait… oh no, are they thinking about the kids being the substitute payment for this guy’s balance?

“Then pay us right now or else you won’t be going to see these rats ever again!”

“No please, I’m begging you leave them out of this!” He shook his head and tried to rid them away while pleading for mercy.

“Shut up!” The left dude pulled his wavering hand at them and shoo-ed him away from the kids. My eyes largened and felt nervous for this guy and what these dudes would do to the poor kids who are crying now in fear.

“THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!!”

“WELL THEY ARE NOW, BECAUSE YOU BROUGHT THEM INTO THIS MESS YOU SHOULD’VE AVOIDED IF ONLY YOU COULD’VE PAID US!” The right dude locked his grip on this kid’s slim arm. It tried to force himself out of the hold until this kid tried to bit his knuckle, making the dude scream in pain.

“AAAAISSSHHH, YOU LITTLE DEVIL!” He shook his hand before looking at the kid dangerously and unexpectedly slapped its face.

“No… NO!!!” The guy tried to approach the dude but he only received a huge blow onto his midsection, shutting him off. 

I couldn’t take this sight anymore, so I have to do something for these younglings. I know I’m not that much of a skilled person when it comes to self-defense or challenging somebody in a combat but… I can’t just let these kids to end up somewhere with fate unknown in the hands of these bastards.

Stupidly, I quickly went out of my hiding and tensely approached the dudes who are double-teaming the tall guy before they try to bring the kids with them. I noticed also that the black van that is parking on the side of the road belongs to them.

“HEY! Didn’t you heard what he said!” My puny self yelled at them with bent toughness. “He said they have nothing to do with your problem, so leave them alone!” I said while I eyed the kids who are looking at me right now with their pitiful watery eyes.

“And who the fuck are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just a random guy on the streets that you two bitchasses ruined his sleep with your annoying rumblings.” I said with much confidence with them. This is the hilarious thing about me, I’m so brave at trashtalking bullies but when they come at me, I’m like a flower who easily covers itself for protection.

In short, I don’t know how to fight back with fists. Great.

“Well, is that so? We don’t give a shit about your beauty sleep, so turn around now, mind your business and you can get yourself back to your little sleep because we’re almost done here. How about that?” The left dude said as he tugged the hair of the tall guy’s hair, making him yelp at the sting it must have caused on his scalp.

I hissed irritably at the stubbornness of this loser. I sighed deeply then went back to arguing with them when I noticed that the dudes were about to carry the kids with them through the van. The tall guy looked at me, crying and pleaded.

“Please… mister… they can’t get away…”

“TYLER!!!” An old man suddenly shouted this guy’s name. I saw that he just came out of the door from this huge looking place. Then I figured out it’s name plastered on top of the entrance.

“ORPHANAGE”

Wait a minute? Orpha- so these kids are orphans? Now I know why this Tyler guy is so protective with these kids and highly concerned for them. Plus, their home is actually just right in front of them! That means they were about to head home when these bad dudes blocked them off from doing so.

“HEY, W-WHERE ARE THEY TAKING THEM!” The old guy saw the dudes carrying the kids who are crying and trying to wiggle off in their arms to escape.

I looked at them and breathe drelpy before I let my urges control me.

I ran immediately and just before they’re about to open the sliding door of their van, I pushed them both off into the ground, while apologetically involving the kids on the ground. I just thought that it’s the better way to stop them by getting distracted at the kids bodies colliding with them as they fall.

“GO, RUN!” I commanded the kids who were a bit confused at what I just did. I looked at both of them and they got my signal. They stumbled to stand but luckily they are able to ran back from Tyler and the old man. 

“You son of a bitch, look what you just did!” The dude who is laying down beneath me suddenly kicked me on the leg, effectively making me kneel on the ground at how painful it is to endure while standing.

As I was busy seething off the pain, the other dude took the advantage by blowing me in the back of the head with his hammered fists. I faceplanted on the ground and then I felt my entire body filled with shots coming from their attacks.

They kicked me with pure despise. It stopped for a while until I felt by body getting rolled and face up, the dude straddled me and gave me repeated punches to the face before my sight went blurred and complete black.

My eyes suddenly sprung up, and what greeted me was a view of a girl who seemed like she flinched a little when my eyes opened. Her head is upside down, so I figured that she’s looking at me from the edge of… wait, am I laying down on a couch?

“Jihyo-unnie! There’s a man sleeping on our couch!!!” The girl suddenly shouted for her Jihyo-unnie. I guess that was her sister or something but hold up, where was I?!

I made the hardest and most painful sat-up I ever did in my entire life, as I feel like my abdomen are tightening while I’m doing it. My head also feels a little dizzy so I groaned and hold it for support before I turned around.

And where the hell was I? Why am I in a very cozy looking room filled with women sitting around in front of me.

What I first noticed was the girl who is staring at me upside down, she is indeed on the edge of the couch on my side looking suspicious at me with her knitted brows.

Then on the other hand was the rest of the girls with her. The first one is wearing a purple T-shirt with a girl character on its chest, she’s watching the TV in the floor along with the pale-looking girl who I can almost compare her similarity to Snow White because of how bright her skin was.

The other ones on the couch were this girl with long legs, wolfcut haired, and in black t-shirt building a Lego figure on a table and the one beside her is a very gorgeous looking one with uhm… enticing thighs, sitting like a ball and very focused on her phone.

I seriously don’t know who are these girls and why did I end up here, but for now I’ll just leave what will happen to me based on their actions… but ofcouse that doesn’t mean I won’t do something about it.

“W-who are you?” I asked the long-hair girl with tattoos. “And how did I end up here?”

“I was about to ask the same thing about you, Mr. Nobody.” She crossed her eyes and popped the bubble gum she was chewing. “We just woke up and I just went down when we found you here laying so comfortably here in our dorm like it’s yours.”

Dorm?

Where in the blue hell am I actually am right now, seriously?

“What did you say? A dorm?” I asked her again.

“Yeah! Are you deaf or something?”

“I seriously don’t know this place. I don’t even have any idea why I’m here!” I felt embarassed when my raising voice accidentally caught the other girl’s attention, and now they’re looking at me with curiousity.

“Oh, he’s awake!” The girl in purple said. She doesn’t seemed to be frightened that a stranger is on a room with her friends, she rather sounds glee about it.

“Look wait, let me explain-”

“Tell that to her instead.” Chaeyoung flicked her head back when she sensed that a footstep is growing near from us. “Jihyo- unnie!!!”

“Yes yes I’m coming Chae, jeez.” This Jihyo said to her, sounding like she’s so done at this girl’s whiny voice. Oh, didn’t I just heard this tattoo girl’s name to be Chae?

While i was awaiting at this Jihyo’s arrival, Chae decided to scare me off with her gesturing me with her index finger that tells me I’m screwed… which was kinda effective and not at the same time because I don’t even know what this Jihyo can do and… her giving death warning isn’t suitable for a short girl like her with cute features.

I gulped but I hid my nervousness by glancing at her cluelessly at her. Then, a figure stood beside Chae, a short-girl one with large round eyes, almost had me questioning if she’s actually Korean or she’s half.

She was about to ask Chae but her eyes landed at me and just like how Chae greeted me when I woke up, she shared the same judgmental look.

“Who are you and what are you doing here in our place?”

“You asked exactly the same thing as this girl right here.” I pointed at Chae. “And I can’t give the answer as for you too, because I don’t even know how did I end up here.” I shrugged.

“Are you sure about that?” She raised her eyebrow to me, unsure if I was speaking the truth.

“She’s probably speaking lies, Jihyo-unnie! Who knows, maybe this idiot is an intruder!”

“Intruder?! I don’t even know how to lockpick or climb walls!” I said to this brat over here as I felt offended.

“Well guessing from that look of yours and how mysterious your identity are, you should be considered as one.” She traced my appearance from head and toe, as if she’s wondering why such a being like me is existing in this world.

“Look, I’m not as dumb as you think I am. I am very aware that such a hobo like me wouldn’t have even a slightest chance to enter or hell, own a dorm such luxurious as this!”

“Both of you, silence your mouths!” Jihyo stops me and Chae from having a war of words. “Chaeyoung is right, you better give us something you know or else we don’t have a choice but to call security and forcefully get you out of here.”

“Wait wait, I don’t know how but I’ll just tell you instead what I know!” I paused her after this irritating Chaeyoung even handed Jihyo her phone. She’s so obvious of making me look like I’m not very welcome here in their territory.

“But first uhm… where is your bathroom?” I said as my expression softened after sheepishly admitting that the nature is calling for my reproductive organs to release something in effect of my hydration.

“And what are you gonna do in there?” Jihyo questions me.

“She’s probably gonna try to run away, Jihyo unnie! Quick girls, block the-”

“I JUST WANT TO HAVE A BATHROOM BREAK, PLEASE.” I said as I hold my kidney spot tight, constricting my legs as I hold on my pee.

“Oh.” Jihyo reacted. “Cmon, Chae as if he’s gonna be out here by his own. Our lock is equipped with passcode remember?” She said as she patted Chaeyoung’s shoulder who seems sulking that she was proven wrong. “Anyways, the bathroom is on the right, you can see the hallway down here.”

“T-thanks”, I immediately stood up and bowed at them thankfully before I went for the location of it.

As I already reached the kitchen which is where the hallway that Jihyo mentioned was near at, I noticed that there’s another girl coming from upstairs coming rushing down and went for the fridge. She even ignored me as she just passed by at me.

I just gave her the same treatment and walked through the bathroom door but just as I was about to grab the knob and opened it, I heard what she said from behind that grabbed my attention.

“Ahhh… oh a fresh blood in the morning after a hangover is incomparably great!” 

I turned my body around slowly to look at Nayeon after what she just said, just want to confirm it if she’s joking or something.

But what I found out after was instead something much more serious to be like that.

I saw Nayeon holding a transparent pitchel filled with red substance on it while gulping its content with a glass on her other hand. She was kneeling in front of the open fridge.

It was like in the movies where a protagonist gets a camera shot where his or her figure gets zoomed in while the background shrinks as soon as that character finds something mind-blowing, that’s what it looked like to mr when I felt chills in my body.

“Nayeon, hurry up! I want that blood already!”

How in the fuck can they just pronouce that they are consuming blood so casually?! It’s nit even normal at all?!

Or else…

As Nayeon followed the voice where it came from, she caught my figure standing in the middle of the hallway, watching her in horror at the strange act she’s doing. I wished she didn’t even stopped, because she terrified me further when she leans away the glass from her, revealing her blood stained mouth.

“What the fuck… are you?” 

She stood up and left the kitchen as she starts walking towards me. I hurriedly turned the doorknob but it was locked. My heart beats even faster as I got confused and even more desperate to get myself away from this bloodlust woman.

It only stopped when my vision went back to pitch black as I couldn’t control my movement anymore.

I have no idea how long I snapped out, but in an instant i just recovered my consciousness back in this comfy couch again. This time, they aren’t around to be seen in what it seems to be their living room. However, I heard clanging noises from the back, I peeked to see what it is and there they actually are, all seated on their dining table with plates and foods all around their table.

The wolfcut girl was distributing the spoons for her roommates while the short-haired woman was assisting her on scooping up the foods for them. I was just silently watching them when someone caught.

“You’re back.” A girl that I haven’t seen yet spoke me as she faced her sitting posture onto me.

I just stared at us and she probably figured out that I haven’t met or know her yet. She chuckled and smiled as she realized it. “Join us.”

Her soft voice and elegant moves piqued my interest on her. She looks so gentle and very nice to get along with. Out of all the girls who I saw, my attention was pinned sharply at her. She just lets out an unexplainable aura that carries me to her.

I nodded and I stood up, which again caught their focus. Chaeyoung’s bright face turned back into an intense and angsty mood when she noticed me back alive again. Jihyo just looked at me seriously but my eyes averted more at this girl named Nayeon who was somehow avoiding her face at me.

I felt my heartbeat quicken again which caused my head to ache and feel a bit dizzy. I almost stumble but thankfully, the wolfcut girl caught my back. “You okay?”

“My head is a bit spiraling, but I’m good.”

“Yeah it’s better to eat first. I’ll give you a medicine after.”

She was about to direct me to their table but then I refused. “S-sorry, but can I go now? I don’t even have to be here, I’m sorry again for the incovenience that I caused-”

“Don’t disrespect unnie like that, now follow her and sit with us!” I didn’t expected that those inviting words, even though they were sounded a bit rude… came from Chaeyoung herself. I looked at her with shame and I just nodded in defeat. I don’t even want to try making this girl’s blood boil more if I already feeling weak.

Oh, great. Speaking about the blood.

As I slowly make my seat, my eyes are still staring at Nayeon who seems uncomfortable now with my look. I try to stop it but at the same time I’m just completely puzzled and disgusted at what I caught from her earlier.

“You can join us for breakfast, because what we learned about you gave me a bit of an assurance that there’s nothing wrong with you.” Jihyo said as she grabbed her spoon and fork before she nodded at the person in front of her from the distance to proceed as she starts eating her food.

It turns out to be the elegant girl sitting with the wolfcut girl and the one with tattoos beside her. “May we know your name first?” she asked me.

“J-Jeonghoon. Min Jeonghoon.”

“Do you remember how did you end up here in our dorm?”

I stopped for a while as I attempt to recall the last scenarios I’ve gone through, which was from last night… but it was like some sort of a missing puzzle pieces, because I couldn’t remember it entirely.

“A bit. All I know is just I beat up some guys because I caught them trying to abduct the siblings of this kid that they intimidate. I’m pretty sure I got knocked out, but… I really don’t know how am I now here, in this type if place with you all.” I explained.

“Someone brought you here with us. That person found you unconscious outside with a badly beaten body.” Jihyo starts to enlighten out the things I temporarily forgot.

“And you should be thanking right now at her.” She glanced back at the elegant girl who just smiled at me and nodded back. My eyes widened when I understood that she was the one who saved me. 

“I’m sorry if you haven’t met me a while ago when you woke up, I just went for some exercise in our gym.” She bowed her head. “My name’s Mina, and I’m the one who brought you here.”

“W-wait, but how…” 

“Since you couldn’t remember when you went through last night, I was a friend with the old guy who owns the orphanage and a guardian of those three kids you saved out there.” She started to narrate what previously happened. 

“He called me along with the police because well… lets say he knows me as someone he can entrust a lot about.” Mina shrugged. “I volunteered to get you healed here while the old guy reported the incident to the police so… that’s the reason how you end up here in our place.” 

I felt relieved and contented that I have an idea now of what I just did, that I was also responsible actually of bringing myself into here, sharing a room with these 9 girls that even though I never met them in my entire life, they seem to be good people and I can somehow try to connect and make myself trustworthy to them… in return of what Mina did to me.

“We learned from Tyler, the kid you saved that they were caught by the loan sharks and you went there to stop them from kidnapping his fellow orphans in exchange of his unpaid balance.” Jihyo said. “And your kind deed was enough to make me convince that maybe you’re not actually what we hope you won’t be. That’s why we talked about even thought Chaeyoung here was… still hesitant-”

“We still don’t know him, unnie! I won’t still trust him around us.” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes as she spatted a toxic gaze at her before returning to her food.

“Exactly what I was saying, but she was still right. We may be appreciating what you did for the kids Jeonghoon but… you got to prove us more. We still don’t know much with you yet.”

“But you’re now welcome to interact with us.” The wolfcut haired girl spoke to me with a nice smile. I felt grateful that they gave me a chance somehow even thought I ended up looking weird for them.

“Thank you so much, I will do my best, I promise.” I said to them, bowing respectfully. 

I started to eat along with them. While I was savoring how delicious the food was, my eyes caught this girl that I last seen drinking blood. I still can’t get it out of my head. As I get drown fron my curiosity, all of us flinched and got a mini heart attack when she suddenly stood up and slammed her fist on the table, towering at me with her deadly stare.

“CAN YOU STOP LOOKING WITH ME, I COULDN’T EAT PEACEFULLY WITH YOUR STARES! IF YOU WANT TO ASK ME ALREADY ABOUT THE BLOOD I DRANK EARLIER, THEN FREAKING DO IT ALREADY!”

All of us went silent while I found the other girl with bangs slapped her head frustratingly. We locked into a staring contest until Jihyo slids between.

“Nayeon! Calm down!”

“What did you just said, Nayeon unnie?!” Wolfcut asked her older friend which revealed to be her name as Nayeon. Her voice has sn evident disbelief in it. 

Nayeon realized what she just accidentally released in her mouth, so she quickly covered it with her palm as she nervously looked around at us especially to Jihyo.

“I-I’m sorry… I-”

“You heard her right.” I said as I still confronted Nayeon. “I caught Nayeon drinking blood from the fridge, even complimenting that it was the best thing to aid hangover.”

All of them gasped and this girl beside me who was using her phone earlier clicked her tongue thrice. Wait, did I mentioned already that she looks like the tallest of them all? Well, excluding me because her head is leveled just right on my shoulder.

“Do you girls know about this? Why is she drinking blood? What are you girls hiding from me?”

They all went suspiciously silent for a moment, my fear and nervousness is increasing my heartbeat’s rate at this point, being beware of their secret that hides their true identity.

“W-wait, Jeonghoon can you give us a minute to t-talk?”

“No more time needed, just tell me right away!” I stood up, feeling alarmed at them. They all posed a taken aback expression at my frightful demeanor.

“Are you girls belong in some crazy ass cult or what? Because you girls didn’t disposed the fact that she drank blood means one thing only that you girls know about this and this just seems normal to yall. Thinking that you girls ain’t normal makes me wanna leave this room already!”

“Jeonghoon, please wait!”

They all stood up at the same time, which even looked like more creepy to me. I stepped backwards, being defensive for myself. “NO! DON’T YOU DARE TAKE ANY MORE STEP COME NEAR ME!”

I looked at the door at the near end of the hallway, which helped me to plan what I have to do after. I gotta get out of this place as they all soon to come after me. I better hurry out and ran as fast as I can.

Just as I had a plan formulated in my mind, the elegant girl took our attention when she suddenly yelled that I couldn’t even consider if she actually yelled because of how light like a feather her voice was.

“W-we are v-vampires, that’s why!”

They all gasped unbelievably at their friend who just exposed and retreated at their guilt.

“MINA! WHY DID YOU SAY IT?!” The bangs girls got infuriated at her.

“I-I just couldn’t take it anymore. I can’t lie!”

“Shit… you all are…” I looked at them and soon the sight of them looking like these precious set of women goes shifting into this unimaginable monsters that I never wanted to come across with.

“Oh god… so that’s probably why you all took me, to feed me to become more healthy… so that later tonight you all can eat me and have my blood huh! You girls like the dark and a fresh blood, like what that girl said!” I hauntingly said while pointing at Nayeon who lowered her head, probably felt pain at my accusation.

“Guess what, you all can’t have it. Because I’M GETTING OUT OF HERE!”

“GIRLS, GET HIM!

I moved as fast as I can, sprinting to the door and tried to open it. I looked back to see all the girls except Jihyo, the wolfcut one, Nayeon, and the thighs girl not joining the rest who is chasing after me.

I realized that there’s a keypad underneath the knob. I remembered that Chaeyoung told me that I have no chance of getting out of here because their door is secured with a pass code.

OH SHIT! 

“HELPPP!!! HELP ME!!!”

I pounded the door as loud as I can before I felt the bangs girls tackled my lower part and pulled my legs, sliding me to the ground with my front colliding on the floor.

Meanwhile, Jihyo and the wolfcut girl was talking about something when I saw the tall girl suddenly speak with them.

“Just tell him the truth, unnie. We can’t do anything about it already. It’s too late.”

“Nowhere to run, Jeonghoon!” Chaeyoung said to me before she maniacally smugs and laughs. I saw a glimpse of her fangs growing wiith her pupils shrinking and eyes glowing into color red.

“GET OFF ME!!! NO, PLEASE!!! SOMEBODY SAVE M-RAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

The three of them just watched the rest pulled my body away from the door as I clawed in the front while screaming in dread and terror, with my fate unknown being at the possession of these girls who turned out to be vampires in disguise.

#twice au #twice fanfic #twice oneshot #kpop au #kpop fanfic #kpop oneshot #twice x male reader #twice x reader #twice horror #vampires #horror #twice nayeon #twice jeongyeon #twice momo #twice sana #twice jihyo #twice mina #twice dahyun #twice chaeyoung #twice tzuyu

[comet-wire]

Everytime I get a notif on TikTok that someone liked my old cosplays specifically my Jason the toymaker ones I just

#you dont understand i have a love hate with that specific cosplay #its so fuckin bad in terms of hatred #like ive gotten harassed bc of that damn thing 💀/srs #then there were just straight up mean ones that lead into disrespectful #yes people loved the cosplay!!but people loved it so much that it ended up accidentally becoming a chore #because people started being weird and commenting on other cosplay vids that werent jason to bring him back #please do not do this to cosplayers thats why comments are off on almost every single old cosplay vid for me personally #there are other cosplayers that cosplay that character i am not the only one making content of that character please and thank you #is what i want people to know because its nkt exactly talked about enough to just let cosplayers cosplay who they want #we get you like our interpretation but please!! we're real people and it takes allot of time and effort to get into our costumes #which is another reason why i dont cosplay anymore its v v tiring #anyways #val/comet rambles #and thats not meant to come off rude/gen i just get war flashbacks 💀

[hannieehaee]

18+ / mdi

content: loser!jungkook, sub!jungkook, softdom!reader, afab reader, loss of virginity, smut, dry humping, handjob, penetrative sex, etc.

part 1, part 2

wc: 1894

a/n: this wasnt proofread at all so pls excuse any mistakes</3

masterlist

"o-oh, i don't think we should-"

"you don't want to?", you pouted at the wide eyed boy under you, hand on his chin as you made him look straight into your eyes.

"it's not that- it's just that, uh, i- i wouldnt want to be disrespectful or anything," he stumbled over his words, bunny teeth biting into his bottom lip.

you chuckled patronizingly, readjusting yourself on his lap and making him let out a low hiss at the movement.

"it's okay, bunny. we're just having fun, right? nothing wrong with it if we both want it, hmm?", your hands went down to his dress shirt, playing with the collar, undoing the very top button, "plus, we did make a deal, didn't we, bunny?"

oh, right. the deal.

jungkook's eyes almost rolled back at the implication of the agreement you had unexpectedly dropped onto his lap a few days ago.

your grade for your statistics class had somehow dropped below average somewhere along the semester, which caused your professor to recommend some tutoring to you, claiming that you'd likely not be able to graduate if you failed this class, as it was a requirement.

being in your senior year of college, failing was not a risk you could take, so you pleaded with your professor to assign you a tutor, whomever he deemed the smartest. that's when jungkook came into the picture.

by all means, jungkook could easily be described as a loser. his only friends were fellow members of the anime club, taehyung and jimin, equally as virginal as himself. more than anything, jungkook was just incredibly socially awkward, leading him to a life of loserdom as he made no friends and zero good impressions in life. this led him to dedicate all his efforts to school and give up on any social endeavors.

when the professor had asked him to tutor one of his lower-graded students, jungkook had no issue with it. he was offered extra credit if he did so, so it just seemed like a win-win situation to him. it wasnt until jungkook was told it'd be you he'd be tutoring that he began to have a problem with it.

now, jungkook didn't know you, he simply knew of you. so what if he had a crush on you? he didn't need to know the ins and outs of your personality to be into you.

except he kind of did.

to be quite frank, jungkook had a slight obsession with you ever since meeting you at orientation a few years ago. his friends were aware of his crush on you, always teasing him for taking the same classes you did just to get a glimpse of you whenever he could.

how did he find out your schedule? as ashamed as he was to admit it, he had wrongfully used his power as an administrative assistant on campus. he knew he wasnt supposed to, but he couldnt help in looking up your name and saving your schedule for future use.

unfortunately, jungkook never did anything other than coordinate your schedules. he was far too shy to even make eye contact with you, having never even introduced himself to you.

and now he had to tutor you. alone in your room as you sat side by side.

at least that was what he had pictured, not this. not you catching onto his crush immediately and proposing you pay him back for his efforts in the form of taking his virginity.

he could've sworn he almost had a heart attack when you'd shamelessly suggested it, somehow clocking both his crush and his virginal state within twenty minutes of your first session.

that session had ended quickly after that, with jungkook sheepishly accepting with a desperate nod and receiving a chaste kiss on his cheek as a goodbye.

and now you straddled him while he sat on your bed, hands shyly holding onto your hips.

"y-yeah, the deal," he breathed through his nose, mentally preparing himself for whatever you'd do to him. he'd take anything you gave him.

you grinned at him, lowering your head to kiss at his neck, making him immediately sigh in pleasure. he could feel the stickiness of your lipgloss leaving its mark on his neck, but he didnt care. he wished the marks could stay forever.

nibbling at his neck, you made some longer-lasting marks, making him groan as his fingers dug into your pajama-clad hips. that's when your lips made their way back up, catching his own on his first kiss ever.

he knew he might've been awkward in how he kissed, but you didn't seem to mind it, taking his jaw in your hand and tilting his head so you could lick into his mouth. his soul left him at that moment, with his tongue far too desperate in its movement while yours remained slow and sensual. despite how messy he was, you still moaned against his lips, beginning to grind your hips into his own.

"a-ah, that's ... fuck," he breathed out.

"you like how that feels, bunny?" you whispered into his mouth, "just wait til you feel my pussy,"

this time his eyes did roll back. the mere thought of you wrapped around him made him want to rip his hair out in desperation, almost unable to wait until you have yourself to him.

you continued to suckle on his tongue, making him grow more and more frustrated by the second. your hands eventually came to fully unbutton his shirt, removing it before beginning to feel up his chest and arms, gasping into his mouth when his own arms wrapped around you and brought you closer.

jungkook felt his mind cloud as you ground against him, convinced that if he didn't get more from you, he'd lose his mind. fortunately for him, no begging was necessary for you to give him something that'd have his breath catching in his throat and his tent growing even harder.

he pathetically followed your lips when you pulled away, though he sat in complete awe upon realizing the reason why you'd pulled away in the first place. suddenly the sight of your breasts became the most pressing matter in jungkook's life. his breath stopped and his heart raced, making him feel like he'd pass out if he even dared make contact with the newly revealed skin.

yet his reaction did not prevent you from grabbing his hands and placing them on your breasts, guiding him so he'd squeeze and play with them.

"o-oh, fuck. they're so ... so fucking soft," he whimpered, "so pretty and ... shit, c-can i ... can- can i play with them?", he pleaded, eyes never leaving your swollen buds as his hands hesitantly ran over your breasts.

he hoped you knew what he meant by play, because he was far too embarrassed to properly word his desire.

luckily for him, you were just so nice and so pretty and so so smart that you understood, removing his hands and guiding his face to your breasts, pressing them together so he could rub his head against them, nuzzling his nose into the skin as be groaned a gruttal groan. his shy tongue came out to lick at them just moments later, licking over your nipples all while he whined and cried as if he was the one receiving the stimulation.

at some point your hands snuck between the two of you, sneaking beneath his pants and grabbing onto his cock. you jerked him as he lost himself to the supple skin of your breasts, letting out breathy whines into your skin while his hands tightly held onto you.

as pathetic as he knew he must've looked, he didn't care. he'd wanted you for years, and suddenly he had you in his arms, willing to let him do anything he wanted? any social filters within him left him, letting his unending desire for you take over no matter how embarrassed he would be at his desperate behavior after the fact.

you let him play with your tits for a while, letting out the prettiest sighs of pleasure as he got his fill of you, eventually pulling him away so you could kiss him again. despite being out of breath, he kissed you back with everything he had, now more able to match your pace.

"bunny, wanna ride you," you pulled away with a pretty pout, letting go of his dick.

"p-please. yes, i- yes," he stammered, hands coming down to touch at his clothed cock out of reflex.

giggling at his desperation, you attempted to get up, only to be stopped by jungkook's grabby hands as he whined at you not to let go. grabbing his arms, you reminded him you needed to take off your shorts, making him get an embarrassed look on his face at the realization.

he got up to take off his own pants, sitting back down and pulling you to him the moment you'd stripped. once more, you giggled at how badly he clearly wanted you, pulling him into yet another kiss.

"i'm gonna sit on it now, okay, bunny?", you breathed against him as you lifted yourself to line him up.

jungkook didn't trust his voice to not let out yet another string of desperate pleas, so he simply nodded, taking a deep breath to prepare himself.

but nothing could prepare him for the warmth of your cunt, nor for how tightly it wrapped around his cock, taking all air out of him. he couldnt help the whimpers of desperation that came out of his mouth when you first started bouncing against him, tightening every so often just to get a reaction out of him.

burying his head in your neck, he babbled nonsense against you, incapable of halting his pathetic noises enough to hear your own pretty moans.

after some time, you grabbed onto one of his hands, leading it between the two of you and guiding him, "play with my clit, bunny," you blindly guided him until he finally found your clit, following your instructions of rubbing it all while your bouncing never seized

and god, had that been a mistake.

you got impossibly tighter, dragging your nails down his back and crying his name in the prettiest gasps ever heard by man. he knew he'd meet his end like this, far sooner than he wanted. but he was comforted in knowing that your orgasm was close too, catching onto your pleas to cum with you.

muttering constant praise towards you, jungkook's orgasm took over him as your own arrived, making him deliver endless thank you's while your speed fastened and your rhythm lost all its sense.

"t-thank you, oh, fuck. thank you ... so fucking good, it's- it's so good. oh, thank you ..."

you immediately fell onto each other when your highs had gone down, equally out of breath. being the sweet girl jungkook always knew you to be, he hummed in contentment when you held onto him, cuddling into him in a loving manner and playing with his hair.

if you weren't careful, he'd probably fall in love with you even more than he already had.

he only broke the silence after a few minutes of cuddling, still slightly out of breath.

"do you- do you still wanna go over your statistics homework?"

you laughed, nuzzling further into him, "maybe tomorrow, bunny."

#bts imagine #bts fanfic #bts scenario #bts oneshot #bts smut #bts x reader #jungkook scenario #jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #jungkook imagine #jungkook oneshot

[hanaruri-tunes]

The avatars of sin ganging up on y/n, making them their pet

⚠️ MDNI

Tags: possessive/ownership, overstimulation, taming, shaming

Y/N can be any gender in this one.

Probably the most slutty fic conceptually, yet ironically the less provocative/descriptive thing I’ve written thus far. It is really short but I’ll put it under a read more nonetheless. Enjoy!

You had always been cheeky but lately, you might've gone a bit too far. Some of your actions could in fact be seen as you looking down on the avatars of sin which was in extension an insult to the devildom. You would play around with them, challenging them, then happily tease them once they lost. Or even straight up play with their hearts, switching 2 to 4 times a day with whom you're hanging out with. They had started to slowly feel like some hookers or like easily replaceable toys for you to use. It was frustrating, at times they even felt outright disrespected. Like some side pieces for you to choose from and juggle between at will.

Oh, how exhilarating it was when you came to them to ask for help, desperate after you had been struck by a curse. Making you weak and desperate for touch, asking them to fuck you while looking all hot and bothered.

Lucifer was the one to break first, leading all of his brothers along to "teach you a lesson."

They were planning on humiliating you, on making you beg, on completely destroying your ego and making you feel mortified. But, well… they quickly realized how difficult it was for them to be mean and commanding towards you once they surrounded you, each trying to put their hands on you to rip your clothes off. In reality, all they managed to do is to slowly and gently take your clothes off.

Why was that? Because despite how you usually act with them, once you were cornered you started acting all shy, obedient and vulnerable. If you had been more provocative it would be easy to be mean, to strip you off of your dignity but as it turned out, that wasn’t the case. You were just so cute that they instead treated you carefully and lovingly, measuring your reactions.

Of course, some of them took the reins on teasing you and mocking you a little more once they got comfortable with the situation at hand. Those demons being Lucifer, Asmo, Belphie and in some instances Satan as well. Meanwhile Mammon, Levi and Beel were still very gentle and kind, telling the others off the moment it looked like something had hurt you or a movement was too sudden, too rough for your sensitive body to handle.

They take turns using you, making you say their name, making you apologize for being so full of yourself before and while some may try to act like it’s not working, they’re all absolutely smitten and have already forgiven you or even completely forgotten why they got mad at you in the first place. They caress your back, squeeze your thighs, pet your head, kiss your cheeks. They can’t help but find you adorable, especially seeing the contrast between how you usually act and how you are right now in front of them.

Eventually, they start treating you like their plaything. Dressing you up in cute and slutty outfits for their eyes only, filming and taking pictures of you, telling you to sit on their laps and so on and so forth. It doesn’t take long for them to make you into their beloved pet. They start fighting over you, wanting to hog you all for themselves. At some point they decide to come up with a schedule, indicating which day you’ll spend with which demon in order to avoid "unfairness" in your interactions with them. You’re their precious little darling and they go absolutely stupid over you.

They love making you tired, so weak that you can’t even keep yourself on your hands and knees. Once your arms give out, you’re a mumbling and drooling mess, ass in the air only because they’re holding you by the waist to pound into you. When that happens, you’re the most adorable thing ever in their eyes. They love watching you squirm, whimper and cry under them as they’re overstimulating you. All the while you can’t help but shudder under their pressing gazes on your entire being, the cute faces you make along with the pretty sounds that escape your mouth, the way you tremble when you’re about to cum, your little hands flailing only to grab either the sheets beneath you or one of them. They want to witness it all.

Puppy, bunny, darling, baby. The nicknames keep piling up, your name getting called less and less. They’ve successfully made you into their obedient little pet and they damn well will make sure to spoil you every single day...

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me smut #obey me! #hanaruri writes #om! lucifer #om! mammon #om! leviathan #om! satan #om! asmodeus #om! beelzebub #om! belphegor #x reader #x y/n

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

The disrespect toward indigenous peoples is what popped put at me today in one of your posts. I wonder how long the English have been looking down on the Welsh. We're the Saxons like that or is it the Normans who really thought they were better than everyone else. Cause it seems like it goes back a long way.

Oh, both, just in different ways. The Normals were imperialist, the Saxons were more theft and landgrab.

Something that makes me want to start hurling knives is the INCREDIBLY COMMON English myth that the Anglo-Saxons were a sweet innocent indigenous British people who were conquered and bullied by those mean nasty Normans (and Vikings), and because the Normans came over via France, that means everything was actually THEIR fault, and the true English i.e. the Anglo-Saxons, were victims too :(

When I say it's incredibly common, by the way, I really mean it. Enormous numbers of modern day English people believe this. I've seen BBC programs about the Viking invasions that claimed without a trace of irony that the Vikings would take slaves from "the native Anglo-Saxons". I've literally had English people comment this shit on posts of mine about Celtophobia and Welsh history. Like I'm there describing how the last Prince of Wales was locked in a wooden cage in Bristol Castle at the age of eight and lived out the remainder of his life there until his fifties so the Welsh would know their place, and some snivelling English cunt will straight up write a message going "Teehee really it was the Normans not the English though and they conquered the poor Anglo-Saxons too, poor England uwu"

Anyway in the dying days of the Roman empire in Britain one of the leading reasons for Rome abandoning Britannia was the constant waves of Anglo-Saxon invaders. There were so many the east coast of Britain became known as the Saxon Shore. There were so many the Romans built a line of forts that were and are literally called Saxon Shore Forts. There were so many that an official, historically documented, paid governmental position in Roman Britain was the Count of the Saxon Shore, i.e. the guy responsible for keeping the bastards out.

Rome had banned native military, of course, so when they then withdrew and took the armies with them, the people left had no defences against the incoming waves of Angles, Saxons and Jutes. England fell pretty quickly, Angles in the north, Saxons in the south, Jutes primarily in the east, I believe. What stopped their westward expansion was the Brythonic Celtic nations living in modern day Wales. And this is the origin of the Welsh dragon - those separate kingdoms needed a banner that united them, and represented Not Saxon. An anti-Saxon force. They chose a red dragon.

This is also the origin of King Arthur. An anti-Saxon king of the Brythons, who would repel these Germanic invaders. (It was several centuries later that England realised they should probably steal the term 'British', because otherwise they were marking themselves as 'not native'.)

Anyway the saving grace of the Anglo-Saxons in the end was actually that they were whiny little bitches who gave up trying to fight in Wales with its difficult mountains and fought each other instead. The whole sorry tale of the Heptarchy is the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms fighting like cats in a bag, while Saxon king Offa built a dyke along the Welsh border and went "WELL YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED OVER HERE" and every Welsh king went "...we literally didn't want to conquer you anyway, you spectacularly sad and stupid man"

Oh, and of course, there's the name 'Wales'. Given to us specifically by the Anglo-Saxons. And translated by centuries of English scholars, mostly very smugly, as 'foreigners'. A fun bit of early propaganda, look - foreigners in our own country that they tried and failed to steal.

All of which is a circuitous way of saying - yeah, it goes way back.

#WALES! #closed for cleaning on mondays #history nerdery #celtophobia

[ponyosmom35]

show him

Simon Ghost Riley x reader

Liability series chapter three!

synopsis: reader is struggling with the aftermath of disrespecting Ghost. Everyone seems to avoid her now. Gaz and Soap come to the rescue and enlighten her about Ghost.

Link to full Liability series!

https://www.tumblr.com/ponyosmom35/733401347573088256/simon-ghost-riley?source=share

She walks into the lunchroom, her back aching. She’d been with a soldier all day dealing with an impalement. She was able to save him and keep his vitals stable. She made herself a plate of the food being served, it was taco Tuesday her favorite day of the week. Walking over to an empty table and sits down, she looks over her shoulder at the others staring back at her. She’d made quite a reputation for herself as rumors spread around that she’d spoken to Ghost. She rolls her eyes, feeling like she was back in high school all over again. 

“Hey ankle biter what are you doing over here?” Soap asks as he plops down across from her with a plate packed to the brim with food.

“Hungry?” she asks 

“Starved” he says inhaling his first taco

“I don’t think anybody wants to associate with me right now” she admits “feels like high school all over again”

“Eh fuck em’, they don’t know what to make of you lass. Nobody speaks to Ghost the way that you did, plus there ain’t many young American beauties around here” he adds, she rolls her eyes and sets down her food. 

“He’s hated me from the moment I got here, I shouldn’t have done it but I’ve had enough, someone needs to take him down a peg” she explains causing soap to cackle. “That you certainly did, you’ve got quite a reputation round here. You’re the bravest person here, I’m surprised you survived, LT ain’t one to take back talk” Gaz says as he sits beside her.

“Hey Gaz” she says 

“I don’t know how you did it, I work with the man everyday and you’d never catch me mouthing off to him, look I’ve got chills just thinkin bout it” Gaz says showing them his forearm

“Whats his deal?” she asks “I mean the mask, the attitude? Why is he like this?”

“Not my story to tell love” Gaz says with his hands raised in defense

“LT doesn’t hate you, he wasn’t trying to be rude, he just comes off that way” Soap explains

“What do you mean?” 

“Ghost ain’t afraid to speak his mind, doesn’t matter if it hurts. He’s blunt and straight to the point. He takes his job seriously, this is his life. He’s got high expectations of everyone he works with. He doesn’t accept failure, he doesn’t entertain anything less than perfection” Gaz says

“How am I supposed to be perfect with him breathing down my neck? I’m not one of his soldiers, I mean who does he think he is?” she exclaims angrily 

“He’s the greatest fucking solider I’ve ever seen” Soap says defending his leader

“Ghost isn’t some random LT bossing people around, the guy is fucking lethal. He’s the greatest asset the SAS has, there ain’t nobody in the world like him” Gaz explains 

“He’s a fucking legend, half the world is terrified of him” Soap adds 

“Great, now I’ve got a target on my back then?” she asks 

“He’s not like that love, you’ve just got to earn his respect. It’s tough but once you do, there is nothing that man wouldn’t do for you. He’s a loyal motherfucker, does anything for his team, there is nobody else I would want leading me into war. You just have to give it time, you’re here because you’re good at your job. We’ve all seen it, now show him” Soap says placing a hand on her forearm “you got this ankle biter”

“Stop fucking calling me that” she laughs 

“How about ginger snap?” Gaz asks 

“Even worse! You guys are so unoriginal” she responds, finishing off her taco. In the time they’d spoke, Soap had demolished at least seven tacos and a side of dip. 

“Jesus take a breath” she jokes 

“No time” he responds before standing up

“Where are you going mate?” Gaz asks 

“Seconds” he deadpans, staring at them like they were crazy

“He doesn’t joke about taco tuesday” Gaz says nudging her shoulder to cheer her up. She sends him a smile.

#smut #cod mw2 #ghost call of duty #ghost cod #mw2 #simon ghost riley #simon ghost x you #simon riley #angst #cod x reader #john soap mactavish #soapghost #soap cod #soap mw2 #cod #johnny mactavish #captain mactavish #141 #kyle gaz garrick #kyle garrick #gaz garrick #modern warfare #ghost #simon riley x you #ghost mw2 #ghost simon riley #call of duty x reader #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare 2

[tales-of-snaktooth]

Snak Eye Sky

Snak Eye Skies are a rare occurrence on the Tooth Islands. The sun will temporarily be replaced by that of a giant Snak eye (as most may have been told at least, some believe it’s something completely different), dimming the landscape, instantly turning a bright sunny day into that of dusk.

During this time, grumpuses must avert their eyes, bow down their heads, and whisper their praises and thanks for being able to survive on the island due to the plentiful Bugsnax. Grumpuses must not look directly at the Eye, or else judgment will occur, as well as a curse.

Once this short period of time is over, grumpuses are allowed to continue with their regular activities.

There are still many questions to have about this occurrence, but it’s said that one specific grump’s experience with a Snak Eye Sky had lead to possibly the most influential moment in Snaktooth Island’s history.

The Hunter

Hundreds of years ago, a Falls Valley grumpus was out hunting for Bugsnax in the blazing sun. They spent their time; perhaps too much of it, hiding perfectly in the shadows, waiting to ambush the next unsuspecting Snak that crosses their path.

After what felt like an eternity, they were alerted by the faint call of a strabby. At an instant, they sprung out from their hiding spot, and grasped the Snak in their claws. Finally, something to bring back home! But…thanks to this Snak, they had wasted so much time waiting around under a tree, and just for a small bug like this?

They’re lucky the sun’s still out…

So, in an act of pure spite and frustration, they dug their claws into the juicy flesh of the strabby, and yanked its wobbly eyes clean out.

The strabby was distressed, crying out and wriggling in their paws; it was probably the first time The Hunter had ever seen a Bugsnak in such disarray. They didn’t even act like this while being eaten! This odd occurrence hadn’t bothered them, though. They were going to eat it anyway, there was no use in worrying about whether or not it could see it happen.

They were finally ready to head back home, when suddenly the world around them seemed to get…dimmer? But it was the middle of the day? The sun was shining on their fur just a moment ago, what happened? Annoyed, The Hunter looked up to see if some grumpling was playing some prank on them.

But the sight they saw was no grumpling, or any sort of grumpus…

It was horrifying.

As if the sun itself had vanished right above their head. That blazing, bringer of day, was gone, replaced by some sort of ring of light surrounding pure darkness. Like an eye—a Bugsnak eye—staring down at them, judging them.

They were getting judged, by some higher being. The Hunter’s fur had bristled like a pine from The Woods, terrified yet entranced by the sight. They stood there, staring straight up until they ended up fainting from the shock of it all.

Waking up after who knows how long, finding their way back home was an incredibly difficult task. Their eyesight had degraded terribly, as if that Snak Eye had put a curse on them. But once they recognized that they were deep in the familiar territory of Falls Valley, they knew they had to alert their leader immediately, and that he in return should notify the rest of the island’s grumpuses as well.

An island-wide gathering was held deep in the night. Thousands of tired grumpuses were confused and aggravated, but The Hunter—The Cursed Hunter and their leader knew their experience needed to be shared to all of the island’s inhabitants. Once they had recounted their horrifying hunt, a number of grumpuses in the crowd were skeptical, but a vast majority were intrigued in their tale, with a few backing up their claim of that strange sudden nightfall in the middle of the day.

When asked what this would mean for the future of grumpus society, The Cursed Hunter exclaimed that this was due to the collective disrespect and selfishness of all the island’s grumpuses. That they have all; especially The Cursed Hunter themselves, had taken the Bugsnax for granted, and they must all pay their dues or else the island won’t stop at cursing one foolish grumpus. This explosion might might've just been a delirious, sleep deprived, post-supernatural-experience rant from The Cursed Hunter, but the Falls Valley leader agreed with everything they had said. He ended up making the call to set an island wide obligation to worship the Snax, as they now all know the immense power these creatures hold.

Many grumpuses were rightfully upset and shocked that he was willing to make a call that the entire island; not just his own territory, should follow, but the other territory leaders had chosen to go along with his decision. Both due to the power the Falls Valley territory has compared to the rest, and the possible power the Bugsnax also have. This wasn’t a risk they were willing to take for their alliance and their subjects.

While the rest of the territory leaders had openly agreed to these new laws, a few had doubts on how beneficial these will actually be for the future of the island and the grumpuses themselves. Specifically the call to hold monthly, day long ceremonies focused solely on the worship of Bugsnax and end with the sacrifice of a grumpus, which definitely shocked a number of grumpuses in the crowd and a few leaders as well. But the Falls Valley leader assured them all that it was a necessary precaution to take to insure the safety of the entire island from whatever power had harmed The Cursed Hunter. And that if any other Snak Eye Skies ever occur again, grumpuses will now know what to do to prevent the possibility of judgment and curses.

The island wide gathering was dismissed, and thousands of grumpus prepared to wake up to a completely new life the next day.

Currently, while the Bugsnak Worshiping laws have either loosened or intensified in certain territories, many grumpuses still pass on the story of The Cursed Hunter and the Snak Eye Sky, ways to remember how much power these strange creatures have over them.

#solar eclipse tiiiime #i wasn't able to see it cause of the clouds. but hey i got an excuse to share this TofS story lore thingy #rip The Hunter you would've loved those Solar Eclipse Viewing Glasses #Stone Era #Tooth Island Info #Bugsnax

[archer-kacey]

Problems with erasing Bendy Book canon:

With the FNAF books, we were told they were canon-divergent fairly early on. For Bendy, this was never specified, leading many to believe this was all just straight-up canon information that they were running with for theorycrafting. For a long time.

Why the hell would you de-canonize the ENTIRE origin story of Boris? He's a central character to Bendy and the Ink Machine.

You're going to throw out THE ENTIRE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF YOUR MAIN VILLAIN? THAT'S.......NOT A GOOD IDEA!

(And before it's pointed out, no, we don't "need" Illusion of Living for "gay evidence." The point here is y'all released an autobiography for one of your two main characters and you're saying it's not canon. That's ludicrous.)

Things that were explained/brought up in the novels that apparently "aren't canon anymore": how Sammy got infected, Thomas's conflicting feelings about the machine he created, the origin of Boris the wolf, several instances of Joey's gaslighting and manipulative behavior and his slow descent into madness after Henry's departure, a look into Gent technology and the Gent experiments that took place after they switched over to "research", Abby Lambert (who SHOULD be in the mainline games all things considered), Joey Drew's ENTIRE AUTOBIOGRAPHY including his PHILOSOPHIES AND REAL ASS LIFE, ANDDD the themes of classism, racism, and sexism that were VERY present at that time in history. Among other things.

You're taking out several new characters for no reason. I'm not saying they all need to return, but it makes zero sense to introduce a bunch of new guys and then immediately abandon them...only to introduce a bunch of OTHER new guys.

I've seen a few comments in response to Mike that go along the lines of "oh thank goodness now I don't need to read the books to understand the lore!" No disrespect, but I think that's a fundamental misunderstanding of what the books do. They enhance your understanding of all the background plot. You don't need to read the books to understand the games. But that shouldn't mean erasing the existing information's canonicity because not everyone wants to read it.

Bendy isn't FNAF. Bendy has a much more streamlined plot. Not everything fits perfectly of course, but to take out such a large chunk of what we THOUGHT was the plot (or plot-adjacent) is headscratching to me. You claim to care about the plot, characters and worldbuilding and then you decide that some of the BEST written interpretations of these characters and their world just aren't "legitimate" now? .......All of a sudden?

I want to punch something

#I'm starting to get really irritated at M+M downplaying the books. no sir they aren't fun extras that's just the actual plot you threw out #this decision would also erase the books' minority and women characters. which I don't think is the intention at all but that's the result #people who are really into bendy are gonna want more canon lore...we should really leave the canon-divergence to fanfics at this point #bendy books #i'm dying #dreams come to life #the lost ones #bendy fade to black #illusion of living #joey drew #adrienne kress #mike mood #themeatly #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the dark revival

[sscamanderr]

Gods Above, Devils Below

Raphael x reader

Warnings: smut, fingering, bit of dub/con

Near-blistering air carried with it smoldering embers and the faintest hint of cherries. The House was his domain, the very pores in the rock filled with his scent, meant to overwhelm and lay claim to all those who enter and all those who would never leave. Despite this control Raphael had over his hellish home, it was steadily dwindling in the presence of the creature before him. Her scent was all that surrounded him. Her face that clouded his dreams. Her, the darling who bartered her soul so that her friends could be heroes and save her home of Baldur’s Gate. An honorable act had earned her a fool’s fate.

How the gods above should see her now, playing servant at his side on one of his castle’s many balconies with stoicism etched into her expressions, stray hairs whipped about her face by hell-wind. A golden tray with an ancient bottle of wine and a single goblet rested atop her upturned palms. Her eyes were frozen at a point ahead on the jagged and ashen landscape of his palace safely tucked away in his slice of Avernus. The darling dared not look at him—dared not spare him a glance that would hold him over through the night.

His lips curled in annoyance and he swore the woman braced herself. The slightest puff of her chest, the stiffening of her back already pin-straight. Raphael could not deny the swell of devious pride that just his change in attention caused such a reaction in her. She had been seeing him even without looking.

“Do pretend to be happy, little mouse. I could have you scoured away in my dungeons in Hope’s place, should you keep up your display of disrespect,”

He reveled in the way the delicate muscle under her eye twitched.

“Hope is a much better prize than I, devil, but do what you wish.”

Raphael let out a spirited sound from his chest. “Ha! What I wish for is a little appreciation for your current arrangement,” his eyes trailed down the woman’s body, the gossamer gown the color of the surrounding barren landscape leaving little to the imagination if he were to squint, “I allow you almost entirely free reign of the palace, meals, baths, music—“

“And endless poetry from yours truly?” She quipped. Her stoney stature finally broke. Raphael’s way to rejoice was to grace her with a slowly creeping smile.

“You’re such wonderful inspiration. Prayers ignored by the gods, forgotten by friends you risked your soul for,” the devil clenched a fist, “A little darling in the clutches of a fiend forevermore,”

Her gaze soured. The tray in her hands wobbled dangerously. “I know what I’ve done. That does not mean I have to enjoy it,”

“Ah, but it’s such a delight to try. Who knew lending fine treatment only leads to your torture instead?”

“‘Fine treatment’? I’m a servant,”

“My servant, yes,” Raphael stood, noting the way her eyes followed his form. He wondered if it would always be fear behind her fierce gaze or if he could see it change to awe. Or desire. Then he wondered again if he preferred the fear a little too much. “That’s what your contract says, dear one,”

“I know what it says!” She snapped. With a breath strained with anger she set the tray with his wine down on the small round side table nearby before it toppled completely. She stormed away from him, towards devils know where. Raphael remained quiet as he followed close behind—Oh how he loved to rile his little pet. He admired the glimpse of supple thigh as the material of her dress whipped around her legs in her movements of fury.

“Something burdens you,” Raphael gave no warning as his hand shot out to grip her wrist. The woman came to an abrupt halt at the threshold of his balcony. The golden bracer adorning her wrist clinked softly. “I gave your friends the solution they’d been fighting for, the happy ending you felt they so deserved. Yet you feel they don’t deserve it, right?”

Her jaw worked around her stuttered reply. “O-Of course they do.”

“Then what still burns so harshly in that brave heart of yours?” Raphael’s insides sang at the roll of her eyes.

“Do I really have to answer that?” She asked the air in front of her. Raphael gave but a small tug that had her spinning to face him.

His voice took a darker pitch. “Oh, I command it,”

This glorious creature of his stood shorter than he but perfected the act of looking down her nose at him nonetheless.

“Release me, devil,”

“That was not negotiable,” his grip tightened and the woman winced. She looked into his eyes, looking upon how they blazed in her presence. “And do call me Raphael,”

“Just yesterday you told me ‘it’s master to you’,”

“Answer,” he warned, and the woman squirmed. Her nostrils flared, that fire in her heart spread; Raphael basked in the heat.

“I regret every second,” she spat. “I called them friends. I held them. I even shared in their kisses. But they allow me to sell myself to help their cause. They left me down here to rot in a devil’s prison,”

Raphael inhaled deeply, audibly. “Your bitterness becomes you, darling. The taste of it is marvelous,”

The woman flinched, and he did not know if it came from his words or disbelief of her own. Raphael answered for her. “There it is. The truth you've been denying yourself of for all the time you’ve been in my domain,”

His little mouse’s fire doused. Raphael opened his fingers and she tucked her hand away. She hugged her arms across her chest, silky fabric catching gently on the gold bracer. “I did what I thought was right. I can only blame myself.”

“That is what I find most fascinating about you, dear one,” Raphael held her gaze and stepped closer, causing his delightful dear to maintain the distance with a hasty step backward.

“What’s fascinating?” Her question dripped with wariness though she refused to shrink away from him as he neared once again.

“Your loyalty to those most cruel to you. So-called friends wouldn’t leave you here this long without at least an attempt of rescue,” Raphael began, watching the woman’s nose crinkle, “The gods didn’t listen to you,”

“As you love to point out, devil,”

“Raphael,” he stated; a repeat reminder. “Let me finish now, pet.” He stalked forward until the woman had nowhere to run, nowhere to flee. Her back pressed against the stone railing behind her and her mouth pinched in helpless frustration. “The gods didn’t listen to you…” Raphael brought his knuckle under her chin and tipped it up so he could gaze upon the face that brought him such delicious turmoil, “but I will,”

Pretty lips parted and breath hitched. The struggle with realization danced behind her eyes. Her chin jerked back and away from his touch. What terrible games she played.

“There is nothing you can offer me,” she swallowed; Raphael watched her throat move and wanted to wrap his hand around it.

“On the contrary, my darling,” he pressed closer, sliding a leg between her own and finding now resistance. Her shock was evident, but she quickly gathered her wits and bared her teeth.

“You have Haarlep for your filthy needs,” The bite of her words left no marks.

“What of your filthy needs?” Raphael felt a smirk pull at his lips. “We are bound, dear one. I feel your loneliness—the ache it bears on you. You miss the affection of your companions. Look to me to remedy that,”

“I hate even looking upon your face, devil,” her palms pushed on his chest only to find him immovable. He took her hands in his and maneuvered her to face away. She yelped as her stomach pressed against the railing.

“Then don’t,” Raphael hissed in her ear from behind; he heard her swear in response. His hands released hers and they trailed up her arms. She dared not move. Gently as he wished, they slid over her trembling shoulders. Down her sides, to her hips.

Rage pooled around her, mixed with something else.

“You said you’d listen to me,” her statement sounded more like a question, asked with a sigh. Resignation. That’s what he detected.

“Yes, pet,”

Her hands gripped the stone she pressed against, “I want to see what my sacrifice helped,” she breathed unevenly, “That’s all I ask. I want to know exactly what I was worth,”

Raphael summoned a shimmering visage of the world above, of a healing Faerûn. Not free of conflict, but not at war; not under threat of the Elderbrain. Raphael felt the woman in his arms shake against his front but she held her head high.

“Thank you.” The statement was whispered but it echoed through him with all the strength it took her to say it.

“I am a man of my word, dear one,” he bowed his head and kissed the soft spot where her neck met her shoulder. Another shudder ran through her. This time she did not resist.

“Make it quick,” she said. Her words were edged with malice.

“You ask impossible things of me,” Raphael nipped at her earlobe. It earned him a growl. He drank it in as his hands crawled over the front of her thin gown. The piece draped in front lifted with weightless ease. His darling shifted, making the curve of her ass press against his hips.

She remained wordless as he grazed the bare plane of her belly with his fingertips. He brought himself closer against her, molding around her body and gliding his mouth over her neck. “I want to touch you, dear one. I will touch you, in all the ways we both need,” She inhaled sharply as his hand sank further down her torso and his middle finger found the slit of her. Heat pulsed from her swollen bud under the pad of his finger. Raphael let out a deep purr.

His darling bit back a moan. “Damn it, devil…”

He chuckled darkly as collected her wetness and began to rub rhythmic circles. Her jaw opened soundlessly beneath his lips. Raphael parted from her enough to watch her eyes flutter closed. Fingers joined together and applied more pressure. She whined. Music to his ears. The devil played her sensitive body like organ keys. Her back bowed. In arching her back she became a crescent moon. Glowing and pure in his world of darkness. Just a little sliver of her could make him howl. And he heard it.

“Raphael…” she pleaded. He could have crashed into his own climax with the brush of a hand. His name cried from her lips brought the old devil halfway to salvation.

His fingers curled and pumped inside her tight heat, slick dripping between them. She came undone with her head thrown back against his shoulder, knees weakening enough to make him hold her up with his own body. His darling collapsed into him, knuckles white from her grip around the stone railing. His chin nuzzled her hair and lips planted a kiss to her temple. Embers and cherries scented the air. Teeth grazed her neck, begging to sink in and claim her.

There was no need. Her soul already his. Now her body too. Maybe now she would come to welcome him enthusiastically, to let him make her forget the shared moments of intimacy with her companions. Maybe now she would look upon him without fuss, and with reverence as he tasted more and more of her. The possibilities made his fiendish heart race.

As he panted into her skin, he thought of the numerous deals he refused made by her friends for her release. Some more tempting than others: ascension, a throne, a crown. Raphael found it all too easy to resist. He’d gotten what he’d desired and he’d tell her one day about her friends’ attempts at being heroes again. Only when he was sure they could both laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it. Only when he was sure she would choose nothing else than to be at his side. Raphael could taste the delight of that future on his tongue. He would have it one day. They had eternity together, after all.

#bg3 #bg3 imagine #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 imagine #Raphael #Raphael imagine #raphael bg3 #Raphael bg3 imagine #my work

[mcdgarroth]

Ok, so it’s pretty well known that what divides most of the fandom is your view on Aaron’s character. I’m personally on the side that dislikes him (I mean no disrespect to people who do like him, however) but I never really see anyone delve in on why he is such a disliked character. (I apologize if you have) Maybe it’s because most are like me and sort of just ignore his existence lol.

But today, I felt like talking about this, because I love storytelling and hope to be an author one day and finding out the reason why a character that’s suppose to be the main love interest is so ill-received seems pretty important to know.

I think we should start off by looking at his character story-wise, and from the beginning. I think initially, he was never suppose to be as big of a character as he is now. Maybe he was suppose to be one of the guys that fall for Aphmau, but I don’t think he was meant to be endgame and especially not to this extent. I think it was only until Jason voiced him that they made him a self-insert that Aphmau falls for, who is Jess’ self-insert.

However, this was a change that they made late into the story so it seemed rushed and forced. I know many speculate that the reason why was because Jason was jealous over people shipping Jess’ self-insert with Garroth and Laurance, but since that’s only a rumor I won’t talk much about it.

Now, because of this sudden shift in the narrative where Aaron was this important character that Aphmau was just so in love with, it probably gave the audience a bit of whiplash since everyone was expecting either Garroth or Laurance.

I know for me personally, I was (and still am) a Garmau shipper. However, I was also perfectly fine with Laurance and Aphmau being endgame. Hell, I was fine with Laurance and Aphmau AND Garroth being endgame. So, when Aaron and Aphmau essentially adopted Lilith together, I got nervous, but thought maybe it was like Aphmau and Zoey. And this happened after Aaron confessed he used to have a son, so it made sense why he would step into a fatherly role. But then it was revealed at the end of season 2 that she was pregnant with his child, and I was disappointed.

Now, this leads us into the effect he has had on other characters, including himself. Many talk about how he ruined Garroth and Laurance’s characters, as they were then pushed aside in favor of him. I don’t think their characters were “ruined” but they definitely didn’t approve due to his presence.

The love triangle between Aphmau and the two of them was something very big in the story. Laurance displayed his feelings straight away towards her. Not only that, but expressed multiple times how he didn’t care who she ended up with, as long as she allowed him to stay by her side. And with Garroth, we only see hints on his true feelings up until it’s finally revealed in the season one final that he has loved her all along. I thought this was all done pretty well, especially since the whole love triangle thing has been used so much.

And what I especially like about this love triangle that stands out to me is the relationship between Garroth and Laurance. Usually in love triangles, if the two guys are friends, it’s because they were friends before they met the girl. However, in this instance, the two became close after they both met her and on top of that, they still managed to become friends even knowing that they loved the same girl. They even called each other brothers, and Laurance would even constantly urge Garroth to confess his feelings.

Me personally, I have never seen that done with a love triangle before. Maybe the guys were friendly with each other, but never devoted to each other like Laurance and Garroth were, on top of being devoted to the girl in the triangle.

Which makes it all the more disappointing when all of that seems to amount to nothing once Aaron was made center focus, especially since he did not have that connection to the other guys who were love interests like Garroth and Laurance did.

I don’t think their characters were ruined, because they are so much more than just love interests, but they were definitely negatively impacted by Aaron.

On second thought, however, maybe they were ruined to an extent since they were sort of made into even less than love interests, even though that is NOT how they started out. In season 3, Garroth seemed pushed aside, and Laurance was barely in it.

Now with Aphmau, her character, on the other hand, was ruined without a doubt. Especially in the eyes of many viewers.

I loved character Aphmau. She was one of my favorites from the very beginning, and when I take out Aaron, she is still one of my favorites. HOWEVER, (I’m saying that a lot) because of how rushed and out of no where Aaron appeared and became a love interest, it has made Aphmau’s actions and feelings become rushed and out of nowhere, and just flat out don’t make sense. This has caused many people to dislike her, especially when it was previously established that she had feelings for both Garroth and Laurance (ie the talk she had with Laurance after the wedding massacre)

Like Garroth and Laurance, Aphmau is also so much more than just a love interest. She started off as this woman who was so curious and excited about this new world despite knowing nothing of her past, to this mature leader who just wants to protect her people.

Throughout the series, we see how all she wants to do is help. A huge part of her character is just trying to be as helpful as she can. I remember crying when it was shown she missed Levin and Malachi growing up. I always loved when they showed the relationship between her and her kids.

I do think at times the hate can be too much (I’ve seen someone call her a s!ut, which you shouldn’t do. Don’t s!ut shame.) However, I don’t think it’s completely unwarranted, and I do get annoyed with her actions as well when it comes Aaron. Unfortunately, she’s one of those characters that fall victim to bad writing. When her and Aaron became center focus across all roleplays, not to sound dramatic, but it ruined both their characters, and, not to sound even more dramatic, the story overall.

This brings us to Aaron himself. Another character who has fallen victim to bad writing, but to an even larger extent. We never got much of a chance to get to know him individually outside of his tragic backstory before he became all about Aphmau. With Garroth and Laurance, they have connections outside of Aphmau. They love each other, and they love Dante. The three of them call themselves brothers. Garroth loves his mother and brothers, and Laurance loves his dad and sister. They both love Aphmau’s kids, Malachi even looks up to Laurance. Everyone in the village knows them and cares about them. But the same can’t be said about Aaron. Only Aphmau knows him, and cried over his death. He had that one cute moment where he saved Nekoette and she gave him an apple, but that was it. Katelyn even said herself that he just… doesn’t speak to any of them. Like he was just there. Except for moments with Aphmau. Once he became Jason’s self-insert, he was just a love interest who only did things for Aphmau, including literally dying.

We never really see them fall in love, we are just told that they are. In season 3, Aphmau says they were more than lovers and Shad, impersonating Aaron, says they’ve been through so much together in which Aphmau agrees… been through what?! Everything they’ve been through together, they gone through with everyone else. It was nothing that was really all that personal.

In Mystreet, things are a bit different in which they are developed more… just not well. Like Aphmau being a freshman and Aaron being a super senior… yikes. I know many think it was ok because they didn’t date until they were adults. But me being a 19 year old, I know there should be no reason why Aaron had a crush on Aphmau.

I want to point to a scene in particular in pdh in which they are babysitting together. Aphmau says Aaron should give her a baby using the stork, in which Aaron blushes at the idea of making a baby with her. This scene implies Aphmau doesn’t know how babies are made? Aaron was a legal adult who was in love with a 14 year old who didn’t even know how babies are made. Gross. And kids, including myself, watched this.

Sorry, off topic, I mean to only talk about Minecraft Diaries since I am a Minecraft Diaries account but felt I couldn’t talk about his character without bringing that up.

I feel like I could have liked Aaron if he was more than what he is. He’s such a huge character to all the roleplays, but at the same time, he isn’t all that. I wish the roleplays had gone into a different direction, but they didn’t and we are just gonna have to work with what we have.

I feel like there’s so much more I want to say but I can’t think what that could be, so I’m gonna end this here for now.

Thank you so much to whoever read this dumb essay about an almost decade old Minecraft roleplay series, lol.

And if I offended anyone, I apologize sincerely. That is never my intention. If you disagree with anything I said, I would be more than happy to hear your side of things.

#garroth ro'meave #aaron lycan #aphmau laurance #minecraft diaries laurance #mcd laurance #laurance zvahl #aphmau garroth #minecraft diaries garroth #mcd garroth #aaron mcd #aaron minecraft diaries #minecraft diaries #mcd #aphmau #aphmau minecraft diaries #aphmau mcd #garmau #laurmau

[nerdpoe]

Of Kindness and Empathy Part 7

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, AO3

The angry English guy hadn’t stopped ranting at Danny for, like, an hour.

And he was still going strong .

The man had never once stopped scolding him for allowing some sort of royalty or something to wander around the Mortal Plane unsupervised.

Which Danny hadn’t known was his job at all, thanks, what a way to find that out.

All the while, with the prickly English accented voice droning on and on and on , the man kept feeding Ectoplasm into Danny, healing him and stabilizing him.

“ Ancients I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Danny finally exploded, slapping his hands over his ears.

Hands larger than his pried his hands away from his ears, and Danny’s field of vision was filled with an angry face attached to blond hair and ice blue eyes.

“What,” the man hissed, squeezing Danny’s hands, “The absolute bloody fuck did you just say?”

“I don’t know the royal prince or whoever I was supposed to protect, okay? No one told me!”

Danny’s hands were dropped and the English man stalked away, yanking out a cigarette and lighting it.

Danny didn’t dare make any noise, and was honestly grateful for the silence.

And incredibly impressed by how quickly that man was sucking down that cig.

He didn’t know where he was, but he could only assume that Batman had come through and saved him somehow.

“ You , you wanker. You’re the Ghost King, not the prince.”

Danny blinked.

“No,” he automatically denied, waving the notion off, “I can’t…I mean, I’m not. I’m. Pfffft. I’m clearly not King material here, and I think I would know-”

“Yeah, well, clearly you did not.” The man sighed, grinding the cigarette stub on the wall.

“No, see the Ghost King is Pariah Dark, and he’s asleep-”

“And who made him sleep, I wonder. Was it single combat? Did he formally accept the challenge? Were there knights and other ancients to observe his defeat? Because that sounds a lot like the Traditional Method of Trial by Combat, which is the legitimate method to inherit that title in the Infinite Realms.”

Danny could feel the color draining from his face with every qualification.

Oh no.

Oh no .

Then the man held up a mirror, slightly angled, and uh. Yeah. Yeah that was definitely a crown, floating three inches above his head.

“ Oh no ,” Danny hissed, grabbing the mirror and moving around his head to get a better look.

“Oh, yes . Congratulations, it’s an entire bloody realm . Now we need to find out how you’re going to stop your subjects from avenging you-”

“No,” Danny whispered, putting down the mirror and staring into a set of confused eyes, “You don’t understand. I think I lied to Batman.”

The other man sucked in air through his teeth.

“Oh shite , mate.”

~~~~~~

Paulina knew how to get answers.

Paulina knew how to make people realize the very important fact that she deserved answers.

Which was why, with Samantha Manson and Red Huntress at her back, she was staring down Fright Knight, perfectly manicured nails tapping lightly on her arm.

“Repeat that,” she ordered, back ramrod straight, “But without the disrespect.”

She heard Red Huntress unholster one of her guns, felt Manson’s glare as it burned hot over her shoulder.

Fright Knight let out a deep, echoing snarl in return, his hand grasping the pommel of his sword.

Paulina knew what that sword could do.

Paulina was past caring.

“No, you do not get to take that tone with me,” she snarled right back, stalking towards him at a brisk pace, high heels clicking in the eerily silent street, “My family did not go through hell to get where they are today for me to just allow that level of Disrespect. Do it again, and I release my girls.”

Said girls were right behind her, allowing her to lead.

Normally they weren’t her scene, but she’d needed backup and they had weapons training. So as long as she was doing this, they were Hers .

Dash and Kwan were leading the resistance against the GIW doing something stupid .

Foley was working with the other nerds to get a signal out of the Ghost Zone. So he said.

So she had decided to get answers directly from the source.

She had a theory.

He’d stood around looking scary, but he hadn’t really done anything.

“Why are we here, and where is Phantom?”

“You insolent mortal, you dare to challenge Me?” Fright Knight’s voice was gravelly and melodic, and tugged at her spine just as surely as it deafened her ears.

A deep, primal fear began to crawl its way up her throat.

She shoved it down.

She was done.

She was done with the stupid afterlife border patrol ruining her town, she was done with the ghosts who greeted each other with fists, she was done hiding in a shelter wondering if she was going to join the ghosts that plagued the town, and she was done being afraid .

“Kneecaps,” Paulina kept her voice brisk and to the point, and two shots rang out at the same time.

Fright Knight blocked them, of course he did, but he did not block the shots from behind.

The ghosts she’d convinced to help, Kitty and Ember or whatever, flickered out of invisibility. They looked nervous, but that was fine.

Paulina was the face of the operation, not them. They could be as scared as they wanted to, just so long as they did their jobs.

She strode up to Fright Knight, on his knees and attempting to turn to presumably attack Her people, and snapped her fingers in his face with one hand while another slapped a specter collar around his neck.

If he wanted to behave like a rabid dog, he got to get treated like one.

“You aren’t attacking us, why?”

Fright Knight glared at her, but at least he was looking at her now, instead of down on her.

He said nothing.

“So you can learn,” Paulina crooned, reaching into her purse and pulling out some lipstick, “What a good boy you are.”

He growled.

Paulina, wholly unimpressed, flipped the safety off the lipstick and released a small, accurate laser beam.

One that could, had, and would hurt ghosts.

The Fentons wouldn’t mind some missing tech.

The growling stopped.

“So earlier I thought you said this was Phantom’s haunt,” she started, staring directly into the ghost’s eyes, “What, exactly, does that have to do with dragging the whole town into this place?”

She moved the lipstick so that it was resting light next to his helmeted head, the laser creating a small pillar of smoke as it began to cut through the armor.

Fright Knight held very, very still.

“I’m not a hero like Phantom, though, so you should hurry up and explain.”

~~~~~~

Kon stared at the weird little girl  that was arguing with his little brother/nephew/son sort of probably.

She was floating a full three feet above her chair, face stuffed with pie, and trying to prove to Jon that chocolate cake was disgusting and strawberry was the best kind.

Kon looked away from her and towards Clark.

Kon raised an eyebrow and jerked his head slightly towards her.

Clark immediately looked away and started insisting he help Ma Kent.

Kon snorted and took out his phone instead.

Kon:

Tim ur dad’s adoption virus

is contagious

Tim:

What

Kon:

Clark just brought home

some super girl without

a pulse

Kon:

I think he’s gonna keep 

her

Tim:

Wait Kon if ur dad brought

home a corpse that’s

a whole different problem

Tim:

Do we need to get BC?

Kon:

Nah, she’s alive just a 

little bit dead

Kon:

Schrodingers kid or

whatever

Tim:

Schrodinger’s*

Kon didn’t even deign that with a response, opting to instead shove the phone back in his pocket.

Jon was now floating at the girl’s same level, animatedly defending the qualities of a good chocolate cake.

Clark was still deliberately ignoring the knowing looks Kon and Kon’s grandparents (parents? His family tree was so fucked up) kept sending him.

“Hey kid,” Kon drawled, looking out the window at the Kansas sky.

Thunder Clouds were gathering, and a green tint fogged over the rain he could see in the distance. It wasn’t near any towns, it was heading away from the farm, and it looked like a smaller one, but hey. Family bonding.

The girl had her full attention on him, one hand halfway to her mouth with another delivery of pie for her belly.

“You ever go flying in a tornado before?”

She grinned maniacally.

“Do you wanna?”

~~~~~~

Bruce slammed open the door to the operating room that Daniel and Constantine still hadn’t left , the need to ensure the teen was okay overriding common sense, and paused.

There was a floating person who had an eyeball for a head in the center of the room, gesturing animatedly as Daniel argued with it.

His eyes slid over to Constantine, who had his pack of cigarettes upside down and looked absolutely desolate that it was empty.

“Look, if it’s decided by combat then Dash should be King!”

“My Liege, if that person is a Living Being then they are not eligible-”

“He’ll die someday! Probably!”

“And if he defeats you upon his death then yes, he will be King-”

“But he’s ecto-contaminated!”

The eyeball stopped speaking, it’s… head tilting slightly to the side.

“...How contaminated?”

Constantine threw his cigarette pack at the Eyeball Being and rounded on Daniel, ignoring the Eyeball’s outraged spluttering.

“No, you bloody are not going to make your bleeding wanker of a school bully the High King of the Infinite Realms !”

“But I don’t want to be King!”

“My Liege, I understand your concerns-”

“No you don’t! No you don’t ! I lied to Batman, do you have any idea how much trouble I’m going to be in?!”

“He may not,” Bruce rumbled, Batman finally coming to the front, and all participants in the room froze , “But I may have a pretty good idea.”

Constantine held up his hands and backed away slowly.

Daniel appeared to attempt to shrink on himself.

The Eyeball, however, turned to face him completely, haughtiness etched in their posture.

Good.

Batman felt like taking his frustration out of something.

Better this strange Being than the scared kid behind them.

~~~~~~

Tucker was having a Time.

It was not a good Time, it was not a bad Time.

It was somewhere firmly between those two differentiations.

On one side, he was in the Infinite Realms and every computer he’d managed to commandeer from the computer lab was downloading everybit of data he could grab from other dimensions.

Sustained Space travel? Check. Artificial Gravity? Check. Technology not yet invented in their own dimension? Double Check. Multiple Patents for said designs running in tandem with downloading said tech blueprints and instructions?

Hell. Yes.

Tucker was not going to walk out of this weird doomsday thing without being richer than Sam.

He’d offer to share the wealth with Danny, but he was pretty sure with his other Best Friend being King of the Infinite Realms, Danny was probably way richer than Sam already.

He wasn’t sure Danny knew that yet, but like, he could just tell him later.

As it stood, he and the other techies that were feverishly working the computers (with others set to their side projects, he wasn’t the only one with the idea of patenting stuff) had finally, finally broken into the security feed for the GIW headquarters.

The uh…single camera that was left.

His Techies behind him fell silent as they took in the black and blue GIW agents strewn throughout the room, their tech obliterated and scorch marks on the walls.

Tucker wordlessly moved to take screenshots before rewinding the footage to watch The Superman beat the tar out of said agents.

An uncontrolled laugh started up somewhere behind him.

It spread.

Tucker couldn’t even stop himself from joining in.

The video got recorded and Tucker’s worries about his friend were eased.

If Superman had gotten involved, Danny would be fine.

@spooky-fm@markus209@osnii@samgirl98@skulld3mort-1fan@gabrielandjackthenephilim @suppengott@glow-worms-are-believers@zeldomnyo@everest-nightshade@learning-to-fly-on-my-own@spoopyspoony @deatlive@hnymp @latheevening226@roseinbloom02@tsukihimeyfan@arsonpotato@wanderingrutabaga @nanepet@bjurnberg@mentalcarebear@amuseofminds@fire-glass@thewondersoflebanon@ascetic-orange@botwadtict@notforyoucloudheads@idfk-man10@leftmiraclechaos@midnightenigma

@dannyisababyking@oliocelottafanfics@redafi@distractedducky@aconitewolfsbane@onyxlightdragon@blankliferain@theywontletmeusetheoneiwant@thedragonqueen1998@bitchydragonninja@u-a-wizard-jamie@dodekakophonie@ashenfairytale@reach-for-the-horizon@quirky-gardener@thegatorsgoose@sknerd101@stargirl1331@andreaissy @leap-ing@plotwholls

I'm sorry, there's too many of you to tag without the post breaking. Or my brain. This was the only real list I could find, and it's old. I'm gonna have to insist on y'all checking AO3 for updates.

#dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #danny phantom #batman #john constantine #bruce wayne #superman #clark kent #superboy #conner kent #jonathan kent #jon kent #ma kent #pa kent #tucker foley #samantha manson #paulina sanchez #red huntress #giw #ember mclain #kitty (ghosts) #phanfic #of kindness and empathy

[dinneronvenus]

‎‧₊˚✧SHISHIBA HEADCANONS✧˚₊‧

⭒ Highly romantic, he prefers to take dating slowly and build up a deep connection properly

⭒ His calm nature makes him deeply attracted to anyone passionate, he loves listening to you talk about your accomplishments, hobbies, career, whatever it is that brings that spark of life to your eye

⭒ He's considerably cold and aloof most of the time, but when you start guessing what he's thinking it makes him playful and this becomes a game/inside joke between the two of you as your relationship progresses

⭒ He holds simplicity at the core of his lifestyle philosophy, and his partner is no exception. He won't shun your efforts to look lovely but when you're in pajamas making him breakfast is when he feels the greatest affection for you

⭒ Prefers to make the date plans for the sake of simplicity, he'll often give you clear cut instructions on date night unless you suggest a plan first

⭒ Would never admit this but he enjoys impressing you, either with tales of his lifestyle*, his driving skills, or lavish presents

⭒ Since he believes civilians deserve to lead normal lives, he's deeply respectful of you and only talks about work if you explicitly ask for details*—otherwise he gives you the typical "it was fine" response

⭒ He would only make a big deal out of making your relationship official if he knew you wanted that, otherwise he assumes that you answering his calls for 3 months straight means you're his

‧₊˚✧NSFW SHISHIBA HEADCANONS✧˚₊‧

⭒ World's laziest sex partner normally, unless you get him really riled up or beg for it, it's going to be a slow and sensual session almost every time

⭒ For simplicity's sake, he gives you instructions in the bedroom too, "ride me" being the main one

⭒ Prefers to just give you oral and fuck you with his fingers over having sex, since it's easier—plus he would rather get you off than himself, anyway

⭒ If you tell him you like being bossed around, he'll dominate you completely just to make everything simple, you'd never have to think for yourself again

⭒ Extremely protective over you, as to him you're a delicate angel in his ugly, boring world so he has definitely killed people who he felt were lustful and disrespectful towards you but you'd never know

⭒ When he picks your outfits, he always has you wearing things that give him easy access, like short dresses and skirts, crotch-less panties, and bras that clasp in the front. He may be aloof but he always wants to demonstrate his feelings for you by showing you just how much he enjoys being inside you so he makes it as easy as possible

⭒ Loves having his hair pulled during sex and played with during makeout sessions

⭒ Wouldn't be overly talkative during sex unless he was venting from a mission, then you'd hear all the praise-tinted degradation you could ever desire

⭒ His aftercare would include cuddling you and talking about how your lives would be together (probably out in the country) if he retired, always hoping you'd push him to make that a reality

#shishiba #shishiba sakamoto days #sakamoto days x reader #headcanons #sakamoto days #shishiba x reader #fanfiction #sakamoto days fanfiction #fanfic

[aquanova99]

Haunted (Cato x Reader)

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Part 9

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Y/n’s POV

 Your legs struggled to hold you upright. You’d avoided the sleep as much as you could. Only resting when your body physically couldn’t handle anymore. Even then never any longer then a few hours, when their screams woke you from any chance of rest. You realize that you somehow didn’t lead Cashmere to your room at all, you’re not sure when they took over but then again, that’s what your life consisted of now. Living from one day to the next, not entirely present. The woods help, but you haven’t been able to pick up any weapons since you got back to 12.

 Cashmere gently leads you to your bed. She tells everyone she’ll keep watch first, and while it reminds you of the games. It also brings you a sense of security that is finally overshadowing the horrors threatening to take you back at any moment. You ponder over Cato’s words. Allies. You could work with that. It dawns on you that there’s likely a reason they know exactly how to handle you in this state and your heart both aches and wonders monsters haunt their own dreams. Regardless, you feel like you can at least finally get some sleep.

 “Thank you.” You mumble

 “Its not easy, is it?”

 “The sleeping? Not really.”

 “The living. Its like they left a part of you in that arena. They don’t understand, do they?” Your lips form a tight line. You barely shake your head in response before covering your head with the blanket. It’s exactly what you tried to explain the first week you got back. That was the worst of it. The screams you let out terrified your family. Then their fear turned into impatience. They couldn’t understand why I wasn’t happy or relieved. With the lack of sleep your own patience was hanging by a thread so you simply shut down. This only infuriated your parents who continued to scream at you for being so callous and disrespectful. You were somewhat thankful they hadn’t moved into the house in the victor’s village. You needed to deal with whatever was going on alone. Your brothers however, disagreed and decided to stay with you. They pretended they didn’t hear anything, and truthfully, you didn’t want to talk to them about that stuff anyway. Your mom continued to try and at least speak to you but her concern would quickly turn to anger and you often just waited her out or sneaked out when you saw her coming to the house. You would sometimes sneak back in and hear her talking to the older one about not understanding what was wrong with me. You didn’t understand it either. Haymitch was often the one who you tried to talk to at first but he dealt with his demons differently and you weren’t ready to turn to the alcohol… yet.

 So. In the end you went to the one place you knew you could hide, the woods. You were being reckless. A victor, walking straight to the meadow, a week after returning. You walked as if you were in a trance, a hand yanked you before you made it even ten feet into the meadow. You were lucky Katniss dragged you towards her house as if you had planned meeting there. You’re pretty sure she was going to scold you too until she got a proper look at you. She said nothing, just sat with you at the edge of the meadow. When the sun began setting she somewhat pushed somewhat led you back home. The next day she showed up to your house and dragged your out again. She didn’t say anything that day either. The day after your curiosity won out.

 ‘Why are you doing this?!’ You snapped

 ‘Because you look like me.’

 ‘…What?’

 ‘When my dad left…we struggled. You did too, but back then I was so mad that your father made it out, I couldn’t talk to you anymore. And we stopped being friends. Anyway—I looked like you do right now. No sleep, not eating, trying to not bother anyone with it. I was about to give up. But I got help, and I never got the chance to say thank you.’

 You realize immediately who helped her, ‘You mean…’

 ‘Yeah. When you won, we all saw how hard it was on you. I’ll never be able to repay him, or thank him. But you saved Prim, and me because I would have volunteered.’

 ‘I don’t want your pity Katniss.’

 ‘It’s not pity.’

 ‘It is—’

..

. . .

..

 ‘We could have been hunting partners.’

 ‘Yeah.’

 ‘When I figured out how to hunt, I remember wanting to go to you for help. I know you’re the one who taught Gale how to snare. I just wanted to be the one who got to keep something that once. And... I guess I was embarrassed? I’m sorry.’

 ‘Don’t be. I never blamed you for that. I’m more upset you chose Gale as your partner. I would have been much better.’

 ‘Ha!’ Katniss laughs, before pausing, ‘Look when you were gone I realized I didn’t need to be mad at you. I really am sorry. I want to be friends again.’

 You could only nod. Katniss was good at talking when she let herself open up. With Gale in the mines now, you and her spent any free time she had usually just sitting together in the woods. She even let you help out her family with food now. You learned Peetas father only traded rabbits with you but squirrels with Katniss and always on separate days. You were shocked  when you learned Gale finally tried to be more than friends with Katniss. You were even more shocked when Katniss wasn’t interested. She never wants to marry or have kids, not with the games. She’d never seen Gale like that. Madge often joined the two of you and it was the three of you simply existing together, or Madge would lead the conversations which you didn’t mind.

 The hands that grabbed yours stirred you from your perpetual state of limbo. Shaking you awake. While you were happy to see Cato, you were quite shocked to see him and Brutus arrive. You were suddenly very aware of how disheveled you looked. You noticed how warm Cato’s hands were when he stopped you from further hurting yourself. Maybe you should have worn a sweatshirt. Your entire body slumped, it felt as if you were letting them down. The image of their disapproving glances would be forever embedded in your mind. You had been prepared to let them go to one of the other house in the victors village until at least tomorrow, but Cashmere’s idea was so…well, brilliant. And tempting. To know for at least the next few hours, you could rest. You wondered if Katniss would come if you didn’t go meet her out by the meadow.

 Three days before the victors arrived the rains began,  house. Your moms were excited to have their kids make friends, so they quickly began talking again, and neither of you wanted to be there for long. You both were quick to find the right moment to leave during the gossiping between the two older women. You had agreed your moms could start making mixtures and tonics for their small apothecary business. And you didn’t need all that food anyway, better it went to those in the seam. Katniss probably preferred her own home to yours and you couldn’t fully disagree. The second there was a lull you led Katniss away from the kitchen and into the living room.

 …‘So, what victors did you pick.’

 ‘Cashmere and Enobaria.’

 ‘Why?’ You glared at her and she eased back, ‘Sorry, but come on y/n. Careers?’

 ‘Yes careers. Look, I have to. I…owe them.’

 Katniss raised an eyebrow before standing up, ‘It’s hot. Do you mind if we open the window?’

 The floors would get soaked. ‘Yeah go ahead.’

 She sat closer to you and waited, oh well. You really should tell someone that’s what Haymitch said. Then again, when has he ever followed that advice? Whatever. ‘You know how I got sponsors?’

 ‘Yes.’

 ‘They only sponsor people who they think have a chance, thanks to Cinna and my…training score. I had quite a bit. Some of them expect me to pay them back.’

 Realization dawns on her face, ‘Not with money…’

 You shake your head, ‘Haymitch said Cashmere always has to go to the capitol, I just thought she deserved a break. She’s not the only one, Haymitch said Finnick sometimes has to go more than she does from what he’s heard anyway. And Enobaria… I don’t know. She was punished too.’

 You’re barely whispering but Katniss doesn’t interrupt, ‘Punished?’

 ‘They modified her. Or her teeth I guess. They wanted to modify me. They said they would try and figure out a way for me to not be called back to the capitol.’

 You’re unsure if the rain or your stories make Katniss shiver. ‘People aren’t going to like it here.’

 ‘I don’t think I care anymore. The only person I need to keep happy is Snow.’

 ‘I’ll play nice.’

 ‘Nice nice. Or Katniss nice.’

 She smirked at your poor attempt at a joke, ‘We’ll have to see won’t we, cousin?’

  You could have slept for the next six months. But the four hours sleep brought on a hunger you thought you couldn’t feel anymore. When your eyes fluttered open you found Cato pacing.

 “Are you okay?”

 He slightly flinches at the disruption, “Hungry?”

 You wonder if it should concern you how he seems to always know what you’re thinking, you smile, “Starving.”

 A smirk appears for only a second before he sits at the edge of your bed, his leg feverishly tapping. He holds something out, refusing to look at you. “Here.”

 “What is this?” You turn over the pen like object, trying to make sense of it.

 “If I start getting anything like Arioch or you just feel unsafe use it. You just flip the tiny lid and lick on the button.” You almost drop as you realize what he handed to you, you hold it with both hands as if it could detonate at any minute. You would rather take your chances. Unfortunately, he again seems to know what you’re thinking, “Y/n, listen to me. You have to use if something happens. I move quick.”

 “I don’t want it. Why are you giving it to me?”

 “It’s just in case.”

 “I. don’t. want. It” You hold your palm out flat ready for him to take it back. Instead, he closes your fingers around it. Finally staring you down.

 “You have to take it. Please. I would regret if—I just can’t—” He groans in frustration as he tries to figure out what he could say to convince you this is a good idea, “ Just take it. Alright? If I lose it I need to trust you’ll help whoever is around me. That includes yourself.”

 You hate that you understand where he’s coming from. While your natural instinct is flight, Cato’s is the opposite. You run. Or hide. Any stressor lately big or small makes you want to run into the woods. Lately you run to Katniss, or hide in your room until someone drags you out. Cato instinct is to fight. You wonder how much training it took to build that up and how much more time it would take to not have that be his immediate reaction. Similarly, while you may feel like a coward, Cato felt like a monster. A menace to others. Rationally, neither of you were either. And you knew that. But you also knew that in the moment its easy to let your body do what it needs to do to survive on autopilot.

 You realize the two of you have been still for too long. You are suddenly very aware of warm his hands feel around you and before you face heats up you nod in reply to his request. He seems to realize the same and promptly lets go, he gives a curt nod before standing up.

“Come on, lets go get something to eat.”

 “Okay.”

 Your brothers seem surprised to see you. “Well, you don’t look so terrifying anymore.” The oldest says

 “Shut up.” You push him, “Besides a four hour nap is not going to make much of a difference.”

 “Well, it’s a start.” You can feel the careers staring at the three of you talk, as if its bizarre that you talk to each other at all. You realize how crazy you must have seemed earlier, and how inconsiderate you must look like now.

 “Sorry about earlier. Thank you guys for agreeing to come.” You turn to Cashmere and Enobaria, and the former walks up and envelopes you in an embrace.

 “Thank you for choosing us.” She whispers, you nod and she smiles at you, “Your brother told us the best thing to eat when it rains here is stew so they were kind enough to start cooking for us all. Let me cut up some fruit for you. Iti will be a couple more hours until its finished.”

 You’re thankful she seems to realize you cant handle more than a few bites of anything at a time so starting small brings you another small sense of relief. Enobaria comes up and asks if your feeling a little better  and you nod. Brutus has already excused himself to the living room before you can get a hello out. Enobaria glares at him but continues to the conversation, “So, Y/n. Have you given much thought to what your special skill is going to be?”

 “Special skill?” Your youngest brother asks

 “Apparently, all the victors have to have something they’re above average in.” You explain to him. Another fun little detail added to your list of ever growing worries. You try to avoid worrying him and ruffle his hair. “What have you guys chosen?”

 “Don’t worry about it, they don’t really care unless you make a lot of special appearances in the capitol. I actually enjoy mine though. I like playing instruments?”

 “Really?” The thought of Enobaria finding something brought a smile to your face, “what do you play?”

 “Flute.” She smiled at you, she whispers the next part loud enough for the room to hear, “Brutus starting wood carving, and Cashmere…”

 “Oh, I do what I can to be disgustingly busy. I model, act, whatever keep my schedules booked. Gives me less time to meet all of my ever so gracious sponsors.” She all bit spits out her next sentence, before pasting a saccharine smile on her face, “Not that they cant find me, of course.”

 You get a sick feeling in your stomach again, and your mind races back to that night. You quickly turn to Cato, “What about you?”

 “I think I said I wanted to train the kids at the academy. Then I was declared unfit for the time being unfortunately.” No one misses the sarcastic undertone he uses for that final word. “Did you find something?”

 “Yes. I want to bake.”

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   Cato’s POV

 Cashmere dropped the plate she was handing to y/n. And Enobaria started coughing after she almost choked on the water she had just begun to drink, you probably looked as shocked as they were.

 “Sorry.” Cashmere nervously chuckled, “I’m just surprised. That sounds like a lovely talent to build up on. It hasn—”

  “Upset me?” Y/n smirked, “It did the first time I tried it. Then I burned the rolls I was trying to make, and it made me laugh. It’s the only thing that’s kept my mind…quiet. I should do it more honestly but I was tired and I could barely get the bowl out of the cabinet. But that first week I got back and I realized I couldn’t do anything else, so I made a lot of it. Gave it out to the people in the seam. They liked it enough.”

 “Some came out pretty good, even better than some of the times we had some from the bakery.” Her youngest brother bragged for her. You couldn’t help smile at the pride in which they spoke of their sister. You’d learned the youngest one was called Amal, the oldest one Mallory. Both fiercely protective and worried at the state Y/n couldn’t seem to snap out of for very long. A few days of decent sleep should help, but the games had lasting effects.

 “Would it be okay if I tried to make some? They would go good with the stew. And I need the practice.”

 “Y/n, you realize we’re the guests, right?” Enobaria chuckled, “Do what you want, honey. Mal, do you guys have any board games, we’re going to be here awhile. I could use your help planning activities.”

 “Sure.” He looked at his sister, “You’re good?”

 “Yeah go.” She waved him off. Amal followed behind them, and Cashmere brought out a book to distract herself. You wondered why she hung around. Probably to have someone monitor you. You had been unable to hide the fact that you were content for the first time in who knows how long when Brutus questioned you. She’d only been asleep for a little over an hour. You had a sense of purpose for at least a little while. His words kept echoing through your mind. You swore your ears were ringing.

 You think you can help her?

 Just be sure you don’t kill this one.

 Enobaria had taken him away from you almost immediately afterwards. While his words stung, he was right. You were dangerous. You couldn’t even give Y/n the damn sedative without almost screaming at her. You wondered why Enobaria had told you take a shift sitting with her considering she seemed fond of her, it should have been a compliment.

 “Cato?”

 “Hm?”

 “Are you okay?”

 “Yeah, just distracted.” She smiled at you as she began taking ingredients out for her project. She asked that a lot. Though to be fair, you probably gave her plenty of reason for worry. You tried to order your body to obey you. Stay away, Cato. Keep your distance, Cato.

“Can I help?”

 “Would you like to?” Her eyes seemed to light up when you nodded. She was acting too kind. She should keep her distance after all your encounters today. You realize you’d put your hands on her at least twice and the thought of her comparing you to the creeps in the capitol… it would make you sick. You see Cashmere raise her eyebrows at and chuckle at something in her book.

 “What do I do?”

 Y/n had already measured everything out. She handed you a large bowl, “Just mix these up for me. She mixed her own ingredients before coming back to you, “Okay good just keep mixing while I pour this all in, okay?”

 Another nod. You had never had a chance to do something like recreationally. You could see why she picked it. This was a nice break. You wanted to do more, “What’s next?”

 “You okay with getting your hands dirty?”

 “Yes?”

 “Okay” She said in a sing song voice, as grabbed the dough with her hands, “I suggest you wash your hands. We’re going to knead.”

 “We’re going to need what?”

 She giggles, “Not that kind of need. Just wash up and I’ll show you.” So, you watch as she began forming the dough. You just copied her. Enjoying that your hands had something to do besides fidget. She separates the finished balls of dough in two separate bowls. “We have to wait for thirty minutes. Then we’ll mold the dough again.”

 “How’d you learn this?” You say as the two of you wash up?”

 “I went to the baker the second my family took their eyes off of me. I think it was late into the night. But you know me, I’m an endless supply of tears so I was crying and begging for them to let me apologize. His mom didn’t say anything, but his dad at least came out to talk to me. I told him I wanted to start baking…for him.” You wondered if she would ever be able to say his name again, “The next morning he brought me a book he put together full of his own recipes. I guess they all have one collective one but he was working on his own. I don’t know how they found it or why they don’t want it, and I don’t care.”

 “Do you think you would want to add to it?”

 “Maybe. I talked to Cinna about it, maybe he can get some recipes from the capitol. I just— I don’t know, the phone is weird to me.”

 “When do you speak to him next?’

 “Sometime this week, he’s been calling to check on me.” She sees the look of concern growing on your face and tried to steer the conversation towards a more positive direction, “You’re pretty good at this Cato. Maybe this should have been your talent.”

 “hm. I would have never even thought of this. Thanks, by the way. For letting me help.”

 “I hope you’re not backing out we still have a little more to do.”

 “Of course not.” Amal comes in almost immediately afterwards.

 “Hey, Y/n, Katniss is here. Enobaria doesn’t want to spook her she says. So, you need to open the door.”

 “And you can’t do it because…”

 He thinks about it for a second and shrugs, “I dunno, she likes you anyway.”

 He runs out just as quick and you, y/n, and cashmere laugh. Y/n excuses herself and follows her brother. Cashmere closes her book, you wonder how she remembers where she stopped. “So…That seemed…relaxing.”

 “I guess it was.”

 “She has an effect on people, doesn’t she.” It was question but was said in the way of a statement, or accusation of sorts

 “I guess. She never seems…scared by my company.”

 “Yeah, wonder why?”

 “I don’t know. It stresses me out.”

 “Well, you enjoy her company right? You don’t think she possibly feels the same?”

 “She shouldn’t.”

 She scoffs, “Oh come on Cato. You clearly care about her.”

 Care was a dangerous word in a victor’s life. She of all people should know that, “Like you said, she has an effect on people. I just don’t want her to end up like Annie. Or…me.”

 “Well. It’s a good thing we’re here, right?”

 “Hey guys this is Katniss. I was trying to convince her to take some food for her family but she probably got something better huh?” Y/n bounced in with a girl who was already on the defensive. You had been able to tell that Y/n was a hunter, you could see this girl was the same. You wondered if they worked together.

 “You would know if you came out sometime.” She answered. Y/n shrugged but her demeanor had changed. You decided you weren’t a fan of her ‘cousin.’ Still, considering y/n didn’t automatically shut down with her there must be some support offered.

 “Maybe, you could show us the woods sometime, Katniss.” Cashmere offered, ignoring the girls initial coldness. Every one’s eyes snapped to hers. “What?”

 “You would risk something like that?”

 “We risk our lives every day. Wouldn’t be much different/” Cashmere shrugged before returning to her book. Y/n seemed to nod in agreement.

 “So will you take some food for later?” Y/n asked after a long silence.

 “Sure. Gale hasn’t had much time to go out, I’ll let them have what I got.”

 This seemed to please y/n. She led everyone out to the living room while we waited for the food. It felt crowded to you. You stayed near the opening ready to hop back into the kitchen at the first available moment. Amal asked Katniss to join them and Enobaria as they set up a new game she wanted to try. You expected her to say no immediately, but Amal seemed to appeal to her. You remembered her sister, the one y/n volunteered for. Apparently kids are the only people she tries to be anything akin to pleasant to. Y/n leans against the wall next to you.

 “Want to hide in the kitchen with me?” You nod and follow her out of the room. You can feel several pairs of eyes trained on you. Though you don’t stay to investigate whose they belong to.

 Y/n perches herself on an empty counter, begins swinging her legs, “So how did you get stuck coming here?”

 “I was glad Enobaria decided she needed to keep an eye on me and bring me along. I didn’t get stuck on anything. Brutus maybe.”

 “Yeah he doesn’t seem too happy.”

 “That’s because no one’s fighting yet.”

 She chuckles for half a second before she seems to recall something that darkens her expression, “Can I ask you something?”

 “Sure.”

 “What’s District 2 like?”

 You blink, for some reason that’s the last question you’re expecting. “To be honest, the only thing I know is the academy I went to.”

 “Well, you had to have done something when you were younger before you joined, right? It’s just—I’m sure you miss home. I feel bad for taking you out.”

 “Actually…no.”

“No?”

“No I don’t miss it. And no I don’t remember anything outside of training.”

 Her brows furrow, “Wait. How early do you guys start?”

 “As soon as your parents decide you show potential I guess. I think my dad signed me up right before I turned four?” You don’t remember much outside of that training building but you couldn’t quite seem to forget the screams as you ripped out of your mothers arms. “My father was supposed to go in on his eighteenth birthday but some guy and him got into a fight. Broke his leg. Couldn’t even be a peacekeeper.”

 “So, he forced you to do it instead.” You shrugged, you would say it worked out in the end, but considering you weren’t doing all that great after the games… “He must be proud of you.”

 “…No.”

 She doesn’t miss a beat, you begin to wonder if she genuinely believes all the praise that seems to escape her lips, “Well he should be. Come on, its time to actually bake the bread. You should be good at this next part.”

 You both wash up before you say anything else. You had to remember you’re there to help her, not the other way around. She really doesn’t need to worry about your own problems, “So what’s next?”

 She holds one of the bowls out, “Punch the dough. Wait let me put the bowls down I don’t want to be knocked out.”

 You’re surprised at the size of the dough. This recipe was definitely made for a bakery. No substitutions. No wonder she was confident it was enough for everyone. You look at the giant pot cooking. They seemed prepared to cook for more than one family. She laughs as you weakly punch the first bowl. “Is this for your family too?”

 “Nope, my dad won’t accept handouts. I just give my mom money for whatever they need, he buys whatever excuse she uses. Katniss is taking some for her family, and I plan on making Haymitch eat. If there’s any left I can find someone at the hob or seam in general to take them. Now I know you can punch harder.”

 You obey and find yourself finding the whole thing humorous. You’re about to ask how you did but as you turn you’re met with Y/n opening her hand to send a small cloud of flour at you. You aren’t exactly sure how you know what’s happening but you get your own covered in flour and spread across her face. You begin throwing and swiping at each other, Your own laughter sounding foreign to you. It had been awhile, and yet since you’d arrived you had been more relaxed than you had thought possible.

“Okay, okay truce!” She laughs, “You win.”

 “You started it to be fair.”

 “True, I think we both needed to have… something. You know?”

 “Yeah, I do. But we made a mess.”

 “Yeahhh. I’ll start cleaning. Can you shape the rolls?”

 “If you show me how first.” She smiles and gets several trays out, she lines it with some kind of paper, and demonstrates how to small to shape the bread. You find your eyes don’t seem to stop watching, she begins shaking the flour out of her hair when Katniss and Enobaria come in.

 “What happened here?” Enobaria exclaims. You open your mouth to try and explain nothing dangerous occurred when Y/n speaks up.

 “Oh I forgot he’s never dealt with flour before so when I told him to grab some and drop it on the counter he grabbed too much and it got everywhere, and then I made it worse when I tried to stop him before it was too late. I’m about to sweep it all up.” You wonder she immediately covers for you. You know its best, Enobaria would believe her over you in a second. How she knows when you need help is beyond you. You remember the first night you met and how she diffused the situation with Brutus. How you’d felt indebted to her since. You glance at Katniss and can tell immediately she knows she’s lying. You continue focusing on the task you were given. By the time you finish y/n is ready to grab the trays and transport them to the oven.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

  Y/n’s POV

 Four years old?? It was no wonder the end of the games had left scarred and hollow. He knew nothing else. You wondered how any parent agreed to that. You hoped he would find a chance to find himself as separate from the games. You hoped to know him then too. You stop yourself from getting too hopeful, at the end of the day Cato, and yourself would never separate from the games. Every year you would be forced to relive it. Hell, in six months you would need to do just that for the victory tour. Where you would meet all the families of the tributes you had a hand in killing. Thresh, Rue, Marvel…Peeta. You would come face to face with people who hated you and wished you dead, that you had been the one to fall. You could never blame them. You often wished the same. The only bright side would be that you could apologize to someone, instead of screaming at whoever haunted your dreams that night to take you instead.

 “Y/n.” You really should try and not zone out so much, “what happened?”

 “Sorry. Just thinking about the victory tour.”

 “You still have a few months.”

 “Yeah I know.” You had agreed to go out with Katniss in the morning, Madge said she would try and join you as long as her father didn’t try and keep her in some lecture or meeting. Today it was just the two of you. Better to not have Katniss force herself to interact with the careers until she could see that they were just like you. A product of the hands dealt to you. Slaves to the capitol. Their stories seemed to make the slightest of cracks in Katniss. While she would often say she only cared about Prim, Katniss simply cares. She’s says you have to be born a healer like her mother and sister, but in her own way Katniss is just that.

 “They weren’t terrible.”

 “Oh?” You both chuckled as you ate the breakfast you supplied for the two of you. Today would be all snares. You would try and worry about fish tomorrow. Anything else is fair game, well you say that but you haven’t made any effort to shoot something down. She made a decent haul, for maybe one family and some decent trading at the hob.

 “Give it to Hazel. They have more mouths to feed.”

 “I don’t want to take more food from you.”

 “Okay keep that for your family then. Gale will love if I just give his family money to buy food tonight.”

 “He doesn’t have to know.” She grumbled

 “Yeah because you know Hazel or Posy wont let it slip, right?”

 She let out a sigh of defeat, “Fine.”

 “Don’t worry Katniss, you’re paying me fair and square. Who else would hang out with me?”

 “You’re ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes, “See you tomorrow?”

 “Yep!”

 You stop by your old home and leave an envelope with some cash in the window of the kitchen. You wonder if your dad will ever admit to him needing some kind of help. You think about going to see Haymitch, but you also know he’ll be too hungover this early for guests. Back home it is. You think about how you’ll have a new routine for a while, and dread when it will have to come to an end.

“You slept better last night.” Enobaria greets you

 “I did have backup.” You smile at her, she gestures for you to meet her in the kitchen where a cup of tea awaits you. “I wish you guys never had to go.”

 You must have said that rather grimly because Enobaria rests her hand on your arm, “We don’t have to worry about that for now…But believe me, I think I may be growing fond of this place.”

 You smile and let warm liquid sooth your throat, “What’s the plan today?”

 “We are going to talk about the games and any questions you have. Technically, we have lessons on customs for every district but we will ease into those. Today you just ask away. Just because you half slept one night doesn’t mean you’re ready for anything too intense.”

 “What’s the overall goal?”

 “For you to sleep on your own. And for you to be able to use a weapon again.” You don’t need to ask why you would need that second part, “Exercising can help with a lot and when you realize those tools don’t always have to be weapons anymore…well maybe you wont sleep with a knife under your pillow.”

 You didn’t. But, truthfully you didn’t sleep at all until last night, so I guess that makes sense. You’d learned Haymitch did and so did Cato, and you wouldn’t put it past Brutus. You feel as if there is more to what Enobaria is saying but those goals sound exhausting enough as is.

“So, where’s everyone else?”

 “Cashmere is organizing the lesson plans as we speak. Cato is probably tossing in his sleep. Brutus is probably out of commission again since he decided he would stay with Haymitch.” Your blank stare makes her laugh, “I know. But I also know how much of a clean freak he is and considering he came in twice last night for supplies, I’d bet he just fell asleep from cleaning.”

 “So, it’s just us for a while?” She looks slightly nervous at the question and nods, “Can I start asking questions?”

 You see her release some air, “Of course.”

 “What do you in the training academy?”

 She blinks as if she is trying to recall everything that happens in the building, she was forced to grow up in, “Everything. When your young…god I hated this part. They would start by trying to make you cry. They would put you in a room with toys or tell you your parents were here to pick you up, basically anything to get you hopes up. Then they would immediately terrorize you or tell you that you’ll be unwanted unless you win the hunger games.”

 You turn on the same mask you wore when you were forced to watch the recap of all of your fellow tributes dying. You learned that they would run until they physically collapsed. Some kids began trying to fail so they could get kicked out and return home, only to find that they had disgraced their family. If you weren’t quite meeting expectations you were forced to go into peacekeeper training. Boys and girls had different dormitories, the older kids of each room would be forced to attack the youngest one to enter the room every time they aged up, only stopping when the victim would stop moving. They would fight against each other didn’t matter the gender weekly, the harder opponents you faced and defeated would mean you would get more points added to your score. The highest eighteen year old was then selected to enter the hunger games. They day before the reaping the boy or girl with the highest points in any age group could challenge the volunteer. You remember Clove being fifteen. You avoid asking what she did to get that spot. You trained every day with whatever weapon you wanted to perfect. When they weren’t handling weapons they would be running or swimming, or figuring out hand to hand combat. They would practice ambushes, and would torture them to get them to figure out new ways to escape from possibly stronger opponents. She tells you at one point they will wrap a rope around your neck and you have to figure out how to escape before choking out. No one is allowed to discuss that day’s training. They would often times be starved on occasion to make the kids angrier and more likely to pick fights, weed out the weaker ones.

 “…I used to wish I was from any other district. But you’re trained to believe it really is the best thing that could happen to you. Win a fight, get points, have a certain number of wins on your belt, get an extra day off.” They only got one day of rest, and no one could do anything but sleep those days. You learned about the extra survival classes that were offered on top of the already long and brutal ten to twelve hour days. You could trade in those points too, use them to call or see your family. Only the younger ones opted to do those. The older kids saved them up for chance to make it to the games.

 “Then you win the games, come home to a family who has no idea who you are besides a bragging right. And if you lose, your family is next to shunned.”

 Her voice is low and you can no longer hold in your tears. You do the only thing that you can think she need and embrace her. Your life was hard, but you knew before you were more than someone who was going to die for the capitol. Enobaria, Brutus, Cashmere, Cato…who were these people outside of the games. Who did they become when they realized killing did not bring them honor? How long did it take them to accept that murdering their fellow tributes left the hollow, angry, lost? Were the nightmares something they were used to or was it a byproduct they were never warned about? How much exactly did they leave out?

 You don’t find it in you to say you’re sorry. Enobaria did not want pity. You step back to give her space, “You are all so strong for making through the program alone. I could never—”

 “I’m not all that strong, you know? I actually almost lost my games.”

 “Wha—really?”

 “It came down to us two thanks to mutts and weather. Even running into each other was an accident. A girl from ten. She was strong. Besides the 1, 2, and 4 its 10 that makes the most winners. Or the ones that get the closest to winning. Anyway, I thought I would be faster. I don’t even know what I was thinking besides that that was it, it was now or never. Anyway, she had the weight advantage, somehow pinned me down after the very bloody fight. The only thing nearby that could actually end me was a rock, just out of reach. She had to lean to try and get it, she moved just enough to snap my arm out and then I remember rolling. I was desperate. I thought it was my ticket home… I bit down… sometime while we began rolling in the dirt.”

 You think about the desperateness that would bring someone to bite another person. How scared she must have been. You also understood. Dying in the beginning while unfortunate, at least it was quick. But to make it to the end and lose knowing you were so close, I mean to see your chance of going home slip from your fingers at the very end… You didn’t doubt that last tribute was the one who haunted Enobaria’s dreams the most.

 “I remember screaming after I stood up. Not in victory but shock at what I had actually done. The cameras wont show it for long but I actually tried to stop the bleeding in her neck…When I woke up I found my teeth like this. And I became a monster.”

 “You are not a monster. What they did to you…It doesn’t define you. I know it doesnt.” It cant, you start to think but as you say those words you realize how little you believe them. Like you were now expected to be, Enobaria was a puppet to the capitol. Her alterations rendering her to likely be alone forever, unless she was with fellow victors or training others to follow in her footsteps. She had said she refused to ever train at the academy and you couldn’t say you blamed her. You wonder about the repercussions for refusing to train more killers, more victims to the games, more victims to the capitol. Enobaria smiles weakly, knowing your words couldn’t be farther from the truth. Then again… you think about Cecelia, you knew she had made a family of her own, you wonder how she managed to do so and how she would manage if her kids were reaped.

 “Isn’t this a cheery discussion?” Cashmere came in and patted Enobaria who gave a sort of broken laugh as she wiped her face.

 “Hey, she asked.”

 “Its true. I really am sorry I was just—”

 “Don’t be, I don’t think anyone has actually cared how I felt about everything. I didn’t think it would be that emotional. Why don’t you go relax for a while? I want to see what Cashmere has set up and I probably need to compose myself and make sure Haymitch and Brutus didn’t kill each other.” She wanted to keep herself busy. You understood that.

 “Could you check on Cato for me?” Cashmere asks, “If he’s asleep be careful not to wake him up by his upper half, he can be a bit jumpy and well... you know about the knife.”

 “I know.” Great. Why did I have to wake him at all? You wondered if he was sleeping any better. You know Cato had been ‘keeping watch’ when you finally woke up. He only smiled briefly, said good morning and disappeared. You were pretty sure you woke up once in the middle of the night but you weren’t sure who shushed you back to sleep. When you find him in one of the other rooms you have to stop yourself from rushing him and asking him to wake up. He’s hunched over, it reminds you of…Peeta, at least when he was sick. But the similarities stop there. It was clear he was having a nightmare of his own, there were small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He almost looked sick. Sounded sick. As if he was forcing back pained cries or whining. You wonder what happened when someone got sick in the academy place, you shuddered thinking about it. After worrying he may actually be sick, you decide to check. You look around, you look over him, one hand is tucked under his pillow, probably clutching the knife if you were to bet. Damn. You’d have to wake him. You over by his legs barely shaking him before jumping back. His arm already swinging as you stand up.

 He has to blink a few times to get a hold of his surroundings, “Y/n? What are you doing? You could have—”

 “That’s why I woke you up from down here.” You interrupt, you didn’t want him to keep thinking of you as someone who was weak. Someone who needed constant help, or supervision. You do need help but he worries too much. And you already owe him a lot. You sit at the foot of the bed, “I just want to check your temperature.”

 “I’m okay.”

 “Will you just—” You decide to stop asking and press his hand against his forehead and then his cheek, “You feel like you just visited the sun.”

 He still seemed shocked you had reached over and actually checked. “I don’t feel sick.”

 “Be honest if you felt sick would you say anything anyway?” He says nothing, “Yeah didn’t think so. I’ll be back.”

 You rush down to the kitchen and pour another cup of tea and add some honey. You make sure to grab some fever pills and bring a couple of those. After debating it you make some toast as well and head back up. You half explain what’s happening to Cashmere and dash back upstairs as quickly as you can. You find him in the same position you left him in. Sat up, elbows perched on his knees, eyes down, mind entirely elsewhere. You sit on the foot of the bed again, checking to see if his temperature is lower, it wasn’t. He winces at your touch but doesn’t protest.

 “Sorry.” He mutters

 “You’ve literally done nothing you have to apologize for, here: eat, medicine, drink.” He nods, and starts chewing at his bread. You realize orders are what he’s used to and you immediately feel guilt slam into you. You feel your hands reach up to your arms as you wait, you start scratching with one finger, then tapping, you should stop yourself. You know exactly what this leads to but at the same time, it helps you realize where you are. Stops you from flashing back to the games. Cato uses one hand to grab one of your own and bring it down away from your body. He doesn’t say anything this time. Just keeps absentmindedly eating, and you wonder if he even realized what he did. You wait until he at least takes the medicine before standing up.

 “I think you should try and get some rest.”

 “Wait.”

 “Yeah?”

 “...Thank you.”

 “Sure, Cato. I’ll be back in a bit to grab the plates.”

 “Can you just... stay?”

 “You want me to stay?”

 “I could use the company.” You felt your own cheeks heat up but felt your lips elicit a small smile and nodded, he moved closer to the wall, “I wont swing at you I promise.”

 You sit closer but with your feet still hanging from the edge, in case he needed to get some rest without you there, “Sorry I’ve been making you guys have uneven sleep because of… everything. You shouldnt have taken a shift if you felt unwell.”

 “I think it’s a habit to just ignore those things. I’m sorry too by the way,”  You look at him, not wanting to keep interrupting him again, “You don’t have to keep me company. You don’t have to feel forced to be near me at all really…”

 The way he says ‘forced’ is like a slap in the face, you realize why he kept tensing every time you would be around him, even after he requested. It wasn’t because he didn’t want you to actually say yes, or because he was being polite… “Wait. Do you think I feel forced to be around you? Is it because of the party?”

 He doesn’t look at me, “Honestly, the last thing I want is to make anyone or well you to feel like you did with that…guy.”

 “Yeah he was a creep. But Cato, I genuinely enjoy your company, I have since the training center, besides I feel like you should be tired of me by now. You’re always helping me out.”

 He let out a sigh, “Oh thank god. I thought I was making you upset.”

 You laugh, “Nope.” You both smile at each other before you realize he still hasn’t had very much sleep, “You really should sleep.”

 “I don’t want to.”

 “Can you try?” He lies down and shrugs

 “Sleep isn’t going to come.”

 “Yeah I know…You know when my Amal was really little he would only sleep if my mom or I rubbed his back. Especially when he was sick. Maybe I can keep watch, just you know maybe don’t hold on to the knife.”

 “That’s not your job,”

 “Well you cant do your job if you’re too tired to do a good job.”

 “Fine. I’ll try.”

 “Good.” You wonder why back scratches feel so comforting when you’re sick. Within minutes Cato’s body seems relax. Tension visibly leaving as his breathing begins to get steady. You wonder again, how often he had to pretend he wasn’t sick, and if he was punished for it. After about thirty minutes you decide he is well enough asleep. After two more hours, Enobaria brings you some food and informs you Haymitch and Brutus haven’t in fact, killed each other yet. You only manage to place the food on the nightstand when Cato wakes.

 “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

 “You’re still here?”

 “I told you I would keep watch.”

 “But you actually stayed here?”

 “Yes?”

 “Why?”

 “It helped me sleep to have someone watching out for me. I figured I could do the same for you.”

 “Well…thank you.”

 “You sound surprised.”

 “Usually, people listen to me when I say I’m fine.”

 “Well, you also lied about feeling sick, so I just have to assume all your gut reactions will be lie about what you’re feeling.”

 “I guess I do. I don’t try to…”

 “I know. I do the same thing, remember? We’re all broken here.”

 Cato starts to get up, slowly, as if he has to think about which muscle needs to move. “Im so tired that. It’s exhausting.”

 “Tired of what?”

 “Being broken.”

 It sounded stupid to say ‘me too,’ especially when he had been fighting his demons much longer than you have. You just nodded and turned to him, a mistake. He was much closer than you anticipated. His eye were a piercing blue, you looked down, finding yourself unable to move, “I uhm…I wish I could help.”

 “You help a lot more than you realize.”

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Taglist: @chloe-skywalker @ietss @tomihoeka @chiimiki @akinatrix @inky-sun @themedsaintworkin @tiktoks-aphrodite @fredweasleysgirl16 @callsign-haze @thestrals-and-firewiskey @dreamsarenicer

#hunger games cato #hunger games #the hunger games #catching fire #mockingjay #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #cato hadley #cato x reader #cato hunger games #hunger games cato imagine #cato imagine

[mdhwrites]

Honestly It's quite disrespectful and insulting, how Dana cared more about her beef with Disney than making a good show for the fans who supported her, some even financially. I've had it with her extreme fans raging to people when she's criticized for her obvious lack of care on S3 (the story in general), spamming and blaming on Disney and the shortening. Now that's revealed it wasn't Disney's fault for "ruining S3" since there was no S3 to begin with, that just puts more salt on the wound.

And lying about having plans for S3, what was that about? Stirring more hate on Disney? I find that pitiful and pathetic. If fans are gonna get mad at her from this revelation they have the right to do so. Toh should've stayed in the drafts or be written as a freelanche comic

Edit: I do think this person is too harsh on Dana as a person. I'm curious even what they mean by financial support from her fans (her charity livestreams? Unless she does those more often for personal gain but those people would likely donate anyways as just fans of the show) but as I go into below, I do agree that her unprofessionalism is a real problem and that with the fandom she somewhat helped rile up, it makes it frustrating to learn that a lot of this was on vapor. Not lies, but just... Not nearly as much solid foundation as we were led to believe. There is a lot to be said about how Dana, from my understanding, has been one of the most available leads on a show... Period? At bare minimum, for modern cartoons. Like others will talk but Dana was extremely candid. In fact, it feels like she probably learned some lessons from it because the blaming Disney stuff actually went DOWN as the show progressed. Like at least now it's "I wish I could have done more things," rather than, I dunno, just straight up trying to say they're why episodes you're not proud/ of aren't as well regarded didn't turn out.

Which she did.

With S1A.

Before SEASON TWO was out.

Like... You just shit talked literally half of the content that is out for your show and threw your publisher under the process. Why do I think that might not have been received well?

And when I was biggest in the fandom, around the time the news of the shortening happened, you heard a LOT of different explanations from Dana, like it was one executive who made the call or how TOH wasn't a 'part of Disney's brand' or the like. When the Florida stuff came out with Disney, she pretty explicitly called Disney out for it (which is fine and I approve) but then went on to insinuate that it was hard for her to believe that the show had been cancelled for any reason besides representation, a move I DON'T approve of and makes ZERO sense with how they got to do so much more gay shit in S2B and even add new elements like confirming Masha was they/them or confirming Luz being Bi on screen in Thanks to Them. It's not a great look for a director, especially during the times these statements were coming out.

Being unprofessional admittedly doesn't make her a bad person but like... Yeah, I get upset thinking about the contradictions here too. That even in the same post Hoot that she has to admit that the shortening pushed them creatively and they had no real plans, she's still talking like she had plans. Like there was something to be missed when... No. Not for the STORY. Just your bucket of ideas for a perpetual series.

It leans into the idea that saying you were going to do X means you would have done it perfectly. That Dana doesn't understand that the only perfect work is the one never done. She's fine with being remembered for what wasn't there if it means being remembered better. As a creator myself who struggles with putting things to the page... I don't know. It hurts to some extent.

Which just a small update: I've been having real trouble focusing the past couple days. My head is not on well right now. It's why these are being a bit more emotional and late night rather than my normal posts in the morning because that's just how I've felt like doing it. Hope you're all taking care of yourselves and see you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 74: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Here we are, welcome back everyone!! End of the month, time for another chapter leading us into this exciting finale for Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!! I want to start this post with a little foreword before diving into the chapter itself and the eventual translation differences ✨ I just wanted to say that I write this post with a sense of pride but also with even more sense of responsability compared to the previous months. You've probably stumbled upon my recent report of the latest CLAMP Space, where the authors have talked about CCS Clear Card, and their support/blessing to "people addressing the translation differences in their monthly posts on their blog, because they felt uncomfortable about them". Although they never straight up gave names, I certainly feel like they were talking about blogs like mine. And so I'm humbled (and even a little nervous) to be able to keep doing this, since I've wondered multiple times if it was even proper for me to write these posts every month, as if I was leading a crusade against the official English translation. In fact, I'm not. And I hope that's clear enough. When the ENG translation respects the vibe and original intention coming out from sensei's words in the manga panels, like this time around, I always make sure to say positive things about it. But try to understand me, the irritation runs deep because these are years of translation differences accumulating and at times even changing the perception of the story. And then, you stumble upon English speaking fans on the internet who got the gist of the story wrong or disrespecting/failing to appreciate it because of such translation mistakes (we go from Sakura calling Syaoran "Li-kun" in one of the earliest volumes, to Kaito saying that he wanted to give magic to Akiho, wtf??). And I think it's such a pity. It's not fair. The fandom deserves to know what the script is trying to say with a meaning as closer as possible to the original one. I hope I'll be able to help in that regard, for what's in my possibility and with my limited skills, till Clear Card will be over. ✨

OKAY, now let's cut the chatter and see what happened in this chapter!! I'm happy to say that this time around, translation-wise, we don't have anything impairing the correct understanding of the plot, just nuances! As usual, before starting, we can't skip the gif of the month!!

The Color Page

Oh my gosh! Sakura! You look amazing here!!! Such a fierce stare!! She looks just like a powerful and respected magician and OMG THEY GAVE HER A BLACK OUTFIT!! JUST LIKE I'VE BEEN ASKING EVER SINCE THE BEGINNING! I don't know, maybe the veteran followers of this blog can remember, but I've always wished to see Sakura in a black costume/dress in Clear Card 😊 She looks stunning...and what's more, she's once again with the gears and clocks decorations, just like in the period of the Clockland play. But, heheh, this time the clock looks different. The big clocks that were featured during the Clockland chapters (with Sakura + Syaoran, Akiho and lastly Kaito) were often "strange". They all had the same design, the one with SyaoSaku was "regular", but the ones next to Akiho and Kaito had their numbers either in messed up order, or straight up wrong (what kind of clock got '0' as the only number?). I had already assumed by then that they had a significance we had to decode along the development of the finale. This one in this color page, however, really looks like the most classical clock with roman numerals. The order of the numbers and their position seems correct. So could this be a sign that Sakura is about to restore order into this mess that Kaito's desperate wish created? The text on the JP version is the classic incantation to release the Dream staff from the key (we haven't heard it in a looooong time because she manifests her staff immediately, by now!) I also want to point out that we *still* don't have any announcement of "Clear Card ending in next chapter" or "Clear Card ends in 2 chapters!" like it's custom in these serializations, so I can say with confidence that Sakura won't surely be over in chapter 75 (at the beginning of July) but probably not even in chapter 76 (at the beginning of August). Are they aiming at chapter 77 (beginning of September)? Double 7, it's a lucky number for CLAMP ✨ For those worried about "3 chapters aren't enough to finish this!!", please consider that it's not so much about the number of chapters, but the amount of pages. This chapter for example is already longer than usual, 35 pages. That's what really matters, and we could get even an epilogue or some additional pages in the volume version! And now onto to the actual chapter!

An Important Discussion

Yukito, Nakuru and Touya are leisurely spending time at Yukito's home, with a funny scene of Yukito feeding some mikan to Nakuru (and she seems delighted by the cozyness of Japanese kotatsu!). Suddenly, Touya announces that Sakura is coming over. Yukito worries about how it's getting dark and that maybe it'd be better to go pick her up along the way, but a grumpy Touya says there's no need for that: along with Sakura are also coming Syaoran, Akiho and even Tomoyo. Yukito and Nakuru can't help but being surprised, and Nakuru wonders "The all-stars are coming? What's going on?" 😂 I found so hilarious the use of the term "all-stars", which in Japanese usually indicates a whole cast of a performance composed of famous actors, and sometimes it's applied to sports team too. But the room temperature drops immediately when Yukito looks at Touya, with a very pensive face, and it's immediately clear that something serious happened and Sakura is coming to discuss that. Touya might not know exactly what, but as we can see, he's already got a feeling.

Sakura and the kids arrive, apologizing for coming so suddenly, and they sit down, all with very serious faces (save for Tomoyo. Tomoyo never loses her calm composure 😆). Sakura starts dropping the bomb immediately: "I want to talk to you about something very weird" and "I want everyone who knows about the Cards and magic to hear this". Sakura is dead serious, and she informs Syaoran (sitting at her left side) that she's just told everything to Akiho shortly ago. She also tells Kero and Suppy to come out of her purse, for the second time (since the first was halted by the rewriting of the forbidden magic) putting an end to the farce of Kero constantly needing to act like a plushie in front of Touya!! Remember when the fandom used to point out that it was weird that Kero kept hiding from Touya, despite saying himself at the end of the Sakura Card Arc (after Touya gave his powers to Yue/Yukito) that he was perfectly aware that Touya knew everything about them? That really felt like a "plot hole" (maybe at this point the only REAL plot hole) for the longest time, and I am honest when I say that I had already given up hoping to see an explanation for it, wanting to treat it like a "glitch" in the narrative and using suspension of disbelief to overcome it! Well well well, CLAMP surprised me again! Cause in this chapter they actually tried to give an explanation to that "discrepancy"! And of course, being this about Kero, the explanation is rather silly (confession - I didn't understand Kero's reasoning very well, but I'll give my interpretation of what he said): Kero saw that even after that event, Touya didn't try to interact with him and thought that maybe he didn't consider him a cute and gorgeous magical creature, but rather something else....(was he butt-hurt?) Suppy of course is spitting fire cause why the heck did we need to keep pretending to be plushies?? and Kero's reply is "Because I thought it'd be fun pretending to be plushies together when you came over!". Now, if you remember how difficult and taxing it was for Suppy to force himself to stay still, you can understand why he's so mad! 😂 Touya says, quite annoyed, that he simply didn't try to interact with him because he thought that Kero was getting a kick out of acting like a plushie! I feel like sensei have quite reached and almost broke the 4th wall with this scene, because Sakura here says something that I'm pretty sure many of us have thought in regard to this "discrepancy": "I did wonder at some point why you kept that up despite I was telling you multiple times that I had the feeling my brother was onto you". And it's true, we've seen that in volume 4! Well, to me it felt like a stretch, but eventually we got an explanation for that situation so I guess it's better to leave it behind us! 😂

Cause we have more important matters at hand. Sakura places her phone on the table, showing Eriol & Kaho in videocall!! NOW all the "stars" of this show are present! 😂 So Sakura starts her recount of the most recent events, saying "It's really weird...but I swear it happened". After everyone listened to Sakura, of course they're all surprised. Nakuru wonders if there's any magician who can really have the power to "rewrite" a world...Eriol says that as far as he's heard, there isn't any magician among the living ones who has that degree of power. However, if said magician had access to a "medium" able to use the "forbidden magic", then it's another story. And that's the Book Sakura told them about. Sakura confirms that the one who told her all of this is the Guardian of the book herself. And then, to Akiho: "The plushie shaped like a bunny that you cherished so much was the temporary form of that Guardian. You named her 'Momo' ". Here I have to point out that the way the ENG translated it infers that Akiho remembers about Momo ("You know that stuffed bunny you loved so much?"), but actually in the JP version it's mostly Sakura informing Akiho that she used to cherish a bunny-shaped plushie, cause Akiho has no recollection of it. In fact, right after, she answers "But that's the title of a book I really love so much!". THERE IT IS! I've mentioned this many times in my social media accounts, and even lately in my "literary references" post here on Tumblr, but it turns out this simple answer by Akiho kinda confirms that she might really have named Momo after that book. And it's not only a beloved book because of its story, but also the one she was reading when she met Kaito for the first time. I've always thought that having her most beloved plushie named that way, and having precisely that book when they met for the first time couldn't have been unrelated. So I'm really happy for this scene here and I hope it'll get eventually confirmed better later.

Sakura takes Akiho's hands (she'll do that a lot this chapter and I simply love it) and reassures her about something that I was SURE she was going to say:

JP: "The fact that we became twins is an effect of the rewritten (world), but the fact that you are an important person to me didn't change at all, Akiho-chan"

I've preferred putting the JP version here because once again we have the usual stuff that I complain about lately: Sakura in JP used 大切なひと (important person) to describe her relationship with Akiho, and this is absolutely coherent with all the previous times. In ENG they used "you're special to me", but the adjective "special" in Japanese (特別な) in relation to a person has been consistently used in the latest chapters to describe the person Sakura is in love with (and not only Sakura). So they shouldn't have used that adjective in particular. They should stick to the literal translation. Especially cause that "special person" will come up in a few pages. I know I sound pedantic with this separation between "important person" and "special person", but I mean, CLAMP sensei are consistently keeping that distinction so I'm convinced the translation should do its best to keep it, because it's a guide to lead the readers among the relationships of CCS. Which sometimes can be quite complex.

Touya teases Sakura again with the sis-con joke, and Yukito teases him back by saying "Are you talking about yourself now?" (I love how Yukito always teases the big and grumpy Touya 😂they're really made for eachother). Tomoyo comments that it's been "a sight for sore eyes" (the term used in JP is 眼福, ganpu, and it's used when you see something precious) to see Sakura in the role of the big sister and Akiho in the one of the little sister. Akiho is moved by the fact that, despite everyone knowing the truth now, nobody shunned her or rejected her presence, and exactly like I imagined, I'm 100% sure Sakura will keep thinking about her as a sister (not a blood-related sister maybe, but surely with the same importance of one) even after everything will be solved later. Cause the bond between her and Akiho was never a fabricated thing, but always been genuine from day 1. Even if they got close in such a short period of time, it's just what happens normally in real life too. Sometimes you bond very tightly with people over a short period of time, cause you feel you're so compatible.

So Sakura continues. She says that for this reason, she wants to bring (someone) back. She's convinced that what the Record Card showed to her is not everything. She feels like there is someone who is missing from both what the Record Card had shown to her and from this rewritten world as well. Syaoran is confused, "they're missing, and yet you're sure they're there?". Sakura understands that confusion and says "It's weird, right? I can't really explain how I know it, but I just do." And then, towards Akiho: "That person....is your special person, Akiho-chan". There it is, the infamous "special person" again. It's clear what Sakura is meaning here. "This is the person you're in love with, Akiho-chan". Of course Akiho's face cannot be any other than a dismayed one at hearing that. And then the pain comes, all at once, piercing her heart and leaving her speechless. Sakura says that the Record Card wasn't showing anyone with Akiho in one of the scenes, and yet she saw her extremely happy. That was enough for Sakura to know that someone was indeed there with Akiho.

I'm Always Searching For Someone

We're shown one of the most important scenes for anyone liking Akiho and Kaito (and their bond), the night that Akiho was so brave to confess her feelings to him through a covert (and very local) way, claiming that "the moon is really beautiful". And in the same occasion he accepted to spend some time strolling and talking to her. It was clear from the moment that scene happened that it would've become important later. And the readers who know what happened and what we lost are feeling probably the same pain Akiho is feeling right now, only that she's unaware of what is causing it. Akiho says "I'm really happy to live with you, Sakura, and everyone in the Kinomoto household, but...I've been in pain. Because I'm always looking for someone who's not there...". So Akiho did feel the effects of that void. The void that only your most important person can leave when they're gone. It's just that, we've seen her being so happy with her "new" family, and yet exactly like most of the fandom imagined, that didn't really work to fill the void Kaito left. It's impossible to fill that void because that person is just irreplaceable. This scene of course stabbed my heart but I had imagined that we would've seen it sooner or later. Sakura gets more confident with the confession of what Akiho's been feeling, and tells her that she thinks the one she didn't want to lose and the one who rewrote their world are the same person. "So I'm going to bring them back". Sakura announces with a smile, but Kero just wonders in dismay how she's going to do that. Sakura believes that the pocket watch in Akiho's possession will show her how. As if on cue, Akiho takes it out of her purse and places it on the table in front of Sakura's phone, where Eriol and Kaho can see it. They recognize it's a magical artifact specialized in time magic, but they also recognize that in order for a magician to be able to use it, they would need to have a tremendous amount of magical powers. Akiho suddenly panics. It dawns on her. I think the mental connection she's made is "if Sakura wants to use this to bring my special person back, she would need to achieve an amount of magical powers that could put her in harm's way". Aside, of course, from all the other dangers that a "mission" like that could pose to our heroine. And of course she'd never be okay with that. But Sakura reassures her. "You aren't making me. I want to." Sakura explains that both when she was dealing with the Clow Cards (and we see a scene of the Final Judgement, the one where Kaho gives her the Moon Bell) and when she was transforming them into her own Cards (they show us a scene from the last battle with Eriol), she was able to overcome her troubles thanks to all of the people who loved her and cared about her.

Sakura, JP: "Therefore I want to do what I can for my important person, too"

Again the use of 大切なひと (important person) in relation to Akiho. I think this panel in particular is pretty important (and the big font indeed suggests so). I feel like it's the core, the heart of Clear Card Arc. Sakura, whom until now was accustomed to be cherished and pampered in a protected environment by her loved ones, is starting to take the first steps towards self-assertiveness and maturity. Sometimes those loved ones would overdo it with the loving, and ended up depriving her of her own agency. Sakura is finding herself, she's starting to trust her instincts and capabilities more and more, and that leads inevitably to a question: "what do I want to do with these gifts life gave me and blessed me with? What can I do to give back to the Universe all this love I'm receiving?" Searching for her self-identity will inevitably make her step out of her comfort zone. She'll take risks. Even on herself. She'll need to assess situations, make decisions. And here she decided that she wants to use her natural gift (her magical powers) to help someone in need. Someone important to her. Someone dear who lost someone irreplaceable and lacks the means to bring him back. Sakura decides to step in, help her "sister", doing exactly what she herself told her during last chapter: if I happen to be good at something that you can't do, I'll help you out. That's the beauty of being all unique and different.

I've seen people often wondering what's the purpose of Clear Card Arc, if we really needed to this arc and such. Well, to me the answer was made manifest in this chapter. 🙂

But back to our story, Tomoyo understands that moment has finally come, so she says that maybe she can't use magic, but she felt it was best to bring along with her a certain big bag (that we all know what contains, right??). She also says that she had the feeling she had made an asymmetrical costume before, but when she went to check, she realized she hadn't made it yet...

Listen to me well, because this is the solution to the mystery of the cryptical thing Ohkawa sensei said in relation to one of Sakura's costumes, during the latest CLAMP Space! Basically, she hinted that there was a reason why we hadn't seen Sakura wearing officially (for a Card battle) this costume yet, and that we would find out why soon. I know the ENG translation here talks about "complementary outfits" (referring probably to how Tomoyo will later reveal complementary outfits for both Sakura and Syaoran), but that only shows that they misunderstood the word アシンメトリー (lit. Asymmetry). Tomoyo here was literally talking about asymmetry because the "costume she thought she had made, but didn't find in the end" was precisely the one Ohkawa was hinting at during the latest Space, the one Sakura was trying on in chapter 36 and 37! Tomoyo had a sense of deja vu, about having made an asymmetrical outfit before, but actually couldn't find it because...well, the forbidden magic had removed any reference to the Clear Cards! (including, apparently, the costumes!) So that goes to show that Tomoyo, despite not having a crumble of magic, was also subjected to the deja vu and weird feelings of "discrepancy" that such rewriting of the world would cause. But hold on tight, cause another reference is on the way!

Tomoyo continues saying that while she was sewing the sleeve of the outfit, she had the strong feeling that this costume would turn into a very special one. And what do we have here? OH YES, it's THAT sleeve, the one we've been waiting for so eagerly! The one that Sakura saw in a dream with MCF once! Sakura back then asked to MCF if they would meet outside the dream when she'd be wearing that outfit, and MCF only cryptically said that it would be "the beginning of the end". Considering now we know that MCF has been mostly a byproduct of Lilie trying to communicate with Sakura and inadvertently messing things up, I do wonder about that MCF. Was Sakura, by any chance, actually was supposed to see Kaito and she saw the robe instead, because of Lilie? Or is that an actual member of Akiho's clan? Only this finale can tell us the truth. Sakura will certainly meet someone, with that costume.

Sakura thanks Tomoyo, always so ready to show her support, and she does something very sweet, as a result of regaining all of her rewritten memories: she tells Tomoyo that she'll do her best to come back without getting the costume dirty, but if it eventually starts fraying, she knows that Tomoyo will be there to repair it.....yeah....doesn't it remind you of something?? Of course I bet any Tomoyo fan knows very well what scene Sakura is referencing with this line....

When Sakura told Tomoyo she repaired her torn costume with the Repair Card in chapter 40, Tomoyo expressed the wish to be her the one repairing those costumes, with her own hands. Because she had created them specifically for Sakura, so she would also want to be the one to repair them in case they'd get damaged. Basically telling her "I made these with all my love for you, and I'd prefer that a Card didn't take my place even when needing to repair them. I want the costumes that you wear to be made completely by my own hands". Always reminding us that making something with your own hands for your loved one is the greatest proof of love for any character in CCS (which is something I find truly wholesome and beautiful). Sakura here shows to have understood and accepted that wish fully, therefore acknowledging Tomoyo and her feelings. Tomoyo is uncharacteristically surprised for a second, and then with the happiest smile she confirms that of course she'll be there to repair it!

Sakura looks at her brother Touya, who only grumpily tells her to respect the curfew. Sakura is confused because they never had a curfew time at home, but her brother replies "Come back before dad gets worried. That's our curfew". (in ENG there's an additional part here, I guess to fill in a bubble that would be left empty) Sakura confidently replies "Got it".

Nakuru is all giddy, excitedly announcing that they decided to go to war and they need to decide the formation!! Suppy mocks her, telling her she's talking as if she were playing one of her warring states games (in JP the term used here is 戦国ゲーム - sengoku game - and I've found there's a specific game called indeed Sengoku, but it seems the same term extended to indicate all the war games set in the Sengoku era), but that doesn't deter Nakuru, who says that if she gets chosen, she will certainly participate actively (here the ENG uses game language from what I can see - not an expert - but good job!)!!

Sakura's plan is different, though. She says that tonight she'll be going only with Syaoran. She knows that if everyone could go with her, she'd feel more confident and reassured, but...

Sakura, JP: "If I want to find Akiho-chan's most important person, I have the feeling that it'd be better for me to go with my most important person"

Here we go. We temporarily leave aside the "special person" terminology to go back to the more famous and loved "my most important person" term, to indicate THE ONE person someone loves the most. 一番大切なひと (ichiban taisetsuna hito). The term we all learned because it's been so crucial to indicate the person someone was in love with during the old arcs of the story. The term Sakura eventually used for Syaoran at the end of CCS volume 12 to finally give a "definition" to the love she felt for him. Now she uses it to define Akiho's feelings for Kaito. This is "the" term that takes precedence over all the other terminology used, and also goes to show how important and solemn the moment is. Sakura's intuition tells her that in order to find Kaito, Akiho's most important person, she should go with Syaoran, her own most important person. This is probably because her magical intuition (let's remember that Sakura got the power to see the future) grasped that her bond with Syaoran will be absolutely pivotal in order to have a positive outcome for the mission they're about to embark on. They will probably have to put that bond at work....maybe to explain, show, help someone understanding something that he still doesn't seem to grasp perfectly? Or rather, a stubborn refusal to understand it, which caused them all to be in this situation they're in right now? What's for sure is that if Sakura and Syaoran manage to find Kaito, and if they'll also manage to free him from the Seal of D. + the artifact with all the magical books that Akiho had engraved in herself, their job won't certainly be over like that. Kaito needs to talk to someone. He needs to understand many, many things. Some of those things, Sakura and Syaoran can at least try to introduce them to him. Because while it's true that Sakura wants to bring him back for Akiho, she also needs to make sure that coming back is also Kaito's wish. Because they can't force him if he isn't 100% convinced himself. I'm sure this is a very important thematic for CLAMP, respecting someone's self-determination. And since his state of mind, last time we saw him, was that he was perfectly expendable and that he was absolutely not necessary in Akiho's life, they need to change that perception. And there's also the fact that, despite being so different, Kaito and Syaoran are pretty similar in several aspects too. So maybe the role Syaoran can have in "communicating" with Kaito could be very important and impactful. Maybe that's what Sakura's intuition was trying to tell her.

Here, the ENG translation decided to translate that "most important person" with "favorite person". I have definitely turned up my nose at seeing that (why not leaving the iconic term?) but in the end I decided to relax because, at the end of the day, the result is similar. It indicates a person for whom your preference and importance is above everyone else. What really *mattered* in this scene - and lo and behold, it seems ONLY the English and Portuguese versions got it right (let me know about the Chinese one, cause I can't read that one) - is that Sakura used the same term to describe what Akiho feels for Kaito, and what SHE feels for Syaoran. "I am aware that this missing person is for Akiho an existence of the same importance Syaoran-kun has for me. Therefore, I will do everything in my power to bring them back, because I fully understand that kind of bond and I understand the void they leave in your life when they're not there" She knows, to some degree, what it feels like to miss your most beloved person, due to the period she had to spend apart from Syaoran. And they could still have phone calls and writing letters. Akiho's situation can only be worse. Sakura's understanding of that bond is also what causes her intuition to suggest her to go only with Syaoran. It's all connected. So it's of utmost importance that the translations use the same term when both talking about Akiho and Sakura. Then, about this scene, we could also say that it was a beautiful demonstration of how much Sakura (but also Syaoran) has grown up, now fully confident to declare in front of everyone that Syaoran is THE most important person in her life. Without blushing and without any drama. It's just a fact. After all they've been through, I think Sakura can feel confident enough in her relatinship with Syaoran, and there's no shame nor embarrassment in stating that aloud.

The people present here can only accept and show their support, and Eriol encourages Sakura to follow her intuition (remember the whole discussion about listening to the stirring of your heart, the so-called intuition? Yeah, a great lesson from Mama Yelan which will also be applied to another character soon). Sakura tells Kero that if she needs him, she will certainly call, and the guardian beast reassures her that he'll certainly hear his master's voice, same for Yue.

Then, lastly, Sakura takes Akiho's hands and holds them tightly. They share another sweet forehead touch (seriously, I love them so much ❤️). Akiho is worried, so worried, but also very resolute. She wants this as much as Sakura does. Sakura tells her that there'll surely be a moment when she'll request Akiho to do something only she can do, and asks her to please wait here with everyone till that time comes.

I'll admit it, I was really disappointed when I've read this scene the first time around. Not only because I had imagined all kinds of scenes in my head (included Akiho wearing one of Tomoyo's costumes) and they shattered that possibility (but oh well, I am prepared to that), but also because I feel like this isn't a good choice from a character development POV. I understand it, I really understand it, this is Sakura's story. She's the one who gets to shine in the finale. And we've talked about it before, there's no doubt that Sakura in this story goes through a journey to find her identity and what she wants to do. So now it's time to let her do that. But Akiho has been slandered for the whole manga, accused of all kind of things because of prejudice, and one of those was "she's weak and passive, she does nothing". Seeing her "on the sidelines" once again, when we're talking about rescuing her most important person, feels extremely off. Letting someone else do "the job for her" doesn't even feel like Akiho.

Then, as hours passed by, I thought...

Maybe Sakura wants to take care of the first part of the mission, because it'll certainly be the one where it's most likely to encounter some magical danger (dragon-chan???). And Akiho wouldn't be able to defend herself from that, devoid of magical powers as she is. She could potentially end up risking her own life. And then all of this would've been for nothing. And then I thought, wait, maybe Akiho knows that. She knows it very well, since she's a girl with a pretty good understanding of herself and her own limits. And this is certainly a limit she does have. So what she can do is to wait safely at home, as hard and painful as it can be, for the REAL, big moment when her presence will be absolutely necessary. Sakura said it with great confidence so it's 100% sure it will come. Therefore, as an Akiho fan, I will swallow this pill and wait together with her. 🫤

But the chapter isn't over yet, as Touya and Yukito go outside in the garden while Sakura and Syaoran get dressed for their departure! Yukito teases once again Touya, telling him that his face is scary and that Sakura's earlier statement ("most important person") must have caused him "damage" (still seemingly talking in game language). Touya of course doesn't reply, so Yukito continues, giving finally confirmation to the suspicion I've been having ever since this "rewritten world" started: Touya did notice something was off. He didn't know precisely what, but he knew it had something to do with Sakura. Yukito also gives us the opportunity to see just how kind and generous Touya is: he purposely didn't go back home often because he wanted to reduce his presence around Akiho as much as possible. Not because of negative feelings, quite the contrary: he was worried she'd get even more hurt if she established a bond with him, only to end up finding out that they weren't really brother and sister. (Meanwhile, we see a very cute panel of Akiho talking to Kero, Suppy and still in videocall with Eriol and Kaho!) And then, to follow the leit-motiv of this chapter, very centered on calling back stuff that had already happened in the original world, Touya says that he won't allow anyone to hurt his close ones (they used "family" in ENG, but the word 身内 can indicate also friends and such, the common characteristic is that they're very close). Got the feeling you've already heard these words, especially with the use of the word 身内 ? Yes, of course, it's vaguely the same threat he made to Kaito back in chapter 54, during the double date! 😂 Hmmmm, I have the feeling that if they manage to bring Kaito back (of course they will!), someone will want to have a word or two with him....let's hope he'll just stick to words! 😂 Jokes aside, it's very heartwarming to see how even Touya warmed up to Akiho, and took her under his protective big brother's wing! In fact, Yukito can't just miss the new opportunity to tease him (stop flirting so shamelessly in front of us, Yuki! 😂), telling him he's so overprotective for his sisters!!

The two lovebirds have finished changing their clothes, and we're all left staring at them agape, together with Nakuru: they look stunning, in their complementary outfits!! Sakura even got heels ❤️ And yes, dear readers, as already hinted when Tomoyo was speaking, this is IT, THE costume with THAT sleeve that appeared in Sakura's dream! It is the biggest indication that it's finally time for the last confrontation. Both Sakura and Syaoran look so resolute and ready to make a mess of space and time to bring Kaito back!! 😂 As many have noticed, Sakura got her Dream Staff with her, despite the Clear Cards have disappeared: my theory is that the Key was never removed by the forbidden magic, only the Cards, or maybe that the key came out now that Sakura got her memories back.

And this is where the chapter ends, with another huge cliffhanger!! Will we see Kaito, next time? Being a chapter number ending in -5, and being in the very last volume, I expect big things from it! Chapter 75 will be published on CLAMP's Youtube channel on July 1st, while the relative Nakayoshi magazine will be released on July 3rd (by the way, we'll have Sakura ONCE AGAIN on the cover and ANOTHER Sakura furoku!!). As usual, when I have less translation mistakes to talk about and more space for my feelings towards the chapter, I go overboard! Another freaking long post 😂😂 So I'll just leave you here, as usual I'll wait for your asks in my inbox! Bye Bye!!

#card captor sakura #cardcaptor sakura #clear card arc #ccsakura #ccs spoilers #translation differences #chapter 74 #Sakura Kinomoto #akiho shinomoto #Syaoran Li

[temple-of-eternal-hera]

Understanding Hellenic Polytheism: The Orthos

There are three big theological "orthos" that typically define religions. They are orthopraxy, orthodoxy, and orthopathy. Orthos is a Greek word that means "straight" and is often interpreted as "right" or "correct."

Orthopraxy means "right action" and emphasizes correct actions over belief or feeling. Hellenic Polytheism is orthopraxic - essentially holding that one's personal beliefs and feelings are irrelevant, but that performing the correct actions, both ritual and ethical, are integral to securing the blessings of the Gods and having a strong society.

Orthodoxy means "right belief" and emphasizes having the correct beliefs over feelings or actions. The Abrahamic religions are all orthodox. They require certain beliefs in order to be a practitioner: belief in one singular divinity, belief in one particular savior, belief in one particular prophet, etc. However, many orthodox religions also have orthopraxic elements. For example, a Torah-observant Jew believes in the orthopraxy of the halacha, while a Catholic believes in the orthopraxy of confession, and a Muslim must uphold the five pillars of Islam.

Orthopathy means "right feeling" and emphasizes correct feeling over actions or beliefs. Orthopathy is uncommon on its own, but is a common feature of evangelical religions, as well as new age spirituality. In many evangelical sects, you have to feel the "Holy Spirit" or you just aren't doing it right. In new age spirituality, beliefs and actions are ignored or warped to suit whatever makes the individual feel good.

This is something that can be challenging to wrap your head around as a practitioner. For me, growing up Christian, everything was orthodox. Ultimately the only thing that really mattered was a belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God and savior of the world. Prayer and adherence to orthopraxy were just a way of expressing that belief. However, the right feeling was how I knew that I was believing correctly, so that was a big feature too. The emphasis was on a "personal relationship" with Jesus, and that involved feelings and belief.

I still struggle sometimes, more with orthopathy than anything else. I find great comfort, when I'm struggling with faith, in the fact that the Gods don't give a single rat's ass if I believe in Them or not. Despite that, I frequently struggle with the idea of not being in the right mindset to "approach" the Gods. Growing up, if my mind wandered during prayer, that meant I wasn't actually focused on God, and I was being disrespectful. That leads to me not doing the right actions now, because I don't feel good enough. For example, I'll skip Hekate's Deipnon-Noumenia-Agathos Daimon because I'm not in the right mindset, even though I know that all the Gods care about is that I do the rituals, correctly, and on time.

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