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worldunbent · 9 months ago

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chapter notes - tanuma kaname

a compilation of all of midorikawa's chapter notes concerning tanuma (as of volume 29)

all are from the official viz releases, translated by lillian olsen.

Chapter 3 - Natsume vs Human I wanted a bit of a break, so l did this episode the way l wanted (one can only hope). A lot of stories about exterminating yokai exist, so I wanted to do a story about punishing humans. In chapters 1 and 2, Natsume spent more time with yokai than with humans, so having him make a friend was another one of my priorities. I wanted the reader, at the end of the episode, to be happy that he made a friend (Natsume would blush). So I hope it worked out. I hope I will be able to include stories like this sometimes.

Special Episode 4 - Natsume Observation Log 3 Tanuma hadn't shown up in a while, and I had thought that he and Natsume would have a good relationship by now. But when I started on the episode, I discovered that they were still pretty awkward with each other. I’m used to Natsume smiling and talking about neutral topics, but it was fun drawing Natsume getting flustered and making the wrong decision in a conversation. It's hard to work Tanuma into the plot since Natsume never goes to him when he's involved in yokai business. I cut his bangs to "expand his world view," but people said he looked better with longer hair (l rarely get requests from readers on how the characters look), so l grew them out.

For reference - Tanuma's first appearance:

Tanuma's second appearance:

Tanuma in this Special Episode:

[three panels cropped to show close-ups of tanuma's hair. in the first, his bangs fall over his eyes. in the second, they are significantly shorter. in the third, they are longer again, but no longer blocking his eyes quite as much.]

Chapters 28 - 29 - Reflections I kept missing opportunities to do an episode on Tanuma, because I was afraid I couldn't give him the time and attention he deserves. Then I was assigned a two-part episode, so l knew this was my chance. I feel that Natsume is embarrassed because he wants to get closer, but is just not used to that kind of thing. This time, he found out how it feels to be the one being avoided. These colleagues all know about the existence of yokai, but when he's with Mr. Natori, Natsume wants to take a step forward. With Tanuma and Taki, the difference is a desire to take a step back. I hope I can depict such subtlety. I also realized how fun it is to draw the interactions between students.

Chapters 42 - 43 - Sealed I’ve always wanted to draw the trio of Natsume, Tanuma and Taki hanging out. Before, Tanuma thought he might be a little crazy, but Natsume affirmed what used to be an unstable world for him. Natsume’s existence was basically his salvation, but he realizes that he can’t be much help to Natsume. It's a dilemma he’ll have to keep facing as his friend. On the other hand, I’ve discovered that Taki, who also can’t see but knows Natsume’s circumstances, is delighted at the things she discovers. It’s difficult but fun to draw these three together. I was also happy drawing Taki’s empty house, images of a white ghost flapping in the darkness, and small yokai hopping and frolicking about.

Chapters 49 - 51 - Beyond the Glass Tanuma wants to help and tries to help, but he can’t. The more he tries to take action, the more he comes up against this wall. Natsume gradually realizes that while he wants to talk to Tanuma, it also puts him in a dilemma. Seeing this, Natori wants to say, “I told you so,” but he hopes that Natsume will be able to succeed where he failed. I was also excited that I could draw Sensei/Natsume with expressions that he doesn’t usually make. Natsume is really not very expressive with his face.

Volume 14 (Sidebar Note) When the name and the face fit perfectly as I start working on a character, it usually develops from there as I expect. But Tanuma didn't easily become fast friends with Natsume as I planned. He seems endlessly nervous. He's actually quite calm, but when Natsume's around, he becomes nervous trying to become better friends with him, making Natsume also nervous in the process. He's difficult to figure out. But it's a new experience, so he's fun to draw.

Chapters 57 - 59 - Unchanging Form I came up with this story that would've been an ordinary day for Reiko. It might've been a big deal for Natsume or the yokai, but it was nothing special for her. Natsume started panicking that something precious to him would be taken. You can imagine what a person would pick, but the rules are different with yokai. The scope of possibilities is too big, making it difficult to predict. I had fun imagining what I would take if I were Yew Urn. The Fujiwaras are important to him even though he hasn't been able to tell them everything. Tanuma was the first person in this town he was able to talk to about being able to "see" things, who was able to understand without being able to "see" himself. I hope Natsume will be able to sort his feelings while telling him about the yokai.

Chapters 66 - 67 - Far-off Festival Lights Natsume and Tanuma both want to spend time together simply as normal friends, but the difference in their ability to see is unavoidable. Natsume shared his secret with Tanuma, but Nishimura and Kitamoto still don't know. Tanuma sees that he can't have that relaxed relationship anymore that they can have with Natsume. And Natsume, seeing Tanuma turn pale with every little occurrence, is probably less inclined to ever tell the others. I wanted to see what would happen if they were all hanging out together. I was also happy to finally include the story about Tanuma and Mrs. Ito, but I wish I could've made it longer.

Chapter 74 - The Two Terrors I wanted to do an episode where Natsume takes a different tone of voice than usual, so I picked Shibata, since I consider him to be a semi-regular cast member. There are a lot of stories I want to do, or characters I want to revisit, but this is my first time working on such a long series, so I have no idea how to reintroduce characters and story lines or how to time it. So there are many ideas gathering dust, but I'd like to see how it goes and do another one like this. I also want to draw more of Tanuma, but it's important for Natsume to not go to see Tanuma when there are yokai involved, so it's quite a dilemma. But I'd like to include the idea that they loaf around on those mundane days that can't be included in a manga. It was fun drawing Shibata in a panic.

Chapter 78 - Tsukihigui I wanted Natsume to have different reactions that usual, so I picked a story not in the past or in the present, but a weird in-between. I debated a lot whether to have little Natsume be taken care of by the Yatsuhara yokai or the humans Tanuma and Taki. But upon further reflection, since Nyanko sensei is yokai, Tanuma and Taki would have a different approach to the situation and be more fun. It would've been interesting to go to Natori and have all three of them stare at each other with furrowed brows, but I discovered that whereas Natori would have a difficult time adapting to a situation like this, the students would display steadier nerves.

Chapters 85 - 86 - The Front Noren I wanted to use the premise that the front and back of an object can have different meanings. Such a simple but unshakable fact could be very interesting. I wanted Natsume and Sensei to hang out more with Tanuma and Taki, but once yokai get involved, there's the dilemma that only those who can see yokai should be the ones taking action, so I had to carve up the story a lot. I even wondered if I should depict them relaxing in the hot springs, or whether that kind of thing was appropriate for the occasion. I thought I could get through the scenario quickly while I wrote out the plot with prose, but once I started drawing, I wondered if I could get through it without questioning everything. Natsume has started to get nerves of steel against yokai, but I still want him to be careful when it comes to his dear friends having close encounters with yokai.

Chapter 87 - Natsume in the Moonlight This one was 30 pages, so it was compact, but I wanted to make something that was a little creepy. You know how it's exciting to see a friend late at night, in a different light? This story couldn't be done with Tanuma, who knows Natsume's circumstances. It was only possible with Nishimura, who wouldn't question who the person in front of him was. If Natsume went to visit Kitamoto at night, he'd panic, scold him and send him home. And Tanuma would notice that something was off and cross-examine him. It would get even more out of hand with Natori, causing a domino effect. Though all of them would be fun and exciting. I only realized after the fact that someone who knows about Natsume's circumstances would make things more complicated in this type of story.

Chapters 97 - 98 - A Suspicious Visitor Tanuma, who stands by Natsume, may not be able to see yokai like his friend, but he has his own special abilities that other people do not possess. At the same time, there are things that can never be the same. When I draw Tanuma, I feel like Natsume is trying to close the distance between them for a change. You'd think they'd be great buddies by now, but there's still a bit of awkwardness. It's strange to blame it on Tanuma, but there it is. I'm just happy I got to work on this story, since I've had the idea ever since I drew the illustration for the afterword of the volume where he made his first appearance.

Afterword illustration from volume 1:

[a black-and-white illustration of misuzu in their usual horse-like form and tanuma]

Chapters 103 - 104 - Where Vessels Lie in Slumber* I was so happy to work on a longer story for once. My head starts filling up with what to do next while I'm still working on the current episode when I'm in one-shot mode. But being able to linger on a story arc reminded me of the excitement I felt back when I first wanted to be a manga artist. I still have a lot of storylines I'd prefer not to cut short, so I hope I get more opportunities like this. I've wanted to do this particular story for a long time, but. I feel like it could only be done now because of how Natsume's currently feeling. I hope you can pick up on how Natori and Matoba's relationship changes subtly depending on the situation, and that you get a feel for their solidarity as exorcist peers. It was so fun drawing everything I wanted to include: Natsume's faith in his friends; Natori's belief that he can still offer help even as an exorcist; Matoba, who's sometimes prevented from action because he knows and sees too much; Tanuma, who's surely able to help, but is unable to accompany Natsume; the cats protecting their secret; Nyanko Sensei. And of course there were even more things I wanted to expand on, so I'll take my time working them out.

*The first three chapters of this arc are in the previous volume and there's not enough in the other note for me to include.

Chapter 112 - The Three Pictures and the Peculiar Afternoon Tea You can have the desire to help people you care about, but I think it takes a lot of courage to take that first step to offer it. I can see Tanuma and Natsume fumbling about in this regard, but I feel that Taki would have an easy time confiding in Natsume when she's in trouble. The premise was to have someone appear just as Natsume and friends had a spread of pictures on their table at a cafe. The content changes drastically depending on who shows up, so I simulated a lot of scenarios. It was a good opportunity to think about all sorts of situations.

Chapters 117 - 118 - By Invitation of the Queen "Ghosts in a mansion" is one of my favorite tropes. I feel this chapter made sense because of the usual preexisting flow of the story. I wanted to stuff in more things, like Natsume being intimidated by the room full of women but not getting distracted because Tanuma was by his side. Even in a simple story unrelated to the main plot, having two focus characters meant there were things that only Natsume or Tanuma noticed. It was fun and difficult to work on.

#this one has reference images because i was amused by the retconned symbolically significant haircut #natsuyuu.txt #natsume yuujinchou #natsume's book of friends #tanuma kaname #tanatsu #there might be a couple others where he's briefly mentioned #but these are all the ones i found substantial/interesting #afterwords

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awnezz · 3 months ago

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nobody gets me like you | one

៚ SYNOPSIS — after graduating highschool then going through your first break up, you're left to lean on your bestfriend for support before moving to america. returning home brings back memories, realizing your true feelings for each other back then, but is it too late?

៚ NOTES — AHHHH IM SORRY THE FIRST CHAPTER HAS A WRITTEN PART ..less than 2k wordsss not bad. i hope there's no errors, i proofread it so many times that i think i have it all memorized omg

once you finished taking pictures with all your other friends and finding your favorite teachers to give one final thanks, you make your way back to the front of the venue

keeping an eye out for jeongin, wanting to see him in his cap and gown again but he is nowhere to be found.

i wonder where he is-

"YN!!!" someone yells, bringing you back to the world around you. it's eunseok, waving at you, standing next to his car with chaeryeong already in the passenger seat.

whenever it was just you four, even if it was his car that you guys were taking, eunseok always chose to sit next to you.

it was just more comfortable that way, and was the most convenient since chaeryeong liked having the aux while you and eunseok make conversation, leaving sungchan in the driver's seat.

being on the road with them was never a boring time, no matter the distance. you would blast music, sing and laugh, it was times like this that you wished could last forever.

"oh this place really is nice," sungchan says, pulling into a parking spot at the restaurant eunseok picked the week prior.

"it has really good reviews, didn't see a single bad one" eunseok said, you could almost hear the grin on his face as he went around the car to open your door for you.

he has always done nice gestures like this for you, even when you guys were younger, eunseok has always been a gentleman.

so you smile back at him in appreciation as he closes the door, following you inside with the others.

as soon as you walk in, the waiter sits the four of you at a round table closer to the window, a spot where you can see the entire restaurant.

៚

when the food arrived, you guys wasted no time, and dug right in. you all decided to order shareable platters rather than your own individual plates to get a taste of everything they had.

after a while you started to slow down on eating because you were too busy talking, laughing and recalling memories that were made during highschool.

having so much fun that you almost forgot the most important thing,

the one topic you've been dreading bringing back up with your closest friends, the reason why you wish graduation was still years away.

"guys, i don't want to ruin the mood but we have to talk about it," you say, making eye contact with the three people who have always been there for you. the ones who you found comfort in when you needed it the most.

nothing has scared you more than the thought of them not being one call away. not being able to just sleep something off because you knew they would be there the next day to walk you through it.

"i'm leaving next week and-,"

"oh my god.." sungchan cuts you off. "no way” he says with his mouth now slightly open.

“is that jeongin?" chaeryeong says, looking past you, in the same direction sungchan is. squinting her eyes as if she's trying to focus her vision.

"what?"

"it can't be, he's with fam-" you say, turning around to see who they could have possibly mistaken for your boyfriend, quickly being cut off again but this time by your own shock.

it is jeongin. he is here, right in front of you.. in front of all these people, holding another girl's hand at a table for two. but he's supposed to be spending time with family

"..unbelievable" eunseok says, placing his hand on your shoulder and looking at you, basically examining your face. trying to figure out what exactly you're going to do next.

after a few minutes of trying to find excuses for what he could be doing here with someone else, you finally stand up. you were going to yell at him, tell him off for lying to you, but then he looked at you. doing a double take, you could see his smile drop when he realized it was you who was staring at him.

making eye contact with him makes you feel sick to your stomach. the feelings hit you all at once and without even thinking, you run out of the restaurant, crashing against a wall around the corner making eunseok run after you.

jeongin quickly stands up out of habit to check up on you, but the girl he's with grabs his hand, stopping him from going anywhere..

with chaeryeong and sungchan still inside, they take it upon themselves to go up to the couple and embarrass them for embarrassing you,

but all they did was yell.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER??" chaeryeong shouts. "THREE YEARS TOGETHER AND YOU DO THIS,"

she could go on and on about how you don't deserve this and how she can't believe he did so well to convince you guys that he was a good guy.

sungchan pulls out some money onto the table to pay for the meal, rushing to stand up so he could pull chaeryeong away before she said anything she might end up regretting later. ".. after everything she's done for you, you had to do this? and of all days, you pick graduation to ditch her..." with one last deep breath, sungchan quietly shouts while walking out, taking chaeryeong with him

and when they finally got out of there, you and eunseok were already in the two front seats of the car, ready to leave.

៚

arriving back at sungchan's place, he puts his hand up for eunseok to shake before he takes his stuff and leaves. "i'm going to get picked up here, you guys go ahead and go home." chaeryeong says, waving you two goodbye as she gets out of the car with sungchan.

the ride to your house was silent, but it wasn't an awkward silence. it was the kind when someone knows you need some quiet to think but you can still feel their concern.

"are you going to be okay?" he says, breaking the long silence while pulling into his own driveway and looking at you.

"do you wanna come in?" he asks again trying to get some sort of response from you but all you can do is nod. "let's get inside then, yeah?" he turns the car off and goes to help you get out of the car too.

his house has always brought you some kind of security. if something ever went wrong, you'd just have to come here for a few hours then suddenly you're better and you forget everything that was troubling you.

being too lazy to walk next door to your house to get a fresh set of comfy clothing, eunseok lends you some of his own. a hoodie and the only pair of shorts he has that have a jaw string so it could fit you properly.

after a while, you decided to put on a movie while he makes you a small snack to eat while watching since you didn't really get to finish your food at the restaurant.

"thank you for always letting me come over eunseok," you look at him from where you're sitting. "thank you for always taking care of me like this, you know you don't have to."

"i do it because i want to." he says, finishing up what he's doing and makes his way to you

taking a seat next to you on the couch. “oh i love this part,” eunseok says as he starts humming along to the movie that the two of you agreed on.

well, not really. trolls has always been the go to movie when you guys needed to put something on the tv quickly. and luckily for him, you enjoyed the trolls movies almost as much as he did.

while snacking and quietly watching him sing the songs word for word but still carefully watching the tv like it's his first time seeing the movie, you start to doze off. noticing this, eunseok slowly gets up to turn off the tv and grabs a blanket to cover you with, trying not to wake you.

when he was sure that you're comfortable, he makes his way to his room and gets ready for bed.

៚ prev | next !

៚ TAGLIST — @hyuckkluv @jvngw0nlvr @kariluvsyunho @jaellymint @nujeskz

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moonfang256 · 10 days ago

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My thoughts about Deltarune, Chapters 3 & 4 (Part 3)

Now, let's go with Chapter 4:

This is where things went down the drain emotionally, but I'll start by telling you how it all happened.

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❤️ <( As usual, we went to seal the Dark Fountain, Susie talked about the knight and the shelter, and we woke up back at Kris's house.

❤️ <( Tenna was okay. Mom (I like to call Toriel like that) made us pancakes and then she talks about going to church together.

❤️ <( Of course, Susie was like "Excuse me, what? Nope!", but she ended getting dragged anyways for the plot, so...

Time for a change of clothes!

❤️ <( When I saw the clothes I gasped.

Toriel was wearing her Undertale clothes, Susie was wearing Asriel's clothes which don't really look that great, but at least they're comfortable for her, and Kris was wearing the same clothes I put on my vessel, but different (Seriously, change your damn wardrobe Kris! Pick other colors!)

❤️ <( We did a few things at Kris's house before going to church.

-> Susie gave our little friend a star.

-> We cleaned the blood stain, and Susie explained how to do it (had she done this before at her house because of her damn parents?)

-> We showed her the birdcage and Susie asked Kris if they had a bird or something, to which Kris nodded. You can imagine me in the background making dove noises just to tease Kris.

-> We looked in the mirror and it seemed like Kris was more comfortable with themselves (well, that's a progress…)

As we left the house, we went directly to the church, looked around a bit and then went inside the service.

❤️ <( Ohh, it looks a bit like the church near my house where I sometimes go to pray (I'm Catholic), although that one is bigger.

Back to the topic, I decided to pay attention to the service because I was curious to know what kind of religion they've with the "Angel" and I was very happy to see Noelle again.

❤️ <( (Hi Snowflake!)

After listening to the choir sing, I got distracted watching what Kris and Susie were doing and I suggested we pay attention, but Kris ended up falling asleep, and I was like, "Okay, get some rest dear" (sorry Kris, it's just my religious habit, haha).

Later, the two of them…

❤️ <( *sigh* I love my dork freaks, they're the best *chuckles*

Getting serious, Susie asked us to go find some info about the shelter code, so we went to talk with everyone and fool around a bit.

❤️ <( I was glad to see Rudy okay, although he still seems a little sick.

We spoke with Toriel, Rudy, and finally Noelle. We told her she sings beautifully and she told us how she often gets lock outside her house, then at times she goes to Kris's house to ask for help. Basically: Her mom (Mayor Carol) keeps the house locked for security reasons and because she has some important stuff in it (pretty sus).

❤️ <( Then we went to talk to Alphys.

She was thirsty, but since she couldn't get close enough to get some juice because Susie was there, we went to make her favorite juice combination and then came back to give it to her.

Thanks to her, I learned some very important gossip: Mayor Carol, someone from the church and the police force have been involved in matters related to the Dark Worlds since the beginning (well, would you look at that?). I assumed it was because of the topic of looking for Dess, so we decided to end the conversation there and go tell Susie everything.

She immediately started theorizing (welcome to the club), but when we told her that Carol keeps things at her home, she said "Well, let's talk to Noelle and enter the damn house" and then it happened:

"IMA FIRIN MAH LAZOR!!!"

❤️ <( Like a geyser, Noelle's drooling over Susie went to heaven, and then she came back to ask us what we wanted. Susie gave her the excuse of doing school projects together at her home, and at first Noelle wasn't sure about it because of her mom, but then she immediately changed her mind and accepted. Good 👍

Once everything was done, the kids went outside and…

❤️ <( Why...? Just why...?

I'M DONE WITH YOUR DIVORCE SHENANIGANS!!! MOVE ON!!!

❤️ <( Hey, is that a rose for Su...?

Kris:

❤️ <( *smirks* Alright then...

After that nonsense, the kids took off their church clothes, and before going to Noelle's house, we went to visit Castle Town first and tell Ralsei everything.

❤️ <( Surprisingly, he was doing fine and seemed calmer despite everything. Guess he needed a good rest... *shrugs*

❤️ <( Then, we explored the renovated town and went to speak with King about the Knight. After a cutscene with Tenna, he revealed something important:

It wasn't Gaster who corrupted King, Jevil, Queen, Spamton, Tenna and Mantle, but rather the Knight herself. This means the Knight is the one manipulating and causing normal bosses and secret bosses to go crazy, which is a very big problem gotta say (I apologize with the doc for thinking he was the culprit of this and went deranged or something. My bad).

Now moving on to another topic…

❤️ <( YES!!! CINNAMON-APPLE TEA!!! GIMME!!!

*cof* Sorry...

The kids and I had a lovely tea party and were having a good time, until Susie decided to go into Ralsei's room and…

❤️ <( Honestly, this caught me off guard...

I really thought Ralsei would have at least a bed, a dresser to keep his stuff inside and some bookshelves with his favorite books or something, not this…

It was at this moment I regretted not giving him the plushie and being a little distant and distrustful towards him.

It's not that I don't like Ralsei, after all I treated him nicely and polite, I followed his guidance and advice during the whole trip (basically like Kris), but there were things about him that bothered me and made me feel uncomfortable a bit.

After seeing this, all of that faded away and I just wanted to hug him and bring him some plushies and stuff to fill that horrid void.

Do this goat boy even sleep? Fuck... if you're gonna be our Darkner and fella at least be yourself, love you more, drop the servant act and have some cool stuff too. You're valuable too, you know?

--------

That was pretty depressing, but I'll leave it there and continue talking in the next post.

#deltarune #deltarune chapter 4 #kris deltarune #susie deltarune #ralsei deltarune #noelle deltarune

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venus-is-thinking · 10 months ago

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A Narrative Defense of Levi Accomplice Theory

Hello everyone! I’m finally back with this post to celebrate the fact that DRDT is back tomorrow! aaaaAAAAAAAA–

For any of you who have no idea what the title means, consider it the second part to my year-old Narrative Defense of Eden Culprit Theory. In this, I’ll go over the narrative reasons why I think Levi being the accomplice (to Eden as the blackened) would make sense and open up interesting opportunities for DRDTdev to explore, if they do choose to go in this direction. I’m not at all trying to prove, evidence-wise, why Levi is the accomplice in this post.

My thoughts on the functionality of the Chapter 2 murder method are basically exactly what @1moreff-creator (nickname FF) outlines in their A Summary of the Levi Accomplice Theory + How We Got Here post. I STRONGLY recommend reading it, both because I think it’s a great read and because as far as I know, the concept of Levi as an accomplice isn’t really talked about outside of it, so it’ll provide some useful context as to why I believe this is a possibility.

That being said, I do want to disclaim this by saying that this post will be a lot more open-ended and speculative than the Eden version. Levi accomplice theory, at least in the context of being paired with Eden culprit, is objectively less likely to be true than Eden culprit theory by itself, and I could definitely see a world in which Levi is either innocent or involved in the crime in some other way.

There’s also the fact that, because I don’t believe Levi will be executed this chapter, there’s a lot more question of where his character is headed. I predicted the trajectory of Eden’s arc to end in a handful of episodes; Levi will hypothetically be facing entirely new motives and twists that I have no way to meaningfully predict, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

Still, I’ve been meaning to make this post for literally an entire year, and I’m not gonna let the “Chapter 2 resumes” deadline pass! So, without further ado, here it is: the long awaited Narrative Defense of Levi Accomplice Theory!

SPOILER WARNING THROUGH CHAPTER 2 PART ONE!

T/W: Murder, blackmail, traumatic pasts

I’m going to follow roughly the same structure as the Eden Narrative Defense, which means that I’m going to be looking at the following topics:

Motive (Why Levi would choose to help Eden commit the crime)

Story Arc (How Levi being the accomplice fits into the overall narrative)

Relationships (How Levi’s relationships impact this writing decision)

Character Arc (How this plays into Levi’s individual character arc)

Wildcard (A specific topic that I think is relevant to discuss for this theory)

These are listed in the order they appeared in Eden’s narrative defense, with Eden’s Wildcard slot being taken up by her emotional breakdown in the Trial and justifying how that wouldn’t be entirely fake/how it would be possible with her still being the culprit. Hopefully that all makes sense!

For Levi, I actually think the best starting point is:

TOPIC 1: Relationships

Because this theory is dependent on Levi helping Eden commit literal murder, I want to start off by examining Levi’s relationship with Eden.

Interestingly, they don’t really interact much of all in Chapter 1; to my memory, the clearest example of them being highlighted in the same scene is when Arei throws a fit over Eden not inviting her to bake with her, where in the same scene, Arei manipulates Levi after he tries to defuse the situation.

However, we open Chapter 2 on the two of them having a rather important conversation. Notably, Levi gets “good person” name dropped in this conversation. For those who don’t know, beneath the “All That Glitters” chapter title, there’s a faint hidden text of “A Good Person.” Pretty much everyone who is called a good person is incredibly important to this chapter (Teruko, Eden, Arei, David, and Levi), so Levi getting hit with the “good person” right at the beginning definitely flags him for importance down the line.

Interestingly, what is said here is:

Levi is called a good person due to his reliability, which clues us into the fact that Eden might be open to relying on Levi, even if it’s for something important. Notably, here, Levi still wants to help others and try to be the best person he can be, despite his slip-up yelling at Ace in the Chapter 1 Trial.

The existence of this scene at all, and especially given the fact that it delves further into Eden and Levi’s mental states as the killing game progresses, seems to indicate that this is a pair to watch moving forwards.

Levi also notably has another relationship that heavily plays into the idea of Levi being an accomplice: Ace.

Ace has spent the chapter telling Levi to fuck off and leave him alone, holding the fact that Levi said he would strange Ace over his head. To me, Levi’s strong reactions to Ace play very heavily into his secret quote:

I always believed that a person is defined by their actions alone. But maybe that’s just a poor excuse for my heartlessness.

(If you don’t know what the secret quotes are, basically, on everyone’s profile page on the tumblr website, there’s a secret quote hidden that you can find by inspecting elements. This is the one on Levi’s page.)

I’ll get more into this later on, but this is a rather interesting quote when paired with Levi taking the action of threatening Ace, but doing it through words alone. You could argue that he didn’t actually do anything, but that’s not completely true. Ace certainly seems to think he did something.

Levi is caught at the crossroads of his words of intent to harm Ace being treated as the true him, but any attempts he makes to reconcile are being treated as “just words.”

However, any actions that Levi tries to take are rebuffed. He can’t repair things with his words, and he can’t take action without violating Ace’s wishes, so he’s stuck. This, of course, frustrates Levi.

This was clearly a big character moment from Levi. It seems like his will to repair things with Ace, at least, is fully gone in this moment. Notably, we haven’t really seen any demeanor change from Levi that I can think of as a result for this conclusion he’s apparently drawn, which raises my suspicions that he’s hiding crucial information from us this Trial.

But, most people who think Levi is set up to be suspicious and giving up on everyone think that he’s going to be the killer. Why do I think he’s going to be the accomplice instead?

Well, a lot of it has to do with the evidence itself, notably the grippy tape and the contraption used in Arei’s killing (see FF’s theory post). But, there’s also the fact that it’s not unreasonable to think that Eden and Levi could’ve gotten scheming here.

While Levi walks off before Teruko, we don’t know exactly what happens afterwards. It seems like Ace got bandaged up at some point (possibly because Eden helped him?), but either way, I could see Eden and Levi talking afterwards about their opinions on everything that happened. And, of course, about their secrets.

TOPIC 2: Motive

For the sake of this theory, I am strongly assuming that Levi’s secret is “You’re a murderer, and you hold no remorse.” If it isn’t, toss this entire thing out the window, because it doesn’t make any goddamn sense.

I think there are two conceivable paths to Levi’s motive for helping out Eden here. I know that in FF’s post, they outline one of them: the possibility that Levi would prefer that Eden escape and everyone else die over the continuation of the killing game as-is. This would be based on Levi’s belief that Eden is a good person, and his increased belief over time that everyone else (including himself) is a bad person, unworthy of living.

I certainly think this is possible, but it leaves Levi’s character off in a bit of a weird spot. Like, okay, he decided to gamble it all on Eden and he loses. Then what? It’s only Chapter 2. There are certainly ways for his character to go, but I feel like at that point, he’s either dragging his feet before dying or dragging his feet before he gets to do his survivor arc. I’m not sure if it would leave enough room to explore his character over the course of who-knows-how-many-more chapters. I have to imagine that, if Levi is the accomplice under this plan, he’d make it through Chapter 3, because otherwise, it seems like the message of Levi is that he gave up and that means he died. But, what would he be doing throughout those chapters?

So, I think that’s a possible read, but it’s not the one I favor. The second read is a little more complicated, but I think it makes sense. Give me a bit to explain it.

This theory really focuses in on my interpretation of Levi’s secret quote, which is again:

I always believed that a person is defined by their actions alone. But maybe that’s just a poor excuse for my heartlessness.

What this says to me, in combination with Levi’s secret, is, “I am only a murderer if I am actively murdering someone.” Sure, Levi was a murderer– but that was in the past!

(Levi makes many cryptic mentionings of his dark past. I don’t know what exactly it is, but I believe that Levi has killed someone, and might not feel remorse for at least one specific killing. It’s also possible that he feels no remorse because that’s just how he grieves– by feeling nothing– which he alludes to in the opening conversation with Eden.)

However, Ace is challenging that belief that Levi has. Can he really change so much just because he’s acting on his best behavior? Besides, it doesn’t really matter; if people think he’s a murderer, what difference is there in how they treat him?

To me, that’s what Levi’s “Why do I even bother?” means. He’s realizing that, with Ace, at least, but also maybe in general, if someone believes he’s a murderer, that’s as good as him being a murderer. In combination with his secret, that means that anyone who learns his secret will treat him as a murderer, immediately burning any relationship they have with him.

It kind of makes me think of the concept of Thought-Action Fusion, which is the psychological term for the belief that thinking about doing something wrong is just as bad as doing that wrong thing. It’s not quite the same, but it’s that kind of idea. Who cares if Levi kills someone or not? If people think he has, he might as well have.

That, obviously, is a bad thing. It’s an even worse thing when you consider that DRDT seems to be a TV show, and MonoTV is threatening to reveal everyone’s motive secrets to everyone in the whole world if no one kills!

This then creates a bit of a paradox for Levi. The only way to prevent everyone from finding out that he’s a murderer is to murder someone on national (?) television.

However, there is one out for him in this situation. If someone else kills before the motive timer is up, Levi gets out of this situation clean. And that’s where Eden comes in.

(For clarity’s sake, I largely think this scene is a joke. I do not think Eden is actually doing anything sinister by “blackmailing” Teruko here, nor do I think either Teruko or Eden would actually think anything malevolent of Eden because of it. However, I’ve noticed that DRDT is very good at slipping relevant ideas or information into jokes, which is why I want to look at this.)

Eden doesn’t need to blackmail Levi, per se. At least, she doesn’t have to actually put the threat out there directly.

What I’m envisioning is basically that, after helping bandage Ace up, Eden goes and checks in with Levi and sees how he’s doing. Levi explains his frustrations with the fact that Ace is treating him like a murderer even though he hasn’t done anything, and it seems like Ace’s belief that he’s a murderer is good enough to condemn him. In response, Eden lets Levi know that she knows what his secret is.

Arei is the one who received Levi’s secret, but I’d be, like, 0% surprised if Eden knew it. Arei said she’d do anything to prove her loyalty to Eden, and especially considering how Arei overheard the secret Eden received, it would make enough sense if she told Eden about the one she received to “even it out.”

So, let’s say Eden says, “but aren’t you a murderer? Your secret says so.” Or something like that. Levi is now obviously in a tricky position, because the answer is, yes, that is his secret, but people aren’t supposed to know that. Eden would then loop Levi into her plan to kill Arei, and they would come to a mutual understanding.

Levi has to cooperate with Eden and do whatever she says when it comes to the crime, because if he doesn’t, Eden could easily reveal his secret. To Levi, that’s a fate worse than death, because it means that he will never be able to escape his past. Conversely, Eden can’t throw Levi under the bus and spill his secret, because then Levi would easily throw Eden under the bus and reveal she’s the blackened in turn. By giving Levi a severe secret of Eden’s own– that she’ll be the blackened– the playing field levels out into one of mutually assured destruction, where both of them respect each other enough to take the other’s secret to the grave if they’re the one who fails.

Eden, I think, would be willing to take this risk in the first place, because Levi is reliable. If she understands how his internal logic operates, she can trust that he’ll see it through to the end. Having an accomplice could make it much harder for people to find out she's the blackened, which is a huge advantage.

For Levi, if you follow my read of his character, this makes sense. His best bet is to help Eden out from a neutral perspective, helping her commit the crime but not dying on the hill to help her win. If Eden loses, she can respect the fact that he didn’t out her and tried to help her. Then, Eden dies, taking everyone’s secrets and the motive to her grave with her. Obviously, the secrets ended up being more or less revealed anyways, considering Arei’s body wasn’t discovered until after the motive announcement, but David is proof enough that the students didn’t know that was how it would be ruled.

Hopefully this makes enough sense! To summarize, I think Levi’s motivation to help Eden is to protect his own secret and survive the motive. The only way to avoid being known as a murderer is to help facilitate a murder without the fact that he was an accomplice ever being exposed. To have his secret revealed is basically death anyways, so risking death if Eden is the killer isn’t the biggest deal in the world.

INTERLUDE 2.5: Arei’s Glove

So, this isn’t part of the narrative defense, this is me repairing part of FF’s theory. Because, Arei’s glove is missing from her body, and FF’s reasoning ended up being “Levi can drop the glove to frame himself as the culprit mid-Trial if needed.” However, because in my world, Levi is still hoping Eden loses (even if he can’t contribute), that seems a bit far fetched. So, I tried to come up with an alternate explanation of why Arei’s glove might be missing.

One of them kinda sucks, which is that Arei was wearing her glove when the water jugs broke, drenching it. Because the turf is weird, you can count on the turf not being wet by the Body Discovery Announcement, but the glove could still be too wet, giving away part of how the crime was completed. Thus, someone hides or pockets the glove so that it doesn’t give something away. This seemed halfway viable to me before I rewatched the investigation, but between the fish being entirely dried out (non-turf that was definitely very wet at one point) and the positioning of the tape marks on Arei’s wrists (which I think would mean the glove would have to be off her wrists when you taped them), I don’t think it’s especially viable.

There’s FF’s original reasoning from a while ago as to why it could’ve been missing, which is that to get a better grip on the spinny thing (carousel), Levi may have put on Arei’s glove. It could’ve gotten scratched up or stretched out as a result, making it key evidence. This is a bit presumptive, but it works enough.

The weirdest thing to me is that it does seem like Arei’s glove was taken off before her wrists were taped. I’d think taping Arei’s wrists would happen fairly early, considering it makes it harder for her to struggle. But, getting her glove off while she’s struggling seems pretty hard.

The third explanation I have is just that Eden asked Arei to take her glove off at some point before Levi showed up, because it would be annoying to tape her wrists with the glove on. Then, Arei’s glove went missing in the shuffle, or they didn’t have a good place to put it because it would be difficult to put it back on once Arei is hung up. They couldn’t throw it in the trash, because Eden planned on the class reconstructing the note they left in the trash. So, instead, Arei’s glove gets stashed somewhere and they hope no one notices it, because if people stop to think about how Arei’s glove was taken off before her wrists were taped, it could point to Eden.

I don’t love any of these reasons, but combined, I think they’re good enough that it’s not a dealbreaker for this theory, at least. Pick whichever one is your favorite and we can go forward from there.

TOPIC 3: Character Arc

If Levi’s relationships have set him up for this, and he has a viable enough motive, what does it mean for Levi that he’s the accomplice? What is his individual story telling us?

I think Levi’s character is meant to center around the concept of what makes a person good, and what allows a person to properly repent. It really seems like Levi has a not-so-good past, something that’s only heightened if he does have the murderer without remorse secret.

There’s also the secret quote, which talks about “excuses” for “heartlessness.” Levi is trying to put his dark past behind him, but it’s incredibly difficult. He wants to move forwards from it, but he doesn’t know how.

If Levi is the accomplice, it provides a really interesting opportunity for his character arc: Levi will then be exposed as an accomplice and be publicly known as someone dangerous and possibly, to some, unforgivable, but he won’t die for it. He’ll have to figure out how to navigate the fact that he does carry the burden of his past actions with him, and he’ll have to learn to cope.

If a character is meant to ask how possible it is to repent, doesn’t it make sense to give an extremely concrete in-universe thing that they need to repent for, and that everyone knows they need to repent for?

I’m not sure exactly where Levi would end up from there. A lot of it depends on the other characters, the motives, and the kill order. I still think it’s definitely possible for Levi to take on the classic Chapter 4 buff curse/sacrifice killer mantle with this, if he decides that the only way to repent properly is to put everyone else above him. However, I do think it’d be interesting to see him fill any slot.

He could be a victim, if his time runs out. He could be a killer, if he decides that he can’t repent, and his only option is to once again try to outrun his past. He could be a survivor if he figures out that the only thing he can do is try to move forwards, accept his past, and try to do better in the future. I’m actually quite partial to the survivor interpretation, but it’s hard to make survivor cast predictions this early.

Either way, I think this totally makes sense as a direction to take Levi’s character in.

TOPIC 4: The “Murderer” Rule

This is my Wildcard slot for this narrative defense. I don’t know exactly what it’ll amount to, but I think it’s worth discussing.

Rule 14: All murderers must be held accountable for their crimes.

If Levi is the murderer without remorse, I wonder if this rule will apply to him. I also wonder exactly what it means. “Held accountable” doesn’t necessarily mean that whoever is a murderer will get executed.

I honestly think a really interesting way for this to go is if Eden gets found out as the culprit on her own, but they don’t realize that Levi is the accomplice. Then, in accordance with Rule 14, MonoTV reveals that Levi was also involved in the crime, and is also functionally a murderer. This forces Levi to be held socially responsible by those around him.

Another option would be that, whenever his secret comes to light, he’s at risk of some kind of execution. I doubt Levi would actually get executed there, considering a lot of the reason I like Levi accomplice theory is because of how interesting it’d be to further pursue Levi’s character post-murder, but it’s certainly possible.

It could also be something that comes up in Chapter 6. This rule feels like it’s a direct result of the mastermind’s worldview or something. If Levi is a survivor, it’s possible that, at the end, the mastermind will try to execute him or something because he’s a murderer. Hell, maybe every survivor will have a claim to be a murderer in some way or another. That’s when the characters will rise up and say that people deserve a second chance, no matter their past. Or something like that, I don’t know. Again, it’s really hard to theorize about the whole game when we only have, like, 1.75 chapters so far.

Anyways, onto the last point:

TOPIC 5: Story Arc

Oh boy, time to theorize about the whole game!

Because figuring out the moral messaging and final result of the last Class Trial at this stage is nigh impossible, I’ve been reading the Story Arc category through Teruko. How would it impact the way we see the story through her eyes if Levi is the accomplice?

Well, an obvious point is that it emphasizes how much you can’t trust anyone. You can’t even trust that there’s only one person with killing intent per murder! I’m sure Levi would be somewhat outcasted if this does all play out, and that would likely tie into a greater feeling of distrust. Between David’s heel turn, the sweet and helpful Eden tearfully being the blackened and facing an execution, and the stoic but previously reliable Levi being both a murderer (secret) and an accomplice (crime) out of nowhere, trust throughout the group would be at an all-time low. I think that’s a good thing; as I’ve said before, at this point in the story, I think we’re still validating Teruko’s worldview. It’s too early for a major shake-up, and to Teruko, these patterns are repetitive. They have to repeat at least a little bit for the audience to truly understand why Teruko acts the way she does.

But, even more than that, I think that DRDT has the makings of a central message surrounding fate.

Everyone’s fate is already sealed, according to Teruko. The Lucky Student cannot die, no matter what. All murderers must be held accountable. There are a lot of big picture makings of the idea that people’s fates are already set in stone, no matter what they do.

Levi is, in many ways, “fated” to be a bad person. He’s fated to be a murderer. Whatever his past was, it seems like he was set up for moral failure no matter what. Seeing Levi fall into that trap of his destiny, being a murderer yet again after being deemed a murderer, also validates Teruko’s worldview that everyone is doomed because they’re already locked into their slots. Even if Levi didn’t die today, he will eventually.

Except, if he doesn’t die immediately, he also has a possibility to invalidate that worldview later. Levi’s survival to a point and (presumed) attempt to repent again, even after everything, could be something that shakes Teruko’s beliefs in future chapters. I’m not saying Levi would be the catalyst for Teruko’s entire character arc, but I think it’s going to take a lot of instances of Teruko being “wrong” to actually change Teruko’s mind. This is one way that we could set up Teruko being wrong, dating back to Chapter 2, so that when we get the payoff, the seeds have been planted all along the way.

CONCLUSION

Hopefully this made sense! It’s been a long time since I’ve fully watched the series, and I only had time to partially rewatch Chapter 2 before writing and posting this. But, I remember a lot of the thoughts I had back when I was in peak DRDT brainrot, and I still believe Levi being the accomplice would make a lot of sense and open up a lot of doors narratively.

Obviously, this is what I currently believe, but even if you disagree, I hope you still found it interesting. I think it’s important to remember, going into these next few episodes, a core principle that pushed me to write the Eden Narrative Defense in the first place: we shouldn’t call something bad writing until we see it executed. Please remember to respect DRDTdev’s writing decisions and creative autonomy, no matter how you feel about the result. I’ll do my best to do the same as well.

With that being said, OH MY GOD I CAN��T BELIEVE DRDT IS BACK WE’RE GONNA GET ANSWERS AAAAAAAA–

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #levi fontana #drdt spoilers #despair time #this is literally 13 months late #but hopefully it's worth? the wait

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the-sonic-crew · 23 days ago

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Okay... so, uhm... I'm gonna take a breath...

TW // CONFLICTED FEELINGS... EXISTENTIAL TALK... MENTIONS OF S*ICIDE & ABUSE... CRYING... (I'm not crying as much as I was but... I'm still feeling... heavy about this topic... I hope you understand I just need someone to open up about this/since I'm currently alone)

Last night was... heavy. I think that's an understatement?

It started with a book I was reading to my three little sisters. They'd often refuse to sleep when bedtime comes around, so, I'd read them. It's...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. By Mark Haddon.

I'm not sure if any of you (including anon) heard of it. But basically, it's about an autistic boy who tells about how he's trying to solve who killed his neighbor's dog (my first sister really liked it as much as I do/she's autistic and remembers things really well/hence she remembered the last chapter I read even MONTHS after! Surprising, right?). And... it gets a lot deeper.

If... you don't like spoilers, I'll... try to keep it brief.

The boy (Christopher) finds a box of letters his dad kept. He reads them and they're from his (absent) mom. One of the letters mentions from the mom about why she... left... and... it brought me a lot of deja vu (even after reading it before/it was a book from english class and I forgot to give it back)... she reminds me of my mom.

Mom had left us at a point.

Mom eventually found another man.

Mom couldn't "take it anymore".

After the girls fell asleep, I talked about parallels between Christopher's mom and my mom. And... I ended up making the conversation too deep... and... hearing the extent of her feelings...

I cried. I cried a lot that night.

The worst of it..? I think I expected a hug from how much I was crying. But she never gave it. And... I realized why. She was emotionally stunt. She always was. It's odd. If you can't understand, it's fine, but... she can express empathy! Just... it's like she can't express emotions maturely—much like me, even she noticed (lol)! I realized (and remembered) why: Her own mother never gave her hugs. And so, mom took it as... if she gave hugs to us or anyone... she felt it would push us away. In my mom's eyes, she was never good enough nor wanted.

My mom thinks she was never meant to exist. Her mom—while pregnant with her—used her as ransom/or a bargaining tool to make her dad stay. It was the most fucked up thing I've ever heard. It's also telling; mom would occasionally joke about that she was never meant to be here, that she was an alien who was left on the wrong planet! But it was a surface of how deeply she felt this way. And how her mom made sure she felt this way. Made it clear my mom was nothing.

Her mom was a marine and psych ward nurse and put up a perfect family picture: she was the "single mom who works hard for her kids"—when in actuality... she treated mom like shit compared to my uncle, her little brother. Her mom would torture my mom for getting anything less than a B from school. Her mom trained my mom to perfect any cheerleading and dance sport she was in (except ballet/mom hated it and I'm still surprised her mom never do it/but I eventually realized that she wouldn't get results from it. Meaning... she can't punish mom for anything). This treatment even extended in school—apparently teachers had no problems telling students when they suck. My mom was praised compared to other students because her mom ensured she perfected everything she did. And... in doing that... other students hated (or as I worded it for her "envied") her. Mom even told me about a point at her school where her team even gave her multiple concussions—because they didn't want to catch her when they were practicing a move! According to mom, her skull would harden up from the many times she fell and hit her head—like she was used to it. Mom had even punched one of her classmates. Yeah, she got suspended from the team but at least the team also got punished (surprisingly even the coach whispered his approval to her 😂).

Her mom tried to tell my mom her dad never wanted her. But like Christopher, she found letters that told her otherwise (under her own bed no less!)—and even tried to call and tell him to take her away. However... this was complicated by another man—who apparently looked almost like my mom. And... to this day... mom confessed that she's still not sure who's her real dad. And I doubt she'll ever know...

When my mom finally had the ability to leave... her mom tried to choke and punch the shit out of her. All my mom did was... laugh... "That's all you got, b*tch?!" was what she said. And... in leaving her mom... she left my uncle too. Mom knew her mom wouldn't treat her golden child like shit. And... that was that.

There was... more... I could say about what she talked to me about last night... but my brain is really heavy and... some pieces of my memory might be misplaced... sorry...

I knew who her mother was. I stayed with her before as a kid. Three years with her improved my basic learning skills. I could read and write better! And I'm happy for that help! But... over the years... I saw a crack of her true colors/and it was from my behavior. I'd start to get rebellious/wanting to have more things to enjoy in my life/beyond all that focus on school work. Anytime I didn't do a pre-assignment right/or the way she wanted... she 1) took away dessert, 2) sometimes threw away the toys she brought me and 3) not allowed me to go in any fun events—whether for school or for a friend's birthday party. Freedom was... fleeting... with her... I realized this later. That wasn't even the worst part. I remember the usual morning: I woke up for school, got ready to take a shower in the sink... yeah... her mom's shower didn't work so... I had to wash my hair in the sink. Had everything I needed. However, I vaguely remember what I said to her. I think I was trying to recorrect her on something... and if I did, I take accountability on that... but to me, that didn't change what would happened next:

My mom's mom. My grandmother. Growls at me. Took my hair in her hands. Directed my head in the sink. And threatened she would drown me in it if I ever talked to her like that again.

... That's fucked up, right? I think?

It wasn't as bad compared to her treatment with my mom, anyway.

I eventually got kicked out. She couldn't my rebellious behavior anymore. She left me at my mom's. Mom stayed at an apartment with my newborn sister. I remember her mom's last words along the lines of... that she loved me. I've wanted to believe her words. But even as of now, of how much of a person she was before I chose to stay with her...

I've hated her as much as I'm grateful for her.

Yet... I think having all that focus on putting effort or doing school... being restricted to all that... wasting all the fun in my life... ruined any chance of me wanting to have responsibility anymore...

I remembered accidentally letting the drowning incident slip on a bad day. My mom heard me and she... she was livid. Thinking back, knowing how my mom acts... I wonder if she could've done worse... basically: her mom is never allowed near me or her ever again.

I stayed with my mom when covid came around. Eventually... I had to stay with my dad for the next three years (notice a pattern?) (And yes, she still has contact with him). I thought this was because of covid. But... from last night... it was much, much worse...

My mom was having a downwards spiral. There was a point where she wanted to... take a bottle of pills and... well, I'm sure you can fill the blanks. Mom didn't want me to see her like that. Hence, why I was sent away.

And I only discovered this last night...

Remember the three things I listed about the mom comparison? I'll delve into them but there's slight differences...

1) My mom had no choice but to leave the family. Mom and dad would get into fights. And it got worse after my grandad died of a stroke in the bathroom floor. I never mentioned CPS was involved, did I? Mom was on CPS radar for years—all they did was put my mom into another layer of Hell. One CPS worker was EVIL. Mom hated this woman—she took advantage of my parents terrible relationship... and suggested to take me away from school, which would've escalated the downwards relationship between my parents. My mom knew and was disgusted.

"There's something wrong in your head to be thinking like this." Mom would say.

Dad planned to take my brother and I into the mountains—where mom would never. Ever. Get see us again. I never knew this. I think this was after I started living with my mom's mom. Mom only knew about what Dad planned because she called him and overheard the entire discussion (still thinking about how dumb my dad was to leave the call open/ngl lol). And Mom confronted Dad the next day—his plan backfired.

With my dad's antics and CPS further ruining the family—my mom left. Mom stayed in the shelter with my newborn sister. Mom knew she couldn't take either me or my brother there with her—that would cause more trouble. My sister was also a newborn at the time. I doubt she remembered.

2) I... don't have many details I can clarify about this area. But I'll try my best. There were other guys my mom got with. All three of them were my sisters fathers. My second sister's father is who my mom and I live with, my first sister's father is (classified), and my third sister'a father I never met and I doubt I ever will meet. I'll put it bluntly: my second sister's dad is a stubborn man-child. It's either his way or the high way. I met him when I was staying with mom at the apartments. He was... fine. Still is. I still think he's an asshole at times. But it was a relationship full of deja vu—they'd fight all the time. And... being surrounded with parents fighting as a kid... I got easily scared. I woke one night to them fighting and cried, screaming for them to stop... that was what led mom to kick him out of the apartment. And yet she lives with him now! And me living with her again means I have to deal with more fights from them. And... I've kinda became numb to it. I know these relationships are wrong... and not to be repeated... but I guess I'm just... used to these kind of familial dynamics. I don't know... The guy's mom is very nice though. She lives across the street and I'd talk to her often. I often ask about my mom and her son's relationship, and apparently... based on what I've realized... they don't trust each other and they've hurt each other. Apparently he probably loved my mom. But she didn't really stay to repair a relationship. She had no place to go. And even if she tried to get his attention... he'd either walk outside, go to the park with my sisters, or stay in his room.

I try my best to navigate it. Whenever a yelling match came up, I try to take my sisters to our shared room or sometimes I'll shut the window. Oftentimes, I will isolate myself—get my phone or chromebook, listen to music, or work on ocs... didn't really feel like I had anyone to talk to... but that's what I'm here for, right?

3) There are a few things mom and I have in common: we can't regulate our emotions well, our social development sucks, we have depressive episodes, and we get anxious easily... sometimes even about the most simple things. I've had a big tendency to overthink. And I think that's part of my anxiety.

I would hear my mom on a constant basis scream about how she can't "take this any more". These are most common whenever she's trying to stop my sisters from fighting and screaming at each other or when they outright don't listen to her and fighting with both my dads. Mom especially doesn't like being left alone with kids: she's very self-aware about her temper and told me many times that she shares her mom's wrath (I've only had a glimpse compared to mom's experience). Mom outright told me that if she were to hit us... she's very afraid that she would never stop. And knew she would regret it hard.

Mom would say she lost her sanity a long time ago. In her words "you can't crack somebody who's already cracked" (apparently something that scared even my grandad and uncles lol). And that was thanks to many things: Depression, PTSD, abuse... and they each contributed to her mom, my dad, and even my sister's dad. Mom had therapy years ago. And they gave up on her. Every. Single. Time.

"She was beyond saving." They said.

I cried throughout that night. I realized... Mom was just so... broken... and how much she... and even how much my family went through... it's not fair! But yet life isn't fair, right??? I don't want to leave her alone because like her—I'm scared to be alone! And yet I feel like I'm not good enough to help or keep some semblance of happiness around here! It doesn't help that she's still surrounded by those who cause her pain...

She even joked to me... if she ever were to get old... please kill me.

I think she meant it.

I'm sorry if this was all too much... (or against the rules/guidelines of your blog...) I just wanted to let things out and... hope someone will listen... delete this if it makes you feel better, I guess... thanks for reading.

Have a better day everyone.

With tears in her eyes, Vanilla pulls you into a tight hug. It's tight, warm, and full of love. She smells like fresh flowers and radiates warmth and motherly instinct.

I wish you were my child, I would never treat you like that in a million years.. None of that is okay, I'm so sorry sweetheart.

Behind her, Vector has a look full of barely contained rage, fists clenched at his sides

That's it. You're officially my kid. No take backs. Tell me what ya' need and you've got it kiddo.

He walks up and rests a hand on your shoulder

We got ya' now, okay? Even if you're real folks didn't.

//mod undercut//

As someone who's experienced emotional ab*se and n*glect (as well as medical, physical, and psychological) I'm so, so sorry you've gone through any of this, and I hope you know that none of it is your fault and that you are so, so, much more than what they tried to break you into. And if you ever need to vent, my DMS (@/rednexxsaysthing) are open.

Below is me trying to be validating, but also a bit more science-y so feel free to ignore it if that's not what you need.

This is what is called generational trauma, you grandmother likely experienced abuse, so she abused your mother, who now abuses you, and so on. Does this mean you'll abuse your kids if you ever have any? Looking at this from a factual perspective, it's very, very, very unlikely because you're so intelligent you're bale to see the pattern.

The biggest piece of genuine advice I can give you is be there for your siblings, and yourself. If you're the oldest, unfortunately you hold the burden of having to try and make sure your siblings don't get hurt anymore then they might've already, without trying ot force them to acknowledge the abuse.

And yes, this absolutely abuse that you're experiencing.

Please take care of yourself, you're so, so, so loved.

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junglefurytrash · 2 months ago

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Starlight Express Headcanons/AU Canons Part 3 - Totally Professional Starlight Chatroom Edition

After writing the Electric Storm Arc and 30 whole chapters of TPSC (holy shit), I decided that since I had a lot of stuff that was on my mind regarding little random character info bits, old plans, and other random assorted facts and worldbuilding stuff that I've yet to incorporate into chapters, mentioned but not gone into detail over, or just can't fit anywhere naturally.

So I decided to make this to put down a bunch of fun facts and info for everyone in the form of headcanons/actual AU canon fun facts! I think a lot of this will be going into the eventual Google Doc of AU World Lore as well as a Google Doc for Character Files I'm slowly planning out.

This is all stuff relating to my StEx Chatfic, so for those who haven't read it and are wondering what half of these are on about, I'd highly recommend reading up on that! Especially the Electric Storm Arc where lots of plot and lore happened.

As an aside, life has been kicking my ass with stuff over the last 4 weeks, but with things roughly settling down now, I should be able to get the next chapter of TPSC out sometime! :D

The group chat/server everyone uses is basically Discord, or at least a version of it.

All of the events since the Pride Party have happened over the course of about 2 weeks.

Tassita is Transgender, female to male! I really enjoy this headcanon, especially because Tassita was female originally in the Workshop they stem from but are now male in the actual Revival Show. Just makes so much sense to me. :)

Originally, the resolution chapters of the Electric Storm Arc were going to be just one chapter, Chapter 29, where everyone talks about what to do with Galvanic & co and if they still want them in the group chat server, before deciding at the end and leaving things there. I didn't think it was a good enough resolution for the arc though.

^ Adding onto this: Chapter 29 would've actually been chapter 30. There was going to be a sort of filler chapter that'd be Coach-focused, with Buffy, Dinah, and some of the others talking about the menu for the yard diner, Volta and Joule come in and chat for a bit, and then the whole topic of Dinah bringing over some goodies would be brought up and lead into that whole thing. I decided to ultimately merge that in with Thundercab's introduction chapter via way of the group talking about Forbidden Snacks.

There was also another filler chapter about the group talking about Pokemon Sun & Moon.. Until I realised the plot is still happening in the summer and Gen 7 came out in like November, so that got moved and 2 more plot chapters got merged (which is why Chapter 28 is LONG AS FUCK). The Pokemon chapter will come later though!

Slick has Mild ADHD and Conduct Disorder, both having been gone undiagnosed and untreated. Her behaviour got chalked up to her being just a troubled child, who Mum (2024 Momma) tried her best to help and teach and look after, but struggled to do so while also focusing on Corry's own physical health being precarious. Slick's Conduct Disorder is why she took to vandalism, bullying, and setting things on fire intentionally (those are all signs/symptoms of CD).

When the Electrics get angry enough, they produce enough static electricity to make people's hair stand on end.

Dinah started the Conspiracy of the Secret Karen Organisation meme a few years prior to the Championship, and it's a regular shitpost between the Coaches.

Everyone is very defensive of Ashley, who's one of the few Smoking Coaches that didn't undergo conversion after the Smoking Ban on transport and in the workplace between 2005 and 2007. Ashley however is more than capable of looking after herself (though she loves the other Coaches and how they look out for her).

Mum (aka 2024 Momma) is Slick's legal guardian and has been since Slick was about 9-10 years old due to her parents being troubled in their own rights and being unable to look after their daughter. This makes her Corry's adopted little sister!

Caboose has Hypomania and PTSD. Both stem from his older brother, BV (Brake Van, aka 2018 Caboose) getting CB at a young age into doing damage and crashing Trainfolks, and egging him on/being "proud" of CB when he did hurt people. While BV crashed Trainfolks out of greed (and in some sense a way to better keep a roof over his younger brother's head), CB ended up continuing his crimes for the Hypomania adrenaline rush.

Radial has been pining for Dolly since she met them at the Wembley Park Trainyard Races, but absolutely sucks at managing her own feelings (she views herself very unfavourably and as irrelevant) and doesn't want to do anything to ruin Dolly's relationship with Thundercab (who she thinks would deck her if she found out Radial had feelings for Dolly). ENJOY YOUR SLOW-BURN, PEOPLE!

The Electric Racing Commission are a global presence, with different branches for Electrics registered under them in nearly every country with Trainfolks in it. It's an organisation created from exploiting Electric Trainfolks' fear of humans back in the 1850s when Trainfolks in general had less rights in human society. They, generally, are not very good people, as even in the present day in-universe they still somewhat treat Electrics as lesser - The American Branch that took in Galvanic and their Components is one of the worser branches in terms of mistreatment.

Greaseball and Thundercab very much have a big-brother-little-sister vibe after TC joins the Apollo Victoria Yard. Pretty much joins his Gang (which are less of a GANG gang and more now of a group of close-knit friends, mainly Diesels and Freights, who do workout together too).

Gets mentioned in the chapters anyway, but Hydra is an Electric/Freight Hybrid Trainfolk! He has an Electric Engine mother and a Water Tanker dad. His mother has been an Off-The-Grid Electric since birth - Off-The-Grid Electric being a term referring to Electric Engines who don't work for the Racing Commission. His strange heritage and different nature is part of why the other Freight take a while to fully warm up to him.

The Hall of Cursed Things was started by Pearl after one too many late-night-group-shower-thought-rambles. (Said "Hall of Cursed Things" is a channel in the groupchat/server where people will put screenshots of said Cursed Thing that someone else said/posted).

Belle and Moonstone are both Autistic! Belle hyperfixates on various drinks and mixology as a whole naturally, but she also hyperfixates a lot on other random miscellaneous stuff like Star Wars, constellations, and types of flowers. Moonstone meanwhile hyperfixates on her scrapbooking and photography hobbies mainly, though she also has hyperfixated on animals - mainly dog breeds and bird types.

Panda the Cat from Chapter 22 looks kind of like a mix of these two cats.

Memphis Belle is around in this AU, and she's like a wise old Aunt to the AV Trainyard. She and Poppa are old racing besties, and she's also his emotional support while he tries to find his missing-in-action wife (Momma).

The moment they get their freedom Post-Chapter-30, Ampera gets explorative and adventurous pretty much immediately; Hair extensions until her hair grows back to full length, cool shades, red hair dye, bracelets, anklets, the full 9 yards. The others in their group take a little more time.

Galvanic is the most socially stunted out of the Electric Engines, mainly because they only very recently got a bit of common sense and grounding to reality via losing the Wembley Yard race and also the Electric Storm Arc.

"Star-Touched" is a term across Vehiclefolks (but primarily the Trainfolks) for those who have been met in some way by the Starlight Express. Those in the main cast who've been Star-Touched are Rusty and Corry (of course), Charge (happened in her side-fic I wrote), Dustin and Hydra (being visited by The Starlight to go help Rusty/Corry respectively), and Electra as of Chapter 30.

Movie Nights started sometime after the Championships by Dinah and Rusty as an attempt to help everybody get along a bit better after the Championships and start forming friendships.

Just Dance is the equivalent of Monopoly for the cast - Competition ensues, everyone gets VERY into it, chaos breaks out as everyone tries to beat one another's scores.

Thundercab likes giving nicknames to everyone. It started teasingly with Corry and affectionately with Dolly, but it turned into just a habit she has with everyone.

Purse likes those old 2010-2012 internet memes and that's how he bonded more with some of the AV Trainyard crew.

The Freight love piercings the most out of the cast - Slick, Hydra, Lumber, and Porter all have their ears pierced, and Slick also has a nose piercing she sometimes has in, while Flat-Top just has a lot of piercings in general as do the Hoppers. The Rockies have a few piercings, but they have to take them out or put tape over them often so they don't come out during their sport activities.

How much would I break people's hearts if I said that Radial is heavily implied to be inspired by, if not outright related to, OLC Wrench, the version of Wrench prior to the character getting the helmet addition? That's why her hair is described as "once red and fiery curls" in Chapter 21. As shown in her eventual post-arc design I did here, her hair won't be the same for a long time due to having to bleach her hair regularly as per the other R.C Branch's regulations, but she will gradually regain SOME of the curly red colour - Whether it returns fully to its full fiery glory is uncertain.

^ The same goes for Hardwire! His hair is actually naturally a dark grey/black, just like Killerwatt's and Krupp's, but constant bleaching per regulation rules has damaged it just like Radial's hair has been damaged. He'll get his colour back too though.

#starlight express #stex #chatfic #starlight express headcanons #headcanons #totally professional starlight chatroom #stex engines #stex coaches #stex freight #stex components

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just-sp-in-inginthevoid · 10 months ago

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Hey!! So these days I’ve remembered a joke that was quite popular in the fandom about Shinichiro not being able to get a girl because Wakasa was always with him and they would choose Waka over Shin. I just wonder how much of this could be true, since we don’t have any info of Wakasa interest in this topic or if he know he is good-looking and uses it to his favor.

Idk it is nice to hear your thoughts about it.

Hi there!!

First of all, I love the idea that Shinichiro got rejected so many time because of a bunch of different reasons, one being that his flirting skills are so bad his awkwardness somehow surpasses his good looks (I'll argue that in-canon he was meant to embody any average Japanese man with no specific physical trait (despite having a mixed-race dad) but like, scratch that, Shinichiro is handsome. Perhaps not in an outstanding, eye-catching way, but he is very good looking.) and leads to girls basically running away because he's being overly head over heels for a first meeting, is being a tiny bit too hopelessly romantic than it's acceptable (and sounds desperate sometimes) or starts talking about bikes because he saw an opportunity to and he lovesss talking about them (and the only other conversation topic that comes easily to him is his siblings) so it can go on for hours - so they leave. Shame on them.

(Another reason is because he goes up to girls he saw from afar before confessing his love and they reject him because.. they don't know him - at most they know his face but he barely if ever spoke with them. He's a loser, I love him)

Secondly: Wakasa's part in all of this.

We already know Wakasa loves to mess with people, to troll them (it's in the guide book), and we also know that Wakasa - alongside Benkei - made fun of Shinichiro rather often (teen Wakasa and teen Benkei's sole two lines are really just this lol (chapter 230 and 269)). I'd find it hard to believe for Wakasa to not be aware of his attractiveness. I don't see him looking for a relationship, but he must know the impact he has on others - even only objectively speaking.

So honestly? I think he'd do it, yeah, just to laugh at Shinichiro (playfully of course, he has no ill intent). It also helps to sort girls who'd go to other (more attractive or not) men given the chance. Shinichiro would do bad with casual relationships, he wants to give all of his heart to the person he loves, he doesn't want one that can end. Wakasa rather have Shinichiro cry because 'it's unfair!! a girl was finally interested in me, why did you have to steal her heart?!!' than get his heart broken because he thought they had something only for her to leave once she found someone else.

(Alternatively, Shinichiro simply whining that if Wakasa wasn't there, he'd have a girlfriend by now because they wouldn't just all focus on Wakasa - whether he did anything for them to focus on him or not)

It robs Shinichiro from possible relationships, but it's more of a test from Wakasa than a mean joke. Because Shinichiro is his dear friend and he deserves the best. He gets hurt easily, and one of Wakasa's job - as a friend and as one of Black Dragon member - is to protect him to the best of his capacities. Physical and emotional wounds both

Also it's funny to see Shinichiro's reactions to it.

And it's not like he does something everytime - people look at him more than they look at Shinichiro whether he intends for it or not! He's not stopping it, though

I may have gotten too serious about a fandom joke, oopsies

#i love talking about black dragon founders ask me more about black dragon founders it makes me feel alive and worthy too to be asked about #black dragon founders i love them so much #(or literally any other characters. i love all of tr very much. there are characters i dont think as frequently or at the same intensity as #others ofc - theres no escaping it - but its nice to think about them more when i dont usually give them much thought - just love)#(okay there are exceptions but who here is going to ask me about kiyomasa & his squad or Osanai?)#(might be interesting to look at them objectively tho.. hm... first antagonists who do have a big impact on the story despite having such a #small/quick role... hm...)#tokyo revengers #tok rev #tokrev #tr #black dragon founders #tr wakasa #tokrev wakasa #wakasa imaushi #tr shinichiro #tokrev shinichiro #shinichiro sano #its always the same with asks im always left wondering if i answered well/the way that was intended. apologies for that i tend to overthink #this kind of stuffs #i loveee asks tho #answering asks #asks

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zzzykiek · 11 months ago

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Play It Sweet

2P!Alastor x Fem!OC reader

CW: toxic workplace, creepy boss, talk of past violence, serial killers

This chapter is SFW but I'll still ask Minors DNI

Chpt 6_________________ “Ugh…Susan”

That lunch break was just what you needed and you return refreshed and ready to show Al how things work on the back end. Even Al lets his act drop, willing to relax enough to show his adorable stutter.

Returning to your office you do a quick check of your messages letting Al relax for a moment. “What do I g-get to observe first?” His question is barely a whisper in your ear. “S-s-sorry.” He whimpers when the unexpected proximity causes you to startle.

He leans into your touch as you caress his cheek. “I suppose I will give you the typical new patron rundown I do. That will give you the basics for everything and then we can dive into what peaks your interest.” Al reluctantly backs away from your touch and ushers you to lead the way.

You take him to the library's catalog computer. “This is the brain of the library.”

“No d-dear, that would be you.”

You giggle at Al's comment feeling your cheeks heat up. “Sadly, I am not always available, but this is.”

“Hmm, I will always prefer getting my information straight from the source, but enlighten me.” He leans his chin on your shoulder, watching as you access the catalog.

“You can search for anything you're interested in using: subject, title, or author. What do you want to find?”

“Hmm…” You see Al’s eyes flick to something on the other side of the kiosk and then back to the screen. “What if I was interested in….say…. serial killers?”

You give him an intrigued look. “True events or stories featuring them?”

“Real events, my dear.”

“Oh perfect! This will let me show you how to navigate our nonfiction collection. It is a bit more complicated than looking for a novel.” Pointing to the information on the screen, you continue, “This selection of numbers is the Dewey Decimal number, which is how the nonfiction books are arranged, and this number indicates the aisle where the item can be found. I added that detail when I started here to make things easier. Saves so much frustration. Is there a particular killer you're interested in?”

“I do enjoy the stories of those that were never identified. Makes it a bit more dangerous.”

“I will add unsolved to our search, and it looks like we have three items available; two books and one archive item.” You click on the archive item and are about to explain what it is when you hear the worst sound in the library.

“Ehhhh hhehehem.” A scratchy voice clears their throat.

“Ugh….Susan.” You whisper under your breath before switching to a cheery customer service attitude, feeling Al stifling a chuckle as you step out from under his chin. “Susan! How can I be of service today?”

“I am not so sure I approve of the topic you are leading this impressionable young man to.” Her eyes scan Al with a scowl.

You hear Al snort and say in your ear, “I’m not as young as everyone thinks.”

“I am simply providing a reader's advisory, leading him to what he has requested.”

“Why does the collection even have items on such a morbid topic?” The pointed look she gives indicates she puts all the blame on you.

“For readers like me that enjoy the mystery and danger of humanity.” Al is obviously turning up the charm. (I need to remember to ask if his voice is part of his powers.)

“Humph, shouldn’t be accessible to the public. Keep it at the police station.” She folds her arms and straightens up, obviously trying to command power in the conversation even though Al towers over her by a good two feet.

Bending at the waist, Al lets her have a sense of power. “An interesting perspective. I will let you know, I am looking for just that. I will be here doing interviews for community members on Thursday. I will be happy to schedule you a slot for you to speak your voice.”

Her demeanor immediately changes as she lays a hand on Al’s arm causing his body to stiffen. “Ohhhh, well I would be happy to!”

Quickly sidestepping from the touch, he returns to the computer. “Wonderful! I am sure it will be most enlightening! Now, Sunnifa was just about to explain the archived items to me, and these are details I must hear. It was wonderful to meet you Susan and I will see you on Thursday.” Al turns back to the screen, slotting back onto your shoulder as you give a dismissive nod toward Susan who begrudgingly returns to her place in the reading lounge.

You tap the mouse and bring the screen back to life. “Archived items are things that are not published books; they could include field notebooks, artifacts like bones or antiques, and newspapers which is what this particular item is. A collection from the late 1920s. Oh! They are from New Orleans!”

“Oh really, I would love to check those out.” He winks at you, and your eyes go from the screen to him and back as you piece together some comments from your hours of random conversation before realization smacks you in the face. You mouth to him, ‘Is that about you?’ He nods with a mischievous glint in his eye. You know you have a funny look on your face as you do some math in your head. “A decade old….” You say in a breath.

Al leans down and whispers. “T-t-told you I am not as young as p-people think.” You just laugh.

“Well these items are kept in the archive offices on the third and fourth floors. Usually patrons will put in a request for the item using the catalog and a staff member brings it to the desk for viewing, but we didn’t include the archives on our tour, so I will show you while we retrieve this. These are labeled 3.0167, so third floor, aisle one, sixth column, and seventh shelf.” You write down the location code and the call numbers for the other two books. “I also know our database has an article on the same killer featured in the newspapers. I will pull that up for you from the reference computer in a bit. It was written by someone I think you know.” Your turn to flash him a mischievous grin.

“Oh! Well, paint me intrigued. I will follow you.” You begin moving toward the elevator.

“Actually, would you mind if we took the stairs?” You catch a small tremor in Al’s form.

“No problem at all.” Al holds the stairwell door open for you. As you enter, he looks around for a moment before popping back to his demon looks.

“N-n-needed a b-bit of a break.” He summons his microphone staff and uses it to assist him in climbing the stairs, holding your hand tightly the whole way. He is shaking some, and you gently pull him to pause at the second floor landing. You meet his eyes and plant a comforting kiss on his lips which he melts into.

“Keeping up your disguise takes a lot of power doesn't it?” You gently run your finger through his hair as he relaxes the shaking stops.

“Not an insane amount, but even holding something light begins to feel heavy after a while.”

“I will make sure you get a few more breaks tomorrow.”

“Hmm.” He pulls you in against his chest and nuzzles into your hair. “Th-th-thank you, me amour.” Even he startles himself with that slip of the tongue as he clears his throat. “We better make our way up.” He snaps back into a human appearance and heads up the steps two at a time, holding the door for you on the third floor.

You beeline for the shelf, knowing exactly where it is, ascending the small ladder. You feel Al take hold of it at the bottom. You remove the box from its spot, placing it on a small platform attached to the ladder. “Crank the little handle to your left and the box will come down.” He looks at the crank, but waits for your feet to be on the ground before following your directions. Al picks up the box smirking at the highlight of the top issue. ‘New Orleans Butcher Strikes Again!’ It’s paired with a photo of the victim and a blurred out render of the crime scene. “His body count was higher than mine ever was.” Al’s grip on the box tightens and you can feel the rage emanating from him.

With a knowing smile you interrupt his spiraling thoughts. “Can't wait to hear your side of these stories.” The shocked look on Al’s face is truly adorable.

“Really?”

“Most definitely!”

Al laughs heartily. “I shouldn't be surprised at this point.”

The remainder of the afternoon is rather routine. Al wanders around observing the daily happenings of the library while you complete your normal daily tasks. Making sure to print that article for Al to see later.

Before you know it, three-thirty rolls around and Heather comes into your office with Al. It seems they have been chatting for a bit. “Sunnifa, It's about time you're let out from this prison to enjoy your evening!”

“I would never consider this place a prison Heather.” You laugh until you hear heavy steps in the hall.

“Cliff, you're late!” Heather turns with a hand on her hip.

“I was dealing with a patron’s concern, my apologies. Seems our new friend made an odd impression on Mrs. Susan.” Cliff tries to stifle his distaste at seeing Al’s hand on your shoulder.

“Ahh, yes, I plan to interview her on Thursday.” Al lets a bit of concern slip into his voice.

“I recommend you smile, nod, and take notes. She isn't impressed with you...at all.”

Heather picks up on Al’s concern, waving a hand in dismissal. “Oh don’t fuss over her. If she wants to complain, I will take it and then toss it in our fireplace.”

“She always complains. We are used to it at this point.” You add, placing your hand over his on your shoulder.

“I would have never known!” Al laughs, put at ease by your touch.

Heather squeezes his arm affectionately. “Well Al, did you observe all you needed to?”

“Oh I could spend days gathering information! It is a library after all.” The comment has Cliff rolling his eyes and putting Heather and yourself into a giggle fit. “But in all seriousness, I am sure there is so much I could learn here, though I have gathered plenty to get my gears turning. I plan to get my questions and some scripts prepared this evening.”

“Wonderful, we will have some things to go over with the board tomorrow.” Cliff huffs.

“For now you two head out and enjoy some time together.” Heather leans over to Al. “Still going to take her to the place I recommended dear?”

“How can I not; your hype makes it a necessity!” He twirls Heather around and flashes you a big smile. “Besides, you did say Sunnifa deserves to be treated well; I pride myself on being nothing but a gentleman.” Al plants a kiss on your hand just like he did the day before. “Are you off the clock now dear?” You glance at the clock to see it is five minutes after four.

“That I am, Al.”

“Good, I have been dying for this all day.” He plants a chaste kiss on your lips, and you can practically feel the anger radiating from Cliff.

“Ohhhh!!! Al, you cheeky thing; you said you weren't an item!” Heather coos.

“Technically we are not, but I planned to change that this evening. What do you say my sunshine, can this be our first date?”

Your mind is racing, but as you look into Al's eyes, there's only one answer to his question. You nod as a smile spreads across your face. Heather has both your and Al’s bags in her hand and is standing between you and Cliff.

“You two get going and I want to hear all about it in the morning.” She rushes you out the back door as she whispers. “I'll handle the man, baby.” Al absolutely explodes with laughter as he picks you up and carries you to the car.

“So what is this place that Heather wants you to take me to?” Out of the corner of your eye, you watch Al’s blue ears bob as he hums along to the music from your radio. (No one can really see him in the car) He fishes out a piece of paper from his pocket and places it in your line of sight. Your eyes go wide. “Now I know why Heather told you to take me there!”

“Because it's your favorite!” His smile is so wide and so proud you can't help but mirror it.

“Aren't you from Hell?”

“D-d-did that not register after this m-m-morning?” He taps his finger on your wrist.

“And yet you keep making me feel like I'm in Heaven.” There's that purple glow again. You giggle at his flustered state. “Well you are adorable as Hell, so I guess I will believe you.”

Now Al is a babbling mess next to you, though his voice isn't loud enough for you to make out any of what he is saying. “You're only giving me more proof.” You flash him a grin and entangle your fingers in his, causing him to relax some, going back to his humming. You begin singing along, not catching Al’s stare from the passenger seat.

When the song ends, his wistful voice comments, “You have the voice of an angel, so maybe it's you who the Heavens sent me.”

You just look at him, giggling, and let him take his victory. “We will be there soon. Time to human up again.”

#alastor #alastor x reader #2p alastor #2p!alastor #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #human alastor

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chubbybunny25 · 6 months ago

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Sooo my christmas movie au didn't make it on time before the year ends 🤧 anyway, have this semi-edited Chapter 1 ig. Enjoy!

(will put it on AO3 maybe later.. also, I can't think of a good title yet >.<)

Nico’s dating life is a mess.

He isn’t proud of it, but it’s the truth. He doesn’t like flaunting it, but it pays his bills.

“Where’s my next story? Are you working on it?” Have you dated other men and got utterly disappointed yet?—is what his boss means. Alabaster doesn’t really need to rub it in Nico’s face this early in the morning.

Nico stops typing his non-existent story and takes a deep breath. He says slowly, “I think I’d like to try something new for my next writing.” He hopefully looks at his manager, taking in his perfectly cut dark blue suit, vibrant green eyes, and his brown curls tied up nicely with a ponytail. “Something more… positive.”

Alabaster might be a jerk sometimes, but Nico has eyes, okay.

“You think?” Yep, a jerk.

“Ugh, c’mon Al, it’s honestly frustrating!” Nico complains. It's not like he planned those dates to be total disasters. Did he plan to date a married man with two kids on Valentine’s day of all days?

Apparently, Nico’s misery isn’t worth Alabaster’s attention since the latter is now idly checking his fingernails. “Everyone is frustrated these days though, darling. At least you’re not broke.” Al fixes Nico a look. “But you might be if you don’t get me that story on time.”

Nico just groans at that—and not the pleasurable kind.

⍋𐂂꙳✧₊⁺

“Ugh, why does Cupid hate me so much…” Nico whines to his roommate and co-worker, Rachel. She’s still finishing the latest layout of their November issue.

She doesn’t even look up from her working tablet when she says, “Cupid doesn’t hate anyone, Nico.”

“But I feel like he does. Why is my dating life this crappy?”

What kind of god of passionate love sends you a cute guy, but cannot even keep himself awake for more than two minutes? Nico honestly could not even hate the guy. He just felt bad for having to wake up the guy every now and then. Finally, Nico had to lie that something came up at home and booked an Uber for his date so they could both rest in peace.

“Stupid diapered baby with wings and arrows,” Nico mutters.

“You know what’s the problem? You only date guys from LA. You should consider having the love of your life imported from other states.”

“Not all of us can afford expensive gas, Rach,” Nico chides her. When Rachel glares at him, he raises his palms and adds, “Kidding, okay!” His friend doesn’t fancy being reminded of her super rich dad, who’d rather her work for their family company than being a graphic artist for a basic magazine, albeit a well-loved one.

Rachel fixes her a soft look, “But seriously, Nico, you have to start expanding your radius in that dating app so you can finally stop meeting up with weirdos and ghosters.”

Nico rolls his eyes. “Ghoster is not even a word, Rachel.”

“Whatever. Anything you want to call that dazzling blonde doctor who totally ghosted you.”

He can’t really argue with that. Nico thought that he and Will could really be something more. Will was a medical intern whom Nico happened to start talking to during the nights when the writer couldn’t sleep. They had really fun conversations about Will’s big dreams after med school, books and music they both liked, until they broached the topic of their all-time-favorite movies, to which Nico happily rambled about Coraline.

At first, Nico couldn’t wrap it around his head that Will was put off by a kids’ movie of all things. Okay, it was creepy, but after his mom and sister had passed away, Nico had always seen himself in Coraline. He used to wish he could just live in an imaginary world where he could hear his mom’s laughter and his sister’s teasing and his dad not giving him the icy treatment.

It must have shown on his face, because Rachel suddenly wraps an arm around his shoulder. “Hey. If he’s bothered by your favorite movie, he doesn’t deserve you, you hear me?” There’s something stubborn and caring in Rachel’s tone that Nico just can’t help but nod. “Good. Now, let’s get dinner.”

⍋𐂂꙳✧₊⁺

They settled for a Thai takeout and ate together on their couch. “Gimme your phone,” Rachel demands after a while.

“Wha—” Before he can even finish, Rachel has already lunged for his phone on the coffee table and grabs his hand to tap his fingerprint on it.

Nico just lets her. There is no arguing once Rachel gets an idea in her head. He barely registers some of the words she mumbles, “Distance setting… 5 miles… Hmm… Let’s get you farther than that… There!”

When he gets his phone back, his eyes widen at the screen, “Did you just turn the slider to 4000 miles?”

“Yeah.” Rachel ties her red hair in a messy bun before going back to her food. “You know what they say—go far or go home and all that?” She punctuates her sentence with a very big bite of pad thai.

Nico’s pretty sure it’s not how the saying actually goes, but before he can voice that out, his phone suddenly dings with more matches. They range from yoga instructors to some sort of gurus who promise to find “inner peace” and talk about “ikigai” and whatnot; then there are those hopeless romantics whose pastimes are likely to be reading “Romeo and Juliet” or “The Notebook”; and of course, the classic dudes showing off their dicks and looking for a quick fuck.

He catches a glimpse of Rachel making a sour face while watching him swipe on his screen. Feeling that Nico might not be stopping anytime soon, she stands to clean up their trash.

If he’s being honest, there’s nothing wrong with the guys’ pastimes or preferences. It’s just that, Nico wants to meet someone… real.

Nico isn’t even looking for the love of his life yet. Just a normal dating life, where he isn’t tricked or ghosted, where maybe he can get laid, and be together for a couple of months and prove his boss he actually doesn’t need to be miserable to keep his fucking job.

He supposes this is a you’ll-never-realize-you-need-it-til-you-have-it situation. A bit like soulmates perhaps, where you just know he’s the one and—

He stops scrolling when he stumbles upon one profile of a guy with crystal blue eyes, blonde hair, and broad shoulders. Nico clears his throat in lieu of drooling over an obviously well-trained body.

Percy, 29

—the (totally hot) man’s profile reads. He looks young for his age, Nico observes.

Percy has seven available pictures on his profile and each one gives Nico a glimpse of the man’s personality and interests.

About Me An adventurous soul who’s always exploring new things and experiencing what life has to offer.

As if to prove how Percy loves exploring, the next picture is a selfie of him with a purple tent in the background in the middle of a forest clearing. Seeing Percy’s face up close, Nico notices a cute scar on the corner of Percy’s lip. He wonders if he got it from hiking or climbing or one of his other adventures.

About Me Would love to meet someone who’s totally down with doing things together.

There are a few photos of Percy standing by the shore and holding a surfboard and damn if Nico’s mind doesn’t go haywire with that perfectly tanned skin and well-built muscles.

“You look like you need a drink.”

Nico almost jumps out of his skin. “Oh my god, Rachel!” His friend is peering over his shoulder and when he turns his head to face her, she’s holding two glasses of wine.

She just smirks when Nico gets the drink she offers. “So,” she drawls, her emerald eyes glinting with a knowing look. “Are you going to message this Percy guy or just jerk off to his profile all night?”

Nico feels his face heat up at that and almost hisses, “I am not jerking off!” Okay, maybe his throat is a bit dry. But that’s completely beside the point.

Rachel just cackles at that, knowing where his train of thoughts has gone to.

“You know what, I am going to bed!” he announces, then strides dramatically to his room. “Good night, Rach.” With his phone and his drink in each of his hands, he’s mortified to realize that he can’t open the door on his own.

When he looks over his shoulder, Rachel is already grinning and innocently asks, “Need help?”

Nico rolls his eyes, but can’t hide his surprise when Rachel walks over to open the door for him. “Change the sheets in the morning, okay?”

He’s never been more grateful that the door is as sturdy as it is, when he slams it so hard, tuning out his friend's teasing giggles. Ugh, he’ll get back to her tomorrow morning or when they visit that cafe where Rachel’s crush—a girl with honey-blonde hair and perfect princess curls—is working.

For now, though…

Nico comes across another photo of Percy, but this one is in a park and since he’s just wearing a tank top, Nico’s eyes have access to the tattoo on his left bicep—an eagle spreading its wings, soaring high. Can’t this guy be more attractive?

What Nico sees next, however, surprises him a bit: Percy’s skiing photo holding a signage that says, BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER: HOME ALONE.

Talk about the utter contrast between enjoying the great outdoors and loving a movie where the main character is literally left at home for the holidays.

Nico has started typing and has the message sent before his brain can catch up.

Nico: Hi Percy. I’m Nico. No judgement. But curious about Home Alone when you like the outdoors so much?

The response comes almost immediately.

Percy: Hello Nico! Well. Percy: Kevin and I want the same thing. We want to be free :)

Oh. Nico has never really seen it that way. But he can work with that.

Nico: That… makes sense. A lot of sense actually.

Percy: X) Percy: How about you?

Nico: Me?

Percy: What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

The smile on Nico’s face slowly slips away. What if Percy gets weirded out by his favorite movie, too? What if he also stops talking to Nico because his tastes are “too dark”?

In the end, Nico just decides to rip the band-aid off and is convinced that it better end now than when they’ve already had months of conversation.

Nico: Coraline.

His heart pounds so loudly in his chest while the three dots start to bounce on his screen.

Percy: Really? ^^ Percy: Why? (just seriously want to know ^^)

That’s… an interesting response, which emboldens Nico to be as truthful as he can be.

Nico: Well, aside from the fact that I watch it every year on Christmas day, I think it’s a great reminder of what we sometimes take for granted during the holidays.

Percy: What’s that?

Nico: Family.

When his loved ones’ deaths were still fresh, Nico would often find himself wishing for another world where he could have his happy family again. Yet as time went by, he began to admire Coraline’s courage in freeing herself from the grasp of the Other Mother. Nico realized he had to go back to the real world, no matter how painful and imperfect it was. He’d lost his mom and Bianca, but they wouldn’t want him to lose himself, too.

Percy: I feel like there’s more to that opinion, but that was a really nice way to put it, Nico <3

Nico: Thanks, Percy :’) Yeah, there is. Maybe, I’ll tell you someday.

Someday.

Nico gulps what remains of his wine and goes to sleep, his heart feeling full and thrilled.

#percy/nico 4 prompts of christmas #w3: family #w4: hushed words #—tho these prompts might be more apparent in the next chapters #percico #nicercy #percy x nico #writing keeps me sane

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kreideprinz69 · 2 years ago

Note

pls talk more about nagito regretting what he did to Hajime in chapt. four I also am totally normal about that. Nagito is such an interesting rival, because he doesn't HATE Hajime, but I think what he has issue with are his own feelings.

i would absolutely love to do so!

someone else made a really good analysis about nagito showing remorse for how he treated hajime, but i for the life of me cannot find it again and i've been searching for a hot minute. </3 i'll come back and link it if i'm able to find it later!

okay, so i believe a good starting place for this is taking a trip back towards the beginning of chapter 5, where nagito visits hajime in his cottage after hearing about the plan to detain him again. now as a refresher; supposedly he's there because he want's to make sure hajime comes to the hotel so he can see the whole bombing incident. he basically tells hajime that he knows about their plan, and wants hajime to come to the hotel too because he has business with everyone.

which i would just briefly like to mention, that with the way he talks it feels like he's a bit hesitant to ask hajime to come. though i might just be reading into it a bit much, however i think it's an interesting idea to consider here. his follow up is the part of the whole scene that stuck out to me though,

i consider nagito to be a very truthful person, at least in the sense that what he says is true, just maybe not in the way you think. so with the way he's talking in the above screenshots, i think he's fully serious in telling hajime not to take him so seriously. it sort of implies that he has eased up somewhat on being angry at hajime for the reserve course drama. at this point, nagito already has his death planned out too, so he's fully aware he's not going to have any more conversations with hajime. which is why-

this line sticks out to me. it's always felt out of place to me, just sort of a random thing to reflect on. but knowing that nagito is aware of his limited time, i started to see this line as nagito reflecting on his time with hajime. which seems to be in a fond regard.

this line too, from the video after the trial. which is pretty straightforward in his regret.

so yeah, just kind of piecing all of these things together, i do feel like nagito feels remorse for the way he treated hajime in chapter 4. it's notable that he wasn't attacking hajime as much during their interactions in chapter 5, compared to chapter 4. i could be reading into these interactions a bit too much, but either way i feel like it's clear there's at the very least a little guilt on nagito's part.

also to add on to the last part of your statement; nagito 10000% has issues with his own feelings, and there's no way he hates hajime, in fact that's why he struggles with his feelings so much. because he can't hate hajime. nagito's feelings, specifically towards hajime, are very complex and it runs deep. i could explain that in depth for a while so for the sake of not making this post too long and keeping it on topic- i might make a separate post for it, if anyone wants it!

#komahina #nagito komaeda #danganronpa #danganronpa 2 #sdr2 #i am very sleep deprived rn so i hope this makes some sense lol #this is a bit jumbled i apologize #im very normal about nagito and hajime

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the-forests-blessing · 9 months ago

Text

Chapter 11

“Lukas! Hey!”

Outside the front door of BeacInn, our optimistic author stands. Last night's random downpour has ceased since the early morning hours and now leaves the stone street shining and a mist of steam rising from the evaporating water. The building’s drip with rain droplets that glisten under the rising sun. An orange sorbet of fluffy clouds decorate the sky, encouraging Lukas into an uplifting mood to start the day.

In his freshly washed and dried adventure gear, Lukas turns to the sound of a squeaky voice he can only identify as the jovial ex-intern of BeaconTown, Radar. He appeared from across the street, waving down Lukas who had to adjust the ocelot in his arms so he could wave back. In the morning, Beacon seems more lively than usual with a couple of unfamiliar faces walking the streets. Distant conversations can be heard as Radar's hurried steps make it across the street to greet Lukas as he steps down the short flight of stairs.

“Good morning, Radar. What brings you over here?” Lukas asks, giving the ocelot in his arms another quick adjustment so Dewey too could look over at the approaching man.

“Morning! Woooah cool outfit.” Radar gawks in amazement, to which Lukas utters a quiet ‘thanks’ for the compliment. “And hellooooo to you too Mr. Dewey,” Radar smiles fondly at the ocelot, approaching with an outreached hand. He smothers the jungle cat's head with some rather aggressive pets, squishing his ears and causing him to scrunch his face up. When he relents, Dewey shakes his head and twitches his tail irritably at the undesired and all too enthusiastic attention. “I caught you just in time! I was just about to head over to our local bakery for some morning grub. Wanna join me?”

“Bakery?” Lukas repeats, definitely interested. He glances up and down the street, wondering where Radar could possibly be talking about. From what he's learned, BeaconTown has five major streets all connecting to the beacon monument in the middle. The one he's been sticking to is on the far left of town as you enter. He's spent a generous amount of time scrounging around for food related establishments, but the best he's found so far is that small cafe on main street, and a few vendor stalls here and there. “You guys have a bakery here? Consider me shocked.”

“Ohh yeah. Here, walk with me.” Radar nods his head, convincing Lukas and Dewey to follow his lead. “You’re right to be shocked. BeaconTown lost a lot of its best restaurants after uh.. Petra became mayor and everyone kinda started leaving.” The ex-intern scratches at the back of his head awkwardly, dropping his gaze down to the stone brick street. Lukas looks down too, searching the waterlogged cracks that occasionally pool into little puddles of water he occasionally finds himself stepping in. “But we were able to help some establishments survive. Nell went to work at the bakery after the great collapse, and with her help, it’s been able to thrive for years!”

“Great.. Collapse? What, is that supposed to be some kind of humorous term in regards to Petra becoming mayor?” Lukas chuckles at the thought. “Seriously, I don’t see why the town elected her.”

Radar laughs a bit awkwardly, shoving his hands into his green hoodie pockets. “Ah.. No, the great collapse is, well.. Basically when BeaconTown officially fell. Oh and we didn’t elect her. She kind of just appointed herself and didn’t take no for an answer.”

Lukas’ brows raise at that. “Why..?”

Radar shrugs. “Don’t know! Or.. Well, I have a few theories, buuut I’m trying to have a good day, so I really don’t want to think about it.”

Lukas nods, turning his head away. More information to keep him curious... “Huh, so I assume the bakery is another spot I can find you two hanging out at?” Lukas changes the topic to avoid an uncomfortable silence. He asks with that one day in mind where he went to Radar’s and Nell’s shared residence and found no one home at the time.

“Yeah! Or I may be at the library. It’s my favorite place to go when I’m feeling all scatter-brained.” Radar does this silly gesture at his head, then looks back at Lukas, smile ever prominent on this boy’s features. Lukas takes it he must be the kind of person to fake a smile, always quick to recover from some of the dark topics he occasionally treads down. “What about you? You got a favorite place to be?”

“Is that a trick question?” Lukas asks, humored by the ask and it's obvious answer. “I prefer to be one with nature. Out in the field is where I’m one with the elements. It does a lot of good for you mentally, you know? Surrounding yourself with the nature our world generously provides us.”

“Hmm.. Is that why you're so strangely charismatic? I'm still amazed you and Dewey haven't ran out of town with your tails between your legs yet. Nobody ever stays here this long..”

Lukas smiles at that, grateful for the compliment. “Well, I guess it's hard to feel discouraged when I'm making the progress I need towards my goal. I've spent too many years working on this encyclopedia and I'm not gonna let any obstacles get in the way of that. It's my.. Uh.. You know. It's all I kinda got..”

Radar ponders on that for a few seconds before he nods his agreement. “Yeah, I totally get you. Your optimism towards your own future kind of inspires me to get more invested in mine. I just wish I was as brave as I used to be, then maybe I too would– you know…” Lukas raises a questioning brow. “Enter the forest. Take in all those healing elements of nature you mentioned. From the way you talk about it, it sounds like you’re getting a real taste of heaven…” Radar leans in a little close, covering his mouth to whisper, “Well– whatever heaven has demons residing in it.”

Lukas scoffs out a laugh. “Demons? Don’t be ridiculous– the forest doesn’t have demons.”

Radar gives the author a doubtful look. “Then you’re just lucky you haven’t come across him yet!” He gives Lukas an elbow nudge, then nods his head towards an upcoming purple building. “Come on, over here!”

Demons? He can’t possibly be talking about the Admin. He’s not evil. The real evil is what burnt down the forest… Lukas thinks begrudgingly, and with a hint of annoyance towards Radar’s ignorance.

Our author stops outside the establishment while Radar scurries in. He watches the ex-intern go, then turns his head up and looks over the front entryway. The building has definitely seen better days. The purple concrete walls have cracked and been chipped away at by the elements over time. The windows are all surprisingly intact, but many of them have been covered by dense vine and ivy overgrowth. The sign outside the building too has withered away, making the text mostly unintelligible. Lukas frowns at the state of natural decay. In another world, he could imagine a building as cozy looking as this thriving off the love of baked goods and happy smiles. It's sad to see.. but he steps forth with Dewey anyways.

Entering the building, a little bell rings as the door opens. To Lukas’ surprise, there’s actually quite a few people here and they all look… mostly happy. Conversing with one another at their tables and booths, something he hasn’t seen since the last town he’d stayed in. Upon stepping in, he can already smell the heavenly scent of baked goods. He draws in a deep breath, then exhales, feeling his own mouth watering at the confectionery sweet scents. Like the exterior, the overgrowth has squeezed its way through parts of the deteriorating purple concrete walls, making the building quite lush in appearance. It's quite pretty, despite the history.

Lukas steps across quartz flooring, approaching the counter with Dewey in his arms. Next to him stands Radar, the scholar looking over to the blond who now investigates the menu thoroughly. “Oooh what’s your favorite? I like the apple fritters. Those are my faaavorite. Oh! Oh! And the frosted honey-butter biscuits!” The dark haired male practically vibrates with excitement where he stands. While Lukas stays focused on the menu, Dewey lay in his arms, staring at Radar like he’s a crazy person.

Hmm… Honey-butter biscuits do sound really good, Lukas decides on that for himself while he still hones in on the menu. And what for the Allay… Has to be something small. What if it can’t eat certain things like chocolate being toxic for dogs? Maybe I’ll just share mine with it.

Lukas’ gaze searches the purple cursive text and dolled up pictures on the menu, finding trouble deciding what the Admin might possibly like. He has absolutely no knowledge of what his likes and dislikes are. As far as Lukas is aware, the man is a god . He could deem anything Lukas offers unworthy for all he knows. So maybe…

“I think I’ll get the honey-butter biscuits and some chocolate chip cookies. Hard to go wrong with those right?” Lukas shrugs, finally looking back at Radar who stood in eager anticipation to hear the blond's decision.

“Yes… Yes! The perfect combo. The cookies here are the most popular on the menu. They’re so soft with melt in your mouth goodness!” He sighs wistfully, his smile softening. “They used to be Jesse’s favorite.”

“Well if the New Order leader liked them, I’m sure they’re delicious.” Hopefully Admin isn’t a picky eater…

“Oh he liked them alright.”

Lukas stills in his spot. That voice…

The two men turn slowly and look up to find the cape wearing huntress gazing down at them. Lukas can hear the man next to him suck in a sharp breath, noticing the way he tenses at the sudden, most definitely unexpected appearance of mayor Petra here at the bakery this morning. The woman stands tall with her hands on her hips, her scarred lip curled in what looks to be a smug expression. To Lukas, it looks like she finds satisfaction in having surprised the two.

“Oh, what a surprise. The local nerds have found each other.” She says in a teasing tone, then has the audacity to chuckle at her own words.

“P-Petra– Sir!” Radar salutes, causing the redhead to roll her eyes.

“There’s really no need for that here, Radar.” She assures.

Lukas’ forced calm demeanor wavers as the woman passes, his eyes narrowing in on her as her heavy steps come between them, cutting her way to the head of the line at the front of the counter. He glances at Radar who seems totally shaken, then an idea sparks in his mind. Lukas bumps his arm with his elbow, gaining the scholar's attention. In a hushed whisper, “Hey, no pressure here but uh, now would be a pretty good time to ask about that build.” He nods toward Petra at the counter.

Radar quickly shakes his head, then turns his attention down to the floor as the huntress makes her approach once more, carrying a sweet smelling paper bag with her. “Sup Lukas.” She officially acknowledges him. “How’s the whole forest study going?”

Lukas squints at her, taking in the question with some skepticism. While she did give him the ‘okay’ to venture into the ancient woodland, he by no means trusts her after yesterday’s discovery. So, Lukas turns to performance mode, one of his own hidden natural skills. “Well I’m glad you asked!” He spent many hours preparing for this. The author reaches into his satchel, making the warrior raise a ginger brow as she watches the man shuffle through his belongings, pulling out a journal. “Check this out. I’ve come across so many extraordinary specimens!”

He offers the journal to her, Petra taking it with a look of suspicion, then flips through the confines of its pages. “Wow uh…” She lands on a page in the middle, finding nothing but snail drawings and snail notes. “Snails. Cool.” Flipping through more pages, her face only becomes weighed down with boredom, finding nothing but nature illustrations and words… too many words. She shakes her head and snaps the journal shut, offering it back to the most satisfied looking Lukas.

“Do you like it?” He asks with a smile shining as bright as the sun itself.

“Yeah.. Really cool stuff, Lukas.” She says in a unamused tone as she turns away, leaving the blond beaming with satisfaction.

“Can I see your snails?” Radar asks. “Or should I say snotes?” Lukas gives him a questioning look. “Snail notes. Heheh..” Okay, that one did get a light chuckle out of him.

“Sure Radar. Here,” he offers Radar the journal. “I’m gonna go take my order.”

Lukas leaves the bakery a little bit after getting his order. He had a brief chat with Radar, as well as Nell. The blonde had hidden in the back waiting for Petra to leave before making her debut in her work attire. Nell was totally impressed with Lukas’ tan colored garb, while Lukas himself didn't make much of a comment on her purple apron. Come to find out, the two are planning to start their build without the mayor’s permission, which explained Radar’s urgent head shake when questioned about it.

Sounds like the start of a little rebellion. Lukas is uncertain that is the step in the right direction, but at this point, what else can they truly do? Radar briefly mentioned his interest in ‘beautifying’ the street they both live on. It's a small start, but at least it's something.

Looking down, he has with him a little woven basket that Nell offered him in the hopes that he’ll become a regular and return with it. Hard to say no when the scent of fresh baked goods coming from beneath the checkered cloth is making his mouth water. Before he left, he'd bitten into one of the frosted honey-butter biscuits, and wow. The frosting is delicious, albeit a little sticky.. But the biscuit itself practically melted in his mouth. Perfect texture.. perfect tastes.. He had to close his eyes in a momentary state of bliss, savoring the flavors dancing on his tongue and making his taste buds sing.

Walking away from the bakery and heading back towards the BeacInn, Lukas is stopped by that same familiar voice from before calling out to him. He turns, watching the mayor approach him with a cookie in hand. “Yo, Lukas.” She says, swallowing her last bite and then patting the crumbs off her hands. “You heading to the forest today?”

“Uh.. I was planning on it. I found quite a rich patch of parrot mushrooms that needs to be studied closely. A specimen like that is too rare to pass on, and with such abundance..” Lukas says oh so whimsically, then ponders a second more and adds on, “care to join?”

“No..” Petra quickly declines. “You.. do your weird.. Etology-”

“Ecology.”

“Whatever.” She crosses her arms, then glances down at the basket of goods Lukas carries. She raises a scarred brow, gazing at the full basket. “That’s an awful lot of sweets for one person.”

“Huh? Oh.. Yeah, I’m uh.. Kinda a midnight snacker. You know, I can't help but get those sweet late night cravings.” He shrugs sheepishly. “Bringing most of them back to where I’m staying. Don’t want to attract any bears out in the woods with the smell of something this tasty.”

Petra stares at him with an expression Lukas can’t quite decipher. Confusion? Suspicion? After a few tense seconds of silence, the woman’s gaze softens, adjusting to straighten and hold her hands behind her back. Creators, in a world where Lukas is usually the taller one, BeaconTown sure has a lot of towering citizens to make him feel small. He’s not used to this feeling yet.

She flicks her gaze, eyeing him up and down before asking, “Where are you from, Lukas?”

“Where am I from?” He repeats the question, then puts Dewey down onto the ground beside him. The ocelot gives himself a good stretch beside his legs while the author answers. “I’m from The Citadel. Heard of it?”

Petra quirks a brow and Lukas takes that as a probable no .

“The Citadel is a massive city. In the center of it all is a huge building called the Spawn Center. There’s a crazy human spawn rate there, so they built a city around it. It’s right in the middle of multiple biomes for newspawns to explore. I spawned at the Spawn Center and they guided me to the city where I was able to learn about the world and decide what kind of career I wanted to make with my life. It’s pretty amazing. A real pillar of human society where people who aren’t sure what to do with their life can find themselves.” When Petra doesn’t immediately respond, Lukas presses his own question. “What about you?”

“Me? Uh.. I don’t know, probably spawned out in the woods somewhere. Been too long to remember.” Petra shrugs, then takes a few steps away from the author as she begins to pass by. “That all sounds great, Lukas. Try not to waste all that life experience by going out too far into the forest and getting yourself killed, alright?”

And with that, she leaves. Lukas drops his friendly demeanor the moment she departs. If looks could kill, Petra would have exploded seven times already. “She’s suspicious of us.” He says, then looks down at Dewey. Dewey looks up to meet his gaze, the ocelots emerald eyes wide and frightened. “Don’t worry, I planned ahead for any future interrogations.” Lukas ruffles his ocelot behind his ears. “Come on, let’s head back to the forest.”

The Admin’s forest is surprisingly.. Lively today.

Lukas caught the twitter of some small finches up in the dark trees, even caught sight of them as they flew around the tall trunks of the evergreens in a playful pursuit. This is the first time he’s seen any wildlife in this part of the forest.. Well except for Allay and Admin of course. He stopped to make note of this while Dewey kept his nose held high, gazing up into the branches of the trees in hopes to see the finches again.

Adjusting his satchel over his shoulder and grabbing his basket, Lukas stands with his gaze searching the trees and fog.. Checking to see if Admin is early to make his appearance known. “Hmm.. Nothing yet..” Lukas says, then glances down at Dewey. “It’s still hard to tell if Allay or Admin are able to sense when we arrive. Well, Admin does for sure, but I’m not so certain about the Allay. …Maybe I should call out to them both?” Dewey shakes his head at that and Lukas just rolls his eyes. “Oh why do I even bother asking you? You totally puffed up three times your size at the Admin yesterday, and he gave you salmon anyways! You should be thankful.”

Dewey growls at the comment, making Lukas put his hands on his hips in a stern manner. “What? You gonna throw a hissy fit again when he shows up? What did we talk about on the way here?”

Dewey’s sassy demeanor drops suddenly, the ocelot’s eyes widened and his fur begins to puff as he slowly starts backing away. A dark, massive shadow approaches the unsuspecting author from behind.

“He welcomed us here, so the most you can do to show your gratitude is behave yourself and respect.. The.. Admin..?” Lukas’ words come to a gradual stop, distracted by the way his body suddenly tenses up, raising his hand to gently touch over the back of his neck, feeling the prickling chill of goosebumps rise over his skin. Then.. the sound of earth being crushed beneath heavy steps sounds behind him. Without a second thought, Lukas turns to find just the guy he was hoping for standing over him, staring directly down into his own eyes with his own shadowed over, piercing turquoise glow.

“Oh there you are!” No ounce of fear in this man's words. “You’re awfully quick this time. Beat me before I had to call your name.” Lukas’ gaze shifts from the Admin’s own, noticing a bright blue light emitting atop the deity’s mossy cape. It seems he won’t be having to call out to the Allay either. The little creature perks up from the moss, its eyes blinking as it lazily looks around as if it has just woken up, more than likely from the sound of Lumas’ voice.

When it finally notices Lukas, the Allay does a happy chirp and floats up from the Admin’s shoulder. Unmoving, the Admin’s gaze follows the spirit, watching as Lukas holds his hand out to invite the innocent creature to settle on his palm. Its blue glow is something Lukas is finding more as a source of comfort with each second he spends with it.

“Good morning, Allay, I brought something special for you today.” Lukas kneels down, settling on his knees in a bed of moss and dirt. “Here,” he reaches into the basket, scooting the cloth away so he can grab a biscuit, tearing off a piece of the glazed frosted sweet, then offers it to the spirit. “It’s a frosted honey-butter biscuit.” The Allay takes it into its little blue paws, giving it a few sniffs before it does a jolly little spin and takes its ‘bite’. Lukas smiles, finding unending affection towards this little creature and its ever positive nature.

Our author then stands, picking the basket up along with him as he now turns to face him.. The Admin. The deity’s grump expression strengthens as Lukas gets closer, the Admin curling his lip, seconds away from telling Lukas to back off with a warning growl before he’s..

“Here.” Lukas holds out a cookie. “This is for you, Big Guy.”

The Admin.. hesitates.. Staring at the cookie before he turns his scarred nose away, side eyeing the small dessert. With passing seconds, Lukas holds in a sigh as his hope dwindles, even shaking the offered cookie to tempt the deity out of his skepticism. “Please take it. I wanted to make up for all the trouble I’ve been causing.. And to thank you for letting me keep coming back here despite it all.” Lukas’ cheeks warm slightly, smiling sheepishly as he watches the Admin’s dark, mangled brows knit, his glowing eyes fixated on him, then snapping down to the cookie.

Slowly extending his hand to Lukas, the large man sniffs the air lightly as the chocolate chip cookie is placed upon his gloved palm. With such closeness, Lukas notices how worn the gloves on him are. Tattered and torn in certain spots, he can just barely see the hint of blue skin peaking out through the holes. The leather has even lost color from years of use on his palm and the underside of his fingers.

His human heart pounds heavy in his chest as he hands the cookie over. He can’t help but obsess a little over how small the treat looks in the massive palm of the Admin as compared to Lukas’ normal human-sized hands. The author releases a small, yet kind-hearted laugh, smiling at the way the deity holds the cookie close and examines it the way Lukas examines the plant life in this very forest. Completely still for a few seconds, he watches the Admin take in a deeper breath and exhale slowly as his hand lowers to his leather-guarded chest. His glare had faded into a blank, yet somehow shining stare. He glances back to Lukas, illuminated with an unreadable expression. Lukas smiles back in silence, only now catching on to the sound of Dewey’s growling, the blond turns to search for his unruly ocelot before finding him puffed up and low to the ground a couple feet away. “Oh for Creator's sake, Dewey, would you give it a rest? Look, he’s not–” Lukas turns back to the deity, come to find he’s… vanished. Lukas blinks, then looks around hurriedly. “Wha-? A-Admin?”

The Allay approaches the bewildered author, catching his attention with a playful little laugh. Lukas looks down, watching the spirit’s ever present glow as it ascends slowly, then does a happy spin. Lukas chuckles softly. “Did you like that honey-biscuit, Allay?” He asks, to which the spirit closes its eyes and nods eagerly, something Lukas has learned is an expression of joy. Perhaps the Allay’s own version of a smile.

Lukas looks around once more, feeling pretty disappointed with the Admin’s unforeseen disappearance. He sighs, running his hand up his neck and up through his short, scruffy blond hair. Well.. after yesterday, he can’t expect Admin to want to be around him. So.. He’s sticking to the plan he came here with, and that’s to purposefully keep distance between himself and the evasive deity. He doesn’t want to force the man into any more uncomfortable situations, and he certainly doesn’t want to anger him anymore either.

The Admin has done more than enough. He welcomed Lukas into the forest, even after his own selfish and rude behavior.. He showed him the lengths at which the hunters have caused harm to his home.. So with that, Lukas finds himself with a plethora of information waiting for him amongst the trees, and with more than two and a half months left here, he’s got the time to do it too.

“Well.. looks like it's just the three of us again huh?” Lukas shrugs, trying to stay optimistic despite his disappointment. Allay floats over to where the author stands, sizing him up before it decides to settle down upon his shoulder. The light of the Allay illuminates Lukas’ own pale features, the little creature doing some pointing gestures down at the bakery basket. “Want some more?” Allay nods enthusiastically. Lukas huffs out a soft laugh and scrounges around the basket, plucking off a bite suitable for his friend. “Of course you can have more. Ready, Dewey?”

The jungle cat has calmed since the Admin’s disappearance. He was in the midst of grooming his puffed up pelt when Lukas called for him, making the ocelot turn his head up, tongue poking out mid-lick. He corrects himself and gives the rest of his body a good shake before trotting up to his companion… Only to find…

Dewey’s eyes narrow, glaring at the Allay perched up on Lukas’ shoulder again. His tail thrashes with annoyance at this little pest. If it's not prey, why is it prey-sized? He’ll never understand his human’s logic. The ocelot gives his paw a quick lick, staring up at the Allay and meeting its pearly white eyes. They indulge in a bit of a staring contest as Lukas begins walking, with Dewey walking behind, keeping his gaze narrowed on the Allay that keeps looking back at him.

Lukas spends hours in the ancient forest. The morning sun has risen, meeting the afternoon mark high in the sky. By now Lukas has made it further into the Admin’s forest than ever before. He’s stopped an ample amount of times, his attention being snatched by strange mushrooms that begin to appear at the base of trees the further he gets. Kneeling down, he closely examines the fungus, unable to identify them despite his knowledge regarding the subject.

“They look like honey mushrooms… Yet they’re gray..” Lukas snatches a book from his inventory, flipping through its pages until he lands on the desired passage. He holds the book up next to the mushrooms, comparing the image in the book to the fungus on the ground. They look vaguely similar, except the coloration is entirely off. Lukas closes his book and presses his face into the moist dirt, attempting to get a look at the base of the caps without plucking them from their roots. “Woah..” His eyes light up at the dim blue glow the mushrooms produce underneath their caps. He sits up quickly and takes time with his note taking.

Whilst Lukas goes about his study, Dewey finds himself a nice patch of moss at the base of a different tree nearby to settle in. He curls in on himself, resting his tail over his nose and stares at the Allay who still resides on his owner's shoulder.

As time goes on, Lukas still sees no signs of the forest deity anywhere. The evergreens sway back and forth due to heavy wind gusts winding through the pine canopies, occasionally dropping pine needles or cones, something of which catches the ecologist’s curiosity.

At one point he stopped to examine one of the cones, taking out one from the first forest layer to compare the two. Amazingly, they’re extraordinarily different. Allay watches closely from Lukas’ shoulder, looking at how the human compares them both. The natural one he holds in his left; it’s a plain, ordinary pinecone. While the other he holds in his right is dark, almost black in color, yet the tips of its scales emit this enchanting glow Lukas has never seen before.

“I wonder if I were to plant this outside of the forest, it would grow an evergreen like Admin’s.. Or would it lose its magic and revert back to normal?” Lukas ponders it, twisting the cone around between his fingers. “Well, Admin, if you’re watching this, I’m uh..” He holds it up a bit whilst looking around his empty surroundings, “taking this!” Lukas says rather loudly, in hopes to garner some attention. He then lowers it again, his gaze scanning around and still… nothing.

Well… He can’t say he was looking forward to him showing up and plucking his interests from his fingers, but.. He kind of wishes he was here regardless. It doesn’t feel right to be investigating someone's home without their supervision, even if said home is hundreds of chunks of dense woodland. Speaking of… Lukas stands, putting the cones back into his satchel and retrieves his map.

“Uhh.. Hm..” Lukas holds the wide sheet out in front of him, finding it more or less useless no matter how much he maps out his trails. “Gah, I should have spent more time in cartography class..” He shakes his head, stuffing the map back into his bag. “This forest is huge ,” he gestures to it all. “Without Admin’s help, I’d probably have gotten lost in here the second time around..” He sighs.

Then an idea strikes him.

Wait a second…

“Allay?” Lukas turns his head, startling the blue spirit into attention. “What about you? Do you have a specific part of the forest that you enjoy?” Lukas asks. Allay seems taken aback by the question, then puts its little paw up to tap its face in thought. After a few moments of consideration, Allay sits up and floats off Lukas’ shoulder, fluttering a few blocks away before turning back to Lukas with a little flip. “Oh? I’ll take that as a yes?” Lukas perks up with a smile, then quickly steps forward. “Well by all means, lead the way.”

Thump thump thump…

Lukas and the Allay both come to a full stop at the sound of crushing twigs and shifting branches. The heavy footsteps already tell Lukas who it is, and he looks to his right just to see glowing eyes piercing through the darkness. The Admin walks casually, taking his time stepping closer and closer, approaching both of them now with his gaze shifting from Lukas to the Allay. This time Dewey hurries over to Lukas and stands behind his legs, his eyes wide and ears flat, but he makes no sound.

The Admin’s gaze is blank until he settles on the Allay, then the deity’s expression sours and he slowly shakes his head back and forth.

No? Lukas stands idly, watching the silent communication between the two. The Allay’s wings droop and its gaze lowers, visibly disheartened. The deity gestures with his hand for Allay to come, to which the creature slowly floats over. Looks like I got it in trouble.. Lukas frowns with guilt at the thought.

The Admin then turns, his gaze resting on Lukas. The author’s head slowly raises as the dark blue man takes his heavy steps closer, their eyes locked on one another. Lukas’ skin coats with goosebumps and a chill runs down his back being forced to look up at the imposing male, decked out in heavy armor and everlasting shadow. The Admin’s glowing stare, though he no longer glowering at him, is sharp and captivating. There’s no otherworldly pressure keeping his body pinned to the earth, even as the Admin stops a mere two feet away.

The Admin stares… and stares as seconds pass. Lukas feels as though he’s begun to shrink under this man’s powerful aura he exerts. “U-uhm.. Hi, Admin..” He stutters, unsure of the reasoning behind the deity’s unyielding gaze. As more silent seconds pass, Lukas fumbles, heat rising and coloring his pale cheeks a bit darker as he turns his head down to look away. The presence in front of him is unmoving. Every passing second has Lukas feeling more and more nervous.

He looks back up finally.. Just to find that the eerie stare has softened, something he has yet to see from the ever grumpy forest deity. Lukas gazes back, his jaw dropping, trying to form words but he’s clamming up. The turquoise glow then shifts, descending Lukas’ form and landing on something, locking his gaze. Lukas follows it down to the basket he holds in his hands and.. Things suddenly begin to click.

“O-oh.. Did you want another cookie?” Lukas offers up the basket, then stops. “Actually, hold on,” he quickly turns and kneels down away from the deity, laying the basket on the ground but taking the cloth and all that rest in its confines along with it. The blond shuffles the goods around a bit so they sit in the middle of the cloth, then he wraps the fabric over them and ties a knot. “Here,” he says as he stands, “Allay and I ate most of the honey biscuits, but there’s still one left for you. Other than that, the rest of the cookies are all yours..” Lukas offers up the bundled sweets, feeling his heart throb with mixing waves of joy and relief when the Admin extends his waiting palm and accepts them.

With that, Lukas adjusts his satchel over his shoulder and looks up at the deity, offering him a soft smile. “I hope those can cheer you up a bit. I feel horrible about what BeaconTown has done to your forest and I…” Lukas looks away, rubbing at his arm. “I hope you can find peace again someday.” And with that, the blond turns and begins walking back in the direction he came. “Come on, Dewey.” He calls his ocelot along. The big cat stares between the Admin and his Allay, then back at Lukas in confusion before he too stands and hurries up to walk beside Lukas.

Each step carries him further and further away from the unmoving god. His heart is beating so fast, he feels almost out of breath with how badly he wished to stay, but… This is for the best.

He accepted them… That’s all that matters. I’ll bring more for him whenever I visit. It’s the least I can do for him.

For all that's happened in life leading to this very moment, all Admin can do is watch Lukas walk away. The warmth of the cookies heating his palm through the thick leather glove, the scent permeating the air around him. He lowers his overshadowed gaze to the bundle, adjusting his grip around it. The sweet aroma is something he’d never thought he’d smell again, and the flavors brought him back to a forgotten life long ago.

The Allay chimes just above his head, looking down at him with emotion. It lowers itself down to Admin’s eye level, only to float out of reach when their eyes meet.

Admin waves it away, grunting as he turns his attention back to the bundle. He carefully undoes its bow tied knot, and sighs as the cookies fall out of their stacked order. Admin immediately offers the Allay one of the treats and watches it float away in Lukas’ direction, leaving him alone in the narrow trail.

There’s something different about Lukas.. Something Admin cannot figure out. Maybe more time together will help him figure out what that something is. So long as he keeps bringing him cookies.

A single biscuit?

Admin retrieves that first, holding it in his teeth as he wraps the cookies up again. With a deep inhale, the scent of honey and sugary sweet icing make his mouth fill with drool, and the first bite brings him back to that safe time before BeaconTown fell…

A better time, where he could live in peace.

He ought to thank Lukas.

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fatbiscuit · 2 years ago

Text

Lunar Plush AU Part Five. This is the fifth chapter of a collaborative AU with Ultimawolffox.

Part five: Introductions

It has been a few days since I first got trapped here, but in that time I have never really interacted with Ruin, until now.

Bloodmoon had just finished feeding me and was was about to make me do tricks when Ruin came. Apparently he wanted Bloodmoon’s attention which was currently directed at me.

“I know you asked for my help with it earlier, but what are you doing with this thing anyway?” Ruin asked, slightly annoyed by Bloodmoon’s lack of focus.

“What do you mean?” Bloodmoon asked, confused.

“I am surprised that you haven’t killed it yet,” Ruin explained.

To be perfectly honest, I am curious about that. What is it that they really want?

“So, I was wondering if you had a plan for them,” Ruin continued. “To be fair I do not peg you two for the sort to plan so much ahead.”

“We have a plan, indeed!” Bloodmoon replied indignantly.

“Oh really Bloodmoon,” Ruin questioned, “do enlighten me, I do enjoy a good game!”

“Why should you know? We don’t have to tell you,” Bloodmoon asked.

“Come on Bloodmoon, really,” Ruin coaxed. “You can tell me. If you don’t have a plan you do not have to lie about it.”

“Well, Lunar might come looking for her,” the first Bloodmoon voice relentingly explained. “Then we can have some fun with him,” Bloodmoon’s second voice added.

So, they only want me around in order to capture Lunar? I should probably have guessed, but to have it confirmed is worrying. What will happen when Lunar comes to help? I do not know if Lunar will even come. If Lunar never shows, what will happen to me? I do not know for certain if Lunar will even come for me.

I zone back into the discussion as their conversation topic turns back to me.

“What should we do with Luna, while we are away?” Bloodmoon asked.

“Don’t you worry about that,” Ruin replied as he started to stare at me, “Leave Luna to me.”

I feel uneasy as Ruin stares at me, but Bloodmoon either does not notice, or doesn’t care. I am not sure which is more likely.

“I was not talking to you, Ruin, but you do make a good suggestion,” Bloodmoon’s calmer voice answered.

“Be sure not to lose her?!” instructed Bloodmoon’s second voice with what sounded like a bit of concern.

I suppose they just do not want to lose their bait.

Ruin eyed me over and said, “I assure you, I will take care that your little plaything doesn’t try anything.”

I know they are just wanting to keep me so they can mess with Lunar. So why is it that as I watch Bloodmoon go I wish that they didn’t have to leave? I guess it is just because I really do not want to be left alone with Ruin.

After Bloodmoon left it was eerily quiet. I do not dare say or do anything unprompted, but the silence does not last long. I guess that, much like Bloodmoon, Ruin is easily bored.

“Well now, what exactly are you anyway?” Ruin asked. “I do not mean what are you, I can tell that much already, but what is your purpose?”

I honestly do not have a good answer to that. Meeting Lunar is basically the first thing I really remember, but I do not think he was the one that built me. When it came to contemplating my purpose, anyone's guess would probably be better than mine.

“You can talk can’t you?” Ruin asked. “I seem to recall you talking to the Bloodmoons earlier, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” I answer quietly, knowing that a verbal response is clearly being required.

“Well why don’t you then? You are not being any fun!”

I try to think of an answer, but I do not know how to respond. Recently I just try to be as compliant as possible, what would that even be in this scenario?

After waiting awhile for a response Ruin changed tactics and asked, “So little one, what games can you play?”

I don’t know how to answer that. What does he mean game? I guess Lunar did say he liked to play strange games, but I never asked him what he meant by that. I just shake my head in uncomfortable confusion.

“Oh come on, surely you must know some games if you have managed to keep Bloodmoon entertained this long,” Ruin insisted in an oddly intimidating energetic manner.

I just continue to stare up at him filled with uncertainty and a growing sense of dread.

“Well, since I am so nice, I shall teach you one of my favorites,” Ruin said as he moved closer. “You do not mind do you?”

The way he said it did not seem like a question. Sure enough, Ruin continued without waiting for a response this time.

“Of course you don’t. It is really a simple enough game! Really easy, really easy, it is called stab and seek!” Ruin explained excitedly. “The rules are you hide while I try to stab you!”

“But, aren’t you supposed to keep an eye on me?!” I ask.

“Oh don’t worry, naturally I won’t let you get far!” Ruin replied. “Besides, they may want you as bait, but they never said I couldn’t have a little fun with you.”

Was he serious?! He talks playfully, but he sure seems to be stating this as a serious suggestion.

“Don’t worry, a little stab or two never killed anyone!” Ruin explained, then added. “Well maybe some people, but not everyone, that is the important thing!” His voice turned serious as he said, “We do have cameras, so don’t try anything foolish. If you try to escape you will be punished.” His voice returned to his normal vigor as he finished, “Anyway, now that you know the rules to the game you will have a one minute head start.”

“Wait, you're not serious, are you?!” I say as I start to panic.

My only reply from Ruin was, “Fifty seconds.”

Oh crap this is happening! One minute! Where can I even hide? I know I have my cage, but that is easy to see and leaves no escape route.

“Forty seconds left.”

There were some barrels in the corner of the room, but knowing what they used to hold means I definitely do not want to be near them.

“Thirty seconds”

There is an old desk I could hide under. However, if I hid there then I would not be able to see if Ruin was coming.

“Twenty seconds!”

I continue to search but nothing else seems like a suitable spot to hide. There was an empty ball pit, a stage like area, some stage lights, a-

“Ten, nine, eight…”

I am almost out of time! With no time left to think, I rush to hide beneath the old desk.

“One. Ready or not, here I come!”

I try to calm my breathing to be as quiet as possible.

“Oh I wonder where it could be?” Ruin said in an exaggerated tone. “Is it in the ball pit?”

It sounds like he is walking over to check. I am glad I did not hide there.

“Could it be behind the barrels?” Ruin continued.

Again, it sounds like he is walking over to check the stated location. What should I do? It is only a matter of time before-

“Maybe it is under the desk!” Ruin excitedly suggested to himself.

Oh no! Maybe I can try to- too late.

“Found it!” Ruin announced.

He found me, but I still hopelessly, desperately try to escape from under the desk. Ruin grabs my arm in a death grip and uses it to pin me to the ground.

“Valiant attempt, but do not think you are getting away that easy!” Ruin says then stabs a knife into my shoulder. “A game is a game after all!”

I feel the stabbing pain in my arm and in a panic I claw at the broken part of his arm with my free hand. He does let go of my arm, but I immediately question my decision as now he is clearly mad.

“Why you little-!” Ruin starts to say, but I do not wait for him to finish.

Without missing a beat I run away from the desk and just head towards anywhere else. I look for anything that I could wedge myself behind as I head towards the stage. As I start to reach a dead end, I still see absolutely nothing. Ruin is angry and is closing in on me with alarming speed, when I hear a sound coming from outside. As I instinctively turn towards the noise I am captured once again in Ruins grasp. He starts to raise his knife again to strike, but is caught off guard.

“We are back!” the energetic Bloodmoon announced loudly as they entered into the lair.

Ruin is now momentarily distracted, so I take the opportunity to do something reckless. I am not really even thinking as I rush to Bloodmoon’s side and hide behind him. I do not know how he will react, but I really want, really need someone to be placed between me and Ruin.

Bloodmoon had just finished their mission and was heading back home, but what they found there was not what they expected. As soon as Bloodmoon entered Luna ran right behind them trembling violently and started to cry. What was happening?

Luna was terrified, so on the one hand it made sense, but on the other…why was she so scared? Bloodmoon noticed Luna’s damage and began to wonder what in the world did Ruin do?!?

“Your mission is done, we will take it from here,” the calmer of the Bloodmoon voices told Ruin, sounding irritated.

“Alrighty, as you can see your bait is still here, as promised,” Ruin said as he walked away acting as if nothing at all out of the ordinary had been happening a moment before.

They were going to need to have a little chat with Ruin, but first things first was Luna. Bloodmoon was unsure of what to make of the situation, but they knew one thing for certain. Luna clinging to them made them feel something strange and new.

This was the first time that something cowered behind them in fear, looking for protection.

#Lunar Plush AU

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