#Devil Survivor 2 spoilers

[hotsuqueen]

It had been awhile since I read my Yamahibi kingmaker ending fic, and now I have a powerful craving to revisit it.

My wife is super interested in homesteading and survivalism, and she helped me figure out all the things the DeSu 2 cast would actually have to do to survive on a primeval planet. It's really interesting! Farming is so fucking hard! They are all wildly unequipped for it!

Devil Survivor 2 spoilers under the cut 👇

On one hand, Yamato is unbelievably valid for deciding that jumping to his death was an infinitely preferable alternative to living like a caveman on Planet Saiduq, but also I think he should have to just because I want to see it. Can you imagine how mad he'd be every single day they don't have electricity.

But I do think he would see the appeal of a fresh start and having a hand in shaping all subsequent generations, and I love that for him. He'd still get his wish to change humanity, but it's the long, hard road and not the press of the Polaris button.

I like to imagine that there were more survivors than just the main cast, which gives the opportunity for crossovers galore. Looking at you, P5 cast. Plus I'm pretty sure you need at least 50 fertile childbearers if you actually need to repopulate, so if it's really just the 10 of them there's not a snowball's chance in hell they make it past generation 3.

Anyway.

I love you, Kingmaker ending

[devilsurvivor-2-recordbreaker]

Thinking about the devil survivor games, it's cool to see that the extra scenarios in the 3ds versions both use their subtitles in clever ways to explain what is happening in them.

Overclocked in 1 referring to the death clock everyone has and that if certain conditions are meet in a play through you can "overclock" the count down and get into the extra days past the original ending date.

Record Breaker in 2 referring to the universal archives which are a major plot point and I believe would signify literally destroying the archives rather than altering then as the original game seeks to do.

[quack-quack-snacks]

Drowning Without You By My Side

My Navigation and Masterlist

My Sweet Home Masterlist

My Cha Hyun-su Masterlist

Pairing(s): Cha Hyun-su x Fem!Reader Summary: Ever since losing everything, you felt like you were drowning. Trying to end it all wasn't successful when an unknown and unnatural force was hell-bent on stopping you, but when a near-death experience - unintended this time - causes you to tempt Death's grasp, you finally meet the force keeping you bound to the world. Warnings: Season 2 spoilers (slightly)! Slight panic attack, drowning, explicit detail of attempted suicide on the reader's part (The National Suicide and Crisis Hotline is 988. There are so many people who care about you and would love to help you. You are not alone), cutting and bleeding (during the roll calls), Ah-yi being too cute for her own good, and Hyun-su being a fond little cinnamon roll and a great big brother (even if it's only for a scene), no use of (y/n). Word Count: 6,163

Pt 2: Floating Above Those Dark Skies :)

Hyun-su!

You woke up with a start, sweat slickening your skin and causing the slightly ripped t-shirt to stick to your back. It was designed with a band of which you'd never heard the likes of before the apocalypse started. Your breathing was quickened intensely and you wiped your hands over your face, pushing your palms into your eye sockets as you fruitlessly tried to calm your heart rate. It took several minutes of doing every method you knew to stop a panic attack before you were finally able to take a deep breath without it stuttering in your lungs. You swung your legs over the edge of the hammock you had designated as your bed since you first arrived at the stadium all those months ago. To know that you hadn’t seen the boy you once called home in over half a year was a hard pill to swallow. You hated yourself for letting him go.

Hated that you didn’t try harder to follow after him.

Hated that you let the group force you onto the truck with them and head to the safety camp.

It was a never-ending cycle of self-loathing since you’d arrived at the stadium. When you’d found the secret exit leading out of the stuffy concrete walls you were trapped in, you found yourself leaving whenever possible. You couldn't handle the pitiful stares of your fellow Green Home survivors and the eyes of the citizens in the stadium who disliked the woman that protected the “murderer” of the chief’s husband. Although Eun-yoo and you did not really have any sort of relationship in terms of friendship, you had an unspoken agreement to protect and stand up for each other. If not each other, you had no one. The people you each had viewed as the closest to you of anyone had gone missing or even passed on to the next life. You both refused to admit that last thought out loud, though. 

Every morning, you would wake up and attend the morning roll call before getting dressed and leaving for the day until you returned just in time for the evening roll call.

Today would be no different.

You dropped your bare feet onto the frigid concrete floor and walked towards the bathroom, suppressing a shiver. The entrance to the bathroom had been taken off after an incident inside of the stadium. It involved none other than yourself and the elder brother of one of the boys who bullied Yeong-su when the two of you got into a fight. You can remember the exact words he had spoken to you after you talked to him about the boy’s behavior.

“The little shit deserves it. Being the little brother of a murderer and the devil’s advocate,” he’d said, referring to Eun-yu and yourself. “I hope he ends up becoming a monster. I even hope I’ll be the one to have the honor of killing him.”

You remember punching him square in the nose as soon as the words left his mouth. He’d flown backward and slammed into the bathroom door, successfully knocking it off the hinges and breaking the flimsy wood in half. You were positively seething at the absolute audacity the man had. Not being satisfied with how he’d fallen, you jumped on top of him and started pounding your fist into his face. You hit him over and over again, undeterred by the few hits he managed to get in, until you were pulled off of him. You started thrashing around violently when you felt hands wrapping around you to pull you off of him until you realized it was Park Chan-young, the young soldier who had been an alibi and friend to you and the rest of the Green Home survivors since you’d first gotten on that truck. A small crowd had gathered around after hearing the commotion and yells coming from the two of you before they all parted to allow Chief Ji in. When she saw you, her confused stare deepened to a glare but she ignored you in favor of transporting the brother you had just fought to the medical room. That was a hell of a day.

The inside of the bathroom was a regular locker room. Not surprising considering it was originally used for the players of the baseball team. The only difference was one of the walls was poorly rebuilt with rocks and bricks by Chief Ji and some of the stadium's residents after it was impacted by the missiles. 

Before you had started heading over to the bathroom, you had grabbed your small compact bag of hygiene supplies and brought it with you. Although toothpaste was hard to come by and you had to share the rations the soldiers found with your neighbors, you were able to find some on one of your days out. You brushed your teeth dry, not wanting to use any of the limited water on something like brushing your teeth. This had become something you were used to. 

Finally returning to your sleeping space, you didn’t bother changing out of the clothes you slept in and just decided to continue wearing them. The outfit was comfortable yet simple: a pair of oversized off-white sweatpants you had to manually make a drawstring for using a shoestring, and a short-sleeved dark blue shirt. Your shoes were the same ones you wore the first day this monsterization started. They were originally a pristine white you had tried your hardest not to taint, but now they were stained beyond repair from your adventures. You consider yourself lucky you had only bought them a week before the outbreak. They held up well throughout the year you’d spent with them as your sole pair of shoes. 

The morning announcement calling for roll call sounded through the silent air of the little enclosed unit you were lucky enough to be given.

Although luck may not have been the true cause. So many people were reluctant to be near you when they slept and complained enough times to the chief that she eventually just set you apart from the rest. Although it was lonely at times, you were thankful for the shred of privacy you had been granted. 

Once your shoes had been put on along with your sweater, you calmly walked down the hall toward the place where your assigned group met for roll calls. You arrived just in time to see Yeong-su slap away Jin-ok’s hand when she tried to pull him back from a soldier who was grinning meanly at him. You could see the built-up tears in the boy’s eyes that he desperately was trying to push away and rushed forward. Seeing the reasoning behind his tears, despite the consequences that you knew would ensue, you roughly pushed against the soldier’s back which sent him tumbling forward and his face met the ground floor with a sickening sound. You risked a glance to look back at Yeong-su and Jin-ok. Yeong-su’s arm was bleeding rapidly, seeming obvious that the soldier who cut him too deeply hit an artery. Hopefully, it wasn't a major one. The boy’s lip was quivering as he held back his tears. You could see all the emotions in his eyes: anger, frustration, helplessness, but mainly relief. Relief from you coming in to defend him. You quickly sent a look to Jin-ok and she immediately knew what you meant. She gently took Yeong-su’s hand and this time he didn’t resist as she led them both away from the scene and to their living quarters. 

You barely had time to let out a relieved smile before a fist was sent flying into your left cheek, sending your head snapping to the right and you falling back, only barely and painfully catching yourself with your elbows. You looked up at your assailant to see the officer who was tormenting Yeong-su standing above you. His nose was bleeding heavily and if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought he was beginning the transition period to a monster. He wiped at his nose to no avail and sent you a heavy glare. He leaned down and roughly grabbed your arm, hauling you to your feet and pulling out his knife. You held eye contact even when the blade roughly slashed across your forearm, right over an already existing cut. You praised yourself internally on how you kept your face entirely neutral and how the soldier looked angry and disappointed at your lack of reaction.

You gave him a slight smirk as you held up your bleeding arm for his view, the blood gushing down and covering your bruised elbow. “Happy?” You questioned tauntingly and your smirk grew as you saw the man seething. Despite his intimidating height, you couldn’t help but think he looked like a cartoon character with the way you were sure steam would be bursting out of his ears at any second. When he made no further move to continue the fight, you swiftly turned around and walked out of the room, smiling when you heard him yell in frustration and throw something to the floor. The knife, you presumed. 

You didn’t bother visiting the doctor to help you treat your wounds as you wrapped a strap of clothing around it and called it a day. Any respect you had for him instantly flew down the drain when you caught him drinking the rubbing alcohol meant for treating wounds and acting immaturely all the time. You walked in the direction of the exit, making sure to not be spotted by any soldiers as you did. When you finally got there and pushed the door open, you let out a breath of relief. The moment you stepped out the door and into the clean air of the outdoors, you felt yourself relax a little more than before. You found it odd how you felt more relaxed outside of the safe haven the stadium provided but you couldn’t help yourself. In the outdoors, you felt free. You could think without hindrance and allow yourself to feel an emotion that wasn't complete and utter despair.

The ground crunched below your feet as you walked across the gravel towards the green grass fields. You had no objective or destination in mind for today, you just wanted to escape the oppressive hands of your 'superiors.'

Walking on light feet, still making sure to keep your head focused on the area around you in case a monster appeared, you found yourself standing in front of a building. There was nothing special about this building. Half of it wasn't even attached as it lay broken in shambles around the structure. The ladder leading to the roof was rusted and had some of the metal bars sticking out awkwardly. The building in total was relatively normal and in good shape compared to those around it.

The only special thing about this building was the memories that it spurred within your head. 

You climbed up the ladder, tears blocking your vision as they collected on your waterline despite your deepest efforts. You lost everyone. You lost Hyun-su; the boy you called home; the boy you called your soulmate; the boy you loved more than anyone or anything else. You lost Ji-su, the girl you decided you could call your best friend after spending so much time with her on the first floor of Green Home for those days at the beginning of this mess. You even lost Su-yeong, the little girl you’d grown so protective over… gone without a second thought. You never truly had Eun-yu so it wouldn’t hurt as much whether or not she had died. The only person you truly felt you had left was Yeong-su. You hated yourself for doing this to him but only having him wasn’t enough to stay anymore. 

You felt like you were drowning. You were unable to handle the constant feeling of your emotions overpowering you. You’d heard so many times that it got easier as time went on but you never thought you would be able to overcome this. Although it might have been fitting to end your life by drowning, you just wanted a quick and painless death.

Falling solved that for you. 

When you finally climbed the ladder to the roof of the building, you couldn’t help the sobs that wracked your body. You hopped up onto the edge of the building and looked up. The sky seemed to perfectly oppose how you were feeling. Soft, puffy white clouds were fluttering through the atmosphere and forming different shapes you could just barely make out. The tears slipped down the side of your face as you tried to gain some sort of peace before you followed through with your decision. 

The wind was a gentle, cool breeze across your damp cheeks as you stood and glanced across the beautiful terrain below you. The grass had just barely begun to grow out of its perfect and well-maintained state, but it was still a wonderful sight to see. There were flower gardens surrounding the tall building, some crushed brutally by the falling of the walls but most were left perfectly untouched and thriving in the new world. The sight made your body calm down, the tears cascading waterfalls of sorrow down your cheeks slowly coming to a stop. You’ve heard of the acceptance of death people have when they know they’re about to die. You’d never thought you would have to face that kind of acceptance, never really thought the way you’d die would be because the world had been cruel and gave you too much pain for you to handle. You never thought that yet there you were.

There you were, standing on the edge of the tallest building you could find, one foot raised and hovering over the edge and you giving one last smile to the world before having your other foot join it. 

The wind screamed in your ears and you swear you could hear voices within it. Voices calling your name. Voices that sounded too similar to one you’d lost. You let your eyes fall shut as memories flashed through your mind. Memories of reading to Su-yeong and Yeong-su; memories of playing the guitar and singing with Ji-su, laughter interrupting each word because you couldn’t take yourselves seriously; memories of Hyun-su. 

Memories of shaking his hand when you first met him after he moved in across the hall from you in Green Home. 

Memories of him coming to you crying for the first time and confessing how he couldn’t stand being alive anymore.

Memories of losing yourself in his eyes when he smiled at you.

Memories of his touch against your cheeks when he leaned in to leave a kiss against your forehead.

Memories of him.

A single tear drop fell from your eye and you smiled at the thought of meeting him again, whether that be in your next life or the one that comes after death. There was no doubt in your mind that he was gone, and that thought alone was more than half of your reasons for wanting to end it all. 

Just as you were sure you were about to hit the bottom, a strong yet lean arm wrapped around your body and gently set you down on the ground before retreating just as quickly as it had appeared. You shot your eyes open only to be left with the blue sky above you and the intense wind that breezed over your body as whatever it was that saved you disappeared. For a few moments, you couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except stare in perplexment at the sky. As you sat up, you still couldn’t think straight and allowed your body to work on autopilot as it walked you home. 

It took a full week until you were finally able to come to terms with the fact that either you had imagined the whole thing or something - someone - had saved you.

A month after your first attempt, you tried again. You couldn’t handle the stares of disdain and hatred towards you after you had defended Eun-yu as others criticized her about her apparent murder of Chief Ji’s husband. Yet, just like the last time, you were saved miraculously last minute by that same strange force. 

You tried a dozen more times, all ending with the same result. It was so frustrating and you could barely handle the pain knowing you couldn’t even control your death, let alone your life.

The tears streamed down your face violently as you knelt and smacked your fists angrily against the wet, coarse dirt of where you were, once again, gently placed down after another failed attempt to end your life. The shredded noose hung limp around your neck and you ripped it off aggressively. You let out an agonizing scream from the deepest part of your lungs and it ended with more sobs as you let yourself fall onto your side with your knees pulled into your chest. Your loud sobs slowly quieted down but the tears never stopped falling. You stood up from the wet ground, your hair and clothes both stained by the mud below. Water rained down from the heavens, soaking your shirt and making it cling to your chest. Your tears blurred with the raindrops that splashed against you and slowly made their way down your face, disappearing down your neck and into the collar of your shirt. 

“Why are you doing this?” You yelled into the open air, receiving no answer. “Why? Why do you keep doing this? Why won’t you just let me die?” You choked on a sob at that last question and yet you still received no answer. Defeated, you decided to retreat back to the stadium and get cleaned up. When you returned, Jin-ok was the first to notice the bruising around your neck and your tired, puffy eyes. When she asked, you played dumb but you could tell she saw right through you. Luckily, she left it alone. 

You ended up curled up in your hammock for hours as you sobbed your heart out. 

Although the stadium might have been a better place to follow through with your plan, you refused to put your few remaining friends - if you could even really call them that - through that. Put them through the pain of seeing your dead body and knowing they might have been able to stop it. Even though you would be dead by then, you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself. The only way you would allow yourself to follow through was outside of the stadium.

But a certain someone, or something, wouldn’t allow that to happen. 

That was the last time you tried to end your life.

You’d had many dangerous encounters since then but every time they would be cleared out by your guardian angel before you could even really call them a threat. It got to the point where you felt more safe outside the stadium compared to within its concrete walls.

Sighing, you averted your eyes from the building and walked around it, focusing instead on the plants that were just starting to bloom in the early spring. The breeze was a welcome chill that rose goosebumps along your arms. As you continued to walk, your mind blank and your feet destinationless as you wandered, you came across a large pool of water.

And a girl.

She was young, and couldn’t have been more than 5 years old. It was such a shock to see her there, especially all by herself, that you didn’t realize she was sinking until it was almost too late. Without a second of hesitation, you jumped right into the lake and swam as fast as you could towards her. Grabbing a hold of her hand, you pulled her along as you swam back up to the surface. You dragged her towards the edge of the earth where the stable ground met the water and laid her down. Lowering your head to her mouth, you tried to listen to her breathing but instead, you got a headbutt to the ear. She shot up and started coughing up water. You ignored how your ear stung at that moment and instead rubbed along her back while she breathed heavily. 

“Are you okay?” You asked her and she suddenly snapped her head towards you, like she didn’t recognize your presence until you spoke.

Slowly, she nodded. “Yes,” she hesitated before quietly asking, “Did you save me?”

You smiled at her shy mannerisms as she played with the hem of her wet and dirtied dress. “Yeah, I did.”

She looked up at you, almost surprised with your confession, and gave you a shy smile back. “Thank you,” she whispered before averting her eyes again.

You couldn’t stop the smile growing even brighter on your face at her adorableness. You looked around, seeing nobody else in sight. Your eyebrows furrowed as you began to worry about who she was and why nobody was taking care of her. “Are you alo-”

Just as you started to speak, a wet and slimy tentacle-like appendage wrapped itself around your torso and yanked you back into the lake. You thrashed around but couldn’t unravel yourself from the monster’s grip. You saw your knife float away and sink further down the dark abyss that was the bottom of the lake. With it, the last of your newfound hope to live followed. Just as you lost the last of the reserved air in your lungs, a sudden figure dove into the water and wrapped its arm around you. Just before your eyes fluttered shut, you swore you saw the blurry face of the same boy who haunted your dreams. The boy who haunted your nightmares.

The same boy who haunted your mind as you stuttered between the line separating life and death after surrendering to the lack of oxygen. 

“Hyun-su!”

You screamed as you saw the military take him away. You lay helplessly against the side of the crumbling Green Home building as the pain of moving around too much from your wounds caused you to be dead-weight in your spot. 

He let out a scream of agony that ended with your name and you felt your heart shatter. He was surrounded by multiple people; doctors, scientists, and soldiers alike. Each person’s face was surrounded by a strange darkness. The only thing you could make out of their faces were their evil, wide smiles, and their eyes tainted a demonic red. The sight made you feel even more helpless and despair-ridden than before.

You could do nothing but watch as the love of your life was taken from you without a second thought. 

Hyun-su gathered you in his human-form arm while the other, extended in his monstrous form, swung back and forth through the water to slice at the monstrous being that dared to harm you. He didn’t waste much more time under the water to fight the beast as he noticed your eyes had slipped shut and you weren’t releasing any more air bubbles. He surged upwards, his wing doing most of the work as he darted through the surface of the water and onto the solid ground near the same little girl you had saved before.

Lying you down on the ground gently, he lowered his head to your mouth to hear if you were breathing, cursing quietly when he realized you weren’t. It was at times like these that he thanked whatever deity existed that he allowed himself to be persuaded by his parents to be a lifeguard for a summer. That way, he learned and was certified in CPR. 

Plugging your nose, he administered two breaths into your mouth before pressing his - now both fully human - hands to your chest. Just as he prepared for the first chest compression, you suddenly started coughing and turned onto your side as you continued to cough up the water from your lungs. He was so thankful there wasn’t enough water in your lungs that he would’ve had to break your ribs giving you CPR. 

But he would choose broken ribs over a body that wasn’t breathing any day.

After coughing your lungs dry, you fell onto your back with your eyes closed as you took many deep breaths. Suddenly, you remembered the face you clearly remember saving you and shot up into a sitting position, your eyes wide and surprised. Your gaze immediately fell upon him.

Hyun-su.

You held your breath as your eyes met and you stared at each other for a few moments. Your hand hesitantly raised to reach out for him. His gaze didn’t stray from your own as you brought your hand to his face, a mix between a sigh and a sob leaving your throat as you felt the soft skin of his cheek touch your fingertips. He was wet and cold, but he was alive. A smile grew onto your face but it dropped just as Hyun-su’s began to form. You yanked your hand away as if his skin suddenly burned you, and it might as well have. You could see the hurt expression taking over his face but the feeling of the anger, betrayal, and grief flooding through your veins overpowered any feelings of remorse you might have felt. Taking a quick moment to look around for the child you saved, you let out a small sigh of relief when you saw her innocently watching the interaction between you and Hyun-su, breathing normally and sitting safe and sound on the grass.

“Take care of her for me, will you?” You asked him coldly, not waiting for an answer as you stood up and started speed walking in the opposite direction. 

“No, wa- wait!” He scrambled to stand up, calling after you as you ignored his advances. “Stop!” He finally caught up to you and wrapped his hand around your bicep gently, turning you around to face him. 

“What? What the fuck is so important that you finally feel the need to talk to me?” You let out a sob of a laugh as you ripped your arm away from him. You could slowly see the realization of why you were acting so angry and upset dawn on his face as guilt settled into his eyes. “You’ve gone this entire time being just fine as you save my life just to leave me there, alone, time and time again. So please - please - explain to me what is now so important you feel the need to reveal yourself to me.”

You looked at him expectantly as his mouth opened and closed, looking for an answer. He seemed to find it as he finally said, “I just… I really thought you died this time. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

You looked at him, frustrated, for a moment before harshly scrubbing your palms over your eyes which were tearing up against your will. “So… what, after all the times you saved me, now you want to check on my safety?” Taking a deep breath, you forced your face to look calm, masking your anger for his sake so you could get out of this situation with as little hindrance as possible. You dropped your hands to your sides, your tears smeared across your face leaving it in a shiny glow. “Well thank you, Hyun-su, for your consideration,” you spoke the last word with bitterness lacing your tone that you could tell he caught as he winced softly. “But I am fine.”

You turned around, fully intent on heading back to the stadium when his hand wrapped around your bicep again. “What?” You asked angrily and turned around only to be pulled into a tight hug. You didn’t waste time in fighting his grip but he was relentless. “Let me go!” You screamed at him, although it was muffled by his shirt. “You’re such an asshole! I fucking mourned for you! I built a fucking memorial and brought a flower every single week without fail and yet you were never fucking dead! Why did you keep letting me think you were dead?” You were now pounding your fists into his chest, no longer resisting his embrace but expressing the built-up anger, sadness, grief, and self-loathing you felt every single day. It all stemmed solely from the way you hated yourself for not trying harder to save him. Not trying harder to resist Eun-hyuk when he told you and Eun-yu he would bring him back. “Was it you? Was it you every time I was stopped? Every time I was in danger, it was you who saved me, wasn’t it? What gave you the fucking right?” The crying started again. In turn, your hits became less and less powerful with each strike along with your screams gradually quieting. “Why did you have to leave me?” You sobbed out and let your head fall onto his chest as he buried his face in your hair. Your hands clutched onto his t-shirt as if trying to anchor him to you, scared that if you let him go, he would disappear again. Your knees gave out, exhausted by the emotional turmoil washing over you from the last five minutes. And so soon after death caressed you on the cheek too. Hyun-su caught you and slowly lowered the two of you to the ground, never once breaking the embrace. 

You sat in silence, only broken by the sound of your sobs as they slowly subsided. When you settled down, you spoke once more. 

“Did you know I was in love with you?” You didn’t feel any physical reaction from him that would express what he was feeling in that moment so you continued. “I never stopped. Loving you, I mean. I don’t think I ever will, but god, I hate you so much right now.”

There were a few silent beats where the only sound you could hear was the sound of his heartbeat against your ear until he spoke. 

“I didn’t think I would be able to handle seeing you again and find you with this exact reaction. By the time I left the military’s grasp, I tried to find you but then I saw you on that ledge.”

It surprised you and calmed your nerves all the same. 

“I knew I was just being a coward but I thought too much time had passed for me to just show up. Today was just a bit different.” He leaned back a bit to look at you and you did the same. He gave a small smile when he saw you again, with your wet eyes and glistening cheeks you looked wonderful. Even after sobbing your heart out, you were still the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. “My love, I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you, and I never stopped either,” he leaned in slowly so your foreheads rested against each other and your noses brushed. “And if you need time to stop hating me, I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

You looked into his radiating brown eyes as the last tear slipped from your own before bringing a hand up to cup his cheek once again. You let out a small laugh which he returned with an adoring smile. Leaning in, you pressed your lips against his in a soft, unhurried kiss. He slid a hand up from where it was pulling you into his embrace to rest against the back of your neck as he held you against him. When the both of you were smiling too much to continue the kiss, you leaned back just enough to stare into each other’s eyes. The adoration and love you had for each other would be clear for anyone to see from the way you gazed at each other.

You suddenly pushed forward and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him close and hugging him once more. He sat still for a moment as he processed what you did only to wrap his arms around your waist. He hugged you just as tight and with just as much desperation as you did.

“God, I missed you so much,” you whispered into his ear and he sighed shakily into the spot where his face was buried in your neck. 

“I missed you too, so much. I’m so sorry for not coming back sooner.”

“Well, you’re here now, and that’s all that matters to me,” you reassured him and he physically relaxed, his shoulders untensing and him falling further into your embrace. 

The sound of the soft pattering of footsteps interrupted the moment you two were sharing. However, it was entirely welcome when you saw the little girl you had saved before standing beside you. You pulled away from Hyun-su, but not too far as he grabbed onto one of your hands. You smiled at him slightly, he was obviously just as starved of your touch as you were his.

“Hi there,” you told her gently when you turned back to her, not wanting to scare her in any way. “What’s your name?”

She looked down shyly, not answering until Hyun-su reached out to her with his hand. “It’s okay, she’s a good one,” he reassured her as he brushed some stray wet strands of her pin-straight black hair out of her face when her small hands were unable to. He took her hand and gently pulled her closer to the two of you. It made you smile as you saw them interact. The caring and soft way Hyun-su acted with her reminded you so much of a father interacting with his daughter.

It just made you love him even more.

He gave her one more nod of reassurance before she timidly introduced herself.

“M-my name is Ah-yi,” she stuttered out and you silently cooed at her adorable little shy smile. “Thank you for saving me, Miss.”

“Of course, Ah-yi, you are very welcome,” you gave her your own smile and some of her shyness seemed to fade away. You then gave her your name and she visibly brightened up. 

“You’re the princess!” You gave her a confused smile with a small laugh as she then began to explain. “Oppa’s told me stories about you! How you’re the princess of the big green castle and how he was a knight in shining armor who was saved by you, the warrior princess!” She talked animatedly with her hands swinging around wildly and her chest puffing out at the end to make her seem stronger. Your lips formed a big smile as you looked over at Hyun-su to see him lightly glaring at Ah-yi with a big blush coating his cheeks. 

“Ah, so you’ve told stories about me, have you?” You teased him and he looked at you before rolling his eyes. 

“Shut up,” he mumbled and you yelped as he yanked on your hand, sending you falling onto his chest with a loud laugh. 

You talked a bit more with Ah-yi, somehow ending with her laying her head in your lap as you leaned against Hyun-su with your back to his chest. The three of you watched the clouds, pointing out any shapes you could find and making up stories that Ah-yi seemed to love. Every time you looked over at Hyun-su, you could see all of his attention focused on you and how you interacted with the small child. 

Time seemed to fly as eventually, the sun started to fade into the distance, only leaving splotches of light shining through the leaves of the tall trees surrounding you. All three of you stood up and you glanced in the direction of the stadium with sad eyes. You couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Hyun-su yet. Even the thought of leaving the small girl you had grown strongly attached to in the past few hours broke your heart. Hyun-su seemed to sense your hesitation as he grabbed your hand. 

You looked back at him and he looked at you so fondly you felt like your heart might burst. With his thumb gently caressing your knuckles, he looked you in the eyes and said, “Stay. Stay with me. With us. You don’t have to go yet.”

He seemed just as desperate to make up for lost time with you as you were with him. His eyes widened and that smile you loved so dearly formed on his face when you nodded with little thought put into the decision. Pulling you closer with his arm circling your shoulders and one of yours circling his waist while the other hand reached out for Ah-yi to grab. She practically leaped at the opportunity.

“You ready, princess?” Hyun-su asked you in a soft teasing voice and you looked up at him with the same passionate smile gracing your lips. 

“Lead the way, my shining knight.”

~~~

Pt 2: Floating Above Those Dark Skies :)

[randomlyfallen]

Yamato except he actually loses it

[v1nsmoke]

𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑺𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯 // 𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑴𝑶𝑲𝑬 𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑱𝑰 𝑿 𝑽𝑨𝑴𝑷!𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑹

spooktober week 2 - resident evil 8 x one piece, featuring sanji and vampire reader

tw: bl00d, mentions of torture, spoilers for sanjis wci backstory, can the end be taken as slight angst?

summary: after getting teleported to an unknown village, sanji must find a place to stay - and unfortunately for him, the old castle he found is already taken

a/n: no use of y/n. re8 is my comfort game ever since i first played it. the characters are all interesting and i wish the game was longer with us getting to know more abt them. i thought why not write a story where reader is a dimitrescu. if you havent played re8, i highly recommend! even if its titled as a horror game, its not that creepy :)

tags: @cheesesoda cause i know you like both one piece and re ♡ (sorry if u didnt want to be tagged!)

wc: 2.4k

He didn't know where he was. It all happened so fast. In one moment he was up against a weird devil fruit user, and in the other, he was laying in the cold, white snow. Sanji gets up into a sitting position, supporting himself up with his hands. He looks around, observing the terrain around him. It seemed like a village, surrounded by snow-covered mountains. The wooden houses gave him the feeling that this wasn't the most modern place he's ever been to, but it was beautiful. One thing bothered him though: there was nobody.

He found it weird that noone was here, he couldn't hear any noise from the houses either. No happy kids playing in the snow, no old people chatting away on the benches, nothing. Sanji gets up, curious where everyone went. Does anybody even live here anymore? Or is this just a long forgotten inhabited village, and that's why it all seems like he was thrown back in time?

Not knowing where to go, Sanji mindlessly roams the area in hopes of finding someone or something that could help him out. He trusted his crew and that they will get him back somehow, he wasn't worried about that. He knew that there was nothing he could do about the situation, given he didn't even know where he was. But he needed food and shelter until the others find a way to reunite, and in a village he is likely to find these.

Sanji knew that there was something wrong with the village. He would ocassionally see remains of blood splatters on the walls, or broken windows and doors. Maybe he was right, this is an abandoned village. But the blood seemed like it's been there for only a day, meaning that there might be survivors of whatever is going on here.

One thing catches his eye: a giant castle on the side of the village. He could see some faint light from the windows, even if the castle was far from him, meaning that somebody is likely living there. Should he go there armed? No, he got his legs and wits, and he couldn't find a weapon anyway. He stands in front of the grand, stone gate in front of him, the castle on the other side of it. Sanji takes a deep breath, and pushes it open.

He steps trough it, findig a snow-covered trail surrounded by leafless trees, a carriage a few metres away from him parked on the side.

"I've been waiting for you, Mister Vinsmoke." A man speaks, sitting in the carriage, dressed in Victorian-era clothing.

"How do you know my name?" Sanji stops in front of him, curious how a strange man he never met knows his name.

"Blackleg Sanji, the Wing of Strawhat Luffy. I tend to know lots of things, Mister Vinsmoke. The word from the village is proven to be the truth, then. Though I must say, that castle arouses suspicion."

"Yeah, and so do you."

Sanji didn't like how this seemingly merchant knew things about him and called him by his father's name. He preferred to go by Blackleg, the name coming from his real father's, Red Leg Zeff.

"And who do you might be?" He inquires.

"I am but a humble merchant." The man chuckles.

"Here?"

"Forgive my manners. Call me the Duke." He finally introduces himself. Sanji didn't fully trust this man.

"Earlier you said that the castle arouses suspicion. What did you mean by that?"

"That place is full of nothing but blood and death. Nobody ever comes back from there. It's under the management of Lady Dimitrescu." The Duke explains.

"Lady Dimitrescu?" Sanji murmurs to himself. A castle under a woman's rule? Maybe this place isn't so bad after all... "Thank you for your help."

Sanji walks away after this, heading towards the castle. Now he was even more curious about it. Does the castle look more modern on the inside? Who is Lady Dimitrescu? Could he live here until the crew defeats the devil fruit user and he can get back to them? He was hoping that this woman will be kind enough to give him some ingredients to cook and a room where he can sleep. The castle was big anyway, she probably wouldn't mind if he stayed there for a bit.

Here he was, at the castle's entrance. Sanji gupled as he opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. He closes them behind himself as quietly as he opened them, and makes its way further into the castle. He was amazed by the interior. The floor was clean, the shiny wooden planks and the sole of his dress shoes creating a clicking noise as he explores the hallways. The walls were a dark shade of green, with some brownish-crimson wood elements, it all looked straight out of a tale.

He stumbles upon the main hall. His eyes widen at the sight. The room is illuminated by the light of the candles placed on the huge chandelier, a large, intricated staircase leading to the second floor while the white tiles shine on the floor. Sanji is mesmerized, findig the whole setting elegant. He was suddenly snapped out of his trance by a voice behind him.

"Who are you?! And what are you doing here?!" Sanji turns around to find a fuming girl standing there, dressed in an all black dress, the hood of it on her head, her eye makeup matching the colour of her outfit.

Sanji froze. He didn't expect this.

"A-are you Lady Dimitrescu?" He shakily asks.

"No, but if she finds out you're here, you'll end up just like all the other men. Same if my sisters find you. They have a lot less self control than I do..." the girl approaches Sanji.

~○~

You stare at the man in front of you, his slightly dissheveled blonde hair covering one of his eyes, the black suit he was wearing perfectly fitting him.

"What do you mean by that, ma cherie?" He asks.

"Mother hates men. And just intruders in general." You tell him, remembering what happened to the last person who entered the castle. Your mom did seem to like the wine made from his blood.

"I-I mean no harm, I promise! I just need cooking materials, and I was wondering if I could sleep here? Please, I'll make food for you, just let me stay for a bit. Just until I can get back to my crew!" He begs, holding your hands together.

You wanted to decline, to send him away before your mother or one of your sisters find him, or before you end up killing him yourself. But he looked at you with such kind eyes, and it seemed like he wasn't scared of you at all. Did he not know anything? About who or what you were? That you could tear his throat out any second? He was holding your hands so gently, like you could break at any moment, staring at you with his cerulean eyes.

"I can't. You came to the worst place possible, run while you can." You break free from his touch, turn around and head back to the direction where you came from. It was for the best. If he stays, he'll just get tortured and killed.

"No, please, I-" he starts, but can't find the right words to finish. So, he just stood there, not moving a muscle, waiting for you to change your mind.

"Who is this manthing?" You hear an all too familiar voice behind you. You turn around, only to see the man with wide eyes, your mother looming over him. Of course she did, she was eight foot tall. This was the end for the man, you knew it. But he did nothing wrong, and he just felt different, you can't just hand him over to your mother.

"What have I told you about men?" Her voice was menacing, and if looks could kill, you would be dead right now.

"I know mother, and I apologise. I stumbled upon him by accident." You explain.

~○~

Sanji didn't flinch. He didn't move, he froze. He didn't turn around to see who or what was behind him, he could feel the presence and see the huge shadow created by the person. His mind was going a million ways, not even being able to focus on the conversation you were having with who he assumed was your mother. One thing he did notice was how your expression changed when you saw her, how you looked so... afraid. Did this woman behind him do something wrong to you? Your complete aura changed, it was noticable. He knew that there's no way he'll fight a woman, and he also knew that the crew won't be here to save him this time. This might be the end for him. He feels as the woman behind him breathes down his neck, then suddenly bites into it.

Sanji grunts, the teeth of the woman deep in his throat. He didn't know what was going on. Is this how he's going to die? No, because the woman pulled back, and he was still alive, standing, breathing, and he could still feel as his heart was beating in his chest. He could hear the two women talking, but his mind was too out of its place to understand what the conversation was about. And that was the last thing he knew before fainting.

~○~

He woke up, chained to the wall in some unkown room. The quiet cracklig of the fireplace gave him a slight comfort, but the pain wouldn't go away. He had to figure out an escape plan, quick. He tried to wiggle himself out the handcuffs, but to no avail.

Just then, a bunch of flies flooded the room, all in the same spot until the seemed to merge together, forming a human-like figure.

"Didn't know you could do that..." he quietly says.

"There are so many things you don't know about me, Vinsmoke Sanji." The girl from earlier says.

"How do you know my name? My manners seemed to dissapear when we first met, i apologise."

"The Duke. He sometimes pays us a visit. He was here this morning while you were here, passed out."

"Well, I didn't even ask you your name, ma cherie. I'm Sanji, I'll get you out of here in no time." Sanji smiles down at her.

"Hm, to me it looks like you're the one who needs to be saved." She looks up at Sanji, who was still chained to the wall. She was right.

"I guess you're not here to save me. Going to bite?" He asks.

"I could. I warned you about my mother and sisters, you didn't listen. Look where it got you."

"What will they do with me? A bunch of pretty ladies sucking all my blood out? It's a better way to go than some I can imagine."

"Don't worry, it's gonna be quicker than that. And a lot more painful. Mother said you'd make some pretty good wine."

"I can in fact make wines, if that's what you wish for."

"Not like that."

"Oh."

The awkward silence set in before being broken by the girl's sigh as she took steps towards Sanji.

"What are you doing, cherie?"

"You want to die here? You mentioned that you got a crew somewhere. Think about them at least." She says, her hands on Sanji's handcuff holding him to the wall. He feels as the first handcuff loosens, and he pulls out his hand from it, looking at the girl in disbelief.

Both handcuffs fell off Sanji's hand, freeing him. He was speechless. This girl that he met yesterday, the one whose mother possesed major hatred towards men and the person who tied him up like this, who could end his life right in this moment just saved his life.

"I don't want to leave you here. Please, come with me. I can see you're not happy here with her." He holds his hand out for the girl to grab, but she doesn't do it. Instead, she looks down, and Sanji knows he was right. She really didn't like it here.

"I... I can't." She holds back her tears, her nails digging into her palm. "A few seconds in the cold air, and I freeze to death. And I mean I turn into a literal ice sculpture and die. I'm not a human like you. I might even end up causing you harm. You felt what my mother did to you. She's a vampire, and so am I."

Sanji is quiet for a few seconds. He doesn't know how to reply. He didn't want to leave her here to suffer under her mother, especially knowing that he could've done something about it.

"That's not a problem. I'll keep you warm if that's what is holding you back. I trust you that you won't bite me. You could've done it the moment we met, but you didn't. I don't care if you are a vampire, we have stranger people on the crew than that. Maybe our talking reindeer could even help you so that you won't freeze to death when it's cold."

She was stunned. This man she met yesterday spoke so kindly to her like nobody ever did before. Not her mother, not her sisters, nobody. She wanted to go, to join the crew, to be free, to know Sanji better, maybe the other crew members too. Talking reindeer? She was interested. She only knew the definition of "friends" from books she was forbidden to read, but now she could have the chance to experience what it's like.

"I... I'm just an experiment, I..." she tries to protest, holding back tears. She wanted to leave, really, but her mother wouldn't approve this. She never got to experience life outside the castle, or see what was outside the walls.

"Looks like we have something in common, then." Sanji warmly smiles. He knew what it felt like. "But now I have a loving crew, and most of the times I forget this part of my past. You can do it, too." He gives reassuring smile. He can't leave her here.

He was right. She lived here so long, the village reminding her every day of the reason of her existence, that she's just the product of some crazy scientist woman's experiments. But now she can leave this behind. Just like Sanji did.

She looks down at Sanji's hand, still held out for her. This time, she places hers into the blonde's, ready to leave.

vinsmoke sanji belongs to eiichiro oda and resident evil 8 belongs to capcom, i do not own any of these.

© v1nsmokes 2023. Do not modify, translate or rewrite.

[marblemojito]

WHB chapter 3 spoilers below (and chapter 2)

Also CW for angelic fuckedupfest and a.k.a. top reasons why Belial is the bestest boy. So, we have already witnessed 'angelification' (circa 2-97) with Ppyong's cousin Ppung, and now we find out that it happened to Belial's legion.

From what I get is that he led 80 legions, 40 fell during the battle, and then after that the remaining 40 fell victim to the angelification seeds (?), which is enormous loss not only in terms of strictly human (devil?) resources, but for Belial personally. Especially considering survivor guilt settling down.

It's almost baffling how literally every other captain/duke/prince/etc in Gehenna got off easy. Ok, Leraye got his arm pierced with a spear (but that part is on you, buddy), and then Belial is living through Hell in Hell.

Satan hesitated for how long putting Ppung down, and Belial had to put down his 40 comrades on the spot. And it wasn't the painful death either. The way Belial can remember in perfect detail every his action, before it all bluring in his mind- And it was stressed several times the sheer importance of comradery between demons, and the way they treat each other as equals, or the way demons aren't forced to join legion of certain captain or ruler, but simply choose to 'cause they vibe with the dude.

And if Belial thinks he betrayed himself -- I totally get it. I wonder if he would change his attitude comparing to his pre-engelification character and we get to find what he used to be through through Satan's or Sitri's or Ppyong's, or any other demon's stories, knowing full well that we'll never meet that devil again. Solomon spill the beans Probably not, but that would be hella cool.

Anyway. Literally how can this man walk and talk straight (ok, Jiyu is doing the most part, but you get my point). With these mental capabilities Belial might as well just change his class from marksman to tank. How can you not love him??? Minor rant, but I love his interactions with Jiyu, and I can fully ignore the fact that we had like... 3 lines of dialogue. Sure, Jiyu is suck-up to all his superiors including Belial, but he so genuinly cares about him, being also his second pair of eyes on the battlefield (which is kind of ironic honestly). And all of Hell knows how much Belial cares about Jiyu.

I wonder if Jiyu is overwhelmed by all the thoughts and regrets going through Belial's head, or maybe they can psychically and/or mentally distance each other somehow. They are besties, you legally cannot tell me otherwise. Do you think Belial just silently gossips with Jiyu about,,, stuff?

[erikatsu]

❑ SUMMARY: Half a millennia ago, after a nation who did not worship the gods faced divine punishment for their so-called "sins", the world fell into chaos. The survivors were not only cursed, but were also hunted for sport. Sympathizers faced an even worse fate. After countless years of sticking to the shadows, you decide you're done hiding and Celestia will fall just as your nation once had.

❒ PAIRING: Kaeya Alberich x Fem!Reader

❑ WARNINGS/THEMES: Dystopian au. Spoilers for 3.5 Caribert quest. Khaenri'ah is the Abyss. Canonical violence. Theory/heavy lore based world building. CHILDHOOD FRIENDS -> LOVERS. Selfship coded. All chapters will be individually warned. MINORS = BLOCKED.

❒ TAGS: @dottores @dxlucs @mxnjiros @slutbedo @alucrds @suyacho @simp-lauren

MASTERLIST.

⁰⁰ — EXORDIUM

⁰¹ — I AM BULLETPROOF

⁰² — NEW YEARS DAY

⁰³ — P.A.I.M.O.N. TRANSMISSION: STAY CLOSE

⁰⁴ — WRETCHED & DIVINE

⁰⁵ — WE DON'T BELONG

⁰⁶ — P.A.I.M.O.N. TRANSMISSION: TRUST

⁰⁷ — DEVIL'S CHOIR

⁰⁸ — RESURRECT THE SUN

⁰⁹ — OVERTURE

¹⁰ — SHADOWS DIE

¹¹ — ABEYANCE

¹² — DAYS ARE NUMBERED

¹³ — DONE FOR YOU

¹⁴ — NOBODY'S HERO

¹⁵ — LOST IT ALL

¹⁶ — P.A.I.M.O.N. TRANSMISSION: AS WAR FADES

¹⁷ — IN THE END PT. 1

¹⁸ — IN THE END PT. 2

¹⁹ — IN THE END PT. 3

²⁰ — P.A.I.M.O.N FINAL TRANSMISSION

[huginsmemory]

Plot Foils: On Ace, Robin, Marineford and Enies Lobby

Thought I'd put together a short lil meta on how Ace and Robin in the arcs of Marineford and Enies Lobby mirror each other within the plot, and what that thematically implies since I can't stop thinking about it and since any tradgedies immediately trigger my trap card of Write Meta Frantically. Also, note that there are spoilers for up to the time skip.

First, I'll start with the similarities between both Ace and Robin, and the arcs of Enies Lobby and Marineford, which can be laid out on the flow chart chart below, which I'll go into detail below, before digging into the themantic implications:

Parent figure involved with poneglyphs

mass violence by government in response to threat

survival of the character but widespread demonization of them

struggle with survivors guilt and suicidal inclinations

Acceptance into a found family, and who they are no matter their demonization

testing of the acceptance by capture of the World Government

resounding yes and declaration of War against the World Government by found family

do you want to live?

rescue/failure

1 and 2: Parent Figure and Mass Violence

Both Ace and Robin are survivors of violence from the government at a young age; Robin with the genocide of Ohara, and Ace with the hunting down and killing of babies in Baterilla after the execution of Gol D Roger. This violence by the world government is a response to both their parents being involved with poneglyphs, which threatens the power of the government (I also understand that Gol D Roger in his status of King of the Pirates was it's own impetus... but that's also intertwined with the poneglyphs in a way). Interestingly, both the parent figures desperately try to protect their children through denying or hiding the children away from the government as a form of protective love.

3 and 4: demonization, survivors guilt and suicidal inclinations

For both of them, their parents (or people's) demonization is transferred to their own lives. Robin quite literally becoming called a demon child and scorned by the world, while Ace is more round-about-ly called a demon child when talked about theoretically. Actually, even Dadan, who does love him, at one point calls him the devil's spawn (or some other variation, I can't remember exactly). As a result of the violence occurred by the government they both carry the feelings of survivor's guilt; and with their demonization, this guilt over being mere alive is compounded as the world repeatedly tells them that they should not exist. As a result, they both struggle with their own existence and suicidal ideology, unsure of what the world really tells them is true especially as both their parents are dead and cannot validate their existence. Also, as they are demonized, they are isolated from society, and other forms of love and acceptence from adults which could reassure them against such internalization of their demonization aren't really forthcoming. Although Ace has Luffy and Sabo for a good chunk of his childhood, and so is not entirely alone and rejected by everyone, he still clearly struggles with being alive and being accepted by others, especially adults and parental figures; this evidenced through his anger issues and his talk with Garp in which he asks if he should have been born (gonna fucking strangle Garp for being like 'Well I don't know' to a fucking KID who is asking if he should be alive or not). Robin on the other hand, is clearly alone and acutely lonely the majority of her life as she has to continue to be on the run, as she has a bounty placed on her head, and even kind people cannot accept her for long without the threat of the law.

ID: Ace asking Garp as a kid "would it have been better if I was never born?"

5: Acceptance

For both of them, their internalized suicidal thoughts and doubts becomes suppressed when they become incorporated into a family that accepts them wholeheartedly, breaking the stigma of their demonization. To Robin, this occurs when she begins to sail with the Strawhats who accepts her pretty quickly, not caring about her being a 'demon' in the eyes of the general populace and forgiving her for her previous transgressions against them; accepting her for who she truly is for the first time in her life since her very early childhood. Luffy, of course, I would bet sees the similarities between her and Ace; something that we the audience during the first read/watch though are oblivious too, but contextualized later make immense sense for why he has such strong feelings about Robin and suicidal characters. But I digress. For Ace this becomes suppressed when he is accepted into the family of Whitebeard; who is the first adult to not care about who his father is and still accepts him whole heartedly, to the point of seeing him as his own son. Again, Whitebeard and his family, like with the Strawhats and Robin, forgive Ace for his attempts of violence against them. This acceptence of them even spite their demonization, even in spite of them previously attempting to hurt or actually physically hurting the crew, allows them to begin to undo their internalized suicidal ideologies.

6, 7 and 8: capture, declaration of war and confessions

This acceptance by their found families ends up being tested as the World Government gets involved; for Robin in the Enies Lobby arc and with Ace, the Marineford arc as they are both captured as a result of them caring about their found families. For Ace, it is guilt over not recognizing Teach's dangerousness who was in his division, and the need to avenge his brother; for Robin, it is to ensure the survival of the Strawhats. As they are captured, the acceptance and love of their found family, in the face of both their demonization fully explained and having to fight against the World Government, is put to question; will their family declare war against the World Government and risk death to save them? The answer both times is a resounding yes. Yes, their found families love and care about them, those who have been told time and again by the majority of the world to be better off dead or never born at all are worth so much to their families that their families are willing to put their lives on the line to save them; in an ultimate display of acceptance and love. Both Ace and Robin initially refuse the attempt to save them, desperate for those they love to not get hurt, especially as they partially believe that they don't deserve to live, let alone be worth dying for. However, under the insistence of their found family who wants to save them, they both confess and cry out in desperation that they want to live, even after everything, even after questioning their own validity in being alive. However, here is when things begin to change in their parallels; compared to Robin's cry in Enies Lobby, Ace's cry is a lot more bitter, coming from the fact that Ace is already seeing those he cares about die before him to save him, such as Oars Jr. . Meanwhile in Enies Lobby, when Robin is asked if she wants to live, she has not already seen one of her crewmates die before her.

ID: first image of Robin crying as she declares she wants to live, second of Ace with his head bowed and crying saying 'why do I suddenly... Want... To live?!!!"

9: Rescue/failure and thematic implications

From here, it diverges further. Robin is saved in the end in Enies Lobby; there is no devastating death, and the Strawhats survive facing and declaring war against the World Government relatively without any negatives. Robin is told she is allowed to live, that she is allowed to want to live, and lives. The narrative of Enies Lobby showcases that the government will respond to potential threats to its power by mass violence excused through demonization of people or people groups; this dehumanization causes those who survive the initial violence to struggle with their mental health and the understanding of the value of their own life, as their life devalued by the world. In response to that, Oda displays and reminds the audience that no matter your perceived demonization, there will always be people who will accept you and love you for who you are and are willing to stand along side and fight for you to be recognized; no person is born illegal or wrong, that you are allowed to not only want to live but also to live, no matter what the world might say. This is directly implied with how Jaguar D. Saul tells Robin there will eventually in the future be someone that accepts and cares about her.

Building off of Enies Lobby, the same premise of the government enacting violence and the issue of demonization and mental health arises, as Ace is shackled to the scaffold and his parentage is revealed. However, unlike Robin, Ace is not that lucky; although he escapes the scaffold, it is his own inability to stand down that kills him in the end (something framed as heroic by the narrative which--yeah no sorry I don't think it's 'heroic'). He is told, right before his death, that he is accepted, he is loved, and that he is allowed to want to and to live no matter his heritage, by those who love him--but then he dies anyways, thanking everyone for accepting him. Marineford shows that, even if there are people who will accept you and love you, sometimes that doesn't stop the world from hating you to the point it kills you. It is realistic in that; if you are going to engage with these themes and topics, then you can't shy away from realistic depictions of what these systems actually does to people. Marineford and the death of Ace is built off of Enies Lobby and Robins rescue; Oda needed to show that yes, you can be loved and saved, before he was able to show--in a good way--that sometimes even the love of others isn't enough to shield you from a world that hates you. In the end, Ace was always meant to be set up to die, both as a narrative tool to display the violence of the authority of the government, in parallel to Robin being rescued in Enies Lobby, and as an impetus for Luffy to grow as a character.

To summarize:

Ace and Robin, through their false demonization by the World Government used as an excuse for mass violence, internalize this message and question the validity of their existence. This suicidal questioning is assauged by their acceptence into a found family which validates their existence. However, their capture by the World government reiterates their previous questioning, and bares their demonization to their families in a test of their acceptence. This causes a subsequent declaration of war by their families, who affirm their love and acceptence for the characters as they try to rescue them. Their arcs both deal with the demonization of people or people groups who threaten the power of the government, which is used as an excuse to eradicate these 'threats' to the government by mass murder, genocide and martyrdom. In exploring these systems, Oda touches on how people who are subject to such demonization often struggle with suicidal tendencies as they are told they should not exist, while also emphasizing that even through their demonization, these people (or people groups) will always find others who will love them for who they are, past the accusations and demonizations; no human is born illegal. As Robin in Enies Lobby is saved, this emphasizes that those who are demonized by the government will always eventually find people who will accept and love them no matter their demonization. Built off the back of this premise, Oda revisits this in the Marineford arc, but with a more somber cast, as this time Ace is not saved but dies, even after everything. In revisiting it with a different ending, Oda recognizes that sometimes, even being accepted and loved by people isn't enough to shield you from the harm of the government. (I mean also it had narrative implications of raising the stakes and giving luffy an impetus to get stronger but nevertheless...)

Application

The thing is, this is a tactic of demonization and dehumanization as a excuse for violence is one that has been used over and over again by governments and society all over our world. It's being used right now to excuse the genocide going on in Palestine. It has been/currently is being used against queer and trans folk, against POC, against Indigenous people, against unhoused people, against people with disabilities, against addicts. It's not something that's not applicable. It's highly applicable. By deliberately showcasing it, Oda validates those who are in minorities that have suffered under such systems of violence, often to the point of suicidal actions; he says instead it's ok, you are not who they tell you you are, you will find people who will accept you for who you are, you deserve to live.

But he also, in showcasing it, asks, what stereotypes and propaganda have you accepted? After all, being part of one minority doesn't mean you aren't able to be an oppressor. Are you standing there cheering when they enact violence? Or are you going to think beyond what you've been told and help them?

[xrd]

Devil Survivor spoilers for the like two oomfs I have that might play it

I was so taken aback by Kaido just fucking emailing you after all that shit where he summons Pazuzu because I genuinely thought that he 1. Had beef with my party and 2. Had been whisked away for the foreseeable future.

But he just emails you and is like: yo wanna take over the world with me and like dude give me a minute I thought you got taken away by lions

[creepercraftguy]

OMORI - Voice Actor Headcanons.

While I haven’t exactly finished this game yet, I am close enough to the end and have met basically all the characters, so I think it’s time I got around to doing my good ol’ series of VA headcanons for a game that either doesn’t have one, or doesn’t have an English Dub.

This time we’re doing Omori, a game I started playing at the beginning of this year and have fallen in love with very very quickly. I’ve been through a very painful time of my life recently and this game helped me work through it letting me know that it doesn’t matter how I grieve, just that any way I can is correct. 

And the way the characters work together in the game is also incredible, and I was eagerly awaiting to get to the point that I’m at so I could do a VA headcanons section for this. So before we get started, let me once again go two things.

This is NOT CANON. These are HEADCANONS and are unofficial. It’s just a hypothetical situation. If the characters were voiced, this is who I imagine would voice them.

Every major character in the games is included here, so there are HEAVY SPOILERS for the game’s main storylines. DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME OR DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED.

Without further ado, let’s get into this.

Omori/Sunny - MILES LUNA

Also Voiced:

Jeane Arc (RWBY)

Migas Garza (gen:LOCK)

David (Camp Camp)

Cliffjumper (Transformers: War for Cybertron)

Kel - JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH

Also Voiced:

Yu Narukami (Persona 4)

Vash the Stampede (Trigun)

Hajime Hinata (Danganronpa 2)

Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

Izaya Orihara (Durarara)

Aubrey - MAE WHITMAN

Also Voiced:

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Amity Blight (The Owl House)

Tinker Bell (Tinker Bell series)

Yuffie Kisaragi (Kingdom Hearts)

Batgirl (DC Super Hero Girls)

Hero - KYLE HEBERT

Also Voiced:

Son Gohan (Dragon Ball)

Fatgum (My Hero Academia)

Kaito Momota (Danganronpa V3)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

Kamina (Gurren Lagann)

Basil - JUSTIN BRINER

Also Voiced:

Izuku Midoriya/Deku (My Hero Academia)

Ryota Mitarai (Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy)

Clanne (Fire Emblem Engage)

Alfonso San Valiante (Garo)

Mikaela Hyakuya (Seraph of the End)

Mari - AMANDA WINN LEE

Also Voiced:

Yukiko Amagi (Persona 4)

Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Magnolia Arch (Bravely Second: End Layer)

Yoshino Haruzawa (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked)

Heather Mason (Silent Hill HD Collection)

Kim/Berly - ERIKA LINDBECK

Also Voiced: 

Futaba Sakura (Persona 5)

Celica (Fire Emblem)

Milady (Soul Hackers 2)

Cheelai (Dragon Ball)

Jessie (Final Fantasy 7 Remake)

Vance/Van - CRAWFORD WILSON

Also Voiced:

Beat (The World Ends With You)

Jet (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Sagi (Baten Kaitos Original)

Robin/Dick Grayson (Batman: The Brave and the Bold)

Angel - GRIFFIN BURNS

Also Voiced:

Tartaglia/Childe (Genshin Impact)

Cyril (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Kaito Kid (Detective Conan)

Doppio (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)

Muichiro Tokito (Demon Slayer)

Mikal/Mikhael/The Maverick - ARIN HANSON

Also Voiced:

Snaggleback (The Owl House)

X (Omega Strikers)

Scott (Monster Prom)

Gateux (Mighty Magiswords)

Mancubus Bloodtooth (Borderlands 3)

Charlene - ASHELY BISKI

Also Voiced:

Layla (Genshin Impact)

Minato Shishiuchi (PuraOre! Pride of Orange)

Amy (Project “Gemini”)

Juliet (The Nutty Boy)

Captain Spaceboy - YURI LOWENTHAL

Also Voiced: 

Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)

Yosuke Hanamura (Persona 4)

Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass)

Marth (Fire Emblem)

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (multiple)

Pluto - PATRICK SEITZ (who else?)

Also Voiced:

Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

Franky (One Piece)

Endeavour (My Hero Academia)

Ragna the Bloodegdge (Blazblue series)

Sweetheart - ASHLEY TISDALE

Also Voiced:

Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

Stealth Elf (Skylanders)

Sabrina Spellman (Sabrina: The Teenage Witch)

Camille Leon (Kim Possible)

Mr Jawsum - SUNGWON CHO

Also Voiced:

Kage (Ousama Ranking)

Tesso (Lost Judgement)

Vaseraga (Granblue Fantasy Versus)

Mustard (Pokemon: Twilight Wings)

Holst Sigeswald Goneril (Fire Emblem: Three Hopes)

Hungry Humphrey - IAN SINCLAIR

Also Voiced:

Brook (One Piece)

Whis (Dragon Ball)

Dandy (Space Dandy)

Yomotsu Hirasaka (Future Diary)

Mezo Shoji/Tentacole (My Hero Academia)

Molly - NATALIE HOOVER

Also Voiced:

Sonia Nevermind (Danganronpa 2)

Tomoyo Daidouji (Cardcaptor Sakura)

Yamada (New Game!)

Elizabetta X (Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun)

Eru Aharen (Aharen is Indecipherable)

Marina - DINA SHERMAN

Also Voiced: 

Yachiru Kusajishi (Bleach)

Diona (Genshin Impact)

Ara (Elsword)

Ayame Oguni (Rurouni Kenshin)

Carbine (Biker Mice from Mars)

Medusa - XANTHE HUYNH

Also Voiced:

Haru Okumura (Persona 5)

Marianne Von Edmund (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Ui Hirasawa (K-On)

Hanayo Koizumi (Love Live)

Kanon Tachibana (NEO: The World Ends With You)

Doughie- JESSICA DICOCO

Also Voiced:

Flame Princess (Adventure Time)

Lynn Loud/Lucy Loud (The Loud House)

Giffany (Gravity Falls)

Turner (Craig of the Creek)

Yukika Saegusa (Fate/Stay Night)

Biscuit - RICO FAJARDO

Also Voiced: 

Mirio Togata/Lemillion (My Hero Academia)

Daryun (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

Kyosuke Munakata (Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy)

Leon Luis (Garo)

Fu (Dragon Ball)

[ihadtoposttrigun]

Who's ready for sad fan theory??

All aboard for some sad TriMax feels, spoilers ahead!

Trigun Stampede did a tidy job of cleaning up a few plot holes left behind by Mr. Nightow, esp. the one that bothered me a lot-- how the devil Conrad never died of old age. See figure 1 and figure 2 below, Conrad when he first meets the twins (a bit of hair) and at the time of his death (no hair)

Looking pretty good for a 200+ year old guy. He went from a balding man clocking in his 30s, to IDK, late-40s (or however Nightow feels like drawing him in any particular frame lol). How? Let's inventory what we can be sure of:

Conrad was born and raised somewhere in outer-space, perhaps Earth, perhaps not.

He is an accomplished space-stuff engineer, and a top crewmember of SEEDS, he's brought in and out of cryo sleep for emergencies

Somehow he survived the same crash that killed Rem, and made a comfortable life under the name Count Revenant Vasquez

Knives just shows up in his living room one night to recruit him

However, it did take more than 80 years for Knives to mature into an adult. Eighty! See Figure 3 below, from Vol 12 Ch 5, he still has a relatively boy-like countenance. Don't worry about what he's up to in this scene, shhhhh, it's fine.

So guessing that Knives finished maturing into an adult, found his favorite space fashion, and learned how to manspread on a couch (See Fig. 5), that must have been another 10-20 years, maybe?

Conrad was definitely at July before and after its destruction. He helped Legato pull Knives out of the rubble. That means we have a minimum of ~25 years. So the window of time for entering Knives service is 60-25 years. I'm going to spitball that at the start of the story, he spent 110 years as the Count, and then 40 years as Knives's subordinate. Math: I did it. You're welcome.

He only looks like he's aged 30 years (max) from start to finish, though.... It's somewhat plausible that he could afford to pay for more cryosleep as Count Vasquez on and off for 110 years, but would Knives also let his top scientist cryosleep as much as he wanted for another 40-ish years? (This is not accounting for any special treatment from obvious daddy issues because Knives kept Conrad around as a secret father figure.)

Figure 6: Pictured: Proto-Knives, Definitely

Would it even be that practical for ship survivors/Knives/anyone to just sit on that kind of knowledge/experience for years at a time, in a desperate place such as this? Or maybe... he just wasn't aging. He's a space person who was genetically modified to keep Project SEEDS going for as long as possible. And The Count was an alias created after it became obvious he wasn't getting older.

But you know who was also a top crewmate. Someone who would been also modified to ensure the best possible odds for SEEDS...

It's likely Rem would have also had Conrad's dubiously long lifespan. Rem, and Vash, and Knives (and maybe even Conrad, even though he's a lame ass loser) could have been a family for 150+ years. Or, if I'm totally wrong here, she could have similarly been afforded the same privileged treatment Conrad managed to secure for himself (in the middle of century-and-a-half long crisis, no less).

All this time... they might have been happy. And Knives? He's no dummy. He knew.

What's he supposed to say about people he's not supposed to care about?

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

You know what makes “The Devil in Me” a Saw game even more so than the fact that there’s Saw-like traps that you have to deal with?

/

/

/

(SPOILERS FOR “THE DEVIL IN ME”)

/

/

/

1) The killer isn’t the original killer. It’s the mentee of the original killer. Even then, the killer’s mentor was inspired by the ACTUAL killer (it’s Amanda/Dr. Gordon/Hoffman/Logan all over again).

2) The killer has a puppet.

3) The killer has an apprentice, or at least someone working for him.

4) The killer is hoping that one of the survivors from the games becomes their next apprentice.

5) The Dark Pictures wiki lists FBI agent as the killer’s previous profession. If that’s true, that fits with how many times a law enforcement officer was either an apprentice of Jigsaw (Hoffman) or framed to look like one (Strahm).

The killer is basically Jigsaw, same way the vampires from HOA were basically flying Xenomorphs.

[each-uisge-and-glashtyn]

Fic Author Self-Rec Chain

Got tagged by @hotsuqueen to self-rec my top 5 favorite fics I've written. Let's see...

This one and the next one have got to be tied for my absolute favorites. Yes I reread my own fics and 90% of the time its one of these two. The Frog Prince is my only "long" fic, and it's a P5 shukita retelling of my favorite fairy tale: The Frog Princess. No, not the Disney one, the Russian folk one with Vasilisa the Wise/Beautiful. I poured every bit of my love of the characters, the folk tale, and the arts depicted into it, and I think it shows.

My other favorite, To Paint a Dream, is just as full of emotion to me, but much much darker. D.N. Angel and (presumably) one-sided satodai, it's focused on Satoshi's emotional fallout after a job goes horribly wrong. Pay attention to the tags on this one, please! Spoiler: he does not deal well, and that's the point of the fic. It does have a happy-ish ending though! And is the only fic of mine that I regularly debate commissioning art for (if anyone wants to illustrate the paintings at the end hmu 👀👀👀💰💰💰).

Breaking Locks and Stealing Hearts I think is still somehow one of my favorites, despite it being the very first fic I wrote and imo obvious for it. I'm just so fond of it for breaking the ice for the next 50+ fics! P5 shuake clinic shenanigans that plays with the idea of what if Akechi was closer to shattering and just needed a good spicy push to do so.

Baby Shark Rescue is the newest on the list, and I don't think I was more delighted to be writing a fic ever than I was this one. Every single word is just gleeful sandboxing with some of @hotsuqueen's AUs and bullying my favorite characters. P5/Devil Survivor 2 smashup, set more in P5 than DeSu2, where Yamato's family are yakuza to rule all yakuza, Iwai is a distant cousin, and there are some familial differences in thought about how children should be taught and treated. Featuring child Yamato being a brat! And beloved anyway. The only fanfic of mine I've made art for!

The Devil Within was also delightfully fun to write, inspired by this post by @ belfire. Devil Survivor kazunao in which Naoya might have forgotten to mention Kazuya would need to consume magnetite after becoming King of Bel, and then he helps Kazuya make up the difference. It was very much fun leaning into the base and messy as they went for it, as well as patching up game lore to make it work.

So that's my five! I'm supposed to tag 5 people now, but I hate putting people on the spot for things like this... So, please consider yourself tagged if you wish to be! If you send me a message, I'll even put you in here To Be Official.

[marisramblings]

Aki Hayakawa (CSM Manga spoilers!)

Shoo, anime onlies

I fucking love Aki’s character arc. There are death flags and then there’s Aki. The manga outright tells us that Aki will die, repeatedly. Despite his belief, Aki is fucking normal. Vengeance is a normal thing people do, whether it’s playing a prank or fucking murder. Aki has a sword that cuts years from his life and he’s used it more than once. Aki was the only survivor in his family so I sense some final destination vibes. The sword cuts his life to around 2 years and the future devil all but confirms it. Then there’s angel who siphons life from those he touches and Aki touches him…a lot. No that’s not an innuendo.

Aki’s motivations switch again to protecting those he loves. Another normal motivation. Aki Hayakawa was destined to die. It fits his character and his story. I think he has the best development out of any part 1 character.

Also, I’m going entirely off my memory.

[hotsuqueen]

I'm not down with AO3 supporting AI-generated fic, so I'm in the process of crossposting my work to SquidgeWorld, an AO3 clone with a TOS I prefer.

Jet Set Geminis (20270 words) by hotsuqueen Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Yamato Hotsuin/Hibiki Kuze Characters: Yamato Hotsuin, Hibiki Kuze Additional Tags: Fluff, Angst, Humor, UST, Hotel Room Shenanigans, First Kiss, Post-Triangulum Arc Summary:

It's not as if he could claim to have been unaware of Yamato's workaholic nature; he just hadn't expected it to be such a problem while they went on an amazing international vacation. Fortunately, Hibiki discovers a deeply unorthodox solution that leaves Yamato with some terrifying ideas for a new JP's recruitment method.

A few solutions, rather.

[spoilers for Triangulum Arc]

[polygon-sound]

My thoughts on Persona 5 Royal

*Spoilers Abound*

Persona 5's reputation precedes itself. The fact that a turn-based JRPG in any capacity managed to break into the mainstream, transcending its target fanbase, is wholly impressive in of itself. One calls to attention its stylistic UI, endearing funk/jazz-fusion soundtrack, and colorful cast of characters in a familiar, high school setting.

So when I started my playthrough of Persona 5 Royal (an enhanced rerelease which adds more demons, additional characters, a new story arc, amongst other additions), I don't think it was unreasonable to have high expectations of a game as universally acclaimed as this. For a quick background, which may help put my thoughts into perspective, this isn't my first foray into the Megami Tensei franchise (for the uninitiated, the Persona games are part of the larger Megami Tensei series). I'd completed Shin Megami Tensei IV, IV: Apocalypse, Devil Survivor 1 & 2, and played Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, and Soul Hackers to some extent. Therefore, the Press Turn system was a familiar concept by the time I reached this entry in the Persona series.

I'll be talking about the gameplay first since I think my thoughts on the story will easily be the longest part of this write-up. Persona 5's combat operates around exploiting enemies' weaknesses and earning extra turns in combat as a result. This serves as the foundation of the combat and any additional mechanics build upon this inherent concept. For example, Baton Pass is a system where, after gaining an extra turn, you may pass that extra turn to another party member, with said party member getting additional bonuses (such as HP and SP recovery, as well as a significant damage increase). That party member can then exploit an enemy's weakness, allowing them to do an additional Baton Pass, with each successive Pass exponentially increasing the above bonuses. Furthermore, exclusive to Royal, characters can also use Showtime attacks, which are activated during special conditions or at random, which deal massive damage to a single enemy. Finally, increasing your Confidants' social links can also grant additional bonuses in battle that further skew battles in your favor.

To a degree, enemy teams can also utilize the extra turn mechanics available to you. If they hit your weakness, they'll be able to get an additional turn in on you. However, enemies cannot utilize Baton Pass, nor do they get any battle advantages that come close to what the player has in their arsenal. Therein lies the issue inherent in this combat system, one that tends not to be as big of an issue in games like SMT IV or Nocturne that utilize a similar system. The game does everything it possibly can to ensure the player always has a massive advantage in battle, with little room to fail in most battles. The only places where you have to use significant strategy is in a select few bosses (most of which are near the end of the game), rendering most of the battles in Persona 5 Royal rather stilted and utterly unchallenging.

This isn't to say that the other gameplay aspects besides combat aren't fun. Dungeon design is a hit, for the most part. Kamoshida's palace can be a bit of a rocky start, but the game's inventive design comes to fruition with Madarame's palace and onwards. The day-to-day social elements are a good way to present the player with a "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" format in-between major Palaces. Even the extra Tartarus-esque dungeon, Mementos, can be fun to explore and see just how far you're willing to go in a single run-through.

Regarding story, I can easily say that Persona 5 Royal's script is in desperate need of an editor. The pacing is great for the first 50-60 hours, with characters and villains being introduced and properly built upon. For example, by the time you fight Kamoshida or Madarame in their respective Palaces, you've seen enough of their misdeeds and how it affects their respective party members' lives to properly get the feeling of "It's time to teach this old man a lesson!"

However, things go downhill quickly as soon you reach the Okumura arc of Persona 5. Your party member, Haru, gets the absolute bare minimum screen time to be introduced, and her father's misconduct towards his Big Bang Burger employees is seen nowhere in the game itself. You begin exploring and conquering his Palace not even a few cutscenes after you're first introduced to him. The pacing for this arc is lightning-fast compared to deliberate pace that the first three villains had. This pacing issue sadly continues up until the very end of the game. While the dungeon designs themselves are still good and fun to play through, nothing can save the fact that this game takes *forever* to actually end. The game builds up Shido as the big bad final boss, and his fight, at first glance, reflects that as it has several phases and climactic final-boss-esque music. However, once you beat him, you realize that there's still the task of getting to very end of Mementos and doing an additional lengthy dungeon. You then fight what you may NOW consider the final boss, the Holy Grail. Ultimately, you stand no chance and now have to go through a segment where you talk to every single one of your party members and use the power of friendship to get them motivated to continue the struggle. You then fight four bosses that lead up to a rematch with the Holy Grail. Of course, once you beat it, turns out it has a second phase as the God of Control. After another lengthy boss fight, you may think now "Finally, the game's over!" Ah ah, but hold your horses! If you're doing the Royal content, you now have a new story arc and a Palace to go through, as well as an additional semester to play through. Likewise, the final boss in Maruki's palace has several phases until you finally beat him.

By this point, there's so many climaxes in Persona 5 that they lose their intrinsic meaning by the end. There's only so much anime screaming and Power of Friendship yells the characters can proclaim until one starts to get quite fatigued. I sincerely believe that within this 120+ hour game, there exists a impeccably paced 60-70 hour game. However, the story and gameplay issues are too significant for me to give it anywhere near a glowing review. While I certainly had fun with the game throughout most of my playtime, I don't know if I'm willing to give this game anything more than a...

3/5