#One of them isn't making it out of there without at least 5 bruises

[aioliravioli-69]

Alright, who showed Buddy the tutorial?

[moodymisty]

𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝕺𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝕸𝖊

[ 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖞𝕸𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖞'𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙| 𝕬𝖔3 ]

Part 1 of 5 - Part 2

Author's Note: It's here! The first chapter of the Yandere Salamander/Fem!Reader/Yandere Night Lord love triangle(corner) fic! It's going to be 4 chapters (5 actually you'll see tehe) and I drafted a good portion of it in advance so it should be smooth posting? We'll see. Enjoy!

Summary: A Night Lord becomes interested in you while you stand under the eyes of your Salamander guardian, and you find yourself stuck between two titans.

Relationship: Yandere!Salamander/Fem!Reader/Yandere!Night Lord

Warnings: Hints of nsfw at points, Yandere, Size differences, Very toxic suffocating relationship(s), Some knight/princess dynamics, Demeaning language, Both these guys have hero complexes, Violence blood and bruises and possibly death to say without spoilers

Word Count: 2068

Word travels fast aboard even the largest of ships, you had learned quite quickly.

Space marine legions are not fond of working with one another, was what you had learned first. Many times even different squads within this same Legion can butt heads, as different styles of commanding and battle conflict with one other. Salamanders often try and remain cordial when problems within them arise, but friction was and is inevitable.

The second, was Vulkan was apparently quite firm with his legion that they were to welcome their temporary allies with respect. At least that is what you’ve heard from any Salamander that you’ve heard mumbling as you pass by, or any that have given you a moment of their time. That’s all you know, and these tidbits of knowledge fail to put together a full picture that you can understand. Their lips have been quite tight other than the bare minimum they believe you need to know.

Or what you can get from them if you ask very nicely; Much like the Commissars and Lords you've dealt with over the years, it seems Salamanders aren't immune to a bit of flattery also. You just need to make sure he doesn't find out, as you know how displeased he gets whenever he finds out you went wandering around chattering with his brothers.

Speaking of...

You can ask him about it; You just need to wait for him.

He always visits you in the librarium, once his second round of training is concluded. He then goes for his five hours of rest, and the cycle restarts. Though even if it isn't that time, you know he still keeps a keen eye on you.

You don’t wish to bother him with an issue as seemingly meaningless as gossip, but none of your fellows have been able to piece together what's happening, as none of the Salamanders have loosened their lips about it in the slightest.

It's made you more than a bit unnerved; Knowing that something is wrong but no one will tell you what it is. The tenseness in your neck is worse, and sirens and calls once normal now make you jolt when they sound off.

The large piece of parchment in front of you remains nearly empty, apart from the crude outline. Commander Artellus's face is fresh in your mind, but you for some reason can't put it to parchment.

You hear the sound of harsh, heavy boots on the ground, and turn to see who you've been waiting for coming towards you. You shift in your seat and turn to see him coming.

“Ralkan; You’re back,”

You smile wide at him, a put down the pen you'd been fruitlessly trying to use. The way his eyes look down at you is warm, his helmet hanging on the side of his hip. He stands close to where you sit alone at the massive table, covered in a mess of materials. The ink in your well shakes with waves, when he steps closer.

“You should have been there this time. I feel like I'm missing something now without your curious looks.”

You smile even wider and laugh, remembering the time. He had outpreformed Salamanders his senior, and you wondered if he was overdue for an ascension in rank, or if he was simply showing off.

“I'll come next time. As long as your battle brothers don’t mind me seeing your training again.”

He places a massive gauntlet on your shoulderblades, thumb against the side of your neck.

"They won't, I am sure of it. Though I hope you'll reserve your cheering only for me again."

His hand brushes along the upper half of your back before it slides away, his chainsword hanging neatly on his back. He looks out the massive window to the vast reaches of space directly in front of your makeshift desk for a moment, before pulling his bolter off his thigh and checking it.

He’s always meticulous. He’s been trained into flawless discipline, and it shows in every aspect of his existence. From the way he keeps his thoughts closed to the way each piece of armor and each weapon must be meticulously maintained.

You can hear the mechanics of his armor shift as he moves, but you can only tolerate few more beats of the near silence before you can’t help it anymore. Your pen twirls in your hand as a soothing gesture before you speak up.

“Ralkan?”

You look up to him, sniffling from the disturbed dust in your nose. He turns to look at you as you abandon your parchment, and finally put pen down and place your ink stained hands in your lap.

You hesitate for a moment, pursing your lips and looking away from his hard gaze as he turns back to you.

“What is happening?”

He is genuinely confused by your question for a moment, before he realizes what it is you're asking about, and his face stiffens. But still he doesn't answer. It irks you; Thinking that he’s trying to keep this all from you. You add on to your earlier question.

“I know that you are going to be fighting alongside another legion, but why are all of you acting like it's something you're all dreading?”

Perhaps you might simply be a guest aboard this ship, gifted from Terra to a legion eager to put their deeds to written memory, but you wish to know more than the servitors do. You pull your hands from your lap and lightly slap the table with them, gripping the edge.

“Ralkan, Who are the Night Lords?”

It is so instantly apparent that you struck something in him, as his body visibly tenses and his face briefly flashes with anger as a legion's name other than his own leaves your tongue.

He makes eye contact with you, the burning red of his eyes making your curiosity waver. But you still want to know- need to know. He takes a step closer, and his left hand rests against the surface of the table. He lets out a tense breath.

“The Night Lords are the 8th legion. They," Ralkan tries to find the words, pausing for a moment. "The way they wage battle is in near direct opposition to us Salamanders."

He speaks the name with a stern, cold demeanor. It fills you with a hesitant sort of interest.

These legions; Have they really developed cultures so unique that they find themselves unrecognizable to each other?

“They have no respect. They will cull entire cities for the slightest infraction.” He looks to you, and he catches that your curiosity it still taking hold; You lack the fear that he's trying to instill in you.

He takes a step forward, and you can hear his armor hiss and grind as he lowers to a knee, now only a head taller than you as you sit. He puts his hand on your shoulder again, but it lacks the gentleness it had the last time, as he grabs tight and forces you to face him. You wouldn’t be able to pull away even if you wanted to; And while he is still trying to be gentle, his gauntlet still yearns to bruise your skin underneath your clothing. The seams of his armor dig into your flesh even through the fabric.

“They are going to be crawling over the ship soon. Do not let them even see you. You cannot run from them and they will know it.” His hand makes sure you can’t look even the tiniest bit away from him. “They will take advantage of your weakness. You must stay here, in your quarters, or close to me. I was charged with protecting you, and I will see it through.”

There’s not many places on this ship you go, at least without him. He is your guard, or perhaps more accurately your handler. He is in charge of making sure you don’t wander where you don’t belong, as even if the Salamanders have been welcoming to a remembrancer on their ship, they have their limits. For your safely and their privacy.

This ship- A world for giants, it isn't meant for someone like you either. Ralkan makes it a bit easier to navigate.

Though out of all the titles he's been given, he seems to enjoy calling himself your knight first and foremost. You assume it’s simply a part of their culture, you’ve heard other Salamanders call themselves knights as well. The tone is different, but you assume it’s simply Ralkan’s own brand of oddity. Perhaps he isn't fully cognizant of the intimate undertone behind saying such a thing to you.

Stuck in his grip, your nose wrinkles as you try to say something in defiance, to learn a bit more, but you know this it all you'll get from him. Even if you ask sweetly.

“I just wanted to know what was happening. I'll," You turn your face away from him and blow air from between your tight lips. "I'll stop the questions about it."

There isn’t much you can say otherwise in the matter anyhow. You want to trust him, and to listen to him, but perhaps it’s simply curiosity that makes you hesitate on the matter. Or naivety he probably assumes, as much as that irritates you.

He lets out an audible sigh of relief, and loosens the hand on your shoulder, it drifting up your neck before it cups your jaw. The other joins it on the opposite side, holding your face in his gauntlets. They're so gentle, even with cold ceramite between your skin and his.

“You know I do this to protect you, yes?” He continues, his eyes soft as they gaze over you. “I only want for you to be safe here. With me. I have seen these astartes before; I know what they are capable of.”

His eyes are warm, brow softened. You always enjoy when he looks at you this way, even if you might fear of what lays between you being far beyond the supposed title of knight and his charge. 

He leans forward, and his forehead touches your own. You feel like he wishes to do more, but is forcing it back. Your bare hand lays overtop of his gauntlet, and you smile at him.

But after a moment, he leans back away from you.

“I must leave now. My brothers and I are part of the battalion that is due to greet our temporary allies.” 

You so desperately don’t want him to leave, but at the same time, you wonder if the weight on your chest will finally dissipate if he does.

He rises, and in doing so also removes his hands from your jaw. His cape shifts behind him just barely brushing against the floor, and you swear you can hear the crackling of a vox channel in his helmet. His battalion must be calling for him.

“I will return soon. Please, do not forget what I have said.” You nod in understanding, and pick up your pen. He smiles at you after you do, and turns to leave. You turn to watch for a moment, until he's out of your sight. You turn back to face the table and let out a sigh, rubbing your jaw.

You didn’t want him to leave, but at times Ralkan can be so, suffocating. His very energy is that way, many of the astartes are, but Ralkan seems to have his grip around you particularly tight.

You sum it up to him being dedicated to the safely of their brand new remembrancer. The sheen of a new toy that hasn't worn off yet. Or perhaps him simply wishing to make sure you don't deviate from the path, and tread where you aren't welcome.

You assume the ladder, though the way he looks at you fills you with doubt.

You aren't opposed to him being fond, but he is so overwhelming. You might consider yourself lucky you think you feel the same way, as you don't know if you'd be able to get free of his grip if you didn't.

You don’t forget his words, but as you write word after word, and the drawing of Commander Artellus's face slowly forms, your mind begins to fall into the paper, and his voice becomes little more than a tickle in the back of your mind.

[castleofclouds]

ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏꜱ ɪ'ᴠᴇ ᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅ Nct Dream Alternative Universe OT7.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅ pairings ; ot7 × reader (yn)

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅ disclaimer ; fiction, cursing, 18+ content, kms joke and many more.

Story are by © castleofclouds, do not copy or repost without watermark!

‧₊˚ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖‧₊˚ ⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖‧₊˚ ࣪﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪sumarry : your life was peaceful until your stupid friends start giving you ideas of making thread about ur exes, stirring a whole new problems for you, suddenly one by one of your past start running back to you and opening old books of you and them, how do you act in this situation?

genre : gotta be fluff! texts (sometimes smau) angsty, slowburn, romance, humor, mention of 18+ content.

tag : @bluedbliss, @luvandletter, @1daily2lele7,

To All The Boys I've Dated Before : Headache.

Your head was aching so badly, you woke up in the middle of a familiar bedroom, with the pastel pink wallpaper all over it, your head feels like it's going to explode, you look around and caught a sight of your hand had been bruised covered by a lot of bandage all over it.

Huh, Weird.

You isn't usually the clumsy type, so this a bit shocking for you, you get up thinking of getting a sip of water because you could really use some hangover to wake you up completely, the glimpse of your figures on the mirror caught your attention.

You are a mess! (Not that you never one, but this is a mess mess type situation)

Your lipstick had been all over the place, your hair are tousled, every each strands of it is all over the place, and the horror in your face when I see a lot of small bruise like a tiny bite on your collarbone.

Each by each of last night scene play out in your mind, until you remember a man with blond hair was all over your face, you don't have to think pinpoint anybody else because you know very well who is that blonde muscular man.

“Jeno you fucker..”

Karina dialed you, she sounds worried with her tone half worried half relief that you are waking up fine, you muttered the courage to ask about last night, she hesitant as she take a deep breath.

“He walk you home last night that's all nothing more!”

You raised your eyebrows in disbelief, a simple walking home? With all this kissmark on you? Yeah aint no way, you had to interrogate her for more 5 minutes until she spills how last night you and him were all over the place, especially after playing those seven minutes in heaven.

You never want to facepalm your face hard, she even admitted that, before the seven minutes games there's also a spin of bottle game, and a dare of you to making out with him, the more you listen the more embarrassed you got.

“Thanks..” you said as you close the phone, you need your coffee, this morning had been too much.

—–—

On the other side of the line were your other ex, he was religiously looking at a polaroid picture of him and you back when you and him weren't a past things and actually in love.

“You know boss if you really miss her that much, ask her to get back together..” Xiaojun muttered, which Renjun respond with a slap at the nape.

“Ain't no way, we are done like years ago, getting back together? As if!” he exclaimed clearly bothered, yet his ears are turning red by each moment.

“Then at least stop using my phone to see her account will ya? You kept hesitating whether to like her post or not, it's annoying!” Hendery nagged as he stand besides the counter, Renjun tuck his two-toned hair back, “I paid to use your phone I can't even do that?” he ranting, unable to counter attack Hendery stopped trying and decided to stop talking further.

The bell rings, Renjun suddenly change into this sweet angel out of the heaven as if he doesn't just scolding his coworkers, he smiles brightly welcoming the customer, “Welcome to RCafe, how should I help.. Yn?” when his eyes realize the girl he was just contemplating about liking her post or not suddenly showed up at his door.

“One Caramel Macchiato.. Please?” your voice weak doesn't have any time to even pick a fight, RCafe is the only cafe within campus that opened up very early in the morning, Renjun were eyeing you up and down he looks worried, you look very pale and quite disheveled, when his mouth were opened to asked, a sight of a bruised on your collarbone stopping him.

“Oh. Alright, we'll bring it.” he quickly went back to the counter, his face red from angry completely pissed.

You tilt your head in confusion, he would usually fight back, but today he is specifically calm, like.. Almost too calm, you know that calm, here's the thing about Renjun, he never the type to talk what he is feeling, instead, he just show it and hoping for you to catch it, and as someone who had known him for quite a while that calm is calm before storm.

As you sat down, you could feel a glare against the back of your head, Renjun were death staring behind your ears like you are doing something very terrible to him, 5 minutes later Xiaojun came and bring your coffee, he smiles but not those ‘happy to see you’ smile but scared one, like there's a dagger up his throat.

You pick up the cup when a notes fell to your table, you look at it for a while, and look at Renjun, as he throw his face away, like a kid mad at his parents.

The cat sticker and the ‘RJ’ initals are enough to explain who is it, Renjun are like this, back when both of you are still in relationship every time he is mad, he would just sent you a note asking about things, but not always, it's just something he do out of jealousy.

So he is jealous now? That's explained his attitude, you rolled your eyes at the notes, drinking your caramel macchiato as you finished it you went to the counter to pay, you look at Renjun at the cashier, as someone who is the manager of the cafe you don't understand why is he so worked up? He had 3 people work under him, you payed the coffee and when you almost leave you look back and muttered a response.

“Btw, it's not your concern who I'm with. So stop doing this, don't make us more uncomfortable with each other shall we?” you smiled and left the store, he looks hurt abit about it.

Hendery look at Renjun and give him a Pat at his back, “Cheer Up boss.” was all he said, Renjun shake his head and sigh. “She's right, we are not in that type of closeness to ask about something so private like that..” as he said that, a single drop of water run down his face.

“Wait.. Jun, you..” Xiaojun look at Renjun, as he smiled but his eyes aren't.

—-—

You walked back to your apartment, you felt bad about what you said to renjun this morning, you awkwardly scratch your nape in guilty, you saw Chenle, you want to walk past him when he stop on your track, “Morning,” He said joyfully, you smiled back as response.

“Did you sober yet? Want to grab a breakfast together?” he asked, his eyes caught the bruise on your collarbone, he sighs yet he still smiled, “Wait here..” he went to his apartment, you bewildered.

He came back with cute bandages and a medicine, he gave you, you taken aback by it, “What's this for?” you asked, he pointed at your collarbone, “You have a lot of mosquito bites on your collarbone.” he added, you want to protest that it's not a mosquito bites, but he just silenced you.

“Can you please not tell me if it's not a mosquito bites? I think I would feel at least more better about it, a simple lie wouldn't hurts right?”

You look at him, you never understand Chenle, but one thing for sure, Chenle isn't very happy today, yet for you he tried to look as if he is happy.

You want to hug him so much, embrace him and tell him that it's all a mistake, and you would never do it again, but the only thing you could do was nodded your head, as your head hung low.

“Can you at least do one favor for me?” he asked, you look up and nodded fast, “Let's grab a breakfast together? Spare your day with me today, that's if it's okay with you of course.” he waits for your answer as you laughed.

Chenle you will always have a special place in your heart, the way he is adoringly asked you and his fidgeting at the thought sold it, you beamed “Of course, let's have a pleasant day together.”

Previous, Masterlist, Next.

A/N

Hello? Do anybody still at the store? Haha, gosh can't believe this story are from last year! I came back, because I see some of you are actually waiting for this one? I'm sorry it's been quite a long time isn't it? What can I say last year of my college life is very tough with the upcoming schedule and such it's hard maintaining both hobby and responsibility, I hope everyone had a nice day! Here for a long long 2025 healthy and happy life! Let's talk alot next times! Dw I'm back now so wait more for me!

[iviarellereads]

A Wrinkle In Time, Chapter 1 - Mrs Whatsit

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index for the Time Quintet, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which a small, normal world opens up.

It was a dark and stormy night.(1)

Margaret Murry sits wrapped in an old quilt, shaking. It's not just the weather, that doesn't usually bother her. It's that everything else is wrong with her life, too. She's in the lowest segment of her grade, despite having brilliant parents. She doesn't know how to be around people her own age as they start growing up. And, she got into a fight with some boys on the walk home when they made fun of her "dumb baby brother". Her ten-year-old twin brothers, upon seeing the state of her, told her to leave the fighting to them.

Meg worries that she'll be labeled a delinquent youth, next. She thinks, if only her father… but that's impossible. He's gone, somewhere. Her mother believes he'll come back, but Meg isn't so sure.

The worst is that Meg has no experience hiding her feelings, so anyone can tell everything she's feeling, or at least that's how it feels.(2)

Everybody is asleep except Meg, even Charles Wallace, the baby brother, who has an odd knack of knowing when she's restless and coming to see her. Meg wonders how anyone could sleep after the hurricane warnings all day. She tells the kitten curled up with her to sleep, makes a monster face in the mirror, showing her braces and mussing up her hair,(3) until she hears the dog barking.

Meg knows Fortinbras doesn't ever bark without a good reason, and that there was a "tramp"(4) stealing sheets from clotheslines and possibly looking to cause more trouble now. Sneaking past the bedrooms, thinking about their occupants in turn, Meg makes her way downstairs from her attic bedroom to check. Only, Fort stops barking before she gets down there. Already being near the kitchen, Meg decides to make a cup of hot cocoa to cheer herself up.

Charles Wallace is already waiting for her, with milk and bread and jam at the table, and says he's been waiting for her, and already set some milk to heat. Fort's at his feet, patiently waiting for crumbs.

Meg doesn't know how Charles Wallace always knows what she and her mother need. He isn't attuned to the twin brothers at all. Her father once reassured Meg that Charles Wallace's, and for that matter Meg's, development has to take its own time, but there's nothing wrong with either of them, and neither is lacking in intelligence.(5) He left before Charles Wallace started talking, suddenly, in full sentences, but he would have been so proud.(6)

Charles Wallace tells Meg to check the milk, and she observes that there's twice as much as she needs. He says their mother might want some, too, as she comes around the corner to ask some what. He says cocoa, and offers to make her and Meg sandwiches, as well. They both take him up on that,(7) as Mrs. Murry checks on Meg's bruised face.

The kitchen, her family, and the cocoa have all served to calm Meg's anxiety from the attic, but she's forever feeling overshadowed by her mother's beauty. Her mother asks about the fight, and Meg says she's just "full of bad feeling", because she's always the odd one out. Charles Wallace observes that their mother was probably similarly plain as a child, and Mrs. Murry agrees, she was, and things will sort themselves out in time for Meg, though that's not at all helpful now, she knows.

Charles Wallace says he should talk to Mrs Whatsit about Meg, but when she asks who that is, he uses his new word of the day and says he wants "to be exclusive about her" for now. When Mrs. Murry asks what that name stands for, Charles Wallace says it's just her name, and she lives in the old house in the woods that the kids think is haunted with her two friends. He met them while walking the dog, while the older kids were at school. He knows he shouldn't have left the property, but Fort took off after a squirrel, he couldn't help but run after.

As they discuss the intensity of the storm, Fortinbras growls, and Meg's skin prickles. The dog is staring right at the laboratory, which has a door to outside that the family are discouraged from using. Mrs. Murry goes to see what's out there, even with Meg's warning about the tramp. A few moments later, she returns with a small person so bundled with clothes as to be almost invisible in the pile, though she starts removing layers shortly.

Charles Wallace chides Mrs Whatsit for being out in this weather. She says she was just blown off course, and thought his house might let her rest before continuing. Meg asks how she knew it was his house, and Mrs Whatsit says it was the smell.

Mrs. Murry offers Mrs Whatsit a seat and a sandwich, and somehow she knows they have caviar on hand, but Charles Wallace chides her again, and suggests tunafish instead. When Mrs Whatsit agrees, Meg offers to prepare it, though she's very cross internally about the inconvenience and wonders if Mrs Whatsit is the tramp after all, odd as she is. Mrs Whatsit admits to Charles Wallace about stealing the sheets, and says she knows Mrs. Buncombe could spare them.

Meg cut up some celery and mixed it in with the tuna. After a moment's hesitation she opened the refrigerator door and brought out a jar of little sweet pickles.--Though, why I'm doing it for her I don't know, she thought, as she cut them up.--I don't trust her one bit. "Tell your sister I'm all right," Mrs Whatsit said to Charles. "Tell her my intentions are good." "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Charles intoned. "My, but isn't he cunning." Mrs Whatsit beamed at him fondly. "It's lucky he has someone to understand him."

Mrs. Murry says that none of the family can keep up with him, but Mrs Whatsit says they're also not stifling him, and that's just as important.

Meg finishes the sandwich and offers it to Mrs Whatsit, who says she needs to take off her boots to get the water out of them first, but that requires help because they're too small. Charles offers, but she says he won't be strong enough. So, Mrs. Murry kneels to help. When the boot comes off, both women are startled, and Mrs Whatsit's chair tips all the way back onto the floor. Mrs. Murry asks if she's alright, but she says it's just her dignity sprained, and it might help to take the other boot while she's down.

Oddly, as soon as the other boot is off and emptied into the sink, Mrs Whatsit says she's warmed up, her toes will be damp but not sodden, and her stomach's full, so she should be on her way. Mrs, Murry suggests she stay the night, or just until her socks are dry, but Mrs Whatsit insists, and tells her that "there is such a thing as a tesseract."(8) Mrs. Murry pales and asks her to repeat that, so Mrs Whatsit does so as she puts on her boots and dresses in all her layers again, then hustles out the door.

The door slammed. "Mother, what's the matter!" Meg cried. "What did she say? What is it?" "The tesseract--" Mrs. Murry whispered. "What did she mean? How could she have known?"

=====

(1) Hard to go wrong with a classic opener, amirite? (2) It's no bad thing to be this way, but it FEELS wrong when you're young and your insecurities are still raw. (3) Quick poll, who reading this is old enough to remember when braces were always just big obvious metal brackets that got cemented to your teeth, not white brackets or invisible retainers? I had the metal ones in high school, and at the risk of aging myself, the white ones were just starting to make headway on the market, very expensively. (4) Vagrant, beggar, homeless person who wanders. (5) Today we'd hope that a parent would tell a child "there are lots of ways to be in this world, and they're all just as real and important as any other, and we'll love you no matter what" or something along those lines, but this was 1962 (and written quite some time before that, if memory serves) and getting a girl's POV published in a science fiction book, even one for children, was bad enough without allowing the possibility of mental disability being normal, gasp, horror. And, there was a much, much heavier stigma (though some still exists today, don't get me wrong) against mental disabilities. Isn't it great to see how far we've come, to motivate us for the rest of the way we need to go? (6) Surprisingly common thing to happen. I wasn't quite that kind of kid, but my first word was "privacy", used correctly, and it remained my favourite for a very long time. (7) Remembering, of course, that this kid is just six, but possessed of that strange almost-maturity that some kids come by naturally. (8) We have a lot more pop culture reference for a tesseract than they would have 60 years ago. In math, it's just a four-dimensional cube, but it seems that this story, like some that came after it, is making something semi-magical of that concept.

[gooeyyeehaw]

Soft Cell Albums Ranked

I love Soft Cell, and my interest has grown greatly since I saw them on their Happiness Not Included tour in August 2022. To quote my father, "Marc and Dave could have been delinquent brothers to Neil and Chris of the Pet Shop Boys."

You can't go wrong with any of their albums, but to start off easy, here is my ranking of all of their studio albums. It may be a tad controversial, but it is all my honest opinion.

5. Happiness Not Included

When listening to this album, you have to listen through the lens that they are not who they were forty years ago, and to compare it to their previous albums is unfair. To receive a decent album of equal value, dedication, and effort twenty years after their fourth studio album, Cruelty Without Beauty, is already more than enough. This album has some great tracks, including singles "Bruises on All My Illusions," "Nostalgia Machine," and "Happiness Not Included." However, tracks like "Nighthawks" and "Heart Like Chernobyl" are just irritating to me personally. I'm not the biggest fan of the modern, EDM-esque beats and sounds in this album. Nevertheless, it is a fine album. It is just my least favorite of the five.

4. Cruelty Without Beauty

This is the rating I was worried about that could strike some controversy. I do really enjoy this album. I love the first seven songs on the album, but couldn't name the rest, that's how little they stand out to me. "Monoculture" is a classic, along with "Together Alone" and "Darker Times" being fantastic tracks. Not to mention the eighteen year break after the release of "This Last Night in Sodom," hardly affecting the sound and quality of the music. The similarity of the sound and atmosphere almost 21 years after their first album is incredible. Like the album above, this is a pretty solid album; however, the tracks that are good, stand out to me a lot more than the good ones on Happiness Not Included.

3. This Last Night in Sodom

I personally love this album. Despite the difficulty often described with this album, I think almost every song on the album is great. I love the slightly darker tone with the lyrics, the melodies are catchy and alluring, the brooding imagery and mood bewitches you. I only have two issues with this album, the first one being "Slave to This," the second track on the album, is probably one of the worst things I've ever heard. It's extremely annoying and it causes me to hit skip as soon as I hear Marc's infuriating "Ohh, another day, another way, another life...", which is especially disappointing after the excitement from "Mr. Self Destruct". One could defend its meaning and lyrics being more important to pay attention rather than its sound, but you can make a song extremely insightful and meaningful and make it sound good too.

My only other issue is that "Down in the Subway" isn't the 12" version from Keychains and Snowstorms. The album version is way too short for such a great song!

2. The Art of Falling Apart

While not every song is as enticing as the other, every single one is solid, catchy, and has something about it drawing listeners in, whether its through the intensity of "Martin," "The Art of Falling Apart," and "Heat" or the stories told through "Kitchen Sink Drama" and "Loving You Hating Me." The lyricism is remarkable and the music is crazy catchy and exciting.

1. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

There's no doubt that this album a masterpiece, nor is it a surprise that it's first on the list. Every single song is iconic, high quality, and memorable. It's a shame that in the United States and other parts of the world that they never got much further than "Tainted Love", (which some aren't even aware is a cover) and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye." With songs expressing relatable day to day annoyances such as "Frustration," to the lyrical absurdity of "Sex Dwarf," this album is truly one of the most inspirational debut albums out there.

[cmt407-second]

Name: Elias Lewis Hines (He's my Yuusona basically, I'm not great at making full on self inserts, so ✨OC✨, this is gonna be a wall of text basically, I tried to organize everything 😓)

Nickname(s): none at the moment 

Grade: Freshmen 

Pronouns/gender: He/Him, male

Birthday: 02/04

Sign: Aquarius ♒

Age: 16

Blood type: A+

Dominant hand: Right 

Family: Shro, Denise, Avilen, Annaleslie, Danny, and Lilly 

Homeland: not from Twisted Wonderland (I don't think I want them to be from a real world place, but I'd say they grew up in England if I had to put them in the real world, I guess?)

Dorm: ??? (He got savanaclaw when I took a quiz for him, the quiz:

Club: ??? (He got Science Club when I took a quiz for him, the quiz:

Hobbies: reading, writing, cooking, baking, hiking, drawing 

Employment: a bunch of random jobs

Flaws: He's stubborn, a bit hot-headed, doesn't do well with talking in general, can't sleep without taking several different medications (he’s had sleep issues since he was around five), insecure, bites himself when he gets stressed, maybe a little apathetic, he gets very snappy when he gets to his pain tolerance limit, doesn't do great being told what to do when he already knows how to handle something, many other things (he’s got issues)

Strengths: He manages to function with very little sleep, has a high pain tolerance, is hardworking, his legs are probably the strongest part of him (he's constantly moving), tries his best, is surprisingly good at acting when he cares about what he's acting for, is good at math

Sexual orientation: Demi + Homo

Romantic orientation: Demi + Homo

Fears/Phobias: being watched and followed (trauma related cause, he can't sleep with any open doors or any open and,/or uncovered windows because of it.)

Can they cook: He can, he was training to work in the culinary field before being brought to Twist 

How do they feel about cleaning: it's necessary, he hates it, but he does feel better when everything has its place and everything is taken care of 

Allergies: seasonal allergies (pollen? I guess)

Do they know how to fight? Yes, he got into a lot of fights with his older siblings 

How do they present themselves to others? Quiet and unassuming, he keeps to himself mostly 

Do they like animals? Yes, he used to sneak out of his bio parents' home to explore the woods (he only got caught once and it was because his older siblings realized that he hadn't gone home after running off after getting out of school, he wasn't paid much attention since Lilly came into the picture, he got away with a lot)

How do they dress? He wears formal-ish, academic, or loose, baggy, comfortable clothes. He covers himself up as much as he can.

How many languages do they know? Fluently, two; English and sign (Elias didn't speak for a majority of his childhood, still isn't very talkative), but he knows bits and pieces of three others; Japanese, French, and Spanish

Why is their name, their name? (First) He chose it because it had a similar meaning to his old one. (Middle) He was given it by Avilen after he found him in the middle of the woods, it got him to listen to Avilen, who was very concerned about the tiny ten year old covered in bruises and scratches. (Family) He was given the name because everybody gave up on getting him adopted, he didn't like his old one.

How do they cope with struggles? Either gritting his teeth and pushing through or taking a short break

Do they have anyone they can lean on? He doesn't feel like he has much of a support system, he never really tried to get one.

How do they react to someone dying? He kinda shuts down, at least that's been his reaction in the past 

Can you name 5 personality traits they have? stubborn, hot-headed, persistent, awkward, and apathetic

Do they get along with others? He tries when people approach him.

Do they like children? It's complicated, he doesn't mind them

Are they good with children? He could be worse with them, he tries his best to be patient with them.

How would they react to being around wild animals? He would keep his distance, do what he can to avoid getting attacked 

If they were given the task to prank someone, who would it be, what would they do, and would the prank work? Not anyone in particular, he would do one of those whoopee cushion pranks, 50/50.

Do they have any survival skills? Yes, he knows how to fish, how to prepare a good amount of seafood, how to garden, how to make a safe campfire, quite a bit about animals, and how to make a spear from a stick 

Are they more book smart or street smart? I have no idea

How do they get out of a difficult situation? He pushes through

Do they use their body, mind, personality or force to get what they want? Mind, then force 

Do they make questionable choices? He is far from perfect 

How was their childhood? He tells himself it could have been worse 

How do they adapt to different situations? Do they adapt at all? 

How do they speak? Examples - Are they soft spoken, hot heated, vulgar: he mumbled mostly, he has to actively raise his tone when he has to talk to someone 

Are they opposed to violence? Depends, he doesn't enjoy it 

Are they quick to judge? He either doesn't remember you or he gets along with you 

Do they have anything they are trying to hide from others? Yes 

Do they act differently around different people? Yes 

Do they enjoy the arts? Yes, he finds all of the arts fascinating 

Do they like science? Used to 

Are they more emotional or logical? Logical 

How do they deal with their emotions? Burying it or writing to help himself process it

How do they cope with sadness? Burying it or writing to help himself process it

What is something they care about? His freedom 

Would they die for anyone/anything? Yes 

What do they do when they are happy? writing to help himself process it

How would they come across to other characters? Examples- messy, lazy, childish, caring ect: weird, quiet, and not the easiest to read at first 

Do they have a phrase they use over and over? No

In a crowded room are they in the corners, sides, or in the middle? sides

Are they comfortable being in a crowded room? With friends, yes

How do they relax? reading, writing, cooking, baking, hiking, drawing

Have they ever harmed anyone and regretted it? Verbally or physically? Yes, he got into a verbal argument with someone he used to view as a little sibling, it completely destroyed their relationship because he was trying to let them down gently, but they started crying, he panicked, and said something that made things worse in the long run 

Do they like to dance? When he's alone, yeah 

How do they get around their environment? Examples - horses, bike, vehicle: he walks, but he's saving for a bike.

What is their pet peeve(s)? He doesn't like it when someone is physically affectionate towards him without giving him the opportunity to avoid it.

How do they react to getting flowers? It makes him feel awkward and he'll try to figure out if there's an ulterior motive.

Would they ever wear a flower crown? Yeah, it reminds him of the more peaceful moments 

Do they like themselves? He doesn't know anymore.

What is their motto? Keep going and survive

Have they ever been abused? Yes, neglect.

What are their goals? Find where he could truly be at ease, a home 

How do they go about achieving their goals? He takes one step at a time, he can be patient 

Do they have a fight or flight response? Yes

Is there someone in their life that they care about more than themselves? Yes 

How would they fare in a zombie apocalypse? He wouldn't try to 

Are they good at mental math? Yes

Do they get along with others? He tries 

Are they lazy? Can be, when he doesn't have anything else to do

Are they self motivated? Yes 

How do they cope with anger? He tries to not lash out, he goes somewhere to be alone, he’s an angry crier and he hates crying in front of others. He'll try to calm down to handle the situation with a clear mind 

Have they ever been in a situation where they were helpless? Yes 

Are they organized or messy? His mess is organized 

Can they remember a lot of information at once? Depends 

Do other characters respect your OC, if so, is it out of fear? Or do they respect your OC because they like them? I'm not sure 

If they were given minutes to live, what would they do? Who would they want to see and say? He would either go somewhere to be alone or somewhere he wouldn't be in the way 

How do they deal with stress? 

Do they have a more submissive or dominant personality type? Submissive, he doesn't have the energy to argue most of the time.

Do they have a pet? He used to 

Do they have a stash of weapons? No, but he has a pocket knife 

Where do they live? Who do they live with? Ramshackle with Grim

How do they calm themselves down? Isolation and writing 

Are they co-dependent? Kinda 

Are they a day, or night person? Neither, he doesn't prefer either over the other 

When looking back on their choices, do they feel as if they made the right ones in life? He doesn't know, but he'll hope he's mostly making the right choice 

Favorite;

Food: Mac’n cheese (homemade + a little bit of chili)

Drink: hot cocoa (dark chocolate specifically, it helps him feel less light headed because of the iron)

Music genre: I have no clue what it's called (he'd like Sparkbird, Rabbitology, Yaelokre, Madilyn Mei, and Lydia the bard)

Style(s) of clothes: Dark Academia, Art Slut, Gothic in general, and Coquette

Movie trope: Dark Lord, The Mentor, “Just Friends”, Enemies/rivals to lovers, and transformation (especially when it's all in one)

Movie genre: Fantasy, Romance, and Horror

Show trope: Dark Lord, The Mentor, “Just Friends”, Enemies/rivals to lovers, and transformation (especially when it's all in one)

Show genre: Fantasy, Romance, and Horror

Game trope: he doesn't really pay attention to it 

Game genre: Adventure games, RPG, and Sandbox

Book genre: Fantasy, Romance, and Horror

Book trope: Dark Lord, The Mentor, “Just Friends”, Enemies/rivals to lovers, and transformation (especially when it's all in one)

Love language: he really enjoys gifting and doing acts of service for his loved ones

Color: blues, purples, and reds

Animal: cats (dogs are a close second)

Class: PE (it gives him something to put his restlessness to uses)

Scent(s): softer floral and citrus ones

Season: winter (he feels less out of place)

Weather: cloudy

Activity: writing (cooking is a close second)

Least Favorite;

Food: broccoli (texture)

Drink: black coffee (he doesn't like most caffeinated drinks, plus they don't really work for him)

Music genre: country (he doesn't hate it)

Style(s) of clothes: cowboy (he still likes it just not as much as other styles)

Movie trope: love at first sight 

Movie genre: Science fiction (he's never watched anything Science fiction)

Show trope: love at first sight

Show genre: Science fiction (he's never watched anything Science fiction)

Game trope: Collection Marathon

Game genre: Platformer (they make him frustrated)

Book genre: dark romance 

Book trope: love at first sight

Love language: touch (he doesn't hate it, it just takes longer for him to be comfortable with it than the other Love languages)

Color: orange 

Animal: mosquito

Class: potionology (he doesn't hate it, just doesn't trust his hands, they get really shaky sometimes)

Scent(s): mint and strong cleaning stuff 

Season: summer 

Weather: sunny with no clouds at all 

Activity: singing (he isn't a big fan of his voice)

Appearance; 

Height: 5’¾” or 154.305 cm

Hair color(s): dark brown with a white undercut 

Hairstyle:

Eye color(s): greenish blue

Skin tone + Undertone: Warm Ivory 

Scars: a lot on his hands and arms from biting himself (he's been dragged to the emergency room several times because of his habit), a couple on his left arm from getting blood drawn and getting shots, a few all over from being a clumsy kid and getting into fights with the other kids from the orphanage he grew up in.

Weight: 103.3 lbs

Eye shape: almond 

Eyelashes: long 

Hair texture: loosely curly

Piercings: none 

Ear shape: he has the slightest point to his ears.

Body type: endomorph? (I think that's what it's called)

Do they have any markings on their body? He has several small marks across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He has a darker mark under his left eye. He has at least 500 scattered across his arms, collarbone, shoulders, chest, back, and legs

Do they have any tattoos? If so, are they significant? No

Relationships (Elias's side of things):

Shro: He has been one of Elias’s adults/caretakers since Elias was around ten. (A little bit about Shro: He, Avilen, and Denise are together romantically and run an orphanage, he wants nothing more than to protect his family. He’s a living gargoyle and he is the founder of the orphanage Elias ended up in. (I'm reusing him from an abandoned WIP))

Avilen Hines: He has been one of Elias’s adults/caretakers since Elias was around ten. (A little bit about Avilen: He cares deeply for the young and the kind hearted, that's what drew him to helping the orphanage.)

Denise: He has been one of Elias’s adults/caretakers since Elias was around ten. (A little bit about Denise: He was abandoned by his maker and saved by Shro, so he started to want to help him, to stay by his side for the rest of his life. He’s a magic construct that was thrown away because he wasn't an emotionless soldier. (I'm reusing him from the same abandoned WIP))

Annaleslie: She's one of the other children Elias grew up with. (A little bit about Annaleslie: She was a tough and troubled girl, who refused to take any disrespect from others and she is a tough woman now.)

Danny: He's one of the other children Elias grew up with. (A little bit about Danny: He was always pretty antisocial. He gets manic episodes.)

Lilly: She’s one of the other children Elias grew up with. (A little bit about Lilly: She is a big crybaby and a scaredy cat, and clung to her older three siblings growing up. She's gotten a lot braver and independent over the years.)

Riddle Rosehearts: It's complicated. Elias likes him more after his overblot, but Riddle reminds him of the past. Elias tries to push those feelings down. He isn't sure they're friends, but he considers them close enough to hang out in a group.

Ace Trappola: Friends, but they kinda bicker.

Deuce Spade: Friends, probably the easiest to call a friend of the first years

Trey Clover: Elias isn't sure how to feel. They don't feel like friends, but he considers them close enough to hang out in a group.

Cater Diamond: Elias likes Cater, but he feels out of place when it comes to magicam and stuff for that. He isn't sure they're friends, but he considers them close enough to hang out in a group.

Leona Kingscholar: Elias feels bad about stepping on his tail. He doesn't feel bad about bothering him to help with Azul though. He generally has a positive opinion of the lion.

Jack Howl: I think they'd become friends because of mutual friends (Deuce, if I remember right)

Ruggie Bucchi: Elias feels like they have a kind of understanding. Definitely not really friends, but Elias has given him a couple meals.

Azul Ashengrotto: Elias likes him? Kinda. Elias gets the getting bullied thing, he's gone through it to. Elias hopes that Azul didn't feel like he was completely alone too. It's awkward for Elias at best.

Jade Leech: Elias is much more intimidated by Jade then Floyd. He feels like he's the hardest to read out of everyone Elias has met in twist. 

Floyd Leech: Elias thinks he's interesting. Reminds him of Danny a little.

Kalim Al-Asim: Elias doesn't mind him but Elias finds him a little overwhelming. He eventually gets at least comfortable hanging out with him in a group.

Jamil Viper: Elias likes him and understands the want for freedom. Elias just doesn't know how to interact with him. 

Vil Schoenheit: Elias admires the work Vil puts in, he doesn't feel like they're friends though 

Epel Felmier: I think they'd become friends because of mutual friends (Deuce and Jack, again if I remember correctly)

Rook Hunt: Elias is a little intimidated by Rook. He tries to keep interaction to a limit. Elias doesn't think he hates Rook though. He’s just uncomfortable.

Idia Shroud: Elias doesn't know how to feel about Idia either, he doesn't mind him though, they'd probably end up in Sam’s shop in the middle of the night at the same time, wouldn't talk though. Elias would give him a nod of acknowledgement at most.

Ortho Shroud: Elias doesn't know how to feel about Ortho, but he knows he is a good person.

Malleus Draconia: they’d get along, probably friends. Elias sees him as a friend. Elias would invite him to dinner after noticing Malleus was walking around at night too.

Lilia Vanrouge: Elias didn't react to Lilia’s hanging upside down and just appearing, but he did react to Ace, Deuce, and Grim’s reactions. (Elias didn't make a sound, just tensed up and looked at each boy individually). Elias would find him interesting.

Silver Vanrouge: Elias feels like they have opposite problems when it comes to sleeping. Elias would probably enjoy being around him or at least find some kind of comfort in his presence.

Sebek Zigvolt: Elias thinks he's neat, although he's pretty sure Sebek hates or at least dislikes him. Elias doesn't want to make that worse. (He thinks Sebek is pretty and admires his work ethic a little.)

Dire Crowley: Elias thinks he's weird and he's not sure if it's the good kind.

Grim: He reminds Elias of a lossed loved one and Elias has no intention of losing Grim too.

Divus Crewel: Elias is trying his best in his class, but he is a ball of anxiety the whole time. (I honestly think Divus would be concerned about Elias, especially if Elias lets the fact that he hasn't been sleeping slip).

Mozus Trein: Elias is very fascinated by twisted wonderland’s history in general, so Elias is trying very hard to keep up. He respects Trein deeply.

Ashton Vargas: Elias thinks he's kinda cool, Elias wishes he could get that muscular.

Sam: Sam is the staff member that reminds Elias of where he's from the most.

Che'nya: He seems alright, they aren't friends, but Elias does like him.

Neige LeBlanche: indifferent, Elias doesn't mind him but Elias can't help the discomfort he feels. Elias doesn't hold it against Neige, but he rather not get closer.

Dominic: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Grum: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Shelpie: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Hop: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Timmy: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Snick: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Toby: indifferent, Elias forgot who he was after a week.

Ambrose LXIII: indifferent, Elias never even noticed him and doesn't know if he actually exists or not.

[snowalwayslandsontop]

//People tend to just say Coriolanus is just evil without delving deeper into his history, especially with the release of Ballad. While I'm not suggesting Coriolanus isn't responsible for his actions, he is also a victim of Capitol propaganda.

He was around 4 when the war started. It was clear that at least his grandmother and his father held anti District sentiment. We see this about Crassus in the conversation between Coriolanus and Strabo where it's clear Strabo and Crassus were never no good terms, unlike Coriolanus' mother who Strabo says was always gracious toward him. At this stage Coriolanus also says that his father hated the Districts and would have been angry that Strabo had been admitted into the Capitol. Remembering he had to have died when Coriolanus was no older than 5 or 6 when he died and that he was absent during the war so clearly his father had taught him anti District sentiment enough that he remembered at that young age.

The Grandma'am is clearly shown to hold anti District sentiment. She calls them animals. She tells Coriolanus and Tigris how dangerous the people of the District are. She is also a supporter of the Capitol. She makes them sing the anthem daily when they were younger children, which pledges allegiance to the Capitol and 'Panem' which really is only about Capitol power. In the book, it's shown that the other students clearly had not received this treatment because they didn't even know the words to the Anthem, which is why Coriolanus is tasked to sing it at Archanes funeral. His Grandma'am takes this so seriously, he's left with bruises where she poked and prodded him after rehearsing with him most of the night. Even as she appears to be declining in health (with a question of a dementia diagnosis), she still sings the anthem every morning.

Continuing on with the Grandma'am, she is the one that pushes Coriolanus to become President. She calls him the 'Future President of Panem' after also having tasked him as a 5 or 6 year old that it was up to him to protect them. In the book, Coriolanus thinks that he isn't motivated by ambition (or love) and all he wants is a desk job in the government with enough time to attend tea parties. He didn't crave power at that stage. He just wanted a secure job with time for parties with his peers. It was also Doctor Gaul who then took over from the Grandma'am in pushing him toward power.

We see how Coriolanus was traumatised by the war, which also incorporated more anti District sentiment. We know he blames the rebels for his mothers and little sisters death. He talks of how she died giving birth and how they couldn't get a doctor in to help her or take her to a doctor/hospital because the rebels were dropping bombs outside and had been for days beforehand. He still misses his mother and talks about how it had 'hollowed out his world', in a way his fathers death had not. He clearly was loved by her and he talks about how safe and secure she made him feel. Her compact is the only thing that calms him down when he's having panic attacks, even a decades beyond her death. Her loss traumatised him and literally stating the rebels killed his mother with 'blood and bombs'.

His father death came soon afterwards. The Grandma'am pushes that it was rebels who killed his father, again another significant loss in his life and another push toward anti District/anti rebel sentiment (which is interchangeable as the Capitol pushes that everyone from the Districts is the same) We know he was Anti District and likely another victim of Capitol Propaganda. We can assume that the Capitol was already abusing it's power in the Districts given the existence of the rebels. It was District 13 who started the war and gained the support of the other Districts. They could have simply been 'power hungry' but there was likely a reason beyond this. We also can see there was restricted movement between the Capitol and Districts pre war given Coriolanus mentions his father would be horrified that the Plinths had been given permission to move to the Capitol and he died during the war. We know Gaul came up with the assignment for Crassus and Highbottom (and their entire cohort) to 'punish their enemies' so severely that they would never forget what they did. They came up with the concept of the Hunger Games. This was pre war as well since we know Crassus entered the Peacekeepers once war was declared. Giving the papers to Gaul made Crassus and Highbottom enemies (at least Highbottom turned against Crassus, which carried into a feud with Coriolanus) Highbottom continues to harass a literal child who, at that stage, hadn't done anything wrong beyond existing. We know this harassment had been happening for a long time as Coriolanus mentions it being a long term problem. Highbottom saw Coriolanus as Crassus 2.0 when really he was just a boy who was starving and living in complete poverty - which Highbottom knew and only used that against him. Now lets discuss Doctor Gaul, who openly admitted to grooming Coriolanus. We know she manipulated him and everything around him. The attack on Clemmie, sending him out to the Districts - she calls it his 'summer vacation' and asks him 'what were you going to do here? Laze around and comb out your curls?", Sejanus' death - because Coriolanus did not intend to get him killed but actually get him rescued by his father. Gaul sends him into the Arena after Sejanus, knowing he would likely end up killing someone. Their conversation when she is stitching him up (like Frankensteins monster and she is his creator). In the book, they have had ongoing tutorials where she has groomed and pushed him into thinking the way he does and to create a 'victor' out of him. She knows he's starving, living in poverty and she is twisting him around into her way of thinking. She is the one that arranges the Plinths to support Corioanus. In the final chapter of the book she says "You don't think I've invested all of this time in you to hand you off to those imbeciles in the Districts, do you?" She groomed him and continued to do so beyond the books scope until her eventual death.

The Snows were living in poverty. They were literally starving. They were weeks away from being homeless. They were just about to lose the pension Coriolanus was receiving as a child that lost a parent in the war., upon his graduation. They were months behind on their rent. Beyond the cabbage and potatoes, the only food Coriolanus received was at the Academy which was about to come to an end too with his graduation. When he talks about winning the Plinth prize (in the movie as it was changed from the book), he talks about being able to pay the rent, buy chocolate for his grandmother and a new dress for Tigris and then he could afford to go to University. At this stage he had such simple dreams. Being able to put food on the table, continue his education and keep a roof over their heads. Gaul knew this and took advantage of him, knowing he was desperate to simply survive and salvage and create some type of life for himself. So many people ignore that Gaul groomed him, Highbottom helped to create the way Coriolanus thought and that he was a victim of Capitol Propaganda as well. Too many people simply put him down to 'evil dictator' which he is but he was created by the Capitol Propaganda and by a few adults who he should have been able to trust and he couldn't in Gaul, Highbottom and even his own Grandmother and Father. Honestly, I could talk about this all day.

not sure how to put this into words but. coriolanus snow is much deeper and complex than the majority of people make him out to be. i often see him characterized as “pure evil from the fucking womb” but i feel like that’s obviously incorrect and a very black and white take. in tbosas, he’s more humanized. instead of seeing him as pure evil, i started to see him as a human who eventually makes all of the wrong decisions. is he a good guy? no, not by a long shot. but it feels diminishing to his character to just label him as pure evil. you’re supposed to “remember who the enemy is,” and that enemy is the war itself. it makes everyone a player in the game of survival, coriolanus included. he just happened to play the game very unethically.

tldr, coriolanus is too complex of a character to be labeled as just pure evil and nothing else

[a-tale-never-told]

A Complict Man.

Man... What an odd and bizarre experience that must've been for you. I mean, I always assumed that most of Nanami-San's classmates were a bit eccentric, judging by her descriptions of them. but I had absolutely zero idea as to how insane most of 'em are. Must be hard having to deal with all of that, I assume?

Oh, don't even get me started, dude. Most of the time, It's just usually throughout the entire day, somethin' absolutely batshit happens to occur while I'm at my dorms, working on whatever spiced-up gadgets I can assemble in my free time. It's so freakin' irritating and annoying to put up with!

You and me both. I honestly think I wouldn't be able to handle that overwhelming amount of anxiety and pressure to deal with everything all at once. I'd would've just given up and called it an honest day, if I'm being truthful with you. And I'd thought Class 76th was the more eccentric one of the bunch!

Nope. They're absolutely sane, compared to the rest of us. At least they didn't have people who speak nonstop gibberish or always blabber about some demonic crap! Makes me think that I'm one of the more level-headed, actually normal guys in the academy if I'm being serious.

Hope's Peak isn't a stranger to recruiting some weird, erratic, and downright uncanny people a lot of the time. As long as you're talented and you pay the required amount of money, it doesn't matter what kind of people are attending this school.

Sounds pretty stupid to me, considering that we've had people with incredibly shady talents attending this school before, do I even need to mention Ted Chikatilo, Ultimate PyroTechnician? I get it's his talent, but the guy's a literal arsonist. He's been itching for a chance to literally set the whole academy on fire, and yet he's still attending as a senior in the Main Course.

Guy's a deranged, wacky, psycho, there's no doubt about it. He can't even stare at a smoking plate of takoyaki without having some sort of creepy orgaism about the wonderful joys of flames. Gives me the fuckin' creeps everytime I'd look at him.

Since we're on the topic of discussing about Hope's Peak, there is something that I'm kinda curious about. Mind answering that for me?

Huh? S-Sure, I'd be willing to answer that for you. So, what's the question you wanna ask? Is something wrong? Did anybody hurt you on the way here? Did you suffer an incident on the speedway? Those highways are filled with a lot of traffic these days, y'know?

Nothing like that, but I appreciate the concern. I just had an epiphany since last week, and I was wondering if you can clear up any doubts I'd might have while explaining what I'm gonna say. Is that okay with you?

I don't mind much, bro. Just...Tell me what's on your mind. Surely, it can't be that much of a weird question, right? There's gotta be a reason for why you're wanting to discuss this in private. Otherwise, why would you be just telling me this, all of a sudden?

You've got a sharp mind, Souda. It's actually pretty impressive of how you're able to tell what my intentions are before I even said anything. Guess they don't call you the Ultimate Mechanic for nothing. But I think I should probably explain what I'm here for.

About a couple months ago, there was an incident at the Old School Building on February 12th .The official testimony stated that at 5:03pm, the body of Taro Kurosaki, The Ultimate Actor was found severely bruised at the gymnasium , with blood spilling out from the right side of his forehead, while his throat had laceration marks around his neck, a clear sign that he'd been strangled around the cerebral hypoxia.

Cerebral-what? The hell are you mumbling about?

Let me finish. Cerebral hypoxia is a neurotic condition which is when you body doesn't have enough blood getting to your brain a lot. Strangely, the body didn't possess any kind of damage to the ligature mark , which is a pressure point on the neck, nor were there any external damages done to the cardioid arteries, which would've had a more likely chance of being damaged as a result of the attempt.

However, the hyloid bone, aka the jaw bone, was one of the key functions of the neck which suffered serious injuries. Upon inspecting further, they found knife-like marks sketched near the areas of the lower jaw and the larnyx, aka voice box, where the bone could've suffer more damage had it been aimed right near the upper end of the jaw.

If that knife went a further inch upwards and pierced through the jaw as the killer intended, Taro possibly would've ended up with severe swallowing problems. Hell, he might've been murdered that afternoon if It hadn't been for somebody intervening at the last moment, which both confused and shocked the killer and forced him to alter his plans, leaving Taro barely conscious, but alive.

As for the ugly gash of blood dripping out from his forehead, It appears as if something solid had directly pummel him with a sheer amount of force and brute strength that It indirectly knocked him out , which caused him to suffer a bit of memory loss in regards to the entire incident. Judging from how the equipment located at the gym is prepared, I can assume that the culprit needed something durable yet strong enough in order to knock Taro out, so that explains where he received the gash from.

The main problem with this is that the murder weapon wasn't identified during the investigation, as the culprit made sure to polish any form of gym equipment he would've used to bash Taro's head in before the police arrived. But the investigators forgot one important amount of evidence that they'd left out: The weight of the object that hit Taro was equivalent to that of a medium sized hammer.

But instead of a hammer, it was a dumbbell. Wanna know how I managed to know that it was a dumbbell? Tsumiki-San found It inside one of the storage garages, where they store away all of the gymnasium equipment. She reported It to me once she was finished inspecting the contents of the storage closet and how exactly the dumbbell was used and in what position It was used to cave his skull.

Y-You mean she was working with you to solve the murder this entire time?! And I didn't know?!

She's been working with me to investigate the attempted murder case this entire time. While we were chatting and discussing with each other about space exploration and mechanics, Tsumiki-San was at Hope's Peak looking for any signs of proof about how the murder occurred and In what manner It played out. And the entirety of that info about the autopsy, the methods of strangulation and neck damage? That was all her doing.

But I think you've been expecting me to sum up everything into one final conclusion, In order to wrap this confusing, complicated, mess for good. So I'll tell you: As I was investigating, I thought that it was pretty ridiculous that all of this could've been pulled off by a lone culprit. He had to bring some kind of an accomplice with him in order to organize all of this, because it's clear he couldn't've been clever enough to do all of this in a short amount of time.

Not only would he had to somehow prepare a kidnapping attempt on Taro from the auditorium and drag him all the way to the gymnasium, but he also would've needed to gain access into even unlocking the storage room containing the dumbbells. I thought he was disguising himself as one of the faculty members for a brief moment, but then it dawned on me "How was the killer able to unlock the storage room containing all the equipment?".

I know, right? Somehow, this shouldn't be possible to even happen, considering that storage rooms usually need some kind of key to unlock it, because it's so secured. Well, turns out that I eventually found the key that the culprit , and guess whose name I found on the key, Souda-San!

*After finishing that sentence, Hajime proceeds to take out a small black key within his right jean pocket. Inscribed on the front of the key, depicted with bold text and white, are the initials of Kazuichi Souda, which spell out the words " K. Souda"*

That's... No... It's... Impossible...

Oh really? I'd find that incredibly difficult to believe, Souda-San! No matter how much you wanna deny any involvement with this case, it's becoming rather clear that you were complicit in the attempted murder of Taro Kurosaki! That handwriting is clearly YOURS, Souda! Or aren't you gonna say that it isn't your handwriting?

Stop trying to deny that you weren't involved in the entire investigation, because it's obvious that you're complicit in this case , no matter what angle you wanna view it from. So? Admit the truth, Souda-San! What motivated you to work with Taro's attempted killer and why?

[profewriting]

AmaOC (aka my jokage yumeship)

(art by Michi)

(first warning, I've already written half of the post and suddenly GOT DELETED, I'm fucking pissed off so this was written with half hearted, sorry)

Before talking about them, I wanna introduce my OC aka Miyō first. So, here she is.

(art by Cenayang_Surya)

(art by Nao)

(art by Michi)

Miyō (美葉) is an unlisted agent from D-Agency. She was recruited in secret and was trained by other agents to prevent information leakage (thus why she sees half of D-Agency's spies as mentors, though she'd still won't back off to making fun one of them or get annoyed whenever they're trying to mention/compare her with Miyoshi). She is Miyoshi's little sister, but there's no further info about Miyoshi and Miyō as siblings (you can interpret it yourself; whether they're related by blood, or half siblings, or even twins—both of them won't tell you the truth).

She has a deep hatred toward Miyoshi and her actions most likely were driven by her resentment. She's gentle with children and animals, but keep skeptical toward human. A jealous creature with envy as her seven deadly sins. I often portrayed her animal form as fox (which also lead to Japanese myth about fox spirit that often deceived people with their tricks and transformations—this also relate to her most skilled capability; acting). Her height is 160 cm with code name [Fang] and her (fake) birthday is June 22th. Her first love actually is Sakuma.

.

Now, let's dive into the yumeship 🐬🦊 aka AmaOC! :D

(art by Michi) (if you get confused with her bangs, this actually her first design before I finally put effort(?) and made her with different bangs)

(art by Michi)

(art by Michi)

(art by Michi)

Another reason why I often call them with AmaOC is to prevent people misunderstanding this with Amari x Miyoshi which often shortened with AmaMiyo (yes, that ship also exist). Thus why; AmaOC.

I also like to use 🐬🦊 (at least in Twitter) to portray them; since we know Amari has a very close connection with dolphins and Miyō's animal form is fox (like I've written at the beginning).

Anyway, this yumeship isn't very different or special. This ship actually came when I was zoning out and thinking, "hmm, I think Amari is the only agent that exist without me shipping him hardly with anyone"—then, boom. Here I am, eating my own words :)

Basically they're just like (cough) partner in crime couple, the power couple type. Amari has been mentoring her during training and probably just thinking her as a mere girl (who was lost in a bad place). Miyō didn't like him (yet) (haha) and thinking he's a jerk who keep changing romantic (or bed) partners as him canonically talking to Odagiri why he keep changing woman in preview for episode 12.

So, yeah, after that it's just another type of love-hate relationship before it finally came into romantic one (although Miyō actually/canonically (by me) was died after Pearl Harbour incident) (HAHA).

I think after that Miyō would see him as someone she can rely on (especially in her worst, or during her bitterness emo era), while Amari sees her as, well, cute (especially when crawling broken and bruised to the top), also as another spy from the same agency tho (so he actually kinda admitted her skills and capabilities).

So, yeah, finally it came to: dog person x cat person; smile all the time x grumpy all the time; calm energy x angry energy; "i don't need protection" gf x "trust me, she won't need them, YOU'RE the one who need them" bf; calm bf x angry gf; height different couple (15 cm height gap); age gap couple (Miyō most likely 23 y.o while Amari probably around 28 y.o, thus 5 years gap).

Miyō basically still gets jealous (and irritated) whenever she found out him sleeping around (whether it's for work or just another escapades), but she's just like, ("ok fine, I also sleep with another man when it involving work tho") and trying to brush that off (but still bitter and ALWAYS mention about it in front of him). So, jokes on her, she was, "eww, what a jerk" to "oh right, he's MY jerk, fuck it" (HAHA).

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Halloween something with Ron Hermione and Viktor and Wangxian?

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

By the time Wei Wuxian makes it to the top of the waterfall, it's solidly morning and he's sore and exhausted and every step causes pain to shoot up his legs and every breath threatens to turn into a cough.

Perfect.

In the Jiang, they drown their children.

Wei Wuxian, thanks to his time on the street, hadn't been forced to endure that particular training very often. Nothing grows a core faster than fear. Than desperation. Than terror.

Madame Yu had thought that Shijie's weakness was because she was too soft on her. She hadn't made the same mistake with Jiang Cheng.

It's easier with kids because they think they're really going to die. Older disciples know better, know that their elders are carefully watching them and the water and that a dead disciple doesn't do anyone any good.

No one wondered how the undisciplined Wen managed to produce such powerful cultivators.

Wei Wuxian already had a decently impressive core before his parents died, and then the months as a beggar child meant that that pressure ballooned his core even more.

He's exhausted and the cliff pokes through the water in places and from this height, the impact in the water will kill him before the cold even has a chance.

There's a very real chance that this will kill him. But frankly, he's on borrowed time in a borrowed body, so it's not like that matters.

He grips his sword, takes a deep breath, and jumps.

Flashes of the last time he fell off a clip flash in front of him and his breath hitches in his lungs. It's cold and miserable and the water is approaching him rapidly. He should pull out his sword and slow his fall, but he's too far away still, he's sure that he'll be okay, so he has to wait until he's not so sure.

He has to be afraid.

The space between him and the water gets smaller than smaller and he's sure he's going to end up with broken bones if he even survives this. He's not scared enough yet. He has to wait.

Then there's an arm around his waist, jerking him upright and away from the water.

He reacts without thinking, unsheathing his sword and twisting in the grip and rolling his attacker over in midair. He shoves his blade against a pale throat, heart beating too fast in his chest.

Lan Zhan is holding him upright, pressing him against his chest and his eyes, normally cold, are furious and he's unnaturally pale. "Xuanyu! What are you doing? Have you lost your mind? If the patrol hadn't told me where you were headed-"

Irritation melts away the shock. Wei Wuxian wrenches himself out of Lan Zhan's grip and pushes him away. Lan Zhan lunges for him, but Wei Wuxian jumps onto his sword and keeps himself out of reach.

Damn. He couldn't have done that this easily before, and he definitely shouldn't be able to do it at all with how thoroughly he's exhausted himself. Lan Zhan has actually done him a favor by stalking him for no reason.

"If I want your help, Wangji, I'll ask for it," he says acidly. He hasn't used just Lan Zhan's first name since they've married, knowing how he'd feel about it, but right then he just doesn't care. "Why were you following me? It's not like you've paid me any interest."

Which was a good thing, really. He needs to do his research and it's not like Lan Zhan wanted this marriage and it should be fine for both of them.

If Wei Wuxian is a little resentful that he doesn't get the chance to even be Lan Zhan's friend while he's his wife, that a him problem.

"So you just throw yourself off a cliff?" he thunders.

"What I get up to isn't your concern," he says. "Mind your business."

He turns, intent on flying back to Cloud Recesses, or at least trying to, when there's a hand holding his wrist in a vice like grip and keeping him in place.

Lan Zhan fingers are probably going to leave bruises behind, but Wei Wuxian can't focus on that with Lan Zhan holding him so close and looking at him so intently. He's not even falling. What is Lan Zhan doing?

"You are my wife," he says severely, "you are my business."

Wei Wuxian's eyes narrow and he sends out a shock of cultivation energy to get Lan Zhan to loosen his grip. "Then act like it."

On his way back to Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian thinks that was probably a mistake and he's going to regret it.

[bringerofdeathandtheapocolypse]

I genuinely haven't decided if I'm going to have Makarov be dead or not in the Alvarez arc.

Because I hate that they brought him back so long after his death because it makes his sacrifice feel so cheap.

And I honestly want someone else to be guild master at this point. Like I would say the three potential best options at the point the series is at would be Erza, Mira or Laxus and I'm going to explain why.

To start with, I do not think pre tenrou Laxus should be guild master. He was an asshole that refused to help his guild in the phantom war unless Lucy slept with him, he attacked one of his own teammates when Freed told him they had lost and while it didn't hit, it was close, beat Gajeel up way worse than Jet and Droy did and likely would have done so until he'd killed Gajeel if Jet and Droy hadn't told him to stop and did try to attack them and he willingly put the entire town in danger so that he wouldn't have to admit he'd lost after Evergreen was beat and have his ego bruises. He was not a good person and needed to be taught a lesson.

However, post Tenrou Laxus is a different story. He's a lot less full of himself and doesn't look down on his guildmates. I honestly would say his fight against Ivan is the completion of that character arc because he fights his own father to defend his guild, putting them above his own blood, something he likely would not have done for anyone aside for the thunder legion pre tenrou. He also in tartarous, takes in far more of the bane particals in hopes of saving the towns people and risks his own life to get Tempestar's blood(in the anime) so that Yajima and the thunder legion could survive.

Laxus, as of 100 years quest, can be considered a good successor for the next guild master because he is more likely to continue the legacy Mavis wanted for the guild.

Mira is also a good option in that she likely knows a lot about the job, being the second in command from how she's always the one people talk to about guild based things if Makarov isn't around. She's also no push over and would probably not let someone like pre tenrou Laxus get away with the things that he did. She's definetly not as strong as she used to, after all she hasn't been consistently fighting for years but I don't think strength is what matters in being guild master. At least not for Fairy tail.

And Erza is an obvious member of the list since she was listed as the 7th guild master so she would make sense to be an option.

But the reason I'm torn with having Makarov die or not is because (without getting into spoilers) I already have a lot of canon divergence planned for the Alvarez arc(something which seems to occur more and more as the arcs go on).

Like I already have the most basic plot beats laid out for the later arcs, its just certain aspects surrounding them that are shifting around as I decide which idea is the best one to pick for those arcs. I've already been putting foreshadowing in the rewrite for a while, some that might be more obvious than others and some I really doubt anyone would think "Oh that's important" when first seeing it (I am not going to mention what aspects are the foreshadowing or when it started because again, spoilers and I am so excited to put the new stuff out once the rewrite is done and I don't want to give too much away for the plans I have)

And while I have no problem going extremely off canon in the au at all, there are just certain things where I'm like "Ok but would this benefit from having Makarov be dead or alive"

I'll probably have the answer once I get to the Alvarez arc in like 5 years (Jokes aside, I don't think it will take me 5 years to get there but this book is going to be long. Its already at 108 chapters with the rewrite putting it over 300 pages in the pdf I keep and I'd say its like halfway done. Because despite there being more arcs pre tenrou than post, I still consider Tenrou the midway point and I have the KOTSH, GMG, Tartarous and Alvaraz arcs to cover once the midway is done and post tenrou, even the canon version of the arcs start getting long.

I also swear I'll have the current arc finished soon. I always just take breaks between arcs just because it takes so long to write them and then the editing is a long process.

[localcactushugger]

Does anyone else ever get sad thinking about the abuse Hawks went through as a kid? Because I keep making myself sad thinking about it.

It's so many different kinds of fucked up that just mixed together and created one huge toxic environment.

#1) The physical abuse.

Right off the bat, Chapter 299 starts with Keigo getting hit by his father for leaving the house. It doesn't actually show Keigo being smacked, instead it shows a panel of their "home". (although it's extremely small and looks more like a broken down shack in a field to me)

But the sound of the "smak" is very much punctuated in the panel, followed by Keigo hunched over with marks on his face:

The marks on his face are prevalent. Even in the smaller panel, Keigo still has a very obvious bruise under his eye and above his eyebrow.

THEN he gets kicked in the side/stomped on for "turning his back" on his father?? (Aka doing nothing. Literally what did he do?? Wtf?):

He's getting smacked and kicked around, but instead of crying or getting upset he just endures. Which brings me to:

#2) The Emotional and verbal abuse. (Strap in cause there's a lot of it.)

Keigo apologizes after his father kicks him for no reason, then he curls up into a ball, clings to his Endeavor plushy, and listens as his own father rants about how much he wishes that Keigo was never born.

^^^^^^^ LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID ASSHOLE. HE'S LITERALLY CLINGING TO HIS PLUSHY FOR COMFORT!! WHY ISN'T ANYONE HUGGING HIM??? CAN I HUG HIM??

Keigo says that he knew his parents were broken, so he endured because he wanted to avoid their fate.

Basically: "I know my parents are broken, but need to endure because I don't want to become broken too."

That's a horrible mindset for a child to have?? He's basically saying that he just needs to take the abuse and hope that he doesn't break because of it?

And I don't know how he wouldn't break from it with the way his parents talk to him, and all the horrible things they say:

The constant screaming/yelling. Like Shit.

"Don't do a damn thing!" " Who did you sell me out too?? You can't fool me!!" "Don't leave this house!" "Don't you dare lie to me!!" "Don't go talking to anyone!!" "You thought you'd get away with it didn't you??"

"How many times have I told you not to turn your back on me??"

"If only that punk was never born I'd be free."

"Why were you even born?" "Why do you even have those wings?"

He's gotten it from both parents. And every time it happens he just hugs his plushy a little tighter.

#3) The neglect.

In pretty much all panels of Keigo's home theres Trash everywhere. If you go back and look at the house there isn't a single panel without some kind of trash in the frame. I see beer bottles, wine bottles, wooden planks, trash bags, newspapers, dirty rags, dirty laundry hanging from the wall & hangers, floor boards coming up, leaks from the top of the walls.

The "house" is barely holding together as it is. It looks like it's about to collapse, and the inside makes you think a tornado ran through it. Nobody is bothering to clean up the mess. In fact the only person who seems to be patching up the house is Keigo. This seems to be a routine for him since he can be seen picking up a wooden plank to fix the wall. Too bad his father kicked him before he could repair the hole 🙃.

Seriously does the "house" even have running water? The windows are broken the walls are made of tin roofing tiles. Does it even have heating or insulation? It's obviously not suitable for a child. I'd be afraid that the roof was gonna fall on me while I was sleeping.

I understand they can't buy a proper home. But it wouldn't be so bad if someone acutely bothered to clean the inside a bit. At least maintain the house so your kid doesn't step on a nail, or glass from a beer bottle. IF A CHILD CAN PATCH UP A WALL SO CAN YOU. WHY IS KEIGO DOING ALL THE WORK?

You people are gonna get rats and bugs. (If you dont have them invading your "house" already)

And that's only the house.

What about Keigo? He doesn't even have shoes. His shirt is torn at the seams. And his parents didn't even notice when he left? Keigo's dad yelled at him for leaving the house and going outside, but was anyone even watching him in the first place? How does your child leave the house and make it halfway to the city before you notice? This little bird looks like he weighs 5 pounds! He's gonna get kidnapped!!

His mom is obviously unstable and she stares at the wall all day. And his dad hates him for existing. So I guess no one was watching him?

His mom also doesn't really seem to care when Keigo gets yelled at, hit, and kicked either. She just kinda stares at the wall. Then when her and Keigo become homeless and start living in a train station she guilt trips him into stealing for her. Like Really??

HE GOT INTO A CAR ACCIDENT TOO! You sent your child out to steal for you and he literally got into a car accident. He managed to save everyone involved but still, are trying to get your son hit by a truck? This is why I have so many mixed feelings about Tomie.

#4) Being held hostage in his own home.

This one is self explanatory. Keigo got hit in the face just for going outside. He was held hostage in his home for so long that he didn't even know heroes existed. And this is a society where heroes are everywhere. I'm sure it was a lonely childhood, kinda hard to make childhood friends when you get beaten just for leaving the house.

#5) Whatever the fuck "rough training" was.

I know we haven't seen Keigos "rough" training yet. Horikoshi only went into a little bit of detail about it when he mentioned that the commission taught Hawks negotiation skills as a kid. And then theres that one image in the Season 4 outro where Keigo has a blindfold on as a child during training.

But I still would like to know more.

Why would you put a child through "rough" training, strip him of his name, and tell him it's all because he's gonna become a "special hero" right after you've pulled him out of an extremely abusive situation. Like, you aren't gonna wait a bit? Preferably until he's a teenager? Not gonna give him therapy or something?

Isn't pulling a child out of an abusive situation and putting them through "rough training" kinda like transfering them from one abusive household to another?

LET THE BOY REST! LET THE KID BE A KID. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHILDHOOD AND HE'S ALREADY MISSED OUT ON MOST OF HIS!!

The training can wait.

If you want help him and support his family, do it out of the kindness of your heart and not because you think he'd be a useful hero.

I honestly don't know how this "training" went for Keigo, but considering that he doesn't currently have the best relationship with the HPCS . . . Well I don't know. All I know is that he never really seems too happy around people from the commission. He doesn't seem to agree with any of their ideologies either.

Honestly I just want him to find peace!

Based on what we've seen so far, (*cough* especially from the Todoroki family *cough*) you really shouldn't be training a child to become a hero in the first place. The training can start as a teenager if someone chooses to train.

Look at the way you massacred my boy! Give the kid a break for fucks sake!!

And these are just the early years. Don't get me started on everything else ✋🙄

[writing-badger]

Twitter Polls Make For The Bloodiest Battlefields - Chapter 4

Like Father, Like Son

1 • 2 • 3 (Previous Chapter) • 4 • 5 • 6 • 6.5

Pairing: Sakata Gintoki x Reigen Arataka

Summary: Anime Twitter was thrown into chaos. Thirty-two "DILFs" were thrown into a merciless battle to find out who truly encapsulated the title of Dad I'd Like to Fuck. Two competitors begin to wonder whether the battle is worth it and maybe, just maybe, they can overcome their differences to find a way out.

Genre: Enemies to Lovers

Word Count: 3,152

Warnings: None

Reigen's body is aching as he opens the envelope that Lu has given him. Of course, he doesn't complain, he doesn't need that annoying spirit to think that he won their bet. Although, Reigen has to admit that he's surprised by the amount of effort Dimple put into the job. He would usually be found hovering off to the side, making sarcastic comments and letting Reigen struggle until Mob arrived.

 As he begins to pull out the contents of the envelope, he thinks about grabbing a handful of frozen snacks that he could use to numb the areas of pain that cover his body. There are definitely going to be some nasty bruises in the morning, and he does not want Mob to see them. He can feel a particularly nasty one growing on his neck from where he had been hit. There had been an extensive ice lolly collection at the back of the store, he just hopes that it survived the fight. 

 Wondering if he could possibly get a discount, he looks at the sheet of paper, surprised to find out that it isn't his payment. Instead of 12,000 yen  (including travel costs), he finds himself reading an oddly familiar letter.

Congratulations _Insert Name Here_!

You have been nominated to participate in the Ultimate Anime DILF Awards.

 Reigen briefly looks away from the letter to ask Lu where his money is, but she has disappeared and left the counter unattended. This letter definitely isn't meant for him. After all, a DILF is supposed to be a devoted, involved & loving father... at least according to a T-Shirt he saw an older man wearing on an American Sitcom. There was supposedly something very funny about the shirt )although this is up for debate) but Reigen hadn't been paying enough attention to the subtitles to understand it. 

You will be transported to the competition grounds as soon as this letter has been read.

Thank you for taking part, and we wish you all the best.

 As he finishes the letter, he vaguely remembers reading a similar letter before, although a growing throbbing sensation in the back of his head makes it difficult for him to think clearly. He should probably get himself checked at the doctor's, but he's fairly sure that it's nothing too serious. For example, he can still hear the beeping sound of the store's door opening, and his arms and legs aren't that numb. 

 He can hear someone talking rather loudly behind him, probably trying to comprehend what could have possibly caused the absolute destruction in front of them. Their voice strikes a slight chord in Reigen's foggy mind, almost like it's reawakening a memory. 

 "You!"

 The shout is so loud that his body jolts slightly in response.

 "Me?"

 He looks up, making eye contact with the blond-haired man. It takes a moment for Reigen and, just as the glimmer of recognition fills his eyes, a strange glow begins to surround his body. He doesn't seem to notice this, choosing to use his last moments to be as unhelpful as ever.

 "Ah, you were from the Tw-"

 Reigen, of course, doesn't have a chance to finish what he is saying. The glow completely consumes him and, with a very satisfying 'pop' he is transported to an impossible space. His transportation takes a little bit longer than last time, giving him time to think about what Dimple is going to do without him. The spirit definitely can't drive, and Mob isn't going to pick him up... 

 Well, Reigen is going to be returning when this award-thing is over, all Dimple needs to do is wait. Yeah, Dimple will be absolutely fine. What won't be fine, however, is the rental car which is currently parked near the convenience store. Not only is his parking ticket going to run out in about half an hour, but he's going to get blacklisted by yet another rental company. Perhaps Dimple will be smart enough to possess one of the store's employees and use them to drive the car back.

No. Scratch that. It would just end up with them getting arrested for theft and, while it would solve most of Reigen's car-related problems, he doesn't want to make enemies with a girl who quite literally beat a spirit to death. He really hopes that Dimple isn't that stupid. 

 Reigen finds himself so caught up in his rental predicament that he doesn't realise that he has been standing motionless in the void for well over a minute. He can slightly register a familiar tinny voice saying something about the competition, but he struggles to focus on it. 

 "Are you feeling alright?" 

 The question floats in the air for a moment, as Reigen tries to place the voice. It's warm but also a little bit scratchy around the edges, almost as if it is being drawn with ink rather than being spoken. It belongs to a white-haired 'witch', although he apparently isn't allowed to show his tricks of the trade in any meaningful way. For Reigen, this is just confirmation that he is an untrustworthy scam artist.

 What concerns him more than the fraudulent magician, however, is that the men standing in the void seem a lot more dangerous this time. Of course, Reigen will say that this is due to his psychic prowess when anyone, psychic or not, would have made the exact same realisation. After all, some of the men are carrying a noticeable range of weaponry. 

 This is magnified by a very intense sensation that someone in the void wants him dead, although this could also be a result of the searing pain which is flowing around his body. 

 So, in a move that is definitely planned and not because he is in absolute agony, Reigen faints.

 If you ask him later on, he will say that he faked fainting in a very convincing manner and that it worked like a charm. If you ask any other person standing in that void, however, you will find out that he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. 

 Now, most people would be absolutely mortified at the idea of their first introduction being them collapsing onto the floor. For Reigen, however, this is a perfect opportunity. In his mind, the stronger contestants will write him off as a weakling while the weaker contestants will take pity on him. It is such a perfect plan that Reigen would pat himself on the back if he wasn't so busy trying to regain consciousness. 

 He can vaguely hear two people talking above him. One is the witch, but the other voice is unfamiliar. He can make a guess that the second is a doctor, based on the words being used, although it could also be a guy who has watched one too many hospital dramas. 

 Reigen slowly opens his eyes, finding that he has been laid on his back, staring into the blank nothingness above him. If he didn't know any better, he would think that he had died. However, the repetitive poking feeling on his bruises confirms that he is alive. 

 "That hurts," is all he can mumble as he tries to roll away from the man. 

 "Isshin, you should know better," a cold voice says disapprovingly. 

 "Yeah, it's just that Kīdo doesn't seem to be working."

 Reigen can hear the sound of someone being shoved to the side as a pair of hands gently move him into a sitting position. He comes eye to eye with yet another bespectacled white-haired man. Unlike the witch, however, this man's eyes are cold and devoid of empathy. Something that is in stark contrast to his hands which carefully trace over some of the more formidable bruises. 

 "This is why you shouldn't rely on such useless abilities," he says as he brings up a lanky finger and makes Reigen follow it with his eyes. Once satisfied that there is no concussion, he stands up and drags a larger brown-haired man with him. "You should go to a hospital for a proper check-up," he says over his shoulder while the man who assumes is called Isshin says that his bedside manner is terrible. 

 "Those two must be very close," the witch says as he watches them continue to bicker. He has a warm smile on his face as he talks, as though he is trying to convince Reigen that he isn't a threat.

As he is making sure that Reigen is going to be alright, a hand is placed on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

 "Qifrey, give him this," a gruffer voice says. It belongs to a man dressed in similar clothes, although the colour scheme seems to be the exact opposite of Qifrey's. With his spare hand, he passes an odd-looking leaf over, which Qifrey takes; gently squeezing the hand on his shoulder in thanks. 

 "What would I do without you, Olruggio," he says as he quickly shoves the leaf into Reigen's mouth. It's such a quick movement that Reigen barely has any time to register the taste. 

 "Don't forget to spit it out," Olruggio says as if it is obvious, keeping his hand on Qifrey's shoulder. His thumb runs in small, comforting circles as Reigen tries to chew the leaf. 

 The taste is unlike anything he has ever experienced before. He can't even tell if it's good or bad... there's just a lot of it. With each chew, the flavour somehow becomes more intense which leads to him quickly spitting it out. Unfortunately, the strange taste remains but he can feel the aching sensation lessen with every passing second. The bruises, while still a little tender, have lost their intensity and his head feels a lot clearer. 

 He starts to stand up, still feeling a little shaky on his feet when a man comes over. He has a thick beard and long dark hair which is tied back. What stands out most, however, is his clothes which look like something that you would see LARPers wear. 

 "It seems like you and the witch know each other," he says in a voice that is as commanding as the ocean. Despite that, there is an almost misplaced layer of kindness in his eyes; a look you would only get from a father. At first Reigen wonders if he should try and brush this off, but it could actually work to his advantage.

 "Yes, we've been trapped in this void before," he says, watching as a couple of other men listen in on the conversation. A couple continue to keep their distance, but he can tell that they are paying attention to what he says. 

 "So this must be the witch's doing then," the Viking says. There is no malice in his voice, making it seem more like a question than a statement. Despite this, Olruggio gently pulls Qifrey back and placed himself between the two men. 

 "No," Reigen immediately says. He can't concretely say whether the witch is actually involved, but he has nothing to lose by defending him, "it seems that an outside force has been controlling the contest."

 "That strange voice from earlier said something about this being a competition to find the Ultimate DILF..," a new man says. He is wearing a high-quality suit that puts Reigen's to shame. The green colour highlights his blond hair and steely blue eyes. Despite how composed he looks, his cold stare puts Reigen a little bit on edge. It is as though there is a detached malice bubbling away under his skin, no matter how much his smile tries to hide it. "But what does that actually mean?"

 For a moment, silence falls over the group as they try to recall whether they have heard it before or not. A handful don't even bother trying. This is something that works in Reigen's favour; people flock to those with more knowledge and experience, even if they end up being completely wrong. Not that he's wrong or anything. 

 "I think it means a devoted, involved, & loving father," Reigen says after a couple of seconds pretending to think his answer through. A couple of the men nod along, seemingly satisfied with his answer, although some look a little more confused.

 "I wouldn't use any of those words to describe myself," an older man with ear piercings mutters, "although the father thing might be up for debate." He is wearing a slightly worn-out dark suit and has a deep scar running from the corner of his lip towards his jawline.

 "Well, that's why it's a competition," Reigen quickly counters, allowing him to persuade some of the doubters. Of course, there are some who refuse to acknowledge what he has said, but they don't make any moves to challenge him. One man, in particular, seems to be particularly opposed to what Reigen has said. 

 He stands on the opposite side of the room, his dead, red eyes staring at him unflinchingly. They are a little bit like the man in the green suit's eyes but somehow harbour a more unrecognisable emotion. It's like they are staring straight through his bravado and into something he thought he's long buried away. 

 "Are you sure about that?"

 The man asks as he walks through the group and right up to Reigen. It is almost impossible to ignore him now. Despite looking like he would tower over the fraud, he actually ends up being a little bit shorter. His silver hair slightly obstructs his eyes, drawing more attention to the rest of his face. Reigen notices a wooden sword at the man's hip and can't help but wonder why someone would carry one around; especially since there are people with actual weapons in the void. 

 It is either the sign of someone who is extremely powerful, extremely stupid, or maybe both. 

 Even with the intimidating aura that the samurai has, Reigen can tell that the man is holding something back. It would have been easy for him to come up and give a different answer or some sort of proof to show that Reigen is wrong. But he doesn't. By trying to directly challenge Reigen, he is leaving himself wide open for Reigen to call his bluff.  

 "Well," Reigen says with faux enthusiasm, "you can correct me if I'm wrong. What do you think a DILF is?"

 The samurai looks as though he is going to answer, but at the last second his face starts to burn bright red. If it wasn't for the lethal look in his eyes, Reigen would probably have described it as cute. Instead, it only makes him more unreadable. 

 After a couple of seconds, the samurai turns on his heel and walks away; his ear tips still a scorching red. It is only when the silver-haired samurai is standing as far away as he can that Reigen notices he isn't wearing any shoes. 

 Before anyone can even think about breaking the very awkward silence which has fallen over the group, the robotic voice rings out. 

 "The first round will now begin" it declares as a holo-screen is lowered into the room. On it is a strange arena that Reigen doesn't recognise. The last time he was here, they were made to compete within the void itself. Whoever is running this must have had a serious upgrade. There is a loading circle overlaying the image with the words 'selecting contestants' gently flashing underneath it. It stays there for a couple of seconds before it fades out.

 "The contestants have been selected."

 As soon as these words are uttered, two men disappear in a flash. The first is the cold doctor who helped Reigen earlier while the second is a shadowy figure who spent most of his time standing at a distance from the others. They immediately appear on the screen which is now split in two with their names written in obnoxious writing underneath. 

 'Count Vlad Dracula Tepes vs Ishida Ryūken".

 "The rules show now be explained," the robot states before launching into a long-winded explanation that no one seems to fully understand. It started off simple enough, with one child representing each competitor and fighting on their behalf. Easy to understand, right? But then the power system got introduced and everything fell apart. Even after hearing it for a second time, he still feels like his brain is melting. 

 The only person who seems to have any idea of what was being described is the shoeless samurai. He has a smug grin spread across his face as he looks up at the screen. 

 Trying his best to ignore him, Reigen looks back at the screen, watching as two holographic figures materialise. The first is a young-looking blond man, his hair falls past his shoulders and his eyes are an entrancing gold. There is something almost other-worldly about him, although the same could also be said of the father. 

 The second is someone who he recognises. A blunt, bespectacled man who looks like a mirror image of his dad with just a slightly different colour scheme. Ishida Uryū made quite the wave during the Twink Awards when he immediately quit. He didn't even last fifteen minutes, something that many of the other competitors, Reigen included, wish that they had thought of doing. As soon as it happened, however, forfeiting was banned, leaving the others trapped in the competition. 

 "Fight one, begin."

 As soon as the robotic voice utters these words, a red banner fills the screen declaring that Dracula is the victor. This seems to stun everyone, including the robot which emits a high-pitched whirring sound as it tries to comprehend what just happened. 

 "I get to leave now, right?" Ishida says, not wasting a second. Apparently, he chose to flee and immediately forfeit the match. The two holograms disappear and the competitors are brought back into the void. When Reigen had to sit through the son's ten-minute complaining session, he had assumed that their differences were what caused fractures in their relationship. But Reigen's beginning to think there might have been a different problem. 

 Isshin immediately walks over to Ryūken and laughs while slapping a hand on his shoulder. 

 "Not even going to put up a fight, huh?"

 Ryūken steps to the side, letting the hand on his shoulder slip off. 

 "I don't have time to waste on frivolities such as this," he says cooly. He is definitely like his son. Without another word, he disappears while still wearing a frown on his face. As the loading overlay appears on the screen for a second time, Reigen finds himself wondering if he could pull a similar stunt. 

  "Contestants, this is an emergency announcement. The 'Flee' button has now been classed as an illegal move. Thank you for your co-operation," the robotic voice says, clearly trying to cover up their blunder as quickly as possible.

 Well, Reigen thinks to himself, that's just typical. 

Next Chapter

Read on Ao3

[limitsofdoubt]

Bradley shrugging off his hand and heading for the bathroom without so much as another word or glance has Kyle feeling oddly bereft of warmth. He stares at the closed door for a long moment before he eventually moves to shrug out of his coat and toe off his shoes and socks. He takes his notebook out of his inner coat pocket, pulls out the pen, too to jot down a few things he doesn't want to forget about what he saw in the warehouse earlier. But overall he is just trying to busy himself while Bradley is in the other room.

He's here, he truly is. Kyle found him, after years of chasing shadows, of believing the worst for months at a time before another flicker of hope showed itself in the smallest of clues, the smallest of indications that Bradley was still out there, still breathing.

Kyle stops what he is doing a few times just to make sure the water is still running and Bradley is still there, that he didn't do something ridiculous like climb out the bathroom window. But there is always a small sound that tells him he is in fact still in there. A cough, the sound of water splashing, eventually his bare feet making noise on the tiles as Bradley moves around. It helps to put his mind at ease for now. Bradley isn't running, at least not right now.

When Bradley eventually emerges, Kyle has a hard time to not blatantly stare. He winces at the colorful mess of bruises painted across Bradley's body and still can't help the fact that his throat goes dry as he watches him bend over and rummage through his suitcase in search of something to wear. He watches his muscles shift and work, his wet hair leaving droplets of water running down the curve if his spine, but then his eyes are drawn to the scar and the images of that night come back to him in a flash as they always do. The gunshot rings in his ears as his mind matches the scar to the bullet burrying itself in Bradley's shoulder and going straight through.

He did that.

The guilt hits him like a punch to the face. He put that mark there. And it blends so perfectly with the rest of the abuse he can still see on Bradley's skin. Kyle's throat tightens, his breathing hitches. He is so out of it with conflicting emotions that he doesn't even comment on Bradley still having no respect for Kyle's belongings, simply going through them as if it is his suitcase rather than Kyle's. But he likely wouldn't have stopped him if his mind wasn't currently occupied either. Hell, during their time on the force most of Kyle's stationary ended up on Bradley's desk within the week of him getting new things.

Bradley straightens himself up and turns to face him, but Kyle looks away and clears his throat, fearing his voice would give his thoughts away otherwise. He makes a vague gesture towards the clean underwear Bradley means to put on. "Knock yourself out." He says, trying not too look too closely into the notion of gratification that overcomes him at seeing Bradley wear his things.

What the hell, Kyle?

It leaves him... feeling a bit lost when Bradley sinks into the bed and lets out a drawn out sound of relief as he burries beneath the covers. Kyle runs a hand over his face and takes a deeper breath, fighting the urge to pinch himself, because after nearly 5 years of separation, of looking for the man currently stretching himself out like a cat in a warm ray of sunlight, all of this... it just doesn't seem quite real.

And none of the things Bradley does and says right now quite serve to calm him or his accelerated heartbeat either. He isn't even quite sure what it is he is feeling, nor does he know what he is supposed to be feeling.

All of this is a whole lot more confusing than he thought it would be. During the first few months after Bradley vanished Kyle had been angry, he'd felt betrayed and like someone had pulled the ground from beneath his feet. Gone was the one person who knew him better than anyone else and every time he thought of him he ached.

He still does, but it's no longer anger that lodges itself inside his throat, it's there of course, but that anger is no longer directed at Bradley, it hasn't been for a long time. No, what he feels towards his ex-partner is far from what he is supposed to feel, for sure. The furthest from the hatred people always assume he is harbouring, too. But there is no room to address this. There never has been room to address this and where Kyle is concerned there never will be. Sitting down and dissecting his feelings has never done him any good and he doubts Bradley wants to hear it anyway.

Except, when he looks at him now, expression slack with exhaustion, looking no longer as tense after a hot shower and with his green eyes looking so pleading that Kyle bites down on the sarcastic comment that's on the tip of his tongue and instead just makes his way over to the bed.

For a moment he just stands beside it, reaching out to brush the back of his hand against Bradley's face and then moves it to his shoulder. He's still far colder than he should be and Kyle realizes that he's still shivering, too.

"That bad, huh?" He asks, although it is more of a statement than it is a question. Bradley does a decent enough job at hiding it, but Kyle knows what loneliness looks like. He has seen it staring back at him from the mirror for five years now.

So, he sets his notebook and pen down on the bedside table, and pushes at Bradley's shoulder to have him make room. "Come on, move over." He says when Bradley doesn't immediately react and rolls his eyes when he feels him purposely make himself heavy. Kyle is forced to use both hands to maneuver the other man aside, digging his fingers into his side to make him jump in retaliation. Eventually, he huffs out a breath when he gets him to act less like a starfish and more like a human being.

"Menace." Kyle grouches even as he pulls the blanket over both of them, ignoring the tightness in his throat born from their proximity. His brows are still furrowed as he turns to face Bradley fully, but that does little to hide his concern. "There. Better?" He asks as he feels the warmth sink into his own tired limbs beneath the shared cover.

"Right." Kyle scoffs. "You might wanna stop acting like one then." But the statement lacks real heat and he knows that whatever Bradley says to him now he shouldn't let it get to him. He's completely out of it, hurt, malnourished and dehydrated, stressed out of his mind, too. But how can Kyle not? Bradley always had a way of getting under his skin like no one else could, pushed his buttons until it hurt, until he blew a fuse. And sometimes that was necessary, because Kyle is too closed off. And that's always been true, too. He let cases eat at him until there was hardly anything left and that was usually when Bradley swooped in, all cocky smiles and irritating jabs. Ticked Kyle off beyond believe when they were first assigned partners too,, but over time — far less than one would think — Bradley expertly worked his way into his mind, his heart, too, otherwise his betrayal wouldn't have hurt in the way it did.

But Kyle isn't the only one who needed balancing out. Bradley in all of his need for martyrdom and readiness to throw himself into danger needed Kyle to keep him grounded. And that clearly hasn't changed either.

So, it's to no one's surprise when the self-deprecating, self-sacrificing bullshit comes out, that Kyle's temper flares anew.

"Yeah, you sure as hell should have talked to me!" Kyle spats. "Instead of shouldering all of this shit on your own, you should have given me something, anything to go off of instead of making me think that my best friend betrayed me!" His voice climbs in volume and fills with emotion without him meaning to. He takes a deep breath to steady himself, to keep a level head, but he can't keep it from wavering as he exhales. He casts his eyes down to the floor. Years upon years of anger he thought managed and handled threatening to overtake him now. But rather than give into the kindling flame, he shakes his head and sighs.

"Could have spared both of us a lot of grief."

He moves closer to the bed, watching Bradley make himself small, far smaller than a man of his height should have any right to look. "I'm really tired of people telling me I should hate you." He says after and then it's quiet for a while. The tension heavy and thick between them.

Eventually, Bradley speaks up again and Kyle has a hard time not going back to yelling. He bites down on his tongue, keeps himself in check. "You're a moron." Kyle says quietly and it doesn't even begin to vent all the conflicting emotions trapped in his chest. He wrinkles his nose. "—And you definitely need a shower."

When Bradley doesn't react to his jab he sits down next to him. A beat, and then: "You really don't get it, even after all this time, do you? After what you did?" Bradley still doesn't look at him and Kyle is almost relieved that he doesn't. He looks straight ahead next, eyes glazing over with memories. "I don't exactly blame you. Took me a long time to realize, too."

He continues on. "But you wanna know what I think? You deliberately left clues for me to be able to follow you around, led me to a hotel in the middle of nowhere so I could figure out what the hell happened in New York because you — for some reason — weren't able to tell me yourself."

Hyde pulls something from the pocket of his coat, something small. A metallic rectangle reflects the few traces of sunlight peeking through the curtains. Bradley's lighter. He picked it up during his stay at Hotel Dusk and never let it go afterwards. Bradley never went anywhere without it. So, when Kyle found it he realized that he would have to give it back to him. It was a sign and one he wasn't silling to ignore.

"You left traces of yourself all over, like breadcrumbs in a dark forest I had to follow around to find you." He flicks the lid of the lighter, and clicks it shut again like he has seen Bradley do countless times back when they were still cops. The familiar sound rings loud and hollow into the silence that forms between them.

"For me it was never really about what I wanted." Kyle reaches out a hand, the one closest to Bradley, and gently places it against his trembling shoulder. "I knew you wanted me to find you, despite that letter, despite keeping me at arms length all this time." He gently squeezes Bradley's shoulder and shifts the other hand with the lighter into Bradley's field of view, offering it out to him.

"I knew you needed me, so here I am." He shrugs one shoulder. "Took me roughly five years, but hey, better late than never, right?"

[gowithsatan]

[Hide in R.A.D library]

"There's thousands of books, and so many original copies. Hiding in plain sight... its a risk, but I think it's worth it." MC checks their phone, "And you're going to run late if you don't leave soon. Goodbye Satan."

"Bye MC, I'll see you soon." A quick chant in latin made the circle glow orange, leaving only the book on the floor. Satan tucks it into his jacket and runs across town to the school, the bell tower letting him know that he had 10 minutes to make it to the council room.

Being the weekend, RAD is mostly empty except for a few of the staff lingering around. Satan doesn't run into anyone as he sneaks into the library , and it only takes him a few seconds to hide MC deep in the most uninteresting section of the library. He jumps and slides the book across the top of the shelf, if anyone saw him reach for it later he could claim to be on library duty and dusting the shelves. Without a minute to spare, he catches his brothers as they file into the student council room and responds to every question from Diavolo with lies.

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

MC knows the book must have been found and correctly shelved when Satan doesn't come to visit them. It doesn't bother them too much, the book's setting is cute and as long as they're in the same area as the main characters, MC never runs out of food or a safe place to wake up in.

Satan comes back after fifteen days and apologizes to MC profusely, their book had entered the library catalogs but he'd make sure that they wouldn't be taken out of the library. As a surprise, he asks MC to wait and hops out of the book, only to be replaced by Mammon instead.

"THE LIBRARY? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Mammon tackles MC into a hug, "You've got some nerve to be testing Barbatos like that, but I'm glad you're alright." He doesn't let go of MC for the rest of the time he's in the book , avoiding questions about the new scars across his chest, and telling them about all the places he's going to take them once this all blows over.

The same scene plays out 5 more times, with each brother coming in to check on MC. Some were hiding bandages, other bruises, or like Satan- new scars. They don't tell MC much about the outside world. Yes, Diavolo is still mad. No, he didn't hurt them too bad. Yes, Luke and Simeon asked about them. No, Solomon hadn't taken MC's stuff out of their room yet. All too soon they each have to hug MC goodbye, but they all promise to get Diavolo to see reason and pull MC back into the real world in no time.

MC is grateful for their "unconsciousness", they know it'll only feel like a handful of days before they're walking the streets of the Devildom again, so for now they strolled along garden paths and did every weird thing they could think of in the book- it would all be reset once a new "day" started, so what was the harm in some fun?

The brothers kept their promise and visited MC often. MC even joked that Barbatos would grow suspicious of Beel reading so many romance novels and Belphie not falling asleep in the library. Every day felt like a dream- no school, no work, and no petty death threats! But as lovely as this extended vacation was, there was a shift in the air.

MC isn't sure what tipped them off, maybe the stubble on Mammon's chin when he kissed them on the forehead? Or the way that Levi's voice seemed deeper every time he came to tell them about a new video game release. Lucifer's tips were no longer grey, at this point it had to be at least half of his hair. The more MC looked, the more clearly it showed, they were all aging much faster than before. No one talked about pulling MC out anymore, and dodged the question when MC asked first.

"Satan, how long have I been in here?"

"Don't worry about it MC," But when Satan smiles at them, MC notices the crows feet that have carved themselves near his eyes. It's only a few weeks later that MC notices Satan's first grey hairs have grown in. They stop asking to leave the book, and Satan never makes false promises that "it'll only be a few more days." Instead they enjoy their time together while they can, with the truth dangling over their heads like a guillotine.

Even if MC came out now, there was no place left for them in the human realm.

[clatterbane]

Getting a batch of cooked apples going, like I've been wanting to do for a while now!

Still slightly amazing, just how much easier prep work like this can be, if you actually have a workstation set up at an appropriate height! 😊 One of the reasons I put off doing this, tbqh, with as much of an awkward hassle as it was, trying to get much done in our cramped much less accessible old kitchen. You were either trying to do stuff sitting sideways to it, on a cluttered too-high counter surface, or working in your lap. Also, naturally I was still in the earlier stages of trying to adjust and figure out how to get much of anything done as a new wheelchair user.

I mean, picking up that more ergonomic peeler (for like £2 at Tesco!) has made a huge enough difference to trying to get some basic prep work done, without ending up with seriously cramped-up hands/arms and aggravating pain from these wonky bendy joints. You can maybe imagine how much good the full-body awkwardness trying to do pretty well any kitchen work kitchen was doing my carcass.

Of course, having at least one handy accessible working surface set up to fit my needs better was one of the major reasons I did make sure to set up thar table there in this new place. But, I can't help but still get impressed at how much easier that makes so many things on the daily. And, I am so glad to have (a) enough space available to set things up better, (b) a cleaner slate to work with, moving into this previously empty apartment, and (c) both the means and support to, like, totally reasonably just pick out a new IKEA table to suit my needs. (As just one example.)

Anyway, these Mystery Swedish Apples had been sitting around at cool room temperature for maybe a week and a half, two weeks waiting for me to get around to dealing with them--and a couple of them were starting to look the part. That chunk of an apple waiting to the side was the result of a couple of bruises I'd missed earlier, plus needing to sample one for quality control purposes. 😁 Yep, pretty tasty! Maybe especially as the first fresh apple I'd tasted in the better part of a year.

(No idea what variety these even are, just that there were several prominent "Svenska äpplen" signs around them. Still not sure after the taste test, though very possibly some Swedish variety--even better! Looked nice and fresh then, and pretty promising as cooking apples. Maybe a little more toward the sweeter side than I would normally look for, but still looking pretty damned good compared to much of what I could readily find around London.)

All done! And just about ready for the stove.

I was craving some pretty basic stewed apples, with basically just a hint of spices. Already added to the pan: the fruit tossed with a spoonful of lemon juice, about a tablespoon of honey for the hint of flavor more than sweetness, and maybe a couple teaspoons of butter. Yet to go in: a dash of pre-ground nutmeg, plus bigger sprinkles of ground allspice and cinnamon. No ginger here right now, or I would also add (preferably) a couple of fresh slices of that too.

Now on and simmering away under a lid!

Stirring about 5 minutes in. Did I add too much water to keep it from sticking? 🤔 Anybody's guess!

Also, waiting to the side, for flavor adjustment as needed at the end:

I was so glad to spot some granulated Splenda-alike at the nearest grocery store this evening! For whatever reason, any form of sucralose seems way less popular here than I would have expected? 🤔 This is actually the first I've found at all, just sold as a sweetener. It's a pretty common ingredient in prepared stuff, but not so much on its own. It's also the main artificial sweetener that doesn't taste actively gross to me.

(Stevia isn't nasty, but just doesn't taste like anything. My mom was exactly the same way with it. Guessing it's some genetic variation, like with soapy cilantro or bitter brassicas. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Could be much worse! Just not helpful with so many products using stevia extracts now. Juice drinks are just very tart at worst, but one essentially unsweetened chocolate-coater wafer protein bar was disconcerting as hell.)

I was actually considering buying some maltodextrin as a base and trying to figure out decent proportions for mixing up my own granulated version with that pure sucralose powder which I ordered basically as soon as I saw how hard it is to find in stores here--for easy baking substitution, especially. But, glad to see that I can indeed find some! And without, like, paying extra to order the stuff from Germany for the convenience value.