72degreescold - Tumblr blog

[72degreescold]

"Deku says that he managed to destroy what he really needed to. The last page goes back to the real world and reveals that Shigaraki's body has been completely destroyed and turned into dust. The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining. End of chapter #MHA423"

aint NO way its over yet. I have many concerns, most of which focus on Katsuki's whole 'vestige' experience which, to my knowledge, we have no explanation about yet. And ... if no one else has vestiges anymore... ? ahhh hhHHHHHHHHHHH

[72degreescold]

Possible Parallels: The Final Battle

I am here…to predict the ending of MHA.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m starting a series called Possible Parallels to point out scenes in MHA that I will bet you the Prince of Parallels Kohei Horikoshi parallels in some future chapter or else I will eat my damn hat.

Ever since realizing Horikoshi went so far as to parallel an entire battle arc, I’ve been wary of any chapter or arc and how it could come back in a parallel. The most conspicuous one to me? Chapter 1.

Could chapter 1 be spoiling the ending?

This theory is all mainly because Horikoshi put the series ending I originally thought would happen in the Heroes Rising movie instead, saying the new series ending will be even better.

Well, Horikoshi, this one’s for you.

Prediction: Chapter 1 (episodes 1 & 2) is the final battle blueprint.

(Warnings: Long post is long; manga spoilers below the cut; also potential spoilers for the MHA ending since, you know, I’m literally trying to predict it)

Keep reading

[72degreescold]

brO IM GONNA THROW UP "Shirakumo: "All For One, give Shigaraki back. His friends are waiting for him". Kurogiri starts to disappear but, at the last second, Bakugou appears and propels the deku with his explosions. Mic says that he should be in the hospital, but he flew there with his quirk #MHA423" THIS BITCH.

Uh oh Katsuki is in danger

I can’t believe it’s come to this. Every word in this post is going to bring me extreme agony.

I haven’t wanted to say anything about this for a while because I was a) scared of being right and b) extremely terrified of being right. I want a certain subsection of my meta posts to just fade into obscurity and have no one remember them. I want them to be wrong. I didn’t want to have to come back to this.

Fuck it. We’re here. It’s the endgame now.

Hi, let’s talk about how Katsuki is gonna have a bad time.

Horikoshi delivered unto us a terrifying message at Jump Festa 2022. @hanashimas​ has a good translation up.

I have desperately wanted to see the Japanese version of it, because holy shit is it cheeky. This asshole. This absolute bastard.

Towards the beginning, he states this:

MHA is at a state where it will reach its goal in a about year….if things go smoothly.

If things don’t go smoothly, then Yamashita [Daiki]-kun will probably be reading the same letter again next year at JumpFes.

I’ve been sluggishly drawing for more than 7 years now, but now that we’re in the Final Act, I plan to vent everything that I’ve been sluggishly saving up until now in it.

The way I read this is, everything he hints about in this letter is related to the endgame. It is the final arc. Any hints here are hints about how it all ends. This is it, buckaroos.

I’ve held off on my opinions about it because I wanted to see the setup of the endgame first. But I did have…feelings when I read the whole message. Those came through in my reblog tags.

I didn’t elaborate further also because I hoped to do so in a post someday (now). At the time I just was too busy and tired anyways. But you’ve asked, and so shall I deliver.

Here’s the line that sent the internet into a tailspin:

I’ve said this to Okamoto [Nobuhiko]-kun in LINE, but Katsuki will be having his greatest scene in the manga in future developments. I hope people who like Katsuki and hate Katsuki will look forward to it.

It’s cute. You’re all very cute. I’m sure Horikoshi giggled maniacally at your freak-out. I know I did.

But as a Katsuki fan, this is the part that had me screeching:

And then, we have Deku and Shigaraki.

Even though his consciousness is becoming more and more ambiguous, he’s [Shigaraki’s] a mass of destructive instincts and frustrations. He’s the greatest obstacle in Deku’s goal of “saving”.

Saving and Destroying are both born out of ego. Whose ego will win in the end? Is it even a matter of winning or losing? How will things go? What shall I do? What am I supposed to do??

Well, everything’s somehow gonna come off alright I guess!

Do your best, Deku! Destroy it all, Shigaraki! Die, All for One!!

“What? This part? Katsuki isn’t even mentioned! This is explicitly a section about Izuku and Tomura. Why on earth would you lose your mind over this vague bullshit?” - Unenlightened You, 2022

Because it’s in code, you sweet summer children.

The whole damn thing is very, very intentionally using conspicuously specific words to avoid setting off the alarms. Except they actually set off all the alarms. And that’s probably on purpose, because Horikoshi loves telling us exactly what to expect and lets our imaginations do the work to fill in the blanks and fool ourselves. He does this all the damn time.

How do I know? BECAUSE I CAN READ THE DAMN CODE!

It’s true, I’m not always right (gasp) about the ultimate meaning, but I can damn well tell when the code is there pointing in the generally correct direction.

And now I’ve gathered the signs and assembled the ruins and drawn the circles and pulled out the translation notes and done the calculations and I’m ready to motherfuckin’ do this.

So here’s the tea.

THEORY: Katsuki Bakugou is gonna be possessed

Table of Contents I. The meta warning signs II. “Wait, didn’t you say Izuku was gonna be possessed?” and other sordid tales III. Maybe Izuku is actually a reliable narrator IV. Katsuki’s greatest fear V. The history of One For All VI. Izuku’s unspoken feelings VII. Izuku vs. Tomura but not like that VIII. Decoding Horikoshi’s prophecy IX. tl;dr À̴̡͍͑͘A̵̢̼̟͘͝A̴̢̪͎͒͑̚A̴̟͓̺͛̓͘À̵̪͔͍͊͝A̴̠͖̟̒̓̚Ä̸̡̙͔́͐͠A̴͔̫̼̿͠À̵̠̠͙͒͆Ä̸̢͔̪́̔͐A̴̙͎̪͋̐̒A̵̡̞̓̓̀A̸̘͖͊͆͊A̸̢̟̝̓̐͠A̴͍̺̟͑͝͠A̸̦͍̠͑̈́Ä̵͓͚͓́́͛A̵̺͓̿̔͘͜A̴͕͔͖̽̽͘A̴͕͖͉͆͊̓A̸̝̻͉̐͒A̵̺̞̾̐͜͠A̸͓͖̺͛̐͘A̸͎̝̻̒̈́͝A̵͇̪͎̾̿A̴̪͙͖̓͒A̸̫͖͖͐͌̕A̵̙͕̙̓͘͝A̵̻̙̼͊̈́͠A̴̞̘̟͊̾̕A̸̢̪͔̓̀͒A̵͎̞̪͊͛̀Á̸̢͇̺̚͝A̴̼͕͍̓̓͝Á̸̝̠̫̿͒A̸͎̫͙͑͒Ä̴̡̘̪́͐̿

Here’s what I’m gonna do for you. First, I’m gonna tell you what’s definitely not gonna happen (section I). Second, I’m gonna point out all the allowances I’ve made in my other predictive metas (section II). Third, I’m gonna walk you through all the foreshadowing and unresolved plot points leading to this theory (sections III-VI). Fourth, I’m gonna put all the pieces together for you (section VII). Fifth, I’m gonna decode Horikoshi’s Jump Festa message (section VIII).

And last: I must scream.

Keep reading

[72degreescold]

BRO BRO BRO BRO BROOOOO BRO BRO

"He (AFO) says he just has to start all over again, like he did with Shigaraki. In other words, he just needs to transfer the All For One quirk to Midoriya or some other hero and take over their body. He then approaches Deku, but Kurogiri moves..." SOME OTHER HERO - AND TAKE OVER THEIR BODY- It's not happening. Surely not.

Uh oh Katsuki is in danger

I can’t believe it’s come to this. Every word in this post is going to bring me extreme agony.

I haven’t wanted to say anything about this for a while because I was a) scared of being right and b) extremely terrified of being right. I want a certain subsection of my meta posts to just fade into obscurity and have no one remember them. I want them to be wrong. I didn’t want to have to come back to this.

Fuck it. We’re here. It’s the endgame now.

Hi, let’s talk about how Katsuki is gonna have a bad time.

Horikoshi delivered unto us a terrifying message at Jump Festa 2022. @hanashimas​ has a good translation up.

I have desperately wanted to see the Japanese version of it, because holy shit is it cheeky. This asshole. This absolute bastard.

Towards the beginning, he states this:

MHA is at a state where it will reach its goal in a about year….if things go smoothly.

If things don’t go smoothly, then Yamashita [Daiki]-kun will probably be reading the same letter again next year at JumpFes.

I’ve been sluggishly drawing for more than 7 years now, but now that we’re in the Final Act, I plan to vent everything that I’ve been sluggishly saving up until now in it.

The way I read this is, everything he hints about in this letter is related to the endgame. It is the final arc. Any hints here are hints about how it all ends. This is it, buckaroos.

I’ve held off on my opinions about it because I wanted to see the setup of the endgame first. But I did have…feelings when I read the whole message. Those came through in my reblog tags.

I didn’t elaborate further also because I hoped to do so in a post someday (now). At the time I just was too busy and tired anyways. But you’ve asked, and so shall I deliver.

Here’s the line that sent the internet into a tailspin:

I’ve said this to Okamoto [Nobuhiko]-kun in LINE, but Katsuki will be having his greatest scene in the manga in future developments. I hope people who like Katsuki and hate Katsuki will look forward to it.

It’s cute. You’re all very cute. I’m sure Horikoshi giggled maniacally at your freak-out. I know I did.

But as a Katsuki fan, this is the part that had me screeching:

And then, we have Deku and Shigaraki.

Even though his consciousness is becoming more and more ambiguous, he’s [Shigaraki’s] a mass of destructive instincts and frustrations. He’s the greatest obstacle in Deku’s goal of “saving”.

Saving and Destroying are both born out of ego. Whose ego will win in the end? Is it even a matter of winning or losing? How will things go? What shall I do? What am I supposed to do??

Well, everything’s somehow gonna come off alright I guess!

Do your best, Deku! Destroy it all, Shigaraki! Die, All for One!!

“What? This part? Katsuki isn’t even mentioned! This is explicitly a section about Izuku and Tomura. Why on earth would you lose your mind over this vague bullshit?” - Unenlightened You, 2022

Because it’s in code, you sweet summer children.

The whole damn thing is very, very intentionally using conspicuously specific words to avoid setting off the alarms. Except they actually set off all the alarms. And that’s probably on purpose, because Horikoshi loves telling us exactly what to expect and lets our imaginations do the work to fill in the blanks and fool ourselves. He does this all the damn time.

How do I know? BECAUSE I CAN READ THE DAMN CODE!

It’s true, I’m not always right (gasp) about the ultimate meaning, but I can damn well tell when the code is there pointing in the generally correct direction.

And now I’ve gathered the signs and assembled the ruins and drawn the circles and pulled out the translation notes and done the calculations and I’m ready to motherfuckin’ do this.

So here’s the tea.

THEORY: Katsuki Bakugou is gonna be possessed

Table of Contents I. The meta warning signs II. “Wait, didn’t you say Izuku was gonna be possessed?” and other sordid tales III. Maybe Izuku is actually a reliable narrator IV. Katsuki’s greatest fear V. The history of One For All VI. Izuku’s unspoken feelings VII. Izuku vs. Tomura but not like that VIII. Decoding Horikoshi’s prophecy IX. tl;dr À̴̡͍͑͘A̵̢̼̟͘͝A̴̢̪͎͒͑̚A̴̟͓̺͛̓͘À̵̪͔͍͊͝A̴̠͖̟̒̓̚Ä̸̡̙͔́͐͠A̴͔̫̼̿͠À̵̠̠͙͒͆Ä̸̢͔̪́̔͐A̴̙͎̪͋̐̒A̵̡̞̓̓̀A̸̘͖͊͆͊A̸̢̟̝̓̐͠A̴͍̺̟͑͝͠A̸̦͍̠͑̈́Ä̵͓͚͓́́͛A̵̺͓̿̔͘͜A̴͕͔͖̽̽͘A̴͕͖͉͆͊̓A̸̝̻͉̐͒A̵̾̐͜͠��̞A̸͓͖̺͛̐͘A̸͎̝̻̒̈́͝A̵͇̪͎̾̿A̴̪͙͖̓͒A̸̫͖͖͐͌̕A̵̙͕̙̓͘͝A̵̻̙̼͊̈́͠A̴̞̘̟͊̾̕A̸̢̪͔̓̀͒A̵͎̞̪͊͛̀Á̸̢͇̺̚͝A̴̼͕͍̓̓͝Á̸̝̠̫̿͒A̸͎̫͙͑͒Ä̴̡̘̪́͐̿

Here’s what I’m gonna do for you. First, I’m gonna tell you what’s definitely not gonna happen (section I). Second, I’m gonna point out all the allowances I’ve made in my other predictive metas (section II). Third, I’m gonna walk you through all the foreshadowing and unresolved plot points leading to this theory (sections III-VI). Fourth, I’m gonna put all the pieces together for you (section VII). Fifth, I’m gonna decode Horikoshi’s Jump Festa message (section VIII).

And last: I must scream.

Keep reading

[72degreescold]

Today's quick sketch, Deku wanting to show off his black whip mastery and woo Kacchan lol

[72degreescold]

jokes on you guys my kink is moral failure

I fucking hate when people say stuff like this. Especially when it's on a generally good post with valuable information. On the one hand I want to share that information because it could genuinely help someone; on the other, I don't want to spread this type of guilt-tripping and shaming and potentially trigger someone else like me. It's a lose-lose situation. No matter what I do, I am going to feel guilty. No matter what I do, I will feel like a terrible person. It sucks and I just wish people would stop doing this. I know it's shocking, but it is actually possible to make an important and useful post without guilting everyone that sees it into sharing.

[72degreescold]

I'm just sat here, talking with ChatGPT, letting it shit talk me as both Deku and Shigaraki and it's so entertaining. (they treat "me" like Bakugo; so MEAN)

[72degreescold]

So I know it's impossible but what if Marluxia's connection to Ven is so strong he's able to bypass the security and just randomly stumbles upon the chamber of waking and a sleeping Ven.

Xemnas only told Marluxia what they're looking for in castle oblivion so when he finds him the deep feeling of familiarity and happiness is enough to convince him that xemnas cannot and will not get his hands on this boy.

The only other person who knows is Larexene and they decide to make CO their stronghold and have to kill everyone in the castle to keep the sleeping boy safe. They abandon their plan of making Sora their puppet and instead have Namine try and make a new lock on the chamber while letting Sora and Riku flush out and kill the other organization members.

Marluxia may not fully remember his past but he knows this boy is special and he'll defend him with his non existence.

I mean, 100% if it in anyway inconveniences Xemnas, Marluxia will do it. He's totally not doing it for any other reason, guys. He didn't have some weird change of heart. He doesn't even have a heart. Larxene stop looking at him like that.

This actually reminded me of a tidbit from Marluxia's character file "Ephemeral Flower":

"It wasn't until much later that I learned the castle was a special place. Castle Oblivion is a sealed ground- a place where a hero of the keyblade slept. Where he was sleeping."

Now, I'm probably reading too much into it, but the repetition of the last line "where a hero of the keyblade slept -> where he was sleeping." seems very significant to me? Like, we as the audience know he's talking about Ven with the first sentence, but Marluxia repeats it stating a "he" specifically, like he sees that part to be very significant. idk

[72degreescold]

Writing tips for long fics that helped me that no one asked for.

1.) Don't actually delete content from your WIP unless it is minor editing - instead cut it and put it in a secondary document. If you're omitting paragraphs of content, dialog, a whole scene you might find a better place for it later and having it readily available can really save time. Sometimes your idea was fantastic, but it just wasn't in the right spot.

2.) Stuck with wording the action? Just write the dialog then revisit it later.

3.) Stuck on the whole scene? Skip it and write the next one.

4.) Write on literally any other color than a white background. It just works. (I use black)

5.) If you have a beta, while they are beta-ing have them read your fic out loud. Yes, I know a lot of betas/writers do not have the luxury of face-timing or have the opportunity to do this due to time constraints etc but reading your fic out loud can catch some very awkward phrasing that otherwise might be missed. If you don't have a beta, you read it out loud to yourself. Throw some passion into your dialog, you might find a better way to word it if it sounds stuffy or weird.

6.) The moment you have an idea, write it down. If you don't have paper or a pen, EMAIL it to yourself or put it in a draft etc etc. I have sent myself dozens of ideas while laying down before sleep that I 10/10 forgot the next morning but had emailed them to myself and got to implement them.

7.) Remember - hits/likes/kudos/comments are not reflective of the quality of your fic or your ability to write. Most people just don't comment - even if they say they do, they don't, even if they preach all day about commenting, they don't, even if they are a very popular blog that passionately reminds people to comment - they don't comment (I know this personally). Even if your fic brought tears to their eyes and it haunted them for weeks and they printed it out and sent it to their friends they just don't comment. You just have to accept it. That being said - comment on the fic you're reading now, just do it, if you're 'shy' and that's why you don't comment the more you comment the better you'll get at it. Just do it.

8.) Remove unrealistic daily word count goals from your routine. I've seen people stress 1500 - 2000 words a day and if they don't reach that they feel like a failure and they get discouraged. This is ridiculous. Write when you can, but remove absurd goals. My average is 500 words a day in combination with a 40 hour a week job and I have written over 200k words from 2022-2023.

9.) There are dozens of ways to do an outline from precise analytical deconstruction that goes scene by scene to the minimalist bullet point list - it doesn't matter which one you use just have some sort of direction. A partial outline is better than no outline.

10.) Write for yourself, not for others. Write the fic you know no one is going to read. Write the fic that sounds ridiculous. You will be so happy you put it out in the world and there will be people who will be glad it exists.

[72degreescold]

Which implies he’d call Ven “poppet” 😆

i don’t think enough ppl talk about the cutscene where xigbar sees xion as being identical to ventus. like is that how he sees her for all of days. xion and roxas are twins in his eye????

[72degreescold]

i think if luxu snatched up ventus before xehanort did this would be their dynamic ngl. just a bit meaner. braig would be like “yeah this is my shitty kid he is so weak and can’t stomach a happy meal also he looks like one of those fuck-ugly scruffy kittens with the widest wettest eyes you’ve ever seen but he’s MY ugly son now.” and little ventus just looks at you with his big ol eyes and in his soft lil orphan voice “i’ve seen the Horrors, sir! there’s blood on these hands and i can hardly look in the mirror without seeing Her face” and braig’s just “haha fuck yeah kid you tell ‘em”. ventus starts retching violently.

[72degreescold]

[72degreescold]

50 tips for (fanfic) writing

have fun

write whatever is interesting to you, even if it won’t be interesting to anyone else

appreciate kudos when they come, but don’t expect them

appreciate comments when they come, but don’t expect them

if you wish you could just write that one scene you have in your head, do that. you don’t need to create a 30K backstory for it first.

embrace one shots

embrace drabbles

embrace writing your story out of order

rough drafts are meant to be rough. if you can’t think of a word, put in a placeholder for it and keep going. 

try not to get stuck on the little things

it’s okay if your readers can’t see the picture inside of your head

some people work well when they have a posting schedule. some people work well when they don’t. it’s okay if you don’t know which kind of person you are, and it’s okay if the type of person you are changes over time.

if a rule you created for yourself isn’t working for you, get rid of that rule.

make fandom friends. even if they don’t read your fic, they’ll cheer you on while you write it.

cheer on other writers you know. you’ll be cheering yourself at the same time.

no trope or genre is better or worse than another one. they all just appeal to different audiences.

quality and popularity are not the same thing, although they do sometimes overlap

numbers and statistics will never tell you whether or not you’re a good writer. they will never tell you how valuable you are as a person. 

you belong in fandom if you want to be there

you’re a writer as soon as you start writing things

writing and posting are two different things. your story is still worth writing, even if you never plan to share it

you don’t need to apologize for what you write or what you post. 

don’t worry about taking up too much space. the internet doesn’t have a maximum size. 

keep your readers in mind when you’re tagging your content. how could they search for your fic? if you use a tag, will be a reader who loves that tag be satisfied with how much it appears in your story?

if you have a relationship in your fic that plays a minor role, tag it in the Additional Tags section instead of the Relationship section so that people who love that ship don’t get their hopes up

be cautious when looking at bookmarks on your fic. they aren’t “extra comments.” that’s a space where readers make notes for themselves and each other, not for authors. 

you don’t need to know everything about canon before you start writing fic

you don’t need to read fic in the same fandoms you write for

you don’t need to read fic at all in order to write it

love your work because sometimes you’re the only one who will - and that’s okay

if your hobby starts feeling like a job, you might need to take a break before you get burnt out

if you get stuck on a story, you can always start a new one

if you fall out of love with a story, you can always stop writing it. if you’re worried about your readers, you can always give them a bullet point summary of where you were planning to go with thing. for a lot of people, that’s satisfying and provides closure

if you get hate, report it

use the tools at your disposal to block hate before it can come in (limiting or turning off comments, limiting or turning off asks, blocking users, etc)

try replying to comments sometimes. it can be a lovely way to make fandom friends

don’t be afraid to reblog your own writing posts.

if you get stuck on your summary, just write 1) who the story is about 2) what they are doing and 3) what problem gets in their way

notice when your writing makes you smile. that moment is a gift. enjoy it.

notice when your writing makes you cry. that moment is a gift, too.

even if you’re disappointed in how your story turned out, there’s something in there that’s fantastic. find that thing and focus on it and feel proud.

some ideas are ones you want to write. some are ones you want to read. if you ever have too many ideas to deal with at once, give some of the latter ones away to someone else. 

sometimes the things you write will be really personal. be careful about putting them where other people can comment. they won’t know how personal it is for you, and you need to remember that comments aren’t about you, they’re about the story.

remember that you can write series as well as stories. if the story is done but you still have passion or ideas, start a new one in the same universe.

enjoy the satisfaction of finishing a story. savour it. bask in it a little while.

don’t feel guilty about abandoning a story. not every story gets finished, and that’s okay

you can have separate accounts for different fandoms. you can have one account with a million fandoms in it. do whatever works for you.

sometimes writing is more important than sleep - but only sometimes

it doesn’t matter if that story has been written before by someone else. it doesn’t matter if it was written by you. write it again.

only follow the advice that makes sense to you. the rest isn’t important.

[72degreescold]

Aight lads I have come once again to break hearts because Lauriam and Ven have me in a chokehold and this is the saddest yet. Also I am in no way a competent writer so if any of your mutuals or followers want to take these ideas and run with it please by all means go ahead I will be lurking on ao3 waiting for fics and ready with kudos.

Biggest #1 change. Everything is the same except Ventus is actually Lauriam and Strelitzia's actual little brother. Their parents died when Ven was a toddler so 9-year-old Lauriam was now a single parent to his two younger siblings so the protective instinct runs deep.

Since Ven doesn't really remember their parents whenever he tries to picture them all he can see is Lauriam who would comfort him when he woke up from a bad dream, who wrapped him in blankets and sang him lullabies, who helped him learn to tie his shoes button his buttons and zip his zippers. Ven still feels lonely because obviously he loves his siblings and they do spend time together but there's quite an age gap (Lauriam is probably 6 years older and Strelitzia is probably 4 years older). So when they get keyblades Ven is among if not the youngest keyblade wielder and when all your peers are preteens/teens/young adults well it's no surprise no one wants an 8 year old Ven to tag along.

This means when Darkness possesses Ven it's like way more purposeful, he lures Strelitzia into the house and she quickly picks up something is wrong. She draws her keyblade demanding Ven be released and Darkness speaks to her through Ven that he's weak and it would be so easy to end him and just to taunt her has him hold his own keyblade ready to slice his throat. Strelitzia is naturally terrified for her baby brother and quickly switches to begging. She can't fight him afraid he'll get hurt and pleads to spare his life. Darkness then asks if she would take his place and Strelitzia agrees. So she willingly lets Darkness kill her to save Ven, he still watched the murder happen but was in a daze so his memories are hazy.

This of course makes the later confrontation like 10x worse Ven feels so so guilty he feels he should've died and has to repent Lauriam is dealing with grief and crushing failure and in a moment of weakness takes it out on Ven. so when Ven goes to trap Darkness within himself Lauriam is far more panicked but is still unable to stop him.

So imagine Lauriam making the jump forward in time. If they get separated he's now lost both his siblings possibly for good and if they travel together then he's powerless to stop xehanort from tearing Ven in two and the last thing he sees is his 12 year old brother left dying on the ground never able to properly make up for his constant failure.

OUGHHH. GHGHUH

Ventus being their biological little brother..... I am a sucker for that lil idea (thinks about the omori au thing). Also. lol at single parent lauriam. boy experiences the crushing pains of being a single father to two children at the tender age of 9. Any guy can be a babygirl but it takes a real man to be a single mother y'know.

I think that makes the Strelitzia situation worse in both character's perspectives. You are Ventus and you discover that you got you older sister killed. You are Lauriam and you have just been told that your baby brother- the boy you practically raised- was indirectly responsible for the death of your younger sister. What do either of you do in that situation? That's not something you can really come back from.

And all of those horrible things happening to Ven when Lauriam can do nothing about it. Ough.

(I think I'm gonna be tagging this saga as "Windflower Family Fun Times!!!!" because 1. organizational purposes 2. windflower is a cute name for this duo and 3. no one here is having a fun time.)

[72degreescold]

Hey want to hear my super sad Ven and Lauriam au? Good cause I wasn't actually asking >:)

So what if when everyone was deciding who goes into the lifeboats Lauriam decided that Ven was small enough that they could share a lifeboat and leave an extra so not as many would be left behind (how that changes things probably not much sadly. They all still get separated across time never to see each other again except Ven and Lauriam).

But then they both end up in the keyblade graveyard. Ven gets complete amnesia and while Lauriam is pretty woosy and doesn't remember everything of their trip to the future he does remember he needs to find Strelitzia, that he has more friends he needs to find and above all else protect Ven. Unfortunately Xehanort finds them (thanks magic mirror -_-) and recognizes them with as the friends from his dreams. Xehanort initially promises to help Lauriam in anyway he can and offers to train him to be stronger. Lauriam doesn't have a lot of options especially with a weakened amnesiac Ven so he initially agrees.

He comes to regret that when the training is essentially xehanort trying to force them into roles of light and dark to create the x-blade which of course fails. Ven doesn't remember much but he does remember Lauriam as one of his friends and the two boys refuse to fight each other. So they often get absolutely thrashed by xehanort. Since ven is still inexperienced he's not able to win on his own and Lauriam focuses more on protecting Ven so he gets beaten due to lack of focus. Days will go by where xehanort leaves them in a wounded injuries state on the ground before healing. And usually he just heals Ven since he's still not strong enough to be a threat.

Lauriam has tried to make some escape attempts to get them to away safety but xehanort is too strong to take on alone especially if lauriam is purposely left in a half healed state.

Eventually xehanort starts to focus more on Ven since he knows he has a powerful darkness trapped inside. Ways of trying to draw it out have included Lauriam being ganged up on by too many enemies and Ven failing to fend off enough to effectively protect him. Ven being forced to fight wave after wave of enemies to get to a tied up Lauriam and getting overwhelmed. Xehanort hopes by pushing him to the brink of death darkness will break free but doesn't.

Eventually his patience grows thin, he thinks an all out assault on Ven's life will finally do it. A critically injured laruaim is off to the side as neo shadow heartless circle around Ven. Lauriam is desperately trying to summon the strength to get to his little brother but can't. Ven is begging for mercy but is ignored and is then nearly torn apart by said heartless as lauriam watches on in horror.

We then get the actual scene of xehanort tearing Ven in two pulling Darkness and Ven's natural born darkness out creating Vanitas. Lauriam struggles to Ven and desperately pulls him away and panics when he sees the light both literally and figuratively leaving Ven's eyes and heart and realizes he's dying. Desperate Lauriam gets up to attack but is knocked down by Vanitas. However the blast creates a portal and Lauriam gets sucked away leaving a dying Ven alone with xehanort.

Lauriam ends up somewhere else (maybe dwarven woodlands) it takes a while for him to gain enough strength let alone energy to heal but he has to find Ven.

Years go by and he's been chasing rumors about a girl with orange pigtails and a boy with spiky blond hair and a key shaped sword. Hope that they're both alive and within in reach. He makes his way to Radiant Garden only to run into Braig/Xigbar/Luxu who recognizes him. Seeing potential in Lauriam Luxu challenges Lauriam and beats him then takes him to the research basement where the other future org members are disappearing. Luxu makes vague references to Ven catching Lauriams attention and demands to know where he is.

Only for Luxu to give him the suggest cruelest grin and be told Ven is dead. They captured him and tortured him for information on the keyblade war and foretellers but he didn't give them anything. No longer useful they decided to get rid of him but before they did he told then they'd all be sorry when Lauriam comes to save him and he'd make them pay. Luxu delivers the crushing blow that Ven died calling and begging for his brother to save him.

This does the job and Lauriam succumbs to darkness and willingly gives up his heart. The crushing weight of failure, grief, and regret too much to bear. He failed his siblings. He didn't protect them and now they're both gone he has nothing left so becoming a Nobody is a welcome respite from the agony he feels.

And as he walks the hallowed halls of Castle Oblivion Marluxia gets the strangest feeling of dejavu as if something important is here but he can't quite put his finger on it but if it really were that important well he would've remembered it right?

Meanwhile deep in the chamber of waking Ven sleeps safe but imprisoned and even though he's waiting for a different friend to come save him his dreams show that he longs for someone else to open his eyes and promise him everything will be alright.

TL;DR what if Lauriam and Ven escaped together become Xehanorts victims, Lauriam couldn't stop Ven from being ripped in two they get separated again, he refuses to believe Ven is gone and that's the only thing that keeps him going for years, only to be lied and told that the only person he had left is gone and he failed miserably to save them and their last moments were begging to be saved, so losing his heart was all Lauriam could do to escape his pain.

^ my honest reaction to this

oughghhhhhh.... anon how could you...... the goddamn heartbreak. turmoil. i'm gonna kill old man xehanort with my own two hands

[72degreescold]

Suffering. Physical, psychological, likely both.

A dim light in a dark room.

Navel gazing; character pondering their own circumstances.

Characters with a troubled past that haunts them or which they haven’t yet faced.

Redemption.

Alright lads, here's one for any and all writers: what are the top five things readers can basically always expect to see in your work?

[72degreescold]

MY LOVES

zzz